Worry Cactus & New Music

 There is something to be said about discovering and falling in love with music.


I am passionate about things. I always have been. I feel so much more strongly about the arts and about nature than a lot of people and I sometimes struggle to find ways to communicate those feelings. The people in my everyday life are amazing people but... I don't have much in common with them (except one or two on certain subjects) but I really have a hard time with this.

One of the things I struggle with most is how much I want to talk about music- and not just talk about it- feel it and have discussions. I want discuss that feeling of falling in love with it. 
To me, music is the only way to feel life sometimes.  It's the only way to communicate feelings and to just be in the moment.  It bridges a gap and I don't know what I would do without it (that's why I studied Audiology in school- so I could help people hear music).

So- this Aurora is one of those musician/artists that I am falling in love with at the moment.  And true to myself, I am doing it passionately.   You see, I go for a period of time where I listen to the same stuff and it's all good but I crave something new.  Not just a new song but a whole album.  Something with emotion and work and just ugh- this was it:

Aurora - All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend 

I linked it above.  

I listened to a song I just happened to come across on YouTube and then I dove into the abyss- I learned about her- where she was from - watched documentaries and fell in love.  I love her style, her view on life and most of all her amazingly wonderful sad but happy music! :) I'm content for the moment.  Until I need more... more music ... new music and that need to fall in love again :) 

Ok- this post was supposed to be about my worry cacti that you can find in my store link in the navigation bar above!  I hand make each one of these out of felt, buttons, glue, thread and a whole love time time and love.  They are not perfect but they are so much fun.  You can set them on your desk at work or at home.  Write down your worries on the paper that is provided (I also have extras you can print from the printables tab above) and place it in your cactus's mouth so they eat your worries before they eat you!  You also get "care" instructions.  

These are my favorites that I have made so far below.  They are one of a kind since I do not use patterns.  I get bored when I use patterns.  Please check out the store as I will be posting more as often as I can :) 

The bottom one I still have some last minute things to do but it has turned out to be my favorite.  It's a shelf you can either hang on the wall (yes it has hooks) or you can set it on your desk and I got some lights that go on the inside to give it a special touch- yep- cactus lights! :) 

Okay-I'm up way too late for a work night- enjoy the music and my cacti I have created! :) Night and thank you for reading! 

My favorite so far... still have to do some finishing touches but I'm pretty pleased! 

1 Year

     A year went by already! HOW?! It truly went so fast and it defiantly had it's ups and downs. They say the first year of marriage is the hardest and I have to say, yes, yes it is.   That does not, in anyway, mean it was bad but it does hold new challenges that you have to learn to work together on.  We came out so much stronger.  I am so head-over-heals in love with this man.  He is my world, truly.  

     So to celebrate one year we ventured up to our wedding venue about 45 mins north of us.  They were setting up for a wedding so we hiked some of the trails.  I surprised him by starting a tradition for us - I took a nice box and placed our vows in there along with a few our favorite photos from our wedding.  I added our "Mr." and "Mrs." shot glasses and our Brennivin airplane bottle of liquor from our honeymoon that we were saving for our Anniversary.  I also put in our vow stone that we used on our wedding day.  We found a spot in the woods, sat down on the ground and opened the box together. He really loved it.  We snapped a few Polaroids to put in there for next year, downed the shot, read our vows to each other and enjoyed our photos then closed it up for next year - this is such a nice tradition to start and I'm excited to add photos each year and maybe try some new shots together!  

After Succop we went to Moraine State Park to bike and have a picnic.  I made all the food the night before so we could pack up the cooler in the morning, put our bikes on the car and get on our way bright and early!  Once we got to Moraine we hopped on our bikes and got about 6 miles in before I had an issue with one of my bike tires so we decided that it was time to find a place to eat.  

Yes, that thing was huge... ew.

So we found our picnic spot after driving up the road a few minutes.  We laid the blanket down and enjoyed each others company.  It was so nice to just STOP and enjoy without anything else going on.

 Ya for some reason I am holding the fork between my knees, I think I didn't want to set it down. Haha, I'm so weird! 

 So, once we got home we hung out with the dogs, ate some dinner together and then brought out the top of our wedding cake to eat.  It was actually pretty good still! We had a few bites and then threw it away- I felt bad for throwing that whole cake out but I don't think you're really suppose to eat the whole thing after a year in the freezer. 

 Since we share our Anniversary with my parents, I decided to make them a gift this year.  I saw a painting like this on Etsy but they wanted 70$ for it and I decided to try to paint something similar myself.  I was so proud of this!  Chance liked it too, he insisted on being in the photo! I put their wedding date and initials in the heart on the three- they hung it up in their living room- it made me so happy! 

  

So- here's to our one year and my parent's 41st!  :)

Thanks for reading! 

4th of July

     For the 4th of July we drove out to meet up with our good friends Haileigh and Alan in Brockway, PA. What an adorable little town out in the country!  Haileigh and I work together but she works from home while I work in the office.  She comes in every now and then but I don't get to see her nearly enough. She is truly an amazing soul and I just adore her and her husband!  They had this wonderful festival going on with arts and crafts, music (Bon Jovi cover band) and a magician that was the funniest and most awkward I have ever seen.  I can't even begin to explain his antics but the best part was he threw some adult humor in there and it went right over the kids heads and we were all laughing.   We walked around and got some food and just enjoyed our friends company!  We had about a 2 hour drive home but after I snapped some photos of the country side I fell asleep.  The sun wore me out.  We got home and both laid on the bed and passed out.  Brian was just as tired as I but the day was totally worth it!  So here are some photos from our day: