Leaving an Imprint

Until a few weeks ago, I never gave much thought about my imprint on the world. How people would remember me. Recently I’ve heard people use words like crazy (not the good crazy), manipulative, and a gossiper to describe their own family and even spouses. If people who love you are using adjectives like that, what is your imprint on the rest of the world?

So it got me thinking, what would people say about me? Do they see me as those I referenced above? Or would they remember me for the person I want to be? If it were up to me, I would want to be remembered for being happy. Loving unconditionally. Being quick to forgive (read about my struggle here). Being a woman of faith. Standing up for what I believe in.

As different life circumstances come to light, I have a choice. I have a choice to live my life the way I want to live it. It’s not always the easiest, but in the long run, it will be the most rewarding. So I choose happiness, I choose love, I choose forgiveness, I choose God, and I choose strength.

What do you choose?

xoxo,

Kathleen

diy Instagram Coasters

If you’re like me then your house is covered with special family memories captured by a photo. So when it came time to purchasing coasters for my new end tables (built by my husband), I knew those too had to hold a special memory. So, to be completely honest, to Pinterest I went. I found this tutorial to get a general idea and then added my own spin on things. Get the how-to below!

Here’s what you need:

• Mod Podge ( I found this knock-off brand at Meijer for much cheaper)
• Crystal Clear Enamel (Found with the spray paints at a hardware store)
• Felt Pads (Four per tile)
• Foam Brush
• 4X4 White Tiles (purchased from Menards for $0.14 a piece!)
• Your favorite 4X6 Instagram photos (I just screen captured my favorite ones and printed them exactly as is from my phone. Some of the Instagram features were in the picture but you’ll trim them down to size.)

Places you'll go

• Menards or any Hardware store for Crystal Clear Enamel, Felt Pads, Tiles
• Meijer or Walmart for Mod Podge, Foam Brush, and Photos

The how-to:

• Trim your photos. For the most part my photos were cut 3.25 x 3.75 (to get the Polaroid effect). I cut one to size and then used it as a guide for my others. 
•  Wipe down all your tiles.
• Using your sponge brush, lay a layer of Mod Podge onto the tile and place your photo on top. Let dry.
• Place another coat of Mod Podge on top of the photo and repeat 2-3 times. *Be sure it is completely dry before adding another coat.
• Once dry, spray the Crystal Clear Enamel on top of your finished tile. I only sprayed once but it wouldn’t hurt to spray twice.
• Put a felt pad on each corner. I like the bigger felts pads because of the size of the tile and found a large bag at Menards.
• Make a cold beverage to enjoy with your new coaster!

Cheers!

Kathleen

20 Reasons Why it isn't Terrible to be 20-Something and Married

I've been reading a lot of posts lately discussing why you should stay single in your 20’s. Let’s be real for just a minute, if a couple is committed to making the relationship work and have the love to back it up, age shouldn't matter. So, here are my 20 reasons why getting married at 24 has been freaking awesome.

1. No kids!! Need I say more? Probably not but I will. More than likely you're not in a rush to have children and it gives you time to have a table for two.

2. You still look good. Your lifestyle hasn't caught up with you yet so when you’re old (you know like 30…JUST KIDDING!!) you can remember when your spouse was sizzling.

3. The wedding. The wedding is a huge reunion of college friends and is just about the only place that is socially acceptable to have one cocktail too many.

4. Starting your lives together. Most of the time neither one of you has bought a house, so you don’t need to worry about selling one or both of them. Nope, when you get married in your 20’s you buy a house together…or live in your parent’s basement for a couple years.

5. Make big purchases with little thought, you know, being carefree (or reckless, you choose). Steven and I bought our car and house with a flip of a big coin (best out of three).

6.  The bachelorette/ bachelor parties. I don’t think I need to elaborate.

7.  Traveling. Making a list of places you want to go and actually visiting them.

8. Socializing. Obviously you can do this at any age but we've met a group of friends who we can really grow with through every stage of life. Even the treating our dogs like actual real-life children stage (lets be real, we’ll never grow out of that).

9. Eating peanut butter sandwiches for lunch and knowing that someone else is eating that exact same terrible lunch.

10. Sharing responsibilities. There is someone to watch the money and someone to spend it.

11. Having the biggest cheerleader backing you up through lay-offs, promotions, cooking a dinner that turns to disaster, crazy family situations, you know, just life.

12.  Someone to take selifies with.

13.  Enjoying a day together that is completely devoted to tacos and football…and naps. Like that is all we do. All day. (For those wondering, the NFL regular season starts in 38 days.)

14. Eating junk food for your first year of marriage, gaining 10 lbs., and it totally being OK.

15.  Finding a way to work off that 10 lbs. together.

16. Someone to watch YouTube videos with all day. It’s amazing how one website can make you almost pee your pants from laughing just to do a 180 and have you crying all within 10 minutes.

17.  Fights. You can yell as loud as you want and not worry about damaging your children’s lives because you don’t have any.

18. And then together you learn the importance of not yelling and how to talk through your issues so you don’t ruin your future children’s lives.

19.  Hopefully this is the first and last marriage for the both of you. Ain't nobody want to deal with that ex-wife/ex-husband drama.

20.  Just because you love him/her and they are the peanut butter to your jelly, the butter to your lobster, and the ice cream to your cake.

Patience

Those who know me, like really know me, know that patience is not one of my strengths. For instance, I would love to learn the game of golf but I do not want to take the time, nor do I have the patience, to go to the driving range, learn every club and the rules. Nope, it will not happen. I want to go to the golf course, pull out a club and simply hit the ball until I get it in the hole. However, my rule obliging husband strongly disagrees that this is the proper way to learn the game and has insisted that I go to the driving range, learn every club and, of course, the rules. (Side note: Steven may be giving up because we looked at clubs the other day. Oh yeah!!)

For the most part, this has always been a part of my personality; I will figure it out along the way and learn as I go. I don’t want to think about things for a long period of time, to analyze and analyze again. I want to keep moving forward. However, as of recently, I’ve learned that this is not always the case. Sometimes you are pushed into positions that require patience. Right now, I require patience.

There are so many aspects of life that require patience and it is something I am forced and forced again to learn. For about two years now my company has been going through a drastic reorg that results in positions being eliminated and until two weeks ago, I had not been affected. Needless to say, I have hit the ground running applying to many jobs and thankfully having some interviews. Luckily, I have (for right now) time on my side. Now, I just need the patience to slow down, make the right decisions, and then move forward.

So here’s to lots of praying, a couple bottles of wine, and patience.

Kathleen

PSA: I will post what course I'm at so you can avoid it for the day.