Well, It's New Years Eve

I don't really do resolutions anymore. What's the point, right? I never, ever keep them. Instead of looking forward, I've been looking back on this year. It hasn't been sensational..and now-a-days, thanks to social media, to have anything less can sometimes make a person feel inadequate. But it has been a good year.

For one, I'm still alive! Hey-YO! That's something, right?

I'm still married to the love of my life.

All of my babies are still happy and healthy, even if they are showing their age a little.

I still have my job. It's was a little dicey this year.

I still have my adorable, cozy, love cottage. Even if the storage space is reaching max capacity.

We purchased not one, but TWO, vehicles this year.

I've finally found the perfect technique of curling my hair with the straightener.

I'm pretty excited that we are at the point in our adult lives where we can replace a water heater without charging it.

I still have fab health insurance...thankfully, since Jeremy had to have surgery this year (it was minor, although the bill would not have been).

I've grown closer to the women in my family.

I drank a beer (or part of a beer) with my husband and my sister and my cousin, after visiting the very peaceful FT. Worth Botanical Gardens.

I made my first quilt top with my brand new sewing machine my mom and Grandma bought for me.

We grew our own vegetables...which we used in our dinner salads! Fresh cherry tomatoes are the bomb.

I broke the 10,000 word mark on my novel. Who knows how long it will take me to finish it, if I ever do. But you know what, I'm ok with that.

Overall, it's been a fantastic year. And I didn't have to make and/or keep one New Year's resolution to make it so. It just was. I'm hoping for more of the same in 2016. I want to keep my family closer, hug my babies longer, sew all the things..even if I mess it up, grow more veggies, keep working on the love cottage, write more, create more, laugh more, and love more.

And, in 2016, I wish for you to find more of whatever makes you happy. Whatever lights up your world and fills up all your cracks. Be it big or small, a new start or a continuation of the same, cheap or expensive. Whatever it is that brings you the most joy...I want you to find more of that.

 

Happy New Year's!

My thanks giving project

I came up with this quick little Thanksgiving project at work this week. I asked for my coworkers to send me what they are thankful for. Then I put them on leaves and decorated a bulletin board with them.

My leaf says, "I am thankful for my husband and the home we have made together. He is my safe haven".

Tell me something you're thankful for.

Thanksgiving {In Photos}

Just a friendly game of Candy Land.

Our fabulous cooks.

 

It was a peel-off. Who's peeler works better?

 

One hungry lumber jack.

My purple and red turkey. Original art from Dolly.

Star and Dolly.

 

Birthday celebration #1.

The love of my life.

Mom and Tiny Girl (aka Lil Mama).

 

Two cute red headed dudes.

Birthday celebration #2

Pops entertaining the kids.

Shopping on Thanksgiving?! Crazy.

Gratitude to cure the funk

"Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel." ~Author Unknown

After my Debbie Downer post, I thought it might be time for a gratitude post. If there is one thing that helps pull me out of a dark mood..it's thankfulness.

 



 



1) I'm thankful for friends with green thumbs who share their bounty. 2) I'm thankful for a husband that gets down and dirty to care for our love cottage. 3) I'm thankful for a mom that still comes to my rescue. 4) I'm thankful for pumpkins on porches. 5) I'm thankful for a living room floor full of dog toys. 

 

I'm thankful for my neice.

This is the girl of my heart.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm thankful for a good book...

...that distracts me so thoroughly I forget to post a 'thankful' post.

Oops. I missed a day! LOL. This week has been crazy busy (and it ain't over yet).

I'm thankful for fun blog swaps!

I signed up for Jessica and Ashlee's super fun 'Just Add Color' fall swap. We were matched up with one other blogger and we had to send each other a scarf and a nail polish. How fun is that?!!

I was matched up with Mariah..a fellow OOTD girl.

When the UPS man dropped off my package I swear I 'squeed' and did a happy dance right in the living room. My husband shakes his head at me a lot. I can't understand why. I had also received my first birchbox that day too. So it was a FABULOUS mail day.

The package came at the perfect time because the weather dipped the very next day and I was able to sport my brand new plaid scarf. I love the purple and blue in this scarf. So fun! It was exactly the POP I needed for my outfit.

I'm sure you notice in the above picture (AND in the pictures below) that my nails are blue. In my birchbox I received a sample size bottle of Zoya polish in Noel. I had TWO new nail polish to try. What was I suppose to do but paint my nails one color and my toes another?

I am currently sporting my swap nail polish, Sally Hansen 'All Fired Up', on my toes.

My FAVORITE thing about this polish is the wand. I've never seen one like this, but they should ALL be like this. It's short and wide..instead of long and thin. It made painting my toe nails super easy!

GGrrreeaatt picture of my double chin and the polish wand.

I was beyond thrilled with my package! Mariah was a great swap partner and I cannot wait to see her post about how she styled the scarf I sent her!!

I'm thankful for Mack

This is Mack. He turns NINE tomorrow.

It seems like just yesterday he was only five. And Spongebob was his favorite.

Now, he's too grown up for Spongebob. Instead he likes to play video games.

Just yesterday, he was a scrawny little boy that would make up songs and dance around the living room

Now he is almost as tall as I am.

But it doesn't matter how tall he grows or how old he gets. He'll always be a little boy in my eyes. And I'll always hug him a little tighter. And I'll always call him 'baby'. And he will always have a very special place in my heart because he made me an aunt.

Happy birthday, Mack-a-roni.

I'm thankful for stain remover

I spilled a single drop of my pumpkin spice latte this morning.

Normally, it wouldn't be a big deal. But today...today I was wearing white capri pants.

Dang it.

I'm thankful it's Friday

Play Along!

1. A nervous habit I have is   I blush. When I have a room full of people and all eyes are on me, I blush really bad. I feel like my cheeks are on fire.

 

 

2. Something that makes me sad is   neglected/abused children and animals. It's inexcusable .

3. Today I am thankful for   my husband. He is my constant, my rock.

 

 

4. My favorite room in my house is   the "office". The third room in our house, which is too small for a bedroom and has the backdoor in it has become our den. We spend nearly 100% of our time in this room.

 

 

5. I can't stand  people who act like the world owes them something. Life can be shitty and unfair. Sometimes, it sucks. But you deal with it and move on. No one owes you anything and your life is as good as you decide its going to be.

6. If I had an extra $100 to spend on whatever I wanted today I would   take Lil'Mama to the vet. She needs to come in this house..right now! And I can't do that until I know she is healthy.

7. The last person I hung out with was   my husband. We hang out every night. lol.

I'm thankful for our bleeding hearts

This is Lil'Mama.

Well, she actually started out as "Tink" or something equally unfitting. She once belonged to our hillbilly next door neighbors. They kept her as a strictly outdoor cat and even though I cannot 100% confirm this...I'm pprreettyy sure they never fed her.

During the summer, which was the most BRUTAL summer I can ever remember, she became a regular visitor to our back porch. It was covered and the concrete was cool. She would lay under the coffee table and just pant. What else could I do but start giving her water?

As the summer went on and "Tink" was still hanging out. And I noticed that she was just so skinny. SSooo, I kind of..sort of..started feeding her..just a little bit. Jeremy will tell you..she was so thin. Except for her growing belly. That's right. She was pregnant. Which is when I took to calling her Lil'Mama.

She had her kittens but kept them over at the next door neighbor's house. We only saw the kittens a handful of times. There were three..and then two..and then only one. Until there were none. I don't know what happened to them. I sort of don't want to think about what probably happened to them.

Our hillbilly neighbors eventually disappeared. Oh, their stuff was still at the house...still is...but they have stopped living in the house. But Lil'Mama is still here...on our back porch. We are now feeding her on the regular. She comes when I call her. I'd say she has decided to stay.

I thought, at first, that we would sort of just foster her. Feed her and care for her until we could find her a good home. That was my TRUE intentions. I even put it out there on facebook. BBuutt..she has sort of grown on me...damn it. So we have recently made the decision to keep her.

We haven't been able to take her to the vet just yet. For one, it's right before the holidays and our extra money is tied up in other things. And two, we are still waiting for the hillbilly neighbors to officially move out. We don't want to put in the effort of vetting her if they decide to come and grab her. I really don't think they will ever come back for her..at least I hope they won't.

So, for now, until we can make sure she is healthy and safe to be around our other animals, we've set her up a little house on our back porch. It isn't much, but it gives her some place to go as the weather gets colder. I actually made her a rice pillow...from scratch..with a sewing machine. I don't sew, people. But I sure did stitch a rice pillow that I can warm up for this little kitty.

I did not want another animal. I was quite adamant that we NOT keep her. I mean, just take a look at the brood of animals we already have living in this little love cottage..just to your left there. That is FIVE animals..Lil'Mama makes six. That is just insane. But it wasn't really up to me. She picked US to be her people. And how can I argue with that?

* I will never get in the habit of asking for money on my blog...but if you happen to be feeling charitable and would like to donate to the cost of housing (we want to get her a insulated igloo house..smallest one is $100) and vet'ing (spaying is $60 + the cost of shots and illness tests) Lil'Mama, please email me at justjinny@hotmail.com. *