Day 1 - Preplanning

So. To be honest, during my final end-of-the-year evaluation with my principal, she said that there was just one thing she wanted to address - and that was that sometimes I looked great, and sometimes. . . (trailed off). She was totally right. Some days, I made an effort on my appearance, other days I just . . .well. . .went to work. So - this hit me a little hard - especially at first. Then, I decided to document my efforts for THIS school year to address her concern and assess myself. And I decided to post them here. Yay! No idea how diligent I will be at keeping up with this, BUT today is the first day - so - might as well do it today. :) So - here we go. Not LOVING the quality of the pics OR how I look, but it is what it is, and I made an effort. :)

And here's what my room looks like right now going into preplanning:

Lego Ninjago DIY molds

Jacob and I have been quite crafty recently, and decided to try something neither of us have ever done: Make a mold and then fill it using oven-bake clay. We still need to practice, but here's how it went for us:


Our Materials: Sculpey Mold Maker, baby powder (or corn starch), Ninjago guy, Sculpey clay

Knead the mold maker a bit, and form into a shape a bit bigger/thicker than the model. Dip him into some baby powder, then press him into the mold maker. Carefully remove him. We did the front and back in separate molds.

The front and back of this guy.

Another Ninjago!

His mold.

Bake them at 275 for 20 minutes per 1/4 inch thickness. 20 minutes seemed to work perfectly for ours.

When they're cooled, you're left with a flexible yet permanent reuseable mold. It's very cool.

We probably should've started with something with less small pieces. But - you fill the mold with clay, then carefully release them. Dust the mold with powder to help this process.

Then, back into the oven following clay's instructions - -ours said 15 minutes at 275. And that worked well. Sooo - not perfect, but  very fun day-off-together activity!

I accidentally went out with a married man.

I've made a conscious effort to date more this year - -and I have gone out more in the last 2 months than I have in the last 6 years. . . But I did have my first experience dating a married man.
It was an accident.
I didn't know he was married.
He lied. Repeatedly.
Thankfully, we happened to have a mutual friend who informed me that he was, in fact, married.
Clearly, we haven't talked since.

Long time. . .

It's been almost 5 months since I've posted anything.
Things are going well, I suppose.
Jacob has started 4 grade, and is loving it.
I am still working at Vann's Auto-Mart and making cakes rather frequently for friends, family, and even strangers. :)

I love being inspired by beautiful pictures - and wish I felt it within myself to create/post inspiring things myself.

For a little while, I thought I would be moving to Tennessee, but that didn't come together like I thought it would. I'm ok with that.

Still hoping to find out what life has in store for me, but realizing that it's pretty much up to me to MAKE something happen.

Working in the Garden

I had an additional little helper yesterday . . . ACT. Yay!

New Garden Pics

The plants are doing great! YAY!

SPRING and changes and amazingness

 

For the first time ever, I am planting a garden. Outside, in pots, I have broccoli plants that I purchased already started. I have a pot with a seed potato in it. I am SOOOO excited that its sprout finally pushed through the surface. INSIDE, I have plants that I started from seeds myself. I have squash, carrots, and cucumbers. I'm very proud of them. :)

I am working at a car lot - - and I'm actually really enjoying it, even though I NEVER would have pursued it. It was literally handed to me, and I needed more money, so I took the offer. I'm learning a lot and meeting a lot of people that I would never have met otherwise. 

I'm highly considering homeschooling Jacob next year. More on that later.

I'm also extremely interested in midwifery - - the all-natural, in home birth genre of midwifery. I REALLY want to find a certified-practicing one that would allow me to attend a birth with her in order to find out if that is a field that I would truly enjoy working/experiencing life in. I've watched several documentaries recently that have very much made me an advocates for women's and infant's right to having the best possible birth experience, which very well may NOT be in a hospital setting with unnecessary interventions. 

"Pregnant in America" and "The Business of Being Born" were both very . . . significant to me.

A friend of mine from high school, Erin, had an unplanned totally unassisted homebirth a few years ago, and her story of it is very inspiring. I was going to link to her story, but that's not working out.

And now - a few more plant pictures!

HAPPY SPRING!