Who Said LIFE was Fair

Enjoy the simple pleasures in LIFE!!!!

Don't let them pass you by.... you do have a moment.... make a moment and slow down!!!

This week my blog has highlighted going to the Fair. 

There are so many different kind of Fairs to attend.  Just like finding those simple pleasures in LIFE.... there is probably a Fair to attract like minding, fun, creative.... artsty fartsy types.... Like a Starving Artist Fair.  My home town had one of those.  I like the name.... Starving Artist.... you do art because you have a passion and a love.... not because you want to make money!

Not until my kids were a little older in elementary school did we attend our first Book Fair.  I just loved helping set them up.  I've highlighted numerous times this year, in some form or manner.... that books are a wonderful simple pleasure!!!  Book Fairs are great..... you can buy wonderful new books at great prices and it benefits the school or library that sponsors the Fair.

 

County Fairs, 4H Fairs, Science Fairs.... State Fairs..... all amazing places to see goods and services sponsored by young people who have a passion for caring for their environment, the land and showcases how we can use the world and see it's resources today..... and in the future.

 

Who doesn't love the great smells when walking through the cow barn on a 95 degree day in the summer????

 

There are Street Fairs and Music Fairs..... Renaissance Faires and  Balloon Festivals.  All throughout the year.... local newspapers highlight special events throughout the city, county and state. 

 

A fair is a great place to see new things and get to know your area.  It's a place to exercise and to people watch.  It's a place to sample new foods and just sit and relax. It's a place to create a nice memory.

 

Let's all go to the fair!!!!  LIFE'S simple pleasure!!!

 

Full - Circle... of LIFE

As friends and family of mine, you all know that very shortly I will be going through another stage in LIFE.... I will be part of the Empty Nesters' Club. 

It's hitting me pretty hard.... there I said it!

We all have to make choices in LIFE. 

Our choice, Jeff and I when we became pregnant with Kyle was for me to be a stay-at-home mom.

Almost two years later with Holly barely 3 weeks old we moved to Tennessee and so our journey began.  Two moves and 18 years later... my job of every day event coordinator is about to end.  It is truly.... bitter-sweet.

One thing I do know is that I love to create... or in some CASE-s.... recreate.  That is something that is part of who I am. 

 

I had an aha moment recently.  I have incorporated Art imitating LIFE... or my LIFE imitating my art ♥

 

I've taken on a few self improvement awareness programs... if that's what I should call it.  As part of my Year of  (think of New Year's resolution ).... at the House of SHINE... I decided to take on the Year of LIFE's simple pleasures.

 

I also took an on-line mixed media class that goes the entire year.... it's called LIFEbook 2013.  Each week I get inspiration to think and feel my art.

 

And another activity is part of Do52.

 

 

Each week I pick a new Popsicle stick with a verb on it and try to incorporate that word into my  daily LIFE.

 

There is a method to my madness. I have been able to combine all of my interests and create a story.... my story!!!

 

 I get to dream it, believe it, think it, doodle it and live it!

 

And this is how I discovered that my LIFE, I'm living a full circle.  For the past 31 weeks I have been highlighting 'one' of LIFE's many simple pleasures... and I have been randomly picking a verb... and here is what I found interesting... all randomly chosen....

 

Week #1 we all need to LIGHTEN up on our BEVERAGES.... Week #2 there are different TYPES of SNOWFLAKES... Week #4 a FIREPLACE can SUPPORT the structure of a home.... Week #5 BOOKS can SPILL out of a backpack... okay....so a few of them don't work out but then there is.... Week #14 each SPRING I have a to do LIST to check off.... #16 a fun activity when you have extra TIME is to PEOPLE WATCH...#23 SUSPEND in time and STOP & SMELL THE ROSES.... #25 some people GATHER BUGS and collect them... #27 we OBSERVE other peoples' Birthdays and celebrate them.

 

LIFE has many ways of testing a person's will, either by having nothing happen at all or by having everything happen all at once.

Can I help you???

 

An adventurous LIFE does not necessarily mean climbing a mountain, swimming with the sharks or jumping off cliffs.  It means risking yourself by leaving a little piece of you behind in all things you meet along the way.

 

A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions and the roots spring up and make new trees - Amelia Earhart

 

LIFE moves pretty fast if you don't stop and look around once in awhile you could miss it.

 

It's the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle
The Circle of Life

BRIGHTEN SOMEONE'S DAY!!

 

 

 

It's All Up in the Air

EXCUSE MY MESS.... still WORKING ON MY BLOG!

Your life is like a balloon...if you never let yourself go, you will never know how far you can rise.

- Linda Poindexter

This week I'm discovering the simple pleasures in attending a fair. 

 

I remember as a child attending a fair and the overwhelming excitement when you walk in past the ticket gate!!!  Right away you would see things you wanted to buy and places you wanted to stop first!!!  I liked the site of a friendly clown or a mid way vendor selling balloons.

They would be bunched together like a large bouquet of exotic flowers.  Floating together the different colors and shapes would attract me. Then there was the dilemma of choosing the perfect one.  Oh the joy of someone  tying  the string of the balloon to my wrist.   Magically the balloon would bob and weave as I pulled my arm up and down in all different directions.  You could always see the balloon bopping above all the heads in the crowd. I was special!!

 

A balloon is a flexible bag which can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. 

 

And of course, there would be sadness as I got in the car  after a long day of walking at the fair and mistakenly untie the balloon and it would leave the backseat and slip away up into the sky..... floating up to the heavens above!

 

Yesterday I spotlighted a county fair here on my blog, but in doing a little research.... there are so many different types of fairs.... there are even all different kinds of Balloon Festivals and Fairs.

 

google images 

 

The above link is describing those huge hot air balloons that are part of everyone's bucket list.  Top of the list of Balloon Festivals to visit?  Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in October.

 

In late summer just at dusk, we've had  the pleasure spotting 2 or 3 hot air balloons fly over our house at a time.... it is quite a site to see and hear that up close!

 

Love is like a balloon,

easy to blow up

and fun to see grow

But hard to let go and fly away.

 

A simple pleasure.... going to a fair and getting a balloon! 

 

Lets All Play Fair

Please excuse my mess.... I create here.... my BLOG is under construction


This time each year in our hometown
The county fair comes our way
Where the folks gather round to be happy and spend their day...
Brian Wilson  the Beach Boys

google images

Week #32 LIFE'S simple pleasures - the fair

A fair is a gathering of people to display or trade produce or other goods, it is also a place to parade or display animals, it is often associated with a carnival.

 

We have never been to our county fair here in Illinois (we drove by one yesterday, but I don't think that counts!), but we have been to all kinds of fairs in Wisconsin and Tennessee.  We've also seen the animals and farm equipment, eaten deep fried food and cotton candy, watched exciting demolition derbys,  listened to on-site radio shows and live concerts, and ridden fun Ferris wheels and played games at the mid way!!!

 

Life is like a county fair
some rides are more fun
than others,
and some are more frightening
than others.

There are all kinds of fairs ~ county fair, country fairs, state fair, Renaissance Faire, World's fair, art fair, street fair, music fairs, book fair, craft fair.... sometimes festivals and flea markets are considered fairs.

Let's all go to the country fair,
there's blossoms and ribbons and hope in the air.
The harvest is in and we have time to spare,
and the best place to be is the county fair.

Have you seen any grand champions cows or chickens lately??

 

Under Construction

Please excuse all the changes... I'm trying to reconfigure my blog.  New changes will be completed soon.... but things are a little wonky for the time being!

Is the Beach Calling You????

 

For some reason, I have been keeping this tiny shell in my purse.  It fell out the other day when I grabbed my wallet.  I don't know what beach it is from.  Gulf Shores, Hilton Head, Lake Michigan?  I love the commercial where people pick up this huge conch shell and they put it up to their ear to hear the ocean, and a sweet cherubic voice says.... it's the beach calling!

 

I have the largest collection of seashells.  I keep it all on the beaches of the world, perhaps you've seen it?

Week #31 LIFE'S simple pleasures - summer time

 

The summer solstice where the days are the longest and the nights are the shortest.  Schools are on a break to take advantage of the warm, hot days.  Teenage jobs cater to recreation.  More families travel and go on vacation.  People spend more time outdoors.

 

There are a lot of things you can do in the summer time.  It is one of LIFE'S simple pleasures.  I can combine numerous simple pleasures from the beginning of this year and do many of them in the summer time...

 

I can enjoy a cold beverage at the beach, a waterfront bar, or under an umbrella in my backyard!

 

I can find a best seller beach book read... or enjoy an old classic.

 

I can feel the warmth of the sun and the SHINE it brings to my day.

 

I can listen to the birds chirp about their business.

 

I can watch people at the beach or the ice cream shop.

 

I can sit on my front porch and just watch the clouds go by. 

 

I can collect seashells and put them in a glass jar and decorate my bathroom.

 

My favorite thing about summer is having a valid excuse for my excessive sweating

 

And so with that... enjoy the rest of your summer.  It is one of LIFE'S simple pleasures!

 

Brighten Someone's Day

Hey Good Lookin, what ya got Cookin?

What are the smells and the sounds you feel when you think of summer time???

I think of fresh popped popcorn at a county fair and the ice cream truck coming down the street.  Having fun and squeals of delight jumping into a pool or a lake.  A scent of sun tan lotion mixed with bug spray.  Cicadas chatting in the trees. The hot pavement that smells of tar melting.  The fresh newness of the school supply section in Target!!

 

There is also camping out and cooking out.  Bonfires and firing up the Barby.  In the summer time I like to grill out.  A leisurely dinner on a Saturday night.  The food is fresh and it tastes so good.

 

 

Week #31 LIFE'S simple pleasures - summer time

 

I've made some fun creative greeting cards before with summer themes.... but I can't seem to find them when I need them.  One is a really cute Weber grill with the steam flowing out the vent on the round cooker with wheels.  And the other one is a cute S'more character.  But all ya gotta know is.... if you think it... I can create it for you!!!! Customized greeting cards are my specialty!!  But they will cost ya more than a boring old grocery store card!!!

 

Vegetarian - Indian phrase meaning bad hunter.

 

Brighten Someone's Day!