New Routines

I've taken to jokingly referring to myself as "the happy homemaker."  I'm not certain about the accuracy of the statement.  I do work pretty close to full time (my school work keeps me at about 36 hours a week - enough to keep me eligible for health insurance, but not so much that being a student and a mother becomes overwhelming)(at least not this semester.)  But then, aren't people who make dwellings into homes "homemakers"?  I cook and I clean and I keep chocolates in the candy bowl, so therefore I must be a homemaker, right?

I'm getting up earlier now that school is in session, and I find that keeping the same schedule every day makes getting out of bed earlier easier.  So by noon today I had done and put away two loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen, and dusted the bedrooms and the living room.  Thank you RockStar. You're awesome.

I gotta say: I was pleased.  I hate cleaning as much as the next person, but I do love when everything is neat and tidy.  Thank you, Mom.  I was paying attention.
When I was done I decided to try to get inspired. I watched a couple of Mercy Tiara process videos.  I absolutely love watching her videos.  I love that she fast forwards her videos and stays on point.  She's really good at explaining her thought process and different things she considered doing, and how she makes her decisions.  She's also got a great photography set up (very important for me) and a good voice.  Plus, she's Canadian, so I like to play a drinking game for every time she says those cute Canadian oo's, like in "about".

And then I was inspired and deflated all at once.  I want what the cool kids have. Kits.  I want the gosh darn kits.  I want new stuff delivered to my door each and every month.  I want the Simple Stories cute newsprint paper with the fun, colorful hearts.  I want the whale stamp, even though I haven't been to the beach once this summer and the only thing I could use a whale on is ...  nevermind.

So then I put on my big girl knickers and decided that I have plenty of everything I need to scrapbook.

So I made a page.  And it's funny that I watched two of Mercy Tiara's videos to get inspired and used nothing that inspired me:
I didn't stitch.
I didn't stamp.
I didn't layer.
I didn't use vellum.
I didn't use multiple photos.
I didn't use adorable newsprint paper with adorable, fun, surprising colored hearts.
I didn't hand journal.
I didn't even fussy cut.

Although, she did use a "I ♥ summer" title thing, that I inspired me to make the "NEW R♥UTINES" title.  And that worked out great, because when Kerig looked at it later he said "New buttons??"  Oops.

So yeah.  What does any of this have to do with being a happy homemaker?  Or the better question - given that this is a scrapbooking blog - is what does being a happy homemaker have to do with the layout. Well, nothing, I suppose.  But if you stretch it, I love our new routines. I even like cleaning our little apartment.  And cooking, even though I've always said I've hated cooking.  (Which is why, Mama Du, I will never make homemade granola bars. ;))  All these new routines are making me happy these days.

Yeah. I know.  I want to throw up a little, too.  Give it time. ;)

Thanks for stopping by!