String of Inspiration

I have discovered a blog that I just love. It is the Healthy Living Lounge. http://thehealthylivinglounge.com. (I have not yet figured out how to put a link in a post. If anyone knows how to do this please fill me in.)

This blog is really awesome. The author has some wonderful thoughts on living to your fullest, living naturally, staying grounded...etc. One of the things she talked about in post was the String of Inspiration. It is along the lines of a Dream Board. The difference is with the board your photos and other items were permanently glued. With the string you can change up your photos and such as your thoughts, dreams, wishes, motivations change. I love this idea, but of course had yet to put it into play. We'll today was the day and I finally took some time and put my string together. I had a hard time deciding on the best hanging place. I wanted it to be somewhere that I would see it multiple times during the day but also a place of quiet for peaceful reflection. I know your all saying "good luck" on that with a 4 year old. But I knew it was feasible. I finally chose above my bookcase in my bedroom. It is the first thing I see in the morning and the last thing I see at night. My umph in the morning and my aaaahhhh at night!!!!!

I chose my various images as reminders, motivations, goals, ah ha's, etc. In life's hustle and bustle and with the stresses on the personal burners I just felt like I needed a touch stone. So, here it is...my String of Inspiration!

Happy 4th Birthday Doodlebug!

To My Precious Doodlebug on her 4th Birthday

What I Wish For You

When you are lonely, I wish you love;

When you are sad, I wish you joy;

When you are discouraged, I wish you hope;

When your spirit is low, I wish you beauty;

When you are troubled, I wish you peace.

I wish you all these things and so much more!  These past 4 years have been a blessing and joy and I so look forward to the years ahead and being a part of this amazing journey that we began on March 23, 2005 at 10:47pm.  

A Flooring Option

I am a floundering at going green in my house.  I'm no where near where I want to be but I know that slowly but surely I will get there.  So, in my quest to go green I have been doing research on green flooring options.  I hate carpet.  I have always hated carpet and when we moved into our house I compromised with my husband on carpet.  After almost 5 years in the house he has converted to the no carpet land I want to live in.  

Now, given the economical times we live in replacing our carpet with tile or bamboo is not in the budget and won't be for some time.  About a month ago I decided that the family room carpet had to go.  It was so awful! In my desperation I decided to just rip up the carpet and we would live on the cement until another option was affordable.  In doing some research I found that this is a wonderful green option.   I planned for this to occur over my husbands spring break. So, last week we went to work and I'm so happy with the results that we just may tackle the bedrooms as well.  Below are our results.

Ripping up carpet is not historically a fun job.  But because of the goal that we were working toward it was fun.  An extra bonus....ripping up carpet can actually be quite a good frustration release! :-)

Now, the cement floor doesn't look so great once everything is ripped up.  We went to work cleaning the floor and once that was dry added 2 coats of cement paint.  Now, the cement paint is quite stinky but it dried beautifully!

Once it was dried we moved in the furniture. We decided to move the family room and make this room a dining room.  Now we still have some work to do like putting the chair covers on, getting pictures up, and moving in my desk belongings but I couldn't be happier with the result.

Here is another view!  Some other thoughts that I have on this choice.  It will be cleaner, easier to clean and lower on allergens.  Like I said, I am so happy with the result that I think we will tackle the bedrooms as well.  I know that if we ever have to move we will have to put something in since not everyone will see my vision, but for now this is a wonderful choice and I'm so glad that we did it.