Coffee and Conversations #7 - Strengths

It seems this week is going to be a BIG one. With CnC's going on, I am also co-hosting a link-up tomorrow and I am participating in the Bigs and Littles Blogging Network too! Sometime this week I need to do a weekend recap (because it was a big weekend) AND I still need to download the photos from Florida. We have been home for a month! YIKES! Hopefully I can throw in a craft or two.....sounds like a lot. I'll try my best! Also I want to give a shout out to my new followers there on the left and to those on Bloglovin'! Thanks for joining me! I hope you like what you read. Onto the convo.....

This weeks question: What do you consider your two greatest strengths? What about the areas you would like to improve?

source

Whooooooeeee. This is a good question. What are my strengths? This is always a hard question for me because I tend to build myself down....not up.....there's an area of improvement right off the bat. I guess I would say that I love deeply and with conviction. If you are in my life it's for a reason and I hold onto that connection very strongly. I tend to go above and beyond for those people and truly try to make them feel like a special part of my life. When someone chooses to leave my life for whatever reason it's very hard for me to let go because that person found their way into my heart and there will always be a place for them there, regardless of the situation that caused them to leave. If someone asks for my help, I am always willing to jump in and do so. I love to listen and even if I don't have a solution I feel like I can be a good sounding board for all my family and friends. I am a redhead, and they say that we are passionate people, and I think that's true. I am passionate about my relationships, my hobbies, and anything else that is deemed worthy in my heart.

An area I can improve upon is: I don't let go of things easy, I like to hold onto them and think about how if the situation had been different how my life would look now....but honestly this is an area I need to work on. Letting go of things that aren't in my control. I am a controlling person, and like things to be done a certain way, but I need to know that if I cannot control it, then I should just let it be. This one has been something I have been working on a lot recently, within the last year. Letting go of situations a can't control, feelings that have harbored over the years, anything that causes undo stress in my life I have tried to just let it be. I have made great strides in this, but I think it will always be an area in my life that I will need to work on. However since the hubby and I decided to do this, our relationship and our all-over well being has improved dramatically! I can be thankful of that! We both understand what's worth fighting for and what isn't. Our relationship is, other things are not.

Another strength I have is that I tend to be extremely organized, in my own way. Again this stems from me being controlling and wanting things done a certain way....however I do have a mild case of O.C.D. and I know where everything is at any given time. I do have to say that my filing system does tend to get a little lazy, but when it comes to re-organizing the hubby and I tend to get it done rather quickly and usually everything has a place. I also HATE clutter, so we like to go through our things and get rid of clothes, or other items that we haven't used in the past year to eighteen months and donate it to charity. You look around my desk at the office and it (for the most part) tends to be the cleanest and easiest area to find paperwork in.....I also tend to stack finishes and fabrics in a very neat way and have files and folders for EVERYTHING! Thus why I can find it all, and if I am ever out at a job site I can explain to someone calling me very easy! I wish I could be more organized at home, but with little storage in an apartment I deal with what I have, and let go of what I cannot control! See! I am trying!!!!

Those are some things that are my strengths and weaknesses. I'm sure there are probably better ones, but I couldn't think of any but these! I hope you enjoyed reading and that you head on over and link up your own discussion! The hosts of this great link up are Kalyn at Love Laughter Happily Ever After and Lauren at Simply Free. Go check out their great sites too!

Julep Nail Polish - Monthly Beauty Box

I'm not a beauty guru, nor do I play one on tv. However a TON of bloggers have been going CRAZY over this monthly nail polish/beauty box subscription called Julep. I signed up to see what my profile was, you take the quiz to find out your beauty style....I'm an "It Girl." I perused their site and decided that I had enough nail-polish and really didn't need anymore. (By the way....I'm obsessed with painting my toenails!) That being said, I was ok with not signing up until I got an email from them this morning with an offer for a $25 Sea Salt mystery box. Guaranteed to have $70-$200 worth of product in it with a chance of a $1000 Visa gift card. That peaked my interest for SURE! What else drew me to it was the colors. Very pretty nude colors, with a hint of glitter. I don't have ANY nudes and you are guaranteed to get one of the pictured colors in your box. Praying for the dark nude or the black!) Add in the fact that Samantha from Designer in Teal told me about the free first box code: (FREEBOX) I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get over $100 in products for $25, plus shipping of course!

Sea Salt Mystery Box

'It Girl' Starter Box

EEK! I'm so excited to receive this box and hopefully gonna get some great new products and nail colors to try on my tootsies! Hop on over to Julep and give it a try! I'll be sure to let you know when I get my box! YEAH!

Crochet Pillow Cover

A couple of weeks back I posted about this ADORABLE crochet pillow cover that I wanted to do. I have a ton of leftover yarn from Christmas projects and I am in a "lets recover every pillow we own in our entire home" kind of mood lately. The husband gives me a side eye whenever I utter the words, pillow or re-cover. Hey. At the end of the day I'm saving us money by not going out and shopping! Right?! Right. So anyways I saw this adorable pillow and I knew instantly that I could re-create it. So here she is!

I am so excited to add this baby to our collection of teal pillows on our bed. Head on over to check out the other pillows I re-covered already! Also I am linking up for Saw It, Pinned It, Did It with Beautiful Mess and Keep Calm and Carry On.

Lovin' on my Smoothies!

The hubby and I both have major sweet tooth's. Sometimes it's hard to tell whose worse, but we both like to end our day with a little something special. This usually can include any of the following: cookies, cupcakes, brownies, bagged candy, ice cream, chocolate.....I think you get the picture. But in looking towards the future we both know that we should try and cut out the refined sugar and go for the healthier option. Enter, the smoothie. A great way to get your daily intake of fruit/veggies if your don't get them during the day. We have tried the Oatmeal Smoothies but have found that these really are better for breakfast as the tend to fill you up, and I don't know about you, but I hate trying to fall asleep with a full belly. So I took my handy blender and some frozen and fresh fruits and went to town. The hubby loved it and it was a great sweet ending to our evening. Maybe even diabetic friendly?

What You'll Need:
(2) Cups frozen mixed berries
(1) Apple (Cored and diced)
(1) Banana (Peeled and diced)
A Dash of Light Cranberry Juice (Or whatever liquid you prefer)

Directions:
1. Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. If your smoothie is a little thick, continue to add small amounts of juice until you get your desired thickness.
2. Pour into cups, add a bendy straw (cause they make everything more fun) and enjoy!

Simple, and also healthy dessert. I have tried this with peaches, pears and oranges as well. Next on my list.....veggies. Eek! I'm a little scared! Let me know if you have tried and interesting smoothies lately.

DIY - Easy Burp Cloths

Hi all. Ok so I know I was going to share a post on the diaper/wipes case last week, however I had some issues with my instructions and now have to go back over them to make sure that they are understandable. So with that being said. Hello Monday.......just another manic Monday oooooh oooo ohhhh. I wish it was Sundaaaaay.....*smack* Sorry! Sometimes I just randomly break into song. Seriously, just ask my husband. Anyways, I don't have a Coffee and Conversations post today, but if you are interested in still reading about others, head on over to Simply Free or Love, Laughter, Happily Ever After to check out some awesome bloggers. So in order to not disappoint you completely today, I do have a craft tutorial!!! Yay. Its another quick and simple baby shower gift, enter the Burp Cloth.

Seriously. These can't get any easier. You only sew around the 4 edges! I know you have probably seen a tutorial similar to this, like over here. Seriously, there are hundreds on Pinterest.

What You'll Need:
1 piece 8.5 x 15.5 cotton fabric
1 piece 8.5 x 15.5 flannel fabric

Directions:
1. Cut out your fabric pieces and press. Place your fabric pieces together, right sides facing in.
2. Sew around the sides using a 1/4 inch seam, leaving a 3" opening on one end for turning. Turn your fabric right side out. Push out the corners with your finger, pencil, or any other skinny object. Iron flat.
3. Turn under the opening about 1/4 inch and iron flat. Top stitch around all four sides.
4. Run two seams horizontally through the burp cloths, about 4" from each short end. *Optional*

And Done!

If your ever stuck in a bind and need to throw a couple of additional things in a gift, this is great. Quick, simple and it gets you to use your scraps! You could also do some simple nursing pads also! This tutorial was adapted from Amy Palanjian. Head on over to her cute blog to see other great craft things!

Button Swap?!

I will hopefully have a craft post up later today. Still needing to go through photo's from Florida, pick the best ones and get those up. So until then.....I was thinking about doing a monthly button swap? If anyone is interested please email me at: 2dkimball@gmail.com

<a href="http://2dkimballroad.blogspot.com/"><img border="1px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglgD0S94v8yUBUM6bSG7aYLu6T2nR-DOxRAnAwqyImLbIq3cxg0-cnBU5vQ8I1AGQyIu-NKUv71xAZrgO2LZomwV8Z0Bom1P5_n0QjgOEEIBGq2aMUYrawVf1mSEt8WZJwB3ZH7Hr75Pmj/s1600/Blog+Button.jpg"/></a>

Also I am over at Bloglovin' if you want to go and follow me there!

CnC #5 - Emotions on Edge

Here we are linking up again for Coffee and Conversations like we do every Monday with Lauren at Simply Free and Kalyn at Love, Laughter, Happily Ever After. This weeks question: What are you currently struggling or grappling with in your life?


I haven't really shared my thoughts on this very often in the blog world or with anyone other than my hubby and my parents. Currently I am struggling with coping, coping with feelings of inadequacy. Almost three years ago the hubby and I decided it was time to start a family. I went off birth control, and we said "when it happens it happens." I wasn't ready at the time to have children, but figured we would just let nature take its course. I had a lot of stress on my plate with dealing with the death of my father and many other things that happened in 2011 and 2012. In September of 2012 when I had to deal with my ectopic pregnancy I at least felt relieved that we were at least successful in meeting sperm to egg. I mean 2 years of strange cycles, stress and everything else can make you think that something is wrong with you. So even though we had to deal with the loss, we both felt good that we could at least get there, even with the risks of another one eventually happening.

However here we are, April. 4 months after the go ahead from the doctor to start again and here I am, baby-less. I have cried a lot this month. Those feelings of inadequacy are running really high. I had huge hopes that March would be our month but our last day in Florida I lost my hope. It just sucks. I know so many people that are welcoming their babies into the world over the last month, and all the while I am so happy for them but can't help but wish for my turn. I know I cannot compare myself to others because I don't know what struggles they have gone through for their family, but I see pregnant people everywhere! There's always that joke that there's something in the water, but I know that its not an epidemic, that its on my mind and I am noticing it more. But going to baby showers and feigning excitement is getting really hard. Making tiny gifts and looking at registries just makes me want it more.

I have told the hubby that all I want for my 30th birthday is to be growing a child, but as that date creeps closer and closer (June) it gets harder to imagine success. I know I still have time. I broke down, used some Amazon credits and bought an OPK's to try out. Maybe my little phone app is just off to when I actually ovulate and even though I'm temping, it still is really hard to get an accurate time because I can't really trust the damn thermometer. So were gonna try this for a couple of months and see how it goes. Frankly, almost everyone that I personally know has conceived using them, so I don't know why I waited so long to buy them. I am trying to keep all my thoughts to the positive side, still hopeful that things will come the all natural way. Send me baby dust! I could really use it!

So here in lies the truth behind my crafty craze lately! I need to keep my mind, hands, and everything else busy! At least you all get to enjoy the fruits of that! Coming up this week.....baby diaper and wipes case, and hoping to have completed the cute crochet pillow that I talked about here. I also went shopping for fabrics for the hubbies quilt! Stay tuned for an update on that!

Preview of pillow top.