Junkin Finds and tons of fun

Junkin' is hot! The new black, trendsetter of the year, the most fabulous new thing to try.

Or if you were raised by my wonderful mom, it's always been your go to solution for the age old question, 'what should I put here?'.

I went hunting all over town today to try and find some good deals for our craft show display and I am giddy with the results:

20 garage sales, 5 antique stores, 2 goodwills and a few dumpster visits later, I have obtained the above goodies. There's a tiered iron basket, an old chicken coop, small tea service set and some FABULOUS doilies to name a few!

Junk it up!

Hello girls and boys, kids of all ages, step right up...

I feel as though a circus went off in my life. I thought about saying a bomb, but that would mean things were devastating; and although a little upheaval is occurring, it's more amusing, entertainment and generally poor form, as many a circus tends to be. Okay, Ringling and bros. are turning in their graves. We'll call it a carnival, rather than a circus. Yes, much better description.

My carnival life is great (ignore the little boy puking behind the space ride).

I have GREAT friends. Amber called me up and offered me a deal I couldn't say no to. She decided to make some great wooden signs and cute

building blocks and sell them at a local Christmas Craft Show and invited me along for the ride so we can split costs. YES! I am so excited. I've decided to do cards, glitter boxes, banners and ornaments. We'll see how it goes. And Lindy, the great sister she is, inspired me to get it in gear and post some stuff on my neglected Etsy shop. Such a good sister! Mom and Jackie have faithfully supported my hair-brained notions and ideas. Juan keeps me grounded. Reminds me there are a lot of crafty people out there and even if I don't sell a single thing, at least I'm doing something I truly love.

Well, it's true. I love it!

A bold face lie...

I'd say I've been busy, or hurt, or without internet connectivity. I'd say I broke all 10 fingers, or that my computer was "in the shop". I'd say just about anything to avoid the truth: I've been LAZY!!

Doing everything I can think of to avoid a blog post. I don't know why really. Just 'cause. That would drive me crazy in school, "just 'cause" would come the answer to every question asked. And lo and behold, here I type the same irritating non-sentence. Just 'cause.

I've been doing some 'jarring'. That would be what I call vacuum sealing jars. Crackers, candies, oreos; they've all found a new home inside a pretty 1 quart mason jar. But it's not canning, that is much more labor intensive. This is 'jarring'. I use my FoodSaver and it's attachment to get the pesky air out; and crackers, oreos, candies will last a year (technically, anyway, they won't ever physically make it over 3 months in our house).

Like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsUl8WJ9ztI&feature=related


And cooking and a little card making made their way into the last 6 months of my life too, thank heavens!

Here's what I made last night:

For recipe, click here

I'll get some pics of cards soon as well.

Too-dah-loo!

Well, yeah, it's kinda like that...

Sunsets are my favorite. I don't understand why really. I'm a morning person, you'd think sunrises would be more likely my favorite, to no avail. Sunrise, sunset, sunrise, sunset....hands down, I vote sunset.

And I'll let you in on a little secret. It's ridiculous to enjoy a sunset more than a sunrise when you have an inkling feeling of fear when it's dark. Just a little scared, not run through the woods, hysterically flapping my arms, thinking a monster will get me. Then again, we don't have many wooded areas to run through around our home, so maybe it is that kind of fear. But I love the evening sunsets. A wash of gold colors everything the sun reaches, homes become adorned marvelously, your skin glows, the sky-a most fantastic mural. Warmth fills the soul, fills it up and reminds all of the beauty God created for his children. A most perfect time for a gulp of fresh air, a pause to wonder and muse, happy thoughts filling a stressed mind, a burdened heart.

And you get home, take a load off, sit down on the couch and have the dog-child beg you for a little walk around the neighborhood.......
Oh, come on....HOW could anyone say no?

Bask in it, we only have each second of our day for a second.

Even when this same sweet dog-child keeps you up half the night by insisting on jumping into bed with you.....over and over and over again. Cries in her kennel, uses her manipulative puppy dog eyes to gain forgiveness, and it's all good again. Wipe the sleep from my eyes, and get on with life, each day I only have once to enjoy!

Card of the Week

Check out the cards of my week (or month, who's really counting?) over at Pile O Craft.

I say "jump"; You ask "how high?"

I've been researching and reading and getting good tips on healthy cooking, great substitutes for fattier content foods and finding great workouts.

Came across this little gem today:

"I had someone tell me in dead earnest today that Dr. Oz has the best weight loss advice because it really works! [This is what you do:]
-You can eat all the sugar you want as long as you drink grapefruit juice within 30 minutes afterwards because there are some kind of enzymes that eat the sugar.
-You should eat 30g of protein within 30 minutes of getting up.
-You should splurge once a week because it causes your hormones to eat fat."

Who's gonna play guinea pig for me? This I HAVE to see, but there's no way in tarnation I'll be caught dead gaining my weight back and increasing my blood pressure and cholesterol doing it.

What do I have to do? Give you a free scrapbook? Free dinners for a month? Of course I'll have a pitcher full of grapefruit juice for anything sugary served. Free breakfast for a week? I'll sausage you to death, I will!

I can't stop laughing. Dr. Oz IS as crazy as he looks on TV. Where does Oprah find these crazies? Guess it's not too hard when you're kinda a loose bolt yourself. I love Oprah's giveaways, the buck stops there. No offense Miss Oprah, we simply tend to agree to disagree on allot.

Taking applications now.

Well done pig, well done....

Yep, this little piggie is going hardcore. Okay, with the eating habits, yes; The working out, um, 2 workouts per week counts as "starting somewhere", doesn't it? I'm going to go with yes.

So I counted and it's been 9 weeks since I turned 28. What's the progress, you must ask? Going strong!

Scale says: 183.5 (not really what I expected, but my clothes are fitting better, so I'll let it slide)
Motivation: 10 for 10
Happiness: 10 for 10

My mom wins this one. She's always, ALWAYS said, "Life is 2% what happens and 98% how you react to it." And she's right. Not that I ever thought she was wrong. Wanting to publicly honor your mother's sage advice, well that's up at the tippity-top of most mother's dream lists, isn't it? At least, when I have kids, I, sure as the sun comes up each morning, want my kid's to idolize and commit to memory every little sage piece of advice I've got to give! Mom, here's to you!

One could speculate, 28 years to figure out Mom is always right seems a bit retarded in the "catching-on" department. I'll save you the speculation. It is. And she's always been right, she'll always be right and I'm paying homage. I should probably whip her up a batch of thank you cards right now and write my many thanks on a post it note inside one of those dolled up thank you cards. I really should, especially since I'm working on Jackie's batch of happy birthday cards. Okay, I've convinced myself, I'll do it.

And we're back. You know, to the attitude part of life. I have attitude, a certainty anyone who knows me would be hard-pressed to deny, even while undergoing waterboarding torture techniques. Yeah, it's that good bad unbelievable.

Attitude makes or breaks you. Attitude shows you who you can be and who you never thought you would be. Attitude is patience, attitude is anger. Attitude is a tremendous help mate, a sore loser. Attitude is everything and can make you nothing. How can it be?

Attitude is you. If you are angry, impatient and a sore loser, your attitude follows. How fantastic is it we all get to be leaders in our own lives, our attitudes quickly following wherever we roam?

Surely, we've all learned the hard way at one point or another in our journey of mortal life. With the weight issue, if I've got a horrible attitude, well, I DO look fat and ugly. If I keep my attitude happy and optimistic, well who cares that I'm carrying 70 extra pounds around? It has really helped me to be happy and on the days I don't feel like I'm happy, I fake it anyway and Mom was right, you really do end up with a decent day at the end of it all.

Cheers to good attitudes and healthy lifestyle living. I've changed my diet, I'm not on a diet. I've picked up weights and lifted them as I've watched one of my favorite TV shows, instead of grabbing a handful of M&M's and vegging out. Portions are in check and I'm feeling great.

My body thanks you for the support and help! As does my heart, literally and spiritually.

Thanks for helping me keep my attitude in check and my weight loss motivation going. That's about all I've been up to lately, but head over to Pile o craft to check out our Wedding editions. And I'll have cards posted soon ;) also!