Happy Birthday Miss Ava!

Even though I can't be there to celebrate with you, I want you to know I'm thinking of you today!  You are one special little girl, and I hope your mama and I will be better about visiting, because I definitely want to you know you and see you grow!  It's hard to believe that you're already three!  

Hugs and Kisses from Kansas,

Aunt Jen

I wish...

I wish I were working in this space today.  Doesn't it look so serene and conducive to creative thought?  And, organized to boot!  It's pretty much the exact opposite of my desk today...busy, busy!  

Hope you all are having a great week!

What's your "office" space looking like today? 

{image via pinterest}

Time...

I'm very aware this morning of time....

The passing of it, the shortness of life.  

There never seems to be enough.

Today is no exception.  I have deadlines looming, and I'm feeling hurried, and all I want to do is slow down and enjoy every moment.  I'm doing my best.  

 

This week will bring with it the birthdays of two of my favorite people, and mine as well.  My twenties are fleeting, and although I know that my thirties hold the promise of being quite spectacular, I'm a little shocked that they're already knocking on my door. 

Sadly, this week will also bring with it a funeral.  A very dear friend of our family, and a member of our nation's greatest generation and a WWII veteran has passed.    I learned alot about the cost of freedom from that man.  He made an impression on me that I know will follow me throughout my days.  I feel so very blessed to have known him.  

I'm also hoping that time continues to heal my Miles.  He's doing well, considering.  Still trying to get back on his feet.  Poor little feller.  

And, this week will have a holiday weekend!  And the 4th of July...one of my absolute favorite holidays. 

Here's to a week full of wonderfulness and time to enjoy it! 

{photo credit:  Angie♥Nan}

Friday at last...

{photo of the sky on my walk in to work this morning}

It's a beautiful morning here in Kansas.  The cool morning air will soon turn sweltering.  {we're supposed to get up to 92 today....ick}  

I think it's about time to break out the coconut lime verbena.  {speaking of which, the sale is going on.  Anyone know when it ends?  I need to make it there!}

Happy Friday!  I hope you have a great weekend!  My plans include snuggling with my kitty, painting 4 {maybe 5} piggy banks, and relaxing. This may or may not include a couple glasses of Boones Farm.  Hey, don't judge...it's cheap, and delicious.   {I actually had never tried it til last weekend, but I can't say I hated it.}

Whatever you do, enjoy every second!

 

Checking in...

First of all, thank you for all your sweet comments and prayers.  You have no idea how much it means to me!

Miles is doing well.  He is not back to himself, but certainly is on his way.  Monday was really, really hard.  He was in alot of pain, and it broke my heart.  But, after alot of prayers, I watched his pain subside, and he slept.  Every day he's getting a little better.  That's all I can really ask for.   We're blessed with wonderful caring moms and step-moms who were kind enough to cat sit yesterday so that we could go to work.  Today he'll be by himself for a few hours at a time.

We've also learned that the blood clots are most likely a hereditary issue and on the rare occasion that a cat survives it, it's not uncommon for it to reoccur.  We're so incredibly grateful for Miles miraculous ability to bounce back and we have a game plan to make sure we're doing everything we can to keep him from relapsing again.  We'll just keep fighting the good fight.  He has so much love left in him!

This week has exhausted me, as you might imagine.  I slept well last night.  I was in bed by 9:00 and it was glorious!  The only thing is, I dreampt that I lost a tooth.  I'm sure I was grinding my teeth in my sleep, cause my tooth in fact hurts this morning.  Do you ever do that?  I'm sure it's stress related.

Anyway,  I may not be back til next week.  I promise to have some exciting things to share with you soon.  Until then, please know how much I appreciate you all.  I'm so lucky to have so many amazing friends!  ;)  Have a happy weekend! 

{photo credit:  Jessica Paige {One Willow}}

:(

Gosh, I feel like I'm full of crummy news lately, but I have more.  My Miles Kitty is sick again.  Same problem as last time.  Please pray for him.  We caught it right away this time, so hopefully he will pull through for us again, and I'm praying that it won't take as long this time.
I love him so much!
Thanks guys...

Burning questions...Internet help!

I'm without internet at home!  Eeeek!

Any advise you could give me would be greatly appreciated!  

It's been out since a storm we had the other night.  We've unplugged everything, waited and plugged it all back in multiple times, but nothing.  I was on the phone with Comcast waiting for a representative for about 20 minutes last night {my call is very important to them} but I hung up after I noticed that in my network settings the ethernet port is flashing in and out.  I guess I should have stayed on the line, but I thought maybe it was the actual ethernet port again.  grrrrr.  I'm not making a very good case for my Mac right now!  However, it is almost 10 years old!  I'm not convinced it's the computer either.  I like to think it's Comcasts fault!  ;)  Oh, and the light on the ethernet port itself on the back of the tower is flashing green...any idea if that's normal?

Help me please!  I don't want to be without internet all weekend!  :(  

I guess I'll have to call Comcast again if I can't figure it out.  Boo.  

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On a happier note...It's friday!  We made it to another weekend!  Hooray!  

What are your plans?

We're participating in the Relay for Life in our area this evening, and then laying low tomorrow {as far as I know}.  Then, Sunday, we're having a barbeque with our dads!

Hope you all have a glorious summer filled weekend!  ;)

{photo credit:  Dmitry Mordolff }

Credit Where Credit is Due...

I just discovered something glorious, and thought I'd share!

I'm always pulling images from various blogs and websites of things that inspire me, or that I'd love to own, but am not ready to buy right now.  The problem is, when I get around to posting about them, or decide I'd like to make a purchase {or even just look around to see what's new} I can't ever remember where the image is from!  {Now, I also have an ongoing list of links to things I love, but that's another story.}


This morning it dawned on me that I could make a note in the info pane of the image with the link to where I found it!  I'm not sure how this would be done on a pc, but surely you could....well, I would hope.  You know I'm a little biased toward Macs!

I'll use this image of this fabulous screen turned headboard found on Lake Jane this morning as an example.  {originally from Canadian House and Home}

All you have to do is Control click the image from your desktop {or the folder that you've neatly placed it in, unlike me}

Then click "Get Info"

At the very top of this window, there's a field labeled "Spotlight Comments"

Just copy paste your link in there, and whala!  You'll always have the link to that image!

This field is actually intended for you to make notes for easy searching via spotlight, but I think it works just as well this way!

I am going to make this my new procedure when pulling things from the web.  Now, I'll always be able to give credit to the lovely bloggers, designers and artists that deserve it!

Am I a slow kid?  Do you guys have a method for keeping track of where you get your images?  I'd love to hear your methods!

famille summerbelle...

You undoubtedly saw the new world map by Famille Summerbelle on Design Sponge today {and the inspiring video}, but have you checked out their site?  I was smitten by all the loveliness over there!  

I've always found paper cutting so fascinating, and I'm a sucker for intricately patterned objects, so you can imagine how much I adore their work.  It has me day-dreaming of trying my own hand at paper cutting....we'll see.

A few of my favorites all found here.

Oh, and Happy Hump Day!  How's your week going?

Old Photos, ghostly porch...

This ghostly image is of Aunt Georgia & Uncle George Read in Greenfield, MO sometime in the 1940's.  

Doesn't it give you goose-bumps?

*****I do ask that you keep in mind that these are my family photos.  Please do not use them without my written permission.  Thank you.*****

Groupon...

Chances are, you've all heard about Groupon already, but just in case, I thought I'd share with you!  Groupon is a super cool website that connects you to the best deals specific to your city on everything from restaurants to car washes.  You can sign up for daily emails so you never miss out on the perfect deal.  I've been following it for a long time, but just recently made my first purchase.  {and then today I made my second!}

I have to say, my experience was nothing short of wonderful!

Seriously folks, go check it out !  I bet they're in your city too!  Just follow the link, and then go to "visit more cities" at the top of the page right under the green subscribe button to find your city.

p.s. if you subscribe via the link I've provided , and so choose to purchase a groupon in the future, I'll receive $10 towards my next one.  That'd be awful nice of you!  And spread the word to your friends so you can get groupon bucks too!  ;)

Questions...

Happy Friday!

 I was hoping you could help me figure out some burning questions that I have!  Would you mind weighing in on the following?

1. Have you ever had your smoke detectors go off randomly?  

photo by Speg24 on flickr

Our upstairs detectors were going off every few minutes last night.  Not just beeping, but sounding!  They'd sound about 3-4 times, then stop for a few minutes, then it would happen again.  Of course, we checked the whole house and were certain there was no fire, but it was still quite unnerving!  I was worried for a bit that they might be carbon monoxideWe changed the batteries in the ones that were sounding.  I think I'll go buy all new batteries this weekend and change 'em all again, just in case the ones we used last night were no good.  Besides, we're due for that anyway.

Any idea what's causing this? 

2. Have you tried the OFF! Clip-on Mosquito Repellent?

via here.

I have really bad reactions to bug bites.  {like giant mounds of red itchiness that lasts for a week}  I hate using bug spray all the time.  The chemicals can't be good, right?  So, naturally I was drawn to the idea of this product, but wasn't sure if it would really work.  Mosquitos are so drawn to me.  I mean, we're talking I'll  have 10 bites within minutes an everyone around me will have nothing!  

If you haven't tried this, but have a great suggestion of something else, do share!  

3. Anyone know how to make a perfect mojito?  

photo by Marco Veringa on flickr

I'm thinking after this week, I'm going to relax with a drink on my patio!  I tried making some last weekend, but they just didn't seem as delicious as I remember.  Or, if you have another great summer cocktail, I'd love to try something new!  I'm usually a gin and tonic girl, but I'm craving variety!

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Thanks in advance for your help!  I'm excited to hear what you guys have to say!  {especially on that last one!}

I hope you all have fabulous plans for the weekend.  Ours will consist of a little of this, and a little of that.  Nothing to regimented, just how I like it!  

One of those bloggers...

Seems I've turned into one of those bloggers.  You know, the ones who take a break, and then say they're back, but then aren't really.  I hate that.

I'm really, really sorry guys!  I've missed you so!  Here's the deal.  My day job has gone into overdrive and is sucking every last bit of creativity from me.  It's amazing to me though how much this little blog has become a part of my life and a part of my routine.  I really don't feel right when I'm away.

So, in this brief time we have together, I'd like to share some beautiful bicycle pictures with you!  Some of my flickr faves...

Yes, my yearning for a bike continues.  And I've officially decided I will need a basket.  How else am I going to carry around my tulips?

oh, and if you want to see what else has been keeping be busy {and tired!}, go here .

{photo credits:  1. Marcin Banaszek , 2. blanaid dot com , 3. simply hue}

And now, back to your program...

Hi guys!  So happy to be back up and running!  {I would have been back this morning, but blogger was out of service!  oh the horror!}

I'll keep it brief and let you know that I'm feeling like a whole new Jen.  After handing my woes over to God,  I can honestly say that I have felt a shift inside me.  I've had this peace, and with it, a whole new laid back side of me is coming out!  I cannot tell you how good it feels!   

Since I'm feeling more relaxed these days, I may not do my Friday to-do lists anymore {at least for a while}.  I'm looking forward to just living, and while I will of course still have to be productive, right now I'm focussing on slowing down and enjoying life, and that means not putting so much pressure on myself!  I feel like this is a really good thing!

I'm excited to share some things with you all this week.  My day job is totally insane crazy busy right now, so if I'm a little sporadic,  that's why.

And now for a little fun!  I found the link to this project by Music Philosophy

 on Lake Jane last week, and was instantly smitten:

Aren't they fantastic!?  I love how they highlight such uplifting lyrics, and the typography makes the graphic designer in me happy.  ;)

oh, and for those of you lucky enough to own an iphone, they can be downloaded as desktop wallpaper!

I'll be....

Life has become jam packed full of things to do, so I'll be concentrating on that for a bit.  Not sure if it will be a day, or a week, but I'll be back soon my friends!  Hope you are all having a lovely week.

{{hugs}}

{photo credit:  XAVIER (K & FOTOGRAFIA)}

Reset button...

First of all, thank you so much for all of the encouraging words.  This blog world is such a magical place.  Really, I mean, where else can you find such good peeps from all over the world!?  I just want you to know how much each and every one of you means to me.  You make me feel like what I have to say matters and that I'm not alone.  Thank you!  

After a lot of talks, a lot of soul searching and a lot of prayers, I'm feeling much better.  I decided to hand it to God, and I actually felt him take it.  I realize that will probably sound hokey to some of you, but I actually felt it leave me.  It's gone, and I don't have that hole in my heart that I did last week.  I feel like that space has opened up, and now I can fill it with all good things!  

I realized that alot of my issues come from being a perfectionist {who, me?} and living under the assumption that I can control things.  I also bottle things up, and I'm not going to do that anymore.  I'm going to learn to deal with things as they happen and be okay with things not being perfect.  Cause really, life is perfectly imperfect, and I'm just along for the ride.  I'm going to slow down and enjoy it!  

I'll stop ranting now!  Hope you all had a glorious weekend, and are refreshed and ready to go again!  ;)  

{photo credit:  squeakypeach4}