birthday dilemma

So the man pitched two ideas for birthday gifts to me the other day & I'm pretty stumped. Idea number one is a laptop which I would get early so I could have it when I start my classes. How awesome would that be! We do have a Mac but with both of us finishing up school that's a lot of sharing lol.

Idea number two is this.....

Now before you say ewww lol... I have wanted a bearded dragon since my chameleon (Colin) died in high school, so this is a long time coming for me lol. I absolutely love them and the thought of actually having one makes me beyond excited. The dilemma is I have 2 cats & a dog & 2 kids so can I really take on another living thing.... I'd like to think yes, but that is my fear. Financially I can... I can afford the  tank and monthly food & care but am I gonna ever going to see him once my little man starts walking lol. (cause that's a whole different ball game) So I'm currently considering my choices but either way I'm super excited!

share my blog people... even those who tell me you love reading it but aren't members ;) BOOM!

have a terrific day

-kate

happy holidays

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I love spending time with friends & family & seeing my kids smile. There is nothing like it. Here are a few pictures I took during our Christmas chaos :) 

My daughter loved all of her gifts thank goodness because I was ready to claim Santa's as my own at any moment. No parent wants Santa to show them up... how much would that suck. I really missed our families this Christmas, but we did have a couple friends over and it was awesome. I told the guys that I wouldn't feed them unless they wore pajama pants :) Seeing our one friend show up in Star Wars pajama pants was beyond words awesome lol. (and a chewy hat to top it all off)

We baked Christmas cookies the night before and what a mess, but tons of fun. After my daughter iced the cookies and put sprinkles on she would swipe her finger across the top and taste the icing. So needless to say Santa's cookies looked a bit beat up :)

After a day full of gifts, laughs, food, friends & baileys I was beat. Hope you all had as much fun as I did.

O and one one more thing on the topic of gifts my man got me this....

It's a guardian angel ring & I love it!!!! I also got The Office season 7, a North Face jacket & gloves, The Nightmare before Christmas & Lego Harry Potter :) He knows me o too well :)

Have a great day

-Kate

Room Re-Do

It's been awhile.... turns out I have pneumonia & mono.... which is absolutely no fun by the way. But I did want to quickly post about my room re-do progress.

 Before completely empty

After!

It's not quite done yet.... but it's a work in progress.

Have a great day!

On our way to town yesterday "Tootsie Roll" came on the radio... it may have been the highlight of my night right next to my bahama mama & the shenanigans at our table at applebees (cause clearly that's where the cool kids go) 

I haven't posted in awhile and it's because Christmas is kicking my butt.... it's only 13 days away & counting. Trying to figure out which gifts are from mommy & daddy and which are from Santa may be the hardest thing I've had to do in awhile lol. Not sure what that says about my life. Because, you don't want Santa to show you up. My worst fear is that my daughter will jump for joy when seeing what Santa brought and completely forget about my gifts, when we both know that I bought the kick ass gifts too. Toss in a mimosa and I could possibly claim to be Santa... shattering the illusion forever. This statement may have made me sound like a lush... let me clarify. Every Christmas morning my mom had a mimosa or a few give or take so now that I have my own kids and do the whole Christmas thing I completely understand whey she opted for that after her coffee instead of just another cup. Even though it's a time to celebrate and appreciate your family, it is crazy stressful. The amount of cooking I'll have to accomplish is daunting... the wrapping and the praying that the cats don't destroy the wrapping paper before the kids come in, the numerous phone calls from relatives that come at the most inconvenient time possible.... Christmas has stress written all over it.

I am so behind on Christmas cards I have to frantically address them today and mail them out tomorrow. The funny thing is though that I had planned on ordering them in November and mailing them out the first week in December, so it's not like I forgot about them this year I just pushed it back a few weeks lol. My man re-arranged my closet last week...who knows why, but he misplaced my address book. So today should be full of excitement. 

On another note, I'm still waiting for my new furniture to arrive so I can go pick it up. I am so excited to post the after pictures for my front room... you have no idea. 

Have a great day!

gift ideas

The perfect gift is hard to find, there is always that one person on your list who either has everything or they "want nothing." I've decided to put a small list together of things I think would make great gifts for everybody on your Christmas list... but hopefully you have already started :)

For Her (under $100)

    keep the faith keyring $98 & pearl artistry bracelet $98  @ Sundance

 blossoming hand-warmers $40 & hearts desire jewelry stand $45 @ Sundance

For Him  

depending on how much you really want to can spend I have a few ideas for the men in your life...

pit stop flask $25 & the chronographer watch $320 @ Sundance

for the geek in your life the i-pad starts around $500 

I would also check out Urban Outfitters for some fun gifts (for him & her) They have some vinyl which is always great to have, gag gifts, gifts for your "hipster" friends... so go take a look if it so pleases you...

The reason so many of my ideas are from Sundance is mostly because it is my absolute favorite store. If you have quirky friends you should take a look around Pier1 Imports (my second favorite store) 

If you have some shopping to do for the kiddos in your life go check out the Land of Nod (where 90% of my kids gifts are coming from) They have some pretty cute stuff! Also lets forget ye olde Toys R Us... avoid the creepy doll isles & you should be fine.

Here are a few Land of Nod items...

The pink speedster is $99 & the pull toy is $69 (a little steep I know but they have a bunch of different animals the cheapest I believe is $29) The speedster also comes as a fire truck for the boys :)

cute puppets @ Land of Nod $9.95 each

Cute hats are always great for kids, I just bought my son a wolf hat and it is by far the cutest things I've ever seen.  Baby Gap is a great place to find cute kids clothes. And recently they have been having great sales. 
For more personal gifts for your loved ones check out Shutterfly. I make a yearly photo book (obviously every year lol) & for special occasions. They are a great gift for family member that live a ways away.

KATE

Christmas Gift Preview

I've decided to share some of the fabulous things I will be getting for Christmas!

here are a couple things for my little man...

 

The little guy is still hard to shop for since he really can't do a whole lot. I love shopping for my kids & if you have to shop for kids and are tired of the terrifying dolls you see in toy stores I highly recommend The Land of Nod. They are part of Crate & Barrel & I absolutely adore them.  

And now for a look at what my daughter will find under the tree...

a few short weeks from now

Pier1 here I come! I am getting so excited to buy my new dining table & chairs, although I will miss my old one dearly... counter height is a little terrifying when my daredevil daughter stands on it. After that my front room should be completely finished! (it's about time) 

here is a before shot of the room... in a few weeks when i post the after I hope your minds are blown

I know it's super messy... It's the junk room right now, which I hate. Nothing is getting moved in or out though until the table gets here, there really are no words to describe how excited I am lol. I absolutely love decorating my house, I get to help a friend out with his apartment in a few weeks & it's like a dream come true... I'm not great like an actual interior designer but I think I make it work lol. On another note & nothing to do with this but for some reason the entire time I've been typing I've been singing pop lock & drop it.

have a great day

weekly show and tell

I just had to share this photo, because my son's face kills me.

Does he like puppy kisses? I'm gonna go with no.

Koda has always been very "in your face" quite literally & my daughter has never minded even when she was just a wee baby lol she couldn't get enough puppy kisses. For someone who smiles every single time he spits up I'm surprised.

have a fantastic day!

kinect= awesomesauce

We finally decided to get the xbox 360 with kinect on black friday, but have been avoiding it since we already have a PS3 & Wii. Was it worth it you may ask... why yes, yes it was indeed. I absolutely love it! I bought the zumba game which is super fun & the game that came with it was pretty fun as well. The man and I played for hours with Koda nipping at our heels the entire time. I highly recommend you either get it or convince a friend to so you can play at their house lol. We looked like complete idiots but at least we were idiots having fun :)

It's been awhile

It has been awhile since my last post... I have been so busy lately. Thanksgiving was totally awesome sauce although spending it with family back home would have been great. I did all the cooking, and not to toot my own horn or anything but it was all pretty fantastic. I'm about to go make pumpkin spice pancakes, but I wanted to let the world know that I finished the Rubik's cube and I did it multiple times! 

 

This may not be a big deal for some people but for me it's huge. I've only been working on finishing it since age 7..... I have a few more things to post about, but I'm starving. Hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving & Bring on Christmas! The tree is up & decorated, the Christmas candles are out & Starbucks peppermint mocha lattes are out... that was the big indicator for me that it's wintertime.

Before I'm 30

1. Skydive
2. Take the kids to Italy
3. Finish my degree 
4. Go to Ireland with my man
5. Go up in a hot air balloon 
6. Face my fear of heights & go Climbing
7. Own our own home
8. Take the Kids to Disney World
9. Move to PA
10. Learn how to crochet again
11. Get my masters
12. Solve this damn Rubik's cube   F**K YEAH
13. Start a small photography biz on the side
14. Attend my HS reunion 
15. Renew our vows
16. Reach my goal weight
17. Speak French almost fluently 
18. Teach the kids French
19. Vacation in St. Lucia
20. Take Koda Bear to a beach
21. Go on a roller coaster other than Talon @ Dorney
22. Road trip with friends
23. Buy a Nikon digital SLR or an Olympus PEN
24. Take a photography class
25. Do the breast cancer walk in NYC with my mom
26. Buy a sewing machine
27. Have a job I love getting up & going to
28. Take the kids on a family trip to Maine with my dad

So I've only lost about 3 pounds since my last "weight loss post" which isn't really all that great, but I'm happy with it. I haven't been able to get a good workout in a while. I've been waking up earlier and earlier but I'm finding that when I do the kids also wake up earlier... I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle but I don't plan on giving up so wish me luck. 

Last night for dinner I made turkey burgers and homemade sweet potato fries. Ashleann loved them so I guarantee you will too seeing as she doesn't love much food at the moment. She's at that chicken nuggets & hot dogs phase. 

Here are the fries....

All I did was slice up a sweet potato, evenly coat the slices with cooking spray (pam) *don't put too much though* and add a tiny bit of salt. Easy right? I put them in the oven @ 350 for about 25 minutes and turned them halfway... if you like them crispier just keep them in a little longer, problem solved.

Now go and make some.... because they are delicious.

last minute

I am awful when it comes to packing ahead of time. We are leaving Friday night for 3 weeks & my house is a disaster, nothing is pulled together or packed, nothing is washed for that matter. The only thing I have worked out is who is house/pet sitting. I'm the type of person who an hour beforehand starts panicking and throwing things into bags. I wish I wasn't but hey that's me.

You are probably thinking to yourself.... GET OFF THE COMPUTER & PACK! O but if only it were that simple. I'll start packing then something will distract me whether it's the cat humping the dog, one of the kids crying, an old picture I found while hunting for clothes or worst case scenario a spider in the house.

Maybe this time will be different. Maybe I'll clean the whole house today and do the laundry as soon as I'm done here. Who am I kidding after I click post I'm headed straight over to pinterest, then it's tea party time with Ashleann. When nap time rolls around I'll do it. I'll do it for sure. That's a lie I won't I may think about it & I mean really think about it but I'll most likely watch some episodes of The Office.

Until next time

good morning to you too

Dakota aka "Koda Bear" is my almost 4 year old Shiba Inu. She drives me insane has quite the personality at times, but of course I love her to pieces.  This morning I woke up to something along the lines of this...

 Too cute I know... now get ready for the play by play. So then I get out of bed (I know what an interesting way to start my day), hop in the shower, sing a little bit... and right as I step out... I find her & the floor covered in baby powder... awesomeness. Then I pull out my bag to attempt to start packing and she get inside of it and sits down. It was cute though. Later on she chewed up no lie about 20 pieces of my daughter's plastic play food.
Needless to say even your best of friends can drive you a little crazy.

p.s torn up plastic food hurts a lot when you step on it.

day one... try two

I haven't posted in such a long time... which isn't a good thing since my goal was to at least post weekly. I call fresh start.... clean slate. 

So lets call this day one try two lol. I weigh 179.4 pounds today. I just finished my turbo fire workout for the day... by finished i mean i did about 3/4 of it before coughing so hard I fell. I've been wicked sick for about a week and although I feel much better I just can't seem to shake this cough.

I haven't purchased shakeology yet.. it's been put on hold for the time being due to all of our money being out towards our car troubles.  We were told the other day that our Escape is totaled needs a new engine.... WHAT?!? A real crappy situation if you ask me... so we are currently looking at a 2012 Jeep liberty (limited jet edition) what a sexy car. The salesman told me he agreed but couldn't say sexy so he simply called it grrrr haha.

Any-who back to the losing weight aspect of this post.  Even though this is my first workout in a good week I feel like I'm making progress. I just have to keep telling myself that it's all going to be worth it in the end. Sounds easy, but I'm struggling. My husband ordered pizza with his friend the other night for the football game.... I had a slice two slices. Not the best I know but I'll get there.

day one 9.17.2011

 "Always remember that the future comes one day at a time."  - Dean Acheson

 I had my daughter 2 years ago and since I have not been able to lose any weight. I also just had my son about 2 months ago which made things that much more difficult. That's usually how it goes, you have no problem putting the weight on and then you try to lose it and while you may lose a few of the pounds it becomes harder and harder. "insert that's what she said joke here"

My self esteem definitely isn't great and I'm finding it hard to keep up with my 2 year old. This shouldn't be happening I'm only 22 years old... I should be on top of my game right now. I should be running around with my kids, enjoying life to the fullest. And that is exactly what I plan on doing... starting now.

Today was my first day doing Turbo Fire by Chalene Johnson and let me tell you she means business. I have never sweat so much in my life. I'm not gonna lie, it was in no way easy I really had to push through to finish and by the end I wanted to collapse. But it felt great! I had so much energy today that I haven't had in a while and I can't wait to keep going with the program and see how it all turns out. Chalene's attitude throughout the entire workout is so positive, it makes you want to push through and go your hardest. 

Eating healthy is something I have never really done so I have a feeling it will take me some time to get where I want to be. I started counting my calories today and hopefully I will get better as I go on. Tonight I am making homemade sweet potato fries and turkey burgers. That's about as healthy as I'm ready to go right now lol. 

Today I weigh 182 pounds... but hopefully eventually I'll be able to get back down to my pre-pregnancy weight of 145. I'll be blogging weekly if not every few days with my progress, and if you too are on this journey of trying to be healthier and happier, just remember that you aren't alone.

Have a wonderful day 

-me

True Blood Season Finale

Yes... I am in fact a True Blood fang-atic ha-ha <---(my attempt at cheesy humor) Sunday night was the season 4 season finale. What are your thoughts.... truthfully I thought it could have been a bit better, although I loved it. If you don't watch it... START! Here are a few highlights....

So Marnie comes back and possesses Lafayette. Uses him to kill his boyfriend Jesus and take his magical powers passed down to him from his crazy mexican grandfather. Lafayette then sports this pretty intense demon face so... Marnie (1) everybody else (0). Success! Her plan is to kill Bill and Eric as revenge for what they did her her, Antonia & everybody else. 

To save Bill & Eric... Holly, Tara & Sookie call upon the spirits to come and take Marnie away. Then there is this ghost scene, which in my opinion was pretty lame. Eventually Marnie gives up and Bill and Eric are safe. Yay. Sookie later tells them that she loves them both but can't choose so the best thing to do would be to leave both of them. She tells both of them not to follow her as she walks out of the house... they don't. Not sure if that was what she really had in mind or if it was girl code for you best freakin' follow me. I personally would jump on Eric in a heartbeat... fact.

 Tara has a hole in her cranium ... o snap

 

So Debbie being the crazy ass that she is shows up with a shotgun points it at Sookie, and Sookie tries to talk her down. Seriously Sookie... use some of that crazy light action. Tara leaps in front of Sookie as Debbie fires and it catches her in head. I can't help but feel like this all could have been avoided had Sookie done something in the first place. I guess she makes up for it though when she pins Debbie down and blows her head off.  I can't really see them killing Tara off though. Thoughts? 

P.S  I absolutely loved when Pam stormed into Fangtasia looking for Eric, shouting that she is so over Sookie and her fairy vagina.

9.2.2011

Enjoy every moment of every day because you never know when it's your last moment.

Swing Life Away

"We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love."

8.25.2011

easier said than done

"If you love two people at the same time, choose the second one, because if you really loved the first one you wouldn’t have fallen for the second" - Johnny Depp

How do you feel about this quote? It's one of the things that I'm on the fence about right now.  It makes sense if you really do love both people, but what if you only think you love the second. In that case you would be making a huge mistake. Or maybe both people are wrong for you, because if you fell for the second and still loved the first you could argue that you don't really love either one. Or what if there is a chance you could love the second, in that case do the same rules apply...

 Whenever you have a problem like this, I've found that your friends aren't always the people you should turn to. They will tell you one of two things... "Go for it you aren't happy with him." or "O no you shouldn't think like that, you can make it work." But the truth is no one knows your relationship but you. No one can really give you good advice, unless they know every single minor detail... everything that you are thinking 24-7 and everything that the two of you have gone through and are going through.

Although Mr. Depp makes it sound so easy... it really is easier said than done.

And one more thing if you have gone through this or are currently... don't feel bad. Don't tell yourself you are a bad person for feeling something for more than one person. We are only human after all. I don't condone cheating so don't think that's what I'm saying because you can fall in love with someone just talking to them especially when you were already friends. ( I know emotional cheating is cheating, but in my opinion physical is worse) If this happens to you as long as you don't take it to a physical level and you are completely honest with the one you are with I don't think you did anything wrong. Honesty is key. People fall in and out of love everyday... and if they love you they will understand. They may be hurt, but they will understand.

Well I'm done rambling now... hope it gave you something to think about.

-me

take the time to listen

"I spy with my little eye something red and white with eyes and a red mouth and red wings and do you want a hint? It's that chicken." (age 3)

Children never cease to amaze me. Every day they learn and grow and discover amazing things. As adults we can't see the way a child does, and what a shame that is when you think about it. A child sees the good in the world that we don't always see because most of the time we focus on all the negative aspects of life. But, how amazing would it be to just stop, take a step back and throw all of our worries out the window. If you are reading this, that is what I want you to do today. If you have children take the time to play with them, explore the world that they live in.

And always listen to children whether they are your own or just a child you know.  Not only do they say the funniest things, but also some of the smartest.

Here are a few more quotes from kids that make me smile ::

"You know what? Not all dreams come true. But that's okay because you can always make new dreams." (age 4)

" I wish I had a small sweatshirt for my face."  (age 4)