What Works For Me

On Saturday I was getting my hair done and talking to the cute little stylist. At one point, she said "So, I have a question." Um, ok. "I've always wanted to know how moms with two or more kids can take a shower." Well, it's best if they're asleep or watching a good show. A little later she asked, "Do you ever get out?" I didn't understand. She clarified by asking, "Do you ever get to leave your house?" I guessed what she was really asking was "How can you stand being at home all day long with your kids." So I told her what works for me: I try to do something fun that I want to do everyday. I have a list of things that I need to get done everyday, like laundry, read the scriptures, make dinner, etc. But I have an ongoing list of things that I want to do and I do something off of that list everyday. A lot of times it involves Photoshop, but it could also be reading a novel, watching an old episode of Star Trek Deep Space 9 with Jonathan (ok, so that's never on my list, but I often just get sucked in), or doing a craft, etc. And that is how I stay fulfilled staying at home. I love learning new things, and I've learned that just because I stay at home doesn't mean I can't develop my talents. I love learning new recipes, doing crafts, and mostly I love learning how to do things in Photoshop that I didn't know before. (Although, sometimes when the kids are in bed, I just want to veg in front of tv and I do just that.)

Speaking of Photoshop ( I was, wasn't I?), I feel like I need to make a disclosure. Just so you know, I take short cuts with my projects all the time. ALL.THE.TIME. Case in point, my new blog header. Isn't that cluster frame with Sami and Janie cute? Yeah, well, I didn't make it. I was going through my photoshop stuff last night and when I saw it (I forgot I had downloaded it), I thought it would look so cute on a blog header. So I used it. I got it from here:http://tracireed.com/blog/?p=262. 

And the butterflies.They are so pretty. For my birthday, my friend Katie gave me a gift card to my favorite photoshop site: http://www.jessicasprague.com/. (Thanks Katie!) Almost every Wed., Jessica has some scrapping stuff on sale for a dollar. It's called One-Buck Wednesday and I love it. I bought the butterflies and I kind of forgot about them (again!) and then I thought the colors and look were perfect for what I was going for. It's so easy-peasy when you have supplies you love.

And, mostly, I love the font. I {heart} great fonts! I am also a collector of fonts. I prefer free, but I have paid a dollar here and there for good ones. I paid a dollar for the font on my blog header. It's called Emily and it's from here:http://jonesdesigncompany.com/shop/. I wish I had her handwriting, but I'll take her font if nothing else. I use this font all the time. Love it.

So if you ever see something that you think is cute on my blog, it's ok with me if you say "That's cute. I bet she didn't make it." And chances are, at this time in my life, that you are right. I more than likely put a cute picture under or over something that someone else made. Because instead of working on my blog for three days (that's how long it would take me if I did everything from scratch), I would rather be browsing pinterest and watching old Star Treks with my sweetie.

Another case in point, these pictures of my little darlings. They also got hair cuts this week and I think they are so adorable. And of course, I just put the pictures under some free frames that I got from some scrapbooking site. But I am ok with that, because I love the look. And it's all about quick shortcuts.