Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Tiny Living

Dear blog,

Have you heard about the tiny house movement? I am really digging it. I first came across a tiny house about a year ago that a family of 4 uses as a cabin which led me to Tumbleweed Houses . Ever since then I have been making plans in the back of my mind to build a tiny house on a trailer to take camping. Heath likes the idea too.


Before learning about this movement I was planning on having a smaller than average house. I think a smaller home is all around the best fit for me and for most. It uses less energy, creates less sprawl, gets you outdoors more, makes you live more efficiently and with less clutter, and is much easier to clean (my favorite part).

I came across this video the other day and the ingenuity is remarkable. So clever and yet once you see it, so obvious. Living in a place like that would force me to keep all surface clean. Of course, I do not think everyone could or should live like this, but it is definitely a smart approach to living in a highly dense city.



What do you think?

Sincerely,
Emily

Friday, February 3, 2012

School Woes

Dear blog,

Sometimes, I am in class which has a background that I have no knowledge of (engineering/physics) and feel like a complete moron surrounded by other students who actually know what is going on. It is discouraging and makes me want to quit. But just about everything can be learned and I am just going to have to take the extra time to catch myself up. I have to repeat to myself, "I can do it. I can do it. I can do it."

Sometimes I have to finish an assignment for school and Juni will NOT go down for a nap and, bless her heart, pulls at my hand to come and play with her. I get super stressed out and think to myself, "What was I thinking? I shouldn't be doing this! My poor daughter just watches movies all afternoon while I work on homework. I am neglecting her." Then I barely make it to class on time and by the time class is over I realize, "No, I need to be in school. It is important to learn what I am learning and one day it will bless me, my family, and hopefully I can make some impact on the world. Besides, mornings and weekends with Juni are definitely quality moments." (And I'll be OK with myself if I don't leave an impact on the world. Outside of family and friends, most people don't and I'm not any different).

My point is, I should have finished school a long time ago. Hindsight is truly 20/20 folks! I need to finish school, I just should have been smarter about it. I thought it would get easier to focus as I got older (which is half true. Being older and more mature and busy has made me realize that writing a paper isn't so hard, just time consuming) but life just becomes more complicated and difficult, making school harder in turn. It is kind of like how Heath and I thought we were so poor before Juni came into our lives, but we never that we would have to make ends meet on one part time salary. Thank goodness for grants. Oy! How naive I was. And how naive I must be now compared to when I am 30, 50, 70. And yet despite my naïveté, I must seize the day as patterns show life will only get more complicated.

This post sounds really negative but it is actually supposed to be motivating (I'm a terrible motivator) so perhaps this will do the job well instead:





It worked! I feel motivated! But I must add that in the second video when they scanned through the boys, I just pictured Christian Bale as Batman singing in his scratchy Batman voice. Oh, I had a good laugh.

Sincerely,
Emily

Friday, January 27, 2012

I Sew?

Dear blog,

About a year ago, I was asked by a friend to recover her glider for her son's nursery. I had never done a sewing project like that before but I knew I could do it and she knew it too and was very encouraging. Besides, it wasn't too difficult of a job. So I went at it.

Now, I must admit that I feel silly posting these pictures because I just do, and because well, her nursery was featured on Design Sponge and she is none other than Summer Bellessa, the lovely brunette of The Girls With Glasses. But I am so proud of my work, however small, that I cannot help but share this special project.

1st and 3nd pictures are taken from Design Sponge and you can see the entire nursery here


Summer did an awesome job! So fresh, clean, fun, and definitely has the Summer air about it. And that crib I am dying over.

Thank you Summer for having the confidence in a first time "Upholsterer." It was fun to do!

À demain,

Emily

Friday, January 20, 2012

Some Quick Updates

Dear Blog,

  • The past week or so have been quite crazy. Fun, but crazy. Lots of family was in town. My 2 sisters and their families, my grandma, an aunt and her family, and an uncle and his family. Some I hadn't seen in a while, others I hadn't seen in a very long time, and others I hadn't met at all. My grandma finally got to meet Juni, and 3 other great grand children. It was lots of fun. I'll have to post pictures at a later time but for now here is a 4 generational photo.

Juni, me, great-grandma, tutu (grandma)


  • Oh, and do you see that? I chopped off all of my hair! I look much older, especially in this photo. So I'm not sure if it was a good move. But just in case you're wondering I always look much better in real life than I do in pictures. In other words, take this picture and upgrade it a few times and you get me in real life.

  • It was my Birthday on Monday. So now I'm 25!

  • School is going well but it's only just started. I can tell one class is going to be particularly challenging. I have no background for the subject so we'll see what happens. In fact, I should be studying for it but did you hear? Somebody, somewhere hacked into the ASUrite system and it's been shut down the past 2 days. Meaning I can't do a darned thing since 2 classes are online and the other two heavily use blackboard on the ASU site.

  • Juni is getting older. She is now in a toddler bed. Let's just say bars or no bars, she sucks at sleeping! I might lose it. At this very moment she is in her room and is supposed to be napping. But instead she just opens her door, waits for me to come walking down the hall, and then runs and jumps into bed and when I leave she waits a minute and opens the door and we do the whole thing over again. What's difficult is that she isn't grumpy or crying, but she's tired and refuses to go to sleep. The 3rd night into using a toddler bed she stayed up until nearly 1 a.m. She was wide awake. Luckily I was more patient than normal and wasn't totally losing my head. I thought I would scare her into staying in her bed. So I raised my voice and pointed my finger but it didn't phase her. If you know Juni you know that this isn't like her. One word from me in a disappointing tone makes her break down and sob. I don't know what to do.

  • I could clean. I don't. I could read. I don't. I could forget about Juni's nap and just take a walk to the park. I don't. Instead, I just dream on Pinterest.

  • I love you!

Sincerely,
Emily