Joy Leanne

I'm not sure what it is, but every time I sit down to write I just can't quite bring myself to actually do it. Nothing seems to flow quit as easily as I would like. Maybe it's this nasty cold settling in my chest, maybe it's my weird sleeping schedule lately, or maybe I'm just to lazy to put in the real work of writing. It's easy to say "I write" or "I blog" but just saying those things doesn't make it so. Real writing happens when you are willing to put in the time, day in and day out. When you sit down and take pen to paper (or fingers to key board) even when your mind feels blank. And so today that's what I am doing. Simple writing, because not writing doesn't feel right. As you might remember I did a post sponsored by Tinyprints a while back. I finally ordered my products and got them in the mail this week! I wasn't sure I was going to keep the calendar notebook for myself so I put a favorite family saying on it rather th...

October: For the month of October I will be participating in two challenges. Onetober: One Dress, One Month, One Cause and The 31 Day Challenge. You can read more about these here and here. Day 11 Hello friends! Are you tired of seeing the same dress over and over again? I thought you might be. So, no outfit picture today. Honestly, I wonder if you might be a bit tired of hearing from me so much in general. I promise, next time I do 31 days I will make sure I have a much more interesting topic. For today though, I thought I would share some things that have been inspiring me lately. Our local Joann Store is moving and they are clearing out all the stock. I went a little crazy and bought a ton of fabric. Loving these combinations together. We went to Barnes and Noble's today and I fell in love with this issue of Artful Blogging. It was so beautiful and inspiring. I didn't buy it but I really want to go back and get it. Thinking of subscribing with whatever Christmas money I get...

1) The office is mostly done. Just need to move the futon in, take down the paint along the ceiling and put on some finishing touches. But all in all it is done and usable and I am loving it as is Maddie. It's currently her favorite room. As I type this she is walking runaway across the room singing what I think is supposed to be "Ta-da" but is coming out "tana". 2) The first full week of school went great. Bear cried when I picked her up on Monday because she wanted to stay like the rest of the kids. Thursday I let her stay and realized while it may be fine once a week we are not ready for full day all the time yet. She took a nap at nap time and Mrs. Roberts said she had a hard time waking her up. You could tell and she was crabby for me the rest of the day. Goose is going to my friends house two days a week. Leave it to me to find some one else to home school my kid. Angie enjoys having the set schedule, Maddie enjoys doing flash cards, and I enjoy having a f...

1) The drama of the past few weeks has not only ceased but look as though it is all resolved. The money is back in our account, the insurance check came int he mail, the new debit cards arrived, and the brick guy is on his way to fix my house as I type. 2) I started working on my office/studio space this week for real. I am so in love and can't wait to finish!! 3) I won a $100.00 Coach gift card from Coach themselves this week. Hoping it shows up in the mail before I head to Gatlinburg Tennessee and the Coach outlet!! 4)Abi has now completed bother her first and second day of school. First day she cried hysterically when I left. Today she threw a fit when I came to pick her up at half day because "She wanted to stay and rest like the other kids." We may be looking into full day. Thought it was a bit sad to see her take this first step, there is a large part of me that can't help feeling that it all felt so RIGHT!  Abi and I are both so very ready for this stage. She i...

1. It has been quite a week. The insurance adjuster came out. He approved the higher estimate. (YAY) and supposedly a check was mailed out Thursday. Friday we received a called that some one had stolen both our debit card number and pin number. If it's not one thing it's another. 2. I finally realized just how much stress all this has been causing me when I broke down while out with friends. Good news is I have amazing friends who love me and have been walking through this with us with so much grace.   3. The Goose Beary Shop is growing and changing and stretching. As is this Blog. Lots of growing pains as I work through where I want to go and branding myself. So much to think about.   4. I took the last of the wall paper off of the guest room walls and it is all ready for primer and paint. I am so excited we moving forward on this. :)   5. I really haven't been feeling like myself lately. So much stress and so much is going on and changing. I am trying to take time to sl...

  For Those of you who didn't know. I am a doll maker. I actually create all kinds of things, but dolls in various shapes and forms are my primary outlet. I sell my dolls at The Goose Beary Shop . After much thought I decided to go ahead and offer my doll patterns here on the blog. I have them for down load over here. I am currently not charging as I would love for my blog to be a place of encouragement and inspiration. However, if you feel so led you can donate by clicking the paypal button over side bar. I hope you all enjoy!! :)  

1) I shared last week that Josh needed 2.5 cars by Tuesday evening to meet his second bump, and that we needed to hit that to make next month work and pay down some debt. It's a very long story, but at God has provided for us in such a huge way. He is good and His mercies renew each morning.  2) We took the wallpaper down in the guest room and are on our way to making it an office space. I'm so excited. 3) Business is picking up quite a bit for my shop and I am starting to think if I do things right and pick the Scentsy we may be able to put off me going back to work a bit longer, and still afford health insurance. I have a show every month from now till October so I'm hoping that will help as well.   4) I'm already Christmas shopping. Is that crazy? Probably have at least 5 people done with.     5) Saturday I had the day off thanks to my in laws. I spend the morning working on some dollies and sewing for myself. I made a coffee cozy just for me! I spent th...

1) I shared last week that Josh needed 2.5 cars by Tuesday evening to meet his second bump, and that we needed to hit that to make next month work and pay down some debt. It's a very long story, but at God has provided for us in such a huge way. He is good and His mercies renew each morning.  2) We took the wallpaper down in the guest room and are on our way to making it an office space. I'm so excited. 3) Business is picking up quite a bit for my shop and I am starting to think if I do things right and pick the Scentsy we may be able to put off me going back to work a bit longer, and still afford health insurance. I have a show every month from now till October so I'm hoping that will help as well.   4) I'm already Christmas shopping. Is that crazy? Probably have at least 5 people done with.     5) Saturday I had the day off thanks to my in laws. I spend the morning working on some dollies and sewing for myself. I made a coffee cozy just for me! I spent the a...

This is one of those blog posts that has been rolling around in my head all day. It has taken on many forms and types of content. My original post was about the fun and relaxing things I did on Saturday. And then things went horrible wrong. I was tempted to go ahead with the happy go lucky post, but then I paused. I was having a conversation earlier this week with some friends about the pitfall of blogging or really having any online presence It is so easy to present just a slice of life. The part that we choose for others to see. Because of that it is so very easy to project a the idea that we have it all together. That everything in our life is perfect and we have it all together. I don't think most bloggers do this intentional I think it's a byproduct of choices we make. I personally chose to share the positive things in my life. I do this for two reasons. 1) No one wants to read a blog, follow some one on facebook, or subscribe to a twitter feed of a cranky person. 2) I hav...