Refocused and ready to thrive!

A few ideas are beginning to take shape for me, and look like they will be able to be achieved. As a goal driven person, when I look for ideas or plan anything; I look at the realistic approach to achieve those ideas or plans. If I can not see a productive end result, I usually won't do anything with them. I like to be productive in my endeavors. I don't like to waste my time on things that I can not see a positive ending.

As my current ideas and plans are taking shape, I am seeing so many benefits to learn/grow and find peace-of-mind from. I'm actually really excited about each of them. Even with all the other projects we have going on, I am finding my excitement for them again too. We are moving along with our other projects, and even though I know there will be more frustrations with an entire house remodel, I also know it will all get done, as we can! Now, onto my current ideas and plans!

After finding my green thumb has turned black this year, I have decided to refocus on garden plans for next Spring. Eliminating 2 gardens that are currently there, refocusing on the larger upper garden, the pumpkin patch, and a smaller garden area for vines/potatoes/and the kids. Maybe a regular garden area, the pumpkin patch, and a couple little gardens will allow my green thumb to return. I have been really disappointed in our gardens this year, the weeds took over after having to use hay instead of straw when we ran out last year. The wet weather and weeds have rendered our gardens crap! I will fix the gardens and have good gardens again! The plans are in motion to fix the gardens, make the necessary changes, and have exceptional produce again next year!

The next few ideas, have a lot of planning and learning attached to them. Planning and learning = happiness for me! The first is refocusing on my photography. I love taking photos of nature, my kids, animals, etc. The beautiful areas I live and travel through, provide some amazing images to take photos of. Living in a farming/rural area, there are lots of old barns, houses, forest preserves, livestock, and the likes. It's so beautiful when you look at everything through the eyes of history. Aside from the obvious historical value of our area, and the historical structures; you can look at the heart of rural farming communities all over the United States. So much of our nations history has been based on farming, raising your own food, and learning to live life attached to the natural ecological model.

To a much lesser degree, I have found a need to be able to work with my hands, i.e. building things. The funny part of this is that both of my other ideas, are building things...but in completely different ways. First, is my furniture building. I loved this so much when I made our bedroom set. It was a thrill with the planning, using old items and a few new to build a completely different item - it was such a tremendous feeling of pride and accomplishment for me!
Here is a picture of the finished furniture:

The next building idea, is more just to prove to myself I can do it. It's decorating cakes. I know there are so many folks that do this, and they do so much better than I could thrive for, but I want to be able to this for my kids cakes. I have made and decorated a cake for our daughter, and overall, it turned out better than I could have hoped!

Not too bad since I had never done anything like this before!

This year, I will be making our sons cake so, I hope it turns out as well as our daughters did. I do have several ideas for his cake, and I hope I will do them justice!

As I said in an earlier blog, I am on a mission to find something that brings me internal peace, and still allows me to grow and learn in the process. I am certain there is something that I can excel in, find peace in, and will keep my curiosity alive and growing!

As we start moving forward in the new addition on our home, I am seeing a light at the end of that very dark tunnel...finally! Some insulation in the exterior walls, the wall surfaces, the under layment, the tiles, and a new load center will finish those 2 rooms off and allow us to start moving the items for those 2 rooms where they belong. This will also empty some of the stuff out of other rooms that are too cramped and cluttered for my likings. These rooms will allow my boys to have an area to keep their hunting stuff, so it's out of my view. It will also get all our freezers into one area, and have a mud room area that will keep some of the mess of coming in and out, away from my living room and dining room. Having a little more room with a lot less clutter will definitely ease my mind some!

Once the addition is finished, we still have windows to put in, the new furnace lines to dig in, the power to our sheds to put in, the siding to put on, and 7 more rooms to redo inside, before we are finished with this project. My hope is that we can have everything finished up before Christmas. That way we will not have so much mess and clutter for the holidays.

While I am working part-time, finishing up my own schooling, and keeping the kids schooling moving forward, I will be working on the remodeling projects and taking a few hours each week to get lost in my photography. Once my schooling is finished, I will refocus that time to one of my other ideas. I will be refocusing my thoughts to keep moving forward with a positive outlook! I am going to realign my time to manage some of my own needs too. I have neglected myself, my time, and my peace of mind for way too long!

I've heard and preached for many years that you can only make so many withdrawals before you are deficient. Now, it's time to start making some deposits within myself so that I won't be deficient that I become the shell of a person I have become the last 10 years! I am moving forward, not only in projects but also in my trek to fulfillment!

Refocused and Revived!
Sal