Call me scatterbrained, a quitter, distracted, multi-faceted...whatever word you think sums up my inability to decide what I want to do.
I come up with hundreds of ideas and schemes, but realizing they won't produce as much profit as I feel my time is worth I let them float around in my brain awhile and then let them flit away. I usually revisit the same ideas multiple times, especially work-from-home ideas or going to college.
I like to research things. I like to find ways to budget and save money, find fun and addicting ways to learn, I like to understand how things work. Despite it's bad reputation for over-diagnosing cancer, I really enjoy Web MD. I love learning about the brain, the body, illnesses and conditions. I love to read, and I fantasize about being a novelist. I have recently started writing a novel, and I am really proud of my first few chapters, but I am still waiting on my character to evolve the way that I think characters should.
I first learned about blogging as a way of making money on Wealthy Affiliate, which is pretty well known in the blogging world, as an online platform that has some free resources, but ultimately is a paid online program that teaches bloggers how to set up Word Press and start using affiliate links, which generate passive income. Passive income, for those of you who don't know the term, is money you make without doing anything. Passive income can be made while you are asleep, or while you are on vacation, or while you are working on something completely different. You basically get a percentage of anything people purchase after they click on the link in your blog post.
I was fascinated by this, thinking that I was going to start a blog right then and there. It was one of the ideas that I had (I need to mention the ideas I get are ideas for me, not necessarily original ideas) to earn money. I found this and wanted to pursue it over a year ago. I actually don't even think I was pregnant with my son yet.
I went through some of the free resources on Wealthy Affiliate and I found that I ran into a problem... I had no idea what to write about. Sure, I could start an online diary and hope the whole world found my thoughts super compelling and intriguing, but then I ran into the problem of being completely transparent. I'm certainly not ashamed of who I am, and even the things in my life that are shocking and negative have been valuable lessons that after learning gave me a unique view on life, and a greater ability to appreciate-or desire to appreciate-life. That being said, I believe that telling the whole story would be essential, and I'm just not ready (and may never be) to tell everyone in my life the whole story...so where does that leave me? Writing about something else.
I don't know about anything else. Not like I'm stupid, but I'm just not qualified. I could start a blog about health, but I'm not a nutritionist, or a chiropractor or a doctor. I only know what I know, and that blog wouldn't be one that would live and evolve for several years. I could write about writing, but honestly I'm a beginner. I have no real success or experience to back up my opinions or methods. I could write about cooking, but I already get my recipes from other bloggers, and they deserve that credit. I could write about my baby, but honestly being a stay at home Mom is a lot more boring than people might think. I love every minute with my son but if I were to write a post a week about it, it would essentially say the same things over and over.
I'm still working it out, and at some point I may revisit one of those ideas. Until then, I have just been writing whatever comes to mind at the time, hoping that you guys won't find it completely and overwhelmingly boring.
I see people are reading what I'm writing, but no one is commenting, and I think it is essential to the blog that you guys submit feedback! If you hate it, or have suggestions you are afraid to comment because you don't want to be negative or hurt my ego, don't let that hold you back. I revel in the criticism (of course, the more constructive the better), because it will help me become a better writer, and it will help me understand what the audience that I am already building wants.
I don't even have my own domain, so I am officially making no money off of any of these posts, which is fitting because I want to develop content that I love that an audience will love.
I have applied to go to community college, so when I hear back from them about whether I will receive financial aid I will let everyone know! Hopefully attending school will help me expand my knowledge and help me find a niche topic to write about.
Thanks guys:)
Happy 4th of July!
Monday, July 4, 2016
Saturday, July 2, 2016
How I Grocery Shop On A Budget
Today was a super busy day!
You probably don't know because I haven't really brought it up, but we have been house hunting since March and we are finally under contract for a house we really like! It's got plenty of space, a good sized yard, a nice deck off the dining room, and as long as everything goes as planned we will get the keys on the 13th!
Since we have been putting all of our extra money into our house, money has been really tight, so when it comes to grocery shopping it is an interesting and exciting challenge to see how far I can stretch our money. I go grocery shopping every 2 weeks and usually have a budget of $150 or less each week, which included toiletries and household supplies, so meal planning is required. Here are the basic guidelines I have set for myself.
1. I try to buy healthy! Fresh fruits and veggies, particularly! I know that I am the only one that eats most of the time, leaving John eating my leftovers, or me eating them for lunch the next day, but I refuse to eat Ramen Noodles every day in order to save cash. I could absolutely buy 3 times as much processed, unhealthy, boxed food than how many groceries I actually buy, but I believe in taking care of my body.
2. Buy as many things on sale as possible. The only time that I buy things that are not on sale is when I shop at Aldi, or when I have a brand that I love! I buy Toasted Coconut Almond Milk, for example, and I really, really, love it. I budget for it even though it's not on sale. I usually buy this or a variation of the same brand as a substitute for regular milk, but I occasionally buy regular milk when I know I will have recipes that call for it.
3. I make a list. I do not veer off the list. Today I broke that rule and it resulted me paying more than I had intended on without actually getting everything on my list. I hadn't completed my list because I had written out some stuff I wanted and then wrote out a list of the ingredients I needed for my meal plan, but I did this so late that I didn't feel like combining the two lists and pricing everything, coming up with a total and then cutting things I could live without. So today, when I went to the store I saw hummus, and $0.99 french onion dip I got excited and threw them in the cart.
4. I almost always calculate items as I go along. I can't price everything, even though I usually have an estimate of how much it's going to be, so I take my calculator and I punch it all in (another rule I broke today, thinking I left my phone in the car, resulting in me looking through my purse and blocking a bunch of grumpy ladies from being able to migrate down the isle). The reason I do this is because then when I am done with my list and I have mentally added in the taxes, I know if there is a little extra left for something I saw that I wanted, or extra left in case I accidentally forgot something important.
5. What I do when I forget stuff? If it's something important I send John to get it on the way home. Today for example, the day that I just could not get it together, I forgot coffee. I did not forget to buy myself my emergency coffee beverage that I bought because I didn't have coffee to brew this morning, but I forgot to buy actual coffee, without which I die from the thousand year headache. This headache is not playing guys, so yes, I call in back up. FOLDGERS! When I forget something a little less crucial, like cornstarch for example (for thickening sauce), I try to get creative. I wanted to make Cashew Chicken tonight. I didn't have soy sauce or corn starch, but I did have stir fry sauce, which contained soy sauce and corn starch. That was exactly what I needed to save my Cashew Chicken!!!
So normally I don't forget things, but because I am still practicing being a super shopper on a budget and also trying to learn how to cook new foods it is definitely an exciting learning experience and it requires a little bit of trial and error to get it right. I think the reason that I forgot so much stuff this particular week is because I was shopping for ingredients that I never use. I kind of felt like I failed a little when I spent more than I meant to, but then I realized that it's okay because I am learning all while trying new things!
Share your favorite shopping/meal planning tips/recipes in the comments below!
Thanks everyone!
You probably don't know because I haven't really brought it up, but we have been house hunting since March and we are finally under contract for a house we really like! It's got plenty of space, a good sized yard, a nice deck off the dining room, and as long as everything goes as planned we will get the keys on the 13th!
Since we have been putting all of our extra money into our house, money has been really tight, so when it comes to grocery shopping it is an interesting and exciting challenge to see how far I can stretch our money. I go grocery shopping every 2 weeks and usually have a budget of $150 or less each week, which included toiletries and household supplies, so meal planning is required. Here are the basic guidelines I have set for myself.
1. I try to buy healthy! Fresh fruits and veggies, particularly! I know that I am the only one that eats most of the time, leaving John eating my leftovers, or me eating them for lunch the next day, but I refuse to eat Ramen Noodles every day in order to save cash. I could absolutely buy 3 times as much processed, unhealthy, boxed food than how many groceries I actually buy, but I believe in taking care of my body.
2. Buy as many things on sale as possible. The only time that I buy things that are not on sale is when I shop at Aldi, or when I have a brand that I love! I buy Toasted Coconut Almond Milk, for example, and I really, really, love it. I budget for it even though it's not on sale. I usually buy this or a variation of the same brand as a substitute for regular milk, but I occasionally buy regular milk when I know I will have recipes that call for it.
3. I make a list. I do not veer off the list. Today I broke that rule and it resulted me paying more than I had intended on without actually getting everything on my list. I hadn't completed my list because I had written out some stuff I wanted and then wrote out a list of the ingredients I needed for my meal plan, but I did this so late that I didn't feel like combining the two lists and pricing everything, coming up with a total and then cutting things I could live without. So today, when I went to the store I saw hummus, and $0.99 french onion dip I got excited and threw them in the cart.
4. I almost always calculate items as I go along. I can't price everything, even though I usually have an estimate of how much it's going to be, so I take my calculator and I punch it all in (another rule I broke today, thinking I left my phone in the car, resulting in me looking through my purse and blocking a bunch of grumpy ladies from being able to migrate down the isle). The reason I do this is because then when I am done with my list and I have mentally added in the taxes, I know if there is a little extra left for something I saw that I wanted, or extra left in case I accidentally forgot something important.
5. What I do when I forget stuff? If it's something important I send John to get it on the way home. Today for example, the day that I just could not get it together, I forgot coffee. I did not forget to buy myself my emergency coffee beverage that I bought because I didn't have coffee to brew this morning, but I forgot to buy actual coffee, without which I die from the thousand year headache. This headache is not playing guys, so yes, I call in back up. FOLDGERS! When I forget something a little less crucial, like cornstarch for example (for thickening sauce), I try to get creative. I wanted to make Cashew Chicken tonight. I didn't have soy sauce or corn starch, but I did have stir fry sauce, which contained soy sauce and corn starch. That was exactly what I needed to save my Cashew Chicken!!!
So normally I don't forget things, but because I am still practicing being a super shopper on a budget and also trying to learn how to cook new foods it is definitely an exciting learning experience and it requires a little bit of trial and error to get it right. I think the reason that I forgot so much stuff this particular week is because I was shopping for ingredients that I never use. I kind of felt like I failed a little when I spent more than I meant to, but then I realized that it's okay because I am learning all while trying new things!
Share your favorite shopping/meal planning tips/recipes in the comments below!
Thanks everyone!
Friday, June 17, 2016
The Engagement...Part 2
It was a magical day! First of all the dogs weren't pooping on the floor. I spent the whole day in suspense of what the secret that John was keeping could be.
The day went on for eternity! The plan was that we would go to my Mom's to have cake and then she would watch Baby John while we went to dinner and to play pool afterwards.
When 5 o'clock finally rolled around we left the house and stopped by Kmart and I bought a really cute pair of shoes and a cute pair of white sandals to wear with my outfit! Later that night I taught John how to bend them to help break them in! He had never heard of that before!
We left Kmart and pulled into my Mom's driveway. John grabbed the car seat and I led the way to the door where my Mom peered out to check and see if we were there.
I opened the door and walked in and "SURPRISE!!!!" Almost my whole family was standing there smiling and waiting for me!!!
I could not believe it!!!!
My whole life I wanted someone to throw me a surprise party, and this incredible man remembered me telling him that. I really couldn't believe it! I stood there like a deer caught in the headlights.
I hugged my Grandma, my Aunt Erin, my Mom, my brother and his girlfriend Baylee, my cousins, my Uncle Greg. I couldn't believe he had hid it so well! He had been so secretive but I really did not see the surprise party coming. John is the sweetest man I have ever dated.
We ate pizza and hung out and then had a really yummy chocolate cake with peanut butter cups inside! My Mom makes really good cake!
Then we went out to play pool at Bailey's. I really need to play pool more often. I was getting really good there for a while until I got to be about 6 months pregnant and then it all went down hill from there. My belly got in the way while I could still play, and then I had baby John and barely played until this night. It was pretty rough my friend. My ultimate life goal is to have a pool table in my house. That's it. That's all I want. HAHA!
Then we decided to go over to Music Valley Drive to the Nashville Palace, where my Dad plays in a really great band. It's good ole country music, and it really makes you want to dance! I LOVE to dance!!! John says he's not a very good dancer, but he danced to 3 or 4 songs with me, and I taught him the basic footwork of the Texas Two Step and he did really great!!! We had some good fries and fried pickles too.
It started to get late and we decided to go. We headed out to the car and that's when John took my hand and started to walk across the parking lot.
"Let's walk for a little. I want to walk off those fries," he said.
I laughed, "Okay." What did that even mean? Walk off those fries? We hadn't been overly stuffed with fries so I was kind of confused, but I love romantic walks at night so I went along with it without too many questions.
We walked diagonally across the parking lot and then started walking past the closed but well lit shops in the strip. We passed the Earnest Tub Record shop, a Wedding Chapel that was surprisingly nice inside, and other random stores. From across the lot I pointed to the Music City Bar and Grill, "That's where we had our first date!" I exclaimed.
"Yeah, and where you read me the letter," he said.
We walked and talked and eventually ended standing in front of the Music City Bar and Grill. There were some loud drunk people and a black car was pulled up in front of the bar.
John stopped. "Looks like they are taking an Uber."
"Yeahhh," I answered, kind of awkwardly standing there. He pulled me into a hug. It was cute. What was going on....
We stood there all huggy and cute until the car left, taking the drunk people with it.
John took my hands.
"René. I love you very much, and I have been waiting for the right time to do this," and he got down on one knee and I turned around and covered my mouth, "Oh my God!" I said. I turned back to him and he pulled out a little box, and said, "Will you marry me?"
"Holy crap yes!" I said.
It was so magical and incredible and I couldn't believe it! He had completely thrown me off with the surprise party! I ran back into the Nashville Palace to tell my Dad!! Becky (the bassist and singer in the band) announced it to everyone! It was one of the most exciting days of my life.
John explained the ring he gave me is a stand in ring. It's the ring his Dad gave his Mom, but he originally gave it to another girl and wanted me to have a ring that was only ever given to me. Let me tell you, he is really outdoing himself with the real ring! That thing is serious! I went in to have it fitted, so it looks weird on my hand, but you can see how gorgeous it is!
So now you know how it happened! I'm so excited and I can't wait to set a date and start making plans!!!
Hope you guys have a great day:)
The day went on for eternity! The plan was that we would go to my Mom's to have cake and then she would watch Baby John while we went to dinner and to play pool afterwards.
When 5 o'clock finally rolled around we left the house and stopped by Kmart and I bought a really cute pair of shoes and a cute pair of white sandals to wear with my outfit! Later that night I taught John how to bend them to help break them in! He had never heard of that before!
We left Kmart and pulled into my Mom's driveway. John grabbed the car seat and I led the way to the door where my Mom peered out to check and see if we were there.
I opened the door and walked in and "SURPRISE!!!!" Almost my whole family was standing there smiling and waiting for me!!!
I could not believe it!!!!
My whole life I wanted someone to throw me a surprise party, and this incredible man remembered me telling him that. I really couldn't believe it! I stood there like a deer caught in the headlights.
I hugged my Grandma, my Aunt Erin, my Mom, my brother and his girlfriend Baylee, my cousins, my Uncle Greg. I couldn't believe he had hid it so well! He had been so secretive but I really did not see the surprise party coming. John is the sweetest man I have ever dated.
We ate pizza and hung out and then had a really yummy chocolate cake with peanut butter cups inside! My Mom makes really good cake!
Then we went out to play pool at Bailey's. I really need to play pool more often. I was getting really good there for a while until I got to be about 6 months pregnant and then it all went down hill from there. My belly got in the way while I could still play, and then I had baby John and barely played until this night. It was pretty rough my friend. My ultimate life goal is to have a pool table in my house. That's it. That's all I want. HAHA!
Then we decided to go over to Music Valley Drive to the Nashville Palace, where my Dad plays in a really great band. It's good ole country music, and it really makes you want to dance! I LOVE to dance!!! John says he's not a very good dancer, but he danced to 3 or 4 songs with me, and I taught him the basic footwork of the Texas Two Step and he did really great!!! We had some good fries and fried pickles too.
It started to get late and we decided to go. We headed out to the car and that's when John took my hand and started to walk across the parking lot.
"Let's walk for a little. I want to walk off those fries," he said.
I laughed, "Okay." What did that even mean? Walk off those fries? We hadn't been overly stuffed with fries so I was kind of confused, but I love romantic walks at night so I went along with it without too many questions.
We walked diagonally across the parking lot and then started walking past the closed but well lit shops in the strip. We passed the Earnest Tub Record shop, a Wedding Chapel that was surprisingly nice inside, and other random stores. From across the lot I pointed to the Music City Bar and Grill, "That's where we had our first date!" I exclaimed.
"Yeah, and where you read me the letter," he said.
We walked and talked and eventually ended standing in front of the Music City Bar and Grill. There were some loud drunk people and a black car was pulled up in front of the bar.
John stopped. "Looks like they are taking an Uber."
"Yeahhh," I answered, kind of awkwardly standing there. He pulled me into a hug. It was cute. What was going on....
We stood there all huggy and cute until the car left, taking the drunk people with it.
John took my hands.
"René. I love you very much, and I have been waiting for the right time to do this," and he got down on one knee and I turned around and covered my mouth, "Oh my God!" I said. I turned back to him and he pulled out a little box, and said, "Will you marry me?"
"Holy crap yes!" I said.
It was so magical and incredible and I couldn't believe it! He had completely thrown me off with the surprise party! I ran back into the Nashville Palace to tell my Dad!! Becky (the bassist and singer in the band) announced it to everyone! It was one of the most exciting days of my life.
John explained the ring he gave me is a stand in ring. It's the ring his Dad gave his Mom, but he originally gave it to another girl and wanted me to have a ring that was only ever given to me. Let me tell you, he is really outdoing himself with the real ring! That thing is serious! I went in to have it fitted, so it looks weird on my hand, but you can see how gorgeous it is!
So now you know how it happened! I'm so excited and I can't wait to set a date and start making plans!!!
Hope you guys have a great day:)
Thursday, June 2, 2016
The Engagement! ..Part 1
SO HE FINALLY DID IT EVERYONE!
Not that everyone else has been waiting in as much suspense as I have; wondering WHEN he was going to propose, and if he ever even thought about proposing any time soon!!!
Then finally, the week of my birthday, and also the week of John's vacation off of work came!!!
He had been hiding his phone all week. I was going nuts trying to pry information out of him, only establishing that my Mom was privy to the information that I was being deprived of.
"What's in your phone that I can't see?" I'd ask.
"Something." John said coyly.
"What kind of something???" I implored.
"Something for your birthday," He would say, resisting the urge to laugh at his own hilariousness.
"WELL what kind of something for my birthday?" I insisted.
"A birthday something." We usually left it at that, with me wanting to kill John, but also the opposite of kill him which would probably be not to kill him. (This conversation happened at least once a day in the days leading up to my birthday.)
I love surprises, and I love to try to figure out what they are even more.
The day before my birthday, May 25th, my friend Samantha came over to hang out. We had BLT's for lunch and my dog Pepper stared with a watering mouth while our other dog Amber paced around anxiously, making sad puppy eyes as she sulked past us and we continued to eat without giving her anything.
John had to go on another mystery errand, which he got the full 3rd degree on (see previous conversation), leaving Samantha and I finishing our lunch and chatting away. Baby John had been doin' his thing, watching Baby Genius on Netflix, but was starting to get fussy. I went and got him from his Jumperoo and was standing there next to Sam when she said, "I think he pooped!" Sure as the sky is blue, I had simultaneously felt the sticky feeling of poop on my arm, and when I looked, it had, in fact, leaked out of the back of his diaper and through his shirt. I carried him precariously into the bedroom, Sam following behind, both of us laughing about the incident.
Let me interject my own story just to tell you all how much I LOVE cleaning up baby poop smushed up the back. It's kind of like my own personal challenge, where I see how efficiently I can take his dirty clothes off without smearing it on his head. NOT. Although, I do try not to smear it on his head. Pretty much, the Jumperoo is the most amazing thing ever invented, unless John poops while he's bouncing in it...then it's just another stupid toy that I hate! LOL.
Back to the story. We are standing there, I am MID WAY through POOPAY and it smells SO BAD. Literally the worst smelling poop he has ever had. So BAD that Samantha exclaimed, "OH MY GOD, his poop STINKS!" I just looked at her and laughed, and when I did I realized that on the floor between where we stood there was a big pile of dog poop on my carpet!!! AGH!
Not a happy Mommy! We laughed so hard though. The LOLs just kept comin', but I'm going to blame it on the fumes though, because if you saw a pile of dog poop this big and this squishy looking on your carpeted floor you would have to be high on poop fumes to think it was funny too! No lie.
So who pooped? Well, thankfully, my son wasn't the evil culprit of the poop stink, but my dog Amber was. You know all that walking around anxiously? Staring into our eyes begging for BLT? That was only 10% begging for BLT and 90% "it's about to rain outside, I'm getting anxiety, and I refuse to go to the door when I have to poop so you BETTA READ MY MIND." Amber does not go to the bathroom in the house...normally...but when she does it is because she thinks that she has made it absolutely clear that she had to go because she paced around the house looking cray. Like anyone could POSSIBLY know what that meant.
So, that was great. I cleaned it up. It took forever. It was runny, and gross, and I felt a temporary hatred for all domesticated animals. Then I got over it, cause you know, she had anxiety, and that's kind of pitiful. Sam and I walked out into the living room and there on the floor was a huge puddle of water that Amber had first gulped down (again because of her anxiety) and then threw back up. YAY. I guess I don't mind dog throw up so much, but if that dang dog could understand how much we spent on paper towels she wouldn't be off the hook so easily. Sam went home, John came back from his little "errand," and I told him about the events that unfolded when he was gone.
I pressed him with more questions about where he went as he walked around the house and went back into the bedroom. Naturally, I just happened to glance at the floor and there it was... A PUDDLE OF DOG DIARRHEA.
WHY?
WHY? WHY? WHY?
This time, John, sweet, loving, amazing John, cleaned up the dog poop. We laughed about it, despite how ridiculous and awful it was.
"I told you, this day has been ridiculous," I said, both of us shaking our heads. Ready to relax and recover from this crappy experience, we headed back to the living room. There at the end of the hall was a puddle of dog pee. That's right guys. It was like The Nightmare of the Excreting Canines -By Amber and Pepper. It was an all time record.
That was the day before I got engaged!
On that note, I will leave you feeling appalled for me while you wait for the juicy stuff in part 2. :)
There will be a picture of my ring in the next post!
Bye guys.
Not that everyone else has been waiting in as much suspense as I have; wondering WHEN he was going to propose, and if he ever even thought about proposing any time soon!!!
Then finally, the week of my birthday, and also the week of John's vacation off of work came!!!
He had been hiding his phone all week. I was going nuts trying to pry information out of him, only establishing that my Mom was privy to the information that I was being deprived of.
"What's in your phone that I can't see?" I'd ask.
"Something." John said coyly.
"What kind of something???" I implored.
"Something for your birthday," He would say, resisting the urge to laugh at his own hilariousness.
"WELL what kind of something for my birthday?" I insisted.
"A birthday something." We usually left it at that, with me wanting to kill John, but also the opposite of kill him which would probably be not to kill him. (This conversation happened at least once a day in the days leading up to my birthday.)
I love surprises, and I love to try to figure out what they are even more.
The day before my birthday, May 25th, my friend Samantha came over to hang out. We had BLT's for lunch and my dog Pepper stared with a watering mouth while our other dog Amber paced around anxiously, making sad puppy eyes as she sulked past us and we continued to eat without giving her anything.
 |
| Amber and Pepper |
John had to go on another mystery errand, which he got the full 3rd degree on (see previous conversation), leaving Samantha and I finishing our lunch and chatting away. Baby John had been doin' his thing, watching Baby Genius on Netflix, but was starting to get fussy. I went and got him from his Jumperoo and was standing there next to Sam when she said, "I think he pooped!" Sure as the sky is blue, I had simultaneously felt the sticky feeling of poop on my arm, and when I looked, it had, in fact, leaked out of the back of his diaper and through his shirt. I carried him precariously into the bedroom, Sam following behind, both of us laughing about the incident.
Let me interject my own story just to tell you all how much I LOVE cleaning up baby poop smushed up the back. It's kind of like my own personal challenge, where I see how efficiently I can take his dirty clothes off without smearing it on his head. NOT. Although, I do try not to smear it on his head. Pretty much, the Jumperoo is the most amazing thing ever invented, unless John poops while he's bouncing in it...then it's just another stupid toy that I hate! LOL.
Back to the story. We are standing there, I am MID WAY through POOPAY and it smells SO BAD. Literally the worst smelling poop he has ever had. So BAD that Samantha exclaimed, "OH MY GOD, his poop STINKS!" I just looked at her and laughed, and when I did I realized that on the floor between where we stood there was a big pile of dog poop on my carpet!!! AGH!
Not a happy Mommy! We laughed so hard though. The LOLs just kept comin', but I'm going to blame it on the fumes though, because if you saw a pile of dog poop this big and this squishy looking on your carpeted floor you would have to be high on poop fumes to think it was funny too! No lie.
So who pooped? Well, thankfully, my son wasn't the evil culprit of the poop stink, but my dog Amber was. You know all that walking around anxiously? Staring into our eyes begging for BLT? That was only 10% begging for BLT and 90% "it's about to rain outside, I'm getting anxiety, and I refuse to go to the door when I have to poop so you BETTA READ MY MIND." Amber does not go to the bathroom in the house...normally...but when she does it is because she thinks that she has made it absolutely clear that she had to go because she paced around the house looking cray. Like anyone could POSSIBLY know what that meant.
So, that was great. I cleaned it up. It took forever. It was runny, and gross, and I felt a temporary hatred for all domesticated animals. Then I got over it, cause you know, she had anxiety, and that's kind of pitiful. Sam and I walked out into the living room and there on the floor was a huge puddle of water that Amber had first gulped down (again because of her anxiety) and then threw back up. YAY. I guess I don't mind dog throw up so much, but if that dang dog could understand how much we spent on paper towels she wouldn't be off the hook so easily. Sam went home, John came back from his little "errand," and I told him about the events that unfolded when he was gone.
I pressed him with more questions about where he went as he walked around the house and went back into the bedroom. Naturally, I just happened to glance at the floor and there it was... A PUDDLE OF DOG DIARRHEA.
WHY?
WHY? WHY? WHY?
This time, John, sweet, loving, amazing John, cleaned up the dog poop. We laughed about it, despite how ridiculous and awful it was.
"I told you, this day has been ridiculous," I said, both of us shaking our heads. Ready to relax and recover from this crappy experience, we headed back to the living room. There at the end of the hall was a puddle of dog pee. That's right guys. It was like The Nightmare of the Excreting Canines -By Amber and Pepper. It was an all time record.
That was the day before I got engaged!
On that note, I will leave you feeling appalled for me while you wait for the juicy stuff in part 2. :)
There will be a picture of my ring in the next post!
Bye guys.
Friday, May 20, 2016
10 Conversations You Need to Have with Your Significant other.. Part 2
1. Do They Like Movies?
If the answer is no, they are psychopath, If you don't like movies, you are also a psychopath.
2. Do they like classical music?
If the answer is yes you better cover ears before you start having mature thought processes. No one needs that kind of negativity in their life
3. Are they an only child?
If the answer is yes then I'm gonna bet their remote wrestling skills are seriously underdeveloped! Seriously, they better get ready to stop being a selfish prick.
4. Do they ever lose control of their body?
If they look perplexed and say no in a confused voice they have obviously never eaten pizza.
5. Have they ever eaten pizza?
If the answer is no they are a psychopath.
6. Have they ever eaten a whole pizza by themselves?
If the answer is no, that's good! Because eating that much pizza would be disgusting, and ...you should probably never eat pizza in front of them....
7. Do they wear socks with sandals?
If the answer is yes and they don't have children they should seriously think about double checking to see if they have children, because that is SO your dad. If they wear socks with flip flops....LOL.
*I laughed out loud
8. Do they drink?
If the answer is no they obviously ain't hung around yo' ass long enough.
9. Do they have any weird hobbies, like taxidermy?
You better move before they go all Norman Bates on your ass!
10. Do they like puppies?
If the answer is no they are definitely making Dalmatian coats and you need to call this number: 615-867-5309
If the answer is no, they are psychopath, If you don't like movies, you are also a psychopath.
2. Do they like classical music?
If the answer is yes you better cover ears before you start having mature thought processes. No one needs that kind of negativity in their life
3. Are they an only child?
If the answer is yes then I'm gonna bet their remote wrestling skills are seriously underdeveloped! Seriously, they better get ready to stop being a selfish prick.
4. Do they ever lose control of their body?
If they look perplexed and say no in a confused voice they have obviously never eaten pizza.
5. Have they ever eaten pizza?
If the answer is no they are a psychopath.
6. Have they ever eaten a whole pizza by themselves?
If the answer is no, that's good! Because eating that much pizza would be disgusting, and ...you should probably never eat pizza in front of them....
7. Do they wear socks with sandals?
If the answer is yes and they don't have children they should seriously think about double checking to see if they have children, because that is SO your dad. If they wear socks with flip flops....LOL.
*I laughed out loud
8. Do they drink?
If the answer is no they obviously ain't hung around yo' ass long enough.
9. Do they have any weird hobbies, like taxidermy?
You better move before they go all Norman Bates on your ass!
10. Do they like puppies?
If the answer is no they are definitely making Dalmatian coats and you need to call this number: 615-867-5309
Thursday, May 19, 2016
Stay At Home Mom isn't a REAL job
I just want to live in a mansion.
And be rich.
Anyone else?
When you wake up in the morning, right before you open your eyes, do you ever just hope that you and your family slept into an alternate reality where Alice the maid brings you breakfast in bed, your favorite waste-my-life away magazine, and walks your dogs for you?
In fact, I will still change my son's diaper, Alice can just bring me the diaper and the wipes from the changing table that's 3 feet away.
I recently read a post from a stay at home Mom in a mom-group wondering how she should go about talking to her husband about hiring a housekeeper, and people were giving her a hard time...There was one lady who told her she had no right to want a housekeeper since she didn't work!
Granted, that bitchy lady will probably never read this, but I'd like to set the record straight.
She sucks.
Housework is hard dammit, and if I could afford a maid guess who's laundry basket would be empty?!?
Um, mine! Duh.
I hate doing laundry. It's not even hard, I just can't play on my phone while I watch movies :P Same reason I hate to iron, but worse because I actually have to stand up, ya know?
All satire aside, however, I really can't even get laundry or ironing done until my Baby John is asleep (or during the window John is home), so my job starts when I wake up-BEFORE I'M READY TO WAKE UP-and ends when I go to bed.
Let's go through the day of this stay at home Mom.
My day starts when I feel my sons hand WHOP on my face in the morning and I open my sticky eyes and he smiles SO big. Aghhh. Best worst thing ever! Then I close my eyes again and nuzzle up to him, hoping that he's not quiteeee ready to wake up and-UGHHHHHHHH, he smacks me in the eye, and squeezes my cheek to where his nails are digging into my tear ducts so hard that I have a moment of panic before I pry his hand off.
I will go ahead and say that I am one of the lucky Moms whose son sleeps til about 8:30 or 9:30 every day. I get up, change his diaper, change him out of his pajamas, and then put him in his play pen. (He's getting really good at crawling backwards, but doesn't quite understand how to pull his body forward!)
While he's playing happily from his good night's rest, I go walk my dogs. We come back inside, I give them water. I hurry up and make coffee and empty and load the dishwasher while the coffee's brewing.
(THIS USED TO BE AS FAR AS I GOT. Up until Baby started to scoot he wasn't havin' play time ANY longer than this. It was all about Mommy standing him up, holding him upright so he could jump (good walking lessons). He was too little for the bouncer, and too big to want to lay down all the time, and he also couldn't quite maneuver on his hands and knees yet.)
Anyway, most of the time I wipe of the kitchen counters. Sometimes I'm lazy. Screw it.
Then I have coffee and eat, and when little John fusses I put him in his bouncer, which he loves, and we watch one of the same 3 episodes of Baby Genius for about the 100th time. I have to tell you, the animal sing-along Baby Genius on Netflix is a lifesaver. Honestly, nothing holds his attention like that dang TV show. He bounces to the beat, and gives a good little adjusty-kick when he's off beat to get on beat again. Got a real future in music, I fear.
Then he gets really fussy and he wants to eat. Usually he naps in my arms because he's teething and has a hard time sleeping in his crib through the pain. :(
HE'S BEEN TEETHING FOR 2 MONTHS. MY ARMS ARE GOING TO BE PERMANENTLY NUMB WHEN HE'S DONE TEETHING BECAUSE OF ALL THE NAPPING.
Honestly, sometimes that doesn't even work. Sometimes his teeth just hurt too much and he doesn't nap. Those are hard days.
When he wakes up we change his diaper and then it's usually time for Daddy to wake up. He plays with Daddy while I iron and sweep the floor and do whatever else I need to do. Daddy goes to work at 3 and baby eats and naps again.
When he wakes up it's time for me to eat again. I AM ALWAYS HUNGRY so it feels like I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh lord. I walk the dogs while he watches his show in his bouncer. He might watch for an hour or more, he might not. Usually he'll sit in my lap part of the time while I kiss his cute face.
THEN around 6 he turns into an angry beast, but he WILL NOT go to bed until 8, because that's when it's dark outside, LOL. So he naps and eats somewhere between 6 and 7 (hopefully) and FINALLY 8 o'clock comes!
Don't judge me. To those of you without kids, you should carry a 16lb bag of dog food around half the day or a watermelon or something, and then tell me taking care of a baby isn't hard! I love my son more than anything, but those few hours he spends in his crib my body actually belongs to me again. IN FACT, sometimes he doesn't even sleep for hours. For the past week he's woken up every 30 minutes til I go to bed (except for tonight, hooray!).
Then I get to do laundry. :)
This list doesn't account for the days that I let the dishes go so that we can go see different family members-doubling them the next day, or when he's having the crankiest day in the world and I can't get anything done. It's the variable things, and the mental strain of having to be everything for one little person all day long. I'm all smiles all the time! All positive all the time! I am a complex individual with many cynical ideas. He's a baby, ain't no baby got time for that.
Also, I don't know about other stay at home moms, but my boyfriend works 50 hours a week, and he plays sports. Taking care of a baby is hard job, and cleaning is a hard job, so people need to stop being asses just cause their jealous when another Mom is rich enough to hire help.
Really though, as rewarding as it is, staying at home taking care of a baby, 2 dogs, and a 950 sq. foot apartment is hard work, and to the rich lady who wants help cleaning that extra 1000-4000 feet of house,
Are you hiring?
Lol, so yeah, if you want to hire a housekeeper hire a housekeeper.
Just stop rubbing it in my face!
Bye.
And be rich.
Anyone else?
When you wake up in the morning, right before you open your eyes, do you ever just hope that you and your family slept into an alternate reality where Alice the maid brings you breakfast in bed, your favorite waste-my-life away magazine, and walks your dogs for you?
In fact, I will still change my son's diaper, Alice can just bring me the diaper and the wipes from the changing table that's 3 feet away.
I recently read a post from a stay at home Mom in a mom-group wondering how she should go about talking to her husband about hiring a housekeeper, and people were giving her a hard time...There was one lady who told her she had no right to want a housekeeper since she didn't work!
Granted, that bitchy lady will probably never read this, but I'd like to set the record straight.
She sucks.
Housework is hard dammit, and if I could afford a maid guess who's laundry basket would be empty?!?
Um, mine! Duh.
I hate doing laundry. It's not even hard, I just can't play on my phone while I watch movies :P Same reason I hate to iron, but worse because I actually have to stand up, ya know?
All satire aside, however, I really can't even get laundry or ironing done until my Baby John is asleep (or during the window John is home), so my job starts when I wake up-BEFORE I'M READY TO WAKE UP-and ends when I go to bed.
Let's go through the day of this stay at home Mom.
My day starts when I feel my sons hand WHOP on my face in the morning and I open my sticky eyes and he smiles SO big. Aghhh. Best worst thing ever! Then I close my eyes again and nuzzle up to him, hoping that he's not quiteeee ready to wake up and-UGHHHHHHHH, he smacks me in the eye, and squeezes my cheek to where his nails are digging into my tear ducts so hard that I have a moment of panic before I pry his hand off.
I will go ahead and say that I am one of the lucky Moms whose son sleeps til about 8:30 or 9:30 every day. I get up, change his diaper, change him out of his pajamas, and then put him in his play pen. (He's getting really good at crawling backwards, but doesn't quite understand how to pull his body forward!)
While he's playing happily from his good night's rest, I go walk my dogs. We come back inside, I give them water. I hurry up and make coffee and empty and load the dishwasher while the coffee's brewing.
(THIS USED TO BE AS FAR AS I GOT. Up until Baby started to scoot he wasn't havin' play time ANY longer than this. It was all about Mommy standing him up, holding him upright so he could jump (good walking lessons). He was too little for the bouncer, and too big to want to lay down all the time, and he also couldn't quite maneuver on his hands and knees yet.)
Anyway, most of the time I wipe of the kitchen counters. Sometimes I'm lazy. Screw it.
Then I have coffee and eat, and when little John fusses I put him in his bouncer, which he loves, and we watch one of the same 3 episodes of Baby Genius for about the 100th time. I have to tell you, the animal sing-along Baby Genius on Netflix is a lifesaver. Honestly, nothing holds his attention like that dang TV show. He bounces to the beat, and gives a good little adjusty-kick when he's off beat to get on beat again. Got a real future in music, I fear.
Then he gets really fussy and he wants to eat. Usually he naps in my arms because he's teething and has a hard time sleeping in his crib through the pain. :(
HE'S BEEN TEETHING FOR 2 MONTHS. MY ARMS ARE GOING TO BE PERMANENTLY NUMB WHEN HE'S DONE TEETHING BECAUSE OF ALL THE NAPPING.
Honestly, sometimes that doesn't even work. Sometimes his teeth just hurt too much and he doesn't nap. Those are hard days.
When he wakes up we change his diaper and then it's usually time for Daddy to wake up. He plays with Daddy while I iron and sweep the floor and do whatever else I need to do. Daddy goes to work at 3 and baby eats and naps again.
When he wakes up it's time for me to eat again. I AM ALWAYS HUNGRY so it feels like I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh lord. I walk the dogs while he watches his show in his bouncer. He might watch for an hour or more, he might not. Usually he'll sit in my lap part of the time while I kiss his cute face.
THEN around 6 he turns into an angry beast, but he WILL NOT go to bed until 8, because that's when it's dark outside, LOL. So he naps and eats somewhere between 6 and 7 (hopefully) and FINALLY 8 o'clock comes!
Don't judge me. To those of you without kids, you should carry a 16lb bag of dog food around half the day or a watermelon or something, and then tell me taking care of a baby isn't hard! I love my son more than anything, but those few hours he spends in his crib my body actually belongs to me again. IN FACT, sometimes he doesn't even sleep for hours. For the past week he's woken up every 30 minutes til I go to bed (except for tonight, hooray!).
Then I get to do laundry. :)
This list doesn't account for the days that I let the dishes go so that we can go see different family members-doubling them the next day, or when he's having the crankiest day in the world and I can't get anything done. It's the variable things, and the mental strain of having to be everything for one little person all day long. I'm all smiles all the time! All positive all the time! I am a complex individual with many cynical ideas. He's a baby, ain't no baby got time for that.
Also, I don't know about other stay at home moms, but my boyfriend works 50 hours a week, and he plays sports. Taking care of a baby is hard job, and cleaning is a hard job, so people need to stop being asses just cause their jealous when another Mom is rich enough to hire help.
Really though, as rewarding as it is, staying at home taking care of a baby, 2 dogs, and a 950 sq. foot apartment is hard work, and to the rich lady who wants help cleaning that extra 1000-4000 feet of house,
Are you hiring?
Lol, so yeah, if you want to hire a housekeeper hire a housekeeper.
Just stop rubbing it in my face!
Bye.
Sunday, April 10, 2016
10 Conversations You Have to Have with Your Significant Other
Hey everybody!
I was talking to John tonight and I brought up the topic of his vacation.. We've been discussing whether or not me and the baby will be visiting South Bend with him next month, simply because Baby John can be a very fussy car rider and he's been going through a sleep regression (talk about exhausting). Thinking about it all made me realize how much I want a vacation! Then it suddenly hit me, Mom's don't get vacations!
I feel that in today's society it is a luxury to be able to be a stay at home Mom, but let's just be honest. If someone else were watching my son all day long while I was working, I could expect to pay them somewhere between $150-$300 a week easily, depending on how many hours I worked. I really do work a full work day, between the changing, the feeding, LOTS of dedicated play time, AND because I exclusively breastfeed I really never get a day off. Nonetheless, I still feel a little bit guilty for this, but I told John that while he is on vacation I really don't want to feel like I am still working just as hard as I always do. Laundry still piles up, the kitchen still needs to be cleaned, our son needs a lot of attention right now while he learns to sit up by himself, and crawl and walk. Now, if I'm being totally honest, I'm pretty much expecting to do most of that stuff as usual, but I wanted to bring it to his attention that it's hard work, and I deserve a break too.
Now, just because you might be wondering, John doesn't particularly like to clean or anything (nor do many LIKE to clean), but he is very gracious about all this. I sense the anxiety he might be feeling, worrying that his vacation will in fact turn out to be the opposite of relaxing, which is absolutely not the case. Actually, because it's in my nature, I will be more likely to put myself out to make sure that he enjoys himself, but I'm really not here to tell you about our lives. What I really want to talk about is how uncomfortable having this conversation was for me.
I say that relatively, because I am comfortable enough to have difficult conversations with him, and have them openly and honestly, despite the discomfort. It is because I find it necessary that I have decided to write this post. 10 Conversations You Have to Have with Your Significant Other!
1. WHY THEY BROKE UP
No person is without fault in a relationship, even if they aren't they aren't the reason they fell apart. Ask this early on, because if you find out that it's because they've cheated on everyone they've ever been with, or that the other person said they were boring, then you might want to consider how that might affect your relationship. It's also a big red flag if they say that they 'really didn't do anything wrong.' If nothing else, that means they were a bad communicator.
2. DO THEY WANT KIDS
This is pretty self explanatory, but you might as well ask them how many they want, how they, themselves, were raised, things they won't do that their parents did, things they will, new things they'll bring to the table, and what kind of parent they thing they'll be.
3. WHERE DO THEY SEE THEMSELVES RAISING THEIR KIDS
This may not sound that crucial, but trust me when I tell you that you should at least ask before you guys have a baby on the way and they say, "I'd like to move to where my family lives or to blah blah blah, where I've always wanted to live!" That way you aren't totally caught off guard and then one of you ends up living somewhere you don't want to be.
4. HOW IS THE HOUSEWORK GOING TO BE DIVIDED
This question is probably best asked when it's closer to moving time, but you'd be surprised how many people fight over this. It's a big problem for working women especially, finding themselves working and then coming home to take care of all of the household and child-rearing responsibilities.
5. DO THEY LIKE BOARD GAMES
I know you all are laughing right now, but I'm dead serious. It may not necessarily be board games, but what I have found is that there are board game people and not board game people, but whatever your thing is with your family or your friends or whoever your significant other is going to be spending time with, make sure that they mesh. There are very few things more disheartening that a man (or woman) who never joins in on the fun, sitting on the sidelines alone.
6. HOW WILL YOU SPEND YOUR VACATIONS
It wasn't too long ago there was a girl that was upset because she wanted to go to the beach with their young baby and her husband wanted to go skiing. He only got 1 vacation a year and didn't want to miss a year skiing to go to the beach with his family. This is a problem. If you dream of going to new and exciting places, or if you have a particular location you like to frequent, find out if they like vacations and where and how they want to spend them, and whether they will compromise for what you want.
7. DO THEY HAVE ANY SUBSTANCE ABUSE PROBLEMS
All I'll say about this is you don't want to find out your dating an alcoholic BECAUSE they smash their truck window open with a tire iron.
8. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO DISCIPLINE YOUR KIDS
Who is going to be the primary disciplinarian, or are you going to share responsibility? What kind of punishments do believe in? What if they don't work? If you break up how would the other person handle it and how would they handle a new parental figure (such as a step mom or step dad).
9. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO MANAGE YOUR FINANCES AND YOUR SAVINGS
I don't even want to get into this one, because people are very protective of their money, even if they're bad with it (maybe especially if they're bad with it), but it must be done. Figure out not only how you are going to split your expenses, but who is ultimately going to be the financial manager, or if it's something that will be done completely together. I recommend maintaining some sort of financial freedom, that way you can buy each other surprise gifts for special occasions or decide to treat yourself to something without the guilt or the feeling that you have to ask permission.
10. DO THEY LIKE PETS?
What kind of pets? How many would they want at one time? Are they allergic? Specific breed preferences? This may not matter until one day randomly one of you comes home with a stray cat or a rabid raccoon. Set some pet expectations, and don't be afraid to delegate the training responsibilities before you actually get the pet!
I hope you liked my list!!!
You guys should comment any that I didn't mention, or your input on how to get some free time as a stay at home mom! I would love to hear your opinions!!!
OR if you think I'm totally crazy and you want to tell me (in a non-abusive way, preferably) what you think, well, I value honesty and I STILL want to hear your opinion:)
Tootles,
René
I was talking to John tonight and I brought up the topic of his vacation.. We've been discussing whether or not me and the baby will be visiting South Bend with him next month, simply because Baby John can be a very fussy car rider and he's been going through a sleep regression (talk about exhausting). Thinking about it all made me realize how much I want a vacation! Then it suddenly hit me, Mom's don't get vacations!
I feel that in today's society it is a luxury to be able to be a stay at home Mom, but let's just be honest. If someone else were watching my son all day long while I was working, I could expect to pay them somewhere between $150-$300 a week easily, depending on how many hours I worked. I really do work a full work day, between the changing, the feeding, LOTS of dedicated play time, AND because I exclusively breastfeed I really never get a day off. Nonetheless, I still feel a little bit guilty for this, but I told John that while he is on vacation I really don't want to feel like I am still working just as hard as I always do. Laundry still piles up, the kitchen still needs to be cleaned, our son needs a lot of attention right now while he learns to sit up by himself, and crawl and walk. Now, if I'm being totally honest, I'm pretty much expecting to do most of that stuff as usual, but I wanted to bring it to his attention that it's hard work, and I deserve a break too.
Now, just because you might be wondering, John doesn't particularly like to clean or anything (nor do many LIKE to clean), but he is very gracious about all this. I sense the anxiety he might be feeling, worrying that his vacation will in fact turn out to be the opposite of relaxing, which is absolutely not the case. Actually, because it's in my nature, I will be more likely to put myself out to make sure that he enjoys himself, but I'm really not here to tell you about our lives. What I really want to talk about is how uncomfortable having this conversation was for me.
I say that relatively, because I am comfortable enough to have difficult conversations with him, and have them openly and honestly, despite the discomfort. It is because I find it necessary that I have decided to write this post. 10 Conversations You Have to Have with Your Significant Other!
1. WHY THEY BROKE UP
No person is without fault in a relationship, even if they aren't they aren't the reason they fell apart. Ask this early on, because if you find out that it's because they've cheated on everyone they've ever been with, or that the other person said they were boring, then you might want to consider how that might affect your relationship. It's also a big red flag if they say that they 'really didn't do anything wrong.' If nothing else, that means they were a bad communicator.
2. DO THEY WANT KIDS
This is pretty self explanatory, but you might as well ask them how many they want, how they, themselves, were raised, things they won't do that their parents did, things they will, new things they'll bring to the table, and what kind of parent they thing they'll be.
3. WHERE DO THEY SEE THEMSELVES RAISING THEIR KIDS
This may not sound that crucial, but trust me when I tell you that you should at least ask before you guys have a baby on the way and they say, "I'd like to move to where my family lives or to blah blah blah, where I've always wanted to live!" That way you aren't totally caught off guard and then one of you ends up living somewhere you don't want to be.
4. HOW IS THE HOUSEWORK GOING TO BE DIVIDED
This question is probably best asked when it's closer to moving time, but you'd be surprised how many people fight over this. It's a big problem for working women especially, finding themselves working and then coming home to take care of all of the household and child-rearing responsibilities.
5. DO THEY LIKE BOARD GAMES
I know you all are laughing right now, but I'm dead serious. It may not necessarily be board games, but what I have found is that there are board game people and not board game people, but whatever your thing is with your family or your friends or whoever your significant other is going to be spending time with, make sure that they mesh. There are very few things more disheartening that a man (or woman) who never joins in on the fun, sitting on the sidelines alone.
6. HOW WILL YOU SPEND YOUR VACATIONS
It wasn't too long ago there was a girl that was upset because she wanted to go to the beach with their young baby and her husband wanted to go skiing. He only got 1 vacation a year and didn't want to miss a year skiing to go to the beach with his family. This is a problem. If you dream of going to new and exciting places, or if you have a particular location you like to frequent, find out if they like vacations and where and how they want to spend them, and whether they will compromise for what you want.
7. DO THEY HAVE ANY SUBSTANCE ABUSE PROBLEMS
All I'll say about this is you don't want to find out your dating an alcoholic BECAUSE they smash their truck window open with a tire iron.
8. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO DISCIPLINE YOUR KIDS
Who is going to be the primary disciplinarian, or are you going to share responsibility? What kind of punishments do believe in? What if they don't work? If you break up how would the other person handle it and how would they handle a new parental figure (such as a step mom or step dad).
9. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO MANAGE YOUR FINANCES AND YOUR SAVINGS
I don't even want to get into this one, because people are very protective of their money, even if they're bad with it (maybe especially if they're bad with it), but it must be done. Figure out not only how you are going to split your expenses, but who is ultimately going to be the financial manager, or if it's something that will be done completely together. I recommend maintaining some sort of financial freedom, that way you can buy each other surprise gifts for special occasions or decide to treat yourself to something without the guilt or the feeling that you have to ask permission.
10. DO THEY LIKE PETS?
What kind of pets? How many would they want at one time? Are they allergic? Specific breed preferences? This may not matter until one day randomly one of you comes home with a stray cat or a rabid raccoon. Set some pet expectations, and don't be afraid to delegate the training responsibilities before you actually get the pet!
I hope you liked my list!!!
You guys should comment any that I didn't mention, or your input on how to get some free time as a stay at home mom! I would love to hear your opinions!!!
OR if you think I'm totally crazy and you want to tell me (in a non-abusive way, preferably) what you think, well, I value honesty and I STILL want to hear your opinion:)
Tootles,
René
Monday, March 28, 2016
"Beautiful Just the Way I Am" Challenge
Hey from Nashville, ya'll!
A friend of mine nominated me to do the "Beautiful Just the Way I Am" Challenge. So, I decided to do it here, in my blog, and also talk to ya'll about body image!!
Here is my photo collage of me JUST THE WAY I AM:
*PS. I didn't put my cute baby in there to get bonus points, but...did it work?
Just kidding! He's just "All Mommy All the Time" right now, so he's my little sidekick!*
This specific post is a little more geared towards the ladies, but I am considering a special post for men as well, because I know that women are not the only ones that suffer from low self esteem.
First of all, I want everyone to say it out loud, c'mon! I AM BEAUTIFUL! Do not scroll past this point until you say it! It will come back to haunt you.
I'm not sure what it is intrinsically that makes us decide that we aren't beautiful. Yeah, I know the media has this image branded into our minds of the perfect woman, with perfect curves and perfect skin and perfect hair. She always makes the sexiest faces and says all the right things, and she definitely doesn't run into the sides of random furniture with her love handles (which she doesn't have), or forget to shave every day or style her hair. In fact, in movies we see these women who manage to stay beautiful through hell and back! I'm not just talking about thrillers or dramatic scenes, but let's just be honest, I'm not the only one who goes into a public restroom and realizes that my eyeliner has smudged under my eyes and I've been looking like a raccoon for who knows how long! If movies were real, and magazine covers were honest, they would be full of women with messy hair, smudged mascara, her eye half closed, her mouth too open, and her limbs jutting out in awkward pose.
Still, we find ourselves pressured to get as close as possible to being these women as we can. We may not all try to "do what it takes," because I think to some level we all know it's unrealistic, but we definitely compare ourselves to these women that are considered beautiful and sexy, because, well, hell, we want to feel like we are the Belle of the ball, like the man of our dreams is out there dreaming about us; and how could he possibly be doing that if he is dreaming about Beyoncé or Jennifer Aniston?
Please, don't misunderstand me. These women are beautiful, hopefully as much on the inside as they are on the outside, but they don't have a monopoly on the meaning of beautiful.
These women DO NOT define us, or how we should see ourselves, but because they are constantly thrown in our face we are led to believe that the closer we are to looking like them the more we are beautiful. We cover ourselves with makeup-which is FINE, because it has a way of making us feel like we put love and energy into ourselves-but it's not essential because YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL JUST THE WAY YOU ARE!
Repeat after me (I told you): I DO NOT NEED TO WEAR MAKEUP TO BE BEAUTIFUL. I DO NOT NEED TO BE SKINNY TO BEAUTIFUL. I DO NOT NEED TO BE CURVY TO BE BEAUTIFUL. I DO NOT NEED TO BE TAN OR LIGHT SKINNED OR DARK SKINNED TO BEAUTIFUL. I AM BEAUTIFUL JUST THE WAY THAT I AM.
The most important thing that a woman can do to be beautiful is to be comfortable in her own skin.
I am not free of my own insecurities. Sometimes I worry about the way my face looks when I talk, or when it's all chin and jaw in a photograph. I used to worry about the chicken pock scars on my face (not helped by ex-boyfriends who innocently pointed them out, saying they were "cute", much to my disbelief). I used to worry about the stretchmarks on my legs, ESPECIALLY when I wore a 2 piece bathing suit. I always hated the way I had extra fat on my tummy that would never go away, and a big mole on the side of my neck (everyone I know is going to either nod or look for it next time they see me, haha). I worried about my "Fred Flintstone" toes, as a family member called them, or my bitten fingernails that I just can't seem to grow out. (I also have this really awkward lump on the end of my right hand ring finger, and I have tried everything to get it to go away, but hey, I guess it's a part of me, and I'm starting to get attached!)
I spent SO much time and energy thinking about these things that I just couldn't believe that no one else noticed. I couldn't believe that people "prettier than me" didn't somehow feel like hanging out with me made them look better or that cute guys would always choose them over me. I let men walk all over me, because I didn't think I was good enough. Well, you know what? I wasn't. I wasn't good enough, because I wasn't confident in myself. They all thought that I was just quiet and had no opinion and no personality, and really I was wasting it all sitting inside my head thinking about how awkward and imperfect I was.
So after I finally realized I really was worth a damn I put all my energy into making my personality really stand out. I made myself talk to strangers and seem interesting (which I was, but not always for the right reasons). I made it my goal to make men interested in me, because I wanted to feel like I was good enough.
Ironically, that actually backfired, because I STILL didn't believe that I was beautiful. So many times I missed the signs of guys asking me out, because they actually thought I was so great that they beat around the bush and I just brushed them off thinking that there was no way they would ever like me like that.
A long time ago, there was guy that I dated that I REALLY liked, and I messed it up, because I couldn't get out of my own head. I realized later on that he was crazy about me, but he couldn't handle all the games that I was playing trying to figure out whether or not he was really serious, saying things like, "Well....I don't want to bother you...." or "Only if you really want to, because I don't want you to feel like you have to..."
You're probably saying to yourself, "Well, it's different, you're awesome and pretty and you have it all, and there's no reason for you to feel that way."
I'm here to tell you the same thing about yourself. We don't see other people the stupid way that we see ourselves.
Make a list of all the things you like about yourself, and when you start thinking of things you don't like about yourself make a note about it and why someone might like that thing or might not care about that thing.
My boyfriend does NOT care about the stretchmarks on my legs. He has not spent a second looking at my feet (except for when he gives me foot rubs, but you should see his feet, you would worry much less as well). He has never mentioned the pockmarks on my face, or looked at me any less lovingly when I intentionally made the "ugliest" faces I can possibly muster. ...OKAY I know you want to see....
There you go...Not my best but the best I can do on the spot, with all this pressure!
Anyway, what John does care about is whenever I even slightly mention something I don't like about myself, which just makes him feel awkward because he doesn't see me that way.
Some people have different things that they find attractive to them personally, but it's probably a good thing because if we were all the same and all attracted to the same kind of person it would be really hard to narrow down who to hit on.
GET YOUR GROOVE ON LADIES. Go out, with or without your makeup, with or without your cutest clothes on (but definitely WITH clothes on) and just be yourself! Remember to smile, and when someone compliments you, just say "THANK YOU" and leave the insecurities behind you!
Love you ladies,
Tootles,
René
AKA, The Bashful Entertainer
A friend of mine nominated me to do the "Beautiful Just the Way I Am" Challenge. So, I decided to do it here, in my blog, and also talk to ya'll about body image!!
Here is my photo collage of me JUST THE WAY I AM:
Just kidding! He's just "All Mommy All the Time" right now, so he's my little sidekick!*
This specific post is a little more geared towards the ladies, but I am considering a special post for men as well, because I know that women are not the only ones that suffer from low self esteem.
First of all, I want everyone to say it out loud, c'mon! I AM BEAUTIFUL! Do not scroll past this point until you say it! It will come back to haunt you.
I'm not sure what it is intrinsically that makes us decide that we aren't beautiful. Yeah, I know the media has this image branded into our minds of the perfect woman, with perfect curves and perfect skin and perfect hair. She always makes the sexiest faces and says all the right things, and she definitely doesn't run into the sides of random furniture with her love handles (which she doesn't have), or forget to shave every day or style her hair. In fact, in movies we see these women who manage to stay beautiful through hell and back! I'm not just talking about thrillers or dramatic scenes, but let's just be honest, I'm not the only one who goes into a public restroom and realizes that my eyeliner has smudged under my eyes and I've been looking like a raccoon for who knows how long! If movies were real, and magazine covers were honest, they would be full of women with messy hair, smudged mascara, her eye half closed, her mouth too open, and her limbs jutting out in awkward pose.
Still, we find ourselves pressured to get as close as possible to being these women as we can. We may not all try to "do what it takes," because I think to some level we all know it's unrealistic, but we definitely compare ourselves to these women that are considered beautiful and sexy, because, well, hell, we want to feel like we are the Belle of the ball, like the man of our dreams is out there dreaming about us; and how could he possibly be doing that if he is dreaming about Beyoncé or Jennifer Aniston?
Please, don't misunderstand me. These women are beautiful, hopefully as much on the inside as they are on the outside, but they don't have a monopoly on the meaning of beautiful.
These women DO NOT define us, or how we should see ourselves, but because they are constantly thrown in our face we are led to believe that the closer we are to looking like them the more we are beautiful. We cover ourselves with makeup-which is FINE, because it has a way of making us feel like we put love and energy into ourselves-but it's not essential because YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL JUST THE WAY YOU ARE!
Repeat after me (I told you): I DO NOT NEED TO WEAR MAKEUP TO BE BEAUTIFUL. I DO NOT NEED TO BE SKINNY TO BEAUTIFUL. I DO NOT NEED TO BE CURVY TO BE BEAUTIFUL. I DO NOT NEED TO BE TAN OR LIGHT SKINNED OR DARK SKINNED TO BEAUTIFUL. I AM BEAUTIFUL JUST THE WAY THAT I AM.
The most important thing that a woman can do to be beautiful is to be comfortable in her own skin.
I am not free of my own insecurities. Sometimes I worry about the way my face looks when I talk, or when it's all chin and jaw in a photograph. I used to worry about the chicken pock scars on my face (not helped by ex-boyfriends who innocently pointed them out, saying they were "cute", much to my disbelief). I used to worry about the stretchmarks on my legs, ESPECIALLY when I wore a 2 piece bathing suit. I always hated the way I had extra fat on my tummy that would never go away, and a big mole on the side of my neck (everyone I know is going to either nod or look for it next time they see me, haha). I worried about my "Fred Flintstone" toes, as a family member called them, or my bitten fingernails that I just can't seem to grow out. (I also have this really awkward lump on the end of my right hand ring finger, and I have tried everything to get it to go away, but hey, I guess it's a part of me, and I'm starting to get attached!)
I spent SO much time and energy thinking about these things that I just couldn't believe that no one else noticed. I couldn't believe that people "prettier than me" didn't somehow feel like hanging out with me made them look better or that cute guys would always choose them over me. I let men walk all over me, because I didn't think I was good enough. Well, you know what? I wasn't. I wasn't good enough, because I wasn't confident in myself. They all thought that I was just quiet and had no opinion and no personality, and really I was wasting it all sitting inside my head thinking about how awkward and imperfect I was.
So after I finally realized I really was worth a damn I put all my energy into making my personality really stand out. I made myself talk to strangers and seem interesting (which I was, but not always for the right reasons). I made it my goal to make men interested in me, because I wanted to feel like I was good enough.
Ironically, that actually backfired, because I STILL didn't believe that I was beautiful. So many times I missed the signs of guys asking me out, because they actually thought I was so great that they beat around the bush and I just brushed them off thinking that there was no way they would ever like me like that.
A long time ago, there was guy that I dated that I REALLY liked, and I messed it up, because I couldn't get out of my own head. I realized later on that he was crazy about me, but he couldn't handle all the games that I was playing trying to figure out whether or not he was really serious, saying things like, "Well....I don't want to bother you...." or "Only if you really want to, because I don't want you to feel like you have to..."
You're probably saying to yourself, "Well, it's different, you're awesome and pretty and you have it all, and there's no reason for you to feel that way."
I'm here to tell you the same thing about yourself. We don't see other people the stupid way that we see ourselves.
Make a list of all the things you like about yourself, and when you start thinking of things you don't like about yourself make a note about it and why someone might like that thing or might not care about that thing.
My boyfriend does NOT care about the stretchmarks on my legs. He has not spent a second looking at my feet (except for when he gives me foot rubs, but you should see his feet, you would worry much less as well). He has never mentioned the pockmarks on my face, or looked at me any less lovingly when I intentionally made the "ugliest" faces I can possibly muster. ...OKAY I know you want to see....
Anyway, what John does care about is whenever I even slightly mention something I don't like about myself, which just makes him feel awkward because he doesn't see me that way.
Some people have different things that they find attractive to them personally, but it's probably a good thing because if we were all the same and all attracted to the same kind of person it would be really hard to narrow down who to hit on.
GET YOUR GROOVE ON LADIES. Go out, with or without your makeup, with or without your cutest clothes on (but definitely WITH clothes on) and just be yourself! Remember to smile, and when someone compliments you, just say "THANK YOU" and leave the insecurities behind you!
Love you ladies,
Tootles,
René
AKA, The Bashful Entertainer
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Introduction
Hello everyone!
Welcome to my blog!
Because you actually made it here, I want to take a moment to say Bravo! and ask for a round of applause!
*Claps*
I have made attempts at blogs before, once with a fake name (and although some of my posts were compelling I just didn't feel connected to my writing enough that way), and once recently on Facebook, where I tried to box off one section of myself (being a Mom, which is fantastic), which just didn't feel free enough for me.
Here I am, making a compromise, and finally willing (reluctantly) to accept that the people that I love will probably read all the things that I don't want them to know about, and have so delicately avoided going into detail about all these years.
I have, however, decided with great conviction, that if I want to live for myself and other people, I have to finally sacrifice the last thing that is keeping me from becoming a butterfly.
My name is René Mason, and for those of you who do not know how to add a forward facing accent over an e, it's really quite simple. Hold ALT while you hit 0233 on the number pad and voila! I am 23 years old and I am the mother to a gorgeous 4 month old son, and the cute girlfriend of his Daddy, AKA my boyfriend John. We are very happy together, since he is extremely loving and generous, works hard so that I can be a stay at home Mom and pursue my dreams, and let me be the dramatic star of my own life, which I love!
He is quite eccentric himself, but definitely in a more subtle way, and I will try to refrain from exploiting all of his idiosyncratic tendencies in one blog post; but as he is around for much of my life, I hope he becomes beloved by you all as he is to me.
I grew up in Nashville. Both my parents are still alive-but divorced. I have a younger brother and a younger sister. We have 2 dogs, Amber and Pepper, who are complete opposites, both very stubborn, but very loving.
I have an extensive list of things I would like to do, including but not limited to, becoming a photographer, an event planner, and a writer. I would like to be accomplished in those things, not just a hobbyist. It would also be cool if I could get a couple songs published.
I also want to throw in that I am actually a quite a bashful person by nature, but I have always really enjoyed attention and find it slightly exhilarating to overcome my shyness by being silly without remorse. It has actually become such a norm that while I am sure there are prudish people that would be embarrassed to be seen with me, I am usually the first one to entertain myself and sometimes other as I bust a [very dorky looking] move when a fun song comes on.
So, if you are interested in the things that I have to say, PLEASE let me, The Bashful Entertainer, AKA René, know so that when I'm feeling lazy and I don't want to write I can use the ol' saying, "I have to write!!!! My fans are counting on me!!!"
Tootles,
-René
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