Turning 33 And What I Have Learned Along The Way.

I have been dealing with the fact that I am turning 33. Many will argue this fact that but it is my own personal journey that is ahead as I get older. As I have taken the time to think about whom I want along with me in this journey and whom I would much rather leave behind, I have also thought of a few things that I have learned in my 33 years to get me where I am.

 

Time flies.
It doesnt matter what you do or how you try to slow it down, it is inevitable. For me it seems the more stuff I want to do, the less time there is available. Either that or more obstacles get in my way. Since we know time is fleeting, do what you want to do with whom you want to do it.
 Honesty.Be truthful to yourself, and just in general. Only expect honesty in return from everyone in your life. Don't expect any less. Start from the top and if people let you down, the next step is on you.
 Enjoy every moment.
Think about all the little things in life that your kids remember that you did with them, now wouldn’t you be a happier person if you had all your own little “life’s moments” to reflect on? Live in the moment and be present.
 Be Impulsive.
When you think of someone or something or if you want to do something. Just do it! Just go do it, before you forget, before you get tired, before someone takes you away from that thought. Whether it is a text, call, Facebook message, or even an emoji. Just do it. Don’t let more time go by before you let someone know that you were thinking of him or her.
 Don’t dwell. 
I try to do things that make my life, my kids’ lives, and my husbands life better. If something is on your mind and you cannot do anything about it. Move on. I have come to realize that no one is worth my time or effort if I am not equally worth it to him or her.  Do something about to make a change or move on before it eats you up inside. Don’t say you want to do it, set forth and go!
 Take less time.
What I mean by taking less time is, less time worrying, less time cleaning, less time arguing, fighting, being on your phone, watching tv. Spend less time doing the needless things that do not necessarily need to be done at that very moment, and spend time on the things you actually want to do. Or even better spend them with your spouse, your kid, or a friend you haven’t spoken to in a while. The things that matter.
 It’s ok to say no.
You wont be the bad guy if you turn down a party, a night out, or whatever it is. If you feel like you are too busy, you probably are. Don’t complain about your life being too busy. You bring it upon yourself and then you complain about it. Just stop it already.
 You create what you put out there.
The people that speak the most nonsense about others are in fact displaying actual truths about themselves. When you project negative things that you claim to be about other people, it really just shows that you are talking about yourself. It also shows people the character you have. The people that try to portray themselves, as being “bigger and better” are the ones that create their own negativity or drama. Just own up to it. Quit playing the victim. But most importantly, Please, stay away from me.
 Be comfortable. 
With yourself. With your surroundings. Be happy. We all try to make ourselves better or healthier. It either takes control, or we give up. I would have a lot more time on my hands if I took a lot less time aiming towards perfection, and just living a healthy, active lifestyle. Set your goals and head toward them. Rewards make the journey that much more enjoyable.
 No one can make you feel a way that you do not want to feel. End of story.
 Try something new. One great thing about being married to this wonderful man, is the fact that he likes to take trips to new places. Without him I would have never been able to experience the things that I have.
 Throw yourself out there.
Meet new people. But make sure they are the right people. Step out of your shell.  To some it seems very hard, but now that im “in my 30’s” I have more of a “who cares” attitude. Its not high school, who cares what people think about you or what they have to say. My thoughts are, if they are talking about you, then clearly you are doing something right. To those I say, Keep Talkin’! Which leads me to the next one.
 Friend{ships}.
Take a look at your friends, or your contacts. Do you talk to all of them, see them, or hang out? Look at the top people on your texts. The people you communicate on the reg are clearly the ones that you want to keep in your life. On some level you know that you have those friends that might not be in it for the long haul. Maintaining friendships is so important. But it goes both ways. One person cannot push and push and get nothing in return. If you are pushing and not getting any pull, then those people are not your friends.
 I am absolutely certain there are a ton more things. This is just for now. Everyday I learn something new, whether it is about myself or just in life. All I know is that I live for God first, my husband/best friend, and my three boys. This list will continue to grow with each passing year. My 30’s will be the beginning of the best years of my life.
 So what if I am 33?
I’m going to make the best of what I am, because I was given the best of what there is.

Happy 33rd Birthday Me. My wish for you is to be happy.
  

My {$500} DIY Headboard...

I don't think it cost exactly $500, but let me start out by saying that was for all the tools that were needed to make this thing.

First of all, if you plan on doing a DIY project, have a plan. Thats my advice. Know exactly what you want and do the measurements. Also, if you decide to work on this, or any, project with another person, make sure y'all are on the same page from the beginning. This had been something I have been wanting to do for the longest time. I finally got the hubs to jump on the bandwagon with me and help me out. As our first DIY project together, we definitely learned a lot about the process.  I wouldn't mind doing something like this again with him. But for now he can stick to his projects and I will stick to mine.

Now, I am not a control freak, nor am I a perfectionist, which may have come in handy during this because I could relinquish some of the control to the hubs. However, this was my project and what I wanted was what I wanted.
The plan: To make a King size tufted headboard
The tools: saw-jig and/or circular, sander, hammer, nails, box cutter, staple gun, drill
Materials: 4 yd fabric, button kit, upholstery thread, upholstery needles, 2" thick foam, 1/4" thick plywood, 2X4, batting.

First off, make sure you have a design set on how you want your headboard to come out. Is there a certain shape you want? Do you want it to be just a rectangle or have an arch? If you do not want any design to it, you will not need a saw or sander. We knew we didn't want it to be simple and easy as just a rectangle. Since we chose it to have a shape to it is why it took longer to make. Plus, we may or may not have messed up on the first one, which led us to the eleventh trip to Home Depot.

These pictures are of the hubs cutting out the plywood into our shape, and at the end of the night sanding it down. 

If you look close enough you can see I drew where I wanted the holes for the buttons to be drilled. This is to pull the buttons thru the wood and foam to give it the tuft look. You can do them however close together or far apart. But remember, the more holes you make for buttons, the more work. We did not want too many buttons because looking at some pictures online, they looked like mattresses. The mattress look was not what we were going for. I made 18 holes total, 3 rows, 12 inches apart both ways.

 I went to Jo-Ann and bought 2" thick foam. They sell it by the yard which I believe was $16.99/yd. I got 4 yards. It was not tall enough so I had to get 2 separate sheets. Our headboard was 48" from the top of the arch to the bottom of the base and was 80" across to fit our king size bed. Pretty big.

The foam is hard to cut with scissors or the jig saw. I found that using a box cutter work to cut the excess foam off. If you do not make an angled headboard, you won't need to do this step. As you can see I have 2 pieces of green foam that are the same length.

This is the template for making the buttons. They were SUPER simple to make!

button kit

Here are my finished buttons made with remaining fabric. 

To add the buttons into the headboard, we brought the project inside so the fabric would not get dirty from garage. This made the project both easy and challenging. Easy because the hubs was able to get underneath the headboard to pull and staple the thread to the back. The challenging part about this was we did it during dinner time. After dinner the kids tried to "help" which made the process a little longer. :)

Back of the headboard after ALL the buttons have been pulled thru and the fabric had been stapled to the back.

Here is the finished headboard! It was quite the project. We learned a lot and plan to make another one in the future. I know for sure it will be cheaper to do as well. Now that we have the tools and the knowhow, it cant be that hard, right??

I don't have any thing to be thankful for, I have EVERYTHING to be thankful for.

     I don't participate in 30 days of Thankfulness. I don't have 30 things to be thankful for, I have a million things that make me count my blessings. It makes me sad to look around and see people are only saying things they are thankful for during November. What about every other day?

     Since the holiday season has started, I have been dealing with my own personal struggle. I have my ups and downs. I will hear that voice, or have a dream. Quite often a faint scent will bring memories rushing to me. Which inevitably leads to tears. Fighting them off and eventually just letting them take over me.

     From the second I got that phone call one song has been playing in my mind. One More Day. When I heard this song years ago, I thought it was a breakup song. Dealing with what has been going on, the song is not necessarily about being in love, it is about loving someone. And then losing that person. It could not be more fitting for how I feel.

     I can be the first to say that it is easy to take things for granted everyday. One day flows into the next, and into the next. Before you know it, a whole month has flown by. We all have bad days where it seems like a domino effect that things just keep falling out of place. I find that when things like that happen, the best thing to do is look at what is going right in life. I would love for more people to take the time to look around them. Be thankful, grateful, and appreciative of all the things life has to offer. No one knows what tomorrow will bring. No one knows who is going to be here one day and gone the next. There is always going to be someone that has so much less than you. Also remember, the holidays were not created for people to save money, camp out at stores, or go shopping on Thanksgiving Day.

     This holiday season I am not focusing on who or what I do not have around me. I am not wasting time searching which stores to shop at in an effort to save a few bucks. I am going to focus on those whom I do have One More Day with. I am starting new traditions and creating memories because those are the things that will be remembered. Those things are what I feel are important.

What do the holidays mean to you?

28 weeks down!! 12 more to go!

How far along? 28 weeks. 7 long big months!

Maternity Clothes? oooh yes.

Sleep: not very much and when I do, its not very good. 

Best moment this month: finding out I passed my 3 hour glucose test!

Miss anything? the weight I was exactly 1 year ago. I'll get there by this time next year.

Movement: TONS!! He is kickin' dancin' movin' and shakin'!! I think its his way of saying he is growing out of womb room.

Food Cravings: Taco Cabana! 

What makes me sick or queasy: Nothing. 

Gender: Well, I am still a girl, & the baby is still a boy.

Labor Signs: No! and I would hope not! besides the normal contractions that I have been having for months now.

Wedding Rings: On or Off. Barely hangin' on!!

What is my mood most of the time? Cant wait to meet baby Lo but boy am I tired. I know, its only going to get worse. 

What Am I looking forward to this upcoming month? Finishing up Baby Lo's room.

Not so much looking forward to? Switching to 2 dr appts a month now. Means its getting close!!

Stuff I've made Part 2

The other day I was really itching to make something. Anything. I finally got my much needed and deserved, might I add, break from school. Therefore, giving me time to twiddle my thumbs. What I have been really wanting to do is make a seating area or two for my window seats in my kitchen. This is the beginning phase of that project because I still have a long ways to go. However, this is what I made with things I had at home. Can't go wrong with a free project!

What I needed for my free project:

• regular pillow
• heavy duty scissors
• fabric
• sewing machine

I took a regular size pillow that we no longer need. 

cut it in half. I needed my trusty assistant for help with this one. 

end result: 2 small pillows.

He seems to like them, now he sits up there more often.

It was a small challenge for a big project, but like I said, it is the first phase in what I want to do with these seating areas.

Stuff I've made Part 1.

It was recently my good ol' friends birthday. I wanted to make her something personal and special because she didn't want to celebrate her birthday this year. I made this to give her on a day that wasn't her birthday because I was following her rules.

It took time, effort, patience, love, craftiness, and that little thing we like to call Pinterest. I knew I pinned this one for a reason.

I love having personal photos up throughout my house. I also like things that are simple and uniform. This is one of those things that adds it all up into one.

What you need to make this:

• 2 foam core boards
• mod podge
• Pictures (mine were stolen from said friends Instagram pics, and printed at walmart.com)
• double sided tape, to hold the pictures in place
• scissors because duh. 
• Oh and a sponge brush because that makes the mod podge go on so much smoother.

First, I went to Walmart and picked up my 1 hour photos and supplies.
Then I came home went through all the pictures and picked out the best one. The hardest part of the project was cutting all pictures to size and making them fit in a symmetrical way across the entire boards. It took longer making sure all pictures fit correctly and looked right, then it did making the whole thing.

Next, once I figured out where I wanted all the pictures to be permanently, I stuck them to the board using double sided tape. Worked out well because once I started painting the mod podge on, it prevented the pictures from moving around. Good call on the double sided tape.

I went over the board about 3-4 times with mod podge just to ensure that I got all areas covered evenly and securely.

this is what it looks like with mod podge all over it. 

Once it was completely dry. I was able to wrap it up and deliver before it was her actual birthday. She loved it! It was a big hit and I am thinking about making me one for my house.

What do you think?

We Moved!

We are officially homeowners!! We feel like brand new people. No more moves to make, except for the big one back home. I never minded the moving-every-year thing. 

I grew up in the same house for 18 years and always wanted to move when I was growing up. So as a grown up it didn't matter to me all the moves I have done. I think since I was 18 I have moved about 12 times. Maybe more. This house still doesn't feel like its mine, or like i am going to be living here very long. I think that has to do with a lot of new furniture and the fact that Im used to moving. I also think it has to do with the fact that it is so nice and big, it makes me feel like an adult!

Some of the key features of the house were of course the master bathroom shower, his and her separate closets, a loft and an office for the husband who is always home. 

It took about 2 weeks to get the place set up. I think it had to do with the fact that we had company coming so it forced me to get the ball rolling. I only have a few projects to work on and it will be completely done. 

In the meantime, here are some pictures of the place with all of our stuff in it. 

I would love to hear what you think of it, any design ideas, decorating tips, homeowners advice.

Steven's office. 

    

front entry

living room

kitchen (yes I'm in the middle of cooking)

master bedroom.

(project number 3)

master shower. yes separate showers too!

the loft aka the kids living room

baby Lo's room. (project number 1)

the boys room.

boys bathroom

my craft room. (project number 3)

the big back yard.

the end. 

Pregnancy Post Week 23

please forgive my wonderful hubby who does not know how to take good pics.
gotta love him.

How far along? I am 23 weeks, which is 5 months and 3 weeks. Almost at the 6 month mark!

Maternity Clothes? heck to the yeah. without a doubt.

Sleep: not very much and not very well when I do sleep. No more naps during the day.

Best moment this month: moving into our new house so we can get the nursery prepped! On the baby front, feeling him move a lot more. now i know when to expect that he will be awake and asleep. 

Miss anything? Im starting to miss sushi and wine a little more. 

Movement: a lot! He wake up pretty early, and I feel him move around at night right before i go to bed. 

Food Cravings: still nothing really. I guess pasta would be one thing I like to have a lot of. 

What makes me sick or queasy: Nothing. 

Gender: Hes all boy!

Labor Signs: contractions here and there but I have been taking it easy. 

Symptoms: None. just the big protruding belly. 

Wedding Rings: On or Off. On. For now. I might be getting to that point. :(

What is my mood most of the time? Happy. 

What Am I looking forward to this upcoming month? Lots! Family coming in to town. And I have the dreaded glucose test on August 3rd. Yuck! Cant wait to get baby Lo's room started!

Oh and its official Baby Lo definitely digs The Beatles over anything else. What a smarty!

Which Celebrity Couple Are You Most Like?

I have been pondering this for months now, as I am one who is obsessed with reality tv. From Guiliana & Bill, to Bethenny & Jason, Kourtney & Scott, or my favorite Real Housewives of Beverly Hills couple Kyle & Mauricio. There are so many to chose from. I think it is interesting to see who I or we are most like, or a bit of us in each of them.

What I like about Guiliana & Bill:

Is that he is very business professional. He is serious and likes to do things his way. He thinks things through logically and without throwing emotion into it. It reminds me so much of Steven. Plus he is good looking, well-dressed, and ridiculously smart. Hmmm. Sounds like Steven.
Guiliana is very outgoing and outspoken. Besides being very pretty (not as beautiful as me of course) she is goofy and fun loving. We both care more about the celebrities than what is going on in the world. Celeb life is real life.
I tell my husband every week that he reminds me of him. I think that helps get him interested in watching with me every week. :)

Bethenny & Jason:

Now these two are both likeminded individuals. They hash out what is really going on instead of sweeping it under the rug. Again, Jason is a very serious business guy. But he knows what he wants. I am almost as thin as Bethenny, (hey I said almost!) What I like about them is they are real and you can either take it or leave it. I like the way they interact with each other. They moved pretty fast from the beginning of their relationship to getting married and having a baby. Now, if you know me, I am all about doing things ass backwards, and so are they.

Kourtney & Scott:

Now it really has nothing to do with Scott because he's is captain of being a douche. It has more to do with Kourtney. The fact that she is gorgeous, just like me, but she is also knocked up, just like me. We are the only ones in our big families to be making babies and doing our own thing. Sometimes I feel jealous that I cannot do the same things as everyone else because I have kids, or am pregnant. I would not change it, my kids are my angels and I love them all. I would not change it for anything because they have made me who I am today. Plus, when my kids are all grown, my family will just be having babies and I will be the one doing all the things they want to do. So I just keep looking forward to that. Ha ha suckas!!

My favorite Kyle & Mauricio:
Let me just start out by saying, he is so hot!

Ok, What i like about them is they are very family orientated. She has a kid from another marriage AND they have 3 kids together. Big family. I am all about that. She is so pretty and down to earth. I mean just because I am pretty I wouldn't want that to stop people from trying to friend me. She is very personable but also sticks up for herself and her family when she needs to. I really admire that about her.
I love Mauricio. He is so funny, smart, and has a great personality. Those of which are the great qualities I love about Steven, he cracks me up! He is all about business and works so hard for his family. This completely is my husband.

Now maybe if Steven reads this, he will start to watch and enjoy reality tv with me instead of talk me out of it.
Nah, I doubt it.

Baby Lo Week 16!

Into my second trimester. Things have definitely been on the up & up. Different from the first trimester, my energy found its way back to me. Here is my update!

How far along? 16 weeks

Maternity Clothes? oh yeah and my first ever maternity swimsuit too!

Sleep: not very much at night. 

Best moment this month: Going to Az. Baby finally getting to hear music and what is going on all around. Going to a resort, just the hubs and I. 

Miss anything? When we went to Az, I missed having some wine or daiquiri's but I had virgin ones instead. And they were gooood.

Movement: Just moving from side to side when I am laying down. 

Food Cravings: None. 

What makes me sick or queasy: Nothing really. I don't like the smell of onions but who does?

Gender: Not sure, Im envisioning a boy but could be because I have 2 boys and thats all I know. 

Labor Signs: Nope, slight contractions but less than in month 3. 

Symptoms: Nothing really. 

Wedding Rings: On or Off. On where they belong.

What is my mood most of the time? Happy, everything makes me laugh. I like laughing alot. It's fun!

What Am I looking forward to this upcoming month? FINDING OUT THE BABY'S SEX!!!!