I Want to Remember to be Thankful

"It's all in how you look at it."

I'm a big believer in the power of a positive attitude.  It really has the ability to change everything.  Sometimes I get wrapped up in all of the things that bug me about my house.  It's not perfect.  I need new front steps, I want my upstairs to be completely finished, I want to re-design our backyard, I would LOVE a walk-in-closet, and oooo, a jetted tub!  I totally need a jetted tub!  The list goes on....

Then I need to stop myself.  I need a reminder that "it's all in how you look at it."  I can choose to look at my house and think about how I really need a new front door, or how I wish our next-door neighbor would clean up his yard.  Or, I can see all the beauty that our home holds and the memories.  I can think about all the things I have now that I didn't have when we bought our house.  We've owned our home for six years now (I know, I can't believe it's been that long - it kinda makes me feel like a grandma when I think about it).  I can focus on all the hard work that we've put into making our house our own, and how I've added my little decorator's touch.  This is where I've brought my babies home to, and where I tuck them in at night.  I want to appreciate what I have, and not focus on what I don't.

Not that I think we should just ignore all the things that aren't perfect, or not try to better our situation.  I'm all about moving forward and making progress.  My goal is just to not focus on the negative - especially the things that I have no control over - like our neighbor's yard, for example.

My point today is that I want to be thankful and see the goodness that surrounds me.  When I wake up in the morning, I can choose to look out my office window and see this:

This is the lovely view of my neighbor's yard (yes, I'm totally serious - don't you feel bad for me?  Just kidding - that's not the point).  The point is, that there is nothing that I can do about it (legally, that is).  I've called the town.  They have the guy in court.  Supposedly, they're doing everything they can to get him to clean it up.  So, I can choose to focus on the garbage dump outside my window, and stress about it until I have a twitch in my eye, or I can walk into my living room and look at this:

Ahhh, that's much better!  Recharge --- cleanse away all those negative vibes! Look at all my adorable Thanksgiving decorations!  I was quite proud of my mantle this year - I've collected some cute, sparkly Turkey-day stuff, and the colors go so nicely with my decor.  It makes me happy! : )

See, it's all in how you look at it.  I can get upset and depressed if I just focus on negativity.  Or, I can be thankful.  Things could always be worse.  But, I want to soak up all the beauty, positivity, and happiness, because it really is everywhere.  It's in our homes, it's in our yards, it's in our relationships....  I could probably even find something of value and beauty in my neighbor's yard if I looked for it.

"A Perfect Brightness of Hope"

Focusing on optimism - that is what I want to accomplish with my art (and my life).  See my piece above?  If you were to only look at the far left side of the image, it might give you a dark and depressed feeling, but when you see the sunshine coming in, then you can start to feel hope and comfort.  I want to see the sunshine in my life every day, and be thankful for the warmth that's all around - even in the dark, cold winter.

Loved my Art Party/Business Launch Celebration!

So, I’ve been officially open for business for one week and two days now – Congratulations to me!  It’s been a lot of work to get to where I am now, but to tell you the truth, most of it hasn’t really felt like work.  I think that’s when you know that you’ve found one of your callings in life.  I really look forward to my “Upenover Time.”  It’s quite therapeutic, actually (hey, I spelled that word right on the first try!)  

To mark my debut into the world with my Upenover Art, I decided to have a little Art Party/Business Launch Celebration with the fam.  I kinda went back and forth on the idea – whether or not I actually wanted to do it.  I’m not the type of person that likes to draw attention to myself, and I felt a little bit like maybe I was trying to show off or something by throwing a celebration party in my honor.  However, I kept thinking about these cute cupcakes that I wanted to make, and I was just so excited about how they would turn out, and how perfectly they would match my art.  The cupcakes are finally what did it for me.  I decided to go ahead with the party.  Plus, our family loves to have something to celebrate, and I knew everyone would be so supportive and nice (which they were).

 

"Delicious Dream." How could I resist making real-life cupcakes to match this piece?

 

There they are - my delicious little cupcakes (made from the yummiest chocolate cake recipe ever - a family treasure).  And check out my array of colored frosting - I felt like such a chef!

So, I don't even like maraschino cherries (the taste of them, anyway), but seriously, these cupcakes wouldn't be nearly as cute without them, right?

And there is my completed masterpiece!  I had so much fun making these!  It was my favorite part of the party preparation.  Aren't they adorable?  I almost didn't want to let anyone eat them because they were so dang cute!

Ok, so my cute cupcakes just got upstaged by all the adorable kids devouring them.  Yes, I did decide to actually let people eat them, and I have to say that they were as delicious as they were cute!  (But, not quite as cute as all the little cousins!)

So, that is why I normally don't spend a lot of time making food look cute - it just gets destroyed too fast, but now my special cupcakes can live in in my blog - especially since I have such a talented, photographer husband.  I tried to take the pictures of the cupcakes myself, and they just turned out really bad.  Being married to a professional photographer definitely comes in handy (even when he'd prefer to be a professional musician).  

Speaking of which, my other favorite part of the celebration was my special slideshow of my art pieces - set to the song Rob wrote for me, "Laurie's Song."  You can see the slideshow on the opening page of my website (if you haven't already).  It's so cute (if I do say so myself)!

So, my party was a success!  Thank-you, thank-you to my wonderful fam for supporting me and celebrating with me in this fun new adventure of mine!  It was a fun little gathering.  Hopefully there will be more successes in the future to celebrate!

This is how it all began...

Hello, Blog!  Where have you been my whole life? 

I can't believe that I am finally starting a blog!  Here it is – my very first blog entry ever.  I don't know why it's taken me so long to start.  I've always loved to write.  I've always kept a journal.  I should've picked up on this blogging thing years ago.  Well, finally, here I am!  I have a great feeling about this!

So, why am I starting a blog right now?  Well, I am officially declaring to the world that, “I am an artist!”  YAY!!!  I've been working very hard for the past several months to get my new business up and running, and I can't believe that this moment has FINALLY arrived.  Upenover: Land of Joyful Art is now open for business!!  And along with it, comes my fabulous “Artful-Journey” Blog!  This is going to be fun!  : ) 

I have to admit, however, that amongst all the excitement, I’m also completely freaked out.  This is scary.  I'm usually a very private person.  But, now, with this new project, I'm kindove putting it all out there – my art, my thoughts, my feelings (yikes, not my feelings!).  I have a bit of a hard time sharing my feelings, but here goes.  I wrote in-depth descriptions for each one of my art pieces and what inspired them.  I didn't hold anything back.  I wrote exactly what I was feeling, even though, on some occasions, it was very personal, and I'm not the type of person to usually share personal things.  For some reason, I just really feel inspired at the moment to share my art and the stories behind each of the pieces. 

It's intimidating, too, to offer my art to a world that is already so saturated with such amazing talent.  I've had moments, as I browsed around at other artist's websites where I've thought, “Hmmm, maybe this isn't such a good idea.  This person is WAY better than me.”  But, then, here I am.  I'm giving it my best shot.  I do have to say, that even though I have my moments of insecurity, I am quite proud of my art.  I've never done anything quite like this before, and I wasn't sure how it would come out, but, so far, my pieces have actually turned out way better than I thought they would!  So, I guess there will always be people that are better than me in whatever I try to do, but I can do the best for myself, right?  Yay, me!  : )

"Pink Bliss"  My very first art piece that I created for Upenover

I have to say, too, that this Grand Opening of mine would not be the same if it weren't for my wonderfully loving and talented husband, Rob.  He surprised me one day, and told me that he'd written me a song.  Well, he's written me several songs over the years, the first one being on our very first date (awwww, sweet!)  But, this is an extra special song to me.  The first time I heard it, it made me cry!  It’s called “Laurie’s Song” (very appropriate), and it’s all about me and my art.  He is the sweetest ever, and it just made me realize even more how much the two of us were meant to be together.  So, you can hear the song (if you haven’t already), on the opening page of my website.  So, so, amazing!  I LOVE it!!

Here's us - one of our early photos.  
Wouldn't you fall in love with him, too, 
if he wrote you a song on your first date?  : )

So, here I go – off on this new adventure of starting my artsy business.  It is with excitement, fear, and hopefulness that I officially announce the grand opening of Upenover: Land of Joyful Art!  Here it is, World!  This is me.  This is my art.  I hope you love it.  Please be nice to me!  : )