Infused Waters

You ever have one of those moments where you discover the easiest of things, followed by the inner dialogue, "how did I live without this?"

Newly Renewed

Hello world, or small group that still checks in here every now and again.
So, after a tumultuous year following my grandmothers passing and then some time to myself for growth, exploration and a bit of travel, I've gotten the itch to start sharing my thoughts and adventures again here on Easy Peazy. I can't promise consistency for these first few posts, I'm dipping my toes in a bit to test the so called waters.
My pace of life is a bit slower and I'm taking time to absorb and appreciate things that I feel I've overlooked in the past, or was afraid to openly speak about. That said, I may not share just beauty or articles but more about my life and the challenges and successes I think we all face, as well as incorporating a few interests I've not shared in past posts. Kind of a scary thought to be candid but I feel it is what I'd like to do here on my little soapbox. If anything, I'd love to look back in 20 years and think to myself, "Wow I have a snap shot of my younger life".

On a side note, I really want to thank those of you who have helped me over the past year, you know who you are! Some fellow bloggers turned friends, some new friends, some old, some strangers who took the time to email me, and those that see me or speak to me daily. Real talk- I was up held when I could barely stand, or make it out of my bed in the morning. My heart is full of gratitude for all of yous! So thank you a million times over. That said, lets start things off right...

With coffee of course!

I'm so in Love...

With my home that is, all of its magical nooks and crannies, all of its history (the two wonderful Buddhists who lived and past here at the age of 102) all of the wonder and life it holds, every crack and creek and smell of time. I love it all, I've never been so inspired and at peace in all aspects of my life, everything is just so right.

 I wanna share a few of my favorite things here that make this house the wonderful home it has become...

When I wake up the floors are still chilly from the night before, so I have to wear my fuzzy boots. And in my nightgown, I dance to get my heart going for the day!

My meditation room has my heart and soul within it. Its a place I come to reflect and let go, I chose to mount my favorite Georgia O'Keefe paintings from her desert series, The colors are perfect and a pleasure to look at. (PS- I made that large pallet)

And I realize this sounds weird, but if you know me, I tend to be a bit weird...

On this shelf in the meditation room where my first Reiki certificate for level one resides with my symbols from my second seminar there is an orb/swatch of purple and green residing. I questioned even sharing this, but who cares! Its a part of who I am and I'm not going to hide that fact on my own blog. Its in every photo, at all times day/night/darkness/light/even candle light or inverting the image to make sure its not dust or light (do you see it up there on the left). Even before the shelf or symbols were moved in I saw this colored light above the door to this room in photos, but chose not to post it, maybe I will on Flickr though. Green is the color that represents healing and the heart Chakra, and purple or violet is the crown Chakra and represents a spiritual consciousness. The crown Chakra is thought to be "open" while practicing Reiki...

I've just learned to welcome it, and know it probably means I'm on the right path in the healing arts. I like to think its the aura of my open crown Chakra or a guide who is pleased, whatever it is, its warm and loving so I welcome its presence and wanted to share. 

Okay enough with Metaphysical 101 and my orbs lol...

I have this spot on a throw rug in our bedroom that picks up the sunlight wonderfully, I love to sit here with coffee or tea and read and absorb... And yes that is one of my many scars and I'm okay with it showing if you are! 

We have so many nooks to fill still. These little caverns are what I fell for when we first saw this home, it gave it so much character. For now my favorite fall boots and sweater hang here, but I'll think of something else soon. Feel free to leave suggestions!

My pain from my accident is still chronic, but I'm happy here and find my surroundings soothing to my neck and back. Our big soft bed helps on days I need to just take it easy. I'm sure changing location, lifestyle, and people I surround myself with has helped but either way it is such a relief to me to have our bed back full of pillows and crisp white sheets.

Downstairs in the living room you can visually see me and Jeremy meld together in the details. There are always fresh flowers, this white bundle is in a cute thrifted dairy creamer (I found that for .25 cents!) the Candle sticks are also thrifted, they needed a good cleaning but for 2 bucks you cant beat it! We chose to display our engagement announcement interior with our favorite quote from Jack Kerouac's, "Dharma Bums"

This room wouldn't be me without Hitchcock books and a few elephants! The pillows I made from fabric from Ikea. And the marble "elees" are a gift from one of my Dad's many travels around the world. This living room is such a great mixture of memories, its sleek like Jeremy likes but cozy for me and full of personal touches. The wildflowers are in unmatched tumblers (also thrifted for .50/each) which make a wonderful stout little bouquet...

I took more wildflowers and the unmatched thrifted tumblers to use for our Thanksgiving centerpiece, I added our "Family" sign, a marriage gift, with the leftover gourds and pumpkins from Kristie's baby shower decor. Added a double wick pumpkin spiced candle to complete this for only 7 bucks total! I think it turned out good. I have some knitted place mats I have to finish up before Turkey day that will complete it.

Last Christmas we got this great espresso machine and I found these darling little cups and saucers at Ikea for only a buck for each set! I will be using a sharpie to write a little something for us both and baking them, as seen here on A Beautiful Mess... thanks for the idea Elsie :) My favorite picture (taken by Jeremy) of Rilo and I completes this dining room shelf and adds a personal touch.

I hope You enjoyed this short tour of why I love our new home so much! There will be more to come...

All of you guys have been so supportive during our move in comments and emails, I appreciate that you even find this outlet for my creativity interesting and wanna take a moment (with it being Thanksgiving soon) to tell you how incredibly grateful and thankful I am to have met such wonderful girls on this blog journey, whether I was dealing with rough waters or easy seas you were there to listen and give feedback. Thank you and I can't wait to share more of my journey with you.

~Niec

I'm Still Here!

 Temple Bell, I love the intricate carvings in the metal so I display it on my door knob.

This post is so long over due ladies, and for that I'm so sorry. Blogging has been taking a back seat to... well, life these days. So we are all moved in but still not totally settled we still have one room with boxes and stuff. As a matter of fact I'm typing this on the floor of a room full of boxes... our desk died in the room (RIP crappy ikea desk), so we have a nice thrifted one to rehab this weekend. I worked a lot on my meditation room, which I am in love with! Although it is not complete I've used it and the energy in that room is pretty amazing. I will be sharing a journal entry I wrote the other night when I sat on our steps and let the words flow.

 So in the mean time I have a few happy updates. The night before we were scheduled to move a got a call from Kristie (my sister) at 3:30am saying her water may be broken, I rushed over to find that she had in fact ruptured her water and was still passing it along with her plug. By my judgments she was gonna delivery that week based on a few natural things the body does while preparing moms for labor.

 Laboring in my family is a very natural thing, I helped and watched my youngest brothers birth, I remember my mother laboring for a few hours at home for Korey before going to a neighbors home. And my grandmother (wise with her age) delivered my cousin on the side of a road, because she's a female Chuck Norris!

 I was ready and willing to be a birth coach for Kristie from the moment she asked and will forever be grateful for her to have shared that experience with me. It was beautiful, an amazing and Kristie is a champ! She was able to lower her blood pressure and pulse during contractions using the hypo-birthing techniques we practiced and I did several Reiki sessions to ease the pain. It was beautiful, and honestly I don't know if seeing my nephew Noah take his first breath and carrying him to his mama for the first time will ever be topped! The experience changed me, I feel my heart softening more and seeking more of what is real and pure and saturated in love. It was a precious moment and I love that I was a part of it. We were close before but lately I have grown even closer with Kristie, she has been a rock these past through weeks. And with our new home, I am incredibly satisfied and looking forward to the future and what is to come. We have a wonderful thanksgiving planned with our closest friends (some new and some old) and family. I'm so excited to be a hostess this year. We also have the pleasure of going to the Grand Bahamas for Jeremy's birthday this year! We never took a honey moon because the car wreck happened 9 days after we were married, but this is going to be a much needed get away for the both of us. Jeremy's aunt lives in Switzerland and has a home in the G.B. with plenty of nature hikes and snorkeling and swimming with he dolphins, I'm so excited for this, and it'll be the first time Jeremy and I have traveled out of the country alone together! Aside from these travel plans and moving I've just really been trying to make this house feel like a home and juggle being a new aunt or "ti-ti" as I'm called and all things that the up coming holiday season entails. I haven't done my nails, they look like a mess! And I haven't done my hair in days (washed or styled lol) and I have a cold soooo, I'm looking pretty shabby, but according to my hubby I'm as beautiful as I have ever been, and inside I'm beaming with joy so who cares what the exterior shows! I am the happiest I've been in quite some time. This new place feels so right for us... Life is good and I am so grateful for it all. Here's a few pics of the still unfinished but getting there meditation room, I love it, and hope you enjoy...

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! 

Hope all of you are having a fun and safe evening! This week we've been packing and bringing over more and more stuff and bit by bit everything is falling into place. Saturday is quickly approaching but it looks like everything will be moving along smoothly. Today I headed over to the new place with Rilo on my own to get her acquainted with her new home and yard. Within minutes she had a boyfriend! A gorgeous and very sweet Husky/Wolf hybrid (I'll get a pic to post soon) named Toby. Toby lives next door, both of the backyards are fenced but open up to a big field for Rilo and Toby to play in!We're relieved and excited for her new friendship. 

She seemed to love the new house and even fell a asleep while I messed with my gardening beds out back (you can see one of the three on the right side of the backyard yard in the first picture, that will soon hold lots of yummy veggies, oh and that potty pad was not for Rilo it was to wipe off my muddy boots lol). I then smudged the house from top to bottom and lit a few candles and did a few other things I typically do to prepare a new place before we move in. Our new home is so warm and so light and everything feels so right these days... I feel so blessed with how things have played out, so very blessed.

I've been making myself craft or read (from an actual book) every night to unwind before bed, so of course most nights I knit! This was the last of Noah's hats, mitts and booties sets, this slouchy beanie set is by far my favorite, can't wait to see him looking all cool in it! Thank goodness Noah will be cousins with our kid so that we can get some of these nice things back as hand me downs...

I continued my people and possessions purge this week, it was something I felt my soul needed. I got rid of things that I didn't want in our new home, some are actual objects but some were just attitudes, energy, and people, I don't need to have or be around or even exposed to. I will be posting a journal entry in the upcoming weeks about this change I've made, this conscious effort to stick to my instincts and not be afraid of the outcome, and letting go of all the other things that led to this so-called "purging" It has been an amazing experience and has given me a sense of peace I haven't felt in years... I wish I'd of done it sooner but, everything happens in its own time and in its own way.

Awesome album I can't get enough of this week. I've shared in the past my struggle with panicking whenever I have to pack so moving tends to be rough. As I'm sure it is for anyone that struggles OCD in any aspect of their lives. This album of native flutes and earth songs puts me in such a calm state of mind I found myself being relaxed and positive during packing! Listen to "Riding With Thunder" It is AMAZING and so empowering!

BOMW

This week has a bit of a warm one for October, I'm calling it our Indian Summer, amidst the mounds of laundry and packing I captured a few bits of my week...

Korey and Monica at a BBQ

Siblings connections are one of those things you don't understand unless you have it. It is a bond that is far greater than sharing blood relation. Korey has been my rock when I needed and we've grown into having a mutual respect and compassion for one another that is indestructible. That said, I received a text from him after we hung up from our daily convo, we'd been discussing philosophy and politics (Korey has his BA in philosophy and is one of the few that used it by attending graduate school for public policy and ethics, he is one of the smartest people I know). Anyways, we we're talking about ones existence and while looking back at our particularly "rough" childhood we discussed how it would be for one of us with out having the other, after wrapping up, I received the following text...

A Long One On Life As of Late...

 Eleanor Roosevelt via Pinterest

I'm such a bad blogger these days, I'm sorry guys, that is just the truth of it all. There is 

 a ton of things going on (explained below). I am still crafting and creating but it seems impossible to post regularly these days.

But tonight, I felt the itch to just write through my exhaustion here, instead of my journal. So here I am at mid-night with my favorite blue fluffy robe and and Jeremy's sweat pants with jasmin and rose hip tea in a silent house, full of night air and the sounds of crickets about to pour out whats been going on. 

Great Loves...

Paul Newman & Joanne Woodward 

This weekend I was catching up on some of the blogs I periodically check in on and saw the most moving series of posts over at {This Is Glamorous}. The series is a collection of 20 posts that share some of the greatest love stories in history, from Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton to Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall. My personal favorite was that of Paul Newman & Joanne Woodward. Take a look, I promise you they are addicting to read and full of the serendipity that make epic love stories so perfect.

BOMW...

It has been quite a busy month so far, I feel like I haven't posted in ages! We had an immediate family member undergo surgery so we had our hands full helping out, and then I got sick so I spent about a week in bed with soup and crackers. I think sometimes it can be good to take a break when it comes to blogging, it allows us to take a deep breath and become inspired again. Although, next time I take a forced hiatus I think I will play around with scheduled posts so you guys aren't left wondering what happened to me. 

This weekend Jeremy and I took a trip to the mountains, which are by far one of my favorite places to be (next to the ocean of course). We stayed near Harpers Ferry out in Purcellville,Virgina and Oh my gosh! talk about a perfect place to be in the fall! We got our fill of little road side general stores, vineyards, and small cobblestone towns, it was perfect and much needed. We are hoping to make it back down for their annual Fall Festival.

Here are a few bits of my week, with highlights from our trip...

How beautiful is this place!?!

We had dinner at a pasta bar and OH MY WORD! this was the best pasta I have ever had!  

Stain Stain Go Away!

So sorry for my lack of posts guys, last week an immediate family member of ours had surgery, so it was all hands on deck around here for a few days, then I got some hellish stomach flu, complete with a fever  (probably from the hospital which had me knocked on my butt and in bed for the past week). I will still continue to post the remainder of the baroque mani-series along with some other fun things for October. But just wanted to thank all of you who still popped in to check Easy Peazy anyway. 

But enough with that, lets switch to some happier things! If you've been following my Baroque Manicure series then you have probably come to the same conclusion I did... Stains SUCK! As much as a base coat promises to keep stains at bay, there are some colors of lacquer that just don't budge. This problem is most prevalent in the jewel toned red/blue/green families of colors (which happens to be the Baroque pallet many of my manicures are inspired by). So, I thought I'd take a moment to share my mothers holy grail of nail stain removing.