Archiver's Class: Simple Stories

I took this class at Archiver's with my grandmother and they help you put together one of the Simple Stories books. It turned out super cute. It Goes through every month of the year and basically shows highlights of your life, like a simplified Project Life. I think I'm going to wait and start mine in January 2014. Here's how it turned out though!

Healthy Cookies??

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and decided to try it tonight.
It consists of:
1 1/2 cups oatmeal, quick or old fashioned, uncooked
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup unsweetened applesause
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon

You can basically add whatever you want from here. I added some chopped walnuts. I also saw some dark chocolate covered pomegranate things that I really wanted to try in this recipe but resisted for the sake of being super healthy. If you're not though, I would go for the chocolate. Raisins, blueberries, cranberries, or anything of the sort would also be great to throw in there.

Preheat to 350 degrees.
Mix everything and let sit for 10 minutes.
Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet and flatten cookies.
Bake approximately 20-30 minutes*
*I baked for about 23 minutes and tried the first batch. The bottom of the cookies seemed to be more gooey and I liked them more crispy so the second batch I baked for the 23 minutes, then took them out and flipped them and put them back in for another 5 or so minutes which seemed to make them more firm.

Pretty simple and decently tasty recipe. I would definitely try adding some dried fruit in the mixture or something though just to add a bit more flavor.

Thoughts from the DMV

Why do they have almost 20 windows when the most I've ever seen in use is 5? Seems like a total waste of my tax money for this huge building if they aren't even using 2/3 of it.
Why do they give tickets out with different numbers and letters of the alphabet anyway? As far as I can tell, they don't have specific windows for specific letters and none of the numbers go in order so you never know how many people are in front of you. I think they do that on purpose.
Also, they should prioritize the American citizens because there are so many Hispanic and Indian people in here that don't even speak English I'm not even sure how they would be able to drive.
I get that working here must totally suck but I don't think I've come here once where the workers weren't completely unprofessional and rude. Your job sucks, your life probably sucks, but it's your choice to work here, you could just get fired and file for unemployment like half of the country. Sigh. Lets just agree to not agree okay, DMV? We will never be good friends. Sorry I'm not sorry.

Picture quote collages

James and I have a lot of pictures that we've taken since my junior year of high school when we first started dating and I wanted to have a place where we could have some of those memories but not all individually framed because that would take up a ton of space. I thought of doing this because I've been trying to think of something creative to write "I carry your heart" by e e Cummings on since that is the poem my sister read at our wedding and one of my favorite poems. I also think that poem really applies to us since we have been apart for a lot of the time in the past two years its good to think that we are in each others hearts. Anyway, on with the point, I decided to wait an do an "I carry your heart" collage when I get more of our wedding photos, so I made this one instead.
I was going to use modge podge but couldn't find it so I used adhesive spray instead which I actually liked a lot better. I basically just cut all the pictures out and started layering. I didn't crop the photos before I printed them because I wanted the ability to make some photos smaller and to be able to layer the pictures without covering up our faces. I also printed them matte instead of glossy so the adhesive would bond more easily with them.
After I got all of the pictures cut out I basically just started layering them and cutting them to the size they needed to be to fill blank space.

I was originally going to write my quote in sharpie but because of the dark spots in the black and white photos, the sharpie wouldn't show up very well. I'm sure if you have metallic sharpies or paint pens or something like that it may work. I decided to just cut letters out of a magazine because it's a collage anyway right? And once I start a project it bothers me extreme amounts to not finish it right away.

My cat is really excellent at helping and not being in the way at all.....

 Once I finished cutting out the letters I put together the words off the pictures and made sure I liked the way the colors went together before putting them on the adhesive. I couldn't find any letters that really stood out for the last word so I just drew it myself because hey, this is my project and I can do whatever I want. So there.

Last step is to cut the edges off of the pictures and there you have it!

This took my maybe 2-2 1/2 hours? Not too bad.

Good luck to anyone who wants to try it!

Cards, cards, cards...

I have probably just over a million cards from my bridal showers and wedding. Cards are one of those sentimental things where you never really do anything with them but you don't want to just throw them away. They usually just sit in a pile around your house all messy and thrown about until either you get tired of the clutter and throw them away or you die and someone else throws them away for you. Anyway, I didn't really know what to do with all the cards. They have all been sitting in one of the gift bags in the basement. I saw this on Pinterest and though I should give it a try and it turned out adorable.
First gather all your cards for a specific event, such as birthday cards, wedding cards, baby shower cards, etc.
You will need to go get a 3 ring chipboard album. I found mine at Hobby Lobby for 4 dollars and there are some on Amazon as well. In order to hole punch the cards correctly so they have the same holes as the chipboard, I held the card against the chipboard and marked where the cards needed to be hole-punched.

Then I had my dad hole punch it because I'm a weakling and it hurt my hand, lol
I then started adding the cards onto the rings like so:

For smaller or abnormally shaped or sized cards, its really up to you how to punch them. The ones that were really small I did one punch in and put them on the middle ring.
Then when they are all punched and put on the ring, add another piece of the chipboard to make the front or back of the album.

I had a lot of envelopes with the cards that had James and my names written all pretty on them that I felt bad throwing away so I cut out the ones I liked and used them to decorate the back of the book.

I considered a lot of different things for the front, such as just writing "Wedding and Shower Cards," using a card that I liked to decorate the front, using some of the small cards to decorate, etc. I finally decided to put one of our wedding pictures on the front and used a bow front one of the gift bags.

 I am really happy with the finished product. I sent pictures to James and he thought it was really cute too!

I think they are great not only for organizational purposes but now we can also easily flip through and read the cards over again whenever we want and they are all in one spot for us. Its also good to keep in mind you can get a variety of different sized rings based on how many cards you are putting in the album. I am planning on doing a book for all of James' cards from basic training and that he has gotten from over seas. I also want to do a birthday card book and books holding cards James has given to me and cards I have given to him. They are really easy to make as long as you have all your cards together, even for the non-crafter. I finished mine in probably an hour and a half.
Good luck to everyone trying this! More projects to come!!

"Nothing is the same as it used to be..."

*Begin rant*
This guy walks in and says he has a box of books in the car and wants to bring them in. I say "Sure, but we only offer store credit, is that okay?" (This is a conversation we have with every single customer that brings books to us). ?He then scrunches up his face like a 5 year old about to throw a temper tantrum and replies in a mocking little high pitched voice, "Only store credit." (WTH) He then marches out to his car and returns with his box of books. While hes out there, I tell Emma I'm done dealing with this guy already and it's all her from now on because I don't do well with assholes and I don't want to lose my job sooo....He comes back in, Emma verifies hes okay with store credit and he wanders off into the back somewhere. Well, none of the books he brought in were from this century and they must have been sitting somewhere really nasty and gross for at least a couple years, (which is also normal for people to bring this stuff to us, like we would actually be able to resell it to someone). Emma and I pick through them and pull out 4 or 5 that Emma starts checking for value. He comes up and starts pestering Emma..."So all the books you cant take are in the box? Wow, I thought you would take more...why cant you take them...." Emma explains to him they are old and gross (in a nice customer service type way). He says "so you cant take ANY of them, why not any of them, PRINCESS??" and she says "Well it looks like we can only take this one." He replies "So what, I get 50 cents for it? 75 cents?" (I'm about to turn around and tell this guy he can get out and not come back EVER, please) She says "We can give you 3.50 for it. If you're looking to just get rid of them there's a goodwill just down the street." To which he says, in his asshole voice "There's a dumpster down the street." and then "I just thought I would get more for them. Nothing is the same as it used to be..." (Yes, kind lovely pleasant sir, nothing is the same, because if it were, you would most likely be a decent human being instead of a grumpy selfish old fool thinking you can walk all over people and they will in some way be compelled to treat you humanely back). So he then took his store credit and left. Thank God, and please don't come back. Sadly, a large portion of customers are like this, not only at our store, but at every store, because I've seen things like this happen in other stores as well and you just have to think, how on Earth do you live with yourself treating people like poop every day?? (Side note-I generally try to censor myself when writing publicly, hence the use of "poop"). I have this theory that some people live every day trying to ruin other people's days. I came up with this because I can not imagine that people are really as rude and mean and terrible as they seem unless they are genuinely trying to be a very LARGE female dog or donkey. So to the people out there that are like this, and have to turn every single thing into a huge ordeal because its ALL ABOUT YOU or whatever,  please grow up, get over yourself, and for the sake of the rest of the world, fine a rock, get under it, and don't come back out ever. K, thx, bye.
*End rant*

Obligation

People expect so much to be done for them, but don't expect to have to return the favor. People feel they are entitled to things, I can tell by the way people have treated me working in retail. People feel they are entitled to get whatever they want, whenever they want, no matter what. But that's not life. Wake up! What is so wrong with people today?? I've had people yell at me over having to pay $3 for a used book. I've. Had people yell at me because we don't have copies f their child's required reading assignment that was due last week (which is why we no longer have copies). Things will happen where I just sit there and am like..."are you serious?!" I have this theory that some people just get a thrill out of knowing they can ruin someone else's day for no reason. Sometimes people are just that mean. I'm sure everyone that doesn't live under a rock with Patrick from Spongebob can relate to this. Think of one time where someone did something mean for no reason and your day was automatically ruined. I'm sure you can think of more than one. What is so wrong with people? It's so frustrating to me!! Why don't people understand that even if you don't know the person you are talking to, and they don't know you, everyone affects everybody. Every single person makes an impact on someone. The girl that checks you out at the grocery store can either make your day better or worse in just those few minutes. If she greets you in a "hi, did you find everything okay? I hope it was a pleasure shopping with us!" Type way she cases no negativity to you. However if you walk up and she doesn't greet you and acts like it is truly a burden for you to be there and the tone out of her mouth screams"leave me alone I hate you" it might bring your day down some. I think the real problem is that people have forgotten to love. Love is one of those things that you do. You just, do it. Just love. You're supposed to love no matter what. Everyone is. But people have forgotten that love doesn't just exist between your husband or wife or kids or parents or whatever. Love is universal. God is love. Is straight updates that in the bible. And got us supposed to be everywhere. He is omniscient. So is love. Love conquers all. Live makes up for anything and everything. So, the title of this: obligation. I know you think "I'm not obligated to give anything to anyone." But that's just it: yes, you are. You are obligated to love. I feel the world has truly forgotten this. Maybe they never knew. You, reading this. You are OBLIGATED. If more people just showed love, just one act of kindness and love a day to a total stranger, I feel like the world would be such a better happier place.

Romans 13:8-10 Owe nothing to anyone—except for your OBLIGATION to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.

Confessions

I hope in this blog I can be honest with my readers, whomever you may be, and show my raw uncensored feelings and emotions and life. Yes, I want this to be an outreach to other military wives, but also anyone that needs someone. You should never have to feel alone. So here it goes, confession number one, and I hope this doesn't change your mind about continuing to read my posts. I have struggled with depression for a long time. On December 4th, 2011, I tried to end my life. I then spent every day, all day for weeks going to a psychiatric hospital where I learned more than I ever thought I would. It wasn't the classes or the place, it was the people. They were all broken people, more broken than you can imagine, but I love them, I miss them, and they are beautiful. They changed my life. The most important thing I learned there is no matter how alone you feel, you're not. No one knows exactly how YOU feel, but they may know how they felt when they went through a similar situation. I have no idea what I want to do with my life, but I've thought a lot about counseling because I want to save people. A lot of the counselors I went to helped me, but a lot didn't. I want to be the kind that helps by listening and discussing and caring. Too many people these days only care about themselves and don't realize how they affect everyone around them, even the people they don't know. I want to make a difference, even just to one person. If I can make one person feel less alone through writing about my life here, my goal will be complete. I can be judgmental and cruel and mean and moody at times, and I still struggle with depression every single day, but I am genuine and honest and I like to believe I am a good person and I have a good heart. So that is that. If anyone is struggling and reading this, one thing that helped me and continues to help me is 2 Corintians 12. Maybe I'll talk more about the history of this verse later but in short it taught me it is okay to be weak and to show your weaknesses. so, without further ado, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.

⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Serendipity.

Serendipity. A fortunate accident. That's my favorite word. I created this blog not because I'm good at blogging, but because I'm really terrible at blogging. You should know that about me. God only knows how many blogs I have out there that haven't been posted on since I created them. I'm hoping that this one will be different because, well, I'm married now, and that supposedly changes your life, right? So, let me introduce myself. My name is Kristin. I like to read. I love my dog. I love my husband. As a general rule I don't like humans, but I work in retail, so what can you expect. I have absolutely no social sensor, so things often come out as awkward and offensive (and somewhat hilarious). My husbands name is James and he is in the Air Force. While this blog will most likely be a random compilation of anything I find awesome, I'm hoping it can also be somewhat of an outreach to other military and Air Force wives going through similar things as me. I can't give any promises: that I will be positive, that I will be negative, that I will make you laugh or  cry. I can only say I'm hoping writing out my thoughts, feelings, questions, anything about life, love, marriage, God, military, books, America, the world in general, and my dog, will somehow make me and anyone else feel less alone. So back to serendipity. If you stumble upon this, I hope this will be your serendipity, and I hope it will somehow change your life for the better.