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Sunday, January 15, 2017

An Apology and My Word for 2017

Hello friends.
Let me start by saying, I am so very sorry I haven't been able to answer all your lovely comments on my last post. Please don't think I didn't appreciate them. Quite the opposite...they brought joy to my heart each time I read one in the midst of what was a very emotional and chaotic week. Let me explain. You may remember I mentioned my mother-in-law being hospitalized week before last. Well, my dad was hospitalized on Monday with what they thought may be pneumonia but turned out to be a reaction to a medicine he had been prescribed the week before. He was released the following day and is doing well now. He is almost back to normal. On Tuesday, Rooster (my dog) had an appointment to be neutered. The procedure went well and I took off work Wednesday to stay home with him and make sure he didn't injure himself. He managed not to despite snatching the leash out of my hand and tearing through the woods after one of my cats with his cone on his neck. He came back out of the woods with it flopping to the side and busted to pieces. He was happy as a lark since he hated the cone anyway. He has been fine without it, so all is well that ends well. 



Wednesday evening, we got the call from my mother-in-law that she does indeed have cancer. We don't know how extensive yet...she goes this week for further testing. We are praying it hasn't spread. Thursday, I got a new student (she's a sweetie) and I found out one of my kinders may be going through sexual abuse. Praying it isn't so,...it breaks my heart and makes me ill. 

Friday was a full moon and believe it or not, it does make a difference with my kids. They are always super loud and more hyper than normal. Luckily, I left early that day since I was helping decorate for my niece's wedding. I didn't get home until around 11 that night only to have to get up at 5:30 and start baking several things for the dessert bar at the wedding which was at 2:00 PM. I managed to get everything done and arrive 2 hours before the wedding. It was such a fun day...albeit another long day and I was exhausted when I finally got home last night. 


And that brings us to today...Sunday. The day intended to be a day of rest. And, it certainly has been for me. I spent a good portion of the day sitting on my yoga mat with a blanket and my laptop on the deck of our porch in progress. It was a beautiful day! I started to reply to all the sweet comments you all left and decided to just write a post to explain to you all at once. Thank you for your loyalty and your understanding.

I also wanted to share my focus word for this year......


I really want to be mindful of everything in my life and devote my focus to whatever I am doing during each moment of my life. Here are some of the areas I am hoping to be more mindful of. This is a vision board I created on PicMonkey. I just found pictures I liked on the web and created a collage using them. I'm planning to print a few and place them where I will see them a lot. One in my planner, one on the fridge, in my craft room, and so on. A couple of the things on my vision board will be shared soon as I am trying to be more mindful of my blogging as well.


I do hope this post wasn't too much of a downer. I am not complaining about my circumstances in life, I just wanted you to understand what an emotion filled week I have had. Life is full of ups and downs but I don't let it keep me down. I am blessed and thankful. Thankful for friends like you all who always have such nice things to say. Hope your week is blessed. I am thankful to have tomorrow off for Martin Luther King Day and plan to be mindful of my time. 
Until next time.....

Sunday, January 8, 2017

Porch Progress & a Few Fun Finds

Hello friends! Happy 2017! 
I hope this finds you well and happy and enjoying the new year.
Oh my...there's been so much going on around here. I'll fill you in as we go.

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 If you are a regular reader (friend), then you might remember that I have been waiting to begin my front porch project for quite some time. I mentioned in December that we were finally starting on it. It's not a fast project but that's ok. We just work on it as time permits and I am good with that. I'm a kindergqarten teacher so patience is one of my strongest virtues. LOL!
Here's a picture of the deck boards...it took two carts to load them all and talk about a workout trying to push one!


The deck portion of the porch is complete! It is so nice...and so big! It's 10' wide and 32' long. I am beyond thrilled with it! Next up will be the roof which we hope to begin soon. We would have started it this weekend but rain and freezing temps permitted us from doing so. Also, Joey's mom was admitted into the hospital for some tests. We are waiting for pathology reports to come back next week so we know exactly what we are dealing with. Thoughts and prayers are welcomed and appreciated. Some of you may remember we lost his dad to cancer just over 5 years ago. This is hitting him very hard and we are just praying it is not cancer.


I thoroughly enjoyed my two weeks off for winter break. I actually returned to work this past Thursday for two teacher workdays. I worked Thursday but ended up taking Friday off to stay with my mother-in-law in the hospital. She had just been told she most likely has cancer and I could not leave her alone. Joey or her boyfriend couldn't stay since she was in a semi-private room, so I stayed with her Thursday and Friday nights. She (we) got to come home yesterday and I am enjoying being home until I have to go to work in the morning. I am exctied to see my kinder babies. I missed them!

I did some shopping over the break...mostly clearance shopping. I found some great deals!
At Michael's I bought mostly scrapbooking supplies. I have been working on a December Daily album and am also doing Project Life this year. I have been enjoying it so much. I have been using an app called Collect and it makes it so easy to document a special memory from each day. I can share more about that in a future post if anyone is interested. Just leave me a comment and let me know.


I order from Peachy Cheap occasionally and love this kit! Isn't is fun? The colors make me happy!


Of course we have made several trips to Lowe's to purchase porch suipplies and I had to check out their Christmas clearance as well. I got the Allen & Roth copper colored mercury glass balls there and the hooks. The galvanized and copper wire snowflakes came from Michael's, I am LOVING copper these days and I especially love galvanized and copper mixed. They will be used to decorate in my kitchen next Christmas.


I ran into Pier 1 to look at this tray last week. I want it for my coffee cart (which we have yet to build) but I didn't buy it because it is too big. I might go back and buy it anyway though because I love it! Copper trimmed galvanized metal....gorgeous!

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 Anywho, while I was there, I of course spotted the Christmas clearance and found these things. 


Copper colored jingle bells!!!


And this ornament is trimmed in copper paint too.


That same day, I ran into Target to use a gift card and purchased a few Valentine's Day items in the dollar spot as well as some planner stickers and some kraft cards.


Yesterday after we left the hospital, I needed to stop by JoAnne's to look for something and of course hit up their Christmas clearance. They had a lot left but I only purchased some sticker books for my class as well as a couple large bottle brush trees and some thick baker's twine.


This is what I went in for though. It was on sale and I got an additional 20% off for being a teacher. It ended up costing less than $9. It was originally $30! I was so happy about that. I have been wanting one for a while now. It is a fuse tool and will be used for scrapbooking.


I also received an order from Amazon containing my album for my December Daily and several packs of pages, as well as some tabs and Gelly Roll pens to write directly on top of photos. 


And here's a little snapshot of my desk where I have been working on it. I have a few pages done and will share when I finish it. It has been a fun project!


So, what have you been up to? 
Have a wonderful day!

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