Sweet friends, today is the first Wednesday of the month which means it’s time for Currently 10.2020. I’m linking up with Anne in Residence for this monthly series. In this edition we’re talking about what we’re admiring, going, making, scheduling, wishing. The prompts for Currently 10.2020 were tough for me. And in reading some of the other gals’ posts, they struggled with them, too.
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Currently 10.2020
Admiring…
the beautiful dresses created by my 1,200 new friends in the God Made Girl painting workshop hosted by Tricia Robinson. I am not finished with my dress. YET. Have next week off from babysitting and will complete it then. If you are looking for an uplifting, inspirational, creative art experience, please check this out. Registration for the workshop is $10, and the instruction is given in 7 bite-sized video lessons. It is well designed to encourage those who have never painted before and to engage those who have.
Aren’t these dresses inspiring?
I love the polka dot pleats on this one. And the corsage at the throat.
The dress below looks like a watercolor painting to me. And check out Karen’s calligraphy around the perimeter of the gown – so uplifting.
Suzy featured one of my favorite verses of Scripture from 1 Corinthians 16:14. Her black and white border remind me of my BFF Sharon’s whimsical MacKenzie-Childs pieces.
The red and pink bird print in the next dress spoke to me. I have never been much of a bird lover until this year. Maybe Covid forced me to slow down long enough to enjoy watching the brightly colored Wilson’s Warblers that have hopped about in our yard and sipped from our pool. These chubby cardinals and their friends make me smile.
The watermelony-pink color in this gown so vibrant. Love the opera gloves and the train, too.
Y’all know I love butterflies and associate them with my dad. So the butterflies along the hem of this pretty sundress warmed my heart. The style of this dress reminds me of the simpler time of the 1950s. So sweet.
I am grateful to my new friends from the God Made Girls for allowing me to showcase their work.
Going…
to try to start growing my hair and having it trimmed to look something like this.
Making…
my own God Made Girl dress. Tricia Robinson created this class around the acronym SWIPE. S=Scripture W=Write I=Illustrate and imagine P=Paint E=Encourage and based it on the following Bible verse:
You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world.
~Matthew 5:15 (Message)
Then using an 11″ x 14″ canvas and acrylic paint we began work on our dress.
Adding bits and pieces of other things to make the collage, the dress, our own. Hope you will stop back by to check out my finished art.
Also making plans for the #25DaysofGratitude photo challenge my friends Deb and Jen and I are hosting. Hope YOU will join us. Here are the prompts.
We are asking that pictures included in the challenge be taken between 10.01 and 11.30.2020. So grab your cameras and start snapping away. Then meet us on Instagram the first day of November to share your photo of ‘comfort food.’ And on the last day of November, on our blogs, we will share all of the photos we’ve taken for the #25DaysofGratitude.
Scheduling…
imaging and doctors appointments. This makes me feel really old!! I remember 15 years ago when my mom was still emailing and all of her notes would be full of details about aches and pains and the doctors appointments with which she and my dad were filling their days. And just like that (snaps fingers) here I am!!
PC has an appointment with an osteopath on Friday and has another ablation on Monday to burn the nerves in his back. I have an ultrasound of the masses on my thyroid on Thursday. Wednesday I am going with Lauren for an appointment to get an explanation of some potentially serious test results she just got back.
From here in Texas, I am also making and managing my mom’s appointments in Kentucky. In some ways, she is physically healthier than the rest of us!! Mom has an eye exam on Tuesday and a dental appointment in early November.
Now to ensure everyone makes their appointments.
Wishing…
I could heal my daughters’ hearts when they are breaking. Won’t say too much, but they received some difficult news late in September that had them both reeling for a few days. Even though my babies have babies of their own, they are still babies to me.
Wish I had a magic wand to wave away sorrow or sickness. Not just for them but for everyone who is sad or hurting.
Told you these Currently 10.2020 prompts were tough!! Going to start thinking on next month’s words right now: appreciating, ordering, perfecting, planning, and wearing.
Final Look at Summer Goals
On to the second part of this Currently 10.2020 post, a look at my summer and autumn goals. Before we can look forward to what I hope to do in the coming months, let’s see how I fared with my summer goals. Spoiler alert: not well!
- Work through the Blogger’s Toolkit course – started but haven’t finished. Have grappled with whether or not I want to continue blogging most of this year so completing this toolkit was not a priority. ❌
- Make several patriotic crafts – yes, yes I did!! ✔️
- Have a birthday celebration for all the girls – nope. Thanks, Covid. ❌
- Investigate how to become a notary – did investigate this. And have asked 2 notaries for information about becoming a notary myself. But they have been very closed-mouth about it. ✔️
- Get ahead on my blog writing and reading – I am doing better but still room for improvement. ✔️
- Create a new blog logo – see my first goal above. Didn’t want to put money and energy into creating a new logo if I wasn’t going to be blogging much. ❌
Looks like I fulfilled 50% of my goals. I will finish the Blogger’s Toolkit before the year’s end. And maybe fool around with creating a new logo, too. But not adding those goals to my autumn list.
Autumn Goals
Here’s what I do plan to accomplish.
- Finish fall housecleaning – having company for Thanksgiving and want the house spic and span. Also organizing, cleaning and purging stuff in our closets and garage.
- Give myself some grace – here’s how this looks to me…allowing myself afternoons to craft, or to read, to take an occasional cat nap with the kitties, to not run through my day trying to cross off everything on my to-do list. Not sure how that can be made measurable. But I need to permit myself to enjoy a slower pace some days.
- Complete the 40 Days Through the Bible study – started this several weeks ago and it is so good. The study is so well organized and includes a strong Facebook component that keeps participants engaged.
- Participate in the #25DaysofGratitude photo challenge – yes, going to make this a goal!!
YOUR TURN
How would you respond to the Currently 10.2020 prompts? Please share in a comment below. Then be sure to stop by Anne’s to check out her responses.
Thank you for spending a few minutes of your day here with me. I am glad this long week is half-over. Looking forward to a long, relaxing weekend. Hope you will find time to do something for yourself then, too.
Hugs and kisses,
Joanne
Those dresses are so creative! I love seeing open ended art projects like that. It’s fun to see the interpretations and personalities of the participants shining through.
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Didn’t the gals do such a great job with their dresses? I just love the individuality of this project.
Karen
Is this the fall photo challenge you mentioned on your bucket list? Sounds fun, I think I will try to join.
Leslie Roberts Clingan
So glad you are interested in the bucket list!!
Erin @ Cracker Crumb Life
Prayers for your daughter that everything will be ok. And prayers for you as well -it is so hard on our mama hearts when our kids are hurting!
And I love those dresses!!! They are so beautiful!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you for your prayers. My mama heart has hurt a time or two lately for my babies. They are always our babies no matter how old they grow.
Bri
I love that polka dot dress too; so pretty! And your hair is looking great!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you, friend!!
Dara
The dresses are really cool. I hope everything is ok with all the health things.
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you. The dresses are so cute. Can’t wait to finish mine. The girls just had some crazy with their dad. He never fails to surprise us with the stuff he does. There is a reason I divorced him 30 years ago!!
Jennifer Smith
Glad I wasn’t the only one who thought the prompts were a bit of a stretch (for my mind!) But a good strectch is a plus, I suppose. Those dresses are so cute. So much imagination – and talent. Can’t wait to see your finished one!! And your haircut, too! So fun to try something different, isn’t it? Saying a prayer here for your girlies.
And looking forward to our challenge. I’m going to throw a teaser out soon!! Have a great week!!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Hope you’ve enjoyed a restful weekend. I need to print out our photo challenge prompts and keep them where I can see them!!
Thank you for the prayers for my babies. They are feeling better after the initial shock of some news from their dad. Never
a dull moment.
I think you would love this God Made Girl activity. The artist, Tricia Robinson, made it so easy to do. So easy to have success
with this painting.
ShootingStarsMag
Those dress paintings/artwork are beautiful! Good luck on yours.
I’m sorry to hear your daughter’s have had some upsetting news. I’m thinking of them!!!
I need to make a dental appointment – I don’t have dental insurance, so it’s hard to get there, but I really need to try and go soon.
-Lauren
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you for your kind thoughts for my girls. They are over the shock of the news they received and are settling down.
Going to the dentist is important but I hate to go. We have regular cleanings but I keep having little issues. Hope you
can get in for a cleaning soon.
I hope to finish my dress tomorrow. It has been a lot of fun. And I have enjoyed seeing all of the gals’ creations.
Rebecca Jo Vincent
I love all the individual talent on those dresses!!!
YOUR HAIR!!! Looking so good & THICK!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you so much!! The dresses are really cute, aren’t they? Hope to finish mine tomorrow.
Donna Connolly
Thoughts and prayers to your daughters. Thinking of you
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you so much!
Joanne Long
I hope that your daughters’ problems are resolved. Those dresses are all so pretty. I’m not sure that the to-do list is always a good idea. Sometimes we need that quiet reading time or an afternoon nap with a quiet podcast. We need to be gentle and accepting with ourselves.
The notary idea is a good one. Do you have marriage commissioners in Texas? A woman that I know from church is a marriage commissioner here. For those who want a civil marriage, she meets to write vows and officiates. She’s a very kind and sociable woman so I’m sure that she fits in well at any wedding. There is an honorarium here of $250 that she receives.
Enjoy the rest of the week.
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Wow, have never heard of marriage commissioners. I will look into that. Not really wanting to work much but would like to make a little extra money for the holidays. And the trip to Disney my kids want all of us to take. Thank you for that suggestion.
My daughters have to deal with craziness from their dad that rears its ugly head from time to time. They discovered a new bit of crazy that sent them in a tail spin for a bit. They are feeling better now. Thank goodness.
Susanne
Thanks for sharing the dresses – very uplifting. And sending good thoughts and a quick prayer that your daughters situation works out through God’s grace.
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you so much. The God Made Girl project was such fun. Hope to finish my dress tomorrow. Thank you for the prayers for my girls. Every few years, their
biological father does something crazy or announces something crazy and he’s done it again. He doesn’t realize how his actions in the past and present affect
his children.
Anne
This dress project is such a cool idea! And yes, what an amazing magical wand that would be – but in the meantime, I’m sure your support means a lot to your daughters. Hope everyone hangs in there!
That’s interesting to see that there were some struggles with the prompts this month. Honestly, I wrote them, and I even found a couple of them difficult. A sign of the times?!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Absolutely a sign of the times that we all struggled with this month’s Currently prompts. I need to peek again at the prompts for November and start thinking on them right now.
Leanne @ Deep Fried Fruit
The artistry of the dresses is gorgeous! LOVE the Suzy Gardner one 🙂 Thanks for joining the #lovinlifelinky
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you for stopping by and for the sweet words on the God Made Girls dresses I featured on my blog. I am about to finish my own. This was such a great experience.
Laura Bambrick
Oh Leslie, I’m so sorry to hear of the appointments you and your family have had and health issues you are dealing with. Praying you are able to get the information you need for Lauren. Praying for you all!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you darling friend. We got good news yesterday. And are feeling somewhat relieved about our health concerns. Thank you for the prayers.
Iris
Sweet post and I love all the scripture included in the various ‘dresses’. Thanks for sharing.
Grace & Peace, Iris
http://www.IrisOriginalsRamblings.com
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Hope to finish my dress this week. My life has been upside down lately.