10th Sale Celebration ~ Plus a New Halloween Bow!

I just crossed another couple of items off my 101 in 1001 list.

#6

Fulfill 1 custom order.

#9

Reach 10 sales.

I am so excited to finally be crossing these ones off my list! It was a big week for my humble shop! I had my first international sale, my first custom order, and my 10th sale all in the same purchase. It was such an awesome learning experience, and I am so happy to finally be seeing my sales in the double digits too! This is what I sent out:

This bow was already listed in my shop, but she asked if I could make her a 2nd one, which qualifies as a custom order! Not only that, it was sent to the UK! How awesome is that! Because of this I also discovered that my shop's international shipping rate was grossly inaccurate and had to change it. Whoops! Well, like I said - this was definitely a learning experience! My lovely customer also told me that these bows are being used by 2 excited bridesmaids at an upcoming Halloween wedding! So cool! I hope she sends me a picture!

So, since this bow was finally purchased, I realized I have NO Halloween products left in my shop! That is just outrageous - Halloween is one of my favorite holidays after all. So, of course, I had to whip up this beauty:

Candy corn bow! Hooray!

I think it turned out pretty stinkin' cute. Have you ever seen those little candy corn witch costumes for little girls? SO cute! I think this accessory would look really cute with something like that.

Well I guess that's it for now! I hope to be putting more Halloween bows up in my shop soon, as well as some CHRISTMAS stuff (yay!) so remember to keep checking out my shop which can be found on the right sidebar over here ------>

Thanks for stopping by!

Book Review - Fifty Shades of Grey

I have had a new obsession recently. It has been consuming my days, and I have to reluctantly admit that my house is not in the condition that I normally keep it in because of it...

Reading.

Ok! I am not a big reader, seriously. I pick up the occasional popular book - for example, I have read the entire Harry Potter series, the Twilight Saga, and the occasional Nicholas Sparks romance novel. I am pretty mainstream with my books, for sure. I just hate investing time in a book that ends up thoroughly disappointing me... I have been hurt before (thanks a lot, James Patterson...) so it's hard for me to commit to a book unless I have heard or read a fabulous review from someone I trust. And that is exactly what happened on our 4th of July visit back home, when my sister-in-law let me borrow/insisted that I read the Fifty Shades Trilogy.

I asked her what it was about, and she immediately started explaining it as if it were some crazy porno or something. At first I was pretty disgusted and didn't want to take them, but she insisted that I would like them and she knows me pretty well, so I took them anyway - fully intending to let them sit on my bookshelf and collect dust for a while and then to return them.

But the other day my husband decided to pick up a book. One of his favorites - Streams of Silver, the 5th installment of the Legend of Drizzt books. It is not unlike Lord of the Rings from what I gather. Regardless, I sat bored on the couch while he was reading and kept pestering him while he was trying to focus on it. Finally he suggested that I pick up a book myself. I told him I had nothing to read, and he mentioned the books that his sister had lent to me. I reluctantly agreed that I should at least try to read it - I figured that if things got too weird then I could always return them to her and say that I gave them an honest shot.

And to my surprise, I spent the entire day reading it. Then, I finished all 500+ pages by Day 3. Yeah, it was that good. I am now happily reading the sequel, and am almost finished with it. So for all you skeptics out there, here is my honest review of the first book.

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

Plot:

Forget what others have told you, Fifty Shades is a romance novel, first and foremost. Basically, the book revolves around Ana & Christian. It takes you on a journey right from the start of their relationship and forward from there. To my unexpected and pleasant surprise, there was nothing even remotely erotic at all within the first 100+ pages. It was all sweet, basic beginning relationship stuff. It really allows you to care about the characters before it gets into any of that, so that by the time it finally comes around you actually don't mind so much. And don't be afraid, I know that Fifty Shades has a reputation of being a little risque, but trust me - even with the erotic stuff, it starts out totally normally. After all, Ana is a little naive in things herself, and she is new to all things sexual - she does not dive in head first, and thus neither do we.

Characters:

Christian Grey is a young, mysterious millionaire business mogul who falls for Ana, an almost-college-graduate majoring in literature. We see things from Ana's point of view - she is the storyteller. She is naive and clumsy at times, but she loves old English literature and breakfast tea - she has an old soul and has never really experienced any of the breath-taking romance that she reads about in her novels. Enter Christian Grey, who is full of surprises and secrets - "Fifty Shades" of secrets - and this romance gets very interesting very quickly. But, you must dismiss all those notions you had in your mind about Mr. Grey being a domineering womanizer. He is incredibly sweet and playful, and at times even reminds me of my own husband. You really learn to love these characters - neither one too perfect, and very easy to relate to.

Scenery:

Fifty Shades is set in the Seattle to Portland area mainly, and the feel of the book really exemplifies that. It takes you there. It's a great book to curl up to with a cup of tea because you almost feel chilly as you imagine the hovering clouds in the sky with every page turn.

Writing:

E.L. James has only written the Fifty Shades Trilogy, and I may not be an accomplished reader, but I still think it is apparent in her writing that she has little experience. Many phrases are used over and over again to describe things, and sometimes the scene can change dramatically in a very short period of time. The most notable time was when a phone conversation took place randomly, and James went through the process of scripting out everything that was said in the conversation, only to have that paragraph end and the setting change completely without having received any pertinent information from it at all. But beside that, she actually has a fun vocabulary that she uses to its fullest extent, which keeps it interesting despite the sometimes irritating and repetitive phrases. That being said though, be wary - this book has a potty mouth, too, which I honestly could have done without.

Rating:

I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. Don't get me wrong, I am totally hooked. But the inexperienced writing, the fact that there is so much language, and the occasional spontaneous unnecessary story shifts make me need to dock a star. That partnered with the fact that there is plenty of erotic scenes in the book, some of which make me a little bit uncomfortable at times (A little bit! Nothing unbearable, and all based on their affection for each other). But I am completely in love with the characters and the romantic settings - definitely worth enduring some of the writing flaws.

So give it a shot, and let me know if you do - I would love to hear if you agree or disagree with my review. I have also heard that they are starting pre-production of a Fifty Shades of Grey movie. I am sort of excited for that, but I am worried about who they might cast - right now my hopes are on Alexis Bledel as Ana and Matt Bomer as Christian Grey. If you have read the book, who do you think should star in the movie?

Thanks for dropping by! I'm sure I will have another review for you shortly on Fifty Shades Darker - the sequel to Fifty Shades of Grey - which I have almost completed. So stop back in for that!

"Laters, baby." - Mr. Christian Grey

101 in 1001 Update

Hello again everybody! Sorry I haven't been around lately again, but I recently returned from a week long vacation in Hawaii! 

It was fantastic! But I won't get into the details here. If you'd like to read more about my Hawaiian experience, you can do so on my other blog by clicking here.

While I was there I checked off a few more things on my 101 in 1001 list! It's been a while hasn't it? Here's what I did...

#40
Fail miserably at something and look back on it as a valuable learning experience.

Yep, totally crossed this one off on my Hawaii vacation. The vacation itself was GREAT! But there was just one night that was a total nightmare. It's a long story, which can also be read on my other blog, but to make the story short I left something very valuable somewhere and ended up driving for 2 straight hours to retrieve it with 2 cranky kids in the backseat. Ugh! Lesson learned - I really need to keep better track of my stuff.

#41
Do something COMPLETELY outside of my comfort zone.

Check! The whole Hawaii vacation itself was totally outside of my comfort zone. Ask anyone who talked to me before the vacation - I was a wreck!! I freaked out about every tiny little detail! And it was all for nothing. The trip was fantastic. I definitely need to step out of my comfort zone more often.

#48
Wear make-up and do my hair every day for a week straight.

I vowed to myself that I was going to do this one while we were in Hawaii, and I actually did. And you know what? It didn't do what I thought it would for my confidence. The whole reason I put this on my list was because I thought it would give me a giant confidence boost. But you know what? I felt the same that I do every other day, even the days where I just throw my hair in a ponytail and get out the door for groceries. But that's not really a bad thing - I learned that I have a fair amount of confidence even when I'm not all dolled up, and that's even better in my opinion. I really, truly don't care what other people think of me! Hooray!

#84
Eat at 10 restaurants I've never tried before.

So I didn't cross this one off, but I did add a couple more to the list. Surprisingly, we didn't go to that many new places while we were in Hawaii (mostly because I didn't want to take the kids to sit-down restaurants - yikes!). But we did try out the Plantation Grille at the Dole Plantation, and it was fan-freaking-tastic. Mmm. So good. And we also tried out BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse in Vegas on the way back home while visiting some family that we hadn't seen in a while. That was really great too! Something for everyone there. Eva scarfed down her meal like I had never seen before in my life. Whoa.

So I guess that's it for now. I have been noticing, though, that all of the goals on my fitness/nutrition/food list have been mysterious left alone.... I need to get on top of that!

Guess that's it for now~

Aloha!

Pinterest Review - Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies & Coffee Creamer French Toast

Oh, man!

Hopefully I'm not the only one who has been enjoying this beautiful Spring weather lately!

Our days have been filled with walks in the park and family fun since my son got out of pre-school earlier this month. It has been great! We live in Southern Utah on the border of Arizona so it's unusually warm here year-round, but I think it has been especially warm and nice lately. Goodbye, Winter! Don't come back too soon!

So today I have a couple of cool recipes for you all that I discovered on Pinterest recently. The first one is:

Coffee Creamer French Toast

The original recipe can be found here from Today's Creative Blog. I cannot even tell you how happy I was to find this recipe! I have been craving french toast lately even though I have never found or created a recipe that really satisfies me. So today I searched Pinterest looking for any french toast recipe to just get me through dinner tonight. I could not have been happier! 3 ingredients people! Three! Well, actually more if you count the optional cinnamon and use my modifications. But you get the drift.

Ingredients

4 eggs

1/2 cup coffee creamer of your choice

1 loaf french bread

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

butter (optional)

Directions

1. Crack eggs into medium bowl and whisk until well blended.

2. Pour in coffee creamer and cinnamon. Mix well.

3. On hot griddle or skillet, melt a small amount of butter. Dip french bread slice into egg mixture covering both sides, then quickly place in buttered area.

4. Let sit on medium to medium-high heat for approx. 1 minute, flip over.

5. Allow to cook for approximately 2 minutes or until golden brown, flip again.

6. Allow first side to finish cooking about 1 minute more or until golden brown.
7. Repeat process with all french bread slices.

8. Serve with syrup, whip cream, fruit toppings, or whatever you enjoy!

Now, the original recipe calls for International Delight's Cinnabon creamer, but any of your favorite creamer flavors will do. That's another thing that makes this recipe so fantastic - you can change the flavor any time with no extra hassle! I can only imagine how this stuff tastes with Pumpkin Spice creamer. Mmm!

The reason I added such detailed instructions about flipping the french toast is because I know for some people making french toast is like rocket science. I know this because I used to be one of those people. My french toast would always turn out soggy in the middle or burnt on one side etc etc. But this is the method I have created for perfect french toast. You see, when you place it on its first side, all that extra mixture is falling down toward the griddle and making it impossible for it to cook evenly. So you have to flip it over relatively quickly to prevent that from happening. By the time the other side is done, there isn't too much mixture left that isn't already cooked, so browning evenly isn't a problem when it's flipped over the second time. It's a science!

My own review of this recipe? I am never parting with it. Ever. It's so easy. 3-5 ingredients. The eggs blend easier with the thick creamer than it does with milk. Not to mention the fact that the french toast turns out sweet, delicious, and lactose free! That's a big one for me since I am lactose intolerant.

So here's our next one:

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I found this pin a while ago and have been dying to try it since I found it on Pinterest a week or so ago and read the list of ingredients. Yes, even the ingredients make these sound like a mouthful of heaven. This recipe is originally from Six Sister's Stuff blog and can be found here. I love the Six Sister's site! They are the masters of creative cooking and I bow down to them. Plus, they are based right here in Utah! Hooray!

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup oats (quick or old fashioned)

2 cups milk chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. In large mixing bowl, combine butter and sugars until creamy. 

3. Stir in peanut butter, vanilla, and egg until well combined. 

4. Add flour, baking soda, and salt.

5. Fold in oats and chocolate chips and mix until combined.

6. Roll into 1" balls and place on a lightly greased baking sheet.

7. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

So I didn't change a thing to this recipe. It already sounded so good, I just baked as directed. The only notes that I have for you are to never ever use spreadable margarine for baking cookies. Ever. I truly and honestly believe that the only way your cookies will come out looking and tasting perfect is if you get real unsalted butter. I make a lot of cookies. In my family they call me "The Cookie Queen", and it's because mine always come out looking beautiful and staying soft without crumbling in your hand. And this is my secret. My personal favorite is Tillamook unsalted butter.. Use the real butter people. It's the only way. 

Then soften it the perfect amount. It takes between 30-45 minutes for it to be softened to perfect consistency. If you forget about it and it gets too soft, do not use it anyway. Put it in the fridge until it's right. If you don't have time to soften, do not put it in the microwave. You could jeopardize your whole batch of cookies. Just save yourself the hassle and grate it with a cheese grater instead.. Comes out perfect every time.

The only other note I have about this recipe is that the original says it makes about 2 dozen, but mine made almost 3 dozen. Not that I'm complaining. =)

And these cookies are good! Ridiculously good! They look just like regular chocolate chip cookies, but your friends/family/party guests will be in for a pleasant surprise! Peanut butter-chocolatey goodness and with a yummy oatmeal texture that gives it a little extra something. Loved it, loved it. Another point for the Six Sisters - this one's a keeper!

That's all I've got for you this time, but let me know if you try these out. Tell me what you thought! Give me some suggestions on them, or even suggest a pin for me to review if you've ever wondered if it really works.

Thanks for spending some time with me today!

Churro Cookies Review & Glad to Be Back!

Oh my goodness, the last few weeks have been insane! We have been running around like crazy in this house, but finally things are starting to settle down and I can hopefully update a little bit more often. Summer vacation is starting and we can finally take a little breather.

Like I said, I have been very busy with family responsibilities lately, so I haven't been doing a whole lot for my shop and the sales have really trickled down to almost nothing. I don't really mind, I have needed all the time I can get lately haha! But now that I have some free time I am hoping to make a few more cute, Summery bows. So keep an eye out for that!

As for today, I have a review for you all! As you all know, Cinco de Mayo was just a couple of days ago. Normally our annual tradition is heading over to Taco Bell for dinner, but this time my hubby was working and so I decided to make something instead. But I am a super lazy cook. I don't hate cooking necessarily, but I do hate being stuck in the kitchen for a long time when I could be spending time with my family. Because of this I am a huge fan of Betty Crocker's Helpers. They are so easy and great for when you don't have a ton of time. So I used one I've never tried before on Cinco de Mayo - Crunchy Taco Hamburger Helper. It was one of the best I've had so far! It tastes like tacos, spanish rice, and nachos all mixed into one delicious bowl. Try it out if you are ever in the mood for some easy, delicious Mexican food.

But my review today is not about the dinner, it's about what I made for dessert! I 'like' Pillsbury's page on Facebook because I use their refrigerated doughs and such all the time for dinners (like I said, lazy cook here!) and they periodically post recipes that you can use their products in. The other day they posted one for Churro Cookies from Oh, Bite it! I love churros, and I thought this recipe looked promising so I tried it out. Here is the recipe I used, but you can find the original here.

Churro Cookies

Ingredients:

2 pie crusts (made from scratch or packaged)

4 oz cream cheese

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 Tablespoons melted butter

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 cup sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. In medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, 1/4 cup of sugar, and vanilla until well blended. Spread over one pie crust, then layer the other pie crust on top.

3. With a cookie cutter, cut out as many cookies as you can manage, place on parchment-lined baking sheet.

4. Gently press together all cookie edges with a fork to seal them.

5. Bake in oven for 12 minutes, allow to cool.

6. Mix together 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

7. Brush top of cookies generously with melted butter and immediately dip into cinnamon sugar mixture. Enjoy!

Now, mine is a little bit modified from the original. For starters, I have to admit right here and now that I completely forgot to add the vanilla to the cream cheese mixture. I am super sad that I did because I'm sure it would have been delicious, but in the end I don't think it made too big of a difference. Also, the original calls for 2 Tablespoons of cinnamon. I looked at that and immediately thought that was a ridiculous amount. Even the 2 teaspoons of cinnamon that I used made the sugar a little darker than what I normally use. Another difference is that the original said to butter and coat both sides of the cookie with cinnamon sugar. I thought that was kind of overkill, and so I only did the tops and they were fine. You can do whatever you prefer, though. Oh, and one more thing - be sure to brush one with butter then dip it right into the sugar. Don't try to butter them all before you start dipping them - they won't retain as much sugar and the cinnamon sugar looks prettier that way.

The jury is still out on this one and whether I will be making them again. I personally don't care for pie crust. Never have. I like my pies with a cookie or graham cracker crust. Because of that, I didn't care too much for these cookies but I sort of predicted that from the beginning. My husband, however, could not get enough of them! The batch I made yielded 12 cookies, and I'm pretty sure my husband ate six. But he also loves pie crust, so I guess that's understandable. My 5 year old son loved them as well, but my 1 year old daughter licked the cinnamon sugar off and wouldn't touch the rest haha!

That being said, I think I am interested in making them again using sugar cookie dough. I am sort of worried that they would be way too sweet or even taste more snickerdoodle-y than churro-y, but I might still try it out and let you guys know what happens with that.

Feel free to leave any suggestions or tips in the comments below, and if you tried it then give me your own review! I'd love to know what you thought.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Halloween! Halloween Activities for the Family

Happy Halloween everyone!

This is one of my favorite holidays! I go all out. There's something amazing about the new Fall weather and spending time doing things just to make your kids happy. It just makes Halloween one-of-a-kind. Yesterday my family did all our Halloween activities in one night because we have been so busy this month! This is what we did.

Halloween Bingo!

This game has been a family tradition since I was a kid. My family played this every single year, and every single year I looked forward to it. In our married life, we have usually lived close enough to home that we could go to my Mom's house to play every year, but this year we are on our own, so I made our own Halloween Bingo cards! I think they turned out pretty cute. I got the pattern from Artsy Fartsy Mama. She actually has printables for it, and they are ADORABLE. Unfortunately for me, printables are for when your printer is actually working. I would have just printed mine off since they are so cute, but since I couldn't I made my own based on her pictures and bingo cards. It's ok though, it was hard work but I feel like it gave a more personal touch to it and I will treasure it a little more with each passing year.

So, bingo is a pretty simple game and the rules are basic. The only thing you do differently with Halloween Bingo is that you use candy for your markers. Then, when someone calls BINGO! you forfeit all the candy on your card to the player that won. Then after each round, you rotate your cards clockwise.

Vincent enjoyed himself immensely. As you can see by his huge candy pile, he won most of the rounds.

And as you can see by Max's lack-of-candy-pile, he didn't win at all. Haha, don't worry he's only pretending to be upset for the camera. It's actually funny, because he usually won almost every round in previous years. This bingo set must be enhanced with magical kid-advantage powers. =)

Another tradition we have is making Ghost Suckers!

All you need is lollipop sticks, aluminum foil, and chocolate. It is so much fun and tasty too!

This is something else I grew up with. My Mom had us make ghost suckers every year around Halloween. Once again, loved it and always looked forward to it. The picture above is Vincent's "Big Smile Ghost" and also his "Boo from Ruby Gloom" ghost. This is what we normally had when I did it with my Mom growing up - just melted white chocolate and milk chocolate chips. But now I am an adult. And like I said, I go all out for Halloween.

This is my ghost. She's dressed up for Halloween. This year she is going as Little Red Riding Hood. Unfortunately for her, in this version she gets eaten by the Big Bad Gela. =)

Here we have just a couple of the ones Max made. He made a Deadpool sucker for himself (left) and a Spidey sucker for Vincent (right). Turned out great right? He's so talented.

Here's another one Max made - The Grim Reaper! He looks so happy to be here for our Halloween party, doesn't he?

We just happened to have the red and black melting chocolate leftover from Eva's and my birthday party over the weekend. (More on that in the next post! Stay tuned!) But if you are feeling as ambitious as we were, melting chocolate in virtually all colors can be bought at most local crafting stores. I got mine at Jo~Ann. 

And of course, we also carved pumpkins!

Well, I have a long day full of trying to keep my kids' Halloween anxiety down before the fun stuff tonight. Wish me luck!

Happy Halloween!!

101 in 1001 Update

Hi everyone!

I promised you all an update on all the fun stuff I've been doing this month. So here it goes!

I haven't officially crossed anything off of my 101 in 1001 since my past post, but I have been working on it. For starters, I worked on #90: Donate blood twice. I actually made an appointment and went to the donation center last week, and they ended up turning me away because apparently my iron levels were too low. So I got home, made another appointment, and took my iron pill every day until that appointment came around. When I went back, I was able to donate. And you know what? My husband came with me and donated too. It was such a good experience. They really take care of you there, and the feeling you get from doing something good for someone else is just amazing.

I have also been experimenting with #74: Try a juice detox for 10 days straight. I haven't actually started the detox yet, but I started experimenting with making the juice/smoothie. Here's some pictures of the drink that came out of it:

It looks nasty, right?? But you know what? IT WAS DELICIOUS! I couldn't put it down after I made it. Here's what I put into it:

Approx. 1 cup frozen spinach leaves

1/2 cup frozen cucumbers

1/4 cup frozen sliced strawberries

1/2 cup banana slices

1/4 cup frozen cantaloupe

1/4 cup frozen green grapes

1/4 cup frozen honeydew

Filled to the top with water & blended well.

The fruit really does a great job hiding the veggies behind yummy flavors. I can't wait to start incorporating other fruits and veggies like kale, carrots, mangoes, pineapple, etc. I have to admit that I am actually excited to start the detox after trying this, and am planning on starting it near the beginning of November! Wish me luck!

I also started on #8: Try 10 of the amazing tutorials I always see online. Technically this wasn't one for my business even though it's under the "For the biz" category. I dunno what I was thinking putting it under that! But now it's there, and moving it would mess up my numbering, so there it will stay. Anyways, the tutorial I did was this. A Time-Out Bottle. When your kid gets in trouble, you shake up the time-out bottle and give it to them, then send them to go sit somewhere. Tell them that when all the glitter is down at the bottom, they can come out. Meanwhile, your child calms down while watching the glitter settle, and if they don't calm down and throw a fit, it shakes up the bottle and makes their time-out longer. Good idea, right?

Found this idea on Pinterest, and since Vincent seems to be going through a defiant stage, I thought I would give it a try.  Basically all you do is take an empty bottle, fill it up about half-way with water, then dump in some extra-fine glitter and a matching color bottle of glitter glue. Then glue the lid, of course. Don't want your kids trying to drink this stuff.
So, I tried it out when Vincent was being a stinker the other day.....
He refused to hold it.
I tried just setting it in his lap, and he would just take it and put it on the floor. I tried to explain to him that this is how we do time-out now, and he wouldn't budge. I will give it a few more tries, but I'm thinking maybe it's not going to work for him. Too bad, I was so excited about it.

Oh, don't worry. I have lots of other news, but my time is a little pressed right now because I have a HUGE birthday party to throw tomorrow! My life is crazy right now! But as always, thanks for stopping by and be on the lookout for my other fun October Adventures!

~*~Gela~*~

Ghost Story~ Happy October!

I just recently posted something new in my shop. It's a

HALLOWEEN HEADBAND!!

Isn't it just the cutest? I'm pretty much in love with it. So is Eva. She likes playing the korker bow and clicking the two ends of the headband together. What a sweetie pie.

It's also October 1st today.... Don't know if anyone has noticed....

But I'm seriously in HALLOWEEN MODE right now. I have lots of fun activities planned throughout the month to do with my family (thank you Pinterest!), and I am so psyched to share them all with you! But for now, I have something else on my mind....

I wanna tell a ghost story~!

(Dun dun DUN!!!!)

So, I won't get too freaky.... This is a family friendly blog after all =) But I do want to get a little personal. The story I'm about to tell is 100% true. And I know this because it happened TO ME. Here goes.....

When I was a preteen, I was up late at night playing video games, unbeknownst to my parents of course. I couldn't have any of the lights on because if my parents were to wake up and see the living room light on from under their door I would be busted. So I sat in the dark playing video games alone. Normally this never bothered me, but tonight was different. I started hearing a rustling sound. I looked around and didn't see anything, so I went back to my game and thought nothing of it. But it kept going on. I tried not to let it get to me, but eventually I couldn't stand it anymore. I HAD to know. So I paused my game and got up to investigate. I walked toward the sound, and realized it seemed to be coming from the kitchen. So I walked in and looked around. There were grocery bags all over the floor from when my Mom had gone shopping earlier that day and they hadn't been cleaned up yet. One of them was moving across the floor on its own. Me and my amazing logically-sound-12-year-old mind figured "Eek! There must be a mouse under it!" So I mustered up all my courage and lifted the bag......

No mouse.

Hmmm....... My brain started to turn. Then what could it have been? Then I realized.. "Hey, the air conditioning vent is on the floor of the kitchen. It must have blown the bag around when it kicked on." So I put my hand over the vent on the floor.....

Nope. It's not on. And the bag.... Started moving again.

It was just ever-so-gently drifting across the floor. I couldn't think of another explanation, but it wasn't that freaky so I turned back to my game and ignored it. I sat down for only a few minutes before I heard a different kind of noise. A rattling sound. This time I got up right away because I recognized that sound. It was the knob on my parents' bathroom door. I thought they were coming out to bust me. I knew I wouldn't have enough time to turn off the TV and act like I wasn't doing anything, so I turned around and waited to face my punishment and get sent to bed.

.......And nothing happened. The rattling just continued.

It almost sounded as if the door was locked and they were trying to come out but they couldn't figure out the handle for some reason. This went on for a while, so finally I mustered up the courage to walk over to their bathroom door. (I had to pass the kitchen with the moving bag to get there, luckily the bag was motionless by this point.) So I crept up to the door and stared at the doorknob. I could see it rattling. And yet, there was no light on in my parents' bathroom. And I knew my eyes weren't playing tricks on me because my Mom used to keep her hair ties on her bathroom doorknob so that in case any of her girls ever needed one we could just grab one off of it. And I could see the hair ties bouncing up and down with each rattle of the doorknob. And as I approached, the rattling got more violent.

So, I bolted my little self as fast I could to my room, closed the door, turned on my light (closet light too!) and went to bed. That was enough excitement for one night.

If that was my parents playing tricks on me somehow, they sure got me good.

I never played video games late at night again.

The End.

Have fun trying to get to sleep, everyone! =)

Mwahahahahahaha!!

Happy October!

~*~Gela~*~

P.S. I told Vincent that I was telling a scary story on my blog today, and he said he has a good one for you all. It goes like this, "I had a strange dream that there was TWO Vincents. It was very, very, very strange."

Hehe.

Deaf for the Day

Can't believe it happened already.

I crossed off my 1st goal from my 101 in 1001 list.

Whaaaaat?

It's true!!

#52

Do another “Deaf for the Day” – only this time really do it for a WHOLE day.

To those of you who don't know what "Deaf for the Day" means, let me explain. I am fluent in American Sign Language, as is my hubby Max. No, I don't know anyone deaf. I just fell in love with the language when I took an ASL class in high school, and stuck with it. My hubby learned the same way. He doesn't know anyone deaf either, yet we are both fluent. It has really come in handy when we need to communicate from across a noisy area, or even when we are in a quiet area and don't want to be noisy. Plus the Deaf culture is just amazing. If you didn't know that Deafies had a "culture", you should look up Deaf culture or watch Switched at Birth on Netflix. It's awesome.

Anyways, back to the subject at hand. In our ASL class in high school, we had a project called "Deaf for the Day". It was sort of like our class final exam. We had to take someone else who knows sign language and go somewhere out in public for at least an hour, wearing ear plugs, and using only sign language for communication. Max and I were dating already at this time, so we went on a date to Applebee's while I was being "deaf". It was so interesting. The waitress looked at me at first, then when she realized that I was only signing to her, she started talking through Max. She kept asking "Does she want more water?", "Is she enjoying her food?", etc etc etc. I was astounded. Then everyone else in the restaurant started taking an interest in me. There were a couple of employees standing at the host pedestal near the entrance who kept staring and pointing at me while whispering to each other. By the end of the night, I figured out why. For some reason or another, they didn't believe I was really deaf. When we left, the young employees waited for us to walk outside, then BLASTED the outside speakers. I had taken out my earplugs at this point because they were uncomfortable, and the music made me jump. I looked through the window of the restaurant and saw them all laughing together and pointing at me. It was really embarrassing. But I just kept thinking to myself "How rude was that? If I really was deaf, my then-boyfriend-now-husband would have been furious, because they knew that he was hearing since he was interpreting for me all night. They would have scared the daylights out of him for absolutely no reason. Just to test me.

Years later, when we were married and Vincent was about 2 years old, I was working nights at a Chinese restaurant to help make ends meet. It was a good job, got plenty of free Chinese food and made some great friends, but my proudest moment on the job was when this Deaf couple came in. They signed "menu" to me, and I handed them one. They didn't think anything of that. That sign is pretty straight-forward. But then they signed "seat" and "stay", and I immediately showed them to their seats. I think they were impressed by that, but it wasn't until I signed "Ok?" in reference to their seating, then told them their "Waitress will be with you in a minute" in ASL that they turned to each other with their jaws hanging down. I walked away with pride, thinking that was the only interaction I would have with them, but then their waitress needed my help interpreting their orders. I was able to explain to them what was in each dish, successfully stopped the woman from accidentally ordering "Hot & Sour Soup" when she thought it was "Sweet & Sour Soup", and was able to tell them if I liked certain menu items or not. (Of course there wasn't anything on the menu I didn't like!) When they left, they passed me at the front counter and kept signing over and over "Thank you, thank you, thank you." I was beside myself with happiness.

And so after those experiences, I made a vow that I would do Deaf for the Day again someday, only for an entire day. I hadn't ever gotten around to it (or had a reason to) before my 101 in 1001 list. So when I woke up yesterday with absolutely NO voice from being sick, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity. Max just happened to be home for the day so he could help me communicate with the kids. So we went for it.

We started the day off by going to Albertson's - the closest grocery store to where we live. I needed some herbal tea for my throat, not to mention some DayQuil. Also some earplugs - yes, I went all out. I signed with my husband throughout the whole store and I was surprised that unlike my 1st experience, no one seemed to pay any attention. The cashier looked directly at me when she greeted me, even though I know she saw me signing to Max in the checkout line. I nodded to her since I couldn't speak, and then when we were finished she just gave me a little wave goodbye. I was very impressed.

As for communicating with Vincent.... That was a little harder. But Max interpreted for us, and also he learned pretty quickly that if he was looking at me, I could pretty much understand what he wanted by reading his lips. We also gave both the kids unofficial sign-names. I say unofficial because it's an unwritten rule that an actual deaf person is supposed to give you your real sign-name. For Vincent we used "brave" signed with one hand and a "V" touching the shoulder, and for Eva we signed "beautiful" with an "E".

At one point in time though, Max came back from his night class in a huff and started yelling things at me. I just looked at him all confused. He had forgotten that he had been signing with me all day just from being away for an hour. That's because when you have been communicating with your hands for a long period of time, you enter the "Deaf Box". When you're in the Deaf Box, any and all noise sort of wakes you up in a sense. Noise brings you back to the land of the hearing. So in any case, he was furious because there was apparently an ant infestation in our vehicle, and he was trying to tell me that he was going to spray our car that night and asked me if we would be going anywhere for the rest of the night. He had a really hard time trying to sign to me through his anger, but he made it through.

Cooking was also pretty interesting, though. I couldn't hear the ground beef sizzling away in the pan and so I almost forgot about it entirely. Then I had to put the casserole in the oven and realized I wouldn't be able to hear my kitchen timer. I ended up setting the timer on my phone and set it to vibrate so that I would feel it in my pocket when dinner was ready.

When I finally took out the ear plugs that night, everything seemed REALLY noisy. I felt like I couldn't hear Max talking to me over the air conditioner and the hum of the computer. Then I suddenly realized..... That was the most peaceful day I've had in a looong time.

In any case, 12 hours of vocal rest and a million cups of tea later, my voice is almost back to normal today, and I'm back to listening to my kids scream and whine at me. Hooray. Lol.

It was a great experience, though. And before I wrap up, I wanna share some tips with you in case you ever come across a Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing person.

#1: Always look at them when you are talking to them, even if there is an interpreter present. Most Deafies know how to read lips anyway.

#2: If you come across a Deaf person who can't lip-read by chance, and if you can't be bothered to learn at least the alphabet in ASL, just using normal body language or mimicking what you're trying to convey works fine. In fact, a lot of times the normal "body language sign" for something is the same as the ASL sign. Deafies will normally appreciate that you are making the effort.

#3: Never, EVER doubt their ability to do things that hearing people can do. EVER.

Hope you enjoyed sharing my experience with me. I know this was kind of a long one - I appreciate those of you who stuck through it to the end. =) You guys are awesome. 'Til next time!

~*~Gela~*~