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Thursday, April 21, 2011

Days 23 & 25: I'm just making my own rules now!

Day 23: Favorite movie...didn't we cover this already? Ah, yep we did. The short answer is: The Notebook. But check out Day 7 for my top movies list!
My sister and I dancing at our cousins wedding
Day 25: Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs. This should be interesting...or not. I have quite the eclectic taste in music. I really need more than the 233 songs I currently have on my iPod. When I say I like all kinds of music I really mean, everything. Music is a big part of who I am and I feel strongly one should never restrict themselves as far as music is concerned and so I never have. I can find something I like in every kind of music. Some people are excellent at remembering lines in movies and tv shows, I'm that way with music.

  1. T.I. Live Your Life (feat. Rihanna)
  2. Taylor Swift- Haunted
  3. Kenny Chesney- Young
  4. Brad Paisley- She's Everything
  5. Nickelback- Far Away
  6. Kenny Chesney- Anything But Mine
  7. Fergie- Clumsy
  8. Katy Perry- Firework
  9. Taio Cruz- Dynamite
  10. Josua Radin- Today
Okay, well not as exciting as I had hoped but you might get the idea.


Day: 24 coming soon!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

The Black Hole! aka Day 22

When I first read through the 30 day blog challenge this one already had me laughing. "Day 22: What's in your purse?" My purse is just ridiculous! I blame diaper bags, and having to carry them around for 9 years. My purse is most definitely a glorified diaper bag. I never carried a real purse. I skipped right over it and started carrying a diaper bag when Connor was born. Actually, I didn't even own a diaper bag until they sent me home with the free one from the hospital. I quickly realized that if I ever really wanted to leave the house for more than 10 minutes with a baby, a fully stocked diaper bag was a must.  I was a pro at stocking a diaper bag, too. After a couple of trial and error runs I seemed to always have the exact amount of diapers, wipes bottles and whatever else to make the kid happy. Then came Aubrey, 2 kids in diapers, so 2x everything. Then came Alli and for just a few months 3 kids in diapers and 3x everything. As they got a little older I began to have a little something to keep each of them content for whatever stage we were in. 

I had a brief period of time when Connor was almost six and Alli was potty-trained where all of a sudden I didn't need a diaper bag anymore. A generic change of clothes kept in the car "just in case" was enough for most occasions. I toyed with the idea of carrying a bag just for myself, a real big girl purse! The thought of having something all to myself was such a novel idea, I just had to try it out. It didn't take long before I figured out that it was just plain impossible to have such a thing really all to myself. I kept a purse for a couple of years, never really loving the idea, in fact I can't even remember what they looked like. Before I knew it I was pregnant with Olivia anyway. That's when the real fun began, this was right about the same time that some genius figured out that even though we had babies that might love cutesy, cartoony, fluffy things, didn't mean us moms loved carrying a bag with all of that on it. They came up with modern, stylish attractive-to-the-adult-actually-purchasing-the-bag, bags. That's really when I fell in love with (diaper) bags. I had gotten a great one when Connor was little a sage green diaper bag from Land's End, it was awesome but not so stylish.

After going through a couple of decent, but not to love diaper bags I found a super cute mod, pink and brown dots bag on clearance at Target. It was a sweet deal and I loved it. Unfortunately the inside seam split and Olivia was potty trained early so I put up with it a few months and never got a replacement. I would probably still use it in rotation these days if not for that darn seam. Oh well!
 The first real purse I fell in love with was one my mom bought me for Christmas of 2009, yeah that's right I was 29 before I took carrying a purse seriously and actually fell in love a purse. I also got tons of compliments on my purse, which made it even better. I carried it for a full year! Which brings me to my current purse. The purse I have now is from Phillip and Connor, they went out and bought it together for Christmas last year. I love it because it's pretty and black and because it was something my boys got for me together. That said, it is such a collector of crap it's crazy! 
In this sense I am so much like my mother! In most things I don't know there would be much about me that I would claim to get from her. Well, there are a couple of things. We're loud, we both enjoy the company of others and we both keep things, that don't make much sense to anyone else, in our purses. Similarities end there, I'm pretty sure. Here is the list, to the best of my ability of things in my purse.
  • My makeup bag (I prefer to do makeup while riding in the car)
  • 1 wallet for money
  • 1 wallet for medical cards, gift cards, rewards cards etc.
  • A box of crayons
  • A stack of mostly useless receipts
  • 3 pens
  • 1 large paper clip
  • A hair brush 
  • A twisty thing off the top of a bottle of some sort
  • 1 mitten from a magnetic dress-up doll
  • 1 magic wand
  • A picture of Gir Connor drew for me
  • A stack of mail which includes but not limited to: Insurance statements, a bill, a wedding invitation (from February), a bank statement and a letter from school
  • WIC checks and shopping guide
  • A spiral notebook
  • A hackey-sack
  • A tube of bubbles
  • A Christmas ornament that I keep meaning to stick in a box at my in-laws
  • 2 mis-matched socks (because a mis-match pair is better than none at all)
  • Lotion
  • Hand sanitizer
  • Nail polish
  • 1 eraser cap
  • 3 coupons for mouth wash
  • Keys that need to be returned because they don't fit
  • A reminder card for a dentist appointment in March
  • A Java Jump rewards card
  • Valentines day Mickey Mouse stickers
  • The skirt from a Snow White pocket doll
  • A pack of gum with one stick left
  • A Valentine's Day card to Olivia from Phillip and I
  • 3 pennies
  • 1 nickel
  • A couple of crumpled blank pieces of paper
I think that's it. As you can see the insides of my purse became a game of show and tell. Olivia was on a treasure hunt and so excited to find her Valentine's Day card. I found it funny that the last thing I pulled out was a cookie fortune that read: "You discover treasures where others see nothing unusual".

please excuse the laundry, we are right in the middle of laundry day(s) it'll be done tomorrow, promise!

 Thanks for following!




Sunday, April 10, 2011

Cliffs Note Version of Days 16-21

Sometimes life gives you lemons and sometimes it all out takes a dump on your head. We've sort of found ourselves in the crap all over you part. Phillips mom has been battling cancer since 2003 and recently has been put on Hospice. While right now she has been doing amazingly well and has even improved over the last couple of weeks, we are walking the finest of lines. There is no telling, especially with a woman of her determination, how long we are really looking at. As if that isn't enough (and I must tread carefully here...) we are dealing with the serious addiction of another family member. It's hard to tell how much and what this person is on, if they have just lost their mind or if it is the addiction. This person has done something that completely crossed the line, as far as I'm concerned. Because I put my foot down and got upset and said "enough is enough", I have now been labeled as the Bad Guy, anything that has gone wrong in their life in the last two weeks, the blame is put squarely on my head. Any inexcusable behavior that they have participated in is because of the hurt that I have caused them, or at least that's the broken record story. I have been shocked, and hurt, confused and angry and this unbelievable situation. I haven't been allowed to have a voice, I haven't had a chance to explain my feelings about the situation. However, they, on a daily basis continue to drag me through the mud. I have no gain to go into further detail but you'll have to trust me when I say this is a terrible and (emotionally) abusive situation. It hurts me, I hate to see my husband have to go through the pain of what is going on with his Mom and then add this on top of it. My kids have now been involved and affected. I am a Momma Bear, and you don't mess with my kids and my family. Period. I have to have faith and trust that the truth of this situation will be known. I just hope it's sooner than later and it can be resolved before it's too late.


What does this have to do with my lack of blogging? For me, it's hard, very hard, to write about fluff when there is so much heavy stuff that sits unresolved. I can do it, but the perfectionist in me doesn't accept the sub par work that results. Then I argue with myself about whether or not to post such b.s. On top of this I have felt a lot of pressure not to air my feelings regarding this situation, out of fear for what such an unstable person might do as a result of my words. At this point I am so sick and tired of not being able to confront the situation as well as not having anyway of defending myself that I'm speaking out anyway. It's not as if this person will really read what I have to say anyway. At this point they are ignoring Phillip and I. Which is the grown up version of pouting.


Enough about that. There actually have been some really good things that have come out of the last two weeks. We have decided to focus more on our family, the kids specifically. This has made a huge difference in them, in fact I would like to write a post about each of them and how they have grown through all that has happened in the last year. We'll have to save that for later. Phillip and I have grown even closer together, he has shown to me how much our family, our marriage and our relationship really mean to him. I am such a lucky woman to have a man who loves and cares for me the way only he can. We are a team, we share in the burdens we carry, the trials we face as well as the happiness and success in life. I wouldn't have it any other way.


So, if there is so much going on, why not just quit the challenge? I refuse to give up, I promised myself that I would see this through to the end. It has also been so good for me to get back into writing. I want to finish the challenge. So here we go!


Day 16: Dream house
I dream of a house that has room for our family, 5 bedrooms would be perfect. A fantastic kitchen, that is big enough for all of us and more to hang out in, more of a gathering place. A living room where fun and laughter abound. I could care less for a stuffy formal room that is full of looking and no touching. I would like a rec/movie room for the kids to hang out in and have plenty of friends over, I would love to be the 'hang out' house. We'd like a pool table, too. I want a deck with lots of comfy chairs, perfectly shaded in summer for bbq's and relaxing. A pool for the kids and a hot-tub for the old people who need to soak their stress away. A yard for kids to run themselves into exhaustion. I also dream of a master bedroom full of relaxation. A master bath with a large soaking tub as well as a master closet in perfect organization. The best part of my 'dream' home is that I believe it will be a reality soon.

Day 17: Something you're looking forward to
Aside from my dream home? I look forward to Phillip to getting a job with wonderful benefits. I also look forward to my kids being out of the sibling rivalry phase.

Day 18: Favorite Place to Eat
LOVE mexican food. It is my fav. I prefer Azteca, Phillip prefers Casa De Oro but I would never pass on either.

Day 19: Something you miss
My Grandma, always. She was my second Mom. I refer to losing her, a lot, when Phillip and I talk about what's going on with Mom. I am most grateful for all of the time I had with her, and all that she taught me. I'm pretty sure I still think about her everyday. I'm glad to know that she isn't really that far away and one day I will see her again.

Day 20: Nicknames
"Megs" I like it. Shorty when I was in school but then the rappers stole it and put it in their songs. You should see the royalty checks I'm raking in!

Day 21: Favorite Picture of yourself ALL TIME Why?
I was annoyingly photogenic as a child. The reason it's so annoying is that I outgrew it. I can take a decent picture now, too but I have to work a lot harder for it. There are worse problems to have, I suppose. So here is a recent pic that is my fav and an older one. There isn't one picture of all time, sorry to disappoint.
That's me in the pink blankie, with Grandma and Grandpa. This was before anyone realized I was a ball of fire!

Our wedding day! I was so happy and walking downtown Spokane in a wedding dress. Best. Day. Ever!