In celebration of my Aunt's birthday, she, my mother, their mother and father, and I visited The Morgan House for Sunday lunch.
I love The Morgan House. It's beautiful. It's never the same place twice. And, it's inspiring!
Every time I visit The Morgan House, I'm inspired to start making! I want to sew, knit, paint, scrapbook, and bake.
I could spend $6 on a lovely piece of wood with phrases I'd love for wall art, or I could go forest my own piece (or visit the hardware store, or the wood pile out back) and cut costs and build a truly home-made piece of art.
Employing my talents and making something that I will cherish a lot more than something I picked up somewhere. Though picking things up somewhere sometimes is the best you can do, no harm done.
I just wish I had more TIME!!! TIME! That's all. Is that too much to ask?? I guess so.
Live each day like it's your last I suppose. I'm going to go make something, I'm not sure what yet, but I'll let you know....
Monday, January 17, 2011
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Creative Organization
Throughout my schooling career, I've gone from one extreme (keeping every paper ever written on) to the other (throwing it all away on the last day of classes) and I've found that keeping them is a better idea.
Such a better idea in fact that if I had kept papers from a particular class I would have a degree requirement met that I now have to take another course to meet, since I'm a transfer student. I don't have the documentation to prove that class meets the requirement anymore, or proof of my work. Great.
So, what to do with all those papers?
For the first three weeks of my winter break they were dumped out of the dividers in my backpack onto my desk and the floor, making it impossible to use my computer or printer without first shifting the piles. Not a good system.
Never fear though, I knew I'd come up with something.
In light of my money saving kick and looking to the question "Is there anything I already have that can do the job of something I'd go buy?" I came up with this:
Cereal boxes.
The "Family Size" boxes are wide enough to fit letter size paper, and I also slid in my spiral notebooks and flash cards for each class. By the way, check out all those flash cards! Pshew!
I could have gotten more creative with re-labeling the boxes, but for now this will do.
I've gotta get to eatin' for a box for this class...
And the class I'm going to "try again". I really need to keep those papers.
I think I'm going to end up with a lot of cereal boxes full of paper...but I only have 3 semesters left to go (hopefully)!!
Such a better idea in fact that if I had kept papers from a particular class I would have a degree requirement met that I now have to take another course to meet, since I'm a transfer student. I don't have the documentation to prove that class meets the requirement anymore, or proof of my work. Great.
So, what to do with all those papers?
For the first three weeks of my winter break they were dumped out of the dividers in my backpack onto my desk and the floor, making it impossible to use my computer or printer without first shifting the piles. Not a good system.
Never fear though, I knew I'd come up with something.
In light of my money saving kick and looking to the question "Is there anything I already have that can do the job of something I'd go buy?" I came up with this:
Cereal boxes.
The "Family Size" boxes are wide enough to fit letter size paper, and I also slid in my spiral notebooks and flash cards for each class. By the way, check out all those flash cards! Pshew!
I could have gotten more creative with re-labeling the boxes, but for now this will do.
I've gotta get to eatin' for a box for this class...
And the class I'm going to "try again". I really need to keep those papers.
I think I'm going to end up with a lot of cereal boxes full of paper...but I only have 3 semesters left to go (hopefully)!!
Monday, January 3, 2011
Happy New Year!
With 2010 drawing to a close and 2011 here, time seems to be moving faster than ever!
Typically, I'm not one for new year's resolutions. This year, however, the new year has me thinking about what I want to do with my time here on Earth. I suppose it was just good timing, because I was thinking this way anyhow, but the new year makes it a trend.
At the risk of sounding cliche I have been pondering to myself "why are we here?". Not in an attempt to ask that question again, but because I'm thinking on a somewhat spiritual, goal-oriented level. If I died tomorrow, what could I do today to make myself proud of who I chose to be?
Personally, I feel our purpose as humans is to somehow enhance the world. To make it a better place, for either our human race or other living things, and to leave positive impacts in the geological record. What? Can that be done? I'm not sure, but that was just a good ending to my list. We humans are very egocentric, and while we certainly have negative impacts on the geological record, I don't know if we can have necessarily "positive" ones. Sounds like a good debate for this semester.
For myself, I hope to raise a strong family, and instill in my child(ren) values and skills that will allow him (them) to do the same. Though I don't believe procreating is our sole purpose. I do think that those who don't have children are just as valuable to the history of humanity and our purpose here on Earth. There are other ways to enhance the world than just procreating. Helping causes for the environment, human or animal rights, or simply by inventing things, innovating newer ways to do things, or building infrastructure are all ways that humans can take part in our purpose. If, that is, I am correct in our purpose.
So back to my thoughts on "who I choose to be"...I want to be a great cook, have a clean home, a strong career, and be an involved, devoted mother. In some ways, I already have achieved these things. But I can always do more.
I have this procrastination about me. In my classes I seem to think that "I'll learn that later" and put things aside. In my goals for cooking, I seem to think it will just come eventually. In the clean home aspect, I seem to be the same way...I'll do a little here and there but intermittently enough that it doesn't seem to make a difference.
To change this, I've started to "carpe diem" and do it. Now. I have to do these things NOW to be the person I want to be, NOW. I am creating meal plans, making myself DO IT and cook. Have dinner planned, so that at 6:30pm I'm not frustrated (again) with a hungry family and no idea what to make.
I want to volunteer at the elementary school-reliably. I have to DO IT. Like it's a job, that can't be missed. Not if I'm tired. Not if there's laundry to be done. Not if there's snow on the ground. DO IT.
Now, don't get me wrong. I do cut myself a break here and there. I'm trying not to stress over things too much, but I have to start somewhere with these goals and the image of myself. I have to make myself do these things now or I'll spend the rest of my life waiting, wondering where the time went. I do sit here on the computer some each day, but less than I used to. I'm out living my life that I want to write about on here, instead of looking at things I could be doing, I'm doing them. To some extent. There's always something else, always somewhere else to go, something else to make, etc. And that's ok. It's all about priorities.
So, this new year, I'm not so much making "resolutions" as envisioning a whole package of who I want to be, through what I choose to do with my time. I won't make it there by 2012, 2015, or 2020 I don't think, because I'll always be evolving. My goals will change. My interests will change. But no matter what happens, I hope to leave a positive impact, through my child(ren), through my career, through my friends. And ultimately this happens through my choices.
What will you choose to do today?
Typically, I'm not one for new year's resolutions. This year, however, the new year has me thinking about what I want to do with my time here on Earth. I suppose it was just good timing, because I was thinking this way anyhow, but the new year makes it a trend.
At the risk of sounding cliche I have been pondering to myself "why are we here?". Not in an attempt to ask that question again, but because I'm thinking on a somewhat spiritual, goal-oriented level. If I died tomorrow, what could I do today to make myself proud of who I chose to be?
Personally, I feel our purpose as humans is to somehow enhance the world. To make it a better place, for either our human race or other living things, and to leave positive impacts in the geological record. What? Can that be done? I'm not sure, but that was just a good ending to my list. We humans are very egocentric, and while we certainly have negative impacts on the geological record, I don't know if we can have necessarily "positive" ones. Sounds like a good debate for this semester.
For myself, I hope to raise a strong family, and instill in my child(ren) values and skills that will allow him (them) to do the same. Though I don't believe procreating is our sole purpose. I do think that those who don't have children are just as valuable to the history of humanity and our purpose here on Earth. There are other ways to enhance the world than just procreating. Helping causes for the environment, human or animal rights, or simply by inventing things, innovating newer ways to do things, or building infrastructure are all ways that humans can take part in our purpose. If, that is, I am correct in our purpose.
So back to my thoughts on "who I choose to be"...I want to be a great cook, have a clean home, a strong career, and be an involved, devoted mother. In some ways, I already have achieved these things. But I can always do more.
I have this procrastination about me. In my classes I seem to think that "I'll learn that later" and put things aside. In my goals for cooking, I seem to think it will just come eventually. In the clean home aspect, I seem to be the same way...I'll do a little here and there but intermittently enough that it doesn't seem to make a difference.
To change this, I've started to "carpe diem" and do it. Now. I have to do these things NOW to be the person I want to be, NOW. I am creating meal plans, making myself DO IT and cook. Have dinner planned, so that at 6:30pm I'm not frustrated (again) with a hungry family and no idea what to make.
I want to volunteer at the elementary school-reliably. I have to DO IT. Like it's a job, that can't be missed. Not if I'm tired. Not if there's laundry to be done. Not if there's snow on the ground. DO IT.
Now, don't get me wrong. I do cut myself a break here and there. I'm trying not to stress over things too much, but I have to start somewhere with these goals and the image of myself. I have to make myself do these things now or I'll spend the rest of my life waiting, wondering where the time went. I do sit here on the computer some each day, but less than I used to. I'm out living my life that I want to write about on here, instead of looking at things I could be doing, I'm doing them. To some extent. There's always something else, always somewhere else to go, something else to make, etc. And that's ok. It's all about priorities.
So, this new year, I'm not so much making "resolutions" as envisioning a whole package of who I want to be, through what I choose to do with my time. I won't make it there by 2012, 2015, or 2020 I don't think, because I'll always be evolving. My goals will change. My interests will change. But no matter what happens, I hope to leave a positive impact, through my child(ren), through my career, through my friends. And ultimately this happens through my choices.
What will you choose to do today?
Thursday, December 30, 2010
After Holiday Update
As usual things have been a little crazy around here, especially with Christmas preparations. I have (as usual) been meaning to update.
I don't have any how-to's today, just thoughts to share.
After using the credit card for Christmas gifts and a hotel reservation, I'm determined to save money. First, obviously, I have to pay off that credit card bill (don't worry, it's not outrageous, but debt is debt).
Recent events in our lives have made me start looking at houses (again, don't worry, we're not moving, plans changed) but it helped me see how conceivable it would be to buy a house in the next few years, after I have a career started. To get there, I'm trying to save, save, save!!
Now, I'm not attempting my "week without spending" again, but I am looking at want vs. need and if there is anything I can do to substitute things that we already have for something I'd go buy ordinarily.
Today, I needed cold cream. I have been using good old Ponds to wash my face and I love it! I didn't want to spend the $5 for the little container, but I cleaned out my wallet and found an old prepaid Visa that expires tomorrow. It still had $11 on it, so there you go, cold cream bought! Without spending money unnecessarily.
While I was at Target for the cold cream, I found a shirt that Aidan didn't honestly need, but I knew he would love it.
It was on clearance, $4.88. He loves "Woody-Buzz". So much in fact that last night he threw a fit when I took off his other Woody shirt, so he slept with it on top of his pajamas. (I paid $2.50 for that one! Clearance again.)
I very, very rarely buy things full-price.
Another money (and sanity) saving plan of mine is to rotate Aidan's toys. He has more than he ever plays with but he hasn't really outgrown them intellectually yet, so I decided to put some away for a few months and then rotate them. His birthday is in June so he's got a great balance between gift times.
"I'll look in the ads for the best deal on tubs!" I thought. I love buying things, it's true. Then I realized, since we buy diapers at Costco, we have huge diaper boxes. I don't need to buy a tub. Sure a box isn't as pretty and isn't as water-proof, but there's at least $5-10 saved right there.
I have another purchase to make, while it's on sale: yarn. I promised Aidan's brother I'd make him an afghan. That may bet a little pricey, but if I buy it while it's on sale and use a coupon I may save a few bucks.
It is tempting to spend a few dollars here and there (lunch out anyone?) but having something big in mind (like buying a house or actually having savings built up) helps me stay on track.
I don't have any how-to's today, just thoughts to share.
After using the credit card for Christmas gifts and a hotel reservation, I'm determined to save money. First, obviously, I have to pay off that credit card bill (don't worry, it's not outrageous, but debt is debt).
Recent events in our lives have made me start looking at houses (again, don't worry, we're not moving, plans changed) but it helped me see how conceivable it would be to buy a house in the next few years, after I have a career started. To get there, I'm trying to save, save, save!!
Now, I'm not attempting my "week without spending" again, but I am looking at want vs. need and if there is anything I can do to substitute things that we already have for something I'd go buy ordinarily.
Today, I needed cold cream. I have been using good old Ponds to wash my face and I love it! I didn't want to spend the $5 for the little container, but I cleaned out my wallet and found an old prepaid Visa that expires tomorrow. It still had $11 on it, so there you go, cold cream bought! Without spending money unnecessarily.
While I was at Target for the cold cream, I found a shirt that Aidan didn't honestly need, but I knew he would love it.
It was on clearance, $4.88. He loves "Woody-Buzz". So much in fact that last night he threw a fit when I took off his other Woody shirt, so he slept with it on top of his pajamas. (I paid $2.50 for that one! Clearance again.)
I very, very rarely buy things full-price.
Another money (and sanity) saving plan of mine is to rotate Aidan's toys. He has more than he ever plays with but he hasn't really outgrown them intellectually yet, so I decided to put some away for a few months and then rotate them. His birthday is in June so he's got a great balance between gift times.
"I'll look in the ads for the best deal on tubs!" I thought. I love buying things, it's true. Then I realized, since we buy diapers at Costco, we have huge diaper boxes. I don't need to buy a tub. Sure a box isn't as pretty and isn't as water-proof, but there's at least $5-10 saved right there.
I have another purchase to make, while it's on sale: yarn. I promised Aidan's brother I'd make him an afghan. That may bet a little pricey, but if I buy it while it's on sale and use a coupon I may save a few bucks.
It is tempting to spend a few dollars here and there (lunch out anyone?) but having something big in mind (like buying a house or actually having savings built up) helps me stay on track.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Christmas Scavenger Hunt
I'll trust you can keep a secret...we're giving someone special an 18 speed bike for his tenth Christmas!! I'm excited! I hope he will be.
I decided instead of trying to wrap the bike or just having it out in the open in the house I'd have him go through a scavenger hunt to find it. Hopefully this will make it more memorable for him, though I still remember when I got my first 18 speed bicycle, without a scavenger hunt involved then.
To give it a little more pizazz I decided I'd kind of decorate the clues a little, I went with a pirate/scroll theme.
Blackadder ITC is a great font for this kind of stuff, it screams pirate. I used a peach/tanned colored paper in 8.5/11 size to print my typed up clues.
In Microsoft Word you can create multiple columns for type on one sheet. I changed the page set-up to landscape and used the columns button to divide the page in two. I didn't want a huge sheet for each clue, so 1/2 sounded pretty good.
From there, I used scissors to trim the edges and give them a "scroll" type look. I considered burning the edges for a while....but that was risky and I wanted something that was (mostly) fail-safe.
Once I had all 14 clues cut out I noted where each one went and rolled them up. After tying them I made a little note of the clue number on the outside, so I could put them where they go without messing things up or undoing the scrolls.
He'll probably be disappointed at first when he sees this little box is all that's left...
...but it contains clue #1, leading to...
The big gift!! I kind of led on that it's too big for us to take out of town with us, but also said it wouldn't make sense to carry all of his gifts back and forth, on top of not having room for his brothers' things and his at the same time.
I'm getting excited!!!
Oh yeah, I made that bow. Pretty fancy, for what it started looking like.
I just took some ribbon with wires on the edges and folded it over on itself several times, back and forth, making the length a little smaller with each layer. Kind of like the old printer paper that was connected and had the holes on the edges....I'm too young to know what those machines were called off the top of my head. But like that, folding continuously to make layers.
Then I stapled the center of the folds together, underneath the top layer which was folded into a circle so there wouldn't be an end in the middle. I twisted the wrong-side-out layers right-side-out and twisted and shaped them into the circles seen above. Perhaps one day I'll take photos of this process, but my fingers were borderline frostbitten by the time I finished my work.
Oh and I tied on the tails afterwords. It seems to jazz it up a little.
Hopefully I'll get around to making more gingerbread cookies and sharing the recipe (and modifications) I've found with you, but I try to be a little flexible with Christmas. I have obvious goals like shopping and wrapping, but one batch of cookies (ok two, I've frozen some oatmeal ones ahead too, just in case) and store-bought rather than home-made cards just might have to do, in favor of sanity and sleep.
So far, wrapping a few more things tonight and making cookie dough tomorrow is the goal. We'll see how successful I am...
I decided instead of trying to wrap the bike or just having it out in the open in the house I'd have him go through a scavenger hunt to find it. Hopefully this will make it more memorable for him, though I still remember when I got my first 18 speed bicycle, without a scavenger hunt involved then.
To give it a little more pizazz I decided I'd kind of decorate the clues a little, I went with a pirate/scroll theme.
Blackadder ITC is a great font for this kind of stuff, it screams pirate. I used a peach/tanned colored paper in 8.5/11 size to print my typed up clues.
In Microsoft Word you can create multiple columns for type on one sheet. I changed the page set-up to landscape and used the columns button to divide the page in two. I didn't want a huge sheet for each clue, so 1/2 sounded pretty good.
From there, I used scissors to trim the edges and give them a "scroll" type look. I considered burning the edges for a while....but that was risky and I wanted something that was (mostly) fail-safe.
Once I had all 14 clues cut out I noted where each one went and rolled them up. After tying them I made a little note of the clue number on the outside, so I could put them where they go without messing things up or undoing the scrolls.
He'll probably be disappointed at first when he sees this little box is all that's left...
...but it contains clue #1, leading to...
The big gift!! I kind of led on that it's too big for us to take out of town with us, but also said it wouldn't make sense to carry all of his gifts back and forth, on top of not having room for his brothers' things and his at the same time.
I'm getting excited!!!
Oh yeah, I made that bow. Pretty fancy, for what it started looking like.
I just took some ribbon with wires on the edges and folded it over on itself several times, back and forth, making the length a little smaller with each layer. Kind of like the old printer paper that was connected and had the holes on the edges....I'm too young to know what those machines were called off the top of my head. But like that, folding continuously to make layers.
Then I stapled the center of the folds together, underneath the top layer which was folded into a circle so there wouldn't be an end in the middle. I twisted the wrong-side-out layers right-side-out and twisted and shaped them into the circles seen above. Perhaps one day I'll take photos of this process, but my fingers were borderline frostbitten by the time I finished my work.
Oh and I tied on the tails afterwords. It seems to jazz it up a little.
Hopefully I'll get around to making more gingerbread cookies and sharing the recipe (and modifications) I've found with you, but I try to be a little flexible with Christmas. I have obvious goals like shopping and wrapping, but one batch of cookies (ok two, I've frozen some oatmeal ones ahead too, just in case) and store-bought rather than home-made cards just might have to do, in favor of sanity and sleep.
So far, wrapping a few more things tonight and making cookie dough tomorrow is the goal. We'll see how successful I am...
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Unique Shopping
Welcome, welcome to the holiday shopping season! Oh wait, that started a month ago according to retail decorations. I'm thankful right about now that I'm done shopping for Aidan and his brothers' Christmas gifts on my list, now just the adults and some home-spun gifts to finish off the rest of those I typically shop for. If you're on my list and reading this, I hope you won't be disappointed if your gift turns out to be cost-effectively home-made. Oh and here's a clue, if I do buy it retail it probably won't be featured here; I'm big on surprises.
I finally started catching up on my magazine reading (or skimming) and cracked open the December/January issue of Country Living. They have a wonderful section full of unique gift ideas titled "fresh picks". I checked a few of the sources out and found some really cool venues.
Sharing this here serves a few purposes:
Next, twine has interesting items, ranging from candles shaped like radios to trivets shaped like toast. Pretty nifty stuff.
Orange and Pear sells items for the home, to wear, for baby, personalized things, etc.
An old favorite for unique items (not featured in CL this month) is the Container Store. They can be a bit pricey but if you're looking for a gift that stands out they have a few cool ideas this year. I like the straw glasses and the re-usable sandwich and snack bags.
Fireworks has a category called "Indescribable"! How cool is that? They are a bit on the pricey side, though.
I hopped on over to Karma Kiss. Among other things, they feature 310 items for $15 or less. It's their largest category. Check them out for anything from toys to wine openers that evolve into trivets.
And last but never least, Mxyplyzyk has a unique site design itself, let alone their products. They sell cups with noses printed on them, so when party guests drink from them they put on a new appendage. Tee-hee. Among other crazy-cool things. They're just cool all over.
I finally started catching up on my magazine reading (or skimming) and cracked open the December/January issue of Country Living. They have a wonderful section full of unique gift ideas titled "fresh picks". I checked a few of the sources out and found some really cool venues.
Sharing this here serves a few purposes:
- I love to share and discuss
- Creating this list allows me to recycle my magazine and not have stacks piling up (ok, I still have stacks, but less in them because of this).
- It serves as another blog post to keep me updating!
Next, twine has interesting items, ranging from candles shaped like radios to trivets shaped like toast. Pretty nifty stuff.
Orange and Pear sells items for the home, to wear, for baby, personalized things, etc.
An old favorite for unique items (not featured in CL this month) is the Container Store. They can be a bit pricey but if you're looking for a gift that stands out they have a few cool ideas this year. I like the straw glasses and the re-usable sandwich and snack bags.
Fireworks has a category called "Indescribable"! How cool is that? They are a bit on the pricey side, though.
And last but never least, Mxyplyzyk has a unique site design itself, let alone their products. They sell cups with noses printed on them, so when party guests drink from them they put on a new appendage. Tee-hee. Among other crazy-cool things. They're just cool all over.
Inspired yet?
I am.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Discount Shopping
While waiting at the Dr's office for several routine appointments in the last month, I stumbled upon a few articles with recommended sites for shopping discounts. Naturally, I didn't want to pass up this chance to save some money, so I clicked them into my phone's notebook application and saved them for a later date--it's just taken me a while to get on here to report them.
Most of these are online discounts, but I believe some you can print and use them in-store.
Promotional Codes is a site with infinite ways to search their collection of discounts. They also have links to other savings, at more industry-specific sites, like Chegg, a text-book renter. I have more of these to share later.
Done a little bit differently, RetailMeNot, provides coupons in which you find the one you're interested in on their site and follow the link to your choice of retailer's site and shop from there. I guess it's like magic, I haven't actually tried it out yet. Worth looking into, though!
Next, I found a site for free shipping at all kinds of online retailers. FreeShipping.org
You may have already heard of this one. I had, but I hadn't looked it up yet. Looks pretty cool. RedPlum.
I'm not sure exactly how ebates works, but you create a membership and they give you 2% back on all purchases. Or something like that. Check it out if you're interested in it.
Another find for those of us who weren't given great eye sight is Zenni Optical. Glasses start at like $7/pair plus $5 shipping. Particularly for those like me who wear contacts most of the time, this is a big money saver. My last pair were broken by the little guy so I'm looking forward to my order I (finally) placed with them. I've gone months with my glasses held together by electrical tape and a wire tie.
If you do use Zenni Optical, you'll need to know your glasses prescription and the distance between your pupils. That's something your eye doc should have on file for you though.
Let's see...I started this post in August and have found a few more since then.
I haven't used this site yet, so I'm still not 100% about it, but I found it on Google and they have Cricut cartridges (and other craft supplies) pretty darn cheap at Oh My Crafts.
Oh, yeah, don't forget about Scholastic warehouse sales!! I really want to go to another one, but I don't know if I'd survive another 8 hours of straightening books again.
I'll keep looking and sharing what I find!
Most of these are online discounts, but I believe some you can print and use them in-store.
Promotional Codes is a site with infinite ways to search their collection of discounts. They also have links to other savings, at more industry-specific sites, like Chegg, a text-book renter. I have more of these to share later.
Done a little bit differently, RetailMeNot, provides coupons in which you find the one you're interested in on their site and follow the link to your choice of retailer's site and shop from there. I guess it's like magic, I haven't actually tried it out yet. Worth looking into, though!
Next, I found a site for free shipping at all kinds of online retailers. FreeShipping.org
You may have already heard of this one. I had, but I hadn't looked it up yet. Looks pretty cool. RedPlum.
I'm not sure exactly how ebates works, but you create a membership and they give you 2% back on all purchases. Or something like that. Check it out if you're interested in it.
Another find for those of us who weren't given great eye sight is Zenni Optical. Glasses start at like $7/pair plus $5 shipping. Particularly for those like me who wear contacts most of the time, this is a big money saver. My last pair were broken by the little guy so I'm looking forward to my order I (finally) placed with them. I've gone months with my glasses held together by electrical tape and a wire tie.
If you do use Zenni Optical, you'll need to know your glasses prescription and the distance between your pupils. That's something your eye doc should have on file for you though.
Let's see...I started this post in August and have found a few more since then.
I haven't used this site yet, so I'm still not 100% about it, but I found it on Google and they have Cricut cartridges (and other craft supplies) pretty darn cheap at Oh My Crafts.
Oh, yeah, don't forget about Scholastic warehouse sales!! I really want to go to another one, but I don't know if I'd survive another 8 hours of straightening books again.
I'll keep looking and sharing what I find!
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