August

I'm going to take a moment to vent. I apologize in advance...

It's been a hell of a month! August is almost over and I feel beat down, mentally and physically. I can't count the hours I've actually seen my family, there have been so few, because of work. We had our yearly inventory this month. It always beats me down. This was my first in my new position and being a salaried member of management meant they could work me to death. Most days I went in before anyone was awake and came home to quickly eat and go back to bed. On top of all this we've been trying to plan a surgery for my husband's grandfather and and trying to find assisted living housing for his grandfather and my grandmother. There's also been a looming court date (nothing either of us did, but effects us) and numerous other things. It's hard to run a house, work, take care of family members, and all that jazz where you're exhausted...and we are!

There are people in our lives that don't understand this and seem to think that everything comes back to them. Every comment I make, or we make, is not always about any one person in particular. I'm at a boiling point and I don't want to be there. I was hoping to transition smoothly back into some kind of normal after this week and it doesn't appear to be on the horizon.

I'll keep holding my head up and looking for the light at the end of this twisted tunnel.

The Simple Life

This is one of my favorite new places in our back yard. It reminds me to relax, let my worries blow away with the breeze, and enjoy nature's beauty.

Dirty Thirty

I remember my 21st birthday well. It was all around terrible, but I'm over that. My 25th is a blur. I had a 3 month old and all my time was spent on him. I will be 28 in a couple of months and I'm getting the "I'm nearly 30" jitters. I wouldn't change my life. Nothing at all. Ive learned a lot of lessons along the way and have become the (awesome) person that I am today. That being said, there are things that I thought would be different. Ok, not so many things, but things... I was sure I would know by now what I wanted to be when I grew up. I work retail management. More often than not, I really love my job. I have some serious responsibilities and some days it feels that the fate of my workplace depends on what I have or haven't done. I've realized, though, that this isn't my career. This is not the place I will be retiring from. I won't let that happen. Surely, by the time you're 30 you really know what to do with your life. Right? Someone tell me I'm right! I also wish I would have stuck with school. I'm not sure that it would have changed where I am now, but I wish I had gotten my degree. I had a person throw this in my face once. Funny thing is, I am much farther in life than they are. Eventually, I will get a degree. Two years ago I was walking 2-3 miles a day. I should have stayed with it. I was doing so well and I kick myself when I think of where I'd be had I kept trucking. I will start again. I will. I can't afford not to finally get in shape. My family deserves it. I deserve it. I will do it!

"You're only as strong as your weakest link."

I am my strongest supporter and my most negative. It's time to snap out of it, get my ass in gear, and do it! I need to make a "30 Before 30" list. I have a short time to complete it, but the motivation to do it.

This is Huge!!

I think I'm pretty, I don't want to fool anyone. I've always thought I had a pretty face, at least. This automatically makes me say, "You sure do have a pretty mouth." Don't ask. I do have body issues, though. I always have. My weight has gone up and down more than I'd like to count. I have an amazing husband (and kids) that tell me I'm beautiful all the time. Back to the reason I'm posting... Last year, I bought a bikini. It has a cute halter top and boy shorts and came with some shorts for coverage. I never wore it. Today, I pulled it out. I put it on, complete with the shorts and a trusty tank top. I walked outside and stepped into the pool and Bree said, "Take that off! You don't need to wear that." for the first time in my life, I shed the tank top and I felt COMFORTABLE. I didn't care what the neighbors thought, I didn't beat myself up! This is huge for me and a step in the right direction. If someone can't accept me for me, screw them! Here's to a fabulous summer...once this sunburn heals. ;)

I Needed This

Photos to restore your faith in humanity.

New Project!

Recently, our oldest daughter has taken an interest in my recipe book. She picks out a recipe, makes a copy and puts it in her binder. She picks mostly desserts. Really, what 11 year old wouldn't? This, and Pinterest, lead me to an idea...

A few years ago, my mom started a recipe collection for me and my sister. Our books contain recipes from mom, my grandparents and great grandparents. I cherish those recipes. When I pull one out, I can picture Granny in the kitchen. I'm nostalgic. Anyway...with the help of some free printable recipe cards, I'm going to make a family recipe book for Breanna. I'm so excited. I can only hope that she cherishes it as much as I do mine.

What are some of your favorite recipes?

Chocolate Chip Goodness

I regularly browse the interwebs while my husband and kids nap. It's some "me" time. Today, I was running across a few blogs and found a recipe for a single serve chocolate chip cookie. I thought of every thing I could to justify not making it right this second, but I couldn't find one. So here it is....


My first thought? It was really good. Second? I can double this for those certain days of the month!
Hop on over here and check out the recipe.
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Change

I've been thinking about making some life changes for some time now. The last few months have been hard on me at work, both emotionally and physically. I will soon be 28 and I wake up most mornings feeling like I'm 50. Most of this can be attributed to work. I have been with the same company for nearly 9 years now. I'm in retail management and spend most of my 10+ hour shifts walking concrete floors. In the last few months I've really noticed the toll it's taking on my body. Quite frankly, I need a break. Sadly, that won't be happening any time soon.

One of the perks of my job is that I get to work with my best friend. She, too, chose the same "career" path that I did. We're both second guessing ourselves. Maybe it's something that naturally happens at our age. Maybe 30 makes every female reevaluate their lives. Whatever may be causing it, I'm paying attention.

I regret dropping out of college. It wasn't for me at the time and by 23 I was making pretty good money. I wasn't concerned then. Now, it seems difficult to find anything that isn't retail or customer service without a degree. So, I've decided to go back. It's time to move forward. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to wait to return, but I'm going back!

I laid it on my husband today. Being the awesome person that he is, he said, "Let's do it!" Knowing I have his support makes everything better.

Another DIY Project

I love all things DIY. This is no secret. What I love even more are DIY projects that save my family money. Last night, while our son was sick and I was on watch, I spent quite a bit of time on Pinterest. I found a DIY liquid hand soap tutorial. I've been curious about this since my husband's grandmother had mentioned that she used to make it all the time. I decided to try it today and ended up making about 3 quarts of soap for around $1. How awesome is that?? We have two potty training 3 year olds that are constantly washing their hands. This will turn out to be a real money saver. Anyway, head on over to Savvy Housekeeping to take a look.

 Side Note: If you read the comments, you will see a lot of people had issues with theirs coming out too runny. I had the same problem. I filled my sink with ice water and sat my pot in it. After about 10 minutes and a stir, I had a great consistency. I filled my existing soap bottles and put them in the bathroom. I stored the extra under the sink.

Size Does Matter

Every year I get older, the size of my sunglasses get bigger. My kids weren't amused that it took me 20 minutes to decide between two pair the other day.

 

 I hate to see how big they are by the time I'm 60!

 

Break The Stereotype

I regularly, or regly as my 3 year old says, have to watch video for my job. It's one of my responsibilities. This morning, I was given a brief description of a person of interest to watch for. Let me stop here for a minute.

1) Try to remember as many details as possible if you want someone else to pick a person out of a crowd.
2) After about three hours of video, everyone starts to look the same.

Now back to the real reason I'm typing this...

The videos I watch don't have sound and you all look really funny when you're sped up 16x, but I have noticed something. We allow ourselves to be stereotyped. We have a lot of stereotypes in the south; we're slow, overweight, using food stamps, are uneducated...the list goes on. We stereotype others a lot here, too.

I've watched one hour of video. That's right, 60 measly minutes. In that hour I've seen people portraying the stereotype they so desperately want to break away from. I'm beginning to question if they really do. I've seen the Hispanic family of 15, including grandmother; the pretentious older white couple, who I'm sure has money because they look at you like you don't; the black family on food stamps with the overwhelmingly rowdy kids; the obese woman that walks straight for an electric cart, then gets angry that they're all in use.

The point of all of this is; if you don't want me to stereotype you, *and I do because it's part of my job, you should break the mold. Don't leave it there to shape your children.


*Part of what I do is watching people. I would say that 9 times out of 10, I'm pretty damn right about a person, at least what they portray to me. It's my job to be able to pick the suspicious from the every day Joe that just walked through my doors.