One Onederful Year!

I was reminded by Facebook that today is the one year anniversary of my blog!  Thanks for those random, "On this day..." posts, Facebook.

I'm happy to celebrate this "blog-iversary" with a truly Onederful experience -- my first auction!  I used to sit through auctions with my parents, begging them to bid on things for me like laser pointers with Batman tips, and Casio keyboards, but I've never been a bidder myself!

Last Thursday, I rolled by a house with lots and lots of furniture in front of it and stopped to ask if they were having a sale.  "Saturday at 9 a.m.!" they said.  I was excited for days.

I made it to the sale around 9:30, not knowing proper auction etiquette.  All I had missed was the auctioning of some tractor and farm equipment.  Which I don't need, but definitely wish I did.  That dream is for another day.

This is what the auction looked like from one of the shaded corners I kept sneaking into.  It was HOT.  There were over 200 people there.  My number was 195, and I forgot to take a picture of that.  But it was crowded!

I walked around pretty awkwardly until I found someone who looked like they knew what they were doing, which just happened to be a very round old man in suspenders and a t-shirt, perched on a stool.  He was friendly with a large grin.  The numbers were to be gotten in the back shed, I found out.

Later, I ran into our transportation supervisor at the school where I work, and he and I joked for quite a while, after which his friends tried incessantly to get me to bid on the most random things.

I was so nervous for my first bid!  I thought you had to hold your number up, but no one seemed to be doing that.  It was a lot of ambiguous grunting from somewhere in the crowd, and the auctioneer talked so fast, I barely knew what price people were actually agreeing to.  I decided to watch for a long while (about an hour), before bidding on something.  We were all gathered around a trailer full of old books.  The best had gone, and they were down to taking bids per box of books.  When it got to a $1.50 per box, I flashed my number and yelled something that sounded like a muffled mix  of "hey" and "here."  They wrote me down and I won!  The same thing happened for another box of old newspapers.  Now, I didn't really want either of those contents, but merely bid for the container.  The first was a galvanized bucket with a lid (perfect for compost), and the second was an orchard basket (perfect for apples in the Fall!).  I was pleased with that $3.00 spent.  Still not sure what to do with those old newspapers, though...

The crowd eventually moved past old lamps, photo albums, paintings, and other random goods to the stuff I really wanted -- the furniture.  There were bookcases and rocking chairs and buffet tables galore.  I had my eye on two pieces, that I wanted to re-vamp and turn into kitchen islands like the one seen here.  Alas, it was not meant to be.  I would have only spent around 10 - 20 dollars, and both of them went for near 100.  Come to find out, they were made of oak, and definitely worth more than that.  I want to practice my re-modeling dreams on something not so valuable!  I hate to screw up a beautiful piece of antique furniture.

But I did get something great!  I bid on a square coffee table that is about 14 inches tall, and will be perfect for my classroom!  I am going to paint the top with chalkboard paint, and it's just the right size for the kids to kneel/sit beside and play with.  I can't wait to finish it!

The last thing I bid on was an antique picture frame, and little did I know...I'd be getting a whole box.  Seems to be a theme here.  Gotta take some junk to get some treasure!

I almost forgot to mention the best part!  A bunch of the ladies made lunch and pies, and you could purchase those!  I got a piece of delicious apple pie.  What a good day. :)

One of the other highlights was the little old men who flirted with me throughout the day.  They would nudge me and wink a lot, trying to get me to bid on things I didn't need.  Several times, the auctioneer walked over to me and said things like, "You need this don't ya, darlin'?"  It made me smile.  What a warm and inviting crowd of people at that auction.  The pie added to the down-home goodness.

Through all of that, I only spent $7.50 (if you count the pie!).  Six dollars on merchandise total.

I feel like that was a job well done.  Now I have so many fun projects to work on!  And I had the courage to do it by myself.  

Some of the things I experience aren't terribly daunting, but I do still feel apprehensive, as with any new situation. For the last year, this blog has been about me feeling comfortable doing things alone, and really enjoying them.  Really enjoying the fun I can create for myself, and valuing the time spent with me.  We all need a little time with ourselves.  I hope at least one person reads this and feels stronger when they move to a new place all alone, and gets a tiny bit of encouragement to try new things -- instead of eating Chinese food and watching movies all day long (still a favorite pastime).  I've come from that every day, to actively pursing the joy in the world around me -- in a simply Onederful way.  

The Hair Band Curl

Maybe you're sick of me talking about my hair.  I'm not a vain person, but things like this are just TOO EXCITING not to share.

I found another hair tutorial online, this time for more vintage-like curls.  I was having some trouble with the sock bun -- some days it was awesome, some days it was not.  So I tried this new thing!

The link is another girl with a cute accent who talks way too much, and the video is way too long.  I went through the 13 grueling minutes for you, but feel free to watch if my tutorial isn't clear enough!

I started with hair just a tiny bit damp.  Just enough to put some Redken "Guts" in for volume.  I used only a couple of sprays.

First, I used a hair band elastic that you might see a lot of sports players wearing.
I put that over my head, right on top of my hair, and pushed it up a little so that there would be volume at my crown.

At this point, my bangs were out of the elastic, but later I chose to put them in, just to see what would happen.  Next, I took one or two inch sections and wrapped them around the elastic, starting at the front near my temple.

I made the wrap nice and tight in the front for bouncier curls.  You don't continue wrapping each strand around the elastic to the back, you just tuck it under once, and let the ends lay with the rest of your hair.  It will all get wrapped in eventually.

Repeat this process with the rest of your hair on one side, until you get to the back of your head (a few inches behind your ears).  Then, switch to the other side of your head, and complete the wrapping on that side.  Leave the back hanging.  When you are ready to wrap the back, start on one side wrapping, then switch to the other side with the next strand, so you are meeting in the middle.  The last strand on the back of your head, you may need to wrap several times.

This is what it looks like when it's all wrapped up.

I think it's almost cute enough to wear like that!  Haha!  I probably will some day.  (Also, I promise I was wearing a strapless shirt, I didn't mean to look naked.  I just like to wear those when I do my hair so I don't risk pulling a collar over my head).

From the front, here is the view.  

(I changed my shirt -- haha!)

Then, you sleep on it!

When you awake, pull the headband up and off gently.  This is what it looked like first thing in the morning!

Notice that the only crease is on my forehead! 

I used my hairbrush to lightly brush through the curls, for a natural look, and used the tutorial's technique of brushing the hair while it was wrapped around my hand in the direction of the curl.

Then, I spritzed with a little hairspray all over, and went to work!  I told the unbelievers that it was 12 hours, 10 games of hopscotch, 50 hugs, and one nap later -- and curls were still intact!

The only problem I had was during the morning, when it took about two hours for the line on my head to disappear.  I would suggest using a looser headband (mine was brand new), especially if you don't have bangs like I do to cover the line up!

I loved this method, and hope you love it, too!

Red Beans and Ricely Yours,

Tabatha

Home Rentership

I've always known that life would be easier if I lived in an apartment complex.  Someone would take care of the lawn, there would be help immediately available for most issues, and I might even have a pool.

But I've always wanted the freedom of a home.  It is my absolute dream to find the perfect house and be able to do anything I'd like to it.

Today is one of those days that I hate having a yard.

My yard is HUGE out back, and I have an alley behind that the grass belongs to me, as well.  Not to mention the front yard.  It's a very large lot.  Last week, I kept trying to mow, but it rained every other day, and the grass was never dry.  Finally, it was getting so high in some spots, I was barely seeing my short little dog Basil from the door, so I knew I had to do something.

I got the lawnmower out of the garage (one the landlords leave here), and realized it had a crooked wheel.  I kept trying to kick it back in place, and barely made it through the front yard.  It was SO hard to push that way, and I have an odd slope that is very steep in the front.  I got to the back and the mower kept shutting off because the grass was so wet and tall, which also made it impossible for me to use the broken-wheeled mower.  I flipped the mower on its side and tried to fix it, but the metal is actually broken.  The wheel is dangling there like a loose tooth.  I could move it about 6 inches before it was putting more strain on the metal.  So I stopped mowing, and the next day it rained AGAIN.  It rained twice this week, and this weekend, one of my sweet friends graciously loaned me her mower.  I loaded it up in my SUV and drove the few blocks back to my house.

It works like a GEM.  I mowed most of the grass!  But some is a little too wet still, so I will wait until tomorrow.  I'm crossing my fingers for no more rain.

Yard work is not one of my favorite onederful activities when its this difficult and HOT.  But, I keep repeating, "I can do this.  I'm an independent, onederful woman."  Haha.  :)  But it sure would be helpful to have a husband or a roommate to share in the work!

Here is how the yard is looking now.

Still have some work to do, but it is MUCH better.  And I can see my dogs!  This picture gives a nice comparison of how it looked before, though. (And aren't the trees amazing?)

My other least favorite parts of living alone are:
-Doing the dishes
-Remembering to do things like unplug the blow dryer
-Feeling sorry for my dogs in the kennel all day
-Not being able to watch scary movies

My real favorite parts:
-Privacy
-Walking to my room in only a towel
-Stretching out on the couch whenever I want
-Having complete say in what goes on the walls, and everywhere else in the house
-If I want to leave the dishes for a day, I won't feel bad.

And here's me before the treacherous lawn mowing.  I woke up early to go with a friend to the farmer's market in the big city. ;)  Then we ate breakfast at a coffee shop, hit up Dillons and Lowes, and drove around looking at the most gorgeous homes in the town.  We can dream, right?

Nights Like This

On nights like this, only the dogs keep me company.

I watch "Peggy Sue Got Married" on instant Netflix because nothing else looks good, and give myself heartburn eating Doritos.

On nights like this, I become infuriated with every revved engine and squealed tire from the parking lot across the street where there are 10-30 hoodlums at any point of the night, you know, "hanging out."

I get extremely nostalgic and put myself through the pain of looking at all my photos from happy times with friends and family, then lament over the distance between us.  I remember that some of them are alone a lot, too, and get even madder that we are so far apart.

I get really angry with the small town I live in, where nothing is open late.  Even when I know I'm too tired to do anything anyway.  I just feel like I should be doing something.

On nights like this, I make half-hearted attempts at everything I do, so I can say, "I was being productive!" without feeling like it was a lie.

I curse money, because there's never enough of it so I can travel everywhere I want.

I furiously lint-roll the furniture to get the dog hair off and consider unpacking the rest of the boxes, but do the dishes instead.

I know I should value the time I have to "get things done," but on nights like this, I am just unsatisfied with nearly every experience.

And on nights like this, I know I'm being ridiculous.

Beautiful curls using a sock?

When I heard that, it sounded too good to be true.

BUT -- it was worth checking into.

I love to find ways to style my hair with no heat and little to no product.  Much friendlier to the environment AND my locks!

First, I watched the tutorial on curling your hair with no heat.  It is a method that uses a "sock bun."  Then, I had to watch the tutorial on the sock bun.  The girl who does the videos is annoyingly cute and foreign with gorgeous, long hair.  The videos were also lengthy, with a lot of slightly ditzy "umm, uhhh" filling up time.  If you can get through that, you're already doing well.  But again, the picture of the curls I saw seemed worth it.  I knew mine wouldn't turn out as good as her long and luxurious locks, but really wanted to try.

So I did.  I cut the tip off of a sock, rolled it up like a doughnut, and went to town.  Instead of just dampening my hair, I showered and let it dry almost all the way, then blew dry the hair near my scalp.  Here are some pictures of the process:

This is my hair when it was first up in the  sock bun.  I'm not sure I did a great job, and seemed to have way less hair than cute, foreign girl.

When I woke up in the morning, it was only slightly disheveled!  

 This is what it looked like taken down.  Not really that curly...just some awesome waves.

I might look the same if I just didn't brush my hair.

And finally, I put on some mascara and chapstick, to see if that helped.

It was definitely a change from my normal, blow-dryed, straightened, or ponytail look.  I got many compliments, even though it seemed wild to me all day.

I'm going to try again tonight with hair less damp, and I'm going to try and sleep longer than 6 hours. :)  I will post again if anything changes!

*UPDATE*

Last night I did this again with hair less damp, and had it in for around 9 hours, and was SO EXCITED when I woke up and found my hair like this! (I also cut the sock in half so that it wouldn't be so thick.  If my hair was longer it might not be an issue, but I feel this helped, so my hair got wrapped more times around the doughnut shape of the sock).

All I had to do was brush my bangs, use a little hairspray, and then my usual routine of toothbrushing, blush, mascara, and chapstick.  It was so super easy that it might be my new go-to hair!

Holla!

For the love of chalk.

Ever since I discovered chalkboard paint, I have been dying to cover something with it!

A few months ago, pre-move, I found this amazing frame at goodwill for around $9.99.  That's usually more than I'm willing to pay for something thrifted, but I just knew it would make something magical!

Then, I thought I might need to show the frame to scale!  So in comes the broom.  

BUT THEN -- what if this was a small broom?  So I jumped in the picture.  For reference, I'm 5'5'', always pretending to be 5'6''.

For the paint, I used Krylon Chalkboard Paint, found at Hobby Lobby and other places for around 8 bucks, but I got it for $6.98 with a coupon a while back!  Gotta love coupons!  

I took the painting out of the frame (which proved difficult because the million little "staple" things holding it in, and the parchment paper on back), and took it outside to paint.  I put some wrinkled wrapping paper I couldn't use underneath to protect the grass, and got to work!  You have to apply two coats, so that the chalkboard appearance will happen.  

I couldn't have asked for a better day to be outside -- it was only around 85 degrees!  The worst part was the ants crawling all over my toes.  I will wear shoes next time.  Some ants and bugs also tried to crawl on the paint, but met untimely deaths.  I tried to blow them off before the toxins reached their bodies, but some are just too intent on crawling all over the place.  Between coats, I brushed dust and grass particles from the Kansas wind off with a paper towel, ever-so gently, as not to mess the paint.

I brought it in, and putting the board back in the frame was even more work than taking it out, but ta-da! This is the finished product (up close and further back):

It is also my goal to make a new cushion for that chair...

I have to wait 24 hours for the paint to draw before I can use my chalk.  The bottle of paint says to stay away from clay-based chalk, so I will have to check on that, but I'm excited!  I can just see messages to dinner guests, holiday quotes, and favorite poems, displayed nicely on the board!

My favorite, and excerpt from "The Welcome," by Thomas Osborne Davis:

So come in the evening, or come in the morning;
Come when you ’re looked for, or come without warning:
Kisses and welcome you ’ll find here before you,
And the oftener you come here the more I ’ll adore you!

*UPDATE*

I added the words (8-9-11)

It takes a little work to get the chalk off, and it's interesting to write on a slightly textured surface -- but otherwise awesome!  Don't you just love it? :D

Ah, I love to create!