No 10 Year Challenge For Me

Right now across social media, it seems like everyone is participating in the the 10 year photo challenge. Basically, you take a photo of yourself from 10 years ago and compare it to yourself now.  Normally I would have hopped on the bandwagon on something like this, but truth be told, I don’t want to remember much about what I looked like 10 years ago.

As I said in a previous post, 2019 for me is about looking forward at the good things ahead and not dwelling on problems from the past.  And 10 years ago, is not a period of time I like thinking about.  It was 10 years ago, I was 6 months postpartum, my husband had just left me for another woman and I was a total disaster.

I did a search through my photos from that time period and in all honesty, I couldn’t even find one of myself.  There were lots of photos of my newborn son but none of me.  And I am somewhat thankful of that.  I don’t think anyone would have wanted to see photos of me with my puffy eyes from crying on almost a daily basis, the bags from the lack of sleep and the sheer looks of fear of not knowing how I was ever going to do this on my own.

When I look at photos of myself now 10 years later, sure I may not be at my ideal weight and my hair is still way to out of control but I see happiness.  I may not have the house with the white picket fence life that we all dream of having but I have so much more.  That once baby boy is growing up (although way too fast) into a great kid, I’ve got an amazing family and a wickedly supportive group of friends.

Each day, I seem to learn more about myself and what I can accomplish.  I am stronger and wiser than I ever thought I would be and sometimes even shock myself about the things I have been able to do on my own.  I can tell you that 10 years ago, I definitely did not feel that way about myself or my life.

So don’t get me wrong, I love seeing how much 10 years can make a difference for people, I just don’t choose to participate.

 

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Valentine’s Day Garland: Inspire My Creativity

Now that I have taken down all the signs of Christmas in my home, my mantel is looking a little bare. Normally I don’t do much decorating for Valentine’s Day at all, being a single gal and all. But this year I decided, why not celebrate love and celebrate it as long as I can.

I didn’t want to go too over the top, so I thought a nice, simple garland for my mantel would be the perfect addition and not too overwhelming. And after the holiday season, I didn’t want to break the bank with it either. Luckily, I was able to make this garland with items I already had in my craft supplies.
All you need is:
Card Stock – I used 3 different shades of red
Glue
Ruler
Xacto Knife and cutting mat
Wool
Needle
 

I used 8 1/2 x 11 card stock and cut it in to strips that were 8 1/2 inches long and about 3/4 inch wide.  My mantel is quite wide so using 1 sheet of each of the 3 colors cut into the strips ended up being enough.

To make each of the hearts, you just need to take one of your already cut strips and fold it in half.  This will be the base or bottom of your hearts.

Place a small line of glue on the outside edge of the strip.  You then need to stick it to the inside edge of the other side of the strip to make your heart.  You’ll need to hold the glue for about 15-20 seconds to ensure it is going to stay stuck.

Continue these steps until you have enough hearts for the length of your mantel.

Next you will need to cut the wool to string your garland.  I measured the length of my mantel and then added 8-10 inches.  Thread the wool through your needle and one by one, piece though sides of the hearts about 2 inches up from the bottom.  

Once you have added all your hearts, would likely will need to go back and plump and arrange them as they tends to squish and lose a bit of their shape as I was threading them on to the wool.

 

When they are all arranged on the wool, all you need to do is add them to your mantel and celebrate love.  I found that if you alternated them up and down they hung better.

Something else that I am loving and celebrating is after a bit of a hiatus last year, I will be rejoining the lovely ladies of the Inspire My Creativity link party as a co-host which happens every month on the second Wednesday.  Each month we will post a craft with a theme that we previously decided on. With the hustle and bustle of the holidays, we decide that January’s theme would be a free for all and everyone could decide what they wanted to create. Below you’ll find a ton of great posts from our co-hosts and I hope you’ll check them out and be inspired to try one!  If you have a craft that you would like to share, be sure to add to the Link Party.  

• Shani  |  Sunshine & Munchkins
• Christine  |  Swordfights & Starry Nights
• Meg  |  See The Happy
• Candice  |  She’s Crafty
• Julia  |  The Quiet Grove
• Heather  |  Glitter On A Dime
• Rachel  |  Adventures of a DIY Mom
• Jenny  |  Cookies, Coffee and Crafts
• Anna  |  Practical and Pretty
• Carmen  |  Living Letter Home
• Cathy  |  A Boy and His Mom
• Sarah  |  The Strawberry Nest
• Adree  |  The Keele Deal
• Aimee  |  Things Small and Simple
• Teri  |  T. Moore Home

An InLinkz Link-up

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 Next Month’s Theme:  Buttons

Why I Love and Hate Facebook Memories.

I have to admit that on most days, the first thing I look at when I check out Facebook are the memories for my profile and most days I love it. I get a glimpse into how much the boy is growing up and a reminder of things that we have done together and other sweet memories.

But then there are days, just like today when there is that one memory post that hits you right in the gut. It’s a memory you wish you could forget. Memories that remind you of how far you have come, but what brought you to this moment in the first place.

It was 10 years ago this month that my marriage came to an end. Although in hindsight, it shouldn’t have been a shock to me, but at that moment in time it hit me totally out of left field. I remember writing that post above and thinking at that moment of all the things I wished I had could have done differently not to have been in that situation.

​​​​​​​My son was only 6 months old, and although never diagnosed, I am pretty sure I was suffering from moderate PPD, and add to that my marriage was over and the walls came crumbling down around me. I was made to have felt that it was all my fault and wondered what I could have done differently.

I took to Facebook as a way to connect with friends for support and find an outlet to try and make sense of a world that made absolutely no sense to me at the time. And at the time, reaching out made me feel like I could get through it all.

And of course I did. I am here now, much stronger of a women than I ever thought I could be. I’ve gotten past what was done to me and if truth be told, if I weren’t for my son, I would have walked away from that time and life and never ever looked back. There is no regret, I have said so many times that I would go through the heartache and upset a million times over just to have my son, but there are still days that flashing back to those memories aren’t what I need to see some days.

What thing these memories do help with however, are to remind me that without a shadow of a doubt it was not all my fault and no matter what I had said or done probably never would have changed the inevitable outcome. And these reminders are somewhat freeing and uplifting.

But on days when I am feeling the least bit low or not totally on my game, they aren’t exactly the memories I want to relive. So as much as I love you Facebook memories on most days, today I there’s a bit of hate in me.