Homemade Gift Ideas

• Recipe jars


• Family recipe book


• Scrapbook


• Photo album/book


• Cookies wrapped or in a tin


• Hand-dipped & sprinkled chocolate pretzels


• Paintings


• Poem (s)


• Mini handwritten stories/books


• Homemade coloring book


• Goodies in a jar (i.e. candy, buttons, charms, bobby pins/clips/hair ties, gumballs, gum packs or sticks, nuts, ribbon, little toys, crayons, pet treats, beads, lip gloss/make-up/mini nail polish bottles, bath confetti, ground coffee or mini coffee packs, tea bags, notes, pens/pencils, erasers, quotes, sprinkles, lotto tickets, stickers, etc.)


• Goody baskets (i.e. breakfast theme, drink mix theme, craft supplies, hostess theme, paint/artist theme, kid theme, etc.)


• Jewelry

Yay Christmas Films

• "It's a Wonderful Life"


• "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas"


• "While You Were Sleeping"


• "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"


• "Love Actually"


• "Home Alone 2"


• "The Santa Claus"

[what did i leave out?]

5 Things to Be Happy About Right Now (during winter)

1. Wearing tights (black are prettiest and sophisticated) with both winter and summer dresses


2. Exercising outside (yay running!) without getting overheated


3. Soup filled with lots of beans and veggies


4. Holiday music is so cheerful!


5. Hot chocolate--always a warm classic

Thankful

• that class ended early on 11.26.07


• that D'lites is closed on Thursday and not Wednesday (buy 2 get 1 FREE day!!!)


• Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade tradition


• being with family (and not having to work or go to school instead)


• my beautiful new home in Tampa


• that I didn't bust open my face when I fell in the Sweetbay parking lot yesterday


• my three lovely blogs


• sweaters! and blankets! and heaters!


• wedding location recent developments/prospects
  
• inspiRations


• Health/happiness/a job/an education/opportunities/priceless & wonderful blessings


• life life life life life life life life life life life life life life life life life

Jeez, I could go on FOREVER, but I'll end here so I don't bore anyone...so I'll lavish my thanks on God, in my prayers, which works pretty well, too...

Current obsessions/passions/whatever you might call them:

• being thankful


• warm soup


• home decor blogs


• fruit gum


• Regina Spektor


• cupcake art


• D'lites ice cream


• "Pushing Daisies"


• planning and making Christmas gifts


• dimes


• dreams


• straws


• daily snapshots


• mini braids


• leggings and tights


• collecting lesson plans

Looking forward to...

• No work, no school tomorrow after 4:45 pm


• A new mini laptop?


• Finishing all assignments and the fall semester!


• Villagefest in Carrollwood Village


• Thanksgiving and a day off--from everything!


• "Winter" cleaning


• E-bay, Etsy, and Craigslist listings


• Making and compiling Christmas gifts


• Seeing my darling Amy


• Spending the weekend after Christmas with my family


• Blogging/reading blogs


• Crafts: paintings, plushes, gifts


• Holiday movies (even though I haven't been to the movies in forever!)
  
• President Elect Obama's inauguration

Hey, it's ok!...

• ...to give more presents than you get at Christmas.


• ...to be an adult and wear colorful tights.


• ...to spend a little more money than you meant to at the craft fair.


• ...to say, 'No!'--to Uncle Scottie's gourmet smoked pork-whatever, another party, or coffee-after-dessert-after-Thanksgiving dinner-after-brunch with his grandparents.


• ...to not write a 'to-do' list for a day!


• ...to eat all of the cookie dough out of the ice cream but get upset if anyone else does the same thing...

Gifts that give back

• charitywater.org -> $20 = drinking water for one person for 20 years!


• oneacreatatime.com ->$50 = saves 200 sq.ft. of forest


• unicefusa.org -> $35 = 1 bike to get a health worker to remote areas


• survivors.com -> buy jewelry made by survivors of sex trafficking to support their rehab programs


• we-care.com & igive.com -> merchants donate proceeds to good causes


• roomtoread.org -> promotes child literacy in the developing world


• scaw.org -> $35 = the basics for a needy child


• womensbeanproject.com -> buy bean dips to support homeless women who are employed to make these dips


• mercycorps.org -> $70 = farming supplies and equipment for 2 families in Uganda


• malarianomore.org -> $10 = 1 insecticide-treated mosquito net (that will protect a child for years)


• modestneeds.org -> help pay a needy family's bill(s)


• dogoodchannel.com -> find out what non-profits in your area need specifically

These are all awesome ideas (courtesy of some magazine or another--I subscribe to too many to remember which!) that you can do as Christmas gifts--give a gift in their name! Whoever the gift is given to will thank them, too; helping someone in need is a much more beautiful gift than another pair of socks or even a cool new iPod.

Merry Christmas shopping/planning! :)

My paraphrasing of Ikea's guide to de-cluttering

1. Sort: by owner, frequency of use, if it can be donated/sold. The fewer the categories, the better.
   
2. Reduce: If you don't use it on a daily basis, seriously reconsider it's purpose in your home. Again, donate and sell it if you can!
   
3. Assign a home: Figure out what where and in what room everything belongs.
   
4. Count and Measure: so you know how much storage space you need!
   
5. Choose your storage: Of course, Ikea gives suggestions for their products (which is not a bad idea, people) but Wal-Mart works, too!

Looking forward to...

• Tomorrow morning (breakfast and "Bonnie", relaxing)
• Kickboxing!
• Thanksgiving in Bradenton (family is stressful but still fun)
• Completing all Fall Semester assignments
• Teaching on Tuesday?
• Bum's visit! (I am hopeful!)
• Saturday = Ybor Farmer's Market in the morning
• 11.21 = Art After Dark with Starbucks
• 11.22 = Villagefest in Carrollwood in the morning
• Christmas break (from school, there'll still be LOTS of work)
• The store during the holiday season = better sales, music, and decorations
• D'lites every Wednesday
• Blogs daily! :)
• Roadtrip Summer 2009
• Wedding 10.10.10

Guess!

These are some randomly chosen/popular/pleasant-sounding slogans found in American culture; how many of these can you guess? [answers at the bottom!]

• I'm lovin' it (we'll start w/an easy one!)


• Is IT in you?


• No rules. Just right.


• The style of your life.


• Your world delivered.


• Live your life.


• Save money. Live better.


• Characters welcome.


• An American Revolution


• Start a band, rock the world


• A new kind of family.


• Watch what happens.


• The object of your desires.


• Real Life. Drama.


• Chase what matters.


• Instinctively good.


• Follow the leader.


• imagination at work.


• Growing Ideas.


• Uncommonly good.

***********************************************************

• McDonald's


• Gatorade


• Outback Steakhouse


• Dillard's


• AT & T


• American Eagle


• Wal-Mart


• USA


• Chevy


• RockBand


• abc Family


• Bravo


• Blackberry


• A&E


• Chase


• Planters


• Garmin


• GE


• Weyerhaeuser


• Keebler

"You only live once, but once is enough if you live it right"

WHY I shouldN'T care what THEY/OTHERS/the freaking WORLD think of me:
[but it is hard for me to do this so a list of affirmation is in order]

• this is MY life, not theirs/yours/whoever's


• only GOD has the right to judge me


• very few people are special enough to understand me


• "If it makes you happy, it can't be that bad"


• being unique is beautiful


• i have ONE shot at life -- so I'd best not waste it on anyone/anything that is not worth it

they may be pointless to you [but they mean something to me]

*collections*

• Band-aids [favorites include pirate, hello kitty, and strawberry shortcake]
• Pressed pennies [from theme parks mostly]
• Postcards [haven't gotten too far on this one]
• Business cards [they're everywhere]
• Stickers [because you can ALWAYS use stickers]
• Journals [mmm. love.]
• Books [to build up a super extensive and impressive library]
• Bottle caps [to make jewelry]
• Magazine pictures/cut-outs [for collages, of course!]
• Charms & Lockets [& other adorable tiny things]
• Websites [because i am so easily inspired]

Looking forward to...

• 5th year anniversary


• Halloween


• Family weekend


• SCATT workshop


• Crisp/cool autumn days


• Presidential election


• No school on Veterans Day


• Registering for Spring semester classes


• Thanksgiving


• End of the Fall semester


• Casper coming to live with us!


• Daylight Savings = extra hour


• "Heroes"


• blogging :)


• "Bolt" (minus the Miley)


• Summer Road Trip


• Wedding 10.10.10

i.am.the.luckiest.

Current Playlist
[to heal]

• Complete "Watching Over You" album by Phil Joel
• "Posters" by Jack Johnson
• "New Soul" by Yael Naim
• "Won't Go Home Without You" by Maroon 5
• "The Scientist" by Coldplay [i can never heal without this song]
• "Swallowed in the Sea" by Coldplay [see above]
• "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds
• "Brightly Wound" by Eisley
• "Such Great Heights" by The Postal Service
• "Daughters" by John Mayer
• "Samson" by Regina Spektor
• "Calendar Girl" by Stars
• "Don't Panic" by Coldplay
• "New Slang" by the Shins
• "Wheel" by John Mayer
• "Let Go" by Frou Frou
• "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" by Elton John
• "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" by Elton John
• "Vienna" by Billy Joel
• "Your Song" by Elton John [mmm how predictable :) ]

Good Guys

• Shia LaBeouf (Louis, Sam Witwicky; funny and adorable)
• Elton John (beautiful, classic songs)
• Walt Disney (mmm. no words.)
• Ben Franklin (GENIUS)
• Morgan Freeman (c'mon, who doesn't love this guy???)
• C.S. Lewis (The Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity)
• Harry Potter (loveable, hero, human yet extraordinary)
• Zach Braff (brilliant, hilarious)
• Andrew Stanton (another genius! he's the guy to thank for nemo and walle)
• Carson Kressley (because he helps women LOVE -- not just accept -- their bodies!)
• Chris Martin/Coldplay (their music = therapy)
• John Mayer (ditto)
• Ray Romano (he's pretty funny...but he mostly reminds me of my dad and i like that)
• Ty Pennington (because his job is to help people who really really really need it, and that's an amazing job to have)
• [did i miss any?]
  

[and, obviously, Jesus is above all of them, but you knew that, didn't you?]

Dream Jobs

• Writer
• Actress
• Artist
• Talk show host
• Boutique owner
• Cake decorator
• Producer
• Mythbuster
• Dancer
• Disney Imagineer

Web Sites

• Freestufftimes.com
• Amazon.com
• thegoldenorchidthief.blogspot.com
• Hotmail/g-mail
• Google (duh)
• Hungry-girl.com
• Postsecret.com
• thehungersite.com
• Cakespy
• Toothpastefordinner.com
• Etsy.com
• http://www.abeautifulrevolution.com/blog/eskimo_woe/index.html
• http://doggerel.blogspot.com/

Writing Topics

• Cool words (five to seven of the "coolest" words)
• Ten things you should know about JCD
• Time capsule ("capture" this time in your life with examples of film, songs, friends, etc.)
• My favorite fictional character is...
• Three things I believe to be true
• The biggest problem in the world today is...
• If I could time travel, I'd...
• I want to be remembered as...

Favorite Places

• My cozy corner at home (surrounded by inspiration and comfort)
• Walt Disney World
• J's arms
• Chloe's bed
• Universal Studios in Orlando
• traveling/car trips/airplanes
• everywhere that you are...

how wonderful life is [with him in my world]

Mr. J = love because:

• he puts my toothpaste on my toothbrush for me every night (so it's all ready for me the next morning)


• he surprised me by cleaning the house after i had been away for a long weekend!


• he texts me everyday with "i love you"s and "you're so beautiful"s


• he forgives me, always, no matter what


• he lets ME control the music in the car


• he opens the car door for me, always


• he does the driving for me as often as he can


• he goes to calculus tutoring (calc tutoring = better grades = comp. engineering degree = good job = james and jacky have a nice future)


• his tattoo represents the oneness that we are


• he always always always puts me before his friends, or anyone else, for that matter


• he wants me to have the wedding i want


• he fell in love with me when i used to be chubby


• he stuck by me through all my Renfrew/ED-related issues


• he proposed to me...on an airplane!!! :)


• he takes the trash out for me


• he gives me random (but oh so wonderful) foot massages


• he only puts on the house alarm when i'm home by myself

5.things.i.like.about.right.now

Redbook Magazine, November 2008

Your Inner Life: 5 things to be happy about right now:

1. The comfort of cozy tights
2. Leftover pie for breakfast
3. "An out-of-the-blue text from my sweetie!" [Janice Park, 45, Hudson, NH]
4. Reconnecting with a long-lost friend (Thanks, Facebook!)
5. Tailgating parties

******************************************************

Jaclyn DuBois, October 23, 2008

My Inner Life: 5 things to be happy about right now:

1. An entire weekend off starting 10.31.08
2. Inspirations [are ALL around me]
3. D'lites ice cream and fruit gumballs
4. LOVE LOVE LOVE [he always loves me, never 'not']
5. Re-discovering wonderful music [Motion City Soundtrack, "Don't Let Me Get Me", Switchfoot, "Hey Ya"...]

{jason mraz says, "i won't worry my life away"}

ROAD TRIP U . S . A

Summer 2009

• California [Los Angeles, San Francisco, Disneyland?]
• NYC
• Texas [Aunt Kimmy]
• Arizona [Tucson, Grand Canyon]
• New Mexico
• SC [Bennettsville, Charleston]
• NC [Winston-Salem]

{as always, to be continued...}

p l a c e s

E x O t I c

places to visit..

(a very general yet generous list of enlightenment)

• London
• Egypt
• France
• Australia
• The Rainforest
• Spain
• Greece
• China
• Japan
• India
• Africa

[to be continued...]

film.

• Jurassic Park


• The Shawshank Redemption


• Wall-E


• Transformers


• Ratatouille


• Garden State


• V for Vendetta


• Love Actually


• The Lion King


• Stardust


• Les Miserables


• Moulin Rouge!


• Signs


• Iron Man


• Wait Until Dark


• That Thing You Do


• Charade


• Aladdin


• Little Miss Sunshine


• Forrest Gump


• The Mummy


• to be continued...

the most excellent cd, which i have missed but rediscovered today

[thank you, amy; i am eternally grateful for your stupendous taste in music]

I am the luckiest:

1. Bubble Toes by Jack Johnson

2. Why Georgia by John Mayer

3. Mr. Jones by Counting Crows

4. Posters by Jack Johnson

5. The Luckiest by Ben Folds

6. My Stupid Mouth by John Mayer

7. Wait for Me by Rebecca St. James

8. Beauty and the Beast

9. The Road Will Lead to You by Paul Alan

10. Hanging by a Moment by Lifehouse

11. For Once in My Life by Michael Bolton

12. You're the Top by Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal

13. Perfect Day by Hoku

14. Beautiful Thing by Sister Hazel