Let The Sunshine In

My husband and I just moved into our new home a couple of weeks ago and everyday I find another reason why I absolutely LOVE living out here in what I like to call the "semi-country".   It's just far enough outside the city limits to feel like you should own a tractor or build a barn and raise farm animals.  I always enjoy a little "awww!" moment when I drive past the pasture about a minute from our house full of mommy sheep taking care of their little lambs. Rustic and cute!! 

With spring around the corner, I'm eagerly searching out every fresh bloom I can get my eyes on.  The Dogwoods are beginning to awaken and little buds everywhere are starting to blossom.  Imagine my surprise when one morning I walked outside our home and saw dozens of gorgeous yellow, WILD daffodils scattered all across the right side of our yard.  One of the few areas that wasn't excavated when they cleared the land to build our home, this part of the yard is covered in bushes, briars and trees, but those little bits of sunshine are so colorful and beautfiul they make me smile.  I've always dreamed of being able to cute fresh flowers from my yard and bring them inside.  Here are my first ever!....and I didn't even have to plant them.

And my ideas lived happily ever after...

Lord willing, my husband and I will be closing on our newly built home on Feb 23rd. Yippy! It's difficult to contain the excitement.  My daydreams and nightdreams are overflowing with ideas.  Where should we positon the couch?  Here....or here?  What style of bookshelf would look best in this room?  That gorgeous color I saw on Design To Sell would be perfect in the guest bath!!!  Ahhh....too much design brainstorming.  Got to take it one inspiration at a time.

Luckily, I have my fantastical, faithful friend who keep me sane when there is a decor overload. 

#1 by my side: The Ultimate Home Journal and Organizer

This book alone has the power to keep my budget-blowing, overly-eclectic mumbo-jumbo of ideas at bay.  Best design investment of my life.  

There is a worksheet for every room in the house including "other" worksheets. Each worksheet has a detailed chart for the project and a budget and comment page.  There is also a section for pictures. I inserted my own photo pages to hold any pictures or magazine cutouts I found inspirational for that room. I also inserted page protectors for any documentation or receipts.

A pad of graph paper for room dimension and furniture placement.

Small furniture punchouts with dimensions to place on your graph paper. Does it get better than this?!

Project calendar

Catagorical Folders

All in all, a great organizationl tool for the haphazard thoughts that flood my brain from day to day.  I think it will only get worse once we move but then I can actually execute ideas.

Pandora Adore....because I don't own an ipod

Alright, laugh if you may, but I admit to the fact that not only do I not own an ipod, but I also don't own an MP3 player.  No portable music playing device whatsoever.  A couple years ago my husband bought me a Walkman MP3 player but I absent-mindedly left it on the airplane on our way to visit my family in WA.  GRRRRR!  Well, I honestly didn't use it all that much on a daily basis but it was nice to have when I didn't want to turn the radio on or blast our TV speakers so I could hear Music On Demand throughout our house. Having small pieces of plastic shoved into my ears just isn't comfortable to me.

The answer to this problem is my mini-obsession for Pandora Radio.  With the use of a laptop and wireless interent, I can have beautiful music playing in any room at any time of anyday.  As if that weren't reason enough to be in love, Pandora let's you choose a genre of music and creates a "station" playing only that style of music. If you don't like a particular song, click on the thumbs down and you'll never hear it again! I've discovered so many new titles and artist that I had never heard of before.  There is endless variety and it's free up to 40 hours of listening per month.  They play a 30 second commercial every 5 or 6 (can't remember exactly) songs, but it's so much better than regular radio. 

If you've never tried Pandora, DO!  If you love music, you'll be hooked. 

http://www.pandora.com/

SO many books, SO little time.....or just SO unorganized.

While searching through Barnes and Noble's gift/stationary/journal/etc,etc section for a 2010 Gallery Leather Desk Planner (which they DO NOT carry in February!!), I stumbled accross an interesting journal amid the innumerable, ridiculously stocked journal shelves. My mind goes bonkers when I have to choose ONE journal that I "?like?" when I'm looking at 200 different designs at once.  Okay, rabbit trail.  This journal, whose cover title has slipped my mind, was designed for you to be able to record all of the books that you want to read.  What a great idea!   I didn't buy the $10.75ish journal but it did start me thinking about a way to get organized with my reading .  How many times have I said to myself, "Someday, I've got to read that book!"
There aren't enough hours in the day to read everything on my wishlist, and my husband certainly wouldn't appreciate me spending all of my free time trying to knock out one book after another, but I could definitely use some organization.  I get sidetracked from books sometimes, jumping from one to another depending on what mood I'm in and as a result, books are forgotten until months...or years...later when I have a flashback and think, "Hey, didn't I start reading that one time? Did I finish it?"  Not good! 
Although it would be a bit more romantic, you don't need a fancy journal to catalog your readings.  Just a steno pad would do.  I would definitely like to start writing down books to read in the future.  Why haven't I thought of this before? 
I walked out of Barnes and Noble without a desk planner but certianly with a plan.

PS: As I was writing this, I became more and more curious about the actual title of this journal.  I found it on Amazon.  There are several other interesting looking journals that have the same concept.  I'm not huge into journals but this is just for making lists, right? Different.

Fun Theory Put To Music

I would definitely take these stairs if I had the choice.  Although, I'd probably be late to wherever I was going.....

Why should I wait?

Have you ever been in a situation where ALL you could do is wait?  JUST WAIT! Well, I'll tell you, that is very difficutl for me. It's human nature to want to fix things or make things happen all on your own.  But what about those times when the outcome is completely out of yourcontrol?  What happens then?.....well, you just have to wait. 
Now, it's one thing to wait a few days, maybe a couple of weeks.  However, the true quality of our paitence is tested and revealed when that waiting turns into months and years. 
The last eight months has been a waiting game for me. The desired outcome of my circumstances is about as much out of my control as the weather.  My hopes are up....and then they are dashed.....they are up....and then dashed again.  "What is God trying to do to me?!!!", I've often thought.  "He can't possibly know what this is like to have to wait and trust and wait some more." For a few days I would be optimistic and then I would begin to doubt if God even wanted this certain situation to work out.  Maybe he was totally against it in the first place.  But no, He would have closed a door long before this time. My husband would reassure me and try to encourage me to trust the Lord. "All things work together for good." he would say.  "Hmmm, okay, well that makes it easy, right?  WRONG!
My mind would be filled with worrisome thoughts.  Thoughts I knew I had to reject but thoughts that sometimes consumed me.  There were days when I couldn't concentrate on anything I did because worry and doubt would creep right in and distract me.  I was allowing this situation (and the Devil) to rob me of my joy.
One day, the Lord put in my mind a Scripture verse that really changed my whole attitude toward this difficulty and how it was affecting me.  "Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord." Psalm 27:14  POW, it hit me!  Why should I wait?  Because God promises that while I'm waiting, He is strengthening my heart.  Honestly, I had read this verse many times and always knew that I should wait on the Lord, but never before had I realized that He was strengthening me the whole time I was waiting on Him. 
So the product of waiting on the Lord to answer your prayer is not just an answered prayer at the end of that long, dark tunnel.  It is Him doing a work in you.  Your heart is being strengthened!  Maybe in order for you to be able to endure trials to come.  Maybe so that you will know what it is to fully rely on God for everything in your life.  There is another verse with much the same message: "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." Isaiah 40:31.  How would you like to run in life and not get weary? And how about walking through life and never fainting? Well, learn to wait.  JUST WAIT!  When you look at it in that light, you realize that you aren't just "waiting it out" until God sees fit to answer your prayer, but you are actually growing stronger throughout the process.  It makes the outcome seem so much more certain when you know the Lord has a plan for you. 
That's why I should wait!

A Gift of Words

"A gift of words" is a term I heard used time and time again by one of my professors in college.  She would say that one of the greatest gifts you could ever give another person was a gift of words. I can't tell you the number of times I've been reminded of that statement when I've received a sweet note from a family member or a written thank-you from a friend.  Those "gifts of words" make me feel like the most important person in the world at that moment.  What could be a better gift than that!?

                                                                               
So I've challenged myself through these years to be a note writer.  Even if it's on a post-it, scribbled in crayon.  There is never an act too small that doesn't deserve a "thank you" and it's so much more meaningful when put to pen.

 How many times have you received a card when all it had inside was the card poem and a signature?  Not much thought put into that!  It's easy to rush through the card aisle, grab the first card you see (preferably one that plays music), scribble in your name, lick, seal and send.  Hmmmm.....what about sitting down with pen and paper, thinking about what the person has done for you or means to you and conveying your deepest feelings or thanks. 

Then there are the notes and letters to send to people for no reason at all....just to tell them you are thinking of them.   What a gift!

Thoughts and idea:
>Letters sent through mail are extra special
>Ecards are fun and many are free (but make sure you write a message inside)
>You don't have to splurge on an expensive card. Invest in inexpensive stationary.  It will last you a long time.
>Notes don't always have to be long.  Quality over quantity.
>Send a note of thanks for even the smallest acts of kindness.  Even if people have just been a blessing or example to you, they deserve a thanks.
> Think of those who maybe don't have family, many friends or the elderly who are shut in or in a nursing home.

>Go beyond letters.   Test your artisitic side and try writing a peom, a song or an acrostic.

>Be creative. For example: 20 things I love about you; 10 reasons I'm glad you're my friend;  10 ways you've been a blessing to me

I'm sure you could think of many other ways to give a gift of words.  These are just a few ideas. Watch and see how great YOU feel when these gifts of words are given to others.