Finally

Yes. I have been m.i.a. lately. Believe me, it's not by my choice. I have officially declared this October to have been the month from hell. And now I have my fingers crossed that November is much better.
So, now that I have a minute. I want to share with you the Miz. Jo way of accomplishing things. Me and the hubby have been in the house for around six months or so. I still have piles of unfinished this and that and stuff stowed in corners until I can figure out what to do with them. BUT... I have found out the perfect way to push yourself to get stuff done around the house. Volunteer to host a party. Yep. That's what I did. I volunteered to host a baby shower for my aunt (who is finally having a girl, after having three boys). In the past two weeks I have accomplished more in my house than I have in two months. And (hopefully) I will have some pics to prove it soon.

In other news, I have recently decided to become quite blase about anything happening at my workplace. I have decided to do my best and then just let the rest sort itself out. I always try to do things to the best of my ability at work. I try to run things efficiently. But lately it seems that many outside stresses have left me getting fussed at for things that I cannot do anything about. So my new take is decidedly detached. The bills aren't paid? Well, get me some money and I'll pay the bills. The bathroom is running over? Yeah, that's not my problem. Such and such part came wrong? Sorry. I can't wave a magic wand and make it right. If they want to fire me for things that I can't do anything about, well then I guess that's just the way it will have to be. I'm not killing myself over it.

Two more days in October. Please tell me that November will be better.

~I love you all. I adore reading your comments. You never fail to make me smile. Thank you so much for being my sunshine. ~ xoxo Jo xoxo

*quote from Creature Comforts. photo from Marie Claire.

help*

Thirty more minutes until I can go home. And counting.

I will give you a post worth looking at when things calm down.

Love is...

Love is a stupid thing.



How can you want to rip a person's head off and eat it like a praying mantis one moment and want to hold them so tight that they can never leave the next? My husband can make me so mad. He can hurt my feelings like no one else can. At times I have even wondered how we stand to live with each other. However, he is also the one who can calm me down. He can make me laugh when I am trying like hell not to. And at times I wonder how on earth I could make it if I lost him.


Last night I was thinking about how complex love is. Yet, even in all its complexity, love at its very basis is embarrassingly simple. It has the ability to rouse every single human emotion. It can build up and it can tear down. Love is undoubtedly the strongest force available to mankind.

Marriage is a lot of work. You will never know how vulnerable you are until you trust another person completely with your heart. Its scary. And sometimes painful. But as I lie in bed last night, my husband's arm around my body, his chest warm against my back, I had one prevailing thought.

Love is stupid. But it's worth it.


* photo from Le Love

Bright

Finally! I actually had a bit of a stint of productivity yesterday evening. And it felt quite nice. I raked some leaves before they got completely out of hand. I finally hand washed my swimsuits and laid them out to dry. Thanks to the dandy people who came up with Dryel, I was able to "dry clean" a bunch of my sweaters. If you haven't already, you should really try that stuff. It's amazing. I done some ironing and promptly decided that some of those clothes are really not worth the time it takes to iron them. I also worked on getting my art/craft/project room in decent order.

I was thinking, while hanging paper lanterns in my project room, about how I used to despise the color pink. As a young girl I hated pink. I guess I thought I was too tough for it. But now I adore pink. I think it is one of the prettiest, happiest, bright, mood lifting colors there is. It goes well with about anything. It can be soft and understated or bold and vivacious. Pink really is such a great color. How on earth could I have shunned it for so long? I mean, just look at that room above. Doesn't it just make you smile? God was surely in a good mood when He came up with peonies, don't you think?

What color makes you smile? Like really, truly, happy making color.

* photo from House Beautiful.

She's got the Look

Just a few things that you've missed if you still haven't checked out Lookbook.

Weekly Ring Envy ~ Cheap Love

Need a little cheap love? Not like that, crazy. Get your mind out of the gutter. This love is in the form of a tiny shiny heart on your hand.

Little Green Room on Etsy has a new collection of tiny rings. Sweet little stamped silver stackable circles. Can you say that five times fast? Doesn't matter. What's the coolest thing about this handmade cuteness? They are only $15.00 a piece!! Pretty nice, huh? There you go. Affordable love that doesn't require an explanation.

Thank You

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Over and over again for all your wonderful comments on my last post. I am tickled pink. You have made my day. I wish I could take you all out for dinner tonight.

Love ~Jo~