There's Always Next Year....

So, I pretty much dropped off the face of this blog when football season started back up and my life spun out of control. There's always next year, right? Check back next week for those pesky New Year's Resolutions and more fun stuff! Ok, maybe not fun stuff, but definitely the resolutions.

A brief Christmas update, that is sure to solidify my Mom of the Year status. I forgot the logistics about baking cookies for Santa. Being at my parents' house, it never occurred to me that my mom (who is an avid baker) would not have anything to use to bake cookies for Santa. I've heard that he likes Nutter Butters and we have plenty of those, so I think I'm safe...this year.

Dear Santa, next year I promise to provide you real cookies. I'm sorry that I went to town on the amazing peanut butter blossoms that I made, so there were none left for you. Don't take it out on the kiddo. She doesn't know any better. Please accept these Nutter Butters and my sincere apology. Sincerely, Mom Of The Year Candidate for 2013. 

Catch Phrase

Not many people can have a toddler with their own catch phrase. Mine does. She says it at the end of phone conversations, before bedtime, and before I leave for work in the morning.

 "Making money! Making soup!" 

I don't know where she got that, but it's pretty awesome. I can get the first part because when I leave for work I tell her that Mommy is going to make money. The latter is a mystery. I don't know how to make soup. I don't think I've even had soup around her since she was born. Maybe she wants me to learn how to make soup. Who knows. 

If I felt we could make money off of this, I would slap this phrase on t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc. and make some money to buy some soup. 

Craft Power!

There has been lots of crafting going on here lately. I've been doing lots of DIY stuff for the kiddo's second birthday party. It's going to be a zoo/safari themed party. I made the invitations. (Yep, me! I did it all by myself!) I found some awesome printables through Pinterest for the goodie bags, drink holders, and a birthday banner. I've also been trying to decide what DIY decorations of the animal variety that I want to do. I have opted to go with this cute zebra print table cloth since I want to decorate with animals. I found this on the Martha Stewart website, and instantly fell in love it with.  I decided to try and make one today. It came out SO cute!

So, the coloring part was easy. I wonder how the rest of it is going to go. 

ADORABLE!

I forgot about backing it with something, so my little guy is very flimsy, but I'm sure I can make him work. Also, my blowers were too big for the hole. I think I'm going to just cut that part off and use him as a decoration.

Also, the kiddo LOVES Super Why, and I found this puzzle at Kohl's on sale for $5. Since she's too little to actually put it together, I thought it would make a great decoration for her bedroom. (Her bedroom just has bare walls, minus the frog on a mini-canvas I got out of the dollar bin at Target.) Once I find my hammer and some nails, she will now have this:

So, my border isn't perfect, but I think it turned out pretty awesome for my first time with puzzle glue! 

August = Organization

So, I've decided that the month of August is going to be my start of getting organized. I know most people would start in January, but what fun is that? Why not start in the whole back to school rush? This urge to become more organized has really been a push for the kiddo getting accepted into a Mother's Day Out program. Even though she won't be 2 until September, we put her on the waiting list at a few churches in case they had an opening. The folks and I kept saying that if she gets accepted into one, then it's meant for her to go there and we'll figure out the money later. Around the middle of July, we got a phone call from the church close to me in Texas saying that they were opening an 18-month old class and asked if we were interested. We said yes, and my eyes have been open to an entirely new world. I'm not ready for the kiddo to go to school. I know it's not "really" going to school, and I know it's only two days a week but....but... what if kids are mean to her? What if my kid IS the mean one? What if she strips down for the entire class?

Once those fears were quieted, not gone completely, just quieted, it was time for paperwork and the school supply list. I've heard my friends talk about particular school supply list can be, but until I was staring at one I never realized just how particular they could get. Certain brands and certain types of products that seem to be more expensive than they are worth surrounded me. I was shocked to see that on top of the monthly tuition, I had to pay an additional supply/snack fee at the beginning of each semester that was more than my tuition for a month! I realized that it was time to get serious about saving money. I was going back on the cereal diet that I lived on in July to fit in a bridesmaids dress, only this time it was to afford for the kiddo to go to MDO. Between the amount I budgeted for bills v. the actual amount of my bills for August, I was able to have enough money left over to pay for September's tuition and first semester supply fee.

I also discovered this amazing ap for the Iphone to help keep track of your savings! It's called Unsplurge. It lets you post the goal for what you are saving for, and then as you slowly save money, it allows you to track your progress. It felt amazing to see that after my bills were taken care of that I would have enough money to pay for the kiddo's September tuition and supply fee! The ap even congratulated me for reaching my first savings goal. I've added each semester's tuition for this first semester as a goal so I can keep track of where I'm at.

One way that I feel I can save money is by menu planning. I know I've read it over and over on the saving blogs that I read (Money Saving Mom and Couponing to Disney are the two I follow almost religiously) talk about the importance of knowing what's in your pantry and making a meal plan from that and then sticking to it. I found another awesome ap, List Ease, that allows me to keep my pantry inventory on my phone and also allows me to keep my grocery list on their as well. I started my foray into menu planning by making a menu plan for the next 2 weeks.

See? I did a menu plan with the grocery list and everything!
I got these awesome printables from Money Saving Mom!

The reason I did my menu plan for 2 weeks, is because I'm going to Houston this weekend and when I get back, I won't feel like doing a large round of grocery shopping. You can't really tell, but the only things on the grocery list side for the second week are items that I would prefer to buy fresh, such as vegetables and salad mix, the week I plan on using them. I am proud to say, that with coupons and sales, I was able to purchase (almost) everything needed for these 2 weeks for under $60. That was my goal, so I was very excited about that. I was THAT person who had my calculator out so I could make sure that I stayed within the budget I had created for myself. After today's shopping trip, I also started creating my price book so that way I know about how much money to expect to spend on my future shopping trips.

Extreme Couponing Moment! 

I noticed that Walgreens was having a sale on their 4 pack batteries, and there was going to be a coupon in today's sale paper pricing them at 99 cents. Since the kiddo has lots of toys that require batteries, and our battery box is getting low, I felt that it was worth going to Walgreens and picking some of them up. I also noticed in the sale paper that there was a coupon for Hershey bars for 49 cents a piece. (Both of these coupons had a limit of 4) I had a coupon for 75 cents off of 2 3 Muskateers. Since my dad loves them, and Walgreens had them 2 for $1.75, I added them to my small basket of stuff. I walked up to the register with my balance rewards card and my coupons and the cashier said, "Oh, you're an extreme couponer, aren't you?" I turned and looked behind me and realized she was actually talking to me, I laughed and said, "Not extreme, but I'm working at it." She was as impressed as I was with how everything turned out. After sales and coupons, I got 4 packs of batteries, 4 Hershey bars and 2 3 Muskateers bars for $5.41. The total savings (balance rewards/store coupons/manufacturer's coupons) was $16.33. Not really an extreme couponing moment, but an exciting surprise to see a 77% savings on the bottom of my receipt. 

Couponing Gold! 

Where did July go?

July was busy. Busier than any summer month should be, but this July was one for the books. July brought about the beloved July Death March, my best friend's bachelorette party and wedding, my 30th birthday, me starting to not hate my I-phone, and the kiddo getting accepted into a Mother's Day Out program for next year. 

The July Death March was what I affectionately referred to as my hell month. I named it as such because I knew I HAD to fit into my bridesmaids dress at the end of the month. It stressed me out at the wedding was after my 30th birthday because I was terrified that I Was going to overindulge and not be able to fit in my dress the Saturday after. The July Death March consisted of one meal a day of cereal. The cereal of choice happened to be Raisin Bran. It didn't register the effects that eating LOTS of Raisin Bran could have on your body. Since I had already bought the Raisin Bran, I just felt like I had to see it through to the end of the month. Between the hardcore workouts and the Raisin Bran (Thanks, Kellogg!) 

My favorite #MOTY moment happened on my birthday. The kiddo came up to me and held my hand and said, "Mommy, happy burtday." I can honestly say that this is not where I expected to be at 30, but there is nothing I would have wanted to hear more than that. Even when I feel like I'm not doing such a great job of being a mother, the kiddo always reminds me that she loves me anyway. I took a week off of work to spend with the kiddo and we had a blast watching Super Why, reading, rocking out to music and hitting the safari park. It was hard to hear her say, "Mommy go work" when I had to leave to come back to Texas.  

I Heart Pizza

Pizza is my absolute favorite food. I eat pizza every week. I guess you could say that I'm slightly addicted to pizza. (I feel an intervention coming soon since I just admitted it.) However, pizza and fitting into a bridesmaid dress don't exactly go well together. 

The reason that I cannot eat as much pizza as I would like to. :( 

I've been working out, of course, but I saw Cassey from Pop Pilates posted a "Cheap Clean Eats" segment on a flourless pizza and I was intrigued. I decided that I HAD to try it and see if this healthy pizza tasted just as good as a real one. (Cassey said it did, but I don't really trust people on pizza.) This began one crazy adventure in cooking! 

Ingredients

Chopping up the cauliflower

Yes, I did buy a food processor for this recipe. 

I'm not that great at making a circle. 

I can measure out ingredients like a boss, though!

Don't be fooled! This does NOT taste like real pizza!

Ok, so it wasn't an epic fail in the kitchen. The pizza wasn't THAT bad. When you are a pizza addict though, it doesn't take the place of the real thing. So I had a second pizza adventure. I used Money Saving Mom's homemade pizza dough recipe and tried again. 

Ingredient round up

Is this what the yeast is supposed to look like? 

Time to knead some dough! How do I know when I'm finished? 

Is it just me, or am I about to cook Australia? 

After google verification, I did cook Australia and it tasted amazing!

Second pizza attempt was a success! Some things to note: (1) I did not attempt to make the dough look like Australia. I really suck at forming a circle and once I realized my pizza looked like Australia, I decided to keep it like that. (2) I wasn't sure if the yeast was actually working, so we also ordered a pizza from Pizza Hut in case this was a total bust. It was a good thing we did because we were all so hungry that both pizzas were completely gone!

  

Homemade Christmas Gifts...From Me

I know, I know. I'm not crafty. The title of this post may have thrown you because you know that and are shocked that I would dislike anyone enough to give them a homemade Christmas gift. WRONG! I love my brother and when I found these super hero ornaments on Pinterest, I knew they would make the perfect gift! Besides, they didn't look too hard to make. Wrong...

I started with the very essential process of buying paint and cutting out super hero logos. I learned that sometimes it is worth it to spend the extra 40 cents on "real red" because "red rose" looks orange. Hence the reason there is an Aquaman ornament.

I thought we were going to be painting these, but it was even easier than that! You put the paint in the ornament and then let it fill itself. This was hard for me because I have ZERO patience. This was the worst part for me, but somehow I made it through. 

The mostly final product! I went back to the store for red paint to do the one for The Flash and I picked up some silver paint to do Batman (my brother's FAVORITE super hero!). My brother will have a complete set of ornaments that he'll actually like. 

Pat on the back to me for finding a craft on Pinterest that kind of turned out like it was supposed to!

Technology Jump

Yesterday, I made the jump into the Iphone world. I've had some issues with phones over the past year. I had a Droid that I LOVED, but the battery corroded. The replacement phone had a microphone that didn't work. (I wondered why nobody could hear me when I was yelling into my cell phone at them.) When I brought that phone in, they didn't have one to replace it with. They told me I could wait a week to get one identical to that or get an old school slide phone. Between my job and being a single mom, I knew there was no way I could go a week without a phone, so old school slide phone it was! A few months ago, that phone started to slowly crap out. It would randomly begin to turn itself on and off and I kept telling myself that if I could just make until June for my upgrade, it would be fine. Yesterday, I went to see what they could offer me. I asked what the cheapest option was and it was an Iphone for free. Begrudgingly, I am now part of the world of complete touch screen phones. I don't like it. I have a master's degree and my Iphone makes me feel stupid. Since the kiddo is with the grandparents for the rest of the week, I'm playing with an Iphone all weekend. Let's see if my opinion changes by then.


So I have an Iphone 4, but this still applies.

Overcoming Shame and Pain

That was the title of my devotion this morning. I'm on day one of a 31 day series entitled Women of Courage. As soon as I read the title of the devotion, I knew that God had something planned out for me to read. The scripture is from Luke 8:42-48 and to sum the story up, it is about a woman who has had a physical condition that has made her unclean by the standards of society. She has faith that if she can just touch Jesus, that she will be healed. She risked everything to be in the crowd that day just to have the chance to touch him. She pushed her way through and was able to barely touch his cloak. She was instantly healed. Jesus had felt the power leave him, so he turned around to find out who had touched him. The woman was intimidated, but came forward to tell her story. Jesus said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace."

The author of the devotion goes on to say that most people have something in their past that they are ashamed of. The question follows as to what would we do if our hidden sin was made public knowledge. I know about this all too well. For many years, I used casual sex as way to feel a connection with guys, without actually having to make a connection. I'm not the most attractive person, and I tend to get friendzoned quickly due to my love of sports and my ability to talk about them non-stop. I felt that casual sex was easy. I could feel some sort of bond, but never have to put myself out enough emotionally to get hurt. If a guy started to show interest beyond that, I made a point to make a quick exit and cutting off all communication on the way out. Then something happened that changed everything. I got pregnant from a one night stand.

Now, some people would say that this a way of my behavior catching up with me. However, it was a major shock to me because I had been told there was a very slim chance that I would ever have children because my ovaries are pretty screwed up. I was also on birth control at the time. Combine those two together and seeing the "pregnant" on the screen of the test was more than I could handle. Somehow I knew the day after that I was pregnant. I went to church the next morning and it was the Sanctity of Life Sunday and I just sat on the back pew and practically bawled my eyes out. God had let me know then, but I didn't want to admit it. Science had said that in order for me to have children it would take loads of money and fertility drugs and once I was told that I became completely career focused. God was right, I was wrong. I was going to have  a baby.

I dreaded making the phone call to my parents. If I was ever going to be rejected, this was the moment. My dad is a Baptist deacon and both he and my mom are Sunday School teachers. They were about to find out that their daughter was pregnant by a guy who's last name she didn't even know. The conversation went about as expected, but they came around. I found more support than I could have ever dreamed of in the people I worked with. I began interning with them 4 months early, and had just come on full time a week before getting pregnant. I believe that those 4 people were placed in my life to show me what unconditional love really is. They listened to me work out all of my emotions and never tried to push me to make a decision one way or the other. My friends were extremely supportive and while they made their thoughts and opinions known, they never tried to force me to follow their advice. They were honest but loving, and that's exactly what I needed.

Unlike the woman in the story, I didn't have faith that I would be accepted in my moment of shame. God used this situation to help me realize that I didn't need the fleeting feelings of acceptance that I had been looking for through casual sex, because I had His acceptance just as I was. He has shown me that the people who have chosen to stick around in my life through this situation are the people who's acceptance should matter to me. Especially the acceptance of my daughter, even when I don't live up to being the #moty she deserves.

Resolution Recap

Hello Summer! 

It's officially the end of the craziness that is work, at least for 2 months. While part of what I love about my job is the fact that once the seasons start there isn't much downtime, it's still nice to get a few months to recharge before the crazy hits the fan again in August. So what exactly does the summer have planned for us? I'm going to enjoy being able to hang with the kiddo more often, but we've decided to keep with her regularly scheduled weekend trips to Bebe and Daddad's house. This way she still gets to see her peeps in Louisiana and gives her some sort of routine. This is how the weekends in the month of June are going to play out for Mommy since the kiddo will be spending hers in Louisiana:

Weekend 1 will be spent reading, straightening the apartment up, watching some NCAA baseball regional action as well as my Texas Rangers, catching up on the blog, and spending some time in the sun at the pool. It's too gorgeous to NOT go outside, so I'm actually typing this blog post from my makeshift "porch" in front of the apartment.

Weekend 2 will be spent helping a good friend get rid of all of the crap that her ex felt the need to leave in her apartment, a possible date for me, the Belmont Stakes, some grocery shopping (since there will be money in the bank account again) and more reading.

Weekend 3 will be spent at Bebe and Daddad's celebrating Father's Day.

Weekend 4 will be spent at my best friend's wedding shower! I'm so excited. I have the PERFECT gift for her and really just hope it comes in before the shower. If not, I guess I'll have to do a massive box with the picture of the gift. :)

Weekend 5 will be spent either roadtripping to a Rangers game, or spending the weekend with the kiddo. The roadtrip is dependent upon whether there are free tickets involved and if we have money for gas by that point in the month.

Adventures in Cooking

I have been on a massive baking kick lately. I've become addicted to this: 

I seem to baking it on a weekly basis. I add in chocolate chips and it is to DIE for! Try this; you won't regret it. 

I also found this recipe for Skinny Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies. I HAD to try these when I saw that I had all but one ingredient to make them. I almost regret doing so because I'm obsessed. I couldn't found my brownie pan, so I made muffins out of them and they are AMAZING! I had to stop myself from eating the entire batch in one sitting. 

#MOTY Playlist

This is the playlist that helped bring you this blog post, and a few others you will be seeing over the weekend. 

Bad Romance - Artists v. Poets (Punk Goes Pop)

Over Again - One Direction

Let Me Go - 3 Doors Down

Jukebox Hero - Foreigner

No Surprise - Daughtry

Southern Comfort Zone - Brad Paisley

Ms. Robinson - Simon and Garfunkel

Angel - Aerosmith

Honeybee - Blake Shelton

Begin Again - Dropkick Murphys

Cruise - Florida Georgia Line

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - Miranda Lambert

Right Here Waiting - Richard Marx

I Don't Need a Man - Pussycat Dolls

Crawling - Linkin Park

December 1963 - Frankie Valli

Takin' Off This Pain - Ashton Shepard

Maybe I'm Amazed - Paul McCartney

Give Me Everything - Pitbull

RESOLUTION RECAP 

(1) Cook one meal a month. Big fat fail! I've been too busy to even THINK of things to pull out of the fridge to heat up, much less a meal to cook. 

(2) Read one book a month. Surprisingly, I do really well with this one. Taking Chances; The Dark Heroine; Reflected in You; and Barred to You. 

(3) Donate to charity each month. The TRF (Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation) is my standard charity of choice for the month of May since it's the start of the Triple Crown races. 

(4) Place $500 in savings. Thanks to my tax refund this one is accomplished, now the goal is to keep the majority of it in there. 

(5) Visit William. I seriously need to call him back. I'm a bad friend sometimes. :( 

(6) Exercise/Drop Weight. Consistent. I need to shake things up a bit, and I think June is a GREAT month to do that. 

Cute Kid Moment Montage

Cute Kid Moment #1

The other day, the kiddo and the g-rents bought her some kangaroos for her Little People zoo. The kiddo sometimes has a difficult time understanding that she has to hand the cashier the toy so we can pay for it and then she gets it back. Bebe (g-ma) told her that once you pay for something it's yours and you can keep it forever and ever. The kiddo has taken this to heart and now likes to pick up her toys and conversations go like this:

Kiddo, "Paid?"

Mommy, "Yes, puddin, we paid for it."

Kiddo, "Yours"

Mommy, "Yes, puddin, it's all yours"

Kiddo, "Ev n ev" 

Mommy, "Yes, it's yours forever and ever." 

Cute Kid Moment #2

The kiddo has started to try and figure out how to dress herself. This usually includes her hand constantly being in her diaper. We like to keep the blinds open during the day because it allows the kiddo to look out the window and see people and their pets. It's an easy way to keep her easily entertained. This morning, she took her diaper off in stripper fashion (or like a basketball player with tear-away track pants) and then tossed it on the floor and ran to jump up on the couch. I'm such a good mom that I missed this perfect video opportunity, but I did enjoy laughing the entire time it was going on. 

Cute Kid Moment #3

Before leaving for lunch today, the kiddo felt the need to put a pair of her bloomers from when she was a baby on her head like a hat. To her credit, it did match her outfit but we had a slight fuss when it fell off her head and I put them in my pocket before she could find them. No sweat though, she got excited about the idea of going out to lunch. We pull into one of my favorite local pizza places and as I go to get her out she says, "lunch! shrimp! fries!" Oops. She didn't tell me she had a preference for lunch! Oh well, kiddo was a trooper and ate her pizza and plate from the salad bar like it was going out of style. 

Mini-Masters Champ! (Sort of)

This Sunday I competed in the Mini-Masters mini-golf tournament to raise money for the local Children's Museum. It was lots of fun, and I entered expecting nothing more than to have made a donation to the Museum and gotten a goody bag and t-shirt out of the deal. We pulled up to the mini-golf course and immediately went for our swag after registering. Why else would one enter a mini-golf tournament if not for the free swag!

The adults were put on the more difficult course of the two (they haven't seen my lack of skills) and we were off! I made a goal to score a 61. That doesn't sound like a good score to most people, but for me it's a pretty killer score. I surprised myself and finished the day with a 60. It was my personal best as an adult. (I swear I was better at mini-golf when I was a kid!) To top it off, I placed 4th in my division!

See! I placed! Ignore that there weren't that many adult females participating. I still beat a few of them. 

I didn't take a picture of it, but if I had been allowed to compete in the 5 and under age group, I would have killed the field!

Funny or Not?

I found some articles about a guy who posted pictures of his toddler on the internet with the different reasons that his kid was crying. I found it hilarious. As the mom of a toddler who has some epic meltdowns, some of them can be down right hilarious. Some people are claiming that it is mean of a father to post pictures of his son when he is crying and the myriad of reasons ("I wouldn't let him drown in the pond", "I closed the refrigerator", etc). For those who don't have children, it may seem mean. For those of us with children, sometimes you just have to laugh.

If I had posted a page like that, it would be of my kiddo yelling at me. Just in the past hour, she's yelled at me at least 5 times. The thought bubbles would reach as so "Mommy wouldn't let me climb in a tub full of water!", "Mommy wouldn't let me climb out of my crib!", "Mommy wouldn't give me more ketchup!", "Mommy asked if she could go potty!" and "Mommy told me I could only take ONE of her Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs!" Some of the reasons that my toddler yells at me are pretty damn funny. I think it's part of what makes her awesome. :)

Cute Kid Moment

The kiddo feels that everyone is her friend. It's one of the many ways that she's like me. She never meets a stranger. Our neighbors across the way, Paige and Jimmy, are part of her little entourage.Friday, Paige let the kiddo pet one of her cats. In the kiddo's mind, Paige had always been cool but now has moved up on her little list of favorite people. Jimmy has had a harder time breaking into the kiddo's top peeps list. He found a feather and used it to tickle her cheek which instantly earned him a spot because she thought that was almost as cool as having a cat. The kiddo has an open invite to come visit them before they move. (It'll be sad for all of us when they move because we really like them.)

 On Saturday, she wanted to go walk. She's just gotten the hang of this walking business and now that's all she wants to do is go walk. In the back of our apartment complex, people park their boats. The kiddo LOVES the boats. Saturday morning she wanted to go walk to see the boats. (I know it won't last, but I'd love her to stay this easily entertained forever.) When we got back home, she looked across the grass to Paige and Jimmy's apartment and this conversation happened:

Kiddo - "Paige"
Me - "Yea, that's where Ms. Paige lives."
Kiddo - "Cat"
Me - "Yea, Ms. Paige has a cat."
Kiddo - "Meow"
Me - "You are so smart! Ms. Paige's cat says 'meow'."
Kiddo - "Jim-Jim"
Me - "Yea, Mr. Jimmy lives there too."
Kiddo - laughing as she walks to our door and sits on the doormat "Ticky-ticky-ticky" while pointing to her cheeks

The kiddo has found friends and I'm not looking forward to the day they move and I have to tell her they don't live there any more.

Resolution Recap - March

I have completely neglected this blog during the month of March due to work and the kiddo, but I will get this resolution recap in before I hit the ground running with work today. I have some posts planned for the rest of the week, but this will suffice for now.

RESOLUTION RECAP 

(1) Cook one meal a month. This one got blown out the water with that whole "no day off from work" bit. I did cook one meal, that I did not blog about. I'll share that story later because it was a complete wreck, but with my mom's help was salvageable. 

(2) Read one book a month. Surprisingly, I did a great job with this one: The Fifth Assassin; Contingency; Stuck in the Middle; Me, Just Different; Reinventing Claire; and Friends with Partial Benefits

(3) Donate to charity each month. This month I donated to Super Sibs! which is an amazing organization to recognize the siblings of children battling cancer who oftentimes get overlooked unintentionally. 

(4) Place $500 in savings. Thanks to my tax refund, I've already accomplished this goal. Let's see if I can keep that in place until the end of the year. 

(5) Visit William. TBA

(6) Exercise/Drop Weight. I was shocked that I actually dropped 1/2 a pound this month. I was sure that all the ballpark meals and fast food would have up a pound or two. 

Where Have I Been?

Wow! Has it really been over 2 weeks since I checked in here? Times flies when you don’t have a day away from your job for 4 weeks. I have some much needed time away from work coming up this weekend, and I’m choosing to spend it as a fan at our conference basketball tournament to support the women’s basketball team. (That is if they win their game on Thursday, since I can’t go until after work on Thursday. If not, then I get to spend the night and the day in beautiful Katy, TX, and then come home and not get out of my yoga pants for the weekend. FUN STUFF!)

Speaking of “fun stuff”, my friends and I have taken a liking to this local family fun center and have kind of made it our hangout. We go right after work so we can have the place to ourselves for a few hours before families start showing up. Is it sad that we’re almost 30 and don’t want to share the mini-golf course or arcade with children? Personally, I just don’t want to see an 8 year-old beat my high scores on skee ball. (Yea, you read that correctly, I have gotten the high score AND THEN BEAT my own high score. Major accomplishment.)

#MOTY LATEST OBSESSIONS

I feel the need to share a few of my latest obsessions on here.Here are the things that I have become obsessed with in the month of February: 

• One Direction’s latest album. Listen here. Seriously, this album can make a bad day better because it’s just fun to rock out to. (Bring on the jokes; I can take them!)
• This girl. Her workouts are awesomely fun! I have been following her workout calendar since the end of January. I don't always have time to hit all of the workouts, but I try to get in as many as I can. I also tend to throw in a mix of some videos from FitSugar or other workout videos that I have as well. 
• Target's dollar bins. This Easter Bunny is about to tear that up. TONS of cute stuff in there. They have Sesame Street bath books that will be making an appearance in the kiddo's Easter basket. I'm thinking about getting her some of the maracas as well. 

RESOLUTION RECAP 

I guess I should do one of these since we’re in March now, right?

(1) Cook one meal a month. My planned meals for the month of February became non-existent towards the end of the month due to my never being home long enough to actually cook anything. Considering the lack of time at home, I think the fact that I cooked 3 meals this month PLUS did some baking counts for brownie points. (And am I just making up that I said one meal a month? Didn't I say one meal a week? I’m so confused right now and the coffee isn't helping to make things clearer.) 

(2) Read one book a month.  Books for February: The Shameful Diary of a Hopeless Romantic, Wild Pitches, Lucky Charm and Always the Last to Know.

(3) Donate to charity each month. This month I donated to Big Brothers/Big Sisters. My friend Donna was raising money in Bowl for Kids’ Sake, so it seemed perfect to make that my charity of choice for the month of February.  

(4) Place $500 in savings. I was able to put $125 into savings this month. I may have to turn around and pay this in taxes, but at least I was able to budget enough to be able to put some money in there to help with that.

(5) Visit William. TBA – with some unexpected expenses this year, I’m hoping I can still pull this one off.

(6) Exercise/Drop Weight. I dropped 2 pounds this month. Considering my crazy schedule and how I've been eating like crap, I consider that an accomplishment. 

Since I've been a slacker on this blog lately, this graphic describes exactly how I feel right now....plus it made me laugh. 

Valentine's Day Recap...(a little late)

I know it's been forever since I've posted but that's due to the crazy work schedule that I know I've mentioned before. This working 7 days a week for going on 3 weeks in a row now is a little crazy. I'm living off of Folgers coffee and am starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. After Saturday, I won't have 4 games in one day anymore, so life should slow down to a pace of crazy that I can handle. Let's catch you up a little...

VALENTINE'S DAY
I'm a HUGE holiday freak! Of course Cupid helped me pick out some cute gifts for my kiddo.

                                                    

      Valentine's wreath                                                                                 office valentine's

                                               

     Our window decorations                                                                     The kiddo LOVES these!

                                               

And now for the cute gifts that the kiddo got! She got a stuffed owl, some Elmo socks, some monkey socks, and an Elmo brush and comb set. 

Happy Mardi Gras!

It's one of my favorite holidays, Mardi Gras! Growing up in Louisiana, Mardi Gras was always a holiday from work and since it isn't a holiday in Texas, I made it one. So how does a single mom with an adorable kiddo at home spend her Mardi Gras? Baking, cooking, hanging out and general housework, that's what!
Here's some of the decorations to get you festive:

Adventures In Cooking - OVERDRIVE
Today involved multiple adventures in cooking, so let's get to it. I started my morning off by making King Cake Bars. I thought about doing mini-king cakes, but my mom and I aren't overly big fans of cinnamon rolls, so I figured these would go over better and boy was I right!

         Yea, I've got my work cut out for me.                              Busted out my mom's new stand mixer

                    The crust...                                                      ...the filling...

                  ...the glaze...                                                         ... YUMMY!

Adventures in Cooking - ROUND 2
After making those amazing King Cake Bars, my mom called while the folks were on their way with the kiddo to ask about lunch. She had e-mailed me a pizza log recipe a few days ago and I mentioned that I had all of the stuff to make that, so I did...

 

Third Time's a Charm...

 I made energy bites - my fav snack. 

Adventures in Cooking - Slight Cheat 

Since I spent so much time on the King Cake Bars, I did a slight cooking cheat with dinner and made some jambalaya with the help of Zatarain's, left over Red Lobster biscuits, frozen corn and prepared salad. Still yummy!

CUTE KIDDO MOMENT
I just had to share this cute picture of my kiddo and her "dodo" (dinosaur)

Yes, the shirt says "Mardi Gras Princess" 

This post sponsored by the letters MG and this amazing coffee from Community Coffee: