Hello Cyber Space

Who knew 7 days without the Internet would be so challenging. I tried to find one word that described each day during my...mmm...vacation. The first day was almost surreal. I actually felt relieved. My typical morning routine is to check Facebook, email, write my blog, browse Craigslist and if there is time oogle Pinterest. My hiatus brought about feeling of freedom. However, the first day anti-internet I almost checked something online twice by 6:44am. I could tell it was going to be a rough week. By day two it felt like a nuisance. It's the end of the month and I have bills to pay. What the heck was this blonde bozo thinking? Day three: waste. I'm wasting away in this land void of facebook. I'm a vapor. My presence is slipping away from the absence of updates. Four...this feeling is getting repetitive. Five. I need it! Not having the Internet is really delaying my ability to live life. I want to make chicken pot pie, but my favorite pie crust recipe is online. I need! I need! I need! (not to be confused with I want..Internet is a need. right?) Six. Nada. Seven. I'm coming back around the bend. I'm reading again. I'm reclaiming my passion. My passion to learn....through books.

The difficult parts:
- Going online is a habit and it's hard to break
- Inability to pay bills online
- I had to learn how to cook WITHOUT allrecipes
- Uninformed (or at least I felt like it)
- No one knew what was going on in my life
- Had to use primal ways to contact people (aka the phonebook)

The benefits:
- I spent more time with Juliet
- I had to be creative (meals, projects, free time, etc)
- I went outside
- I read more
- I spent an afternoon at a used bookstore

Overall, I found the experiment to be successful. It helped me to analyze how I spent my time. It also scarily made me aware of how stinkin' much I use the Internet. I could see myself doing this again in the future. I like to make sure my life is balanced and what better way to check the balance than to go without for 7 days. It's really not that long, but after three I was really wondering if I was going to make it.

7 Day Absence

I'm doing an experiment which necessitates my absence for a week. My goal is to abstain from technology for one week apart from the basics, that being phone calls, texts and email. This means NO instagram, browsing on the web (phone or computer), No Craigslist (this is gonna be a hard one for me), NO Facebook (I think someone just fainted), Twitter, Blogger, Pinterest (how I yearn for thee). I'm not sure what will come of this, but I feel it will be something GREAT! Until next Friday folks!

 

Photo courtesy of helpforinternetaddictions.com

Raised Lettering Wall Canvas

I have some funky projects from college and I was at a loss of what to do with them because they didn't seem to fit my current decor scheme. My home has very muted colors...grays, white, off white, light green, etc. My art projects are the complete opposite. They have no color scheme. No structure. They're wild and crazy! Some would say my "creative" projects look like they got gang banged by crayola (Pinterest readers should recognize this, if not, check out THIS).

 

AND I really really like to recycle uses for things I already have. You'll discover that if you stick with this blog long enough. So, why not create another project...

 

First, I had to decide what I wanted to write. I wanted it to be meaningful, inspirational and applicable to marriage. I got out my  Bible and found the section in Ephesians about the role of a husband and wife and picked out some lines. I got my area ready; cleaned of the old canvases, plugged in my glue gun and got lots of extra glue sticks, grabbed a pillow for my rump.

* For future reference be sure to grab a ruler and pencil to mark even lines on the canvas and pre-script what you're going to write. I was crunched with a time bomb anytime detonation sleeping baby.

 

Now, go over your scripted lines with the hot glue gun. Take your time. I got a little antsy. There will be little webs of glue everywhere. Don't worry we'll take care of it later, but do try to keep the words as clean as possible. It will save you time.

 

Let it dry. Take a dry paint brush and wipe the canvas. This will help clean of the webs of glue (don't use your husbands nice paint brush or he may yell at you!) Check over the canvas and pull any loose webs that didn't come off. This is an extremely important part. The get out your paint and paint away. two coats is best. I think white looks great!

 

 

And there's your trash to treasure :)

Nutella Pops

 

I love Nutella! My love affair started in college. I remember that first bite. Dipping the strawberry into the chocolaty rich goodness. It was over. I was hooked.

Then came Pinterest. It was good. Then, I began to see numerous pins about Nutella. Nutella hot chocolate, Nutella fudge with sea salt, Nutella pops. Pinterest went from good to great! The following is the newest attempt with Nutella.

NUTELLA POPS:

Serves: 8 (depending on the person)

 

1 cup of milk

1/3 cup of Nutella

3 tablespoons of chopped almonds

Popsicle tray

Large measuring cup or bowl

Spatula

Popsicle trays (I found mine at the dollar store) or Popsicle sticks and small cups work as well

 

 

Pour milk into measuring cup, up to 1 cup. Then add Nutella until it is 1 1/3 full. Mix. I found I needed to nuke this in the microwave for some time in order for it to blend together. Pour into clean Popsicle trays. It's so handy to use the measuring cup because it sure helps pour. If you happen to love almonds like I do, plop a few into the Popsicle tray and well. It a nice combination.  Freeze and enjoy.

 

 

Note to the impatient: If you happen to buy cheap Popsicle trays that don't easily release the contents. First, put under water for a few seconds to allow them to thaw slightly so you can pull out the pop with ease. I personally pulled out three sticks without pops until my husband took it from me (rolling his eyes) a thawed it.