Jessica In Seattle

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Shared Small Kids Room

I have two kids who are seven years apart. The older brother is not keen on his younger sister getting into his stuff. I can't blame him. Tristan is 11 and EJ is 4 1/2. The problem is they have to share a bedroom.

The even bigger problem is the bedroom is really small for two kids to share while still having their own space.
We start moving in tomorrow.

The solution: bookshelves and twin size loft beds. This is a great solution for any older and younger siblings who have to share a room.

The room is 11 feet wide by 10 feet 4 inches long. There is also only one window.
To give the appearance that my daughter has a window in her side of the bedroom, I will hang a mirror on her wall and place sheer curtains over it as if it were a window. Not only will that provide reflection to make her space seem bigger, but it will also help distribute the light on her side. Luckily she likes cave-like spaces so having bookshelves around almost half of her bed won't be an issue.

The bookshelves will be nearly ceiling height so that the kids will have privacy. Or rather, so Tristan will have privacy. Each of the kids will have two bookshelves facing their side of the room. They can use them for books and displaying their toys or collections. The bottom shelves can be used for their shoes.

I made the diagram below to show you the layout. The purple and yellow side (her favorite colours) is EJ's space with the yellow bookshelves facing her side which is quite a bit smaller since she does not require as much space. There is a small TV stand where they will both be able to see it at the same time.
The blue and turquoise side (his favorite colours) is Tristan's side. It is larger because he needs space to study and space to set up his large building kits.
Both kids have a reading chair with a lamp as both love books.

EJ's loft bed will be only about 4 or so feet off the ground so it isn't as tall as Tristan's which is planned to be a little more than 5 feet - giving him head room while he's studying and enough room to not bonk his head on the ceiling.

Each child will have a nice piece of wall art reflecting their own style and personality on their side of their shared room. Examples are below. If you really like one of the posters, you can click on the link under it and it will take you to it and others like it.

Let me know what you think!

Until Next Time,
JessicaInSeattle

This is a view of the shared bedroom.

Morkeleb The Black Poster by Lotacats

Castle by the Sea View from a Window by SceneFromAWindow

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Sale - Now Until Midnight Tonight PST

ONLY TILL MIDNIGHT PST: Save 50% off ALL NEW products by clicking http://bit.ly/ttXXrL

Use Promo Code NEWPRODNIGHT

50% off sale on all new products

www.zazzle.com

Qualifying products are notebooks, notepads, puzzles, magnets, plates, coasters, plaques, computer sleeves, mousepads, tiles, and gift boxes.

Bullies

A friend recently posted something on facebook about a child who committed suicide because he was bullied at school for being gay. Bullying is all too common. Many people have personal experience with it. I am one of those people.

BULLY FREE ZONE 52" x 35" poster by malibuitalian

I have four children. Two of my children have been bullied in three different schools by their peers. The second one became a bully in an attempt to stop the bullying being directed at my child.

With the first one, the school did nothing, although the teacher and principal were notified of the bullying. I had to contact the child that was bullying my child to put on my scary mom face and tell them to leave my child alone.

Luckily, it worked.

Many other children are not so lucky.

My first child to be bullied was bullied again when moved to a new school. Weight gain and becoming very tough looking was the choice made by my child to stop the bullying at the new school.

Again, it worked. I wish those steps were not necessary. I'm now concerned about health issues related to the weight gain.

With my second child to be bullied, it took four years, two parents, multiple phone calls, emails, and meetings to get the school involved enough to finally stop the bullying. We have an official safety plan filed with the school board to keep the children that were bullying away from my child.

My second child to be bullied entered counseling in first grade as a result of the bullying. My child still sees a counselor to help deal with the emotional scars made by the hurtful words and actions of other children.

My child first mentioned thoughts of suicide to me in the third grade. I still fear for my child's life when a bad day at school is mentioned.

Will those thoughts return? I can only hope they stay away and continue open communication with my child about my child’s feelings.

I did everything possible from my side to stop my child from being a bully as soon as I found out that it happened. My child bullying other children stopped.

If only other parents would take the measures I took to stop the bullying.

The Bull-ying Stops Here Purple T-Shirt by Stop_Bullying

Then, my children would not be suffering. And neither would thousands of others.

If you know of a child who is either being a bully or bullying another child, please do not idly stand by and continue to allow it.

You may have a chance at saving a life.

Take that chance.

Until Next Time,
JessicaInSeattle

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Get $10 off your next Zazzle order!

Friday, November 18, 2011

In Response

I received a comment on my blog post from Wednesday and I would like to respond publicly, so I am responding with another blog post.

The comment:

"How would giving a loving couple the right to marry shatter the sanctity of marriage?"

I think we all know the answer to that question. I'm sure those who oppose this are of the same demographic who were for segregation, preventing minorities from voting, preventing women from voting, and those who still are prejudiced against mixed-race marriages.

Women can vote, minorities can vote, share a seat in the front of a bus, and marry. It's sad that many politicians still dare not upset the conservative voters, but eventually they will and same-sex couples will be recognised the same as non-same-sex couples.

My response:

First, your words mean so very much to me, Daniel; I thank you!

In addition, yes, I know there are hundreds of thousands in this vast world who believe in segregation on many levels. Religion and politics are used to justify some of these belief systems. Others believe in some form of segregation due to parental teaching or because it is the laws of their country.

Separating same sex couples from non-same-sex couples (I have to admit your choice of wording made me smile) is just another form of segregation.

Separating the rights of women from the rights of men, as is common in many countries around this world, is another form.

Moreover, one could argue, the separation of CEO's from the person who sorts the mail is yet another. This is the general basis for the Occupy Wall Street protests we have heard about, been a part of or seen. It surrounds us on a daily basis without much thought.

It is true that we have made incredible progress toward equality but we still have quite a ways to go. The average annual pay for a woman is still less than that for a man with the same job description. The gap has decreased over the years as on June 10, 1963 it became illegal to pay women lower rates for the same job strictly on the basis of their sex. That has not closed the gap completely however.

Here is a tidbit:

Median Annual Pay for Full-Time Working Men in 2010	Median Annual Pay for Full-Time Working Women in 2010

$42,848	$34,788

There are so many forms of segregation, I cannot address them all here or no one would read my blog as it would be far too encompassing a read.

I look forward to the day when politicians dare upset the conservative voters to allow same sex marriage and we close the door a little further on inequality.

Equality by JessicaInSeattle

Until Next Time,

JessicaInSeattle

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Shattering The Sanctity of Marriage

This week I learned that on the 2012 ballot in the State of Washington (where I live), we will see a referendum asking to give same-sex couples the right to marriage. I'm one half of a same-sex couple. There is outrage amoung those who oppose gay marriage and their main argument seems to be that if I have the right to marry my fiancée, we will shatter the sanctity of marriage.

The sanctity of marriage? Really? How would giving a loving couple the right to marry shatter the sanctity of marriage?

How many celebrity couples can you think of who are divorced?

Let me give you a hand here. I'll provide a list of celebrity couples who have had short-lived marriages. I shortened it, because it was getting too long!

Sophia Bush and Chad Michael Murray: 5 months

Shannen Doherty and Ashley Hamilton: 5 months

Drew Barrymore and Tom Green: 5 months

Charlie Sheen and Donna Peele: 5 months

Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Esposito: 4 months

Renée Zellweger and Kenny Chesney: 4 months

Kid Rock and Pamela Anderson: 4 months

Colin Farrell and Amelia Warner: 4 months

Jennifer Lopez and Cris Judd: 4 months

Lisa Marie Presley and Nicolas Cage: 3 months

Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries: 72 days

Chris Kattan and Sunshine Tutt: 8 weeks

Ethel Merman and Ernest Borgnine: 32 days

Eddie Murphy and Tracey Edmonds: 2 weeks

Mario Lopez and Ali Landry: 2 weeks

Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman: 6 Days

Britney Spears and Jason Alexander: less than 55 hours

Oh dear, I think it has been proven that the sanctity of marriage was shattered before I ever proposed to the woman I love.

It seems many people think of it as a partnership that lasts as long as the two people can stand each other.

Well, just to be fair, here is a list of the longest opposite sex celebrity marriages.

Danny Devito and Rhea Perlman: 29 years and counting

Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson: 23 years and counting

Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick: 23 years and counting

John Travolta and Kelly Preston: 20 years and counting

Let's look at some more statistics here. So, I will just write down how long these same sex celebrity couples have been together since they can't legally marry in the US.

Michael Cashman and Paul Cottingham: over 20 years and counting

John Barrowman and Scott Gill: 18 years and counting

Elton John and David Furnish:18 years and counting

David Sedaris and Hugh Hamrick: over 10 years and counting

Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka: 7 years and counting

Cynthia Nixon and Christine Marinoni: 7 years and counting

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia DeGeneres: 7 years and counting

Alan Cumming and Grant Shaffer: 6 years and counting

Barney Frank and Jim Ready: 6 years and counting

And some short term marriages between same sex couples:

Oh, right, there aren't any.

All we are asking for is the right to have the people we love recognized by law as our wives or husbands.

Why? Well why do opposite sex couples want to get married?

In no particular order at all, here are a list of reasons that pop into my head for why same sex couples want to get married.

It is easier to file one tax return each year instead of two.

Speaking of taxes, we want the tax breaks for being married.

Because we want a family. Or we already have one and we want it to be recognized.

So when we go to our child's school, we are recognized as a parent of that child.

Because being confined to a waiting room while the person we love is in a hospital bed is painful.

Because when the biological child of our partner is hurt, we want to be able to take them to the doctor and be seen as their mother or father.

So we can qualify for spousal medical and dental insurance.

Because we want to be able to say "This is my wife" or "This is my husband".

Marriage has been proven to prolong life. We want to live longer!

People who are married report being happier. Are we not entitled to happiness?

Because it is a lot cheaper to pay for one house.

So we can have a party where all our friends and loved ones come and celebrate that we are together.

Because having an anniversary is kind of like having a second birthday every year!

So when someone tries to pick us up in a bar, we can tell them we're married.

Because hearing that our friends are getting married is hard when we can't plan our own legit wedding.

So I can proudly wear my ring and know that my wife gave it to me.

Because it is nice to have someone to talk to at the end of the day.

Because I want to spend the rest of my life with the person I fell in love with.

Do you see anything special about this list? Do you see anything that opposite sex couples don't get when they get married?

No, you don't. You don't because we don't want anything special or different or unique. We want what is already defined as marriage.

Remember learning in your US History class in school about when interracial couples couldn't marry in many states in this country? A law was passed on June 12, 1967 allowing miscegenation (interracial marriage) in the United States.

It's about time a law was passed for marriage equality. A law allowing all persons of legal age and sound mind to marry whomever they want who is also of legal age and sound mind.

So, if you think that allowing me to marry the woman I love will shatter the sanctity of marriage, you are sorely mistaken.

Until Next Time,
JessicaInSeattle

Monday, October 10, 2011

Love Naked Yoga?

I noticed there were many searches for Naked Yoga coming to my blog page. So, I thought I'd create a shirt to match all those searches!
It doesn't matter what you call it; if you love doing yoga in the nude, you can now share that love with everyone who reads your shirt. Just remember, you need to take it off when you get to class!

I Love Naked Yoga by JessicaInSeattle

Until Next Time,
JessicaInSeattle

Friday, October 7, 2011

Super Sexy September Sales!

During the month of September I was moving and I did not have much time to devote to my Zazzle stores. Apparently that did not affect traffic to my stores or sales of my products.
Not only did I have a great month, I had the best September I've had since I opened my first store over 4 years ago!
Since I didn't have time to update my Facebook and Twitter fans of all the sales because of the move, I'm just posting them all in this blog post so I don't overwhelm my fans and lose any of them due to the annoyance of too many updates taking up space on their feeds.
Because I value all of you and don't want to lose any of you!
At the same time, I thought you would like to see a good example of what is available and selling!

Thank you for being such a supporter of what I love to do!
JessicaInSeattle

So, here is the very exciting list of 510 products ordered in September: