Weekend Getaway

This is the view from the cabin at Bear Lake where I will be staying all weekend. I'm excited for a weekend of relaxing (not much sleep though), snowshoeing, snowmobiling, food, hot tub, and lots of fun people!!!

If Only...

I had a closet like this!!! Stay tuned next week for some really great closets. Oh I could fill my dreams with these great closets.

Thoughts and Character

I have been thinking about this quote:

Your thoughts become your actions,
Your actions become habits and
Your habits determine your character.

It goes along with my whole SIMPLFYING things and life. I stumbled upon this really good post by a guy named Jim McKeeth’s blog. It's kind of lengthy but I thought he has a really good insight. It goes along with the idea that our thoughts can become our character. We don't become the things we don't think about. I know there are a few areas I need to work on so that I can become the better person I want to be!

"Sometimes it may feel like we are bombarded with random thoughts – they just keep coming with no end in mind. How can you possibly control them?

Think of yourself as a casting director for a play. You do not get to choose who shows up for auditions – the talent agency does that – but you do choose who ends up in the play. There will be many people whom you respond “Next” or “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.” Some of those who are auditioning may require some additional persuasion to leave the stage (imagine a big long cane that pulls them off the stage), but in the end the decision is yours who will stay and who will go.
When you do get a good audition, you will no doubt keep them on the stage and have them work with more material. Then you will be sure you have a great record of their contact information so that you can call them back to be in the production.

Now it may seem that it would be important to allow anyone audition who is interested, but that would not be the case. Sure, you are the one who makes the final decision, but the more time spent entertaining unsuitable auditions, the less time you have for the good ones.

Plus, remember the most important key: You may not cast everyone who auditions, but you will only cast someone who does audition.

So if all your audition time is taken up with undesirable auditions, then you will be stuck with an undesirable cast. If you never make time for a desirable audition then you will never have the opportunity to cast them.

Another thing will happen if a casting director is very strict with who they let audition, they will get a reputation for what they want. Eventually the talent agencies will know what the director is looking for, and they won’t send anyone if they don’t have it. Sure, you may have some that think they have it when they don’t, but the number of inappropriate ones will decrease.

So what does this have to do with those of us who are not involved in theater? Everything!

Our subconscious is constantly sending thoughts to audition on the stage of our mind. It gathers these thoughts and ideas from many sources, some are our original creations, but most are a rearrangement or combination of external stimuli both past and present.

As we (our conscious mind) are more strict and disciplined with our thoughts – by getting rid of ones that do not suit us and celebrating the ones that do – we create more space for thoughts that will serve us. In addition we also train our subconscious to send us more thoughts that do serve us. While our subconscious and external stimuli seem random and chaotic, we can recreate our perception of them however we choose to.

Seem far-fetched? It is actually quite easy. Have you ever noticed that if you are thinking about buying a new car of a certain model that all of a sudden you see cars of that model everywhere? Did the mix of cars change simply by your desire to buy a car of that model? Of course not.

What changed was you consciously conditioned your subconscious mind to pass along every time it saw a car of that model. Your subconscious mind is always noticing everything, it is incredibly powerful.

When you see the model of car you want, you give it a label. Let’s say you want to buy a Honda Odyssey minivan. Before your mind simply labeled all the Odyssey’s it noticed as minivans, and rarely bothered to notify your conscious mind when one was spotted. Now that you let your subconscious mind know what to label this specific type of minivan as, it is able to group them differently. So occasionally your subconscious points out an Odyssey to you. You get excited, since that is the kind of car you are looking for. This excitement lets your subconscious know it did good, so soon it starts pointing out more and more of them. Eventually it is pointing out every single Odyssey it notices. You had no idea they were such a common car. You subconscious loves to recognize and categorize things, you just need to let it know what you are looking for.

Why is it so important that we choose our thoughts? As I mentioned before, not all thoughts necessarily become actions, but all our actions were first thoughts. So if all our thoughts are self-defeating, then our actions will also be self-defeating. As we train out subconscious to provide us with more thoughts that serve us then we will have a better selection to choose from.

What can we train our subconscious to recognize? How about opportunities? What if we trained our mind to take everything as encouragement or a compliment? I know I have known people who did exactly the opposite – look at Eeyore!

People generally find what they are looking for. The problem is most people don’t bother to tell their subconscious what they are looking for. Get clear on what you want and focus on that. If something comes along that you don’t want, then tell it “Next”. Make space for what you want, and when you find it celebrate!

This is one of those universal laws that applies everywhere. For example (again generally speaking) you don’t marry everyone you date, but you date everyone you marry first. So if you are only dating losers then you will marry a loser, but if you set high standards for who you will date, then you will end up marrying someone who matches those standards.
Likewise you don’t speak every thought you have, but you don’t say something that was not a thought first.

As you train your subconscious mind to find and provide what you are looking for, you will find it more often and in more places. You will continue to refine your ability to recognize and you will get closer to your goal until it is the only thing that is achievable.

Get clear on what you want and accept no substitutes!"

Bright and Fun and Different

I love blues and greens. The color schemes in my house are mostly blues and greens. Thats probably why I like this kitchen so much. I love the bright blacksplash and I think the idea of painting the inside of your cabinets a different color is a great way to make a color focal point without having a specific color on your cabinets.

For My Treasures

What a fun idea. I love being able to display my fun finds and this is a great way to keep it from looking to cluttered or taking up needed space elsewhere. What treasures would you display here?

I Need Green

"A vase of flowers or greens will bring even a dull hotel room to life in the most delightful way. The small amount of trouble or expense involved is honestly repaid in real decorative effect. If you find cut flowers too extravagant, stick to the greens."- Dorothy DraperHomey and comfortable

Brightens and adds texture and cheerAdds life and brings a peaceful feeling to a spaceOr just bring the outdoors in!Green has a way of adding color and life to any space.

These are cool!

Very zen feeling

Adds comfort and richness to all the colors

Welcoming and inviting

Inspirational and clean

Full of life

What a place to retreat to!

Making My Life Whole

I'm always grateful for my sweet dogs, their company, their licks and their endless enthusiasm and unconditional love.

Soft and Bold

I think this room is grand! From the black trim to the tree trunk table legs. From the triangle shaped chairs to the checkered grid ceiling. From the cherry blossom floral arrangements to the Tudor arched mirror. From the creamy white and pewter grey color scheme to the accent lighting. Well done.

Stripes Done Right

I think these walls look fabulous! I love the blues and greens, just the right amount of color and a great variety of stripe widths. What do you think?

Grey and Lovely

Nice neutrals, warm greys, great molding, lots of natural light, books, tall ceilings, sleek modern furniture. I love this space.

Stairway Craze

Here are some fun, unique stairs, enjoy!

Look at the intricate detail.

A little scare, don't miss a step!
I would slide down every time!

Lots and lots of dots

So slim and sleek but

Metal and modern

Cool lighting, sets the mood?

Love the glass

Calendar Thoughts

What a fun way to be organized!

Stairway Fun

Look at all these fun stair ideas. Stay tune tomorrow for some really funky stairways.I love this one!! Book fun

Lots and lots of color, a little dizzy making I must admit.
Bright and simple
Really unique and fun

Keeping Company

Texture Love

Pennies (texture project I did in college)

For my new follower you may not know that I am an interior designer and I also teach interior design at a small technology college. I love teaching, I love seeing my students develop their creativity and gain confidence in their talents and grow in their love/obsession of design.
When they are studying the elements and principles of design I have them do a creative project for each element or principle. Texture is one of the elements of design and their creative project is to take a 4" styrofoam ball and cover it in any material of their choice to create texture. The main requirement is that I don't want to be able to see any of the styrofoam. I thought I would show you some of the fun texture balls they have created.Buttons
Bark
Rolled in cinnamon with cloves
Toothpicks

Seashell pieces and colored sand

Terra cotta pieces and copper spray paint

Small lentils

Rocks

Seashells

Sparkly circles

Feathers

Roofing nails

Rocks