OH WHAT A NIGHT

Disclaimer:  To continue reading this blog with a guaranteed smile it is suggested you re-read the above title in-tune with December, 1963 by The Four Seasons

Some of you who know me personally know I can get prrretty outta hand sometimes. Yup like crazy slowdown-cowboy type wild and that folks was precisely me all weekend.  Getting all wild all by my lonesome by doing nothing all.  I missed community and friends so much while I was away and there are literally days where I am gyrating off decaf cause I’ve had so many coffees with lovely people but sometimes I am simply a loner and I want no other company besides myself.  I like not having to have constant stimulation and company in order to feel alive, I like defying the social standards of going out every Friday and Saturday night just to prove my coolness factor….I mean really, I exude coolness anyway!!

Friday night was a little nuts.  My mind decided to wig out on me around 3am (the typical time lately where my head is invaded with a miniature army of people who barge in and start waging wars on one another, or preforming amazing circus acts, or reciting poetry – like slam poetry, the emotionally raw stuff you just can’t get enough of).  Anyway, Friday night I was greeted once again by my trusty old friends and right away they made it clear they were setting up shop and camping out for the night.  I admitted defeat to sleep around 6am, crawled out of bed and decided to try again the next night.  Inevitably my body put up a major protest around 10am and the two of us spent an entire afternoon duking it out over crawling back under the covers or waiting till evening.  Alas I won and the only persuasion required was a little friend I like to call creating!!!

On the road I missed making things so badly that I would contemplate a ticket home just so I could visit my sweet little dresser full of random art magic.  In one country I even bought myself a thing of glue so I could finally use my mind to create something.  I spent an entire day in the park gluing leaves, rocks, sticks and whatever else I could find together…it was a beautiful day.  Being back, I go through my drawer of goodies and I find myself wanting to make the world.

My mother is working on a project right now and taking all of the pictures out of our family albums that have been passed down from one generation to the next.  Upon a visit with my mom I discovered her throwing out all the vintage photo-albums that were “garbage” once she took the pictures out *insert sound of angels singing here*.  “YES, absolutely I will dig through all your garbage Mother and save all these beautiful books of love, and haven’t we already had the conversation of throwing absolutely NOTHING out before asking me”?  So I have found my new project…re-doing vintage albums.  I made new pages, finished up all the bindings, and began creating the first and last page (I have yet to decide what I will put in the middle).  Here’s a few pictures of the little treasures I started making this weekend.  Kindly note the front page and its claim to be passed down from one generation to the next, it just sounded so much better than “I dug this dirty old thing out of the garbage cause no one wanted it”.

DEAR WORLD…I LOVE YOU

Malta, Ireland, Spain, Turkey, Brazil, Lao, Sweden, Nepal, India, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Japan, UK, China, America, and Canada…over the last three days alone my blog has been visited by well over a dozen different countries in many different regions, provinces, and states…how exciting.  And the best part is, you keep coming back. Coming back to peek into my mind or rip it apart, whatever the reason you keep coming back and that simply makes me smile!
Hope your enjoying what your reading….
Love:  Jenelle

WHICH FRUITS ARE YOU FEEDING?

EVENING REMINDER

Hold on to your life,
Even if it’s easier to let go…

DO YOUR PICTURES SING TO YOU?

Grey Street – Dave Mathews Band
(this used to be my very own teenage anthem;
it jacks me up and breaks me down all at once)
I dreamed myself a million times around the world
but I can’t get out of this place…
ya know she feels like kicking out all the windows
and setting fire to this life
she would change everything about her
using colours bold and bright
but all the colours mix together to grey
and it breaks her heart

VCR – The XX
(I am in love with this entire album,
most especially for the moments it has given me)
You, you used to have all the answers
And you, you still have them too
And we, we live half in the day time
And we, we live half at night
I think we’re superstars
You say you think we are the best thing
Because you, you just know, you just do

This too Shall Pass – Justin Rutledge
When its windy in the morning
and your cloudy all day
when the night arrives at last
it just won’t go away
when your eyes are sick with wonder and your heart is in a cast
This too, shall pass
and we figured out how to make a good thing last
but this too shall pass
this way you feel, this too shall heal

FUN WITH ME

Three cheers for days like today!  A nice sleep in and an afternoon coffee at a Spanish meet-up that I just joined.  I love learning new things and forever I have wanted to learn Spanish.  I’ve been to Mexico a handful of times and been to Spain a few times as well, it is quite pathetic that I still don’t know Spanish so it has officially been added to my goals for 2010.  Today I also did a million errands that have been put off for far too long, I even finally developed film of the boys from when they were babies – you know your a procrastinator when you finally get a task on your things-to-do list done nine years later!!  I spent the rest of my day meandering around the library, cleaning out my filthy car, and making myself this cute little passport case in anticipation of that little blue book arriving in my mail any day now.  Yeah for today…somedays I just have too much fun with myself!

Tell me where your feet have been?

feet
ran for love
childlike dancing
toes tasting water
walk upon rocky lands
desiring to stand sturdy
escaping from below me
running faster than my mind
warmth from the pavement 
curling in excitement 
tippy toes in silence
movement of life
ticket out
feet

Hope this finds you well…

Yah to my new project this week!  This year one of my goals was sending out more cards and letters whether it be simple hellos or lovely thank-yous.  Receiving a card or a little note is by far one of my favorite gifts and although I love giving cards already, I figured it can never hurt to up the ante and make it my goal to write even more.  Its all about the love baby!

Last week when I was on PostSecrets I found this great little post card.  I like it!  I like the idea!  So this week I finished up making a pile of homemade cards and today I finally sent them off to a few Randy-McRandomsons.  Hope it makes someone’s day a little extra special and I hope it adds a big smile to their probably very confused face!

The top picture is what inspired me, the second  is the picture I put on the front of all my cards, and below are a few more of my favorite postsecrets that ive collected over the years (the little girl is my most favorite).

MY FAVOURITE GIFT

Gifts.  Who doesn’t like gifts?  Big ones, small ones, preferably thoughtful ones…I love gifts.  I wish I had a list of all the gifts I was given in life, down to what Sally-Lou gave me at my fifth birthday, it would be so fun to look back on.  Some of the gifts I’ve been given however were not necessarily tangible items, some of them were moments, or shared emotions, or times in life…these are my favourite gifts.

Once upon a time, in generations passed I was given the gift of fun.  Somewhere in my roots, my heritage, possibly from my great-great-great grandmother she decided ‘fun’ would be the gift she would pass down to her family.  I imagine her sitting in her old rocking chair and thinking, ‘you know somewhere out there in the distant future I will have a great granddaughter and I want her to know the true joy of life, this is the gift I want to give her’.  She was also wise enough to know that there would be no possible way to actually give me this gift herself so she concocted the most beautiful plan, she would lead by example.  She would teach her children the joy of seeking, the beauty behind discovery and adventure, she would put smiles on their faces that would light up their world.  She would teach them to bring laughter into a room, and remind them that although life is hard work and includes many commitments and sacrifices, it is the smiles you made and the life of your spirt that would count in the end.  She knew if she lived this well and taught this well these traits would trickle down through the generations, and her family would inherit these gifts.

So in my blood I was blessed in bountiful ways.  Emotions, communication, loyalty, hard work, faith, all of these things were passed down but somewhere in my veins was also a pumping supply of laughter, joy, and excitement.  A childlike ability to discover playfulness, and for that I am so grateful.

The top picture is my Great Grandma and Grandpa Klettke…in love, this picture makes me smile.  The bottom picture is my Grandma Klettke (Joan) playing around on the farm with her father in the background who is holding her daughter (Lori).  I love this!  I love my Grandma, I love that she is with her kids and her parents but still a complete goof ball.  While most people in this age were saving their money for pictures of their family with straight edge faces and looks of gloom (I never have understood those pictures), she was striking a pose in her best element…fun.  My Grandma knew how to laugh, and play, and really truly relax and enjoy life.  It was a gift she was given and a gift she passed down the lines. A gift that landed in my lap where I eagerly received it and tenderly opened the package knowing the ‘work’ and thought that went into giving it.

Sheila’s phrases to live by

If you haven’t smiled yet this morning, this will surely do the trick.  Happy thursday everyone!