...fun things...

I like things.  I really like getting good deals on things.  And, I love samples.  

So, I thought I'd share some of the recent things that have given me gleeful moments:

1. Birchbox:  For 10 bucks a month, you get a fun little box of samples.  Dave thinks it's a horrible waste 

of money.  I say it's a fun and cheap way to try new things.  And who doesn't get excited by a mystery box??

My favorite was the liquid eyeliner and perfume sample!!

2.  Sevenly:  I recently was introduced to this awesome organization that sells different shirts and such every week and $7 from each purchase goes to that week's organization/cause of choice.  I hopped on the week that they were supporting anti-bullying campaigns.  So, I bought an awesome shirt, supported a great cause, and may have a new little "habit" of justifying purchases for the betterment of others.  Check it out!  Www.sevenly.com

3. Great deals at www.ilycouture.com like these $29 scarves for $9 (scarf9 through 11/25) and this cute $48 shrug for $16 (molly16).  I may have bought only 1 scarf and gone back for 3 more, cause hey, who doesn't need 4 of the same scarf in different colors?!?!?!

4. Fisher Kids:  So, Dave and I both suck (well, really just me but sometimes it's cool to drag your spouse down with you...) at teaching our kids about basic finances.  So I came across this awesome little system that we are praying works.  

They also have a ton of other fun stuff, but this is the item that drew me in hook, line and sinker.  And I love that each Sunday is payday and they get a choice of how much to save, spend and give.  Bring on 2014 and teaching the Owens girls the value of a dollar!  Www.fisher-kids.com.

Yay for fun things!!!!

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...when things aren't easy...

Over the past couple of weeks I have been really turning to friends, my husband, my pastor and God for a lot of reassurance, pep talks and prayer time.  There is always the same theme: making it through the day.

• "You've go this."
• "It's going to get better."
• "Dear God, please just help me make it through the day."  (ok, there is a little more to that one, but I am NOT a public prayer.  Unless you are 3, or one of my kids, you will never hear the utterance of a REAL prayer come out of my mouth.)
• "Read these verses"

I know that no ones job is easy.  And I am not going to get in to any specifics... but dang, my job is giving me a run for my money.  I am emotionally drained, physically tense, and pretty much just  at a point where I am having to do some serious soul searching to figure out where I am or need to be in my career.

So, reality check.  Is anything easy?  I mean, really?  Because doesn't EVERYONE have their own thing going on?

Yeah, I'm struggling at work.  But..

• I have a warm home to sleep in.
• There is always food to eat.
• I have an AMAZING little family of 4.
• Everyone in my family is healthy.
• I have a job that pays the bills.
• Dave has a job that pays the bills.
• Our girls are smart.
• Our girls well behaved and have great manners.
• I don't have to worry about how to pay for Christmas presents.
• I grew up not knowing what divorce felt like.
• I have never been beaten or abused.
• I have a husband that buys me things I would never buy for myself.
• I have true friends that love me and that I know I can count on for just about anything.

This is just a small list.  And ALL of these things are so much more important than any obstacles I am facing in my professional life.  :)

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...a little motivation...

I kind of gave this up.  For no reason really, besides I seriously don't feel like I have the time.  But someone said to me on FB to not give up writing because they wished they had journaled when their kids were younger... And I had that moment.  That was the entire reason I started this to begin with.

And honestly, there are so many things I want my kids to know about me, and them, and us.  I decided last year when I started that I would print my blogs in to a book.  And, I think I still will.  And I am setting a goal for myself for 2014 to have 52 entries.  So that will be another book. And hopefully by then, a habit.

I have said before I am not a scrapbooker.  And I have a crap-ton of photos on my computer, but, that's where they stay.  So, I am also thinking about just making picture books too, of my favorites...with no words, just pics.  Because words take too much creativity. ;)

I am actually excited about the prospect of being back in the grind...and picking up reading other peoples blogs again too.  It's been too long, and I've missed out on way too much...

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...i could have missed the pain, but I'd have had to miss the chafe...

Seriously, I have like 10 posts floating around out there unfinished.  But on the eve of being back to work full time, I am feeling a little stress.  And obviously, a little chaffed, so here I am because I tend to blog when I am stressed.  And apparently writing about my chaffing is more important than anything I've done this summer.  OK, that is SO not true...

Here's the short of the story.  I don't typically run in shorts.  Let me rephrase.  I don't typically run in short shorts, that allow my fat thighs to rub together.  Wait, let me rephrase again.  I typically don't "run" more than a mile before walking some, so I have to use the term "run" lightly.  Until last night.  Because I ran.  2 miles without stopping.  Then an additional 1.25 miles after walking 3/4 of a mile.  And at around the beginning of mile 3, I noticed a burning between my thighs.  And it kept getting worse.  And I may have kept glancing down to see if there was blood running down my legs (and how would I explain to anyone that really, I have fatty thighs that rubbed all of the skin off because of the intense friction, and no, I promise I am not on my period.  It's all good).  And it just kept getting worse.

But, I had started this 4 miler with 2 goals in mind.

1.  I would run 2 miles without stopping.  Which would be a Personal Record.
2.  I would finish under 50 minutes.

 Stopping because my thighs were getting ready to self-combust was not an option.  So, I kept trucking along.  And texting my husband to tell him that I was in some serious pain.  And to top it off, the socks I was wearing sucked and I ended the race with a bleeding blister on my ankle as well.

I did finish, and met both of my goals.  YAY!!!  And last night, I was awakened several times in the middle of the night with sharp pains any time my thighs touched each other.

The thing is... I don't really mind.  And yes, it was worth it.  I would plan better next time (I really didn't want to go so I didn't plan well), but I was running for Cancer while also promoting our own event.  So, it was a win-win.  The event was super fun... live music, dancing, my brother-in-law was thoughtful enough to bring beer, we met some new people, got a good work out in...all in all a great way to spend a Saturday evening.

So, I could have missed the pain, but I'd have had to miss meeting my personal goals, hanging out with my sister and brother-in-law, supporting a great cause, and learning that either from now on I run in longer shorts, or just lube it up!!!  :)

...dragons, battles, and kingdoms, oh my!!!

For the longest time, I really wanted for Dave to find something that he could bond with the girls with.  Mom's of girls have it good.  We are able to bond and appreciate their interests on so many levels.  Dads of girls sometimes have a struggle.  They may sometimes have a harder time appreciating a little girls interests.

My husband has always had a thing for "fantasy".  Fantasy sports, fantasy games... I think that it is some sort of escape from "real world".  Recently, my girls have become very interested in a game that he had begun playing on the IPad where he built some sort of village.  It interested me not at all.  But the girls would perch themselves up next to him and watch as he bought, sold, created, fought for, (I have no idea everything that he did) and they were hooked.  Like, so hooked that they wanted their own villages to build.

And so it began, and they each have their own village.  They have this crazy language that I have NO idea what it all means.  To watch your 4 year old talk about how she is mixing nature leaves to create new dragons, waiting for eggs to hatch in her hatchery, talking about how to know which defenses and tactics to use when fighting dragons to earn more gems...it's a little overwhelming.  And I just pretend that I know what the heck is going on.  (Oh, and to have your 7 year old read over your shoulder and tell you that your title to your blog post is wrong and change it for me because it doesn't best fit what they do!!!:))  But the thing is, the three of them really work together on their villages.  They strategize, plan for what they want to buy, how they want to build them, what quests they want to go on, sell what they don't need, what dragon is best to fight what dragon, how and when to feed the dragons, how to earn food, how to buy more land and what to put on it... And the part I love the most, when they ask dad a question, or text him something, he always replies.  Just this morning, Merrick had discovered how to mix a new dragon, and texted Dave and work because she was so excited to tell him.  It is FANTASTIC!!!

I am never going to "get" fantasy.  I am never going to build a dragon village.  I don't love the amount of time they are spending on their IPods and IPad.  But, I do appreciate that they are utilizing their brain power, and I am so grateful that they have found something that they can really relate to their dad.

So, dragons, battles and kingdoms???  Oh, yes!!!

...

...goooooooooo team!!!

Today is the third day of my "summer break."  I am going to say that is a pretty loose term based on the amount of meetings and training I have to attend, the email that I have to check daily, and the fires that still need to be put out in the summer.  Nonetheless, reporting to work every single day is not required.  Which is awesome.  Because the Owens girls like to sleep in.

With summer though brings the stress joy of being with my girls...24/7.  I am excited.  I also realize that being home with the girls in the summer also brings about it's own...experiences.  But, this is the first year that I really feel like I am spending the summer with my "kids."  Not my kid and her very clingy and very needy little sister, who also happens to be my daughter. But, my 2 friends.  My 2 big and mostly self-sufficient children.  Those girls that have grown up so much that I don't have to worry about every single little thing because we can all actually go with the flow.

Yes, we are still working on some things.  (the need to drink chocolate milk and pull mommy's hair, needing something "special" every time we go to the store, needing to be held even though we start Kindergarten in 2 and a half short months)  But, we are taking on the mantra that we are a team.  We even put our hands together and yell "gooooooooo team!" randomly throughout the day to remind each other (mostly Taya) that we all have to work together this summer to get things done.

Our "team" feeding the goats!

I am a pretty lucky girl to have such a team.  And I am also pretty excited to see what this "summer" has to bring.

...

...it's been a while...

There's been a whole lot of nothing going on around here...

Well, at least nothing that I had the time or energy to write about.

But, today I find a whole lot of randomness running around in my head, so here I am...

Last night we went on a double date with my mother-in-law and her significant other.  We went to a little Thai restaurant in the city (apparently non-spicy Thai food is STILL spicy enough to give me some serious heartburn!) and then headed to the FABULOUS Fox to see Million Dollar Quartet.  Which...was...AH-MAZING!!!!!!  OMG.  I seriously loved it.  So much, that I ordered tickets for my parents today for early Mothers/Fathers day gifts because they have to see it.  I will also say that if I was growing up back in the day, I may have had a serious crush on Johnny Cash.  Just sayin'.  He is way more my style than Elvis.

Also, I love me some Jamey Johnson and was soooo close to buying tickets for this coming Friday night.  But, we have a super early and busy Saturday so it doesn't work out with timing.  Which sucks.  Maybe another day.  :(

I have completely lost my patience with my children today.  So much that I may have just poured myself a glass of 4 Hands Pyrus Saison just to help myself cope.  ( I also just typed that I poored myself a drink, and had to go back and correct that.  Nice.)

I completely sort of understand how/why people get divorced over money/building a house.  It is stressful.  And we are only remodeling a bathroom.  In no way do I think that it is OK, and it no way do I really have any problems with my husband, it is just the mere stress of doing so.  Timing, money, coordinating, money, building, money, money, decisions that cost money, and did I mention money?  It is unreal the price of things that are awesome and cool, and you don't want to do this again, so you don't want to settle, but geez.  Who can afford some of this stuff?  We looked at a bathtub that was the entire $8000 budget for the entire bathroom!  And then once you decide on something like an amazing little red free standing tub that is only barely out of our price range, you have to decide on faucets, which are also crazily expensive!!!  We had finally settled on some amazing black faucets, added them to our online cart, and were notified that we would be waiting 6-8 weeks.  WHAAATTT?????  It seriously took us forever just to decide on them.  So, we settled in this area.  We still got cool faucets, but they are just plain silver.  Which is boring.  But won't hold us up for 2 months.

Last night I spilled beer in my car.  Which is horrible.  Because it smells like stale beer in my car, which also mimics the smell of beer puke.  Awesome.

I have been sucking horribly at one of my New Year's Resolutions.  I was off to a great start with working out, have been struggling for the last 6-8 weeks, and am now considering the possibility of a personal trainer, who also happens to be my pastor, which are not at all related, he just happens to be good at what he does and reasonably priced.  I really need to find someone who can help me tackle this post-c-section tummy that I continue to struggle with.  I have been watching "Splash" and really have a great desire to look like Brandi Chastain in the tummy region.  Yeah, I know it's never gonna happen, but if I could get rid of at least a little of the huge spare tire hanging around my mid-section, it would be awesome.    I really miss the days of breastfeeding when I ate whatever the heck I wanted, and never worked out and was the skinniest I have been in my adult life.

Work is crazy, mad busy.  Hard to believe that in 4 weeks I will have survived my first year of juggling 5 buildings.  There are days when I wonder what the heck I have gotten myself in to, days when I think I have the best job ever, and days when I daydream about new careers.  But, who doesn't???

Also in 4 weeks, I will officially have a Kindergartner and a 2nd grader.  HOW DID THAT HAPPEN???

I am looking forward to summer, but terrified all at the same time.  These girls are 24/7 needy children that can wear a mama out.  But at the same time, they are SO MUCH FUN!!!  I have a long list of ToDos for us (in my head).  I am considering planning the entire summer out day by day.  I just wonder if I will stick to it?

I have really missed blogging.  But, haven't.  I think I need it though.  It's therapeutic and helps me escape.  Which is awesome.  It just takes time, that I don't have.

That's it for my rambling.  I could keep going and going and going, but I have laundry calling my name.  :(

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