the art of writing eggs

I am just learning to love so much about the Slavic region of the world and their rich heritage. The more I study about it, the more I just love their traditions and embroidery and everything else! Sometime last year, I discovered pysanky eggs - the traditional Ukranian Easter Egg. These eggs are beautiful!!! I have wanted to learn how to do them for as long as I discovered they existed! I was planning a trip to NYC to the Ukranian museum and their pysanky workshop but wasn't feeling great about it. Then I found out that a local church was having their own workshop and I signed up! Yesterday was a crazy day with church in the morning and pysanky in the afternoon but it was worth it.

Here are some pics to what pysanky (piss-un-kee) is supposed to look like!





There are some pretty complex designs and some simpler ones (as shown in the pics above) but all of them are just stunning. Here's my attempt at this ancient art.

First you start with a clean white egg. One that has been cleaned with water and vinegar. Then, you decide what pattern you want to create and apply wax where you want white lines to appear.

Then, you dip it in your first, next lightest color. In my case, I wanted it to be yellow. 

Next, you put wax everywhere you want the yellow to stay. See the pattern here? Like watercolor, you work from light to dark. Next you dip it in your next darkest color. In this case red. I didn't let it sit as long as I should have and it turned out more pinkish than I wanted but it still a good color. 

Then, you apply wax to all the spots that you want to stay red. If you are doing this correctly, most of the egg should be covered in wax by now. Finally, I dipped it in black as my final color. In the picture below you can see the egg all dyed but still covered in wax. It looks messy. And it is! 

Next, you melt the wax off the egg and then drain it (something I still need to do) and enjoy! I didn't do a great job on this egg...hey it's my first!!  

I didn't get the division correct or the lines around the middle straight or any number of things, but I had a blast doing it and I now know how to do it correctly. I also got all the tools and dyes I need to do this at home! I am hoping to do a bunch of eggs prior to Uprising so I can show them off as part of my display and give them away. That gives me until mid June to have some fun! 

I did buy an 18-count carton of eggs today in hopes that I can find some time this week to do another, simpler egg. Here's to optimism!! :) 

living my persona

I don't know if I have ever announced it on this blog, but I LOVE Medieval Reenactment. I walked into this game with an exit strategy and have ended up staying for the past three years. I plan to stay for a bit longer. It is so much fun! I love the pagentry, the quirky people, and the fellow geeks, especially the fellow geeks. I love that I can walk into a room and find someone with similar interests that actually know what I'm talking about and can appreciate "how long it takes" to do something. I have found life-long friends that I would have never met in any other circumstance. I am blessed to be part of this game.

My persona is Romani (gypsy). I've said since I was much, much younger that I think I had gypsy blood in my somewhere as I love to travel and experience new things. When I finally made my decision (about two months in) that I wanted to ditch my exit strategy and truly play this game, it was easy to pick my persona...well, at least the persona I wanted to be. I've had a harder time getting a correct name, finding my "region" and getting my garb figured out. It will all come. I don't need to be perfect from day one!

This past weekend, I traveled a whopping 7-hours each way to attend the Kingdom Arts & Sciences Festival in Wallace, NC. It was only supposed to be a 5-hr trip, but living in VA has its not so amazing perks. I had taken a basketful of stuffs to display just in case. I hadn't decided if I wanted to or not but got there and decided I really did want to show off! So, I set up a little display of some of my embroidery pieces and had a blast meeting new people.

So, here I am. Meet Vadoma, Romani who travels Eastern Europe. Lover of all things embroidery but especially open or cut work. Who also dabbles in calligraphy and illumination.

ready, set, goal! - an update

Since we are almost two entire months...TWO MONTHS...into the new year, I thought I would give you an update on my goals. Remember this gigantic list? Here is an update.

Spiritual:

• Gain an intimate relationship with my Savior. 
• Need to study more. Getting better but still have a ways to go. 
• Spend time in the temple every month, not just go - spend time there. 
• Went in Jan/Feb. Need to plan a trip by myself in March so I am on my schedule. 

Family: 

• Work on family history, specifically the Wells side. 
• Have family group sheets to verify. Going to Family History Library next week. 
• Write meaningful emails to my missionaries. 
• Going well and response has been good. 
• Bring my missionaries home and get them settled in the next chapter of their lives. 
• 12 weeks til Mister Missionary comes home!! 
• Finish 2014 yearbook, Ireland vacation book, Paris/Germany vacation book, and Italy vacation book. 
• One down, three to go. 
• Write in my journal and blog weekly. 
• Getting better, much better. 

Health: 

• Keep track of my net calories every day. 
• done about 98% of the time. 
• Move every day. 
• Ditto
• Lose 30 pounds. 
• Minus 8 pounds so far. Lots more toning and feeling better than weight loss. 

Financial: 

• Pass the PMP exam
• Pay off all credit cards and other loans
• Making HUGE progress. Feeling better about my debt. 
• Kickstart my retirement
• Not started. :( Working on taxes this month and then retirement. 
• Become Elite with doTERRA
• Have a plan in place with Pam to make this happen. Going to make this happen!! 

SCA: 

• Learn trapunto and make largess items
• No trapunto yet. But I am making 2 drawn thread towels for largess. Also finished four scrolls. 
• Make a lefkara veil for my Laurel
• Great progress on this item! Will finish in June. 
• Enter Kingdom Atlantia Persona Pentathlon in 2016. 
• Starting to make plans but haven't actually completed anything. Will report on my five items after I get a better understanding of what is expected. Going to KASF next week!! 

Anyway, I think two completed goals is amazing!! I'll give you another update in a couple of months. 

frozen in virginia

For about a week, Virginia has experienced close to record breaking cold temperatures. We are talking -24 with wind chills. When the wind disappears, we hover around freezing, which isn't too bad actually. But then 50mph gusts come up and everything just freezes. Because of the trees and the fact that some roads simply wind through tunnels of trees, road conditions are dangerous with black ice and actual ice bumps on the roads where water from the trees dripped down and accumulated before freezing again. Schools have been closed for a couple of days and most people are working from home. The next two days are going to be frigid again but then we should hover around freezing for the foreseen future.

On Sunday the 15th, we had freezing temps and freezing wind chill and freezing roads and freezing everything. I went to bed all snuggled down deep and with thoughts of going to the temple early the next day. I did get up and worked out and then went to take a shower....and, no water. Nothing. Nada. Here I was dripping sweat and I was supposed to be leaving to meet my ride to the temple in about an hour and I didn't have water!!

I texted Ann and they had water so I ran over to the big house for a quick shower and got promises that they would thaw the pipe that day (Dan had the day off work) and I would be back in running water business soon. Sadly, the pipe was not frozen in the garage but under the ground. We need 3-4 days of above freezing temps to dig the trench and find/fix the problem.

Since above freezing temps are not expected for at least another week, this is what my running water currently looks like and will probably look like for the next few weeks. Good news is that I get to live here rent free until I have water again! Gotta find the silver lining in everything. :)

fitness roadblocks

I started working out again in earnest at the first of the year and trying to watch my calories. I am starting to feel stronger...I CAN DO BURPEES!...and am losing some weight. More importantly, I am seeing a definite change in the shape of my body.

However, the last few weeks I have been getting nauseous every time I eat. EVERY. TIME. It doesn't seem to matter what I eat. No matter what, I just get sick. Since that started, I have been having a hard time actually eating, which means I don't have enough energy to exercise as vigorously as I have in the past; actually, I don't have enough energy to do much of anything.

So, I contacted my nutrition-crazy friend and asked her what I should be doing. After a lot of discussion, she told me that my lactose intolerance that I thought had disappeared years ago either didn't really go away or is maybe coming back. And then she told me everything I already knew but needed to hear again (apparently). So, I'm decreasing my consumption of milk products, upping my fruits and veggies, and cutting out as much sugar as I can. I'm hoping that fixing my diet will help with my nausea and help me feel better. It is going to be a challenge. But I know I can do it! And my friend is going to work to keep my on track. She's determined to turn me in to a stronger me!

it is all about "immersion"

This past Sunday, the Sunday School lesson was all about being born again. I have heard that statement so many times but didn't really understand it. I understood that it was to be "baptized by fire" but what does that really mean?

In studying to teach this lesson, I found a quote by Elder Bednar that says "We begin the process of being born again through exercising faith in Christ, repenting of our sins, and being baptized by immersion for the remission of our sins by one having priesthood authority...Total immersion in and saturation with the Savior's gospel are essential steps in the process of being born again."

The word immersion is mentioned twice. I realized that immersion is the key. I can understand that word - becoming completely engulfed in something! Ah, now I get it. Be baptized by immersion for the remission or our sins. Live immersed in the Gospel to be born again. Suddenly it all makes sense!

I had the missionaries over for dinner yesterday. We got talking about this lesson and the meaning of the word immersion and how it applies to both baptism by water AND baptism by fire. Sister Williams mentioned that she had been studying this topic in Preach My Gospel and was wondering how to explain the concept of being born again to people not of our faith. We had a great discussion on this immersion idea and how we can all apply it and talk about it.

Did I mention that I love having the missionaries in my home every week? Seriously, they come every week and it is the best decision I could have made to invite them in. Sister Fakatou is leaving me next week after serving in this ward for six months and I will miss her a ton. She is going to be a great missionary wherever she lands and will touch many more lives, but I will still miss her. I'm happy to have Sister Williams for at least six more weeks.

They asked to take a selfie yesterday. So, here we are! PS. I texted this pic to their moms. Every missionary mom loves mid week surprises. :)

living intentionally - redux

I started a plan to live intentionally last fall. It worked for a bit. This year, as I was contemplating my goals and how in the world I was ever going to achieve them all, I knew that I needed a little bit more inspiration. That is when my mind went back to last fall when I first started researching the idea of living intentionally, and I just knew that I needed to make this idea my theme for the year (don't you just love inspiration?). 

Living intentionally is deciding every day to live how I want to live and not just because I've always done things a certain way. It is living less out of habit and more out of intent, daily working to break bad habits and create new ones. It is deciding every day to move (not just thing) toward something better. It is living at its best. It is life on purpose.

    

How can you not love something that puts you in touch with your mind, body, heart and soul every day? Living intentionally is an art and with every great art, it takes practice.