The Countdown Begins

Ten days to Hollywood baby!
I can not believe I am going to be in HOLLYWOOD!!!! It scares me to say it, because I am deathly afraid the power of a good jinx! No joke! So God willing- 10 days to Hollywood!
I went shopping for a couple new vay-cay outfits today. I was looking for Spring dresses but unfortunetly Minnesota is still sporting winter wear. Sigh. BUT I did find a bathing suit, and if I may say, I like it! The absolute first bathing suit I have liked ON since I was 21 years old! Oh, if only I were kidding! But really, it looks great with my body, and it's black and white with the kind of romantic look I like. GREAT BUY! Yay! :) I also got a Lynyrd Skynyrd t-shirt. :)
So yes a little more shopping is needed, but I've got a good start. The bathing suit is usually the hardest thing to shop for, so I guess it's all down hill from here. Hehe :)
In other vacation thoughts... it hit me last night that I am going to be away from my kids for 4 nights. Oh man that is so long with a little baby! I know she is 18 months, but she is MY baby, and she is sensitive! I don't know how she is going to do for that long. HOPEFULLY she will do wonderfully and not even notice we are gone. It's hard to say that... really. But it beats the alternative... that she will be sad and miss us. :(
BUT the tickets are bought and paid for, and the trip is on! Yay!!!
Speaking of, these are some of my favorite pictures from some of our favorite Vacations!

Sluggerville Museum, in Lousiville, Kentucky

Country Music Hall of Fame, Nashville, TennesseePrivate Resort in Fort Meyers, Florida

Gulf of Mexico, Panama City Beach, Florida

Quiet Sundays

We had a good weekend! Took the kids to the Cinema Grill which is always fun! We saw Megamind... very cute! Then we came home and played board games, and colored giant felt posters, and then all fell asleep in our big bed! Which I love. I love being packed in like sardines in the very best way. :)
As a child of the "every other week" lifestyle, via divorced parents, I used to dream, yes DREAM of the day I would have a family of my own, and we would all fall asleep in the big bed, and wake up and watch cartoons together. I would never have dreamed of crawling into my parents' bed, but boy do I love having my kids in mine! And I love being the kind of Mom who lets her kids crawl into bed!
In other news we are are ten days from our vaycay! I can not even believe that! Really! When we booked it seemed like forever away, and NOW... now I feel like there is so much to be done and no time to do it! I want to get a few new outfits, I want to get my hair trimmed, I want to go tanning a few times, I want to lose 10lbs. I swear I'm going to give myself ulcers, the way I stress over things that are supposed to be FUN. Sigh.
I have been a slacker this last week about working out. And the absolute worst part is I've lost almost 10lbs! I started the no carb/low carb diet, and holy hannah it works! WHOOOO KNEWWWW. My friend lost around 25lbs in a month, and I asked her how, and this is what she suggested. So why not! I get on the scale every morning and am just shocked, wondering HOW am I losing weight when I am just sitting! And then when I worked out every single day for 50 days... nothing! Figures. But don't worry, as of tomorrow, the work out is back on! I have 10 days to lose 10 lbs. Man do I miss pre-baby weight days. Ah, such is life!
My website is almost done, thanks to my wonderful husband who has done literally everything but pick the color! LOL. Hours and hours and I owe him BIG!
But time to wind down in true Sunday fashion... :)

So egg-cited!

I went shopping yesterday, and wouldn't you know it, they already have EASTER stuff out! Can you believe it? Yeah, me too. So after walking past the aisle umpteen times, I caved. Wait, just listen. Yes, I know it's 2 months away, but I have good reason. Ok, so as I was saying, before Valentine's Day, I went shopping who knows how many times, and passed the V.day aisles possibly 300 plus times, always telling myself to wait. So I did. I waited until the week of Valentine's Day, and when I went to the store for NO OTHER reason then to BUY Valentine's for my family... there was nothing left. Slim pickins!

If Targets says it's time to shop for Easter, well then it's time to shop for Easter!

I'm a Celebration Junkie, I know it. Always looking, waiting for the next kick! But it makes me happy, and that's what life is all about, right?!

So even though we are roughly 60 days away from Easter, I am prepared. Baskets are complete, requiring only assembly, which will come in April! Haha.

In other me-so-happy news, my business cards came today! HOORAY! That makes me beyond happy! There has already been more than a handful of times random people, after conversating on the subject, have asked me for a card. And now I can whip one out! Hooray! Much more gratifying than leading them to a Facebook page.

And with those business cards, came my Best friend's Bridal Shower invites! BIG HOORAYS there! I have been designing them, and redesigning them for literally MONTHS! And I finally came to the perfect card; wedding colors and Engagement photo wrapped into a LOVELY invite. I'm a good Maid of Honor. :) Hehe. And after much, much planning and spending, we have the Bridal Shower completely under control! All we have left to do is buy food, and set up the day of, and that's IT! That feels good! Only a month and a half until the Big Day!

I am in a good mood, and feeling good about life right now! :)

Wordless Wednesday

With the help of my daughter, Olivia, I would like to dedicate this Wordless Wednesday to Baby Maddie.

http://kandjstaats.blogspot.com/2011/02/last-minute.html

"An Angel, in the Book of Life, wrote down this baby's birth.

Then whispered as she closed the book, "Too beautiful for Earth."

Wordless Wednesday

Lover's Day!

Our's was wonderful!
We deicided to spend it as a family, instead of just the normal His&Hers day. So glad we did! We ordered in from our favorite Japaneze Hibachi grill. Amazing, as always. We were going to go there, but instead Chase and I decided to turn our dining room into Valentine's day central! I had a V-Day playdate with some friends, so I still had a table cloth, cups, napkins, plates... very festive! The kids LOVED it! As soon as the table was all set they just sat there, playing at the table, for an hour before we ate! So cute! I love being festive, and I know how much more fun and special it makes the day for the kids! My mom was always festive, and it made everything so much more fun! I am so glad I inherited that from her! So yes, great day!
The kids loved their Valentine's and Tony did too. I got a romantic little jar, and filled it, and I mean FILLED IT, with all of his favorite candy! The thing was packed! He thought I bought it, haha. And he LOVED the scratch off bouqet I made him. He couldn't believe I came up with the idea myself, he thought I must have seen it somewhere. Nope. I always get him scratchoffs for little gifts, and wanted to do something romantic with it. Worked perfectly!
He got me a dozen, beautiful, red roses, handmade chocolate tuxedo strawberries (MY FAVORITE), and a card that with only 4 lines, made me cry. Very special.
I LOVE VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!

And I would love to hear about all your Valentine's days also!!!!

Picture Perfect

Today was my first photo shoot!
It was amazing, and brilliant, and beautiful and perfect!
With every snap, I felt like it was what I was born to do!
So happy! And here's a teaser...

The Good Babies!

I bought them the scarves yesterday,

so decided I needed a cute picture with them on!

Love it! :)

Yippee

We had a GREAT date night last night! I usually am scouting fun things for us to do, but I've been so wrapped up in things, I figured we'd just stay in. Well, when he asks what we have planned, I tell him this stay in business, and he suggests we go shopping. I am always up for shopping! Haha! We went for a few essentials but it turned into a trip of prop shopping! And it was so much fun! I kept seeing all these things I could do different ideas with, and everytime I asked him what he thought, he said "Yeah, get it." Yay! Just what I like to hear!
I have a few photo shoots booked in the upcoming weeks and I am sooooo excited!!! Even more so now! =D
After we went shopping I asked if he wanted to get Subway, and he said, "Nah, somewhere else." So then I started listing places and he just kept turning them down. Then we drove by one of his faves, and I suggested it, and he said "Nah I got something else in mind,"as he smirked at me. Then I knew he had something up his sleave! Next thing I know, we are pulling into my favorite resturant, Red Lobster! And it was amazing! After a month and a half of diet food, Red Lobster tasted like Heaven on Earth! Haha.
Great night! Great night! Go Hubby! :)

Wordless Wednesday

Little of this, Little of that

I was right! About the gazelle... I used it today for the first time in a while, and it was awesome! I went for an hour and zipped through it! It was actually FUN! Which is great! The treadmill, I am BORED to death in less than a half hour, and the bike is not that much better. Either way, I have to push myself to finish. Not today though! I realise this has semi turned into my little workout log. Sorry. Well better than a food log, right?
It's just what I have going on currently. It's part of one of my main goals right now. I could ramble on about how incredibly boring my Anthropology class is, but I would probably fall asleep.
OH back to the exercise thing real quick; that 'marking the calendar with bright, giant X's' on the days I worked out was GENIUS! I walk by that calendar a hundred times a day, and I want that X everyday! Sunday I did NOT want to work out in even the slightest! I worked, and then went out for the Super Bowl after and I was beat. But I wanted that X! I have my own sticker chart! Ha Ha! I highly recommend it!!!
Anyways, other things going on in my life.. yes school, but I have noticed when people talk about school or work, other people's eyes and minds start to wonder. I don't blame them. It's a pretty boring topic for anyone who is not themselves emerged in it. So to keep it short, I'm loving my step aerobics class, and I could throw my Anthropology class right out the window. Lol.
So, I finally got a website for my Photography! Hubby and I are in the process of programming it. One thing I have to give my husband credit for, is that he is so completely supportive of my dreams. Not only supportive, but he pushes me! Like with photography, I never, ever would have bought myself a professional camera. Way too much money! But he bought me one, and I am so in love with it! I use it literally everyday! And the website... I asked him a question about it, and the next thing I know he is buying me a domain, and we are looking through templates. Just so cool! So yes, I will finally have my own website. I am currently building a portfolio, so if anyone wants portraits taken, I will do them for freeeeee. :)
I want this COLD weather to go away so I can take outdoor pictures! I love nature so much, and I just think all of the natural colors are so beautiful! GO AWAY SNOW! Lol. Actually I think the snow CAN be beautiful, but who wants to stick their kid out there just for some photos. Sigh.
Anywho, my thoughts are trailing and I have a lot to do! So take care and Happy Tuesday!

Valentine's Day is on the Way!

This is by far, without a doubt, one of my absolute favorite parts of the Holidays... or any Holiday.

I love doing crafts, or Art projects with the little ones!

For one reason, I LOVE Art, and I am very passionate about it, as well as anything which sparks creativity in kids! I think it is so ridicoulsy important, and that in itself is a whole other blog. So I'll save it. But I love watching them go to town and really express themselves!



















And I honestly get so excited to see how their projects will turn out. Their personalities shine through so much in these painted, glittered & glueds masterpieces.

Another reason I love doing these projects with them, is it is something they can all do together! It is not easy finding things a 9 year old, 3 year old and 1 year old have in common. This they do. And I absolutely LOVE that! Siblings are lifelong best friends, and I love them so much and want them to have EVERYTHING in life! I don't want them to miss out, or not get to experience eachother and their relationship to the absolute fullest, just because of an age gap!

And the last reason I love our holiday craft time is because I am in love with the Holidays! I believe in celebrating life and every day, and the holidays... oh wow, I am all about celebrating, embracing, enjoying, and appreciating the Holidays! I want nothing but happy memories for all of theirs'!

As you can see, their Valentines turned out lovely! And as I stated before, their personalities shine through so much!

This was Art project was one of my favorite yet, because Olivia just jumped right in! A lot of time I will have to put the paintbrush, glitter, etc, in her hand, and give her a nudge or two. She loved making Valentines and went at it completely by herself. She was all about our shiny confetti, and I was pretty pleased.

I'm always so proud of these silly little construction paper projects. And as you can see, they were pretty proud too! As they should be! :)

The last picture is a Valentine for me and Daddy. I had them do their handprints and I did the detailing. I love it! There's no way to stop them from growing, but handprints are such a great way to preserve them, and even freeze time in a small way! I don't ever want to forget these very special days!

Happy Valentines Day! Hope you are all as excited as I am!

Revised Resolution...

I've decided to step things up a little with the resolution.
I was looking online for how much weight it is safe and healthy to lose at max, in a period of time. I found it is okay to lose 2 to 4lbs a week. I have lost 8lbs in almost 5 weeks. Not horrible, but not ideal.
The website also said the way to go about it is by burning off 500 calories MORE than you eat a day! YIKES!! On an average day I will burn 400 to 500 calories while I work out. Probably more than that on the 2 days a week I have my step aerobics class!
So this means 2 things...

1) I am going to have to crack down on the diet more. I have been eating healthy, but I am talking lean cuisines, veggies, and nothing else!

2) I am going to have to start working out multiple times day. I know that working out multiple times a day for short periods is better than working for a long period only once. The more times a day I get my metabolism going, the better! So that is one of my revised resolutions. Not every day, but as much as I can stand!

So you know what is serioulsy insane? I have been working out on the bike, and the treadmill, and they rock, don't get me wrong. But I have never in my life seen results as quick as when I workout with this bad boy!

...my Gazelle. YES- a Gazelle! A rickity, $100 workout machine, that I got 5 years ago! The only problem with it is that as I said, it's rickity, which means it's noisy. I am fine with it because I work out with my ipod in, and my smart phone in hand. Plenty to do, thank you God for technology! But the squeaks drive my poor hubby nuts. So I've decided to work around that, and use it while he is at school. Yay! I'm a genius! Har Har!

Speaking of excersise machines, this is my newest addition....

Don't let it's appearance fool you! I too underestimated it, but now it is my new arch enemy, and it is a KILLER! Ouch ouch ouch! Sigh. It's HARD! Hopefully after more practice, and more physical routine, it will get easier. Crossing my fingers...

Either way, I won't be discouraged! NO WAY! I am on a mission, and the light at the end of the tunnel is glorious! I'll get there!

Vacation, all I ever wanted

So we finally have decided where we are going to go for our Anniversary getaway! We are going to Southern California, the LA area. I am sooo excited! We are both so indecisive when it comes to things like this, so it wasn't easy. Haha.
We originally wanted to go to Panama City Beach, FL. We have been there twice, as when we lived in Georgia we were only 4 hours away, and it was such a fun, and beautiful place to go! Nothing but great memories! And both times we have gone, we brought the kids, so we thought even with them, it was so much fun, so how amazing would it be to go with just the two of us. But we looked into tickets, just to fly there, and they were outrageaous! I guess we were spoiled when we were a short road trip away! So then we started thinking about a cheap, but fun vacation. Well hello, I think everyone knows the answer to that one... VEGAS! I went there with my best friend, when we were 21 and it was without a doubt one of the best weekends of my entire life! Ridiculous, overwhelming amounts of fun! And Tony has never been there, so even better! However we thought since this is an Anniversary celebration, we kind of wanted to go somewhere with a little more romance and a little less partying. So cheap was out! Haha. But we decided still no on Panama City Beach, beacuse we have been to FL 4 times together. Time for something NEW! So then our brains wandered to the idea of a cruise. Which I was in love with. But once I started looking into that I realised you spend most of your time on the boat, and only a couple days on the actual islands. Even though from what I understand the boat has endless amounts of entertainment, it is still a glorified hotel. And I am not one to spend time at a hotel while vacationing. I sleep there and that's about it!
So all of these vacations sounds amazing, and someday I would like to take each one, and a hundred more, haha, but not this time, for this very special occasion!
I'm not even sure how we decided on California. I think I just threw the idea out there, and we sat on it, while considering all of them. We really hate making decisions. Really. But it seemed one thing after another, pros to California kept popping up. And it just started sounding better and better! Now we're at the point where there is so absolutely much to do and see there, that we are researching like crazy, to figure out how to narrow down the list! Now that is my idea of a vacation!
I like to take it all in; the people, the culture, the sites. Who knows if I will ever be back, so I want the FULL experience! I'm not going to get into the whole list of things we want to do and see while we are in Cali, but I will tell you, we are renting a convertible, and I am looking forward to driving down the coast like nothing else!

Wordless Wednesday

32 days in & I'm in Love!

I just remembered tomorrow is Wordless Wednesday, so I'm thinking I better get these random thoughts out tonight!
I was talking to a friend, and she asked what I wanted to do for my Birthday, NEXT month! With everything else going on, I felt like my Birthday was still months away, but nope! And it hit me like a freight train, I have SO much going on this year! I am co-hosting a Valentines play date in a couple weeks... decorations, crafts, home made Valentines, cake balls... my first time ever making them! And there is of course actual Valentines day, which we've also got big plans for! Can't wait!
The weekend after that, we are going out of town, to visit friends. We are actually going to Hubby's home town, in small town, Wisconsin, and we are really excited for that! All of his best friends now have kids, and they all range in age from 1 and a half to 3 and a half. There is 5 of them together, and it is so cool seeing them all together! Watching them play together, and knowing they will be life long friends... such a gift!
The first week of March is our 5th Wedding Anniversary, and we will be taking a VACATION!!!! Yay!!! I am so, unbelievably excited, and happy about that! We love traveling, and we have so much fun doing it, but we haven't been on a trip since before Olivia was born (a year and a half ago). Around the same time we get home, my neice will be born (according to due date!) Which I can't wait for! Another little girl, to buy girly things for! The last time my neice Kyrsten (Big sister to be) was in town she kept playing with my hair and telling me how pretty I was. Awww. :) Oh and towards the end of March, we will be getting ready to celebrate MY BIRTHDAY, which if you know me, is always an event in itself! So much fun!!!
Come April, is not only quite a few of my friend's Birthdays (also big, eventful deals), but it's the month we are having Carly's BRIDAL SHOWER!!! The bridal shower we, the hostesses with the mostesses have been OBSESSING over! we've been living and breathing the details of this wedding. And May is her insane Bachelorette Party! It's going to be HUGE... party bus, 30+ ladies, just crazy!
AND THEN THERE IS JUNE! My best friend is getting married!!! Ahhhhhh! I get to stand up next to her on the HAPPIEST day of her life, in front of God, and everyone else. I get to give a toast to her, in front of 200 people... nerves of steel I'll need, and I'll probably ball my eyes out all the same, watching my partner in crime get MARRIED! And after we all recover from literally the event of the year, a few weeks later is Chase's Birthday!!!! And that is not even counting all of the other holidays, birthdays, camping trips, concerts, and EVERYTHING ELSE going on in that 6 months span!
Ok, I am stopping there! I can't think about anything after June because I am exhausted just writing about it! I think I am going to go into hibernation come July! lol. But really, I can't wait for it all! This year is seriously going to ROCK! There is just no other way to put it! Just amazing! This is going to be an amazing, unforgettable, spectacular year! :)

My January

Those bright yellow X's represent SUCCESS! Those are the days I successfully fullfilled my resolution for a healthy lifestyle, and excersised.

I have to say I am pretty proud of myself! This may be the longest I've held on to a resolution, haha.

I flipped the calendar from January to February today, but before I did, I took a highlighter and marked each day I had worked out. I keep track in my planner, but that flips weekly. I wanted to see the Big Picture! So glad I did! What a mood booster!

2011 is turning out to be a wonderful year, thus far, with blue skys ahead! :)