A Year in Review - 2013

I cannot believe it.... today is officially the last day of 2013! The first thing that I realized this morning is that it has been a whole year since the world was supposed to have ended, plus some! The second thing I realized is that I don't think I hit ANY of my goals or resolutions that I made for myself in 2013. UGH. On a good note ( or crazy sad how time flies note) the baby turned ONE this year and the boy turned 10... which also means this year I will turn 30!! Boy oh boy.... time flies.

 

Here is what happened for ME in 2013.

January-  closed my etsy shop. I am a perfectionist and it was fun to make things for people but I decided I like to make things as gifts not things that people actually pay for. I am way to meticulous for that, besides, I think I knew better things were coming and I just wouldn't have time anymore. That proved true.  

 

  February- joined itWorks Global! I really honestly cannot believe it has been almost an entire YEAR that I have been partying working with this company. Not to mention we are planning to hit a BILLION dollars in sales in 2014! We did half that this year and it only goes up from here. Best company ever!!  

  March- so funny thing is after searching through Facebook, Instagram, and the blog I have come to the conclusion that NOTHING exciting happened in March. Here is a cute pic of the kids though.... from September hahahaha.

    April- I got flowers from Jon for no reason. A "just because" bouquet. This is significant because I haven't gotten any flowers since. This should be documented somewhere because it is just not right!! **when I mentioned this to him he reminded me that April was the last time we had "extra" fun money because this is when his VA benefit check ended. Meaning we officially started living on ONE income....OK, that's fair.**  

  May- Jordon turned 10 and rang in double digits. Unbelievable. I still remember the day this kiddo was born. He is such a smart kid, not to mention best big brother ever! This was the first year with a special happy birthday plate and glass. We loved it!  

  June- Jaida turned ONE! Sheesh, first the boy turns 10, then the girl turns one. Somebody tell me the secret to get them to stay this young forever. We celebrated her birthday with Gran-Gran (Jon's mom) in town and then the following weekend headed to the beach in Oregon. The beach was for a retirement party for my aunt but it made for a great family vacation!!  

      July- We had our FIRST annual neighborhood 4th of July block party! It was complete with face painting by one amazingly talented neighbor, pictures taken by another, the men barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs to go with side dishes each family brought, there was a bounce house and the night was finished off with 100's of jello shots and combined fireworks display that lasted over an hour!!! This was by far one of the most fun days this year!  

  August- The hubs and I celebrated 3 years of wedded bliss  being married. Let me tell you, anyone who says marriage is easy is a liar. It is hard work. I love my husband to pieces but every marriage has it's moments and this year has been a crazy roller coaster of emotions in ours. I truly am hoping 2014 will just have a few less turbulent moments. I also plan to get a little more raw on the blog about this because I feel that could benefit people who jumped into marriage thinking it would be cake like I did.  

  September- We had a "bootcamp" in Seattle where I met fellow itWorks peeps and we basically owned the city for 2 days. It was so much fun hanging out with my extended "family" and really hearing the passion of other people that do what I do and LOVE it just as much.  

  October- Took our first trip to the pumpkin patch! One of my best friends' son turned 2 and they had his party here. Jon had to work and Jordon chose to go to his grandparents instead, but Jaida and I had a blast! This is something I hope to do every year as well.... but next time the boys are coming!  

  November- Another month of new traditions! We started Thanksgiving morning watching the Macy's parade and gobbling down (see what I did there) these fruit and pancake turkeys. We were actually super blessed to get to go out to my Aunt's house in North Bend to be with several of my family members. At first it was looking like it would be our first Thanksgiving with just us. Thanks to the last minute invite we had a wonderful day!!  

  December- I don't care what you think, this was a big moment for me ha ha. We binge watched Breaking Bad on Netflix. AKA we stopped our lives for 2 weeks and every free moment was spent in front of the TV. This is not something I suggest UNLESS it is to watch this amazingly brilliant show. My business slowed, and I was so unproductive over that time but I wouldn't change it for a minute! Yep, I even googled what to do when it ended... see below, I am not alone in this addiction. ;)  

I hope you all have a wonderful last day of 2013! Make it a good one! Maybe I will remember to take pictures if we do anything festive tonight.

 

 Talk to all you lovelies in 2014!!

               

Monday Morning Ramblings & goals!!

So here is what I decided with the weight loss sharing vs not sharing on the blog dilemma. I took before pictures and I am documenting the entire process in a fitness journal (thanks sister for buying it for me!) BUT I am not going to do weekly weigh in posts or anything right now. I want to get into the swing of things without the stress of blogging about it as well. Part of me thinks that it would hold me accountable to blog along, but then the honest me says "hmmm, remember this post, this post,  oh this one too that was from LAST new years and look I even promised weekly weigh in posts here...." that's right, I seem to have issues sticking to your blogging schedule especially when it comes to weight loss documenting!  It's actually a little embarrassing looking back over those posts. Not only to see how many times I have started and failed but also for the fact that I am not even 10lbs less than when I started the weigh in Wednesday posts back in MAY. Good gravy. The only thing I did stick too is selling wraps and supplements with my it Works business.... I'm really good at helping OTHER people reach their goals!     Onto the next bit of rambling....   I don't want to make official New Year's resolutions because umm... see previous rambling.... but I do think my sister has a good idea. She says she is going to make monthly goals that will be easier to stick to. I like that idea. My ADHD brain is so filled with a bazillion things that I want to do this year and I always try to start everything on the first day and then quit before the week is over because its just too much. I think my mini goal for January will be just to write down EVERYTHING that I eat. I have goals also for the business etc. but if I list everything here I will get overwhelmed.   One day at a time.   Maybe my first goal should be to write out a blog schedule for the month of January!   Here are my first months goals::   Blog- write out a blog schedule Business- Post daily on Facebook and follow up with at least 3 people/week Personal- Log everything I eat and drink more water! Marriage- Finish "the love dare" book together ( I will have to blog about this because I have some funny stories to tell you!) Family- Go back to family game night once a week!   Ok, wish me luck!!           

Surprise!!

Oh my word... How BEAUTIFUL is my new blog design? Super pretty right?! Shout out to Jane over at Poppiness for making all my blog design dreams come true! Christmas is over... It was amazing... My stomach hates me. The end. Ok, but really I can't be the only one who pushes my stomach capacity to the max on both Thanksgiving AND Christmas. I hate to be the New Years resolution type and plan to "workout and eat right" (starting January 1st of course) but that is my very plan. I think we might be going to Hawaii for my 30th...ahhhh... So I better get moving with less than 6 months left... Double ahhhh. I'm trying to decide how and if I want to document my weight loss journey. I have started and failed several times in the past, so do I risk the lack of follow through or just stick with something for once? I'm not worried about quitting... Just worried about posting progress on the blog. Blogger fail #175480 On that note I also failed to take ANY pictures this Christmas! I was just so in the moment with the family and kids that I documented nothing. I will regret it won't I? Boooo.  Let's just say I am the queen of making goals and resolutions and I NEVER follow through. This needs to change. I plan to change.  New Years resolution for 2014: Don't just say it.... DO IT!!  -and take pictures -and stop being a people pleaser -and blog more -and ...... To be continued. Maybe ;)      

Remember the Reason!

 

keep going!!

Whew... what a week right? Seriously this entire month has been so full of craziness and has moved so quickly that I am just constantly playing catch up! I swear there cannot be an entire month between Thanksgiving and Christmas.... how is that possible..... it FLIES!   I haven't posted anything about my business this entire month! No giveaways, no wrap parties, not even an inspirational quote! I'm sure everyone thinks I have thrown in the towel. Even though I have definitely lost the title for best business owner for the month of December, I can assure you I am still going strong slinging' the wraps! I really blame it on Breaking Bad.... we started watching it on Netflix and Could.Not.Stop! I have a hole in my heart and emptiness in my soul now that its finished too! Clearly there was no time for anything else during our binge watching sessions, not to mention I couldn't let anything pull me away. No way José!    Sad?! Only if you have never seen it because I promise y'all would feel the same if you had watched!!   Anyway, I should totally jump right back into my work but I am full of excuses for the rest of December. We are having Christmas brunch at our house this year so I have lots of shopping and prepping to do before hand. This may be a lie, I am just making a casserole. Hehe.   If anyone else is feeling drained these days due to the holiday crazies then I have one thing to say to you....    
 

 

really this is one of my favs for the business and my team but I think it applies here too! Don't let life and the crazy consume you! Laugh... be merry... enjoy yourselves and I will strive to do the same!

That's all for now.... I have something super exciting happening behind the scenes in the blog world, cant wait to reveal it!

 

Stay tuned!

 

 

Ya can't turn a ho into a housewife!

..... but you can turn an old fleece sweatshirt into a stuffed fox!   You guessed it people, it's refashion time! *remember that time I said I wanted to do a refashion at least once a month...ummm yeah* So lately I have been joining in the madness that is holiday giveaways, and if you have ever entered a giveaway ( or 50) then you know you end up finding/following a lot of new blogs and seeing great ideas pop up in your Facebook newsfeed. I happened to come across this super cute stuffed fox DIY by Crystal from Stitched by Crystal. Of course the way that I am when I see something this cute, and not to mention simple enough for me to try, I tell myself Jaida HAS to have it. RIGHT NOW.   Well we were obviously not anywhere near a craft store so I had to find another way to get my hands on some fleece STAT..... and DUH, it's winter and you're talking to the girl that keeps outdated and outgrown clothes way past their prime... so I grabbed an old fleece sweatshirt from my closet! I already had some felt sheets on hand so I got to work!  

 

 

Oh and side note .... if you are like me and runs through things without fully reading the directions first then let me fill you in on an important piece I missed the first time... after cutting out the pattern (last 3 pages of tutorial) you have to TAPE a couple of the pieces together...   SEE      

 

THEN you can cut!

 

 

 

Now follow the tutorial by Crystal HERE.

 

TA DAAAAA... here's my final product :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now off to make some more for Christmas gifts!!

 

Its gettin REAL folks

I had no intentions to blog today. In fact I have been so super busy and on my feet most of the day that I just wanted to stalk everyone else's blogs and drink my chai latte in peace.   No but really look at this super sweet ceramic tumbler my friend bought me as an early Christmas gift         LOVE!!   Anyway, as I was reading through blogs I happened upon one of my favorites Living in Yellow and Erin had written about things she was afraid to open up about on her blog. It got me thinking... not only about her #10 thing, because that was a good one as I often wonder the same thing, but about being open and honest when blogging in general. When I started my very first blog - this hideous mess- my intentions were to write all about my pregnancy, every.last.detail. I was planning to document the gas and bloating and hemorrhoids and all the other wonderfully truthful pregnancy side effects. Then I started reading other pregnancy blogs with chalkboard signs showing the size of the baby with its corresponding fruit, and nurseries decorated with trendy chevron patterns, teepees and foxes. Everyone was cloth diapering and pureeing fruits and veggies into pre-frozen baby food pouches. So I bowed out of honest posts gracefully and jumped on the perfect pregnancy bandwagon.   Well fast forward to 2013, and although I am not pregnant anymore (now THAT would make for a good blog story.... shoot even news story....) I realized that often I don't blog because my life isn't rosy enough at the moment or all I want to do is complain but I don't want to be "that blogger." I make sure to post only the best pictures of my family and lifestyle and leave out the messy moments. My biggest fault is that I started this blog as an online journal, where I could open up and vent to the online world, meet people that are similar, and maybe help someone along the way.   I have failed.   HONESTLY, I am bipolar. As in diagnosed and medicated. HONESTLY, I have lazy tendencies and procrastinate way to much. HONESTLY, I am 40lbs overweight and need to get my bum in gear. HONESTLY, I am a Christian and feel like I have a strong relationship with God, yet I have so many questions and doubts and often I just don't hear him. HONESTLY, marriage is hard I mean freaking HARD and people just don't talk about it. HONESTLY, our finances are extremely tight and its because of MY choice to be a stay at home mom when we could really use a second income.   Lastly, I am extremely afraid to displease people or not fit in, but guess what you guys? I think we ALL share so many of these issues and what kind of community of bloggers are we if we keep living in the fake world where its all about keeping up with the Jones' .... or Kardashians ;)   So who else is jumping on the honesty train and gettin real with the blog world for 2014?!  

 

Baby it's cold outside {and a recipe}

Wow.... can I just say I am so not used to this 10° weather at night!! We recently upgraded to some really nice heaters downstairs and yet we woke up to 64° inside. I know that's not THAT cold but I like my 70 degree home!!   In our house Sunday is "Soup Sunday" in the fall and winter. I happen to love this day because it usually means simmering soup in a crackpot and toasting up some crunchy bread which means EASY dinner night for chef mommy! We bought a butternut squash the other day and I have been waiting all week to make one of my all time favorite soups. Butternut Squash Soup (topped with parm and bacon) I was actually so excited that I prepped everything last night so I could make it early enough for the hubs to take to work! He isn't a big "squash fan" and really not even a lover of soup Sunday in general but even he liked this finished product! I'm sure the bacon had something to do with that.   I hope you all enjoy it as much as we did.     BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP WITH BACON & PARMESAN    

 

 

Ingredients:

 

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into cubes
• 4 cups chicken broth
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 pieces of bacon
• 1/3 cup cream (optional)
• Parmesan cheese to top

Instructions:

 

Melt the butter and olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until the onion is soft ( about 4-5 mins) Add cubed squash and sauté for an additional 5 minutes. Next add in the broth, salt and pepper.  Cover and simmer on medium-low for about 25 minutes, or until squash has softened.

Meanwhile, fry the bacon in a separate skillet until crispy.  Drain on a paper towel.

 

Once the squash has softened, puree the soup with either an immersion blender, or transfer to a food processor or standing blender. When smooth return to pot and stir in cream. 

 

Serve in bowls with shredded parmesan cheese and bacon on top.

 

 

Enjoy, and stay warm my friends!

 



 

  

  

 

 

 

   

Why I have been busy all day with nothing to show for it

Besides a dirty kitchen.... and sore back   I was supposed to go to MOPS (mothers of pre-schoolers) today at the church but decided to skip it because I had WAY too much on the to do list.    So as usual about once a month I sat down to blog and ended up looking through my phone for some pictures. That reminded me that I was participating in a photo a day challenge so I snapped a pic and headed over to Instagram. I scrolled through Instagram for a bit and saw all the posts about the DOUBLE bonus my company is offering right now, which reminded me that I needed to get my monthly newsletter sent out. While typing up the newsletter I got a notification on my tablet of a new high paying survey available so I clicked the notification and was brought to my email inbox. In the inbox I noticed another email from someone needing a babysitter from a service I used to be a part of so I clicked to read the message. After reading the message I was curious just how many people nearby needed a nanny or sitter so I went to the website. While scrolling through the job listings another email notification came up from a client so I went to the email box to respond and then ended up doing some research on my website. After researching and replying to the email hubby started a new (to us) episode of Breaking Bad on Netflix, I went back to writing my newsletter because no, I had not finished yet.   Watched 2 full episodes of Breaking Bad while continuing to work on the newsletter.   Computer froze.....   Almost completed after 3 hours of work Newsletter.... GONE   Decided to take a break to eat some lunch when I came back to the computer there was another email reminding me about the card swap I had signed up for so I went out to Pinterest for ideas. While looking on Pinterest for card ideas I ended up looking at meal ideas, workouts, cute clothes, crafts and giveaways. I clicked on a giveaway. This one giveaway turned into several which led to me remembering that my sister had sent me some info for yet another giveaway, so I went onto Facebook to find the message. While scrolling back through the message I saw a link she had posted for the new meal/workout plan we are doing together so I clicked the link.   I'll stop here because you guys..... it was only about NOON at this point.   All of this should help explain why it is now 7:30pm and the only successful thing I have completed today has been making dinner.   Please help me to reign in my ADHD brain! How am I ever supposed to just stick to one thing without forgetting to do everything else AHHHHH.  

   

Spread some cheer!

Ok so a couple things today, first in case you are new around these parts and have noticed I don't blog much.... well yeah now you know, and I'm sorry! I had/have the best intentions in having a blog I just get too busy watching vines all day with my life on the daily that I forget to make time to blog. As if it is really that hard right?! Really if blogging didn't involve hours (for me) of photo editing and content proof reading I would probably blog several times a day. For real, I have ADHD people.... this mind is NON.STOP.   Secondly.... as I was scrolling through Facebook this morning (again, WHY don't I have time to blog?!)I found a couple fun things.... check it out....   Ignore the blur, I snapped a screen shot on the tablet just to show the amazingness. Basically from today until Nov 17th between 2-5pm if you buy one holiday drink you get one FREE! Yum!! (see more here )  

 

Then.... there is THIS:

{via} I am SOOOO excited! I am going to make some extremely cute cards to spread some holiday cheer to some random people! No, really, I am SO. EXCITED.   That is all. Glad I "found" this 15 mins it took to blog today :)  

 

Trendy baby at the patch

Well shoot... once again the week has gotten away from me! I was so prepared to post on the trendy tot Tuesday link up (that I only participated in once) and whoosh Tuesday slipped right by! With it being so difficult to snap pictures of this crazy toddler its a rare occasion that I can even participate. I would wait until next Tuesday.... but they are "seasonal" as in from the dang pumpkin patch. So I am just going to post today.   Jaida's little friend turned 2 last week and his birthday party was at a pumpkin patch, complete with a petting farm area. Best party idea ever for the fall! We actually hadn't had a chance to go to the pumpkin patch this year so it worked out well. Jordon chose to go to his grandparents house (surprise surprise) and Jon had to work so it was just us girls.   All of the clothes she is wearing are consigned. Hat, Coat, and black jeans are baby gap and her boots are Uggs ( that I got for free using a $15.00 credit I had at the consignment store!) BOOM.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I could not, for the life of me, get an un-blurry picture of these pigs!

 

 

 

Happy Halloween lovelies... be safe and eat lots of your kids candy!

 

 

Antisocial Alert

What in the world is wrong with me lately?? I feel so antisocial. I'm not talking just the don't make eye contact, or the driving into my garage and closing the door behind me before I get out of the car type of antisocial. I'm talking like paralyzing avoiding everyone but my immediate family antisocial.   It' actually kind of funny because in the business that I am in the only way to grow is to tell anyone and everyone about the products I promote and help other people to do the same. As much as I have always loved attending and hosting parties I find myself just dreading them right now. Even MOPS at the church and playdates with my friends get pushed right out of the calendar.   Part of me thinks it is again part of the extreme PMS.... mostly because I want to also eat the whole world right now...(no, I am NOT pregnant) Another part of me things something has tipped my bipolar disorder and my meds have stopped working (a very likely possibility) Still another part thinks that it is just the pure laziness that invades me as soon as the first leaf turns yellow in Autumn.   **I also just realized I may have never mentioned that I am diagnosed Bipolar.... surprise! **   That being said, I really need a good pick me up. I need to find a way to get outa this funk! I'm thinking a pumpkin spice chai from Starbucks, and a trip to Target would cure my "blues" but its not going to make me any more social.   oh well   How can I NOT want to be social when these two are tagging along?    

 

ignore the horrible quality of the front facing camera on my iphone 4S

 

Anyone else have an antisocial issue lately?

 

 

Oh what a day!

You know friends, life is frustrating. Let's be honest here.... life is HARD. Yesterday was one of those days that I was really feeling tested. It felt almost as though from the moment I woke up until the moment I laid my head down to call it a day the world was just spinning in the wrong direction. I felt rushed to get out the door when I had plenty of time, nothing fit right and the mop of hair on my head was all wrong. I went and met with a group of girls from church and was let down by a comment I heard was said about me behind my back.... by church friends. ouch.    Later in the day I went to the mall and instead of feeling relaxed and enjoying myself, I felt afraid. Yes, you read that right, AFRAID. I was looking over my shoulders getting out of the car, and walking through the mall I kept imagining all of the (2) mall shootings I've been aware of. I felt paralyzed with fear. I wanted to just turn around and walk back out but I chose to keep shopping. I did however feel a sense of relief when the mall's rent a cop went for a smoke break at the same time I walked out to the parking lot. It was only a small sense of false security, but hey I'll take it!   After stopping to pick up dinner and feeling physically sick for spending "so much" money on food, we headed back home. Jordon promptly through a fit about wanting to play outside pretty much guaranteeing I wasn't going to catch a break from this backwards day. We ate, Jaida had a bath, we read some books and then she went to bed. Relax time.   Wrong   Teething strikes again and the baby wakes crying every 30 mins. Enter headache. I don't even really remember Jordon coming down to say goodnight somewhere in between the strawberries and nutella I was snacking on while catching up on smut TV. Next thing you know, I'm balling and feeling hopeless during 19 Kids and counting. What.The.Heck.   It's PMS people, it's got to be. I think its worse than normal and I think I'm a bit sick of it.... Now where is my Nutella?