Blah.

I must say that I have been missing my ole blog here. But, honestly, the reason I've been absent is because it's quite depressing being down here in my art studio, which is where my computer & WhiMSy love headquarters are located. These pictures show the images that I see every day when I walk down here to the basement. What a friggin' mess. It's gonna take too much energy {that I don't have right now} to get this place cleaned & organized. I'm afraid to go near those nasty boxes. They are just spewing with bits of this & blobs of that.

It's been really hard having most of the house unpacked, but then MY stuff gets put on hold so I can make breakfast, make lunch, make dinner, do dishes, buy groceries (in Timbuktu), make beds, hang pictures, do laundry, fold clothes, referee fights, help kids with homework, go to meetings, answer phone calls, entertain children, clean the house.....Shall I go on? By the end of the day, when the kidlets are in bed, I do not have the patience or energy to attack MY mess or address MY list of things that need done. So it sits, & grows. (I swear it grows).

My space is not complete, organized & happy; therefore, I do not feel complete, organized & happy.

I feel very restless & frustrated due to the messy mess here. So last night I had a good cry, a motivating email from my best pal on the planet & a heart-to-heart with the hubby & I'm good to go.

Mr. WhiMSy love is keeping the kids out of "Mommy's Zone" this morning & again for most of the day Saturday. In fact, Zoey (my 7 year old) eagerly volunteered to make make Pazely (her 5 year old sister) breakfast this morning. 

It's gonna be a good day. (After I clean up that mess in the kitchen.)

Thanks for letting me spew. I do that sometimes.

♥

Week in Review

What a busy week! Not a lot of photo-takin' went on. (I seriously scrounged for pics!) Christmas preparations were underway all week. Shopping up to the last minute. Making stuff up to the last second. But, I got it all done. Yippee! Later this week I'll have to show better pictures of the crafty creations I made for the girls' Christmas prezzies. I loved the "Want. Need. Wear. Read." gifts & plan on making it a tradition every year.

I had the most lazy, wonderful, chillin', relaxing holiday EVER!! I've enjoyed the mellow atmosphere around our home & plan to extend this mood during the last week of the girls' winter break. I gotta put a stop to all the sweets munchin' though. I have eaten more caramel & chocolate covered pecans than I can count.

Let's see, what else went on last week?....Gingerbread house building. Windy snowy days. I Skyped for the first time. (Tia & I talked once for almost 3 hours. And then we were reprimanded with a Skype curfew!) Filled Etsy orders. Unpacked. Hung pictures. Dreamed of a day when the things in my house will all be put away....

 This week I'll be blasting through the final boxes in my art studio trying to get my space all tidy & neato. (But taking a break now-&-then to play with my newest addiction: Wii!!!)

**17 days until Tia gets here!!**

 ♥

Click HERE for a photo play-by-play.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the WhiMSy love family!!

Have the happiest of holidays!

♥

The Best is Yet to Come...For You!

I had such fun making the spoons & giving them out last Sunday. I have 14 leftover spoons & I'd like to make them available on my blog if you'd like one. Each one will come with the story attached with a ribbon. To order, just click the "BUY NOW" button. The price includes shipping. It won't get to you in time for Christmas of course, but it can be hung year-round---& perfect for the New Year & a symbol of good things to come!
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UPDATE: I apologize, I can't seem to get the Paypal "BUY NOW" button to work. If you would like a Spoon, the prices, which include shipping, are:
United States: $7.50
Canada: $8.00
Everywhere Else: $10.

Please let me know if you'd like a Spoon & I will create a listing for you at WhiMSy love. Thank you! Once they are sold out, I will update this post. Thank you!

Week in Review

The highlight of my week was getting to go on a horse & wagon ride around town with my church & singing carols. Afterwards we headed back for chili & cinnamon rolls. Mmmm....If all that doesn't scream CHRISTMAS, I don't know what does.

 How last minute can I get? I have presents to make, gifts to wrap, everything to do really, because NOTHING has been done since we moved here. It's been an unusual holiday, so I'm trying not to stress & just go with it. I was very inspired this year by dandee's holiday tradition of "Want. Need. Wear. Read." for my girls' Christmas prezzies. I still have their READ gifts to purchase, which will be simple online purchases of magazine subscriptions. Their WEAR gifts will take the most time. I'll be making them both some really girly super hero capes. But I'm still trying to find the perfect easy peasy pattern.

The girls are already starting to complain about being bored. (WHAT?! Their Christmas break just started 3 days ago!) Although I refuse to be their entertainment director, I am planning one fun thing a day for them to do. The rest is up to them. Saturday was a family Christmas movie night, Sunday was the horse-n-wagon ride, & today it's gingerbread house decorating!! (Thanks to a $5 Wilton pre-assembled house I purchased at Walmart for both of them!) Really I'm just trying to find time in the day to distract them so I can unpack & organize & hang pictures & clean & sort & unpack some more...I miss playing with them.

 And just in case you were wondering....Tia arrives in 24 days!!! YAHOO!!!

*Click HERE for a photo play-by-play.

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A Spoon. A Story.

A woman met with her pastor to discuss her final wishes, as she only had a very short time to live. After they discussed the plans for the funeral, she remembered one final request that was very important to her. She said, "I want to be buried holding a spoon in my right hand." The pastor gazed at the woman, at a loss for words. "That surprises you, doesn't it?" the woman asked. "You see, Pastor, in all my years of attending potluck dinners, I remember that when the dishes were being cleared, someone would lean over to me & say, 'Keep your spoon.' I knew then that something better was coming, like velvety chocolate cake or deep dish apple pie...something wonderful to end the meal!" As the pastor listened a smile came upon his face. The woman continued, "So, I just want people to see me in the casket with a spoon in my hand & I want them to wonder, 'What's with the spoon?'" Then I want you to tell them: "Keep your spoon--the best is yet to come." The pastor's eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged her good-bye.

So, the next time you reach for your spoon, let it remind you, oh so gently, that the best is yet to come.

My friend, Julie, gave this spoon & story to me before I left Washington. It is such a sweet gift & I wanted to share it with you. (I am not sure who to credit the story to.)

I have a big stash of vintage spoons & I'll be making them into ornaments like the one Julie gave me, for the ladies of my church on Sunday. I love the hope in the message & the reminder of good things ahead. Not only when my days here in this world are over, but every day there are good things to look forward to. And I keep in mind & heart the important things that matter.

Especially this season.

Merry Christmas!

♥

In LOVE with "UP".

A lovely customer sent this photo to me after ordering 2 of my Vintage Grape Soda Bottle Cap Badges this summer & using them in her wedding. It is perfect & sweet in every way!

(Get your own Vintage Grape Bottle Cap Badges at WhiMSy love NOW!)

*Photo credit: Ken Graham

♥

Light Painting

Last night as I was riding home from the our family shopping trip in the pitch black & entertaining myself by taking photos of random car lights or xmas lights with a long exposure on my camera, it reminded me that I've always wanted to give "Light Writing" or "Light Painting" or "Glow Doodles" a try. So, REALLY late last night I sat on my kitchen floor,(in the dark), put my point-n-shoot camera on a chair, changed the setting to Night Landscape & set the self timer. It's my first go at it, but I want to experiment with the manual settings & see if I can get the exposure set for a longer time. I had so much fun! I used a little blacklight pen that my daughter has in her super-secret-spy-kit. haha!

Check out THIS LINK from DIY Photography about the how to's of  painting with light.

Look HERE at a rather famous painter back in the 40's creating a masterpiece with a flashlight.

Click HERE to see photos in the Light Painting Flick group.

And finally, click HERE for a link to photojojo, where you learn how to paint with light in real-time using your webcam. Pretty cool!

My sad little Christms tree:

 

I traced the outline of my face in this photo:

Happy face:

Mickey Mouse:

A cat:

Yeah, you can see in the Mickey Mouse photo that there is a capture of my stove clock. It says 12:23am. So, you can see what sort of things are going through my head at that time of the morning: Disneyland & kitties.

 

Wednesday. (What a funny word.)

Zoey stayed home from school today. She was rather mellow but eventually gained back her energy AND her appetite as the day went on. She'll be returning to school tomorrow---2 days left until Christmas break! The K-3 classes are all going to see "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" on the last day of school & then come back to the school for a party. Wah? I wanna go!

Anyway, Zoey laid her mellow tushy on the couch practically all day & put me to shame with her Christmas card writing skills. I have written nary a one & she's got a stack to pop in the PO Box tomorrow. What a cutie!

So while she drew up some fantastic holiday greetings, I got to play with this tangled mess. I thought I'd start hanging some pictures & get some warm & cozy homey-ness into this new pad of ours. Book art was on the menu. I did get a few things hung. But I decided to mostly focus on Zoey's room & get her artwork hung up & make it a completion & success story for my day. I'm needing one of those.

And just in case you forgot how awesome I am, let me remind you: Now, I'm sure I didn't invent this idea, but I thought of it for myself & was so excited I had to share. I needed to hang a hook in the ceiling above Zoey's bed for a "canopy". And I hate how the ceiling crumbs get all over & make a mess. So, I drilled a hole in a paper plate & then drilled the hole in the ceiling....

...without a mess! The plate caught all the crumbs! Neato, huh?!

And tonight we played rebel parents & kept our kids up late----just so we could go to Walmart & get some much needed shopping done. Things keep coming up in the daytime & we never have a chance to escape. It's kinda a big deal for us to go to "town". It's almost 40 miles to get to a Target or Walmart or Home Depot, which ISN'T that long, but we're just not used to it. So, when we get groceries, we stock up like the world is ending & we might never eat again. haha! We DID get a microwave though! (Woot! Woot!) I tried to hold out as long as I could, but it's just more handy havin' one I guess.

The ride to & from was dark, so I entertained myself by capturing any lights we passed on my camera for some fun shots.

And I'm getting all sort of happy because I have been getting a lot of Christmas shopping done in the last few days! It's all via online purchases, & I am having so much fun. Yes, it's last minute & I've had to pay oodles more for shipping. But it's worth it if it calms my frustated heart. And it does.

♥

Somebody Stop Me.

I have eaten WAY too much chocolate in the last 3 days...

♥

Speaking of Advent...

Tia got my girls a Barbie Advent calendar & it has been QUITE fun! I even get all excited when they open the window to reveal a little Barbie prize every day. Smart bargain shopper that she is, I think Tia got it on clearance at the end of the holiday season last year. If I see any this year, I'm gonna snag 'em up for next year too. They are super fun & a great compromise to those chocolate ones. I'm not a big fan of kids + candy.

Poor Zoey went to school today, & an hour-n-a-half later Mr. WhiMSy love & I got a call from the school nurse that Zoey had gotten sick. She is home now. Pazely was sick this weekend. It must be all the new Nebraska germs.

I continue to unpack. But it's not so much like unwrapping Christmas presents like I thought it was gonna be. Thanks for all your comments & encouragment. Don't stop. (hee hee) You may not realize how much your comments mean to me, but I LOVE GETTING THEM!!! And when I see a lovely blog fan has left a lovely comment, my heart goes pitter-patter...

♥

Week in Review

I started getting really overwhelmed this week thinking that all my usual holiday-ish things are not going to happen. And that makes me sad. And sorta frustrated.

Instead of doing my annual ornament & holiday card for WhiMSy love, I guess I'll have to go big for Valentines Day.

I had such a cool idea for a super neato project in the shop for Christmas, but that didn't happen. Guess I'll save it for next year.

 I'm not getting my Christmas cards out on time this year: The cards are not bought, the annual Christmas letter is not even composed in my tired & cramped little brain & the holiday photo of the girls hasn't even been snapped. New Year's cards are cool too though, right?

Handmade presents for family & friends are non-existent this year. Too much unpacking & not enough crafting. I'm doing last-minute online handmade prezzies though. So, they're handmade, just not by me. And that is OK!

I'm lucky if I have time to squeeze in my traditional sugar cookie baking with the girls. Christmas shopping will commence tomorrow. I've never waited until this late. It just wasn't possible before now. Moving has been harder than I thought. Ugh.

It's beginning to be a bit emotional thinking about being apart from my family. Especially this time of year. Double ugh. I think I'm getting the Christmas blues...

♥

{i love Christmas}

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Happy Sticks

I have my first "ladies" event at church tomorrow since I've arrived in Bridgeport. The women are getting together for a Christmas party. We'll be having a candle exchange AND a chocolate exchange. (Instead of a cookie exchange. Doesn't that sound pleasantly nifty?!?!)

I needed a quick & fast idea, so my pal Tia came through with her pretzel rods. I call 'em Happy Sticks. They were just what I needed: they are very easy to make! (And sorry for the awesome kitchen lighting in the photos. I made the rods mostly at night.)

I bought a bag of that Almond Bark stuff (mine wasn't called Almond Bark though) & it comes in those rectangle blocks. I melted all 12 blocks, purchased 3 bags of pretzel rods (not all were used & they can be found in the chip aisle) & squeezed out 86 chocolate covered pretzels.

Just melt your chocolate, dip your pretzel in the choclate (spoon it on, leaving anywhere from 1-2" at the end uncovered) & lay it on wax paper to dry. When it's dry, melt white chocolate & drizzle it on. My drizzle technique needs some work.

I stuck 3 each in cheapo bags I got from Walmart & then tied it off with torn strips of fabric. Nothin' fancy pants about it!

There are many variations you could experiment with as far as chocolate used, coloring & flavor. (Add some green food coloring & mint flavoring to the white chocolate!)

Cheers to happy & easy homemade sweets! (This one is good ANY time of year too!)

♥ ♥ ♥

Happy Advent Love.

I know some of you already heard about this, but it's a must to repeat.

One day Tia was telling me about a family she knew who were new to town & it was around the Christmas holiday. They heard a knock at their door & opened it to find a basket of 24 goodies, all wrapped & numbered. An advent basket!  Each night, before Christmas, they opened the numbered present that corresponded to that day. What a special gift!

Did you see my happy advent basket from Tia? She gave it to me before we moved. Our road trip adventure began on December 1st. So, I got to start opening prezzies in the car along the way. It has been SO fun opening up a wrapped suprise every day. (Once I opened 2 in one day. *gasp* I couldn't contain myself.)

I do believe we're going to keep this tradition alive & do one for each other every year.

If you plan on doing one for next year, I say: shop early! It's fun to start getting items gathered throughout the WHOLE year. Sometimes cool little doo-dads pop up unexpectedly when you're out shopping. Or, how about MAKIN' STUFF too! (You'll need to buy/make 24 items.)

It's an especially fun thing to do for a faraway friend. I can attest to that.

My goody basket has been packed with: a blanket, a bookmark, mulling spices, an iTunes gift card (to use with my new iPhone. Wheee!), holiday paper plate/napkin/cup set, body wash, picture frame fridge magnets with our silly faces already attached inside (one of my faves!), cupcake fridge magnetic notepad & recipe cards, a book, a small set of yummy lotions, holiday notecards...You get the idea.

♥

I'm Back. Bridgeport Style.

I'm back! For reals!! Ahhhhh....this feels absolutely wonderful! I have missed you blog & blog peoples!! Even though my iPhone has pacified my internet cravings, THIS feels stinkin' AWESOME!! Howsabout a picture???? Or 50?????

Sit back, yawn if you want, & get ready for sharin' time. Here's the "Travelin'" portion of my photos:

Cheeto Walrus Teeth (anything to help pass the time, ya know?)

We were so amazed by the beautiful sky. Especially on the first day. I tried capturing the rays of light shining through the clouds, but my point-n-shoot can only capture so much.

Despite catching the electricity pole in the photo while driving, the sky at sunset was AMAZING. We couldn't stop oohing & aahing!

The windmills were rather majestic. I had never seen any upclose before. Look at that little fence post in the forground to get a  better clue of the massiveness of those things!! It sounds odd, but they were breathtaking.

The long road ahead. Rather daunting.

We hit some snow on one of our stops. I really had no idea where we were half the time. But the girls LOVED it!

I was so in love with the minute detail of every single snowflake. I tried capturing some on my black glove. Look at the perfection!

Cheese. I didn't cut it.

Rest stop jumpy action. Getting the wiggles out after being cooped up in a car.

Zoey joins in on the action. Lovin' those purple toilet stall doors!

One more before we hit the road for another few hundred miles!

Wyoming Maps.

Some rather awesome seats outside a Subway somewhere in either Wyoming or Nebraska.

Wish this were a better photo. The white snow covered hills blending in with the white windmills was so cool looking!!

Abe-tastic! We stopped--in 1 degree weather to see this giant bronze statue of Abe Lincoln's head. I was so cold I cannot even describe it.

Nebraska scenery.

Me & my new house. I keep thinking how funny it will be when the "locals" see me hopping around town. haha!

The upstairs is now officially unpacked. And I unpacked my first box from the art studio tonight. The mannequin head residing in that box TOTALLY FREAKED ME OUT! I seriously jumped back & felt my heart shoot through my chest. So my advice is: if you're packing mannequin heads (or heads of any sort really) LABEL the boxes.

More tomorrow!

♥