Mini-rant, 'cause I'm irked.

I woke up this morning and Bruce Atticus (my computer) wasn't connecting to the internet because he doesn't like me anymore. Once Paul came over, of course, he started to behave.

Six weeks ago, I got my ears pierced. I cleaned them regularly and anxiously awaited the day when I wouldn't have to sleep in my studs, because they made my ears so dang tender. Yesterday, for Valentine's day, I took out the studs and put in these other pretty earrings that matched my engagement ring. Then, when I had to sleep, I took them out. And this morning my ears had two pea-sized balls of tissue and who knows what else in them, and I can't get any earrings through them without drawing blood and pus. Gross, I know. I'm not too happy about it myself.

Boo on 89 days!

Love Poem of the Day :) "Give All to Love"

Give all to love; Obey thy heart; Friends, kindred, days, Estate, good-fame, Plans, credit and the Muse, Nothing refuse.
'T is a brave master; Let it have scope: Follow it utterly, Hope beyond hope: High and more high It dives into noon, With wing unspent, Untold intent; But it is a god, Knows its own path And the outlets of the sky.
It was never for the mean; It requireth courage stout. Souls above doubt, Valor unbending, It will reward, They shall return More than they were, And ever ascending.
Leave all for love; Yet, hear me, yet, One word more thy heart behoved, One pulse more of firm endeavor, Keep thee to-day, To-morrow, forever, Free as an Arab Of thy beloved.
Cling with life to the maid; But when the surprise, First vague shadow of surmise Flits across her bosom young, Of a joy apart from thee, Free be she, fancy-free; Nor thou detain her vesture's hem, Nor the palest rose she flung From her summer diadem.
Though thou loved her as thyself, As a self of purer clay, Though her parting dims the day, Stealing grace from all alive; Heartily know, When half-gods go, the gods arrive.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wedding Dress!

I got my wedding dress in the mail yesterday, and it is BEAUTIFUL!!! I'm so so so stoked. Is it May yet? :)

Two more people!

I still have room for two more people on that previous post...any takers?

Feeling lucky?

Lucky You!! Clair has a really fun sort of giveaway/tag going on. So, I'm playing along. Check it out!

Lucky you! The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!

2. What I create will be just for you.

3. It'll be done this year. {might be a little while}

4. You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!

5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! *Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!*

Oddities

Today was an odd day. I had my first day back at work, as well as my first day at the elementary schools for my Purdue classes, and both at the same elementary school. It was odd because no one had any idea I was going to come, and I was scheduled at various places for work in which students were gone for specials, recess, or lunch...and then I had to keep running around the building to get back into the school and hunt down my supervisor to try to rearrange. Then, in the afternoon, my mentor teacher had no idea I was supposed to actually teach today, and I had no chance to really tell her until the end of the day because she had a horde of teachers from other schools observing her, videotaping her, and asking all sorts of questions. It was a busy, chaotic day and I really am only glossing over all of it, but in summary it was one of those Alice in Wonderland days where up is down and you feel like you may as well have two heads.

I'm excited, though. Once things settle down into a routine, it's going to be a great semester! :)

Simple Pleasures

Little girls in petticoats jumproping under a spring tree...can it get any better? It's the ultimate symbol of innocent, youthful, simple pleasure. (At least it is to me...)

It's snowing again...big, fluffy flakes coming down hard and fast. I hate winter, but I have to admit, it's awfully beautiful sometimes. But I wouldn't jumprope out in this.

The idea of pleasure is almost foreign to me these days...I spent literally almost all day yesterday, from 7am 'til 12am, doing homework! Granted, some of that was interesting and fun, and a lot of that was me trying to get ahead so that I don't feel like I'm trying to play catch-up all semester long...but still! I did take a brief hour to catch the last half of a Disney Channel Original Movie, "Pixel Perfect." Boy, was THAT weird! Disney can be so hit-and-miss sometimes.

What gives me pure, simple, wonderful pleasure? Writing (which I don't do nearly enough of), music (which I neither listen to nor produce as much as I used to), trying a new art medium (how long has it been since we all did THAT?), working at the elementary school (which I haven't done for almost two months...although I will get to start again this week!), sleeping (which, I'll admit, I do WAY too much of!), and spending quality time with Paul. Pretty much most of all whenever I am involved in the act of creating something beautiful or meaningful and then sharing what I do/know/have with others who I love and care about, I'm a happy girl. I don't get giddy or excited easily, but I'm amused quite easily.

Today I realized something quite profound. I've been in a negative slump lately, mostly out of exhaustion and anxiety and ungratefulness and lots of other things, and I didn't know how that happened. It was so gradual a process. Sometimes we have good days and bad days, but these days have been on a continuum leading nowhere...I realized today that at least one cause, or maybe an effect, of this is that I use the word "hate" a lot and "like/love" not a lot. "Hate" is a strong, loaded word and I almost never used to use it, and I still never would about a person themselves. But things like, "I hate the winter," "I hate when people do that," "I hate not knowing what I'm supposed to do," and so forth really have put me in a place where I've become quite comfortable with using that word in my everyday conversations about everything and nothing. In contrast, where I used to say things like, "I like your dress," "I love this movie," and "I appreciate your time," now there is silence, filled with negatives in my head, "I hate my wardrobe," "I need more money so I can buy this movie," and "Hurry up, already." Which came first, the words or the negativity, I'm not sure. But I believe that words are very powerful things, filled with the ability to shape our thoughts and inclinations, desires and dreams, and that if we use the right ones, we can make our lives so much happier. Words are one of my favorite simple pleasures, and I want to use them rightly.

It is finished!

I think they turned out pretty well...lots of flowers and all in pinks, yellow, and white! I must admit, I have really enjoyed learning all about floral arranging for this wedding, and I can't wait until one of my friends or sisters or so forth gets married so that I can help her with all the flowers! After all this, I'm practically a pro! The pics above are with and without flash, so you can get the "whole picture." :)

Anxious!

I'm about to attempt my bouquet...which I have no idea how to make. Here goes!

HGTV

I'm not a huge TV person anymore, thank goodness ("Psych" and "Monk" are the exceptions), but there are a few channels I have the hardest time turning away from. These include History, Discovery, and HGTV. HGTV is the worst by far, because Paul & I love learning about how to fix up homes in cheap ways, and daydreaming about the home we will someday have. I caught Design on a Dime's episode where they summed up their first 5 years with their top 35 secrets, and I thought I'd share them with all of you so that you can help improve your own living spaces. There's something about a home's style, comfort, personality, and order that matters. For those of you already into this stuff, this is more a refresher course than anything new. Sorry. :)

35. Get organized. Before you do anything, clean out the room you want to redesign and figure out how you want to store things. Getting rid of the clutter and seeing exactly what you have to work with and what you still need are the starting points.

34. Hide your TV. TV's should not be the focal point of any room, even the TV room. Hide them in cabinetry, behind sliding mirrors, or on shelving where they aren't the first thing you see in the room.

33. Build a headboard. Apparently without a headboard, your bedrooms have zero focus. A headboard for the bed grounds the bed in, and they can be done as cheaply and simply or as expensively and ornately as you wish.

32. MDF—Medium Density Fiberboard. This is the "wood" they recommend we all use for pretty much everything. It's cheap, easy to work with & paint, and stable.

31. Salvage something. Reuse & change items you like...for example, they turned an old piano into a bar, and a door into cabinetry. Get creative with things you like but that aren't quite what you want.

30. Double up in small spaces. If you're working in smaller rooms or nooks, use multi-function furniture, such as coffee tables that have drawers, and put mirrors across the room from the windows to make the space seem larger.

29. Break down big rooms into smaller zones. Instead of trying to fill every inch of space in a large room, for example, a basement, section off places into lounging areas, play areas, TV spaces, and so forth, with rugs, shelving, and furniture placement.

28. Let there be light . There should be lots of light, so removing dark drapery and making over light fixtures really adds to the appeal of a room. In some rooms, especially for a more romantic ambience, you want your lights on dimmers.

27. Seating matters. Make sure you always have plenty of space for guests to sit and feel welcome in your home. Use daybeds, chaises, benches, go to thrift stores for cheap furniture to reupholdster, and so forth.

26. Plan your approach. Probably obvious, but you need to make sure that whatever you buy or make can actually fit through the doors and into the space in which you're planning to use it.

25. Learn to sew. Sewing means that you can design your own pillows, drapes, runners, napkins, and decor in quick and easy ways, and those things are really what pull the different elements of a room together.

24. Cut a rug (literally)…they are huge fans of having area rugs, especially in larger places. For cheap solutions, sew small bathmats together or go to the back of the carpet stores and buy carpet remnants for hecka cheap.

23. Fix up the fireplace. If you're fortunate enough to have a fireplace in any room, it ought to be the focal point of that space. Always add a mantle, change the façade to something "new" that goes with the decor, and paint the inside with heat-resistant paint--preferably black--to spruce that space up. If it's a little small, make it seem larger by extending the tile in front of it.

22. Reclaim your closet doors. According to DOD, your doors are a canvas, so paint them or add fabric & wood stain, do something to add texture to them.

21. Look up! Add something cool to your ceiling…it’s a 5th wall…so use wallpaper, some sort of cool artsy design, or add faux beams to really add something classy to the ceiling.

20. Buy the broken stuff. Many times, you want huge pottery for plants or something like it, so when things chip or crack and you can hide those blemishes, and it doesn't affect the function of the piece, buy them! They're way cheaper.

19. Fix up those finds. This includes filling in scratches, sewing or covering up tears, fixing hardware, and so on. If it's broken and you can see it, fix it.

18. Turn pre-fab to fab. A designer's way of saying "make each piece memorable." For example, put crown molding on dressers, look into new ways of staining, and so on, to make each piece one-of-a-kind.

17. Stick with hook & loop. There are lots of ways to attach fabrics, wood, moldings, and other materials together. They recommend "hook & loop," which is kinda like ultra Velcro, because it works for everything, including refurnishing couches.

16. Create an illusion. Place things vertically with floor-to-ceiling, open-backed shelving; use room dividers, etc. Draw the eye to interesting places and make everything seem different, bigger, smaller, cozier, or what have you.

15. Less is more. Being a minimalist myself, I love this rule. Basically, to design effectively you need restraint and balance. See also #9.

14. Do your homework. Research a little to get the details right for the look you want, especially if you're going for a specific era, theme, or mimicking a piece of architecture. If you do your homework, you'll see what "fits" into that idea and probably get a few more pieces of inspiration along the way.

13. Take your time. They can’t do it on TV, but you can! Certainly set a deadline for yourself, but realize that finding cheap deals at thrift stores and learning to plan, sew, paint, and so forth is a time-consuming task. Don't do it so quickly that you end up doing more damage to the look.

12. Know when to break the rules. There are places and times when these rules should be broken. The prime example is in kid’s rooms & playspaces…go nuts there, over-the-top, really. The coolest rooms are all-out themed and colorful and a little crazy, but still easy-to-organize and safe for play.

11. Own the outdoors. If you have a space outdoors, make it your own. Outdoor rooms ought to be furnished much like a living room, and nooks and crannies around the pool, gardens, and so forth ought to likewise have plenty of seating and shade. This can be a simple bench or an elaborate deck, but even the great outdoorsmen like a place to sit besides the grass. Also, keep your gardening areas within your ability to manage.

10. Accessorize! This is what makes the room yours, so really look around for inexpensive vases, candle holders, etc. One really cool thing this guy did was to take two tall glass candle holders, one small enough to fit in the other with about a 1/2-inch border all around, and fill in the space between with broken glass; pour in some resin to keep everything still, and you have this crazy glass-floating-in-glass votive that's a gorgeous way to bring in light.

9. Avoid overkill with accessorizing. One of the biggest design mistakes people make is finding something they like and going overboard with it. It's your home, not a themed restaurant. :) Work with accessories in 3's,5's, and 7's… and once you have your place set up, stick with the rule "one thing in, one thing out".

8. Drop that brush. Painting the walls is one of the first things you have to do to spruce up a room, but if you really want a space to "pop", drop that brush and grab sponges, put in a little elbow grease, and try your hand at faux finishing. This is particularly great for accent walls and furniture focal points.

7. Expand your faux-rizons. (I didn't make these up, I promise!) Try new things, like staining, stenciling, acrylic, etc.

6. YOU are an artist. I'm also a huge fan of this tip. Use your own artwork on everything…start with what you love/treasure, such as photographs, hobbies/collections, and so forth, and go from there. If you don't feel particularly inspired on your own, grab some stencils or fabrics that speak to you and incorporate those elements on cabinetry, pillows, light fixtures, and other accents.

5. Dare to design. Get creative with your space, make it your own. Think outside of the box, in other words, and if it seems a little impossible to manage on your own, ask for help.

4. Look for inspiration. (Before you do number 5.) Kind of dove-tailing with #6, pick out themes, artwork, or knick-knacks (one example is coasters or your dinnerware) to inspire your motif.

3. Everyone can win. One reason people don't redesign or rearrange is because they're not the only person living in the house! You can and should always compromise on styles that reflect both personalities. For example, manly-men tend to like larger, heftier, darker furniture and accents, so use them, but accentuate places with particularly feminine (corals, silvers, sparkly things) drapery, pillows, and other curvy things to balance out the room, as well as wallpaper or paint that is more-fem-than-a-neutral.

2. Re-think the obvious. If there's a space that you're having a hard time dealing with, think outside the box. The example they gave was of this family who desperately wanted/needed a dining room table but who also had a toddler that loved to play in the open space of their dining room currently. So the DOD team got two skinny, very stable tables and put them together as a dining room table, but then they could easily split them apart and lift them to the sides of the room to create that open space for the kid. Basically, if you're stuck not liking "A or B", try "C!"

1. Form + Function = Fabulous. Make everything make a statement. Especially when you're poor, have children, or are clueless as to what to do, pick out a pallet or a few key elements of the room you absolutely must have and make each piece count. Everything else will fall into place later as you have more money, time, and ideas about how to make the space your own.

Well, sorry that was so long, but it made me excited just re-posting these ideas. I'm a nerd. But I can't wait to live in something other than an apartment so that I can really make use of these ideas in full and not just in part. :) That's all for today, folks. Talking about homes and such has revamped my desire to clean my apartment again.