carrington schaeffer

My friend and I threw our prego friend a baby shower about a month ago.  I was in charge of the baby shower activities, and I figured I would just find activities online.  It would be easy to find cute stuff online that I could print out, right?

Wrong!  A lot of the stuff I found was tacky, so I decided to make my own stuff.

The first is a purse game where you get points by having certain things in your purse.

Download it here.

The second activity was predicting when the baby would arrive as well as hair/eye color and birth stats.

Download it here.

The last activity “Wishes for Baby.”

Download it here.

Enjoy!

Skiing!

I feel like 2011 was such a successful year for me.
But I’m not satisfied.

My therapist and I have been talking about ways to motivate me. I like school so much because someone other than myself is giving me something to be motivated about. It’s easy when someone else is setting things in front of you to do. As a result, now that I’m not in school, I’ve found that I wake up and wander around my life aimlessly. No one is giving me a grade on anything, so I’d just rather sit down with a box of graham crackers and a Mason jar of milk and watch I Love Lucy reruns online.

That only works for so long.

I find myself so fearful when it comes to doing new things that I just hole up in my house and don’t do anything (although, it’s definitely been better). Also, I only stick to the things I’m good at. I get so frustrated at myself for feeling these feelings of inadequacy, and then, I feel so guilty for feeling them.
“What’s wrong with me?” I ask myself. “Why am I feeling this way?”

I rented this book from the library called Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway. The book is quite simply very well summed up in the name, but I was shocked to find that everybody feels fear when starting something new.
Even if it’s a twinge.
The point isn’t that I wait until I don’t feel fearful about it anymore.
The point is to feel and acknowledge the fear.
And then, run at the thing with your eyes closed and your head down.

I’m not much of a risk taker.
But, everyday, I’ve been trying to take at least one risk. They’re not big risks, but I know it’s a risk when my inner self fights doing it. Here’s what my risks have looked like so far:
- Researching week-long intensive sewing classes.
- Going skiing
- Calling a friend who I’ve always wanted to know better to see if she’d like to hang out
- Starting an embroidery project
- Writing, writing, writing!

January

• Spent New Year’s in my jammies at the Blevins’ house playing Hand and Foot and Settlers of Catan and eating FAR too much.
• S and I started ShortandHat.com.
• I took a steady copy-editing job for a friend of ours online political newsletter.  Sounds lame, but it’s actually a cool gig.
• Was kind of anxious at the lack of things to do and the Holiday let-down.  Typical January.
• Started reading “The Artist’s Way,” and it completely turned my entire world upside down as far as how I think of/do my art.
• Had a horrible (and enlightening) anxiety flare-up
• Drove 9.5 hours (alone: boo) to Scottsdale, AZ to pick S up from the Barrett-Jackson car auction
• Drove to LA with S, walked on the beach in Malibu, stayed right underneath the Hollywood sign, visited a 20 million dollar house, hung out with a lot of Israelis, saw all my childhood haunts, hung out with childhood friends.
• We officially foreclosed on our Fruita house.

February

• Delivered countless singing valentines with the Tonettes all over the Grand Valley.  Days later, my feet still felt it.
• Geared up for our big national tour of the US
• I discovered Skype!
  
• Allison and I had the most relaxing mini-vacay in Ouray/Orvis/Montrose!
• I got a new Macbook Pro!  Woot!
  
• S and I officially launched ShortandHat.com!
• Had a wonderfully breakfast at Dream Cafe with Amy, Rickelle, Allison, and Sarah to celebrate all the changes going on in our lives.
  
• Left Grand Junction Monday, February 28 for THE SCHAEFFERS’ US TOUR!
• Spent a couple days in Colorado Springs, and had afternoon tea at a real live castle.
• My friend’s husband moved out.  I was sad for the kids’ sake but happy that she could finally really move on after nearly three years of doing everything she could to keep the marriage together.

March

• Visited a friend in Tulsa, OK and went to the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial in Oklahoma City.
• Went crawfish fishing for the first time.  It did indeed involve wading out in crotch-high boots to the middle of a bog.  Such fun!
• Performed in Tampa, FL with the Tonettes for a big political convention
• Went to DisneyWorld and Universal Studios!
• Met our cousins, Todd & Beki who we’d never met before!
• Lived through an epic storm in Orlando!  The power was out for three days!
• Visited my dear friend, Aubrey, and her husband Daniel!
• My wonderful brother-in-law gave me a Snuggie!!!
• Our cousin, Todd, got us press passes for an NBA Orlanda Magic Game!

April

• Found out I have a short left leg.  Was devastated.  Got over it.
• My friend, Tara, had her baby!!! George Gus Gatseos IV!
• My friend, Sarah, had her baby!!!  Grey Oliver Strewe!
• Met the last cousin we’d never met before, Toni, aka The Happy Housewife, who gave us some amazing blogging advice!  She also kicked my bloggy butt into blogging everyday.
• I started faithfully blogging everyday (especially since Toni showed me how I could write and schedule several blogs for publication–just a little blogging secret!!!)
• We hunted down and killed a snake at our cousin’s house.
• I started reading like crazy.

May

• Ate boiled peanuts for the first time!
• Went to Albany and Atlanta.
• Danced to the Chattanooga Choo Choo in Chattanooga!
• Stayed with our friends Matt & Stefanie
• Got to hang with their daughter Michaela on her first birthday!
• Seth got a tick.  Gross.
• Went to the Country Music Hall of Fame, Andrew Jackson’s home, the Ryman Auditorium, and the Parthenon in Nashville
• Headed up to Indiana to help family for a little bit with the family
• Headed home–pretty much died with love for Grand Junction
• I started writing a memoir of ridiculous stories about my life and Grand Junction.

June

• I turned 27, and my friends threw me a rockin’ birthday party!
  
• I attended my friend Rickelle’s baby shower
• Got my grandma’s will all straightened out.
• Went to JUCO
  
• Wrote, produced, shot, and edited a commercial for Gain’s Smell Like a Million Bucks Video Contest
• Went to Highline Lake with the kiddos and Allison–the water was still too cold to get in all the way.
• Got to visit with my wonderful friend Wendy at Grand Junction’s Farmers’ Market!
• Started the VERY long process of converting our VHS family movies to DVD

July

• Attended/helped out with Allison’s cousin’s wedding–we danced our bootys off!
  
• Floated the Colorado River for the 4th of July and watched the fireworks with some of my very favorite people
• Wrote an article for the WesternColorado.com Event Connection about the 4th of July
• I met my very wonderful and talented pen pal.
• Attended the Savvy Blogging Summit in Colorado Springs for ShortandHat.com
• Shamelessly promoted our Gain Smell Like a Million Bucks video

August

• Didn’t win the contest. Disappointment.
• Drove through the Mojave Desert  (110 degree weather) for 4 hours with the heat cranked because our car was overheating
• Photographed a social event for BlogHer ’11 – fell in love with San Diego
• Moved into Allison‘s basement
• Eden and I started writing a book together

September

• Left for the second leg of our US tour!
• Went to the Bonneville Salt Flats for the first time!
• I found out that two of my very best friends are pregnant!
• One of our friends died of cancer.
• Helped one of our friends move from Seattle to Fort Collins.  He needed a life change.
• We DID San Francisco!
• Traveled from San Francisco to Seattle by Highway 1.  We highly recommend.

October

• Went to our first Seattle speakeasy!
• Attending our first coffee cupping in the coffee capital of the world: Seattle.
• My friend got divorced and had a divorce party to celebrate.  It was good.
  
• Threw an amazing pumpkin carving party
• Did a bunch of holiday crafting with Allison
• Helped organize our Halloween progressive dinner – I dressed up as the Other Mother from Coraline.  Seth went as Steve Jobs who recently died.
• I applied to grad school at CSU for Creative Writing.
• Worked like crazy on my writing sample.
• Started therapy.
• Started physically training again.
• I taught myself how to drive a stick shift.  Check that off the bucket list!

November

• Started NaNoWriMo.  Worked waaaay hard on it.
• Worked reeeally hard on my writing sample for grad school.
• Went to our local corn maze.
• The Tonettes kicked off their 2011 Holiday season by performing as the main entertainment for the Grand Junction Christmas Tree Lighting downtown.
• Invested in a pair of skis, boots, poles, and Powderhorn Season passes at the Ski Swap.  Thanks, S!  SO ready for the mountain!
• Celebrated Thanksgiving by hiking Devil’s Kitchen with Seth, Allison, and the kiddos!
• Finished and WON (for the first time ever) NaNoWriMo.  I wrote 50,000 words in a month! I can now mark this as “done” on my bucket list.
• My brother left for Africa to help build churches and generally help the people in Uganda.
• My brother got malaria and ended up in the hospital.

December

• Eden and I finished our book we started in August.  Allison got it printed, and I can now say that I am a (self) published writer.
• After four and a half years of marriage, I finally ordered wedding books for our parents for Christmas.
• Made o-so-many holiday treats which have been evidenced by my gaining a half a percent of body fat.
• Seth and I sang and played at Downtown Vineyard for their Christmas Eve service.
• Celebrated Hanukkah with the roommates.
• Celebrated Christmas with the roommates.
• Had a rockin’ New Years Eve party at the house. Gin and poker were enjoyed by all.

In a nutshell, I think 2011, more than any other year in my life, has brought me to a place of really knowing myself and pushing through fear.  On the surface, we traveled and spent a lot of time in the car, but really, Seth and I got to spend time with each other.  I love him more now than the day I married him; he truly is my best friend.

I also discovered that life is more than being at the mercy of anxiety.  I learned that I have the power and privilege of being able to change, something that, previously, I thought I couldn’t do.

I’ve also learned that we’re here for community.  We’ve literally been created to love, and understanding that more, I am learning to point my little ship in that direction, even though it’s scary and uncharted.  In the end, it’s worth it.

Here’s to a wonderful 2012.  I hope more than anything that we, Dear Reader, learn and grow more than we ever thought possible.

This morning, I finally finished.  I ended up with 50,332 words altogether.

I’m so excited I might come out of my skin.

It feels so good to go through this journey not only with writing but with myself.  I found out through this process that being black and white and overly litigious with myself about word counts doesn’t inspire creativity.  Before, when I would be a couple thousand words behind, I would make myself sit and catch up.  I tried a different, more “gray” approach where I would come up with a plan in which I would write a little extra every day, and being kind to myself in this way made me want to keep going.  Before, I would be so exhausted from cranking out 6,000 words in an afternoon that I took a break for several days, and the entire vicious cycle would start all over again.

When I look back on so many of my blog posts, I find that I do a lot of talking but not a whole lot of doing.  I also compare myself to others, more in my head than in blogs.  I want to compare myself to myself, and when I look at this accomplishment compared to the creatively “stuck” person I was before, I can definitely say that I am closer to where I want to be than I’ve ever been.
That feels nice.

It feels nice to do something for myself.  And only myself.

Winning NaNoWriMo has always been on my Bucket List of things to do before I do.  But now, I’m realizing that this is only the beginning in my journey toward becoming more creative.

NaNoWriMo may be over (until next year), but I feel as though my life as a weaver of words and a teller of tales has just begun.

I love how other-worldly this is.  It looks like a wispy, fragile sculpture in some whimsical, magical book.

It’s really thousands of spiders seeking refuge from flooding in nearby trees.

I am officially halfway through NaNoWriMo, and I couldn’t be more tickled. I can’t tell you how good it feels to see a goal you want to accomplish for yourself and make it happen. For YOU. It’s always been on my bucket list to “win” NaNoWriMo, and I can’t believe I’m halfway there!

I wrote like a fool today (6,685 words), and let me tell you: not checking Facebook every five minutes has definitely helped with productivity!

(encouragements requested.)

“He who seeks rest finds boredom.
He who seeks work finds rest.”

- Dylan Thomas