Happiness Challenge Day 4

Happiness Challenge Day 4-

1. My jobs make me very happy. I am very lucky to be a professional hobbyist. Things most people squeeze in on the weekends I get to do all the time. I also really love that I don't have to do the same thing everyday. My part- time gig as a fitness instructor forces me to work out, which I never make time for in my free time , my part time job as a decorator  lets me shop with other peoples money (John likes this too), and my part time job as a seamstress/ designer lets me be creative.  It is a great balance and I am happy I never have to be bored.
2. I love the people in my  fitness classes. I love my seniors because they are wise and funny and reliable, coming to Yoga is the thing they are doing that day. I love my college kids because they are young and energetic and just starting out and their naivety entertains me  and I love my Pilates class because they keep me grounded and sane, they seriously save me a fortune in therapy and  I have developed some truly amazing friendships. I feel so happy to get to teach so many awesome people!
3.Being creative makes me happy, I love to make things that are unique and personal. I love that I excited looking at paint sample, like real heart racing excited, and I could spend the entire day in the fabric store. Sometimes on the weekends I sort through my fabric and paint  just to look at it and dream of what I am going to make with it. Maybe I will repaint that dresser or make a table runner out of that fabric. I just can't decide. I love the possibilities.

Happiness Challenge Day 3

Happiness Challenge- Day3

 1. I think music is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself. I love music, all kinds of music and in my opinion nothing is better at changing your mood than music. Sometimes it makes you feel understood, sometimes it reminds you of another time, but when the blues come calling it is music that makes me happy the quickest, and when you have to do something your not excited about put on your favorite tunes and get that sh*t done!!
 

 

2. I am happy to have such a great family, saw my Mom and my baby sister today and being in the same space with them makes my heart lighter. That is the thing about family that is so amazing you don't even have to do anything, just seeing them lets you know you are loved!
 

3.Knowing we all have gifts make me happy, I am still not to the place where I feel I have fully recognized mine but when I see other peoples work I feel inspired to do better and to try harder. I went to the art fair this weekend and the level of talent was so tremendous, so many mediums, so much to choose from, I just want to create something beautiful now. On a side note the people watching was fantastic, for those of you that are in to that!

Happiness Challenge Day 2

 

 

 

 

Day 2- Happiness Challenge

1. Most of my happy things in my  life  can be traced to a single person. The love of my life  John, he has the best DNA a girl could ask for, makes the cutest baby girls  and has a work ethic that makes it possible to live a life of comfort and he  believes in me even when I doubt myself. He is my rock, my heart and he makes me laugh when I want to kill him! He is my lobster!

John and I have been to Hell and Back LOL

Hell, Grand Cayman 2013

2. I know it is  a bit shallow but I love my house. It brings me so much happiness. Isabelle learned to walk here, I have 12 years full of first day of school photos, it is big enough to hold all the people and small enough that we are never far apart.It is something John has worked so hard for me to have and I appreciate it . It is my favorite place to be and the memories make me smile.

3. My lazy , lazy lab mutts. Raven and Jasmine are the bane of my existence, they do nothing to contribute and constantly are underfoot, but they have loved us all unconditionally for 12 years and as long as they are here I always have a friend close by, probably right under my feet. Seeing them get so excited about the same food everyday racing through the hall for dinner makes me remember to appreciate the little things. And their little  gray beards remind me that time is passing quickly  so enjoy every day.

 

Happieness Challenge

Every day I make excuses why I cannot post. Why I have no time - Why my work isn't good enough or original enough. And then an opportunity like this comes around and I think Wow.. I wish my blog was up!!! This could be a fun way for people to learn about me!! And then I though I thought what if I just made the decision to post anyway. Put it in the archives and start today. Even if it sucks at least it has been started. I will do better next time. SO here  goes!!!!

 

 I have been challenged by my mother to do the 7 day happiness challenge. 7 days - 3 things. I am a few days late as I have been super busy being happy.

Day 1

1. Alexis - By far one of the best things I have ever accomplished in my life. Being the mother of such a talented and driven daughter and watching her realize those dreams has brought me more joy than I could ever have imagined was possible. She is a great leader and yet she doesn't need to be the star to shine. She is a great daughter and she calls her mom everyday. And those calls make me so Happy!

2. Victoria - to be fair another amazing accomplishment -I have often said Victoria is one of the nicest people I have ever met in my life and I know a lot of people. She is kind and smart and wise and so funny that sometime I wonder if she is ours. She keeps me in stitches and makes my heart smile.

3. Isabelle- Yes she is also a very great accomplishment! When you already have 2 amazing daughters you kind of feel bad for the third, how could she possible compare? But from the first moment we saw her she has been the glue that makes us all work. She is talented in a way none of us understand with a gifted mind and musical skill that never ceases to amaze. She is a good friend and a perfect blend of the best of her sisters. If Lex and Tori had a kid it would be Isabelle. She loves her Mommy and is very generous with her hugs and compliments and that makes me happy!

See you tomorrow! I am choosing to let you challenge yourself, If you haven't been happiness challenged and you think this would enrich your life I am challenging you

Another year flies by

Back to school for me is really the best time to start something new.

 

 I have the most amazing family. I have been blessed with  three beautiful, healthy, smart daughters and a successful and hard working husband who has loved me for the last 20 years. My life is good. But, I am a mostly stay at home mom and wife and summer is a blur of 90 days  of cooking, entertaining people, planning and vacationing, and cleaning up after all my fabulous family. I should have made my kids more responsible but to be honest when you stay home for a living, everything you teach them to do for themselves is working you out of a job. So I do most of the busy work at our house. And I really don't mind. I do complain about it, but I really enjoy having these people to care for. And I do know how lucky I am.

 

 

Recently however I have been anxious. My oldest is now a sophomore in college and I miss her terribly sometimes. She just left last week and already the dinner table feels too big without her there. I started this blog a two years ago to channel some of the restlessness and join a community that I had been looking at from the outside for years but then I filled my days with unimportant busy work in an effort to avoid the reality that regardless of what I do with the days, time is going to keep going. I cannot have this family this way forever. It is going to change and evolve and that is not something I have control over. I need something to fill my life when all of my kids are gone but I also need something to separate my days and inspire me to love the next phase of my life as much as I have loved this phase.

 

 

 Maybe it is this blog!

DIY Drawer Organizer

I mentioned yesterday that I had a bit of a fit on my kitchen. For the last 4 days I have been feverishly organizing my kitchen in an attempt to regain control of my life. Today we are finishing off the junk drawer. I started by doing a mock up of what would go in the junk drawer and laying out the boxes. I started with the long boards on the front and back and I just kept them at 24 inches which is how long they were. My design was plotted using left over small blocks from the other drawers so I only had a few other cuts. I used an arm saw.

 

Next I took out one piece at a time and gorilla glued and brad nailed it in place. I labeled each joint so I would know how it went together A to A and so on.

 

Once all the pieces were secure I put it in the drawer. Notice my fancy clamps also known as butter knives that held everything tight until it dried. It took about 2 hours to dry.

Finally I put it all our junk from the original drawer. I know it is still a junk drawer but knowing where things go and having a space for everything will hopefully encourage people to put things back. 

 

 

This project took about 6 hours for all 6 drawers but I am no carpenter and I was changing laundry and doing carpool in between so it could be done in less and I spent $22 on all 6 drawers the ones from yesterday and today and $10 on gorilla glue.

 

On a scale of 1 to 10 for happiness I would say these are an 8. I got to build something, I got to organize, and it is a tangible project I can check off my list. Thanks for coming by to see my little project. I had 34 page views yesterday!

Have a safe and happy weekend!

 

 

 

I just couldn't look at it one more minute.

Have you ever been doing something so mundane like, trying to empty the dishwasher, but find that you just can't handle the mess anymore. This was my kitchen last Saturday night at 6:00 PM.

I ask my kids to unload the dishwasher. I think it is good for them, but lately they have been a bit laxy dazy on the placement of the dishes. It bothers me, but I usually let it go. On this night however, I could not handle it one more second.

Remembering that I need pictures for the blog I snapped a few before pics. Please don't judge me.

 

 I started just emptying every drawer and realistically questioning how many vegetable peelers one family needs.

 

 Then I washed down all the drawers and cabinets which made me feel like we live like animals. Then I  headed to Pinterest for some ideas for a solution to this problem.  I found so many ideas but this was one of my favorites. Now I have drawer fever too. Here are the symptoms.

Aren't they fabulous! I cannot tell you what a difference it has made in my level of happiness. It really is the little things that drive you mad or make you smile. I am particularly proud of the knife drawer. I just cut the slats with a miter saw. I saw one like this in the custom cabinets at Home Depot where I went to get the wood. The wood  is 1/2 inch x 2 1/2 inch  poplar on sale for 75 cents per 24 inch board. I spent $10 on all the wood. But I am going to get more today to do the last drawer in the kitchen, the junk drawer!

Stop by tomorrow and see the junk drawer ( please tell me you have a junk drawer) and some tips I learned in the process!  Have a great day and find your Happy!