I Was Thinking.....

I preface my story like this because I try to avoid such mundane tasks. Anyways onto my story.

Today as I was driving I started thinking about a particular situation and how I wanted deal with it, coming up with a few strategies. And I thought to myself the same thing I have thought many times, something that has almost become my life mantra of sorts.  Something I tell myself as sort of a pep talk so I don't just roll over and play possum.  Here it is "Don't let life happen to you, happen to life".  I am sure many say it and many believe it to be a great motivational saying. And honestly it usually works for me.

Something was different today though. Today I said it and just thought what the heck am I saying?  And I started to replay moments in my life when things got to a point where I thought how did I get here?  The most obvious memory being my divorce. I also can remember simple moments like when I have been super lazy and my house looks like a storm hit it or even lately just wishing my house wasn't so unorganized.  The point is many times in my life I have thought,how did I get to this point, what did I do wrong? 

As I thought about this more I started to think how this mantra my  contradictsmy beliefs of this life being part of a bigger plan. Meaning I got here because God knows this is where I need to be and knows I need to learn something from wherever here is.  I didn't get to a certain point or in a situation because I didn't happen to life.

This all may seem a little crazy but my knee injury has taken its toll on me and not just physically.  Emotionally too. So I have been trying to see God in all of this and it is funny how He works.  Something as simple as spilt juice and it has forced me to depend on others, ask for help and give up some control.  All things I pray about daily. All things that I have the hardest time doing. Maybe this was my reminder that I don't always have to be happening to life mostly I need to slow down and listen to the quiet voice.

It's That Time of Year Again

So it is family picture time.  This is where I let out a big ol' sigh. I think I mentioned it last year but I really want beautiful family pictures. We don't have great photos of any events so I have this yearning for glamorous family photos. We had beautiful ones taken last year and was hoping for some great ones this year too.

I had surgery last Wednesday for my knee and I am still not back to sprinting or well walking without a limp. Making it difficult to go out and shop for outfits and get prepared.

Saturday hubby and I rushed around to get everything wrapped up. When we got home the baby was not in bed napping. She had gotten up and the sitter did not put her back down. (Insert mental scream here). Then the 5 year old announced she did not want to do family pictures and wasnt going to smile. (insert another 'mental' scream). At this point I can start to feel the anxiety set in and the breakdown coming on. If crying didn't cause puffy eyes I would have sat down in the bathroom and cried.

Well being the eternal optimist I am I pushed the thought of cancelling the whole thing out of my mind. In true form everyone was running a little behind and it was a miracle we finally made it out the door. Some screaming took place in the car (the kids not me), finally we made it to the location.

As I had imagined the kids did not find their happy faces once we got there. Nanny the oldest is turning 16 next month so she did a change of clothes and took some gorgeous sweet 16 photos. We have seen two of Nanny's photos but are waiting to see the family pictures. I am hoping we have some that worked. The location was beautiful but we may have to try again.....next year.

I really had to talk myself off of the ledge on this one. One of my many character flaws is unrealistic expectations. I think seeing beautiful pictures in blog-land, on Facebook and even at my neighbors home really makes me believe that these other families have perfect families with no screaming kids no meltdowns and millions of gorgeous shots. But this is my reality and even just one or two nice pictures is enough and I just have to be okay with things as they are.

So tell me friends how is the family picture experience for you?  If it is a magical experience please lie to me. ;)

Wishes for a fabulous week!

Hair Color and Aging

You add adult acne to that title and you have all of my least favorite things. I know many women who embrace the beauty that is aging. I on the other hand am throwing a toddler sized fit, a two year old fit to be exact.

I once upon a time had a very pretty strawberry blonde color of hair. Now that I am older I have gone very dark and oily. Calm down folks it is as hot as I am laying it out to be. Anywho last September hubby and I began Dave Ramsey. We have not been A students but it has for sure given us a lot to think about, discuss and learn from. I am not saying we are not following a budget, we are. I am saying we are not as prepared as we should be for the unexpected items and with three kids that list never ends.

Anyhow I have suddenly started graying. Gasp. Say it isn't so (this is my monologue as I look in the mirror).  But it is so and with no budget for a professional to cure the problem I must turn to a box. Only I am not having great luck with boxes. So I am turning to the mighty all knowing blog world and asking.......What do use and/or have you used and what advice do you have for me?

The Baby

No not a new baby, this baby.

Well she no longer looks like this...

or this...

via

She now has some hair and most people correct me when I call her "the baby".

But like I tell hubby, my favorite thing about baby, is she likes to be a baby as much as I like her to be the baby.

And she still knows how to have a good time at her birthday party.

Let me set this up for you. She had just gotten out of her 3rd bath for the day, all party guest had left, mommy and daddy were cleaning up and apparently we did not clean up quick enough.  Who knew that giant frosting was so oily....and would leave her pink for so long.  She is a busy baby and totally funny!  (minus all of her midnight visits)

And yes, she is naked as much as she appears to be in these photo's.  Too wild for clothes!

What I Have Been Up To.......

........Well aside from being a mom and full time career women I found something else to make things interesting.

That is my leg.  I slipped in some juice and twisted my knee two ways.  I have a more "mobile" brace on now.  They originally thought I tore my ACL and MCL, fortunatley I sprained my knee and chipped the back side of my knee cap.  Which makes me throw up a little thinking about it.  The good news is I believe my recovery time will be much shorter.  Bad news is, I have been in a lot of pain and my attitude stinks. 

You know what you do while lying in bed?  Realize how much you sit around not cleaning your house and realizing just how bad it needs it.  Unfortunatley with three busy kids my time in bed was a little short lived.  That and I feel like I should be able to just bounce back and have things I want to do, so I do them, then I whine.

Anywho, lots of things have changed around these parts.  See those pictures along the right?  Yeah slightly outdated.  I still need to figure out new bloggie names for the kidlets but one got her permit, one started school and one grew out of her bed.

(Sorry about the photo quality.)

I really am hoping to post a lot more frequently.  Thank to all those that gave me such a warm welcome back!  Very excited to get back into blogging.  Talk soon my friends!

Where I Have Been

I can't believe it has been six months since I last blogged!

Blogging is something I have definetly missed.  Not just the act of taking some time out to put thoughts and events in writing but the friendships I made through blogging. Unfortunately with my new job came a new time commitment. It has been hard going from a very flexible schedule to a more stringent one. We are still adjusting as a family but this experience is really showing us the areas in our lives that we need to get more organized and do some things differently.

I hope to share the many projects we have coming up and our trials and errors with organization and just getting back to the blog world. I am also looking forward to journaling more about my kids.  I feel like I have missed some entries in their baby books during this six months!

Looking forward to getting back to the blog world. I will warn you in advance I am blogging from my phone so picture quality and grammer may not be the best.  (not that it was before). So happy Labor Day friends!  Hope to chat soon.

Bacon Baked Goods

I had my first Bacon baked good today.  I have been apprehensive about anything chocolate and bacon.   Which surprises even me that I would turn down anything bacon.   I must say it was/is quite delicious.

What I am unclear about is, is there Bacon on the inside or simply sprinkled on top?  I haven't actually gotten to the sprinkled pieces so maybe I don't really like the chocolate and Bacon thing maybe it is just an exceptional donuts.

What do you think, have you had or made any of these crazy baked goods?

33 Years Ago (yesterday)......

.....A star was born.

Yesterday was my actual birthday but I was/am having computer issues.

But I have to share my exciting day with you!

I woke up Saturday morning at 5:45 am.  This is what my windshield looked like when I finally made it out of the house on my way to my birthday adventure.  

See this?

This is just the very beginning, there is more......

This is the view up.

 This is the view down.

 Down again

 FINALLY at the top.  

The Manitou Incline was once a cog railway that has been turned into a series of approximately 2,077 steps (might be a little more but I know it is around this.)  The vertical gain is 2,200 feet (Altitude).

 My friend in this picture climbed the incline for the first time as well.

 The hiking crew.  Everyone else bailed on us because of the early time.  This is a popular place so to get parking and not have to battle a bunch of people you have to get up early or go late.

 Here is the gorgeous view on our way back down.  You can go down the steps or take the 3 mile back trail to get back down.  The stairs can be pretty inconsistant equalling unsafe, so we elected to take the back way.

After the hike we went to a little cafe, Gertrude's, and met some other friends for brunch.  This place was delish!! 

Later that evening hubby and I went to PF Chang's for dinner.  One of my favorite places!  Yum, Yum.  I usually order MuShu chicken or Candied Walnut Shrimp, but I have been really wanting spicy so we got Sichuan of the Sea.  So tasty!

I made the decision to do the incline so that I had that since of accomplishment on my birthday.  Let me tell you I felt awesome the rest of the day and even today.  People thought I was crazy for choosing this, but that sense of accomplishment, was exactly what I was after.  This was a tough climb and at spots I did not think I would make it, but I just kept telling myself "you can do this".  And I did!  So although I am getting older, I feel really great!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!  Can't believe how fast it goes!

Happy Anniversary!!

To my dear husband!

My husband is a wonderful, thoughtful, giving man.  God truly blessed me with such an amazing husband.  Our oldest is mine from a previous marriage and he treats her no different then our own children.  He has always made sure that she knows that he loves her no less then our other girls.  There are so many examples of this and when I tell people them their hearts just melt.  His interaction and love for all of our children makes my heart swell and sometimes my eyes.  His love is so sincere and effortless it amazing and shows me what a true man of God he is.  Thank you honey for being so wonderful and thank you God for blessing me more then I deserve!!

It is hard to believe this day several years ago we were on our way to the airport for our honeymoon in London and Paris.  What an amazing trip! 

Our anniversary was Friday February 11th (yesterday).  Every other anniversary we have taken a trip somewhere.  This year thanks to our financial makeover we looked for a cheaper option and frankly it was just as great as any of our trips.  We did a little "date years" reminiscing.  So what does a busy couple with three kids and full time jobs do?  What they never get to do, dinner and a movie(s) of course. 

We started our afternoon off by seeing a movie, Little Fockers, 2:40 pm at the dollar movie.  It was a funny movie of course and there was an inside joke found in the movie that kept us laughing the rest of our evening.

After our movie we had to pick up the little ones and bring them to my sisters house for safe keeping.  Thanks seestar!  We then headed over to one of our favorite dating haunts, Joe's Crabshack, yum, yum!

Foods out!

 "Let's Get Crackin"

 Our steampot feast!  Man do we love seafood!

After dinner we headed back to the dollar theater.  We saw How Do You Know and Harry Potter.  Reese Witherspoon is one of my favorite actresses and I thought it was a good movie.  Harry Potter we have been seeing in the theater since the second movie and we both get pretty excited about the movies.  After the second movie came out hubby and AM and even myself spent HOURS playing the Harry Potter xbox game.  I am not a big video game player but we all had such an amazing time trying to finish that darn game, great memories.

If you will notice on the marque above the last movie we saw was at 9:35 pm, it did not let out until midnight.  I was so impressed that neither of us fell asleep.  Thank goodness for the murderous seating, otherwise we might have.

Dinner was more than we expected, but not more then we had budgeted for, because hubby is a great planner.  All three of our movies with purchasing 2 large sodas, 1 large popcorn and a nachos came to $25!!  Can you believe that?  In the regular theatre you can hardly get two tickets and concessions under that price.

Needless to say we did not spend a ton of money to travel this year but we had another wonderful anniversary.

I LOVE YOU HONEY!!



So Sick

I have really been wanting to start the Project 52.  I saw the Project 365 challenge last year and knew there was no way I could keep up.  But 1 picture each week seems attainable.  However we are on week 3 and I have started nothing. 

Our entire family has been sick for about two weeks.  Not a solid week just someone at each point for two weeks.  I have had this crap for about a week and the baby for about a week and a half.  What gives?  I was super sick back in December and now a month later?  I am rarely sick so this is frustrating.

Remember my last post, saying that hubby and I were trying to purge a little each weekend?  Well even though we have been sick we still made our goal.  This weekend we purged a whole carload, we have a Jeep Commander and it holds a lot.  The better news?  That wasn't all that we were willing to get rid of!  Hubby said everytime he has gone to Goodwill all the other cars had a few things but his car was packed, and the workers made a comment about how much he had.  Today we had the day off and I had big ambitions but little energy.  I got the mounds of baby clothes folded and put away.  The master and the girls room cleaned.  I know this may not sound like much, but trust me when I say, this was a huge under taking.

I hope to be feeling better soon and I plan on still doing the Project 52, it will just be in bulk, so prepare yourselves. :)  Have a great week!

I Can Clean the Crap Out of A Closet....

....Literally.  That is what we did this weekend.  We are trying to go through the boxes in our garage while also doing some purging inside our home.  This weekend's task?  To purge linens.  So we cleaned out our very small linen closet and all boxes in the garage marked linens.  Remember we were going to try to sell.  Yeah, well we packed stuff up to thin out the house, got a storage unit and then never listed.  So several months ago hubby cleared out the storage unit and it all ended up in our garage.  Man do we have a lot of junk.  Here is the final result of the linen closet.

To some of you this may still appear messy, but before this weekend you could barley shut the door. Every time we washed towels or sheets, I would feel panicked about where I was going to store them.

We plan to tackle a little each weekend. Soon we will feel good about the progress and the condition of our home.

I also realized that I have two huge boxes of unused Partylite items and yet another box unaccounted for, filled with Partylite candles. I am thinking I need to just sell the Partylite accessories, but I am nervous. Has anyone else sold items on eBay? How was your experience? Any tips and/or tricks you can offer?



Personal Space Extends To the Line At the Grocery Store

Hi friends!  A little bit of a rant for this Friday morning.  I try to be very conscious of personal space and the fact that I may be standing in someone’s way.  Just the way I would like others to behave.  I was at the grocery store the other night, on a week night at 9:00 PM.  I was checking out and because there are no baggers where I shop I was getting all of my groceries together and in my shopping cart for the trip to the car.  I have noticed this happens almost every time.  I go around to the front of my cart to start loading everything and the jerk behind me pulls their cart right up to mine.  PEOPLE, I STILL HAVE TO PAY!!  It just seems so rude to me.  What are your thoughts on this?  Do you have situations like this one that make you wonder "how can they think this is okay"?

So it is Friday and the weekend is here, what are your plans?

Hubby and I are going to tour a gym tonight (we are thinking of switching.)  I am going to get my house clean.  No joke it looks like a bomb went off around here.  Wish me luck and have a GREAT weekend!

A Thought For Your Thursday

The only way to coast is downhill.

Discipline is the bridge

between

goals and accomplishment.

Thought I would share this with everyone.  Hubby sent it to me this morning and I am really chewing on it.  I think I will sit down this weekend and really map out my year and set some goals.  I LOVE a plan!!  But with my post yesterday, I will try to be very realistic about said plan. Will keep you updated!  Happy Thursday!  I get to wear jeans tomorrow!  (I know that excites you :))

I Wish I Could Be My New Years Self All Year Long

I know that I need to do a Dallas re-cap, but today I am feeling more inspired to talk about the changes I have noticed in myself.  But I will give you this adorable shot as a taster of our fantastic trip!

So I did not have a succesful holiday season in the weight category however you know what the big change in me is?  That I am not beating myself up over it.  Do I need to make changes in my diet?  Um, yes.  Do I have other things I would like to accomplish?  Um, yes.  Am I torturing myself over these things...that would be a big N-O.

I am writing this because remember last year when I resolved to be kinder to myself?  Well I set that goal because I am usually insanely unrealistic about my expectations and this attitude makes it very difficult for me to enjoy a lot of lifes quiet blessings and sometimes, even the loud screaming ones.  (I am not completley speaking of my children here :)) 

As of right now I have not made any goals or "resolutions", I am basking in my current state of mind and loving it.  I do plan on setting some goals, but right now, I am mentally taking a break.

Hope everyone had a fabulous holiday season.  And wishes to everyone for a fantastic 2011!!

(And if you are having a bad day come back and enjoythe picture of my sweet baby!)