Last Days of Work

I officially ended my last day at work yesterday. The past two weeks since I officially put in my two weeks had been so emotional. I received so many words of praise and encouragement from not only the residents but also the staff. It made me feel a little guilty because I would complain that I hated my job. I didn't really hate it, I actually loved most of the staff I worked with, but I just always felt I was bound for better things since I had a college degree. I had worked there for 3 years! I can't believe it. Unfortunately, I had worked there part time for most of it, so I never got to forge the friendships that I eventually had until the end when I accepted the full time position in April. 

The past two days were extra emotional. I saw residents and staff start to cry when we said "good-bye." I gave about five dozen hugs, and I'm not even a hugging person. I received cards of thanks from residents, and words of gratitude from staff. I also cried. I have always been a hard-worker. It's just in my nature. However, the past few days have really shown me that even though I may not feel like what I am doing is being noticed, it really is.

Writing this post is making me emotional. I can't go back and change my attitude on days that it was off. That is over and done. But I can hold onto the good memories and hope that I will be just as lucky in my next job.

Good-bye, LSOP. It has been a good three years.

Blog Swap 2012: Childhood Summer Vacation

This year I participated in my first ever blog swap through 20something Bloggers. The theme for this post was a childhood vacation, and I was paired up with Tyler, who has written a wonderful post complete with pictures on a childhood summer vacation! You can read my own post, here, on his blog as well!

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Summer vacations as a child went between time at a cabin at a nearby lake and trips to Ontario to see my mom’s side of the family (my dad’s side lives where I live). So pretty much every summer, we would leave the city and go to a place where you were just steps from the water and could easily jump into a lake if you wanted to.
	When we would go to Ontario, a place you just had to visit was Sauble Beach. Situated on Lake Huron, it has been named the best freshwater beach in Canada, and for good reason. Every time I go there, I think of one of those typical resort towns that you see in the movies – complete with a burger stand on the beach, water that seems to go on forever (it actually doesn’t – Michigan is on the other side somewhere) and an amusement park right off of the main road. We used to drive right onto the beach (although you can`t do that anymore), set up a spot to stay for the day, and go out into the water. Because of the sandbars, you could walk out for quite a long way. It is still like that as a beach but it has become very popular among those around there (not that it wasn`t before) and having a Readers Digest section name it the best beach has helped with that a lot.
Something else we would often do is go to a waterfall that is literally in the city and go hiking on the paths around it. Because of the location of the Niagara Escarpment, you can actually see water coming right off the side of the road, and when the waterfall is running a full power, it is quite the thing to see. It has actually been featured in the beginning of a Jackie Chan film.
	Another thing that there is to do is head up the coast of Georgian Bay and take the glass bottom boat to Flower Pot island. On the way there, you can see shipwrecks through the bottom of the boat (well you used to be able to, but the boat has since sunk itself) and then you get to spend time on the island itself, exploring all that is around you.
When we didn`t go to Ontario, we would go to a lake closer to home, rent a cabin there, and have a lot of fun just relaxing and going to the beach. We would be able to live in relative seclusion from everything else that was going on in the world, though there was a time when we had a bad storm and it managed to knock out most of our power. Or there was the time that our neighbours found out that we would not be returning the next year and so their daughter threw an egg at my head. I was very glad we were at a lake.
Overall, my childhood summer vacations were very much a fun part of my life and in fact, I still often travel to the beach or Ontario and spend my summers lazing in the sun, although that often results in a sunburn.

M.I.A

Hello, all! Sorry I haven't updated in a while! I'm in the process of packing up to move back in with my parents 4.5 hours away. Not only am I packing, continuing to look for jobs, and trying to fit in some last minute hang out times with friends, I am also very depressed. I am depressed for a number of reasons, which aren't too hard since I couldn't find a job, have to move away from my friends, and move in with my parents. This depression has left me uninspired to blog. Hopefully, I will be back soon. 

P.S. I just got my Bamboo Tablet which I am currently trying to figure out! I'm excited to start using it though!

Kings Island

Yesterday Laura and I decided to have some fun in the sun by going to Kings Island, more specifically Soak City to go in the pool. It was really crowded and one pool was closed for a while, but we still managed to cool off. Then we finished it off by going to Kings Island and riding two roller coasters. One of the vendors was also nice enough to give us a big cup of free water!

Independence Day!

I hope you all are having a wonderful July 4th with plenty of food and fireworks. I have no plans tonight. I'm just playing around with my DSLR camera and some photo editing. I swear I will never get good at this. But today is not a day to get discouraged! I did celebrate the day by having a mix of banana and strawberries. You know, red, white, and blue? Well, no blue, but I put it on a blue table. See? I'm festive!

Homemade Forth of July Cards

Today is fourth of July! I'm working today which sounds like a whole lot of fun on a holiday, right? My work is providing lunch and I get paid time and a half, so it shouldn't be that bad.

Anyways, another item I had on my 23 Before 24 list was to make cards and send them to friends. I thought 4th of July would be a great occasion to do this because you don't really think of it as a holiday to send cards. Plus, I wanted to try this state idea I've had.

What you need:

• Tracing paper or notebook paper
• Pencil
• Computer or states
• Colored card stock
• Ruler
• Exacto-knife
• Rubber cement
• Computer paper
• Glue stick
• Stickers or tape

I started off with a piece of paper that was pretty transparent. Next I looked online for pictures of the states I wanted. I made sure it was small enough to put on the card. Then I copied it by putting the paper to my computer screen and tracing it. It definitely doesn't need to be perfect unless you want it really detailed.

Then I cut the states out. I was going to use an exacto-knife, but I ended up using scissors because I just wanted it to look like the state. I wasn't worried about the details and using the exacto-knife would take too long.

I then traced the states backwards onto red card stock (for the patriotic feel). I did it backwards so I wouldn't have to worry about the pencil lines.

Then I took a piece of light blue card stock and folded it in half.

I used a heavy ruler to make the crease more distinct.

Then I used an exacto-knife to cut the paper in half.

Then I folded the halves in half to make two cards!

Then I lined up the states to see where I wanted them to go. 

I used rubber cement to glue them down. I like rubber cement because it dries without wrinkles and if you make a mistake you can easily just rub it away.

Then I made small stars which would be placed over the cities we live in. Again I didn't care about perfection. I thought it would add the cool hand-made effect. I then cut the stars out using scissors.

I used the rubber cement again to glue them down.

I considered making the cards into post cards, but I was afraid of the states coming off in the mail so I made my own envelopes using computer paper. First, I turned the card sideways on the vertical sheet of paper and folded the sides of the computer paper over to measure the size of the card.

The envelope should look like this over the card.

Next, I used rubber cement to glue the envelope together.

I pushed the card half way down to see how far I wanted it to fit in the envelope. Then I folded the bottom of the envelope up and creased it where the card fit in the envelope.

I took the bottom of the envelope and folded it up to the crease I just made.

You should have two creases like the picture above.

I then put rubber cement at the bottom of the envelope where the creases are to keep it together.

Then I used rubber cement on the bottom crease and folded them together. I pressed it together for a few moments so it would not come apart.

Then  I put rubber cement on the fold I just made and folded it up one additional time. This time you have to hold it together longer or put a heavy object on it for a few moments. You should have made two folds with rubber cement.

I went back to my cards and wrote 'Happy 4th of July' in them along with a note to each person. I'm keeping the notes private though. :) I then placed the cards in the addressed and stamped envelopes.

I bought this really cute fourth of July craft kit from The Plaid Barn and thought the star stickers would be perfect to close the envelopes.

I put three on to make sure they wouldn't break in the mail. We'll have to ask my friends, though, to see if the cards arrived safely!

Hopefully their fourth of July's were a little bit brighter! What better way to celebrate the day than with a little state love!

Happy 4th of July everyone! What are your plans for the day?

Weekend Round-Up in Pictures

It was so nice to have a relaxing and fun weekend off. It consisted of delicious food, beautiful scenery, and continuing our (well his) building of the Titanic. We attempted to find some geocaches, but, unfortunately, we were unsuccessful. I also worked out for the first time in forever this weekend. No pictures from that though. For good reason too! I still can barely walk!