IFF - An Animal

A cat is a beautiful, sleek, aloof creature which should on no terms ever be allowed to live in my house. A cat must feed on rodents and keep their population under control. A cat must be smart and agile and keep itself clean. It is playful and cute and baby kitties shall be the sweetest thing ever with their fluffy fur and playful ways. But a cat must keep it's distance. And it shall never ride in my vehicle during the winter. And it must sit and preen itself in the sunshine and cast a lovely shadow on the deck.

IFF - 10 Things I'd Tell My Before Marriage/Children Self

1. Life isn't fair. I did know this but I wish I had been taught better to accept life and it's uncertainties and not to dramatize so much.

2. Thankfulness is everything. The bible says, in everything give thanks. This one thing makes life okay. Thankfulness really is the answer.

3. Core Values. I wish I had had more of an idea what I wanted for core values before I had children. I suppose we all have our things and it's okay. But it doesn't hurt to think about where we want our children to go as adults and how we want to get there. Only looking back I realize that these are my top core values.

• Jesus first.
• Be nice to EVERYONE.
• Respect yourself and everyone else.

4. Confidence. I really do wish I had been taught more confidence and especially in the area of food. We have to have confidence ourselves to teach our children confidence. You can do this. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Learn to laugh at yourself.

5. Laughter is truly the best medicine. If you can laugh at yourself, it's gonna be okay. Let go.

6. Mental health is important. Exercise. Take your vitamins. Get enough sleep. Drink lots of water. Practice thankfulness.

7. Love is a choice. You decide to love and respect your husband. Your in-laws. Your children. Your fellow board wives. Your staff wives. Sometimes it's hard. That's okay.

8. Everyone means well. Maybe they don't but practice thinking that they do. It's not your problem if they don't.

9. Let the kiddos be creative. Don't let others judgement of neatness, cleanliness and properness affect your own judgment. They are your kiddos. What's most important to you? That they have an imagination and can figure things out on their own? Or that your house was clean for company on the weekend? I know. We want both. But sometimes we have to choose.

10. Choose JOY!!! It's a choice. When life looks big and scary, go small-small with your joy bucket. Do things like examining a single snowflake, building a fire in the fireplace and inhaling the outdoor, woodsy smell or sniffing your little boys head after a bath. Or how about this. When the entrance door bursts open and little bodies clamor in, falling over each other and the boots, toques and gloves get flung under the chairs and on top of the gun-case, you smile and look into their sparkling eyes, kiss their cheeks and smell the clean winter-y smell of fresh air and oxygen.

IFF - Black & Blue, Physically Hurt

So here's the thing. I need to walk and exercise. I've got this lifetime struggle with big hips and a mommy-tummy. And it may seem silly, but only a couple months of no walking - Nov, Dec, Jan - really had me packing on the pounds. Not to mention Christmas and goodies and self-control. It's just hard to squeeze them all together. So... wam-bam.

It was time for me the trail. The treadmill. The exercises.

I walked two miles at four point two miles per hour like I (ahem) usually do. I did my 9-minute session of squats and donkey-kicks and crunches.

Well. Lo and behold. It was not an easy day, er, week. My super long toenails cut my feet. My legs ached. My feet ached. It took me a while to start walking each time I stood up. I tried not to look at my husband grinning behind his book as he watched me out of the corner of his eye.

I am proud to say I made myself walk again the next day.

And the next.

And the next.

I've missed some days but I'm confident that my exercising hiatus is officially over. My muscles are no longer black and blue. I'm gonna be okay.

IFF - Something That Feeds Your Soul

I wrote about this in January. I was using an old IFF list, you all. Confessions over, I'm excited to write about more things that feed my soul. Namely, artsy things and beautiful things. So, in no particular order, here are my thoughts.

• Quilting - the colors, the shapes, the designs, the actual quilting. I love it all.
• Painting - My sis, Bren, got me started on water color painting and it's been so much fun! My favourite way to water color paint, I quickly found out, is to draw a picture (like, copy someone else's work) and paint it full of colour and then outline it in black pen or paint. So much fun!
• Drawing - I have always loved charcoal drawing; shading, perspective and whimsical designs and maybe best of all, faces.
• Decor - I have this thing about decor. I love, love bright colors but I try to keep the colourfulness to accessories and not walls. This is for my families sake. Ha. But surprises make me happy. Like, my bright coral/pink pantry, behind closed doors. And the old bench Pat made when he was in school which I painted a brilliant pink. I also love to rearrange things and use and reuse what I have and paint and change things for variety.
• Lettering - My mantel chalkboard has been one of my favourite creative outlets. I like to match the season outside and the season of our life. And I try to always use words of encouragement up there because it's a main focal point of my house.
• Plants & Gardens - Most things in life I wing. Like, either the plants live or die. Ha ha. But plants bring me so much joy! Here are some favourites that don't need much sunshine or consistent watering: spider plant, snake plant, African violets, most succulents and golden pothos plant. I actually don't especially love the African violets but they remind me of Pat's grandma and that's special.
• Gardening - is my happy spot. I spend hours dreaming and ordering and planning and then, of course, the actual work in summer is harder to get done. Gardening is my alone time and I love it. Plus it feeds my family. Fortunately, I love doing up the produce too. There's nothing like rows of red tomato juice and green beans and jars of salsa lining the pantry walls.