staying bubbly.

One of the best compliments I have gotten came from a previous boss of mine.  She came to my desk as I was laughing with a coworker about something-or-other (as I can often be found doing.)  The coworker and I finished our conversation and she left, leaving my boss at my desk.  She looked at me, smiled, and said "I love that you are so bubbly!"

It's not necessarily what one might consider a compliment.  To most, it is probably more of a personality descriptor - a passing thought on how you see someone else.  But to me, it was definitely a compliment.  It made me happy that someone else got joy from me being, well...me.

Staying bubbly is not always easy.  And it's not always natural to me either.  I tend to be quiet in new situations.  I like to get my feet wet before I really start to be myself.  And then there are those days where my emotions (and the rollercoaster they like to ride) don't allow for a bubbly personality.  Instead I come off as quiet and maybe even a bit angry.

This winter, I have noticed there have been many more days than usual where I have felt less-than-bubbly.  The grey skies, extremely busy days and nights and a lot of alone time (due to a work-strapped Mr. B) have made it easy to get into the habit of just getting through the day without a trace of a happy disposition.  And that stinks.

So I try to remind myself - the sun will come out (one of these days!!), it will warm up and life will slow down a bit.  And then the bubbly me will be easier to find.

Speaking of bubbly, I think i'm going to go and blow some bubbles for my puppy to chase.  He loves to run back and forth after them as they float through the breeze.  I'll find some joy, take some pictures to remember the fun and remind myself that being bubbly is pretty darn awesome.

house love.

Mr. B and I decided that a wedding wasn't enough excitement for 2013, so we went ahead and bought a house too.  And then a dog.  Yep, we're totally crazy.  And looking back, I don't know exactly how we made it work.  But with a TON of help from family and friends, we moved into our first family home on December 27th and added Fitzgerald Bosley (Fitz) to our family shortly after. 

Here's a picture of the little man:

Fitz is a handful, but we love him!  He's only 4 months old, so we've still got training and manners to work on.  But he's such a happy guy, you can't help but love him even when he's licking your face at 5 in the morning or barking because he really wants you to know he likes carrots as much as you do.

And can I tell you....

Having a house has made my DIY/Design/Tearing-things-apart-because-I-think-I-can-make-them-better desires about 1,000,000 times stronger!  From the moment I walked in the house with the keys, my brain is constantly spinning with ideas for new decorations or ways to make the house work better for us.  Needless to say, Mr. B has had to put up with lots of "What about this...." and "I think I can make this...." emails and texts!  (He's a great husband for letting me go wild and express my creativity through our home!)

I just finished working on some little curtains to cover the bottom 1/2 of our bookcases in the living room.  I wanted some of the shelves to be covered (for my own sanity) and to hide things like games and cords.  However, when I went to IKEA to get doors for them, they turned out to be $80....a little too steep for a set of black doors!  So instead, I bought some fabric with a cute pattern, 4 tension rods, and set to work on making curtains to cover up the mess.  I have to say, I'm pretty happy with how they turned out!  It was less than half the cost of a new set of doors, and if I get tired of the fabric down the road, I can change it out however I want.  I'll share a tutorial on how I made them later this week.