anita meade - simple.creative.life

A scrapbook page - "Remembering Liv".

I know it is hard to believe, but this morning I did a scrapbook layout. The inspiration for me gathering my thoughts and a picture on a page was my friend Olivia. This Sunday marks one year since she tragically lost her battle with cancer. She has been on my mind even more than usual this week. I thought this layout might help me to process the way I am feeling. So here is to my beautiful friend Olivia Flavell.......

 

Here is what the journaling says....

"This photo has been sitting on the dresser in our family room for a year now. I look at it daily and remember my beautiful friend Olivia. I think about what a vibrant person she was. So much fun! Full of energy, not short of an opinion, super intelligent, and absolutely gorgeous inside and out.

I am so grateful that we met all those years ago at antenatal class. We were both so excited to be pregnant with our first babies. It is a special bond we shared. We went through those hazy early days of motherhood together. We supported each other through tough times, and celebrated with each other through the good times.

When I think of her battle with cancer, the tears begin to flow. She fought it with so much dignity and determination. She was always more concerned with how everyone else was coping, than she was with her own experience.  The strongest memory I have of her illness is how tightly she held on to her family and friends. She didn’t want to leave us and we didn’t want to lose her. She had so much to live for and so much she still wanted do and see. I hope that she is in a beautiful place now, watching down on us all. I know that she would be incredibly proud of the amazing job Jamie is doing with their children.

How I long to hear her voice on the other end of the phone, chatting about kids, and husbands, and work, and everything else under the sun. I think of her every day and I miss her friendship so much. A year on, Liv is still very much on my mind and in my heart.

 

Sleep peacefully my beautiful friend. "

New Years Eve greetings

    Thought I'd say goodbye to 2008 with a quick blog post. We are having a quiet New Years Eve at home this year, which is lovely. I have just finished my last scrapbook layout for 2008 (which I will have to post tomorrow as it's too dark to take a photo of it now). My scrap desk is a disaster zone but I don't mind, because I have scratched the creative itch that has been bugging me since I finished my Christmas cards! 

2008 has been a big year, and a very challenging one. Truthfully, I am pleased to be leaving it behind and starting a fresh year. While there have been joy, and happiness this year, there has also been unimaginable pain.

2008 will always, for me, be the year that I lost my beautiful friend Olivia. Today in my car, I found an invitation for a skincare party I attended at her house in February this year. This was only weeks before we found out that her cancer had returned. I will always remember that night and the way Liv made me feel so special. When it came time for some of the guests to have facials, Liv insisted on giving me one because, she said, I deserved a bit of pampering due to all the health challenges I was going through.  That was so Liv. Always more concerned about others than herself. She radiated friendship that night and I will never forget her gentle way of making me feel special. Hard to believe that only 6 months later she was gone, after one of the bravest fights I have ever seen. I miss her so much and how I wish 2009 was starting with her in my life.

I am very hopeful about 2009. Hopeful that my health will be on the improve. That my friends and family will stay safe, healthy and happy. That I will be able to get back to work consistently. That I will continue to grow creatively. That I will learn to use my beautiful new camera well. That my kids will enjoy their new adventures at school. Hopeful that Danny will be safe and well, and continue to know how much he is loved.

I don't really set New Years Resolutions as such, as I find the very term sets these goals up to fail! Rather I have hopes and aspirations for the year to come and I will incorporate them into my life, gently, and with all the flexibility they require. Life isn't about sticking to stringent rules. It is about adapting to changing circumstances with good intentions and a positive attitude. The lessons of 2008 have been heard loud and clear.

One of my most recent pleasures of 2008 was sharing Christmas with my family up at Myrtleford. We had such a fantastic, relaxing time. We took all the kids (my two boys and my sisters two boys) to Mass at 9pm on Christmas Eve for the first time. They were all so well behaved....it was really lovely. Even my Dad came - and he is not well known for his enthusiasm for attending church!

Christmas morning was chaos of the best kind. Santa well and truly delivered to four excited boys. This was despite my nephew Jack being awake half the night "freaking out" because Santa was going to come into the house. A bit of 'bearded-man-phobia' going on there! lol! At 3.30 my sister (his Mum) finally lost it and said "Listen Jack, he's been and gone! It's over. Go to sleep!" It was all forgotten in the morning as they tore into their prezzies.

              

                 

My Mum pulled off the most amazing Christmas lunch ever, finished with a perfect Christmas pudding (That's her and the desserts in the pic below. Isn't she a cute Mum?!) Then we all spent a lazy afternoon playing the new Wii, snoozing or in the spa. What a great Christmas!

              

Here's a photo of my side of the family on Boxing Day.

     

Since Christmas we have been having a relaxing week at home. Caught up with some of Dan's family at dinner on Saturday night. Thanks Laura, it was lovely! We took our Christmas trees down today - all ready to welcome in the New Year tomorrow. See you then, when I'll have a scrapbook page to show you. Have a very happy, healthy and safe New Year everyone.

                                        Love   xxx

About Olivia - a picture of my words.

    Since discovering Wordle I have been meaning to create a word picture from my blog posts about Olivia. So here is my Wordle created from this post "Remembering Olivia".

 (click on the picture to get a closer look)

    Amazing how these word pictures highlight your key thoughts and emotions simply by capturing your words. Missing Liv and thinking of her every day. It has been 7 1/2 weeks since we lost her.

Hi everyone....I'm back in action!

    Well hello there world! I'm back in action. We arrived back home last night from a wonderful week of camping at Echuca. Had a lovely, lazy time just hanging out with the kids; playing football and cricket and tennis, riding our bikes along the Murray River, even had a swim in the pool (a bit chilly for me!) It was great just to stop, relax, and spend some quality time together.  I know we see our family members every day, but it is so refreshing to just sit and quietly chat, or play a card game, or explore a new place together. I really feel a greater connection to my family than before, having shared this time together. There is also something special about a camping holiday. It is a "no-frills", back to basics experience that gets you outside, enjoing the sunshine, and the breeze, the early morning and the stillness of the evening. The kids just loved being able to roam wild from dawn till dusk, laughing and playing and running and riding.....heaven for little boys!

     We decided to pack up and head home a day earlier than planned as we heard there was rain coming. We copped a few sprinkles while we were packing up the camper-trailer but not too much. While it was raining over night last night we were glad to be safe and sound tucked up in our warm, dry beds at home. Here are a couple of photos from our week away:

 

 

       

Don't you love Corey's face in that photo above! He had just fallen off his bike face first into the dust. It completely covered him - especially to his face which had just been sunscreened. All this before 9 am! Great start to the day:) The boys were filthy by the end of every day.....and they loved it. They made a great little friend named Thomas and the three of them enjoyed playing together all day long! Waving "Hi" to Thomas and his Mum and Dad, Karen and Warwick. It was great to share our holiday at Echuca with such great people. It was lovely to meet you :)

 

    While we were away I took some time out to read and throw around some ideas for my Design Team contributions to "The Soulology Project" online course. This is such a valuable journey of self discovery. I am thoroughly enjoying working through the course material and I am excited to be sharing my thoughts and ideas with course participants. There is still time to sign up for this fantastic course.  Pop over to Erika Martin's Stampin' Mama blog to see my Design Team Member profile and find out how you can come along for the ride! (Don't forget to mention "Anita sent me" in the comments section when you sign up!). It will be so worth the investment of your time and effort to join me on this journey.

    Today we have been to a BBQ at the park with a group of friends and family of my friend Olivia. Yesterday would have been her 36th birthday, so we gathered today to remember and have a drink for her. Some of her other nurse friends organised a big bunch of pink helium balloons which we all released together into a beautiful sunny sky. I hope Liv was looking down over us, and knows how much we love and miss her. That girl loved a party and would have gone to the opening of an envelope! lol! She would have been glad that we all got together for her birthday, even though a sadness still lingered over the group. It is five weeks today since she passed away. Happy Birthday to you Liv, my friend.

    I am planning on doing some scrapbooking tonight or tomorrow so please visit again soon and see what I've been up to. Thanks for stopping by....

                                            Love  xxx

Remembering Olivia

    Hi everyone, just wanted to let you know I'm still here and I'm doing ok. This past week and a half have undoubtedly been the saddest of my life. I have cried an ocean; I've also smiled and even laughed at memories of my beautiful friend Olivia. She was truly an incredible woman. She was not perfect - she was real. She really did light up a room. She had a vivacious, bubbly charm that attracted people to her. The most wonderful thing about her magnetism is that she was completely unaware of it. Modest, down-to-earth and 100% genuine. She made people feel special; including me. It is a tragedy that the world has lost a young, gorgeous, intelligent woman in Olivia. I feel robbed of all the times our families could have shared and of the friendship we were yet to enjoy. I will miss her terribly.

 

      

    The photo on the left is of Olivia and I with our new babies (less than a month old). We met at antenatal classes. The experience of becoming first time mums within a week of each other was a bond that I will always treasure. Our babies will turn 7 in January. Liv was also mum to a gorgeous little boy who will turn 3 this October. Her husband is an amazing father and those beautiful kids are in very good hands.

    I know it will take time to emerge from the fog of grief I've been in. I promised Olivia in her final days that I would make a scrapbook about her for her children, and that is a commitment I will honour in the months to come. Perhaps when the tears flow less freely and I can celebrate her life rather than mourning her passing.

    Thankyou again to so many of my online friends (here and at The Boxx) for your messages of comfort and support. The love I have received from all of you has been overwhelming.

    If you would like to contribute to the fight against breast cancer, you can go to the website of the National Breast Cancer Foundation to make a donation, and to learn more about early detection and screening for breast cancer. 

    Thanks for stopping by. I will be back with some creative stuff soon. I find scrapbooking and papercrafting to be great therapy in times of trouble; it never fails to bring me happiness. Please check back in soon. Love Anita. xx

Thankyou - *(edited 31st August - please see end of post)

    Just a quick note to say thankyou for the comments and emails I have received after my last blog entry. Your kind thoughts, and prayers for my friend and her family are greatly appreciated. I hesitated about posting the scrapbook page about Olivia, but I am glad that I did. Creating that page really helped me to process some of the thoughts and emotions I've been feeling. I have been trying to create that layout for several weeks and I am so glad I finally put it all together.

    To me, that is what scrapbooking is all about. It is not just about the finished pages - even though it is wonderful to have albums full of memories from your life. Scrapbooking allows me to contemplate the moments and events of my life; to reflect on the people that matter and the relationships I have with them. In this way I'm able to be grateful for the gifts I have, to cherish the people who matter to me and, as in this case, to process the emotions that go with experiencing life. Scrapbooking is so much more to me than creating "pretty" pages and decorating photos. I am grateful for the many benefits I have gained since becoming a scrapbooker. It is so much more than a hobby. For me it has become a way of life.

    Thankyou for your continuing prayers for Olivia. I pray that she is as comfortable and pain-free as possible, and that she gains comfort from knowing she is surrounded by people who love her.

 Hopefully, I will be back to share some creations with you soon.

Thanks again, Anita xxx

* Edited 31/8/08 to add:

Olivia passed away peacefully last night, Saturday 30th August, at her home. She was surrounded by her devoted husband and immediate family. Many people will feel the loss of this amazing woman and I am extremely privileged to have called her my friend.

Olivia

My heart aches as I post this page. It is dedicated to my beautiful friend Olivia. Her battle with cancer will soon come to an end. Sometimes life us just so unfair....

 

Please keep Olivia, and her family in your prayers this week. Thankyou.