Staycation?

The husband finally got some much needed days off work. He had not had a week day off in over a year! We fantasized about laying on the couch for four days in our pajamas, pigging out on yummy food and watching TV until our eyes hurt. HA! Those four days he had off, went faster than we had expected. I went to my friends house for Thanksgiving, the food was not the best though. It was the first Thanksgiving that I did not have to unbutton my pants at the end of the night!

I made some cupcakes to bring over to her house. I have to say that I think these might have made the top three list! I used a new cake mix called hot chocolate that had marshmallows mixed into the batter.

The mix comes frosting that you can make, I added some White fluffy frosting to it though to thicken it up. I filled the cupcakes with Vanilla Cool Whip frosting that tasted mousy just like I had thought it would. I then used a small heart cookie cutter to make heart shapes out of marshmallows, took a little water to moisten the heart and then dipped it in powered hot cocoa. They were not only cute but super good too!!

The best friend, her husband and daughter accompanied me to Walmart after dinner to get some of the Black Friday sales they had. Normally every year, I dread walking into that store, but this was by far the best year ever! It only took us one hour to get our shopping done AND check out. The store was well organized and I got everything that was on my list! When the husband got home from work, he thought it would be fun to start our vacation by going Black Friday shopping together...at 1AM!. I was really tired and thought there was no way that I would have enough energy to go shopping. Our first stop was Target. The store was empty and they still had a ton of door busters. I got a lot of my Christmas shopping done and even found some yummy holiday treats.

This year I noticed that a lot of the stores were open all throughout the night which seemed to make the crowds not as big. I hope they do this next year too. After Target, we headed to Bath and Body works, my most favorite store in the world. My haul included:

10 soaps
6 wallflower refills
1 car scent holder
3 car scent refills
2 three wick candles
2 mini candles
Snowflake mini candle holder
1 hand sanitizer
1 VIP tote bag filled with stuff

I saved over $200 with all my coupons and the sales that they had going on!

We then went to Game Stop where their deal was to buy two used games and get the third free! Next was Kmart where I got the younger kids in the family clothes for 50% off and I even got a free gift card. I feel like I got some amazing deals and did not spend a lot of money. All my planning had paid off and it felt great to get all my Christmas shopping done.

We did not get to bed until 7 AM that morning. We woke up a few hours later to get our turkey started so that we could make our own Thanksgiving dinner together. After cooking for hours, our dinner ended up not turning out very good :( We sat on the couch and watched three movies while enjoying each others company.

 Saturday the alarm went off early again so that we could get started on decorating the house, inside and out. Our hand and face were frozen, but we managed to get the outside done before dark. I am not one known for tooting my own horn, but..*TOOT* our house looks like a Hallmark store! I am pretty proud and think that we should get an award. I will take pictures soon of the house all lit up at night.

Finally putting the expensive flower box to good use!

 

Our feet and backs hurt, but we trucked along and got the inside decorated too. That was a lot of work for one day! But it was nice to wake up the next morning to a festive house :)

We finished the weekend by going to that yummy buffet I talked about before. The husband loved it there too! Afterwards we thought it would be a good idea to get our grocery shopping done. We had to waddle down the isles and I am pretty sure I split my pants somewhere during the trip. I feel bad that we did not end up relaxing during his days off, but it was nice to spend time together while getting things done. This past weekend really got me in the mood for Christmas. I cannot wait for December to be here and enjoy all the fun things that we have planned. Merry Christmas!

November Craziness

Is it just me or did this month seem to go by really fast? Thanksgiving is in TWO days! What?! I kept putting off my blog because either not finding time or lacking motivation has been a problem. For those of you who have been sitting on the edge of their seat waiting to see what all has been happening in my life, I apologize and will do my best getting you up to speed. *Laughing as I know that no one is actually holding onto their seat in anticipation* Have you seen how many followers I have? Hope Blogger doesn't have a limit on those!

You didn't really just look did you?

Whew! I had been counting down the days for November to arrive so that I could have some wind down time. Making Christmas lists, doing crafts and baking scrupulous dishes. Having my Christmas cards done early, going on an adventure outside to take pictures of the trees dropping their leaves. Reading until my eyes hurt, doing things for "me" that I never make time to do. That all sounded so amazing, and yet...it is the end of the month and I have not done any of the above said. The opportunity of doing a bazaar got thrown into my lap. I thought it would be an amazing opportunity to make some money for the holidays, but not that it is getting closer, I am hoping to break even! The husband threated to sleep at a hotel if I asked him one more time to help with crafts. Every one of my fingers have been burnt from the hot glue gun and there is glitter all over the living room. I think that it will be a neat experience, but it has been a ton of work getting ready for this thing and I am really nervous that no one will like what we are selling. We shall see...

I have been making my grocery list off of Pinterest lately and have been having fun making desserts and different dinners. I was feeling like our dinners were getting boring and I was starting to no enjoy myself while cooking. There use to be a time when I would hate going to the kitchen to make dinner, and now I am actually getting excited about the next thing on my list to make! I apologize now for not taking pictures of all my new creations. It is hard to take a photo when you're busy licking your fingers! Follow this link Million Dollar Spaghetti for one of my new favorite dinners that we just made. It was to die for and I cannot wait to make it again! We even made home made cinnamon rolls! It was my first time using yeast, so I was a little impatient letting them rise. I thought they were a little dry, but overall tasted really good!

The best friend told me about this new Cool Whip frosting that comes in cream cheese, chocolate and vanilla. It was under two dollars for a tub of it! It tasted sooo good and fluffy, but I think it would be best used for a filling.

On Monday, the best friend came over to work on some craft projects for the bazaar. It did not take as long as we had thought to get everything done so she decided to take me out for a night on the town to let loose and have fun. We started by going to this buffet restaurant down the road. It was to-die-for. My first mistake was starting with a salad, I will be scratching that the next time. Why would you fill up on things good for you when there are so many other things to eat?? I had two plates full for the main course and not even kidding, had 4+ plates of dessert! They had cotton candy AND a chocolate fountain!!!

Is it bad that I would like to hide in their bathroom all day and come out just to fill my plate for breakfast, lunch and dinner? I could live there. My button even came undone on my pants by the time we left. At least it didn't fling across the room and hurt someone! I can't wait to take the husband there during his mini staycation. The horrible part is that on Sunday I had weighed myself and had lost almost three pounds! Only two away before I am in the 50's!!! However, this was before going to the buffet, where I am pretty sure I packed on a cool fortyish pounds. Whatever. You have to live once! Probably not the best idea to do this during Thanksgiving week, go big or go home right?

Down 53 pounds and 6.64 BMI points. Woot!

After our gluten feast, we went to go see the new Twilight! Can you believe that Edward dies at the end?!!?

Hahaha I would never do that to you and spoil the ending, I hate it when people do that! Edward may or may not still be alive, Jacob eats Bigfoot and Bella files for divorce and leaves town with Brad Pitt. I think I was the only one in the theater who was not impressed with the movie. For crying out loud, the best friend even got blotches! I still think that number three is the best of all the movies. But I did think this was the best that Kristen acted, she isn't really great at that.

Now to get ready to eat even more food this week, go Black Friday shopping, decorate the house and spend some time with the husband. Shall be a fun filled weekend!

*Side note*
This time of year always seems to be an emotional time. It is even harder when you lose someone close to you around the holidays. We recently lost a wonderful woman. She had a heart the size of Texas, the mouth of a sailor and a smile that lit the room. She fought cancer and won, two times in her life. This last battle would be her last. You will be missed Cora.

Misunderstood Frustration

I keep telling myself to sit down and write a blog. I have so many things on my mind that I want to get off my chest, but am hesitant about writing them down. Why is that? I worry about hurting people's feelings by saying what's on my mind. I worry that I will be judged for saying how I really feel and mostly I worry that I will be misunderstood. I am tired of worrying! Literally! I would love to have a full nights sleep, but lay awake worrying instead. I tell myself daily, that life is too short to worry, so why can't I just let things go? The tension I hold on my shoulders physically hurts and my head feels like to explode most days. I just want to live every day to its fullest and appreciate the life that I have. So why is that easier said than done? Maybe I will never know the answers to these questions.

November is a month where many people list the things that they are thankful for. You know, those annoying friends on Facebook that write something they are thankful for every-single-day. Rubbish! I unsubscribed from their news feed :) Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for things. My husband, having a roof over our head, clothes on our back and food in our mouths. But I find it easier to pin point the things that I am not thankful for. I will chalk it up to the holiday blues. I love everything about the holidays, but find myself being in a funk.

Everything and everyone seems to be pushing my buttons. I extend myself to the limits making sure that everyone is taken care of and happy. I do this to the extent that I don't care if I am ok, if the house is taken care of or if the husband comes first. I HAVE to do for others all the time. Well it hit me a few weeks ago, that not only is that a horrible way of doing things, but I will no longer extend myself to those limits. People that I would give the world, I realize would have a hard time giving me the world in return. I know that friendship is about giving, not taking. But it is not healthy to always be giving and getting nothing in return, convenient friendships are hurtful. I thought I had already learned this life lesson. I guess sometimes you have to get a friendly reminder.

I have been on the go busy every day for the last few months. Insert whine here. I know everyone else is tired, busy, irritated blah blah blah. But dammit, I try not to complain and this time I want to! For five months now I have been working from home writing articles as an independent contractor. I can make pretty good money and work on my own time. I can still be in the comfort of my home, cleaning and putting a warm meal on the table every night, but can now contribute financially. I have never felt so proud seeing money being deposited in the bank and knowing that I worked hard for it. The only problem is that I feel like I have to "fit it" working, instead of making it a priority. If that makes any sense. People do not understand that this is my part time job now and that I do not just sit around all day knitting and watching the Maury show. I have to delegate time to working, give myself breaks and when I am done, THEN I can take care of the house and other things that need to be done. Why am I struggling to find a balance?  I was so happy to be able to have a slow couple of weeks this month. Enjoy getting ready for the holidays and spend time enjoying my husband while he gets two days off (he hasn't had a week day off in over a year!). Instead, things get put on my plate and I find myself with not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything on my to do list. I need some down time, and sooner rather than later.

Those close to me have been saying things that surprise me or hurt my feelings. I don't think they even notice. I was originally going to list the things that have bothered me, but that would be tedious. I just want to shake others so that they realize how stupid they are being! Is common sense something of the past? UGH! I thought that writing all this down would release some of the thoughts that I have stuck in my head, instead I am finding myself pressing harder on the keyboard keys. I am ready for the new year to be here. I just want to be happy, can Santa put that in my stocking?

Speaking of Santa, after spending countless hours doing crafts these past  few weekends (post coming soon) we decided to take a break and do something fun to enjoy the upcoming holiday!

Isn't my husband the cutest? He always finds a way to cheer my up and put a smile on my face. I would be lost without him! I mean, don't get me wrong, there are plenty of times that I would like to physically harm him. But more than not, I love cuddling with him and spending time together. Isn't that the definition of marriage? We have been having arguments here and there about some aspects of our life. I have to remember that arguments are just that. We need to communicate without saying mean things, we need to be reading the same page and not just the same chapter. I don't ever like going to bed angry. I remind myself that we are in this together and that there are going to be times that we might not agree. I would not want to have anyone else by my side taking this crazy ride with me that we call life. I love him more than anything and know that even when we have little bumps to get over, that we can do it together.

I wish someone would have told me when I was little, that life would be this hard. But maybe if I knew that, would I be where I am today? We all have to live and learn. I am grateful for the lessons that I have learned thus far and cannot wait to see what the future has in store for me. I am glad that I decided to write this all down so that I can move forward and get ready for the holidays! Trying to put things behind me and leave the past where it belongs.