The first 30 years were great. So why do the next 30 look so blue?

Ok so bear with me everyone. It's been a hard day emotionally and I just need to put it all in words.  Yesterday was Memorial Day at my deceased Grandmothers church so I went with my mom to pay my respects.  My mom and I talked about Death a little but and it didn't bother me until today.  I look back over the last 29 years of my life and it is filled with mostly joy.  I got to grow up with wonderful parents who taught me how to be the person I am today, I got married, built my life, and built a business and career that I love. My parents worked hard to raise me and I am super lucky that I grew up in a household that had two parents who loved me more than they loved themselves.  Up until last year I was fortunate enough to still have my two grandmothers with me. So, why do the next 30 years seem like they are going to be horrible? If I live to see the day my parents pass, in 30 years my mom will be 90 and my father will be 87.  It is possible but in all likely hood they will pass in the next 30 years and I will be left here on this earth to guide my own path.  I will have to bury the two most important people in my life and I will be the one who feels the grief the most.  I will be the one left with decisions on where to bury and how to move on with life without them.  I will be left to make all decisions on my own.  There will be no more picking up the phone and calling mom or dad when I need advice or just need someone to talk to.  How do you deal with that?  How does life go on? I have watched the grief that my mom has gone through over the last several months of losing her mom and I wonder how to you deal with it?  How to you wake up everyday, put one foot in front of the other, and act like everythings ok?  I guess one day I will find out.

Also, I have come to the terms with the hand that I have been dealt in life.  I understand that I will never own a big fancy house, will never be rich, will probably be in debt for the rest of my life, and will probably live the rest of my days in small town friendly.  Last year my husband, at the age of 29,  was dignosed with MS.  The last year has been hard on us.  We have had to come to terms with his illness and what it means for our future.  There have been a lot of fights and a lot of hurt to have to deal with because of the illness.  I understand that there are a whole lot of other illnesses out there that are a lot worse but it is hard for us to wrap our head around the fact that there is not a lot known about MS and that there is no treatment for the disease.  Sammy has to take medicines that will hopefully slow down the progression of the disease but unless god or science interveins his disease will get worse over time. In the next 30 years it is highly likely that we will have huge set backs. I will be 30 next year and I am scared to death to have children becuase of not knowing what the future holds for sammy's disease.  If he has a set back or the disease gets worse how could i possibly take care of myself, sammy, and a child and then at some point deal with the death issue?  How to people have children? It scares me to death to think that I would be responsible for the safety and well being of another human life.  I respect people who have children because I honestly don't know how they do it. How do you raise a child in the society we live in? How do you not run away screaming.  A life of seclusion sounds good right about now . :)

I guess my bigest thought or question is how to I make the next 30 years of my life count? I know that I am not promised tomorrow but looking ahead how do I balance everyday life, business, and family and make the next 30 count? How do I ever spend enough time with the people I love so that when one day they are gone, I will feel at peace and be able to move on? How do you keep moving foward when the future looks so bleak?  I know that the few of you who take the time to read this will tell me that I need to put my faith in Christ and know that one day I will see my loved one's again.  The only problem with that is the unknown.  Lord willing and I somehow make it to heaven, we won't be there to carry on with life, we will be there to praise Christ and all his glories.  When people pass away on this earth is that the last of that type of love that you will ever feel? In that last breath does the love that you have felt all your life from that person drift away?  Do you ever get to feel that again?  The next 30 years look bleak.  How do you deal with that?

It's Good to be Queen!

So I just had a wonderful week and weekend!  I worked most of the week getting the store remodeled.  We worked out butts off and honestly I don't think I knew the extent of what I was getting myself into BUT...i'm glad I did it because the store looks awesome!  I am a proud mama! We re-opened on Thursday and a lot of our regulars came by because they wanted to see all the new changes.  We got a lot of positive feed back so it was nice to hear.

On Friday and Saturday I worked in Franklin NC selling Preciosa Crystals for one of my distributors.  I love working the shows because you can meet some really awesome people. One of the people I was so excited that I got to meet was Jennifer Heymen from Jangles.  Jennifer makes wonderful ceramic beads and buttons. If you have never looked at her stuff then you absolutely must because her stuff is SOOOOOOOO cute!  You can check out her website at http://www.jangles.net/ she also has a blog at http://jenniferjangles.blogspot.com/ Take the time to check it out because you will not be disappointed!

Another wonderful lady I got to meet was Carol Wilcox Wells.  Carol is widely known for her beadwork and makes some breath taking pieces.  She lives in Asheville NC!  She had on a beautiful necklace that I adored and she said that she would be teaching a masters class on it next year at the Bead and Button Show.  Guess I better start saving my money!

And finally, I was going through some old pictures today and found this pic of me at Dolly Wood a few years ago.  They had a place that was selling all kinds of funny hats and I tried on a bunch and had sammy take pics.  I guess I knew that someday I would be queen.  I guess I should have bought this hat because I think it would make a great Beadie Lama hat!

First 5k

It has been a really interesting weekend!  Friday was my 29th birthday and I had a blast.  I was the best birthday that I can ever remember.  Then on Saturday I ran my first 5k at sunshine school.  It was the worst 3.1 miles that I have ever done.  I was not prepared for what was in store for me.  As you can see I was waving and smiling when the race started and then you can see the look of exhaustion on my face as I crossed the finish line.  My trainer David had me to the 5k and I'm sure that he will want me to do the one coming up in June.  I did 3.1 miles in 49 minutes so I guess I will train and try to do a better time in June.  I will defently have to find me some better shoe support because my feet were killing me after the race and then today the tendons in my feet are aching.  Hey...i"m just proud of myself for finishing the race.

Been awhile!

I haven't been on the blog scene much these last few weeks because life has been crazy. I am the President of our Merchants Association and I have been busy planning our Antiques and Arts Fair which was held this past Saturday. It has consumed most of my time and what time I haven't been working on it I have been busy planning for our store remodel in May and reading a new series of books that I have found called Cirque Du Freak.  It is a wonderful series of books about a young boy who becomes a half vampire and it tells the tale of his life as a new vampire.  The series has 12 books in it so far and I have just started reading book #6. I guess you could say that I have become a little obsessed like I was when i read the Twilight Series. 

VICTORY~~!!!!!!!!!

Victory!  I have been telling my friends Leslie and Gina that they needed to read the Twilight Series and watch the first two movies since the third one is getting ready to come out.  I read the series right after Christmas and feel in love with the books.  Well I invited Leslie over to the house tonight to eat supper and I put Twilight in wile we were eating supper and she was instantly sucked in!  VICTORY!  Now I have someone to go and watch the thrid movie with.  June 30th...here I come!

Back Problems

Ok, so I have never had any type of back problem until last Thursday and it is killing me.  I now have a new respect for anyone who says that their back is hurting.  I did it while working out.  I don't know what I did but all I know is that it hurts.  It was starting to feel better on Monday so I made the stupid mistake of trying to cut grass and work out in the yard.  Well BIG MISTAKE!  I could hardly get out of bed this morning and I can't stand up straight.  Looks like it's going to be a long day!

I have went Resin Crazy!

So, I have went Resin Crazy! I have been trying out the new UV Resin that we got in a couple of weeks ago.  I have made quite a few pieces with the resin and have loved it.  Anyone who knows me knows that I love the Twilight Series.  My friend Leslie told me that I could go to etsy.com and purchase digital sheets of twilight clip art that are the size of a scrabble tile. I went online last night I purchased 8 different collage sheets and went to staples and had them printed out so that I would have some really good ink. Well...needless to say I have went a little crazy with them!

As you can see I have my UV light full with new pieces.  I am still trying to learn a few things about the Resin. The one thing I have yet to figure out is why certain shapes of the bezels create bubbles in the Resin as it cures. 

Here are a few of my finished pieces.