From Chaos Comes Happiness

I have been inspired since my last post to "Find the Joy", and wanted to hop in today and tell you about this journey and what I am doing. I have to tell you . . . I can already feel the difference within myself. In two short days, I am already taking more time to stop and be - stop and focus - stop and breath. All of it. The goal, and what my plan is . . . is to post photos of items and moments each and every day when I have FOUND the JOY. My goal is to capture (at least) 100 moments. They will be little things . . . big things . . . anything that has helped me stop the downward spiral that has been happening in my head and has helped me feel joy.   If you want to follow my journey each day - follow me on Instagram here  (side note: you have to have an Instagram account in order to access my Instagram.)  I will also be posting a weekly recap here on the blog.  I am using the hashtag #100JOYFCCH  .  .  . (the FCCH stands for the name of thi...

My friends . . . where have you been?       And where, you may ask, have I been? Processing. Just . . . processing.      Processing Life. The weeks. The days. The moments. All of them. It has been a particularly challenging year for me and my 44 year old self (whooaaaa - when did that happen? 44 years? I thought I was 30. 32 tops.) It has been a year of trying desperately to hold on to myself, while somehow letting myself go. A year of autopilot - trying to do what I needed to do when I needed to do it, but fighting with myself all the while. A year of quiet struggles within my own mind. Yes, a challenging year, for sure. I started to think of the areas in my life as separate neighborhoods within myself - little communities - each with their own needs and wants, and often requiring much at the most inopportune moments. Mommy hood.  Wife hood.  Laundry hood.  Sibling h...

. . . 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...

Well, the kids have just over a month of summer break remaining . . . and I feel like we've already done so much this year, I can't imagine what's left! Well . . . yes, I can . . . because we have lots more scheduled that we'll be squeezing in the next few weeks. We've got books to read, scrapbook projects to complete, a visit to downtown Chicago planned (along with a day at the Art Institute of Chicago). We've got Summer Band Camp starting August 4th, and Girl Scout activities taking place shortly thereafter. I still have about 5 art classes to teach, and there are even more graduations and birthdays to celebrate. Yes, it's flying by . . . but we're not finished yet. This morning, I sat on the computer cropping and ordering photos from Walgreens from all of our summer fun thus far. I think I ordered over 300 pictures . . . I like to get extras when there are photos of neighbors kids and other special shots included, so I can pass them on to friends ...

  I'm reading a great book right now called "Living Out Loud: Activities to fuel a Creative Life" by Keri Smith.  It's a fun, creative little pocket book with great prompts and ideas for living a creative life. And if you have followed me for any amount of time, you will already know that one of my life mantras is to "Live a Creative Life." It's been important to me for quite a while, and I still find myself having to be reminded of it. One of the big things I try to follow is the whole idea of "putting it out there". The creative me. The dreams. The goals. All of it. No matter how ridiculous it may seem to some of you. My friend Peggy believes strongly, too, the idea of "putting it out there . . . Into the universe." She's always proud of me when I do that. :) There is a great exercise in the book - to answers some questions about the "Ideal You" as if you were already living your ideal life. The author encoura...

Colors make me happy. Bright vivid colors. And shopping at Pier 1 . That makes me happy, too. Not necessarily buying things from Pier 1 (although I do love to take new things home!) Sometimes just walking around and looking at the colorful patterns and feeling the textures of dishes and linens is all I need to be energized and happy. And Barnes & Noble . Picking out a great big stack of books and magazines, heading over to the coffee area, and sitting for a few hours as I peruse the pages. Sigh. Happiness. There are more things that make me happy. Like, when Spring finally comes and the windows are open for the first time - the fresh clean air flows through the house. Bliss. Oh, and that first sip of a fresh cup of Starbucks coffee. Heaven. A clean laundry room. Hearing my children's laughter. The smell of lavender. Driving down my favorite road. When I get my sister really laughing so hard she can hardly form a word. And seeing the twinkle in...

I've been doing a lot of thinking . . . uh-oh . . . PG would be nervous. I know when ever the words "Honey? I've been thinking . . . " come from my mouth, I am sure he gets some sort of pit in his stomach. The "WHAT" that I have been thinking is never expected. It could be something random, like having pasta for dinner . . . to something as totally drastic, like going to buy a new car that day. (Seriously.) But when ever I am thinking , you can be certain of one thing . . . Change is a'coming. So, I've been . . . thinking. I've had my little "From Chaos Comes Happiness" home here for quite some time. Started wayyyyy backkkkkk  in 2009, actually, when I was a mother of a 6 and 2 year old, was an almost full-time health care worker, was not doing a single creative thing (other than scrapbooking), and was desperately trying to find  . . . me. I think I found her. Me, that is. In the past four years, I have grow...

It's funny how the universe works. Sometimes the best lessons are learned when we least expect them. Ella lost another tooth last weekend. Another front tooth. Which means an adorable little toothless grin to cherish for a short time, and a little girl who talks so cute . . . it's almost unbearable. When she lost it, we oooo'd and ahhhh'd over her. She is missing both top teeth, and a bottom tooth as well. Poor thing. It's a challenge to have three missing teeth at the same time. Eating requires some strategy as to the correct placement of food, and talking can be a bit frustrating for one who does so much of it. But she is a trooper. As we all made a fuss over her toothless state, I stopped and observed her reaction to our reaction. I began to think that maybe we were making it a negative thing for this little girl. Words like, "Oh, poor sissy . . . how will you eat?" and "Oh, you poor girl . . . three teeth gone at the same time. That...

  I love making wishes.   And I love the magic of the moment right when you make one.   As if the wish fairies are flying around high above you, with their fairy nets in their hands, just ready to catch your wish.   You know that moment . . .  when the candles are lit, and the lights are turned off, and the sound of people singing to you is faint in your head, because you are thinking about . . .   y o u r   * w * i * s * h *    and then, when the singing stops . . .  you take that deep breath in and with all your might . . .   . . . blow as hard as you can, so your wish will come true.   *  *  *  *  *  *    I still believe in wishes. Even when I know some of them can't really come true.   Because yesterday,  my wish would have been to stop time . . .   right here...

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...

I can't believe it's been almost two weeks since I've blogged. This has to be my very longest absence . . . and one that I am not happy about. Oh, how I miss my blog. But oh, how crazy busy life has been. My blog post title kind of sums it up . . . the Days of my LIVES. And yes, I meant LIVES . . . because lately, depending on what time it is when you find me, I can be living one of five different lives. There is my life as a Mom taking care of my girls, as a wife supporting a husband and his busy work schedule, as head room mom trying to plan for the 4th grade school year, life as an employee pulling thousands of files for a project, and life as an artist . . . creating and filling my soul with inspiration and joy. That last life makes all the rest even better, you know? I am still working that "short-term" project for my previous employer. I finished the first projected they asked me to work, and was immediately approached for another, more intense one. I ac...

A happy song is playing in my head today. You know the one . . . Three Little Birds , by Bob Marley. I love Bob Marley, a true genius at putting words together with a rhythm and beat that moves my soul. I have always been a fan of his, way before I took that trip to Jamaica in 1995 with a friend of mine. When I hear Marley, my eyes close and before I know it, my body is swaying to the beat with little dips of the head taken here and there. Today, I'm singing his song. Rise up this mornin', Smiled with the risin' sun, Three little birds Pitch by my doorstep Singin' sweet songs Of melodies pure and true, Sayin', this is my message to you-ou-ou Singin': "Don't worry 'bout a thing, 'Cause every little thing gonna be all right." Singin': "Don't worry (don't worry) 'bout a thing, 'Cause every little thing gonna be all right!" Oh, how I love that song. A week or so ago, my friend Leslie from "Words o...

During our trip to Milwaukee last week, I knew that I had to do everything in my power to get myself over to Madison. Not only the state capitol of Wisconsin, but Madison is the town where my very favorite store in the whole wide world is . . . Anthology. Have I ever told you about Anthology ? I first came across Anthology at The Creative Connection event I attended last September in Minnesota. The store was a vendor in the amazing marketplace at the conference, and I immediately fell in love with their table of vintage paper goods. I could have stood at their booth for hours (. . . wait a minute . . . I think I did stand there for hours), and I even threatened to pack myself up in one of their boxes so that I could find my way to their store. I knew their store had to have been even more wonderful than the booth . . . and it became my dream to visit it someday. The owners of Anthology are sisters Sachi and Laura Komai, and they remind me very much of me and my own s...

My dear blog friend Kelly, from Happy Shack Designs (Artful Happiness), wrote a wonderful post last week about her "happy place" . . . a special place she often visits when things are piling up on her and where all of the tensions and stress of her life simply melt away. Kelly's place is the ocean. Click here to read her post . . . I swear, my stress melted away just reading about her special place. I started thinking about my happy place. At first, I didn't think I had one. Sad, isn't it? But don't worry . . . it wasn't long before I realized that I most certainly do . . . right in my back yard. Yep. Right outside my door. I realized it on Sunday, as I approached the pool and saw this . . . My little piece of heaven, right there, in my own back yard. It truly is  my happy place. For here the telephone is far away in the house, and cannot be heard. The computer and television are all behind closed doors. The toys, the boo...