Patio pallets #2

This weekend, the temperature is only supposed to be in the 70's, a happy improvement from the upper 90's we've been experiencing.

My mom and I took advantage of this and continued the pallet project we've been working on. If you remember the last time I posted about this, it looked a little like this. 

Happily, it looks much better now! First, we put the pallets in a good pattern where we wanted to patio to be. But there were big gaps in the pallets, which made them pretty unsturdy. We used the boards from the extra pallets and made "filler" boards.

We used this fantastic table saw from the 1930's, I'm pretty sure. No modern safety guards? No problem. We just went for it.

When we put the boards in their spots, some were too long, so I used the circular saw (my favorite of all the saws) to cut them to length. Then we simply lined up the boards, used the nail gun to stick them in place, and whalah!

Next, my mom is going to sand and stain all the pallets so they look cohesive. I think it's coming together nicely!

On a side note, I'm going on a missions trip this week, so I'm going to take a blogging break. I want to be where I am, not worried about what to blog about, or what to put on facebook, or who to text back. See you in a week!

Cables and boxes: fixed!

Welcome to Day #2 of my organizational frenzy!

I did a few things today, including sorting books, vaccuming, and most notably, organizing the cables, cords, and manuals from the various electronics we've accumulated over the years.

Let's just say, my dad is a "we MIGHT need this some day!" type of guy. Which explains every box of every computer, printer, camera, phone, etc of everything we've ever owned. Taking up space, just in case. 

Gosh, what a mess. WELL, I decided to organize and condense in a way that I could go back and find the manual for my laptop, for instance. 

We had two rolling plastic storage carts in the office already that had extra paper, old toys, some random cables, and other things collected over time. I just emptied them out and put them to good use!

Each drawer is grouped by type, as best as I could. I labeled what was in each drawer for easy searching. Granted, they aren't very pretty or decorative like some other bloggers would do, but it's an improvement. I don't think this storage will be permanent either. I just need a way to get everything out of the room so we can paint!

Inside the drawers, the items are grouped into plastic baggies, or in some cases, the boxes they came in. It makes it easy to grab all the information on my mom's Toshiba at once; the manual, warranty, installation disks, etc. 

I filled up two rolling carts and I THINK I got all of it! I'm pretty pleased.

Office makeover

I really enjoy organizing things. And lately, I've gotten the organization bug. 

Luckily for me, there's a room full of crap just waiting to be organized!!

The office. Or as it's better known, the slanty room, the crap room, the place to throw everything that doesn't have an otherwise specified home room. 

Now that my dad moved into a different office, my mom wants to make it her office/scrapbooking room. 

After two-ish hours of cleaning, this is what it looks like now. 

Slight improvement! 

It's definitely going to take some time, so I'll keep you updated. 

VBS babysitting

Now, I'm cheating a little today. I've been babysitting for the Vacation Bible School going on at my church all week. I'm supposed to be watching the kids who are too young to go to the actual VBS, so, younger than three. 

I only have one little girl, E. 

Back to me cheating: yes, I've been doing this all week. BUT today is the first day I've really enjoyed it. 

I really do love working with kids. That's why I started babysitting, working at the school, working at a daycare, nannying, etc etc. 

Honestly though, I forget. Sometimes it seeks more like a chore, or a hassle, or a burden to be with kids as much as I am. 

And then I get a night like tonight when I just get to enjoy being with kids. I am so blessed. 

Financial planning

Ugh. Grown up words. Financial planning. 

I had a meeting today with a guy from Edward Jones to set up a Roth IRA. Don't worry, I don't really know what that means either. 

Mostly, the guy just talked about things I don't understand and I nodded and smiled. But I know it's important to be saving for the future, so I'm glad I did it. 

In other (cuter) news, I'm babysitting this week for the Vacation Bible School that's going on at my church this week. 

She's darling. And I dig it. 

Supernatural

Ghosts, demons, spirits, oh my!

The TV series Supernatural is on Netflix, and my friends have said good things about it.

Amidst a raging storm and flickering power, I started the series.



I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. I like the mystery aspect, but I'm not sold on the horror/angry ghost/paranormal part yet.

For now though, if you need me, I'll be on my couch.

Abstract art

Back to Okoboji for the weekend! I seriously love it here. 

I got the crafty itch today, so I headed to Walmart and got three 8x11 canvases, paint, painters tape, stencils, and brushes. 

Then I got down to taping! I went with a starburst type design, then added more tape lines here and there. 

Then I painted! My dorm colors and blue and green, so I focused on those. I also added a little yellow and navy. 

I also put some stencils on once the paint dried. They didn't work as well as I would have liked them to. The paint bled underneath the stencil so some of the designs got a little blotchy. 

Annnnnddd the final product! 

Hopefully I'll be able to find a cute place for it in my dorm!! 

I can't resist just ONE picture of the lake, so try not to be jealous. ;) 

Slip and slide

I really don't like slip and slides. I always tried to like them when I was younger because everyone else looked like they were having fun. Then when I started going to high school youth group, I tried to like them because everyone told me I was missing out. 

But slip and slides hurt. They hurt your butt and your boobs and your stomach and your chin and your knees. And they spray water in your face and your ears and your eyes. 

But for some reason, everyone thinks slip and slides are awesome. 

My boys (and an extra child who I watched for the day) decided to make their own today. 

With a tarp, a hose, and a sprinkler. 

I think they had a lot of fun, and I know I had fun watching them run around like crazy people. 

And Mr. K is a cutie. 

Jellyfish

First, I have to apologize. I have not been doing a very good job these last couple of days at trying new things. Usually, I just do something I need to do which I happened to never do before. I don't actually go out of my way to try new things, which was my goal. 

And I wasn't planning on going out of my way today either. 

But then my boys wanted to do a Pinterest craft today. They begged and begged, and I was sucked into a book and I didn't want to. But I felt guilty, so I ended up helping them out.

I found the craft a while ago through Pinterest, but the post is on this blog. I thought the boys would be a little old for this one, but they seemed excited about it.

First, we got together plastic bags, empty bottles, thread, scissors, and food coloring.

Then we had to cut a square out of the plastic bags. We cut off the handles first, and then just cut a square out of the non-patterned side.

After that, it kind of went downhill. We were suppossed to ball up the center of the plastic and tie it off with thread to form the head of the jellyfish. But you aren't supossed to tie it TOO tight because you have to put water in it later. So the thread kept falling off.

But then you are supposed to cut strips in the plastic to make tentacles. My boys just cut strips, but I think we were supposed to actually remove some of the plastic and just leave super thin strips. Their jellyfish were very... volumous.

Then you have to manuever through all the tentacles to find the opening of the head through the thread, and fill it with water. THEN you can tie the thread tight. I think some of the water still leaked out though...

While I was dealing with the water in the head, the boys filled up their bottles with water and a few drops of food coloring. Then we had to shove the jellyfish into the bottles, which proved to be pretty messy.

The boys were disappointed with the product. "They don't DO anything!" Well, no. 

They don't float around very well because of their volumous tentacles, and yes, they don't do anything. Only 20 minutes after completing their pet jellyfish, they are sitting forgotten on the kitchen counter. I assume they'll stay there until mom and dad get sick of looking at them and throw them away. Oh well!

Post office

Well, my gorgeous friend has been gone for 10 days. :( only a week and a half left. Oh yeah, and then the entire school year. 

We've texted a few times though, and she gave me her address. And because I love her so much, I tackled the post office today. 

Like I know what post offices do. But I've never needed one! I always just put my letter in my mailbox and the next time I look, it's gone! 

I had no reason to fear. You just go in, find a package that will fit your special treat, and then give it to the guy at the counter! Who then asks for your money. $17.50! For a letter and a pack of gummy worms! 

This better be some top notch postal service. 

Roof climbing

Today, I climbed up on the roof of my church. 

I don't have a lot to say. 

Wedding work

Today, I went to my first first wedding! And by that I mean, it's the first wedding I've been to that's not a second wedding. 

Differences I noted: this wedding had young people instead of old people. 

The mother of the groom asked me to help out with the food and punch bar, so that's where I was stationed for a good part of 7 hours. I also helped cook dinner and clean up afterwards.

My dogs are definitely barking. 

But it was a beautiful wedding. And I was happy to be a small part of it. Congrats Alex and MaryAlice!

Babysitting

My W and W are on vacation this week, but of course, I still got my babysitting fix in! 

Today I babysat K all day. I've babysat him before, but he's usually asleep. So today, I really got to know him and his personality. 

He seriously loves animals. To the point where he apprehends people walking their dogs so he can pet them. 

He would play outside all day every day if it was possible. And today, it was possible. We went to the pool, played in the yard, rode bikes, and went to the park. 

He rides his little bike everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Usually with juice in hand. 

This boy kept me on my toes! 

Memory book

Puerto Rico 2011. 

My first major missions trip. My first time on a plane. My first time seeing the ocean. It was an amazing trip. 

While I was there, I took a bunch of pictures and journaled every night. But up until today, the pictures were stuck on the computer and the journal was in my drawer. I hadn't even looked at it since I got home. 

So today I created a memory book from that trip. 

I got my journal, printed off some pictures, bought a set of binder rings, some washi tape, and found a hole punch. 

First, I cut out 5x7 squares of colored paper, and matted my journal. You could do it any size, but my pictures were 5x7s. 

This part took way longer than I expected it to, probably 2 and a half hours. Partly because I'm a perfectionist, partly because it cut them all out separately and by hand. Next time, I'll use a paper cutter or cut multiple sheets at once. 

Then I went through and punched holes for the binder rings. I only used two rings, but for thicker books, three might be better. 

I used scrap paper and the washi tape to add captions to the pictures. I'd never tried washi tape, so I figured I should test it out. Honestly, I think I'd need like 15 colors to use before I'd get into it. 

Tada! I really liked how it turned out! This is so much better than a notebook sitting in my dresser. I also printed pictures from my Costa Rica trip, so hopefully I get time to make that one this weekend! 

Letterpress

I only left the house once today. It was really hot outside. I decided not to go back out there. 

I didn't wake up until 12. I've watched like 3 movies. I ate a whole bag of bugles.

AND I found a new game called Letterpress. 

You play against a random opponent and try to find words. When you find a word you "mark your territory" and it changes colors. 

I'm pretty much addicted. 

Purging

As promised, I'm back! I had a wonderful weekend away with my family and my God, and I have this week off work as well. 

I'm continuting my absence from Twitter, Instagram, and for the most part, Facebook. It's not been as hard as I anticipated. I don't miss it. I do miss having something to aimlessly scroll through during commercial breaks. 

Over the weekend, I did a few new things that I'll briefly share to catch up.

#1: I got a tattoo! Yes, that's me. Yes, that's a tattoo artist in Okoboji.

I got "send me" on the back of my heels. The words are from Isaiah 6. This tattoo is my outward promise to go where God sends me. To follow his call. To do his will.

#2: I finished an entire "Christian teaching" book. For me, this is a big deal! I have always only made it halfway through these types of books. Probably because they require thinking and active self-searching, and I usually choose to watch TV instead of focus on that. 

But this weekend, I finished the entire book, which is called Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman. 

#3: I watched 4th of July fireworks over the lake. Gorgeous. And a little chilly.

And this bring us to today! 

#4: I've started purging and organizing my room in preparation for leaving. I have too much crap. It's slowly accumulated over the years, and now it's outrageous.

So I'm using my week off to keep, sell, or throw away everything in my room. Fun, right?

Vacation.. from everything

Today, and the next few days, I'm in Okoboji with my family. I'm using this vacation to make some much needed changes in my life. 

1. No social media on my phone.

2. No mindless scrolling through the Internet on my phone. 

3. Be where I am. (Focus on who I'm with and what we are doing, not on tv or phone). 

4. Get to God. 

I'm becoming a mindless drone, needing to be constantly entertained by a funny picture or social drama. My worth is based on how many favorites my latest tweet gets. I'm unsatisfied and unhappy. 

God is wholly satisfying. God makes me truly happy. Yet I've traded him for Instagram. 

I'll be back blogging next week, but I won't be back on social media (through my phone)** for the time being. 

**I do plan on staying with Facebook for college communication and babysitting. I will only check it through a computer though, and not every 30 minutes! 

Please pray for God's welcoming grace over me as I refocus my priorities. 

Pallet patio

My mom should not be allowed to have a Pinterest. Because the thing about Pinterest is, it always looks so much easier in the pictures than it is in real life.

A few days ago, my mom up and decided that we need to fix this area in our front yard that has been nasty since the day we moved in. The whole area is under a giant pine tree, so most of the grass is dead or covered in pine needles and pine cones.

She found some ideas about pallet projects from Pinterest, of course, and decided it would be a fun project for her to work on. And by her, I mean the whole family.

She found a pallet patio at Just Imagine and a walkway at Funky Junk. We started working on the pallets today, sawing and cutting and placing and replacing. We didn't get very far.

So if you drive by my house and it looks like we're opening a warehouse, that's why.