Would you Like a Bible with that Coffee?

As you all know, the boyfriend and I are back in Chesterton.  We went to his old church today instead of the one he took me too on Easter that I kind of fell for.  He wanted to show me what our church is striving to become.  And don't get me wrong, it was a gorgeous, well put together and maintained place.  They had a little gift shop, a coffee shop, different day cares for your kids, and everything you could imagine in a church (like the MegaChurch in King of the Hill)

But in all of this, I felt like it was impersonal.  Which sounds weird right?  It is on the cutting edge of technology and above all it is geared towards the modern side of everything from the overhead projector that is playing amazing graphics behind the seven person band, (complete with 2 drum sets, 2 electric guitars, an acoustic guitar, and a guy who plays the electric flute, clarinet, and saxophone.) the electronic, touch screen collection "plate" where you can give to the church even if you only have your credit card on you, to the flat screen tv's set up all around the church so even if you're in the coffee shop you can watch the service.  It is exactly what our generation has made church to evolve to.  And you would think that I would be all over it.  But.... I was sadly turned off by it.  Don't get me wrong, it is amazing what they have done for and with this church, but when did church become this epicenter?  

I was raised attending a Catholic church, complete with incense and the 50 minute work out of standing up, kneeling, and sitting down. As Rich says, you're always competing for the bigger hat (the pope is obviously the winner with is 6 foot hat). If you weren't in the best clothes you own, you were wrong.  If you didn't strive to become a pope or a head of the church, then you were wrong.  If you didn't devote your entire existence not to God but the church, you were wrong.  If you breathed, you were wrong.  Okay, that is an exaggeration, but you get the point. But it was all of this that turned me off of attending church.  Sure I shipped around after I moved out and was on my own, but I always seemed to find this church all over again.  I don't want to be talked down to during service.  I don't want to feel judged the second I walk through the doors.  After all, there is only one who can judge me, so why does it feel that everyone feels their opinion matters? 

It was this church that made me terrified to go back to church.  But of course the boyfriend asked me to go with him on Easter.  I was terrified I would burst into flames when I walked near the doors.  However, as I told you, I was enlightened and absolutely fell in love with this church and the community behind it. I have never wanted to go back to a church this bad in my life.  So, seeing as he must have amazing judgement in churches, when he told me we were going to go to the second church, I was hoping it would be just as uplifting as the previous experience with him.  Sadly I was mistaken.  

The sermon itself was well put together, and I understand what he was trying to throw out there; however, it went in one ear and out the other. Nothing he said really spoke to me the way that Pastor Greg had at Duneland.  Their band was by far amazing, but with that budget who's wouldn't be?  And the fact that they had all these add-ons... it just left a bad taste in my mouth.  I'm not exactly sure why I don't "like" this church, or why I don't like it equally... but one thing is for sure, I'll be going back to DCC.  I tried to give this one a fair shot, but it fell short on me.  But I am beyond ecstatic that I finally found a church that feels like a complete fit to me. 

Why hello, Chesterton

I missed you guys! It has been a long and hectic past few days. I am so glad it is all over.  As y'all know, we moved the hour and a half back to Chesterton.  Finally away from the South Bend Beast!  Actually, we're just happy to be out form under the thumb of the management over there.  The 20 foot Uhaul was packed almost to burst, and yet somehow we got here with only a few casualties.

Like the box frame for the bed....

But has anyone else noticed that it takes hours and days to pack up all of your belongings into boxes and it seems the unpacking process is so much faster?  Maybe that is just me but it seems like it took us hours upon hours to pack our whole life up into these boxes and in one night I have the majority of the house unpacked already.  I just don't understand how on Earth people ever find places for things to go.  How was my house so organized before we packed our house up?  I don't get how we are going to find places for all of our stuff to go?  I mean, we have boxes in our bathtub, and boxes up the wall!

 You see those boxes?  They're everywhere!

 And more here!! Who puts boxes in a bath tub? Only us...

There was a little excitement last night... but we won't get into the details of that.  But I can proudly say that I know how to get to one of the main streets now! Haha, I feel so accomplished.  I am hoping to finish packing tonight before the boyfriend and I head out to a bonfire tonight, much needed relaxation.  We might post a joint video together instead of writing one day.  Not sure yet. But, this was just another update, more soon y'all!

Pleasantly excited!

Y'all I am way to excited here.  I sold my first thing off of Pleasantly Made (the etsy shop) the other day (pretty sure I have said this about twenty times now), but I am way to excited about it. I shipped it out today and I can not believe how easy it way.  I guess I never have sold anything, just bough, but now I understand why people do it!  It's like a new high or something (kidding, completely kidding).  I still have to find the right box to ship my bow it... now sure how that one is going to play out but I'll figure it out.  I might just call UPS and see if they will ship it in the case. Not like anything can break inside the case.

I feel as though I have so many projects going on at once though. Lets see... I'm running Pleasantly Made, running a blog, moving, finding a job, and still trying to knit my blanket.  I have smaller ones I'm working on too but those are the main ones.

I have decided to start making dream catchers again for the shop.  After looking around at some of them online, I realized I can make (and have made) much better quality then these jokes I see on here.  Officially, once we move back to Chesterton and the funds straighten out I will be making them.  Unless you want to special order them, in which case I will be more than happy to make them for you now.

As for the move, we haven't packed a damn thing really.  In our 3rd bedroom we have had boxes piled high and never really ventured into the vast beyond of the doorway.  We finally went through and decluttered, selling off some of the things we have, and pitching the rest.  Then we reboxed things up and set them against the wall.  We are hoping to turn that room into the "staging room."  Yea, that is all we have done, to a 3 bedroom 2 bath house.  Do you realize how much crap we have? No... I don't think you even know.  Y'all we pack the Uhaul up in 6 days!  Less than that actually. I don't think we planned this very well.

As for the move, I am finally getting excited about it.  I was dreading the idea of packing everything up (ok, that part I am still dreading) and moving to a new place... but I actually might be a fan of it now.  Am I looking forward to packing and unpacking all my possessions in about two weeks? Hell no. But starting over in a new town and hopefully getting my life back on track? Duh. Maybe I can catalyst Pleasantly Made from here.  Or maybe get back in touch with friends I lost when I moved so far away. Or maybe just be able to finally get things back in order.  Not sure which is more appealing.

Not much to talk about here lately, sorry.  But as always, much love y'all! Don't forget to check out the boyfriend's blog. Also, Pleasantly Made (the etsy shop) is right here. Hopefully I have more eventful news to share tomorrow!

Pleasantly Made

Way too excited right now!  We finally got our first purchase off of our Etsy store, Pleasantly Made. I finally feel like things are starting to work out right around here with our little side shop.  And of course, that made me go looking for other ideas that we can make and sell.  Now I have about 50 things I want to make and learn to make faster so I can turn them around.  I am hoping to be able to knit faster here so I can make infinity scarves.  How cool would that be?  This means that I could keep buying products for other projects I'm working on.  Or keep buying feathers.  I know I have complicated making feather jewelry with all the feathers I have now.  Or just offer my services for feather hair extensions still.  I haven't made my mind up yet.

I have thought about doing wood work things as well.  I'm talking like wine racks that looked aged.  Crosses too. I tried looking online for cute ideas for things to make, but a lot were simply things for kids to do.  I am not looking for that.  I want to find things I can do and make that I can sell.  I used to know how to make wrap jewelry (if you don't know, that is when there is a gem or stone wrapped in metal and made into anything your heart desires like a necklace or bracelet what have you).  I know in the sewing world I know that I want to make this maxi skirt I found a pattern for a long time ago but just couldn't make it at the time.

I mean, how cute is that?  And it is super cheap. I am also thinking about making the infinity dresses.  If you know what they are, then you are amazing.  If not then I am about to educate you. They are super simplistic and are just absolutely amazing.  I think every woman needs one of these in their closet.  I was going to make these as my bridesmaid dresses, they cost about $12 in labor but places are charging almost $250 for one! That is a little crazy y'all.  But honestly, who wouldn't want one of these beauties in their closet?

In other news, I looked more into the Navy today.  Was all gun ho until the boyfriend slapped reality in my face.  Awesome.  My problem is that is I enlist, I want to deploy.  Not sit in some nice, guarded hospital or work my days at a VA.  Weird, again I know. So then my question is, is this even possible for a medic to do?  And if so, what on earth is that MOS called?  I also don't want to do the ROTC program and come out as an officer.  I would rather go through boot and training and still be an enlisted.  I know my terms are probably completely off, but hey! I am not military (yet).

I start work in like 14 hours and have no will to go to sleep tonight.  I'm fucked I know. I have to be up in 8 hours, which would be fine except we all know that I am a night owl and don't sleep when I should, or when it is convenient.  Instead I am probably going to get about 4 hours of sleep and chug along for whole day.  Life as me I suppose.  Even better, I have created a monster with the boyfriend.  He is too happy with his blog.  He is in "happy land" currently, writing an epic of a blog. I guess I distract him.. pshht little ole me? Yea, okay I am a handful and could probably annoy a sniper enough to pull off of mark and shoot me instead.  But hey, at least I'm cute!

Wish me luck on a day of about twenty septillion things to do tomorrow.  And as always, much love y'all. Today I am going to leave you with a video that I cried laughing too.

It's a Small World After All

Ever had one of those moments when you just sit back and all you can think is "whoa."  Yea, you might have guessed it, but I just did.  Now the boyfriend and I watched this amazing movie called "Craigslist Joe."  It truly is an inspirational movie.  The premise of the movie is this student (I'm guessing video or film major) is going to live off of purely Craigslist ads for one month.  I'm talking no money, and no contact to people whom he knows off of Craigslist.  He has to basically find somewhere to live, someway to eat, and live via Craigslist.  It's truly inspirational and he gets to see the country out of the goodness of people's hearts.  Great movie, go watch it.  But the boyfriend and I got to talking about Craigslist.  I never noticed some of the things they have up there.

Now there is one section I knew about and was trying to explain to him.  It's called missed connections.  Basically, it is someplace you post a shout out to someone who you felt a connection or you just want to tell them they are beautiful or what have you.  Some of them are as simple as, "You passed me at the gas station, we spoke a few words, and I really wanted to get to know you.  If you see this, please respond to this post."

While trying to explain this to the boyfriend, I used a personal experience.  I was going to school up in Chicago, and was commuting home to Northwest Indiana for the holidays.  While on the "L" (the public trains up in Chicago) I noticed this guy about my age traveling with 3 bags and a Violin case.  I felt bad for him and smiled.  I noticed he got off on my stop and was trying to get down the stairs to the street with all these bags.  I helped him get down the stairs and went on my way. As I headed into the Metra/South Shore station, I couldn't help that he was still following me.  My train got there and we ended up on the same train, sitting right next to each other (well, he was in the seat in front of me).  He had turned around one and kinda smiled and I just plugged into my iPod and starred out the window.  He turned around again and conversation struck up.  Turns out he was going to school in NYC and was home for the holidays as well.  Originally from Chesterton.

When we got to my stop (an hour later and very much into the conversation) the conductor informed him her needed to move to the front two cars of the train since passed this stop the doors back in our car wouldn't open anymore.  I felt bad for him having to move all his things again, so I helped him grab his bags and run to the front of the train.  I had enough time to drop his things off with him and then get back off the train before it departed again.  Never once learning his name.  Although I was so intrigued and wished I had caught it.  Just a passing glance meet and greet kind of thing.

I got to this part of the story and the boyfriend stopped and asked, "Wait, he's from Chesterton?  I grew up there hun, what did he look like, how old was he?"  I remember a few brief snippets from our conversation, like how we were both freshman in college at the time so he had to be my age. And the fact that he was blonde with curly hair.  So the boyfriend starts digging around on Facebook and pulls up the picture... that looks exactly like the kid I met on the train.  Low and behold, this kid is going to school in NYC.  Go figure.  It's the mystery man on the train.  The boyfriend immediately messages him and basically says, "hey man, not sure if you remember me form school but I have this crazy story to tell you..." and proceeds to explain it all.

Small world huh?  Crazy how things happen.  Or how people who you thought you would never see or hear from again are actually so close.  I guess we really are only six people removed.

The Bucket

We have all heard of (or recently seen) the bucket list.  This brings a question for you... what do you want to do before you kiss the ground?  There are the obvious ones for me, like get married and raise a family. But what else?

Here is my bucket list...

Run a marathon
I know this may sound daunting  but to me it sounds like absolute fun.  I want nothing more than to sport that 26.2 sticker on my car.

Sky Dive
Again, sounds scary, but I want to do it.  Can you imagine the adrenaline?  I'm terrified of heights, but this is the one thing that I would suck it up for.

Work for the Cancer Treatment Centers of America
Okay, this is more like a life goal... but it still counts.

Use my medical experience overseas to help our soldiers
I want to give my service and help those who really need it.  I know that I actually can't without enlisting (anything possibility that I have thought about and seriously tossed around joining the Navy as a Corpsman) but if I could, I would jump on that quicker than a stripper on a dollar.

Own a boat
I'm talking like a "should be called a yacht" boat.  About 68 feet long with the live in cabin, two bedrooms maybe with a shower and plasma tv's everywhere you can look.  Just so I can take long trips across Lake Michigan and not have to stop.

Go to Africa
I have no real reason for this... just want to go.

Learn to play guitar
Anything thing I have no reason for, but I want to do just to do.

Have a farm
I say this, but you have to understand to the extent I want it.  I want to have crops I can be self-sufficient on. I want cattle and horses and some pigs... and a goat.  I want land to be able to do, whatever the fuck I want.  A pole barn to keep my equipment in, and a stable for the horses only, and then obviously would have to have something for the cattle.

My absolute dream?  Keep going to college and earn all my degrees.  Go sky dive and run a few marathons.  Right out of my last year med school I want to take a two week vacation to Africa to see what I can. Then come home and enter my residency, all awhile still running marathons.  During which I would love to learn guitar to take my mind off of the stress.  Hopefully I will get married and start my family somewhere by now.  Then I'm going to take 30% of all my paychecks and split it up for two reasons, 10% will go to a secret savings account for my daughters wedding one day.  The other 20% will go for her education.  After my residency, I will build my house on my land.  Then my husband can retire and work on the fields and house and what not.  Help raise the kids.  Then I'll buy my boat.  Raise the kids til they're out of the house and then the husband and I can travel around in the boat.  Yea... that's my dream right there.  Sounds nice right?

Let me know yours! I'm curious to hear what y'all want to do.  Much love y'all!

Xbox is Controlling my Life

Well hey y'all!  Sorry I haven't posted in awhile.  This is going to be a few part post.  Friday was supposed to be a very eventful, full day.  Didn't happen that way.  The boyfriend and I were suppose to get him to the bank so he could get his military account but hat didn't happen.  Instead I sat on the phone for 4-5 hours and transferred everything over from our old place to the new.  We discussed getting up and getting boxes so we would start packing, but reality set in and we never left the house. My sister from another mother came out to see me and we ended up playing poker and drinking all night long.  It was entertaining to say the least.  

We had every intent on getting up early today and making breakfast and seeing her off, but instead (seems to be a trend we're setting now) we stayed in bed and cuddled.  You know, the sweet "lovey-dovey-cutesy-giggly-sweet-kisses-on-the-forehead-and-hugs" kinda cuddle.  So, you may ask, what on Earth did we do all day today?  Ha. We went off and did get his account set up, but then we did what any responsible adults would do.  We went and bought groceries.... and Xbox headsets, 2 new games, and chargeable battery packs.  Yea, we are SO responsible.  Subsequently, we spent the whole day snacking and bonding like normal couples do... talking in military lingo taking down the opponent in Call of Duty.  Such hopeless romantics we are. 

Now to show my "gamer" or as I call it geek side of me, a few of the thing I want for my birthday are a few new games for the Xbox.  Yea I know.  I would kill for the new NHL13, Call of Duty Black Ops 2, and of course the Kinect and Nike training games for it.  I know.... next you'll be waiting for me to say I want Turtle Beaches (and thank you for those who understood that).  So seeing as we were spending money on Xbox things, the boyfriend offered to buy me the newest NHL game for an early birthday present.  I declined but instead we got NHL12 (since we both wanted it) and The Devil May Cry for him.  After our 6 hour COD marathon, my back started to kill me so we watched a movie to give it a break.  But now, oh no, he is intent in his new game....

I mean look at that face! 

As for the update on the job front, I am starting on Monday and get to drive the 2 hour round trip, which will be just peachy fun.  Oh yea, I am thrilled.  But my tax return came in today and was much higher than we thought it would be, so that is always a bonus.  Should help out greatly with the move.  I swear I'll get back to posting regular topics instead of life updates tomorrow.  Just wanted to fill y'all in on the goings of my life and I know I haven't posted in a few days.  

Even though I have a HUGE list of topics, I love to hear all of your ideas! So I made a place where you can type out your ideas!! Just click here and type away! I can't wait to hear your ideas though! As always, love to y'all!