Social media vs. Reality

Begin rant..... Social media has takin people's lives by storm over the decade or so and People pay more attention to Facebook, Twitter, fubar and all the other one's out there then they do there families. Im not innocent on that in anyway shape or form. Recently I realized how much time I spend on the internet checking Facebook postings or tweets on Twitter and I thought to myself "wtf am I doing?" ive been on FB for a very long 8 years. I was actually on it before people really started discovering it. We have computers in the palm of our hands (smart phones. Ipads and tablets) that causes people to ignore those around them.  Before FB I was constantly on Myspace so give or take the past 9 years have slipped past me at lighting speed. Even before that I was constantly playing poker on fulltilt poker. My son was a young 10 (almost 11) year old when I started playing poker online. Now in just a few short weeks he will be 21 and im scratching  my head trying to figure out when my son grew up and realized that I don't know my child. Why? Because like many others I was sucked into everything the Internet has to offer. Kids are messed up in the head now a days cause they haven't been raised the way we were.....  Parents outright ignore there kids cause there to busy with the noses being buried in there cells phones and or there tablets. It breaks my heart to see how messed up they are...... Life in general is so different than it was when I was growing up or pre-social media and it quickly took over my life!!
So now im forcing myself to  stay off of fb and other social media sites. What happened to the days when people hung out or spent time with there families??? Why don't people take there families out to do stuff? What happened to kids playing outside from sun up to sun down? The internet happened and its sad! Kids would rather be playing on there Xbox then be outside. Kids are getting into trouble left and right! Two different things that I have recently witnessed while doing laundry at the laundrymat....... One woman was at the laundrymat with her very young child..... This young child was trying to get her mothers attention, and the mother had her nose shoved in her cell phone and she actually screamed at her very young child for interrupting her...... Seriously? Nothing on the Internet is more important then that adorable child. I saw the look on that babies face when said mother screamed at her when all the child wanted was her mothers attention. It took everything to keep me from walking up to that woman and getting into her face and yelling at her. I sat there and bit my tongue for a hour to keep me from saying something..... Then a week ago at the laundrymat there was another young mother with 2 young children and she was outright ignoring her kids. The little girl tried getting her attention as she sat there on her cell phone and the mother wouldn't even acknowledge her, meanwhile the son was throwing a very small ball all over the place including at people and getting into stuff and yet the mother was ignoring what he was doing all because the Internet was more important? Seriously people really need to take a step back and see how this is going to affect there kids in the long run.....really sad! That's all I have to say about it!!! A lot of stuff about social media has really been irritating me that past few months...... Yea it's nice to be connected to family/relatives on there and cool to be able to reconnect with childhood friends or even long lost coworkers but people need to get a grip and remember the reality of life. Get off of the computers, cells and tablets and go spend time with your kids, spouses, family or friends ......Take a breather and enjoy life the way it was meant to be..... Looking at screens 24/7 is not the way life was meant to be!!!! End rant!!

Caffeine and Insomnia

Oh how I hate you caffeinated pop! You play with my insomnia all the time and it's wearing me thin. If I drink to much of you I'm 100% wired to the point there's no return, and sleep...... Well that I can forget about! Pop alone affects me the most in a way that it won't let me sleep at all. Yesterday I only had 1 can of Pepsi and 2 bottles of Mt. Dew over a 15 hour period but it did its damage. Up until 4 am then back up at 7am still wired. So for that I am parting ways with you pop and switching to tea in the mornings for my energy boosts and water with fruit in it. I want normal sleep back and I will take it back!! Goodbye pop! Go mess with someone else's sleep cause I'm done with you!!

Baby oh baby

So my cousins oldest child is due with her third child here soon and I've been wracking my head on what to get her for a baby gift. And my mind was only drawing 100% complete blanks. When she was pregnant with both of her daughters I couldn't afford to buy baby gifts for both the girls but have been making up for that at CHRISTmas time the past few CHRISTmas's. After I finished the quilt I made for my friends baby it suddenly dawned on me...... That I have over 3 weeks to make another baby quilt. I will be traveling to spend time with them for CHRISTmas so I dragged my son with me to Hobby Lobby in search of the perfect fabric to make a baby quilt for a baby boy and I think I hit the jack pot not only cause of the fabric I found but cause Hobby Lobby was having a awesome sale. Got not only the fabric at 30% off but got the batting at 30% off also.....  I walked out of there a happy camper. Will be cutting the fabric up tonight and tomorrow then will get my creativity on. The baby quilt I made for my friends little one I had done in large blocks. The one I'm making for my soon to arrive baby cousin I'm going to be brave and make it in small blocks. Hopefully this one turns out just as awesome!! Here's a picture of the fabric that I'm working with.......

Enjoy the crisp cold day everyone! At only 28 degrees I'm already for summer to return.......

Dreams

Ever since I was in high school my true dream has always been to own my own business. I started going to college not once but 3 times and stupidity quit all 3 times. For almost 18 years I have been stuck working in auto factories. And it's taking a toll on my body! For the past 3-4 years I have been racking my brain trying to figure out what sort of business I want to start and that it has to be something that I will love and enjoy doing and how will I get it started.......

Both of my great grandma's was quilters. One was very talented at it. A couple of years ago I finally decided that I wanted to learn to quilt and sell what I make, but I had one problem....... I couldn't afford to buy a sewing machine. My dad gave me one a year and a half ago and I just made my first baby quilt. It's a gift for a friend whom had her first baby. I didn't use any pattern I made it by what I visioned in my head and it turned out so beautiful!! 

My dad told me over the weekend that both of my great grandma's sold quilts and other crafts that they would make. 

And I never knew that. So I guess I'm continuing there legacy of quilting and selling. Now I wonder if they had whispered in my ear and told me that this is what I should do and guided me while I made my very first quilt.

My plan is to specialize in baby quilts and his and her Camo quilts and also his and her John Deere quilts. I live in a county where life revolves around hunting, fishing, and farming along with anything and everything having to do with outdoors. People in this county love everything Camo, mossy oak and realtree so I know the quilts will sell easily! I plan on starting this journey after the new year when peoples wallets have settled down and recovered from the Christmas season. I just need to settle on a name for my business then I will be up and at em' sewing like a mad woman!

Hopefully this journey goes the way I want it to so that I can get out of the factory life. Wish me luck!

Crossroads and Paths

As adults there is so many paths and crossroads that we can take in our life journey. Sometimes we turn in the wrong direction or we hit dead ends. I've hit many dead ends in my adult life and it makes it really hard to put a smile on my face and be happy.  I'm unhappy with the type of work I've been doing for almost 18 years. I've had hardships that seems like I've had way more then my fair share, but then I think about all the people living in poverty and all the homeless people in our country and it reminds me that I need to be grateful that I have a job and a house. 

In high school my goal was to own my own business. But 20+ years later that dream has not yet become a reality. For the past 10 months I have been in the process of planning and getting organized to make that dream a reality! It's coming along slower then I would like but I don't want to rush into it full speed ahead and cause it to fail.

I need to finish college and get my business degree that I started and didn't finish......

My employer will pay for my college courses and upon getting my degree I will be contracted to continue working for them for so many years. So I'm forcing myself to take a deep breath and do what I need to do to finish that degree. Work will remain where I'm at but I can still slowly start my business and just do it as a side job from home until I can make it a full time job in the future. 

I keep telling myself to be patient and let everything fall into place when it's meant to fall into place but I'm not much of a patient person. I'm so ready to turn down the correct path at that crossroad that's meant for me but I know I've got learn to be patient to make it happen at the correct time. Hopefully that correct path will surface soon.......  Ok I'm done rambling have a good day and until next time.......

Autumn...... Season's change

Seasons is a time of change. I love summer, the heat, the hotter the better. But, I also love fall.....

Fall is a time of crisp fresh air, hoodies, chilly night's, bon fires, football, apple cider, colorful leaves, flying leaves, bare tree's, cider mill's, fall festivals, the start of hunting season, harvesting and so much more.

Michigander's go into fall full force and they own it, live it and love it. I live in the country and I happen to love everything country. I live in a county that doesn't have any freeways that run through it and believe it or not there are no cities in it. There are towns, townships and villages. And farm after farm after farm. Harvest time now has the concubines and other farm equipment out on the roads going from point a to point b..... It can be annoying when your in a hurry but then I remember they grow what we put in our stomachs so I slow down and enjoy the scenery while driving until they turn onto a country road.

The village that I live in has the county's best fall festival that people travel from all over to attend. Last year was the 1st time that I checked it out. This year i ended up volunteering to work with my neighbor on trash removal

for part of the weekend so it was interesting getting to see what workers do behind the scenes and what they deal with behind the scenes of the festival.......

I did manage to go shop at all the little vendor booths Sunday morning before it started getting busy. Got some good stuff and enjoyed just walking slowly from booth to booth. But then it started getting packed so just as slowly I walked home and enjoyed what appears to have been our last warm day.

As we move into fall, slow down and enjoy the beauty of it all. It's such a beautiful season, with the tree's in full color...... Enjoy it, live it and love it! Happy fall to all :)

Crafts and Recipe's

Once upon A time when I was A teenager my grandmother started teaching me different craft's that you don't learn in school, and that I really enjoyed doing. Fast forward 28 year's I get just as bored as I did as a teenager so I am going to pick back up on those craft's that i can turn around and sell. I used to love "playing" with yarn with my grandma making this project and that project. So to pass the time esp during the cold winter months I will be keeping myself busy with yarn and also with fabric. I am self teaching myself to quilt. But it's not just quilts that i will be quilting but also anything that's quiltable. I will be quilting anything from quilted bags, table runners, placemats to patch quilt stuffed animals. Anything to keep myself busy!

I have been OBSESSED with recipe's since i was in my early 20's. I love making new stuff and in this day and age of technology I am always coming across recipe's on facebook that I absolutely want to make. But I am a penny pinching person when it come's to alot of stuff to save money. And my printer is one of those. I only print stuff from it when I absolutely have to! Why might you ask? Because I don't want to spend money on ink and paper just to constantly print this or that. So from now on I will be posting recipes on here that I want in a spot that i won't lose it. And will also Put my own personal recipe's on here with how to's and pictures.  

So now that i've passed some time with this post I must now go figure out what to make for dinner.....

Summer season

I live in a four season state and I always anticipate the arrival of Summer. The season of flip flops, shorts, tank tops, swimming, fishing, bbq's, Bon fires and camping.  The smell of fresh cut grass and a good rain fall! I always look forward to all of that.

I used to live in Southern California for a good part of my life, but the fast city life just didn't seem to be for me! I love everything country and enjoy the peacefulness of the country life and small towns. Heck, the county I live in doesn't even have a freeway that goes through it!! I think I was meant to live in the country. It's in my blood! My ex whom grew up on a farm in the country thinks I'm nothing but a city girl but what he doesn't realize is that in reality I grew up in the country but because I lived in the city for 11 years that I don't know anything but city life. But whatever I'm all country at heart and always have been! The city isn't for me at all. So he can think what he wants to think cause quite frankly I don't give a rats ass what he thinks! I do miss the convenience of living close to the ocean and the salty smell of it. But I also love lakes which doesn't have sharks in it😉lol.

Summer for me also now means 3+ miles of walking everyday. Which I'm starting at slowly but is going to become a yearly ritual for spring, summer and fall.....  Summer is by far my favorite season!! On the other hand I do enjoy fall. The crispness of the weather, the famous Indian summer weather that Michigan can get! The beautiful fall colors of leaves changing on the trees. Fall festivals, Cider Mills, Apple cider and all that goes with fall! It always fascinates me how the seasons can merge with each other to make a new season! Although when it comes to winter I love the prettiness of snow but  I hate the cold temperatures!!

So I am going to go outside now and enjoy the heat and take my furbaby for a relaxing walk. Enjoy the summer! 

New journey

I am starting a new venture/journey that I'm very excited about. My great grandmother was a quilter and she did all her quilting by hand. Quilting is not something that I have been taught how to do. But at this moment I am making a baby quilt for a close friend of mine and am teaching myself how to make it without any patterns. I am making it by what I see in my head. 

I am going to turn this into a side business and will not only make quilts but will make anything that is quiltable! 

I have been getting all kinds of idea's from Pinterest on all the stuff that I could possibly quilt and am going to learn as I go on making all the possible stuff that I could do with quilting. What better way to make extra money by doing something that I know I will enjoy like my great grandmother. We lost my great grandma 12 years ago next week just 2 weeks after her 98th birthday. But just a few weeks before her birthday I sat down and watched her work her magic on piecing granny squares together for a quilt. As I sat there and watched her I knew then that I wanted to learn how to quilt and am now just getting the courage to do it!

I hope that my grandmother will be sitting next to me in spirit guiding me as I learn to do this on my own. Here is a picture of what I have done so far tonight on this baby quilt for my friends baby.

Family: Life and Journey's

Family..... We all have two families; The family that we are born into and the family that we create amongst our friends. Family doesn't have to be blood in any way shape or form. We love our family but we also love our friend's. I love my family and my friend's equally. Some people don't have a great family relationship with there family and or relatives for many reason's which is why some make there friend's family. Always remember that regardless of who you consider family that you need to always be there when they need a ear to talk to. Don't pick and choose if you want to answer that phone when they call and not return there call or text message for that matter, cause you never know if there is something wrong. Or don't be in the middle of a conversation with them then suddenly act like you can't hear them then hang up on them and ignore there call when they call right back. And don't claim that your phone never rings when they call or claim that you never receive text message's that they sent you. Family doesn't treat family like that. This is just a rant cause I am irritated at certain (blood) family member's.

Life and Journey's...... As kid's we can't wait to be adults. To be able to live our own lives and do as we please. We decide on what we want our life Journey to be but sometimes that journey has many road block's and dead ends and we never seem to find that correct fork in the road to what our journey is supposed to be. I am in my early 40's and am still trying to find that correct fork in the road for my life journey that's supposed to be for me. I sometimes wonder why it is that some people have it so easy in there journey as adults and for some it's  constant hardship's, dead end's, heart break and constant loss. I am tired of the constant struggles. It seems like no matter what I do nothing work's out right. Every time thing's are starting to go the way I want it to something happens and everything comes crashing back down on me and I have to start crawling my way back again and it happens over and over again. I want a solid journey in life. I want to live comfortably and not have to constantly stress and worry about making sure I have enough money to pay this bill or that bill. This is not how I imagined my life journey as a adult! It really hurts me when I see people on FB constantly taking trips here and trip's trip's there when I can't even go see my sibling that lives 2000 mile's away. 2 week's ago I got to the point that I've decided to limit logging into FB except for 1 day a week, and am not even looking at the news feed when I do log in. Where I have worked for the past 5 1/2 year's we have always had unlimited overtime. Every year our weekly insurance deduction's from our pay check's have gone up. Actually it has skyrocketed to the point that it's ridiculous! This past summer my employer banned us from working 12 hour shifts to cover people from other shifts. And has recently told us that we soon will no longer be allowed to work weekend's. I have not worked any overtime in a month. This lack of overtime has caused my check's to be cut in half of what I normally brought home with overtime. And financially I can't survive on a 40 hour paycheck.   On top of that with my kid graduating last Spring I no longer get the child support except what is owed in back child support and even with what I was getting monthly has been cut in half. The amount of money being taken out of my check's for taxes is ridiculous. Will I ever catch a break? My car needs repairs and I can't even afford to get it repaired. I am going to have to find myself a second job and that's not what I want. I will not have any type of life like that! I am wanting to start a business to make extra money from home but how is a person to get the financial backing for that when you have inquired about financial backing and you get nothing but door's slammed in your face? This business that I want to start will happen but it will have to be one order at a time until the money starts flowing in. I am working on creating my own fork in the correct path, something that I will enjoy doing. But it can be so overwhelming at time's to know which way to turn or which way to go. But I will do this I am now fighting against all these road block's and dead end's. I am not going to play this game of the unfairness in life anymore. I already got my first order from a coworker. She knows that I will get it done for her as soon as I am able to get the supplies that I need to make it for her. This new journey that I am creating for myself will be posted after I get 3 project's done. I am just doing some venting today and trying to clear my head which is what this post is about on 2 subject's. Will post again soon.......

Life is life

Ok it seems that no matter what I'm not very good at keeping up on the whole blogging thing.
So I guess it is what it is and that's that. I will post when I post, lol

This will just be a 9 month catch up blog. :)

My son's graduation went well back in May. My eldest and favorite Aunt made the trip from Cleveland for D's graduation. We enjoyed her being here for the day. WE had only been in our new house for 2 weeks when graduation day came so my house was obviously still a total wreck from unpacking. (I hate unpacking by the way) Instead of moving in with us my parent's chose to move to Arizona. So the morning after D graduated they was on the road but not until I made them a very large breakfast for a full tummy while traveling there 1st day on the road.

Two day's after D graduated my cousin's oldest graduated and his graduation party was right after his graduation. It was a beautiful and perfect day to be outside for his party. Can't believe these boy's are out of high school. Just doesn't seem possible.

Fast forward a month and we had a very busy 9 Day's! The last saturday of June we had our yearly family reunion. Then had to rush home cause had family coming in from out of state for my son's graduation party and our yearly camping trip.
Reunion we was pretty much stuck in my great aunt and uncle's garage due to rain. Apparently a bad storm hit my tiny town while we was there. The closer we got to home after the reunion the more tree limbs and tree's was down on the ground. My family from out of state got to my house before we did so luckily I left the door on locked for them. (I don't make it a habit of leaving my door's unlocked even though I do live in the country). When we got home it was a race to get the house clean and ready for the following day of company for D's graduation party. It turned out to be a very hot, humid and muggy day so since my grandparent's was going to be there I decided to have the party indoors in the a/c. I didnt want grandma and grandpa getting over heated since they are in there late 80's. And I think everyone else appreciated that to. The party was perfect Except for the fact that my parent's and sister and her family wasn't there. Originally the plan was that I was going to buy the plane ticket's to fly my sis, bro n law and there 4 children out but I didn't realize how expensive it would be to fly all 6 of them out here so that didn't happen. Will get them out here another time. :(

Normally we would've been leaving for our camping trip that day as we always do the Sunday before the 4th of July. But unfortunately for us I waited to long to make our reservation's. We ended up pitching our tent onto my baby cousin's camp site. They don't go for the whole week like we do so that gave us a couple of day's to hang at the pool and not have to rush to get all the camping gear together. But I made sure we had our reservation's for this year before we left the campgrounds last year. Camping was fun as it alway's is every year!! Am excited for this year's camping trip though cause I picked one of the few tent site's that are in front of the swimming lake. The only trick will be trying to keep my sweet fur baby out of the lake cause she love's swimming......

A month after camping D got his first job. It is close enough for him to walk to work, but not in these frigid temp's. I'm peeling myself out of bed early and taking him to work. can't wait for Spring to get here so he can walk to work though. :-/ He is still working there and helping his momma with bill's for awhile. But he need's to start looking into college. The past 9 month's has gone by so quickly. Went to cleveland for Christmas and got into mischief with my favorite bestie cousin. Alway's enjoy my time with her!

Future plan's are now in the work's. Yearly camping trip. Long weekend for me in the fall to take a road trip to the DC area to see my best friend from high school. And hoping to go to Cali the 1st week of August if D can get out of work for a week so we can go see my sis and family.

And I am working on starting a project to make money on the side to make extra money on the side. Hopefully this pan's out the way I want. But I will post a seperate post for that. I need to get off of here now. Hope everyone has a good week. stay warm it's gonna be another cold freezing week. Laterssss