The Real Me....

So recently my friend helped me discover "Dressing My Truth." I have to admit.... I was totally skeptical, but she loved it and she's not easily swayed so I thought I would look into it. It's awesome. I have totally changed my view on myself. Of course, there are still a few things that will take time and it's definitely not cure all, but it's made MY life better and for that, I am grateful.

So... I am a Full Fledged TYPE 1. All the way baby.That means I need brighter colors that support who I am... I was doing pretty good...but not everything was great. So, I cut and colored my hair.... got some new jewelry and clothes and I feel great. I feel like me now.

A Man Needs to EAT!!

So we get paid in the middle of the month, which makes budgeting weird, but anyways....I decided to make dump chicken meals for the month - you know where you throw everything in a bag and then when you're ready you toss it in the crockpot. So.... I gathered up recipes from the internet and got some great deal on meat. Just look at my bounty below?!

 Then... I had to set everything up so I can make them. It took me like two solid hours to put everything together. In then end, it was great. The family liked almost all of the meals but were completely sick of chicken by the end of the month.

 See my end result? Beautiful! Even Atlas thought so too.

Oh yeah....I forgot!

So Life happens, right? I have asked recently why I haven't updated my blog and if you can answer that for me, then that would be great. It's probably the same reason I CAN NOT get myself to journal. I loooooooooove the idea of journaling. I have researched Art Journaling and read my ancestor's journals and I love it all!!! Yet, every time I think about journaling, I feel such an intense urge to run in the opposite direction. WHY!?

Anyways, I am writing now. So I have to update a month and a half.... That's gonna take a few posts.. So we'll finish October.

 Shortly after my last post, I went on tour with the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra. We went and played at a few different places in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It was awesome! Mind you, these are NOT good quality pictures since I took them with my less than perfect phone.

 

 

This was our first stop. It was really nice! As you can see in this pic, the audience left a lot to be desired. lol

After the concert...tired.

 We didn't leave there until late and not getting into bed until 1 a.m. then wake up at 5 to be at a school to do things with the local high school.

The view outside of the hotel.

 This was the second place we played... it's the Reynolds Hall in NMU I believe. It was SOOOO awesome. The acoustics were awesome. And....it's BEAUTIFUL!

On Saturday we took some time off. When we went outside we saw these wild turkeys!! Hilarious! They scared a whole bunch of people that morning. Every time they did, they poofed up! lol Awesome.

My Going Out outfit.

This is the door to the Wells Fargo Bank in Marquette! lol

At our third place all I got was this pic of the dome on the ceiling. The last place was great and I didn't get a pic there either. Sad. But, it was fun and not really something I would like to do a often. When I left, I had written letters for my family. See?

It was really just a way of me dealing with being gone, but they enjoyed it too.

Halloween went well. I was only able to get a pic of Little Miss....Chickie wasn't really into it and Karate Kid was upset I didn't buy him one from the store. Oh well. At least she was happy.

Planning is Easy. Implementing is Hard.

So browsing Pinterest and other places have given me a TON of ideas and things I want to do. How do I implement them!? I have been trying for weeks to write in my journal and I just can't seem to sit down and do it! But, I thought I would share with you some of the things I would like to do....then maybe.....YOU might want to do them too. That might motivate me.....maybe.

#1 - Make the Christmas Gifts this Year!!!

I have tried really hard to do this. This year, I'm pretty ahead of the game, but still....Here's my plan.

 Honey's Present - A framed needlework of these adorable star trek characters....do you recognize them?

For Little Miss...I'm making her a quilt. A crazy quilt. Literally. I have no pattern and a bunch of material. I did make some individual crazy squares. Plus, I have some scrap strip blocks and some applique house blocks I embroidered on. I will post more about this later. I also thought about doing these adorable princess peg dolls.

From Lil' Blue Boo

 For Karate Kid....I am making cloth Yu-Gi-Oh dueling mats. Like this...sort of. I wanted to make them semi-stiff but still be able to fold them up. I also wanted to put a pocket on the back so he can put his cards in them. Other than that....I'm totally stumped.

Chickie, of course, is "easy" since she is ONE and doesn't really get it, right? Wrong. I have no idea. My niece is slightly younger and I thought about these cute owl things since her mommy is into owls.

Petals to Picots

 For my parents!? I usually get them a calendar for the next year with our pictures in it, and I will be giving them that....which turned out awesome by the way. But what else?! Here's some of my ideas. Of course, they are geared toward my MOTHER...what to get a grandpa?!

Make: Craft - Embroidered Kid Art

Sarah Ortega

 #2 - Things for my home!

I have been wanting to do this faux cross stitching on the wall....just haven't had the time.

Home Heart Craft

We've been needing to implement something better for chores and other things... I think this gal from this blog "Our Story" has a great idea writing detailed instructions on cards. I had a similar idea, but I like this idea better.

How do I stay Organized!?

The Holidays are here....my favorite time of the year, but apparently I'm more likely to be crabby. lol I love this give thanks board where you put what you're thankful for on cards in each envelope. A good tradition, no?

Give Thanks

I'm obsessed with my garden....namely my flower garden. I am PRAYING that all of my flowers live through the winter. And it would the AWESOME to make this sign - or something like unto it - and have it in my flower garden. LOVE IT!

#3 - I want to do REALLY great things for my ONLY Young Woman. 

I just got a new young woman and I want to make her glad she's in Young Women's. I am working on it... but planning and doing? Hard things.

Survival Kit Tidy Mom

#4 - Activities to Participate in.

I am NO photographer. I do not have a super spiffy camera, but I do love it. AND I love interesting pictures. So, I thought these looked like a lot of fun...but when?! The drawing one is a no brainer. Love that too. Maybe I'll start Monday. Who says you have to start on the first, right?

So you see? There are tons of things I would love to do and accomplish. I have tons more on my Pinterest boards. But HOW!? How do you implement them? How do you keep yourself motivated? 

If Only I knew!!!!

Autumn Sunrise!

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.
George Eliot

There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky, which through the summer is not heard or seen, as if it could not be, as if it had not been!
Percy Bysshe Shelley

Pimp My Porch!

Well, this year we had decided that we needed to repaint the porch. It's a long story but I'll try to make it short. When we bought the house, we saw that the previous owner had painted it. A sad but true story. 

Before Honey got drill happy.

 Honey had thought it would be easier to take off the bottom boards to sand and paint, and I agreed. Then, he suggested taking off all of the boards....and then the top rail...and then all of the railing. So, when we went to Sherwin Williams, the guy gave us a remover.....as stain remover. Needless to say, halfway through applying it and noticing that it did no !@($*&!(@$* good, we realized the mistake. NICE! So, we ended up putting on some other stuff to neutralize it and power washed the deck like crazy! 

 A lot of the paint came up, but then we were informed that it was going to snow. Yeah, snow. WHAT!? We can't paint a porch in the SNOW! That made us stress and make a mad dash to paint the deck as fast as possible. We made it, but now honey just read that we should put the top coat on within 14 days.......well that ain't gonna happen.

Looks like we're missing half of the deck!