DIY Christmas

I'm having the best time coming up with DIY projects for Christmas gifts! Yes, I know, it seems REALLY early to be thinking about Christmas, but I got inspired this past weekend while hanging out with my second family :) I made some homemade magnets, per the idea I stole from them. I made some to spell FRIENDS to hang on the fridge next to pictures of friends. Then I made a really cute gift for one of my family members which is magnets that spell GEAUX TIGERS complete with a Mike the Tiger magnet! I also assembled two very cute picture frames, one for myself for pictures of us on our honeymoon, and then one for a certain little girl in my family with flowers and pink and green letters to spell her name along the side.

Here's some more ideas I cam across. I might give out these this year as gifts to family and friends:

1. themed gift baskets. Did you can your own pasta sauce over the summer? Use a colander for a basket, add some garlic bulbs, gourmet noodles, and a wooden spoon — a little taste of Italy. Or consider a breakfast basket. Or a breakfast basket (syrup and pancake mix), a movie basket (popcorn, candy, and a movie rental coupon), or a gardening basket (a trowel, a gardening hat, and some packets of seeds).

2. making personalized calendars: “You can buy calendar blanks or use a template from a program; add pictures of things or people meaningful to the recipient; add in important dates (birthdays and anniversaries of family & friends); and maybe a special note or quote every once in a while. For parents/students you can add in the school schedule; for homeowners you can add in a home maintenance schedule; etc. for sports fans, astrology followers, on & on. To make them extra special I sometimes add little treats - a couple dollars taped to a summer date for an ice-cream treat; a coupon for free babysitting on a weekend; video & popcorn night, etc.”

3. felt-backed tile trivets. You can find lots of beautiful tile designs at the home-improvement store. Sometimes the end of a lot can be had at a deep discount. Using a hot-glue gun, add a layer of felt to the back of a 6×6″ (or larger) tile, and you have a useful trivet for bringing a hot dish to the table.

4. Cork trivets. For your wine drinkers, save corks from your stash or ask friends to save theirs. Find a picture frame that's large enough for your project. Consider how large a hot dish or pan you will place on the trivet. It needs to be deep enough that the corks won't extend above the frame very much. Remove the glass and any wire or brackets for hanging it. Find a piece of cardboard for the back of the frame. Glue it to the back of the frame. Try out different arrangements of the corks. Look for interesting designs on the corks and arrange these harmoniously. Glue together with hot glue.

5. jar gifts. Basically, you can get some large mason-type jars at a crafts store, and decorate them using colored paper (wrapping paper), ribbon, etc. Inside you could try making a baking mix to make cookies with, or even something as simple as hot chocolate powder.

Newlywed Life

So, Jason and I have been married 2 and 1/2 months! Woohoo newylwed life! In all honesty, nothing has changed between us, but sometimes it can feel different. Yes, my name change contributed to that feeling, but its more than that.

We both are working on our higher ed degrees, he medical school, I graduate school. That can be stressful in itself on top of living together, working, and being recently married. I think another factor is living together in another city apart from our families and friends. We have each other and we have both made friends here in New Orleans, but nothing beats spending time at HOME. When he can manage to skip a weekend of studying (and I guess from now on, me too) then we come home. The weekend goes by too quickly, and we hate to leave each Sunday. But knowing we're only less than 2 hours away makes us feel better about it.

Living together was really nothing new. We've been together almost 6 years this November, we've known each other since 2nd grade, and we have been exclusively living together since last July. We practically were living together for 4 years during college when he had his own apartment. The biggest adjustment has been sleeping in the same bed! OMG I hate our bed with a passion!!! Its so uncomfortable. You fall into the middle when two people are on either side. Having a cat who wants to cuddle between you doesn't help, either. I would never deny her love, but just sayin'. We finally flipped the mattress. And even though it wasn't the same on the other side, it worked 10 times better!

And you see? This is what I'm talking about by it seeming different. You start to worry about mattresses and cleaning dishes and who's turn it is to clean out the litterbox. Its so dumb but yet its really your life! I started to go stir crazy before I learned I was going back to school. Working and coming home to have to clean and cook and do nothing important was bogging me down. It was bringing me down and making me feel unworthy, like I was depressed to have nothing going for me in my life. Being unable to find work in your field is heartbreaking and shitty. You feel like you wasted 4 years of your life. I never thought I'd have to attend graduate school in order to work. I thought I could find something right off the bat. And I did, only it didn't suit me at all. Working among the mentally ill knowing some girl with AIDS just touched your desk and a guy with a history of violence is eyeing you down the hall? Uh, no thank you. Check, please. I cried to my then-manager. I thought it would be different. It was different, just not for my benefit.

I finally found something to get us by but I wanted it to be my in-between job until I found something suitable in psychology. Well, let me tell you friends, nothing is out there. For anybody! Anywhere! So, here I was working, going home, sleeping, working, going home, sleeping. An endless cycle of stress, depression, and cat poop. Sounds terrible huh?

What finally sunk in with me was reading the writing on the wall: I was watching Suze Orman on Oprah. Suze was talking to a young girl around my age about finding a job now that she's a college grad and how to manage her finances. When Suze asked the girl why doesn't she work in her field, the girl said she didn't like it anymore. Suze said TOO BAD! You worked 4 years on a degree you're not going to use?! How dare you insult you and your parents who put you through school!! The girl sucked it up, did what she had to do, and was living a better life.

I had never thought of it that way before. My parents were probably so disappointed I didn't work in my field, and they probably were never going to say anything either. I felt terrible. I knew the only way for me to work in psyc was to go back to school. Whatever the cost, it was going to better me in the long run in more ways than one.

I worked hard and it paid off. Here I am in my first class as a graduate student and it feels AWESOME! When people ask what I do, I tell them first I'm working on my master's, second that I work.

I've decided to turn this into my thoughts about living life as a young working, married, student and anything else I decide. You like?