Liebster Blog Award

I have been nominated for the Liebster Blog Award from Brittany Danielle at With Love nominated me and I am floored to say the least. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

The Liebster Blog Award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. “Liebster” is German for “favorite”. This award is the “favorite blog award”. You have to nominate 5-11 bloggers with less than 200 readers.
To accept the nomination, I have to complete the tasks below:

Link back to the blog that nominated you, Nominate 5-11 blogs with fewer than 200 followers, Answer the questions posted for you by your nominator, Share 11 random facts about yourself, Create 11 questions for your nominees, and Contact your nominees and let them know you nominated them.
Below are the blogs I have nominated:

1. http://talesofgrace.blogspot.com
2. http://lucieandthebump.blogspot.co.uk
3. http://thebasics1.blogspot.com
4. http://www.word2yourmama.com
5. http://dougandblaine.blogspot.com

Answers to the questions from my Nominator:

1.) What is your favorite clothing store? Oh lord that's easy...Express. They hold the key to my heart...and my wallet.

2.) What is your guilty pleasure? Either reading young adult fantasy/paranormal books orrrr watching Pretty Little Liars.

3.) What is your favorite food? Cant get me enough gummy bears. Totally weird I know, but I could eat them all day every day.

4.) What is your greatest fear? To be completely and totally honest...Losing my memory. I have a terrible memory as it is but Dementia and Alzheimer's run in my family and there's something so scary about seeing someone look at their daughter or their sister or their whoever and not know who they are. It's just a terrifying thought to me.

5.) What is your silliest fear? Octopuses. Go ahead...laugh it up.

6.) What one material thing can you not live without? Ohhh either my phone or my camera. It's the way I get to talk to everyone and give the people I love my love every day and the way I get to document the people I love.

7.) What is your first (or one of your first) childhood memory? Visiting my family in California and taking an 8 hour plane ride ALONE.

8.) If you could pack up your whole life and move tomorrow, where would you go? Ironically enough, California. All my friends and family know this, it's no secret, I would still have actually moved had there not been a little addition to my family a couple months ago ;)

9.) Who knows you better than anyone? Gosh, I'd have to say my best friend Jen. As much as I'd love to say boyfriend, we haven't known each other nearly as long as Jen and I and we are still learning new things about each other every day. But Jen and I have known each other half our lives, and that really says it all right there.

10.) What time do you generally go to sleep at night? Lezbehonest...I'm a momma now sooooo 9:30-10?

11.) If you could meet any one person in the world, dead or alive, who would it be? I lost someone very very close to me that I considered a best friend 4 years ago, I would relinquish meeting anyone famous or not, if I could just see him one more time.


Random Facts About Me:

1. I'm an only child. And no for those of you who think that's so fantastically awesome, you are sincerely misinformed. As a child it may have had its perks, but as you get older you truly get to appreciate brothers and sisters even more. (I used to have a fear that I would marry someone who was also and only child and then we would have babies who didn't have uncles, aunts, or cousins. Thank heavens, that's not the case)

2. I had an emergency appendectomy my sophomore year of college. It was a bitch to say the least.

3. I love airports. Primarily because I love to travel. I have been to Florida, Myrtle Beach, California (3 times), Florida (soon to be 4 times), Spain, the Bahamas, Aruba (twice), and the Dominican. I seriously can't get enough.

4. I have a necklace that was given to me by Will Smith.

5. I had a tattoo (not in a secret place mind you) for 6 months before my dad found out about it, and he didn't even see it...he was told I had it.

6. I'm obsessed with anything and everything Disney.

7. I also have an extremely unhealthy obsession with giraffes.

8. This one's a weird one so prepare yourself. If I see people sweating whether it be in person or on TV, it makes my eyes water. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I know, judge away.

9. I didn't honestly believe I was having a baby until the moment they put her in my arms, it didn't become real until I held her for the first time.

10. I can only wink my left eye.

11. I worked as a preschool teacher's assistant and while I was not there very long it was bar none the most rewarding job I have held. There is nothing more amazing than watching these little people grow physically and mentally before your eyes and there is NOTHING greater than hearing every single day how much you are loved.



Here are my questions for my nominees:

1. What is the best purchase you've ever made?

2. What is the proudest moment in your life?

3. Is there something about me that you’ve always wanted to know but have never asked?

4. How has your life been different than what you’d imagined?

5. Do you believe in love at first sight?

6. What is your best advice to give someone?

7. If you could do anything regardless of pay what would you do?

8. If you won a million dollars what would be the first thing you'd buy?

9. If you were an animal what would you be and why?

10. If you could describe yourself in one word what would it be?

11. What’s one of the scariest things you’ve ever done?



To Brittany Danielle,
Getting this nomination means more to me than I could ever begin to explain and thank you is simply just not enough. There is nothing I love more than being able to share my life and photos and thoughts, this recognition is touching and I sincerely appreciate it.
"With Love" ;)
Kerin

Rain Cloud

So you know those days where it feels like there's a raincloud following you around?

THAT, my friends, was yesterday.

All those awesome things I was talking about happening...they all went down the shitter.

First let me start with the house.

We drove up and I knew INSTANTLY it wasn't for us. You know how they say you just get that feeling in your wedding dress that it's "the one" because of the way it makes you feel? I always assumed it was the same with houses.

Well not only did I not get this feeling from this house but it was just NOT right for us. There was WAY too much that needed to be done that the pictures did not properly display. I don't mind cosmetic work...in fact part of me would kind of like a house that needs a little just because I can put a little of myself into the house and put all those interior design classes to good use.

But this was NOT just cosmetic work...EVERYTHING needed work. EVERYTHING. Ceilings, floors, walls, stairs, you name it, it needed fixing or replacing...and well as I like to say...

So that was shitty situation number 1.

Number 2?

That purchase I was talking about. YA...allow me to share.

Mommy has been wanting this Michael Kors wallet for wayyyy too long.

But I sincerely couldn't justify $110 for a wallet. Not cool, Michael, not cool. I'm a mommy now so I'm ballin on a budget.

Well out of nowhere mommy decided to take a look on craigslist and what do you know there's my wallet...just sittin there starin me in the face. And the clouds opened up and angels began to sing and all was right with the world again.

This woman was selling the EXACT wallet I wanted...barely used...for 40 dollars. Go ahead, ask me how excited I was. SO faster than I'm comfortable with admitting I texted this woman telling her I was interested and asked if I could come the next day. She explains that she's busy that day but the following day would be just fine.

So I text her the following morning asking if it was still ok for me to come pick it up at the time we discussed and WHAT DID SHE SAY?!?!

"I already sold it, sry"

YOU ALREADY SOLD IT?! YOU ALREADY FUCKING SOLD IT?!! I TOLD YOU I WANTED IT, WE MADE PLANS...AND YOU FUCKING SOLD IT?!?!

EVIL...PURE UNADULTERATED EVIL...ANDDDD TO TOP IT OFF YOU COULDN'T EVEN SPELL OUT SORRY.

KARMA IS COMING YOUR WAY LADY...YOU CAN COUNT ON IT!

Let me just say she is lucky she didn't give me her address because my ass would have been standing at her front door shouting a bunch of my favorite four letter words in her general direction.

*sigh*

And that's not even all of the crap I went through yesterday. I need a pick me up like pronto.

Hump Day

It's Hump Day, Baby!!!

It's been a loooooong two days let me tell you.

I have like zero time to myself.

And JUST enough time with bug and boyfriend, and girls wine night (the only two things I will MAKE time for)

But this week is turning out to be an extremely eventful one.

Boyfriend and I are looking at a house tonight! Yep that's right, you heard correctly. And I am OUT OF MY MIND excited. Like absolutely losing my shit excited because this momma needs to MOVE OUT. I'm just hoping it's the one (we will see, updates to come)

So we have the house viewing tonight, and I'm FINALLY almost done my DIY project (since it turned from easy DIY project to a please-dont-do-this-it's-far-too-time-consuming project).

I also have a purchase I'll be making tonight that I CANNOT wait to share with you, and I'm stoked out of my mind.

My New Blog should be ready any time now and I'm one step shy of peeing in anticipation.

And to top all this awesome-ness off, Bug, boyfriend, and I are spending the weekend in the Cape with my two best friends and their boyfriends. YEA BABY!!!

I'm all smiles. Photography opportunities out the wahoo. Family time, friends time, wine time, sunshine. Yep.

Right now... I am one happy mama.

"You Look Tired"

This is the comment I got from our waitress at dinner tonight.

How do you even respond to that?

"Thanks..."?
"I know"?
"I get that a lot." ?
"Yep"

It's basically a blatant and outright insult and the nicest way to tell someone they look like shit and get away with it.

It's Thursday, it's rained practically every damn day, so the only thing that's missing from becoming a narcoleptic would be a radio following me around perpetually playing lullabies.

Sleepy is not a good look for me, my eyes get all dark and swollen like I just got a fist to the face, my face gets ghostly pale like I haven't seen the sun in my life...it's just all around bad.

I sleep great and really have no excuse to be tired...and yet...here I am lookin like ass and getting these comments.

Fan-freaking-tastic.

So needless to say I'm STOKED it's Friday tomorrow.

I can not WAIT to spend the weekend with my loves and my camera and just RELAX. Bring it on, Friday. Bring. It. On.

Crazy Town

These past few days have been absolutely bananas!

My schedule goes a little like this:

Wake up, engorge on breakfast food, get ready, drive to work, go to work, drive home, engorge on dinner, see bug and boyfriend for ohhhh MAYBE two hours, and then go to bed. BAM. Whole day and that's what I have to show for it.

Social media has become a thing of the past.

At least now I sincerely look forward to the weekends.

And with all this commotion going on, I didn't know monday from thursday and day from night, and what did I do?

I forgot my own mother's birthday.

I wish I were kidding.

Worst daughter award goes to? This guy.

I about lost my shit.

Who does that?

I effed up my DIY project and now have to go about it a wholllllle different way.

I can't wait to finally get into a comfortable groove again...except I'm sure when I do that will be when my schedule changes AGAIN in September.

But there is a little positivity in all this crazy.

I LOVE my job. I love the people I work with. And I love the money that comes with it ($$$$) and there's even MORE money to come. I can barely keep myself from rubbing my hands together and laughing maniacally.

My birthday is coming up :)

AND I'm getting a custom blog designed as we speak!

So there is some excitement to come but for now I must go. I'll leave you with two more pictures from the weekend.

This Weekend's Festivities

Boyfriend bug and I went to our friend's graduation party. We were so proud of her and wouldn't have missed it for the world. Especially since we love her and her family so much.

So of course we go and bug is passed around like a little hot potato. EVERYONE loves this little peanut. Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

'




Still working on my DIY project cause lezbehonest...I'm slooooow....but it's a work in progress.

As Promised

Photo bomb from tonight :)

















More tomorrow! And a DIY tutorial too!!

Calorie Switching and Saving

Let me tell you, as I fell off the wagon the last few weeks with dieting I'm back on and stronger than ever.

Let me tell you a little something about calorie SWITCHING and SAVING while calorie counting.

Now I think for me the best part about calorie counting is the fact that I get to have pretty much anything I want...including carbs...yep.

Super awesome fantastic.

Calorie Switching:

Anytime you can switch for a better option, and that option doesn't suck, DO IT.

For example, with a bread you can get a more whole grain or higher fiber bread. But I have this little secret for white bread. Ok you aren't a wheat fan, I like wheat but I know boyfriend doesn't.

Well the NORMAL white bread we buy has 100 calories per slice...BUT you know those obscenely large loafs of bread where the bread slices are kinda small and there's like 3692 in a bag? It's the one that's usually store brand. Well, that bread is 120 calories....for TWO slices. So assuming you're having a sandwich you're saving 80 calories right there. That's an OBSCENE amount of calories. And you're still eating bread, having carbs, and being conscious of your calories.

Calorie Saving:

While we're on the subject of sandwiches let me give you another example. My standard sandwich is a *AHEM* Turkey, american cheese, lettuce, tomato, mayo. DELICIOUS and fairly nutritious.

Well this sandwich isn't so bad for you but there is a way to save calories without losing everything. Now with my sandwich the two worst (for you) ingredients are the mayo and the cheese. So in order to save a few calories I will get rid of one of them.

For me, as much as I'm obsessed with cheese, for a sandwich mayo is far more important, it adds a little moisture and acts as a mortar. Sweet. No brainer. And just by 86-ing the cheese I save about 100 calories.

And as a side note if I use the mayo made with olive oil I would save 40 calories per serving. Huh? Huh? Can I get some love?!

So let me show you my breakfast this morning and how I used these methods to save a shit ton of calories:



This was my breakfast this morning, my friends. Let me break it down for you.

My english muffin is a LIGHT english muffin. And normal english muffin is 130 calories, these are 90. Calories saved: 40

I topped it with cream cheese, totally weird I know but I had read before that it is an excellent switch to butter and oh my lanta were they right. It is around 70 calories for 2 tablespoons while butter or margarine is about 100 calories for 1 tablespoon. Crazy right? And let me tell you, at least for me, it doesn't taste weird at all...it actually makes it taste like a bagel...and ain't nothin wrong with bagels. And the calories saved for 2 tablespoons, my friends: a whopping 130 calories.

I also had a light and fit greek yogurt. My normal chobani yogurt is 140 calories...this one on the other hand is 80. Woop Woop! And if you're doing the math, I'll save you some time...calories saved: 60.

That's just in the food I'm consuming people....not the switches I made in my coffee. Add that up, I saved myself 230 calories by switching to other alternatives. That also makes my meal only 240 calories. Hot damn. I saved almost as many calories as I consumed! Does mama know what she's doing...or does mama know what she's doing? Want more ideas? This website has some great ideas for some swaps.



I know I've been an awful blogger lately but this new job has been taking up allllllll my free time, and then what little free time we have I now make sure is spend with bug and boyfriend. I'm now blogging with the only time I have left, my mornings. I'll definitely be trying to figure out how to make this work. But for now this is it. Let me know of any swaps you make that have made a difference! Comment and subscribe!

Zoo Day

The Last Day

My lazy ass has yet to blog today... But there is some good that will come from it. Actually, lots of it.

So first boyfriend, bug, and I spent a larrrrrge portion of our day at the zoo. It was pretty awesome. Admittedly though, it actually kind of sucked considering the last zoo boyfriend and I went to was the San Diego Zoo.... Which totally makes our little zoo look like a giant pile of shit... But that's ok.

Actually, now that I think about it... I do happen to have some pictures from that zoo trip that are half decent so ill have to post them sometime.

But giant pile of shit or not the zoo was great. Especially for not having been to one in so long. Boyfriend loves animals. When it comes to animals boyfriend is a borderline looneybin. Practically any animal you throw his way he could spew some random useless fact about it..I swear its like the part of his brain that should be used for storing typical man pastimes like a love of sports has been completely erased and replaced with an infinite list of useless animal facts.

Even though the only few legitimate animals at our zoo are the giraffes, elephants, and one really old really awesome giant-ass turtle it was still fun.

I have a cornucopia of pictures that ill be posting tomorrow so prepare accordingly.

We then spent some time with my future sister in laws who made me strawberry shortcake that I would rip off any one of my limbs to eat again. A-freakin-mazing.

And then to make a pretty freakin sweet day better just as boyfriend and I are about to journey home for bed boyfriend spots a wagon being thrown out. And not just any wagon.. Oh no... A radio flyer.

From what I understand, as I was not near it enough to be able to decipher for myself, it smelt like a mix of swamp and big foot's asshole...which is likely the reason it was curbside. But that's not something a little cleaning can't fix. So boyfriend and I are taking it upon ourselves to fix her up. Clean, Power wash, and repaint and have ourselves a little DIY project... Which I will be sure to post pictures of. It will be PERFECT for pictures once bug's a little older and hell, who doesn't want a radio flyer.

This mama unfortunately is off to bed, because tomorrow is my first day of work at my new job! :) finally. I'm excited and nervous but ready..so so ready for a new chapter in my life. Bring. It. On.

Playing Around

We had SO much fun yesterday. First we went to boyfriend's best friends house. The guy has an indoor pool that would practically put the Taj Mahal to shame. We went swimming for a bit and then we ended the day with the drive in.

Bug was so good..she went in the pool with mommy for a little even though it was kinda chilly.

Only two more days until my new job starts and even though it's not the end of the world I will not be able to take a single day off while in training. The training portion of my new job is THREE MONTHS long. And as crazy and drawn out as that seems...I couldn't be happier.

I had ZERO training at my last job and consistently felt inadequate. I'm excited to be going into a position where I am actually going to know what I'm talking about to a customer, instead of talking out my ass.

I want to make the best of these last two days especially since boyfriend is home too.

The zoo sounded like a fantastic idea...until I found out today is supposed to be hotter than the surface of the fucking sun, so I'm thinking indoors is more my style today. Although I am in desperate need of some color, alabaster is NOT a good look for me.

Anywayyyy...still trying to come up with a game plan, but for now I'll leave you with a few of my shots from yesterday.

Here's to You, Nikon

Today I've decided I'm going to spend some quality time with my camera.

I only have 3 days left before my new job starts and I really want to enjoy it as much as possible.

I have a new case/carrier for it coming in today. I had yet to buy one for it and one of the few annoyances of a dslr is it's clunky-ness. Thanking the ebay gods for the sweet ass deal I got on it too. I'll be sure to post a picture as soon as that bad larry gets delivered. On a 1-10 level of excitement scale, 1 being a Nova documentary and 10 being Disney World, I'm at like a Tom-Cruise-jumping-on-Oprah's-Couch excited.



I'll be posting more pictures and updates today for sure but I'll leave you with these in the meantime. I know, you're welcome.

Philly Cheese Steak Salad

This recipe I kind of just came up with on the fly.

It's super simple but really delicious.



This salad is like half wedge salad half Philly Cheese Steak.

I used:

Iceberg Lettuce

Tomatoes

Green Pepper

Shredded Cheese

Shredded Steak

Bleu Cheese

I did not use onions as I do not like them...but they would probably work well also



I quickly cooked up the shaved steak and seasoned with this guy:





A little fun fact for ya about green peppers. Male green peppers have 3 bumps (like the pepper on left) they boast fewer seeds and are best used for cooking. Female green peppers have 4 bumps (pictured on the right) they are sweeter and best eaten raw. Thank you, Pinterest.



This salad was super easy and super yummy. Let me know if you try it, ladies and gents. Comment and subscribe!

And as an added bonus!



BUGFACE!

Now we're off to enjoy this beautiful day!

Wordless Wednesday

Summer Sangria

Now...let me preface this recipe by saying that the dessert I made yesterday I did WRONG. It was tasty...but wrong nonetheless and I will be waiting to post it until my mommy mush brain can READ THE DIRECTIONS CORRECTLY.

But I will not be leaving you reicpe-less because that would be cruel. So instead I will leave you with a kickass sangria recipe that I threw together yesterday with a couple of the girls.

Sangria is SO easy to make...and you can play with it a lot which is what I truly enjoy about making them. You can come across some really great ones just by putting things together that you like.

THIS sangria was easily one of my better ones.



So for this recipe you will need:

Bubbly Peach Wine (or any peach wine...we just happened to use a carbonated wine because that was what was on hand)
Malibu Sunshine (which is DELICIOUS...it's citrus infused malibu)
Orange Juice
Sprite
Strawberries

Now here's where I probably differ from most.

Generally speaking with a sangria I like to make them by the cup instead of a giant batch. Primarily because everyone is different and may like more of one thing over another, so I made these individually.

I first cut up one GIANT ASS strawberry in quarters and put 2 pieces in each glass.

I then filled my wine glass about 1/3 of the way full with the peach wine.

I added about 2 oz of OJ, a splash of sprite, and about 2 oz of the Malibu.

It was PHENOMENAL.

Super easy to make, not many ingredients, and very very summery. And summery is always good in my book.

Try it out and let me know what you think!

To Go

Anything "To Go" you can count my ass in. That means it's ultraportable, light, but primarily EASIER (than something that's not 'to go').

An example of this genius at work?

I present to you:



Ok, here goes the crazy lady about to rant about peanut butter. See, I know what you're thinking but seriously listen! And maybe you'll understand...maybe..

This isn't some crazy marketing ploy to get you to buy more peanut butter in a smaller package. No, no.. this is genius, my friends.

I LOVE peanut butter. ESPECIALLY when I'm on a diet...pair it with apples, bananas, celery, pretzels...you name it. DELICIOUS. And it's like having a treat instead of fruit. But here's the thing about peanut butter (and all you pb fans can vouch) if that shit is not portioned out you can GUARANTEE you're eating more than the recommended serving size.

I'll be honest, I've eaten it straight out of the jar with a spoon (I can't be the only crazy who's done this). And this is where the genius of these to go packs comes in.

Pre-portioned packs! Duh. Somebody at Jif deserves a raise.

Now, do I recommend using these to have pre-portioned serving sizes to use for your toast? No. Because that's just stupid. That's what the jar is for. And to be honest, this pack, unless you happen to eat more than 2 pieces of toast in a single sitting, is probably more than you'd need.

These packs are PERFECT for dipping on the go. I used to bring celery and peanut butter to work for lunch...but before these to go packs, I'm gunna be honest, it was a total bitch trying to find ways to bring it. There are like no containers small enough...and then it's one more thing I need to wash.



One of these bad boys and you're on your way to peanut butter heaven without engorging yourself on the whole jar. Sweet. I'm telling you, try them once and you'll understand...you can thank me later.

Keep checking back today because I'll be making a memorial day dessert (with peanut butter) that will blow your socks off :)