Adventures in Home Ownership

This Christmas will mark year 2 of us being in this house that we decided was perfect enough to buy an make our own. Oh so many things I have learned while living here. Let's first take a moment to remember that we only saw this house in the winter, so we had NO idea what we were getting ourselves into...

• Grapes: EVERYWHERE! While the initial finding of the grape vine was exciting, I now loathe them! Grape vine grows like crazy and attacks absolutely anything and everything near it. Then you get it all under control and you have a whole trellis of beautiful Concord grapes and you go out to pick them to realize that the birds have ate ALL the grapes!! I didn't even know birds ate grapes!! 
• Ground Hogs: We have a groundhog. Maybe we have a groundhog family...I can't be sure. They are leaving HUGE holes all over the yard. We fill them in and it digs it back out. This guy is even collecting apples out of the yard and stock piling in his hole! We are in desperate need of a live trap. Anyone have one laying around?!? 
• Weeds. Whoever lived here prior to us was either retired, a stay at home mom, or seriously had no life. We have a ton of beautiful flower beds that I can't stand the idea of destroying, but I also can't keep up with the weeds! I get one flower bed looking beautiful and by the time I finish the next  the first is out of control again! 
• Plumbers: Our main sewer needed to be snaked a couple weeks ago because it was starting to back up into the house. The first person told us it would be a minimum of $300 for the first hour. I panicked. The next told me $90 an hour. Lesson learned....call around and don't loose that dudes number! 
• Tiles: Our kitchen has beautiful tile counter tops that I love dearly, but the pieces in the front have been falling off randomly for over a year. I surely haven't put them back up yet. I really want to, but how do you do that with kids running around the house who can't help themselves but to touch the wet tiles?!?!

Well there went a month...

I always start this blogging adventure strong and then POOF there goes a month, a year, 3 years. Life moves SO crazy fast I cannot keep up! Lets recap ;)

• I started my own business. Last time I checked in I was launching into a make-up and skin care business. I am happy to report it is going SO well! I cannot even begin to describe the blessing it has been in my life. I was unsure if I would be successful, but it is SO much easier than I could have ever imagined! The ladies I'm teamed up with are some phenomenal people and the business works itself! If you haven't ever tried our products or have your eye on something leave me a message and I'll help you get it half off or FREE!!! If you are looking for more month to month income this is a fantastic place to start! It is a business truly made for a busy lady! 
• I went back to teaching. Year 4 at my small little charter school in the 2nd grade. I feel like it's going to be a great year! I have a pretty good class and it is GIRL heavy which is so weird to me because for the past 3 years I've had very boy heavy classes. I can't wait to see them grow!!
• My baby boy (or not so baby  boy) started PRESCHOOL this year! He is going for a half a day 5 days a week. He loves it so much. I was afraid he would have a hard time adjusting since hes never even been to a babysitter, but he is a rock-star! 
• The real baby boy (maybe I have to say toddler now?) is as ornery as ever! He is into everything and the complete opposite of his big brother! 

I am SO happy with this busy little life that I'm leading right now and cannot wait to see where it takes me this year! Hopefully I'll be better about checking in. ;) 

Our Stay-cation

I want to take a minute and stress the importance of spending quality time with your spouse. This is something that comes so easy when you first start dating and at the beginning of your marriage, but once there are full time jobs and kids involved it becomes increasingly difficult. This past weekend my wonderful hubby and I celebrated 6 years of marriage. Months ago we decided we were going to do something for just us. My mom agreed to keep our kids for 2 nights and we booked a mini getaway at Belamere Suites in Perrysburg, Ohio. 

We live at the most 25 minutes away from this location, so it wasn't like we were trekking to a new location or anything, BUT it seriously felt magical. We didn't have to spend half of our time driving which was a huge plus of it being a stay-cation. This could be long and full of a million reasons why it was perfect, but instead here is the quick list! 

• No kids. You aren't even allowed to stay in the room unless you're 21. I love my kids dearly, but it's OK to take a quick break too. 
• No schedule. Sort of goes back to the no kids. No bedtimes, bath times, or lunch times to work around. We did what we wanted when we wanted. 
• Our own pool. Seriously it was fantastic. It was warm, clean, and had surround sound in the room. No yelling kids, no splashing kids. Just peace. 
• Time to talk. We could actually talk and discuss things without having to speak in code or being interrupted 1,000 times! 
• Good food. We went to so many great places and we weren't afraid of trying something new. And again, we could talk while we ate. We weren't entertaining, or directing, or answering a thousand questions, or wishing it was over so we could get out. 
• SLEEP! When was the last time we could BOTH sleep whenever we wanted? Over 4 years ago! 

The room was beautiful, secluded, and clean. The service was wonderful and I would hands down recommend anyone to stay. We felt so relaxed and rejuvenated. It does a marriage good! 

A New Journey

Over the years my husband and I have always done the "what if" game about winning the lotto. What would we do with the money, who would we help etc. Now, we maybe play the lotto (aside from $1 scratch offs...) twice a year. We will never win, but it helps us set goals. It helps us dream, figure out what is truly important in our lives. 

I don't know if I've shared before, but I teach 2nd grade at a charter school. I will NEVER make enough money to support our wildest dreams, but I do make enough to live comfortably and I love what I do.

This weekend I decided to jump headfirst into a personal business. I wanted a chance to make some extra money to help us pay down debt and accomplish some of our smaller goals. The ladies that I'm working with are turning out to be some of the MOST spectacular people! They are empowering and uplifting. They spread happiness in such a dark world. I am so incredibly excited to meet new friends and even more excited to be using products that make me feel good. It has taken me YEARS to be comfortable in my own skin and this is a big part of that new feeling. 

You can check it out online for yourself. https://www.youniqueproducts.com/BVarble 

Fitbit's and Pokemon....

Let's back up about 5 months for a minute. This past February I found myself in the ER on a Saturday morning due to terrible, disabling pain. It was determined that it was gall stones and that I would need to meet with a specialist. They highly suggested a low fat diet in order to cure the pain in the mean time. Well, I'm stubborn, cheap and quite frankly busy. I still haven't met with a specialist. Who has time for surgery?!?! I took serious control of my diet and cut the fats tremendously. It was crazy hard at first because fried food, pizza, and dessert were my favorite things in the world. Since this happened I've lost 25 pounds with out any extra attention to diet or exercise other than watching my fat intake.

Back to July now, yesterday to be exact. My fantastic, great listening husband bought me a Fitbit for my birthday. It was the only thing I wanted. I wanted to be accountable on my lazy days. Maybe I did lay on the couch and read a book while the kids terrorized the house and each other, but at least I got up and moved at some point to counter act the 0 step day. The Fitbit alone was enough to make me want  to start walking around town, but then my dear husband opened another door in life...

...he downloaded Pokemon Go on his phone that morning. I laughed and shook my head. We spent all day together the whole day he was hunting for these silly pokemon guys. I had no interest, I have never gotten into Pokemon in any way nor did I understand what was happening in the game. Then it's 7pm we are at one of our local metroparks walking the trails as part of date night (and searching for water type Pokemon near the pond...) and his phone dies. DIES! Now what?!?! I stop into a restroom any by the time I'm out he's got me logged in and signed up for my own account. I still don't have a clue what I'm doing, but our small circle of family and friends are totally all fired up about it and into hunting down these Pokemon dudes. Today I decide to give a whirl. Seriously addicting!!!! 

Mix the excitement of step counting/ calorie burning from the Fitbit with the quest to find these Poke dudes and I'm loading the kids in the stroller hiking all around town. Now if this isn't a fitness plan that will get me in the best shape of my life, nothing will. 

Stay tuned folks! I see many adventures spawning from this Pokemon madness! 

Black Lives Matter vs. All Lives Matter

Let's start by saying that I don't voice my opinion on heated matters like this often. I rarely talk politics, race, religion etc. I feel so heartbroken though over this debate that I feel completely unsettled.

Black Lives Matter. I truly support this cause. It isn't about saying they are better than any other race or culture. It is about shining light on inequality that still rocks our nation. I have so many thoughts on the subject, but I don't care to argue with people that aren't looking to understand. That is the real issue. People just want to be heard not understood. We need empathy, compassion and respect.

Fruit....so much fruit

When we bought this house in the middle of December nothing was blooming. I could see all of the trees, bushes, flower beds, etc. but what they contained was an absolute mystery. To be honest I didn't even think twice about it. Little did I know we bought ourselves a small fruit farm! We have grapes, strawberries, raspberries, mulberries, and apples. Last summer I had a baby on June 1st, so yard work was not on my radar. We ate the fruit as we found it and did nothing to care for it. This year we have actively tried take better care of our fruit bearing plants. Our strawberries failed us. We tried to spread them out and add a few more plants, but then the "April showers that bring May flowers" never really happened. We also had frost well into May. Needless to say we were not eating strawberries this year.

A couple weeks ago I went out to look at the raspberries and they were completely lost in a sea of random plants and weeds. I quickly decided that if I wanted them to do better than the strawberries I was going to need to dig them out so they could catch some rays. We've gotten a handful here and there, but nothing to be excited about. Imagine my surprise when I went out today to pick a few and found a whole pint waiting for us! I had my trusty 4 year old with me (ok really, he was just snooping to see what the gas company and the back hoe were doing) and we quickly filled a plastic bowl. He wanted to carry it for me, so I obliged. By the time we got back to the porch (we live in the city people this is not a long walk) the bowl was EMPTY! He ate the entire bowl on the walk back to the house. **gasp** I know....we didn't even wash them or anything! Free, fresh morning snack and a happy kiddo. We can mark this one as a win.