rooted in hope

Here it is- my new tattoo!



I decided to get it on my foot. Chris at Peter Tattoo in Fort Myers was my tattoo artist. He looked at my sketch and did his own take. He drew it out in a ball point pen first and kept tweaking it until I was completely satisfied. I'm really glad I allowed Chris to convince me to color the leaves green.



Now for a little background on why I choose what I did and why... I decided back in November that I wanted a seedling on my foot to represent new growth and starting fresh. I wanted it on my foot to start from the ground up. There are three leaves to represent the Trinity. The roots symbolize continuous growth and the fact that what you see on the surface is just the beginning. And since "hope" is my new mantra, I had to work that in!



Last night, I discovered there is a hidden heart in the roots which I think makes it that much cooler! Anyway, I am very pleased with it!

happy heart day

I think it's all about good friends (maybe because I'm single?)...thoughtful, sweet friends that send you text messages like this. Yeah, Annie, I'm talking about you!



Happy Valentine's Day! I'm off to spend it with the ones I love....oh wait, that's not entirely true. I got called in to close on my day off. But I do love my job and guests, most of the time. Today they'll either be happily in love or completely bitter. I can't wait to find out, chat and make them a caffeinated beverage! As for me, I'm hopeful love is still out there somewhere.

tattoo sketch

I sketched this out on Sunday evening. I'm meeting with the tattoo artist in a little over three hours to discuss the particulars. I may thin out the roots a bit so that "hope" is more visible. I think I decided to have it done on my hip, and eventually have some vines and other whimsical things connecting it to my swallow on my ribs. I want a whole side piece eventually...just building it little by little. :)

Anyway, I'll have some fresh ink come Friday afternoon/evening. I'm so excited!

128:365 hold on hope

Bought this lovely "Hope" magnet at ArtFest Fort Myers. "Hope" has become my motto lately during this hellish beginning of 2011. Latest...my favorite cat, Mischa died this week and my niece had emergency surgery to remove her appendix. So yeah, I'm holding on to hope...things will get better. They always do. God is faithful, even when I'm not. :)

Down By The Water

I'm participating in a 52 Weeks of Blythe Photo Challenge to encourage me to take more pictures of my Blythes (other than Hazel...I'm doing a 365 with her). We're in week five. All of my pictures correlate with a song I'm currently digging. This week was Down By The Water by The Decemberists. I really like their new album. And I think I really just dig harmonicas.

help please?

I'm learning to trust God again. I had walked away from Him, but I know that I'm struggling more because I'm not allowing Him in my life. I want to change that. I am a stubborn person and I don't like getting help from others. I think I can do everything by myself, but then I get overwhelmed. I shut down and don't accomplish a single thing. I need God's help.

On a whim tonight, I looked up Hope in Wikipedia. There was a reference to Hebrews 6:19. So I busted out my bible (for the first time in a long time) to see what it had to say.

Just in case you don't have a bible handy, here's what Hebrew 6:16-19 says:

Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

So, I'm going to continue to Hold on Hope and trust in God.

seek peace. respect others. have hope.

three important things to remember.

disconnected

An old friend from college called tonight. She was her usual chipper self and asked how I was doing. I told her okay. She replied, "Okay?" I then replied, "Well my grandfather did pass away a week ago." Her response, "I'm sorry. I didn't know."
Of course not, because we've become disconnected. Partly my fault, partly her's. She's busy planning her upcoming nuptials and I've been busy moping and complaining about how terrible my life is. I don't blame her for not calling as much as she used to. But honestly, it makes me sick to hear how fabulous her life has been the past couple of years, so I haven't called either. I rarely talk to any of my old friends anymore. I hate that. But I hate hearing about how well things are going for them, because it makes me feel worthless. I think what I hate more though, is how miserable I truly am. Sure, I can hide it from day to day, but it's there and I am rotting on the inside. I hate that I hate my life.