OHP

Linking up with Michelle for some Pinterest fun!

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I hope everybody is having a lovely week so far! 

Weekend Wrap Up

For some reason, I just haven't really felt like blogging this past week. I don't know if it has to do with being busy, tired, depressed, or what. But whatever the reason, I haven't made it online to write... or read blogs either.

*I joined back up on Weight Watchers at the end of last week. It's the only thing that has ever worked for me to be able to eat what I want while still holding myself accountable. Fingers crossed I don't slack on my point tracking!

*I have a girl coming to look at Princess next week to potentially buy her from me. She's in 4H and a friend of mine recommended her to check out Princess.

*I really wanted to get the painting done in our master bedroom this weekend. But Chad's priorities we a bit different than mine, so he's been duck hunting all weekend. And for some reason I just don't feel like doing all the work by myself.

*I'm dying to see the movie "Identity Thief". 

LOVE HER!

*We are almost out of dry wood. Probably because SOMEONE started burning in October as though we have some sort of magic firewood fairy that will show up in the night and refill the woodshed.

*Only a couple weeks until my big trip chaperoning the bell choir trip to Disneyland! While I'm excited to visit the Magic Kingdom, I am dreading the drive down. Anybody know any good road trip games that are good for kids AND adults (and I don't mean that crappy alphabet game)

*I never thought I would turn into one of those Harry Potter fans that needs to pin EVERYTHING Harry Potter I see on Pinterest. But alas, I am one of those die hards.

Source: tumblr.com via Carly on Pinterest

*Chad's mom and future step dad just bought his grandma's house and re did the whole kitchen and turned it into this amazing space for only $4500 and I am so freaking jealous I can hardly stand it.

Anyways, those are my random blurbs for the time being, just to let you know that I'm still alive.

Is it bedtime yet?

Well friends, this week seems like it is some sort of time warp. Or dream sequence. I can't seem to wake up in the mornings. And I don't remember what is happening sometimes. And I'm ready for bed and it's not even 8 o'clock yet.  However I have been able to remember my dreams pretty well. Like the one I had last night where I was with my dad and we stopped at McDonald's, but then we saw a Bartell's Drugs and we decided to go in there instead. Then we got back in the van a few hours later and our fries were still fresh! And then we were on the freeway coming home and he lost control and we flew onto the eastbound lanes and flipped over. Then when I asked him how he felt after that, he took a deep breath and said "I feel safe".
Weird? I feel like maybe that has some sort of subconscious meaning, but what do I know.

It's okay... to be a LEEETLE bit addicted to my Slots app on my I Pad

It's okay... that I've been having a really hard time waking up, and staying awake, this week

It's okay... to be getting excited AND nervous about chaperoning the trip with our young bell choir to Disneyland next month.

It's okay... to miss the old American Idol. Back when there was more show and less commercials. 

It's okay... to have felt semi devastated this morning when I saw the empty creamer container on the counter.

It's okay... to be slightly addicted to dried mangoes. 

It's okay... to crave ice cream even when it's 40 degrees and raining outside.

It's okay... to scold my dog and cat when I get home from work for not unloading the dishwasher like I asked.

It's okay... to be considering joining Weight Watchers again. (if I wanna have a wedding in the next couple years, I gotta get my ass moving!)

It's okay... to still be using my Seahawks koozies, even though their season ended.

It's okay... to be more focused on catching up on reading everybody else's blogs than I am on updating my own

Keepin' it Real

I'm not a political person. I don't talk politics. I don't like to question or argue with people about their beliefs on politics, elections, etc.

But, with all the talks about current issues and the inauguration and whatnot, I thought I would take a few seconds to let you know where I stand on a couple things.

1. Our president. Everybody can vote for who they want to vote for, that's what the election is all about. President Obama was re elected. BY THE PEOPLE. Complain all you want, that won't change things. You don't have to like him, but he is still the leader of our country. Things aren't perfect. When have they been? With every presidency, there have been issues. Hopefully the first 4 years of his term have given the president a real direction and plan of action. All we can do is sit back and see where things go. Be optimistic people, don't sit around and bitch about how Obama got re elected. Doesn't do any good.

2. Abortion. This is probably the one thing that I have a STRONG opinion of. If you make abortion illegal, it's not going to stop women from having these procedures. It's going to force them to look to illegal methods to have it. I understand that a lot of people feel that a fetus, no matter what size or stage, is a living human. And I have to say that a lot of the people who oppose abortion tend to be devout Christians. I have no problem with religion AT ALL. However then I see people making comments about how religion should be kept out of politics. Hm, a little contradictory. You think that a 2 month old fetus is protected under God, but you don't want the president talking about God in his inauguration speech? Interesting. 

I agree, there are methods to prevent unwanted pregnancy, use it ladies! Be in control of your body! However we all know that accidents happen. You miss a pill and don't realize it. A condom tears. Take the cues your body gives you! Don't wait until you're 6 weeks along to be like "well hm, I think I may be pregnant..." 

Anyways, back to the point. Keep your laws off MY body. I don't think that it's right to tell someone they can't get a medical procedure and force them to go to the black market and put their life (and money) into the hands of a surgeon performing the procedure outside the law.

Sorry for the political rant, but just even though I don't talk politics very frequently (or ever... real life or on the blog), I do have some thoughts on some things, and these are them.

Randoms

On this, MLK Day, I thought I might grace you guys with some of the tidbits that went on this weekend. (Particularly my Adventures in Homeownership)

* While performing my duties as future housewife (ha), I discovered that our stove has a top that you can lift up and stays propped open kind of like the hood of your car for ease of cleaning. My life has been changed forever!

*We bit the bullet and bought a 5 gallon bucket of paint this weekend for our master bedroom (and all it's closets). It's darker than we had anticipated, but it looks really nice. We made the decision to paint the ceilings also, which we may end up changing later, to make the room a bit lighter. But for now Glidden's "Soft Suede" is pleasing us!

*I had a dream last night that there were HUGE wolves in our neighborhood. And the would stand on our back deck and stare at our pets through our sliders. And then one got in the house and attacked Buck, but I chased it off with a yard ornament.

*I'm bummed that the 49ers are representing the NFC in the Super Bowl. I know that they are a great football team, but it's really upsetting to me because I know that we can beat them (because we whopped their asses the last time we played them). I would have felt better if Atlanta had made it, since they knocked us out. Plus I think Jim Harbough seems like a total asshole. I hope John beats him.

*I had Princess' feet trimmed this weekend, and while I was at the farm, I spent some quality time with the little baby cow (aka a calf) that lives in the barn. His mom is a big deal in the dairy cow world, so she's off doing big things in Canada, which means he gets hand fed in the barn rather than being turned loose in the field with the psycho beef cows. His name is Frankenstein and he's quite shy, but so stinking cute! I couldn't get any good pictures in the barn because it's dark like a tomb (and I only have a crappy cell phone for pictures) but this is what happened after I left the barn:

He comes up to the door and moos at you to come back in, even though he doesn't want you to touch him, he likes the company. And hopes you bring him treats... oh Frankenstein, you little bugger!

Anyways kids, that's what my weekend has consisted off thus far. Today I will probably be spending more quality time with my paint roller and chores. Back to the grind tomorrow.

The Eternal Battle

When you're a new homeowner with only one steady income, and trying to lose weight, there is always the battle in your mind of:

Do I eat healthy and spend significantly more money, or do I spend smart and go more for quantity over quality?

Lately I tend to lean more towards being budget savvy. Since Chad is only working here and there and primarily collecting unemployment while it's so cold here, so we are really trying to cut corners and penny pinch. What this means is that I am relying more on the cheaper options to keep us fed. However, I tend to feel really guilty about it sometimes. Over the past year I have really been working on really changing my eating habits and cooking more well rounded meals, as opposed to the cheap, easy options of chicken nuggets, frozen pizza, etc. However I am really having a hard time justifying spending the extra money when we have so many other things to spend our money on right now.

I've been trying to use coupons, sales, buying clearance meat at the grocery store, and eating out less, but I could really use any advice and tips that anybody may have when it comes to eating healthy on a tight budget!

Where'd You Go Bernadette

Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple

Sister got me this book for Christmas this year because she saw it in one of the Black Friday papers as being highly recommended. Here's what the cover says:

Bernadette Fox has vanished.

Bernadette is a frightfully intelligent wife and mother whose intense allergy to Seattle specifically, and to people in general, has driving her to hire a virtual assistant in India to execute even her most basic tasks. Then her daughter, Bee, insists of a family trip to Antarctica as her reward for getting perfect grades in middle school, and Bernadette is faced with the daunting prospect of actual human interaction.

The timing could not be worse. Worn down by years of dealing with Seattle's polite drivers overzealous moms, and proximity to Idaho (and don't even get her started on Canada). Bernadette is already on the brink of a breakdown. Throw in a feud with her neighbor over Bernadette's rampant blackberry bushes, the scandal that erupts when the runs over another mother's foot at the school drop off, and a class fundraiser that goes disastrously awry - and it's all too much. Bernadette vanishes, leaving her Microsoft-guru husband, a horde of angry parents, and questioning police officers to pick up the pieces.

Desperate to find her mother, Bee probes her emails, invoices, school memos, private correspondence, and other evidence, conjuring out those shards of a portrait of a woman she never knew before - and a secret that could explain everything.

Let me start by saying that this book was NOTHING like I was expecting it to be. I thought going into it that this woman must hate her life and her daughter and her husband because why else would she just disappear? I also was expecting it to be written like any normal book. But instead it is primarily consisting of correspondence between Bernadette and the other people in her life... e mails and faxes between her Indian assistant, notes from her neighbor that she hates, e mails between moms and teachers at her daughter's school, etc. It was really kind of a neat way to read it because it shows everybody's different points of view. It was also quite funny. I really didn't expect it to be funny when I read what it was about, but I found myself laughing out loud.

The ending was a little strange though... it was NOT what I was expecting at all, and left a little bit to be desired. You have all this build up to what happened to her and you have all these ideas in your head as to where she could be. And then you get to the end and you go "well shit, I didn't think THAT'S where she would be..."

Overall it was a great book. Funny where it should be, intense where it should be, and all around very entertaining to read. 

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

the only weird thing? At the end, there are two randomly inserted pages from the middle of the book. The page numbers were in order, but you turned the page and find yourself reading things that you already read 75 pages earlier... and then you turn the page again and you're back where you should be. Very odd.

Ehh...

I feel like I've been even more absent this week than I normally am during the week.

I think it's all because of my great depression due to the Hawks' loss on Sunday, paired with the flu that hit me like a Mack truck on Monday night, and the fact that Chad has recently become extremely concerned about all the stuff that needs to be done around the house.

So I thought I would just swing by, say hello, point out that I hate bad drivers, I recently discovered that I like olives, American Idol isn't what it used to be, and that I will be back tomorrow with a book review.

Holiday Vox Box!

So a few months ago, I signed up for Influenster. Then last month, I got an e mail from them telling me that I was selected for their Holiday Vox Box!

So now I am here to to share the goods!

In the box:

Quaker Real Medleys Oatmeal +: Peach Almond Flavor

Their description: Simply the best oatmeal ever - and you can enjoy it on the go! Whole grain oats, rye, barley and wheat are mixed with large chunks of real fruit and nuts in a convenient single-serve cup. Just add hot water or microwave and you can have a delicious breakfast anytime, anywhere.

My thoughts: Honestly I was not SUPER excited to get this, because I don't care for peaches, and that's what flavor I got. But, I said to myself "I got this product to review, so I'm gonna eat it and review it, damn it!". I'm glad I did though, because I was pleasantly surprised. The smell of the peaches was more offputting than the actual flavor. I liked the crunch of the nuts and the pops of flavor when you bite into a piece of fruit. I made mine the microwave way, and I pretty much had to double up on the microwave time in order to cook it all the way, but when it was done it had a nice consistency. I will definitely be trying the other flavors. For $1.79 a cup, it's a filling breakfast and it's nice that you can just throw it in your bag and take it to work or whatever.

NYC New York Color Liquid Lipshine: Nude York City

Their description: Keep your lips soft as ever with the NYC New York Color Liquid Lipshine. It's pure pigment ingredients create a 3-D gloss effect while Vitamin E provides shine and moisture. The non-sticky formula creates the ultimate creamy and soft textured feel. Available in 10 on-trend shades from neutral nudes, to berries and fuschias.

My thoughts: This is a nice lipgloss! I don't usually wear products like this because they end up being either really sticky, or feel grainy after 5 minutes. This one is really smooth, has a nice scent, and I REALLY like the color. It's a very natural color that gives your lips just a hint of shimmer... nothing over whelming. For the $2.49 that it retails for, I'd say it's definitely worth the money.

Kiss Nail Dress

Their description: Ultimate nail fashion for tips and toes! Just peel, apply, and shape for a manicure that lasts up to a week. On in minutes, off in seconds without remover. Nail Dress is available in 21 different styles, many of them featuring 3 dimensional jeweled designs. Skip the topcoat, Nail Dress has it built in.

My thoughts: I think that these are a good idea. I'm not sure that Kiss has quite gotten all the way there yet. I think that the designs are really fun, and it's a fast, easy way to get one of those Pinterest manicures everybody knows about. However it's really hard to get them on and make them look great. It's hard to tell if you are picking the one that fits best on your nails until you actually get it on there. You may think you have the best one chosen, but then you put it on and you realize that it's either hanging over onto your finger, or it doesn't quite cover the nail all the way. Granted, those are things that nobody is going to notice just casually glancing at your hands, but if you're like me and a perfectionist about your nails, you'll know. The other annoying thing is that they are all really long (so as to be able to cover longer nails) so you get it on and it says to fold it over and file it off. Easy enough. Until you realize that when you fold it over the edge, it causes almost a little fold or bubble or whatever you wanna call it. Again, not something that anybody will really notice, but a bit irritating as a wearer.

Overall, I MAY use these again sometime simply because of the fun designs (and maybe I will be better at applying them the second time around...) but I wouldn't want to spend too much money on them.

EBOOST: Acai Pomegranate flavor

Their description: EBOOST will boost your mood, focus, and immunity with natural ingredients and no crash. As a shot or an easy-to-mix powder and in four flavors, you'll feel great whether you choose Orange, Pink Lemonade, Acai Pomegranate, or Super Berry. And with the hustle and bustle of the holidays, you'll certainly need a boost!

My thoughts: It's kind of hard to give a solid review of this when you only have one pouch of it. Normally when I try an energy boosting product like this, I need to be able to have it  consistently for a week or so to really find out how it will make me feel. But what I can say is that I liked the flavor of it, and the fact that you mix the pouch with 12 oz of water makes it kind of nice because it ends up being more to drink, which helps with keeping me from feeling hungry. This could be a really great product but, like I said, it's hard to judge with just one pouch. And with a price tag of $28 for a box of 20 pouches, I don't know that I will be buying anymore. I know that ends up being about the same price as buying a regular energy drink from the store, but I don't do that either due to the cost.

Goody QuikStyle Brush: Half Round Styler

Their description: Once again, Goody brings innovation to your hair routine! Go from wet to beautifully styled hair faster than ever! Super absorbent microfiber bristles remove up to 30% of water as you style. It's like a towel and a brush in one.

My thoughts: I think this brush did live up to it's description. I've got a LOT of hair, so it takes a long time to blow dry. With this hair brush, it only took me about 7 minutes, which is pretty fast for me. for some reason I feel like using it while blow drying my hair also made it a bit smoother... usually I look like I stepped out of Woodstock when I finish drying my hair, but it really seemed a bit less LARGE, if you know what I mean.

Sole Society:

Their description: Sole Society allows you to discover the latest trends, share your personal style, recommend shoes to friends, and follow the curated collections of top fashion insiders.

My thoughts: Honestly, I wasn't quite sure how I was going to feel about this particular perk, because it kind of requires me to spend money. But, since I just got paid AANNNDDDDD because I got $25 off using the code INFLUENSTER25 (anybody can use the code... go do it!), I decided to buy a pair. I ordered the Blair Tassle flats. They look like what some of the "trendy" girls are wearing, but are still something that I think is cute (unlike some of the shoes that I see people wearing these days). Most of the shoes seem to run about $50, which is expensive for my budget. But with the $25 off, I could swing it. Now hopefully when my shoes actually get here, they will be good quality and I will be willing to buy from there again!

Montagne Jeunesse Face Masks: Aloe Vera & Willow

Their description: Montagne Jeunesse face masques have been a part of many girls lives since way back when. With a huge array to choose from, these face masques are jam packed with the most delicious natural ingredients and are bursting with luscious juicy fragrances.

My thoughts: Well, my primary gripe with this product was the fact that it didn't have very good directions on it. Since I'm not super familiar with these girly type things, I didn't know how much I was supposed to put on. My impression was that the pouch was really a single serve type deal, but as I was spreading it on my face I realized that there was a LOT in there. So I'm thinking I will seal the rest up and use it again next weekend. It has a really nice smell to it, and it made me feel like I was really pampering myself. Although as it hardened, my face started to itch a bit, but I think that just had to do with the fact that I had mud hardening on my face (and I may have left it on longer than the 10 - 15 minutes it said...) and when I rinsed it off, it seemed like my skin was kind of red (although that may have been due to the fact that I wash my face with quite warm water...) Now, even a few hours later, I don't feel any irritation and it feels like my face is freshly washed. Overall I will be using the product again (since I still have quite a bit more in the pouch) and I would be interested to try one of the other kinds also. Each pouch costs only $2 so it would be a really affordable thing for a girls night or to put in a Christmas stocking or a goody bag of some sort.


Anyways friends, that is the breakdown of all the goodies that I got in my Vox Box! Definitely had some good finds in it!

Game Day!

Just popping in to say hi and GO SEAHAWKS!

The Thirteenth Tale

This week I'm sharing with you The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Here's what the summary on the back says:

Reclusive author Vida Winter, famous for her collection of twelve enchanting stories, has spent the past six decades penning a series of alternate lives for herself. Now old and ailing, she is ready to reveal the truth about her extraordinary existence and the violent and tragic past she has kept secret for so long. Calling on Margaret Lea, a young biographer troubled by her own painful history, Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good. Margaret is mesmerized by the author's tale of gothic strangeness - featuring the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire. Together, Margaret and Vida confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves.

This book was GREAT. It took me a while to read because I found myself with very little down time to read, but I couldn't help but take every couple minutes I had to read a couple pages. The characters were really great. There was so many twists and surprises, I never knew what was going to happen next. Just when I thought I may have it figured out, I discovered I was WRONG.

I urge you to read this book. I give it 4.8 out of 5. EXCELLENT.

Guess Who's Back... Back Again...

It's me. You probably guessed that.

As per usual, I've been too busy this week to blog much at all.

What I've been doing is this:

*Getting Princess moved back to the Evans farm. FINALLY. Of course in the first 24 hours that she was there, one of the other horses ripped her blanket to hell. Which means I'll be chasing her around 30 acres trying to get it off of her to ghetto rig it back up (cause God knows I'm not gonna shell out another $100+ for a new one!)

*Waiting for all my favorite shows to come back. Like PLL and The Lying Game. And getting hooked on some other real classy ones, like Buckwild.

*Having Christmas #2 at my mom's house. She wasn't quite ready for Christmas when it came around, so when we went there for Family Dinner night last night, she had her whole living room all decorated and it was complete with stockings and gifts (although we got those things on the real Christmas too... I'm not complaining!)

*Harassing Chad to do things around the house. I've gotten him to stop going duck hunting every damn day (although we still have multiple bird carcasses on our back deck because he hasn't decided how he wants to dispose of them yet... don't get me started), but he is still not quite riding the house work train. 

*Reviewing all the good stuff I got in my Vox Box last weekend! I've got a couple more products to try out and then you can expect my review post! You should probably be excited because I got some really good stuff that you will want to know about.

Anyways friends, that's what I've been up to. I just wanted to pop in and inform you of all the cool stuff I'm doing. So you'll be jealous.

Oh Hey Hellooooo!!!

I'm sure you guys get REALLY sick of hearing me talk about my Seahawks on this little blog, but ya know what? I. DO. NOT. CARE.

I really don't mean to be cocky, being as that I know there's always a chance that we won't make it to the end, and that there are a LOT of good teams out in the playoffs right now. But nobody can argue and say that we don't deserve to be where we are. 

This is the year of the rookie QB. I was nervous going up against RG3. But I think that my man Russ is such a strong QB that it takes a lot to bring him down once he gets goin'.

Obviously some of the Redskins weren't super pleased with our win though, as evidenced in this video. (Granted the Shermanator probably wasn't being all that gracious either... he seems like kind of an asshole sometimes)

Okay friends... that's all the Seahawks talk, I swear.

Until later this week at least.

But I will leave you with a picture of Russell Wilson and RG3 hugging it out after the game. I do love it when they are friends afterwards :)

I freaking love these guys.

Life as of Late

I know lately I've been doing a lot of link ups. That's partially because of the fact that I have been feeling really busy, and partially because I don't feel like I have anything all that interesting to write about.

So I thought I would pop in today and let you know a little bit of what life has been like lately.

* Chad hasn't been working very much. He's been working on a side job with his boss that they will hopefully get paid for today. Luckily I pay all our bills in advance, so we aren't behind on anything, but we could really use that regular income again!

* I feel like a majority of my free time is taken up with grown up things. Like doing the dishes everyday, grocery shopping, cleaning, etc. Why won't anybody come clean for me?!

 * With all his free time, I had been hoping that Chad would be working on the house. Ya know... finishing up the never ending project that is our master bedroom or something like that. Nope. He's been duck hunting. A LOT.

These are just the ones they got yesterday. Let's just say I will have an abundance of duck nuggets for football this year.

* We're still tossing around the idea of another dog for Buck to have a friend. Part of me thinks it's a good time, since Chad is home more and would be able to spend more time getting it settled in. But on that same note, another dog means another dog mouth to feed, which wouldn't help the finances any. So the debate continues.

That's just about it friends. I don't have anything witty to say at the moment. However I do think I will be having a little giveaway here in the next couple weeks. Nothing too exciting, so don't go expecting any sort of gift card or fantastic ad space.