The Dream... vs Reality

In my mind, I can imagine a serene, spare space in which to live.  It's white, open, peaceful.  Almost monastic in feel.  On Pinterest, I've been keeping a board called "A Simple Life", which gives a glimpse into my ideal.  

But in reality, I struggle with too much stuff.  With things that I do love, that have a bundle of sentimental emotions that go with them.  Such as artwork.  Artwork that includes things that I've painted and stitched, that my mother, aunt and grandmother painted, and pieces that I loved and brought home with me from various relatives, antique stores and flea markets.  Truth is that while I crave clean spare spaces, I'm a collector at heart.  And yet, it overwhelms me.  I struggle to find balance with it.  

On my recent trip to visit relatives in South Dakota, I was gifted with a painting by one of my Aunts who was a fabulous painter.  Suddenly, I have a whole collection of paintings with yellow and red tones in them. Crazy when it's these warm tones that are my least favorite colors!  I grouped them together and hung them on a wall in the dining room.  

The grouping includes two sunflower paintings that I did, an iris painting that my Mom painted (upper left) as well as some yellow mums she did, an Iris painting that my Grandmother painted (lower right), and two large florals that my Aunt painted.  

I put this floral painting by my Aunt on another wall.  My apologies for the dark grainy photos that I shot with my cell phone.  

In truth, it all feels a bit overwhelming to me right now.  Gone are my spare open wall spaces, the sense of serenity.  And yet, I want to enjoy these paintings, to see them out where I can enjoy them.  In time, I will probably get rid of all these paintings except the iris painting of my grandmother's, but for now I will enjoy them and the memories of loved ones that they evoke.  

I do wish that there was an easy answer to dealing with artwork of family members.  Work that is too good to just sell at a garage sale, but isn't good enough for a museum.  Since I am a painter too, I fear that my home will always overflow with artwork.      

Getting Started

Today is the day to clean out the garage and start getting some of the chaos organized.  The eventual goals of today's tasks include:

• A large garage sale at the end of the summer
• Bringing up the workbench from the basement and putting it in the garage
• Putting the file cabinet from the garage into the basement
• Repairing and painting the garage walls (and floor!)
• Hanging shelves on the garage wall to organize seldom needed items like empty canning jars, unused rolls of paper towels, etc. 
• Installing sturdy storage shelving in the basement storeroom
• Having the basement store room organized and functional
• Being able to park my car in the garage this winter

It's a case of needing to do one thing, before another can be done.  In this case, there is an enormous stack of EMPTY boxes ~ the nice banker type boxes, that for what-ever reason, I couldn't seem to get rid of.  They take up nearly one quarter of the garage.  Then there is also a good stack of other brown corrugated packing boxes that I've emptied that need dealt with too.  That's where we'll start today. 

My youngest son is coming to help me.  I need the moral support.  That has to do with the enormous (2 1/2" diameter!) spider I found lurking in the garage last week.  I think that spraying the garage for spiders is another task to be completed today! 

Before... 

and After...
Looks a bit better, though there is still lots to do.  that pile on the right is for garage sale. Should see even more progress tomorrow as we get some shelves up on the wall and organize some of the junk in the back. 

Starting Anew

A long time has passed since I last updated this blog.  It has sat here for 6 years, testament to my time in nursing school and getting my first nursing job.  For a while, I wanted to share my idyllic view of my dream world, but nothing ever came of that and instead I focused on my other blogs where I have shared my home, my art and stitching, as well as my travels.   Through it all, I've longed for a place to share my faith, my frustrations, my hope, my struggles ~ and yes, even my dreams.

Now I've come back to Rosebud Cottage to record my journey to a simpler life.

When I was in England during the summer of 2012, I wrote the following:

This trip has changed me.  Changed my expectation of what I want in life - though I was already headed in that direction - it sped it up.  I don't want such a busy life that I don't have time to pause and reflect daily.  I've loved  this time with my journal.  I've loved the time to walk daily, to spend time with people, to have the flexibility to decide on a whim what to do.  I want to live simply, surrounded by a few things I love but not weighed down with the excess.  Enough to be content and happy, little enough not to be a burden.  I need to watch the books!  Too easy to accumulate in large numbers.  I need to refocus on painting - watercolors and oil - and less of the fabric arts.  They don't stand the test of time... sadly.  And worship - privately, publicly - a day to day life of living God's peace and spreading His glory.   

A year later, I still feel the same.

There is much to share in the coming days about this journey.  It is my prayer that God the Father will have his hand on the journey, that his word will guide and encourage, that I and all who join with me in the journey will find their life enriched as the great Glory of God is shared.

postscript:
While the focus of this blog has shifted, I have left the original posts about my journey through nursing school.  It was time of tremendous faith growth for me and some may find it helpful to read through that journey.  

One Year...

The new year began with my annual evaluation at the hospital ~ and it was a great one! Hard to believe that I've been a working RN for a full year now, but I can say with joy and contentment that working with moms and babies is everything I had hoped it would be and more!

It has been a year of learning. I started off with a good knowledge base, and though I had great nursing training in nursing school, I wasn't terribly confident in my skills. As the year progressed, I found my skills and confidence growing. The New Grad training program at FMC was the perfect program for me. It provided the extra knowledge and the right amount of one on one orientation to nursing that I needed to become an excellent nurse!

Throughout the year, I've been able to expand my training still further, by completing the NRP (Neonatal Resucitation Program), ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support), and by becoming a CBC (Certified Breastfeeding Counselor. I not only can care for all the patients (both moms and babies) we get on the Postpartum Floor, but I am able to care for antenatal patients (pregnant but not in labor), and do vaginal delivery recoveries in L&D.

It's nice to know that I can handle the routine patients as well as the ones with unusual and sometimes very critical conditions, whether it is a baby who is having difficulty breathing or a mom that is hemorrhaging, or even a family dealing with domestic violence or an unanticipated delivery hundreds of miles from home and months too early. It gives me enormous satisfaction to work with new and growing families!

So what comes next? In the coming year, I hope to expand my skills to include working with newborns in the SCN (special care nursery) and to be able to do C-section recoveries in L&D. I'm also looking at the possibility of acting as a preceptor for new RN's to the unit before the year is out.

Beyond that, it's hard to say. My contract will be up by this time next year. At that time, I'll start thinking about other possibilities such as travel nursing so I can experience other parts of the country such as the Seattle area, Vermont, Maine and Cape Cod. Or I may consider a move back to Colorado so that I can be nearer to my parents and kids. So many possibilities!

In the meantime, I'll continue filling my spare time with painting, spinning, knitting and other handcrafts and enjoying the time I get to spend with my sister!

Amidst the knitting projects...

I've been doing lots of knitting lately. This funny little hat is for a co-worker who is adopting a baby from Korea! Little Max, who is about 8 or 9 months old, is supposed to arrive any day. I knew I wanted to make a little something for them, but couldn't figure out what. When I found this pattern on Knitty.com, I knew it was the perfect thing as his adoptive mom loves sock monkeys! The hat did come out rather cute, even to me who really isn't terribly fond of them!