My favorite posts from 2011

Since, I haven't been blogging too long I thought I would share some of my favorite posts from the last few months (in no particular order). I have come to love blogging far more than I ever thought I would and I am so thankful for all the amazing followers (that's you!) that I have gained along the way. I can not wait to see what 2012 brings for me.


I see Me in Them

Ending Friendships

What I wore Wednesday... My first ever

Reading a book to you


Top Ten Reasons You Know You Shop at Target too Much

One of My Greatest Blessings that Almost Wasn't

Guest Post From My Hubby

The Christmas flu..........

What I am calling the Christmas flu has been making it's way through our home. Christmas night Jaxson came down with it and then first thing in the morning Kendra came down with it. Two days passed and I thought that I was in the clear and BAM..... it hit me like a mack truck. I  am down for the count and think it has hit me the hardest so far. So, for the next few days I will be resting up! I better be better by New Years!

My New Year's Resolutions!

Okay, every year I start out pretty good with my resolutions. Some I have managed to keep (still) and others fell by the wayside in a week or two. I always love the idea of starting a new year out fresh and especially because it is my birthday  I feel like I am really getting a fresh start on a new year!

So, here are a few things I hope to accomplish this year:

1.) Get more organized! I am a fairly organized person, or I should say I used to be, until kids got added into the mix.  I need to start going through room by room and taking it slow and coming up with a system that really works for our family.

2.) Budget,budget, budget! I know, you are probably thinking "why is she not doing this already?!" We have a budget but we have a hard time sticking to it. There are going to be some real changes with that this year. We really need to cut out unneccesary spending and start saving more.

3.) Speaking of saving more.... hubby and I want to go away for the weekend for our 5 year anniversary and we are going to need money to do that. He wants to renew our vows, so hopefully we get to.

4.) Not only lose some weight, but just treat my body healthier in general. I need to cut way down on processed food and try to eat more fruits and veggies. Also, drink more water! I have a closet full of clothes that fit me six months ago .

5.)Going along with number four, I need to rejoin a gym. I have come to the realization that although, it will not help our budget, it will help my sanity. I feel much better about myself if I make time to exercise.

6.) Last year I set a resolution to try new recipes more often and I actually feel like I accomplished this one quite well. This year, I would like to try even more and find some healthier alternatives to some of our favorite dishes.

 7.) Open up my ETSY Shop! I keep saying I am going to do this and then I find a reason to put if off or life just gets in the way.

8.) Step out of my comfort zone more. Some of the best experiences I have ever had was when I did something that I was initially afraid to do.



So, there you have it. What are some of your resolutions for 2012?

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you are all having a wonderful day spent with the people you love! I am (impatiently) waiting for my children to get up so they can see all that Santa has brought them!
Unfortunately, my phone isn't uploading any pics... :(

Everyone is sleeping and the only sounds in the house are the ticking of the clock (reminding me I need to go to bed!) and the sounds of the computer keys. I have very few moments when things are this peaceful. Generally, when my night owl of a son finally goes to sleep I am way to exhausted to contemplate doing anything but going to sleep too. Tonight feels different.


I am loving the stillness right now. I feel like I go go go all day ( I guess that goes with the territory of a 1 1/2  and 2 1/2 year old) and never have time to just sit and do nothing. Maybe in the morning I will regret staying up too late, but for now I am going to just relish in the silence.  The Christmas lights are twinkling on the tree making me more aware that Christmas is just two days away! I am so excited this year..... it is the first year Jaxson actually really grasps what is going on and has asked for special things from Santa. I can not wait to see the looks of joy on their faces!

We have a lot of fun things planned for the next few days and I can not wait to just soak it all in. Despite the stress that comes along with Christmas, this really is my favorite time of the year. So, now I am off to sit and enjoy a little bit more silence before all the festivities begin!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Struggling.....

Lately I have been struggling...... struggling with balance and with my patience. I want to keep it real on my blog and felt like sharing this with you. I know that I am not the only one that gets overwhelmed at this time of year. Let me just say that I love the holidays and always look forward to them. There are so many wonderful, fun things to do and so much time is spent with families.

On the flip side, I feel like I am being pulled into a  million different directions. Not by any one in particular, except for maybe me. I am a people pleaser and want to make everyone happy. So, it is hard to say no sometimes. I love my family very much . Brandon and I both come from divorced homes and our parents have all remarried, which has been the most wonderful thing because our family has expanded in ways we never dreamed. However, we literally have 5 places to be on Christmas Day. That is tough.....on us and the kids. Let me emphasize the fact that no one has pressured us to be anywhere at any time and the choices are always left to us. This is where it gets tricky. We don't want to have to choose. We want to be with everyone! That is what makes it so hard. Now, I don't want to sound like I am complaining because as I have said before, we are so very fortunate that we have such loving, close families.
 I only just want to convey that I feel a bit frazzled and extra overwhelmed right now. Eventually, things will change and traditions will shift a bit, but for now we will be going from place to place..... and I really wouldn't have it any other way.... except for maybe there being more hours in the day.

Stuff I Love From This Week ( in photos)

Linking up for the first time with my good friend (in real life!) Laura from over at A Day in the life of the Railings. Go check out her blog if you haven't yet.


So, here are a few of the things we have been up to this week!

We made salt dough ornaments for the first time this year and Jaxson enjoyed being able to mix up the batter.

 

Kendra was really good at flattening the dough for me! I tried to catch her facial expressions because they were hilarious!

 

Here she is painting an ornament. Most of her paint ended up on either the table or her face, but she had a good time, none the less. 

We attempted to play cards with the kids one evening and this is how it turned out! Haha!

                                            
 Kona spent a great deal of time relaxing!

There were so many more things we did that I forgot to take pics of! Gasp! We had two birthday celebrations for my hubby, had an early Christmas get together last night and met up with my brother and his girlfriend at the U Village for some dinner and shopping.


On today's agenda we have FOOTBALL, of course.... laundry, a 97th birthday party and some more Christmas shopping. Hope to finish up today. Only two more gifts to get.

  I saw this post over at Acquainted With The Night and thought how fun! Go check out her blog, you will love her!

 

25 Questions: Holiday Style

• Eggnog or hot chocolate?  

         Hot Chocolate with marshmallows  or even a splash of Kahlua

• Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? 

          What is the fun of presents if you can't unwrap them?
 

• Colored lights on tree/house or white?

      I think white lights are really pretty but we have colored because the kids love them 

• When do you hang your decorations up?

       Usually the weekend after Thanksgiving and they always come down the week after Christmas because my birthday is New Years and my mom always wanted to differentiate between the two occasions.

• What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?

       All the appetizers! Yummy 

• Favorite holiday memory as a child?

     Driving around neighborhoods and looking at lights 

• What is on your Christmas wish list?

       New perfume, a new kindle, Starbucks cards and strangely enough, new socks!

• Do you open gifts on Christmas Eve?

     We usually open a few with stepfather's family

• How do you decorate your Christmas tree?

     We used to have a themed tree and still kind of do, but now we have lots of home made ornaments from the kids and I love it!

•   Snow? Love it or dread it? 

A little bit of both. I love looking at it and playing in it but hate driving in it.

• Do you remember your favorite gift?

     Nothing really sticks out in my mind from childhood. I guess most recently the first year hubby and I were married he bought me a pear shaped diamond ring because he knew I really liked the pear shaped diamonds. :)

• What’s the most important thing about Christmas for you?

   Time with family and seeing the joy on my kids' faces. 

Christmas last year!

 

• What is your favorite holiday dessert? 

     I love cherry pie and anything cheesecake!

• What is your favorite tradition?

  Almost too many to name. I loved driving around looking at lights with my parents when I was younger. Now, I am loving coming up with new traditions with my kids like making home made ornaments.  

• What tops your tree?
  • A giant snowflake

• Do you prefer giving or receiving?

          I love giving gifts! Especially when you know you found something that they have been wanting.

• What is your favorite Christmas song?

     I like "All I want for Christmas is you"

• Candy canes, yuck or yum?

 They are one of those take it or leave it candies for me.

• Favorite Christmas movie?

    Christmas Vacation, White Christmas and It's a Wonderful Life

• What do you leave for Santa?

  When we were kids I think we left cookies.... haven't done that yet with my kids. I think we need to start this year.

• Do you have a Christmas morning tradition?

  Our traditions have all changed a bit now that we have our own family..... but we open up gifts here together and then head to my in laws and then down to my hubby's aunt's and uncle's for breakfast.

•  
  • Do you prefer to shop on-line or at the mall?

  I have done a bit of both. 
   

  • Christmas letter or Christmas card?

  I like Christmas cards with Christmas letters in them!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  If you feel like playing along, answer a question or two and leave it in the comment section.... or better yet, do a blog post about it and let me know! I would love to see your answers!
  

Tuesday Ten... Happy Birthday to my hubby!

In honor of my hubby's 28 th birthday today I thought this edition of Tuesday ten would be ten ( there are many more) reasons why I love him!

1. He is the most amazing daddy to our children. His face lights up every time he sees them.
2. He risks his life on a daily basis to help protect the people and property of our community!
3. He tells me everyday (sometimes multiple times a day) how beautiful he thinks I am.
4. He cooks, and he cooks better than me!
5. He is so family oriented and has such wonderful relationships with them.
6. He spoils me..... :)
7. He is the type of person who will go out of his way to help complete strangers and when he asks how you are doing he genuinely cares and wants to know.
8. Okay, this is kind of silly but he loves having Office marathons with me.
9. He puts up with my silly OCD habits and usually doesn't complain about it.
10. No matter how big or small, he supports all the dreams that I have and always encourages me

Happy Birthday honey!!

A little of this and a little of that!

Earlier this week we visited yet another festival of trees and I forgot to post the pictures! I just love this time of year! It is even more magical to me now that I have children and I get to experience things all over again like it is the first time. There is nothing better to me than seeing their eyes light up and their faces gazing in wonder. Priceless.


A local nursery fills their buildings with fun themed trees and you can shop from them. I have found some of the most unique ornaments there. I try to get one or two a year but sadly this year in my hurry to get out with a screaming child I forgot!

love the purple and pink!

How cute is that?!

I love the idea of quotes in the tree!

My husband thinks this should be our theme next year! I think not.

The kids' great grandma came along for the fun!

Normally we plan our trip here when Santa is visiting. The do pictures by donation and all the proceeds benefit local animal shelters, which I love. This year we have decided to forgo Santa pictures. Jaxson won't go anywhere near him and Kendra screams bloody murder. Not worth waiting in the line, if you ask me!
Hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend!

Guest Post From I'm Simply Momma

Hey Everyone. I have my very first guest poster here today and she also happens to be one of my sponsors. Lacie from I'm Simply Momma is just the sweetest thing and today she has a really fun project she wanted to share.  I can't wait to try it.


Hello to all your lovely faces out there! My name is Lacie & I blog over at Im Simply Momma. I'm so excited to be guest blogging here at Mommy....A work in progress. Ashley is such a sweet lady. I stumbled on her blog the last few months and she has become a daily read for me! Today I wanted to share a little DIY 12 days of Christmas advent calendar I made. But first, I thought I would share a little about my self.

 

This is my little family!

I am a 20 something year old wife and momma to the two best boys the world has ever known! My son is the cutest little 10 month old you have ever seen ;) [I may be just a little biased]

My Husband and I have been together 6 1/2 years and married for the last 1 1/2 years. He is my best friend and I would be completely lost with out him. I blog about my life playing my two main roles..momma and wife. I throw in a little of everything though. I do DIY projects sometimes...which I always promise will be simple since I'm new to this whole crafting thing. I sometimes cook, and if I do I'll share with you some yumminess. I'm a licensed master Esthetcian, so I'll post some skin tips every now and again (if you have a specific question on skin, ask me! Maybe I can do a post for you?) & then whatever else I feel like sharing with you that day. So come stop by and stay a while if you like what you see!

Now, onto this 12 days of Christmas im so excited for! I got the idea off of a show I'm in love addicted to.
It is called Good Things Utah.

Supplies you will need:
*cupcake pan [got mine at walmart for 4 bucks]
*paper
*glue
*stickers or other embellishments
*scissors
*double sided tape [original design called for magnets, but I didn't have any on hand, but I had tape :)]

Step 1:
Cut 12 squares of paper at 3.25 inches. Then cut 12 squares of paper at 2.75 inches.

Step 2:
Decide on an arrangement for you paper, and glue the smaller squares onto the larger ones

Step 3:
I put some large stickers onto multiple squares, so that they would go together once everything was in place.

Step 4:
Turn the squares over and cut the stickers so the squares are separate again.

Step 5:

Attach each piece of paper over each opening on the cupcake pan
At this step I used double sided tape, I feel the magnets would have worked a little better. It can be hard to get the tape to stick to the pan. I will be switching it out soon.

Step 6:
Fill each opening with something for each of the twelve days of Christmas. You could do candy for each day. Or have a different activity for each day, things like baking Christmas cookies, reading a Christmas book, going out to see Christmas lights, etc. Pretty much anything you can think of you could do. Have fun with it and experiment with different ways to personalize the advent calendar.

I think this turned out so cute & I am so excited to use it this year! If you make your own 12 days of Christmas advent calendar be sure to stop by my blog [Im Simply Momma] and let me know. I would love to see everyone's calendars.

*Lacie

The A to Z of Me

So, I have seen this post floating around blog land and stole the idea from Courtney at Lil Noodle Bug. 

Age: 26, will be 27 on New Year's!

Bed size: California King! I need lots of space when I sleep.

Chore that you hate: All of them! haha... I hate putting away laundry.

Dogs: Love Dogs! we have a Labradoodle named Kona.

Essential start to your day: Lately it has been a coconut chai tea latte

Favorite color: Pink if I had to choose just one

Gold or Silver: White gold?

Height: 5 feet

Instruments you play: none... really want to learn to play piano, though.

Job title: Domestic goddess!

Kids: 2.... Jaxson and Kendra. Would like to add a third into the mix but I don't think it is in the cards. :(

Live: The good ole Pacific Northwest... Washington to be exact.

Mother’s name: Sheryl

Nicknames: Ash

Overnight hospital stays: When I had both my babies

Pet peeves: oh my goodness.... I have a lot of pet peeves. I hate when people smack their gum and when they chew with their mouths open.

Quote from a movie: " Samsonite! We were way off!" (from Dumb and Dumber)

Right or left handed: Right

Siblings:One older brother and three younger step brothers

Underwear: I wear them and that is about all I am going to say on the subject. :)

Vegetable you hate: beets

What makes you run late: My kids.... I used to pride myself on being on time but the one thing that sets me behind schedule is the kiddos

X-Rays you’ve had: chest x rays. I get pneumonia and bronchitis alot!

Yummy food that you make: Chicken and Dumplings. pork roast, and chili.

Zoo animal: I love the giraffes and the monkeys!

I would love to see your answers to these questions!

Christmas Wish List

Ten things I want for Christmas

Let me just say that this was kind of hard to come up with ten things.... the older I get the more my list becomes about things I need and not necessarily "want". So, this list is a mixture of both.

1. I want/need a new computer. I am currently hijacking my mom's. 
2. A kindle fire ( I had a kindle... but I dropped it in the bath... enough said)
3. Camera... that too is broken. I don't seem to have much luck with electronics.
4. Espresso machine.... I need to learn to make it at home and save my self the money that I spend at Starbucks!
5. Socks.... sounds silly I know.... but I love getting socks in my stocking!
6. Massage, pedi or mani..... anything where I can get pampered a bit
7. A personal trainer( I can dream right)
8.  Brown slouchy boots
9.  Pre-paid date nights with the hubby, babysitter included. :)
10. Earrings

 Looking back over my list I realize a lot of it is kind of spendy...... oh well, they don't call it a "wish" list for nothing!

Friday's Letters

Today I am linking up for the first time over at Adventures of Newlyweds. Come check it out and join in the fun.

Dear Crockpot,
You are an amazing invention and my saving grace most days. Thank you for letting me throw in a bunch of random ingredients, push your buttons and never look back (until 6-8 hours later). My first ever pork roast turned out delicious and you are the reason why.

Dear half a dozen addicting chocolate chip cookies,
I am a little dissapointed in how good you tasted. You made me eat all of you. Please don't go straight to my hips and thighs!

Dear pile of laundry,
I would love if you could fold yourself while I lay on the couch watching lifetime Christmas movies. That would be amazing. While you are at it, you can just put yourself away too!

On a more serious note....
Dear fellow bloggers,
Thank you so much for all your kind words and comments and willingness to help me out when I have silly questions. This blogosphere is full of so many talented, wonderful, encouraging women and I am so lucky to have "met" you all!

Do You Wanna Swap?

I recently (finally!!) got my button put up for grabs on my blog. So, I was wondering if anyone wanted to swap with me?