Category Archives: Make Stuff

On dopamine boosts this January

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Throughout the past two years, as my family and I have been struggling through some ruptures and bouts with depression, I have come to rely on savoring small moments of joy or activities that give me a quick boost in the middle of days (or nights when I’m laying awake)! And per usual, if there’s not a pic or a blog post, did they even really exist in the first place?

Teacher Style Box
I found this subscription clothing service through instagram and stalked their page for a good long while before committing. And I have loved MOST of the clothes that have come my way….here’s how it works: you pick the pieces you want to be saved in your closet. They send you two pieces a time. You wear (or purchase to keep) and then send back for cleaning.

Rented pants. New boots from Christmas. Rainbow tee shirt? It was a good outfit day.
Bag and label ready to go!
Banana republic slacks. Cute top.

Using this service has really kept me invested in choosing fun outfits for work. PLUS, I don’t have official statistics on this – but it has actually made me do less online shopping and browsing because I’m excited to pair things already in my closet with my TSB pieces. AND if I want to try something trendy but not sure if it will be a good fit for my body, I can always order it from this service and just send it back after trying! Check it out here if you’re interested ($10 off your first month!).

Blog book
Each January, I get excited to print my blog posts into physical print. Although no one around here ever looks at them, I dream of future generations pawing through them and gasping at outfits/hair and reading some thoughts of their (great, great) grandmother living during this crazy time. I switched to a new company just to try a different format and I fell in love – now I have to fight off the urge to get all of my old books printed just like these ones. We’ll see how long I can hold off.

Beautiful cover.
Monthly title pages.

The pages are thick and beautiful. The text and photos are laid out in magazine style which I love. Plus, at the beginning of each book, they take all of your photos and make a double page collage layout – my favorite part of the whole thing!!!

My little scrapbooker’s heart is so happy looking at this!

Writing for me has always been therapeutic….and now putting that writing into this blog and then printing into books feels beautifully creative – just like scrapbooking did. But all of it really is summed up in a love for STORYTELLING. Living my life, capturing photos and words, and fitting them back together is the purpose of this blog and I’m happy you’re here to share the journey with me.

Tik Tok
If you’ve been around me at all in the last two five months, you know I am always humming Tik Tok songs and have been creating ridiculous videos just really because they make me laugh. Then I promised a student that if she met a few goals we set together, I’d make a TT with her. And then she did. And then we did. And then that video ended up getting over 90,000 views in a matter of days!!! Isn’t that madness?

Haha…..I’m not really sure how videos do on here but I’ll try and post it so you can peek at this viral masterpiece.

Isn’t it the cutest?!?! Also, yes she’s a 4th grader. Yes, she’s very tall. Yes, I’ve already recruited her for volleyball. The end.

Stay tuned for probably more Tik Tok fun….I try to pretend like it’s not a big deal but I’m obsessed.

On my favorite “gives”

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I love giving gifts that mean something to the receiver and honoring something from that particular point in time. I don’t always knock it out of the park and sometimes I just run out of time, but I was excited about a few things this particular Christmas.

Honoring a lost loved one:
The Wonders’ biological mother passed away a few years ago which resulted in some complicated grief for both of them in their own ways. I wanted to honor her memory in a way that both of them could access when desired and for years to come. We had saved letters that she had written to the kiddos when they were in foster care and she was working on getting them back. Although the entirety of the letter is not her handwriting, I knew the signature was and had that made into special bracelets for them.

The box included the bracelet, the original letter, and a laminated picture of her signature to keep all in one special spot.

Honoring a hard year(s):
Each year, our family members write letters to each other and those are the first things we open Christmas morning. I combined my love of photos with my new favorite song/anthem of the year (from my favorite new podcast of the year). Each time I heard this song, I would imagine what it would be like for each of my family members to TRULY believe the words and live their truth and best, healed lives moving forward and it got me each time. If you ever saw me singing in my car, it was most likely to this song at a high volume (or a 90’s hip hop playlist). Their “letters” included a special picture from this year, a card explaining the lyrics and a special laminated (can you tell I got a laminator for Christmas?) picture with the lyrics overplayed for them to display somewhere they might need it.

Stay tuned for another blog post with one more special present I gifted this year. What was your favorite that you watched someone unwrap with love this year?

On a sustainable holiday…

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I love the act of buying (mostly online) gifts for people but really DONT love the crazy amount of packaging and waste that comes from that process. And then the whole wrapping piece – even more waste!!! Also, I love wrapping so this has always been a tension to manage for me during the holiday.

A few years ago I decided to do something about this – saving up my huge calendar pages and using them as wrapping was just what I needed to start feeling better about this process and making it slightly more sustainable than it was before.

Way back when I worked at a local scrapbook store, one of my regular series classes was on using recycle bits to create beautiful mini-books full of thoughts and memories. This was my favorite class to teach and even though I don’t scrapbook anymore, creating mini books out of our Christmas cards each year still gets me excited to use scraps from our recycle bin in the process.

Pictured above is last years book full of cards and photos from our loved ones. We know have 6 books and wow I love watching families grow and change!!

What do you do to inspire and encourage sustainable habits during the holidays????

Intentional Summer 2018

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It should not have taken me this long to both complete my poster and post this….but such is life (hence the #wesurvivedJune) seen below.

Here is our past intentional summer projects: 2017 and 2016 (spoiler alert – our summers are pretty low key around here)….I got a few extra posters printed for my readers (thank you sweet Elizabeth) so check out the bottom of this post for how to enter my small freebie giveaway.I have TWO blank posters to give away if anyone would like them (better late than never)…..post in the FB comments what you’re looking forward to in July and I’ll pick a winner Friday!

Welcome July….

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The month we get to slow down….finally!!!! With WonderBOY at camp all week, me and my hubby literally got done all the projects we (okay just me telling him what to do) around the house today. I love what a quick change up does to a room with simply moving furniture or adding a shelf!(Treasury of Memories friends – what do these remind you of????)

My favorite piece was this rustic pallet I snagged off someone’s FB house sale….we needed a little something in our bathroom and this was perfect.(plug for this local shop Tether(ed) – I get so many compliments on these little pretties)

What’s on your list for home projects this Summer???

On saving time in the morning….

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As hard as I try to be a “lark” (morning person) and do all the things I see other peeps doing like running, quiet times, peaceful coffee dates with themselves in the morning…..I just cannot pull myself out of my super comfy bed. But as my “owl” like self dreads…..morning always comes and with it comes so many dang things to do in so little time!!!!

Here are a few tricks to try if your mornings look like a zoo on a full moon too.

Sunday prep:
I set aside time each Sunday to prep both breakfasts and lunches. Each week we rotate between different main meals (sandwiches, pitas with hummus, wraps) and then the sides remain the same options. Putting those things in numbered bins in the fridge helps by 9 year old WonderBOY not just pack 5 granola bars and a piece of candy (making his school counselor Mama look awesome btw). ?‍♀️

These containers also help with food portions and variety in lunches and have been fairly durable so far (note to my past self/YOU: explain to children these do not get thrown away ahead of time).

The instant pot (find it here but seriously…..you don’t have one yet????) makes hard boiled eggs literally perfect every single time so each Sunday I boil 15-18 for the week so all of us/any of us can grab these for a breakfast or lunch option.

Smoothie hack:
The girls have to get up extremely early to look perfect put together enough for a day in the life at high school and many times, they skip breakfast. This start to the day with some protein is especially important for kiddos who struggle with anxiety and attention issues (ahem…..ahem….everyone in my house) so I hate when they skip it. I have started helping them make smoothies the night before and like to add all sorts of healthy stuff like kale and fish oil (this brand tastes like orange and adds an awesome flavor) without them knowing.

We pour them into mason jars and without having the cool straw hold lids, I just cover with foil and they poke re-usable straws in the top when they are ready to drink (thank you Capri Suns for the inspo). So far, the girls have been sucking them down and hopefully feeling better set for their days, both physically and emotionally.Any good morning hacks that I’m missing out on???? Enlighten me people that have their stuff together…..I need you.

One Little Word 2018

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If you’ve been reading this little blog for a while, you know each year I try to pick a word to focus on with intention for the year. Here is last year’s post……

This year, my word will be spark….the verb version to be exact. I’ve always been a pretty big idea person. I have a ton of ideas rolling around all the time….some I verbalize to people and some I don’t. Over the years, I have realized that I don’t always have the power, the people, the time, or as of late, the energy to make all these ideas happen so verbalizing them is not always good. It results in me sometimes appearing to have a lack of follow-through…..again, something I am very aware of. At work, I try to compensate for this by making an extreme amount of lists and constantly asking co-workers to remind me of my own ideas later so they don’t fall off the face of existence.

My word this year embodies action. Bold action that is fiery and bright. I like to think of a camp fire with the flames so brilliant and bright….the sparks are flying off in dramatic fashion. I hope the passion and fire I have for different roles I have in my life spark off into the world in this same way. Here are some ideas real steps I hope to take this year to live out this word:

More action, less hesitating
More finished to-do lists
Planning ahead so busy schedules aren’t a barrier
Not being afraid of people judging, disapproving of my actions
Collaboration with other fire-starters
More time to plan – morning or evening quiet times, monthly solo reflection time
More transparency on social media – the real stories
Commitment to blogging – cementing stories in history of our families’ journey and broken road to healing

Getting my family involved – still loving these Daily Goal-Trackers from Elise Joy

What is YOUR word for 2018???? Happy New Year to all of my readers and loved ones – fingers crossed for your best year ever.

December already?!?!

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I am in full December shock mode and also in full blog avoidance mode…..and a very loving friend of mine reminded me this weekend (Hi Lori!!!!) that people actually read my blog and I’ve left a few of them hanging on some life updates.

While I’m not sure I have the words for a life update, I will share a few nuggets of our silly little life as of late!Even though we own a house and have children and are fully adults, for some reason hosting Thanksgiving and being in charge of THE turkey felt like the next level of his whole adult gig. And it went fairly smoothly and people left extra bottles of wine behind so it was a raging success I’d say. 6th in state! These girls did awesome and my heart overflows with pride and love for them and their families. What a beautiful journey it was this year….Two things I am loving right now: my adorably feisty savage cat Rexie and the Clicklist option at Fred Meyer (aka the rare chance to sit in the parking lot eating my dollar tacos from Jack in the Box while sweet college students load up my trunk with groceries as my two kiddos interrogate them about their life and I get to focus on nothing but not spilling that red hot sauce in my new car). Also I should note the cat willingly got into this bag…..there was no grand suffocation hit out on the cat for this to happen – I swear. I got to sneak away for a fast and furious (“R-U-L-E”) trip to Vegas with a dear friend and I finally found my Ellen slot machine. It was fun. I lost all my money. It was still fun. This pic has gotten some attention on social media and I completely stole it (like word for word on the letter stole it) from someone so please steal it from me and let’s make these hard-working delivery people feel appreciated during their peak crazy season. Snack it forward guys!!!!

Intentional Summer 2k17

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We loved our intentional summer and daily schedule calendar so much last year that my wonders were super excited to fill it out this Memorial Day weekend for a fun annual summer kick-off tradition. Aside from the benefit of seeing a visual overview of our individual camps and family adventures (and when Daddy works), the daily schedule keeps us all accountable for the structure WB and WG crave. I, for one, want nothing to do with structure during my summers of rest and rejuvenation…..but in order to get that R&R, my kiddos need to be regulated. Win-win for all of us. I am sooooo looking forward to this summer season in our new house, enjoying our new surroundings and exploring a new side to the county during these beautiful PNW months. 

Want to get your own calendar? They are available for purchase from the brilliant Elizabeth McKinley here. Many friends asked about this last summer and I’m so excited she created some of others to purchase!!!!

March favorites

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Here are a few things that I am pretty darn excited about this month (hint: there will be absolutely no SNOW included):

Facebook articles that confirm my parenting (and coaching) beliefs – Love this one by a Stanford dean. We love our kiddos and want the best for them but by high school they need to start experiencing the hard stuff and finding their own solutions to practice before they are truly on their own!

Canon all-in-one printer – can’t wait to print photos on this highly-recommended printer. My last HP all-in-one was seriously the most amazing printer and I had it for a good 10 years so I have been mourning it’s loss for a while. A little trip to Best Buy last weekend connected me with a lovely salesman that highly recommended this one. Happy day!

Oily Vinyl Kit Club – Elizabeth and Amy have teamed up to produce and create vinyls for your DIY rollerballs and sprays to use around your house or gift to friends and family. Here is a sneak peek of April’s vinyl kit:

Pinterest husband -a  few side by side comparisons of my pin to his finished product.  We are very self-aware to know that a renovation or house building project would be the end of us so this little arrangement of my sharing a picture and him building works out perfectly. He’s so lucky he has me to keep him busy on his days off. ?(still need to add hooks and a cozy cushion)