This past weekend

Its been a few days since my last blog post, I know.

I am not sure why, but I have it in my head blogging is not for the weekends. I know thats crazy, and occasionally I may break that mentality, but really...don't people need family time away from all of it? Maybe its just me...

Life with my husband home 24/7 is different. I really can't complain, because the truth is we are blessed.

I never thought about it until we talked about it this weekend, but in the past 3 1/2 years, we haven't spent so much straight time together. He was deployed for 9 months, went directly into recruiting school for 8 weeks, and then we moved for recruiting duty where he worked 80 hr work weeks...
 the fact is, its been about 3 years since we had to "live" together daily...for days...consecuctive days.

We are learning a lot about the way we are...and now we have kids! Whew!
Anyway, this past weekend was fun, as I got to go to IKEA and get 2 shelves to make myself a crafty corner. My poor kitchen table won't be abused anymore by my paint and glue everywhere ;)

What this also means is, I will have a place to devote to my online shop reopening soon. It will be small, and some new and old things I have done will be in there. Since my free time really comes after 8pm everyday, it will be small, but a joy.

Take a peek! ....I tried to utilize every space I could without it looking cluttered. I inserted dowels into these leftover holes to store my tapes and ribbons!



                  

It is perfect for me, I think. I am thankful to get any space in this house!









Also, I got to go to a friend's house and attend her drawing worshop, where she taught us about perspective. We practiced a lot of 3D-looking figures such as boxes, and pyramids. I am not a drawer at all, but it was fun to learn some new "perspective" about how drawings can be!

This week I will show you more of what I have planned for LifeCreated....a professionally done blog makeover...shop opening, and more :)

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Begin & Then Keep On

Is there something you love to do? Maybe there's something you've always wanted to do, or enjoy doing, but are afraid to take that first leap and get started or make a real investment. I urge you, do what you love, begin and then keep on.
It is a rare occasion, but sometimes I find myself complaining to my husband about how I want to do so many things....be so many things... earn so many things. I struggle with pride and trying to please others sometimes--who doesnt?

I tell him about my high hopes for this blog. A blog that just a few friends read, and thats ok. His opinion that blogs are fake and meaningless don't help me any since I think writers of blogs can change lives...save lives.

Sometimes I do ask myself why I do half of the things I do.

Are the kids really going to want these scrapbooks one day when they grow up?
Is keeping an online record of my interests and life in a blog really meaningful to anyone?
Does making sure my family eats healthy, homemeade meals that dont have a bunch of ugly ingredients written on a box really change anything?

I have to say YES.
My urge goes beyond just doing what you love, beginning and keeping on, but also doing it whether the people around you think you are nuts or if they think it is a waste.

One such person was a topic of conversation between my husband and I a few weeks ago as I spoke about all of this with him. Here's how the conversation sort of went:
ME:  "How is it that people like Dr. Seuss can write a book about hopping on pop, and become one of the most noted writers of all time".
HIM: "He did something he loved, and that brought him happiness/success."
Maybe he was right...
There is more to Dr. Seuss than meets the eye.
As I was growing up, I had a subscription to a children's magazine called Highlights.
Who knows if anyone else remembers these, but my mom had proudly saved all of mine from the 80-90's. It has been fun looking through them again and remembering reading some of those wonderful stories. I recently happened upon the May 1993 issue, and inside was an article about Dr. Seuss.

        This inspiring man was really no doctor at all, and "Seuss" was actually his mother's maiden name. He never put his real name on a book, and almost never got published at all....his first book was rejected over 27 times by publishers. He began writing his books at the age of 32, as he was on a ship crossing the Atlantic Ocean. His words hummed to the beat of the ship's engine.
His love was writing and art, even though his high school art teacher told him "you'll never be a real artist." Seuss often took over a year to write each book, and filled over 1000 pages of writing/drawings before publishing a book.
He wanted to help kids learn how to read, so he looked at a list of easy-to-read words that rhymed and the first two were "CAT" and "HAT". You can guess where that led....

None of this may mean anything to you, but his story reminds me that in life there are going to be the doubters and discouragers. I hope that you can realize something you love, begin it and keep on anyway. I have tried many crafts and hobbies....the most enjoyable life I have found is with my kids. Crafting with my kids makes it that much better, and thats why I started this blog.

Yes, I will keep making my scrapbooks.
Yes, I will keep trying blogging.
Yes, our healthy eating really does matter.

Lets take care of ourselves and encourage eachother.

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