52 Week Gratitude Challenge

I want to blog more. 

Simple right?

No.

I'm exhausted right now. Mentally and physically. But blogging makes me feel better. It makes me centered. It makes me focus on what happened in my day or it helps me work through something that annoyed me recently. 

I was going to follow this gratitude challenge, but I just realized that is super boring to read. It's not really my goal to bore people who actually read my random thoughts. 

I did pin some blogging inspiration today. I'm sure a lot of those suck too. Do you really want my "Best Soup Recipe?"

No. If you want to see the food I like, please visit my Pinterest page. 

Do you really want to know the meaning behind my Tumblr name? 

No. I barely know what Tumblr is and if I had it I'm sure my username would be psutter. If you can't figure out the deep meaning behind that well....

Do you really want to know what I do when I'm home alone? 

I'm sure you do. But it wouldn't be a whole post. I lay in bed and watch tv...or I sleep. I lead a pretty exciting life. Do you know the last time I was home alone? It may have literally been about 6 hours before my water broke. I am now that mom that goes to Target alone and enjoys every friggin minute of it. 

Do you really want me to bullet my whole day?

No. Well, I mean maybe? but you can just check my Facebook for that. I don't need to blog about it. 

Do you really care what is in my purse?

Unless we are playing a game at a baby shower I don't care either. But if you get bonus points for a diaper, wipes, Target receipt, coupons, 5 colored pens, a planner, notebook, giantaic wallet, and gum wrappers well then shit....I win. 

Wanna know what I crave a lot?

Oreos. Blog done.

So anyways...my point is that a majority of the blog post challenges I have found are dumb. I guess I will just keep opening my laptop and write whatever comes flows out of my fingers. 

Mawwage.

"Mawwage. Mawwage is what bwings us together today"

Name that movie.

It's easy.

"Mawidge is a dweam wiffin a dweam. The dweam of wuv wapped wiffin the gweater dweam of everwasting west. Eternity is our fwiend, wemember that, and wuv wiw fowwow you fowever.” 


In addition to my New Year's Resolution of saving money and paying off debt I decided I need to work on my marriage.

We are in no way in trouble. We are totally happy..totally fine.

But have you ever been at work day dreaming...cause I haven't! I'm totally focused every minute on the tasks I need to get done....

But one time, I was daydreaming and I thought "I miss Thane."

I had just seen him the night before..and the night before that..and the 3 nights before that, but I haven't had a real conversation with him in a few days. Just the typical "How was your day?" "Love you" "Parker didn't poop today" conversations. We hadn't cuddled in a while. I missed him.

I'm a person that thrives on touch. I like to hold his hand. I like to hug him..blah blah. When I had P that was one of the things that really threw me. I wasn't able to sleep next to Thane for probably over a month. Between being in the hospital bed and having to sleep on the couch because I couldn't lay in our bed without screaming in pain I didn't get to lay next to him. I sleep better when I get to push him out of the bed. 

We kinda sleep like this...

So anyways, my resolution. 

I decided that we need a date night every week. 

A date night that doesn't cost us any money and doesn't require us to leave our house...and doesn't require me to put on real pants or wear a bra. 

Don't be all like "Woaaahhh Pam. TMI." Don't act like you like your bra. 

So I have made Wednesday night our date night. It consists of coming home, getting the bare minimum done, hanging out with Parker. Then when we put P down it's Date Night!

We crawl in bed............and watch Netflix!

 Yaaaaaaaaaaaa baby! Well, unless we really need to catch up on our DVR..then we watch that. 

It may not be anything huge, but I look forward to it.

I know its time that I get to put my cold ass feet on his legs and hear him complain. It's a time that I get to yell at him when he moves and pulls the blankets off me just a little bit which upsets the balance of blanket pressure. It's a time where I get to lay next to him and pretend I didn't just fall asleep for the the last 10 minutes of NCIS. It's a time where I get to zone out and be next to my husband... and sometimes we even have a real conversation!!

Our marriage is just fine, but I like to put a little more effort in on Wednesdays. Now that I'm rereading it....it doesn't' really seem like we are putting any effort in on Wednesdays..it seems we are just being lazy. But we are being lazy together. That is what keeps a marriage strong.

Until Aaron Rodgers shows up. 

Parker is Officially 2!

It's not official until you have the birthday party. 

Thane asked me why I cared so much about everything being perfect for the party..well duh honey, your kid only turns 2 and 13 days once! 

Parker is in love with trucks. All kinds of trucks. Anything with wheels really. So this year we did a construction themed birthday. It was awesome. 

I got most of the decorations from an ETSY seller in a download for like $12. Which was a great way to go because I could personalize a lot of them. This came in really handy at noon the day of his party when I decided that I didn't have enough signs hanging around the house. 

I got plastic hardhats, cool construction balloons and CAUTION tape from Amazon for under $20. Win!

I put the food in dump trucks, what I could at least. I tried to put the Dirt in a dump truck with no tailgate....it was almost a disaster until my sister helped me tape a plate to the back. didn't look pretty..but you gotta do what you gotta do when your vision doesn't work out. 

My favorite part was the construction site. I was just going to use a wrapping paper tupperware bin we have, but when I went to get it I realized it wasn't big enough to be what I wanted. I was scanning our basement for something I could use when I saw a spindle from our deck laying under the coffee table. Why was it there? No idea, but I'm guessing it was laying there waiting to give me inspiration. Lucky for Thane.

I ran out to the garage and got 8 of them and brought them back in for him to drill. He was a little confused and annoyed that I didn't ask him about 30 minutes earlier when he had his tools in the house. I informed him that creativity doesn't work that way.  It just comes to you..it can't be rushed. ;) So he screwed the spindles together for me and Voila! We have a construction site.

I was just going to lay a black table cloth down and put some rice down. I'm glad I didn't do that. I did however buy a 25# bag of rice that I now have no need for. So that's cool. 

I knew that bag wouldn't be enough for how big the site was, so I went to Menards to get some gravel. It was $3 a bag! So I got 2. When it came to pouring it in, I didn't think a cheap plastic table cloth would be enough, so I put some towels down first. Thank God I did because now there are holes in said table cloth. Not that we don't have gravel everywhere else in the playroom..so it really didn't save us that much mess. 

It looks so innocent. 

This morning it looked like this. 

We may have pea gravel all over our house right now...but it is worth it. P loved it. He played in it almost the entire party. Which if you have or have ever had a 2 year old, you know that if they spend more than 15 minutes doing the same activity it's a God send. 

His cake turned out perfect! It matched my Pinterest vision to a tee. :) 

Pinterest version...

My version. Thank god for Pinterest! 

I just got a cake from COSTCO and then decorated it myself. I had some small trucks, but they were kind of big. On a whim I stopped at Target Friday to see if they had anything that would fit better and of course they did! $5 for 5 or 6 CAT vehicles. Sounds good to me! 

P had a great birthday. Everyone was so generous with gifts. He got the coolest stuff. We should probably put his playroom back together so he can play with it all! Thank you everyone who came! We love you! 

Where Can't You Go

because you'll see an ex?

I was listening to the radio the other morning and they asked this question...along with like 30 other ones..right in a row. It was really strange.

Why are you asking all these questions that could have great answers and not letting your callers call in? Clearly I missed something vital to their discussion. Anyways, they asked, "Where can't you go because you know you'll see an ex there?"

My instant response was "Richland Center" and then I laughed.

Yes. I like to avoid Richland Center all together. I only "dated" two guys from there I think...but man would it be awkward to run into them.

I know it was like 10 years ago...but still. I feel like every time I go to Walmart with my mom I am on high alert. Scanning the crowd like I'm an FBI agent or something. Getting ready to full body dodge into an aisle and pull her with me. Yes mom....I wouldn't leave you alone in that awkwardness....even though you never met these guys.

If I had Thane with me though...I would loop arms with him and proudly walk by. I might even smile and say hi. My husband is super hot. I'd be all like, :Oh hey! How have you been the past 10 years? I got fat, but have you met my uber hot husband? Isn't his beard sexy?" Ya....I would. 

Whenever I think about this stuff it makes me even more thankful for Thane. I can't even imagine where I would be in life if I hadn't met him. Which never would have happened ..because we were supposed to meet each other.

The fact that he came into my life a week after I swore off pointless "relationships"...and not the night 2 weeks before that we had talked on the phone for like 45 seconds...is amazing to me. He came into my life when I was at my strongest, when I felt that I didn't have to settle. He was exactly who I needed in my life I just had to wait until it was the right time for him to be in my life. 

I just tried to find the blog of how we met...I have a LOT of posts. Couldn't find it. You should go back and read some...they are all pretty good. :) 

I love hearing how people met. Our story fits us perfectly.

So I found this...and found it hilarious because of a story a friend just told me.....

It's a Train Damnit.

So. Parker's birthday is tomorrow. He is turning 2.

TWO.

I don't really understand how we got here so fast. I'm not sure I like it.

But anyways. We aren't having a party until later this month for a few reasons, but one main one is that I want to spend the day with him. I don't want to share him with anyone but Thane. :)

We are going to go to the Children's Museum and maybe the Toy Show. Nap and Packer game allowing.

So I went to Wal-Mart and bought this:

yummy. Simple. Pisbury Dough Boy- you can't go wrong with him. It's just a simple cake because it will just be us 3 eating it. He will have a cool one for his party...I hope. 

So I turn the box over to see what I need. Thank God we actually have eggs for once. I would have been really annoyed if I had just eaten the last of them for breakfast and Thane's phone is dead so I can't call him to go get some at the gas station for like $6/dozen. (I wish I was exaggerating) #smalltownliving. So then I get to this part:

Hmm..so many options. I was just going to use a 9x13 pan, but hell...let's do a bundt pan! K..where the hell is my bundt pan? Believe it or not...I haven't used it since we moved in. So I take a guess as to which are of the kitchen it will be in and I start digging. I stuble upon my bread pans and think, "wait a minute....I should make P a train cake! He would love that!"

Then I think, "Really Pam? A train cake? You only bought one mix...and you don't make cakes like that." So off to Pinterest I went. 15 minutes later I think I found something I can make....

I mean, this kid looks pumped...P will be too! I look at the directions. I think I may be able to pull this one off...buuuuuuuuuuuuuut I only have one cake mix. So, he will just have the train! Next, you need mini loaf pans. Ya...don't have those. So Let's hope this works. 

I mix it all up, pour it in two bread pans and hope for the best. 

The glass one has way less batter in it. My idea is use that one to make the cab of the train. I may have to cut it up and stack it.

I'm getting more nervous about this looking like a train. 

At least I have the Oreos for the wheels...if I stop eating them while I type that is. 

So, it's 10:30 and I still have a cake to assemble. Thankfully I have Thane and Grace here to keep me not bitchy and I got to work. 

Now to make the train. First I did this...and I didn't like it. 

 Then I did this...and it was ok? but not quite right...

then Thane came over and turned the short piece of cake...and VOILA! Thomas was born. 

 then I realized that I probably don't have enough frosting, but I'm in luck because I do have an extra can in the pantry. It's from Valentines day, but I was crossing my fingers it wasn't pink. 

Awesome. 

Then I realized I could just use the pink to put the pieces together and you would never see it. I'm a friggin genius. 

So I made some blue for Thomas and got to creating......

I'd say it's pretty close!!

I think he even knew who it was supposed to be!! He gasped when he saw it :) 

PMS Junction

So, I work with like 800 other women. 

Ok..that may be exaggerating..it only feels like that sometimes. In reality its about 50? women and like 6 men. 8 if you count the IT guys. 

I am not sure how we don't all pms at the same time. I see many of them almost more than I see my husband, you'd think we'd all be nuts the same week every month. That whole syncing thing...its real people. 

They all seem to be able to handle their mood swings just fine. I don't ever hear an annoyed tone in their voice. Maybe I'm the only one with mood swings? I mean, I am a pretty emotional person as it is...so why wouldn't I have crazy swings? If we ever have a girl, I should probably just stay away from other humans. Extra estrogen? Awesome. 

Last month I was so crazy I started to cry and Thane had had enough of my day and my stomping around and goes "WHAT is wrong!?" "I doonnn't knoooooooooooooow!" 

No. I'm not pregnant. Seriously. Just crazy hormonal apparently. Oiy. 

I wear my emotions on my face in general. 

The biggest compliment a coworker once gave me was that she knew inside I was fuming, beyond fuming..about to lose it, but she said she couldn't tell. I kept my cool on the outside while inside I was throwing snarky comment after snarky comment. I'm pretty proud of that moment. Maybe I am making baby steps towards becoming a more rational thinker/reactor? Slowly I'm becoming a real grown up!

 I am an emotional thinker. This is important to know if you work with me...or if you are within like 30 feet of me. 

If I'm stressed out..give me time. Don't throw things at me. 

If you make me mad...walk away before I lash out. I tend to say..no snap..something and then think obsess about it later. 

If you change my plans last minute...tell me and then walk away and let me process them. These tips will make us get along better. 

I am almost 30. Ohmygod..I just typed that. Sigh..I AM 30. I should have this shit under control by now.

So anyways, fair warning for tomorrow. I'm in bitch mode. I can't help it. 

I'm not pregnant Lindsay. 

S50 to last....

for two weeks.

I posted that Thane and I are each getting $50 every two weeks to spend on whatever we want.

So today, 2 days after I got my $50...I have $24 $23 left. I forgot I got a Dt Pepsi today.

Thane....well he has $49.

He is going to have such an easier time with this than me.

Although, this budget saved us money and me calories today!

 I went to the gas station on the way to get Parker and I hadn't had breakfast or lunch yet so I was drawn to the deli area. I looked at all the sandwiches and thought, "2.99? I need to print like 6 pictures and buy cardstock yet...I think I'll pass."

Sadly, I didn't think "$2.99 or 299 calories?" That should be my mentality..buuuut it's not.  Yet.

I should really get back on track with that though. Starting with ya know...digging my gym bag out of my closet before I go to bed. I'm kind of wrapped up in the Ghost Whisperer though...

Resolution 2015

It's that time of year again. 

Resolutions. 

How can I make myself a better person? How can I make this the best year yet? What can I do to make my family's life better?

So here it is: Take control of our finances and own them. Don't let them own us. AND pay off a student loan. Just one of them. Just one. 

I am so sick of being stressed out because I don't know where all our money goes. and then Thane is all like..Have you SEEN our account?!?! Ugggh. Yes dear I have. Don't remind me. 

I'm sick of that. 

This is the 3rd time I have tried to figure our money life out...and I think I finally got it. 

The other night I stayed up til 1:30. Yes...1:30, but that is because it took 2 hours to put Parker down. Anyways, I stayed up til 1:30 figuring out our financial life and making our Family Budget Binder. 

It sucked.

I looked up ALL my loans. That sucked.

I wrote down all our bill on a calendar and when they are due. That sucked.

I wrote down our pay days and how much we roughly make. That sucked. 

I discovered that all we need to do to get in control of our bill is....win the lottery. 

Then I stopped daydreaming and found a handy sheet off of Pinterest to keep track of all our money in each account. We have a few accounts, and money in each for several different things. I had been keeping track of deposits on a piece of notebook paper, but if you know me...that was super annoying and not pretty enough. So I paid $2 to download this:

I'm sure you could easily make this, and not pay $2, but at 12:45am I didn't want to. If you like this you can find it here: Bill Tracker

I also decided that I need to keep track of our doctor visit bill this year so when it comes time to do my FLEX spending for next year I have a better idea of what we spend. So I found this:

Which you can find here: Dr Visits

I then dug through all my college crap resources and found some old binder dividers and set up my binder. I love binders. They make me happy.

I think I will put us on an allowance. $50 every 2 weeks. I haven't run that one by Thane yet. I'm sure he will be thrilled. 

So I know it's just a binder full of our bills...and I haven't actually set a budget yet...but it's a start! and it's only the 1st. Geesh...

Maybe I will try to read a book this year too. That seems like a good idea.....