Sunday, December 29, 2013

Ready for the New Year!

It has been so incredibly long since I last wrote here.  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. I just cannot believe how quickly it flew by! I just can't believe it just came and went faster than I could blink. I had Kahle home this year and we took full advantage of that by just staying home and enjoying each other's company. Yes, the kids still argued a little, but I am so thankful and blessed that us 4 just stayed home and had a great time.  I have so many wonderful family members that I enjoy seeing for the Holidays and any other time we get together, but as I get older, all I really want for Christmas is to spend my time with my kids and enjoying their excitement as they open their gifts. It really warms my heart.

We started a new tradition this year. It's one that I've seen many other people do. We got the kids new pajamas, a movie, throw blankets and snacks for Christmas Eve. I've always let them open one present that night, but this year we turned it into a movie night. They loved it!! On Christmas morning, I made French Toast Souffle, it was a bust. :( The kids ate hardly anything and Tim didn't like the crunchy bread on top. I guess I will still to traditional french toast from now on. Then again, it might have been the anxiousness of present opening that made the kids not want to eat! We opened presents and the kids were of course thrilled with everything! Then at noon, Mom, Alli, Jake and Vada (my neice-dog) came by for more gifts! It was so nice to just have all my favorite people in my house.  I am hoping that next year we can plan a little better and do lunch all together. I had made plenty of snacks the night before but a meal would have been great. Regardless, it was still perfect!

Do you all have any exciting plans for New Year's? We are invited to a party at a Co-worker's of Tim's but I don't think we are going to go.  It's in another town and we don't want to have to do any driving. We already have a babysitter lined up, so we might just wander around our little town instead. I'm ok with just staying in too.

I'm for sure ready for a new year though. We've had so many bumps in the road this year and I'm ready for a fresh start. No more drama for me!! I never make resolutions, not sure why, but I just don't care to.  There are a few things I would like to make as goals though.

1. Save up money!!
     We just do so bad with our money. We have enough to cover everything, usually, but I only get paid once a month, so around the middle of the month, it gets a little tight. I would like to save some money for a rainy day. We had our garage door cable snap a few months ago and now have practically replaced everything and it's still not fixed. I think we need some new cables, AGAIN, and we should be good to go. We've already replaced them twice and the motor. When we went to Menards to pick up new cables, wouldn't you know it, they were out of the size we needed. Just my luck!

2. Get healthy!!
    Tim and I both need to work on this. We need less junk around the house and more good stuff.  I just want to be a good example to my kids. I also need to work out. I tried but I just hate it. Starting at the new year, I'm really going to crack down on myself and try to get some sort of exercise in. Even if I don't do an aggressive workout, just anything is better than nothing! And I know if I start working out more, Tim will do. He really wants to get back in the cage, and he needs to work on his body more.

3. Have more patience.
     I use to be pretty easy going but not so much anymore. I get so annoyed at everything it seems and it's just not good for me or anyone in my house. My kids fighting drives me crazy but I don't need to bite their heads off all the time. I also need to spend more 1 on 1 time with them. I'm sure that would cut down on their fighting. Which reminds me....

4. Make more family time together.
    We always talk about this and never do it. We need to just do more together. Not just be in the same room but actually interacting together. We all need to put down our electronics and just be a family. We have lots of issues in this house that I know could be fixed if we spent more time together.

5. Get my house into shape.
    There is so much I want to do to this house. And by saving money, hopefully we can accomplish some of that. But also, my house needs some organization. The kids' rooms need painted, new carpets and organized.  There is so much and it needs done. I'm tired of it.

6. Avoid drama and protect my family.
    I do not want my kids to be around negative people and there seems to be a lot around us lately. People I thought were friends have proven they are not, family that I keep hoping will grow up have proven they can't and my kids have to be witness to all this and just end up getting hurt. I've got a pretty thick skin and if you can't provide me with friendship or love, I can do without you. It doesn't hurt my feelings. I don't have a lot of friends, and I'm ok with that. But when it affects my kids, then you really have to be out of the picture.

7.  Blog more and take more photos.
    Why have a blog if I never post? And I have a new camera, why not use it? Time flies by so fast, and I need to document every second before the kids are out of the house.

I suppose those could be considered resolutions but I really prefer the word goal! It just sounds more attainable and less easily broken.

That's all I got for now. Hopefully I will be back soon! Everyone have a good New Year's!!!

Vicki

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Meaningful Beauty Crème de Serum

I was pretty excited to try this Serum from Cindy Crawford. It has to work doesn't it? I mean, look at her!! She's gorgeous and you would never know by looking at her that she is 47. She hasn't aged one bit!

Now, I'm 29 and honestly, I really don't have very many wrinkles or aging on my face. I do have some forehead lines because I guess I wrinkle my forehead a lot. I blame that on my children.

Here is a little more information on the Crème de Serum:

The Meaningful Beauty Crème de Serum takes a triple approach to combating the signs of aging with three powerful anti-aging ingredients: superantioxidant melon complex, anti-aging peptides and hyaluronic acid. Combining the power of a serum with the rich, moisturizing effects of a crème, this crème de la crème treatment is designed to help protect, increase hydration and prevent the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
  • Available as part of the Meaningful Beauty New Advanced Anti-Aging System.
  • Combines the best properties of a serum (concentration and potency) with the best properties of a cream (rich, moisturizing texture).
  • Formulated to help to visibly reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and leave skin soft and more supple.
  • Designed to help promote a smoother, more even toned, radiant complexion.
To learn more about the Crème de Serum, click here.
For purchasing information click here.

I really never noticed a scent and I absolutely love the way it feels on my skin!! As for results, well, I haven't really seen much difference yet, and since it's only 1 part of the line, I kind of feel like it would work better if I had more of the line, it is also a little more pricier than what I usually spend, but it might be worth a try!

Has anyone else used this or anything else from the Meaningful Beauty line? Please let me know how it worked for you!!


 I received Meaningful Beauty Crème de Serum complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.

Vicki

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Sunday Social

I haven't wrote a post in so long. Life is pretty boring over here. Well, I guess it hasn't been extremely boring, there has been some drama with a certain ex of mine. But you don't want to hear about that! I was out of town for most of this last week in Norfolk, which is the hometown of the hilariously funny Taylor.  I had some schooling for work that I was attending and I was lucky enough to go with my co-worker and best friend Andrea. We get pretty silly when we get together so even though it was work/school. We still had a good time. Didn't we Otis? :) 
Alright, let's get to this week's Sunday Social questions.

1. What is the wallpaper on your cell phone?
I'm pretty boring right now with my phone. Ever since the first update, I put up some random sparkly water background. I don't even have pictures of my kids for my background!! What is wrong with me? 

2. What do you keep beside your bed?
Books, chapstick, lotion and a glass of ice water. Must haves for sure!!

3. What is your least favorite chore?
Dishes! I hate them with a passion. Luckily for me, Tim and I have a deal. I cook, he does the dishes! 
Yes....this is definitely me!!

4. If you could eliminate one thing from your daily routine, what would it be?
Working! Haha. I really wish I could be a stay at home Mom. Maybe when Izzie is in school full time too! ;)

5. What do you do to vent anger?
Oh boy. I do get angry sometimes. The best way for me is to be by myself and either read or just listen to music, maybe a little too loudly. If you leave me alone, I will calm down faster than if you harass me.
6. What is your favorite holiday of the year and why?
I really enjoy Thanksgiving. I mean, family and food? What's better than that? 

Sunday Social
I hope everyone had a great weekend! I am getting ready to start baking some goodies, put on Christmas music and decorate the tree!! 



Vicki

Thursday, November 21, 2013

The Boy Behind The Blog

I'm excited today to link up with Mal and Stephanie for Boys Behind the Blog.  I always love to see what the guys have to say! Tim didn't really seem as excited as I am about this, but he did it anyways. Here are the questions for this month....


1. Who is your favorite band/musician?
It's a toss up between Chevelle and Five Finger Death Punch.

2. What was your first CD/tape?
Guns N Roses-Appetite for Destruction

3. Who was your first concert?
Garth Brooks (he really didn't want to admit this!)

4. What is your favorite Thanksgiving food?
Vicki's Pecan Pie (when it sets up!)

5. Finish the sentence: I am thankful for...
Vicki and the kids. (Aww! Isn't he sweet?) 


Thanks to Tim for participating, even though he acted like it was going to kill him. I guess he better get used to it. :)







Vicki

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Sunday Social.

Hello friends!! I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was filled with much laziness and I did manage to get some things around the house cleaned and organized. Izzie and I enjoyed the weekend watching movies and snacking on Ben & Jerry's Pumpkin Cheesecake ice cream. It's so yummy!!!

I'm back again for Sunday Social. This weeks questions are:


1. Name 4 jobs you’ve had in your life.
     Waitress at Pizza Hut in high school, I worked at a Hallmark store, I was a bartender, which might have been my favorite job so far and now I work as a Certified Assessment Clerk in the local County Assessor's office. I know, I'm the enemy!

2. Name 4 movies you would watch over and over.
    Serendipity, Sweet November, Bridesmaids and Hunger Games.

3. Name 4 places you have lived.
    I have only lived in Nebraska. I've lived in the really teeny tiny town of Hordville, and then I've lived in Fairbury and currently in Aurora and I've also lived out in the country a few times. I would love to have a house in the country again!

4. Name 4 of your favorite foods.
    Guacamole, my Mom's Spanish rice, my recipe for Shepherd's pie and anything else in the Mexican food category. I seriously crave Mexican food ALL. THE. TIME!

5. Name 4 things you always carry with you.
    Phone, wallet, chapstick and lotion.

6. Name 4 places you have been on vacation.
     Toronto-band trip in high school-I want to go back soooooo bad!
      El Paso, Texas-one of my favorite places to go.
      Estes Park, Colorado-so incredibly beautiful. Tim and I have talked about getting married here!
      Hmmm, I think I went to the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri one time too. It was with a boyfriend I try to forget.

Vicki

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Getting in shape with Dr. Scholl's Active Series!

I've been quite unhappy with my body for several years now. I'm not overweight, but I just am not satisfied. I have even been asked when I'm "due" twice and I wasn't pregnant either time. Sure, friends and family always tell me I'm not fat, I look fine and etc. but that's not how I feel. My clothes keep getting tighter and my self esteem keeps getting lower.

The problems are:
1. I hate exercising.
2. I have no motivation.
3. I don't want to change my eating habits.

Too bad for me, right? I don't think I've mentioned this before, but Tim is really into MMA and he has had several fights. He actually has another one at the beginning of December, so he is really trying to eat right and workout/train right now. We have a room in our basement that we call the "workout" room. It doesn't get used as much as it should though. We bought a treadmill a year ago and have lots of weights down there too.  We just recently bought a tv/dvd combo for down there too and also a couple of Jillian Michael's dvds. I bought the Kickboxing one and also the 30 day shred. Tim made me workout last night. :( I about died.

Very very dangerous!!  I was only able to do half of the workout last night. I felt so stupid but oh well, I have to start somewhere!

It's a good thing that I was recently lucky enough to be able to participate in Influenster's Dr. Scholl's Active Series VoxBox!!  Influenster sent me a pair of Dr. Scholl's Active Series Replacement Insoles to try out!


There they are in my shoes! And let me tell you, while the rest of my body is hurting because of Jillian, my feet are NOT!!


  • Reduces shock by 40%
  • Designed with Triple Zone Protection for your ball of foot, arch, and heel
  • Helps relieve and prevent pain from shin splints, runner's knee and plantar fasciitis
  • Helps reduce foot odor with SweatMax™ technology
You get the inserts and then it instructs you on how to cut them down to your shoe size. It was very easy and they work very well. I'm excited to have these to use now that I really honestly plan on getting in shape. I just got my shoes in August and never really thought I would need inserts but they help a lot!!  I really recommend going out and getting some for your shoes too!

Vicki


"I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes."

Sunday Social!!

I hope you are all having a great Sunday. I decided to link up with Neely and Ashley again for Sunday Social!!

Here are this week's questions:

1. What is currently on your wish list?
    I am really wanting the new iPhone 5. My 4S is still working pretty good, so being the cheap-o that I am, I'm not getting a new one yet.  I'm also really wanting a couple new pairs of boots.

2. Share a new iPhone, droid, iPad app that you have recently discovered that we all need.
     I really haven't discovered any must have apps lately. If anyone else has, let me know!!

3. What is a new fall tv show that you have added to your dvr?
     Oh my gosh. We are addicted to tv over here. Lets see, we have Sleepy Hollow, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, Mom, Trophy Wife and Witches of East End.

4. Share your social media links so we can follow you. (Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, etc) Tell us which is your favorite and why.
     Here is my FacebookInstagram and my Twitter. I actually have a love/hate relationship with all three. I am on Facebook the most, because I enjoy stalking. ;) That's also where I can connect with my family that's all over the US. I hate some of the people I have on there, they annoy me greatly, in fact, I discussed this here. Instagram I really love looking at everyone's pictures. I don't like it because I have a hard time putting pictures up. I'm really trying though. And Twitter, I never seem to have anything witty to say, and I do follow some funny people but I always seem to miss the funny tweets. I guess I'm not on there enough. I would love to have new followers on any of the 3 though. :)

5. What is a tv show, movie, or song that you could watch or listen to over and over and never get tired of? 
     Revenge, Revolution, Game of Thrones and any of the American Horror Story's are my favorite shows that I can't get enough of. Movies I never get tired of are Serendipity and I recently started watching Uptown Girls again! Oh I how I miss Brittany Murphy!! Izzie loves to watch it with me because of the ballet in it. :)

I hate that tomorrow is Monday already. I hate having to leave my house. I want to just be a hermit forever! Ha ha. Talk to you later!!

Sunday Social




Vicki

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Happy Happy Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween Friends!!

Last night we finally got our pumpkins carved.





Izzie and Daddy did a Minion!!  She really was not fond of the pumpkin "guts" at all. Once she got the little scoop, she was good to go though!





Kahle just did a creepy face. He did the majority of the carving by himself!! He's just getting too big!




Today I took off of work so I could help out with Izzie's Preschool Halloween party!! It was a lot of fun hanging out with those little kids. We even had 3 mermaids!!



Cute kids in cute costumes!! 

Tonight we will go to Scare the Square. All our local businesses decorate and stand outside to hand out candy. It's nice since we don't have to go very far to trick-or-treat. It gets a little crowded at times, but it's really convenient. We only live a few blocks away so we always just walk downtown. After that we will probably hit a couple of neighborhoods that have a bunch of lights on. Kahle got invited to go out for dinner with some friends and then go out with them. This is the first time he hasn't been with me. :( I guess I'll survive. I just can't believe my little boy is getting so old. I hope everyone has a great safe night and don't eat too much candy!!

Friday, October 25, 2013

Dearest Friday

My Dearest Friday, are you really, honestly here? Finally!! I swear this has been the longest week ever. I've been overly stressed and that just seems to make the week drag by so slowly. I think I will finally decorate for Halloween this weekend. I mean, it's only less than a week away now, better late then never I guess. I took Halloween off since I signed up to help with Izzie's preschool party. It's going to be a lot of fun! She's going to be Ariel and I'm so excited she loves the movie! Seriously, what little girl didn't watch The Little Mermaid a million times? Kahle's going to be a creepy Werewolf. Tim picked it out for him and I'm pretty sure Kahle would never take it off if I didn't make him. He loves to freak the dogs out with the mask. For being "vicious" pit bulls, they sure act like chickens!

Yesterday, was Parent-Teacher conferences. It wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting. His behavior is so much better than it has been in the past years and it seems his grades are starting to improve. Of course, when he has an AWESOME teacher, it helps a lot. I can definitely tell that Mrs. Lorence truly cares about the kids she teaches.  There are a few teachers left that were teaching when I was in Elementary school and I hink it's time for them to go. Kahle has one of them and she is so picky about everything and seems to only be doing what she has to. So many "new" teachers make learning fun and that does wonders for the kids.  I'm also so thankful for Izzie's preschool teachers! They do such a great job and Izzie just lights up whenever she sees them. It's a great feeling for a mom.

Everyone have a great Friday and enjoy your weekend!! 


Thursday, October 17, 2013

A Very Happy Birthday!!

I cannot believe my little Isabella Lourdes is 4 years old!! Seriously, where has the time gone? I can't believe the big personality that can come out of such a little girl. She is so much more outspoken and louder than I have ever and probably will ever be and that is so great to see. She's a lot like me and so much her very own person. She absolutely LOVES dance this year and she never ever stops shaking that little booty! Most days you can find her in her room, iPod turned all the way up, and dancing like she's never danced before. I also love that she likes all kinds of music and you can tell what kind of mood she is in by just listening to what she's listening to. She is so incredibly smart also and absolutely loves school! She will hardly even tell me goodbye or give me a hug when I drop her off. She will say things that just makes me wonder how she is only going to be 4 when she acts older. (That's not always good though.) Every now and then, she slips and will say a naughty word. She definitely knows what she's saying and that she shouldn't be saying it. Thanks all to her Dad!!

First family photo
First birthday photo shoot
Loves to read like her Mommy
They really do love each other!
Being silly with her cousins
My cute little wolf!
Finally can ride on her big bike!!
Happy Birthday my sweet little Izzie Lou!!!!

Friday, October 11, 2013

There's nothing better than a 4 day weekend!!

Happy Friday!!!  I'm so glad I get a 4 day weekend! That makes me so happy. I have a major need to be away from work for a little while. I can only handle so many "politics" and then I get super stressed and need a break. Columbus Day couldn't have came at a better time!

We are headed to the Omaha zoo tomorrow!! I can't wait! The last time we went, I was still pregnant with Izzie. So this will be her first trip. She is so into animals that I know she will just love it. Speaking of animals, Kahle and Izzie have become bug collecting maniacs! We now have 3 praying mantises and 3 caterpillars in cocoons. I just ordered some habitats for each on Amazon today. If we have to have the things in our house, they better have better homes than just jars. :)

Today is also my Mom's birthday!!! I am going out for lunch with Mom and Alli today. That seems to be our little tradition now for our birthdays. Unfortunately, my Sister has decided to up and move with her boyfriend to Lincoln so our tradition will have to end. :( I'm happy for her and Jake though. I'm just going to miss her. I know Lincoln is only an hour away, but we both seem so busy that I'm sure we won't be seeing very much of each other. Anyways, enough with the sadness. I just want to wish my Mom the happiest birthday ever (which should be since she is eating lunch with me!!) and post a few pictures. She hates pictures so I don't have very many and I'm glad she doesn't read my blog because she will never know I put them here. Hee hee!!!

Mom meeting Isabella for the first time!
My beautiful Mom and Sister!!
Izzie's first Christmas and trying to get settled for a 3 Generation picture.
Family picture in Texas. Also included is my Aunt Sandie and my Grandpa.
Mom with her "new" cousins Susy and Martha.
Wow. I'm such a failure at blogging. I really need to recap my Trip to Texas from JULY! When will time ever slow down?

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!! Talk to you soon!
Vicki