Paint Me Something Pretty

Creativity has been making a more regular appearance in my life lately, and it's a welcome change. I've been making everything from paintings to handmade bracelets. I feel the need to be productive, and sometimes the best way is for me to create something pretty.

I've always been a maker of things. Entire villages made of tiny lego pieces, sandcastles on the beach, jewelry, collages made from magazine cutouts, music, beautiful photos. I sometimes can't help myself.

painting the day away...

You may have already seen this picture of my paint palette on Instagram, but this snapshot is the perfect glimpse into my days lately. Colorful and creative. I just want to make things... pretty things.

Self Confidence Can Be Fragile

If only I was good at listening to my own advice. Like pretty much anyone else on earth, I want to be liked and appreciated. If nobody liked me, it would be a pretty lonely life. However, some people are worth your time and others are not. Either way, don't let someone's opinion affect your self confidence.
It's up to you to determine who you need to protect yourself from and who you should keep close. Even the people who love you the most will say things that hurt you. It's not because they mean to, but it's because nobody is perfect.
Growing up my mom used to voice her displeasure at some of the questionable items of clothing I liked. None of them were inappropriate, unless you deem ugly polyester shirts and flower patterned jeans to be out of line. I never let her opinion of my clothing choice bother me though. I used to laugh and tell her that she's lucky she didn't have to wear my clothes. I wore what I liked!
What's most important is how you feel about yourself. Let's be honest, confidence is sexy. It's hard feeling confident when you're worried about what everyone thinks of your skin, clothing, hair color, etc. No one will notice something's out of place if you exude confidence. Stop all that worrying and own it! 

Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Oh crap. I'm afraid of quite a few things, but the dark is something that has always scared the heck out of me! Not to mention, things that are already scary in daylight are always magnified by the dark.

even cute things can be creepy in the dark...

- - hearing random noises inside your house.... scarier in the dark.

- - seeing someone moving in the parking lot outside your apartment.... scarier in the dark.

- - riding a roller-coaster, or any ride for that matter... way scarier in the dark!

- - chainsaw noises... obviously scarier in the dark, duh.

- - the woods across from the house where you grew up... the scariest in the dark!!

- - long, empty hallways... much more scary in the dark.

- - ocean waters infested with sharks... absolutely terrifying in the dark.

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Did you ever watch this show?!

It was so creepy buy boy did I love it.

So.... are you afraid of the dark?

That Dreaded Question

Today in the land of Blog Every Day In May, Jenni has prompted us to answer the question "what do you do?" The catch is, you can't answer with your job. Thank goodness, because I don't currently have a job anyways. At least not one that brings in any real income.

my life isn't over just because I don't work in an architecture firm anymore

Back to that dreaded question of what do you do. It's awkward answering that question when you don't have a job. It usually ends with feeling the need to explain yourself, and that's never fun. No one should ever have to prove themselves worthy of acceptance or love. Those things are to be given freely no matter what kind of job a person does, or doesn't have. A job title alone doesn't tell anyone who you are, it just shows what you do for a living.

For too long I beat myself up over not having a job, and the last thing I needed was anyone else making me feel worthless for it too. Choosing to accept someone for who they are is one of the best gifts you could ever give. It took me some time realizing that applied to myself as well. Accepting yourself, faults and all, is one of the most important things you can do for your own well-being.

We can learn a great deal about acceptance by sitting down and talking with someone who's taking a different path in life. What's right for one person may not be right for another. We all make different choices in life. To each his/her own.

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To answer Jenni's prompt today, I'm answering with a list of some choices I make in life...

- - I love my husband.

- - My family and friends are often on my mind & in my thoughts.

- - I give money to homeless people. Who cares what they need it for. They clearly need some love.

- - Gossip has no place in my life. It's plain mean

- - I put a great amount of care into most everything I do. I don't like to half-ass anything.

- - When people tell me their difficulties in life, I do my best to listen without judging.

- - I hand write thank you notes when people do nice things for me.

- - I look for beauty in the world and enjoy sharing it.

- - Sometimes I even make beautiful things.

- - Laughter is good for you, so I try and take time to laugh about things.

I love getting to know someone before bringing up what they do for a living. People have so much more to offer the world than just their job. One of my favorite questions to ask someone I just met is where are you from? Obviously your hometown doesn't tell everything, but it gets the ball rolling in terms of getting to know some one's background and life. Everyone has a story, and one little piece of that story, for instance a job title, doesn't tell the whole picture. I'd hope one could look past my job status and really get to know me.

Go Meet Alisha!

You all need to know one of my dear blog friends, Alisha. She is one blogger who I've been following for quite a while now. I love reading her blog, because she's always lifting people up and never tearing them down. You'll find positive messages, things to contemplate, and a smiling face whenever you visit her blog! Seriously... if you don't know Alisha yet, then go get to know her now! Visit her blog.

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want to meet another sweet blogger?...

then go visit Lauren who hosts this weekly Sunday Currently link-up

finally got some new glasses

reading lately I've been bad about reading just one book, so I have two going. Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods is on my nightstand, and I bought Why I'm Like This true stories by Cynthia Kaplan from Goodwill. I guess I just can't commit to one book right now. #ScatterBrain

writing blog posts for this month. I'm trying to participate in every day of Jenni's #BlogEveryDayInMay challenge. Plus I'm going out of town later this month, so it will be good to have a bunch of posts already scheduled.

listening to this song:

thinking that Florida and its allergens need to stop assaulting my sinuses or else... that's mainly an empty threat, because I can't do much about it. I never ever got sick when we lived in Colorado... gah! I've been sick twice this year.

smelling nothing really... my nose and head are all stuffed up. Ugh!

wishing that we lived closer to family. Why do they have to be in Michigan and Colorado when we're in Florida?

hoping for this upcoming Florida summer weather to be less hot than usual.

wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and my new glasses. Pretty basic stuff.

loving this cloudy/rainy weather we've had in Florida... it reminds me of Michigan.

wanting the next couple of weeks to fly and to be in Colorado already!

needing some creative inspiration. A museum visit, good new music to listen to....

feeling like it's impossible to read all of my favorite blogger's posts.

clicking through lots of new blogs thanks to the above mentioned challenge.

* If you missed previous editions of The Sunday Currently, you can see them all here

Now link up your edition of The Sunday Currently with Lauren

Where Your Heart Is...

Let it be no secret that I'm absolutely in love with the Harry Potter books. In true bookworm fashion, I wanted to share with you one of my very favorite quotes which just so happens to come from one of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books. Go figure.

you can also find this quote in the Bible, Matthew6:21...
along with many other books speaking of the same subject

This is such a beautiful quote, and it reminds us to get our priorities straight. Treasuring things like power, money, and material possessions says a lot about your heart. When we focus too much on things that don't really matter in the end, it messes with the things that really matter in life like our relationships.

Clearly this quote isn't saying you can't have nice things or make a lot of money, but treasuring them to the point of destruction to other important parts of your life (like family and friends) is not a good thing. Where is your heart?

Happy Weekend!

I'm still linking up with Jenni's Blog Every Day in May Challenge. Are you?