COLD

Every year it is the same! I am not sure why it is a surprise, I have lived in the same place for 7 years. When it starts snowing I just can't handle it. The other day I got my sweater, sweatpants, and running shoes on all ready to go, opened the door to snowfall and walked right back in the house and did Pilates. After all these years and my aversion to the snow has not dwindled. Don't get me started on how much I HATE snowball fights. Does this make me a Grinch? Hopefully not. However, snow looks so pretty the way it falls on tree branches and blankets the ground, while you are looking at it from a warm house, wrapped up in blankets, drinking hot chocolate.

Unexpected

Sometimes life really is not what you expect it to be. Happenstance throws you a curve ball and turns your life upside down, sometimes for the worse but sometimes for the better as well. It is so hard to not spin out of control or over correct mistakes, in a car and out.  I am super grateful for the constants in my life, my husband, my loving family, and close friends. Something I am not good at but my husband reminds me often is to celebrate the good. Reflect on good things and not dwell on the bad, having little celebrations all day through instead of grumbling through how hard it was makes life not only more bearable but completely enjoyable. I had an amazing dinner with a close friend, it would have been so easy to be distracted by her beautiful daughter in her terrible twos throwing pasta shells all over the floor and screaming at the top of her lungs (tough for a non-mother to cope with sometimes). I was easily able to overlook the annoyed glances from other tables at the restaurant and have a lovely night with someone who needed the girl time as much as I did. It is very interesting how we can find peace in chaos if we seek to find it.

CELEBRATE THE LITTLE THINGS! 

Shirring or Smocking

Attempt number one at shirring or smocking was not a total failure but not super great either. I practiced with tension before starting my project but after a few rows the regular thread really tightened the fabric to where the elastic thread couldn't stretch at all. I don't know if the current project I am working on will actually look like I want it to, but it was a great place to start. I will try my hand a t a different shirring piece soon. I used a few different websites for info on what to do. I started at Made (pattern one and two), which led me to creative heart, which lead me here.

(Just an example of what shirring is from Made)

Looks like it is back to the blogs for me to figure this out.

Rock climbing changed my life.

Life is fickle, frail, beautiful, inspiring, and can be messy, but I love it. I don’t always love it but today I LOVE it. There is something about pushing yourself to the edge of your comfort zone and only growing from it, it makes you feel like you can conquer anything. I recently had the experience of watching my oldest nephew do just that and it was as if I had done it in my heart. I was nearly overcome with excitement for him and yes I am very proud, I love this boy who is becoming an amazing young man right before my eyes. He overcame fear and doubt and reached amazing heights. Ninety feet to be exact but that is not what it is really about is it? It is about pushing yourself to become greater, stronger, and better able to face difficult things in the future.

One of the hardest parts for me is to reflect not on failures and downfalls in life but to celebrate success, pictured below is my most recent successes. My husband opened my eyes to an amazing world that I would NEVER have experienced otherwise and I am a better person for it.

I am amazed by the way the sun can change my mood in an instant, eight hours of rock climbing and I am almost sick with relief, peace, and overall contentedness. It helps being surrounded by the majesty of mountains, nature, and friends. A few weeks ago we were surrounded my family and nature and that will be imprinted in my mind and heart for a very long time.