Monday Listicles

This week's Monday Listicles was inspired by the late Nora Ephron. Before she passed, she left a list of Things she will miss and things she won't. So we're doing the same this week!

Things I won't Miss
1. Doing dishes
2. The dentist. I fucking hate the dentist
3. Hot days and sweating
4. Bugs
5. Bad haircuts
6. Dieting
7. Dance Moms
8. Crappy drivers and traffic
9. Being broke and paying bills
10. Birds and standard size poodles

Things I will Miss
1. My son and husband
2. Family and friends
3. My dog
4. Amazing pastries, cakes, cookies, and all the other great sweets in life
5. Laughing, watching funny movies, hearing a good joke, reading a funny article.. just humor
6. Holidays
7. Wine and other lovely alcoholic beverages
8. Football games, especially the New England Patriots games
9. Vanilla chai lattes
10. Reality television (other then Dance Moms)

What will you miss? What can you do without? Check out some other bloggers Monday Listicles at Northwest Mommy's blog!

Monday Listicles

Today's  Monday Listicles with Northwest Mommy is just 10 random questions so here we go :)

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 23, and find line 4. What is it?
Hard to admit, but I don't read books. Well, Fifty Shades of Grey but I'm scared to see what is in there.
2. How many times a day do you say Hi?
Probably 50 or more simply because we're trying to teach the little guy how to say "hi" and working on waving. Repetition is supposed to help them learn, right?
3. Have you ever worn a uniform?
Not my own. I have worn parts of the husband's old military uniform for fun ;)
4. What do you think about the most?
The kiddo. A lot of wondering how he is when he's sleeping or away from me, does he need anything, is he happy, why is he screaming at me, man he stinks, gosh he's so gross, oh he's so silly... it goes on and on.
5. How many keys are on your keyring?
4 keys, 2 of which I have no clue what they go to
6. What was the last thing you bought?
Groceries. Never anything fun
7. Are you growing anything these days?
Awesome muscles!
8. What is under your bed?
No under the bed here, sadly we don't have a bed frame so our box spring and mattress sit right on the floor. One less thing to clean, right?
9. What is most important in life?
Family/love. Love trumps all
10. What is the strangest word you used this week?
We use a lot of baby talk works right now, rhyming cutesy type things. And "hulk smash". This is a nearly daily saying now.


That's it for today! See you next week.
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Blueberry Orange Bread

I don't share a lot of recipes, mostly because when I attempt to take pictures of my food it looks awful. But today I made the most beautiful bread I've ever baked. Now the pictures don't do it justice, and that's because I'm a terrible photographer but I figured I'd share anyway.

I can rock a lemon loaf but that's about as far as my bread skills go. I have never made a decent loaf of banana bread in my life and most others are okay at best. But this one not only came out looking beautiful but tasting delicious!

Blueberry Orange Bread
2 tbs butter
1/4 cup boiling water
1/2 cup orange juice
3 tsp orange zest
1 egg
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup blueberries


Preheat oven to 325. Melt butter in boiling water. Add orange juice and zest, set aside. In seperate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, beat egg and sugar until light and fluffy. Add orange mixture and mix thoroughly. Add flour mixture and stir just until blended. Fold in blueberries. Bake for 60-70 minutes

While bread is still warm, poke all over with a toothpick and then combine 2 tbs orange juice and 2 tbs honey. Brush mixture over warm bread.

Recipe from Becky Bakes

Monday Listicles

This week has been extremely busy, so sorry I haven't updated anything but hey, it's Monday Listicles time! This week, Kim over at The G is Silent chose the topic, which is ten happy memories with a man in your life. So I chose the hubs, because we have a lot of great moments. We've been together nearly a decade but sadly my memory is awful and I can't remember much from before we got married... So these are my happy mostly recent memories.

1. My husband and I started dating when we were 15. He asked me out at a bowling alley. Adorable, right? He typed it out on the little bowling screen and I was a shy, frazzled little 15 year old girl so I typed "yes" back. And that's how the magic started!


2. I moved to Illinois with Steven when I was 19. Long story short, he moved there and I followed a few months later. My first weekend there he picked me up in St Louis and we stayed for a couple nights. I had never lived anywhere other then Alaska and hadn't really spent time in major cities so it was really exciting for me. We went to the zoo, city museum, botanical gardens, and the Gateway Arch and had the best time. It was our first real adventure as adults. 

On the London Eye while we lived in England

3. On New Years 2009 we went to downtown St Louis to see the fireworks. I was tired from my flight home which landed only a few hours prior and it was cold outside, but Steven insisted we go anyway so I sucked it up and went. We were having an okay, not awesome time so we were going to leave as soon as it hit midnight. Right at midnight as the fireworks started going off in the background, Steven gets down on one knee and asks me to marry him. I was so surprised, because we had already mutually agreed to get married and had picked a date and time but we were going to get married in the courthouse and I had said I was a little bummed to miss the big proposal and wedding part of getting married. So he proposed, in a big way and I am so thankful for that. 

BMT Graduation

4. Seeing him for the first time after he graduated from military basic training. 8 1/2 weeks of very little communication and I had missed him so desperately! And I was just bursting with pride over all of his hard work. 


5. Moving to England. Oh man we were excited! We were really on our own for the first time in our lives. I mean we had lived on our own for awhile back in Alaska but this was different, this was just us with no one else around. Our first time as our own little family and to top it off, we were in another country! It had a lot of ups and downs but we made the best of it and I loved our life together there, even the crappy parts because it helped us grow so much as a couple.

Wedding day!

6. The day we got married! We had a little courthouse wedding because we didn't have the time (or money) for a big wedding before he went into the military but I still wore a little white dress and he wore a suit. It wasn't the wedding I was imagining as a little girl but at that point it didn't matter; all that mattered was the man I was saying "I do" to, who to me is perfection.                                             
                    
7. The day we found out we were expecting. We had had two losses prior to my pregnancy with Boston so seeing that plus sign on the test was really nerve wrecking for me but he was so excited and eager to tell our families. And being cautious, I really wanted to wait until we were out of the first trimester to share the news with anyone other than our parents but he just couldn't wait. Finally he forced it out of me after a few ultrasounds and he called everyone he could think of to share the news. 

Told you he's the best road trip partner

8. Finding out we were having a boy. Steven was so proud and just gleaming and happy when we saw our little guy on the ultrasound screen. All afternoon all he could talk about was the fun things they'd do together, all of the great things he was going to teach him, and how awesome it was that he was going to have a son.


9. The day Boston was born. This is by far, my favorite memory of all. My husband was an amazing labor partner and though he doesn't handle the icky stuff well, he just stayed right next to my face, holding my hand and telling me how amazing I was until Boston had arrived. And the light in his eyes while holding his new baby boy was so beautiful. He couldn't get enough of him either, he couldn't wait to hold him and then I couldn't get him to put him down! He was one proud daddy.

My 2 loves

10. Seeing him and Boston together. I can't pinpoint a specific memory right now, but they are so freaking cute together. Steven is an amazing father, so involved and fun! He is going to make me look bad when he's the cool parent and I'm the loser mom with all the rules.
                                 

Epic Pirate Party

Halloween! In our first apartment

                                         
                                        

We have made a lot of amazing memories in our decade together. I know most of what I've shared are the big things; the milestone,s but we have a lot of great little moments also. My husband is pretty damn cool, I'm lucky to have him. 

Monday Listicles

It's time for another Monday Listicles with Northwest Mommy! Today's topic is how I would spend $1,000.

Girl... if only. I could def use $1,000 right now. Here it goes:

1. Running shoes. I was running this morning and my feet are killing me. And I realized I've had my shoes 2 years. 2 YEARS. They done expired at least a year and a half ago!
2. Transmission flush. We got our oil changed a couple months ago and they said we needed a transmission flush. Well, that was a couple months ago so... 
3. A dress. I'm going to my cousin's high school graduation tomorrow and I need a dress. I have to go shopping this afternoon for one actually. 
4. Wine. The good stuff, not this klassy shit I've been drinking.
5. A food processor. Super lame wifey want, but I've been dying to get a food processor for awhile now but I already have too many appliances. So I'm thinking about getting rid of my bread machine and getting a food processor instead. 
6. Jeans. And can I get someone to pick them out for me too? I'd hit Express and buy a bunch of Stella cut jeans
7. Cheesecake Factory. One whole lemoncello cream torte, please!
8. A new laptop. Why not, right? 
9. Gift card for Starbucks so I can go get a skinny vanilla chai whenever I want! Once I told my friend what I wanted so she could pick it up and she said my coffee order sounds like I'm ordering a man. Well, I do have a skinny vanilla so I guess she's right!
10. ToysRUs and a special little someone would get a shopping spree!

Or I could be practical and spend it on bills... meh. 

Lunk Alarm

A trip to the gym today made me feel the need to briefly expand on Planet Fitness' lunk alarm. For those of you who have never heard of it, Planet Fitness isn't a fan of show-offs since it's a judgement free zone so the lunk alarm is supposed to be sounded if people come in clanking weights or slamming them, or for grunting and getting all super body builder. When I first started, I didn't know that employees sounded the alarm, I thought it was automatic. So I avoided the weight machines for a long time just in case. Then I finally started using them but I would be so focused on not having my weights accidentally smack together that it wasn't a very good workout.

Then I stopped being a moron and realized the employees are supposed to sound it. Which at my Planet Fitness, doesn't seem to happen. I'm okay with that, I don't think it's a big deal anyway but IF they were really all about this lunk alarm, it would have been going off a lot tonight. 

A group of high school-ish guys came in and were using the free weights fairly close to my elliptical. In about a 10 minute span I heard them smashing weights around several times while I was full spaced out workout mode with super loud ear buds in my ears. It was obvious they were getting down and dirty with the dumbbells Which again, I don't mind but if Planet Fitness is so fond of advertising this lunk alarm of theirs, then they should use it!

Of course my Planet Fitness trainers can never seem to get their nose out of their chinese food long enough to notice anything anyway. 

I do enjoy the free tootsie rolls.

Monday Listicles

Time for another Monday Listicles with Northwest Mommy! Today's topic is 10 things that make you go hmmm? A lot of things make me do that but unfortunately I'm not good at thinking of them at the moment so here's the best I can do.

1. My biggest hmmm of this week is why do I weigh more after a week of eating well and lots of working out then I did when I did nothing? Talk about frustrating!
2. Why is American Idol still on TV? Or America's Next Top Model? Last I checked, the most recent winners haven't done much of anything after they win. I can't even name the last 3 or 4 from each that won... because they quickly disappeared. 
3. Why does Planet Fitness call show-offs "lunks"? And does their lunk alarm really work?
4. How do you measure a lightyear and where do you go if you go in a black hole? I know there are scientific answers to this, but with as many times as my space geek husband has tried to explain it, I still don't get it. 
5. Why did Justin Timberlake invest in Myspace a ways back and why hasn't he done anything to make it better? Sounds like a big waste of money to me.
6. Why do people or animals stop growing at some point instead of just slowly growing forever? What is it that decides we're all grown up? 
7. Why can my dog smell the other dog I pet today but can't smell the food right in front of her face?
8. Why is Joan Rivers in charge at Fashion Police or for that matter, considered a fashion guru? Has anyone looked at her lately? 
9. Why does my son insist of clinging to mommy all day every day when there are so many other awesome people that want to play with and cuddle him?
10. Why doesn't Giselle just help poor Tommy with his hair instead of letting him go out lookin a fool and getting ridiculed? You're a freakin supermodel, surely you see how goofy he looks!

   

Monday Listicles

It's another one from Monday Listicles at Northwest Mommy. Today's topic is 10 summer memories. I've had a lot of great summers so we'll see if I can narrow it down for you. Sorry, I'm not great at short-cutting stories so these might get a little long!

1.I don't remember how old I was, roughly 8 or 9, but growing up in Alaska my dad and I spent almost every weekend going fishing and camping. My favorite trip ever was a longer, I think 4 day trip. First we went to this new campground called Ptarmigan Lake and went fishing. We hiked into the trail some and fished for awhile and I caught a trout. Not just a rainbow trout though, this one was pretty monstrous in size for a trout. I wish I remembered exactly so pardon me if this is an exaggeration but I believe my dad said it was 24 inches. There was another random hiker there who saw me catch the fish and was super excited to see this little girl hook a huge fish. We bag our catch and continue down the trail and run into some other hikers. They look at me and they ask my dad if I'm the girl who just caught the huge trout. I was a legend. My dad was so proud, I could tell he was just glowing with pride. He had taught me well.

2. Another favorite trip with my dad was around this same time and I think it might actually be the same summer. We went into Seward, Alaska just to check it out and they had finished building their sea life center. We had never been so we went and the Alaska sea life center is one of the best I've ever seen. I was so stoked to see the sea lions and seals. When we finished there, we got some lunch, headed towards the beach and flew a kite. While out there, my dad spotted a sea lion swimming by which was odd because they rarely get that close to shore. He got out his video camera and we took off down the beach running to keep up with it.

3. My last summer in Alaska before moving was a blast. My friend Clarissa and I went camping over the weekend on our own and though we had both been camping quite a bit, we made some pretty silly mistakes. We failed to pack any firewood or lighters, just a box of matches and we realized quickly that starting a fire wasn't as easy as we remembered. We bought some firewood from the campground host and it wouldn't light. I called my dad and asked him to name some really flammable stuff for me and before he could answer the call cut out. Oops, hope I didn't scare you, dad! We put everything we could think of in the firepit to try and light it. Turns out moss and marshmallows are extremely flammable.

Our beautiful fire that only took an hour or so to build

4. My best friend Jen and I had a routine in Alaska. At least once a week, usually more often we made a coffee date for Barnes and Noble. We'd meet up, get our drinks and maybe a dessert and sit down in either the astrology or cooking section and chat. It was where we went to catch up but more importantly, where we went to vent. Barnes was our safe place. Every time something shitty happens in life, that's where I want to be but unfortunately we live light years away from each other now. Luckily we still keep in touch over the phone but there's nothing like talking things out over a chai tea and reading about how Scorpios deal with things. 

5. I moved to Illinois when I was 20 to live with the boyfriend (now the husband). I had never lived anywhere but Alaska so it was an experience. We spent our first couple days in St Louis and I got to see the Arch, went to the zoo, City Museum, and on a carriage ride. Later that summer we hit Six Flags, a Cardinals  game, and the Missouri Botanical Gardens. 

St Louis Arch

St Louis zoo!

Cardinals Game

6. The following summer in Illinois, my good friend Jamie and I took a trip to Chicago. I had never been to such a major city. I think Jamie got a little annoyed with all my excited outbursts, "Look, a giant TV outside! Look, a 3 story Old Navy! Look, a fountain with orange water!!!" It was clear I'm not a city girl. We drove in and just chilled at the hotel the first day, then the next we went downtown to go shopping and to Millenium Park. We wore hot pink pea coats that practically matched and someone asked us if we were there for the Taylor Swift concert. I guess we looked like teeny boppers.

Chicago!

Silver bean

7. My husband joined the air force and had training in Texas, which then continued in Florida. I went down to Texas to help him move to Florida and it was the best road trip ever. We stopped and stayed in New Orleans for a night and hit Bourbon Street which is a must at some point in your life, went to an aquarium, and finally settled at Panama City Beach. It was so relaxing!

8. We moved to England in late 2009 and the following summer was the World Cup, US vs UK. My friends, husband and I went to an English pub to watch the game. Everyone was dressed up, carrying flags, yelling for their team. Since we lived close to the base there was an equal number of American fans. After the game, one of our friends took part in a wet boxer contest (he won) and then we all headed back to our house for a few drinks. Okay, a lot of drinks. I'm pretty sure I've never laughed so much in my life. 

Crazy American who kept running back and forth starting USA chants

9. Last summer we moved to NH and I had my baby shower. My SIL organized most of it but it was a huge family affair and so perfect! My mom flew down from Alaska for it and I had just met the majority of my husband's extended family but they made me feel so welcomed.

10. This summer. It's hardly started but it's my first summer as a mom, and already my little guy has learned how to stand and said 'mama' for the first time. So this may be a little premature, but I think this summer will be full of favorite memories.

National Donut Day

We celebrate that kind of thing. If you remember, we also celebrated National Pancake Day. And living on the east coast we get to enjoy Dunkin Donuts who had a special buy one get one free in honor of this national holiday so we went and got our donuts this afternoon and I decided it was okay to get Boston a little glazed munchkin. He loved it! He screamed in my face when I took it away because he was trying to take giant bites and choke.

Don't worry, he had veggies for lunch.

Pretty sure I'll be getting my Mom of the Year award any day now.

Murder Trail and Parking Meters

Today was a beautiful sunny day so Boston and I wanted to get of the house and enjoy the weather. I had heard about a walking trail through my play group and decided to try it out. It's a couple miles around a pond and I was picturing a paved, wide open area with a pond in the center. So we drove there, parked, got in the stroller and walked to the trail head. We walked maybe 50 feet onto the trail before I decided it just wasn't going to happen. It was very backwoods in the middle of nowhere and I didn't see the pond. We may live in the safest state in America but I'm still not going to fly solo with the baby down murder trail. So we went downtown instead.

I parked at the meter and as I'm getting my change out to pay, a parking police dude came up and asked if I had ever done this before. Why yes, sir, I've used a parking meter before... I politely told him I had but he still took my money and inserted the quarters for me, checking to be sure every coin was accepted and then even topped me off with an extra quarter. So either I was looking good today or I look like a dope, because surely I can handle paying my own meter. We strolled around and checked out some shops then headed to the grocery store.

I hate our grocery store. It's the cheapest place in town which is why we go there and things are normally good quality, but it's also extremely busy and full of interesting characters. I'm used to having people stop and comment on the baby, which is cool. I mean babies are super cute, and he's cuter then most (yeah I said it) so I expect it. But today we couldn't get anywhere. Between the mass amounts of old people and my child hamming it up for anyone who cared, it took forever to get our shopping done. And people kept touching, which freaks me out. They want to touch his cheeks and his hands and his feet. Baby skin is awesomely soft, but we don't touch random babies. One lady even was stroking his little hand and telling him, "I love you, yes I do. I love you!" over and over and I had to politely stroll away as fast as possible. It took everything I had not to start yelling, "Stranger danger! Stranger danger!" But he loves it, so I'll allow it for a short time longer. I know I'll be sad the day I take him to the store when he's just a regular old kid and no one stops us to say how precious he is.

Rinse and Repeat

Last night was one of those nights. Boston thought for some reason it was time to play at 2AM and would not take the hint that we weren't getting out of bed. So it was a very long night. I woke up miserably tired after only a couple hours of sleep, while he was ready and rearing to go. When I finally had time for a shower that I desperately needed, I wanted to make it quick. Shampoo, rinse. Conditioner... that's weird, it was bubbling like crazy. I guess I didn't rinse well enough. Okay so rinse, really well then conditioner. Wait, it's still bubbling... wtf is happening?

Several minutes of serious contemplation later, I realized I'm a moron and just put a different kind of shampoo in my hair. 2 extra times.

At least I'm super clean. Sigh, I need my brain to work again.

If you’ve been paying attention to the news at all, you’re aware that the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee is this week. In England there are a ton of events going on in honor of this event and I’m pretty bummed to be missing it all. I’m one of those that finds the royal family to be very fascinating, though I didn’t always feel that way. When we were stationed in the UK in 2010 and the news of Prince William and Kate’s engagement came out, everyone was so excited in anticipation of the wedding. At first I didn’t get it, I thought it was kind of silly to treat a wedding like such a huge event even if it was for the royal family, however some friends invited me to tag along to London for the event and parade and I figured why not? As the date approached I became more excited and by the time April 29^th rolled around, I was beyond stoked. I had royal wedding fever.

The crowds were insane. Millions of people were there and it was nearly impossible to get through to certain parts of the parade route. At one point my good friend and I had to break away from our group to find a different spot to watch the parade because at the time I was 17 weeks pregnant and too nervous to shove my way through hundreds of people. I really thought we’d get trampled. So we wandered on and found an amazing spot on a balcony and we saw everything firsthand.

It was magical. I know that probably sounds really lame, but it had a way of sucking you in no matter how hard you fought it. By the end of the day I felt like I was part of a Disney movie. The atmosphere was eerily enchanting. You’d think having that amount of people in a relatively small area, some who were not fans of the royal family, that something awful was bound to happen. I know there were some protesters but I didn’t see a single one. All I saw was a group of people united by and entranced by the love Prince William and Kate share. Their vows were played over loudspeakers in real time and as they were spoken, millions of people were silenced. Once the ceremony finished, everyone cheered and rejoiced and joined together singing their anthem.

My friend Sarah and I in the middle of a shut down Westminster Bridge

I’ll never experience anything quite like it again, and I still feel really privileged to have been there. So I’m really bummed to not be taking any part in the celebrations for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. But I hold the memories of the Royal Wedding really close to my heart and I just really wanted to share that today.

Congrats Queenie, 60 years is pretty damn cool.

*All photos are my personal  photos 

First Word

Boston said "mama" today! I've been dying for him to say it already and he finally did and now I can't stop smiling. Proud mama right here :)

Monday Listicles

I frequent a few blogs that do daily blog hops and I really have enjoyed the Monday Listicles so I thought I'd try to make it a regular here. FYI, chances are I won't do this every Monday but I will make an honest attempt. Today's topic chosen by Stasha at Northwestmommy is 10 words to describe your home. If you know me well, you'll know I'm not a big fan of my current house but given certain circumstances we'll be here for a little while and I'm trying to make the best of it. Here's my home in 10:

1. Loud - My baby makes a lot of noise. I yell a lot. My husband farts loud and plays loud video games. So it's pretty noisy here, you don't come to this house for peace and quiet. 
2. Messy - I'm a terrible housekeeper and it's obvious when you come to my house. I make a semi honest effort but cleaning sucks and is a lame way to spend your time when you only get a small window of personal time each day. And that darn baby never picks up his junk so there's toys all over the house.
3. Squeaky - My dryer squeaks. And when my washer is running, my whole house rattles since it's pretty small. I have this baker's rack in my kitchen that shakes and squeaks against the wall. And occasionally as the house "settles" my doors rattle and squeak. It's really annoying when I'm trying to watch E! True Hollywood Story
4. Tiny - We live in a very small house with minimal storage space. We've had to get creative about storage and we've also been pretty lazy about it sometimes too which is another reason for word #2
5. Sticky - Baby hands on everything equals a lot of stick, combined with #2 and the fact I hate mopping, it's kinda sticky here. 
6. Furry - My dog sheds everywhere. She doesn't even have that much fur, she's just a Jack Russel but somehow her hair ends up on everything. Sometimes I find her fur on things she hasn't even seen or touched before, 100 miles away from our house. It's ridiculous.
7. Old - I don't know that for sure but I'm going to give it a wild guess and say our house is ancient. Our cabinets are very old school and our old stove was a safety hazard so I'd say it's a good guess.
8. Comfy - Our couch is properly broken in and we have an awesome recliner. Our bed is pretty amazing too
9. Silly - We like a lot of goofy things here. My husband acts like a mature 7 year old, my baby is a total goob, my dog is the dumbest Jack Russel I've ever encountered, and I can't say I've grown up much since high school. 
10. Love - There is a lot of love in this house. An amazing man I've had the privilege of being with for a decade, the most precious and wanted 8 month old you'll ever meet, and a dog so dumb you can't help but love her... Yep, there's a lot of love in this house. 

College Drop-Out

I spent last night and today scouring the UNH website trying to figure out what I needed to enroll in classes. I studied 2 years at the University of Alaska Anchorage right after high school. I ended up dropping out to move to Illinois to be with my then boyfriend who is now the husband, then when I planned to go back to school there, said boyfriend turned fiance decided to mix things up and join the air force. So I planned to go back once we moved to our base. The military decided to shake things up and we got stationed overseas. At the time I didn't know how to go about online school (still don't) and thought maybe I still wanted to be a teacher, in which case I would be entering my observation years and that simply wouldn't work. And then while overseas, I got knocked up (planned) and life shook things up and we ended up in New Hampshire.
So I became a college drop-out. Which has bugged me every day since. But now that Boston is a little older, I think I'm ready to go back to school. The problem for the past few months was deciding what to do. Now I have settled on a bachelors in social work, however the UNH website is not college drop-out/mommy brain/dummy friendly and I can't figure it out. So Tuesday I'll be going in to talk to them about enrolling and praying to God I can get in this fall and do some general ed classes online.
Anyway, during all of this I felt what I believe is my quarter life crisis. Feeling pretty shitty about being almost a quarter of a century old and still having no clue what I wanted to do with my life. Being nearly 25 with a family depending on me and not having a degree or any relative skills for life. Even worse, the majority of the things I'm interested in at this point are pre-med and take years and tons of commitment and time, plus many require school out of state and that's something that isn't an option for me at this point in my life. It's kind of a bummer. And trying to enroll in college again and use my head for the first time in 4 years felt like a great idea until I realized my poor brain has melted to practically nothing in the 4 years I've wasted drinking too much wine and watching reality TV all day. So many cells lost out on Teen Mom and Real World that I can't navigate my way around a university website.
Just a warning for anyone wanting to drop out and say, "Oh I'll go back later"; don't be a dummy. Just get your degree and be done with it because life will get in your way if you give it the chance. And your brain will go to waste. You may end up on Swamp People if you aren't careful.

It's been awhile

I don't know why I keep pretending I'm a great blogger. Or that I'll blog about the same general things or on a certain schedule. I know all too well that I have a horribly short attention span and will never be able to commit to a recipe only or whatever type of blog I originally had in my head. And I think I originally intended to write this really inciteful blog full of tips, awesome recipes and methods to deal with kids but realistically I don't know shit about anything yet so I'll stop pretending. Okay, maybe that's a little harsh but I can't pretend I'm an epic baker when I made some gawdawful biscuits that tasted like nothing, or like I'm some super awesome montessori mom when my son is 8 months old and I still don't know how to get him to sleep in his own bed. I've been away from the blog so long that blogger changed the whole set up and as I'm writing this thing, I'm not entirely sure I'm typing in the right spot. This might be a big waste of my time right now.
So I figure if I'm going to actually update this blog on a regular basis, I'll just write my random ramblings and garbage.
Today's garbage will be some minor catch-ups on our life. Boston will be 8 months old in 2 days. He's still doing a funny army crawl and probably never will do a normal crawl but that's okay because his is just as effective. He also learned just a week ago how to pull himself up to standing so now that's all he wants to do. All day long, pulling up on hampers and toys and my leg. Clawing his way up, stretching out my shirts and yanking my hair. He is such a little character and I'm loving this age he's at.
Stella thought it would be cool to climb the baby gates over and over again, and the dummy tore her nail almost all the way off the quick so she had to have it removed and is now sporting a goofy cone on her head. Dogs with cones are hilarious, and even though I feel really bad for her, I can't stop laughing about it.
I also have a sewing machine and I've been doing little projects all week. Today I upcycled a shirt, I'll blog about it later. It's pretty fabulous though.
That's all today, maybe I'll get back into the writing mood and post here more often.

Half birthday!

It is my beautiful, precious baby boy's 6 month birthday. I can't believe how fast he is growing! He has been changing so much, especially over the past month and learning a ton. As of 4:34 AM my gorgeous son has been making our lives so much more fun and exciting for half a year, and causing an awful lot of trouble! Here's a little flashback of his first 6 months:

Here's what our little guy has been up to for the past 6 months:

• Rolling both ways
• Lots of babbling and even more raspberry/bubble blowing
• Sitting up unassisted
• Eating rice cereal, baby food, and the occasional banana or avocado in a mesh feeder
• Smiling and laughing
• Army crawling all over the house

As you can see, we've been busy! Boston is so smart and such a joy. I can't imagine life without him, he's just perfection. Here's our little guy at 6 months!

I am so excited for all of our upcoming milestones, but I need time to slow down! Happy 6 month Boston, we love you so much <3

Breastfeed like Beyonce

I am loving all of the positive feedback coming about Beyonce choosing to breastfeed her daughter in a restaurant. I don't know if maybe I'm just more aware now that I myself am breastfeeding, but it seems like there has been a lot of stigma and controversy lately about whether it's appropriate to breastfeed in public, and I'm so happy to see this positive coverage of a celebrity breastfeeding in public. Having the confidence to do that is hard! I feed my son in public all the time, pretty much anywhere but it is very nerve wrecking for me, even still after almost 6 months. I don't use a traditional cover but I am always covered with a receiving blanket and I usually choose as discreet of an area as I can. I feed him in the car once we've parked a lot because I feel more comfortable there knowing I won't accidentally show more then I want, and that I don't have to worry about being judged. I have been really luck so far that I've never had anyone make a comment about it and I think I've only experienced one time where I felt like someone was judging and mean mugging me about it. I won't ever be shamed into feeding my baby in the bathroom but sometimes it's tough to sit at a restaurant and feed him, knowing the waiter will walk up shortly or to feed him at the mall with tons of people walking by. Even though I make sure nothing is showing, I feel very exposed and vulnerable! And I think that has a lot to do with how other people perceive it, the backlash saying it's indecent and inappropriate.

I am ecstatic to see some celebrities being open about breastfeeding and doing so in public. They have such a huge influence on people and I'm hoping it helps remove some of the stigma. Better yet, I hope they bring it mainstream. I am not the most confident mama out there but the more support I see, the better I feel and the easier it becomes for me. I think it's so important for women to try and find that confidence because no one should feel trapped at home just because they choose to breastfeed. And I certainly don't have to worry about paparazzi! I hope I, and other breastfeeding mamas can learn to be bold like Beyonce. Mamas, find your inner diva and don't give a damn. That's what I'm going to try to do from now on. If you need some tips, here's a great article with some pointers on feeding in public: http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/06/10593546-how-to-be-like-beyonce-and-breast-feed-in-public

Starbucks Iced Lemon Pound Cake

My ideal day out for coffee would be at the Starbucks in Barnes and Noble with my best friend, drinking a skinny vanilla chai tea and eating iced lemon loaf. I can't think of a better way to relax. I have looked around for a copycat recipe for their lemon loaf for awhile and never found one that had good reviews or looked right. Today someone pinned this recipe and I literally pinned it, went and got the ingredients and planned to make it just a few hours later. I was so excited! And it didn't let me down. I love this pound cake. It had just the right amount of lemon, the icing was perfect, and the cake itself was light, so moist and just delicious! I'll be making this time and time again. And it was so easy! Literally dump the ingredients into your mixer bowl and beat for 1 1/2 minutes. This would be a great treat for company and I'm going to attempt to freeze the second loaf (minus the icing) to have another time. 

Starbucks Iced Lemon Pound Cake Copycat

Ingredients

1 box yellow cake mix

1 3.4 oz package lemon pudding

1/2 cup oil

4 large eggs

1/2 cup milk

8 ounces sour cream

6 tablespoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients with an electric mixer until well blended; about 1 1/2 minutes. Pour mixture into 2 well greased loaf pans. Bake 40-50 minutes until golden. Let cool in pan for 15 minutes, then drizzle with icing. 

Icing

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3-4 tablespoons lemon juice

Mix well until it reaches a thick consistency you can drizzle. Drizzle over the cakes and let set about 20 minutes until hardened. 

Make this cake! It's delicious! If I had my Chai tea, this would be the best night ever. I've already eaten 1/3 of the loaf and don't plan on stopping. 

Cookies & Cream cake

We went to Illinois this past weekend for my mother in laws 40th birthday. 22 hours of driving with a nearly 6 month old, who did amazing. I asked her what kind of cake she wanted and she just requested that it be made from scratch so I decided to do a cookies and cream cake. I had made this cake as cupcakes in the past and they were a hit so I thought I'd see about doubling the recipe and making a 9x13 cake and it worked out wonderfully. I forgot to take a picture of it once it was cut so you could see the Oreo cookie bits inside, but if you've seen any of the recipes for Oreo cupcakes floating around on Pinterest, then you have an idea of what the inside looked like. I topped the cake with cream cheese frosting and used Oreo halves and crumbs to decorate.

I am not a cake decorator and kind of did this on the fly so I'm happy with how it turned out but had I had more time to think it over, I'm sure I could have done a better job.
Cookies & Cream Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
4 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
16 tbs unsalted butter at room temperature
3 1/3 cups sugar
6 large egg whites at room temp
4 tsp vanilla
2 cups milk
Roughly 1 1/2 cups Oreos, chopped
Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl with mixer, combine sugar and butter and beat until light and fluffy; about 2 minutes. Blend in egg whites one at a time beating well each time. Blend in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, beat in half the dry ingredients until just incorporated. Add milk and blend just til combined, then add remaining dry mix. Gently fold in Oreo, being careful not to overmix. Pour batter into a lightly greased 9x13 cake pan and bake for 30-40 minutes.
Adapted from Annie's Eats/
Frosting
12 oz cream cheese, softened
12 oz butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
About 4 cups of powdered sugar
Combine ingredients and beat with an electric mixer, adding the powdered sugar gradually until it has reached your desired consistency.

The cake was a hit! It tasted great and was just sweet enough without being overbearing. I'll definetely be making it again.