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Making Cards From Scraps—Autumn and Thanksgiving Designs
Hey readers, I took the last few weeks off blogging as the cold weather is once again hitting me hard this year. But I found some energy to get creative, and wanted to share these ideas with you. It’s the perfect time of year to send a card and let someone know you’re thankful for them!
I love the challenge of trying to make cards from leftover paper scraps. It’s a great way to prevent waste and get your creative juices flowing. I’ll share some tips for using leftovers below!
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Getting Rid of Digital Clutter on my Ereader to Feel More Organized
I love finding ways to organize that are manageable with chronic illness.
I’ve been on a slow but steady mini-cleaning spree, and am pretty proud of myself that I’ve checked some items off my to-do list. While I love organizing, my dysautononia, fibromyalgia, and other health conditions make it super exhausting. I wish I could do more, but I’m getting better at pacing myself.
As I wrote about in an earlier post, I’ve found ways to declutter/organize despite limited energy, and it helps me to de-stress. Also, when so many things in my life are out of my control due to my chronic conditions, it helps to be able to have control over my space. When my environment is visually calm and organized, I feel more calm and organized too.
I’ve finished organizing my medicine cabinet and file folder (don’t worry I won’t subject you to a blog post about that!) and when I saw a recent blog post about digital decluttering your e-reader, I was inspired to go through my ebooks as well. This blogger’s goal was to read what she already had. That isn’t my goal (because…libraries!), but her goal did make me want to go through my ebooks, plus it remind me of something I want to try in the future. I’d love to clear out one of my shelves on a bookcase so that it become a designated space just for my unread books. This would make them easier to find—sometimes I forget where I have books squirreled away! A project for when I have a little more energy, and space!
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My Recent Reads – October 2019
So I took an unplanned, monthlong break from my blog in September, and I did A LOT of reading. I went through a bit of a health scare including an autoimmune fever that lasted 16 days (that is a loooong time to feel like your brain is cooking!) and concern that my cancer had returned. I’m very thankful that it looks like a false alarm and I am still cancer free! Praise God! I’m very glad to be back to blogging now that my body’s alarm bells have chilled out.
As the weather starts to get cooler (which is always a rough transition due to my fibromyalgia, asthma, etc.), it’s the perfect time to curl up with a book.
Here are some of the books I’ve read recently, and what I thought of them. I’ve decided that for now, I’ll just share books that I’ve enjoyed or would recommend to a friend. I hope you enjoy these suggestions!
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Halloween Printables—Mason Jar Labels
I love Halloween and candy! The only thing about the holiday that has been bumming me out lately—I can’t eat all the beautiful, colorful treats!
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I have food allergies, so it’s hard to find allergy-friendly candies in festive packaging. (I thought it was in fact impossible until I learned that these allergy-free snacks existed. I’m thinking I need to try them…) And even if I make my own desserts, they’re often monochromatic. (I mean, I love chocolate, but part of the fun of a holiday is dressing up your desserts.) It’s proven hard to find natural food coloring that doesn’t taste funky, so I needed to get creative to find other ways to make my desserts scream Halloween.
I wanted to think of a way to add some pumpkin orange, pretty purple, and candy-corn yellow to my Halloween baking. So, I thought up the idea of making these wraparound labels perfect for labeling canning jars! I’m pretty dang excited to use them, and I hope you are too! I’ll let you know how to download them at the end of this post.
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Interesting Around the Web – August 2019
Hello readers, I have rounded up some interesting articles and posts from around the web!
I’ve been taking it easy after a trip to a museum totally wiped me out for a week, so it’s been fun to discover interesting reads online to keep me occupied. I also got to contribute a quote to another blogger about how important to advocate for yourself when doctors are dismissive or misdiagnose you (one time a doctor told me I didn’t have asthma… when I clearly do and have since birth!) I was also delighted to discover that another blogger read my latest My List of Little Joys posts and was inspired to write a post of her own on that theme.
I hope you all enjoy these links and have a wonderful Labor Day weekend!
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Create a Laughter as Medicine Kit
This post is all about ideas for adding more laughter to your life!
While laughter may or may not be the best medicine, it sure can make a difference.
I’ve been compiling a list of things that make me laugh, and it’s turned into a kind of first aid kit for making me feel better. Being intentional about cultivating joy and laughter has been even more important to me since I’ve been dealing with multiple chronic illnesses as well as chronic pain. Maybe you’re dealing with similar health challenges, or just looking for tips to improve your wellbeing. So I’m going to share ideas with you so you can make your own customized laughter kit!
Having a list of funny resources has been helpful because my brain is often fried due to chronic illness (hellooooo brain fog!). Instead of having to hunt around when I need a pick me up, I can use my kit as a jumping off point. (I printed my list off, but you can save it to your phone or wherever makes sense for you.)
Oftentimes, when I need a pick-me-up, my brain is too fried to think “Oh, I should watch or read such-and-such, that always makes me feel happier!” So, that’s why I’m making this list, so I know what tools I have in my laughter-as-medicine kit.
Before we dive into making a laughter-as-medicine kit…how exactly does laughter help?
I think we all know that laughter is a good thing, especially if you’re dealing with chronic illnesses, but did you know it can physically make a difference?
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My List of Little Joys – August 2019
Here is my latest list of little joys, part of my effort to focus on the things that I am thankful for and to remember all the little moments in life worth celebrating.
Keeping track of little joys has helped me to see that there is more to my reality than just the problems I’m facing. There are lots of reasons to smile, laugh, and enjoy life, even during rough times.
I’ve been recording some of the things that make me grateful as my own spin on gratitude journaling.
I’m glad I’m revisiting this style of post because *usually* summer offers me a little relief from fatigue and pain and symptoms—and unfortunately, that has definitely not been the case this summer. The weather has been so sporadic that I’ve not been able to benefit from consistenly warm days. We’ve had a day or two of balmy weather, then rain, and the rapid changes in weather sends my fibromyalgia, dysautonomia, and asthma into a tailspin.
It’s rough feeling worse when you were anticipating feeling better. I’m just realizing now how much I was banking on having some more time to write and go do things with friends this summer. Now summer is more than halfway gone, and I’m honestly feeling a bit robbed of my favorite season. (Can anyone relate?)
So I’m recording the highlights from the last couple months in a deliberate effort to remind myself that I *have* been able to do fun things this summer. Also, I want to try to focus more on the good.
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My Recent Reads – July 2019
Looking for book recommendations? I’ve been wanting to write this style post for awhile now, so without further ado, here are some of the books I’ve read recently, and what I thought of them. I’ve decided that for now, I’ll just share books that I’ve enjoyed or would recommend to a friend. I hope you enjoy these suggestions!
I was in a bit of a reading rut up until about a month ago, and as anyone else who loves to read knows, there’s nothing more frustrating than being unable to find a good book to dive into!
Part of the cause of my reading rut was how exhausted I’ve been—brain fog is not helpful when you’re trying to find books. My ability to make decisions has been fried. Another problem? It seemed no matter what book I put on hold at the library, the wait time was 2-6 weeks. I know that’s not long, and I love my library, but sometimes you need a book now!
So if you’re in a similar spot, here are some books that I hope you’ll enjoy. I have mishmash of classic, fantasy, memoir, fairy tale, historical, and literary books for you to choose from.
