Setting goals 2013 style

Every year for the last few we have hoped for a better go. We have simply had our fill of challenges as of late. I distinctly remember giving double birds to 2011 with high expectations for 2012. It was an up and down year, plagued with disappointments and feelings of uncertainty. While there was just overwhelming shit that was out of our control, I know my fragile emotional state played too much into the overall direction of the mudslide that was 2012. I can’t even gauge if it was worse or on par with 2011. All I know is that I’m reaching deep and hoping for the best.

It has always seemed somewhat silly to look to the change of the calendar for a fresh start, clean slate, et cetera et cetera. However, the start of this new year brings so many exciting changes for our little family that it is hard to resist those feelings of newness.

K begins a new job today. He is so excited, it’s like watching a kid prepare for the first day of school. He has worked so hard to earn this position and it brings many opportunities but also major changes to our home life. This job will require him to travel a great deal and as difficult as it has been for me to not work this last year, it ultimately has worked out for the best. With him gone, my need to be home has increased drastically and I am excited to be able to continue focusing on our family. His absences will have a profound effect on lil’ A and it will be so important for my focus to be on her.

I finally feel emotionally healthy enough to be more… more of a wife, a mother, a friend. The burdens that have been weighing me down this last year seem to have lifted and for the first time in year I feel happy and positive. This change in me is amazing and long overdo. I am ready to set and attain some major goals…

So for this year my goal is to focus on progress not perfection.

I have spent far too many years trying so damn hard to be perfect that I either kill myself getting to end point or I simply abandon the project. I’ve learned to forgive myself for my mistakes and failings and to trust my instincts. All my self doubt this past year has stifled who I am and I’m ready to be whole again. To be me.

Sometime ago my therapist encouraged me to focus on progress. At that time I was stressed about work and felt overwhelmed by the inaction of others and my overriding need to pick up the slack. I realize now that I never gave myself the chance to truly enjoy the journey and I’ll be damned if I don’t embrace this next year. I have the chance and the time now to explore my crafty interests, to better organize our home, to be more.

So cheers to the new year! I’m looking forward to planting, nurturing, and smelling the roses.

Adventures in Baking: Apple Cobbler

Oh how I adore Fall. I’ve mentioned it before and I’ll mention it a million more times. This season makes me so happy. A few weeks ago, my in-laws took Lil’ A apple picking and today I used up most of those yummy apples in a dessert.

From past posts, I’m sure you are all extremely aware of my limited (at best) baking skills but I didn’t want the apples to go to waste and the kiddo wasn’t digging the idea of making applesauce. So I hopped over the the Supercook site to see what I could make with my sparse baking supplies.

Enter… Easy Apple Cobbler!

 

And it was easy! The most work comes in when peeling and chopping the apples but I did this task while watching 666 Park Avenue. The whole house smelled amazing!

And as for the taste? After the first bite K said, “Shit! This is good!” A ringing endorsement if I ever heard one!

Jersey Shore!

After the tumultuous year, I don’t think K or I believed we would be able to take a vacation. Travel simply is not in the budget. Period. However, we received an amazingly generous offer to stay for a week at Chez Hynes, our dear friends Nikki and Mike.

So we packed up the car and made the 8 hour trek to New Jersey.

Top left: S I M P Squirrel in K’s pants!
Top Right: Toes on the road
Bottom Left: My hipster chic chia latte
Bottom Right: Where I wanna live! Long live 10!

It was a really wonderful week. Here’s a taste of some of the fun (once I get all the photos off my camera I’m sure there will be another post)!

Black light mini golf. The artwork on the walls was super cool. Glowzo kinda freaked me out but I have a thing against clowns.

A trip to Thompson Park allowed the kids to feed the deer.
We ended the day with a bonfire.

Best friend love! Good thing I’m not the jealous type. Ha!

Dumby cop patrols the neighborhood. Only in Jersey!

Top row: Long Branch Beach
Middle Left: My beach bum!
Middle Center: Point Pleasant Beach
Middle Right: The shells were amazing!
Bottom Left: Beach Ice Cream Man!
Bottom Center: Face painting on the Boardwalk
Bottom Right: K cuddles with his Boardwalk winnings!

Of course no vacation would be complete without good food and there was plenty! Nikki made a huge from-scratch Italian meal for us the first night with ALL THE MEAT (which was kind of a theme for the week). I ate way too much and found 6 of the 8 lbs I had lost prior to vacation in Jersey.

Top Left: Nikki made us these adorable mini-ice cream cakes for our anniversary
Top Center: More ice cream cake! This time to celebrate Matthew’s 8th birthday.
Top Right: S’mores cookies ~ deadly!
Middle Right: Lunch on the Boardwalk
Bottom Right: Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream 
Featured Photo: Beer battered cod atop mashed potatoes during a lunch with a friend at Due Mari in New Brunswick. AMAZING!

It was nice to actually have the time with our hosts to hang out rather than feeling rushed in the short weekend visits we’ve had in the past. I can’t wait for them to visit in the Fall!

Family day at the lake

All last week we planned to take the boat out for a quite Sunday afternoon. There was no way that K was going to let a rainy forecast ruin this plan! We headed to Deer Creek State Park under a canopy of dark clouds.

This is the sky view when we launched the boat. Fortunately it rained for a few minutes and the cloud moved on to rain on someone else’s day. It turned out to be quite a pleasant afternoon. While K and A fished, I kicked back with a book.

Mommy doesn’t do worms but A does!

My favorite fishing duo!

A caught a giant catfish on her Barbie fishing pole! While K caught a teeny tiny one!

 

That crazy fish was so big it took first me and then K to reel that sucka in! He was a monster! A was so excited and K was in awe that her little Barbie pole could catch such a behemoth! Also, I think he was a touch jealous because he caught 2 tiny fishes.

We ended our day with a drive around the lake as the sunset.

Would you trust these 2 to drive?

Beautiful sunset after the storms

 

It turned out to be a lovely day!

 

Get Romantic {Thinking Positive}

K and I have been married 11 years. Actually it will be 11 years this Saturday. We meet in December of 1999 and for him it was love at first sight. I took some convincing. I kid. I’m still not convinced. *giggle*

All joking aside, we were engaged after 8 months and then married a year later. Like all couples, we have had our good and bad times. More good than bad. Currently we are going through a challenging time but not to our relationship. The 2 years we spent in marriage counseling had a huge impact and our tough relationship times are far more easily weathered. We learned how to talk to each other in a way that will get through the bullshit. From time to time we forget how to do this but there is always an apology attached to an expression of emotion. I am married to the most emotional man on earth, one who has very little trouble sharing how he feels. I can be the one that is more closed off.

Even when times are tough, it is comforting to know that this one person is always going to be there for me. He never judges me or criticizes me. He gets me especially when no one else does.

Lately the overwhelming stress of life with one income has been weighing on us. Unfortunately, we have allowed it impact us separately rather than coming together as a couple. Honestly, I believe we both thought this would be over by now. We had a great talk last week. A very frank conversation about the expectations we have for the other in our new roles and what we need from the other. We cried. We hugged. We made a deal.

So positive thinking goal 5 of 5…

Get Romantic

We’ve lacked a connection lately by trying to emotionally navigate the quicksand as individuals and not as a couple. We have committed to each other to set aside 1 day a week as “cheap date night.” And by cheap I mean as close to free as possible. We need to talk more. We need to reignite the emotional intimacy between us that has been beaten up by the challenges we’ve stared down the past 18 months. I am excited by this and thrilled that my partner, my love, is as invested in me as I am in him.

K is one of the most intelligent, charismatic, interesting, and funny men I know. Spending time with him where I am his sole focus is thrilling, even after all these years. Perfect? Hell no. But he’s mine and I love him.

So… 5 think positive goals for the next 6 months. Fingers crossed that come February 2013 I am kicking ass and taking names.

Get Fit {Thinking Positive}

Positive thinking goal 3 of 5 is already underway. For the first time, I really do feel positive about getting my eating and exercising on track. In March of 2011, I started seeing an acupuncturist and nutritionist. There were many wonderful things about my 6 months under his care but it was incredibly frustrated. Part of my treatment required me to keep a food log in an effort toward a clean diet. I was to cut wheat and sugar due to an intolerance and switch to all natural, all organic everything. Every week I was chastised about something. Don’t eat this. Don’t eat that. Things I thought would be on the approved list were bad and vice versa. By the time I got it all figured out I was almost afraid to eat anything.

My super clean diet and exercise did help me lose 25 lbs and feel better than I ever have as an adult but there was nothing positive about the process. I was miserable and once a few huge stresses entered my life, everything I had worked on fell apart.

So now I am committed to…

Get Fit!

I’m making better choices and moving and seeing results far quicker than before. I’m not hungry all the time like I was and I don’t feel as if I’m sacrificing everything I love to eat. I’m learning about portion sizes and eating snacks. But the major difference is that I have the support of a good friend to get me through the tough parts. Plus K is also making the same changes and we are able to encourage each other.

I know that getting fit will help me with my other goals by giving me the confidence and energy to face each challenge head on!

Tomorrow… I think positive about getting involved.

Get Organized {Thinking Positive}

Getting organized has been an 11 year battle. When we got engaged in August 2000, I moved home to save money and my whole house full of stuff went into storage in my great-grandmother’s garage. A few months later, in April 2001, she passed away meaning I had until the end of May to move it all into a storage unit. Added to my possessions were some substantial pieces of furniture that K and I were inheriting and many surprises boxes. These surprise boxes were all the items that my grandmother and aunts either didn’t want or didn’t know what to do with (I just opened the last of the surprise boxes a few days ago).

When we married and finally moved in together in August 2001, we put my stuff, his stuff, my great-grandmother’s stuff, and all the wonderful gifts we received as gifts into a tiny 2 bedroom apartment on the 2nd floor. One bedroom was floor to ceiling unopened boxes. Fast forward 2 years and we move into a tiny cottage that had been his grandparent’s home for 50 years. We gained a bedroom and a sunroom and lost a bathroom. The sunroom became storage central. We were never really organized in the 3 years we lived there and unlike at the apartment, we couldn’t just shut the door to the chaos.

I had high hopes of finally getting it right when we purchased our house in 2006. This time we had 1,600 sq ft of space! No reason we couldn’t get our shit together. This time around it wasn’t space that got in our way but everything else and we let it. We closed late and moved in a week behind schedule. For some crazy reason we had agreed to host a surprise party for K’s mom now only 3 weeks from move-in day! Ack! 6 weeks after move-in we learned I was expecting Lil’ A. My pregnancy was awful and I spent all but about 4 weeks sick. Very little was accomplished during this time and really only things related to baby. Then it was baby and focusing on careers and now 6 years later I’m finally in a position to get organized.

Phew… with all that background out of the way…

Here is my first of five think positive goals…

Get Organized!

I have been working on Project Basement since last week. The goal is to purge, clean, and organize. I want to be able to use this space rather than it be dedicated solely to storage. There will be 4 distinct areas… a play space for A, a sitting area with a tv that can double as sleep space for guests on the hide-a-bed, a studio/crafty space for me, and a laundry/storage space. There will also be plenty of room if K decides to move the home gym system from the garage.

Pinterest has been a huge source of inspiration! I’m almost down with the purging and cleaning stage and can’t wait to get started setting up and organizing.

Craft room inspiration!

Once Project basement is complete, I plan to finish organizing the rest of the house. The former nursery will cease being a playroom and become an actual guest room/dressing room for me. I’m excited about the ideas I have for this room!

Guest room inspiration                       LOVE these colors!

So now I have to stop thinking about how much work all this will be, how exhausted it will make me, how little help I’m getting from K, and the fact we have no money to do everything I’m dreaming.

I will think about how less stressed I will feel because the clutter and overwhelming presence of stuff will be gone, how useful this will be for my family, how much more comfortable my guests will be while visiting overnight, and how I can finally get to all the crafty projects I’ve been itching to do.

Happy thoughts!

Tomorrow… I think positive about getting paid.

Love, The Faires

A portion of yesterday’s serious discussion on faires included fairy etiquette. According to Miss A, fairies always leave thank you notes and a treat to all who believe. *Hint, hint Mommy*

I couldn’t possibly allow this moment to pass without inspiring a little magic. I want my girl to be a dreamer, to give into her imagination and allow it to flourish. I deeply desire for her to frolic in whimsy and the magic of childhood for as long as possible. And if there is anyway that I can help make that happen, by golly I’m gonna do it.

So here’s a note from the faires…

Dearest Ava…

A thank you treat!

A surprise pouch sprinkled in fairy dust.

Love, The Faires

When she awoke she found this surprise waiting on the edge of her bed. After hearing what the note said she exclaimed, “I knew it!”

I simply adore these moments.

Oh, baby! {A Little Golden Books themed baby shower}

I am so very excited to be an aunt again. My whole family is just tickled ‘blue’ for the arrive of my brother’s little boy. To celebrate his upcoming birth, my mom and I threw an intimate shower for the mama-to-be, Jen.

Jen, the mama-to-be

Thanks to my time spent on Pinterest, I found inspiration for a Little Golden Books themed baby shower. As kids, I remember being at the grocery store with mom and being allowed to pick out a Little Golden Book as a reward for being good. Never candy. Always books (shocking I became a librarian, huh?). We split the work load for preparing for the event… Mom was tasked with planning the menu and I created the decor and dessert.

To decorate I scoured thrift stores and resale shops for gently loved books. I bought what I could find, which at first was not exciting. I was hoping to focus on classics such as, The Pokey Little Puppy and The Saggy Baggy Elephant. I gobbled up what I could find at super cheap prices and then I hit the jackpot at Half Priced Books.

I created the party invitation in MS Word using a google image of the inside cover of a Little Golden Book then adding a textbox for the message. I converted the file first into a PDF and then into a JPEG in order to print it using Walmart’s photo center. I despise Walmart but they have the best photo printing and the prices are very good. I create a 5×7 photo card on their site and have them printed in the number needed. 1-hour and they come with envelopes!

Using foam board and one book, I created 2 birdhouses for decor. These were a lot of work and all I had to go by was a photo found on Pinterest. I’m happy with how they turned out and they were a whimsical addition to the tables.

To accompany the birdhouse, I made felt bluebird ornaments as party favors for our guests. I simply love working with felt and always joke that “whatever you can do I can do better and in felt!” The bluebirds of happiness also worked as a simple decoration across the mantle. The birds were hung using mini clothes pins to ribbon announcing”It’s a boy!”

During all my purging and cleaning over the last few months, I found a torn copy of The Little Engine That Could. Using the pages from the damaged book, I cut them into triangles and attached them to ribbon using my sewing machine. Simple and adorable. These banners added just the right touch without making the party feel overdone. I also used the same illustrations to create mini-pennants to decorate the cupcakes.

  

Fabric with the Little Golden Books logo and images from classic stories served as a table runner and colorful mini-buckets from the Target dollar spot held the utensils.

For the menu, Mom choose to offer a salad bar which was an excellent choice. A variety of greens, fresh veggies, and shrimp provided a colorful and light lunch.

Food prep took very little time and was really stress free. Everyone loved this alternative to traditional party foods. Beverages also tend to be a huge ordeal at parties so we choose to offer one option…

This punch is made from a mixture of equal parts Blue Hawaiian Punch and lemonade. Lemon slice were added for a bit more color and because lemon slices just make everything a touch more classy. It was delish and our small group went through almost 2 pitchers! I plan to try this punch again but maybe adding rum!

In my opinion, cupcakes make everything easier. Every party should have cupcakes. No cake cutting. Less mess. No special plates needed. No wait for your guests. Cupcakes make the world go round. This time it was up to me to make them. If there is one thing you should know about me, it is that I am a notoriously horrendous baker. It’s bad. Badder than bad. However, after watching the amazing Nikki make 60 cupcakes for Lil’ A’s big birthday bash, I felt brave.

Not only did my cupcakes look super cute… they were YUM YUM YUMMY! French vanilla for the win!

Lil’ A sends Baby Aiden a kiss through Jen’s belly.

It was a lovely day! Jen and Brent received some very special gifts for little Aiden to help him start his journey in this crazy world. Lil’ A couldn’t be more excited for Aiden to get here and neither can I (and neither can his mama)!

Busy bee

This last week I have been a busy little bee trying to get ready for the baby shower my mama and I are hosting on Saturday. Today was the crazy trying to jam in all the last minute errands and such. Lil’ A and I visited Babies ‘r Us (where she had an epic meltdown over a stuffed lalaloopsy pillow thing), JoAnn Fabrics, Petco (where I almost adopted the cutest little black and white kitten but K said no), Noodles & Co (where she has meltdown number 2 because they didn’t serve tacos), and Target.

Once home I put there finishing touches on a few party supply items. There will be more photos to come but here a taste of the Little Golden Books themed baby shower I’ve been planning…

Birdhouse made from Little Golden Book and foam core

Bluebird felt ornaments for party favors

French vanilla cupcakes topped with sprinkles and handmade flags made from book illustrations

In the morning, Lil’ A and I will be off for a weekend of baby showers to help prepare for my newest nephew’s arrival in September.

Next I continue work on the Star Wars baby quilt I started for a gift when he arrives and a few decorative onsies.