Monday, October 31, 2011

It's Halloween!!!

And... here we are:
Ashley Va 

We went with Geek and Chic!!! I must say M's costume really made an impression this year! haha!

How bad is it that the weekend only consists of two days really and I am having a hard time remembering what we did Friday night...

Saturday M worked until 2:00 PM. We then headed into town to grab some groceries and the remaining items we needed for our costumes... aka fake eyelashes for me! And what a steal of a deal I got - they were only $2!!! So I bought a few packages for future use!!

We stopped at the farm to pick up Mike's bow tie and shirt, and Mike's Mom put my eyelashes on! We came home and began baking these:

Excuse the crappy pic, I was in a rush when I took it!!

We went to the Halloween party and had a great time! Oh and the cupcakes tasted superb... I LOVE my home made icing!!

Oh I just remembered what we did Friday night... we went for a nice walk and chilled at home - it was soo nice while it lasted, until Mike got paged out to a garage/house fire...

Sunday morning we slept in, which was excellent!! We got up and got the day started with laundry and cleaning the kitchen. I went shopping with K and little G, had lunch and before we heading home, we stopped at Payless!!

Oh the deals I found:

Womens American EagleWomen's Fynn Pleated Flat

and these peep toes:

Womens American EagleWomen's Gia Ruffle Peep Toe Flat
The pictures obviously don't do them justice... but they are super cute on and super comfy!!
Plus it was Buy 1 get the 2nd pair 50% off... so guess how much I spent on these 2?

$15 
that's it!!!

I also got this hat:
Sale MinicciWomen's Three Button Band Cadet Hat

and instead of making my own purse, I bought:

Womens MinicciJosie Shopper
but not this one exactly, this one is similar...

I paid $17 for the purse and $5 for the hat!!!

Great deals!! And then on top of that, I saved 20%, so I bought all four things for less that $35!! Soo... go shoe shopping ladies, while the sale is on!! Start your Christmas shopping early!!!

While I was at play... M was busy at work at home... we can't all play at the same time right? M managed to doctor our mudroom doors. Let me explain: We have patio doors, but one of the doors was stationary, but because of where we put the washer and dryer, we needed the other door to be the one that opens. We tried to get a new middle post, but Home Depot didn't call us back... not impressed, so M decided that he could just doctor the middle post and sure enough he did! So he installed new door handles, since the other ones were only bedroom handles - um scary... and now the door opens the way we need it too!! Love my handy man!!

Later that afternoon, I took pics of little G for K all decked out in her toad clothes!!! She was such a great little photo subject and was pretty much all smiles!!

I hope everyone has a great Halloween!!!



Friday, October 28, 2011

Freaky Friday

Yikes! It is the Friday before Halloween!!! I have a Halloween party to go to tomorrow and haven't confirmed my costume yet!! My ideas:

- Geek and Sheek - M will be the geek and I will dress up and do my hair..
- M could go as a ball player and I could go as Cat woman - but I need black leggings...
-M wanted to be a firefighter - Not original and too EASY, as is the ball player, I considered going as Snooky, but let's face it, she is too short and I'm not skanky enough and couldn't pull of heels!

I also need to bring an appetizer... I wanted to go with a Halloween theme and I am stuck!! I think I make mini spooky cupcakes. I wanted to make mini mummies with hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls... but there was no way I could stand the smell long enough to cook the hot dogs!! Me and hot dogs = GROSS!! I got food poisoning once... and it has been downhill from there!

Halloween is special for M and I. Our first official date was on Halloween! Of course we didn't call it a date, we were just "hanging out" but it was history from there!!! We had soo much fun! Waaay back in high school, M came over for the first time and we sat on my Mom's front porch and scared little kids. Then we took a drive to one of the "haunted" roads in the area... nothing happened - it wasn't all that haunted!! We took the old Snoopy (my old shih tzu) for a walk after all the kiddies were done trick or treating and realized my sister and her boyfriend were spying on us... M got his first speeding ticket on the way home. We joke that he was rushing home to tell his Mom all about me! He called me when he got home to tell me how much fun he had and to inform me of his ticket! That was just the start of many phone conversations! But if anyone asked - we were still not dating... haha Of course we had hung out before that, but that was in group settings, this was our first official time alone together!

This week we accomplished a bit of fall cleaning in the house! We cleaned out our cupboards/pantry and re-organized! I am embarrassed to admit that a lot of food was thrown out, but we also donated some!! It did feel good to get it all cleaned out though, as I am sure it hadn't been done since we moved in!!! I worked on editing photos yesterday with photo shop and I am still not done!! I am just learning photo shop on my own, so it is taking me a bit longer to learn the ropes!! Thank God for YouTube tutorials!!

Oh and I wanted to give a shout out to all of my new followers, (as well as the old ones)!! 200 followers!!! We just might need to do a give away to celebrate!!!

Since it is the Friday before Halloween, I thought I would share an embarrassing photo of M and I in costume:
Yup.. that is a thong one piece swimsuit... hahaha

Here we are at M's parents showing them our costume!!

I also blasted MJ on my stereo!!

Have a great weekend!!
Photobucket
Link up HERE

 

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Life Doesn't Wait

Have you ever felt like you were stuck in a rut, or in a hole you can't climb out of? I have and I am hear to tell you that it sucks!

Yet, although I have not made it out of such hole, I am going give you some tips on how to cope.

#1) Life does not wait for you. Even if you feel like your life is going nowhere, it still is. Life is happening all around you, whether you are ready or not. It is almost as if you need to cling to other peoples lives to drag you out of the hole. Or.., you could try to look on the bright side. Take a look at how far you have come and everything good you have going in your life. It is soo easy to compare your life to others, but stop and embrace the life you have. After all it is YOUR life that is going to take you somewhere!!

#2) Feel how you are going to feel. Don't let others tell you how to feel. If you want to cry - cry.
:)

If you want to laugh or scream - do it. Our feelings let us know we are alive. Have you ever wondered what life would be like if we didn't have feelings?

Pinned Image

I laugh at this quote, yet feel soo strongly about it as well. Wouldn't we all love to know the reason.... wouldn't we love for everything to make sense all the time?

#3) Don't play the what if game! It is a bad idea! There are no guarantees in life and for the most part there are too many variables for every situation. As hard as it is, let it play out.

Grow and conquer

Remember to keep your head up. Pull your strength deep from within, be prepared to be surprised by what you actually can handle.

plans




Wednesday, October 26, 2011

The Typical Wednesday Post


I have soo much to love and somethings I am not loving.

Let's start out with the things I am loving:

- I love that my best friend (my MOH from my wedding) got engaged Monday night!!! I am over the moon and back excited for her!!!

- I love my new curling iron I was talking about on Monday!! I used it last night with the biggest attachment and it made perfect beach waves! I didn't put any product in either and they all feel loosely, which was the look I was going for!! Oh and bonus, it didn't take me all that long!! I was a bit nervous, as it does not have a clip, it is just a rod that you wrap your hair around. Oh and it gets super HOT, super FAST!

- I love that I got to see my best friend and her new fiance last night to celebrate before they headed back up north!! I also agreed to make the trek up north to see them and their new house!

- One of my other good friends got engaged as well on the weekend! Crazy goodness of course!!

- I need to figure out a Halloween costume idea for the hubs and I for this weekend.

- I am NOT loving all the rain we are getting!

- I am NOT loving that our hot tub is still not fixed, but I do love that they guy is trying to get the stuff under warranty!!

- I am off tomorrow!!!

- I do NOT love these new supplements I have to take. Here comes a mini rant:
-they are disgusting
-they are huge
-I have to take 2 pills twice a day with food
-they stink
-they are massive - did I mention that?
-I have issues taking pills, so I tried to open the capsule and mix it in a fruit smoothie - disgusting, I even made M try it!
-I tried taking it with milk last night and gagged like crazy.
-so far the only thing that is working is to swallow with a fruit smoothie or V8 - I think it is the thickness and string flavor to try to mask the disgustingness and size.
Does anyone have an innovative way to take huge pills?

Okay I am done ranting for now!

- I love my hubby.

- I love my dogs, even when a certain light colored one chews things she isn't allowed to. (I may be trying to convince myself of that one).


As far as Pinterest goes:
google

LOL!!!


Well said.

Pinned Image
Hart of Dixie - Love this show!!

Use a rubber band to remove a stripped screw. SMART!
I recommended doing this for my hubby on the weekend and he thought I was crazy... we didn't up trying it, but I still wonder!

DIY CD cases
I need to make something similar for my photo shoot client disks! Anyone have any ideas?

I hope everyone has a great Wednesday!!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Guest Post Today!!!

Today we have a guest post by Nathan

Life & Everything Else In Between


He has a very exciting announcement that he wanted to share with the world!!

When Ashley posted her request for guest posts I had to think a little. I thought could I do this? Do people that I don’t even know or have never even read my blog want to hear what I have to say? I have so much to say! I can do this! Like many of us, once I hit that ‘I can do this’ moment I may have let those thoughts go for a while, shrugged it off, and decided against it because I’ve never done a guest post and didn’t want to make a fool out of myself. However, I’ve had a certain something on my mind for a while that I haven’t been quite able to let out. Not really a secret, but a major announcement.
I’m not quite ready to post this particular announcement on my blog for reasons you’ll soon find out. I’ve been extremely excited and anxious to tell people about this major development in my life and when I saw Ashley’s call for guest posts I thought, wow, what better way to express how I feel than make this announcement a guest post on Ashley’s blog so that all of you can join in my excitement!
Before I go any further into detail, let me tell you a little about myself. I’m a twenty-five year old happily married young man who lives in the mountains of Northern Vermont. I’m originally from the coast of Maine (culture shock) and I love the water. My favorite time of year is summer and my favorite saying is that Life is Good isn’t just a trademark, it’s a fact! I have a yellow lab named Chloe and I consider her my best friend. I started blogging many years ago when I met a kid at camp who told me about how when he was angry he wrote. I decided I was going to write! The only twist was that I was going to write about Life and everything else in between! I’ve had many different blogs on the web up until last April/May when I was looking at an old high school friend’s facebook page and noticed that she blogged using blogger. I checked out her blog and was fascinated. I was intrigued by her posts and inspired. Inspired so much that I wanted to use blogger and well, here I am! I don’t have a lot of followers yet, I’m still relatively new, I get ragged on by facebook friends who read my blog for the fact that I even have a blog. Apparently blogging is not a 'guy thing'. Doesn’t bother me a bit though, blogging is my escape! I love it even if there’s not always a method to my madness! Ashley was actually one of the first people to follow my blog and that’s how I started following her. So, that being said, let me get back to Life as I know it!
My wife and I have been happily married for three going on four years now. Three years ago when we moved into our current apartment we got a beautiful yellow lab. Chloe is our world and we love her to death. We don’t treat her like a pet; we treat her like a member of the family, as if she were a kid, that’s what we consider her. I have a passion for animals and I would own many if time allowed it. As much as I love animals, I love family just as much. For a few years now, Erin and I have been discussing family. We’ve discussed our future, how many kids we want, how we want them to grow up, etc.
chloe12.jpg
In the process of talking about kids we’ve taken the time to learn about the value of having kids and the value of life. Last year, Erin traveled to Guatemala to help family’s build homes and have a place to live. I’ve had the privilege of working with children teaching theatre and being a big brother to them. In my current jobs I see people, both good and bad, and watch the way they treat their kids and other members of their family. Through these observations and learning experiences I came to the conclusion that I wanted my own kid and I want to give them everything I can and do everything I can to watch them grow up and be successful.
This year Erin and I made a few choices. One of those choices was that we were going to try to have a baby! The other was that if we weren’t successful Erin was going to plan to go to Guatemala again in February. Well, I’m happy to report (for good reason) that Erin will not be going to Guatemala again this year! My major announcement is that Erin and I are expecting! I’ve known for about a month now but haven’t said anything because we want to wait until Erin’s second doctor’s appointment on October 25th to make the official announcement to co-workers, friends, etc. Our families already know and couldn’t be more excited for us! Heck, I’m excited for us!
I’ve always considered myself a down to earth, genuine, organized, and responsible person. Adding a new member to our family will require all of those traits to be upped a notch. I feel that a gift is being given to us and with a great gift comes great responsibility. I see so many people who don’t treat their kid’s right and it tears me up. I watched one woman two weeks ago come into our store with three kids and she literally had them tied to her. Those kids were out of control! They touched everything, they licked everything, and it was nasty! Another customer said awful cruel things to their kids when they picked up something in the store. As a father, I would never treat my kids that way. I will do the best job that I possibly can with my kid and I would never treat them like either of those parents. I will teach them right from wrong and I will not abuse them, verbally or physically! I know it’s not easy, nothing ever is, but I made a commitment to myself and my family when I decided to try for this baby and that was that I’m going to put my heart and soul into this. The baby deserves every bit of love I can give!
babyroom.jpg
Now, it’s time to be the man of the house. As you can see from the photo above I have some work to do! Yes, this is the baby’s room. Right now, it’s more the office, museum, and craft center. Soon, that will all change! The photos will come down, the walls will be stripped, painted, furniture will be moved and that photo will look much different come early June when the baby arrives. We've already decided on names for either a girl or boy and we do plan to find out. Erin and I have decided to keep the names on the DL for now but I think they're good and I'm very happy with them!
So, that is my major announcement! I feel a bit relieved to have told all of you and I can’t wait to tell all of my co-workers and friends! I want to thank Ashley for allowing me to post a guest blog to make my announcement. I read Ashley’s blog regularly and I’m very encouraged by what she has to say. Her love for her dogs is definitely something I can relate too! I must admit that I was quite nervous to write my first guest blog and not because of the topic but because of the fact that I don’t know any of her followers. I’m sure you’re all great though and I’m sure you all have great blogs as well. Feel free to stop by my blog sometime and check it out! http://spreenmvp.blogspot.com/
Have a good day everybody!

Isn't that an exciting guest post? Congrats Nathan and Erin!! I wish you all the best with the remainder of the pregnancy, as well as getting ready for the baby!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Manic Monday


Wow those weekends go fast, but today I am blogging from home!! Yup day off!! Ohh how I have missed my Monday's off! Even though I ended up waking up just as early as a work day - M's fire pager went off in my ear as he was kissing me goodbye this morning. Wouldn't trade being a fire fighter's wife for the world though! I am soo proud of M for all that he does for the community!!

This weekend went by with wanting to get soo many things accomplished and well pretty much nothing actually getting accomplished. Just one of those weekends..

Friday I stopped at Winner's and picked up my new curling iron set, as well as some goodies for the dogs!

This is what I bought and I hope to try it out today. It is not the one I wanted to buy, and cost me a bit more, but it came with more and I have 10 days to return it!

We ended up having dinner at the farm Friday night.

I also received a promotional email from my cell phone provider offering me the new blackberry torch for a penny. Their system has been down, but it sounds like a great deal - here is to hoping I end up getting it! It would have the touch screen as well as the keyboard!

Saturday morning we were supposed to get our new window installed, so we took down the blind and drapery and then found out that the window that they ordered was too small... luckily they realized that before they took my old window out! I guess the ordering guy misread the measurement, so now we wait another 3 weeks!

So we headed into town to try to get the part for our mudroom doors, so we can flip the way the patio door opens... it is special order.. so that didn't happen either!

We picked up the chemicals for the hot tub so we can start that up and headed home. We headed to the lake to go pick up our new gazebo that we bought off friends. We managed to complete that task and then went out for dinner with M's parents again! Saturday night we played Clue with friends!

Sunday morning I had a photo shoot with friends of ours to take family photos! It was a beautiful day and everything went smoothly! We had lunch with them and then headed home to get things done around the house. M attempted to start up the hot tub and we ran into our first problem ever with it! It kept popping the breaker. So we have a call in with a tech for that :( Needless to say that didn't end up getting finished. But we did manage to get the old gazebo taken down and the new one up with lights and all! We still have the curtains to put on, but we aren't in a rush for that. M also managed to get the cushions put away for the patio furniture! I finally got a few loads of laundry done on the line, may as well take advantage of the nice weather while it is here, since more rain is on its way!

Today I have a long list of things I would like to accomplish, but it might be too long lol!
- work in kitchen - clean out cabinets, fridge, etc.
- make a bag for clothes pins
- consider making a new purse depending on the material choices I currently have
- vacuum
- edit photos
- fold laundry
- pop over to the post office
- try new curling iron
- make dinner

Tomorrow I have an exciting guest post, be sure to check it out!!!

Friday, October 21, 2011

Your Newest Love Bug

I am officially a new LOVE BUG!!! What is a love bug you ask? I represent and offer savings for:

Lovable Labels provide a variety of products which help you label various things, such as clothing, shoes, Tupperware, children's toys/clothes/etc, allergy labels, address labels, iron ons, bag tags and soo much more and all for affordable pricing! Shipping is FREE in Canada and only $3.00 US!!

These products will make all of your lives easier in one way or another, especially moms!!





They are:
-dishwasher safe
-microwave safe
-UV resistant
-washing machine safe
-dryer safe

Check out their website HERE.

You will not only help support a local school, but I can offer you a 10% discount with this code:
AshleyVLB1
(just enter during checkout)

Check it out and get your orders placed!! They also make great gifts!!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Few Of My Favorite Blogs

Since I am looking for some guest posts... This working everyday is having me feel a bit overwhelmed, but I don't want affecting my blog! Here are some topics I had in mind for the guest posts:
  • How a having dog changed your life
  • The things you learned after you got married
  • Things you learned when you moved out on your own
  • Tips and tricks everyone should know about
  • Something that has happened in your life that has changed your life
  • a DIY craft
  • How to organize something in your life/home
  • or whatever you want to talk about...
Just leave me a message saying you are interested and whether it would be your own topic or one above.

And because I am hoping some loyal readers will guest post, I am going to showcase some of my favorite blogs! I love finding new blogs to read!

Here are 3 of my daily reads:


Amy blogs about matters of the heart, and for some reason whenever she posts, there is a message that hits home with myself! She is inspiring and not afraid to be honest. She also has 2 dogs :)



This blog just cracks me up! She is a newly wed and blogs about her daily life, you never quite know what she is going to blog about - recipes, rants, hair tutorials, new products, etc. etc. Either way there is usually a good laugh!!



Laura blogs about everyday life as well. She has the cutest little boy and 2 sweet dogs! She is also an army wife. You never really know what color her hair will be as she gets bored often with her hair! She is also a great photographer!!
Go a head and check those girls out!

Oh and remember message me about guest posting!!



Wednesday, October 19, 2011

So What I'm Loving Pinterest - Again!

I wasn't going to start my post off with So What Wednesday... but with a day like mine so far... I had to!


- So what if I was walking around clinic this morning with my toes scrunched up, which I was blaming on new socks...

- So what if it was not the socks after all?

- So what if I found a mouse in my shoe - luckily the cat toy breed... furry and yellow... Thanks Binx or Lux.. turns out my socks are comfy after all!

- So what if I had the longest drive back to the office this morning thanks to not 1 detour but THREE! In which case I asked the road guy at detour 1 how to get back to Cambridge and he rapped off a bunch of turns, which stunned me with silence - he asked me if I was okay - I snapped out of it and said "um yah". He then proceeded to tell about 7 other cars to follow me because I knew where I was going! HAHA! Little did he know I was the blind leading the blind! I could get lost in a corner! But I found my way thanks for my old school GPS... to find another detour as well as another one after that!

- So what if we are supposed to get a ton of rain and wind today

- So what if it is only Wednesday and I wish it was Friday...

- So what if my dogs hate this working 5 days a week and I now need to make a new dog bed - more to read on that below... Go ahead guess which one did it...

Now on to:


  • I am loving the workout plan I have officially started last night:
Pinned Image
found here on Pinterest!
  •  There are three other stages! It made me feel like a child again doing jumping jacks. I may or may not have had to think twice on how to even do  jumping jack - it's been a while!

  • I love my dogs.... even when I came home from work last night to find that they had "defoamed" the dog bed that I slaved over making, which also meant that they chewed the fabric... I know they are just telling me that they don't like it when I work every day... but a momma's gotta do what a momma's gotta do... 


  • I loved that I completed the challenge!! I DID IT!!!! I went 21 days without pop!!! The hardest was when I was out for dinner and not having a gingerale! I maybe only had one gingerale a day on average, but some days I went without! I kind of miss having it when I go out for dinner or to friends houses, but I think I can significantly cut back now!! I am soo proud of myself, especially since not even a week after I took the challenge I wanted a gingerale! I have also managed to cut back significantly on chips and sweets! The veggie/fruit a day is a work in progress! We haven't had pasta for a couple of weeks too!
Now on to Oh So Pinteresting!!




be strong & courageous.
Love this bible verse

dogs

Really cute kitchen towel tutorial!
Love these tea towels - I think I should make some

Does anyone know how to make these ruffles?!

SNICKER SALAD (tastes like a yummy carmel apple with nuts and chocolate)    Ingredients:  Cool whip  Snickers (frozen or cold - easier to chop)  green apples (tart, with a little sweet and lots of juicy)    Chop apples into bite size pieces. Chop Snickers bars into bite size pieces. Combine in bowl. Stir in cool whip. ENJOY!!
This looks easy, yummy and healthy!!

Pinned Image
I need to make a buffet in my useless closet in my dining room.. This sparked that genius idea!

Pinned Image
What a smart idea!

Have a great day!! You can find me on Pinterest by clicking my button on my sidebar!

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