WW: Playing ball with Great Grandpa

It's the simple things in life that mean the most

I got tagged for a meme by That Girl.

Here are the rules--mention the person that tagged you. Complete the lists of 8's. Tag 8 of your wonderful blogger friends. Go tell them you tagged them!

8 Things I Am Looking Forward To:
1. Getting settled into our house in GA
2. Seeing Jason again!!! (He's been deployed and comes home sometimes this week)
3. finally getting to be a normal family again
4. Having internet in the house and not having to go to the coffee shop everyday
5. Getting our TiVo working!
6. The season finales of all of my fave shows
7. Going to Disney World this summer
8. Jackson's first birthday (party ;)

8 Things I Did Yesterday: (ok these are things I did on Saturday...I wrote this and then? forgot to hit publish. nice.)
1. drove to Troy to see my sister at the art festival she was working
2. bought some monkey art for Jackson's room
3. drove home
4. talked to some friends on the phone
5. went to Michaels and spent more money on things I don't need ;)
6. made my family pancakes for breakfast
7. tried to teach Jackson to blow me a kiss
8. played sudoku on Jamie's DS (which I am now addicted to)

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:
1. win the lottery
2. lose 50 pounds
3. teleport
4. Write a book and have it published **I second that!
5. find a dependable babysitter in GA
6. buy a house
7. invent something
8. afford a nanny


8 Shows I Watch:

1. LOST
2. Heroes
3. One Tree Hill
4. Gossip Girl
5. The Office
6. My Name is Earl
7. In the Motherhood
8. Grey's (sometimes. it's gotten pretty ridiculous lately).



And my 8 tags:
I tag whoever wants to do this that hasn't done it yet ;)

Homemade Gifts: Mother's Day edition

I've said before that I really love homemade gifts. They are a cheaper way to give something personalized and from the heart. These are the gifts that I made for all of Jackson's grandmothers for Mother's Day. (I know it's early, but I wanted to give them all of their presents before we left for Georgia so that I wouldn't have to ship them).



Michaels had 12 X 12 scrapbooking frames on sale for $3.99 this week, so I got a bunch of those. Then I did a scrapbook layout for each of the grandmothers. Just stick them in the frames and you're done! It was pretty easy, and they all loved them.



Sorry the pictures I took of them didn't really come out that great. Trust me, they're cute in person :) For more homemade gift ideas, check out the mini-scrapbook albums I made as birthday gifts last Fall. For ideas on how to do this project on a budget, check out my scrapbooking on a budget tips.

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister

I just finished reading Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire and I have to tell you guys that it was one of the best books that I have read in a long time. I have to admit that even though I have read probably 30 books over the last few months, most of those have been romance or funny chick lit.

I love Gregory Maguire's books because he takes fairy tales and puts a completely different spin on them. In this one he tells the tale of Cinderella through the eyes of the step-sister. It just amazes me how he can take this different point of view and make you realize that everything happens for a reason. People aren't born wicked or mean or greedy. They become that way through their circumstances and experiences in life, in the same way that we all develop different characteristics and views of the world. I just love his stories.

Next up on my reading list are The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger and A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire. I'm always looking for new suggestions too so please tell me if there's a book you would recommend!

What's on your reading list?

WW: Girls Night Out

Now if only I had taken a picture of the toothless woman doing karaoke to Redneck Woman.

17 Again

Don't worry, no spoilers here. Although, as you probably guessed, 17 Again is rather predictable and probably ends exactly like you think it will. It was a cute, feel-good movie though, with a cute lead actor. And if you don't believe me, you can go ask the girls who sat behind us going "omg omg OMG there he is! He is so cute! omg omg!" Throughout the entire movie.




The movie got me thinking about my 17 year old self. I will just tell y'all that I would never want to go back to high school. I mean, it wasn't that bad for me, but I just wouldn't want to. Send me back to my lazy drunken days of college instead please.

If I had a chance to go back though, I think the best thing would be that I'd have higher self-esteem. I've said it before (I wrote a letter to my past self at 18) but I thought I was grossly fat and now of course I can only wish to look like that again!

I don't think there would really be anything I would change from that time. I wouldn't mind going back and reliving those days when Jason and I first got together and everything was so incredibly exciting...every kiss, every conversation felt like THE most important thing that could ever happen to me. *sigh* Yeah I wouldn't mind going through all that again, skipping our rough patches of course.

So if you had a chance to go back to 17 for a while, would you want to? What would you want to change or relive?

Friend Making Monday: Celebrity Crushes

This week's Friend Making Monday question is:

Who are your top five celebrity crushes? What celebrities make you drool?

Chad Michael Murray (yes I love One Tree Hill :)

Josh Holloway/Sawyer from LOST

Chuck Bass

(image from fanpop.com)

Chace Crawford

James DiFranco

So, I wanna know...who's on your top 5?

true facts

Here are the answers to the facts from yesterday's Blogoversary post. (And only one person guessed 1 right answer....)

I vowed not to let Jackson watch TV before the age of 2. True, but that was while I was pregnant and it obviously didn't last long. I knew this would be a tricky one since I regularly write about Blue's Clues and Yo Gabba Gabba ;)

I smoked my first cigarette at age 13. True. I continued to smoke off and on until a boy I liked told me it was nasty. Hey, I was in high school. Peer pressure was the ultimate factor in the majority of my decisions.

I have two older brothers who went to prison instead of graduating high school. True. They're out now. heh.

I was a vegetarian for two years after my grandpa took me on a tour of our cousin's meat packing factory. FALSE. I could never become a vegetarian. But he really DID take us to the meat packing place. I remember the blood sticking to my shoes. (Courtney D got this one right!)

I'm planning on going to DragonCon this year. True. And yes, I know I'm a dork. I won't be dressing up though. (And for all of you True Blood/Sookie Stackhouse fans, Charlaine Harris will be there!)

I keep all of my DVD's in alphabetical order. True, as long as I can keep Jason from screwing them up.

I got a concussion from getting hit in the face with a basketball in middle school. FALSE. But I have a friend that this really did happen to. Only it happened to her in college.

I saw Hugh Hefner and some of his playmates getting into a limo when I was in L.A. True. I was in high school at the time and I remember thinking the playmates' fake boobs looked like they were about to pop.

Are you surprised by any of these answers?

1 year.

No, not for Jackson...for my blog! It's my Blogoversary! But instead of giving you another bazillion facts about myself, I'm going to let you guess which facts are really about me!

Most of these are true facts about me, 2 of them are false. Can you guess which ones are wrong? (And if you know me in real life, you can't play! haha)



I vowed not to let Jackson watch TV before the age of 2.

I smoked my first cigarette at age 13.

I have two older brothers who went to prison instead of graduating high school.

I was a vegetarian for two years after my grandpa took me on a tour of our cousin's meat packing factory.

I'm planning on going to DragonCon this year.

I keep all of my DVD's in alphabetical order.

I got a concussion from getting hit in the face with a basketball in middle school.

I saw Hugh Hefner and some of his playmates getting into a limo when I was in L.A.


So what do you think? Which ones are false?

WW: Easter Egg Hunt

You can also check out the pictures of him opening his Easter baskets and with the Easter bunny.

7 tips for scrapbooking on a budget

If you've been inside a craft store lately, you've probably noticed how expensive scrapbooking supplies are. I love to scrapbook, but I just can't justify paying tons of money on supplies. Here are a few tips that I use:

1. Shop Walmart or Target instead of craft stores. Or even dollar stores! Many times these stores will have cheap stickers and plain paper. Target usually has holiday themed scrapbooking paper and stickers in their dollar section (I got 5 sheets of Christmas themed paper there for $1!) Walmart puts their holidays supplies on sale often. During their after Christmas 50% off sale, I got a ton of 3D Christmas stickers for 25-50 cents.

2. Focus on the pictures. Keep it simple. Remember, the point of scrapbooks are to keep memories for yourself or your kids. I don't like to spend a lot of time on just one page putting tons of embellishments on there. Not only can this be expensive, but it puts emphasis on the paper not the pictures. (I do like to really embellish a few pages in each scrapbook, but every page does not have to be overdone).

3. Search online for ideas or subscribe to a scrapbooker's blog. Here are some sites that I use:

Shelly's Scrapbook Layouts

Erin's Scrappy Place

Scrapbook Sisters

4. Use holiday cards and post cards as embellishments. My mother-in-law loves to send cards for every occasion, and they are always really cute. Many times I will use these cards as embellishments. It's free! Walmart usually has really cute cards in their 48 cent card section and sometimes I will by those specifically for using in my scrapbook.

Jackson got this card for Valentine's Day. I haven't used it yet but I definitely will!

5. Use a color theme. Jackson's scrapbook is basically a baby book, so I bought two big pads of paper: one with pastel colored papers and one with baby themed papers. I use those for most of my pages instead of buying specialized papers for each layout. Using these basic papers together can make really pretty pages. In this two page layout, I used two baby sheets as a background

and then two colors of plain pastel paper to frame the pictures.

6. Use basic supplies. Of course there are tons of scrapbooking supplies out there that cost a ton, but you can use basic school supplies to get the job done just as well. You can use a ruler and exacto knife to make sure you're cutting straight, trim photos, and make photo frames. I use fine-tipped sharpies for most of my lettering. I also bought a big pack of labels that have all different sizes and colors for writing on the pages. Using your own handwriting gives it an even more personal touch.

7. Go to a scrapbooking party. There are a lot of people out there who work as distributors for scrapbooking, card making or stamp companies. They will usually have parties to show you their products. Sometimes these parties are free, usually they cost about $5, and they will let you make cards or layouts, especially around the holidays. This will give you a chance to get new ideas and to use a variety of stamps/stickers/papers that you may not have at home. Plus you can use whatever you make in your own scrapbook. I made the Happy Halloween part of this layout at a scrapbooking
party using stamps that I normally don't have.

If you ever go to a scrapbooking party, you can also ask the representative for old issues of their catalog, which will have a lot of layout ideas inside.



Do you have any scrapbooking tips to share??

Easter baskets

You can still check out his picture with the Easter bunny too :)

Happy Easter!

Please make it stop!

Nanny HAS to stop watching Oprah, at least while I'm home. The other day she watched the truth about motherhood episode and afterwards wanted to talk to me about it. Which was all fine and good until she started talking about the 'sex after baby' part. It was uncomfortable and embarrassing to say the least. We do NOT talk about sex in my family (at least we never did until I got pregnant and now I guess they think I'm adult enough to handle it. I'm not! At least not when it is coming from them. I'd rather they just think of me as a kid ok?)

Well now she is watching an episode and they are talking about masturbation and whether or not it is an adult activity and if young girls should be masturbating. I feel like there is an incredibly embarrassing conversation in the works. If she asks me about masturbation I will DIE.

Honestly.If I never update again then you can be sure that I have died from embarrassment.

All we need now is a theory

Disclaimer: I love my family. I love my husband, no we aren't having marital problems. I love my son. I love my life in general. I just get BORED sometimes, you know?

I've been a little depressed lately. Maybe depressed isn't really the word for it, just searching...

I've written about it a million times but it all came out too depressing. So I talked to my friend Blake about it and found out that he felt this way too. We probably had an hour conversation about how we feel and how we shouldn't feel this way. I'm a mom. He's in law school. We lead should-be fulfilling lives. So why do we feel this way? I don't know, but I came up with a solution and this is the conversation that resulted...

So I have a solution to our problem. All we need to do is come up with a theory on why we feel this way and write a book about it. I mean, we don't even have to solve the problem, just have a theory. People do it all the time.

You are so smart.

I know, that's probably why I feel this way. I think there's some saying about being dumb and happy.

You're right. We can title the book "If I were as dumb as you, I wouldn't feel this way."

And in it we can write all about how education doesn't guarantee you a job or a successful, fulfilling life. So you shouldn't worry about going to college.


That will go over well in these tough economic times. Don't send your kid to college! He doesn't need it! That's a great way to save money.


Yeah! We'll be helping people who feel like us AND helping the economy.

We're brilliant.

Like I said.

WW: Easter Bunny

We went to see the Easter bunny this weekend and Jackson cried the whole time. This is the only picture that he wasn't crying in. Also, I couldn't get my scanner to work so this is a picture of the picture we took. Basically, an all around fail.

But here is a happy one of him in his Easter outfit before all the crying began.

It finally looks like a family room instead of a bachelor pad

This is what my living room has looked like for the last two years (as far as the furniture). Notice all of the BLACK. The hand chair. The black leather sofa that is at least 10 years old. The cheap metal futon. etc.


Then my aunt and uncle came and helped me move the furniture out, and our living room looked like this for a few days...

I think Jackson prefers it this way.

And now, finally, our new furniture is here! It's a 3 piece chocolate sectional with a fold out bed (which is perfect since we no longer have a guest room), and seriously these pictures don't even do it justice.

Now I just need to get all of that mess in the back cleaned up and the pictures on the wall :) But in case you didn't know, it's No Housework Day, (really, it's a holiday) so I probably won't be putting them up quite yet.

My Morning

I finally got my security badge so I can go visit Jason on the sub pier when he gets home! yay! Unfortunately, it was a pain in the ass to get.

2- # of forms I had to fill out

15- # of minutes the whole process should have taken

2- # of hours it actually took

3- # of times I got lost trying to find the first building

2- # of people who told me they had no idea what building I was trying to find

3- # of times I got lost once inside that building. Actually I didn't get lost because I was just following the guy who worked there who apparently doesn't know his way around his own building.

2- # of Pass & ID offices I went to before I found the right one (based on the directions from the guy above. I should have known.)

2- # of parking lots I couldn't park in because Jason isn't an E7 or above. Meaning I had to walk a good quarter mile each way. in the rain. with Jackson.

4- # of times Jackson started screaming because someone tried to hold him/talked to him/looked at him the wrong way.

8- # of times I had to wrestle Jackson into/out of his car seat or stroller.

All of this before 9 am.

Lullaby CD Winner

Can I just say that I am amazed at how many people commented on my giveaway post to tell me how hot Rick Springfield is? haha.

Anyway, the winner of My Precious Little One, through random.org, is #31 La Pixie. Congrats! I'll send you an email soon.

I have been listening to my copy of the CD with Jackson all week in the car and we both love it!

And just like that, he's gone again

Jason got to come home for a total of maybe 12 hours. Now he's gone again and will be back sometime in May. Sometimes, being a Navy wife really sucks.

First teeth and other updates

I may have said this on here before, but before I had Jackson I had no idea babies DID stuff. I honestly thought they just slept and cried for the first 6-8 months. I thought they were boring. Boy was I wrong!

Jackson is now 22 lbs. He is very active will be crawling any day now. He creeps and he does the low army crawl thing right now. Believe me, he goes all over the place!

He says "Hi" all the time. When the phone rings or he hears someone coming in the door he will say "Hi...hi...hi" until someone talks to him! haha. He also waves at people, but mostly at himself. He is amazed at his own hands right now.

He loves to play ball. When we get it out he gets SO excited. He will pick it up over his head and throw it!

His first tooth came in last Saturday night. I remember vividly because he
kept us all up all night! His second tooth came in this Sunday. I tried to take a picture, but do you think he let me? Hell no. But at least he is wearing a shirt that says "Yay! my first tooth!" to commemorate the occasion.

Reese's First Haircut

Last week I took Reese, my long-haired dachshund, in for his first haircut. It was just so long and getting so shaggy! I was a little worried about how it would turn out but I think he looks so cute!

Here is what he looked like about a year ago...

But his hair just kept growing...it was actually turning sort of blonde. Is that normal? I don't know.

Here he is after his haircut! Doesn't he look like a puppy again! I love it, except for that his hair is super short. I want it to grow back out a little...Sorry his eyes always look so creepy in pictures!

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