We are excited to announce the Panto of the Month promotion that will happen every month at Colorado Beauty Quilts!!

This is my longarm quilting business and I’d love to quilt for you! Check out the site!

Hello again! It’s a sunny spring afternoon and I’m trying to sort out my thoughts and write something meaningful, helpful.

A little while back I wrote about the healing I’ve experienced through EMDR treatment. It really has been remarkable, how much freedom I’m experiencing.

Last weekend I fell into some old ways of thinking. And while I did try to communicate, I ended up miscommunicating, and things went sideways. I’m pretty sure my insecurity and mind mess ended up triggering my husband. Healing and forward progress into healthier relationships can still have bumps in the road. This is a hard reality.

Thankfully, as I prayed, and thought it through, that is where I landed. This was a bump in the road. It’s a little frightening at times when some of the old patterns of thinking show up, but I’m so very thankful that I have tools and practice to interrupt them.

The tools that I have are varied. I do continue in therapy, but I have employed some other things to help me grow and thrive. One of those things is a course on Udemy. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Practitioner Training. I’m not taking this course for certification as a practitioner, but to increase in my ability to have a healed mind and healthy relationships. I’ve been so encouraged as I go through the course that it builds on and reinforces what I’m doing in therapy. I’ve linked the course above if you want to check it out.

If you ever want to chat about mental health or EMDR, message me. I’m happy to listen.

The Women by Kristin Hannah is the most recent book I’ve read/listened to. I’m an audible book reader for the most part and use Libby.

This book caught me by surprise, as somehow I did not know what it was about. Looking at the cover now, I realize that the image was small on the app and I just didn’t notice the trees and helicopter.

This was a “can’t put it down” type of book for me. As the daughter of a disabled Vietnam Veteran, this story filled in so many of the gaps in my knowledge and understanding of what my father went through. He shared very little and avoided any questions.

But the story is about the Women of the Vietnam War. The layers of injustice and trauma ran so deep, for men and for women. But for the women to come home to all the turmoil and hatred this country held for the veterans, and to be rejected by the VA and the male veterans. The women’s trauma dismissed because they didn’t “face combat”. Like a combat nurse didn’t face combat. I wish I could say this is unbelievable. But I do believe it.

I am thankful to have a fuller understanding of that war and the people who answered the call to serve our country, even while I am grieved over the same.

Have you read this book? Would you share your thoughts?

Well, the past month has just flown by.

The first week after the chicks arrived was very difficult. Chicks kept dying, some in my hands. Several people reached out to me, on Instagram, but I had every box checked, warmth, food, water, safety. Finally on day 8 I called the hatchery and told the person answering the phone, “I’m not getting off this call until someone can help me figure out what is happening, half my flock has died.” That got attention and I was able to talk to someone in depth about what was happening.

It is now believed that my chicks got too cold during shipping. That the box was left on a loading dock or in a truck. Finally, it made sense. There were six unalive chicks upon arrival and by 8 days I had lost half the flock. The nagging thoughts that I was doing something terribly wrong dissipated, and grief set in.

The surviving birds are doing fantastic. We moved them from the house to the coop last week, and they’ve settled right in. This week I’ve been opening the door to the run, but so far none of them have ventured out. I’ll be out there working on the run roof today and tomorrow so maybe they will join me.

I also posted an update on Instagram, and am sharing it here.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Michelle Kelly (@_michelle__kelly__)

//www.instagram.com/embed.js

That’s all for now. I hope you have a great day!!

Hello there. I spend time over on Instagram with lots of other quilters and fantastic people. During the month of March, Amy of Amy’s Creative Side hosts #igquiltfest, and for the first time, I’m going to join in. I have a little goal of posting 20 of the 31 prompts, we’ll see how well I keep up.

Day 1 is introductions, here is my post on Instagram. And below is a photo of me, up in the mountains, among the trees, my favorite place to be!

Anyway, I am Michelle, the person behind Colorado Beauty Quilts and also this blog. We have a couple other irons in the fire, all of which keep me good and busy.

I’ve raised 5 children, and have a bunch of grandchildren. These are the people who bring me great joy, and a lot of love. Once we became empty nesters, I decided to adopt another dog. So we have Luna our older German Shepherd, and Pippen, our younger little companion. I never would have guessed that I’d become a little dog person, but Pippen has me totally smitten.

Well now that I’ve introduced myself, I hope to “meet” you in the comments!

May grace and peace be with you.

Things I learned on a 3 Day Mom Retreat

For the first time all three of my teens, my youngest children, left together for 8 days with their youth group.  At first I felt a little lost, but then I decided to seize the moment.  And head west for a MOM RETREAT.  There are a few things I learned on this trip.

 If you find yourself facing a few days alone, and an open calendar, AND  there is a place you have wanted to visit…GO!       As I quickly considered, then planned this trip I knew there was one place I wanted to go, the North Rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.  I’ve wanted to visit this National Park for a couple of years, but because of the distance from our home we haven’t been able to schedule the amount of days our family would need for such a long road trip.  But guess what?  I gathered some camping gear, filled a little cooler and headed off.

Hiking alone, might not be advised, but it is GLORIOUS.    Making my way to the North Rim early in the morning, I got to do a 3 mile hike, alone.  I did text my husband before I took off  on foot, letting him know where I was and when I planned to be back to my car.  It was about 6 am and there was NO ONE else on the trail.  I couldn’t believe it and thoroughly enjoyed the solitude.

Support is good, but facing fear when it is just you and God is faith building.  I have struggled with FEAR all of my life.  Every once in awhile I discover that while I’ve taken back much ground, there are more deep places where fear resides in me.  FEAR tried to cloud my view that morning, but I did battle with the thoughts in my head.  By reciting Scripture and audibly giving thanks for every little thing that I saw and heard on that trail, I had the most marvelous time.   I had to draw from the Well by myself, and I am changed, strengthened.

The next adventure I take like this, I am hoping to do with a friend.  There is nothing I would change about my 3 days exploring alone, but now I want to go on an adventure with one of my girl friends!

How about you, have you taken a Mom Retreat alone?