the annie blog

pinterest challenge #1

Posted on May 2, 2012 by annieblog

Here is my first Pinterest Challenge for the month.

I decided to try the showerhead cleaner that I had pinned on my Cleaning board.

Here is my shower head around 7:30 last night:

Here is the process during:

Then, 11 hours later – this is what we have:

Hmmm, other than being a bit shinier – nothing. I was so disappointed in this. I took a cloth and tried to scrub off the hardwater deposits afterwards, but that didn’t do anything. So, I did it, but it was no bueno. I am going to unpin this from my board. Yes, I said it, I am going to unpin it.

But, challenge number 1 is done. Lesson learned…

Filed under: cleaning things, pinterest things | Tagged: Cleaning, Pinterest, Pinterest Challenge | 4 Comments »

may day

Posted on May 1, 2012 by annieblog

So, it’s the first of the month. I have things that I do the first day of each month. I have a list because I am afraid of forgetting something. Some of them are rather mundane – but here-goes;

I only have two wall calendars. One in the kitchen, and one in my office. I make sure to switch those.
I change the template of my blogs on Blogger. This just keeps it interesting for me. Oh, and I go in order. I do a lot of things in order. But, I just apply the next style after my current style. Even if I don’t really care for. I go in order, damnit!
I change my desktop and screen saver. On my laptop and my work PC. Again, I go in order. But, for my work one, I leave it over the summer – I don’t even mess with it because I’m not here.
I also make sure to change the furnace/AC filters. I admit I do skip months if we didn’t even use the unit, but I feel better knowing it’s changed. I won’t be actually changing it today because we just had our AC serviced for summer, and he did it then. So, I’m good.
I change my purse. I do not go in order with these though. I sometimes even skip months. For example, I’m not changing it today. I got a new purse the beginning of April, and I like it a lot – so I’m gonna stick with it for another month. Plus, I’m kinda bad about changing them over the summer anyway. See – don’t you just love it!
I change the background pic on my phone. I do this because I have such adorable pictures of her, that I just have to switch them around now and then.
I change the theme of my email accounts – my work one, and my yahoo one. Yes, in order. But, wait – just so you all know – NOTHING bad happens if I choose NOT to go in order. I just LIKE to go in order. Capice?
I change the background of my iPod touch. I use my iPod for knitting podcasts while I’m on the treadmill. I also whip it out if I am stuck waiting for her someplace.
I have 7 piercings in my ears. Three of them I never change. Two of them I change out every month. The other two I change daily.
I have this paper towel holder in my kitchen with a month theme thingy. So, I need to switch it out every month too. If I don’t remind myself I still have the Christmas tree decoration up in April. So, I do it every month.

And that – is what I do. Once a month

Oh, and the Pinterest Challenge starts today! I have my ideas planned out for this week. I can’t wait! I hope to do my first one tonight.

Filed under: organizing things | Leave a comment »

keepin’ up

Posted on April 30, 2012 by annieblog

I put a lot of pressure on myself to do certain things at certain times. But, I really get enjoyment out of it. In fact – I’m gonna act like a little motivational speaker here- but I think I’ve found MY way to MY happiness.

About a year ago I was kind of in a funk. Nothing bad, just a tad lost. Realize, it was only personal, I just wasn’t having as much enjoyment out of life as I wanted. I also decided that “thinking” about it too much was not the right thing to do. Well, I was wrong. Fast forward about 6 months, and I started to really think about WHY I was feeling this way. I couldn’t figure it out. Everything seemed pretty perfect in my world. So, I started to reflect on my past – specifically those times when I really felt “complete” (ok, that’s a stupid word, but it’s what came to mind right now – I may eventually edit it). And, what I realized is that I carved out time for ME. And, again – I’m having a word issue because TIME isn’t necessarily what it’s about. It’s more about THINGS.

For example:

Blogging (reading) – reading blogs inspires the hell out of me. I’m such an introvert that I pretty much don’t talk to anyone other than my mom, hubby and daughter. So, it’s good to follow people and see what they’re doing. Plus, I kind of feel invincible when I read blogs. I feel like I can do whatever they’re doing. I feel empowered.
Blogging (writing) – I have a few blogs. Seriously. They are for my eyes only. It’s a chance for me to write (which is something I love). I have one blog specifically for family members. When we were in the process of adopting I found it easier to blog every night rather than call and email the masses to keep them informed of our progress. And, five years later, I’m still doing it. Every day. I also started a Picture-A-Day blog on January 1st of this year. I have my phone alarm set for 5pm. I snap a picture right then and upload to Flickr, and then load it to the blog.
Dansk: Kamillete English: A cup of chamomile tea Deutsch: Kamillentee (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have a pretty dead tea blog (I’m kind of a tea snob), so I kept track of what I had on my shelf, and what teas I adored. Now, I use Steepster. I have a dead craft blog. I needed a place to showcase my creations. Since then I use Ravelry. I have a dead reading blog. Now, I have my reading list on this blog. But, I have kept track of every book I’ve read since 2004. I have a dead personal blog. That what started in 2004 as well. I updated at least daily. I made tons of friends through it. I blogged faithfully for about 5 years then I stopped for some reason. This blog is an attempt to re-create that experience. I also have 2 blogs I started for NaNoWriMo. They are both a work in progress. Then, I have a couple of work blogs – you know, just a place where students can go to read information I post. But, I think we can all see that I like blogging.
Crafts – I knit. I have a tattoo of a yarn ball with knitting needles. On my wrist. I love to craft. All the time. It is good for me.
Kitchen– I love to be in the kitchen. I like to cook and bake. I try and do a t least one new recipe a week. Depending on how crazy it is in my house. Sometimes I can crank out two or three a week. That makes me happy.
Bread in baking pan Polski: Chleb w foremce (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

These things make me happy. Very happy. So, I have a concerted effort to make time for this stuff. And, it doesn’t mean that I take time away from my family. I craft with Atlantis all the time. She is as crafty as I am. I love that about her. I cook with her. I bake with her. She loves helping me. Plus, we all get to sit down and enjoy the goodness together.

So, I decided to make these things a priority. I started in January. And guess what? I found what I was missing. In fact, I’ve added things to my list. I’ll blab about things later. But, these changes have completely changed my little world. I’m at that happy place again. It really didn’t take much. I just needed to think back to my happy times and figure out what I was doing then. And, I did. I found it!

Here is Atlantis holding up the shawlette I made for Mother’s Day for my mom. It’s blocked and packed and ready to go. This also makes me happy. Yarn and my baby girl!!! I am the luckiest person in the whole wide world!!

Filed under: motivating things | Tagged: blog, Knitting, Ravelry, Steepster | 2 Comments »

Pinterest Challenge

Posted on April 23, 2012 by annieblog

I’m am doing the Pinterest Challenge and you should too!

Filed under: creative things | 1 Comment »

mondays

Posted on April 23, 2012 by annieblog

I’m gonna say it. Aloud. I don’t mind Mondays. At all. I kind of think of them like a new beginning. Like January 1st, or the first day of a new semester, or the first day of summer, the first day of spring break – whatever. I like Mondays. It’s a brand new week for me. A chance for me to make right. A time to start anew. I almost always fail. But, at least I try. I am kind of lazy on the weekends. And, I’ve figured out that I need to remain busy or things go south with me.

In fact, it’s almost like I need some kind of structure or all hell breaks loose. I love lazy days, but I couldn’t have them every single solitary day. I like doing things. Even if it’s just knitting and watching a movie. At least I’m doing SOMETHING.

Filed under: motivating things | 1 Comment »

30 day knitting challenge – day 10

Posted on April 12, 2012 by annieblog

Day 10: Do you have a favorite pattern or designer?

I like Hannah Fettig, but I’ve never knit anything by her -lol

Filed under: creative things | Leave a comment »

just another sunday

Posted on April 9, 2012 by annieblog

We woke up to see what the bunny brought at 7:30. Not bad. Much later than normal years. She was excited. We were tired. We went back to bed till 10 and then got up and all went out for breakfast. Perfect day for us.

She and I started our first Project Life page today. She is super excited about it too. I was kind of afraid she wouldn’t care too much about it. But, she is very excited. She is filling out the journaling cards and she is taking pictures. I adore that. She and I run to the photo print machine with our handy little memory card and she can print off the pics herself. We bought fun archival glitter pens. She is concerned about laying it out, using the stickers, writing and drawing pics. I am so happy. What a treasure for us. Even if we only do it for one year. It’s still going to be a great joy for us. I can’t wait to see how it goes. I’m sure there will be times that she isn’t thrilled about doing it – but I think those times will be few and far between.

I hope…

Filed under: creative things, frank things | Leave a comment »

30 day knitting challenge – day 9

Posted on April 4, 2012 by annieblog

Day 9: What fiber or yarn do you love working with?

I like wool. Cotton and alpaca can be a bit stretchy for me. I love sock yarns!

Filed under: creative things | Leave a comment »

easter is coming

Posted on April 3, 2012 by annieblog

So, Easter is right around the corner. And, what are we doing? My god – people are obsessed with that question. So, I tell them the truth. Nothing. We’re doing nothing. We have no family near us, we really don’t want to hang out with others (we’re pretty bad introverts), and we just want to stay at home. Just the three of us. Nothing fancy. Just us.

Hell, we’ll probably end up doing yard work, she’ll ride her bike up and down the street while all the other families gather around a ham or some other holiday goodness. We, will treat it like any other Sunday. We are not really much for celebrations. I guess because our lack of family anywhere near us. And, we really don’t have friends. Please don’t have a pity party for us. We really don’t. We are introverted. We are homebodies. We are anti-social. Seriously, like this last spring break. We went almost an entire week without speaking to anyone other than just the three of us. We do not communicate with others. Is that bad? We don’t think so.

We call our home our “sanctuary”, and indeed it is. The way our house is set up we kind of live in the back of the house. I think when people or neighbors drive by they assume we sit in the dark all the time. Truth is, the three of us are having our own fun in the back.

And that’s what we will do on Easter. It wil be the three of us. Just like we like it.

Filed under: frank things | Leave a comment »

woman #2

Posted on April 2, 2012 by annieblog

A few weeks ago i wrote about an inspiring woman to me. I called her woman #1. Today, I write about the second woman. I’ve known this woman for about 7 years. There are three things I admire most about her.

She is a morning person. And, not that I wish to be a morning person. I am just amazed at how much of a morning person she is. She is chipper, but not disgusting in the morning. She gets things done. She is organized. She doesn’t complain about mornings. I respect that. She makes sure her family is ready to go, then she heads out the door herself. I’m continually amazed at how she does it.

The second thing is how frugal she is. Not in a bad way either. Her husband has odd work hours. His lunch hour is during the dinner hour. So, he comes home for an hour and has dinner with the family. They rarely go out to eat – maybe on the weekends, but hardly ever. So, every night she cooks. By the time her husband drives home for lunch, he has time to sit and eat and leave. Now, her three kids are all old enough to help, but it’s still a pretty big chore. She cooks for all five of them, has it exactly ready by the time he walks in, then cleans up when it’s all over. When her husband comes home after work – he usually has a sandwich or leftovers. So this meal is his big meal of the day. And, no matter what, she cooks. Even if nothing is thawed out at home. She is great at creating something out of nothing. I always ask, “So, what’s for dinner?” I’m always curious as to what she comes up with.

And, lastly, she’s an outdoors person. I personally don’t want to be that kind of person, but I’m kind of jealous that she is. You see, she lives on a good deal of land. They can’t see their neighbors. They have a pond, so they fish and boat around in it. They ride 3-wheelers and 4-wheelers. They have a pool. They have a concrete slab for a half court basketball game. They have a dog they run around with outside. They have a big garden. They have a little walking trail around their property. Sometimes she comments on what she and the kids are going to do after dinner, and I get a bit jealous. That would be fun. I mean, we have a pool, I can walk around the block, we have a little garden – but it’s not the same.

Filed under: motivating things | 1 Comment »

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