No GRWM, About Me Instead

 Hey Y'all!

I haven't really done any getting ready, that I remembered to film/picture lately. So this instead...

The questions can be found here:

200 QU's

1. What’s your favorite way to spend a day off? Spending time with family. Doing pretty much anything, playing games, hiking, watching movies, going to parks, etc.

2. What type of music are you into? I like a huge variety. Not big on big band, swing, heavy metal, or hardcore rap, but I'll listen to pretty much anything. Not loving most of the new pop, but I'm old.

3. What was the best vacation you ever took pre vanlife and why? I've been fortunate enough to take a decent amount of vacations/road trips in my life so far. My favorites are Disney, and then it's really vacations that were made awesome by the journey like the first trip with Lisa to NC, the trip with hubby and MIL that no one believed we went that far (VA to DE and NJ and back in 24hrs)... Fun trips like that.

4. Where’s the next place on your travel bucket list and why? The goal is all 50 states, so we need to start heading west... We just crossed Illinois off! Woohoo!

5, .What are your hobbies, and how did you get into them? Crafting (Dad worked for JoAnn Fabrics Corp.) Reading (Mom always took us to the library, before we could even read.) Day Trips (We did those all the time growing up, and hubby and I have always enjoyed just picking a direction and seeing where the day takes us.) Gaming (We got our 1st gaming system {Nintendo} from one of my Dad's friends, we really only played in the long cold NE Ohio winters, but had a lot of fun playing. Then Hubby was huge into gaming, and introduced sis & I to the Sims, yeah the first one.. We'd play for hours together. Now we own a lot of games/systems and play something at least weekly.)

6. What was your favorite age growing up? Hmm.. probably like 10-13. Still a kid but old enough to do some fun stuff without Mom and Dad.

7. Was the last thing you read? Misty, V.C. Andrews- It was good, but different from the Landry Series, which is the only other books I've read by her.

8. Would you say you’re more of an extrovert or an introvert? Introvert..

9. What's your favorite ice cream topping? Nothing. I like mint or cookies and cream, peanut butter, cookie dough type flavors so they don't "need" toppings.

10. What was the last TV show you binge-watched? Law & Order SVU, I'm almost caught up. (Earlier seasons were better.)

11. Are you into podcasts or do you only listen to music? Music. 

12. Do you have a favorite holiday? Why or why not? Halloween, because SPOOKY is fun. Christmas, because magical.

13. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? Salad, or pizza. Different toppings would make it the most versatile food option(s).

14. Do you like going to the movies or prefer watching at home? Home. I can have whatever food/drinks I want. Pause it if needed. Have it at a volume less than bust your eardrums. Yeah, home is better.

15. What’s your favorite sleeping position? Usually I end up on my left side. But I flip over a lot.

16. What’s your go-to guilty pleasure? IDK.

17. In the summer, would you rather go to the beach or go camping? Both, camp at/near the beach.

18. What’s your favorite quote from a TV show/movie/book? LOL. Too many to list. Hubby and I like to quote movies and then play wrong answers only.

19. How old were you when you had your first celebrity crush, and who was it? Umm.. maybe JTT so probably like 13ish..

20. What's one thing that can instantly make your day better? Food. LOL. And exploring new areas. 

21. Do you have any pet peeves? Shitty drivers is #1.

22. Which meal is your favorite: breakfast, lunch, or dinner? Dinner I guess. But I'm all for eat what you want regardless of the clock. Pancakes for dinner? Awesome! Chicken Sandwich for breakfast? Cool, you do you.

23. What song always gets you out on the dance floor? Nope. I dance at home, but not going dancing.

24. When you were a kid, did you eat the crusts on your sandwich or not? Yeah, most of the time. We weren't picky kids (sis and I) our parents let us develop our own taste.. there was no such thing as "kid food".  We had chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, etc but it wasn't labeled as kid specific food. Mom made one dinner, and allowed for 1 modification. You don't want sloppy joe's? You can have a hamburger. You don't like green beans? You can have a salad. For our breakfasts and lunches we got to choose whatever we wanted (within reason).

25. What activity instantly calms you? Breathe in for 5 sec, out for 5 sec.

These were actually pretty fun questions! So let's do 25 more, then y'all let me know if you want me to continue.

26. Ideally, how would you spend your birthday? Exploring, adventuring, doing whatever, and cheesecake for dessert.

27. What do you do on your commute to/from work? When I had a "regular" job? Listen to music, loudly.

28. Do you have a favorite type of exercise? Walking.

29. What's your favorite season and why? It used to be summer, but now I find it too hot. I love Fall, so many activities happen in the fall!

30. What's the best joke you've ever heard? IDK

31. What's the app you use most? Facebook

32. Would you rather cook or order in? Cook

33. Have your ever disliked something and then changed your mind? Yes, that's part of growth and learning. Plus tastes change as you age.

34. What's your favorite board game? I like the classics. Monopoly, Sorry, Clue, etc. The new kids games that are all about poop and boogers are just gross and pointless.

35. How do you take your coffee? 2 cream, 1 sugar, 4 pumps sugar free flavor for a large, but I drink water most of the time.

36 What's your most prized possession and why? Things are things. I suppose if I had to pick something it'd be my Cricut. It helps me be crafty!

37. Is there any product that you couldn't live without? No, I'm sure there's plenty I wouldn't want to live without, but it's possible to live without most every 'thing'.

38. Do you sleep with a top sheet? Why or why not? Yes, it feels weird without it.

39. If you could have any exotic animal as a pet, which would it be? Nothing. They aren't pets for a reason.

40. What would be the first thing you'd do if you won the lottery? Get a money man. Then get a fancy van. Invest/save the rest.

41. What’s your favorite thing about your current job? Flexibility.

42. What annoys you most? Idiot drivers.

43. What’s the career highlight you’re most proud of? Going from PT cashier, to FT management in less than 6mo.

44. Do you think you’ll stay in your current gig awhile? Why or why not? I plan to keep this up regardless, but I'd like to get some sponsored content, or partnerships.

45. What type of role do you want to take on after this one? I own this, so just doing MORE is the goal.

46. Are you more of a "work to live" or a "live to work" type of person? Work is secondary, always.

47. Does your job make you feel happy and fulfilled? Why or why not? Yes, I love what I'm doing. I just need it to generate more income, but it's a work in progress.

48. How would your 10-year-old self react to what you do now? Pretty cool! A lot of the things I've done are pretty cool. I've also had some pretty shitty jobs (looking at you Kmart). My only regret is letting my cosmetology license lapse after we moved (to TN from OH).

49. What do you remember most about your first job? It wasn't bad. I worked at what was then called Leggs Hanes Bali Playtex Outlet in an outdoor outlet mall. Saturdays were busy, but there was always 3-6 of us there, so it wasn't ever overwhelming. Looking back now, I'd probably be bored out of my mind. Other than letting someone in the fitting room, cleaning that up, and cashiering, and the occasional stocking there wasn't really ever much for us to do. The manager took care of everything herself for the most part. 

50. How old were you when you started working? 15, babysitting, I had 3 families. 1 was a weekly 2 day gig, Tuesday thru Thursday, I'd spend the nights. (Their dad got home around 10 and their mom got home around 12 and both were gone by the time we got up in the morning.) The (2) kids and I would hang out and play, walk to the park, the library, or McDonalds. They were pretty good kids, a boy 6 and a 4 yr old girl. Their parents paid for everything we ever did on top of my normal pay. Easiest money I've ever made. The other two were occasional weekend gigs.

What was your first job? Let me know in the comments below!

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

Goal Progress Updates!

Hey Y'all!

Update time. I try to update monthly.

 My (Personal-ish) 2025 Goals:

1) All the goals from the previous blog, and the Outland Adventures blog. 8+15= 23 total there!

2) Continue using the Lose It app to log calories, fitness/exercise for the day, and water intake.

3) Read at least one book a week, any subject. Did y'all know there are FREE books on Google Play?!

4) Spend at least 10min a day writing in my planner/journal.

5) Do something nice, every day. This can be as simple as saying "hello" when out and about.

6) Visit at least 5 new libraries.

7) Spend less time scrolling social media, and more time creating content. 

8) Play Sims 4 at least once a month, see how far I can get in one family over the year.

How am I doing with these???

1) Pretty Good, not stellar, but not bad.

2) Have to catch up the last coupe days, but I'm back at it.

3) Not 100% but pretty close.

4) Not the past couple of days, but I plan to catch up after this.

5) Easy!

6) We have 4 down! Laurel Co. KY, Rittman (Wayne Co) Ohio, Decatur (Adams Co) IN, and Roselawn (Newton Co) IN. We're going to try another tomorrow if time allows!

7) Total fail, haven't crafted at all.

8) It's averaging about once a month, sometimes a bit more.

So, overall I think these are going well. YAY!

I've got this!!!

Other Goals:

As a reminder, here were my goals:

2025 Goals:

1) Organize the Cricut Joy Bag, and Storage Box in a way that makes crafting easy to accomplish. ~DONE!

2) Make note of supplies/colors I already have. Keep running tab on my phone. ~DONE!

3) Set aside time each week to do some crafting, or craft related activities... Mondays?

4) Make the decals for Brunilda, the van, by April. 

I have two planned, one for the front visor simply stating "Brunilda" in blue no font chosen yet, the other a quote from Ferris Buehler for the rear two windows... color unknown right now, but design/font is chosen for that one.

5) Finish one craft project a month.

6) In addition to #5 make at least one card per month, give it away.

7) Film more How To's and other Craft related content for CWC. Post 2x monthly on YouTube.

8) Post more often on CWC social medias. Just the blog posts aren't enough. Aim for at least one additional post per week... Saturdays?

1& 2) are done!

3) No progress, no crafting.

4) No additional progress, though color is chosen for the quote now.

5) HAHAHAHA.

6) Nope, only the one in January.

7) Once or twice, nothing beyond that.

8) Nope, I'm spending time growing Outland Adventures, so CWC social media isn't as important to me right now.

I still feel like these are good goals for the year, and I'm going to try to make it happen moving forward...

Are you interested in the Outland Adventures Goals??

Let me know moving forward.

This year we'd like to grow each and every one of our social media platforms, do more, and see more of this vast country!

2025:

1) Post daily on at least one of our social media platforms. 

Tuesday's and Thursday's will remain blogs and videos. 

Saturday's will be something quick and fun, like a picture of what we're doing. Monday is fan engagement posts, and Wednesday are currently anything goes. Sunday's are a question to our followers.

These posts can be on any, or all of our social media so be sure to check us out everywhere.

This is going really well, 100%!

2) Get more active on Instagram, add Amanda as a user to that account as well. -DONE!

After 3 month of posting semi regularly and seeing no growth we've dropped Instagram from our focus.

3) Work on Work Camp Resume, finish by mid- February. Apply for jobs ASAP. (This is dependent on Amanda's treatment schedule.)

100% and job secured for the season!

4) Purchase and use VidIQ, especially to aid in thumbnail and descriptions on videos. -By end of January.

Done!

5) Revamp and update Amazon Wishlist.

Done!

6) Visit 3 new states this year!

We've got one! IL. We're just barely exploring around Kankakee, but it's been a blast!

7) Visit 4 new State Parks in 2025.

2 down! (We're counting Levi Jackson (KY), and we've done Findley (OH).

8) Complete 52 hikes this year (at least 1mi). We're already ahead with 3!

Some weeks we get none, others 2 or 3 so were ahead, & we're still well on track!

9) Try something new everyday.

Easy!

10) Get the drone up at least once a month, even if it's just to practice flying it around.

Fail. We've used it none.

11) Use the "good camera" at least 2x a month, get those shots!

We've gotten it out twice now!

12) Complete a course on Digital/Social Media. (These will be free courses, and we'll update you on our favorites!)

We're both enrolled in classes. I just finished one through EdX. It's intro to Social Media for Business, but it has some relevant information and tips so far. I just started one on storytelling! Chris is going through a marketing course, and programming courses on Stack Skills.

13) Become more involved in the Van Life community both online and IRL. 

The online side will be easy to do since we are posting more often! 

Work in progress, but we are growing and engaging more online. We also have talked with more people out and about.

14) Connect with other creators, and van life brands. Make lasting connections and build relationships!

Work in progress!!

15) Friday's post just came to me! Post what we're grateful for from the week. May be one thing, may be a short list of things.

We are slowly getting back to the grateful post. I've remembered the past 3 weeks!

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

Updates!

 Hey Y'all!

I don't know about you, but for us March really flew by!

We spent the month in NE Ohio visiting some places we haven't been, and a few we have.

As of today (the 8th, as I'm writing this) we've added 3 new libraries, another 2 nature preserves, and a state park! 

We also visited a few local parks, thrift shops, lots of restaurants, and a few hotels.

We saw all kinds of wildlife- including Bald Eagles, and black squirrels. Hawks, and all kinds of other birds, a few herons, geese, and ducks. Racoons, gophers, turtles, deer, a snake, and more!

Here's a few pictures from the month  (March):

Chris did get the big camera out, but we haven't moved those over yet...

Thriftin'

Food & drink at competition.

Indoor/Outdoor pool.

Drury Inn Columbus

Wore out from the park!

Sexy Sweatpants Man setting up camp.

Spot 142, on the main drag, but close to the toilets.

Nature Center/Store (Closed)

Love

Storybook Trail

600!!!!

The weather was insane, as Spring in Ohio is know for. We has snow days, and days it was 70 degrees & sunny. 

We've surpassed 600 followers on Outland Adventures Facebook, and have 115 subscribers on our YouTube channel! (We thank each and everyone of you for following along in our Adventures!)

Not following yet? Find us here:

https://linktr.ee/outlandadventures

Craftin' Wife has 425 on TikTok, 130 on YouTube, and just shy over 200 on Facebook! Thank You all!!

https://linktr.ee/craftinwife

We're a bit excited, and nervous about our upcoming workamp gig, our start date is soon! We'll keep meandering that way- our new arrival date is the 10th, but it's only a solid 3 or so hours, so we can still take our time, just not quite as slowly as planned.

*She's since called again, after confirming the 10th again, to change the date to the 14th... We stayed the 9th at a Love's RV and are now exploring IL for the next 5 days!

We finished out the month of March at Findley State Park, and it's been nice. Since it's still the off season the water isn't on. I didn't expect that to mean the bath house as well, so showers haven't happened, but we've adapted. They do have several vault toilets, which I had forgot about (we camped here a lot when I was a kid). Definitely not a fan of the vault toilets, but better than none. They also had laundry, but it too was closed. The website said some things would be, but what they meant was everything. There was no check in, no camp store, no nothing. The trail system was great, and the lake is HUGE. They also have a massive disc golf course, which didn't exist when I was a kid. The beach is much farther from camp than I remember it being, but we always biked through the woods then went swimming. The old amphitheater looks exactly the same, but there are some new additions too! Overall we had a good time. 

Do you have any blog or video suggestions? Let us know in the comments below!

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

WAYBACK WEDNESDAY: 2016 Makeup Collection

 Makeup Collection and De-clutter, April 21, 2016

This doesn't include the stuff I just purchased.

Cleaning this all out and reorganizing was a fun project, but it definitely took longer than I expected.

Anything marked with a red "X" is what I pulled out of my collection to trash, there really wasn't anything worth giving away this time around. (To see up close, click on the picture to enlarge.)
I didn't pull out any lip products to give away/toss, I really need to try them out first, a good portion I've not worn yet, others I know I like.

Not pictured is two eyeliners I knew I was trashing going in, and four Halloween E.L.F. palettes I knew I was keeping. (I can picture those if you're interested, just leave a comment below.) Anything I pulled out was either old, or wasn't working for me.

The last time I went through everything was in November, before Thanksgiving, so it was about time to do it again. I'm going to try and do this every November (before Christmas) and every April (we always travel in May, and my B-Day is in June).

Eye Shadows.

 The huge palette is old, like years and years old, and was never very pigmented to begin with. The e.l.f. creams I hardly reach for and are a bit old as well. The Coastal Scents is the worst formula I've ever tried working with. The Wet 'n Wild is a bit powdery and something new I got is far better. The profusion cosmetics just don't work for me. The color looks good for about an hour and then it fades and looks like I have barely anything on, regardless of primer(s) used.

Favorite Product pictured here? The E.L.F. Baked Eye Shadow Palette in California

Eye Liners, Eye Primers, & Mascaras.

 The only things I got rid of here were due to age.

 Favorite Product pictured here?  Benefit They're Real Lash Primer.

Eye Products. (took this pic, then decided to get rid of more mascaras (as pictured above))

Face Primers, Concealers, & Color Corrector.

 I didn't ever notice the e.l.f. wrinkle reducer making any kind of difference, and I gave it more than a fair shot. The Jergens is super old, and I only used it once, I obviously didn't like it, but don't remember anything about it.

 Favorite Product pictured here? Another Benefit product, Porefessional.

Highlight & Setting Mist.

 Nothing to get rid of here.
The next picture, the e.l.f. tinted moisturizer is old, and has oxidized. 

 Favorite Product pictured here? The Ulta Highlight, and in the picture below it's gotta be my Physicians Formula BB Cream Powder (light/Medium).

BB Creams, Tinted Moisturizers, & Powders.

Bronzers.

 Favorite Product pictured here? The Avon, followed closely by the Beauty Treats Palette.

Blushes.

 Favorite Product pictured here? The Beauty Treats Palette.

All Face Products.

Insane Lippie Pile.

 I am aware this is A LOT of lip products, I plan to eliminate some of these in the coming months, but really want to try them all out first.

All Laid Out.

 Favorite Product pictured here? Hard to say but I love all the L'Oreal Collection Prieve  Nudes, and the NYX Intense Butter Glosses are fun!

Organized Lip "stuff".

Storage.

I got my vintage blue storage boxes from various thrift stores, they work for the space I have, and the best lighting is in that space.

When is the last time you de- cluttered?
Hope you enjoyed!!

Have a great day!
~CraftinWife

This was long before I really had any high end items in my collection. I don't have any of these anymore- obviously. 

I did really like the PF BB Cream, it was a great product. I also really remember liking ELF back when it was all $1, $3, and $5. Do you remember that?

I hope you enjoyed flipping through these old products as much as I did.

Thanks!