Awesome Mom

I've been trying extra hard to make life extra enjoyable for the girls lately. Our collection of Pinterest projects and activities has been coming along rather nicely. However, this post isn't about me. It's all about my awesome mom who flew into town this week.

My mom flew in on Monday, and stayed until today. On the two days that Veronica was in school, she worked all day putting my house together. No lie, she did more unpacking and cleaning in those two days than Hubs and I have done in the two months that we've been living here. All of the framed art and family photos that we had lying against the walls are now hung up.

The mountains of laundry that were hanging out in the laundry room waiting to be washed, folded, and put away are gone. And when I say mountains, I mean mountains. For the most part, everything we own had been sitting in boxes in a garage or warehouse for about nine months, so it needed to be washed. I never got around to really washing more than the clothes that we wear regularly and our bedding. She went as far as ironing pillowcases and place mats.

On her day off, I thought it would be nice to head to the beach. After grabbing a drive thru lunch, we headed to the North Shore. I like the North Shore best since it's the closet beach to Schofield, and the waves are monstrous this time of year. Aside from dipping our toes, we didn't really go in the water. The girls horsed around in the sand, and we sat close by, enjoying the view.

It was really nice to have my mom around for a few days. I'm so appreciative of everything she did to help out for the past few days. I'm hoping that she'll be back in a few weeks, when she has some more time off from work to just be able to hang out. If not, she'll definitely be here in July with my dad for baby #3.

Speaking of baby #3, we find out the gender exactly one week from today. Any guesses on whether it'll be a boy or a girl? I'll be posting next week with some old wives tales that might have the answer.

And now I can finally say that a house tour post will be coming sooner rather than later. If it had been up to me, we'd still have boxes cluttering the halls and rooms. I'm so happy that our house is finally starting to feel like a home.

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Our Last One

A few days ago, several of my Facebook friends shared this link about having their last child. Based off of their comments, I knew that the post was about being sad about not having anymore babies. At that point, I decided it was probably a stupid article and I wasn't going to read it. I'm pregnant with our last child, and up until last night I was pretty excited about that. I don't enjoy being pregnant, and sometimes, I'm all but convinced that I wasn't cut out to be a stay at home mom.

Veronica - 3.5 & Adriana - 2

Last night, after reading Samantha's post about her babies growing up, I decided that I needed to read the original article. I was only a quarter of the way in when I started ugly crying. And now I'm ugly crying again. Up until last night I was so excited to get rid of the thousands of pieces of baby clothes that we'd no longer need after baby number three. All of the toys that take up space and need to be unpacked each time we move. All of the stupid little plastic plates and bowls that don't match my place settings. All of the things that I've been taking for granted. But now I grasp the fact that I'll never get those precious little memories and moments with my babies back.

Veronica - 1.5 & Adriana - newborn

I've come to realize that I'll probably be heartbroken when the day comes to ditch all of our newborn outfits. Then again when it comes time to get rid of the three month stuff, the six month stuff, the nine month stuff, etc. As it is, I already miss when Veronica was Adri's size. I miss co-sleeping. I miss feeding little people. I'm going to miss hearing the word "mommy" 52,934 times a day.

Veronica - 2

Adriana - 11 months

Adriana - 1 month

As I scroll through old pictures on the computer, I see how much Veronica has changed and grown up. At three, it doesn't even feel like she's my baby anymore. She'll never again be my seven pound six ounce newborn. And now I understand why my mom is so crazy with us sometimes.

Veronica - newborn

Adriana - newborn

Still ugly crying.

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Crunchy Momma in the Making

Who knew I would become such a crunchy mom?! I've been all about breastfeeding, baby-wearing, and some of those other crunchy mom things since I had Veronica, but I just placed my first order for cloth diapers. Who knew I'd be so excited about buying diapers?

Even after reading a ton of Cloth 101 blog posts, I felt like I was still confused, so I went to one of my internet friends, Jen (I swear, you guys are all named Jen!) for some help. She has the most precious little guy who is always in cloth, and I knew she'd be able to help me out.

In the past, I was slightly against cloth diapering, because I knew it would be some work. I figured that the cost of water and electric that you spend on washing would cancel out what you were saving on buying disposable diapers. Now that we live on post though, we're actually receiving rebate checks because we stay well under our allotted amount for utilities.

One of the brands that Jen mentioned was bumGenius. After researching them and a few other brands, that's who I decided to go with. I was pleasantly surprised to see that some of the diapers are all-in-one, and I won't have to worry about inserts.

via

I ordered four Freetime all-in-one one-size diapers to give them a shot on Adri. I've heard that cloth diapers help with potty training because they don't give off a dry feeling. One can only hope. I bought three solid girly colors and one really pretty limited edition artist diaper that I'm most excited about. I'm still waiting to see about shipping, because of course it's free to everywhere except Hawaii and Alaska. I should be invoiced shortly, and these puppies should be on their way. I can't wait to try them out!

Is cloth diapering something you'd consider?

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Family Fun in the Sun

This is a compensated campaign in collaboration with LUBRIDERM and Latina Bloggers Connect. I was compensated for this post, but all opinions are my own.

I've never really been an outdoorsy type of girl. Let's face it, I was born and raised in Miami, so the extent of my outdoor experience pretty much began and ended at the beach. Since moving to Hawaii though, I've been attempting to embrace the miniscule sliver of Davy Crockett in me. You might be surprised to know that there is much more to do here aside from lounging at the beach with a fruity drink. 

Since Hawaiian weather is relativity close to impeccable year-round, our family would be foolish not to take advantage of the opportunity to spend as much time outside as possible. Polar vortex, what? And who knows, the Army could send us to somewhere close to Canada after this. While here, we've taken advantage of the hiking opportunities. Thanks to friend getting a Kayak, that's been mentioned a few times as well. I would really love to learn to stand-up paddleboard though!

Although there is a ton to do around the island, I've also embraced being able to do outdoor activities with the girls in our own neighborhood. We have a decent-sized back yard (by Hawaii standards), which makes it easy to get outside while Hubster is at work and not able to help with the munchkins. Even though Hawaii isn't even close, some days, it feels like we're sitting on the equator. For that reason, it's important that our family, especially the girls, have some sort of sun protection every time we go outside. With essential moisturizing ingredients, Lubriderm Daily Moisture with SPF 15 Lotion provides a powerful two-in-one moisturizer that provides broad spectrum UVA and UVB protection. Not only does it keep our skin protected, it helps maintain healthy hydrated skin, even in the sun.
So far, it’s been really nice to be able to spend a bunch of time outside with the girls. For a while, we were just sitting around the house all day not doing too much. I’m confident that although they might not remember everything about living in Hawaii, they will be able to remember some of the fun outdoor memories that we made together. They enjoy everything from walking to the mailbox or taking the dog on a walk, to splashing around in our kiddie pool and racing down the slide.
At the end of the day, one of everybody’s favorite activities is a hot bath or shower. It’s especially relaxing if we spent the day doing a physically demanding activity such as hiking. Lubriderm’s Daily Moisture Shea + Calming Lavender Jasmine Lotion’s soothing fragrance is the perfect way to wind down while also moisturizing your skin for a clinically proven 24 hours. With a clean and non-greasy feel, the light formula contains a calming lavender and jasmine fragrance that leaves skin feeling clean and non-greasy. There’s nothing like snuggling up with my clean little munchkins just before bed and smelling the light scent of lavender on them. 

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The Weekend

It feels like we actually accomplished something over the weekend. Go us!

We spent yesterday running around between hardware stores to pick up a few things for the house. We couldn't find the one thing we originally left the house for. Hubster finally got around to mowing the lawn. We've been living in this house for just over two months, and it's the first time we've touched the grass. We also made some progress on the boxes upon boxes that are still piled up everywhere. This place is slowly coming together! Sloooooowly.

The Olympics are finally over, which I'm rather happy about. Hubster calls me unpatriotic, but really, I just have no interest in winter sports. I might watch the summer games. He gets really into it though. I honestly don't find them all that entertaining. And if we're sending 200 more people than all the other countries, I'd hope we'd win at least a few medals.

Saturday, we went to the beach! It's been such a long time since we've made it to the beach, but it was wonderful! The water was perfect. Back in Miami, the water would still be freezing around this time.

Prior to the beach, Hubs and I washed the Tahoe at one of those DIY car washes. We very well could have just done it in our driveway, but I find these places to be a ton of fun. For $5.50 we were able to lock the kids in the car and have fun alone-ish. I'll take it. Plus with all the red dirt that gets kicked up here, Bertha was in dire need of a bath.

This week, I'm looking forward to some outdoor fun. Since the grass is mowed, I'm going to put the kiddie pool out in the yard and let the girls run around. We played with rainbow rice last week, and I'm really excited to finally make moon sand.

What are your plans for the week?
 
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Happy Family Best Friends [Review + Giveaway]

I received two Happy Family Best Friends in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own.

I've been a huge fan of Happy Family Brands ever since I was first introduced to their products last year. Happy Family is an organic food brand which was founded and is operated by moms. Their products are packed with premium ingredients which contain various health benefits such as important vitamins, minerals, and probiotics. Most recently, I was given the opportunity to try out the new Happy Family Best Friends toddler cookies.

After first, I was a tad skeptical about how these cookies would taste. They're whole grain gluten-free cookies for toddlers with no added milk or soy. Really, how good could they be..? Well, let me tell you, they're good!! SO good, in fact, that I hogged most of one of the two packages for myself.

Best Friends come in two tasty flavors: honey buckwheat and chocolate pumpkin, in the shape of man's best friend. They're the perfect size and shape for little fingers to feed themselves. The honey buckwheat flavor reminded me a lot of a certain circus-themed box of cookies, minus all of the nasty artificial preservatives. I wasn't a huge fan of the chocolate flavor, but that could just be pregnancy related. Hubster and Veronica devoured them.

I was extremely happy with the taste and the girls' reaction to these cookies. They are definitely something that I'd purchase in the future for snack time.

You have an opportunity to try out Best Friends toddler cookies as well. I am giving away a Happy Family prize pack which includes: 2 Best Friends (one of each flavor), a tote bag, a nutrition guide, and additional Happy Family coupons. The giveaway ends at 12:00 am on February 28. The winner will have 48 hours to respond.

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J'adore Vox Box

I received these products complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster.

My FREE J'adore VoxBox from Influenster came earlier this week! Based off of the clues on the Influenster Facebook page and images that I stalked on Instagram, I was really excited to open this box! Usually it takes forever for me to receive these boxes, especially in Hawaii, but I received this one before some of my mainland friends. Once it arrived, I was not disappointed, except for one thing. I was hoping to get something in the box for Hubster, but that was only for select members. Inside of the J'adore VoxBox were a bunch of great products.

Inside my VoxBox there was: Boots Botanics Shine Away Ionic Clay Mask, Hershey's Kisses (preggo size), Frizz Easy 3-Day Straight Flat Iron Spray, Kiss Looks So Natural Lashes, and Red Rose Simply Indulgent Teas.

So far, the only product that I've had a chance to try is the Kisses. That bag was opened before I even started taking pictures. Oops. I'm looking forward to testing out everything else out, since they're all products that I think I'll enjoy.

If you'd like to become an Influenster member, leave your email, and I'll send you an invitation.

Be sure to stop by tomorrow for a giveaway from Happy Family. 

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Toddler Time

Thanks to some of your suggestions, I decided to do some further digging on Pinterest for activities I can do with the girls. I've tried to avoid messy projects in the past, but I think I'm going to have to suck it up and move us outside or something. After all, the weather here is conducive for outdoor fun. Hubs and I went ahead and bought the girls a little table that so far they've used to store their crayons and paper. Below are some of the activities that I'd like to give a try in the near future.


























Did I miss any must-do activities that your kids love or that you loved doing as a kid?

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Life Isn't a Competition

Wanna know what sucks about Hawaii? I can no longer wake up, type a weekend recap really quick, and still have it posted before 9 am. Nope. It's past noon on the East coast before I even get out of bed. Either way, here is a late weekend post.

Friday was Valentine's Day. Hubs was off, so I really wanted to spend the day watching House of Cards on Netflix. He was slightly against it, since it's not exactly a kid-friendly show. Good thing we waited until bed time. The first episode of the second season started off with a bang. Literally (BAHAHAHAHA). And there was some other graphic stuff. Oh Zoey... If you aren't watching House of Cards yet, you need to! We started watching when it first came out last year, and although I'm not a fan of politics, I was instantly hooked.

So, Valentines's was spent at home, watching the Olympics. Hubster got me a beautiful set of earrings, to replace the ones that he got in Afghanistan, but lost. He also bought our third love fern (it's actually a lily) . Unfortunately, I've allowed the others to die. Thankfully, our love hasn't. For dinner I the lovely meal that I had blogged about, which turned out exquisitely. After the girls went to bed, the night was spent on the couch with a pint of Ben & Jerry's and the ever so menacing Kevin Spacey.

via

Hubster spent Saturday playing golf. The girls and I hung out at home and cleaned up a little. I had planned on cooking, but instead for dinner, we went over to a friend's house. These are the friends from Missouri who have a daughter born the day after Veronica; we'll call her AB. Normally, Veronica and AB get along great. Lately though, V is so damn competitive and makes it a goal to be the winner of everything. Even the color purple. The evening was somewhat aggravating thanks to this.

AB and family came over on Sunday, which meant more competition. I'd be ok if it was a little race or something along those lines every now and then, but it's literally about everything.

"I finished eating first, I'm the winner."

"I can jump higher, I win."

"My hair is longer, I win."

Monday was more of the same. The boys were looking for shoes, so we headed to the mall. AB and family hadn't been there before, so we swung by their place so that they could follow us. One of the first things out of Veronica's mouth was that we were winning, because our car was in front. Hubs and I are totally stumped. We have no idea where this little competitive spirit came from, but how in the world do we get our kid to be more humble?! It seriously started out of nowhere!

In the meantime, I have to focus on getting her to be better behaved anyway. I'm thinking that if we follow a schedule at home that is similar to the daycare schedule, life might go a little more smoothly for us. I'm also really excited to share a mini project that I've been working on.

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Date Night Dinner at Home

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Like I mentioned recently, Hubster and I don't have many chances to go out on date nights. That doesn't mean we don't enjoy having date nights at home. For me, date night usually revolves around a nice dinner. A few of my favorites include Ruth's Chris, The Melting Pot, and Texas de Brazil.

For Valentine's, I though it would be nice to make a nice dinner at home, inspired by Ruth's Chris. I've made it before, and I was surprised by how effortless the process was. I used a few tricks that I learned on the Food Network, and the meal turned out a million times more delicious than I was expecting. The only thing missing from this ritzy dinner was an ultra attentive waiter and a pricey bill at the end. And maybe some creme brûlée, but I might even be attempting that this time around.

So.. On the menu: baked breaded mushrooms, filet mignon, and creamed spinach. The key to getting this dinner to come together at the same time is to be working on all aspects at once. It might sound complicated, but since everything is so simple, it's relatively easy to do all at once.

Baked Breaded Mushrooms

Ingredients:

• 8 oz box of whole mushrooms
• 2 Eggs 
• 1 tbsp Milk
• 3/4 cup Italian Breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Lightly spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Clean and dry your mushrooms.
3. Whisk together eggs and milk in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the bread crumbs, cheese, and salt & pepper.
4. Dip each mushroom in the egg mixture, then bread crumbs, and coat evenly.  Dip each mushroom a second time in the egg mixture, followed by bread crumbs, and place on baking sheet. 
5. Lightly spray the tops of the mushrooms with cooking spray before placing in the oven.
6. Bake for approximately 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Filet Mignon

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp Butter
• 2 Filets/Boneless Tenderloin Steaks
• Salt & Pepper

Directions: 

1. Remove steak from refrigerator approximately half an hour before cooking to allow it to come to room temperature.
2. Heat a pan over medium-high heat until hot. Melt butter in pan. 
3. As the butter is melting, pat each steak dry with a paper towel. Season each side liberally with salt and pepper.
4. Once the butter is hot and melted, add your steaks to the pan. DO NOT TOUCH THEM once you place them in the pan.
5. Let each steak cook for approximately 5 minutes on each side without moving them. Depending on the thickness of your steaks, you may need to cook on each side a little longer, but you should only touch them once in order to flip them. Five minutes on each side of an inch(ish) thick steak got me medium rare. Use a meat thermometer to be sure it's done to your liking. 
6. When done cooking, move the steaks to a plate, cover with foil, and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

Creamed Spinach

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp Butter
• 1/2 small Yellow Onion, chopped
• 3 cloves Garlic, minced
• 10 oz. package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
• dash Nutmeg
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions: 

1. Melt butter in a pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic, and saute until soft, about 2 minutes. 
2. Add spinach to pot and stir, until heat through.
3. Add cream, nutmeg, and salt & pepper. Mix well to combine, and cook until cream has reduced by half, and is thick. 

Our plan is to be glued to Netflix all day catching the new season of House of Cards. I stocked up on Ben & Jerry's when I went grocery shopping this week. They had $1 off 2 coupons, and I couldn't resist.

Hope everyone has a lovely Valentine's day!

Linking up here!

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Rolling with the Punches

Things have been rather quiet around these parts lately. It's been a while since we've headed out to the beach, and with Honolulu being anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour away, we haven't been out that way either. In an effort to keep life from getting too mundane, I've been trying some new activities with the girls. Needless to say, all is not going according to plan, and my little OCD mind can't handle it.

Let's start with coloring pages. I printed out a few sheets so that the girls could color them in and we could send then to the grandparents. V did ok, when she wasn't pushing down with 30 pounds of force, but all Adri wanted to do was draw lines back and forth. I'm sure a grandma somewhere will appreciate that.

If crayons alone weren't bad enough, I then decided to introduce glue to the equation. Not glue sticks, the liquid squeeze kind. There were huge globs all over the floor and a certain little person's skin. I was hoping that the girls would use some of my scrapbooking scraps and some leaves that I had them pick up from the yard to make fun collages, but yet again, it didn't exactly go according to plan.

Finally, we went to Target and I picked up a little craft set that included stuff like pipe cleaners and beads. This actually went better than expected. The girls decided on their own that they'd make bracelets for themselves. There were a few fights over beads and such, but it mostly went well. It did hurt a little when they started mixing colors and shapes without any sort of pattern. That's just me being crazy though.

I'm going to continue to try getting these guys to make some sort of craft project. Suggestions would be appreciated. Hubs thought that possibly getting them a little table, so that they don't have to work on the floor or kitchen counter might help. I'll have to see if I can find something. I also bought some materials to display their art, so maybe that will encourage them as well.

My iPhone

I have bad luck with cell phones. Really really bad luck. I've had every version of the iPhone, and all of them have met the same fate. I even had a Droid when we first switched from AT&T to Verizon and unfortunately, it faced the same tragic end.

Since I prefer fashion over function, having a case hasn't really helped much. With my most recent phone though, I had it in an OtterBox-ish case, and I was able to get the screen to last for almost a year and a half undamaged. Unfortunately, it met it's demise as I was unpacking and moving into the house.

Believe it or not, even with a complete chunk of the glass missing, and the metal insides of the phone falling out, it still works. Everyone is shocked when they see me using it. Aside from the front facing camera having a bit of a glare, everything works perfectly. Occasionally, I have a hard time reading text, but other than that, I really can't complain. I haven't had shards of glass in my face or fingers or anything.

They need to hurry up and release the next iPhone.

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Tax Time

I may be on my own here, but I get super excited to do our taxes every year. Since we've been married, I've been doing them myself online. H&R Block offers it free for military of all ranks through Military OneSource. I figure, if I have all of the same documentation that we'd give to a tax preparer, I can't screw it up too bad. Online programs literally walk you through it. 

This year, since we're renting out our house, I was a little unsure about one thing, but I was able to call Military OneSource (at 5pm Hawaii time, on a Saturday), and they answered my question right away. Since we rent out our home in Georgia, aside from federal taxes, we also had to file taxes with Georgia. This was our first time having to do state taxes, since we're originally from Florida, and that's Hubster's home of record with the military, and Florida doesn't tax your income. That might be the only cool part about Florida..

Aside from the scary state tax part, everything else was easy. We print out W2's and all the other 1098/1099 things from savings and retirement accounts, and as I enter each one, I move it to the completed pile. I was extremely happy with the return amount that we got, especially since for 2012, Hubster had zero taxable income, which means zero tax return.

In the past, we've used our return to pay down debt such as student and car loans. Lucky for us, other than our mortgage, we're essentially debt-free this year. Our plan is to use part of the return to make an extra payment towards the principal on our mortgage. I'd also like to put a decent chunk into each of the girls' 529 plans for college. The more we save on that now, the less we'll have to pay in the future. Hubster also just mentioned going on a Hawaiian island cruise. We're big into cruising, and although it won't be on our preferred cruise line, it'll be a really nice fun way to get to see all of the Hawaiian islands. And I'm sure he's going to want to put a bunch towards retirement. Is it possible to save too much towards retirement?!

Have you filed your taxes yet this year? What do you plan on doing with the money that you get back?

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16 Week Bumpdate

Yesterday marked 16 weeks of pregnancy! We're getting closer and closer to being half-way, and being able to find out what the gender of baby munchkin will be.

At this point, our little one is about the size of an avocado, at 4.5 inches head to rump, and weighing in at around 3.5 ounces. I've taken some belly pics, but really, the pictures are still just of my chubby belly. During my last appointment, the doctor pointed out that my uterus was still very far down in my pelvis. Currently, it's a little bit higher, but still, my pictures are mostly of a food baby. The little should be doubling in size over the next few weeks, which I'm quite excited about.

Lately, I've been feeling really good. I didn't have too much morning sickness to begin with, but it feels like it's mostly subsided. I still crave a nice afternoon nap, but I no longer feel like I could sleep all day. Basically, I hardly feel pregnant anymore.

This week I'll have an OB appointment, where I'll most likely get to see the little one. Yay! The ultrasounds are always nice confirmation, especially since I haven't felt anything yet. I'm sure I'll have another update then.

I've decided to only do these little "bumpdates" every four weeks, since really, there aren't any super major changes that I'm going to want to blog about weekly. Third-child syndrome has already set in. Four weeks also works perfectly since many major milestones happen around these time. The next update will be at 20 weeks, which is when we'll be finding out the gender. 

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Dating My Husband

I apologize if you came here thinking this would be a post about how after being married five years, my husband and I go on monthly lovey dovey date nights. To be honest, with two toddlers and no babysitter, the only time we really go on dates is when we're back home. And we don't mind that. Watching TV with some wine and the kids in bed is perfectly acceptable evening for us. Instead, this post is about back in the day, before we were married, and I was actually dating my husband. You know.. For a seven whole months before we were married.

To say that I was bat shit crazy would be an understatement, in my opinion. And actually, I'm pretty sure I still am, but he's probably grown accustomed to it by now. I'm not exactly certain how I managed managed to trick him in to marriage, but he seems to think it was all his idea. Isn't he sweet?!

Just to give you guys an idea, here are some of the crazy things I used to do while dating my husband.  He probably has no idea that half of these things ever happened, but surprise! They did.

• If we ever happened to spend the night together, I always woke up early to go put some makeup on. I wouldn't go crazy or anything, just some foundation and mascara, to make it look like I woke up looking beautiful. He's lucky if I wear makeup at all these days. It's mostly for special occasions.
• This man has the ability to fall asleep standing up. In college, he lived on campus in a fraternity house which made it all too convenient for him to sleep all the damn time. There would be nights where we had plans, yet I'd get stood up, because sleeping beauty would be passed out in his room. On these nights, I'd drive by just to double check that cars were still in parking lots.

• Anytime we were in the car and a Taylor Swift song came on, I'd turn it up all the way. This was back when Taylor Swift's music actually felt like it applied to my life. You know, You Belong With Me and Love Story... Just for a special added touch, I'd sing certain lyrics extra loud as a sort of hint.
• Once we found out that he had orders to Fort Lewis, I whined a whole lot about how I was going to miss my boyfriend sooooo much. Miami to Tacoma, Washington, is literally across the entire country. I'm pretty sure that was the cherry on top. While I would have missed him tons, I'm fairly confident we would have been just fine. My mom works for an airline, so I got to fly for free all the time, which I took advantage of quite frequently while he was in BOLC.

Now I know I'm not the only crazy out there. Did anyone else do these sort of things?

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Cleaning Out My Closet

You know how they say that mothers forget the pain of child birth? I'm not sure if that's completely true, because honestly, I'm still traumatized by the birth of my littlest nugget. But, the concept definitely applies to the torture of unpacking boxes. Jeez, I had no idea that setting up our new home would be such a pain. I'm not sure if it has to do with the fact that we've collected so much crap along our little journey as a family, and we keep adding munchkins, but damn! We have a lot of crap! I don't ever remember unpacking being so difficult in our previous moves.

I finally got around to opening up the boxes that said, "master bedroom, hers, clothes". It was a bit of a challenge, considering that currently, my "walk in" closet is tiny. I need to make a trip to Lowe's to pick up some additional shelving. In the mean time though, I had to get rid of a bunch of items that have probably never even been worn, in order to make space for the stuff I actually use.

I got a bit of a kick out of a few of the pieces that I've held on to for far too many years. I'm not even close to being done opening all of my boxes, and I know many more embarrassing clothing choices await me. Don't worry, most of these gems ended up in a donation box.

In case there's a take-your-spouse-to-work-day

There were several like this. Some were half the length.

I admit, even though I graduated high school almost 10 years ago, I couldn't get rid of this one. 

Fake designer purses, anyone? I have TONS!

There was also a top, if you could call it that, that I couldn't even take a picture of. It was more like a bikini top with an infinity scarf around the neck. Needless to say, it wouldn't cooperate on a hanger, and really just looked like a small piece of bunched up fabric. I kept it classy back in the day. 

I was surprised by how satisfying purging my closet felt. I've kept many of these things for a while just in case I ever need them for a dress up party or something like that. Guess what, Alex..?! We're not in college anymore. I'm loving the small amount of empty space that I have, and can't wait to fill it with new grown up clothes.

Anyone else as bad as I am when it comes to parting with old clothes?

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Super Super Bowl Weekend

Happy Monday! Was anyone watching the big game yesterday? I did, kind of. I was mostly in the kitchen chatting. I honestly wasn't really interested in either team, and it wasn't even a good game. After Denver got rid of Tebow, I'm kind of glad they lost. Take that, Broncos!

We had some old(ish) and new(ish) friends over to watch the game, and surprisingly, I had a great time. Normally, I get myself all worked up and stressed out about having people over and making sure everything is perfect. This time, however, I told myself from the very beginning that I would just go with the flow. Everything turned out more or less how I wanted, and I was able to enjoy myself.

We kept it pretty simple with the snack food. I made beer bread, and spinach and herb dip, and everything else was pretty much just tossed on a plate or bowl. Making the dip consisted of mixing Greek yogurt, mayo, and some herbs, so I don't know if that even actually counts as made. At half time Hubster grilled some steaks which were served with rice, black beans, and fried plantains. The hardest part of that for me was putting the rice and water in the rice cooker. The beans and plantains just needed to be heated. Easy peasy. Maybe that's why I wasn't really stressed.

We had a bunch of kids over as well, and other than Veronica freaking out about people touching her stuff, that went pretty smoothly as well. The girls' rooms are sort of set up, but not completely, so it wasn't an issue that there were toys and things thrown everywhere.

Miraculously, my amazing husband was able to take care of the majority of the unpacking, and the house was presentable. I've used pregnancy as an excuse to not do anything lately. The guest room still has a bunch of boxes in it, but we used it for the kids to watch Netflix, which wasn't a big deal. The master bedroom still looks like a tornado blew through it, but I cleverly locked Caesar in there to keep everyone out. He gets a little crazy when he has too many people to play with. He was probably curled up on our bed the entire time anyway, so I know he didn't mind too much.

Saturday was pretty boring. Most of the day was spent cleaning, with a little bit of prep. We also took a quick trip to the mall to pick up two of my rings from Zales. Hubster recently got a ring guard/enhancer thing for a ring that he bought me back in college. Originally, the enhancer didn't fit right, so we took it back to have it adjusted. It looks worse now. I was pretty bummed about it, but just took it anyway. They offered to "try again" but I honestly didn't want anything to come back in worse condition. The worst part was that Hubster was so irked about. He really does try so hard to make me happy.

Other than my ring issue, I had a terrific weekend. I can't believe that they weekend is over already, but with any luck, the week will fly by just as quickly.

How was your weekend?

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