A watercolor painting of wild mustangs! I love wild horses but instead of wild horses they should be called free horses.

A drawing of a horse eye.

This is a variation of the watercolor painting I did of the elk in the meadow. I used prismacolor pencils for this one.

I think life is awesome. Yeah, bad things happen but good things are always happening too and if you choose to focus on the good, life will be good.

When bad things happen we can choose how to react to them. We can break down and crumble and say, “My life is over!” or we can look at them and say, “You know what? I can handle this. I can make the best of this and I’ll be okay.”

This is incredibly hard to do sometimes because some things that happen are devastating. I feel deeply for those who have lost loved ones or are going through horrible health problems. I imagine it takes years to overcome the sadness that comes from these trials.

I encounter people daily however who spend their lives wining and complaining about the silliest little ordeals. They don’t have enough money, they don’t like their neighbors, they don’t have a good enough car, etc. I’ll admit, I’ve been guilty of complaining about these stupid things myself. It seems to me, when a person is spending so much time complaining about little things that don’t matter they’re missing the point. It’s usually just a temporary state but it’s sad that we waste precious moments of beautiful life not noticing the wonderful blessings Heavenly Father has given us.

I’m going to work harder to be a more grateful, positive person and hopefully in doing so I’ll teach my children to be the same way.

I just read a little saying thing on facebook that said: “Saying that someone else’s marriage is against your religion is like getting mad at somebody for eating a donut because you’re on a diet.”
I believe this analogy shows a lack of understanding of religion and the depth of religious people’s beliefs. To a truly religious person religion saturates every single aspect of their existence. If you exist, you are a part of their religious beliefs. So let’s take me and my religion for example and let’s stick with the analogy. To me every single person on this planet matters. We are all children of our Heavenly Father who loves us. If I see you “eating a donut” I’m gonna get concerned. I’ve been told by my Heavenly Father that donuts are bad for everyone. He’s also told me that He loves everyone the same as He loves me. It would be wrong of me not to say anything when I see you, a beloved child of God, hurting yourself. I’m not mad. Just concerned.

me on indian flute

This is a little improv I did on an indian flute. My dad made this flute for me when I was just 15 years old. I love to sit back, gaze at the mountains and let the melodies flow. I hope you enjoy!

me-on-indian-flute

As an artist who really enjoys drawing and usually doesn’t like painting that much I’m always surprised by how much I enjoy watercolors. I just finished a watercolor painting of sunlight glimmering through trees in a forest. I loved painting it. I loved everything about painting it.
I often wonder as a colored pencil artist whether or not my work is respected since it’s not paint. It sometimes feels like people don’t think your a real artist unless you paint. It’s kind of silly if you ask me. Isn’t art about self expression? What difference does the medium make? If the drawing is beautiful isn’t that good enough?
Well, either way I’m going to prove that I can paint. I bought a watercolor painting set and I’m going to work. So far it really is jolly good fun.

Today I’m thinking about what really matters.
Sometimes we get so caught up in life that we forget about what life really is. Our jobs, our responsibilities, our bodies, our current circumstances whatever they may be can get in the way sometimes.
What really matters to you?
My family matters to me. Spending time with them. Laughing with my husband, talking to him, touching, and playing. Teaching my daughter about joy. Giving her something to smile about, really smile about. Teaching her what it means to be loved so that she can learn to love. Spending time in nature with them. Taking pictures of eagles, elk, and deer with them. Reading the scriptures with them using stuffed animals and funny voices. Learning together, sleeping together, praying together.

Jobs don’t matter. A clean house doesn’t matter. Having a perfect body doesn’t matter. What the world thinks doesn’t matter.

This is my life and a few of the things that matter to me. We all live different lives though. We all have our own paths to walk. What really matters to you?