My first apartment!...now what?

1 week from tomorrow is my move in day. Into my first apartment. For the first time I will be living out from under my parent's roof. I am super excited about this, not because I dislike my parents, but because it means I get to pick the stuff that goes into the house and where to put it!

But as I contemplated this move, I began doing many interweb searches on what I would need when moving into my first place. Because there is a lot guys. So many things. And I found some really helpful lists and suggestions that helped me figure things out. For your edification, here is a list of the things I found to be most important or that I hadn't thought about at first that sort of compiles some of the other lists I found along with things I added.

Furniture - this seems obvious, but it warrants a little thinking:

• tv cabinet
• bookshelves
• couches/chairs
• side tables
• dining furniture
• bed
• dresser
• desk
• inflatable mattress (I got one for easy company sleeping)

Lamps and lights - there is, fortunately, good lighting in my apartment, but I will still need more of these than I had in one bedroom.

Kitchen appliances - If there is one thing I'm excited about, it's that I'll have my own kitchen. I like to cook and my apartment has lots of counter and cabinet space. But I'm going to fill that up with

• toaster oven (or toaster if you prefer, but toaster ovens are the bees knees and I can't imagine living without one)
• microwave (if you want those evil rays infiltrating your brain. Or to warm up food fast)
• blender
• bread maker
• crockpot
• mixer (whether stand or hand or both)
• you might also need things like a coffee maker
• rice cooker
• juicer depending on what kinds of things you like to cook

Other Kitchen Stuff

• pots and pans
• baking sheets and pans (loaf, 13x9, cupcake)
• spatulas, spoons, scrapers, etc.
• glass or plastic storage containers to hold all the delicious food you cook
• cooling rack
• measuring cups (liquid and dry) and measuring spoons
• paper towel holder
• dish towels
• dish cloths
• hot pads and/or oven mitts
• mixing bowls
• rolling pin
• whisk
• pizza cutter
• ice cream scoop
• cutting board(s)
• knives
• can opener
• ladle
• tongs
• peeler
• aluminum foil/plastic wrap/wax paper/zipper bags
• toothpicks/matches

Dining Stuff

• plates and bowls
• silverware
• serving bowls
• napkins
• placemats
• tablecloths
• salt & pepper shakers
• cups and glasses

Bathroom Supplies

• bath mat
• shower curtain
• towels
• washcloths
• hand towels
• toilet paper

Cleaning Supplies

• sponges
• toilet brush and plunger
• broom and dustpan
• vacuum
• toilet/glass/bathroom/all purpose cleaner
• trash cans and wastebaskets/garbage bags
• paper towels
• dish detergent
• laundry detergent/dryer sheets/softener/stain removers

Other random things

• first aid supplies
• extension cords
• picture hanging supplies
• hammer/screwdriver/allen wrench
• duct tape/super glue
• step stool
• q-tips
• clothes pins
• batteries
• light bulbs
• recipes

And I also gathered some food stuffs so I wouldn't be tempted to eat out every day during my first couple of weeks:

• spices
• flour
• sugar (powdered, white, and brown)
• salt
• baking soda/baking powder/cornstarch/yeast
• vanilla extract
• yeast
• non-stick cooking spray
• pasta/rice/couscous/potatoes/whatever starchy thing you like
• oatmeal/cereal
• bread/wraps/bagels
• canned and/or frozen veggies
• salad dressing(s)/soy sauce/worcestshire sauce/bbq sauce/ketchup/mayo/mustard
• butter/margarine/Smart Balance
• milk/cheese/eggs
• chicken/tuna/ground meat (turkey, beef, venison, or whatever)
• meals in a box like Hamburger Helper, mac&cheese, or other meal starters just so I have easy things to fix or throw in the crockpot while I'm unpacking and tired from the move stuff
• ice cream (because, let's face it, when you've spent all day at the DMV and come home to an apartment full of boxes you're going to want a little treat)

This is a list I've compiled over the last 6 months or so, but by no means is it exhaustive. Some of the stuff I've listed you might not need and you might absolutely have to have something I never considered. If you think of anything important I've forgotten please feel free to leave it in the comments! And I'll come back and add stuff if I remember anything (or move and wish I'd had it).

Two Truths for Tuesday

Wow! Look at that! I've started back on my schedule again!

Try not to die from shock or anything. I've also started my bloggy rounds again, trying to get back around to you lovely people who haven't given up on me despite my spotty appearances and spastic posts.

So today, for my Two for Tuesday, I have once again decided to steal from the Roecker sisters and post truths as well.

1. I am enjoying my summer off of school a little too much. So much that when I had a day of work cut from this week I kind of didn't really care. It's been a lot of years since I had this amount of time on my hands and I think it's gone to my head. I wouldn't mind if I was actually like writing or something, but I'm not. And worse, I don't feel bad about it. Not really. Case in point. Yesterday I did the following:
a. sleep in until 10:30 (completely unheard of unless I am sick)
b. read the rest of Cruel Love by Kate Brian (my guilty pleasure in YA books)
c. try to log into my school account, which won't load
d. lose all desire to work on my syllabus
e. read 2 chapters of They Say/I Say to make myself feel like I am accomplishing SOMETHING
f. write my blog post about the winners of my Tuscan Tales contest
g. read some blogs
h. snicker over Sarah and LiLa's posts on procrastination
i. continue to read blogs
j. decide at 2:15 I should probably eat some lunch
k. slump around trying to find something to eat
l. put a frozen chicken and cheese quesadilla in the toaster oven
m. get the mail
n. dance around because I got notification that I was awarded a scholarship
o. decide to fill out the acceptance sheet later
p. hide award letter in room in order not to think about it
q. eat quesadilla while watching Torchwood on Netflix streaming
r. keep watching Torchwood
s. help Mom pick lettuce from our garden for dinner
t. watch more Torchwood
u. go to Wal-Mart with Dad to buy frozen pizzas
v. eat dinner with the family
w. read some more of Divergent
x. start another episode of Torchwood
y. get ready for bed
z. write this blogpost
As you can see. I have an entire alphabet's worth of stuff and nothing really productive. At all.

2. I didn't really know what to write about for today so I made a random list and am pretending that it is a real post and that I am NOT totally ripping off multiple other bloggers.

So what's your truth today? Are you feeling lazy now that summer is here? Or are you still busy, busy, busy?

Some Stuff I Learned :)

So today I actually took time to bounce around and catch up a little bit on y'all's blogs. If I haven't made it to you yet, well, let's just say that I spent all day reading and I still have 848 unread posts in Google Reader.

Anyhoodles.

One thing that I have noticed all around is that people are posting lists of things they learned this year and I had so much fun reading yours, that I decided to make one of my own. So here goes - my witty and wise lessons of 2010:

1) Pantsing can be totally good for me. Sometimes I need to shut up my internal editor and just get some words on the page. Because really awesomesauce things can happen that way that I KNOW would never happen otherwise.

2) "Research" and "Plotting" can = "Procrastination." I am NOT saying that I shouldn't research or plot, but when I sit down to write and spend the whole time doodling about things that might possibly happen in the sequel to the book I haven't even finished yet, it is NOT GOOD.

3) It is possible to write a WHOLE lot more than I do now. If there was one thing I learned from NaNo, it's that when I make myself find the time, I find it. Even in the middle of the rest of life there IS time for writing.

4) There are really awesome authors out there. Okay, so I already knew that, but with the chance to meet some of my writing heroes as well as some authors I had never really heard of or read, I have come to one conclusion. We authors are pretty much the coolest people ever.

Crazy people tend to gravitate to each other :D

5) You meet the right people at the right time. I met a lot of new people this year, both in person and online and each one of them has come into my life for a specific reason. Some of them it was only for a season - maybe even just that one encounter. Some of them are friendships that could last me a lifetime. I am incredibly grateful for every single one of them.





6) There is NO substitute for a good book. Okay, I knew that already, too, but having lost a lot of my leisure reading time, I can tell you that I adore those moments when I can curl up and lose myself in a book I'm reading just because I want to. Each book I read becomes a part of who I am and reminds me that it is still possible to write something good and fun and worthwhile, no matter how much has been written before.


7) TV shows can sometimes feel like a good book. You know, when the writing and the casting and the acting all gels and you get that really special show that pulls you in and makes you believe that it's real and you cry and laugh and want to LIVE with the characters. It doesn't happen that often, but I've discovered a few shows like that this year. Some are fluffier than others, but each one of them has impacted my story-telling abilities. It's still the written word, even if we're receiving it through a different medium.

8) Sometimes you need a break from the internet. I am blessed in that I have easy and ready access to the web pretty much any time I want it. We have WiFi at home and it's at school too. Then we left on Christmas day and visited my Grandma and Papa who have no computer much less interwebs. It was a much needed and surprisingly refreshing break. I'm glad to be back, but I think I will definitely need to take a week off here or there to keep myself alive.

9) You learn something SO much better when you teach it to someone else. I spent 30 years of my life trying to figure out how on earth to use commas. Then I taught college freshmen and we went over it and now I remember almost all of the rules and I'm actually able to give the reason as to why a comma should or should not be used. Does that mean I always do it right? No, I screw up that no comma before a coordinating conjunction that's followed by a dependent phrase rule ALL the time. But now I can go back and see that it's wrong.

10) Never say Never. I told myself I would NEVER in a million years write a novel featuring a vampire. Cue SNI with the faeries and the vampires and the gnomes and everything. And cue me loving every minute of it. It's not like most vampire novels and they're not really normal vampires either. I mean they are, but don't go thinking Sookie Stackhouse or Twilight or anything. It's more about the faeries and the faerie tales. But what I'm trying to say is, if I'd stuck to that vow this WIP would be a LOT less interesting and I'd be having a lot less fun right now. Keep your mind open to the possibilities or else you might miss something!

And I'll stop it there. A lot of these are writing related, but I think I've done the most growing in how I approach my writing this year so there you have it. Thank you to everyone who has helped to to learn and grow and realize that I'm not alone on this crazy journey whether it's writing or reading or grading a thousand papers - you all rock socks.

Top Blogging Moments of the Past Year

I can't believe a whole year has come and gone!

Last year at this time I barely had a blog and there are so many of you that I hadn't met and didn't know! That's the most unbelievable part of all! I can't imagine my life without all of my blogger friends. And even though life has gotten really hectic for me and I haven't spent as much time with you all in the second half of the year as I would have wanted to, you guys are often on my mind. For reals (as Naomi would say :)

And what is a new year for, but to give us a moment to reflect on the old?
So here are some of my top favorite moments - top hits, I guess you could say - of the past year in regards to my blogging life :) - In no particular order. At all.

1) January was my real foray into the world of Twitter. I tweeted fairly regularly, but it wasn't until May that Twitter became a real distraction for me ;) That was when I met Mia Hayson and Simon C. Larter who really dragged me into the full world of all the fun that Twitter can be. I have loved every minute of it since then and there are so many things that I could not have done without my Tweoples. Like taking procrastination to an art form.

2) Debuting Retail Wednesdays! February was my first post in which I made fun of the crazy customers that shop at the bookstore where I work. I intended to keep it going, and I'm kind of hoping that I can work out a schedule and be more regular at posting this semester, but for now it's taken a hiatus. But I had WAY too much fun with it while it was going on. This was one of the things that started to build a little bit of a following over here at Sonshine Thoughts and I love every single one of you, especially those of you that have hung around through all the sporadic-ness of the past few months.

3) The A-Z Challenge in April. This kind of just fell into my lap when Lee popped randomly onto my blog and suggested I check it out. The goal was to post every day (except Sundays) in April, starting with the letter A and going all the way through the letter Z. I had SO much fun with this. Some days the letter was only a springboard to make me think of something completely random, but it helped me to meet some REALLY cool people and made me realize that I could write a blog about pretty much ANYthing in the world.

4) My first OWL contest! In March I hit 100 posts and decided to do a quick and little contest. So I made an amigurumi owl and offered it up. The owl mania swept my blog and I think I've given away 8 happy little owls since then. I love that you guys have gotten so excited about these little crochet critters and I plan on giving away more of them for random reasons in the future!

5) The SUPER SISTER CELEBRATION! Naomi and I had SO much fun reading all of your stories and judging them (not like, I judge you for writing this, but like, I totally love this part of the story you wrote, but I have to pick a favorite, so I guess I will go with this one, but they're all TOTES cool!) and then sending you guys prizes!

6) Dipping my toes in the world of flash fiction. Yup, yup, yup. Did I tell you that my Zombie Luv flash fiction got published in my school literary magazine?! That totally made my day. Flash fiction and blogfests stretched me so much this year and really have helped me to hone my skills as a writer. From the creepy story I wrote for Palindrome's Halloween contest to the strange western Rumplestiltskin to the Invasion of the Bloggy Snatchers 'fest that I hosted, I've learned a lot about pacing and character development and trimming words until you want to gouge your eyes out. It has been really good for me (not the eye gouging, but the writer's growth).

7) Vlogs. Or, well, videos I made for the blog. Naomi and I had a little too much fun with those this year. Only a couple, but enough to show how truly demented we are. There was the epic battle of HumaneBean Vs. BatCabbage and our foray into the "Zombiest Things" wherein we dragged a friend on our journey of insanity.

And that's about all I've got. I know I'll think of something else the instant I post this, but these are the first things that come to mind, so I'll go with it :)

How about you? Any particularly special memories of your bloggering life this year? Do tell!

Thank you all for being an awesomesauce part of this past year and I look forward to all the craziness to come in 2011.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Creative Writer Award

So, Palindrome gave me this award a while ago, but I kept forgetting to post it and the follow up list... but late is better than never, amiright?

Now I'm supposed to list 10 things that make me happy... (drumroll please)

1. Reading and Writing. Okay, so maybe this is a gimme, but I spend pretty much all my time doing one or the other. I'll go through phases. When I was trying to finish the rough draft of Unexpected Miracles I read very little. But right now I haven't really written anything (except these blog posts) in probably a month or two. Which makes me feel like a lazy bum. But in that time I've read about 15 books. Now I'm feeling the muse coming on again, so my reading will probably drop off while I write furiously for a couple of weeks. (At least I hope so) So I guess it kind of balances out. The point is, my life just wouldn't be complete without either of these things. So they are definitely #1 on the list of what makes me happy.

2. My family. My sister, AchingHope, is probably my bestest friend. We talk about just about everything in the world and I don't know what I will do when we eventually end up going our separate ways. I get along fantastically with my parents and we hang out and do stuff together as often as our schedules allow. Just last night my Dad and I watched like 4 episodes of X-Files just for fun. I can talk to them about pretty much anything and they are super supportive of me and my dreams. My other sister, Rae, is married, but we're still close and I'm so excited that she and her husband are coming on vacation with us in May! Both of my brothers are insanely talented in similar and different ways. They're both incredible musicians and I love falling to sleep at night to the sound of Dave's organ or Joe's accordion.

3. Pumpkin Custard. My Mom makes this quite often - it's basically pumpkin pie without the crust. I could eat it for every single meal and never get sick of it. She made it yesterday and I think I ate 3 servings of it throughout the day.

4. My blogging friends. That's right, all of you reading this, and some of you who aren't. I have enjoyed "getting to know you" guys through your wondrous posts on your own blogs and through your often hysterical comments here on mine. It's weird to think I have friends from all over the world through this community and I love it. Thanks to all of you who take time to read here. I'm sure you all are as busy as I am, but you take the time to read my random ramblings and it's so cool.

5. Local High School Musicals. I don't know if this is true everywhere (I'm sure it is) but we have some exceptionally talented high school students and teachers that put on really professional, fantastical shows. On Saturday AchingHope and I went to see "Curtains" at one of the local HS and it was phenomenal. There are several more coming up in our area and I am doing my best to go see as many of them as I possibly can. Another local school is doing "Seussical the Musical" and I forget what the other one is that I'm hoping to go see. But FUN!

6. Crocheting. A recent skill I've been developing. Haven't done much since I finished AchingHope's blanket, but I love the feel of the yarn between my fingers and seeing something cohesive come out of a few twists of the wrist and hook. Amazing.

7. Old Cartoon Movies. You know, like Anastasia and An American Tale and Land Before Time (The original ONLY) and Cinderella. They just don't make movies like this anymore. there is something about movies made before they really had computer help that just have an almost, I don't know, purer quality about them. There's an honesty to some of them that is missing in a lot of current animated features. It's like now a lot of the focus is on - wow, look how amazing this effect is - and less emphasis on the storyline and the building of the characters. It's not universally true on either end, but there's just something that's been lost. Okay, rant over.

8. In a similar vein - Older TV shows. I love things like The Cosby Show, Family Matters, Get Smart, Home Improvement, M.A.S.H. and older cartoons like Darkwing Duck, Gummi Bears, Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers, and a bunch of others that aren't coming to mind right now. There is definitely no current TV like these older sitcoms and cartoons especially.

9. Playing Wii with my friends. There are a couple girls from work. We're all about the same age and every so often we try to get together for a Wii date. We grab some Italian food and then spend the afternoon burning off the calories. It's so much fun to hang out while playing it.

10. Patterned Socks. I really like getting socks that have something fun on them. like lizards or ladybugs or crazy argyle patterns or Christmas trees or dogs or cherries. Yeah for fun socks!

All right, so there is my list.

I am realizing that I need to expand my list of blogs I troll, 'cause I think most of the ones I follow have already gotten this award. but I will pass it on to....

Jenn @ Pirates Dig Chicks Who Blog

Gillian @ You May Say I'm a Dreamer

Ashlie @ Nonsense

Awwww.... Don't I Feel Special!

So Ashlie - over at her blog "Nonsense" nominated me for the "Honest Scrap Award"!

My very first Blog award! Woot!

Okay, so the downside is that I have to make a list of 10 embarrassing facts about myself. I could be lazy and just post a link to my post "Things I Get Made Fun of for Liking" but I won't... because a new list is WAY more fun!

1. I learned the alphabet in American Sign Language like twenty years ago and I have compulsively finger spelled random words ever since. It looks like my fingers spaz, but no... I'm just spelling "recapitulate" or something.

2. I am addicted to Farmville on Facebook. Would you like to see my adorable herd of sheep, flock of chickens, gaggle of geese and burrow(?) of bunnies?

3. When I'm home alone I sing Broadway tunes and choreograph my own routines to them - poorly executed, but fun nonetheless. (Some of my favorites being "Popular" from Wicked, "Happily Ever After" from Once Upon a Mattress and "They Don't Know" from Thoroughly Modern Millie.)

4. When I was little I blackmailed my younger sister (Rae, not AchingHope) into doing things for me by threatening to not let her play with my new silk hair Cabbage Patch Doll.

5. I once fell off a donkey. Backwards. Onto concrete. (I was Mary in a Christmas pageant and my first thought after I briefly blacked out was, "The show must go on!" I kid not.)

6. I walk into a shelf at work every single day. At one point I had so many cuts on my wrists it looked like I had poorly attempted suicide. But no, I'm just clumsy.

7. I have never been to Disney World. Ever. And I think it would be fun, but it's not really that high up on my list of places to go. (Okay, that wasn't that embarrasing, but I'm running a little thin here)

8. I have never broken a bone, but sometimes I wonder what it would be like and kind of wish I would and then I realize that I am certifiably insane and snap myself out of it. (As opposed to snapping myself ... haha...)

9. I can carry on entire conversations using only quotes from such movies as "The Princess Bride", "Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail" and "O Brother Where Art Thou".

10. I don't find this embarrassing, but some people would so I leave you with this (because I can't think of anything else)... I am nearly 30 years old and I live in my parents' basement. (of course, all of the bedrooms are in the basement, because our house is built on a hill, but that's beside the point :P)

So there you have it... Actually looking back over this list, I'm not really embarrassed about any of it, but I guess that means I'm either mentally unbalanced or abnormally healthy.

Anyhoo..

I am passing this award on to the following blogs....

Slumpvis Musings by my lovely sister Aching Hope

Pughs' News by Erin

You May Say I'm a Dreamer by Gillian

Pirates Dig Chicks Who Blog by Jenn

Random Things That Make Me Happy

I saw Joan has done a couple of these and some other blogs I have popped onto, so I decided to do my own. I will do somewhere between 5 and 10 and will exclude obvious things like Lost and Family and Books to the more obscure things that most people don't know about me.

1. Ever After - I tend to forget this movie when I am naming my favorites, but it is my all time feel-good movie. I absolutely adore the sound track, too and put it on when I am stressed and it almost immediately soothes me.

2. Chicken - Yes, you read that right. I love chicken. I could eat chicken every single day and never be tired of it. I had some for dinner tonight. It was delicious. mmmmmmm

3. Lemony Snicket - I love the Series of Unfortunate Events and every other bit of anything at all loosely related to Lemony Snicket. I am minorly obsessed with it. I am very sad that the series is over. I signed up for the e-mail updates and have all of them saved in their own Lemony Snicket folder.

4. Classic Pooh - Makes me happy just thinking about it. I really like the classic stories and poems done by Milne, with the illustrations by Shepard. I have quite a collection of knick knacks, books and other assorted items. I visited Harrod's when I went to London because it is the store where A. A. Milne bought the original Pooh bear for his son.

5. Seattle's Best Whipped Cream - I am not a big whipped cream fan. Most of the time I can't stand the stuff (Cool Whip is another story all together) but I love Seattle's Best whipped cream. I could eat an entire cup full of it by itself. Mmmmmmmmm...

6. Pens - I like pens. Colored pens, felt tip pens, ball point pens, marker pens, highlighter pens, gel pens. They all give me a tingly feeling inside.

7. Calenders - I currently have 6 calendars around my room. My bedroom. My one small room. What is there not to like?! It's like a poster that changes every month! How amazing is that!? Or in the case of the day by day ones, that changes every DAY! Calendars I currently have: Lost (duh), Classic Pooh (see #4), New Moon (Yes, I am one of THOSE people. No, I am not obsessed or crazy. No, I cannot stand Edward), Dilbert day by day (This mimics my job WAY too often), one of those funeral home calendars that they send our church every year (with the funeral home advertisement cut off. It's really pretty pictures of landscapes with Bible verses- pretty!), Play With Your Food (amazing scenes made entirely out of fruits and vegetables. It inspired me and my sister to create an entire story).

8. Blogging - I never planned to do this. I opened an account simply so I could post on Nikki Stafford's blog. Then this empty space was just sitting here calling me, so I thought, sure I could post a couple things. And I wrote about Lost and about books and then about other random stuff and now, if a week passes where I haven't written it kind of makes me sad. Who cares that no one reads the stuff (Okay, Blam and Joan and AchingHope, you aren't no one), I read it and I write it and I have fun with it and that's all that matters to me :)

9. Pictures - photographs, paintings, drawings, posters, whatever I love them all! Every square inch of wall in my room is plastered with frames, posters, pictures and other random items. I am the reason we have stuff hanging in the living room, dining room, hallway and other places around the house. I like creating them and displaying them.

10. L. M. Montgomery - Probably my all time favorite author. She is know for writing Anne of Green Gables but her scope was so much larger. I love some of her lesser known works the most. She is a serious contender for a thesis (once I get to that point). I have so many favorite books of hers, but one of the top ones is definitely Jane of Lantern Hill. It amazes me how she can create an entire, captivating story built out of simple every day moments. There is nothing earth shattering in her plots. No major villains, few major tragedies, but her characters live and breathe in a way that makes me immensely jealous as an author. There are times that I read something she wrote so long ago that still catches me up in emotion and thrill and I despair that I will never write a sentence worth publishing. But it also pushes me to keep going, to strive, to never think anything is beneath writing about. One of my life dreams is to have the chance to go to Prince Edward Island and visit all the places she wrote about.

So there you have it, 10 random things that make me smile. :)