363. Sugar High

I actually don't think I've used that title before. Hm. Well, at least it doesn't feel like I have.

In all of my ranting glory yesterday, I totally forgot to mention the amazing news:

IT SNOWED!

It's the first snow at the house that I've seen since moving here over a year ago. This winter had been particularly dry too so we were just happy that the stormy cold weather brought some rain. Little did we know that a few hours later, that rain would turn into snow flurries! I don't know enough about snow to be sure that they could have been classified as "flurries" but whatever. It was there, it looked like powered sugar, and FMIL caught a few pictures before the rising sun melted it all away. At least some is still up on the mountains and I should try to remember to catch a picture of that tomorrow if it's still there.

I think that this is all amazing! Everything looks so "prettiful". :D

Speaking of sugar, I was chatting in the kitchen with FBIL (future brother-in-law, :P) and he was making a pasta salad or something in his giant mug and for some reason I was inspired to make a salad of my own. A S'more salad, that is. XD My gluttony knows no bounds sometimes. We've have a modest stash of s'more supplies for a while now but have yet to make a backyard bonfire so they have been taunting me from their little corner in the kitchen. I warmed them up a little bit in the microwave but it's not something I recommend because marshmallows like to expand rapidly when being cooked from the inside out. As quickly as milk decides to boil over the one time you look away to grab a spoon to stir the pot with. I'm not a bitter person, really. Oh no, wait I am. Lol.

Anyways, behold!

That's a pastel pink Easter themed M&M in the middle because I thought my salad needed a cherry on top? I guess I kind of lost track of the fact that it was supposed to resemble a salad and not a sundae. Lol. But FBIL was teasing me about what I was going to use for salad dressing and I have the brilliantly bright light bulb moment of tossing on some dark chocolate syrup. :D I am so pleased with myself, if/when I get sick, I don't think it'll matter to me. Lol.

Sigh, I needed these goofy little moments after all of the heavy, dramatic, and discouraging stuff we've been watching on the news lately. It's hard trying to determine how much more mature we are as a country compared to all of the ones that are revolting against their governments. The more we think and talk about it, it almost seems as if there's not much more of a difference between the societies. Reminds me of that saying that even if you put lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig. It's pretty worrisome and frightening of what that may mean for us as a species. Sigh. Now, I'm all down and serious again and I really don't think I should have any more chocolate before bed.

Well, if you're not laughing, you're crying, so I'm off to go cuddle-harass the kitty before heading to bed. I'll see you tomorrow! <3

362. Cooking Up Trouble

I feel like I've used a similar title already. However, the past few weeks, I've been too lazy to go check my list of posts to confirm the suspicions. Come on, it's almost a year's worth of posts to comb through! :P

Oh no, I think I've nearly annihilated my laptop's left mouse button. O_O! I really hope not, I need that to scroll! T_T

The SO and I went to visit with his dad today and while we were waiting for gourmet pizza to be delivered, I was invited to rip apart the kitchen to organize it. It's something that I've been waiting months to do. Literally. I was beyond excited. He said he was half-joking about me doing it at that very moment, but I was already on my way inside to start, and the SO was left in the dust in the driveway telling his dad, "Nope, it's too late now. She's already gotten it into her head." XD

It's really great being around someone who really understands you and can serve as an interpreter to outsiders. That's one thing I love about my close friends back in Florida. A lot of them just get me when I get into certain quirky moods and just step back to enjoy the whirlwind of a show. That's a big part of true friendship, knowing better and loving you anyways. Lol.

I really don't want to say "laugh out loud" as much as I do, even though I really do physically do it as much as I type it. I often find typing "ha ha ha" sounds too sarcastic and dry and I enjoy typing in a way that portrays how I choose to think and talk. That reminds me that I think I used a lot of big words in yesterday's post. I must have been really tired. I sometimes be so tired that I don't believe anyone would understand what I want to communicate, so I overcompensate with specific vocabulary because I think it helps. But then if I'm really delirious tired (or "punch drunk" as the SO calls it), I'll start to slur and that doesn't help anyone but it is pretty funny to see me try. Lol.

But I really need to vent/ rant about the state of the kitchen and what I've done with it. I'd include pictures, but it's not my stuff and I want to check with FFIL to see if it works for him. 

Well, thanks to my yanking everything out of all the cabinets and drawers in the kitchen, spreading them all over the counter tops, and attempts to put it all  back, I do believe that we now have about 10 drawers and cabinets that are empty now. And it's not like I crammed the ones that are in use. Finally, all of the pots and pans are together in the deepest of drawers, we have the place mats and dish rags close at hand, the plates are higher up and close to the sink, and the knives are no longer in the one drawer that sticks.

Ugh, every time I went to grab one, I would get the image in my head that the drawer would come flying open and I'd impale myself five times over.

There was little to no common sense involved with the prior tossing together of the kitchenware. There were spices and herbs laid out in a drawer right underneath the stove that now houses the cloth place mats, washcloths, and oven mitts. All the coffee and tea things are in a pull-out tray underneath the coffee pot brewer and not taking up the drawer that was meant for pots and pans.  All the oven trays and grill trays and heaviest baking dishes are underneath that. Before, some of the trays were there but I had to pull the rest from three other spots in the cabinets. There's plenty of room to keep them all together for goodness sakes!

The same goes for the ceramic bakeware and the glass bakeware. The sets are finally all together instead of sprinkled into every flippin' cabinet right underneath the oven which is at eye and waist level as opposed to on the ground. Smaller but hardly used appliances are up and tucked away in just as small cabinets above the stove and microwave, the cups and mugs are now in the same cabinet on their own shelves, and gravy boats and tiny cute cream pots are above that. I took the plates and various bowls on a pull-out shelf in the furthest cabinet into an upper cabinet near the sink and above the silverware which are also all near the dinner table.
Heaven forbid all the serving-ware was near the area we eat at and together.

I also removed two pull-out shelves in the two skinny cabinets on either side of the side so maybe FFIL can fit future trays and taller items that don't quite fit into the typical cabinets. I also found out that two canisters that have been on a valuable spot next to the stove since they day the house was moved into were empty. Not we-used-whatever-was-in-it-up empty, but there-has-not-been-anything-inside-for-probably-the-last-few-years empty. Holy cow, really now?!

Yes, I am that worked up about this project. Being too overwhelmed because of moving or too much stuff or too much stuff to do is a valid excuse but that was not the case here. This was sheer and blatant disregard by parties that are no longer relevant to the situation anymore and FFIL has been living in the aftermath. I know he's pretty picky and fairly logical in how he likes his home and that's a big reason why I wanted to help out by doing this for him. I am so glad he was finally ready to hand over the reigns temporarily. I realize that a kitchen is often the heart of a home and nearly sacred or at the very least a sanctuary for those who can cook well/ enjoy cooking and he's that type. I feel this task is as big a deal as I'm treating it. :P

Now that I've tackled as much as I could with the sensible arrangement of what's in the kitchen, I'm off to tackle the pantry which was just as confused but just as used with the same level of frustration. Wish me luck and I'll see you tomorrow! <3

361. Saving Lives

Today was yet another Saturday. You know, the same ol', same ol', learning how to save lives and such.

:D

I was certified for CPR and first aid today in order to be a substitute teacher aide at the schools. :) It was good times in the south side of town and I'm glad I learned new things while refreshing myself on everything else too. Our instructor was a great guy who was such a fountain of practical information and real experience. I had been certified at one point but that was several years ago when I was talking an Early Childhood Education course in high school. Yeah, definitely time to brush up.

I'm really glad that they've simplified much of the process for infants, children, and adults. I'm also in awe of the growth in technology because of the ease of use of a compact defibrillator. I don't remember anyone other than the paramedics having access to one, let alone one that walks you through how to use it. What a relief and what an amazing change.

Sometimes I really worry about how advancing technology coupled with increased individualism leads us, as a race, running down the path to our own selfish and abhorrently effortless destruction. Then, I see things like that little machine plus episodes of Nova and Scientific American Frontier on PBS in ways that people everywhere have been and are using traditional and unconventional means of developing new technology or new uses for current technology. It is truly uplifting to be reminded of that.

On a completely different and irrelevant note, I made a cute printable calendar for myself to dedicate to my crafting business but I added random tidbits about various offbeat holidays that may serve as inspiration for seasonal creations. To make it even cuter, of course, I added pictures of adorable baby animals via quick digital scrapbooking to make it even more fun for myself.

Getting more on track, I hope to continue to gain skills in being self-sufficient, learn more about being more self-sustaining, and how to contribute to the betterment of the human race. Not too much to ask or aim for, aye?

^_^ I'll see you tomorrow. <3

360. Yee Haw!

I thought that actually may have been an appropriate response to today's events but I don't think I heard it once today. :P

I went to my first Rodeo and it was pretty fun. My first feelings were: I have never seen so many studs, rhinestones, and plaid in a single location before- let alone so positively supported! Not that any of those things are bad on their own or together, it was just a small revelation of mine. Lol.

Although I wore my new boots, jeans, and what I felt was a rustic-inspired top to go, I felt like such a city slicker walking around. I knew I wanted to get some pretty earrings to commemorate attending my first rodeo and checking off another Southwestern experience off of my list and not only did I end up succeeding with that mission but walked away with this:

That is indeed a snapshot of my new cowgirl hat. A white one too, of all things. I got caught up at the moment, lol. I normally don't do hats because they look odd/ don't fit on my wide head, but they actually had true hat sizes and I do acknowledge that a lighter color hat reflect more heat while covering my nearly black hair from absorbing sunlight. Lol. I learned about hat bands and stampede bands that will keep my new hat from being ripped off my head by the gusty winds. I'm a little excited about slowly but surely making this hat my own via such accessories. Yes, I really am a girly dork like that.

Those things on it are my new artisan hand painted earrings. They are so light and I love the teal color. It truly shimmers more in better lighting.

I snapped quite a few video clips of the different events but fewer pictures and I'm not sure why, lol. Here are some!

Part of the program for today.

The gates.

A couple of the cowboys.

Buckin' Bronco.

Right out the gate.

For ideally eight seconds.

More of the bigger picture.

Overall, it was a pretty fun day and I'm glad to have had the experience. : ) I'll see you tomorrow. <3

359. Willy Nilly

I just looked back at the subject posts for my blogging and realized that I could not count for beans this past week. What on earth was I thinking? Oh yeah, that's right, I was just guessing and was too tired to actually check what day I was on. :P

Well, I believe that it is all fixed now and I'm glad I took the time to do so before I celebrated my one year anniversary of daily blogging on the wrong day. I would have felt pretty darn dumb. I don't think I'm going to do anything big to celebrate since it's such a weird time of the year to hold such a celebration. The end of the first week of March? So odd. I will think about it a bit more though. Lol. Sigh.

See you tomorrow. <3

358. Back To My Roots

I really miss having access to a piano tonight.

I started taking lessons when I was about 7 or 8 years old and stopped around my freshman year of high school due to personal issues. I've missed it so. I only made it up to an intermediate level and was toying with starting to delve into the more advanced playing at the tie. After that point, I tried to keep playing through learning chorale music in high school and playing the most difficult of my repertoire over and over again. When I went off to college, I pretty much became a groupie of the School of Music and used the practice room pianos that were across campus in the middle of the night.

During that time in my life, my folks started renovation their home and I ended up moving clear across the country to the desert. Needless to say, I hadn't used my old upright piano in ages. It was already about a dozen years old when we got it when I started, but with no one else to use it and it taking up space (my family lived in our house while it was being fixed up and never put a thing into storage- it was total chaos for over a year), it was sold to a family with a grandmother who had a lot of time on her hands and really wanted to learn the piano. How could I be resentful of that? I hope she is getting tons of use from it and can feel the love and joy that instrument has brought into my life and the lives of my friends.

Well, to get to this point, I was logging onto my WoW game and saw an advertisement for in game sheet music. Needless to say, I flipped out. Then, I attacked the company's website and within mere minutes, I had a wishlist created that totaled up to nearly $200. Roflmao. It's called Sheet Music Plus and I already adore it. My list is full of piano-vocal arrangements because those are the only two things I know how to do- kind of. That saying of "The more you know, the more you know that you don't know" totally applies to this, lol.

Then, I wanted to sing along with the sheet music I was finding then I became all sad because my iTunes has been screwed up for the better part of the past year with have of my +2000 songs missing somewhere in the cyber netherverse that is my computer. Well, this was the kick in my pants that I needed to hunt all of that down and I found it all in less than ten minutes! Why couldn't I have figured this out sooner?! So, here I am grooving to one of the most eclectic collections of music I've ever seen. :D I am one happy clam. Hahaha!

Speaking of getting back to ones roots, I also have planted a pepper plant that my mom gave me the... erm peppers to when I went to visit her last. I was so worried that I had waited too long to plant it (because I totally forgot I had it stuffed into a pocket on my luggage) or that I just sucked that badly at growing green things BUT!! look at what started to happen suddenly one night:

Something sprouted!

IT'S ALIVE!!!

**And not even a week later, look at what happened!**

More!!

It's now a forest!

Lol, I would apologize for my enthusiasm but I'm the type that barely keeps anything alive that doesn't warn me that it needs anything. Once it started to go, it really took off. Every night before we go to bed and once early on in the day, everyone is checking in on them because there's something new going on every time we walk by. It's crazy! XD I am so excited.

These suckers are incredibly spicy and I hope that this keeps progressing well. 

Alright, I need to head out before I explode from anticipation and enthusiasm. Ha ha! I'll see you tomorrow. These things totally made my day. <3

357. Blast From The Past

I'm feeling a bit under the weather today, so here is a blatant cop-out out of thinking of something to write about. :D

Here are some random pictures of various things I've made over the years in no particular order:

A sketch of pipes/ straws using permanent marker and what I believe are Prismatic color pencils. 

This was probably done about 6-8 years ago.

A mosaic-esque picture out of notebook paper, Crayola markers and crayons, and tons of Elmer's glue. I colored each strip, chopped them up with scissors, and glued each piece one by one.

This was done about ten years ago.

Winter festive cows (and baby penguin) ornaments for my family made from polymer clay.

These were made about two years ago.

I eventually amassed a sizable army of polymer clay snow people with different colored scarves. I ended up giving most of them away as gifts that Christmas.

Also done two years ago.

Collective Etsy inventory at the time. Friendship bracelets made form cotton embroidery floss.

These were two to three years ago.

A customized origami mobile made from various papers, beads, and floss.
Cranes, flowers, and lucky stars.

This particular one was from about a year or so ago.

I do love to dabble in simple crafts and looking at this batch of projects, I reaffirm the conclusion that I really love bright and fun colors but give nearly every hue a chance. Just to mix things up. I tend to obsess and attack each medium in phases but once I add a new technique into my repertoire, I'll always eventually come back to doing it. : ) I have this weird urge to doodle and make a bunch of snowmen for no particular occassion right now. LOL. 

I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you tomorrow. <3