Gives Me Hope

The people on this website Give Me Hope.

Card Making

So yesterday I really felt like trying to be crafty. I used to make greeting cards with my mom when I was younger, but I hadn't done it for a long time and I really didn't have any supplies.

So, I went on a quest to find a card making starter kit. I had seen millions of scrapbooking starter kits that contain enough fun stuff to make one scrapbook. I thought for sure they'd have something similar for cards-a packet full of enough stuff to make 5-10 cards. Well, after traveling to 5 different crafts stores, I found nothing.

I made one last ditch effort and went to Target-where I hit the jackpot! In the dollar section at Target I got all kinds of scrapbooking/card making materials! While they probably aren't the BEST quality in the world, they actually turned out to work quite well. So, here are the cards I made yesterday. The first 5 I came up with all on my own, and the last two gained great inspiration from here and here.

Please ignore the ridiculously horrible photography and the fact that all the words are backwards, I was too lazy to get out my camera so these pictures were taken with the mac photobooth.

Step 2: Decide on a Topic

So the second step on the "how to write a blog" article was to come up with a topic of discussion for your blog. It stated that some people like to talk about a range of topics but the most successful blogs usually stick to one main topic. Doing so supposedly gathers a better fan base because people know what you will be writing about.

Ok, so...topic.

Well, let's see, what do I know about that I could write about?

Well, I could write about trying to be a photographer; trying to cook; trying to get a job; trying to be a good friend, sister, fiance; trying to plan a wedding; trying to write a blog; trying to make my bed every day; trying to get into medical school; trying to be healthy; trying to volunteer; trying to do my homework...

Hmm, I don't know if I could choose any ONE of those things to write about, so maybe I will just write about "trying." Trying to do new things and live my life and the interesting (or not so interesting) things that happen while all this "trying" is going on.

Alright, this works for me. For now anyway...

Nature Center

So I haven't been to the nature center since I've moved here and I really wanted to go. I drive by it every day on the way to class but I was just never sure when I'd have time to go, but today was the day! So I went and did one of my favorite things-pretend I'm a photographer. Here's a little of what I came up with.

Weeds at the side of the path

Tall trees

Twisted bushes

Forest

Wildlife

Beauty

Summer

Giant

Pond Scum

Family

Water Lilly

Lilly

My Dentist Would Be So Mad

So I went to the dentist today and got my lovely teeth all cleaned up (no cavities, thank you). I got my two new toothbrushes and was really surprised to see that they were brand new colors!

I have never seen a clear pink one
or a solid white oneSo of course, in grand "just been to the dentist" fashion, I am devouring this
a delicious bowl of freshly popped corn covered in butter and salt.

And of course, no bowl of popcorn is complete without
a refreshing beverage to wash everything down.

If my dentist knew about this I'm sure he'd be shaking is head...

Step 1: New Layout-Take Two

So I found this really cool website and I got this awesome new background for my blog. So...I went from this

to what you see now. I absolutely love it!

Step 1: New Layout

So I looked up some "How-To Blog" articles online and one of the first steps (besides actually signing up for the blog) was to make sure the layout and colors of the blog reflect your style. One article (no, I don't remember which one) said that it was really important to be sure that the way your blog looks reflects you and what you're writing about because this is the first thing that people will see-even before they read anything.

Alright, sounds like a plan. So here's a before shot...

The background was all black and I had that black and white picture of a cloud-which I think is a really cool picture but I'm not really sure if it screams "me." So, I went through the little "customization" tab and changed the layout or template or background or whatever about 200 times.

I really don't like any of the backgrounds. I didn't feel like any really reflected my style or personality. I almost chose this one background because I thought the name of it was heartbeat (I really like hearts, and the insides of the human body, and science in general) but, unfortunately the actual name was herbert.

So, in the end I ended up with this shades-of-green background. It's ok I guess. For one of the "most important aspects" of the blog I would think there would be more choices for a background.

Blogging For Dummies

Knowing the way the world is, and the number of books about ridiculous topics that have been written, I would assume there is probably a "blogging for dummies" book of some sort. I should really grab myself a copy of this. I like to consider myself a fairly tech-savvy person, but I am having SERIOUS problems with this whole blogging thing.

I'm not quite sure what it is that I don't understand but I kind of feel like its EVERYTHING! I'm not sure what little gadget do-dads I should have on my page, or how I can get people to see/know about my blog (not that anyone will really want to read this anyway).

Clearly I need to make a trip to the local library...or possibly use this lovely computer to hop on the internet and find some answers...

Annoyance

Headbands and I have a love-hate relationship. I love the way they look, I love the way they hold all the little hairs out of your face, but I hate hate HATE the way they pinch that spot right behind your ears! You'd think they could invent a headband that doesn't pinch! I hate those little divots it makes behind your ear. I can probably wear a headband comfortably for about 2 hours. After that I spend the remainder of the day slightly adjusting the position of the headband as not to completely crush my skull.

Volunteering Day One

I was really nervous to volunteer at the hospital today. I wasn't really sure what to expect even though I knew what I was going to be doing. It's easy to give someone a hand massage, but it is not so easy to give a hand massage to a person that has just come out of cardiac surgery. I've seen people that have just come out of surgery before. My grandma laid in those exact beds just one year ago after her heart surgery. Somehow today was different. Young people, old people, black people, white people. Being in the hospital really makes everyone the same. Everyone had the same wires and tubes connected to them. Everyone had the same stack of machines flanking each side of their bed. Two nurses in each room to keep constant watch. It really made you recognize the personality differences between the patients.