Almost Gypsy Soul

If you can pin it, you can do it! I got all crafty this year for Christmas and some of my best creations will show up on this blog periodically. Here is a super cool lamp that I made for Bryan (one for my house is currently in the works, that is how much I loved the finished product!) I started out with an clean, empty Pendleton bottle (very important part is making sure its empty, you will have plenty of friends who want to help with this step). Then I picked up a great burlap lampshade at Target and ordered these cork lamp kits from amazon.com. Amazon is my go-to shopping location! I ran around town and picked up some chocolate brown acrylic paint and some kiddo's play sand. Trace the silhouette onto the lampshade (I used a Sharpie) and paint it in with acrylic paint. It will take a couple of layers to fill in the burlap. Fill up the bottle with play sand and make sure to shake it around because it will settle. Pop in the cork lamp kit stopper, add a light bulb and the...

DAMNIT.......logic really kills me sometimes. There she is ladies and gentlemen...... Chalean and she's mean (although she does encourage her class to buy new shoes, I think this is why I keep coming back for more)! This will be the third time starting TurboFire and I'm going to be honest....when I didn't' know the moves it was a lot easier, I didn't get so sore. Its time to get serious because I've got a lot of physical activity on my Dirty 30 list. A little motivational slide show to get me going......again. Here we go.....its the last, last time (Thank you Bleu) AND, I got my next workout program for Christmas so I REALLY, REALLY have to complete TurboFire this time so that I can start Chalean Extreme :)

"Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." ~ Jack Benny My friend Tiffany has the greatest blog ever! She is always doing fun things on there as well as going on awesome adventures! Her blog and her lists have inspired me to create my very own "30 by 31" to-do list. Check out her daily accounts of Figuring Out the Plot .  And I present to you.........30 by 31! 1. Hike a 14'er 2. Run the Tower Rock 10K 3. Buy the person behind me's meal 4. Lose 30 lbs 5. Save $6,000 6. Finish TurboFire 7. Finish Chalean Extreme 8. Golf 3 new courses 9. Learn to wakeboard 10. Brice Canyon 11. Zion National Park 12. Territorial Prison Museum 13. Meet my neighbors 14. Finish my will 15. Far-away friend of the month card/care package 16. Have outdoor Christmas lights 17. Have a blog 18. Go night snowboarding 19. Glow-in-the-dark golf tournament 20. Donate blood 3x 21. Adopt a soldier program 22. Volunt...

Bryan took some classes in broadcasting in college and he is the music encyclopedia. I have invited him to be the music behind my blog. Each month he will make a new playlist for my blog. So make sure you hit play if you don't already hear Bryan's music. And here is a little note from the music man himself: Song, music and the written word… it’s a powerful medium to convey thoughts, feelings, or pretty much any emotion.   Everyone has a song that takes them back to a simpler time, a lost love, heartbreak, or whatever.   It makes you feel nostalgic, angry, happy, gets you in the “party mode”, it makes you laugh or cry.   So, in keeping with the theme of this blog (kind of), and Jen’s anxiety about turning 30, I have pulled a few songs off the shelf to try to make a few points; 1) turning 30 is not that big of a deal, 2) life is an adventure, enjoy the ride, and 3) it’s not the destination, it’s the journey that matters. The first song in the list comes fr...

kindness. Especially in the Christmas season, I find myself wanting to leave the house less and less. People are in a hurry, they are rude, pushy and pretty much annoy me. When did I get to be so heartless? Christmas is a time when we should all be happy, helpful and hospitable. When did we stop caring about others? How awful is it that I sometimes have to "plan" random acts of kindness, I just get wrapped up in my own life and whats going on that I forget the battles that others are fighting are probably much larger than my own. Last week, shopping in said hurried, pushy and rude environment, I made my way to the dressing room where I saw some money on the floor. I almost left it there because it wasn't mine, but decided I should pick it up before someone who it didn't belong to did. While trying on my clothes, I contemplated on what to do with $200 in cash I had found on the fitting room floor. I knew if it were mine, I'd want it back. I knew I hop...

My positive thought for the day, keep reading for my sarcastic thought for the day. And I have one of these...... And when all else fails....follow this advice. YAY! Its finally Friday! almost.

Mike is my dad. Mike is a semi-pro hoarder. Mike is extremely hard to shop for. So this year we decided to do an HGTV makeover....complete with homework. I was home a couple weekends ago to start re-painting Mike's bedroom, his task was to clean up all the junk he'd managed to "store" in his room. I finished paining 2 walls and touching up some trim and gave him the homework to finish "decluttering" and to throw his read mail away......He actually did it. Amazing! So Little Sister, Little Sister's boyfriend, Sister and I went HGTV on his room and here is the result. PS. Mike is Kansas State Alumni. And if you are ever in the neighborhood of the 80828 and want have a good time on Christmas, swing by Mikes. We have Home Alone, the original on VHS showing on the big screen to celebrate the holidays. "Hey guys! I'm eating junk and watching rubbish, you better come out and stop me!" ~Kevin McAlester