Road Trip

Sooooooo, to sum up the past month and a half, I'll simply let out a huge sigh of relief that it is behind us.  :)  Not that it was terrible by any means, simply an adjustment period.

Our road trip was a successful 4 day journey, in which we only lost one item along the way.  No, it was NOT the precariously balanced mountain of stuff attached to the back of my suv.  It was my youngest child's beloved stuffed animal.  Makes me wish that it HAD of been the mountain of junk instead.  :(  Anyone who's ever had a child lose their "lovie" knows that it's detrimental.
(I'll come back through when I find the photo of the suv piled high with stuff)

The animals fared well along the way..... with only one MINOR setback..... i forgot to feed the poor cat after the initial day on the road.  So my little Fat-Fat got a wee bit smaller.  I felt horrible about it, but I guess the stress of the trip, and constantly making sure all of us were safely back in the car after each stop, it simply didn't enter my mind.  And she's such a GOOD traveler that she wasn't meowing or anything.... had she spoke up I might have thought to feed her!  ***She's happily back to her old fat self now!***

All in all, the trip went well.... however, by the end we were all exhausted, despite stopping each night after 8-12 hours of driving so we could sleep.  Everyone pretty much looked like this anytime we stopped on that last day/night........

I thank God for safe travels though, and a lot of fun "road trip" memories!

Purple, Blue, & Pink

Today is Day THREE after the initial surgery on my right leg on Wednesday.  I'm thankfully blessed to say that that leg is feeling much better than yesterday when I thought I'd much rather cut the entire leg off than deal with the intense pain it was causing!  But I muscled through and today is brighter.  Since I forgot to add a picture of the actual veins that they took out (or parts of them...) I figured I'd go ahead and gross you out right about now! 

The doctor said that after they were removed they shrunk, obviously because there's no blood supply to them, and thus, there is no swollen look.  Because MY first thought was "that's it"!?!  That's what's causing the pain and problems!?  But apparently this is my veins after they look "good" - HAH!  

Now here's a pic from yesterday of both legs.... wrapped up tight.  It looks funny (and ignore the dusty spot in the photo... I never dust, it's a waste of time!) but the tightness of the wraps feels pretty good!  

Now, on a brighter note ----- Someone who loves me DEARLY bought me donuts as a special treat!!!  :)  And when I saw the Halloween box I was doubly excited!  I mean.... look how CUTE! 

Getting back on track.... since today was day 3 of my right leg, I was allowed to unwrap and rewrap a bit more loose.  So here is what we found under the mummy wraps....I'm sure it will get plenty worse.  I bruise super easy even on a good day, lol.  :)  And since I'm trying to document the recovery, you know i'll have more photos in a day or two!   

My leggy adventure

Just thought I'd document my leg adventure.  I'll give you the back story on it real quick. Never had a problem with my legs up until (enter my first born) I had kids.... got worse the second time around (enter my second child).  It was always ugly, but since I was overweight and only wore pants year round it didn't really bother me much.  Recently (by that I mean over the past 2 years) I've lost 70 pounds by S-L-O-W-L-Y dieting and exercising.  I'm about 10 pounds from my goal weight, but my legs started hurting a few months back... going numb and tingling from the knees down.  My doctor referred me to specialist, specialist said I have valve problems, damaged veins, as well as varicose veins.  Sooo..... surgery was what route we took.

Day 1:
Nervous as ever..... not sure what to expect, assuming lots of needles (terrified of needles.... would be putting it mildly).  First they marked my legs....

Beautiful eh!?  :)  Then they did a second ultrasound to make sure everything was in the right spot before we started.  I must say I was a nervous wreck.  I had only been told to take 1/4 of a xanax.  If you know me, I can blow through 2 full xanax and it barely calms my nerves.  So I was skeptical.... which was accurate because after they started cutting I started to panic.... nearly threw up and they had to lower my head because I was about to pass out.  After the ordeal was over, they let me see the veins that had been removed.  GROSS!!!!!!  I've got a picture of them, but i'll spare you.
And this is me afterwards...wrapped like a mummy!  :)

3 weeks

3 weeks left!?  This seems surreal.  I can't believe we'll be out of Vegas in such a short amount of time.  I wander if my brain just helps me forget these nasty little details each move we make... because i can't remember being panicked when it comes time to moving.  Perhaps it's the whole "new start to life" sort of thing we are doing.  Where we'll start over at the bottom with no jobs, no money, yet BILLS.  Haha... it's gonna be so weird!
In the meantime I'm going to continue to pray that God shows us the way, helps us remain patient with each other, and gives us the strength to keep pushing forward!  :)

Just a little pic that makes me remember to breath...

It's my Favorite Season!

FALL is here..... it's evident in the cooler weather (well... lets be honest, COLDER weather), the smell of the air has changed, although I can never place my finger on what it is I'm smelling that's different from summer.
Let's just go ahead and say I'm a pretty CRAFTY person year round.... it's just "my thing" so to speak.  So I do crafts with my kids all the time, but this particular one caught my eye on www.pinterest.com and I knew I just HAD to try it.  It took about 1 hour to complete.  The hardest (longest) part was gathering all the colored paper.  Since we are right in the middle of moving, most of our stuff is packed up in boxes, so I had to go on a hunting adventure to find what I needed.  On a "normal" (what is normal when you have kids.... right!?) day it would have been about 30 minutes from start to finish most likely.
But anyways..... it's just adorable.  Check it out!  A Halloween banner!  Now I did it just like the one from the site that the other mom made, but I got to thinking that we could easily add a spider and a mummy!  So maybe by next year I can add to it!

Each of these were attached to a piece of fishing line that we keep hung up between these two rooms year round for stuff such as this (i.e.- we hung styrofoam spiders and bats from it last year at Halloween, and for Valentine's day we hang paper hearts from it, etc...) I chose to secure them with hair pins ("bobby pins") which is what you can see on them.  But if you'd rather those not show, the lady on pinterest had hers attached to ribbon with clothespins and that was cute too!
So that's that.  There's an OWL, CANDY CORN, FRANKENSTEIN, PUMPKIN, GHOST, & BLACK CAT.

Simple Joys

Simply Joys in my life include {but are not limited to}
1.) watching my children blow the fluffy part off of a dandelion 
2.) watching lightening from the safety of my porch
3.) sleeping in.... and realizing that husband has the children downstairs being quiet
4.) smelling bacon and eggs being cooked {this is best if paired with #3}
5.) taking a long walk on a cool autumn night
6.) hearing the voice of ANY of my grandparents on the phone
7.) when my son tells me "mom your awesomer than dad" :)
8.) kisses...unexpected, passionate, at anytime
9.) having family time outdoors
10.) taking the kids on a picnic in the mountains
11.) sleeping during a thunderstorm
12.) getting to dress in my winter clothes


I'm going to continue to add to this list because it's important that I SEE the things in life that make me happy in writing.... I have such a blessed life and it's important to thank God for it everytime I get a chance!  :)  

I just LOVE this picture of my youngest and my husband riding bikes through the tunnel.... it's blurry but it captures exactly what I wanted it to...something so profound I can't even put it into words.  :)  

Another photo that just does my heart good..... my youngest picking said dandelion to blow.  :)  I watched his little red, chapped lips pucker up and blow all the fluff off of it before turning to me with a huge grin on his little face!  :)  


That's all I have to offer for today.... but life treats me well so I'll be back soon with more pictures!  Oh... and today is day 3 of the mom challenge.... and yes I've hugged each of my children the suggested 3 times today, and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon!  We hug a LOT around here!  

PACK that thing UP!

Getting back into this blog thing is a bit harder than I thought.... how hard could it be to just type some words and add a pic or two... but it's the time it takes to come get on here away from my other responsibilities .... kids... husband...house....chores...packing....
Speaking of which.... that's what we've been doing the most of... PACKING!!!

 

See....it's called PROGRESS!!!!  I've gotten 5 new boxes packed up this week!  YAY for me!!!!!  Linens, kids stuff, glass things, books, and more linens.  :)  Hey.... it's a START!

I went to the vein doctor this past week because I'm having issues with my veins in my legs..... NO i will not be posting any pics of those nasty little things, lol.  But the view from my doctor's room was pretty so I thought I'd share THAT with you!!!  :)

Now..... about the whole "post a picture a day for 30 days"..... I've been TAKING a picture EVERY day.... it's just that I'm unable to get on the computer to post every day.  But I have been taking them at least!  Soooooo maybe every few days I post the newest ones I have.  That way i'm still posting but I can do it in a better time frame for ME!  :)  I doubt anyone (read: my ONLY follower....) will mind!  :)

A-B-C

Just wanted to share these adorable ABC prints.... I'm thinking of printing out a couple different types of them for the boys next bedroom once we move.  I think it would look cute on the wall in a frame.... maybe like a collage wall of framed prints.  And i'll start with these.  :)

 Then there are these which are much more unique, other than the alphabet.  I think they would go nicely with the others though.... Different sizes of course to add to the overall look.

Maybe once I get this done (in like a year...if i'm a good procrastinator, lol) I'll post pics once they are up!

Inspiration

For anyone who has yet to be sucked into the allure of Pinterest, you have NO idea what kind of fun you are missing out on.  :)  You can sit here for hour upon endless hour looking through the photos.  I get photography and craft ideas, I get inspiration, I get quotes that inspire me.... it's become an addiction like no other.  :)  Here's just a sample....

The photo on the bottom is a craft I'd like to do for my own home.. with the huge frames, filled with so many smaller photographs, rather than just one large one.  To me it's like a cork board but more "airy".  I am just in love with it!!!  Plus, they just have a shabby chic feel to them which pulls me in!

Here's another example from Pinterest:

I'm so obsessed with everything Parisian.  I mean.... who doesn't want to get swept away in the city of romance!?  Anything with the Eiffel Tower, or streets that look remotely European make me take a second look... so I can get my fix for Paris by scrolling through the endless number of photos from Paris.  It's so perfect!!!

In OTHER news...... it STORMED yesterday.  Not a big deal in places where it storms all the time, but definitely a big deal here in the waste land known as Nevada.  Bleh... always so DRY!  But here's physical proof of our rain.... I even got the excitement of driving in it!  It's hilarious to me however that as soon as the first few drops hit, people start hitting their brakes.  I laugh every time!  It's rain people... not acid!!!!!  Enjoy it!

30 Day "MOM" Challenge

I saw this on a fellow bloggers site and fell in love with the idea of it.  I'm all for "self improvement" activities, and this one just seemed so perfect.  We (the entire family unit) are starting the chaotic process of heading into deep waters.... otherwise known as "moving", and along with that comes added stress, added chaos, added tension and yelling (sorry to admit it, but I do yell on occasion), and neglect of any of the following things : children! pets! manners! organization! husband! self!.  Soooooo, I can at least work on one area from this list right!?  The CHILDREN!  They shouldn't suffer simply because we are moving.  In fact I should try to focus more energy and patience on them since they don't understand as well as adults what is really going on.

Without further ado here is the "challenge" i'm going to focus on for the next 30 days!  Oct. 1st  is Day One.

 30 Day Mom Challenge
Mom's Ultimate To-Do List

1. Ask "what is one thing we can do together, this month?"

2. Go the whole day without yelling at your children.

3. Hug your child three times today.

4. Kiss your child while they are sleeping.

5. Tell yourself, "He's only ____ years old. He's still a child." Then treat him that way.

6. Bake, make, or buy them their favorite food.

7. Leave a sweet note for them.

8. Calculate how many more weekends let until your child graduates from high school.

9. Picture yourself at your child's age. Try to remember how you felt.

10. Today's mom focus: joy.

11. Tell your child, "I am so glad you're my son/daughter."

12. Pray for wisdom in mothering your child.

13. Do not criticize your child today.

14. Remember that being a mother is a gift.

15. Be firm when needed, but not harsh.

16. Picture what you want your child to be like at age 25. Mother with that in mind, today.

17. Laugh with your child today.

18. Who is a mom you admire? What quality of hers can you live out, today?

19. Teach your child one thing that he can do on his own today.

20. Today's focus: patience.

21. Forgive yourself when you mess up.

22. How do you want your child to remember you? Be that mom, today.

23. Replace sarcasm with kindness.

24. Don't interrupt your child when he is talking.

25. Ask your child's opinion sometime today.

26. Make it a point to encourage your child today.

27. Do one thing that is good for your health: walk 10 minutes, eat a piece of fruit or get a good night's sleep.

28. Teach your child a new word.

29. Turn off your phone, computer or TV today when your child is with you.

30. Today's focus: love.

Starbucks Anyone!?

Just a back story for you.  I've never been a fan of coffee.... the most our relationship has ever been is at Christmas time each year the past 2 years (only)... I've gotten some kind of caramel thing that's to die for.  However, I've never been fond of cold coffee whatsoever.  That is.... until recently.  I found myself at the store searching for a replacement for my Mt. Dew addiction, when out of the blue I thought to myself "I shall force myself to try this Starbucks Mocha Frappachino".  It looks like chocolate milk, it was in a cute milk bottle sort of thing, and so much to my dismay I bought one.  THAT my friends... was the un-doing of me!

As you can tell from the above photo, I've become quite "FRIENDLY" with this particular drink.  It's my NEW addiction.  So yay.... I celebrate not being addicted to Mt. Dew any longer, however..... my wallet is thinning and my waistline expanding.  :(  NOT a good thing.... and yet I'm drawn to these glass milk bottle drinks like a firefly to a porch light.

One Week to Go

Soooo.... with this being my first blog post, and my last week of work I don't really know WHERE to begin exactly.  I feel that it should have some sort of importance, just not sure what that might be.  I don't have a direction that I plan on taking this blog.... I'm doing it more in hopes of it leading me somewhere.  The writing (see: typing...) is therapeutic, thus the reason of my wanting to pursue it right now in a time of chaotic changes in my life.  
In approximately 5 weeks, my family will be moving back home to FL.  We are looking forward to this wonderful change with great anticipation, however, it will be hard to leave our home here in Las Vegas.  We have so grown to love our house, & although not too fond of the summer weather, the winter is beautiful.  We are 30 minutes from snow covered mountains, while remaining in the snow-less valley.  So we get a taste of both worlds and it's fabulous!  I feel like we should have went sledding more last year, or that my ALP (abbreviation for my husband) should have went snowboarding more times with his friends.  Because we will be leaving before any real snow falls on the mountain this year.  That makes me sad because I LOVE the snow.... and once we move back to FL, we'll have to go up to TN or something to see any.  
Packing is the activity that we stay most busy with lately.  We pack after work most nights, we wake up packing on the weekends.  We pack when we have spare time.  Clearly we have entirely too much stuff if we have to devote THIS much time to packing.  Right!?  Although I have to say i'm very impressed with how much we HAVE been able to get rid of.  ALP has already taken a truck load of stuff to Goodwill, and we have another truck load of clothes mainly this time.  We are going to try and get those to somewhere like an abuse shelter or something similar.  
Well that's about it for now.... I know that kind of sounds like a letter to someone, and hopefully with time I can change that and not sound so downright boring.  I'll work on that!  :)