Author: Mae @ Rainydayinmay

Desert native who claims the Pacific Northwest at home, while currently residing the Northeast. Lifecoach, Podcaster, PR writer, essay author, imaginary poet and every day dreamer...

Here’s to fresh…

Published on by Mae @ Rainydayinmay2 Comments

We had the unique sort of pleasure of wrapping up 2010 in a truly fabulous way… We completed a few small goals we had, paid off two crippling bills and paid the final payment on my car.

Yep. It was pretty much awesome.
Then we got to hang out with super cool people, some new to us and some not, which made it even better…
I am so grateful for last year…
– for the beautiful niece we were blessed with.
– for so much time with our kids.
– for a glorious family vacation to the coast.
– for so much quality time with amazing friends.
– for our safe and enjoyable trip through the Grand Canyon and to NM for Thanksmas…
– for my mom being here, over the summer.
– That Genny and I were not injured worse than we were, in our car accident.
– for getting more into paper crafting. It’s been fun and I do love my craft club.
– for amazing concerts. {Specifically, 30 Seconds to Mars and Dave Matthews}
– for new friends.
– for birthdays and parties and a glorious string of celebrations.
– for good health.
Perhaps it’s naive optimism, but I am really excited about 2011…
– Gen turns 12.
– We get to celebrate Lucas’ graduation from AIT, in the Army.
– Chw and I get to celebrate our seventeenth anniversary.
– Amanda turns 21.
– an exciting family vacation.
– reconnecting with friends.
– a trip to see my ultra dear friend Angie, hopefully…
– paying off medical bills.
– having healthy hair again. {it WILL happen}
– finding a church to settle in, where we can grow.
– Wicked coming to Boise, this spring. I love that show!
– celebrating our family anniversary!
I have a pretty small list of personal goals for the year…
– try Prescatarianism for 3 months (until the end of March) to see if it’s a lifestyle our family (or even just I) could maintain.
– attend a writer’s conference.
– query for an agent/publisher. (scary…)
– complete my family tattoo.
– stop drinking fountain soda every day… (specifically, Sonic fountain soda)
– learn something completely new to me.
– write daily.
– cook more.
– complain less.
– dance often.
– swim whenever I have the chance.
What about you? What are your goals? What things are you looking forward to?

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*image courtesy of Jana Liebenstein

Happy sighs…

Published on by Mae @ Rainydayinmay2 Comments
This is the first year where I didn’t sit back and feel like I was robbed of some special Christmas moment. Typically, like a whirlwind the holiday happens and then I sit back, dizzy, wondering when it did… This year though, Christmas seemed to blanket weeks. Not the day, of course, but the spirit… The day, actually, came like more of a restful after thought.
Actually, I think I kinda liked it this way…
We had Christmas with my mom and that side of my family in November when we were in New Mexico. It made the most sense to do a Thanksmas there, in person. A couple of weeks later we followed that with a Christmas dinner and gift exchange with my foster sister and her family, here at home. When Christmas parties and cookie swaps trailed close behind, we were swept up in cups of cocoa, candy canes and Christmas movies. {Thanks, Hallmark!}
Honestly, I loved every second of this Christmas season. I loved, as we all know, the giving of gifts. {Not so much a fan of opening them.} I loved the dinners. {Loathe the baking, *sigh*} Enjoyed the shopping. {Could have done without the parking.} Chw and i kept it simple. I gave him Jeff Dunham tickets and he bought me a 90 minute massage and a 60 minute facial for the Monday before Christmas. It was, by far, the best way to kick off a usually stress filled week!
The best moment, I’d have to say, was locking the doors and turning out the lights when all three of my kids were home and asleep. I love that. Chw too… Whenever they are all here, (those days are less and less) he will sigh contentedly and tell me he is at his happiest. Me too, husband…
The best gifts I have ever been given, are right here…

And they aren’t actually mine. Not a one of them, but I will hold them close and claim them anyway because they are my everything…





i hope your Christmas was filled with beauty and blessings… Happy Twenty-Eleven! May it be filled with even more beauty and oh-so-much love…

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Last Minute Wishes…

Published on by Mae @ Rainydayinmay2 Comments
The only person who really shops for me on Christmas is my husband, and he pretty much just gets what ever the last thing was, that I said. Being the one who shops for everyone, i’ve learned that it’s nothing personal and i’m ok. Within reason I could probably buy just about anything, if it fell into our budget, so I’m not complaining…
I’ve added a few last minute things to my list…
I LOVE this sweater… perfect for winter days at home, cups of tea in hand…

And this umbrella? LOVE IT. We all know I have a thing for umbrellas anyway, but this one is divinely fantastic! Clear, polka dots and yellow= perfect for the impending rainy spring!
And these shoes… I am a CLOG LOVER… and these are just adorable, and look super comfy!

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I Just Wanna…

Published on by Mae @ Rainydayinmay4 Comments

I’ve been thinking a lot on writing, these days…

With complete passion I tackled my NaNo project, last month, with record speed and it felt really good. It felt good to meet the needs of my family and meet a deadline.
And anyone who fancies themselves a writer will complete get it when I say: it simply felt good to write.
Like I was complete.
Interestingly enough, as I’ve mentioned, my work camera died last month as well. In that moment I felt suffocated and had the world’s largest panic attack {which eventually faded, but did reappear from time to time over the week + which followed…} In that time we’ve shopped and shopped and searched for an attainable replacement, I’ve began to question how much I really want this… this photography thing. It isn’t so much the hesitation at shelling out $1200 for a new Canon, (but don’t get me wrong- i refuse to shell out that much money anyway) as much as a questioning of where I’m at with it all. I LOVE doing photos. LOVE it. I love living behind the lens of my camera and all, but do I love doing it as a business? I don’t know.
It’s been really fun, most of the time.
But whenever that inevitable introductory question comes up, you know the one, the: so, what do you do? Well, I very seldom answer: I’m a photographer.
Two years ago, when Chw and I decided to take on the challenge it felt a lot different than it feels now. It was an idea exciting, and artsy and full of energy…
And now?
Now I just want to simplify and feel less pulled…
And honestly, I just want to write.
NaNo felt so good. It re inspired something within me that I haven’t seen for awhile. Easily since before we started RDIM. If I were to be honest, I don’t think I’m successfully able to do both. I am realizing that about myself. Perhaps if I wasn’t a mom, {or even a homeschooling mom, of a child with RAD and hoping to grow our family at least once more…} if I wasn’t a wife… If I wasn’t a lot of things, BUT I am those things and those things come before any interests or passions I have, of my own. I don’t want to be the wife who puts mediocre meals on the table, amidst a chaotically busy week in which I take adequate photos of paying clientel, and then burn the midnight oil typing away some half hearted novel. My way of coping, in the past two years, has simply been to not write.
And it took writing again to really show me how much of me I’ve been missing.
It’s all a lot of deep soul searching that is likely stemming from the fact that I’m functioning of just a few hours of sleep after an incredibly late night followed by a super early morning and a fairly sick kid… hmm…
thoughts?

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These are a few of…

Published on by Mae @ Rainydayinmay5 Comments
my new favorite things…
You see, my stocking swap package came, on Saturday. While i was busy saucing berries and roasting a turkey and a ham, my mail lady came do the door- package in hand.
I have loved EVERY SECOND of filling the stocking I’m sending. I do not have enough faith in my crafty abilities to make it’s contents, but have spent weeks selecting the most fitting little things. It had possibly been the highlight of my Christmas shopping… But then emails have been coming in, as women are receiving theirs. Many tears over gratitude and how loved and blessed these simple stockings made them feel. My heart began to feel more and more full as I heard about these gifts and how blessings were spewing out all over the place. It has been AWESOME! So awesome that my mind is reeling with possibilities for future swaps.
Anyway, back to my stocking… I LOVE it. SO MUCH… My swapper, (not sure if she would want me to link to her blog or not) is a gem. Not only does she have THE COOLEST stationary on the planet (please tell me where you got it???) but she is the craftiest, most clever girl I may know. With every item being unearthed I felt my spirit confirm that I have been blessed by a new friend.

This is my adorable stocking. I LOVE it, SO much!
{How cute is that sweet little bird??? And the
fur around the top is so soft…}

I have been seeing these little book page projects all over
the internet. I have thousands of pages in my craft stuff from a
book gutting project last year and I’ve been tempted to do something
like this, but would never have done as good a job! She’s so talented!
Isn’t it beautiful?

I go weak in the knees for old books. This one though, is my new favorite!

Yes that does say Standard Handbook for Secretaries, and let me tell you,
this book is FANTASTIC! So much so that I kind of forgot about my cranberry
sauce, which boiled over and made a big mess, because my nose was in this
wonderfully old book…

This adorable little framed Christmas decor melted my heart.
Christmas is a tough time, due to RAD, around our house. It used
to be my FAVORITE time of year, but the season is so hard that I’ve
developed a bitter taste for it. This frame magically restored something
for me… (and she even monogrammed it with my initials! So sweet!)

Adorable sachets of bath salts… SO cute!
{LOVE}

Amazing loose leaf tea… heaven.

and my new love: ruffled scarves. It’s a new thing and I’ll have to go
back and look but I didn’t thought I put that in the questionnaire. And yet, here in this box
was this ADORABLE ruffled scarf. Even Chw, who cares little for such things,
thought it was pretty cool… We have our dress up Christmas family date this
friday and I am TOTALLY wearing this scarf!

And finally, these adorable trees! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them!
They are also made of old book pages, {Swoon… words. i heart words}
I think I should fly her here for a workshop. I need to learn.
And, of course, since we were having Christmas dinner, that evening,
we immediately placed them at the center of our table and they were
the talk of the table.

And here is where I ended up hanging my super sweet book-page
wreath. My ten year old niece was awed by how cool it was. {She’s a smart girl}

Such an amazing experience! Thank you, my AMAZING stocking filler! Thanks to the girls who swapped…

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