My Trendy Tot

Is "Trendy Tot Tuesday" still floating around somewhere in the blogosphere? I would totally link up if it is....but I remember seeing it awhile ago, as in over a year ago I think, and could never remember to post let alone link up for it.

{Edit.... after a quick Google search I have found Trendy Tot Tuesday!} 


Anywho, now that Jaida is two it is slightly....seriously only the slightest of slight bits.... easier to take pictures of her. Sure, bribery with chocolate is often involved, but I don't blame the girl because we ARE related and if you know me, you know I too am easily bribed with chocolate!

 I have been on a serious crafty/sewing/fashion/pretending my toddler is a life sized doll, kick. I blame it on Pinterest. I honestly blame everything on Pinterest, having ADHD and all I truly should not be allowed to scroll through all the pretty pins and dream my life away, but I do.  All those pins that I have under "what I wear" basically become what Jaida wears.... because she is small and doesn't have a weird shaped body, and basically looks great in everything. So yes, perhaps I live my fashion life through my daughter. Judge away, I won't stop ;) 

That being said I decided to share my most recent toddler trends with you all. Also, if this does become a weekly thing I promise not to vomit so many trends at once.... but I couldn't let these slip by without proper recognition.

 ** there is no coffee in that cup people it's just apple juice**

 ** If you follow me on Instagram I apologize because this is nothing new!**

cheers!!

{via}

         

September!! Is it fall now?

First, I find it most ironic that I plan to stay on top of blogging from this point on....yet slacked on hitting publish for this post meant to go live first thing this morning. So here you go....a tad late ;)

I know....Not many people look forward to the summer months coming to an end. I say bring on the fall and give me ALL the Pumpkin Spice. I seriously love everything about fall. I love the rain, the boots, the cool weather, the clouds, the hooded sweatshirts, the scarves and one of my all time favs.... "Soup Sundays." Yay, I just cannot wait! We have had a taste of fall this week here in Washington, and I have loved it! All this being said....can you believe it is already September?! Wow. Time for me to start a new trend here on the ol' blog. Monthly goals. I will do 5 goals to be my main focus each month. So lets start shall we.

 ( lofty, I know) and along with this.... plan out my day, EVERY DAY. 

 ( eat clean 3 days then 1 cheat day, eat clean 2 days then another cheat day) 

**sneak peak of future blog post!**

 

 

So I guess we will see how this goes right friends?        

Is this the end?

Friendships are hard.

 

I mean come on, they are basically the same as any relationship in that there are usually expectations, deal breakers, and of course at times even "break ups." I honestly believe that everyone should have several acquaintances but only a few good friends. It is just easier this way. How can you have a truly meaningful, safe, and fulfilled friendship with someone who has 15 other "best friends" that they have to foster relationships with.

 

 It can be so hard not to get attached right away when you meet someone and you just click. Wow, she likes the same shows as me, our husbands are alike, our kids are similar ages, we have the same hobbies, etc. but even more painful is when you start to really get to know that person and they just aren't what you thought.  At first maybe it was fun talking a little gossip, until you realize you are on the outside of her inner circle so what might she be telling others about you? You enjoy hearing all about her life, until you find out that she has told her stories to every other listening ear. At that point it is no longer genuine. How can you feel that you have a close relationship with a person that shares the same things with everyone. It starts to be a burden because friendships take time and energy. Two things that nobody has to waste!!

 

You have to wonder when your "friend" is telling you stories about their other "friends" that you don't know, and spilling details that are not your business in the first place. Are they looking to you for direction, or just gossiping because they have trouble keeping secrets. Again, would this not make you leery to let them into your life? I can tell you I have been on both sides here and often times in the end the loyalty doesn't lie with anyone. This type of thinking is not one of fostering any relationship at all.  

 

So how do you know when it's "the end" of a friendship? Personally I think when you no longer get excited to tell them when something amazing has happened. You no longer want to run to them as a shoulder to cry on when you hit a rough patch in life. Perhaps they make comments that if they REALLY knew you, they would know they were being offensive, or make you realize they never really knew you or your life at all. Unless they just never listened. When they start only talking about themselves or their other friends and you no longer seem to matter..... walk away.

 

There should be no reason to be burned in a friendship because we get to choose our friends. If you are unhappy or unfulfilled by someone you thought you could trust, just be done with it. Also, take note of the warning signs from the start, just as you would in any relationship! Some people are only put into your life for a season.

 

Friendships can be hard..... and yet GOOD friendships are essential. Choose wisely :)

PS:: I don't mean to be a quote queen but this one is good for today's post. Promise I'll have more personal pics back in my posts soon!

 

              

My life is full of Luxury

I actually had a post ready for today ( I know I was shocked too ) with pictures edited and all. Basically just putting my goals for August out there. I will have to post that another day because something else has come up that bugged me so much I felt like blogging about it. Because lets be real, this is the place I go when I have more to say than I can put into a facebook status or tweet. Or in this case, something I feel is important but I don't really want to shout it to the world that actually knows me in person. 

So here goes....

At least weekly I am bombarded with invites to direct sales type home parties, birthday parties, girls nights, lunches, dinners, drinks, BBQs etc. I have gotten really good at excusing my way out of them for one reason or another, but the truth is we just can't afford anything extra. People want me to run 5k's, donate for a cause, split an amazing deal they found somewhere to go wine tasting, and other things that "don't cost very much." Here's the thing... to me, they DO in fact cost more than I can afford. We live on a VERY tight budget. When I chose to stay at home after my daughter was born I had no idea how tight it would be. I knew that realistically it wasn't something we were able to afford at the time or even prepare for but I prayed and prayed and truly felt that God would provide, and He has. 

Sure, we don't get to go out to nice dinners, go on long vacations, take road trips, or buy things that aren't necessities. But, parks are free, game nights at home are free, our church events are free, and it won't be like this forever. Sometimes (more often than I care to admit) I get sad about the fact that it feels like I made a bad decision to stay at home, or the fact I haven't yet gone back to work. I feel bad for my husband who works so hard just to put all of his money towards bills and being able to put food on the table. I do surveys, enter giveaways, and babysit on the side to pay for my own car payment and gas.... but he carries our family for sure. Well in reality God does. 

All I ask is not to feel sorry for me but, pay your sitter on time, be understanding when someone tweets a TON of giveaways a day that blow up your twitter feed (this girl) and just take no for no when you invite someone out. Chances are if they could go they would, and if I could afford to babysit and be paid whenever you feel like it I would. Lastly, I enter giveaways more out of necessity than fun, I want to win so that we can enjoy some normalcy in our life..... or so I can enjoy some Starbucks and new clothes now and then ;)

Sure, it "doesn't cost that much" to most people to throw away $20.00 on whatever they want here or there, but listen to me when I say.... $20.00 to me, is gas to take my kids to the park, a couple new shirts for back to school shopping, or shoot sometimes that's my son's lunch money. When I say we don't have extra money I don't mean I just can't afford to put cash down on a new car, I literally mean If we don't NEED it to survive than I will not be spending money on it right now. My kids are happy, we own a beautiful home, have 2 decent cars, closets full of clothes (even if they are thrifted or hand me downs) we eat healthy foods, and own some really nice things. We have each other, and honestly have everything we need.

It's hard sometimes, but all in all friends LIFE IS GOOD, and my life still can be luxurious. 

          

Loaded Baked Potato Casserole

I don't know about you but I always seem to be short on time. I usually forget that I need to even prepare a dinner until it's 5 o'clock and my toddler starts whining about being hungry. "Dinner mommy, EAT!" and to be 100% honest, there are many nights where dinner is thrown together and consists something of a bowl of kix and a bagel with cream cheese. So I have hit ummmm the dairy food group.... oh and breads?! Great, mom of the year. Usually my husband isn't too fond of these types of dinners. He works afternoons and  evenings so our dinner becomes leftovers for him to take for lunch and dinner at work the following day. When I don't make a legit dinner.... you guessed it, he goes without. Ok, not really. He packs himself something boring like a salad and maybe a frozen dinner. Not really gaining myself any wife or stay at home mommy points. 

So, when I want to make something super simple that will guarantee plenty of leftovers for the hubs,  I go with a casserole. Over the last 2 years as a stay at home mom I can safely say we have this about once a month and it satisfies us all. No complaints yet! I call it a loaded baked potato casserole, and then I also add chicken to the mix. 

Bear with me here because at this point in the game I just throw everything together without measuring a thing. I am positive you can't mess this bad boy up. So here ya go....

{with chicken}

Ingredients: 

• 4-6 russet potatoes
• 2 uncooked chicken breasts
• olive oil
• hot sauce
• minced garlic
• cheese
• green onions
• cooked bacon or bacon bits
• sour cream ( optional for topping )

Prep time: 10mins

Cook Time: 60 mins. 

-Preheat your oven to 475 or 500 degrees, yes that is HOT, but perfect for roasting your taters. Now let's get started.....

First, chop both your potatoes and chicken into bite size pieces. ** Don't cross contaminate people, I assume you know those rules** Set aside. Next, in a medium size bowl mix together about 1/4c. olive oil, aprox. 4TBS. hot sauce ( I use Frank's RedHot original or buffalo sauce but I'm sure any favorite would work) you can use more or less depending on the amount of heat your family likes, and then I throw in about a spoonful of minced garlic. Mix. 

Now toss the potatoes into the mixture to coat them well. Use a spoon to remove potatoes once coated and place in casserole dish. The trick here is to make sure you have left some of the sauce mixture behind when removing the potatoes. Next, add the chicken to the sauce in the bowl and coat it well. Set it aside in the fridge to marinate while you roast the potatoes. Place your casserole dish of potatoes into the oven to start roasting! * Check the potatoes and stir them around every 15mins for even roasting* While they are cooking start cutting up your onions, bacon and grate some cheese. Once your potatoes are fork tender (about 30-45mins) remove the dish, TURN THE OVEN DOWN to 450 degrees and pour the chicken and sauce mixture onto the roasted potatoes. Bake for an additional 15 mins. or until chicken is fully cooked through.

Last, remove casserole dish, top with onions, bacon, and cheese and return to the oven for an additional 5mins or until cheese is melted. Now, Serve with sour cream! Yummy!! 

I hope you all enjoy this as much as we do around here. I know personally, these are all staple ingredients in my house, so I never have to worry about running to the store last minute. Also, while the hour long cooking time may seem like some planning needs to be involved, it really goes by so fast and even my 2 year old loves watching it cook and will stop whining for dinner knowing this is on the way.

What is YOUR favorite 'go to' dinner? 

             

Back to reality

Aw man. I'm sorry guys..... time has gotten away from me.....again.

The "extreme heat" (read as mediocre to most who owns an A/C unit) that we have been having, of about 90+ degrees has thrown me off track for EVERYTHING! I'm talking meal planning, exercise, heck even doing my hair, has been pushed to the way-side. Instead I just sit outside drinking iced coffee while the kiddos play in the baby pool. Sitting in my hot and muggy office space to type away on a computer just sounded gross. Sure, I could use my phone or even my tablet, but for some reason I feel the need to write blog posts ONLY from my PC. Weirdo...I know.

Anywho.... since I last blogged, ages ago it seems, we went on a small vacation, picked berries, went on several play dates and even enjoyed a spray park! We sure have been enjoying all of our free time this summer. I have so many things to get caught up on! 

I have been learning to hate love running. I downloaded the C25K app on my phone and boy does it break it down in to manageable chunks! If y'all are anything like me and not much a fan of running but want to get into it, I highly suggest it! I have also been looking into a program called MixxedFit which is a dance/club inspired workout. I feel like once I get into great shape I may even look into teaching at a local gym or something. As Justin would say "never say never." Ew...sorry I will never quote him again. I am also eating clean 5 days a week and giving myself 2 cheat days. (still within a good calorie range) and drinking TONS of water. I figure I missed the boat on having a rock solid bod this summer so I am super determined to get there by next summer. Lots of time. I plan to document but may or may not post much along the way. I might wait until I have solid footing in the weight-loss dept. before I give any tips etc. or share anything on here. Mostly because I have fallen through every other time.

So, I am off to get organized and back to normal. Have an awesome week babes!

Comparison is stealing my joy Yo!

So here I am entering TONS of giveaways minding my own biz, when BAM, blogging inspiration hits. Clearly this happens on an average of about 2 times per month these days....

Annnnyway, I have noticed lately that if I am not getting something new everyday it feels like something is missing. I end up feeling incomplete and not very happy. I have been winning giveaways left and right, we are just getting over the month and a half of birthdays in our house, and I have found loopholes to so many systems that enable me to get things for free or cheap. So basically I look more forward to getting the mail each day than anything else. That is a super sad fact! As a Christian I realize that all these materialistic things are becoming more important than God is when it comes to how I am using my time. It's obvious that money is a "God" for many people, and this is essentially the same thing. It has been weighing on me a lot and I posted this on Facebook yesterday:

It hit me like a ton of bricks (after not getting anything but junk in the mail of course) That I am so focused on the material things in life and not focused where I should be. As a society in general we are taught to compare. Do I look like the model in that magazine? No? Well then I better aim to look like her asap because SHE is normal, there must be something wrong with me. Am I driving a new, nice car that I can feel proud taking a picture of to post on Facebook? No? Well shoot there is something wrong with our family that WE can't afford one too. We need to please everyone else, which is why everyone is up to there eyeballs in debt. All this time I thought I was avoiding being one of "those" people, because we are "good with our money." The fact is, sure I am not spending heaping amounts of money, or putting my family further into debt by spending beyond my means, BUT, I am still one of "those people." I still compare myself to everyone else, I just find the cheap or free way to get what they have. 

I consignment shop for clothes, I use gift cards, I ask for the things I really want as gifts for my birthday, I use coupon codes, and free shipping offers, I get rewards for referring friends, I win contests, I secret shop, I sell things I don't need, and I fill out surveys for extra money. 

and there it is..... the bottom line

MONEY. THINGS. MATERIAL 

Friends, none of this is coming with us when we leave this place. I know it is not an easy thing to do to stop being so dang materialistic but I think we should all start trying now. Checking the mail and getting shiny new things every day has become an addiction. Opening the packages to reveal the gifts waiting inside gives me a high. My heart and mind are in the wrong place. It is time for that to change.

I challenge you to find what is holding your heart. Is it the fact that everyone else has an "amazing relationship" (more on that later by the way!!) Is it that everyone else has a higher "status" at work, or is doing better than you with the same job. Maybe you think other moms have got it all together and you still just can't figure it out. Let it go..... seriously.

Who's with me?