Thursday Thirteen

Top Songs on my Ipod:

1. "Lucky" Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat
2. "Inside Out" Trisha Yearwood feat. Don Henley
3 "Rock & Roll" Eric Hutchinson
4. "Fallin' Apart" The All-American Rejects
5. "Summer Rain" Carl Thomas
6. "Brand New Me" Colbie Caillat
7. "Thinking of You" Katy Perry
8. "Almost Lover" A Fine Frenzy
9. "More Than Anyone" Gaven Degraw Stripped Version
10. "My Life Would Suck W/O You" Kelly Clarkson
11. "On My Own" Les Miserables
12. "Spiderwebs" No Doubt
13. "Magic Carpet Ride" Steppenwolf

March for Babies

So, I have been on the hunt for some kind of organization that is local dealing with pregnancy & infant loss. The reason being that pregnancy loss is a very close issue to me and I have a dear friend who lost her little boy in the fall so that is another cause close to my heart. I have yet to really find anything, of course I have found some, but they are all on the west coast, too far for this east coast gal. Last night I was doing a search and came across March of Dimes, and they do a local walk here in the Spring. I decided to sign myself up. Granted it's not exactly the type of organization I was looking for but it is for a good cause and I'm all about helping out with infant mortality. I've recruited the hubs and the little one will be going for us. Am trying to form a team. And am posting the sponsorship widget on my blog for hopefully some more foot traffic. So please feel free to look around the website for more info or click on my widget if you would like to donate. Even if it's just a $1. The money that is donated supports research and programs for moms and babies. I am hoping to exceed the $250 with the help of everyone. Thank you.

Wordless Wednesday

Am SO ready to be here...counting down the days!

Two Open Letters

To the Idiotic SUV drivers @ the Target Shopping Center today -

Perhaps I missed it but I don't recall seeing any special invisible ink on my van saying that if I'm a stop sign waiting my turn to please do not stop and continue on your way.

And when I do go and you almost hit me because you did the slow down @ the stop sign and continue on your way. Don't get mad at me! You are in the wrong. And then to have the nerve to be behind me as I'm waiting my turn @ the 4 way stop sign, do not dare honk at me, b/c the woman across the street waiting to make her left hand turn doesn't know what it means when @ a 4 way stop sign and it's her turn to go and we are all sitting there. I'm not about to endager my family and go not knowing what she is doing, just because you are impatient. Of course I couldn't help myself & a string of explicatives were running through my head and a couple might have slipped out. Not a fun mood to be entering one of my favorite places, Target.

Then as we are leaving the shopping center I get through all of the stop signs and am upon my last one before the light. Sitting there waiting my turn, (yet again), the car goes, I check oncoming traffic and go to go, and the SUV behind the first car pulls half way out in the intersection. Seriously - what kind of hurry is everyone in that we can't even follow simple courtesy's at intersections.

I do know one thing, I'm going to make sure to give my van a good scrubbing and get rid of this "sign" I seem to have following me. It's getting frustrating beyond belief.

Sincerely,
The Van Driver





To all of the People in my Past, Present & Future -

After 23 years of being that push over, you know the person that people take advantage because that person will never say no or go against them. Yep, that was me to a big ole' fat T. Perhaps it's a hard adjustment to the people currently in my life, but as I keep saying "Tought Love, BABY!". I'm done bending over backwards and being unhappy. I'm living for me now. I'm not bending for anyone. I know that this has come as a very hard adjustment to a few close people, & for that I have been called just plain ole' mean and a b*tch. Hey, if that's how you feel. I just know that for once in my life I'm happy to not have these restrictions or worries. And this new me is not going anywhere. I do not want to go back to my meager meek self. I'm turning a new leaf. A new me. A new woman. So get used to it and just love me unconditionally as I do you.

To the people who will enter my life in the future, I'll be holding my head much higher as I will be the person I truely am. No facade or anything. I'm glad that things will be out there. And you'll be accept me for me.

Love,
Your Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mother, Friend & Stranger/Passer-by

Minutes 2 Hours 2 Days 2 Weeks...in seconds.

I really don't know where these past few weeks have gone? I really need to figure out managing my time on the computer better, now that it's in the basement, and Emma just drives me bonkers if I'm down here with her, time is minimal!

I've been on a really big reading kick the past month. Reading a few books a week. About to finish a fluff read and then tomorrow two books I got off of Amazon should be arriving! Yay - speaking of Amazon - would like to thank my New Secret Pal so much for the gift card! Thank you!!! You pegged me! :o)

I've been working on some projects here in the studio. Making some scrabble tile pendants, re-did some candles I got on clearance, foiling some ironwork for the bedroom, working on a plaque. Odds and ends, here and there. It feels good to be doing something creative.

The part-time job is extremely slow right now. Starting to search for a full-time job again. Oh the joys - especially in the economy we are in now.

And of course will have to leave you with a picture of Emma on Valentine's Day. :o)

Weekend Wrap-UP

For once I feel content as the weekend is coming to an end rapidly. We had a pretty productive weekend. Before christmas we decided to clean out the middle room in our basement, I do not have any before pictures, but the after just makes me so happy! I officially have my own escape room. Below are the pictures:

And yes that is the washer. I do not know why, this is an old house, the washer is in this room and dryer is in the front room.

As everyone is well aware the Superbowl is happening right now. I decided to have some fun finger type foods for dinner. Made some pigs in a blanket with strips of cheese in them. And then found this recipe online, take lit'l smokies, wrap them in 1/3 to 1/2 piece of bacon (I used turkey), stick on skewers or on toothpicks, sprinkly brown sugar over them, and bake @ 350 until brown sugar is all melted. These were a BIG HIT! We also had some chicken fries. And whole wheat tostito's with velveeta. Overall, very much cheated on the diet, but it was all so good!!! :o)

And we all did it. Our voices were heard. CPSIA is proposing a 1 year suspension to their plan. Click here to read more about it.

Well, I'm going to head upstairs now and work out some on the Wii Fit we got this weekend. The hubs just came down to tell me he just finished working out.

Small Toot 4 Me

I would edit this into my previous post, but I'll admit it's already too long of a post. Lols.

So, 3 weeks ago, Jan. 6th, I decided that excuses of my weight need to be stopped and I'm going to change my eating habits and make myself healthy. The little one is getting older and more active and I want to be able to run with her. I wasn't quite sure what road I was planning to go down, but then a bunch of ladies at work were talking about starting this high protein diet, eat 5 times a day, approx. consuming 1200-1300 calories. I will admit that number seems ridiculously low. Right? But really, I am forcing myself to eat stuff for my 3 meals and 2 snacks, b/c I'm just not hungry. The good news, this is def. something easy for me to stick with and it's pretty already a habit at this point.

Yesterday for my weigh-in I finally broke my first 10 lbs. I really couldn't be ecstatic. I just wanted to share my joy in this small feat among the overall big one I have ahead of me. :o)

Not so Wordless of a Wednesday

** Warning: This will be long!**

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First off, Kels over at Authenically Me: Living a Life of Love, sharing how she joined in on this fun alphabet game circling other blogs. You get given a letter and then have to list 10 things you love that begin with that letter. She gave me the letter "P". At first I was totally befuzzled on what if I could even think of 10 things that begin with the letter "P" that I love, but once I sat down and thought they came rather easily and quickly. If you too would like join in on the phone, leave a comment on this post and I'll assign you a letter. :o) Ok, now for my list, in no particular order.

1. Purple - my all time favorite color! I love all shades of it. Have made it a prominent color in Emma's room. And especially love buying her & myself for that matter, purple clothing and little things.

2. Peas - I have always loved peas. But on my new diet they are on the top of the list of things to eat, so I find myself stocking up even more on these things when going to the grocery store. Yummy!

3. Pumpkin - They help to symbolize my favorite season of the whole year. I love going to our local PumpkinFest. Out to the pumpkin farm to pick ours. Carving them. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin rolls, homemade pumpkin spice cake with home made cream cheese icing, am I getting you hungry yet?

4. Photography - I think as with any parent, who can resist not taking pictures of our little ones? Since having Emma my photographer skills have improved, and I love just taking pictures in general. Not just of her, but of the beauty around us also.

5. Popcorn - Love the fluffly kernels, butter goodness, with some cheese flavoring.

6. Portraits/Pictures/Photos - I love taking Emma for her portraits, not a bigger joy. Love surrounding my home with photos of our loved ones. There is not a bare space of wall without some kind of picture or photo frame. Pictures/Works of Art - nothing more to really say about that.

7. Pajamas - Who else is addicted to buying pajamas. I love them. Over the years I've changed my tastes, but there's nothing better then coming home and getting into your comfy pj's and curling up on the couch.

8. Pulse - To be alive and living well.

9. Pages/Paper - So much can be said on a page. Whether it be a blank page waiting for you to take your pen and write out your heart. Books. The beautiful pieces of art Emma creates on a piece of paper. My scrapbooking pages that help to share a story.

10. Pillow - I love pillows. Especially nice soft ones for our couch. Love curling up with them. Bed pillows have to just right. Amazingly, I can def. tell a difference between the hubs pillow and mine, we sleep on them differently so have different fluffiness. Yes, pillows are a great thing!

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Bloggy Rant: I'm going batty over hear with Word Verification! I totally understand why some poeple might feel the need for it due to spammers. But it always takes me at least 3 tries to get the dumb thing right, even though I could swear I'm typing it in correctly. Seriously, there is nothing more frustrating! Just had to get that off my chest.

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I found this great scrapbooking board called Making Memories for You from stubling across Ivon's blog, Crop with Style. They are having an open call for guest DT's (two paper and one digi) for April, and to be published in their ezine. These women on this board are extremely friendly and talented.

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And lastly, as I logged into blogger, I was skimming through the blogs I follow their little summaries and this topic kept popping up. I found it interesting and very informative. Copy/Paste/Pass it Along!

It is a Blog-in. Help pass it a long. As parents and concerned citizens I’m sure most of us at one time or another have been confronted with the question of lead poisoning. But have you asked yourself what your government is doing to protect your children from lead contained in toys? The answer? They're banning toys, taking books from schools and libraries, hurting low income families, killing entrepreneurial spirit and risking putting the economy in an even greater depression than we've seen in decades. I'd like to introduce you to their solution: the CPSIA.Do you know about the CPSIA? No? Then I ask you to take a few minutes to find out about it.The CPSIA stands for Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, a new set of laws that will come into effect on 10 February, 2009 and will impact many, many people in a negative way. Make no mistake, this is very real. View it for yourself. If Forbes, the American Library Association and numerous other media are paying attention, perhaps you should too.

How will these new laws affect you? Well, here are a few examples:

To the Parents of Young Students:Due to the new law, expect to see the cost of school supplies sky rocket. While those paper clips weren't originally intended for your student to use, they will need to be tested now that your 11-year-old needs them for his school project. This law applies to any and all school supplies (textbooks, pencils, crayons, paper, etc.) being used by children under 12.

To the Avid Reader:Due to the new law, all children's books will be pulled from library and school shelves, as there is no exemption for them. That’s okay though, there's always television. Our children don’t need to learn the love of reading after all.Article from the American Library Association http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=1322

To the Lover of All Things Handmade:Due to the new law, you will now be given a cotton ball and an instruction manual so you can make it yourself since that blanket you originally had your eye on for $50 will now cost you around $1,000 after it's passed testing. It won't even be the one-of-a-kind blanket you were hoping for. Items are destroyed in the testing process making one-of-a-kind items virtually impossible. So that gorgeous hand-knit hat you bought your child this past winter won’t be available next winter.

To the Environmentalist:Due to the new law, all items in non-compliance will now be dumped into our already overflowing landfills. Imagine not just products from the small business owners, but the Big Box Stores as well. You can't sell it so you must toss it. Or be potentially sued for selling it. You can't even give them away. If you are caught, it is still a violation.

To the Second-Hand Shopper:Due to the new law, you will now need to spend $20 for that brand new pair of jeans for your 2-year old, rather than shop at the Goodwill for second hand. Many resale shops are eliminating children's items all together to avoid future lawsuits.

To the Entrepreneur:Due to this new law, you will be forced to adhere to strict testing of your unique products or discontinue to make and/or sell them. Small businesses will be likely to be unable to afford the cost of testing and be forced to close up shop. Due to the current economic state, you'll have to hope for the best when it comes to finding a new job in Corporate America.

To the Antique Toy Collector:Due to the new law, you'd better start buying now because it's all going to private collection and will no longer be available to purchase. “Because the new rules apply retroactively, toys and clothes already on the shelf will have to be thrown out if they aren't certified as safe.” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123189645948879745.html

To the American Economy:Already struggling under an economy that hasn’t been this weak in decades, the American economy will be hit harder with the inevitable loss of jobs and revenues from suppliers, small businesses and consumers. The required testing is far too costly and restrictive for small businesses or individuals to undertake.

To the Worldwide Economy:Due to this new law, many foreign manufacturers have already pulled out of the US market. You can imagine the impact of this on their businesses.If you think this is exaggerating, here is a recent article from Forbeshttp://www.forbes.com/2009/01/16/cpsia-safety-toys-oped-cx_wo_0116olson.htmlAnd for those of you prepared to be stupefied and boggled, The New Lawhttp://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html

Did you know? If this upsets or alarms you, please react.

Still here

I'm here, just have had minimal time to get on the computer the last couple days. Tomorrow I plan on doing a catch-up post for an award, a fun game I joined *you can too if you want*, a small bloggy rant, and sharing pics from the hubs bday which was yesterday & we're continuing the celebrations into today. :o)

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Wordless Wednesday

I tell her to smile and say "cheese", this is what I got. How I love her!

Nope, NOT ME!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I've been reading these for months and always enjoy them, so figured, I mind as well make my own attempt.

I DID NOT slap the husband in the middle of the night, to wake him up so he could go tend to the little one because she was crying. I would never do that on a night he has to wake up for work. Nope NOT ME!

I DID NOT make chicken of some form for the 4th day in a row. My dieting has made our freezer be stocked with chicken and nothing else, b/c I haven't been to the store. And now the family is suffering.

I DID NOT guilt the husband into helping me around the house Sunday, when he was just as content watching golf all day, nope NOT ME!

I DID NOT hurt my finger playing guitar hero with the husband this weekend. I wouldn't keep challenging him to play just so I can beat him, even though now it hurts to bed my finger, nope NOT ME!

Zumba Anyone?

So, a couple weeks ago, MIL asked me if I'd be interested in doing a night exercise class of some sort with her. With my evening work schedule one of the only ones that would work was an Intro to Basic Zumba with Yoga/Pilates Fusion. What is Zumba do you ask? Latin Dancing. The instrutor explains if the first time you go through a song, then we just did the song again no instruction, we did 3 songs like that, and 1 with just instruction. By the end of February we'll learn 9-10 dances, and in a class period we'll just go from song to song to song, to re-instruction. Here's a video I found. <-Click on that link! But honestly, I was a little scared the first song, there was some kind of a crow, and our instructor would yell out "Kawkaw" (that is supposed to be a crow sound) and flap her arms like wings. I couldn't even look at MIL or else I'd lose it, but in the end it was a really fun class!

My thoughts, your heart gets a pumping, my sides and legs were hurting by the end of each song. And who doesn't like finding some new movements especially with their hips. I know the hubs liked the few moves I showed him when I got home.

So, I think if you have the chance, take a Zumba class, the time flies by, you have fun and get a great cardio workout!

Congratulations

on my cousin's and his wifes new bundle of joy, baby boy - named Landyn, that was delivered this afternoon. I'm so excited to go meet the new addition to our family, and now Emma will have a playmate in the years to come.

Crazy Clutter Keeps Taking Over

So, the end of last year I saw that Sarah @ Thrifty Decor Chick was going to be hosting a Mission to Organize & DeClutter. I got excited becasue this is right up my alley. My house desparately needs it. I mean Yes, I occasionally do rooms. Like last spring I did our room, the little ones, room and our spare room, which really is the craft room/our dressers, and the catch all of all catch alls. The end of 2008 we decided to flip flop rooms with our daughter and actually headed down to the basement to get it clean so our spare room can officially be a spare room. Which has just made the bug even bigger to be completely organized.

My Hot Spots that Need IMMDIATE attention:
- The Bathroom Closet, which is all bathroom ammenities, plus cleaning supplies for the house.
- The Kitchen Cabinets and Drawers - I just do not even want to go there, a lot of wasted space for stuff we just DO NOT USE!
- The buffets in my dining room, you can bet that any misc. stuff just gets tossed into the puppies so am a little scared to see what will be lurking.
- The back half of the basement which consists of Emma's Clothes she's grown out of and all of those big spaced Baby Toy/Items. How is it that one little person can accumulate SO MUCH!!!

Not only that but I swear clutter just begins to suffocate you. It really is so nice to go through things, get rid of what you don't use and then be able to really enjoy the space.

Are you the Type of Person who just CAN'T throw things out/Donate them?

- You must. If you've never used, haven't used it in the last 6 months etc. then get rid of it. Decide whether it's actual trash or to be donated, sold at consignment, or hold a big yard sale. You will feel better as you get rid of things.

I personally do not have a problem holding on to things, you can tell when I'm cleaning out, because I accumulate bags and bags (the 60 gallon bags) out on my porch to be tossed or taken to my gramma's for a yard sale this spring. I'm pretty sure the whole neighborhood knows on trash day when we line it all up. Lols, but in the end it feels good! Sentimental things are different, and even then there comes a time if they are just taking over but packed away and not enjoying them, get rid of them! I personally love filling up bags of stuff that are leaving my house one way or another and getting it out!

So, who wants to join in on the fun? You know you want to. Your home, family and you will be happier and enjoy it all the more at the end! So join the Mission with me and let's share our tips & tricks.

The Hiatus must come to an End...

I can't believe it's been practically 3 weeks since my last post, I haven't even been reading up on anyone, I have much much catching up to do.

Our Christmas was wonderful. We are so lucky and very blessed by our loved ones. We had our final Christmas last weekend. Still have some presents to put away and outside decorations to take down, but all in time right?

New Year's was a great time spent with friends. And New Year's day we got to witness my aunt's annual polar bear dip in front of her house. Too cold for us though. And spent the afternoon at Sesame Street Live.

Today, is my birthday, turned the big 2-4! Woo-HOO! I took the plunge and finally got my tattoo that I've been wanting. It's beautiful and I love it. Unfortunately bad weather canceled our original plans but the day turned out wonderful anyways.

For some reason on birthdays and perhaps it's just because it's the new year, it's a time for reflections and things I want to change.

- I finally feel like I'm in a good place, and that feels good!
- I'm putting my health up to the top of my list. Am getting serious about making myself and my family healthy!
- This year I'm going to finish decluttering my house. November and December I really started and in this process of getting out all of that junk, I've finally fallen in love with our home and it is a home, no longer just a house. I love being here.
- Venturing on new and exciting things such as opening an Etsy store with my dear friend Deann, will keep posted on the grand opening and everything.
- Being more serious with our money and getting us back on budget, I did so well the end of last year and the past month or so have fallen off of the wagon some. Time to hop back on.
- Taking more time for my friends and family members.

It feels good to get all of these things down and out. I myself and heading up to bed, tons of pictures I'll be sharing throughout the week of our holidays, room flips, some projects, awesome homemade gifts we got and bday celebrations.

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Merry Christmas to All...

Well, the time is finally here. We are drawing upon the 13th hour of Christmas Eve and can I just say I can't believe it's here! All of this preparation and finally only hours away from being able to enjoy Emma and all of the Christmas Magic over the next few days.

I got this email today that I thought I'd fwd on to everyone. scrapnfonts has this gorgeous free font (http://www.scrapnfonts.com/searchdetail.php?psku=12133). I personally def. plan on using it for next years cards/gift tags.

Most of all I just want to wish everyone a wonderful and safe Christmas with your families and loved ones. Enjoy every moment! And let's celebrate Jesus birth!

I am going to be gone probably until the new year, but will be back full force then! I wish you all a Happy New Year too!

ME = Been M.I.A

I feel like it's been forever since a post. I totally went MIA this week b/c my laptop had some major issues going on with it. I still don't have that fixed, but did hook back up the desktop and got that working, so I'm a happy mama again!

I promise the next few days to return the comment love that I've gotten this week.

So, a couple week's ago I called our portrait studio - and to my amazement they were already booked solid until after Christmas. I mean really how did I let the time get away from me that I'm missing out on our yearly family picture and getting Emma's pictures. I swear it's like an addiction I love taking her and looking through all of the great shots they get. But looks like we're doing without our family picture at Christmas this year, perhaps at Easter we'll do one, and the hubs and I decided we could try and take them ourselves. We took about 20 of them and the last shot was the keeper! My little girl is growing up, I mean yes I knew that, but man she just looks so grown up to me in this picture.

Today the hubs and me spent the day cleaning up the house some and baking. Yes, I was actually able to convince him to help me with pretty much all of the baking. We made 4 different cookies, peppermint bark, baklava, and there's still a dough in the fridge being chilled which will just have to wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow left to do - make fudge, last cookie batch and gingerbread house. Needless to say, I'm sick and tired of washing dishes, I felt like I was always washing a sink full of dishes. Put away clean one's twice and there's another set out drying now. Bleah! Why can't this old house have a bigger kitchen for me to get a dishwasher?

Tuesday Tidbits

The little one and me are just hanging around the house in our pj's today. Well, until I need to get dressed for work tonight. It's crazy weather outside, in the past 5 minutes it went from rain/sleet/snow mixture to just snow now. I really hope it stops for my commute tonight, am not looking forward to that.

Kimba is having a Holiday Open House. Go on over and check out all of the great holiday link up's.

And last night we made an impromptu trip out to Candy Lane, that Hershey Park puts on every year. It was in the 50's so why not take advantage of the nice weather for some outdoors christmas fun. Tons of gorgeous lights and they had 30 rides open throughout the park. Emma wasn't that into the rides, we did the Merry-Go-Round and she hated it. She's gripping that horse like there's no tomorrow, and we didn't even have one that moved up and down. We went up the kissing tower, where we got to see the whole park, as soon as we went up she kept saying down, down, down. It was cute. We did do the antique cars and she most defintely loved that the most. Hopefully when we go back in a couple years she'll like it more.

She looks so tiny at the one sign of lights.

Looks like I'm getting kisses, but she didn't want to let go of me.

She's gripping that pole on the horse.

Here we are moving on the ride. She hated it. The hubs said everytime we went by he'd hear her say "mommmmmmmmy". I couldn't help but laugh and try and soothe her

Picture of us.

We got to see the reindeer.

Daddy and Emma, looking over the bridge at the ducks.

Christmas In Bloggyland Tour!

Muse Swings: A Christmas In Bloggyland Tour! Everyone - and that means you - is invited to participate and share your holiday spirit with your bloggyfriends - however you wish - on the 15th.Show your decorations, your memories, stories, pictures, recipes, music, art, poetry, nature - anything -whatever you like on your Christmas in Bloggyland post for the 15th.