Dreaming of a Vacay...

It's still summer {although I've gotten a frightening number of emails telling me to check out the fall fashions and look at new laptop bags and backpacks... shudder! It's only July!} and E and I are still just chilling at home. We've had a busy past couple of weeks - swimming lessons and lots of friends coming into town to visit.

As much fun as we're having right here, I can't help but think how I wish I could take him on a vacation this year!   E has NEVER been to the beach {and admittedly, I haven't been nearly as often as a normal person...}. After getting comfortable in the water at swimming lessons, I know he'd just love it. One place I would absolutely love to take him is Virginia Beach, VA.

E was actually born in VA, and my mom lived there {in Virginia Beach! How lucky is that?!} when she was a young girl, so those are both huge reasons why I'd love to take him back.

Besides personal ties, there are soooo many fun things to do there....

Obviously, the beach. Laying out, letting E dig in the sand with a bucket and pail, seeing him dip his little toes into the water... *sigh* There are tons of beautiful beach areas there {duh! Virginia Beach!} and it would be a great place for him to have his first beachtastic experience.

There's a place there called Grommet Island. I would absolutely LOVE to take E there! It's like a splash pad park.. on.the.beach. How perfect would that be?! We have a splash pad here... but come on. It's in the middle of the desert. It would be way, way better on the beach. Plus? It's completely handicapped accessible.  It would be a great place to hang out with some of our differently-abled friends so everyone could participate!

And speaking of the beach? On the beach... there is a boardwalk. The Virginia Beach Boardwalk. While I'm sure E would love it... this one is more for me. The closest I've ever come to being on a boardwalk? Is at Disney's California Adventure park. Seriously. I have never been on a real beach boardwalk. I imagine it would be kind of like a fair... lots of good tasting/bad-for-you food...{like fried Oreos... YUM}.. games... and even better than the fair... the beach.

I love, love, love seafood, but I rarely ever get to eat it - for one reason, it's super expensive here... and when you can get it, it's well... not all that fresh. In Virginia Beach, there are tons of great seafood restaurants. My personal style would be to go try all the really local places... things you can only get there... but I'm sure there are a lot of chains as well, in case you're in a more stick-to-what-you-like mood. Or if you have picky toddlers and want to stick to what they know. Not that I would know about that or anything ;)

E just loves animals - he's learning a lot of animal noises right now, and even pretends to be a kitty sometimes (I don't know why a kitty... since we have a dog...), so of course we couldn't miss the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center. They of course have lots of water animals, but they also have birds and reptiles. I have a feeling E would loooove the Komodo Dragons.

In Virginia Beach they have a ton, and I mean a ton, of family activities. The one that caught my eye? The Family Great Adventures Series.

"Throughout the summer, families can take part in an interactive adventure along the oceanfront to unravel a mystery. Each adventure ends with a family-friendly movie shown on a giant inflatable screen on the beach! "

How fun is that?! A MOVIE. ON THE BEACH.

There are tons of different choices when it comes to where to stay in Virginia Beach. You can always camp... but I'm not a big camper. I might feel differently on the beach instead of in the woods, but still... if there's no plug for my flatiron, I'll be staying somewhere else thankyouverymuch. I'd much prefer a resort and spa, especially a small one exclusive to the Virginia Beach area. No chains for this lady {of course, on this imaginary vacation, money is no object!} I know lots of people rent vacation homes, and I think that would  definitely be the way to go if you were going with a group. But just for myself and E? Housekeeping and spa services are definitely required.

I'm kind of a history nerd, so I would be super interested in taking one of the historical tours. I'm not sure that it's something I'd do while I had a toddler, but I think when E gets older it would be awesome to see all the military and religious history that is in Virginia Beach!

It won't be happening this year, but Virginia Beach is definitely on my vacation wishlist for summers to come. In 2001, Virginia Beach was ranked #2 in Child Magazine's Top 10 Cities for Families - and after doing a little research, I can see why! There's so much to do there for adults and children... lots of fun with lots of educational value hidden in between :). I can't wait to go... someday!

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Virginia Beach Tourism blogging program, for a gift card worth $40. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

A Day at the Dog Park - #DogCollarCharms

Making our customized dog collar charm inspired me to go to a local park I had heard of - it's the only dog park in town, and I'd never been there. I didn't bring Jack with us this time, since I wasn't sure how it would be. I definitely plan to go back though!

It looks like it was empty but it really wasn't. There is a section for big dogs and a section for little and/or old dogs, and there were some people in each section with their dogs. 

I had brought the Dog Collar Charms that I made with me, and gave the two "My Dog is Cuter Than Your Dog" charms away - one for the big dog and one for the little dog! 

The owners were all very impressed with the photo charm, and were thrilled that they got to keep a charm for themselves! They declined having their photo taken, and didn't want to put the charms on the dogs right away - bummer! I was hoping for some good pictures, but oh well! They were very interested to know where they could get them, and I gave them all the information - I think there might be some Father's Day gifts ordered from DogCollarCharms.com!

This is the envelope the charms came in! They  were delivered so fast and I just loved the sticker on the back - such a personal touch! The customer service is just great! 

I'm so glad I discovered this park - I'm for sure going to take E and Jack there. I know they'll both love the socialization with other dogs, and the owners can all admire Jack's personalized dog charm!

View my #DogCollarCharms ThisMoment story here!

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All opinions are honest and my own! 

E and Jack - #DogCollarCharms

E and our {my parents'} dog have an interesting relationship... definitely of the love/hate variety. E just LOVES Jack - and we've taught him all about being soft to animals, and not pulling on his feet or tail, so he's usually pretty good. Jack basically loves E when he has food - he follows E around and cleans up the inevitable trail of snacks E leaves behind everywhere he goes.

When there isn't food involved... well, that's where the "hate" part comes in. Jack just tolerates all of E's attention, often growling a little bit under his breath. He's sort of old and is used to being the baby of the house, so he's a little jealous of E! That being said, he has never bitten or even snapped at E.. just that grouchy growl.

We love Jack all the same, and I was so excited to make a personalized dog charm for him! It took me forever to decide what picture to use. I *almost* used one of E hugging Jack, but it was sort of a far away picture and I wasn't sure how good it would look. I chose a picture of me and E instead, and it turned out so cute!

Adorable, right?! I think it would make a really cute keychain too.. just saying!

Jack wasn't too thrilled about being a model, but he loved wearing the charm! It's the perfect size, too!

Blurry pic, but this basically sums up their relationship. E trying to love on him, Jack running away!

From the side... Own it! 

The ordering process was so easy. It's just three steps -

Choose your picture and upload, position your picture, and choose your color! So simple! 

We really love it, and I think that I'll be using DogCollarCharms.com often for dog charm gifts. My dad has two labs, and I think that dog collar charms with pictures of his grandkids on them would make a fabulous Father's Day gift! 

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All opinions are honest and my own! 

The Magical Weight Loss Breakfast

So. We all know that I put back on all the weight I had lost during the divorce process thanks to using domperidone to continue breastfeeding. It was worth it, but I definitely felt fat and gross.

Now that I'm done, I'm finally shedding that weight! It's coming off more slowly than I put it on, of course... the law of the universe. Or dieting. Or whatever. But I've lost 15 lbs since I quit pumping on April 18th, and I often get the question, "What are you eating?!"

The answer, my friends, is oatmeal. I'm serious. For some reason, if I make it a habit to eat oatmeal every morning, I lose weight. Not super duper fast or anything, but I definitely notice that when I stop eating oatmeal I stop losing weight.

I'm not really sure why - I don't know if it's the fiber, or just the fact that I'm eating breakfast so I eat less throughout the day, or if it's the teaspoon of cinnamon (no sugar!) that I put in it.. it's rumored to help with stabilizing blood sugar and weight loss.

But who knows. The point is, I love eating oatmeal for breakfast, and it totally works for me.

I usually buy rolled oats, but I've been curious about steel cut oats for a long time. They're supposed to have a lower glycemic index and obviously, they're less processed. But I haven't wanted to go out of my way to the health food store to buy them, so I never have.

Until now! Today, I went to Wal Mart to get some more oatmeal and some things for dinner (pasta with chicken and basil pesto! Yum!) and THEY HAD QUAKER STEEL CUT OATS. I was totally excited and I totally bought them. I know they take longer to make than rolled oats, so I'll have to get some recipes and figure it all out or whatever. But I will, and I will let you know if they are good and if they still help me lose weight. They were more expensive than rolled oats - it's this bitty container that costs like a dollar more than the HUGE rolled oats container so we'll have to see if it's worth it.

I also saw some oatmeal packets that were labeled "Weight Control." I was very curious about these... I kind of rolled my eyes, to be honest... but from what I could glean from the label it looked like they added protein, which is SO awesome. I always worry that I'm not getting enough protein with eating just a bowl of oatmeal. It was flavored, so I thought there would be a ton of extra sugar but there really wasn't. I didn't buy any... mainly because I tend to dislike oatmeal that comes in packets, but I will definitely keep these in mind when school starts up again. It would be really easy to take a packet of oatmeal with me in the morning and make it in the student lounge between classes - the nursing lounge has a microwave!

It seems like there are a lot of new oatmeal products out now.. I was surprised at the variety. Maybe I just beeline for my stand-by regular rolled oats and don't take notice, but this time I did. There is definitely some oatmeal product for everyone! I, personally, really love regular old oatmeal for breakfast - all I put in mine is the cinnamon and it tastes amazing. You just can't do that with cold cereal - the ones that are good are always chock full of sugar, and that is the LAST thing my body needs!!!

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All opinions are honest and my own! I really truly do eat oatmeal almost every day and love it. 

Vintage Pizza Parties

When I was growing up, my parents had "date night" every Friday night. I think they went out to dinner or something, I don't really know, but for us? It was  PIZZA PARTY NIGHT!! 

Sometimes we would order pizza, but most times we would make what we called "little pizzas" - they're those premade buttermilk biscuits that you buy in the refrigerated dough section at the store, with some sauce and whatever toppings we wanted to go on them. Pepperoni, onions, olives, pinapple, barbecue chicken pizza, or macaroni and cheese pizza - anything we could think up! It was fabulously fun when I was like, 8. (Actually I still make them every now and then - it's still pretty fun!)

And with those pizza parties we always got to have soda - usually Coke or Barq's root beer. Normally root beer though, because obviously my parents didn't want to return home to 4 kiddos hopped up on caffeine. Now they have caffeine-free Coke - that would have been the best of both worlds! We never, ever got to drink soda with meals (or anytime, really, unless we were going out to dinner or something) except on date night, so it was a big deal.  

We'd make our little pizzas, hunker down with a glass of Coke or Barq's, and watch TGIF on channel 3? Or 4? I don't remember. But they played Boy Meets World and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Lol! Does anyone else remember that? Just me? We really loved, loved, loved TGIF. 

Those are some of the best memories I have with my siblings. Hanging out at home, being "responsible" enough to be left home alone for an hour or two, and enjoying some of our favorite foods and drinks that my mom was awesome enough to allow us to have in only in moderation. 

Now, my parents still go out on Friday nights :) Even though I'm allowed to have soda whenever I want (I'm an adult after all, and I have a terrible awful addiction to diet soda), it always seems particularly festive on Friday night. I still make pizza for myself, my brother, and now Eli - and I even let Eli take a little sip of the soda. He just loves Barq's root beer -  but he's only allowed to have it on Friday nights! TGIF is no longer on, but we watch other silly, family friendly programming, and it's just a fabulous way to wind up the week and start the weekend. 

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Coca-Cola® blogging program. If I am one of the first 100 blogs received by SocialsMoms, I will receive a $25 gift card. For more information on the program,click here.

Easter Favorites!

I love Easter time. It means that winter is finally over - spring is here. The weather is beautiful - not too hot but not too cold- and all the beautiful flowers are starting to bloom.


I love the candy and the Easter bunny - I remember being so excited waiting for my Easter basket that I couldn't sleep. Somehow I always missed the Easter bunny, as hard as I tried to stay awake - and when I woke in the morning, I couldn't resist taking a peek at what was in my basket before anyone else woke up!


This year, E is old enough that I can start some new traditions! I got him an Easter basket last year, but he didn't really care about it. This year, instead of a basket I got him a shovel and pail, in which I'll put all his Easter goodies! My parents did that, and we always just loved the shovel and pail. We have a sandbox in the play area in our town home complex, and I think he'll have TONS of fun digging in the sand.  I want to do an Easter egg hunt for him in the backyard.. but I'm not sure if he'll "get it." Nothing wrong with trying though, right? I sort of want to dye eggs... I saw an "unspillable" egg dye kit at the store the other day, so maybe I'll try that. But I'm thinking E's still a bit too young!


In addition to all the fun, superficial traditions, since B died, Easter has had an extra special meaning to me. In the Christian faith, Easter is celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. The Christian belief is that everyone will be resurrected someday - and for me, that means I'll see my precious, teeny tiny baby girl again. It's a time of year that is filled with hope and happiness for me. I know that not everyone believes the same way, but for me, this belief brings a lot of comfort. I hope to pass that belief on to E, so he can look forward to meeting his big sister again, too!


I found this website that explains some of the symbolism behind all of the things we associate with Easter! I found out that Easter eggs represent new life or re-birth. Lambs represent Jesus, or "The Lamb of God." I found this one particularly interesting, "Easter hats & wearing new clothes for Easter- Symbolizes new life offered through the death and resurrection of Jesus." I didn't know that! 


So while E and I are having fun doing our Easter traditions, I will be thinking about B and what all of those things mean for us as a family. I am so grateful for our faith! What beliefs or traditions do you have when it comes to Easter?


I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Hop blogging program, for a gift card worth $25. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

So Lucky

Spring Break is coming up for me (yay - I really, really need it!) next week, and I plan on doing absolutely nothing. In fact, I think it would be a good time to catch up on all the movies I wanted to see in theaters, but missed because of the nuisance of studying! Just in time for Spring Break, Redbox is offering a chance to get free movie credits during the Redbox Lucky To Have Friends Like You promotion. They give you your own unique web address so that each time someone uses your link to rent a movie, you get a free movie credit. Pretty sweet, right? 


Besides being lucky enough to score free movie rentals, I'm lucky in a lot of more serious ways. Even with all the crap that has gone on in my life over the past few years, I have so much to be grateful for! 


First and foremost, I am so, so lucky and grateful to have a living, breathing child. Even at the most frustrating times of motherhood, that fact is never lost on me. I'm lucky that I was able to stay on bed rest to keep him baking for the 3 weeks that made the difference between life and death for him. I'm lucky that he did so amazingly well in NICU, and I'm lucky to have met all the amazing medical professionals who helped us through that difficult time and inspired me to become a nurse.


Speaking of nursing, I am so lucky to be able to "start over" and go back to school. If my mom hadn't stepped in and offered E and I a place to live, I might be stuck working for minimum wage and barely making ends meet forever. Literally, forever. Not everyone has the opportunity to get a college education and I'm so appreciative of this chance. 


I'm lucky to have all my friends! Even with the craziness that is my life, I am so happy to be able to stay connected through blogs, emails, Twitter and texts. It has saved my sanity more than once. At some point in my life I hope to get to be a little more social "in real life," but for now I'm grateful for the technology that can connect me to friends and family when I don't have the time or the means to get together in person. 


And now that spring has (almost) sprung, I'm feeling lucky for the beautiful and safe area I live in. It's so great to be able to take E outside without worrying too much. He loves to play outside and the weather recently has been so gorgeous! 


I don't pause often enough to count up the things in my life that are lucky. I complain too often and I want to change that! In what ways are you lucky this St. Patrick's Day? 


I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and redbox blogging program, for a $25 Walmart gift card from redbox. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

Got Keys?

Thank you to P&G’s Have You Tried This Yet? program and Kroger for sponsoring my writing about trying new things and breaking out of my everyday routine. Click here to find great savings on high-performing P&G products at a Kroger store near you. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

* * * * *

I am notorious for being late. When I say "Meet me at 3:00," it really means 3:15. It's awful and it's a habit I need to break before getting into nursing school, because in that program lateness is absolutely not tolerated. Nor is it tolerated at a job (although with previous jobs I've managed to get myself to work on time), so now is the time to fix that. 

One thing that has caused me a lot of lateness in the past is losing my keys and/or my debit card. Those are things I always haphazardly stash in a random pocket in my purse and inevitably they get lost in the dark depths of it. Then when I'm about to fly out the door I have to pause and frantically search for them. Not very conducive to timeliness. 


Funny story - I once missed a dinner with a good friend who lives an hour away because I couldn't find my keys. Seriously. I had come home from running errands, gotten ready, changed E's clothes, and went to find my keys like 30 minutes later and couldn't find them anywhere. ANYWHERE! I tore the house apart looking for them, and by the time I found them it was way too late and I had already missed the dinner. It was so awful and embarrassing.

And that's not the only time something like that has happened to me. Before this semester started I was looking for some ways to get organized - I wanted to make this semester a little less stressful than last. I got a fabulous idea - I invested in a lanyard and a zip pouch with a key ring on it! 

Ta-da!!! Now my keys, ID, and debit card are all in the same place. Even better? I just loop it over the handles of my purse like so

 and I don't even have to dig for it - it's always right there. I haven't lost my keys since I purchased this. 

Even though I'm still scrambling around trying to find a bottle, sippy cup, diapers, wipes, baby socks (HOW do people keep track of baby socks?! If you have any suggestions, please do tell), and all the other things that it takes for a mom to get out of the house, the essentials are always in one place where I can find them. 

What a simple change, right?! I'm not a very organized person, but I tried one new thing and it has made a huge difference in my life. I wonder what other little changes I could make! Do you have any suggestions??