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Happy Days Are Here Again!

Don't you just love HAPPY DAYS? I don't mean the classic sitcom Happy Days...I mean truly "Happy" days! You know...those days when you just can't stop smiling...those days when you're like...I just "love" my life...those days when everything just falls into place.

Well, they are my favorite! This past year I have had many sad days but I always tried very hard to find something happy or beautiful in every day...to have good thoughts and good feelings! This is how I survived.

As Rhonda Byrne says in The Power, "To change your life all you have to do is tip the scales by giving 51 % love through your good thoughts and good feelings!" This is what I have been striving for...just making sure I "tipped" the scale every day.

I have to share with you that the "power" in practicing this is truly amazing!

Just yesterday I was having one of those "Happy" days...it had followed many other "Happy" days...I was thinking on my way home from work that I wanted to post something on Facebook about how "Happy" I was and how lucky I am for where I am at in my life...I felt compelled to share this with my friends and family. My children are amazing! My grandchildren are precious! My mom rocks! My friends are awesome! And I have been blessed with absolutely fabulous clients!

Just after I was thinking this my phone buzzed...my daughter Ashley had posted on Facebook that her and her brother were going to participate in a challenge..."100 Happy Days."  and wanted to know if anyone wanted to join them. Of course I immediately commented on her post...

Absolutely!

Then I posted to all my children and grandchildren letting them know how "Happy" I am that they are in my life." Thinking about each one individually makes my eyes sparkle, my lips curl up on the ends and makes my dimples come out!

Oh Happy Days!

So today the three of us started the challenge today! I challenge all of you to take the challenge as well! We are super excited about this! We really do have a lot to be "Happy" about...We really do have a "Beautiful Life!"

We have each other! That's what matters most! 

Live Beautifully,

Jennifer Elaine

Just Breathe

And so it begins....After 10 dark months of denial as to where I ended up. I've learned to accept that we create our world through our prolonged thoughts and feelings...now, this was a hard one to swallow! How could I have manifested this? I'm a designer and a Realtor...Really Jen? I didn't want to live in a trailer! How could I have brought this upon myself. One thing is for sure. When I left, I knew I had to...I wasn't sure why...I just knew in my gut that my son and I needed to be free...even if it meant living in a trailer. However, today as I write this I can proudly say that I have accepted that this is where I need to be! Inhale...Exhale...

Life Got In The Way

So here I am almost 5 months after my last post….what happened to the time? 

Well...it goes like this…

I was ready to start tearing into the Phase 1…it was the morning of “D” day (demo day) Then it hit me as I flexed my hammer heavy arm to demolish a laundry shelf…No…not the shelf…not the hammer…although by the end of the day I was wishing it was the hammer…

It was my life that hit me!

As excited as I was to delve into this project… supplies purchased, tools tuned up, and yes…even a new bottle of wine…

It hit me like a HAMMER…

I didn’t really want to be redesigning a TRAILER!

“Really Jen, is this what it has come down to? You should have known better? You should have made better decision by this age…not to move in with a man before marriage! Not to let your guard down! Not to trust anyone with your heart… let alone your son’s heart!

What the hell is the matter with you, Jen? You had your own home! You had it half decorated when you moved in with that asshole! Really, I expected so much more from you!

WTF are you doing demoing a shelf in a laundry room that isn’t even a fricken room…it’s a fricken spot you pass in a hall! What the HELL is going on here!”

That was the anger I had for myself…then it turned to him…

“Really J, f-ing really! We had nothing wrong….we never fought…we were best friends…we spooned every night and talked for at least an hour…what the HELL happened? Why did you all of a sudden just reject your family? My son and I are not the only ones in shock…both our families are…God, I hate you J! It has been 7 months and I still cry daily…nightly…We weren’t broken…yet you broke us! I CAN’T WRAP MY HEAD AROUND THAT?”  

As I uttered those last words, I crumbled to the floor and lie there sobbing in a pile of rubble and dust...That was the beginning of a very dark time for me. Here I thought I had been through the darkest…

Man was I fooled! I was fooled by a man! This was going to take some time!

Anyway…I plugged away demolishing, plastering, painting and laying down floors…

To sad to write but just enough gumption to keep working on our “Little Hell Hole” -- as my son dubbed it!

The design work did start to cheer me up as I have this affection with walls! I love turning them into art! But, when I was finally ready to write…that’s when Life Got In The Way…some of it was dumb luck the other was a beautiful thing…A blessing!

First, my computer was sick for over a month…then one of my beautiful daughters moved home with her beautiful little girl and just last week she gave birth to another beautiful little girl! This was a clearly beautiful and I didn’t mind it keeping me away from my writing. But, boy is my son is out numbered!

Maybe, this is the universes way of assuring my son won’t turn out like the majority of men out there…insensitive to the needs of women and children. My brother had our mom and 4 sisters and it really helped shape him! I think men that grow up without strong, loving, heartfelt women just don’t have what it takes to understand the needs of a woman and children as well as men that do. Note to self: If you EVER…and I mean EVER, contemplate dating again make sure the man was surrounded by women growing up…and they must have been strong, loving, heartfelt women…as not any woman will do!

Trust me…I just went through it…a cold mother will F-up a man like there is no tomorrow! You’ll end up with a cold, heartless, soulless man!

Although life got in the way, I have some cool projects to start showing you…

Venetian plaster walls,

Homemade wall paper,

Lathe strip flooring and a pallet wall…

But, that’s just a few of the things I’d like to share with you. I also managed to pull myself together through the dark days to cook once a week for Blog Cooking Thursday’s.

I’ll share with you our good eats!

Here’s a sample of what’s to come: Mushroom risotto served with grilled leeks drizzled with roasted red pepper vinaigrette pared with a bottle of pinot noir...And yes simple but delectable deserts like Nutella No-Bakes! Yum!

I look forward to sharing with you!

Live Beautifully!

Jennifer Elaine

Lessons in Trailer Living

Hi All!

I was planning on posting on Tuesday morning but woke to find my pipes were frozen!

• Lesson #1 - Never trust heat tape and insulation!!! 
• Lesson #2 - Always leave the water running a trickle when the temperatures drop! 
• Lesson #3 - Pay close attention to the wind chill especially when you live in a mobile home! 

So...you can imagine how disappointed I was…this was to be demo day! I had worked hard all weekend relocating our bedrooms to the spare room and the living room so that I could start the wall prep on our rooms and the hall as well as demo the existing laundry shelves.  The last thing I wanted to do was to crawl under my home, which shook when the wind whipped, and wield a blow dryer. I wanted to get this project started!

After 3 ½ painstakingly cold hours, 3 breakdowns, and my barrage of verbal trailer trash, we thawed the pipes out!!! My son, Francis, was so excited he couldn't stop yelling! Me, I was frozen like a Popsicle, so I went straight for a hot bath! I actually ran the bath water 3 times and still had goose bumps…and mind you I had the trailer thermostat set to 76! Of course, Francis warmed up in an hour. Finally, 4 hours later, I was starting to warm up but only after making hot wings and having some Jack Daniels in my coffee!  (I was going for warming up from the inside out! J It worked!) Then, after dinner we decided that we deserved a reward for all our efforts! We had just downloaded a movie, when I discovered that my furnace had quit firing!

OK…so I think the furnace not working just about pushed me over the edge…I knew it wasn't empty…I  just put $600 in fuel in it last week. But, how could it be broken? 6 weeks ago I had the service man out to fix it twice – total damage $440! Let me tell you, I had to take a deep breath when the serviceman came to the door. I didn't know whether to hug him or hurt him! So, I just patiently told him what had happened and went and started watching “Lara Craft - Cradle of Life” with my son. I picked that movie because I wanted to see a woman open a can of “whoop ass” on a man! LOL

Well…The verdict was in…It was the nozzle! One of the many parts I had just paid to replace on my furnace and it was just past its 30 day warranty! However, my sweet serviceman replaced it for free anyway only charging me $89 for the house call. I’m not sure if it was my sad story, my cute smile or the fact that when he was here to fix it last time, on the eve of Thanksgiving, I buttered him up with a bottle of homemade kahlua! He only charged me $40 that day! 

• Lesson #4 – Never have a serviceman work on your house when your not home…that is what happened on the 1^st service call I made…I left a cold house to go to work and came home to a warm house and an even hotter bill -  $400!! Hey, I’m just saying, if you’re cute and have a sad story - it may save you some money!

So, after a day like that…the start of the demo could not have come any sooner! I can’t wait to tell you about it tomorrow!

Live Beautifully,

Jennifer Elaine

PS  The pictures are coming! The blog is so BEAUTIFUL and the trailer so UGLY that I couldn't bear to put up all the before pictures right off the bat. I will post pictures tomorrow starting with the first project -How to Remove Your Trailer Charm! I will be posting lots of pictures of the individual projects but, until I have a room done I won’t show the before pictures. I want to show you the before and after pictures together. I will do this for at least the first couple of rooms. I want you to see my work before you just see an ugly trailer and run. Trust me, I wanted to run. In fact, the day the pipes froze I almost loaded up the car and drove off into the sunset...with Francis of course!

The Plan - Phase 1

Hi All!

Today begins Phase 1 of my “Trailer Trash to Treasure Diva” Project – I will be starting with my bedroom, my son Francis’s bedroom, the hall and laundry area, my studio/office and the dining room. 

So…first things first… I come from a background in a commercial construction management so I can’t work room by room on some things. It is much more efficient to work in order of components i.e.…patch and repair all walls, prime ceilings, paint walls/wainscoting, remove nasty old carpets, install new flooring, install new light fixtures, paint/create new furniture, sew curtains, create art work and stage for photo shoots. Get the idea?

As mentioned in my last post, the reasons I chose these rooms for Phase 1 to make the quickest design impact and for self healing. I’m taking a 2 month hiatus from my friends, family and most of my life. There will be no babysitting, no entertaining, no kids sleeping-over, no helping others out, no talking about my X and no going out to dinner. It is going to be just my son and I with our blank canvas and art supplies aka trailer, building materials, supplies & power tools! I’m smiling just thinking about it! Sounds like fun doesn’t it?

I am making a couple of exceptions to the 2 month hiatus: the granddaughter Monday’s, the new granddaughter due in 3 weeks and a weekly cooking lesson I’m giving to  my niece, Chelsea Elise from Bellissima Body Works, in exchange for a massage. Hey, I’m going to need some relaxation and some adult conversation! Also, I will be in my office on Friday’s and available for clients on an as needed basis – Just another reason why living in a trailer is so depressing…I am a PA Licensed REALTOR and my home cost $11,000!

I pissed some of my family and friends off by taking the 2 month hiatus. They didn't understand why they should suffer not seeing us because I couldn't get my crap together. But, in the end they all understood that this is what I need to do to heal. You know, maybe I should have named the blog…Trailer Therapy! J

As always, thanks for joining me on this journey!

Live beautifully!

Jennifer Elaine

Visit My Facebook Page!

Check out my new Facebook page Mud Hut Design Studio, where I will be sharing great design ideas from all the best design sources on the internet as well as my own work from this blog and my past design work, home staging and event planning projects! Enjoy!