Art Journaling and Mixed Media

We are having fifth snow day since last Monday. Keeping the girls busy is not always easy.  More than 40 inches of snow in a week. I have to stay I am enjoying being a stay at home mom, drinking my coffee, spending time with my girls and having time to blog and actually doing some laundry.

While I consider myself creative and crafty, artistic is not an adjective I would use to describe myself.  Since working on my finding my Life's Purpose since the start of the New Year, I have tapped into my inner Picasso. I have discovered Art Journaling and Mixed Media. I know that Jeanne has a lot of experience in this area which is where I first learned about it here http://jeanneoliverdesigns.com. Here are a few that I have been working on:

I have been using quotes from the Bible as inspiration.

My girls have been working on art as well.

Have a happy Tuesday!

Shake it Off

One thing I am learning as I search for my Purpose is to learn to "shake it off" when people are not always kind. God tells us to "love thy neighbor as thyself". That neighbor may be the person who lives next door, across town, at work, at church or halfway across the world.

Unkind words hurt. And unkind actions are just as hurtful. But I know what God wants us to do. Love that person back because aren't we taught that we are all created in the likeness of God?


Today is a snow day in New England. The girls are home from school and I am home for a much needed day off from teaching.

Everyone is home today except for my husband who is essential personnel. One neighbor has been over to snow blow our driveway a few times. Love thy neighbor. When my husband is home he always takes care of this neighbor and another neighbor. The other neighbor has never helped my us during a storm. Love thy neighbor.




Recently at work, a few people said hurtful words about me. People who do not know me personally. Love they neighbor.

image from kenyanjustice.blogspot.com


Who are we to judge others? We do not know what is going on in others' lives and I am trying to keep this close to my heart.

 image from viewalongtheway.com

A Gift from God

Some days life passes in a blur and we often take the little things for granted. I have intentionally been slowing down and listening to what God is saying to me. Each little gift He brings.

A friend of mine has been struggling with infertility for years. After several miscarriages, the Lord spoke to her and she realized what she wanted and needed was to adopt. This Friday she will become a mom to a 7 month old little girl.

God's plans were already laid out for her. This baby was born exactly when she realized she needed to adopt. My friend just needed to BE STILL. 

"I am chosen to bear fruit and have purpose." John 15:1.

Tomorrow we will celebrate and honor this new addition to my friend's family.

Tonight I celebrate the gifts God has given me.

 

Finding your Identity

I have been thinking a lot about who I am and what does God want for me? I know His plans are already put into place, I just don't know what they are yet. I know He wants me to be the mom of two smart, messy, loving, energetic little girls. Check. He wants me to the be wife of one level-headed family man. Check. He wants me to have a clean, loving home for this family. I can't check this one off because I will admit it isn't always, ok, ever, clean.

I went to a conference this week to teach others how to find their Identity. I know, you are laughing right now. I am laughing too. The Lord has put this right in my path. I am wondering, do we ever become experts on who we are?

I have been writing in my journal this week everything that I am passionate about to find my own Identity. I am passionate about God. My family. Thrifting. Blogging. Crafting. Reading. Will these things really lead me to my Life purpose?

Life is busy. Kids, work, activities, maintaining a house. Sometimes it is hard to just BE STILL. I am trying. At least my daughter's favorite stuffy, Dotty, knows how to be still.

"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. " Ephesians 2:10

Series on Steps To Finding Your Life Purpose

I have done a lot of thinking and praying about what my life purpose is over the last several weeks. I wish the answer was written down somewhere in black and white. But since it is not, I have decided to start the process of journaling to find my answer.

I will be sharing with you as I journal my thoughts on each question as part of a series on Finding Your Life Purpose.

Step 1: What do you like to do for fun in your free time? Would you do it for free?

Step 2: Who do you admire and why? Chances are, they are doing the exact thing you want to be doing or filling a similar path!

Step 3: What are your hidden talents? What do others' say you do really well? This is part of your life's path.

Step 4: Spend 10 minutes doing something from your list in Step 1.

Step 5: Write down how you feel when you are doing the things you listed in Step 1.

I hope you will share your thoughts on this! I am excited to start journaling!
image from indulgy.com

House Tour

Here are a few pictures of our (somewhat) organized home.  I am glad that I took these pictures yesterday when we had great winter sunlight.

 When we purchased our home nine years ago, we had an outdated kitchen from the 1960's. My husband renovated the entire kitchen himself while I was pregnant with our first daughter. I love the granite counter tops. The granite we chose actually cost LESS than it would have been to purchase laminate. It was a close out on this one particular color granite.

 The nightstand was free, my friend was throwing it out! The lamp was a dollar at a thrift store. It was an ugly gold that I spray painted. And the comforter was a recent purchase from the Goodwill. I needed a little yellow to cheer things up a bit. My husband is not a floral kind of guy, so I am surprised he does not mind my shabby chic addition!

 Our bedroom set was mine before my husband and I got married. We had not planned on keeping it this long, but not having to make a major purchase like a bedroom set is nice.

 My mother-in-law was going to throw this desk out, so I took it, painted purple and added the flower knobs to it. The chair was a chippy blue purchased from my favorite local antique store and I sanded it and painted it to match.

 This is the family room which we try to keep neutral. The coffee table is well loved by my daughters' art work that seems to make it onto the table more than their papers.

 My oldest daughter loves purple and loves butterflies, so I cut out a butterfly from some vintage sheet music that I had and painted the vintage frame purple.

I found this cute little pink end table at a thrift shop and did not have to do anything to it.

My oldest daughter still has her crib that is now her full size bed. I would have preferred white, but we chose this set before we knew we were having a girl.

Thanks for taking a tour of my home! I will be adding pictures of my youngest daughter's room this week!

Broken

The vintage colorful blankets felt so warm as I snuggled underneath. Outside the temperature was -2 and felt like -20. Many schools canceled classes for the day, but not mine. Reluctantly, I climbed out of bed, barefoot on the hardwood floors. "Momma" my oldest daughter called from her room. The tooth fairy had visited again for the second time in less than a week. My youngest daughter still slept, snuggled under her quilt.

I dressed in my many layers and headed out into the dark, cold January morning to my school. Ahead of me the day awaited, filled with students, questions, emails and papers to correct. My school day finally arrived, and it was time to return home, feeling a little broken.

Time to switch gears, family mode. Two smiling little girls, a pile of laundry and a dinner to cook awaits, feeling a little broken.

As a family, we have made the decision that for us, simple living involves as few activities outside the home was possible. Our two activities involve our church and dance. We do not want to rush from activity to activity but rather slow down and enjoy one another.

We are a household where both parents work out of the home, not by choice so we choose to slow down in other ways.

Life is chaotic and sometimes broken. "But the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in Spirit."

Simple Eating involves One Word

Part of my journey of Simple Living includes Clean Eating. I know that eating processed foods is not healthy, yet teaching all day and having to come home and cook for my family seemed so much easier to open a can or a box. Now I am making better choices and it really s simple. Clean eating involves eating foods that have only one ingredient. SIMPLE.

Salads. Fruit. Eggs. Yogurt. Almond milk. Salsa. Granola. Oatmeal.

Whether it is wanting to lose weight, ridding your body of toxins, or  avoiding cancer or other diseases, Living a healthier and simpler lifestyle is one step away. The benefits are endless.  Part of my purging and decluttering is cleaning my food pantry of processed foods.

Our grandmothers had the right idea with home cooked meals, not fast paced easy to reach options. These are the values I want to pass on to my own girls.

Tonight's dinner was salad and eggs. Now it is off to read Notes from a Blue Bike

Less is More

"By letting go it all gets done." ~Lao Tzu

Two weeks purging "stuff" and sometimes with that comes letting go of the emotional ties and baggage. Many bags and several trips later, they do not even notice these things are gone. "For we brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out of the world." 1Timothy 6:7.  Each day I take a small step towards living a simpler life. Making my family rich in all the things that are important to us, spending more quality time together and less time worrying about material things.

What have you done today to slow down and live a simpler life? Many dream of a bigger home with more things, I dream f a smaller home with fewer things.

Less IS more.

A Fresh Start

It has been a long time since I last blogged. Recently I have found a renewed purpose to living a frugal life. The dictionary states "careful about spending money or using things when you don't need to" and "simple and plain". This is EXACTLY what I intended for this blog to be about when I started it. Over the last few weeks I have made a commitment to living a simpler life.

The first step is to DECLUTTER. It can be overwhelming, but it feels amazing. I have brought almost 25 bags to donate and to my local consignment shop and I still have only begun.

1. MY CLOSET: Since I teach I need to have a variety of shirts. I mostly wear black pants so bottoms are easy. I started by pulling everything out of my drawers and closet. I was not too strict, but I wanted to make sure nothing was left in a pile on the chair in my room. If it didn't fit back in, I pared down and tossed it. (I will go back again in a few weeks and pair down.) I buy all of my clothes from consignment and second hand stores.

2. TOYS: If my girls have not used the toy since last Christmas, I packed it up and donated it. Simple enough,

3. BOOKS, DVDS and CDS: I went through my own and my girls and pared down the obvious choices. ( I did not go through any of my husbands items)

4. Fridge: I cleaned out my fridge and freezer. Wiped it down and wiped all containers before going back in the fridge. I love how everything is neatly stacked.

5. Bathroom: I have not done the bathroom closet yet.

My goal for this year is simple living. Many dream of a bigger home and more stuff.  My dream is of a smaller home and less stuff.

I want more time to spend with my family, doing things I enjoy like reading and cooking healthy foods for my family.

I hope you will join me this year on my journey.

Why I do what I do

Today officially starts summer vacation for me! Another school year teaching Spanish has come and gone! I wish I were Super mom and could do it all: work full time, raise two girls AND maintain a blog!

But for now, I am going to enjoy my summer with my girls, and keeping up with reading and blogging. I read so many of your blogs, and I know so much about many of you awesome ladies, yet I feel it is one-sided because I don't have time to maintain my blog and this really bothers me.

The last few months at school have been particularly difficult. I teach in a Christian (a.k.a private) school where the number of students is vital to keeping the school alive. A number of students have left, many for financial reasons, but it makes all of us wonder why we do what we do.

I know that Christ has always been a part of my life, ever since I can remember. My life has always had Him at the center of it, whether it was at school, Vacation Bible school or making so many decisions in my life.  He has always been there.

Since turning 40 last November, I feel like I have to evaluate the direction my life is taking. And one very important part that is different from before is how HE fits into my girls' lives. I wonder, do other moms think about this? Especially my students' moms. I certainly hope so.

I will leave you with a quote that I am planning to make into a wall hanging for both of my girls' rooms: YOU ARE LOVED.

xo, Kerri

Classy Crafts Club and Shop til You Drop

Tomorrow night, Thursday December 6th, is the grand opening of Just Imagine That Place with a Shop til You Drop to get all of your holiday shopping done! It is located in Cohassett, MA and it is from 5-9 p.m. There will be several vendors selling bath salts, dishcloths, scarves, jewelry and plenty of gifts for stocking stuffers, teachers and that special someone on your list!

And then Friday, December 7th is the first meeting of the Classy Crafts Club which is being held at Just Imagine That Place. The club will meet once a month for ladies who like ot socialize and get their craft on! If you ar interested in joining us, we will be meeting from 7-9 p.m. and you can email me for more info or find us on Facebook! The cost is $25 and it includes all supplies. This month we are making coffee cozies, fingerless gloves and leg warmers from recycled wool sweaters.

Hope to see you there!

edie's cheese tortellini soup and a craft group

I have been sick for at least three weeks now. so what is a {sick} girl to do? make edie's homemade cheese tortellini soup! you can find the recipe over at edie's blog lifeingrace. it is seriously delicious!

do you ever have  million ideas swimming around in your head and you just wish you could organize them so they do not rattle around? well, for years I have been following so many wonderful and creative blogs and have even tried some of the awesome DIY craft projects. but I am always wanting more. sometimes you just need that face to face interaction that you can't get if you are like me and live so far away from other bloggers.

well, that is about to change. the art teacher at my school and I are going to start a ladies craft night that will meet once a month. we will be offering classes at a new studio that is opening soon! we are very excited! if you live in Massachusetts, let me know. we would love for you to join us!

Holiday Hospitality

I have been closely following edie's 31 days to Hospitality over at life in grace.  I have always loved entertaining, however I have noticed that life with two preschoolers can be very hectic and hospitality does not top the priority list.

Yet I have a preschooler who always wants to have playdates. of course this is not always poissible since I am a teacher.

so I have decided I am going to host a holiday party for her and her friends from preschool. I have been searching pinterest for ideas, so I apologize posting pictures of Christmas before Halloween but as we all know, the holidays are here before we know it!

if you have not already done so, please stop by my sweet friend Paige Knudsen's blog and check out her blog and her giveaway!

alex and ani and 5 Words to Live By

apparently blogger has made some changes in the past few weeks and I am unable to post a picture of myself that I wanted to.

first of all, I just want to say "Bienvenidos a mis nuevos amigos"

September has been a big month for my personal life and my faith.

I became a Eucharistic Minister on Wednesday and spent Friday at a retreat to further my ministry as a missionary. I am BLESSED to be able to share my faith each day with my students and continue my journey as a missionary and as an educator.

one thing I left with on Friday afternoon was this. what 5 words do you live by that define you? this is what came to mind for me: Love God and love One another.

for me, LOVE truly defines how I should act each day.  from this, everything else happens.

I have posted a few pics of a few alex and ani bracelets. I have the Mother Mary medal and I have JOY. love these and what they represent. they are a physical reminder to me.

Commitments and Changes

Today I pulled out and dusted off my clean eating cookbooks. I will turn 40 in November and in January I made the commitment to change my eating habits and lose weight I had gained during both of my pregnancies. I lost 17 pounds. I am halfway there. However, the scale has been creeping back up in the wrong direction lately. Sooo, it was time to reaffirm that commitment I made in January. I have been re-reading my Marilu Henner and Tosca Reno cookbooks,making a HEALTHY grocery list and changing my ATTITUDE about eating. I am a pretty healthy eater overall, however I have a weakness for frozen yogurt and carbs. Not that there is anything wrong with carbs, it is just that I eat the unhealthy ones more than I should. So tomorrow I am putting on my running shoes and running my first 5K with my friend in a 9/11 memorial road race.

Fall Noonday Collection

{All images are from Simple Thoughts. The nights are getting cooler and darker faster and it is back to school. And tomorrow, Tuesday September 3rd, is the launch of the Fall Noonday collection. For those of you who do not know, my beautiful friend Paige Knudsen who blogs over at Simple Thoughts is a consultant for Noonday. Noonday's history is pretty amazing. It is a fair trade company focused on helping artists struggling and living in third world countries be able to make a better life for themselves and their families. And please check out Paige's blog, Paige is an incredible woman with an incredible family. She touches the hearts of many through her blog, her photos and her words.

Read Well, Live Well::A classical online book club - life{in}grace

Read Well, Live Well::A classical online book club - life{in}grace:

September has arrived and it is back to school time, change of season and of course, book club time. I am so excited to start this online book club focusing on the classics with Edie from Life in Grace and several hundred other bloggers. I am off to do my homework of reading the first 12 chapters for our discussion on Friday, September 14th!

30 Day Challenge

Images are from: money4thisnot4that.com, gogingham.com and money4mother.com Tomorrow is September 1st and for anyone like me who is a teacher or a parent with kids going back to school, this really is the start of a NEW YEAR. Soooo, with the start of a NEW YEAR comes NEW HABITS. New SPENDING habits. I am starting a 30 day No Spending Challenge. 30 days with no EXTRA purchases. No trips to the consignment shop for myself or the girls. No trips to Goodwill. I am limiting myself to the following: 1. Groceries 2. Gas 3. Bills (do I have to?) 4. A small gift for a birthday party we are going to in a few weeks. I am simply going to take it day to day. This is a must because even though I have gone back to teaching, BOTH of my girls are in school this year so expenses have increased. I am wondering if anyone else is doing a similar challenge?

Shabbychic Decor and Words from a 4yr old

Big Sis has gotten a few Shabby chic items added to her room this summer. I found the hot pink table at a thrift shop and I love the glass knob on it. So of course, I had to find matching knobs at Target and changed all of the knobs on her drawers! Next, I found matching Shabbychic lamps at another antique store for Big Sis and Little Sis' rooms! I love them! And Lil Sis is growing up fast! She is getting a big girl bed so I found this sweet Shabbychic quilt and sham for her new bed! I wanted to share with you a song Big Sis just made up and sang to me: I love God! I love God! I love God! He never changes His mind! I love God! I love God! I love God! He is true! Makes me so proud!