You say goodbye and I say hello.

I was listening to The Beatles on my way to work this morning. Such a great way to start the day. The song Hello Goodbye (one of my favorites) came on. Which made me automatically think about the fact that today is the last day of 2013 even though the song isn't about that. That led to rememberance of the many Facebook statuses I've already seen on the subject. Most are a variance of "new year, new me", "2013 can kiss my ass", "2014 is going to be the BEST EVER!!!!"... yeah, the same ones all of you have seen and possibly posted. The very same ones that I saw last year. And the year before that. And the year before that. And the year before that...

This is how my 2013 felt. Bright and shiny.

It just seems like everyone is so ready to say Goodbye to 2013 and Hello to 2014. I'm afraid to post a status on Facebook about it because I see a huge backlash coming from it as in I think I'm perfect and better than everyone else. Not that a fear of backlash would stop me from posting it. If I want to I will. I just think it's sad that I have a valid reason to think a happy post would make some people cringe. Well, start cringing because this is why I'm saying Goodbye to 2013 with no hopes of things having to get better, just that they stay the way they are because I'm happy. Happy! People, did ya hear that? Some people in the world are happy! There have been times I haven't been but I am now. And I don't want to feel bad for that.

I'm not perfect. My life is not perfect. I don't want it to sound that way. My husband and I both work very hard for what we have. I'm a great friend. I'm honest. I'm there if you need me. I try to be the best mom I can. I yell. I get angry. I try to be as good of a wife to my husband as he is a husband to me. But even with all the faults I am still happy because I make the best out of it and spend as much time with my family as possible because that is what keeps me going. There are things people can't control but you can control whether or not to be happy with what you have and at the very least make a conscious decision to TRY to make the best of it. I wish you the best of luck on this from the bottom of my heart because everyone deserves to be happy.

This is how my 2013 went. A lot of it in pictures. It started off busy as always after the holidays and the kids being out of school. We started paperwork on selling our house. It took FOREVER. It was also bittersweet. I mean, we were ready for something bigger but still... it was our 1st house.

This was taken while we were buying it.
Goodbye house. :'(

We went to the circus.

I made my 1st cake for Easter.

I felt like this a lot.

Ate some sushi.

I felt like this ALL the time.

Got my hair to do something I wanted it to one time.

Took the hubs out for Father's Day.

I felt like I should since this happens.

Even though that happens I feel this way about him every day.

I made these faces WAY too much.

My baby girl turned 4.

I said things I probably shouldn't.

Got Bacon off to her 1st day of school EVER
 & B to 3rd grade.

Enjoyed our new backyard.

Went and saw some animals.

B joined Cub Scouts.

We went to a fair.

My husband made these faces. A lot.

Took both the kids on a Cub Scout
camping trip.

Dressed up for Halloween.

And had an awesome Christmas with all of our family.

I honestly cannot complain. 2013 was good to me and I hope somewhere out there it was good to some other people too. I can't imagine it being any better. I will say that I hope we find more time for things like camping and traveling. We've come to realize we all enjoy those things, and even more so when we get to do them together. So Hello 2014! I hope you treat me as well as 2013. And Goodbye 2013. You were great to me. I will truly miss you.

Happy New Year!

Camping Like a Pro

It has been a couple of weeks since my last post. Things have been CRAZY at my house with traveling, festivals, moving, and everyday life. This weekend will be another busy one as well. We are going on my sons annual family Cub Scout camping trip.

My little Cub Scout trying on his uniform. He's 8 but he's so tiny. Still, isn't he adorable?

Ready for his 1st pack meeting in full gear. He really loves it.

I am really looking forward to it, just not the preparing for it. I decided to make myself a checklist for camping supplies. I'll admit I basically can't function without a list. I feel so frazzled, like I'm forgetting 110% of the things I should be taking with me. Anyway, this post is short and sweet. My checklist is here. Maybe if you need a good camping checklist split into categories it'll work for you. I already feel better about going home and getting all of it together.

How to Make a Dryer Vent Pumpkin

As most of you know, we have been getting our new house set up. Excitement is running rampant around our house right now. We should be moved in by the beginning of October. This weekend we got a lot of things accomplished. I made at least 10 trips to stores because I kept thinking of more things that I needed. I made 2 trips to get laundry detergent. I finally remembered it on the 3rd trip. I'm telling you, moving is exhausting. My mind has been in a million different places lately. When I realized I still forgot laundry detergent on the 2nd trip, I decided I needed a break from unpacking... organizing... making a bigger mess... whatever you want to call it. So I made one more trip out to get some supplies for a craft which always cheers me up. When I got back home I got out (ha. Got out... who am I kidding? It's been sitting on top of the dryer since we hooked it up 3 weeks ago.) the part of the dryer vent we cut off when we moved our dryer in and headed to the garage.

I got set up on my piece of newspaper with the garage doors open. I used orange Rust-O-Leum paint since it was going on metal. 

I just sprayed as evenly as I could. The paint stuck great. I made sure to spray the ends well and got under the vent as much as possible from this side.

Coming along nicely.

I left it there to dry on that side and turned it over once it completely dried. I waited a couple of hours and went back to unpacking since I felt a little better about my wasted trips to the store. After the first side was completely dry and no longer felt tacky I flipped it over to paint the other side,

The paint went on great. It's still wet here after painting the 2nd side.

I left it there another couple of hours so that the paint would be totally dry so I could connect the ends. For my purposes, I just held the two ends together and wrapped Gorilla tape around them and painted it orange as well. The back side of mine will be completely hidden so it didn't matter if it had tape on it. Originally I thought it had been going somewhere that would show off the entire thing. If that's your issue I would use a wire wrap method. Just hold the ends together, wrap thin wire around them like you would tape from one side to the next, and then wrap a small loop of wire around itself to hold in place. Since the vent is notched it will be barely noticeable. Then you could just throw a leaf over the top and it would be even less noticeable.

After I taped and painted it and brought it inside.

I bought apple cinnamon scented oil and dark reeds which I held together with rubber bands to make my stem. It's cute and gives off a nice smell. Two of my favorite things: Good looks and good smells. I stuck some fake leaves inside the rubber bands as well and just let them branch out.

My supplies. Just stick it all together and sit in the bottle of scented oil.

My finished product turned out great and was really simple. Other than drying time for the paint it took me less than 30 minutes. My total cost was under $15. Now I'm excited about making more fall and Halloween stuff, especially when it gives me an excuse not to unpack for a few minutes. 

Maybe it's just because I made it, but I think it turned out great. It's perfect for my mantle.

Supplies:

Dryer vent - $0 (already had it)

Orange Rust-O-Leum paint - $5

Apple Cinnamon Oil - $1
Decorative Reeds - $3
Fake leaves - $2
Rubber bands - $0 (already had it)

Until next time.

Seeing Noah's Ark.

We got to take a trip to Noah's Ark yesterday. It's an animal sanctuary in Locust Grove, GA. They don't charge an entry fee but the sanctuary is fully funded through donations so we still took some cash with us. We had never been before and it was hot. The heat did not ruin our trip though. There were lots of benches and plenty of shade. We carried sweet tea and the rescue had a Nathan's hotdog and lemonade stand, so of course we had to have some yummy lemonade.

I put together some photos of our trip so that I didn't post so many individuals. I'm not sure how good the resolution is on the computer after putting them in the collage maker. I also didn't think to take the good camera (I ALWAYS forget it) so all the pictures were taken on my iPhone. Luckily it has a pretty decent camera.

The turtle under the tree was twice the size of the other. A peacock, pretty yellow bird
(no idea what it is), and a duck nesting. The duck was well hidden. 

The BLT section. A bear, lion, and tiger all live here together. They were raised together as cubs
and quit eating when they tried to separate them. The tiger stayed in the house.

 The kids loved the animals, especially the ones outside the fences they could get close to.

The rooster wasn't scared at all, and the ducks swimming under our feet were adorable. Bacon also found an inchworm she wanted.

The tigers were lazing around all over the place. We got to see them throw the ducks some snacks, and I was especially intrigued by this mushroom growing out of the tree.

It was a fun trip that didn't cost an arm and a leg and we got some great memories and exercise. We also learned a few things which is always a perk. If you're ever in the area I would recommend going.

-jFree

Hi there.

These are the 2 smallest loves of my life. Blaiklyn (lovingly referred to as Bacon) and Braden.

Okay... now to actually write. I've decided to make a blog because I want to record things for my children. I want them to one day be able to look back and say "My mom was awesome". Now seems like the perfect time to do so since my husband, 2 children, and I will be moving into our new home within the next couple of months. Hopefully sooner. Fingers crossed. Up until recently my outlet has been my children and husband. They're getting older (as all children do) which is bittersweet. They are turning into awesome little people instead of babies. They still take up all my time but they are old enough that they don't need every second of it. Husband has started trying to golf. I say trying because he's not very good. He does enjoy it though, so I say play on.

This is the biggest love of my life, TJ. And me. We're on a carousel.

I personally enjoy doing so many things I can't focus on just one. I plan on moving into a well organized place and trying to keep it that way. Organization is my true talent. I have lots of projects I plan on doing to get the house organized even before we get moved in. We're staying with my MIL for the period between selling our old house and closing on the new one. It's so nice to have that option. We are purchasing the new house from a family member so we're actually able to do things inside the house before we close, like paint. And I feel the need to show you some pictures now even though it still has other peoples stuff in it. Just disregard all that. Picture it empty and clean.

The fireplace. One of my favorite things about it.

I love that the oven is separate from the stove, which is a recessed downdraft stove.

The dining room.

And there's Bacon out in one of the fields while we took a walk around the property.

We're so ready to move! We love it. We love the space. I can't wait to be able to just go outside and do whatever we want. When we take the kids over they hit the backdoor and are gone. You can't see the house from the road either, which I love. Anyway, there's my introduction and the current status of me and mine. I won't post here everyday I'm sure because life gets in the way, but I will definitely be posting more.

-jFree