Tag Archives: difficult

Aug13

Ways To Help Out A Loved One In Need

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Ways To Help Out A Loved One In Need

Hello!! This past week has been an awful, stressful time for yours truly. And, let’s be honest, these past couple of years have been an awful, stressful time for everyone. COVID, losing your job, and inflation are enough to make anyone go crazy! In times like these, we all could use a helping hand and these are some of the things that I have been implementing in my own family over the past week and change:

Cook A Meal:

When a crisis arises, one of the last things that people think about is having a home cooked meal. There’s nothing wrong with takeout or fast food but nothing hits quite as much as a meal made with love! Someone struggling could really use a good meal so why not bring one over? You could provide all of the fixings for a spaghetti dinner, tacos, or any of their favorite dishes. A meal that has plenty of leftovers is also one that will be much appreciated.

Clean Up:

Another thing that falls by the wayside during difficult times is housework. We all know that a cluttered and unclean environment can make things even more stressful and it is so easy for all of the household chores to start piling up. You don’t have to give a Merry Maids level clean but doing the dishes, taking out the trash, or the dreaded cleaning of the bathrooms will give the person you’re helping one less thing to think about.

Pet Care:

Pets definitely know when something is up because it effects them too. Something as simple as taking the dog for a long walk, playing with the cats, or cleaning cages can be a huge help. You can also keep an eye on their supply of food and replenish it as needed so they will never go without.

Spend Some Time:

Someone going through a lot will surely benefit from just having you as company. You could lend your ear, be a shoulder to cry on, or simply be around and not talk at all. Things like watching a funny show, doing a puzzle, or playing a game can provide some much needed relief when their focus is shifted to something else for a bit.

From big gestures to small, all of it will be so very appreciated. Please keep my family in your thoughts. ❤

How do you provide a helping hand? What helps you to feel better? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

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Jun23

Paint By Numbers Misfortune

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Paint By Numbers Misfortune

Hello! My best friend, Lea, gifted me with everything that I needed for my own personal wine and paint night for my birthday. She got me a paint by numbers kit, which I have heard of before but never tried and was eager to give it a shot. This past weekend, I decided that I would get started on my project before a friend showed up for a game night. Unfortunately, it was way harder than I could have ever imagined:

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After unboxing the paint by numbers kit, I was surprised by how difficult it looked but was hopeful that I would be able to complete it. The kit included the canvas, three paint brushes of various sizes, numbered paints, and supplies for hanging it up. With everything that I needed provided, I was still under the impression that once I got the hang of it, it would be easy. That was, however, far from the case.

I had a few hours to kill and I thought that I would start with the biggest task on the canvas first, painting the background and small details white. I began working on one of the vases and even with the smallest paint brush available, I was getting paint in the wrong places and covering up numbers I would need later left and right. After the epic failure of attempting one color on a vase, I started painting the background because that should be easy, right?

WRONG!!!!

The biggest paint brush that the kit had was hardly making a dent in the vast spaces on the canvas that needed covered up. Not to mention that you had to perfectly outline the vases and flowers with the white paint too. I switched back and forth between the biggest and smallest brush to accomplish this and was constantly covering up other spaces that needed painted. You seriously almost needed a toothpick small brush to get into all of the tiny nooks and crannies and the smallest brush was way too big for the task.

Of course, I am so thankful to Lea for her super thoughtful gift but I can’t say that this project is one that I plan on finishing. After my first effort, I essentially shot myself in the foot since so many areas got painted over. I am sure that other easier paint by numbers kits are a lot of fun and would happily try one of them. I just don’t have the surgeon steady hands to successfully complete this canvas!

Have you tried a paint by numbers kit before? What did you think of it? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

May14

“Bouncing Back” After A Personal Difficulty

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“Bouncing Back” After A Personal Difficulty

Suffering any setback in life can result in an influx of negative emotion. While it’s easy to say that you need a positive mindset in which to cope with these issues, it’s never that straightforward in practice. Regardless of what’s happened in life, be it a personal tragedy or a string of bad luck, there appear to be a few constants that can help us keep on:

Resilience (A Skill You Can Improve On):

Throughout personal difficulties, it can feel far easier for you to bury your head in the sand. People will tell you that you need to keep going on, as life does inevitably go on. The one thing we can learn through these difficult aspects in life is some form of coping strategy. But, when resilience is brought up, it can feel like it’s a thing that either we have or we don’t. And, depending on our reaction to the problem, it can highlight what level our resilience is really at. But resilience is one of those great skills in life that we can fine tune. The way we do it is by going through difficult circumstances and, gradually, as our comfort zone increases, we develop tolerance to these situations.

Self-Care Is Important:

When we suffer a setback, a personal problem, or we’re going through a really horrible time, we can neglect self-care. But, in even the most basic of ways, self-care can do wonders for ourselves. Fueling ourselves with the right foods and staying away from toxic friendships are two things that help to nurture our body and our mind. You know what is good for you because you will either feel good or you will feel bad. But what we struggle with these days is actually tuning into this and using the knowledge to help turn the situation around.

…So Is Getting Help When Necessary:

Help is one of those things that we can either feel too proud to ask for or we think it’s a sign that we are weak. Getting help comes in many different forms. Sometimes it’s professional ones, which makes life easier after a common problem like a house fire, where services like SERVPRO help with the cleanup of a property. Help is something that can make life easier. If you’ve done all of the hard work and you need a bit of help getting back on your feet, either through professional help or by just leaning on someone a little bit more than usual, why shouldn’t you?

Regardless of the difficulty, there’s an abundance of services to help people in their hour of need. And when it becomes too much, it’s these people that we will turn to. You only have to look at organizations like The Samaritans to see that there are people out there that can’t turn to their loved ones for help, but need an impartial listener, either to vent or for someone to actually help before things get out of hand.

Tragedy Can Bring Joy:

What’s interesting to note during tragic circumstances, especially when it comes to the death of a family member, is that there is a diverse range of emotions on display. Sometimes you see the grieving partner that’s completely catatonic, but you’ll also see the other side, where there’s so much humor on display, that from an outsider looking in, it can be very perplexing! Gallows humor is one of those interesting things because it’s a wonderful coping mechanism for those people who have had pent up emotions relating to negativity for so long. When you see family members get together for a funeral, and they haven’t seen each other for a long time, it can almost seem like a reunion. And the difficult circumstances we go through in life have little glimmers of joy that we may feel on occasion are the things that will carry us through the tough times.

You always hear about someone who listened to an album ad nauseam because it helps them. And in terms of therapy, laughter is one of the greatest. And this is underselling it somewhat. Laughter is a fantastic reliever of stress. But when you get a bunch of people together in the same room that is going through a terrible time, it’s amazing how much joy and laughter can come out. And, it doesn’t detract from the situation but, rather, it adds to the emotions experienced. So turn on your favorite comedy or chat with your funniest friend and enjoy the laughter.

Difficult situations in life make us realize who we really are and what is really important. While it’s never a good thing to endure at the time, through the darkness, light can come through.

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Jan5

Cleaning Out My Clothing Hoard

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Cleaning Out My Clothing Hoard

Hey!! One thing that I have a really difficult time doing is letting go of clothing. I have a dresser and closet filled with gorgeous clothes that are certainly pretty to look at, but some of them really just don’t belong anymore. Whether that be from the clothes not fitting the best or I haven’t worn it in years, I never know when I might need it! 😉 Hence, a massive clothing hoard that needed to be tamed.

On the day after Christmas, I spent my time going through my closet and dresser and selecting clothes to sell to Plato’s Closet. It was hard!! There were pieces that I had in mind to add to my Plato’s bag, but when the time came to remove it from the hanger and fold it, it was like my feet became super glued to the floor. I knew that I needed to purge my closet but, damnit, I really didn’t want to!

Despite massive cold feet about my closet clean out, I managed to fill a whole bag to bring to Plato’s Closet. How, you might ask? First, the clothes that didn’t fit well were an automatic toss into the bag. Then, I took a deep breath, really tried to measure how many times I’ve worn the piece in the past year, and made my decision based on that.

The first few times that I had to make a decision to keep or toss was so difficult because, of course, you want to keep everything! But, then you think about why the clothing is taking up space in your closet if you’re not using it and it just makes sense to rid yourself of it. It really seemed like a “now or never” type of situation and even though I had a hard time, I was committed to completing my project in the now.

I took my clothes to Plato’s Closet and got twenty-five bucks for the clothes that they wanted the day after Christmas. It was great, because no one was there so I was in and out in no time! Everyone, me included, thinks that their clothes are worth way more but hey, it’s better than nothing!

I wasn’t too disappointed that everything wasn’t taken from my bag, but there are two things that I wanted to throw out to the blogging world to see if anyone wanted to make an offer on them. They just seem too nice and cute for someone not to want to score a great deal!!

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Both the Express blazer and American Eagle Outfitters peacoat are an Extra Small. The blazer was originally $108 with the tags still on it and the AEO peacoat was close to one hundred, as well. The Express blazer has a bit of discoloration on the collar from my hair dye, but can’t be seen when it’s worn. Both are super cute and in great condition, so if you want to make an offer, it’s all yours! 🙂

What are your tips on cleaning out a clothing hoard? How do you choose which items to keep or toss? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Sep1

DIY Lies That You Should Never Listen To

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DIY Lies That You Should Never Listen To

DIY work is something that everyone has tried at some point in their lives. Perhaps you have tried to put together a fence in the garden or maybe attempted to repair something in the kitchen. Some are successful…. some aren’t. DIY success depends on a number of different factors, but there is one major source of information that everyone attempts to follow when they’re presented with a broken appliance or issue: the internet.

The internet is full of useful facts, information, and tutorials that can teach us everything from how to dance to how we can use cardboard boxes as furniture. It goes without saying that the internet is a valuable learning resource, but there’s one problem that far too many people overlook; is the information even credible?

With so many articles and blogs on the internet, it can sometimes be hard trying to discern if something is true or false. In this article, we’ll be going through some of the most common lies that people tell you about DIY and why they’re false. This is to prevent you from making bad decisions when it comes to home repairs and also to alert you about the dangers of false information on the internet.

DIY Is Cheaper Than Calling A Contractor:

Perhaps the biggest flaw in this way of thinking is that DIY is the cheaper option. This assumes that you already have all of the tools and materials to do whatever repair or renovation that you want. And we all know that this can be expensive! Let’s assume that you want to repair a leaking pipe in your bathroom. Not only do you need to purchase the right tools for the job, but you also need to purchase the materials, such as piping, and it needs to be cut to size and shaped appropriately. Add in the additional cost of delivery and you’re going to be paying more than it would cost to hire someone to repair it for you. If you look at plumbing services, such as www.alltex-plumbing.com, you’ll find that it’s actually fairly cheap to hire a contractor. Compare this to the cost of learning something, purchasing the tools, and getting the materials and you’ll see how much cheaper it actually is.

DIY Is Easy to Learn:

DIY is never easy to learn. Among all of the articles that you might read and tutorial videos that you can watch, there’s going to be some information missing. Most of those people usually aren’t qualified teachers, which means that they aren’t exactly the best at explaining things. In addition, experience is what makes a good contractor and unless you have a large supply of broken appliances to fix, it’s difficult to get enough practice in. Small DIY projects can be fun and fulfilling, but larger repair projects should be left to the pros.

In short, DIY is not easy to learn and it’s not cheap, either. If you’re absolutely certain about learning DIY, then you can check websites, such as https://www.familyhandyman.com/skills, to get more information. Just be warned; you need to dedicate yourself to DIY if you really want to get something out of it. And all of the Pinterest projects will be waiting for you when you’re ready!

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