Love yourself truly, you deserve it.

I think it should be required that everyone has a list of things that make themselves happy. :D

Here's a list of how I love myself:

*Go Barefoot! This is my favorite thing to do. I can't tell you how good it feels when my feet feel grass, sand, or water under them. Dig your toes in a little, wiggle them around. Find your balance and just stand still. Its very grounding, which is healthy to do at least once a day. Its freeing, don't you think your toes deserve a good stretch and some fresh air? Come on go do it, stand barefoot in the grass for even just a minute.

*Yoga in your own yard. I have been doing this since it became warm outside. It goes hand and hand with the barefoot thing. It feels so much more amazing to do yoga in the sun, fresh air, and peace of outside noises. (even though i live right by two major highways, traffic is a peaceful noise to me.) Really breathe in as you stretch it out.

*Snuggle a pet. I'm not saying go to the zoo climb in the cage and cuddle up to a lion, although I wish I could. Go cuddle your dog, cat, rat, bunny, snake or whatever you have.. And if you don't have one of those. Well go snuggle a friends pet. I babysit 2 puppy pit bulls, a couple times a week. The are my second loves. :) You deserve the unconditional love a animal can give.

*Write yourself a list of why you are amazing. You know of you are, don't lie to yourself. ;) I know you are amazing! What is it that people always compliment you on?

*DANCE! Dance around like no ones watching. Just dance.. Move! (personally I go with belly dancing) my personal favorite place to dance is in the rain.

*Listen to your favorite music. Don't do anything else. Just listen. Belt the lyrics out if you need to. Just be fully engulfed by your favorite sounds.

*Go to your favorite restaurant and pig out or you can even do it at home. Now don't try this everyday, you'll be broke and 100 lbs heavier and you will be mad at me. lol Don't deny yourself a amazing meal. Just eat. Taste your food, enjoy it!

*Take a long bath. Put some music with no lyrics on, lavender oil and vanilla bath salts are favorite mix for the tub. You'll be relaxed,  clean and smiling in no time.

*Call your best best friend and vent out whats keeping you from loving yourself, I bet they will give you some spectacular reasons! Make sure to return the favor!

*Don't get out of bed today! Lol. This ones amazing. I think once in a while you need to refuse to leave the bed, and your pajamas, collect everything you'll need for the day into your bedroom. No obligations, just blankets and pillows!

*Now do the opposite, - Get all dolled up for no reason! Makeup, jewelry and a cute dress. Get beautiful for you and no one else! Put on that dress you never wear because its too fancy and strut around in it. Give yourself a fancy new hair-do! Playing dress up made you happy as a kid, why can't it now.

*Get crafty and make something special for yourself. Presents for yourself are always awesome and well deserved.

*Most important, give yourself a break! You deserve it. Some down time, alone time to thank yourself for working so hard. Do nothing, lay around, close your eyes. be at peace with yourself. Take a break from thinking and doing. Just be! Don't forget you deserve a break.

I don't know if any of these will work for you. But they are what I do to lift myself out of those ruts I get myself stuck in. Really these should all be done at least once a week. Don't forget to appreciate yourself daily! Its good for your health!

Love, 

Mer

Live More - Day 1 - Buy Fresh Flowers

Day #1

Tuesday, 9/3:  Buy Fresh Flowers

At first glance this may seem simple enough, but don't underestimate how easy it is to push this off. I have this as your first challenge because buying ourselves flowers is a a great way of saying "I'm fabulous, I work hard, I'm beautiful, I deserve this." Don't wait till tomorrow, go buy yourself some flowers today.

- LMWLChallenge.com

Lime green flowers to make my smile all day!

I encourage you to join in!

go here: LMWLChallenge.com to sign up, you won't regret it!

<3,

Mer

September Challenge! Join in!

Tomorrow I will be starting the Live More Weigh less 28 Day Challenge. Which has nothing to do with my weight for me, but a very awesome happiness challenge and I really encourage you all to join in! There are no weekend challenges, and she sends a list weekly so you aren't getting bombarded with emails every day. :) I've been reading Sarah Jenk's blog for a couple months now, she focus' on the weigh issue, teaches you ways to love yourself, and is very motivating. A very beautiful soul. I really encourage you go check out the challenge and her blog! 

Will you join in?

<3,

Mer

Things I've Learned From My Cat...

This Is Loki! The love of my life. He's taught me So much, here's a few things..

....

Zen is possible anywhere. Even the kitchen floor.

Downward dog and cobra yoga poses are necessary to do after waking up, entering a new room, or to just show off. (and very hard to catch on camera)

Take naps when you need them, even if that's every 20 minutes. 

Meditate frequently to zone out the everyday noise.

Wear what makes you feel good in your own fur! Don't worry about the nay sayers!

Snuggle with your best friend, significant other, spouse  or children as much as possible! Just snuggle!

Not every battle is worth fighting, some times you gotta hide under the bed/ In the bed. 

Sleeping on your back, stretched out, and taking up as much space as you can is very comfortable.

Can't we all just get along?

Find a great secret spot, alone time is a necessity!

Be amused easily.

Always be observing and learning. (Even when the humans are sleeping..)

What have your pets taught you?


<3,
Mer & Loki

I can be anything I want...

Professionally I'm a hair crafter,
I've always been a dreamer and writer..,
A couple times a week I'm a obsessive crocheter and yarn connoisseur,
Other days I'm a clay sculptor,
Some times I'm a seamstress,
Always a artist of many mediums.

Usually the best finder of lost things.
For two months out of the year I am a haunter.
I am close to crazy cat lady status. 
I recently became a dog sitter and pit bull supporter.
My beautiful garden taught me how to be a gardener.
I can be a cook when I put my heart in it.
Some days I read enough to be a student,
When I share all I know, I become a teacher.
I create laughter like a comedian.

I will always be a kid at heart.

But my most favorite thing that I get to be is happy. :)

You can be anything you want to! I'd love to hear about who you become daily!

<3,

Mer

Keeping Wonder Alive #2

+We have a new family member, which means another model for me to practice my photography on. Expect to see much more of this little guys.

This is Rufus, hes 6 weeks old and is a silver black pure lab.

+Second happiness is Sinister Haunted House is built!! and now the fun part, decorating!! Not many other haunted houses can say their actors build from the ground up and decorate their own haunt. We are really dedicated. :D My room is almost done and Im so happy opening day is almost here! 

+Also this has given me the the excuse to reconstruct some thrift store clothing and buy wool for new dreads! 

Rules and buttons for my Keeping Wonder Alive Challenge can be found at the bottom of *This Post*

How was your Monday? Did you find any wonder over the weekend?

<3,

Mer

Keeping Wonder Alive

The grass is not always greener on the other side, sometimes your grass just needs more water. We all need to be reminded from time to time, to stop and look at what we have a little more. Stop complaining so much about what we don't have or why what we have isn't perfect. Truly appreciate what we are given every day. I mean look at what you are doing right now, you are clicks and key strokes away from creating a relationship with some one on the other side of the world! You are most likely sitting under a roof, and if not you are outside on a lab top or phone right now. So no matter what you should at least have something right there to be thankful for. :) All I'm trying to say is it is a great feeling when instead of wanting, you realize how much you already have and can be thankful for it. I think its a habit that should be implemented into your daily life. 

(Finding beauty in weeds.)

I have always had a challenge for my self to find the beauty in things others don't. I some how managed to keep some of my childhood wonder. I call it 'Peter Pan complex'. But from time to time I forget to be thankful for this view. Especially on days I miss my mom, I need to remember what I do have to keep me smiling! 

I decided to create a challenge for it! At the very least three times a week I will post what I am thankful for, made me smile, filled me with wonder, or just plain made me happy! :) 

The inspiration came from when I was doing a reiki study at Shanti Time Yoga. I had about 6 reiki sessions and was asked to keep a journal during  The last question of the journal asked "What was the joy or hope of your day?" I loved this question. It always gave me a reason to remember and smile every day. The reiki and journaling helped me get over some fears and built up tension I was holding onto. I tried to continue writing down the happiness of my day in my calender but have failed at keeping up with it.

Than yesterday I read a article at Money saving mom's blog, which lead me to this post: How I'm Learning to Replace Whining With Gratitude by Crystal from Money Saving Mom. Which brought back the idea of writing down my daily happiness. :D

So today I am officially starting the "Keep Wonder Alive" challenge. Feel free to join in if you'd like!! 
Rules are simple. 
+When you have time, write, draw, or take a picture of what made you smile that day. 
+Post it in your blog, twitter, flickr, facebook, instagram, or however you share your love with the world. 
+If you want link back to me and leave me a message in the comments with a link to your blog, please do! 
+There is no end date to this challenge. Do it for as long as you want, when you want, how you want! 
+And most important just enjoy your unique adventure. 

Here are the buttons, if you would like one!


 <a href="http://lifeisbutaadventure.blogspot.com/2013/08/keeping-wonder-alive.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo keepingwonderalivebutton_zps011672fd.jpg" border="0" src="http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac191/MerMrh/keepingwonderalivebutton_zps011672fd.jpg" /></a>

<a href="http://lifeisbutaadventure.blogspot.com/2013/08/keeping-wonder-alive.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo keepingwonderalivebutton2_zps63612904.jpg" border="0" src="http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac191/MerMrh/keepingwonderalivebutton2_zps63612904.jpg" /></a>

***

Things that made me happy today... 

My boyfriend actually going in Joann Fabric's, with me. Patiently waiting as I touch and awed over almost every skein of yarn.. (I have a yarn addiction...) That's real love, when you are dating a car guy. lol 
&
I did the hair for a client, who was standing up in her mom's wedding today. So her hair was very important. I was very nervous, but in the end she said she loved it! 

<3,

Mer

August Break Day 23 - Sacred

Sacred... My mothers cats eye ring. Same color as her eyes. I hardly ever take it off my finger.

<3,

Mer

Join in, Theres still time!

Haunt Season - My favorite time of the year.

!!Warning this post contains links and pictures of haunted house actors, nothing in the pictures is real, just costumes, but it may creep out, scare, or disturb some! Parental advisory!!


Now let me explain about what "haunt season" is to me since it will be mentioned many many times and I want to try to explain why it's so important to me. Hopefully show you another side, that doesn't seem so dark and scary. Haunted houses are a big thing in South East Michigan. For the last 8 years I have worked at haunted houses, as a actor/ entertainer, scaring and entertaining all that try to make their way through the attraction.

I know its not your usual entertainment, but once a year I get to feel truly FREE! Free to explode, yell with all my heart in it and run around without real care. Its very therapeutic and extremely fun. Being 5'2 not many people are ordinarily intimidated by me. But when you are this creature with a mask, you can stand up to anyone, face the world with no fear, and no one will dare challenge you. It strengthens your will power, opens your eyes to a new way of being. You can become very animistic when doing this. Learning to step lightly, listen very intensely, and always be aware. By the end of haunt season I am free of stress, fears, and any sadness I was holding on to.
Another plus about haunt season is it comes in the beginning of fall. Fall in Michigan is a beautiful! The weather starts cooling off, the air smells amazingly crisp, and the leaves start changing color (at least in Michigan). Kids start going back to school and the world goes back into its quiet rotation. 

I highly recommend it to everyone. :) So here's my story...

To be honest before I ever worked at a "haunt" I was scared to enter haunted houses. I didn't like being surprised. But I loved hay rides! You are in a safe bubble of friends being pulled on a wagon. The actors have to come to you, its not very personal or in your face. I've never gotten scared by a haunted hay ride. They are just a very fun outdoor ride. Great for families. Haunted house on the other hand make you walk to the actor, they can be in your face, so you have to have the courage to move yourself through the usually dark corridors. 

My first gig was a haunted hay ride a half hour from my house, when I was 20. I loved it. Besides the cold night time temperatures that taught me to layer your clothes, it was the best job at that time. Even after a couple small injuries, rude people, and bruises, I loved everything, but the end of season chilly weather. The cold makes running around less sweaty but It also freezes up some of your motor skills plus I have asthma.  It is a lot of psychical work, but when you get those reactions its well worth it. :)
I joined ScareFest for a little bit, but again it was a hayride, long hours in the cold for few scares wasn't worth it to me after doing it for 2 seasons. So I went about my normal life... lol

But I missed the feeling it gave me.... When Scarefest closed for half a season, a group of us found Haunted Hallows in 2008. That's where are dreams of what haunting could be were truly born. We had a haunted hay ride AND barn. They gave us artistic input of the attraction and our characters.  It was on a large farm land, with chickens, goats, and peacocks, this is important because I love animals. It was a nice bonus! Plus I finally got to work inside! The barn was over 100 years old! and truly haunted (yes I'm one of those ghost believers lol). I worked in a small twisting hallway, pretending to be a mannequin and well, it worked. I loved peoples reactions, scared, surprised, some even laughed! I was once tipped $20 for scaring a guy so good. But all of them were entertained some how. Our rule has always been, "if you can't scare them, make them laugh." and well we found how to truly do both at once.

We became a family of haunters. The owners cooked for us every night we worked and let me tell you, food taste so much better when its home cooked and you really sweated for it! We would gather after around bonfires and tell stories our personal night. It never felt like work, and the money was just a bonus. I made the most amazing life long friends from this and a lot of my stress and tension from the craziness of life had lifted from my shoulders. I always feel so centered and at peace after... 

***

Than after second season, December 9, 2009, the barn burned down. What burned it down is still unknown exactly... We were devastated, it destroyed our dreams. We really put so much heart into that barn. the owners went separate ways and the family was torn again.

Than came Sinister. Where I reside now. We are small group of entertainers now. We all have many years of experience under our belts and what we have grown into is amazing. Many customers don't make it through, very few leave disappointed. We even have a decent following. We have all grown together, are characters are so unique and we promise to give every single customer that walks through our door a very interactive, personal, experience. This is out passion and there is a lot of heart and energy behind it. I have even found a ways to use my yoga and vertical challenge (being short) in my act. Exercising and entertaining in action!

In September 2011, my mother passed away. It was very hard on me, I lost all motivation, felt so lifeless, and alone. But I still felt that excitement for haunt season... not only would I be constantly surrounded by loved one, I would be able to scream, yell, get all the anger, sadness, and hurt out! And I really believe it helped on this long healing journey. I don't feel I would have made it through the beginning of my new journey as well Honestly I believe my mom hung on as long as she could and knew the perfect time was before haunt season and right after I graduated Paul Mitchell. She knew what it all truly meant to me. But that's just my opinion.

 Like I said I was originally afraid of haunted houses. I never really expected to fall in love with such a unique venture. But once you step into that world you see things very differently. A lot less scares me now. Haunting really built my strength, gave me a goal for keeping in good shape and healthy (you need all the energy you can get to do what we do), helped me find a great group of like minded friends, and helped me find a great release for my pain of loss. Everyone has their way of releasing it, this is mine. 


Hopefully I opened your eyes a little to my world. This is a small taste. I plan to take many pictures and have many more stories for you very soon. Haunt season is almost upon us, September 13! If you live in the Detroit area I encourage you to come out to Sinister Haunted House!  Morel of the story, I highly recommend you work at one at least once. Make up a character, bust out the old clothing, get creative and create a alter ego who can't be scared, broken, or intimated!  There are also many family friendly ones if you aren't into the scaring aspect.

Tell me about your haunted house experiences, what do you dislike or love? I'd love to hear your opinions and stories!

Thank you for reading!

<3,

Mer