Stacie Rife Bailey's Bliss

Productive Sunday

Today my husband and I got so much done! Don't you just love it when at the end of the day you feel like you've actually accomplished something with something to show for it! OOOhhh I love those kinds of days! Even better... when you've accomplished something you can't stand doing?

I detailed my car inside and out (which I totally despise doing)

So Penny is clean (Penny is the nickname I gave to my Honda Pilot) Probably kind of weird to name your vehicle.. but my Grandma always had a name for her car.. (Betty was the last one I remember)

I also finished up some projects I had in the basement "holding tank"... I am re-doing my guest room and these are some of the things that will go in it.

I decoupaged the white table with beautiful German text, painted the stool pink($1.00 at a garage sale),shelf pink(.99 at the thrift store) and the wire form--(.99 at a thrift store from an old 70's style wicker lamp that I removed the wicker off of) ..I painted it teal...

I should take pictures of the guest room before and after, although it will be a while before it's completely done.....The re-vamping of the studio is now last on the TO DO list....

I got ALL the laundry done (for now--),vacuumed,changed bedding,cleaned Larry's bird cage, and all sorts of other housework.

Jeff finished painting the house (the south side TOTALLY bubbled so he sanded/primed/ and repainted parts of the south side).. he mowed the lawn,painted the back stairs, detailed his car... and then we both got the back driveway ready for the alley paving tomorrow. Talk about working up a sweat!!! (YEAHHHH they are paving the alley--SO COOL!)

WheW! It was a productive day to say the least...we just got back from taking lil' man Scout for a walk and now it's time to relax! I think I'll sleep good tonight!

Beautiful Evening in the NW!

The weather has been so beautiful here lately in the Pacific NW.. almost unbelievable! Yes.. it is summer.. but we have had so many days IN A ROW of sunshine....we are truly blessed. Hot?? yes.. but I say "bring it on" this is coming from someone who will vacation in Palm Springs in August! I love the heat!

Our weather is noticeably changing though.. we used to have such dry heat and it seems so much more humid.. global warming?? not sure.. but I do prefer the dry heat. I say if were going to have humidity along with the heat.. then why can't we enjoy the fireflies too???(like the east!)... man I love those... just wish we had them here!

Tonight I got a bit ambitious, (along with panicked thought that my husband said he was going to TROW away the old windows we took out of the house--not all of them.. just the ones without the panes--but STILL!)

So I decided to paint them... (quick hurry do SOMETHING with them before the DH gets rid of them!) I painted one of them a lovely pastel pink! So sweet! I will hang it as decor in my guest bedroom. I should have done it a long time ago.. after all it's been almost a year since we completed the outside of the house. Better late than never... better now than before they go to the dump!

It will look so sweet hanging in the guest bedroom!

I am preparing (in my mind) for our garage sale this weekend. I have PILES of stuff to sell but nothing is priced yet.. ohhh the thought of going through it all... I may just lay everything out and just take offers.. I just want it out! It has been sitting here for months and is totally stressing me out! The sad thing is.. it is all GOOD stuff.. but I just don't use it. I know.... months from now I will be saying "dang! I wish I would of never of gotten rid of such n such".. but gotta do it!

Here is a pic I took to night of a few flowers in bloom in my backyard. I love how you can see the blur of the flowers in the background. Hope everyone is having a lovely evening!

A lot going on

A bit of time has passed since I have posted....

There is a lot going on in my neck of the woods..

*Trying to organize a garage sale (which I will post when I have it-- if any locals are interested)

*Supporting my husband through multiple tests/interviews he's had to go through for a job he is applying for (crossing my fingers and praying he gets it!!!)

*Taking on a new endeavor.. which I will post soon

and much much more.. unfortunately with everything going on I haven't had the time to do any art lately or put anything new up for sale :(

Things should settle down soon and I will back in a good routine again.

I have some fabulous new vintage material (darling for BABY books) packages I will be putting up for sale soon on ETSY along with awesome Vintage paper packs! I will post them on my journal when I get a chance to put them up for sale. TOO much to do TOO little time..

I have a tendency to get WAYYYYY ahead of myself.. my brain goes a million miles an hour with TONS of ideas and by the time I get around to them I am so spent/so stressed out I don't have the energy.. I need to just SLOW things down a bit so my body and my actions can catch up to my brain.

My husband gave me a little reality check this morning. I've had some recent ideas of grandeur  that I have been acting on and he (the more rational/practical part of the 2 of us) pointed out some things to me based on my personality and the way I am. I was so stressed out (by my own doing)until he pointed a few things out to me. I made a few minor changes and I feel sooooo much better!!!

Like I said.. I get way ahead of myself way too fast.. I am glad I have someone near me to bring me back to real life and look at things with a more practical point of view.

More to post soon!

A day in the life

The creative lulls come in combination I think with the lulls in life.(at least for me they do)

This past month & year has been a difficult one for me and my family.

Lots of lows without it balancing itself with the highs..

We are definitely due for some highs!

No, we don’t go through anything different from anyone else..

It is just this thing called life.

We all have it.

We all live it

And honestly we all should be thankful for it.

Because without it.. we wouldn’t feel it right?

Yes it can be painful, and yes it sometimes just isn’t fair.

But we can’t waste our precious time here feeling sorry for ourselves.

Even with the LULLS we should be grateful for what we have.

I know I am!

I just need a tad of that creative spark and excitement to rejoin me!

:)

Montage of Memories

Tonight I finished up a "memory board" or a photo montage of my Aunt Pam..

It was my husbands idea to do it on one of our old windows we replaced from our breakfast nook... and he build an easel to stand it up..(such a handy creature he is... and he is definitely starting to think more outside the box!!! YEAH!!!!--we like that!)

If I say so myself.. it turned out just beautiful.. an wonderful collaboration of her short life with us all.. I am so happy with it! I think she would have loved it. Her funeral service is tomorrow and it will be placed at the reception afterwards for everyone to see! I will take pictures tomorrow to share here on my blog. Although it was somewhat hard making it,(hard meaning that I still am in denial that she is not here with us)  in a sense it was good to go through our memories with her. It helped me feel like even now after she is gone... like I could be of help. It is midnight and I know I need to get to bed but am afraid to.. the last couple of nights have been restless due to anxiety issues.

I had  a few ATC's stacked up that I have been meaning to list on EBAY and decided to list them tonight since I (with much relief) finished her photo montage.

Here is a preview of the ones I just listed on EBAY..

I am hoping to create this weekend... I have so many ideas in my head to commemorate my Aunt's life and do a tribute to her somehow.. I think by doing this ( including her montage) it can help me through the grieving process..

My Aunt was always so encouraging me to create.. of course always my ginny pig too with my new ideas/projects (ALMOST as bad as my Mother (smile))... AND... some ideas she had that I brought to life. I will miss her encouragement tremendously. When she was in the hospital (for the few days she was there) I had made her some earrings for her to wear when she got out... unfortunately she wasn't able to ever wear them. I think I will put them up for auction and donate the proceeds to the Childrens Hospital in Seattle,WA... something she would like for me to do. I will let you all know when I put them up!

Memories

It is close to 2am.. and I have to work tomorrow!

I have been up going through pictures that I will use to create my Aunts memorial board with...

It is so hard going through them because I feel like she is still here... like there is no way she is gone GONE! Although I have cried a lot tonight.. it has been good too in a way..

I look through the pictures and have so many wonderful thoughts and memories of her.. I just wish she was HERE to go through them with me :(

It is so late.. but I could go on for a few more hours.. I am not tired, although I will be hurting terribly tomorrow.

Thanks for all the good wishes I have received.. It is much appreciated and surely helps!

I will leave this post with another picture of her..

My Beautiful Aunt

My beautiful aunt passed away last night at 11pm she was surrounded by all who loved her dearly.

We miss her terribly... and life will not be the same without her...for me nor anyone else in the family. We will have to learn to be what she was.. (the glue in the family.. the one who held everything together) only we will have to learn it.. it just came naturally, unselfishly for her.

She is no longer suffering and is at peace.

God Bless our family during this difficult time. We need HER strength, and her bravery!

She leaves behind her husband, her Mother, her sister (my Mother), her brother, her 3 sons. 7 grandchildren and me her niece.

She was my second mother and I love her SOOO much.

Thank you so much to all who have prayed for us and sent good thoughts and wishes!!!!!

Happy Birthday!

Happy 31st Birthday Babe!

I Love You!

Fairhaven for pictures

A day in Fairhaven
A Haven for taking pictures would be in Fairhaven,WA....a great place with tons of photo ops, great architecture to look at, and wonderful restaurants with SUPERB sweets.....not to mention it homes the wonderful Chrysalis Inn and Spa!

I tagged along yesterday with my newly found friend Gretchen Goodwin (and kindred spirit) to an ATC swap that was held in Bellingham,WA. Although I didn't have any ATC's to swap (as it was a last minute decision that I tag along) the people there were very nice and the day lent itself to an entire paper/antique/art spree. I was lucky enough to see my friend Lelainia who came down with her friend from Canada to go to the swap! We all went to lunch at the Colophon Cafe and hung out for the better part of the morning! So good to see her again after AF!

I devulged in the white chocolate mousse (TO DIE FOR), Gretchen had the also (TO DIE FOR) choc/peanut butter mousse and Lelainia had the Tiramasu desert (Lelaina...here is your picture of your wonderful desert I promised!!!)

Check out my FLICKR account for the other photo ops I had yesterday!

Some sweet things

I tackled my Callalillies tonight after work. I managed to find a few that hadn't been eaten up by whatever is eating them (I believe it's the snails.. but not too sure) They always look so beautiful in vases around the house! I love the looks of them! (bad picture.. but didn't realize it until I downloaded it.. forgive the bad photography!)

Yesterday after work.. I laid down at 4pm out of sheer exhaustion from not sleeping at night to awake at 8pm. I got up, made a batch of blueberry scones --which are absolutely delicious!---(just sounded good) and went back to bed again and didn't wake up until this morning for my Doctors appt.

Here is a picture of 4 out of the original 12 that were made. I presume they will be gone before the night is over. They hardly stick around long enough for their picture to be taken!

My Doctor advised me to see a therapist to talk over some of the anxiety issues I've been having that are preventing me from shutting my brain off at night to fall asleep. (well.. this I already knew I needed to do, but she confirmed it I suppose).. she also prescribed me something to help me for a while  until I can tackle it via talking to someone.

However.. I do feel better today from getting a good amount of sleep last night and yesterday. I came home, did a ton of housework and helped Jeff make dinner. It actually felt so good to accomplish something! It is so amazing how much lack of sleep affects us! Our bodies need that time to heal itself and re-energize! I am looking forward to the long weekend to catch up on sleep and all the other things I've been neglecting!