Feelin' Crafty

So.. Recently, I've been feeling crafty.  Rachel and I took a trip to Hobby Lobby, Michael's, and Joann.
(She needed something for her design class, and we finally found it at the last one.)

On the way, however, I finally bought myself a glue gun.  And.. A lot of other things.  And now I've been having fun with them. :)

Here are the results:

Tutorial for the top two here.

(There are two other tutorials first, so look at those, then scroll down. )

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Confessions

• I eat croutons like popcorn.
• I am crazy jealous of Christopher Gorham's wife.
• I work best under pressure. 
• I eat tuna and kraft singles at 2 in the morning when i'm hungry and can't sleep.
• I am a total sucker for totally cheesy romantic stuff. 
• I am obsessed with weddings.  I stay up till 3 in the morning looking at wedding dresses and cakes.
• I am addicted to Sudoku.
• I play Fruit Ninja when I can't sleep, or when I get bored in my Humanities class.
• I actually think Miley Cyrus is funny on the Hannah Montana tv show, of which I have seen almost every episode.
• I really really really want to meet Matthew Inman, because I think he is amazing. (The creator of theoatmeal.)
• One of my life goals is to own every original Iron Man comic.
• Another one of my life goals is to own this and this.
• I spend WAY too much time on Netflix and Hulu.
• I hate running. With a passion. The ONLY time I run is when I am majorly pissed.
• I really really wish I hadn't stopped taking piano lessons. I can only teach myself so much.
• I am a total pack rat. I save everything.
• I am almost always the third wheel. 
• I really want to take Ben Hunt's Pro Web Design Course.
• I want to be a secretary. Just for one summer.
• I sleep with a teddy bear every night. Can't sleep without it.
• I have the full 16-minute version of Rhapsody in Blue on my iPod. And I actually listen to it. The whole thing.

My Motto

My friend Nathan got me thinking about personal mottoes.  After reading his post about Mantras/Mottoes, he asks what his reader's mottoes are.   I was just going to leave a comment, but then decided it would be much too long.  Thus, I came here to write a post about it instead!

First, you need to understand a little bit about my job. I am a Sales Rep for Vector Marketing (In other words, I sell Cutco Kitchen Cutlery.)  However, this company is not just about selling. I attended a summer conference where we learned not only how to sell better, but many important life skills, such as building rapport with customers, and really learning how to talk to and relate to people. At the conference, there were many talks given by Managers, Assistant Managers, and outstanding Sales Reps.  These talks were all recorded, and put on the company website, VectorConnect.  Now, all across the nation, in Vector, every time there is a summer conference, or other event where there are talks given, they are recorded and put on this website.

So, one day I was browsing through the talks, trying to find a short one to listen to while I was getting ready for the day, in the hopes that it would provide some extra motivation and excitement for the day.
I downloaded a 20 minute talk called "My Breakthrough Story" by Geri Azinger.  
*Geri Azinger is one of the TOP Sales Reps in the nation, she sells over $5,000 weekly.* 


Her talk is all about 'breakthrough moments'.  You know what I mean.  That moment when you realize "I can totally do this! I'm gonna go out there and kick butt (in whatever you're trying to do)."
Most often, we sit and wait for those moments to come to us.  But why?? Why not just make our own breakthrough moments?
Thus, my personal motto (a direct quote from the talk), which sits prominently on my desktop on a sticky note so that I see it every time I open my laptop (which is multiple times, daily), is....
"Are you willing to lose the opportunity of a lifetime? Don't wait for your breakthrough moment. Just create one."

This also goes along with something I have been striving for recently, but I think that is going to need it's own post.  So, look forward to a post about Making Pro-active Choices.


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The Weaver

The Weaver

My life is but a weaving between my God and me;

I do not choose the colors, He worketh steadily.

Oft' times He weaveth sorrow, and I, in foolish pride,

Forget He sees the upper, and I, the under side.

Not 'till the loom is silent, and the shuttles cease to fly,

Will God unroll the canvas, and explain the reasons why.

The dark threads are as needful, in the skillful weaver's hand,

As the threads of gold and silver in the pattern He has planned.

This is my favorite poem in the whole world.  The truths in it have changed my life. 

We often focus only on what's happening now, and how terrible things are at the moment.   Think about the last time you broke down crying.  What was the reason for it? Were you just having a really bad day/week?  Thinking back on it now, was it really so bad? Everything worked out, didn't it? (I apologize if you're in the middle of one of these weeks, and it hasn't worked out yet, but know that it will!) 

If you've ever sewn anything, you know that the top looks pretty, but when you flip it over, usually, there are knots, loops, stray strings, and loads of other confusing things, and trying to figure out what it is from the bottom side never works.  Right now, we can only see the bottom side of the tapestry of our lives.  It's confusing, complicated, there are knots, stray strings and loops.  Sometimes we may think "What is the Lord doing with my life? This looks terrible!" But, we need to keep in mind that we can only see the ugly under-side of the tapestry.  When we die, we will be able to see the top side, and see how really, it turned out to be something beautiful. 

Life is like a 3-act play. We have been thrust in the middle of Act 2, with only a very small knowledge of what went on in Act 1.  In addition, Act 2 is characterized by tests, trials, temptations, and tragedies.  What we often forget is that in Act 3, all of these things are resolved.  If you live through Act 2 while focused on what's coming in Act 3, suddenly, Act 2 doesn't seem so bad.  Work through the troubles in Act 2 while keeping Act 3 in mind. 

It's Really NOT That Hard.

You're/Your
Their/There/They're
Accept/Except
It's/Its

Okay world. It's time to figure it out.
Today, I saw a Facebook post that read "I finally got my exceptance letter to the University of Utah!"

My thoughts: "Really? They excepted you? Well that stinks. Except = Exclude. (more or less) So.... Yeah, why are you posting your failure on Facebook? Ohhhhhhh wait. You mean acceptance..... Really? They accepted you?"

Now, this is a little rude. I know. But really. I'm just sick of it.
Basic grammar and spelling are SO not that hard.  Unless you've got dyslexia, (not an excuse for the grammar part), suck it up and learn how to use the English language.

Here are a few great (and funny) tutorials:

Enjoy. :)

Also. Check out the rest of the website. Love it!!


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