Again with the pictures! Here is one from our trip to Philly that struck me as funny...
SO I have made it through the blogging challenge! Some of my posts had to be scheduled since I was away, or in the hospital [story to come later], but at least I did them. It was so fun and I want to thank my e-twinnie Ash for bringing my attention to the challenge and starting up a link for this one.
Today is the LAST day to enter the hat GIVE-A-AWAY, so go go go! Winners will be announced at some point tomorrow.
This could be fun. If you want, in the comment section write something that could go wrong with one, two, or all of these wishes! The grass is always greener on the other side, right?
one. I wish our debt was GONE. No more school loans and no more car payments. two. I wish I had the perfect metabolism. three. I wish I had $100 to spend at Target weekly.
Oh, one more. I wish YOU would go enter my awesome GIVE-A-WAY. Tomorrow is the last day to enter!
Right now one of my biggest stresses is lack of time. I get very anxious at the end of the day when all of the tasks I wanted to complete are not done. Just ask Dustin. I have been known to get very frantic if we leave the house with dishes in the sink, or if the toys are not picked up by a certain time. I want so bad to have the house clean, laundry done, dinner cooked, and children happy every day. The truth is, with two little ones it rarely happens. On a good day I can keep the kitchen cleaned, cook dinner, keep the girls fed, and pick up toys. Many times other rooms and task get continuously neglected. Don't even ask to see Molly's closet! Or ours for that matter. Our room suffers the worst because it is rare that anyone other than us and the girls are ever in there.
We currently have one pet, a three year old miniature dachshund, Jake. He is a mix between a long haired and short haired, which turned out to be perfect for us. He has such a quirky personality. He is VERY submissive and all you have to do it point at him sternly and he goes belly up. That doesn't keep him from getting in to trouble though! He likes to tear up dirty diapers and steal my underwear. He also will chew things up if we leave him more than once in the day. Jake's newest thing is chasing the neighborhood kids off our sidewalk. He weighs 12 pounds so he isn't exactly menacing, but he nudges their ankles with his nose which sends them running. What a little stinker.
The day I picked him up from the breeder He was so little! Handsome boy Brooke's buddy... Halloween 2010
Jake wants you to know that you should enter the GIVE-A-WAY!
The post title is too long to type but basically I need to put my iPod on shuffle and put the first 10 songs that come up. Where is that thing? It probably doesn't even have a charge. Nope, it doesn't. I am going to have to plug it into the computer just to write this post.
one. We All Fall - Grits two. Don't Let Go - Weezer three. Tied Together With A Smile - Taylor Swift four. Hey Leonardo - Blessed Union of Souls five. The Longest Time - Billy Joel six. Dreams - The Cranberries seven. Rachel - Dave Barnes eight. She's A Rebel - Green Day nine. Beverly Hills - Weezer ten. The General - Dispatch
What a mix! Weezer made it on there twice though. I have over 6000 songs on my iPod so it is safe to say that there is quite the variety of music to chose from. Now I'm sitting here singing, "So take a shower and shine your shoes, you got no time lose. You are young men you must be living...."
The title sounds much better if you sing it to the tune of the popular John Denver song.
Today we are packing up the mini-van and heading east! That's right, we are going to the wonderful city of Philadelphia. I am not looking forward to spending 12 hours in a car with a 2 year old and a 5 month old, but I am choosing to be positive and believe that they will sleep the whole way. Who am I kidding? Brooke will probably scream unless we play Dynamite by Taio on repeat, and Molly will probably need to be taken out of the car for a break at least every 2 hours. I have a good book on reserve for the drive and I am crossing my fingers that constructions workers along the Ohio and Pennsylvania turnpikes have taken the day off.
But what about my blogging challenge? Never fear, I will have internet access while in Philadelphia. My parents happen to be modernized along with the rest of us. But just in case, I have scheduled the remaining posts already. Maybe I'll jump on with some picture updates from our trip.
OH. And have you entered the GIVE-A-WAY yet? Time is running out! Don't miss out on an adorable custom beanie.
I wish this challenge came with details. Something I've learned over the course of my life? Something I've learned recently? Something I've learned while blogging? Who knows! We'll go with recently. I used to spend a lot of time getting upset over little things people did to bother me. Went shopping with out inviting me? THE HORROR. Gave me attitude over not liking their opinion. GET OUT OF HERE. Told me that it was their way or the highway. NO YOU DID NOT. But after lots of stressed out evenings and a pep talk from Dustin, I decided not to sweat the little things. Why did these things need to bother me? There was no reason to be overly upset over something as small as a shopping trip. Were my feelings hurt? Sure! Was my life ruined? Not nearly. I found that if I just ignored these instances when they happened, I was a much happier person. I cannot force someone to act a certain way towards me, and I didn't seem to be doing anything wrong, so why fret over it for more than a few minutes? In fact, why fret over it at all? I think part of maturing is learning to adapt to the people around you and realize that people say things the wrong way at times, people do things with out realizing they are hurting you, and life goes on...
My parents took me on a lot of neat vacations as a child. When my grandparents moved to Florida we went to Disney World almost every year. As I talked about before, we spent two weeks out West visiting National Parks, monuments, and a Dude Ranch. We also spent two weeks up in Maine just exploring the state and it's beautiful coastal towns and parks. But my favorite? I guess my favorite vacation is one that is "reoccurring". Every other summer my mom's side of the family gets together and rents a beach house in North Carolina. When we started we would get a duplex house and split up as evenly as we could. Last time we had one HUGE home for all of us and it was awesome. July 2011 is another North Carolina year and I am not going to lie, I am VERY excited. Each morning we get to wake up to the sound of the waves crashing on the beach, and we normally get a house that is right on the beach so it is only a short walk away. The homes always have really neat amenities. Last years ours had a movie theater room and a game room with karaoke, a pool table, a pinball machine, and various board games. And if the ocean outside our back door wasn't enough the house also had a pool and a hot tub. Are you getting excited for me? Here are some pictures from Summer 2009...
Isn't she lovely?
The view from our top deck. Our little set up. My dad bought that tent for Brooke to sit under. Brooke loved the beach! ... but I think she loved her pool more.
Have you entered the For Your Little One GIVE-A-WAY yet?
What's in my make-up bag? A lot of unused items! Most days I do not put on make-up, even if I am running to Target or the grocery store I find no reason to go through the process of getting ready. Here are the things I actually USE...
E.L.F. face primer and eye primer
Maybelline foundation
L'oreal Bronzer
Maybelline Eyeliner
E.L.F. Mineral Eyeshadow. Can't beat $1 a piece!
L'oreal Double Extend Mascara. I will never use anything else! LOVE this stuff.
E.L.F. Lip Gloss in Pink Kiss. LOVE this lip gloss. I bought 4 just in case they ran out.
As you can see there is no real rhyme or reason for my make-up purchases. I just try random brands and items and since I don't wear make-up very often, it lasts for a long time! I also use E.L.F. make-up brushes to put on my eye shadow and a sponge brush from Ulta to put on my foundation.
Have you entered the For Your Little One GIVE-A-WAY yet?
This time it is OFFICIAL. Becca at Jumping Jax Designs gave my blog a makeover. Doesn't it look adorable? I am seriously in love with the background. She did amazing work and is wonderful to work with. SO if you are in the market for a new blog design, head over to her site pronto and check out her affordable packages.
My longest running nickname was Pet. It is the first three letters of my maiden name and was a way to distinguish my best friend and I apart. See, her name was Jess too, and her last name also started with a P. So we became Prit and Pet. Pretty simple and straight forward. I also was called by my last name a lot. I guess Jess is technically a nickname as well. My full name is Jessica but I think the only one who ever uses it anymore is my mom, and maybe HER mom. And if the middle name is included, Jessica Lynn, I know I'm in trouble!
Dustin's nickname is Dusty. I only ever knew him as Dusty in college but it turns out that no one in his family or circle of friends back home called him that. I'm not really sure if they even liked it, but it kind of stuck. I tend to call him Dustin more now but for our time together in college, he was Dusty.
Brooke never really had a nickname. Sometimes I call her Brookie or Boo, but not that often. I tend to use her full name, Brooke Lynn, a lot but then people think her name is Brooklyn. I'm sure something will develop with time.
Molly I have called Molly Moo since before she was born. I used it so much that Brooke calls her Molly Moo now! I think it will stick, or at least until she gets older and decides she hates it.
I miss Taylor University. It seems like every time I call to catch up with my old roommate, Amy, we talk about how we would love to go back to college for just a semester. I remember the excitement of pulling up to my dorm freshman year, the nervous feeling I got when I first met my roommates, and the pure joy I felt when I knew this was exactly where I belonged. I know that sounds cheesy, but I grew in more ways that I can acknowledge at Taylor and it was the best 3.5 years of my life. I made some amazing friends and met my future husband, Dustin, there. Taylor also brought me to Indiana.
[How awesome is this picture? I wasn't even super skinny, just content.]
My post-pregnancy body. I am tired of not fitting in my clothes, having a constant muffin top, and having arms so flabby I could use them to fly myself to Philly. As you can see, I am pretty critical of myself. I just hate change. I want to feel like myself again. I want to slip on my skinny jeans, throw on a sweater with out worrying about my fat hanging over, and hit the mall!
Sleep. I cannot remember the last time I slept more than 4-5 hours with out being woken up by a screaming infant. Molly is lucky her flirtatious smile is just as adorable at 3 in the morning, because otherwise I might lose it!
Yesterday I reached 100 followers! In fact, my number of followers jumped to 111. Thank you for taking an interest in my blog and what I have to say... or maybe you are just here to see pictures of my girls.
They are great for keeping little heads warm, accessorizing a holiday outfit, or even a great prop if you are a photographer. You will receive a beanie like the ones shown above [either for a girl or boy] but will be able to have a say in the colors. The give-a-way will run from now until November 30th at 8pm [EST].
BUT WAIT. There's more! [Billy Mays anyone?]
She is also offering my readers 15% off any item from her shop! So if you fall in love with one of her hats and/or accessories -- and trust me, you WILL -- you will have the opportunity to get one for a discounted price. Just mention the code BLOG15 when you email her.
So how do you enter? There are several ways to get entries. You can leave a comment for EACH item you do/have done. If you do each item on the list you should have 5 separate comments.
1. Be/become a follower of my blog [Hopefully you already are!] 2. Become a follower of For Your Little One on Facebook 3. Go to her Photo Contest album and VOTE FOR MOLLY! [LIKE her picture] 4. Leave a comment with which hat/accessory is your favorite. 5. Blog about this give-a-way and put the link in your comment!
That is 5 ways to gain entries, and more chances at winning.
People always say, "Don't have any regrets." In fact, I said it in an earlier blog post. See it? Down in number twenty? But honestly, how can we NOT have regrets? Moments in time that pull at our stomach muscles, making us wish we could take it all back and make the memories fade away. I have a few, but I'll share one of my biggest ones. Which will probably make people say, "THAT is your regret?!" Hey, we all have our inner battles.
The first time I drank alcohol.
Now, I do not see anything wrong with an occasional round of something alcoholic. Wine. Beer. Margaritas. A flaming shot you tried just to say you did. But there is a moment, usually in your 'underage' years, that you drink the wrong stuff, in the wrong amounts, and at the wrong time. I was 17 and was on break from work. I headed back to a friend's house with my then fling, S, and his gal pal C. They decided to pour me some shots. We weren't at a party. It wasn't a Friday evening hanging out with friends. It was the middle of the day and here I was, sitting on the floor doing shots of liquor. I remember after the third one I exclaimed, "I'm going to be sick!" and ran to the bathroom, only to gag into the toilet. Soon enough it was time to head back to work, and soon enough the effects of alcohol were working through my system. What was my job you ask? I was a waitress in a retirement home. And now I was an almost drunk waitress in a retirement home. I remember getting out of S's car and stumbling into the building, my co-workers glancing at me with worried looks. After all I was their resident good girl. They used to tell me that I lived in a bubble. As the evening went on I was able to do my job with ease, somehow, but my co-workers grew upset. They questioned if S slipped me something other than alcohol. They questioned his motives. Somewhere into the second hour of serving dinner S and another guy got into a fight. Why? Because the other guy, J, accused S of trying to take advantage of me. Fists were flying. A door was punched. A hand was broke. And S was fired. That was the first time two guys fought over me and that was the last time I was almost drunk. In fact, I would not be lying if I said I have never even been buzzed since that point.
I have been waiting for this post since I first starting this blogging challenge. I don't have an exact house I can find online to show you, so I am going to show you some rooms I would like to have in my dream home. As you saw in my goals, Dustin and I would like to build our dream home by the time we are 35, if it is financially feasible. And I say build because the idea of sitting down with a designer/builder and putting it all together is so exciting. We would get to build OUR home to OUR standards. Everything would be something WE choose.
I don't need a mansion. In fact, I don't want to clean a mansion. SO, something around 3000 sq feet will do! I hope all of my "dreams" fit.
I just want the kitchen to be big and open to the main living area, maybe through a high bar/island area. Our home now is an open concept and I really enjoy it, it makes our house feel bigger than it is. I like the double oven, the stove in it's own alcove, and the little desk for keeping coupons and a laptop.
Although I like the idea of a "bright" kitchen.
There are a few requirements for the bathroom. It must have a "grown-up" shower, as Dustin calls it, which means no half shower, half tub deal. It must have a big garden tub. It must have his and her sinks, maybe even sides. And it must have a vanity for ME! Doesn't this bathroom look so comfy, cozy? Minus the bench in the middle. Change the decor and colors a bit and I think it might work.
Or how about something like this? Um, excuse me while I spend the rest of the night looking at bathrooms. Maybe his and her bathrooms?
I also want an awesome closet. All to myself. I want it to have tons of space for clothes, and shoes, and accessories. Something like this.... A MOM CAVE.
I have always wanted a library. I love books. I love buying books. I have boxes upon boxes of books in the basement waiting to find homes on shelves. I have always pictured a separate room that you enter through double french doors. You step down into a room with comfy reading chairs and floor to ceiling book shelves. I don't need a two story room but this is the only picture I could find...
We are in the process of finishing our basement right now and it will be a simple project. A bedroom, a TV room, and a playroom. For our dream basement? I want a large living area with big flat screen TV mounted on the wall. I want a fireplace, a bedroom and bathroom for guests, DVDs and games galore, etc. I also want a bar area with a sink, fridge, and all for entertaining. And of course, a movie room!
The things I did not picture were minor things. Like the bedrooms, which need to be somewhat large but not overwhelming. I want a master suite on the main level, and two to three bedrooms upstairs. I want the family room to have a high vaulted ceiling that can been looked down upon from a landing upstairs. I want a large stone fireplace that goes up to the ceiling. I want a nice patio on the back of the home. Maybe something like this...
Of course, maybe we'll stay in this small and quaint little house for longer than we expected. And that is okay. It is our first home, and we love it. We were supposed to dream though, right?
A mom, wife, friend, Christian, chef, maid, and nurse. I love reading, walking, drinking tea, and watching old TV shows on Netflix. My most recent passion is photography and though I do not do it professionally, I am having a blast practicing this hobby with my girls. I love crafts of any kind and have an Etsy shop for hair bows and head bands.
Dustin
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Brooke
Also known as Brookie or Boo. She is a sassy, fashionable 3 year old with a love for all things pink. She is into Princesses, painting her nails, and putting on pretend make up. She likes to pick out her clothes each morning and which shoes she'll wear. She is also my sweet and sensitive girl, and loves a good cuddle at night.
Molly
The newest addition to our family! Our little Molly Moo is learning and growing by the day. She has stunning blue eyes that she got from her Nonna, and everything else comes straight from her Daddy. She is such a flirt and will smile at anyone who glances in her direction. She may look just like Dustin but she is definitely a Mommy's girl. She always finds me in a room of people just to make sure I am still there.
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