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Life In General

Life In General

It’s Official, We’re in Stores – Durham Makery

I’m so excited that I can hardly contain myself! Many of you know that Andy and I have been making candles on the side. This morning, we officially have them for sale in a store, a REAL store! It started when he came home one night with a huge cardboard box, an apology, and the hope that I’d jump on board. Little did he know that my mom and I used to make soap and candles at home on those nights we wanted to be crafty. Which worked perfectly in his favor. I was not mad, I was excited.

What started out as a hobby quickly turned into us trying to make a small business out of it. I found myself at 10 at night asking Andy if we could make a batch or two of soy candles, for fun, not because we had to. And our kitchen quickly was overcome with mason jar-filled soy candles, tins, and large pillar candles. We’ve actually had a really good response from friends, family, and Etsy for our scents. Then, a friend of ours suggested we take a look at The Makery in Durham. It’s this super cute store in downtown Durham that sells locally made jewelry, pillows, cards, soaps, and more. It’s cluttered, but in a home-y kind of way, like your crafty aunt’s house. We went in and fell in love.

We ended up connecting with the owners, who had me come in and show them our candles and scents. They were just as excited as we are about our scents, which made me super excited. Someone else liked our homemade crafty candles! So much so that they are going to be carrying our candles in their store!

They’re also going to be carrying our wooden signs. We only dropped off four so far at the Durham Makery, but my hope is that we can make some from customer suggestions. (I’m never 100 percent sure if everyone else loves the sayings and colors I pick for our reclaimed wooden signs.)

So that’s the big news. We’re selling our candles at The Makery in Durham. Please stop by and check out the shop if you’re at UNH or in downtown Durham!

Our candles online (and more):
Lilac
Macintosh Apple
Nag Champa
American Lumberjack
Lemon Verbena
New Hampshire Woods
Rain Water
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April 25, 2015 by
Life In General

Be Grateful

Sometimes you just have a bad day. Things don’t seem to be falling into place. Little things throw you off, and you feel like you’re continuously falling down a rabbit hole. Except there is no Wonderland at the end, and you’re not going to any soiree with an infinite amount of tea cups and crumpets.

No, things just feel like they’ll never get better. The bank account seems forever dry, the bills never end, and you question if you’ve made the right choices in life. Did you end up living where you wanted? Are the people who surround you, ones that make you want to spend every minute with them? Did you visit all the places you wanted to see?

Are you happy?

And that’s the moment when you have to stand back and take a breath. Remember that things could always be worse. People could treat you worse, your job could be worse, you could not even have a roof over your head, and you could be questioning where your next meal is coming from.

The answer, and I find this hard to do often, is this: Be grateful.

Take stock of what you do have:
a loving boyfriend/girlfriend
family
children
pets that love you
clothes that keep you warm
food at your dinner table
your health
your youth
your wisdom
your ability to learn
your speech
your sight
the ability to dance
to sing
your sense of exploration
breath
LIFE.

Live. Love. Enjoy.

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April 8, 2015 by
Life In General

You are the Monica Geller of Your Group When

I am Monica Geller. Yup, I freak out about little things, I like when the house is clean, and I love cooking. I’ve always kind of known this. So when Friends came back on Netflix, all I wanted to do was watch every episode of the show with Andy. Which meant, that first, I had to get Andy to watch Friends.

Turns out, it wasn’t as hard as it seemed, all I had to do was get him to listen to Chandler’s jokes a few times and he was hooked. He thought Chandler’s jokes were funny, probably because they’re the same kind of jokes he tells all the time. (Now Andy is pretty sure he’s Chandler, which ultimately makes sense if I’m Monica.) It wasn’t too hard for me to figure out why I’m Monica, I just had to have the same personality traits as her, like accepting that:

1. You’re Over-Competitive

Monica Geller

 

Yes, Monica has a tendency to be a little over-competitive: Thanksgiving football games, allegedly throwing a plate during Pictionary (“rules help control the fun”), and gambling away an apartment because she thought she knew her friends better than they knew her.

2. A Compulsive Cleaner

Monica Geller

There’s nothing wrong with wanting a clean house/apartment, is there? Sometimes the ceiling really does need to be Swiffer-ed, and the vacuum cleaner needs to be dusted.

Ask Andy, who has found me at 2 a.m. doing dishes, washing down the counters, and reorganizing the bedroom because I cannot sleep. I have my random spurs where everything will be a disaster (read as Monica’s secret closet), but overall I get antsy quickly when things seem (to me at least) to be out of order.

3. Have a Tendency to Take Charge

monica

Perhaps it’s just having a type A personality. Or wanting everything to go exactly right, because let’s be real, no one is going to get it right, you just have to do it yourself. Or micromanage.

4. Because You’re Always Right

MonicaGellerRight

 

Like I said, Type A personality.

5. But You’re A Really Good Friend

MonicaGellerFriend

And will bring over the wine and margaritas for a girl’s night to talk about anything. Even if it seems silly.

 

 

6. And Put Their Needs First

MonicaGeller

When a friend needs your help, a shoulder to cry on, even a favor, you’re there. No questions asked.

7. You Have a Bit of a Temper

jellyfish

 

But only when something really horrific has happened….

 

8. And Let’s Not Forget, You’re an Excellent Dancer

MOnicaDance2

MOnicaDance3

 

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March 14, 2015 by
Life In General

The Most Adorable Winter Proposal

It took me 28 years to see my first proposal, in person, live, and not replayed on Facebook via a video. And it was the most emotional minute and a half of my life.

I wasn’t even expecting to get emotional, but I knew it was coming. You’d think having a forewarning (and being a player in the big moment) would have prepped me for the moment. On Sunday, we were planning to go visit the Ice Castles in Lincoln, New Hampshire so our friend could propose among the rainbow of illuminated icicles. But surprise, New England’s icy cold temperatures and blistering winds stopped us from traveling at all. Seems we would have been blown off the road according to the weatherman.

And that’s how we found ourselves on some back roads, car loaded up with cameras (film and digital), and convincing our friend Samantha that yes, we wanted to go take pictures in the blistering cold. I’ll admit, it really was fun to look at all the barns and hidden homes on back roads. I might have even jumped in a snowbank at one point just to prove that we should all get out of the car at some point.

Then the moment happened when Neil asked if he could take a picture of Andy and I. And that was our cue. I snuck my phone in my jacket, grabbed my lumberjack of a boyfriend, and posed for a photo. And then we swapped, made Samantha get out of the car and take a picture with Neil.

That’s how I found myself, standing on a back road, my cellphone up, recording the moment, and Andy snapping photos like there was no tomorrow. My fingers were freezing, tears running down my face, and this warm ball of joy in my heart. I kid you not, it was the weirdest, happiest feeling to watch two people that love each other take that next step in their lives.

Congratulations guys! I’m so proud to have been able to able to experience your winter proposal and this moment with you both!

 

engagement

Get the mugs at My Country Story here.  Photo by Perfect Perceptions.

 

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February 17, 2015 by