Monday, September 30, 2019

Our Week - The One with Girls Night and Hanging with Friends

Our week was a little more low-key this week and it was a nice change of pace since we’ve been so darn busy for the last few weeks.  Jacob didn’t have any baseball games and he only had one practice, so it was nice to have the down time.

Monday, September 23

Monday is typically the day that we don’t have baseball, and we also don’t ever have ballet or any other activities that day, so it’s usually my main gym day.  I like to get the week started out on the right foot and I also like to work out on Mondays to burn off all of the beer and junk food from the weekend.  Ha!  After our crazy weekend last weekend I was on the struggle bus Monday morning, mostly from lack of sleep, so I struggled a little during my workout.  It wasn’t my best work, but I got it in!


The rest of the day was spent getting caught up from being gone all weekend and then relaxing all evening.    

Tuesday, September 24

I had a lunch date on Tuesday with one of my oldest coworkers.  He was one of the very first people I ever met when I started my old job and he and I have been close ever since.  I hadn’t seen him in a couple of months so it was nice to grab pizza with him at our usual place and get caught up.  He always fills me in on everything I’ve been missing since I left and most of the time it makes me thankful I’m no longer there.  Haha.  I sure don’t miss the job, but I do miss seeing him and some of my other coworkers every day.  We were all so close for so long so it’s still weird not seeing them every day, even two years later.  Which also brings me to… how have I been gone for almost two whole years?!  I swear, some days I wake up in the morning still thinking I have to go to work.

Jacob had baseball practice Tuesday evening, and B took him so I could cook and have dinner ready when they got home.  All of our primetime TV shows started this week and we kicked them off with This is Us on Tuesday evening!!!!  Did y’all see it?  I was intrigued the entire time and I’m excited to see where this season is going to go.



Wednesday, September 25

Wednesday, Olivia had her quarterly thyroid check-up.  If you’re new around here, here’s a quick history on that – in March 2018 we noticed a lump in her throat so we took her straight to the doc.  Our pediatrician referred us to an ENT doctor and they ended up having to put her to sleep to do a needle biopsy because the lump was on her thyroid.  It turned out to be a benign cyst (thank God), but after they drained it, it came right back within two weeks.  The doc was worried that it came back so quickly, and we are now having to monitor it quarterly via ultrasound.  They’ll eventually have to do surgery to remove the part of her thyroid that it’s attached to but we are trying to avoid that until she’s a teenager as removing part of her thyroid could affect her growth and development.  However, if it continues to grow as it has for the last year and a half since it popped up, they may have to remove it earlier.  And that’s why we’re monitoring it so frequently now… to make sure that it doesn’t continue to grow.  If it gets too big it could block her windpipe and make it hard for her to swallow and breathe so we cannot let it get to that point.  It’s scary to even think about.

Fortunately, she had a great appointment, and after the doc measured it via ultrasound, he announced that it’s officially stable (meaning it hasn’t grown in size since her last appointment)!!!!  Woo hoo!  He said he now feels comfortable moving her to semi-annual appointments instead of the usual quarterly appointments so that was good news as well.  Thank you to everyone who has kept our sweet girl in your prayers.  Please continue to pray that it doesn’t grow in size and that it remains non-cancerous.


After Olivia’s appointment, I rushed straight to the Mexican restaurant to meet my girlfriends to celebrate our friend, April’s, birthday.  We hadn’t had a girls dinner in quite a while so it was long overdue and much needed.  I love my girl time!


Wednesday was also National Daughters Day, so I jumped on the bandwagon and posted a picture of Olivia on Facebook and Instagram to commemorate the day.  Naturally, I went down the rabbit hole of old photos and I had the best time reminiscing and looking at old pictures of my sweet girl.  I ultimately chose this picture, mostly because those sunglasses were just so darn precious, and I swear, this makes me want 18 more babies.  I could just eat her.  <3



Thursday, September 26

Thursday was another gym day – this time my workout looked a bit better ;o) – and the rest of the day was spent running errands and getting things done.  Olivia has ballet every Thursday at 3:45 this school year, so we headed there straight after school, and then we were able to spend a nice long evening at home.  We’re still catching up on America’s Got Talent, so we watched some of that before the kids went to bed, but we still weren’t able to get through the finale.  Hopefully we’ll get it done this week.  Side note, why did that show make me cry 500 times this season?! 


And on another note, why oh why are we still dealing with these kinds of temps?!  We broke a record on Thursday.  It ended up getting up to 100 degrees.  Sigh.



Friday, September 27

Friday was another errands day.  Whew, I had so many errands!  I also finally got my flu shot, and right after the kids got out of school, I took them to get theirs as well.  Jacob is a boss when it comes to shots so it didn’t phase him in the least, but bless Olivia… she was terrified.  I purposely didn’t tell her about it that morning because I didn’t want it to give her anxiety at school all day, and after seeing how she reacted when I told her after school I’m SO GLAD I didn’t.  She was a hot mess.  She cried all the way to the doctor and cried all through check-in.  We got seated and she climbed up in my lap and cried and cried some more.  After about 10 minutes she started going into full panic-mode and I then realized – DUH, OILS!  We don’t have to deal with tantrums very often anymore with our littles and they don’t ever have anxiety, so I guess that’s why it didn’t occur to me sooner to oil her up. 

Well friends, I pulled out my “Unicorn” roller (a mixture of oils that can help with anxiety and stress, and also help with courage and bravery) and I kid y’all not, within 30 seconds of me swiping her wrists and heart and her breathing the scent directly from the bottle, she was totally calm.  In fact, she was so calm, that she finally started answering all of my questions about her day at school, and then she got down from my lap and went to play with the toys in the waiting room.  #OILSFORTHEWIN!!!!

A bit later when we finally got back to our room and the nurse came in with the needles, she was back to freaking out again.  Jacob hopped right up on the table to show her how it was done, but then when it was Olivia’s turn she screamed bloody murder and I had to hold her down.  The nurse did it so quickly that Olivia didn’t even realize she had done it, and Olivia looked shocked when we told her it was over.  Jacob then climbed back up on the table with Olivia and he put his arms around her to comfort her.  And then I melted into a puddle.  They both got lollipops from the front desk as their consolation prizes, and then on the way out Olivia told me all nonchalantly, “I didn’t even feel that shot.”  Face palm.


By the time we got home, she'd made a full recovery, and she colored at the table in her new clip-on starfish earrings from the prize box while singing along to Old Town Road.  Can't make this stuff up!


Friday evening our friends Randi and Donnie invited us over to their house to hang out for the evening.  The kids got to feed and play with their goats and play outside while all of us adults enjoyed a few cocktails, and then we were sent inside by an impending thunderstorm that never ended up hitting.  The rest of the evening was spent inside eating a yummy dinner that Randi cooked and hanging out while the kiddos played.









Saturday, September 28

Saturday we were up for homemade waffles and College GameDay and then B and Jacob headed out for haircuts while Olivia tagged along.  Since I had the house to myself and no place to be, I used the opportunity to knock out some house chores – sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, dusting, cleaning toilets, and scrubbing countertops – and I ended up getting the whole house shiny and clean. 

I made some grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch and then the rest of the afternoon was spent getting the rest of my photographed clothes listed on Poshmark and watching football.  We headed to mass at 5:30 like we always do and about halfway through it started pouring outside… a MUCH NEEDED rain after weeks and weeks of drought and 100+ degree temps.  It was such a welcome sound to hear that rain pitter-pattering and the thunder rolling.  We need more of that right now!


After church we headed to one of our favorite little pubs down the street for some beers and bar food.  And since Dairy Queen only has the pumpkin pie blizzard for a couple of months out of the year, yes, we stopped and grabbed some of those on the way home.  ;o) 

And Saturday was National Sons Day so I couldn't let the day go without posting a throwback picture of my munchie.  My gosh, I miss him being that small.


Sunday, September 29

My mother-in-law and step father-in-law didn’t cook on Sunday again, so the entire day was wide open until B’s tennis match at 2:30.  We ended up being lazy at home all morning and then we stepped out to grab Chipotle for lunch.  After lunch we took the kids to the playground to run around for a bit, but after 20 minutes or so they both came over saying it was too hot and they wanted to go.  You know it’s too hot when the kids don’t even want to play on the playground. 


Since we still had some time to kill before B’s match, we headed to Barnes and Noble per the kids request.  They always love to browse the store and play with the train table in there (even though they’re getting too big for it!) so we obliged since it was indoors and cool.  Both kids asked if they could buy something at the store and B and I agreed they could each spend some of their own money if they saw something that they wanted, so we ended up spending the entire time perusing the toys and Legos.  About ten minutes before we needed to leave, we told Olivia that she only had a few more minutes to pick something out.  Jacob had long picked out a Beyblade by then, but Olivia just couldn’t decide what she wanted. 

Well, little girlfriend kept dragging her feet and not making a decision, so we finally told her that she had five minutes left to choose, then four, then three, then two, and then one.  At the end of her time she still hadn’t decided what to buy and by then she was getting really irritable, so we told her she had to pick something right then or we were leaving.  Well, she still wouldn’t pick anything and B was on the verge of being late for his tennis match, so we ended up having to haul her out of there kicking and screaming.  Of all the years she’s been alive, she’s only thrown a small handful of tantrums like that and that one was probably the second biggest ever.  I’m positive everyone in the store thought that Brian was kidnapping her as he was carrying her out of the store.  Lol.

She threw her tantrum all the way home, but ended up making a 100% recovery within five minutes of getting out of the car.  I’m hoping she learned a valuable lesson that Mommy and Daddy aren’t bluffing when we give an ultimatum.  #LifeLessons 

B left for his tennis match after dropping us at home, and I got dinner started in the Crockpot, and then the kids helped me bake a cake for Sunday dinner.  Since my momma cooked last weekend for her own birthday I wanted to cook this weekend so she didn’t have to. 


The rest of the afternoon was spent doing some laundry and putting together a puzzle with the kids, and then it was time to finish dinner.  My littlest brother’s birthday is today (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, O’S!!), so we celebrated him last night with my momma, daddy, grandmother, and my uncle’s friend who also came over. 

We had ranch chicken pasta and broccoli plus a salad with my grandmother’s famous ranch dressing accompanied by our usual bottle of wine.  Then for dessert we had chocolate chip bundt cake and sang to my brother, and it was another delicious Sunday evening together... even if my cake stuck to the pan and ripped off.  Hahahaha.

Happy Monday, y’all! 


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Friday, September 27, 2019

Five on Friday - Holiday Dress, Favorite Fall Nail Color, and Need Your Opinions!

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Is it me or did this week just fly by?  After the never-ending week last week, this one felt like it zoomed by.  We have a low-key weekend on tap and I can’t even tell you how excited that makes me feel after our busy weekend last weekend.  It’s always so nice to get away and do something fun, but it’s also nice to have lots of downtime at home. 

O N E – Thanksgiving/Christmas Dress

How cute is this dress, y’all?! 

The puffy sleeves… the ruffles…the babydoll silhouette! 

It popped up as a lightning deal the other day and I thought that it would be the absolute perfect dress for our fall family pictures that we'll be doing next month.  In addition to that, it's also perfect for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  We dress up every Thanksgiving because my father-in-law takes us to the country club for Thanksgiving lunch, and I can’t think of a better thing to wear!  It comes in plenty of colors and it also comes in solids if you’re not into polka dots.  It does run large, though, so size down.  And if you still find it a little too billowy in the front, just wear it with a cute belt.  I think that's what I'm going to do!

Seriously one of my favorite Amazon fashion purchases to date...  



T W O – Red Dress Return

Remember that cute red dress that I posted about last week and how excited I was to wear it to the Georgia game?  Well, did you see my Instagram stories last weekend where I burned it with the iron? 

Face palm. 

Yep, my steamer wasn’t working so I tried the iron on low as the tag recommended, and I’ll be danged if it didn’t burn a hole straight through it.  So FYI, if you do get this dress, do not iron it!  Haha. 

Anyway, some good news on that front… I requested an exchange on Amazon, I told them exactly what transpired, and they are going to replace the dress for free!!  THIS IS WHY I ADORE AMAZON!  Hopefully they’re going to forward the info to the third party who manufactures the dress because they need to change the care instructions on the tag to say NO iron instead of low iron.  Haha.

If the weather continues here the way it has for the last couple of months then it’ll probably still be warm enough in November to wear it to the Missouri game.  While that thought doesn’t make me happy weather-wise, it would be nice to be able to wear the dress to a Georgia game as originally intended.  I guess we’ll see!




T H R E E – Nail Color

It’s officially fall (and not just fall in my heart) so that means the nail-painting has commenced!  I tend to like dark colors on my nails the best, so I don’t typically paint them as much during the spring and summer.  Now that fall is here I’m ready for my festive dark nails!

One of my favorite shades of all-time is OPI’s Lincoln Park After Dark.  It’s technically a deep, dark shade of purple, but when you use two coats of it as I always do, it almost looks black.  It’s the perfect fall color, especially for October and all things Halloween and I’m feeling like I have an extra pep in my step now with my fancy nails.  ;o)



F O U R – Georgia vs. Notre Dame Goodness

Yes, I’m going to talk about the game one more time, but after today I promise to try to chill.  Haha.  It was just so good. 

This article popped up in my Facebook feed earlier this week and it just gave me all the feels.  We know several people who attended the Georgia vs. Notre Dame game in South Bend two years ago and all of them raved about how welcoming and wonderful the Notre Dame fans were to the Georgia fans.  I had hoped and prayed that Georgia fans would do the same for them this past weekend when they came to Athens, so when this article popped up it made me so proud to be a Dawg fan!

We have nothing but great things to say about the Notre Dame fans who we encountered this weekend... they were all just as friendly and kind as they could be!  And for this member of the Notre Dame Board of Trustees to do this, well that’s just about as classy as it gets!  Winning is fantastic, but this is what it’s all about, y’all – good sportsmanship and having a good time.  Keep it classy, always.  <3



F I V E – Disney Dining… Need Your Opinions!

So we’re coming up verrrry quickly on our date to book all of our dining for our Disney trip in March and I wanted to reach out to all of y’all for your opinions regarding table service restaurants options in the four parks. 

Last year, we ate at the following:

Magic Kingdom – Be Our Guest

It was incredible and amazing and everything I’d dreamed of and we would 100% go back, but we want to try to do something different just to experience everything MK has to offer.  We are considering Cinderella’s Table (in the castle) and I wanted to ask y’all – have you been there before?  Is it worth it to go once?  Or did you like Be Our Guest better?  It’s going to be really hard to top Be Our Guest… I cried real tears when we were in there because it was just like being in the movie.  Beauty and the Beast has always been my favorite Disney movie so it was like all of my nine year-old princess dreams came true that day.  It was truly magical.

Epcot – Akershus Royal Banquet Hall

We liked Akershus because of the character experience, but other than that it was just good… nothing to rave about.  We are definitely looking to eat somewhere different in Epcot (and it doesn’t have to be character dining) so give me all of your favorite table service restaurant suggestions there and WHY you love them!

Animal Kingdom – Tusker House

Again, we loved Tusker House because of the character experience, but again, the food and décor were just average.  We’re definitely looking to try somewhere different in Animal Kingdom this year, too, (again, it doesn’t have to be character dining) so tell me your favorite table service restaurant there and why you love it! 

Hollywood Studios – Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater

Okay, we adored this restaurant!!  The whole atmosphere is set to feel like you’re outside at an old timey drive-in theater and they play all kinds of old sci-fi movies while you eat your dinner in old convertible cars.  We loved the food there (especially the desserts!) and the kids loved this place so much that they are requesting to go back.  I think that’s what we’ll probably do, but I’d love to hear other suggestions if anyone has any!


Now for some Friday funnies…

Not only am I a basic white girl, apparently I'm also a basic white dude, too!

Dead.

#Truth

This meme reminded me of a story that happened this past week that I forget to include in my weekly recap.  I went back and updated it, so you MUST go back and read the Thursday portion in this post.  Jacob and I are both scarred for life.  

And ICYMI, this week’s blog posts…




Happy Friday, everybody! 


*Linking up with A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favoriteand Polka-Dotty Place for High Five for Friday.




Wednesday, September 25, 2019

What’s Up Wednesday - September 2019

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September was wonderful, y’all… probably my favorite month this year so far.  Even though the scorching hot temps are still with us and it doesn’t feel like fall outside, it feels like fall in my heart so I guess that’s all that matters.  <3 

Now for some September recapping…

What We’re Eating This Week

Mon – Chicken and Pineapple Stir Fry
Tue – BBQ chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, green beans
Wed – Out with the girls
Thu – Eggs, grits, bacon, toast
Fri – Out
Sat – Out
Sun – Sunday dinner (not sure what I’m cooking yet, though)

What I’m Reminiscing About

Not really much of anything other than our trip to Athens this past weekend!  We had the best time!  You can see the recap here.






What I’m Loving

I’ve always loved the Bath & Body Works scented soaps, especially during fall and Christmas, but as you all know, I’ve been trying to clean up the products that we use at home so I’ve been on the hunt for something without all of the toxins.  Last year I started buying some of the Mrs. Meyers soaps here and there, and I’m now buying those about 80% of the time over the Bath & Body Works soaps since they’re way cleaner.  They have seasonal scents, so I don’t have to miss out on my beloved fall and Christmas scents so it’s a win-win!  I bought several different fall scents this year – Mum, Acorn Spice, and Apple Cider, and the Acorn Spice is by far my favorite.  It is SO GOOD, y’all.  And it's on sale right now!




What We’ve Been Up To

September was busy.  We’ve been up to a little bit of everything – Hot Air Balloon Festival at Callaway Gardens, fall decorating, watching Jacob play baseball, downtown Friday night concert, watching lots of football, attending the Georgia vs. Notre Dame football game, and celebrating my Momma’s birthday!  Since I’ve been recapping our weeks, there’s not really anything new to share here, so I’ll just drop the recaps below in case you missed any of them.




What I’m Dreading

Nothing at all.

What I’m Working On

I’ve been so busy this month with appointments and meetings I feel like I really haven’t focused on much project-wise.  Here are the few things that I’ve been working on this month…

  1. I’ve been organizing all of the kids’ old clothes by gender, season, and size and getting them photographed and uploaded to Poshmark.  I recently realized that people tend to want to purchase items in bundles on there, so I’m taking care to upload clothes in the same genders/sizes so people can purchase multiple things at once to save on shipping.  I’ve made a few sales now, so I feel like I’m getting the hang of it.  Since I’m not working at a corporate job now, I’m trying to bring in income in any way that I can, and this is definitely a great way to make some money on the side!  You can shop my Poshmark closet here.  I’m hoping to post some maternity clothes on there soon, too!
  2. I’m still working on organizing the files on my computer.  This is a long process as you can probably imagine, so I’ll be working on this for a long time.    
  3. I’m working on procuring donations for our school’s fall carnival.  I’m on the fall carnival committee yet again this year and it’s going to be another great one!
  4. I’m starting to Christmas shop already!  I’ve been snagging things for the kiddos here and there as I see good deals.  The other day Amazon had a lightning deal on these digital bookmarks and I thought they’d be the perfect stocking stuffer!  Jacob has to read for 20 minutes and then do a reading response sheet for homework every night, and I always use my phone timer to time him, but I thought he might love to have his own little timer on a bookmark so he can time himself.  Is that not the cutest idea?  Olivia doesn’t have a specific time limit yet, but I figured she’s gonna want one if Jacob has one so I got one for her, too. 
  5. As always, I’m working on my Master To Do List.  My goal this month was very low at just 10 tasks, and it’s looking like I’m barely going to hit that this month.  I’ll be providing an update on this the first Friday in October. 
  6. And, of course, I’m always working on blogging.  It takes up the majority of my free time.  Here are some post highlights from this past month:









What I’m Excited About

I’m super excited to start getting my new Simplified Planner set up for 2020!  I got it in the mail a couple of weeks ago and it’s been sitting on my desk ever since.  We’ve been so busy I haven’t had time to start on it yet, but I’m hoping to start prepping it in October.  I obviously can’t start using it until January, but I like to get it prepped early so I don’t have to bother with it in December when things are the busiest!  Once December hits, all I want to do is work on stuff for Christmas and spend lots of time with my favorite people.  I won’t be thinking about prepping a planner during the Christmas season, so it’s best that I get it done and get it ready to go!    

The Simplified Planners come with a few prep pages in the very front where you can write down ideas for improving your routines and healthy habits, your morning and evening routines, and your bucket list for the year.  It’s a good way to reflect on what worked and didn’t work in the previous year so you can make changes for the better to start the year off on the right foot.  I also fill in all birthdays, anniversaries, and appointments on the monthly calendar spreads so everything is there and ready to go when 2020 rolls around! 




What I’m Watching/Reading

Watching – Tons of college football, Gossip Girl, Gilmore Girls (while I work) and Chernobyl, and we also just finished Bachelor in Paradise.  This week all of the primetime television is premiering so I’m excited to add This is Us, A Million Little Things, Modern Family, Shark Tank, and all of the other shows that we love so much back into the mix.

Reading – Not much of anything… I’m telling y’all, I just don’t have time to read during the school year.  Once school is back in session, the only time I have to read is right before bed and I’m always too exhausted.  I did start One in a Million about a month ago, I got about two chapters in, and then I quit.  I guess I need to either continue or return it to the library. 


What I’m Listening To

Lizzo, Lizzo, and more Lizzo.  I just love her and I love her music.  If you’re having a bad day, crank up some Lizzo in the car and sing your heart out.  She’ll snap you right out of it, I guarantee.  My three faves are Good as Hell, Juice, and Truth Hurts.  They’re all upbeat and the lyrics are SO GOOD.  Just know that the lyrics are also SO INAPPROPRIATE so don’t listen to them around the kiddos unless you have the censored versions.  ;o) 




What I’m Wearing

All the freaking summer clothes still. 

Sigh. 
Sigh. 
Siiiigh. 

Are we ever going to get a break in the heat?!  Looking at our 10-day forecast, it’s literally sunny and nearly 100 degrees every single day for the next 10 days.  Whyyyy.

One of these days I’ll get to wear my actual fall clothes, but until then I’ll just keep wearing out this tank, this plaid top, and this sleeveless knot-front top.  They’re pretty much fall-esque summer clothes.




 
What I’m Doing This Weekend

Actually nothing!  And I’m reeeeally excited about that after our exhausting (but amazing) weekend last weekend.  This will be our last empty weekend for weeks and weeks, so we plan to spend lots of time at home.  :o)

What I’m Looking Forward To Next Month

My goodness, October is going to be chockablock (name that movie!) full of goodness – the big rivalry high school football game at the kids’ school, our annual trip to the mountains for fall break, my niece’s first birthday, the alumni social and homecoming weekend at the kids’ school (and my alma mater), Ray LaMontagne concert at The Fox in Atlanta (I’M SO EXCITED!!!!), Olivia’s first field trip of the year to the pumpkin patch, the fall carnival at the kids’ school, HALLOWEEN, and lots of baseball games for Jacob.  Sign me up for every single thing!  I just love this time of year!

What Else Is New

I’ve mentioned this before, but I joined the Home and School Association at the kids’ school!  I’m hoping to do lots more volunteering in 2020 so I figured there’s no better way to do that than to get involved more at the school!  You long-time readers know that the school that our kids attend is also my alma mater, so it holds a special place in my heart.  Every time I walk the halls it’s like I’m home, so it’s rewarding to know that I can have a voice and make a positive difference there.  And it also doesn’t hurt that I get to sneak little peeks at the kiddos in their school habitats.  ;o) 

My 2020 is going to look a whole lot different than my 2019 in terms of my word/motto for the year, so I’ve already started making some changes and implementing some new things to set myself up for success with it in the new year.  I’ll, of course, be sharing my word for 2020 here on the blog, but you’ll have to wait for the post in the new year!  Sorry for the teaser! 

Happy Wednesday, y’all!


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