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I am SOOOOOO Ready!!

Trees silhouettes against gradient colored sky

Okay, so I see it has been since 9/15 that I have last posted, which is an insane amount of time, but I have to stop and just let you know a little bit about what has been going on in our lives.

Oh man, there is just so much…I am not even sure I know where to start.

For those of you who have been following my life, you would know that my hubby and I moved to Portland, Oregon last December (exactly 1 year 18 days ago!) Anyway, I had this crazily insane idea that if I moved to Portland, that somehow the city would rub off on me and I would then be a bonafied artist.

I see that in writing and I think, I must’ve been insane to have thought that a city could make me be something that I already am!

Anyway, let’s just say that THAT is not what happened. You see, Portland is very expensive to live in, so my hubby and started working overtime to pay for all of these AMAZING things that we would do, now that we were officially Portlanders!

My job got really stressful and pressure-filled, plus I’ve been working on east coast time, which meant that I was missing all of this amazing Portland nightlife that I kept hearing about, because mama needed to make sure sleep was a priority, or she was going to crash and burn.

On top of all of that, we had a few major medical emergencies happen this year, the biggest of which is that we almost lost our sweet Liam boy not once, but twice…and…let’s just say that even though he is doing better, thank God…it has been a very difficult and trying year.

Back in September, when I wrote Spiraling, Spiraling, I was at what I thought was my rock bottom.

Well, the universe had other things in mind (AKA mama had some more lessons that I needed to learn).

In October, my husband fell through some scaffolding, which resulted in him tearing all of the muscles from his right shoulder, requiring surgery to fix.Β According to his surgeon, his surgery was one of the worst tears he had seen, actually needing to full surgeries in one sitting to fix, but everything went, as the surgeon described it, “best case scenario”. Even though the surgery went better than hoped, it wiped us out financially, at least for a few months.

If I thought the year was hard before, this accident really knocked us for a loop, because now I was literally alone in all household chores, cooking, taking care of our puppies, packing for our move (more on that later), caring for my sweetie through a really painful healing process, and my work life was just getting harder and harder, being micromanaged to the nth degree by someone who honestly just didn’t know me enough to trust me or my work.

I felt like I was being attacked on all fronts.

Well, if you know me, you know that I do not like to be stuck for long, so some BIG decisions were made!

This is what I MOST EXCITED to share with you..

Oh man… okay, so I am just going to tell you, because in all honestly I am a little afraid of sounding like a crazy person, but since my hubby is supporting me in my brand of crazy then, that’s enough, right???

Changes:

  1. I am leaving my job, at the end of this month
  2. My hubby and I are going through the process of going through all of our belongings, packing up only what we must, and putting all of that into a small storage unit
  3. We have purchased a brand new travel trailer (AKA an apartment on wheels)
  4. We are moving out of Portland, and moving out on to my sis-in-law’s property, while my hubby takes the next 6 months to heal and go through some serious physical therapy
  5. Sometime during all of that, we are going to refinish the remodel of our condo, and sell it, so that we can pay off as much of the rest of our debt as possible (that surgery was REALLY expensive), but it is so close to complete, that I am really excited about it!
  6. When all is said and done, my sweetie and I are going to use the next year, living in our cute little trailer, simplifying every single aspect of our lives, and we are going to travel the Oregon coast, living any where we choose.

The main goal for this next year, is to simplify and Β figure out what it is really want for the next 10, 20, 30 years of our life. It is all going by so fast, that if we don’t start living it on purpose, and not on autopilot, we are going to seriously be sorry when our time runs out.

Regret is NOT an option!

So there you have it!

I know that I have been MIA for a while, and I do apologize for that. I do have a new plan, with the new year, so please be patient as we finish this crazy busy transition (oh, and did I mention that Christmas is happening in the middle of all of this????). Anyway, I know the best, THE VERY BEST is yet to come!!

Great big hugs to all of you who took the time to stop by to read my little blog!

with the utmost of sincerity, and light, and goodness,

Moving at the Speed of Light!

IMG_2468Good evening, my lovely chickadees! πŸ™‚

Life seems to be moving at the speed of light!! SERIOUSLY!!!

This year has been a year of doing numerous self experiments! How can I make a better life for my husband and myself? How can I live a more authentic life? How can I move into he life that we are constantly dreaming about? How can I be as fit, healthy, and happyΒ as much as possible?

Some of the experiments that have resulted in some micro changes in my life have been:

  1. Morning Pages: Waking early every morning to write morning pages a la Julie Cameron, The Artist Way author’s recommended practice (one of them)! – this has been helping me deal with some out of control anxiety and feelings of overwhelm that I have been struggling with. This practice basically dumps all of my ever-running thoughts out of my brain every morning, essentially giving me a reboot every morning!
  2. Meditation: 15 minutes meditation most mornings of the week. I have been doing this after my morning pages, and because my brain is wiped clean after my morning pages, meditation gives me the conscious opportunity to fill my brain with the thoughts that I want to carry around, I mean on purpose! I focus on thoughts of thankfulness to my creator for all of the blessings that have come my way, and the ones that are on their way to me!
  3. Personal Altar: For my meditation time, I have created a small altar in my home. More specifically there is a small, comfortable cushion on the floor of my walk-in closet, and a small white shelf that I have cleared off (it is one of my shoe shelves), that I have placed various items that have special meaning for me. These are all things that I want to remind myself to think about while meditating. Some of the things are a glass heart to remind me that I am loved, a bracelet to remind me that I can be brave and do brave things, a candle to call my truth teller to my meditation space, and a small yellow toy farm truck to remind me of my future dream life! I have a bunch of other things too, something to remind me of my sisters, something to remind me to have fun, something to remind me of my amazing marriage, etc. etc. etc. This has become a sacred place in my life.
  4. Exercise: My sweetie and I have signed up for a fun 5k that happens October 1st of this year, so we have started a Couch to 5k training program! It has been hard work not only the exercise itself, but also not giving up!! Right now, we only walk/jog about 3 days a week, but starting this week, I want us to go for a least a strong walk every morning, so that the non walk/jog mornings, we are getting out and spending quality time getting fit together!
  5. Uncluttering: There has been a major uncluttering projectΒ that is currently happening in my house! Things are leaving though the front door at a whirlwind pace!! IΒ realized that if I wanted the life that I have envisioned in my head to come true, then I would have to make room for it – both literally and figuratively! God bless my husband, he has been the epitome of patience, and support!
  6. Gathering a Team: I have learned, this year, that you don’t have to do everything on myΒ own. So I am actively seeking a team of awesome people, who know more than I do, to help me in various areas of my life. Mental health, physical health, general life goals, etc. I have found a life coach, and have also been seeking out quality time with friends and family, and going out of my way to nurture those relationships. I can achieve every single thing that my heart desires, but if I do not have friends and family to share that with, then I think my joy will be lessened, and that is not ok with me. Joy that is shared is always multiplied for both the share-er and the share-ee. How is that for good grammar??? πŸ™‚

Now with all of this said, and all of this done, and still going on, I am by no means perfect at these things. I still have to say “oops, my bad” and try it again tomorrow, but I feel like my life is heading in the right direction, or at least the humungous ship, that is my life, is starting to pivot in the right direction!! and that is such a very exciting prospect that it makes me think that my future is so bright that I have to wear shades!! I can’t wait to see what comes next, but baby, I think I will be ready!!

Here is to living a BEAUTIFUL CREATIVE life! πŸ™‚

1 - Signature

If you want to have a different life you have to live differently!!

 

I’m Back!!

Good afternoon!

This year Jason and I stayed in town and spent Thanksgiving with his family! After some gentle prodding from my sister, Alexa, I am very excited to share some of our family’s Thanksgiving dinner pictures with you! πŸ™‚

1Here is my sweetie proudly carving the Thanksgiving turkey!! Can you see the pride on his face??? πŸ™‚

2Check out this spread!! Everyone brought a little something to share in the feast!! πŸ™‚

3It was CROWDED!!! It was decided that if we wanted to try and squeeze any more people into my sister’s place, we were going to have to rent a hall!! πŸ˜‰

4Here’s some of the crowd!! From left to right, Morgan, Jason, me, Rudy, Alyssa, Kayla, Derrick, Anna, Gabriel (only the top of his head is showing), Megan, Julian, and Jordan!

5Here is Grandma and Grandpa Feskens, and I am not sure what has Morgan laughing – but I LOVE seeing him look so happy!! πŸ˜‰ The kids did such a great job being patient and waiting for everyone to get to the table, so that we could pray, before they could eat!! There was almost an audible cheer when the kids were finally given permission to eat!!

6Here is mom hanging out in comfy chair that was tucked in the corner!!! The BEST seat in the house! πŸ™‚

7Derrick and Anna! I am not sure what they were discussing, but aren’t they cute?? πŸ™‚

8My niece, Kayla, and I! πŸ™‚ I love this little fancy girl!! πŸ™‚

9Grandma and Grandpa Feskens, with mom smiling in the background! πŸ™‚

10Rudy, Alyssa, and Kayla!! Having enjoyed a yummy meal! Waiting for pie!! πŸ˜‰

11Kayla and Gabriel!!! These kids are growing up sooooo fast!! πŸ˜‰

12Here is Julian enjoying his turkey leg!!! πŸ˜‰

13Cousins, Riley and Christopher – ABSOLUTELY inseparable!!! These two are practically young men!! Where does the time go???

IMG_2012This is Megan giving me a pose!! Before I know it she is going to be a full on teenager!! πŸ™‚

14Uncle Jay-Jay harrasing Chris!! They have so much fun together!! πŸ™‚

15Jason getting ready to mow down on his Thanksgiving dessert stash!! Fruit salad, sweet potato souffle, and green frozen jello!

16I can’t remember what I was talking about it, but apparently arm motions were definitely required to get my point across! πŸ™‚

17Riley and Chris again, being silly!! πŸ™‚

 

18Jason and Kayla!! She is such a snuggly girl!! πŸ™‚

19Yep! This is Jason and I! I really do love this man!! πŸ˜‰

20We really did have such a good Thanksgiving!!! This sign that is in Nette’s living room really sums our day up!! πŸ˜‰

Here is to a FABULOUS Thanksgiving!! ;-)

Signature Line

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

A Girl With Too Much Time On Her Hands!!

2013-05-09 2Good evening!!

My sweetie has been work every night for the past three weeks, so needless to say someone has WAAAAAAY too much time on her hands!! This evening, I ran to our local super center, whose name shall remain unnamed!! Picked up a whole plethora of toiletries, house supplies, and jammies – some women turn to chocolate when they are lonely, I turn to shopping for jammies!!

ESPECIALLY SCRUMPTIOUSLY SOFT JAMMIES!!!

Is that just me? Or is there anyone out there who also needs a therapist!??? πŸ˜‰

Anyway, since my sweetie is working in town, my habit this week has been to stop by his worksite and take him a healthy snack and visit with him for a few minutes while he enjoys his snack! THAT has probably been my FAVORITE times of the week!! I dream of someday having a child, and being able to take little him or her out to daddy’s job site and share some goodies and memories with him in that way!! So, I feel like I got a bit of a taste of that future this week!!! Tonight’s snack was some skim milk – his FAVORITE!! Some clementines AKA Cuties – so yummy!! and a bit of beef jerky, which is really great and easy way to get some protein in for us post bariatric patients.

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After I met the gentleman he is doing work for, a very nice man, I zipped on home and made a big pot of a lean-ground-sirloin-chock-full-of-vegetables-and-beans kind of mixture to use to stuff baked bell peppers! They are currently baking in the oven, and they are making the house smell so delicious!!! I will top with some skim milk mozzarella and they will be ready to serve!! I know my sweetie will LOVE those!! Those are one of his FAVORITE of my meals!!! πŸ˜‰

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My official plan for this evening after I finish blogging tonight will be to spend some quality time with the new Country Living magazine that came in the mail today – one of my NEW magazine subscriptions!! I figure that if I were to get my magazines via subscription then it would save me money, so I immediately subscribed to FOUR magazines!! EEK!! I hope I have time to sit and really read them all!! Oh, at least I will sure have a hell of a lot of fun trying!!! πŸ˜‰

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Before I go, one quick word on all of the pics in this post. These would explain why I called tonight’s post, “A Girl With Too Much Time On Her Hand!!” because while I was waiting for the bell pepper stuffing to cook, I decided I would spend some eh-hum…”quality” time playing with my camera!! πŸ˜‰ HEE! HEE!! πŸ˜‰

Man, I could really use some more girlfriends…any volunteers???? πŸ™‚

Anyway, I can hear the oven beeping at me, telling me dinner is ready!!!

With that…

Here is to a FABULOUSLY ARTSY evening!! πŸ˜‰

Signature Line

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

 

The Barn House Show 2013

Good evening!

This past Saturday, I got to spend the day on my own with no responsibilities. With my camera in hand, and I headed out to Turner, Oregon to spend some time down at The yearly Barn House Show! I like to try and get out there every year, get inspired, and see if I can find any treasures to take home with me.

The Barn House ShowThe Barn House show is held every year at the Turner Memorial Tabernacle! This building is HUGE, and I often dream about purchasing it and turning it into my sweetie and my dream home!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAW!! That would be AWESOME!! πŸ˜‰ and check out how BLUE that sky was!! πŸ˜‰

 

Barn House Show 2I love this chippy little sign, and I saw it as soon as I walked in – how fitting!! πŸ˜‰

 

Barn House Show 7I think these bottles were faux mercury glass! I had just stumbled onto some instructions on how to do this, and I may have to give this technique a try. So pretty!!

Barn House Show 6Who knew that an old painted, rusty ceiling tiling could be so beautiful??? I LOVE this!!;-)

Barn House Show 5This chair is JUST SO ME!!! I love the sexy, curvy shape, and I simply ADORE the zebra stripes!!! πŸ˜‰

Barn House Show 4Being a bibliophile, I just LOVE finding unique bookends, and these ones are so industrial-chic!!! BRAVO!! πŸ˜‰

???????????????????????????????I just LOVE this oversized wall clock!!

Barn House Show 19This bag is tres cute! I need to learn how to sew me some ruffles!! πŸ˜‰

Barn House Show 18I love these signs!! I dream that one day my sweetie and I will be able to say, “Welcome to our farmhouse!!” πŸ˜‰

Barn House Show 17My sweetie thought this marionette was creepy, but I have ALWAYS LOVED harlequin clowns, and I just FELL IN LOVE WITH HIM as soon as I saw him (that applies to both my sweetie and this cute little clown)!!! πŸ˜‰

Barn House Show 16Every single one of these items could EASILY find a place in my home!! πŸ˜‰

Barn House Show 15I really never knew I was such a industrial-chic kind of girl, but I really just LOVE the mix of architectural details, rust, and a bit of chippy paint!!

???????????????????????????????Who couldn’t use more glittered feathers in their life??? I know I could!! πŸ˜‰

Barn House Show 13I LOVE these brooches!! πŸ˜‰

Barn House Show 12AIEEEEE!!! I LOVE these ones too!!! πŸ˜‰

Barn House Show 11These last three pics are all from one of my FAVORITE vendors down at Aunt Bee’s House – you might recognize a couple of these quilts from my post on Aunt Bee’s House a couple of weeks ago!! To see more of that, click Here!

Barn House Show 10Who knew that metal siding could double as art?? I need to get me some of this!! πŸ˜‰

???????????????????????????????I love this vintage button bracelet!! I could use this in my accessory wardrobe!! πŸ˜‰

Barn House Show 8I have always wanted an oversized mirrored armoir like this!! It always reminds me of the book, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe!

I had such a great time at The Barn House Show,Β  spending the day seeing all of the vendors’ booths, and all of the treasures for sale, and the weather truly could NOT have been more perfect!! I ended up taking a few vintage magazines home, as well as a stack of vintage crochet books!! SCORE!!! πŸ˜‰ I really do look forward to going every year, so if any of you are in the area, and would like to go with meΒ  I think that would be a BLAST!!! Don’t you??? THE MORE THE MERRIER!!! πŸ˜‰

With that said…

Here is to a FABULOUS evening!!Β  ;-)

Signature Line

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

Random Post Kind of Tuesday!

Cross Stitch Doodle SamplerGood evening!

This has been a bit of a rough day.Β  I think maybe the problem is that I am not doing a good job of taking care of myself like I should, and my body is trying to let me know that it is serious need of a break! I can always tell when I am not taking care of myself. I can feel it to depth of my soul. I am tired, my eyes are bloodshot, I have a headache that only seems to go away when I close my eyes – proof of just how tired I am, and I don’t seem to have the same ability to handle stress and pressure in the office when I am not taking care of myself. I really do have to get on that; make healthy, fresh food choices, get enough daily exercise, get my 8 cups of water in every day, take my entire slew of daily supplements and medications (being a post gastric bypass surgical patient you REALLY NEED the extra help nutrient-wise!!), and I need to make sure that I am making enough time for quality, uninterrupted sleep!!

I realize that was some weird kind of tangent, sorry about that!! πŸ™‚

Anyway, I only had one small errand to run this evening, which didn’t take me too long. So I thankfully headed home and here I am!!! WHEW!!! πŸ™‚ My sweetie is working until really late tonight, which means I get the house to myself this evening, and I have taken advantage of that by getting some laundry folded, cleaning the kitchen, and making myself a nice healthy dinner with enough leftover for both of our lunches tomorrow!!

My sweetie has been working so many hours, which I am extremely grateful for, but I really miss our time together, which has been very far and in-between lately! No worries!! I plan on just being as productive as I can this evening; turning some peppy music on, do a couple more house chores, catch up on a movie, and then either spend some time reading or cross stitching before I hop my tired self right into bed!!

Doesn’t that just sound dreamy??

It sure does to me!! I can’t wait – maybe I will skip all of that, and just call it an early night now??? Yeah, I wish!!!! πŸ˜‰

Onto something a bit more Artsy…

I wanted to share a picture with you of a little project that I have been working on (pictured at the top of this post). This is what I am calling my cross stitch doodle sampler! Cross stitch is one of the many hobbies that I have taken up with the goal of having a more Artsy Life, and surrounding myself with creativity and beauty in even the littlest things in my life!! Cross stitch, at least the way I do it, is so portable (I carry everything I need in a small tin gift card holder), and I can pull it out and work on it wherever I am, whenever! I don’t use any kind of patterns – that would drive me BANANAS!! I am basically just doodling with string, using whatever patterns I come up with. I kept this project simple and only used one color of DNC floss, which I LOVE, because it was very easy to stay relaxed and not worry about what color goes with what, or did I get the right shade, or anything like that. It has almost become kind of a meditative practice for me, even if the project doesn’t come out exactly perfect! I am still LOVING the practice of it!

I haven’t decided for sure yet, but I think this little guy is going to be a pillow-ey door hanger. Something simple, and really easy to make!! I will share pics of the finished project when I am done!! I haven’t decided what my next project will be, but so far I am leaning towards a larger cross-stitch sampler, a colorful granny square crocheted blanket, a ruffle bed comforter, or a loopy summer scarf using a new yarn and technique that looks pretty easy to do that I found online. Whatever project I choose, I will make sure to keep you posted!!

In the meantime…

Here is to a FABULOUS evening!!Β  ;-)

Signature Line

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

Looking for Beauty at Aunt Bee’s House!

Good evening!

I am so very excited to share this post with you this evening, but before I get too ahead of myself, I wanted to tell you a little bit of back story on this post! Last week, I went to one of my FAVORITE shops here in town, Aunt Bee’s House!Β Aunt Bee’s House is a large marketplace for people to rent space to sell their home furnishings, decorative items, gifts, and other beautiful treasures!! When I find that I am needing to get some retail therapy, some inspiration for doing some decorating in my little condo, find a new color combination ideas for my next arting project, or if I am need of a unique and perfect gift for a friend or family member – Aunt Bee’s House is my go-to place of choice!!

Well, anyway I had gathered up the nerve to introduce myself to the staff, and ask if I could take some pictures so that I could post them on blog, This Artsy Life. That may not sound like a big deal, but me being eternally shy and having a tendency to want to remain invisible when I am out on the town by myself, I was pretty dang proud of myself!! Well, of course the staff ofΒ Aunt Bee’s House being SO AMAZING, welcoming and friendly, they said “yes” immediately, and off I went – snapping away!!! I was such a happy girl, and I think I came home with something like 200 pictures!!

Needless to say, it was a GREAT day!! πŸ™‚

Well, long story short, I got home placed my camera card in my computer, and my computer essentially ate all of my pictures!! UGH!!

I would love to tell you that me being the new brave and outgoing Christina, I turned around went right back and started the process all over again, but alas that is not how it went down! πŸ™‚ It literally took me another week to gather up my courage again to go back and ask if I might take those pictures again!! The FABULOUS staff so graciously said “yes” again, and again I spent a lovely afternoon just snapping away!! Finding all sorts of treasures and beautiful items to delight the senses. I can’t believe it had taken me so long to get back there!! I REALLY LOVE THIS PLACE!!! πŸ˜‰

Soooo…

Tonight I am very happy to share with you some of the pictures that I took while at Aunt Bee’s House.

Here we go!! πŸ™‚

Aunt Bee's House

Aunt Bee's 1

This is what you see when you first walk in to the shop! The colors of these quilts are so happy and joyful, that I think that quilting may become my next hobby/passion!! Oh man, what is my sweetie going to think about that??? πŸ˜‰

Aunt Bee's 3

I am really loving teal painted furniture!! Hmmmm…I wonder how my sweetie would feel about having his dresser painted teal?

Aunt Bee's 7

I love this little vignette! πŸ™‚ The lamps, the bowl of green apples, the books, the horse, everything!! LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!!

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I love the juxtaposition of this stripped wooden vessel and the red vintage books.

Aunt Bee's 10

and how about these two large gears??? Aren’t they just AMAZING???? I am SERIOUSLY thinking about going back and bringing these two manly studs home!!! πŸ™‚

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Who knew that oil can could be chic? Well, apparently they can be!!! πŸ™‚

Aunt Bee's 6

I am LOVING this headboard! The colors, the restic-ness of it, and maybe just the ingeniousness use of recycled fence posts!!

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These are decorative storage boxes that looks like books with tapestry covers! VERY SPRINGY!! πŸ˜‰

Aunt Bee's 17

I love this vignette too! The books, plant pot, bird, and yes even the doily!! Who knew that I was going to have to start thinking about getting a doily?? My mama would be very proud!! πŸ˜‰

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I LOVE this LOVE sign!! πŸ˜‰

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Aren’t these just the cutest?? They are weighted pillows! I could see myself using these as a door stop for my front door!! SO SWEET!!

Aunt Bee's 15

This is SUCH an INGENIOUS way to display simple ribbon roses!! I may have to give this project a try!! πŸ˜‰

Aunt Bee's 19

I am a SUCKER for colored glass vessels, and this BLUE is just STUNNING!!! πŸ˜‰

Aunt Bee's 14

I may need a whole slew of these to decorate all over our place!! I just LOVE rustic stars, and the glitter really adds a but of glam!!

Aunt Bee's 23

This mannequin FASCINATES me!! Whoever gets to take this love figure home is my hero!! I LOVE THIS!!!

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This little lady was kind of tucked in the back of this display, and as soon as I saw her, I knew she just needed to be brought forward and with a little bit of rearranging she is now the ROCK STAR of this vignette!! πŸ˜‰

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Here is another vignette that makes me happy to look at! I am really digging the message of this teal sign. “Thank God for blessing me much more than I deserve!” This has become my motto on almost a daily basis!! πŸ˜‰

Aunt Bee's

I am just CRAZY about this white chippy dresser!! TRES CHIC!!! πŸ˜‰

Aunt Bee's 22

I am so impressed by this paper wreath!! Someone has some SERIOUS patience!! πŸ˜‰

Aunt Bee's 28

I love this rack!! I could see this in my place being used as our mail rack…or maybe a medicine rack…or maybe a spice rack…or maybe as an organizer in my art studio…or maybe as a…or as a…!! I KNOW, IT IS A SICKNESS!!! πŸ™‚

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This is a message that I am going to try and apply to my life this week!! Enjoy the Little Things!! πŸ™‚

Aunt Bee's 26

Here is another one of those FABULOUS quilts!! See what I mean?? I love this design and the colors!! I would LOVE to have a new, homemade quilt for our bedroom!!! Sooooo cheery!!!

Well, there you have it!!! I hope you have enjoyed all of these pictures, as much as I had taking them!!! If you happen to be in the Salem area, I would highly recommend visiting Aunt Bee’s House!! I KNOW there will be THE PERFECT treasure waiting there JUST FOR YOU!!!

Thank you to the INCREDIBLE staff at Aunt Bee’s House for letting me share your lovely shop with my readers. I am greatly impressed by everything about your shop, there is such a welcoming, homey feeling that is evident as soon as you walk in the door!!!! I will most DEFINITELY be back in again!! πŸ˜‰

To my readers, I want to make sure you know that I am in no way compensated by Aunt Bee’s House, and all of the opinions expressed are solely my own!! I hope you enjoyed all of these pictures!! πŸ˜‰

Here is to a FABULOUS evening!!Β  ;-)

Signature Line

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

My Art Studio!

Good morning!

I am so excited to be posting this, this morning!

I started cleaning my “art studio” in my house, last Saturday! I thought it would be something that I could just take a weekend and get it done, BUT what it actually ended up being was the entire weekend, and every available hour all week, and part of another weekend to get this place under control!!

I went through every box, cubby, file, container, bucket, and every nook and cranny to make sure I touched EVERYTHING!!! Making sure that every single thing that I came across would be allowed to stay in my creative space!!

I am happy to report that it is now FINISHED!!! Whoo! Hoo!! πŸ˜‰ Even though I realize that this room may stay this pristine for all of 5 minutes, at least I have photographic evidence that it was done, at one moment in time!! πŸ˜‰

Please click on any picture to show larger. πŸ™‚

Art Studio

Art Studio 2

Art Studio 4

Art Studio 5

Art Studio 6

Art Studio 8

Art Studio 9

Art Studio 12

Art Studio 14

Art Studio 13

Art Studio 15

Art Studio 16

The last thing that I want to do in this room, decorating-wise is to skirt the tables so that all of my miscellaneous clutter…er, I mean supplies are hidden. In the meantime, I am just so excited to get in here and start creating again!!

Here is to a FABULOUS day!! πŸ˜‰

Signature Line

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

A Good Day for a Great Sunday!

Good afternoon!

My sweetie and I are having a really great Sunday, and thought we would just share a bit of it with you! πŸ™‚

My sissy, Alex has asked that I share a couple of pictures of Jason and I, and here I am being a good girl and getting them out today before I forget!! πŸ™‚

I knew my sweetie was a hottie before, but he sure is looking good!!! You go, Babes!!! πŸ˜‰

and yes, here is your truly!! πŸ˜‰

and here we are together!! I love you, Sis!! I hope these pics makes you happy!! πŸ˜‰

On a side note, there are only two days until surgery, which is rather surreal!! I am going to spend the rest of the day getting some chores done around the house and have some quality time with my sweetie, and my two hair four-legged girls! Tomorrow, my sweetie and I are going with a group of friends to hang out at the ocean, and later tomorrow evening my two youngest sisters will get here to spend the next couple days with us while I am having surgery! YEAH!!! I love my peeps!!! πŸ˜‰ So, long story short, I will have plenty to keep me busy between now and 2:30 on Tuesday!! πŸ˜‰

Here is to a FABULOUS evening! ;-)

Β If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

There’s No Place Like Home!

Good afternoon!

I am very pleased to announce that Jason and I are finally back at home! You know what they say, “Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home!” and baby, is that ever true!!!

YEAH!!

Jason is doing GREAT!!! He is tube free, drain free, and is very happy to be home! According to our doctor, his only jobs right now, and for the next week or so, is to breath, walk, and sip his liquids!! Sounds cushy right? Well, maybe not so much, but he is in agreement that we are sooooo blessed, and that God is taking FABULOUS care of us!!

I have to give him kuddos because this is probably the first time in our 17 years of marriage that Jason has really had to give up the reigns and let me take complete care of him! He is a trooper!!! I know that the day that he can walk around the house without me following and watching him making sure he doesn’t get dizzy and fall, he will feel like a truly free man!! Soon, baby, very soon!! πŸ˜‰

We are just so happy that he is just on the other side of this surgery! We know that the hardest part is yet to come, and that dealing with all of the mental stuff is going to be the next tricky part to get through – and maybe something he will always have to deal with, but life is really good!! I also have to mention that it has humbled us to the core about how many old friends, new friends, and family members have come out of the shadows to encourage us, and to share there love, support, prayers, and well-wishes. We will be forever grateful for all of you, and pray that even if it is only in some small way that we can return the love back to all of you! πŸ˜‰

I also want to give a shout out to the AMAZING staff at Salem Hospital, both our surgical team, as well as the SUPERB nurses up on 5NW!!! Every was so attentive, caring, and there was never a time where we felt like we were a nuisance, or a bother! I felt like there was a lot of laughing going on during our entire stay, and that was AWESOME!!!

Anyway, Jason and I are going to have a quiet evening of sipping, breathing, and walking! Yes, Doc, we were listening!!! πŸ˜‰

Here is to a FABULOUS evening! :-)

Β If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!