Project Gratitude

Project Gratitude Day 56:
Once again, I am gracious for my mother for all she does for me! She is the best babysitter ever :)

 
 

Project Gratitude

Project Gratitude Day 55:
I am very thankful for the wonderful people in our lives that may not be blood related but I consider them family regardless.

 

Project Gratitude

Project Gratitude Day 54:
Thankful that Hubs did not hurt himself any worse than he did, I hope those Navy Dr.'s can patch him up right! That boy worries me so...

 
 

Friday Confessional

I confess...
I am more tired after being in a car all day then if I had spent the day running! When will they invent teleportation?

I wish Little Miss traveled better, having to stop every 2 hours makes for a long car ride but I feel guilty about getting a TV to travel with us! I should be able to entertain my own kid. But the TV babysitter is so easy...

I confess...
I am really missing Hubs today, its so strange being home without him. The ever changing status of whether communication is up or down is bothering me and honestly I am getting a teensy bit jealous that others are getting phone calls and nice long emails :( I just miss him, nothing he could do would be enough to replace him being here. Guess I need to suck it up buttercup!

I confess...
I am tired of seeing all the negative posts on facebook in regards to deployment. I am tired of seeing people be downright mean to other spouses. I am tired of know it alls who make it their personal mission to show off their smartiness and put others down in the process. Grow up, get a hobby, go make yourself happy because obviously you are miserable with your life if you feel like you have to put others down in order to feel better about yourself. Facebook is evil I swear. My goal is to cut down on my time online because I can't control others immature behavior but I can control how much I read it. 


Join Friday Confessional! Go link up here.  



 
   

Project Gratitude

Project Gratitude Day 53:
Today I am grateful for such amazing parents. They gave up their weekend to drive me 8 hours to my in-laws so they could see Little Miss. 

 

Alot going on!

Wow life sure hasn't slowed down yet! I am finally on the mend after my battle with food poisoning: NEVER eat the food at the zoo in Norfolk. I haven't jumped on a scale yet, but I am pretty sure I lost almost 10 lbs. since I couldn't eat for 3 days. I feel like my clothes are falling off me and I hate that.

Now I am vacation so I have a few extra helping hands around. Not that my friends aren't great help with Little Miss, but come on you can't replace Grandma & Grandpa! This vacation could not have come at a better time. Though I am teasing my mom that its a working vacation for me. I've probably spent 4 hours working on FRG stuff since my plane landed on Tuesday. Actually, while I was on a 3 hour layover in Baltimore I was on the phone booking childcare for our Halfway Party! It is proving to be a lot of work but I am so excited to see how everything will turn out. 

Yesterday we hit up the outlet mall. I LOVE shopping at the outlet, especially for Little Miss. She now has a new summer wardrobe and we made some great purchases at Stride Rite. Their shoes are great, but I refuse to pay $40 for a pair of shoes for her so thank goodness they had an outlet. We found her 2 new pairs (I paid less than what I would have paid for one pair at their normal store!), one of them being a pair of sandals she can wear to the beach or in the water anywhere! Does anyone else get excited when they buy stuff at a great price?

Little Miss has been really enjoying playing with her cousin K, she is 6 months younger than Little Miss. Someone should have explained to K that Little Miss is a hugger. Oh and Little Miss is now calling me "MAMA", right now I am loving it! I am sure eventually I may want a name change though...

I got my first email from Hubs today after he's been in the dark ages for over a week now. He was out pirate hunting. Nope, I'm not even kidding! I told him before he left that he would be out pirate hunting on the open seas...he told me I was being silly. HA! I was right and that doesn't happen very often. For those of you confused, my husband's ship was involved in the pirate fiasco where 4 American citizens were killed. We haven't been able to communicate with them until today so I am excited to finally hear from him. Not that I was worried about him in any way, I mean pirates vs. naval fleet, come on! 

I have lots of plans while I am home, including getting my first tattoo! I will share all of my adventures with you guys :)

Project Gratitude

Project Gratitude Day 52:
Thankful to be in warmer weather, though I am disappointed I didn't pack for it! I can always go shopping :)

 

Project Gratitude

Project Gratitude Day 51:
Thankful for the few old friends I can come back home to and thankful for "grandma" so I can finally get a manicure!

 
 

Project Gratitude

Project Gratitude Day 50:
Very thankful today that Little Miss was such an excellent little plane rider today, I was definitely nervous since this is the first time we have flown since she learned to walk!

 

Project Gratitude

Project Gratitude Day 49:
Happy to be heading "home" tomorrow to be spoiled by my parents!

Project Gratitude

Project Gratitude Day 48:
I am thankful that I am feeling better today!

 

Project Gratitude

Project Gratitude Day 47:
Thankful for Little Miss being so understanding that Mommy is stuck on the couch because of food poisoning :(

 

Project Gratitude

Project Gratitude Day 46:
Happy for a lovely day at the zoo with the play group!

 

Project Gratitude

Project Gratitude Day 45:
Thankful for warmer weather heading our way tomorrow! I am glad I can finally open up the windows and air out the house.

 

Project Gratitude

Project Gratitude Day 44:
FRG meeting days are just beyond hectic for me, I am very happy to have so much help today!

 

Prayers For Logan

I have been MIA for a few days due to my hectic schedule, so tonight when I finally had a chance to catch up on the blogging world I was moved by all the posts about a little boy named Logan. He is a neighbor to a fellow blogger over at Goodnight Moon and he was diagnosed with a stage 4 Wilms Tumor. She is holding a raffle to raise money for his family. Please go over to Goodnight Moon and check out what you can do to help! 

This story hits a little too close to home for me as my sister dealt with childhood cancer. Cancer has also recently struck a close friend who is not even old enough to drink but is dealing with deployment, pregnancy, and a cancer diagnosis. Cancer is such an ugly word and is far too common. It can strike no matter what race, gender, or religion you are. 

While I know there are not many cures out there, I can take solace in the fact that our treatment of cancers have advanced tremendously. Have you ever heard of a little place called St. Jude Children's Research Hospital? This place is top notch and is amazing during such a dark time in people's lives. My sister was treated there for a number of years until they declared her in remission. I have never been in a hospital full of such caring people. The staff here see the saddest and most heartbreaking cases of cancer in children and young adults yet they are so full of hope. Every time my sister had an appointment, they paid for airfare, hotel, food, and transportation from the hotel to the hospital. Not a dime was out of pocket. For families that need to stay long term, they provide lodging for free at the Ronald McDonald House. 

I was on their website tonight and their featured patient of the month is a young girl named Nylah who was also diagnosed with a Wilms tumor like little Logan. Her story so far is a positive one and I hope and pray the same is true for Logan. Please head over to Goodnight Moon and help raise money for his family!

Project Gratitude

Project Gratitude Day 43:
I had an appointment with my personal trainer today and I am so happy my hard work is paying off!

 

Project Gratitude

Project Gratitude Day 42:
I am once again thankful for my Bestie to keep me company tonight :)

 

Project Gratitude

Project Gratitude Day 41:
Today was supposed to be a day of just lying around in my PJ's. I am so happy I decided to get my lazy butt up and take Little Miss to the park and take myself for a run outside! Thank you motivation :)

 
 

Project Gratitude

Project Gratitude Day 40:
Today I am thankful that we had a successful Bowling Party for the FRG and everyone seemed to have a great time! We received so many compliments and I saw many new friendships in the making! Deployments are not easy, but events like this really help boost not only my morale but others as well!

 
 

Time flies by!

Is there such a thing as being "too busy"? If there is, I think I am almost there. By no means am I complaining so don't take it that way there are so many perks to being busy! The days are flying by at record speed. I realized that today after making my monthly appointment with the personal trainer. Wow, has it already been a month that I've been back to the gym? I'm really excited because I am already seeing results. Between the gym, play dates (which I am LOVING), and FRG planning, I am swamped! I had to go out and buy a planner so I don't forget what I have going on. Thanks Little Miss for eating at my brain while I was pregnant...when does that get better by the way? She is over a year old and I still feel like I have pregnancy brain! 

Hopefully things will slow down, I am making a trip to see my parents here soon. I look forward to getting spoiled and to no longer feeling like a married-single mommy! I am afraid to announce the terrible two's have hit our household and Little Miss is taking no prisoners. Lord help us all! Hopefully the weather will start cooperating and warm up soon so we can start burning off energy playing outside. That should help right? I am also anxious to run somewhere else other than the treadmill. 

I can't believe February is almost half over already!

 

Project Gratitude

Project Gratitude Day 39:
I finally had a productive day today and got everything crossed off my to-do list!

 

Project Gratitude

Project Gratitude Day 38:
Very thankful for cheesecake on a bad day :)

 

Project Gratitude

Project Gratitude Day 37:
There are no words out there to adequately describe how grateful I am for the "unexpected angels" in my life.

 

My Adventures with Cooking Healthy...

Usually I am very good at eating healthy but since Hubs left I have sorta veered off track. It is really hard to cook for one...well one and a half. I don't mind eating leftovers but I don't want to eat the same thing all week. I decided this week I would get back to a healthy diet AND back to cooking. My mom shared this awesome cook book with me, Holly Clegg Trim & Terrific. It is a HUGE cookbook and so far I am impressed. The recipes are easy to prepare and they don't taste half bad. Now sometimes I'll tweak them a little, usually its just adding more seasoning. I wanted to share my favorite one I've found so far:

Spinach and Black Bean Enchiladas

1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed

1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 (1.25 oz) package taco seasoning mix (I used HOT taco seasoning mix)

1 cup water

1 cup fat-free sour cream

8 (6-8 inch) flour tortillas (I used whole grain tortillas)

1 (10 oz) can enchilada sauce

1.5 cups shredded reduced fat Cheddar Cheese

2 tablespoons sliced green onions

Preheat over to 375. In a non-stick skillet, heat the spinach, black beans, taco seasoning, and water. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cook for 8-10 minutes or until thick. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream.

On each tortilla, spread 1 tbsp. enchilada sauce, about 1/3 cup of spinach mixture, and 1 tbsp. of cheese. Roll up each tortilla placing the seam side down in a baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray. Spread the remaining enchilada sauce over the filled enchiladas, cover, and bake for 15-18 minutes.

Uncover and garnish with the remaining cheese and green onions. Continue baking for 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Voila! Only 266 Calories, 14 g. Protein, 39 g. Carbs, & 5 g. Fat per serving! They are actually pretty tasty too. I like mine a little spicier so I used the HOT taco seasoning but you can always go more mild. The Bestie even agrees these are pretty good. If you try it out, let me know how you like it!

 

 

Project Gratitude

Project Gratitude Day 36:
Today I am grateful that I was able to stick to eating more healthy food, my tummy however is not so grateful.

 

Bitchy Much?

So today hasn't been my best of days. I blame hormones, the weather, and lack of sleep to name a few. Those sound like good excuses right? Though I am afraid excuses just don't cut it when I turn into Miss Bitch. Yup, that is my split personality. I don't know exactly what prompted her to come out today but boy was she heard. 

I had a great weekend with friends and I was happier then ever when I fell asleep last night. Saturday I went out with an old friend from jr. high & high school. She actually married a sailor too and has been up here a while longer than me. She was a huge help when I moved up here and was lost. It was her birthday this past week so a few of us girls got together for dinner and dancing. It was the first time I have been out to a club in 3 years...wow. I had alot of fun, the girls I was with were so easy going. Then last night I went to another friend's house for a Superbowl Party and had a blast. Last night I remember thinking how lucky I was to have such a great group of people in my life. Also my Hubs is one step closer to adding "SW" by his name, I am one proud wife! So why did Miss Bitch pay a visit today?


So for anyone I offended unintentionally (or intentionally!), I apologize. Though days like this remind me that for once I have REAL, GENUINE people in my life that understand we all have bad days and are willing to overlook it. 


What does everyone else call their "split personality"?

Project Gratitude

Project Gratitude Day 35:
Very grateful for friends that still stick by me even on my bitchy days. I promise once I get some sleep I'll be an angel!


 

Project Gratitude

Project Gratitude Day 34:
After a rough morning & afternoon, I had a wonderful time watching the Superbowl with friends! I am grateful to have great friends around to help pick me up out of a funk :)

 

Project Gratitude

Project Gratitude Day 33:
I am so grateful I was given the chance to rekindle an old friendship from jr. high & high school! I had an amazing night out with her for her birthday tonight with just the girls!

 

Project Gratitude

Project Gratitude Day 32:
Me and the Bestie toured a great location for a super important FRG event and I am so grateful for our luck!

 

Project Gratitude

Project Gratitude Day 31:
I had a very blonde moment today and totally messed up a play date with a new friend, I am grateful that she doesn't hold it against me that I'm not a "super-mom" (her words not mine!). Its so refreshing to have a friend mature enough to understand when I mess up that its not personal, I am just spacey sometimes! 

These are a few of my favorite things...

Thank goodness payday came this week! I was running low or completely out of some of my essentials. It has taken years of trying new products to find my list of favorite things and I wanted to share! Also I am hoping in return I can get some advice about a few things to add to this list :)

• Philosophy Purity Made Simple. Once I found this one-step face wash, I knew I'd never use anything else on my face! I have very oily, acne-prone skin. Not the little zits, but the big massive cystic acne. Yucky. It has taken YEARS of prescriptions and over the counter meds to combat my acne. I have this face wash to thank. I am amazed at how well this stuff works because it is very gentle but still gets the job done PLUS it removes my makeup. 

• Philosophy On A Clear Day. This is an oil-free all over acne treatment. Like all other Philosophy products I have used, this is very gentle on my skin. It has 0.5% salicylic acid but it doesn't burn when I put it on and doesn't dry out my skin very much. I use it twice a day, under my makeup and before bed time, and it keeps my skin clear.

• Proactiv Refining Mask or Philosophy On A Clear Day Acne Spot Treatment. When I do feel a zit coming on, I dab either of these on it before I go to sleep and when I wake up in the morning its not quite the catastrophe that it could have been! Both of these use sulfur as the active ingredient and I find when its combined with the salicylic acid it really helps prevent a huge breakout. Both are gentle on my skin and cause no burning!

• Clinique Even Better Clinical Dark Spot Corrector. Because I deal with cystic acne, I have alot of scarring to deal with. Lovely purple and red spots on my face. This stuff is a miracle worker! It is rather pricey but it is so worth it! Within 2 weeks I can see the scars fading. I used to never leave my house without makeup because the scarring was so bad it looked like I still had blemishes all over my face. After using this product religiously, I can walk out without makeup and I even get compliments on my skin!

• Clinique All About Eyes Serum. Under my eyes I tend to deal with alot of puffiness and dryness. I get this in the eye massage tube and it really brightens and de-puffs my under eye area. 

• Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel. Best. Face. Lotion. Ever. Nothing even compares to this stuff! It is so lightweight, absorbs quickly, and works! With all the acne product I use I tend to get dry areas and this lotion fixes it without leaving behind that oily feeling. Its oil-free and won't cause breakouts either. You can even get it now with SPF. 

• BareMinerals. Since I have super oily skin, wearing liquid foundation in the heat and humidity in summer is a huge mess. I was amazed at how well powders could cover my face just like a liquid but still be lightweight and not melt off. This is a must for people that deal with makeup sliding off their face! The foundation even has SPF 15.

• Clinique Even Better Makeup SPF 15. When I do wear a liquid foundation in the cooler months, this one does double duty. Along with being a light-medium coverage base, it also has the dark spot corrector product mixed in! So in the winter months that is one less product I have to use because they have combined it with the liquid foundation. 

• Urban Decay Shadow Primer Potion in Sin. I have used many different eye shadow primers to help my eyeshadow not get all creasy by the end of the day. This one actually works AND it adds a touch of color. Its a nice shiney nude color. You can get it in different colors or no color at all.  

• Smashbox Cream Eye Liner in Midnight Brown. I apply this stuff with a smudger brush and its perfect every time! I don't have the most steady hand, but applying with the brush is effortless. A trick I use: I blow warm air on the liner before I dip the brush in it so it applies easier. 

• Sephora Lash Plumper Mascara in Brown. I have tried all the ridiculously expensive mascaras out there, if my husband knew how much money I wasted on find the perfect volumizing mascara he would not be a happy camper! This stuff is $12 at Sephora and it works BETTER than the pricey brands. It not only makes my eyes look like I have lots of lashes, but it also lengthens.

• Smashbox Makeup Brushes. Since I use the powder makeup, a soft brush is a must! These are not cheap but OMGoodness do they feel amazing when applying makeup. I have the face/body brush for my powders and the smudger brush for my eye liner.

• Nivea Body Lotions. I wash my hands a million times a day and even though I have an oily face, my arms & legs get ashy. I use this stuff on my body after a shower and I have some by my sink when I wash my hands. Its lightweight, absorbs quickly, and doesn't feel greasy. Plus it works better than the heavier lotions that make my hands feel all gross. 
• Colgate Total Toothpaste. I have used this stuff for years and I can brush in the morning and by lunchtime my breath still smells minty. 
• Suave Clinical Protection Deodorant. You can buy the Secret brand, but this one works the same and costs much less. I can put this stuff on and it'll keep me sweat/stink free for 2 days!           
• Nicole/OPI Nail Polish. Both are made by the same company, Nicole is just slightly cheaper. This polish endures the many hand washes I put my nails through and manages to last longer than the rest.
• Chi Flatiron. Love it, it works well and has taken a beating yet still works faithfully! While my hair is naturally board straight, I use this to tame the ends of my layers. It is a pricey investment but I've had mine for 5 years now with zero problems. 

I hope this list is helpful to some of you, I know it took me almost 10 years to figure out! I know the makeup and skin products can be quite pricey. Luckily the only product I run out of quickly is the acne gel. Also, the NEX sells Philosophy, Clinique, Smashbox, and BareMinerals for much cheaper than the other stores. Though the advantage of shopping at Sephora or Ulta is their rewards points program if you like that sort of thing.

What I would like to add to this list: A good volumizing shampoo and conditioner that won't dry out my hair. I highlight my very fine hair and the problem I come across is either A) the product doesn't volumize, or B) it does volumize but it dries out my hair.
Also I would LOVE to find the perfect lipstick/gloss. I love the staying power of lipstick and how a gloss feels soft on my lips I just haven't found a product yet that combines those two well. 

Thursday Five

Time for Thursday Five, head on over to Flip Flops and Combat Boots  to link up!

Here are the 5 things this week that made me feel:

 

Honest

Splendid

Perfect

Spectacular

Fancy

 

 I was at the mall a few nights ago shopping for a friend's birthday gift and also browsing for fun stuff to put in the next care package for Hubs. At Francesca's (I LOVE that store!) they had the cutest book of love coupons so I grabbed then and threw them on the stroller. I walked out the door a few minutes later and totally forgot I had the coupons! I turned around, apologized for my Honest mistake, and paid for them. 

 

Monday night I had a friend and her wonderful daughters over for dinner, this is the first time I've had anyone over for dinner since Hubs left. It was Splendid having a chance to chit chat with her, normally we are so rushed for time! 

 

This week I have stuck to my workout routine and I even ran for 30 minutes straight! At least one thing in my life is going Perfect right now!

I received my first phone call from Hubs and it was beyond Spectacular! I have never cried so many happy tears :) Hearing his voice was the best thing by far that has happened this week. 

 

So I decided to try out my new "suit" jacket with my nautical-inspired striped shirt with sequins and my new pair of bootcut super darkwash jeans and to top it off wore my grey suede Jessica Simpson leather booties. I got so many compliments on my outfit, I felt so Fancy!