It's Amazing What A Breather Will Do

My husband is amazing! I think I'm made that pretty clear here and I'm pretty sure I've covered the fact that he canNOT sit STILL. He's on go, go, go almost always. If you watched him for one day, he would exhaust most people. Well he does me anyway. Occasionally, he will take a Saturday off to do something fun, but not as much as he should. About a year and a half ago, we bought a house. A short sale. A house that had 5 owners in 7 years. A house that had been vacant for close to 2 years. A great core of a house, but a sh*^tload of work that needed to be done with it. Have a mentioned before that I was super pregnant during most of the 7 month process of acquiring this piece of property? Did I also mentioned I had Mia 5 days after we moved in? No? Ha! It's a constant project in motion and we have made one heck of a dent in just a year and a half I must say, but there are very few weekends where my husband is not doing something.

If it's not the house, it's his business. He runs his own business and it's pretty much 24-7. It has it's flexibility which is especially nice when you have a child. Sundays are really his only "down" day, but I use that term very loosely because he'll still be doing something, making phone calls, working on his books...always something. He doesn't have the luxury of looking forward to Friday, or the weekend, because more often than not he works on Saturdays and doesn't have the traditional work week schedule.

As if that wasn't enough, he also cuts his grandma's grass, every other week or so, which is not a super huge deal, but it just always ends up needing to be done at the wrong time. Through that into a 6 day work week. And she will call and call until he comes because that is what she has to worry about until it's done. She doesn't give much notice.

FIN.A.LLY, just yesterday he didn't do a darn thing all day. He relaxed, grilled, had a few drinks and just took a breath. Towards the end of the day, after Mia was in bed and we were just sitting on the deck enjoying the beautiful weather, he said this was the best day he had in a really long time. He said he felt like he was on vacation. Wow! Think somebody needed a time out?

To all the amazing husbands out there, but especially mine, that work their tails off to support and provide for their families, thank you! He's the peas in my carrots! And I wouldn't be the same person without him. Without him I would not have my beautiful daughter or the wonderful life that I do. I am very blessed and sometimes need a extra long weekend to really realize and appreciate it.

I just hope it made him realize how important it is to make time for these kinds of days. You can't work every hour and every minute. There are only so many hours in a day. Life is too short and time just continues to pass right on by. We have a lot of life left and a heck of a lot more memories to create!! We talked a lot about this last night and I think he does realize the importance of this kind of time and just how fulfilling and rewarding it can be....finally.

Here we are almost 3 years ago already, newlyweds, thin, tan, pre-child, no agenda and all the time in the world. Happy Short Week (well hopefully anyway)!

The Shine Project Photo Challenge

I came across Ashley and her Project a few months back. She is truly inspiring. She challenges her readers and this week's may be one of my most favorite challenges. Post pictures of something that SHINES to you. Shocking as this may be, I chose my most prized possession. Why? There are so many reasons, but mostly because she is amazing and I love her more than anything (and who doesn't love a little toddler in a polka dot bikini splashin' away in a pool). She's my girl, my only first, my daughter, my buddy, my energizer bunny, my sweetheart, my everything, my love, my life, so full of personality, emotion and just seems to get cuter by the second...and she is just so easy to take fun pictures of.

Link up today and if you're not following Ashley and The Shine Project, jump on board. It's uplifting and so fulfilling.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! Cheers to the unofficial start of summer!

Wordless Wednesday

One month from now, I will be here.Pretty awesome, huh?

We'll spend a little time with this guy.

And drink some of these.

And watch a lot of this And create some amazing memories with this lil' one on her first Mexico vacay.

Beach, ocean, pool, guacamole, repeat :) Current swimsuit count is at 5.

I think that is enough for an 18 month old.

Happy Wednesday!

She's The Mashed In My Potatoes

Today would have been my aunt's 58th birthday. The loss of a loved one is difficult and as one gets older, I truly believe it just gets harder and harder. She's been gone for just shy of a year and I miss her terribly. She had several health problems and I can now say (without crying) that she is in a much better place. She is now with her brother and her parents and watching over all of us. Our AJ was fun and always found a way to make us laugh through her often kidish and quirky demeanor (dinners where she sat at the kiddy table with us and squeezed mashed potatoes out of her mouth just to get a laugh out of us). She was never too serious and I appreciated her for that. She cared deeply for her nieces, her brother and my Mom. I am so happy that she was able to meet Mia and spend time with her. Although I am much better emotionally with this than I was for a long time, I still regret that I didn't see her as often as I should have. The last time I saw her was on May 21, 2010. We had all gotten together for my Dad's birthday, as we did almost every year by having lunch and playing games at Dave and Busters. We had a great time and I'm glad it's a good memory for me.

Of his entire family, my Dad has said goodbye to both his parents, his brother and now his sister. He's only 63 and he was the oldest child. It's just him and it breaks my heart. I love my Dad. He's the best one out there, I am quite convinced, and I could never imagine for a second how he must feel. Of course he has us, and my hubby reminds me of that all the time, but it just makes me sad to know that emptiness that he feels.

I remember the day I got the phone call, July 7, 2010, from my Mom telling me that she had passed. I knew it that morning. I just had a bad feeling. She went in for heart surgery that morning and I just knew something was not going to be right that day. At first I was mad and used many inappropriate blog words because I selfishly wasn't ready to say goodbye to her just yet. She was too young and she was all that my Dad had left of his family. I left work and drove to my parents house where we met up with my sisters. I was then sad. We didn't have a funeral for her; my Dad didn't think she would want one. We had a Memorial for her, which was an awesome day tributed to her. My Dad took her ashes to Mexico and sprinkled them into the ocean, a place she had never been and where she wanted to go when she died. To this date, she has been the hardest one to say goodbye of all the family members I have lost. I still cry....often. I talk to her all the time and I pray about her and to her often.

Tonight we are getting together to celebrate her with her favorite food and likely a few cocktails. We'll honor the great aunt and sister that she was and embrace the gift that we were given in the guardian angel that she is to all of us now.

The night I drive home from parents, the night she had passed, I took this picture. It was a cloudy day and night, but just as we all left to go home, the skies did this. I'm pretty sure it was her opening up the clouds so she could watch over all of us to make sure we made it home safely and to let us know that she was had made it to her special, forever place.

I love you AJ, miss you terribly, but am content with the satisfaction and joy you must be feeling to be in heaven with good health, happy spirits and Grandma, Grandpa and Jack. Keep watch over us k? We're trying to do our best!

Cheers!

PS - Sorry for the Debby Downer topics so far this week! I promise to bring up the happiness factor a few notches with my next post!

I Just Need One Quick Moment Of Your Time

Another round of storms and another devastated city. Please take a moment to say a prayer for all of the people in Joplin, MO and those that have been affected by last night's tornadoes. Please keep them in your thoughts and hearts as they try to recover from the loss of so much and so many. Again, too close to home. Joplin is just southwest of our city. Just a few weeks ago, tornadoes destroyed communities just north of us.

For information on how you can help, please link up to the Red Cross page:

http://www.redcrossstl.org/

Grab your families and give them an extra hug. It's quite amazing how quickly our lives can change.

Photos courtesy of kmov.com.

Announcement!!!!!!!

Hold onto your hats ladies, for those of you out there that are as obsessed as I am, it's a big day! I don't have much time to write, but could not go another moment without letting you know the big announcement.

OPI now has Silver Shatter nail polish as part of their Pirates of the Carribean collection. I'm excited, it's just about perfect timing for my Mexican vacay that is just about a month away!

I talked about the Black Shatter a while back, but I like the silver option better I think, especially for this time of year and with a bright springy/summer color underneath! Can I get a Woot! Woot!??

Check it out and thanks to my big sis for providing this very valuable information!

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend! Happy Manis and Pedis!

Picture courtesy of Google Images

Just To See You Smile

And no, this title is not because Scotty sang it last night on American Idol. This just so happens to be one of my favorites and I'm mad at him anyway. James should be there not him...anywhooo moving onto my actual post topic... I like to do stuff for other people...bottomline. To a fault sometimes, I am often more concerned about other people's feelings, schedules and emotions before my own. Overall though, it's a good thing. I just care, that's all, and for my family more than ANYTHING. Thanks to my awesome Momma, I've carried on one of my most favorite things she did for us as kids. My Mom would (and still does) often leave us notes and cards just to tell us she loves us, to motivate us to make the right decisions, to show a little extra support during a time we need it and so on and so forth. Now, in a big part thanks to her, one of my most favorite things to do is try to do a little something to make someone's day, make them smile or make them laugh. Life gets so serious sometimes with all of our crazy schedules and adult responsibilities. More than anyone, I like to leave little notes and cards for my hubby (watch out Mia, your time is comin'). I sometimes send my sisters, parents and some of my friends warm and fuzzy notes or cards, but not as often as I should. But it's really good for my husband, it doesn't just make me feel good, but it makes him feel special and somedays after holding down the fort, handling the finances for his business and our family, running his business, being a daddy and a hubby he just needs a little reminder of how special we think he is! He works his bootie off and is in go, go, go mode almost constantly. He's not the relaxing type. Most nights, he is doing something around the house after work, paperwork, yardwork, phone calls. The after work stuff normally involves a few beers, so I think that helps :) Well I did it again today. This morning before I headed into work, I signed his card with a special note and some lovey dovey gushy stuff and snuck it in his planner. I got a text a little while later. It makes me smile to know that I made him smile (and a mid morning I love you is pretty great too!). What are some of the things you do to make other people smile? I want to hear your ideas, but just beware, I might steal them :)

Wordless Wednesday - He's A Keeper

In the craziness that has been the first half of my day, I am sitting down for a quick bite before the crazy train resumes. Thought I would share a couple recent pics I took of my super handsome and wonderfully amazing hubby! I heart him A LOT!

Movie Monday

I am by no means a movie expert or a big movie buff and to be quite honest, it is a rare, rare occasion that I even see one in a theater. The last movie I saw in an actual theater with overpriced, but super deliciousch popcorn and soda, was Sex and The City 2. I don't like horror movies, sci-fi or most "men" type genres. I don't mind a good drama, The Town was a somewhat recent movie we REALLY liked and I was shocked I enjoyed! Give me a quirky romantic comedy, something Kate Hudson (How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Raising Helen, etc.), Renee Zellweger (Bridget Jones, need I say more), movies like The Notebook or oldies, but goodies like How To Marry An Axe Murderer, My Cousin Vinny, A Christmas Story (Christmas Eve tradition), Clueless, Footloose, Dazed and Confused and feel goods like Up or Finding Nemo and the list goes on and on. It's a mismash, but mostly mindless movie watching is what I LOVE best. I don't want to have to think too much. It's kinda my thing if I have 2 hours to dedicate to watching a movie. I want to be entertained without having to analyze anything or try to figure anything out. Just want an easy going 60 minutes (or 90 or 120 in some cases).

Friday night was another rare night and I was REALLY looking forward to it! Just me, my bestie, my big sis and my Mom. A fun girls night filled with calories, sugar and good people! As soon as I saw the preview for Bridesmaids I knew I had to go. I LOVE Kristen Wiig and the rest of the cast was exciting as well.

It was a raunchy comedy, I would say that is pretty accurate. That doesn't bother me, but if you are looking for a cute little love story with puffy hearts, rainbows and unicorns, this is not that movie. I laughed SOOOOOOOOOOO hard during this movie I almost peed in my pants several times. Those that have given birth to children via vajayjay know the issue this may pose. Unfortunately, no pee in my pants story here for you, but there were some very close calls. I laughed so hard my face hurt, my side hurt, my stomach hurt and I felt like my cheeks were going to explode. There is nothing better after a long and busy work week than to just kick back and laugh....and cry. As funny as this movie was, it had some sad moments too. I shed a few tears, but that doesn't take much for me anymore. Since child and all the new hormone type stuff I've now acquired, I cry at commercials too, I'm kinda "sensitive" now I guess you could say :)

Here's some cast info for you:

Kristen Wiig - current SNL cast member

Maya Rudolph - former SNL cast member

Ellie Kemper - currently plays the Receptionist on The Office

Jon Hamm - on Mad Men, plays the deusche boyfriend who makes you want to jump into the movie screen and punch him in in the face.

Melissa McCarthy - formerly of Gilmore Girls and currently on Mike & Molly, which I have watched and it's a funny show. Next to Kristen Wiig, she's the next best thing in this movie! HI.LAR.I.OUS!!!!

Rose Byrne - never heard or seen this girl before, but she plays the best biatch ever!

and a ton more!!

I loved Bridesmaids so much I would go see it again. A lot of what I've heard so far about this movie, besides that fact that Thor still beat it at the box office (boooooring!, sorry not a fan of the big super hero movie trend the past few years, I don't care how cute the leading man is), is that a lot of critics and what not are calling it the "female Hangover." I guess you could say that, but it's just funny in its own right. This will be a regular DVD in my house for sure and I may just take my hubby to go see it if we can figure out the opportunity. I think he would like it! It's not just a chick flick, and I don't think every guy would like it , but if your man (or you) are a fan of comedies, you may just be ok. Surprisingly there were a ton of men at the theater!

Grab your girlfriends and plan a night out! It will be well worth it!

Have a great week!

Feeling Green, But Not Like Kermit Green

For serious, I feel like a monster today. Kind of like I should have fangs, be 8 feet tall, really hairy, and maybe green (I'm kinda thinking a Yo Gabba Gabba character but a little more scary and enlarged 100x). I'm a wee bit hyper, stressed and pretty sure I could breath fire if need be, I have a crap load of, well crap (aka work), to get done by 3:00 pm. Why am I blogging then you might ask, well because I have this addiction you see, to spewing my thoughts into words on "paper" and sharing pictures!

I'll be MIA (not daughter Mia, but Missing In Action, not that I necessarily had to clarify that, oh well) tomorrow. Spending quality time doing some volunteer work for a charity and then off to see Bridesmaids with my Mom and sis! Can't wait!

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Now enough of the fun stuff, time to get down to business!

Wordless Wednesday - What You Do When It's 90 Degrees and Your Mom Hasn't Bought You A Pool

Don't worry Mia, we'll be going to purchase one this weekend, but Mommy has to find one big enough for her to lay out in while you take naps this summer. Love you lil' Princess :)

Happy Wednesday you guys! We're half way there!

Look At What I Did Today

Mani Lunch Break Tuesday. I wish I could do this every Tuesday.

Hope you are having a great day!

Momma Mia

What a wonderful Mother's Day weekend I had! I may or may not have gone a little overboard on the amount of Vitamin D I received over the weekend, however I'm a sucker for the sun and the warmth. It's a clear sign that I work inside most of the time and that my skins sees very little of that yellow guy in the clouds. We were blessed with a beautiful weather weekend in the Lou. Sunny and in the 80's the whole, entire weekend! Woohoo!

I came home to this on Thursday after work

We had a great weekend and went non-stop.

We relaxed a lil' bit on Saturday morning

And attended (Daddy, me, Aunt Lou, Uncle Aaron, Papa and Papa's buddy Bill) the St. Louis Microfest in the afternoon (Thanks Meme!)

And Uncle Aaron's surprise 30th afterwards (pictures of that later).

I was feeling it by last night and it was well worth every minute of exhaustion.

I'm so tired today and pretty sure at 32 going all weekend, especially when drinking is involved, will turn into a cold of some sort. Lovely. 33 is knocking on my front door, so I better keep up the zinc today. Yesterday I woke up with a sore throat and today I have the dry, scratchy throat and cough. Ummmmm...talking about my ailments makes me sound old. Note.to.self.

Mark and Mia put together my gift on Friday afternoon, a set of black rockers and a table for our front porch. They are a perfect fit for that bare spot. I love them. Mia and I sat in them yesterday afternoon, she in one, I in the other and sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star about 15 times. We just rocked and sang. So cute, especially when they can't make out all the words, yet have the tune and the cute lil' voice.

See how cute my new rockers are:

They are ready for a bottle of wine.

Anyway, as I reflect back on my Mother's Day weekend I really, truly recognize how very blessed I am to have such a wonderful Mom. She's a great mom, a great grandma and an amazing friend. I could not be more thankful. The fact that Mia calls her Meme, is even better. Not sure where she got it from, but it's her thing and I like it (she's Grandma Nan to my other nieces).

I took about 812 pictures this weekend, so maybe, just maybe I will get them downloaded and edited sooner than later and share them soon!

Have a great week everybody!

Cinco de Wha?

Seriously, I would appreciate it if someone would please stop the clock.

Here's my girl, one year ago today, not quite big enough for a high chair, just starting baby food (please ignore the chaos that is my island in the background):

Here she is, just yesterday, all independent, driving around in her cozy coupe, eating all "grown up" food, drinking out of a sippy: I love her to pieces and I could never explain in words how much she means to me and how much of a wonderful addition she has been to our lives. Selfishly, however, I do wish we could pause for a while. She's amazingly fun, has such an awesome personality, makes us laugh and smile each and every day and is growing into quite the Daddy's girl these days (of course she's still connected to my hip in the meantime). I want to hold onto this moment for a little while longer!

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Looking forward to a couple margaritas and some tacos myself this evening, but first Mia and I are going to see my niece Graysen in her spring musical!

Hope everyone is having a great Thursday!

911 + 10

So last night, as I was gearing up for my Sunday night slumber, I got on Facebook and Twitter one more time, as I always do. I never for a moment, thought that I would read what I did. So much for sleep, let's get CNN on.

I could not believe it, as I blinked a few more times trying to focus my eyes and be sure I read it correctly.

OSAMA BIN LADEN DEAD!

Let me be the first (ok, not the first) to state that I do not celebrate any one's death, regardless of how I feel about that person. However I do celebrate the victory for our country. The statement that this makes to the rest of the world. I truly, truly hope, from the bottom of my heart, that this gives those victims, victims families and all those personally affected by 9/11 some closure. I will never forget where I was on that fateful day.

I was a young 22 year old woman, first year teacher, in a city away from home. I had students crying, upset, distraught, confused. Many of them had parents who took flights to New York City that morning. The unknown. The fear. In the days before smartphones, Twitter and Facebook, I had little access to the information except for the emails we were receiving from our administrators. It was a devastating day, to say the least. I raced home and stayed glued to the TV the entire night. I couldn't sleep. I was questioning so many things. I missed my family. I was lonely and trying to comprehend all the events and emotions of the day. My boyfriend at the time somehow managed to sleep through all of it and I never understood how. So many thousands of miles from NYC, yet I felt so affected by the tragedy. I think all Americans did. However, I could never imagine the hate and anger I would have if I would have known someone who would have died on 9/11.

Ten years later, I am a much different person than I was on 9/11. I can't believe it has been that long. I was still a child almost. So lacking in life experience, I was so "fresh" in the working world. I'm still angry. I still cry. I still wonder why. How can there be so much hate in our world? Facebook and Twitter became filled last night and today with political rants and conspiracy theories and I continue to ask why? It upsets me that everything turns that direction anymore. There is no truth and trust in the world. People want proof in video and pictures. There is nothing sacred or confidential anymore. Why can't we just be grateful for the step forward, thankful that lives were spared for the US and disassociate our views and "sides" for one day. This is a victory for all of us. Whether you are red or blue or green. It's a victory.

Thank you to all the men and women who have and had served this great country.

As I finally did go to bed, at about midnight last night, I thought to myself, I am very proud to be an American today!

Have a great week everyone!