Haiku 7

Haiku #7-

A gentle breeze blows
The tree branches reach for me
Come outside and play

Haiku 5 & 6

Haiku #5-
My soft, warm bed calls
Bring a book and rest your head
Sweet dreams are waiting


Haiku #6-
Heavy, gray clouds rest
On tired, old mountain tops
Waiting for nightfall

Haiku 3 & 4

Haiku 3:

Golden hued sunlight
Drifts behind the mountain tops
Sets the sky on fire


Haiku 4:

Glistening moonlight
Stars twinkle in the blackness
Night calls heavenward

Haiku 1 & 2

Haiku #1-

Mild New Year's Day
Brings bluebirds to my window
My heart fills with joy

Haiku #2-

Glistening snowflakes
Take flight on the winter wind
Swirling magically

Happy 2012!

As it's always a good idea to verbalize your intentions and goals for the New Year, I decided to do it here at "Tales From My Nest".
It's been a long time since I have posted on here. Just to fill you in, 2011 was a tough year for my family in the financial respect. As a result of my husband's business being very slow, it was a blessing that I had two sources of income. I also decided to go back to school to get my K-6th grade teaching certificate, so starting in August I was not only working two jobs, serving on a search committee for our school's new principal, heading up the Parent-Teacher Council, and taking two online classes. Needless to say, Christmas break was a welcome one. It gave me time to ponder what is really important to me, what has worked, and what needs to be improved upon. Here's what I determined:

• I like being busy and am actually quite organized and efficient when I need to be.
• I am tired of thinking about food all the time and for considering food to be "good or bad" or my eating habits to be "naughty or nice"
• I really want to hang out with my kids more
• I miss my husband and having date nights
• I miss doing arts & crafts projects
• I must make more time for my friends and family
  

Therefore my intentions and goals for 2012 are reflective of all of those things. Here's my list:

1-To add more movement to my daily routine
2-To quit weighing myself daily
3-To create one thing each week, my theme is "birds"
4-To write one haiku every day
5-To try one new recipe each week
6-To zone clean my house

Some of my sources of inspiration in 2011 were:
Sarah Ban Breathnach's book, Simple Abundance
Mireille Guiliano's book, French Women Don't Get Fat
Misty Mawn's mixed media art book, unfurling
and the make something 365 blog about the book, Unstuck

As a result of all of this, I hope to blog again in 2012. My plan will tentatively be to share my haikus in a weekly re-cap, if not daily. I also plan to post photos of my 52 bird-themed projects. I am also working on the preliminary stages of a notebook that will help women organize their homes and lives, freeing up time for their personal interests.

Having said ALL of that in my lengthy post, I wish the blog world a healthy and prosperous 2012!

Happy St. Patrick's Day crafts

I just told a friend that I hadn't posted on this blog in so long and probably wouldn't until summer break. However, I have been busy during our spring break making some fun little holiday crafts so I thought I would share them on the web....

Thanks to Tater Tots and Jello blog for so much inspiration on these crafts.

The first image is simply a piece of patterned cardstock stuck inside a frame with no glass. I cut out a clover shape and glittered it, then stuck it to the paper. On the outer frame I spelled out the word "lucky" with some chipboard tiles. This is in my children's bathroom.

Second image is of a "lucky" sign. I used fabric paper cut to fit over an old sign that I was no longer using in the house. I then used ribbon and a glue gun to adhere the strips into letters. It is hanging above my kitchen sink with a clover banner hanging under it.



Last two images are of the wreath hanging on my front door. This was a straw wreath purchased for $2.49 at Michael's. I wrapped it with burlap ribbon (also from Michael's) and then made several styles of ribbon and paper flowers to adhere to it. The finishing touch is a cork from a bottle of Evolution wine. I loved finding a fun use for it!

Luck of the Irish to you this fine St. Paddy's Day!

Happy New Year!

I cannot believe that 2010 is already over. It seems like I hit a fast forward button this year. I don't know if it was the picture a day project or starting a new job, but time has really flown even faster than normal. It has been a wonderful year really. I think turning 40 and being able to chronicle the year with the Project Life album was an incredibly rewarding experience. I enjoyed it immensely and think it will be a fun time capsule to look back on many years from now. I hope that 2011 is a year of making many new memories, recording them for my family, and also a year of buckling down financially to do some real saving for the future and our kid's college funds. Happy 2011!