dream job...

This question has been on my mind a lot lately.  Maybe it's because I'll be turning 30 in a few short months and feel as though I should be doing what I love for a living.  Maybe it's because I'm unhappy at my current job and   I want my next job to involve something that I love.  Or is it because I'm trying to figure out what it is that I love to do so that I can do that for a living.  Notice a trend?  Love.  How many people love what they do?  Is it too much to want to love what you do to make a living in life?
So what would my dream job be? I think I'm still trying to answer that for myself.  I love to cook.  I love to bake.  I love to garden.  I love to dilly dally here and there.  Putts around and back again. Collect chicken eggs and stop to watch the bees tickle flowers.  I love to be in the sun.  I love the feel a rain drop on my cheek.  I'll decorate a corner with a found object, then move the object to another room a few weeks later.  I love to pick flowers.  I love to pick weeds.  Pick up sticks and dig in the dirt.  Dance.  Yoga.  Walk.  Bike.  Explore.  Eat.  Read a magazine.  Peruse Pinterest.  Admire.
I suppose I'll figure it out one day.  But until then, I suppose that I'll continue doing what I love in my spare time and enjoying the simple pleasures of that love.

...

And here I am again...randomly.  I'm not good at journaling (yep, made that word up, I like it and I think it makes sense, please don't judge me) or more specifically, blogging.  I've tried journaling before.  I've had a wide range of pretty covered journals. But I've just never been able to stick with it even though I really enjoy writing out my thoughts or ideas.  I think of things that I could journal/write/blog about all day long.  I even jot down my ideas on posty notes.  But I just never take the time to sit down and write it all out.  I think it, I just don't pen it.  Maybe I should record it...like, old school tape record it.  Yes, I know they have digital recorders now and heck, I have Siri, I bet she could do it for me..but it seems like cheating.  And besides, writing is simple...right?   I just have to make time for it.
I will say, things are calming down on the home front.  I don't feel as hectic as I had been feeling.  I've lately had a sense of calm beginning to creep in to my moods.  I hope this calm stays and that I am able to pick up this blog because I believe in it, I believe that I can do this and it will be a good thing.

Where the heck have you been....

I know.  That's probably what you're saying as you're reading this post.
Yes.  It's been awhile.
My last post was Dec. 30th.  Usually people are busy around the holidays and I'm sure blogs get pushed to the side.  I think that I managed to do pretty well with writing for my little blog in December.  And then I would think, come the new year, most people who do have blogs would make it a resolution to post more often.
Well I obviously didn't make THAT New Years resolution.
I've honestly thought about this blog a lot over the past 7 months.  I've come up with lots of subjects to write about.  I had a lot going on that made me happy.
The problem...well....I had a lot going on and never made enough time to sit, write, publish, and post.
But, in a little nutshell, I was busy....
Getting Married!

Thank you to our fabulous photographer Annie Gannon found  here

And then we got these little girls

I actually got these gals when they were just days old about 2 weeks before the wedding (this picture was taken when they were a few months old)

And while we were planning our wedding, we were taking a beekeeping class and preparing to get our very own hives (I'll have to take a pic and do a post about them later)

So yes...I've been busy...and I know other bloggers out there have busy lives too but I will try to make a better effort to post.  After all, you have no idea how funny a simple chicken can be.  Or, how fascinating honey bees can be. And I want to share it all with you guys.

as for those magazines...

So a few days ago I was going through my old magazines and I thought I could do something else with them other then actually taking them to the recycling facility...and so I did a little research and apparently there is quite a bit that you can do with old magazines (my google search came up with over 250,000 results...who knew)...

There are tables that you can make like these...

Find DIY here

Or you can make a paper basket as described in this video from YouTube!

You can make jewelry like this...

{ courtesy of craftstylish}

You could make your own postcards like this...

{courtesy of the newnew}

And there were all sorts of ideas here...

{click here to see all the projects}

And here you will find an article with 6 other ideas besides just taking them to the recycling center but not necessarily using them for crafts.

And just for the record...I don't actually subscribe to all these magazines in this pic...

but I do have a subscription to Better Homes and Gardens and Southern Living...and the rest are recycled to me from my mom...which she finds at her local recycling facility, reads, and then passes to me.  I guess it's like a big ol' recycling wheel!
 Let me know if you want to join in the fun and go through my mags! :)

and in the new year....

Before the sun decides to stay and play long into the evening.
Just before the ground thaws.
And while we're all craving the bright green shades of spring.
I should have flowers a'bloomin!

I planted a few bulbs a few weeks ago and just last week I saw this...

{top view}

 They had just started to peak and rise through the dirt.

{side view}

and now...just today...I saw this...

{todays side view}

 A few more have popped up and they've grown at least 1/2 an inch!

{todays top view}

I didn't add anything special other than dirt from my garden and I just placed the bulbs right below the surface of the dirt.

I'm not exactly sure what kind of flowers they'll be - I found the bulbs in a box of iris rhizomes that my mom had brought to me when she visited for the Thanksgiving holiday - but that makes their reveal all the more exciting!
It'll be like Christmas all over again when these guys bloom, except, it should be around February!  There is just something about watching flowers grow and bloom - especially before they're supposed to.

it's almost time.....

...time to countdown 2010 that is and I've already got a head start on my "to do" list for the new year!  

Hey, go me!  

I got home from work and started laundry...

{see...empty hamper}

 I started gathering items for one last Goodwill donation...

{2 bags filled already...I know I can do better}

I went through the mail...

{woo hoo...a few coupons worth saving
placed conveniently next to  the door}

 And my next to do that I'll be working on this evening...sorting through my magazines, tearing out things that inspire me,

...and placing them in "style files" (hehe...style files are where I separate and organize all my magazine tear-outs into categories like decor, gardening, living rooms, kitchens, etc.)

 ...and then recycling the old magazines.  I don't need these hanging around creating clutter in the new year (although I will be saving a few newer ones...because I do love to curl up and read a good mag)!

  Hmm...I wonder what kind of projects are out there for used magazines???

i'm dreaming of a white christmas

A lot of the U.S. has been blanketed with snow this year.  It's been unusually chilly just about everywhere.  But I haven't seen snow this year.  Not one flake.  Living in the Carolinas we just don't see snow very often.  Maybe twice a year.  

Last year we had more than a white Christmas.  What is that you may ask?  It was a white-out Christmas.

We drove from Charlotte, NC to Auburn, NY with our 2 large dogs.  Typically a 12 hour drive.  But the problem was we didn't have typical weather.  Nope...we were caught in blizzard like conditions from the time we left Charlotte til the time we hit the NY border (yea, go figure...it actually stopped snowing the minute we hit NY).  So, instead of taking 12 hours...we got to NY in 30 hours.  Yes, 30 hours- although we did manage to find a  hotel on the top of a mountain that had a few rooms available (probably due to the fact that it was on top of a mountain and not many vehicles could make it up the unplowed driveway that was covered in approximately 2 feet of snow) so we did sleep for about 5 of those 30 hours. 

{the view from our hotel room}

Looking back, it was gorgeous.  Absolutely amazing.  At the time, my heart was racing with the constant thought that we would be one of the dozens stuck along the side of the road.  But our Jeep kept on pulling through.  It loved this weather.  Thats what they're made for right. 

{our Jeep that carried us to the top of the mtn. to our hotel so we could get some sleep}

{plows running 5 trucks deep}

So for those of you that have snow and have had enough snow for the season...take a moment to enjoy the simplicity of it and then send it my way!  I would love to see those big fluffy lacey flakes fluttering through the sky.  But, since I know that this is one wish Santa probably won't be able to fulfill, I'll stare at these pictures and pull the vivid images from my mind of that fluffy white stuff.  
 The snowflake - a simple ice structure that can conjure up excitement for snow days, skiing, sledding and the pure white beauty of the season.

Snowily yours, 

Carrie