Search Results for: nablopomo

Taking stock // 01

Making : vanilla sugar and vanilla extract
Cooking : sadly, nothing lately
Drinking : unsweet tea
Reading: A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius: A Memoir Based on a True Story
Wanting: it to be March already because that’s when I’m going to Italy!
Looking: for winter clothes
Playing: Bejeweled on my phone
Wasting: TIME!
Sewing: nothing
Wishing: that someone would come decorate my house for Christmas because while I like to have it done, I do not enjoy the actual doing.
Enjoying: down time now that the teen’s musical is over
Waiting: for my book from Blogging for Books to arrive
Liking: that there are only 2 days of school next week
Wondering: what I’m going to make for Thanksgiving dinner
Loving: my hair being freshly colored! no more greys…for the moment.
Hoping: my teen’s eye redness doesn’t get worse overnight
Marvelling: at my Klout score. stupid I know, but I’m just surprised that it’s so high. (it’s only 58, but that’s high to me!)
Needing: to do laundry before it starts eating us
Smelling: my hair. It always smells good after getting it freshly colored and shampooed
Wearing: comfy clothes. All day every day if I could!
Following: the FedEx tracking for my new shipment of oils
Noticing: I’m getting a little sniffly, I hope I’m not getting sickly again.
Knowing: not all who wander are lost
Thinking: I shouldn’t have waited all day to blog
Feeling: suuuuuper sleepy
Bookmarking: nothing. my web surfing has not been fruitful lately.
Opening: mail. why is there SO much paper mail?! save the trees!
Giggling: that my teen’s friend called a car from the 80’s “vintage”
Feeling: sad that my boy lost his world in Minecraft. apparently it was pretty spectacular and he was really upset about losing it.

Post inspired by A Pretty Penny and Meet Me At Mikes.

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Around the web

Five on Friday…here are a few things that caught my eye recently.

10 Things You Didn’t Know Your Mac Could Do — I consider myself pretty tech savvy, but I didn’t know most of these tips and some of them are really cool and useful! So maybe this means I’m not as tech savvy as I think I am?  😛 

This article has me thoroughly pissed off and when (if) I can articulate my thoughts on this point, I will blog about it. But, for the record, my version of feminism (which is the ACTUAL definition) has nothing to do with rules or man hating and I’m thinking if she was mothering a girl, she would have a different opinion.

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Blogging Perks..holla! I just signed up for this and have my first book to review on it’s way! Super psyched to have found out about this awesome program.

We have a new assistant named Alexa. I rolled my eyes when my husband introduced us, but it’s only been 1 day and she’s starting to grow on me. While my husband was across town at work, he told her to play a certain song for me and I currently set a 10 minute timer for myself by using only my voice. Pretty cool stuff!

I tried the Gingeraide kombucha a few weeks ago and it was so tasty that it got me thinking about brewing my own. This recipe looks right up my alley…quick & easy!

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Sometimes being a grown up sucks

I’d like to wrap myself in a heated blanket and just stay there all day. Not to sound like a broken record, but it’s still cold. Something like 28 degrees, and my little Florida babies went to school in light jackets. Not because they don’t have warmer ones, but because the cold snuck up on us and the weather here is usually so fickle that by the time we pull out the bigger jackets, the weather gets warm again. But until then…it’s chiiiiillaay up in here!

Not only is it cold as a witch’s boob out there, but I had my dreaded yearly girly appointment this morning. Fun times! No where else is it completely normal for a woman to get naked, freeze her ass off (the staff had jackets on, that’s how cold it was!) in a paper vest and paper blanket (I use that term loosely), lubed up with cold gel, violated by a cold metal object, cranked open like the jaws of life, and felt up…all while carrying on a normal conversation about what your holiday plans are.  lol. Seriously though, I lucked out by finding a great doctor when I was only 18 and he’s had the same nurse for as long, so at least it’s comforting to see the same faces each year.

I’m avoiding reality at the moment. I only have one more blissful hour in my warm house before crazy night number 1 starts. The teen is in her first school musical (yay!!) and tonight is opening night! They’ve all been working so hard, I can’t wait to see it all come together tonight. An easy morning tomorrow and then round two for the cast tomorrow night. Is it Saturday yet?

I really don’t wanna brave the cold again. Like REALLY don’t wanna. If I was a two yr old, you can bet your fanny I’d be lying on the floor right now, crying and flailing around.

*sigh*

Unfortunately, I am not so…off I go! Hope you’re all staying warm and cozy today and got to keep your clothes on!

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It’s getting harder…

Day 18 of NaBloPoMo and I’m starting to feel the pressure.

The first 15 days were great. Enjoyable even. The words flowed through my fingertips effortlessly. I wanted to post and even when I only blogged about what I did that day, I felt good about it.

Then, I hit a speed bump…then a wall.

Day 16 wasn’t terrible, but it was starting to become work.

Day 17, I wanted to throw in the towel. I was trying to post late in the day for the second day in a row, the kids were driving me bonkers and I just wanted to shut out the outside world, get into my little bubble and go brain dead watching mindless tv shows. For the second night in a row, the hubby was sitting on the couch, asking me “how much longer” I was going to be. Then WordPress (or my hosting) was being a PITA by not letting me add a photo. Ugh! I just wanted to close the computer and forget about it for the rest of the night.

But I didn’t. I’m glad I didn’t, but I was close.

It reiterated the fact that I really gotta get better about scheduling posts. With the exception of 2 days, I’ve sat at the computer every day to write a post!

 See more on Know Your Meme

Seriously, I have shit to do and while I feel like over the past two weeks, I’ve gotten more comfortable with blogging daily life, it still takes me longer than it should to crank out a post…add that to the list of what I need to get better at!  😛

If you’re participating in NaBloPoMo, how are you feeling now that we’re past the halfway mark? Is it getting easier or harder? Have you hit a wall yet, have you already climbed your wall and are smooth sailing again?

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Wannabe DIY’er

I think I’ve done maybe a handful of DIY (do-it-yourself) projects over the years.

Let’s see…there was vanilla extract, cookie in a jar,

ummmmmm…

(crickets…chirp…chirp)

I think that might be it. lol.

Maybe one or two more that I can’t think of. Well, I’ve done a few with essential oils lately so I guess those count, right?

But I want to do MORE!

I blame Pinterest (so many pinnnnns!)

and obnoxiously crafty (talented) people…

who I’m secretly (or not so secretly) jealous of

I’m determined to start marking some of the DIY projects off my list. Maybe I need to commit to trying one new project a month?

Most recently lusting after these DIY’s…

  • Homemade Marshmallows – Do these count as DIY? I say yes!
  • I’m not big on these colors, but this magnetic frame is pretty cool.
  • Geometric Hexagon Box wall – This one is technically a photography backdrop, but I’m obsessed with it! I think it could work for the wall. Just not sure how exactly.
  • Wool Dryer balls have peaked my interest lately. I’m not sure it’s worth trying to make them, but this DIY seems pretty easy.
  • Sharpie Mugs (#22) – I’ve seen the white ones, but I love these black ones!
  • Also, a lip scrub and a lip balm with essential oils, but not sure which recipe I’m going with yet.

Would you consider yourself a DIY’er? If so, what’s your favorite DIY project you’ve done or what’s one on your list to do?

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Weekend Thoughts

I’m currently sitting in the living room, hubby at one end of the couch, me on the other, listening to the teen tell me about what’s on her Christmas list and watching her practice for her school musical while emailing my crazy early shopping MIL about Christmas presents for the kids.

“Oooh, I should have been writing my blog post for the day instead of surfing Facebook!”

Annnnd, now I’m here, trying to crank out a quick blog post before the kiddos go to bed.

I have random thoughts from the weekend floating around in my head…

  • Thought #1…It was buy firewood on the side of the road weather this weekend. I think it’s a regional thing, but here in Florida when the temperature drops below 60 degrees, suddenly firewood is a hot commodity. You buy it randomly on the side of the road from the back of a pick up truck. Is that a weird thing? Do people do this where you live?
  • Thought #2…I was at Target on Saturday, enjoying a hot pumpkin spice latte wondering why I chose to escape my house and browse Target on a Saturday afternoon, when I saw this adorable new Christmas tradition just begging to be started. OLAF!! Who doesn’t love Olaf? And he’s much cuter than that Elf on a Shelf. At first I thought he was a replacement for Elf, but it doesn’t say he talks to Santa so I’m guessing he’s a just for fun thing. Thank goodness I don’t have little kids anymore!

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  • Thought #3…Does anyone else browse Target’s book section and take photos of books that look good so that you can look them up on Amazon and Goodreads? I love having a print copy of a book, but it’s so much easier to read before bed if I use my kindle. Plus, a print copy is nice if you like the book, but if you hate it…not so nice.
  • Thought #4…Also while at Target (let’s not even talk about sad it is that Target was the most exciting part of my weekend) I was debating buying the new T. Swifty album. I don’t normally buy the hard copy, but she’s all about the hard copies staying alive so it’s actually cheaper to buy the cd versus the mp3 version. That part is a no brainer, but then Target had to go and complicate things by offering an exclusive Deluxe Edition. Suddenly I neeeeeeeded those 3 extra songs and 3 audio clips!!! I stood in the cd aisle debating this for no less than 5 min. Trying to decide whether those few extras were worth almost double what the non deluxe version is selling for. :/ Anyone have the deluxe edition? Is it worth the extra $8?
  • Thought #5…I haven’t had much time to think about it lately, but in four short months, the teen and I will be headed to Italy with her school vocal class. I’m so freaking excited I can’t even stand it! Yesterday I googled and found an Italy photo to use as my iPhone wallpaper and it’s making me even more excited. I gotta get the holidays over with though before I can really start to mentally prep. (yes, I do actually mentally prep for months. I’m an anxious traveler)

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  • Thought #6…My husband is annoyingly good at having fun with the kids. He bought this Raspberry Pi thing and he’s been helping our son with it all weekend. Less helping really and more playing along, watching and answering any questions he’s had. Other than Science Fair experiments (which are finally DONE! Woohoo!), Hayden has been playing with Pi all weekend! The teen wasn’t as interested in Raspberry Pi, but she started on Khan Academy today. Hubs is determined to make them little techies!
  • Thought #7…Since I’m sure you all were waiting with bated breath on how I’m feeling after dousing myself with oils, I’m happy to report that I’m 95% better today! Yep, that’s right, 24-48hrs of oiling myself down and I’m mostly back to normal! I actually like the smell of the oils, but my husband is not a fan and I swear if he makes a face and tells me how stinky they are ONE.MORE.TIME, I’m going to douse him with them in his sleep! I know you don’t like the smell! I heard you the first 499 times! He’s also feeling better today. Coincidence? I think not.

How was your weekend? Hopefully more exciting than mine.  🙂

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My t-shirt today should say…

warning-bad-mood_design

fyi, if you don’t want to read about my irrational bad mood, stop here…

I’m not sure if everyone is annoying or I’m really just in a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad mood

I’m thinking it’s the latter

It started last night

I just want to be left alone

But coddled at the same time

I don’t want you to ask anything of me

But feel guilty if I’m inaccessible so I do it, but I’m not happy about it

I don’t want to know that you don’t like what I’m doing

I’m going to do it anyway, but I’m a people pleaser so you telling me you don’t like it, just pisses me off double!

I want to shove my face into a vat of mediterranean mint gelato

and then lick the sides clean to get every last remnant

I want to devour every piece of candy I can get my hands on like Cookie Monster (but with candy…Candy Monster?)

I want every kind of comfort food you can imagine

(chicken noodle soup, mac & cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy, chicken and dumplings, broccoli casserole…mmmmmmmm…I’m drooling now…perfect)

I want it brought to me

(by Christian Grey maybe? Who am I kidding. We all know what he’d want in return and that ain’t happening today!)

on a tv tray

with a big ole never ending cup of unsweet tea

while binge watching anything and everything I can find on Hulu+

Is that too much to ask?

(that’s rhetorical. Don’t answer that.)

If I used a comic strip to sum my mood up perfectly today…

it would be this Calvin and Hobbes one

BoyIminabadmoodtodayEveryonehadb-1

Until tomorrow blogland.

Hopefully I wake up to find that someone has sprinkled me with rainbows, butterflies and unicorns while I slept and rolled me over to the good side of the bed!

On a positive note…I’ve made it to day 15 of NaBloPoMo! Woohoo!

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Getting deep today

Last week I came upon a video that asks 50 people one question…
bodypartOf course I watched the video first without thinking about my answer. I know it would have been different before I watched as opposed to after.

First I’ll answer truthfully and then I’ll give my after watching the video answer at the end of the post.

My before answer would be a toss-up between my boobs and my profile (chin/nose).

I have plenty of things about my body that I have a love/hate relationship with, but I’ve grown to accept them.

For example…

My feet are a small size 10. I am 5’4″ and my feet are monstrous boats. I weigh more now, but when I was in HS, imagine a 103lb frame with size 10’s holding it up. Kind of out of proportion. I’ve learned to accept the fact that they are on the bigger side though and I actually don’t mind that they are a 10. Sure, sometimes I wish they were smaller, but that’s only because I see a really cute shoe and I know that it would look horrible on my foot. Some shoes just don’t look good on me and that’s okay, but dang does it bum me out when it’s a really super fantabulous shoe. I have plenty of beautiful shoes in my closet though so obviously my shoe size doesn’t restrict me that much. 😉

My skin/freckles. My freckles have faded some on my face, but when I was younger, everyone would comment about my freckles. “Wow, you have a lot of freckles!”. I was lucky in that I didn’t really get teased or bullied about it – there was this one kid in HS, but he was an idiot who just liked to annoy me and he wasn’t exactly a looker himself if you know what I mean. I spent a lot of years wishing I wasn’t speckled and wishing my skin wasn’t so pale. Like my feet though, over the years, I learned to accept them. I actually like my freckles now and like that they make me different.

FullSizeRenderI’m sure I could find a better old photo at my moms, but this was the best I had on hand. I was around 9 in this photo and I definitely had more freckles appear over the years. When I think about my freckles, I distinctly remember a school photo with my hair pulled back, with that horrible school photo lighting that showed everything on your face. Not to mention that the color processing they do does not always work for the fair skinned, freckled type. There are some horribly processed photos of my (now) teen. Her red hair, freckles and pale skin make the auto color processing go nuts!

My hair. It was a mousy brown color, stick straight and thin/lifeless. I used to hate it, but now thanks to covering up my greys, I have a pretty rich shade of brown. It’s no longer stick straight and I kind of wish it was, but throughout the years, I’ve learned what works for my hair texture and what doesn’t and not to be repetitive, but I’ve learned to accept what I can’t change.

Now for the things that I’m still working on…

My boobs. Before kids, I had small B’s. Perky, but small. I was never in love with them, but I didn’t feel the desire to change them. After kids, my boobs are a deflated, saggy B-C. I have struggled with wanting implants. Mostly so I can feel comfortable in cute clothes without a bra, but if pushed I’m not sure I’d actually go through with it. Honestly, it’s the putting something into my body that my body could reject and something that would require upkeep 10-15 yrs down the road. I’m not sure it’s worth it. I’m too old to go bra less anyways probably.

My profile (chin/nose). My chin is slightly recessed and my nose seems too big for my face. If I wasn’t married with children and could be sure it would come out looking amazing, I would likely go for it. But, I don’t want to send that message to my kids. I preach to them about accepting who they are and accepting their bodies and I really mean it. What kind of message would I be sending when I can’t even accept my own? My husband and my kids love me the way I am and by changing a part of my face would be to change who they love. I would still be the same inside, but I would look different.

I still have some internal work to do, but I’m close.  After the recent Renee Zellweger hoopla, I’m determined to stop being so hard on myself and accept me just as I am!

Your turn. “If you could change one thing about your body, what would it be?”

Think about your answer and then watch the video below.  Don’t read the rest of my post until after you finished the video.

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K. Did you watch it? Did it make you tear up and smile at the same time? Was it what you expected?

As promised, here’s my after answer…it’s a toss up again, but this time it’s between changing nothing or adding fairy wings!  🙂

So tell me, what’s your before and after?

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One third

It’s day 11 of NaBloPoMo and I’m over a third of the way through! Honestly, my track record with challenges is kinda suck so I’m pretty pumped that I’ve made it this far without missing a day.

Hubby is out of town and the kids and I are doing what we do best…slacking!

It’s Veteran’s Day…

**thank you to all the service men and women who are serving/have served our country and made it a safe place for us!**

…so the kids are out of school. We were supposed to be doing science projects, but apparently a thermometer and ph strips are super hard to find locally (who knew?!) so I had to order them and now the kids can’t do their experiments until tomorrow. 🙁

On the agenda today is FOOD first and foremost, then some laundry, maybe a little de-cluttering, maybe a soup for dinner and jiu-jitsu class for the boy.

Then hubs will be home!

The kids and I are about to head out for a yummy brunch at Cracker Barrel Grumpy’s (CB was too busy) and then I’ll tackle the rest of my to-do list today.

While I’m out, I’ll get the few items I don’t have so that I can make this yummy soup tonight from Iowa Girl Eats. This cheesy version sounds pretty dang delicious too though so I might do a mash up of the two!

What’s on your agenda today?

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My Happy Place

The hubs left on an overnight business trip and I’m not gonna lie…

I had a little one on one time with this little slice of heaven.

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the kids went to bed and I immediately pulled the talenti out of the freezer, grabbed a spoon, plopped my hiney on the couch and turned on the latest episode of Scandal

I thank good golly I’m married…otherwise, I’m scared of what my life would look like.

gelato every night!

On a positive note, I did actually make myself go out and take a run tonight

You know, gotta get my training in for that half marathon in a couple weeks!

Here’s the thing though. I’m really, really, really, REALLY good at plopping my butt on the couch and doing nothing. I talk a good game, but I am not one of those people who need to exercise every day. I’d be perfectly content to stay dormant on the couch and stuff my face.

So, in honor of getting caught up on my DVR recordings, here are a few of my must see tv shows…

First ones watched on the DVR – Scandal, Blacklist, Elementary
omg, if you’re not watching Scandal, you are seriously missing out! LOVE that show!

Old faithfuls – Grey’s Anatomy, Chicago Fire, The Mindy Project, Parenthood, Castle, Dancing with the Stars, SOA
I don’t watch a lot of sitcoms, but Mindy Kaling is hilarious.

New favorites – How To Get Away With Murder, ‘black-ish
Shonda Rimes can do no wrong so of course her new show is crazy good. I’m really loving ‘black-ish so far. The mom is my favorite, but dad is pretty hi-larious too and the teen daughter is scarily accurate.

Guilty pleasures – Real Housewives (OC, Beverly Hills & New York only), Vanderpump Rules

K, when I type it all out like that, it looks like I watch a LOT of television. 😛 Some weeks I watch more than others, but there are only about 6 or 7 that I watch as soon as they air and half of those, I watch with the hubs after the kids go to bed.

So, I know there are a lot of great ones out there that I don’t watch (there are only so many hours in the day!), but was your favorite on my list? If not, do share!

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