People like to equate life to a roller coaster. I suppose it is because it has highs and lows and ups and downs. It makes our stomach feel great at times and others we pass back our lunch. We can try to let go, but the safety bar keeps us firmly planted in our seats. At times life can seem crooked and cruel just like when a coaster car spins on a track or takes a 420-foot drop. 

However, here is the problem with equating life to a roller coaster; the ride on a roller coaster is designed to be the same experience for everyone. There is never a new twist or turn on a roller coaster. In life, however, there is always something to create friction and mystery. There is the car that won't start on the way to an important meeting, the new business that didn't get funding, the children's book that didn't get published, and most importantly the dream that didn't get fulfilled. We can find ourselves frustrated, sad and powerless.

Here is one way to create power. I stumbled upon this quote that put things in perspective and created a whole new meaning on how to move forward. 

Let's try it when the chips are down, and things need to pivot.

What's your plot twist?

Until tomorrow friends.

There are times we get into a rut. Sometimes people call a cycle of repetitive action a habit. A habit seems like a positive word where rut seems cynical. No matter how we spin it, there is a point reached when our habit becomes tedious. Even though it's something we love, we grow tired of the familiarity. We fall out of love with the work, and we are tempted to give up on something we have built. It has happened to all of us. The entrepreneur throws in the towel of their first start-up, a writer stuffs the first few chapters of the manuscript into a drawer, and blogger wants to turn off her computer and walk away.

I visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium yesterday. Watching the sardines was mesmerizing. If you haven't had the opportunity to see sardines at work, you can look at the video of the Open Sea exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium on this page. Watching the fish swim and sway together, I realized that we don't have a choice. We need to keep working at the job we are intended to do because the work we do will eventually create something bigger than ourselves.

It times of doubt and moments of giving up, say no to temptation and just keep swimming.

Until tomorrow friends.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! It's a day full of pots-of-gold, corn beef, and tiny creatures dressed in green. It's also a day full of rainbows and mischevious behavior. In the spirit of fun, let's raise our green glass of beer, round up some rainbows and go searching for some leprechauns today.

Why not? It's St. Patrick's Day. Let's go find our rainbows.

Until tomorrow Little Leprechauns!

It only took a second. My son looked sweet as he casually walked over and blinked at me with this long lashes. I had been sitting quietly on a park bench not feeling particularly well. As he approached, I could feel myself tighten thinking he was going to ask for something. His arm came up and in his fist, he presented me with one perfect yellow flower. He said, "This is for you." 

It only took a second for him to make my day so much better. It's amazing what one little action can create. 

What will one second create for someone in your life today?

Until tomorrow friends.

Being sick is an awful way to start a week. Yesterday because of a stomach bug, I was curled up in a fetal position, under the covers, hoping to sleep the day away. I couldn't move. All that provided comfort was hiding under the covers. As I hid under the sheets starring my phone cover, I thought of all the work I needed to do. I realized working solo has lots of advantages, but when you can't do the job, nothing gets done. As I heard my husband nudging the kids around, getting them ready for school and preparing food for them, I realized the amount of love that builds a family. As pulled myself out of bed try to get on with my life, my head told me to lie back down and get more rest. I realized the amount of energy it takes to keep going. As I felt miserable in my body, it all put life in perspective.

Nothing is possible unless we are well. It takes a lot to get through the day. It takes a lot to make our lives happen. It is why we should stay in bed when we are sick. We should take care of ourselves when we are well. We should take the day off and enjoy our lives because having space can create a particular perspective we can lack in our daily lives.

I'm back at my desk today but thankful for yesterday. It allowed me to take in the broad view.

How about you? Is a day of rest in your future?

Until tomorrow friends.

Sometimes we don't feel creative. It's ok. It's just how it is some days. Maybe we don't feel inspired, or Monday has been the longest day in history. Whatever the reason, this is when it's important to pull out a marker and a piece of paper and create a few simple marks on a page. Don't think about drawing or writing. Just put down the first thing that comes to mind. Now, show the work to a friend.

I'm going to say this little project just might make your day better. It did for mine.

Until tomorrow friends.

It happened last night at 2 o'clock in the morning here in California. The dreaded time change. We sprung forward. Most of us will relish in the additional hour of sunlight. I for one hate the time shift into the spring season.

We are forced to move our biological rhythms, so they align with human fabricated time. With this change, it seems like we are asking for trouble. With the time altered, we are required to eat later and get up earlier. Our kids resist going to bed and rising in the morning on time. We spend a whole week trying to get back on track. In fact, studies show weird things happen during daylight savings time. Read about them here on Live Science "5 Weird Effects of Daylight Savings."  Some of the strange happenings include an increase in heart attacks and a possible uptick in car accidents.  

I'm going to get up on my soapbox and say forget the time change! It creates a whole week of mixed up madness in modern day life. 

Altering time is for the birds. Let's create a stand, protest spring forward and go back to bed.

Until tomorrow Early Risers. 

It's a beautiful day here in California. The sun is out. The weather is warm. Spring has sprung. Most of the country might still be in the depths of winter. Maybe some of have snow on the ground, or the cold winter winds are cruelly blowing back the inviting days of spring. When I lived in the midwest, March was the hardest month. We would get through February and expect March would bring a tide of snowdrops and crocuses. March always failed to deliver even when the Punxsutawney Phil predicted the winter's end. It was heartbreaking to battle through the snow, ice, and bitter wind only for March to offer nothing different and a big indifferent shoulder shrug.

It was March that always put me over the edge. The sadness would take over like a dark cloud rumbling in from the west. After years of March blues, I moved west to California, and here I am today looking out on a perfect spring day. With piles of work on my desk to last me weeks and anxiety building, I took a break today to step inside and take in the flowers blooming. It didn't seem right to step outside and take a break. It seemed like I was wasting precious time but I enjoyed the moment.

When did enjoying our lives, and stopping to take in the beauty around us become a waste of time? It took me years to get here to California and many hard winters to provide this moment. It was about time we enjoy it, take it in and perhaps even memorialize the moment on paper.

For all still living in the depths of winter, the painting of the flowers is for you. For all of us who can get outside today and take in the beauty of spring, go and enjoy.

Until tomorrow, Winter Blues and Spring Hues.

It always seems like in modern society we are rushing, going and checking. It never seems as if there is time to pause and start a project that has been percolating in the old gray matter. It, however, is an excuse. I for one am a guilty party to making excuses. I love to push off projects that would bring meaning to my life. Today, I said forget excuses and carved out 5 minutes.

Don't get me wrong, today is a busy day. There are obligations to keep, small humans in which to attend to and work to be done. However, I am timing myself on this post. I'm only giving myself 5 minutes to design, write, spell check and ship this project out in the world. I have a feeling by making a limitation or a beautiful constraint; it will make the rest of my day more creative. 

Stay tuned.

How about you? What project can you start with 5 minutes?

Until tomorrow Speedy!

We all can find ourselves stubborn and set in our ways at times. It can be anything from our morning routine to the way we tie our shoes. However, life has a funny way of messing things up like a mischevious Aunt that likes to ruffle and tousle our hair. Personally, I love to find a routine and cling to the reliability of its foundation. When life throws me curve balls, I can get mad, frustrated and downright grumpy. I want things to go a certain way, and I am not going to let anything get in the way of my expectations! Well, that's what I tell myself.

At these times it's important to take a break, step back and just go with the flow. No matter what we are doing in life, something is about to get messy, and something is about to stir up predictability. The sooner we realize we are fighting ourselves when it comes to the change life throws our way, the sooner we can step back. We can give into the importance and magic of going with the flow.

I'm going to try to go with the flow today and see if it brings a certain joy my life. What about you?

Until tomorrow Move Like Water.

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It is hard to find time to do everything in our lives. There are meals to be cooked, work to be managed and sleep to be slumbered. We can get wrapped up in the everyday mumbo jumbo and forget to say thank you. Specifically, we don't tell others they are the V.I.P. in our one act plays. The V.I.P. status is dedicated to people that go out of their way to make our life better. They put their time on the line, go out of their way and show up when the chips are down. What happens when we pause and reflect on the people who make our lives super? Are we are happier too? 

I have been reading, "The Book Of Joy: Lasting Happiness In A Changing World." {affiliate link} written by his Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Douglas Carlton Abrams. I'm only one hundred and fifty pages into the book. However, as I dive deeper and deeper into the perspective of these two spiritual leaders, it has focused on the idea if we help others find happiness, we find joy. It's a win-win for everyone. 

Today, I am going to take some time out to tell a V.I.P. in my life thank you with a hug. They bring joy to our lives and in turn, we can bring happiness to theirs. How about you? How can you bring happiness to a V.I.P. in your life today?

Until tomorrow Friends.

I love cake. I love to make cakes. I love how it celebrates special moments in life. Cupcakes don't send the same message as a cake. Cake, is love wrapped up in a house built to bring the mind and body joy. I, however, can never make a cake to look beautiful. I'm not self-deprecating. I am just bad at making a pile of flour, eggs, and sugar look darling. I've taken cake decorating classes. Every year I bake my kids their birthday cakes to practice the cake arts but each time my creations look more like unicorn poop than a layered plate of happiness. I've been telling myself it's because I make everything from scratch, but the bottom line is I'm not very good at making cakes look amazing.

Today, I took the cake decorating head on. I started with a pre-packaged cake mix to dispell the myth that I can't decorate like a diva. Let's see if taking a bit of time to do research, whipping up a bowl of frosting, and giving it an old college try will make a difference. Sometimes we have to try again and again to make headway on our dreams.

Here is the result of about three hours worth of work:

That's pretty good, but the photo only shows the front. The back is missing most of the frosting and the marshmallows. It just goes to show, when we put some elbow grease into a project it still can turn out mediocre. However, it's important to keep going and find time to work on things in our lives that are important to us.

What are you working on? Drop me an email.

Now, let us eat cake!

Until tomorrow!

Why are we always focused on a final product? We strive to sell our start-up, want the perfect beach body and look to growing small humans into adults. In short, we often find ourselves focused on the end game. However, the learning, growth and interesting part are in the process. It's the marrow of our lives. We are constant work-in-progresses. Shouldn't we be celebrating the middle, not the end? 

When I was a kid and lived in the country, it was lonely. There were no neighborhood kids to get in trouble with and little to do. In the spring time, I would go outside and lie down in the grass. I would spend the afternoon dreaming up shapes in the clouds and picking bouquets of wild violets. I'd examine at each tiny petal. Until this day, when I see the little purple flowers, memories of my childhood and a particular time in my life surface. It was a time focused less on producing an end product but celebrated the happiness of the middle.

In the spirit of the middle, do something today that is incomplete and bathe in the joy of the unfinished. Take a moment to celebrate the work-in-progress and find joy in the things undone. 

Pick violets today.

Until tomorrow.

Sometimes we worry about the strangest things. For example, what other people think of us or the scent of air freshener for our car. Neither makes a bit of difference in the grand scheme of the universe. When it comes right down to it, most things don't matter.

I specifically get into a nasty habit of worrying about what other people think of me as a parent. It's exhausting and a waste of energy. Last night, I found myself comparing myself to other working parents. My process of reflection is directly tied to the fact that being a parent is emotionally taxing, exhausting and joyful all at the same time. It doesn't matter how hard we work at being parents; it can seem like other parents have it all. These parents appear to be superhuman. They have super careers, mega perfect homes, always feed their kids low sugar organic foods and have children who listen and line up like the von Trapp family. It makes me doubt my abilities in being human and a parent. That's when I say to myself: "Does it matter if I appear to be superhuman?" "I'm not supermom, and I don't claim to be one." So, "Who cares?!" In the spirit of "Who cares!?" I whipped up some homemade granola bars that are full of sugar, are not organic and will rot just about anyone's insides 

If you are a parent and feeling a little less than superhuman, try these "Who Cares!? Granola Bars." They are sweeter than a honey hive, more chocolatey than Willy Wonka and are sure to remind us that saying "Who Cares!?" is a crucial part to busting that superhuman parenting myth.

"Who Cares!" Granola Bars

• 1 cup sun butter
• 2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 cup coconut chips
• 1 cup chocolate cereal
• 6 oz dark chocolate chips
• 6 oz white chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1 cup freeze dried raspberries
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Line a 8" x 8" baking pan with parchment. Place all the Ingredients in a large bowl and stir until combined.

Step 2: Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Let cool and place in the freezer for an hour. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container in the freezer.

Until tomorrow Shoulder Shrugs.

It's the middle of the week. Monday is just behind us but the weekend is too far away. Let's face it. Wednesday can bring a lack of excitement, low-thrills, and drop in dopamine to the good old frontal lobe. Perhaps we are feeling a bit down on our luck or unenthusiastic about life today?

Here is one solution to our Wednesday woes, get up and dance. Some may question our sanity. However, studies show the getting the body shaking and strutting the stuff pumps up the serotonin making our mind and body feel good.  Read more about how dancing helps the brain on Harvard Mahoney Science Neuroscience Institute website and the article "Dancing and the Brain."

Now turn up the tunes and get the bod moving.

See you tomorrow Booty Shaking Brainiacs.

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Day 91 - Hey. What's up? Oh, thank goodness it's Thursday. You know it's been a "swim upstream" week when Thursday feels like Friday. While last week was a week of failures, this week feels like everything needs a push forward. Pushing forward includes the project I started 3 days ago which took three days longer to create than planned.

An Old Crappy Box.

As I mentioned a few posts back, we are getting ready to throw a birthday bash in a few weeks. The project mentioned above that needed a good, long push was a piñata for the "Go Fish" theme party. Making the piñata in itself is a "swim upstream" project. The process seems pretty fun but after a few days of tissue paper and glue, things started to look like a bunch of sticky chickens and the contents of a UPS truck just rolled around my work space. When things started to look a little crazy, I looked up the cost of a number piñata {affiliate} on Amazon. A nice piñata can be purchased for $15.99. So, it seems downright crazy to even attempt to create one's own piñata. 

Things Are About To Get Crazy.

However, driving myself crazy with cardboard is my speciality. Over the years, I have create an array of cardboard projects that included a cabinet shaped like Monet's water lilies that had to hold 200 pounds, a mostly recycled kids play oven and a life sized gingerbread house that could be personally decorated. Making each project out of cardboard was fun, economical and made me learn things about myself, like don't use a box cutter at 3:00 in the morning. Enough of me yammering on. Let's get to today's project.

This Is Crazy. 

Todays, project is to make something out of a old cardboard box for someone else. Grab a box and think of the possibilities! Maybe it's a tent for the kids, a joke couch for your roommate or a house for the cat? Here are a few items that will come in handy when you make the cardboard creation:

• imagination
• time
• patience
• scissors
• kraft paper tape {affiliate}
• a pencil
• notebook
• markers, colored paper or tissue paper

Here is the "Go Fish" piñata. Not my best piñata but I think the 3 year old birthday boy is going to give it a couple of whacks and be happy as a clam. 

Let me know how your cardboard project goes and if you need any help drop me a note. See you later cardboard alligator!

Day 89 - Hey there sleepy head. Who else is just plain tired? I bet there are a couple of people reading this post that woke up this morning and said "I'm still tired." We all get worn down from emotions, responsibilities and expectations. Carting the kids around, managing the boss, keeping up with social media, connecting with friends, caring for a sick loved one, getting food into our bodies, going to school, managing a career and the list just keeps coming! Who has time to sleep for crying out loud? Of course we are always feel tired! I was exhausted just from tying that list.

You Look Sleepy.

Also, we should also talk about that once it has been GO, GO, GO we can't fall asleep. We just sit there wanting to fall asleep. Dreaming of sleep. Hoping for sleep. That too is exhausting.

However, sleep as we know, is incredibly important to our well being. I googled "National Sleep Foundation" for some tidbits on why we need sleep. My favorite fact is "Humans are the only animals that delay sleep." Oh is that right?! Well, forget it. I'm going to bed right now. Well, after I finish this post anyway, in three hours. There I go delaying sleep again! 

Can't Even Keep The Peepers Open.

Which brings me to the project today. Create a nightly routine that gets you to bed and helps you fall asleep fast then go get some sleep. Here is a list of "8 surprising tips and tricks" from "The Telegraph." I'm going to try the "4-7-8 breathing technique" and see if the sandman takes me away slumber town which sounds slightly creepy but I'll take it if it means I will fall asleep for 7 hours straight.

Let me know if you catch any zzz's and see you on the other side!

Day 88 - Hey There! Anyone else have a sugar hangover? I think I consumed about 4lbs of jelly beans and 10lbs of chocolate this weekend. However, it was a great weekend filled with lots of amazing memories. Who else is one of those people who snaps lots of photos, digitally files them away and never ever goes back to hit print. Me! Me! Me!

However, there is something special about holding a printed photo in your hands. It's real, just like the people and times that magically appear on the photo paper. A printed photo adds tangibility to forgotten places, people and projects. When our memory fades, it's all we will have left to remember the good and crazy stuff. 

Today's project is to carve out 10 min and create printed photos of great memories. I'm going to try Parabo Press. They are offering 25 square prints for free for first time customers with promo code "FIRST." Shipping is an additional cost. I'm going to order some personal photos but also some photos of Create & Change projects. The photos will be great inspiration to see the good and crazy of each and every project.

Get ordering and let me know how the photos turn out. See you tomorrow!

Day 87 - Hoppy Easter everybody! As I have mentioned many times before, holidays are big in our life. It got me to thinking about all the different ways holidays effect us and why they are important to celebrate. It seems like everyone I know is in transition. It occurred to me that spring is a transition in itself. Spring is the start of something new but it's also about saying goodbye to the old. It's about starting new customs but savoring the past traditions. It's the only season that celebrates reformation.

Today's thinking brings me to today's project. Pull out your note book and write down all the old traditions that you have celebrated in the spring. Think of ways the past has influenced how you celebrate a holiday. Now, take a few minutes to write down and create a new custom. Now go and celebrate at least one past tradition and the newly created custom. 

Here are a couple of old traditions we celebrate every spring.

Here are two new customs we will celebrate every spring.

What do you think? Does celebrating old traditions and creating new customs create a transformation in you? Either way Happy Easter folks! I gotta get back to eating my gigantic chocolate rabbit.

Day 86 - Hey folks. Keeping up with the trend of failures this week, my SLR camera stopped working right in the middle of taking photos for today's post. After 3 hours and two hardware stores, the good news is the camera for now is fixed. The bad news is the cool post about decorating eggs using salt could have been way better had there been time.

Shot On An I-Phone 5 And Retouched In Photoshop. A Lot.

Here is where I could stop and say technology failed me and there is no project for today. I could throw in the towel and go to bed but in the words of a Home Depot commercial, "Let's Do This!" I promised a project everyday for 365 days so bear down and let's see if we can salvage this eggcellent project.

Today's project is to decorate eggs with salt. Here are the items needed:

•  Wilton® food coloring
• hard boiled eggs
• salt
• a paint brush
• rubber gloves (if you want to avoid stained hands)
• thick paper or an old cloth to protect work surface
• egg carton for drying eggs

Step 1: Put on the gloves if using. Paint the eggs with the paint brush and the food coloring. Sprinkle with salt.

Step 2: Let dry 24 hours in an egg carton.

That's it! It's easy, a little messy and it makes jewel tone spotted eggs. 

Well, in the words of Annie the musical "Tomorrow... Tomorrow...There Will Be A Great Post Tomorrow...It's Only A Day Away!" See you tomorrow kids.