Monday, November 21, 2011

After Skipping the Weekend

14. Have you ever seen insanity where you later saw creativity?

One name - ee cummings

I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again. I HATED having to study ee cummings freshman year of high school. He was crazy nothing he did made sense and we had to explain his poetry. Random punctuation and spacing words cut into three seperate lines? None of it was logical, none of it made sense.....

Until the last couple of years. All of the sudden the man became a genius. I don't know if a flip switched in my mind or if I just had to live more life to realize the complexity of his creativity.



I'm also starting to enjoy Jackson Pollack, but I still see insanity so I don't know that that counts...

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

I Hope Not

18. Are you holding onto something you need to let go of?
There is only one big thing in my life that I think I really really hope for (maybe 2 now that I'm really thinking about it more) but either way, I hope I don't have to let go.
I know that my life is in God's hands and I really do pray that no matter what I am just doing whatever it is the He wants for my life.
But those 2 things (one of which is marriage/family)... I just want them so much that I can't imagine God saying He won't ever give them to me.
Oh, in case you haven't guessed, I'm not mentioning the other thing. ;o)
I have friends that would say I might need to let go and then just let them happen if God chooses, but I don't necessarily think I'm clinging so hard that they consume me. The thing I mentioned and the thing I didn't are parts of my dreams, but not something I think about... not every day... and I don't think that thinking about them occasionally is really a bad thing.

So to sum up, I hope that I'm not holding onto something I need to let go of.

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

A Fun Little “Make Blogging a Habit Again” Challenge for Me

Longest blog title ever, don’t you think? =o)

A little while back, I stumbled across a challenge of sorts. Answering the “50 Questions that Free Your Mind”. I don’t know about freeing my mind and what that really entails, and I don’t know that I’ll ever answer all 50 questions, but I’m going to attempt to blog through these guys, hopefully thru the end of the year… we’ll see how that goes. It will be besides the Thanksgiving-type posts and the Christmas-y ones. Just a general determination to try to get myself going again.

So here goes. I’m going to start with question………………………..

32. If not now, then when?

Now? Haha… I thought this was appropriate considering the premise of wanting to make better habits and be more consistent. With blogging being the least of my “want-to-be’s” If I don’t do it now, if I don’t make myself start…..

I had a big realization not too long ago about my health. About needing to lose weight. I realized that I too often wait for someone to do it with me. I want to go to the gym with others. I want to cook with friends. I’m almost afraid of doing things alone. If I don’t start now. If I don’t ask for God’s strength to get me there even when I feel alone… I’ll never do it.

If not now, never.

I choose now.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Stalking Pinterest

I should qualify this blog post with the fact that I haven't been on pinterest in the last several days because I'm taking advantage of my 14 day free trial at ancestry.com; however.....

There are things that Pinterest has done for my life lately:

1. Motivate me! There are so many healthy recipes (that are delicious) and at-work mini at-your-desk "workouts" and quotes that inspire me to lose weight.... I dig it!

2. Made me realize that I waste money on things that I am perfectly capable of making myself. There are so many cute ideas for storage and organization and decorating that I can do with things I already own...

3. I want to cook more often! I did when I lived alone and I did when I first moved in with my roommate, but lately I just haven't been cooking and I miss it.

4. I want to grow my hair out (that phrase strikes me as odd right now). There are so many great hairstyles out there that look ok on my currently shoulder-length hair, but they would look SO much better done to my formerly longer hair. Here's to having the patience? I too often lose patience and hack it off....

5. I want to craft again. I want to make things and be creative. I'm a little jealous of my friend A who has changed jobs recently and re-found the time and energy and desire for crafting. We have been so crazy at work and there has been so much going on that I somethimes feel like I have zero creativity. I miss it. Maybe I should start coloring during my lunch breaks at work..... it'd be something anyway...

6. Probably most importantly for my health... I want to start using homemade/natural cleaning products. I refuse to make what I need until I'm done with what I have, but after a bout with a not-to-be-named bleaching spray this weekend I realized how sick harsh chemicals make me. My skin has broken out, I had a headache for two days and a slight rash on my face and arms. I don't know why we started going crazy with the chemicals, but I just can't use them anymore... so goodbye bleaching stuffs and hello vinegar and baking soda (they're in almost everything)!

Are you with me? Or not... I just think there is so much out there and I just had to share!

Oh, and speaking fo sharing... want to know something pretty cool? I'm not the first person in my family to have been in the town I live in. Thanks to some family geneology, I found out that my Great Great Grandfather fought in a battle in the Civil War in this very town!! Crazy, huh? I can't wait to see what else is out there.................

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Remember Martha?

Remember when I made my own laundry detergent?

I told you I'd give you an update...

Here it is.

I *HEART* IT!!! I really really think this is just the greatest stuff I've ever used in my laundry! It's scent free and dye free and my clothes get o-so-clean! I had read that vinegar was good to use as a fabric softener but because I didn't use that knowledge for a few weeks, my clothes (especially towels) got very rough. Once I started using vinegar (about 1/4 to 1/2 a cup) in the wash, everything is nice and soft!

And I promise, the vinegar doesn't make your clothes stink! And it has the added bonus of cleaning your washing machine while it works!

I'm so glad someone found the "recipe" on Yellow Brick Home and added it to Pinterest so I could make/use it! Here's the recipe and my photo again for reference:

1 cup of Borax
1 cup of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda
1 bar of Ivory Soap, grated (the original "recipe" calls for Fels Naptha)