Goodbye Twenties

Well, there it went. My twenties. Faster than I could have ever imagined. I have been asked a lot over the last few weeks how I feel about welcoming my 30's. And you know what? I gladly accept them with open arms! Don't get me wrong, I am not happy about my accumulating gray hairs and the occasional hot flash, but I am overwhelmingly happy to kiss my 20's goodbye. These last ten years have been pretty hard on me.

• At 22 my husband almost lost his life in a near-fatal car accident. 
• We spent the next 29 months dealing with two surgeries, months of physical therapy, court, mediation, depositions, and unbelievable amounts of paperwork regarding his accident. 
• At 25 the anguish was over and a settlement was reached. 
• That same year we began the building process of our new-construction home and moved in at the end of 2009.
  
• The following year at age 26, we tied the knot!
  
• At the same exact time, my sister tore our family apart.
• Age 28 I began my freelance writing venture and felt like I was finally able to financially contribute to our household. 

In between those years, we lost a lot of loved ones. Including my beloved Uncle Jim and Grandpa. There were also many deaths that we encountered that will forever leave a footprint on our hearts. Losing friends at such a young age and to an unwarranted tragedy, is never easy to understand. Anthony and Brandyn are forever in our thoughts. We also sadly lost my cousin Sunshine to a car accident the night before Thanksgiving. Cancer diagnoses were frequent throughout the years and remain to be something that we struggle with.  

Anthony

Death aside, we also "lost" many friends and family at our own choosing. We finally reached a point in our lives when we decided to rid of negativity and toxic people. When you encounter something tragic in your life (such as his car accident) you often realize who is truly on your side. We sadly saw the true colors of many around us. 

I watched my good friend struggle each day to take a breath and miraculously witnessed her receive two new lungs. Her struggle has inspired many and has empowered me to be a better person and to appreciate what little life we have here on Earth. My heart aches a deep pain as I watch her suffer through the dire rejection process of her transplant. 

My niece got diagnosed with a debilitating disease that will affect her for a lifetime. Even this wasn't enough to bring our family back together. It has been four years since I have been welcomed at the dinner table for birthdays or holidays due to my sister's lewd acts and behavior. My nephews that I once raised, are now distant memories that I clench onto when the pain and frustration becomes too much to bare.   

So here I am...thirty years old. I am still trying to find myself, but am proud at the progress I have made over the years. I have learned to stand up for myself, speak my mind and value my self worth. I have lost and kept off over 50 lbs and continue to tackle this battle of weight and eating better. I wanted to be married, in a home with kids by the time I was 25. Two out of three isn't bad, right? Who knows what the next 10 years have to offer...Anything has to be better than what I have already been through. I am ready and excited for this next chapter of my life.

Be good to me.

Too Sensitive

"Too sensitive". If I had a penny for every time I had that one throw my way, I would sure be rich. I let those two little words get the best of me. Do I cry too often or take things too personally? Maybe I do overreact at times and blow things out of proportion. Does this make me a bad person? Is this a personality trait that many people are not fond of? Has this cost me friendships and situations that could have been prevented? I was starting to let the word "sensitive" define who I was as a person. And then I stumbled upon this article...

16 Habits of Highly Sensitive People

1. They feel deeply.

2. They're more emotionally reactive. 

3. They are probably used to hearing, "Don't take things so personally" and "Why are you so sensitive?"

4. They prefer to exercise solo. 

5. It takes longer for them to make decisions. 

6. And on that note, they are more upset if they make a "bad" or "wrong" decision. 

7. They're extremely detail-oriented. 

8. Not all highly sensitive people are introverts.

9. They work well in team environments. 

10. They're more prone to anxiety or depression. (but only if they've had a lot of past negative experiences).

11. That annoying sound is probably significantly more annoying to a sensitive person. 

12. Violent movies are the worst.

13. They cry more easily.

14. They have above-average manners. 

15. The effects of criticism are especially amplified in highly sensitive people. 

16. Cubicles= good. Open-office plans=bad. 

Well, that just cleared up any confusion I may have had! Clearly I am a highly sensitive person. Minus number 4, considering that I never exercise. You can read the entire article here. And you know what? I no longer give a shit if I am "too sensitive". I would much rather be a caring person with a big heart than someone who is cold without a kind bone in their body. So those of you that think I am too dramatic or overly sensitive, kindly go fuck yourself. :) 

Grieving Mom

The other night while watching Couples Therapy, (Don't judge me, I love my reality TV shows) I had a moment of clarity.  The therapist had said the following statement to one of the celebrities..."You need to grieve the loss of your mom that you wished that she was because she's never going to be that mom.". Wow. That hit a little close to home. She was right! I need to grieve the loss of the mom I wish my mom would be. I now realize that she does not have the capability to do so. It's not right, and it's not fair, but it's reality. Clarity! I think I have finally found it.

Five Guys

Fries, fries and more fries! Have you ever eaten at Five Guys? If not, drop whatever you are doing and run there! You will not spend more than twenty dollars (for two!) and will walk away feeling full with a smile on your face. The burgers are fresh (you get to pick the toppings you want!) and the fries are breathtaking. The best part is that when they place a heaping cup of fries into your bag, they then continue to dump an entire scoop of additional fries on top! HALLELUJAH.

You may be puzzled at what to do with all those extra fries at the bottom of your bag? Well, hold tight my dear readers because I have a great solution for you!

COVER THEM WITH CHEESE AND BACON. THEN PROCEED TO DIP THEM IN RANCH.

Yep, that's bacon sprinkled on top!

Move over Outback Steakhouse, there is a new smothered cheese fry in town. 

(seriously comparable)

*This was not a paid review* 

Easy Cheeseburger Sliders

When I saw this amazing creation on Pinterest, I knew I had to add it to our dinner menu. 

*Photo and recipe courtesy of Better Recipes*

I love anything that is easy to make and yet tastes delicious. Since making the switch to ground turkey versus beef, I wasn't sure that turkey would be good for these little burgers and decided to go ahead with using regular ground beef. It was a nice little change and tasted ahhmazing! I left out the onions as the husband is not a fan. I threw in some crushed Ritz crackers, seasoning and an egg to the meat mixture to add some flavor and give it more volume. 

I also toasted the buns in the oven a bit before serving. 

The finished product was even better than I had imagined it would be (although they did not look as fancy as the recipe photo). The buns were soft, the meat was juicy and the condiments added the perfect touch. We enjoyed these sliders so much that I quickly added them to our dinner menu for the following week. 

Wouldn't these be great for a party??

Super Bowl 48

AND THE SEAHAWKS TAKE HOME THE TROPHY! 43-8! 

Who saw that coming? I was rooting for my home team, but thought it would be a close game. I roared with excitement each time we scored a point. 12 seconds within the first quarter?! AMAZING! 

We had one of our friends over to watch the big game. We must have prepared with an empty stomach as the following is a list of food that we served: 

- Cheese ball with Ritz and Wheat Thins

- Jalapeno poppers wrapped in bacon

- Meat and cheese tray with crackers

- Peanut M&M's 

- Three bags of Skittles

- Honey BBQ meatballs with green pepper and pineapple

-Potato salad

- Ruffles and Doritos chips

- 3 two liters of soda

- Football brownie with vanilla ice cream on top

Not kidding, I probably gained ten pounds by the third quarter. 

There were a lot of people who talked crap about the Seahawks this season. However, there is no denying that they played an amazing game. We deserved to win the Super Bowl. First one in franchise history. We celebrated by tossing Skittles into the street and listening to the many fireworks going off around the neighborhood. 

Today was the celebratory parade. I really wanted to go as this is a day we will mark in history. However, with the high at twenty degrees this afternoon and nearly 1 million people attending, I decided to watch it from the comfort of my home. I love seeing the 12th man pride that our state has and look forward to next football season.

SEA!! HAWKS!!

Fresh Start

So here I am, trying to be positive and move past this horrible month. Thank goodness tomorrow is the first! Super Bowl is on Sunday (GO HAWKS!) and Subway features $5 foot longs all month long. Things are already starting to look up! The best friend has surgery coming up in a couple of weeks. I have been stressing over this for many months and am glad that the day is finally here. It has been a long road. I am going to spend the night with her at the hospital and take care of her to the best of my ability during her recovery. For privacy issues, I will not be discussing this further. I also have quite the workload next month as March tends to be a busy month filled with birthdays and other expenses. I love being a freelance writer because I can make my own hours and essentially make however much money I need. However, it makes it hard to juggle everything else at the same time. Where was I going with this? I suppose, I am just trying my hardest to get everything back on track.

Getting ready for the Super Bowl. Gotta represent our home team!

It is still entirely too cold to start working in the yard or starting outdoor projects, so we have been tackling things around the house. We recently made our second purchase using my buy, sell, trade site! I scored a 7" digital picture frame, new in the box for only $15! We have always wanted one and could not pass up this amazing deal. (It sells for $40). I love framing photos, so it is neat to see it constantly changing. We also got a rug for placing underneath the dining room table. I LOVE the design on it and hope to one day get matching back splash for the kitchen. Target has the most amazing home decorating items! I could easily spend hours in there dreaming of all the thing I would love to purchase.

Our new digital picture frame. It is as easy and "dragging and dropping" photos from the computer directly onto a SD memory card and then placing it into the frame! We have 200+ photos on there so far with more room to spare. 

The new carpet

Here is to a new month! I am ready for things to start going smoothly, isn't it about time that we get a break? Oh, and did you notice that I am finally up to date on my blog?? Que the singing of angels now. I had been so behind that I never saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Stay tuned for my up-to-date happenings of being a hard working housewife who is soon turning thirty and still trying to find her way.