Friday, April 30

059. Critter Craze

Craze does not even begin to describe how I feel about this Cricut Cartridge. Let me back track briefly to explain what a Cricut is. It's an electronic die-cut machine. It helps me make pretty things better and faster. I'll probably eventually post a picture of it. The cartridge gives it the info of what to cut, like a cd game for a computer and instead of buying a million die-cuts that can only cut one thing in one size. 

Anywho, back to now, lol. I have a new one that cuts cute things (mostly animals with ginormous heads) with faces. A part of my soul has died with happiness. I'm also easing my way into papercrafting (think scrapbooks and homemade decor), primarily card-making, atm. Combine the two and you have a bunch of really cute cards that are going to be ready to send out at a few days notice. I'm the type of person that still likes to write letters or notes or send cards, especially handmade ones when I can. It's a lost art form and like a mini party/ holiday when you get stuff in the mail and can keep it for posterity.

So... here are a few cards that I'm started to prep today. I'll add sayings and more decor on most and I usually don't share works in progress, but I am way too excited and proud and have felt a tad guilty about promising photos and not really producing anything. I didn't make as much as I would have ideally hoped today, but I was helping out with house hunting (a few offers were made today!), which I don't always get the chance to do and I find kind of fun. Man, this entry is full of run-on sentences, isn't it? Lol.

To celebrate today!

Just in case!

 Bunny!

 Wormy Apple.

Cupcake-aru!

Penguin!

Gila Monster-Dinosaur-Thing! Rawr!

Whale!

Koala bear!

Lime green Seal!

I have made a few others, but I'll keep them a secret until the said recipients... um... receive them? I tried to think of another word, but couldn't, lol. Like I said, I'm still kind of feeling my way through to learn the feel of paper quality and finding my style while trying new things. I'm really tentative about starting to collect too many embellishments before having anywhere to put them! And, you know, the whole money factor. Let's not mention that right now... >_> ... <_< ... V_V

Each card is on the same cream/ off-white color base so they don't seem so stark and harsh. Love, love, love it. Just another craft to add to my arsenal. I do so badly want some outside guidance/ support/ inspiration with this craft though. I need to take it to the next level and I'm tired of having to go at it alone. I can teach myself but there is always room for improvement and expansion and I want to have that sooner than later- gosh darnit! Lol. Do you see all those sweet faces?! Ugh! I can hardly stand it, but I know I should get sleep eventually so I can have enough energy to make more, lol. I have my priorities straight, don't I? Lol.

Yes, I do still cut out my own stuff, but this is a great help. Especially with writing. I'm a big fan of fonts and I can't do too many by hand. ... I actually only have one cartridge dedicated to a font that had come with my machine though. Lol, I couldn't justify getting a bunch of them seeing as how I'm just starting out. I wanted to go for versatility first. Luckily, this new love of mine comes with cute phrases. :D Soo happy with this purchase. Could you tell?

Alrighty, I need to stop now or I will just keep going. So, see you tomorrow! <3

Thursday, April 29

058. My New Love

I may or may not have promised some pictures of some crafts made with the help of my Cricut today... either way, no dice. I'm still working on the mini scrapbook (and by working, I mean patching up) BUT something I have awaited somewhat patiently for arrived in the mail today! Lol, I wanted to run home after the kids left to go play with my new toy! Not too many outdoor chores were done today because the wind gusts went up to 60 mph. That is especially no bueno when you're dealing with a ton of dust and cacti. Nope, no siree, lol.

So, I got to play all I wanted with it! I love it. Absolutely love it. It = my brand spankin' new Cricut cartridge called "Create a Critter" (Click on the 'Images' tab for a sneak peak!)! It's almost exactly my cutesy simplistic style with tons of animals and accessories and potential. I've been explaining how I've loved this cart as if it were my unborn child and that it has just arrived today! Hooray! I am so set die-cut-wise for some time now. Yes, there are other cartridges that I have my eye on (same dealio), and I would have a ton more if money were not an issue, but having all of these animals is a dream come true for me. Pairing it with my "Everyday Paper Dolls" (mhm) cart gives me tons of ideas and free reign over most projects I can think to do this summer. This is especially the case with any school-related projects I may want to prepare.

I met a new contact today that gave me great info that insinuated that I may have a dream job this fall! The earliest I thought I might find one was going to be next spring so this is mind-blowing news too. I just had a pretty darn good day today. It has reminded me that hard work and effort really does pay off every now and then. While at school today, since the kids were relatively calm, I was able to crank out a mini-craft project:

The book that was read today was called "My Spring Robin" and it was about a child that sought out a special robin friend who was returning with the arrival of spring! We thought there was a robin stuffed animal in the classroom stash, but couldn't find it in time. So, as the story is being read and the kids are trying to practice prepositions, a substitute duck stuffed animal with ears (Idk what to tell you) was being used instead. It was really confusing the kids, lol. So, I threw together the big robin for them to use and find as the child looked for theirs. Then, I went a little craft-happy and made a bunch of mini ones. I had no idea what I thought they might use it for, and I made more than there are students in both classes. I did end up giving one to each of the kids in one class. I actually got a few: "Excuse me! Excuse me! Thank you!" and hugs for it! They are so sweet sometimes that my heart just breaks. Lol, melting would just take too long, it just explodes and keels over from the thoughtfulness. It definitely makes dealing with the tantrums and scratches and snot-filled sobs so worth it.

Oh! And my little do-dads and habitat pictures I mentioned yesterday were laminated today! I feel so... legit (? lol) to have my work preserved like that, ha ha!

Well, I think I can promise some pictures tomorrow of some of my Cricut craftiness. I'm going a little card-making crazy because I have been dying to lately! And I'm greatly exaggerating the craftiness part because I know I have barely begun to scratch the surface of what I could do with the tools that I have already accumulated. Man, I wish it was easier for me to learn more. I've hit a point that creatively and mentally, I just need some in-person guidance. I'm working on finding it now, but I'm pretty impatient. Well, more so than usual. :P

Alrighty, until tomorrow! Can't wait to show you! <3

Wednesday, April 28

057. Ready To Burst

Just finished a pretty cute crafting project: My first mini scrapbook! It's still drying so I'm going to take pictures of it tomorrow. :D Sorry for the teaser. I went a little Cricut crazy today because my soul has been dying to and I felt that I've gotten enough of my actual responsibilities done for now. However, I do have some pictures to share today!

A sweet burst of color. 

There's yellow everywhere right now because of April showers! Unfortunately, one of the downsides to that is the massive onslaught of pollen attacking everyone's allergies. My eyes and sinuses are recoiling right now at the mere mention of it all.

Bloomin' Bright!


This cute little cactus right outside the front door has bloomed the prettiest little flower. Well, the flower is pretty much bigger than the rest of the plant, but the effort is greatly appreciated, lol. 

Sprouting like crazy. Bursting with color.

This is also in the front yard. I believe it's a Mesquite. The once barren branches have exploded with bright green! It feels like three to four weeks ago there was nothing on it, then tiny green buds, then a few leaves that sprung on the sides that the sun shone upon but didn't scorch, to this beauty here! I'm told that it will continue to explode until it's the bushiest shady spot to sit under during the hottest of summer days. Every other day, I'm still just weirded out and and stunned how fast it is growing its leaves. Silly Florida and it's lack of seasons.

Because my SO is one of the best!

Switched gears abruptly, didn't I? Lol. We were torn about what to grab for lunch in between errands today and for some reason, my preference of this sweet shop known for its philly's cheesesteaks was picked! I'm told it is part of the plan to fatten me up for the slaughter. Or something. I don't eat many kinds of food, but I do love what I do eat! This is a chickensteak sandwich with Cheez Whiz. Yes, you read that correctly. The SO finds it bizarre enough to be gross, but I adore it and have been craving it for... I think two months now. XD We either forget exactly where the place is or are never on that side of town. He even got a large order of cheese fries for us to share, to boot! Even though, I think it was kind of a con because I ended up attacking it after he had a only a few. 

Oh that reminds me of something hilarious that happened today. Well, it didn't happen to me, so I didn't find it as hilarious as possible, but still. Super early appointment this morning meant we were barely functioning and awake during the commute. We stopped by a corner store so I could grab a money order. I held open the door for an older gentleman and girl around my age. When I came back out and opened the door to get back into the car, the SO asks if I'm sure I have the right vehicle. Granted, I'm not the most aware of my surroundings (but that's another story for another day)- so I did pause for a second and think: 'Well, if I got the wrong car this time, then that means you're in the wrong car too...'- but he bursts into laughter. Apparently the girl that I had held open the door for had opened the door to our car. SO even watched her and said, "Can I help you?" as she got into the car and sat down. After settling down for a moment, she turned to look at him, gasped in horror, got out of the car, and got into the passenger seat of the same colored but completely different type of car parked next to ours. The SO was laughing so hard when she realized her mistake, he could hardly speak- that doesn't happen often! XD He pretty much laughed the rest of the way to our destination. Lol, so incredibly awkward, lol. I'm surprised I haven't done that yet. I've tried to get into the wrong car, but my uncertainty usually gives me enough time to realize my mistake. Or have someone I'm with point it out, either way. :P That poor gal though, she barely said anything she was so shocked when it hit her, but SO is probably one of the best/ safest people to do that with/ to, so that's good.
A continuation of yesterday.

This is what I worked on today, since there were no kids/ reason for me to go volunteer. These are meant to represent some of the ways that habitats are destroyed/ harmed/ threatened. A little construction person that looks like the head foreman of some logging company, a bunch of buildings that took the place of the wilderness (I only have the image of a hospital available... so I may have cut off the first aid flag and made my own smoke cloud... XD), a car and boat creating pollution, a bunch of stinky garbage, and a few animals that are supposed to represent the introduction of non-native species that greatly upset the ecological balance. May I just say how much I freakin' love my Cricut machine? I think these were a great mix of technology and my own creations and it was all incredibly fun, no matter how tedious I made the process. Saves me from poorly drawing it all. 

I've gotten quite a bit settled and taken care of today that has taken a substantial amount of pressure off my shoulders. I got that ridiculous "bill" taken care of for now and I have planned out a good portion of my life for the next 1.5 years, lol. Let's see if I can make it through that battle! Tomorrow another home improvement project should finally be finished and we're planning a surprise this weekend that I hope pulls through. If it does, I'll have some pretty cool pictures to post too! :P

Hm. I do believe that is it for now! Hope you enjoy the bursts of color like I am. Until tomorrow, <3!

Tuesday, April 27

056. Crushing Dreams

Hmph. I was planning to go to bed significantly earlier than my average. No such luck. Where do I begin? Eh, let's just do the media thing.

This is what happens when you place a pile of shaving cream on the table and add dashes of paint, briefly swirl it around, smash a piece of paper on the mixture, and scrape the cream off! The table is probably a lot cleaner this activity than it was prior. Well, both sessions did this and we/ I turned some pieces into this:

One of the nurses was out for personal reasons last week and they wanted to make a card for her when she came back! There were more pieces inside as well and it's actually a pretty hefty sized piece of work, lol. However, I had fun making it.

This here do-dad is exactly what it appears to be! A carrot top that has been submerged in nothing but water and sunshine filtered through a window. It has grow a bunch of white roots and the green sprouts on top just keep growing! I have no idea what it's planning to do and quite frankly, I don't think it knows either, but it's definitely doing a bunch of somethings! :D We're thinking about planting it in some dirt soon to see if that persuades it to grow more or maybe into a whole carrot again! Who knows?


Humor me and tilt your head/ screen to the side for now, whichever is easier. This is what I've spent most of my day working on, on and off. The kids are learning about Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling this week (yes, Earth Day was last week, it has been duly noted) and this included learning about endangered species. Keep in mind, these are pretty young kids so I didn't even consider adding plant species into this mix. It's still a work in progress, but I thought this was a nice start.

I found some websites with facts and pictures of a few endangered animals! It gave a brief biography about the animal and included snippets of its typical habitat and diet as well as its biggest threats. More and more species will be added as time/ years go on.

I feel like trying to explain the concept was pretty much crushing these kids' dreams. "Do you know what animal this is? Right, a tiger! You say you like tigers? Well, because people have been destroying its home and killing them to wear their fur or eat them, they are almost all gone forever!" ... It goes on with gorillas and cheetahs and black-footed ferrets and kiwi birds. I felt like such a butt telling them the facts, as if liking them and/or seeing them at the zoo (I understand the correlation between endangered animals being cared for in captivity) was leading up to the species' utter annihilation. Simplification failed. At least in my book, but some kids were started to grasp the concept of being careful so we don't hurt animals and that we need all the different kinds to help the environment!

This led to me wanting to make examples of different habitats so the kids could try to match the animals to their homes. I still need to make a cave-like picture before I'm satisfied. The next step that I'm going to work on is jumping onto my Cricut and cutting out items that will represent the harmful things that we're doing to these habitats that are destroying them and anything and everything that lives in them. Because you know we can't just halfway crush dreams. They must be crushed and obliterated like the Dodo birds. T_T. Sigh, lol.

Well, I'm pretty proud of those diagrams. I even made it all out of scrap pieces from class! Can you figure out what the habitats are? (Hint: Forest/ Woods, Mountain/ River/ Lake, Wetlands/ Marshland, Ocean/ Lake, Jungle/ Rainforest, Artic/ Antarctic/ Arid Desert, Grasslands/ Plains, and Desert/ Plateau. XD) I tried, I really did, lol.

Oye, I need to get to bed. It's a lot of hard work instilling young children with a sense of horror. Tomorrow is going to be quite the long day. Until then! <3

Monday, April 26

055. Hm? What Now?

Well... whatever plans I thought I had for myself today after finishing up at school were completely annihilated by the fact that I laid down to rest and ended up passing out and napping for most of the evening. :D Yay me! I knew that I was tired, but wow, not that much! Lol. I guess the body/ heart wants what the body/heart wants! I thought I caught up enough over the weekend to survive the week, but I was sadly mistaken.

This means that the pictures I took today will be apart of tomorrow's post! We're trying to plan some Mother's Day/ birthday things around the household this week, so wish us luck! We give it right back, I guarantee it. :P I've had a few more custom orders come in through the shop so that is going to definitely keep me busy this week, if not everything else, lol.

I'm also trying to save up and get into Stampin' Up! After watching all the goodies from My Pink Stamper (who personally responded to my email about her site! I feel so cool in such a geeky way! Lol!) and her past life as a demonstrator, I decided to try to get in contact with some of my local (and current) demonstrators. They seem to have great products in variety and quality, plus it could help me get to know more people, learn tons of new techniques, and continue to be inspired by others if I find the right guide for me! I'm super excited. It seems to be a similar deal with getting involved with Avon, Tupperware, or those lingerie lines- throw parties, be contacted by local people and go through catalogs, earn rewards for the work you put in, and have some extra income in the household! Maybe that is an aspect I could get into a few years down the road, right now I'm content with exploring and buying. :P

Ha ha, what a subtly cheeky post this has been! I'll keep it short and think of something more interesting to write tomorrow. Maybe. Until then! <3

Sunday, April 25

054. Testing- Testing




This is a post that's testing out my new kao ani cat-thing. I'm extremely rusty :( but thank goodness that one of the original tutorials I learned from is still up at Kao-Ani.com! It's actually pretty darn tiny, so I blew it up a little here- hence the blurry effect. I used to have a whole collection of kaos that I made from scratch back in the day. I still have the files saved, but it seems that it was such an old version that I cannot go back and edit them :( C'est la vie. I still things it's pretty darn cute.

--Update--
Haven't done an update addendum in a while. I'm probably not even using that term correctly. :D Well, various aspects of technology have sucked the energy right out of me so that's all I'm going to post today!

Until tomorrow, <3

Saturday, April 24

053. Coughy Crafting

My throat's not getting much better today. :( I'm not completely sick but it feels like I'm getting there, slowly but surely. Lol, I initially typed 'surly'. What a fun word. Anywho, I took it easy today in hopes that resting up while I could would help me get better sooner. I feel like I tried to make that sentence rhyme somehow and that it went horribly wrong, ha ha.

We started off today running errands that weren't my idea! Whoa, lol. I updated and re-refined my Etsy shop for the millionth time. One of these days I may be completely satisfied. :P I also decided to just sit and do some research into color trends and what-nots to try to inspire myself and keep from getting bored of using the same palettes and combinations that I know I like but also get tired of (just like everyone else does) seeing it over and over again. I haven't done a very good job at using spring colors because I guess I am just enamored with rich, bold, and bright jewel tones! I love 'em, but I really need to cut that out because it's keeping me in a colorful rut, lol.

So, for more inspiration (but more to keep me in a creative mood) I also started my own mini marathon of  watching My Pink Stamper videos! That's a link to Robyn's collection of videos via her blog, she also has a YouTube channel and Facebook fanpage. I love her style, it's pretty similar to my own and she is just awesome in a million ways. I watched another one of her live streams last night actually. The chat of 500 people drives me a little bonkers though. Yes, it's fast but I'm vaguely used to that, however! There are just some really selfish and downright annoying people that spam it during the broadcast. I know that happens pretty much in any large chat room, it's really been a while since I've been in those situations (I learned my lesson pretty early on). Last time I watched a live broadcast, I was so psyched and even joined in on the chat and realized it was pretty futile because I just ended up wanted to yell back at a certain dozen or so of people who kept asking irrelevant questions and demanding answers.

Funny how a few bad apples can spoil the bunch. Also, it's pretty funny how the older I get- the more things my mother is/ was right about. :P Lol. I pretty much always knew she was, regardless if I understood how, I guess it just really hits home once those situations come up. Anyways, I re-learned my lesson and decided to block that half of the screen with another window so as to not be terribly tempted to log on and blast inconsiderate people to kingdom come (I guess blasting them is a whole "two wrongs don't make a right- but three lefts do" deal, lol). It was much more relaxing for me and I got to enjoy all the goofing off that was involved. She's the one who introduced me to the Waterfall Card Technique that I've fallen in love with.

I made a few recently and I still cannot get enough of it. So, when I got the opportunity and honor to make a few bracelets for a friend's friend, I jumped at the chance to include a little something extra in the package: a handmade card!





The message is "Never Give Up Hope!" and "We Support You!" And I am really grateful to be included in this kind gesture. I'm pretty pleased with how the custom order turned out and I hope they are too when it arrives! Here are a few pictures of that:


Mmk, on another note, upon remembering and reading over my past few lackluster posts, I remembered that I took a picture of the doggie that hasn't been feeling well lately. It was almost-raining and for some reason, he kept standing in the open and getting soaked over time. Finally, he was coaxed into laying down on the patio on a blanket we brought out for him, so here he is:

The poor baby. We've come to the conclusion that he's kind of like a Clydesdale Horse. He has seemed much better since that night though but still swaying a bit on his feet. We're keeping a close eye on him and, of course, spoiling him. :)

On a lighter note, we came together and made a family recipe that is apparently a New Mexican tradition-thing? It's basically a super enchilada and I would post more details but I wasn't really paying attention this time around since I haven't been feeling well, :( sorry, lol. However, I do have pictures!


Mmm. I promise to pay more attention next time. It has fried corn tortillas in a sauce that is tomato sauce based covered in layers of ground beef, lettuce, green onions, sharp cheddar cheese, and another tortilla. Then, all topped off with- um, I guess that's not a sunny side up egg... darn, I'm not very good at this... hold on, lol - over easy/medium egg? Lol, I went to go ask and the answer wasn't conclusive. Anywho, it was fun and yummy. Prior to cooking dinner, homemade guacamole was made so we could munch on tortilla chips as we decided how many layers we wanted for dinner. :P

Bah, I should probably be resting in bed right now, hm? Well, it actually sounds like a good idea this time around so that's all I'll write about today! Until tomorrow, <3!

Friday, April 23

052. What's Next?

I should be keeping this fairly brief (well, brief for me) because I'm starting to feel under the weather again in a head cold kind of way. Some combination of working with a bunch of sick kids all day, the crazy weather, and my just as crazy sleep schedule have me feeling like something is coming on.

I finally got the last crucial piece of the puzzle I needed to take care of a lot of things that have been plaguing me the past week. I've gotten anything I deemed urgent done, figured out what I had some leeway on, and decided to put the rest on hold- no matter how important they are- until later. I just can't try to take on everything all at once, especially if there is not a dire need to do so. I'm already high-strung and neurotic as it is, lol. So, I've gotten enough off of my shoulders to not continuously panic and maybe I/we can do something this weekend that would actually be plain ol' fun! I'm excited and partly because I feel that I have done enough lately to actually deserve this down/ free time. Imagine that. :P

I really wish I had something to make my posts less boring lately. Well, I'm sure I do somewhere, but I'm too out of it to really realize what that is right now. ... Nope, lol. Well, I promise to post pictures of something over the next... three days. I'll figure it out, ha ha!

I am more gone than I initially thought, so I'll leave this be and continue with cooling my face off with a Sprite can. Until tomorrow! Lol <3

Thursday, April 22

051. What Did I Just Do?

Oh man, what have I just gotten myself into? Went to a few orientations today and managed to walk out the door with a bill for... a whopping amount more than I had initially expected. What on Earth just happened? I'm hoping to reach someone tomorrow who can help me sort all of that out. But whoa, I was not expecting that. My stomach is still churning just thinking about it. So, the SO took me to KFC where I could gorge myself into an oblivion of happiness. I just have to say that I hope I'm doing the right thing and that it'll all pay off in the long run/ near future. Man, for that much money it should have paid off a year ago, lol. I just need to leave that alone and think about something else.

The boys of the household have made tons of progress today! It was a continuation from all of yesterday's productivity, but still. They tackled clearing out the garage for bulk trash pick up day which I believe is sometime this weekend or early next week. We've had several scavengers coming and taking stuff from the curb ever since last night. It's kind of bewildering, but to each their own! Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, eh? It looks pretty amazing in there already. Oddly enough, we haven't even really truly tackled organizing any of it but a world of difference has definitely been made. On top of the conditions in there being extremely dusty, the past few days have suddenly become chilly and rainy. Bizarre weather for this time of year here (so I have been told). I guess it's true since a few days ago it was hitting in the 90s and now it's currently about 54 degrees out. Oh, and windy. We can't forget about that now can we?

Had quite a bit of a scare last night. One of the dogs came in staggering. He is old and has been pretty sick the past several days, but he hasn't done that before. We honestly thought he might pass overnight. So, some of us gathered around and we tried to make him comfortable as best we could. Some memories were resurfacing and being retold. It was a fairly emotional affair and not much sleep was had. Thankfully, he made it through the night and actually seems significantly better today. We have all agreed that in all honesty, his life is winding down. When I met him, not too long ago, he was big and old, but still pretty spry. He was too excited meeting me and jumped up on me, resulting in a scratch on my chest. I had that scar for a while. His deterioration has been quick and we'll all miss him when the time comes. I'm not looking forward to mentioning the event here. He's a big horse of a sweetheart and very Eeyore in demeanor, lol, that big and stinky lug.

I'm so grateful that the household has been able to pull together and get so much desperately needed work done around here on top of all the trials and tribulations we're each suffering through. I believe it speaks a lot about our characters and louder than our histories do of us. Definitely flawed but definitely good people. I think I can get used to this whole growing/ grown up thing and all the responsibilities that go along with it. I am by no means giving up my right to complain, whine, or resent it from time to time. ... Or most of the time... but it feels good to get business done and make great strides towards those goals that make up your version of happily ever after. It's a crazy life, but it has it's rewards if you can appreciate them. Man, even after that pseudo-pep talk to myself, I'm still feeling pretty overwhelmed! Ugh, lol.

I think I need to go craft (with a purpose!) some more to attempt to wind down. Much love to anyone who reads my blog! Until tomorrow! <3

Wednesday, April 21

050. You Fail, You Fraud

Today has not gone off to a good start at all.

I went to get a state-issued ID to make a couple things easier for myself. Or so I thought. Because I have four parts to my name, this has been apparently too hard for some people to process over the years. To make a personally upsetting and long story short, it was brought to my attention that my birth certificate, social security card, and old state id/ passport/ everything else I've ever legal signed have three different connotations of my name. Now, I have a bunch of aliases according to the government which is pretty much a list of my names in a mix-matched order. Won-der-ful. Either I've been writing my name wrong my entire life, or a few people that I've never met were too whatever to ask my folks how to properly write my name. Oh, and that everyone else that I've signed legal documents with or for have been too whatever to verify that I even existed. So. That leaves me with now fighting to get a new and corrected social security card OR going as far as to spend several hundred dollars to get a flippin' name change down at the courthouse (because I wouldn't be doing it due to a marriage/ divorce/ citizenship circumstance).

Why is it when I finally get the guts to do something that I feel is the responsible thing to do (on top of the neurotic amounts of research, time, and effort I put into prepping for the typical worst case scenarios), life enjoys punching me in the face and making me feel like a complete noob in a bad way? I was discussing/ venting about it to a dear friend and we likened it to being like the Bowser level in the Mario Party franchise. It's just a giant game of screw you. You rolled a 6 and landed on this spot- oops! You lose 8 kajillion coins and stars. You rolled a 3 and landed on that purple spot? Congrats, you jerk, now everyone has to punch a baby in the face. Really?! Really now?

I may have flipped out a little while I was on the phone with my mom trying to figure out what went wrong where. This also happened to be in a lobby area of a college campus where I was waiting to take a test (because I had taken the wrong form of the the test last Saturday and didn't find out that there was another and proper form to take until two days ago). Ugh. I am so disgusted with everything today.

On a semi-related sidebar, there were about half a dozen MVD (motor vehicle division) offices that were permanently closed down since the beginning of this year. You wouldn't think it had to do with the fact that we're the second most bankrupt/ in debt state or the fact that once you get a driver's license here it won't expire until your 65 years old?

On a semi-related note to the previous semi-related note, there was a bill that was passed in the past couple of days in this state that puts into action the fact that one is no longer required to have a permit to carry and concealed weapon. Oh, and recently they were discussing (I'm not 100% sure it's been completely passed already) how they were no longer requiring any waiting period, let alone a three day one, to buy a gun. Isn't that fantastic folks?! You pretty much, just have to be 21 years of age and you can get a gun and have it on you whenever and where ever you want! (Slight exaggeration, but I'm in a heated mood right now.) GRAWR! Yes, I understand that if I don't like it, I can just leave - not like this place is making it easy for me to become a resident anyways. I actually plan to. Especially before starting my own family in a few years. I do love a lot of things about this town and state, but it all has to do with individuals and what's left of the natural landscape.

Today has just made me want to /bash head on desk. I was so excited to be an official resident and re-register to vote within this state and to become an organ donor. T_T It's even Donate Life Month! Sigh. At least we started making jokes about how I was an unverifiable illegal alien of some sort, or had multiple personalities/ identities, or that the SO had an imaginary girlfriend. XD That last one was our favorite. It'll all get worked out. It's just another bump on the road because you can never be too prepared. It's just life. *takes deep breath.*

In the meantime, I'll just go ahead with my meetings and such tomorrow and try to do as much as I wanted to originally. I'm also going to continue trucking along with my shop too. Hooray for crafting.

Well, I don't know if I want to have anything more to write about atm, but I do want to remind all of you to seriously consider being proactive tomorrow for Earth Day and this month in regards to April being Donate Life Month! <3

Tuesday, April 20

049. Colors Spinnin' 'Round

Erm. I thought I had pictures to add to today's post, but apparently I was sadly mistaken, lol. Again, one of those, I was more tired than I initially thought moments/ days. Like now, I've been distracted about five times already just trying to start this entry off.

Hm. Oh! One of the boys that I mentioned yesterday, the one that saved me a seat at snack time (Aw!), we found out/ realized that yesterday had been his birthday! Gallant attempts were made to semi-celebrate it in class today, not that it really mattered to him since he had been celebrating with his family for the past week. Psh, we don't need to know/ do anything, silly classroom adults, lol. Idk, it kind of makes me feel all the more special that he asked me to sit with him on his birthday *^_^* (that's a blushing face, btw, :D).

Been trucking through with stuff from my shop lately. Finished a custom order for a friend complete with pictures I'll eventually post once it is received. It also kicked me into even high gear with how I've neglected the Awareness/ Remembrance section of my shop. Most of this evening was dedicated to doing research into what causes the months of April and May observed and their respective representative colors. This is in addition to seeking out reputable and trusted organizations for said causes so that potential supportive donations may be made in the future. This may sound a little mean but, if you can't decide on even a color to represent your cause, how do you expect to collectively raise a significant amount of support and awareness? The search will go on tomorrow. I do my best to pair up similar causes in the bracelets I make, but it's pretty hard. Especially when everyone starts using the same three colors. :( I don't want to look like I'm copping out by rearranging the same hues over and over again but I really put a lot of thought and effort into finding all of this stuff out and I'm only given so much to work with. Roar.

I'm hoping to try my first recipe from AllRecipes this weekend! We're voting and throwing out ideas of what it could be about. Oh! Just a reminder, Earth Day is this Thursday (April 22nd)! Find a tree to plant/ hug and start up some new recycling habits or something! :D I'm almost completely spacing out but I'm already dreading getting up early tomorrow to run errands that include going to the MVD (Motor Vehicles Division, where I'm from it was the DMV and now all of the jokes I've heard are jumbled in my head) :( Wish me luck with that! I think the main family project for tomorrow is prepping for bulky trash day :O I don't know how much help I would be with my severe lack of upper body strength. You know, on top of my overall lack of body strength... lol. It could be a complete disaster of a day and chances are, if it is, I'll have a picture or two to show you to prove it. :P Well, I'm out for tonight and I'll have some pictures of my crafty work posted soon!

Until tomorrow, <3!

Monday, April 19

048. /Gnaws On Bug

Well, I haven't really gnawed on the bugs. It's more of a 'they decided to fly up my nose' kind of thing. Spring as definitely sprung across the desert and all those late winter storms have brought out an exceptional (to me) amount of various bugs. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned then about five times in the past two weeks. It's getting worse. They're breeding, more kinds are coming out/ in, and they are incessantly invading my personal space. I do not enjoy it at all, lol.

GAH! A bug just flew into the hand that I was resting my chin on while I was trying to be deep in thought. Thinking failed. Well, the good news is that I flailed enough to smash into my "M" key which reminded me to get whatever was jamming it out already, lol. I may have just knocked whatever was in it underneath another key. Only time will tell. Sigh, lol.

Okay, time to try to think positive. I cranked through some custom orders the past few nights. I still have plenty of bracelets, mobiles, and cards to make. Oh goody, lol. I'll also be trying to get my edumakashun on this week so everyday is going to be me panicking to find a balance between volunteering, errands, and crafting. My life sounds so horrible, I know. :P

Speaking of volunteering with some of the cutest/ obnoxious/ angelic/ brightest kids on the planet, we're starting to joke about how the SO has some competition in each of the classes. There is a morning and then an afternoon group. In the morning there is sweet boy with light brown hair, quiet demeanor, and blue eyes. I feel bad that I can't spend more time with him because I'm often smack down wrestling with other kids, but I do try my best to give them all equal attention. During their opening period when my seat is often behind his spot, he reaches back and holds my hand. Even when it gets uncomfortable, he just adjusts the type of handhold and keeps paying attention to the teacher. It's so incredibly sweet, he's really patient and thoughtful too, bless his little heart. In the afternoon, my utter adoration started... I guess today, lol. This boy is much quieter in a different way and had asked me to sit next to time at snack time and even went as far as to sit in the spot that would guarantee an empty seat next to him that I could sit at. How freaking adorable is that? When the class was outside playing earlier, he found a leaf he liked and showed it to me. I liked it too so he let me keep it and went to go find more. Well, that, of course, started a whole mission for almost all of the boys (that afternoon class only has one brave little girl who is just amazing) to just find random leaves. I had a decent pile when we left. I chose some of my favorites that were different colors (I believe they are all eucalyptus leaves) because I really like collecting colors and because the boys were so careful to find and show me the different colored ones. Quite the feat when you consider that some are struggling with the concept of colors. I brought them home in a little baggie so I could show all of you!

There is purple- yellowish- red- pink- whitish- and green (the original)!

Too cute. There's also another little boy, who is in the morning group, that give a flower to the teacher. It's usually one from a fake arrangement in class and she wears it in her hair or on her shirt. Lately, he has been arriving to school with a precious flower in tow. Unfortunately, some were causing allergies to flare up, so they stayed in a cup of water by the sink until the end of the day. However! Today brought a beautiful crimson rose from the front yard! It even smelled liked a pretty rose and not the cheap rose smell, which I feel closely resembles stinky fish. We took it home and, since I was taking picture of collected foliage, I took pictures of that as well!


Isn't that gorgeous? I guess it looks more pink in that light, but it's a pretty bright red when I look at it now. It even continued to bloom throughout the school day. Too sweet. :) Can you tell I have a weak spot for kids? Especially the sweet and thoughtful kind. Oh man, when I have kids, I'm going to have to teach them how to scan their pictures into the computer or else we'd end up with a fridge that had nothing but pictures. Not even food, we had to get rid of the even the light bulb inside to make room for this year's pictures. :P It kind of scares me thinking about it, my folks kept a lot of my academic stuff, but I kept a lot of the personal stuff and still have a bunch of... memorabilia. Lol. So if I do that for myself, who knows what levels I'll take it to down the road. Man, I hope I get a lot better at scrapbooking before then!

Hm. Oh, I forgot to mention that yesterday I suffered my first cooking-related injury in a while. More specifically I burned part of my fingers/ knuckles on the oven rack during one of the rounds broiling the fish. :( It's not too bad, but wow can it sting sometimes. Especially when you directly scratch it on a closet door track getting ready in the morning. Ow, it kind of hurts just remembering it, lol. It was cleaned and had plant goo put on it :D

I actually think that's all I'm going to update with today. Time for bed! Hooray! Hopefully, I can at least keep up all this momentum I have now and add more patience and silver lining thinking over the next couple of days. Well, until tomorrow! <3

Sunday, April 18

047. Insert Eye Twitch Here

That pretty much sums up my overall mood for today. Yes, it fluctuated. I kinda wish it undulated just so I could legitimately use that word to describe it, lol. So, we're going to make it quick today.

My family will never cease to confuse me/ weird me out. I'm sure that is true about any families out there and I'm just going to leave it at that. I'm still getting a steady flow of business at my shop, especially in terms of custom orders, so that's pretty great. I can never say that I have nothing to do at this rate. I did cook the fish dish today. it was super simple and, from what I gathered, pretty yummy! I did try a bite and still decided I wasn't feeling that brave today and stuck with my plain rice. However, the SO was very patient with me again today and humored me by letting me take a picture of his plate (even though he was starving and drooling at the time). Here is my attempt at cooking this week:
Broiled Talapia in a Lemon Butter Sauce
with rice and mixed vegetables.

The pitched idea was some white fish dish and a recipe from Emeril. I'm not a huge fan of his website, I didn't find it particularly user friendly, but I am quite picky with that. I also think that was amplified by the fact that I'm a complete novice at this kind of thing and panic easily, lol. I want to do my best to cook a dish every week, preferably a new one. I can't wait to use that Allrecipes site for next weekend! I especially can't wait until the next semi-special occasion so I can try another dessert recipe, they just seem to be more my thing, lol. 


This was a snapshot of the crafts that the kids did this past week. Faux stained glass raindrops and butterflies! One was really complicated and messy while the other one was not. Go figure. :P I also have a picture I drew at school! Yay! Lol. .We joked about hanging it somewhere on the refrigerator. It's nothing great by any means, I did it when playing with the kids during their free time, but it still greatly amuses me for some reason.

  
Sigh, I would appreciate it if Blogger didn't try to think for me and decide that my photo should be flipped vertically... I honestly don't feel like messing with the original until the upload gets it right this time around. It's not like you can't tell what it is, lol. The crayon I picked up was called "Kitty Cat Black" and had that kitty on it, so I drew it and gave it polka dots, lol. It kind of looks like a dog. I forgot who said that to me when they saw it, but I realize now that they were right. XD Oh well.

Hm, I do believe that's it from me today. I'm really trying to keep a positive or at least patient attitude right now, it is just pretty hard to more often than not. Wish me luck, :P <3

Saturday, April 17

046. Revamps and Recipes

Well, I somehow got an urge to try to rearrange a few things on my blog yesterday and today. To sum it up, I got really frustrated and this is as good as it's going to get for now, lol. I guess the lack of sleep combined with various other factors have led me to be increasingly cranky the past few days and I ended last night being quite cranky and sulky for very little reason. I'm getting better today thanks to a lot of moral support from the SO.

I did use my angry energy to kick myself into gear and ended up dusting the majority of the surfaces in the house (it was pretty intense), packing away my cold weather clothes to free up some space in the room, and helped install new low beam headlights. Lol, I find it really funny how proud I am to have taken part in that when all I really did was hold the flashlight, not lose screws, and hand over/ hold onto various tools while watching the entire process. :D Like a kid licking the spoon and saying they helped with baking cookies.

There is much more cleaning to be done this weekend and through next week since the boys have gotten the cooler up and running. It's blowing a significant amount of junk out of the vents and onto a lot of recently cleaned things throughout the house. :( On top of that, of course we're going to have pretty random weather over the next couple of days. It was getting pretty warm when we really got into fixing it up, we get it running just in time for it to be just as cool and refreshing outside, and I was just informed that tomorrow is going to be in the 90's- Monday is dropping to low 60s with chance of storms- staying pretty cold through the week- ending with probably 80's by the end. Really? We're going to have every single possible weather condition this week?

I'm pretty tired atm, but before I forget, I wanted to share a website I personally discovered today! Allrecipes.com! I love how it seems to be very user-orientated and run. Most of the recipes I've seen had tons of user submitted pictures of how their renditions of recipes turned out, they link to approved variations of the recipes, you can save your favorites (I have hesitated more and more with bookmarking everything I like because I seem to have hundreds of bookmarks now >_<) and then have a grocery list compiled of the appropriated ingredients, and quite a few let you submit the desired number of servings and adjust the recipe accordingly! Even right down to the comments section, this website is great! I believe the comments that were voted most useful (by other users) are listed near the top and these people seem to take things seriously. They offer personal solutions and alterations and explain what and why aspects of the recipes did or did not work for them. All very helpful. I love it already! The site as a whole sees very active as well! I can't wait to try out a bunch of recipes and share how my... experiments turn out here. Maybe one day I'll be brave enough to post my results on the site as well :P We'll see.

I've geared up to try another recipe tomorrow! Actually, it was supposed to be today but plans were changed when family came in, lol. No big. Honestly, I'm just practicing different kinds of cooking and tomorrow's theme/ main ingredient is fish (again, not my favorite by any means), so I actually may only take a bite or two of what I make and then retreat to eating just rice. Horrible, I know, lol. I'm working on expanding my palette, I promise!

On a complete side note: my "M" key keeps sticking and I'm having a hard time figuring out why, but it's starting to really get on my nerves, lol.

More errands were run today and more will probably be run tomorrow, but that's okay. It's nice to get out of the house and into the world to see new things. Ooh, I should probably take a picture of a tree in the front yard that is sprouting all sorts of green stuff like crazy. I'm pretty sure it was bare about a week or two ago. I'm told it will get super fluffy when we're well into the summer.

Hm, on another completely off-topic side note: today was one of the kitty's birthday! His first. You know, not including his actual day of birth last year. He got a treat of canned soft food that he, of course, scarfed.

Man, I really need to cut myself off before this just becomes one tangent after another. Well, more than usual. :P See you again tomorrow! <3

Friday, April 16

045. Your Daily Musical Serving

Are you ready for a heaping serving of music media? I had no idea what I was going to write about today, especially since I've been kind of spaced out all day and only ran a few errands since coming home from school. Then, I decided to check out my YouTube subscriptions and found a new fun video from one of my favorite independent artists and that lead to me discovering a couple more phenomenal YouTubers that I've totally been missing out on! So, today's going to be full of videos. I strongly encourage to frolic on over to their respective channels and discover more of their music. I'm a huge fan of covers, collaborations, and synchronized male dancing. Well, it may not really have the latter, but it's pretty darn close- so it's pretty safe to say that I'm exploding with happy as I type this. So much happy!

Ready? Set? Go!


Here's Kurt Schneider producing a video collaboration between Sam Tsui and R&B group AHMIR singing a mash-up (produced by Frank Sacramone) of "Nothin' On You" and "Hey, Soul Sister." I especially adore the latter song.

A collaboration of "The Climb" between AHMIR and David Sides. It's fairly short but still beautiful.


Another collaboration, this time of a "Baby" and "Never Let You Go" mash-up with AHMIR and J Rice (who produced the track).

Phew. I try to make my posts as link-friendly as possible. Yes, I did get a little lazy by just posting the collaborations from one channel but would love for you to explore their channels so just click on their respective names! It probably took me three times as long as it should have to post all the videos because I kept getting distracted by listening and watching more and more videos. Which inevitably leads to me jamming out and dancing in my chair, trying to sing along to covers I've never heard before while listening on my headphones, in the middle of kitchen. Lol, good times. I'm glad my WoW-playing has gotten me used to serenading complete strangers and little to no shame.

Well, I hope you enjoy those artists as much as I am right now. Time to wander off and craft to this great new (to me) music! Ciao! <3

Thursday, April 15

044. Hooray For Humidity!

Two of the major household's renovation projects for this month were to get new screens to prevent the stupid crazy bugs from continuously coming in to perish and to fix the evap cooler! As of right this moment, each of those projects are 75% done! Hooray for the boys! The most impressive thing about that is that it got to that point because of all the work they put into it this whole day. I'm very proud and grateful. Less bugs touching me and putting humidity into the air to cool us all off could not have come any sooner. Well, it really could have, but that's not the point because it's pretty much here now! Hooray! Lol. Do you speed up reading as you feel the excitement in my typing? I know I do. XD

I continue to give into the cosmos and focus on my shop while stewing over what I really want/ need to do. Which is fine, I need to be gently reminded that I don't always get to do what I want when I want, but in a still productive way. So, it's all good. Have I mentioned that I've totally earned by annual volunteer breakfast these past few days? Lol. I still love it, it is hard work, and I really hope I can keep doing it! Going from 0 mph to 65 has been a bit much to handle. Man, I hope I can grow accustomed to coffee or something soon, lol.

I plan to cook another big family meal this weekend, so wish me luck! It's fish and... I'm not good with fish, lol. I shall update, probably with pictures, regardless of how it turns out :P

Oooh, well aren't you guys in for a treat? I have recently received news that my batch of cards that I mentioned before and sent out all over the globe have finally all reached their destinations! That means I finally get to post pictures of my creations! Hooray!


I'm really happy and proud of how they each turned out! Thoughts? It's called a waterfall-style card and if you had clicked on the link I posted above and found the link to the video... (Yay, a scavenger hunt!) you know that it is much cooler than these following photos that I tried to take to show what was special about them:
 
 

How fun is that? You pull on the tab/ ribbon and the cards flip back! I definitely have to try to make more in the near future. It's all about finding a balance between what you have to do and want to do :) I'm figuring it out and determined to have a blast and be surrounded by great people who care about me throughout the entire process.Well, that's it from me tonight! Until tomorrow! <3

Wednesday, April 14

043. Running High

Life seems to be running high on drama and therefore frustration at every turn lately. Yes, yes I know that this is life- get used to it- etc. That doesn't mean it still doesn't suck. Lol. More plans and errands canceled today and I've just thrown my hands up at the cosmos and agreed to wait until next week to tackle those projects again. In the meantime, I'll tackle the other half of projects I was saving for next week right now. I finally decide to turn right and the world has worked against me to let me know I'm going left instead and taking a side street later on, lol. Fine, you win, World. Hope you're happy because I just want to punch you in the face.

Anyways. I'm in better spirits today despite all of this because it's the Two Year Anniversary of the SO and I dating. Got to go to the store and grab much needed colors of string for a couple of recent custom orders :D It's nice to reflect and be grateful for the time together. Despite how discouraged and frustrated I've been recently, I still am grateful for where I am and how I got here. I took huge personal strides and have surprised myself the most with what I've accomplished. I know it'll get better and I also know that much of that will be the result of the hard work I intend to keep doing to make it happen. And I can't thank the people who help me along the way enough.

The grammar in the paragraph feels horrible, lol. However, it's heartfelt, so it can stay. :) Tomorrow, I'm back with working with the kids again. Yay! I feel significantly better and staying at home has driven be pretty bonkers. Sigh, our resident jungle kitty has briefly escaped again and after being caught, is one perturbed dude. Because of this, he is not going to receive the flattering picture I was referring to yesterday.

Here is our guy being forced to take a bath by his younger cousin. 
Take that kitty.

I also have a couple more photos to share today! Hooray for not being all mopey/ angsty today! Here we go!

This was the little baby snake I talked about yesterday. He was not very good at slithering just yet. :D

And last, but certainly not least!


It's a gorgeous view that I saw sitting in the passenger seat today as we were parked in the bank's drive through lane. Lol, pretty random, hm? I still thought it was breathtaking and I'm really happy with how the picture turned out. The weather has become much warmer but with the leftover breezes of passing storms and whatever fronts, we've had a lot of absolutely beautiful days outside lately. Even got to go out on the bike for a brief errand while the car was in the shop. :(/ :D Mixed feelings about that. I've grown to love riding on bikes, and by bikes, I mean motorcycles. I will probably never drive one myself, but I don't mind tagging along anymore! 

Oye, I should get ready for tomorrow because I'll be absolutely useless in the morning. So, good night and I hope you have enjoyed today's more positive post. <3

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