Visit cousin

Visit to the cousins new home. I cannot express the glee I have in going to see her! I am going to go down and work remotely from her home and vacation with her on the weekends! Look out Far, Far Away State - I am on my way!!

14.5 hours later... Stopping every 2 to 2 1/2 hours... I am finally here! 

Voice 1 and her quote of "Be polite your mother raised you to be a nice person!" I would like to tell you GPS time estimates are liars - this was not a 12hr drive... Apparently the makers of these mapping GPS donot take any consideration that I have a JEEP with a 12 gallon tank (needs to be kept at half a tank to calm my nerves) and a GIANT dog who feels the need to sniff every blade of grass at each stop along the way.

Voice 2 "Your mother raised to say nothing at all if you have nothing nice to say." I really want to seek the person who thought that tiny tank on a Jeep was a good idea and inform them no, no it was not! Also, rest stops are not restful, they are loud and busy and creepy!!

Voice 3 is saying (in that annoying voice of adult reason) All is good, you made it, you are safe.

Voice 4 pipes in, with that perpetual PMS, snapping out a slew of profanity… @#$%^&* and exactly why did I choose to drive through the night? Now I am beyond amped on caffeine drinks and couldn't sleep if i wanted to. I really feel like my eyes resemble an owl at this moment.

Voice 5 comments are filled with uplifting quotes. “today is a great day to smile & be happy"

Voice 6, determination for taking over the world one step at a time, tossing glitter along the way – says MADE IT - now enjoy the next 2 weeks

And that I did, so many fun places to see and eat and visit! Beaches, National Parks, Casino, more parks, tour of Military Ships & a Submarine, glorious sun sets and sand to walk on.

Thanks for the read! XOXO

Cousin moves far, far away.

 When huge life changes happen, they seem to happen in clumps. The breakup - then losing one of my closest friends to a cross country move. I knew her move was happening but had no clue it would be so quick and soon!!! I need her here!!!

Snow is flying, I am working, her and her husband are franticly bouncing around at banks and brokers. Then they come in, pack up the vehicles and roll out on the 14hr journey. I wave from the window and choke on my tears. I am so happy to see them so in love and happy. They are moving on with their dream life, and I am staying here working on mine.  But with that said, beloved cousin is relocated and happy in a new state far, far way... But I shall visit quarterly as planned! 

Emotionally drained from the outcome of an ugly parts of life and physically drained from all the clean up and remodeling needed after. I decided to put the cabin up for sale and see where it takes me.

The in my mind board meetings have been loud and full of spirit through all this!  

Voice 1 ,"Be polite your mother raised you to be a nice person!"  I thank those who helped me in the repair, and for those who have given me the opportunity to grow & learn.

Voice 2, "Your mother raised to say nothing at all if you have nothing nice to say." Oh I have sooo many negatives to say, but will restrain myself. She gets a nod, because I want to remain positive and hopeful.

Voice 3 is saying (the annoying voice of adult reason) All things happen for a reason, trust the process.

Voice 4 pipes in, completely true to form with perpetual PMS, is snapping out a slew of profanity… @#$%^&*  I cannot decide if I like change, but I can tell you for a fact I donot like heart break nor sadness with feeling completely alone!

Voice 5 comments with today’s uplifting quote.  "Every day may not be good, but there is good in every day"

Voice 6, pops in with all her happy sparkly personality, with all the determination to take over the world one step at a time, tossing glitter along the way smiles.  I have a vacation place to go to for the next 13 years - AKA when I retire and can move there for good. If the stars line up and I can get there sooner, I would be more than pleased! 

Will I sell the cabin? Will I keep the cabin? Will I work from home for the rest of my career? Who actually knows, but I am going to be open to new avenues & enjoy visiting cousin in her new home town, and look for mine....

Have a great day & Sparkle on!! Thanks for the read :) xoxox

Cabin updates update...

Well now, the a few weeks, maybe months has turned into almost a year! As earlier stated - working from home has had my creative mind humming. I shall keep you updated on new updates! Here are some of the fails and still not done for now though.

1st of all, the Bedroom finally has its trim work up and after many months the window has been replaced by a paid professional. The wait for bookshelves is still happening. The door replacement ended up me hanging a retro style curtain because I saw it on my beloved Pinterest. 

2nd - the garden was a HUGE FAIL.. I believe we got 6 beans total & nothing else. Apparently you need sunshine on the said garden for veggies and sunflowers to grow. The area was too shady for those plants, so another trip to the greenhouse and it now houses shade loving plants, spring will tell if this new plan worked.

3rd - Mother nature proved her point more than once that a mini pond was a bad idea in a live creek bed. The cute pond Oakley loved dearly has been filled in. After the tornado like winds and rain storm destroyed the walls and filled it many rocks I sadly gave in an back-filled the watering hole. Back to having a babbling brook no pond area.

The in my mind board meetings have been loud and full of spirit through all these setbacks for sure, then again, they always are :)  

Voice 1 ,"Be polite your mother raised you to be a nice person!"  I thank those who helped me along the trail of build it and see if it works, and those who where paid to do a good job.

Voice 2, "Your mother raised to say nothing at all if you have nothing nice to say." I actually only want to say nice things right now, so she doesn't get much acknowledgement today.

Voice 3 is saying (the annoying voice of adult reason) All these "little projects" have had challenges and changes and I have learned from them all.

Voice 4 pipes in, completely true to form with perpetual PMS, is snapping out a slew of profanity… @#$%^&*  BE ANGRY/ BE SAD. Nope not listening to her today - I am blessed with a home and a safe place to rest at night.

Voice 5 comments with today’s uplifting quote.  "Think Positive & it will be a Positive Outcome"

Voice 6, pops in with all her happy sparkly personality, with all the determination to take over the world one step at a time, tossing glitter along the way smiles. This is my favorite way to look at the defeated attempts, so she is gonna win today's round table discussion.

Have a grand day & Sparkle on!! Thanks for the read :) xoxox

Kitchen done

Kitchen remodel- hate the color hate the memories... redo it! Bright airy colors..

Voice 1 ,"Be polite your mother raised you to be a nice person!"  Help is always welcome.... unless they hate to paint! Ugggg  CURSE a blue streak. 

Voice 2, "Your mother raised to say nothing at all if you have nothing nice to say." Yup, say nothing other than thanks. Again, there is a notable continued amount of cussing in my head.

Voice 3 is saying (the annoying voice of adult reason) Seriously, I love a challenge, but this has becoming a true repeat issue out here. All reworks take a bit of rethinking.

Voice 4 pipes in, completely true to form with perpetual PMS, is snapping out a slew of profanity… @#$%^&*  ISSUES Gahhhh I am really tired of her being correct.

Voice 5 comments with today’s uplifting quote.  "All set backs prepare you for the come back”

Voice 6, pops in with all her happy sparkly personality, with all the determination to take over the world one step at a time, tossing glitter along the way smiles. This is for Oakley and I to enjoy,  embrace it. I will love it when it's done...SO here we go AGAIN, toss that Glitter and smile! 

2 weeks later the kitchen looks so pretty and with more coats of paint than I want to admit, I love it. 

Ahhh, Oakley’s Cabin. Love it!

Thanks for the read! XOXO

Hickups happen

Hickups happen- relationships break and bend and mend...

Voice 1 ,"Be polite your mother raised you to be a nice person!"  Stay off social media for months....CURSE a blue streak. 

Voice 2, "Your mother raised to say nothing at all if you have nothing nice to say." Yup, say nothing - let others guess what happened. Again, there is a notable continued amount of cussing in my head.

Voice 3 is saying (the annoying voice of adult reason) Seriously, if you know me You know I hate drama so I’ll avoid it at all cost.

Voice 4 pipes in, completely true to form with perpetual PMS, is snapping out a slew of profanity… @#$%^&* DONOT BE DISAPPOINTED.. I am really tired of her being correct.

Voice 5 comments with today’s uplifting quote.  "Live life fully.”

Voice 6, pops in with all her happy sparkly personality, with all the determination to take over the world one step at a time, tossing glitter along the way smiles. Pick yourself up & go AGAIN, toss that Glitter and smile! 

Months later - I’m back, I’m not okay but I keep going.. the board meetings keep happening in my head and I truly don’t know who to listen too but I am thankful for them all and THRIVE! 

Thanks for the read! XOXO

Bedroom Renovation

Working from home has my creative mind humming. Sitting in my newly transformed to home office, I can see directly into the master bedroom. This makes me start to loath it. There is cedar plank on every square inch of it. Ceiling and walls. Mini nails pop out here and there and snag me. It MUST GO.

Voice 1 ,"Be polite your mother raised you to be a nice person!"  Shake my head - I am the fool who signed up for this... But seriously who does this? It is a Pinterest Project that fooled me for sure. CURSE a blue streak. 

Voice 2, "Your mother raised to say nothing at all if you have nothing nice to say." I know, I know... I really should not be left to my own devices when bored and I also know that everything in this house is half @$$ done. Again, there is a notable continued amount of cussing.

Voice 3 is saying (the annoying voice of adult reason) Seriously woman, have you learned nothing in all these "little projects" I promise I love a challenge, but this has becoming a true repeat issue out here.

Voice 4 pipes in, completely true to form with perpetual PMS, is snapping out a slew of profanity… @#$%^&*  ISSUES !!!! !@#$%^& Sigh, sort of tired of her being correct.

Voice 5 comments with today’s uplifting quote.  "Today is a Perfect day to be Awesome"

Voice 6, pops in with all her happy sparkly personality, with all the determination to take over the world one step at a time, tossing glitter along the way smiles. This is for Oakley and I to enjoy,  embrace it. I will love it when it's done...SO here we go AGAIN, toss that Glitter and work away.

Tara the splinter covered, vinegar smelling, paint splatters, unicorn has this!!The results are as follows.

Ceiling is 1st. Oh so very pleased to find more wood... This is actually pretty though, its old and dingy, but a coat of high gloss bright white and I am pleased. Well not with that light fixture. Now it must go. A trip to the hardware store later, purchase a new crystal mini chandelier. Much nicer.

Whopper jawed bi-fold doors with a hole in them, must go. The plan is to put sliding barn door style ones up, but still have not gotten that far.

Take all the cedar off the walls, friend who is watching the live demolition via SnapChat says she wants it all - happily have her and her husband come pick it up that night! No clean up issues - WE KNOW this is a thing for me. What was under the cedar is terrifying. The prior owner didn't take the drywall to the ceiling, so that will have to be have to fix that. Better plan, after staring at it for hours - buying trim to hide it!!  The horrid, wallpaper proved to be a challenge - but hot water and vinegar soaking worked like a charm. It would have probably been easier too if I had a real proper tool not my kitchen spatula, but hey it worked!

Walls are now patched and painted to a lovely shade called chrome. This paint rocks! It actually has glitter in it. That new light makes it look so pretty.

I am semi-pleased and know it will be marvelous. But, yet again must play the waiting game, because who starts a project but doesn't have the know-how or tools. YUP, me. I will wait, ever so patiently for my father to assist me with the replacement of a drafty goes to nowhere window to be turned into a book shelf and the door to be hung and the trim to hide the ugly imperfections of the drywall.

Ahhh, Home ownership. Love it!

Thanks for the read! XOXO

We have a Garden

Ahhhh... Life in the woods is so serine. Relax, lean back, breath... But, is that the reminiscent hull of a raised garden? Oh, wouldn't having a garden be nice??? YES and YES! That is a garden... or what was once one.

Here we go! 

Step one - unearth the hidden by years of neglect and no love landscaping timber.

Step two - calculate how many new pieces of timber will be needed and head off to the supply store.

Step three - erect the raised garden! Holy cow, so many rocks, so much ivy. Oh what in heavens name was I thinking??? Now realizing this is why it has died the unsightly death. It's a serious pain in the rear end!!!

Step four - complain to cousin and her soon to be husband about how you will never be able to plant it without a tiller. Amazingly, wonderful future in-law comes over and tills it for me the next day, God sent angle in my eyes!

Steps five & six - going to a greenhouse, shops for seeds and seedlings, & plant them!!!

Ahhhh... Life in the woods is so serine. Relax, lean back, breath... AND NOW WE WAIT, Oakley & I cannot contain our excitement over growing sunflowers, peppers, tomatoes, green beans & broccoli. I wish he didn't like to inspect it so very much, because he seems to trample them every time he goes down for a sniff, but I mean, he is a dog.

Shoosh - Cabin Life... We do really love it! 

Thanks for the read XOXO!!