I Got Your Back

As I’ve been watching the World Cup the past couple weeks, I’ve found myself caught up in a flood of memories of the various soccer games I’ve played in over the 17 or so years I’ve been playing the game. I remember practices, specific teammates, goals I’ve scored, exciting wins, and disappointing losses. For as long as I can remember I’ve been playing one sport or another and now I’m just done, and I’m not quite sure how I feel about that.

I first had to come to terms with being finished with organized sport back in December, when my senior season ended in Florida with the Houghton College Women’s Soccer Team, while competing in the National Christian College tournament. We unfortunately suffered two disappointing losses, which ended our season, and effectively the college careers of each of the eleven seniors on the team, myself included. I don’t remember much about the game, other than wanting to leave everything I had on the field, knowing it very well could be my final game, but I will never forget what happened after the game. When the final whistle blew, my teammates and I jogged off the field, shook hands with the other team, and then lined up to jog across the sidelines to be acknowledged by and acknowledge our fans. Tears streamed down my face as I ran across the field with 30 some girls that had become my family over the years and faced a group of fans who had been encouraging us all season long, knowing this was the last time I would ever have the privilege to run across the field with one of the best teams I’ve ever played on. As we jogged back and circled up around Coach, I met the eyes of some of the seniors, seeing the pain I felt reflected in their eyes. After every game we always sing a song of praise and then pray. As we circled up, Coach asked us to sing “Eagles,” a team favorite, and a song that we typically only sing when we’ve played exceptionally well. As all 30 of us felt various emotions tear though us, we praised our God through tears. And then, Coach prayed over us. As we bowed our heads, arms around each other, I cried harder than I had cried in a long time. Part of me was sad that I would never play soccer at a collegiate level again, but more than that, I cried because I would never again step on the field with that group of girls who had become family, and the coach who had become like a father to me. I don’t remember Coach’s specific words, but they were filled with love and hope for our futures, and gratitude for all the Lord had blessed us with that season. After we said, “Amen,” many of us embraced, then we gathered our things and headed to the bus, still sniffling as tears rolled down our cheeks.

The seniors before our senior game

Even as I write this, I still feel the emotions of that day. And I realize that the reason I feel like a “Non-Athletic Regular Person” (NARP) even though I’m still playing on a summer soccer team, running and doing yoga, is because I don’t have the support structure of a team that has my back both on and off the field. The girls I play summer soccer with, while I am friends with some of them, are mostly just girls I play summer soccer with, I don’t know anything about them other than what position they play on the field. On the other hand, the Houghton Women’s Soccer team became my family, and remains so to this day. Each season, the team has a tradition of ordering t-shirts that say “I Got Your Back” on the back, a symbol and reminder that by becoming a part of this team, we have promised to support and cover for each other both on and off the field, because a successful team requires all thirty something players, whether they see 9 or 90 minutes of playing time each game. And how blessed am I to know that each and every one of my teammates over my four years at Houghton lived this out. Even now that I have graduated and am no longer a part of the team, I know that each girl still has my back, and I have theirs. I have 100% confidence that I could call up anyone of my teammates if I need someone to talk to and that if I send out a prayer request to the team, there will be 30 girls sending prayers my way. As each of us moves on, the seniors to graduate school and the work force, juniors into the roles of seniors, and as the freshman and sophomores continue with their college careers, I’m sure things will change, but I know the one thing that will never change is that each of us will continue to live out the “I Got Your Back,” slogan found on our shirts.

The team before a game at Stevens Tech

So this one’s for you, Houghton College Women’s soccer team. Thanks for you’ve done and continue to do in my life, and for always having my back no matter what. I love each and every one of you, and look forward to seeing how God works in the lives of all of you!

Tuesday Tip: DIY Mason Jar Organizer

Today’s Tuesday tip is a DIY project Jordan (my boyfriend) and I tried this past weekend while he was visiting. I love to be organized, so I’m always looking for new ways to organize all of my things. I had an abundance of mason jars laying around after getting them for ten cents each at garage sales a few weeks ago, so when I stumbled across this mason jar organizer, I just had to try it out for myself. It looked easy enough to me, but I soon found that like most Pinterest projects, it was a lot easier said than done. However, Jordan and I persevered and ended up with an awesome looking organizer that I can’t wait to try out in my new apartment.

I found that the original instructions were lacking in a few areas, so here’s the series of steps Jordan and I took and some tips and tricks for making things easier on yourself.

1. What You Need:

• 3 Mason Jars- any size, depending on what you want to store in your organizer and how you want it to look. Mine are on the larger side, I think they are about 12 ounce jars
• A rectangular piece of wood- Again, any size depending on how big you want your organizer. Mine is a piece of oak wood Jordan got for free and it measured about 4 7/8 inches x 21 7/8 inches, random I know. My jars ended up hanging over the bottom of the wood, so you may want a piece of wood that is a little taller.
• 3 hose clamps- Make sure they are big enough to fit over the mouth of your mason jar. You can pick these up at Home Depot or another hardware store
• 3 ½ inch screws: Again, you can pick these up at any hardware store
• Picture hanger hooks
• Drill
• Pliers
• Tape Measure

Here are all of the supplies I used for the project

2. Next you’ll want to mark out where you want your mason jars on the piece of wood. For me, we made a mark around 10 15/16 inches (exact middle) where we would screw in the middle jar, and two marks 3.5 inches away from each end for the left and right jars. Each of the marks was an inch down from the top of the piece of wood.

3. Now you need to predrill a hole at each of the markings so you can screw in the jars.

Predrilled hole with markings

4. This next step was the hardest, which was predrilling a hole in each of the hose clamps. The hose clamps are really tough and we found they were super hard to drill a hole through. We were afraid of ruining the drill bit, so we ended up using pliers to cut out one of the premade slots that were already cut into the clamp. This also required some elbow grease, but ended up being easier than the drill.

You can see here where we used pliers to remove one of the bars, but you can also use a drill to make the hole

5. Next, drill the hose clamps into the predrilled holes with the screws.

6. Slip the jars into the clamps and then tighten them until you’re sure the jars won’t fall out. We found that because the jars I used were so round, we couldn’t tighten the clamp as tight as it would go, otherwise the jars stuck out at an odd angle. Instead we just tightened them enough that the jars wouldn’t fall out, but still set against the wood the way they were supposed to. You can avoid this problem by using less round jars.

7. Attach your picture hanging hooks to the back of the wood so you can hang it on a wall! (We skipped this part since I won’t be using the organizer until I move in to my new apartment in August.)

Here’s the finished project!

I hope you find these instructions helpful and enjoy making your own mason jar organizer! Let me know what you think of it and feel free to share your own experiences! I plan on using mine in the bathroom for holding bathroom supplies, and I’ll be sure to post pictures as soon as I put it to use!

House Hunting: The Adventure

Let me tell you, finding a place to live in Nashville from 762 miles away is no easy task. I started my housing hunt fairly soon after I received my acceptance letter, which looking back may have been jumping the gun a bit considering whatever was available then was definitely not going to be available eight months later when I was finally ready to move in. I started my search pretty simply, just looking on Craigslist at different apartment complexes and townhouses that would be in my price range. I quickly realized the chances of me being able to afford someplace on my own were slim to none, so I switched tactics and began searching for a roommate first.

Luckily, Belmont had provided a Facebook group for all accepted students to be a part of, and I started messaging incoming students to see if they were looking for a roommate as well. I got in touch with a girl Brianna who had graduated ahead of me and we hit it off immediately. We had a similar budget, were interested in some of the same things, and we decided that we would probably get along really well, and began to plan our apartment hunt together. Unfortunately at the beginning of April, Brianna announced that due to circumstances beyond her control, she wouldn’t be able to attend Belmont in the fall.

At this point, I had no idea what to do. A lot of the current students had recommended finding a place to sign by May, which left me with approximately a month to find a new roommate or roommates, make a list of possible places to live, find a way down to Nashville to look at them, and save up money for down payments and rent. I began praying, hoping I wouldn’t be in a situation where I had to live on my own.

About a week later, another incoming first-year posted on the Facebook page she was still looking for a roommate, so I quickly messaged her and we decided to live together. Our group of two quickly grew into a group of four as two other girls got in contact with us, and I couldn’t believe my luck. I had not only one roommate, but three, which greatly increased our housing options and also made living expenses a lot cheaper as well. Within a couple weeks we had a few promising options, one roommate, Danyelle, who only lives two hours away from Nashville, had gone to look at some places, and the rest of us were making plans to go on some housing tours as well. Things were looking up, until one of the girls was on a visit and found out that in Davidson County, it was against regulations for more than three unrelated girls to live together! None of us could believe that this was even a rule, but apparently it’s a pretty common one, as one of the girls had a cousin in the same situation who was told that a group of four or more unrelated girls was considered a brothel! The four of us laughed at the ridiculousness of it all and then began debating what the best option would be. We ended up deciding to split into two groups of two and the other two girls quickly found an apartment, while for Danyelle and I it took a little longer.

We began looking at two bedroom apartments and townhouses, until Danyelle mentioned that a family friend had gotten a job in the Nashville area and was looking for a place to live. The search turned to looking for three bedroom apartments, but time was running short. Towards the end of May, Danyelle went and looked at eight different apartment complexes, and only two of them had apartments available in late July/early August, which was when we were looking to move in. We realized we had to move fast and that day Danyelle let Grande View, the cheaper and better option of the two apartment complexes, know we were interested in leasing the apartment they had available at the end of July. Finally, we had a place to call home!

Our new apartment will look something like this!

But the craziness hasn’t quite stopped yet. Since deciding on the apartment at Grande View, we’ve still had a lot of work to do. At first we thought only one of us had to fill out an application, so Danyelle filled it out and sent it in with the application and background check fees, as well as the security deposit once she received Elizabeth and I’s part of the payment as well. Only then did we find out that all three of us had to fill out the application and not only that, but we would need a cosigner, which also required an additional fee. Danyelle’s dad graciously offered to cosign for us and Elizabeth and I sent our applications and application fees in. My application is apparently still MIA, but for all intents and purposes and after all of the unexpected twists and turns, the apartment is ours!

House hunting was definitely a lot more complicated than I expected and I hope you can learn a few things from my house hunting adventure.

1. Start looking early, but not too early. If you look too early, what is available at that point is unlikely to be available when you’re actually ready to move. If you look too late, your options are going to be severely limited. If I had to give you a time frame, I’d say start looking for places 2-4 months before you’re anticipated move in date.
2. Look at a place before making any commitments! We found that a lot of places that looked and seemed great on Craigslist ads and even on apartment websites were not in reality. One place that was a perfect match to our criteria, well within our price range, and claimed to be in a safe neighborhood, actually ended up being in a super sketchy area of town, which we never would have known had one of us not driven through.
3. Be willing to compromise. You’re going to have your list of qualifications you desire for your apartment, but chances are you won’t find one place that fits all of them. So decided which are the most important to you and which you may be willing to compromise a little on. We ended up in a place towards the upper end of our price range and perhaps not in an ideal location, but we were in a safe, quality apartment complex, which was the most important to us.
4. Ask and understand all of the conditions and fees associated with applications, background checks, cosigners, lease agreements, etc. when looking at the apartment initially. It’s been a lot harder to get answers about these things after the fact and we all wish we had known to ask these when we were in person, rather than trying to communicate over phone and email.

House hunting certainly proved to be an adventure and I’m definitely glad that we finally found a place to call home for our first year of graduate school. I’m also glad that I learned what I did through this experience and will definitely plan on applying that knowledge the next time I’m looking for a place to live.

Do you have any interesting house hunting and/or moving stories? What advice would you give to first time apartment hunters? Leave a comment below to share!

Tuesday Tip: $5 Savings Jar

Today’s tip is a quick and easy way for you to save up some money for something special- whether it’s a pair of shoes you’ve had your eyes on for awhile, a short vacation/road trip, or something else entirely. All you need is some place to stash your money, some five dollar bills, a goal for what you want to spend your money on, and the willpower to do it.  I call this method the $5 Savings Jar.

All you have to do is every time you receive a five-dollar bill, tuck it away in a specified envelope, jar, or piggy bank. And then just keep doing this until you reach the goal you had in mind and have enough set aside to purchase whatever you were aiming for! This is a great way to set aside money for something that doesn’t necessarily fit into your budget currently without affecting other areas of your budget. I’ve also found that now that I’m waitressing, I have an abundance of five-dollar bills, so my jar has been filling up rather nicely. Currently I’m saving up money to cover the expenses for traveling to Vermont for the wedding of two close friends. I’m hoping that by the time August rolls around I’ll have enough money in the jar for gas, lodging, and food, that I won’t even have to touch my debit card on the trip! I’ve been saving five dollars consistently for probably the last 6 months, and already have $365 saved!

Here’s an example of what my jar looks like:

I also added a sticky note to the outside so that I’m inspired/reminded of why I’m saving every time I’m tempted to borrow a couple fives from the jar. I think my next savings goal will be to save up some money to start paying off my loans, even though they’ll be in deferment while I’m in graduate school. I’d rather get out of debt ASAP!

What will you use your $5 Savings Jar for?

Father’s Day Reflection

I’ve been seriously struggling with writer’s block the past couple weeks, which seems to always happen after I start a blog, but I’ve learned that sometimes the best thing to do is to write anyways. In honor of Father’s Day being yesterday, here’s a little shout out to my dad and step-dad, who are both pretty awesome.

From the time I can remember until around high school, I always considered my dad my best friend. Even though I’m not close with any of my parents, I’ve definitely always been closest to my dad. Growing up we bonded over our shared love of sports and laughter and I will never forget all the trips we took to my soccer tournaments. I loved those trips because they were the only times I got to spend some quality time with just my dad. Around my sophomore year of high school, my dad and I grew apart and things have never really been the same since, and we’re still navigating the uncharted waters of our new relationship. However, I wouldn’t change what we’ve been through for anything, because it has made me who I am today. So thanks to my dad for teaching me how to be super organized, allowing me to become independent as I got older, always pushing me to become the best I can be, and encouraging me to chase after my dreams, even if that means moving to Nashville.

My dad, taking one of his classic “selfies”

My step-dad came in to my life shortly after my parents divorced, and my earliest memory of him is being at my mom’s friend’s house with my sister, hiding in a play tent from the “Tickle Monster” as our step-dad chased us around trying to tickle us. From the moment he came into our lives I’ve always seen him as another father figure. Over the years my independent and stubborn personality has caused us to butt heads more than once, but I love him just the same and appreciate the role he has played and continues to play in my life today. So thanks to my step-dad for all the rides to school and sporting events, loving my sister and I like we were your own, supporting my academic and athletic endeavors, and being willing to help me truck all my belongings to Nashville in a couple months.

My step-dad, sister, and I back in the day

While having divorced parents has sucked in a lot of ways, one of the best things I have gotten out of it is the opportunity to have two earthly fathers to love and help me grow into the person I am today. So thanks to my Heavenly Father, who used a crappy situation to give me two earthly dads that put my needs in front of their own. And thanks God for being an awesome Heavenly Father figure, who forgives me no matter how many times I mess up, loves me unconditionally, and set the perfect example for how I should treat those around me.

Tuesday Tip: Bookworm

I am an avid reader and always have been. As a kid, I would get as many books out of the library as I could at a time, and because I couldn’t decide which one I wanted to read first, I would read two or three books at a time. One of the things I dislike the most about being at school is that I never have enough time to read for fun. But I try to make up for it over the summer. For example, in the month or so since I’ve been home, I’ve already read eight books, and some of those in less than a day.

Unfortunately, my reading habit can get expensive. When I walk into a bookstore, I can spend hours there and will inevitably leave with one or two books. Used bookstores and garage sales are even more of my weakness, since I convince myself that because the books are cheaper, I can buy more of them, and end up spending just as much as if I was buying new books. With graduate school and all of the expenses that come with it rapidly approaching, I’ve found some ways to save money, while still getting to enjoy as many books as I want, and wanted to share them with you for today’s Tuesday Tip.

1. The library is your best friend. Head to your local library and you can get a library card for free and borrow books to your heart’s content. This is something I don’t do often enough, but I plan on frequenting the library this summer and as soon as I move, plan on finding the closest library to my apartment and getting a library card. When borrowing a library book, you can read whatever books you want and as many as you want, without any expense to you. And if you stumble across a book you love and can’t live without, you can always buy it later.
2. Used bookstores and yard sales are a great place to find books for cheap. Especially at yard sales, people are just trying to get rid of boxes of books they’ve had sitting around, so don’t be afraid to strike a bargain. Also, used books are just as good as new ones, and personally, I love them a little bit more for their wear and tear.
3. If you have an e-reader such as a Nook or Kindle, check out this great website, BookBub. All you have to do is give them your email and they’ll send you a daily email featuring discounted or even free e-books! They aren’t always the most popular books, but they’re good reads, and I’ve found some books that I’ve absolutely loved through BookBub. I have like 20 or 30 books waiting on my Nook for me to read that I’ve downloaded. Even if you don’t have an e-reader, you could probably download the Kindle app to your computer and get the discounted books that way, if you don’t mind reading on your computer.
4. Swap books with your friends! Find a friend who has a similar taste in books to you and borrow each other’s books. It saves money and then you and your friend can spend some quality time discussing the books you’ve both read, and you can discover some great books that way too.

I hope this post helps my fellow book worms out there save some money and find some really good books to curl up with this summer! Do you guys have any ways that you save money on books? Leave a comment below and share your ideas!

Tuesday Tips: DIY Laundry Detergent

In an effort to try to post at least once a week and add some consistency to the blog I’ve decided I would start posting weekly “Tuesday Tips.” Each Tuesday I’ll try to post a new DIY project, recipe, organizational, money-saving, etc. tip or trick I’ve tried out and let you know how it worked, give you my own suggestions, and hopefully send you on your way with something new to try.

This week, I’d like to share with you the DIY Laundry Detergent I first made about two years ago, and I haven’t gone back to regular laundry detergent since. The summer before my junior year of college, I wanted to find some ways to save money, since I’d be living in a townhouse on campus, which was going to be more expensive than living in the residence halls. I was also at the peak of my Pinterest obsession, searching through Pinterest on my phone every spare moment I had. My best friend shared my Pinterest obsession, and came across this post about how to make your own laundry detergent, tried it, and loved it. So I figured, hey, I might as well try it too. I made it up one weekend, with some of my own alterations, and then tried it out the next time I did laundry, and absolutely loved it. The best part, is that the entire batch I made lasted my the next two years until I graduated! And as a dual-sport athlete, I was doing laundry at least once a week, if not more.

Here are the alterations I made to the “recipe” from the original post and some of the other things I found out as I made my own batch of laundry detergent.

Ingredients: I found all of the ingredients in the laundry detergent aisle of Wal-Mart, except the box of baking soda, which I found in the cooking aisle.

• 1 Box of Borax
• 1 Box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
• 1 Container of OxyClean (3 lb)
• 2 Bars of Fels Naptha Soap
• 1 Box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (4 lb)

Directions:

It really can’t get any easier than this- Just grab a large plastic bin or tote, and dump all of the ingredients in there and mix. The only thing you have to do first is grate the bars of Fels Naptha, and after that you’re all set to go.

Once my detergent was made, I stored most of it in the bin I mixed all the ingredients in, and then bought a small plastic jar to use to carry detergent back and forth to the laundry room at school. You only need about two tablespoons of detergent per load, so I used the measuring cup that came in the container of OxyClean and made a mark at 2 tablespoons so it was easy to measure out each time. I also just threw the detergent into the washer itself on top of the clothes, and my clothes came out clean each and every time! My only “warning” of sorts, is that if you’re looking for an actual scent, like lavender, you won’t get it with this homemade stuff. However, I found that using dryer sheets when I dried my clothes gave it an actual scent, or you can also add 1 bottle of Purex Fabric Softner Crystals to the detergent mix for an added scent. Without these two things, the clothes didn’t have an unpleasant odor to them after they’re washed, they just didn’t have an odor at all.

I love this DIY Laundry Detergent because it’s so simple and cheap to make! Total, I think the detergent cost me $15 to make, but I got 2 years worth of laundry loads out of it, so I’d say I saved quite a bit of money! Try it for yourself, and let me know what you think in the comment box!