where oh where

let's see. i have been gone a long time, so i will just give some random updates:

on tuesday, i shoveled about 5 inches of heavy snow.

yesterday, i raked leaves and picked up sticks and cleaned the gutters.

i am learning to be flexible like that :)

i still am not sure how to wear skinny jeans without boots, though. life is hard.

i bought a couch about a month ago. the guy has still not delivered it, and i actually really don't care anymore. says something about impulse spending.

i did NOT buy this absolutely darling 'loveseat' for my office last weekend, when lou and i decided to drive 4 hours to minneapolis for a 2-hour thrift sale. i have thought about it every day since.

yeah. go figure that one out.

 siesta is scurrying out the door every chance she gets these days. cats just KNOW. good things are out there.

other than that, i'm trying desperately to get into a mode of less = more. which makes it hard when i want to go to every thrift store in the tri-state region. Lord, help me.

otherwise, things are well. busy, but good busy. and i have both a dentist AND a doctor appointment set up in the next two weeks. 2 years of procrastination is about to be tackled.

pray for me that THIS time, procrastination was not a big mistake.
happy friday y'all!

things i learned in the storm

it's april 14th today. i have to remember to send in my taxes tomorrow. it seems like forever ago that i had taxes done, even though it was 3 weeks ago.

life changes quickly. our little town of sioux falls experienced that change together last week, in a way most of us never thought about. i got a couple of insights during the week, so here we go:

i take for granted that i have a LOT. a lot. a lot of things.

i don't need 'things' as much as i thought i did.

in adversity, people do usually come through for you. examples are sherry and ron, and lou, and anne, and ralph and scott. thank you.

facebook is not necessary. it is not really even real. nor is pinterest. or most blogs.

there is something to be said for working at a coffee shop.

i don't really have a good winter coat.

it is possible for 85,000 people to want to hug their utilities worker.

cool whip looks the same after 4 days out of the refridge as it did BEFORE. yikes.

birds can handle a lot of snow.

branches spring back.

someday, all things will be fully restored. what a day that will be!






:) hope you are enjoying spring in your heart.

learning to edit

so, over the weekend I rearranged my office for summer. mostly, i wanted myself (and siesta) to be able to look out the window and daydream more - like we need that.

but as i sit here on day 3 of working in the space, i'm reminded of how calming it is to see order instead of clutter. i have mostly friends who know how to edit things down, and keep spaces clean and orderly. i have NEVER been one of those people, because i love all manners of stuff too much.

but, i am trying. some of you may not think of these pictures as 'spare' - but I'm telling ya, they have come a looooooooong way.


i think perhaps I am becoming an editor.

yes, Siesta is batting 1,000 for 'getting in the shot' - what can I say? she is gifted.

let's randomize today.

 Hello all and a good friday to you. I have spent this past week in another anxiety-filled frenzy, and I am hoping the reality of today and the redemption that comes from it will pull me back into the reality of Christ. for today, I will attend a 'darkness' service tonite and remember the cup that he drank from, for me and for you.

i have not really thought much about gardening yet, probably because of the cold temps that have lingered. I have thought about yellow though, and that is almost as good :)

 last weekend, the downstairs fishies got some new digs. they are my backyard pond fish, the only remainers of at least 15 or 20 fishies. they deserve a nice new tank and no threat of being cooked alive, or eaten by birds.

 taxes are done for another year. praise God!

the work in the basement continues. i want to buy/do so many things, but so far, it is still looking cute with even my old things. siesta concurs.

looks like they made it! a small band of houseplants have endured the harshness of winter and my bad caretaking, and will go outside soon. for that, i am ecstatic!

happy Easter everyone! i hope you have a joyful weekend and a serious time with God, too. it's not really about the bunny :)

 i will not get depressed. i will not get depressed. i will not get depressed.

even if a year ago this week, my front yard looked like this:

i hope it is spring wherever you are....sigh.

blustery monday

i keep thinking i need to change my header picture to spring, then a day like today hits, and i'm reminded 'not quite yet.'

the wind is absolutely whipping around outside my window as i type - it's relentless. wind can be good or bad, i think. today, it feels like an assault.

good thing i am bundled up in jammies for most of the day. i remember when i used to have to go out in this stuff all the time, i have lost my edge completely. staying home does that to you.

i have a few pics to show you of the basement progress. i made my first craft project down on my 'new' $15 table top (thrifted from the habitat restore) this weekend. it was a no-sew curtain for the super ugly basement window. it 'turned out', as they say.

i am impatient, but this is the fun part. i have to remember that, as i look around at all that is not finished. the process is also the plan :)

happy monday, everyone!

$15! I need to get some ikea craft table legs next month, but wow. this is SPACE. very excited about that.

newly found attraction to foxes...esp. orange ones.

oh pinterest, you inspire me ;)

out from storage and onto display.

too bad i cannot figure out how to set the time ;)

....always in the wings.

ides of March

That's all I can think about today. I had to google 'ides' because even though I say the phrase all the time, I have no idea what it means!

Apparently the ides (which is middle-of-the-month, or the 15th) became notorious as the date that Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC. Sorry Jules!

Otherwise, it's a perfectly lovely day. I was very excited yesterday to have my first spring walk around the neighborhood.

It was very pleasant to go outside. I may do it again sometime!

Otherwise, I spent some time in the basement again. I'm not really moving at light speed down there, probably because I am not really into basements.

Things are coming along, though. I still need to set up the craft room. I got the shelves up last night, so maybe this weekend? Dunno. Taxes also must be done. sigh.

I got another rug for the space. that makes a bad paint job and 2 layers of rugs, if you are keeping track.

 As Lou remarked when I sent her a pic, 'that's SO Bobbi Gaukel!'

Alas, she is correct. I could lick this rug, I love it so much.

  That's magenta fringe, in case you can't tell.

It really does help the very 'blah' room to pop a little.

Things will of course be better when I get all of the shelves stocked, and yes, get some artwork hung!

My cutest decorating accessory really matches the room :)

Happy Friday, folks!

craft room update

sigh. it's been awhile since I showed you the craft room. i actually thought it would be done by now, but isn't that the way it goes?

it's pretty much done as far as the foundation goes, but for some reason i cannot visualize what the finished room should look like. i usually 'see' the end product, but this little room is stumping me. probably because of the mish mash of junk furniture i have to work with, and the limited budget i want to spend to complete the project.

the 'before' shots give you an idea of the dreariness.

i really wanted to carpet the space, but at the last minute decided against it because a) it would have been sort of expensive and b) i am really not sure how water-tight the basement is, since we have been in a drought since i bought this house. might be better to wait and see.

so, there you go. I went with a sisal rug instead of carpet (actually 2, which i will eventually stitch together). the orange wall has me questioning things. might be a little too bright, but I plan to line that wall with shelving, so hopefully it will tone down a bit.

i also hope to bring in a giant work surface - thinking of a solid-core birch door, or even some butcher block countertop. something sturdy. so that i can sew and craft and store all of the 'stuff' that is randomly strewn about.

i'll keep you posted as i go along :)

ps. a certain someone is very very interested in breaking in the new rugs in this home .... :)

so the photoshoot went really well. the reporter girl and the photographer girl were both really nice, and into vintage things. half of the time i forgot they were here for a purpose, i.e. to take pictures and interview me.

the only time it came back to me was when i had to sit down for a sec in order to be photographed myself - eeek! the photog is an old acquaitance, and really, really gentle. she even let me see the shot, which was not as bad as i had imagined.

it was just so nice and reassuring to have two people who have never been in my house be so encouraging! i guess because my house and how i spend my time making it pretty is kind of important to me.

it's funny how much good even a tiny bit of encouragement can do, isn't it? hmmmm. something to ponder :)

happy weekend, all! i promise to come back next week with an actual post or two :)

my pretties

a local magazine is coming over this week to shoot some of my lovelies for their pages! oh, whatever will make the cut?!!!

....hopefully all of them :)

life gives you lemons

actually, life is good. busy, but good. feeling like i'm living on purpose.

i like this 'word' intentional given to me by God. it's causing me to question things i have been doing on autopilot for a long time.

eating healthy is hard, even when i'm intentionally trying to do it.

so today, i made some lemon vinaigrette. then a spinach salad. it tasted sort of like a restaurant, or maybe even better, like my friend anne's :)

ps. you can see my cool orange striped tshirt in the spoon :)

happy day!

random monday somewhere in the midwest

hi ho!

i have not alot to say this fine Monday, but a few small tidbits. so let's randomize:

 this scene could be from any one of the last few days. we had another 'snow event' which really turned out to not be very eventful.

siesta is always hoping for some action, however, thru the safety of the front door. she'll let you know if anything exciting happens.

 i went to church yesterday, and chalk Jesus greeted me. he's really quite big (over 3', i'll bet) and very nicely done. this is what my friend anne does when she has free time. i kind of wish she had MORE free time.

ps. if you think you could draw like this, try imagining drawing Him in REVERSE, because that is what you have to do with white chalk on a black wall.

which kind of makes my brain hurt.

i have done nothing creative in quite awhile, i feel like. it's like your brain goes numb after awhile.

i did slipcover my couch over the weekend, which required some skill in wrestling. i love it except for when i sit down, then it bothers me.  so I get up and fix the wrinkles, then sit down again.

i did not really need a hobby like that, but it IS winter after all.





happy Monday :)

hi peeps!

sigh. it's monday again. so far, i have dodged many, many bullets for the first part of the year. i really wish marketing did not look so much like a battlefield so much of the time.

however, in other news, i made some cute valentines for a client to hand out next week, along with dove chocolates. it's the little things that keep me inspired.

so here we are in february. i spent some of the weekend tucked into a blankie, staring out at my backyard. i have a pair of cardinals that feed most days at the birdfeeder, and lots of squirrels that have lunch regularly. they feed my soul.

i mean it. the existence of these little creatures going about their day to day business is healing to me. it gives me hope. i read somewhere recently that humans are the only animals that think about tomorrow. that's crazy deep, if you think about it. i long to be like one of my little birds at the feeder, some days.

i am reminded also by God that it is best to to not look ahead. to just wake and face each day as it comes with whatever blessings it brings. i love psalm 29 and its promise:

The Lord bless you and keep you;

The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;

The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.

 a nice thing for a monday, don't you think?

brrrrrrrrrrr.

school is cancelled today because of the cold. i tell myself that it has no effect on me, but i feel like playing hooky.

i do want to at least tell you about the most yummy soup in the world. we made it at church yesterday, and i have no idea how much anne altered the recipe as we went, but it was absolutely delish. i'm having some leftovers for lunch. is it lunchtime yet?


:) stay warm, peeps!

the flip side

no doubt this is january. as i reflect on the month, i have to say that overall it's been very challenging, and also very good.

i have had to deal with things i did not want to deal with.

i have found myself ill-prepared to deal with said things.

i have tried on my own, and failed.

i have learned that trying on my own is pretty much a prescription for failure.

i've been blessed to not be on my own.



sigh. i think you know what i'm saying. it's true that a trip to the mall and a quick hit of color or new jeans CAN help when life wears at you. it's a temporary fix for a bigger problem, though.

in my case, i think the bigger fix is happening, too - and i want to tell you about it.

part of the solution has been my journey with this book, and the women whom i am sharing it with. i've been doing bible studies in my house for awhile now, but it's been a really long while since i have been as 'drawn in' to a study as this one.

part of it is the women who are in the group - some old, some new, and of course one that was dropped off at my doorstep. what an unusual lot. i am enjoying the mix.

but i think the bigger part of the study is God himself. it's HE who drew me to begin to read the next chapter in the study IMMEDIATELY after the last guest went home last night.

that never happens. but as it so happens, this chapter is about anger and irritability. and wow! i've been irritated with quite a few things lately.

the good news is, you cannot hide these kind of things from God.

so in the early morning hours, before the sun even thinks about rising, i can bring up the real stuff with a God who cares for me. who sees thru all the faults and flaws. who has a real, invested desire to see me break some chains, and move into more and more freedom in Him.

yes, i see that. and yes, it is better than the mall. thank goodness for january and newness all around. as much as i long for this winter season to be done with, i treasure it for the things that are being cultivated under the surface, that will surely bloom later on if i choose to nurture them along.

happy wednesday, guys!