Day 48 - Granted

Today was something I have been working on for several weeks, but completed today. Today I wrote and applied for a grant. It was my first attempt at writing a grant, so I don't really  know how it will go. The grant is for Global Youth Service Day which will fund a project to build 20+ bookshelves for families in our area. I will find out in a couple weeks if we are approved so wish me luck!

Day 47-Survey

Today I took a survey on my shopping visit at Kohls. Bummer because I thought if I did it I would be entered in a drawing to win something. Nope, nothing nada.
When I worked at Sears I had to tell every customer to take the survey. I hoped that no one would though, because if we got anything but positive marks our name would be put on the bad list. Yeah, the bad list.

The good thing that did come out of today was that I saved a bundle!

Day 46-Ringing in the new year

Well it happened, yesterday I was unable to do anything new. I am not going to quit my project because that would not make any sense, but it does kind of stink. At any rate.....
Today I picked out our wedding bands. It was fun to pick out Mike's band, but oh my goodness is he clueless! I think we had our funniest moment ever today....
The woman pulls out the men's rings and lets him try them on. Mike goes what finger does it go on? And starts to place it on his pointer finger. Shocked, I say,  How can you not know that! It is called your ring finger for a reason!  Then he goes, How many people do you think actually know all the names of their fingers?

Day 45-Old Stomping Grounds

Today I did something I have done before but not in about a year. Today I went back to one of the schools I worked at last year and ate lunch in the teacher's lounge with my former coworker. I was feeling nostalgic so I wanted our lunch date to be at the school where we used to eat at every Thursday. It was kind of cool digging out my old lunch box I used to bring, packing a PBand J and talking about what we have been up to over the last year. It makes me think what other friends should I call up?

Day 44- What's my name again?

My mind seems to be in a million places lately, and none of those places seem to be with my body. What I mean by that, is I find myself frequently ending up in a room or reaching in a filing cabinet or opening up a cabinet and cannot remember why I am in this spot or what I am hoping to achieve. I think this is probably common, but it is happening so often lately.
So today I tried some memory exercises to give it a workout with some techniques I found on the web.
I played some memorization games, like going from room to room and remembering a certain object in each room then going back through and adding another one on to it. Another suggestion I tried was to brush my teeth with my left hand- not that easy, and I don't think my dentist would be impressed, and finally there was another suggestion to get dressed with eyes closed.

 I don't know how much all of  these things worked to increase me memory but I do know your chances of picking matching socks with your eyes closed is pretty slim.

Day 43-Watch your step

So I ran out of ideas today so I searched once again for some hidden household tricks I could try. The first one I came across was very fitting. The author said combine Dawn dishwashing liquid and warm water and pour on icy steps and they won't be slippery. So that is what I did. I just did it about 5 minutes ago so I have no idea if they are slippery or not. They usually are so maybe this will help. If it doesn't work however, I better let Mike know, otherwise he will be in for a surprise tomorrow when he walks out the door. Yikes!

The blob in the middle is some suds.

Day 42-Darkness 2 Light

Tonight I was trained in child sexual abuse prevention. One of my members was discussing that her father is a trained facilitator for the Darkness to Light training and I was more than thrilled when he offered to do a training for our group. He brought up some good points and shared some startling statistics like 90% of cases are from someone the child knows and 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will be sexually abused by the age of 18. Sad. Very Sad. I suggest looking into your local child advocacy center to see if there is such a training in your area. You never know when you might need it.

Day 41-Strength

I have been having a very bad week. Usually, I try to just fall asleep. Today I decided to try something new.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6

Day 40-Spelling Bee

So there are two words that I can never spell correctly so today, since I am not feeling great at all to do anything else, I am going to learn how to spell them once and for all.

The two words I can't spell are restaraunt and definitley.

Now time to learn them.....

1.) Rest au rant

2.) hahaha there is actually a website dedicated to spelling the next one De fin ite ly
http://www.d-e-f-i-n-i-t-e-l-y.com/

Day 39- Oldie but a Goodie

Today I ate at the oldest restaurant and bar in down town Grand Rapids.  It is called The Cottage Bar and was established in 1927. They have great burgers. I got a veggie burger and it is my new favorite burger in Grand  Rapids.  I recommend this place for a laid back meal.

Day 38-Chocolate Overload

Is there such a thing? If so, I felt it tonight. Tonight I went to a benefit for GVSU's Women Center. It was called Indulge in a Cause and they had a silent auction and all the chocolate you could ever want. I attended along with some of my coworkers, but it was also nice to go as an alumni of Grand Valley.
I still feel slightly awkward at networking events like this, but I managed. Whenever I ran out of things to say I would just look down at the packet they handed us with intense interest. I now have prizes 1-14 memorized.

They did a wonderful job with the event. The chocolate was fantastic, the jazz band was great, decor was superb, and prizes were very appealing. I will definitely go back next year-with an index card of conversation starters.

Day 37- Kinnecting

Sorry-am writing this a day late but did do this yesterday. Wednesday is weekly fun-night and this week for the first time I played kinnect. It is so amazing what technology can do. I mean Wii used to be mind boggling to me and now that is even one step behind! One thing that is creepy about the kinnect is that it takes pictures of you during your activity. With everything being connected to the internet nowadays I worry that someone could connect your camera remotely and be watching you while you are just lounging around in your living room- having no reservations about the pants you may not be wearing or the nose you might be picking.

Day 36-Smell the Roses

Today I visited a local florist shop to buy a bouquet. Someone had told me to go to a place like Meijer because they have just as nice flowers, but I like supporting the mom and pop stores. Well unfortunately this isn't a heart warming story about how great of experience it was, because I am less than impressed. Okay I guess I should be more lenient because it is the day after Valentine's Day, but it was slim pickings at the flower shop. As I was looking over a few of the arrangements, a woman told me that they had more flowers in back and they could make up something new. Then she said someone would be in to help me in a minute and left. Well that person was not helpful at all. and did not offer to make me anything in the back after I hinted that the bouquets I saw weren't exactly what I was looking for. I ended up choosing the best of the worst and it was $10 over my price range to boot. I won't say the name of the company-I wasn't that upset to publicly bash them, but I won't be recommending them either.

Day 35-Happy Thanksgiving?

So yesterday we had pasta and as that is the only romantic food I know how to make,  today I decided to make Thanksgiving Dinner for Valentine's Day. It went over really well with Mike and gave me time to exercise my cooking skills. I made turkey (boneless), stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, and corn. I have never made any of those things besides corn so I was a little stressed out. I did not have time for a Pumpkin Pie but luckily I had a candle which smells like a mix of pecan pie, apple crisp, and pumpkin rolls. So I lit that for dessert and ate a snack pack. All in all it was a nice night.

Day 34- like a Natural Woman

 I am trying to learn more about natural remedies or at least using products from around the house for my beauty needs. So today I was rummaging around the house  and found a carton of Epsom salt my best friend had gifted me for a craft project.
I googled uses for Epsom salt and found there were several. So tonight I simply used epsom salt to make a face wash. Combining a plain facial soap and the salt created a really nice exfoliant cleanser. My skin is unbelievably soft and this is so much cheaper than what I would have picked up at walgreens. I also saw that you can use the Epsom salt to help with oily hair and a hair volumizer.

I think the next time I make my soap bars I am going to add some Epsom salt to make an exfoliant soap bar. A couple drops of peppermint oil and wow I think that would be a very invigorating experience!

I finished off my face wash with applying some tea tree oil to blemishes. If you choose to do this though, make sure no one is around as tea tree oil has a very distinct smell that takes some getting used to.

Day 33- Complimentary chocolate?

I am writing this a day late because I was busy staying the night on the concierge level of the JW Marriot. Does that sound braggy? It is.
Mike and I decided for Valentines Day to do a staycation (sorry for the buzzword) and spent the evening in Grand Rapids.
I have never stayed in a hotel in Grand Rapids before. It makes me wonder how many people have stayed the night in a hotel in their hometown. It was a great experience- At first, I felt a little like Pretty Woman. Not in a paid escort kind of way but in a I am not sure if I should be here kind of way. But it turns out the concierge level isn't as fancy shmancy as I thought it would be. Our room was beautiful and we could oversee all of Grand Rapids-including Rosa Parks circle which was nice.
We had access to a lounge where the concierge gave you free beer and wine and snacks. They said they were going to be serving dessert but when we went there there was one cookie and some candy. I took a bag of M and Ms and Mike took a Snickers. We enjoyed a couple glasses of wine and beers overlooking the river then left for the comedy show at the Bob.
We had a great time overall and it was so nice to only have to drive 10 minutes to get home.

Day 32-Plop plop fizz fizz

Today I made a science experiment using alka seltzer. We made a video of the experiment but are having a difficult time loading it to the computer. But I got the idea from Science Bob. You can see his video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WayviQkusxI

Day 31-Spuds

Our good friends had us over for dinner tonight and for the first time ever I ate scalloped potatoes. and I got seconds! I've always hated potatoes- But someone told me that your tastes change every 7 years, so just recently I decided to see if it was true. I feel like a whole new way of eating has opened up for me. Potatoes seem like a good way to get full if you don't want to eat meat.
At any rate I was not sure what scalloped potatoes were. I thought they were just slices of potato sitting in cream. But low and behold they are actually in cheese. Yummy delicious cheese.

Day 30-Behind Enemy Lines

I have to thank my former roommates for this one-tonight I played laser tag. I haven't played since I was 12, so when they suggested we play for our weekly fun-night, I was stoked. In preparation I wore all black-sweatpants, long sleeve T, sweater, boots, gloves, hat and even my coat. Apparently I was the only one to take it seriously because everyone else came in regular street-wear. Our first game I did really well and came in 4th out of 24 people. The second game was not so hot as I went on a couple of missions and found my self hunched in a corner with about 4, six year olds huddled around me lasering me into a bloody pulp. That game I ended up being number 20. But you can't say it wasn't for lack of effort.

Day 29-Strike a Pose

Today's idea came to me at work this morning as I sat at my desk stretching my arms out in a yawn. I have lost so much flexibility in the last few years-so why don't I do something about it? Stretching feels great, I never do it any more, and it helps you fall asleep.  So tonight, I did stretches before going to bed. It is devastating how little I can stretch now. In my prime, I could do the splits, heel stretches, do a back walkover, and touch my foot to the back of my head. Now, I can't even touch my toes.
I did about 10 minutes of stretches and saw immediate improvement, but it is something I would like to incorporate into my night time routine.

Day 28- Spring Cleaning

I really wish I could say this was not out of the box for me, but today I unpacked from my move from over a year ago. I had several boxes and bags of things still full of odds and ends that I have never sorted through since I moved out of my apartment. I always just clean around them when I am picking up. Like they were pieces of furniture that belonged along the perimeter of my room.
When I got home from work I did not allow myself to get on the computer and cleaned straight before I could lose the energy I had built up.
Things I came across:
-A silver earring I received for a high school graduation present
-3 dollars
-Tuesdays with Maury
-Notes from taking the Massage Boards
-20+ socks

Day 27- Green and Yellow

Today I hosted a Super Bowl Party. It was also the first Super Bowl where I cared who won! Mike is a huge Packers fan and I guess it has rubbed off on me.
I named all of the food to make it Packers or Football oriented. Rodgers' Rice Krispies, Penalty Poppers, and Macaroni and Cheeseheads were just some of the deliciousness we had going on.
Our living room was PACKED with people and we had to do some strategic seating arrangements to fit everyone in.
Overall it was a great time, lots of good food, and of course Green Bay won.
Day 27 was a great success!

Day 26-ISFP

Tonight I took the Meyers-Briggs personality test. Very tired so I will edit this tomorrow and discuss it more.

Day 25-How do you spell that?

I've seen these done before and always thought hey, I could do that! So I did....

Day 24- Get down, turn around, go to town

Super excited for this to start---today I signed myself up for line dance lessons. Yee Haw! I have some fond memories of linedancing. In jr. high I took linedancing as one of my seminar selections and did I have fun or what! I actually think I took it twice because our teacher hurt her foot and she wanted me to help her  teach the next class. (not to toot my own horn or anything)
Fast forward 7 years later...
One night, back when I lived next to a night club, I walked over on a Thursday and found that it was country line dancing night. I was so sad I didn't know any of the dances because everyone was having so much fun. I had to just stand to the side and pretend I wasn't interested in their boot scootin boogie.

Ahh I can't wait till classes begin in March!

Day 23- Snowfridge

I decided to take advantage of the snow we got and I made a snowfridge for our Super Bowl party coming up this weekend. I am not sure why I did not think of this before-it screams college, but better late than never. I decided to put it on our backporch for easy access. It only took me about 15 minutes to make and luckily my neighbors did not come out while I was making it.

Day 22- Love letters

As I was waiting for the blizzard of 2011....Today I made homemade Valentines.