The still of the night

There is something peaceful and relaxing about shutting the house down at night.  As if I were tucking in each room in our home to bed.  I start going room by room closing up curtains, picking up random things, and turning off the lights.  It's the time of day when the noise of the day has made way for the silence.  My body physically starts to unwind as I realize we've made it through another day.  Grateful is how I go to bed each night for the home we have worked sooooo hard on, for my husband who works while I sleep, and for our two sleeping girls.  No matter how close the girls have drove me to the end of my rope during the day in the end when they sleep they look like angels.  When I see them sleeping it is though they have unwritten all of their wrongs for the day and our ready to start out fresh for tomorrow.  Tomorrow is always fresh with no mistakes in it...

Etsy shop = Sweat shop?

One of the first steps I've taken for our 6 year moving plan is to create an Etsy shop that I will be able to transfer easily down to our new home when the time comes.  I've always enjoyed making things and really the type of stuff I made was really just dictated by my mood or the season.  I've wanted to start an Etsy shop but was worried that I would end up having to reproduce the same items over and over and over again until I hated every type of craft.  I thought I had come up with a genius solution to this problem by making my business straight up tell you that I was only making one of the item.  I realize my idea was good in concept but the name of my shop Just One Darling has now turned into Just One Darling (me) making items over and over again!!  This was no fault of Etsy but of Facebook...  Facebook has caused me to be a sweatshop after posting something I had made and now being requested to make multiple of it.  This has always been my thought...people find something they like to do then try to make money off of it and end up hating the thing that they loved in the first place.  I find this true with people and jobs.  It seems everyone that I talk to on a regular basis that has the same job day after day complains about the people they work with and the job they're doing.  Honestly, it causes me to believe that too much of anyone or the same work will cause you to complain.  I purposely had multiple jobs so I never got sick of what I was doing or who I was working with.  I can truthfully say I was happy to go to work and see the people I worked with.  Not many can say the same.  My new task is to find a way to make things even repeats at a pace that I don't get sick of doing it.  I'm off to go finish up my orders! 

Simplifying when my life didn't choose to be simple

When the new year rolls around it always brings about thoughts of how I will make this year better than the last.  I come up with these goals that last for a few weeks and then I slow stop going to the gym, my diet goes down the drain, and then I fall back into my old habits.  This year for me is going to be all about simplifying, organizing, and doing better by our money.  At the beginning of 2017, I had 3 paid jobs and one volunteer job I did every week.    I for some insane reason purposely filled my life and days up to the max when I didn't need to.  I felt a weird sense of satisfaction being able to multi-task and handle so many things going on.  I have come to my senses and realized I was going down a path that was not good.  I have kicked off my new simple life by quitting one of my three paid jobs and I passed the baton on for my volunteer job.  God had been tugging at my heart ever since we came back from Franklin, TN over Christmas break to let go of this particular paid job.  Almost 4 years of multiple job juggling it had become more of a headache than the joy it started out and the freedom I felt when turning in my two weeks notice confirmed why it was needed.  I bought a shirt on Etsy that says "She designed a life she loved" and I intend on taking steps this year to get me there.       

Sore Rear = DIY Bleacher Mat

My rear-end is getting up in age and has become not a fan of sitting on bleachers for long periods of time.  Our oldest daughter has decided that my rear will be sitting EVERY season possible in a school year.  😒 I've tried to combat this problem with my exercise mat which does work well and provides additional sitting for my hubby and youngest daughter.  As great as the mat works it is also bulky and not very attractive.  I've decided to take the mat to the next level and perfect it with school spirit.

I started by taking the mat and measuring the width and cutting it in half.  This way the sizing will fit the bleacher width better and not be so bulky. The mat is very easy to cut with regular scissors and will now give me 2 mats instead of 1!

I bought 2 yards of fleece with our school colors, orange and black and 2 large sheets of black felt to cut out letters.  I traced around my go to stencils with a piece of chalk and then cut out each letter to spell out our school.  If I had a fancy cricut cutter I would have totally used that.  If anyone wants to send me one I'd be happy to take it off your hands!! 😂   

The next thing I did was measured and laid out my letters onto the top piece of fleece that I had already cut in half and used fabric glue to tack them into place before I sewed them on. 

After sewing on all of the letters, I laid my top piece of fleece on to my bottom piece.  

I measured a 3x3 square for the corners and then used a ruler and chalk to measure out my 3" lines for cutting. 

I then started doing the no sew fleece technique by folding the flaps up and cutting a small slit.

I then pulled the fleece up and through the small slit.

It then made it look like this...

I really wanted the polka dots on top so I just pushed the orange back through the slit again which left it looking like this. 

I wiggled my athletic mat in before I tied up the last end. I'm happy with the finally results but would have looked to have a cricut, rotary cutter, and mat to speed up the project.  I added a velcro strap for easy carrying.  Hope this tutorial helped you and your rear for the next sporting event! 

   

Back in the Saddle...

So after not posting in almost 8 years, I've decided to get back in the saddle.  I'm going to use this as a tool to journal from taking a dream and turning into a reality.  Greg and I have traveled all over and our love of travel is truly what brought us together.  We recently took our 2 daughters over Christmas break to Franklin, Tennessee and we fell in love.  Greg and I plan on moving down to Tennessee once both of our daughters have graduated.  I now have 6 years to get life in order in Michigan and prepare to take on a more simplistic lifestyle in Tennessee.