Random Ramblings of a WFHM: #3 Washing Dishes

Ahhhh I am back, yes it has been pretty much all year. I am aware, but I don't know where this year went. In a disorganized blur I suppose. And somewhere with it my blog just jumped in the backseat and enjoyed the ride.

But today I am back for a quick post, that I pretty much wrote in my head this morning while trying to do house chores.



If you aren't a parent yet, or work outside the house, and your time at home with the kids involves another adult there with you, you probably look at work from home/stay at home mom in confusion when their house is a mess.

"You are home all day" you think to yourself, and "Doing the dishes only takes a few mins every couples days".

And this my friend is where my blog is going today.




How dish-washing goes when you have a toddler, and no one else around to watch them.


Step 1: Walk into Kitchen, no you won't be doing this alone, so do expect your young child to be at your heels as you walk in.

Step 2: Open Dishwasher. Just to realize the dishes you washed last week are still siting in there. So open up cupboards to put said dishes away.

Step 3: Pick up all the dishes that were in those cupboards, because as you were putting away other dishes, your toddler has managed to pull out every pot, pan, baking sheet, and serving utensil you own.

Step 4: Once your clean dishes are put away, start pre-washing the dishes in your sink. But its of course not that simple, you must locate yourself about 2 feet away from the sink and lean over to do this, as your toddler will obviously need to park themselves directly at your feet.

Step 5: Begin to load your dirty dishes into the washer. But do them one at a time closing the washer door between each dish. Because although your toddler thinks they are helping, it really is more of a pain than anything else.

Step 6: Move your kid to the couch and run back to the Kitchen so you can add knifes into the silverware, pour in soap, and start the washer without the toddler in the room.




Now if you think that doing this chore still isn't a big deal and should be done more often, you probably are clinically insane. Sure I can wait until they are in bed....but lets get real this isn't the only chore that needs done around the house and all of them involve 3-4 time the effort it would for a normal person, and frankly by the time the kids are in bed, you only have the mental capacity to ZONE OUT and drink wine.

9 months passed!

So I haven't checked in, heck I haven't blogged much period for months!! But I thought it might be time to see where I am on my resolutions, so I can step it up where I need to!! 

24 sessions- Well I don't even have a count right now of how many sessions I have done this year, but well past the 24 mark!!

Fix financial situation. I am not really sure what my goal was with this, but we are still adding to savings as we go, and trying to watch our spending while we can!!

Keep up fitness routine. Haha well I was doing good with this, I swear I try to keep up with it like I should, but reality is with school, and work etc....I just need more time!!

KonMarie Method. I never fully finished this. I think I will get back into it after classes are over, because next year is going to be a big change for us!!

Read 12 books. Also don't know the count on this one either, but really do need to read more, ugh school kills all my time!!

Get good grades. Well this one is for sure a thing. As you can see above that other goals have been sliding but I have been working hard on school!!

Keep up with Blogs, and YouTube. And provide some new content. Uh....yeah. 

Do a catch up day once a month. I wish I had done this one more!! 

Darren 18 months

Nicknames: Dare Bear, Bubba, Dare

Clothing Size: 2t pants, but going into 3t shirts

Personality: You are still the funny guy!! You make me laugh all the time!! But you are so sweet and caring too!! You are starting to say so many words and I swear you learn at least a new word each day!!

Things I Could Do Without: The temper tantrums that are beginning, and when you yell when Kyra wants to play and you don't. 

Item/Toy We Love The Most: Forward Facing car seat, you love seeing us and being able to look outside and see more than the sky!!

Item/Toy You Love The Most: Books, Cars, and Trains!! You love your Truck book and the Color book from the library.

Things I’m Loving Most Right Now: You learning so many new words, and watching you just explore. You are always learning and trying new things!!!

Things You’re Loving Most Right Now: Running around, Climbing anything you can, Looking at animals and bugs, Cuddling with mom and dad!!!

Plans for Moment in Paradise

So this Blog was one I have been planning to write for sometime but just hadn't set myself down and did it.

As you all know Moment in Paradise Photography has been doing really well here in Killeen and I have love love loved meeting all the amazing clients, many of whom come back for sessions regularly. I am very sad in that sense that 2017 will be only a half year here. As Dustin and I have come to decision that moving the kids and I next summer to Oregon early will be best for everyone, so Kyra can start her school year there and not have to move right in the middle. So I will only be booking sessions in Texas through May.

The beginning of 2017 will bring a few changes to how Moment in Paradise is run. For people here in Killeen you will see a price increase to be able to cover a little bit more of the expenses I put out for props, and accessories to make your sessions great!!! But I will still continue while in Texas to just do Shoot&Burn (aka digital downloads). So with that being said any previous clients who see this I will allow you to book sessions at this years rate if you book them before the end of the year. I will announce this one more time in October on my Facebook page too!

When we move to Oregon, obviously I will need to take a month or two break to get everything set up in Oregon. A new studio, new marketing, and all the taxes and formalities also. But once I am all set up there I am excited to start focusing my business more on Maternity and Newborn, with Milestones and Family on the side.

I will also start doing In Person-Sales. Which is a huge step for my business, but where I really want it to be. I want be able to provide my service from an original in person meet up, design sessions to fit families perfect, have great sessions everyone is prepared for, and than finish them up with helping families make decision on what images they want to print, providing them beautiful products and allowing them to see how their images will look and feel!! I want each session to be an amazing experience they look forward to, and tell all their friends about!

I know I am excited to see where it takes me. And I am so glad that you are all here supporting me along the way, your likes and comments on pictures I post are always so encouraging, and make me feel truly cherished!!

Resolution Update

So I am having a hard time believing somehow we have reached Mid Year already!!! That first half flew by. Probably because I have been keeping super busy with work, school, and the kids!! I feel like we are always going non-stop!! But alas, I have one more week of school left for the time being and August tends to be slow in the Photography world in Texas because its Freaking HOT!!!

So I thought I would check back in on where we are now vs 6 months ago, and how I have progressed on my Resolutions. The best way to really make resolutions worth making is to see where you are, see what you still need to do, and realize which ones need to be changed.  So without further ado....Here are my 2016 resolutions.

24 sessions. At just 6 months in I am now at 36 sessions!! And that is just completed not included those that are coming up! So I would say I blew this one out of the water! And still have 6 months to add on to that total!! So fair to say anything from here on out is just added happiness haha!!

Fix financial situation. We aren't out of debt, but we have a pretty cushioned savings built up and we are sticking with our budget more each month so that is a plus!! I'd love to pay off the car early that would be stellar, but for now we will be happy just living comfortably.

Keep up fitness routine. I was doing so good with this the 3 weeks Dustin was gone but school has zapped every second of my day that isn't surrounded by kids!! So until I finish this semester it is going to be difficult getting that ball back rolling, but we are eating exponentially more healthy now that I took this Nutrition class.

KonMarie Method. I managed to declutter my closet ALOT but never really managed to get further than that. I wanted to but its a project and I never seem to find the time.

Read 12 books. Uh I have lost track of how many I have read this year but Im gonna go with 4. That slowed down with school too :(

Get good grades. Well since most of my resolutions got delayed I hope I am going to be able to keep this one. So far I am pretty sure I have an A- or so in both classes but that could all change when I get the grades back from these final projects I have to work on this weekend.

Keep up with Blogs, and YouTube. And provide some new content. URHHHHH I can pretty positively say I failed at this. I think some years are just better than others. But now that I am going to be more open without school for a while,  maybe I will step back up here. I am trying!!

Do a catch up day once a month. This needs to really happen. Then I would be closer to most these resolutions.

Okay not as good as I had hoped. I think it will get better in the next month when I am back to just Work, and kids again!!! And even more so when Kyra starts school and I am down to 1 kid most the day!!!

How I cleared my skin up!!

If you are friends with me on Social Media, you probably saw a little over a month ago, post after post about me being unhappy with my skin!! It had gotten to a very bad point after I stopped nursing Darren, and I tried Micellar Water, I tried Stridex, I tried acne toner stuff but for over a month nothing would touch it!! And I had major outbreaks all over my face, we aren't talking the inevitable pimple here or there, but full patches that were red, swollen, and painful!! I was desperate to find something that would really work. 

I had a couple friends who recommended Posh to me. I tried the gender bender bar for a couple days but only did it before bed and didn't see much change so gave up the first time. It wasn't until one of them posted about this face mask called In The Clear, did I go back to Posh. I originally tried the face mask because it was supposed to be really cooling and soothing for sinus pain, and headaches. But the day after I used it I saw a major change in the inflammation of my outbreaks. Like to the point I was sold, and called up my friend right away and said, hey I need this mask in my life right now.

So I looked at my sink and saw that little sample of Gender Bender just sitting there and thought, well maybe I should give it more of a chance. And asked how often I should be using it, I was told twice a day and make sure you moisturize. Within a couple days this time I started to see my face clearing up and was so excited I bought a whole huge chunk, along with the Cackle Spackle face mask because it has a lot of the same ingredients and I wanted to have a second mask to switch between. 

Fast forward a month, yes it took that long to get to a point I felt comfortable showing off my skin again. But now I can't stop looking at it and feeling how smooth it is everywhere. I love how amazing these products are.

Here is the routine I did:

Gender Bender in the morning, and before bed.

Simple moisturizer afterwards

Wednesday: In The Clear

Sunday: Cackle Spackle

My face is so much better now, that's not to say I don't get an occasional pimple here and there, but as long as I make sure to stick with my routine they clear up in a day or two, and I haven't had any outbreaks since I started using Posh!!

How to get books for review for free!!!

So I read an article in someone's blog months and months ago about how to get free stuff from Amazon. I can't for the life of me think whose blog it was and it was very likely from Pinterest. 

Anyways they had suggested to write reviews from every purchase you make on Amazon and compmnines will send you products similar to use and write honest reviews. I was all about that idea, who doesn't like free stuff?? 

Well I realized shortly after you have to have purchased a lot of stuff in a specific type of product. And since I bought all kinds of different things my profile wasn't going to draw much attention to those people. One thing I did buy a lot of??? Books!! 

And I know a ton of you love reading too!! So I am going to tell you the steps you take to get free books!! I mean it seriously rocks.

If you have an Amazon account (are there people who don't?) go to your profile and start to fill it in. Put in interests, and about me, and most importantly your email needs to be on there. A picture doesn't hurt as it makes you look more human. 

Now just go in your purchase history and start reviewing the books you have read!! And even if you didn't buy a book on Amazon you can still write a review on Amazon!!! But with that being said these reviews can't be simply a star rating and a sentence. If you want free books you have to write at least a couple paragraphs!! And don't just write reviews for the books you loved. Honest reviews about books you weren't stoked about will help authors know what you don't want to read also!! 

And after you write a bunch you are gonna start getting emails from authors asking you to read books!!  Don't believe me??? Here is the folder I throw in all my offers so I don't loose them. And I respond to them one at a time or two if Dustin sees one he wants to read. I have gotten kids books, and lots of sci-if because that is what we read most!! And I get more each week so I have an eternal supply of books coming in it's great!! 

These are only the current ones, and ones I'm interested in!

I hope some of you join me and start reading some awesome free books. The authors I have worked with are all awesome and said they will be emailing me again in the future with the next books in the series!!! How awesome is that??? 

The Last Girl Review

This book was also free, however, not for review. At the beginning of each month if you are an AmazonPrime member you get a free book a month from a list they send you!! This book caught my attention and was really nice to read between all the sci-fi and fantasy novels.

This books starts out in facility that is filled with people but only 6 girls. The world is falling apart when female babies stop being born for no real reason. And the country is doing everything in their power to save the last remaining girls and save humanity!! But how far will they go, before the girls can't take it anymore??

The story had twists and turns you NEVER SEE COMING. All the way to the end. It's the first of a three part series that hasn't even been finished writing!!

I am obsessed with this book, I could have kept reading this story for weeks straight!! And I'm seriously sad that I have to wait til September to buy the next book. And will be spending the money in he second book, it's totally worth it!!!

So this book gets a 5 out of 5 stars, not a doubt in my mind!!

Throne of Demons (book 1) Review

http://www.amazon.com/Throne-Demons-Songs-Death-Life-ebook/dp/B01CROP8LM?ie=UTF8&keywords=throne%20of%20demons&qid=1461778468&ref_=sr_1_1&s=books&sr=1-1

I was given this book by the author to read and write an honest review.

I started out this book not totally sure. We were sent the copy due to previous books we had reviewed, however Dustin has been the one who read the oh her books!! I asked him if he wanted a new book to read for free in return for a review and he said yes so I emailed the author and accepted his offer. I got the book and it sat there for almost two weeks without being read by Dustin. And I felt bad since it was our first offer....little did I know we would receive way more before long. 

So feeling guilty I picked up the book and started reading, I would read a chapter before bed. And it took me a few nights to even understand what was going on. Each "chapter" is written from the perspective of another character. So I was being thrown all over the place trying to piece together all the parts. After about a week I had a good bearing on the few main characters.

Edison really draws you into each character with great details and emotions. And you long to find out who each character is become and how they will relate. 

Without giving away too much, the plot is following a kingdom that is split between 4 lands. The king is a terrible ruler. As they oddly always seem to be. Each land is mostly left to fend for themselves against the on slaught of demons attacking from all sides. And as the story progresses you find that the only way to truly overcome the demons is witchcraft. But who will go to the witches first? The answer will surprise you, and make you want to read the next book.

So what is my review. I'll give it a 4 out of 5 stars. Why because the story is so well written and the characters are so developed you feel genuine grief when someone dies. But this whole concept wasn't for me. If you like stories based on demons, witches, and other folklore as such you would totally think it's a 5/5!! I hope that Dustin manages to pick it up and read it in the future!!

Dream big, Shoot high!!!

Scraping the bottom of the barrel and living paycheck to paycheck is totally something we have our fair share of experience in!! We are no stranger to eating mac and cheese a couple times a week to get by. And whose kidding, the kids eat better those weeks anyways haha!! But obviously this isn't where we wanna be forever.

I have always been a goal setter, I mean I dream big as far into the future as 10 years from now, so as short as goals to reach by the end of the day!  Those small goals may seem mundane and useless in the greater scheme of things, but they make me keep looking forward, and trying to reach for bigger and better things each day.

If you don't set goals, how do you know where you wanna go. You gotta set big goals and then figure out what smaller goals will get there. This can be applied to all areas of your life. And sometimes those smaller goals don't pan out. And you have to take a detour, sit down and set new goals. But that is okay!! You learned something from trying and you are that much closer to figuring out your path!! 

Overall my main future goal is to settle down, make a home and be able to raise my children comfortably. And the reality of that might just be that we live broke, learn and get where we need to be.

There have been two things that have consistently for the past 7-8 years been my interests. And that is fitness and photography!! I love them both passionately. They are the things I could do every day and never tire of them. So for me it was an obvious step in the right direction to start my Photography business. I am not making bank loads yet, because it takes a good foundation to build a successful business and I am still learning what it takes as I go. 

Today I decided to take hopefully a good step towards my other passion. I had thought many times in the past about joining beachbody, and have done quite a few of their programs along the way. I don't know exactly what held me up all this time, but finally I stepped up and decided to commit to being a coach. I don't know where this journey will lead me, it may be successful and be all the further I need to go for a while, or it may just be a stepping stone to go even further. Those long term goals will be discussed later once I have nailed them down!! 

But I hope that my feeling inspired today rubs off on at least one of you!! If you are passionate about something, don't hold back, follow your dreams!! It is never too late!!!

Kyra is 4 years old!!!

Nicknames: Kyra Bug

Clothing size: 4t-5t

Personality: Well I suppose it comes with the age, she has become a very independent and bratty little thing!! She intentionally doesn't listen, talks back, and does things when she is told not to. But over all she is pretty sweet. She loves her brother and plays for large amounts of time together!!

Things I Could Do Without:  your attitude.....I fear for high school if you are starting this young.

Item/Toy We Love The Most: Puzzles, coloring books, and paint keeps you busy.

Item/Toy You Love The Most: Monkeys, and My Little Ponies

Things I’m Loving Most Right Now:  Some of the super sweet things you say. Even when you are being an absolute terror you come back and say things that are just too sweet!

Things You’re Loving Most Right Now: Riding your new bike, movies, bubbles, and running around!!

Random Ramblings of a WFHM: The day of a Dr Appointment

Bzzzz bzzzzz bzzzz my fit bit alarm is going off in my wrist!! Hey awesome I got to wake up to my alarm not a kid, I love this now I can actually wake up on my own time while still laying in bed!! The makings of a good day!!!! 

T-minus 2.5 hours until appointment time.

CRASH, MOMMY!!!! What the heck was that, oh yeah I have kids, crap that sound came from the kitchen what did she break now??? Jump out of bed and run to Kitchen to cereal all over the floor. Oh the joys of a very independent, "I'll let mom sleep in" almost 4 year old. Time to clean up mess #1!

T-minus 2.5 hours (yup so much for that calm wake up in bed stuff haha) until appointment time.

Make strawberry milk, open strawberry yogurt, and open a banana. One kid up and fed!! Not bad, now I can drink some coffee. Sit down time to relax and get the day going!! Feet up, ahhhh not a terrible morning, cereal was easy enough to clean up. I don't know why she was even getting cereal when she wanted yogurt and a banana....who knows. This day is going okay after all, I'll wake Darren up in like 20 mins and get him ready and myself ready and we should make good time. WAAAHHH, oh guess not he's up now!! Well better to get him. Hot coffee onto the counter it goes.

T-minus 2 hours until appointment time.

Milk poured thank goodness I remembered to run the dishwasher last night so I had a clean Sippy cup!! Banana and cereal on his table, check now I can get back to that coffee, which is now just kinda warm. Oh well maybe it's a good thing he woke up before I had to wake him up now he will have more time to eat. Sit down to finish my coffee. SPLASH!!! What was that??? Uh oh mom my milk spilt.....of course it did mess #2...it's okay I'll let the dogs in to clean it. Yup I let that happen cuz I wanna drink my coffee!

T-minus 1.5 hours until appointment time.

Okay time to get dressed. I'll wear that black and white maxi dress it's so nice out and that sounds wonderful!! Now where is is....oh probably in one of the three full baskets of clean clothes in the laundry room. Dump them on the bed. Oh there it is at the bottom doesn't that figure? Aww dressed and even managed a little mascara!! So far so good. Oh look who followed me to the bathroom but my entire entourage!! Oh Darren your little smile is so cute, go ahead and wipe your sticky banana fingers all over the bottom of my dress, no one will notice that down there...haha no shame. Now to get the kids dressed!! 

T-minus about 1.25 hours until appointment time.

Yay kids dressed!! Time to start packing the diaper bag, get shoes on. Turn around , Darren has Kyra's drinkable yogurt in hand, is that empty....no it's not. Why would it be.....yogurt all down his front and all over the couch....mess #3!! Kyra take the yogurt and throw it away while I get him a new shirt. Mom he won't let me have it....take it....mom it's all over my dress now too....ugh seriously? Go to pick him up and he cranks around great now I have yogurt all over my dress again too.

T-minus 1 hour until appointment time.

Run around like chicken with head cut off to get everyone new clothes. Kids dressed, now what will I wear? Dig dig dig where the heck are all my shirts? Oh yeah I haven't done my laundry yet just the kids, hubby's and towels!! Well heck what am I gonna wear??? Oh good thing Dustin is bigger than me. Wearing is shirt here we go. Now to load the kids into the car and get across town to be 15-20 mins early as advised. 

T-minus 45 mins until appointment time.

What the heck, did I seriously just drive all the way across town without any traffic, across two school zones, and 5 lights in 5 mins? Well heck now I am freaking 40 mins early. Uh wonderful....guess we get to sit in the car for like 15 mins, and hope they take us in early.  Head into the dr appointment cuz I can't handle Kyra repeating lets go inside 100 more times. 

T-minus 30 mins until appointment.

Wait.....wait....wait.....wait....oh man trying so hard to be patient. Don't rip the magazine, don't play peekaboo under the table, stop making Darren scream...where is the stinking Doctor...why do I have to be here early...there is like no one else waiting for an appointment I don't understand what appointment times are for....

T-minus not minus anymore it's 10 mins past the appointment time.

Oh finally our turn. Really all that wait for a 5 mins vitals check, and 5 mins prepping for 6 shots? How did that even happen? Finally we can go home. We survived that appointment, now we repeat that all again next month for Kyra's appointment!!

Time 20 mins after appointment time!!!

Planner and Dollar Tree Haul

As you all know I love my planner!! So I get to spend little bits of money here and there on it!! I bought these birthday weekly stickers from Jump To It on Etsy and was super pleased with it!! I did Darren's Birthday week with the left one, and it's one of my favorite spreads this year!!!

And then we both got a little spending money from our tax returns and obviously I needed to stock up on a few stickers as my recent layout have been looking pretty sad. So I grabbed these from Sensibly Cute Planning on Etsy!! I ordered one set from her back in December and had to have more!! If you love planner stickers and planners as much as me you need to follow me on IG I will be doing some amazing spreads with these stickers in March!!

Today I snuck out during lunch just to get a few mins of alone time and cuz we needed some basics, not pictured below...from Dollar Tree like dish soap and sponges. And than as usual I browsed the whole store to see what new stuff they had put out!! And was pleased!!!

I got a few stickers for my planner, the leprechauns are adorable!! Stickers for Kyra's bathroom Mirror we put new ones up each holiday and missed out on Valentine's Day and so I got spring/Easter ones!!!

 

After a few days of spring like weather it's windy and chilly today so I grabbed some finger paint and brushes for us to do something crafty whenever Darren gets up from nap, I'm thinking about letting them pain themselves and the bathtub, and than to wash them off!! 

So recently Kyra stole my hair brush and made it her own, I giggle because we totally did this to our mom all the time. So I got her a pink brush and a few spring colored headbands!! I also grabbed myself a lacy headband too! And while in that aisle I saw a few things in the makeup section I needed to try. A BB cream (which I already tried and kinda hate :(), a nail polish that's my favorite color, and this eyeshadow pallet. I was nervous about the eyeshadow as well its dollar store stuff...but I got it home and did a sample of it on my arm and the colors were amazing!! So I used it right away and it blends amazing!! So if you want something cheap find this pallet there was 3 options!!

Something I was surprised to find was yoga workout videos I hope they are good!! I can't wait I have been super into Yoga lately!! And that teal water bottle is the cutest thing ever!!! 

Well that's mostly everything, some simple storage, a toy, some treats for everyone dogs included, and then some chalk and a beautiful scarf for my studio!! Have I ever mentioned how much I love the Dollar Tree if not now I have!!

 

Taco Stuffed Bell Peppers

So I mentioned this earlier in the blog and posted a picture on Instagram and Facebook, but I think it's deserving of a recipe post as we loved them!! So I want to keep the recipe for me too!!

Ingredients:

1lb ground meat (we prefer ground turkey)

Bell Peppers this could easily fill 4 but we just did 2.

1 onion (diced)

1 can of black beans

Mexican cheese, or cheddar (shredded)

Taco seasoning 

Toppings:

We did salsa and sour cream, but you could do Guacamole or Pica de Gallo or whatever your preference is!!

Directions:

Cut the tops off your peppers and pull the insides out!! You can fill your peppers this way or split in half like we did.

Bake just the peppers at 400* for 15 mins.

Cook ground meat until almost done, then add taco seasoning and continue cooking until finished.

Add diced onion, cook until soft.

Add black beans undrained, and continue to cook until they are warm!!

Right at the end add a handful of cheese.

Spoon meat mixture into bell peppers, top with cheese, and bake for an additional 5-10 mins until cheese is melted down!

Serve with topping of choice and enjoy!! 

Kon Marie Declutter series: Nailpolish

This was a quick one I wanted to do with makeup but never got around to!! And isn't a fully representative of all of my Nailpolish as I gave Kyra a bunch too!! 

But still feels nice to see things go!!

Before:

After: left going, right keeping.

Darren's cake smash!!

If you are friends with me on Facebook, which lets face it most of you are!! You probably have already seen these pictures!! But in my usual style mostly because I love having this blog to look back on, I'm gonna dump the pictures here too!  I mean he is just adorable!!

Darren Before!!

 Cake Before!!

 He was a little hesitant at first!!!

 And then he wasn't!!!

 Look of a 1 year old who LOVES cake!!!

 Maybe I could just stick my face in!!!

 You are funny mom I am gonna come get you!!!

 Oh shoot I knocked my cake over....

 What do I even do now?

 Sister had to help make him messy!!

 Baby After!!

Cake after!!