Q&A A Day

January 2nd, 2014

Can People Change?

I sure hope people can change, otherwise, I am still a selfish biotch at heart. Which, I like to think I'm not... anymore. There are several aspects of the human development that contribute to the ability to change. For example, the frontal lobe is one of the last things to be developed in the brain and it is responsible to think of the future and the consequences of actions. So when that part of the brain is developed and the skill is gained, people change. 

When I began to realize that there were consequences to my actions, I started feeling the pain that I could inflict on other people. Then of course, there's that age old adage of "do unto others that you would want to be done unto you"... or something like that. I'm pretty sure I learned that at church. Anyway, when I started to feel the pain that I could cause others, I didn't want want to be that person in their lives. I mean, sure, there are some people that I don't mesh with, but I wouldn't want to be "THAT person" they complain about regardless. So I became a more pleasant people to all of the people around me.

The second part that I see change people's nature (though, maybe not their basic nature) is experience. When I was a teenager--right around the time my frontal lobe was developing-- I believed my parents didn't know any more than I did. Then I grew up... and I realized that their experiences when they were growing up were vastly different than mine and that, believe it or not, they had lived longer than me. Even after I learned those lesson I found out that the romanticized notions I created about their past was not how it really was. For example, my mom grew up on a farm. In my mind, I saw a large, spacious house with light and laughter and riding horses. It was one big smile-fest in my mind. My dad, he played with whatever toy he wanted, swam in the lake of leaches (though I learned later that he didn't grow up in that home.. or at least I don't think he did) and DJ'd for his high school like a pimp. When I was "old enough" to be familiar with their pasts as an "adult" I found my stamp I put on their lives was silly at best. 

It's a good thing that the book I write in is too small to actually write this, but sometimes a little more explanation on things is desired. The end message is still the same, YES I believe people can change! Hopefully they take the opportunity to change for the better like I have and that they take the credit for their awesomeness.

Q&A A Day

January 1st, 2014

What is your mission?

I want to be more on top of things. Everything sort of dumped on me at the end of the year and I felt floundered and crazy. So my goal is to be more productive, proactive, and responsible in every aspect of my life. To do so, I will live by my planner and all the things I create to help me stay organized. I also will keep moving, take small breaks, but don't stay idle for too long. These qualities should help me stay on top of the hard year in front of me. And in doing this, I will be more prepared for nursing school. I hope...

I also want to write more. I would like to rewrite my first book for sure, at least twice, finish two-to-all of my other books I started and send the one of them into publishers. These things need to be revisited weekly and a list of the steps and areas I need to work on is a MUST!

I NEED to keep in better contact with family. It's so easy to get stuck in your own universe, and sometimes it's a wonderful thing to be able to do. However, I want people to know that they are cherished by me, that I listen and understand them, and that I want to be a part of their life in any way I can. One of my first craft projects is to create some sort of calendar system that tells me when birthdays are and to get everything ready for each person. And though it sounds so disingenuous I want to create a list of everyone's names and cycle through it to make sure I can be a part of people's lives. The reason I would do it this way is because, though I enjoy spontaneity and freedom, strict structure is paramount for me to be successful in my endeavors.

Remember the good times in the midst of the bad. I tend to allow things the ability to bother me at a deep level. They always seem to be those things I find lacking in myself. Most of the time it's that I try so hard and all I see are my failures. I want to be able to look back on all the positives while dealing with the dark thoughts about myself. For example, I study for hours/days, and only get a B. I'm not sure why, but that's normally where the spiraling begins.

Those are my missions (I like that word better than "goals"... It sounds less cheesy and moved like its GOING to happen), now let me know about yours!!

Q&A A Day

I bought this book to remind me of how much I changed and grew over the years. It's Q&A A Day - 5 Year Journal (the picture is below). I answer a random question every day of the year for 5 years. My goal is to get back into writing more and being more comfortable and creative with it. I also wanted to try and get back to the blogging scene so I will post the question and then my answers for every day. Hopefully, it's enjoyable and actually works!!! I'd LOVE for everyone to post their answers as well!

.........

Heeeeeey!! We just got new phones so I'm playing with mine by getting on here!  But its probably only because pinterest isn't working for me.... booooooooo

Countertops Before and After

Here's some pics of the before and after of Kitchen Countertops (Week 1 of 52 weeks of Organization). Some of the before has lots of after cooking stuff... though... it was sitting around for a while before I took the pics... oops! ;)


Before!

 ooops! :)

Mailing station... another lovely mess

that was from lunch. haha. there's an espresso machine behind it too.

ewwwww... this has been bothering me for a while

Our dish soap

hand soap

                                                        under the sink loveliness

did I say lovely?

yay

 After!

 so this fell off, so I'm going to think of something else. I'm going to try again before I start using old kleenex boxes

I modge podged the color :D blue and pink.

52 Weeks of Organization-Kitchen Countertops and Sink

Hey!! Long time no see :)


I figured I'd try to write again and what better way to start than posting my mom's and my project of 52 Weeks of Organization! It's basically trying to get your house organized in 52 weeks. That way you don't over stress yourself, or if you do, it's only that one week that is the pain in the butt. This is the first week so if'you'd like to start with me that'd be cool! If not, you can either start later (since this isn't a "New Years" thing) or you can just watch and hopefully be jealous :D. I can only post my stuff since my mom is in a different state but if she sends me pictures I can upload! I know she wouldn't even dream of writing me a blog to post or doing one herself (she's not a fan of reading/writing, does enough of that all day to do for leisure). This is really good for people who have a problem getting rid of things, or keep things they've bought replacements for, or even those that just have multiples of good things they could give to goodwill (aka... me and my mom). Craig will be so happy afterwards if everything has a home and is of working and good quality


This week: Kitchen Countertops and Sink

My goals:

• shred all the stuff in our "shred box"
• find or create a hand soap and dish soap dispenser (thinking mason jars)
• find a home for excess counter stuff (ipod player, our knives, maybe even the coffee syrup)
• mail organization. it's not functional anymore. It was when we weren't married and I didn't take over paying all the bills, so we opened separate mail. Now, one is more for storage and the other is overflowing... It might be that I create a bill paying schedule to coincide with Craig's payday schedule.
• Junk Drawer: everyone has one, I'm going to put things in baggies and use a desk organizer I've had for a long time (bought it because it was cute and used it at work) and doesn't have a home. Hopefully I can give it one in there.
• under sink: it needs a redo... 
• sink: baby oil it up to shine it
• stove: figure out how to clean it

My mom's goals:

• clean all the counters
• wipe down the kitchen aide with an old toothbrush
• de-clutter
• go through the utensil container on the stove and take out what she doesn't need

Next week: kitchen cabinets and cupboards. this one will be easier and more of an asthetic appeal for the whole kitchen (for me) since we just moved and got rid of a ton of stuff that was expired or we no longer needed.

See the pattern, not too hard and easy to follow (until you get to what's really been aching you... for me, the garage, and 2nd bedroom)

Pictures to come in later posts (before and afters)

Woops!

Yeaaaahhh, it's been a while. So long in fact that I don't know about this new Blogger setup... 


We celebrated our 1 year marriage anniversary and 7 year together anniversary earlier this month. We celebrated with an extended weekend (because of a holiday... man we picked a great weekend to get hitched!) of doing nothing. I think we walked to Coldstone for some ice cream at some point. Our idea for this year's celebration was: cheap. We made dinner at home, we stayed home except for walks, we did lazy things, normal things, and the reason for that is because we are saving to buy a condo.


In fact, we just signed the papers to agree to the terms. Escrow will start soon and we will have a new place with 2 months to make it live-able to our standards and move out of our apartment. Well, when I say: "live-able to our standards", I don't mean it's a piece of junk. Quite the opposite of that. We saw another condo in the same complex for $4,000 more and it was a piece of work. The major things were holes in the walls (the big kind) and it reeked of dog piss. It was terrible. There was no way we were going to bid on it.. unless the one we did bid on decided to turn us away. But they didn't. Yet. We still have to wait for their signature on our final papers before we can start the Escrow process.


I'll talk about the whole searching process on my micromanaged blog.... man it's been a while. haha.


Craig's favorite part about the place... 2 bathrooms (full) and even though it's a condo, our only neighbors are on our back wall, so we can be as loud as we want because they won't hear us. No one is underneath us, unless you count garages, which, no one lives in their garage... not in condos at least.


My favorite part is that the kitchen is completely open to the living room and dining room. That was always a hard thing to find, especially in a condo. I'm not sure what it is with California homes but they really like to close off their kitchens. So condos are the same. 


Our lucky part is that it's walking distance to Craig's work. Craig can ride his bike now (it was just too long of a trip to work that he was sweating before he got there). Also, if his truck decides to kick the bucket then we can be a single car family for as long as we are there. (to save up for his beamer of course)


Anywhozle... That's our year and some change update on our life!