Little Free Libraries

So I found the most incredible thing the other day.  I read an article (the source I don't remember, might have been 9news.com) about these little libraries that are all over the country, including right here in my own neighborhood.

The idea is that people buy or make these little mini-houses, British phone booths, cat shaped structures, and those structure house books.

Furthermore, you take a book and you give a book.  As a reader, any book, especially one that is free is just about the best thing ever.
I shared the link with my friends.  One of my girlfriends found one in her neigborhood and sent me a picture.  I was so happy.

First the structures themselves are so darn cute, not to mention that they are filled with books.  How can this be wrong I ask you?!

So for those of you who read this I wanted to share with you too. 

I hope you check it out, find a Little Free Library in your neck of the woods, borrow a book, and return a book.

Happy reading and discovery my friends.

http://littlefreelibrary.org/

To find one in you area visit the link below.

http://littlefreelibrary.org/ourmap/

The "B" List

Most of us have one....that list, of all the things we want to do, big and small in life.  "The Bucket List".  We create them to inspire ourselves to do more, be more, find things that make us happy.  These list push us to experience things that maybe we wouldn't.

So I've been working on mine.  It's clique I know, but I'm at a place in life in which I'm not sure what makes me happy anymore, which doing what makes us happy is really the meaning of life, which ultimately is the question that plaques my mind, everyday.

Originally I started it for things to do the rest of the year.  Planning on keeping it around 10 items...it's now grown to over 50. 

Do you have a bucket list?  What's on it.  Please share...if you wish.  I'd love to hear what is on it.

Thanks for reading.
Lydia

She Said Yes

Gosh....last night was a great night.  After 3 1/2 years the love of my life asked me to marry him (kind of lol).  A ring was found in my seat.  Good enough for me since I'm not all about that big deals.  As many of you know Glenn and I have had our fair share of hard times.  We've gone through a few vacations from each other.  Yours truly tried other things while on those vacations (big mistake), and have come back together, better and stronger than before.

A Little History....
Glenn and I met....of all places on Plenty of Fish.  A free dating website.  Yep that's right.  The first emails were exchanged on Friday, we met for coffee and by Monday of the following week we had both deleted our profiles on Plenty of Fish.  We both just knew.  I'll never forget that first day we met, for coffee, at a Starbucks.  I'd given him the location of the wrong one and we laugh about it now.  Nevertheless, he eventually arrived, in uniform, and I was done for.  Man did he look good.  We ended up closing the Starbucks because we sat there so long, talking.

Along The Way.....
We had our good times and bad.  We've had our rough patches.  We've gone through a few vacations as we now affectionaletly call them.  During that time I found a distraction, which was just that.  A distraction from what I was feeling, the loss I felt of feeling things might not working out with the person I felt so comfortable with, but not once did it ever feel right with that distraction, and I always knew it came back to my Lobster.  Plus he wouldn't go away.  :)  No one could compare or compete with the guy who knew me better than anyone, who had helped me through more panic attacks than I could count, and who ultimately had my heart, who ultimately felt like home.  He always did.  Even if I didn't want to admit it at the time.

Looking Toward The Future.....
So after a few vacations, we came back together, stronger than ever. I feel like each of us is committed more than ever before to this relationship, and to giving it our all.  I know now that I can't ever love another as I love the Lobster, and he is just that, my Lobster, my Penguin, and I place a stone before his feet.  Last night he placed a ring in my seat (maybe this was the stone), bless his amazing heart, he just couldn't wait, and I said yes. When or where it will happen, I don't know, and to be honest, for me it doesn't matter.  I know I love this man, and ring or no ring, wedding or no wedding, I will spend my life loving him and only him.

Here is to happy ever after. . . .

Somethings and Nothings

Why is it so hard to let things go sometimes?  Even more so, why is it we perpetually turn something that was nothing into something.  We glorify it, make it seem like it was so much better than it was.  It's frustrating when you're in the middle of it.  You think about the something, know that it was something, but can't remember what the things were that made it nothing and the things that were missing that made it nothing.  Furthermore, I look back on things and think "Really Lydia, what were you thinking?!"  Don't get me wrong there is nothing in my life thus far that I regret because I truly believe that everything comes into our lives and happens for a reason, but sometimes my logic escapes me.  One particular instance stands out in my mind as of late in which I am experiencing all these feelings.  I knew it was wrong, that it wasn't a good choice, that it didn't fit me, who I was, or what I wanted, or my needs but I went there anyway.  And then when it was part of my past I thought "That wasn't so bad, it was really great actually", when in fact it really wasn't.  It was actually really bad, on so many levels and ways I can't even express.  There is a line from a song that stands out for me.

"I can't think of what I learned right now, but I'll be thanking you some day"

I'm not sure what this was suppose to teach me, what I was suppose to learn but well I'm sure someday I'll know and it will all be clear....until then I'll have to live with the somethings and the nothings knowing that I'm better off and will be a better person once I understand the some of those somethings and all of the nothings.

Thanks for reading...
Lydia

More music.................

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP79jDNAAK0..


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCkfTCjF8SM&ob=av2e
I've always liked Mat Kearney but this song is wonderful...................

We're just fumbling through the grey
Trying find a heart that's not walking away" ~ Mat Kearney Ships In The Night

Motivation...where for art thou!?

Okay seriously...I'm getting concerned.  I have no motivation....to do anything.  I used to be one of those people who could get a lot done in a short amount of time.  Now I'm that person that can barely get anything done in a lot of time!  I'm having a hard time.  I don't know if is all that has gone on in my life within the last six months, the environment I'm in, or if I'm just becoming that lazy person I feared I could be.  I know we all have our days when we don't want to do anything, but I've now strung days into weeks and weeks into months.  I read Facebook posts of friends who are doing, getting things done and I'm envious....but then I sit and don't do anything.  I don't want to do homework, or laundry, or workout, or do crafts.  I mostly want to sit and watch TV...well TV shows on DVD.

I'm not really sure where the girl who was always so busy is but I wish she would return.  And what reallly scares me is not that she left but that I don't know HOW to get her back.  Why am I so unmotivated to do the things that once brought me pleasure.  Now the only pleasure I get is rotting out my brain.

My brother just gave me a sheet of really great quotes, how fitting since I'm writint this.  A couple that really struck me where.

"You are what you repeatedly doo.  Excellence is not an event - it is a habit"  ~ Aristotle

I repeatedly do nothing but watch TV, so how do I get back my habits I once had, so that I can be excellent once again?  Maybe I don't need to get back the old ones but find new ones.  I just wish I knew how.  I look at my to do list every day and feel daunted by it.  Perhaps it's time to return to meditation....prayer.  Maybe I need to hand this over to someone else and be guided that way.  Maybe I need to read "Seven Habits again. 

"Obstacles don't have to stop you.  If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up.  Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work arount it" ~ Michael Jackson

Music

I'm always amazed at how music can resonate a time in our lives, an event, a person.  Sometimes it's just the sound that mirrors what we feel or sometimes it's the lyrics that mean everything.  I've always loved music and how it can do this.  It can even change our mood.  It's powerful.  There are also times that we just love a song.  I just got the Florence + the Machine Lungs album and I LOVE it.  Love the singers voice, the sounds of the music, and the lyrics are exquisite.  I've never been good at expressing my feelings in a conversation with someone as Glenn can attest to but songs can say everything that you feel in the best possible way.  A couple songs that I am also loving right now for many reasons is Gotye: Somebody That I Used to Know, Florence + the Machine: No Light, No Light, and Imagine Dragons: It's Time (this one I love not so much for the lyrics, but the sound.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UVNT4wvIGY


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGH-4jQZRcc&ob=av2e


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sENM2wA_FTg&ob=av2e


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWOyfLBYtuU


I love when I find new music.  It can be like finding treasure.  One other wonderful thing about music, is it can bring people together.  Right now my son is at that age were he wants nothing to do with me and thinks that I'm about the most un-cool person on the planet....until we listen to music.  I love when he gets in the car and tells me he wants me to hear a song, plays it for me, and then anxiously awaits for me to say I like it.  Music is an avenue that we can still connect on.

"All good music resembles something. Good music stirs by its mysterious resemblance to the objects and feelings which motivated it. "

Jean Cocteau

Journaling

A few weeks ago a friend of mine at work gave me some books that related to creative writing and journaling.....I didn't know what a wonderful suprise awaited me when I got home.  As I began to pull the books out from the bags I felt like a kid in a candy store. Books that gave prompts, books about different styles, books about truely artful journaling...Oh my....

 There were so many books and journals that were so much of an interest to me...it was wonderful.  That night I stayed up very late, exploring all the amazing books that lay before me.  There was not enough time to look at them all but it was all I wanted to do.







Ultimately this is what I ended up with....a bed full of books....and a night full of pure bliss!

I hope my friend knows just how much all this means to me and how privilaged I feel to have such wonderful books now in my home.  How greatful I am that he wanted to share these with me.  It touched my heart in a way that often life is without.  I will treasure each one of them.  I look forward to exploring each of them for inspiration and ideas.  They have made a permiment home with me.

Thank you

Lydia

The Confusion of it All

So I have embarked upon the eating healthier and man alive is this stuff confusing.  Don't eat this, eat that, no wait don't eat that, eat this.  I'm slowly learning that it comes down to fruit (though not too much because of the sugar) and veggies and meat.  Wow...that's a lot of choices.  I know this is not really true, there are more options and I have to take the time to find them, but at this very moment it sure is what it feels like.

A while back I found this really great website about this girl who lost a lot of weight eating healthier.  http://undressedskeleton.tumblr.com/.  She has some really great ideas and she is very inspiring.  The only thing she does that I don't like is she uses jello powder as a sugar replacement.  I'm not a fan of jello because of what it contains.  "Jello has gelatin which is a protein in the animal connective tissues. The gelatin, itself, comes from a non-kosher source such as the pig."  (http://top-10-list.org/2011/10/23/top-10-non-kosher-food/.)  Instead I think a better alternative is Truvia which is a sugar replacement that is made from stevia, which comes from a leaf.  The nice thing about Truvia is that it is not overly sweet like sugar replacements can be.

I've been trying many new things.  Some work out.  Some don't.  The other night I made egg muffins which had egg whites, turkey bacon, green pepper, mushroom, and fat free cheese.  They came out really yummy.  Today for lunch I took a red pepper, spread fat free cream cheese on it and topped it with ham.  This did not taste yummy.

It's been a learning process and I have a long way to go but with each success I feel more sure that I can tackle this eating healthy business some day down the road.  Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Thanks for reading.

Lydia

Time for Change

On Wednesday March 7th, we had a health screening at work.  I was very excited and only a little nervous about what my "numbers" would be.  I mean I knew that my BMI and body fat were not going to be pretty.  I mean hello I'm not THAT blind.  So the morning came, we all did the screening, I went to have my coaching session after my results came back and I almost had a heart attack....well more like apparently I WAS a walking heart attack.  Bad, really, really bad.  I'm going to be 100% honest here for the integrity of....well being honest.  At 36, I have a cholesterol of 268, a BMI of 28 and body fat of 33.9%.  How stellar are those numbers!?  Yeah so talk about a wake up call.  I realized in an instant that all the things I had "talked about" doing need to actually really happen.  I immediately changed my diet and began working out a minimum of 4 days a week.  I needed to lose some serious weight....like 40 pounds of it.  And I didn't want to find it again. 

  
In an effort to keep my overly large bum in check and on track, I'm going to tell you where I am, how I'm doing and all the ins and outs between.  I'm going to talk about recipes I make, workouts I do.
My hope is that by sharing the sometimes not so pretty details, that I will be forced to be honest with myself and work hard.

Thank for reading.

Lydia

A song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu5uiFQKqTA

This song right now imbues all I feel

For the love of journaling. . .

I have written in a journal for a very long time.  I believe I started when I was in my early teens, as many of us do.  I have also had a vey linear view of journaling...thinking about nothing but writing my thoughts and feelings about life, love, etc.  And then. . . . . . . . . . . .one day I came across a blog (which I now cannot find) that showed me how very wrong I could be.

Sure you can use a journal as I mentioned above and if you are someone who does and it works for you then that is fantastic.  For me however, I am a pretty artsy/crafy kind of girl.  I love making things and the whole DIY business.  So this website showed me the way.  The women uses her journal for EVERYTHING.  To do lists, thoughts, quotes, you name it, she puts it in there.  And I thought "wow, I really, really love how her journal looks, heck maybe I'll give it a try.  I mean I don't like it I go back to the way I've always done it".  So try I did.  Man alive did I open a can of worms.  I LOVE it, further more, it apparently is catching on with many others as well because I cam across yet another website that was so stunningly awesome that I'm taking my journaling even further.  I love the tags, and she mentions using decorative tape, which OH my GoSh....so pretty. 

Now, mine looks nothing like the Hope's but I'm getting there and I think in time it will develop into something that makes me as giddy as a school girl.  =)

New Journal!!!

Different pockets found at Hobby Lobby.

I write everything on my journal pages now.  Things I've done, people I've had lunch with, movies/TV shows I've watched, things people tell me that are of interest.  Also my to do list and lately what I intend to do that day and not do that day.

Each page is a work in progress...for example the pages with the envelopes I will fill in with more color and drawings, perhaps clips from magazines too. 

I hope this inspires someone as the ladies I've learned about have inspired me. 

Happy Journaling.....and reading.  =)

Lydia

My Sweet, Sweet Love

I'm not sure what is happening, but I can't sit and read any more...I try but alas I'm always doing something that keeps me busy.  I wonder if perhaps it is because I quit smoking.  Since I quit I find it really, really hard to sit for more than five minutes, led alone with nothing else to do but read a book.  I'm frightened...reading and books have always been my love, they still are, and nothing brings me more peace than the sight of a book or someone curled up with a book but alas I'm finding it hard for me to be that person.  I feel lost not being a reader and I'm scared I won't find my way back.  I used to sit for hours upon hours upon hours reading....getting so involved with the characters and the plot, but now I feel it's so hard to even pick the book up.  I'm truly hoping this is merely a phase and that soon...very, very soon I will find my way back to my sweet, sweet love.

Crayon Art

About a month ago a girlfriend of mine introduced me to Pinterest.com...Oh lordy.  I'm addicted is an understatement but it's a good thing because I've come across some really great ideas and have created a seperate journal just for those items (more on journaling in a future post...stay tuned).  I will I'm sure in the coming days, weeks, and months be doing A LOT of blogging about my new Pinterest activities. 

So one of the ideas that I came across was crayon art. When I first saw it I thought "Wow, that is really cool, I might try that sometime" and then I realized it would make a really great Christmas gift for someone.

I purchased a pack of two canvases at Walwart for around $6.00, crayons (I had to use 1 1/2 packs of 24 crayons) $1.44, Tacky glue $2.00 and the blow dryer at home....

I also purchased a book of quotes ($5.99 at Hobby Lobby) to add a little something to the piece of art...

I layed out the crayons the way that I wanted them, in this case I used the primary color index but the possibilites are endless.

I also put on the sticker quote that I liked the best.  After all the crayons were glued I let it sit for about 45 minutes to ensure they were on there securely.  I've seen some versions with the wrapper off but I felt that the wrapper made it more playful.

Once I was sure the crayons were set I began the melting process.  Now let me just say at this point, I was having doubts.  Doubts that it work, doubts that if it worked that it would look good, but they were quickly put to rest.  The great thing about this is that it really doesn't matter what the end result is.  I tried varied heat settings, if I felt like it was melting too quickly or moving down the canvas I either put the hair dyrer on a cool setting or changed the angle of the canvas, also tilting it different ways to have the crayon colors blend and what do you know....it worked!!!!

Tada!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Cheap instant artwork.

I saw one version of this in which someone had used only browns and greens and then after it had dried they put stickable flowers at the top.  In yet another version somonee used pieces of crayon instead of the whole thing.  I also think that a larger canvas would have looked even cooler as the crayons would have really melted, not only at the top but all the way down.  The possiblities are endless and you can make this a really personal gift for someone: use their favorite color in the shape of their inital for a birthday present use only reds and pinks in the shape of a heart for Valentine's Day.  A word of advice.  In this particular case they are lined up so the direction in which you held it really didn't matter, however if you are doing something as mention directly above, rotating the canvas would be recommended or it will run onto itself....then again maybe that would look really cool.  I'm sure I will be trying many of these versions in the coming weeks.  I'll share when I do.  =)





Ahhh...the library

There are certain places that we can go that become a sort of heaven or haven for us.  Perhaps it is a church, a coffee shop, a bubble bath.  It is a place that we feel most at peace, most ourselves, and the most happy.  We can spend hours in this place and feel like everything is right in the world.  For me, that place is the library.  When I go there, I don't worry about my love life, my grades, my job, my finances, my living situation.  All I think about is the wonderful books I can explore and find.  Anything I would ever want to learn about can be found within a book here.  Not only am I surrounded by one of the things I love the most, but it is peaceful and calm.  I have come to escape, to be happy.

31 Days of Thankful

During November many of my friends posted on Facebook, daily things that they were thankful for.  I unfortunately didn't see this until too late into the month to join them.  However, that doesn't mean that I can't do it in December, or any other month for that matter.  So starting today on Facebook I will post daily something that I'm thankful for.  Benefit of doing it in December...I get an extra day.  =)

Lots of Love and Thankfulness,
Lydia

The NON smoking me

It amazes me just how much NON smokers...including me, can get done.  I suppose for newbie non smokers it might be a bit more (because we are trying to keep busy ergo not think about smoking). 
Usually Saturdays are hard for me, thus far, but yesterday was my Saturday I guess.  I actually wept that I was not smoking.  I wanted to smoke so bad.  I sat in bed crying, to a really important person about how sad I was that cigarettes were not in my life anymore, how I was tired of being strong, how I wanted one so bad.  Yesterday was, based on past experiences, the perfect day for smoking...but I didn't have one.  I couldn't remember, despite writing it down, why I had quit, or why I wanted this path. 
Today was Saturday, my usual hard day.  It was easier than yesterday and previous Saturdays but still hard.  I've found that weekends have actually become something I don't look forward to.  Relaxing, wine drinking, reading, crafts, extra hours = smoking. 
Today, in an effort to curtail the urge I went for a beautiful hour and a half hike at South Valley Park in Ken Caryl, Littleton.  I then spent a good two hours at the Arapahoe Public Library.  I came home took a nap, and made two embroidered/crocheted dish towels for Christmas.  This weekend I watched the entire third season of Fringe (may have to watch again LOL), two movies (Fast Five and Horrible Bosses), did some extensive meditating, ate an entire meal by myself in a restaurant (well Panera....does that count?), and enjoyed myself.
I look forward to the weekend in which I don't think about smoking.  I look forward to the weekend I look forward to.  I look forward to the life without cigarettes.  It's been a hard three weeks.  I look at my bestie, and quit smoking partner Sara and envy her strength, she seems so strong, so unfazed by the little things and she inspires me.  She's amazing when it comes to these things.  I hope I can be half as strong as she.
Tomorrow is Sunday, usually a good day for me.  I have learned however that as an ex-smoker there are surprises, both good and bad, and that I must be prepared for them. 
I am strong.  I am a NON smoker.  I can do this. 

2012 Sketchbook Project

Today I received in the mail my sketchbook for the

Art House Co-Op 2012 Sketchbook Project. 

I'm very excited to get started on this project.  My theme is Tears and

Fears...at the time I signed up these were two things that were very

dominate in my life.  Perhaps in many ways these still are and through this I

can reconcile some of those tears and fears.

I'm looking forward to exploring what these can turn out to be in my

sketchbook which allows for any type of medium. 

If you are interested in learning more about the 2012 Sketchbook Project by

the Art House Co-Op check out their website at

http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject2012

2011 Associate Banquet

Last night I celebrated 15 years with Centura.  Something I'm very proud of.  I had a wonderful time with great company and was surrounded by people who I love.  Plus we got to do a tour of the Sports Authority Field and that was very cool.

During the tour of the stadium we got to see the inside of the guest locker room

Never thought I would be standing on a professional football field, or that I would think it was so cool!  :)



At the end of the night it was really great to see my dear friend Toby Raleigh being recognized for 20 years of service!  :)

A week in review

It's been a challenging week.  Monday night at approximately 8:30 pm I smoked the last cigarette of my life.  Thanks to all the support I have received and my own willpower, I have been smoke free for almost 5 days!!!!  I honestly never thought it would happen.  I used to tell everyone that I would never quit smoking...I just loved it too much.  Now after having been 5 days without and roughly 96 cigarettes NOT smoked I can confidently say I AM A NON SMOKER.  It feels really quite amazing.  To be honest i feel pretty damn proud of myself.  I never thought I would be without cigarettes and to be honest I do miss them, sometimes more than others, such as right now but I can't believe I have been 5 days without and I plan to never smoke again!!!!  Yay me.  :*>