The Rosy Life: Why am I here in this space? Another post of the rich and rosy.

Why am I here in this space?

Just a friendly reminder my main goal of this blog is to leave an entire reservoir of the rosy, rich stuff of life for not just me to look back on, but my family and hopefully friends too.

I have a bajillion thoughts about this weird quarantine time and for me personally, the public space of the blog just isn't where I feel led to share them. I do have a handful of close friends and family that I can unload on and I hope you do too. Just wanted to put that out there because these are not easy days we're living in and me showing up with a million cheerful pictures, without blatantly saying I'm doing that on purpose, would feel fake. I think we all feel the hard and heavy stuff these days well enough on our own. I'm here to help you feel the happy too.

Let's dive in!

For starters, our garden is producing greens and radishes.

Yum!

We love garden salad. The girls are good helpers and like to get the lettuce cut and radishes pulled. We eat our salad with olive oil and vinegar, with a bit of salt sprinkled on top. It's easy to eat greens this time of year!

As always, I've been having fun playing around with paints.

I'm getting quite a collection of originals done.

I'm contemplating whether to keep having little pop-up sales on Instagram or re-open my Etsy shop, which has been closed for years.

Ok, I had a question from Facebook, from a dear friend of mine I want to answer. She said this "Tell us about art journals. How did you start? How long have you been doing them? Do you ever struggle to get past wanting to do something “good” so you just don’t start at all?"

I love this question! I think a lot of people desire to make art or do some sort of hobby but don't know how to jump in.

So I started art journaling back when I first became a stay-at-home mom about 9 years ago. I don't even remember what got me started, other than it was probably a blog or online class I saw and thought looked fun. I DO remember going to Hobby Lobby and buying paints as a grown-up, which felt ridiculous. I also remember the feeling of swiping that first color of paint across the page and canvas and I was hooked immediately.

If you want to start: buy an art journal or good quality paper that you can paint on top of without it crinkling. Buy some cheap acrylic paints and go for it!

I like to order from Blick or Amazon. When I go in stores I buy from Hobby Lobby, although even Wal-Mart has paint!

Another thing I like is to collage. I like to add notes, scraps of papers, cute tape, etc. to my art journal or canvases. I do this with Mod Podge, a type of glue. Wan-Mart sells this!

Now, for the struggle. I've read five million times from other artist's that you will have to make LOTS of work to get to the stuff you really like. I couldn't agree more! I have GOBS of paintings I don't like at all. Some I like a little, and others I just absolutely LOVE. For the record, I only sell the ones that fall in the LOVE category because they are the truest reflection of my heart and soul. I used to share everything I made and I would feel immense pressure to make something I liked, every single time. Now my art journal is just for me. Sometimes I share pages, but mostly it's private. This has really taken the pressure away from creating masterpieces every single time.

The reality is, if we're going to be willing to make something, we're going to make some things we don't like. We're going to make some things we won't deem "good" later, but we must wade through those days to get to the ones that end with something on the page or canvas we DO love! This has been my absolute truth.

She LOVES to read.

(like her momma)

We went on a hike at Hobbs State Park and it was gorgeous!

Love that view!!

So proud of the girls for hiking for several miles.

At one point, Anna jumped and squealed because she had stepped on a tiny (harmless) snake.

Fishing the farm pond.

She's got one!

The girls have learned to cast on their own.

Last Friday night I was dealing with a major stress headache. Body ache, really.

But then this sky put on a show for us and we ate pizza and played in the driveway together.

Completely melted my stress away!

This was from a different night, after a storm. The tiniest sliver of pink shining through.

Still my favorite jeans EVER. Time and Tru from Wal-Mart!

Back at work, in our outside office.

Brett built this cute table and we all fuss over who gets to sit at it next!

Brett helped me get my typewriter back up and running!!

Then I ordered a new ribbon from Amazon.

Sending happy mail.

This was the old ribbon. I was really pleased with the new one I got from Amazon!

I adore typewriters. The sound, the look, all of it.

Are you a typewriter person?

This.

Joy is a choice.

So many interesting details to notice on our walks outside and especially in the woods!

Woo!

Being peppy for the school announcements!

Magnifying glass fun.

Polka dot rain.

One of the best meals I've ever had.

(no, I didn't eat this whole steak)

The book...speechless. Such an AMAZING story.

*It IS a love story and has a couple of love scenes, which I'm not used to because I'm usually reading kid books. Just fyi, if you're like me and don't usually read that type of book either)

Sigh...you can see why I usually don't recommend books at all! I never know who will be offended by what and it's tricky putting yourself out there on social media.

Rainbow one afternoon!

And a mysterious white blob that I zoomed in on and it doesn't look like a bird..not sure?

Beautiful back deck shadows and light.

Mary/merry mail!

Ok, my clothes pictures still haven't improved but I wanted to show you the simple difference in this t-shirt and cardigan look and what you can do by adding in a few details. (see below)

So for starters, there's nothing wrong with this outfit, it's just not that flattering or interesting to me.

This is the after. Same t-shirt, same cardigan, but I knotted the shirt, added a scarf, put on my pink glasses and favorite earrings from Freckled Hen Farmhouse and rolled my jeans.

A totally different look, with just changing a few details.