Dressing Your Truth

Well, I took awhile to ponder this... but eventually I decided to sort of talk about my experiences with this program. I was skeptical for a really long time about it. But I delved into Dressing Your Truth and I was pleasantly surprised at what I found. Read about it here and tell me what you think!

My Article on Dressing Your Truth

Spring Creek Trail

I am not a nature girl. I like to observe nature from the inside behind large glass windows with a glass of something and being all comfortable. Buuuut I needed to get out and get some plein air painting done... so my dear husband offered that we go hiking. So we did. It was fun except for the terrifying bee that attacked me! (It wasn't that bad... I'm just a wuss). But anyway. Here are two of the fruits of my labor. The two that I actually like. It was pretty fun actually. Carrying them out without a wet panel box was a pain and a half... but otherwise, fun.

Green and Grey

It's been overcast and rainy over the past week and I LOVE it. I never want it to end! Everything is lush and green and the sky is grey with fluffy cotton balls of white. It's been really nice because for the past little while, it's been dry and there are a lot of forest fires. But anyway, I got all creative and threw together an inspiration board. I thought it would be for a bedroom design but... there's more art and stuff than furniture. :p Oh well, you only really need a bed in the bedroom, right?

Fire.

It's been hot and dry here so much that a lot of brush fires have started in the area. Thankfully, it has started to rain so the fires are largely put out (I hope). So I have been procrastinating on summer homework and I created an inspiration board based on the idea of fire. Mostly because... I really didn't want to do my homework. But making these inspiration boards are really addicting...

...

I know, I know. I'll go do homework now! Sheesh...

For the men

So this may be a little strange to talk about but I have to. It's my new favorite thing. Not kidding. I love it so much, it gets a paragraph in my blog.

Soooo, my husband switched to a safety razor. I thought it was a little weird at first... but it's gotten to the point that I LOVE it when he shaves. I usually don't care if he's scruffy or not but now... ooh la la. His face is baby butt smooth! (Yeah, he'll hate that I said that, :p). Keep in mind, he's from good Scottish stock so his whiskers are tough! I know this is the weirdest thing to blog about... but I want ALL women to know about this safety razor dodad and its awesomeness. It is the smoothest shave I have seen on a man. Best present ever!

Now you know my favorite thing for men's grooming. Hehehe!

Memes...

So my husband is a freelance writer and has been creating a geeky blog where he writes whatever he wants. He dumped a whole bunch of memes one day... (see here) and then we proceeded to talk about the idea of memes and I don't know how we ended up on the subject... but the end of the conversation went something like this...

For those that don't know what a meme is... see here for an article about what these strange things are. But I attend a university where Thespians are rampant. I, myself, LOVE plays so I don't mind this one bit. But there was an on going joke I keep hearing that goes "Mom... dad... I'm a thespian." So somewhere in all that, this is what my husband and I thought of.
Macbeth is a cursed play, for those that didn't know. Actors consider it BAD joojoo to speak the name of Macbeth on set when the play is not in progress or else terrible things will happen! I love a good superstition, don't you? ~_^

Current obsession? Shoes.

Remember I said traveling is, like, my most favorite thing ever? I am thinking about making a pin board on pinterest just dedicated as the things I would pack for a trip to Rome, or Paris, or London, or Sydney, or whatever. But I have so many boards already. >.< I wish I could organize them in like... files or something. Have a "For the Home" board and then file things in it like "Bathrooms" "Kitchens" "Organization" and etc. But I digress.

I found some cute sandals I would want to drop into that pretend suitcase on that pretend trip.

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Now I realize those last pair are not sandals... but if I were to wear any Toms shoes... those would be the ones and they would be awesome to travel around in.

A LONG post about very little

There's been some life changing events happening around me lately. Okay, so I think that they're life changing. They're rather quite small to normal people. Mostly these changes center around... me finding myself. It's more of understanding my pitfalls and passions. That still seems like a strange thought to me. Maybe I should break this up into a list.

1.) I don't know why I try to be what I am not. Yes, I am crafty. I love all those wonderful craft blogs that teach me to do awesome things. So when I try to emulate that... I crash and burn because... I just don't care as much as everyone else to keep it up. So screw it. I'm writing about what I want to, not what I feel obligated to. I'm not a mother that is a supermom/wife. I am just me, trying to be that person when I don't have to. Though I give immense props to all those wonderful, creative mothers out there! That is just not me...

2.) I feel an incredible urge to travel. All the time.
Get on a plane and fly away anywhere. Everywhere. I often wonder if this is my form of escapism. I want a suitcase of beautiful clothes and travel to the far reaches of the world. I need this. There is something wonderful about climbing into the belly of a steel bird and then stepping out into a place you are vaguely unfamiliar with and then exploring the streets, getting lost, finding a good restaurant, seeing magnificent art... sigh.

3.) Art is in my soul.

My goodness, that sounds deep. What does it mean? I don't really know. I just know that art is important to me. I have to do something in the art world. But I'm still searching.

4.) I'm a 'fraidy-cat.

It's true! I'm scared of the unknown. No, I'm really scared of changing my habits. I think most people are. I'm scared to even put this in a blog, honestly. But I'm trying to get over my fears.

5.) Oops, I love food.

Seriously, I love good food and I have to learn to curb my enthusiasm. I definitely stuff my gob. I have realized that quality is better than quantity.

6.) I hate my body.

Guess what, I've used the 'I'm a woman' excuse in my head to explain my hatred for myself. It's a crappy excuse. I'm just lazy and need to get over it. I've seen women much more robust than I am and they're so happy. They've learned to accept themselves. I haven't. But I will, don't worry.

7.) My husband loves me.

He's the only one that matters when I dress up or lounge around in my pajamas all day. Him telling me I'm beautiful when I haven't brushed my hair or showered in a couple days is all I need. Want to know something else? He's darn sexy even if he doesn't bother to shave or is dirty from working.

8.) I need to be who I am.

Not what someone thinks I should be or who I think is expected of me. I once had a conversation about 'truth' with a dear mentor of mine. It was the conversation that spurred me into these crazy thoughts. A further conversation months later with a dear friend helped me to understand that sometimes I need help... and I shouldn't be afraid to ask for it.

These are my major life changers and realizations. I realize they aren't in any particular order, or make sense to many people. But who reads this stuff anyway? :) I don't mind. I like being happy and easy going... but I certainly like having things straight forward and in neat little rows. Such a conundrum.

I guess the point is... this blog is going to be an outlet for things I care about. Not that everything up until this post hasn't been, but it felt like a chore sometimes. It won't be anymore! Maybe  I will stick to it this time! :p

One last thing... Be Happy!!!

Shopping

Lately I have been busy going in and out of town to visit family and go to various educational seminars. (Look Ma! No free time! :P) While out of town, I go shopping!!! Can I just mention... how much I love Pier 1? It's so addicting to go in there and see what I could do myself. Or get ideas of brilliant! This time around... I took the husband. This, my friends, is what happens when you drag in the husband. He gets bored.

He found the GIANT utensil set. Each one was $50 and pretty stinking awesome. Not that I would ever pay that much for those suckers.

Then he somehow managed to convince the employee to take a picture of us in a brand new Home Decor edition of "American Gothic." Ignore my hair. I was rushed that morning.

In the end, I managed to scour the clearance section and snagged some incredible candlesticks for $5 each. You can never go wrong with a white table setting! And corn. ^_~

Lastly and randomly, I'd like to show you that there is a different store that had these hours on posted. I don't get it. Can someone clue me into why someone would post closing hours like these?! Am I missing something important?

Vintage

Oh my it's been... how long since I last showed my face? I am so ashamed... >.> We finished Summer semester, took a trip to visit family, taking another trip later and then coming back for Fall semester!!! AAAAH crazy people... crazy.
Here is a little peek at something I put up for sale at the Little Brick House this afternoon. I will be doing more of this sort of thing when I get back (during school, hahaha! Nuts.)



I am also looking forward to working with my Brilliant cousin Rachel with some wedding awesomeness she has planned for her sister and for later photo-shoots. I am so completely jazzed about this artistic mesh of ideas that is soon to occur. Take a look at the "glamping" stylizing she just did. It's pretty incredible! Brilliant Imagery.

Treats

Just a brief update before I have to get back homework. Pick Your Plum is so worth it! I recieved my chalkboard vinyl today and I could not be more pleased! They also sent me a little "treat" to make me laugh. ;) It would be well worth your time to check out their site here.

(Also soon to come... see how I transform a pair of chairs and an old rickety dresser...)

That's the way of it

Please forgive me for not updating. It's been a whirlwind. School, selling a shaved ice stand, family, stress, church, and just a whole roller coaster of emotions. So that is my excuse. :P

This time of year... I always keep the travel bug. I am a travel fiend. I like to be on the move, I like seeing new and/or exotic places. I've taken a few treks in the United States in the past few years. But the last over seas trip I had was to visit family in Thailand a few years ago. We actually made it home about a week before the Bangkok airport was shut down due to a political sit-in. But I miss Thailand... it's an incredible place to visit. I just want to share a few pictures.

The food was amazing. This last picture is of some ladies outside our hotel making roti. We visited them everyday. It's like an elasticy fry bread thingie drizzled with sweeten condensed milk, or with bananas inside, or even with an egg fried in it. I crave them to this day. It was like... a dollar for three. YEAH!

Elephants are my favorite creatures ever. ^-^

The temples (wat) were incredible. Beautiful and amazing. And if you have the right tour guide (ie, my Uncle) then they'll tell you a lot of stories associated with them all.

Old ruins in any civilization are awesome. This was no different. Incredible. Just incredible.

Dad's Commission pt 2

Apparently the boys at work like his hat. ^-^

Dad's Commission

Well... dad wanted the Tasmanian Devil on his hard hat. So I drew it from a reference picture and sharpies. :p He wants Wiley Coyote and Roadrunner on the other side. Stay tuned.

New shoes!

I received a lovely present the other day of new wedge shoes. They were from a second hand store and absolutely unique! Only problem was that someone left them in the sun and the white rubber started to look yellow. I can not scrub that off. Next best option... paint!
You can definitely see the difference. I just used normal everyday semi-gloss interior paint and it stuck really well to the rubber. I thought about sealing it with something but it's honestly just fine. It's not like I'm going to go splashing in puddles with these beautiful things.
Here is the finished paint job. Woo, fantastic! I wore them on Sunday and they are extremely comfortable. (Maybe because someone broke them in for me already!) Yay for life saving paint!!!

More than you ever wanted to know.

I call this my Adventure to the Unisex Bathroom... It's not dirty in anyway. It is just... a little bit frightening and I laugh very hard every time I think about it.

There are certain things that happen in life that deserve to be told. This... is probably not one of those moments. But regardless, it's too good to keep to myself. You see, I was happily shopping with my mother-in-law at a certain St. George fabric store when I had the urge to saunter off to find a restroom to... have my devotions with the porcelain god. After randomly looking, I find the not-so-inviting Public Unisex bathroom. It has two stalls, both of which are empty. I have my pick of the litter and so I take the one with the lock that actually works. I proceed to have my... devotions. Meanwhile, I get a text on my phone so I proceed to answer that at the same time. Of course... I hear the door to said Unisex bathroom open and someone wanders on in to the next stall. I continue to text quietly. I then hear the tell-tale zip of a zipper and glance over to see this person's sneaker under the stall's flimsy partition. This sneaker is facing the toilet. It is facing the toilet because HE is about ready to let loose. So besides being a little weirded out that some fella is next to me having his quick devotions to the neighboring porcelain god, I am also hoping he isn't the serial psycho killer type. So I am veeeery quiet at this point and just wait for him to leave. He finishes. I am still waiting. He flushes and goes to wash his hands. I wait some more and finish my texting. He finally hear him start to leave. I am relieved! Until he turns off the lights on his way out the door. O_o He didn't even KNOW I was in there!!! It is now pitch black in the joyful Unisex Bathroom. I can only see by the glow of my phone. I quickly finish my text, send it... and hope no one comes in to see the lonesome and awkward cell phone glow under the stall...

(Not what this image was supposed to mean... but it is apt)

Home Organization

Wait, it's Thursday already?! Time flies when you're doing homework all week!
Today I'm preparing to give a lesson on home organization to some lovely church ladies. Ahhh, if they could see my house right now, they probably won't want me to do it! But in my researching of how to organize a house, I found some pretty sweet ideas to share.

(All pictures from Real Simple).

Hey look, I'm not the only one to employ suitcases tor organization!

Use an extra chair as a guest nightstand? Hmm...

I love this idea. I constantly worry my guests will have to root around in all the bathroom drawers to find toilet paper!

I once heard someone say that they had an "open closet policy" meaning they had to keep all their closet doors open to motivate them to keep the closet clean. O_o. I'd be in trouble if anyone saw what was in my closets!