I have been dying to tell you

Hello Everyone!

 How was your weekend?  And the start of your week is going well I hope.

There is something I have been dying to tell you!  I have been wracking my brain on the best way to share this with you. I wanted to smoothly transition into this. Reveal the news to you in a stylish sleek and even organized way. However much like when I was an awkward teen, I never seemed to grow out of that awkward stage. Stylish and sleek are not words I would readily use to describe who I am.  Even to use the word organized is pushing it quite a bit. I do not flow with grace nor do I tend do things in a graceful manner. I have lost count of the number of times I have looked back on how something went down and thought that could have been more graceful. So I am going to just forge ahead and spill the beans already!!

Remember about those changes that are going to be taking place??  Well here is the reason for those changes.

DH and I are expecting our first child! As soon to be first time parents we are concerned about well everything. Getting things done on time. Being good parents. Making sure everyone is good and healthy. We are by the way. Just came from the doctors and all is looking good.

 In fact here is the little one's first picture. Everything is right on track with a due date of May 26th 2013!  This news has thrown us for a bit of a loop. But its exciting and well received news. We were surprised because with everything that has gone on in the last few months, getting pregnant did seem high on the list. None the less we are thrilled!!!

This bit of news has had me doing a lot of thinking.  Of how, of course, our lives will never be the same, but of all the little things that will change.  I got to thinking that one of the first places it seems fitting to start some of these changes is right here on this "baby" blog project of mine. Writing helps focus my thoughts and calm me down when things feel like they are getting out of control. Plus I love the sense of community that is felt in the blogging universe.

One of the biggest changes in store for this blog is a name change. I have been thinking that Crazy, Crafty and Caffeinated just does not fit anymore. Oh sure I am still crazy, though more tired, and I am always looking for crafty and DIY opportunities, the caffeinated part has had to come to a bit of a halt though. Now my priorities are changing and I want to share this special time in our life from beginning to end. To get it documented to have forever. I want to tweak things to reflect that. Don't worry I still plan to speak quite a bit about DIY projects and Knitting! That's what got me started into blogging to begin with and I can not just abandon that. Besides even with baby coming I am not changing my thrifty ways, in fact they are probably going to increase!! Right now the new name of the blog  is still a secret but I have hopes of making that reveal later this week, by next week for sure(the websites that I use to help makes these kinds of changes are being finicky right now so that has delayed me a bit).

There I have told you! I feel better now!  I am so excited for what is to come, I hope you are too!  Now I am off to take a little nap and plot out what I have in store next.  Have a great evening everyone!

Till Next Time,

Amanda

Time to start making Lemonade...

Hello Everyone...

My my it has been quite a while hasn't it?? You may recall I wrote about some difficulties that have come up in my life in this post Heart Broken.  These past few months have been about just getting by.  Frankly everything just kicked me in the butt big time. It knocked the wind out of my sails and thus out of a lot of the routines that I did and things I enjoyed. However, now it is time to start rising above it all. There is still life to live no matter how many lemons it throws at you.

Its time to start making Lemonade...

I have been meaning to sit down and write to you all for a long while now, but every time I would sit down to write, my mind goes blank. I know I have things I want to talk about, things I am dying to share with you, yet the words don't seem to come out. I am thinking an overhaul is needed. You know clean air, clear out mental clutter so I can get to the good stuff.

I was perusing my Google Reader account last night and I realized just how long I have dangling off the edge of the planet. There are tons of blog posts I need to catch up on from all my favorite blogs. I used to have a daily ritual of coffee and reading the latest blog posts, my version of the morning paper. I got out of that habit and thus an account full of unread posts. 

Along with reading to catch up on there are projects to be telling you about. Things I have finished. Things I am working on, and planning for the future(because nothing helps clear mental clutter than a little future planning). There is so much to share with you!!! Including a few changes that will be taking place very soon!

Here is to making LEMONADE and re-instituting routine!

Have a great weekend all you Crafters and Homemakers. Thanks for stopping by and hanging in there with me, when my world was silent.

Till Next Time,

Amanda

Bad Decision

Hello Everyone,

I made a bad decision in my coffee choice last week.  I wanted a change. I thought a little change would be a good thing. I WASN'T really feeling like coffee. Which should have been my first clue.

My first clue, that All was not well. Me. Not. Want. Coffee? That is the definition of insanity right there. What I should have done was bought my usual coffee as I always do when I went shopping. Since I was in a mental fog, with not even wanting coffee, that is what I should have done.

However that is not what I did. Instead I bought Tea. Yup Tea. At that moment the idea of Tea and scones sounded so lovely and relaxing that I caved. Now I have nothing against Tea. I really don't. I just don't usually drink it. If I do its Iced Tea.

Then next day when I came out of my tea induced coma, I realized I still had no coffee and despite how good that cup of tea was in the morning, it just wasn't my cup of tea.  So I dashed to the store again, to get coffee. You would think that this would have righted everything in the world, but it didn't. Because I was still suffering from insanity. I still did not buy my usual brand of coffee(which is Starbucks by the way.) I stood in that coffee isle thinking "Maybe one of these others brands have a nice flavor. I should try it out so I am not stuck in a rut."  So I bought this guy...

This stuff is painful to drink. I even hate the smell of it as I grind the beans to be brewed. It doesn't get any better while its brewing either. And the taste. Ack! This stuff is only a step up from Dollar Store Brand Coffee, which tastes like someone took tree bark shavings and passed it off as coffee to the public.

This all started because I was afraid of being in a rut. Because I wanted change.  What I failed to consider is that the relationship between coffee and I has been going on now for almost 15 years. That's 15 years of already trying things out. Testing different brews. Going cheap because you have no money(hence the dollar store coffee). Which means that by now I know what I like.  Which means if I want to change it up now and again well fine, but maybe that change should happen with a new nail polish color instead.

So please everyone, if you hear me going off on spiel about needing to change or wanting to change my coffee habits. Stop me. Slap me. Remind me that I have been here before. That I don't need to go thru the pain again. Buy me a new nail polish color. What ever you do, keep me away from the coffee isle.

Till Next Time,

Heart Broken

Hello Everyone...

I have not been feeling crazy(not the good kind anyway), nor have I been crafty, and the caffeine is one of the only things that has been keeping me functioning. I have been hibernating. Literally just going thru day to day activities on auto mode. This month has dealt me some pretty hard blows. You know what they say when it rains it pours. Some blows were personal, some concerning family, others work and frankly it was just to much for this heart and mind to handle.  So thus the hibernation. My world stopped for about a minute and then spiraled out of my control.

I don't think I can explain it any better than The Yarn Harlot did...

-my heart got broken.

It doesn't matter what happened. Hearts get broken all the time. Marriages crumble, people die, there are bad accidents, reversals of fortune, intentional hurts, crushing disappointments, or surprises that one can't bear. Every person is different, and to describe to you what broke my heart would only draw a divide between us. As humans we can't help it, can we? You hear about something that's a heartbreak to another human, and because you are strong where they are weak, you can't understand how it would hurt them. You can often see it in the face of someone as you try to explain your heartbreak. As you tell someone about something that has knocked you down, kicked you in the stomach, kept you awake and sobbing for ten nights, and then took your lunch money, you see that as sympathetic as they are to you, as much as they love you, they're sort of thinking "That's it?That's what all of this is about?" We're all different, and all you need to know is that something broke my heart, and I was beyond sad-  Stephanie Pearl-McPhee  All Wound Up: The Yarn Harlot writes for a spin 2011

That was a paragraph or two from Stephanie's 3rd book. I just love how she writes and I have been re-reading this book as it brings me comfort. I write to you about this difficult phase I am in, about this heart break, not to focus on the cause of it. For that does not matter. It will only cause me to keep hurting. No, I mention it to help the healing process. To move on. To work and focus on the ways this will all change my life and my outlook.  Hopefully all for the better.

Till Next Time,