Christmastide & New Year Greetings!

Well, 2019 has certainly been a “bumpy year,” as the Queen so wryly noted in this year’s Xmas address. In a lil’ over a year, we’ve lived in 3 states, experiencing wholly different cultures from slow, sweltering hot & soggy cold Appalachian country life to baking n’ bountiful Californian vibes to finally arriving back again in our very own cosy corner of Narnia, right here in N. Colorado, loving once again children and kin. All told, we drove well over 9,000 miles, flew to England to see my family, had my wallet & ID stolen and are still somewhat exhausted, must say. Oh, and did I mention, whilst in KY, Alexandra broke her back and was on bed rest for many months?! Yup, some deep lows, and highs.

With promises of helping fam/others in need, the chance for new opportunities and challenges, I had to give up a long time job/career I loved in order to meet the tasks at hand, sacrificing in the process, let alone taking these huge steps of faith into the untested unknowns for the better good. We gave it our heart and soul, poured into everyone we could and left with having built some lasting rewards that are definitely beyond measure whilst experiencing losses.

We started two companies, grew our creative potential, number of clients (nationally & internationally), and reach massively; created an awesome, diverse and strong portfolio; challenged ourselves to not accept the mundane yet easy (but oftentimes dulling) status quo and are excited to see where 2020 leads!

We overcame both petty and huge trials together by looking beyond to the promise of greater things. Our trust could have been easily broken on occasion - many situ’s were extremely challenging, if not wild -  but rather than stay mired, we dug deep, found the courage to fly, to try new things, to never give up or lose hope, to imagine and further realise bigger dreams.

My passion for life, others, let alone as a creative professional is bursting at the seams. I feel renewed, alive and can’t wait to see what these new ’20s bring! How about you?

 

BTW, if you’d like to catch up more, the best way in terms of social platforms (and through which we get much of our work) is truly on Instagram with mine (@itsrainingmarmalade) and Alexandra’s (@alexandrasillos) accents. In fact, there you’ll find our own recently completed joint Christmas Countdown Art challenge - The 25 Doors of Christmas! (With that said too, I’ll be sure to update my IG icon.)

Thank you to each of you for your lovely comments earlier (all of which I’ve replied to now). We’ve been quite busy with some new exciting projects and have at least enjoyed seeing a few of you out there in IG land! I’m going to now visit those of you who commented in the last post so s to catch up here a bit too...whilst able during this holiday downtime!

I do hope all of you have had a full, thrilling year.... but, perhaps not quite as much as ours! :)

What's that up in the air?

Well, peeps, judging from the handful of replies to my last post, I'm not convinced there's enough interest in re-starting Scribble Picnic yet! It seems, at best, more people might be able to commit once we get through these dog days of summer, possibly? So, at this point, we're going to leave it be and, if you want, I can simply ask again once September comes around.

As it is, that's probably for the best as with every year for all of us, summer's a busy time. Alex and I, as a case in point, will be back in Colorado for my youngest's wedding and then off to England on some super cheap tickets we actually bought last year, long before we knew all the unexpected changes that were to arise later. On the plus side though, we can use a portion of the trip for business as we have some potential opportunities there that could be quite exciting. Naturally, too, I want to see my remaining family there since 3 years ago.

Frankly, since then (when we went to take care of my mother), things have certainly not been boring, must say — quite the adventure — but we're exhausted taking care of others that we'll be ready to start to carve out some time for our own lives too...and place to call home again!

I hope everyone's summer is going well. Feel free to leave comments. I'll check in as able. Thanks to each of you who were able to leave comments and don't forget that Rain has her weekly art challenge too! In the meanwhile, while not feeling nearly as hot as humid Kentucky, the reality is that today was an incredible 107F so I'll be chillin', literally, as much as able. Thankfully, tonight the temps plunge down again with the promise of that lovely Delta breeze that so thrills and surprises me. :)

See you in September, if not sooner! :)