Week 33: New Perspective on Love

This is probably the most and quickest posting I've done in the last six months! I must admit, I'm pretty astonished about how quickly I am catching up (almost as quickly as I fell behind!). Anyway, I'm about a third of the way through a new book. Let me tell you about it!

The New:
I'm reading a book called the 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman. It is a non-fiction book that basically goes with the idea that there are 5 basic ways that a person can show and feel love, and in order for you to make the most out of your efforts to show love, you need to learn your partner's love language. The five languages are words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service, and physical touch. I won't go into much more detail about the content, but I will say this: what an eye-opener!

Who would have thought to break it down in such way (well obviously this man, but still)? I suppose it only makes sense, seeing as each of us are individuals and the chances of every human having something in common with every other human is a rare occurrence outside of basic survival functions and emotions and the craving for close relationships with others.

At the very least, this book has given me new ideas to replace my old, tired efforts when comes to showing affection to by boyfriend, and even the people around me. Saying how much you appreciate something they did might not mean as much to a friend or roommate as giving them a hug or giving them something that makes you think of them. When you think about it, it's like "of course there are different ways to show affection" but this perspective puts them into pretty straightforward categories that are easy to understand and put to use. This book, no doubt, added to my knowledge of friendships and relationships, and I'm not even done with it yet!



The Evidence:
I don't have much for you this time in the way of evidence, but I'm sure you understand :)

The Verdict:
This book is short and is written in language that is easy to read and comprehend. If your marriage or relationship is struggling, this book is definitely worth a read! I would highly recommend it to anyone who is in a relationship with someone currently, or ever wishes to be. Also, there is a version of this for children and adolescents, so if you have your own kids, or interact with someone else's kids regularly, that might be worth checking into also.

Week 32: New Pasta Salad

The New:
Even though school has started, it is still hot, which means that I'm still not very keen on eating warm foods. Hence, this delicious pasta salad that I'm about to share with you :)

Ingredients:

Salad:
1 pkg. of bow tie pasta
2 bell peppers (using two different colors will add more flavor, but for this first time I went with 2 yellow ones)
1 cucumber
2 cups cherry tomatoes
1 can black olives

Dressing:
1/4 cup oil
5 TBS red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. onion powder

Directions:

1. Boil the pasta, according to directions on the package. While the pasta cooks, chop bell peppers and cucumber, halve the cherry tomatoes, and drain the can of olives. Place the veggies into a large bowl.
2. Combine ingredients for dressing in a separate container and mix well.
3. When pasta is done cooking, strain it and add it to the large bowl. Pour the dressing on top and mix it all together.
4. Enjoy!

The Evidence:

The Verdict:

This is definitely a recipe that I will be storing in my recipe binder! It was quick, simple, and flavorful. Plus, it was relatively healthy, which is always an added bonus to an already delicious dish. If I were to do anything different, I would make the dressing with apple cider vinegar, simply because I like the taste of it better, and use 2 different colored bell peppers. However, I have 0 complaints about the way that I made it this time, and I am already excited to eat it for lunch tomorrow!

Week 31: New Homey Touch

I know how far behind I am, but I am working like crazy to catch up! I already have a ton of "new" ideas, so at this point its just a matter of finding time to do them, and then posting them here. This is my latest new idea:

The New:
I have a wall in my bedroom that looks quite empty and for a while now, I have been trying to come up with something simple (and cheap!) to fill the space. I have finally found my solution, and it's even homemade. I made two strings of different crosses and hung them up next to each other. Here's how I did it:

Materials:
card stock
pretty paper
design (I used crosses)
string
scissors
glue
tape

Directions:

1. First, print out the design that you wish to use. I did 10 different crosses, but you could use the same design ten times and just use different colors of paper to add some variety. Cut out your designs the way you want them to look when you hang them up.
2. Trace the designs that you just cut out onto card stock. I was able to fit 3-4 crosses per page, and you might be able to fit several on one page as well, just depending on how big the design is.
3. Cut out the traced design from the card stock and label the tops of your card stock design.
4. Next, trace the card stock design onto your pretty paper. It will look best if you place the "top" side of your design onto the back side of your paper. Cut out your design from the pretty paper, making sure that you cut the pencil marks off. It will fit onto the card stock better if you do it this way.
5. Drip small drops of glue around the edge on the "top" of your card stock design and stick the paper to it. If they start to get curly, like Elmer's glue creations do, just set them under a heavy book for a few hours.
6. Tape your designs to the string. I decided to go with two stings, five designs on each. Feel free to get more creative than that though :)
7. Hang it up!

The Evidence:

The Verdict:

This project was more time consuming than I anticipated, but it was very simple and I love the way it looks now that it's hung up. Spending the extra time on it to make it perfect was more than worth it.

To cut back on the amount of time it took though, I might just go with one design.

Let me know how your attempt at this project went!

Kids

I spent this last summer working full-time with kids. I had never before spent so many consecutive hours with children, nor had I spent so much of my week at a job. Up until this point, all of my jobs had been part-time and my interactions with children had been in short bursts of a few hours at the most, as opposed to spending all day with them.
From this experience though, I have learned a few things that might be helpful when interacting with kids from a position of authority, such as a parent, a teacher, a babysitter, and so on.

1. Kids will rise to meet your expectations. If you are assuming that the child(ren) are going to ignore your directions and be disrespectful toward you, that is exactly what you are going to get. However, if you tell them that you have high (yet reasonable) expectations, they will test the boundaries at first, but if you stay strong and don't give in to the tears and attitude that may come, they will change their behavior to match what you expect of them.
2. Giving children the opportunity to earn lost privileges back is more likely to result in acceptance of poor behavior and follow-through on the consequence. Simply stated, if you take away a certain privilege for a certain amount of days, or forever, as a consequence for bad behavior, they won't feel the need to make things right with their misbehavior. If the child knows he will be able to watch TV again in two weeks, it will be frustrating for him, but the time will pass and he will not have done anything to earn it back. If a little girl is using her toy to hurt others, taking it away forever will discourage and upset her, and she will eventually find a way to start hurting others with something else. However, if the child has to earn back the toy and TV watching privileges, it gives the child a sense of responsibility for what they did wrong and gives them an opportunity to make it right before they can have their privileges back.
3. Relationships are key. If a child feels they can trust you and that you care about them, they are more likely to listen to and respect you. If you think about it, even adults are more willing to comply with the requests of people whom they care about and trust. It is important to build a relationship with children that is warm and affectionate mixed with good doses of firmness and gentle correction. I'll admit, the perfect balance between the two can be tricky to strike, and may even be different for everyone. While trying to navigate the two nearly opposing factors, just remember to be consistent with expectations, consequences, and other things that are black and white. 

Children are a precious and wonderful, albeit complicated and sometimes confusing, gift from God. Their innocence and naivety is a much needed reminder of how pure and lovely God's creations are. Even though they can be exhausting and frustrating, interacting with children consistently leaves me feeling more alive than most things. Someday, I want my own children. However, until then I will continue to learn from, play with, and teach the gifts that God has blessed others with.

Week 30: New Way to Use Old Cards

I am well aware of the fact that I am supposed to be on week 32, but rest assured because I am determined to get all the way caught up before my classes start again on August 18th! This week though, I have something really cool to share with you :) Take a look!



The New:
I work with a gal who despises wasting anything: food, water, energy, styrofoam, and even old cards from games. She was working with the kids this last week on recycling things that seem like trash to most people, and she happened to have a stack of cards from an old Cranium game. Shortly after I discovered those cards, I grabbed a stack and became inspired to make a place-mat out of them. Here's how I did it:

In short:
I made four rows of seven cards, holding them together with packing tape. Then I taped them to each other one at a time and covered every last inch with packing tape (just to make it easier to wipe off, if it's ever necessary).

In detail:
1. Gather your materials (clear packing tape and old cards). Place a long piece of packing tape on your work surface, sticky side up. Carefully stick the top part of the cards to it. I used 7 cards in each row. Set it aside when you are done. Repeat this step four times (or more, if you want it to be longer). Don't worry about covering the cards in tape just yet; it will look better if you are able to use minimal amounts of tape, and when you tape the rows together, it will cover a good chunk of cards.
2. Tape the first two rows together, using long pieces that wrap around the back a little (as opposed to lots of short strips of tape). Continue taping the rows together using this same strategy.
3. When all of your rows are secured together, make sure you tape up any part of the cards that is still 'untaped'.

Note: There are surely many strategies to this whole taping thing. Find something that works for you and don't be afraid of messing it up. After all, this is supposed to be a fun HOMEMADE project, so perfection is by no means the main goal :)


The Evidence:

The Verdict:
This project was pretty simple and I would definitely do it again. Next time though, I might use playing cards for a different look. This way, one side of the place-mat would be all the same and the other side would show some more variety.
Also, I bet that self-laminating techniques would work well and leave behind fewer creases and lines.

If you've done something similar to this, I would love to hear about it in the comments :)