Day 90 | Five Things

Prompt: Excluding people and pets what 5 things would you rescue from a fire? Why is each so important to you?

Annetta | Memories aside from family & pets will always be my most important thing to take in case of an emergency. I can never relive my memories. Everything else is just that, a thing!

1. My computer 2. All my external hard drives 3. Journals 4. Videos of my family 5. My cameras

Stephanie | 1. My external hard drive (it holds all my photos) 2. My daughters baby blankets. (they are hand made by their Aunt and my youngest most favorite belonging). 3. My handmade quilt made by my great grandmother. 4. Any jewelry from my hubby I am not already wearing. (I hope to pass them down when I die) 5. My filing box of important documents.  

Day 89 | Pick a Quote 5

Prompt:  Pick a quote you like and share it in an artistic way.  *Available as downloads*

Annetta | The artistic way I picked to share my quote was a little bit too ambitious for me today. I sometimes have this great vision for a post or a print, but then don't really realize the reality of how much work the idea really is until it's too late to back out. I hope to finished it tomorrow and add it here and under downloads. I guess its better to enter that cave then to let fear stop you! I entered into my cave even though it didn't fully walk through it.

Stephanie | This is a cave I found on a beach in California a few years ago. The whole area was somewhat magical in its desolate beauty. It was breathtaking, peaceful and mysterious. Most importantly, worth walking into and exploring. 

Day 88 | Photo Prompt

Action | Choose one of the photography prompts & report back to your journal with your favorite photograph.

Stephanie | I chose portrait for the photo prompt. This is one of my favorite portraits from one of my recent sessions. 

Annetta | Today I got to hang out with my one of my dear friends and take her portraits all around Seattle. I am blessed with her friendship and beautiful spirit!

Day 87 | March Mail Call

Prompt:  Send something to each other to add to our journals.

Stephanie | These mail days have become one of my favorite things from this journal project. I love selecting or making special items to send to my friend. 

Annetta | Spring is one of the funnest things to send in the mail. I'd added some color and items that are just right for this season. We love mail days!

Day 86 | Advice

Prompt: Write a letter in your journal (you don't have to send) thanking someone who gave you great advice or a nudge in the right direction. Tell them how you used their advice.
                                                       

Stephanie | Thank you for telling me to go and live my own life. 

Annetta | Thank you husband for teaching me the importance of thinking & speaking positive. I know I am not there yet & still have lots of growing to do, but I am working on it!

Day 85 | Lessons Learned

Prompt: Tell me about some of the most important lessons you have learned from your parents.

Stephanie |   Always make your kids feel wanted and beautiful. Be involved with your kids or they will seek family elsewhere. Always be there for your kids. Kids will hold onto things forever, strive to always have a healthy relationship. Don't favor one child over another, it creates resentment. Be willing to admit fault/mistakes and apologize for them.

Annetta | One important lesson I learned through my parents was to be wise in my choice of husband & not to marry just anyone who came my way. My parents are divorced. I waited many years for my husband (that's what it felt like at the time). In my Russian community, most girls got married by the age of 18 or younger. I got married at 24, I was considered an old maid in some circles. "damaged goods" or the "no one wants you" kind. Let's just say I'm SO happy I waited!!

Day 84 | Admire

Prompt: In your journal create a double page collage of people you admire. Search for images online or cute them out of magazines. Next to each person write down one word to describe them.

Stephanie | A few lovely ladies I follow on Instagram and admire are:  

• ayangcempaka design/painter/letters 
• designlovefest colorful/design
• herlibraryadventures simple/arrangements
• emilyquinton floral/pastel
• michellelouise__ clean/white/simple
• gretchenhope bright/pieces/details

Annetta | I am so inspired by Elizabeth Messina's work lately. Her look to her images is so soft and delicate. I'll that she photographs is saturated in beauty. She is simple in her creativity and all her work is stunning to me! I also love that she photographer in film.

Day 83 | Obituary

Prompt: Write out your own ideal obituary for when you are really old and have peacefully past away in your sleep. Who do you want to be dearly missed by? What do you want to be remembered for? What do you want your list of achievement to have been?

Imagine you could oversee your funeral, what would you want to hear people saying about you?
Note: This exercise can bring up ambitions and a sense of purpose you were not aware of before. So take hold of it and use to it to create starting points for your life right now and make a list of things you would need to do in order to earn this amazing send off and remembrance.

Stephanie | I want to be remembered as; funny, silly, unique, caring, loving, understanding, nurturing, inspiring, a great friend, an amazing mother, someone who had the best homemade recipe, someone who is a favorite friends/family member, an artist, ambitious, a devoted wife.  I want to be remembered as a happy person who followed my dreams and achieved them.

I want my funeral ceremony to be fun and different. For many years I've known I wanted guests to have a sing-a-long to Rappers Delight. There is no way you can be sad doing that. I want it to be full of laughs and great memories. I want people to have a good time and be at peace with the life I had and thankful that they knew me. I want to be known as a good person and that I made an impact on those in my life.  

Annetta | I pray that when someone talks at my funeral it's when I am old, after a beautiful & happy life. I want people to say I left a legacy for my family. That I was a good, happy mom & wife. Someone who loved those around her & was a light that shined bright.

Day 82 | First Date

Prompt: Tell me about your first date. Where did you go, what were they like? Or tell me about how you want your first date to go.

Stephanie | Our first date included dinner and a movie. It was on a Monday night in October 2006. He was in Yakima WA on a training mission with the Army, I had just moved there a few months earlier. A friend of mine from work gave him my phone number. Not knowing anything about him, my mom made my younger brother chauffeur us around. There isn't much to do in Yakima, so dinner and a movie was our nights plan. Dinner was tasty but we were one of two couples in the restaurant and since he is not much of a talker, there were many silent moments. The movie was so long and boring, at least for me. It was a war movie which I am not into and have a hard time following, he loved it. The only cute moment of the whole evening was when were were waiting after the movie for my brother to arrive, I was freezing, so he wrapped me up inside his coat, holding on to me real tight. We drove him back up to the base, I tried to give a hug goodbye and he acted like he was just ready to leave. The whole night was so unbelievably awkward. When my brother asked how it all went, I told him I doubt I will ever hear from him again! We married the following April.

Annetta | My husband and I had out first date on Easter Sunday after church. I was nervous & when I got into his car to go to our date location he gave me a funny look and told me we were taking separate cars. He went around the corner and dropped me off at my car. That was embarrassing, but he still married me!

Day 81 | Draft Day

Goal: Since we have different workshops, travel plans, and other commitments throughout the year, we want to ensure that we are still able to post our journals on time. We gathered today to draft a few pages to have on reserve for those occasions.

Stephanie | Today was much needed. Not for working in the journal, but having fun girl time with a good friend who's into the same things I am. We sat in the coffee shop for 4 hours talking and crafting, eating and laughing. Laughing so hard we were in tears, I'm sure the other guests thought we were a bit crazy, which we are. We took up a whole corner of the place, right near a large window, and the world behind us just disappeared. I really loved our day together, I really love this project and my friend Annetta!

Annetta | I'm last (like always) writing my post and reading Stephanie's words blessed my heart utterly and completely! She is SUCH a gem of a friend! Today, with Stephanie, has been one of those day where it will always be written upon my heart. It's a blessing to have talented friends and even more a blessing when you can work together. I enjoyed such a great day full of food, laughter, good conversation and creating. It's amazing how true Stephanie's words are when she said that everyone else in the cafe just melted away. I encourage everyone who has a friend they can create with to do it!

Day 80 | Appreciate

Prompt: What do you appreciate about your life right now?

Stephanie | Somethings I appreciate are my friends and family, access to coffee, flowers and plants in my home, vehicles that are paid off, a house to live in, my husbands steady job, my beautiful girls. I appreciate everything I have lived through to get me where I am now. My life and my reaction to different events could have taken me down a different path, I appreciate where I am and where I am going. Only good things in my future, I appreciate being at a place to recognize that. I appreciate those who support and encourage me. 

Annetta | One things that is true to my heart is appreciating my life right now. When loosing as much as I have, you really notice all there is to appreciate from the materialist to the spiritual. I was stuck in horrible traffic today that took me two hours to get home which usually it only take 30 minutes. I decided to appreciate that moment despite how exhausted I was left. I was thankful that my son and I could stop by for food because we were hungry, we had gas in the car without worrying about getting stuck and the list goes on. Life is too short to not really appreciate it.