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Feeling thankful for long winters

Everyday this week the sun has been shining, and it keeps fooling me into believing it will be a warm day. They  haven’t been.  A part of me was disappointed when I realized I needed a jacket today. Not just layers, but layers and a jacket. The long winter combined with the slow progression to spring; almost makes me a bit grumpy. So I spent a few moments (okay, about thirty minutes) on pinterest this morning. Does anyone else do that, go look at pinterest while drinking coffee in the morning?

Anyways, I found this picture…

Add lights above Hammockvia my pinterest

And these inspiring pictures…

Light my pathvia my pinterest

Garden Partyvia my pinterest

Dreamy dinner for twovia my pinterest

I’m ready for hot days, and warm nights filled with… lights; get togethers with friends and family; and hopefully, a few romantic dinners with my sweetheart.  I will savor every magical moment.  This is why I’m thankful for long winters, they make me appreciate the hot, humid summers more. Does anyone else have a slight “obsession” with outdoor globe lights?  To me they are magical!

xo,

Meg

New year and new goals

2014 is already in it’s second week. WOW!  Time flies!  I had full intentions to post more in 2013, but due to a few things that happened, I was unable to post as much.  I apologize! I really didn’t mean to go MIA for so long. Now that I got that off my chest, I won’t spend any more time beating myself up over my lack of posting.

It’s a new year and it’s going to be a great year!!! I can feel it!  Last week I spent a lot of time setting goals, brainstorming and drawing furniture designs for potential clients.  It felt wonderful to get back into the swing of things.  Now, I’m not really a new year’s resolution kind of gal. I work better with goals. Goals motivate me to be my best. I  would like to share some of those goals with you.

One of my goals is to post more content. I love designing furniture, but my ability to photograph my finished work is regulated by my partner, my husband. I work from home and that allows me to manage the household while my husband travels for his work. He is my only partner and since my workshop (my basement) is not where I  shoot my final photo’s, I always need his help to move my furniture. Which means I may have to wait four days before I can even begin a project or take pictures of a final project.  So, I thought that I might share with you more about my life and things I love.  Knitting is one of those things.  Now, I’m not a professional, but I really enjoy it.  Knitting helps sooth my soul and gives me time to think things through.  So, I hope some of you like to knit, because I plan to share more about it.

I also have a weight loss goal for this year.  Back in March 2012, I quit smoking.  Now don’t fret.  I quit and I don’t have any desire to pick it up again.  I did however pack on 59 pounds since then, and it’s time for that weight to go away.  I never thought I would share something like this with you, but I really want to keep myself accountable.  I’m not sure how I will go about it…maybe share workout pictures on my instagram and a few posts about my progress.  My weight gain has started effecting how I see myself (too many negative thoughts), and I don’t want that to be the case.  I want to be healthy and have more energy.

Another goal is growing a small garden.  For the past four years, I have wanted to tackle a garden.  I fondly remember snapping green beans with my grandmother and the freshness of her garden veggies.  I want that for my son. So, it’s time to make it happen.

These are just a few of my 2014 goals, so I may add in some content I haven’t mentioned.   On a side note, if you have emailed me in the past fourteen days via my contact page or directly, those emails are currently unavailable to me.  I didn’t remember to back up the old computer before I turned it off and now it won’t power up.  I meant to respond before I set up our new computer, but I was too excited.  So please email me again!!!  It will be a few more days until my old files are recovered.

Today I leave you with my first photo edited in photoshop.  I have wanted to learn photoshop for four years and I finally have access to it.  Hopefully, you will see improvement in my photography skills and blog design this year.

Flower Recipe book and my new terrarium

arrow embroidery

I picked up the terrarium this past weekend while shopping with a friend.  The Flower Recipe book by Alethea Harampolis and Jill Rizzo was a Christmas gift from my mother-in-law (she is awesome).  The size 50 knitting needles, and the arrow and ampersand embroidery are gifts from my lovely friend Jordan.

Best Beauty Tip EVER!

Please watch this truly undeniably awesome video!

It makes my heart hurt.  It hurts because I too am guilty of focusing on what I think is wrong with me. It hurts because I’ve wasted time worrying about things I shouldn’t worry about. It hurts to know that we (women) are all guilty of torturing ourselves in this way.  It hurts because of the pain we feel while doing this to ourselves. We compare ourselves to what we think is perfection. We compare ourselves to other women. This cycle of comparison and being critical of ourselves is debilitating and useless. Think about that…. these thoughts are debilitating and useless.

We begin to believe we lack something. We think we must fix this, that, and a dozen other things about ourselves. We lose sight of our beauty. With so much of our focus on parts of us we don’t like, we delay our happiness and contentedness for when we have “fixed” ourselves. Some might ask “why?” Not me. The “why” no longer matters.  What matters is that we acknowledge we don’t have to think this way anymore.

It hurts because the truth is ignored. I have friends and family that when I’ve told them they are beautiful they blow me off.  It’s almost as if they are thinking to themselves “She’s my friend (or relative), of course she is sugar coating things.”   Have you had similar thoughts? Have you ignored or blown off a positive comment from someone close to you? Well friends (and family)….It’s time to stop!

It won’t be easy to change our thought process. These women experienced first hand how deceptive their thoughts were.  We can learn from them.  As much as this video makes my heart hurt, it also helps set me free.  My hope is that it does the same for you!

you-are-beautiful-eye-chart-free-printable

Source

Much Love!

Meg