More Mailart!!

I have some more postcards to share with you today!!  Hope you enjoy seeing them!!

Again, if you are interested in 6 Degrees of Creativity, where you get 4 workshops from 4 awesome art therapists (including me!),  follow this link to find out more information!

Mailart Postcards

I have been making a lot of postcards lately because of the workshop that I am teaching for 6 Degrees of Creativity.  So, I wanted to show you guys some of what I have made:

If you want to check out 6 Degrees of Creativity, or Sing up for the workshops, click this link!!

Hippotherapy

Hello fiends!  I wanted to tell you about a program I have been participating in.  I have been taking part in a hippotherapy group for veterans!  I got once a week to a therapeutic riding center and work with a horse.  The horse I work with is Madison:

.Madison is 16 hands high -- that is TALL!  I have learned a lot.  I now know how to do tack (put on a saddle and reins).  I rode in an English saddle for the first time ever!  We have done leading, lunging, and an obstacle course.  We have also done star/stop practice and we trotted this past Monday.  We will finish with a trail ride in two more weeks.  That will be my last day there - they close for July/August because its too hot for the horses and the therapists!  Here is a picture of me on Madison:

If you ever get the chance to do hippotherapy I certainly recommend it.  Its very relaxing to work with a horse!

Gardening

Hello friends!  I just realized that I have not shown you guys my garden!  I can't believe it!  This is the first year that I have had a real garden and more than one or two plants.  I am loving it; I might be addicted.  I decided to try out a straw bale garden this year.  Its a real thing - I am not crazy.  Want more info?  Check out this site: http://strawbalegardens.com/     Anyways, here are some pictures from when I started the garden:

I already at one of my zucchinis:

And here are some pictures from about two weeks ago:

Jalapeno Peppers

spinach, cilantro, and broccoli 

this plan actually just died thanks to some squash bugs 

purple bell peppers

I Love seeing the progress my veggies are making.  I also have quite the collection of container plants too!  I just cant get the picture to load correctly so that I can show you!  I will keep you guys posted on the garden progress.  Do any of you garden?

Memorial Day Weekend

After Employee Awards Day I left Waco to go see my family in Arlington.  I ha a great time visiting them.  On Saturday we went to the Kimbell Art Museum to see some art and then that evening we went to see Tomorrowland.  I actually liked the movie a lot - and thought it was interesting how it was somewhat a commentary on how we treat the earth.  That was interesting to me since I am an econerd (my own term!) and try my best to recycle what can be recycled, and use re-useable items so I am not accumulating a lot of trash.

Anway... Sunday we went to see the weirdest play ever.  The play was called Urine Town.

It was amusing but the costumes were really out there and I felt like they tried too hard to make it weird.  The costumes reminded me of the people from Capitol City in the Hunger Games movies.  Here is a shot from the play:

It was definitely a new experience - my first time going to Theater Arlington.

After the play we did some shopping... here is what I got... I got some new, limited edition Larabars:

And some tiny pinwheels for my plants:

And I tried on this visor:

But I did not buy it.  The last thing I got was some new shoes for working out.  My old ones were way worn out.  You should replace your workout/running/gym/dance/etc shoes every 3-5 months.  Shoes are important - skimp on them and you could really injury yourself and cause a lot of pain and suffering and cost at the doctor!  Be nice to your body and give yourself some good shoes!

TSTC Employee Awards Day

On May 22nd TSTC had Employee Awards Day.  It is the day that we celebrate those who have reached milestones such as 5, 10, 15 years of service; they went all the way up to 45 years!  Can you believe that?!  We started the day with a 5k, which we at Veteran's Services decided to walk:

After the 5k we had a ceremony and then lunch.  Later we played games such as bingo, volleyball, golf, etc.  Here are some more pictures from the day:

we convinced Carolyn to take a selfie with the President when she got her award

It was truly one of the most fun days that I have had since working here at TSTC.  I especially enjoyed walking the 5K with my coworkers and getting to know them better!

Memorial Day at the Office

Since I work for Veteran's Services, we decorated the office and did an art therapy project for Memorial Day.  We put out flags and pinwheels along our entry way:

And we got people to make a Memorial Day Garland.  I had pre-cut stars (stars are surprisingly hard for people to draw) and we invited staff, faculty, and students to write the name of someone they wanted to remember or to write a message of thanks.

Here is a picture of the finished product:

It wasnt a huge thing we did, but it was a nice way to remember those we have lost.  We are going to keep it up too!

Happiness for Beginners

I just finished reading a new book and wanted to tell you about it!  The book was Happiness for Beginners 

This book is by Katherine Center.  I met her last fall at Lucky Star Art Camp.  At camp I bought her book The Lost Husband and I loved it.  So, I wanted to read this new book too.  And let me tell you, it did not disappoint!  I stayed up late reading it two nights in a row and finished it the next day.  I got it on Sunday afternoon and finished it by Monday at lunch!  I love the way Katherine writes - you can really imagine what is happening in the book and you really connect with the characters.  This book did make me misty eyed a few times.  

So, here is a bit about the book.  The main character is Hellen, and she is 32 and recently divorced.  She decides to participate in a wilderness survival course in hopes that it will help her change her life.  While she goes looking for certain changes/has certain ideas of how this course will help her - it ends up helping her/changing her in different ways.  

I cannot recommend this book enough - if you are looking for something good to read go check it out.  Check out this link for more info/to buy the book: Happiness for Beginners

Mother's Day Weekend

Hello friends!  I am doing a bit of a catch-up since I have not posted in several weeks!  I wanted to tell you about all of the cool things we did on Mother's Day weekend!

First, mom and I took a glass on glass mosiac mandala class!

We didnt finish the entire thing during the class.  The instructor told us to let the glue dry for 24 hours before we grouted it.... here is the finished piece:

my finished piece with grout

And later that evening we went out to dinner and then saw Newsies!

It was a great show!!

The next day we went to Dallas to have afternoon tea:

my gluten free tea sandwiches

my gluten free desserts

the non-gluten free desserts

We love having tea.  This tea was good, but not not nearly as good as the tea we had at Fortnum and Mason in London; not sure if any tea will ever live up to those standards!

After leaving tea, we drove by this:

I had to get a photo of it!

It was a great weekend!  Did any of you do anything special for Mother's day?