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Here is the button for Causing Riot! in case you just feel the need to install it on your blog.  +

 
I am lucky to have had my new blog designed by Erika at The Honey Bunch. She was super easy to work with and the price can't be "bee"T. =

Click here to go directly to her site

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Maya and Jason

Jason and Maya are gone again and their visit was way too short. I hope they come back really soon and that we do some more traveling together. They are such wonderful friends and I love Maya so much (Jason too). It made me realize just how much I miss my great friends back home.

I took some photos while they were here but Maya took the most and I’m waiting to get my copy of them.  In the meantime I’ve been playing around with a new app called PicFrame.

As you can see we did lots of eating and drinking and I loved every minute of it.  

More pictures to come when Maya sends them to me (hint, hint).

Im in love

I’m in love with Pip!!

I have always known that my style lies somewhere between chabby chic and ultra girly but I’ve never been able to really express what I meant.  Well now I can!  Meet Pip...

Pip is a company from the Netherlands that I discovered this past weekend.  All I can say is Wowsaw I’M IN LOVE!!!

Can’t wait to fill my life with as many of these fabulous treasures as my budget will allow.  Might have to re-think that Barcelona trip. Just kidding!

Hope you love it just as much!

Yet another blog...

Yup…I don’t have enough on my plate and I’ve added another blog. This one is very near and dear to my heart. Check it out…

Causing Riot

Getting pretty!!!

I’m so excited to finally have my guest room to a state where someone can actually stay.  And as you can see from some of the pictures...someone is already staying.  My friends Maya and Jason are here to visit me and I couldn’t be happier. It is so great to have visitors. 

I thought that if I make this room as appealing and lovely looking as possible I might have more visitors coming for a stay.  Think of it as a lovely bed and breakfast with all your meals included and internet in your room. Best part of all...it’s FREE!  So come visit.  I miss you all!

This is still the beginning. I want to paint the wall behind the computer a light pink and I have some cute pictures I’m going to hang.  I also want to create a really cute corkboard so if you have any ideas please let me know. I’m still debating on the curtains.  I bought white ones that I think would be better but I need to seam them first.  I also need to find two night stands but I would like something antique and not match-y match-y if possible.

But it’s ready for now so PLEASE come and visit soon! 

This is actually a dressing table but it works perfectly as a desk. I also think I want a white chair instead. 

Hard to see the Armoire really well but I love it!

Isn't this spread adorable?  IKEA has quite a few pink and flower inspired duvet covers right now.  How exciting!!

Just a little touch of the pink on the desk. =0)

I've almost finished the guest room...

I'm almost done with the guest room.  I'll post pictures as soon as it's done.  But I'm really loving it.  In fact I love it more than my bedroom, but that's not unusual for me.

So excited to share with you and see what your feedback is.

Pinterest, Easter and a new Printer

I have to be at Flick's for dinner in an hour and I look terrible.  This must, as a result, be a very quick post but I am happy to share fun things.  Especially after the downer post I subjected you all to a couple of days ago.  By the way, just as an update, I am feeling so much better!  

So...first things first!  PINTEREST!!! How am i so behind on this amazing site?  Why have I not known about this until now?  Well I have quickly rectified this situation and I am happy to be pinning away.  What a fantastic idea that is.  I so often see things that I know I need to keep track of and then when the time comes I can't find it anywhere.  Well no more of that, thank you very much!  

I went shopping with Rob and Jo today and I dragged them (much against their will) to Volkiland to the Casa.  I got some amazingly cute things including my new Easter centerpiece.  I would normally do this with a tree branch or a craft tree but I can’t find that here so this will have to do.  Don’t you just love it?  (It’s ok if you don’t, because I do!!)

You may have noticed that my new centerpiece is on top of what you might think is an ugly box.  But in fact it is my new PRINTER!!! I’m so excited to finally have a color laser printer.  I’ve installed it and already printed a couple of pages. 

Life is good! Now off to Flick’s to eat, drink and be merry.

P.S.  If you haven't been over to my teaching blog you should quickly have a peak.  I ordered a new teaching bag and it's so darn cute.  Check it out at Chalk and Slate!!!

The Beast Inside

I’ve had people ask me what it’s like to suffer from depression.  This has never been an easy question to answer.  Unless the one asking has a frame of reference it is very difficult to really understand.

I was diagnosed with chemical depression when I was 14 years old.  I started my journey along the path of antidepressants at that time.  I spent most of my 20’s going off and on my medication and paying for that inconsistency with a life full of extreme emotional swings. Towards the end of my twenties I started seeking counseling to help me with some childhood issues.  It was during these sessions that I learned more about my diagnosis.  My counselor explained to me that my chemical imbalance was to be treated like an insulin deficiency and that I had a responsibility to take my medication daily. 

Over the course of the last 7 years I have found the exact dosage and medication type that works best for me.  The medication that I take currently is Zoloft.  I used to be on two different medications but was switched to Zoloft to try and help combat my anxiety disorder as well.  The results have been fantastic for my daily mood stabilization. 

What is important to know, especially if you are not one of the 121 million people who have some form of depression, is that even with medication the “beat” as I call it, can rear its ugly head.

My beast has been raging an assault these last 5 days.  I have felt my sanity slipping at times and have succumbed to a murky fog that has chained me to my own emotional prison.  I am trapped inside my own pain and can see the beast attacking.  I am a rational person and I know that I have to fight.  But how does one fight when then the fog and the murk become too thick? 

I sometimes liken depression to swimming through a huge pool of jello.  You can’t drown in it but you have to work harder than you can ever imagine making it to the other side.  That’s where I am right now.  I am in an endless pool of jello, slowly fighting my way to the edge. 

Some wonder why, even with medication, the beast appears.  I don’t have an answer for that.  But I know from experience that without the medication the battle is a hopeless cause.