For the Rich of Heart and Poor of Wallet

I love North Carolina so far! Charlotte is one of the coolest cities I've been to and I've been to quite a lot of cities!!! It has a wonderful small town feel in a big city!! I've met some really cool people and am making new friends everyday! It has been interesting moving to a city where I don't know anybody at all!  When I moved to Granada, Spain for study abroad, I knew my roommate through Facebook and Skype! It was nice having someone to talk to immediately when I got to a foreign country. But here in Charlotte, I came here knowing nobody and it was interesting! I have become fairly involved in a church here and its been awesome to get to know people around my own age!

I have been so very fortunate to have wonderfully supportive parents who are helping me out during my stay here in Charlotte. They are helping me with my rent because my internship is unpaid! However, I am in charge of funding my groceries and gas and any other necesseities that I need! Its a great way for me to try and support myself and learn the way of "adults".

I am not a very good cook. Let me clear that up a little more: I am the queen of microwavable meals and Ramen noodles! So I was checkin out Pinterest the other day (and by checkin out Pinterest I mean I spent like 4 hours looking up different pins) and came across a recipe that I thought I would share: Cheesy Ramen Noodles! I had seen the recipe before but I've always been scared to stray from my usual Chicken Ramen! But I decided to try something new and I LOVED IT!!!!! So here I was with cheesy chicken ramen noodles and thought I need to share this with the world! Everybody needs to know that adding a slice of cheese to your Ramen makes everything better in this world.

So here is the recipe I found with some modifications that I made after two attempts!

What You Need:
1 package of Chicken Ramen Noodles
1 slice of sliced cheese (Kraft works good but really any slice of cheese works)
2 cups of water

Directions:
1. Boil your water in a small pot!
2. Break up the noodles in their package.
3. Once water comes to a boil stir in the noodles and wait a few minutes until the noodles soften and look delicious!
4. Then add chicken seasoning and stir!
5. Dump out a majority of the water in the pot leaving about 1 inch of water in the pot.
6. Take your slice of cheese and break it into smaller pieces and add to the noodles!
7. Stir until all is melted and ENJOY!

I loved this so much and can't wait to try it again! If you ever feel the need for Ramen noodles, try adding one simple slice of cheese and watch your world get changed!!!! :)
Mackenzy

Crafty Me Take 2!

Hello again!!! So yesterday I showed y'all my latest craft with my $3 Goodwill buy ( a brass candle stand) and how I transformed it into a fun and funky bracelet stand!

I put this finished product on my Facebook and got lots of comments asking about it...my lovely uncle thought it was a birdbath!! So when it finally dried, I arranged some of my many bracelets on it to show how awesome it looks! Check it out!!

Here it is in relation to a Rudy's cup!!

I might be biased but I think it looks pretty darn cool!!! It took about 5 hours to dry because I put the paint on thick to cover up any brass showing through. But once it was done, all my bracelets fit perfectly on it!

Another Wal-Mart purchase I made yesterday was an earring display! It was $9 and I found it in the arts and crafts section! It was originally black, but again I used the rest of my pink paint to drastically transform it!

I think it looks really cool with my new bracelet holder and with my earrings and rings on it! I've never really had anything to display jewelry on! I think that since I'm starting a "big girl job" I should start accessorizing better and so I think this is a great start! I will keep y'all updated on my new life here! Till then God Bless and Gig Em'!

Mackenzy

Crafty Me!

So since the last time I posted, I accepted an internship position this summer! I don't know much about it yet except that I think it is going to be a wonderful opportunity that will hopefully open doors for me! The only downside so far is that it required me to leave Texas! I am now located in Charlotte, North Carolina and so far so good!! I had been to North Carolina twice before (Asheville and Raleigh) but never to Charlotte! And to my astonishment...its a large city!! I was under the impression that it was just a large town (kinda like where I grew up) so driving into the city and seeing skyscrapers around me was quite shocking!!! I am living close to the UNCC (University of North Carolina at Charlotte) campus which makes me feel like I am back in College Station and close to my beloved Texas A&M University!

It is so strange to be in a town where the three people I've met so far have 1) never been to Texas or 2) haven't even heard of Texas A&M! They didn't even know who Johnny Football was (kinda to my relief and hopefully a blow to his large ego). Everybody just seems more interested and flabbergasted that I picked up and drove 20+ hours to get here and packed so sparsely! I actually didn't pack all that much so my room looks a bit empty but I have all I need to live for the next seven weeks!

So to brighten my room up a bit, I decided to go to the local Goodwill (a favorite store of mine), WalMart, and Target to find cheap and little things to make my room homelier!  My first stop was at Goodwill where I found a small brass candle holder (at least that's what I think it is). It wasn't very shiny but it was heavy and durable! I discovered while unpacking my room yesterday that I didn't have anything to display my jewelry! So I decided to buy the $3 brass thing and paint it and turn it into a small bracelet stand! Check it out!!

I felt like that splash of color was exactly what I needed and I can't wait for it to dry and start using it!!! Because it was a brass stand, I was worried that plain acrylic paint would be very thorough in covering the surfaces while still showing the small details like the small lines along the edges! So I thought that good ol' wall paint would be the best paint for the job! So I went to WalMart next and purchased a Better Homes and Garden paint sample for $2! This is a great way to buy paint but not have a ton left over!! It also comes with a small brush inside for easy painting (and I didn't have to purchase a brush)!

If I buy anything else that I think can be painted, I'll use the leftover paint I have and color it up!!! So all in all, this simple craft ended up costing me $5 for a sturdy and colorful bracelet stand!!! Who knows..maybe I could use it for other things later!! 

I'll keep you updated on my new life in Charlotte and with other crafty things that might happen!! But till then God bless and Gig Em'!!

Kenzy