Change is Good

Hi everyone,

I am taking a course in which we create a "Mood Board" for our brand that will then be used on a website or blog. I am also teaching my students about "crowd sourcing" so I would like for you to vote.

Several weeks back I took a pole and two names tied, "The Jubilee Bee" and "Life at Curiosity Cottage"...so I have decided to combine the two. My new site will be  

The Jubilee Bee

my life at Curiosity Cottage

Many of you have followed my journey since I first created Curiosity Cottage, so I thought it would be fun to have you vote. Which Mood Board/color scheme do you like best? You may either comment on my post to vote, or head over to my Curiosity Cottage Facebook page!! VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!!!

I look forward to sharing the results with your soon and letting you come along on this journey with me!! Thanks so very much for you input & for taking the time to help me create a lesson for my class.

Hugs,

Jen

What Will Spring Bring???

Hi everyone!

As most of the country asks "what happened to winter," I cannot help but get excited about spring!!!  My fall last march forced me to by pass all of the projects I had planned outside for the spring and summer.  This year, since I have already declared that 2012 WILL be my BEST year EVER, I have projects to catch up on.

 

So as I look at my grandmother's empty potting bench, in desperate need of love & care, I am excited to think of all the potential this diamond in the rough holds!!

After all, with empty pots to fill and young plants just waiting to bring their beautiful flowers into this world, isn't our outside world just an extension of our world inside our house???

 I know that these beauties are going in my "Moonlight Garden".  I read about these once and having been dying to put one in, sooooo...  I started two years ago by putting in white crape myrtles and this year I will add these white hydrangeas and other white flowering plants.  Since my back yard is set up in such a way that one star lit nights it is like sitting in an amphitheater, the white flowers will glow in the moonlight...hence the name "Moonlight Garden."

  

This site on moonlight gardens is a WONDERFUL source for finding plants that will allow you to create this same  effect in your own yard!!!  For me, it is a way to bring peace and clam into my sometimes fast paced and crazy life!!

 As I make all of these internal and external changes in my life, I'll keep sharing.  Who knows, if I can plant one seed of hope into someone's life, then my work here is done!!  :D

Be the Change You want to See

Hi everyone, 

This just seemed to be such fitting words of wisdom today - "Be the Change You want to See!!"  Words I embrace and strive to live by daily!!!

 

While my journey will take about a year, it is one that I know by taking one step at a time I will be able to accomplish!!  What will the end result be this time next year, well that will be just as exciting for me to see as it will be for me to share with you!!  

One thing I do know though, I will have a ball taking pictures and framing the new me so that I can show by example that it is truly possible to be the change I want to see!!!  Yes, God does Wink on New Beginnings and these days, He is winking at me with both eyes directing my path.

My change is not just physical, it is getting all areas of my life organized and in order so that I can be all that God wants me to be.  Sometimes it is so easy to spend our time taking care of everyone and every thing else, but the reality is that we can accomplish a lot more for our family and our society if we take care of ourselves first.  

It may have taken me 46 years to learn this lesson, but the way I look at this, it is better to figure this out later in life than to never figure it out at all!! 

When Life Gives YOU Lemons

Hi everyone!

Well I am moving slow this morning!!!  Yesterday was such a busy, busy day that I am thrilled today is a day of rest. :D  It was almost midnight before I got into bed and yet my brain was still going; something that us creative types often find happening.  Since I had violated the one rule that most writers live by - I did not have a notebook near by - I did the next best thing and started writing the theme for today’s post in a text message.  I am nothing if not resourceful!!  :D

As I took picture after picture yesterday I decided to take a chance and have a friend take a picture of me.  I gave myself Weight Watchers for my birthday and wanted a “before” picture.  As I went through editing the pictures and came to mine “when life gives you lemons” came to mind.  Though I must admit, I could not help but giggle and say to myself “you mean when life gives you lemons and the juice splashes you in the eye”????? 

But then I had to stop and think about this again “you mean when life gives you lemons and the juice splashes you in the eye” - so what does one do, that “one“ being me in this case?????   I have a choice, let this “obstacle” like I wrote about earlier in the week bring me to a stand still or make the BEST lemonade ever.  

Being a “glass is half full” kind of woman, I am going with the lemonade!!  The BEST lemonade ever requires using basic ingredients, but knowing how to combine them in just the right way.  So I could not help but smile and say to myself “well you have all the ingredients, go make THE best lemonade EVER!!!“ 

It is funny, when I opened the door this morning, unlike earlier in the week when the cold wind was shocking, today when I opened the door the cold air was refreshing…just like lemonade…just like it feels when the cold water of life is used to wash the juice out of my eyes or your eyes!!

So embrace your BEST knowing that if you work hard enough you can have REALLY AWESOME lemonade by this time next year!! 

Moving Mountains

Hi everyone!

I don’t really know if I can quite put into words the excitement and complete elation that I feel with all of the mountains I have been moving in my life lately.  How often do we or people we know not even attempt to move the mountain with the mind set that “well I don’t have a dump truck or work crew, so what is the use??”  But the important thing to remember is that you don’t have to have these things to move mountains.  Yes, I am happy to report that you can just have a wheel barrow and by yourself you can move ANY mountain(s) that may be in your life. 

 It doesn’t take monster energy drinks or any thing else extraordinary; it merely takes faith and the quiet prayers of all of those who are rooting for you and believe in you…even when you might be weary and not believe in yourself.  Believe it or not, there are angels all around us.

Some people fear age, but for me, I feel younger than ever and quite honestly given all that life has taught me, I wouldn’t change a thing!!  The most important thing is that with each year, month, week, day, and second that I live, I use every opportunity I can to learn new things. 

 A life lived in this fashion, no matter how long the Good Lord decides to keep me on this earth, will always keep me in the state of never having any regrets.  This sure helps me to sleep well at night!!

So I enter this new year with the excitement of looking for booth space for my shop; continuing to write one INCREDIBLE novel that will be finished by this time next year; and transforming myself physically into the woman I am truly supposed to be!!  It doesn’t get much better than this…and if it does, then someone is going to have to pinch me, because I’ll have to be dreaming!!

Time to finish my projects for the day so I can cheer on the Saints!! 

Until tomorrow…