A Peek at My Week | Oct. 29 - Nov. 4

I take way more pictures than I share on here or other social media sites. What's the point of having all those pictures if I'm not sharing them with anyone? So, here's a peek at some of what happened in my week (please note that some of the pictures were shared...somewhere.)

Sunday included a silly, silly Zoe who needed many belly rubs.

I discovered that the farm behind our property was growing cotton this year and couldn't resist sneaking out there for a few pictures.

Monday started with work on pulling these components together into a necklace.

And, it doesn't have to be Tuesday to have tacos! They're still delicious.

It was Tuesday when the hue of the paint water caught my eye. I don't even remember what I had painted, but that blue is absolutely dreamy.

While out in the yard taking care of a few things, I spotted beans growing on our trellis. I had long given up on the beanstalks yielding anything. They had browned and withered to almost nothing. Since it was Halloween morning, we dubbed these "Zombie Beans".

Knowing I would be at my mom's house for most of Wednesday, I made sure to take plenty to do with me. While waiting for a video to upload, I finished this necklace.

I was also able to get a few things added to the Etsy shop during the course of the week. 

Thursday was spent working on the video/blog post for the fifth installment of my Jewelry-Making for Beginners series. 

Once that was done, my focus went back to my own jewelry making. I become mesmerized by the color flashes in some labradorite beads. They're so pretty!

After dinner, I had a cookie craving. My old standby recipe for chocolate chip coconut oatmeal cookies came in handy. I hope to share that recipe very soon!

I spent almost all of Friday working on organizing my twitter (don't ask). That evening, I enjoyed watching my nieces march in the band at their last regular season football game. Since they won this game, their team is going into the playoffs! And yeah, I was too busy watching the band to actually get a picture of them (oops!)

The hubby's been sick for WEEKS so Saturday was very low key, mostly spent watching college football (ROLL TIDE!) and recovering. Oh, and there was plenty of puppy snuggling of course!

That was my week for the most part. There were a few hiccups, but in pictures, it's a lot less frustrating. How was your week? What were the highlights for you?

A Quick Catch-up for December 2015

I have absolutely no excuse. Let's say the chaos of the holidays has just gotten in the way. Let me quickly share some of the happenings around here in picture & caption form, then I'll be caught up and can get back to the business of blogging. Sound good? Let's go. . .

Fall finally came to the Gulf Coast, if only briefly.

Though we've discovered lots of stuff on the property, these kumquats were still a happy surprise.

For the first time in about ten years, we got a Christmas tree!

Both of the cats found that they liked the tree too. That was fortunate!

I traveled with my nieces to Auburn, AL for South's BEST regional robotics competition. And, their little Catholic school fared fairly well in the competition. YAY St. Vincent de Paul!

After I got back from Auburn, Pat had to head up to New York for work. He left me in charge of cleaning the pool each morning. As I went out there one of the mornings, I realized this guy was caught in the trap that had been left out for the armadillo that's been tearing up the yard. After some phone calls and texts to Pat and a couple of anxious hours, the little possum made his way out of the trap.

I've gotten very little creative work done lately except for a couple of art swaps and a few resin pendants. I was stricken by the colors on this piece of deli paper I was using as a palette.

Though this fall and winter have been way warmer than usual, we have had a few cooler days here and there. We were invited to a friends to enjoy a pot luck and bonfire. Fortunately, it was one of those rare cold evenings.

The nieces came over for a few days this week and we made some easy Christmas treats. They were so, so easy!

It's been rainy and overcast here for DAYS upon days. Taking a walk around the property, I discovered more varieties of mushrooms than I even knew existed. It was amazing.

There's been all that and more going on the past several weeks. I do apologize for my absence and hope to be getting back on the ball. The end of the year is near, and each new day is a new start.

I had a wonderful Christmas yesterday and am looking forward to second Christmas with my in-laws tomorrow. How have the holidays been treating you?

The Past Month in Pictures

Things with the house are not falling together as quickly as I'd hoped. Unpacking seems to be taking AGES to do, but I'm soldiering on. I thought I'd share a picture-heavy timeline of what I've been up to over the past month. Most of these come from my CraftyHope Instagram feed so you may be familiar with them if you already follow me there (which you totally should!)

So, we bought an older house on five acres with a pool (you can see some of the house tour in my last post)

On our first day out at the pool, this little guy was flitting around. I adore his colors - the denim blue and teal are dreamy.

We started the renovations with some ceiling scraping. This guest bathroom was easy-peasy. I cannot say that for the other rooms we attempted. We ended up with texture in the bedroom and gave up on the sunroom (for now).

While exploring the property and structures on it, Pat found this gem. It's an antique exposure meter for photography. As soon as Pat picked it up he handed it to me, knowing that I would treasure and use it (eventually).

The property has a lot of overgrowth on it. In particular, it's full of air potato vines; an invasive plant to say the least. We've been working on getting rid of it, but it will be a long, long process. I was especially taken with this natural arch it formed as it grew up a small tree and grabbed onto the fence from there.

After the ceiling-scraping fiasco, we finally started getting some paint on the walls. Here's the first few strokes in the craft room. The color isn't very true in this photo, but anything was better than the peach!

We scheduled the movers a week after we were in the new house to make sure we had some time for the scraping and painting. I was excited to finally get some furniture in and make it feel more like home.

These built-in shelves int he kitchen were covered with stained rose wallpaper. I freshened them up with some shelf paper. Much better!

During he first two weeks, we spent a portion of nearly every day in the pool. Pat was off work, and it was the perfect way to cool off from the renovations. Our pool is on the chilly side with all the shady trees around it. We don't mind as it offers lots if privacy and seclusion.

The pile of boxes has been daunting. The majority of the ones in this photo are just for the craft room (go figure!). And, yes. . .there are a lot of liquor boxes, but they were FREE and with two mortgages, we like free.

One of the main challenges we've had to deal with here are the 14 feral cats that the previous owner left on the property. While we are very much cat-lovers, the poor things are sick and flea-ridden. A local organization is helping us relocate them and get them the care they need.

We've reinstated margarita Fridays but with a twist: we're making the meals and drinks at home. We had friends over for tacos on the kickoff night. 

However, that's not to say that we've completely nixed eating out completely. A friend of ours opened The Bone and Barrel in downtown Fairhope, and it is GOOD! I mean, my burger was even licking my fries! 

I lucked up and won this Vintaj BIGKick prize package on the Vintaj Facebook Page. I recorded a video of my unboxing the BIGKick, but haven't really had any time to play with it yet. Just wait, that's coming for sure!

Our oldest niece is in her high school's band. Their football team played against our local one so we both attended our first football game in over 20 years. 

I FINALLY started unpacking the craft room. I'm finding myself struggling with a little less space and where to put everything. It keeps stalling me out and thus taking much longer than it should.

For Labor Day, we went against the grain and didn't grill out as planned. Instead, friends made some homemade ramen. It was our first 'real' ramen experience, and we loved it!

I delayed unpacking the beads as long as I could but finally delved into transferring the two huge tubs of them into the bead cabinet. It took all day as I sorted out what I knew I'm not interested in using anymore.

Another trip to The Bone and Barrel was in order. This time we tried the highly recommended Fried Ribs and were not disappointed. My Tuna Sandwich wasn't too shabby either!

At long last. . .Yesterday I FINALLY started pulling out beads and components for some jewelry-making. 

There's been plenty more activity that didn't wind up in pictures - like the start of college football season! Once again, here's hoping that things will get to some semblance of 'normal' soon and I'll have something else to share with you later. Thanks so much for all your support and for hanging in there as I deal with this transition in my life.

I Heart Macro: Margarita Friday

At the end of each work week, Pat and I have a bit of a tradition. We're not sure when we started it or how long we'll keep it up, but each Friday is affectionately referred to as Margarita Friday.

Each week I look forward to

Salt-rimmed margaritas

Crispy tortilla chips

Savory salsa

And, of course the amazing company of my husband! (not pictured)

There's more I Heart Macro Sunday at Studio Waterstone.

(Please excuse the fact that there are really iPhone photos. I wanted to see what I could make it do!)

May Goal Review

Oh my goodness y'all!!!! May was a big, fat FAIL on so many counts. I'm so, so glad it's a new month and I can just START OVER! Between jury duty, massive amounts of obligations, and my car wreck I couldn't seem to accomplish ANYTHING! Nevertheless, I owe you (and myself) a review of these failed goals.  As in past months, the pictures are some of my Instagram photos from the month.

Sun setting behind the Mobile, AL skyline

PERSONAL

1. Exercise  I did take ONE Pilates class and did some exercise at home ONE morning. I also did a lot of floating (in the river, gulf, wherever I could) but other than that. . .NADA! Must improve on this, desperately! It's not going to be too pretty of a swimsuit season for me.



A waffleized Monte Cristo sandwich for breakfast

2. Eat right/better. I did okay on this. My biggest downfall is always breakfast. I really need to come up with some easy, tasty, healthy options that will compel me to worry with them first thing in the morning. 
3. Read more books/watch less TV (I'd like to read at least two books a month, however that all depends on the length of the book) I also did okay on this one. I finally finished Inheritance and started on Let's Pretend this Never Happened (a Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson (The Bloggess). I'm hoping to FINALLY get into some shorter, easier-to-read books to make up all that missed time. We'll see! As far as less tv, that hasn't been too much of a problem.



My kitchen window.

4. Make a real effort to keep the house clean This is the ONE goal I'm letting myself say met to. Although the house this month did get into some of the worst shape in a while, I also recovered it pretty quickly. I made some strides in getting a few areas cleaned that really make a difference to me. I still have some ways to go, but I feel really good about this one right now. 



Two of my favorites, my man and my Blue!

5. Discover new music  Just, fail. That's all I can really say. I do love my NPR and can't seem to pull myself to listen to new music. 



A gardenia from my mom's garden.

6. Grow some plants inside and out This one's coming along fine. I've got my porch plants. . .the ones that are still alive at least. I've even got a few tomatoes and jalapenos ripening! I'm horrible at remembering to water my plants though. I'd like to get a few more houseplants eventually. All in good time.
7. Make my visions of my dream house and this house co-exist. Not much has been done on this front, more talk and more of me looking in thrift stores but very little action. sigh.
8. Declutter/organize at least one drawer/cabinet/area a week. I got ONE area decluttered in the whole of the month. That's it. Blarg!
9. Have a yard sale (possibly organize a neighborhood one) Nope, didn't happen. Now it's gotten so hot I'll just have to start thinking about the Fall.
10. Take better care of my face and skin. This has always been a stumbling block of mine. I just can't seem to remember every day. Will continue to work on it!
11. Go to the doctor/dentist. Nope. That's all.

Floating in Wasabi Cove on Fish River

BUSINESS/CRAFT

1. Make a real effort with my blog. As this is my first blog post in a week, I'm sure you can tell that I'm not happy with my performance on this goal as far as regular posting. I am pleased with some of the topics I touched on this month, but I'm still just not there yet. 
2. Include more tutorials on the blog. Didn't include a single one. I've got ideas for at least THREE. Why is this so hard?
3. Keep the craft room more organized. I did okay on this. The room is NOWHERE near where I'd like it to be, but I do know where most everything is!



Backers for my jewelry (LOVE these!)

4. Discover my passion. I haven't gotten anything concrete on this front yet. But, there are some ideas formulating. 
5. Get published (at least submit to a few publications). After last's month's hopeful prospect, I haven't heard back from my contact. I did try to follow up and ask, but she hasn't responded so I guess that one's out of the running. I've got this on my daily to do list now. Hopefully that will prompt me to follow through some more.



A new pair of earrings.

6. Create something everyday. It's been harder than I expected to create something EVERY DAY. However, I have gotten a few items made as well as some of the miscellaneous materials I need for the business. So I don't consider this a complete fail. 
7. Explore other venue options for selling my jewelry. I get a big F on this one. I actually had an opportunity pass under my nose and I didn't follow through because of the distance to the location from my house. I might need to re-think this.
8. Find a way to use what I have instead of buying more. I need less more in my life! I've done fine on this, a few shopping trips but nothing outrageous. I've avoided my local beading stores like the plague. I hate that.

Asia kitty

GENERAL

1. Figure out where my time is wasted and put an end to it. I'm doing okay with this. I've been trying to recognize when I am wasting time (not doing something on this list or something productive) and re-directing myself to an activity that will accomplish something.



After my wreck. . .that dent in the rail was my doing. boo!

2. Find some confidence and exert it. I did okay on this one. The opportunity that arose at a local shop was because I admitted to the cashier that I had made my jewelry. That was a big step for me. Secondly, I just completed an application to become a Bead Instructor at my local Micheal's store. That still scares me a little, but it would be a whole lot of fun too!
3. Think outside of the box. This one just didn't fall together for me in any instances this month.
4. Be Grateful/Thankful. As much as I do have in my life, I really should be going out of my way to find ways to express my gratitude. This desperately needs to improve.

Lunch with a friend (this was her meal, mine wasn't near as pretty!)

So that's my failure of a month. Going through this definitely has reminded me WHY I'm doing these monthly reviews. I know they are probably boring as all get out for you, but it's necessary for me to see where I need to focus my attentions. Thank you for bearing with me! And here's hoping that June is full of much more success for you and me both!

Oh. . .and here are my other goal reviews: January, February, March, and April as well as the original list if you're just weirdly interested in that kind of thing!