The Roaming Stevens

Every day, each time of the year is what WE make of it.  Christmas can cause many sorts of stressors, but...why? There is no need for anything to be perfect at Christmas time OR any other part of the year because there is NO perfect.  Tinto and I have been over those thoughts for decades. The BEST, absolute most divine fact about this particular Christmas was celebrating together in The Maxwell House.  This was our first Christmas in our home together since 2012.  That is HUGE.  Of course, we have celebrated Christmas jointly, overseas in England and Spain, but not in our own home. Everything felt beautiful and as close to 'perfect' as it could ever be for US.  We went to little effort to develop and design the verandah as our Christmas sitting room.  Tiny, white lights spread across the wooden beams produced that glorious feeling of joy and contentment and created that warm, fuzzy feeling of happiness.  It does not take a huge effort to m...

On the 5th of December, Tinto and I had the good fortune and privilege of being a part of the judging team for my sister's art prize:  The Constance Gordon-Johnson Sculpture Prize Award, supported so brilliantly by the University of South Australia.   It has been years for me to participate (5 to be exact), so I was really looking forward to the process.  It takes a good afternoon to view the entries and each judge writes comments or questions about the artists' work.  We are continually amazed regarding the effort, creativity, and dedication contributed by the individual artists.  Each artist, of course, has a story and those stories resonate with both of us.  Constance would be in awe.  She would be proud that her vision of supporting a 'sculptor artist of merit' has benefi ted and continues to benefit young and older artists to this day.  Once an artist wins this award, they often are invited to exhibit elsewhere, in and outside of Au...

Tinto and I were invited to UniSA's Pridham Hall on Hindley Street to view entrepreneurs 'pitching their innovative ideas' for Prince Andrew and others. First of all, we have never been to Pridham Hall and discovered it was a newly built facility for the University of South Australia and quite impressive.  Pool and gym located downstairs below event hall - tons of people and students buzzing around the entire building. We did not know that Pitch@Palace was Prince Andrew's pet project.  We were not aware that he was going to grace the crowd with his presence.  What a delight to see this humble man, clearly excited and engaged with the bright minds wanting and willing to make a positive impact on society.  Prince Andrew was most kind while on a rigorous tour of Australia's major cities on a mission looking to discover the next BEST idea to improve society. About 12 entrepreneurs pitched their ideas on stage in front of CEOs, investors, mentors, like-minded guest...

It has been a difficult past few weeks.  Feel the need to be very honest here...this most recent loss of life has shattered me and I am not even family, not particularly close to these people, but nonetheless have been suffering.  I know that when I find out someone has taken their life, it takes me right back to the very moment I received the news concerning my son, Cory.   Proof that we never get beyond our pain, the sadness, and overwhelming loss, but we DO find a way to navigate through it ~AROUND IT.  It is okay if this news set me back.  Whatever we feel is okay...I have to monitor how long I stay in this mindspace though.  My thoughts and prayers remain in the States with this wonderful, young man whom lost the love of his life. Astounding, but, in the 18 years I have lived in Australia, I have never prepared Thanksgiving dinner.  Thanksgiving Day is the wedding anniversary of my parents and a lot of attention was paid to details on this...