Monday Thrive!

I know I haven't blogged in ages! I had a lot of stuff going over the past few months. I just needed to take a break.

1) I thought I would share a couple of recent purchases from Amazon. Who hates bra shopping? It kills me to spend $40-100 on a bra that will last for about 6 months. Ugh! Not only do they not last that long, but the process of trying to find one to fit is the biggest pain ever! I usually buy my bras from Lane Bryant. They fit me the best, quality is great and you can find a sale most of the time.

Well I decided to take a chance with Amazon and order this bra for $16.99. The nice thing with Amazon Prime is you can return things if they don't work. Well this bra is AMAZING!!!! I noticed the price keeps changing. Watch it and you can get it for under $20. Once the first one fit great I ordered a second one!

2) I don't think it's a secret how much I love coconut oil! I use that stuff all the time. I use it to take my eye make up off every night. I have been using it over my eczema before I put the other cream on it. It really has helped heal my skin nicely! I use it to cook the majority of the time. 

Amazon had a full gallon on for $17.99. Normally I buy it at Costco where it is $17.99 for half that amount. I was sooooo excited when my sister told me about this deal. I quickly ordered a gallon! I think this should last us for a few months. 

3) I have spent the past 3 months going through every closet, cupboard, dresser, shelf in this house getting rid of stuff. I decided in 2018 we were going to live simpler. Why do we have so much stuff sitting in cupboards just taking up space? Stuff we never ever use. I have taken sooooo much stuff to the thrift store lately. I think I have taken about 10 car loads. That is just awful! I have sold some things. Just the thought of trying to deal with a garage sale was exhausting. I haven't missed one thing that I have donated. I mean can you really miss things that have sat in the back of a closet for years? It is also so nice to open a cupboard or closet and see space.

4) I have been following Emily Ley on Facebook and Instagram. She has such great tips to simply life. Normally I do all our laundry on the weekend. I sort piles and do 3-5 loads on Saturday. I hate this and have for awhile. I mean the last thing I want to do on the weekend is laundry. I don't know why it's more irritating to me on the weekend then during the week. Well Emily suggested doing 1 load of laundry a day. Just grab whatever clothes are dirty, don't sort, use color safe detergent, put the washer on a short load and do 1 load a day. I started doing this around the first of the year. I don't have enough laundry with 3 people to do a load a day. I try to do it when the basket is looking a little full. It's so nice not to have this take up my weekend. Art doesn't ever run out of work shirts. G doesn't run out of pants. That boy goes through a lot of pants during the week.

Emily also says complete the entire load of laundry. You can just wash & dry it and leave it in a basket for week. You do everything all at one time. When it's done washing move it to the drier and as soon as it's dry fold and put it away! I have always been good about folding it right out of the drier. I do not like to iron or steam stuff. If I take it right from the drier it is very unlikely I have to iron or steam things.

5) I have a large closet that is FULL of clothes. When I worked I always wanted TONS of options. After I lost weight I bought a lot of clothes. It was soooo nice to be able to just go into any store and buy clothes. This was a new exciting thing for me. Now I stay home and I wear jeans almost every day. I have been going through my closet and getting rid of stuff. Stuff I know I don't even like, doesn't fit right and stuff I am just over. I have gotten rid of a TON of stuff.

I turned all my hangers around with all my shirts. When I wear one of them I put the hanger back in the correct way. It has helped me wear stuff I don't always wear. It is also helping me to see things I probably won't ever wear again. I want to give it a good 6 months before I decide on things. With the different seasons I can't get rid of short sleeve shirts in the winter.

When I have less clothes it is easier to get dressed. There is less stuff distracting me as to what to wear. I also sort all my clothes by colors. All my tshirts are in one section, all my button up or dressier tops in another section and my cardigans in one section. I keep everything sorted.

I am not including my dresses or skirts in the backward hanger challenge. I only wear them when it's warm. I have so few that I don't feel I need to get rid of any right now. I have gotten rid of a TON of dresses and skirts lately. Stuff that I wore to business meetings at work. Thing I don't see myself wearing. Even if I went back to work I would need to update somethings.

Happy Friday!

I recently saw this on social media. I love it! It is so true! We need to be kinder to ourselves. I hope you gave yourself some love this week! Get some rest, work out, drink plenty of water and have lots of fun! Enjoy your weekend.

Back to the Grind

Back to work we go....G sums up exactly how I feel noooooo. 

He is all about climbing in things these days. This picture was taken right before nap time, so he was upset. Getting into things is fun, but climbing out is another story. He would much rather play under his exersaucer than on top of it with the toys. 

Happy Mother's Day

Motherhood is better than I ever dreamed it would be. It is a struggle at times.....some days you find yourself wresting an 18 pound baby alligator with poop all over his butt flipping over all while trying not to get poop on anything to cause more laundry. Or the day you turn around to grab meat in the grocery store to see him chewing on the sales ad and you have to pull pieces out of his mouth h...oping your not giving him bacteria....the struggle is real...Where he got the sales ad I have no idea. 

Then there are times he sneezes while eating avocado and there is green stuff everywhere....everyone cracks up laughing. How about his first bite of yogurt with the most sour expression lol 

Hearing him laughing hysterically chasing the dog around the house or not letting the dog off the couch. The mornings you walk in his room greeted by the biggest smile, grabs your neck and plants a big kiss on your cheek. These are the moment you wait a lifetime for and remember for a lifetime. 

Happy Mother's Day!

Saturday of First

On Saturday we took little George to the farmers market for the first time. He was so impressed he slept through the entire trip. He then proceeded to sleep for 2 hours while we went to Lowes and Target. We were able to go quickly and get lots done. I couldn't believe he slept getting moved in and out of the car numerous times. 

I love going to the farmers market to buy lots of yummy veggies. We bought some salmon too. We had it on Sunday. Boy was it yummy!!!  I put a mixture of mayo and oyster sauce along with mushrooms over the top of the salmon. Super delish! 

Wordless Wednesday

A Sunday with Kaleb.

Arrive at 5:30am

Snuggle up to Mimi and go back to sleep until 8 or 9am

This is one of my favorite time of the day. The snuggles and extra sleep!

 

 

Get up to eat breakfast

 

Get dressed for church

 

How adorable is the little preacher boy?

 

Mimi & Kaleb get ready to head to church

 

church time

 

Come home, eat lunch, play with Sammy

 

Play with new toys

 

Take his car out for a drive

 

Even Superman needs a nap!

Recent Haul

Here are my purchases from last weekend. I found some good deals. My budget was to stay under $100. I love stacking coupons on top of sales. Target is really good because I can use a coupon, Cartwheel, Target card all for additional discounts. 

Gilligan & O'Malley Sleep Shirt

I have been watching this sleep shirt for months. I really wanted it, but I didn't want to pay full price. It has gone on sale a couple times, but I wanted a bargain. I ended up getting it in the store for $8. 

Target

The porcupine sweater was on sale for $18.99, 15% off with Target Cartwheel, 

plus an additional 5% with my Target debit card

Banana Republic

I plan to wear the royal & navy sweater with burgundy pants. 

I also bought a color block cardigan from Banana Republic that is royal blue and lime green. At Gap I bought a boyfriend button down that has green bicycles all over it for $8 bucks. 

I also bought a few items from NY & Company:

navy ankle pants

wrap bracelet

mint ballet flats

I feel most of the stores are in between seasons. Old Navy didn't have any fall items. It way almost like a mismatch of different things at the mall. 

All American Hunk

The little man came to visit Grandpa and Mimi last Saturday. He was so happy and was giggling away most of the day. He has realized when he comes to Grandpa and Mimi house nap time shouldn't happened because there is way too much excitement going on. 

I need to make him a tshirt that says Mimi is the best, but this one will do for now. =)

He lets these glasses stay on his face for about 10 seconds then he is grabbing at them. He gets very excited when I put sunglasses on him. His arms start flying around, kicking his feet and then he grabs them. 

Kaleb is now 6 months old. He is starting to sit up, ticklish, laughs, rolls all over, eats food, babbles, first tooth has poked in and tries to sing. He was singing to the tv on Saturday. It was SUPER cute! Typical little kid he likes to do things until I pull out the phone to record him. lol

Happy Saturday!

We are enjoying our Saturday with the grandson. Lots of giggles and snuggles! 

HCG Diet Update

I started the HCG diet 14 days ago. As of yesterday (day 13) I was down 14.5 pounds. I have finally lost all the weight I gained since surgery. I can't even tell you how fabulous it feels to finally be down to where I started and for my clothes to fit again. My clothes have been fitting, but they were tight. My skirts were tight across my stomach which hiked them up. Those 14 pounds sure make a big difference. Finally one thing is back to normal. The rest of my body is a long ways from getting back to where it use to be, but at least my weight is under control. My goal is to lose another 8 pounds. Hopefully I will be able to do that in the next 7 days. 

Last weekend I went to Costco to buy some new sunglasses. Costco now accepts VSP, so I was able to use my VSP benefits. Why is it as soon as I found a pair and checked out the sales people start bringing out new styles. They had a super cute pair with a bow. Next round I am getting the bow pair. 

In the picture below you can see my scar. I have been putting vitamin E on it each night and rubbing the scar in a circular motion. Around the scar use to be all raised and half of that is gone. The skin is smooth and is fading a little. I have been very diligent with making sure my scar is always covered when I am outside. I have been wearing a scarf 98% of the time. The other 2% I have used my hair to cover my scar when I am outside. I have decided not to cut my hair. I need to keep it long, so it will cover my scar until it fades. 

T-shirt & Cardigan: The Loft

Skirt: NY & CO

Shoes: Sears

Necklace: Etsy

Sunnies: Costco

Last weekend Amber and Marcus got married. I am still trying to recover from my crazy week. I should return to blogging regularly next week. Here are a few pictures from the wedding. It was a beautiful day. 

 

 

The grandson and me matched! It wasn't planned either.

 

 

Makers Fair Part 2

More pictures from the crazy Makers Fair.

Perkins trying on a new hat!

Makers Fair Part 1

This past weekend Art, Dan & me went to the Maker's Fair. I was looking forward to lots of DIY crafts or stuff for the house. This was nothing what I expected.  There were robots of all sorts, large bikes, solar everything, freaky looking people and green DIY stuff. 

Weekend Fun!

Saturday Art woke up and said look on Craigslist for some garage sales. I flew out of bed and started looking. I found 6 of them, got ready and started hounding him to get ready. He was taking his time....I informed him he can't torcher me like this and we must get a move on. The first one we went to they were selling everything for $.25. It was like Black Friday....the place was packed and everything was gone.

By the end of the day we had visited 15+ garage sales and ended up with the following. Magazine rack $3 - all silver and really heavy duty, 2 picture frames - $.50 each, 1 candle holder $.25 and 2 end table/night stands for $1. I was looking for some end table and wasn't having any luck. Mostly people wanted too much money for stuff. We drove by one house and all I see are porcelain dolls....I almost told Art to keep going because I was honestly scared. A picture frame caught my eye, so I asked him to stop. Eyes are rolling because I mentioned "picture frame".....but he stops. Art feels we have TOO many picture frames that I have been collecting. The frames will all be used once we move into the house!!!!

I get out of the truck and ask the lady how much for the picture frame. She is sitting in a wheel chair and I honestly thought she couldn't walk. She scared me half to death when she stood up and said $.50. Then I asked how much for the tables...She said if you take both I only want a $1. SOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She waves Art over and said bring the truck we need to load these things. LOL I was cracking up. Art shook his head and said what are you planning to do with these.....just you wait dear. :) These lovely garage sale ladies informed me they had just sold a large box of thread for $6. I asked them why they were torchering me.....man I wish I could have gotten all that thread.

We came home and started packing! We have the majority of the house packed up. We just have the clothes we need, bathroom essentials, and the entire kitchen to pack. We packed a ton this weekend plus organized the garage. The garage is completely packed and ready to go. I just can't wait to get in that house and start decorating. I have bought some AWESOME things over the past few months. I have my spray paint ready!!!! Be ready for multiple posts on decor. :)

We had a nice weekend, got some sun, packed the apartment, went to garage sales, drop off junk at the thrift store, picked up a few items at the thrift store, and did some relaxing.