Thursday, December 12, 2013

Bah Humbug

The snow is starting to fall, the temperature has dropped into negative digits, the sky looks like elephant skin and there are Salvation Army bell ringers stationed at every store.

It's that time of year again.


When it's this cold outside, everything freezes.
Personal motivation included.
I can't seem to want to do anything besides hide inside an electric blanket and my own head.

Alas, there is chili to be crock-potted, goodies to be baked, blogs to be written, and so I must get out of bed, peel myself away from the fire place, and continue on this lovely little path of mine.

But since we all spent last month thinking about all the things we were thankful for, and also because this is the season of making a list and checking it twice...

Here's a little random list of things I'm not so thankful for (AKA: Things I hate).
You know, to even the score between November and December.

1.The bells above gas station doors.
2. The special effect that makes babies or animals talk on TV. 
3. Mustard.
4. Raw onions.
5. Birkenstalk sandals.
6. Being breathed on 
7. Being told to calm down or chill out.
8. Mornings without immediate access to coffee
9. The majority of gum commercials
10. The Wiggles
11. Being cold
12. Pumping gas
13. Having to follow someone in their car but they drive too fast like an asshole and I end up loosing them.
14. Every kind of music my husband likes. 
15. Stubbing my pinky toe.
16. My dog's diesel fuel farts
17. Hangovers.
18. The fact that nobody ever wants to play Monopoly.
19. Getting stood up.
20. Having to do other people's jobs for them because they're lazy or just stupid. 
21. When 2 things are on at the same time, like a TV and a radio together (my head will explode)
22. Clapping in the car. 
23. Whistling.



So now you all know my likes and dislikes just a little bit better! (It's important to know things like this about your bloggers.)
Well, on that note, I hope everybody's heaters are running up to par and do try to stay warm out there!

This cold front is a doozy!


The Grinch www.thebrighterwriter.blogspot.com




Friday, December 6, 2013

Tricks and Treats

So my old iPhone 4 had an unfortunate and sudden death. 
Having been dropped quite a distance, the screen shattered both on the front and back with shards of glass burying their heads into the key pad causing multiple FaceTime calls to everyone in my address book at disastrous hours in the night. 

Inopportune for sure.
 I was sure a few of my friends would disown me. 

After the proper amount of mourning time, I marched down to the AT&T store, explained the untimely demise of my beloved lifeline, and asked if there was anything they could do for me.

Behold, my new iPhone 5C:

7 secret tricks of the iPhone that everyone should learn to save time and battery life! www.thebrighterwriter.blogspot.com

 There are a handful of tricks that I have recently discovered which are so cool, I figured it was worth the share.

1. If you turn your phone on to airplane mode, it charges twice as fast

2. When taking a picture, you can capture multiple shots for as long as you hold down the button by snapping 10 photos per second. And real-time analysis suggests the best photos of the bunch.

3. You can just ask Siri to wake you up in 3 hours (or however long) and she'll set an alarm for you instead of having to open and program your alarm clock app.

4. When you're taking a video and something happens where you want to take a picture, there is a small camera button to hit which snaps the shot without stopping the recording of your video. 

5. LTE is great for crazy fast downloads and Internet connection, but it kills your battery. If you turn off the LTE, your phone will go to 3G instead, which works just great around town for regular phone calls and whatever else.  Save your battery and slow it down a bit  Settings -> General -> Cellular -> Enable LTE to Off

6. Asking Siri to launch an app for you saves time and lives when you're driving around. 

7. You can take selfies using the button on your ear-bud / head phone cord. Just set your camera on the table or wherever, face the camera to you, and click the button. This way you won't have half your arm covering half your face. 

So those are the new things I've learned this week. I'm determined to master this phone and I send my sincere apologies to those I disrupted during my old phone's toddler-esque meltdown. 

Speaking of meltdowns...

Last week I left you with the introduction of our family's new Elf, Heart. On her first day, Kalynn found her in the cupboard making snow men out of our leftover camping marshmallows. 


Elf on the Shelf makes snowmen from our marshmallows! www.thebrighterwriter.blogspot.com

Day 2 didn't go over so well. Heart was found cuddled up in the Cabbage Patch hammock, wearing another baby's pajamas and snuggling with Kalynn's favorite tiny Pound Puppies. 

This horrific display of disregard for other people's things flipped Kalynn's tiny temper switch and got Heart in some serious trouble. Kalynn was so upset that Heart would do such a thing, it sparked a silent feud between the two and they couldn't even look at each other for the rest of the day. 

Yes. Seriously. 

(Who knew this would turn out to be the parenting fail of the season...)

Elf on the Shelf sleeps in our doll bed snuggled up with tiny Pound Puppies! www.thebrighterwriter.blogspot.com

Day 3 Heart offered an apology and was found hanging upside down from the chandelier with an "I'm sorry" note and a box of Kalynn's favorite Pop Tarts. All was forgiven and their friendship was rekindled (but not without a "don't ever do that again!" speech).

Elf on the Shelf hangs upside down from the chandelier with a breakfast surprise (a box of Pop Tarts)! www.thebrighterwriter.blogspot.com

Day 4 It snowed here in Colorado and Heart must have wanted to join in the excitement because we found her making snow angels on our kitchen table. 

Elf on the Shelf makes snow angels on our table! www.thebrighterwriter.blogspot.com

Day 5 she was found in the corner tuning up Daddy's guitar. 

Elf on the Shelf tunes up our guitar! www.thebrighterwriter.blogspot.com

Day 6 Heart had made herself a tiny little fishing pole and had seemed to have caught herself a Goldfish cracker!

Elf on the Shelf goes fishing for Goldfish crackers! www.thebrighterwriter.blogspot.com

On Day 7, Heart must have quietly crept into Kalynn's closet and taken out the Candy Land game because we found her in the morning playing with her new friends. Although the elf was winning, it looked like R2D2 was close behind and Princess Belle was about to skip passed Lord Licorice and go into the Peppermint Forest.

Elf on the Shelf plays Candy Land with some new friends! www.thebrighterwriterblogspot.com

This morning, we found Heart had toilet papered our Christmas tree and was still napping in the evidence. 

Elf on the Shelf toilet papers our christmas tree! www.thebrighterwriter.blogspot.com

So in conclusion, it's been an exciting couple of weeks here at the Fuller Farm. 

My blog is being considered for the new Blog Her contribution page coming up in a couple of months and one of the requirements is to write more often so you'll be hearing from me on a steadier basis!

Thanks again for all the support and I hope everyone is staying warm out there in Internet Land!

xoxo