This month’s post is in Korean (Hangul, which is the alphabet system for the Korean language) in honor of Ella’s 12th birthday this month and her love of all things Korean…
BTS…..
Bulgogi……
…and everything in between.
Happy Birthday, sweet girl! We love you so much!
당신은 해상도를 만들 수 있습니까?
(Do you make resolutions?)
If so, what are some of yours?
In the spirit of minimizing, I deleted the secret blog I started over the fall.
So if you submitted, please don’t think I didn’t appreciate your words. It is in my 50th year of life that I feel the need to simplify and honestly, creating another space to edit and publish work was too much, well, work.
With the new year, I always feel renewed and with that renewal, I feel like I need to get rid of stuff in my life.
Attitudes, clothing, weight, people, crap in the basement…. you name it.
Do you feel like that too?
올해 성장 했습니까?
(Have you grown this year?)
But for serious, have you grown? Evolved? Changed?
It’s been one year since I started these Tater Tot posts. January 14th of 2019 was the first tater tot post.; I didn’t even realize it had been a year until I found the above graphic and it sent me down the rabbit hole of posts.
One thing I love about having a blog is that I can look back a year from now (or five or seven and so on) and see what was going on in my world.
In that first tater tot post, I talked about Anna leaving for college again after winter break, blood work, low-carb diets, Amy Winehouse, leaving-ish Facebook, migraines, and Marie Kondo.
This year I am talking about resolutions, evolving, finding old blog posts, the fear of snow, traveling, ditching a photo editor, getting a bird, and a video about pugs.
I feel like that is all I need to say about that.
잃어버린 것들을 찾기 당신은 당신이 잃어버린 것을 전혀 몰랐습니다.
(Finding lost things you had no idea that you lost, to begin with)
So in deleting my secret blog, I stumbled onto my old A Grace Full Life Blogger account and found two posts that I forgot about. They didn’t make it through the two blog migrations, and it was like finding old Christmas gifts shoved into a corner of a closet.
I am planning on publishing them even though they aren’t relevant to anything going on in my life, but I pride myself on being random on this blog and felt like these additions would be a good fit.
2020 is going to be the most random I have ever been because turning 50 is a big deal and since I can’t imagine any better way to celebrate than being utterly and completely me, we shall celebrate monthly with the randomest of randoms in all of randomville.
나는 눈이 두려워
(I’m afraid of snow)
It’s called Chionophobia and it is a thing.
Oh, and I think I have it.
Rather anxiety than fear, when I see snow in the forecast, I get an emotion that is closer to dread than just disgust.
I am just as surprised by it as anyone else in my life, because I have lived in the Midwest my entire life and, well, we get a lot of snow here.
Not East Coast amounts of snow, but enough to make winter a living hell if you possibly suffer from Chionophobia.
My therapist suggested that since both of my children were born in winter, it became about being trapped in the house, stranded, and being alone. Not that I regret having my babies because they are truly amazing, but maybe having them in winter might not have been the best idea.
I don’t mind snow when it is gently falling down, but it is the result of the snowstorm that gets me very anxious.
Like, seeing snow piling up in my yard gives me literal panic attacks.
Is anyone else like this?
여기서 나가자
(Let’s get the hell out of here)
Inspired by the above quote, I decided that in 2020 I wanted to go somewhere new each month. BUT it doesn’t have to be an actual full-blown trip. It could mean going down a new street, walking into a new store, listening to a new song that is out of the comfort zone….you get the idea.
Recently, I started following a You Tuber named Traveling Robert, and I have been watching him for the past two months almost regularly. It started when Mike and I were researching places to visit for fun on YouTube one Sunday, and that led us to Robert. His voice is oddly soothing, his trips are organized and simple, and he’s just enjoyable to watch.
I feel like I have thoroughly experienced the area he was visiting after watching his videos. Like we just went on vacation alongside him, and that is such a good thing when you can’t afford to travel.
Which is where the above quote came in, because not everyone can afford to travel to new places every year, but a mindset of going somewhere new each month is attainable for everyone and I really love that.
.
그림 원숭이 수 키스 나 엉덩이
(Pic Monkey can kiss my ass)
I have been subscribing to Pic Monkey since 2010 as my go-to photo editor, but their yearly subscriptions went up from $33 per year to $47 per year this past December and I was all HELL NO.
I am cheap, but it wasn’t about that, really. It was the principle. I have been a loyal, paying customer for almost 10 years and jumping 14 dollars in one year seems ridiculous. No?
Then after my subscription lapsed, I crawled back to them because I really need a photo editor and I am most comfortable with Pic Monkey but the price is now SEVENTY-TWO DOLLARS PER YEAR.
For a basic subscription.
Not even pro.
HELP ME.
Who do you use for photo editing?? For real, I am asking for advice so let me know in the comments, please.
I also take pictures semi-professionally throughout the year, but not enough to ever justify paying $72 a year.
So if my pictures suck in 2020, you know why.
새도 있어
(We got a bird)
Ella got a bird for Christmas from her Mamie and Papa, but let’s be honest, I got a bird for Christmas from Mamie and Papa.
At first, I was really apprehensive because I knew nothing about birds and adding one more pet to the mix made me a little nervous.
Mostly because I get really attached to our animals.
Guess what happened? I got really attached.
Her name is Joy, and she is adorable. She is a parakeet, but she looks like a baby dove. She chirps when I run the dust buster, when people boisterously come into our home, and when she hears rap music (I swear I’m not making that up).
I play bird sounds for her for 30 minutes, twice a day like a friggin’ parakeet play date, and I don’t even mind.
But seriously, she is absolutely lovely, cheerful, and a great addition to our Dr. Doolittle home.
I leave you today with this magical video that Ella and I discovered years ago. When you are blue with chionophobia, and the snow gets you down, watch this on auto-repeat. You can’t help but smile.
Happy January!
A Grace Full Life 
Your best writing comes out in these posts! Although I feel like all of your writing is so good.
So many things to comment on but I will pick the one about going somewhere new. I love that idea so much! I will use this in my life because it will help in winter. 😂
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It means so much to me when I get comments like this. Thank you. ❤️
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That photo with the monkey and the woman have unclean thoughts – like What the Hell? Nightmare indeed. I don’t get the photo edit thing? Am I missing something? I upload my photos to snapfish and then print or order books from there, etc. Otherwise they are all on my computer where I use whatever software the computer provides to crop them, etc. Are we talking about the same thing, because I feel like I am from a different planet right now and just realized I am the last person without something important (like a cell phone).
I must watch that minimalist documentary. I have been making my kids eliminate the clothes they don’t want from their closets. Why is it so hard? I need to do it myself though. I LOVE a good documentary. My kids make fun of me, but I am like ‘why not learn something here and there?’
Fear of snow – sounds like the equivalent of an occupational hazard since you live in Chicago. My mom born and raised here and she refuses to drive if their is a snowflake ANYWHERE. Proof that kids did not attend as many activities back in the day, because my mom would have been like ‘oops – not going. I cannot drive you.’ She used to substitute teach at my grade school. When the principal called to ask her to sub, she would say yes but only if she could RIDE THE SCHOOL BUS WITH US. That was cool. Not. Your snow phobia sounds a bit different. It is pretty, but it is annoying. Sorry it bogs you down so darn much though.
I could say so much more – but the bird sounds so fun. Keep us posted on whether or not you continue to love him.
As always, thanks for being hilarious. Oh, and the pug video. How does he do that? He does not bend his legs? Bahhh!!! Must remember to show my kids.
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The photo editor is really for my gigs I occasionally get but they have made my blog pictures so nice over the years. You’re not missing anything if you’re happy with Snapfish. 👍🏻
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I like minimalism, too. Love getting rid of stuff. Which is weird, because I also love acquiring stuff. The right kind of stuff, anyway. However, I am hoping to bring these two things into more alignment by frittering away less money on small stuff and only getting stuff I really love, even if it costs more. I want to buy more art, but art I really love. If I stop buying tchotchkes that I KNOW will be part of next year’s purge, maybe I can afford the good stuff?
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I have a plan to sell stuff this year from that basement and with that money get something big. Just to prove that we need less and without it we can do amazing things. 😂
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I don’t do resolutions but there are some things I like to achieve, saying goals works better than resolutions for me. Going to have to catch that doc on Netflix. It’s always good to get rid of crap and clutter!! I’m not afraid of snow, have driven in it when my vehicle was the first one on the road pushing the snow with my front bumper beating the snowplows on early mornings when I was in n nursing school…BUT I hate snow!! So glad to live in a warm climate now where it does not snow. I use the Pro version of PicMonkey at about $120/year. It’s the best I’ve found and less complicated than Photoshop. When my kids were little they went thru phases where they had birds, fish, hamsters, ducks, and dogs but not all at the same time!!
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I do love Pic Monkey but man, that seems so steep. 😞
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It is quite costly but I haven’t found another alternative.
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Well if you ever find another, let me know. 🙂
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I’m gonna cry…I just had a LONG reply written to this post and it disappeared before I could publish it! I will try again…
First of all, happy birthday to Ella!
Photo editing…Be Funky is a free program, very similar to PicMonkey. I just use my laptop’s own photo editing features, but if I need to do a collage or something, I use Be Funky. I’d suggest if you’re doing professional photos to learn Lightroom or Photoshop.
I’m not afraid of snow nor does it trigger my anxiety (whaddya know, something that doesn’t actually do that), but I simply hate it. Same with winter. Simple as that.
I had one baby in winter (Tim) and one in summer (Phil). Does that make me balanced? Ha!
Tim had authentic Korean food just the other night in Koreatown (LA). He loved the Korean Army Stew but said he almost puked with the chicken feet, lol.
Can’t wait to meet Joy the bird!
xoxo
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I hate Photoshop and Lightroom because they are hard. I think that I will need to take a photography course to learn about them. I am being serious, not sarcastic. 🙂
I am surprised that the snow doesn’t affect your anxiety! I guess because of my anxiety I thought it affected everyone! Ha! I am so glad it doesn’t though considering how much we get.
Yeah, that’s a hard pass on the chicken feet.
Yes, come meet her!! She is the best. 🙂
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PS – Brian and I have been working on cleaning out the basement for several months. We’re making a lot of headway. I can’t tell you how many trips we’ve made to Goodwill and Salvation Army. I have been trying to sell stuff on OfferUp and FB Marketplace and it is a royal pain in the ass! Right now, no one is buying anything. Probably too broke from Christmas. Before that, I swear I had the most wishy-washy people on the planet. Horrible communication, not getting back to me, agreeing to meet on a certain date and time and then changing it THREE times, people that say they’re interested and will get back to you and never do, people that ask where you live (EVEN THOUGH IT’S LISTED RIGHT THERE ON THE POSTING) and then saying oh, you’re too far…I’m in Chicago. I can’t deal with all that crap. Like I’m not anxiety-ridden enough. So sometimes I find it easier just to donate and be done with it.
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FB Marketplace is HORRIBLE for wishy-washy people. It makes you realize how horribly rude people are. I am planning on doing the same thing at the end of January. Kind of spacing things like that out to make projects for me this winter beyond homeschool and all that goes along with that.
I would love to make some side money but I agree with you, it is almost like a part-time job lol.
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You MUST come to Kent in September for Gilmore Girls Fan Fest. I will get you into the volunteering gig and all you have to pay for is travel. You can even stay with me, if that’s not too forward, we’ve tested this house twice and we are nowhere near maximum capacity with 12 people sleeping comfortably. But we are only a family of four, so we have plenty of room for you!
Also, in terms of being a different person last year. Good god, yes. Weight, mental health, motivation, general well-being, everything has changed. And I can tell you it feels amazing. I am so ready for 2020!
Bring on the randomness!
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Oh also, snow makes me super anxious too. We had a snow squall right when I had to drive to my son and daughter’s Taekwondo belt tests with my mom and I literally had to take a Xanax before heading out. I used to be completely fearless of snow, until I totaled my car about 12 years ago, and ever since then I’m a hot mess if I have to drive in it.
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I used to be fearless too! I think it’s an age thing because I was a badass back in the day but now, nope.
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We are mind-melding because I just thought about that this morning! I follow the fan fest on Instagram and I am like THESE ARE MY PEOPLE. The real reason is that I would finally get to meet you. I really need to do this and not just SAY I will do it. Maybe I could even get Rebecca on board because she is my Lane Kim and introduced me to GG in the first place. OMG, WE NEED TO DO THIS.
It’s so funny because when I was typing about the randomness, I thought to myself, “Ani and Rebecca will appreciate this”. OMG, WE NEED TO DO THIS.
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So far I have filled up the dumpster twice in the last few weeks so I think that answers the need to get rid of stuff question… yes, I like to downsize often and there’s something about that “new year” that really motivates me to purge and simplify. I use a free photo editor (Pixlr) because I am just so cheap when it comes to things like that. It took me a bit of playing around and I know it can’t do nearly everything PicMonkey can (and I was debating about paying but had no idea they went up THAT much!).
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I will look into Pixlr! I have loved Pic Monkey for so long and it makes me sad that it is so expensive. Honestly, bloggers put them on the map. It’s a shame that they are that pricey now.
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My goals are almost the same as yours. Hopefully we’ll be successful!
Depending on what I need to edit, I use GIMP and LunaPic, both of which are free.
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Maybe we need to keep each other accountable! Ooh, I’ve never heard of them before. I need to investigate, thank you!
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Happy Birthday Ella!
I don’t make resolutions because I might as well call them “things I will absolutely not do this year.” I do have some things I would like to improve on but aren’t going to happen within a year. 1) I will not reward or respond to negative behavior. 2) Instead of going into procrastination mode when I get overwhelmed (which makes things 1000% worse), I will do the things I can control and let the other stuff go.
I’ll have to check out the minimalism doc, though I know I’ll never fully go there. Can’t wait to read your found entries!
I use Photoshop for editing so if you’re not down paying PicMonkey’s price, you REALLY won’t want to pay what I paid a decade ago. It’s not hard to use and tons of tutorials out there. You could probably find someone selling their old version of that or Lightroom (which I hate) on Ebay. Here’s what I could find for free. https://www.sodapdf.com/blog/free-photo-editing-software/ I can only vouch for BeFunky which got the job done.
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“Things I Will Absolutely Not Do This Year” will be a future post. THAT IS BRILLIANT.
I feel like I am going to end up heading back to Pic Monkey. Especially when/if I get paid photography gigs. 😦
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