This is the view off our back deck taken a couple years ago after we woke up to freezing fog.  It’s a phenomenon I’ve never experienced prior to moving to Colorado but it’s when super chilled fog rolls in and clings to the tree on the side in which the direction the fog came in (you can see white on one side, green on the other).  It’s quite beautiful to see and doesn’t happen to often, but I always like seeing it; feels like I’m privy to a little weather secret!

There are three things, in particular, that have thrown any “healthy eating” resolutions out the door:

1.  Carrabba’s cookbook – David and I both LOVE to eat out at Carrabba’s but it’s a bit pricey so I was thrilled to find their cookbook which features many recipes on their current menu!  I’ve been making 1 or 2 meals each week from this cookbook and it’s apparent now why we like their food so much; it’s pretty rich (lots of butter, heavy cream and cheeses), but sooo good!

2.  Girl Scout Cookies – ’tis the season, need I say more?  No, but really, we’ve had two neighbors hit us up and I just can’t say no to the cute girls at the grocery store looking for support for their troop.  As such, we have a sizeable stockpile of thin mints taunting us.  Dangerous I tell ya…dangerous!

3.  I’ve discovered a little national franchise called Gigi’s cupcakes.  What turned into a “let’s check it out” visit now becomes a weekly stop for us (and a half dozen going home with us…oy vay).  Their cupcakes are sooooooooooo good.

Ah well, ike I always say…life is short, revel in the small joys and eat more cake!

I have a fascination with trains and always love watching them go by.  My aunt and uncle had their yard backed up to train tracks and I loved staying over and watching the train make daily passes by.  Now that we live out West, I always relish the opportunity to take train rides through the big country and rocky mountains.  This particular steam locomative was the Durango & Silverton railroad which is an all day ride up and down the mountain from warm, sunny Durango to the cold mining town of Silverton high up in the mountains.  It’s a steep trek up but a beautiful ride and it was a great way to spend a day.

It’s a really windy day today in Colorado so I thought to share this photo I took years ago near Mount Evans where it was windy at the peaks.  Stay warm!

Taken in July, 2010 at the Continental Divide in CO

I could have alternatively titled this post “Disproportionate Size” – this is actually one of my all-time favorite photos taken in Rome on the steps leading down into the ruins.  Our visit there was before the arrival of the Smart Car in the states, so I was tickled at all the pint-size cars everywhere.  But when I spotted this one next to this potted tree, well that it gives this mini car a whole new scale. 

So you may remember about a month ago I had a mini meltdown.  A confidence crisis.  A pity party.

And in melodramatic fashion, I featured a bunch of photos in that post of old, rustic doors to symbolize all the doors I felt closing.

And I almost made a cliched reference about keeping hope that “when one door closes, another opens” but I was feeling too raw at the moment.  Though wanting to keep hope, the sting of disappointment was preventing me from being overly cheerful.

But…the funny thing is that while I thought those doors were shutting on me, many more were in fact opening up in ways that I could never have anticipated.  And no one could have been more surprised than me.

While I initially thought my showing at the Atlanta Gift show was mediocre and that I was not cut out for licensing, I later learned that quite the contrary was true; my work was actually well received and several companies have since shown interest in my artwork.  Huh?  (this is why I wrote that post later that week about not making big decisions under emotional duress!)

And the many leads that ran dry on me previously have circled back into several new wholesale accounts in the past 2 weeks which means more of my work will be out in little shops and boutiques.

And then a TV personality whose shows I even DVR’d (squee!) has asked me to create artwork for her new product line.  Me?!  Really??

Where did this all come from when things seemed so bleak just weeks earlier? I asked myself.  I know intuitively that it’s from sending my intentions out to the universe, working hard and finally letting go.

I’m feeling overwhelmingly grateful (and a little embarrassed at my lack of faith and discouragement previously).  I’ve learned a lot of valuable lessons during this process.  Running your own business and being 100% responsible for your success or failure is hard work and a vulnerable place to be.  And with that comes high highs and low lows.

Setting intentions and offering up gratitude is a daily practice for me, like prayer and meditation is for others.  It requires repetition, discipline and faith.  But it translates into abundance if you believe that your goals are attainable and you work at reaching them.

But equally important is releasing it to the universe.  I’ve found that when I wish and hope for something too strongly and obsess about it, it just won’t happen as if to teach me a lesson in patience and faith.  It’s only when I send out my intentions, work calmly towards it and release it to the universe that it comes to fruition.

And in retrospect, I can see how this all happened.  I set my intentions, worked hard at my goals and then obsessed.  When I got too discouraged and my self-confidence began to weaken, I freaked out.  I thought I’d walk away from all the grand dreams I’d been working towards, lick my wounds and lower my expectations.  But the next day, after calming down, I found an incredible sense of peace and I…just. let. go. 

Whatever’s meant to be is meant to be I told myself.

And once I let go, once I found peace and contentment with where I was (and not where I had wanted to be), the abundance began pouring in.  What a powerful lesson.

Feeling incredibly grateful not only for the abundance but to have learned so many valuable life lessons in a short amount of time. ♥