HOPE

she is a painting i did a couple of months ago....and she was speaking to me tonight.

she was speaking to me about hope and how important it is to have within us...how important it is to hold onto hope in hard situations and to not just give up...fight to the end so to speak...to hold it in both our hands and in our heart.

BLISS

BLISS this weekend...

* creating this painting while listening to Pandora on a very relaxing, beautiful Saturday afternoon...and...being really pleased with the final outcome...my sister REALLY wants her;

* hugs in the morning from my girls;

* great conversation over a couple beers with this lovely, amazing, inspring soul...i can never thank her enough for opening up my eyes to the creative path that was just waiting for me;

* spending time with really good friends while hanging out at the U2 concert...which was absolutely incredible...i might add! those boys can really put on a good show!! they are timeless;

* my baby losing yet another tooth...this time it is one of her two front teeth;

* another tooth fairy visit;

* cozy sweat pants, hair in a pony tail...letting the laundry wait. Hell, we all know it isn't going anywhere!!;

* all the yummy emails from my sisters who were at Be Present Retreats with me last weekend...sooooooo loving the love fest going on there;

* the company of my husband...my best friend.

so that kind of sums up what brought me "bliss" over this past weekend. What was blissful to you...please share.

BE PRESENT RETREATS / UNEARTH

(Diggin my feet in the GOOD)

open, raw, connect, soul search, laugh, be, paint, talk, safe, intimate, beautiful, no judgment, authentic, creative, emotional, friends, free, diverse, surprising, understanding, real, life changing, love, women, GOOD. This is Be Present Retreats/Unearth...and SOOOOO much more.

all i can say is...if you can ever find a way to experience something like this...you must do it! i walked into this feeling more of the emotion fear than anything else... and walked out feeling as if i could burst from all the love i experienced over the course of 4 days. it absolutely, positively was a life changing experience. it was truly the unexpected!

i carry these women with me now...they are a part of who i am. they have made me better for knowing each and every one of them. they gave me confidence i didn't know that i had. they gave me more love than i could have imagined. they gave me a nudge to really open up my creative side and explore away. they gave me safety and acceptance of who kolleen really is.

i only wish i could have put each and every one of you in my pocket and taken you home with me!! Thank you Liz, Kelly B, Kelly Rae, Andrea, Elizabeth, Chrissy, Serena, Gloria, Jennifer, Mindy, Marilyn, Lori, Lauren, Patty, Vivienne, Valerie, Danielle, Lisa, Tricia, Judy, Kirsten Michelle, Kirsten, Kim, Kate. i am forever grateful to each of you for the amazing experience that was Unearth and i miss all your faces!!!

a million hugs and kisses! xoxoxo

yesterday and today...

loving on this sexy, handsome man;

missing these GOR-JUSS faces plus the other 20!!

the love between a brother and a sister...really...how stinkin cute is this?!?!?!
losing a tooth and tooth fairy visits;

my attempt at creating a mixed media art piece after learning from THEE best Kelly Rae Roberts...this is the initial stage; and

still processing the experience i had in Oregon over this past weekend. i am hoping to capture the right words to blog about it all very soon!

xoxoxo to all of you!

i could pop

(northern oregon coast)

i am so full up...i think i could pop because of this lovely soul doing this.

i am still processing what i just experienced over the last 4-5 days.

MUAH!! to all you beautiful souls i was fortunate enough to spend time with in Oregon. More to come....

can you say...S T R E S S E D!!

i swear this is what i look like!!! dealing with my 4 kiddlies and their schedules, hubby out of town on business all week and trying to get ready and packed to leave for Be Present Retreats tomorrow!! Breathe...breathe...breathe...that is what i keep telling myself!!

or try to find some Peace...this is a painting i did that is hanging on the door to my girls' bedroom.

hope you are all having a peaceful...NONstressful, NOT pulling your hair out of your head... type of day!! xoxoxox

VIA ARTE FESITVAL

This one was my favorite!
today i had the privilege of hanging out with my daughters and checking out all the A.M.A.Z.I.N.G sidewalk art at the Via Arte Festival. we couldn't have asked for better weather and some of these sidewalk paintings were absolutely unbelievable!! i HAD to share!!! hope you all enjoy and had a FABULOUS weekend! xoxox

today

is about...Dodger baseball;

missing my mom....can't wait until we visit eachother again;

and

watching this movie on cable with my hubby tonight...get your box of kleenex ready! We could totally relate as we have an A M A Z I N G boy lab named Duke! I sobbed...wasn't prepared for that!

Goodnight! xoxoxox

ode to all things "twilight"

so...i am one of those who got "sucked" in (no pun intended) to the Twilight Series. I read the books about a year ago....actually kind of flew threw them because they were REALLY good! I honestly never saw myself reading something on the premise of teenagers and vampires but feel what i truly fell in love with was the love story between Bella and Edward. The romance and desire and "i shouldn't be doing this" type of stuff! It kept me turning page after page after page!

Of course my 15 year old stepdaughter Mackenzie loves the series as well but isn't moving through the books quite as quickly. The quote on this painting is hers...she really does have a way with words and I loved how she was able to look at how the times have changed and how with all this "vampire" stuff...they have kind of become our prince charmings! Or maybe it is just Edward Cullen that has!!

let's open our eyes and our hearts

i realize this is easier said than done when there seems to be many negative stories on the news, tragedies that are avoidable, etc... but i do try on a daily basis to look at the world with an open heart and an open mind.

as i've gotten older and more aware...i realize how quick one can be to judge another simply based on appearance or what they may have heard someone else say about a particular person... instead of truly getting to know that person for themselves. i feel we all need to remember that until we are truly in a certain situation, we don't really know what we would do. it is so easy for us to say ..."well i wouldn't do that, or if that happened to me...i would do this". but quite honestly, i don't feel any of us could know EXACTLY what we would do in any given situation until we are facing it head on. and therefore it is NEVER our place to judge.

so i guess i am just putting a reminder out there... and definitely to myself....look at the world (and all those around us) with an open heart, we don't know what someone may be going through! xoxoxox happy monday everyone!

today's love

i'm loving this picture of my babies...so typical of my sweet Sophia to be protecting her little sister Sydnie!

What are you all loving today???

love is all around

she is my sweet reminder that "love is all around" - it is in the way my girls wrap their arms around me and pull me close, it is in a phone call from a friend to just say "hi", it is in my husband's eyes, it is in my son's willingness to learn, it is in a song, a good book, a whisper, a look across a room, a gentle touch, a smile. i could go on and on.....and on and on.... and on and on....anyone want to add to this short but sweet list?!?! what shows you the love that is all around??

i'm sending some out!!! xoxoxoxo