Hitting the re-start button and welcoming 2015!

2014 was a crazy year for me. It had some up points but over all it was one stress filled year! I welcomed my Hubby home from deployment number 2, moved 3 times, had a lot of personal decisions to make about my future that were all accompanied by a lot of stress and on top of that I had some personal health issues that were not fun to deal with. Well now that it's 2015 and I have done the typical New Years reflection and have found that non of my 2014 goals were met! Partially because of the things listed above but mostly because of me. So...I have decided that this year is the year I make my goals achievable. 

My goals for 2015 are to not judge myself so harshly. In order to help me do that I want to get back to my yoga practice where I feel calm and centered. This feeling resonates into the rest of my life when I am actively doing yoga. It inspires me to take the time to enjoy life's beautiful moments and live in the present.I feel if I can get back to that I will judge less and enjoy more.  

In the process of being less judgmental about where I am in my life and what I am doing I have also decided that its truly time to throw myself back into this blog! I started it as a way to share myself with the world and it quickly became a place where I constantly judged myself because I was so worried about how I would come off. Well no more! I am over my writers block/self shaming and I am here to share and hopefully inspire. 

Below I have re-posted my first blog post about why I started this blog in the first place. I hope your read it, I know its lengthy but I hope when you read it that you get inspired too to hit the re-set button on a past project you put aside and never completed. Happy 2015 everyone and welcome back! 

Creatively Yours, 

Christina Marie

A little story about a blog

If you were to ask my Mom she would say "I'm my fathers child" because this passion to make things and the ability to visualize my projects started at a young age and it mirrors my Pops way of thinking. See my Pop, who isn’t so much a Mr. fix-it as he is a Mr. build it, taught me a lot about tools and not because he felt he had to... but because I would wander down into his wood shop in the basement and ask to help him. I started out learning how to use a good old fashion nail and hammer, then his belt sander and hand sander. By the time I was 10 I also knew how to use a table saw, jig saw and drill press. He always had neat little tricks to teach and he owns about every wood working tool you could ever want. He and I never actually didn't build furniture together but I helped him build shelves, shed doors and bird houses. He did however built me beautiful doll furniture when I was a child... but it was always a Christmas surprise so I never got to help out on those projects. 

Me and the man responsible for the maddnes...My Pop! 

Fall Reflections

It's dark out and the wind has stopped. I open the door to let Mack out and there is a cool air seeping in. I slide on my slippers, wrap my sweater tightly around me and step outside. The air is cold and I can almost smell frost. This cool frosty weather evokes a sense of magic. There's something about that first smell of frost on a falls eve that excites me and also makes me long for home.  

Welcoming Home My Soldier

A Soldiers home coming is an experience I simply can’t explain in words… if you have been through it you know what I mean. But I’ll do my best. When your soldier comes home it’s better than any Birthday or Christmas you ever experienced. The anticipation that builds creates a feeling of nervousness and excitement that almost torments your soul. And when that moment comes… When you finally embrace your soldier it’s more wonderful than you could ever have dreamed or imagined possible! My Mother in-law experienced this event for first, and hopefully last, time this deployment. She said “it was like the day he was born and I finally got to see and hold him for the first time.” I thought that was beautiful and although I don’t have children, I can only imagine that is the best way to sum it up.
Three weeks ago I got to welcome my Hubby home again, for the second time in less than 3 years. At 4am (the time stamp on these photos is wrong so please pay no attention) my Mother in-law and I packed into the car and drove the 10 minutes to the airplane hanger where the ceremony was held.

MOVING

Yup I'm moving again....BUT I cant wait cause the Hubby is coming home!!!! So I will be offline for about a week or two until I get settled and get internet. I promise I'll be back with some great posts for you all in mid-March! For now stay positive and get creative. All my best!
Creatively,
Christina Marie

Finding quiet moments and balance for a stress free life.

Stress is apart of our every day lives. We wake up stressed out and go to bed stressed out. Many of us don't even recognize stress anymore because we are so use to it. Many of my friends right now are planning for new babies, moving, house hunting and weddings planning which are good stresses but still stress. Some are dealing with the lose of loved ones and others are dealing with personal illness. We all have stress! For me these past 8 months have been very stressful with my Hubby being deployed. So I wanted to share a few things that I personally believe in and try to do to in order to find those quiet moments and have balance and as much of a stress in my life as possible.
1) Breath in the fresh air… I’m not talking about just stepping outside and going, "ok I took some breaths!" and then running back inside to do your job or project. I’m talking about going out for a short or long walk, I take my dog every day, and really taking time to breath and look at nature. Really breath deeply. Maybe find a beautiful spot and stop there. Take in 5-10 really long deep breaths. Look at the beauty around you the green grass or the blue sky…Even here in New England when its cold and grey, I look at the bare trees all dancing together in the wind and I reflect on how strong they are for living through the hard winter months. To me no matter how ugly or crazy the world gets nature is always peaceful and grounding and oxygen is always my drug of choice.

Old Fashion Baby Shower

Baby Showers can be a hard thing to plan. You want your baby shower to represent and honor the Mother to be. I knew I had to throw my Sister a baby shower she would never forget. Something elegant but not too stuffy. The hardest part for me was trying to plan it from hundreds of miles away. Luckily I have some amazing friends that helped me pull it all together in the last 24 hours. It turned out beautifully…or at least I think so what do you think?

Long time no blog...Sorry!

Wow its been a long time since I have posted! I apologize but being head of decorating committee for our battalions semi-formal, preparing for a deployment and traveling twice to celebrate with family for a wedding and a baby all in the last two months will keep you very busy. Time has been escaping me left and right. But you see it all started when I originally stopped posting, for what was supposed to be a week, because the Hubby and I had finally finished the new desk! (photos to come I promise). I unplugged the whole office in hopes of getting it all set up before I left for Boston... but like all good intentions it went haywire! Needless to say with the office torn to pieces I left for Boston. It was a surprise trip to see my sister for her birthday, well that was the small reason. The big reason was to celebrate and  congratulate her on expecting her first baby this fall!!!! I am through the roof excited for her and her Husband! I'm also selfishly excited that I get to help her decorate and design the nursery!


Sisters! (My sister on left and Me on right)



But the day after I got back the Boston Marathon bombing happened and of course that was no time to be setting up the computer and blogging about nurseries and cute babies on the way. I couldn't help but be glued to the TV for the first 24 hours. Boston is New Englands city and it hit pretty close to home. I had a few family members and friends that I was concerned for but thankfully everyone I knew was fine.



This amazing photo ran in Boston Magazine . The shoes used to create the image were all worn by runners that day.
Click on the link to read the full story.

Soon after I became head of decorating and layout for our Battalions Semi-formal,which ate up a good 3 full days of my time but was worth it in the end we had a wonderful time. 48 hours after that We were on the road to NJ for some much needed vacation/family time before my Hubby's upcoming deployment. Not to mention that his older sister was getting married! Which I will soon blog about because the venue was amazing and very inspiring!

So as you can see I have been truly busy but I have loads to share now that I'm back! Including a post about my hunt for a headboard that has been going on for 8 months! But I'm happy to report that while in NJ it was finally caught! I promise to post lots more on all these topics soon so check back in. As always thanks for stopping by!

Creatively Yours,

Christina Marie

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Welcome to The Marie Project!

I want to thank you for stopping by. I thought we should get to know each other first before we start sharing our DIY tips and secrets.  So I’ll start... I’m Christina Marie, I am a passionate DIYer, I am a dog mom to wonderful beagle named Mack and a very happy wife of a very wonderful Man who I will lovingly refer to as Mr. Marie lol. I grew up in a wonderful town in New England. My amazing husband puts up with my constant brain storming and sharing of ideas. My family and close friends are my number one cheering section and are super important to me!  Even this blog title has two special meanings. It's in part to honor my Nanny (whos name was Marie) she sadly passed away when I was 20. Also this blog title is a bit of an inside joke between me and an old dear friend. She claims that everyone’s middle name should be Marie because it’s easier to remember (as her and I both share this middle name) So by following her philosophy I hope to be able to share my projects and a bit of advice with you all in order to make you all DIY Maries LOL!

 

OK so those were the basics.... Now as you may be able to tell from my blog title I love a good DIY project and in my mind life is one big DIY project. Whether it is in life or in the garage building a desk, you have to have a plan to start with... but you have to be willing to tweak and adjust that plan when its not working. Some times in life or in a project you try something and it just clicks! And sometimes you have to try 3 or 4 times (or try many different ways) before it come out being what you want it to be. However just like in a life, the difficult DIY projects that you stick with til the end usually end up being the most rewarding.