Haunted Halloween

Since we don't have children yet, I don't have any photos of cute kids in even cuter costumes to share. Since our cats can't stand for anything to be on their bodies, I don't have photos of them in cute outfits either. Since we live in an apartment complex that doesn't allow traditional trick-or-treating, I didn't bother to decorate our front door or make any sort of effort to get into the spirit of Halloween. 

So what do I have? I have this hilariously funny video that I wanted to share with you. If you haven't seen this yet, it's a must watch. Seriously. It will make your cheeks hurt from laughing so hard.

Happy Halloween!

Papa

This time last week I said goodbye to the guy you see there in the center of the photo. He was my Papa. He was Papa to ten grandchildren and G-Papa to five adorable great-grandchildren.

He was an amazing guy and he will be missed by many.

I miss you both...

Friday Favorites

Every week I share things from around the internet that put a smile on my face in the hopes that they will put a smile on your face too. So, without further ado...

what old people do for fun

what if politicians aren't the problem?

brides throwing cats

if Disney princesses went to high school

this adorable jelly fish costume

33 teachers who got the last laugh

sad cat diary: "i will sing the song of my people"

Desktop Dry Erase Board

Last month I entered a giveaway at one of my favorite blogs, Two Twenty One. And to my surprise, I won! We won't talk about the fact that I had my mobile network turned off on my cell phone which prevented me from getting email notifications and almost caused me to miss out on some awesome goodies...

So what exactly did I win?

A bunch of tape! But not your run-of-the-mill, plain, boring tape. Nope. This tape came with all sorts of awesome designs!

I started brainstorming what my first project would be. Of course I hit up Pinterest for some inspiration,  and found some amazing ideas like this, this, and this. But, ultimately, I decided to try my hand at creating the very project that was the inspiration for the giveaway - a picture frame turned dry erase board. I found an old 5x7 frame in our junk closet and got started.

Chelsea has a great how-to on her blog, so I'm not going to go into much detail. The only difference between what she did and what I ended up doing was that she applied the tape directly to the glass. I chose to apply the tape to the photo insert of some random family that always comes with frames. Since the tape was thin, I chose to tape the white side of the paper.

The finished product:

I started to write a to-do list to see what it would look like. But, since the Hubby and I both share this desk, having a to-do list for just one of us seemed silly. So, I decided to erase it and write a little message instead:

Dan and I are constantly surprising each other with dry erase messages on our bathroom mirror. I think it will be fun to have another place to write surprise notes and see how long it takes him to notice... :)

Overall, it was a pretty straightforward project. The only struggle I had was lining up the tape to match perfectly. To be honest, if you look close enough, you might see some gaps between the tape. Oh well. For a 5 minute project, I'm not going to complain. It instantly added a pop of color to our otherwise dark desk.

I can't wait to use these rolls of bright & patterned tape on another project. I'm thinking maybe something like this? If only I had another good frame lying around...

A big thank you to Chelsea for hosting this awesome giveaway and for the desktop inspiration!

Friday Favorites

Every week I share things from around the internet that put a smile on my face in the hopes that they will put a smile on your face too. So, without further ado...

Bonnie's adorable new puppy

speaking of pets, the hubby won't let me get this for our cats...

this really cute space-themed nursery

this shirt is great!

can't you just envision people angrily poking their phones??

last but not least - an oldie, but a goodie

Things My Students Say: Wrong Answer

So you can imagine, as a teacher, I hear all sorts of random and crazy things coming out of the mouths of teenage students on a pretty regular basis. Usually, I just laugh and move on. But sometimes, the things they say are so funny that I have to stop and write it down so I can share it. I wish I was making this stuff up....

After having the class read and answer a few questions about an article...

"When reading I haven't really come across any biases feeling or words in the article, but then I really wasn't looking to see if there is biases in it."

So, in other words, you didn't answer the question.

Five Things

Inspired by Katie's "Five Things at the Bottom of the Bucket" post, I thought I'd share five things from my bucket list. Five things that I think I'll do some day. Five things that are always in the back of my mind. Five things that, if money and time were no issue, I'd dive head first into.

Five things.

RUN A 5K

Some may laugh at this, but a 5K sounds like a daunting task to someone like me. First of all, I'm no where near being in shape. Regardless, even when I was at my best physically, I could never run a mile without stopping. I was always considered a sprinter. I guess playing softball and only have to run 60 feet at a time will do that to you. So to run 3.1 miles....nonstop....sounds near impossible to me. One of these days I'll be able to do it. And when I can, I'm hoping that these 5Ks are still around.

LEARN HOW TO SEW

My grandma can sew. My mom can sew. Me? Not even close. I can thread a needle, but that's about it. I seriously regret not paying more attention when mom tried to show me how to sew a button. That's a skill I've come to realize living on my own that could come in handy. But its not just simply sewing a button. I want to learn how to create things. I've been pinning a lot of cute DIY projects that require a sewing machine and a basic knowledge on how to operate one, and I'm sad that I can't even attempt these amazing ideas.

TRAVEL

About a year and a half ago I shared my travel bucket list. Dan and I made a pact at the start of this year to travel and explore new places. One new place a month. Twelve new places this year. Even if those places were right in our backyard, if it was a new experience to us, we'd count it. So far we're doing pretty good. Some months we haven't been able to travel and other months we're able to go to multiple locations. But I'm including this bucket list item again because it's something I always talk about when our conversations drift off to our future. Sure, I'd love to visit Europe. Sure, I'd love to visit some amazing island paradises. But, really, I know those are long shots. What I really want to do is travel around the United States and learn about the history of our country first hand.

GO BACK TO SCHOOL FOR MY MASTERS

This is something I've been debating back and forth. Not so much the fact that I'd like to go back to school. Its more about what I'd being going back to school for. Do I study History? Social Science Education? Educational Leadership? School Counseling? Whenever I think I've made my mind up, I change it again. There's no rush on the decision - we'd like to be debt free and in a home before I even consider cash-flowing graduate work. But it puts a smile on my face to think about going back to this beautiful campus and continuing my education in the place where it all began.

{UCF College of Education - source}

GO TO THE OLYMPICS

Obviously not as an athlete. But every other year when the Olympics roll around, I always dream about being at the opening ceremonies. It'd be even cooler to travel to another country and experience a new culture all at the same time. There's only one dilemma (besides the obvious of having the money to go) - winter or summer Olympics?

So that's it. My five things. What are your five things?

Friday Favorites

Every week I share things from around the internet that put a smile on my face in the hopes that they will put a smile on your face too. So, without further ado...

this amazingly cool kitchen update done by Layla on the cheap

not debating politics, but this is a pretty funny example of when people don't get all the facts before making a judgement

i think my students would get a kick out of this one

i think the title of this video says it all: "i love jesus, but i drink a little"

WWII veterans visiting Washington, D.C. through the Honor Flight program not letting the government shutdown get in their way

this hilarious video of a guy leading a sing-a-long in crazy traffic (and he's done it more than once!)

and last, but not least, this video has been around for a while. but whenever I'm feeling down, it never fails to cheer me up

Removing Gum from a Dryer

Two weekends ago, as I was taking clothes out of the dryer, I realized that a couple shirts had some sticky substance on them. Although I knew in my heart what it meant, I didn't want to think about the implications of it....

You see, Dan is an EMT. And as such, he wears these pants that have a million and one pockets. Why does he need so many pockets? I'm not sure I'll ever know the answer.... Anyways, I guess Dan didn't check all of his pockets before he loaded up the washing machine. And of course I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary when I was transferring all the clothes over to the dryer. But, heat does wonders to a pack of gum hidden in pockets....

Yep. That happened. In our brand new dryer.

(Sorry for the blurry pics. These were taken on my cell phone pretty late at night.)

I tried my best to keep calm. It was only gum. Not the end of the world. What I was more upset about was the fact that three of my newer shirts were ruined. Into the trash they went. I kept reminding myself that it was only three - it could have been much worse. And, ironically enough, none of Dan's work clothes ended up with the green, spearmint substance all over it. Not even residue in the pockets. How does that happen?

Dan felt horrible. The gum was all over the drum of the dryer. We had no idea how to even start removing it all. It was too late to call our parents for their sage advice. Dan decided to read the manual and see if there were any recommendations. Nothing. Then, he decided to call the 1-800 number on the manual. Surprisingly, someone answered on the other end despite it being pretty late at night. Dan fessed up to his mistake and asked if they knew any possible solutions.

Their recommendation? Rub ice on the gum, then use a non-metal object to scrape it off the drum.

We used an old, expired debit card that we still had lying around to do the scrapping with. Took a lot of elbow grease, but worked like a charm! 

Since it was late, we didn't bother to remove all of the gum right away. Instead, we took the clothes that were in the washer and hung them up in our bathroom to line dry (like we did when dryer went kaputs the first time).

Luckily, we weren't in a rush to do any laundry the next couple of days, so we let the dryer sit the way it was until Dan had a day off of work to scrap off all the gunk. He said he used about 8-10 ice cubes to do the entire drum. And that it didn't take quite as long as he thought it would. He was finished removing the gum before the towels finished in the washing machine.

We decided to run a load of towels through first because I figured it would be easier (and cheaper) to replace old towels than it would be to have to shop for, try on, and replace clothes. Results? No sticky, spearmint gum! We both breathed a sigh of relief!

Hopefully, none of you ever have this problem happen to you. But, if it does, keep calm! Nothing a some ice and a little bit of elbow grease won't solve. As for the clothes that may get ruined, remember: they're just clothes.

Anyone else have to scrap gum off of their machine? Or maybe it was something else left behind in the pockets of your loved ones? I'm think crayons would be a beast to remove from a dryer....