Feeling Stuck...

Art by Carrie Wilson 

Ever feel like your stuck...

...can't move forward, wouldn't want to move backward....

That's how I am feeling right now. I have too many things I want to do. Too many great ideas but not enough plans for executing those ideas. Feeling stuck...

HOME
Currently, the place I call home, my shambled shack, is in shambles again... will I ever get organized and stay organized? The last time I shared on my Shambled Shack blog, life was moving pretty good. Since then, everything has fallen apart, I have picked up pieces here and there and am still struggling to hang on tight as this crazy roller coaster called Life happens all around me.

To bring you all up to speed, the man I loved...once loved as I have learned...walked away. Despite his promise to be there...to never leave...he gave up on US. It's still difficult to talk about...I trusted this man with my life... I still hurt. I will never understand...  But its OK. I am not meant to understand. All I know is that we were broken. It's been 1 year, 7 months, and 3 days since he walked out....

Since this happened, I have moved on...mostly.  We still have a basement full of things collected...our household items that I just can not bring myself to sort out. A part of me wants nothing more to do with all the "things" in the basement - albeit they are likely covered in mold of which I am seriously allergic to.  But mold be damned....that stuff is full of memories that I just CAN'T face. Every fiber of my being shutters when I go into that basement and look at "our" things. Have I really moved on? Feeling stuck....

I am currently living in a two room apartment...I have a bed, a kitchen table, a desk and chair, some shelves, lots of crafting goodies - that's my therapy. Do I need more? I had a couch but opted to dump it so that I could bring my craft table to my apartment. Space is over rated.... the smaller the space the easier it is to clean. Or so one would think...

Recently, I rearranged furniture...actually I am still rearranging the two rooms.  My front room consists of my bed, computer desk and chair, kitchen table, television, and my entry way bench (which I recently pulled out of storage).  I also have my long blue shelf under the window that needs to be moved to the back room... I am stuck.  I need an additional cabinet for my computer tower - something with a double shelf at the top and a flat surface at the bottom, that is breathable so I can put my tower on the lower part, my UPS on the middle shelf and my router/modem combo on the top. Once I have that in place, I can move forward...  I need a carpenter.

My back room will be home to my crafting furniture - table, shelves, etc. All my stampin' goodies will be placed in this room. This room, when finished, will probably be my favorite room. I can sort of picture how it will look... I am still realizing the concept of that room. Feeling stuck...

FAMILY
My family is a bit in shambles at the moment. Things haven't gone so well in 2014. My daughter got a wild hair and decided she needed to move away to Texas... she left baby Avah with me while she tried to make her way. Six months in, work got crazy and Avah had to move with her dad and other grandmother. They put her in preschool and I took her most weekends when I could. Thanksgiving rolled around and my daughter came back home. She is currently staying with me in my two room apartment....

I can't move my things around her things... I can't get my crafting therapy...  She brought her two cats, of which I am allergic... Really feeling trapped in my own home. The apartment never felt like a box before...it does now.  She is working...  Here's hoping she moves on soon so I can get back to my life... 2014 was already interrupted enough, let me have my 2015 please!! Feeling stuck...

WORK
Thankfully, work is still really good. I love my job. I love being a prepress supervisor and graphic designer. Making ads and working with customers and co-workers can be very rewarding. Things have slowed down to a crawl though and I am running out of vacation... Here's hoping the crawl picks up its pace... I need my hours!  Feeling stuck...

HOME BUSINESS
Yes, you read that right. I have a home business, or two.  Since November 26, 2012 I have been a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator. Its been mostly a hobby thing... but lately its picked up a little bit. I have a regular customer....yes you read that right - ONE customer.  She is amazing and I truly appreciate her. I need to find more ways of showing her my appreciation....

As of December 5, 2014, I also became a Jamberry Nail Consultant. If you haven't ever heard of Jamberry before - you MUST check them out. I HATE nail polish - the smell, the mess, its just a pain in the butt. I have never had much knowledge about caring for my nails - you would think my momma would have shown me how - but nope. This tomboy was NOT interested in pretty nails...until recently.  I will say, I was always curious about how to make my nails look pretty (without polish) but never took the time to learn it.

One of the goals of my Stampin' Up! business is to eventually make Stampin' Up! video tutorials. I have watched a ton of videos...every one of those ladies takes care of their nails - they have presentable hands. I looked down at mine and was like - no chance in hell will my hands make nice videos.  Then I tried Jamberry and LOOK!  Pretty hands!

Jamberry sells vinyl nail wraps via independent consultants. They are applied using heat and stay put for a up to two weeks at a time. A professional manicure never lasts that long - instead, get a Jamicure!  For a fraction of what it costs to get your nails done professionally, you can have two manicures and two pedicures! I have been using the wraps for a month now and my nails still look good even after the wraps have been removed. Best of all - they have Jamberry Jr's so you and your daughter/grand daughter can having matching nails!!! Love it!

Anyway, I do have blogs for both of my home businesses - if should you be interested in checking out my therapy/hobby the links are following this paragraph. I want to build both businesses - the nails pretty much sell themselves - you wouldn't believe all the people that ask me about my nails when I am out and about. Just gotta carry my business cards with a sample wrap attached - and boom - there's a potential sale! My stampin' business isn't going so easily though - there is a lot of work to be done with that. I need a newsletter - doing a weekly one with all the cool weekly deals in it. Keeping up with that is no small feat though. I want to include a card and tutorial in every issue of my newsletter - which means I need to get my craft room done.... so many things depend on each other... feeling stuck...

Visit Shack Scraps 

for paper crafting, card making, scrapbooking fun or 

Visit Jamdazzled 

for chip-free pretty nails free of stinky smells and messy polishes.

HEALTH

I am pretty sure my health is not the best at the start of 2015. Besides being over weight and recovering from a bout of flu-like symptoms, I still have a vitamin D deficiency and a sluggish thyroid to deal with as well as various allergies.  I am taking extra vitamin D and my levothyroxine - along with a hand full of other vitamins and allergy meds on a daily basis. I am beginning to wonder if my thyroid issue isn't causing an autoimmune issue - I have never had so many allergies and aches and pains in my life!  Old age....I think not. I have struggled in the past with my diet - being extra careful with calories and exercise - most I lost was about 10 lbs - of which I gained back plus 10 more.  Thyroid issues are a pain... feeling stuck...

I declare 2015 the year of lubrication!  

Getting unstuck in 2015....