Category Archives: Daily Life

My Messy Crazy Life

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Entry Way

I know sometimes when I read blogs I start to think that everyone else has it together.  Their houses are clean and organized, and their kids are fed the most nutritious meals.  Anyway, I used to let myself get caught in that feeling, but I don’t go there any more.  I know that when I write my blog posts, I typically put my best foot forward.  I am always trying to see the bright side, so why dwell on the less than positive parts of life by writing them down in my blog.  I know others do the same.

So today, I thought I would how you a few areas in my house right now.  Someone asked me this weekend how I do it all? I seem to have it together. Ha, I just look like I am juggling with easy.  The truth is I am good at getting things done.  I prioritize my things to do and many times I let a lot of crap fall off my plate.  I guess when my friend comes to my house, it is always organized and clean.  Ha, my house is rarely organized and clean. It is one of the things I usually let slide, or my boys clean.  The only time the house gets cleaned and things put away is when I know someone is coming over.  It is my reason to clean, otherwise everything else comes first.  Now don’t get me wrong, I love it when people come to visit unannounced, they will find me in my crazy, messy life that I love.  No excuses…hopefully they came to visit me not my house.  But a house needs to be cleaned occasionally so having visitors gives me the motivation to do it.

So without further ado, here is what you would find on my main floor if you dropped by today.  The picture above is my entry way.  Those are purchases from the last three weeks that I am trying to clean, sort through, log in, take photos of and list on Etsy.  That is the first thing that would greet you.

homeschooling

Then there is the homeschool pile.  I am trying to finalize this year and plan for next year.  Basically done with JV, but am struggling to plan for Z for next year, his senior year.  He wants to take a class or two at the local high school again, but they won’t have the schedule done till early June.  So it sits and waits.

Stamps

Then there is this table.  JV and I decided to work on our stamp collections this summer. We store it in the guest room closet, so we pulled everything out of the closet. (Perfect time to clean that closet.)  We are going to put things away and organize our stamps.  Easier to do when you pull it out.  We did this last Friday and haven’t gotten back to it yet.

Papers

This is the pile of papers on my counter.  I struggle controlling paper, and this is my frustration zone in my house.  Try as I might, it is always messy here.  Normally it gets put away when we entertain, but then it grows back almost over night.

Puzzle

JV is fixing a wolf puzzle, so that is in the living room right now.  I love fixing puzzles.  I used to fix them during the winter on Sunday afternoons watching the Dallas Cowboys with my Dad.

tomatoes

Our tomatoes were pulled into the house because of the rain.  Bismarck averages 2.25 inches of rain in May, the second highest month of the year.  It started raining Thursday. We are up to 3.75 inches, and it isn’t done yet.

There are a few other small piles of things as well, but you get the idea.  Life is crazy, messy.  Things get thrown all over the place.  I don’t believe it should be clean, organized and perfect.  We still have to live life.  Life is good.

Find a way to embrace your crazy, busy, hectic, messy life.  I know I, for one, won’t wish I had a straighter, organized home when my boys are gone.

Treated Like a Queen

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choco rasp wine

I am the most blessed girl in the world.  I have been treated like a queen for 2.5 days now.  (I get treated well all of them time, actually.)  You see, today, May 12 is Mother’s Day and my Anniversary.  I have been a Mom now for 17+ years and married to the love of my life for 23 years.  I get to celebrate both on the same day.

My dear husband decided to take me out to eat at the Peacock Alley in Bismarck on Friday evening. I hadn’t eaten there before.  It was absolutely yummy.  We even had a Chocolate Turtle cake with ice cream for dessert. After, we hung out downtown and watched the annual Band Night Parade that kicks off spring around here.  Saw several people we knew…mostly friends’ children.  It was a little windy, but a nice evening to spend with my husband.

Yesterday we went to church in the evening, and then the boys took me out to eat at The Walrus Restaurant.  Another restaurant I hadn’t eaten at before, but a friend of theirs recommended the pizza.  I had a Fruit Salad that had strawberries, pineapple, oranges on a bed of greens.  Simply yummy.  Then they took me out for Cold Stone Creamery ice cream.  Dessert two nights in a row.  Yum, yum.  Later we went home had some wine and read.  I love lazy cozy evenings with my family and a good book. To me the perfect way to celebrate.

Today the boys made me breakfast and brought it to me in bed.  Didn’t I tell you that I am being treated like a queen?  They made lunch and plan to make me dinner too. I think it is sloppy joes.  No cooking for the last three days.  I can get used to this.

Can we have Mother’s Day and my anniversary again next weekend?

The Family Narrative

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NYTimes.com - Sarah Williamson

NYTimes.com – Sarah Williamson

Recently Becky Higgins wrote a great post, “Project Life Can Save the World”. In it she wrote about the importance of the family unit.  I would recommend reading it.  However, her basis for the blog post was an article in the New York Times titled, “The Family Stories That Bind Us”.  I strongly recommend you read this article.  If you have time for only one, pick the Times article.

A layout I completed to tell a story about me.

A layout I completed to tell a story about me.

How important is the family narrative?  This article makes a case that THE MOST IMPORTANT thing you can do for your family is to make sure they know the stories of who and where they, you, and your ancestors came from.  The positive stories, but also the stories where your family came through a tough time.  The big stories and the everyday stories, as well as the big events and traditions and the little sayings and doings. These stories give our children a sense of belonging which in turn gives them confidence in who they are.  They are able to weather the tough times.

A layout from my Project Life Album of 7 on the 7th. Been doing this for 2.5 years. Just photos and journalling. Love seeing our lives change in these pages.

A layout from my Project Life Album of 7 on the 7th. Been doing this for 2.5 years. Just photos and journaling. Love seeing our lives change in these pages.

Because I am packing to go on a scrapbook retreat next weekend with my sister and my niece this story really made sense to me.  Sometimes I feel guilty spending time on scrapbooking or going on a retreat, but documenting our stories is a good thing for me to do.  I enjoy it.  It relaxes me.  It makes me happy when I go back and look through my pages and remember.  However, it is also good for my family.  No, this isn’t the only way that my boys know who they are and where they have come from, but it is a part of conveying that narrative.  I am telling and recording our stories…and that is a very good thing.

How do you tell and record your family stories?  Do you journal, scrapbook, video, blog, or something else?

All or Nothing Personality

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Sugar Snacks

I know that I have an all-or-nothing type personality.  I remember realizing it when I was in college.  I had a snack machine right outside my dorm room suite door. I passed that machine every day and didn’t even think about it.  But then one day about two weeks prior to the year ending, I decided to have a snack from the machine with a friend.  That did it.  I thought about a snack every time I walked by, and in those two weeks I had a snack from that machine every day.  No will power for me. I either can’t think about something or when I do, I will fight it till I give in.  Thank goodness I didn’t try it at the beginning of the year. Can’t imagine what I would have looked like.

I have known this about me for years, yet never really think about it too much.  However I recently read and article by Gretchen Rubin on her blog about the One-Coin Argument.  One coin doesn’t make you rich, yet at some point one coin will make you rich. A great paradox.

Over the last couple of years I have been changing my eating habits due to health issues.  6 months I stopped eating sugar in order to stop my dependency on sugar.  I love me some sugar, but I knew it was causing some of my issues.  The first three days were tough, but then I felt so much better when I wasn’t eating sugar.  It made a huge difference, but I thought I couldnt’ NOT eat sugar always, so I have been trying to figure out how to incorporate it back into my diet in small amounts.

Ice Cream

Well that hasn’t gone so well because of my all-or-nothing personality. I was telling myself one, small sugary snack wouldn’t make a difference.  I did well at first, but then I travelled a lot in March and found that “one” didn’t make a difference but that I was regularly adding that “one coin” to my day. Before I knew it, “one” turned into “four”, I was back to being addicted to sugar.

So I am trying to re-regulate my body, and I am spending some time trying to figure out how I change my all-or-nothing personality when it comes to sugar.  I can’t go on being addicted to sugar, I just don’t feel good when I do and it affects my family.  Yet I am not sure how to incorporate a little in my diet without totally crashing and eating too much.  Oh the joys of life. :)   I just know I am going to keep trying.

So what about you?  Do you have a One-Coin mentality on something that you are working on getting out of your life or making it a habit?

Oh and yes, the photos are of some of my favorite sugar snacks.  I have mostly given up Coke, but the other items still get me.

Good Books Read

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It has been three months since I did my last Good Reads post. I have been reading a lot. I have read in the car while travelling (for swim meets), in hotels, at the pool waiting during swim meets, waiting for my son to be done with basketball practice, and at night before bed. Because of the crazy, busy time with a lot of waiting time, I have been able to read 35 books in the first three months of the year. A book goes with me everywhere. I have read some great books and some, not so great books. Here are a few that I really enjoyed.

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This fast paced mystery, 15 Seconds by Andrew Gross that started off quickly and just kept going.  There was action during most of the book.  I loved how the characters were connected yet most of the book I wasn’t sure how.  It tied together nicely at the end. There was little graphic violence that worked with the story.  I think what I loved the most was that I kept thinking how just 15 seconds can change someone’s life.

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The Sweetness of Forgetting by Kristin Harmel was such a sweet love story with Alzheimer’s as the current conflict and the Holocaust as the past basis for the what was going on now.  It just worked.

Unfortunately I had several other books to tell you about, but when I went to save my draft so I wouldn’t lose it while I proof read it, the rest of my post disappeared.  Since I do not have time to rewrite it, you only get two books from my Good Reads “Read” section.  I sure hope you are finding time to read.

I leave you with this quote by Zig Ziglar.  “Our ‘formal education’ basically teaches us how to read and from that point on we read to learn.”

Is that true to you?  Even when you are reading for fun and relaxation, are you learning?  I think I am.

The Host – Movie and Book

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Are you planning on seeing the movie, The Host?  It is a movie based on the book, The Host by Stephenie Meyer.

The Host (The Host, #1)

I read the book three years ago at the recommendation of my friend, Cheryl.  I have not read, nor plan to read any of Meyer’s Twilight books.  I am just not into vampires.  However, I kept hearing that Ms. Meyers is an amazing writer. Cheryl told me about The Host, and since there weren’t vampires in it, I decided to try it.

Here is my review from Goodreads.  “This is not a book I would typically read, but it was suggested to me by a friend.  I started the book not expecting to like it because I usually would prefer not to read about aliens.  However Ms. Meyer’s writing style brought me into the book immediately, and she developed an interesting character, Wanda.  The moral dilemmas and the dignity and value of all life throughout this book kept me from putting the book down way past bedtime.”

Aliens or not, I loved the psychological and moral aspects of this book.  I gave a 4 out of 5 star rating; mostly because I just can’t seem to give a 5 to a book about aliens. This book has over 600 pages, and I read it in less than a week during the summer time. (It is when I read the least.  Yeah, I know most people read more during summer…me not so much.)

Anyway, the movie is now coming out next week.  I can’t decide if I want to see it or not.  It is rare that a book is as good, much less better, than the movie.  I rarely see a movie on its opening weekend.  I am sure I will wait and see what people say about this movie.

So have you read the book or are you planning on seeing the movie? Do tell.

Winter Has Returned

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Winter

Winter since the beginning of the year has been relatively mild.  Yes, we have had below zero temperatures at times, but the wind hasn’t been too strong.  Nor have we received a lot of snow since the beginning of the year.  However, that changed this weekend.  We had a snowstorm.  Not a wicked, everything is shut down type of storm, but a storm that brought snow and high winds to make travel difficult.  The best part is that the yucky brown is covered with a beautiful white, and knowing it won’t last long, it is easier to enjoy.

January and February have been busy with homeschooling, the boys’ activities, and keeping up with my Shop.  There are a couple more weeks left of the crazy schedule.  Then life should settle back to the dull roar, and I can start going to auction sales, thrifts and even garage sales again.

Were your January and February restful and relaxing or were they busier than ever?

Dang It’s Cold

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Cold

I am just wondering, did North Dakota move to Alaska while I slept?  This is a picture of my Tablet with the current temperature.  Yes, it is -20 degrees outside this morning. Yes, negative as in below zero. But did you see the Real Feel #?  Yes that is a -54 degrees.  It is not fit for anyone right now.

Stay warm.

Super Z and JV

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Super Z

Those of you who have followed my blog for a while know that my oldest son is a swimmer.  He swims for the local high school team.  He has ambitious goals for this season which goes from Dec through the first weekend in March.  The season started out great.  He was swimming faster than ever, but then January came.  He has been sick with a virus twice in the past 2.5 weeks.  It has been tough.  So he has pulled out his goals again and recommitted to them.

In order to help him be inspired my husband, Big M, made a couple of posters for him to hang in his room.  I especially love the poster above.

So as is typical for January and February around here, time is crazy busy with homeschooling, swimming for Z and basketball for JV along with everything else that normally happens in our household.  It is all good and a lot of fun. We try so hard not to miss a meet or a game.

Z, you can do it; you can achieve your goals.  I see the dedication and hard work you are putting in.  We are rooting for you. And JV, we are so proud of you and how you are shining on your team.  Go for it.