Heather Powers: 10 Winter Treats

This is my first real winter in 10 years. It's been hard to adjust to the cold and gray. But each day has been a chance to relish in creature comforts and enjoy the ever changing landscape.

1. The water is always really, really cold and fresh from the tap.

2. I've discovered I love soft, fluffy socks.

3. Cuddling is extra nice on cold nights.

4. Colors seem brighter next to the white washed landscape.

5. A cup of warm tea can warm the soul.

6. Gardening supplies on display let's me know my town us filled with optimists.

7. Snow covered trees are amazing in the morning during the pink and orange sunrises.

8. Oranges make me all sorts of happy on a cold gray day.

9. Tiny tracks in the snow hint at all sorts of invisible neighbors.

10. I find I have more time for creating while I avoid the cold!

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You can learn more about Heather on her blog, Humblebeads

Heather Powers: Falling From The Sky

When I was a young mom I was in need of a new washing machine. I was telling my mom about this and said "I'll just pray about it and one will come my way." Her response was something along the lines of laughing and saying "Oh yeah right Heather, is one going to fall out of the sky?" I didn't know how one would come my way but I needed a new one and I knew my heavenly Father would provide. 

It wasn't long after our conversation when my mom called me and said, "Well, I guess a washing machine is going to fall out of the sky because we can't take ours when we move. You can have it. It's practically new." I was so thankful. 

We have known lean times and plenty, through it all we have always been given what we needed. Sometimes I forget this and my mom reminds me that washing machines fall out of the sky for me and all will be okay.

If you can bless someone today, do it. If you need something, pray. 

You may never be able to repay someone for their kindness, but when the time comes you can always pay it forward. I remind myself of this often and I am so thankful for both the gifts we have been given and those gifts we are able to share.

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You can learn more about Heather at her blog Humblebeads

Heather Powers: Daughters

 If I had to name one thing I am most grateful for in this lifetime it is my two beautiful daughters.

I didn't really know the meaning of love until I held them in my arms.

The world is a better place just for having them in it.

Being a mother is the definition of unconditional love.  There is nothing they could say or do to make me love them less.  My love is a constant.  A completely encompassing emotion that knows no bounds.

I love them when they are horrible and they are teenage girls, so that can be hourly.

I love them when they are lazy.

I love them when they sass back to me.

I love them when they disobey.

I love them when they are defiant.

I love them when they argue with me.

I love them when they fall apart and need me.

I love them when they are fire and rage.

I love them when they are negative.

I love them when I don't understand them.

I love them when we don't agree.

I love them when they say they hate me.  I know they never mean it.

I love them when I catch them doing something selfless.

I love them when they hug me in the morning.

I love them when we laugh about old memories.

I love them when we share an inside joke.

I love them when they silly.

I love them when they are kind.

I love them when they thank me.

I love them when they share their problems with me.

I love them when they work hard.

I love them when they reach for their dreams.

I love them when they share their joys.

I love them when they seek my advice.

I love them when they remind me of my husband.

I love them when they seem like they are from another planet.

I love them. Always.

Ups and downs, good times and bad, sweet or complicated, they are amazing humans and I am so thankful to be the one who gets to help shape them into the adults that they will soon become. Having teenagers is the hardest job I've ever had, but I don't want a minute of it to go by quicker, our time together before they head off into the world is short. Good days and bad days alike I cherish our time together.  This year has been a difficult one, but through it all our love has held us together and been the wings that helped us rise above some of the hardest challenges.

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You can learn more about Heather at her blog Humblebeads

Heather Powers: Holiday Cheer Top 10 List

I love celebrating Christmas.

It's the little things that make me the happiest this time of year.

Things that remind of my childhood, of simpler times, of joys that are heartfelt.

1. Handmade ornaments

2. Listening to Christmas carols

3. Staying up late making gifts for my family

4. Walking in the snow

5. Drinking hot cocoa

6. The smell of pine in our living room

7. Lights twinkling in the dark after everyone has gone to bed

8. The advent candles and nativity on the table

9. Opening Christmas cards from friends and family

10. The candlelight church service on Christmas Eve

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You can learn more about Heather at her blog Humblebeads

Heather Powers: Sisters

She is your mirror, shining back at you with a world of possibilities. She is your witness, who sees you at your worst and best, and loves you anyway. She is your partner in crime, your midnight companion, someone who knows when you are smiling, even in the dark. She is your teacher, your defense attorney, your personal press agent, even your shrink. Some days, she's the reason you wish you were an only child. 

 ~Barbara Alpert 

I'm so thankful for the last two months of getting to know my little sister again after living a half-a-world away for the last 10 years. We have spent time reminiscing. Acting goofy. Cooking: she is trying so very hard to make a cook out of me. Crafting: one morning we stopped the car and plucked wildflowers and cattails to make to flower arrangement for her front door. We have shopped: from the farmers market to back-to-school shopping with our three teenaged daughters, to late night runs to the store and we both have a fondness for a certain craft store that rhymes with knobby bobby. We've had movie nights watching self-indulgent chick flicks. Movie time with your sister, is there anything better? We are planning our first Thanksgiving together in 10 years. She is a closet Martha Stewart, she'll profess she isn't crafty - but she has mad skills in the kitchen and when it comes to decorating. 

My sister is my polar opposite. She's loud, I'm quite. She's friendly, I'm shy. She's a lion, I'm a mouse. She can let go and have fun, I play it safe and worry about everything. 

She does things and I realize how much she is like our mom. No one is ever a stranger. They know the clerks at their grocery store, the people they do business would all count them as friends, they know all their neighbors - if you are in a room for five minutes with them they will know half your life story. They are the kind of people you want to talk to, they invite you to share and actually listen. 

My sister is amazingly selfless. She will spend two days cooking a meal for family and friends, even though it's something she doesn't like to eat. She will drop everything to help a friend in need. She takes care of her family night and day. She'll pull up a chair and make beads with me if she sees me overwhelmed or bring a book to the studio and read with me late into the wee hours of the night if I am working on a crazy deadline.

  

I don't know anyone like I know my sister. When I'm with her we are immediately children again. Only so much better, because unlike the quote above we have outgrown all our sibling rivalries and are now each others biggest cheerleaders.

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You can learn more about Heather at her blog Humblebeads

Heather Powers: Thankful For Wild Weeds

I'm so thankful for weeds.  Whether they are growing in my yard, poking through cracks in a bustling city or spread out in all their glory across a country field.  They offer such great inspiration in color and texture.  I find them completely beautiful.  And a great reminder to let nature have it's way once in a while.

Why are they weeds?  Whose to say which bloom is a flower and which a weed? 

This reminds me of my children and that I need to let them grow little a wild and free like weeds. I remind myself not to force them into a box of who I think they should be.  I remind myself to let them be who they will be and sprout up the way they were intended.  Don't prune away too much, let their natural beauty and joy shine through.

Of course I'm not talking about discipline or areas of morality. There I am a constant gardener.

I'm talking about giving them a break, not trying to control everything - let them make a few messes, questionable fashion choices, let them dive into a project even if it takes over the kitchen table.  Let them have questions about who they are and how they fit in the world and give them the space to figure out those answers as they go along.  

I remind myself to relax and enjoy those wild little things while I can.  Just like weeds and flowers they will be floating off into the world all too soon.  And I'm so thankful for every minute with them.

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You can learn more about Heather at her blog Humblebeads

Heather Powers: Small Graces

Photo credit: FoundShop

I was blessed enough to live next door to my Great Grandmother when I was teen.  I remember one story that she told that guides me though my days.

During one of my visits while eating fresh baked banana bread, my Grandma shared how for years she marveled that her house never had cobwebs. Through the years as she raised her family and saw them off into the world, she attributed it to her homemaking skills and keeping a tidy house.

A few months after my great grandfather died she noticed cobwebs in a corner one morning.  As she got the broom and went the around the house she realized during all her years of marriage her husband had been quietly sweeping away the cobwebs when she wasn't around.  

It was a small gesture, but it made her realize all the invisible ways we touch each other throughout the day and don't even realize it. 

Those tiny bits of grace tucked into each day as you take care of your family mean more than you know.  

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You can learn more about Heather at her blog Humblebeads