4th of July

Basically my life is Pinterest. 

Well, I think it is but mostly its

the Pinterest Nailed It section. 

But I am hoping this weekend 

turns out pinterest perfect!

My very good friend and I are spending the 

4th together along with our families and

we decided to make shirts this year!

Our Pinspiration

We haven't decided to match or to 

each do our own, so we will see how it goes. 

I got all the supplies

shirts, paint, I saw one example used 

a cookie cutter to make shapes, 

so that is what I bought. 

Anyway I also got a TON of glow sticks. 

And now I have to decide if I want to make 

a dessert or snack of some sort. 

These are my options. 

Pop Rocks sugar cookies?

Chocolate Pretzels?

Chocolate covered Oreo pops?

Or chocolate dipped strawberries?

I want to do something simple. 

But they all have a measure of time consuming. 

Anyway those are my plans. 

A day at the beach with friends and family, 

yummy food, fireworks and DIY shirts. 

Best Wishes and Stay Safe!

By - J

In Case of Emergency

I recently called emergency services for a car accident, 

(everyone was fine)

and I realized how much information 

they want. 

So I figured I should share what you need to know. 

In any event or accident you need to know, 

location, injuries, who is involved, 

and you need to be calm. 

Trust me.

In a car accident 

you need to know a location, 

how many people are involved, 

if anyone is bleeding or unconscious. 

It will also help if you don't move anyone

or try to provide any medical help unless

professionally trained.  

If someone passes out or is unconscious. 

It is helpful to know if they take any 

medications. 

Also save your emergency contacts in your 

phone as ICE and then the name. 

(In Case of Emergency) 

it can help emergency services locate family sooner. 

With the rise in violent attacks at schools 

it can be helpful to remember a few things. 

Stay calm, either stay where you are, 

or move quickly away. 

Do not try and engage the attacker. 

Call emergency services immediately. 

It never hurts to be first aid or CPR 

certified and many local groups like the YMCA,  

Red Cross, and community centers offer it. 

Look into it. 

Best of Luck !

By -J 

On a lighter note.

I dropped the expensive butter all over the floor...

and my feet. 

Changes

I was recently talking to my older sister

and we stumbled onto me having grown up

in the last year. 

A little background into my family, 

as I have mentioned I have a big one.

5 sisters (all older) and 5 brothers (4 older)

Yes, I am the baby girl :)

Now because I am the baby and my sisters 

were pretty grown by the time I was born, 

I'm kinda looked upon as their baby. 

Kind of hard to grow out of that image. 

Anyway in the last year I felt like I had 

taken some major steps in growing up 

and getting ready for college. 

I've had various jobs since I was about 14

Babysitting, dog sitting, cleaning, 

demonstrator for the younger kids in dance. 

But I started a receptionist job last September, 

which may sound weird, but really suits me. 

It allows me to do school during slow 

periods and work part time.

I also worked hard to finish up some 

classes that I had slacked on. 

(Math and I are not friends)

I felt that I had grown,

 and hoped that others could see that too. 

Whether or not you live in a big family, 

you will always have people measure you 

against others.

Something my mom really gave us 

was time to complete things. 

She understood that while we may not learn at 

the speed of others or accomplish things 

at the rate our siblings did, we were allowed 

to make certain choices. 

Some of my siblings seem to forget 

that we are not miniature thems.

And we will not make the same choices. 

It is that time in life where you drift away from 

childhood friends, 

and gravitate to the next season of life.

Big families have a stereotype of being close. 

Well I'm drifting, which is okay because 

I will never sever the ties, 

but I do need to make my own choices. 

I've seen the results and I believe I can 

make a path, even with screw ups, 

that is my own. 

So, what did we learn. 

1. Stereotypes are reasonable,

 but go ahead and brake the mold.  

2. You will have to grow up and make decisions,

but work with your support system now to prepare for

 the times on your own. 

3. You are never to old to spend time with family.

4. People will compare you and tell you 

what they think you should do, 

Nod your head and then do whatever you were going to do. 

(I'm only slightly kidding, advice is always good)

5. family can be the best and worst, 

choose to remember the best and shrug off the worst.

6. Growing up is hard, and you will have to say goodbye to 

dear friends, but there will be more and maybe

you needed them for only so long. 

7. work hard, in school, at work, wherever.

8.be honest, it can be hard but trust me

it is so much better. 

9. a job is a job, be thankful you have one.

10. schedule time to relax or be alone.

I recently have taken time to do things alone. 

I took myself out to a movie and shopping. 

Lunch and browsing downtown on Monday afternoon. 

Learn who you are when you are alone. 

By -J 

Best of Luck! 

And congrats to the grads!

Busy Bee

It is the time of year when everything 

seems to be happening. 

Students are ready to finish the semester, 

teachers plan recitals, parties, tests, and much more. 

I personally think we should divide all of 

these events up over the months but it tends to 

fall to just a few weeks. 

And then summer. 

I love summer! It is my favorite time, 

especially when I get to go to the beach. 

But now I have a job that doesn't take summer off.

So I have to put in for actual vacation days. 

It's strange getting old. 

And I'm taking an online class this summer 

so I won't be completely school free. 

But I'm still excited. 

I was going to talk about something completely different, 

its been on my mind for days. 

Remember the post about dreams

and how I figured I have sleep problems because 

I don't confront people in reality. 

Well I stumbled onto a situation that 

I felt had wronged me. 

After venting to my very best friend,

I decided not to confront that person. 

1. Because I knew that they simply would brush it off.

2. It would serve no purpose ruining a night 

just so I would feel better. 

I also figured that if they did it on purpose, 

I would only give them satisfaction over my reaction. 

So I'm trying to let it go, 

even though they did the wrong thing, 

I'm the only one who is hurt. 

Now that I understand my sleep problem

I'm better at addressing why I'm not sleeping. 

But that doesn't solve the problem. 

It's something I'm working on :)

Anyway I'm planing a trip to Texas with sister 

so here are some fun beach/summer pictures. 

Baseball-The American pastime.

My family loves the mountains so summer for me would 

include mountains. 

Disney- We live close and go to a Christian concert night 

but this year we are going to Texas instead. 

I've been para sailing twice now

and I love it!

I would love to go again. 

4th of July is huge for my family 

so I made this last year. 

So I covered like five topics. 

I hope you have a great end of the semester 

and start your summer planing soon!

By -J

The Weekend

I had so much fun this weekend. 

So I figured I would tell you all about it.

I'm a big fan of superhero movies, 

especially Marvel movies.

So I pre-ordered tickets to see the 

new Avengers movie with some friends. 

First let me say I'm not big 

on standing in line or seeing 

a movie on opening weekend, 

so this was big for me. 

Anyway we drove to a big snazzy theater

got in a line that wrapped the 

building and waited. 

The movie was fantastic, 

as I knew it would be but not my favorite 

Marvel Movie. 

Anyway we went to dinner after

 and had a great time. 

But my point is..

Sometimes you have to step out of your normal

and try something new. 

Most of the time it is great.

The other times you learn a lot about yourself.

Besides if you take along a friend 

its usually always awesome. 

and/or you have some great stories. 

On Sunday I went to a baseball game 

with A LOT of my family, 

I think I've mentioned I had a big family before.

Anyway I like watching any sport live

 so it was great time, 

and I went to Bahama Breeze after and tried 

their West End Indies Curry, 

It was not at all what the menu described but it was 

yummy. 

Yet another example of trying something new.

Then on Monday I had a Thai food and Ice cream

 date with my sister. 

This weekend was crazy fun, 

with new and old experiences. 

I also did some DIY for the movies check it out 

A little bit superheros for the movies, 

I ended up wearing a Hawkeye one. 

By -J

Was there a point to this? 

not sure :)

Facebook Comment or a Text, How Well Do You Know Them?

Its March which is like birthday mania for me and my family. 

A brief overview of my family to explain.

My Mom and Dad got married and had 11 children. 

Child number 1 got married and has 6 children

Child number 3 got married and has 3 children

Child number 5 got married. 

Child number 6 got married.

Child number nine is dating.

That makes 27 birthdays a year just for close family. 

That is A LOT!

But March is the worst with 6 birthdays. 

Anyway March 3rd (Today) is child number 9's Girlfriend's birthday.

Previously a good friend of mine, (don't get me started)

So the question came to me, 

Do I post on FB or do I text?

Do I know them well enough for a text?

I mean she is at every birthday party and 
practically every family event. 

In this case I said Happy Birthday with a cute picture via text.

But then I thought about who you should text and 
who you should post on social media 
 to wish a happy birthday. 

So I decided to make a list.

Family members, doesn't matter if you are close -Call them 

Friends you see or talk to at least once a day - Call them 

(Cards are great too, also in the mail is fun)

Friends you see once a week - text is okay but a call is better!

Cousins you only see on FB and are pretty sure you don't even know their number - Post

The random person from High School you used to hang out with- Post 

The person you could potentially date - text or a card in person.

Boss, this one is tough, if you see them the day of - tell them in person but if you interact on facebook and you don't see them than a post in okay. 
Also cards are good if you see them the week of. 

Your friends parents - in person if you see them. 
Unless you are unusually close like you could be their child don't text or call them. 

By - J

If you know someone in your class is having a birthday 

it can really make their day if you show up with a card and balloon. And because of all the dollar stores and Dollar Generals popping up you most likely pass one at least once a day. You could get both for less than $5.

Also bonus points if you get other people to sign it.