What this year has meant to me...

We say goodbye to 2010....

I simply cannot believe the speed of time.
I am in disbelief that is has been over 16 months that my beautiful mom has been gone...

This year has been...
A year of firsts...
First Mothers day without her...
The first of her birthdays that she was not here
The first anniversary of her death

She died in August of 2009, so we've been through one set of holidays last year though they did not seem to be easier this year...
The loss is still so extremely strong...

The amount of life that she brought to me and my family is insurmountable... Irreplaceable...

This year has been...

A time where I grew...
And regressed...
Where I was stronger than I ever thought I could be...
and weaker than I ever thought I could be...
I have been giving...
I have been selfish...
I have been filled with emotion and love...
I have been empty and protected...
In certain ways I thought I had been "found"...
Yet feel so extremely lost...

The year has been unexplainably, and undeniably filled with... loss...
I'm trying to find my way in my own life again...
Am I succeeding at all??...
I feel like I am and failing...

There has been light and hope...
And sorrow and mistakes and regrets...
And love and sharing and growth...
And laughter...
And sadness...
And complete heartbreak...
And...

the list goes on...

Here is to a New Year...
2011...
I hope you are filled with less loss and more hope...
"Cheers"
I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year!
Here is to my mom and the strength and love that she shares so generously with me always...Without it, I would never get through a day!

Christmas as a runner...

A few packages...

Here are a few packages with the ornaments I made and used as gift tags~
I love gift wrapping...
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Merry Christmas...

I find myself struggling with words to properly express my thoughts and feelings~
So today I simply want to say~
Merry Christmas....

her painting....my photograph....

my moms beautiful painting done in 2005 that I had not seen until last year...

my photograph taken in Belize in May of 2007 ~

I simply love the similarities~
When I came across her painting I immediately thought of that photo and I have wanted to see them side by side ever since!
Maybe they should be framed and hung together!

One word.....A.W.E.S.O.M.E.....

One blue pot....

The last ones...

Here are the last of the ornaments I made in my pottery class....

Here are the ornaments.....

I received from my ornament swap~
The are simply amazing...
From Gail...
(no blog to link)

From Heather...

And I also won these from Louise Gale...
(host of the ornament swap) :)

A chocolate brown scarf....

I have been...

Knitting like a mad woman....
Here are a few scarves I've knitted for Christmas, with the flowers from This and That for an extra little bit of color.
Knitting helps clear my mind, I love it! Now I just need to learn to make something else! :)

Her talent still amazes me....

I was looking through some of the water color paintings that my mom created over the years, that I still need to frame~ I am amazed out how talented she was. The paintings are so detailed and beautiful...
Here are a few shots~ and her amazing brushes that I am trying to get brave enough to put to use...I will pale in comparison to her amazing work but I would love to give it a try....soon!

I have been busy...

Making ornaments in my pottery class~ I was part of an ornament swap so I made a few stars for my swap partners. I am taking the class with my friend Heather and we each brought in cookie cutters and made a bunch of different things~ I thought they would also be cute as gift toppers too! Here are a few...There is another set that should be out of the kiln and ready for pickup tonight so I will update some photos of those soon. I will also post photos of the ornaments I receive from other artists when I get them! I am sure they will all be amazing...

Christmas tulips....

Make me happy!

When what you need

arrives in the mail in the form of a magazine...it is weird...
I swear this is what I needed to see the day it came last week. I thought "how did they know I needed this right now"?
I am looking forward to setting aside a little time to look through this article and see what they suggest...for making next year happier!
Plus, Sunflowers are my very favorite so I knew even more it was sent to me for a reason!
:)

I AM SO EXCITED!!

I just had to share~I went boxing tonight and right before I was leaving my coach told me that I am really doing well and that he thinks I should get certified to coach kids and women!! There are not a lot of women coaches and they need to have a women coaches to chaperon when they fight, I am SO EXCITED!! I am going to get certified to coach boxing!!! I am not sure the steps that I need to take to do this, but I can't wait!! I had not even known that this was something that was an option,but when he told me I knew it was meant to be! My face lit up and my smile still wont go away! I will update as I find out more information! :) Thanks for listening!
~Tiffany

One of my favorite Christmas items...

Is this amazing diving Santa~
One of my best friends in the world sent it to me a few years ago and I always love putting him out every year...

This and That....

I bought a few of these great flowers to add to the scarves that I make~
I ordered them from these amazing women on Etsy...
They have a lot of great things available!

I'm finally sewing my quilt together!!

I purchase this quilt kit MONTHS ago~ I took a sewing class in order to work on it and get some help. I spent the entire first class (6 classes) just cutting out the pieces. So I took the class again to work on it more and it is finally coming together. Tomorrow night I am hoping to sew the front completely together...
Here is one of the eight pieces that go together to make the front of the quilt...

I'm in love...

With my pottery class~
I have been making a bunch of new things, but they are still being fired in the kiln, but I did make some necklaces out of the pendants I made during the last class~ I think they turned out pretty well.

What Thanksgiving means to me...

Thanksgiving is one of the hardest times of year.
To me, it represents my mom...All of it...
It was "her" holiday...
She loved getting all of us together.
She prepared the most amazing food~
(I wish I would have learned from her).
Thanksgiving to me simply is.... my mom.
Without her it is just not the same.

Hug your family tight tonight...
Enjoy the people in your life...
Enjoy the moments that are yours together...
Have a very Happy Thanksgiving...
Thank you for being a part of my life...