My Facebook Breakup: Update

It's been a little over 5 weeks since I decided to break up with Facebook. If you missed the first article, you can read it by clicking here.  Lots has happened that I had hoped for, and some things that I didn't expect.  Here's what I've learned about myself in the wake of my Facebook absence:



Free Time/Creative Time

Holy crap at the amount of time I actually have to get things done during the day.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm a SAHM---it's not like I'm balancing my time between rearing my children and making peace negotiations in the Middle East.  Regardless, without constantly scrolling through everyone else's life on Facebook, I managed to get so much more done.  Except laundry.

As far as projects, I managed to finish a few that have been on the backburner for...umm...years?  Is it ok to admit that?  It only took about 20 minutes to completely redo this storage ottoman:

How I Made Laundry My B*tch

Once upon a time I could sleep until noon. I could happily step over a mountain of clothes on my way to the kitchen where I would invariable scarf down a piece of last night's pizza whilst simultaneously shaking off rogue pieces of glitter.

And then I had kids and I had to start taking care of shit.

A Birth Story: Finn

(Our hospital bands as we began the journey)

I thought that giving birth to Jonah was the one definitive moment of my life where I would magically become an adult and everything would fall into place.  Like, I would suddenly have a savings account and a 401k and a reliable mid-sized sedan with heated seats.   I thought it would be a movie scene where all the secrets of life suddenly revealed themselves in a spectacular display of glory, backlit by golden light that was radiated by unicorns.  With every push I would find myself a little closer to the miracle known as being and the answers to the queries of centuries of human inquisition.

Well....

Instead...

I got seven stitches in my vagina and a sleep schedule that would make a coked-out Lindsay Lohan cringe.

A Birth Story: Jonah

Labor hurts.  That really should go without stating, but it seems like more and more women are surprised to find out that labor is actually very uncomfortable---excruciating even---it feels like a near death experience.  Maybe the surprise factor has to do with the amount of elective cesareans performed (no judgment here), or epidurals given out like some sort of sex trophy prize package at the finish line (again, no judgment here...maybe a little envy).  Regardless, labor is what brings us together today.  More specifically, my labor is what brings us together today.

 

Apples of My Eye: Baby Lust List

I decided to do a compilation post today because I've been slacking on my blogger duties this week.  First lots of snow (it's actually snowing again as we speak...err...type), then lots of baby drama with the OB/GYN.  Finn's doing good and so am I, but this OB is not a good fit (I'm currently working on a post about finding a good fit for your pregnant self; hopefully it will be up next week).  Also, ladies, it is never ok to be bullied or shamed by your OB/GYN.  Getting off my soapbox now. 

A Moment with my Sister

There are so many times in your life when significant things happen and you least expect them.  Much less frequently, you know well in advance when your life will experiencing a drastic change.  Friday, my sister knew that her life would be forever altered.  She knew months in advance that the time slot between 5:30 am and 7:30 am on February 20th, 2015 would mark the final time that she brought a new life into the world.  In the preceding months she lamented over the decision to have a tubal ligation, a process that would forever end her ability to become pregnant again.  During our morning chats we discussed the pros and cons and made snide jokes about sex with wild abandon.  But through all of that, we focused more heavily on the excitement of bringing Kloe into the world: her third, and last, baby. 

Being Mindful as We Go

When I started stamping jewelry a couple of years ago, I built my business on customizing and personalizing pieces for other people.  Namely, I did washer necklaces with kids/grandkids names and things of that sort.  I also did quite a healthy amount of memorial pieces.  The business model was not the most conducive to sustaining itself and I actually found myself several hundred dollars in the red by the end of the fiscal year.  That's when I decided that it was no longer necessary to keep myself up at night worrying that a piece wouldn't be exactly what someone had wanted.   I still cannot tell you how many dozens of custom pieces I still have, that people just never picked up or got back to me about.   I was pretty disheartened by the entire process during that first year of stamping.  I realized that, even though I was selling my designs at a heavily discounted rate in comparison to other similar items, people were happy to take advantage of my generosity and willingness to order specific items to customize their orders.  The worst trap I fell into, however, was making multiple styles of one item so that my customer could pick their favorite style (I cannot tell you how much of my own inventory I ruined by doing this).  Running a business solely through Facebook is a terrible, terrible idea that I would never suggest to anyone ever.

Sunday at the Park

Once upon a time I felt that the park was full of stressors, both internal and external.  Jonah is my firstborn so we have transcended many a milestone together over the past 6 years.  I'd always assumed that the park setting with all of the crunchy mommies sporting their pricey Baby Bjorn slings, jogging strollers, and Kate Spade diaper bags was the most idyllic place that I could ever take my baby.  It seemed like the logical base to set my child up for stratified ascension as he transcended the boundaries of home for the real world...even if the real world only entailed a few unsanitary outside play toys. 

Preserving the Peace: Football, Katy Perry, and Groundhogs

Apparently there is a football game happening this weekend (my husband tells me so). Apparently the majority of humanity has some sort of stake in it. I'm not a sports person, per se. I mean, I've tolerated it (I even feigned an active interest in it through the dating stage of our relationship). Chances are, I'm not alone in that. I actually look forward to football season starting in the fall, but my interest in it fizzles out after the first few weeks. So, luckily for me, my husband is not one of those guys' guys that rents a 186" television and throws a huge SB party for all of his sports loving buddies (and bless those of you that have to endure that).  However, I'm reasonably sure that my DVR'd episodes of Parenthood will be overshadowed by this one particular game on Sunday.  I think my husband almost feels bad for exposing me to so much testosterone-induced man TV.  In return for sucking out my soul for four hours, though, he wrote a small survival piece to serve as a buffer throughout the game for those of you that will be completely consumed by an array of hyped-up sports fans.  I decided to include it here: 

A Little Hello

Hi Guys! I'm testing this out to see how a post will look.  Yes, this world is new and vast to me.  So, I thought it would be befitting to start a blog with a little info about myself and some aspirations about blogging in general. First and foremost, I lack coping mechanisms and I'm prone to short circuiting.  I also attempt projects that are well outside my range of abilities...frequently.  At some point during my life, I found Pinterest and decided that it was Mecca and that it held all of the answers.  Subsequently, I assured myself that I was completely capable of performing any task that I found on Pinterest.  That is simply not true.  So, you may see some of my funnier failures posted here (because I also find it humorous).  Regardless, there is more to my personality than Pinterest fails and neuroses.  There is also an extensive trail of DIYs that ranges from sewing handmade aprons to, my newest interest, making organic bath bombs (who can really afford Lush more than twice a year, seriously?).

This overall idea to incorporate my DIY efforts onto the Interwebs began in 2012 when I was working as a server during my last semester of undergraduate.  A friend of mine had purchased a metal stamping set so that she could customize jewelry.  She found the projects to be irksome and tedious, so she gave her new tools to me.  I've always been a bit of a dabbler.  Indeed, the process was tedious and time-consuming to learn, but I like a challenge and I like to learn new techniques.  I started making jewelry on the side and quickly decided that making personalized charms was far more appealing than serving sub-par food to demanding customers.  After marrying my sweetheart, I quit my serving job to focus on my family and my crafty hobbies full time.  An Etsy store soon followed.  As I trudged onward in my crafting journey, I added new projects to my Etsy shop.  It was when my products outgrew jewelry and dreamcatchers, and started to branch into organic bath products and textiles, that I decided to start a blog as an outlet for my creative endeavors.  After all, it seemed much more appropriate to compile all of my hobbies and interests into one central location.

Here are some of the projects that you'll see featured on my Etsy shop (which will be on vacation for remodeling until February 2015).   I also plan on doing some tutorials for making your own version of these projects.

xo, Karee