Cleaning Out the iPhone Files.

Wow. So, I cleaned out my iPhone ... purging it of all the pictures and videos I have been storing on it for the past year ... and my goodness ... there are loads of little snippets of our lives ... that I might have otherwise forgotten about if it weren't for my trusty little pocket phone/camera/video devise.

Here are several "windows" into our lives ... in no particular order ... all with a bit of commentary. I hope you enjoy ...

This is our humble home. Behind my parents' house. Not much --- but just enough.

Meaghan is forever stealing away my iPhone to take pics of herself. And wouldn't you if you were this gorgeous?

Isaac ... at a local thrift shop ... saying, "Mom, look, don't you think we should buy this for Daddy?" Ummmm ... no way son.

My girlfriend, LyAnn and I get massages at the Bangor Mall. Looks like the woman is about to slap LyAnn's butt. Love it.

Isaac enjoying the local park. He gets SO giddy playing at any of our umpteen parks here in Bangor. (Have I mentioned before how much I love Bangor?).

Borders rocks. And here Isaac and I are ... pouring over the Marvel Encyclopedia. And although we own it ... we always seem to peruse it at Borders too. It is a tradition I guess.

My buddy Andy .... bringing my new vintage --- TOTALLY AWESOME --- bike to the studio so that I can place it in the window display before we get together to paint it and make it even AWESOME-R.

Ooohh ... here is a humble pic of the place in which Isaac and I had our first movie audition. I wanted to remember it (as though I could ever forget).

Meaghan bottle feeding You. Yes, You.

Yummmmm..... the BEST Mexican food in Maine .... at Miguel's. I am drooling now.

Ok ... this donut is Ridonculous!!! It is a triple chocolate donut from Dunkins. They only make them for certain promotion periods. Damn good thing ... or Isaac would be toothless. Can you even imagine the sugar content???

Meaghan captures a moment of love between Daddy and I. At least I assume I was reaching over to rub his hair or something!?

Isaac makes friends everywhere he goes ... especially blondes. Meaghan graciously offers to push the swing for them.

Reading at the Borders Cafe. Again.

New Friends. Are. So. Awesome.

Playing the drums at Best Buy. Another place we go just to hang out and try new gadgets.

I want to make this. Soon.

A gift from Uncle Jamie. By mail. Bought at a Nashua thrift store. He smashes, lights up, and speaks. Can you say "Uncle of the Year"?

A terrible picture of the voting process at my Studio ... for the Pet Portrait Contest. Just a handful of contestants shown. I have no idea why I didn't photograph this whole event better.

This lady is a HOOT! At the Winterport Boot Christmas party ... she started a food fight. I love her.

So, Miguel's may have the best Mexican food around ... but Isaac brings his own Burger King Macaroni & Cheese ... as he loathes Mexican food.

When we met R2-D2.

A trip to Burger King ... because they were including Iron Man toys in their kids' meals. And how can we resist Iron Man? Truly, we cannot.

More new friends ... we met at the park and exchanged phone numbers. Again ... have I mentioned how much I love Bangor!?

One of our local Starbucks has an artist in their employ ... and Isaac is VERY fond of his work :)

So ... there you are ... a few snippets from our life. Times when I did not have my "real" camera ... but was happy to use my iPhone to capture a moment in time that might otherwise be forgotten.

The videos I cleared off the phone are fun too ... and perhaps I will post those soon as well. I hope you all have a great day ... and that you capture a few memories as well.

xoxo,

Jodi

Lovely Characters in My City.

At this past Friday's Downtown Bangor ArtWalk, my studio gave away free portraits to anyone who walked in to check out our business. Here are some of the great people from my city ... and even a sweet puppy ...

Truth be told, the woman in the red dress did not come into the studio on her own. I saw her passing by and yelled down the street to her, "Miss, I WANT TO TAKE A PICTURE OF YOU!". To which she simply turned her head, followed me, and entered the studio. I am not even sure if we exchanged words. She was just too cute to pass up.

So, our free portraits were a great success. And I hope to offer more freebie sessions in the future --- so that folks can see how fun and inexpensive a great photo shoot can be.

Thank you to all who participated! And for those who didn't ... we will get ya next time :)

Love,

Jodi

Moose at the Camp. For Sure.

We have always assumed that there are moose on the 100+ acres that Halis shares with his brothers. But aside from moose droppings and moose tracks ... we had yet to officially spot them around the camp. That is, until Halis and his Brother invested in a wildlife cam. So, here they are:

Time for me to suck it up ... and go spend an evening at the camp ... so I can wake up bright and early to capture mama and her baby on "film". I am not a huge fan of the "boonies", but I'd like to give this a wildlife photography thing a shot. I'll let ya know ...

Love,

Jodi

Meaghan Leaves for Canada. (sigh).

Sunday morning at 5am ... Isaac and I took our Meggie May to the airport to see her off as she left for a 10-day Tim Horton's Leadership Camp in Toronto, Canada. Halis offered to take her ... knowing how hard it is for me to say goodbye to anyone, let alone one of my babies ... but for some reason I felt I needed to be the one.


Meaghan and I have hard a hard time these last couple weeks. She is having a hard time adjusting to our rules, our way of living, and to the permanacy of her new life. In turn, we are having a hard time trying to do right by her while also understanding the emotional turmoil that has been her life thus far. I see Meaghan as a daughter (always have said she was the daughter that I somehow forgot to give birth too). But she holds us at arms length ... and though we can't blame her ... we find it hard to convince her that everything we do for her is with her best interests in mind.

The thing is ... I love this girl ... BIG TIME. And I don't need her to love me back (though I think she might ) ... but I do want/need her to know just how much she is loved. And I wanted to give her a loving send off ... no matter what sort of PTSD I have regarding "leaving" children (leaving Isaac in Haiti three times during our adoption process nearly killed me).

So, with Isaac clad in his pajamas ... and none of us having gotten any sleep ... we joyfully goofed around the airport.

Isaac kissed Meg as often as possible.

And we waited and watched as the plane prepared to take Meg off to a whole new adventure. But little did either child now ... my heart was so heavy. I didn't want her to go ... but I didn't want her to know it. My heart was aching at the thought of not being able to contact her for 10 days ... of not knowing who was going to be taking care of my girl ... of not knowing whether she would enjoy it or want to come home, etc. This trip was scheduled for her long before she moved in with us ... and I am not sure I could have allowed for it if it were up to me. But I guess I am thankful that it was not up to me ... as I am certain she needs this separation right now. The camp allows for no electronics, no ipods, no computers, etc. So she will be forced to do some self-reflecting, some reading, some writing ... and a whole lot of one-on-one fun. All good for her.

But as the plane was getting prepared ... I felt like my heart was sinking. Thoughts screaming through my head ... Does she know how much I love her? ... Does she know that we are never going to give up on her? ... Does she truly believe that we will miss her or does she think that we (like others before us) will want to be "rid" of her? Does she truly know how wonderful she is? ... Does she truly feel loved and worthy of love? My stomach ached with worry and tears were hard to fight back. But I didn't want her to worry about my feelings ... so I held it together as best I could (Klonopin helped).

Then it was time to board the plane. She wanted to just walk away, wave and make an easy escape to the plane. I however, couldn't let her. As she tried to create an unemotional leaving ... I grabbed her tight and told her how much I love her. She stoically replied that she loved me too and then quickly boarded.

I walked away ... went back to the window ... stared at the plane ... tears streaming down my face. Loads of memories entered my consciousness ... memories of leaving Isaac in Haiti ... wondering if he knew how much he was loved ... wondering if he was safe ... hating every moment of being apart from him while our adoption process was painstakingly being completed ... somehow feeling those same feelings all over again as I watched Meg's plane slowly departing.

Then, in the midst of all these thoughts ... my cell phone rings ... at 7am. Looking at the number, I wonder why in the world a client would be calling this early ... but I answered anyway. I am so glad I did. --- "Studio 36, this is Jodi. Can I help you?" --- "Hi. It's me, Meg. I borrowed another passenger's cell. I can't talk long but I want you to know I love you." --- "Oh Meggie, I was crying before but now you got me sobbing. I am SO proud of you! I love you so much and I hope you have a wonderful time! I love you!"--- "Ok, just wanted you to know I love you." --- "Thank you Babe. Have SO much fun. Bye for now." --- "I will. Bye for now."

I sobbed. I sobbed. I sobbed. She was so thoughtful to borrow a phone and tell me what she did. And that is SO Meg. She can tell me in a Facebook message that she loves me ... but never in person. But I sucked it up. She loves me. I am beginning to believe it. And in turn, I am beginning to believe that she can feel my love for her. I hope. Perhaps we are making progress. I hope.

So, a piece of my heart is in Toronto right now ... hopefully having the time of her life. And I will keep VERY busy for the next 9 days ... until I pick her up ... and cry all over again at how thankful I am that she is back safe and sound. I am sure this time away is good for us all. Still doesn't stop me from being emotional about it.

Thank God for other parents who have reached out to me lately to tell me my feelings are far from crazy. And that they too STILL have a hard time watching their ADULT children head off on various adventures. Motherhood is intense ... when done "right". Thank you to all the Moms who understand me ... even better than I may understand myself. I can't believe she has only been a permanent part of our daily life for like 3 months now ... but it will only be 5 years till she sets off into the world on her own. I will need you veteran Moms then too! And that Klonopin!

Love,

Jodi

Join Us for the 18th Downtown Bangor ArtWalk!

For this artwalk, Studio 36 is trying something a bit different. We are offering everyone who enters our studio a free portrait --- on the spot. How fun is that!? So, check out the info contained below --- and drop by the studio tomorrow night between 5-9pm.

See you then! ENJOY!

Love,
Jodi

Fundraising Opportunity: Good for Us ... Good For YOU!

See the check above? Sure, it's only for $6.50. But guess how I earned it? By taking 3 online surveys. Seriously. While sitting on my couch. Watching tv. In less than 40 minutes. And the check was sent to me in less a week after I requested it. I have already earned much more ... but I wanted Opinion Outpost to send me a check as soon as possible, so that I could show all of you that this is for real.

Want in? Well, guess what? First, it is so easy to get started. Secondly, if you use the link below in order to get started, we get $2.00 toward our trip after you finish your first paid survey. See that?! We both win!

So, please click below to get started ... and once you do ... you too can invite friends and earn $2.00 for every friend who joins ... not to mention the money you earn by sharing your opinions.

http://OpinionOutpost.com/join/8143038

Please let us know here in the comment section when you join and finish your first survey. That way we can be sure to track whether their "Refer a Friend" program is working. Also, please share your experience with the site. We'd love to hear that you too are earning some extra cash for your families as well.

Love
Jodi

P.S. Thank you Cousin Nicole ... for referring us to this awesome program!

Virtual Yard Sale: Day 4. For Sure.

Sorry about skipping out on you all last night. (sigh). Busy juggling "life" ... as I am sure you all are.

But here we are ... Day 4 of our online sale to raise funds for our efforts to get to Disney World this year. I hope you find something you can't live without :)

ITEM #1d:

The following Paula Deen & Sons cookbooks. Both for just $8 plus $4 shipping. Brand New! Great, inexpensive gifts ...

ITEM #2d:

Set of vintage braille playing cards. Totally cool! Not sure if they are all here (I suppose I could count them) but these would be great collages & other fun art works. $3 for set. $2 for shipping.

ITEM #3d:

Lot of vintage childrens' books. All as shown below. All in great condition. I have been a coolector of vintage kids books for years, but am willing to part with some of my collection to get the kids to Disney World :) Just $5 for all. Shipping $3.

ITEM #4d:

Loads of quilting and sewing patterns. Here they are:

And here is the list:

Noah's Family by Indygo Junction, Inc.

KinderKakes : Baby Shower Centerpieces

Blast Off! Spaceship Applique Quilt

Reversible "Coveralls Bib" by Belinda's Designs

Storybook Animals Series: Little Duck Quilt

Fish Bowl Fun: Quilt

Karate Kids: Applique Quilt

Sew Easy Stained Glass Quilt: Dinosaur

Bath Puppet Pals by Sewbaby.com

Sew Special Designs: VW Bug Season

Everyone Loves the Circus: A Peek-A-Boo Quilt

Stardust Quilt by Sagebud Designs

T-Shirt Quilt

Turkish Nutcracker Applique Quilt

Home Sweet Home Fish Aquarium Quilt

"Truckload of Tools" Applique Quilt by Pavelka

Baby Bunting by Rag Merchant

Seasonal Button Pillows

"I Never Saw a Purple Cow" by Four Corners

2 for 1 Classics: Dream Wardrobe & Flying High Quilts

The Pantry Shelf Quilt

All 21 patterns for just $20 plus $3 shipping. Most retail for $6 each.

Interested in anything? Just leave a message here or on Facebook ... or e-mail me at jrenshaw@hotmail.com.

Thank you!

Love,

Jodi