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Mamma Needed That!

Good evening!

I had a pretty rough day today, and it just seemed to get worse when I got home – HOWEVER!!! I just finished watching one of Craig Ferguson’s comedy shows, and I

LAUGHED MY HEINIE OFF!!!

I REALLY NEEDED THAT!!

Laughter really is the best medicine, isn’t it??

Well, tonight is Chunky Dunker’s night, and I have to admit that this week I have been doing pretty well, foodwise, and have lost about 7 1/2 pounds total!! YEAH!! That is pretty impressive when I think that I have been steadily going up every week instead of going down, and NOW my body decides to cooperate! That is alright, better late then never!!!

My sister Trina is coming up from Roseburg tomorrow to stay with us for the weekend! That will be a lot of fun! I am taking Friday off of work so that we can go spend the day together over at the coast! I CAN’T WAIT!!! I just know we are going to have a lot of fun, and don’t worry I will make sure to take lots of pictures to share!!! 😉 I am going to miss her whole first evening in town, because I am working and have my dance class tomorrow night, but I know it will just give Trina and Jason time to spend some quality time together!!!

Have I told you that my sweetie has been sick?? He has been coughing like a fiend and is really congested in the chest – it almost sounds like bronchitis!! Not fun!! I am happy to report that he is feeling better today, he practically slept the past two days away!! So, to see him up and moving around, albeit slowly, is still encouraging!! He is DETERMINED to be better by the time Trina gets up here tomorrow!! One way or the other, the weekend is going to be a blast!!!

Alrighty, I am going to wrap this bad boy up this evening!! I am meeting some of my fellow Chunky Dunkers in the comments section of this post this evening!! So, I had better get to it!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

Art Studio Makeover, Getting Close!

Good evening!

I am very happy to share with you some pics I took of my art studio/office! As you may know, I have been cray-busily cleaning, organizing, purging, and decorating this room!! I still have some work to do, but it is sooo close that I can feel it!! I am going to make fabric table skirts to hide all of the under table storage, and I am contemplating also curtaining the large bookcase in the corner, to soften the room a little more and to just hide some more of the storage!! Any thoughts?? Let me know in the comments section – I would love to here what you think!!

Anyway, I will stop teasing and show you some pics of where I am at today! (Click on any picture to show larger) 😉

See, there is still a HUGE amount of stuff in this room, but it is organized like NOBODY’S business!!! 😉 This room is going to do some SERIOUS multitasking, collage, painting, jewelry making, office, writing, library, and guest room!!! WHEW!!! No wonder it has taken me soooo long to get it this clean!!! 😉

I just hope that beautiful art studio equates to beautiful art work being created!!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

Note to Chunky Dunkers: I can’t wait to see all of you tomorrow evening!! 😉

Where Did the Day Go?

Good evening!

My sweetie just came in and asked me if I knew what time it was, and when he told me it was past 10 my bottom jaw almost hit the ground! IT JUST COULDN’T BE!?!?!?

But, apparently it is!!

I got home late this evening because I had to take a huge bag of stuff back to The Craft Warehouse this evening – apparently, I had momentarily lost my mind this weekend, and gave myself a insane crafting supply shopping spree!! 😉

Anyway, that took me almost 2 HOURS, all by itself!! Then I grabbed dinner, got home, watched a quick show with my sickie hubby, and then went straight to the art studio to continue progress on getting the room clean!! It is soooo close!! I think I will have about one more trip to the thrift store, and a couple of more trips out to the recycle bin, and I will be officially DONE!!! I CAN’T WAIT!!! 😉

I know I had told you that I would get a couple of pics posted tonight, but I let time get away from me, and pics of any kind are just not going to get done this evening!! I am sorry!!

I will have them posted tomorrow evening!! FOR SURE! HANDS DOWN! I will make sure to post them AS SOON AS I GET HOME FROM WORK!!!

Anyway, I am soooo excited about the next chapter of my life – WHATEVER THAT IS GOING TO LOOK LIKE!!! I am going to take my tired self to bed so that I can dream about the rest of my week!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

A Very Happy Friday!

Good evening!

I thought I would just take some time to write this evening! It has been a while since I have just written.

Things have been going pretty well for me. I feel like my life is moving towards a much more creative future! I am happier, healthier, stronger, more confident, and lately I have been feeling kinda sexy – I think it is all the belly dancing that is going on!

I have been day dreaming about my farm again! Decorating, baking, entertaining, creating, gardening, and hosting creative weekends for women. I was looking at pictured of gypsy caravans, and I thought how lovely would it be to have 4 or 5 caravans on the back of our property, parked in a circle, around a campfire pit. That would be a FABULOUS place to have get togethers, and sleepovers with friends and family – can you just picture it!?!?! I have always been a sucker for intimate, cubby-like spaces! Forts, tents, head hidden under the blankets while sneaking in a good read!! I just thought you might like to know.

I had lunch with the girls today, and they were all talking about how beautiful their gardens were, and how prolific all of thier plants were doing, and how everything was in full bloom!! I can’t wait!! I dream about being able to take long walks hand-in-hand with my sweetie, enjoying the sunset, or an early morning sunrise.

I want to have a reading tree and a climbing tree. For those of you that may not know, a reading tree is a tree large enough for a grown-up to climb and lounge amongst the branches comfortably so that one can read a good book, or just sit and watch the world of nature pass around them. Doesn’t that just sound divine?? I am so ready to find that tree!!

I am also thinking a lot about the idea of hosting girly glam creative weekends, where women can come from all over the Pacific Northwest and have a fun weekend, creating beautiful arty projects, taking lovely nature walks, making new friends, and having a chance to just take a break from the demands of daily life. Doesn’t that sound yummy??? We will have deliciously prepared meals and snacks, and turn down service with a chocolate on your pillow every night! Oh MAN!! Sign me up – I am SOOOO there!!!

Anyway, I am going to keep dreaming for the night!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

I’m Calling It In!

Good evening!

I really never do this, but I am calling it in this evening, just to say good night!! It has been a long day, a good day, but very long all the same!! I haven’t really done much of anything in my art studio this evening, but put a large stack of paper away. I was hoping that I could get away with decorating an .88 cent cardboard box, but nope! It just ain’t gonna cut it!!!  Scrapbook, and handmade papers can be very expensive, and I will feel better know that they are all stored safely, and neatly, but that they are also easily accessible so that I don’t possibly damage them while I am searching for the perfect piece of paper. I’m just sayin’!!

Jason is downstairs having some guy time, watching a man-movie! You know the kind the screaming, shoot-em-up, smack, smack, boom, pow, movies!! LOL!! 😉 I am glad, he doesn’t take the time to do that enough!!!

My goal is to have this art studio completed by Wednesday evening, oh wait, I just realized that that is TOMORROW, and that just might take some kind of a miracle to get that accomplished, but I am praying for one!! So I am sure it will be fine!!

Anyway, I have to read some of my weekly homework before I fall asleep tonight, and I am sooooo getting to bed earlier than I had made it last evening, so I am going to call it a night!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

A New Evening!!

Good evening!

For most of the day today, I have been frantic whirlwind of cleaning, organizing and purging!! My art studio/office is starting to look better, but it seems that as soon as I clean up one pile, two more show themselves!! Those sneaky little pests!!! 😉 I did not take any pictures this evening, however, I’m confident that I will be able to in a few days, and the room will be completely done!!! WHEW!!

In the process of cleaning, purging and organizing my office/art studio, I am learning to realize just how important a safe place to create is for me. This is ABSOLUTELY priceless!! I am excited to see where my imagination can take me, and I know that having a clean, organized, clutter free space that truly represents my personality is something that EVERY GIRL should have! Especially, if one is trying to tap into one’s inner artist! I can honestly tell you that I don’t know where I will end up in 1 year, 5 years, 10 or 20, but I CAN tell you, that it is GOING TO BE GOOD!!

I want to give a shout out to my husband, Jason!! There were many times today, and this whole weekend, where I have been completely overwhelmed and needed either some moral support, cheerleading, or just someone with a stronger will then I to physically remove some items from our place that just needed to get donated or recycled!! Jason has done that for me, as he has on many occasions!! I love you, Sweetie, and I could not have gotten nearly as far as I have without your help! YOU ARE MY ROCK! You make my life so much better, and I still thank God that you are in my life. I TRULY am one lucky girl, and I OWE YOU SOOOOO BIG TIME!!! Thank you, Jay!

As for this week! I am not sure exactly what to expect yet, but priority number one is to get this art studio/office finished!!! Mamma needs a place to create!!

Work will be busy, but really, when is it not?? I also need to make sure that I get a couple of weeks on the calendar for our vacation! We are planning on camping with my sister’s family at the end of the month, but even that time has not been approved just yet! So, I will have to do some negotiating with some of my co-workers on that!

I am wanting to take a Zumbe class! I was planning on starting that next week, but I was burning my candle at both ends, still am, and that is going to have to wait a little while longer!! 😉 That is part of the reason for uncluttering my home so that I have more time and energy for doing the things I want to do – like Zumba!!

Have I told you that I am still doing my Artist’s Way morning pages, and weekly artist’s date with myself. I am, and I am still loving it! I was surprised to see that I was on week 9 of that process!!  The old Christina really never did very well with following through on things like this. This new Christina can’t imagine never not doing it!! They have radically changed the way that I look at my life, which in turn has changed me!! For the better!! I am so much happier than I was in the past, and I have reconnected with my creator, and now have hope for a different future than the dismal one I was settling for!! now, if only this new Christina could just lose some weight, and figure out world peace, all would be DIVINE wouldn’t it??? LOL! 😉

Until I speak with all tomorrow…

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

 

Slowly But Surely!

Good evening!

I know that these pics may not look like I am making much headway in my art studio/office clean, up but I feel like I am doing A LOT!!!

My sweetie helped me locate, and assembled this perfect little bookshelf to put on top of my craft dresser, My new motto is storage, storage, storage!! I have spent a good portion of my day sorting supplies and putting all like items together. Tomorrow will be more about getting things out of there for donating to charity, recycling old magazines, and papers, putting everything into their new homes, and decorating like a banshee!! That is my FAVORITE part!!! 😉

I am loving the green on the walls, I had dabbled with the idea of changing it, but to be honest with you – it is just too much work!! So, I am sticking with my gut and just working with it! I am adding baby pink, silver, and baby blue into the mix!!  Also adding the cubicle bookcase on top of the dresser and some lovely white curtains, is making this place feel so much nicer – even though there is still sooooooo much left to do!!! I think the room is taking on a much softer  girlier-glam feel! I know that is hard to believe when looking at these pics, but it really took me 5 years to get it into the state that it was in, so it is going to take me a little while to get it back to ship-shape!! 😉

I must confess, that I was so overwhelmed when I went in there to start this morning, that I decided to go shopping instead! Nice, right??? I bought some replacement essentials like bed pillows, and towels, which we were in desperate need of new ones!! Then when I got home, Jason helped me first thing, and I was still sooooo overwhelmed!! WHERE THE HECK DO I START??? Well, when I had taken Linda and GG’s craft class, they started with a meditation, so I thought I would give that a try! It TOTALLY worked!! I realized I had to stop feeling guilty and forgive myself for letting the room get to be such a disaster. I then made the decision to open my eyes, find one thing to toss, and one thing to put away. That seemed easy enough to commit to, so I did it, and then did again, and before I knew it I was on a roll!!

Anyway, I have a lot of work ahead of me for tomorrow, but I am excited to see what I can get done!!

TO-WANDA!!!!
(a la Fired Green Tomatoes, for those who are not in the know!)

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

A Rather Productive Day!

Good evening!

I realize that I have been doing a lot of late night posts, but I am pushing the envelope to get AS MUCH done as possible!! 😉

Today, my goal was to start uncluttering my nightstand, bedroom, writing desk, walk-in closet and dresser drawers!! It took me most of the day, but I am very happy to report that I have gotten that done!! I was able to gather 3 bags and 2 boxes worth of clothing that will be either given away or donated to charity!! WHEW!! That was about 60 items of clothing that will no longer be cluttering up my closet!! I also have completely reorganized the sort order of everything, it used to be by color, but now it is by type of clothing. All dresses in one section, pants, in another, skirts in another, etc. etc. I have never organized my closet that way, but I am SERIOUSLY loving it!! The colors are all integrated together, and somehow it feels much cheerier the way it is organized now – more like me, if that makes any sense??

Tomorrow, my goal will be to unclutter the upstairs linen closet, bathroom, and craft room/office. THAT room is going to be the SCARIEST because there is just sooooo much stuff in there that really needs purging!! HOWEVER, the task seems to be much easier than I had orinally would be because I am able to look at each item and say, “Does this truly represent me and our new lifestyle?” No? then out it goes!! I know there will be someone else who will be able to use it, if not I!! 😉

I had planned on taking before and after pictures, but in all honesty I was so excited to get started this morning, that I didn’t do ANYTHING else when I got out of bed! I literally, sat up and started cleaning my nightstand off! Ok, that might be a little bizarre!!

Anyway, this evening my sweetie and I went to dinner and a movie with some friends of ours, Dawn and Erin. We had a nice dinner, and then zipped over to go see Pirates of the Carribean III, in 3D. It was a long movie, and it was alright. However, the scenery was FANTASTIC, the costumes were MESMERIZING, the soundtrack was HYPNOTIC, and the relationship between the Christian and the mermaid was HOT & STEAMY!!! YUM!! It made me want to spend tomorow reading a lust int he dust book, which is what we call romance novels in this house!! 😉 but, I will stay focused!! I have brought soooo much new stuff into this house, and I have to do all I can to make sure that EVERY SINGLE THING IN THIS HOUSE HAS A HOME WITHIN IT!! 😉 I will get there, it will just take me some time!! Ok, maybe a LOT of time, but it will happen slowly but surely!!

As for now, I will just be happy to be able to “shop” in my newly cleaned, purged, and organized closet!! It is SIMPLY DIVINE!!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

Wrapping Up a Delicious Day!!

Good evening!

I have had a VERY SWEET Friday hanging out with my sweetie! We stopped at the craft store so I could get some missing supplies. After which my car battery decided to conk out, and my mother-in-law very sweetly came to give us a jump, so in turn, as a way to say thank you, we took her out to lunch and had a very nice visit with her!!

Next Jason went to the pet store to get the dogs some treats, while I headed over to St Vincent’s to see if I could find anything that might help me organize my craft room – no luck today! BUT, Jason and I quickly met back up again, and we headed over to Borders to do some book perusing!! I bought a few books, one of which was a book on Uncluttering my life, which I will tell you about in another post, but was really ironic, because I have been going through some SERIOUS shopping issues right now!! I can’t say that I am a shop-a-holic, but when you have so much stuff that you are bringing it in faster than you can get it back out – that is a problem!!

I have psychoanalyzed myself and have decided that what is happening is that throughout the past 8 weeks, while working on uncovering my inner artist, I have discovered that there really was a different me inside than what I was letting show on the outside. So, what I think I have been doing now, is letting her shine a little more! My style is softening up and becoming more girly, my hobbies, and free-time activities have really changed, and I have been re-stocking supplies (so to speak) to support the new me, HOWEVER I haven’t let go of the old me and all of her trappings yet!! In all honesty I am a little scared! Old Christina has been around for such a long time that it almost feels kind of like a death, which is ok, I just have to get some support as I get my environment in new Christina shape, while getting rid of anything that doesn’t honor my authentic self, which includes all of this old clutter!!

My sweetie has told me that he would help support me/cheer me on, while I pack up boxes and make some serious headway in getting rid of all of the un-me things in this house, tomorrow morning!! Which is EXACTLY what I am needing. I think I am finally at a place where I am cool with letting go of those old disappointments, unfinished projects, unread books, unworn clothes, craft supplies, etc. etc. etc. You know, all of the miscellaneous stuff that I have been holding onto just because “I might need it someday!” So, I am hoping to be able to post some serious before, during, and after pics tomorrow of some of the areas I am going to tackle! I would like to see, by Sunday evening, some SERIOUS progress having been made!! I will keep you posted!! 😉

Where was I? Oh yes, back to today! After we left Borders, with new books in hand, we stopped at another craft store – I am in search of a mini crown rubber stamp, and for some reason am not finding any!! Anyway, next we stopped at the grocery store to pick up some deli sandwich, that we used  for a light dinner when we got home. YUM!! and finally, we watched Gnomio and Juliet, which was such a cute movie, but I must confess, I may never look at gnomes the same way again!!! LOL! 😉

I am excited to see what tomorrow brings, I know we have a date night with some good friends of ours tomorrow evening, so that will be fun!!

Until tomorrow…

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

We Love You, Oprah!

Good evening!!

I got home this evening, and was VERY excited to see that my sweetie had recorded Oprah’s last episode!! So, I have spent the last 45 minutes watching and crying, and watching some more!!

I just LOVE Oprah, as I am sure a lot of you have too!! Oprah has been a constant in my life since I was 10 years old! Always bringing words of wisdom, comfort, laughter, and inspiration! A friend when I needed a friend, a momma when I needed a momma, and an auntie when I needed an auntie!! I have dreamed about being a guest on her show, and have dreamed about being in the audience during one of her greatest things episodes!!

What I think I love the most about her final episode is that it is just her, all alone, speaking to us. Speaking to me. I love that she speaks about God, capital “G”, and how important he is in our lives! It is so GREAT to see someone of such high visibility talking about “God”, and not calling him something safe, or PC. Calling him by name is so powerful, and I am not sure why I needed to hear that, but I find that I really did! Thank you, Oprah!!

Also, her message about it being our responsibility to know what kind of energy we are bringing to any situation, really hit home for me!!! This made me question, “What kind of energy do I carry around with me every day?” I know that I am going to be thinking about that all day tomorrow, and for the rest of the week! I want it to keep me conscious of what energy I am bringing into the room at work, at home, at dance class, with friends, family, or complete strangers!!

Oprah has made me want to somehow change the world, even if that is only through helping my small circle of friends and family! I want to leave an indelible mark on this world. I am not sure what that is going to look like, but I know that it is greater than I that would be accomplishing this!

I know that this is not the last we will hear of Miss Oprah, rather this will be the beginning of a new adventure in her life. I can sit here with confidence and know that no matter where she is or what she is doing, I can know that she has made me a better me for having listened to her, and observing her actions! I thank her dearly, even though I have never even met her. I pray for her in all of her future endeavors, and I KNOW in my soul,  that someday the two of us will meet, and I will be able to express my gratitude to her in person!!

Until that day, Oprah, WE WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU!!!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening!!