This or That: Buy or DIY?

Are you the type that sees something in a store or online and says, “I could make that!”  Or do you buy it and save yourself the time and effort?

I’ve looked online at quiet books for kids, and I love the idea, but I thought, “I could totally do that!”

I may be in over my head.

We’ll see.  I know I won’t get the whole thing done, but I hope to have some pages for our next vacation in a couple of months, something to keep Baby J busy on the plane.

What about you – Are you a Buyer or a DIYer?  Let me know in the comments below, and you’ll be entered to win some poppyseed soap made by yours truly! (Scent TBD – I have to see what scents I have available.) I made poppyseed soap as wedding favors when we got married, and I’ve had quite a few requests for more from family and friends since then. Time to make a new batch!

Photo by Nicki Thatcher, http://www.capturedbynicki.com

Everyone who comments on This or That Thursday in the month of July will be registered to win homemade poppyseed soap. Winner will be announced in August.

 

This or That: Blue skies or grey?

One of the few things that gets me through the winters here is the prospect of Finnish Summer:  two to three months of bright blue skies and damn near perfect temperatures.  But this summer has convinced me that I could never live in Seattle.  It’s mid-July, and I think I can count the number of good days we’ve had on my hands – and I missed half of them while in Croatia.  It’s been grey and rainy and cool.  I don’t think we’ve even made it to 70°F where I live (except for those days I missed).  Even with the Croatian break, and the upcoming trip to Barcelona, I’m dying a slow death here.  I’m done with grey!!

But I know some people love this kind of weather.  Some people don’t care for blue skies.  Are you one of them?

Let me know in the comments below, and you’ll be entered to win some poppyseed soap made by yours truly! (Scent TBD – I have to see what scents I have available.) I made poppyseed soap as wedding favors when we got married, and I’ve had quite a few requests for more from family and friends since then. Time to make a new batch!

Photo by Nicki Thatcher, http://www.capturedbynicki.com

Everyone who comments on This or That Thursday in the month of July will be registered to win homemade poppyseed soap. Winner will be announced in August.

This or That: Mountains or Ocean?

I feel like I’ve done this one before, or maybe I’ve just talked about my absolute adoration of the ocean in a previous post.  How yes, mountains are pretty, but the ocean, the sea, is my first love.  Ah, yes, here it is.  “The ocean moves, it dances, it sings. It destroys and cleanses and gives and takes away. Mountains erode. Slooooowwwllllyyyyy.”

Of course, if you’re really lucky, you might get both, like we did last week while in Croatia.  Such a beautiful contrast!

near Dubrovnik, Croatia

Which do you prefer, Mountains or Ocean?  Why? Let me know in the comments below, and you’ll be entered to win some poppyseed soap made by yours truly! (Scent TBD – I have to see what scents I have available.)

Everyone who comments on This or That Thursday in the month of July will be registered to win homemade poppyseed soap. Winner will be announced in August.

Winner of June’s giveaway is Jen!  (Actually, Anonymous won, but since I don’t have a way of telling if the person who claims the prize is actually the person who commented on the post, I decided to re-draw.)  Jen, I’ll be sending you a pretty picture in the mail soon!

This or That: Red or White?

Red or white what is up to you, but let me know which you prefer. Perhaps you would rather have red wine instead of white. Or maybe you just chose white towels over red. Red tulips? White roses?

I will almost always go red, with anything. I’m not sure when I developed a love for red – it was never my favorite color. But suddenly I had a red couch, and my wedding shoes were red, and my wedding was white with red accents, and now I want red accent walls and throw pillows and…well, just splashes of red everywhere. (The red couch is gone, so don’t worry, it’s not like I’m putting red throw pillows on a red couch!)

So, Red or White? Let me know in the comments below, and you’ll be entered to win some poppyseed soap made by yours truly! (Scent TBD – I have to see what scents I have available.) I made poppyseed soap as wedding favors when we got married, and I’ve had quite a few requests for more from family and friends since then. Time to make a new batch!

Photo by Nicki Thatcher, http://www.capturedbynicki.com

Everyone who comments on This or That Thursday in the month of July will be registered to win homemade poppyseed soap. Winner will be announced in August.

Winner of June’s giveaway will be announced next week, so stay tuned!

Inspiration Tuesday

 

This or That: Walk or Run?

Some people are runners.  Some hate running with a fiery passion.  Me, I’m a runner at heart, but a walker by injury.

I’m one of those insane people who likes to run.  I hate walking (for exercise).  I feel like it’s a waste of time – by running you can go much farther in the same amount of time!  Running helps calm my monkey mind, helps me zone out, erases all the scribbles in my head.  Walking just makes it worse. Unfortunately, about 6 or 7 years ago, I injured my knee.  Still not really sure what I did to it.  I went to the doctor, I had an MRI, I went for physical therapy.  No one could tell me what was wrong, and nothing made it better.

I miss running.  I so wish I could do it again. Once we get back to the US, maybe I’ll be able to go to a specialist, or maybe I’ll check out acupuncture.  (Yeah, I miss it enough to be stuck with a hundred needles…)

So what about you?  Which would you prefer?  Everyone who comments on This or That in the month of June is registered to win a 4×6 print of this photo:

Inspiration Tuesday

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Even if you're not where you're supposed to be, or where you want to be, you can still thrive. #inspiration

A post shared by Sara Sara Johnson (@bysarajohnson) on Jun 18, 2015 at 12:42am PDT

This or That: Speak or Hear?

Would you rather have the ability to hear, but not be able to speak, or be able to speak, but not hear?  And what I mean is: would you rather be able to understand others but not be able to communicate (talk, write, etc), or be able to communicate but not be able to understand others (hear, read, etc)?

It’s an often talked about fact in the expat community, that you lose some of your speech while living abroad.  You stop using idioms, because they don’t translate in a different language (or because non-native English speakers (or whatever your language) don’t understand them).  You have to look up words in the thesaurus a lot more often (case in point:  I had to look up “translate” in the previous sentence because the only word I could think of to convey my meaning was “transmit”).  You start using words for things that foreigners use (car park instead of parking lot, baby cot instead of crib, take-away instead of to-go).  I often find myself struggling to find the right words for things lately.  The language barrier is compounded, for me, by not usually talking to more than two people most days, one of them being a 1 year old.

Being a writer, a lover of words, I find this development…somewhat disheartening, to say the least.  Words used to flow out of me, my mouth, my pen, my keyboard, but I’m having a harder time of late. I have a plan of action…if I could only find the time to put it in place…

So obviously speaking (aloud or in print) is important to me.  But what if I could communicate, but not hear/understand?  Well, that would suck, but at least then I wouldn’t hear the bullshit spouted by some people, the hatred, the bigotry.  But I also wouldn’t be able to understand my husband, or my baby, when they say they love me.

Interesting conundrum.  I feel like it’s self-centered to say that I would rather be able to share my feelings with the world, put my thoughts out there, than hear what they think.  But I would rather tell my husband and son I love them a thousand times and not hear that they love me, than to not be able to tell them.  And that seems a bit less narcissistic.  I hope.  🙂

So what about you?  Which would you prefer?  Everyone who comments on This or That in the month of June is registered to win a 4×6 print of this photo

This or That: Cool Weather or Hot?

Which do you prefer?  In mid-June, would you prefer to live in a place where it is 50°F or 90°F?  In mid-January would you prefer it to be 30°F or 50°F?

This week’s This or That brought to you from 50° Finland.  (IOW, I want it to be summer already, damn it!!)

In case my position needs further explanation, I like heat.  I would far prefer to be in a warmer climate than a cooler one.  While I absolutely love the typical Finnish summer with perfect mid-70° days, I love a good 90°+ day (assuming you have working air conditioning to go along with it).  I love the feeling of being in a cold, air conditioned building (mall, office building) and walking out into the heat of the day.  I always feel like I’m thawing out.  I miss that feeling.  Although, I will admit that I don’t miss burning myself on the seat belt or the steering wheel…

So, what about you?  Let me know in the comments below, and you’ll be entered to win a 4×6 print of this photo:

All comments for This or That in the month of June will be eligible for the giveaway!

Inspiration Tuesday – Donate your hair!

I used to have really long hair, down to my butt.  I had long hair for years.  I always intended to donate it to Locks of Love, I just hated the thought of cutting 12″ off!  Until one day, I bit the bullet and did it.  12″ gone.

Then I did it again, about 3 years later:

I was very proud of my donation.  I have really thick, healthy hair, and I hope they were able to make a fantastic wig for a kid out of it.  It makes me happy that I was able to do it not only once, but twice.  I received a little postcard to thank me for the donation, and I have it framed.  It hangs next to my college diploma at home (although both are currently in storage in the US).

So when I saw this story, it made my heart happy.  An 8 year old boy grew his hair out to donate it, putting up with bullies while he did it.  He’s awesome, and quite the inspiration!

What’s inspiring you this week?