Acupuncture

I'm fed up with my migraines and headaches. I just can't deal with them anymore. I am so over them. I feeling like I'm being pumped full of pills for no reason since they are not helping. I'll be honest, I'm ready to go off all my pills and just say fuck it and be done with doctors.

Last week while I was off work with migraines, I got to thinking that I should look into acupuncture as that has been known to help other people. I'm not afraid of needles, and it's not a pill. (I think Dr.'s prescribe pills way too easily now days, but that's just me.) And really, what do I have to lose by trying it?

Earlier this week, I went to lunch with one of my former co-workers, Debbie. During lunch I mentioned acupuncture to her and she said that Mayo offers acupuncture! I was SHOCKED! I kinda view acupuncture as a holistic medicine and didn't think that Mayo would support/provide that. Turns out they do! It's a very small area, and apparently you have to have a referral to go there, and my primary care doctor gave me one! I called earlier this week on it and have an appointment set up for December 8.

After I set up my appointment I got to thinking that perhaps my Mayo insurance would cover it....I wasn't hopeful, but was kinda hoping that they would cover 50% of it. I called MMSI (our insurance provider) and asked. It is covered 90% as long as it is for a medical reason and the doctor giving the acupuncture fills out a pre-determination form. I called and asked him to fill one out. Now to wait and hear back, but I am hopeful.

I am SHOCKED. 100% SHOCKED. I was bracing myself for the whole "no we do not cover that" line. I am very thankful for my insurance. VERY BLESSED.

Oh and I'll post an update after I have the acupuncture done!

Light Bulb Moment

Today I had a light bulb moment thanks to Noell Hyman from Paperclipping, which is a scrapbooking video podcast and live show. Today she posted an article on "How to be Organized with you have 29 Unfinished Projects."

That article is amazing. I mean I can organize and such, but who would have thought to organize your unfinished projects with all the materials needed to complete it?! Why didn't I think of that? DUH!

Next time I am at IKEA I am going to get some of the lovely 12x15 boxes, as Noell noted, they are amazing for storing 12x12 paper plus embellishments in! Once everything is contained in the box, you can simply grab it for a crop and go. WOW!

I am so inspired by this post! I can't wait to get all my unorganized, unfinished projects together!

Notes from picture: Taken last week while I was working on organizing my scrapbook room. Still lots to go, but some progress is being made! :D

List Love

I'm sure that I have titled many posts before "List Love" or something very similar. I just love lists. I know I get that from Ma and Grandma as they were always writing a list.

I remember one time Ma found one of Grandma's list. Grandpa read Grandma's lists, but didn't really help cross stuff off. Amongst all of the to-do's, Grandma was very busy, one item on her list was "fart." It makes me smile thinking about that. She had so much to get done that day, she didn't even have time to fart. :)

Today while going through my Google Reader, I noticed one of my favorite blogs had updates. Now this is a big thing, since they don't update all that often. The blog is called "To-Do List." On it there are pictures of peoples to do lists. I just love reading them. Maybe I have a bit of a voyeur in me.

For some reason today's post got me thinking about my lists. I write so many different lists, some electronically, some by hand. I'm wondering if I should randomly start saving them. I think that they capture part of my life. With my to do's and such. Would it be odd to save them? Or perhaps take a picture and save them? Maybe one day scrapbook them?

What are your thoughts on this?

Sleep

I need sleep tonight. Nothing has gone my way this evening. Ugh. Just a rough evening. Some nights I hate paying bills, lol.

But on the positive side of things, here is an inspiring quote that I found and love. :) It is so going to go in my book nook. :) I hope to post a real entry tomorrow. :)

"A home without books is a body without soul." ~Marcus Tullius Cicero

Decorating

Now that my apartment is all clean, I'm so excited to start decorating it! I'm going to go for a vintage inspired look.

Here are some things that I'm hoping to do, in list form, of course!

• I have a bunch of flour sack towels that Grandma embroidered. I'm planning to "frame" them in embroidery hoops, and hang them on the wall, pinning the backs so they are all in circle form. I'm debating about painting the wooden hoops, but I don't know for sure.
• I have an art print from a Twitter friend of a housewife, that I'm going to frame and hang in the dining room.
• I ordered a silk screened print of some beaters off of Etsy. That is going to be framed as well, and hang in the dining room. I want to paint that frame a turquoise/aqua color. My colors for the kitchen/dinging room/living room are going to be turquoise/aqua I think.
• One of my friends has a Cricut cartridge with a lot of vintage kitchen images. Since my cupboards are a cream color and are standard apartment issue, I'm going to cut some images out of vinyl and put on my cupboards to dress them up a bit. I think I even have all the vinyl I need!
• Dining room curtain needs to be made. I have the fabric for it! Red and white polka dots! Looks very vintage in my opinion! I'm kinda scared to make it though.
• The living room needs some "art" on the walls. I think I"m going to decorate some canvas. Either paint or use scrapbook paper in them. Best part, I already have the canvas and paint!
• I have my little reading nook almost all set up! All that it needs is a "curtain" to cover the door that leads into the water heater, etc. I already have this fabric, and I LOVE it!
• I want to get a print of books or something to hang behind my chair.
• Eventually I want to cover the chair that I have there. It's just an IKEA rocking chair, that is SO COMFY but I bought the cheapest cushion for it, and it's plain black. I need to find some fun fabric for it.
• In my hallway, I'm going to put the hope chest that Grandpa made me. I think above it I want to get an enlargement of a picture of Grandpa and I. I miss grandpa so much.
• I'm also tempted to do a "Photo Wall" on the wall that you can see directly from the living room.
• My bathroom is pretty much done, just want to get a couple things to put on the walls.
• My craftroom needs to be organized before I do anything. I have some pictures, knick knacks and such that I want to put up.
• My bedroom. I can't do much in there due to space. But I really want to get something on the wall above my head and the wall to the left of the bed. I don't know what though. My comforter is very pink and turquoise. I LOVE it. But I think when I finish my quilt that I've been working on for years, that will go on the bed. So I think I'm going to go a shabby/chic type thing. I don't know for sure though.

I have the decorating bug now. I've never really decorated before and I hope that I can pull stuff together like I imagine. I have a vision in my head that I want to get out. A little bit at a time. :)

Only 40 days!

Did you know that there are only 40 days until Christmas?! Can I freak out yet? Actually, I won't be, I hope. :)

This pay day I'm going to start Christmas shopping! I remember the days when I used to be done by October 1. It seems as I get older, the closer to Christmas I get. I'm going to start making my lists, and get a few things knocked off. I have a few ideas for the hard to get people on my list. :) It's not going to be a big, extravagant Christmas this year, but I'm fine with that. Low key is good. :)

But before Christmas is Thanksgiving. Since my workplace is closed on the day after Thanksgiving, I'm debating about heading up north on Wednesday after work and spending a long Thanksgiving weekend up there. It's so tempting. I may not be able to do shopping on the day after Thanksgiving, but the more I think about it, the more fine I am with that. With Grandpa passing this year, I feel the need to be by my family. I don't know if that is normal or odd.

What are your plans for the holidays? Have you started on Christmas shopping yet? What are some of your favorite, cheap/homemade gifts that you have either received or given?

Almost Forgot!

I almost forgot to blog today! Whoops!!

Today was spent sleeping in, then starting to clean a bit, then went to Haley and Cassidy's birthday party. (My nieces.) It was good to see Jason's family and the girls LOVED their presents. They both got books and Cassidy also got a bit of fabric since she has a sewing machine now. She really enjoyed it. Yay!

Despite taking my naproxen before the birthday party, I still got a headache. :( I came home and napped until almost 6 p.m. I couldn't believe I slept that long! Apparently I needed it. After my nap I ended up starting to organize and clean more for my Norwex party on Monday. I'm looking forward to it. :)

I made good progress in the kitchen, dining room, and living room. While cleaning I realized how much I like the shape of my apartment. I can start in one room and work my way to the back of the apartment. It works really well.

Now I'm off to head to bed and read for a bit and then get up tomorrow and finish. I was hoping to have my scrapbook room done and organized, but that won't happen. Oh well, it will get done, just not before Monday. :)

Hope everyone had a great Saturday! :)

A 4 letter word....

S-N-O-W

I'm so not ready for snow. Granted it is almost mid-November and we typically have had snow by now, but I'm still not ready for it. Today we had a lovely rain/snow mix. Thankfully the snow only stuck on the grass and I'm sure is gone by now. Why can't I live somewhere here it only snows a couple days before Christmas, stays through Christmas and then it goes away.

This is what it looked like around 5 p.m. by my apartment.

Controversial Post?

Warning: This may be a controversial post...but I need to get my feelings out about this. I have my flame proof suit zipped on as well, if you want to share your honest opinion on this post. I would love to know your opinion on it.

I stayed home sick with a migraine yesterday and today. Thankfully the migraine broke around noon today. I decided to take it easy the rest of the day, and turned the tv on for a bit of background noise. I found the shower I'm Pregnant And....(it's on TLC). I've watched it before and found it semi-interesting. Not interesting enough to tune in routinely, but if nothing else is on, I will watch it.

So today I watched one called "I'm Pregnant And...55 years old." When this couple was married (I believe 12 years ago) they froze some of Kathy's (the mom) embryos in hopes to be parents one day. Kathy is 55 and her husband is 64.

I have no problem with fertility treatments or people getting pregnant or adopting at an advanced age. If they have a plan. This couple has no family closer. The dad has a 35 year old daughter and 2 grandchildren, but she did not want to be a guardian. The baby has no guardian. Who would take care of this baby is something happened to them?

I also don't think that it is fair to the child to have parents at that age. I mean when the baby graduates at 18, the mom will be 73 and the dad will be 82. WOW! How is that fair to the child? The child who will be essentially still be a child himself may have to take care of his parents at that age. He may have to put his parents in a nursing home at that age? What about his life?

Maybe I'm just being bitter that I haven't been able to get pregnant. That very well could be. But I'm just concerned about the children of these parents. Is this fair to them? Am I out of line with my opinion? I'd honestly love to hear your thoughts.

Not today

No real blog post today. I'm feeling awful and stayed home from work due to a migraine. It's not going away either. :( It wavers a bit, and then it's back full force.

So today for my blog post, you get a picture. I took this before the time change, and it's my view at work in the morning. I love my desk.

LIFE

I had a few blog entries bouncing around in my head today, but I decided to not do any of them.

Marah Johnson posted this on Facebook and I just had to share. I am going to print this out, frame it, and hang it where I can see it everyday.

This is something that EVERYONE should remember.

Challenging Myself

Lately I haven't been eating well. I've been eating out waaaay too much. I've been really good about bringing my lunch to work, but in the evening I haven't been good at all. I've been sucking bad. I've succumbed to fast food again. Ugh. Not a good thing. Oh and generally eating like crap. I'm really good at finding excuses too. I've worked all day, I'm exhausted, I deserve to eat out, etc.

So I've decided to challenge myself. Starting today, November 8, I am not going to eat out for at least a month. I'm going to eat all meals at home. No eating out. No wasting money. Being much healthier in the long run. I've done this before and I can do it again. It's going to be hard and suck, but I'm going to do it. I know I can.

So in order to help me out here, I'd love for you to share or link me to some of your favorite, easy, recipes.

December Daily

Each year Ali Edwards does a December Daily. You can read about it on her blog. Back in 2008, I did the December daily and honestly, it is one of my favorite scrapbook projects that I have done. I recently started talking to the wonderful Linn about scrapbooking, and got her hooked. :) I started talking to her a bit about the December Daily as I was debating about doing it again this year. She is going to jump right in and do it! I can imagine she feels overwhelmed, so I'm going to share my take on Ali's December Daily album and some tips on how I did it to de-stress it a bit.

First up the book itself! This is going to be VERY image heavy, but I hope that you all will think it's worth it and enjoy it. :)

Now that you have seen my book, I'm going to give you my tips and tricks that I used. Take what you want, and leave what you don't. :)

• I started to put the book together ahead of time. I made the pages, covered them with paper, and added some embellishments. Not many, but a couple.
• To make the pages, I used chipboard, and cut them down to size. I wasn't concerned about other page edges going through.
• I used the Christmas paper and embellishments that I had on hand. There are at least 3 lines of paper in there and many, many different brands of embellishments.
• One thing that I did not do, that Ali did, is that I did not work on this each day. I did not have my book completed at the end of December. I was ok with that! I took pictures throughout the holiday season, and blogged them with a bit of journaling. The days that I did not have pictures, I added in Christmas memories, etc. It is fine if every page does not have a picture or journaling. This book is for you, there are no rules.
• If I remember right, I didn't actually finish my book until March, 2009, lol. But you know what, I was ok with that! I did it on my own time, and loved how it turned out in the end.
• On some days, I had lots more pictures that I wanted to share. What I did was punch holes in them using the Crop a Dial and ran ribbon through the holes, and tied it in loose knots, so that I could still flip through the pictures. I adhered the back picture to my book.
• The most important thing about this book is to do it how you want. Do whatever you want! There is no right or wrong with it.

I hope this post encourages others to try out the December Daily. It is a wonderful way to capturing those Christmas memories. If any of you have questions about how I did mine, fire away!

Sing Along Saturday

I thought that sharing a few of the songs that I have been listening to lately might be fun. So today is Sing Along Saturday! If I'm going to do this more often I might even make a banner thing, and invite others to participate since I can never have too much music and I'm always looking for something new.

So in no particular order here are a few songs that I have been listening to a lot lately.

"On the Wings of a Snow White Dove" by Ferlin Husky

I've been listening to this a lot lately since it reminds me of Grandpa Nelson. I've really been missing him. I've realized lately that I haven't been dealing with his death well. But that's a whole different blog entry. The old style country is what Grandpa used to love. This song makes me feel closer to Grandpa somehow. And yes, it was played at his funeral.

"Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd

Growing up Dad used to listen to a lot of Pink Floyd and for the past couple of years or so I've been listening to more and more of it. "Comfortably Numb" has become part of playlists a lot recently.

"Runaway" by Love and Theft

This song has made my rotation since some days I would love to just sell everything, pack my bags and drive off to a new place. I think most people have that dream that they can just do that....

"Felt Good on my Lips" by Tim McGraw

This is a new song that I just love to sing around too! It sounds so different than most of Tim McGraw's songs, but it makes me just want to crank the music and sing.

"All I Want for Christmas is a Real Good Tan" by Kenny Chesney

Yes, I have been listening to Christmas music already. I just love me some Christmas Music. One day I am going to spend Christmas on the islands somewhere....

"Stuck Like Glue" by Sugarland

Ok, I have to say first of all. I HATE this video. Jenniffer Nettles (the lead singer) just annoys me. I can't stand her. But this song keeps getting stuck in my head. Though it could do without the whole country rap part. That annoys me. But I do like this song.

"Summer of '69" by Bryan Adams

This song I've always loved. Been listening to a fair amount of various 80's songs as well lately.

"Thinking 'Bout Somethin'" by Hanson

This song makes me just want to get up and dance!!! I grew up in the 90's, of course I still love boybands!!!

"Sweet Little '66" by Steve Earle

Once again, Ma and Dad used to listen to a fair amount of Steve Earle, and of course I HATED it, lol. But I've been listening to a lot of it. Unfortunately youtube does not have a fabulous version of this song, but I'm sure you can find one if you want to download the track.

"Get Off on the Pain" by Gary Allan

I just love Gary Allan. I really need to get his new CD that came out a while ago. I really enjoy his music.

I suppose I should stop now before I don't have any to do this again! And if you are looking for a new CD to pick up, check out Jason Aldean's newest CD "My Kinda Party." I really need to see Jason in concert again. He is AMAZING!!

Finally Friday!

I always think of this song on Friday's. :)

I'm going to be honest. I don't want to blog today. It was a long day. I didn't sleep good last night for some reason. Today at work was crazy busy, I mean I didn't even have time to take a lunch, so busy! That's not typical at all! But I still love my new job. :) I'm just happy that the day flew by.

Honestly you know what sounds good right now? A nice, hot, long bubble bath, and laying in bed adn watching a movie. :) I think I might just go and do that. :)

Tweet Your 16 Year Old Self

On Twitter today I noticed that there was a trending topic called "#TweetYour16YearOldSelf" and throughout the day I was thinking of some things that I would tell myself in my younger years. Not necessarily when I was 16 but throughout my school years. I was thinking that it would be a good blog post, so here I am.

• You aren't fat. You are healthy and gorgeous. Believe it. Don't worry about trying to lose weight or changing. Don't think that you are fat. You look good and healthy. You will look back and wish that you still looked that good.
• It doesn't matter what people think of you. Be yourself. Embrace yourself.
• Live your life for you. No one else.
• Don't try to be perfect. No one can be perfect.
• Don't try to live up to everyone's expectations of you.
• Don't give up on your goals.
• It's ok to go out and party once in a while and come home late. Those are part of the teenage years. You will regret that later in life.
• Don't ever sell the Thunderbird.
• Confide in your friends when stuff goes wrong. When you feel like you have no one to turn too.
• Don't attempt suicide.
• Take the scholarship to St. Scholastica. Live in the dorms. Enjoy that part of life. You will regret it if you don't.
• Don't be so responsible all the time. It's ok to let your hair down once in a while.
• Buy 2 pairs of those awesome Tommy Hilfiger jeans. You look awesome in them.
• Chase those hopes and dreams you have.
• Spend more time with Grandma and Grandpa. They won't be around forever.
• Don't be in such a hurry to grow up. Enjoy life.
• Experiment with makeup. Have fun with it.
• Dye your hair whatever color you want. It will wash out eventually or you can always re-dye it.
• It's ok to wear your hair curly every now and then. Embrace it.
• Rock out to the music you like. Don't worry about what anyone else thinks.
• Dance at the school dances. Don't worry about what you look like dancing. It's fun!
• When the girls want to go to a club, go!
• Follow your heart.
• Buy stock in Apple or Google with your spare money.
• Try not to be so shy.
• Don't fall for credit cards. Use cash only.
• Push for braces.
• Do what you want to do, not what you think everyone wants you to do.
• Most importantly, enjoy all the good times with your friends. Laugh a lot. It's the best thing ever.

Ramblings

Tonight I feel like writing, but I'm not sure about what. I've toyed with a few ideas from my list, but none of them speak to me today. So I'll do a rambling list of thoughts.

• Today I gave a presentation on Outlook Calendar Best Practices to my work group. I HATE speaking in front of people, but I did it anyway. I think it went really well and afterwards people kept coming up to me and thanking me for giving it. I think everyone learned a lot. One person even told me that she is going to call me "Awesome Amber" from now on, lol.
• I am seriously behind on reading and commenting on blogs. I'm debating about moving my old Google reader account to a new one and weaning down on the blogs I follow.
• Speaking of following blogs, I'm so sad to see some of my favorites seem to be turning commercialized now. It seems like they are constantly giving sponsor items away and that most posts are about the products. That makes me very sad as I miss the real posts from them. :(
• I'm not ready for winter. I wish it could be 50-60 degrees and sunny all year around. Getting down to the 30's/40's at night. That would be ideal for me.
• I've been falling behind on cleaning and putting things away in the apartment. I've been feeling so exhausted lately. Not a good thing.
• I'm planning to go to bed early tonight and hopefully that will help.
• I've been listening to Christmas music already.
• I really need to create a new playlist. I've started it, but haven't finished.
• Speaking of music, I should share some of my favorite songs lately. Anyone interested in that?
• Books make me happy.
• I have a think for stationary and office supplies. Odd.
• I've been meaning to go to the Salvation Army and look for a couple of things for my desk at work. I have a vision in my head and need to find a couple things.
• I haven't been spending a ton of time online lately. That makes me happy.
• I've been devouring books like crazy.
• One can never have too many books.
• I want a good program to track/organize my books. Anyone have any ideas?
• I really want a bookplate/library checkout system for my books. Like this from uncommon goods. :D
• It sounds like there is a heard of elephants running around upstairs. I think my things are going to start falling off my walls.
• I have a vision for my living room and kitchen. I just need to get ambition to do it.

Ethan

My cousin Lynette had a baby on October 13. His name is Ethan and he is the cutest baby ever! Lynette and Cliff were nice enough to let me watch Ethan when he was only 10 days old! He is just so damn adorable and I hardly put him down while I was there. That new baby smell..mmmmm. Here is a quick picture of the two of us. Whenever he was on my shoulder he was holding my shirt in his little fist. He is just so adorable. It makes me wish I were a mom. Instead I'll be "Auntie" Amber since Lynette is an only child and spoil Ethan so much!

NaBloPoMo, again!

Last year I decided to participate in NaBloPoMo again! If you don't know what that is, you can read my entry last year. In reading that post again, I wonder if it is summer and early fall that I start to slack off on blog posting. It's kinda odd. I do know that I definitely go through peaks and valleys in blog posting, but I wonder if some are seasonal.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to blogging daily. I've been "writing" entries, but not getting them out here. I start thinking of them on lunch, in the shower, in the car, etc, and then when I sit down I feel as if I can't word what I wanted to say in a good way. Does that make sense? It does in my world!

Here are a couple things I want to blog about this month. Hopefully it will serve as a reminder if I can't think of something to blog about! I also, have my trusty Journal Jar too! I found it while unpacking some boxes from my scrapbook room!

And of course, in list form, a few ideas.

• Scrapbook Classes--Me A:Z; Journal Your Christmas
• December Daily (Share my completed book!)
• Update on new job
• Update on apt
• Recipes, cooking, baking
• Share various pictures
• Ethan
• Marriage Counselling
• Scrapbook room

And of course I had a ton more, but can't think right now! Also, my tummy is growling at me, so I suppose I should go find something for dinner!

I'm really excited about NaBloPoMo! :D

Have you ever looked back on your life and realize that this is where you thought you would be in life?

Tonight for some reason I'm in this mood and reflecting...and honestly, it's not a good thing.

Right now I'm 27. By this age, this is how I always imagined it would be.

I thought that by this age that I would be happily married, with 2.3 kids. Like the typical American family. I would be a stay at home mom for the children while my husband worked. I would have meals on the table, homemade, and would spend hours playing with the kids and scrapbooking a bit as time allowed. I would be living up north somewhere closer to my family. I wouldn't have to worry about money. I would have a large garden. Before I got married I would have traveled through Europe. I would have gone on vacations to Florida, California, and I would be very close to my family. Grandpa would have held my first born child. We would have a 3 generation photo taken.

It makes me feel like I am a failure. I know that I shouldn't feel that way, but I do. How wrong is it to feel this way? I know that I shouldn't look back, but I do. I wish I could simply look forward and move forward.....