Out of the Mouths of Babes

A couple of days ago Miss S (or shall we call her Super S) looked at me, and with a very serious expression on her face she told me "Mommy I want to make something important". It made my heart melt. My first thought was Oh how I hope she does someday. I hope she makes something or says something or does something very important. I'm not sure she really understood what she said. Does she really know what the word important means? She is only two after all. I'm just going to pretend that she fully meant what she said though. The mind of a child is a wonderful thing. The future is far away and they get to dream so big.

It got me thinking about myself though. I turn thirty in about three months. I've always looked forward to this birthday. Instead of dreading it. It makes me think though at twenty nine have I done anything important. I thought about the first eighteen years of my life and thought about how badly I messed them up. Then I thought about the next seven or so years and how they progressively got better. Then it dawned on me. I have done two very important things in my life and nothing else matters to me at this point. I married a wonderful man and created a perfect little girl. A little girl who is the most important thing I have done yet. Thank goodness for children who remind us in small ways how wonderful life is. How even the smallest acts can be very important.

You Brightened My Day

Not that my day was off to a bad start. It wasn't. It was just shaping up to be an average one. Until I checked my mailbox at lunch . I have been waiting with baited breath for my winnings to arrive. You might be thinking "What's that she said? Winnings?". You got it. I won something for the first time in my life! The best part is YOU can win something fantastic too. I heard about The Bright Side Project a while ago. Maybe spring of last year. I entered several of their fantastic giveaways (they have one everyday). Then in November the Granddaddy of all giveaways, the giveaway that made my heart skip a beat showed up on my google reader. A chance to win not one but two gift certificates to Lisa Leonard Designs. I entered thinking "I'm not really going to win this but I have to try anyway". Well much to my amazment I did win. And you know what? It did brighten my day, and month actually, and now that today has rolled around it brightened my day all over again. Because I got this little lovely in my mailbox.Isn't it pretty. I love it so much I'm not going to take it off for a long time. Probably not until I get the Heart Strings necklace that just appeared on her website. *Hint Hint Honey. This little number is called the Family Crest necklace. Go to her website. Buy beautiful things. Go to The Bright Side Project. Win beautiful things. You will be so happy you did.

Oh and in case you were wondering. I gave the second gift certificate to my amazing big sister. She just had baby number three. A little girl named Eli (cute huh?). I thought she definitely needed some Mommy jewelry. A Christmas/Push Present (wait are those only from the Daddy?).

I Love A Fresh Start

I love what a New Year brings. A fresh start. A chance to look back on your accomplishments the previous year, but also an opportunity to look forward to where you want to go next in life. Last year I made a list of what I wanted to do in 2009. I achieved about a quarter of my list. Hey a quarter is better than nothing right? This year maybe I'll get to a third.In 2010 I want to sew a lot more and become a lot better. I want to organize my home and keep it that way. I want to make my bed more often. I want to laugh more and cry less. I hope to get my eating habits under control and work out more. I hope to read more scriptures and pray a little harder. It would be nice to maybe add one more to our little family. I want to spend more time in the Hill Country and at the beach. I want to breath in and relax a lot more. I hope to get things done and not stress about them. I want to love life and be happy now. I hope 2010 is my best year yet and yours too!

What I'm Loving Right This Second

Floral Cabochons. I just bought a ton of these for a project I'm doing. In all different colors. I can't even explain my excitement! Aren't they pretty?

So What If I'm Fickle?!!?

I'm having issues with this blog. I have another blog that is private for my family and I've always liked the idea of having a second blog to vent creatively. The problem is just that. I like the idea of this blog but I've never been in love with this blog. I liked my other blog before this little better, but I didn't love the name. With this blog I put some unfair pressures on myself to make it into something it will never be. I know I've neglected this blog over the past several months. I've been busy with some things in my personal life. However now I feel like I need it again, but I need to make it fun and easy. I tried out an Etsy shop and I don't think it's for me (at least not right now). So no more Etsy and no more pressure. Just a place for me to organize my creative impulses. If you still want to read it than fantastic. If not than oh well. I give you Sweetly Nostalgic! I hope you'll stick around!

A Baby Shower

This post is actually a little late. My friend Alecia and I threw a baby shower for our other friend Janice. She has since had the baby sweet Cambria Lily. The shower turned out pretty good. We had a lot of really yummy food which is the most important thing.I made the tissue paper Pom Pom's from this tutorial on Martha Stewart, and all I have to say is it wasn't as easy as it looks. It really wasn't that easy folding the paper even. It wasn't all that easy cutting the end. And it definitely wasn't easy fluffing them out. They turned out a little lopsided and hence they stayed on the table. Oh well I think it still looked cute. My favorite part of the event were the Oreo Cookie Truffles made from this tutorial on Bakerella. They were quite delicious. I had a lot of fun with this baby shower. Maybe someone out here should get pregnant so I can do it again.

Creative Brain Fart

That's what i've been going through for the last month. Or more. I've been feeling a little over whelmed and under inspired. All of the stresses of managing a home and being a mother of an almost two year old with a lot of energy are starting to pull me down a little. I know that my job as a stay at home mom and house wife really isn't that difficult, and a lot of you out there do it easily and well. But we all have our moments and as I have been doing my best I still feel so unorganized. When my life is cluttered it is really hard for me to feel inspired. So this blog, my sewing projects and my poor attempt at an Etsy shop are suffering from it.

I am happy to say that I am back on the rise. I have had a really good week with Miss. S (actually two weeks) and we have started to get organized as a family. Even though we don't have any back to school kids yet I feel like this time of year is perfect for reevaluating and reorganizing. In my opinion it's never too early to teach your children good habits. So our Family Home Evening this week was all about D&C 132:8 Mine house is a house of Order. For our activity we made up chore charts for each family member and for the family (pictured above). I'm cracking down school teacher style and I'm happy to report it's working. My little girl who is not yet two is doing simple chores daily. She is loving it because she wants to earn all her stickers. It is making a huge difference in our lives and I think by the end of the week I'll have my creative mojo back. Maybe my first project should be designing cuter chore charts. Until then I ask you this. What are your best organizational tips? What saves your sanity on a daily basis? What routines can you not live without? Let's discuss!