keeping track of the joy...

a few weeks back, i was reading ashley's blog under the sycamore... she's one of my favorites... she posted a diy that i loved... {best of my days 2015}

 

most times i will see a cute idea and it will go by the wayside... i either get too busy to complete it or i forget about it all together... this one was something that i wanted to put together for myself... so i would be able to keep track of the little moments of joy in each day...

 

this is how i put mine together...

 don't ya just love a fresh start? a small space to record something special from that particular day... i think i need a new fine tip sharpie in my life to get it started!

i also put one together for my mom because i think she'll like keeping track, too...

do you have a special way to record your memories for the new year?

 

xo

angie



one little word... 2015

 happy new year!

 

last night was simple... just the four of us at home... some pizza... some trouble and catch phrase... and watching the ball drop at midnight...

 

i always find new years eve a little bittersweet... a lot of the recaps shown in the media are sad... people who've passed, tragedies that have taken place... then there are the happy images... moments that restore your faith that there is good in the world... people helping others... medical miracles... either way, i always shed a tear or two in the midst of it all...

 

i'm getting to my one little word for this year... and i'm taking the long way to get you there... ha! {you can check out 2013 and 2014 here and here}

 

 let me just say... i'm not so sure that these last couple of days/weeks have been my best... i have been feeling the pressure of the holidays {which i swore wouldn't get to me this year}... i've been frazzled by messes that won't clean themselves up... i've noticed way too much time spent on phones and ipods and i've not done a thing about it {even when i know i should be limiting it more...} organization and time management are at nil... i've picked on more snacky foods than i care to mention and am in dire need of a re-focus on that... these are just some of the things swirling through my mind and even though i know there are far worse things than those mentioned above, i've been snippy... after the snippy-ness... i feel bad for raising my voice or not handling matters in a more grown up way... grumping around like a 2 year old that hasn't gotten her way isn't an attractive quality... this i know!

because even in my grumpiest state, i'm still so thankful to be alive and sharing in this journey with those around me {but acting grouchy doesn't show that to those i care about and i want them to feel it}... 

 

this year my one little word is joy... the emotion of great pleasure or happiness caused by something exceptionally good... i'll even take it down a notch... pleasure and happiness in the day to day is what i'm striving for... the little moments {and the bigger ones}... those around me deserve a more joyful me...

i'm not saying that i'll never have a bad day... i need to be realistic with myself about that... but to handle things in a more joy-filled way is my aim...

 this card arrived in our mailbox this year... as soon as i opened it i said "oooh pretty!!!"

 

when i opened it up and read this message from a dear friend, it made me smile...

i'm thinking this was a sign!

 

so here's to more joy

in 2015... let's make it a good one, friends!

 

xo

angie 

a peek at our breakfast nook...

from the time that we bought our house in 2000, i've wanted to create a plate wall in our breakfast nook...

 

it's such a cute, little space... crookedly cute... our whole house is... but, hey... that's character for ya...

 

the main thing that i really love about the nook is the fact that the benches that were in my childhood home fit perfectly in the space... what i don't love about the benches is that i made the decision many years back to paint them a reddish color... not sure why... i went through a brief toile phase that really wasn't me... like, at all... since then, the said toile curtain has been given away... it's been replaced with a few rows of scrappy bunting...

 

there's a small, enamel topped table in there... and a dreamy chandelier that was my one and only splurge from arhaus furniture when we moved in...

 

i have a tiny fear of hammering nails into our walls... i always wait for john... i don't want to mess the plaster, or hang something in the wrong spot...

 

the other day, i decided to take matters into my own hands... i grabbed a hammer {obviously the oldest one i could find... ha!}

i found a baggie of nails... piled up my ever growing milk glass plate collection and variety of plate hangers and got to work...

 i started with a cute picture that i purchased at the hobby lobby a while back... it's frame was wooden which i wasn't that big of a fan of so i painted it out in white...

i kept playing around with the arrangement until i ended up with this... it makes me happy!

today, i hung another grouping... building around the owl plate that my parents brought over to me last week...

sometimes you have to make time to complete a project that's just for you... i'm slowly but surely getting the look that i want... here's a glimpse of how it sits today...

{umm... can we say horrible lighting?}

 

 i'd like to paint out the benches... maybe aqua? or the safe choice, white?

what do you think?

i also think the bunting needs to go... it's served it's purpose... i'm pretty sure sewing a new curtain is in my future... and maybe adding some pillows to the benches to soften them a bit...

i'll be sure to post a photo once it's completed... {don't hold your breath for a quick update... remember my euro shams... they only took over a year... ha!}

xo
angie

from a simple assignment...

maizie came home from school with a history assignment... she was to find a veteran to interview in honor of veteran's day... i suggested silly papa {a name that my girls have called my grandpa forever}

 

my grandpa is 90 years old... he was in world war ii... the sunday before veteran's day, we were visiting with him but maizie forgot to bring her list of questions so she asked if she could call him when we got home... he said sure and that he would try to answer the best that he could because it was such a long time ago...

 

she dialed... he picked up... we put the phone on speaker and their dialogue began...

to listen to them was so sweet... so many decades apart, yet connecting from a simple assignment... it was amazing the things that he remembered... she took a lot from their conversation... his rank... commendations... where he was stationed... he mentioned places in italy that we had never heard of... he told her of the time that they had to hide in a tunnel because the building that they were supposed to be in was getting bombed... he said that it was so unusual to be in italy but see that the landing mats that were being used said made in youngstown, ohio which was his hometown... after all of the years that have gone by, his words and memories flowed so freely...
 

i'm thankful for this assignment and how it encouraged the telling of stories that we otherwise may have never heard...

 

veteran's day has come and gone, but this conversation between my oldest and her great grandpa will be etched in my mind forever...

xo
angie

remembering grandma reese

grandma reese was the sweetest soul... she had a soft spoken voice and there was always a little chuckle that came at the end of her sentences... she never said an unkind word about anyone or anything... she never, ever forgot a birthday and always sent a card... she baked the yummiest oatmeal scotchies at christmas time... she would always have a bag of m&m's waiting for our girls... she gifted me several boxes of her hand painted, vintage ornaments because she knew how much i loved them...
 

she had her 89th birthday in september and we were lucky to celebrate it with her... maizie took her flowers and marina wanted to make her something... i remember the day so clearly... i suggested a card... she insisted on something more and pulled out her american girl pom pom animal book/kit... she wanted to make grandma the bunny... i was rushing around doing a zillion other things that day but stopped to show her how to get the pom poms started... she took her time... trimmed them... cut some ears from felt... made a little face and asked for my help to glue it together...{i wish i would have thought to take a picture of it...}

 

grandma held that little bunny throughout her whole party, which i know brought a smile to marina's face... she loves to give little gifts to people...

 

today, when we arrived at the funeral home, aunt becky pulled me aside and said "you know what she has in her hands, don't you?"

sure enough... it was marina's gift... the tiny white, pom pom bunny...

 

such a heartbreaking day, yet seeing that gift in her hands made my heart happy... you never really know what a small act of kindness truly means to someone... but in that moment, as we said goodbye to our grandma, i knew how much marina's gift had meant to her...

 

xo

angie 



the end of our october...

we never made it to an actual pumpkin patch this year... john and i grabbed some at mr. darby's antique emporium on the same day that we were scheduled to do our annual pumpkin carving/decorating with my parents...

 

everyone chooses a pumpkin and gets creative... this year marina and i opted for melted crayons on our pumpkins...

 

  

 

 maizie carved for the first time on her own... my mom painted polka dots... john carved "trick or treat" and my dad takes matters into his own hands using a spoon, never sure of what he'll end up with...

 

it's a tradition that i'm glad we started...

 

the girls went trick or treating... maizie with her friends again this year... they all dressed up as super heroes and had a sleepover...

{maizie as batman with her sidekick lily, as robin}
 
{as a parent, it's so hard to let go... but i know they had a great time and that's important... also, they trick or treated in a neighborhood that passed out full sized candy bars for the most part... score for them!}

 

marina, john and i met up with neighbors and the girls did the rounds... it was drizzly and cold... she was a woodland fairy...

{you can hardly tell how chilly it was by her expression, ha!}

{a little close up of her bird's nest}

october was a bit of a blur... it went zippity quick... i'm really hoping for a slower paced november...

xo
angie

frozen in time...

this past weekend was super busy... my girls were going in different directions from thursday night through sunday...such is the season of life we're in, i guess...

 

there was a halloween party, three sleepovers, an afternoon of tutu making with 7 happy, laughing tweens, two birthday parties, a poster making get together for the pink ribbon cheer classic this upcoming weekend, a corn maze and a pumpkin walk...

 

saturday night, there was a break in the action... after the poster making, we came home and the girls and i decided to have a movie night... we popped some corn, put in the goonies... and within about a half an hour, marina climbed in my lap and fell asleep...

 

it's a grainy photo but a moment i don't want to forget... she'll be 9 in december and i don't know how many more nights like this there will be...

it totally made me think back to all of the nights spent holding both of my girls until they would fall asleep... and then tip-toeing all the way upstairs to tuck them in, trying not to wake them along the way...

 

gosh, why does life seem to keep moving faster and faster?

 

it's one of the main reasons that i snap so many photos... little memories... frozen in time...

 

xo

angie