From Chaos Comes Happiness

  Phil is out of town. Has been all week. We have a few more days until he returns . . . and I can't wait. My brain is full. This happens from time to time. I sit in silence, but the thoughts keep coming at me full force. I can't work them all out. Usually, when he is in town, I can bounce them off him. He listens (or maybe sometimes doesn't), but he is physically there receiving them. Right now, not so much.  So I am sitting in my living room this very minute, windows open with a gentle breeze coming in and out, the sounds of cars driving by, birds singing, neighbors talking, and my own two girls playing Barbie's all taking place in the background.  And me . . . the mind is just going.  So I thought I would capture these thoughts . . . as many as I could . . . in no particular order. Thoughts like . . .  I am so grateful for that dishwasher. I wonder how many times other people run theirs? I wonder how often people have to get new machines. What is the going a...

. . . and before I knew what happened, it was December 9th.  Damn.  I wanted to blog so much more in November.  I was there. I had so much to share.  But then . . . a few things happened . . . like, I had this home art party . . .    It was lots of fun.  Then I planned a project for Ella's Brownie troop . . .  It was lots of fun, too.   Then Phil planned a trip to this place . . .   . . . which was absolutely awesome and completely magical .  It was a short little trip.  But it was exactly what we needed.  Because there were lots of laughs . . .  And awesome moments like these . . . The next day, we went here . . . .  And it was heavenly. Because, I was here . . .  and they were there . . .  and it was good. So very very good.  Then we came home, and had some people over for dinner . . .  It was su...

It's so strange how the universe works. Like, CRAZY strange. And I love it. Every stinking bit of it. Really. The good, and the bad parts of it. My friends . . . I got the job. The job I was telling you about earlier in the week. The for real 'wake up and go to an office' sort of job. The job that will deposit funds into my bank account every two weeks (insert cheer of ' yay !' here). The job that will help ignite some old skills, dust of some insurance knowledge, and allow me to exceed in a field that I know I can handle. Yes, I got the job. But back to the universe. I love it. A few years ago, for those of you who may not be familiar with my story, I worked in health care - in health insurance, specifically. I have actually held a job in health care, in one way or another, since I was 16. And since I am not one to hide my age . . . that was about 27 years ago. I did well in health care - working my way up from one position to another, and settli...

                        I love the colors of this art journal page that I did the other day . . . bright, vivid colors - they make me happy. We tend to react one way or another to a color that we come in contact with, don't we?   Soft shades of blues and greens often bring a sense of peace. Reds bring a feeling of passion and great enthusiasm. Yellows bring on happiness and joy like no other.  I absolutely love to take those Facebook quizzes that, after answering a variety of silly questions, tell you exactly the color you are. Some days I don't need a quiz to tell me what color I am feeling . . . but other days, I'm not so sure.  And these days,  I'm a variety of colors. Truly . . . every color of the rainbow. Each and every day.  Moments of calmness in my days are quickly taken over by feelings of overwhelm and great concern, then the joy peeks in, followed by worry and despair...

Summer. It's around the corner. It's so close, that I have already had my air conditioner on this year. It's so close, that the kids are in the single digits for remaining school days (a thought that makes my stomach turn). Oh, please don't get me wrong . . . I can't wait for homework and school activities to end for a little while, but with that comes a whole new set of challenges. The miserable . . . "I'm bored" scenario. So, I set out to solve the "I'm bored!" dilemma. And my friends, I've got it all covered. You see, I am bound and determined to remove the words "I'm bored" from my children's vocabulary this summer. If I feel it coming on, I'm ready for it . . . I will simply refer the children to the Pantry Door, for our very own summer fun list. Yep . . . we.are.set. I can't take credit for it. I found the idea on Pinterest. But I will take credit for actually pinning something, and actua...

I can't even believe how long it has been since I've sat at this computer and typed on this keyboard. Years, it seems like. Of course, it hasn't been years. But it sure has been a long time. And the days . . . oh, they have been busy. Instead of taking up a whole bunch of time giving you the blow-by-blow of the past few weeks, I thought I'd bore you with some quick little highlights. (Although, I've just come back to proof-read this part after writing out the whole post, and I do believe I end up giving you the blow-by-blow. You know, nothing is that simple for me! Sorry for that!) It's going to be a bit "all over the place", because that is just sort of how my mind is working these days. Bear with me. I'm sharing a bunch of pictures, too . . . because sometimes a photo just needs to be shared! So, this is the last few weeks of my life: It all started with a great fortune . . . what it means, I have no idea. If I knew what idea it was refer...

Follow my blog with Bloglovin Oooooo . . . I love awards! There is something so awesomely special about someone taking time out of their day, their life, their moment . . . to share a little happy-goodness with you . It's been a long time since I was involved in a little blogland sort of celebration, but my dearest Nat over at " Just Nat " was incredibly kind to share a "Liebster Award" with me last week. And Nat . . . I am forever grateful!! Just Nat! I adore Nat . . . she is my adventure sister, a photographer extraordinaire, my worldliest of friends, and one of my longest running blog buddies. I don't know how long we have been in each others blog lives (years, I tell you . . . it has been years) . . . but I do know that just months ago I saw my very first photo of HER (the beautiful photos on her blog are usually of her travels and other subjects along her journey) . . . but when I saw my very first photo of HER - her face, her smile - happy t...

Do you know that here they come! scene in "It's a Wonderful Life"? Right after George and Mary are married, the camera shot is a close up of Cousin Tilly as she shouts, "Here they come! Here they come!", and the new Mr. & Mrs. George Bailey head down the stairs in complete and total joy over their recent union. Oh, there is excitement and joy in the air, and life is oh-so-good at that very moment! I feel like Cousin Tilly, except I am at the top of the stairs leading to our basement . . . announcing that I have completed the moving of furniture and organizing of a room that has become . . . well, quite frankly, a mess. Here They Come!!! friends, Here They Come!! The photos from of my studio space . . . . ah, I'm so glad to be on this side of the project. Finally. The challenge? To take our basement and somehow, someway, turn it into a place that was not only my art studio, but a space where Phil Guy (my dearest husband) could close the ...

Here we are, again! It's been a wonderfully crazy and busy week. I've over extended myself, yet again. Running classroom holiday parties, husband traveling, making art, new activities for the girls, oh . . . and then there is that darn job thing always getting in the way of all the fun. ;) I hope to be finished in the next week or two. Yes, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I think. I long for slower days. When I can . . . breathe. When I can . . . read. When I can . . . go to bed early and sleep in late. Maybe in January. January of 2036, perhaps. That's when my social security (God willing) kicks in. Yep, 2036. Until then . . . here's a little glimpse at my week . . . We saw Justin Bieber on Wednesday! Phil, Katie, Ellie, our neighbors Christina, Megan, Jenni and Gabriella, and me.  Phil drove all of us in our mini-van (thank goodness for our mini-van). And with the help of ear plugs, we all survived! I discovered an old love of good o...