Semester One - Done!

Oh man, it has been a long semester, but it is finally over!

I just turned in my English paper for my last final. I am pretty nervous about it, but I'm hoping for the best. I have a B in that class right now, and I'm hoping it'll stay that way. Right now that's my lowest grade, so I think I'll give myself a nice pat on the back for that.

The only thing I have left to do is go in for a final critique in my Art class tomorrow, and wait for my final grades to be posted.

This is a huge accomplishment for me, and I want to shout it from the rooftops.

In the past I did go to college, but I had a really hard time with attendance, still do actually, and I didn't do very well or just dropped my classed entirely. The online class option was a life saver for me this time around. I can hop online in the middle of the night, if I so choose, and get my work done then. Nothing was set as far as a class time, and I loved that.

I'm pretty excited for next semester as well. I'll have 2 online classes, and only two classes on campus. I think with only two classes, attendance shouldn't be that big of an issue, especially since they're at night. Not to mention I'll be taking the introduction to Surgical Technology class next semester. I'm pretty stoked for that. I'll get a nice glimpse into what I'll be doing after I finally graduate. Ugh graduation seems like such a long way off. Including next semester I have 4 to go, one of which is over summer, so I'm only really looking at a year or so. Not too bad.




Anywho, I got a new haircut, and yes, you'll be seeing it soon. My little cousin is in beauty school, and she needed someone to go in for her test. She passed, and I got a kick ass razored layer 'do.


Oh, and I just wanted to mention. Be on the lookout for a new beauty product review complete with pics. Get your sexy lips on after this one :)

I'm getting serious!

On the weight loss front that is!

I am so sick and tired of being a huge blimp, so I am really actually doing something about it this time. No joking around now.

I know I have mentioned it before, but this time is totally different.

I'm actually entering my second week of the Atkins Induction. It has been surprisingly easy to choose the right foods since I love meat, veggies, eggs, and of course bacon :) LOL. I will admit, though, the first few days were hell. I was exhausted, and I'm sure the fact that I kicked my diet soda addiction at the same time didn't help at all.

All I did was check out their website for the plan info and an acceptable foods list. That means I am staying under 20 net carbs per day. I also drink tons of water and an herbal laxative tea in the morning. The tea isn't part of the plan, but it really helps because I have never been..... uh..... regular haha. Once I lose an acceptable amount I'll move out of the the induction phase and I'll be able to add more stuff to my acceptable foods list and keep losing, just at a slower pace.


Soooo... I bet you're all dying to know..... How much have I lost so far???

In one week I have lost a total of 6.2 pounds! 

I didn't measure myself before I started, so who knows how many inches that is. To be honest I think I look exactly the same. It's weird too because 6 pounds on a 5'3'' frame is a lot.

I am pretty proud of myself for losing that amount though. I'm still 38 pounds away from my goal weight of 150, so I'll just keep chugging along.  

Check out the nifty virtual model weight loss simulator pics.

Bzz Agent Review Time (again)

I know, these campaigns were pretty close together, but I'll never complain about free stuff ;)

This one I have nothing but positive things to say. 

The first thing you see is a rather eye catching wrapper. It's modern and fun. 

Next I went on to taste Unreal candy. I was uber impressed. I'm not one for overly sweet candy which is why I rarely eat it, buuuuuut this candy has the perfect amount of sweet, and not only that the right kind of sweet. It's hard to describe, but I kind of fell in love. I tried both the peanut butter cups and the nougat bar, mmmmm. Both were to die for. The chocolate tastes like real chocolate, complex and rich. The filling is just as great with it surprising explosion of flavor. What can be better than that, oh yeah the fact that there is no added junk in it. That's right!The artificial junk is out! That's probably why it tastes so good. 

I'm going to be honest and say that I didn't give out all of my Bzz Agent coupons. I saved a couple for myself. That's allowed right? I sure hope so because I have a new addiction ;)

BzzAgent Review Time!

Glade Expressions Collection

I got my coupons in the mail and went right to Walmart to pick up my products. I got the oil diffuser in Pineapple & Mangostee and I got the fragrance mist in Cotton & Italian Mandarin.

I must say, that I love both of the scents.

I am not usually one for tropical scents in my home, but the pineapple was the only variety of the oil diffuser available at the time that I went to use my coupons. It smells lovely and isn't overpowering. Yet, it is still strong enough for me to smell all the way down the hallway when I walk passed my bathroom. I will say that as much as I loved the smell, I was a bit disappointed in the diffuser itself. I had only see online ads for it, so I expected it to be sort of like a reed diffuser. In actuality it is more of a cardboard diffuser with reed like panels for decoration. It still gets the job done though!

Now the Cotton & Italian Mandarin, that is my new favorite. I love clean linen scents, and this is like that only better. Everything just smells cleaner once I use it. I am a bit confused as to the reusable trigger/plastic case, though. I don't really see the point of it or how it improves the product. I mean essentially it's just a plastic case for the spray. Why not just the spray can itself? Either way, the scent is still amazing. I also love the fact that I only need to use a little tiny spray for my whole room to smell clean for hours.

Overall, the scents are great, but the products used to deliver them, I found lacking.

Thank you Pinterest!

I am a serial pinner, and 99% of the time the crafty DIY pins never result in anything other than a full board LOL.

Not this time!

I saw a cute loft bed pin and decided to give a look see. I checked out the site and it led me to a cute castle loft bed. The plans were amazing! Everything was laid out, and the step-by-step, illustrated, instructions were wonderful. Here are the plans if anyone would like to give it a go as well.
http://ana-white.com/2011/10/plans/castle-loft-bed

I told Todd that we NEEDED to do this for Lily since her toddler bed was falling apart. He said, sure, so I went out and bought the lumber. It took a while for him to get started on it, but once he went full force on the weekends it took about a month to complete.

After he finished I painted it white, and I fell in love with it. I still need to decorate it and make it look nice and girly for her, but it still looks great!

Here it is. I'll probably post a pic when it is all beautified as well.

Lily loves her slide and sleeping in her big girl bed

Freebie Review - BIC® Soleil® Savvy™

It's that time again folks! Review time.

I got this as a freebie in my BzzKit.

To be honest I wasn't expecting much because I had bought some Soleil razors way back when. They were disposables, and were pretty bad. I don't like to think back to those razor burns.

This time around I was pleasantly surprised. It feels sturdier first off, and is ascetically pleasing. After checking it over I opened the package and took it to the shower with me. Let me say this, I'm not a shaving cream kind of gal, so few razors make the cut. This happens to be one of them :)

I did a quick run over of my legs, underarms and bikini area. I ended up with a nice close shave and, woohooooo, no razor burn. I didn't even get an ingrown hairs which I am prone to.

It's a great price for razor that has replaceable heads, and I love the girly look of it, so that my boyfriend won't use it LOL.

Overall, it floats my boat

It's time for me!

I have come to the realization, that I need to work on myself right now. For years I have concentrated on everyone else, and I have let myself go. It is time to fix that. I think once I am up to par I can be a better girlfriend and mother.

Step one: Health and Weight
I am far too big and unhealthy for my own good. I need to take better care of myself. That started today. I went for a nice walk/run. I think doing this 3-4 times a week will be a good start. The other part of that is diet. We eat like crap, and I am tired of it. Todd thinks a complete meal is a pile of meat. No more! I live right down the street from the farmer's market. I think going weekly to pick up some fruit and veggies is a nice move in the right direction.

Step two: Work and Education
Since I got laid off, I've been looking for a new job. It sucks! Nothing out there is willing to pay enough for me to cover daycare and still make at least some money. I have crappy experience and no degree. I won't make enough with out either of those. How will I take care of that? Go back to school! I filled out my FAFSA, and  with any luck I will qualify for enough in grants and scholarships to put the girls in daycare while I go to school. My roadblock there is, what do I do? I can't answer the question, "What do I want to be when I 'grow up'?" I need to think long and hard about this one

Step three: Hobby
This one is easy. Photography is my hobby. I am practicing, and so far I'm still pretty crappy at it. I ordered some equipment to help me out, a flash and some back drops. Outdoor photography isn't my thing, so I'll give the indoor stuff a try with this equipment as soon as it comes it.

Step four: Make new friends
I have like 2 friends, and they are either flakey or don't ever get out. Not the kind of friends any one wants to have really. I am totally socially awkward, so I need to come back to this one LMAO

Welp, there is the baby alarm. I had better run :)

Our Puppy Gypsy

We got a new puppy a couple of weeks ago, and I am losing my mind. House training is hard as heck. I've never had a dog from puppyhood, so I've never had to deal with piss and shit all over my house. I am so worried I'll have "that" house that smells like puppy pee and poop all the time. I clean as often as I can, and I still worry about it.

She is a doll other than that. I love her, the kids love her, and our kitty loves her. She is not high strung and is cuddly and loving.

I think I want to start going for an early morning walk with the dog. I need to lose weight (really need to) and  she needs to be walked. Hmmm.... maybe I'll start on Monday.

On a side bar... I need to get out more. I am losing my mind at home all day at this point. Maybe I'll even make new friends.

Here is our kitty loving on our new puppy.

Bitter Sweet

I got laid off last week. I wasn't thrilled about it because it was a great job and I liked it a lot.

I closed my laptop for the last time last Friday. A feeling of relief came over me as I did. It was hard as hell trying to watch 2 kids while I worked. Now I can concentrate on my babies and get some cleaning done as well.

I also am taking this as a chance to amp up and get my photography business rolling. I'm doing a few free sessions right now to build up my portfolio and get some images for my website. Yup, website, I'm going to get one of those too. Todd said he would build it for me, but we'll see if he ever has time. Between work, school, and a few side jobs here and there, he is swamped. If anything I have a free site up and running for now as well as a facebook page. I've even ordered backdrop that came with a special deal to get 3 more for free. Once I get some income from this I'll work on ordering a lighting set up. That is a huge help with getting great images.

I've also expanded on my Etsy shop. Instead of just graduation invitations and birth announcements, I'll be doing birthday, baby shower, and bridal shower invitations. I've made a couple of sales so far, but now that graduation season is over my business has declined tremendously.

If all else fails I'll get unemployment for a while to at least have some extra money coming in to help with the bills.

Duane's Sydrome

Wow, not only did I find an online support group, I also found a facebook group.

I honestly have never met another person in my lifetime that has also had Duane's Retraction Syndrome. I've even lived all over the country, even out of the country and still never met a single one. It's one of those rare disorders that makes you feel like the only freak on the planet.

I figured I would talk a little about it in hopes of directing others to the support they need because living with Duane's can be tough especially for children.

You may be asking, "What on Earth is Duane's Sydrome?" Here is a brief run down of it


"DS is a miswiring of the eye muscles that causes some eye muscles to contract when they should not and other eye muscles not to contract when they should. People with DS have a limited and sometimes absent ability to move their eye outward toward the ear (ie, abduction), and in most cases, they have a limited ability to move the eye inward toward the nose (ie, adduction).Often, when the eye moves toward the nose, the eyeball also pulls into the socket (ie, retraction), and the eye opening narrows. In some cases, the eye moves upward or downward. Many patients with DS develop a habit of turning their face to maintain binocular vision and thus compensate for improper turning of the eyes. In about 80% of all cases of DS, only 1 eye is affected, most often the left eye. However, in some cases, both eyes are affected; usually, 1 eye is affected more than the other."


Having read that, you gather it is an eye thing, and it's not pretty. As a child I was teased for it ALL the time. Being called "cross eyed" and "crazy eyes" makes you want to hide under a rock in elementary school. It's that age that you get teased for everything under the sun and want to blend in as much as possible. It's a little tough to do with the main focus of your face going wonky when you look to the side. I learned to hide it as best as I could, but it's not easy. I would close my eyes as I turned my head, and I would avoid having to look to the sides with just my eyes, at all costs. It worked to some degree. Now that I'm older I really don't mind as much, but back then I felt like a side show. 

The only thing that bothers me these days is photos of myself that show it. I've learned lots of posing tricks over the years to hide it, but of course it still happens. I don't like looking at it, so I'm sure other people are freaked out by it. It's one of those things that really only becomes a problem when I get nervous or embarrassed, so I don't worry about it too much. Most often I don't even think about it. The last time I was really reminded about it was when I went to get my driver's license renewed. I never realized I had developed the oh so common, compensatory, head turn until then. I was getting my picture taken, and the lady had to ask my numerous times to look straight ahead, well I "thought" I was. I guess this can actually lead to neck and back problems, which I already have. This has lead to me almost want to think about considering surgery. I would need to do A LOT of research about it though. I've briefly glanced over an article or two about it, but that's about it. 

Hmm... I think I'll cut this post short. Duty calls...... the pack is hungry, so this mama wolf needs to dash. I'll revisit this soon though. 

Poor, poor kitty.....

We recently got a new kitty, and I feel bad for her. We have to save her all the time. Between Lily and Emily that poor cat never gets to walk on her own. The girls named her Snowflake. She is quite the mellow, lovable, kitty. I just hope she stays that way LOL I know the girls love her, but damn, give a kitty some space.

My first DIY furniture project

I upcylced? refinished? beautified? my old desk. I have no idea what the crafty term is.

You know those ugly brown metal industrial desks of like the 70's? Yeah I had one looked like this only longer. It came complete with chipping paint and all

I hated it, and I was a little embarrassed when people saw it or I accidentally caught it in pictures of my kids.

It wasn't ME

I decided to do something about it now that we moved into our new house (yes we bought a house and I didn't even blog about it *gasp*)

I went out and got some pink spray paint, some cute wrapping paper to match, some sponge brushes, and some Mod Podge. I got home and got to it!

You can't see the spray paint here because I didn't even think to document this over haul until I had already started painting.  It was Ballet Slipper Pink from Krylon


Sorry :D



First I set out painting that bad boy. I wish someone had told me to sand it down a bit before starting, or at least primer it. If you can't tell I'm pretty new at this stuff. Well here we are phase one in painting. I ended up doing about 3 or 4 coats to cover it all, and I ran out of pink paint. I ended up using some white that I had laying around for the inside part

Please pardon the bubbles and sidewalk chalk. Oh, and forgive my use of a cardboard box to keep the paint off of our deck.




After all of that darn painting I grabbed my scissors and measured and cut the paper. I left a bit on each side so that I could wrap the paper under the edges of the top.

Geez I'm messy. The crap sort of started to accumulate outside as I went along LOL


Any who...... on we go




I just slathered some Mod Podge on the top in 3 inch sections, and unrolled the paper I measured out as I went along. I tried my best to smooth out any air bubbles, but I knew it would still end up wrinkly. I had read that would happen on a Pinterest pin somewhere, but I don't recall what the project was. After all of that I just tossed some Mod Podge on the top, let it dry, and then did it again.

Here is the final product

 

Over all not bad for my first project. I mean it was a $25 desk, so had I screwed it up, it wouldn't have been the end of the world. 

Free Graphics

Since I started my invitation and announcement design store on Etsy, I scoured the internet looking for a few free graphics to help me get started. I didn't want to put too much money into a business until I knew it would profit. I kept coming up empty handed even looking for simple images. I found a couple of images here and there that were actually free for commercial use, and I was ecstatic! I want to give back to some of you out there as well. :)
I know this isn't much, but here are a few images that I put together. These types of frames are commonly used in invitation designs. Here are 5 frames in PNG files that you can download for FREE. You can use them however you want, personal or commercial use is a-okay with me. And no, you do not have to link back to me or show me what you've created. Although, if you respond to this post I may start offering more free graphics in future

Enjoy!
Click here to download: 5 Frames

DIY Baby Wrap

I've actually had tons of people ask me how I made my own wrap, so I figured I would share my super money saving tutorial with the world. 

1. First off take a little trip to your local fabric store.
I chose to go to Joann's since I had a coupon on top of them having a killer sale. I scored my fabric for a grand total of $7!

2. Choose your fabric. This is a little tricky if you don't know much about fabric, so I'll make it easy on you. You want a jersey knit fabric. It's not heavy and it has a good amount of stretch. You can tell this type of fabric by the feel and the look of it. It feels and looks like t-shirt material, and the edges will roll instead of fray. Here are the edges of my fabric

3. Take your selection over to the cutting counter and ask for either 5 or 6 yards, your choice. I only used 5 for mine. I have some slack on mine but not enough to tie it in the front. So if you prefer your tie knot in the front I would go for the 6 yards. Here we go 5 yards of fabric

4. Here comes the hard part. Once you get your purchase home, make some room, and spread it all the way out. We are going to need some scissors here, so be sure to get those out as well. We are going to cut this bad boy in half to make 2, yes 2, wraps out of this fabric! You are going to want to cut it in half long ways, so that you end up with two 5 or 6 yard pieces. Here is a really bad  drawing to show you what I mean. We don't want to cut it wrong and end up with pieces too short. 

Cut along the dotted line

5. Phew that was hard work, so give yourself a pat on the back! If you're like me you are done at this point. If you want to get fancy you can sew a ribbon or tag smack dab in the middle of your wrap so that you can find it easier. 

6. Wrap and enjoy

Happy baby, happy mama!

If I get any responses I can make a tutorial on how to wrap it, but it's just as easy to search for videos on youtube.

2 year olds rock!

OMFG Lily is a riot. She farted really loud, and I asked her if she farted. She said no of course. 

Then I said, "Yes you did. I heard it." 

She starts clapping really loud. I just about died. 

I said, "oh is that what I heard," to which she replied "mmmhmm!"

Ahhhhhh!

Baby Jekyll and Infant Hyde! The transformation takes place somewhere around midnight from what I've gathered. That is when my sweet cooing baby Leena is morphed into a being of unspeakable terror. She screams and cries for a good 5-6 hours. She stops when Lily wakes up thankfully, but that still means no sleep for mama. :(

I want my good sleeper back! She would give me 2 five hour stretches of sleep at night. This craziness started about 2 days ago. I don't know what to do. She is fed, changed, close to mama, and warm. WTH?!?!

My New Etsy Store

That's right, I opened up my own store!

I have some friends that do well selling digital files for birthday invitations and the likes, so I figured I would try my hand at digital files as well. I'm working on birth announcements, graduation invitations, and thank you cards. I figure when I finally get the experience worked up for a photography business I can sell these along side that. That's thinking ahead LOL.

I've got a small amount of product so far, but the ideas are pouring in for the birth announcements. The grad invites, not so much. I'm getting there though.

Now I just need to get more exposure. If anyone at all is reading this...... please share my store!

Here is a sample of my work

Thought for the day

Bulb syringe (aka booger sucker) = child torture device

On a side note, yay! I get to review a new product from BzzAgent. Be on the lookout for an update in my product reviews section.

Can't share enough about Leena

Yippee! She is off of oxygen during the day, and I can see her cute little face now! She is still on it at night, but we are weening her slowly, so it won't be too much longer now.

Since we can see her face I took this as a perfect time for a photo op. My mom and cousin came on over and we got to work. There were far too many cute ones that I am having a hard time picking my fave. Here are just a few. The rest can be seen on my photography practice page.

Life with the baby home...

Man oh man it has been exhausting. I am finally to the point that I can stay awake during the day. Thank you Leena for only waking up once a night now!!!

It has been a wonderful kind of hell. Now I have two kiddos to try and wrangle and keep alive and happy. I'm gettin' it done, but it is quite the challenge. I think everyone with more than one kid should seriously get some kind of award because this shit is tough. Now that the girls are in a good routine it's better, but damn!

I'm on a my daily mini vacation as they both nap, so I figured why not get my blog on.

Leena is doing great and gaining weight like a champ! Her original due date was a couple of days ago, and she is almost like a regular newborn now. Well, she is aside from the oxygen and the apena monitor she is still on. Her home health nurse is having us ween her off of the oxygen though, thank goodness. Friday we are doing a room air trial to see if we can take her off of it during the day. I have my fingers crossed that goes well because lugging around that damn oxygen is killing me. As for the monitor we see the doc next month to see if we can take her off of that. I would love it because that is a pain to tote around too.

In other news Valentines day was nice. We went out for sushi while Todd's parents took care of the kids. I got s new camera bag and the best card in the world. I laughed for a food 5 minutes from that sucker. I'm apparently thr best girlfriend in the world because I got Todd a replica of Altair's (the Assassin's Creed dude) sword. He's pretty stoked about it.

Oh yeah, we are in the process of buying a house. We have the approval, so now we just have to find a place that doesn't suck.

Now to end this post with some cuteness

The update that I promised

I have been slacking with the posting, and I blame the pregnancy LOL. In actuality, I delivered early 7 weeks early.

Leena River was born on 1/1/12. Our New Years baby!!!

She is still in the hospital, and it's killing me now. I just want her home already. The only thing she needs to work on is her breathing. She needs to go 5 days without a spell of forgetting to breathe. She makes good progress, but when she has a set back it is devastating.

She is getting so big now, and she is beautiful!

I really wish she was home already though. I have mini breakdowns every couple of days because it is incredibly frustrating going back and forth, dealing with Lily at home, and the scheduling. It really is exhausting. Not to mention pumping breast milk for the baby is a pain in the ass! I hate pumping I don't know why anyone would choose to pump over breast feeding. Yeah I hate it.

I go visit Leena every day and I make sure to cuddle with her as long as I can. I love my baby girl!

On a plus note, it might be a possibility to bring her home early with an apnea monitor to catch her breathing spells since hers are self resolving and don't need intervention. If we get to go that route she only has to go 3 days with out a breathing spell. She has made it to 3 days a few times already.

Now what you have all been waiting for...... pictures!

Happy Birthday Leena!

1/1/12

They briefly took her off of the oxygen

Still so tiny

In her own clothes for the first time

Baby Smiles

About 2 and half weeks old

She seems pretty mad

Her Zoolander face

3 and a half weeks old

Thought for the day

Am I the only one that turns down the radio when I drive into a parking garage?

I know it's been a while, but soooo much has been going on. I will have to catch it all up later when I have the time though.