Can you take our picture?

We’re officially in wedding season, plus it’s vacation, picnic and special event season as well. I’m betting it’ll happen to you.

“Can you take our picture?”

The question is frequently asked by strangers, but sometimes friends. So here are some tips that I want people to take into account when I hand over my phone or camera for a picture with my beloved or a friend.

• Take more than one. Chances are you aren’t wasting film since almost everyone uses digital. Take at least two pictures for people. We blink, look away, have someone walk through or have a finger over the lens. We can delete the bad ones so don’t be afraid to take a few. Also, offer a review. Let the person check the photo before you walk away.
• Get the shoes. *ahem, men: get the shoes.* When a woman is dressed for an event (from a picnic to a wedding) she has definitely put thought into her shoes and they are an important part of the outfit. Take at least one vertical picture for her that includes her shoes. I’ve had people take pictures of me at various events and the picture, although full-body, cuts off at my ankles. Get the whole outfit, if it turns out they didn’t want shoes in the picture, they can crop them out… you can’t add them in so better safe than sorry.
  

  This one almost got the shoes.

• Give a warning. 

Prepare for a Trip

I got back from Seattle a few days ago and am still kind of digging out. The time zone adjustment seemed like it’s be easy the first day back, but we were just exhausted from the trip home. It was a bit rougher this morning… I will share about my trip soon, but for now some tips for preparing for going away in case you need them.

How to prepare for a trip K-couple style:

1. Make plans in advance to have your pets cared for. (a big, huge thanks to our friends who are fed, watered, scooped and pet for us).
2. Make plans for the house. Our friends are also taking care of bringing in the mail for us.. otherwise there isn’t much that needs done.
   

   Basket for mail + Thank you note

3. Clean the house. I know that some people don’t get why it matters to clean the house before you go away, but a clean house makes returning from vacation a bit more pleasant. No dirty dishes, no overflowing hampers, swept floors… it’s nice.
4. Pack. Our bags flew for free (whoo hoo!) so packing was not a stress. We’ve gone on week-long cruises sharing one roller bag before so having our own suitcases was a treat! Even though we each had a bag, we split up our clothing so some of Brad’s was in my bag and some of mine was in his, so that if one bag gets lost in transit we at least had a change of clothes. (Packing is easier if you make a list too.)
5. Eat all of the food in the fridge. The last thing you want to do when you return home from a trip is have expired food sitting around. We plan out meals to use anything that will be bad by the time we get back. Before our trip out o Seattle, I accidentally bought milk that we didn’t need so I gave the new half-gallon to our kitty caretakers.

When I started writing this list, I thought it would be longer… but honestly the hardest part of preparing for a trip is figuring out where you’re going, how you’re getting there and wrapping things up at work before vacation (that proved to require more effort than I originally thought it would).

How do you prepare for a trip?

Related Posts:

Leavin’ on a Jetplane

Weepy

Down the drain

 

Blood Draws for Total Babies (like me!)

I’m a total baby when it comes to having blood drawn. It goes back to long before diabetes, but my panic over having lab work was exacerbated when I was dehydrated and having hourly draws nearly two years ago.

On Friday, I needed to go in to get regular testing done, including losing giving 3 vials of blood and peeing in a cup (having diabetes is all fun and games, didn’t you know?). Because of Good Friday, I ended up with the afternoon off so I headed out to the lab. When I got there, I thought I’d have to wait for a long time because there were several people in the waiting area. I didn’t even wait 5 minutes, come to find out all of the waiting room people were waiting on people who were already being seen. I was the only one there on my own which was strange.

Anyway, Friday’s draw was by far the best experience I’ve had since I put into practice the things I’d learned from past bad experiences… and I thought I’d share my tips for anyone who might be a bit of a wimp when it comes to blood work… like me.

1. If you are not required to fast for your blood work, don’t. Being low on energy then having blood drawn is a recipe for bad news. If your blood work is fasting, eat a snack before bedtime and go early in the morning. Take a snack along for directly after.
2. Be well-hydrated. The more water I’ve had before a draw, the easier it’s gone. Dehydrated Rachel veins like to collapse and I end up getting poked more times than necessary. I gulped down 3 big glasses of water right before leaving on Friday and only had to be poked once. As a bonus, if you have to have a urine test as well, you’ll be prepared.
3. Don’t think about it. When you know you have to go, think about something else beforehand. I have a horrible habit of psyching myself out beforehand. Listening to music on the way in and reading my Twitter feed in the waiting room helped a lot.

Tips

Every once in awhile I get a great tip and I feel compelled to pass along some of my new knowledge. Today I have two tips to share with you.

Microwave Cake

In college, I knew a set of roommates who perfected microwave baking and I’ve seen the coffee mug cakes on Pinterest, but it wasn’t until my mother-in-law shared this super simple recipe that her mother-in-law shared with her (I guess since I’m not a mother-in-law, sharing with you all will have to do!)

It’s called a 3-2-1 cake. You take an angel food cake mix and a regular cake mix and combine them. I put mine in a large plastic container, but most people I guess use gallon zip lock bags. You put 3 tablespoons of mix in a microwaveable dish (custard cups or coffee mugs work well), mix in 2 tablespoons of water and microwave for 1 minute.

My mother-in-law's cakes always look better than mine!