Get to know me: Day 12

What’s in my bag, in great detail.


First, lets start with the bag itself:

I recently switched out of a goodwill purse and into this one because I needed a change and a little more room for my amazing planner, featured later in this post. This bag is from an etsy shop called Tannei Casey and it is actually a hand-me-down from my best friend. She found the bag first and fell in love, and I did too, when she visited the first spring I was out here. Then, a year later, when she got sick of it, she sent it along to me! This is pretty typical of us and I love it!


Anyway, inside the bag you will find:

My keys with a Hunger Games keychain, my library card, gym membership, petco pals card, Hermione and Dumbledore, and a sushi key fob that I also got from Etsy. And, of course, my actual keys.

My brand new, amazing, Erin Condren planner, which will be discussed in a future post as well. {And no, I did not spend $50 on it…I’m trying to save money!}

My kindle, which is awaiting its Christmas present of a case, from my sister. {This was my birthday gift this year and I love it!}

My wallet, a Target clearance item which was only $8! Love this thing.


There was also a tube of chapstick but I couldn’t get a good picture of it and I didn’t feel like playing around just to take a picture of Blistex. I’m sure you understand.
There isn’t much because, like I said, I just switched over to it so I haven’t accumulated all the stuff I normally do.


What’s in your purse?


PS The next day is your week, in great detail. I’m going to post that next Monday, and instead I’m going to do a few other posts this week. It just made sense to do a week review on a Monday, plus I wanted to give you a break from this series.


Day 01 – Introduce yourself, in great detail
Day 02 – Your first love, in great detail
Day 03 – Your parents, in great detail
Day 04 – What you ate today, in great detail
Day 05 – Your definition of love, in great detail
Day 06 – Your day, in great detail
Day 07 – Your best friend, in great detail
Day 08 – A moment, in great detail
Day 09 – Your beliefs, in great detail
Day 10 – What you wore today, in great detail
Day 11 – Your siblings, in great detail
Day 12 – What’s in your bag, in great detail
Day 13 – This week, in great detail
Day 14 – What you wore today, in great detail
Day 15 – Your dreams, in great detail
Day 16 – Your first kiss, in great detail
Day 17 – Your favorite memory, in great detail
Day 18 – Your favorite birthday, in great detail
Day 19 – Something you regret, in great detail
Day 20 – This month, in great detail
Day 21 – Another moment, in great detail
Day 22 – Something that upsets you, in great detail
Day 23 – Something that makes you feel better, in great detail
Day 24 – Something that makes you cry, in great detail
Day 25 – A first, in great detail
Day 26 – Your fears, in great detail
Day 27 – Your favorite place, in great detail
Day 28 – Something that you miss, in great detail
Day 29 – Your aspirations, in great detail
Day 30 – One last moment, in great detail

Happy October!

This is a repost from a year ago. The ArtsyGirl Connection is doing a blog hop on breast cancer awareness, and I thought I’d link up!

This is my grandmother. She’s pretty much amazing.

When I was little, I used to think all grandmothers were like her. I have three grandmothers total (my mom’s parents got divorced and remarried), but since two of them didn’t live close by when I was growing up, my dad’s mom (Gramma) was the closest to us, and we visited often.
When I grew up I realized just how unique my grandmother really is.

This is not to say that my other grandparents aren’t amazing, they are, but in different ways. Anyway, back to my Gramma. A few years ago she was diagnosed with breast cancer. I don’t remember the year, and I don’t remember the circumstances, only that I was shocked that something like this could happen in my family. Isn’t that always the way? Thankfully it was easily treatable, she had a few rounds of radiation, and she’s been in remission for long enough to have to stop seeing her oncologist (I believe)!

Others that I’ve known haven’t been as lucky. Mrs. S was a wonderful woman who went to my childhood church for a few years. She tutored me in math for an hour once a week (for a whopping $3 an hour, can you imagine that? I make $11 to tutor now!) Anyway, Mrs. S had moved onto a bigger church for a while before I heard through the grapevine that she had breast cancer. It went into remission, but a few years later when I babysat for her, I discovered that it was back. This time around she lost her battle with it.

October is breast cancer awareness month. Are you aware of breast cancer? Chances are the answer is yes. It’s a very “popular” form of cancer, unlike the rarer forms like pancreatic cancer, for example. There is a lot of information and awareness of breast cancer and, as my husband says, all the rest have to rely on the American Cancer Society. So if everyone has heard of breast cancer, it’s all over the news and Susan G. Komen is a powerful influence on breast cancer research, then how come every 69 seconds a woman dies of breast cancer? According to the CDC, 191,410 women were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006 (the most recent year these statistics were taken). 40,820 of them died of breast cancer. For all the facts and information out there about breast cancer, shouldn’t there be fewer deaths?

I didn’t want to post this here to lecture you, but ladies, once a month (not around your period, your breasts are lumpier then), please check your tatas. Learn them, remember what they feel like so as soon as you notice something different, it won’t be too late. Just think about it, and maybe give it a shot this month, since October is breast cancer awareness month. Next time, pay attention when Target is advertising pink merchandise, go take a shower, and feel yourself up. It could save your life.

Bloggy Secret Santa!

It is no secret that I love to be frugal, but I also love a good Secret Santa! That’s why I was excited when I saw someone link up to this Bloggy Secret Santa! You should all go sign up. There’s a $15 limit which is great, and I feel like I can be very creative within that limit!

Also, I’m supposed to list a few things I like:
Jewelry, Joss Whedon, Harry Potter, scarves, socks, used/thrift store things (used is always preferred!) and here’s my Amazon.com wish list. When it comes to books and DVDs, I prefer used 🙂 I also have 2 kitties who I love, so anything kitty is good too!

So go join up!!

Get to know me: Day 11

 Laura and I, at the last Harry Potter book release.

My sister, Laura, is my best friend. Of course I couldn’t devote the best friend post to her because I knew this post was coming.
There’s a five year difference between us; six grades. La, as I call my sister, entered sixth grade the year I was a senior in high school. She started going to youth group, my youth group, and I wasn’t exactly thrilled. When I went away to college, of course it was sad leaving her, but we were more siblings than friends, and the goodbye wasn’t as hard then, as it is these days.
When I graduated from college four years later and moved in with my parents, something changed. Suddenly my sister was interesting, and fun. Though we’d both been reading Harry Potter for six years, it was the summer that the sixth book came out, and our time became consumed with talking about predictions. When the book came out and {spoiler alert!} Dumbledore died, I couldn’t talk about it for a week. La used to read to me when I was taking a nap (she has an excellent reading voice) or when we were driving some place together. I will always remember that summer; the summer Harry Potter brought us together.
La is amazing. She moved from Massachusetts to Chicago when she was 18, when most of her friends were staying close to home. Then she moved from Chicago to LA, pursuing a dream to become a TV writer. (I’m not sure what it is with us girls and moving from the East Coast to the West Coast!) Though I try to convince her every day to move to Seattle, she’s giving it a go, and doing the best she can, and I admire her for that.
La will be here for Christmas, and I can’t wait to spend another Christmas morning together, just like we used to.

Day 01 – Introduce yourself, in great detail

Day 02 – Your first love, in great detail
Day 03 – Your parents, in great detail
Day 04 – What you ate today, in great detail
Day 05 – Your definition of love, in great detail
Day 06 – Your day, in great detail
Day 07 – Your best friend, in great detail
Day 08 – A moment, in great detail
Day 09 – Your beliefs, in great detail
Day 10 – What you wore today, in great detail
Day 11 – Your siblings, in great detail
Day 12 – What’s in your bag, in great detail
Day 13 – This week, in great detail
Day 14 – What you wore today, in great detail
Day 15 – Your dreams, in great detail
Day 16 – Your first kiss, in great detail
Day 17 – Your favorite memory, in great detail
Day 18 – Your favorite birthday, in great detail
Day 19 – Something you regret, in great detail
Day 20 – This month, in great detail
Day 21 – Another moment, in great detail
Day 22 – Something that upsets you, in great detail
Day 23 – Something that makes you feel better, in great detail
Day 24 – Something that makes you cry, in great detail
Day 25 – A first, in great detail
Day 26 – Your fears, in great detail
Day 27 – Your favorite place, in great detail
Day 28 – Something that you miss, in great detail
Day 29 – Your aspirations, in great detail
Day 30 – One last moment, in great detail

Food Waste Friday

It wasn’t the best week for food waste. This week we wasted a bowl of a failed crock pot recipe. Sigh. It had red sauce and pork in it, but also pasta. Geoff insisted that he’s put pasta in the crock pot before, but I wasn’t so sure. Well…I’m still not so sure.
We both had a bowl the night we made it, but it just wasn’t that good. I’m especially disappointed about this because of the pork. Well, live and learn, anyway.

The other thing we wasted was some chocolate pasta. When our families were visiting in August they bought this pasta in Seattle. It’s delicious, and we had it with vanilla ice cream and a nice blackberry sauce that Geoff made. Yum!
Anyway, this pasta sat in our pantry for months, obviously, just pushed to the side. Recently it somehow got pulled to the front, and I actually looked at it a couple says ago, thinking I’d make it when we have company tonight. Unfortunately, on Tuesday morning I opened the pantry door and knocked the bag out, and the pasta fell all over the floor. The floor which, in that particular spot, isn’t very clean at the moment (don’t judge). Geoff tried to help by running water over it (he wasn’t thinking because I was yelling at him for the pasta that I dropped) which obviously ruined it.
I think the thing that makes me the saddest is that I was finally going to use it.

Hopefully this week is better.

Get to know me: Day 10

What you wore today, in great detail

I’m writing about what I wore yesterday, again, because I like my outfit and it’s just easier this way.
Yesterday (Thursday), starting from the top, I wore:
No earrings because my hair was “done” (read: I put stuff in it and it was curly and covered my ears)
A pink button down short-sleeved shirt
Grey pinstripe pants
My awesome Sketchers (these things are so comfortable!)
Socks that matched my shirt!

Well, that wasn’t very exciting. I never got around to taking pictures, even though I meant to, and now I’m in my pjs.
Plus, I’m tired so, this is all you get. Check back tomorrow, hopefully I’ll have something more exciting.

Day 01 – Introduce yourself, in great detail

Day 02 – Your first love, in great detail
Day 03 – Your parents, in great detail
Day 04 – What you ate today, in great detail
Day 05 – Your definition of love, in great detail
Day 06 – Your day, in great detail
Day 07 – Your best friend, in great detail
Day 08 – A moment, in great detail
Day 09 – Your beliefs, in great detail
Day 10 – What you wore today, in great detail
Day 11 – Your siblings, in great detail
Day 12 – What’s in your bag, in great detail
Day 13 – This week, in great detail
Day 14 – What you wore today, in great detail
Day 15 – Your dreams, in great detail
Day 16 – Your first kiss, in great detail
Day 17 – Your favorite memory, in great detail
Day 18 – Your favorite birthday, in great detail
Day 19 – Something you regret, in great detail
Day 20 – This month, in great detail
Day 21 – Another moment, in great detail
Day 22 – Something that upsets you, in great detail
Day 23 – Something that makes you feel better, in great detail
Day 24 – Something that makes you cry, in great detail
Day 25 – A first, in great detail
Day 26 – Your fears, in great detail
Day 27 – Your favorite place, in great detail
Day 28 – Something that you miss, in great detail
Day 29 – Your aspirations, in great detail
Day 30 – One last moment, in great detail

Black Cat Ball

I don’t do consumerism very well. Clearly, since one of my favorite blogs is The Non Consumer Advocate. I am working on trying to remember that not everyone shares my beliefs, but it is difficult, sometimes, to watch friends go to concerts regularly, or other friends outfitting their house using more money than we have in savings, or still others who can go clothes shopping whenever they want without feeling like that money would be better spent going towards groceries, savings or credit card debt. I’m working on it, though.
Usually I find myself almost disgusted with the way people throw money around. Disgusted, disturbed and, sometimes, wondering about the state of their savings account (who am I? Try not to judge me, clearly I’m crazy). However, there was one night this past weekend, where I put all of that aside and encouraged people do spend more, more MORE!

After all, it was for the kitties.
Purrfect Pals, the cat shelter I volunteer with, and whom we adopted our wonderful Clarabelle from, held their annual Black Cat Ball on Saturday night. I’ve been working with Purrfect Pals for just over a year and a half now, but this is the first Black Cat Ball that I’ve attended or, should I say, volunteered at, because I’m not ready to be in that crowd during the auction yet!
Because yes, there was a live (and silent) auction. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. There were so many things donated, from bottles of wine with the Black Cat Ball label, to vacations all around the country (and in one case, the world!) There was alcohol, bid cards flying, yelling, cheering, clapping…it was wonderful. One man paid $2,000 to put his cat’s face on the cover of the 2012 Purrfect Pals calendar.

Our sweet Clarabelle, working on a catnip pillow

Halfway through the night they stopped and did what is called the Friend in Need. This is where the shelter is simply asking for money (starting at $5,000, working down to $25. Anyone who wants to donate at any of those levels raised their bid card). They played a slide show of our wonderful cats and kittens and the vet working on them, along with a song. It was a little along the lines of that ASPCA commercial. (Don’t click unless you want to cry!)
I wasn’t the only one who teared up! Anyway, after all the bids were collected, they totaled up the Friend in Need donations: $38,000 were donated in that part of the auction alone.

I know there are so many charities out there, believe me, I do. Many of them get lost in the shuffle of the big ones, but they all deserve to be supported. Every single charity out there has suffered due to the recession, and though I can’t speak for every other charity, I know that Purrfect Pals, despite facing budget cuts and a far lower income than expected, continues to give their cats the very same level of care they deserve, and which they’ve always had.
I wanted to remember this night, but I also wanted to remind you that Purrfect Pals, along with many many other charities are still out there. And, if you’re so inclined, set aside your clothes shopping, or your saving (though please don’t spend money you don’t have!!) and think about helping out a kitty shelter that could really use it this year. Here is a link to their Amazon.com wish list. If all you do is donate a $7 cat bed, then you’ve made someone’s day.
Remember the $38,000 that was raised? Most of it was donated at the $25 and $50 levels. It adds up, and it’s so wonderful to see people uniting for a good cause, spending money, but selflessly, rather than selfishly.

Get to know me: Day nine

Your beliefs, in great detail

I believe in God and Jesus. I believe that you need to repent of your sins, accept Jesus into your heart in order to go to Heaven and spend eternity with Him.
But my beliefs go deeper than that. I believe that we are called to love everyone, no matter who they are and no matter what they have done, or believe themselves. I think we are called to be more than just weekly church-goers who hang out with church friends and no one else. This doesn’t mean that I do this all the time, it just means I strive towards it. Whatever I do, I try to do it to the glory of God, and for his pleasure.

Day 01 – Introduce yourself, in great detail

Day 02 – Your first love, in great detail
Day 03 – Your parents, in great detail
Day 04 – What you ate today, in great detail
Day 05 – Your definition of love, in great detail
Day 06 – Your day, in great detail
Day 07 – Your best friend, in great detail
Day 08 – A moment, in great detail
Day 09 – Your beliefs, in great detail
Day 10 – What you wore today, in great detail
Day 11 – Your siblings, in great detail
Day 12 – What’s in your bag, in great detail
Day 13 – This week, in great detail
Day 14 – What you wore today, in great detail
Day 15 – Your dreams, in great detail
Day 16 – Your first kiss, in great detail
Day 17 – Your favorite memory, in great detail
Day 18 – Your favorite birthday, in great detail
Day 19 – Something you regret, in great detail
Day 20 – This month, in great detail
Day 21 – Another moment, in great detail
Day 22 – Something that upsets you, in great detail
Day 23 – Something that makes you feel better, in great detail
Day 24 – Something that makes you cry, in great detail
Day 25 – A first, in great detail
Day 26 – Your fears, in great detail
Day 27 – Your favorite place, in great detail
Day 28 – Something that you miss, in great detail
Day 29 – Your aspirations, in great detail
Day 30 – One last moment, in great detail

Anxiety…and the bible

I’ve had this verse on my mind a lot recently, and it keeps popping up. I think God might have something to tell me.
First, my friend Elspeth left me a comment quoting it, and encouraging me on a previous post. Then Kelly, of Kelly’s Korner fame (who, obviously, knows nothing about me) posted about this verse. Like I said, I’m pretty sure God is telling me something.

I’ve had this post wandering around in my mind for a while (even before Kelly posted basically what I wanted to say!) and I’m finally sitting down to write it. I was thinking about this verse in my journal, and most of what I’m about to write I also wrote there…but I’m sure I’m not the only one with anxiety, so I thought you could benefit from it too.

Anxiety is a new symptom to my depression, or maybe it’s just a newly realized symptom. I used to call it paranoia…that I was paranoid about losing my job, for example, but when I explained it to my psychiatrist he said it’s anxiety. Even though my depression is under control right now, I still have more bouts of anxiety than I’d like. I don’t agree with Kelly’s comment that it’s a sin, and disobeying God because we aren’t trusting in him…mostly because I can’t really help it.
Anyway, this verse, one of my favorites, has helped me a lot in dealing with my anxiety lately. I’m anxious about my job, I’m anxious about my decision to go to (or, recently, not go to) school {I’ll get into that in another post}. I’m anxious about how my life is playing out, and what I want to do with my life, and how to get where I really want to go.
But God tells us not to be anxious, but to pray about it, instead. We’re to pray with, of course, thanksgiving (how hard is that when we’re anxious??) and petition God to help. And he does, but not how we’d like. The second verse, which I feel like most people skim over, promises peace. Peace which surpasses all understanding. Peace we can’t even begin to imagine.
It’s important to note that God doesn’t promise us an answer to our prayer (although I do believe he will answer it, when the time is right). He doesn’t promise us that everything will work out just the way we want it to. Instead he promises us peace, so we can wait patiently one His timing, not ours.

I wonder every single day why He has me in this terrible job. Every. Single. Day.

Get to know me: Day eight

A moment, in great detail

It was the first time I actually cried at an airport. I’d spent a week with Kim, one of my best friends, and I’d met Geoff, my boyfriend, for the first time. We’d all been talking online for about six months, and I couldn’t believe how easily we fell into a rhythm of being together. I’d been staying at Kim’s house, and saw Geoff a few times for that visit. Most of it was spent with Kim.
I was checking my bags and printing my boarding pass. I turned around and Kim just threw her arms around me, and started crying. I was shocked (Kim isn’t the crying type) but even more surprising to me, were the tears that suddenly fell from my own eyes. I was leaving my friend and boyfriend, and I didn’t know when I’d be back. It was touching, sweet and sad, all at once, and definitely bittersweet.
Ever since, I’ve always cried when I’ve said goodbye at an airport.

Day 01 – Introduce yourself, in great detail

Day 02 – Your first love, in great detail
Day 03 – Your parents, in great detail
Day 04 – What you ate today, in great detail
Day 05 – Your definition of love, in great detail
Day 06 – Your day, in great detail
Day 07 – Your best friend, in great detail
Day 08 – A moment, in great detail
Day 09 – Your beliefs, in great detail
Day 10 – What you wore today, in great detail
Day 11 – Your siblings, in great detail
Day 12 – What’s in your bag, in great detail
Day 13 – This week, in great detail
Day 14 – What you wore today, in great detail
Day 15 – Your dreams, in great detail
Day 16 – Your first kiss, in great detail
Day 17 – Your favorite memory, in great detail
Day 18 – Your favorite birthday, in great detail
Day 19 – Something you regret, in great detail
Day 20 – This month, in great detail
Day 21 – Another moment, in great detail
Day 22 – Something that upsets you, in great detail
Day 23 – Something that makes you feel better, in great detail
Day 24 – Something that makes you cry, in great detail
Day 25 – A first, in great detail
Day 26 – Your fears, in great detail
Day 27 – Your favorite place, in great detail
Day 28 – Something that you miss, in great detail
Day 29 – Your aspirations, in great detail
Day 30 – One last moment, in great detail