Simple pleasures, and I challenged myself to be a copy cat!

Today, I am going to make my coffee talk series, short and sweet!

Today, as I was driving home from Aldi's eating a candy bar, I was so happy and almost felt a feeling of relaxation, no NOT almost,

I did feel relaxed.

 Can you believe, I have these pretty corner windows in my kitchen, and never once do I lift the blinds and have ever put pretty little window vases with flowers in them? Now that is a simple pleasure, I have been missing out on.
I bought these cute little vases from Dollar tree last year.

If you have never had Aldi's chocolate I really do recommend it.

(Thanks Mom) Now so far I have tried around 5 different candy bars...NOT in one day of course, but they are all good.  The milk chocolate one with almonds in it, is addicting, and you can't stop at one piece..don't say I did not warn you!

 (these are the windows I am speaking of...Man does it look nice with the blinds up! No rocket science to figure that out, but apparently, I never thought of it!

 Aldi's chocolate is  the very best chocolate I ever ate in my life...that is a pretty good claim, and again, I am not getting paid to say these things.

Now you want to know my challenge...OK well on the back of Country Woman magazine was a fabulous photos of flowers and tea...the gals and I admired it so.  Today, I thought, I am going to try to copy that...I have so many fresh flowers around my house today, why not?

Not too bad for my first time trying to copy...I do have some tweaking and learning to do. In fact I learned a few new tricks yesterday I can't wait to try sometime.

Well anyhow, got to thinking about simple pleasures... and that is truly one of mine...

Fresh flowers and chocolate:)

 What is your simple pleasure? 

Keep it clean please this is a kid friendly show! (JK, JK)

Thought provoking questions coffee talk series

45 years ago today I was born! The World would be forever changed!

NOT:)

Well, I just can't believe it myself.

I do not feel 45 most of the time, I do not act 45, and some even say I don't look 45!

( My gobble, gobble neck tells the truth)

My Mom had me when she was 16 years old, can you imagine?

I can't believe it sometimes.  I am so happy she made that choice to have me, keep me, love me, and take care of me the way she did. It was not easy for her...and I admire her strength and courage all the time. More than she will ever know.

Love you MOM! XO

So onto thought provoking questions...

First one:

Do you ask enough questions or do you settle for what you know?
I have always been a very inquisitive person.  I do ask questions, I believe that is how we learn and grow. I actually drive my kids crazy sometimes...especially my teenager. He sometimes makes the comment, like MOM you are asking so many questions.  I think he would worry if I stopped. So the answer is NO, I never settle for what I know, because truly what do I know?

If you had to teach something, what would you teach?
Well, for me..I am not the most book smart kinda gal.  I would consider myself street smarts, social smarts type.  So I would try to teach people to me more positive. I think positive energy can be contagious.  I like to surround myself with positive influences and friendships.  If someone is constantly complaining, and feeling sorry for themselves over stupid stuff...that just does not fly with me!  I am usually the go to person when someone has something they need to share or talk about. I like to think or hope I turned their initial thought process of feeling down and blue into a happy thought.
    So I guess I would be more of a motivational speaker type if I had to teach something....I walk the walk and talk the talk......and I am not really sure how you teach people these things, so I guess I would have to study up!!~

Thanks for participating girls!

Make it a great day...

Lisa Leonard giveaway HERE

NEWBIE party HERE  

Thought provoking questions coffee talk series

Last week I presented my thought provoking coffee talk series and it was a great hit.

I learned a lot about my readers in the process, and it really made you gals think a thought or two for the day.

So I thought I would continue....

I  will pose two questions,

and I would love if you spontaneously answered.

I participate in this as well,

so you learn a little something about me too.

What gets you excited about life?
For me the the first thing that popped in my head are my boys! I am loving watching them grow and develop into who they are.  Both very different, and that alone keeps my life pretty exciting. 

What is the most desirable trait another person can possess?
I have to be honest I took a moment to think about this. I would have to say loyalty.  In life you see loyalty slip to the way side often, whether it be in marriages, friendships, the work force, etc...
I consider myself a very loyal, trustworthy person, and when I see that in another, I find it very desirable, and I notice it!

Thanks so much for participating...I really look forward to reading yours too! 

Some of my readers actually came back several times to read more about you gals too.
They enjoyed it!

NEWBIE party still going on 

HERE

Thought provoking questions...coffee chat series continued...

 

 I realized my coffee talk series kinda fell to the way side these days.  I suppose decorating got in the way of things.
I love asking questions.

In fact my teen gets annoyed because I question him A LOT, on everything, every day!

However, I do find most of the time he answers, and is willing to share.

What that tells me, even though he gets annoyed, he is glad I asked.

I find one hot topic these days is asking me "girl" questions, mostly advise, and how to read between the lines..
and hey do I have some advise for him!

Socially, I consider myself smart. ( I don't mean that in a stuck up way) I have to hang my hat on something girls..OK?

Book wise, not so much...but hey you can't have everything, so I will take the  people skills gift I was given, and put it to good use in my lifetime. My husband is the book smart guy, so we work well together as a couple. Although, he has pretty good people skills too..I guess he was given more of a gift than I.

So here I pose just 2 questions: thought provoking indeed.

I will post them, and answer them as well....

Which is worse, failing or never trying? 
HA..this is the perfect thought provoking question for me.  I never consider that I have failed at anything. The fact that I tried, makes it eventful for me. I do believe this offers a fine example to my children. I have fun in the process...I may fail miserably, but  I have fun  in the process of trying. You know the old saying, "No risk no reward".

What is your most beloved childhood memory?

As simple as it may sound, it was when my Grandfather would throw me in the car when we would hear the Mr. Softee truck.( it was usually before dinner time too, but we got our ice cream) Gram was never too happy about it either. I have many more of course, but this one stands out, I know for my sis it does too.

I would love for you to spontaneously share with me the same. I love to learn a little more about you, my friends, my readers. So hope your game for my new series of questioning each week.
Have a great night! 
I have lots more questions in store for the future..so stay tuned..
Here is just a random throw in..
What did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a court stenographer...yep I did, I would have loved that job too.

Coffee talk series and expectations

Well I do have some good news to share...

My BOOBS are good.

Just a couple new cysts that they wanted to double check were actually cysts!
Doc told me to cut back on chocolate and caffeine..

Yeah, OK, moving on here.

Went to the park the other day and it was so pretty!

I will be honest, I had a post all ready for today, discussing 

expectations...

after I read it a couple of times myself,

It felt redundant to share most of what I had written...so instead I will simplify...

So should we have expectations?

Think about it: when we have expectations, and things don’t go the way we expect (which happens quite often, as we’re not good prognosticators), we are disappointed, frustrated. It’s our expectations that force us to judge whether something is good or bad.

When you expect something of a friend, co-worker, family member, spouse, and they don’t live up to that expectation, then you are upset with them, or disappointed. It causes anger.

But what if you had no expectations — then their actions would be neither good nor bad, just actions. You could accept them without frustration, anger, sadness, or disappointment.

(this highlighted in red paragraph was copied from the Elements of living lightly) .
Well said much better than I could have expressed it.

And then I will ask you..

do you have expecations? Let's say for example with your blog, or blogging friends, husband, boss, family, ya know just  in general?

I am relieved to feel from all of you..and to actually  quote some of you....

You never know what to expect when you come here..

Which is a good thing!

That is exactly the way I want my blog...

A mixed bag..

kinda like the talk show I never had.

 (I am in desperate need of a Pedi!)

PUH! as my friends say,

OPRAH's Loss...

 

So that is all I have for today!

I am feeling like my life is back after three long weeks of anxiety to wait for my 

recheck.  I can breath a sigh of relief, yet another year.

Thank God for my life that he has blessed me with, Thank god for my family, and all my friends, including you!

XO

I have to add one more pertinent thought for the day....
This past year of blogging, I have put myself out there so much, whether it be to audition for Oprah's new show, or to enter a challenge, or perhaps a contest on Face book.  What I have shown my son's is far greater than ever winning any of them...
You reach for the stars,  have fun, do your best, and be all that you can be.
Had I never started this blog, I may never have been able to show them me as an example of doing just that.
Oh and it does help too,  that their Mom is not a sore loser!


Joining Tracy in her Black and White photo party

NEWBIE party still going on HERE
And you still have time to get in on this gorgeous piece
HERE

Coffee talk with Amy from Mod Podge rocks! (great read for newbies and oldies )

Well hallo there! It’s Amy from Mod Podge Rocks – pleased to be with you here at Debbie’s blog to share my story. I always consider it an honor to be invited to someone’s blog. It’s about as close as being invited into their home as you can get online . . . don’t you think?  I talk about blogging all the time, so I think this is a good place to go into my personal story a little bit.  I hope you'll enjoy it.

My history as a crafter actually begins as a seamstress and a knitter. 

I come from crafty and creative genes – my grandmother was an interior decorator, and one of my great-grandmothers was an AMAZING painter. 

You should see this little Dutch village she painted on porcelain plates. It blows my mind. My mom is also very creative, having sewn since she was 10 years old. 

When I was little, my mother used to put my brother and I out in the driveway with easels and paint in our bathing suits. We’d paint and paint – then when it was all done, we’d get hosed down. I didn’t realize how ingenious this was until now. Isn’t it funny how you look back and say “ah, that is why my mom did that!” Anyhoo, I took a lot of art lessons as a child, and even went to sewing camp (which I hated at the time). When I was 15 my mom taught me basic knitting, and I taught myself the additional stitches. By 20, I was writing my own patterns. I spent many years knitting and giving everything I made away. I liked crafting versus simply drawing or painting because I had a useful item at the end. It felt like such an accomplishment!

I’ve been blogging since 2009 at Mod Podge Rocks. 

I graduated with my MBA in 2008, and I’ve never been one to sit around without a side project for very long. I started to become obsessed with Mod Podge (in a good way), and so I did a lot of searches on the internet and found various projects on various blogs. 

I realized the talent that is out there, and I also realized there wasn’t one place to find Mod Podge projects. I started my blog to create a resource for crafters and an online library for my own projects. 

I post myself once a week and then feature other crafters (plus do giveaways, reviews, etc) the rest of the time. My favorite part of blogging, besides creating projects? Sending traffic to another blog. I know that sounds a little overly altruistic, but I really mean it. There are so many brilliant crafters out there who would never get noticed without some sort of big break. I love providing that forum – and that includes for me.

My other favorite part of blogging is building relationships with women that have common interests. I’m very honest about myself and who I am, and I’ll tell you this: I don’t have many friends here in Atlanta. 

I’m 34, unmarried (I have a boyfriend) with no children and a bit of a tomboy. I’ve got a lot of friends from childhood and my college years as well as a few from adulthood – but the older I get, the harder it is. I’ve tried to attend crafty events here, but most of the women are way younger than me, in college and in a different stage of their life. You may have experienced some of this yourself, and if not, consider yourself lucky! 

The good news is that I’ve met several people online that share my interests and goals, and we can build friendships that go beyond the computer. I’ve even met some women located in my area and am going to host a blogger event for everyone very soon. It’s exciting!

Another great result of blogging has been Crafterminds. It’s my side project with Heather from Dollar Store Crafts, Beckie from Infarrantly Creative and Jen from Tatertots and Jello. We help craft bloggers, and bloggers in general, figure out how to get started and then navigate in this crazy blogging world. We talk about solutions to a wide variety of blogging problems and discuss relevant topics, even some technical in nature. Recently I wrote articles titled “Does Your Blog Make People Cringe” and “Learn How: Creating a Facebook Fan Page.” Crafterminds also hosts Twitter discussions on blogging every Monday at 4pm EST (visit the blog for more info).  We have a big vision of how to help people, and we’re working every week to gain momentum. Besides being a side project that I really believe in and feel will do a lot of good for people, I get to work with some awesome women. Heather, Beckie and Jen got to meet in real life in January at CHA. They are wonderful.

Before I go, I will tell you one more personal thing about me. I live by a few mantras. 

The first is that you only live once. I try to take risks and do things so that I won’t have regrets. 

The second has two parts. I believe that God has a purpose for me, and that I will never get anything I can’t handle. That applies to my whole life, including blogging. I go through periods where I ask myself what I’m doing, why I’m blogging and some times where I want to sweep all my craft supplies into the trash because I get so overwhelmed. Luckily those are few and far between, and typically when I haven’t gotten enough sleep. When it comes down to it, I love blogging. I love creating. I love connecting with all of you.

I invite all of you to join me at Mod Podge Rocks and Crafterminds. I promise that you’ll have a blast and learn a lot. Debbie – thanks for having me, and to all of you: you rock!

Hey girls, a big thanks to Amy for guest posting today.  If you are new to blogging and really want to tap into your creative side, go check her out! You will be glad you did.
XO