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.