This one's for Hoonie.

I swear...I should get snowed in every week! I have gotten so much done, and it feels GREAT! I've been cleaning, grooming, blogging, finishing old projects, starting new ones, and getting caught up on Lost. Hopefully I'll keep blogging after snowy weather goes away, because I really have been enjoying it.

I also watched 6 episodes of Lost this afternoon. While I watched season 1 & 2 in real time, I stopped paying attention by third season. Last year about this time, I restarted from the beginning to pass the time after my foot surgery. I got completely caught up until the beginning of season 5, then I was forced to wait for either (a) ABC.com to put the episodes up, or (b) the box set to come out. So, at the end of December I rewatched the finales of 4, and got 1 whole episode of season 5 out of the way. I realized about a week ago that I was running out of time, so I started watching again, and I should be done with season 5 by Tuesday!!! IN TIME FOR THE PREMIER!! Anywho...that's not what this blog is about.

I: Video for Jaymee. And everyone -- this is my favorite video of all time. Turn up the sound.

This is my cousin's youngest daughter, Trynnity. She is 3, and she is adorable. When I was in Tucson earlier this month, I was getting ready in the bathroom and the iPod was playing. I came out of the bathroom to see this!!!

II: Corkboards for Jaymee!

Also when I was in Tucson, Jaymee and I wanted to make cute corkboards and frame them. After a rude confrontation with store employees, we left the craft store with no cork and no frames.

Personalized Cork Boards

You will need:

3-4 8x10" Frames, depending on how you want to arrange them. (Mine were 97 cents each at Wal-Mart)

1 pack of cork squares, contains 4 ($5 at Wal-Mart)

Painting supplies to decorate the cork & frames.

1 pack of Make Your Own Stencils, contains 3 (These were about $7 at Hobby Lobby. They were pricey, but if you're doing an intricait design, well worth it!! I still have 2 left over, too.)

1 x-acto knife

Scissors

3m strips

1. Start with your cork squares. Measure and cut them down to your frame size with the x-acto knife.

2. Paint the frames, if desired

3. Chose your design to go on the frames. I used Google Images to search for a large damask pattern that I could zoom in on.

4. Trace your design onto the stencil template. Cut out the template. (THIS WAS A LONG AND LENGTHY PROCESS!!! It's hard to maneuver the stencil template with the scissors, and the stencil was to tough to use the x-acto. For such a detailed pattern, I was happy with the labor and results, but it's up to you what goes on the cork boards)

5. Use the stencil to transfer the pattern to the cork board

6. Paint the pattern. Apply 3-4 coats. (really)

7. After allowing to dry, assemble your cork boards.

8. Hang with 3-m strips, being sure to level your frames and keep an equal distance between frames (my frames wouldn't allow me to nail in picture hangers into the wood)

9. ENJOY!!!

III. Follow Your Bliss, for me :o).

I had been wanting a to make a cute little sign like this for a while. I was drawn to the one-word signs made out of cut out letters that say "indulge," "family," or "home"...I just wanted an original one.

I have been particularly fond of the mantra "Follow Your Bliss" by Joseph Campbell. An American philosopher, he once wrote : "If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Wherever you are—if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time."

Basically, if you do what naturally makes you happy every day, if you follow the path that this happiness leads you on, you will find your true calling.

Here's my "Follow Your Bliss" sign. It cost about $15 to make, and I got everything at Michael's.

I put on my entry table so that it's the first thing I see every time I walk into my apartment!