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Mommy Bloggers
I miss the days when Martha Stewart was the only woman who could make me feel like a slacker. Martha, with her perfect hair, her effortless style, her brilliant ideas, her ability to find a use for everything and give everything a use. Between her estate gardens and her glue gun acumen, she was my go-to gal for inspiration, ideas and instruction.

I knew I could never quite accomplish her amazing feats of craftiness, but that was okay. After all, no one can really be Martha. She has personal assistants, stylists, gardeners, wealth. I could laugh at my attempts to "channel Martha" and just have fun.

Now, however, I've discovered a rabbit hole of blogging mommies who make Martha Stewart look like she spends her day watching soaps and eating bon-bons.

No nannies.

No assistants.

No stylists.

Uniformly, they are cute - slender, stylish, trendy. They have the ability to look at a dress in a thrift store and restructure a work of art suitable for a black tie party. They create their children's clothing and sell the patterns. They are creative enough to make every birthday party, every holiday look like something out of a magazine. Their photography is professional, their writing is interesting, their interests are complex and varied. They recycle, reuse and look fabulous while doing so.

I love them.

I hate them.

I so want to be them.

I think it's time to go back to Martha. My self-esteem can't handle the collective creativity.

Unpacking

It's official. We are in our new home. It is so wonderful. I have so much to unpack and so much to do. I think that even with all the wonderful help that we had, and we had a lot (thanks everyone), this was one of the hardest moves that I have been through. I have a ton of unpacking to do and I still haven't put together the boys dressers yet so the clothes is all over the place too.

I know what you are thinking...we have only been in our new place for a couple of days and I can't expect to get it all done so quickly but yeah, I did expect that...lmao. I hate having things all over the place and not knowing where things are. I really should have taken some time out of work to do this but I didn't so I really need to dedicate time to get things in order. I may be crazy but I don't like it when my house is crazy. :o)

So I just wanted to let you all know how happy we are in our new home. We already got invited to the neighbors house for drinks. Life is good !

Tomorrow is our big day !

This is it! The day we have been anxiously counting down to. Tonight will be our last night sleeping in this house and tomorrow night will be our first night sleeping in our new house !

I am beyond exhausted. I did the family room from top to bottom, the playroom is ready to go even though I had orignially planned to do it tonight. CJ was cooperating so I went with it. We took apart our bed and took out all the garbage...it was garbage night.
Tonight we have to drop off Nathan at boyscouts for a BBQ. Then we have to run to Bj's to turn in our water bottles and get vouchers for after we move and one water bottle. We have the water system in the car already and we are going to the house to drop it off after work so that tomorrow we at least have cold water for everyone to drink.
Then we have to finish packing the kitchen, which is just the few dishes we have been using, the pantry and the refrigerator. We have to finish our room, which is mainly just bagging up clothes (and not throwing them out...lol). And that is pretty much it I think. Jose is going to take apart the computer tonight so that it is ready to go too !

I hope that the rain holds off until we are done. Keep us in your prayers if you are not helping out tomorrow. I will send pics of the new house for sure !

Cooking...Back to Basics

Saturday is our big day. Finally the much anticipated day. I am hoping that the predicted rain for the evening really does wait til the evening. With this move and all the packing and madness, it has been forever since I have cooked. I miss good old fashioned home cooking. So starting Monday (I hope), I am going back to cooking dinner again.

I have been doing lots of research on cooking meals and freezing them and having prepared meals for days when the time to cook is just not that great. Right before everything went bazerk because of the packing and moving, I was getting stressed with being away from the house three nights out of a five nights during the week. I hated not being home to cook dinner and sitting with the family. Being able to leave instructions for Nathan and Larissa to take something out of the freezer and put it in the oven would be ideal and much more yummy than the crap that we have been eating non-stop. Although they like to cook too, it gets hectic with their schoolwork and timing so I don't want to put that on them every night. I will still dedicate each of them a night though because it keeps them involved in the responsibility of things in the house and they really do enjoy cooking too.

Do you know that there are tons of websites and blogs dedicated to spending one whole day a month cooking for the month? That is crazy. I don't want to do that, I like variety and randomness sometimes. I do want to go back to planning out the week though. Planning for the week has always worked for me. It allows me to know what to buy at the store instead of buying everything. It stops the kids from asking over and over again, "what's for dinner?" and it stops me from having to go crazy on my way home trying to figure out what I am going to make. Although this is my plan to jump into right away, I am always looking for other options.

I am actually also trying out a cooking co-op. I am just "trying" it because I am not convinced that it is for me but I am willing to give it a shot. You are probably wondering what it is exactly, well this is the description that she sent to me:
Everyone brings 4 recipes of things they would like to cook to our meeting. The group then decides together which 2 dishes each person makes. They then make enough for each family, and the next month each family gets one dish.
For example, our group used to have 5 women. The largest family was 6 people, all others were ok with 3 serving dishes. So say I am to make baked ziti and Minestrone. I will make 10 3-serving dishes of baked ziti and 10 3-serving dishes of minestrone. When we swap the food, every woman receives 2 3-serving dishes of baked ziti and 2 3-serving dishes of minestrone.
I also receive 2 3-serving dishes on what everybody else made, so at the end of our swap I end up with 20 3-serving meals (10 different dishes) in my freezer, ready to be prepared.


Like I said, I am not sure that it will work for me. I have no idea what the other dishes will be and if it will be things that my family will like to eat. Buying in bulk is def cheaper so it's gotta be worth the try at least. The first meeting is on the 28th and I will have to keep you all posted as to what happens and how it comes together. I have actually always wanted to try something like this so I guess this is a great time. I just don't know how much I will enjoy making that much of one dish but maybe the rewards of all the other different dishes will balance it out...lol.



Ok...enough about my cooking escapades. I really do miss cooking and can't wait to have everything in it's place so that I can get back into my normal routine ! Talk to you all later.

Chapter 36

Wow ! I am 36 years old. As Bethany put it, I am closer to 40 than 30 now. It's all good though, I love life. I have had a pretty bumpy life, but seriously, who hasn't?
I have laughed and I have cried. I have loved and I have lost. It is all what life is about. It is all a learning experience. My life is not about how old I am but the things that I have experienced, the things that I have seen and the things that I have done. All this and more is what has shaped me into the woman that I am today. Being strong, loving, independent and strong is what it is all about for me and I don't believe that you can't have it all.

I have the most wonderful man by my side. I had to kiss many, MANY frogs to get to my Prince Charming. It proves that all good things come to those who wait. I also don't think that I would appreciate him as much as I do if I hadn't been through all that I have been through. Just more proof that everything happens for a reason. Of course it helps that we just fit together so perfectly. I never thought that relationships could be this amazing and wonderful until I met Jose. I thought that all relationships involved fighting and hurting each other and learning to live with things. What I have learned instead is that relationships are about trust, respect, understanding and compromise. If you have all that then it really is simple. Don't get me wrong, we have our arguments, our situations and our altercations but we resolve them peacefully and without hurting each other. Since we have met, we have never sworn at each other and we have never puposefully said anything hurtful to each other. If I didn't live it myself, I wouldn't believe it either. It's true though and it wasn't always easy either...lol. We are oppposites and we have had to learn how to deal with each other. I am a talker and he is a spacer. I talk about everything, it makes me feel better, it helps me to understand the situation. He needs space. He likes to think out the whole situation before saying anything and once his thoughts are all together, he comes to me to talk. This hasn't been the easiest thing for me but we compromise. He comes to me now and tells me that things are ok but he just needs to clear his head. I feel better and I wait. If you had told me ten years ago that I would be in a relationship like this, I would have laughed and told you that you were crazy. But it is how things are and I am the luckiest woman on earth to have him.

I have three wonderful children who drive me absolutely insane. Children are so amazing. They are innocent and funny and twisted and deceitful all in one bundle. They make me laugh and they make me cry. Having lost a child, I know how precious they are and what a miracle life is. Being a parent is one of the most thrilling, emotional and frustrating things in the world...lol. I give so much credit to stay at home moms. I know that I am a working woman but that doesn't mean that I love my children any less. I personally, am a better mother because I have time to be myself during the day. I look forward to going home and seeing them. I love how CJ comes running to us when he sees us. I like finding out about Larissa and Nathan's day. I like coming home to wonderful home full of love.

Which leads me to my next thing...we are blessed to be moving into a home that we are in love with. A house that we will call home now. A home that we will fill with love and memories. A new beginning for Jose and I. A new stage in our lives. Always adding to the previous stages that has made our lives whole. Another chapter in our lives and only God knows where this will lead us. All I know is that together and with God's help, there isn't anything that we can't get through.

My faith stands strong ! It has been over two years, maybe even three since I have attended a church or a mass. With that being said, my faith is the strongest that it has ever been. My faith is what has gotten me through some of the most difficult moments in my life. This past year has had it's trials and it is God that carried me through them. It is my faith in God that guides my life.

I can't even begin to list all of my wonderful family and friends that have been a huge part of my life. You have all been there for me through the good times and bad times. You have been there for me through laughter and tears. It is relationships like this that keep me strong and allow me to give back.

So as chapter 35 of my life came to an end, chapter 36 begins. A new chapter to be written in any way that I want. A new chapter that I get to write. Stay tuned, you never know what will happen next !

Can Men Really Be That Dumb?

Ok, so we got the keys last night and picked up dinner on our way home because of lack of time. If I don't see anymore fast food for the rest of the year, it will be too soon ! It was so good to see the house again. I just wanted to take our inflatable mattresses and spend the night there last night. Obviously we didn't do that because it would have been a little crazy...lol.
We ate and I knew that my energy level last night was not going to be what it was the night before and there wasn't going to be any packing going on. With that being said, I knew the huge amt of garbage bags left in the house from cleaning needed to be taken out since it was garbage night. After dinner, I asked Jose if he was going to help me take out the garbage bags upstairs tonight (last night of course) or tomorrow morning (this morning). He asked me what bags? I told him that all the bags in the hall upstairs are all garbage. He said, wow that's a lot of garbage. That was it. So I did my usual things at night and out of frustration, I asked Nathan to come help me take the bags out to the curb...and he did ! With each trip in and out of the house, the screen door slammed and I could Jose sitting on the couch. I finished my nightly routine and headed to bed.
This morning I woke up and went to look outside to see if he had at least taken out the garbage can and recycle bin and to my surprise the garbage bags were gone. I looked up and down the street and realized the garbage truck had not come yet....someone had taken our garbage. I find that disturbing on many levels. I can understand taking furniture or toys but garbage bags? We did have stained and ripped clothes in the bags but it was mixed with food and dirty pull-ups. I guess they will be in for a surprise. Back to my point ! I went upstairs and told Jose that someone had taken our garbage, as weird as that sounds. He looks at me with a worried expression and says to me "you threw my clothes out!" Now I was the one with the confused look. Apparently, Jose had packed some clothes in white garbage bags and placed it in the hall with the white garbage bags full of trash and I took them all out. He says that he thought they were packed bags too. Ok, so I get that part. But last night when I told you all the bags in the hall were garbage, you could have done one of two things. You could have walked upstairs and moved the bag so that nothing like this would happen or you could have simply said to me that you placed clothes bags there too not realizing it was garbage and I would have been more careful. Not to mention that he simply could have helped me last night and this would have been avoided too. So he was pissed and I would have been too but I never would have done such a stupid thing. Are men really that dumb?

Nathan is 12!

I can't believe that Nathan is 12. Where has the time gone? I remember Larissa at this age and looking at Nathan and feeling like it was so far away for him. I must be getting old...lol.

My Nathan. My only child born on his due date ! He has been through so much but he is such a trooper. He is my artistic one, even though he doesn't realize his own talent. He is my shy one...ok, my shyest one. He is still my little man !

His party was Sunday and he had a blast. I was a little worried about so many people not being able to come but his friends were there and he had a wonderful time. I took pics ! I can't wait to share them with you all. They had a blast playing in the park and then the paddleboats too. Next year he will be an official teenager...oh my goodness. I can't even begin to think about that. It's too far away anyways (lol).