Marriage

Just a tiny post

What?!?! I haven't posted in a week? Well, I better change that.....

Enjoy this precious baby who has completely stolen this heart of mine.....and her daddy's too. 

Aaaahhhh, this child of mine. Something new every day :)

And by the way---Thunder won tonight!! 

-April

Thunder Weekend

As much as I was looking forward to this past weekend to get out of town, do some shopping, hang out with friends and go cheer on my OKC Thunder there were moments of sadness along the way.  Fact: I missed Evelyn real bad.  We aren't away from her much and this was the first time that I had spent more than 24 hours away from her.  (It was like 26 1/2 hours to be almost exact.)  We just love her so much!  My sister is always telling me to go somewhere or asking to drop her off for a few hours but it's really hard for me to do that.  I'm sure one day I won't be so obsessed.....probably not though.  Sometimes my time with her feels rushed during the week so on the weekends I just want to soak up all the time I can without thinking about what's taking place the next day at work or making sure I get to bed at a decent time so I'm not dragging the next morning. I just want to relax and enjoy my time with her.

Anyways, I had a lot of fun over the weekend hanging out with my friends and watching some Thunder basketball.  And I'm glad we came away with a win.  Definitely going to do a group thing next year again.  Hopefully we can watch them play a better team than the Bucks. 

Tonight, as I write this Thunder is currently losing. Why do they do this to me?  And also, I've taken a huge mommy step tonight by not rocking Evelyn to sleep.  It's been coming for awhile now but I've just been putting it on hold.  I'm not good with change so it's going to take me a couple of days to get used to this.  She did pretty good tonight I think.  She cried for a little bit while laying her down but stopped about 2 minutes after leaving the room.  Of course I was in tears in the hallway.  Then about 10 minutes later she started in again crying so I went in to make sure she had her pacifier and she saw me.  She stood up and tried to climb out while pulling at my shirt.  Ugh, my heart :(  So I patted her on the back, told her I loved her and left the room.  She only cried for a minute or so and then she's been quiet ever since.  Only a couple little whimpers here and there.  All in all the first night has been good.  Wish me good thoughts for the rest of the week.

-April

p.s. Thunder just lost. Dumb.

New Year New Goals

Part 2

Hope everyone is having a fantastic new year so far.  I have to say that my first week was pretty good.  I stuck to all my Weight Watchers points and had 3 left to spare at the end of the week and lost 2 pounds.  I ate Little Caesars, Taco Bell, Panda Express, Sonic and more Little Caesars and still lost weight.  I just made sure to stick to my points and be smart about what I was eating.  First week = Success!!

Part Two of my “New Year New Goals” isn’t as deep as Part One.  These aren’t major changes right now that I need to make but if I don’t start on these little things then I think they will erupt at some point and turn into major deals.{{{nooo}}}  They all really tie back to just doing things for me and my sanity.  I’ve spent so much time putting focus on my mommy duties and house duties that I don’t have much time to spend on myself.  As soon as there is a free moment I fill it with the next load of laundry or paying some bills or sleep.  Here are just a few of my “little things” that need improvement this year.

Blogging – I gotta get back in the habit.  The past year and a half has just been hit and miss.  Sorry, but the free time I had was spent doing mommy things.  I do wish to improve this.  I enjoy writing and it gives me a sense of accomplishment when I post something.  I like when people like what I have to say.  It gives me a little boost in my day.  Don’t hold me to this but…..I want to give you all something at least twice a week. (Fingers crossed)

Magazines – Oh boy! I have GOT to keep up with these things.  I always think when renewal time comes around that I’m just going to cancel all of them and be done.  Well, I have yet to do that AND I really don’t want to.  If you know me at all you know that I have a deep love for paper.  I can’t get enough of it.  I love the way it feels, the way it sounds and the way it smells.  LoVe It!!  I’m just not ready to part with it.  This year I want to do a much better job of keeping up with them.  Seriously, I have a huge stack of them dating back to maybe 2012…..possibly a few from 2011??  How many magazines do I subscribe to, you ask?  Good Housekeeping, Better Homes and Gardens, All You, Glamour, Parents and now Highlights.  You also might be asking how come I just don’t throw the old ones away or donate them.  Well, I have this thing that I think I might have put a piece of mail or something important in between the pages so I have to go through all the pages in all of them just to see.  Yep.  That’s me.  But you all still love me anyways :)

Reading – Every time I start a new book I always wonder why I don’t read more often.  It’s such a relaxer and allows me to jump into someone else’s world for awhile. It’s the best.  I have several books on the shelves that I’ve picked up, read the first chapter and then never looked back.  It wasn’t because it wasn’t good.  It’s because I have been way too distracted by technology to pick them back up again.  Do I really need to scroll through Facebook again to see if someone has posted something new from the time I was scrolling 5 minutes before?  No, but I do.  In this amount of time I could’ve turned a few pages and gotten a little bit further in my book.  But at the same time I don’t need total silence to look through my phone like I do a book so maybe I just need to carve out time for reading when I have the silence.  (Which is when???)  Hmmff…..

Scrapbooking – Let’s just say that I have started a scrapbook every year since 2007 but usually never get past the month of April.  Going to try a new approach this year and try binder scrapbooking instead of the traditional scrapbooking.  I think I will be able to fit more than one year in it and it just has different possibilities rather than a big 12x12 page.  You can purchase pages that hold several 5x7 or 4x6 photos so I can print off my favorites without having to be creative with them.  I can just stick ‘em in the slots and go.  Maybe add a sticker or something to it to jazz it up.  I could probably add these pages to a regular scrapbook as well but one of my least favorite things about making big scrapbooks is adding pages to it.  Good-ness!! I can’t stand unscrewing those little page holder things.  It gets complicated.

This is my craft desk.  This is a mess.

Pictures – I must must must put all my pictures on the external hard drive.  I would be so sad if I lost all my pics of Evelyn.  I also would like to get them on disc too and put them in the safe just in case.  This is going to be a long process…..

I had several little things I wanted to work on better this year but I realized I wrote them on the back of the grocery list that Evelyn chewed on so I threw it away.  This is enough to get me started I guess.....

Happy Tuesday!

-April

((((((Selfie))))))

New Year -New Goals

Part One

Well Happy Happy Happy New Year to you!!!! As exciting as a new year always is for the chance to get a clean slate I always find it a tiny bit depressing.  I think because I am not the best with change and 2013 just becomes another year in the books. Don't get me wrong, I am beyond grateful to have that year in the books and all that came with it but I always have a hard time saying goodbye.  But about mid January that feeling fades and I'm ready to hit it hard and make the next year full of great memories and experiences.  

I'm ready to make this year fantastic and make some much needed changes around here.  Changes in my body, mind and soul.  I've been trying to shed weight for about, hmmmm, 10 years now.  I really don't have that much to lose but all these little tricks and tries I'm doing don't seem to be working.  I joined Weight Watchers online this week and I've stuck to it so far.  Even through New Year's Eve.  I even logged my champagne :) I did WW a couple of years ago and lost 7 pounds in the first 3 weeks.  Then I got pregnant and well, you know, I gained weight :-/  I've done Lose It! and I think it's a great app and I known people who really succeeded on it but for me it's too easy to "start over on Monday". Since I'm paying for WW I really think it's going to help me stick to the program.  Plus, I know they say "a calorie is a calorie" so it's easy to use all your calories up on junk if you want but it doesn't help your body any.  So I don't think I totally believe this calorie lie.  Please, oh please Lord, let me see some results.

Mentally, I like to think that I've got it pretty much together but I've found in the past few years that there are probably a few tweaks I can make to stop these mental wars I have daily.  I'm sure you all have them going on too.  Sometimes your inner thoughts get the best of you and at the end of the day you are just drained from all the thinking.  Well, I'm tired of it.  I am SOOO tired of it.  I'm tired of it stealing my time.  I'm tired of it filling me with doubt.  I'm tired of it causing conflict with people.  I just want more peace in my every day living and this year, I'M GETTING IT!  How am I going to get it?  Giving my life back to the Lord.

Yes, I'm a christian.  Yes, I am saved.  Yes, I pray daily.  But I do not completely give myself to the Lord.  I do not follow in his plan every day.  Sometimes I go with what the flesh wants and not with what I know is his plan and the right thing to do.  I don't like this side of me.  I need to change.  I need to change to be an example for my family.  I know that when I walk with the Lord it's a better life for me.  Not better materialistically, but things that you cannot buy.  Like peace, comfort and true happiness.

I believe this time next year I'm going to be writing to tell you about all the changes 2014 brought and how I'm a different and better person because of it.  Not just me but my whole household.  Get ready Lord, I'm coming for you :)

-April

Can't have a post without pictures, right?

Happy New Year!!