Keeping it real...

These vibrant flowers are spicing up our dining room. 

excuse: too cheap to buy the good ones. too preoccupied to throw them out. 

These are "hiding" on the side of my couch. 

excuse: I'm going to sell them... {almost 2 months and going strong...} 

{PS. Be careful when you sign up for a free trial with the honest company!}

Almost 9 months in our new house and we still have no curtains up. 

in our bedroom. Living room. Bathroom. Dining room. Kitchen. 

excuse: curtain rods and curtains are expensive. next month...

This has been sitting on our floor for a week. 

excuse: pure laziness.

Our main bathroom/ex-laundry room looks like this. 

No blind since we moved in, let alone curtain! 

excuse: I'm going to get wooden blinds....

 and something special to put in that space... {1 month and going strong..}

Our microwave has no glass plate.

excuse: who shops in the microwave glass plate section and do they even sell these in stores?

But bonus points that it's semi-clean...

Like mother, like daughter....because of mother.

Sitting in her room since Saturday. 

excuse: laziness and going on vacation soon so it's easier to find things this way...

Awesome pinterest worthy bow holder. 

excuse: i need to fix her bow holder. easy nap time fix...{9 months and going strong...}

Beautiful welcoming wreath.

excuse: going to make an easter wreath. going to make a spring wreath. going to make a summer wreath. going to make a 4th of july wreath. going to make a fall wreath. Seriously, I am...

Since Saturday...

.....

excuse: laundry room is in basement mixed with mommy brain. 

Roxie's nails are like eagle talons. 

excuse: i'm lucky if I can keep up with Adalyn's talons. 

I've eaten more of this dough than I'd like to admit. 

And that's as real as that statement is getting. 

excuse: fatty mcstuffins mixed with boredom, mixed with perfectly tempting bite sized pieces, mixed with no self-control.

Haven't posted in 2 weeks and figured why not go through my house and take pictures with my phone of a few of the many examples of "it is what it is"/borderline lazy/mom of a toddler life. 

It was certainly an easy post and enough of a filler until I can think of something else that is hardly deemed worthy of posting. 

Like Finding a Diamond in the Snow..

This happened over vacation.

I went to show Ben the dry skin I was getting under my ring and 

BAM.

It was gone.

Forever. 

The whole finding a needle in a haystack....kind of like finding a diamond in the snow.

Near impossible.

No loose prongs.

Not caught on anything.

The whole thing.

Popped out.

Gone.

We didn't have insurance on the diamond, Mr. B was only 19 and the ring was expensive enough.

This is actually a new setting I got almost a year to the day. 

I never went to my 6 month inspection.

They wouldn't cover the diamond anyway.

I am so thankful for this face  

She has helped put it all into perspective for me that it is just a "thing".

Of course, a special "thing".

A beautiful "thing".

But it is replaceable. 

It's hard to cry about something like that when you see those sweet eyes, big cheeks and dimples looking into your watery eyes. 

There are much greater and important things in life. 

I am also thankful for the support and kind words from Mr. B, I thought he was going to be really upset and he wasn't!

I am extra thankful it wasn't really my fault. I don't have the best track record of keeping jewelry safe {with the exception of my wedding ring!} so it's a relief that I didn't lose it/misplace it or something. 

There really was nothing I could have done.

I don't even remember hitting my hand hard, or at all, on anything!

Although there far greater things in life, this girl does love diamonds and it's still a 

big bummer. 

period. 

Failure

I haven't updated my blog in 2 weeks and I've been leaving my poor friends who are addicted to the smell in withdrawals.

FAIL.

Made a delicious, perfectly baked blueberry bread for Mr. B. Decided I would put it on a plate to make the bread that much more presentable. With the intentions, of course, being he would be that much more impressed at his amazing little housewife. I was going to be late for Bible Study. I was rushed. Not thinking I cut the bread in the pan. The bread wasn't ready to be transferred. It was too hot. I tried my best. It crumbled everywhere. On the plate at least. I tried to keep it in on piece. The blueberries burnt my hand. I'm sure he was so impressed.

Enjoy your blueberry bread crumble, babe!

FAIL.

Every morning I burn my breakfast in the toaster oven. I haven't quite figured out what exact position to put the timer on. Apparently my mind can't comprehend "Dark" "Medium" or "Light" .... I kind of miss the toaster where I just had to push the button down and it would pop up when it was done. Not a huge fan of being in control of this situation. Maybe I should stick to cereal...

FAIL.

I had a pretty sage green picked out for an accent wall in our bedroom. Mr. B thought it would be too much green and put his foot down. Of course, being that he is a guy, he said he didn't want that color, but couldn't give me any other suggestions. You know those days when you just disagree to disagree? I think he was having one of those days. Hindsight he probably would've left his foot up. No, I don't think that makes sense or is even a phrase that has ever been used, but guess what, I am back to blogging so just roll with me, ok? We needed something light because our room is small, we needed something to match our bed set...I see a picture of like a fuchsia background with a bright green flower. I have a horrible great idea- let's be daring, bold ad drastic and do something like this. Mr. B agrees. Clearly, neither of us were in the right state of mind that day. I wish I could say we had no choice, we bought the gallon of paint and decided to go with it, but nope. We bought a sample, tried it out, still decided to go with it, went to the store again and purchased a gallon.

FAIL.

We had two different kinds of rooms going on. The wall was not an accent wall it was the BAM-OOOO-YIKES-HELLO-EVERYONE-LOOK-AT-ME-WALL. It didn't go with the whole comforter set, just parts of it. The small bright green parts. It also didn't really go with the other decor we had. It didn't make our room look any bigger. We almost hated it, we certainly didn't love it. We convinced ourselves it would look good if we bought some new decor to tie it all together.

I went shopping while Mr. B was at work, it matched perfectly. I was a little proud. I sent him the pics.

FAIL.

Apparently we are now living in a 10 year old girl's room.

I thought I was crossing the "too girly" line a tad, but it matched and I figured I would give it a whirl and see what he thought. We lived with it for a few days, it was beginning to grow on us, but it still needed something else. That little room was just not meant for that drastic of a color. Maybe, maybe if the room was more spacious it would have flowed together a little better.

Mr. B wanted to relax and had no desire to paint another wall, but I told him how much money we would be saving if we repainted it and I returned all the stuff I bought in an effort to beautify the room. He agreed {I knew that would work, anything to save money!} So I returned all the stuff....

and bought new stuff for around the house. I have a problem where I usually buy things, return them with hopes of getting money back, find new things, buy them and end up paying more.

FAIL.

So we go back to being boring. I use the left over paint we had from the living room and repaint our bedroom.

Primed it, painted it, made a mess, did several coats and let it dry.

I peek into the room to see the final look and...

Oh how perfect, I managed to make a giant shiny streak in the most perfect spot for the sun to hit it in such a way that it sticks out almost as much as the other decor. Way. to. Go. Me.

FAIL.

I am on Day 4 on Day everything-should-be-finished-because-tonight-is-bible-study. {I did really good last weeks, but this whole painting fiasco and the long weekend messed my sched.}

FAIL.

30 Day Shred is nonexistent as is the space between my thighs. They have reunited once again.

FAIL.

At least I am not failing at the important things, right?? :)

We are finally settling in, it feels like home again and hopefully I will keep this thing updated!

New Strategy: Achieve. We will see how it goes...

Free-Write Friday

Sometimes I think coming up with a title is the hardest part of a post. No lie. Is that pathetic? I must type and untype at least 5 times until a come up whatever one I think it best, although I know they are all cheesy. There's a lot of pressure on picking the right title. It needs to be short, but a little informative. It needs to be eye catching and suspenseful making the reader want to continue reading the post. I like it to sometime coordinate with the letter of whatever day it is{Mighty Monday Whatever Wednesday}. It needs to relate to your topic, but you don't always want to give it away....

or maybe I just overanalyze too much.

Today's post is themeless.

Completely random.

Free to write whatever I want.

I know I am free to write what I want everyday, but just roll with me. please.

I like to participate in the themed post, but then I miss out on informing you on the extremely important things like.....

Today is my ONE MONTH anniversary of being a housewife. It has been ah-mazing. I love it so much. I keep feeling like I need to go back to work soon, like my vacation is over and...it's not! It would be a lot more enjoyable if I had a car and money though, but for now, I waste my days away on the computer and watching tv with an occasional basking in the sun by the pool and that is fine with me. It's amazing how fast the days go by though. Somehow they went by soooo slow at work and now before I know it, hours have gone by just by sitting on the couch reading blogs and checking craigslist. I feel ashamed when Mr. B surprises me and comes home early and I am still in my PJs with nothing accomplished. I like when he comes home at 6, and at 5 I shower, get ready, clean and make dinner, giving the appearance of a productive day.

We move in 23 days!!!

We should be getting a new picture of Roxie soon! I am really hoping in the next picture her nose will be filled in a little more. Right now her nose is pinkish with black speckles. I have read that as she gets older it fills in and I hope she is no exception. She is still a cutie and we can't wait to pick her up.

30 Day Shred has been going good. Level 3 is my favorite- who would've thought?! I actually think it's easier, but still pushing me to my limit. I have definitely noticed a difference, my rolls are minimizing (thank you Jesus- that was super uncomfortable) and my arm muscles are getting big. Personally, not a huge fan of the muscular arms, but it's better than jiggly hello-goodbye arms. I would just prefer the toning to be in my abs, but this will do for now.

I tweeted Ashton Kutcher today.

I am stuck at home all day. Why not? I asked him if a new season of "True Beauty" is coming soon. I will admit I felt a little junior highish, but makes me that much cooler if he tweets me back right? Wrong? I won't admit that I keep checking my twitter every 10 minutes.

Does any one watch Jessica Simpson's Price of Beauty?? I am really lovin' this show. First off, I think she is really funny and her and I could totally be friends. Not sure if I should admit that either or what that says about me, but it's true- I have plenty of blonde moments that would allow us to have that special connect. I also love the whole premise of this show. It is so interesting to see how every country as their own view of beauty and at what lengths they will go to achieve this beauty.

This scene from the episode in Thailand was so funny. You know those moments when it's silent and not the right moment to laugh, and you do nothing but laugh. The kind of laugh where you try to keep it in and shoot little boogs everywhere. My friend, Liz, and I were notorious for this and I'm pretty sure everyone hated us for it...it's so contagious and once you start you can not stop. Anyways, if you don't watch this show- check it out!

The girl on 16 & Pregnant this week had twins. Jealous. I want to have twins so bad. My odds are very slim, but I am still hoping. One baby was kicking her bladder, they were out in public looking at new cars and she totally peed her pants. It was hilarious.

Does anyone watch Life Unexpected?? I just started getting into that show (thanks to Mama Grace) and I'm really liking it.

Pioneer Woman is on the The View today. I'm expecting to follow in her footsteps. Ha. I think I am a little off track.

Mr. B and I are going to Naples for the weekend to visit my grandparents.

Mr. B proposed to me there almost two years ago (April 19), we are eating at that restaurant tonight. We have come so far since then-ahh life is gooooooood.

I'll leave you with an example of Successful Marriage 101- The importance of when to play your cards and how to play them right:

{Last night we had already eaten dinner and we were out doing some errands. Mr. B was hungry again and wanted to buy a sub. Sidenote: we are on a tight budget until May}

Me: That sub is too much money, you should get something else instead.

Mr. B: Ugh, but this sub looks so good.

{leaving the line on the search for something cheaper}

Me: Ok fine, you can get the sub if you let me buy a sundress tomorrow.

Mr. B: Ok, deal.

Me {walk away with a big smile}

Compromise. Perfection. Extra tight budget.

Pack Rat

First, I would like to start off this beautiful Wednesday morning with a shout out to my wonderful husband, Mr. B. Today is our 8 month anniversary! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by, I am so thankful to be married to my best friend, we are so close to officially starting our "grown up" life and it's so exciting- love you, babe.

Second, shout out to all of my wonderful followers! I have been blogging for almost two months and to have 101 people "addicted to the smell" is so encouraging and amazing! To think that just last month I was dreaming about having 25 followers, and yes I do realize that is a little pathetic and embarrassing to be dreaming about. I just had that much going on in my life that apparently this was top priority in my mind. So thank you all!! One day when we aren't in the poor newlywed phase maybe I can have a giveaway to show my appreciation. Until then you get just a get a big THANK YOU!

Speaking of officially starting our grown up life, Mr. B and I have 39 days left in FL (or approximately 39 days, it's not like we are counting and know the exact amount of days or anything). This chapter in our life has been wonderful, but once he graduates, gets a real job and we are settled in NH where we will have a lease longer than 9 months, be plugged into our home church and close to family, everything will feel a little more real and "official". These next few weeks are going to go by so fast and I am wasting no time. Seeing as I have nothing to do, but clean, work out, tan and watch TV all day, I thought I might be able to squeeze in some time to start packing. Another sign that we are one step closer-hallelujah! I spelled that right on my first try...umm impressive much?? So yesterday I conquered the closet, I decided I would get rid of a bunch of my clothes, pack up the ones that are out of season and leave out enough to last until we move. I looked at is as a 5 week vacation so I left out certain outfits and packed up the rest.

Admitting is the first step to overcoming and I will admit it...I am a pack rat. I hate to get rid of stuff: junk, letters, cards, clothes, pictures, shoes, undies with holes...anything. I am convinced that someday I will use it or in the case of my undies I have used them too much and can't bear to separate. So going through my closet goes something like....

I know this is way too small , but once I am all shredded it will fit and look great.....

I know this is too big and super unflattering, but it is perfect for when I'm bloated....

I know I have 3 other good pairs of jeans and these jeans are ripped, but they are my favorite pair and they make my butt look good....

I know I've had this for about 2 years and the tag is still on it, but I know one day I will wear it....

I haven't worn this in 5 years, but one day I might want to.....

It never fails.

As I mentioned above, I was leaving my closet as if I was going on vacation for 5 weeks...

Just like any other vacation, I may have over packed a little. There also might have been a load of clothes in the dryer as well to add to the "vacation" attire. Even though I typically only wear about 4 of those shirts you never know what could happen in our last month here, it's good to be prepared and maybe I will want to wear something different. Maybe.

That's my side of closet and I also get the bottom cubbies. This is Mr. B's side.

Equality at its finest.

"A bunch of clothes" to give away

It was a little (please note how little the little is) easier to make a pile of clothes that

I might be able to make money from that will go towards my haircut fund.

Incentives are helpful in overcoming this obstacle.

The clothes I could not part with and are packed away in an oh-so-classy trash bag.

I also have a bunch of winter clothes packed in space bags in the storage closet. Do I need all of these clothes?? Absolutely not. I just can't get myself to give them away because of the "what ifs". It's a problem. Never mind the fact that I am dying to go shopping and buy more.

I'm not really a shopaholic, but I do have my moments when given the opportunity. I am hoping for an opportunity in the near future, but it's not looking too hopeful.

Bottom line: I am a pack rat.

Are you??

It's Alright By Me

I love having family in town for many reasons, but one reason in particular is because it gives me something to blog about. It relieves some of the stress that goes into this whole blog, yes, this fun little hobby can be a little stressful when it comes to the minor details such as writing a post. When family is visiting I don't have to pull a post out of my butt decide on which one of the every day exciting (the sunset, grocery shopping, overeating...) adventures to post about. Such a sense of freedom. This particular event I'm posting about took place last weekend (another added bonus of family visiting- it may create enough material for more than one post, in my case 3 post!). I would hate to bore you make you jealous with Mr. B and I's Saturday extravaganza that consisted of sitting around all day. a-l-l. d-a-y. Not to brag but, minus moving two feet to move our butt to the breakfast bar for lunch and an occasional bathroom trip, we sat on the couch from approximately 10:30 AM to 12:00AM (pre-time change). An exciting Saturday at it's finest. Are you understanding the dilemma in trying to choose which adventure I would like to expound upon in my next post??

Clearly, that's about as much as I can post about our Saturday so I will take you back to last weekend.

We spent the beautiful sunny day by the pool. The weather has been perfect, it's warm with a slight breeze and no humidity so it's never too hot.

This can create some mental/skin confusion due to the fact that the sun is still hot, and can in fact burn your skin regardless of the cool breeze and your lack of sweat. Mama Grace and Auntie Liz had to learn this the hard way therefore Mama Grace spent the next day fully covered with her back to the sun. She is a little camera shy so you will not be given the privilege to see just how burnt she was, but to give you an idea she was this red. Lesson learned: Even when it's not hot out...wear sunblock. Obviously had she been wearing our 4spf oil it would never have been this bad.

I learned my own lesson: Take sun glasses off right away. Apparently that first hour of sun was really strong, enough so to give me raccoon eyes. Awesome. It's a little hard to tell in this picture, but trust me, it was very apparent. Lesson number two: When tanning keep head up at all times in order to allow the sun to reach your neck.

We had enough sun lessons for the weekend and we made our way over to the 75th Annual Strawberry Festival.

What? Something wrong with the exposure?

Mr. B said it was fine even without a flash? What??

The highlight:

De.lish.

Darius Rucker.

"It's alright by me" are lyrics to one of the four songs that we knew of his, hence the title of this post. I couldn't think of anything creative and it's alright by me, I hope it's alright by you too. He put on a good show, we were a little concerned that we only knew a few of his songs, turns out he only has a few songs and likes to sing other people's songs, "songs I wish I wrote" as he put it. I wonder how it made him feel when everyone sang those songs louder than his own....Oh well, it was a good idea and a lot of fun.

Next weekend Mr. B's parents are visiting so this week so I hope you won't be too disappointed to find out there will only be 5 days of posting misc. happenings of my new housewife life. Or maybe that is a relief. It might be an understatement to say my days are not the most exciting, so consider this a warning--there may be posts about Regis and Kelly, Melissa Rycroft, Ellen America's Next Top Model, my new healthy lifestyle and my dry heels that are driving me nuts. Anything is possible.

Celebration

I realize this is almost a week late, but I have been way too busy stuffing my face at restaurants and soaking in the sun that I have had absolutely no time to write about my days. Now no one is here to keep me company, it's pouring outside, it's 10:30 in the morning, I am eating cheese and crackers, watching Regis and Kelly and I might still be in bed, so I think I can find some time to update.

Friday night was my last day of work. Yip-EEE! I was kind of stressing because I wasn't sure if we were going to hug good-bye or if I was just going to leave like normal. This thought was kind of taking over my day. Do you hug when it's a mutual dislike?? When she doesn't even day "hi" or "bye" to me?? The answer is yes. I went with the flow, followed her body language and went for it. Not only was there a hug, there were tears. From her, not me. Which makes the whole situation quite comical, I think. Clearly it was not because she will miss me, she will miss everything I do for her. This is the second employer I've had that has done this to me. Newsflash: If you treated me better I wouldn't be leaving- it's your own fault. As she was shedding tears, we were out celebrating. I know, that sounds really mean, but there's freedom in being released from a bad position, sorry. We went to a delicious restaurant right across from our place called The Grill Smith.

"Cheers to no more work while in Florida!"

My wonderful visitors, Grammie, Auntie Liz and Mama Grace

The melt in your mouth filet mignon (note: Mama Grace was paying it would be wrong to choose a cheap meal. She might think differently.)

Smiles of pure happiness.

I'm beyond happy to be done.

He is beyond happy that he won't have to hear me complain every.single.day.

Although I am quite confident it won't take long for me to find something else to complain about.

We will pretend all complaints were left behind with the job.

The next day we drove to Winter Haven to visit the snow birds, Rudy (my great-grandfather) and his girlfriend. Yes, he has a girlfriend. Yes, they met online. Yes, that qualifies them as being "hip". They both lost their spouses and found each other through the internet, they have been great for each other and have been "dating" for years.

This past Christmas while watching Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, I realized for the very first time, that Rudolph's girlfriend's name is Clarice....ummm..that's Rudy's girlfriend's name! How funny is that?? That discovery pretty much made my Christmas season.

As I mentioned in this post, Rudy enjoys going to Hooters with "the guys". Proof that I was not lying--not that you wanted any proof because personally it is a tad disturbing to think about--here is the sign up list. We were given a tour of his retirement community and in the clubhouse there was a sign up sheet for various activities. A van filled with elderly men on a field trip to Hooters= "Delightfully Tacky". Hmm good choice of words.

Please take note of the last signature on the list. Lee really looks forward to this outing.

I really need to figure out how to put arrows and text, can someone comment and teach me please??

We went out for lunch at a new little diner down the street. Little did we know "Chat-A-Whyle" was not only the name of the diner, but a huge hint of what we had to look forward to.

We waited for our food for at least an hour. Thanks for the simple suggestion and apparently fair warning to chat awhile.

Apparently it takes a long time to make a ridiculously-tall-entirely-too-big-to-fit-in-any-normal-size-mouth sandwich. Customers love waiting that long for their food only to find they need to disassemble their sandwich so they can at least get one part of their mouth over the top.

We went back to Rudy's house and celebrated my Grammie's 65th birthday a little early while she was in town. He made his famous apple pie and it was delicious.

The end of our day consisted of Grammie, some bread, this big guy and a bunch of his friends.

I am going to pull a LOST moment on you and leave you hanging.

This story involves a video and deserves it very own post.

Don't be too overwhelmed with the suspense, feel free to use your imagination and stay tuned.