Balance

“Never too old, never too bad, never too late, never too sick to start from scratch once again.” -Bikram Choudhury

So balance, it's a thing that we all struggle with. 

Some more than others, myself included.

Lately.. life has been jumbled up in a fast paced mess.

In the last month I have moved 2000 miles, started a new job, a new derby team, found and moved into a new apartment, have a new-old relationship with my husband (we have not lived in the same city for 2 years), and moved closer to my family. 

Either way you slice it, it's a lot of juggling and balancing to keep everyone happy.

I don't even know how all the mom's out there do it. 

I have also been feeling so much guilt, in which ver way I split it and it's been getting to me. 

Not being able to do everything and be everywhere all at once. 

Just what I have been struggling with lately. 

I know to most I have nothing to complain about, but I need to get it off my chest.

How do you do it all?

Christmas cards

Big ones, little ones, bright, ones, snowflakes, houses, santa, reindeers, ornaments, lights, and trees

Yup, christmas cards have so many varieties and say so much about your personality and your year.

In the crafting world your christmas cards are admired by so many through all the media services. 

I know that I start looking for inspiration in August, I usually use Pinterest (duh!) but there are plenty of other sources such as the the paper source catalog

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These were this years contestants..

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So as you know from my previous post here that I got inspiration from the latter 

and.. here it is. 

I love the simplicity and cuteness of this card. It was pretty simple. Just cut out the house and glue to a background. I used card stock for the house so it was a little thicker and than a gray background. I like gray and I like neutral holidays. I used a red envelope and it is a good card no matter what you believe. 

Are you making your christmas cards this year?

Oh the christmas house(s)

This year by accident, my christmas theme is houses. Weird.. I know, but that’s what happened. 

We moved into our new home this past weekend. It’s a one bedroom apartment that we are currently making comfortable. (More pictures to come once all the boxes are unpacked and such.) As a side note, I hate moving, even though this experience has been rather pleasant.

Coincidentally the christmas cards I started in October (yup, you read that right and they are barely getting finished now) also  have cute little houses on them and I kinda love how simple but cute they are. Are you making christmas cards this year?

Lastly, our ornament this year. If you missed the post last christmas on why we only get one ornament a year go here. I found this cute little light up house at joann’s in November and knew I wanted it because we sold out house in Illinois and we never had an ornament that signified our living in that house.

So there you are, my house themed christmas. Pretty ironic it all came together by accident. Are you working on anything right now? Christmas related?

Ipad this and Ipad that

                  After a poll on facebook, I was convinced to run not walk to go get an ipad

mainly for traveling, well I soon discovered that its small size is so convenient for much more that that.

Well, I have been busy DIYing as much as I can as I prepare to move into a new (to me) apartment. 

As I was perusing Pinterest I found a lot of inspiration for christmas gifts and gifts for myself.

I found this Ipad stand/chalkboard

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I fell in love with it instantaneously and convinced my Dad to help me make it 

along with some other gifts.. which I can't spill just yet.

We took some extra wood he had laying around and cut it to size. 

We used the exact measurements in the tutorial except added a ledge on the back for easy moving of the stand. The ledge was created by nailing a piece of rounded trim to the back. 

I love it and I am not as worried about spilling something on the counter and it ruining my lovely ipad. 

It is also great for baking and following recipes easier.

Do you something like this? Do you just love your ipad?

Oh, the sounds of roller derby

Note to reader: Last night I went to a local derby bout and fell in love all over again, resulting in a  derby high.  These are my thoughts, feelings and what not from this bout and my derby experiences.

 If you have never been to a roller derby bout (or game), you are missing out.

As most of you know, I have been playing roller derby for almost 2 years as Lucille Hardball.

Roller derby is not only a sport, but a new culture that is being unleashed into urban areas and taking the public by storm. Roller derby can be seen in current films, TV shows and even some magazines, commercials and local newspapers.

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This is not the roller derby from the 60's, but a new generation of rules and attitude from the unique names, that some may refer to as crazy, to the booty shorts with fishnets.

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While watching a bout you will be overwhelmed by the different sounds around you as well as the fierce scrambling of players throughout the pack (the area with the most amount of players not counting the jammers, stars on their heads) finding anyway within the rules to knock down or knock over players from the opposite teams. During the bout you hear the whistles, the yelling, the skates on the pavement, and the sporadic thuds of body parts hitting the ground followed by oohs and ahhs of the crowd.

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In most cases, if you are not familiar with the strategy or how the game is played you will be confused by why the girls are moving that way and also mesmerized that you can accomplish "that" on skates. You will wonder how or even why someone skates and believe me everyone of those women has a story to tell that will inspire you to do the same. 

As I sat and watched this game that I have become so absorbed in, I talked to my neighbor who played in the 1960's. The sport, attire, attitude, rules and aesthetic have all changed that she asks during a practice drill she asks if it has started yet. She is unaware of the new crazed hobby and what it all entails. She remembers the hay day of practices 6x a week and when falling meant the jam was over. It's amazing that people have come to know this ever evolving sport.

Have you ever been to a bout? Did you love it? Have you ever wanted to try it?

My trip across the U.S. .. again PartI

So as you know, I just recently drove across the U.S. again to find a home again in California.

This series is just about that journey.

First, I came up with a route. 

There are two (main) routes you can travel to get to california

1. the upper and 1. the lower

The decision:

I have never been on the upper route, so I decided that would be it.

It also happens that I have friends/family that live on this route.

Decision made, this would be the route.

So, on day one we made a short 6 hour trip to Des Moines Iowa to see our friend Brian

(who had the honor of marrying us)

The first challenge of the trip was the Cat, Daliah 

She does not like her crate so we thought that letting her out and rome around would be best, turns out not. Here's her after 2 hours of meowing and finally finding a comfortable spot

When we got into Des Moines, Brian decided to meet us at  Zombie Burger

They had an extensive unusual burger menu with alcoholic milkshakes 

Us. After dinner and good company. 

She called it a night at the hotel. Thats how we all felt.

So that was the first day of our journey.

Have you been traveling or moving your life across the country?

I am a californian .. again!

It's official, I am a Californian again!

As of last friday, I have moved back.

I am so happy to be back.

The journey was long and I am glad that it is over, but i will be sharing it with you soon. 

Down under the sea..

So, I love disney and anything disney related.

I grew up with disney princesses and disney classics. 

In my adult life I have always wanted to be the little mermaid, but with group costumes, etc 

that wasn't plausible.

So with P already living in California it was the perfect opportunity.

I went pursuing the internets and pinterest to find inspiration.

It needed to be:

1. semi-comfortable

2. able to walk

3. look pretty

So for inspiration I found Christian Siriano in this costume

Which is pretty fabulous

than found when he was on Martha Stewart to show the diy portion of it. I took both inspiration and put them together to get more of an Ariel feel.

I bought i shape shifter tank top on sale at walmart for $5 and attached real sea shells to it and painted them various shades of purple

For the skirt I found a pencil lame skirt at ragstock for $15 and added the organza as described in the tutorial on martha stewart. We tried sewing the organza on but it eventually kept falling off so I started hot gluing it on

For some bling and pizzazz I added rhinestones and pearls to the bra and sequins to the fin. 

What do you think?

Hello October..

Seeing how I only posted once in September and still had quite a few viewers, I am just updating on a few things in my neck of the woods.

The house is still on the market, I still live in Illinois and I still don,t have a job in California.

I think that about covers the updates, now the thoughts.

As I pack up my life here and move back to California I can't help but think about my past and what I left behind so long ago. The lifestyle, people, and memories. I have really been thinking about these things and digging up the past on Facebook, etc. It's funny what you remember and what you wan to forget. It's also funny to me how many people you still keep in contact with after 5 years. This time 5 years ago we were in Chicago. Illinois beginning our journey. We did not know what would happen and how it would end. But look at us now... 2sucessful people doing what we had planned to do. 

Imagine that. 

I don't know how many people can say that, it actually feels pretty good.

Well, until next time.

                                                                                                                       

Hello September..

Where did you come from? Where did you go?

September is almost half way over and flying. 

Things have been going super fast here with not much to report, but I will be back with all of the projects I have been working on. 

I love fall can't wait for the weather to get cooler.

Big changes and Deep breaths

So, today I announced on facebook that WE are moving back to CALI!!

Big things are happening and after a week, I was ready to let the whole world know.

Yup, it's only been a week since finding out and a crazy one at that.

P got a position as a captain for a charter company near where my parents live. 

The backstory: P has been looking for better positions for years now all over the world. This was just the first one he got and it happened to be where I am from. 

We found out a week ago and today our house went up on the market. 

Things are moving at warped speed at this home. 

Well, we will see what happens. 

The golden state: part I

I needed a break .. So I went on trip # 5 for the year

As you saw, we celebrated 2 wonderful years of marriage and going strong.

So this trip was for my mental health and friend spending.

The first day was spent jumping flights finding my way to California, well I got there.

(The traveling flowers from This post)

The second day, I spent at Disneyland. 

It's been 4 years and I missed it the whole time.

See, I use to have a season pass and go all the time.

So.. It was time.

We did both parks and I loved it. I was wiped but I loved it. 

I can't wait to go back.

Stay tuned for part 2.

Have you gone anywhere this summer?

Dear hubby

I love you for your sweetness.

I love you for your patience. 

I love you for the faith you have in me.

I love you for your ability to calm me down.

I love you for your thoughtfulness.

P, I love you more and more everyday and I am so glad I get to have adventures with my best friend. You made my week by seeing your face for 10 minutes and the roses, ah the roses. You made several women jealous at the airport today. The roses may look like how I feel, but the beautiful smell is still there. 

I love you. 

I have been obsessed with the movie Pitch perfect (you won't like it, don't watch it) ,but this song just hits home and reminds me of you

Cups by Anna Kendrick

I got my ticket for the long way round

Two bottle of whiskey for the way
And I sure would like some sweet company
And I'm leaving tomorrow, what do you say

When I'm gone (x2)
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me by my hair
You're gonna miss me everywhere, oh
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone

When I'm gone (x2)
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me by my hair
You're gonna miss me everywhere, oh
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone

I got my ticket for the long way round
The one with the prettiest of views
It's got mountains
It's got rivers

It's got sights to give you shivers
But I'm sure it'd be prettier with you

When I'm gone (x2)
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me by my walk
You're gonna miss me by my talk, ohYou're gonna miss me when I'm gone

When I'm gone (x2)
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me by my walk
You're gonna miss me talk, oh
Oh you're sure gonna miss me when I'm gone

When I'm gone (x2)
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me by my hair
You're gonna miss me everywhere, oh
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone.

The year of cotton

I can remember 2 years ago, I was rolling around bed and unable to sleep.

Before my big day. The day that I would always remember. 

It's been 2 years and I would be lying if I said it was all rainbows and unicorns. 

This past year was better than the first though. 

We both have had 3 jobs in these past 2 years, now that we are both at comfortable positions and moving forward in our careers it feels better and stress levels are down. 

I also feel like we are getting more comfortable with each other and able to understand each other more. 

I can not wait to spend the rest of my life with P.

Being an adult can be really hard at times, but it is nice to be able to explore the world and go on adventures with your best friend. Lif

Entry way: Part II

In this post I talked about the multiple problems wrong with our entry way.

If you remember way back when, this is what it looked like after we painted the walls 

Kinda bland and semi-functional and OH THE CORDS!! .. ugh..

The solution: to make the space more functional  and proportionally fit the space

 

So I found a lot of tutorials on crate shelves on pinterest. I bought 4 crates from Jo Anns and got to working. I came up with a 4 crate box (not to big or small) with legs (to get it off the floor). The crates hold magazine holders with our magazines, two baskets for each of our mail and some books for decorations.

I also found this awsome mirror at home goods that was on clearance because it had a piece that was broken. If you look closely in the photo above you can see it if you look closely. I glued it and ta-da!

So after seeing this post on Bower Power blog I knew the turquoise door had to go and I wanted a black door. I used the same black paint as the post; onyx by glidden. The lamp on the divider is a hand me down, the gold frame is from a thrift store, the wooden seat is actually a queen's throne.

I also decided the inside needed some love to. I painted the door as well as the room divider. The hint of black on the top and a fresh coat of white is just what it needed

Added some new knobs and I just love it. I think that that black door brings out the other black accents 

What do you think?

This post will be linking up to these blogs this week