thinking out loud... for all to see...

Coloring my world...

I've always been a fan of home decorating. ALWAYS. Since that very first little tiny apartment and the decorator fabric stretched over canvas bars. (wish I had a picture of that. It was pretty darn cute) I think I'm pretty good at it. I tend to be the girl that people ask for advice when they're ready to do something around their place. I love it. Choosing fabrics, picking out furniture, walking in with my big ol' paint chip samples... I'm at my happiest when I'm working on a home decor project. Ask anybody who knows me and they'll confirm that for you, I'm sure. ;) It might just be part of why we've moved so often. It's hard for me to let a space be done and not need a new project. So, I'm building another house. Well, yes and no. We ARE building another house but I'm hoping this will be the last house we build until we're ready to retire and the stairs are just too much (although the master bedroom IS on the main floor so we can stay there for a good long while, I think.) Anyway. I think I've come up with a plan. I'm going to follow my heart and start doing what I love to do for other people (besides just my friends). Tomorrow I leave for Toronto to take a Color Specialist class. I'm ready to take it to another level. Have a little more "proof" that I know what I'm talking about. More details soon. I promise. For now, just know that I'm working on that whole "what I want to be when I grow up" thing and it's coming along quite nicely. So there you go. An Inside Outlook at what I'm thinking and working on. :) Who knows? Maybe I'll blog from Toronto? Maybe not. But for sure, I'll be InstaGRAMming! :)

BE about it...

Something crazy happens when the kids leave the house and life settles down. Your days are no longer necessarily dictated by taking care of the details of kids. The house stays fairly clean. The husband still leaves for work every morning. You're left with time to figure out "what's next?". I've spent the last 9 months or so thinking, dreaming and doing a little scheming. Trying to figure out if hobby stuff should stay a hobby or become a business. Figuring out if I'm willing to take a risk and put myself out there and actually try to "be" what I'd like to be. I had lunch with a friend the other day and we were talking about her business and the courage it took for her to decide to go for it. I love that it's working for her. She's so great at what she does. It's a total joy to watch her living her dream. I'm almost ready to commit and go for it. My word for 2013 (adventure) is pushing me to leave the safety of "hobbyville" and think about "realville".

I feel like I'm sitting on the start line and they're about to wave the flag to start the race. My heart beats a little faster when I think about it. I smile when I think about daring to be something for "real" instead of just playing around with it. I'm almost there. It's a scary and happy place to be... Maybe soon I'll share my little dream with you and it'll all be out there and I won't be able to sit and dream about it. I'll have to BE about it... ;)

p.s. LOVE that poster, don't you? You can buy it HERE.

And so it begins...

The city approved our plans today... For what, you ask? The last house we'll ever build. (and if you know me well you are totally laughing your head off right now) We knew we wanted to build "one more". We found a great 1.5 story that's open and happy and just right for where we are in life right now. Ironically, it'll be the biggest house we've ever built. I know. The empty nesters are building a bigger house than they built when they had kids at home. But we've got grandkids. Two for now. More in the future (we hope). We want space for them to come and stay and play and hang out. This house has space for that. And space for a studio for me- out of the middle of everything and yet open to the rest of the house so I won't be holed up without access to what's going on in the house. And a four car garage for the boy. He's got needs too, ya know? ;) We're excited. There will be plenty of pictures to come and lots of discussion on selections and fun stuff as we move along. If all goes well, this project will wrap up in late September- just in time for Miss Charlotte to turn one and celebrate at Gram's house!

Here's to happy starts and approved plans. It's going to be a fun ride. Get ready, friends.

p.s. Sweet Roscoe pup has made a great recovery. He's his happy crazy self again. We love that dog. SO glad he's better.

Sweet pup...

This sweet boy had surgery today to remove several cysts on his back. One of them was full of blood vessels running through it and he lost quite a bit of blood. He also had a rough time with anesthesia. Poor pup. So, for today, he's sticking close to the vet and being watched. Hopefully he'll perk up soon and get to come home tomorrow. This house is SO SO quiet without him here. It's almost unbearable. Saying a little prayer that the crazy pup will be up and perky tomorrow and ready to come back home. It's just not home without Roscoe...

p.s. can't make a quilt without it being "Roscoe inspected and approved"... silly dog.

two.

Two. Two perfect grandkids. One of which is perfectly two. Two years since I became "Gram". Two amazing little people who remind me again and again how wonderful life can be...

Feeling incredibly blessed and amazed that I get to spend life watching these two... :)

Happy Birthday Sutton! We love you so so much.

Sweet Charlotte, how we love watching you grow and interact with us.

adventure...

one little word to motivate me in 2013...

AdVeNtUrE:

noun

1.

an exciting or very unusual experience.

2.

participation in exciting undertakings or enterprises: the spirit of adventure.

verb (used with object)

3.

to risk or hazard.

4.

to take the chance of; dare.

5.

to venture to say or utter: to adventure an opinion.

I say YES. Yes to new ideas, new experiences and new ways to look down the road at all that can be accomplished. Here's to a fresh new beginning and the adventure of a lifetime... :) Happy 2013, all!

p.s. Print available from Graphic Anthology

Decking the halls...

Well, this house really doesn't have any halls to deck. :) But that's ok. There are enough rooms that need a little holiday happiness that we won't miss the halls. This smaller space seems to need a lighter touch as far as quantity of Christmas decor and that's kind of nice because I don't feel super pressured to figure out a million little vignettes. Since you can pretty much scope out the entire space with a glance, it's been nice to keep it simple and enjoy other holiday activities (like watching old movies and hanging out!) We have a super fat tree that I bought for the lake house. It was perfect out there. It filled the space and was a statement in the big great room. I loved it. There was NO WAY that tree was coming into this space without us moving out almost all of the living room furniture. ;) Just so happened that Katie and Garrett decided they wanted a real tree this year and since I am their storage facility for all things holiday, their tree was in my basement. So, I borrowed their slimmer tree and put it up for this year. It's a great height and shape for this room and it saved me from buying a tree for this house since I'm pretty sure we won't be here next Christmas. (I'll tell you about that when it's all official.) A slimmer tree meant that my collection of mostly Radko ornaments filled the branches. I really enjoy a busy tree and I LOVE the look of all my ornaments hung closely together. Sutton's learned quickly to touch with "one finger" and his Gram made sure that all the super cool "boy ornaments" (cars and motorcycles) were near the bottom branches where he could enjoy them up close.

I was going to call it good with just the tree but then I spent a little too much time looking at blogs and hanging out at Pinterest. Oh my goodness. You should never again for the rest of your life ever be able to claim that you can't think of anything to do for a space. CHRISTMAS IDEA OVERLOAD! (I say that it in my most appreciative voice!) I found a company called Caravan Shoppe and quickly fell head over heels in LOVE with their chalkboard Christmas decor. When I couldn't decide on one package, I clicked on the "all I want is everything" pack and decided not to decide right that moment- that way I could put off the decision until I got to Staples to have my architectural prints made. When I got there, I still wasn't quite ready to commit so I had them print up pretty much one of everything and took them home to edit them "on location". Great decision, yes? I decided the empty wall in my dining room would be the perfect place for three 3'x4' chalkboard posters.I grabbed a roll of Washi tape and within 10 minutes I had the cutest wall and could officially call the dining room "decked". I love it when it goes quickly and beautifully, don't you?

I think I might be done... maybe. Unless I think of the perfect (and safe) place for my Nativity. It has to be a fun place to enjoy it without being too accessible to "one finger Sutton"... ;)

Off to sew and see if I can finish up a couple of surprises for Christmas. I'll show those post December 25. Merry Christmas!

Thanks. Let's commence with the giving...

Every year when Christmas rolls around I remember my thoughts from the previous Christmas where I promise myself that I'll start earlier, make more, and generally be better prepared before the next December 25th rolls around. And then, suddenly, it's Thanksgiving again and I find myself daydreaming about being done with all the busy-ness of Christmas time and sitting back and truly enjoying the season. But that's pretty much all it is- a daydream. Reality? Well, reality is that once again we are at the "one month before the big day" point and we're really not very far into the prep. Oh well. I have made a serious commitment this year to scale back and focus on a couple of meaningful gifts for the most important people in my life. I don't feel overwhelmed or stressed. Don't get me wrong, there is PLENTY to keep me busy over the next month but there's nothing so big that I'm worried about getting it done. Feels good to keep it simple and meaningful. I plan to enjoy TWO babies this year and the wonder of "firsts". This is technically Sutton's second Christmas but he'll be so much more interactive this year.

Can't wait to enjoy the wonder in his eyes at all the season offers. So thankful that we live close enough to get to be there for so much. I love it. I think I'll go make my list and check it twice. It's time to get going... :)

p.s. the photo? a VERY blurry iPhone photo of Sutton in his Boxster pedal car. His little legs can't make it go yet but that's probably a good thing since he seems to think it's ok to text and drive. ;)

instGRAM

I've only missed a couple of days in my quest to document some of the little things I'm thankful for this month... If you follow me on instaGRAM you've seen these. If you don't, here they are. ;) Mostly right now I'm thankful for a life that's full of love and laughter and a million little things that bring me joy every day. Thankful for time to spend with kids and grandkids, for a fun crafty life that serves as a great creative outlet, for a husband who "gets" me and what I need, for a crazy dog that just comes alongside me and makes me feel loved. It's a pretty nice life... even when it's not perfect. I probably won't get back here before the big day of turkey and bowling (yes, you read that right, BOWLING) but know that I'll be keeping up with my #novemberthankful photos and remembering to thank God for all that He's done for me. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours... let's talk again soon, shall we?

Nope. I'm not quite done.

I thought maybe I was. I mean, seriously, it's been a good long while. But I don't think I am. I have a few more things to say and even if I'm the only one who's still here writing and reading (which I totally hope I'm not!) there are things I'd like to put down and remember down the road.

The last month has been busy... like every other month, really. ;) The addition of Miss Charlotte has been such a big happy moment in our lives and I'm enjoying being Gram to two.

It's fun to see Sutton in a different role. It seems weird to call him "baby" (even though he really truly is still a baby- he's not even two) He's jumped into big brotherhood with both feet and is doing fabulously.

Probably has a lot to do with his amazing mom and dad who seem to just roll with everything so effortlessly. I know, that's not reality. They're tired and stressed and learning to parent two is a big change in job description but they seem to be handling it all with such calmness. I think that's the thing I love most about watching my Katie be a mom. She's so chill. I think it shows in her babies who are, for the most part, pretty chill too. I love watching all of this from a "been there done that" perspective. It's a fun thing to see your kids become adults. Really cool adults at that.

We successfully sold the lake house. It closed the day before my birthday and it was a WONDERFUL feeling to finally be done with that chapter of our lives. It was a beautiful house but I'm very glad to be back in the city and a quick 10 minute drive to almost all the places I like to go. It's amazing what 12 miles can do for one's attitude and schedule. We're closer to the kids and grandkids and it's almost effortless to pop over to our house while they're out and about. I'm always happy to see those faces in the window by my front door and hear my sweet Sutton boy say "Hi Gram!" (I need to try and get it on video. He has the sweetest voice. It just melts my heart) Good times.

Fall has come and I'm ready to settle into the routine of shorter days and nights with the fireplace on. Summer 2012 was good for me. I did a lot of exploring in my life. Figuring out how things in my past fit together with my current beliefs and what I expect from the future. I've made some changes. Accepted some things and dared to dream about things being better and different in the future. Introspection can be good at times. It's been good to take a long hard look and make some adjustments. I'm feeling happier, healthier, and just generally good about almost everything. I'm hopeful about the future and dreaming up some new ideas and making plans for some fun things. Katie's coming to work for Scott's business and will be taking over my part of running our business. It'll free me up to do some new things. I'm ready to have some time to work on those plans and share more with you in the weeks and months to come. It's hard to believe that in just three weeks we'll be at Thanksgiving and then Christmas will pop up on the calendar before we know it. That means 2013 is just mere weeks away. How that can be is beyond me.

So here's to being undone. Unfinished. Full of possibility. And eager to go forward... it's gonna be good. I just know it is. :)

Let's start with 30 days of thankful since it's November 1.

Day 1: I'm thankful for warm days and opportunities to drive with the top down on the Boxster. So simple but SO fun when you think about it being November. ;)

p.s. The photos? Fun things I'm posting on InstaGram these days... I think I was meant to be an InstaGram fan... after all, they have the word GRAM in their name and that's what I am! :) My user name is scrapstudio if you'd like to peek into the insanity of my every day. ;)

Let's talk again tomorrow, and the next day and the next... I bet I can find 30 days of things I'm thankful for... can you? I'd sure like to hear about them. ;)