What Pinterest Taught Me

Every Tuesday for the past several months I've been writing about my Pinterest Poser Challenge.  My attempt at not being a Pinterest Poser,* every week where I detail a new Pinterest challenge whether it be a new recipe or a craft.   

**My definition of a Pinterest Poser is someone who is all pins and no substance.**

I've made some great craft projects that are now hanging in my house and some recipes that I've served at multiple parties.  I've also failed at some of my attempts.

But over the last few months, I've proven I'm not a poser.  In fact, Pinterest has taught me a lot.

Pinterest taught me that I can be crafty, even though I would never have thought that before.  And that I love color in my home.

Pinterest taught me that there are so many ways to wear a scarf and color.

Pinterest taught me so many really good quotes and sayings like this one:

So deep.

Pinterest taught me that it's totally cool to put myself out there and try new things.  Pinterest taught me it's okay to express myself and tell anyone following that I have a giant girl crushes on Kelly Ripa and Gwen Stefani. And that I adore Meryl Streep.  

Pinterest taught me to push myself to try new things and to celebrate what I like.  Pinterest taught me a million ways to use chalk board paint and Mod Podge.  

Pinterest helped me embrace my inner creative soul that sometimes gets a project just right and sometimes not so much.  

Some people are critical of Pinterest because there's so much comparison and "if onlys."  But Pinterest helped me express myself and be less afraid of Mod Podge and haters.

In the spirit of realness and being a non-poser, here are a few random, revealing facts that I feel almost totally comfortable sharing with you.

****Pinterest Poser Disclaimer****
I was going to post about all the cute spring/Easter crafts I was going to make.  BUT Wade threw stupid Easter grass (from last year) all over the house and proudly told me "I done" after he was finished.  I spent all my time cleaning up the damn Easter grass before the puppy choked on it, and there was no time left to be creative this past weekend.  Because really, Easter grass is like glitter except less sparkly--it gets everywhere. Ugh.


Made anything great from Pinterest lately?  Has Pinterest changed your life?

Please share whatever you're working on or have learned in the comments here or over on Facebook.

Come on over and follow my Pinterest boards.

Here are some of the projects I've already attempted, the good and the bad:

Add caption

Homemade Photo Booth Fun- click here

Fake Bangs- click here

DIY Subway Art- click here

Furniture Painting and Bench/Chest Makeover- click here

Thanksgiving-y Project/Gratitude/Holiday Countdown- click here
The Smoothie-click here

The Free Printable Turned Artwork in a Boring Hallway- click here

The chalk board-click here
Seven Layer Dip in Individual Cups (my favorite so far!)-click here
The pumpkin address-click here
The Kitchen Dancing Sign--click here

Come play with me on Instagram @jumpingwithmyfingerscrossed.

Oh yeah, and come follow me on Twitter @AngelaYBlood and subscribe to my MomPulse YouTube channel here.

Leaving On A Jet Plane Alone

Love this quote, love this book.
I'm hoping this is how I feel next week.

I'm a ball of nerves.
I'm all over the place. 
I'm vulnerable.
You might be saying what's new?  But it's different.  It's more intense.  Because I'm leaving.

In a few days, I will get on a plane heading to the blogging conference, BlissDom, in Dallas.  It will be the first time I've flown alone since 1999.**  Yeah, so when I say it was a century ago that I went anywhere on a plane alone I'm totally not kidding. 
**I've been on a plane since 1999, but with either with my friends or family, never alone.**

Back then I wasn't even married, I wasn't even living with Tim yet but we were dating, I took a jet plane to a conference about software marketing in Palm Springs. Because I was a software marketer and back then software companies had tons of cash and flew their employees to conferences anywhere. While I was there I skipped the group dinners and dined alone reading my book.  I hiked up to the art museum and rented a bike and rode around town, alone.

Back then I knew how to be alone.  I loved being alone.  

When I was a kid I enjoyed being alone.  I would spend entire afternoons riding my bike alone making up stories about the people that lived in the houses and apartments nearby.  I would spend hours swinging alone and sing every single song from the Annie soundtrack.

I was always needed space.  I loved people and always had at least a couple close friends, but I was never a roommate kind of girl.  

When I graduated from college, I got my own apartments and traveled alone to places like Washington, D.C. and New York City.  I loved people watching and museum hopping alone, finding my way around a strange city alone, and then going back to my hotel and ordering take out and watching movies alone.

But now, I don't know how to be alone.  Because I am never alone.
I went from a pretty solitary young adulthood to a household with five other people and now a puppy.  Even though it is overwhelming at times and crazy and loud and nuts and all kinds of sensory overload and exhausting, I love it.  I have adapted, some might say I am thriving, okay nobody would say that.  But I do love it.

This was the chaos that was my weekend:
a lot of puppy time, a school carnival, church, a birthday celebration and more puppy time.

Now when I find myself with an hour alone while the big kids are at school and Wade is in preschool, I rush around trying to figure out what to do.  I usually lose my keys or go the library and forget the book that I was going to return.  I'm unorganized and frazzled and then time is up.


Here's a short vlog I made about my time alone while Wade is at pre school.  (Now of course, the quiet time is filled with puppy time.)


It's been so long that I have had a child on my hip or holding my hand or two or three or four kids in the van with me, it is my normal.  It is my comfort zone.


Of course, I won't be alone at the conference, there will be hundreds of people.  There will be several people that I know and can't wait to visit.  But I will be alone on a plane, in an airport, in a hotel room, maybe in a restaurant, back on a plane and in an airport and then in a car ride home. Sorry to get all Dr. Seuss-I'll-eat-green-eggs-and-ham-in-a-box-on-a-train-in-the-rain-on you, but you know what I mean.  I won't be in charge of anyone else, but me.  I honestly can't even imagine what it will feel like.

There are so many little moments over the course of the last, oh I don't know, 12 years, where I've dreamed of jumping an a plane and getting the f@&* out of my chaotic house full of children and demands.  But now that's it's three days away...
I'm a ball of nerves.

I'm all over the place. 

I'm vulnerable.

I think this is a beautiful poem/video about being alone:

And of course, since I said "leaving on a jet plane" in this post, I had to put up the song.  I LOVE Mama Cass John Denver, I'm totally serious.  I also totally want John Denver's shirt in this video.

Just One of Them Days, What I Know for Sure & #iPPP

Yesterday was just one of them days that a girl goes through, as Monica circa 1995 would say.  But me circa 2013, I would say it more like this, it was just one of them days that a mom goes through.


(I LOVE this song. You should totally listen to this right now.)


You know the days where you're so tired you feel like you'll fall asleep standing up.  
You know the days when you feel like it's the whole world against you and by world I mean your kids.
You know the days where the stranger that works at the grocery store says something nice to you and you cry and then she's nicer and then you cry harder.

Yeah, it was one of those days.

That's my zoned-out, there's nothing left, taxi cab mom face. Ugh.

I'm exhausted.  Tim has worked a lot this week.  We got that damn puppy.  And we sprung ahead.  There are a million and fifty things that must be done, or that I want to be done.  There are opportunities to grab onto professionally.  There are moments not to be missed parentally.  There's a marriage to care for, a house to clean, emails to respond to (I am officially the worst responder, that's not a joke), homework to be checked, dinners to be made, friends to reach out to, shows to watch, kitchens to be danced in and that damn puppy to take outside.

And yesterday, it was too much.
I am not a quiet person nor someone who seeks quiet moments.  But yesterday, I needed five minutes, just five minutes of nothing.  Five minutes of calm.--no music, no noise, no needy kids or puppies or emails.  Just quiet.

That five minutes didn't come until 9 p.m., but it was so good.
I need more of those five minutes of nothing throughout my days, that I know for sure (this week).


Here's what else I know for sure (this week):

• I'm still in love with my blue piano.  My dad was here visiting last weekend from Pittsburgh and he played some of the songs I remember him playing when I was little.  It was awesome.

• Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon are sort of like the male versions of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, um awesome.  JustinTimberWeek on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon has been hilarious, even if I only watch some of the clips the next day because I can't stay up that late every night.

• Helping someone win $3,000 would be so nice to do.  Remember that contest I told you about?  No? Check it out here.  Someone's favorite babysitter could win $3,000, wouldn't that be amazing to help someone win?  Click on this link and go vote today! Vote for the best babysitter evah.

• It is hard work being a pre-schooler.  Sometimes at the end you want to chill with your feet up or with a good book like Wade.

• BabyLit Is the bomb.  I saw this on a pal's Facebook page and thought it was pretty awesome.  Click here for more info.

• My purse is my kids' wastebasket.  Discovered that while vlogging.  Check it out if you missed it.  And subscribe to my YouTube channel please!  I have a personal goal of 45 subscribers before BlissDom next week, because 45 sounds like a legit YouTuber, don't you think? No? Fine, it just gives me a little ego boost going into the land of vloggers w/thousands of subscribers at BlissDom next week.  

• Everyone should have a thank you song.  If you have 14 minutes to kill you should watch this video.  It's sweet and truly does make me want to sing to everyone that is special in my life.

What do you know for sure (this week)? C'mon, we're friends, share what you know.  Leave a comment here or on the Facebook page (hey and while you're there give the old FB page a like).

  Come play with me on Instagram @jumpingwithmyfingerscrossed.

Oh yeah, and come follow me on Twitter @AngelaYBlood and subscribe to my MomPulse YouTube channel here.

I'm linking up today with my friend Greta from  Gfunkified.com and Sarah at SundaySpill.com for the #iPPP link up.  They host a link up where they encourage people to share "your funny, your yummy, your heartfelt, your favorite photos of the week" from our phones. 

The Puppy

We got a puppy.

The puppy's eyes are the only ones you can see in this picture.   We're doing the super squinty, happy smile.  The puppy looks a little scared.

I'm not really a puppy person or an animal person.  I've mentioned my feeling about cats before (and got some major flak, cat people can be so catty).  But my family talked me into it.  Actually my husband, suggested either a puppy or a baby.  So, we got a puppy.

And because we I am obsessed with Les Miserables, we I named her Cossette.  Cosi for short.

I don't see anything wrong with naming a dog after a character from a musical. Especially if the theme of that musical is compassion and love and faith and goodness--"to love another person is to see the face of God."

On the ride home, JT and Cosi bonded.

When we drove away with our new little Cosi, I had the music all cued up for the perfect song from the soundtrack.  The song is The Bargain and the lyrics go something like this:

"Cossette shall live in my protection....
I shall not foresake my vow...
Cossette shall have a father now!"

We changed "father" to "family."  Too much?  Oh it was so sweet.


Singing the song, romanticized getting a puppy just like people do with having babies.  Yeah, puppies and babies are cute and sweet, but they are also a hell of a lot of work.  And they are gross.  But you know what?  None of my babies ever ate a dead mole.  And yeah, my puppy did that the other day.  It has me totally rethinking the whole baby/puppy decision.

Yesterday after school, the kids came home begging to take Cosi out for a walk.  So they leashed her up and set off down the driveway.

"She found a rat!," I heard my son yell.

"What?!?!?!?!"  I came running outside.  "What the hell? Oh my god, shit, damn, oh my god," I yelled because I am the queen of calm, always.

"It's not a rat, it's a dead mole," my oldest son informed me.

"Get it out, oh my god that's so gross!" I screamed.  "Get it out of her mouth! Oh Jesus, she's eating it! Oh shit. No!!!!!! Call your father!!!"

Well, it's been a long few days.  

I should have remembered this whole house training thing, the sleepless nights, the chewing on EVERYTHING (even dead animals).    You see, right after Tim and I got married we got a puppy, Al.  He was our first baby.  But I forgot how it was those first few months, it's a blur, just like all of my babies first few weeks (it's that way for everyone right?).

I simply remember Al as the greatest dog that ever lived.  I hated that he shed like crazy and never once chased squirrels out of our yard (because you know how I feel about squirrels!).  But I loved how he was the kindest, most gentle of dogs.  He was my first crack at real responsibility of another living creature besides my spider plant (that I guess anyone can keep alive).   He was my buddy as I battled demons of depression during my first pregnancy, he gave me comfort when I thought no one would understand.  And he loved my babies, he loved all of us.  

When he died, I swore off dogs and became more of a non animal person.  But after five years and my kids and my husband begging, I gave in and we have a puppy. 

I found this quote quite amusing since I posted a pic of my new puppy on Facebook and it got more "likes" than the announcement pic of my fourth baby.  People love dogs.

A puppy that will become the dog that my kids remember.  The dog that will comfort them through dark days of middle school and high school when they don't feel like anyone understands. 

This will be the dog that Peyton says good-bye to when he heads to college in about 7 years. Gulp. How can that be?

The dog that goes to their baseball games and races.  The dog that they take for walks through the park and play fetch with in the backyard.  They will grow up together.

Cosette will be the dog that helps teach and reinforce the lessons of compassion and love and responsibility.  

But first, Cossette has to be the puppy that eats dead moles and pees in the house.  And that's okay, I guess.  

Just like if we had a baby, Tim and I are playing the Who Has It Worse Game.  Do you know that game?  Tim has been working late all week and it's been rough.  He dared to say his meetings were worse. Um, whaaaat?  I set him straight.

Woo-hoo I win! Wait, I don't want to win this one. Waaa.

Vlog Vows, My Purse & A Puppy (And Mama Kat)

When I started blogging, I vowed to keep it real.  Now that I'm vlogging, I also vow to keep it real.  I vow to always tell the truth no matter how embarrassing.  I vow to help those that feel alone in their unorganized, oversensitive corner of the world, by showing that I too am a complete, utter mess.  I vow to attempt to make people laugh with my honesty and candor. I vow to never make a video longer than 3:30 seconds. I vow to never tell a lie.  I vow to never sing, oops I already messed that vow up. But I vow to keep all the other vows. 

I take these vows seriously.  I will not dissappoint you by ever getting my act together.  To prove it, I got a puppy to add to the insanity that are my four children.  Yup, that's right.  Also, just to make you feel better, I'm emptying out my purse on my vlog this week.

Wednesdays are awesome because that's the day I link up with Mama Kat's vlogging prompts. The amazing Mama Kat is my vlogging idol (check her out, she is FUNNY).  Each week she has a list of vlog prompts and we all get to play along.

What's in my purse:

(If you get the blog via email subscription, here's the link for the video: http://youtu.be/Uxr0VUs-oGI Check it out!)

My puppy's first vlog:

(If you get the blog via email subscription, here's the link for the video: http://youtu.be/2NaRk99ZSns Check it out!)

My viral video, okay I mean my wannabe viral video (check it out and share if you like):
(If you get the blog via email subscription, here's the link for the video: http://youtu.be/Jk9ff3w_0Xc Check it out!)

To subscribe to my MomPulse YouTube channel, click here.

Map Art & Pinterest Poser

It's time again for the Pinterest Poser Challenge.  In an attempt at not being a Pinterest Poser,* every week I  detail a new Pinterest challenge whether it be a new recipe or a craft.   

**My definition of a Pinterest Poser is someone who is all pins and no substance.**

I love maps, I've always loved maps.  I love they way they look.  They represent a whole world of adventure, places to go, things to see.  And I'm good at reading them.  I can't budget a check book or do simple math, but I can map a route like nobody's business.

A million years ago, I was driving an old beat up car with no heat and no map through the beautiful mountains of West Virginia.  I was on my way to visit an aunt in Cincinnati, belting out John Denver's Take Me Home Country Road along the way.  But I got turned around.  I got lost.  No worries, I stopped at a gas station bought a map and found my way singing the station jingle to WKRP in Cincinnati on the way into town.

I know this isn't Cincinnati and this quote isn't from WKRP.  It's Detroit and the Mamas and the Papas.  I just like it and this post is talking about traveling and maps and going places so.....

I tell my kids this story and they just look all kinds of confused.  What is WKRP in Cincinnati and what's a map?

My kids think maps are craft project supplies, because I now decorate in maps.  

Like this picture frame:

I simply cut out a square from an old map and put it in a frame from Marhall's and then drew a heart around the city name.  This city happens to be Pittsburgh, which a city that means a whole heck of a lot to me.  It's where my husband and I fell in love.  I've written about it here, and here and here and probably other places, because I really do love it.

So this map and this picture is very meaningful and displayed in my kitchen.

And this canvas:

The map was sitting on top of important, need-to-get-to papers.  It was a map of Dallas, TX, where I'm going in one week to attend BlissDom a blogging conference.  So, of course instead getting to that important pile of papers, I thought I should staple the map to a canvas.

The canvas started out as an old art project of one of my kid's, that was cute, but let's be honest, not that cute.

After stapling the map to the canvas, I put a coat of ModPodge over it and set on top of the book shelf.  

(The following projects are inspired by a million map projects on Pinterest.)

So, I don't use maps anymore to get me where I'm going because one, I never go anywhere and two, there's this great new invention called online directions, duh.  I know you were thinking I would say navigational systems built into our cars, phones and tablets, right?  But after having an old van without such a system and printing out directions via Mapquest and Yahoo directions for so long, it's hard for me to change.  I'm like the old lady who never quite got the whole flying to the moon idea.  I mean really, how does your car know where you are going?  

But I do love maps around my house--in frames, on canvases, hanging from the walls.  In our old house we had a giant (cheap) poster of a world map hanging in our bathroom.  It's the best kind of art.  It's about meaningful places we've been or places we want to go.

Have you made something from Pinterest lately?  

Do tell.

Please share whatever you're working on in the comments here or over on Facebook.

Come on over and follow my Pinterest boards.

Here are some of the projects I've already attempted, the good and the bad:

Homemade Photo Booth Fun- click here

Fake Bangs- click here

DIY Subway Art- click here

Furniture Painting and Bench/Chest Makeover- click here

Thanksgiving-y Project/Gratitude/Holiday Countdown- click here
The Smoothie-click here

The Free Printable Turned Artwork in a Boring Hallway- click here

The chalk board-click here
Seven Layer Dip in Individual Cups (my favorite so far!)-click here
The pumpkin address-click here
The Kitchen Dancing Sign--click here

Come play with me on Instagram @jumpingwithmyfingerscrossed.

Oh yeah, and come follow me on Twitter @AngelaYBlood and subscribe to my MomPulse YouTube channel here.