Happy Thanksgiving!

Last year, I felt like Thanksgiving sneaked up on me and I didn't have time to really think about it and prepare my heart to count its blessings and be thankful. This year, I want to do a better job of doing that. And I want to relish time with my family and really connect with other people. I was reading my e-newsletter from Relevant magazine, and here's a part that I really liked:

"It puts a lot of things in perspective to think of those few, first brave pioneers from Europe. While their motives and methods of colonizing North America are often questionable in the light of history, their courage and fortitude are not. Certainly, they knew hardships few of us could comprehend. Yet, in the midst of it all, they set aside time to honor and thank God for His provision.

It is hard to give thanks to God when we don’t see His goodness. Sometimes the providence of the Almighty seems much more an abstract concept than a reality. Yet, thankfulness should be a part of the very fabric of our beings, in spite of circumstance. The apostle Paul was an absolute model of this attitude. Few people had the laundry list of grievances that Paul did: shipwrecked, stoned, beaten, imprisoned. Yet his attitude throughout his writings is one of constant thanksgiving, even while in chains. He tells the church at Thessalonica:

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

Thankfulness in all circumstances is not intended to massage God’s ego. Rather, thankfulness is an attitude that ultimately benefits us. When we give thanks to God in the midst of hardships, we are reminded of certain incontrovertible truths: God is good, God is gracious and God has our best interests at heart. By keeping these truths in mind, our faith becomes stronger. We begin to have the resolve to trust God, and the outgrowth of that is a new sense of peace when trouble arrives. Moreover, it’s a tremendous example to the rest of the world. To give thanks and praise to God when things are going tremendously well in our lives doesn’t prove a lot to people outside the community of faith. But to show that same thankfulness when our world is falling apart, that’s an attitude that speaks multiplied volumes.

Thanksgiving should not be limited to one day a year, but let’s start there. Let’s resolve to spend this holiday in a true condition of thankfulness. Perhaps this year hasn’t lived up to your expectations. Perhaps it’s been your worst year. Maybe Thanksgiving is actually going to be a tremendously lonely time for you. In spite of all this, give thanks. Thank God for the fact that He gave you life, and that He intends to give it to you more abundantly. That may not always resemble what we have in mind, but it will always be what’s best. " -Fred Burrows



Here are some things I am thankful for:

my health
a healthy marriage and wonderful husband
the best parents and little brother in the whole world
my family and friends, friendships that are growing, and family that is growing every year (I love my parents-in-law, brothers and sisters-in-law, cousins-in-law and all my beautiful baby cousins: Meg, Reid, Alex, and Grayson)
a good job and great co-workers
the freedoms of America
A God who is not silent, but active in our world
A God who loves me, died for me, gives me abundant life, never fails his people, and remains faithful to us even when we are not
The Lord's work of sanctification in my life and his patience; his mercies which are new every morning, even when I fail to recognize or lean on them
the spread of His kingdom on earth


Lord, continue your good work in me and in the world until the day of Christ Jesus. Please keep your hand on my life and on Luke's life, and on our families. Bless our time together, and keep us safe. May I have a spirit of gratefulness and thankfulness always.

The Poll!

It's a close race with an overwhelming response (9 whole votes, that's almost in double digits) !!! Vote early and often!!

blaaaa...ck

Lately all I've been wearing is black, and I am totally bored of myself. I want some new winter clothes that are colorful!

Printmakers

Lately I've been working on my linoleum block and doing some research for inspiration. here are a couple of my favorite artists of the ones I've found on Printmaking Artists on the Web.

Matt Brown

Wendy Morosoff Smith

Bev Peden

Bridget Farmer

Lapwing Printworks: Sarah Spooner & Jon Gregory

Holly Meade. I love her work and was very inspired by it. Love the way she lays down form with color, then prints black on top... and look at the movement in the print with the 4 mermaids. Beautiful.

Gavin Potenza: The Stamps of the World

As seen on Grain Edit today. I just really really love stamps, especially ones that are really really ridiculously good-looking, like these by Gavin Potenza, the "Portland Stamp Champ." He has something called A Field Guide to: The Stamps of the World. I might add it to my Christmas list, along with polaroid photography books, tennis shoes, and jumpers and sweater dresses from Forever 21.

Today I was working on a linoleum block for our Christmas card and thinking that I need to see what kind of Christmas stamps the post office has. Which one should I get?

Awhile back, mom got me a book of the Eames stamps!! Plus some great vintage cards with very stylized girls on them with feathers and buttons. I want to frame all of them ---there are about 12 of them.

Take the Poll!

look to your right. Yep, there it is. Now vote!


photo: getty 200410101-001

Please Return My Spider Drawing

My friend Rebecca sent this story to me. Pretty funny! I started laughing just from the title of the story. Thanks, R!

The Girl Effect

I found this on Annie B's blog. (thanks, AB!) What a compelling video, not to mention nice typography. It was done by Wieden + Kennedy and Grow Interactive. Check it out. Here are some other thoughts on the video.

pancakes

I might make pancakes for Luke tonight, or try making crepes. I think I make pancakes for Luke when I am stressed. Isn't that weird? This week has been stressful, with Time Inc slashing and burning jobs left and right. I'm thankful I'm still bringing home a little bacon (and pancakes)

Getty: 200444167-001 and #71059321. Isn't that whisk cool?

I won't say your name (guess the band--an all time favorite)

I really want to rename our blog. I mean, Luke said he named it spur of the moment and is not attached to the name, and it needs to be less generic! Any suggestions?

Cool New Artist: Hennie Haworth

I like her work. Here's some of it...
lately i've been doing a lot of sketching & drawing & painting with ink, charcoal, pastel at night. I've been CRAVING it, and it feels so good. Might make it a nightly ritual, along with my crossword puzzle.

FFFFound!

Ryan Brown, a friend and fellow classmate, told me about this website: FFFFound!
Today I saw this image there. Love the tension! It reminds me of a print piece with bad margins.

Love this one, too, and all the related ones at the bottom. Sometimes there are so many wonderful things to look at, they hurt my eyes.

Four Score

I just finished putting together, with the help of my family, a 124 page book for my grandmother's 80th birthday, and it's available to buy! It's a coffee-table sized book, app 11x13, filled with oversized images from my grandmother's life.

I'm thrilled with the outcome of the book. I'd like to shoot the jacket with more color, and i'm planning on doing that soon and probably updating it. You can click here and preview it and get details.

Four Score

a tribute to Maxin...

By Sarah Robins McMur...

Book Preview