It's purplish pink

So for my birthday I got the idea that I wanted some new energy in my life. I came up with a list of three different ways I could achieve this new energy a month or so before the actual birthday. I thought about it a lot and then decided to discuss it with Curt a week or two before my b'day.

I decided that I either wanted to get a new dog, get a tattoo, or dye my hair a bright color.

As most of you know our beloved dog Sebastian died about 2 months ago at age 16. We were very sad and the house feels strange without a dog in it. I've had a dog in my house for the majority of my life and I do love animals so that is part of the reason this idea popped into my head. Plus I saw the cutest part German Shepherd part Shar Pei puppy at an adoption fair a few weeks ago and haven't been able to get him/her out of my mind since. He/she was only 10 weeks old and not ready for adoption at the time.

I also have been watching these tattoo shows on tv lately. I really get into the symbolism of the tattoos people get and naturally, being the creative person that I am, I came up with an idea for one I wanted. Now hold on a second before you freak out Mom....most people who know me know I am not a tattoo person. I've never had a desire to get one until recently because I just don't want to spend money on something I might not even like in a few years. But, I guess the subliminal advertising of the shows got to me and I kept thinking about this tattoo.

Then for reasons I don't know, the idea to dye my hair came to me. I saw a girl on a tv show (gosh it sounds like TV is such a bad influence on me) that had bright pink hair and I thought it looked cute on her. Right now I have no reason not to play with my hair since I don't have a job other than taking care of my family, so I figured now would be a safe time. On top of that I recently got a haircut that I don't really like so I thought maybe some color would make the hair more bearable. I kept thinking about this too over the course of a month or so, picturing myself with nice pink or purple or blue hair. It seemed fun and less permanent than the tattoo idea.

So before you ask, no I'm not having a mid life crisis. First of all I am only 34, and I plan to live way beyond 68, for sure. Second of all I am super happy with my life right now. I feel like I've gotten just about everything I've ever wanted and things are so joy filled around here most of the time. So if anything, being 34, it's a third life celebration thing and not a mid life crisis thing.




So as you can see choice number 3 won out. I don't like this photo at all, but there it is. My disclaimer is that I had just gotten home from both a yoga class followed by a trip to Costco with two young kids, so I was hot and tired. Anyone with young kids knows how a Costco trip can be.

Right away when I discussed it with Curt, he totally vetoed the new dog idea, and I really have to agree with him. It's just too soon and I'm actually really enjoying not having to vacuum up hair and pick up poopie all the time.

I really considered the tattoo for a while but kept having second thoughts on top of not wanting to spend the money. I think it was the permanence that really got me though. The idea I have seems really cool now, but what if I think it's stupid in 5 years. I have found some tattoos to be a little vain too and was afraid that I would be doing it for the wrong reasons. I still love looking at other peoples tattoos and hearing the stories behind them, but I think that I will probably never get one myself, and I am good with that.

So then I was left with the hair dye. I talked to Curt about it and then discussed it briefly with a few girlfriends. Apparently Curt thought I was joking and I think my girlfriends might have too, because when I bought the dye they all seemed a little shocked. I waited until a night when Curt was out working in the garage and just went for it. I had done a test swatch that afternoon and seen that it wasn't going to fry my hair or anything so I felt pretty safe.

Boy was it messy! I don't know how people do this all the time. I dyed my hair a few times in college, but it's been a long time, and I just don't remember it being this messy. I ended up scrubbing the whole shower stall at around 10:00pm at night because of it. So I doubt I'll be doing it again anytime soon.

Once I was done I felt invigorated and a little shocked myself. I went out to show Curt and he couldn't believe it. He really did think I was joking, but I'm glad to say that he really likes it. It came out a little more purple than I had planned, but I'm still pretty happy with it. It is semi-permanent dye and the girl at the store who sold it to me said that means it washes out over time. I'm thinking a few months. So this is perfect. A short time of fun hair and new energy to celebrate another year in my life!



In this photo you can't see the hair as well, but I had to post it anyway. Curtis took this photo of Curt and I and I really think it turned out kind of cute. Sometimes it's fun to see things from a kid's eye view.

Happy Birthday to me!

Most of the time a few weeks before my birthday I start to feel a little weird. I start thinking of all the things I have yet to accomplish. I start to feel guilty about the years I spent wasting my time in a lifestyle that didn't serve me well at all. I think of all the people that I know that have done so much more than I have in the past 34 years.

Well, this year I felt myself slipping down that path when I suddenly realized that I am actually in a really great place in my life right now. In this past year alone I have learned so much about myself and the life that I want to live. There have been mistakes along the way, but these were mistakes which taught me how to live my life more authentically and thus in a more joy filled way. So why not even celebrate my mistakes? It was a thought that had never occurred to me before, and yet it made so much sense and seemed so easy. Everything that happened to me over the past 365 days, good and bad, has created the person that I am now and is worth celebrating.

Actually over the past 2-3 years I have taken a giant leap in my life's education. I have learned how to have faith and how to believe and most importantly how to feel confident in myself. I have turned my focus towards gratitude and this act alone has changed my life in such a monumental way! And I do have so much to be grateful for.

So this year on my birthday I really celebrated. I celebrated this wonderful life that I have co-created with my husband. I celebrated the two wonderful sons that I have been blessed with. I celebrated the love and joy that my family shares on a daily basis. I celebrated the friends I made this year. I celebrated all the introspection and journaling and meditation I've done and the knowledge it has brought me. I even celebrated the loses along the way, because without them I wouldn't have gained the knowledge that I have now. I celebrated my intention for this new year to live a life full of only joy and easy relationships with those that I truly love. And here I am 2 days in and flying high with joy and love for my authentic self and the life I have been blessed with.

Life is so precious, focus on the blessings you have and fill your world with the things that bring joy!

Disney World trip part II

Here's Clark on the Dumbo picture opportunity.



And here he is in Winnie the Pooh's chair.



He liked Winnie the Pooh's play area a lot. He was so cute playing inside I had to take a photo here.



I took this photo during the parade. Clark really enjoyed watching all the characters go by and he kept yelling and waving and pointing over and over.



And last but not least a little photo of Clark in front of Toon Town. He really enjoyed exploring Mickey and Minnie's houses and especially enjoyed playing in Minnie's Kitchen, which had lots of cheese in it!

Disney World on my birthday!

That's right, Clark and I went to Disney World on my birthday last week. This year there is a promotion where you get in free on your birthday and since Clark is underage and gets in free as well, I figured what the heck! My birthday was on Sunday and after Labor Day so I figured it wouldn't be too busy or hot, and well one out of two ain't bad.




Here we are in front of the castle, which you can't see because the stranger I asked to take the picture kind of cut it off.



Clark had a blast at the two splash areas in the park. He just loves the water and it certainly was hot enough out that I wanted to jump in too.



We thought Mickey's cool pumpkins were neat. Clark really enjoyed going through Mickey and Minnie's houses.



The funny thing is when we got to the tent to meet Mickey and Minnie Clark begged me to take him in. Of course once we got to the front of the line he was a little shy and so I had to get into the photo too.



And lucky for both of us Clark took a nice little hour nap around 2pm. He woke up just in time for the parade. He loved all the shows and the parades the most. During this parade Woody from Toy Story came up to him and gave him five. He's never seen Toy Story so now I'm going to fish it out and play it for him to see if he remembers Woody from our trip.

I have some more cute photos to share so I'll do part II next.

Felt Crayon Roll

After my decision to scale back on facebook and start sewing more, I really dropped the ball big time. I've hardly been sewing at all. I'm not really sure why, but I was in a creative funk for a short time and wasn't doing much besides chatting online with friends and flipping through magazines.

I'm not beating myself up though, we all need a little time to veg out every once and a while and as long as it's serving it's purpose I'm fine with it. Recently I got to the point where it was no longer serving any purpose so I put a little fire under myself and found a nice little project to start.



Here is the felt crayon roll I made. I was planning on giving it to a little friend who turns 3 this month but it turns out we can't make his party. I may still give it to him next time I see him, that is if Clark is willing to part with it. The good news is I bought enough supplies (with Joanne's coupons of course) to make at least one more and the second one will be better because I did make a few boo-boos this time that I now know how to avoid.



Here it is opened up with the crayons showing. I got three boxes of crayons at OfficeMax for a penny each for this project. Yes, I was the woman up at the register paying for her purchases with three pennies. Add to that the fact that I also got a $5 off coupon for Payless shoes on the receipt and I'd call that a steal!



You can't really see the boo-boos in these photos, but there are at least two things I will improve upon with the next one. First off I sewed the ribbon in upside down in my confusion. It would be cuter if the pattern was on the outside when it is tied up, but I think it still looks ok. Secondly, I was working on my floor since I still haven't been able to move into my new craft/office/guest room and the cutting wasn't exactly perfectly straight. Add to that the fact that my pinking shears are really old and struggled to make it through three layers of felt and you have an imperfect, yet cute and usable crayon roll. I'm planning to try one for pencils out of fabric for Curtis sometime in the near future....hopefully more near than far this time.

Rain without Lightening

It's pretty rare that we get a rain storm that doesn't include lightening and we get a lot of afternoon showers this time of year here in Florida. So when the rain came the other day and there was no lightening and we were all feeling cooped up, we decided to just go out and get wet.



I can't believe I let my boys lay there in the puddle by the curb, but it was such a wonderfully free moment and I wasn't worried about them getting dirty at all.



I mean look at that smile! That is one happy and easy and free kid there splashing around in the rain in a puddle by the curb. This, to me, is really what the meaning of life is. The fact that I can provide the freedom for my children to experience such joy makes me feel like I am fulfilling my goal as their Mother.



There is something very grounding about being exposed to mother nature's elements. I am definitely an outdoorsy person, and my husband and sons are too, thank God. We all seem to need a daily conference with mother nature in order to remain sane in this crazy world and it is even more fulfilling when we can share that time together.



As I stood holding a giant golf umbrella watching my two boys laugh and splash and play with each other in the rain I felt more calm than I had in weeks. All of life's worries washed away and I couldn't help but smile.

So if you find yourself with your shoulders up by your ears and your teeth gritting, just go outside and have a little talk with good old mother earth. She's there for you whenever you need her, just be careful if it's lightening.