Record Bracelets!

I'm not done with these records just yet my friends! I must do as many things with them as I can think of! Today for my "new" I made the records into bracelets! Aren't you so impressed with me?

I started the project so late at night because all I wanted to do when I got home was eat and watch TV. And I had a lovely time doing so! My lovely roommate made me a lovely dinner and I watched Baby Mama, super funny movie! I recommend it:)

So I started making the bracelets at about 11:30 in the P.M. but it was worth it! I had looked up a video on how to go about doing this, and it seemed real easy, at least for me. I pre-heated the oven to 200 and I put the record on a cookie sheet and in the oven. When it started to warp a little I took it out and cut it up into strips and put them back in the oven. When they started getting warm again I took them out one by one and I used a soup can to wrap it around. Each bracelet was a little different, and I love how they turned out!

I didn't want to just leave them plain, but I didn't have any charms or ribbon I could just punch a hole and thread it through. So I decided to do a little collage thing on each of them. I don't remember the fancy thing it's called when you do those collages on something, like poly-something. Well anyways I decided to do that on each one.

I went through a magazine and torn up pictures and designs I liked. I used paper glue to put it all together. The first one I did was just all newspaper looking, which I really liked because it could go with a lot. Then I did another one with a cool flower swirly design and then the third one looked magazine looking and the last one I left plain.

Well I think all of these turned out rather well! When I am poor this Christmas, all of you can expect one of these bracelets from me:)

Ezekiel 23:42
The sound of a carefree multitude was with her; and with men of the common sort, drunkards were brought from the wilderness; and they put bracelets on the hands of the women, and beautiful crowns on their heads.

If you want to give it a try here a video to help!

Outback Flyhouse

I have never been so disappointed with a restaurant this much in my whole life. I had gotten a gift card for my birthday for Outback Steakhouse and I had never gotten a gift card for a restaurant before so I was excited to use it for my new!

I asked Jacob(he's a soldier for the United States Army) to go with me! So we rode over there and it was a Tuesday night so it obviously was not that crowded and we were seated right away. The last time I had been here was more then a year ago, so I was unfamiliar with the menu. All I knew was that I wanted the bloomin' onion for an appetizer. Delicious! I was totally lost with the menu too. I had no clue what I wanted. I just wanted something good! So I told Jacob to order for me. I wish people did that for me more often, then I would always end up with a variety of food and it would always be a surprise!

So he ordered the lamb rack for me, yum! I was excited. I also ordered this drink call "Coco Berry," or something like that. It had coconut and strawberry in it, so I decided to get it just because of the coconut. Well, I should've just stuck to my Pina Colada. It was all sour tasting  like lemonade, and I do not like lemonade. Disappointing. I'll never stray again!

It took a while to get the appetizer and my drink and then it took FOREVER to actually get our food. And I don't even know why because there was no one even there. But we occupied our time looking up upcoming movies(Mr. Popper's Penguins with Jim Carry! Can't wait!) and we played a couple of rounds of Rock, Paper, Scissors; classic.

They finally brought our food out and we prayed and then I went straight for my mashed potatoes. They were cold! And I'm not talking like just room temp, I mean cold. And then I look over to Jacob to show my disgust and I see him picking through his fries and he looks up at me,

"Look!" he says.

I look on his plate and in his fries is a big dead fly! EW! It was so gross! and then he held up another fry that had it's leg sticking out of it. I wanted to throw up! It was so sick. I just covered my mouth and started laughing so hard! I couldn't believe it! And then he didn't even want to send it back! He has this paranoia that if you send anything back or complain about anything, they'll pee on your food in the back. Oh my gosh, we HAD to send it back!

And then out of no where the manager pops up at our table making his rounds and asking if everything is good, and I was like, "Um, he needs to send his back."
"What seems to be the problem?"
"Um there's a dead fly in his food." Haha! It was so sick! He saw it and took it back right away, he was embarrassed. But now Jacob had to wait even LONGER for his food, and it had already taken so long. We asked if he could just have the steak off of it because that was fine, but they had just chucked everything, which I was glad of.  It could've been crawling around on his food!

Well my lamb was good! I actually loved it, the sauce that was on the side was fabulous. When he finally got his fly free food, there was double the amount of fries on his plate as before and the steak looked great and it really was! And everyone kept coming over and apologizing to us. They took the steak off the bill and gave us free dessert if we wanted, but we were too full.

What a bad experience overall. I'll probably go back at some point, but it won't me my decision to. I've learned that I seriously need to check my food before I eat it. Everyone always should! Never forget or you'll end up like the Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.

Isaiah 7:18
In that day the LORD will whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

Easter Weekend

Fun Fun Fun! All weekend long! And that's my excuse for not writing about my "news" every day:) Everyone needs a break once in a while right?

On Saturday I tried to be a little more studious for my new. I attempted to actually study before I took my Biology quizzes online. Well, it didn't work out so well. As most of the world knows, I am a procrastinator. Therefore I had to wait until the last minute to study. We are all given study guides for the quizzes and what we are supposed to have learned. Well I started the thing, but couldn't get through it. It was too much. It was just so long! I had better things to do, like eat my dinner and watch a movie:) I ended up getting a B on one quiz and a C on the other. I was just fine with that:)

Easter day was fun and funny. I slept over at my parents, but they didn't know it, so they were calling me in the morning to tell me to come over, but my phone wasn't even working so I didn't get any of their messages they sent from upstairs. I woke up by myself and took Jack out and came bak in and they thought I was just getting there. What a bunch of silly heads.

We each found our baskets and mine was fabulous. It was all in a little bag from Charlotte Russ and it was filled with candy and a some clothes. After church we came back and waited for my sister and her husband to come into town so we could all go eat. While we waiting  is when I did my "new." Justin, my brother taught me. He was playing his guitar and he started playing my favorite Beatles' song, "Blackbird." I wanted to learn!

"Justin please teach me! I wanna learn, it'll be my new!" says I.
"Um, okay hold on," he aid. Then he left and when he came back he had a Rolo in his hands.
"Oh thanks!" says I.
"No!" he said, "If you want to learn you must learn to give. Now open the Rolo but do not eat it."
So I did. "Here, I opened it!"
"Thanks!" and he took it and ate it. Oh gosh.

Well the second he started teaching me was the same second I realized that this crap is a lot hard then it looks! My fingers started hurting so bad and my nails were really in the way. I was seriously trying with all my heart! I had never even really put my fingers on a guitar and try to play before. I got some of the notes down, but not nearly enough to know what I was really trying to play. Plus my finger tips had already turned numb. I was pushing down on those strings so hard! Justin said the first time he started playing, his fingers started bleeding. I don't think I'm ready to commit myself to that extent yet.

I have always wished I could play the guitar or something, but I am almost positve that some people are meant to be musical and just know it and those other people, aka me, are just meant to listen to the other people playing. I haven't got it:( That won't stop me from trying harder to learn this stinkin song though! I think I at least have the right to learn one song. I think God will help me do that:)


Psalm 68:35
Awesome is God from his sanctuary;the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people.Blessed be God!

So I was searching for an Easter picture and I saw this. What in the world?
 Can you really buy these things? How do they get like this?

Record to Bowl

I got the idea for today's "new" from a coffee shop. Last week I was downtown, and I had some time to kill before I had to be somewhere. So I decided to get some coffee and read at The White Hart Cafe, it is such an awesome coffee shop/ bookstore! They have live bands playing every once in a while, and it has a great atmosphere.

While I was waiting for my coffee to be made, I was looking around and I spotted this really cool bowl. It was a record that had been made into a bowl, like melted and folded somehow. I loved it! It was so unique! And it just so happens, that I had a bunch of records I had gotten from that huge trip to Goodwill I had gone on. I thought I might be able to use them for something. What a coincidence!

I wasn't sure how to do it at all, the only thing I knew was that it was melted in place somehow. For some reason I thought the best way to do this would be a lighter. Why you ask? I don't know, it failed miserably as you would probably assume. So then I thought of the stove! What a great idea that was! And I silently congratulated myself.

I went to the stove and turned on the burner to high and I slowly rotated the record above it. It began to bend and I tried my best to mold it how I wanted. I had a bowl there so I could mold it around the bowl. I had to keep heating it up again because it kept hardening the wrong way:( I did it for this first time on the record I had already jacked up with the lighter so I wouldn't have to ruin another record. I really liked the way it turned out! So, I tried it again. It was a little hard of a technique because it was hard to hold with my hands because it was hot, but it was also hard to hold with the oven mitts as well. But overall I liked how it turned out.

Then it had only just dawned on me to look on the internet to see how other people said to do it. Most everyone said to use the oven, not the stove. I guess that would be even easier, I hadn't thought of that. The directions were to get a cookie sheet, bowl, and record. Set the oven to 200 degrees and turn the bowl upside down and put the record on top of it. Wait for the record to start bending and then take it out of the oven and use the bowl to mold it. I liked this technique more. It gave me just about the same result, but the process was a lot simpler.

So now I have some really awesome bowls to show off in my house! Who says melting random stuff is bad? It just has to be the right random stuff. I think I'll put candy in themJ

put some candy in them.

This is the jacked up lighter one

An over head view. The one that looks pink is the oven one, and

the one that looks red is the stove/burner one.

Side view

If you want to give it a try, watch this vid and gopher it!

Psalm 119:28
My soul melts away for sorrow;strengthen me according to your word!



Doggy Day Care

I was definitely not planning on today’s “new” at all. But you got to do what you got to do.

I started out the day with one puppy and just ended the day with 5 different dogs. How did this happen?
Well I already had my puppy, Jack Jack, he’s a cavilerJ The best one, except he is being punished right now because he peed on the floor. And then my mom called and asked me if I could watch the dogs so they could go to the beach without me. Sure thing mom. I hope you have a blast. I just hate being a student and having work obligations! I wish I could just drop everything and go to Ocean CityL

So now I had Benny, my mom’s papillon, Ziggy my brother’s lab who is HUGE, Esme my sister’s Jack Russell(she had gone to the beach and my parents were watching this pain in the neck for her) and Jack. So now I was up to 4 dogs.

Then after work, Jacob and I went on a walk and he brought one of his family’s dogs, Poppy, also a Caviler. After our walk, he wanted to go borrow a friend’s bike so he couldn’t take Poppy with him, so I had to take care of her too! Oh my goodness.

Having just Jack and Poppy together was a little challenging in and of itself. Jack just does not leave Poppy alone at all! He just wants to lick her face off so bad and jump on her.

I had to be very strategic in how I had to handle all of these canines. I have also come to the conclusion that I hate Esme. She is just too crazy. Her two different color eyes are just plain creepy, she’s fat and has no fur. No one is very keen on her, including her owners. When I took them all out to go the bathroom, Jack and Poppy would just walk around by themselves and I had a leash on Ziggy and Esme. Talk about tangled up!

When all of the dogs we together , Poppy was always in my arms because she was a little scared and Ziggy would not stop smelling her, Benny was just walking around and minding his own business , Jack was trying to jump on Esme and she would just growl at him. It was kind of hard for me to get them all where I wanted too. I put Esme back downstairs in Ziggy's cage because I don't her anywhere near me, because I just don’t trust her. I don't like her, I hope I have made that clear enough. Then I had the rest of them in the room with me. I put Jack Jack in the bathroom because I didn't want him jumping on Poppy(she's hott stuff). I put Poppy on the bed with me and Benny was under the bed and ziggy was on the floor next to the bed on a pillow. It was quite a scene. Never in my life had I thought I would be watching this many dogs at the same time. One dog is enough for me! Even two is just too much, just like children. Haha just kidding:)

I had actually contemplated a dog walking business earlier in the day, but after this experience, I think not. I think God was letting me know that this is something I just cannot deal with very well. I am just learning so much through all of my “new”s!

Ziggy

Esme

 Benny

Poppy

 Jack Jack(Jaque)

Isaiah 56:11
The dogs have a mighty appetite;they never have enough.But they are shepherds who have no understanding;they have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all.

Kindred Spirits

Today’s “new,” was definitely different and a lot of fun!

I work Tuesday through Saturdays and I am a full time student. On Wednesday and Fridays I have to leave work and go to class. It's a lot of driving, I go to class in the morning then I go back to work, then back to class and then to work again. It gets really old. But I had some company today! It was a new for us both.

One of the ladies at the salon brings her 6-year-old daughter with her every once in a while, and we have become real chums! Her name is Taylee and she is the cutest sweetest little girl. Well she was in the salon today and she was standing next to my desk when I announce I have to go to class now and I tell her she can come with me if she wants. I thought she would just laugh or say no, but she said Okay! She said she had never been to Liberty before. I was only half serious when I thought of it, but I was pretty sure it'd be okay if she came. We got the okay from the mom, so off we go! It would be a new for both of us.

We got her booster seat, I gave her some ray bands to wear, got buckled up, and off we went! When we got to school, I told her to hold my hand so no one would steal her and we walked to class. I felt like I had a puppy with me, everyone was looking like they had never seen a child before, it was so funny.

When I got to class we go right up to my usual spot in the front of the room. We tried to look inconspicuous. My teacher came over and said it would be okay only just this one time. Whatever, she's not gunna bite anyone, relax. My class was really boring for her, the Psychological and Social Aspect of Clothing. It was real six-year-old material. She copied a little bit of the notes down for me, her writing got bigger and bigger as she kept on writing.

Finally class ended. We decided that getting smoothies would be the best decision for our intense studiousness.

When we got back to the salon, she had found an Easter egg and we spent most of the rest of the day taking turns hiding it and finding it again. It was a new and fun day for both of us, we have become kindred spirits!


Luke 16:9
And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

Hillcats

My first day back at Hillcats Baseball Stadium. Definitely not a new thing at all. I have been at Hillcats now going on 7 years. But it is my first year of just waitresses, so I am counting that as my new:)

I started working at Hillcats when I was just a wee little lass of fourteen. I started out at the Dippin' Dots stand and I loved it! All I had to do was scoop the dots, and fill my face with little spoonfuls. I was in charge of that stand, it was MY stand. And then I started working at the concessions stand and other people started taking over Dippin' Dots and I was so sad. I only wanted to be over there, but none of my bosses ever listened to me. Then as soon as I turned 18, I started waiting on the sky boxes. I'm not really the waitressing type, but I've been there for so long, it wasn't hard to pick up. I didn't do just the sky boxes either, he had me doing concessions too, wish I did NOT like.

So before the season started this year, I e-mailed my boss and told him I only wanted to do sky boxes and no more concessions. He wrote back and told me to give him a call. Oh gosh, I was going to have to fight with him. So I called the next day and he said he wanted to talk to me about a few things from last summer.
"Okay..." says I.
"I noticed that last summer that sometimes you did not tuck in your shirt." he said, "Sometimes you had your shirt rolled under so it looked like it was tucked in, but it wasn't."
"Okay...um I'll make sure it's tucked in this year," says I. I could not believe what I was hearing.
"And also I noticed how you would be tired sometimes, and you would tell me," he said, "I know you worked two jobs."
"Yeah, I mean I am tired sometimes and I might complain about it, but I've never acted tired toward any customers," says I, "Don't worry about that."
"Okay," He said.
"So is it okay that I just work waitstaff then?" I asked.
"Oh yeah, that's fine," he said.

Oh my goodness. I can't believe I actually had that conversation. He is so weird. I've been through so many bosses and he is definitely one of the strangest I've had.

Well anyways, my first night back went alright. I started out with only one box showing up, so one of the other waitresses gave me hers and then all my boxes started showing up so I ended up giving one back to her.

My first box got a lot of alcohol which is always a big tip so I was happy with them. My second box had only one couple and the husband was so sweet and his wife was a real jerk! Don't you hate when that happens? Poor guy. My third box had a bunch of people and they got a lot of food, but I wasn't such a great waitress to them because it was the box I jumped in on, so I kept forgetting things. But everything turned out okay, I made about my average in tips, it was pretty good for a Tuesday.

It felt so natural being back at Hillcats. Oh its going to be a long summer.

Genesis 43:31
Then he washed his face and came out. And controlling himself he said, "Serve the food."