Old Blog - Keeping Myself Busy

Mushy:

It's no secret that I've been terrible about writing in my journal lately, although you'd think I would want to write now more than ever. In four days, it will be four months since Charles first contacted me on LDSPlanet.com, a dating site for LDS young single adults. In those four short months, Charles and I met, fell in love, got engaged and finally married in the Winter Quarters temple in Omaha, Nebraska. It has been quite the adventure. Every day, I find more and more reasons why I love him and more and more adorable things I want to remember. I've come to the conclusion that I'll just have to 1) have a good memory and 2) be better at keeping a personal record. When I'm old and striped (wishful thinking - I want my hair to be mostly dark grey with a white stripe in the front like my grandmother's), I want to remember these cute moments we had together when we were newlyweds... although I'm sure we'll have many more. This blog is an attempt to help me be better at record-keeping, which will benefit both myself and those who come after me and care to learn about my experiences.

Not-So-Mushy:

I've been thinking lately about productive ways I could fill my time. Like most people, I started with "I need to get a job." Good luck finding a job in Ames, Iowa, where poor college students abound and are always actively searching for jobs. Can you say cheap labor? Plus, it doesn't help that we only have one working car which I can't currently drive because it's a standard and I have yet to master that skill. Additionally, Charles's job isn't so stable that I can count on him driving me to and from work unless I start waaaaay early and end waaaaay late. I don't mean to complain. I'm just laying out all of the obstacles to "getting a job." So what now? What, other than housework, which only takes a total of two hours maybe, could I do to occupy my time? There's the good old babysitting work, which I'm totally willing to do, but I don't really know anyone in Ames yet. I've signed up for some babysitting websites, applied for a few jobs which would be a good fit, but nothing yet. I never thought I'd be twenty years old and actively searching for a babysitting/nanny job, but I think that would be perfect. I would gain more experience in taking care of young children and be able to make money while doing something I actually enjoy rather than pencil-pushing behind a desk which, by the way, is SO BORING. I loved working where I was working, but it was very monotonous. That said, I would do it again if I had the opportunity so I could help my little family.

More:

Anyone ever been a gift-wrapper before for other people? I love wrapping gifts and messing around with ribbons. I'm very happy about the fact that I can wrap a gift with wrapping paper and ribbon and it looks pretty awesome. If I could make a little extra money by wrapping other peoples' gifts, that would be AWESOME.

On another note, I never thought I would be saying this, but it totally makes sense. I could create things like signs to hang around the house or give as gifts like this one (a Christmas theme seems appropriate):

Isn't it awesome?? And so true!
More at http://www.etsy.com/shop/icehousecrafts

or beanies (I have three different sizes - small/baby, medium and large) to earn some extra money. I'll just need the supplies (and some skill) to do so. I already have three crochet looms for making hats and scarves and I was even learning how to make pom poms from this and a few other nifty sites:

http://www.prudentbaby.com/2011/01/how-to-make-yarn-pom-pom.html

Aren't they cute?!! I would just make pom poms all day if I could. I. Love. Pom poms. And tassels. Aside from those, I don't know much more than how to make beanies and scarves from a loom, as far as crocheting goes. Perhaps it's time to learn some new skills... I'd love to be able to make baby blankets for my... well, babies. (And no, I'm not preggers. I didn't want anyone getting over-excited when I don't actually have a bun in the oven yet. ;) )Now to decide what I'm going to start working on first!