Last Day of 2012

Today marks the last day of 2012. I would say that 2012 was pretty intense for me. Here's the run down of my 2012:

• I graduated with my Master's Degree in Special Education.
•  In 2012, I left a job where I felt the administration was not fulfilling the job of an administrator. Although God used this as a crucial part of getting me where I am today, this is not the focus of this post.
• I got a new, amazing job in the field I love most, working with kiddos with Autism.
• I bought my first house.  You can read about here: All in Home
• With the new home and new job, I moved back closer to my family. 
• I actively started pursuing my career in the field of Autism by beginning the coursework to become a BCBA.

Now, after all this, here's my thoughts and feelings....
I love my life! I'm very blessed. I enjoy living close to my family and I love being able to work with the kiddos closest to my heart. I am very excited to have a home of my own. I'm loving my new car still... Now, all this to say- I definitely have a pretty great life. 

The other stuff: I have a little bit of anxiety, I am very emotional most of the time, and I do, on occasion, still go through some depression. I went to a counselor in April about it. She set me up to go through some de-stressing classes and some other avenues to help with it. Well, with the move and all, I never completed all those things she had set up. 

I'm excited for 2013, not to try some new diet or to say I'm going to do all these things different in my life, but because God brought me through some hard times in 2012 and I know he will do the same in 2012.

Now, the last part of all this: I'm not big on looking for love. I know that God has a plan and I try to just remember that. Many of you may not know that I've never actually thought or had a desire to get married. Ever since high school, I always felt like I was going to be single forever, kinda sad I know, and I just didn't do any of the looking at wedding dresses and things like that. Here's what I can say about love: My views and opinions on love have changed greatly over the years. I will write another post dedicated to just love, but for now- I know that love is challenging and that it is strong. I am interested to see how God uses love in my life in 2013.

Have a safe and blessed New Year everyone!

In Him,
~LaKrystal~ 

My First HomeOwner's Project- Part 1

Office/Craftroom Projects- Part 1

As a teacher, it doesn't get any better than Christmas Break, Spring Break, and Summer Break! Right now, it happens to be Christmas break. This break, I spent a day doing school stuff, spent a few days with family and started my first homeowner's project. 

Here are my thoughts for those of you wanting to get started with updating your new homes:

1. Renovations/Updates/Painting all cost money.
I was very excited to start this first project. Until I bought 2 gallons of paint, paint rollers, paint brushes, paint trays, Frog paint tape (because my dad insisted on this brand even though it was $3 more than the other brands), and drop cloths... costing a total of $80!
 
2. All of the above also take time.
I figured, I have 2 weeks out for Christmas break. I can get this project done in 1 week. The painting portion really did only take 2 days, however, I'm still in the process of re-organizing all of my materials and hanging things up on the walls, etc.

 
3. One project usually leads to another.   
So, I actually didn't begin this project with intentions of painting an entire room. I started with a simple- I'm going to paint my bookshelves, buy a door, and make a Pinterest-inspired Craft Table to put in my office. After starting on the craft table, I then decided to paint a small canvas to hang on the wall in my office/craft room. Then I decided I wanted to paint the walls themselves in this same room!

This post is just the introduction to my first project in my new room. I can't wait to show the finished product. But for now, here are some teaser photos:

In Him,
 ~LaKrystal~

Christmas Gift Making

This year for Christmas, I made small Christmas gift sets. They were homemade, fairly inexpensive, and still thoughtful. My family loved them!


I made Cake Batter Puppy Chow:

I used an idea from Pinterest to make coasters: 
 

Last I made Holiday Butter Cookies from a recipe I got 5 or 6 years ago from a program at Jardine:
 

I used plastic cellophane and ribbon to tie the gifts all together to make a nice gift set.

Did anyone else make homemade gifts for the Holidays this year? 

In Him,
~LaKrystal~  

Food Adventures

This page of my blog is dedicated to my baking and cooking adventures. I love cooking and I definitely enjoy baking. I think my favorite part of baking and cooking is Eating all the food!! Baking is a great de-stresser for me.

I hope to share some recipes I've found, as well as some of my favorite foods with you here on this page!

Please also leave comments and your own recipes and favorite foods! I love trying to cook new things!

Enjoy,


~LaKrystal~

All in a Home

In July, I purchased my first home! The All in a House section of my blog will be my home projects, crafts, DIY, etc. section. Buying a house was a bit stressful for me because the entire process from deciding to look at houses to paying the downpayment and getting the keys took place over just 3 1/2 short months. I now am a single, mid twenties first time homeowner and it feels great! I bought a cute little townhouse with 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, about 1400 square ft, and an unfinished basement with a one car garage! I am excited to share my home projects with you and my love for organization. 

Below is the picture of my first home:

Photo Credit: Jonathan Bell

 Once again, welcome to the home section of my blog! I hope you enjoy it. Please feel free to leave comments.

~LaKrystal~

The Chase: Men and God

This section is dedicated to my life as a single woman. I will share my journey with God, as well as my struggles with being single. This section may also include some of my other struggles. I am definitely a work in progress. I make mistakes daily. I fall often. But, I choose to get back up. Try again. And live my life for Christ. 

I've always wanted Christ's love to shine through me and I hope that someone will be touched or be able to relate to my stories through this blog. 

I will go ahead and admit now, that there are some secrets in my life. There are some deep, dark secrets. I also deal with some anxiety and some depression. I will share some of this during this section as well. 

 
Please feel free to comment with your thoughts and opinions, but please be mindful that this is my life, so please be respectful.


Enjoy,

~LaKrystal~

A Look Into Autism

This part of my blog is dedicated to Autism. I am currently a teacher who works with students with Autism grades K-5. I also have a cousin with Autism and a half-brother with Autism.

I also work in homes with children with Autism and am working towards becoming a Board Certified Behavioral Analyst (BCBA). I hope to give a different perspective on Autism and how it impacts my life on a daily basis.

P.S. I  absolutely LOVE what I do! I love giving advice, of course the things on this page are just my Opinion, however, I do use my education (M.S. Special Education) and my studies in Applied Behavioral Analysis (I'm still in this program) to give my educated opinion. I love hearing other people's opinions, however I feel very strongly that our opinions/suggestions/strategies should be tracked/backed up by DATA.

I'm excited you have joined my journey with my personal experiences related to Autism*. Enjoy! 


 
~LaKrystal~
*Unless otherwise noted, all names in this section of my blog have been changed to maintain confidentiality.