Happy Leap Year!

Happy Leap Year (do people say that?!)

Either way, I thought it would be kind of cool to reflect on where I'd like my life to be by time the next Leap Year comes around.

1. I hope I'm much more content with my life. Right now I feel so restless all the time. I flip back and forth between wanting a "career" and being totally fine with having just some job. This way the rest of my outside life will be what satisfies me, crafts, friends, family, extracurriculars, etc. I can't really decide what direction to go in. It drives me crazy some nights!

2. I hope I'm more stable as far as money is concerned. Right now I live paycheck to paycheck and can only pay any extra bills I have (doctors mostly) little by little. If I want something big, like finishing this tattoo, a new pair of jeans, a concert ticket, etc. I have to plan ahead and save for a while before I can get it. Part of me is happy about that, I know I appreciate things a lot. I have to really work for it, I can't just run out and buy a new pair of boots on a whim. However, it sucks when things happen that you don't plan. If I get a flat tire, need to go to the doctor, etc. That's not good, I need to have money in savings for when things go wrong.

3. I hope to be married and have a kid. Wow! That's kind of huge and sometimes it scares the shit out of me to think about. I still feel like I'm 16 inside. Really though, I think about how much I want a family with Jeremy. I think of all the fun crafts I can do with the kids to surprise him when he gets home. I think about what kind of dinners I would make for us. I think about a house I hope we one day have and how we would decorate it. I think about how I need to learn to clean better, etc. You know...all that super domestic girl stuff. I totally imagine things as if I'm Lucy and he's Ricky. I stay home with the baby and he goes to work. When he comes home it's all clean and dinner is ready but there's some crazy antics I've gotten into! LOL! Ridiculous I realize but still...I guess I'm just at that point in my life where I think about that stuff.

4. I really want to be able to write my own crochet patterns one day. It seems so complicated to me. I've figured out how to alter patterns to make something I want but I can't create something from scratch. It's definitely on my to do list!

Also, apparently today a woman can propose to a man. Obviously that can literally happen on any day now. I guess there's an old tradition thought that the only time a woman could propose to a man would be on Feb. 29th. I found this out because Sunday Jeremy and I were at his mother's house having a birthday dinner for him. She informed me that I can propose to him since it's leap year. (She likes to ask when we're going to get married and have a baby...OFTEN). So...that was nice and awkward!

Anyway, have an awesome extra day friends!!

Jamie

I'm Mad

As you may or may not remember, I participated in the Oh Strumpets Valentine's Day Craft swap. I showed you last week that I sent my partner a few stuffed heart ornaments and bunting, you can see it all here in case you missed them.



Saturday I got an envelope in the mail with a card that had an image smaller than the card itself taped to the front, with two stickers stuck on either side and a bunch stuck to the inside with a random Far Side comic. I can't even use these stickers if I wanted to because they are already used now. The Love pennant is cute. On the post-it-note included my partner said she is "not a crafty person" but hopes I will enjoy the stickers. I guess they are nice to look at. My main issue here...WHY WOULD YOU JOIN A CRAFT SWAP IF YOU ARE NOT A CRAFTY PERSON?!?!?!?!?

Now for the most part I try to keep things positive on this little blog o' mine. I find that in blogland everyone is generally happy and positive...or I should say that's generally the part everyone blogs about. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. There's tons of shit in life that sucks so why put even more energy into writing and posting about it? Just to drag it out...I get it, it's not always a great idea. Today however, I am mad and I am going to talk about it.

I am mad that I spent time, money, my coupons and energy to make those felt heart ornaments. I spent time at Joann's looking for the felt and coordinating fabric, cutting out the stencil, cutting the felt and fabric pieces out, embroidering the back and sewing them together...3 times. I am mad that I spent time in Joann's looking for cute Valentine's Day fabric to make the bunting. I cut out all those triangles, sewed them together, attached them to the bias tape, cut out the felt hearts and stuck them on. I am mad that a few times I even second guessed myself whether I had put enough effort into these crafts for my partner. I'm mad I spent time writing a letter to my partner to include in the package. I'm mad that I looked forward to going to the mailbox every day waiting for my swap package. I am mad that I am now jealous when I look in the Flickr group and see what everyone else got, instead of being happy for them.

I know that when joining swaps there is a risk that you may not get something you like, well made or even anything at all. Of all the swaps I've participated in through other blogs, private and organized ones on Craftster and Swap-bot that's never happened to me though. I always appreciate when someone gives me something hand made. This sucks though. I even feel bad saying that like I'm not allowed to be mad or something. After thinking about it and talking to Jeremy and some twitter pals, I think I'm justified. I got screwed and it sucks. I made some awesome things for someone and she gave me something that looks like it was thrown together 20 minutes before she put it in the mail box.

So...I'm mad and even a little hurt about the whole thing.

Thanks for listening.


Jamie

Fun Fact Friday #6

Describe your spouse (significant other).

I thought this would be a pretty perfect prompt to do what with all this Valentine's Day stuff flying around!

Jeremy
aka Jermish, Lover Face, Lover Lips, Lovey and Babe. Besides Jermish, how sappy are those pet names?! LOL! They all started as jokes. Like we were joking around being overly, annoyingly in love but they eventually just stuck. Oh and "babe" totally came from The Office Dinner Party episode!
He's 25 years old and his birthday is at the end of this month.

Jeremy is hands down the hardest worker I know. The only person I can think of that works harder than him is my dad. He truley loves his job. He is a machinist and has been since I think he was 16. He started in Vo-Tech at his high school and kept going with it. He's told me a few times how funny it is that he's a machinist. He wanted to take masonry (laying bricks, UGH!) but the class was full. They told him he had to pick something else and on a whim just picked machining. I actually didn't even know what machining was until I moved to PA. I never knew a machinist other than that Christian Bale movie. But out here I know a TON of machinists. My sisters ex boyfriend is a machinist. One of his friends is a machinst, he worked with Jeremy and that is how we met actually. Basically he takes big hunks of plastic (he can also work with metal but his shop manufactures plastic) and using different machines and tools he forms that plastic into a part. He makes all different kinds of parts. The two I remember the most are parts for the pulleys on cranes, those ginormous cranes that build bridges and sky scrapers and crap. Also, he makes parts for submarines. He's the group leader for the turning center (the department he works in) and I know that in a very short time he is going to be a supervisor. He loves that place, he gives 110% everyday and they love him. It's just a matter of time before he's running shit, hehe!

To go along with the hard worker thing, anything he does he likes to be THE BEST at. He started bowling a few years ago. His dad used to bowl all the time until he injured his bicep this past year so Jeremy joined the team as well. Just last month he had his first 500 series, TWICE! He also had his two highest scoring games. He bowls every Wednesday. I don't go anymore because it can be a little boring to watch. Plus it's time for him to hang out with his buddies. I sit at home crafting away and wait for him to tell me how he's doing so I can cheer him on, hehe! He also golfs. That was a new thing last year. He actually even went down to Florida with his best friend, Justin on a "Mancation" this past summer! He golfed for a few days with Justin and Justin's step dad. I only went to the driving range with him once and holy moses! My ribs were so sore the next day from all that twisting while swinging! He really wants me to golf for real, like 18 holes this year...we'll see!

He also went hunting for the first time this year. I'm not exactly a fan of that but I also can't tell him what to do. He's been hunting birds, pheasants and grouse to be exact. He knows I don't like it so I'm hoping once hunting season is over that he'll kind of forget about it. I don't know though, he works with one of the guys he goes with so...bleh!

He's extremely funny and laid back. I'm pretty sure everyone who meets him instantly likes him. He just has this way of making people laugh, he's just so big and loveable and says inappropriate shit all the time. It's one of the main reasons I love him. No matter how I'm feeling, he can make me laugh. I wish I could get a video of him doing his satchsquatch impression in the woods...oh it's priceless!

Jeremy is what I call "a fixer". Whenever something is wrong or someone needs something, he is the first one to be there. Whether it be just with some advice, an actual solution or literally fixing that broken chair, he's there. It's so reassuring to know he'll always be there for whatever I need!

Oh and he's one of the best dancers I know!!

Ok so I could literally keep going!! I'm sure you're the same way once you get on a role about your loved one.

Have an awesome Friday!

Jamie

Fun Fact Friday Disclaimer:
I found The Imagination Prompt Generator and loved the idea of writing posts based on its random prompts. Every Friday I will share a lil' something about myself based on these prompts. I see it as a means of sharing a bit more about myself with you! It will be a random topic or question and my responses will be pretty free form and random as well. I'll of course edit for spelling and punctuation but I want to just let it flow for the most part. I hope you enjoy and maybe even join in!

Turning a New Leaf...Part Two

Holy Bajeezus where have I been?! Forgive my lack of blogging. I have no real excuse other than I have been busy so not only didn't have time but I also did not have much motivation. Over the last couple weeks though I have really been missing my blog like crazy. So out with the Blogging Blues and in with all the new ideas that have me literally bursting at the seams!!

First, let me start with Part 2 of Turning a New Leaf.

A. I have a new job! I actually did have another job before this one that was absolutely horrible. I worked at an Amazon warehouse for 2 weeks. I was a "picker" and wanted to die after the second day. All the walking on concrete floors for 10 hours (we were told the average picker walked anywhere from 10-12 miles a day) was murder on my feet. Even though I wore extremely comfy gym shoes it didn't matter. My legs and everything were fine, I wasn't even really that tired afterward, it was just that my feet were in excrutiating pain!! I had to quickly find another job and luckily was able to. I now work at Nestle. I'm just a temp for now but I don't care. I'm much happier than I was at The Hartford even though I make a lot less money and don't have health insurance for the time being. (I will hopefully be hired on permanently soon.) I like the job a lot so far. Right now my job consists of being in "the guard shack" which is a lot nicer than I imagined when the job was described to me! I seriously pictured some kind of toll booth situation. It's actually just a small office that is unattached from the entire warehouse. Giant tractor trailers come into the driveway and call a phone way at the end. I answer the phone and find out whether they are delivering something, picking something up, if they are coming to the Nestle building or going to the water plant. Then I do some stuff on the computer to get the info they need and give info to the people inside to let them know a truck is here. That's basically the extent of it. One awesome purk is the drivers that have dogs! When they come to the window (after they are at the phone and I get their info, I tell them to come to the window at the guard shack...think a drive thru at a fast food place) and give them their paperwork or take theirs, accordingly. Some of the drives have dogs and we give them treats, it's pretty awesome! The people I work with all seem pretty nice and even when it's busy it's not super stressful.

B. I am starting (or really want to start, it depends on financial aid) school this semester. I decided that I keep going from one crappy job to the next and need to do something about that! I looked into what kind of programs are offered at the schools around here and what kinds of jobs are available around here too. There are quite a few hospitals near me, I can think of 4 off the top of my head that are all within 10 minutes of me. When I was looking for the new job I have, I kept seeing postings for nurses but I know I could never be a nurse. I've actually even mulled the idea of it around in the past. Both my Grandmothers were nurses as well as my Aunt. I could never 1. take blood from people and 2. since my experience in the hospital and rehab after my accident and knowing all the things those ladies had to do for me, I'm not even sure I could do them for a loved one let alone a stranger! However, I do still have some very fond memories of different nurses that I've come across in my life (I've been in the hospital and gone to doctors a ridiculous amount of times in my life) and truely appreciate and respect these women and what they did for me. I would like to be a person like that...just minus a lot of the bodily fluids! Enter the "Diagnostic Medical Sonographer" program! That's just a fancy name for an Ultrasound Technician. After a lot of thinking and discussing it with Jeremy, Liz, my sister and Mom I have decided that is what I am going to do. I've even had experience with one that had nothing to do with babies. When I was a freshman in high school I had all these lumps on my neck and had to have one removed and they had to ultrasound it! I have to first complete the prerequisites and hopefully will be able to start the 2 year program in the Fall of 2013. That's the plan for now. I'm really looking foward to it!

Alright dearies, I am glad to be back and I hope you stick around for some of the fun things I have planned to share with you!!


Jamie

Turning a New Leaf...Part One

As I mentioned at the end of my previous post (so long ago) a lot of big things have happened in my life over the last 2 months. All really awesome, great, scary, different things! So much that I am going to split it up into two different posts otherwise this will turn from a blog into a novel!

So first...my mom moved to Arizona!
I may have mentioned it here once before but pretty much my whole life all I've ever heard from my mom has been "I loved training horses. I wish I could still work with horses. When I win the lottery, I'm buying a horse farm." etc.

Flash back to before I was born and she was a kid, she always had horses and worked on horse farms.
She lived in Arizona for a few years training horses but eventually came back to Jersey.
Her and my dad met while both working on a horse farm.
My mom found out she was pregnant with me because she fell off a horse and had to go to the hospital.

So needless to say, horses are a ginormous part of my mom's life. I've gone riding quite a few times, in Colorado, Tennessee, Jersey, PA, all over the place. It really is wonderful and horses are beautiful, gentle animals. I can see why people love them. It's also really fun to pretend to be a cowboy while riding LOL However, I am allergic...not to the horses themselves (I recently found out and was shocked about because anything else with fur or feathers I'm allergic to). Everything else around the horses, the hay, the other animals, the fields they live in, I'm allergic to all that and it sucks!
Actually here is a pic of me from this past Labor Day when a bunch of my family went riding together...I made that face in like half the pictures! Oh and I'm not that short, he's a clydesdale!



Anyway, my mom and her boyfriend of 13 years broke up. It was shitty so I won't get into the grimey details. My sister, her sisters and friends...we all pushed her to finally make the move out to AZ. She has gone on vacation the last few years out there to a ranch and made some friends. She was even offered a job as a massage therapist at one of the dude ranches for people on vacation. After much deliberation and what I imagine had to be one of the hardest decisions she ever made, she went. My sister drove out with her (which I will forever be jealous of) and she's been there for about 2 months now.

I miss her SO much!!! I probably mentioned it another time but my mom also worked at the same place as me and I got so used to seeing her everyday. We've been texting and talking on the phone a lot and she's been sending me pics of her new apartment. Of road runners and lizards and cacti and just all the beauty of this new part of her life. I am so incredibly proud of her. It just proves that it is NEVER too late to do what you love in life. It must be so scary for her to be by herself making this drastic change. I told her though, Jessie and I don't "need" her right now. We're grown and live on our own. We aren't getting married or having babies. Right now is the perfect time for her to go. Plus...if she hates it, she can always come home. But she will never have to regret not going or constantly having those nagging "what if..." or "I wish..." thoughts.

She is coming home for Christmas which I'm really happy about. It's just finally starting to sink in that I can't just hop in the car and be at my moms house in less than 30 minutes, or give her a book I think she'd like when I see her at work. I can't ask if I can come over to borrow her printer or if I can store something in the attic because it won't fit in my apartment. I do think that not seeing her on Chrismas would have been exceptionally hard though.

The word 'proud' doesn't really even describe how I feel about her right now. The last few years my mom has dealt with a lot of stuff and put a lot of people before herself.. First there was my accident and she had to help me A LOT, then my Nana (her mom) got really sick and passed away, her boyfriend's father also got sick and passed away, then my Uncle had some struggles of his own that my mom has helped him with. It's just time that she lives her life for herself, after all...it's the only one she's got.

I love my mother to pieces and I miss her so much but I am so glad that she made this giant move in her life!!!


It has inspired me greatly which is what Part Two will be all about...


Jamie

Apple Cider Vinegar

Since Sunday I have been majorly stuffed up. Like zero capability of breathing through my nose. I have terrible allergies, I am allergic to damn near everything. I take zyrtec every night and use a neti pot periodically. I don't know what exactly happened Sunday because the pollen count has only been about 7-8 out of 12. (I get an email every morning telling me the pollen count.) When it was the beginning of spring and the count was up to 11 or 12 some days I wasn't even as bad as I have been this week. I have a giant oak tree outside my house, it's right outside my window and I'm sure it's part of the problem. It's just blooming and budding all in my face!

So last night I was so miserable I decided I must have a sinus infection. I haven't had one in a few years but I used to get them all the time when I was a kid. I had polyps removed from my sinuses when I was 11 and that sucked! It was major surgery and I was out of school for 2 1/2 months, that part was pretty awesome though. I spent all day watching game shows with my Nana and eating her awesome grilled cheese sandwiches.
Anyway, last night I was miserable and Jeremy told me I need to make a doctor appointment to get this figured out. I didn't want to, I don't like going to doctors. It's a pain in the butt, it takes up my time, money, etc. I decided to Google some natural cures for possible sinus infections before submitting to a doctor. I found a bunch of stuff I already know about, breathing in steam, using a neti pot (which I have but was too stuffed to get the water up my nose), hot compress on your face, etc.
Something I've never heard of but had a ton of recommendations was to drink Apple Cider Vinegar. Turns out, I randomly have a bottle of it in my cupboard! I had to drink 2 tablespoons of it in 8 ounces of water. About half an hour later I was able to blow my nose and sooo much of the sinus pressure was relieved. I was completely blown away and amazed!! I've had this in my cupboard the whole time and never knew it could help so much. A few hours later I was pretty stuffed up again but it was nice for a while.
This morning I chugged another 8 ounce glass of water with 2 tablespoons of the ACV in it. Oh ps, it's pretty disgusting. Well...really disgusting but whatever, it helped and I just muscled through it! I've also been drinking 1/4 cup of the ACV diluted in 32 ounces of water throughout today. Again, it's disgusting and I really have to force myself to drink it but it is helping so much. I'm not 100% better, I'd say I'm at about 75% breathing ability. Which is better than nothing in my book. I can chug another small amount two more times today and then do it all over again for a few days.
Apparently the whole reason this works is that ACV thins your mucus which relieves the sinus pressure and helps you be able to blow your nose. Whatever the reason, I am now in love with this remedy!

I just wanted to share this with all you lovely kids. I know a lot of people suffer from allergies and this is such a cheap and easy (albeit disgusting) alternative to doctors and over the counter medicines.

In other news I'm going to Renegade tomorrow and I am sooo excited!! Have a great weekend darlings!