On purpose

On Purpose

Walk with purpose

Wander with grace

Skip with fervor

everything in celebration

one day at a time.

Nice

The word I chose for this poem was Nice.  For an explanation of what these posts are about, check out the first one here.  This certainly isn't brilliant, just my morning thoughts. They are written without judgement. They are written to loosen up my brain in the morning.

NICE

Be nice.

play nice.

isn't she nice?

isn't she pleasant?

i don't want to be described as nice.

Nice is for strangers.

If I am "nice", you don't know me.

Call me crazy,

call me opinionated, quiet, passionate.

call me confusing, eccentric, spunky.

call me anything but nice.

The sun doesn't shine to be nice.

The full moon on a clear night isn't nice,

it's wild, made to howl.

The ocean doesn't send its waves to be nice.

It shakes you to your core.

You can save your nice,

let's not make pleasantries.

we've lived too much for that.

tell me your battles.

let's explore the moon.

scream til we're hoarse,

laugh until we're dry.

let's not play nice.

let's play loud.

Next

I'm still in my poem phase.  Picked another word from my morning pages to write about.  For more information on this writing exercise, check out this post.  Here's my latest poem from my week of Morning Pages.

Next

Around the corner

over the hump

after this bend

it'll be next.

Next is the needy one

the question-maker

the bored.

Next likes plans and checklists

watches and alarms.

Next remains on its toes.

Anxiety-ridden worrier.

Next pretends to not know Now.

Now is the rebel,

the eye of the storm.

Now won't beg for your attention,

time is too precious.

Now is your center, your breath.

Now is the gentle tear in your eye

that burst of laughter from your gut.

Now doesn't rush, it makes every second count

for those willing to take the ride.

Feeling Young Again

I'm a little late in my personal challenge to post a poem a week from my journal.   Here's my original post explaining the challenge.

So once again I feel the need to add that I don't consider myself a poet, but wanted to shake up my morning journal writing and start writing in my blog again.  I'm having fun with a challenge to myself of writing a daily poem taken from random words I see in my journal.  I'm picking one of those poems every week to post on my blog.  Here's the latest.

Grass

between my toes

bring memories of summers past

bicycles, popsicles

adventure at every turn.

goofy grins, kool aid mustaches

battle scars, "tag you're it!"

do you carry it with you?

the smell of fresh cut lawn,

hot tar on the driveways

sprinklers to chase

feeling like you're tricking the world

to stay up past your bedtime

the sun's still out!

Not a moment to waste

imagination on fire

following a butterfly could take over hours

do you carry it with you?

do you remember to remove your shoes,

to allow the grass between your toes?

can you come out to play?

Morning Thougts

I just updated the appearance of my blog yesterday.  I was inspired to figure out some of the html, blah, blah, blah. Anyhow, I think it turned out alright.  It's kind of like cleaning your room when you have an assignment due.  I always did that in college.  Before I could get started on any work, I had to clean my room.  I'm going to attempt to recharge my blog, but before that starts, I wanted to "clean it up" first.  Some people may call it procrastinating, I like to think of it as a nice shower.

For over a year I've been keeping a journal.  A friend introduced me to the book, The Artist's Way.  The book has you go on a course over three of four months.  Part of it is writing 3 pages every morning right when you get up.  It has become such a part of me that if I skip it, I feel a little off.  As you can imagine, sometimes the daily posts can get pretty boring and the same.  

Two weeks ago, my friend, Alecia Whitaker's young adult novel, Wildflower, came out.  I grabbed it on the first day and just finished it yesterday.  She's an excellent writer and I recommend getting it, no matter what your age.  The point I'm trying to get to, is that her main character keeps a songwriting journal.  And while I'm not trying to write songs, I thought maybe writing poetry would help spice up my Morning Pages for the month.  

Feeling the need to tell you, dear reader, that I know absolutely nothing about poetry, I've decided to choose one of my poems from each week to include in this revamped blog. So, don't judge too harshly, I'm just having fun.

This first poem I titled Morning.

MORNING

Is it already?

Just one more minute.

Awake to appreciate

the feel of cotton against my face.

my Morning lying next to me

still dreaming of the night.

In the quiet

exploring new worlds

discovering new lands

content alone

to be the first

a badge of honor.

The birds have known all along.

They tell me of battles won,

bring news from other lands

all in a mornings work.

We gossip

I, with my coffee

them, from their perch

much to catch up on

I'm not the first.

Peace & Happiness

I just got back from my sister-in-law's wedding in South Africa.  She got married on a beautiful vineyard in Tulbagh, SA.  I took this picture the morning of the wedding.  We stayed in the cottages in the pic.

I love this

Have a beautiful weekend!

Creativity

Rose Sugar Scrub

I've been wanting to have a spa day for myself for awhile now.  I just want to take a Sunday and soak in the tub and cover my face in green goop and do my nails.  Hopefully this weekend will be my time.
I came across this recipe for Baby Rose Sugar Scrub that looks super easy and smells amazing.  I have a Pinterest board just on homemade spa recipes, so check it out if you want more ideas.  Here's this one from the blog Smart Schoolhouse.

Mini Lavender Squares

I love the smell of lavender.  I have it in my bedroom and bathroom.  (Lavender soap, lavender fabric softener, lavender candles, lavender lavender.)
These lavender squares are easy to make.  You need felt squares, lavender buds and thread to stitch it together. 
Put them in your dresser drawers, purses, in a bowl, everywhere.

Painted Stones

This is so simple, but would look beautiful in a bowl on lined on a bookshelf.  What an easy way to spread a bright color in your room for spring. All you have to do is paint half of a smooth stone in different color paints of your choosing. 

Listen More

I love this quote.  I could do this more and I know a few others who could too...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day from one of my favorite ad campaigns!  "Dumb ways to die" presents "Dumb ways to Valentine". 

Life-sized Calendar

Make it as big as you want.  I guess it depends on how busy you are and how much space you have for it.  I love this bright, cheerful calendar.

Travel Collection

I came across this sweet idea whilst perusing Pinterest today.  It's from the blog Iowa Girl Eats, and while I couldn't find exactly where in the blog this particular post was, you should check out this girls site, she's got lots of fun stuff.

These are "travel boxes".  You know how sometimes you collect ticket stubs or rocks from a beach walk or tons of other little trinkets from your trip?  Well, this is a way to not just store photos, but all those little memories.  You can get these wooden boxes from a craft store and then just a little dye or paint to get a variety of colors.  I can't wait to get started on mine.

Choose Strength!

I just came across this quote and needed to share it with you.  This will be my 2014 theme!

Sleep Masks to Keep Them Busy

From my latest facebook feed, it looks like a lot of kiddos are home from school again today due to the frigid temps around the country.  I'm sure they're (and parents) are starting to go a little bonkers.  I ran across this cute tutorial from the blog MandyLynne.com.  This might keep them busy for a short while.  (Every minute counts, right?)

No time like the present.

What are you going to get started this weekend?  If you've got 30 minutes, you've got time to start, no excuses.

A tasty morsel to muse over.

In the middle of winter when the earth can look gray and drab, it's good to feel like this quote from the philosopher Albert Camus.  Repeat after me: You are more than the weather, embrace your internal summer.

Country Chic Crate

I came across this picture on pinterest this weekend and I'm obsessed.  Our house has a very cottage-y feel to it.  I love combining old with new and this would fit right in.  I love the pop of color, I think I'll be choosing a canary yellow or poppy orange to paint the edge of my crate.  Looks like I'll be going to thrift stores next weekend to find a "new" end table.

DIY Room Deodorizer

I really dislike any kind of fragrance plug-in.  Candles are my favorite to make a room smell yummy, that and open windows and fresh cut lawn, but sometimes that's not available.

I found this super easy tutorial on Pinterest to make your own room deodorizer.  Of course the pictures on pinterest look much cuter than mine, they would choose cute printed paper or fabric as the cover and had the ring for the canning jar to hold it on, but I couldn't find either of those things in my house, so I made due with parchment paper and a rubberband (classy, I know ;)

What you need:
jar
1/2 cup baking soda
8-12 dr0ps of oil (I used just lavender in mine, but I'm thinking of adding some mint and vanilla to my next one)
a cover (fabric, paper, tin foil)
nail or sewing needle to poke holes in the top

If you need to activate the smell again, just shake the jar a bit.

Here's how mind turned out (and it made the bedroom smell lovely):

Make Your Own Printed Fabric

I love this idea.  I've been getting antsy to change the color in my living room now that the holidays are over.  All the decorations have come down and I want to change my white and green theme to white and blue.  This idea for hand-printed fabric has given me the idea to add a little blue to some couch pillows, such an easy way to update color.

This idea comes from the blog, Lime Riot.  All you need is fabric, in this case she used linen, fabric paint and a toilet paper roll.  Click here for the full instructions.

Start when you're not ready

I love this.  Actually my acting coach gives this instruction to many of us before we do a scene, "start when you're not ready, you'll surprise yourself." 

It being the beginning of 2014, we have no more excuses, suck it up, be brave and jump.  "Now is as good a time as any."

Magical Butterflies

Holy smokes, I found this DIY on Pinterest yesterday and it's been repinned about 20 times so far.  I had to share.  This would be a fun weekend project with the kids.  I may try it with circles, so I can have a polka dot filled jar and then don't have to cut out those butterflies, ha!  From the blog, Repiny.