Creative Cathy!

Ok, you got me... my name isn't Cathy... 

BUT MAN OH, MAN WAS I CREATIVE THIS WEEKEND!!! 

Let's start with the cupcakes... 

First I took some hits from Fabulessly Frugal's blog and made some super duper yummy cake mix cup cakes!!! 

The trick is to use 1 or 2 extra eggs, replace the water with milk, and double the oil but use melted butter instead. 

Seriously FANTASTIC! 

Then to decorate them I used a recipe from Planet Pals to make salt glitter only I substituted the salt for sugar. Mostly because salt on my cupcakes did not sound appetizing.... 

Now, my "glitter" did not look anything like the picture. My guess is that salt works better than sugar, but my cupcakes still turned out pretty beautiful if you asked me! 

I left some plain because I was worried that the extra sugar would make the cupcakes taste weird or make them way too sweet, and I didn't want to ruin all of my cupcakes! They were pretty sweet but not so much that anyone in my family avoided them. So I deem it a success! 

I also made a stocking! (I know, I'm going to be a fabulous grandma someday.)

I was really wanting to make something with yarn but was pretty sick of making scarves and beanies, so I went to my trusty friend Pinterest and found a fabulously easy stocking pattern at the Loom Room using a round knitting loom!

I'm pretty proud of this creation! This one is for my puppy, and I'm making myself one to hang in our new house!!!

Seriously, I love my creative bursts of energy. So fun! 

Conte-not

So, my goal this week was to be content with what I had. I was going to keep my debit card in my purse and just be content with life the way it was.

Well... That was a fail...

Problem #1: I'm like a little kid. If I (or someone else) tells me I can't, I do everything in my power to fight against it. This turns into quite the internal battle. I did pretty well the first part of the week, but Wednesday I bought a bark collar, dog bones, and a brand new outfit. All were unnecessary but I just had to spend money!!!!!!!!!

Problem #2: So, regarding the clothes purchase... I can't be the only woman in the world who just feels better with a cute new outfit, right? I was having a "ugh I'm so fat" kind of day and was going to a big work function the next day... I had to figure something out and FAST!!! It was an EMERGENCY!!! Well... maybe not an emergency but it felt like one! And I felt good at the work function! BUT... not so good when I looked at my bank account. Ugh.

Problem #3: I'm about to close on my house. So naturally I had to buy a 13 gallons of paint and painting supplies. And I couldn't  be content with my whole house being one color. My room has to be different, duh...

Ugh... Sometimes I'm sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo dumb...

Welp, I'm going to retry that goal again this week. I know that I'll probably never be "perfect" at being content, but I need to do better than the sorry mess I had last week.

Wish me Luck! (Again)

Identity Week 1: Contentment

So, if you asked my parents they would tell you...  Contentment is really not my thing. I mean, sometimes that can kind of be good right? I'm always pushing myself further or trying new things, BUT I'm so stinking unsettled. This week I'm going to work on being Content in my life. 

I know that's not very specific and if one of the kids I work with made a goal of "being content" I would say "how are you going to show me you're content." 

So, I'm going to save you the breath and I'll tell you how I'm going to show myself and you that I'm content. 

1. I'm going to focus on being content in what I have. I have a bad habit of always wanting to buy something new. Even if it's little. This week I'm not going to buy anything. That means I'm not going to buy myself lunch if I already have lunch at work. I'm not going to the store and buy something pointless just because I want something new. I'm simply going to keep that debit card stowed safely in my purse. 

2. I'm going to be content with my role in my job, and not try to push outside boundaries unnecessarily. I think that I need to really analyze my role and learn how to use it to accomplish goals and not push boundaries. 

3. I will refocus my negative thoughts about my move, and I will refocus my negative thoughts about living with my parents. I will be grateful for the opportunities I have, that my parents are willing to help, and trust that God has a purpose for me here. 

AND ABOVE ALL

4. I will take my thoughts captive, and pray to God often to assist me in being content. I know that he will provide for me. I know that I will have what I need. I need to trust in him that he will take care of me in every realm of my life, and I need to stop trying to control things myself. I believe that only then will I be truly content. 

Now, I realize this is a lot to take on... And maybe I'll need more than 1 week to really feel content... So maybe I'll change it to a month... But I'll try this week out and see how it goes! :) 

Women's Retreat

First and foremost... THIS WEEKEND BLESSED MY SOCKS OFF!!!

Fo real. 

I went up to "the cabin" with a group of ladies from North End Collective Church in Boise.

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SIDE NOTE: It was not a cabin, it was more like a nice house on a beautiful mountain. And if you live in Boise try out North End Collective Church. The people who go there are so beautiful. 

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It was serious one of the best experiences of my life, and exactly what I needed. As you all know I've been struggling a bit to really find myself in life and see where I fit... BUT this weekend I was able to refocus and remember the most important part of my identity is being a daughter of God!!! 

Seriously, we looked at where our identity should go and what we should focus on in life, and what is most important and I really feel like if I focus on my identity in God I will be like 50% less stressed! At least!

So why we were up there we focused on 5 different topics. Those topics were contentment, kindness, friendship, modesty, and relationships. We talked about one of those built on another and can build a cycle of goodness! So, I think I'm going to take a week to work on each one of these. I'm not sure how loyal of a blogger I'll be about it, but Imma try! I just tend to be a little hit and miss on the blog thing...

Business Trip

So, I took my very first "business" trip Thursday-Today. I mean, it was short, sweet, and awesome!

I mean, mostly I feel super grown up... That's the best part.

Oh, and I got to stay in a super sweet hotel! Win! :)

I got some much needed alone time, and it was delightful!

Tomorrow I'm going on a women's retreat with the North End Collective! Holla!

PS: This is partially an experimental phone post.

Color Run, Halloween, & Horses

So this weekend I had a fantastic get away to the city of my heart. Seriously it was amazing. And it went a little like this... 

First thing Saturday morning it was time for the color run! 

Hannah, Kelsey, Jessica, Katie, and I started off wearing all white and looking lovely in our crowns... 

And after walking a 5K (and a little color fighting among ourselves) we looked a little like this!

It was seriously one of the funnest tings I've ever done!!! Plus we looked beautiful!!! :) 

We did do a few errands looking this way, and people kept looking at as weird and asking questions. I still don't understand why.

Next we went back to Jessica's to finish up some costumes. Mine was mostly done, so I helped with other people's costumes. We were certainly Crafty Cathy's!!! Here's some pictures of my shirt though; I'm pretty proud of it. 

All I did to make it was print out everything I wanted on paper, and use fabric Modge Podge to stick it on! I don't think I'm going to be able to ever wash it, but for one night of Halloween celebration it was perfect! I also added some glitter, because the Modge Podge didn't dry completely clear in the black (see around the Monopoly man) I used glitter to cover up the smudges. The front simply said Monopoly. 

After our costumes were ready to go we got all dolled up and ready to hit the town!!! 

There was Spiderman, Hulk, a peacock, Monopoly, Candy Land, Twister and even a dart board! Clearly tutus are a common theme. We got really good at making them!!! Just FYI it takes about 3-4 rolls of tulle to make an adult size tutu. Which we had to figure out on our own, because it turns out there's not a lot of tutorials on how to make adult size tutus!!! 

And we had a little fun. :) 

Together we called ourselves "Game Night." 

Two of my favorite girls! 

Close up of me and the birthday girl! Also, my monocle. Seriously, arguably the best part of my costume... and I lost it at the FIRST BAR!!! So sad it didn't last longer. But I got some good pics! 

We had lots of fun dancing and drinking. But then again, we always do! 

Then we passed out and got some zzzzzzz's... 

Finally, this afternoon we rode some horses. Our time was a little short cuz I'm kind of a brat and wanted to get home at a decent hour to get some sleep tonight. I knew I'd need it after such a crazy weekend. But it was still fun! 

This is Bon Bon, the horse we rode. 

Her and I were a little rocky to begin with but I think that we were alright buds in the end. :) 

Anywho, it was a much needed getaway and such a fun weekend! Shout out to Jessica, Kelsey, and Hannah for letting me crash at their house!!! 

Now back to the real world... 

♥

Needing a Relationship...

So, this is a phenomenon that often puzzles me, though you think I'd understand it by now. I don't understand people who "need" a relationship. You know, those people that constantly have to have a boyfriend or girlfriend and who fall in love with any boy or girl they are with. It seems like there's no selection process. It's all or nothing for anyone who is willing to participate, and then their heart broken and do it again. In the mean time they drop their friends and expect their friends to be right where they left time while they were "busy" in their relationship.

I'll be honest I had a really good friendship end because of this and it still puzzles me.

I guess I always dream of finding the right guy. The one guy who is right for me. I don't waste my time with others, and will tell you that at any given time. I know what I want from a guy, and maybe my ideal guy seems a little unrealistic, but if he doesn't share similar values, get a long with my family, treat me well, treat those important to me well, and make sure he allows me to be me and not just an extension of him then I'm out. I don't think that's too much to ask. And I've met guys who could fit part of that mold, but definitely not all of the mold.

I guess that maybe it comes from the way we are raised. Growing up my parents never really "encouraged" any relationships I had. They didn't discourage them, but the recognized that I had things to do in my life before I decided to settle down. They never said things like, "Oh, when can I meet him!" or "You talk about so and so a lot, are you dating?" That has always been my part of life on my terms. My parents still don't ever say things like "when are we going to have grand-babies  and right now they could easily say "If you were married we wouldn't have to help paint your house." Instead my parents have always been content with my brother and my accomplishments. They never wanted to stunt that with relationship talk.

I imagine that if my parents had encouraged relationships or made a bigger deal of relationships I probably wouldn't have the same outlook I had. Maybe I would want or need relationships more, because of the positive reinforcement I got when I was in them. But instead I've simply been taught to live my life my way, and do what I have to do for me and the rest will fall in place.





PS: I really think I like blogging better than Facebooking, because I can write what I want and not worry about who's reading it because if they're reading it they're choosing to read it. It's not just popping up on their news feed.

1.5 Hours Sans Facebook

So, I decided that I need to make a list of people that I'm going to make a real effort to keep in touch with...

Went to Facebook to go through friend's names.

FAIL!!!

Gotta figure out how I do old fashioned style...

Are you sure you want to delete your Facebook?

So I've been thinking long and hard about deleting my Facebook. I know, I know... AM I NUTS? I'm totally a Facebook Whore, but I think I'm at the point in life that it's doing more harm than good. Here's a list of reasons I think it's time to move on in my life...

A. Honestly, sometimes when people do things I feel left out or like I'm missing out on some part of life. And I know that is ridiculous!!! But for real, don't you ever think "aw man I want to play." Without Facebook, I wouldn't have that problem. FOR REAL, I would never even know!!! Ignorance may indeed be bliss! 

B. I do need to be careful due to my job. I just really can't have some of the little darlings I work with stumbling upon my Facebook randomly and conveniently. 

C. People are so fake on there it should be called a Sci-Fi Network not a Social Network. I mean let's be honest even if it's unintentional people give crazy personas of themselves on Facebook. There's the happy person who cannot always be that happy, the sad person who cannot always be that sad, and the completely crazy person you know has to have a little normal in them somewhere!!!

D. Facebook brings out the the 12 year old in all of us. I mean most of us have had that moment when we think "OMG are they crazy. I cannot believe they actually said that." or "OMG she's so annoying I'm deleting her." or "OMG she deleted me that bitch!" Don't lie, you've done it... and how unbecoming, huh? 

E. People survived before Facebook... FOR REAL IT'S TRUE! And maybe it could be kind of neat to like talk to people face to face sometimes... or like go visit people... I know I'm CRAZY, but it just might be fun!?!?!?!

F. I could probably cut down on the amount of Data I use substantially on my phone if I am not on Facebook. Savin' money!!! And I don't think I am going to get internet in my new house anyway. 

G. Real life, there are some people I don't associate with in person for a reason and I don't really care that they know everything about me!!! And sure I could just delete them but please see item "D". And let's be honest, even if you delete someone they will find out what they need to know. That's when people say things like "uh log on I want to creep on her, can you believe she deleted me???" (Refer to "D" for more information.) And that seems even more annoying than everyone knowing everything. 

H. DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH TIME PEOPLE WOULD HAVE IF THEY DIDN'T HAVE FACEBOOK??? I could probably like write a book... 

Now, I do recognize that Facebook has some pluses such as:

Z. Some people have cute kids and I like to look at their pictures. 

Y. It's easy to keep in touch with family and friends. 

But, that's A-H vs. Z-Y and Z-Y just isn't enough to justify it.

That being said, I'm deleting my Facebook here in the near future. I'm going to try using this phone I spend a billion dollars on for things like phone calls........ Weird huh???

&&& Don't you fret, I'll still be on Instagram and Pinterest.

Dollar Store Wreath...

So, on Pinterest I've noticed that making wreaths for different holidays seems like the big thing. Yesterday when I was procrastinating packing up my life, and decided to go look around the dollar store. I heard that there's tons of stuff for crafts, so I figured I'd check it out! Turns out they were right. There were even wreath bases!!! (Well, that's what I'm calling them. Little round foam things.) Granted it was smaller than a normal size wreath, but I was feeling cheap and didn't feel like driving to a craft store so I went for it. They also had a bunch of fake flowers for fall... and I knew exactly what to do next...

... yup! I made a wreath! I made this beauty for $13! it could easily be made for less than $10 though. I bought 3 strands of leaves which could be eliminated because they add no coverage, just accents. Also, I bought ribbon because I didn't have a matching color BUT if you have ribbon it'll save you another dollar!!!

Putting it together was easy too! I simply popped the flowers off the stems and put a little hot glue on them before I shoved them into the foam. It was harder to get the leaves to stay and I'd glue them on and then stick a flower over them to push them into the foam.

For some added flair, I used some glitter spray paint and made it sparkle!!!!!!!!

I'm going to say that this was a success. &&& It delayed my packing about an hour. :)

Decision, Change, Decision, Change...

NOTE: This was actually written a week ago. I just forgot to post it. Not very good at blogging apparently.



I feel like the story of my life in the past year has been DECISION making and CHANGES! It went a little like this...

Get a Rockin' Internship.

Decide to Quit my Job to Dedicate Time to My Internship

Decide Not to go to Grad School.

Job Hunt.

Job Found.

Job Gone.

Decide to Eliminate Negativity.

Move.

Decide to Get a Dog.

Get a Dog.

Graduate.

Work as a Temp.

More Job Hunting.

Job Found.

Job Awful.

Decide I need to quit, for myself.

Get offered an Awesome Job that includes A LOT of driving.

Take Awesome Job and Drive A LOT.

Realize Driving Sucks.

Decide To Move.

Decide to Buy a House.

Start House Hunting.

Lose a House Bid War.

AND now we are HERE...

Currently I'm packing up my apartment, and getting ready to move on Saturday. I have never felt so conflicted in my life. I know that moving is what I need to do in my life, and I know that it's the right decision. But I don't want to move. I don't want to leave the city I love for a city I've always despised. I don't want to leave the life I've built here. Plus, now I have to create a whole new life. How stressful is that??? AND not to mention that this is only a temporary move. I'm going to move in with my parents for a while and hopefully find a house to purchase.

YEA that's right, Imma Buy A House!!! I know it's very exciting but HOLY STRESSFUL! Finding a house in the right location, for the right price, with the right qualities is virtually impossible.

So, there's all this and then there's that lonely feeling... Seriously the things I'm doing right now people don't usually do when they're 23 and single. My friends and family who are my age and have bought houses have all done it with husbands and such. My friends who who aren't married, are much smarter than me and haven't jumped into the "grown up" life as quickly as I have. And, while I have nothing against either group and I think they all bring their own assistance and guidance in my life, I really feel like no one really gets it.

This has all kinda caused me to have a bit of a mid life crisis. I don't really know where I fit in anymore. Or who I fit in with.

I just hope that I find a home soon. Maybe if I get my life settled in one place, and I can really make Twin my home I'll be able to meet people and really settle in. I'm really sick of being in transit and I want to be in one place for longer than a year. I don't want to worry about where I'm going to go next.

I'm told how lucky I am to have the job I have and have the opportunities I have, and I know that I am. But it's kind of a double edged sword don't you think?

I guess I just have to buckle down and push through the this season of transition. It has to slow down some day right?

So, I guess I'm done with the pitty party. I'll keep y'all updated. BUT if you could send some positive thoughts and prayers my way I'd really appreciate it.

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Mixed Emotions is an Understatement

Seriously, I have so many emotions that go along with this move...

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I'm sad to leave the city of my heart because it is the place where I found myself. Where I learned who I am and who I want to be. I made amazing friends here and had so many good times. I learned what it means to be independent and an adult. I put my heart into everything I did and sometimes it hurt, but I have no regrets. This is the place I feel comfortable. More comfortable than even in the town I grew up in. Here I get to be me, and not what everyone thinks I should be. I'm sad to leave my home behind. I feel comfortable here.

Moving back "home" makes me feel self conscious. I know I will run into people I haven't seen in a very long time. People who think they know who I am, but have no idea who I am. People who make me feel judged just by looking at me. People who probably judge me just by looking at me. Not to mention the fact that I will be living in a town where people my age are married with kids or just want to party 24/7. And I don't feel like I'm part of either group. I'm planning on buying my own house, and I think people will look down on me for doing so. Because that's something you're supposed to do with a husband. Certainly not when your single.

I'm scared to move back because I don't know what my life will be like. Will I make friends? With who? Will I be all alone in this town? Who will I call for random ice cream trips? What kind of church will I go to? Will they be loving or judgmental? What will I do if all the churches turn out to be more judgmental than I imagined? Will I feel a sense of community or alone? How out of place will I feel? Will work consume me? Will I become a crazy dog lady? What if people don't get me? Don't understand who I am? What if I forget who I am?

I do feel some excitement. I feel excited for the next chapter of my life. I'm excited to buy a house and buy a car. I'm excited to not have to depend on my parents so much. I'm excited to see where my life goes. I'm excited about my job and how amazing it is! I'm excited to be closer to family, and able to hang out with them more! I am excited to see the good things that come out of this. I'm excited to stay in a home for longer than a year and not have to move.

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... I guess that these mixed emotions are normal. And I hope that they'll go away. More than anything I'm just ready to get a move on and see what happens.

Cross your fingers it'll be good.