Sharing A Bit of HAPPY

I am sitting here, late this evening, thinking, "Dammit!  Something most definitely stung me on the bottom of my foot!"  That's what I get for gardening late in the evening barefoot.  I am about to make some homemade insecticide.  I hope it works!  I also hope we don't all die from the concoction, although, aside from a little bit of dish liquid, it sounds like the homemade insecticide is chocked full of ingredients that I cook with daily.  LOL.

Today is actually Tuesday, and I have already posted today.  I am determined to be creative, but I am a bit tapped out at the moment...  I have been uploading and editing and writing all day.  As we all know that housework is my arch nemesis, I am sad to say that I have not even touched one single thing that needs to be cleaned.  Oh wait, I started a load of laundry.  I need a towel to dry off with after I shower later and I am fresh out of clean panties AND bikini swimwear bottoms.  Time to do a load... unless...  Unless I can figure out a cute way, using yarn and a tube sock, I can create a pair of "something-like-panties" to hold me over for another few days.  Naaaah!  LOL!  That's totally not going to work! Ha!

Right now, I am just marveling at how awesome my long weekend was!  I wanted to share some of those moments.  This weekend, Kiki left with her family for a two week vacation and The Hubs went to a family reunion out of town with our Little Darling.  You would think I'd be so sad, lonely, confused about how to spend my time.  Well, this domestic hum drum is for the birds!  The Birds!  And getting a break from the robotic, repetitious, mundane tasks of wifely motherhood was super-fucking-tastic!  I loved it!

I got to eat all the foods I like!


Pad Thai.  I love Thai food!

I got to try Vietnamese food for the first time.  SO YUMMY!  I had this pork and shrimp dish.  I can't remember the name and some pho as well. I had been wanting to try this for a long while, but The Hubs and our Little Darling are not very adventurous eaters.



Shrimp Pho.



I also got to eat and watch the Argentina vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina game for the World Cup.  I love soccer.  I played when I was younger, and I have loved it almost all my life.  It's so exciting...and Yea, well, the players are just SEXY!

Chips with guacamole, red pepper sauce, salsa verde, and spicy salsa roja
 

This place has THE best tacos!

Black bean and kale taco // marinated pork with pineapple tacos served on handmade corn tortillas.

You can use your imagination to see the sweets and pies and ice creams I ate.  Hahaha!  I don't typically have photo evidence of the unhealthy things I have eaten. Not unless I have baked it myself.

I also took the time to make several crochet collars, rosettes, some felt magnets and other things.  I made all the items for my Very First Giveaway.  You can click the Link to enter the giveaway, if you haven't, or just to check out the items. I got so many things made this weekend that I actually have material for several blog posts to come!  Hell, I even had time to shoot a few things for a new project that I plan on starting here soon...  Maybe in the next few weeks, or so.

I also went around town, looking for beauty and nature.  I am REALLY excited to be sharing three new crochet projects that I will be working on for the next few weeks.  They are all based on things I saw this past weekend, while on nature walks.  My family loves to be outside, but I don't just enjoy the fitness.  I am always looking for inspiration.  Always.  And sometimes that bothers my family a little. I want to stop and smell flowers and take pictures.  They want to hammer out the miles on a trail.  It was so nice to STROLL, rather than power walk.  It was great to STOP and SIT, rather than walk, run, jump, and climb. For the first time in months, I could hear myself think!

I got these earrings in Mexico for about a nickel! 

So here is a moment of truth and honesty.  The truth is, I don't feel particularly beautiful.  I think I am all right, and far from being a troll.  All day long, I am at home, completely unmade up.  I am cleaning, and cooking, and "Mom-ing" all day in a t-shirt and some yoga pants.  I am chasing children, cleaning messes, and trying to do it all for my wonderful husband, who works two jobs.  I take pride in caring for others.  And I think I am a kind, honest, hard working person, which counts for a lot.  But I don't find myself to be all that pretty, and Definitely NOT beautiful!  So that is what I seek out, while on these nature walks.  I love searching for this natural beauty that I feel God blesses us all with, but so many of us walk right past and never think twice about.  Finding these moments of beauty within nature remind me that I can be beautiful, vulnerable, strong, resilient, creative, and inspiring.  Don't ask me how I get so much out of taking pictures of plants and bugs, while wandering about, sweating like a slave in this Southern heat, but I do!  Maybe it could be that finding beauty in nature and within others helps me to find something beautiful within myself.

I am so grateful for the time I had this past weekend to recharge, reflect, and regain a little confidence.

Happy Wednesday to You!