the unperfected perfectionist

Hello!   How is your week going?  I tell you what, mine has actually been quite busy and I have so much to say and share but, as you know, it is Thankful Thursday !  So, in order to get right to the point and share my thankfulness before I write a novel for the intro of the funny happenings of my week, I am determined to remain focused.  Perhaps tomorrow, I can share some of the interesting happenings in my week.   I have been thinking about this post all week.  Today, I want everyone to know how very thankful that I am for my sister.  The ironic thing about me posting this for my Thankful Thursday this week, is that it just so happens to be "I LOVE MY SISTER" week! Honestly, if it weren't for Facebook, I would never have even known this existed.  I had planned blogging this before it was even brought to my attention.  Perfect timing!  What better way to honor my sister than to do it during, "I LOVE MY SISTER" week.   My sister has been an incredi

Can we really be welcoming in October later this week?  I am already missing the warmth and sunshine of summer but, will welcome some crisp cool temperatures.  With cooler temperatures, I usually have the urge to bake much more often.  As I have said numerous times, baking is good for my soul.  When it is cool and gloomy outside, chances are pretty good that you will find me baking something fresh to share with friends and family.  In fact, over the weekend, was my husband's birthday, so I baked his favorite, chocolate cake with chocolate glaze.  For him, the more chocolate, the better.   When I was done baking the birthday cake, yesterday, I cleaned up the kitchen and ran a few errands only to return home feeling like I wanted to do some more baking.  I came across this recipe last week and have been so anxious to try it.  The recipe was for snickerdoodle muffins.  I love snickerdoodle cookies so, I thought that the muffins sounded absolutely delicious!   As I gathere

Have you ever felt alone, lost or overwhelmed? I know that there have been more times than I can count on one hand, that I have felt this way throughout my life. Everyone has their ups and downs.  Everyone gets discouraged.  In times that we may feel this way, it is not always easy to see the light at the end of the tunnel and remember that there are times of brightness that always follow the hard times. We must just take each day one step at a time. We all have our struggles of some sort or another.  We are simply human. Some of us are just better at hiding our feelings or showing what may be really going on inside ourselves.  Thank goodness, we are blessed with a new beginning as we rise each day.  We are the ones to choose how that day will unfold.  Will it be filled with positivity or will we allow negativity to sneak in and take over? It is Friday...you must be thinking, "Where is the inspiration in this today? This seems awfully  dark and definitely lacking the usual

Good Morning! This morning I sent my sweetie back to school.  I am so thankful that she was finally feeling good enough to get back to school. Call me crazy but, as I sit here, I am missing her presence and I will be worrying all day that she will be okay at school.  Just the mother in me I suppose.   Today, I also have something else that I am thankful for on this Thankful Thursday .  This may sound really bizarre and strange, but, I am thankful for a very kind woman in which I only know through numerous phone conversations.   Sound random?  I will do my best to explain why I am thankful for a stranger.  It was almost an instant thought that I would feature this woman on today's post.   Here is how it all began... Last Friday, I was extremely frustrated with the whole health insurance system.  We recently got new health insurance with my husband's new job.  If you have ever had to switch your health insurance coverage, you know that no two policies or compa

I am back!  I have been so good about posting regularly and it feels weird that I haven't posted in a few days.  Well, luck has it, we are only a few weeks into the school year and Emma has already been home sick  for a few days this week.  That would explain my disappearance.  My poor girl has had the yucky sore throat, stuffy nose and congestion stuff that seems to be making its way through the schools already.  No fun at all.  I was hoping that as she laid low over the weekend, she would be feeling better as the week begun. No dice. So, this week we have been pretty much stuck in the house. As you know from my last post, this is not something that I handle very easily.   So, as she was home sick from school, we actually shared lots of one on one time together.  I was quickly reminded that even when she feels yucky and can't go to school, her mind simply never quits.  She has the best imagination ever and is so very creative.  We began with playing Pictureka together

Do you ever have those days that you feel like if you don't get out of the house you will go crazy?  Well, I had one of those days today. Yesterday, Emma wasn't feeling very well so, we pretty much just hung out at home.  I am thankful that I met a friend in the morning to go for a run, which turned into a walk because we had so much to catch up on.  The remainder of the day consisted of a bit of laundry, football and more football, in which I have a very short attention span for. I was a bit tired myself, so I attempted a nap but was not at all successful.  Why is it if I am tired, I can't ever even take a tiny cat nap?  Instead, I lay there thinking of 101 things that I could be doing instead, about the upcoming week, about the cold weather that I am dreading, about baking some cookies, about where and when I will start the P90X and on and on.  Its really quite ridiculous. I was restless and filled with boredom.  As you can see, after being home all day yesterd

Welcome to the weekend!  This week seemed to sneak by me!  This morning I sat here doing my normal searching for inspiration routine.  After finding a few that I liked, I kept getting sidetracked and would end up jumping from one topic to another.  You know how it goes, similar videos are linked and pop up as you view them.  No good for someone like me that is so easily distracted!  I searched the broad topic of "inspiration" and this is where the trail left me.   So, finally, this is my pick for you on this Friday. I hope that this wisdom from the well known, Mother Teresa, will leave you stepping into your weekend on a positive note.   Have a fantastic weekend!  

Good Thursday morning to you my friends!  It really felt like fall as we stepped out the door this morning to head to the bus stop.  I am still cold.  I was hoping that my coffee would warm me up. As I sit here to compose this post, I have a fleece on and I am about to kick on the heat.  As cold as I may be feeling, I am not complaining at the fact that the sun is abundant this morning.  I am enjoying it before it gives way to cloudy skies and rain this afternoon.   Today, I am thankful for manicures and pedicures with my daughter. Several months ago, I took Emma for her first manicure and pedicure.  My hubby was gone for the weekend and I decided to make the most of our special "just girl" time.  I figured that at 8 years old, she was definitely old enough to experience this pampering experience.  In fact, I don't think that I actually experienced this myself until I was probably in college!   Emma and I really enjoyed this pampering together.  It was a time

I stumbled upon this as I wanted to begin my day with yet, more positive inspiration.  I, again, woke up tired and needed some motivation.  After viewing just a few videos, I saw this, and I simply could not have said it better myself.  I am certain that I will keep referring back to this post, just to view this again and again.  I love what it says and its simplicity.  Very well done.  I hope that you enjoy this as much as I did and it provides you with some motivation for your day as well.  Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Another new week begins today.  I had one of those mornings that when my alarm went off, it felt like I had just crawled into bed and gone to sleep twenty minutes prior!  You know that feeling?  I have never been one to hit the snooze button because I know that those nine extra minutes are not really going to make me feel any better.  In fact,it makes me feel more sleepy. I would rather just get up and start my morning routine.  I hope that when you woke up this morning to welcome a new week ahead, that you felt more energized than I did! I had to make a morning run to get this... This morning as I let my dog outside, I glanced at my herb garden that resides in a flower box on the railing.  I have been looking at this several times a day, every day and always think to myself...I really must snip some fresh herbs and put them to use.  This has been my first attempt at growing my own herbs.  I was inspired by my friend, Jen, who had a flourishing herb garden of her own.  She even le

September 11, will never ever be the same, after the loss our country suffered as a result of the terrorist attacks that took place.  I know that most of us can remember clearly the specifics of where we were and what we were doing when the first plane hit the first tower.  Emotions of anger, grief and sadness seemed to hang on for days, which turned into months and years.  It has been 10 years since this has affected our country and the people as individuals.  I believe that slowly, over time, the healing process has made us stronger and forced us to pull together and lean on each other.  This was such a life changing day in history for each and every person. It became an opportunity for people to really think about what is important in life, to re-prioritize  and to never let anything go left unsaid.   Today, I had the opportunity to visit the Healing Field, a 9/11 Memorial, at our local ski area. This memorial featured rows and rows of 3,200 American flags to remember and h

Happy Friday afternoon to you!  I am so happy the weekend is here!  I have been feeling a bit sluggish as we fall back into the school routine again.  I just keep telling Emma, each morning, not to worry, we will get used to the early mornings soon enough.  I am very confident that after next week we will be all back into the groove of things again.  This morning already, I feel more energized and productive.  I got Emma off to school,vacuumed, straightened up things around the house, met a friend for breakfast, stopped at the Verizon store( I am still thankful for technology, but, my phone completely turned off and was black screened and lifeless! Come to find out nothing was wrong and they just had to reboot it some other way that I was not knowledgeable about...& I am back in business again!), got the car washed and vacuumed all before the clock struck noon!  I am feeling pretty great about this too!  The weather is forecasted to be warmer and sunnier for the weekend. Yay! Inse

Good Morning!   I sat down with my absolute splurge of Starbucks coffee this morning, which is such a treat.  I usually just make a quick cup of instant coffee, which is not so good but, is better than no coffee at all. My other option is usually driving through McDonald's and grabbing a coffee. At the current time, I no longer own a coffee pot because a few weeks ago, my hubby was taking a load of things to give away, to a local drop off, and he took the coffee pot.  He claimed that I don't use it very often and that we were going to get a Keurig anyways.  In hindsight, perhaps we should have kept the pot until we had a replacement.  The positive for me is that it gives me a very legitimate excuse to meet my sister or a friend for coffee or even swing by Starbucks for a Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Latte.  Yummy!   So, now that you know my coffee situation, I really just wanted to share something really funny that they shared on the Today Show this morning.  As I was sipping m

Hello my friends!  I can't believe it is Wednesday already!  These holiday weeks always seem to throw me off.  Hopefully, everyone is settling into a routine again, as another school year is now underway. Here in Michigan, the feeling of fall arriving is definitely being felt.  The mornings at the bus stop are very chilly, already! I am talking, see your breath, cold! I swear my blood has thinned since my brief 9 month bout in southern Ohio!  I like fall but, come on mother nature, could you please just ease me into it a little bit more gradually?!    Anyway, I am fully challenging myself to make a very brief post today, just to see if I am even capable of doing so.  I didn't even plan on writing today but, something popped into my mind, so here I am.   So, I went for a brief 3 mile run today just to test my body out and see if it was all recovered from my race.  I can report that I feel pretty good!  It was great to just head out to run at my favorite place and not ha

Happy Tuesday to you!  I hope that you were able to enjoy some great times with friends and family over the last weekend of the summer.  I know that I certainly did!  It seemed to fly by in a blink of an eye!  It is hard to believe that summer is over already.  I fought back tears as I put my daughter on the bus this morning to begin her first day as a third grader.  I am not, and never will be one of those moms that looks forward to the day that school starts up every fall.  I fully enjoy my time with my daughter. It feels like part of me is missing when she isn't here. Today, I just can't wait for her to come home and share, in full detail, all about her day.   Well, as I promised, I am going to share with you today about my weekend and most importantly...my half marathon!   Friday afternoon, we headed south to Indianapolis for my big race.  I was a complete mess!  I was sad about leaving Emma home and knowing she wouldn't be there to cheer me on throughout the