Saturday, December 22, 2012

A Happy Solstice!

Sorry I didn't post last night!

I hope you all had a magical Yule/Solstice yesterday, and that the coming year is full of beautiful light and joy :)


Yesterday I decorated my altar in festive decorations, sparkly snowflakes, yellow and orange candles to represent the sun, and a blue glass candle holder with the sun emblazoned on all four sides. I lit a white candle, the yellow candle, and turned on a string of lighting around the altar as I said a Solstice prayer and meditated.

My wish is to live more adventurously in 2013. To stop worrying so much, to stop the habit of just "existing" and really LIVE. Live a creative life, live doing what I love.

Stop fearing.

The world didn't end yesterday, but we have entered a new cycle. A new era.

And mine is beginning quite wonderfully.

I will be back with the photo a day and other regularly scheduled posts after Christmas, my loves. Have a wonderful holiday and I shall see you then! :)



Thursday, December 20, 2012

December Photo a Day!


Consolidating the last few days into one post again :)



Day 16 - Hands at Work

Finishing up Trevor's Iron Man handwarmers :)


Day 17 - Comforting

Beginning to work on a junk journal and a smash book. Like most creative things, this is a very comforting act to me.


Day 18 - It's Cold Outside



Day 19 - Light




Day 20 - Furry Faces


Tomorrow is Yule. Winter Solstice. The longest night of the year, and the sun returns. What is your Solstice wish?

I'll be back tomorrow to officially wish you all a merry Yule and to tell you my wish :)



Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Celebrating Two Years

Today is the two-year anniversary of when I became a Permanent Resident of Canada.

Two years ago, on the 18th, I left my mother's home. It was a grey, icy day. Before going to the airport, my family had their annual Christmas gift exchange at my oldest biological sister's house, so everyone was there to say goodbye to me, and I got to see all the kids running around and shouting in excitement because of gifts and family and Christmas.

At five pm, Mom, my biomom, and my youngest biosister, Becky, took me to the airport. It was a very quiet evening, but everything inside me buzzed and shook with excitement and anxiety.

I flew to Dulles, where I was told the wrong gate number and missed my connecting flight to Toronto. In the middle of having the worst panic attack I'd ever experienced, I somehow managed to find the correct gate (by taking a train across the airport), rebook the flight for the following morning, and find a payphone to call my mom to tell her what happened and for my family to get hold of my husband somehow. He would be waiting at Pearson Airport and as he didn't have a mobile then, he would have no idea that I wouldn't be coming for another eight or nine hours! He was with his best friend, Kent, but I didn't know his mobile number by heart.

Debbie (biomom) was there with Mom, and both their voices immediately had a tranquilizing effect on me. While talking to them, I looked around and noticed I was right at the gate I would be leaving from in the morning.

After we hung up, I lugged my laptop case to the chairs nearest the gate doors, bundled myself up in my hat and gloves because it was cold there, and hunkered down to wait for dawn.

Meanwhile, Debbie contacted Elisa (mother-in-law) on Facebook and told her what had happened. The guys were finally reached after quite some time, so Trevor went back to Kent's place and crashed on his couch for the night, sleepless as he was.

I, too, was sleepless. From my panic attack, my lungs felt burnt out and my windpipe was raw and burning. Breathing was very painful for most of the night. I had a migraine and was nauseous. The airport soon emptied, and the only other person I met was the nighttime janitor.


I slept in fitful spurts, from 1-2am, then 3-4am. I kept eyeing the screen on the wall, paranoid that the flight schedule would suddenly change on me. It didn't, but I kept looking.

By 6am, the trickle of people had turned into a flood. The sky slowly lightened, and a coffee place nearby opened. I bought an espresso to get rid of my migraine, and it worked, but my nerves were shot and the caffeine made me shaky to the point of vibrating the entire row of seats I was sitting in.

I was up like a shot and was first in line when it was time to board.

When we rose above the flat grey-white clouds, pure sunlight filled the cabin. I looked out my window and saw a glory for the first time...


{ via }

My anxiety faded and I instantly felt at peace. I knew my landing experience would be just fine.

And it was. When we dipped below that ocean of white clouds, everything beneath was grey and snowy and beautiful. The experience of "landing" as a PR was the most anti-climactic part of Canadian immigration, except that I had to chase down my luggage which had arrived the previous night on the flight I had missed.

But it wasn't until I was in my husband's arms again that my anxiety completely vanished.

Oh, that was a good day indeed.

A year from now, I can apply for citizenship.

I am so grateful, so blessed.

I am joyous.

I'm so proud to live here.




Sunday, December 16, 2012

Photo-a-Day Catch Up

I'm behind in posting, but I have been taking my daily picture.

First off, though, I would like to extend my deepest condolences, grief, and prayers to the victims and the affected of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. There is so much agony, fear, and devastation in a lot of lives right now, and I think all of us could take a moment or two to send waves of light their way, or prayers if you follow any particular deity's path.

I saw pictures of those beautiful people and those beautiful little children, all of them happy and smiling, the children no doubt excited for the holidays. I honestly cannot imagine the horror that the victims' families are feeling right now. I cannot imagine the nightmares that the surviving children are experiencing.

Light has been extinguished from this world.

Please hug your children (or nieces and nephews, or grandchildren, or young siblings, or cousins) tightly tonight. Please be thankful for them, every single day. Tell your family members and friends that you love them, always.


Here are the Photo-a-Day pictures that I'm catching up on in this post.


Day 11 - On the Shelf

Just one shelf in my ever-growing collection of books. This shelf concentrates on all things crafty, herbal, metaphysical, and spiritual.


Day 12 - Sweet

Hot cocoa that we bought for the potluck and never cracked open, so we've been slowly chipping away at it. It's very comforting to drink it in front of the Christmas lights.



Day 13 - 'Tis the Season

I do love my Crappy Tire! Speaking of them, I went there today and snagged three ornaments that were on clearance for 83 cents each. Well, it turned out they were even cheaper than that, so I paid a little over a dollar for all three of them! I got a fuzzy, felt green ball with coloured polka dots on it, and two glittery butterflies in pink and lavender.



Day 14 - B&W

Beautiful cards sent to me from two of my "heart sisters", Noelle and Catherine.


Day 15 - Something Yum

Having a very delicious treat (spiked with Kahlua!) after getting home from the cinema last night.


Today, Trevor and I officially finished our Christmas shopping. We were unable to send a box down to my family in Virginia, but we'll be working on that as soon as possible. It was pouring rain down out of a warm silver sky, which was still an improvement from last night after we finished seeing The Hobbit. It was below freezing then, very windy, and everything was covered in a very thin layer of ice when it was time for us to go home. Ack!

Can one learn to ice skate while wearing sneakers?

Solstice is coming. I definitely feel it now.


Wednesday, December 12, 2012

The New Moon

It is now the new moon.

The new moon, or dark moon, is the time when the moon is between the earth and sun and cannot be seen.

New moons are all about new beginnings, and I love new beginnings to refresh myself and to work harder on building myself. I feel that the new moon is a time to start each month over with a clean slate.





Things I Will Do on New Moons (starting today!):

Clean the house on a mundane level before cleaning it on an energetic level with smudging.

Smudge the house to begin each moon phase/month with an energetically clean environment.

Set an intention for the month; what would I like to manifest during this moon phase?

In future, I'd like to have Tarot readings to see what the month holds.


Monday, December 10, 2012

Photo a Day - Day 10


Day 10 - Stripes

What better stripes for this festive photo project than a pack of pretty candy canes?



I got to order some books tonight! Wahoo!! I've had these on my Book Depository and Amazon wishlist for a while now, so I'm really excited to get them. The Book Depository offers free shipping worldwide, and stuff takes about three weeks to get to my house since they're coming from the UK.

Here's what I bought!







And because this novel looks really fun...


Hooray for books! :) I'm getting a Kobo Touch for Christmas, but there's nothing quite like having a physical book to hold in your hands and smell its inviting pages. One of my life goals (which I will post about in the next couple of weeks) is to read all the books in my personal library. Now that's a challenge!

In really exciting news, I made my first commission today as a Goddess Ambassador!! A friend bought the 2013 Creating Your Incredible Year workbook & calender, and I'm so excited for her! I hope it makes her year as magical and sparkly as the workbook made my 2012.



Buy both the Business and Life editions and save 10%!








Sunday, December 9, 2012

Photo a Day - Catching up!

I've got to catch up for two days of my photo project! Trevor and I had our second-annual holiday party yesterday, and it was an even bigger hit than last year and everyone had a ton of fun. I love parties with our friends, and when they're during the holidays and everything's even more festive? That really makes for a memorable night.

With so many folks in our apartment, though, I feel emotionally drained. Tonight I'm going to smudge the house and get my new quartz point set in a central location to clear the energies in here.

As I am very tired still, I will leave you with a catch up on the photo a day project!



Day 8 - Shopping

Hubby was checking out my Amazon wishlist :)


Day 9 - Decorated







Are any of you doing a photo project -- or any other fun creative project -- this month? Have you done one recently? Share with me! :)




Friday, December 7, 2012

December Photo a Day - 7


Day 7 - The View from Here

We live in a basement apartment. I'm holding the camera up over my head for this pic!





Thursday, December 6, 2012

Photo a Day - 6

December Photo a Day - Day 6 - Burst of Red





Yesterday I forgot to show off the physical things I've received from Livejournal's Holiday-Wishes community so far!


Lots o' fabric from wood-dragon
Butterfly journal from flamelight
Unlined floral journal from poeticknowledge
Quartz point (needed one SO BAD) from thefannishwaldo
Not pictured: awesome artwork from browngirl

Part of my list was to ask folks to register to become organ donors and to volunteer or donate to local animal rescues :) I've been granting lots of other people's wishes and have been gaining new friends in the process! Nothing beats friends, after all! :)



Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Photo a Day and Christmas in My House!

December Photo a Day - Day 5 - Someone You Love

My dear hubby, relaxing with a cold. Poor guy! But I'm taking good care of him :)




It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas throughout our apartment!





















Tell me how your home is decorated for the holidays! When do you usually decorate? What colour tree do you have, if you put one up? Do you go all out or do you prefer low-key elegant?


Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Photo a Day - Playing with shadows!

Day 4 - Shadow Play

For this theme, I noticed how our tree was creating interesting shadows on the wall behind it!




Tomorrow I'm going to share the wonderful things I have received so far in response to my list on Livejournal's Holiday Wishes community!

I'll also take you on a mini tour of my home and how it's decorated. :)

See you all tomorrow, and sorry for such a short entry tonight!



Monday, December 3, 2012

Photo a Day + Riding Wild Donkeys

Looking for my Worldwide Christmas Scrapbooking Freebies post? Click here!


December Photo a Day - Day 3 - What You're Reading

Now, lovelies, I will tell you what a wild donkey is.

A wild donkey is an idea that shows up in your creative paddock.

It's your job to jump on and ride it until it's finished.

And then it's your job to release it into the wilds!

Check out Leonie Dawson's free e-book on riding wild donkeys. This is for anyone who's frustrated with never actually COMPLETING any of their projects and are looking for ways to release their big ideas out into the wild:

“The Project Finisher: A Cowgirl’s Guide To Riding Wild Donkeys

Go get those projects FINISHED and out into the world! I'm with you every step of the way!

IT'S WILD!