Vacations Are Remembered

Vacationing just wasn't part of growing up for me.  I was so disconnected with the idea of vacationing and I carried that empty thought of it into my adulthood.  It seems my parents also lacked the experiences of taking trips in their upbringing, so they both just focused really hard on working and raising us kids.

It wasn't until I met my husband that I was introduced to a whole new way of living, a way where you would take a break from everyday life and take a trip somewhere!  Although that sounds so normal for many of you, it was so foreign to me at that time!  I was told by him that he and his family would take a family vacation together at least once a year and have been doing that for as long as he can remember.  Wow, once a year...I don't know if I was even doing once every five years...matter fact, the only time I could remember going out of town was to visit relatives or to flee from a forest fire or an earthquake warning...but not an actual planned trip to go relax and have fun.

On a cruise ship

So my husband wasn't making it up when he said his family would take a trip together at least once a year.  Since I was engaged to him until now, we have went on vacation at least once a year...sometimes twice...there may have even been three trips in one year somewhere.  I wasn't going to break his family's tradition or get in the way of something they've done and enjoyed way before I was in the picture, but after just the first two or three trips I was well out of my comfort zone.  I actually got irritated when he would mention the word vacation.  I felt guilt each and every time I would request to take off from work, leave my responsibilities behind, and leave town.  I didn't like this idea of vacationing, I didn't like that the idea wasn't just an idea and that it really became real life.  This was wrong to me, it felt so wrong to go on vacation this much...even once a year was too much.

Myrtle Beach, SC

Over eight years of marriage and after so many vacations together, I have a new perspective on the whole 'vacationing idea'.  You see, I had it embedded in my brain that we are suppose to work and fulfill responsibilities at all times.  I was interpreting taking a break as being lazy.  Stopping work and taking breaks was foolishness.  Now I see that the foolishness is working yourself to death and never taking a break to enjoy a bit of your life especially with the ones you love.

Saphire Valley, NC

There came a point where I used the excuse to my husband "But I have to work".  His response was, "work will always be there for you when you come back, it's not going anywhere."  He had a point.  Work will be waiting for me, bills will be waiting for me, chores will be waiting for me...point is...things aren't going anywhere, I could go and come back and pick up right where I left off.  Even better, I would be recharged and perhaps more motivated at tackling things in my everyday life.



There are retirees I know that all they have to reminisce about are the days they spent working, either at their jobs or at home doing house work.  Those retirees are now looking back wishing that they spent more time traveling, seeing the world and making great memories. 

New York

Mexico

A man once told me, "you're children will never remember the things you buy them but they will always remember trips they've gone on".  It's true!!!  Honestly, I can't even remember the stuff I bought my own children, but I could visualize just about every trip we took together!  

I appreciate every break I get, whether by myself or with my family.  It's still sometimes a little hard to just drop and go, something always seem to be going on but once I go and come back I'm always glad I went.  

Traveling can be exhausting, but it's still fun.

Organizing My Life!

We are over halfway through the month of January 2017 already.  Have you gotten the chance to make some new year's resolution or set some goals for this year?  Making major commitments like a hard core workout plan or dropping certain food groups just doesn't work for me.  I over commit myself at the beginning of each year only to feel overwhelmed with the feeling of failure.  Not this year!  Oh no...I just picked small goals that I could take baby steps to achieve.  One thing I wanted to work on was time management.  I know, time management isn't a 'small' goal for some people, BUT...that was the thing I wanted to tackle in 2017...gradually and in a way that will work for me without feeling overly committed to doing one major thing that I knew I couldn't handle.

So, my plan...was to get a nice planner for 2017.  I came across THE BEST planner ever while Christmas shopping for gifts.  I actually got one for a dear friend as a gift and decided I needed one as well.  I usually wouldn't splurge on a planner but in this case...I was getting a great deal since it was the holidays AND this planner was a must have for me!  I'll tell you why!  

First they come in three sizes, the largest one is about the size of a regular notebook paper, the smallest is about the size of a 5x7 picture (I think)...I chose to go with the middle size.  It's not too small to write in (I write big) but not too big where I wouldn't want to carry it around with me.  The medium size one still fits in my purse.

The front and back covers are laminated so it feels thick and sturdy, not easily bent.  The spiral binding makes it easy to open to whichever page you'd want and you flip the front cover all the way to the back for easy writing or resting in your lap.

Inside has the yearly calendar for 2017 AND 2018, then there are monthly calendars followed by the weekly calendars for each month.  Each month are sectioned off with tabs to make easy access to any month you want.

Not only the covers and inside are so colorfully designed, there are sheets of stickers!!!  Stickers to help you keep track of dates:  birthdays, appointments, vacations, and so much more.  That's not it, there's a built in pocket folder AND a clear ziplock pouch to hold items like pencils, erasers, and paper clips.

I couldn't wait to use this planner.  I busted this thing open as soon and 2017 was here!  I didn't even know where to begin.  Oh yeah, there's also a page to list everyone's birthday for each month, a section to list contact information and a few sheets for note taking!  Whoever designed this planner thought of it all..and made is so colorful and fun to use.

I carry it everyday with me, pretty much everywhere I go that I take my purse.  The weekly calendar has really kept me organized from week to week.  I am able to keep up with my husband's work schedule, the kids school schedule, the kids sports, appointments of all sorts, upcoming vacations and so much more.  

So as I have fun writing in my planner, it's slowly organizing my time everyday and help me keep track of my life's event.  I don't even feel like I'm 'working' at a goal, writing in my planner is just an everyday thing now, like brushing my teeth.  The only difference is that writing in the planner is soooooo much more fun!

first page after opening the cover

montly calendar

weekly calendar

tabs of each month

page of stickers

another page of stickers

ANOTHER PAGE OF STICKERS!!!

Road Mom

No more waking up in the middle of the night to make bottles, no more changing dirty diapers, and no more hauling heavy strollers around...but different kind of challenges has evolved as the children grew out of their baby stages.  With a freshman in high school and a first grader on my hands...I have a new home and it moves around on four wheels.

I am not alone in this, many moms spend lots of hours in the day behind the steering wheel of their car.  For me, a typical day may consist of:  dropping my daughter off at school (fortunately my husband is able to drop our son off in the mornings), drive to work, leave work to run one or two quick errands (could be pumping gas, stopping by the bank, picking something an item at the store), drive over to my son's school for pick up, then it's over to track practice for my daughter, and depending on what day it is...there's Tae Kwon Do class.  My son is trying out different recreational sports right now so that changes up my schedule from season to season.  Now that would be a typical day, of course there are days when more errands are factored in, perhaps meetings, and multiple stops to the store for whatever reason.

To all you "Road Moms"...I relate to you and I feel your exhaustion.  But exhaustion doesn't excuse us from feeding our family!  Going through the fast food drive through is not only unhealthy and can get costly, after awhile the food just all taste crappy.  Do I suggest you go home after a long day of unpaid ubering to go slave over the stove for a three course meal?  HECK TO THE NO!  No honey...mama ain't got time for that.  My answer...CROCKPOT.

Your new best friend is the crockpot.  Figure out when is the most convenient time for you to chop and prep your ingredients to throw in the crockpot, for some it may be early in the morning and for some you prefer to do it late at night and have it all ready by the next morning.  For me it would work best in the morning before I leave the house, this way there is one less thing to do during the day...but I like to get my sleep in too so I will procrastinate and get home somewhere in the middle of the day to throw in my ingredients and have it cooked by dinner time when we all finally make it home.  I also prefer that sometimes because I love my food piping hot...nothing like burning the taste buds right off your tongue.  Below are some crockpot recipes that I've tried myself that I think are easy and taste really good.  Not all 'easy' recipes online are easy, or turn out the way it says it will...so always try out new recipes on your day off first and NOT on a busy weekday when you come home starving.

*Photos below are from Pinterest (not of my own).  I am sharing them because I have tried them, not to take credit for.

Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos

Honey Garlic Chicken and Veggies

Beef Stew

Repurposed Storage Table

I enjoy DIY projects, especially re-purposing furniture.  Here's an easy project I did on a wooden storage table.  As you can see in the photos below, this is an old wooden furniture.  My husband and I tried giving it away a few times to friends but somehow we still got stuck with it.  Now, I'm glad we weren't successful in getting rid of it, it's one of my favorite re-purposed furniture I've done so far.  With this project I used:  sand paper, black high gloss paint, black glossy spray paint, white spray paint, screwdriver, paint brushes, scrap-booking paper, and mod podge.

1.  I first unscrewed the hinges to remove the doors.  Then I lightly sanded everywhere that I was going to paint over, including the individual doors that I removed.  

2.  I painted three even coats of black.  While that sat and dried, I removed all the brass pieces on the door, including the brass hinges.  An even coat of white spray paint is laid over the brass pieces.  Once the white coat was completely dried, I went over it with the black glossy spray paint.

3.  The front of the doors had a very old look to it so I decided to cut a piece of scrapbook paper and mod podge it on.   

4.  After everything was completely dried, I screwed all pieces back to place.

5.  FINISHED!  Felt like I owned a newly bought piece of furniture!

Painting after sanding.

Before look of the doors.

Final look!!!

Foil Wrapped and Oven Baked Salmon & Asparagus

So here's a fancy looking dinner that's easy and delicious!  Here are the ingredients:

Asparagus (as many as you like)

Piece of salmon (your size preference)

Butter

Salt

Pepper

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Cajun seasoning

Lemon pepper seasoning

Follow these steps:

Butter, Salt & Pepper for the asparagus.

Seasoning for the salmon.  Before prepping, preheat
oven to 350 degrees.

Lay asparagus down on a piece of foil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Cut pieces of butter and spread out evenly on top of asparagus.

Lay salmon on top and season with onion powder, garlic powder,
lemon pepper, and cajun seasoning.  ***If you're a spicy eater, like my
daughter, put more cajun seasoning than the other spices.  If you're more
like me and prefer less spicy food, take it easy on the cajun
seasoning and go a little heavier on the lemon pepper for flavoring.

Fold the bottom and top of the foil over to completely
cover the salmon and asparagus.

Next, roll the foil in on both sides so it looks like this.  Place
on cookie sheet and cook in the oven for
about 30 minutes. 

Dinner is served!!!

Baby Gender Tests

So a good friend of mine is pregnant with baby number 2!!!  I'm sooooooo excited for her and her husband.  Their first born is the same age as our son and they have been buds since they were still in the womb!  I'm serious, real talk...I think they use to talk to each other when they were still in our bellies because they are really close and they don't even see each other that often.  Anyhoo, enough about those two rascals...let's talk pregnancy.  I don't know how much I believe in gender tests but I thought we would try a few out for the heck of it.  Why not, something to do and it's fun.  So the three my friend tried so far are:

1.)  The Ramzi test - Using the ultrasound photo, if the placenta is located on the left side (top or bottom), it's said to be boy.  If the placenta is located on the right side (top or bottom), it's said to be a girl.  Ask your ultrasound technician in locating the placenta.

2.)  The Chinese gender predictor - Click on the link to go to the website, enter your age at conception then the month of conception, it will calculate boy or girl for you.

and

3.)  The baking soda test - Put some baking soda in a cup and pee into the cup, if it fizzes up then it is a boy but if it doesn't fizzes then it's a girl.

Her results???  They all predicted GIRL!!!  I'm trying not to get too excited about it because we really won't know for sure until the baby is actually here...buuuuut...a girl is what they want so I'm hoping these results are right!  Regardless, they will love that baby whether it's boy or girl.  If she ends up trying out some more baby gender tests, I'll post an update and of course when the baby arrives I will post BOY OR GIRL!  Can't wait!

UPDATE*** My friend had a GIRL!!!!!  Congrats to them and these tests gave true results for her!  Comment below if you've tried some tests.  Which ones did you try, what results did you get, and were they true for you???  

Father & Son Lego Game

I'm excited about sharing this but I can't take the credit for it, this is all my husband's idea!  Our son loves Legos but he never follows building instructions.  He mixes all his Lego pieces together in a pile and just lets his imagination run wild.  During the week because of school we do not allow him to play any type of video games or watch much TV but he is allowed to play with his Legos after finishing homework.  If you dealt with Legos you know how tiring it can get constantly picking up Lego pieces and putting them away, so we let our son keep is Legos laid out on the table as long as they don't end up all over the floors.  This way he can instantly go build when he feels like it.  My husband is home during the morning hours when the kids are at school, one day he begins to put his creative mind to work and builds a car out of our son's Legos.  He leaves it on the table for our son to come home to since he leaves for work before our son gets out of school.  So, our son comes home that afternoon and discovers the Lego car, I told him, "Daddy made it and left it for you to come home to see...cool huh?".  He was so excited and had a great big smile on his face.  Later on that day when he got to play with the Legos, he built his own version of a car and left it for my husband to come home to after work!  Now it has become a 'THING' for them.  I think the coolest part about this is that they get to still play, connect, and bond through this game of theirs even with having opposite schedules and not seeing each other during the week.  This doesn't have to be just a father and son game, you could do this with anyone and make it YOUR THING you share with somebody.

Dad's Creation

Son's Creation