My MisAdventures as a Housewife

That is what I should change my blog name to, My MisAdventures as a Housewife. I am new to being a housewife, well I like to still think I that I am new to it, I've been home with our daughter since May and I still can not get a routine down, my house is always a mess and sometimes I'm not organized enough to make dinner! My poor husband, works all day and all he wants to do is come home to a decently cleaned home and dinner and I can't do it. WHAT IS WRONG?!?! I wish there was a manual for stuff like this, is it supposed to come natural to me as a woman? I thought it would but no, its not.

On the other hand, I have recently obsessed with The Pioneer Woman, I am completely fascinated with how Ree Drummond can cook, home school, do photography, write, blog, CLEAN all while taking care of a huge home and lodge. How does she do it? Please tell me she has help. She is my inspiration. What an amazing writer and woman. I will someday be as awesome as she!

tata for now!

Gluten Free Eating

Hmm.....I really am contemplating switching to gluten free eating. Why not? There is a lot of hype about gluten free eating and a lot of material saying that it is better for you - but is it? I don't think that it would be that hard to switch for us being we are weird eaters anyway, just more expensive. Bryan's mom volunteers for the food bank in her area and gets some things for working, one of which is bread and it helps out a lot especially with how much my family eats peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I have a freezer full of bread, 99% of which is wheat. If we switch to GF then I can not use any of it, I would probably save if for emergencies. What do you think?

Fill It In Friday

1. The most spontaneous thing I've ever done was a midnight road trip to California with my cousin, Telly. We drove through the night, spent the day at driving to Hollywood and getting kicked out of Tiffany’s on Rodeo Dr then the next day we went to Disneyland all day and came home that night. That was before kids and boys.

2. The best gift I've ever received was my daughter, Jewellee.

3. A time that I was truly and genuinely surprised was when I was throwing a surprise party for a friend and it turned out see was throwing one for me, at the same time!

4. I can't leave the house without my cell phone and mascara .

5. My favorite day of the week is Saturday because it's a day full of possibilities. It's the one day where you can go yard sale-ing, or to a farmers market, anything you want .

6. Something that can always make me laugh is youtube!

7. My perfect day would include sleeping in 'til 9, but staying in bed reading a book until 10. Going to breakfast with Bry and Jewels. Then getting coffee and walking around downtown and stopping in all the little shops. Then going home and having a dinner party with friends and watching a movie. Simple, but sweet .

Vent

I need to vent, normally I keep most of everything to myself but I can't take it anymore and just need to get it out.

I am pissed. I mean really pissed. My mom left my Dad about at month ago, a couple days after she left my Dad I found out she has a boyfriend who is a dick, excuse my language. He's been married twice and had a girlfriend when I found out about him. HELLO Mom do you not see the red flags here? What an idiot, yes I called my mom and idiot. My parents have been married for 35 years, that is over half their lives and yes people fall out of love but that doesn't mean get a boyfriend and move out MOM. Marriage is hard, you have to work on it, you don't just walk out when times get tough. Talk about tough times, my mom and dad are gamblers, serious gamblers, they lost the house that my dad built for them because mom my screwed up so much they lost it and now for the past two years have been living in a trailer. My mom has been listened to her cackling hen friends about leaving my dad because she'll never win over the beer can, which is not true because he gave that up years ago for her. She disgusts me. She is in such a hurry to get a divorce from my dad because of this guy. I want to puke right now just thinking about all of this. I'm so mad that she would leave because she found a loser who has a gambling problem himself and will screw her. Screw that - screw the whole situation. She better not come running to me after he's beat her or left her for someone else. I will turn away and move on, just like she's doing. I know this is harsh but I seriously can't stand the situation. I'm done.

Wow, I feel better. I think I'll call her now and tell her all of this. Wish me luck.

The real Fill It In Friday

1. My plans this summer include staying indoors as much as possible during the day, its too hot to be outside during the day .

2. The best summer I ever had was when I was twelve and got to stay at summer camp in a town away from my own, I got to be my own person.

3. Summer is popsicles, fireworks, bare feet, fresh fruit, too hot and can be miserable in Arizona .

4. My favorite summer food is a burger right off the grill...or a fresh peach from Apple Annies straight off the tree, those are the best peaches.

5. The best way to quench a summer thirst is with a mojito. It's pretty much the most delicious thing ever. Sans the alcohol – lemonade spritzer.

6. My summer uniform consists of jeans and a t-shirt, once I lose weight it will be nothing but cotton, flowy dresses .

7. The best thing about summer is the opening of Apple Annies orchard and produce farm, heaven to me is walking onto the orchard first thing in the morning and smelling the fresh peaches, amazing .

Fill It In Fridays

I know today is not Friday but I love Fill It In Fridays so much that I'm going to do one today and one tomorrow :)

1. When I'm nervous I chew the inside of my cheeks. I scratch my head, embarrassing .

2. My favorite item in my closet is my forever21 super thin jacket, so thin you can see through it .

3. Watching the Food Network is my favorite thing to do when I need to relax.

4. My favorite childhood memory is camping every weekend at the Fish Hook .

5. Something you may not know about me is that I'm quarter native-american. Most people guess Irish...or just white. I don't blame them...I'm pretty pasty .

6. A true friend will tell you when you have food stuck in your teeth or when an outfit is "less than flattering". They'll laugh with you, cry with you, and will drop everything to have coffee with you when you're having a bad day .

7. Something I hope people think of when they think of me is that I am genuine and kind...and if they think I'm fun...that would be a bonus :) .

4th of July and Baking

WOW! This has been one big week of events! There was the Circus Saturday, visitation with my brother Sunday, and 4th of July Monday. The circus was a last minute idea, after leaving my job to stay home with my amazing daughter and to give the grandparents a break, we have had to cut back on activities by 100% or so, so anything big like this goes on a credit card so it takes a lot of decision making to decided if we do expensive activities. SO after a lot of conversation with the mister and friends we decided to go to the Ringling Brothers Circus and I'm glad we did!!! After we finally got Jewels to understand that all the commotion was being done for something huge to about to happen she was such a trooper! Once the show finally started (I insist on getting places early so we were about an hour early if not more) she was in amazement and had such a blast!!


Here she is cheesing it up!! 'CHEESE' With her cup of popcorn - that cup was originally a $10 snow cone that her Auntie bought her.

4th of July I started my new job, if you want to call it that, I now work for Gold's Gym Child Activity Center. I know its a total oxy moron that they would hire a fat person to work in a gym but I guess being its taking care of kids, it doesn't matter. I tookt he job for a few reasons, first and foremost, I get to take Jewels with me which is fantastic because she isn't really around any other kids so it will give her the social skills she needs. Second, Bry, Jewels, and I get free memberships. Third, I get free child care when I work out outside of my shift. It was an interesting day to start (a holiday) but believe it or not it was busy, these are some hardcore exercisers and I plan to use that as motivation.

Last night my bestie Nacole video taped me without me knowing on her cell phone and when I watched that video I was in shock!! I do not feel as fat as I look. I was so embarrassed. I am the person that I see on tv and think to myself how they can let themselves get that way. I am so ashamed of myself. Enough of the pity party....

So on the Fourth we had a huge monsoon storm, which I normally love, but it was a bad one! There was a powerline that went down a couple of blocks away and knocked our power out for 4 hours and of course it was dinner time. SO we decided to make the best of it and went to dinner then over to Nacole's house to relax before fireworks. We ended up going to one of the baseball fields in town where they were doing a show and waited, and waited, and waited - for an hour and a half. Just as we were about to go because it was so hot, humid, and late - they started. Last year Jewels slept right through the fireworks but last night she was terrified!!! Good thing we waited all the time for it to only last 15 minutes. I'm just thankful I got to see some - I LoVe me some fireworks!! BUT the storm also put a damper on me wanting to do sparklers with Jewels. SO we ended up doing them tonight. Jewels, Bry, Nacole and I went onto our driveway and lit some pretty fun sparklers, Jewels wasn't too thrilled about holding one but can you blame her? Nacole had never seen them so she had the most fun!

Tonight I also made the most delicious cookies ever! I'm not a fan of Nutella, though Bry and Jewels eat it on everything, but there were the best cookies especially if you like chocolate! I found the recipe on a fellow bloggers' site - its easy, quick and delish!!!



Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
1 egg
1 cup of flour
i cup of Nutella
1/2 cup of sugar

Mix all the ingredients together, the mixture will seem dry but mix to the best of your ability

roll into 1-2 inch balls and press onto a pan sprayed with non stick spray or lined with parchment paper

bake for 5-8 minutes

enjoy!! My family ate the whole dozen in 15 minutes, they are that good!

Today I'm doing something totally different. I'm getting older and wiser. I'm strong and independent. I live for my daughter and enjoy this life God gave us. I wake with joy in my heart and knowing that my daughter is snuggled in bed breathing preciously fills my heart with pride and more love than I could ever feel. 8 things I've learned throughout my life:

1.) The saying, "You'll understand when you're older" is very much relevant to my everyday growth and understanding about even the littlest things in life. I hated my mom drinking coffee when I was little and now I am totally in love with it and need it every single day. I will often say this to my children.

2.) I'm guilty of being an animal lover but hate taking care of them but because I love them I will take care of them until the day I die which reminds me – I need to pick up dog poo out of the back yard!

3.) I hate the sun but it’s good for me. The sun not only nourishes my body but also my soul. It’s God’s way of saying Good Morning!

4.) People will always take your words twist, tangle and make it out to be something it wasn't. Even when you say something GOOD, it's mixed and yes good sayings can be turned into something so horrible that someone takes the wrong way and refuses to speak to you because of it and I'm okay with that. I let time go by not allowing it to consume my life but I've always been the bigger person and tried to reach out to explain myself when I really shouldn't have to but I do it because I love and my love is greater than something tangled. I do not wish to live my life feeling like I've done something wrong when in fact I haven't. It's not fair and I don't appreciate it. I'm human so of course I get upset and say things afterward. I'm not going to allow someone to tell me that I've done a crime when I clearly did not. It's those people and not us. They clearly have issues. They're stubborn and do it to their own flesh. How sad.

5.) I give way too much. I can't help it but I do. If I could give more I would. It satisfies me and makes me happy.

6.) Ice cream sundaes will heal anything.

7.) No matter how caught up on laundry you are, you'll never truly be.

8.) Saving pennies is the best thing ever. Finding tales on the ground and flipping them to heads for someone else to pick up is even better. It's those tiny things you do that make you feel super fabulous, on top of the world and worthy. I do what makes me feel good and disregard those that don't deserve to be a part of that.

Jewels 2nd Birthday/Party

Jewels turned 2 on the 25th - we weren't going to have a party for her but it got a little bigger then expected. Here are some pictures - enjoy! **Warning - Picture Heavy**

Happy Fathers Day!!

When at our local grocery store, Jewels and I came upon a cookie decorating table they had set up for Fathers Day. I asked if she wanted to decorate a cookie for her daddy and of course she was stoked!!! She did such a good job! Her experience of coloring and drawing came in handy!

First Trip To Peter Piper Pizza

I LOVE pizza and so does my little princess, however, I will think long and hard before taking her back to Peter Piper. I have NEVER met more rude people (besides at Costco) in my life! They will run you over! Despite the chaos, we had a little fun.

Easter!

I know that Easter was months ago but I never posted pictures and found them when I was going through our camera this morning so here they are!

Fill It In Fridays....

1.   The last movie I saw was Definitely, Maybe (I love Ryan Reynolds).

2.  I want to    eat cheesy garlic bread from Oreganos.

3.  Surprises are     fun if you don't expect them, but if you know they're coming, they're terrible, because it's just a waiting game and I'm a generally impatient person - a bad combo  .

4.  The best accessory is   one's hair or a really awesome necklace .

5.  My favorite warm drink is     soy mocha latte. I prefer cold drinks, especially being from Arizona, it's too hot for warm drinks.

6.  My favorite cold drink is      water!!!

7.  Currently loving      photography, I'm really getting an itch to start taking more photos to capture life's little moments.

Currently.....

excited that I paid off my credit cards
worried about money
reading Something Blue
creating an organized house
loving family
hating spiders and cockroaches sneaking in our drains!!
wondering if I’m going to pass my upcoming class
craving a rainy summer day
listening background noises of PBS cartoons
watching my toddler play with her ball
netflixing True Grit

1. I love being married because its fun spending life with someone. Bryan has a way of calming me when I'm stressed but also making me angry in the most irritating ways but I love it. I know that at the end of the day when he comes home from work, I am going to get the best hug in the world!

2. A time that mama knew best was when she told me that I can not worry about anything I can not change, like rising gas prices, the weather, or the challenges of growing up. God will provide.

3. My first kiss went a little like this - embarrassing enough, sorry Kristin, my friends brother. Truth or Dare.And, for the record, HE definitely kissed me.

4. My celebrity crush is Bradly Cooper. He's handsome, smart, speaks french......what else could a girl ask for?!?

5. My splurge of choice is music. I could sit and indulge for hours.

6. My biggest accomplishment is - actually will be, my degree. I have two years left and am into my core classes (yay, no more gen eds).

7. My dance jam of choice is any thing Black Eyes Peas - especially when cleaning. They're my go to band when I'm getting down & cleaning this place! That and spice girls (guilty pleasure, shhhh....don't tell).

Have a lovely weekend!

The Park and Sunshine

Jewels and I, along with my bestie went to our neighborhood park after dinner last night - my little girl had a blast (as she always does)!

It's Been Too Long!

I can not believe that I have neglected our blog for so long, so many things have been going on that I don't know which way I am going some times.

The last time I blogged Jewels was 8 months old! 8 Months! Now she is 20 months going on 14! I can not believe that my little girl is going to be 2 in June, it's gone by way too fast! She is so smart and is mocking everything we do! Then other day she picked up her bag of big plastic blocks and said "OH My Goodness!" I never realized how much I say that until she started saying it! She talks so much! She knows all the elements of her face including chin and forehead but her favorite is cheeks! I am so proud of her.

Being we've been in our house for a year and a half I finally decided to paint. Jewels room is now purple and I love it! I also went to Ikea and found her a chandelier to replace the light she has in there now. I can't wait to finish it so I can post pictures.

Bry and I are doing good. With the Lenten season upon us we attended mass on Ash Wednesday and pledged our sin we are giving up for the season. Its like a burden has been lifted off my shoulders, even though its something so frivolous. I can't wait to see what is in store. I Thank God everyday that I have found a Christian man that believes in the same God I do. What a blessing!

I better tend to my daughter as she is telling me its nap time.