Marriage and Hair

You’re wondering how these two topics tie together. Well, believe me they do. Hair has been the binding material of our marriage, believe it or not — teaching us patience, self-sacrifice, and drain-declogging.

Ok, so maybe it hasn’t played as crucial as a role as that. But I had to have some kind of tie-in for these two topics I’m posting about today.

 August 2 was our 3rd anniversary. It seems so crazy to me when I think it was three whole years ago that we got all dressed up and said our vows and began a journey together as husband and wife. A lot has happened since then, but the time went by so fast. I’m so thankful for this godly man I married. Thankful for God’s grace that He shows me through Tyler. Blessings, laughter, forgiveness, conviction, love… hair. Marriage is difficult at times. It reveals to you all the little sins that you can so easily hide from everyone else, most notably selfishness. But it also gives you the opportunity to relinquish your self-centeredness and focus on the one you love — the one who loves you also. Sometimes it’s a difficult cycle of self-centeredness-conviction-forgiveness-servanthood-joy. But I hope as the years go by, the cycle will more often than not exclude self-centeredness.

But enough sappy marriage talk for now, because I have something very important to share with all of you.

*pause for effect*

I’m trying something new with my hair!

Talk about being self-centered *puh* *eyeroll*

Who does this chick think she is that we would care about her hair?

I know, I know. But I just have to tell you about this amazing beachy-wave hair-curling technique that requires no heat sources whatsoever! I started seeing posts about it on a message board that I read and the results were so cute. I figured if all of these girls could do it, maybe I can too.

You just have to have a headband and some hairspray. Basically, you start with mostly-dry hair and put the headband on your head hippie-style. Let the hair that’s held down by the headband poof up a little bit so that your hair’s not flat when you take it out. Smooth out the hair around your part so that it looks neat. Then, starting in the front, grab one strand (small for tight curls, bigger for looser curls) and wrap it over the headband and tuck it under. Then grab another strand and keep doing this until you get all the way to the back and all of the hair. Then repeat on the other side of your head. Once you get to the back from both sides, you still have some short strands hanging down. Tuck them into the wrapped hair/headband and then hairspray the beejiggers out of it! You can either sleep on it like this or wear it out if you’re brave. I think I am going to attempt to wear my hair out like this today:

Whadaya think? Not too warrior-princess-esque it it? Should I go to work like this? C’mon, people, I need to know as soon as possible before I make a spectacle of myself. Speak now or forever hold your… laughter!

An attractive larger view for you, so you can see what it looks like from the back. I can’t wait to take it out and see how my curls turned out! I just really hope I can pull off the warrior princess look today.

Here is a link to the tutorial I watched to learn how to do this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYxS1ohz4Ao 

The way she does it is for more classic vintage curls. But depending on how tight you do it and how much hair you use, it can turn out differently. I promise to post an update of how it looks when I take it out.

*crosses fingers*

Hopefully this will not be a waste of valuable blog-wothy material!

Happy Hairstyling!

The Elephant(s)

I guess it’s time I acknowledge the giant elephant in the room, friends. Elephants actually.

You know what I’m talking about. The giant elephants stuffed in the trunks of our cars and all broken down and wedged in between our furniture (If you’ve been to our apartment, you might now actually know what I am talking about).

It’s time to pack.

Which means pulling out the boxes stuffed in our trunks and haphazardly folded and wedged between the furniture and filling them up with stuff.

Oh, Stuff, how did you get to be so vast and numerous?

*sigh*

Not to worry, though, Friends, because I like to think of myself as an expert Packer.

And no, I am not referencing the football team starring in that “Big Game” coming up in the next week or two.

It’s all about making things fit just right. Manipulating shapes so that they piece together like a puzzle. Like Tetris, but in 3-D.

A couple years ago I went on a road trip to Florida with a few of my friends (5 of us on the way down, 6 on the way back). We took some kind of SUV that seemed like it would fit everyone quite nicely. But try packing luggage of 3 girls (4 on the way back) in the vehicle as well and it can make for a tight fit. We did pretty well packing-wise on the way down. We were a little scrunched, but there was no panic involved. Packing for the trip back brought on a little more anxiety. 1 extra girl, plus her luggage = minor problem. Not to worry, though. As long as no one had a problem with not being able to see out the back window, I worked a little magic and got everyone and everything to fit!

(I am available for hire to pack for overnights, camping trips, and carry-on luggage-only challenges as well.)

Did anyone know where in the world their stuff was?

No.

Except me. But I didn’t really know what was whose, I just remembered bags in layers. So if someone needed something from their bag, they had to provide a detailed description of the packaging and I could provide general coordinates… that had the potential for exploding our entire backseat into a hurricane-esque nightmare.

Still, we all made it back. With all our stuff. And only one dislocated appendage.

But that was unrelated to my packing practices.

And then there’s my personal luggage-packing skills. I manage to be Bear-Grylls prepared for any potential emergency (spaghetti stain on shirt, sudden down-pour, campfire-melted-flip-flops, chocolate craving, and even the extremely rare urge-to-workout-while-on-vacation). And I can fit everything into a moderate sized suitcase. And pillowcase. And purse. And pockets. And socks.

But I’m starting to wonder if I the same rules apply for packing for a move. I mean, I could probably fit all of our non-furniture stuff into my parents’ minivan. But will I remember what was in which box and where I want those boxes to go upon move-in? And will our stuff arrive in the same condition it was in upon our departure? These are the questions that keep me up at night, people! This is serious business!!!

So, in an attempt to maybe be oh, let’s say organized in our impending move, I researched a few strategies I am considering implementing:

1. Pack according to room and then importance. In other words, pack a box with kitchen stuff, but don’t pack the non-stick skillet in with the ice cream maker and waffle iron.

2. Label the boxes by what is in them and importance. I’m thinking dashed number/letter identifiers like 1-A, 2-A, 3-B. The number would be the identifier of what is in the box, decoded by my List. The letter would be the priority for unpacking (high=A [unpack in 1st day], moderate=B [unpack in first week], low=C [meh, unpack whenever/storage]).

3. Print labels for boxes that correspond with their appropriate rooms (i.e. Kitchen, Bedroom-1 [1st bedroom down the hall], Downstairs Bathroom, etc…) to help us know where to set the boxes down.

4. Have people inside the house (who do not have shoes on!) who can carry the boxes to their appropriate rooms. Results: organization and clean and dry carpets!

That’s what I’ve come up with thus far. Additional suggestions are gladly welcomed.

Now I just need a tape gun, some packing paper, and some moving blankets so the furniture doesn’t get scratched… anyone know where I can get some of this??? Oh, and this little thing called “motivation.”

*sigh*

Customized Christmas Cards Decked Out in Bling… These Are A Few of My Favorite Things

My apologies for the long title, but I just couldn’t help myself.

Remember how I mentioned yesterday about how you can get 50 free customized  Christmas cards from Shutterfly? Well I gave you one sample, but that really didn’t come close to representing the diverse collection of cards they have to offer.

Just ask my mom (she’s the one who’s picking out the 50 free cards). I sent her the link to their site yesterday morning, only to get multiple phone calls desiring my assistance in helping her narrow her options down. Finally, she chose this design (Wisemen’s Journey):

She narrowed it down to this one in part because she liked the wisemen and the message.

And then I started customizing the card with this picture (remember I told you about our mall Christmas picture?):

Only to discover that she could customize the whole message too! When I called her to tell her the good news, she responded with…

*silence*

hee hee… She was happy about that, but now it made it even HARDER to decide if she wanted to stick with her original photo card design or use a different one.

Ya know, I really should just break down and get texting with how many times we called each other yesterday.

Maybe next year.

Anyway, personally, I really love these designs:

I just love snowflakes (Bright Blue Snowflakes Design)… where are you, Snow??? I’m sure you Michiganders will probably hunt me down with pitchforks after this post, but…

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

And then I love the picture possibilities of this design here (Most Wonderful Year Design):

I love how you can write a decent-length message in this one (Christmas Letter Design):

I love the swirly font in this one and the black and white makes it so… striking I think. Not at all your typical Christmas card. But I love that the real meaning of Christmas is the theme of the card (O Holy Night Religious Design):

Yeah… I’m glad Mom’s choosing and not me… too many good choices. Of course, it doesn’t help that they find the cutest darn kids to put in the sample pictures. I mean who really needs to customize it if the kids in the pictures on the front are already cuter than your pictures? Unless of course you already have a little one, in which case, send me your kids’ cute pictures so I can use them on my cards!

Although, come to think of it, some people might get the wrong idea.

Anyway… back to reality.

Here are some links to their products (they’ve got some pretty good deals going on this week… even for people who don’t have blogs!):

* Christmas Photo Cards (like the ones I showed you)  http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards

* New Year’s Cards (including invitations – just don’t forget to invite me) http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/new-years-cards

* Photo Calendars (My friend Summer gets one of these each year from her husband. I love this idea!) (*cough* hint-hint *cough* Although I suppose they would only be pictures of myself since my handsome hubby is less than cooperative about getting his picture taken.) http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars  

So what d’ya think? Did ya see anything you liked (other than the glamourous mall family Christmas shot)?

I love this time of year! So many of my favorite things all packed into one month!

Happy planning!

50 Free Holiday Cards from Shutterfly

Happy Cyber Monday!

Actually… I checked out the Cyber Monday deals and really didn’t see any better deals than you can get any other day just by using retailmenot.com and keeping an eye out for sales on the items you really want.

But anyway… how was your Thanksgiving? Mine was wonderful! I ate 11 lbs of food (thanks to 2 Thanksgiving meals and gourmet cooks on both sides of the family) and only gained half a pound! Now that’s a successful holiday!

Okay, okay, that wasn’t actually the highlight of my holiday, although I definitely was relieved that the scale didn’t break when I rolled myself onto it on Friday. The highlight was definitely spending time with family. In fact, I’m thinking about forming a new support group with the women in Tyler’s family for Women Who Shed. While waiting for my food to cook at his parent’s house, we women gathered around the kitchen island and told scary stories — you know the kind — about nasty hair monsters lurking in the depths of the plumbing in our cozy little homes.  Frightening stuff! I’ll spare you the details.

And Tyler’s aunt taught me a new trick that is ingenious! Ya know how the hair all collects on the bathroom counter after you comb it? And then more after you blow dry it? And then even more after you straighten/curl/pull-it-out-in-clumps-because-it-won’t-cooperate? Well, just take that blow dryer and blow the hair off the counter! That’s right! Take revenge, people! Show that hair who’s boss!

And then kindly sweep the floor before your husband starts to think you had the bathroom carpeted.

It was a bonding moment when she shared this. I knew we were kindrid spirits.

Then at my parents’ house after dinner (*groan*) we played Killer Bunnies and Catchphrase with my brother and cousins until crazy hours of the night.

Okay, so maybe it was only 8:00 pm, but after 11 lbs. of food, some of which was turkey, it felt pretty late. But it was a blast! I’ve never had so much fun with my cousins before! When I was a kid, they were mostly all about 10 years older than I was (okay, so I guess they still are all about 10 years older), and they were just too grown up and boring. But I think they’ve regressed nicely and we have a lot more fun together than we used to.

And then it was Friday.

BLACK FRIDAY…

In which I woke up at 4:00 am without an alarm (that tells you how naturally atuned my body is to finding deals) only to sit on my computer for 2 hours and buy several items online for cheaper than they were in stores!!! Yes, people, you heard me right. While you were standing in Kohl’s’ Nightmare-Wrap-Around-The-Store-Three-Times Line to get your 4 in 1 winter parka (originally $180) for $49.99, I found it on their website for the same price, used two coupon codes and got it for $42.00, tax and shipping included! So at 7:00 am I made my official decision to crawl back into bed for a couple of hours instead of fighting off Crazies.

I did, however, end up braving it out there later. It was my Dad’s birthday and for some sick reason he gets pleasure from watching my mom and I spend save his money.  Actually it was my mom who was spending saving his money, but he likes to see how I help her. Such a sweet husband and father… when I someday win the Best Deal Finder Award he will be one of the first people I thank in my acceptance speech.

Later that day we met my brother Casey and his fiance Amanda at the mall. It was so nice to spend time with her and get to know her a little better. I love her ideas for their wedding… she’s an artist, so of course it’s going to be beautiful.

After a couple hours at the mall we went to Outback for some steak and fried ‘shrooms, and then barely slid into the $4 theater in time to see Inception. Which was the. craziest. movie. EVER.

My head is still reeling. We were so into the movie, none of us ate any popcorn until after it was over. Did you see it? What do you think happened to the top??? Crazy, I tell you, CRAZY!

Then we went back to the mall and found a little lounge to sit at so that my dad could open his birthday presents. While we were there, we decided it would be a good time to take a Christmas picture in front of one of the mall Christmas trees. So my mom sweet talked an innocent mall patron into taking it for us. She was so nice! Thanks for putting up with us, Innocent Mall Patron-ess!

Which all brings me to the real discount deal I wanted to tell you about.  Shutterfly is offering 50 Free Holiday Cards to anyone that blogs about their offer. You can use one picture or multiple pictures to customize your Christmas card however you would like it. They have over 800 cards to choose from – some that are postcards and others that are folded cards. I know this only applies to you if you have a blog, so I say,

START A BLOG!

And then tell me about it so that I can read it! And then sign up for this deal, because you know you don’t want to miss out! (photo credit)

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! More to come tomorrow!

Another Week

Another week has gone by with minimal blogging. From the bottom of my heart I apologize. I believe I’m officially going through a dry spell, which will hopefully not be too extensive… but no promises.

Work has gotten a little better, but we’re still very busy. We are very short staffed for how busy we are right now and although we are hiring 8 new people, it’s going to take a while before they can help out with the busyness because they will need training. Which takes a longggg time.

I had the hiccups last night at work while I was poking… if you’ve ever been around me when I have the hiccups, you know that they very closely mimic convulsions. I think I held my breath for the whole 2 minutes it took me to spike the donor’s solutions and put the cuff on her arm and scrub her arm with iodine (and try my best to control my convulsive hiccups so I didn’t accidentally paint her sweater with iodine).  To no avail. The hiccups would not go away and I was praying she couldn’t tell. I made sure to poke her in between hiccups though. *whew*

Did you ever hear that story about the girl who had the hiccups for a year?! I don’t know if it’s true or not, but honestly… how could you endure hiccups for a year? I would have a serious mental breakdown. And the rest of my house would probably be broken down too in my alternating fits of convulsive hiccups and thrashing frustration that they wouldn’t go away.

No word on the house.

I am really liking these homemade aprons that are popping up on etsy.com and in cute little boutiques around here. One of my friends just received a super cute owl-print apron from a friend of hers who made it herself! I was so jealous I wanted to steal it from her! But it’s so unique I know she would see it in my apartment and recognize it as hers.

So I guess I will maybe just *cough* get my own for Christmas *cough* maybe… Here are a few I am admiring…

Apron #1: Click HERE

Apron #2: Click HERE

Apron #3: Click HERE

Apron #4: Click HERE

Apron #5: Click HERE

This last one is almost too cute to be an apron… it really should be a sundress. All of them really would make cute sundresses. *sigh*

Let’s take a poll, shall we?

What’s on your Christmas list??? I really mean it, people. I need ideas for my family (and from my family too! *hint-hint*).

My 100th Post

Today feels like a good day for a multitude of random ramblings for you. So here goes:

* I’ve never really liked candy corn. It looks so good when I see other people (like my hubby) munching on it. And then I try it, and, meh… it’s okay, but one piece is quite enough for me. Which is very odd because generally I have a SUPERsweet tooth and will happily devour any sugar-filled treat. Other than skittles — they make me bite my cheek. Skittles and Candy Corn. If ever the world would end unless someone gave up Skittles and Candy Corn, I would be your man. Well, woman, actually.

Spread the word.  Just in case.

***************

* Did I tell you that I got that promotion I had applied for?  The one in which, during my interview, my mind was in pinball mode? I was pretty surprised when they called me into the office to tell me. My charming stutter and pretty nose must have them confuddled them into thinking my pinball-answers were appropriate.

Just kidding about the pretty nose. It’s from Anne of Green Gables and it makes me laugh.

And yes, I did just make up a word.  Did you catch that? Sneaky, eh? hee hee hee. 

*********************************************

* DEAL TIP FOR YOU! But before I tell you this tip, let me give you the fine print of our little contract here: YOU MUST HEREBY SWEAR TO NEVER COMPETE WITH CHEYENNE IN SCAVENGING FOR GREAT DEALS ON THIS WEBSITE OR YOU WILL BE PROSECUTED AND FOREVERMORE BANNED FROM THE PREMISES OF THIS BLOG.

*clears throat*

So if you are looking for a great deal somewhere, my first suggestion (which is one I have suggested before) is to go to retailmenot.com. There you can find all sorts of coupon codes and printable coupons to use for different retailers. Next (and this is the BIG news for which the fine print applies), go to giftcardgranny.com and find a gift card for the retailer. Giftcardgranny.com has many retailers’ gift cards at a discounted price. The best deals are usually on pretty expensive gift cards, but if you’re about to buy some big-ticket items (as we are now for our new house), the deals for Home Depot and Best Buy and Sears can save you at least 20%! And that’s not even counting the coupons and sales you find online or in the stores! I am TOTALLY excited about this! And, familywhoisreadingthis, please forgive me for any obscure-dollar-amount gift cards you may be getting for Christmas. Ooo, unless I buy gift cards with my gift card…. heh, heh, heh.

********************************************

* I saw our neighborhood gang again today. They really better watch themselves or they’re going to get killed. It was tempting to run them over today, but I restrained myself. Don’t they realize what time of year it is? I sure hope there are no gangs over at our new house.

*****************

* This is my 100th post! Yippee! How anticlimactic to post random ramblings. So sorry.

*********************************************

* It’s very windy here. Very windy. As in, so windy, I really should have written this whole blog post in italics. But that would get annoying. So I have reigned it in. But seriously, folks, if I could show you how windy it is right now, my italics would have to be italicized. Or possibly even horizontal. That would make things interesting to read.

Alright, once again, my juices are drained. That’s just what you’re gonna have to deal with today. If you want creative and thought-provoking, head over to my dear friend Anna’s blog (and wish her a happy birthday too!). But don’t tell her I said that!

A Photo Tour of Traverse City

Man, I have been so busy blogging lately. Posting about our 2nd anniversary, about the Detroit Tigers game we went to, more of my superb marital advice, and my recent attempt at making shredded chicken enchiladas that turned out to be burritos.

Oh, you don’t remember those posts?

Huh…

Maybe that’s because I didn’t actually write them!!! I have “written” a half dozen posts in my head since my last actual post. But I have not found the time to actually sit down and type any of them out. So instead I have had a steady stream of mental blogging during which I appear to be in some kind of catatonic state, staring off into space and moving my lips ever so slightly while I talk to myself.

Anyways… so now for a real post! That will mostly consist of a pictoral-narrative of our recent camping trip with my family (my brother included! I haven’t seen him in 3 months and the last trip we all took together was probably 5 years ago).

It was an amazing trip. We had a campfire and made smores and played uchre and ate ice cream. We also shopped in the cute downtown strip, went on a bike ride, and drove out to the peninsula to go wine tasting and spend some time on the beach by the lighthouse. It was perfect weather and the water was BEAUTIFUL. And most of all, it was just a wonderful time spent with my family. We haven’t all been together like that… well, ever before really, at least not with Tyler as a part of our family.

I also recently read the user manual for our camera and have been dabbling a bit in photography. Dabbling a verrry little bit. So here is a sample of my photos from the weekend, a miniscule representation of how beautiful it was in Traverse City.

Ok, so this is not actually Traverse City. This is a picture of my mom’s flowers that I took before we left. I was trying to play around with macro-shots (up-close).

This is another picture from my mom’s garden. I was trying to play around with the focus again. It could have been a cool picture, but my focus was all off. I was kind of struggling with the camera because I was partly in the bushes and couldn’t really see in the view finder. That’s my excuse anyways.

This is Traverse City. See that water? Isn’t is gorgeous!

At the vineyard where we did the wine tasting (I’ve never done this before. I would love alcohol if it didn’t have any alcohol in it! As it turned out, the kind I liked was the least alcoholic! I have the palate of a 7 year old I think. Which isn’t a bad thing I guess). I’d like to call this photo “There’s One in Every Bunch.”

No need for applause.

The lighthouse at the end of the peninsula.

My brother. Isn’t he cool? I love the aspect of this photo with the lighthouse in the background.

 

And, my amazing parents. We had so much fun. I am so thankful to God for such a great family.

And that, my friends, was our trip! Tune in again… uh… sometime soon hopefully for more!

Wish Upon A Star

Tonight is going to be a great night for wishing.

Santa only gives you 3 wishes. Same for the magic genie, and he’s even harder to get ahold of. Tonight will trump Santa big-time.

Tonight is the Perseid meteor shower (<—Click here to read more). I have never seen any of the other meteor showers that occur throughout the year, but I’ve seen the Leonids several times, and it is spectacular when you get a good dark sky and have a little caffeine to keep you awake. The peak hours are from midnight to just before dawn. But if you don’t mind laying around outside in the dark for a while, you will definitely see some before midnight too. Just be prepared to bundle up, it tends to get cold and wet.  

One year, my brother and I decided to sleep outside during the meteor shower. We grabbed our sleeping bags and slept on reclining pool chairs. Several times I woke up from the cold and just stared into the sky for a couple minutes. During those early morning hours, I was amazed by the huge fireballs that grazed through the sky, forming long streaks that lasted up to 5 seconds — which is pretty long for a “shooting star”! 

And no, I was not dreaming, I promise. Thanks a lot.

Honestly, folks, it’s amazing. And tonight is supposed to be optimal for meteor viewing.

When I consider Your heavens,

The work of your hands,

What is man that You are mindful of him?

The son of man that You care for him?

Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!

Psalm 8:3-4,9

You will never read this passage the same. The splendor with which our Creator has clothed His creation is beyond breathtaking.  No man-made beauty can compare to His natural wonders. Our God loves to delight us with His art. As if creating us and loving us and forgiving us wasn’t enough, He also longs to give us joy and fill us with wonder.

Product Rave: Suave Professional Humectant Conditioner

This week I have been on a bit of a blogging sabatical. Our 2nd anniversary was on Monday and although it’s been a very light work week, I seem to have found a way to occupy my time with anything but doing work. Which includes work I don’t mind doing, such as blogging, emailing, painting my toe nails, working out, and reading. However–  (da-da-da-DA-da-DUM -CHARGE!) — this morning I have already run, read, and am currently blogging, so I can tell today is going to be a very productive day. Finally.

We had a great time this week celebrating our anniversary and reflecting on the past year. I’ll post pictures from our anniversary events later. Lucky for you I am not feeling particularly verbose today.

So, instead I will leave you with a recommendation because as my freshly washed and sopping wet hair soaks my back, I am thinking about how much I love my conditioner. My conditioner that I finished off today. My conditioner that I love so much that as soon as I felt the bottle getting light I ran out to the store to make sure they were still making it and bought another bottle when I found that it was still there.

This is my favorite conditioner EVER. Prior to this discovery, I found that Herbal Essences was really all that my hair liked me to use. I tried cheaper brands like V05 as well as more expensive ones like Pantene ProV, but I always felt like I had to glob my hair with a massive puddle of it to really feel like it was doing anything. But this Suave Professional Humectant conditioner is awesome. I only have to use a little, it smells amazing, and it makes my hair happy. AND it’s cheap! At $3.19 for a 32 oz. bottle like this, I take showers just so I can use it.

And no other reason, mind you.

Because who needs a shower when you have deoderant?