Well, sometimes good intentions have to be revised along the way. I was doing a little research into the art of Feng Shui and the deeper I got into it, the more I realized that it did not jive with my Christianity. So I have revised my #17 on the bucket list. Originally it read "Learn about and start using the art of Feng Shui". While I don't plan on using all of the steps, the first step of using Feng Shui resonated with me. Declutter your life first. I come from a long line of borderline hoarders. About the only reason I am not a true hoarder is because I move so much. It also helps that I am married to a semi neat freak. But even he has his cluttered areas.
I think my biggest problem in this area is that I go all gung-ho in the beginning, but I burn out quickly. I forget that once it's done, it has to be kept up on a regular basis. Clutter doesn't just take care of itself if you don't have a symptom. So starting today, I'm going to make a list of all of the areas of clutter in my house and slowly work my way around to decluttering each space a little at a time.
Paper
This is a given. I mean, who doesn't have paper clutter, right? It comes into the house daily. Mail, kids backpacks, receipts, magazines, newspapers, etc, etc. I have a catch all area where most of the paper clutter goes and I have already done some decluttering in the area in the last few months. But, I haven't found a really good system for controlling it yet. I will have to continue working with this area and hopefully find a good system.
Toys
I have a 7 year old with developmental delays and a 3 year old who is almost on track developmentally. Basically, A (the 7 year old)'s idea of playing is to load up a whole bunch of toys into a box (or most recently the laundry basket) and dump them out against a wall. Repeat a thousand times. His other obsession right now is kicking the kick ball in the hallway against the doors. We live in the rainy northwest so we let him. K's at least playing appropriately with her toys when A doesn't take them from her. She wraps her babies in blankets and "puts them to bed". She is also into "reading" books and likes to lay on the floor and turn the pages. The problem with that is if you don't monitor the amount of time, she eventually starts tearing pages in the books.
So the toy situation is really a headache. There are toys and books that have been taken from the children when they start playing inappropriately so now K's room is a catch all where there are toys in the closet, on top of her dresser and on top of two rows of shelves which were originally installed for my scrapbooking stuff (up high so they can't get to it). It's a mess.
Clothes
Part of the issue with clothing is that I refuse to buy more clothes for myself until I lose enough weight to fit into the ones I have. However, the longer it takes for me to really get off my butt and start losing weight, the more the clothes I have will go out of style. I just can't bring myself to get rid of them though. I have boxes of the kids outgrown clothes to go to the consignment store and just haven't done it yet.
Crafting Supplies
This is another area where I want to really get rid of stuff but I have that mentality of "what if I need this some day?". I just need to be ruthless in this area. And while I do still scrapbook occasionally, I find that I'm not even using most of my "old" stuff when I do. Time to purge.
Other Areas
I am sure as I begin this project, I will find more areas that need to be decluttered. I wan to have a home that is full of energy and welcoming and inviting. Right now, I just cringe when I see my house. I keep it relatively "neat" but the clutter screams at me and makes me uncomfortable. Just like my classroom. I have decluttered a few areas and everyone tells me my classroom looks so organized. But to me, I just feel the stress of the cluttered areas (even though they're hidden). This will be a long journey.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Saturday, December 8, 2012
40 By 40 Friday (a Day Late)
Ok, I know it's Saturday so I'm a day late. I have no excuse except that I was lazy yesterday. Point blank. No other reason. So my progress was spotty but at least existent this week.
#16 : Read or get rid of all unread books in my current collection.
#34 : Read 50 New York Times Best Sellers
This week I read my first Stephen King novel ever. EVER! I can't believe I haven't read anything by him yet. I've seen just about all the movies that have been made based on his books and love them, but I've never actually read any of his books. About a year ago, I was having a conversation with a fellow waitress (when I was working as a waitress) and we got to talking about books we've read that we like. She suggested The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. So I picked up the book but never read it until this week. It started off kind of slow, but the more I got into it, the more I was sucked in. The setting reminded me a lot of some of the setting in "The Stand" movie, especially the desert parts. Some of the characters in this book were quite confusing which just drew me in further instead of turning me off. I think the hardest part about reading this book is some of the language. Stephen has created a new dialect of the English language and while I was able to figure out what some words meant by context clues, others just sat on the page rotting while my brain tried to decipher them. I have the feeling that the more I get into the series, the better I'll understand both the characters and the language.
So that brings me up to 6 NYTBS out of the 50 I want to read for my list. I never really set a number for #16 because I'm really not sure at this stage in the game which ones I will eventually read and which ones I will end up getting rid of. Sometimes it just takes reading a couple of pages or chapters before I give up on the book altogether. I am, however determined NOT to buy any more books or even check out any from the library until I have read all the ones that are currently in my bookcase right now. The fact that most of them fall into one of the other two categories (Classics or Best Sellers) just helps me get closer to my other goals faster.
Update: I forgot that I also read Water for Elephants earlier this year so my list is now at 7 out of 50! Woohoo!
#21 : Submit my book for publishing.
Ok, so I probably jumped the gun on this one a little so I'm not going to cross this one off the list just quite yet. I have been dabbling on the Internet for the last 3 or 4 years trying to figure out the publishing business. Some places say non-fiction doesn't have to be complete before you submit it to a publisher. So, since my book is a memoir, I assumed that it was classified as non-fiction. Last Saturday morning, I started searching the Internet for publishers who look for first time authors and stumbled upon Tate Publishing. They had a form right on their web page where you can submit a manuscript so I filled it out and submitted the couple of chapters I have written so far. A few minutes later, I received a standard form letter in my inbox "Thank you for submitting. We'll be in touch". The kind that basically says don't call us, we'll call you. So I tried not to think about it and figured IF I did hear something, it may be weeks.
Sunday afternoon, on my way to the grocery store, I got a call from the acquisitions director who said she was interested in the book. She said she thought it would be a great book and was one that would be marketed well with interviews on talk shows and such. At first I was elated. I couldn't believe she called so soon and that she was interested in the book so much. But then the bomb dropped. I would have to pay a $4000 retainer for a publicist up front! Yeah, don't think this is going to happen after all. She did say that they would break it up into payments for me and that it's refundable after 1000 copies are sold, but even broken up that would be like $500 a month. Money we just don't have right now to pay out when we aren't even caught up on our regular monthly bills.
So instead, I talked to my librarian at school who knows a few local published authors. She's going to get in touch with some of them and try to get us connected so I can pick their brains about the publishing process. I also did some more research about memoirs in particular and found quite a few helpful sites. The more I read about memoirs, the more I learned that usually they are treated like a fiction novel in that they have to be finished before you submit them to the publisher. So back to the writing process itself. Time to get that baby finished.
#16 : Read or get rid of all unread books in my current collection.
#34 : Read 50 New York Times Best Sellers
This week I read my first Stephen King novel ever. EVER! I can't believe I haven't read anything by him yet. I've seen just about all the movies that have been made based on his books and love them, but I've never actually read any of his books. About a year ago, I was having a conversation with a fellow waitress (when I was working as a waitress) and we got to talking about books we've read that we like. She suggested The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. So I picked up the book but never read it until this week. It started off kind of slow, but the more I got into it, the more I was sucked in. The setting reminded me a lot of some of the setting in "The Stand" movie, especially the desert parts. Some of the characters in this book were quite confusing which just drew me in further instead of turning me off. I think the hardest part about reading this book is some of the language. Stephen has created a new dialect of the English language and while I was able to figure out what some words meant by context clues, others just sat on the page rotting while my brain tried to decipher them. I have the feeling that the more I get into the series, the better I'll understand both the characters and the language.
So that brings me up to 6 NYTBS out of the 50 I want to read for my list. I never really set a number for #16 because I'm really not sure at this stage in the game which ones I will eventually read and which ones I will end up getting rid of. Sometimes it just takes reading a couple of pages or chapters before I give up on the book altogether. I am, however determined NOT to buy any more books or even check out any from the library until I have read all the ones that are currently in my bookcase right now. The fact that most of them fall into one of the other two categories (Classics or Best Sellers) just helps me get closer to my other goals faster.
Update: I forgot that I also read Water for Elephants earlier this year so my list is now at 7 out of 50! Woohoo!
#21 : Submit my book for publishing.
Ok, so I probably jumped the gun on this one a little so I'm not going to cross this one off the list just quite yet. I have been dabbling on the Internet for the last 3 or 4 years trying to figure out the publishing business. Some places say non-fiction doesn't have to be complete before you submit it to a publisher. So, since my book is a memoir, I assumed that it was classified as non-fiction. Last Saturday morning, I started searching the Internet for publishers who look for first time authors and stumbled upon Tate Publishing. They had a form right on their web page where you can submit a manuscript so I filled it out and submitted the couple of chapters I have written so far. A few minutes later, I received a standard form letter in my inbox "Thank you for submitting. We'll be in touch". The kind that basically says don't call us, we'll call you. So I tried not to think about it and figured IF I did hear something, it may be weeks.
Sunday afternoon, on my way to the grocery store, I got a call from the acquisitions director who said she was interested in the book. She said she thought it would be a great book and was one that would be marketed well with interviews on talk shows and such. At first I was elated. I couldn't believe she called so soon and that she was interested in the book so much. But then the bomb dropped. I would have to pay a $4000 retainer for a publicist up front! Yeah, don't think this is going to happen after all. She did say that they would break it up into payments for me and that it's refundable after 1000 copies are sold, but even broken up that would be like $500 a month. Money we just don't have right now to pay out when we aren't even caught up on our regular monthly bills.
So instead, I talked to my librarian at school who knows a few local published authors. She's going to get in touch with some of them and try to get us connected so I can pick their brains about the publishing process. I also did some more research about memoirs in particular and found quite a few helpful sites. The more I read about memoirs, the more I learned that usually they are treated like a fiction novel in that they have to be finished before you submit them to the publisher. So back to the writing process itself. Time to get that baby finished.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
40 by 40 Friday: Crossing Off The List
I did it! After almost a full year of staring at my 40 things I want to get done before I turn 40, I have finally done it! I am officially crossing off my first item! Yay me!
Item #14 - Learn how to make the perfect pie crust. Over. Done with. I finally was able to feel like I had accomplished this one. Like I said in my Thanksgiving post, I did make a pie crust that turned out pretty good, but I wasn't happy with the rolling out process. I felt like it was still too hard and crumbled just a little too much as I was working with it. So after getting some hints from friends and FaceBook friends and watching some YouTube videos, I pulled all of those tips together and made it. I made a pumpkin pie and brought it to school for all the teachers and administrators to try. I received rave reviews. I heard things like "the crust is so flaky", "the crust tastes wonderful", and "can I get your recipe?"!
So without further ado, I will attempt to give you the perfect pie crust recipe by pulling together all of those tips I found and piling them up here for you. I'm not going to reprint the recipe itself as I found that part on pinterest.
Item #14 - Learn how to make the perfect pie crust. Over. Done with. I finally was able to feel like I had accomplished this one. Like I said in my Thanksgiving post, I did make a pie crust that turned out pretty good, but I wasn't happy with the rolling out process. I felt like it was still too hard and crumbled just a little too much as I was working with it. So after getting some hints from friends and FaceBook friends and watching some YouTube videos, I pulled all of those tips together and made it. I made a pumpkin pie and brought it to school for all the teachers and administrators to try. I received rave reviews. I heard things like "the crust is so flaky", "the crust tastes wonderful", and "can I get your recipe?"!
So without further ado, I will attempt to give you the perfect pie crust recipe by pulling together all of those tips I found and piling them up here for you. I'm not going to reprint the recipe itself as I found that part on pinterest.
The Recipe
How to Roll Out Pie Crust
In addition to the recipe and the video, I also had a hint to add a tsp of vinegar to help break down the gluten and make the dough easier to roll out. I'm sure I will revisit this over and over again as I incorporate new hints and try new recipes, but for the purpose of crossing it off my list, i think the reviews on Thursday are enough for me to pass this test.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Author Thursday
I'm going to try to read at least one book per week and do a weekly book review for the book I read that week. I may include some updates on my own writing on this weekly post. If you have any suggestions or recommendations for me, please feel free to share in the comments below.
The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks
I have been carrying this book around in my purse for months meaning to start it whenever I had to wait in a doctor's office or wait for a carry out dinner. It never happened. So when I decided I needed to start reading a book a week to make my goal by my 40th birthday, I started looking at home for books I already had. So technically this one falls under the "New York Times Best Seller List" as well as the "Finish books in my current collection List". Killing two birds with one book!
I must admit that this is the first Nicholas Sparks book I've read. While I have seen some of the movie adaptations, I have never actually picked up one of the books. I don't know why it's taken me so long. I lived in North Carolina for over 4 years and considering most of his stories take place in that beautiful state, I probably should have been a fan from the beginning. I have to say that I really enjoy reading authors who write about places I've been or lived because it is so much easier to get a good "movie" going in my head.
The basis of this book is a marine, Logan, in Iraq finds a picture of a woman and he starts having near misses in combat. While others around him are killed, he continues to be saved from gunfire and explosions. One of his friends convinces Logan to go find the woman in the picture because she is his lucky charm. Logan's search sends him to a small town in North Carolina where he finds Beth, the woman in the picture. He doesn't know how to tell her about the picture, but they begin to fall in love. This is made more difficult by an ex-husband, Keith, who's family pretty much "owns" the town.
I enjoyed Mr. Sparks' descriptions of the towns and it brought back the memories of the hot, sticky southern summers as well as the beauty often inherent in those small historic towns. Beth also has a son who is more into music and reading than sports and video games (every mother's dream right?). She is a teacher and Sparks' description of that part of her character pleasantly surprised me. It made me think that either his wife is a teacher or he has a teacher in his family as he is spot on about the demands of that job, especially in the beginning of the school year. There were so many aspects of this story that were parallels to my own life that made it easy for me to relate to the characters' emotional states.
The love story is not so fantastic that it is unbelievable and I appreciated the PG-13 rating of Mr. Sparks' writing. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a prude. But I am a Christian and when I can find a good love story where I don't have to get bogged down in the specifics of the sexual encounters, it makes for a much smoother reading. I don't even think I read one cuss word in the entire book. It's refreshing to find a writer who can tell a story that is relatable and thoroughly engaging without being crass and too sexual.
The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks
I have been carrying this book around in my purse for months meaning to start it whenever I had to wait in a doctor's office or wait for a carry out dinner. It never happened. So when I decided I needed to start reading a book a week to make my goal by my 40th birthday, I started looking at home for books I already had. So technically this one falls under the "New York Times Best Seller List" as well as the "Finish books in my current collection List". Killing two birds with one book!
I must admit that this is the first Nicholas Sparks book I've read. While I have seen some of the movie adaptations, I have never actually picked up one of the books. I don't know why it's taken me so long. I lived in North Carolina for over 4 years and considering most of his stories take place in that beautiful state, I probably should have been a fan from the beginning. I have to say that I really enjoy reading authors who write about places I've been or lived because it is so much easier to get a good "movie" going in my head.
The basis of this book is a marine, Logan, in Iraq finds a picture of a woman and he starts having near misses in combat. While others around him are killed, he continues to be saved from gunfire and explosions. One of his friends convinces Logan to go find the woman in the picture because she is his lucky charm. Logan's search sends him to a small town in North Carolina where he finds Beth, the woman in the picture. He doesn't know how to tell her about the picture, but they begin to fall in love. This is made more difficult by an ex-husband, Keith, who's family pretty much "owns" the town.
I enjoyed Mr. Sparks' descriptions of the towns and it brought back the memories of the hot, sticky southern summers as well as the beauty often inherent in those small historic towns. Beth also has a son who is more into music and reading than sports and video games (every mother's dream right?). She is a teacher and Sparks' description of that part of her character pleasantly surprised me. It made me think that either his wife is a teacher or he has a teacher in his family as he is spot on about the demands of that job, especially in the beginning of the school year. There were so many aspects of this story that were parallels to my own life that made it easy for me to relate to the characters' emotional states.
The love story is not so fantastic that it is unbelievable and I appreciated the PG-13 rating of Mr. Sparks' writing. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a prude. But I am a Christian and when I can find a good love story where I don't have to get bogged down in the specifics of the sexual encounters, it makes for a much smoother reading. I don't even think I read one cuss word in the entire book. It's refreshing to find a writer who can tell a story that is relatable and thoroughly engaging without being crass and too sexual.
Friday, November 23, 2012
Updates on Jobs and the 40 by 40 Bucket List
I took a look at my blog posts this morning and realized that I have not updated in a while. I forgot to tell you that I got a job! That's right, a teaching job! That's why my life has been so crazy lately and I haven't had time to do much of anything. I am just now settling down into a routine and am getting caught up on all of my ambitions.
About the New Job:
So I got a job teaching my favorite subject, SCIENCE! And I didn't even have to take any extra tests to do it. My official title is Science Specialist. It is a half time elementary school position and it is a job that doesn't really exist in most elementary schools in America. Basically, I teach Science to the entire school. There are roughly 300 students in the school and I will teach most of the 1st-6th graders twice during the year. I have the added bonus of either a teacher or a volunteer working with me in most of the classes. I even had a parent volunteer to help me get materials ready and she comes in at least once a week to help with that. Although it's technically a non-continuing contract, most of the teachers who have had this position in the past held it for several years before moving on to other things. I hope that means I can keep it at least until K is in school full time (3 years from now). So for right now I am working 3 days a week which gives me Mondays to myself and Friday's with K (preschool is only M-Th here).
About the Bucket List:
I did create a good pie crust yesterday, but I was not entirely satisfied as the rolling out part was much harder than I would like. I have had a couple of suggestions from other friends and have found some ideas on the internet. Basically, I think I overworked it a little which made it very hard, even after sitting on the counter (after an hour in the fridge) for over 20 minutes to warm up. The end result was pretty good. The crust came out all flaky and yummy. I think I'll try again next week and take a pie or two to work for the other teachers to enjoy.
About the New Job:
So I got a job teaching my favorite subject, SCIENCE! And I didn't even have to take any extra tests to do it. My official title is Science Specialist. It is a half time elementary school position and it is a job that doesn't really exist in most elementary schools in America. Basically, I teach Science to the entire school. There are roughly 300 students in the school and I will teach most of the 1st-6th graders twice during the year. I have the added bonus of either a teacher or a volunteer working with me in most of the classes. I even had a parent volunteer to help me get materials ready and she comes in at least once a week to help with that. Although it's technically a non-continuing contract, most of the teachers who have had this position in the past held it for several years before moving on to other things. I hope that means I can keep it at least until K is in school full time (3 years from now). So for right now I am working 3 days a week which gives me Mondays to myself and Friday's with K (preschool is only M-Th here).
About the Bucket List:
I did create a good pie crust yesterday, but I was not entirely satisfied as the rolling out part was much harder than I would like. I have had a couple of suggestions from other friends and have found some ideas on the internet. Basically, I think I overworked it a little which made it very hard, even after sitting on the counter (after an hour in the fridge) for over 20 minutes to warm up. The end result was pretty good. The crust came out all flaky and yummy. I think I'll try again next week and take a pie or two to work for the other teachers to enjoy.
How about you? Do you have any tips for the perfect pie crust?
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Thanksgiving and The Bucket List
I was looking at my journal this morning and realized that it's been almost a year since I made my bucket list. These have been popularized on blogs all over as women come close to a decade birthday. I created my bucket list with the intention of attacking it and trying to accomplish it in little bits before my 40th birthday. I had over 2 years after all. How could I NOT accomplish 40 items in more than 100 weeks right? Fast forward to today and I am now just a hair over 62 weeks until my big 40. I was looking at some of the things on the list and realized that in order to accomplish the book lists (yes, there are TWO separate items relating to books), I would have to read at least one book each week now to get those two crossed off of the list. While I have done some things toward accomplishing several items on the bucket list, I have not actually finished any of them.
Today, that is going to change (I hope)! One of the items on my bucket list is to learn how to make the perfect pie crust. I have struggled with this for years. I love to bake, especially around the holidays. But the pie crust has always eluded me. I found a recipe a few years ago that suggested using a food processor, but I didn't have one so I just put it on the shelf for "to try later". Well, today is later. Being Thanksgiving, it is time to get into the kitchen and experiment again. Last year, for Christmas, my sweet hubby gave me a large food processor so I am going to try the recipe for food processor pie crust. I have pinned the recipe, the butter is chilling in the fridge and I am ready to get baking. Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day! What recipes will you be trying new this year?
P.S. I thought I would leave you with the list since I haven't posted the entire thing on the blog yet.
40 by 40 Bucket List
1. Finish my book.
2. Run a marathon.
3. Lose all the weight onece and for all. (Right now, I'm thinking 80 pounds?)
4. Look good in a bikini (and actually wear it in public!).
5. Finish K's baby blanket (she's 3 now!)
6. Learn how to knit.
7. Pay off all debts (except student loans and mortgage if we happen to get one in the next year).
8. Buy a house.
9. Take some prerequisite courses for PhD.
10.
11. Read at least 12 classics I never got around to reading in high school.
12. Complete A's baby album.
13. Complete K's baby album.
14. Learn how to make the perfect pie crust.
15. Sell my teaching stuff online (sold some books already back in August).
16. Read or get rid of any unfinished books in my current collection (sold some in June).
17. Learn and start using the art of Feng Shui.
18. Try Zumba!
19. Buy a red dress that I look sexy in.
20. Go to an opera (preferrably in the aforementioned red dress).
21. Submit my book for publishing.
22. Start and maintain a saving account with more than $1000 in it.
23. Learn Italian.
24. Learn how to wear a scarf (and start wearing them at least once a week).
25. Knit a cable knit sweater.
26. Complete our wedding album.
27. Transform my wardrode (and start dressing everyday).
28. Sew all the projects I started in the spring of 2011.
29. Get my passport.
30. Visit Canada.
31. Take a ballroom dance class.
32. Buy a pair of knee-high boots that fit my calves.
33. See Andrea Bocelli in concert.
34. Read 50 books on the New York Times Best Seller List. (I think I'm up to 4 for this list from this past year. I read Micro by Michael Crichton and The Hunger Games Trilogy).
35. Have dinner in the Space Needle restaurant.
36. Learn how to swim (for real!)
37. Spend (at least) one night in a 5 star hotel or a bed and breakfast.
38. Fix my grandmother's ring.
39. Write an article and get it published in a magazine.
40. Build something with wood.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Stop the Insanity!
You know the old saying: "doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result is the definition of insanity". Well, it's time to stop the insanity (am i the only one who still gets the picture of Susan Powter in my head when I hear that phrase?) Today I made another small change. I noticed that I am always hungry as soon as I get to work around 4 or 5. Of course it doesn't help that I work in a restaurant that serves delicious burgers. I always end up eating either at the beginning of my shift while it's slow or at the end of my shift when I'm done. Both times come fraught with problems. Eating at the start of my shift makes me full and sluggish. Eating at the end of my shift causes me to eat very late.
Today I decided to eat something healthy before going into work. I opted for a big bowl of steamed broccoli and a bottle of water. We'll see if this curbs my appetite while working with the Yumm! Burgers. :)
UPDATE: Epic fail. Does it count as "progress" that I ate a kid size burger instead of the regular size? Oh well. I'll try again tomorrow.
Today I decided to eat something healthy before going into work. I opted for a big bowl of steamed broccoli and a bottle of water. We'll see if this curbs my appetite while working with the Yumm! Burgers. :)
UPDATE: Epic fail. Does it count as "progress" that I ate a kid size burger instead of the regular size? Oh well. I'll try again tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Small Steps
It has been difficult the last couple of weeks to get up and get fully dressed every day. Summer time will do that to you. Especially when you are a mom. My one saving grace is that I feel like I have made at least one small step in the right direction. I have started grooming my nails and have kept them groomed and painted for two weeks now. It all started with a Pinterest fascination and my 4th of July nails. Since then I have repainted them twice and kept them looking nice and clean in between. Somehow having my nails done makes me feel just a little more fabulous.
How about you? What small steps have you taken to make yourself feel better?
How about you? What small steps have you taken to make yourself feel better?
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Fabulous Fourth (Pinterest Inspired)
One of the down sides of being in the restaurant business is that you usually have to work on holidays that most people with "normal" jobs have off. It is on days like that I really miss my teaching job and long for the future when I will be back to a "normal" schedule. So I decided that if I couldn't celebrate the way I wanted, I could at least decorate myself a little for my shift and bring the patriotic to my guests.
Enter Pinterest. Oh, how that site is addicting. Here are some pins that inspired my look.
Enter Pinterest. Oh, how that site is addicting. Here are some pins that inspired my look.
And here are the looks I created after being inspired by those pins.
To create the eyes, I found a fat navy blue eyeliner by Wet N Wild and a sparkly blue and sparkly white eye shadow. I couldn't find red so I just got a bright red lipstick and dabbed a little of that on the crease before applying the two shadows. To do the nails, I just used an OPI red I already had and bought a Sally Hansen blue. I also found a nail art stencil with stars and a nail art pen in white. It took me a painstakingly long time to do my nails so I'm really trying to come to grips with the fact that I will have to remove this nail polish soon. I got a lot of compliments on my makeup and nails last night. I even got really good tips (was it the patriotic bling or just sympathy for having to work on a holiday?).
How long do you thing it would be appropriate to leave on the red, white, and blue nails? LOL
Franny
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Totally Frumptastic
Yeah. It was one of those days. The kind of day where mom had to get Daddy up for work at 3 AM and the toddler woke up screaming 10 minutes before the alarm. The kind of day where Mommy slept in (AKA 7:15) so both kids were up before she could get dressed. So the 17 year old t-shirt went on over the sports bra and the way-too-big yoga pants were thrown on for decency. This is how Mama rolled today.
P.S. Can we give a little shout out to the 7 year old (developmentally delayed) who had TWO successful potty times this morning?!!!!! Complete with a "Go Potty" to tell me he had to go the second time!!! I'm grinning from ear to ear right now. There is light at the end of this tunnel.
:D
P.S. Can we give a little shout out to the 7 year old (developmentally delayed) who had TWO successful potty times this morning?!!!!! Complete with a "Go Potty" to tell me he had to go the second time!!! I'm grinning from ear to ear right now. There is light at the end of this tunnel.
:D
Friday, June 29, 2012
A Vent and A Tiny Step Forward
Ok so I'll start with the tiny step forward so those of you who don't want to listen to my ranting can move on. Today I got dressed!
I know! I know! Most people get dressed every day. What's so great about that? The thing is, it was my son's 2nd day home from school and I didn't have anywhere to go today, so for me, getting dressed was monumental! Also, the fact that I washed my face and sort of "did" my hair added to the fabulous feeling of accomplishment.
Now for the vent. If you want to stop reading you won't hurt my feelings. Most women with extra curvy thighs will appreciate this vent. Why do the seams on the inside of the jeans always start to fray after wearing them for a while? It's so annoying and why hasn't someone invented a way of making jeans that are reinforced or something in that area? Am I the only one who experiences this strange phenomenon or what?
I mean the obvious answer to the perplexing question is simply to lose weight right? But until that day comes when my abnormally large thighs stop rubbing together, what can I do about this situation? The main problem lies in the reason for wearing jeans so much. Two reasons actually, my job and my husband. My current job is as a waitress in a casual burger restaurant and we are required to wear jeans as part of our uniform. That job isn't going away any time soon, by the way, because I didn't get the job I interviewed for yesterday. The other reason, my dear hubby loves me in jeans. I mean LOVES. He thinks I look sexy in jeans and at this weight (currently 214) I'll take any compliment I can get.
So what should I do about this dilemma? Aside from buying 2-3 new pairs of jeans every month. It's really getting annoying.
I know! I know! Most people get dressed every day. What's so great about that? The thing is, it was my son's 2nd day home from school and I didn't have anywhere to go today, so for me, getting dressed was monumental! Also, the fact that I washed my face and sort of "did" my hair added to the fabulous feeling of accomplishment.
Now for the vent. If you want to stop reading you won't hurt my feelings. Most women with extra curvy thighs will appreciate this vent. Why do the seams on the inside of the jeans always start to fray after wearing them for a while? It's so annoying and why hasn't someone invented a way of making jeans that are reinforced or something in that area? Am I the only one who experiences this strange phenomenon or what?
I mean the obvious answer to the perplexing question is simply to lose weight right? But until that day comes when my abnormally large thighs stop rubbing together, what can I do about this situation? The main problem lies in the reason for wearing jeans so much. Two reasons actually, my job and my husband. My current job is as a waitress in a casual burger restaurant and we are required to wear jeans as part of our uniform. That job isn't going away any time soon, by the way, because I didn't get the job I interviewed for yesterday. The other reason, my dear hubby loves me in jeans. I mean LOVES. He thinks I look sexy in jeans and at this weight (currently 214) I'll take any compliment I can get.
So what should I do about this dilemma? Aside from buying 2-3 new pairs of jeans every month. It's really getting annoying.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Interview Fabulous
I ran out of time this morning to take a picture, but I looked fabulous for my interview. I bought a new shirt at Target Tuesday night and wore that with my old gray skirt and my even older black blazer. I painted my nails red and wore a red beaded necklace my sister sent my for Christmas. My hair was done and I had makeup on. I even had time to update and print out my resume and some of my letters of recommendation. I think the interview went well. It was right up my alley, teaching the same or just one grade above what I have taught most of my career. As soon as I got home I e-mailed the principal a thank you letter with a list of more references she can call. I plan on hand-writing a Thank You note to both the principal and the teacher who interviewed me and mailing it later this afternoon. I should know within the next week if I got the job. In the meantime, I will continue to apply for more positions in the surrounding school districts. Wish me luck!
These are some pictures I pulled from the web that represent similar items I wore today (it was more fun than putting it all back on a taking a picture, LOL!!)
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Franny :)
These are some pictures I pulled from the web that represent similar items I wore today (it was more fun than putting it all back on a taking a picture, LOL!!)
Linking up with these blogs:
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
In Honor of Summer
I live in the Northwestern United States. Yes, it is one of the rainiest places in the US. Yes, I chose to live here. Yes, I LOVE the weather. Yes, I know I'm wierd. But as much as I love the constant green and cool weather, I do sometimes long for the warmer weather of my Southern home. Not the 99 degree heat with the 110 degree heat index. But the warmer spring days of 70's and 80's. Today, 8 days into the calendar summer, we are "supposed to" top out at 70 degrees and it's supposed to be sunny. Well, the sunny part is actually true and I plan on getting off this computer and taking my daughter to the park in just a few minutes. Currently the computer tells me that the temperature is 61 so I will believe the 70 when I see it. However, in honor of (and in optimistic hope of) the warmer temperatures, I actually dressed in shorts and . . . wait for it . . .
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FABULOUS SANDALS!!!!!
Ok, so I'm trying to not focus on the obvious cankles I have right now and the un-pedicured toes that I would LOVE to have in order to look truly fabulous in these cute wedges. Instead, I am going to be proud of myself and the fact that I did, indeed get dressed and don't have my hair in a pony tail today.
Still no Makeup, but at least no pony tail :)
Yes, I even (semi) made the bed today.
Thanks for listening to my ramblings today. I made one or two changes. Did you make any changes today on your journey to fabulousness?
Franny
Introducing Franny
Anonymous. I want this blog to be anonymous for many different reasons. The first being that I am totally and utterly embarressed by the state of my frumpiness. I got here the way most women do. Being a stay-at-home-mother. I can remember wanting to be a fabulous SAHM when I was a little girl, but when it happened to me, there was NOTHING FABULOUS about it. You see, unlike most SAHM's, I didn't choose this path. I was forced into it by the downturn in the economy and budget cuts that put over 6000 teachers in my state out of work. After coming off of maternity leave, there were no jobs in my county and neighboring school districts were just too far away for me to even try. So I went on unemployment and slipped down into the spiral of depression, eating, and just overall not caring for myself.
Now I have to be totally honest with myself and you (the 1 or 2 people who may eventually read this blog) and say that I have been in a cycle of self-destruction pretty much all of my life. But there have been moments of happiness and little moments of fabulousness so I know I'm capable of making this monumental change. The thing is, I'm tired of being frumpy. I'm tired of looking in the mirror and seeing that I am REALLY beginning to look my age. I am 38 right now. In less than 2 years, I will be turning 40. I want my 40's to be the most fabulous decade of my life yet. My 20's were all about college and beginning my career as a teacher. Then there was the little stint where I tried to find myself and instead found a husband, LOL. My 30's have been all about the kids. Getting pregnant, losing babies, birthing babies and finding out those babies had a rare disease and would be "special needs" kids. There's a whole other public blog I write about that.
But now that I come to the end of my 30's, I have decided it's time for a change. I want to chronicle my journey from being "Absolutely Frumpy" to "Absolutely Fabulous" by the time I turn 40. While this is an anonymous blog for now, I may use pictures with my face because that is part of my change too. Don't worry, I'm not planning on getting cosmetic surgery or anything. I just need to start wearing makeup and taking care of my skin. This journey is about changing the parts of myself that don't make me happy. Parts of myself that have tortured me for my entire life (or at least since the age of 9 or 10???). In essence, I am tired of hearing my own complaining. I am calling myself Franny because that is the little part of me that is constantly complaining. I am going to try to tame my Franny inside. Make her stop complaining and start doing something about it.
Now I have to be totally honest with myself and you (the 1 or 2 people who may eventually read this blog) and say that I have been in a cycle of self-destruction pretty much all of my life. But there have been moments of happiness and little moments of fabulousness so I know I'm capable of making this monumental change. The thing is, I'm tired of being frumpy. I'm tired of looking in the mirror and seeing that I am REALLY beginning to look my age. I am 38 right now. In less than 2 years, I will be turning 40. I want my 40's to be the most fabulous decade of my life yet. My 20's were all about college and beginning my career as a teacher. Then there was the little stint where I tried to find myself and instead found a husband, LOL. My 30's have been all about the kids. Getting pregnant, losing babies, birthing babies and finding out those babies had a rare disease and would be "special needs" kids. There's a whole other public blog I write about that.
But now that I come to the end of my 30's, I have decided it's time for a change. I want to chronicle my journey from being "Absolutely Frumpy" to "Absolutely Fabulous" by the time I turn 40. While this is an anonymous blog for now, I may use pictures with my face because that is part of my change too. Don't worry, I'm not planning on getting cosmetic surgery or anything. I just need to start wearing makeup and taking care of my skin. This journey is about changing the parts of myself that don't make me happy. Parts of myself that have tortured me for my entire life (or at least since the age of 9 or 10???). In essence, I am tired of hearing my own complaining. I am calling myself Franny because that is the little part of me that is constantly complaining. I am going to try to tame my Franny inside. Make her stop complaining and start doing something about it.
What I Wore Today
My Inevitable Pony Tail
My side profile
This is Franny. Notice the unmade bed in the background. The unkempt appearance of the horrible pony tail. Pants that are really too big. I've lost 18 pounds since last year, but don't have much in my closet that really fits me well. The shoes are over a year old and really need to be replaced. No makeup on my face. This is how I look about 95% of the time on any given day. And now, I want to change. Welcome to my blog. Follow me on my journey. Is anybody else on a journey of change? Join me in the comments section.
Franny
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