I can't believe I said it......outloud!

So, today was a good but really laid back day. The first day since Carla left that I haven't done any sort of job search. Well, I guess that's not totally true because I did call to check up on two jobs so technically, I did a little. ANYWAY. In the hope of making this apartment feel more homey, I have continued to try and do a bit of "decorating" on limited funds. So far, it's come along nicely- thanks to clearance, Goodwill and other thrift stores! Well today I added another outlet for decorating. DIY (do it yourself) art from Pintrist. :)

 I've never really just looked around on Pintrist. I got invited to it, months and months ago, but haven't done anything with my account since. In fact, it was kind of getting annoying to hear everyone say "oh yeah, I found it on Pintrist!". :) You see, sometimes, I like to be the one fish who swims against the flow. I at least like to stay put rather than follow in the same direction as everyone else. But sometimes, I will also then jump on that bandwagon, once it's not such a new thing for everyone else. :) Anyway, this morning I decided to look around to see if there were any great ideas for easy and inexpensive art! I knew a couple of friends had done some from Pintrist, thus why I went there. And I found some! I'd like to try some others at some point but I don't think blank canvas is too cheap. So, I found this one that involved paint chips. FREE! And you put them on the paper that comes inside of a frame. Easy enough, I thought! So I went on the hunt for paint chips! Then I went to Michael's for the tape and letters. When I asked the cashier where the vinyl letters were I seemed to need to explain that I was doing a project that I saw on Pintrist and didn't even know what vinyl letters were! HA! As I said it I thought "Oh wow. I'm just like everyone else now! lol!"

p.s. How many times can one person say Pintrist in one blog post?!?!? :)

Here's a photo of the items I needed in order to get this project done. The poster frame, paint chip samples, double sided tape (in an easy dispenser) and a few large letters. What I spent totaled out at about $10.50. Not bad! I actually found the frame at Salvation Army for $1.50! Actually, it was labeled $4.50 and I asked the sales associate (who was walking by) if all sales are final. I wasn't sure if I would want this frame because the plastic face to it (where glass would normally be in a regular frame) was all scratched up. I figured I could get some of it off but I didn't know if enough would come off to make it look nice. So, when I asked her about the return policy she said "Well, would you care about the scratches if it was $1.50?" ha! I said "NOPE!" SOLD! :) So, yeah, there are some scratches on it but for a student who has very limited funds, this will do!

 I was feeling in a creative mood and wanted to do this project once I found it online. SO I started sorting. I actually only found 2 different sizes of paint chips (at Lowe's) that were not normal little squares like the ones I saw on the demo photo. The smaller ones (on the coffee table) didn't all fit properly in one line (and I wasn't in the mood to cut five million pieces off or overlap them all to a certain centimeter). So I decided to use the bigger pieces. Really, for the size of poster frame I have (I think it's 16x20) I should have had smaller pieces- it would have looked nicer- but again, not in the mood for a huge project. Just a little bit of creativity. :)

 So, I figured out which pieces I was going to use and started to group them together.

 Then I finally decided how I wanted them to be placed on the paper and I began taping them down. I had a crick in my neck by the end of it so I can't imagine doing the one that was pinned online! Those were much tinier and many more!

 The finished piece! Again, scratches on the plastic but they are mostly showing up because of the flash on the camera and I didn't want to wait for daylight to take photos. I think it kind of looks like a quilt. An Amish quilt, perhaps? :) Anyway, it'll do for a first time Pintrist project but I'm excited to do more in the future!

So, as I've found a few things to decorate the apartment with, I am in no way expecting my roommates to all approve of what there is and where! I realize that, fully. And I will be fine with it because I pretty much like most things when it comes to art and decorating. My style is totally hodge podge. As I like to call it, Eclectic. Sounds much more sophisticated, doesn't it? :)  But at least for the time being, I am not in a home with completely empty walls. Empty walls speak sadness and boring-ness to me. :)  (Sorry if you have empty walls. I didn't mean it!)

Oh and for the first part of my day today. I stayed in bed longer than I have in months and months and months! And then I lazed around until after 1pm when I decided to get ready for the day! When I headed out I went down the road outside of my building, the opposite way that I normally go. Because the opposite way, I was told, ended at Shasta Lake! So I wanted to see! I was hoping for some sort of little beach or area where I could get down to the water. But alas, I didn't find that. I did end up at the dam though. The same one I was at in January when I visited here. It is quite gorgeous and peaceful out there still! Although, you couldn't see Mt. Shasta because of the smokey skies! :(

Here's a photo from when I visited in January. But today you couldn't see that mountain at all. Just the hills in front. I stood out on the dam for awhile and just took in some rays and the quietness! I continue to forget, though, that even though it doesn't feel the same hotness to me, because of the lack of humidity, 95 degrees is still quite hot! And it zaps it out of me before too long. So by the time I started back for the car (which was a decent walk) I was feeling it. Drained. And a bit weak. But all was good. :) I think this could be a very nice place to walk for exercise, once it's not so warm. It's only a 10 minute drive from my apartment!

One more thing before I go. On the way back from the lake I heard a story on the radio. The guy was playing the Bee Gees song "Stayin Alive" and commenting about why he was (because this was a Christian station you wouldn't normally hear this song). The story went something like this. This past weekend there was an umpire named John who was headed to a baseball game (wait, is baseball even being played right now??) somewhere. ANYWAY, that's not the part that matters. :) As he was headed to the field to work (the game was about to start) he noticed a woman who had fallen down and was grabbing her chest and having trouble breathing. I guess he recognized that she was having a heart attack! So, since he knew CPR, he started CPR on this woman named Jane. I guess when he was taught CPR he was told how the song "Stayin Alive" was the right beat to remember how to do the compressions and stuff in CPR. So he had always remembered this. So as he was doing CPR on Jane he was singing to himself "Ah Ah Ah Ah Stayin Alive, Stayin Alive......." and so on. And it worked. Jane was revived and the ambulance got there and took her to the hospital where she made (or rather, is making) a full recovery!

John saved her life by doing CPR! BUT, I know that there was probably something else that had a part in it as well. Okay, a few other things. Obviously, God was helping John and brought Jane back into health! But also. THE SONG!! Over the past years I have been learning, more and more, how much what we say matters! The bible says that we will either speak blessing or cursing! We have the choice. Our tongues will speak blessing or cursing. And most people (even people who love the Lord) don't realize what kind of HUGE effect that their own words can have on them, their circumstances and those around them! So you know what I KNOW?! I know that another thing that helped bring Jane back to "life" was the words of the song that John was singing. He was singing, to her (although she doesn't remember him singing), to the air, to God Himself, "Staying alive!" WOW! What better song to teach people how to do CPR to! AMAZING!