Personal Story from Ang. - Strength of a WOMAN. THIS is why I LOVE THESE stamps.

3 of my 4 sons will have graduated come spring. 
this is James.
he had his graduation photos on thursday.
MAMA EMOTION TRIGGER.
THAT paired with his 18th birthday on FRIDAY!
eeeek.

NOW

HERE are the 3 OLDEST.  yesterday....or so it feels that way.


FOR ME. 
as a MAMA of growing children.....
it is one of those days.
life hands them to you now and then. 
you miss what WAS.  
you accept what IS. 
and all of it is just SLIGHTLY OVERWHELMING and BITTERSWEET. 

YOU GIVE with all your HEART
  

....one moment you are the CENTER of their WORLD.
SMALL BEINGS look to you FOR ALL THINGS  they need to make their world HAPPY and CALM
YOU give them everything. 
IMPERFECTLY - but they are little and love without any sort of judgement - you are imperfect yet PERFECT. 
YOUR world revolves around them just as MUCH as theirs around YOU. 
....and you do this for YEARS and YEARS. 
moment, after moment. 
THIS KIND OF GIVING has nothing to do with HAVE TO - and has EVERYTHING to do with WANTING TO. 
and then you blink. 

life is a crazy thing. 

the next moment those SAME SOULS are self-sufficient.
  you've done well and you've loved hard and sure. 
and there they are - all GROWN UP - and off they GO, hardly looking back....as you hold up the love sign in the air - you aren't stopping them - and you WOULDN'T even if you COULD.

nothing about it is easy. 
yet it is SUCH a beautiful thing.

BUT....at the same time..... 
 a bit of a CRISIS ensues.
YOU THINK you are fine. 
YOU THINK life will just go on as normal.
YOU THINK you've got this. 
then all at once.
maybe...
YOU DON'T.
you falter.
you stumble. 


AND THAT is ok.
all you have known is FOR REAL different.
this is no illusion.
cry it out. 
feel the change. 
.
cut yourself some slack for having NO CLUE how to be OK with the way life is un-folding....let your NEW NORMAL come into play. 
 KNOW you did your very best.
EVEN if you weren't always at your best.
I AM NOT gonna tell you to LET GO.
'cause you can't and you won't.
I WILL tell you to LET IT HAPPEN.
'cause that is what LOVING them means.
giving them wings.
assuring them you will find yours.
even if it all gets a little messy.

being a mama. 
{or a mama figure}
is the MOST REWARDING thing in this world.
and when the time comes that being a mama requires 10% of you as opposed to 100% 
THAT MEANS it is  now time for YOU.

YOU exist in layers and layers of PRETTY fabulous ways that have perhaps been dormant....just waiting!

things are GOING TO CHANGE.
you can't stop that.  you simply need to find your peace. your place. your loves. your talents. your happy.
it is now TIME for your soul to unfold.
YOU are amazing. 
TIME to BE YOU, mama. 
YOU got THIS. 
I got this. 


A lot of the stamps that I put into production have A LOT to do with the strength of WOMEN as the stages of their lives transpire.  I resonate with this strength SO CLOSELY and I HOPE you love these type of stamps as much as I do. 

You will find several of these stamps on our WAREHOUSE Sale going on now as well in the line of ANGIE GIRL stamps that are ON SALE this weekend again.

GO SHOP! 
You deserve it, mama.


AND a HUGE THANKS to Jolande VanOosterhout for reminding me to put my heart out there. 

I stopped doing that for a bit. 
I miss it....you will be seeing more of me. 
BABY STEPS.