Project Procrastinators Party

Melissa over at The Inspired Room is hosting a Project Procrastinators Party! I love this because I always have something that needs to be finished! Here is my project, and pop over to The Inspired Room for more inspiration to get things done this weekend!

As an early Christmas present, my family went to the pound and adopted a dog. A super cute, high energy, crazy dog. The first thing he did when we brought him home was to eat all the wires connecting up our sprinkler system--a few days after we planted grass in the yard! Since then, I have been meaning to make a cover to fit over it so that he can not do it again and we can get the system up and running (we are fond of our grass you know!). A week or so ago I went to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore (these are great stores!) and got a bunch of old wood and some screening to make my cover, but life has interfered! Grad school assignments, work projects, children, bills, laundry, and the handy excuse of the saw not being charged up meant that work on my box has stalled. Not anymore! Time to get this done! I'll be sure to post the end result.

The other project that is started but not finished is the compost bin that I am putting together using two 18 gallon storage tubs I got from Target. For this project, I have to figure out how to buy worms! So this weekend I will be finishing up that project as well.

Can't believe it is the weekend already! Hope you have fun getting some of those 'to do's done!

Spring Has Sprung!

I don't understand it, but my rose bushes are giving me FaBulOuS roses! I have not done anything to them (including water them) over the winter, or prune them, and they are being choked out by the Plumbago, but for some reason this is the result:

They are so big! I did feed them some Miracle Grow Rose food, so maybe that is all they needed?!?!?!?!?! This gives me (a false) hope that I can garden! Happy Spring!

My Happiness List

I realized the other day that "busy" for me does not mean "happy" so I took an inventory of what did. Here is my Happiness List:

--Living Simply

--Family Dinners

--Cooking/Baking

--Being Organized

--Having Bills Paid Ontime

--Being Under Budget

--Saving/ Using Coupons

--Faith

--Creating Something

--Reusing Something

--Growing Something

--Loveing Something/Someone

--Being Loved in Return

What is on your Happiness List????

The Little Voice

Where does your heart want to take you?

This morning I had coffee with a great gal, she is wise, funny, and energetic. She is put together, organized, and ambitious. This gal is me! Well, my inner self anyway.

We all have that little voice inside our heads giving us direction, encouraging us to try something new, trying to clue us in to living a life based on our heart priorities and not the wants of the world. Often, this little voice gets ignored as bills have to be paid, dogs have to be fed, and life moves forward. Yet, if this little voice continues to be ignored, the life we move forward into becomes something else. Listening to all the voices of the world pulls us instead toward someone else’s life, not our own. Instead of making our choices and decisions based on what we want and value we let others make them for us. If we want a lingering life, we must base this life on what we want, what we value, and in order to know this, we must have a chat with the little voice. We must stop and listen to the little voice.

My little voice reminds me that family is the only important thing, that developing those relationships is all that matters in this lifetime. My little voice directs me to: plant roses, learn knitting, can pears, make jam, keep your house clean and neat so you have time for other more important (and fun!) things, be active, make a to do list and cross things off, read more of that good book, stop watching television (okay, except Dancing with the Stars!), get outside a bit everyday, and always tell your family you love them—as much as possible.
When you listen to the little voice, you find so much more pleasure to your life than you thought possible. It may not be an easy life, it may not be a low stress life, or a pain-free life, but the enjoyment gleaned from it increases immeasureably when listening to the little voice.

What is your little voice telling you?

I am rich.

I am rich indeed!

If you look closely, you can find joy and delight all around: the fragrance of fresh lavender, the nostalgic comfort of cinnamon applesauce, the natural grace of birds and butterflies.

~Donata Maggipinto, Everyday Celebrations

What is it that you delight in?

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

What a wonderful family time! Some adventure (will we find all the eggs we hid?), some new toys (many thanks!), and a wonderful meal shared with family: a great day! I hope that your day was as wonderful as mine and that you lingered over the beauty of this holiday.

A Lingering Life

A Lingering Life. That is what I want. To linger. To enjoy the small moments, the small pleasures of life. After all, isn't that what life is all about? The small moments, the quiet moments, the simple pleasures. In this fast moving, material world that we live in, I get so easily caught up in Stuff, instead of Life. Trying to move ahead, get the next best thing, cross the next 'to do' off my list, get to the next appointment. In doing so, I found that I so often missed Life. For I have discovered that Life is not in the big moments, but the small details. I want to linger in those small details. To linger over a great game of cards, a wonderful glass of wine, to linger with my son's laugh, or my husbands thoughts, to linger with the peace and rest of my Lord, a good book, and a great craft project, a warm fire, a filling meal, a beautiful sunset. These are the things that matter to me, and the things I want to spend my time in. To linger in the moment of a Lingering Life.
I want to explore these moments in this blog...won't you come linger with me???