I'm still alive!

I just realized that I didn't post again after my last post on September 1st! I've just been super busy lately. 

I've been doing a lot of editing and ordering photos...the 4 generation family photos we had and then the prints of the girls' senior pictures. I waited to order Aubry's until we had Ashlyn's...so I could order the same number of similar poses and sizes. I like to have a balance for when I hang them up. Now I just have to decide where to hang them up and get some frames for them.  

I've also been pretty busy lately working on CandiMaker stuff. I separated my digital designs and my transfers into two separate shops in October. I also revamped my logo to be more representative of my style...and then redid my shop banners to match. I also added important information to the banners (like how to get free shipping, etc.) so it can be seen easily. I created a few new designs...but have been too busy with other things to create more. I need to press a few of my designs so that I can have example photos of how beautifully my transfers appear on finished products. 

I spent all of last weekend rearranging and reorganizing my office. I had to change everything around in order to have room for my new printer! I already have the ET-16650 that I use for sublimation and kept the unused ink that originally came with the printer. So I've been wanting to get another Epson EcoTank printer that takes the same pigment ink. I found a great deal on an ET-5800 in Epson's own Ebay store that was refurbished directly by Epson. It came with a 1-year warranty plus two more full sets of ink. I'll be using the new printer mainly for my third Etsy shop...CandiMaker Stickers! I'm still hammering out all the details and working out what other materials I need as well as packaging, shipping, listing details, etc...so it'll still be a little while before my sticker shop goes live. Right now I'm still using our Epson WF-2650 for printing my mailing labels...but eventually I hope to get a thermal printer so I can print mailing labels and other packaging stickers without using any ink. :) 

But back to my office...I'm really pleased with how it's coming along. I moved my big desk over to be in the corner of the room. Then the smaller desk now sits perpendicular to basically make an L-shaped desk. Both printers fit perfectly on the smaller desk. Then the drawers of that desk have labeled boxes for my pigment and sublimation ink bottles and shipping supplies. I left the small desk a little more than a foot away from the wall so that my tall set of drawers fit in between (with another smaller set of drawers on top of that). The drawers store all my different types of paper, printable vinyl, mailing labels, laminating sheets, etc. Then the WF-2650 sits on top of those drawers. Across from the printers I have the large armoire against the wall in the corner. I've changed that into my packaging center. I already had all my Priority Mail boxes and envelopes in the lower cabinet. Now in the upper cabinet I have the guillotine paper cutter and a rotating organizer for regular envelopes, thank you cards, etc. I used command strips to put up two organizer things (which are actually to stick up in lockers to hold pencils and stuff) to hold my freebie/sample sublimation transfer prints as well as a hook to hang a pair of scissors. So now I can just print the labels and fill the packages all right there in one spot. Then I moved my Cricut Maker 3 (which used to be in the armoire) to the other side of the room. I had some modular drawers that have been in the girls' rooms which I stacked and put together back-to-back with a heavy piece of poster board on top to make a table for my Cricut. So now I have a ton of storage with all the drawers. On one side I have all my sublimation supplies and blanks then on the other side I have my planner and sticker supplies...plus my Cricut supplies. 

Now that I have other places to store a lot of the things that were originally stuffed in my desk...I need to figure out what all I'm going to store there instead. It will probably end up being my planners, writing stuff, and some of my art supplies. I already have some separate little drawers that I moved to my desktop...and I organized all my pens and pencils in those. I have SO many pens and pencils. LOL. I also organized all my clips into drawer organizers...I had a lot of those too. 

So other than finishing up my desk...there are just a few things I have left to finish my office. I am looking for a nice, sturdy rolling utility cart that I can use for my heat press and the toaster oven. I need something mobile so that I can store it in front of the closet and then roll it out of the way when I need to get into the closet or to move away from everything else so it isn't a fire hazard while I'm actually using it. So I've been looking at different types of shelves/workbenches that can hold enough weight, don't have cheap wheels, and are a good size for the space. I also need to get some LED lights to hang up inside the armoire and some white curtains. The teal green curtains that are in there cast a green tint into the room so I want to get some white curtains to fix that. Oh and I also want to get/make a 2-tier shelf to put in the small top shelf in the armoire where I can separate the difference sizes of sublimation paper I have. Right now I just have them in their boxes stacked on that shelf. But that's really all I need for now. I really love how it's coming together. 

The office is really "my" space where I can put my stuff that I don't otherwise have a good spot for. I still have the hutch shelf (it goes with the small desk but it's detachable) holding all of my art books, cookbooks, yearbooks, etc. And on top of the hutch I have all of our wedding décor items. Our jewel-tone wedding colors don't really match the color palette we have going on in the rest of the house. :P Plus with it in my office (which usually has the door closed), the cats don't climb up there and mess with anything. Since a lot of our wedding décor is breakable...I don't need the cats pushing it off the shelf. :P I also have two shelves (one is a skinny bookcase and the other is actually a small, swivel DVD stand) where I have my current selection of books. They fit perfectly behind the bi-fold closet door when opened...and makes use of some space that would otherwise not be used. Most of the books on there are the ones I picked out from my grandma's collection after she died. She was very well-known for her love of books. She also loaned them out a lot...so I just picked books that I would enjoy reading and that she had written her name in. 

Once I get the office completely put together, I'll take pictures of how everything looks. I'm really excited about it. :) 

I still have two more Etsy shops that I plan to open...but I probably won't focus on them much until next year. I want to get my sticker shop all set up and running...plus keep working on my first two shops. But I'm very excited for the future of CandiMaker! Especially now that I'll have more time...since I'm no longer doing transcription. I called them out in October for treating their independent contractors like employees under their control...then earlier this month we reached a settlement agreement. So I've decided to focus on CandiMaker full-time now. And with the settlement I was able to get my printer and a new tablet that I'll use for drawing designs...as well as a few other supplies that I've needed. 

Anyway...just thought I'd give an update since it's been so long. I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving! :) 

July is almost over?!

I can't believe July is almost over! School supply displays are back up in the store. I enrolled Ashlyn for her SENIOR year of high school a couple weeks ago. We scheduled the appointment for her senior pictures (same photographer who took Aubry's). Then...soon it will be Christmas and before we know it...Ashlyn will be graduating high school! And then...that's it! Our last kid in school! Well...through high school, anyway. 

Next week, Aubry is meeting with her advisor and attending an informational meeting for the sheet metal program that she's wanting to take. The program she originally signed up for isn't being offered anymore, but there's an 8 week program that she's looking at now. And I think Ashlyn is planning to start out at a local community college first (which is what I did) and then transfer to the same university that I went to. That's her plan so far anyway. 

This week the girls have been on vacation with XH's mom and their younger sister. Their family owns property in southern Kansas so they usually go out there every summer for fishing and enjoying the great outdoors. So Johnny and I have had the house all to ourselves. Well...with the cats and dogs. ;) 

I was working on transcription files over the weekend. Johnny still hasn't been working overtime on the weekends so I worked in the bedroom again. The adjustable Tempur-Pedic bed is SO comfortable! The dogs seem to think the bed is comfy too. ;) I took this picture when both dogs were in the bedroom. Bozley was in the lower part with his head up on the raised foot of the bed and then Nova was basically laying with her butt on my shoulder and her head on Johnny's pillows at the top. 

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Speaking of things that are hard to believe... it's already been two whole years since we brought Bozley home and a year since we brought Nova Lee home! In July 2020, we drove more than 8 hours roundtrip to pick up Bozley from a breeder we found through Facebook. And in a spur of the moment decision in July 2021, we drove about half an hour away to pick up Nova from a Facebook post by someone that -- as it turns out -- I went to high school with. I think they're definitely two of the best decisions Johnny and I have ever made in our relationship. :) Boz and Nova have brought so much joy to our home. They're both such sweet (and funny) puppies...they always keep us smiling! 

Anyway, I got my last file turned in on Monday and then I created new listings in my Etsy shop for ready-to-press printed sublimation transfers of some of my designs. I'll be adding more designs as transfers in the future as well. I really want to get back to making some more designs and working on new products for my Etsy shop, but I have to spread out my time between my Etsy shop, finishing transcription files, and editing all these photos. I think once I get the photos done it'll be a lot better. I'm already used to managing my time between CandiMaker and my transcription files, but the photo editing was an unexpected task that popped up and is taking a bit longer than planned...but it's going well. :) 

We tried a new recipe the other day...but it wasn't really my favorite. I used crescent roll dough...but I think I'll try it again with pizza dough sometime. It tasted alright I just think it could be better. So I'll make that change and we'll see how that goes. Then I'll post the recipe if we like it. :) I've been so busy lately that we haven't tried many new recipes...but this one is pretty quick and easy so I'll probably try it again soon. I was going to make roast beef salad with leftover roast that I made before that...but we ended up not actually having leftovers. :P 

Well...I better get back to editing photos! 

Busy, busy!

I've been pretty busy lately. 

I had five transcription files due last week. I've enjoyed working on transcription files over the weekends now. Johnny hasn't worked overtime on Saturdays lately so on Saturday and Sunday I've been going in the bedroom and raising the head and foot of the bed and typing in there. It's SO COMFY! :) The dogs were napping on the bed off and on while I was working. They'd go in between hanging out with me and then hanging out with Johnny in the living room. During the week Johnny is working in the bedroom so I usually work on transcription files in the living room on my rolling laptop desk that I bought last year. 

I also worked a little bit in my office this weekend. I finally moved the garage sale bins out of the office and got them taped up and stored away. I also moved some of the drawer organizers that I previously had in Aubry's room that I need to find a place for in my office. I haven't yet decided where they're going to go or what I'm going to put in them...but I'll definitely think of something. :) I love organization! 

After I get this first batch of photos edited, I'm going to work on my Etsy shop some more. I still haven't listed my printed transfers yet. I'm still hammering out the details. I also need to work on some new designs...and I also want to work on some planner sticker digital downloads and other printables to list in my Etsy shop as well. June and July have been pretty slow on Etsy for a lot of sellers...and I've kinda let my shop take a backseat to my other obligations at the moment and just doing a little here and there when I can. But by the end of the month, I really want to get it going full-swing again. 

Last weekend Johnny and I took the dogs over to my grandma's house for a little while. Grandma loves seeing the puppies and they enjoy playing over there. They'll explore the backyard for awhile and then they'll just relax at our feet in the house while we're chatting. Johnny replaced Grandma's garbage disposal and I changed the filter on her air purifier (she got the same one we have in our living room). Then this weekend Aubry stopped by and I helped her fill out her application and FAFSA paperwork for WSU Tech. She's interested in their sheet metal programs. So we got that all set up...which is exciting! :) We also scheduled Ashlyn's senior pictures for October. I can't believe our last baby will be a senior next year! 

 Well...gonna get back to work for a little bit before bedtime. Hope everyone has a good week! :) 

Ugh...July is HOT.

I'm pretty sure I already mentioned that I'm not a fan of the heat...but I'm really NOT a fan of the heat! :P It's been in the 90s and 100s pretty much everyday and I hate it. My health issues really hate it too. :( I could live very comfortably with mild 70s all year long! 

We didn't do much for 4th of July. It's not really my favorite holiday anyway (I'm not a fan of noise, either). :P Since the kids are older now, we don't have to shoot off fireworks which is just fine by me. IMO, it's literally setting fire to your money. :P lol. 

People tend to go crazy with fireworks in our neighborhood and the dogs were NOT very happy about it. Actually...it was more Nova than Bozley...which is unusual. Boz is typically the more fearful one but he just barks at the fireworks if he's in the house...and will look around for the fireworks and maybe come stand by me and watch if we're outside. With the little fireworks that don't make too much noise, he'll still play around in the backyard without any problem. But Nova was too terrified to even go outside to go to the bathroom at all. She would hold it all day from, like, 9am until almost 2am because she was too scared of even the small fireworks...or any noises. And around here, nearly ALL fireworks are legal and they can legally shoot them off from June 27th through July 5th...until 10pm every night except the 3rd and 4th when the deadline is midnight (not that people actually abide by that law). So it was a LONG week. And while Bozley is a mama's boy and more comfortable with me...Nova's a daddy's girl and she gets more comfort from Johnny. So she wouldn't go outside with just me and Bozley except during Johnny's lunch break we could sometimes coax her out the door since he was outside. But even then...a lot of the times she would just stay by Johnny and wouldn't go to the bathroom...and most days there weren't big fireworks happening during that time. And all this is even WITH the dogs being on 100mg of trazadone to help with their anxiety! I'm just still shocked that carefree Nova was the one who was more upset than scaredy-dog Bozley. But she was only 6 months old during last 4th of July and she didn't come home to us until a couple weeks after that, so this was her first experience with so many fireworks in the middle of town. 

So...Ashlyn went to my grandparents' house but Johnny and I just spent the holiday at home. Sunday night Johnny grilled chicken, hamburgers, and hotdogs for dinner and we've been having leftovers. So that's always awesome! He even grilled two little steaks for Bozley and Nova to cut up and mix with their kibble as well. ;) The night of 4th of July we watched a movie on Netflix (with the volume turned way up to try to drown out the massive amounts of fireworks being shot off in our neighborhood): The Man from Toronto. It was a funny movie. :) 

Ooh and on Friday and Saturday we watched the last two (long!) episodes of Stranger Things! I really like that show. Hopefully we won't have to wait too long for the 5th (and final) season to come out. And last night we finally started watching Reacher on Amazon Prime. It's really good! We've only watched two episodes so far, but I'm sure we'll probably finish it this week. We've also been watching In the Dark each week since it's back on. I'm hoping Manifest will be back on soon, too. 

I've been busy lately! When I'm not working on editing photos, I've been working on CandiMaker stuff. I reorganized the sections in my Etsy shop a little bit and I'm finally getting everything ready to start selling my ready-to-press sublimation transfers. I have the listings written out and now I'm going through and creating all the listing photos that I'll use. I've also determined my pricing structure for them as well as shipping. So as soon as I have everything ready, I'll be able to get them all listed! :) I do need to get some more ink and sublimation paper, though. I'm not close to being out yet...but I don't want to run out while orders are coming in, either. I'm always excited when I start new "projects" for CandiMaker. :)

But...right now I have some transcription files to work on. I took off during the week of fireworks because I knew there would be too many disruptions. But...it gave me some time to work on other things as well. :) 

And on that note...back to work! :) 

Officially Summer!

 And...I hate summer. :P The heat doesn't agree with me at all. I have several health issues that are exacerbated by the heat and it's been in the 90s and 100s lately. UGH. 

Things have been good lately other than that though. We had a relaxing weekend at home with Johnny for father's day. We lounged in bed with the dogs and watched a documentary on Saturday. We are still loving the new king-size bed and being able to raise the head and foot of the bed. :) It definitely makes for some comfortable TV watching! And on Sunday Johnny gave the dogs a bath and I trimmed the fur on their paws for some in-between grooming until we can get them in to the groomer again. And then Aubry came over and the girls each gave Johnny a card and we hung out for awhile. It was really nice. :) 

Monday Johnny was off work for the holiday. We lounged around for awhile and then went over to my grandma's house to help her with a few things. We took the dogs with us and they had a good time. And Grandma always enjoys seeing them (and us, of course!). :) 

Tuesday Ashlyn and I (Johnny had to work) went to dinner with my mom and grandparents for Aubry's birthday. She picked Olive Garden which is always yummy. We just happened to get there as it started to downpour. And then when we were getting ready to leave it started raining again so we chatted for a little bit while we waited for the rain to calm down. It poured off and on all evening...which seems to happen every time after we give the dogs a bath. :P 

Ashlyn's new job is going well. She said they've even chosen her and another new coworker to be in charge of closing at certain times when needed. Her managers seem to be impressed with her take-charge attitude (she gets that from her mama) and ability to get things done and learn new things quickly. She wasn't sure how well she'd like the new job during training when they were at a different venue, but it looks like it's gotten a lot better since she started actually working at the facility. I'm glad she seems to be enjoying it. :)

I've been busy editing photos lately. We had some 4 generation photos taken a few months ago that I've been working on. It's taking me awhile but eventually I'll have all 155 photos finished! lol. But this weekend I have some transcription files to get done. I don't like to claim files when we have anything going on because I take pride in always getting my files back by the deadline and I don't like running myself short on time. So that's what I'll be doing for the next week or so. :) It'll be nice getting back into that groove. 

I can't believe June is almost over! I'm looking forward to July 1...that's when the final two LONG episodes of Stranger Things season 4 will be released by Netflix! We'll definitely be binge-watching those next weekend. :) I'm sad that there will only be one more season after this...but it's been a good run. 

But for now...back to work!

Sickness BLAH

Sunday I woke up feeling SO crappy. At first I thought it was allergies because my nose was stuffy/drippy. I kept taking Benadryl every 4 hours but nothing was helping. Monday I woke up and I felt even worse. I had so much pressure in my head and I was just absolutely miserable. I was taking Benadryl and Sudafed but nothing was helping. I ended up sleeping most of Monday. Tuesday I could hardly hear because my head still felt so clogged. It felt like my ears needed to "pop" but they just wouldn't. Plus my nose was all red from blowing it constantly for three days...so I was also super attractive. ;) lol. I've started feeling a little better each day since then but still feeling pretty blah. My sinuses seem to be draining in my throat now and I have zero energy. But...at least I feel better than I did at the start of the week! 

I've had quite a few transcription files to get done while I've been sick. Even though I wasn't feeling well, I did take a few more files. It was hard to work on while my head was so stuff and I couldn't hear very well...but I got them all done. I'm going to take a break over the weekend though. I have one more file due on the 20th but I'll start on that one after Easter. 

This weekend I'll be working on my new POD store(s). I'm working with two different websites right now trying to decide what products I will sell in which stores. I'm not sure how much I will actually do with these shops, but once I get it all set up, I will share all the details here. I'm far more comfortable with my Etsy shop so that will probably be where most of my focus is. And on that note...back to work! :) 

Hello April!

It's going to be a busy month! This weekend my mom, grandma, and Aubry came over to hang out for awhile and to have Cheez-It chicken fried steak for dinner. I hadn't made it for awhile and mom and grandma had never tried it before.  They really liked it. :) And then Easter is in a couple weeks. We're also getting ready for some 4th generation pictures with my mom and grandma later in the month. We have to coordinate outfits and everything for that. Plus Ashlyn also has prom at the end of the month. We already have her dress and scheduled her hair and nail appointments. Plus on top of all that we have to get ready for the garage sale next month! I'm both looking forward to and dreading the garage sale. :P I'll be happy to get rid of lots of stuff but garage sales are SO MUCH WORK. 

I've also been busy with CandiMaker stuff. I had some behind the scenes organizing that I wanted to get done. My spreadsheets are now more organized. I had them all in one workbook but I separated out all my spreadsheets related specifically to taxes and each tax year will have it's own workbook. I like having it all organized and completed throughout the year so I don't have to scramble at tax time to get it all ready. 

My Etsy shop is doing well lately. :) I have officially hit 50 sales as of Sunday! I think that's pretty good since I haven't done much in the way of promoting or paid advertising. From my first sale in September through the end of December I only had a total of 10 sales. Then by the end of February I had 19 sales. And then March things just really took off! It's basically the one bestselling design that made the difference. Since that's more of a seasonal design, I hope to have some new bestselling designs soon! :) It's still so exciting every time I see that I have a sale. And Johnny always tells me how proud he is of me. I'm really lucky to have such a supportive husband. :) Running your own business is a lot of hard work, and if your significant other doesn't encourage you -- or worse, criticizes you -- it makes that work even harder. 

I have a transcription file that I need to get as well. So I'll be working on that this week in addition to getting some more designs done and uploaded to my Etsy shop. 

I haven't really made any new recipes lately. I did make a regular recipe in a new way last night though! I used the air fryer to make cheeseburgers and tater tots for dinner last night. They were yummy! With the tater tots the air fryer instructions are on the bag already. But for the hamburgers I used fresh 1/2 lb hamburger patties and air fried them them at 375 degrees F on one side for 6 minutes then flipped them and cooked them on the other side for another 6 minutes, flipped them again and added cheese, then cooked them for another minute. Oh and I just use the McCormick Grill Mates Hamburger seasoning and added some smoked paprika to season the hamburgers. We're having leftovers for dinner tonight even though it would normally be taco Tuesday. :P I love leftovers! It's one less night where I have to figure out what to make. ;) 

I hope everyone is having a good week so far! 

Hello Weekend!

I mean...it won't be much of a weekend since I have to work. :P 

Next week I may take a break to clean up the office a bit and get some spring cleaning projects done around the house. I need to make some headway in the basement and really start making progress getting stuff ready for the garage sale that we're going to have in May. I'm ready to get rid of all this extra stuff we have all over the place! Hopefully the weather will be nice during the citywide garage sales. With Kansas weather...who knows what it will be like. :P But...regardless of the weather we are DEFINITELY having a garage sale this year! We keep adding to our "garage sale stuff" pile(s) and then never having a garage sale. :P  

In other news...Nova had to go to the vet this week. We're not sure how...but she got a scratch on her eye. I wouldn't be surprised if it was from her and Bozley playing. They play so rough! But it's just a superficial scratch and they gave us some eye drops and meds to take care of it. And luckily eye injuries heal pretty quickly. That first night she was really trying to paw at it (and would grind her teeth when she was doing it!) but she seems to be doing a lot better now. She still squints her eye off and on and it waters every once in awhile, but she isn't pawing at it like she was. Bozley was NOT happy while she was gone! He was either laying down making growly noises or walking back and forth to the door whining. They do not like to be apart! He was super excited when she got home. It was cute. :) 

The dogs also got a bath this week! It figures...the day after they got a bath it rained/snowed. :P Nova didn't even like when Bozley was in the bathroom without her. She was whining at the door even though Ashlyn was trying to play with her as a distraction. LOL. The dogs have definitely bonded, that's for sure. We need to get them into the groomer again but we'll have to wait a little bit for some bigger paychecks. 

Well...I better get back to work! Hope everyone has a good weekend! 

Busy, Busy, Busy

I'm glad that my law enforcement transcription work has picked up lately. I actually didn't have ANY files in January and February. It did give me a lot of time to work on designs for my CandiMaker Etsy shop, but doing LE transcription is still my "main" job. But lately there hasn't been a lot of work available. I do try to be sort of picky about the files I take, though. I take pride in my work and have always met accuracy and on-time requirements. 

I've been working plans for other Etsy shops. I know that I'm going to start selling sublimation ready-to-press transfers at some point but I'll probably sell them from my current Etsy shop...but I haven't decided yet. And I've considered selling sublimated end-products...but I think *if* I do, it would either not be on Etsy at all or it would be from a different Etsy account that I have. It may Also not be limited to just sublimated items...but all my "maker" craft projects. It'll include things I've made with my Cricut Maker...projects using vinyl, cardstock, chipboard, stickers, etc. Again, I'm not 100% sure if I'll sell my physical products on Etsy, use a Facebook storefront, or if I'll just sell from my own website...or a combination of sites. I just haven't decided yet. 

I actually still have the store on my original Etsy account as well (linked to my personal account that I'd created for shopping on Etsy) but I never used it at all. I had considered using it to sell my paintings...especially when I was really getting back into when I was in college at WSU. I needed some fine arts classes in my college schedule to fulfill my degree requirements as well as more electives in categories other than behavioral science...so I was taking all the oil painting classes available at WSU. I'd forgotten just how much I loved painting...and I really loved having the time and space to do so. It got me to thinking more about selling my art...but back then I never really got around to figuring out all the nuances of selling on Etsy to actually start doing it. Now I've actually read through all the Etsy policies, I know how all their fees work, I've researched SEO, and I've set up all my spreadsheets to run my business that could be easily adapted to selling my artwork. But...I'm not sure if I really have time for drawing and painting on top of everything else...so we'll see. :P

But right now...I should probably get back to work on my transcription files! :) 

A night out!

Johnny and I had a nice evening out of the house Tuesday night with Aubry. Last year she bought the three of us tickets to see our favorite comedian, Tom Segura. We've watched all of his specials on Netflix with her so when we saw he was coming to town again, she was super excited to go. We had amazing tickets! Center orchestra, nine rows from the stage, and the last three seats in the center aisle...so we were pretty close. His opening act was really funny as well...although I can't remember his name. But we laughed pretty much the whole evening. I'm really glad we were able to go. :) We even got pretty good parking and didn't have to wait as long as I thought we'd have to in order to get out of the area. So that was a nice bonus! You can tell I'm old now when practical things like parking efficiency are part of what makes my night even more enjoyable. LOL. ;) Ashlyn doesn't like comedians so she stayed home and babysat the dogs. 

I had a pretty bad migraine yesterday so I wasn't very productive. I laid down with an ice pack for awhile and then Johnny had a doctor appointment in the afternoon so I went with him for that. When we got home I laid down for a little while longer...so did Johnny and the dogs (and Milo). We napped for a little while and then I got up and was feeling a bit better. I did manage to get another Easter design uploaded to my Etsy shop, but that was about it. My newest one is more of a rustic, country design. I try to have a small variety of styles to appeal to different tastes. One design in particular is doing really well. It's my He is Risen design that is, so far, the best seller in my entire shop! I've sold ten copies of the design so far and it shows that six people also have it in their cart right now. 

But...I do have to get back to working on some transcription files. Hope everyone is having a great week! Getting closer to the weekend!  

Where have I been?!

I only made one post in all of February? Now it's already March! I've been busy lately but not necessarily with anything exciting enough to write a whole blog post about. And every time I'd come to write a blog post, I'd either run out of stuff to say or get busy and forget to come back to finish it. :P 

The weather has been crazy lately. Very up and down! It would be 70 degrees one day and below 32 degrees the next. Welcome to Kansas weather! :P Twice in February we had record-breaking snowfall between 4-7 inches (I think February 2nd and February 17th). Bozley and Nova love to play in the snow. They won't necessarily stay out there a long time...but they like to go out there multiple times a day to play in it. But then every time they come back in we have to dig the snowballs out of their paws. And then when the snow melts...we have to clean the muddy mess off their paws. Not my favorite part. :P But...they have a lot of fun. They just run back and forth chasing each other, roll around, dig in the snow...they love it! 

This past weekend was pretty good. Saturday, Ashlyn and I went with my mom to the mall to pick out her junior prom dress. We went to three different stores and she found quite a few dresses...but she ended up going with the first dress she picked out. It's a really pretty emerald green dress. She's pretty excited about it. :) Then we grabbed lunch on the way back to our house and chatted for awhile. Sunday Johnny and I took the dogs over to my grandma's house and helped her with a few things. She loves having us over to visit and she really likes watching the dogs play. She has a fenced-in backyard so Boz and Nova are free to explore. So they really enjoy it too. :) Then I came home and made my version of Chicken Milanese in the air fryer. And then the next night Johnny wanted Goulash. I love when he picks dinner so I don't have to think about it...especially when it's something easy to make and there's leftovers! ;) And that recipe makes quite a lot so I actually froze half of it and I'll make the other half in a month or so when we feel like having it again. I haven't made any new recipes lately...another reason for the lack of new blog posts. BUT...tonight I plan to make meatloaf in my PowerXL Grill Air Fryer Combo...so we'll see how that goes. :) I'll probably post the recipe tomorrow. (Edited to add: I forgot to take a picture so I'll have to take a picture tomorrow when we have leftovers and I'll post that with the recipe). 

I've been busy working on my Etsy shop and creating more digital designs. I surpassed 50 designs not too long ago! I've also made several more sales. So far, I've already made more sales this year than all of last year...which is pretty good considering I've done zero paid advertising and no real promotion other than occasionally posting on my Facebook page that I've posted new designs on my Etsy shop when I think about it. I don't plan to do much paid advertising until I have at least 100 designs and hopefully a complete set of seasons/holidays to choose from. 

In somewhat-related news, there's currently a small shop owner who is maliciously attacking other small shops based on false pretenses. She is filing false DMCA copyright infringement notices in bad faith arguing that she owns a phrase. For one, you can't copyright a phrase. For two, she doesn't own a trademark for the phrase. She hasn't even applied for one. She just knows that if she files a copyright infringement that Etsy will take the listing down. She is doing this for any listing using a certain phrase for Easter designs. It's pretty ridiculous. Talk about drama!

But in other news... I was finally able to get some transcription work done. On that note...I want to get a few more CandiMaker things done tonight before I get started working on my transcription file so I better get back to work. :) 

Last Day of November!

I haven't posted much lately because I've been super busy with transcription work until late last night. I ended up having several long breaks where I was cleaning and getting everything ready for Thanksgiving...and I didn't work at all ON Thanksgiving. 

And now this week I'm taking a break from transcription and getting some sublimation designs done! I planned to have a Black Friday sale in my Etsy shop with a lot more holiday designs available, but then I was just too busy with my transcription work to get it done. So that's what I'm going to focus on right now. I also need to get started on making Christmas gifts for everyone. :) But...I'm still having a hard time finding the blanks I need. So I'll be trying to get all that figured out too. 

We had a really nice Thanksgiving! My mom wasn't able to make it since she's been sick for the last week or so...but my grandma and my sister and her family came to have dinner with us. My sister brought deviled eggs and some desserts. As always, we had a lot of food! :) My sister packed some to-go helpings to drop off at my parents' house for them and we've been having leftovers for dinner every night. :) I'll be sad when the leftovers are gone and I have to figure out what to make for dinner again. And it appears that's going to be, like, tomorrow. :P Dang it! I don't mind cooking dinner...it's the figuring out what to cook every single night that is exhausting. lol

I didn't do any Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping for Christmas gifts this year. However, I did take advantage of some sales for CandiMaker stuff. I was able to get 50% off the annual subscription for the website that I use to make my mock-ups. And then one of the graphic sites had a $1 event and I found quite a few bundles that I liked. So that was the only money I spent during Black Friday...and it'll be written off as business expenses when I do my taxes. :)

Well...I'm gonna get back to working on designs. :)

Just a few more days!

Today I got the last things that we'll need for Thanksgiving dinner. :) Over the weekend I talked to my mom and sister (and later my grandma) about dinner at our house this year. So they'll be coming over to have dinner with us Thursday evening. :) I'm changing up the menu from last year a little bit to accommodate a larger number of people. 

Johnny is making a turkey and I'm going to make a spiral ham in my pressure cooker (which is a first for me because I don't personally like ham). He'll start the turkey in the morning sometime and then I'll start the ham around 2:30 pm or so. 

Then I'm going to make a double helping of the green bean casserole, cornbread casserole, and candied yams in the toaster oven while the turkey breast and ham are cooking. I'll also make a double helping of the turkey stuffing and noodles on the stovetop. Instead of just heating up Stouffers macaroni and cheese like I did last year, I'm going to make the slow cooker creamy macaroni and cheese recipe from my grandma. It only takes about an hour in the crockpot so it'll be super easy. 

The night before I plan on cleaning house and making the banana cake bread, strawberry whip dream, and the pumpkin pie. I'll wait to vacuum Thursday morning because otherwise it'll look like I didn't vacuum at all with the large amount of pet hair we have around here. :P 

But for now...I need to get back to work! I still have a lot of minutes to transcribe! 

The year will be over before we know it!

I can't believe it'll be Thanksgiving next week! I'm not sure exactly what we're doing other than making Thanksgiving dinner here at home. We've had Thanksgiving here at the house every year since 2013. Sometimes we have a house full of people and a couple years it was just the two of us...usually it's somewhere in between. Each year it's mostly just a matter of...we're making dinner so anyone who doesn't have other plans is welcome to join us (except last year before the Covid vaccine was available for everyone). But we generally make a lot of food for Thanksgiving whether we plan to have anyone over or not. We really like leftovers! ;) In fact, I usually wish we had even MORE leftovers after we finish them. :P I already got all the groceries for Thanksgiving except the turkey, strawberries, bananas, and Hawaiian rolls. I'll probably go ahead and get pie crusts too because I don't feel like making them from scratch when I don't even eat pumpkin pie. :P Last year I went ahead and bought a pre-made pie, but I have some pumpkin pie filling in the cabinet that I need to use. Other than that I just plan on making basically the same stuff I did last year.  

I've been working a little bit on some winter/holiday sublimation designs for my Etsy shop. I'm trying to get some Christmas gifts done as well. I have the design done for my mom's Christmas gift but I still need to finish my mother-in-law's design. And then I have a few other gifts I need to make as well. 

I've also been trying to get some transcription files done so we'll have a bit more money for other Christmas gifts. So...I better get back to work! :) 

Definitely a Monday!

I swear...today is the Monday-est Monday of all Mondays. Johnny has been having the same kind of day as well. I assume it's a matter of still getting used to Daylight Savings Time ending again. I wish we'd just switch to Daylight Savings and keep it forever instead of going back and forth. Because who really wants it to start getting dark at 5pm anyway? It just makes winter seem even more gloomy than it already does. :P But on top of today just being BLAH...my transcription headset stopped working so now I have to get a new one. These things are supposed to come with a 1-year warranty but I have never, ever had a pair of these last an entire year. They work great for being able to hear spoken words...when they actually work. :P Hopefully my new headset arrives in time on Wednesday. 

Yesterday was my grandparents' 40th anniversary party with the family. Everyone had a really nice time. My sister did an excellent job with the decorations. I designed the image and printed the sublimation transfers...then my sister was the one who pressed them onto the can coolers that were given out as party favors. :) 

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My mom used my photography equipment to set up a decorated backdrop to take pictures against. She did an amazing job, as always. We haven't had a family photo of the four of us since 2017 so it was really nice to finally take a new one! :) 

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And just to compare, this is the four of us in January 2017...also in similar colors! Oh...and Johnny and I are standing on a higher step...we were not that much taller than the girls in 2017. ;) Actually...I'm pretty sure Aubry and I were the same height by that point. :P 

Work, Work, Work

I've been super busy the last week with transcription files. Most of my work is done in the evenings after Johnny gets off work, but I also get a lot of work done after everyone else goes to bed. There have been a few nights when I've stayed up almost all night to get more work done. 

I did take a couple breaks during the week. I made fajitas for dinner on Tuesday. Sunday Johnny and I had McAlister's for a late lunch and watched Going In Style on Netflix. It was such a good movie! It's been out since 2017 but we'd never watched it before. It has Morgan Freeman, Alan Arkin, and Michael Caine and they decide to rob a bank. It was SO funny. Oh and another good movie we watched a month or two ago on Netflix was Sweet Girl. It stars Jason Momoa and we enjoyed it too. 

I am so tired today...so I was relieved when Ashlyn made the spaghetti for dinner tonight. I love spaghetti...plus it's quick and easy. We have it at least twice a month or so...especially since it's one of the few things Ashlyn actually likes. :P Tomorrow I'm making a new recipe for Taco Tuesday...Fajita Chicken Alfredo. It was one of those recipes that came to me because I was looking at what ingredients I have on hand and thinking of what I could throw together for a meal. Hopefully it'll turn out well! We'll see if picky Ashlyn eats it...she wasn't impressed when I told her what I was making. :P Aubry was excited to try it when I mentioned it to her, though. So I'll save her a helping that she can pick up sometime after work. She likes most of the new recipes I try...especially the pasta ones. 

Usually after I have an extremely busy week with transcription work, I like to take the following week off. It definitely helps prevent burnout. This week I'm going to work on getting more designs finished to put in my shop. I'll be having a big sale for my Halloween/Fall designs and I want to have some more Christmas/winter files up by then. So...I better get back to work so I can get something done before bed. :)

Things are really coming together!

So, a couple weeks ago I mentioned that I am starting a new adventure. Everything is moving right along. :) 

When the Cricut Maker 3 came earlier this month, I really started thinking about crafting again. A lot. I've enjoyed arts and crafts ever since I was a child, and it's something that I've shared with my children since they were very little, too. Sketching, painting, sculpting, pottery, stained glass, papercrafting, scrapbooking, photography...pretty much a little bit of everything on top of creative writing. I've gotten to the point where I want to do it as more than just a hobby. Now...I want to start crafting to sell. 

I've been thinking about it for a long time but never got around to actually doing more than thinking about it. Johnny and I have been talking about it lately, though, and we decided that it'd be a great time to get more serious about it. He's looking forward to it just as I am...which makes a huge difference. I've been spending a lot of time researching, creating spreadsheets, doing paperwork, and gathering everything that I'll need for this adventure. In addition to selling products, I'll be selling my digital designs on Etsy as well. 

About a week ago, I officially received my Retailers' Sales Tax Registration Certificate in the mail. I've been filling out and submitting the paperwork for tax-exempt status with several suppliers for materials. I've also been researching equipment and materials. It's a process...but it's fun. :) 

So far, I have my drawing tablet, printer, and heat press...as well as supplies like sublimation ink, sublimation paper, parchment paper, heat tape, etc. I haven't ordered sublimation blanks yet. There are a lot of supply chain issues right now as well as shipping delays. I also still have to get the office completely converted for my workspace...which is going to be a huge job in itself. 

Everything is still in the very early stages...but I'm really excited about getting everything up and running. :) I'll have a lot more information to share in the future. Right now I'm also still working as a law enforcement transcriptionist...so I manage my time between both. And on that note...back to work! 

I'm not a fan of winter!

Ugh. It has been SO COLD lately. Like...record low temperatures cold. When we woke up this morning, the temperature was -16°F. That's the actual temperature, not the wind chill (or what it feels like outside). According to my weather map, the wind chill this morning was -32° F. We also got about 3-4 inches of snow over the weekend. Oh and on top of that? The power company is asking everyone to conserve energy and are implementing rolling outages for about 30-60 minutes to help prevent unplanned outages that can last hours and even days. Our internet has also gone out a few times since the inclement weather started...which doesn't work very well when working from home. Needless to say, it's super fun times in the Midwest right now. :P 

Speaking of fun times (not!), we finally got our car back from the repair shop. What. A. Mess. Our experience with the insurance company (GEICO) was fine...everyone we spoke with was extremely nice and tried to be very helpful. However, the Collision Works place that GEICO uses for their Auto Repair Xpress® program...well everyone we talked to was nice, but their work was not. 

The first time we picked up our car, the hood was off and they completely missed the fact that the windshield washer reservoir was cracked. So we took it back. We picked it up again, and it was making horrendous noises (we realized there were rocks all over the engine bay flying around while we drove) and the hood was still off. So we took it back AGAIN. And then it snowed...so we haven't really had much chance to inspect it, but I know the hood is still up on one corner. And when I went to the store the day after we got it back, I saw that there is still glass all over the dash and on the floor despite "glass cleanup" plainly listed on the estimate. But...that's whatever. The vehicle seems to be running fine...I just don't know that I'd choose to use that shop again...especially when it's pretty far from where we live and we had to go back up there multiple times. 

OH! And Hertz Rental car was a horrid experience as well. I'd contacted GEICO about the rental and the woman on the phone was super nice and had everything ready for us to pick up the car...which would be paid for by GEICO since it's part of our insurance coverage. I called Hertz to confirm everything, and they said they only had a little compact 2-door Chevy Spark. The guy said they should have standard size vehicles the following day...and to call and check the following morning. I also confirmed with the guy that my debit card would work to reserve the rental...and he said it would. So the next day, I called and there was a standard-size vehicle available so my mom drove me up there to pick it up while Johnny was working. Luckily she did...because we ended up having to use her credit card because they wouldn't accept my debit card. Ugh. Then it was a nightmare trying to extend the rental when we had to take the car back. The first time I called, the woman on the phone said it would charge another $50 deposit if she tried to extend it, so she would just make a note of it. Then when we had to take the vehicle back again, the GEICO claims adjuster said that he would take care of extending the rental...and sent us a message saying it was taken care of until the 20th. However, then I started getting calls, texts, and emails from Hertz saying that the rental was "seriously overdue." I called them and they weren't even showing that it was extended beyond the first five days we were originally scheduled for the rental. It took MULTIPLE phone calls between Hertz and the claims adjuster before it was finally taken care of...the day we picked up the car for the final time. We were told that we could leave the rental at GEICO's repair place and they would return the rental...so hopefully that works out like it's supposed to. UGH. What a mess! 

I let Ashlyn spend the night with XH's parents over the weekend. She hadn't been since Christmas and when she comes home, we make her "quarantine" for a few days just in case. They didn't have school Monday for President's day and then school was called off today because of inclement weather...so she was able to stay until this afternoon. Tomorrow they'll have remote-only because of the cold weather...but Ashlyn has been doing remote-only all year so that's no different for her. She is still really liking her journalism class...and so far she's been doing well with social distancing (it was an issue during drama club in the beginning of the year). We also ordered her class ring last week. WHAT?! I can't believe I'm ordering the last class ring...my baby is growing up so fast!  

Other than that, things have been same ol' around here. Johnny is still working from home. This is his last week of training for an additional "department" type of thing...so after that we can go back to sleeping in a little longer since he'll be back to his regular hours. I wasn't able to get any files last week but I picked up three files today totaling 156 minutes (and I'd gotten one 156 minute file two weeks ago). So I'll be busy with those over the next week. I'm planning to make Cheez-it Fried Steak in the new PowerXL sometime this week and something with chicken since I have a whole package of chicken breasts. I'm sure I'll make spaghetti at some point as well...that's a typical staple in our house.  

I'm definitely ready for spring to bring warmer weather, that's for sure! Bozley loves the cold weather and the snow though. After it snowed, he would go to the back door every 5-30 minutes just to go roll around in it and come back in...then do it all over again. He really needs to go to the groomer...but I keep waiting until it isn't snowy or muddy outside so the freshness lasts a little bit longer. :P But his toe floofs are starting to get pretty long! 

Well...I should probably get back to work! :) 

February showed up quick!

It's hard to believe that we've been in "pandemic mode" for almost a year already. I think most of the changes we've made during this time have actually been pretty beneficial.  

Johnny is still working from home through March...not sure if it will continue after that yet. We're hoping so! It's been so nice having him here all day and it's definitely more convenient. He's in training over the next three weeks at earlier hours. I miss being able to sleep in a little bit more! :P 

Ashlyn has been doing remote learning the whole year so far, and it's been going really well. Her grades are better than they were when she was attending in-person, so that's always good! There have been limited classes that she can take...especially electives. But this term she started Newspaper and she's really enjoying it. It does require some in-person activities, but so far she has been responsible about social distancing. They have four work nights at the school where they get everything ready for print and since Ashlyn is participating as a photographer, she has had to attend some activities to take pictures. Right now she's working on basketball and bowling, and I believe she'll be covering swim team next. 

I'm still sporadically finding files for work. I only had a couple files in November, none in December, three in January, and then today I was able to grab a file that's more than 2.5 hours long. I don't typically choose single files that long in case the audio isn't very good quality, but it's the only file I've seen come available for awhile, so I went ahead and grabbed it before someone else could. I definitely lucked out...because the audio quality is much better than normal. So that's good! 

Mr. Bozley Reddington turned 8 months old on Monday! Our beautiful boy has gotten so big. He needs another appointment at the groomer! He still doesn't need a haircut...but a good bath, brushing, trim, nails rounded, and teeth brushed will freshen him up a bit. :) I generally decide when to schedule his appointment based on how long the tufts of hair on his feet get and how long his nails are. His feet are starting to look pretty scraggly! But here's an adorable picture of him hanging out with me on the couch. <3 

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So... we got our car picked up...then had to take it back up to the repair shop. :P Luckily we picked it up on Friday evening and since the car rental place was already closed for the weekend, we still had the rental car. Johnny noticed that the hood was a little off on one side, so we had to get that adjusted. I'd also noticed that the windshield wiper fluid warning had popped up...so I wasn't sure if they'd drained it during the repair or if the reservoir was actually broken. It turns out that it was broken! So they had to get the part for that...which means we'll have the rental a little bit longer. It should be done in the next day or two, though. EDIT TO UPDATE: The hood is still off and they left a ton of rocks all over the engine bay. So we'll be taking it back AGAIN. Ugh.

Well I better get back to work! 

Hello 2021!

It's already January 14th and I'm just now writing my first real post of 2021. 

At the end of last week, I was finally able to grab another file for work. It was about 49 minutes long and luckily the audio quality was pretty good. I got it finished and uploaded Tuesday night before I went to bed. Then the queue was pretty dead yesterday, but today I was able to grab a 41 minute file and 46 minute file...both for the same case, which I always like. Hopefully now that the holidays are over, we'll start to see a more steady stream of files coming in...especially now that the Covid19 vaccine is rolling out. It'll be nice to return to some sense of normalcy. 

One thing I hope doesn't return to normal anytime soon is Johnny's ability to work from home! They've been approved to work from home through March 2021, but we're hoping it'll last even longer than that. 

I did some post-Christmas shopping this past weekend! 

My grandparents gave us cash for Christmas and I used part of that to purchase the PowerXL Grill Air Fryer 12-in-1 Combo. I am SO excited to try it out! It just arrived Tuesday and I haven't actually used it yet. It does have a pretty strong plastic smell (which I've seen is typical for air fryers). So I've run it a few times without food in it to try and burn off that smell using apple cider vinegar and lemon juice. I just put it in a dish, set it to 400 degrees for 5 minutes, let cool, repeat as needed...then a final time with just lemon juice to get rid of the vinegar smell (I hate that smell!). I'm really impressed with how quiet it is while running! I think I'm really going to get a LOT of use out of it! 

I also got a gift card from my other grandpa and decided to get an Instant Pot. I currently have the CooksEssentials 8qt oval pressure cooker that my grandma bought almost 15 years ago. It still works great and I've used it A LOT! However, I don't always have a need for a pressure cooker that big...especially now that we're just down to one teenager who is a picky eater anyway. The inner pot is also REALLY heavy. So, I decided to get a smaller pressure cooker to use regularly and then I'll still have the oval pot when I need a larger one. I found the Instant Pot Viva 6qt on sale for $50 so that's what I used my $50 gift card on. I'm glad I got it while I could, because it isn't available at that price anymore. 

I've gotten to the point where our oven/stove could go out...but I could still make almost anything without it. :P Especially since we also have a toaster oven (with a rotisserie that I haven't actually used in the 2 years we've had it). 

I also had a credit on Amazon, so I picked up another spice rack to add to the bottom of our white cabinet. I'm really pleased with how everything is coming together in the kitchen. :) 

Our new TV was also delivered today! :) The TV we've had in the living room has been having some major issues. It started out that every once in awhile when we'd turn it on, it would have "solarized" colors. I tried all the troubleshooting online and the only thing that worked was turning the TV off, holding the power button down for about 10 seconds, and then turning it back on. Then it got to the point that I would have to turn it off and on multiple times before it would go back to normal. Then shortly after that it started turning itself off right after we turned it on. I'd have to turn it on several times to get it to stay on...and quite often the colors would be off and I'd have to go through the process all over again. We got to the point where we had to leave the TV on all the time and rely on the Fire Stick to put the screen in sleep mode without actually turning off the TV. It lasted almost 10 years though...so we got a lot of use out of it. But since it was Christmastime, I asked Johnny if my/our Christmas present this year could be a new TV for the living room. We went from a 47" 1080p to a 65" 4k TV...and it cost less than the old TV did back in 2011! And fun fact...Bozley watches the new TV even more than the old one. ;) 

Well...gotta get back to work!