I have been watching this show for quite some time, while originally i only watched every once in a while it has grown into a full blown addiction. I watch with out fail every Tuesday night regardless of if there is a new episode or not. Admittedly i did not start watching because of any truly noble reason. I think i started watching mainly due to boredom and curiosity. That’s right i said it curiosity. I am not married, nor do i have kids. I am also not religious and i live close to a relatively large city. I was just so intrigued to see how these people with such a different life style lived.
What started as an innocent curiosity has actually taught me a great deal about life. While admittedly i can only go by what is shown on television i like to think all aspects of their life are approached in a similar manner. It has taught me a great deal about acceptance of other peoples beliefs and ways of life. But it surprisingly has also taught me a great deal about finances.
As I am sure you can imagine that with such a large family there is a need to be frugal. Well this is exactly the case, and a lot of what the family discusses are things that you can find on many financial blogs. In fact one of the families slogans is “buy used and Save the difference”. Having grown up an extremely materialistic life style this show has helped me learn that you do not need a lot of “stuff” to have a happy life.
If you are interested in watching 19 Kids and Counting, you can watch it Tuesday nights at 9/8 Central on TLC
These past few weeks i have been getting into crafting and really have committed my self to it. This is great because i have not only been repairing clothes, rather than buying new, but also saving money by making people presents. That being said my brother’s birthday is approaching (March 23rd, in case you were curious). He is a HUGE video game Fanatic, in fact his current job is working in retail selling video games.
Well, in my many hours searching Craftster i came across something i knew would be perfect for my brothers birthday. A crochet doll in the likeness of Big Daddy Bouncer from Bio shock 2. For those of you who don’t know what the game is, i am no help, i have never played the game (i prefer games that are more kid friendly and less scary). However i have seen the commercials so i did know the general look of the character. That being said i had not even had the idea to attempt to make this for my brother until i cam across a pattern for a crochet version! This was perfect for me, i have been looking to expand my crochet skills beyond just making hats, and this seemed like a great way to do so, without having to make something for myself that i would probably not use.
If all goes well with this project i may consider making my own patterns for projects. I am trying hard to not think ahead to that yet though. I find if i instead focus simply on where i am now that i tend to complete more projects.
Note: I realize i posted twice today, this is to makeup for my missed post yesterday, i have been so busy with school work that i have been finding it difficult to make time for the things i enjoy, mainly crafts, reading and blogging.
This past few weeks of school i have had a large amount of group work to do for my classes. I have no problem with this, and will gladly work in a group situation. In fact in many instances I prefer to work in a group environment. It is great for sharing ideas and learning to both take the lead and the subordinate position with in the group.
There is one hitch with group work that does aggravate me though, when others do not do work that they have agreed to do. This has happened in my group and it does become very frustrating. One such example is in a group rough draft of an essay that we have to write the final drafts of separately. In situations like this i get highly irritated when group members fail to do there work. While a lot of teacher in this situation will not give those who did not help with the rough draft a grade on it, they in many cases still get to use the rough draft. This is extremely annoying when you are the one who does the large majority of the work. Those who did not help essentially get a pre-written paper that is simply nothing more than stolen intellectual property.
That being said, i am stubborn and do stand up for what i believe in. I am planning on discussing with my teacher not letting those who did not help use the rough draft. Why would i do something so mean you may ask? I don’t intend to be mean, but i also do not intend to lessen the quality of my degree by letting people skate by on someone else’s work.
This past Christmas my father received a 50 dollar gift card to amazon. He had no intention of using it so he said i could have it. I had initially planned on using it to buy a humidifier for my bed room, however i found one in the attic and decided i did not need a new one. That being said i was looking for the gift certificate today, since there is a certain size crochet hook i needed. I was planing on purchasing this crochet hook, which costs about 3 dollars, a book as a present for a friend and spending the remaining 30 dollars on something that i wanted for myself, whatever that may be.
There was one slight snafu, i was unable to find the gift certificate. It is not that i misplaced it, since i know exactly where i last put it. But living in a house with three other people things have a tendency to magically migrate to another location (read: be moved somewhere by someone). This has for quite some time irked me but i learned to deal with it and keep anything of importance in my room (even un-important things i keep there for fear of losing them). My mom decided to help me look for the gift certificate, since it had not been used by anyone who lives here, and she was also most likely the person who moved it. However, her memory is less than idea, a combination of aging and what she has referred to as “chemo brain” so she was not able to remember where she moved it to, nor find it.
She did offer to let me make the purchases on her credit card, so long as they were under the 50 dollar mark. Well when i went on amazon to see what i was going to purchase i found that there was no “extras” that i was interested in. This is a new feeling for me. I have always been able to find something i WANT, though not necessarily need, but i was not even able to find anything i wanted. I think i am at the point where i am starting to realize that stuff is not always what is important.
Also, just so you know, i ended up not purchasing the book or the crochet hook. I instead decided to look in the local bookstores for the book and craft stores for the crochet hook. This way i can alleviate the shipping costs, and my mom wont have to put a purchase on her credit card. While i am grateful that my mom ofered me her card, i know it is really my fault for not putting the gift card in my room and would not feel right taking money from her (she already gives me an allowance as it is).
