Sunday, July 27, 2014

20 Things

I was recently tagged on Facebook to give a list of 20 things about myself and I thought I'd share it here: 

1. I am afraid of crocodiles and alligators...all because I've had dreams of them chasing me. 
2. I love cotton candy, even if its just cotton candy flavoring - taffy, ice cream, etc.
3. I love to travel but haven't been able to go many places - so far I've only been to a couple of states: California, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Kentucky and Louisiana.
4. I love wearing dresses and skirts - I'm a girly girl
5. I know WAY too much about TV shows, movies and celebrities.
6. I love to read....once I read an entire book in less than a day (it was Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I started reading it at 1 am - after picking it up at a midnight sale - and finished it at 11 am in time for Missee to read it)
7. I dislike fads and try not to follow what everyone else is. That is why I was so late to the Harry Potter, Twilight, Hunger Games, and many more fandoms because I didn't want to be a "follower" just because it was popular.
8. I like writing (as if this list didn't show you that) and have even written some stories (still haven't finished one yet) but my dream would be to actually finish a novel and publish it (even if it was only 100 copies that was published - that would be awesome).
9. I can be very sarcastic. Sometimes my husband can't tell if I'm being sarcastic or not.
10. I am obsessed with Princess Belle from Beauty and the Beast (Disney version OF COURSE). I even dressed up as her for Halloween one year. I have toys, socks, jewelry, a purse, clothing, pictures, salt & pepper shaker, a cup and even dolls of Belle.
11. I have a temper and if I lose it...look out! I am not fun and sometimes swear (only when angry though)
12. I have not seen a R rated movie for probably over 3 years. I stopped watching them because my church has said not to watch them.
13. I love my in-laws. I am always telling my husband and my family that I won the in-law lottery. My mother and father in-law are awesome as are all my husband's siblings spouses.
14. I am a pretty good speller and can't stand seeing misspellings. On the other hand, my (written) grammar isn't the best. If I had to diagram a sentence to save my life.....I'd be dead.
15. I love dachshunds and want one. I love the red coats and short haired ones, but am in love with any version. Every time I see one I squeal and want to hug them.
16. History is very interesting to me as is greek mythology. I really enjoy learning about history and mythology.
17. I love singing in the shower and along to the radio, but have WAY too much stage fright to ever be able to sing in front of a bunch of people unless I am in a group.
18. I like Blogging and have my own blog but forget to blog as often as I can.http://thestevenschultzfamily.blogspot.com/
19. I dropped out of high school and ended up getting my GED. I passed on my first try and most of my scores were in the college range (except math and science, I am a stereotypical girl who hates math and science).
20. I love magic - reading books about it, watching movies and tv shows about it, daydreaming I have magical powers.

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Busy

I have been so busy lately that some days I don't even check my email (which I used to do every day). I've been working overtime since the middle of May (trying to get our department caught up) and have been working an average of 10 - 15 hours overtime per week (one time was closer to 20).  During this time I was also planning my step son's surprise 11th birthday party.

The surprise birthday party was on Friday (July 11th) at our Stake's Recreation Center (which was basically a gym, kitchen, bathrooms inside the building and a covered pavilion outside with a shed and fenced in "yard" with plenty of space for kids to run around. We had the party indoors and just brought some of the tables inside. We had the 6 guest show up and I let Steve know so he could bring Hunter. When they showed up we shouted "Surprise!" and Hunter was surprised/shocked/scared. When I explained to him that it was his birthday party he looked less shocked. It was only 2 months after his birthday so I can understand his confusion.

We started on the first activity while Steve went to get pizza (Little Caesars - the best for the price) and the first thing was painting their own chalkboards. Steve and I picked pieces of wood from The Wood Connection and made our own chalkboard paint (thanks Pintrest!). The reason we made our own chalkboard paint was so that they could pick their own color. We had red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, and lavendar (I tried to get the kids favorite colors but I was only given the colors of my niece, Violet, and so I got the green (Shamrock) and turquoise for her and the lavendar for Hunter and the rest were just rainbow colors.

After painting their chalkboards we ate lunch and had cup cakes and ice cream, let Hunter open his gifts and let the kids run around the gym until we were ready for the next craft.

The next (and last) craft was to design their own t-shirts. We bought different colored t-shirts from Michaels (on sale for $3.33 when you bought 3 - so basically 3 for $9.99) and Clorox Bleach Pens. We put plastic bags inside the shirts (so the bleach wouldn't go to the back of the shirt too) and let them use the bleach pens to design/decorate their own shirts. The darker the color of shirt the better the outcome, the lighter the shirt the less you noticed the design. We let the shirts sit for at least 10 minutes then I rinsed them out in the sink (and there was no issue with the bleach smearing and ruining the design) and then put the shirts in plastic bags with instructions to the parent's (or kids) that the shirts needed to be washed immediately when they got home.

The party turned out great! The kids had fun, the adults had fun, I had my sister and niece help me set up and my husband and sister cleaned up while I was rinsing the bleach off of the shirts. We were there (Missee, Violet and I who got there first) for a little over 3 hours and it was fun.

That night I felt physically, emotionally, and mentally drained. Partly because the party I had been planning since April (before Hunter's actual birthday) was done and partially because I had worked 47 hours that week from Monday through Thursday. When we went home I crashed and have been relaxing the rest of the weekend.

It's so nice to finally have a three day weekend that I am not working through!