I feel lost....

I can't quite put my finger on it but I think what I am feeling is lost.  This time of year is usually my favorite.  School starting, cooler weather, I start the running with my head cute off mode and football, yes football.  This year my son is not playing.  Due to a concussion he got while milking cows.  You can read all about there here. I guess I have been in denial and not letting myself realize how much I'm going to miss football.  Not only is football for the kids but when it comes down to it I think its mostly for the parents.  The moms bond over making the kids dinners Thursday nights, the dads talk about what happens on the field and you all become one big family.  

Football is a huge time suck, one that my husband usually complains about but I know I live for it.  It gives me something to do and something to look forward too.  Lately I have had allot of time on my hands and I know its just going to get worse.  I have trying to fill that time with lots of things but nothing is coming close to filling that void.  

So.....

I think I need a change, I need to find something to do with all my time and fill that needed feeling and void.  I Craft, I Blog, I Junk, I....ya. I think what it comes down to is that I need to find something to do with my son so I can feel involved with his life again and feel needed.  Maybe instead of watching him play on the football field Friday nights I will follow him to the barn and watch him milk! HaHa!  Well, I would be spending time with him and watching him do something he loves and is really good at. Not sure I can stand 4 hours of that but hey a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do to feel needed and involved with her kido's life.   

Wordless Wednesday....20 Year Class Reunion

The 1992 Graduating Class of Watertown-Mayer High School

Things My Great Grandma Left me!

My great grandma (NaNa) had the best old house.  The upstairs was completely untouched, by that I mean that no one was allowed up there and remained the same since her two children grew up.  (My Grandpa and Great Aunt).  I always had a curiosity and would bug her until she would give in and let me explore the upstairs.  I can't remember how old I was when she first let me explore the upstairs but I can remember it like it was yesterday.  She took me up the steps which were cluttered in all sorts of stuff and we made our way to the landing.  

She showed me a built in cabinet that had rocks, trinkets, vintage items, jewelry and things she had collected over the years.  My Great Grandpa (Bompsi) made this for her so she could showcase the things that were special to her that she had collected over the years.  There were two other rooms up stairs but they were not explored that day, she said that we had to save that for another day.  I guess she wanted to make each exploration special.  

My Grandpa's room was cool.  The door was hand made and was cut at a 45 angle on the top of both sides and when you walked into the room the entire room was at 45 degree angels.  My Great Aunt's room was pink and white and had cool shelfs where I spent hours looking thru book and camera's and treasures.  

I would take something down from the shelf and bring it to her white iron bed and examine it for hours.  Oh how I wish I would have been older when she passed away-I was 8 and she was 99 and lived a complete life I think in my older years I would have learned many more things from her.  

She left me a few things to remember her by.  One is a hand beaded purse with a doll in it.  The story that goes with it was that a little girl was kidnapped by some Indian's for a few weeks and when she was returned to her family she had this hand beaded purse where she had kept her doll.  She told me I looked like the little girl and that the purse and doll were meant to be for me.

The next couple of items were broken up.  She had this awesome red old little kids wicker chair with some dolls sitting in it. The chair went to my grandma with the biggest doll in it.  I got two dolls from the chair.  Both are hand made and were given to me one at a time from her on differnt visits to her house.  There was also a bear in the chair and it was my great grandpa's.  I think my cousin Charlie got the bear, if not I hope so because Charlie was named after him.


After she passed away and I would say quite a few years later my grandpa gave me a small leather bound photo album.  I saw a similar item last week on American Pickers that they scored for $125 and sold for over $250.  To me it's priceless.  It contains family members and friends.  The small bear in the picture also came from Nana.  I can't remember if he always had only one arm or it fell off and I lost it.  

The final item came when I graduated HighSchool.  My Great Aunt Jane was to give it to me as a graduation present from her.  To the left you will see a picture of the card.  With a picture of Grandma Jane Jackson wearing the necklace.  As you can see I am the 5th generation to own the necklace.  Its beautiful.   

Inside the necklace is a picture of my Great Grandpa Bompsi.  


There are many things I treasure in this world and the ones I shared with you here are among the ones that I hold near and dear to my heart.  

My Latest "BIG IDEA"...Junken, my life away!

I guess I have always been a Junker.  Been collecting treasures since I can remember.  In the summer time when I was growing up I would spend my Wednesday-Fridays with my grandparents and every Thursday my grandma would take me garage sailing where we would find many treasures.  Mostly costing between 25 cents and $1.  


Old things such as building, house, barns, old cars and trinkets always catch my eye. When I see something I like it sets my imagination into high gear and my wheels start to spin.  

Old house's make me think about past life's and what it was like to to live there when the house was new and then I imagine what the family was like and how the house was decorated and that usually sparks some new project for my house.  

Items such as barn boards, doors, milk cans ignite my crafty flair and I start to think what can I make this into?  

As I got older I started to collect more things and figure out new purpose for them.  Some of my favorite things are repurposed.  Vintage stuff is the best.  I guess you could say my style is "Country Shabby Chic Retro Vintage with a Junk Gypsy Flair!"  

This last couple of weeks have really inspired the "Junk Gypsy" in me and have given me a new outlook on things.  I'm hoping that the connections that I made will help lead me down a path that will make me happy and allow me to enjoy my life and career and take me to places I have yet to explore.  

I tend to go from one thing to another, one craft to another; never really settling on one specific thing.  Probably what makes me who I am.  I have an entire room overflowed into my husbands garage and a shed he built for me containing many found items full of ideas that are waiting for me when I find the inspiration. 

If you want to see the things I have crafted or would like to purchases my latest   repurposed item that I'm able to let go you can find it on my new website complete with shopping cart at HomeSpun & HandCrafted I have also added a calendar where you will find local occasional sales and Junk O Rama events that I may or may not attend.  

Wordless Wednesday...On a Steel Horse I Ride!

Overload...craft projects.

Yes, I have been M.I.A for awhile.  I've been busy crafting and getting ready for a craft show I will be in this weekend.  

Below are a few of the things I have been crafting and not allowing me to blog.  

If you are in the area on Saturday then stop on by the Winsted 125th anniversary  'summer blast' and take a look at all the awesome goods everyone has to offer.  

Top 5 Google Easter Eggs

Have you ever head of an Easter Egg?  Some of you maybe thinking yep, every April the Easter Bunny Brings them.  Well thats not the kind of Easter Egg that I'm taken about here.  Did you know that "Geeks" like me (ie software developers...which I a not but am a huge fan of and have many friends that are) develop these "Easter Eggs" in software all the time.  Mainly because they can and mostly because if you are lucky enough to find one you will get a fun surprise.  

I first heard about Easter Eggs back in the late 90's when I was doing Tech Support for a software company.  While I was documenting problems with a new software title.  I can't remember exactly what happened but I do remember thinking "What the heck was that" and went and got another tech who explained "Easter Eggs" to me.  So then we create quite a rucks because we were goggling how to access other easter eggs and the entire staff had gathered around my cube.  I do remember finding out how to find the hidden car game in excel.  It became quite popular.  

Here are the instructions on how to do find the car game in Excel.  You do have to have Excel 2000 in order to access it though. 

Excel 2000

A car-driving game can be found in MS Excel 2000 by following these steps:

1. Open Excel 2000.
2. Go to File, Save as Web Page.
3. Then click Publish.
4. Check the checkbox that says "Add Interactivity With".
5. Click Publish.
6. Close Excel.
7. Open IE.
8. Click File, Open, Browse.
9. Go to where you saved it and click open.
10. Now you should be looking at a spreadsheet.
11. Go to all the way to row 2000.
12. Click column A and drag all the way to column ZZ.
13. Hit Tab and it should take you back to A.
14. Hold Tab all the way to column WC. (Press shift Tab in case you move back).
15. When you get there make sure WC is a white box and all the others are blue or green..
16. Hold Ctrl+alt+shift and left click on the "four puzzle pieces" logo (The MS Excel Logo) on the upper left hand corner

If you want to have a little fun try these 7 Easter Egss found in Google.  

open up Google Search, and copy / paste the 'search words' below. Most of these work better in Firefox or Chrome. They DO NOT: Internet Explorer.

1. Google Gravity (I'm feeling lucky) | Google Gravity (click 'I'm Feeling Luck Button').
2. Do a Barrel Roll | Do a Barrel Roll
3. Zerg Rush | Zerg Rush
4. Tilt (also works for Askew) | Tilt
5. What is the Loneliest Number | What is the loneliest number?

You can find more easter eggs by Googling "Google Easter Eggs" or Wikipedia has a great page that has more eggs.  

Now go and have some fun!!!!

Wordless Wednesday.... Leinenkugel Brewery

The Hubs and I at Leinenkugel Brewery 

Monday Quiz About Me, #MQAM,

1. What is your favorite Olympic sport?

-Gymnastics....but if I'm being honest here, I'm not a huge Olympic's Fan.  

2. What is the healthiest meal you've eaten this week?

-Well the week is new, so lets hope that I eat something healthy.  So far this week I've had a Glazer (Donut), Mocha, Party Pizza and its only Monday.  I think I may need a food intervention.  

3. What is the unhealthiest meal you've eaten this week?

-I think we covered that in above question!

4. What jewelry do you wear every day?

-I don't wear any Jewelry on a daily basis.  Stopped wearing the wedding band when my hands started to swell and after that I only put it on when I go to a clients or we go out.  I do like to accessorize though when I get dressed up, BUT that only happens when I go to clients or out with the Husband!

Bonus Question:

Do you like Beer?

-I never have been a big beer fan, but after our weekend tour to Leinenkugel's Brewery this past weekend (Post to come later this week) I'm a HUGE BEER FAN!  Without giving my entire secret away...did you know that you can mix 2 Leinenkugel Beer's together to make an entirely new flavor?  Let's just say its AWESOME!

For the Love of Mocha....

I have done it again....Yes come up with another hair brained idea! BUT this time it also is helping me get my kitchen (that has been torn apart for the last 7 years) done!  All because I have the love of mocha and a great bargain.  


The coffee shop I help out with their Social Media Gert & Ermas (sham-less plug) has been in the process of remodeling and changing things up, like adding an entire new PUB to the mix (Emmett's on Hennepin) !  Anyways Sharon had been asking me if I wanted to buy her Hoosier. For those of you where like me and have no idea what a Hoosier is, it is basically a cabinet or hutch that was used for baking.  Wikipedia does a good job of explaining here .  Go ahead and take a look, I'll wait here...


So this is the Hoosier Sharon was talking about.  

and this is what it looks like now, turned into the ultimate Espresso Bar inside my kitchen.  

I also added some seating to make the perfect coffee bar!  

I still need to finish my walls and put up some more decoration but believe me I have been enjoying my new space as is!!!

Monday Quiz About Me - #MAQM a great Meme for Mondays!

1. What are your favorite pizza toppings?

-I'm a Chicken lover for Pizza Toppings.  Chicken, Bacon, Ranch are my favs. Or BBQ Chicken.  But I have really come to love Dominos Tuscan Salami & Roasted Veggie  

2. What is the strangest name you've ever heard for a child?

-Maybe I'm just small town and everyone I know has named their child something normal.  I do know my son is happy that I didn't name him "Shine".  

3. What is the best vacation you've ever gone on?

-I would have to say the best vacation I even have been on was when I was in 7th grade and my grandparents took me to Hawaii.  We did every thing possible.  From the Pineapple Factory, to Waimea Bay and Pearl Harbor.  

4. What is your favorite quick summer meal?

-Pork Burgers on the Grill!

Bonus Question:

Do you have a Woman Cave?

I just spent the weekend on an impromptu project, that I thought was going to be a woman cave but ended up bing the cutest addition to my kitchen.  As soon as its totally finished I will put up a blog post about it!  For now here's a sneak peek.

My Summer Song Mix

Every summer I seem to fall in Love with a new song this summer my mix tape contains the following:

Little Big Town: Pontoon.  My families not sure why I like this song because I don't like the water and really when they say "don't act like you don't want to" referring to jumping of the back.  I really don't want to I have a huge fear of water and drowning and never, ever jump into water.  

Then you have Dierks Bentley: 5-1-5-0.  This song video reminds me of the good ole days when me and boys would go mudden and also when we went to this awesome mud resort in wisconsin where they actually had a mud pit exactly like this and driven through it with my 4 wheeler!



Then you have Tim McGraw's new Truck ya.  This kind of explains itself!

One Girls views on...Kendra Wilkinson's Sliding into Home

After an entire day of "Kendra on Top" I decided that I should download Kendra Wilkinson's Book "Sliding into Home".  

I have been a fan of Kendra's from the early "Girls Next Door" days.  For some reason I could relate to her.  She seemed pretty real and had the "What you see is what you get" type of attitude.  Little did I know the things that she has gone through to get to where she is today.


After reading the book, I have a much greater respect for Kendra.  She has overcome allot a things in her life to get where she is today.  I'm not a big fan of her take on why she did drug, because personally I don't think things could ever be that bad to have to stoop to that level but I respect her for being brave enough to tell the world about who she was before she became the celebrity she is today.  

The books itself is not written all that well so all you proper grammar folks out there please don't buy the book and if you do please do not critique Kendra for it.  I feel it took allot of guts to write about the things she did in her life and in life grammar is not always proper.  Every once in awhile you need to though out the F-bomb. 


If you ask me Kendra has come from humble beginnings and has made something about herself.  From not having anything to having almost anything she wants is quit a change and it didn't just get handed to her she worked for it.  Though she might have been in the right place at the right time for some of the opportunities that she has been given she still has worked for everything she has gotten.  Kendra has the hard work paid off life.  I respect her a ton.  I wish Kendra nothing but good luck in everything she does and thank her for entertaining me on my stuck in the house days.

Wordless Wednesday...Cooling off in the Pool

Peanut Butter Kiss Brownies

We visited my sister-in-laws on the fourth of July and she told me about these "Sluty-brownies" and I had to try them but of course I didn't have all the ingredients at home when I was craving them so I tried tried something else. This is what i call "Peanut Butter Kiss Brownies" 














Recipe:

1 bag Betty Crocker Paanut Butter Cookie Mix   
1 box brownie mix 
2 Hershy bars 
Eggs 
Water 
Oil 

Mix up the cookie mix in a bowl and spread in 8x8 baking pan. Break apart and place Hershy bars ontop of cookie batter. Mix brownie batter in a bowl and pour over cookie mix & hearsay bars in the baking pan. Spread evenly. Place in oven and follow cooking instructions on brownie mix. I baked at 350 and checked after 30 minutes. They were not done yet so I baked for another 10 minutes. I think it will depend on your oven how long they take to bake. I topped with whip cream and enjoyed! Yummy!!!!

Monday Quiz About Me...#MQAM

1. If you could be on a reality tv show which one would you want to be a part of?

-Redneck Vacation....they look like they are having so much fun!

2. You have the power to create one law, what would it be?

-If you want to go college you can, no credit checks, no tuition and no age limit. Simply put if you want to better yourself, then go ahead a do so and don't worry about how your going to have to pay for it! 

3. How's your weather today?

-Hot, Humid. Windy and 100+ degrees.  But its 76 and cool inside where I am!

4. Other than the country you currently live in, where would you want to live?

-I like the United States but its no secret that I want to live in Colorado. I'm sure I have mentioned it more then once before.  

Cowboy Boots and Shorts?

What do you think?  Should you where cowboy boots with shorts? Yes or no?

Afternoon on the Bike....

I'm never one to say no to a bike ride and yesterday afternoon we got to put on about 150 miles with our friend Mike.  

Mike bought a brand new 2012 Harley Davidson VROD and wanted us to help him break it in.  Its pretty cool, I have to admit!  

To the left is a picture of my Husband and Mike after they backed the bikes up to Hoopers to refuel our bellies and take a little break.

We went from Hutchinson to Delano, then the back way through Watertown to St Boni over to Waconia, then headed to Cologne over to Arlington through Glencoe to Silver Lake then the 20 mile around the block ride back home!

Our little voyage was allot of fun and I hope Mike will be back home soon (he's an over the road truck driver) so we can spend a whole weekend on the Bikes. 

Who knows maybe me and the Hubs will take a ride up to Park Rapids and ride around up there with him!

Wordless Wednesday...Cat in a Pocket

Wordless Wednesday...Dog Nursing Kitten

How to Freeze a Cell or Column in Excel

I work with Excel allot in my job and use a ton of shortcuts.  I thought I would share this handle little tidbit with you all. 


How to Freeze a Cell or Column in Excel 

For Mac Excel 2011

Open excel Spread sheet, then Select the Layout tab from the toolbar at the top of the screen. Click on the Freeze Panes button and click on the Freeze Top Row option in the popup menu.

For PC office 2010

First off, head over to View tab, click Freeze Top Row to make the row labels appear, when you are scrolling.

Now if you want to freeze first column, Click Freeze First Column, to do the same with the columns.