Process Essay

There is a process I take every year when it’s time to put up our Christmas tree.   First I have to clean a place for the tree, second I have to get the tree and my last is to get all the ornaments for the tree.  My goal is to make my tree look better than the previous year.

                This year is a little different from previous years.  This is my husbands and I’s first Christmas living together.  The first step we took to putting our tree up was cleaning a place for our tree, which in our case means having to mean future.  Our living room is very small it’s about 12x 12 but it’s open and you can see into the kitchen and dining room.   We have a 51 inch TV that was in the left corner that we had to move to the middle of the back wall so the tree could go in the corner where the TV was.    We got lucky and didn’t have to move too much.  From there were had to sweep since there were a lot of dust were the TV previously was. 

                From there we go to the basement and drag up the Christmas tree.  The Christmas tree is stored in a big red bag and is about 25 pounds which makes it kind of hard to carry up the stairs so it takes two to carry up.   After we got the tree up from the basement we have to unzip the bag and start putting the tree up piece by piece.  After the tree is up we put the lights on.  When it comes to the lights we have a system we use.   My husband and I stand to different sides of the tree is pass the clear lights back and forth till the lights are covering the tree completely.  We use three set of lights to cover the whole tree. 

                The third and final step is to go back down to the basement and get the red and green storage box of ornaments.    When we get them up from the basement we take the cover off and start placing the ornaments on the tree one by one.   We use silver and blue glitter ornaments and plan silver and blue ornaments.  We cover the tree completely so there is very little empty space on the tree.

                It sounds like a fast and easy process but it doesn’t take up a lot of time.  The longest process is putting the ornaments on the tree but it is all worth it in the end.  This year was extra special since it was the first time my husband had our own tree.  The best part of all is that its quality time just my husband and I spent together.   At the end of the day when were sitting with just the tree lit up its clear to see that I have meat my goal of having a better tree then the previous year, not because its prettier but because it’s just how we wanted it.  

Effect Essay

When I was in high school there was this one teacher that would always pick on me. He was my math teacher.   I guess we could say it took me a little longer to get the hang of things than normal people but once I got the hang of what I was doing I did pretty well. He was one of those teachers that had his favorite students and I diffidently wasn’t one of them.  There were days when I woke up that I would dread going to school since I knew I was going to have to go to his class.  What made him be the worst teacher was that   I would be sitting in class paying attention like I’m suppose to and trying to learn what we were doing and he would call on me every time and I since I didn’t know what I was doing he made me look like I was stupid in front of the whole class. There would even be students that were talking to each other and not paying attention but that didn’t matter.    Because of him I now I have no confidence in myself, I never learn anything in class and it’s taking me longer to graduate from college. 

                I have no confidence in my work.  I stress about doing my home work I stress about whether or not I’m doing it right and  what the teacher is going to think if I didn’t to my home work right.  Whenever anyone ask me to do something for them I make up some excuse to why I can’t do it because I’m afraid I’m going to do it wrong.

                I never did learn anything in math class.  Instead of trying to learn like most students do during class I was sitting there worrying weather or not I was going to be called on and if I was if I was going to know the answer or if I was going to make a foul out of myself.  I find that I learn more when I know I’m not going to have to worry about whether or not I’m going to be called on since I can actually pay attention to what the teacher is doing. 

                Since I have such a bad experience in high school I have been in college for 4 years, what’s wrong with that right?  Well my program is only two years.  Since  I’m afraid of making a foul out of myself  and worrying about what people think of me I decided to take only online classes  which isn’t bad but when the classes I need are only offered certain semesters or if there even offered online It takes a little longer to graduate. 

Let’s just say that teacher has made me school life a lot harder than it should be.   I’ve even had an anxiety attacks and have had to take medications.  Maybe I should just think about myself and not worry about what everyone else thinks about me.   I should realize that I not everyone is going to now every answer of any problem and that sometimes it takes people longer than others to catch on to things.  

I search

Background

I’m writing about planning a wedding. Where you can get less expensive decorations and flowers, where you can find cheap wedding gowns and where you can find your food that won’t leave you broke after purchasing.    When I got engaged I never thought it would be so much work.  I always heard people say how stressful it was but I just thought to myself it can’t really be that hard all you have to do is find a venue, a wedding gown and flowers.   None of the other stuff make the wedding as long as you getting married to the man of your dreams nothing else matters right?

Why am I writing?

I’m writing this because much to my surprise wedding planning wasn’t as easy as I thought.  There were a lot of unanswered questions that I had.  I asked couples that had already gotten married and have went through the wedding planning process.  The only problem I came to with asking them was I always got a different answer and never knew which answer was right, or is there even are right answers?  The questions I had were

          -How many people is the right amount of people to invite?

                -Is there a right amount?  

-How do you pick the wedding colors?

                -Can you have more than two colors?

-How many flower girls can I have?

                -Do you need flower girls?

-Can you have more than one maid of honor?   

                -How do you pick your maid of honor?

-How much should you spend on flowers?

                -Can you make them yourself to save money?

-How can we keep under budget?   

                   -What if we go over budget?

What do I know?

          My knowledge about planning a wedding is very limited.  I have been to a couple of weddings and was also in a wedding when I was four but for that reason I don’t remember much of it.  I was also in a wedding a year ago I was I was a bridesmaid but lived an hour away from the bride so didn’t get to help with much of the planning.  I do know that it isn’t cheap planning a wedding. 

The search

          After looking at many magazines and not finding any of the answers to my questions I decided to move onto the internet.  After searching the internet for about an half an hour I found a website that had everything I needed to know.   It’s called theknot.  It has everything anyone would ever need to know about planning a wedding.  It gives you colors ideas, local venues, honeymoon ideas and so much more.  There was also one lady that was able to help me.  She had actually helped my cousin plan her wedding.  Since my cousin couldn’t afford very much she helped make a lot of the decoration for half the price it would of cost her to buy them.

What I’ve learned

          Before I started researching about wedding I knew nothing besides the basic wedding planning.  I’ve learned where I could get a less expensive wedding gown, how I could save money on flowers and decorations and where to buy the food for the reception that wouldn’t leave us broke.  I have also learned about colors, how many flowers girls and maid or honors you should have

Wedding Gown- When I was looking into getting my wedding gown I first started looking at a local Bridal salon called Avanti’s.  It’s what located right in the town I live in.  While looking at gowns at Avanti’s I noticed that the dress were in the higher range of my budget.   So I decided I was going to travel an hour to look at other bridal salons and see how their prices were.   After I started looking I noticed that there wasn’t much of a difference in the prices, there was normally only a $50 difference and by the time I had to pay for gas to go back and forth to my fittings I figured I would be better off just to spend the extra money and get it in the town I live in.  I also learned that there are many different types of wedding gowns.  There are A-line/princess, mermaid, empire, and ball gown style gowns.  I learned that if you’re shaped like an hour glass and have a big chest, big hips and tiny waist then A-line is going to look the best on you.  A-line is going to show off you figure.  The A-line dress is fitted around the hips and flows out to the ground.  A-line can hide a rounder lower body.  The Mermaid style is a sexier style that highlights your curves.  It fit tightly to just below you hips then flares out.  Normally people who are confident with their body and are slender, short and even tall women can pull this style dress off.  Last but not lease is the Ball Gown.  The Ball gown has a full skirt it can be either one piece or separate.  Slender and pair shaped women can pull the ball gown off best.   The ball gown is normally for traditional weddings and can be paired with either a long veil or white long gloves. 

Guest- After doing some research I found out that there isn’t a right and wrong amount of guest to invite.  Everyone has a different amount of family and friends.  As long as you get a venue to fit everyone that it doesn’t and you can stay in your budget feeding them all then you can invite as many people as you want. 

Wedding Colors- A lot of people pick their colors by which time of year there getting married.  I got married in October so I chose Orange and brown, my sister got married and September so she chose summer clothes such as bright pink and orange.  On theknot.com it gives you many different colors to help you choose the right colors for your wedding.  You can have as many colors as you want.

Flower Girls-After looking into how many flowers girls your suppose to have I found out that you don’t even have to have them.  When it comes down to it’s your wedding and you can do it they why you want to right? It just means you’re going to have to buy two flower girl dresses and pay for two girls to get their hair done. 

 Maid of Honor- I found out that everyone is different and you can definitely two.  What if you had two best friends that are there for you whenever you need someone to talk to or a shower to cry on?

Decorations- After spending a lot of research I found out that you can do as much decorations on a small budget as you can on a large budget.  You may have to try a little harder to find what you want at a lower price but it’s possible.  A site that I found was very affordable and nice quality merchandise was Oriental Trading.  I also learned if you watched for the flyers in the Bangor Daily News there was normally an Ac Moore flyer that had a 50 % off one regular priced item coupon.  I also realized that making your own flowers would save you tons of money and look just as good as the ones that people have professionals do and the artificial ones you will have forever. 

Food-What I thought was going to be the biggest expense to our wedding turned into almost the cheapest.  Before I bought anything I did some research to see where I could get what I needed for cheaper.  I did find out that Wal-Mart was the cheapest place to get your meat and Sam’s Club was the cheapest place to get your vegetables, butter, and salt and pepper just because you could buy everything in bulk.   

Bibliography

“theknot.com.”  Wedding planning Wedding Dress and Engagement

http://www.theknot.com/

You can find anything you need to know about weddings on theknot.com.   You can find wedding color ideas, cake ideas and many more ideas.  This is a very useful website and would recommend it to anyone that is planning a wedding.  

Process Essay

There is a process I take every time my house needs to be clean.  How I start cleaning my house all depends on what has to be done.  If laundry has to be done then I start that first.  Then from there I move onto dishes.    From there I go onto the biggest part of cleaning, washing the floors.  To me it’s the worst part of cleaning but it has to be done right?  Don’t get me wrong there are many more steps in between but they are just little things that only take a few minutes to do. When I start out cleaning my goal is making the house look and smell   a lot better than it did before I started. 

                I start with the laundry first since I don’t normally do laundry everyday and by the time I do it  we  have at least three loads to do.  The first step I take  when I wash laundry is filling the washer with cold water.  As it’s filling with water I add a cup of purex laundry detergent.  I put the laundry detergent in before I put the clothes in so it gives time for the water and soap to mix up and from my experience you get more bubbles which means cleaner clothes right?    After the washer is filled with water I add the clothes and wait about 20 minutes for the clothes to be washed and put what can go in the dryer in the dyer, and stuff that needs to be put on a drying rack on the rack.  For example jeans, sweatshirts and certain shirts.    I start the laundry first since it takes the longest to do. 

                My second step to cleaning the house is doing the dishes.  I start by plugging one side of the sink to keep the water from draining.  I leave the other side empty so I can rinse the soap off the clean dishes.  After the sink is full I take my 30 oz of ultra gain soap and add a dime size about to the side with the water.  I put all the dirty dishes left side of the side which is the side next to all the water.  I put a couple of different dirty dishes in at a time.  After I wash them I put them in the side without water till I have enough to rinse.  After I rinse them I put them in the drying rack until they are ready to be put away.   

                My final step to cleaning my house is washing the floors.  First I start by moving all the furniture that can be moved.  From there I sweep the entire floor to make sure I’m not just pushing the dirt around.  Once the floor is sweep I get into my closet and get my wet jet and wet pads that on the bottom on the wet jet.  After I have the wet pad on the wet jet I wash the entire floor.  Once that is dry I put all the furniture back. 

                It doesn’t sound like a lot of work but it definitely is.  Laundry is the worse part just because you have to fold it as soon as it comes out of the dryer so you don’t it lying around everywhere.  It doesn’t normally take me to long to do dishes since I don’t allow the sink to get to full before I wash them.  To me a sink for of dishes makes your house look ten more dirty then it really is.  After the floor is washed it looks like a brand new floor. Once I’m doing cleaning, my house smells awesome and my goal is accomplished.  

In Class example Essay

I’ve always wondered how anyone can live without a dog.   I have grown up with dogs all around me but I must say I have had three favorite dogs.   There were a golden retriever named Fred an Austrian shepherd named Bumpy and a Pomeranian named Zoe.    Don’t get me wrong I loved all my dogs I’ve just had my favorites.  There are many reasons why there were my favorite dogs.  All of them but one has passed away. 

                Fred also known as Freddy I had when I was a little girl.  He was a gift from my uncle.  He was my very first dog.   Fred was very good with us he practically let us to whatever we wanted to with him which doesn't really surprise me golden retrievers are normally good with kids.  When I got home from school he would be waiting at the door for us to come in.  He would chase us around the yard and we use to think it was funny.   He knew when I was upset and would come to comfort me he lived a long and happy life. 

                Bumpy was a real family dog and loved to be around people.   He was definitely an active dog and liked running around outside.  We would go outside every day that it wasn’t raining and of course doing the winter and I would throw him his Frisbee.  He was almost as bad as a kid he liked to be cuddled and always had to be touching me when he laid down and never liked to be out of my sight.  About two years ago on the day after Christmas we had some friends show up and he was excited and jumping around like he normally did and all of a sudden he just dropped dead.  No one knows what happen they say it could have been something he was born with. 

                Zoe is only a 10 pound dog so she hasn’t very big but she has a heart of old.  She isn’t as active as most dogs but she gentle with little kids. She   lives with my parents now since I got married and moved out but when I lived home she would always like sitting in the chair with me during the day when I did homework or was just watching TV.    Zoe wasn’t my dog she is my sisters.  My grandparents gave it to her for her birthday, so it’s a big part of our lives.  Both of my grandparents passed away and that’s all we have left of them. 

                Those are a few reasons why those dogs were my favorite.  Dogs leave a big spot on your hearts even after they are gone.  I have learned a lot from my dogs such as they have a lot of energy to burn and are a lot of work but they are worth every minute of your time no matter whether they are a 10 pound dog or a 70 pound dog.  I never realized how much a dog could feel like your kid until recently.  My husband and I just bought a golden doodle and definitely feels like our kid and is as much work as a kid.  We buy him toys all the time and never leave him home alone. 

Example Essay 2

When my husband and I moved into together after we got married I did a lot for him.  I cooked him supper every night, I made sure he had clean clothes and if we needed something I would make sure he got it.  From much of my surprise he now thinks I’m going to do everything for him.

                What started off by just cooking for my husband every night to make a good impression since it was the first time we had lived together but much to my surprise he now expects me to cook for him every night? It’s just not small meals that he expects either it’s a big four course meal. 

                Another surprise that I’ve had since I’ve been married is doing his laundry.  I’ve started off by doing his laundry just because I wanted to make sure he had clean clothes to work in and he’s never done laundry himself since his mother has always done it.    That was a big surprise to me; he’s 24 and has never done his own laundry. 

                Weather he needed me to look for something that he couldn’t find or just running to the store to get something that he needed I would do it.  Again it was mostly because we had just moved in together and I wanted to make a good impression.  Have you ever heard of the saying looking with your eyes closed?  Well I think that’s how he looks.  For example our food cupboard is full of food and my husband was looking for chips and they were right there in front of him but yet he still couldn’t find them and I had to get up and get them for him. 

                I guess I have a lot to learn when it comes to doing everything for your husband.  Maybe I should have talked to my sister who had just got married a month before us and moved in with her husband.   Maybe she could have told me thing to do and not to do, or maybe it’s just going to be something that I will have to learn on my own.