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Monday, March 28, 2011

Life's Set Backs with Blessings

In 2007 my husband and I
were planning our wedding. He had purposed in
January.
And the nuptials took place
in
September.
He wanted them to occur sooner.

But, in April we were thrown in a
complete tail spin
when
my health took a sudden turn
for the worse.

It was Easter weekend.
His family was coming to visit.
They live 2 1/2 hours away
and I had been dreading
it.

When I had sudden pain in my rib cage
on the left side on that
Friday evening
I attributed it to anxiety.
I was dreading their
visit just that
much.

My sleep that night was terrible.
I could lay only on my right side.
Not on my back.
Just on my side.
Saturday progressed.
I had gone to a
walk in clinic.
The next day I had to go back in
to get an x-ray done.
At the time
I had gone they were not
available to do testing.

In the meantime I had some pain killers.
Those
did
not
touch it.

Monday morning came.
I went in to get testing done.
They were waiting for the radiologist
to read my test.
I asked if I was able to leave
and was told yes.

I was a walking time bomb and did not know it.
They frantically called me.
Two things were going on that needed
immediate
attention.

First I was anemic.
I wasn't too surprised at that.
There was another medical
issue I had been dealing with
a few years that
had caused
that.

Secondly
was a pulmonary embolism.
During the course of Saturday I had gone
online to do a little research for myself.
I had seen that and was like nahhh.
That is just way extreme.

That nahhh became a
yup!

Once returning to the walk in clinic I was told
of my diagnosis.
Immediately I was sent to the
hospital where I stayed for a
week.

I am visiting this because of the
anniversary of it around the corner.
It was April 9th.
And secondly I had read about Serena Williams
suffering from the same thing.
Here you can read a little more about
pulmonary embolism ( aka PE)
along with signs, symptoms
and
what causes them.

Can I tell you that in the midst of
all of that I had the most
calm, peaceful feeling about myself.
Everyone was worked up.
I had a friend tell me
that I looked like
death.

Seriously a wash of serenity had
come over me. A feeling like I had never
experinaced before.
It was incredible.

While I was laying in my hospital bed
I had what felt like a hand on mine.
It was on my right hand.
No one was
there.

Soon to be hubby was on my left.
As far as could be
from my right side.

That time for me was marked not by the diagnosis or
what had occurred within my body, but what
had occurred within
those serene moments that were so personal.
The same feeling experienced when you deliver a child.

Money Savers

There are a few things I have implemented
over the past few months to
help us save some
money.

One is recycling more.
What?
How is that going to save money you ask?
The way I see it we will have to
buy less garbage bags
because
we will be throwing more things into
the recycle container.
We are required to pay for recycling anyways.
I mean, I have always recycled, but we
are making a more conscious effort to do more now.

So far it is working.
Mid week we typically have to take the trash out. We have
been able to put it off a bit longer, like maybe to the weekend.

The second thing I have implemented is insulating
our water heater and pipes.
The plumbing is exposed in the basement so this
was easy to achieve.

I have noticed that the amount of time it takes for our
water to heat up has been reduced substantially.

Lastly, I have been keeping our heat
set at 69 degrees.
Yes, I admit there are some days I let it
go to 71. Overall though I
do manage to keep it at a cooler
tempature.

Really it hasn't been that bad keeping it cool.
There are times were it does tend to feel a bit
cooler than other times, but it
isn't that bad.

Not only are these money savers,
but they are also green.



Wednesday, March 23, 2011

An Exciting Annoucement!

My shop has been featured
over at

Not only has my shop been featured,
but I am
the first one.


Whoa!
Pretty exciting stuff.
I have been working pretty hard lately,
which is why I have been a little
absent from posting
on my blog.

Im really looking forward to things picking up a bit
so that I might be able to relax a
little.
Strange I know, but getting things started on Etsy is
not as easy or straight forward as
it seems.
It is a daughnting task.
Pictures, tags, pricing
and getting my shop out there.


With all of that I have tapped into a few resources on
Etsy to help me along the journey.
Has it been a journey.
Wow!
A casual 'oh hey Ill just sell some stuff on Etsy' turns into
a pretty serious thing if you really want to make a go at it.



Well, my darling little girls are down for a nap.
Huh...nap time for me or
get some stuff done.

Be sure to visit Melinus Treasures often to see who
gets featured next.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Introducing My Newest ...

And the reveal!


Oh it is just so beautiful!!
Just - makes - me - want - to - cry!

I have a big girl mixer. I am way excited about this.
Of course I am going to need to make something
with it - soon.


What a better way to break it in than
to make some fresh bread.
Seriously!
The taste of fresh bread melting in my mouth.
The smell.
It has been so long since I have made or had it.

Hopefully I will be able to do that this week. 


Thursday, March 17, 2011

1st Birthday


My youngest had her 1st birthday.
It was a very low key event for us. Hubby had worked late
the day of her birthday. When he got home she
was already in bed. (she goes to bed at 6 and is she is very sure to let us know when she is ready)
Not only that, but she also was cutting in a top tooth.

It was not until Sunday that I had a chance to get a little cake for her
to celebrate with.
It was well worth it for me.
Even if it was a cozy event for us it was the most fullfilling thing.


Blue frosting. I didn't think that the blue might turn her into a
Smurf.

It all washed of beautifully though.
That bath water had
to have been the sweetest water ever.
Visit us and other moms over at

Project 52: Glimpse Into Motherhood

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Another me

This past week I have been busy.
Today I would like another me or even a personal assistant.
Yea right!



These are a couple of my newest creations.
The layered bow on the bottom is in my shop. The loopy flower bow is not in
there yet, but I am hoping to get it up either today or tomorrow. There is a shades of pink loopy flower bow in the works. Let me know if you are interested
in the one pictured or any other color combinations.

There are a few other things I would like to add to my shop as well. One of the
things I have been working hard on is improving my bows.

This mommy moment brought to you by Coffee Is Kicking In .
Have a great day!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

This Time Last Year


Our family grew by two feet
this time last year.

This sweet little girl was welcomed to our family.
We had anxiously awaited her arrival.
Like my first
pregnancy
we did not know
what sex we were having.


This is her at 6 weeks. I know because I use to 
put a sticky note or something in the 
picture with them. 


 At some point I have gotten worse about taking pictures of
her on a regular basis. I have also not added
ages in the picture.

I can recall that
when we left for the hospital
I had an overwhelming amount of guilt.
As if I were
cheating
on my oldest daughter.

Today they have a wonderful relationship.
My oldest tends to fuss over my youngest. It is so cute.
But my youngest, Miss J does not like to be
fussed over.
She has never been shy to let me or anyone else know.
Diaper changes were always interesting.
Those tiny little legs moving all about trying to
get away.
I do mean tiny legs too.

She is still a tiny thing today. And she still has
that little bit of fire in her belly that
she displayed from
the first minute we met her.


Project 52: Glimpse Into Motherhood


Wednesday, March 9, 2011

March is National Craft Month and Giveaways


It is National Craft Month.
Three are some great give aways going on over

Here are a few giveaways that are taking place :

 Gorilla Glue has offered a fun prize pack

Krylon is excited about giving away FOUR 6-packs of their fabulous spray paint

Embroidery Kit from Sublime Stitching

Salt dough jewlery tutorial and giveaway

Cozy Sister’s Jewelry Making Blog is offering a free tutorial for these really fun wiggle earrings.


In continuing our month’s worth of giveaways for National Craft Month, Lark Crafts has offered several book titles! There will be a new book giveaway each week, as well as other fun prizes throughout the month, so make sure you watch daily.

Stop over at Craft Gossip and check it out. They have a ton of ideas daily.
I will warn you now that the content can be addictive if you enjoy being creative.

 Enjoy and let me know if you win anything.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Window Cleaning

This morning I have been doing some catching up on cleaning.
Dishes have been put away and a load is running in the dishwasher.


The glass on the oven door looked terrible. Light shining through the windows
in the morning really exposes all the smudges
 from little hands
 on the cabinets
and glass.

I began wiping the glass down
on the oven door
 and then proceeded
 to the tv
and on to the windows.

Cloudy days are suppose to be the
 best day
to do windows, but everytime
the urge strikes me it is sunny out.


I had found a recipe for window cleaner here.
Since we don't go through it very fast and seem to
have an endless supply I have yet to make
some myself.

Homemade Glass Cleaner Recipe


A cotton swab or soft toothbrush works for cleaning window corners.­

­Don't want to spend money on a glass cleaner? Home recipes work just as well as commercial products for washing windows, and you'll save money. Try this recipe for a homemade glass cleaner:

•Use 2 tablespoons ammonia, 1/2 cup rubbing alcohol, and 1/4 teaspoon dishwashing detergent.

•Add all ingredients to a small spray bottle, then fill the bottle with water and shake well. You can substitute 3 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice for the ammonia.

•Use as you would any commercial window

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Consumed with Obsession

I have been on a quest.
A quest
to perfect  my bow skills.

To make them the best.
The cutest.

My quest is being pushed by
warmer weather.
Its coming.
I can feel it.

It is being pushed by Easter
in the wings.

My store needs some improvement.
Hubby is being employed.
He has said
he wants to help.
So he is going to be creating a
light box for me.

Never when I began did
I realize it was going to
be this much work.

But, somehow I have this
internal drive.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Momma is gonna SNAP


You know those days?
The days when you just want to do this.
Ugg.

Or when they know how to push
that button.
The "don't push" button.
And they still do.

That happened here last night.
Oh!
Just made my blood boil.
You know
those
moments?!

When I came across
this
I could not
help but to relate to it.

I immediately fell in
LOVE with it.

That got me thinking.
I might
get a customized
peice with
"Momma is gonna snap".

Etsy love!!