Good Random Fun {Weeks 11 & 12}

Here's a quick glimpse of the non-packing related things that have been going on in my neck of the woods.

I am no longer leaving work in the dark.

This is good. Very, very good!

I held my last scrapbooking workshop at my old house.

So. Many. Emotions.

I texted my daughter and told her I felt like I was in a Series Ending episode,

and that the lights were going to go off just as I set my keys on the counter.

In her wisdom she encouraged me with the words:

Not Series Ending....Season Ending.

Right she is!

I'm embracing the endings,

and the new beginnings!

This, too, is good.

Spring is such a great time to move because that sense of new beginnings is all around us!

Speaking of spring...
This week begins with a random, mid-march snow storm!
Just in time to confuse the buds and blooms!

One of the most fun bits about sorting and packing is all the random treasures I discover.
This week I found a report my husband wrote copyrighted in 1974
and one of my daughters favorite reads from her childhood days in France.

It's also nice to note that amidst all the stress and work of moving,
we are surrounded by good friends who've drug us out of the house and insisted we have some fun!

And yesterday my sweet Max
{aka best grandpuppy ever}
came over to see me.
Because I needed one last cuddle with him in this house.
And he {apparently} needed one last look at all the goings on outside grandma's house.


We're getting there folks.
I'm about 80% packed with 10 days left before we sign.
Keep sending all your prayers, good thoughts and positive vibes out into the universe for us!
If you follow me on instagram
{@scrapbookmom17}
you'll know the moment we've got those keys in our hands!!



Joining Tamar for
Good Random Fun
and
Judith for
Mosaic Monday

{Good Random Fun} Weeks 6-8

Well....it's been a few weeks.

I haven't updated on Mondays because, well, honestly I've been exhausted as I've begun each of the last few weeks. I'm pretty tired today too. To keep it real, today began with a mini-melt down. But, I'm getting ahead of myself!

In the midst of all the house hunting, the last few weeks have been full of some very, very fun things!

There was a formal dinner, a hotel stay, a few unplanned lunches with some good friends and a wine tasting party! My 'baby' boy turned 26 - whew! And some of our dearest friends came in from out of town for a visit. Throw house hunting into the mix and we've been much busier than we normally are! So... lots of fun.

In the random department, I still feel like the fact that we seriously considered buying an antique house with a 6500 square foot barn on the property one of the more random events of recent years! Here's one last photo of said property....it's kind of like "say yes to the dress" - it's fun to show you the pictures of the house we DIDN'T choose! Builds up the suspense for the grand {eventual} unveiling of the house that will become our home.

Also in the random department, one of the things I will miss about our current house, is the window at the top of the stairs that greets me each chilly morning with the most lovely frost patterns on her panes...I have loved every feathery moment of this artistry!

As far as good things? Well...the lean and mean organization purge continues. I am seriously enjoying cleaning out EVERY nook and cranny of our current abode as we prepare to move forward.

Yesterday I finished sorting/filing/paring down my photos. Felt just great to have this tedious, time consuming project completed!

With all that said - back to my mini-melt-down. We're putting an offer in on a house today. It's a first step, and who knows if this is the real "IT" ... but this is all starting to get real, and the emotions of leaving one chapter and beginning another are starting to really hit me. So...this morning was a loopy roller coaster ride in my heart and brain! Not, I feel certain, the last before this is all said and done.
Winter has sent us some beautiful, snowy days, and some unseasonably warm, sunny ones.... hmmm....the weather seems to be a bit like my emotions ~ all over the place!!

In spite of all of this craziness, the sun continues to rise and set. Family and friends are well.
And for the abundance of it all, I must say, I am oh so very grateful.

Joining Tamar for Good Random Fun

and

Judith for Mosaic Monday

{Good Random Fun} Week 5

The Good

One month in to 2016.

How, you ask, is it going with my word choice for the year?

I know you're on the edge of your seats!

Well....

The word I'd use to describe the month of January is....revealing.

There was a 2 week cleanse.

There was yoga.

And there was fresh air, sunshine and walking.

Physically speaking, a pretty darn good month!

The interesting thing to me is that, as we prepare for our move,

and I focus on this idea...

The idea of being efficient.

Of having nothing in excess of what is needed.

Of being single minded in my objective....

As I focus on lean and mean,

I'm finding that the real "house cleaning"

is taking place inside my head and heart.

Facing the facts about what we need/can afford in this house hunting journey

is bringing to the surface all sorts of feelings.

I've been fighting demons of regret.

The woulda/coulda/shoulda demons are knocking at my door.

Those "unfair" demons are dancing all around me.

And the self-pity demons...well, they're trying to throw a rager!

{a rager with no alcohol...cause I was cleansing...and - well - don't actually drink!}

But boy oh boy are these words - lean and mean - grounding me.

Reminding me.

Bringing me back to mindfulness.

To my chosen path.

To my heart center.

And, most importantly...to gratitude.

Stay tuned - I feel like I'm in for a wild ride on my 2016 journey!

The Random

I so delight...

...in these amazing little...

...weeds of winter!

The Fun

The artsy component of my new recipe book is complete!
{that's the fun part}
Let's see if I can get all my recipes transcribed onto the cards in the month of February!
{not as fun...but it'll feel oh-so-good to get it done!}




Joining Tamar and Judith

{Good Random Fun} Week 2

The Good

I managed to get some more boxes packed.

And to begin the daunting task of sorting, organizing and {perhaps} selling off

some of my HUGE selection of scrapbooking and craft supplies!

I {of course} want to set up a workshop space wherever we move.

However...

if I'm taking my own "lean and mean" challenge seriously,

there's some sorting, sifting and lightening that needs to go on here!

The Random and the Fun

I very much enjoyed the ice that was at the edge of the pond last week.

It's as if the pond was melting out from under the frozen bits,

and the result was some interesting, albeit random, icy sculptures.

As usual, the fun was in the photography!

Joining Tamar and Judith

{Good Random Fun} Week 1

The Good 

Yoga is good.

A delight.

A long-time dream realized.

It feels so right to be carrying this new habit,

this new practice,

into the new year.

And is there anything quite as yummy as a new journal?

I love the clean slate/fresh start feel of that first page.

The Random

Zen and the Coloring Craze.

I'm trying it!

Love the colors. Need a pencil sharpener.

Feels a tad random to me.

Yet to totally see the point.

Which, I suppose might be the point? That there isn't one?

It does cross my mind that I'm not great at doing things that produce "nothing" ...

All the crafting I do, which I find enormously therapeutic,

turns into something. A card. A book..... a blog post.

So far, I'm enjoying this, and asking myself if NOT having a point is, in fact the point.

And WHY do I need to always be "producing" something...Hmmm....

The {should have been} Fun

It was NOT a good football weekend for me and my boys.

Saturday night we watched our Ducks drown in the second half of their bowl game.

At least we were together.

It was fun to be down town and hanging at the bar where my son works.

Would have been LOTS more fun had they won!

And don't even talk to me about the Patriots.

Really. Don't.

Too. Much. Stress.

Maybe I should have stuck to coloring?!?

Joining Tamar and Judith

Wildflowers

I spent time last weekend with a huge field of wildflowers.
Captivated, I lost myself in a sort of timelessness.
I'm not sure, but I might have a new first love.

I think it's the beauty in the arbitrary that tugs at my heart. And the colors.
And all the swaying in the wind. The bowing down, bouncing up and circling around all done in perfect unison.
God's gentle flash mob.

I've got a little project going on with these photos - hope to share some finished shots later this week!

Dreamy, right?

Linking up with Project 52 and Mosaic Mondays