Did you know that showers have the power of keeping you up at night? I didn’t either, not until the past few nights. We are SO close now to signing papers on the the deal on our home that we ‘know’ it’s going to happen. It’s been a long couple months since we started the home hunting process and we’re very excited about the HUGE change we’re about to make. We are so close that I’ve made my “musts” list. All the way from refrigerator to shower curtains.
I’m decorating in my head at night. I have the rooms all laid out and I have a catalog of items everywhere from Pier1 to Pottery Barn to … ew… Walmart, to O.co! I have been on a very extensive virtual shopping trip for weeks and weeks and I’m about ready to press the “purchase” button. I was suprised how much the price of shower curtains has gone up in the past several years so I was doing some comparison shopping and found one that intrigued me. I had no intention of buying it as it didn’t suit all of us but I thought it was cute so I clicked on it. It was about $28. I thought with having to buy the rod, the liner, and the hooks that having nearly $100 into a simple shower that it was a bit extreme so I caved and typed in Walmart. I found the exact same shower curtain for $14 dollars.
I’m an anti-Walmart shopper as it killed the small community businesses of the town I used to live in, but at this time in my life and in the city businesses are competing and nearly all of them are big box stores… We will be living 3 minutes ‘drive-time’ from Walmart so sadly … and $happily$, I’ll be spending some of our saved money and saving money at the same time at the store I love to hate.
I guess it’s a lesson of sorts that God is trying to teach me. I’m not yet sure what that lesson is but I’m sure before all is said and done it will indeed be revealed to me. When that happens I’ll let you know.
♥ Spring Has Sprung… The Grass has Riz ♥
♥ I Wonder Where my Jacket Is ♥
Taking photos from a moving vehicle is a challenge at best. However, the foliage on the way to the grocery today was stunning and refreshing! It’s wonderful to see spring bounce forth after a long a chilling winter. Try as I might I was unable to get zero shots there were in complete focus … solution… Photoshop! (Glass Effect) You can create whatever pleases you with photos that didn’t turn out.. That’s what effects are for! So here are the images of the bursting of spring. There were dozens and dozens of Cherry Trees in bloom and as you know I ‘m a lover of “PINK” so they really appealed to me. My favorite picture though is the top one with the vines draping over the retaining wall that sits opposite a local restaurant. The trees framing it just seemed like picture perfection!
My parents came by today with boxes and boxes and boxes! I have enough boxes now to pack quite a bit of our space up. I’m a bit scared about doing this as we STILL haven’t heard anything from the bank and I’m living on Faith. (Which I’ve done my whole life… so I really don’t need the fear.)
My creativity is suffering so much from this process and I’m not able to get my “game on” and it alters my mood so I have a tendency to get cranky when I don’t create. I guess I best dig out a journal and start some journal play. I was SO excited about getting to use my Moleskine journal and to tell you the truth… I don’t really like it. I don’t like the fact that it’s not spiral bound… I don’t like the paper.. it’s nearly impossible to blend on… and I don’t really care for the size. I’ll use it for something but I’m really disappointed as the hype is crazy over these journals. If anyone can recommend a decent art journal that’s spiral bound and has paper that takes to different mediums and is easy for blending I’d greatly appreciate it… My creative side really needs it. Until then… I guess I’ll Zentangle in my Moleskine.
I’ll see you back here tomorrow… Oh and by the way.. Yesterday was my Three Year Blogiversay! I can’t believe I’ve been doing this for three years already. I’ve come such a long way creatively. =)
I packed again today and am sitting in a pool of sweat while I type this out to you. I managed four large boxes from the kitchen/living room/bathroom. One thing to be thankful for is that we live in small quarters so we haven’t been able to accumulate A LOT of stuff. Just enough to wear you out while packing. I’ve only a few smaller sized boxes left at the moment so I’ll have to pack those carefully… then I have some rather large boxes that will need “lighter” items in them so they don’t get dropped in transport. Oh the strategery of packing!
It’s already Wednesday and the week is flying by. I got an email from our Realtor this morning saying that we would likely hear “something” by Friday. It’s growing increasingly more frustrating and now that the packing process has truly begun it will be very stressful to live in a boxed up home. So say your prayers that things go through quickly and accordingly!
My Whispering Wednesday secrets this week are:
I’ve been spending my spare time on Ikea, Pottery Barn, Pier 1 Imports and the like fantasizing that I’ll actually have money to spend!
- I’m dreading like crazy the process of packing up my desk.
- I’m proud of myself for tossing the junk and getting huge piles ready for donations. It’s going to be a wonderful fresh start!
- I have not seen nor spoken to my Overlord and his wife since this whole mess unfolded.
- I have neglected my Facebook Profile with just minimal postings as I am SO busy house hunting, packing and praying for a reply from our Short Sale.
- Tonight’s dinner is Cheese Ravioli with mushrooms and green onions with Chicken tenderloins on the side. (cleaning freezer… hah!)
I’ll see you back soon… and I hope to shout that I have some good news to share with you. God Bless and keep the Faith!
I actually made this cross months ago for an online blogger that I follow. The Exploding Doughnut’s author Dean’s story touched me so much I read his entire blog in one weekend. I soon went about making this mail art cross to send to him. If you take the time to read his blog you’ll understand why I chose this theme. I stamped the word “HOPE” on the cross before mailing it. It’s double sided so here’s a gander at the back of it.
I used chipboard and an exacto knife to cut the cross and then I used a sheet of green sticker cardstock to make the base to work from I used a collaging/scrap-booking papers to add the stripes and then punched out circles as flowers and added more mini punched dots for the centers. The leaves are cut from decorative paper napkins and all is adhered with Mod Podge the goddess of adhesives.
For the back I simply took one of my favorite mini notebooks I bought in collage (purse sized and super cute!) it’s full of many different colors of small green “notebook” style paper. I ripped the sheets up and collaged them onto the back of the cross using my favorite adhesive…Mod Podge! (I LOVE that stuff!) At the bottom I had saved a fortune from a cookie and thought this was the perfect place for it.
I was very worried about mailing this without an envelope but that’s what mail art is… so I held onto it for too long and finally got the courage to let go and go for it. It arrived at his address last week so I felt free to share this with you. I really, really love how this cross turned out and that it arrived safely.
If you’ve got mail art to share please leave a comment and link… I’d LOVE to see what you’ve made and surprised someone with!
♣ Happy St. Patrick’s Day ♣
(click me)
Recently I found the story behind the Chicago River going green in honor of this popularly celebrated Saint and I found it so interesting I wanted to share it with you. I’m a very curious kind of person and when I hear about different this’s and that’s I hit the search engines to find out all I can about them. Here’s how this annual celebration came to be. I hope you enjoy this article and tidbit of history’s mysteries as much as I did. (Millionaire… here I come!)
I’m part Irish … the temper portion of me is definitely Irish.. It’s a flash in the pan and instantly *poof* ~ Gone! I don’t know how difficult that is to live with so to my friends and family you have my condolences! I’ve also got a bit of the Irish happy-go-lucky spirit… Something I can thank my Grandma for. I don’t look Irish though… I look English and my grandpa and his family is to thank for that. How I miss my grandparents. I’ve been thinking a lot of them lately and wish life could last forever as we can learn SO much from our elders.
For dinner tonight I’m making Corned Beef Reuben Sandwiches as it’s something we’ll all like… It’s got cabbage… even though that’s a German version of it… It’s got the Corned Beef and it’s got super duper yumminess that will please us all. Maybe I’ll find a side salad in the deli that will compliment the sammies.. If not I’ll buy some huge and crunchy Kosher pickles. Who doesn’t love a good pickle! I for one am getting myself into them all the time. (just as my hubs!)
Everyone have a fantastic Erin Go Bragh and enjoy whatever meals our preparing in honor of corned beef, cabbage, and/or Irish Stew. I’d LOVE to hear how you’re celebrating.
Kiss me! I’m Irish… (and Russian, English, and Finn… I have lots of holidays to celebrate… just what an Irishman loves!)
♥ Angela Angel ♥
I finally made the time to focus and finish this painting as part of my Irish roots celebration for St. Patrick’s Day. She’s a sweet little angel in her green and gold. She sat on my desk for days on end staring up at me with her eyes begging for me to give her life… Today I broke down and used some of my jumbled creativity to try to vent out some of my “limbo” frustrations.
We got a call from the Realtor today and she told me that our file has moved from the HUD department to the bank and that she heard from the listing agent and he expects that we will likely hear something next week. I sure hope so… this waiting is horrible. I have boxes piled in the living room and I’m just waiting for the word so I can start the packing process. Many of my art supplies are already in convenient totes for transport so I won’t have to worry to much about them. I’ve tossed out a lot of stuff and keep doing so each week when the garbage gets emptied.
Moving is a horrible thing isn’t it? Even when it’s for the better. There is SO much stress involved and so much over-thinking of what you’ll need, want, and were to put everything. That’s what’s I’ve been focused on for the past month. I’ll be so happy to hear back from the bank on our offer just to know one way or another. In the meantime we’re still looking at properties and I’ll be seeing more later this week.
In the meantime I think I’ll do a painting in honor of the Japanese. I feel just horrible about what they are going through. I’ve been praying for them and watching the news very closely. So this week I’m not posting Tuesday’s Toys. I’m saying a prayer for the people of Japan, their friends and their families. God Bless them all.
