Fresh Beginnings

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Isn't there always something exciting about starting a new year?  It's like all your dreams and ambitions get a fresh start.  With the beginning of each new year, your dreams suddenly become a possibility again.  :)

June Pfaff Daley

I'm very blessed and have a wonderful life.  I truly do not have any complaints about the life I have been lucky enough to live.  But I'd still like to push myself to max out my potential.  I don't make a lot of resolutions per say.  I just pray for continued blessings.  But man, that feeling of new possibilities sure makes your mind wander.  

What are my dreams/plans for this new year?  

• Be a better Christian!!!
• Spend more QUALITY time with my daughter!!!
• Continue on towards my Interior Design degree.  
• Explore my artistic side more, try my hand at some painting.
• Grow my blog. (Don't we all aspire to that? LOL)
• Start using my blog to facilitate online design consultations.
• Learn Photoshop! 
• Expand my booth from a wall to a full size booth.
• Start finishing and selling more furniture redo's.
• Maybe fall in love? ;)

And the big one I've been tossing around for some time now, but not sure I have the time to manage it properly at this moment...

• Start another blog (an expansion on my favorite quote by Ghandi - "Be the change you wish to see in the world").  It would give challenges, give ideas (some big, but mostly small manageable ways) on things we can each do to make changes or impact someones life, fun quotes, volunteering, spotlighting people who are making an impact, help find ways in various communities to get involved, recycling, etc.

As far as the house goes, it's mostly going to depend on funds this year.  Things are uncomfortably tight this year with me not working and going to school full time. But here's the dream list anyway...

• Add bead-board to the bathroom, including the ceiling, and replace the ventilation fan.
• Add a patio to the backyard (not sure about what type of patio I want or how that will look yet).
• Finish the fence project that took all spring/summer last year. :P
• New Bamboo floors (that's been on my wish list for almost 3 yrs now!  Chances are, it will still be on my wish list next year too. LOL)
• Make a headboard for my bed (also been on the list for several years now).
• Add molding to the tops of the kitchen cabinets (which I purchased almost a year ago, but have done nothing with).
• Paint the insides of the kitchen cabinets.
• Build a bench for the kitchen table.

Phew!  I don't think I can fit much more than that into just one year. ;)

So, here's to a fresh start.....and to new possibilities!!!

Source

Updates

Well, I figured it had been awhile on any updates on the personal front.  So, in case anyone was wondering....

SCHOOL STARTS ON MONDAY!!!!

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Not Doodle's....she started school last week.  She started 6th grade and is loving it.  I'm so glad I have a kid who loves school. 

But NO, I'm talking about....COLLEGE!!  For me.  

I'm excited and nervous at the same time!  It's been 19 years since I was in school!!

For anyone who missed it, I am starting college full time to get my Bachelor's Degree in Interior Design!!

So.....I managed to score high enough on my math placement test to at least take the lowest math at the University.  Otherwise you have to take a class at the Community College before you can begin the lowest University math they said.  So, that's good.  I think. LOL

But seriously, that does set me back a bit.  I should be starting in Algebra and Trigonometry...math is a huge part of Interior Design. So, I'll have to take some summer classes to graduate on time. Such is life of being an "old" student. ;)  

Or maybe, my backup plan of being a Social Worker instead will start sounding better and better. LOL

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Let's see, I am also taking:

Intro to Interior Design

Color and Design

Drawing for Interior Design

Those sound more up my alley. :)

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Ok, update on Foster Care.

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We had our home study a couple weeks ago and it went GREAT!  The Villages had their meeting to discuss us last week and we were APPROVED!!

Linda comes back out tomorrow to check that I did the things that needed to be done (I forgot about child safety locks for the cabinets with cleaners and the fire extinguisher...duh) and to go over my packet one last time....then it's just a matter of the state issuing my license. :)

Oh, and getting the VA Hospital to MAIL MY PHYSICAL paperwork out!  Did you hear me frustrating VA Hospital?? I'll even come pick it up....just fill it out.  ;)

So, we should, if a child with our criteria comes up, have a placement before the holiday seasons begin! Yay!!  :)

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Let's see....what other updates?

OH!!!  Back to Doodle's school starting....

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Our school district is having HUGE financial trouble.  And since our township did NOT approve a tax hike last year (we already pay some of the highest taxes in the state...see a problem there?), they sold all of our buses (for a $1  I might add...think the Superintendent should be fired, I do) and no longer bus our children to school!!!

HUGE problem!!

The alternative is to hire a private company (the one they sold the buses to for a $1) for $50 A MONTH, PER CHILD, to bus your kids.  Or take them yourself. 

So, you can image the traffic nightmare it is causing as most people cannot afford an extra $50 a month....per kid!!  We still have mostly rural, two lane streets in our community.  So starting about 30 minutes before school let's out cars are just sitting on the streets, cars off, waiting to pick their kids up.

Can you imagine if you lived in those areas and were stuck in that traffic and didn't have kids!

It's been about 45 minutes to drop her off in the mornings...and easily an hour to pick her up!!!  Yeah, nightmare!!!!

The district has been very spiteful in their approach.  It's really disappointing to say the least.

Last year over 8,000 kids took the school buses.  This year only 1,800 signed up....that leaves over 7,200 parents taking and dropping their kids off at the schools to give you an idea of the problem!

High school kids driving with cars loaded full of teens...picking up their siblings at the Middle School!!  A few Middle School kids riding their bikes or walking....down a two lane rural street!  Yeah, that's safe. :\  Parents like me, who are just trying to help each other out, taking other people's kids.  I have 3 kids each day in my car to and from the Middle School.  One of the mom's takes Tuesday's and my ex's girlfriend has Wednesday afternoon's.

And they closed schools and consolidated others...so their are more kids in each school as well.

I wish I had an option....we'd move.  It's that bad.  But alas, I cannot afford to move...plus I really like the area we live in (other than the schools now).  So, I'm stuck.  :(

On the upside...if you didn't have time for reading before...you have plenty of time for a book or magazine perusing now. ;)

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The booth is actually starting to pick up.  

I was a little worried at first, I was not selling ANYTHING.  But when I stopped by this weekend there quite a bit missing.  I think I've already made my booth rent for the month.  Yay!

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Other than that, it's days as normal.  

I'm really busting my rear this week to get my outdoor projects done before school starts!  

I started, oh, about a bazillion projects this year outside, that I never finished.  Why do I do that?  LOL  So, I need to wrap those up.  Including painting my pergola! :)

And while I haven't blogged much this summer, I have TONS of projects from this summer to show you over the coming months. 

Personal Gift

Last month was my birthday.

Everyone tells me I'm hard to buy for...which I never understand.  I think I'm fairly easy.  A candle or a magazine and I'm in heaven. :)

But this year I received a gift so personal and so wonderful I can't believe it's taken me this long to post about it.  

I'm a purse girl!!

The more unique the better for me.  I'm not into Coach or Dooney and Burke or any of those other big name brands.  I just want BIG, unique and fun. :)

I showed you before, here, the purse I had been carrying for the last year was this one I purchased off Etsy...which I have adored and has held up extremely well!

I was starting to get the itch for a new purse.  I mean, being the serious bag girl that I am, me carrying the same purse for an entire YEAR is really saying something about how much I loved my handmade bag.


So....after my long story before the story, LOL, let me share with you about my very personal gift I received for my birthday.


A new purse!!!

But not just any purse.  Nope. 


This purse was purchased at a Cancer fund raiser event.  As I just mentioned this weekend in my get-to-know-me award post....my mother died of breast cancer.  What I didn't mention is....my father also died of cancer.  And my step-mom was diagnosed with Stage ZERO breast cancer in January of this year.  (As a side note, it was caught SOOO early, they removed the lump, she did radiation, and has been given a clean bill of health since!!)

This purse is made of ALL recycled materials!!  Recycling is so near and dear to my heart.  I mentioned, here, a long time ago that I pay for curbside recycling and it has made my strong urge to be kind to our Earth so much easier.  It's also why I try to upcycle as much as I can.  I want to stop buying "Made in China" as much as possible and reuse items that might otherwise end up in a landfill.


This purse has old couch fabrics, drapery fabrics, the flowers are made from old sweaters and t-shirts, and the leaves are made from, get this, old dress slips!  I remember the days of wearing slips under your dress. Sad...but true.  LOL  There's even an old skinny tie from the 80's on the front. :)

This bag is handmade!  Being a crafter myself, I try to support other crafters as much as possible as well.  

And last but not least, the proceeds from purchases at the event, goes to the charity the event is being held for!!!  The company is called "Handbags for Healing".  The way I understand it is, they will set up a booth at charity fundraisers and give the proceeds to that charity.  So, it isn't any one charity...it can be a variety of charities.  How cool is that!  


One of the things I don't talk about here on the blog is how important my volunteer work is to me!!  Once a week, I spend 2 hours with the kids at a local Women/Children's homeless shelter.  And once a month, my daughter and I serve dinner there as well.  Those 2 hours with those precious children is the highlight of my week!!!  

That's what makes this gift the most personal gift I've ever received!  The person who got me this purse knew that each piece of this bags story was inline with my own story.


Don't get me wrong, I have received amazing gifts over the years, but everything about this bag is such a personal representation of ME!!  How sweet is that!!


I hope you are all having a great week!!  I have a huge announcement to make later this week....so stay tuned. :)

Frenchy Fabulousness!

Horton's French Flea Market was gorgeous!

Pattie from The Shabby Chick was awesome!  She's very genuine, funny and down to Earth.  I enjoyed meeting her daughter, Tia, her friends and their sweet   kids too! :)

I met several bloggers which was so much fun!!

I was absolutely in shock when I was looking at a booth and saw tags with this logo:

I got SUPER excited!!  I immediately turned around to the two ladies standing there and asked "Whose Unexpected Elegance?"

I've been following Angela at Unexpected Elegance since the very beginning of my blogging!!!  

Angela, Pattie, Me

And let me just tell you, she is an absolute doll!!  Truly, sweet and friendly!  I am so happy I had the chance to meet her!  :)  

I was so happy to meet her, I forgot to take any pictures of her booth.  

Anywho....as you already know, French Country or French Provincial is not my decorating style.  So as suspected, I wasn't overly tempted to buy a lot, but I was mostly just enamored by the creative displays.  

The booths were just amazing the way they were set up.  The vignettes were gorgeous!  

I think it takes a real talent to design these booths so magnificently.

So, with that I will just leave you with pictures I took at the show.

These pictures were specifically from a stunning booth, ReLoved Shambora Studios.

Oooo La-la!!

Ok, so french decor is not really my "thang".  But I sure do admire it!!  

I'm drawn to the romanticism of it!  The softness of it!

All that lace.  The neutrals.  The feminine.  The Parisian flare.  The grays.  The old and vintage.  Lavender scented sachets.

These are the things that come to my mind when I think French Provincial or French Country design.

I mean, what's not to love!

So, even though I don't decorate in that style, when Pattie from The Shabby Chic sent me an email a couple weeks ago asking if I was going to Horton's French Flea Market in Tipton, Indiana, my first response was "Why have I not heard of this!?!?!"  and my second response was "Heck YES!!!!"

I mean, I'm not passing up on an event, that one will be gorgeous and involves shopping!  

And two, allows me to meet Pattie whom I've communicated with since very early on in my blogging days!  And meeting a lot of other Indiana bloggers, who until I started jumping around to blogs that mentioned Horton's and other bloggers attending, I had no idea were even out there! :)

Like:

Donna at D Reyne's
Nicki at The Vintage Farmhouse

Cindy at The Bee Lady from Hilltop Farm

Rebecca at A Re-Purposed Life

Alee at Damask Designs

Several of these ladies are going to be vendors.  Yay!


So, if you live near, I'd love to meet you!  Pattie and I are meeting up EARLY Saturday morning (did I mention early? LOL) and I will be following her to Tipton.  You're more than welcome to join us! :)

I'm taking my camera, so I'll be sure to post pictures. 

Lasik - Follow Up

Well, it's done.

And....

I CAN SEE!!!!

If you are a glasses wearer I'm sure you'll understand.  It's quite surreal!!

I mean, I just woke up this morning...and I can see.

No searching for my glasses. 

No squinting to see across the room.

I even looked out the windows and could see my neighbors homes!!!

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If you are considering it...here's my take.

It wasn't the most pleasant experience in the world, that's for sure.  They gave me a Valium so I could be calm...I don't think it actually kicked in until AFTER the surgery.  LOL

It's goes really quick.  I was in the chair I'd say less than 15 minutes.  The actual laser was nothing...the suction cup before the laser I was not that fond of.

I could actually see as they pulled the layers of my eye back.....weird.

You have to wear the most awful, geeky looking "goggles", aka, eye protection, the first day and then every night for a week so that you don't accidentally rub your eyes.....which you cannot do for 2 weeks!  I asked them if they had an option for old people who still think they're young and cool. LOL  Which they didn't. ;)

You also cannot wear eye makeup for 2 weeks....which stinks since we are going out of town next weekend.

I will admit, which no one has ever admitted to me....I was really sore last night.  My eyes were very tender and blurry all night.  It wasn't a miraculous, "I got out of the chair and could see" that everyone's always told me.  I was extremely blurry and needed some guiding to get to the car and then just wanted to close my eyes. 

It got clearer each hour.  A few hours after I could see alot more, but was still somewhat blurry.

But this morning....I did wake up and miraculously I could SEE!!

I have a slight glow on my right side.  I have a follow up appointment this afternoon.  I'll ask about it, but the paperwork said it might take a couple weeks for some of these type things to work themselves out.

Overall though, I'd say the few minutes of uncomfortable were worth it!! :)

I hope everyone has a great weekend!!!  I'm going to enjoy my new eyes and will be back next week!! :)

Wish Me Luck!

This is SOOO not blog related....but I had to share with you, my dear friends! :)

Today at 3:00.....I am having LASIK surgery!!!

No more glasses!

I hate glasses!  They are like seeing the world through a dirty window. LOL

I am nervous...but excited too!!! :)

Wish me luck! 

Anyone else had this done??  Please share! :)

Craft Show Update

The craft show was a big...fat....BUST!!!! 

Waste of time. 

Waste of a beautiful Saturday for the first time in forever...that I could have been working on the nightmare fence instead.

Waste of resources.

Waste of money.

Hmmm.....did I mention it was a waste?

I guess I shouldn't say that.  I met some AWESOME women!!!  Made some great connections!  Seriously, if we'd had some glasses of wine it would have made for a great ladies day....that's about it. 

I spent the entire 6 hours just talking with other vendors.  If we had 20 outside people walk through, that would be shocking.  It should have been a great location, but they only put out a couple of fairly small signs (totally ignored my suggestion of balloons!).  No signs at the major intersections that were near!  Everyone was pretty upset about that.

The only things I sold were to other vendors.  I did get a couple custom orders out of it that I'll be working on this week!  I am excited about that! :)

My stuff though, I got alot of great feedback and alot of positive comments from the few people that did walk through.

This was the big hit of the day, with two more custom ones ordered and a custom clipboard.

 I got the idea for these from the Shanty 2 Chic girls!

Well, I just wanted to give you the update. 

Tomorrow I will go back to discussing my living room!  Much more exciting news coming from there! :)

   

Craft Fair - Part 2

Ok, I lied.  I said I wouldn't be posting this week.  But a couple people asked to see what I was going to be selling on Saturday and, well, I guess it does make sense to give you a peak. LOL

So, here is a peak at what I will have at my booth on Saturday.

Oh, excuse my total craptastic pictures, I was kinda in a hurry.  You understand, right? ;) 

I have become slightly obsessed with tassles lately! 

I know....I know!  I never told you that until now. 

Seriously, if you have never made a tassle....you MUST try it!  They are so easy and so much fun to make! :)  So, I'll have quite a few tassles to choose from.

And as always, I will have frames!

And a couple clipboards.

Some other random stuff, like a few decorated paperclips, notepads, and sticky note holders.

 And the vintage pin frames I mentioned awhile back.

And while this is my only large wreath, I do have a few smaller ones as well.

So, there you have it.  A sampling of my random craft show items. 

Doodle says I will be the only person there with all kinds of stuff and not just one type of stuff.  But if you've been following me for any length of time, then you know I have a slight amount of crafting ADD! :)

And just in case you missed it yesterday, here's the info one more time. 

Saturday, April 30, 2011

10:00-4:00

The Life Center @ Southport

4002 E. Southport Road

Indianapolis, Indiana

Free Admission/Free Parking

Don't forget I would DOUBLE puffy-heart LOVE to meet anyone who lives close by! And you don't even have to buy anything...I'd just love meet you! :)