New year - new changes

January seems to be passing by without hardly a notice from me.  I have been dealing with some tough stuff lately and doing a lot of internal processing.  When the kids were all living at home it was so busy that there wasn't a moment to think about anything, just do the next thing.  Now that I am living a quiet and mundane life, which I prayed for by the way and has now become a reality, I find that stuff I never had time to think or deal with is coming to the surface.  UGH!  I guess for JOY to be a reality I will have to deal with some things getting in the way of that.  Isn't life always a process.  There are some really good decisions coming out of all this though.

First, we decided to downsize and move into a smaller place, in town and close to parks, grocerystore, Starbucks, shopping, and close to family and friends. There are some good deals out there but in our price range it will be fixer upper.  Good thing I have a good imagination to see potential in a house.  My husband and I have had some really good conversations about what we want in a home.  We found the perfect place but got our bid in second so we are still looking and hoping the first bidder doesn't work out.

Second, I decided to head down the raw food path.  If you haven't heard of it before then you can go to this website and check it out. There are also some really good books by Victoria Boutenko on Amazon that tell some pretty amazing stories of how raw foods have impacted so many peoples lives/health.  I bought a new Blendtec blender and I am making green smoothies that are so yummy.  I feel like this is a well kept secret that needs to get out somehow.  I'm sure as I figure it all out you will be hearing more on this subject.

Third, we found a church we love in the neighborhood we eventually want to live in.  It is actually just a campus of the church we have been attending.  It is in a really old church building with stain glass windows and beautiful curved wooden pews.  Artistically, it speaks to my artist soul and adds to the whole worship experience.  The people are great and we know some of them already.

Fourth, I decided to get a part-time job.  I would like to contribute to our income now that I have the time and I would love to be out and interacting with people again.  I won't be picky about what I do, but I do want to work in a positive environment.  The challenge is finding a job in this economy and after not working for a few years.  I did mostly volunteer work while raising my kids which should count but I don't think it does.  Good thing I am not in a big hurry because this could take a while. 

Well, that is about all.  As you can see, quite a bit has been going on in the last three weeks.  I wish I could say that I have been creating art but that has not been happening.  After three years of art journaling almost everyday, I am finding it hard to take out my art journal.  Creating has come in the form of writing lately.  I have been going through The Artist Way and journaling through what they call Morning Pages.  Awesome book but it brings up some deep stuff.  I think I will get back to the art journaling again after a break.

That's all I have for now.  Happy January to you all!