Thursday, May 30, 2013

Feeling Pinterested, Part 2, Day 3

I had 2 other ideas that I wanted to do for today.

But they are taking me longer to finish than I had thought. So I found a quick project to do for today, using what I had on hand.

I've seen this on my Pinterest page a LOT lately. It seems everyone is pinning this and it looks very cool.

 
Once again, no website to link to.
 
This seemed like a super easy trick.
I had a bunch of glow sticks on hand. Plus, I'm a crafter, so I have lots of glitter just waiting to be poured all over my floor and get caught in my eyelashes.
 
Here are my images from this:
 
 
I know. My jar has snowflakes on it.
It's all I could find.
It works.

 
This is me, making a hot mess.
Seriously.
I cut the ends of the glow sticks off in the kitchen and ended up getting glow goop everywhere.
My fingers, the kitchen counter, the garbage can lid and the floor, all have little glowing spots now.
And the weird sticks on the inside fell out too.
A toxic mess, I tell you...
 
Once you make a hot mess with glow sticks, you get to dump glitter on top of that.
We all know that glitter isn't messy...
 
Even my kids were saying, "Mommy! You need to clean up!"
 
 
It glowed.
Surprise.
 
A glittery, glowing, clumpy mess.
I'm just going to toss this jar, rather than actually open it to clean it.
I'm scared that if I open it, I'll get bombed with a glowing/glitter combo that will not wash off.

 
They were entertained for 5 minutes.
Not worth it.
 
It's cute, but messy.
That's not a win in my book.
 
 
 

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Feeling Pinterested Part 2- Day 2

It's day 2 and I'm already exhausted.

I decided to try one of the many burlap/grapevine wreathes I found on Pinterest.

If you want to see where I found inspiration just type grapevine wreath with burlap into the search bar on Pinterest. About a million examples will pop up. I was going to post some pictures, but I found inspiration from so many of those examples and ended up adding my own twist to it.

I found a wreath, missing a few pieces, at a garage sale for .10 cents last year.

Ok, it was missing more than just a "few" pieces, but it was only on one small section. Since I planned on doing something with it, I decided to get it anyway.

The burlap ribbon was a bit more. I just purchased 1 roll. I have no idea how much it actually cost me...maybe around $5? I'm a bit cheap, so it couldn't have been much more.

I didn't want to attempt a bow (because I know my own level of talent and it doesn't involve constructing bows), or anything too tricky, so I made it up as I went along. I found some safety wire in the garage (a special thank you to Jalon for not locking the garage) and some pliers and just got to work. I really liked the flowers people were making with burlap and decided to give it a shot with no skill level or reading about it at all. Great plan...

 
Sorry I didn't get the "before" picture.
You can see I covered the bare spot with the flowers.

 
A close up of my sad flowers.
They are a bit rough looking up close, but from far away, it looks pretty darn good.
I basically just scrunched up the ribbon into a flower shape and used the wire to keep it together.
Then I used the wire to wrap the flowers onto the wreath in the back.

 
I added buttons to bring out the colors I'm using on the back porch area.
It's hung up and displayed now. 

 
Once again, a close up of the disaster.
I just tossed those buttons on with some glue and hoped for the best.
Which is what I do with all my craft projects.
 
I will take a big picture of the porch area when it's completed.
Not sure when that will be though.
Knowing me, I'll have it done in 3 more years....







Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Feeling Pinterested? Part 2!

It's that time of year again. When I spend waaaayyyy too much time stalking Pinterest like a crazy person, plotting which craft/recipe/idea I'm going to try next.

Due to the large amount of items I have discovered and how often I fail at these, I decided to blog about it. (Because, who doesn't want to laugh at my failures?) This will serve as proof to my husband that I actually make use of the things I've found on Pinterest. Also, it will help me justify the amount of time I've been spending researching all these ideas.

Darn you Pinterest! Darn you...you have sucked me into your world again.

For the next 2 weeks, taking off on Sundays, I will blog daily with a project or 2 that I've decided to tackle.

Most of these ideas are going to be ones I found that will help me dress up my patio/outdoor area, but we are having a birthday party for the twins this coming Sunday, so I'm working on some ideas on Pinterest so I can blog about it. Wish me luck. Our birthday parties are usually, family, dinner, cake, presents and done. Easy peasy. BUT NO LONGER, thanks to Pinterest. (My poor husband...he's probably in tears right now.)

Today is Day 1. I found this on Pinterest:

 
I could NOT find a website though!
This picture linked to some random search site.
I want to give credit for whoever originally designed this, so if you find them, let me know!
 
I loved this idea and really wanted it in my garden.
I was going to put it in my backyard, but due to 3 very curious (insanely rambunctious) children, I thought it might survive longer where they don't play.
 
The side of my house looks sadly neglected.
It doesn't get a lot of water and plants tend not to grow so well.
 
I wanted to dress it up and thought this would be perfect and easy.
 
 
See?
My sad, empty garden area.

 
I hopped over to our hardware store, purchased pots, spray paint, a bag of dirt and some plants.
Plus the rebar that holds it all steady.

 
Since there was no actual website, I had to just follow the pictures and hope that it worked out OK.

 
So far, so good!
I couldn't find the pretty birdbath that was used above and I didn't want to spend a fortune on a big one, so I got creative and just used a planter base that I was going to put water in.
 
Except, there was no way for that planter base to actually sit on top of that top planter without some sort of glue to help keep everything steady.
 
Science/physics, laws of nature...blah, blah, blah. My husband tried to explain why it wasn't working and all I could do was point at the picture I found on Pinterest and say, "But, LOOK!"
 
After working with my husband (working = he won), we decided to just finish it off this way.

 
I planted flowers and vines inside and I have flowers growing around it.
 
Good points- Cheap, easy to make. Very cute to look at. I like that it's colorful and unique.
 
Bad points- I couldn't get the bird bath to work and with no helpful directions/tips, I found it frustrating. Also, when I water the plants, the dirt flows out as well, due to the angles the pots are at. I have to keep filling the pots with more dirt.
 
I don't call this a fail.
It's so darn cute, despite the bird bath missing and dirt falling out.
It's a keeper.
 
 

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

I Curse you, Window Blinds!

Need some spring cleaning done, but can't seem to find the motivation to actually accomplish that overwhelming to-do list you created months ago?

Just do what I did- invite a butt load of people over to your house for a BBQ.

(I happen to enjoy having people over, just so you know. I didn't get to entertain for years, due to our having no friends/or a house for a few years. I'm jumping on this opportunity...but now, of course, I have kids. Which means, my house is a pit of filth and disease. This is OK for most days. Not so great for entertaining.)

Your house will be clean in just a few days. Like super clean. You will clean things that you normally wouldn't even glance at. Like, when scrubbing the kitchen floor, you notice the wall behind your kitchen table looks a little sticky, you will scrub down your wall. Then, after noticing how clean that wall looks, next to all the other walls, you will scrub down every wall. After doing the walls, you notice that you didn't even finish the floor. While down on the floor, you see the grime on the baseboards...and so it begins again.

Or, when you see the front door, full of kids muddy paw prints and your husbands dirty garage hands, you know that it has to be wiped down before someone comes over and has to touch that door again.

I'm guessing most people wouldn't look at my front door and say, "My goodness, do a bunch of dirty, blind zombies live here?"

Once you get started seeing the underlying filth, you can't seem to stop seeing it everywhere.

This is how came to find out how much I HATE window blinds. You know the ones....the plastic, crappy kind that never seem to gather straight when you try to open a window. The ones that the kids can rip apart or deform permanently, just by peeking through them to spy on the mailman.

They were on the windows of this house when we first moved in. I had plans to remove them and replace all window coverings with some proper window shades. Unfortunately, my bank account didn't agree with my selections. 3 years later, the blinds are still there (or the classy brown towels, if we're talking about my bedroom).

I decided I needed to wash the window in my kitchen, near our table. It has been a home for spiders since the 1950's, so it was well overdue. I noticed, of course, while washing this window, that the blinds could use a good scrubbing as well.

I started by spraying 409 all over them and then trying to wipe them down with a towel. The gray/brown gunk didn't even budge. It was if all the steam from boiling water, frying of oil and dust accumulated over the years and created a mixture that resembled dusty concrete.

I let out a tiny scream of frustration, but then moved them to the bathtub to soak in hot water and assorted chemicals.

 
Ewww....so gross. I see floaters.
I soaked them for a half hour.
 
The crud was still stuck on there.
 
No amount of normal wiping would remove it. I had to grab a sponge and scrub, using actual strength, that I don't have much of. I had to do this to each and every single blind. Individually. It took forever. Or what felt like forever. Bending over a bathtub for a half hour hurts a bit.
 
After all that work, I was so excited to finally have clean blinds! Now I only have 8 more sets to do! Yeah, right...
 
I brought them outside to dry a bit. That's when I noticed that a layer of grime was still on there.
 
I broke down a little, stomped my feet and gave up.
 
There's also a layer of filth coating my bathtub that I have to clean out now.
 
I quit.
 


Saturday, May 18, 2013

I tried...and I failed.

I thought this blog every day in May thing would be easy...but then I got distracted.

By outside.

It's actually nice out now! Finally...

I'm working on re-doing our patio area and just spaced out with writing because I can't seem to do more than one thing at a time.

Anyway, I noticed that my tree is starting to bloom for Spring and I really wanted to get the kids pictures by it this year.

We weren't doing anything after dinner this evening anyway...

First, I had to dress the kids and make them presentable after a full day of playing in the water and dirt. Then, Jalon brought my bench outside in front of my beautiful tree.

Now all that we had to do was convince 3 children to sit in that bench, look at the camera and smile. All at the same time.

Miracles could happen, right?

I knew better. Really, I did. But I wanted this to happen, so I tried bribing them with jelly beans. I knew that I had maybe 5 minutes before the fit hit the shan. My husband worked behind me, snapping his fingers, being silly and yelling at them to smile (yelling at them to smile-genius). Since it was in our front yard and our neighbors are always out doing things (like vehicle maintenance in our front yard), this task was nearly impossible.

I'm pretty sure my kids thought this was a new game. The rules were like this:

1. Only 2 kids could look at the camera at one time.
2. Only 1 kid can smile per picture.
3. There must be continued attempts to escape the bench.
4. When in doubt, ignore the person yelling your name.

Here are my results:

 
Nope.
Not a single good photo here.
Just my kids acting up, as usual.

 
Wow.
Don't try or anything.

 
Seriously, is this a joke?
What are they doing?!?!

Here are the ones I consider OK out of the entire bunch (entire bunch =25 pictures I cannot use. Thank GOD for digital. I would have been pissed to spend $10 on pictures that suck):

 
What irritates me the most?
I meant to actually obtain photographic evidence of my actual tree blossoms.
All I managed to capture is the neighbors house and their discarded brush/tree branch pile.
Awesome.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

10 Things That Make Me Happy

Day 14: Ten things that make you really happy.

I'm an easy to please kind of girl. Doesn't take too much to make me happy. Unless, you were the one that made me mad, then it might be a little more challenging for you. Ask my husband for advice on that one. He makes me angry all the time and yet, he's still alive and living with me.

1. Books. I love my books. They are full of adventure, love, drama, humor and fun. Plus, they smell good. Books are always the perfect date. Unless the book is written by Nicholas Sparks. Books that can make me cry, are not books that will make me happy. Keep your sad drama away from me. I don't mind a few tears here and there as long as it concludes with "and they lived happily ever after." Our world needs more of these.

2. My kids and my husband. They also have the magical ability to make me unhappy as well. Just like flipping a switch.

3. Dessert. Like I said...doesn't take much. Bring me some ice cream and watch the smile form like magic. Add a book or a good movie to that and I might giggle with glee.

4. Thunderstorms. Especially if it's severe storms...if I had a tail, tornadoes would make it wag.

5. Seeing my garden/plants grow. It's a lot of effort but seeing all that hard work pay off in the form of veggies, fruit and beautiful flowers, just makes me giddy every year.

6. The Big Bang Theory. My husband and I are on Season 4 right now. I love shows that make me laugh and this one is a win every single time.

7. Comments on my blog. Seriously, who wouldn't love that? Just the fact that someone took time out of their day to leave you a little comment is so darn thoughtful and can make your day. Or ruin it, depending on what they wrote.

8. Going junk/antique shopping. I know this sounds stupid, but I love hunting through a store and the joy that I get when I find the exact item I didn't know I even needed. It's even more enjoyable, when I get to go shopping without children and an unlimited budget. A girl can dream, right?

9. Writing. It's therapy. Keeps me from going completely insane. Which probably makes my family happy.

10. Sundays. I know, most people don't really like Sunday because it's the last day to relax before the work week. But, because of our Church and our wonderful Church family, Sunday has become one of my most favorite days I look forward to.

It was hard to come up with 10. Apparently, I'm like a talking grumpy cat. I thought for sure it would be easy-peasy. Although, my husband has it easy if he ever does make me mad. All he has to do is refer to this list, provide any one of these and *poof* you have one happy Danielle.

Monday, May 13, 2013

Playing Catch Up

Because I entered another blog challenge, I haven't been able to put regular "daily" things on here. Since I already missed a few days of the challenge, I decided to miss one more just for a quick update day.

1.
Happy Mother's Day to all those out there! I had an absolutely wonderful day with my family.
 I started off by ruining breakfast, making us late to church and having dinner with our whole family. 
The kids behaved themselves all day and I received some wonderful gifts:
 
 
Evan even gave me a paper ruler.
Because he could, that's why...
Now if it would just warm up, I could actually plant these flowers outside.
 
2.
We had a bonfire on Friday night. It was the perfect evening for a toasty fire.

 
Here's Morgan, being adorable.
She didn't sit too long.
 
 
Declan tried to sit down.
He also didn't sit too long...

 
He fell in every chair he tried to sit in.

 
Morgan thought that falling out of a chair looked like fun, so she gave it a shot.

 
Then Declan fell through the stairs and ended up getting stuck.

 
I didn't leave him like this for long.
I'm a good Mom, I promise. 
But I had to take a picture first.

 
I didn't give them S'mores because it was almost their bedtime.
That much sugar at that hour of night would equal chaos and pure stupidity on my part.

 
They enjoyed some plain graham crackers for a treat.
 
3.
Evan: "Mommy, what's for dinner?"
Me: "Sloppy Joes."
Evan: "You need to give sloppy joes to the policemen Mommy."
Me: "What? Why?"
Evan: "Because they feed the bad guys in jail and you said that the bad guys get all the icky food."
Me: "And my sloppy joes qualify as icky food?"
Evan: "I hate sloppy food."

 One day, this picture will come back to haunt him.
I can't wait to meet his future girlfriends.
I will be printing this on a very large canvas just for that moment.
This is called payback.
 
 

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

A Piece of Advice

Today is "A piece of advice you have for others".

I have lots of advice. Like, not traveling to the middle of the desert when you know you have bathroom issues. Or, if you are going to squish a wasp, make sure you either get it good or learn to run for your life. Those things hurt.

Here are some more, I learned more recently:

1. If you are going to "fix-up" your backyard, don't share your ideas with your spouse. Just do it and hope they don't get mad. You start running all your plans by your loved one and pretty soon, it's a war. Why? Because, why not?

2. When doing your laundry, make sure to sift through it all before washing. Kids like to hide dirty diapers inside the laundry basket. Wash one diaper and that laundry will never come clean again.

3. The best way to kill a spider is with Lysol and a vacuum cleaner.

4. The best way to kill a giant centipede is to set fire to your house and just start over.

5. Sure fire way to get your kid to throw a giant fit in the middle of the store is to just say no. He will do that one scream, (the one scream you know he does on purpose just because it really, really makes you mad. It's also the one that triggers a headache and makes you consider just leaving him where he is, while you run away and pretend you have no idea who he is.) until you buckle the seat belt in the car.

6. Don't ever do this to someone else:

    I was walking Declan and Morgan in our jogging stroller to pick up Evan from school. We arrived a few minutes early and decided to play on the tiny playground that sits near the front door. While they were playing, another parent decides to let their child play with mine. Now, due to the laws of normal social customs, we are supposed to communicate. I hate this part. I get so nervous. I'm going to say something wrong...

   She starts out by asking how old my twins are. I tell her they are almost 3. She tells me her son will be attending the pre-k program next year and how they almost would be attending together. Darn. Then she asks me who I was waiting for and how old. I say, "My son Evan is in Kindergarten." She looked surprised and said, "Wow! He's so young. You must have had him and had it so nice for a little while, then this happened." When she said this, she waved at my twins like they were a disease. I just sat there in a numb silence for a few seconds just to process what she meant by that.

   Nothing good, I'm assuming, which is why I WISH my answer went like this, "I just had a set of twins purely to enjoy all the wonderful, rude comments that would come my way. I was betting you were going to ask if they were identical, but this took a different twist. Now I have something to write about. Thank you!" I didn't have an answer. Which is what happens when I'm too stunned to actually think of something sarcastic to say. I really hate it when that happens. Although, it's probably better this way as I'm sure playground brawls are still frowned upon.
  

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Things I'm Most Afraid Of

Everything. I'm afraid of everything. So is my son Evan. He's afraid of tube slides. Can't blame him really...they are like giant germ tunnels. Go in healthy, exit with the plague.

I had a different post created, because I was going to take a more serious approach to this post, but I just can't. Once I dive into those dark recesses of my head, the anxiety starts getting bad. So, for right now, I'm going to leave my deepest fears right where they belong. Far away from my present thoughts.

Here's a small list of things that scare me:

1. Shrimp- Ocean spiders that people eat? No. Not ever. That goes for all seafood too. Cows aren't creepy. But octopus? Lobsters? Giant crabs? That's terrifying. I don't want to be in the same zip code with it, let alone put it in my mouth.

 
2. Cruise Ships- They are on the ocean. And you're trapped with millions of people. Nope. Plus, I tend to get car sick, so going on a boat probably isn't the best idea for me.
3. The ocean- It's so deep. I'm scared of deep. And the stuff hidden in the deep.
4. Spiders- All of them. No matter their size.
5. Bugs that have more than 8 legs or no legs.
6. Ok...just all bugs in general.
7. Heights.
8. Planes, because of heights. And being trapped with people. Make one person sick and I'm on the floor shaking with an anxiety attack.

That about sums it up for me. My poor husband. He likes the ocean and enjoys eating seafood. But now he's stuck with Chicken Little.

Monday, May 6, 2013

My super awesome job!

I missed a day already.

I had a post ready to go, but Sunday flew past me in a hurry.

It was such a good day though! I didn't have time to hop in the computer, way too nice outside for the Internet.

Today's prompt is: If you couldn't answer with your job, how would you answer the question "What do you do?"

My job is a stay at home Mom.
I clean.
I cook.
I raise 3 children.
I sigh in disgust after watching a child pick his nose and eat what he found. (This one just happened. I'm writing this and admiring my lovely children, when I notice my son digging for gold. Bleh. That quickly brought me back to reality.)
I drive, drop off, pick up, run errands, plan multiple schedules, call doctors, do appointments, give medicine, tend the boo-boos, comfort, entertain, teach, discipline and love my children daily.

I also spend time each day, writing and praying. Sometimes, I get creative and craft something new. I like to consider myself a professional reader because I always have a couple books I'm reading and I'm always looking for the next one to start. (Right now- Karen Kingsbury "Waiting for Morning". I'm on chapter 9 and have already cried my way through like a baby. And since this one is serious, I'm reading a Jen Lancaster book, so I can add some humor to my day.)

Doesn't sound like a super exciting life, but my opinion, it's the best.

I wouldn't trade this for anything.



Saturday, May 4, 2013

Quote Day

I thought for a long time about quotes. I don't usually go for the somewhat cheesy fitness ones. They don't last too long for me. I prefer ice cream over working out, so it might just be me.

The quotes that stick are the ones from my favorite books. I'm a huge fan of Harry Potter quotes but I decided to show you all some quotes from a completely different series. For me, this series is just as popular but I do know some people have never heard of it before. If this series is new to you- dive on in, I promise you won't regret it! (There are some graphic scenes in this, so be warned if that is not for you. The love story makes it worth it, in my opinion.)

I'm a huge fan of the Outlander Series from Diana Gabaldon.

Huge. Fan.

I read this series every other year. It takes awhile to get through, these aren't quick reads. But so worth the time.

Here are some of my favorite quotes I was able to locate on Pinterest:
(Sorry about the lack of actual sources to websites, some didn't have any and some required me to sign up to see. Pinterest is where I found them so I'm counting that as my official source now.)

 
Most people I suggest this series to, have loved it.
With the exception of my sister.
She said she liked it, but I don't sense the level of obsession that I think should go with this series.

 
There's so much that this book offers.
It's sometimes sweet, sometimes serious and has lots of humor.
I love the humor.

 
How could you not like this?
So darn beautiful and romantic!

 
And some parts of this series makes you cry.
I mean really cry.
Not just little tears that sneak out and no one will notice...
but the kind that has you sobbing in the corner of a room.

 
This is the Outlander series for me.
It's wonderful.
Which is why it will always have a place on my bookshelf and in my heart.
It's the kind of book I'm not able to forget easily, no matter how many times I read it.
 
 

Friday, May 3, 2013

Things That Make Me Uncomfortable

Day 3- Things that make you uncomfortable.

Easy. Everything.

At first, I wasn't quite sure how I should take this. But I'm guessing it's not like "Wearing a bra sometimes gets uncomfortable" or "I ate my sadness in the form of a cake and now my pants are uncomfortable and I need more elastic waistbands."

I'm assuming it's probably more like this:

1. Using the bathroom when it's not mine. In restrooms, it's so loud and echo-y. Plus, they are usually below my standards of clean.

One time, when my husband and I were dating for about 6 months, he decided to bring me "home" with him for Thanksgiving. Except, their Thanksgiving took place in the middle of the desert. They called it camping in the "dunes". I called it...something else entirely. Although, I had lots of fun, riding jeeps in the sand dunes, meeting his family and some of his friends.  We were staying with his family in their 5th Wheel trailer. Even though it was very comfy, bathroom visits for me were kind of awkward. When I travel, I get severe stomach issues. It's the most unpleasant thing to experience and it makes you never want to leave your home. One morning, while everyone was still sleeping, I was about to have some "issues" of the explosive nature. There was NO WAY I was going to wake up the entire trailer with that. But, we were smack dab in the middle of nowhere. I took a walk, hoping this would just go away. After a few minutes, I stumbled across a random concrete building with graffiti all over. I opened the door and it was as if heavens light shone down upon this lonely desert and granted me my very own bathroom. I hunkered inside, praying that no one would get curious and open the door. Then ran back to the camp, hoping I could find my way, and never told another person this story. Until now. You're welcome.


2. Anytime I need to remove my clothing at the doctors office. They never really tell you how MUCH to remove. I always either take off too much or not enough. And those paper gowns. Seriously.

3. Going to functions where I'm expected to communicate with conversation. And when I get uncomfortable, I tend to make everyone else uncomfortable with my awkward attempts at being humorous so I can ease my discomfort. And then, because I notice I'm making everyone else uncomfortable, I just stop talking again. It's a vicious cycle.

That's about it. Sorry about the over-sharing with my bathroom story. There's more where that came from! I have lots of uncomfortable stories that occur in bathrooms. But one of them I'm saving for embarrassing moments. Stay tuned! It can only get better from here...right?


Thursday, May 2, 2013

Dive On In! The Clutter Feels Wonderful!

Day 2- Educate us on something you know a lot about or are good at.

Impossible. I'm so wonderful at so many things I just don't know where to start....

Here are some tips I have on How to Become a Hoarder.

It's surprisingly easy to master this gift in just a few simple steps. My husband and I are finally 1 step away from the family intervention and our own TV show. Since I know it's worked so well for us, I just knew I had to share. Can't hog all the wonderful knowledge.

Step 1: Find a good storage area in your home. Eventually, this will be the entire house, but you need to start somewhere conspicuous as to not raise questions too early. You don't want the intervention to arrive before you've had a chance to gather as much crap as possible. A tip: I use my basement right now. The clutter has been collecting dust, spiders and centipedes for so long now that you can't help but be disgusted by it all. Also, the basement comes in handy because we can easily keep people away from it by telling them "That's where we keep the bodies."

My crafting station.
My husband keeps asking when I'm going to tidy up.
This is tidy.

Step 2: Start collecting random objects. This may take a few years to accumulate. It will go faster if you let other people know you will take in their old crap. No more throwing away "good" stuff. You never know when you'll need that peanut butter jar, but you better save it. If you are asked why you are keeping said item, here are some valid responses that have worked well for me:
  
     a. "I could craft with this."
     b. "I recycle everything at my house."
     c. "I love to decorate with old junk- if my kids ruin it, I won't feel as bad."
     d. "I need this. It's mine. Back off."

My husband was going to throw these car parts away!
I stored them in the basement.
I could craft with these...


Step 3: Organize the clutter into sections marked, "Why are we keeping this?", "Future Garage Sales That Will Probably Never Happen" and "I Seriously Do Plan On Crafting With This One Day". Don't worry. These sections don't actually mean anything. The sections are just here in case someone gets curious about your "bodies" and investigates. They shall be foiled...for now.

This is my basement.
Organized so nicely into "Garage Sale" and "Future Craft Project"


Step 4: Avoid arguments about cleaning. During the Organizing Session, when arguments arise with your spouse (mostly about why we are keeping 50 peanut butter jars or why we have garbage bags filled with old towels), just point fingers of blame, start yelling random statements about how we're trying to save the Earth and then suggest a break and distract person with a treat. That's the end of going into the basement again for a bit. Out of sight, out of mind and stuff will remain there for YEARS. Score!

Step 5: The Final Addition to the Clutter. When you know it's getting close to family intervention time, (due to things like, "I'm feeling itchy", getting served Divorce papers, you can't open any doors or see the floor, or people start to complain of the smell and you can no longer blame your children), then it's time to bring in the animals. Most would suggest cats. They are so darn cute and you can craft with the cat hair! Bonus Hoarding Level reached! But I'm sure rats would give the same results without feeling over bad about finding them squished under a box somewhere (did I cross a line with that one?). If there's an intervention coming, you need to be sure that it's good enough to get that TV show out here. Or else what's the point? I want my 15 minutes of fame, just like everyone else, and I love to make others gag and gasp in revulsion.

Now, I'm going back to not seeing my basement until our "garage sale" that's supposed to happen in June.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

May Challenge- Day 1

The April A-Z Challenge was so much fun that I was kind of freaking out over having "nothing" to do after it was over.

Fortunately, there's another blog challenge that I can join and be part of! My husband will be thrilled...

I put the badge on my sidebar if anyone is interested in signing up for this as well or check out http://storyofmylifetheblog.blogspot.com/ because she has a great blog!

Day 1- the story of your life in 250 words or less

Let's see if I can do this...

I was born October 9, 1980 in St. Paul MN. My parents were both married in this state and had no plans on leaving. I grew up in Cottage Grove, MN and went to most of the same schools that my parents attended. My brother and sister are younger than me, but we grew up pretty close. I was an awkward girl that would get laughed at a lot because I always acted silly. So I realized that I could do that on purpose so people would laugh with me rather than at me. After graduating high school, I knew that college just wasn't for me (I still regret not going to college) and decided I needed to do something with my life, so I joined the Air Force. I was a Jet Engine Mechanic and loved it. Until I actually had to work on the engines. Turns out I'm not a great mechanic. After 8 years, a marriage and our first child, I knew it was time for me to be done and move on. The Air Force wanted to keep separating us from each other, so my husband and I were honorably discharged and I obtained a degree in the Paralegal field. 7 months working in a law firm and a set of twins later, I decided I no longer wanted to work in the law field. I started this blog and even started about 3 different books that I will never share with anyone because I lack the confidence in my own work.

Well, I did 255. Whatever. There are way too many "I"s in that paragraph, but at this point, I don't care. =) It's a quick, basic intro to me without getting too deep into the crazy.

I'm excited for this new challenge and hope to keep finding more blogs that I can read!

And it comes with writing prompts so I don't spend every day writing about my children. I need to get out more...