LIFE has taken over!

Wow... has it really been this long since I have shared my thoughts in words?? Yes, yes it has.

In having two very HIGH ENERGY kids, time has totally gotten away from me...

Honestly, where the heck does all of that come from? I can barely move without what feels like 10 cups of coffee but they can wake up and start screaming right at the start of the day.. which, in turn, makes me want to scream, grab some more coffee and add some type of hard liquor to it in place of my normal, everyday yet boring flavored coffee creamer... they are close to the same, right?

A very accurate display of the daily interactions with my 18 mth old lately...
you would think she is upset because she is about to go in for surgery, but NO she is upset because I took the smartphone away from her!  TOO SMART FOR HER OWN GOOD! 

Okay, enough about the daily mornings in our household...I will admit that there are days that I have no idea where the time has gone, my head is spinning and then there are those days that seem to take FOREVER (usually these are the ones when both girls are fussy or have an attitude or I haven't had time to collect all of the laundry off the floor, let alone my thoughts!)

Does anyone else feel like this? Like life takes over and you are in what seems like "survival mode" day in and day out?? MOMS- I know you feel my pain, don't you??

Please do share and help me feel better that I am not the only one!  (or at least say you do to help me feel better)

New Year, New Me...??

I have always been inspired by the phrase "New Year, New You". I have taken it as permission to try something new, to become someone that I have always wished to be or to simply become better than I am.

However, for some reason or another, I am now a bit bothered by this phrase as today starts another new year. Why is it that toward the end of each year, I look back and feel just a small sense of inspiration but most of all, I feel a sense of failure and frustration???

I think back to the things that I told myself that I would accomplish or complete, dedicate energy to and that I wanted to overall become a "better" person. Why do we continue to tell ourselves that we have to be a "new" person when we should just focus on being who we already are?

I am not against setting goals for yourself (which I am terrible at doing) or saying that there are things that could be improved or focused upon for the upcoming year. I am merely saying that we don't have to become someone NEW to become what we are intended to be.

I wholeheartedly believe that we are meant to live a certain life, to come across certain people, to make a difference in a way that no one else possibly could, but this is all because of the person that you already are, not the person you think you should become.

I don't think we need to focus on becoming someone "new" but merely remind ourselves that we are already someone and need to be that and that only.

New phrase for myself: New Year, New Outlook on You

My INmyworldSANITY!

A little over a month ago, I said that I was going to do a complete overhaul of my home and get myself "organized"... what the heck was I thinking??

7 weeks to completely overhaul everything in my home? What did I realize? I realized that I not only have a lot of JUNK but yet I am quite organized already.

Don't get me wrong... I do have some areas in the house that could function a bit better or that I could rearrange to make things simpler or more "stylish".  However, with a baby that demands attention and a hubby and 3 year old that basically mess my entire house on a daily basis, I set myself up for disappointment.

I am an "organization geek" and I love to see bins and drawers and dividers and all of the other crazy stuff that they have out there now. However, I was quite disappointed that plastic drawer bins go for $20 a piece... seriously, it's crazy! I not only got discouraged because I tried to overachieve (once again) but got frustrated that it was going to cost me an arm and a leg to get everything done!

I am going to resist the urge to go out and buy a bunch of stuff that will only crowd my world more by making me think that I am more organized... when, in actuality, it looks good for a bit and then gets messy again!

So my challenge: I give myself a maximum of $5 each week to come up with a creative and cost-effective way to make my house prettier/organized/functional/etc. Nothing grand, nothing over the top, nothing expensive.. but creative, personalized and functional.

My mess is my INmyworldSANITY!

My first completed project:

Simple 10x10 brown frame
+
Cherry Blossom Scrapbook paper
=
cute remote/coaster holder for coffee table

** Took the scrap paper (12x12) and cut down to size of frame (10x10), inserted and completed!

Light and Simple

Whew!  The holidays are behind us yet I don't even feel like they came in the first place!

I can certainly see why some folks would be upset that decorations are being taken down, gifts put away and radio stations switched back to "normal" music.  It seems like everything just whizzed on by while all of us were still trying to find just that perfect gift for a special someone!

However, I am glad that my home is getting back into order and I no longer have to think about the fact that I was not in the holiday "spirit" this year. My theme for this year... clean and simple!!

Our fireplace (minus a bunch of decorations):

Less is more.. or so they say!

Let me tell you.. it took me over 45 minutes standing in our local Marshall's and had to keep pulling myself away from the color red or dark brown... I wanted light and simple..

Now, on to that dreadful pile of things in my front closet... maybe I will actually sort through those family pictures and begin to put them into some cohesive sense of order!

Gfits from a 3 year old...

So we did it! We went to the store and we picked out gifts for others from my 3 year old daughter. Let me start over... she did it. I stood there with the list of people that she wanted to get a gift for and she picked out everything on her own.

Let me tell you.. this is a HUGE step in the life of a mother who likes to control everything!! And I mean EVERYTHING!!

She stood there looking at the wall of "toys" and other little items that were open to her picking for that special person in her life. I would read off a name and she would look up and down and back again, searching for just the right thing!  Once she picked something, I could have said "No hunny, they won't enjoy that present". However, I kept my big mouth shut!!

I told myself to enjoy the fact that she loves to give gifts to others and that she is finding complete joy out of picking what she thinks is the best gift of all.

Regardless of the fact that she might have picked out a stuffed football for her Meme (my mother) or that she might have picked out a paddle ball and clapping plastic hands for her babysitters.... it is the thought that she put into each item that counts!
** Side note: her sitter said that she is really excited about her clapping hands and plans on using them during a family vacation over the holidays... so apparently a 3 year old knows best!

Oh and don't forget that we did have to pick up a small toy for her, which she also picked out... but I figured it was worth all of the effort that she put in to thinking of others!