6 days in!

I can not believe it is January 6th, 2014! It is currently -10 degrees, and we have a foot of snow outside. Today was my first snow day, and tomorrow my second! (Although I think it's numbers 4&5 for my school district) 

We have been having nothing but fun over here! We rang in the New Year by staying in eating fancy cheese, chocolate fondue, and drinking a beer that tasted like BBQ sauce...ewww... At Midnight we had the best fireworks in our new neighborhood! They were going off everywhere, and they were so loud! We were lucky Allie never woke up :-) and we were in bed by 12:30am.  

The following day we went out and bought a new sectional for our family room, it was a crazy cheap deal, and has a chaise lounge on one side so we can see into the family room better from the kitchen without having a tall chair in the way. It is set to arrive this Thursday. I can't wait!

As a New Years goal last year I wanted to go to the doctor, I had not been since May 2009.  Well it took me 4 months to get a well visit with a new doctor.  I went to meet her and get "checked out" on Friday. This is leading to me getting blood work, followed by 2 weeks of a gluten free diet, and then 2 weeks of a diary free diet...and then a follow up appointment.  Not to give TMI I have a lot of stomach issues, it is forever upset. I'm hoping I can get some things sorted out...and maybe this will help me clean up my eating to loose those last 15#. 

Saturday my mom came down to babysit Allie while Scott and I (and 8 other friends) enjoyed our yearly visit to Fast Eddies. They have the coldest beer- $2.50 Coors on draft, best shrimp, and cheapest yummiest burgers! Omg...It's a good thing we only go there 1 time a year. However there was the winter storm of the century on our door step, so we had to book it home so my mom could get home safely.  

And then...Sunday came...oh man. All day I kept saying, there is not going to be that much snow, the newscasters just don't have anything else good to talk about...it can't possibly get that cold, I've never seen temperatures that cold... The BAM! It REALLY started snowing, like multiple inches of snow in an hour.  And then at noon our electricity went out. It came back on 5 minutes later, but the fridge, bathrooms, family room, and furnace were not working.  We tried everything on our end as far as resetting the electric box. Nothing...we called Ameren and they said there is an outage we should have 1/2 power and they hope it will fully be back on by 6pm. Ok, no big deal,  we can handle space heaters until 6... Then it was delayed to 8:30... We had decided we could make it through one night with the space heaters since we had 1/2 of our electricity. And then BAM! At 8:00 we lost all power. The outside temp was falling fast, and I was basically on the verge of tears while we called some new neighbors (who had power) and packed our bags. I could tell Scott didn't even know what to do at this point, how would be get out and drive on unplowed side roads to get anywhere! We sat and stared out the window at the Ameren workers in silence for quite some time. Allie had gone to sleep right before we lost full electricity and we just kept watching the temperature in her room fall...good thing she was using 4 blankets! Our plan was to leave if it got down to 50 degrees inside. Luckily at 10:30 we got full power! We plugged the fridge back in, turned on the furnace, and went to bed. What a crazy day! 

Today was a snow day. Allie was supposed to start preschool today, but it was closed, Scott's work was closed, and obviously my work was closed. The temperature made it up to 2 today, and the wind-chills have been hovering around -25.  Since we have been snowed in I have organized the cabinets, pantry, linen closet, cleaning closet, my clothes closet, vacuumed, reorganized a little in the basement, and made wayyy too much food for a family of 3. I've been keeping up with my daily workouts, doing some Insanity the past few days, and drinking lots of coffee! (And eating wayyy too much food- idle hands) 

I still haven't decided if I want to venture out tomorrow...I'm not sure if I trust myself enough. Be careful if you go out! Dress warm and bring lots of blankets just in case! 

Now enjoy some of my pics from the past 6 days :-) 

New couch- Rothman Furniture 

New workout shirt- from Ruffles With Love 

Fast Eddies pics

Snow day fun! 

2013 was GREAT!...Part 2

To continue with what was awesome for the remainder of my 2013 year I will begin here in Part 2 with-

August
~ More crazy house searching, and we FINALLY FOUND ONE!!!! 
~ Back to work- new sitter for Allie...LOTS of changes
~ This house stuff is CRAY (I can still say that for a few more days, cause I'm not 30 yet)

September
~ Getting everything in order financially to buy a second home
~ We cancelled our membership at our amazing gym- seriously it was $125/month, but it was freaking AWESOME!!!  (We don't have dish/cable so we can justify splurging a little here and there) I am still sad we had to leave the gym...
~ Final walk though- cue my FIRST panic attack ever!! (Because of a moldy, wet, carpeted bathroom...that we were getting ready to buy in 2 days)
~ 5th anniversary, we closed the day before.  The traditional 5th wedding anniversary gift is wood- I'd say a new house is pretty much as good of a gift as you can get!

October
~ Moving, fixing up the house a little
~ I started a second part time job (it was temporary and I LOVED it!)
~ Dealing with the change of moving, having a toddler, and said toddler is overwhelmed and not napping- STRESSFUL MONTH!  I never want this month to happen again...and I LOVE October
~ We did take Allie to a pumpkin patch, and apple picking. As well as to the trunk or treat at our new neighborhood Clubhouse

November
~Things are calming down a little- Scott got renters in our old house
~ Getting things organized at home
~ I lost a little more weight from the stress and move  (I have since found it again)- but I am a solid size 10...I've never been a size 10, not even in highschool!  My goal is an 8.

December
~ Things are starting to fall back into place
~ Still so much to do to the house
~ Had a girls night out with a bestie from Kindergarten!!
~ My house is starting to feel like a home...now that I am finished with my 2nd part time job I can focus a little more on Allie and continue nesting in our house. 

I'm hoping for an amazing 2014!  Can't wait to see what fun things are in store, and I hope each and everyone of my friends/family members have a great year!

CHEERS!

2013 was GREAT! Part 1...

This past year was filled with so many fun happeneings.  Here are my monthly highlights.

January
~ I turned 29...cue panic attack, only 1 year left in my 20's
~ Annual trip to Fast Eddies- it was the first time I saw a picture of myself, and could SEE my weightloss in action
~ Ice carnival at the Delmar Loop- hottest day in January of course...

February
~ Mardi Gras- this maybe my last one in Soulard friends....
~ I won a cute little Valentines day outfit on Facebook and had Allie's pictures taken

March
~ Celebrated Easted with the CREEPIEST bunny ever
~Scott began prepping the house to go back on the market with a new relator

April
~ TOUGH MONTH!
~ Put the house back on the market, trying to keep it clean while having an "almost" 2 year old is impossible
~ Took our first vacation without Allie- NOLA

May
~ This month was a blurr....finishing the school year at work, house on the market...I don't remember doing anything but crying and being anxious...
~ Oh yea- it was Mother's Day and I wore my first Kiki la 'Rue dress
~ SLUGFEST 2013

June
~ Busy month of running around, the Zoo, Grants Farm, Food Truck Festival at Laumier, the Magic House, the Butterfly House, and a few trips to the pool.  It was kind of cool this summer with REALLY bad storms.
~ We also decided at this point to take our house off the market, refinance, and just go buy a new house without selling.  We were hoping we could just rent it out instead...we HAD to move on.
~ Once we were finished refinancing we also began looking at houses and areas we wanted to move to.  We finally decided on Fenton (Rockwood schools), and found an awesome house we just HAD to HAVE!  While going back and forth on the bids for the house they disclosed a HUGE foundation crack...HUGE, with a big section of the wall about to fall out.  We decided to walk...and that caused lots of stress and tears on my part. 

July
~ ALLIE TURNED 2!!!
~ Fireworks in O'Fallon
~ More running around, the History Museum, the City Garden, blueberry picking, the Botanical Gardens, and Kirkwood Park.
~ Me and Scott took an adult trip to the Lake and it was SO MUCH FUN!!!
~ More house searching, and nothing coming up....so frustrating.  We began looking in other areas- Ballwin, Ellisville, Des Peres, Manchester, Chesterfield, Creve Couer...really anywhere in Parkway/Rockwood school districts.  We looked at SO.MANY.FREAKING.HOUSES it was ridic.

I'll stop there for now...Part 2 will be in the near future when I have a few more spare minutes...

Five on Friday

Five of the most random things you will read today....

{ONE}
I forgot to add a goal to my New Year Resolution- I am going to take 2 more graduate classes so I can bump up a level on the pay scale at work (hey- working part time only pays so much).

{TWO}
My list of "wants" is endless these days... You wanna hear?...well really you have no choice, here I go- a new bed (ours is basically broken- oops), new couch for our family room (currently we are using these 4 "leather" chairs we had upstairs at our old house), TV mounted on the wall, my house painted (we're getting there...), some kind of curio cabinet for the dining room, new kitchen table, some kind of furniture for our "message center" in the kitchen, some kind of furniture for our nook in the entry way (not sure what to put there at all), another baby, a new wardrobe, and a money tree...ok, I'll stop there ;-)

{THREE}
Allie is hilarious these days!!! The connections she makes and the things she says. Every day is a new adventure.  This past week being home with her is totally SPOILING me!!  She has also asked lately that I cuddle with her and rock her before bed.  Which I gladly do, because she will only be this small for a little while.  Ok- not going to lie, she has THE WORST meltdowns...I mean flailing, kicking, screaming, falling down, can't catch her breath melt downs, and I tend to think they are pretty funny...but it makes her even more upset when I laugh :-/

{FOUR}
I went to The Nest today in Frontenac with some of my mommy friends, and it was so super cute!  I ordered a mocha latte for me, and french toast, a fruit skewer, and fresh pear/apple juice for Allie.  Allie loved her fruit skewer and juice- she didn't really care much for the french toast, but I thought it was awesome.  My mocha latte was YUMMY- tasted more like hot chocolate, and it wasn't very hot, but it was good.  The 3 story tree house sounds a little misleading.  It was 3 little houses, about 8 ft tall, that lead up to a SUPER fast slide.  Allie enjoyed it there, although the play areas were a little smaller than I expected, the decor was super cute, and they had a lady supervising the play areas.

{FIVE}
We celebrated Christmas with my family on Christmas Eve- I got some cute new clothes, a crock pot, a gel polish kit, and so much more.  Allie got 2 outfits, a tea-pot set, and ton of Bubble Guppies and Lalaloopsy toys (which is fitting because she has recently started asking for Umi Zoomi instead).  She LOVES her new vacuum and sweeper set- if only the vacuum really worked.  On Christmas Scott helped me take down more vertical blinds (the ones in the family room- the BIGGEST ones), and put up 3 wooden blinds instead.  They look AWESOME!!!! Santa brought us a new TV, and a new coffee pot :-)

Our house is slowly becoming a home, and I can't wait to take down all the Christmas decorations.  Well friends...until next time!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

I'm not going to lie. I have been so busy and lazy with some things lately, I just have to let it go.  Tomorrow we are celebrating Christmas with my immediate family, and then on Christmas day we will celebrate with my in-laws.  However I still have no gift for my mom.  For the past few months I kept thinking I was going to find the "perfect" gift.  But who am I kidding, I bought Oreos for "treat day" at work, and a bag of Gardetto's for a friends holiday party.  I feel like I have been working so much, and trying to get to a store and buy something that is a not a necessity is beyond me at this time.  Having a feisty 2 1/2 year old is all consuming, as well as updating a new house, and trying to having something edible in the house a few nights a week. 

I have 10000 blog ideas per day, and I just wish I had more than 5 minutes to throw some thoughts down.  I am excited to spend time with my family the next few days, and I will miss my family who I have not seen in a while (some of them years- which is silly because they all live here in StL). 

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas- enjoy the time spent with your family, and please don't be offended if I did or did not get you something extra awesome for Christmas.  Someday I will have my life back in order.

Oh yea!  Santa came early at my house!  Scott and I bought our very first TV!!! We had never bought one before.  We were using a 32 inch tube that he bought from a friend for like $75.  Now I officially feel like I have joined the 21st Century. We also bought a bigger coffee maker- I guess I like a little caffeine these days. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!

New Years Resolution Time!

First a recap on how I did last year...

1) BE PRODUCTIVE...YET CALM - this is my number 1 goal for the year, take a deep breath because these moments will not happen again....

Ehhh...kind of...buying a new house, renting an old house, and having a 2 year old are all very tough. I could have done better...

2) continue to be healthy and loose more weight- this year I met my goal (one day before New Years).... But none the less I met it and surpassed it by .4 pounds :-) 

I lost 20 more pounds this year!

3) meal plan- really because I like it.....and dabble in freezer meals- instead of going to Time For Dinner

Did pretty well with this until the last few months..buying the new house and working a second part time job kind of wore me out! 

4) try a couple new gym classes- I was thinking 1/month, but that seems lofty as of now, considering I do 0. 

I did a few...Barre3, kettle bell, and swim boot camp...they were fun. But we cancelled our gym membership in September when we moved...

5) sell our house- can I make this a goal if I have NO control over it? 

We didn't sell...but we rented it in 1 week! Why didn't we do that years ago?! Would have saved so much stress!

6) talk hubs into adding to our family {am I allowed to say that?}

Ehh...not sure where we are on this...I'll just say. "Not much progress here"

Oh and I had a secret #7 goal...floss everyday! Seriously I thought it was gross and weird that I didn't already, but now I can not go a day without it! Sometimes I even floss a few times!

Now for next year!

1) loose that pesky last few pounds...typical right.

2) wear earrings more.

3) more dates with just me and DH.

4) look into running a half...there I said it....yea yea...they girl who "hates" running. It just seems like 13.1 miles is a BIG scary goal, so I should probably do it. 

5) buy less...in general.

6) do not feel guilty about choosing what makes me happy.

7) blog more.

The extent of my TV watching :-D

I have a 2 year old...so we have plenty of cartoons in our home. I wish we had less...but some times momma needs a break.  We cancelled our cable about 1 1/2 years ago, so I don't spend all my extra time watching DVR'd shows that rot my brain cells. In fact we don't have a DVR at all, so if I want to watch something it has to be on regular local TV, or Amazon Prime.  (Or the iPad- which is where I usually watch TV) 

I used to watch everything from The Kardashians, to The Little Couple, Sister Wives, and 19 Kids and Counting...as well as a ton of other silly shows. (Extreme Couponing, Hoarders, Real World). Ok, so you basically have an idea that I was totally obsessed with stupid reality TV. Well now I only watch 2 shows...Grey's Anatomy, and Switched at Birth.  They are both in between seasons now, and I have to wait until January for more Switched, and February for more Grey's...boo! I guess I will paint with my spare time....

Anyway...just to share with you the reason I watch Grey's and why you should watch too...

Yup...that's it....short and sweet blog today...I don't have the brain power to think of what else to write, and I am using my iPad to post this, so I can't do a super cool link up right now.  Enjoy the picture and don't say I never gave you anything good!