Velveteen Rabbit, Billy Ocean, and A New Tattoo (trust me I'm going to make this work)

“You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”

- Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit

Yesterday afternoon my oldest daughter and her choir put on a concert for a 90 year old woman who has been an active influence in the world of art and music here in Reno for over 50 years. It was an awesome event to celebrate her life and while I watched her play on stage with the other band members I started to think about the above quote. I absolutely love the above quote.  It really applies to life as a human being as well as life as a Velveteen Rabbit. I miss the days of reading the Velveteen Rabbit, but when I was a child I never even knew the depth of this quote. One of the main reasons I love that quote is because it reminds me that life is a process. There is no final, or test that you take to say you have graduated, or you have now become who you are going to be.  You just become. It really does take a very long time to become. In watching the 90 year old woman last night I thought to myself, not even this lady has become. She still has more memories to make and more lessons to learn, although it seems hard to believe but I bet if you asked her she would tell you that it's true. You never stop learning. You never stop becoming.  It really does take a long time to become. Upon turning 40 years old I thought if a person was ever going to be done with the whole becoming process it should be about half way through this life don't cha think?  But no, as it turns out, it's really not even close. I mean, sure it's closer than it was when I turned 20 but still so much more becoming is needed. I look at older ladies in my life and see how secure they are in their skin and how confident their voices are and  I think I want that even more than I have it now, but I'm pretty sure its wrapped up in... you guessed it... more becoming. It really does take a long time to become. I don't want to be one that breaks easily either.  There's a scripture in Proverbs that says,   "If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small."  This scripture has always reminded me of that old Billy Ocean song, When the going gets tough the tough get going! I think we should listen to that song and have a little dance party at the end ...  What do you say, who's with me? Let's get back on topic for now though...  The wisdom in that proverb is that in this life there are going to be days, weeks, maybe even months or quite possibly years of adversity but that is when we have to push through and keep looking up, or  work on those tough muscles or get going like Billy says! Speaking of looking UP, this past Friday I finally got Carl here, from the Disney movie UP tattooed on my inner arm. Can you say OUCH!!

He (Carl) is a perfect example of this becoming business. He thought when his wife died his becoming was over... but OH what joy awaited him when he started to become someone else, someone he always wanted to be. I'm going to move on because even just thinking about that movie gets me weepy. (Because remember when Isaiah turned 5 and had an UP themed bday party?)

I'll be honest, one of the reasons that scripture has always stood out to me is because I don't like adversity. I don't do hard or complicated or tough very well.  I like happy, sunny, champaign wishes and caviar dreams, (only minus the caviar... bleh!) But real life is not like that.  We have to go through the bad that makes the good that much more betta! It really does take a long time to become.
And let's talk about sharp edges.  Have you ever noticed those grumpy old people with so many edges it's hard to be the same room with them? Kinda like Carl before he met Russell. Don't cha just love that Russell kid? Oh wait, sorry I keep getting distracted all I know is that I don't want to become... like that. I know for me there is still so much more life ahead and rather than being worn out and leathered by the storms of life that come my way I want to be like a fine wine that only gets better, not the kind that turns to vinegar. So that being said, let's become well together and don't forget to DANCE!!

We Have A Winner!!

If you haven't already found this amazing lady Bernadette

who has an amazing blog 

Barefoot Hippie Girl

Go check her out!

Shes' the winner of this lovely apron that I made from a vintage pillow case.  You can find more of these aprons for sale here; NoDots Shop

AND While you are out and about on the internet today   You should check out what's going on over here; Reno Tattoo Mecca It's my new lil writing project that I started with my sister and I'm pretty excited about it.  Have a great weekend beloved reader. 

THE GRAND OPENING

Today is the day. The day they've been talking about. The day they've been dreaming about. The day they jump in and change the world one art piece at a time. 

There have been countless phone calls. There have been so many, many texts. There have been tattoo conventions.

There has been laughter There have been prayers There has been planning and prepping. There has even been mopping.

There has been blood, sweat, and tears.
(Mostly sweat, not a lot of blood, and TEARS OF JOY)
All for this moment.

What an EVENT RENO NEVADA Please come in and support the arts ;)
945 West Moana Lane - Phone 775-209-1612

A New Tattoo

I got a new tattoo last night. Not many of you know this but, my Giant is a tattoo artist.

All the ink I have came from him except the two crosses on my fingers. Those are the handy work of "Slick Rick" from Sparks NV. What a hot dog that guy was. So the story goes like this, back in 2008 I had saved some money for Mo to get a new tattoo for his father's day present. Upon giving him the money he said, "Why don't I just order a tattoo gun and try to tattoo myself? Worse case scenario is I'll end up with some funny marks and a great story"  We got a kit for 200 bucks, it came with a DVD, some fake skin, and Mo taught himself how to permanently mark his body with ink.  Crazy, right?

Right, well my son Solomon is also an artist like his dad. 

When I asked Mo for a new tattoo with the theme "Smile At The Rain" he said, let's have Sol draw it.

So the drawing above is my 11 year olds version of,  Smile At The Rain.

I'd say he's following in those big footsteps wouldn't you?

  It's funny, I never thought I would be a person that would have tattoos.  I certainly never imagined my kids would draw up tattoos for me. I wasn't your rebellious teen who couldn't wait to show her parents that she had a mind of her own so she went out and got a unicorn on her hip. Nope. That wasn't me. But, here I am all inked up by my boys and their creative genius, and I gotta tell ya it makes me smile SO big. This new art reminds me of that fact that in this life there will be rain,  but when you learn to smile at those rainy days, you learn the key to a happy life. It also kinda reminds me of one of favorite musicals. Today I'm singing in the rain people, and it feels pretty damn good.

A Few BIG Things in Pictures

Emma's 6th Grade Graduation. I now have a Jr. Higher, IN THE HOUSE!


A much needed visit with family.




Let the good times roll.



Moses is back in the business of drawing on people.

Bragging.

My man is THE MAN!!

Wednesday

I woke to the warmth in my room that has been missing in the mornings since last October.  Our room doesn't get any sunlight at all because of two massive trees that we have in the backyard and so in the winter time we have to use a floor space heater. It was nice this morning to wake up to a little bit warmer room. It makes the whole get up and get going process a little easier.

Preschool was busy this morning but fun. The kids are still learning about what comes out of an egg and we did a fun little game today with finger puppets. We were trying to figure out which animals/sea creatures came out of eggs. There were about 5 of the almost 20 or so puppets that I had no clue about. An octopus, squid, lobster, and 2 others I can' remember. Anyway I sent them home with those kids as  "homework" to find out whether they came out of eggs or not. One of the boys who got one of the puppets was not having it. He wanted nothing to do with homework, I thought to myself some one's older sibling must not like having homework and must speak of it with a vengeance.  

After work it was nice to come home to a clean house due to the fact that I spent countless hours last night organizing and basically keeping myself busy while Mo was on an onsite tattoo job. He has been doing at least 2 to 3 tattoos a week mostly out of our home and mostly in the evenings so I am finding that I am getting a lot done.

I do believe that my dogs have finally mellowed out. I am afraid to even say this because of jinxing it but they are doing better. No trash cans piledged, no running away attempts, no chewed up toys, furniture, or shoes and no accidents for a while. Really, this has been the case for some time now I think I am just now noticing it. One of the kids at preschool today said, " My mom doesn't like pets because they poop all over her backyard" I had to laugh as I told him  "Yep your mom is right they most certainly do." 

Had dinner at a friends tonight. I was so nice just to sit back and relax, watch a movie and not have to do the dishes. Thanks Jeni.

Now I am watching (halfway) Tango and Cash with Mo and getting ready for a bed.

It was a good day.

TGIF

This week was an extremely busy week for me and my family. It is Friday afternoon and I can't believe I made it to this spot but I did it and pretty well I think.

This week Mo started a new job at a brand new Tattoo shop that opened up in downtown Reno. It's called Reno Gearhead Tattoo and Barber Shop. It is located literally right across the street from the Eldorado. Anyway, his new job made it so that I saw him maybe 5 or 6 hours this week if that. He went to work  at his day job at 7:30 came home to eat dinner at around 4 or 5 and headed to the shop by 6. He stayed there most nights at least until 10:30p. So when you have a family with 4 young kids and your husband works overtime it means you work overtime too. Now, don't get me wrong I am not complaining I am just explaining.

On top of his new job and late hours I chose to wake up ooober early with a friend (via cell phones) and walk on the treadmill. So I did that successfully 4 days this week and still managed to keep my sanity. Yea me :)

My job at Little Lites has been great. I absolutely love working again but getting there is quite the chore in the mornings when you have an uncooperative 4 year old. One of the days he was crying on the way into school and I felt like I wish I could do that. 

On top of that my classes have kicked into high gear this semester. My math class requires 9 hours a week of logged in time (no exceptions) and my English class is a whole lot of writing which I of course don't mind it's just that when there is not another parent in the house to help with homework and you have homework yourself that YOU need help with(Mo is going to help me pass my math) life can get interesting. We survived.

I didn't even mention, laundry, dishes, dinners, lunches, dog messes(that just about threw me over the edge), regular 10,8,7, and 4 year old messes, and life in general stuff. I will have you know that the power of prayer works because I know I couldn't have made it through this week with out it.

So here I am thinking back on the week with a weekend full of events and I have decided to do some  rearranging already. Some things in my schedule this weekend have got to go so that I can have more down time. I have realized the older I get the importance of down time. Thanks much to Jesus and Louie's Sabbath teachings for that, but also it is part of my genetic makeup to not only have downtime but believe it or not alone time.  So here's to the weekend and everyone who worked super hard all week, cheers we made it!! 

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!

Some of Moses latest Permanent Body Art

Some more of Mo's Art

Another Customer Down

James Ridge is now among the few, the proud, the INKED!! This is only his outline, it was getting late and Mo had to get up early for his day job :) so his color will come later, but I think it is a pretty good start.

This is what we did this weekend

We had some out of town guests come to visit this weekend. Our friend Dennis and his buddy Kile came from California for a visit and also to get some free ink. Mo did two tattoos each for these guys and I am pretty sure they walked away happy. Not only was the work amazing but it was free. Can't beat a free tattoo. After the weekend was over we figured we probably would have made at least an easy 500 bucks with all the work Mo had done.  Not too shabby for having fun and permanently putting your mark on someone. Mo said he could see himself doing this for a living but in the meantime it will be a great side job that will hopefully start bringing in some FAT CASH!! 

It was so awesome to see my Mr. Big using his amazing talent and having fun at the same time. I am happy he has finally found a genre to express himself in. 

He said he is going to do a full 20 tattoos for free so that leaves 12 more. Any takers?

 

The pics from top to bottom, 'Creighton' is Kile's brand new baby boy's name,  Symbol is a record adapter, DT is Dennis initials, Kile's wedding ring and then my Faith,Hope, Love symbol finally got some bright colors.

Tattooes 1, 2, and 3

So there is a new tattoo artist in town here are his very first tattooes ever!!

New Tattoo

I got my third tatoo today. A sunflower on my left hand pointer finger. Hurt like a mother licker!! It sure does look pretty though. I will try to post pics soon. Mo's art or Mo z art is up and running though, who's next?

Change #1

Tattoo equipment for Moses is on it's way. The next permanent ink I will get on my skin will be put there from Mr. Big. Can't wait to wear his artwork. How cool is that!!

New Tattoo

These flowers plus a sunflower on my back. Can't decide if I want them across my shoulder blades or up and down?? They represent the women in my life who have changed me forever. I might do the sunflower on my pointer finger on my left hand for my birthday and then I would exclude that one from my back. Dunno yet. Anyone know of really good tattoo artists here in Reno or Sparks? I don't think I will be going back to Slick Rick in Sparks.