My Wonderful New Tattoo And Tool

My Wonderful New Tattoo And Tool

One of my sisters has a tattoo machine and has tattooed herself a few times with it. She isn’t looking to change careers; she is happy being a nurse. The machine was her husband’s before he passed last year. The first tattoos she gave herself was ones that reminded her of him.

Well, in August I went on a vacation with my family. In between the actual vacation and my flight, I stayed at her house. This was so she could tattoo me. The original idea was a simple tree on the inside of my upper arm. It would be a remembrance tattoo for my brother who passed last year. (Yes, there were multiple deaths in my family in August 2019.) As we discussed it she mentioned that it would be the first tattoo she gave someone else. It was quickly decided we would start with an easier and less painful tattoo.

Now, it wasn’t like I just came up with my new tattoo on the vacation. I have a list of tattoos I want to get. My “love boldly” tattoo was just going to be after Chris’s tree. However, things didn’t work out that way and I got “love boldly” before the tree.

When I first painted this symbol something clicked, as though my eyes opened in a new way. This is what I need to remind myself daily. This is what I need to focus on. I need to love boldly. For me, that means to love without fear or holding back. Jesus loved the world boldly and I should try to imitate Jesus, right?

My “love boldly” symbol gives me permission in a way to free myself from myself and just love those around me. It reminds me that sometimes I need to get out of my own way and just help people or love them in whatever way they need it. Now it’s on my arm, so I guess I have to make sure I’m always boldly loving those around me. What a wonderful tool.

My Wonderful New Tattoo And Tool
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If you would like to keep more up to date with what I am doing I am on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. You can also read about my life in my series God Shows Up or in the category “Life.”

Simply Sharing Gratitude

simply sharing gratitude

I’m a big believer that having a grateful attitude in life will help you have a more positive life. When you practice being grateful, you look for things you can be grateful for. This makes you look at and for the good in your life. Even if the only thing you can see at first is the fact that you are alive, that is a wonderful start.

If you follow me on social media or here you know that a few weeks ago I posted a list of journaling prompts I go through almost every day. One of those prompts was to list things I’m grateful for. Some days they are profound and deep. Other days I list things like coffee, tea, pens, and my bed. Those are still good things that I am thankful to have, and that is really what it’s all about.

Now I want to share with you a few things I am currently grateful for as examples and also to simply share my gratitude with others.

I am currently grateful for:

  • Connections I’ve been on social media and online.
  • My Church.
  • Those I call family and friends.
  • My ability to express myself.
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If you would like to keep more up to date with what I am doing I am on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. You can also read about my life in my series God Shows Up or in the category “Life.”

A Brief Look At My Favorite Superheroes

A Brief Look At My Favorite Superheroes

I learned about superheroes in middle school or high school. They fascinated me, but at the time it wasn’t something that went beyond watching cartoons. There was an X-Men animated series that aired from 1992 to 1997 that I watched. I loved Wolverine even before the movies came out. For the longest time, Wolverine was my favorite superhero.

Once I found comics in my adult life and superhero movies came out, they introduced me to an entire cast of other heroes to root for. However, Wolverine always held a special place in my heart. Yes, I love Squirrel Girl and Laura/ X23, but it was tough for a replacement to come along. Laura was a very close second though. Starlord, Thor, and Iron man were great, but they weren’t Wolverine.

It wasn’t until SHAZAM came out that I found a new favorite. Yes, Wolverine will always have a special place in my heart, but my current favorite superhero is SHAZAM. He is just so fun.

Squirrel Girl is a very close second. I love her as a character and she is such a random hero. Her comics are fun, but for my favorite superhero, I have to go for one with more power. If they were in the same universe, I bet they would be friends. They both are lighter and humorous characters.

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If you would like to keep more up to date with what I am doing I am on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. You can also read about my life in my series God Shows Up or in the category “Life.”

My Helpful Journal Prompts

My Helpful Journal Prompts

I love journaling. It is a great way I can start my day mentally organized and with my feelings in check. Writing down things helps me get the day off on the right foot.

Part of my journaling time is spent bullet journaling, which is basically making lists. I love making lists, so this is very helpful and enjoyable. My lists also charge me up and put a positive spin on my day.

The topics/ lists are:

  1. Dreams/ Ideal Life
    • This is where I will list out the things I want to happen.
  2. Why I’ll Make It
    • I was feeling discouraged a while back and had a hard time believing my dreams and goals would come true. I wanted to change my outlook, so I listed out reasons I will achieve everything I set my mind to. This list recharges me each time I write it. It is interesting to see how my reasons change from day to day.
  3. Woo-hoo Moments
    • I tend to look to the future and forget that I am doing good things now, as you can tell by the first two bullet journal ideas. Writing lists about good things I’ve done the day before helps me stay present and reminds me to look for the good stuff in the day ahead of me.
  4. Gratitude
    • I think this is self-explanatory. I list out things I’m grateful for, whether it’s the sun shining, a good cup of coffee, or an answered prayer. It’s important to make sure you take time to be thankful for what you have.
  5. Prayer
    • I like to journal out my prayers to keep track of them. Also, I pray out loud and in my head. If I do pray out loud it’s easy for me to lose track of the prayers. When my prayers are jotted down on paper, then I can refer back to them and know God answered a prayer.
  6. Shema
    • Shema statements, as I know them, are brief statements that reflect your love and commitment to God. The practice of journalling them is so I can practice different ways that I could bring up my faith to others. My theory is that if I am continually looking for ways to say I love God then when I have a chance in public to do so I won’t have to think of the words to say. I’ll already have them in my head because I’ve journaled a bunch of different ways.

I hope my journaling prompts help you or you at least found enjoyment and insight from them.

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If you would like to keep more up to date with what I am doing I am on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. You can also read about my life in my series God Shows Up or in the category “Life.”

Grandma’s Painting: My Most Prized Position

Grandmas painting

Growing up, I thought I wanted to follow in my grandpa’s footsteps and become a vet like he was. As I grew, I changed courses and followed closer to my grandma’s path. My grandma was an artist. She would make quilts and paint pictures. Each one of her grandkids received a quilt and painting from her. It was a wonderful tradition that I greatly value. In fact, one of my most prized positions to this day is the painting she painted for me.

The painting is of her barn on an early autumn day with sheep grazing in the foreground. This barn was on the property where she raised her kids and her grandkids would visit. Her home is such a wonderful childhood memory and I thankful that I have a painting of her barn to remind me of it. I am not home until I hang this painting near a door so that if there is a fire, I will easily be able to save it. It ties me to my family and acts as a reminder of my past. It is love on canvas and I love this painting.

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If you would like to keep more up to date with what I am doing I am on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. You can also read about my life in my series God Shows Up or in the category “Life.”

My October 2020’s Monthly Update

Every month I do these quick update videos on my YouTube channel. They are my version of video newsletters.

They are focused specifically on my art business, which includes both my visual art and writing. I do sometimes add personal life updates since they may affect my business.

I will be starting to add them here, on my site, so that it is easy for all to access them. Starting next month the updates will post here a bit earlier in the month. However, you can always get notified of them if you subscribe to my channel.

My October 2020 Monthly Update

Looking Back At A Changing Life

Looking Back At A Changing Life

It has been over a year since I had my last professional headshots done for my book To Love. I just redid my profile pictures myself and it made me start to think. What has changed over the year?

  1. I published To Love. It is a 5-year project that is completely done.
  2. I left my kitchen job to pursue my art business full time (I’m still at my part-time church job).
  3. My Patreon page was started.
  4. Love Nerd and Tiff’s Tips both started in between these 2 pictures.
  5. I opened and post regularly to 2 Print On Demand stores.

Basically, I did a lot, and even without taking into consideration all the changes in the world I can say my life has changed a lot in this past year. Life is a crazy adventure for me right now, but I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way. I love the personal growth I’m experiencing in this chapter in my life.

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If you would like to keep more up to date with what I am doing I am on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. You can also read about my life in my series God Shows Up or in the category “Life.”

Jesus Freaks: Revolutionaries The Great Book I’m Reading

Jesus Freaks: Revolutionaries book review.

I love to read and figured I would share a book I’m currently reading. It’s Jesus Freaks: Revolutionaries by DC Talk. It’s a bunch of true short stories about Christians who led or helped revolutionize the Christian faith. They are great stories of men and women who were bold for God and changed the world because of it. I’ve been taking my time reading it, but so far it is great.

Want More?

If you would like to keep more up to date with what I am doing I am on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. You can also read about my life in my series God Shows Up or in the category “Life.”

My 2019 In Review

There has been a lot of changes to my art business in 2019 and more to come in 2020. To make sure you are up to date with what those changes are here is my 2019 year in review.

I first retired my blog series Dreamward Bound. Although I am still heading towards my dreams the focus of my writing time has changed. I started the series God Shows Up and have been posting more poems. Plus I have been working hard on my book To Love.

I also started to do poetry readings on YouTube and working on some other promotional videos.

Poetry readings and promotional videos were not the videos I published in 2019. Earlier in the year I did some vlogs and in September I recorded 2 videos about how I am going to focus on my art business more.

In addition to writings and posting on youtube I started my Patreon page and got my first two patrons on there.

My RedBubble and Society6 stores are also growing with more digital art.

My two favorite digital art pieces from 2019 are “I’m Possible,” and “Nerdy Unicorn.”

I'm Possible Digital Art 2019
Unique Nerdy Unicorn Digital Art 2019

Finally I started to look for writing work through Fiverr. I currently have 4 writing gigs available. They are script writing, a custom poem, short story writing, and writing an article.

I hope you enjoyed my 2019 in review. If you have any comments, questions, or feedback please let me know.

Blog on Vlogs

In November 2018 I started to do weekly vlogs. They are short unedited videos of how my week went, lessons I’m learning, or random ramblings. They are not planned out and are not high quality, but they are fun to do and hopefully helpful.

I started them, because I wanted to have a presence on youtube. I also wanted to get into the habit of publishing weekly videos.

One aspect of my dream/ ideal life is to be comfortable in front of the camera and to do promotional videos for my projects.

I had 2 options to make this aspect of my ideal life a reality.

The first was to wait until I had time to plan and edit videos. Time that may never come.

The second option was to make time and start where I was. I can start with what I can do now and grow on that.

One thing I’ve learned by going down the second path is that I have to fight with myself. Some weeks the video isn’t perfect. I’ve looked at the thumbnails and I’ve noticed the lighting isn’t great. Most weeks I also don’t like an aspect of my appearance or how I sound.

If I was doing this for the views or an outside factor I would have stopped after the first few videos.

The wonderful thing is that I’m not doing this for the views. This is something I’m doing for myself. It is practice and habit forming.

I have noticed that I’m frequently giving advice and sharing the life lessons I’m learning. It is turning into a verbal version of DreamWard Bound. I am okay with that and enjoying sharing what I’m learning. (I have found a passion for advice giving).

Here are a couple more videos for you to get an idea of what I’m talking about. I hope you enjoy.