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Loving Day 💕

Andi

Today, June 12, is Loving Day. This commemorates the day that interracial marriage was declared legal in all 50 states by a Supreme Court decision in 1967.

I’m not a huge fan of Valentine’s Day. As my husband so eloquently put it, “I don’t want to do kind things for you because someone told me I have to.” Not to mention the date may be the date St. Valentine died, we aren’t for certain due to poor records. Its mostly just based on legend. But this is not based on a legend. Loving Day has excellent record of its occurrence. And as a person in an interracial marriage, it holds much more significance to me than a possible man in ancient Rome.

Its also a strong reminder that my marriage would’ve been illegal 50 years ago. To a younger me, that is a long time, but in the span of time, the span of even American history, that is incredibly recent. We like to think issues like this were dealt with in times past, that they are ancient history, but they aren’t.

So, Loving Day is our Valentine’s Day.

An article was written in USA Today that gives a good history of the event that made Loving Day, and why it is called what it is. I encourage you to read it, as it recaps that day and our current day much better than I can.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/06/10/loving-day-june-12-marks-supreme-court-interracial-marriage-decision/5326018002/

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You Are Not the Size of Your Jeans as published on Positively Balanced

Andi

Hello everyone! I want to thank you all for reading. I haven’t been as active as I should be, I know, there is a lot going on in the world both in general and personally.

I do have for you an article I wrote for the Positively Balanced platform that has been published today. Give it a read! And I will get back to my personal publishing soon. Thank you! Enjoy the article!

You are Not the Size of Your Jeans

family

Dragon Egg Craft

Andi

For a craft, I wanted to make Dragon Eggs. Dragons are basically fire breathing dinosaurs and so my kids are in love with them too.

First, we went for a walk and found some smooth round rocks. We ran about in the sun for a little bit too. Then we brought them home and got the paint out on the patio to paint the rocks. Then allow to dry. We went and had lunch while the paint dried.

After lunch we came back and added all the decorations. The kids of course chose everything they wanted. Since we were outside I even let them use glitter.

With their eggs sparkled and bedazzled as they wanted them, we had to allow the glue to dry. When the glue was dry, we chose some special places in the flower bed to put them so the sun could keep them warm.

Our eggs didn’t end up looking like the photos I’d seen, but this craft is about letting your kids express their creativity. How they think a dragon egg would look.

Bonus activity would be to draw pictures of what their dragons would look like. My older son told me his was green and shiny and had wings.

There aren’t any rules to follow with this craft, do whatever you want, and let the creativity flow!

family

Hat with Flowers Craft

Andi

I got this hat and decorated it for the Royal Wedding a few years ago. The ribbon flowers I’d made and glued on have long since fallen off, and I was left with this, bland, little sad looking hat.

So this is what I was starting with. I had some plastic flowers, a little ribbon, and a hot glue gun with glue sticks.

First, I removed some of the lace ribbon. It was excessive and looked like it was falling off. Off with it. But I added some orange and green ribbon to give a base to add flowers to.

I picked up three bundles of flowers I thought looked good together. Three was plenty. I had extras left over afterwards.

I didn’t have much of a set plan going into this, so I added flowers where I thought they fit. I’m not an expert by any means, and a hatmaker would probably laugh at how badly my hat looked at the end. However, I’m not trying to be an expert or a hatmaker. I’m the one wearing this hat.

Final product: flowers everywhere!

I like color, I like flowers, I like eccentric things. So for my style and my purposes, this hat was a success! I do not remember what I spent on the hat when I bought it, maybe $10? The ribbon was given to me, the flowers were $1 a piece. My hot glue gun was about $10 when I bought it as well. Not a huge expense for me and it gave me an hour outside doing something in the fresh air!

family

Beef Stew Roast Tips

Andi

Alright, this is another crock pot recipe, but probably one of the biggest hits in our house. This was a pot roast recipe, but when I first made it, I didn’t have any pot roast, so I used stew meat. It seemed overly runny, so I added some cream of chicken soup and made it smooth and creamy. After a few more tweaks, what I ended up with was a dish suspended between Beef Stew and Pot Roast. It is savory and rich, goes great with rolls, is tender and juicy, and every member of the family loves it.

Diced Red Potatoes

(Washed but not peeled)

Carrots

(Either baby carrots or chopped)

Mushrooms

Onion cut into Crescents

Broth 2 cups

Stew Seasoning Packet

(I use McCormick)

Cream of Chicken 1 can

Diced Stew Meat about 1lb

Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Add all ingredients to the crockpot and set to low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-6, stirring occasionally. I put this in about noon and by dinnertime it is ready to go. The meat is tender, the veggies have soaked up that seasoning and meat flavor and it is perfect. As I said, I usually serve this with some rolls. If you wish to had something cool and light, have a salad on the side. This is a hefty meal. Don’t make big plans afterwards, it’s as bad as Thanksgiving dinner, you’ll want a nap. But, it screams southern meal at me, and most southern meals do that to me.

Prepare yourself for not only simple, but delicious with this crockpot wonder!

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Tips

Andi

I want to give everyone a few tidbits that I have found to be very helpful to me during this time. Full disclosure, my anxiety has been worse lately, I am aware of it. This is not going to be a magic cure. These are tips that help me.

Get Dressed Everyday

I cannot tell you how many people are shocked that I’ve been putting actual clothes on. We have one day a week that is Pajama Day, where we don’t do anything, we lay around, watch TV, play video games, etc. But when I say its PJ day I hear, isn’t that every day? No. It’s not. Because changing your clothes every day keeps you more fresh, more in the mood to do something. Putting on that cute outfit, even if no one else sees it, boosts your mentality and spirits. Get dressed.

Make a Schedule

This might seem pointless with nowhere to go and nothing to do, but it isn’t. It can keep you from sitting in one spot for 18 hours. But what do you put on a schedule when there are no plans? Schedule in time for cleaning, time outside, time for learning, time for movement, time for baking, etc. Make yourself a schedule and keep to it.

Schedule In Your Showers or Baths

When you are home all the time everyday, the time all melts together and a day becomes a week. You don’t realize how long it’s been since you bathed. You think, “oh that was just yesterday”, but in reality, it was 5 days ago. Keeping clean helps lift your spirits and your mind rejuvenated, so don’t forget it.

Make an Allotted Time to be Away from Social Media

Before this happened already doctors were encouraging people to set down their phones and take a break. Now, with every form of information about the virus and everyone talking about it flooding our phones, it’s even easier to become overwhelmed. Social media in particular seems to amplify my anxiety when its flared up. So I need to take a break. Right now, that’s hard, even more so than normal. It’s become a habit to just sit down when I’m bored and scroll through my newsfeeds. Usually, I’d go do something to keep occupied, but now, there’s nothing to do. What do you do with the empty space? I’ll play a game, read a book, I’ve also started drawing. For myself, I’ve chosen to take one 24 hour period every week and stay off of all social media. I also suggest turning your phone off or on Do Not Disturb at night. Mine goes to DND from 8pm to 8am every day.

Go Outside For at Least 30 minutes Every Day, and Open Your Windows

Fresh air and sunlight is absolutely vital to human wellbeing. Physically and mentally. The vitamin D boosts our immune system, and the air boosts our minds. Being outside also forces you off the couch. Do whatever you want outside. Stare at the birds making a nest in that tree. Draw a picture. Do a craft. Drink your morning cup of coffee. Whatever. Go outside!

Schedule a Time For Movement

YouTube is loaded with workout videos, dancing tutorials, yoga routines. Whatever gets you up and about. Crank up your favorite tunes and dance your heart out. It doesn’t matter really, just get to moving. Get that blood flowing. Jump, twirl, twist until your cheeks are flushed. Move. Move. Move.

Get a Plant

Not only will this give you something to do and take care of while you are stuck at home, but plants are good to have in your home. Simply the visual of seeing a plant boosts your mental state. The scent of a flower boosts your spirit. Plants also release oxygen and clean the air in your home, giving you a healthier environment to inhabit.

These are just a few of the things I have been doing to help bolster my mental health. I understand it is a hard time right now for everyone, and we need to be reaching out a helping hand to lift up our friends.

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Beading with Children

Andi

Beading seems overly simple. Just string a round piece of plastic/wood/clay with a hole in the middle onto a string. Easy right? It is, but it is also wildly educational. How is something so simple teaching anything? Well, most of what it teaches is developmental.

Beading aides in developing hand eye coordination, bilateral coordination (using both hands to do different tasks at the same time) and dexterity. They have to focus and carefully place the bead on the string. If they start having trouble, it can become a learning opportunity on patience and perseverance. Beading also gives them a sense of accomplishment at creating something themselves, which fuels imagination. In connection with that it can strengthen their planning and execution skills. Letting them lay out and design a pattern they like and then putting that plan to action to make something.

But beading can also be used in a more traditional teaching sense. Having the child count their beads can teach them numbers and counting in order. It could be used to teach pattern recognition and sequences. You could use beads to teach colors.

There are so many possibilities with beading. Get creative with it. Let them get creative with it.

Use beading as a way to be a light in someone’s life. Make several bracelets to give to friends, grandparents, the kind old lady in the grocery store who always says hi to you.

Beads and string are fairly inexpensive, but the activities they can create and lessons they can teach are immeasurable.

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Coming Up

Andi

Coming up, you may notice an increase in crafting or recipe posts, probably some humor in my flubs in both areas. I’m doing this because it is what we are doing more, but also because I’m sure people are going to need lots of ideas.

We are navigating uncharted territory. I doubt there are many 102 year olds around that have seen a pandemic this extreme and could tell us what to do. We do have records however of plagues and pandemics from history and one of the things they tell us, keep your distance.

But self isolating, staying home and quarantining sucks. And I don’t mean that simply in a, “aw man do I hate this”, kind of it sucks, I mean it is unnatural for us and we grate against it. Isolation makes depression easier to take hold, it brings us down, it puts our minds on edge. We aren’t meant to be removed from other humans for a long period of time.

Humans are also not meant to be inside for long periods of time. We need contact with nature or we go insane. I don’t have the scientific intelligence to properly explain why, but I do know that the human mind needs to be around plant life. Even fake ones are helpful. Plants are calming to our minds. Being outdoors is invigorating and refreshing to us, and is necessary for our health.

During this time when most of us are under some kind of stay at home order, we have to find different tools to keep us healthy. Most of the orders right now allow you to go out to walk your dog or excersize. Take a walk. Walk your dog. Walk to the grocery store next time.

But even if you do not wish to walk or jog, get yourself outside somehow. I went to get some gardening supplies and the worker there told me he had seen more than the usual customers lately. A lot of people had told him, if they were going to be stuck at home, they might as well do something productive in their yards. It made me smile. I am glad people are taking to the outdoors to beat their blues. The butterflies are going to love this spring with all the extra flowers bored people are planting.

But let’s say you don’t have a yard to plant in or take your kids to play in. You live in an apartment with nothing but a small balcony. That’s ok! Go sit on it! Get some pots and flowers and plant them. Buy a bird feeder and hang it from your balcony. Sketch pictures sitting outside. Drink your morning cup of coffee on the balcony.

Many people are taking to video calling to get their human interaction while in isolation. It’s a good idea. But add onto it, the outdoors. So call your grandma from the patio instead of the couch.

Open up your windows every day the weather will allow it. Let that sunshine and fresh air into your home!

For the length of these Stay At Home orders, I challenge you to find some way to get outside every single day. However that looks for you. I will be happy to provide many ideas of what you can do, especially with kids, but it’s up to you to step out the door.

Art, family

The Last Supper Table and Chairs

Andi

A local museum had a room full of art pieces donated by local citizens. Some work they’d done themselves and some that had been passed down in their families. This table and chairs drew my attention and it fascinated me.

It depicts the Last supper in the middle of the table, and there are twelve chairs each depicting a different disciple. I did not notice at the time, but the chair for Judas is carved differently from all the rest as he was the one who betrayed Jesus. It is of course carved and it was quite large. This quick summary laid there with the piece shared the artists history.

I find it incredibly intriguing how various religions have effected the cultures in which they are prominent. Art is one of the plainest places to see these effects, as religious artwork is prolific.

Something else I find interesting about this artwork in particular is the rarity of it. Not because tables are rare or because this artist took 12 years to carve it, but because of the unique idea of it. Who thinks of the Last Supper and thinks, I can make that into a table and chairs. It’s so odd, but delightful.

I enjoyed this part of the museum because of the unique and fascinating nature of it. It was neat to see all these different pieces by or from local residents. But this table, by far, stood out the most.