Simplified Change....

I've been thinking for quite awhile about how to keep life simple - how to not feed the wrong things in my life - how to start again with what I love & feel enriches me - and leave behind what I've started to see just robs me some way or another. Maybe it doesn't make sense to anyone else...but it makes perfect sense because of what i've been thinking & feeling the last while. 

Planning to stay tuned in & sharing - but in a bit healthier way for me.

fresh blog  www.tamila.tumblr.com
photo site  www.tamila.smugmug.com
contact me  darentamila@gmail.com
facebook  i've cleaned house. i'm still there just far less often.
business website  www.deezine.ca

me

The "list of 25 random things". I was tagged. I ignored it. I kept reading other peoples lists. I got intrigued. I liked where it took my thoughts.

1. I have a few songs that at any given time i love to put on repeat & listen to over & over & over & over & over ....again.
   
2. I consciously battle perfectionism. I know I am one but I really try not to be.
   
3. I could eat either pizza or sushi every day.
   
4. I thought I'd met the guy I would marry the very first time I saw my husband. That was in 1999 - we got married in 2007.
   
5. I cannot get enough of the smell of moist, fresh dirt!
   
6. I love being either right smack downtown in a big city surrounded by people - or in the middle of nature w/ no one around.
   
7. Swimming & playing the piano are both things I love to do - but hardly ever do right now.
   
8. I highly prefer to wake up to a cloudy, rainy day than a blue sky, sunny day. It makes me feel calm inside & out.
   
9. I know, I know...dark chocolate is better for you - but give me a good organic milk chocolate bar.
   
10. I have successfully gone 28 days without eating "wheat" or "sugar". I plan to go many many many more days.
    
11. I would love to be part of a book club.
    
12. I regularly get in a mood & i go get a box and start going through and "decluttering" our place.
    
13. I spend an average of 20-22 hrs a day with my husband since we both work from home - usually we still can't wait to go on a date or cozy up on the couch together in the evening. Sometimes it hits me just how crazy that is & I feel lucky.
    
14. One of my favorite things to do is to go on a walk by myself with my camera.
    
15. I was President of the Communication Club at Western Washington University for 2 years.
    
16. Plagiarism. Ask me sometime. It's not just word to me.
    
17. I could pretty easily stay up till 3-4 o'clock a.m. most nights. I get a 2nd wind at night time.
    
18. All I have to do spend a few minutes looking at certain picture of a little boy in my house & I feel better. His eyes are amazing.
    
19. A lot of times I feel I'm too intuitive/perceptive for my own good.
    
20. In the winter, I like lots of covers on my bed - not for warmth....but for weight.
    
21. I'm part of a goal making group. I think it has the potential to change my life.
    
22. The idea I think about most from my University time is the Social Penetration Theory / The "Onion" Theory
    
23. If I could do anything & be successful at it - I would want to write, illustrate, create books.
    
24. I would become a vegetarian or a vegan quite quickly if I knew I could still give my body what it needs to be really healthy.
    
25. My close friends, our family, and Daren - they all mean way way way more to me than I feel like I ever express.
    

my sides hurt

My friend Kelly had this video posted. D & I haven't laughed so hard in a very very long time!! Poor little guy! He had just had surgery at the dentist.

seeing things

i ran into a new blog journal today. it was the words, the pictures, the thoughts, the unknown but evident life lived behind this blog...but more than that it was just the feeling radiating from it that moved me. it felt like a little peek into what i'm always thinking and feeling. it inspired me. it made me want to hurry and grow...no more hesitation. it made me want to take up my camera and spend a few hours tonight in the space my love and i spend our time...really seeing those simple little things i look at everyday that make me feel cozy. 

a r t i s t . c a r d s

I don't often write about work on here - but this is probably my favorite little project ever - so I thought I'd share it. A little creative idea was thought, shared, sprouted and bloomed. 

It's art done for a friend. Art done for an incredibly singer, songwriter, artist, community leader, motivator, person AND friend that is. It's HER, writing magical, moving lyrics - ME, getting to play a little bit with some of my favorite things - and DAREN, being his amazing supportive, motivating, "make it happen" self. It's promotional jewels for her. It's fulfilling a "make greeting cards" dream for me. 

They probably won't make us rich...but they have already made us smile! The dream is that they will be read, smiled at, bought, written in, stamped, mailed, recieved, read, smiled at! Mission accomplished. 

Check out Carrie Catherine - !

Find Artist Cards @ Caffe Sola

Find Artist Cards SOON @ deezine.ca (we're in the middle of remodeling our website - check back soon)

Find Artist Cards this SUMMER in Waskiseiu @ EvrGreen Coffee Shop

shared

a friend sent this to daren & i - knowing we'd love it. we did. awesome.

t h a n k f u l

i just felt overwhelmed with thankfulness.

thankful that i am in such an incredible, healthy marriage
thankful for a glass full of amazing fresh orange juice
thankful that i have amazing friends who add sooo much to my life
thankful for cozy fires
thankful that we never have a cell phone call interruption
thankful for family who loves us completely
thankful for people choosing to live consciously
thankful for people who learn to be content
thankful for a life where i feel so lucky every single day
thankful for a common goal with my daren to not strive to be rich in anything but love
thankful for a little business that pays the bills, keeps us growing, keeps us close & let's the above be true
thankful for pictures and painting and creative projects
thankful for my coffee every morning
thankful for hope
thankful for real & transparent people
thankful for the smell of dirt
thankful for warm rain that i can't wait to feel again sometime
thankful for memories
thankful for cozy sweaters and blankets
thankful for the best bed to crawl into & pillow to lay my head onto
thankful for ways i'm starting to see myself better
thankful for candlelight
thankful for dreams
thankful for the contentment i feel right now

anniversary 2

"perhaps love is the process of my leading you gently back to yourself." 

- antoine de saint-exupery -

can't believe we've been married for 2 years already. can't imagine being more in love. can't imagine how much more goodness will come in the years we get to spend together. definitely still feeling very much like "the luckiest"!

we spent a couple nights at elk ridge up north a few hours. a perfect winter haven. read, hiked, swam, ate amazing food, snuggled up by the fire, soaked up time being cozy together. 

xmas, new years & D's 30th birthday

Loved our holidays!  Shared a relaxed Christmas with Tyler, Sara, and Rob Shultz. The guys got in the mood to make homemade crepes so Jim Atch., Tyler & Sara zoomed over for a laid-back brunch. We had a scrumptious late supper of lemon, herb rubbed roasted Saskatchewan chicken, garlic herb baby potatoes, green salad, homemade spelt rolls, sparkling apple cider, and fresh creme brulee. It was a cozy, comfortable, memorable time! 

Dad & Mom came for a week....Tony came for a week....overlapping their visits for a few days together up North. Got in lots of board games, sleeping in, walking in the snow, amazing meals, and relaxed time together!  Seems I forgot about taking pictures I was so relaxed...hopefully Tony will have some he can share with us :) 

Managed to snag one picture on D's 30th Birthday. Dad, Mom, Tony & us went out for an early dinner at Aroma to celebrate his birthday before Dad & Mom had to leave. Then on the day we had D's favorite Museo breakfast, a cozy day, and then to Sushiro for a evening of great sushi & cream-cheese stuffed dates with cinnamon & sugar for dessert.  Yum.  

Good times.

feeling the december cheer

"remember...that some of life's most treasured moments often come unannounced." (unknown)

we are enjoying all the little moments that this time of year has to offer . . .watching snow fall while we're inside toasty warm, snugged under warm blankets on the couch reading books, sipping hot drinks, trying new recipes, decorating with red, wearing cozy red socks & slippers, soothed by the light of vanilla candles, eating pomegranates, wrapping gifts, eating & "being merry" with friends, stringing cinnamon scented pine-cones, reading holiday letters, creating new year cards for friends . . . remembering that it is the simple things in life that make us smile . . . that, truly, some of life's most treasured moments often come unannounced. 

walk

about a month ago friend and i were having a really good heart to heart. it turned to us talking about our want/need to be healthy & in shape. this friend shared with me what another friend had said to her when they were on this very subject. he said - "no, you don't REALLY want to...because IF you REALLY wanted to - you WOULD".

i've thought about this over and over again since that talk. maybe those words sounded harsh. maybe that logic isn't always true for everyone is all cases. but one thing i can't deny is those words RANG TRUE in my ears.

daren just read this book. and now i'm reading it this week. it's just a little one. there probably lots of messages in it, but what i got was...that very same little message as i got from my friends friend.

i have a list of dreams, goals, creations - things i want to either do or be. they are things that i feel would help complete who i am. i have this mental & half written list - i've had it for quite a few years now - it grows - i think about it a lot - i set "start dates" a lot - i talk to a few people about it a lot. i feel like i really want those things. OR DO I? why am i not checking them off that "list"...

today i took off on a little walk. computer in my bag so i could work when i got to where i was going. bundled up. took the route through downtown & along the river. quite a bit little less traveled now that winter is here. i felt lucky that i got to be one of 3 people right then chosing & getting to walk down that snowy lane - watching the pieces of ice float peacefully down the river - hearing that one bird singing - feeling nature resting. i loved the thoughts that kept coming into my head. and i had to wonder...what if i gave myself a walk like this every single day - by myself - quietly soaking up nature and mindful thoughts - how would if affect my life on a day to day basis. maybe i'd tune into myself and maybe, just maybe all those things i have on that continual list will start to fall into place. maybe.

my destination. door 1 opened & i was surrounded in the aroma of sweet roasted coffee. yummm. door 2 opened & it was that smell of earth that i adore. hmmmm. where was i ? :)