From Chaos Comes Happiness

I don’t like resolutions. Ok, that was a little negative - let me try that again. I like having a plan and firmly believe in having goals . . . but I don’t like resolutions. Ok, one more time. I believe that resolutions are for the birds (was that any better?) I mentioned that this very time last year … it has something to do with those darn Bally’s Chicago Fitness Club commercials that used to air AROUND THE CLOCK when I was younger – reminding viewers to “get in shape” in the New Year. Augh. Whatever. I just ate 2 dozen cookies and drank enough egg nog to last a lifetime – do I need to see 6-pack abs bouncing around my television screen? I think not. The other thing I dislike is pointing out when I don’t finish my . . . goals. Because, as the late, great, John Lennon once sung, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” So, checking your progress is good – but sometimes plans change. And to me, change is good. So, I decided a long time ago that I w...

"I want to create art. I want to create stories. I want to create photographs. I want to create wonderful spaces where my children can play and dream and grow and thrive. I want to create paintings that will inspire others. I want to create sentences, one after another, that will make people smile and laugh out loud. I want to create delicious meals and yummy desserts. I want to create adventures and experiences I've never had before. I want to create a home filled with laughter and peace, an environment that welcomes strangers and encourages friendships. I want to create. All year long." -taken from my blog post on Wednesday, December 30, 2010 . Thank you for a wonderful year. Let's welcome 2011, shall we? Share your Word here .

For the past three years, I’ve adopted a Word to help me focus on the year ahead. The idea originates from Scrapbook extraordinaire Ali Edwards, who  reminds us that, "One little word can have big meaning in your life if you allow yourself to be open to the possibilities." In 2008, I wanted Peace . I looked hard for it. I took deep breaths often throughout my days, and I found it. I meditated. I prayed. I tried to live with Peace in my heart, and put peaceful energy into relationships that needed it. It was a wonderful word for that year. In 2009, I sought Balance . I needed it, bad. With a husband whose job required him to travel more and more, I felt like I was drowning between home and my own work, between being a Mom and being Me. I needed it to stop. I needed to focus. I needed balance. I said “no” to more things, and I said “yes” to things that brought something good to my life. It was a wonderful word for that year. In 2010, I yearned to Create . The inner artis...

We sure have grown this year, my little blog and me. We've stretched our wings and flown to new and exciting places. We've met some amazing people. We've nurtured our soul many a times. We've smelled the roses. We've laughed. We've cried. And we've learned lots of lessons the past 12 months. Oh,  how I wouldn't change a thing. Here are some of the things I learned this year: (feel free to click to any of the red subjects below - that will bring you to the exact post) WHO I AM  - Discovering who I am on a date with PG . . .   PG SETTING ME STRAIGHT  - during a trip to DC, I learned that you really can't take a good picture of these hands of mine (although the ring is OH-SO-COOL!) FEEDING THE SOUL - my daily journey is so important to my soul. CRANKVILLE  - Just GOTTA LOVE the "Get Out of Crankville" card! One of my favorite things, for sure! PRIDE and PEACE  - when Katie swam on the deep side all by hersel...

While I stayed home doing laundry and cleaning up the house from our Christmas Festivities . . . here is a quick little video of what PG and Ellie did this afternoon. (I don't know if this video thing is going to work . . . I've never done this before, and don't really anticipate doing this very often. This clip was just tooo cute not to share.) Enjoy! PG bought himself me a Flip Video thingamajiggie for Christmas. He is  I am enjoying it very much!

When the party is over and the dishes are washed, when the presents are opened and boxes are emptied, when cookie platters are emptied and crumbs are nibbled up, when the music is off and only the glimmer of twinkle lights remain, that is when you know that all of the hustle and bustle and crowds and traffic and wrapping and cooking and baking was totally worth it. Every second of it. And then, you rest. For a long long time. Until you have to do it all over again. Wishing you continued joy this Sunday.

As I wind down my week of blogging and spend the hours leading up to Christmas in pure family bliss, I wanted to stop by with one last holiday post for you. We've been friends for quite some time now, and I want you each to know how truly blessed I am to have found you in this massive world of blogdome. While life is pretty complicated and chaotic for so many of us, the one thing that I have learned through this experience is that no matter how big this earth may be . . . when it comes down to it, we are all people just doing the same things - trying to live our lives full of happy moments and purpose, and share those moments with those we love. Whether you celebrate the Christmas holiday or not, I want to send you some good cheer this week. Thank you for reading my stories and being a part of my life. I look forward our continued journeys of joy as we approach another great year of growth, of learning, of accepting and of loving one another. My Wi...

PG and I have a little difference of opinions. But don’t worry . . . he knows nothing about it. Kind of like that time when I went on strike. You remember, don’t you? The big "Strike of 2010" (when I wasn’t doing laundry and dishes AT ALL, but he had no idea I was on Strike. I wrote about it here .) Yes, it’s kind of like that. You see, I like to spend the days and weeks leading up to the holidays surrounded 100% in total holiday joy. Which means; we watch holiday movies, we sing holiday songs, we eat holiday foods, we wear holiday socks. PG, on the other hand, does it a little differently. PG watches the Alien Trilogy , Modern Family , or outrageously silly Comedy Central shows. Now, while all of these maybe be perfectly fine (Modern Family is a great show), I just can’t seem to bring myself to do it. I cannot spend a single December day or evening watching . . . Alien Trilogy (or any of the others . . . except maybe Modern Family). I can’t. It’s just not...

sigh. Four days before Christmas, and things have been going smoothly. Presents have been bought, wrapped, and strategically hidden for Santa's arrival. Cookies have been baked, packaged, and strategically hidden in the freezer for Christmas day. Clothes have been planned. School favors have been prepared. And all is running smoothly in our home. That is . . . until 1:00 AM. "MOMMA? . . . " Ella woke with a fever, followed by a quick little bought of flu like symptoms. But never fear . . . it was quick, and I think more a reaction to some nasty phlegm than really anything more serious. But it made for an interesting night, as she and I sat up on the couch watching Tom & Jerry; The Nutcracker (of course!) This morning, things were as expected . . . lots of snow, getting Katie ready for school, making arrangements for me to stay home from work, as Ella could not go to school. I had presents to drop off at pre-school and lap tops to pick up at my office, all w...

I love the ballet The Nutcracker.  When I was a young child, I remember my mom taking us to see it at Arie Crown Theater in downtown Chicago. My dear Auntie Alice (my dad's sister) worked at Arie Crown, and many Christmas seasons were spent with us driving into the city to see this wonderful production. I was probably close to the same age Katie is right now (7) and to me, it was the most magical thing we did all season long. I remember getting all dressed up for the occasion, in our Sundays best. Nowadays, you will find people in all kinds of attire at the theater, from sequin dresses to jeans. But back then, it was most certainly a special occasion. (Contrary to what you might believe, I'm not really the sequins gown sort of girl. I still believe that the theater is meant to be a special occasion, so I will dress "up" - but, no sequins for me!) Thinking back to those performances, I can ima...

Yes, our Christmas wishes are well on their way to the North Pole, as Katie and Ella signed their letters to Santa and dropped them in the mail this week! I absolutely love letters to Santa . . . it's probably one of the sweetest moments in the weeks leading up to Christmas. The whole "Santa thing" is really so magical, isn't it? Next year, I fear our Katie will be asking some serious questions about the whole Mr. C. and gift exchange routine as she has already been told by a few classmates that Santa isn't real. She came home from school a few weeks ago and said, "Mom, a boy at school told me that Santa wasn't real."   I thought that the time had come ALREADY . . . and cautiously asked for her reply to him. She reenacted the moment word for word,  "I told him , ' Yeah, right . . . (role of the eye) . . . like my parents are REALLY going to climb down the chimney to leave me presents. I don't think so.' Boys are so silly, Mom....

What a fantastically awesome group of blog friends I have. So many of the comments on my post yesterday really hit home . . . but one, in particular, must be repeated. That one is from my dear friend, Mitzi, over at " Daily Reflection " who wrote: Mitzi, dear dear friend, you hit the nail right on the head . . .I was SO overthinking it! And while "LIVE" may not be the word I'm going with for 2011, the whole idea of "LIVE" (and your comment) brought a big ol'smile to my face and a tear in my eye. It reminds me a line from one of my very favorite movies and plays, " Auntie Mame" , where the dear Mame Dennis says, "Live! Life's a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!" How true, how true! So dear Mitzi, thank you so very much for helping me realize that LIVING is what really matters. And for you, a very special "Best Line of the week" Award! <center><a href="http://fromchaoscomesh...

I've been thinking a great deal about my Word for 2011,  putting much more time and thought into it than I ever have in previous years. You remember ... this is THE word by which I hope to focus much of my life on during 2011. THE word to help me live an enriched and rewarding year, and will remind me to make good use of this life of mine for the 365 days in 2011. But somewhere along the search for  THE word, I became rather confused.  So, I called upon my spiritual advisors for some help. I feel quite blessed to have a number of spiritual advisors in my life. One is the Big Man upstairs (and, no ... I'm not talking about Santa. Or PG.) Anyway, I shared a few of my thoughts with the Big Man on my ride to work yesterday. While doing that, I took a photo of that daily journey road that I've shared with you before. Here is my peaceful route as it greeted me yesterday. . . Crisp. Quiet. Calm. A beautiful moment with plenty of time ...

Tuesday I shared  some of  my very favorite  Christmas albums, with the sidebar that I absolutely adore the men listed. While I still stand by my claims of vocal bliss, I was called on the carpet by a dear blogfriend over at   A Belle, A Bean & A Chicago Dog .   Yes, Liz down right crushed my first two selections (poor Josh and JT.)  This has me . . . bothered. You see, I adore Liz. I mean . . . what's not to love about her? An original Chicago girl from my neck of the woods, she is a super funny lady who is raising 2 little girlies just like me, and in the middle of it all has built an amazing blog empire (yes, EMPIRE!). In addition to that, her hubby is one mean cake decorater! Come on! She's the tops. But, as worries of her un-subscribing have kept me up at night (ok . . . not totally true. . . I threw it in for dramatic effect), I started to think about it further. I mean . . . James Taylor...

While hard at work today, and listening to some lovely holiday music, I started thinking about my dream Holiday concert. If I could have my favorite musicians come together to sing to me, who would it be? Oh, there are so many to choose from. Hmmm . . . let me see . . I love this man . . . I mean, I love him. That's it. Oh, and this man, too . . . I mean, what's not to love about him? Oooo . . .how could I forget? I really really love this man, too . . . I mean, he's just dreamy!!! Oh, then this one really can't do any wrong when it comes to Christmas Carols . . .  I mean . . .he is the originally swooner, isn't he? Yes, I love these men. Who are you loving this season and who would play at your dreamy concert? Any music that warms your heart? Leave me a message, I'd love to know.

Here's a bit of what I'll be heading out into in a few short minutes . . . SERIOUSLY!!!  Poor Santa, he's going to be a big ol'ice cube flying through our skies! I'm a thinking it's time to relocate!!! How is the weather by YOU today?

When I grow up . . . ;) . . . I think I want to be the crazy sock lady. I thought good and hard about being the crazy earring lady, or the crazy glasses lady.Then I thought about being the crazy red lipstick lady, or the crazy orange skinned lady and decided they weren't just for me. Ooooo - maybe I can be the crazy slipper lady? Or the crazy scarf lady? No. Not right. And I think I'm way too cool to be the crazy sweater lady. But the crazy sock lady? Yes, I think that fits me. As you know . . . I've got the "crazy" part down . . . now I need the socks. So, I bought myself about 6 pairs of crazy holiday socks this year (I stumbled upon a REALLY GREAT black Friday sale, and was suckered into the penguins, snowmen and Santa on globe designs.) Since then, I can't get enough. I want more. MORE CRAZY SOCKS. I don't want to stop with snowmen and dancing penguins. NO! I want leprechauns and pots of gold.  I want chickies and ...

There is no such thing as a "really quick game of Monopoly." Playing said "really quick game of Monopoly" with a 3 year old, can turn it into an even LONGER game of Monopoly. Offering the 3 year old a cup of tea while playing the game can turn it into an even LONGER version of the LONG "really quick game of Monopoly", because she must stop at take a sip of the tea at the exact moment it is her turn to role the dice. You may find that money just "appears" in front of you, when playing with a 3 year old, because all she really wants to do is give you things she has collected while playing. I mean, who needs these papers anyway? But there is no other place I would rather be than right here . . . on a cold, blizzardy day . . . than picking up dice and moving spaces with my family. Yes, Life is Good.

How funny . . . December 10th. There must be something happening in the universe that pulls me on this very day. Something that calls to me, and has me thinking about tomorrow. Something that has me planning. Re-focusing. For it was one year ago TODAY that I wrote my post on my Word for 2010 (click here to see that post.) One year ago, on this VERY DAY, I sat thinking about the direction I wanted my life to go in the new year. This VERY day. How funny . . . Today I woke up with these very same thoughts. As 2010 comes to a close (at record speeds, it feels like), I am thinking about the year that was and the year that will be.   If you've been around at all this past year, you may remember that my word for 2010 was "CREATE". And as I reflect on the journey of the past 12 months, I have to say that I am pleased with where I've been. It's been a great year of CREATING. From art to crafts, from relationships to memories...

Just a quick little post today, dear friends, with a simple gift-giving idea for the little girls in your life. Even more important (during these financially challenged days), is that the gift is COMPLETELY and TOTALLY inexpensive! (But the young girls in your life will LOVE it!) You may remember this past summer when Katie got her ears pierced (for her 7th Birthday). The whole "earring" thing has been quite an exciting addition to her life. I, on the other had, was going crazy trying to help her keep her earrings together in her little drawer jewelry box. After an unsuccessful search trying to find an easy little girl container for her to use (that's the key here), I knew I had to come up with some way to contain Katie's new jewels. My sister came up with an idea to put holes in some sort of box. I started with that thought . . . and went with it. A little field trip to my handy dandy Michaels Craft Store was all I needed. I found thes...

SNOWMEN!!! Sunny Winter Days Snuggling on the couch while watching "Polar Express" Taking time to breathe . . . Red wine (even though it brings on my hot flashes . . . hot flashes can be convenient on a cold winters day) Keeping up with the laundry Thinking of dear friends Someone else making dinner Really long scarves (so I can wrap them around my neck twice, and feel snug as a bug in a rug) Ella Fitzgerald's voice (that's who my "Ella" was named after, after all!) What is making YOU happy today? Leave me a comment with your list . . . I'd love to know!

Yes, it's that time of year, my friends! Time for keeping up with our month of holiday celebrations and fun by way of the December Daily scrapbook. (Non-scrapbook friends, please allow me to indulge in my scrapbook side by sharing my latest and greatest creative project.) So, last year I made our family's very first "December Daily" album . . . you may remember the posts here or here .  What is a December Daily scrapbook? Well, it's a count down of the days and activities leading up to what I feel is the very best holiday of all, Christmas. The idea, taken from scrapbook extraordinaire Ali Edwards , has been a very favorite of mine. Here is a little glimpse of what I've got for this year, so far: The cover (above). I decided to go a little more tradition this year, and used an very simple 8 inch x 8 inch  American Craft 2-Ring binder/scrapbook. LOVE how it turned out. Very simple. Simple really is the whole idea this year. The first page o...

They are calling for snow in the Chicagoland area tonight. At approximately 12 o'clock, midnight, we are expected to see a few million white flakes fall from the heavens above. . . and rumor has it they will continue until about 10 am. I've never been one to listen to the weather experts - at least those in Chicago. So I am a bit skeptical. But others believe we are heading towards the first big snow fall of the season. Earlier today, I did a little Christmas shopping at one of my favorite places . . . Costco. LOVE my COSTCO! While walking through the store picking up bananas, a bottle of my favorite wine, brand new winter gloves and Christmas tissue paper, I noticed a number of people with new snow shovels in their shopping carts. At first I thought, "Gees . . . worry warts." By the third or forth cart, I thought, "Hmmmm . . . maybe I should check them out. I don't want to miss anything." So, I headed over to the testosterone aisle full of power...

I watched little Ella drift gently off to sleep last night. The warm glow from her little Christmas tree lit up her precious face. As the soft voice of Celine Dion sang "O'Holy Night" over her CD player, I knelt down next to my 3 year olds bed and gently stroked her face as she drifted off to lullaby land.  Time stood still for a few minutes, I'm sure of it, and a sense of peace fell over me. As her eyes lids fell deeper and deeper into a sleepy state, the corners of her little mouth curved up to show the sweetest little grin. It was then that I knew she had found the sugar plums in her dreams. I know that this would be a bad habit to start with her, the whole "watching her sleep" routine. But something about this week had me yearning for these few gentle minutes. Maybe it was the howl of the wind I heard echo through the 2nd floor of our home. Perhaps it was the pitter-patter of rain drops falling on her window. Or maybe it was the fac...

Friends, I have something to share. I am prepared that some of you might be angry with me after sharing this. Some of you might be down right jealous of me. Some of you might think that I don't deserve this. Others might think I'm throwing it in your face. And that's all pretty much true. Because tonight, my man . . . this man . . . . . . made our family dinner. And not just ANY dinner, my friends. We're talking home made pasta gravy and meatballs right from the Buca Di Beppo cookbook .  Seriously. While I sat working this evening, this man . . .   . . . grated the parmesan, mixed up the meatballs, and put out one of the most delicious meals I've ever had. Seriously. I forgot to take a picture of the before . . . so here is a little bit of the after . Don't hate me, friends. Truth is . . . if you lived near us, he'd make you dinner too. Because, you see, he cooks qui...

Now that the love of the Thanksgiving Holiday and my weekend anniversary celebration is behind me, it's time to get real with my bloggie friends and share another one of those classic "Leanne Moments". You know the kind, the one that totally shows me in a silly light (usually in the middle of some sort of embarrassing moment, of course.) Last Wednesday, PG and I were both off of work and decided to take the girls to our neighborhood fitness center for some family fun swimming. Oh, yes . . . the gym . . .  here is where the story takes place. We were really running late to the open swim hours at the gym (of course), and to help save time when we arrived at the gym, we put our swim suits on at home with our clothes over them. I then threw changes of clothing and shower items for all of us into a bag as we ran out the door and into the car. While driving to the gym, I realized that I forgot to pack my own undies and brassiere  to change i...

a good person a kind soul hard working my very best friend honest funnier than anyone I know an amazing father so very silly an incredible cook one heck of a coffee maker my rock the love of my life my husband Happy 12th Anniversary, PG! I am so glad you picked up the phone that night, so many many years ago. I love you.