Life As We Know It

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

This post has been a long time coming and it's been percolating in my head for a while. It's been years since I have written a post but this blog has never been far from my mind. I always knew I would come back to it someday.

I just knew I couldn't write until I had a more settled understanding of myself and my family. 

After our big move to Michigan a few years ago, I was dealing with a severe back pain issue along with all the post-move adjustments that came to our family. I was depressed and anxious and so were my kids. My husband was dealing with a new job. It was too much. 

I burnt out.

It was a dark and hazy time for me. I don't know how much further to get into it than that because I have no clue where the TMI line is. But there have been a lot of things to work through and I've made some self-discoveries. Now I feel like I'm finally functioning fairly normally again. 

In the midst of it, we've been the process of seeking diagnoses for my neurodivergent kiddos, along with navigating therapies, IEPs, and homeschooling. And Covid. 

Still not sure how we caught that one.

So, I'm still here. I stink at sharing personal stuff and writing lengthy blog posts but I do have plans to blog more often. I'm also trying my hand at fiction writing so I may start sharing some of that as well. 

If you're still here following along after a three year break, you can leave me a comment and let me know! 

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New Year, New House

Last year I kinda sorta gave up on writing. Not completely though because I'm stubborn. And because I do so love writing, especially research papers(totally not being sarcastic, I love research papers).

Yet here I am again.

Because I'm stubborn.

I'm certain that my innate stubbornness is one of the main reasons I made it through last year. It's been nearly that long since my last post and so much has happened in that time. It's been a year full of stress, anxiety, depression, pain, and upheaval. 

Last summer, we said goodbye to Virginia and moved to our place in Michigan. When we first bought it, we didn't expect to live there a long time but then Hubby made a career change and everything happened rather suddenly. We are currently living in the basement since we already had renters upstairs. 

I suppose it's a good size for a basement but coming from a two story house to a basement has definitely been an adjustment. There are some things I've enjoyed about it though. I can hear the boys playing from wherever they are, I'm forced to only unpack what I need and live simply, and there's no stuff gathering on the stairs for me to put away(I feel like much of my time in our last house was spent going up and down stairs). 

The cons are that I can still hear the boys playing from wherever they are, I can't unpack all my stuff so there are boxes everywhere, and all our stuff just gathers on the pool table instead. The sink and dishwasher is miles away from the actual kitchen area and I think that's my biggest issue so far.

The view of the backyard makes up for a whole lot.

I wish I had more before pictures of the house. My phone broke after the move so I lost some of my pictures but I did manage to salvage a few photos. Excuse the horrible photography. I'm pretty sure that my old phone had the worse camera ever. These are all from the basement the day we moved in. I shared more upstairs pictures back when we first bought it.

We had so much help from family to get it cleared and ready. There's no way we could have done it all on our own. They cleared out trash, donated stuff, ripped out carpet, moved furniture, and cleaned everything in the couple weeks before we arrived. Someone even loaned us their RV for us to live in while we got things more livable in the basement.

I feel like this move has been good for us in a lot of ways. There's that feeling of starting over brand new, everything clean and free of expectations. The property is quiet and secluded; I'm already attached to this small city and its slower pace. I feel more at peace now than I have in a long time, even if there is a Ratatouille situation in my attic.

We've fought off stinkbugs, met the local fire department, and survived Arctic temperatures. I even bought myself a puffy coat and snow boots, things I never thought I would own. I guess we're Michiganders now after all.

I'm excited to see where it leads us.

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Choosing the Right Cotton Sheets

Have you ever been confused with all the different kinds of cotton sheets out there? All the labels touting thread count, percale, and Pima. It can be confusing.

For me, I'm all about soft, smooth sheets and I couldn't care less about wrinkles. They get wrinkly when you sleep on them anyway. Other people like sheets to feel crisp and, for some reason I shall never understand, feel the need to iron them. So how can you know what you're getting before you buy?

I Need Your Help!

Some of you may have noticed a few glitches on the site over the last couple days. This is because

Google recently made a secure https setting available for bloggers who use Google for hosting. This means that my blog will now use a secured https url and my blog will no longer show the unsecure message in a Chrome browser. I have made this switch, but I'm noticing issues as a result and I am working on correcting them. 

You may notice that some of the links, share buttons, images, etc., are not functioning. Some I have noticed already but I'm sure there are others that I may be missing. Different browsers show things differently(duh, right?) and the browser that I'm using may not show me a certain problem that you are having. Please report any issues with my site that you have noticed through a comment or an email to help me identify the glitches and find solutions more quickly!

If you’re on Blogger too and have recently switched to https, I want to help you find support for any issues and anything in general related to Blogger support. I am part of a Blogger tech/troubleshooting support community with hired support available for your SEO and tech needs. You can find the group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LGandKSBloggerSupport/

Thank you for your patience as I work to get this all squared away. I appreciate your loyalty as a reader! 

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5 Things You Might Not Know About Me

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I'm not much of a voluntary sharer. I probably should have thought about that a little more before deciding to write and publish anything but here we are! And I'm so glad you are. I don't write this kind of post very often. I tend to have a hard time finding that happy medium between too little and too much info sharing so I'm hoping that I've managed to do that without completely embarrassing myself!

Some of you that have been here a while may have picked up on some of my quirks already but I know there are some new readers here too. Since you are here to read my words, I'd like you to get to know the person behind them!

To start with, I've been married to my wonderful, fellow introvert Hubby for 8 years and we have two boys that we are currently homeschooling. I'm working my way toward a degree in Interior Design while also attempting to figure out my path as a writer and watching way too many superhero TV shows.

Here are 5 other things that you might not know about me.

1. I'm a highly sensitive introvert.

With a touch of social anxiety and a face that always looks grumpy. Not such a great combination for winning friends and influencing people. Writing works better for me. You can't see me unintentionally glaring at you behind this screen and I get time to think through my words without those weird stops when I glance out into space. Win-win for all of us!

I have my difficult moments in our extroverted culture but I do love being an introvert.

2. I have a weird fascination with birds.

I'm not sure that I like birds. I don't even want a bird(ok, except for chickens but that's only because they make me eggs and I need those to make cake). However, I do like to watch birds and identify them. Doing a "Big Year" sounds like a great way to spend some time. The movie, The Big Year, with Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson, is one of my favorites.

I am fully aware of my weirdness.

3. I'm a nerd.

And a Hufflepuff.

I'll read or watch pretty much anything, from sci-fi to fantasy to the classics. I was always the studious kid that (mostly) followed the rules and got good grades. Last week, I received an A- on a paper for my art history class and then proceeded to grouse about it all day.

Hubby was not sympathetic.

And I kinda feel like I'm the odd mom that has no problem with the husband and kids playing video games. Probably because I'm playing them too. Ask me about my level 29 wood elf with super sneak and mad archery skills.

4. I broke a personality test.

I'm not talking about those random "What Disney Princess are You" quizzes. I'm talking about those free tests on supposedly reputable personality profiling sites. I took the test and, after calculating my answers, I was told that the algorithm couldn't figure me out. I get a different answer on every test I take and I've been typed as every introverted type at least once.

Based on my obsession with research of the Myers-Briggs personality typing and after taking pretty much every single free test out there, I've come to the conclusion that the "I" is strong with this one and that every other letter is extremely balanced. Based on cognitive functions, I believe that I may have finally found a home in the ISFJ camp, although sometimes I relate to the INFJ type as well.

As far as the Enneagram goes, it confuses me but I think I'm a 6? Or maybe a 9? With some 4 thrown in somewhere? My best guess is that those three make up my tritype.

If that means anything to any of you, yay! If it doesn't, Feel free to ignore my crazy rambling. I hope you'll stick around here anyway!

5. I can't really pick a favorite book but if I had to... 

I would have to pick The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy. Set during the French Revolution, it's just got that right mix of history, fiction, romance, action, suspense, and cleverness. I also highly recommend the movie version with Anthony Andrews, Ian McKellen, and Jane Seymour. 

Two more book favorites are Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

So that's five things about me!

Due to school and family, I don't get as much time to work on projects and write as I have in the past. However, the boys are getting bigger and sometimes they can play with each other without needing a referee so I grab those times when I can.

Thank you for being a reader. It means so much to me that you are here despite my inconsistent posts. My life is crazy just like yours so I'm glad we can journey this together and maybe make a pretty home along the way!

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Top 10 Favorite Decorative Pillows from Amazon(and Four Ideas for Styling)

I am a pillow hoarder. Hubby and his friends say that I need an intervention. Apparently it's hard for them to sit comfortably when there are pillows on the couch. For me, sinking into fluffy pillows is the definition of comfort and coziness. Plus, they are such an easy and relatively cheap way to change up a room.

Because I love pillows so much, I am always looking for new ones to add to my hoard carefully curated collection of decorative throw pillows. Target, H&M, and Marshalls's are my favorite places for pretty pillows. Ikea even has some good ones and that's usually where I find my pillow inserts for cheap.

I'd never really looked at what pillows Amazon has to offer but, you know, since everything else is on Amazon, I figured I'd check it out. There's so many pages of everything to go through! I mostly searched for the style of prints and colors that I know I like so just know that there is way more on Amazon than these! These just happen to be my favorite.

You can find each pillow on Amazon by clicking the links below! If you do buy one, I will a get paid a small commission as an affiliate but all opinions are mine! I'd use any of these in my own house.

Velvet Throw Pillow Cover, Watercolor Floral Pillow, Pink Floral Throw Pillow, Cable Knit Pillow, Crochet Pillow Cover, Grain Sack Farmhouse Pillow Cover, Herringbone Pillow Cover, Ticking Stripe Pillow Cover, Buffalo Check Pillow Cover, Striped Pillow




A note though that these aren't all pillows with inserts. Some are just the covers so the inserts have to be bought separately. My favorite place to get them is Ikea but Amazon has them too: Set of 2 18x18 Feather Pillow Inserts

Sometimes it can be hard to see how different pillows would work together so I put a few combos together for you to see how they would look. Which one is your favorite style?

1. Modern Glam Farmhouse

2. Elegant Artist

3. Sophisticated Neutrals

3. Comfy Casual

4. Romantic Cottage

My personal favorite is #3: the ticking stripe and pink floral. I do love the idea of that buffalo check combined with the green velvet though! Which is your favorite combo? You can leave a comment below!

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My Word of the Year for 2018

Perhaps it's a bit late to be writing a word of the year post. This one particular post for me is always late, usually because I only get to slow down and think about it after the craziness of the holidays. This year we've been sick since Christmas and no one feels like writing about goals while one is laid up with the flu. But we are finally starting to get better around here though and I'm finally feeling more myself.

As I stand here in the new year and look back at 2017, realize what a wild ride it was. There were so many challenges and stressors that we never anticipated. Not only did we have the normal stressors of work, school, and family, but we unexpectedly bought a house too.

I overwhelm very easily. Some days I wake up overwhelmed. When I'm like this, I retreat into myself and become frustrated at the slightest thing that dares disturb my desire for peace(like noisy little boys). I've been living haphazardly, hoping everything would just work out eventually.

This year, I'm working to change that.

My word of the year for 2018 is intentional.