Upcycling

So my latest obsession with organization & upcycling led to nothing cool, but it did at least have us using all of our curtains, etc as packaging material lol!

Going West

We are going out west in search of gold!

Or maybe just good Mexican food. Hubby may disagree, but I do like a good lowcountry shrimp & grits dish. We are going to our going away party today in the section of the area referred to as the Corner (referred with the local dialect as the ko-r-nah).

We are so blessed to have a send-off. The end of one chapter begets the beginning of the next.

Travel for Thought

As I am writing this, my body is resetting itself to its native timezone and our big luggage piece is brimming over, as of yet unpacked. Hubby and I have just come back from jumping the pond for a week with good friends. Hurray adventure!

Men in Black III has a good bit about how when there is too much to think through, it's time to eat some pie. Only then can we let our minds relax enough to figure things out.

So while on a trip 5 hours ahead of us in a foreign land, perspective smacked us in the face. Where we are now and where we want to be.

One of the conclusions that we drew is that in some ways we are very far from where we want to be, and in others we are right on track. For instance, I definitely want to continue to nest and get our home to reflect us more distinctly. We had begun that process a few months back. Now that I am state-side again, I am sacrificing myself to the Gods of Pinterest to see me through the rest of the house. Watch out, Charleston!

I'll write a separate entry about our trip to England once I have a chance to get those thoughts together.

To Do List

I know I can't be the only one who starts 50 different tasks with the best of intentions and then never getting anything done. Hubby crossed over my sacred home/work barrier to bring an idea from his workplace to our home. It's a type of to do board. The way it works is that you have three columns: to do, doing, and done. The catch is that are only so many slots in the "doing" column. For the two of us, there is three. So let's pretend that laundry, vacuuming and dishes are on the board. If one of us takes a break or is looking for something else to do, it's tough luck. One of the three things has to be completed and moved over to "done" before another task can be tackled.

I have to say, it has driven the point home that there is only so much two people can get done at once. We are still experimenting with it though.

Are there any weird systems that you use at home to divy up chores?

The older I get, the smarter they get :)

I am sure there could be pages, novels and complete series written to this topic. The most recent case of this in my life is actually quite simple.

Mom and Dad were right about the fruit and nut oatmeal! Holy cow! So, my parents have been reading that "Eat to Live" book and changing some of their eating habits accordingly. I have been back to their house a few times over the past few months and have gotten a taste of these changes. Mom, who always dotes on me more when I am home, made me some of their special oatmeal. Mom basically said it makes her feel like SuperWoman. I would refer to it as the SuperWoman oatmeal, but dad loves it just as much :)

Basically, make oatmeal and load it up with just as much fruit and nuts as the oatmeal itself! Mom and dad's is in a giant bowl for them to split and brimming over with the banannas, walnuts, blueberries and you name it in there. I made mine with the cheater's oatmeal (instant) and loaded it up with blueberries and walnuts. I walked out my door with a spring in my step for sure. And, I can't wait until breakfast again.

I will try to find a good image representation when I get on a real computer.

Loads of Laundry and Grocery Shopping

While we absolutely love our newest place to rent, there is one definite flaw - the laundry room is in the middle of the house and is incredibly noisy everytime it is in use. All my friends know that I hate loud noises, so guess what I do not want to listen to when I get home or am relaxing on the weekend? I am tempted to go buy a privacy screen to see if that would help damper some of the sound of it.

GROCERY SMART! Yes, that is a sentence. If you have not seen their website or used their app, check it out! Grocerysmart.net. It has improved our quality of life in our household lol.

Writer's block, so that is all for now :)

Oh What a Tangled Web We Weave

So this week was full of joy and wonder. 

Joy at the beautiful wedding of two very near and dear people to my heart. Wonder that I would end up in the very small town group dynamic again. Even my husband, who is from a small town himself, told me I did not warn him we were going into that far into the sticks. And do not get me wrong, I love Mena, AR. To give you an idea, it is the kind of place that the population sign probably isn't accurate because the town is getting smaller and smaller. The kind of place where you are shown the most kindness you could ever find anywhere because it does not even occur to people to be rude. I love it there but am probably too accustomed to being in bigger cities to settle in a place like it.

The tangled web came into play with the actual group of people involved. My relationship with the bride and groom. I met both through my old college boyfriend, actually my ex-fiance. You know, because in Arkansas it is perfectly natural for 19 year olds to think they will get married. Because in a lot of cases they do! When our relationship went south, I maintained very strong relationships with both his friend and then later on his little sister as well. In addition, this ex introduced me to the next boyfriend, let's call him the rebel. The rebel and the guy who got married are friends and have been living together. Then, the guy getting married has been very close with my husband. Got all of that yet? My husband ended up standing in as a groomsman in this wedding. I ended up standing in as the bride in the rehearsal. So, let's recap. The day before my dear friend's wedding, I walked down the aisle on the arm of a man who in another life would have been my father-in-law, toward my friend getting married standing next to all of the men with whom I have had a relationship in my adult life. You know, the day before they were all to be in matching tuxes. 

I have to give absolutely everyone credit, it went very smoothly and everyone made a point to honor the bride and groom and just ignore the awkwardness that could have ensued. I know my husband and I had a great time seeing everyone and being part of the festivities. The wedding was just beautiful, not that I would expect anything less from the people that put it together. Mission accomplished. 

When we started out for this trip, it did not occur to me that I would feel so different. Different, you say? Yes, different. These are people I have known for almost ten years, and not all of them have been around me in recent ones. There was a point at which someone actually told me that had to ask, "What's different about Megan?". Then they realized, I am not the quiet book-reading freshman in college. That Megan was just dying to come out of her shell! One of my kindred friends was there too who is in a similar phase to me and we just smiled, drank wine and reminisced. All in all, a great trip.