“Creativity involves breaking out established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.” - Edward de Bono

I spent the better part of my fall redecorating and remodeling our living room all because one day my husband came to me and said I have idea, “let’s rip out the carpet in the living room and get rid of the entertainment center.”  No words could have been more brilliantly spoken than his words that day; he might as well have said the most romantic words ever declared.  I had to wipe the wax from my ears to make sure I heard him correctly.  Funny thing is it’s not that he doesn’t like change or even enjoy nice things; it’s just that I am primarily the one with the ideas and decorating is low on his priority list.  This is one of places we differ, my brain never stops, I have ideas about everything, and sometimes my ideas even have ideas.  All my thoughts and ideas had been convening in my head almost every day for months on end, thinking of what we could do to the living room space, on a shoestring budget.  So as soon as he mentioned this I’m sure he wanted to shove the words back in his mouth, because all of my ideas poured out, at that very moment.  “If we pull up the carpet…we should paint the walls…if we paint the walls we need to paint the ceiling…we should put in hardwood floors….we could use new blinds and curtains and a new chair…we will need something to put a new TV on….I would like to paint the end tables and coffee table…the pictures need to come down and instead of fixing all the holes in that wall, why don’t we put pallets up there?”  I’m sure I had diarrhea of the mouth but I was just so excited.  His response *with a skeptical sideways look* was something like “pallets, really?”  He handled himself pretty well considering I told him I wanted to put shoddy wood from pallets, in our home.  He allowed me to proceed with my lot of outlandish thoughts because he is the most accommodating person I know and trusts me to no end.  Most people would call on the professionals to paint, put in the floors and do most of the heavy lifting, not us.  We will be eternally those people who are crazy enough to think we can do it all on our own, with no real experience, the right tools or even a proper work space.  Some say naïve or even foolish.  I say ambitious and creative. 

As soon as I had the go ahead, I was off, spending the majority of my computer time on Pinterest, a visual wonderland in my mind, I just can’t get enough of it.  I pinned and pinned all sorts of ideas, shopped days upon days in thrift stops, another one of my beloved activities.  I filled my minivan with used broken down and ugly furniture, shopped for fabrics, made copious amounts of trips to Lowe’s and even made a few minivan trips with loads of pallets.  As much as I hated the idea of driving a minivan, boy can you get a boat load of stuff in one, it might even be better than a truck.  My creative juices were flowing now. 

Edward de Bono was quoted saying “Creativity involves breaking out established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.”  I would say that picking up the free chair, in the rain, on the side of the road, buying a dirty old used 1970’s dresser from a thrift store for a TV stand, making a piece of driftwood into a coat rack and nailing pallets to your wall, QUALIFIIES.  I would love to say that all the concepts where uniquely my own but I took all the visual ideas I found, changed them around to fit my needs and made them my own.  So many ventures, I was in heaven.  Being creative is what keeps me going, I love to think outside of the box and do things most people think is foolish.  I am unconventional in most of my thoughts and actions.  Boring is NOT an option.  I love to do things that people doubt and think aren’t what you are supposed to do. I delight in doing things that scare me or even make me think no one has ever done.  In order to do this you must be willing to make mistakes. Creativity is about taking risks, inventing, experimenting, growing, breaking rules, making mistakes and having fun. It’s not how you feel about the vision you accomplish, it’s about how you feel about yourself for doing it.  The words proud, triumphed, imaginative and resourceful are the words I feel about yours truly and this task.
 Virtually everyone I spoke with while positioning pallets on my living room walls was skeptical, I got raised eye brows, laughed at and even the occasional “are you crazy?”  Under no circumstance there came a time when I imagined my ideas failing.  In my life, it seems, whenever someone has told me that I couldn’t do something it made me want to do it even more.  I seem to thrive on doubt.  I have always felt like a Fruit Loop in a world of Cheerios, in most aspects of my life.  I love to prove people wrong and in this situation I think I have shown the neigh Sayers that it’s ok to think outside of the box.  I think our living room looks amazing, I absolutely love it.  I have a sense of accomplishment accompanied with being able to be different, imaginative, economical, and resourceful, and it feels great.  I feel alive when I can be creative and atypical, it is what makes me happiest.  I feel creativity is a form of communication.  Our living room, is now a reflection of who we are and how we feel, it tells a story of us.   We spend a lot of time in our homes, they should be a space in which you love being, can’t wait to get back to and ultimately makes you smile.  If you fill your home with things that you love, regardless of the era or price, your home will reveal the true meaning of who you are.  Break out of the established patterns that our society have created and do something  that scares you.  Look at objects and repurpose them into something you never thought of before.  I hope it makes you as happy as it does me to create something beautiful, give something a new life, even if no one else ever sees it.  Every one of us has creativity, go out and find it within you and cultivate your creativity NOW! 
Here are some of the pictures from this project -

Dresser that I bought for $50 at a thrift store

BEFORE

Stained the top, removed some drawers and painted it white - now it holds the new TV.

 AFTER

 

FREE Chair on the side of the road!

BEFORE

REMOVED all fabric & stuffing - added new stuffing, painted the wood white & added new fabric. 

AFTER

 

 

 

Picked up this chair for $4 at a thrift store

BEFORE

Painted it white, removed fabric & stuffing and replaced it.

AFTER

 

 

Old wall color with old blinds

BEFORE

 

New blinds & curtains and I painted the mirror that came with my $50 dresser

AFTER

Ripped up existing carpet

BEFORE

 

We installed laminate wood flooring

AFTER

 

 

End tables that I already had

BEFORE

Painted them white

AFTER

Made a coat rack from a piece of driftwood & some cheap hooks

Made simple shelf ledges for pictures 

 



THE PALLET WOOD WALL 
Collected pallets & used a saw to remove the boards

 



Sanded and removed nails of each board



 

Added strip boards on the studs of the wall to attach pallet boards

 

Attached wood to the wall - matching up the widths

 

Stained the wood and added a ceiling light

 

FINISHED!

 

Love that is looks IMPERFECT!

 

 

COMPLETED Living Room Pictures

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” -Aesop

It’s been a long while since I’ve had time to sit down and write.  Even though November is here and we are deep into the fall season, I want to catch you up and tell you about a special summer endeavor that was near and dear to my heart.  As I wrote back at the beginning of the summer, I implemented the idea of completing 77 Random Acts of Kindness, with my daughter during her 77 days of summer vacation.  I’m proud to say we followed through and completed all 77 days.
My goal in doing this was to teach my eight year old that you don’t need a reason to help people, to see how good it feels to give without getting anything back and to be a positive influence in the world.  I do believe it was a success.  Completing random acts of kindness is definitely not a new idea or even my idea; I will admit I stole this idea from the internet and made it my own.  The idea however was new to my daughter and that is all that mattered.   I loved seeing her face when she was paying it forward and doing something good for others.  I was over joyed when she would come up with ideas on her own.   After a week or so of doing our acts of kindness, it become part of her day, part of her routine, just like brushing her teeth.  It was music to my ears to hear, “What’s our random act of kindness for today?”  I would say that getting an eight year old to utter those words and make giving back a part of their day, a complete SUCCESS.
Aesop said, “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”     Even if our random acts didn’t impact any other human being, they didn’t go to waste.  I taught a very important life lesson, to my child, and I’m sure we did some good for others along the way too.  I feel that teaching the importance of thinking of anything other than ourselves is a lesson that should be taught to each and every child in the world, (scratch that) every adult too.   We live in a world now where children receive praise and get rewarded for EVERYTHING.  It’s great for self-esteem but  the “everyone’s a WINNER” idea, in my opinion, sets kids up to not only think that they don’t have to work hard, to get the reward, it teaches kids that you should get rewarded for everything you participate in.  Girl Scouts have prizes for selling Girl Scout cookies, because selling them to raise money for their troop isn’t enough.  “What do I get?”  My daughter comes home with candy attached to her schoolwork.  REALLY?  What message does this teach kids?  I get it, the teacher wants to reward her for doing well but shouldn’t they just be expected to do their best without the candy?  “What do I get?”  Our society is teaching kids to always have their hands out and wonder what they will be getting, instead of teaching them to just do things because they should.   We are raising kids to think life is all about them and I am no different, we all are doing it.   My favorite part about our “77 Random Acts of Kindness” was doing something good and NOT being able to stick around to reap the REWARD!  My daughter would say, can’t we stick around and see who gets this or I want to see what happens, and I would always say NO.  These acts were meant to be completely selfless.  We received nothing for doing them except for the best feeling in the world and knowing we were, maybe just maybe, making someone’s day a little better.  Imagine our world if we all took the time to teach this idea to our children.  The sun would shine a little brighter and maybe those kids would turn into adults who realize it’s not all about what I can get out of the world.

So I’m happy to say that my 77 random of kindness was a success.  I believe that no matter how small an act we completed, something amazing came from it.   I like to think we were like a pebble being thrown into a puddle; we’ll never know how far our ripples might have reached.  I hope that we inspire you to go out and leave the world a little better than you found it.  Take the time to teach your children that it is important to do good deeds with no reward at the end.  Pay it forward or do something random that brightens someone’s day.  I promise it will brighten yours too.  You don’t need a reason to help people; good deeds are FREE and are NEVER wasted,
So here they are, one of the best experiences I have been able to have with my daughter, our
 “77 Random Acts of Kindness”

1.       Made breakfast in bed for a loved one

2.       Took shorter showers to conserve water

3.       Started  a piggy bank for charity or good cause

4.       Emailed someone a list of 10 reasons why you love them

5.       Made a meal for someone

6.       Made and sent postcards to sick children in the hospital

7.       Bought ice cream for a friend

8.       Left laundry detergent at the Laundromat for customers who might need it

9.       Donated money to Alex’s Lemonade Stand

10.   Left quarters at an arcade for random kids to use

11.   Let someone in front of me in line

12.   Put change in candy machines

13.   Donated money to the SPCA

14.   Put a gift in our mailbox for our mail carrier thanking her

15.   Visited grandma in the nursing home – brought her a lucky bamboo

16.   Taught someone something new today

17.   Wrote thank you letters

18.   Hugged our loved ones for no particular reason

19.   Lent a hand to someone that needed it.  Helped make and clean up dinner, at a friend’s house, when he needed help.

20.   Made a patriotic flag cake & shared it with family and friends

21.   Left money at the car wash for next car to enjoy free wash.

22.   Dropped off books  at our pediatric dentist office

23.   Cleaned out closets and donated 3 bags of clothes to smaller children

24.   Cheered on teammates

25.   Paid for the car behind me at McDonalds drive thru

26.   Left lottery tickets on random cars

27.   Fed another person’s cat, while they are out of town

28.   Left coupons around the store, near products for others to use

29.   Donated stuff to the Salvation Army

30.   Watched friend’s kids for the day

31.   Left popcorn at the Redbox for movie renters to enjoy with a movie

32.   Left dollars in the toys section of the dollar store, in random places

33.   Returned other people’s shopping carts

34.   Handed out water to someone on a hot day

35.   Dropped a card in the mail for grandparents

36.   Left a new basketball at random playground

37.   Cleaned my grandmother’s  golf clubs

38.   Put quarters in washer machines at the Laundromat

39.    Picked up trash, in the park

40.   Bought dog treats for neighbor’s dog

41.   Donated old bike to a friend

42.   Visited grandmother in the nursing home

43.   Left new toys with a free note, at a playground

44.   Helped friends move into their new house

45.   Signed up to coach youth soccer

46.   Left flowers & lottery tickets on a random car

47.   Gave friends a lift in our car for a long road trip

48.   Held the open the door for everyone today

49.   Took care of other people’s kids

50.   Cut down on our carbon footprint by riding our bikes everywhere on vacation.

51.   Smiled and said hello to EVERYONE today

52.   Made several positive comments on websites today

53.   Gave a Subway gift card to a cashier we liked

54.   Put a roll of pennies near a fountain with a sign that read “Free Wishes”

55.   Donated money to school supplies charity by rounding up to the dollar during a purchase

56.   Helped take care of my little cousin

57.   Refrained from all gossip and spoke positive of everyone today

58.   Visited family at the Children’s hospital

59.   Gave Blood

60.   Wrote a thank you letter to my aunt and grandparents for having me to their houses

61.   Ran for a charity

62.   Made a little girl’s day by donating a bag of shoes to her

63.   Took blankets, dog & cat food to an animal shelter

64.   Collected Box Tops for education

65.   Clicked for a cause  - http://nicethingstodo.net/freeclicksites.html

66.   Donated back to school supplies to the Boys and Girls club @ Wal-Mart

67.   Surprised my father by making him a lunch to take to work

68.   Emailed quotes and saying to friends &family, that made me think of them

69.   Left inspirational notes in different places

70.   Gave someone a boat ride

71.   No complaining today

72.   Complimented people today

73.   Made a special breakfast for my daughter & her friends

74.   Spent quality time with someone special....daddy/daughter time

75.   Gave someone a ride when they needed it

76.   Invited my parents to our house for a turkey dinner for no reason

77.   Had fun time with family & friends...perfect end of summer

“Anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve.” – J.K. Rowling

 

It’s official, I completed my first 5K obstacle course/mud race and I didn’t DIE or come in last.  I said 5K right, 3.1 miles for us Americans?  Come to find out my first 5K race was actually 3.8miles, or at least that is what I heard.  How dare they sneak an extra  0.7miles into my first race.   I’ve never been an over achiever, but damn, maybe I am?  Back in May I blogged about an Eleanor Roosevelt quote that read, “You must do things you think you cannot do.”  For me the thing that I just couldn’t do was run, so being the foolish person I am, I signed myself up for the Vino and Beast 5K race.  I was determined to prove myself wrong, tell that negative person in my head, that I could do it.  I am so proud to say I tamed the Beast.

As in all facets of my life, I plan events months in advance figuring I’ve got time to prepare for them, and then the day sneaks up on me and I realize I’m NOT nearly ready.  That is how this past Saturday was for me.  I knew that I attempted to train for the race, ran some here and there and even felt good about myself for taking a crack at it.  But when I woke up Saturday morning, I wished I ran further, trained harder and NEVER signed up for the asinine race in the first place.  It was indeed too late; there was no way of cramming for this test.  The anxiety was killing me, and to add insult to injury, I had to wait until the afternoon to race.  I had myself all worked up but this was my idea and there was no turning back.   I’m lots of things but a quitter isn’t one of them.  Having my friends and family around for support helped me realize that I just had to get up the nerve and push through it.  Given that this was a personal goal that I thought I would never be able to obtain, my plan was to just complete the race and hopefully NOT DIE trying.  Signing the race waiver, made my fears that much more a reality when it said it was possible I could die.  Who needs to read that when you are already sure you could be taking a ride in an ambulance during the course of the race?  I’m so happy I was wrong and the negative thoughts in my head were just that, in my head and not a reality.

As I stood at the starting line, I was scared to DEATH but energized with so much fear that I knew I had to do it.    One of the most unnerving moments of my life was when I watched the clock hit 4:25PM, my start time.  I thought my heart might bound out of my chest and then as soon as I crossed the starting line all the apprehension left my body and I was off on a new and inspiring adventure.  I kept up with my chums and other half for about 30 seconds (really it was about 30 seconds or maybe even a minute), at that time I realized I wasn’t going to be able to keep up that rate, so I watched them all fade into the distance, seeing nothing but the backs of their heads.  Once I was all by my lonesome I set my pace, soaked up the atmosphere and just told myself that I could do it.  I am so proud to say that I finished the race and I completed it all, unlike many that I saw along the way skipping obstacles.  I didn’t set any land speed records and if I lived in Kenya, they would think I was a disgrace but what is essential to me is that I can say I completed the entire race and even beat around 100 people.  I am delighted to say I threw myself over culvert pipes , wooden walls and numerous bales of hay.  I climbed a Marine style teepee net.  I ran through muddy corn fields and vineyards.   I jumped in a good old fashioned sack race.  I climbed over tires.  I swam in a cold grubby pond and pulled myself out with merely a rope.  I army crawled in sludge under wires.  And I climbed to the top of a inclined wall with only a rope (the picture is from that obstacle) all while exhausted from running a 5K.  I can say I did all of that.  There is nothing better than knowing I didn’t give up.   I completed something I thought wasn’t possible for me.  During the race, I told myself that if anyone asks me to do this again next year, I would rather have a pencil shoved into my eye, but as soon as I was done; all I can say is WOW, the feeling of completing something is a total rush, a feeling that might become addicting.

The famous author J.K Rowling once said, “Anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve.”  No words could be truer; the only obstacle stopping us from doing what we want is ourselves.  If you had asked me last year at this time or anytime in my life, to run a 5K, I would have laughed, in your face.  I would have made up a million excuses and told you that I couldn’t do it.  Here I am now, a FINISHER.  I ran 3.1 miles (correction 3.8 miles) and pushed myself through obstacles fit for a Marine.    There is truly NO better feeling than finishing something you NEVER thought you could do.  It’s all about pushing yourself further than you want to be pushed and having enough nerve to do it.   Not only did I want to prove to myself that I could in fact do this but there is no lesson that you can teach your children better than by example.  The life lesson that I can now tell my daughter is to challenge yourself to do things you don’t want to, are scared to death to do or think you can’t and it’s NOT just lip service anymore, I’m leading by example.

Even though I crossed a finished line the other day, I hope that my race to try new things is just beginning.   I plan to look at the end of one race as the start of another.  I hope to continue my journey to push myself this coming year.  I know I must be batty because I intend to sign up again next year and I am even considering running a couple of other 5K races throughout the year.  I’m still NOT a runner and I can without a shadow of a doubt say I still HATE running.  I would however say I was willing to push myself further than my comfort zone and I am a better person because of it.   It’s all about having the nerve to do it.  What have you always wanted to do but thought you couldn’t?  What do you have to lose?  If you think you can’t do something, you are wrong.  Put on your big girl panties and dig deep for your nerve, you won’t be disappointed.   All of your dreams and goals are truly possible, if you have the nerve to try.

I ran in honor of Gianna, a very special 1 year old, who I know will find her nerve to beat (the Beast) Cancer.
  

“A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it.” – Robert Orben

My feet are kicked up, the air conditioning is blaring and I don’t have a care in the world because I’m on vacation.  This week we are in the Outer Banks of North Carolina enjoying a vacation with a great group of friends.  I like to think of myself as someone who has done a fair amount of traveling but I’ve never been to the Outer Banks and I’m so glad we are here.   If you’ve never been, you should put it on your bucket list of places to go.  In my opinion, it’s one of the best family vacation spots on the east coast.  The area of the OBX that we are in has house after house of huge three story rental homes near the beach that accommodate multiple families, which is what we have choose to do.

I must say it’s interesting to bring four different families together (all of us friends of course) and throw us all in a house, talk about a social experiment.  Four different ways of raising kids, grocery shopping, sleep patterns, dietary habits, and just basic ways of doing EVERYTHING, with one common interest, having an incredible vacation with our kids.  We have four different families comprised of seven adults and eight kids ranging in ages from two all the way to fifteen.   Being in this big house together feels a little bit like the show “Big Brother” meets “19 Kids and Counting.”  After we worked out a few kinks and  had some growing pains, I think we have figured it all out and are having a GREAT time.  I must say we have a really great group of kids and the adults are ok too, I guess.

Robert Orben said it best about vacations when we said, “A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it.”  I would say besides the eight noisy kids (ok, in all fairness the 15 year old is quiet) in our house, this is one of the more relaxing family vacations we have ever taken.  One whole week with NOTHING and I mean nothing to do, no expectations, no schedules, no plans.  Of course we are having some wonderful new experiences and still go to bed every night dog tired.  My stance on this week has been to not plan anything and so far, it’s worked.  My brain is officially on vacation.  It’s nice to get up in the morning and not have your whole day planned, it’s how every vacation should be.

One of the happiest things for me to do in life is to be by or near the water and this week is no exception.  Being by the ocean is always so refreshing and rejuvenating to me, besides going to bed with sand in your ears, teeth and many places that just don’t need to be talked about.  I love to see the kids in bathing suits and flip flops all day, with the sea salt in their hair and a boogie board under there arm, just like real beach bums, walking to the beach.  The beach brings out the kid in everyone.  It’s awesome to watch the amazing dads we have with us sit with the kids and build sand castles, the grown-ups body surfing in the rough night time surf or the look on everyone’s face when they catch a crab on the beach at night.  Priceless moments that you can only have at one of my favorite places, the beach.

I’m sitting out on the 3^rd floor deck tonight finishing up this blog from the other day and I have the whole house to myself.  Being by myself always centers me and makes me listen to my inner thoughts.  I’m enjoying the light ocean breeze, smell of the salt in the air and the sounds of crickets.  My hair is full of ocean salt and sand from the beach, I’m not sure if I showered today, my thighs are chaffed, skin is burned, my back is sore and I’m definitely lacking sleep from a long night of fun but as I listen to my inner thoughts, the only thing going through my head is, how did I get so lucky?

As I look out into our community, there is house after house full of families that are getting to experience this truly beautiful place.  This vacation hasn’t been perfect but I’m so glad I’ve been able to share this experience with my two favorite people in the whole world and a boat load of really GREAT friends.   I hope you and your families are as fortunate as mine and are able to share an amazing vacation this summer with great people.  If you can’t get away to somewhere like the OBX, treat every day like it’s a vacation and de-stress yourself from the craziness of the daily grind.  We have a few more days left in this vacation and my plan is to not plan anything, go where the wind blows me, and take home stories and memories that will always be with me.   On that note I’m finishing up my bog entry because I have nothing to do and the rest of the day to do it.