Tag Archives: questions

Matched Mates

Posted in Thoughts & Stories by

I was just telling the story of meeting and falling in love with Mumbles to someone the other day when I recalled something that his aunt said to us once. She said “people are either a match or they aren’t – opposites may attract but they aren’t a match.”

At the time, this blew my mind. I’m pretty sure the rest of what she said was a very illuminating (albeit one-sided) conversation but I couldn’t get past it: match or no match. Match. No match. That’s it. So simple! I wondered if it was true.

Later, Mumbles and I had reflected on how quickly we each realized we would marry after we started dating.  Call us crazy but it was within a month. Maybe less, but we’d even call that crazy so let’s just say it was a month. Can you believe that?! We were babies! But somehow we knew.

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Do you agree that people are either a match or they aren’t?  When did you know your partner was “The One?”

P.S. Mumbles and me circa 2004/2005. Babies!

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Bed Making

Posted in Thoughts & Stories by

Do you make your bed?  I most certainly do not.  Mumbles and I always say that our marriage works because we’re equally messy and making the bed is something we definitely agree not to do.  Though, he kicks the covers off and I love to curl up all cozy in them so sometimes we make the bed just so he can freshly throw his side of the covers onto me and I can snuggle up just so.  Made for each other!

secrets to a messy bed via funky junk interiors

Anyway, it seems the making the bed issue has really struck a cord with lots of folks lately.

In the pro camp:

If you want to change the world, start by making your bed…one of 10 life lessons from Navy SEAL Admiral McRaven’s Amazing Commencement Speech

Make Your Bed! For Productivity, Profit and Peace

How Making Your Bed Every Morning Can Improve Your Life

Does it Really Matter if You Make Your Bed?

And only one lonely guy trying to convince everyone that making your bed is a waste of time:

Why You Should Never Make Your Bed

 

Will anyone stand in solidarity with me on the not making your bed front?  Or, do I need to get my life together a little more and start making my bed every morning?

 

P.S. Secrets to a messy bed.  I love it. 

Introducing: Stick Girl JAM on Etsy!

Posted in Inspiration by

Remember when I asked you to Write this Down and answer hard questions like what brings you joy and happiness?  This has been on my mind a lot in the past year.  I had some goals like starting a blog – check.  Getting a dog – check.  Exercising regularly – check.  Crafting more – check.  Opening an Etsy shop – whoa, whoa, whoa.  That’s a little scary.  And it was. Until I just sat down one day and did it.  So now I’m happy to say it’s checked off the list and I can proudly introduce Stick Girl JAM on Etsy!  I have some sweet stuff (see what I did there?  That’s cute, right?!) and would be so thrilled if you head on over to Etsy, check out my shop and let me know what you think. I imagine that I’ll keep moving from one craft to the next and updating the shop as I go – I always tend to overdue it, get obsessed with something, make more than necessary and then have nothing to do with them so Etsy has been a perfect place to put this energy. 

I’ve been plugging along, filling orders and have found that I just adore working with Etsy shoppers – so nice, so fun, so inpsiring!  My first order shipped to a lovely lady in Singapore, no less!  (Hey, when they talk about diving in head first, it’s always in the deep end, right?)  I thought to myself, we’ll give this a go, try it out, ease my way into it…and then my first order is international?!  Just goes to show you that you shouldn’t put limitations on yourself due to fear.  What’s the worst that could happen?  In my case: you end up at the post office three times in one day.  Hey, I can tell you, not as bad as you’d think! Ha!

Go big.
Jump in.
Dive deep.
Give it your all. 
Do it.

What do you have going on in your life that you need to get to, try more, pursue harder, or celebrate?  Please share!

How will you use your Leap Day?

Posted in Inspiration by

With an extra day this year – Leap Day, just one week away – I’ve been thinking about the concept of time and time management. As Jessie Spano so eloquently said after getting a little too crazy on the uppers and lunging at an all-too-concerned Zack Morris: “No time…there’s never any time!!” (ahh, the life lessons we learn from Saved By the Bell!)  So, I’m back at the really challenging and inspiring question that’s often asked: What would you do if you had more time?

For example, if I actually left work after 8 (or gosh, even 9) hours, what great and intricate recipes could I make for dinner that I never have time for when I come home exhausted at 7:30 and just want to throw together whatever I see first in the refrigerator?

Or, if I woke up an hour earlier to start my day off right with a great breakfast or longer walk with the dog? Would that clear my head and make me more productive during my day? (Certainly wouldn’t make me happy about waking up earlier but perhaps better fed and less guilty for ditching the dog to go to work, that’s for sure.)

Speaking of waking up, how about going to bed? What if you ditched your late night tv date with Jay, Conan, or David and got extra Z’s? How much more refreshed and energized would you feel the next day? How much might you save yoursef in under-eye concealer? (ouch, that was a little harsh, I agree. Sorry.)

So, friends, I ask: how will you use your Leap Day this year?

Write this down

Posted in Inspiration by

It’s February already, my gosh, and by all accounts most people have given up on New Year’s resolutions and are surprised to see themselves swirled away by the busyness of 2012.  It’s a good thing to be busy, to be swept away, so caught up in doing things that we feel time has flown by.  But not noticing time has flown by also usually means that we’ve lost track of what is most important in our lives, so I’d say it’s also a great thing to make time for yourself and to commit to plans that get you to accomplishing the goals you have.  No one sets about making resolutions at the beginning of the year because they don’t want those things for themselves – they do want them! – it’s just that we are all guilty of getting caught up in the day-to-day ongoings of our lives that we sometimes neglect the big stuff for which we had the highest intentions and hopes. 

So, month two of 2012: Hi. Let’s get back on track with what we want for ourselves this year.  Here’s a quick little exercise to get your brain back in the mood:

My definition of happiness is _________________________. 

A checklist for achieving this happiness will include:
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________

I will encourage myself with confidence, bravery, recognition, and rewards by ______________________ when I ___________________________.

In my daily pursuit of happiness/health/success/wealth/love, I will commit to ________________________.

Maybe we also need to talk about what we’re not going to do?  Sometimes it’s positive to be negative.  Here’s some inspiration:

I will not sit back and “wait to see what happens.”
I will not put a to do list together without crossing at least one thing off of it, even if that one thing is “make a to do list.”
My happiness doesn’t look like anyone else’s so I refuse to rely on others to bring me success and happiness.

If you followed through on everything above to manifest happiness in your life would you be better for it?  The answer to that is probably a resounding yes.  It might even be a “hell, yeah!” or “you betcha” if that’s more your style.

People often say it’s the simple things in life that mean the most. Very simply, what means the most to you?  What brings you joy?  Find ways to concentrate on that joy and work towards increasing it every day. 

Wishing you happiness today and every day.