My path is beautiful and crooked & just as it should be

Let my hands be used to build & not destroy

Yesterday I was clever so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself. – Rumi

I will not be defined by what others think I am…

#powerful….

Today I am Thankful…For a Brand New Project

Hi Loves! So, I have been procrastinating on starting (or finishing) any projects these past few weeks, but I have had this one project in my head now for a few months that refuses to leave my brain ( kinda like that nagging theme song from Adventure Time, my kids favorite TV show). I think this one might bring some real peace into my home.

I have a habit of being a bit craptastic when I walk into the Watkins castle. One minute in the door & it begins…

“Why are your bags & coats on the floor?”

“What is this mess?”

“I can’t cook with every dish in the sink!”

I’m sure most of you know the drill…

Kinda unfair for the family that hasn’t seen me all day, to get the worst part of me. I mean at work, I have to be in a good mood…if I showed my crappy side at work everyday, I’d need to look for another job ASAP!

I know I’m in need of a swift kick in the butt that says “Get your ish together, Girl! You have sooooo much to smile about! Stop complaining, ” but I’d prefer it to be bright & colorful and free of pain.

So, today, I’m excited to start my ‘Today I am Thankful for’ chalkboard. Something all of us can use to write down what we’re thankful for at a moment’s notice. And I want to put it RIGHT at the entry door, so even guests can show how thankful they are!

Project Thankful ACTIVATED!!! I’ll keep you posted 🙂

I am light

I have had India. Arie’s Songversation album for months now, but just fully listened to the words of the song, “I Am Light”…I am in LOVE with this song!

The concept of light takes on so much meaning for me. Makes me question whether the loads I am choosing to carry should be let go so that I can be light & free. Makes me ponder whether or not I am being a light to the people around me. Makes me #thankful for the light in my life that shines the darkness away.

What can you do in your life today, right now, that will allow you to be light?

You owe it to your AMAZING self to do it.

Until next time, wishing you TONS of Love, Laughter & Peace,

Kyia

Peaces of The Week & A Brand New Peace!

Hello Loves!
It’s weeks like this that force you really put on your thankful cap to avoid going a tiny bit insane, LOL! But, I love when things work out in my favor, especially in these times…right when I feel like I just might lose it! Despite working my day job for half of my day off when I wanted to be painting & not really feign well, I’ve actually had a lot of peaces in my life this week! Here’s 5 things that made me smile humongous this week…

5) Brunch in bed is always nice when you’ve been working since 8am & skipped breakfast. Thankful to my hubster for the yummy food! My tummy was about to start a riot!

4) Grandmothers make the BEST chicken stew (and the most secret! They NEVER use recipes!) and mine brought some over this week! YAY! No cook Tuesday! Some homemade cornbread & we were good to go!

3) Me & the kiddos had a blast cheffin’ up some homemade granola bars last night. I think everything but the kitchen sink is in those bad boys! We haven’t tried them yet, because they had to be refrigerated for a bit, but I’ll let you all know if it was an epic fail or an amazing success. (We have a ton of the former option in the Watkins household, but we keep on cooking!) Check out the recipe here.

2) Starting last week, I began my journey to organization, starting with our weekly meals…and as this week comes to an end, I am so excited to say that I was successful!!! Cooked almost all of my meals on Sunday & just had to heat stuff up when I walked in the door from work…SWEET PEACE!!! Go ME!
I’ve been cooking up an At Peace Arts inspired meal planner & will share it with you soon, Loves!

1) From the last 4 items above, you would think that I did nothing but eat & work! But, not only did I paint, I finished the first original peacefirmation painting! WOOHOO!! I am LOVING this peace! I have to say my fav part are the stripes on the sides! They add so much fun to the canvas! I’m glad I stepped out of my comfort zone on THIS one!

My heart is happiest when I let go and forgive

I couldn’t agree more with the words in this peace. There is no worse feeling than holding onto something that is making us unhappy. Sometimes we need to forgive others to find peace & freedom. Other times, it’s us that we need to forgive to be free! For some reason, forgiving myself for losing my temper with the kids or not meditating is alot harder than forgiving others for wronging us!

Holding in frustration or anger for myself or anyone else never made me feel better. I’ve only ended up with a stomachache or more upset because the person I’m holding a grudge for seems to be happily going on with their lives & at times has had no clue about my internal drama! It’s a constant learning process!

I’m taking any advice ya got for doling out the forgiveness, so please put your remedies in the comments!!!

Click here to go to check out the newest original peace, available for purchase on atpeacearts.com

Wishing you Love, Laughter & Peace until we chat again,

-Kyia

Thankful for the Little Things

Good morning, Loves!

I hope that your day is filling up with peace!

Every night I try (HARD, really HARD) to write down the things I’m thankful for. It just reminds me that despite whatever went wrong in the daytime, there are soooo many things that went right, without me even doing anything! And usually, I end up coming up with more things to be thankful for than I thought I would when I started writing! It just feels good & brings on heaps of peace!

I challenge you to try keeping a running list of the little things you are thankful for today. Do whatever works for you…once every hour, before you doze off to sleep, on the commute home. I put mine in the notes section of my phone, so I don’t have to keep track of a notebook!

I’d love to hear how it goes!

Wishing you Love, Laughter & Peace,

Kyia

Thankful Thursday: 5 Peaces of my Week that I’m Super Thankful for…

Every night before I fall asleep, I try to take 5 minutes to write down what I was thankful for in the day. I think about what small thing brought me the biggest peace. There’s something about closing out the end of my day this way that just feels good & lets my heart & brain connect & relax. I love it!

So recently, I’ve decided it might be fun for me to share some of my peaces of the week with you. I’m going to try my hardest to post every Thursday.

Drumroll please….
Peace #of the week 5: A Random Cookie Sighting

You know it’s gonna be a good day when you walk into the office kitchen & find cookies! One of my coworkers ordered a ton of Girl Scout cookies & then went on vacation, deciding to share their cookies with the entire office! Woohoo!!! cookies for breakfast! (Don’t tell my kids!). When Girl Scout Cookie season is over, I may have to try this copycat Samoa recipe from the Just a Taste blog Is it just me or do the Samoas (aka Caramel Delights) taste different than they did when we were kids!

Peace of the Week #4: Watching my nephew’s first attempts at crawling

This one made me truly thankful for technology! My sister and I are very close & living so far from each other is the hardest thing ever! (She’s in the Armed Forces) Skype & videos are what keep us connected. My nephew is a chubba and it was just hilarious watching him working hard to coordinate his hands & feet so he could move & then rolling onto his side whenever he got tired! I can’t wait to see him this Summer!

Peace of the Week #3:
A funny phone conversation with my mom

Peace of the Week #2:
Getting the last watermelon Jolly Rancher out of our family candy dish
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One of my family’s favorite treats are jolly ranchers candies. But, It’s a sad state of affairs for the purple & green jolly ranchers…no one likes them! Cherry, watermelon & blueberry run the Watkins castle. So when I found pink amongst the sea of green & purple I was a little beside myself with joy! What’s your fav flavor?

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Peace of the Week #1:
Stripes on canvas

The past few months have been super busy & it hurt my heart to come to the realization that no matter how much I may want to push myself, no one has invented a way to paint while you’re asleep! So I was super excited to REALLY get to paint this week! LOVE the stripes on the side! See how it’s going here & check back next week to see how it’s going

Ok, that’s it! Ciao Loves! Wishing you Love, Laughter & Peace ’til we chat again next week!

-Kyia

Faith is bigger than fear

As I work to align my thoughts with my dreams & goals, this just resonates so much with my heart & mind! Hope it does the same for you… Your dreams are waiting …