Doodle-a-day & Retail woes

Hello! Welcome back to my Make-It-Monday (I'm trying out a fun name for my themed days! Whatcha think?)

Besides making plans and patterns for Christmas gifts, I didn't do much crafting these last few days. But, I still want to have something to show you all so I thought I'd share my House GlaDos doodles. First, an explaination: I recently joined International Geek Girls [Pen Pals] Club (IGGPPC or Iggles) and on their website they have a bunch of fun activities and challenges to take on that you can earn achievements for. I know I'm not artist but there's something meditative about doodling and its fun to give my brain a stretch thinking of doodles to fit the prompts.

So, the challenge I took on this month was the House GlaDos (the house I was sorted into) November doodle challenge. Since it is half way through the month right now, here are what I've drawn for the first 15days of the month. Some I'm pretty proud of and feel very clever, others are a little embarrassing and if you could just not look too terribly closely (its the thought that counts, right?) that'd be great!

Day 1: Cake

Day 2: Fire    Day 3: Orange    Day 4: Laser    Day 5: Blue

Day 6: Speed      Day 7: Portal   Day 8: Bottomless pit

Day 9: Test Subject     Day 10: Maze     Day 11: Potato     Day 12: Puzzle

Day 13: Jump      Day 14: Computer      Day 15: Gun

If you happen to be inspired to join the club, you most certainly can by going -->here<--. Sign ups just opened up for the next month's penpal match up so now is the perfect time to join (this month's theme is the 90s). If writing to total strangers isn't your thing, that's totally okay! There's activities and prompts for a wide range of things from fitness to video gaming and more.

One of the reasons I wasn't terribly crafty this weekend was because I worked almost all day Saturday. Now, I absolutely love my job - getting to work with fabric everyday, listening to customers creative ideas, answering questions based on my own experience and knowledge - I love it all. With the Black Friday frenzy nearing us, I thought I would be a voice for all us underpaid, understaffed, retail-workers. So, here is a short list of things to please keep in mind as you fight your way to that perfect present:

1. If you have a question that we can't answer, please don't get upset. During this time of year a bunch of people are hired as seasonal workers and are thrown right into the mess. For me, I haven't had a chance to map out the entire store and I don't have an ever-updating list of what we carry/ what's on sale/ if that coupon will work in my head. I've had a few customers (usually men, I might add) who ask me questions about a specific sewing machine or type of fabric that their spouse wants and then they get upset when I can't give them the correct answer. Here's the truth: I have a cheap machine that I absolutely love. I wouldn't buy a sewing machine from Joann's even if I was in the market for one but I can't exactly advise you to GTFO because that's not my job. I will tell you what I know but I don't know every little detail especially when you don't even know what you're looking for. We do the best we can but honestly, we may just not know the answer and we truly do feel sorry.

2. If you decide you don't want something PLEASE don't just put it down somewhere random or, in my case, on the top of a random aisle of fabric. Please just bring it to a desk/ the cutting counter. I have no problem putting away fabric but I hate it when I'm putting things away only to be attacked by falling merchandise or bolts of fabric that I couldn't see.

3. Please be patient!! Anytime I'm at the cutting counter (which is most of the time) and someone has had to wait more than a minute or two, they angrily yell at me to bring in some more people. Yeah, I would love to have more people come and help me but that's just not possible. Especially during the holiday season, as far as I know, everywhere is understaffed because that's how big chain stores make more money. Also, just because we aren't helping you, doesn't mean we aren't working. At Joann's, once finished with a customer, if there is a remnant piece of fabric (usually a cut less than 1 yd), I have to measure and write it up. At least once a day I have a customer tell me I was ignoring them and need to pay more attention. Dear inpatient person buying fabric that equals my month of paychecks: I'm not blind or ignoring you, I'm just busy doing my job as quickly and accurately as possible so that I can get to you sooner.

4. The back room is not some magical portal where we hide everything from you. Unless you looked it up beforehand and our website says we have it in store, assume that we don't have it. If you're coming in on the last day of a sale and are surprised to find that that unique, holiday-only item isn't out on the shelves, you probably missed your chance. The "back room" is more like a death trap and, to be honest, I tend to avoid it. It's poorly lit, cold, and like a scene out of a horror movie. What is in there is merchandise that will eventually be going out on the floor when the new ads go out but is not just some secret stash of extras. What we have on the floor is all that we've got. Sorry.

Okay, lets review: PLEASE be understanding, bring unwanted merchandise to us, be patient, and assume you missed out (aka look online first).

Phew, that was tense. But seriously, we're minimum wage paid workers who are working during times that you get to spend time with your family and enjoy your day off. As I said though, most of the time I enjoy my job. I'm actually one of those weird people that is enjoying the busyness of retail work. Its just the occasional mean person that just has to come in and be a jerk.

I'm really excited about this opportunity (though I suppose most people don't see it as that) and though I don't plan on this being my end in career searching, I'm learning what I can from this experience to apply in to my future. A recent way that I've seen working retail affect me is when I went grocery shopping on Thursday, instead of going through the self checkout like I usually would, I went through a a check out with a nice looking girl my age and enjoyed a conversation with her as she scanned my purchases. I typically avoid talking to people but I've discovered some inner extrovert/ worked through some of my social anxiety and have learned how carry on a conversation like a normal person/ a person with the only the ability to smile and agree to everything. The key: finding something you have in common. For example, working as Joanns, I can assume the customer is some sort of crafty or talking to the Fred Meyer check out girl, we both work retail.

That's all I have for now. The first half of this week is work heavy but then I have a few days off that I'll be starting my Christmas crafting so look forward to that next Monday. Also, join me Wednesday (Written-Word-Wednesdays?) as I go over some great reads that feature kickass women. And/ Or Friday (Free-for-all-Friday?) as I talk about my planning process and transitioning into bullet journaling. Lots of fun ahead!

Just for fun, can you tell what each of my doodles were and how I got to them from the prompt? What geeky thing first comes to your mind when you read the prompts? Also, if you're also a retail worker, what other things did you wish your customers kept in mind during this holiday shopping rush season? Let me know in the comments below!

As always, you can follow me on Instagram @trekkiechick29 or Pinterest @TrekkerChick29 or Twitter @AimeXAime and check out my etsy shop. Until next time my shopping crazy (or maybe not so much) readers, live long, doodle on, and prosper!

Changes

I truly am terrible at keeping up on this but I think that has a lot to do with my lack of confidence in what this all is. Over the last year (maybe a bit more) I've come to know this great community of crafty people (primarily through Instagram) and just this last weekend I went to my first Quilt Show in Sisters, Oregon.



**If you see your quilt or know who the quilter and/or title of the quilt, please let me know and I will give them credit. I'm still fairly new at all this and didn't even think to write that information down**

I was so inspired by the art and hard work I saw in each quilt. Over the past few years, I have also gotten to know myself better and the things that I truly enjoy. It seems silly to have just figured this out at 23/recently 24 but what I know about myself is that I love my family and friends. One of the ways I have shown that love in the past was taking on their hobbies. I don't mean I didn't enjoy playing FPS (first-person shooter) video games or sporting till I couldn't sport no more, but they simply weren't my passions. What I know about myself now is that I love crafting quilting, sewing, cross stitching, and, occasionally, crocheting. I love comic books - some well known like Walking Dead and others maybe not known like Trekker and Lady Killer - and the world of Sci-Fi and Fantasy (Star Trek and Game of Thrones). I go to sleep thinking about my next quilt and how to piece everything together and I wake up hoping I'll find time in the day to sit down with one of my comics or my kindle containing somewhere around (No joke!) 152 books, most of which I haven't read (in all fairness, most of them were non-illegally free).

So, whats the point in me telling you all this? Well, I've once again revamped this blog into something that I think will work. Its also that time of year that I assess my last year's goals and make a new list to accomplish by my next birthday. If you want to check out my past goals, I've created a separate page that you can find at the top, labeled "Past Goals". There you can get an idea for yourself what kind of goals to set (if you're into that sort of thing) or just see how I've done in the past. To give you a summary, the first year of doing it (22 goals by my 23rd birthday) I accomplished 15 out of 22 (a solid 68% - but I feel about as much success as a C+). This last year (23 goals by my 24th birthday) the grading was a bit more involved but it came out to a 68% again but it feels closer to a B+. I feel better about the 2nd list, though, and how I progressed, simply because not every goal has the same personal meaning. For example, I worked really hard at letting past frustrations and anger go and I feel I was successful at that. On the other hand, I was not successful at taking a photo and posting it to instagram everyday (oh well, right?). After writing out what I was successful with and what I could have done to be more successful with the ones I failed at, I sat down and created my new list.

24 goals to accomplish by the time I turn 25

I've also made a page for this (top of the page or click here) that I will update at the end of each week. I won't go into much detail about each goal right now, mainly because I've already written so much I'll be surprised if you read even this far. You may notice, however, that one of those goals (#19) is to blog twice a month. Yup, it made it to the list. So here I am, first post of my new year. My posts will cover my progress through my goals such as finally finishing one of my many unfinished objects (UFOs). In fact, I have made a page just for all my crafty finishes (I've already posted a few from the last year or so). A few posts may also be my crafty adventures through craft swaps, which  (you guessed it) I made a page for so you can see pictures of what I sent and received from these swaps (scroll to the top or click here for that). Oh, and I promise to work harder on having less words and more pictures. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, right?

I hope you'll join me in this adventure and I challenge you to write out a list of things you want to accomplish by your next birthday. It doesn't have to be 24 by 25 or 39 by 40 or however old you're turning. Start with 5:

• 1 for you mental health (eg. journaling or stepping away from the internet for 24 hours)
• 1 for your physical health (eg. going on a hike or even just making sure you step outside once a day)
• 1 for your spiritual health (eg. daily devotions, meditation)
• 1 for your family (eg. family dinners once a week or schedule a family game night)
• 1 just for you (eg. read that book you keep looking at longingly or sit down and do that craft)

This is how I try and write out my list is by these categories, as well as an even balance of things to be done daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly/ just once. Write them so that there is only 1 way to interpret them (eg don't write "exercise 4x/month", instead write "jog 1 mile every Friday") and don't be afraid to fail. Really, its not about getting 100%, its about improving your health and living a happier life. If by your next birthday you feel accomplished in the goals you set, then it was a success. Feel free to share those goals with me in the comment section below. I've found that when you tell someone your goals, even if its not someone I know personally, I'm more motivated to work on those goals.

Until next time, live long and prosper!

Winter Roadtrip

Welcome back! Now that we are back home and finally all rested up, I thought you might enjoy hearing about our cross country adventure:

Now, we weighed all our options as far as how to go about getting from Portland, OR to Fort Smith, Arkansas. For just J and I, tickets to fly would be $1200 and that wouldn't include boarding for our pup. It was near impossible to have the pup fly since he doesn't do well in crates and there was no direct flight to the nearest airport. We looked into taking the train, which would be super awesome, but they don't allow pets. In the end, taking the train would take around 4 days and would cost more than flying. If you've seen the John Candy and Steve Martin movie than you know what the next transportation option was: driving! I absolutely love roadtrips, even if there aren't any stops.  We calculated cost of gas, renting a car(since our grandma Subaru would never make it), food, and hotels. In the end, the excitement of the trip was too good to pass up and we were certain we would be saving money as opposed to flying and putting our pup through a ton of unnecessary stress.

For our rental car, our cheapest option was to go through Hertz (age restrictions were waived with J's USAA membership). We opted for a midsize SUV crossing our fingers it wouldn't be red or a jeep. As fate would have it, it was both of those things, as well as not being properly cleaned (let's just say, I have the receipt and all the details of the last person who rented the car). Since we got the car Friday evening and were leaving early Saturday morning, we didn't pay the stains much mind. We spent all of Friday cleaning and packing (I prefer to come home to a deeply cleaned house). I may have gone overboard since J maybe got 4hours of sleep and I maybe got 2. Yikes. Aw to be young - we made it through our first day of driving (12.5hours not including bathroom breaks). We packed up any perishable food for the trip so as to cut down on wasted food and price of food on the road. Day 1's meals were pre-made sandwiches, cheese and crackers, and 2 coffee stops.

coffee break and a selfie; Me driving as we say farewell to rainy Oregon and hello to more-rain-California

We were more than exhausted once we got to our first hotel in Bakersfield, CA. The excitement of the trip was keeping me up so I ended up watching an incredibly interesting show called "Arab Labor". Yes, it is in Hebrew and yes, it is incredibly racist. At the same time, it was like the Israeli version of Everybody Loves Raymond. Finally crashed at 10pm to catch some zzzz's before our 6am wakeup. We stayed at La Quinta's the entire way: they were some of the cheapest hotels, they allowed pets without an additional fee, they had continental breakfast, and it was a hotel we were familiar with. It should be noted that we left at 4am in the morning for our first day of driving which was entirely unnecessary. If we ever make the drive again, will not be getting up so early - 6am would have been just fine.

Day two of driving was possibly our favorite day. I was the first to drive since I had done so little the day before. We passed through some incredibly beautiful rolling fog as we left California and enjoyed the change in scenery as we began making our way into the desert. If you read up on my family's roadtrip from 2 years ago, you know that we followed a similar path. This roadtrip and the previous one finally crossed paths as we entered into Arizona and stopped at In'n'Out. We had stopped in Needles, CA (which is right on the border) just an hour earlier so we didn't feel much need to spend any time stretching - we grabbed some grub and were back on the road.

Our only planned stopped was at the Grand Canyon, which was one of the only things J wanted to drive out and see that my family had seen on our trip. I thought it was spectacular so I had no problem gazing in to the canyon once more.

Oh yeah, and one more thing:
Yup, we got engaged at the Grand Canyon. Jealous yet?! Now, a week before leaving for Arkansas I did a lot of thinking. J and I have been together for a while and no little date is going to be big enough to sum up all that time together. I realized I had been putting way too much pressure on J, even knowing that we both wanted to make that step. Additionally, if you know my story, I have been engaged before. It was a terribly unhealthy relationship and when the other guy proposed, I felt powerless. Even though it was done just how I would have wanted it, I felt very stuck. Even though I wanted to say "yes" to J, I felt that our time together allowed for me to say that I wanted to be apart of the decision. We planned the stop together, I showed him the ring I wanted, and he got to deciding what to say (it still had to be sweet after all). When we got to the Grand Canyon, we were both nervously excited. I'm a bit of a sentimental crier but J's words were just so incredibly wonderful, I surprised myself with tears. The best part? When he got down on one knee (something I had dreamed of since we first started dating in high school), instead of saying the 4 words out loud, he signed them! (as in American Sign Language). I was confused with the first sign since it caught me off guard but when I realized what he was doing... I don't think I have ever smiled so big. I said "yes".

We spent quite a bit of unplanned time walking around the Canyon ridge and didn't make it to our hotel in Albuquerque until close to midnight. The next day was filled with excitement at our new relationship status and that it was finally the day to see my family! Thankfully I-40 is almost completely straight - we had the car on cruise control almost the entire drive. In addition to stopping for gas twice, J requested we get some authentic Texas BBQ food. If you ever pass by a Rudy's you have to stop! It was sooooo so sososo soooo delicious! I got a pulled pork sandwich and J got brisket, both mouth watering good. Plans were made to stop there again on the way back.

Worf enjoying having his own bed; passing out of New Mexico and into Texas; A giant cross in Texas.

Late Monday night, we finally pulled up to my parent's house. Though our trip was entirely mishap free, we both heaved a sigh of relief to at last be with loved ones. J said the entire drive to Arkansas he was both excited to see my family and excited to not have to be so much of an adult (because coming home to a clean house everyday is just too hard - goober). Things I miss most about my family being in Oregon: watching silly Sci-Fy movies, enjoying HGTV and TLC shows with my mom, geeking out with my brothers, having long discussions with my dad, and chatting sewing and fashion with my sister. The small stuff that we looked forward to most we got to do. My parent's have a wonderful dog named Linc and we were also pretty stoked to have him and our Worf become good friends. They had their share of tussles at first but in the end they were besties.

We enjoyed Christmas lights, a movie on Christmas night (Into the Woods), J watched the Jurassic Park movies for the first time, I introduced my youngest brother to the huge graphic novel section, traveled to Eureka Springs to see Thorncrown Chapel, played board games until the ball dropped, and went on a long walk/ hike with my dad. A relaxing and enjoyable trip.

Thorncrown Chapel, Eureka Springs, AR - J and I agreed, if we lived closer, we would want to be married here.

At the top of our hike, looking over Fort Smith (okay, we walked part of the way and drove the rest)

It was a fantastic trip and we were sad to go. The morning that we were getting ready to leave, Worf and Linc played together officially for the first time. It put tears in my eyes to see how far our pup has come and gave us hope that we might be able to enjoy the dog park someday. It also reflected how we felt about the trip - just when we were getting comfy, we had to pack up and head back home. Saying good bye is always the worst part of the trip but I know I'll see them all soon.

The drive back was fairly uneventful, with some snow on the ground in Arizona. I did all of the driving on the 2nd day and most of it on the final day since I was so eager to get home. J was his sweet self and read out loud to me as I set the car on cruise control.

Driving, driving, driving

Snowy Arizona and a sleepy pup as we finally pass into the Pacific Time Zone

Final day of the trip allowed me to press the home button on Waze; Mount Shasta as we near the Oregon border; A trip-tired dog as we enter into our home state

Was the 3-day drive worth it? Yes! In the end, including coffee, gas, food, hotel, rental car, and anything else we spent $1,348. Less money to drive than to fly, a bunch less stress, and seeing parts of the country we had never seen before were definitely worth it. Will we choose to drive again? If we're visiting for 2 or more weeks, probably. Shorter trips (or solo trips when I fly out for my brother's graduation) we'll have to stick to the sky but driving was great. The weather was ridiculously cooperative - the only sliding on ice that happened was when we stopped for some touristy fabric and I completely biffed it in front of the store. I had a small bruise on my right side the remainder of the trip but oh well.

Thanks again for stopping by. Hope you enjoyed my adventure. Join me again Saturday to get part two of my 23 by 24 goal list update. Until then, live long and prosper!

Penny pinching

Last year, J & I found ourselves in a less than perfect situation - J had graduated from college and the professional world was not being too kind and I had signed an agreement with my school that I would only work in a work/study position. We had saved the amount of money they had suggested in case of unemployment but that only lasted us so long. For a few months (okay, more than a few), we were almost entirely living off of family (thank you!) and food stamps. Even when I could pick up a few hours at work (I found the one work-study job that allowed more than 10hr/wk - usually averaging 15-20hrs), we were no where near meeting our bills each month. We are in a much better situation now, but continue to live by the helpful tips we picked up while being beyond poor. So, whether you’re already in a bind (I’m sorry) or just wanting to save a little money, here are some great tips to get you started in your penny pinching journey.

Cooking & Cleaning:

• Make a menu, make the grocery list, and only buy what’s on the list. Don't forget the value of couponing, buying stuff on sale, and buying local. It can also be helpful to download the store apps before going shopping for exclusive coupons.
• Make a compromise on brand vs price. We buy store brand canned vegetables, but buy more expensive whole grain pasta or Rotel vs generic tomatoes and green chiles.
• Look at the “per unit/ounce/lb” price rather than what each boxed item costs, a smaller can may cost less than a larger can but when you’re paying double per unit, its more cost efficient to buy one large than 2 little.
• At the same time, you don’t always need to buy in bulk, especially if its something that may go bad before you can use all of it. We almost always buy coffee creamer per ounce (we drink a lot of coffee), but we’ll buy only specific recipe ingredients (heavy cream, green onions, bbq sauce) for the single night instead of having a half used ingredient for months.
• Buy foods that can be used in more than one way. Greek yogurt can be used in so many ways - substitute for milk in recipes (½ yogurt & ½ water), sour cream, whipped cream (seriously! I once ate some lemon curd with it when I made too much and I could’ve sworn it was whipped cream).
• On that note: Decide what you’re going to buy/ do then find the coupons (not the other way around)
• Stop eating out (I'll be honest, I don't understand the difficulty with this one, its just as convenient as a crockpot meal)
• Feeling a bit hungry? Drink some water (not soda or juice - water!; you may not be hungry, just a bit bored). 30 minutes till meal time? Drink some water (don’t eat on an entirely empty stomach). Bored? Drink some water. Its good for you.
• It's okay to have the same thing multiple times in a month, you'll survive - find creative ways to spice up usual recipes, like stirring in an egg with your top ramen.
• Schedule the occasional leftovers meal instead of throwing out perfectly fine food. With just the two of us, we almost always make more than we can eat in one meal so we’ll often also eat it for lunches and leftover dinners throughout the following week.
• Embrace your crockpot and dehydrator - this is the only item that I would say splurge on even if you're in a crunch. It'll save you money in the long wrong. A dehydrator allows you to dry food (herbs, fruits, veggies, etc) that may go bad otherwise and create little snacks that would be more expensive to buy at the store (ex: banana chips = $3.99/lb or bananas in the dehydrator = $.69/ lb)
• Make things homemade (often cheaper and healthier) and DIY (only when saving you money! - make your own swiffer pads from fabric scraps, dryer sheets/ balls vs buying them, rags vs paper towels, handkerchiefs vs tissues)
• Recycle & reuse (cut down on garbage costs and save the environment)
• Only run the washer/dryer and dishwasher when full

Entertainment:

• Cable vs netflix/ amazon prime (free for students)/ hulu plus/WWE Network and share the cost with multiple people
• Internet speed - threaten to cancel to get better deals. You may not see much difference at 20MB/s vs 50MB/s or check if your city has GoogleFiber (1GB/s, that’s 1024MB/s)
• Find fun & free activities near by (walking/busing distance even) to do rather than spending $$ to do the same (discount days, free nights, donation for admittance, etc) or volunteer
• Community events and celebrations. We went to Portland Opera for kids, Rose Festival, and Scandinavian Festival and all were free.
• Shopping therapy - Even from my very first job in high school, I would always go to the store right when I got my pay check and buy myself something really small ($1-$5) - some new sticky notes or a candy bar - and the rest would go into the bank. Just a little something to say, “I earned this!” Even if you don’t have the money for that, do something for yourself - go for a walk, 15min quiet time, etc.
• More on shopping therapy - when we first started in our funk, I would walk around the store and look at all the stuff I couldn’t buy… then it hit me how unhealthy this was because, even without money, I lived a pretty good life. My walks around the store became looking at all the stuff I didn’t need because my life was pretty great as it was and buying that extra little something wasn’t going to make it any better.
• Keep an eye out for free movie screenings (We’re actually just went to one and have tickets to another in 2 weeks) and other free events

School:

• Borrow from the library/ friend vs buying or, if you do buy, sell them back to Amazon to break even (or make a lil $). Amazon has plenty of good classic ebooks for free and check out Project Gutenburg.org for all models of eReader
• If your school employs peer tutors paid by work-study/tuition dollars, utilize the resource. They like money, and you like good grades. You likely paid for them with your tuition anyway.
• Apply for any scholarship or grant you qualify for. Your financial aid department may have some contacts or tips on locating them.
• Check Bigwords.com for comprehensive textbook price comparisons. You can specify rent vs buy, paper vs ebook, and takes Amazon Prime into account on price of shipping.
• Take notes on loose paper rather than in a bound notebook (or on your laptop but really, I think writing it down does better for your memory and you won’t be distracted with the internet) - you get way more paper that you can bind however you want and you won’t end the semester with those awkward empty back pages that you’re not sure if you should recycle or tear out to use at another time.
• I’m putting this under school just because it would only apply to college students but, whether you have your own health insurance or you’re paying through the school, utilize the health and counseling center! It doesn’t cost anything extra and if you are overly stressed, you are more likely to get sick or have a lowered immune system.
• If not in school, you may have free clinics or places aimed toward low SES

Around the house:

• During the day, keep the lights off and windows open - allows airflow and keeps it cooler...unless its super hot, then close the windows and blinds
• Take short showers rather than baths to cut down on water costs
• Turn the faucet off when brushing your teeth
• Put a filled water bottle in the back of the toilet to lower the water level
• Compost: its great for the environment (less garbage) and can be used in a vegetable garden
• Spring doesn’t have to be the only time you go through, clean everything, and send stuff off to the local goodwill. Go through your house and find things you don’t need and either donate them or reuse them (okay, so this doesn’t save you money but it sure does make you feel good)

Saving and earning those extra cents:

• Compare APR/savings at different banks. Seek out Credit Unions, they may have less fees and better rates. Read the fine print of account requirements. Compare to online checking accounts which offer ~1% APY
• Internet surveys, Amazon’s mechanical turk, and freebie samples (FreebieShark, FreeStuffFinder, & Hunt4Freebies). I’ve earned a good amount through the ipsos surveys and MTurk that I was able to apply towards my amazon account and buying school books. Plus, with the surveys and freebies, you’re getting to try out brand new things at no cost to you (I’ve received shampoo, candles, lotions, feminine hygiene items, and even money just for saying that I’d try it out). You can also sign up to test out higher end stuff, though it may take a while for you to be chosen (I signed up with Nike 9 months ago and just heard back that I can try stuff out!)
• Walk, ride your bike, carpool, or take public transportation
• Donate blood (okay, its not actually fun but they sometimes give fun thank yous like free admittance or a fun free snack at a local restaurant and you are helping save people’s lives) or other fluids - plasma, marrow, semen (yup, I said it. Honestly, you’re making a little bit of money and you’re helping someone)
• Find out if your employer has negotiated discounts at local retailers. J's work has everything from hotels to shoes to food
• Groupon when you were planning something, not based on what deals they have (like I said with couponing)
• Utilize eBay’s ‘Best Offer” option on auctions and Buy Now’s

What we didn’t know then but are doing now:

• Use the envelope method - Have some pre-determined amount of savings automatically deposited into a savings account, so that it’s out of sight/out of mind
• Offer to participate in studies (eg we live pretty close to OHSU and they are often needing participants. I didn’t get called back about the study but as an example, researchers were wanting to test out a new type of tooth filling = free dental check up, fillings on your teeth with state of the art methods, and you get paid for your time).
• Seek out local professional schools (Medicine, Dental, etc) for potentially cheaper medical appointments with current doctoral students with certified doctors watching over.
• Adjust your tax withholding so that they are only taking what they need (you don’t get loans interest free so neither should they and its not like a savings account because you are earning interest on it either) and you don’t own any at tax season - ideally, you get $0 back and you pay $0. Having a small tax bill come April is preferable to a small refund.

And there you have it. A lengthy list of easy ways to save money (they really are easy). Just take it a step at a time and don’t stress it. We weren’t able to just change our lifestyle to meet every single one of these, it took a bit of time. In the end though, you feel better about saving money. Remember, its always better to be frugal because you want to not because you have to.

Thanks for reading! As always, you can follow me on Pinterest to see my inspiration, Twitter to see whats new, and Instagram to catch my photo-a-day. Join me next week, same time (roughly), same place. Live long and prosper!

23 by 24

Today is my 23rd birthday! Today I look back over what I accomplished and what goals I want to set for myself for the next year. Though I didn't complete all last 22 goals by my birthday, I still feel great with what I accomplished:

1. Read through the entire bible - Still working on it; it didn't exactly help that I pushed this one to the side until the 30 days leading up to my birthday.
2. Watch the sunset at the beach - Check! In fact, multiple times check!
3. Graduate with both degrees - Heck freakin' yeah! I now have not 1 but 2 bachelor degrees.

My 22 by 23 list at the start of my planner

4. Take a big step in my relationship with J - Check! Though we were living together before, we moved into a new apartment and, a few months later, adopted a dog.
5. Do something to make myself proud
6. Jog/ run 3 miles without stopping - Sadly, no. I did do 3 5ks this last year but I still don't feel I quite met this goal.
7. Develop and follow a weekly workout plan - EEeeek! Definitely no where close. I have tried but there's always one reason or another I stop 1-2weeks in.
8. Read 5 books just for fun - 3 out of 5 isn't too bad! I read S, The Magician's Nephew, and Wicked. In all fairness though, I did read a lot more than that in taking 18 credits fall semester and 19 credits in the spring.
9. Journal regularly - Instead of forcing myself to write a page every night, I decided that I'm satisfied with keeping my past planners. Looking back at my previous planners, I get a picture at what was important to me, how I was feeling (stressed, bored, relaxed, etc), and what I was striving for. I did upgrade to a larger moleskin planner this year with more room for doodling, keeping notes, and journaling as I feel the need.
10. Learn to take a quick (less than 5 minutes) shower - Check! Ha, but J can vouch that I don't do this very often. I just wanted to figure out how to do it in times that I'm in a hurry.
11. Learn Yoga - Checkish. I certainly learned how but actually doing it on a regular basis as I had hoped hasn't quite happened yet.
12. Finish all the crafty things I have started - So close! I finally got jars for my sand from my travels and sewn up a few things but I continue to have a wine cork board partially finished, cross stitch patterns drawn up but not started, and crocheted scarves half done. Lets say its a work in progress now that its the summer.
13. Improve hygiene overall (brush teeth, wash face, etc.) - Check! Its embarrassing that at 22 I needed to put this on a list but I struggled with keeping to a daily hygiene routine (though I did use my water pik religiously).
14. Purge the apartment - Check, though when it came time to move, I didn't have much of a choice. It felt good to finally get rid of a few things from my past and make room for the future.
15. Go star gazing - Surprisingly no. Plans are in the making though for this to happen in the next few weeks.
16. Have coffee with my mom - Check! You see, my family moved just before my birthday last year and on our road trip to their new home, every morning my mom and I would have coffee together to update our blogs. It is one of my favorite parts of the trip and I wanted to be sure to have coffee with her when I visited for Christmas.
17. Spend an entire day on myself - Check! At the time, I thought I would be busy everyday, all the time. Now I just have to laugh because I have had almost too much time to myself with school being out. It's a good reminder, though, to make time for myself with life starts to pick up again.
18. Unplug for 48 hours - Check! For our anniversary, J and I stayed the weekend at the beach and just relaxed. The only electronics we used were our phones for occasional navigating and our kindles for reading. It was so wonderful!
19. Volunteer & donate more - Check! J and I spent the day with Habitat for Humanity back in November and I donated blood 3 times (as often as I could, since there's a limit to how often you can donate).
20. Ride my bike to school 25% of the time - Check!
21. Get closer to my goal weight - Eeehhh.. lets just say no but I do feel better about the weight that I am so that's something, right? 
22. Speak positively about self and others - Check! Though I do occasionally fall into gossip or a self-loathing funk, I feel much better about how I talk about myself and others.

Total complete: 15 out of 22

Now for this years 23 goals I want to accomplish by the time I turn 24:

1. Unplug & turnoff for 24hours once a month

2. Pick my own berries & make them into jam

3. Go camping 5 times - Went for my birthday so really 4x

4. Make a new friend - New school, so many new people; might as well befriend on for them :)

5. Lose (at least) 50lbs through a healthy diet and weekly exercise - No more excuses! This is the year to make it happen. I'll be developing this goal more over the next few weeks to find a way to make this goal happen.

6. Create something once a week

7. Get on Dean's list every quarter

8. Get into grad school or get a job utilizing my degrees - I want to go to grad school but I know that life can sometimes take unexpected turns so I want to leave room for those surprises.

9. Go on a long walk or jog with Worf (my pup) once a week - We take him out at least twice everyday but it would be good for his anxiety and my health to get out of the house and just go for a long walk.

10. Start a new holiday tradition & cook a full meal

11. Finish reading through the entire bible

12. Find a home church to attend - I have really struggled with church (and the people in the church) for a while now but J & I agree it would be good to find somewhere to call home.

13. Travel somewhere I have never been - Whether by car, plane, or train (or maybe even boat), I want to travel somewhere I have never been before.

14. Say something positive everyday - Find something positive in everyday rather than dwelling on the negative that can too often take control.

15.

16. Photo a day - Follow me on Instagram to see how I'm doing!

17. Transfer all pictures and music onto an external harddrive

18.

19. Finish an entire puzzle book - I believe this is a bad habit I picked up from my grandmother but I will buy a new puzzle book, do maybe 25%, then buy a new one. No longer! I will finish an entire book before moving on to the next.

20. Write a letter to myself to read when I turn 30

21. Get Tattoos touched up and/or redone - I got both my tattoos a few months after turning 18 and both have minor mistakes that I hope to get touched up this year. I also wouldn't mind getting an all new tattoo but we'll see how that goes

22. Be seen on tv - I know this one is a bit silly but in August, J and I are going to see WWE RAW live and with our great seats that we snagged, we plan on being as excited as can be. Now to see if the cameras catch our smiles.

23. Read 10 books for pleasure - This really shouldn't be a problem since I own over 200 books, either hardcopy or on my kindle (majority of them were free), that I would love to read. I'm thinking of starting with the LOTR series.

Obviously, there are two that are still blank but they will soon be filled in. I'm debating over what I want those last two to be because I want to be realistic with my goals while still stretching myself. Some ideas I'm bouncing around are giving blood x times (I'm going to give blood anyway but do I want that as one of my 23) and/or writing x number of snail mail letters or postcards. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Thanks for reading! As always, you can follow me on Pinterest to see my inspiration, Twitter to see whats new, and Instagram to catch my photo-a-day. Join me again soon but until then live long and prosper!

Studying the Bible

A little less than a year ago I wrote about reading my way through the bible after putting "Read the Bible" on my 22 by 23 list (We'll talk more about that next week). You can get the full reading list here or use the YouVersion Bible App (free!). Admittedly I did very poorly and with my birthday 2 weeks away and a few goals left to meet, I got to work. As I was reading, though, it felt pointless to be reading just to say I had done it. I began searching for Bible study tips:

Thanks Pinterest!

Of course, the next step was creating a journal for such a quest. Pinterest also has a lot of suggestions in this area but before I even got started, I knew that assembling a journal would end up taking longer than actually reading the Bible. Why do I really want to read through the Bible? If my focus was to be on understanding the writings in their time and place and simply learning, the journal would need to be simple.

Following the Bible in a year plan, I kept notes on each chapter, asking:

• What (a summary of the chapter)
• Who (key people/ attributes of God)
• When (if it talks about a time that the events occured)
• Where (to put it into perspective on a map)
• Anything else (aka notes; for anything additional I might want to remember: verses, personal insights, etc.)

I also left the first page blank so that as I filled up the pages, I could keep a table of contents, for when I want to go back over my notes.

Some chapters fill up an entire page, while others only take up a few lines with the summary.

Asking these questions has begun to really put the Bible into context for me. I also printed out a few resources as they came up in my study: Twitter's Chapter a day, Geneology (which I have occasionally to added throughout my study), Tribes of Israel map,  Conquests of Joshua, Ancient Israel map, and various other maps and timelines. It is amazing just how much more a bible story makes sense when you understand the context.

Its nothing fancy - insightful notes surrounded with beautiful drawings and doodles - but it fits my needs perfectly. I do color code a smidge, just to keep things in order:
Orange = things I learned from looking them up (research)
Red = Questions I have
Blue = personal insights
Purple = Verses to remember

Some miscellaneous other tips:

• Play some relaxing music to keep you focused
• Find a comfortable seat but not one you usually sit in for another activity (ex. I sat in at the dining table in a different chair than usual)
• Be realistic in your goal setting (something I'm still learning)
• Do what works for you
• Do it for you and no one else

Comparing the reading I did when I started this goal and when I picked it back up again a few weeks ago, I feel like I have learned so much more using this system of studying. As I read through each chapter, I know that I will be able to go back later and do more in depth topic and character studies, using the information that I am writing down now. Check out these awesome blogs for in depth scripture study journal printouts: The Red Headed Hostess , One of a Kind, and Stone Soup for Five. Taking notes has made the reading that much more meaningful to me and, though it takes a lot longer to get through each chapter, I enjoy the time spent reading.

With only 2 weeks left before my birthday/ dead line I am only 34% through the bible (I started the month at 5% and took a 1wk break to volunteer at a camp with my brother). I'm confident I'll eventually make it all the way through but with July 5th (my birthday!) right around the corner, I'm not so sure I'll meet my deadline.

As always, you can follow me on Pinterest to see my inspiration, Twitter to see whats new, and Instagram to catch my photo-a-day. Thanks for reading and join me next week, same time (roughly), same place. Live long and prosper!