Spaghetti Squashes...All The Squash.

It's. So. Big. Oh. My. Goodness.

TONIGHT. IS. SO. COOL.

Actually, kind of. I'm making spaghetti squash at current and I'm quite thrilled about what the end result will be. Although it's going to be a lot of squash, I know it will all be used and it will all be worth it! 

So, spaghetti squash. Y'all. This stuff is awesome. God made this so cool. So cool. Literally, a food in its own bowl. This stuff is the best.

I got my squash at the farmers' market. Saturday. 

It was two dollars.

It was the biggest squash I have ever seen.

Gutted and so happy. Note - that's me
listening to poetry in the side. On
the side. English. Yikes.

I didn't realize until today that this giant squash has a gash in it. Oh, help me, I had the sadness in my soul.

Anyways, I ended up cooking an excessive amount of spaghetti squash. NOTE. I started this post last night, but then I Skyped with my dear friends, Jacey and Jorge, for an hour, so I went to sleep after...it was late and I teach the kids. 

But. My squash. 

To make spaghetti squash, you first wash off the outside. Then, cut it in half. On the inside, there's all sorts of 'guts' (seeds and jazzy jazz) on the inside. Take those out, yo. Them be gross. I bet you could do something with these, but I haven't come across an idea yet.

BUT. After cutting it in half and gutting it, you need to put something in the middle. Well, you don't need to. But it helps the seasoning! I used garlic, salt, and butter. 

Yo, this garlic. THIS STUFF IS SO COOL. Elephant garlic. One clove is the size of a whole bulb of regular garlic. I got it because I couldn't find any other garlic at the store. It's pretty nifty, though it makes my love for garlic run deeper than the deepest well I've ever seen.

Before cooking - all the seasoning.

Anyways, then, cook it at 400 for an hour. 

It's the best.

You take it out of the oven, take a couple minutes to make sure you don't burn yourself, and then start to take it apart. I didn't get a picture of this. Why? I was tired and gave up. 

You take the squash apart using spoons and slowly taking the 'meat' of the squash away from the sides. You can't eat the sides. It's gross, dude.

Then, put your organic and all natural (without sugar!) spaghetti sauce on it and eat it. All the happy and healthy! 

Note, you don't need organic food. I just suggesting looking at the label and getting things that don't add additional sugar that's not necessary. This helps sustain your body.

So. Much. Squash. Thank you, Lord.

But, really, there's my squash. I wasn't planning on explaining how to make it, BUT there you go. I'm a big fan. And I will literally be eating this for the next week. I mean, really, look how much I had. Three halves. Also known as one and a half squashes. Also known as dinner. 

Praise God for food to eat for dinner.

Praise the Lord for providing.

He provides everything we need, even when we don't know we need it. I think that's what the Bible means when it says that God is a good Father.

Peace.

Clothes Moving

The current pile of clothes to peace out.

So, at constant (always), I'm trying to get rid of many a thing. I look through the closet weekly (well, a couple times a week) and get rid of things. 

I'm a big fan of having reasoning behind doing things. I think reasoning is good because then there's purpose. So, why be in a constant state of getting rid of things?

Moving. Before I settled to teach, I moved every school year and then for the summers. Five years. I think I moved...10 times. Sometimes to the same location, but I still moved. A lot.

A lot.

I strongly dislike moving.

A lot.

Anyways, I went into teaching to love kids and be able to move around the world doing something practical. I would love to teach overseas. But we shall see where the Lord takes me. I just want to be ready if ever that time comes.

At current, I know I'm supposed to be where I'm at. But when it comes that I need to move somewhere, I'll be able to up and do that. I think that's why I clean out all the time. 

Anyways, there's not that much of a point to this besides explaining reasoning. And I'm really tired, so I'm not sure if it made sense. 

OH. I'm also constantly working at cleaning out the random things in my pantry that I have. You know, so I don't buy something I don't need. NOTE. This means I have to know everything that I have in the kitchen. That's been a journey in itself.

So, here we continue getting rid of things and using only what is necessary. It's humbling and happy. And I like not using all the money getting things that I don't need.

Peace.

PS - I made a bomb cup of tea today. It has warmed my soul.

Sometimes, I Break Things

Straight up busted.

So, this summer my wallet broke. Like, full out got demolished. I admit, it was my fault. I stuck my phone in it because I thought that maybe it would be okay...

It wasn't.

It died.

I cried.

You see, my uncle and aunt got this for me when I graduated university. It may not seem like a big deal, but this was such a meaningful gift. First of all, it was from a company called JOYN. This company empowers people, specifically in impoverished areas, to gain a career. This company provides education, medical help, steady jobs, and more. 

This meant a lot to me. It was more than a wallet.

I did a thing.

And I broke it.

Full out busted.

I had failed myself and the wallet.

Granted, I usually break things quicker than this wallet, so I could be proud of myself.

Anyways.

I've been keeping it on the kitchen table for the last four months trying to figure out what to do. I've started cleaning off the table. I had to find out what to do.

The zipper was broken.

The inside was decently put together.

I noticed that it seems like the coin holder inside could be cut out and used simply by itself. As a coin purse. So, that's what I did! 

I have the proudness at my skills.

I cut out the middle and made myself a coin purse. Look at me UPCYCLING.

Upcycling - reuse (discarded objects or material) in such a way as to create a product of a higher quality or value than the original. 

That's what I did! I now have something that can be used. And the other part? I'm taking it to school. Maybe my students can come up with some ideas. They're super smart.

Peace.

Ode to Coffee

Coffee, coffee

My new happy - three shots of espresso with whip.
Scrabble. Friendship.

I love you so
You make my heart
Want to grow (not literally...that's a big issue)

Coffee, coffee
My heart is content
I seem to think
You're my natural bent

Coffee, coffee
Coffee, coffee
Coffee, coffee
Coffee, coffee

I think I had too much coffee.

In all seriousness, coffee makes my heart happy and a way I can be sustainable in this is using the coffee I'm given and NOT buying any more. I literally bought another yesterday...at least I used a coupon.

Maybe I'll write a post about the benefits of coffee. Here's one: it calms down my brain and lets me focus. Chew on that for a bit.

Peace.

Festivals and Friendship?

I went to a concert in town. Yesterday. It was called Praise Fest. I'm really tired right now, so this probably won't make sense.

Here's John Lennon getting a guitar pick out.

Anyways. Went to that. It was like a really big Christian concert with all sorts of different musical artists. That was neat. It was from 8:30 in the morning to 9:30 at night. I'm not really sure if the same people played throughout the day or exactly how that worked, but I went at 7:00 with my friend Lindsay. Then Jena joined us. We sat on a blanket in the back of the field, listening to the music (it was SUPER loud). 

But, we sat there, sang along, and prayed. I think music really can draw your soul into a place that it doesn't always go. I'm a big fan of peaceful music (like acoustic, lovely, calm music). It makes my soul feel at peace and something else that literally isn't coming to mind so whatever.

At the event, I made a new friend! I like making new friends. His name is Vik. He came and stood by our blanket, asked about the music, I asked him to sit down, then we offered him a chair, and then he sat. We talked for a bit, then he asked us gals to come to a BBQ tonight (you know, because this all happened yesterday). The other girls couldn't come, so I invited a different friend to come with me.

So my friend Jamison and I went to the BBQ tonight. I made a salad for it (that's what I was told to bring). Do you know how stressful it is to be told to bring a salad? There are like 3589279857289375689273 different types of salad. Real salad, fruit salad, potato salad, macaroni salad, broccoli salad. ALL THE SALAD.

I made a caesar salad. I actually called a friend to ask what kind of salad to make because I was concerned that I didn't know what to do. While I was at the store. Anyways...

Anyways, I went to the BBQ tonight with Jamison. I was a bit really nervous because social things always make me nervous and I was going to hang out with a bunch of people that I'd just met. But we did it! I texted Vik and we did the socialize thing well. All the proudness!

It was SO much fun. I'm so glad I got out of my comfort zone and talked to a random stranger. Love people, make new experiences happen.

Anyways, all that to say, sometimes it takes stepping out of your comfort zone to make new friends and try new experiences. Sometimes you have to leap in order to fly. Wow, that's poetic. 

Take new chances. Make new memories. Believe Jesus will take care of you.

Poshmark Life

Here's my new navy dress. Featured:
Febreeze on a bike. Because why not?

World.

I have news to tell you. I have an app that changed my shopping life (and that I can sell things on). It's a hot time. But really...

Poshmark. It's like an online thrift store! I'm so thankful. I get to sell my clothes and maybe buy something new. I'm a big fan of getting rid of things. 

Like a big fan.

Like one of the ones in an industrial building. I'm literally a fan.

Psych.

But I'm so excited about this! I've gotten two dresses that I absolutely really really like from this site and I can wear them often. How thankful I am! 

Anyways, in total I spent approximately 20 dollars for two dresses of VERY nice quality. It literally seems like they haven't been worn at all. So, I get to wear them and feel like I got away with something. I got away with looking like a fox and having classy shopping skills.

Here's my new green dress.

Go on Poshmark. Check it out. You should invest in the adventures of people trying to sell clothes. 

And then! When I can't sell the clothes I want on Poshmark, I'm going to send them off to thredUP. Basically, I don't believe in throwing clothes away and I believe everyone can use them. Maybe I'll write more about that later.

 Also, my kids and I went on a walk today with the school called the Freedom Walk. We walked to the fire station, thanked them for their service, and then headed back. We do this in order to remember 9/11 and what happened on that. We talked about 9/11 and that's always really healing and kind of weird...

Here's my kids. We cute.

...it's weird to think I was around when a major life event like that happened.

God works all things for good. Praise His name.

Peace.

Oh, also, if you'd like to come look throw my pile of clothes I'm trying to get rid of, contact me. I'd be more than happy to give you a discount (that's called free...). 

Coupon Lady

I used to watch (a couple episodes of) the Extreme Couponing show and be terribly sickened by the amount of things people bought for no reason. I didn't understand the purposes of buying so much...stuff. Random stuff. What a mess and what a useless pile of...stuff.

That is mahogany!

Anyways, today I used a couple coupons. I went to Target. At Target, I use Cartwheel. Cartwheel is the best. I can get the items I want, scan them with the Cartwheel application (on my cellular device), and see if I can get an extra coupon on that item. Basically, I'm saving money on items that I was going to buy anyways. I'm thankful for Cartwheel. Today, with that help, I saved 10 dollars on things I was already going to buy.

Cartwheel seems to get dangerous when you look beforehand because then you buy things that you don't need. Don't do that!

I also had TWO other coupons today. One for a new kind of coffee. I got it. It's Mahogany coffee. I saved three dollars off a seven dollar coffee. That's four dollars. I don't believe in bad coffee. That was a good deal.

I also had a coupon for five dollars off a 75 dollar purchase. I didn't think I made that mark...so I gave it to the lady in front of me in line. Turns out, I did make that mark. And that lady at the checkout used the coupon again for me. I'm thankful for her - you go, Rebecca, the cool cashier at Target. You make my heart happy.

ALSO. At Traget, if you use your own bags, you get five cents off a bag. I used five of my own bags...that's 25 cents! 

Lastly, Target REDcard. This is the bomb. You can have a debit option, so it's not necessarily another credit card. It saves you 5% each time you use it, therefore saving money there, too! 

So, world, I saved 30 dollars at Target today. I'm thankful. And I couponed. And I didn't get anything I wouldn't use. 

Life is good when you think practically and only get what you need. Also, only getting things I know all the ingredients to lets me buy less and less and be practical in that way.

Also, why do tortillas have so many preservatives?!

Peace.