happy saturday . . .

good stuff this week . . .

It has been a good week . . . full of doctor's appointments unfortunately, but that has to be done.  More importantly I had a chance to visit Richard at work . . . 

 . . . where this guy caught my eye.  He let me get quite close.

I don't think he could see me through the glass.  He looked great perched up there.

 I love walking all through the library . . . 

So many great place to tuck paper cranes.  

PEACE ~ LOVE ~ CRANES

New nails . . . which I really like!

 I found another note from mom . . . that made me smile and think of her.  

 Beautiful flowers that made me wish that I had brought a blanket and a picnic. 

 With some time to waste . . . I spent a couple hours walking through Old Town - roaming through some shops and antique stores.   I found a great USA vase at a great price, some wood and iron letters, an old light fixture (that I still need to go back and get) . . . and these letters . . . which for some reason caught my eye.  I think I like them simply because they are green.  I also found a cute top, skirt, and clutch . . . I guess I was in the mood to shop today.  

Life can get hectic . . .  I have learned how to deal with things so much better than when I was younger, but still there are times when it can all really seem like too much.  I like these three words . . . Get yourself at peace . . . forgive, let go, let God . . . and enjoy the peace that that brings.  Love . . . simple right? - but not just love the people you care about or just say the words - take care of them, don't take them for granted, help them, talk to them . . . and let them know how much you love them.  Happiness . . . for me I have found that to be a choice.  Choose happiness . . . it works!

lunch and a simple summer bucket list . . .

There is something about summer that just relaxes me and motivates me at the same time.  It isn't just because I am off work (although I am sure that helps) . . . I believe it is more than that.  Whatever it is . . . I am making the most of it.  We want to take a few small trips this summer, but mostly I want to just stay close to home and do the things we like to do . . . and enjoy every minute that I can.    

Then followed that beautiful season... Summer....
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; 

and the landscape
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

For today . . .

Outside my window . . . early morning - it’s peaceful . . . and it’s warm already . . . it’s going to be rather hot again today

I am thinking . . . that having summers off from work if a pretty good thing.
I am thankful for . . . my mom coming to visit.
From the kitchen . . .  right now . . . just a great cup of coffee!

I am wearing . . . denim cut off shorts and a peace t-shirt.

I am creating . . . working on 3 Shabby Charlotte dolls and messing around with my art journal

I am going . . . to look for a quilt that I haven’t been able to find . . . I can't figure out where it went to.  Maybe one of the boys took it?

I am reading . . . nothing at the moment – need to find a new book to read

I am hoping . . .  for some good news tomorrow.

I am hearing . . . birds singing (even without my hearing aids) . . .

Around the house . . . lots of projects

One of my favorite things . . . the box of paper cranes that I have folded

A few plans for the rest of the week . . . relaxing!

From my picture journal . . .

I found another little note from my mom this morning.  I am one week into my 365 day letter writing challenge.  I have this old Raggedy Ann stationery from when I was young . . . perfect for writing a letter to my mom today.  

charlotte ~ tomatoes ~ and Love You notes . . .

 Swimming with Daddy . . . 

 So many cherry tomatoes this year . . . I am going to have to find a delicious way to use them tomorrow.  We had homegrown tomatoes on our hamburgers tonight . . . I will hate to have to go back to store bought ones this fall.  I love the colors I seen when I look out my window. 

My mom left yesterday . . . I miss her.  She was with us long enough that it seems funny to not have her around.  We are finding these little notes all over the house that she left for us to find.  They made me both smile and cry.  I am missing her, but I am so excited that she is next able to get back to Iowa and see her sisters (my wonderful aunts!!!!) . . . and spend sometime in our hometown visiting.  She was really looking forward to that.  Love you too Mom!

PINK

Mom made me a special PINK dress last night.  

I love it!  There is nothing like a cute pink dress!

my man . . .

 Sometimes he's serious . . . 

. . . and then sometimes he makes fingernails out of washi tape.

"If you can make a woman laugh, 

you can make her do anything."

~ Marilyn Monroe

pink cranes . . .

"Be more splendid.  Be more extraordinary.  

Use every moment to fill yourself up."

 ~ Oprah Winfrey

I love beautiful origami paper, but some of my favorite paper cranes are those that I make out of paper from every day things - such as envelopes, old books, and bags.  I'm always keeping bits of paper and cutting it to fold cranes or for pages in my journal. These paper cranes were made out of the small pastry bag that my scone came in from Starbucks.  

Welcome Jordan!

"Sometimes the littlest things

 take up the most room in your heart."

~ Winnie the Pooh

Joy in the small stuff!

"The only courage you ever need 

is the courage to live the life you want."

        ~ Oprah Winfrey

Happiness is when he brings me a cup of coffee . . . 

fun mail challenge . . .

I got a lot done this weekend . . . and also a lot of nothing done.  Thinking about that - it means it was a good weekend.  This last photo is part of a new challenge I decided to do.  I was remembering how fun it used to be to get letters in the mail.  After I moved away from my hometown it was always great to get a letter from home.  When we were first married and Richard was in the Navy - we wrote to each other all the time . . . even decorating the envelopes (which reminds me of all the mail art I have been enjoying on Pinterest).  I also feel bad that I do not send more letters to the people in my family who do not spend a lot of time on the Internet.  I don't even write my mom as often as I used to because it is so easy just to pick up my cell phone and call her instead.  I know she would love to get letters from me more often.  So I am challenging myself to mail something to someone every day for a year . . . 365 letters . . . or possibly postcards.  A month just didn't seem long enough.  It doesn't have to be 365 different people . . . just that I am going to mail something to someone everyday for a year.  Let's see if I can do that . . .

My first letter is to my Aunt Sue . . . she has been on my mind a lot lately. 

“I've always felt there is something sacred in a piece of paper that travels the earth from hand to hand, head to head, heart to heart.” 
― Robert Michael Pyle, Sky Time in Gray's River: Living for Keeps in a Forgotten Place

4th of July

What a difference a year makes . . . she loved fireworks again this year, but this year she got to hold her own sparkler - with her daddy's help of course.  

random Saturday stuff . . .

I am pretty sure I have mentioned in previous posts how much I dislike boring tissue boxes . . . this is just a thing with me.  I will never forget the look on Richard's face when he was going to the store and I told him not to get tissue in an ugly box.  (I love that face . . . when he is completely baffled by how I think).  So when I see a tissue box that I like - well . . . had to buy it and have to post about it.  

 I saw quite a bit of that face Richard makes while we were playing tennis today . . .  

 . . . when I stopped hitting to take a picture of this heart shaped leaf that I saw on the court . . . 

. . . and when I changed my dampner to match my fingernails.  He isn't quite so sure about my nails . . . but he does like my new dampner.  He also always tries to buy tissue in a box that he thinks I will like.  There is something to be said about a man who does things like that for you . . . just because he knows you like it.