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Creating a shared photo stream using an iPhone

June 3, 2014 by Jana 12 Comments

A few months ago, I figured out that I can create and share photo streams and albums using my iPhone. More seasoned iPhone users probably knew this but I usually don’t realize features exist until I need to use them (we won’t go into the fact that I’ve had my phone for 2+ years and just figured this out in March). It’s good thing I discovered this option, too, since it’s made collaborative photo projects exponentially easier. It’s wonderful to just send over a whole album with one notification rather than over several texts. It’s particularly helpful if you have several people you want to share pictures with or if you all want to share pictures from the same event.

It also saves time, which is nice.

I had a brief conversation with Steph explaining what to do and figured it would be a good idea to write a whole post just in case someone else didn’t know you could do this and wanted to. So here we go.

(Note: I have a 4s and an iPad2. The following directions might be slightly different with newer models and when I have those, I’ll update the tutorial, but I’m sure it’s not too different. If it is, please let me know. Also, the screen captures are mostly from my iPad, mainly for clarity, but the process is identical on both devices. If the screen looks different, there will be a screen capture from both.)

Step 1

Open the photos icon and select the shared icon on the bottom menu (the cloud picture)

Step 2

Create a new shared stream by tapping the plus sign

Step 3

Name the new stream and then tap “next”

Step 4

Invite people to join the stream by typing their email, phone number, or using the plus sign to invite people from your contacts list. Then tap “create”

Step 5

Verify that the new stream has been added to your shared streams.

Step 6

Start adding pictures by tapping the plus sign to the left of the text box. You’ll do this before you get the box and then you’ll select “done” and then you’ll get this box. Add comments if you want and then select “post”. You should return to the main album page, with the photos you selected added to it. You can see the example with pictures in step 8.

Step 7

Once you’re in the main album, you can edit the photo stream (I took this capture before I added pictures. I probably should have done it the other way around but I just noticed that I didn’t). Tap “people”, and you’ll get the following options:

1. Invite more people later on, or add those you forgot on the initial invite.

2. Allow subscribers to the stream to add videos and pictures as well.

3. Create a custom, private URL that allows anyone to see the stream (this is for non-iPhone users mostly).

4. Get notifications when people alter the photo stream with comments, likes, or adding their own photos.

Step 8

Play around with the slideshow settings (I took this screen capture after I added the pictures so if you need a reference for step 6, here it is. You can change the transitions between slides and add music. That’s all you can do with my devices but the newer ones might have more options.

If you’re doing this on your phone, instead of the screen above, you’ll get something like the screen below and you’ll use the arrows at the bottom to access the slideshow settings. On the main screen for the stream, slide over to “people” to access the settings described in step 7.

And there you go! Follow these steps and you’ll be able to share photo streams in no time!

Goals, goals, and more goals

June 2, 2014 by Jana 19 Comments

Month three of publicly declaring my goals. In April, I kicked the living shit out of my goals and accomplished 4 of 5. I think I got prematurely arrogant, set 5 more goals for May, and accomplished exactly zero of them. That’s right. Zero. None. I did nothing.

Actually, that’s a lie. I kept up with one goal, my 5k training. I am finishing week 5 (today, in fact) and I am thrilled with how it’s progressing. Now I just need to incorporate more strength training because my fat ass needs to lose some weight. So for this month, goal #1 is to lose a few pounds. Let’s say 5. That’s probably the most realistic number I can come up with. And, along with that, goal #2 is to continue the couch 2 5k program I started and be able to run the full 30ish minutes without stopping by the end of the month.

So that takes care of the health stuff. Now onto pioneer things.

You know how I’ve been trying to crochet? I’m giving it one more month. Then crocheting can go fuck itself. I just cannot do it. It try so hard, practice pretty often, and mess up after 3 rows. I mean, it’s better than the one I could do when I started but still. I am getting ridiculously frustrated. In fact, I’m pretty sure I sound like this:

And I am confident that not all pioneers crocheted well so if I can’t get it done, at least I know I tried my best. So goal #3 is to crochet that damn potholder. And then we’ll see.

Goal #4 is sewing a pillowcase. I talked about the million pillowcase challenge last month and I love the idea and I will get this one done. I have less than no reason why I didn’t do this in May except for utter laziness. With my daughter ending school this week, I’m thinking of ways to incorporate her into this challenge. Maybe have her help pick the fabric and patterns. That could work. Let’s do that.

And that brings us to the beer. Brewing beer is a pretty expensive endeavor, y’all. I think this one might have to wait until the end of the summer so we can buy the proper ingredients and do it correctly. Plus, we need to research a little more and all that good nerdy, overachiever stuff. But I like lists like this in groups of 5 which means I need to add another goal. I think, for this month, that goal #5 is to do some stuff with essential oils. From what I’ve been reading, the pioneers did a lot with herbal remedies and essential oils, to me, seem to encompass that. I’ll probably start with a homemade cleaner (I already do the vinegar/water thing, but maybe something that smells less like salad dressing) and maybe an air freshener or lotion or lip balm.

I also plan to finish the start your own pioneer project series of posts I have outlined, along with my version of a pioneer manifesto (I’ve always wanted a manifesto), and finally get those published on here.

I figure as long as I don’t slack and actually act like a productive member of society (allowing proper time for Orange Is the New Black, of course), I should be able to achieve all my goals. Including the weight loss, which always, ALWAYS proves harder than the rest.

How about you? Do you have any monthly goals?

End of (wallet) watch

May 6, 2014 by Jana 8 Comments

It’s over. I did it. I survived.

Throughout the month of April, I participated in the Wallet Watch challenge. It was essentially a make your own rules no spend challenge but rather than a strict “no spend” rule, you could allow for certain purchases. Because I cheat at my own rules, I had to be strict with myself and set up parameters that I had to follow. Giving myself leeway is a gateway down the spending rabbit hole which sort of defeats the whole purpose of the challenge.

I set up 6 rules for myself that allowed for savings and spending on certain items but also made sure I paid attention to where my money was going.

Rule #1: Use coupons

I don’t really know how to analyze this one. I don’t really actively look for grocery coupons because I’m lazy but if they happen to fall in my lap, I use them. Throughout April, I don’t think I used any grocery coupons but I did use a whole bunch of Redbox codes and returned the movies on time to avoid paying for more than one day (we’ll talk about this rule, avoid stupid tax, next). We also had (and used) a coupon for a breakfast item at Chick Fil A, I found a LivingSocial deal for entry into Run or Dye, and I used my Walgreen’s discount card to save on a few things we needed.

Rule #2: No stupid tax

Stupid tax is basically the money you pay for being lazy. Library fines, late charges on bills, overdraft fees, stuff like that. I did incur a $.20 charge for my daughter’s library books but other than that, no stupid tax for the entire month. This was miraculous, particularly as the Redbox policy is confusing and I’m bad about returning movies and I almost always pay for an extra day when I don’t mean to.

Rule #3: No frivolous purchases without gift cards

I bought nothing extra during the entire month. Not a nail polish bottle, Starbucks drink, or song from iTunes. In fact, I suffered from gift card paralysis where I have them but am so afraid what I buy with them is going to suck so hard I can’t bring myself to buy anything and I put the cards away. Oh, wait. I lied. I bought one thing but it’s health related so it doesn’t count. I purchased a Couch 2 5K training app for my iPhone. Best money I spent all month, though.

Rule #4: No more craft supplies

I bought crochet hooks for $4. I figured the embarrassment I suffered at buying cat food, crochet hooks, and picking up my reading glasses all in 24 hours thereby making me question how old I actually am made up for breaking this rule.

Rule #5: Keep to my grocery budget

I don’t know if I did this or not. I’ve been pretty good about staying on a budget but honestly, I lost track. I need to start paying in cash for groceries again because using the debit card makes it too difficult to track. I did spend 3 hours on Sunday doing a ton of food prep in an attempt to keep things under control so we’ll see how it goes this month.

Rule #6: Keep up savings challenge

You might have seen the 52 week savings challenge floating around Pinterest. Basically, you put aside a certain amount of money each week and by the end of the year you’ll have either around $344 or $1100, depending on which one you do. We’re doing the smaller one and as of yesterday’s count, we are completely up to date and on pace to save $344 as a family for the year. It’s not much but it’ll certainly help towards our goal of getting back to Disney World!

What else? Well, I also wound up saving us money by: putting my gym membership on hold (saves both on the membership fee and the gas getting back and forth); registering the child for her football season cheerleading early, earning us a discount; celebrating our 10 year anniversary entirely with gifted money and free activities; and shopping for clothes with gift cards (clothes are not frivolous to me because I go shopping almost never so they’re a separate category).

I’m so glad I opted to participate in this challenge. It made me much more aware of where my money’s going which I really, really needed. I’m hoping to continue this mindfulness.

And now, a collage of shit I want to buy but don’t but might now that I’ve saved money:

Did you participate in the Wallet Watch or regularly do something like this? How does it work for you?

The Pioneer Kitchen Diaries: Homemade Butter

April 23, 2014 by Jana 14 Comments

It’s been awhile since I posted an actual project update. That’s mainly because I’ve been too lazy to work on any but this week, I decided I’d had enough of that. And also it’s spring break so I figured my daughter and I could ~~kill~~ spend an hour or two working on one.

I went through my Pinterest board of projects ideas and settled on a fairly simple and relatively inexpensive one–homemade butter. The timing was perfect, too, as I’m finishing up Little House in the Big Woods for next week’s book club discussion and Laura painfully details the butter making process. So it worked for ease, theme, and cost.

Since I don’t own butter churn and have absolutely no desire to ever own one, I used the instructions for making butter in a stand-up mixer (which I only have courtesy of my mother-in-law’s hand me down). I opted out of coloring the butter orange like they did in the book because shredding a carrot and combining it with boiling milk sounded like unnecessary work and more dishes to clean. Yellow butter works just fine for me.

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients–3/4 tsp salt, 1 quart heavy cream
My daughter making a rare appearance on the blog as my helper pouring the cream into the mixing bowl
The butter starting to form and separate from the milk.
The mess that happens even if you use a towel and cover the mixer because towels have a limit on how much they can absorb.

Not pictured: the whipped cream phase that happens before the cream turns to butter, draining the buttermilk through a colander and rinsing the butter. Not sure why this last one is necessary but the directions said to do it and I did. Also not pictured are my disgusting, greasy hands.

After you mix everything up (takes about 20 minutes and you need to check it fairly frequently), you get butter that sticks to the paddle and buttermilk in the bottom of the bowl. Then you drain the milk through the strainer and it looks like this. Right now, it’s stored in a glass container in my fridge and if you have a recipe that involves buttermilk so I can use it up, please share.

This is the actual butter. After I washed it and rung out what was left of the buttermilk, it was kind of like a butter ball. I left it in a lump as I saw no need to mold the butter into anything fancy because I don’t care about that shit. And aesthetics mean nothing when you make butter that actually tastes like butter. Which I did, y’all.

This project was amazingly easy, albeit messier than I would have liked. Next time, I’ll still use the towel but lower the speed to prevent splatter and decrease the mess (and by extension, clean up time). And as far as cost, it’s really no more expensive ($4.49 for a quart if heavy cream at Walmart) than buying a pound of already made butter.

I cannot imagine having to do this with a butter churn. I completely understand how it took them all day to do. Before I was all “how the fuck did it take them all day? This is so easy! How slow did they move?” But now, having done it myself, I get it. I saw the effort my badass stand up mixer had to put forth to get it done. And just letting it go for the 20 minutes or so before I had to rinse, separate and mold felt like it took an eternity. Having to do it with my own strength and patience? Forget it that. My family would never eat butter.But if you have a stand-up mixer or even an electric hand mixer, I’d recommend giving this a try.

Oh, and the butter lasts about 4 weeks. I think. I’ll let you know in 4 weeks.

Have you ever made homemade butter? Did you follow similar directions?

It’s not pretty, it’s our garden

April 7, 2014 by Jana 15 Comments

Two months into this project, I’ve learned 3 key lessons:

1. Being a pioneer is hard work. Dirty, grueling, get your hands dirty hard work.
2. Being a pioneer takes a lot of patience. Like, a lot. More than I have some days.
3. Being a pioneer is pretty damn expensive, particularly when you’re just getting started and you need to buy materials. No wonder it took the Oregon Trail travelers a year to save the money to get started.

Case in point: our garden.

When I decided I wanted to embark on the adventure that is pioneer living, I knew I had to get my husband on board. Mainly because I needed his support on some of the skills I’m attempting to learn (we’ll talk more about this another day, but let’s just say yarn is an asshole) but also because I needed him to do the literal and figurative heavy lifting on putting together our garden. Because gardening was essential to pioneers. You know, so they could eat and not starve to death.

So of course I had to do it.

Fortunately, the husband enjoys gardening whereas I enjoy the concept of gardening. So we had a family discussion regarding what we were going to plant but I stepped back and let him do whatever it was he needed to do to get it started. Because, quite frankly, I’m better off staying away from plant life. I am the grim reaper of the plant world. I’m pretty sure plants begin to die if I even think about going near them.

And let me just say this–Friends, if you have a spouse who is overly enthusiastic about gardening and you truly don’t give a shit, you will have to endure many conversations about tilling, amending soil, early crops, late crops, composting, containers, bugs, fertilizer, and more topics that will bore you to literal tears. I have found the best way to handle the situation is to smile, nod, and say “whatever you need to do is fine with me”.

Giving the husband free reign over the garden made him almost as happy as if I told him I assembled Tiger Woods, Cal Ripken, and John Elway and they were all going to play golf at Augusta National. He took the authority and ran with it. At his insistence, all winter, we worked on our compost pile, planned where in our backyard we’d have the garden, and he even created a very detailed chart/blueprint with the different plots, plants, and layout.

This made me realize it was a good thing he was in charge of this particular project. Because if left up to me, we’d have approximately nothing accomplished.

After what felt like an eternity of olanning and talking, the weather finally cooperated this weekend and we were able to get the plots dug and some of the seeds planted. Apparently, there are some seeds that need to be started inside rather than outside and we worked on that, too.

While he was digging, my daughter and I wrote out plant markers on Popsicle sticks so we know what plants are where:

When he was done digging, this is what everything looked like (note: he still has 3-4 more plots to dig but apparently our backyard is crap and he needs a tiller. In a lucky turn of events, we finally don’t have to play for something and he’s borrowing one from a co-worker):

Then we planted the seeds and he and our daughter watered them. I avoided this part because I really, really hate mud and having it on me makes me cringe. (Also, real men use a pink Dora watering can. Back off ladies, he’s mine):

When it was all done, it looked like this. I know it doesn’t seem like much now but I’m hoping that in a few months, when I wrote a follow-up, you’ll see actual plants instead of just dirt. Excuse me. Soil.

Everything about planting the garden made me unhappy. The dirt. The money we had to spend to get it started. The endless waiting for the right time. The dirt. And while I know I’ll enjoy the result of this project, right now, it kind of sucks. But it did up the level of respect I had for the pioneers, particularly those who had absolutely nothing when they started.

So there’s that.

And just to prove I’m not the the only one who dislikes the process, here’s a picture of my cat, sitting under our barbecue, staying clear away from the actual labor part of gardening and watching approvingly. Because she’s knows how to get shit done.

Creating a shared photo stream using an iPhone

Goals, goals, and more goals

End of (wallet) watch

The Pioneer Kitchen Diaries: Homemade Butter

It’s not pretty, it’s our garden

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