You Are My Sunshine

Here I am slacking on blog posts again.  I’ll just have to stop saying I’m going to do better about that and then maybe I will actually do better!  So here’s a quick recap!

I finally tried overnight oats.  Lemma tell ya – those thing are REALLY good and ridiculously easy to throw together.  I was skeptical and that’s why I was hesitant to try.  But now I’m hooked.  And they do a great job of keeping my belly full until snack time!

Buggy and I trekked to Ohio for my birthday.  A normal 7 hour drive took 9.  We had a detour crossing into West Virginia that took us into the back woods and was not quick.  And it snowed.  A lot.  Then Buggy did so well the whole trip with potty breaks for the last leg of the trip we had to make 3 stops.  So after 9 hours we finally made it.  Now this trip’s main goal was to clean up my mom’s basement.  We had thrown so much crap down there when we all moved in it was sheer ridiculousness the amount of stuff down there.  I’m serious – this room was a borderline hoarder’s situation.  Take a look.  I tried the panorama app for the before pictures so you can see the crap build up but it’s a little mushed.

{this should sum up the car ride}

{se.  i told you.  brderline hoarder’s up in here - and you can't even see it all from these pictures!}

We worked very hard and took several car loads full to Goodwill and several car loads full to the recycle center - apparently the basement was a cardboard box collection. 

{do you see me?!?}

Ok now for the after pics.  I totally forget to take some so I had my sister take some and she didn't use the panorama.  But you get the idea.

{looking good!}

Now here are some of the goodies we found while cleaning this place up!! 

{michelle and meredith.  probably sometime in 1986}

{the morning of Mum Day at Hoban after the senior lock in - me, juile, mel}

{i have no idea when this is from - me, maria, mel}

{this is what Akron Chidren's Hospital gives you after you've had eye surgery for the umpteenth time - poor, poor pitiful me}

{St. Patrick's Day 2004 - me, tracey, mel}

{NYE 2003 i think - at 69 Taps with my bestie}

{senior prom at Archbishop Hoban year 2000 - mel, me, julie}

{YSU college days.  not sure of the year on this - maybe 2002?? - me, brenda, rachel}

And when we weren't cleaning the basement or reminiscing we did get to have some fun!

{Buggy with her cousin's Benji and Makayla}

{Buggy and all the boy cousins - (Makayla had to leave) - Lucas, Bug, Jacob, Elijah, Benji, Nicholas, Alex}

{stopped in at uncle dwyane and aunt heather's (and apollo's) to bring them baby lovelies - can't wait to meet this little baby!! i ove the apolo nose photo bomb in this one, oh and the look on Buggy's face!} 

{Buggy in front of her addiction}

{and being fabulous in her new outfit from Aunt Mere and new boots from Pappy & Gigi}

{birthday cakes!!!}

{hanging with the Dokowski cousins - this has trouble written all over it!}

And then there was Easter.

{the bunny paid a visit}

{this kept her attention for a very long time - more of these in our future}

{just playing around in the short time frame when the sun was out that day}

{all ready for church}

We got to see Sophia and Deondra for dinner this past week.  Haven't seen them since February for Soph's birthday.  We love some girl gab time and these 2 sweet faces make a rough day at work just melt away!

{future is so bright they just gotta wear shades}

And then Buggy woke up with a fever on Wednesday morning.  She's had a wicked cough but the fever was pretty much unaccompanied by any other symptoms.  So she had to stay home from school.  She was fine most of the day - even got herself ready looking mighty f.a.n.t.a.s.t.i.c!

{she's got the look}

And I think that is the update.  Mosty picture because well you know how I am!

Happy Weekend Y'all!

Snack Attack - Fruit Salsa & Cinnamon/Sugar Chips

A while back I made some homemade cinnamon sugar chips and fruit salsa and was requested to make it again for a birthday party.  I had forgotten how easy and fairly healthy the fruit and chips were.  So I thought I'd take a minute and share the recipe for this delicious (and healthy) snack.  

What you'll need:

Fruit Salsa & Cinnamon/Sugar Chips

Fruit of your choice (I usually use strawberries, kiwi, apple and pineapple)

Tortillas (any will do plain, wheat, brown rice)

Cinnamon/Sugar mix (i do more cinnamon than sugar but you can make them to your desired taste)

EVOO (extra virgin olive oil - you could also use vegetable oil or butter but that would take a bit away from the healthiness aspect!)

{great tools - sugar shaker from Pampered Chef and a spray bottle - mine came from Sur La Table on clearance - just mix water and EVOO and BAM! homemade Pam (and on another note - I've been using this homemade Pam for awhile now and I L.O.V.E it.  I even use it on pans when i do a cake and the cakes come out flawlessly from the pan, you can find the recipe for it here.  You have NO reason not to use this, save some money and some not so great stuff from going into your body, win-win)}

Cut up your fruit and mix it all together in a large bowl - some recipes say to add jam or sugar but really why?  The fruit juice is sweetness enough.  Add a sprinkle of cinnamon to coat the fruit.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Spray baking pans with  your new awesome homemade cooking spray.  Stack tortillas about 4 high and cut into triangles.  Do whatever size fits your needs.  Lay the tortilla triangles on the baking sheet and spray with more of the homemade cooking spray.  Sprinkle cinnamon/sugar mixture over the triangles.  Bake for 5-7 minutes.  Let cool for a few minute - the chips will get crispier as they cool.  and enjoy! A delicious and good for you snack.

{any fruit will do}

And for a not so healthy snack you could always eat a cupcake!  Last weekend I made some Lucky Charms cupcakes with marshmallow butter cream for St. Patty's Day.  They obviously didn't make it to St. Patty's day but... 

{they're magically delicious}

Bug News:

We have a writer!  She's been doing extremely well writing the letter 'E' - and picking it out everywhere!  But tonight she sat down and wrote out her whole name.  Just out of the blue she knows how.  Never ceases to amaze me.

{growing up so fast}

And that is that.

Time for a Humor Break

{pretty much sums it up!}

At the purchasing conference last week one of the speakers did a presentation about the importance of humor in the workplace.  I definetly agree and since hearing him talk about the positive effects of laughter I'm trying very hard to incorporate humor into my daily life - espeically at times when things are just down right rotten and ridiculously crazy at work.  Thank you to the Pinterest humor section for most of my chuckles!  I think it's also important to find the humor in all things (and I know easier said than done, but it's always worth a try!)  Life can be hard sometimes but maybe if we try and laugh a little bit more those hard times don't have to be quite so serious.  So check out this video starring a cow and my own little Bug for some 'I cried it's so funny' humor.  

{a cow, Bug and an oblivious Mommy}

Listen carefully.  Did you hear it??  Yea, and now you're laughing right??  Come on I KNOW you are!!  I'm not sure what the best part of this video is - that the whole time you're looking at a cow, sweet little Bug and her 'toot' or the fact that I didn't even realize she was 'tooting' until we got home and watched the video. But she does say 'excuse me' so she IS learning her manners!  I was all about that cow! Bahahahaha!

My coworkers and I are also pretty darn obsessed with this right here.  Not the video so much - just saying 'ain't nobody got time for that.'  It NEVER gets old! 

{great stuff right there.  and she says pop - hello!} 

**DISCLAIMER - EXPLICIT LANGUAGE**

(the clean version doesn't have a video, and that my friends is the best part)

{Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Thrift Shop}

And how about this new song out - 'Thrift Shop?'  Yea it's pretty darn great.  And since my co-worker happens to be the thrift store queen you can imagine this song has made it into our daily doses of humor!  Come on - there are just so many gosh darn funny things about this video!!!  You know you can't find anything wrong! 

Happy Friday!

An Unintentional Blogging Hiatus

Wow.  Over a month with no blog.  Not sure what happened aside from life.  And yea life has been crazy.  I.AM.BACK!  Now here's to hoping that I can stay back.  No more blogging lagging!!

As I sit here now to write about all the mad crazy hecticness that has been the last month or so (and that will continue until early May) I can't think of a single thing that happened.  Ok.  Here they are

Sophia's birthday party & girly sleepover.

Mel in from NYC.

Purchasing conference in Greenville, NC.

So. Doesn't seem like that much huh?  Well when you throw in a few sicknesses in there it kicked my butt.  And I've got 2 more things on the agenda before there are no plans in site.

Ohio for the weekend with my Bug.

Purchasing Into class in Chapel Hill.

Then there will be peace.

I also had to totally restore my phone.  Apparently having an addiction to photo apps took it's toll on my little phone.  So here are a few pictures I salvaged from the restore.

{Sophia's birthday!!}

 

 

{Buggy just being cute before school}

{Mel & I got to go out for a bit - and of course Buggy wanted in on the posing!}

{CAGP Conference in Greenville, NC - Me, Patty, Josh, Tracey -the City of High Point Purchasing Team}

{a new obsession, thank you Walgreen's}

{Bug and Lilly giving Ella loves}

{three sweet, adorable blondies! <3 these little ladies}

On another note - I'm doing another clean eating 30.  Not a whole 30, just cleaner eating.  No bread, no sugar, no pop.  I'm on day 2.  and yea I want some chocolate!!  But I'll get through it.  Thank goodness for Lara bars!



And it begins...

The Bug has a boyfriend.  This past weekend she started talking about Leo.  Leo this and Leo that.  So I asked her some more about Leo.  She said 'he's my boyfriend.'  Oh.my.  Here we go.  Then a few days ago when I dropped her off Ms. Julie her teacher pulled me aside to let me know that she has a boyfriend.  I of course said 'Leo?' and she confirmed.  She told me they spend most of the day together and are always holding hands.  Sweet? Cute? I suppose so. and also scary - gives me a small glimpse of what is to come and frankly I'm concerned at my ability to handle the Bug and her boyfriends!  Yesterday when I picked her up I saw her with a boy 'canoodling' at a table.  And when I say canoodling I mean they were shoulder to shoulder working on something together and the boy said something and Bug looked at him and got a big 'ol cheesey grin on her face. I said 'is this Leo?' and he replied, not shy at all, 'I AM LEO.'  Ah, young adoration.  So sweet, and so daggone scary! 

This is the most pressing news to share. And it's Friday.  Yippee ya-hoo to that!