Blessings Flow

It was a Merry Christmas and an exceedingly Happy New Year!
Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera on our family’s New Year’s weekend getaway; therefore I am unable to prove the good times I claim we had. If I find the opportunity, I will steal some from some unsuspecting relative.
After getting home Monday afternoon, it was back to work on Tuesday. And today, today I have been cleaning and de-cluttering like a mad woman. My goal is to finish the de-cluttering and spring cleaning process by April 1st. Maybe by March 1st. But definitely by April 1st. Heaven knows this place isn’t that big, I could do it in a week if I really wanted. But let’s be realistic.
Freeing our house from clutter is a bug that has bitten me slowly….only recently have I started to get really serious. I have already taken a few boxes over to my Mom’s basement with plans for a big spring yard sale. Today I added more to a yard sale box and took lots more to the dumpster. Just getting rid of simple things like half a year’s worth of my husbands Cabelas magazines feels good. Not to mention small fabric scraps not worth saving, Christmas wrapping odds and ends, old, paid bills, wedding gifts I never/almost never use, antique or used store finds that are no longer practical enough to suit me, leftover WEDDING PROGRAMS, (I had a stack of about 50!!) scrapbook paper I don’t need/want, etc etc etc. Just STUFF, that takes up space in my house and in my mind and slows up productivity.
The Unclutterer is a website that’s been hugely inspirational to me. A bit extreme sometimes, but it points me in the right direction. It has really helped me figure out that hanging on to sentimental objects is only rarely worth it. Our memories are what we should hold precious; and more often than not, the objects that represent those memories, become an overwhelming and annoying cluster of things to step over, dust around, and sweep around, taking up space in our homes that could be free for real creativity.
Anyhoo….a salute to 2012! And to our God who gifts us with each new day.
Blessings,
Marylou

Bella Sobrina

Tags

bat mitzvah, blessings, family, nieces, ohio

Last weekend found my baby sister and I at my eldest sister’s house in Ohio. We were there to celebrate my niece’s bat mitzvah. Christy is 15 years old and she is a treasure. {May I just state for the record, it is unbelievably fun to have teenage nieces.} We had a great time helping her and her family prepare for the festivities. We made pumpkin lanterns, and hung lights, and pushed furniture around, tore up old sheet music, and made food. It was a jolly good time.
Friday night it was just a small, intimate gathering for family and close friends. We shared our blessings with Christy, and heaped affirmation and love upon her. It was a beautiful time, full of love and lots of fun memories shared about her life so far. She’s a feisty one. Small but mighty. As a toddler, she once took a boy thrice her size to the floor, sat on him, and firmly reprimanded him for bullying her friend. He’s still thrice her size I believe, and only a few weeks ago (allegedly) she affirmed her unwavering courage when she tossed her glass of water in his face. He was bullying her this time. Allegedly.
Besides her courage, she is well noted for her contagious enthusiasm for life. She is passionate about truth. She is a woman of influence. I have no doubt that more than a few lives will be changed by the influence of her presence on this earth. She is witty. She is hilarious. Like her older sister Cherie said, she is so unique that everyone wants to be like her, but they can’t, because there’s only one Christy.
Saturday night’s festivity was held at their church where we had created a somewhat “homey” atmosphere in their balcony. Here there were lots more people, her grandpa, friends from church, and friends from afar. Her mom and dad and two oldest siblings shared their blessings with her that night. It was touching to say the least. What a beautiful thing, to see a young woman affirmed, told that she was loved, beautiful, and accepted. She was encouraged, blessed, and honored. There’s a girl who I doubt will go looking for a boy to give her an identity. She has one, loud and clear. She’s a daughter of the King, and a valued treasure in her family. She’s a talented musician. A classical actress. A sought after singer. A photographer extraordinaire. A giggling partner in crime. A lover of coffee and a domestic diva.
What if we all did a little bit of that each day? Affirming each other, expressing someone else’s value, their beloved-ness, instead of their unloveliness. Would people’s lives change little by little? Would it change the way someone looked at themselves? No great ceremony, just a day by day appreciation of someone’s value. Ahhh…I’m inspired.
I love you Christy, more than you’ll ever know.

Project Snowflake

Tags

craft, DIY, Popsicle sticks, spray paint

I made this quick craft today- and it was both easy and satisfying. The spray paint is drying as we speak. There are many more patterns you can make….I want to try at least a few more and maybe put a collage on my wall. I followed the tutorial here

Ok fine.

Tags

christmas, snow, weather

I’ll admit it.

I’m just a little smitten,,,,

…just a smidgen….

….just the teeniest, tiniest bit,

….by this ridiculous weather. There, I said it.

Off to find some coffee in the city with friends….
-Marylou
(who definitely maybe for sure absolutely did not ok I did listen to Christmas music today.)

God Save the Queen…..(and this lovely weather)

Tags

autumn, faire, knights, renaissance, scallywags, sisters, weather

We returned on Sunday from our retreat in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. We had a great time connecting with friends and enjoying the beauty of the mountains. But that’s another post for next time.

My two baby sisters and I enjoyed an afternoon at the PA Renaissance Faire a couple of weeks ago. Honestly, pretty much the best part of it is laughing at the funny costumes and the commitment with which the actors play their parts.

     Entering- (dear nieces I wish I could take you. We would laugh much. Much.)

  We made our way straightaway to the privies. Of course.

We window shopped…….

……took pictures of courtesans and commoners……

 ……..had our pictures taken with knights and foreign diplomats……(I may have coerced my sister in to hers)

…..read the funny signs in the shops…………

……cavorted with royalty…….

…….wished these plays were playing…..(oh the glory of the war betwixt the sexes)

……tried on pretty hats…..

……did some wine tasting……..

 …and listened to outrageous stories from these two scallywags.

And that may have been the longest run on sentence ever written. It was a good time….the stinky pickles my sisters ate notwithstanding.

-Marylou