By Jessica,on May 3rd,2012 
So sometimes I think to myself, “you should blog more.” Especially on days off like yesterday. I took the above picture on my way out for a stay-at-home latte (as apposed to the work-day latte) and thought, “picture for today’s blog post!” Once home, I loaded up the picture, put the laptop on the prescribed lap, and … um … well … aren’t I just the most boring-est person in the world. I had nothing to say!! My life is pretty … boring … and I love it that way! No real drama. I work a job … have all the usual job stresses and worries … ups and downs. Maybe more downs than ups some days … but nothing to write home about. Nope, nothing blog-worthy there. I’ve written about my struggles with anxiety and bouts of depression. But on days where the world isn’t crumbling down around my ears … whelp,nothing doing there. I’m getting ready for a big craft show that I’m a bit freaked out about. But all I can bring is crochet … and I’m working a bit assembly line-like so I’m immersed in crochet pieces right now and have no completed products to show off. Then I read through my google reader feed to see what others write about … you know, for inspiration. I follow mostly crafters who show off their WIPs and completed items … Or authors who share stuff about upcoming books or tour dates …Moms who share pictures and cute anecdotes and recipes … I made pork Shake-n-Bake and Kraft Mac-n-Cheese. I’m really not gonna photograph that and share, people. I follow a few moms who live in the city and write about fashion! and cute babies! and places to get the best chocolate chip cookie! I live in the country. I wear jeans from Kohls. The highlight of my day is when I’m home from work, sitting with my puppy and kitty, crocheting on the couch, sipping a Starbucks latte from the Target Starbucks. Hmmm … Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want things any different. And I love reading all those awesome blogs about quilts and kids and cookies!!! I’m just suddenly feeling like THIS blog is a bit like a Seinfeld episode. By Jessica,on April 19th,2012 
I am not a morning person. At all. At all at all. I wish I was …mornings are peaceful and fresh and quiet. Contemplative. A new beginning. But me in the morning? Um …not exactly that picturesque. Think crazy frizzy hair and bumbling around until a caffeine IV has been installed. One of the benefits to getting up early and working the early shift,however,is coming home to daylight. That kinda makes the whole bumbling/want to kill my alarm clock thing worth it. I came home yesterday to sunshine and my family waiting for me on the porch. Dave had dinner plans so I sat in the white rocking chair,sipping my iced coffee,watched the pets wander and play and crocheted till the sun slipped behind the mountains.  - Mittensh.
It was …food for the soul. Made me thank God for …well,just about everything! 
By Jessica,on April 19th,2012 
Why do I struggle so much with blogging? I’ve always kept a journal …but it seems that I have a mental block when it comes to electronically chronicling life. Things are busy and bustling in the Spellman household. In addition to daily life (that I never seem to catch up with! Laundry! Cleaning! Everything else!!!) I’m crocheting like a fiend for my Very Big Craft Show. 
As much as I’m crocheting … I still believe I won’t get to even half of the items I want to make … but I’m trying to make peace with that (not an easy thing for me to do.) I’m just trying to put my head down and crochet until I can’t crochet anymore! And,of course,there’s always the Fall show!!! By Jessica,on March 21st,2012 Hi everyone! Life has been … busy to say the least!!! And, 2 weeks ago I got just the most exciting news! I was accepted into the Spring and the Fall Chester Craft Show!!! I was dancing after I got that email! For those of you who are not living in north Jersey, the Chester Craft Show is one of the biggest shows in the state. The Fall one, especially, has huge exposure and people come from all over the country to vend and shop! I kind of sent in my stuff not really believing it was something I would get into … but i got my acceptance only a week later!!! With all the excitement aside, I am crocheting like a mad woman … and just don’t believe I will have enough stuff for the show on June 2nd and 3rd. I am just so darn tired when I get home from work that it takes everything I have not to just pass out on the couch. :( But I guess that means I just have to be extra productive on days off, like today! And speaking of productive … I FINALLY reopened the Etsy shop with some Easter bunnies!  visit the shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/LaizyDaisyDesigns I am so excited to have finally gotten some items done BEFORE the holiday they are meant for …and photographed and listed! Of course, while photographing the little bunnies I had a lot of this to deal with …  Maisie and Mittens ... the helpers. These two are cracking me up these days. It only took a year for Mittens to warm up to a dog! So anyway … an Etsy shop opening and a couple of craft shows on the horizon! Not too bad for a few weeks worth of work! :) Let’s hope I can keep the streak of productivity going!! Well, back to crocheting! Have a great day! By Jessica,on February 27th,2012  hi! Hi there folks! Things over at here in Laizy-Daisy-Land are pretty good! I am trying and praying for patience and understanding. I am working hard at not letting my mind and my worries get the better of me. I am eating better, letting myself relax occasionally. I’m still crazy … but, you know, I’ll tackle that one a little later! I am working on a few things over here. I just sent my stuff over to the folks who run the Chester Craft Show!!! Fingers crossed!! This is a huge awesome craft show in the Spring and the Fall … it would be a great show to get my stuff out there. I am also prepping my stuff for Renegade in Brooklyn as well. So … we’ll see what happens! I am also trying (again) to open the Etsy shop. I am off next week … so my goal is to have that open by weeks end. Maybe a few bunnies for the grand shop opening??? I’m thinking a few Easter and Spring goodies would be a nice way to reopen! Thanks for stopping by today! Have a wonderful day! xo By Jessica,on February 13th,2012 First off, I want to thank everyone for their love, their support, their kind words, messages and help. It’s just amazing to realize how many people also struggle and how helpful just that thought alone can be. I am not alone!! I want to also say that I am not suicidal. That’s the one thing I am sure of. I have been abundantly blessed with an amazing family, loving friends, a beautiful home and two crazy pets. I know that without a doubt and I want to enjoy each and every moment of all of that. That’s something that tends to upset me … the fact that there is something inside of me that is not letting me enjoy every day that I’m blessed with. That has got to stop!!! I’ve been given a book recommendation, the names of a doctor or two, ways out of the darkness that have worked for others such as exercise, activities, prayer. There are a few things that I know, without seeking any kind of help, that I need to change or get rid of. It’s …overwhelming … but it’s also good to know that I don’t have to reside in this dark state forever. And that I have an amazing support group. Thank you all for coming along with me! Here’s to climbing out if this pit!!! By Jessica,on January 25th,2012 
While writing this post,I would reread it and wonder if I should post it. I mean,I know my close friends and family know I’m neurotic but,this is laying things pretty bare. That’s a scary thing …and I’m pretty embarrassed by my list of anxieties and worries and perceived inadequacies. But,maybe it’ll make things a bit more manageable to lay bare my brain. A good starting point to a brain overhaul. Maybe it will help someone else along the way. Maybe it will encourage me along the way as well. So …here goes nothing. I’m in a total world funk. And my usual way of dealing with that is sleep and eat cookies. But these coping mechanisms are just putting me deeper into this funk. And I seem to be spending way more time in this funk than I’ve ever spent before …and having a terrible time climbing out. Something needs to change. I no longer take medicine for anxiety and depression. This causes me anxiety. I stopped taking this medicine so Dave and I could start a family. I have not gotten pregnant yet. This causes me depression. I have a severe thyroid problem that has yet to be regulated. I am often achey,tired,lethargic. I’ve steadily gained weight over the last few years. I dislike most active activities and any type of food that is remotely healthy. This weight gain depresses me and then the depression freezes me from doing anything to fix the problem. Because I’m ready for the next avenue of my life –motherhood –I feel like I’m just tapping my foot until it happens. Biding my time. This makes me impatient at work and life …and I feel like I’m marking time in my daily life. Then I think about all the time I’m wasting,I get anxious and depressed,I eat cookies,I get more depressed,I curl up in the fetal position on the couch. I think about all these things and start to feel like a complete failure at life and a disappointment to my husband,my family and my coworkers. This adds yet another layer of frustration,anxiety and depression. I then wonder why I feel more burdened and depressed and anxious then I did since my divorce. I could go on. There are about 800 other things I worry and stress about. I feel like I can’t keep up with my house. It’s disorganized,there’s pet hair everywhere,I don’t cherish it and care for it like I always imagined I would. I have neither the talent nor the time and resources to start a crafting business. Will we have the money for me to stay at home with our future children? What if I’m too neurotic to be a mom? What if i can’t get pregnant? Etc …Etc … This is literally what swims around my brain on a daily basis. It’s …exhausting to say the least. To me and those around me. And scary to admit that I’m this neurotic (what will people say??). But I’ve been stuck deep in this loop for months …and I’m having a heck of a time climbing out. So …how does one fix one’s life? How does one climb out from under an entire world of anxieties and worries and self-imposes rules that I could never measure up to? Well,today,once I’m home from work,I’m going for a walk. I’ve often heard that if you are in poor health physically,you’ll be in poor health mentally. So,let’s start by getting my blood flowing. I’m not setting weight loss goals. I’m not buying diet books or starting any type of structured plan. Because I do that,I don’t live up to the expectations,I feel like a failure and then stop. So my only goal is,every day,do something that gets my heart beating a bit. A walk with Maisie,an exercise video,something that involves movement. Then,once I start that,and get a semi-regular routine going,then maybe I can introduce something else. I don’t know if this is a good place to start. I know I’ve said before that I am going to try this,and I’ve failed or lost steam. But I just know that right now,even though I have a zillion things in my life to be thankful for,I feel pretty joyless. And that is so unfortunate and sad. So maybe this will be the first step in the right direction? Lord help me!!!! By Jessica,on January 22nd,2012 
it’s been so long! sorry about that …i am not a good blogger! the holidays were nuts …and,now that the rush has been over for a couple of weeks,i am just beat up. sort of sick …sort of tired …sort of not feeling well. it has kind of coincided with the upped dosage of my thryroid medicine …so i don’t know if that really has anything to do with that. but i just work and then plant it on the couch. i hope this ends soon! i am missing my craftiness time. in the next few days i’ll be posting pics of the christmas crafty presents i made …and some of the items i am working on for some upcoming shows. and just try to blog more in general. i’ll leave you with this picture of a bushel of carrots i made a few weeks ago …see you soon! ) 
By Jessica,on November 28th,2011 By Jessica,on November 13th,2011 praise the good Lord, i felt so much better this weekend!!! i am really so very thankful. i spent all last night and almost all of today in the sewing room. i also had a helper much of the day …  look at that face!! the house isn’t a wreck, i sewed, i slept in … i am getting a foot rub. i think that’s a successful weekend, don’t you? i made another block in my Farmer’s Wife Quilt-a-long … this brings me up to three …  #71 - Puss in the Corner (i am going to have to start photographing these with my real camera rather than the iPhone … the angle i am photographing them at makes them look wonkier than they really are!!! ) i also made a Christmas present …but i don’t want to post it here … just in case … and i quilted and started to bind this one …  older image ummm … that’s all with the exception of a little couch crochet in the evenings. it felt SO good to be productive again. i am so thankful for this weekend!!! here’s hoping i can keep up the productivity this week!!! xo | |