When Life Gives You a Gut Punch

 

Checking in here with a little life update as I've been very absent from this space. We've just had a really tough couple of years around here! My girls got my husband this shirt for Father's Day. It's a joke, yes, though he really is quite the farter. Sadly, that is also one of the side effects of chemotherapy, and this photo was taken on day one of cycle three of his chemo journey. 

In April, my Mister was diagnosed with stage IV cholangiocarcinoma, a rare and aggressive cancer that starts in the bile ducts of the liver. Unfortunately, this is a type of cancer that is most often not discovered until it’s very advanced. Everything happened very quickly as our first hint that anything was wrong was just the first week of March when he went in for some routine blood work for his regular checkup. Following that discovery, he went through quite a bit more blood work, along with a sonogram, CT scan, and a biopsy. He started receiving a chemotherapy and immunotherapy cocktail infusion in late April and will continue with that for 12-15 weeks. 

 

Following that, the plan is to continue with monthly immunotherapy infusions, all with the goal of stabilizing things to keep the tumors from spreading or getting larger. The cancer is too far advanced for either surgery or a liver transplant, but with this treatment plan, we’re hopeful he’s got a few more good years ahead. With the chemo starting in late April, he’ll hopefully be through with that portion of his treatment before class starts back in late August so he can continue teaching the next generation of welders. 

 

Cycle 4 of chemo starts this Friday, and he has his next PET scan July 8. His treatment is through UFHealth, and we’re very happy with his team, led by Dr. Joseph Mignone. I had a great experience with UFHealth with my total knee replacement last Fall, and we feel he is in good hands for this journey. This has been a super gut punch, but my Mister is working through it with his trademark humor, and we're tackling projects around the house he feels up to to keep his mind off things. Our girls are home for the summer, so it's been a blessing for him to have them here. We appreciate all the prayers and good mojo you can send us on this totally unexpected journey. 

Sunday Gratitude and Sparkly Things

 

Hello friends! Happy New Year! I don't know you about you, but I'm glad to have made it past 2025; it was definitely a challenging year. Here's to brighter days ahead! I was pretty absent from this space in 2025, short of a few "here's what happening in my crazy life" updates, but I'm hoping to get myself back on track this year. If you're still here, please know how much I appreciate you following along. 

With everything I went through in 2025, I tried to keep up my creativity, but even that came to a screeching halt when my dad passed unexpectedly in the midst of my sister and me helping him work through some major life changes. I always post my creative work on my Instagram, and the last time I posted anything creative there, short of the amazing creations that are my daughters, was in July. This bracelet is the first little piece of creativity I've added to the world since then! And I owe a debt of gratitude to my daughters for it. While they were home in Jacksonville for the Christmas break, in addition to helping me continue to recover from my total knee replacement in October, they were determined to get me back in my studio. One dragged me down there in the hopes of me creating a couple things for her and a couple presents for her friends, thus this bracelet! One of her friends loves mixed metals, so we came up with this piece using 14K gold-filled wire and sparkly silver metallic Czech glass beads. Super simple piece, and we both loved the way it came out. 

But really, in addition to just getting me down there to make something "so you can get back to yourself, Mama," they really put in the work to make that possible. They sent me upstairs to ice my knee and then proceeded to totally clean up and organize (as much as humanly possible with the amount of supplies and interests I have) my art studio workspace. Now that I'm back home in Jacksonville, I have far less space, so it's no easy task getting - and keeping - it organized. Add to that my ADHD brain, and things can get - and stay - pretty messy down there. My goal this year is to put up the supplies I was working with before moving on to something else! 

Another way I hope to corral my ADHD brain this year, in my creative work anyway, is to try working in collections. I tend to bounce from thing to thing and back again pretty quickly, so I'm going to work on roping that in a bit. We'll see how it goes! I may bring Free Bling Friday back this year as well, still considering that. I do love sending my little pieces of creativity out into the world, even it's sometimes for free! 

Thank you for stopping in! I hope you'll leave me a comment to let me know you were here! Are you on my email newsletter list for monthly-ish updates and subscriber only discounts? Sign up here!   

Total Knee Replacement Surgery is Not for the Faint of Heart

 

I’m four weeks and a day post total knee replacement surgery today, so I thought I’d share an update … along with my super sexy outfit for the day. I will say the first time I tried to put the compression socks on by myself, about 2 weeks post surgery, it took me about 20 minutes and required a post-battle nap, but I’m getting better at getting them on now!

Surgical bandage was removed 10/30 and steri-strips applied - those are very similar to butterfly bandages. The steri-strips fall off when they are ready, and I’d say I’m down to about half of them now. The lovely 9” incision is healing well. It’s covered by the knee sleeve in this pic.

PT is serious hard work, y’all! My therapists have determined the natural makeup of my knees are just a little crooked, and my surgical knee still has quite a bit of scar tissue left over from my 2012 surgery on that same knee. So at therapy this past Monday, Dom decided he was going to tackle that scar tissue. He took a metal tool that resembled a butter knife and then with full strength of his very strong arms, pushed the metal along the side of my knee where he felt the most scar tissue .. and did that for about 15 minutes. This is called the Graston Technique. Holy hell!!! I have not cried at PT and the only thing that kept me from crying then was Lori squeezing my hand and acting like a Lamaze coach telling me to breathe! I think that might have been just as painful as those first couple days when the nerve block wore off!

Anywho, back to PT tomorrow. I go twice a week and have quite a few exercises I do at home three to five times a day, and then ice and elevate after each session. I’m back to working half days (obvi from home since I can’t drive yet), basically alternating working for an hour with my exercises, icing, and elevating for an hour until Benny gets home from work. Then once he’s home and I have adult supervision so I don’t fall, I get on our stationary bike for a bit. I’m getting about a 50% rotation on the bike and a 90 degree bend on my knee at this point. The goal by end of therapy is 115-120 degree bend by 12-15 weeks.

Things I’ve learned in the event you have a total knee replacement in your future: So, the pain pills … while they are super important in the first week or so, and definitely get ahead of the pain you will feel when the surgical nerve block wears off anywhere from 24-36 hours post surgery, I stopped taking them after the first week because I much preferred to drop the kids off at the pool, shall we say. One of the side effects of the pain pills is severe constipation, so hindsight 20/20, I’d recommend taking a laxative every time you take a pain pill! And back to the nerve block: those first 24-36 hours you will feel like “Heck! This isn’t bad at all!” … and then that nerve block wears off quite suddenly and you are now regretting your life’s choices. Get ahead of that pain! Unfortunately my pharmacy did not have the pain pills in immediately, so my nerve block wore off before my pain pills hit. It was not pretty. There were definitely tears. The second thing I'd make you aware of is the fatigue. I literally need to rest after taking a shower! Doc said that fatigue lasts a good 12-16 weeks. It’s getting better, but I still tire pretty easily. I’d also recommend some mental health therapy. My therapist Dom has a background in sports psychology so we talked about this a bit. As someone who is used to being constantly on the go - and likes being constantly on the go - the clipping of my wings has been really hard on me. Not being able to drive has been challenging; I’ve had great help from friends and Benny getting me to PT, but simply not being able to jump in the car and run out for an errand has been really mentally hard on me. I thought I’d be able to enjoy some downtime in my art studio but that hasn’t worked out because I can’t be on my feet for long due to trying to keep the swelling down. I have my next appt with the surgeon 11/25, so I’m gonna recommend to him that he consider adding a little mental health therapy to the physical therapy for future patients.

All in all, my PTs tell me I’m progressing well. I will say it has been pretty humbling. I was in pretty good shape going into this - I’ve been athletic all my life and work out regularly. And while I’m sure that helped me some, this is still a very difficult recovery. I remember my primary care doc (whom I love!) kinda chuckling and saying “Well, you realize this is kinda like an amputation, right? They basically take your leg apart, saw some bone off, and put it back together with new pieces…” and me saying “Thanks, Dr Allen, that’s exactly what I needed to hear!” When I told that story to the PA removing my surgical bandage, he too kinda chuckled and said “He’s not wrong!”

In addition to being four weeks post surgery, I’m also four weeks until I go to NYC for a Christmas trip! Realistically I won’t be 100% by then, but prayers up I’ll be strong enough to make it work with some icing and elevating breaks worked in!

When Plans Change

Heads up: long, personal story post coming up … My husband always says, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans,” his way of saying those plans rarely go the way you’ve planned. 

Dad on his 80th Birthday

I shared back in this post that my sister and I were helping our Dad though a major life change. That major life change was a divorce, not of his choosing, at 80. His now former wife, Kathy, who filed the papers, is 78; she was his third wife, and they had been married nearly 28 years. When preparing to write this post, I noticed that the last time I posted here was August 6. Friday, August 8, my Dad died suddenly and unexpectedly of an apparent heart attack. As I had feared when I first learned of the divorce, the stress of the situation ultimately took his life.  

Because Dad passed prior to the divorce being final, Kathy got everything she wanted … him out of her life AND his social security and life insurance. To add insult to injury, my sister and I were paying Dad’s attorney’s fees because Kathy controlled all the money in the relationship other than his monthly social security payments, and she even refused to reimburse my sister and me the funds we spent on his behalf for the divorce she wanted.  

The previous four and a half months had been really challenging helping him through the divorce and working through what the next stage of his life would look like post-divorce. He and Kathy adopted Kathy’s grandson as an infant, so they were parenting a 12-year-old at the time of his passing. My sister and I knew that once the divorce was final, Dad would be living a pretty sad existence in an apartment, as he wanted to stay in West Palm Beach to be near the child. So when I learned of his passing, it was one of those surreal moments in which I really didn’t know how to feel. On one hand, I was sad that I’d lost my father, but on the other hand, I was relieved for him that he was no longer in that horrible situation. It’s been three months now, and I’m still wrapping my head around it. As life goes sometimes, it’s not lost on me that I also lost my mother – to suicide – in the middle of her going through a divorce from her third husband. 

Books - The House in the Cerulean Sea Duology by T.J. Klune

Ya'll! Read these books! I'll just start with that. I had been hearing about The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune for quite a while and kept trying to catch it at my favorite used bookstore - Chamblin Bookmine - but they never had it. Apparently people don't give it up! And now, I am one of those people! This book has earned a permanent spot on my bookshelves.  

Here's a quick summary: The House in the Cerulean Sea is a heartwarming novel about Linus Baker, a caseworker who investigates magical orphanages. Assigned to Marsyas Island Orphanage, he encounters six unusual magical children and their charming caretaker, Arthur. Linus's life transforms as he grapples with his own prejudices and discovers the true meaning of family, love, and acceptance. The story explores themes of found family, prejudice, and the power of empathy. That's your basic Google AI summary. But, oh my goodness, this book is so special. I laughed, I cried, I got angry, I laughed again, I cried again, I got angry again, and I just didn't want the book to end. There were several laugh out loud moments for me, but the one that got me the best involved my home state. I won't spoil it for you, but I'm guessing even folks not from Florida will laugh at that one. 

 

The large majority of our book club loved this book as well. There are some themes that may make some folks uncomfortable, and honestly from my perspective, I truly hope those folks read the book even more. One of the magical children is the antichrist, at seven years old, named Lucy. I thought the author handled this beautifully  - it is a fantasy story, after all! - but the very religious may feel otherwise. The other magical children included a wyvern named Theodore, a shape shifter named Sal, a garden gnome named Talia, a girl who could make trees named Phee, and a big watery blob named Chauncey who just wanted to be a bellhop. Adult caretakers Arthur and Zoe are also magical, but I won't spoil their magic for you! It's a beautiful story about accepting others for who they are, tolerance of differences, fighting for those you love, and love in all forms. When I finished this one, I immediately wanted to start it again. And then...

The sequel came out!! Yay!! Somewhere Beyond the Sea came out in September 2024 and picked up right where The House in the Cerulean Sea left off. I enjoyed this one just as much and rooted along for Linus and Arthur as they continued to fight for a world that accepted the beauty found in all of us, no matter how different we may look. I found both of these books to be true balms for the soul is this time of division and political turmoil that we are experiencing here in the United States. I read some pretty heavy stuff sometimes with my love of historical fiction, and sometimes I need what my next door neighbor called a "palate cleanser" of a book. These two books definitely deal with heavy topics, yet they do it in a way that hopefully opens your eyes to the treasures we can find in each other if we just take the time to truly get to know that person rather than judge them by their appearance, difference, ability or disability. The pair has made it to my top 10 all favorite books list.     

  

ICAD 2024 - Week 2 and Hello ... Is There Anybody in There? ...

 ... Just nod if you can hear me ... Is there anyone home? Any Pink Floyd fans out there? I'm not a huge fan, but Comfortably Numb seems to stick with me and seems apt for the moment. As I shared earlier this year, I've really wanted to try to get back to blogging regularly in 2025, and while I think I've probably written more posts in the first half of 2025 than I did in all of 2024 at this point, I still wouldn't call it the "regular" posting I was hoping to do. Funny how things that were once strong habits can so easily fall to the wayside in this crazy over-saturated, internet-driven world. I do miss the more in-depth writing part of the old blogging world that's been taken over by the immediacy and in-your-face video streams of Tik Tok and, more and more now, Instagram. I've been checking out Substack lately, not posting anything myself, but enjoying the more long-format writing you can find there, and one of my old blog friends who I really enjoyed following, Christine Mason Miller, is now on Substack. I'm so glad I found her there. She recently shared a post there about this very thing - what happened to blogging? - and it really resonated with me. Maybe it will with you as well. 

I'm not doing ICAD (index card a day) this year, but I'm still sharing my ICAD 2024 work with you ... you know, since I shared hardly anything here in 2024! This was week two for me, above, and a close up of my favorite for the week below. I do miss doing ICAD but my world is still just in a bit of a mess right now like I shared here, and we're still working through all sorts of things that continue to come our way, so my art making time has been slim to none. I'm in the process of moving mostly back home to Jacksonville, as I've been given the go-ahead to work more fully remote for this next academic year. My daughters finished up undergrad this summer and are moving into my Tallahassee house for grad school, so while I'm not having to pack up and move the whole house, I am packing up and moving all my art supplies back home to Jacksonville. And I'm not ashamed to admit I, like most of us who have a variety of creative interests, have far more art supplies than I truly need! So it's still a rather large process. I've been trying to load up the back of my SUV with whatever will fit every time I go home, but I fear a small U-Haul may be in my future.

So ... Hello! IS there anybody out there? If you've come across this post, I'd love for you to leave me a comment so I know you were here. Just say hello and let me know where you are! And if you are following someone on Substack you'd like to recommend, please do! 

      

One College Graduation Down, One to Go!

My girl Sarah officially walked across her college graduation stage last Friday evening. It was a super long day that started with a small ceremony for her major in the Classics department. I thought that was super special! She was part of the College of Arts and Sciences graduates ceremony, and by my count, there were nearly 2,000 graduates on that floor. But the smaller Classics ceremony earlier in the day let each of them shine individually. The faculty introduced every graduate, and each received a crown wreath in true Classics fashion. Then we headed to El Jalisco for a quick dinner and celebratory margeritas before heading to the larger Commencement ceremony at the Tucker Center. 

As most grads do, Sarah wanted cash, but I wanted her to have a little something to open other than a check, so I made these earrings for her. I'm super happy with the way they came together and I hope she loves them as much as I do! Sarah graduated with a bachelor's in Classical Civilizations and will begin pursuing a master's in Information Science in the fall. Liv graduates in August with a bachelor's in Environmental Science after her final internship summer, so we've got one down and one to go! Liv will begin pursuing a master's in Aquatic Environmental Science in the fall. If you've been reading this blog from the beginning, you've watched them grow up! Thank you for following along!  

Sunday Gratitude (on a Tuesday): FSU Mass Shooting, April 17, 2025

You wouldn't think I'd have any gratitude around a mass shooting, so I'll explain. So yes, in case you missed it, there was a mass shooting at Florida State University on Thursday, April 17, 2025. FSU ... my alma mater and the university at which my girls are graduating seniors. A 20-year-old student killed two and injured six before being taken down by FSU police. The two killed, both staff, have been memorialized. All but one of the six injured, all students, have now been released from the hospital. The shooter in still currently in the hospital. 

First, let me share this very powerful piece written by one of my daughter Sarah’s classmates; this describes what went on in the exact classroom Sarah was in during the tragedy. That fact that these students have been through active shooter drills for this is two-sided. It’s great that they have so they knew what do to, but it’s so incredibly sad that our kids are having to go through active shooter drills to prepare for a real event … we all hope that it won’t happen, and yet it continues to happen.

 

I was in contact with Sarah via text from the moment we got the FSU alert. Olivia was at work with me. I can only imagine the panic of the parents who weren’t able to reach their kids as quickly. And I can only imagine what these students and FSU staff experienced. But I can tell you how I felt as a parent to one of those students barricaded in a classroom for nearly three hours hiding from an active shooter on yet another campus where they should feel safe. And as a dear friend to someone who works on campus very close to the Union and is charged with trying to keep her students calm and safe in a very scary situation … I felt surreal panic. Like a “how can this really be happening” kind of panic. And a total helplessness. And not only worry for my daughter and friend experiencing it there on campus, but also worry for my daughter sitting next to me frantically texting her friends to make sure they were in a safe place.

All the News That's Fit to Print

All the News That's Fit to Print... Well, isn't that a mouthful? So it's been a minute since I checked in here, totally wrecking my goal to get back to blogging regularly in 2025. This art journal spread is the first I've done in nearly a month, which is super unusual for me, but life has definitely thrown me some curve balls lately. I usually keep things upbeat here for the most part. Don't so many of us on social media? While we may try to outwardly present that things are always sunshine are roses, behind the curtain, things may actually be stormy and weed-choked. Isn't that truly the case for everyone? So how about some real life today?

I've been dealing with some challenges at work that have really been draining me. For the sake of professionalism, I won't go into too much detail, but suffice it to say there are those that are in top positions of leadership and power who aren't always right, yet they don't seem to be able to admit their mistakes. I've been dealing with an issue that seriously has me considering retiring earlier than initially planned. As a friend on my board said to me, "People are just unhinged lately! Totally unhinged!" and she's so right! It seems that the current climate in our country either has people acting in ways that are totally out of character for them or is giving them the freedom to show their true nature. I'm not sure which in this case, but it's been a doosy. We give so much of ourselves to our careers, and at this point in mine, I'm really giving myself grace and self-love, standing up for myself and my limits of what I'll accept in regards to how others feel they can treat me. I deserve better. I'll be glad when this situation finally plays itself out, but it's been one for the record books for sure. Lawyers and all!

In my personal life, I've been dealing with something I never thought I'd ever have to deal with ... my sister and I are in the midst of helping our 80-year-old father through a major life change. It's not health related; we could have expected that. Just a major change in his personal life, the outcome of which will affect so many different variables that we are still trying to wrap our heads around. And there, too, we have to protect ourselves and be firm with just how much we are willing to do, and that's hard to do with a parent, but we still have to give ourselves grace and self-love and stand up for what we are and are not willing to do. It just plain sucks. 

And then there's Thursday, April 17, 11:58am, the moment my family's life crossed paths with what's sadly becoming a common occurrence in this country: another mass shooting. I live and work in Tallahassee, and my daughters attend Florida State University, the site of a mass shooting last Thursday. One of my daughters was at work with me about one mile from the Student Union, where the shooting started, but the other was on campus in class not far from the Union. Thankfully my girls are physically okay, though I'm sure experiencing something like that leaves permanent mental scars. It was a super scary, super sad day, and I'm still wrapping my head around it, so I'll share more on it later in the week.

So all this to say, sometimes life is just plain crappy, constant storm showers leaving muddy, weed-ravaged ground. We all have our "stuff" we are going through. Every single one of us. Be kind to one another, as we so often have no idea the challenges others are facing behind the curtain. Give yourself and others that same grace and love, and let's help each other through our battles. 

ICAD 2024 - Week 1

Since I've neglected this ole' blog a bit, I'm going to start sharing some things from past art journaling and #the100daysproject challenges that I've not shared here yet. We'll start with ICAD 2024! 

ICAD stands for index card a day, and Tammy over at Daisy Yellow has been leading this challenge for many years! I've been participating in it for several years as well, though the past few years, I've used a vintage rolodex instead of index cards. I love flipping through it! The thing about these challenges - for me, anyways - is that in order for them to be enjoyable, I've long ago accepted that I won't finish them "on time." Creating every day is just not feasible for me with my work and family responsibilities, and frankly, some days I just plain don't have the energy. And that's okay!!! I've always felt that if I start to feel too pressured to post every single day on Instagram (where most of the challenges that place), then that takes the fun out of it. Sure, my posts might not be seen as part of the challenge once I've fallen behind enough that the challenge is over but I'm still working, but I'm okay with that!  The benefit for me is eventually working through all the prompts, regardless of when they are done. They are meant to be fun, so I refuse to be too hard on myself. I hope you'll be easy on yourself as well.

Books - A Pair of Wings by Carole Hopson

 

 

 A Pair of Wings by Carole Hopson is our Chapter Night Book Club read for March. I loved this book! Historical fiction is my favorite genre, so this definitely fit the bill, but normally I read WWII historical fiction; this is American historical fiction. A Pair of Wings tells the story of Bessie Coleman, the real life first black female aviatrix in America.

Born to a former slave turned sharecropper in Texas in 1892, Bessie was learning how to fly at the same time that Amelia Earhart was learning to fly, and it's about time her story is being told. In her early 20s, Bessie made her way to Chicago and her brothers, and, having always had the dream of becoming a pilot, she worked in Chicago saving every penny she had. Her luck and hard work turned for the better with the help of two powerful, wealthy black men who wanted to help her soar. However, for Bessie, being a black woman, there was no school in America that would teach her, so with the help of these two men, she made her way to France to learn to fly, learning to speak French before she left America.

Sunday Gratitude: The Gift of BJ Hausman

Just over a week ago, I learned that my very dear friend and long time mentor BJ Hausman had passed away the previous day. Last Sunday, I attended her memorial service. We had been friends for 33 years, and in that 33 years, her impact on my life was immeasurable, both professionally and personally.

 

 

BJ was the person who started my Student Leadership Development career. And she also was the gardener who planted the seed that became my creative business. But first, let's talk my professional career. In 1992, BJ hired me to lead a new Student Leadership development grant program at Florida Community College at Jacksonville, now Florida State College at Jacksonville. She said that while I didn't yet have the Student Development experience for the position, she selected me because I had the marketing and public relations experience the project needed to get off the ground, and she knew she could teach me the rest. And that she did. I would not be in the role I am in now without BJ. Truly!

March 2025 Free Bling Friday

Well, hello there, and happy Free Bling Friday! Congratulations to the recipient of my February Free Bling, Lee from Jacksonville! This year for the #the100dayproject, I'm doing #100daysofsparkly things, so I decided to send this pair out into the world for March Free Bling! I created these with yummy handmade lampwork beads, accented by copper Swarovski crystals and 14K gold-filled findings. They hang just shy of 2" from top of earwire to very bottom. The 100 day project happens every year over on Instagram, with makers all over the world committing to 100 days of something. For me, I know it's not feasible for me to create every single way because - ya know, life! - so I tend to create a batches of three of four at a time and post them two or three times a week. If you are on Instagram, you can follow along with me there @kellynwarren. I'd love to see you there!

For now, want this pair to head your way? Leave me a comment below with your location and what brought you to my blog today. Due to shipping charges, the giveaway is open to US residents only; my apologies to my out of country readers. I'll draw March's winner on March 31, so you have a few weeks to get your entry in! Subscribe to my monthly newsletter here to get a reminder of Free Bling Friday and other updates, including newsletter only discounts. Want another entry? If you are on Instagram, you can comment on my March Free Bling Friday post! Just look for these earrings! (Note: If you comment anonymously here on the blog, be sure to leave your name, location, and how to reach you in case you win! It's best to log in with your Google or Gmail account before commenting.)

Junk Journal January - Magazine Prompt

I've been working through the Junk Journal January prompts, led by @megjournals on Instragram. The prompt for this spread was "magazine." I love good old-fashioned paper magazines that arrive in my real mailbox. Something other than bills and junk mail! I'm always tearing things out of the magazines to use in my art journals.  

I created this junk journal I'm working in from a vintage children's book. It's a fun little book because it started with one story on one side, "Toby Tyler," and another story from the opposite side, "Rip Van Winkle." I took out the book block and sewed in three new signatures created from random papers, thus a "junk journal." I really enjoy working in these because it 100% takes the pressure off! 

How about you? Have you ever tried junk journaling? Interested in learning more? Let me know what you think!

February 2025 Free Bling Friday!

Happy Friday, ya'll, and Happy Valentine's Day to those of you who love to celebrate Valentine's Day! Normally I do Free Bling Friday on the first Friday of the month, but I was out of town traveling for much of the first half of February, so here we are on the second Friday. Congratulations to Kristin from North Carolina, who will been receiving January's Free Bling Friday in her mailbox soon!

Whenever I'm out and about at little vintage shops and such, I love to stumble upon vintage cloisonne beads. If you've ever wondered just exactly what cloisonne is, it is "the technique of creating designs on metal vessels with colored-glass paste placed within enclosures made of copper or bronze wires, which have been bent or hammered into the desired pattern." How's that for a description? I just find them very pretty. Here I've accented pretty blue cloisonne with sparkly green crystals, all wrapped up with 14K gold-filled findings. For a size reference, the cloisonne beads themselves are just a tad smaller than a dime. Want them to head your way? Leave me a comment below with your location and what brought you to my blog today. Due to shipping charges, the giveaway is open to US residents only; my apologies to my out of country readers. I'll draw February's winner on February 28, so you have a couple weeks to get your entry in! Subscribe to my monthly newsletter here to get a reminder of Free Bling Friday and other updates, including newsletter only discounts. Want another entry? If you are on Instagram, you can comment on my February Free Bling Friday post! Just look for these earrings! (Note: If you comment anonymously, be sure to leave your name so I know how to reach you if you win! Best to log in with you Google or Gmail account.)

Books - Flight of the Wild Swan

 

I read a TON. And I needed to get better at tracking what I read on a regular basis - other than marking something read on Goodreads! - so I've decided to start sharing my reads here on my blog. I'm part of an online book club called Chapter Night with a group of sorority sisters. Seems like a really basic name, right? But we actually came up with that name because when we were in college, our weekly sorority business meetings, required attendance!, were called "Chapter." Since chapters are also what most often make up a book, it turned into the best name for our book club. We started during covid as a way to connect, and we've just continued! We actually just had a Chapter Night Book Club weekend in Savannah for the Savannah Book Festival, so I'll share photos from that soon! 

So back to this book. Flight of the Wild Swan by Melissa Pritchard was our book for January 2025. I was pretty excited to read this because I really gravitate toward historical fiction, and this book was based on the life of Florence Nightingale. I've always heard of Florence Nightingale, but honestly I've never really known much about her. Well, this book didn't tell me as much about her as I'd hoped. I did learn her "growing up" story; I did not know she grew up quite privileged, and her family was part of the wealthy class in her time. While she had a burning desire to help others, her family quite preferred that she would have just stayed home and done the things that girls of her status and time were supposed to be doing ... like sitting around working on her needlework. No, that was not for Florence. After often sneaking away into the nearby town to help those less fortunate with her inate medical talents, much to her family's chagrin, she slowly earned the support of her father (though never her mother or sister), and through various opportunities finally turned her full focus to nursing and training other nurses where needed to assist soldiers in war. I'd say the most interesting part of the book was her time in northern Africa working in a very small hospital with very few supplies and funds. She was quite inventive in making ends meet.

All that said, while some of the book was interesting, I truly put it down and gave up on it twice before I finally forced myself to finish it for the sake of the book club. I think it was the writing style that turned me off. It was written very much like a diary, with very short entries as chapters. If I'm remembering correctly, there were very few chapters longer than three or four pages, and most of them were actually only one or two pages. If you like diary-type books and you like historical fiction, you would probably enjoy this, but that format just didn't work for me. I gave this one three stars but I'd be interested in learning more about Florence through a more engaging book. 

Best Shot Monday: Spotted - Shadows

 

Happy Monday! Doesn't this photo make you want to loosen up your shoulders and deep breathe out all your cares? Something much needed these days! I took this photo a few weeks back from our dock in Jacksonville and decided to use it for my blog friend Hanna's Spotted Photo Theme Challenge. I'm a bit late (nothing new around here!), so January's theme was shadows. See how you can see the shadows of the clouds reflected on the water below? 

Being able to take this photo again was a momentous occasion for us as our dock has been inaccessible since Hurricane Nicole in November of 2022. The dock was damaged during Hurricane Irma in 2017 when high flood waters destroyed quite a few docks along our part of the river, and 12 of them, yes 12!, ended up in our backyard due to the flow of the tides and winds. Those docks took out our dock as well (and the water left us a foot of water in the ground floor of our house, but that's a story for another day). We were able to repair the dock after Irma, but storm after storm every year since really took a toll on her and Nicole finally did her in. It took us two years just to secure a dock builder - if you are in the Jacksonville area, that's clearly the line of work to go into as all the ones here can't keep up with the work - and another 8 months before he finally showed up and did the work. But at least she's finally usable again. I've missed hanging my feet over the side and watching the sun rise (as in this photo) or set (opposite side of the dock!). 

We've been here in our little spot on the river since 2000, but we bought the lot in 1994, way back before this side of town was "discovered" (let's just say we could definitely not afford to purchase here now). The dock was the first thing we built. One night shortly after the dock was done, my husband and I were sitting out there watching the world go by when a mama and baby dolphin spy-hopped up to take a peek at us literally less than 8 feet from the dock. It was truly a magical moment. We both set there in silence hoping they'd come back, and then finally I said, "Well, that was worth the cost of the mortgage right there." And we're blessed with dolphins swimming by pretty much every day now. #countingmyblessings

Paint Pours and Long Stitches

 

I created this book with the help of a friend ... well, two friends actually! I learned the book structure from Ali Manning as part of my Handbook Book Club membership. It's a variation on a long stitch that I added to a bit to sew the spine covering to the book a bit more. 

But let's talk about that beautiful cover!  It's made from a paint pour that a sweet family friend created. She was looking to find a home for several she did and I told her I'd be happy to purchase them from her as long as she was happy with them possibly becoming books! And she loved the way this came out!  I've made two of these so far with Hannah's paint pours and I plan to create a few more with this stitch as I feel it fits perfectly! The finished size is 5 x 7" and it's filled with Canson Mixed Media paper for a variety of uses. It'll be on my website next time I get around to an update!

 

For me, this is an example of thinking outside the box, and it's made me look at other "old paintings looking for new homes" in a different light. I LOVE wandering through antique stores and thrift stores, and I often look for old books needing a new life in those places. Now I'll be looking at old paintings a little differently as well! So many things in thrift stores end up in the landfill, so why not rescue what I can to give it new life. Of course, I can spend hours going down the rabbit hole of watching furniture flips, so ... who knows! That could be in my future when I retire!

Who Knew This Could Happen? A Snow Day in Florida!

So if you've been watching the weather news in the United States, you may have seen that the Southeast is experiencing record cold ... and record snow! This is the view off my front porch in Tallahassee, FLORIDA, at about 8:30am this morning. As I write this now, while the snow on the street has mostly melted and is now turning into ice now that the sun is starting to set, the snow in my front and back yards is still holding strong!  All the schools in the Florida panhandle were closed today and have announced that they will remain closed tomorrow, some through Friday.

The snow and sleet in some areas started at about 5pm yesterday afternoon and was pretty much non-stop until 2am or 3am early this morning. I could not get my pups to go out last night before bed, and when I took them out this morning, they did their usual "run out with full gusto" but then quickly hit the brakes when they hit the snow! It was something they'd never seen before, like most Floridians! They eventually settled in and have enjoyed playing outside off and on today, though they have definitely wanted to come in sooner than normal. It's cold even to them!

Thankfully we've stayed off the road, as have my daughters who've sent me videos of them sledding down the hill just outside their back door at their apartment complex across town! My husband just got rain in Jacksonville, but still very cold! This is will definitely be a day for the history books in Florida so I wanted to record it here!   

A Reading Goal for 2025

As I get back to regular blogging, one of the things I plan to share here are my reads. I love to read and am in an online book club with a group of my sorority sisters. We started it during the pandemic, and it's blossomed from there. The group has even gone to the Savannah Book Festival together, and I'm excited to make that trip this February! The photo above includes all but one of the books I read in 2024. I finished number 31 on New Year's Eve after I pulled this graphic together! If I get super ambitious, I may back post my reviews from 2024 that I posted on Instagram. We'll see!

And below, ta da, is one of my big reading goals for 2025: War and Peace! I learned of a slow read of War and Peace here from my friend Hanna and decided to give it a shot. I even have a few friends joining me! The book is about 1,350 pages and 361 chapters, divided into four sections. For the slow read, we are reading one chapter a day, taking a day off between each section, getting us to the end of the year. I'm reading my chapter over breakfast since I read my book club reads before bedtime. It's not too late to join in since the chapters are pretty short! Drop me a note in the comments if you plan to join in! What do you like to read?