Walk-in closets.

Honestly, I have no idea what I would do without my walk-in closet. As I was completely tearing it apart today and reorganizing it, I thought, how do people fit all of there stuff in a normal closet. People probably also don’t place dressers, organizers, multiple laundry baskets, games, a wooden doll house, blankets and snacks in their closets either.

Not only was my closet torn apart today though, my mom and I also managed to clean her’s out as well. That was a task in itself since she shares it with my dad. We left his side alone, but her side looks terrific. We even went in Kylie’s old room and started working on her closet. Fortunately for us, it was not a walk-in closet and it didn’t take much time at all for us to realize that we may need Kylie here to determine what can and cannot be donated/thrown away.

Although these closets are obviously just closets for us, it is a major stress relief to find them organized and cleaned out. Just like I am relieved when my room is clean, the same goes for my closet. It helps me feel like my life is just as organized as my closet.

Coupon clipping.

The morning started with my mom going through the weekly newpaper ads and began clipping some coupons. After most of the day was over with, we go ahead and make our way to Wal*Mart and decide to really take advantage of coupons. Not that we have not used them before, but this time we actually went through and looked at all of them and I even organized them by the how store was set up before we went. I felt this would make our trip a bit less stressful than having a hand full of coupons and having to go through them every isle.

I thought of this being my creative thing for the day because I feel the people who do not use coupons do not realize how much effort goes into getting them cut out, situated and of course, actually using them. The almost two hours pass at the store, but my mom and I feel accomplished for taking the efforts to save a little bit of money. Something so simple seems too great to not take advantage of.

Russian Roulette/Billiard Balls.

My creative thing for the today consists of a mixture of things. Because Alex and I are both fond of my dad’s revolver, we have made up a couple of games that relate to Russian Roulette. Instead of us pointing it at ourselves though, we put 5 empty shells and 1 bullet and see who is lucky enough to get it. Today we would sometimes put two in too and work on keeping our hands still.

The game… Alex printed some targets that have billiard balls on them so we can play a game of pool with one of us having stripes and the other solids. He won that game.

The next game, one we have played before, consists of a bowling pin target and doing the same thing, putting only one bullet in the revolver. I have to brag, I won the game 🙂 The top of the bowling pin was worth 2 points and the bottom, bigger part only one. I was also just lucky enough to get the bullets as well, since when we only play with one loaded, obviously it is the luck of the draw.

Although these are just some simple, shooting games, we both enjoy it and we like to have contests with one another. I find that when we both use our creativeness, we are pretty clever.

Hunger Games.

First off, I would like to point out that although it is officially May 1st, it is not my fault my blog is being posted a little late. Blame my boss who didn’t let me off until 12:30

K, now on to the The Hunger Games. I am not one of those people who always have a book they are reading. I hardly ever read and unless I enjoy the book, I find it to be more of a task than an enjoyable thing. But Kylie changed my perspective on reading, for now at least. The Hunger Games is book one of three. I will soon be on two and will write about that next. But for me and my sister to both adore these books, you must believe me that they are worth reading. Especially if you like suspense and unusual stories.

Apparently we are not the first people to like the books because they are already casting people for the movie. But my suggestion is to go buy the book, get lost in it and refuse to put it down. Stay tuned to hear more about the series!

40 page research paper.

The title speaks for itself, I have a 40 page research paper I am writing. Although the first 20 pages have already been graded, I have the remaining 20 left. Thankfully, I am half way done. But there still so much to be done. In order to keep sane and not ruin my weekend, I am being creative about when I write. Like right now, I just showered and painted my nails. So as my hair and nails dry, I decided to take an hour, plus or minus, to just write. It is nice that I can just close my door and go at it.

Obvi0usly that was not exactly my situation (Facebook, Twitter and WordPress distracted me), but I am making the most out of the time I have to finish this paper. Plus, this is my only class left for the semester. It is amazing to think 1 of the 5 semesters I will be attending grad school is already coming to an end. But before I can say it is completely over, I must complete this 40 page research paper, even if I would rather be outside or reading the new books I have become obsessed with (I will comment on this tomorrow perhaps!). I WILL get this done.

Entertaining a 2 year old.

When it comes to kids, I feel it is always about being creative. As I babysit my 2 year old nephew today, my mom and I decide the rehide the eggs he found on Sunday. He was so excited to open the empty eggs, we felt it was the least we could do. Because it was his snack time anyway, I put a fruit snack in each of the 9 eggs and hid them. I even hid one on sleeping Beau. He loved it.

To top that off, we went outside to play and we found 3 eggs that we couldn’t find on Easter. Two were just laying in the grass and the other in my mom’s plants. They seemed to be extremely obvious but on Sunday, the whole family was stumped.

When it comes to entertaining kids though, it is just about being a bit creative. I am glad that with some plastic eggs and fruit snacks I am able to entertain my nephew!

Never underestimate a poster.

As I was creating certificates at work today for an awards reception that we are having tonight, I started to think about how my whole job is about being creative. I am given all the freedom in the world to design things for GPSG. Although at times the freedom actually makes things a bit more complicated because I am unsure of exactly what they want, usually it is relaxing and rewarding.

So as I was thinking about how it is my job to ultimately create GPSG, I decided this summer I am going to dedicate time to making them a 3 fold poster. Although this is nothing extremely fancy or unheard of, I feel if I put time and effort into something like this, it will help show graduate and professional students what GPSG is all about in just a quick glance.

Crafts.

This past weekend I saw a homemade birthday invitation. It may have been the cutest invitation I have ever seen. It sounds pathetic, but I wish I had something going on in which I could invite people so I can start making my own invitations!

Because invitations are obviously just for special occasions, I decided I wanted to start making my own cards. Although I will probably not be saving any money, I enjoy these types of things. I already know of two different things I can make cards for, and I am already super excited.

I am also trying to think of more things I can do when Alex takes over my room with his guns and such, and I feel like pulling out the crafts and making cards for the people in my life will put a smile on my face. If anyone has any ideas/suggestions, feel free to pass them along!

For the viewer and the listener.

Although this was not by choice alone, I was assigned to make a podcast for a class of mine. The tricky part of this podcast is that we had to make an actual video. So I had to make it appealing to both viewers and listeners. This was my first attempt and although it is nothing fantastic. I think I made it work for both parties. I was able to focus on what I was saying but make it interesting enough for viewers as well.

Honestly, I think I would rather make either a podcast or video, not a combination. I feel with a podcast you can specifically concentrate on what is being said and do not need to worry about the graphics. For videos though, it isn’t about what is said, but what is shown. Either way though, I feel for my first attempt, I was creative in using my voice and the computer to make it somewhat entertaining for all. Lets hope it is at least entertaining enough for the prof 🙂

Easter Sunday.

On this Easter, I was able to show my creativity in a couple different ways.

1. I still hid my parents Easter baskets, as they do mine. We spent the morning searching for our own baskets and found it humorous when we couldn’t all find ours in the first try. Although this is something so simple, it still is something fun we can all enjoy. My mother had filled ours with food this year in which we could all use at our own homes and such.

2. Cooking this year seemed to be done by a group instead of just my mom or sister. Alex, Kylie, Dad and I all joined efforts to make this Easter’s lunch, or should I say feast. Alex pattied the hamburgers and my dad cooked them on the grill. He also sauteed mushrooms for the burgers. I made the stuffed mushrooms, asparagus and Funfetti cookies 🙂 Kylie out did herself by making deviled eggs, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. Everything was delicious and it was even better sharing it with our entire family.

This Easter was filled with family, food and goodies. It could not have been any better!