the story of neighbors and fruit salad

We instantly liked Tina & Tony when they moved into the house across the street from us over a year ago. Warm and friendly, we were happy and grateful to have such nice new neighbors.  We were even more delighted when we found out months later that Tina was expecting a baby! Tina and Tony had married in their 40's, so this special little person was a highly anticipated blessing. We were so thrilled for them!

Two weeks before Tina was due, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. We were all simply devastated. But Tina did indeed give birth last June, to Ava Christina - the sweetest and most beautiful baby on earth :) In his quiet way, Tony immediately swung into action as the most calm, loving father and husband imaginable. I never saw him when he wasn't holding their new little bundle. Extended family members came to stay with them and rallied around them night and day. It was lovely to see. As frightened as Tina had to be with her recent diagnosis, she powered through being a new mom with a smile on her face and optimism by her side. Unbelievable. 

As the weeks wore on and Tina had more tests, we found out the cancer had spread to her liver. That was... huge. It changed her condition from stage 2 to stage 5. Dire. We were simply heartbroken for them. Heartbroken. They had waited for Ava with such joy and anticipation - and were the dearest new parents. Now I wondered to myself if Tina would even have the opportunity to raise her sweet baby. If Ava would remember her wonderful mother. The thought made me want to sob. It still does.

Tina immediately started treatments, lost her pretty hair, has endured it all with grace, and has continued to be an adorable new mom to Ava. I know she and Tony must have their moments of sadness or fear or discouragement. But I have never seen anyone with such faith and determination. She just smiles her beautiful smile and says cheerfully that they need a miracle, and that's exactly what they are expecting. I don't doubt it for a second. 

So what does fruit salad have to do with any of this? Well, most neighbors try to help, us included, and we have occasionally taken things across the street to them. One Sunday afternoon who should knock on our door but Tina. I opened the door to find her returning one of my bowls - and she had filled it up with a *gorgeous* fruit salad and included a thank you note! The thought of Tina cutting up all that fruit for us when I know she was probably tired and not feeling so well... yet there she stood smiling at our door... brought tears to my eyes. Such an act of kindness from someone who desperately needs her own miracle. That is the kind of person Tina is.    

~ cutest family ever ~

~ sweet Ava Christina ~

~ Halloween ~

I'm sure both Tina & Tony would be embarrassed if they read this. They take everything in stride and don't seem to be nearly as amazed at their positive attitude as everyone else is. But since they don't even know I have a blog, I'm not too concerned :) Which is why I'm going to ask you to keep a prayer in your heart for Tina and Tony and Ava. I have a lot of faith in prayer and the mountains it can move. I've seen prayer work in mighty ways my whole life. Please pray for them.  

In this month dedicated to gratitude, I want to express how grateful I am to Tina for her example of faith and kindness, even when her entire world has been turned upside down. She is a constant source of inspiration to me. I will continue to pray every single day that she gets her miracle. I can't imagine anyone who deserves it more.  

with love xoxoxo

hip to be square

In my efforts to leave no stone design blog unturned as I cruise around the internet, these are some of the things that have caught my eye as of late. Or in design speak, that I've been "crushing on" - though I make a conscious effort not to speak in trend. Just as I was disheartened with what seemed like nonstop white on white, which not only seems boring but c-c-cold to me, I finally found some color! Sheesh! And usually it's circles that I tend to gravitate toward, but I thought all these colorful squares were just too cool for school. 

Up above is an actual painting of an adorable blogging friend of mine, Sara Mincy. And I admit in front of God and man that I have coveted it for a long time. And now she's actually selling it in her Etsy store. At a reduced price! Be still my heart! To check it out, go to her Etsy store HERE. To visit her darling blog, go HERE. 

Next up we have a cool project that I had never seen before - or would have even thought of. These are all picture frames - no glass, nothing in them - painted in approx. 8 different colors repeatedly, and arranged as their own art statement. I thought this was genius on several levels. I've seen the odd antique picture frame grouped as a focal point occasionally, but I've never seen anything like this. Proves that you don't have to have photos in frames to have some great, colorful artwork on your wall. For the entire article by Sparrow King via Apartment Therapy (of course) - and more great photos - click HERE. Photo credit Dwell Magazine. 

And how seriously adorable is this? I mean, come on! And not just for a glorified headboard either - the possibilities are endless! And here's the most surprising thing of all. It's not paint! Not that painting a grid like this would be impossible - it would actually be a lot of fun. But I was shocked to find out that these are pieces of craft paper! I think the entire project was something like $20. It gets the wheels in your brain starting to spin, doesn't it. Well, visit the link for more information HERE. This article was by Heather Blaha from Ohdeedoh (via the Swell Life), the kid's section of Apartment Therapy. And bookmark Ohdeedoh - it's a great source of inspiration! 

young people who rock

My wonderful twenty-three-year-old niece fully embraces a quote I absolutely love: "Life's experiences are like quarters. You lose both when you're sitting on the couch". She is the epitome of experiencing life to it's fullest, which is one of the many things I love about her. I am often guilty of losing my experiences and my quarters while sitting on the couch.

Nicole Lapin

Have you ever noticed CNN.com's lifestyle feature "Young People Who Rock"? It's a weekly feature hosted by Nicole Lapin. She finds the most incredible young people, introduces us to them, gives us time to think of questions we might even want to ask them, and then interviews them every Friday on CNN.com LIVE.

These young people are from all walks of life, from all over the world, all under 30 years of age, some rising up amidst deplorable circumstances, and every single one of them doing remarkable things. I find it incredibly inspiring. It's a gem shining in a world often covered in gunk. Even if you never make it to the live interviews, just reading about these wonderful young people is enough to restore your faith in mankind for another day. And there is an endless catalog of previous articles you can click on as well.

Below you will find the beautiful faces of some of these young people who rock. I'm not going to tell you their stories on purpose because I want you to click on the above link and read about them yourselves. Have your own children join you. You won't regret it :)

Chelsey Shannon

Kyle Taylor

Lexi Lehrman

Felice Gorordo

Wild Child joins the Guideposts Blog Network :)

More Guideposts LOVE peeps! As most of you know, I am a huge fan of Guideposts Magazine - that small yet mighty monthly gem, packed full of inspirational stories that continually restore my faith in mankind. I have posted about them here before. Oh yeah.

Guideposts recently added a new Blog Network to their website, and I was just contacted and informed that wild child has been listed as part of their network. How cool is that! How seriously cool! I am thrilled and honored, to say the least. The very least :)

If you follow THIS LINK, it takes you to the Guideposts Blog Network: Network Directory. Scroll down and you will see all the categories in the center. You will see wild child listed under Personal Change. So there I am! Hang out and browse a while. You will find many excellent blogs there, and you will find endless amazing articles as well. There is something for everyone. The ones involving animals are always among my favorites - so touching :)
I'm also stealing (wait - let's call that copying and pasting) some opportunities for you to give Guideposts a try for yourself. We can all use inspiration - especially these days! Every time I'm sinking, Guideposts lifts me back up. I don't know what I'd do without it. Check it out! Twitter too!

tweet!

a Shameless Plug and more anticipation of........ The Bed

So did everyone enjoy listening to Straight No Chaser's wonderful version of "the 12 Days of Christmas"? Did it work? Everything that gets on here is kind of by the seat of my pants, so I'm hoping it played and everyone had a wonderful laugh. It's still in my side bar if you want to see it again. I just ordered their Christmas CD on Amazon yesterday and I'm anxiously awaiting it's arrival! 

See above? My 3 different notecard sets? All in colorful sets of 8 cards packaged in a lovely gift box? I am shamelessly plugging them because a little bird (named Jamie Bernards) told me they make great teacher/friend/self/hard-to-buy-for-family-member gifts. Who knew? A set of cards is $20 and shipping is free. You can purchase them through my Wild Child Arts store on Etsy (scroll down on the right side bar), or of course you can just contact me too. Etsy says I have one of each but just so you know, I have multiples of every set. A plethora, if you will. 

Word on the street is, many of you seem as anxious as I am for my INFERNAL BED FRAME to be done. Well, it's DONE! And after it being such a nightmare (don't worry - you'll get the whole story - oh believe me, you'll get it. with pictures. in spades) I'm now trying to decided if I love it as much as I thought I would, or if I will hate it forever ;) In any case, it's taking it's last few days to dry before we finally bring it inside and get it all set up. We're aiming for Saturday. So stay tuned - same Bat time, same Bat channel :)

"Inspire-Optimist Magazine"

I have a very tender heart. I always have. The indecencies of this life weigh upon my heart until at times it feels like an anvil in my chest. My personality is that of an optimist, though many times it is an uphill battle to remain an optimist in our world of constant turmoil. Atrocities break my heart and try my faith. The media makes sure as much of it as possible is pushed into our face day and night. 

The optimist in me knew that for every unjust horror in this life, there was at least as much goodness. For every awful deed, there was a regular person just like you and I, quietly doing something to restore our faith in mankind. For every sorrow, somewhere there was at least that much joy and inspiration. There had to be. We just rarely heard about those moments because the media thrives on negativity. 

Many years ago I had an idea to someday start my own magazine. It would contain nothing but true inspirational stories. Loads of them. Anyone and everyone could send in stories from all over the globe. I would print them into a magazine and distribute it to thousands of weary souls longing for something uplifting and positive in their lives. Knowing that yes, there was still good in the world, would nurture their optimism - would lighten the anvil's heavy load. I would name my magazine "Inspire-Optimist". Perfect! The thing I didn't know, was that someone had already created that magazine. "Guideposts".

"Guideposts Magazine" was launched in 1945 by the famous inspirational speaker and author, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, and his wife Ruth Stafford Peale. An amazing couple, an amazing man - that is a post in and of itself. Dr. Peale wrote over 45 books, including the best seller, "the Power of Positive Thinking". The Guideposts organization in unified around this mission: "to help people from all walks of life achieve their maximum personal and spiritual potential". I realize that's a huge mission. All I know is, after being such a long-time, faithful reader, I couldn't live life without Guideposts! The stories are beyond amazing, beyond touching. Average, ordinary people going above and beyond, rising to the occasion, stepping up to the plate, going the extra mile. Stories that are so inspiring, they constantly restore my faith in others, in the world, in God, and even in myself. Each little magazine is filled to overflowing with precious gems. So go check them out - they have a terrific website as well, and you can even sign up for daily inspirational posts via your e-mail. Click on the link - you'll be glad you did, I promise.

Guideposts Magazine