Kristie's Craziness

All the random things in life that I think we should talk about.

Recent Posts

  • Cold Weather Camping Is Not My Thing

    Cold Weather Camping Is Not My Thing

    It’s been a week since we closed on our house. We are still moving in and getting settled. It’s a lot of work, but I’m so thankful to be out of the camper before the worst of our winter weather arrives.

    I’m not saying it’s impossible to camp in the winter in Michigan, but I am more of a summer glamper than a winter camper.

    It’s rare to find a campground in Michigan that’s open during the winter. The owners of Apple Creek Campground were amazing for accommodating us in their group camping area. We were the only trailer on this side, but there were 4 others grouped together near the entrance.

    In order to stay warm, we had to get a 100 pound propane tank. The night our 30 pound one went out at 3 am made for a very cold morning.

    Getting water was an experience. My husband’s cousin lives a couple blocks away and was kind enough to let us fill a water bladder. Unfortunately we didn’t know we needed a pump to get the water into our tanks, and by the time we found one the first bladder froze. So for a week, we were dry camping.

    Once we got water in we thought we were good. Our trailer has a yeti pack, which is supposed to heat your storage tanks and water lines. It worked ok, but we still had a couple instances where the kitchen lines froze and even the water pump froze once.

    I didn’t do much cooking in the camper because we were trying to conserve water which meant minimal washing dishes. I’m so tired of eating out right now. I have minimal kitchen supplies at the house but at least we are cooking.

    Rob wants to bring the camper to the house those weekend, once the movers have brought our stuff from storage. Hopefully then we can clean it out and start feeling organized and at home here.

    Thanks for letting me rant.

    Kristie

  • January 2025 Bullet Journal: This Month We’re Gonna Move Mountains

    January 2025 Bullet Journal: This Month We’re Gonna Move Mountains

    I haven’t done a bullet journal since 2020 when I needed a positive outlet for all the COVID chaos. Now I just need an outlet for the chaos in my mind.

    The theme I’ve chosen for January is Mountains. I am projecting the uphill trajectory of this year into this month. My goal is to move mountains, or at least into our new house.

    Tutorial

    Mind you, I’m not great at drawing. I tried to copy a tutorial for drawing mountains on Instagram, and spent more time laughing at my art than feeling proud of my mountain. Oh well! Laughter is far better than tears.

    Just play with some triangle shapes and add some shading until you find a style that works for you.

    Cover Page

    For my cover page, I created a small mountain range. At the base of the mountains I added some pine trees just for the pop of color. I created a night sky using stencils for the stars. To finish it off I wrote January in an icy blue. Sorry. My phone was making obnoxious shadows on this page.

    Blog Calendar

    Next is my monthly Blog calendar. It has very little on it right now, but I have an entire notebook of ideas to work through. I chose my favorite John Muir quote to help inspire me and continue my mountain theme.

    Habit Tracker

    Bullet Journals are a great place to hold yourself accountable to your goals. This month, I really want to focus on finding inner peace so I can project it into my environment. That’s why I set up this habit tracker page. Each day I find time to meditate, I will add a little meditating 🧘‍♀️ person and write the date on it. Hopefully I will have 31 at the end of the month.

    Mood Tracker

    Obviously, I have prepared this post before January 1st since nothing is actually filled out. I don’t usually do this, but we are expected to close on our house the 10th, so I expect to be crazy most of the month. On the bright side, my mood tracker should be colorful, or at least very pink and green.

    Quotes

    I decided to end this month with some inspiration. These are my favorite quotes that mention mountains.

    So be honest and let me know what you think. Are you interested in seeing the themes I choose for the next 11 months in my journal? I had a lot of fun sketching and organizing my goals for this month, and would love to share whatever comes next.

    Climb your mountain and I’ll see you on the other side.

    Kristie

  • Virtual Tours of the National Parks

    Virtual Tours of the National Parks

    We are closing on our house later today. I’m ridiculously excited and impatient to start getting settled, but I’m also a little sad because it means we definitely aren’t traveling the US for the next 5 years. I really wanted to see all the National Parks.

    Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park

    Our first stop was going to be Texas and while we were there, I was planning to explore Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park. I was excited to learn that you can take a Virtual Tour of the main floor of the Texas White House, which is closed for renovations. You can also tour Junction School , his Childhood Home and watch Videos from tour guides telling you about the park.

    Homeschool Tie-In

    The LBJ Library has a plethora information that is perfect for Homeschooling. My favorite are A Vote Is a Powerful Thing for early elementary students, Jim Crow to Johnson which is a history of Civil right in the south aimed at middle school students and I Shall not Seek where high school students can compare Johnson’s choices with Biden’s.

    Shenandoah National Park

    Located in Virginia, this is on my bucket list of places to visit. The virtual tour doesn’t offer the trails or waterfalls but it does have some of the buildings. There is the Massanutten Lodge, Dickey Ridge which offers a glimpse of the mountains, a descriptive tour of The river cabin and Pocosin Cabin. Now I just need a bear encounter to make it feel real.

    Homeschool Tie-In

    The National Parks Service has Virtual Field trips to do with your kids. There is a Virtual habitats trip for your 2nd grader. The Virtual Ecosystems trip compares human and animal communities with your 4th grader. My final favorite is 5th grade Virtual Geology but that might be because my kid is super into rocks.

    I hope you enjoyed taking a mini trip with me. Thank you for distracting me from my impatience.

    Have a great day!

    Kristie

  • 15 Quotes from Think Like a Monk by Jay Shetty to Help Ring in the New Year

    15 Quotes from Think Like a Monk by Jay Shetty to Help Ring in the New Year

    Happy New Year! I know I’ve been mostly absent for the last couple months, but I’m trying to start the new year off right.

    I’m not much of a self-help book kinda gal. Growing up in the ‘90s it felt like they were a fad I could never get away from, but wanted to avoid forever. So imagine my surprise when I was drawn to Jay Shetty’s Think Like a Monk.

    The last part of 2024 was chaos for me. I went back to work after being home for 4 years. We moved out of our house and into the camper while house hunting. My daughter ended up in the hospital for 11 days with pneumonia. I needed to find a way to refocus and find a calm for 2025. I am hoping that the quotes I took from this book will start me off on the right foot. Maybe they will inspire you as well.

    These are my favorites

    • When you learn to navigate and manage your breath, you can navigate any situation in life.
    • When you try to live your most authentic life, some of your relationships will be put in jeopardy. Losing them is a risk worth bearing; finding a way to keep them in your life is a challenge worth taking on.
    • Your identity is a mirror covered with dust. When you first look in the mirror, the truth of who you are and what you value is obscured. Clearing it may not be pleasant, but only when the dust is gone can you see your true reflection.
    • When we tune out the opinions, expectations, and obligations of the world around us, we begin to hear ourselves.
    • Don’t judge someone with a different disease. Don’t expect anyone to be perfect. Don’t think you are perfect.
    • The more we define ourselves in relation to the people around us, the more lost we are.
    • Remember, saying whatever we want, whenever we want, however we want, is not freedom. Real freedom is not feeling the need to say these things.
    • The less time you fixate on everyone else, the more time you have to focus on yourself.
    • The emotion you fall asleep with at night is most likely the emotion you’ll wake up with in the morning.
    • Treat yourself with the same love and respect you want to show to others.
    • If you don’t break your ego, life will break it for you.
    • When you’re present in gratitude, you can’t be anywhere else.
    • In every relationship you have an opportunity to set the level of joy you expect and the level of pain you’ll accept.
    • Selflessness heals the self.
    • You don’t have to have to give.

  • Nite Lites

    Nite Lites

    On the 2nd Day of Christmas

    We went to see

    Nite Lites as a family.

    This is my daughter’s favorite tradition every year.

    We drive through the Michigan International Speedway that is lit up with Christmas lights.

    A lot of the displays stay the same.

    But this year there was a new story time section

    And my favorite new Land Before Time dinosaurs.

    It’s the perfect way to start feeling festive.

    ‘Tis the Season

    Kristie