Caroline is a summer girl, she loves playing in the water and on our family vacation to the beach this summer she had an amazing time. Krista took this adorable photo and I've scrapped it using Shabby Miss Jenn Designs kit "Relaxing Summer"

Having a sleepover with a couple of little sweethearts tonight, needed afternoon coffee so I'd be up for it!

Optimism

Its always preferred.

Rescheduled

Had to reschedule yesterday's visit to today. Not a problem. Feeling blessed, accomplished and happy!

Keep Calm

. . . the COFFEE is on!

I can not even express how excited I am to be starting a new little venture. I have a new friend coming over today to teach and inspire me for a few hours today. I have a positive feeling about it and since I'm up writing my blog, designing my COFFEE Quote and uploading it all at 3:05 in the morning, I'm going to need my morning coffee to get me up and running at full speed!

I'll be keeping you informed!

None

No words.

So much for the daily coffee post...

This morning I had to get up earlier than usual, rushing out and off to Lafayette for Kali's UCA Cheerleader Camp to watch the exhibition and see the awards. Did not get to make my coffee quote, did not drink my cup of coffee and forgot to post a coffee quote until tonight! See what an unproductive thing it is to go without your wake me up coffee!?

 Kali and her cheer group did an excellent job, the came away with top honors, overall in one category and superior in two other categories. See how much I know about all that cheer business. The bottom line, they had a great week, learned a lot to improve their skills, earned recognition from the organization who put the camp on and they got to know one another better, forming new friendships and deepening older ones. CHS Junior High Cheer Squad

 UCA Cheer Awards

 Kali with the Awards

 Kali and her cheer coach Mrs. Ashley

Yawn.

Every once in a while I get caught up in a new hobby (read obsession) here and spend a lot of time studying it, learning more about it, watching tutorials about it online, etc. and I stay up a wee bit too late for my own good. Today is one of those days, I'm trying to recover and I needed my Community Coffee badly. After I had that first and only cup of the day things improved immensely.

Creating and Sleeping

One of these negates the other, I often find myself up way too late letting the creative juices flow. Night time seems to bring out the best in me when designing, planning and working. The lack of sleep requires a lil bit of coffee to offset the sleeplessness, which is perfectly fine with me since I love it so.

Monday... Monday....

Some days... are Mondays and those days require a lot of coffee. Today I forgot to post my blog entry and coffee quote until a friend on FaceBook was showing photos of her beautiful coffee stained concrete at her home. I found a solution to my staining dilemma and remembered that I didn't post my coffee quote. Absent minded doesn't even cover it some Mondays. Hope yours was more productive! Coffee hugs!

First we Plan

I have heard that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. I don't know about anyone else, but for me that's really true. Time has a way of slipping away when we're engrossed in activities that we love that make us less than our most productive selves. That being said, I have been purchasing Erin Condren planners for a few years. I fell in love with the beauty of them, the ability to personalize my covers with photos of my sweet heart of a husband and myself and began a journey of organizing my life in a more productive way. We don't have to have a formal 'job' out of the home to utilize a planner to be effective at directing our lives, so I started out with an online purchase and a new hobby began. So as creative people are guided by their passions, I decided to merge a few of my hobbies. Planning, scrapbooking, to be more specific digital scrapbooking and making stickers for my planner. These stickers represent beautiful and appealing images and function for reminding me of the 'plans' I have to be successful at everything that I commit to in life. 

So, I used a sweet new kit "World Traveler" by Shabby Miss Jenn Designs to create my first ever Planner Kit. The colors were divine and the items she created really went well with my 'planner' style and lifestyle. Below is an image I created and cut with my daughter's Silhouette Cameo, I can see myself buying one of these for my home office very soon! 

I have found the process of planning very relaxing. I have a little motto, YOU make your life as beautiful as you want it to be. I choose to make mine lovely and yes beautiful. I'm fortunate to have a sweet husband who lets me plan our weekends in New Orleans, where I adore trying new restaurants, visiting museums, antique shopping and going to festivals, concerts and sporting events. Often times we just hang out, visit and have drinks with cousins who have a home there and friends we have met and made through them. I try to fit in a few new experiences and a lot of relaxation when we're there to make the most of our time in the city without wearing us out. This is the theme of the plan on this particular week. If you have questions about planning, stickers or the Erin Condren planner and how I use it, please comment below and I'll answer your questions.

Good friends...

I spent a few hours this morning visiting with a dear and sweet friend, we first met when we worked in Broussard for LOR in our early twenties. She and I really bonded, had so much in common and came from very similar backgrounds, graduated from high school the same year and had young growing families. Then the oilfield crash of the early 1980s hit and our company cut back and we found ourselves looking for new jobs.

Over the years there have been long spans of time when she lived away or was in school, and for a lack of a better reason, we were both just too busy to get together, as it often is when raising children, working and trying to do it all. I treasure her dearly and we're lifetime friends, this I know. I love her like a sister and we pick up where ever in life we happen to be, we get caught up on the happenings in our lives, reminisce about old times and share the struggles we face at this stage of our lives as our family dynamics change, and grow and we have to learn a few new skills to mange them all. She is great at seeing situations, accessing them and offering good advice. It always feels as though its only been days, not months since we have shared time together, but its always a good time and I treasure her sweet heart.

I have lived a blessed life, but my greatest pleasure and treasure are the special people who allow me to love them and love me in return.

Long night ...

... and I'm feeling like I need a lot of coffee today. I have a decluttering job that needs to be done today and I stayed up all night (well until the sun came up, then I napped until 9:00 am) and today's quote seems so appropriate! I will accomplish my mission, decluttering feels awesome and I'm so much more productive in a tidy and pared down space! Look out DIY projects, here I come!

Sunshine and Smiles

Spending this sunshiny day with my girl Kali, oh what fun we will have! Have a very happy day!

Life Human

We had a fun filled weekend in New Orleans with amazing friends, food, fireworks and family. Back to reality on Monday and I forgot to upload my coffee quote! Dave even noticed a COFFFEE license plate, they were from NOLA, someone who shares the obsession! Hope y'all are having an amazing day!

Old School Energy Drink!

Loved this quote the first time I saw it, still makes me giggle. I get jittery with any sort of energy drink, but not with my faithful cup of coffee!