FRIDAY FAVES!!

Good morning, friends!  How are those NY resolutions coming along?  I am happy to say I am on track with two of them still, which is amazing for me.  I made a few super obtainable ones that will roll along slowly with just a few great big decisions that will roll in shortly.  I'm still super psyched and excited about all of them though, even though my 14 minute attention span challenges them every day.

For now, I'm optimistic.  We can check back in next month on it.

Meanwhile, basketball is gearing up for tournament seasons.  We have two out of town trips in February which no doubt will be the highlight of our winter, not to mention knock down two states for little guy's "Visit 50 states in 6 years" dream.  Maybe if we are creative and drive loopy we can slide through the corner of other states and call it good.

Hmmm.  Will need to Atlas that.  Yes, I still use an Atlas.  Bite me.... I'm old.

Below are my faves this week.  It's a miracle I even found them since I do love paper so much.  So much for the green movement in my house.

Enjoy!

FAVE MEMORIES

This caught my eye immediately.  I absolutely love taking pictures.  When I look back at my pictures as a child it's virtually the only way my memories stay intact after layering in years of useless information into my brain.  I think this is fantastic.

FAVE JAM

Love them.  My man jam.  Highly encouraged.

FAVE FLASHBACK

Amidst our ever changing polar vortex crap, I can't help but dream of the beach.  Or the pool.  Or with this beautiful concoction... both.  I see myself on the chaise on the left.  Bring it on.

FAVE FUR KID

Ah.... love.  German short haired pointer.  Perfection.

FAVE REMINDER

 I'm so lucky little guy loves to read.  He informed me last weekend that he needed quite a bit of time to chill because he was reading 7 books.  Yes, 7.  AT ONCE.  I have no idea how he does that.  I can barely stay focused enough to read ONE book at once!

FAVE PLUGS

These are awesome!  I am so tired of all of our electronics scattered around, cords everywhere.  Drives me absolutely NUTS.  I think I need a few of these!

FAVE FASHION

This was defined as business casual.  Wait, what is that again?  So many employers define it differently.  This is my dream biz cas.  Nice jeans, nice jacket.  Looks good to me!

FAVE SNACK

YUMMO!  I love pb after a run.  Almost crave it.  This looks fantastic and includes my fave - chocolate!

FAVE SPACE

I love my bedroom.  I love my bed.  Really, truly love it.  We bought it (along with the bedding) five years ago when we finished our build.  I want something new.  This might work?

FAVE TICKER

I have a thousand watches.  None of them have a battery.  Well, one that is working.  I tend to just buy a new watch every time my battery dies, mostly because I buy fun trendy watches that don't cost a fortune.

I love this one.  Maybe it's time I stepped it up a bit.

Have a great weekend, friends!

Jen

I resolve to.... grind?

Being that it is already the 21st of January, my resolutions are totally out the window.  Well, the majority of them, anyway.  I struggle a lot when it comes to making changes to myself sometimes but give me a house and I'll rearrange the furniture every month.

Hmmm.. not sure what that means.

In an effort to try to corral the 20 some odd pounds I slammed onto my body at the end of 2013, I am forcing myself (and my fam, by extension) to eat healthier.  Out of the house are the cupcakes, cookies, candies and chips accumulated over the holidays.  In are the bags of trail mix, fruit, veggies and greens.

I am fortunate that my little guy will give things a whirl.  I know what he absolutely won't eat, which luckily is a fairly short list.  If I mask everything properly, I am good to at least get him to take a bite.  The biggest key is to not make it too spicy.

I must admit he can be my biggest fan.  If he loves something, he tells me.  Over and over again.  If he doesn't like something, he will hem and haw for an hour trying to find the right words to politely tell me it sucks without hurting my feelings.

He's gonna make a great husband someday.

As I slid into my chair, he was already three bites into his dinner.  When he looked up to take a breath and chew, I started the convo.

Me:  So buddy, what do you think?  Do you like it?

LG:  Mom, this is amazing.  Ah MAZ ing!  I love it!

Me:  Oh good!  I was afraid you wouldn't like it.  Daddy and I had even planned to heat up some vegetable soup assuming you wouldn't like it.

LG:  It has black beans in it!  Why wouldn't I like it?

Me:  Well, I just wasn't sure.  We haven't eaten veggie burgers before.

Silence.

LG:  What's in it, mom?

Me:  Black beans.  Corn.  Veggies.  I'm not completely sure but I know those three things.

LG:  But what kind of MEAT is in it?

Me:  Honey, there is no meat in it.  They are veggie burgers.

Silence again... coupled with a blank stare.

LG:  But what kind of MEAT is it?

Dad:  Coop - there is no meat in our dinner.  We are eating veggie burgers.

LG:  I get that Dad but what kind of meat is it?

Hubs and I stared at each other.  Clearly there was no way we were getting through.  After a full 10 minutes to attempting to explain, we stopped talking and watched him devour the first one to ask for another.

Ah, my little gullible monster.  Little does he know he just gave me some awesome ammunition.  Apparently if you smoosh something into a patty, slap some cheese and ketchup on it, it becomes a hamburger.  Rock on - I can grind anything up!

Maybe this resolution thing won't be so hard after all?

Jen

FRIDAY FAVES!!

Ah, Friday.  How I love thee.  There is something about these little endings and the openness of a weekend.  I wonder if my friends that work different shifts feel this way about their Tuesday? 

Every Friday Facebook, twitter and instagram are flooded with posters, comments and general happiness.  Likewise, they are also flooded with a lot of negative comments come Sunday night / Monday morning.

Are people generally unhappy about the new beginning? Do their lives magically erase the prior weekend's happiness when they start anew?  Are they sad to be forced to complete the fun and relaxation they enjoyed over their mini-break?

I challenge you to reconsider.  Remove the negative thoughts you have about starting the new week.  Allow yourselves to live in the moment of the weekend and carry that renewal into your week on Monday. 

Embrace the new.... don't dread it.

Below are a few of my faves from around the interweb this week.  Enjoy!

FAVE SHORTCUT

Those that know me well know that I absolutely HATE home viewing stations.  In particular, there is no universal system.  My BFF can attest that I absolutely cringe when I house sit for her and want to watch her television.  I have absolutely NO idea what I'm doing with her 16 remote controls.

I love this.  I need this.  Embarrassingly this is a suggestion for our grandparents.... good thing I am a grandparent.

FAVE WINE STORAGE

I love the rustic feel of these shelves. I currently have all my wine and glasses in a glass cabinet and I wish I could actually see them better.  This is a great way to display the faves!  I wonder if Hubs could crank this out for me this weekend?

FAVE PIGGY WARMTH

Who doesn't love a warm, soft pair of socks?  I absolutely covet them.  These slips are adorable, especially with our holiday of love right around the corner.

So cute!

FAVE TRUTH

Ah, Roosevelt.  So smart, so true.  LOVE this.

FAVE SNUGGLE

I absolutely love this style of sweatshirt.  Tall neck, long torso.  Perfection.

FAVE HOME REMEDY

For those of you with babes, I love this idea.  No, I would never have thought of it when my little guy was born.  Of course that was 12 years ago, before the invent of social media.  Boo.  I will admit though that every time I crack open a box of baby wipes that alcohol smell is always the first thing to draft out.  That can't be good.

FAVE FUNNY

This is so true for many of my life connections and particularly funny right at this moment in my life!

FAVE BREAKFAST

My fam loves some homemade French toast.  We make it a lot on the weekends, typically with a hint of cinnamon and orange.  Check out this chai ft recipe!  Looks absolutely amazing to me.  Click here for the recipe ----->  Baked Chai Spiced French Toast

FAVE FURNITURE

Okay - I love doors.  I really, really love doors.  I love using doors in decorating as well.  My only hiccup with this love is the knob.  How does that work?  Hmmmm.  Otherwise, it's one of my faves!

FAVE FASHION

Love the sweater.  Love the hat.  Love the jeans.  Love the boots.

Yep, love the simplicity of it all.  Maybe THIS is why we love the weekends... we can be comfy!

Have a fantastic weekend, friends!

Jen

FRIDAY FAVES!!

Morning, friends!  I'm happy to announce that I completed the first full week of 2014 unscathed.

Well, partially.  It was book club last night.

With the football season coming to an end, basketball has taken its position in my house as the official spokesperson.  We are eating and breathing basketball 24 hours a day.  Please try to contain your jealousy... envy is a bad color for everyone.

Little guy is becoming much more comfortable in his post position this year.  He is working hard to gather rebounds and pushing back up when it seems a zillion arms and hands are slapping him.  He says that it's fun.... but I don't see that.  I see his blood pressure spiking every 15 seconds for 40 minutes.  But hey, we all define fun a little differently.

Like jumping into a freezing cold lake for charity.  Yep, I'll be doing that later this month.

I was able to scrounge up a few faves over the course of the week so dig in!

FAVE DESTINATION

Ah.... Ireland.  Still up at the top of my list of future travels.  With the stupid polar tundra crap we have endured lately I would love to transport here and take a nice long run.

Someday.

 

FAVE NEW ADDICTION

Nope, not meth.  The SHOW, accusers!  I love, love, love me some Walter White and Jesse Pinkman.  Hubs needs this shirt.  He loves chemistry (why wouldn't he....).  Me?  I doubt I could make it through the first two classes quite honestly.

FAVE RELAXATION

Yes friends, I realize that this won't fit into my tiny house.  But a girl can dream, can't she?  I can just imagine all of those cold winter nights, curled up in the midst of all that softness and watching Netflix reading a book. 

FAVE REMINDER

Oooh, I think Nugget needs this sign!  He is absolutely the best big brother in the world.  I can already see it in his eyes - nobody will ever hurt his little sister!

FAVE NOURISHMENT

Mmmmm.  Seriously, who couldn't love a sammy AND French toast at the same time?  This Monte Cristo just looks Divine.  I think it has to hit the Davis menu. Click here for the recipe ------->  Monte Cristo Sandwiches

FAVE WINE LOVE

Okay - I must have this.  Even if I have to figure out how to make it myself.  I have more corks than anyone can imagine (okay, maybe you can imagine).  This is an awesome way to hang onto them!

FAVE COCKTAIL

Hubs and I went to Maui in 2004 and during our visit we became intimately acquainted with a lovely little adult swim up bar that served a similar concoction.  Although this isn't exact, it's pretty darn close (and I'm assuming a heck of a lot healthier!)  Our beloved version had ICE CREAM in every drink! 

Lava Flow Cocktail: 1 oz. light rum, 1 oz. Malibu® coconut rum, 2 oz. fresh or frozen strawberries, 1 small banana, 2 oz. unsweetened pineapple juice, 2 oz. coconut cream.

FAVE NERD FUNNY

I happen to LOVE math, especially algebra.  Hubs could drop kick it to the curb (even though he uses it every day).

To each his own.



FAVE HAIR CONTROL

EEEE!  I absolutely love headbands.  Lots of moms put giant bows on their baby girls and until our little sweetest one came along I saw it more of a hassle.  Now that she is here, I can't stop fantasizing over the cuteness she can wear!  This style is so super cute to me.  I'll have to see if Nana can come upon a few...

FAVE YUMMO

With V day just a few weeks away, these little gems are perfect.  I love halving the strawberry as I always find it awkward to eat a whole strawberry that's been dipped.  I think this is a great way to display them as well as eat them!



Have a great weekend, friends!

 Jen



Jumpin on the Change Train

Some of my fave mommy bloggers did some major facelifts this weekend to their blogs.  Must be their resolutions.  Or maybe they just needed to rearrange the furniture. 

I bought a new king size bed with a giant foot and head board for our house when we moved in 5 years ago.  Little did I know at the moment that it would never be moved until the day we vacate the homestead.  Makes me quite sad.

My blog needs a facelift.  I tried to change out the header and make a few pic updates to it but that just didn't get it done.  I need something that reflects my true self.

It's time for a rearrange.

Hubs gets it.  In my 20 years of marriage, I've moved the furniture no less than 50 times.  Just when he gets used to a certain end table being in a certain place, I shift it to the left 5 feet.

Yep, constant change. That's me.

It's not my fault entirely.  I lived in the same house virtually my entire life.  My parents bought it when I was 2 and although I moved out when I was (almost) 18, I moved back into it when I was (almost) 20.  I stayed there until I married Hubs, moved out a total of (almost) 4 years and was back again until we built the house we are in now.  Oh, and I didn't change anything about the house until (almost) 2 years before we sold it.

Yeah - I need change.

In my effort to control my environment, I move the end tables.  I move the sofa.  I move the car's position in the garage (until Hubs understandably has to convince me once again that the Ford F150 won't fit in the single slot side very well).

It's time to update the blog.  I've changed, so it's time to illustrate that.  I'm over 40 (just barely, please note).  I'm a grandmother (of TWO beauties now!).  I'm a mom of a tween (and it's THAT fun).  I've been married forever and I have a career.  I'm in a book club, I have a dog, I love wine (particularly in the winter) and I love life.

It's definitely time to for an update.  I have a lot to say and haven't said most of it lately.  It's probably time to get it out.

I have always loved the opportunity to do that.

Please be patient as I make some changes, friends.  I'm considering moving platforms and potentially adding some revenue opportunities.

I'm big time, can't you tell?

I will say this:  in reviewing my last year of blogs the ones that seemed to have the most traffic, comments and attention were those where I shared my brutal honesty.... and consequently were the most controversial.  That either says something about me or my readers, I haven't quite figured it out yet!  It seems that most of you prefer when I am vulnerable and admit I don't have it all together.

Newsflash:  I will never have it ALL together.  And nobody else does either.  Don't allow them to fool you.

More to follow. Stay tuned, friends!

 Jen

FRIDAY FAVES!!

2014. Another new year.  Out with the old and in with the new.  Time to rewrite goals, establish expectations, design resolutions.  Make lists:  personal, professional, financial, spiritual.  Filled with excitement and enthusiasm, we create significant changes we want to accomplish in the upcoming months.

And then..... we become completely depressed in two months for failing some of them.  Or maybe all of them.

Why does this happen?  Or better yet, why do we do this to ourselves?

The new year brings about the opportunity to face our lives with different glasses.  It's that "start over" feeling that temporarily drowns our fears of change.  We barge into the new year filled with determination.

Where do we fail?  For starters, we are far to hard on ourselves.  Our lists of accomplishments is far to long and often unattainable in a short term fashion.  Sometimes we give up, admitting we couldn't meet the rigorous and lofty goal.  Sometimes we cave and have a setback, ultimately quitting altogether.

It's not having goals that's the problem.  It's the design of them.
I'll admit I'm guilty of this.  My goals last year looked something like this:

1.  Lose 30 pounds.
2.  Go to church every Sunday and Wednesday.
3.  Run 3 miles every day.
4.  Stop eating all sugars.
5.  Eat meat sparingly, only once a week.

How many did I meet?  Um..... Zero.  Awesome.

This year will be different.  I broke my goals down into small increments.  I'm sure I may fail a few but I'm really gonna try hard.

Or have a glass of wine.

Enjoy my first Friday faves of 2014!!

FAVE MONEY CHALLENGE

I love this!  Not only are we doing this, TD and I BOTH have jars!  Even little guy wants in on it!  How incredibly easy is this?!  Come on, friends.... You know you wanna!!

FAVE TRAVEL DREAM

Little guy has a dream to visit all 50 states.... before he gets out of high school.  No problem, no problem at all!  Seeing as he is 12 and we have only taken him to three, we totally have our work cut out for us in the next 6 years!  I see some road trips in our not to distant future!  Oh - and if the trips can coincide with a college football game, we will win extra credit as the best parents ever.

We shall see.

FAVE NATURAL REMEDY

I can't swear by this, but I do think it's fascinating.  So many of my friends came down with the sickness over the holiday season.  I wonder if this could have helped?  I'm totally trying it the next time I feel icky.

FAVE RESOLUTION LIST

Yep, this is my fave.  Instead of writing down everything you want or need to change, write down the things you love that you want to accomplish more.  I love this.

FAVE REMINDER

I have been a wanderer for as long as I can remember.  When I was a little girl, it wasn't unusual to hear my name called out over the loud speakers inside of a store.  It was my momma's worst experience ever - I constantly wandered off to look at something (or hide when I was mad at her).  It's a miracle she didn't kill me... I had many a swattings in the parking lot of TG&Y.

I so want this.  Right now.

FAVE GIFT IDEA

I don't know yet if my granddaughter will love to read as much as her momma.  I sure hope she does because I intend to buy her every single one of these books.  I love the idea of teaching our young girls to be strong and brave, unafraid and unwavering in the faith of themselves.  Yes, princesses are fun.  But I don't happen to know any in real life.... do you?

FAVE FASHIONISTA

Okay, okay.  No, it's not formal.  No, it's not fancy.  Yes, it's totally dressing for comfort and I completely LOVE it.  So there!  I love leggings and sweaters.  It's my weekend apparel.

FAVE KICKS

And of course, it wouldn't be one of my fave weeks without having an awesome pair of boots.  It helps that it is less than TEN degrees in Kansas City right now and I can't get my tootsies warm for the life of me.

I gotta get these!

FAVE NUGGET TEE

Gotta find this - or make it.  One way or another, my little nugget has to have it.  He is the best big brother in the world!  Constantly checking in on his sissy, patting her head gently or kissing her cheek before running off to play.  I love to watch him love her... it's an amazing thing to witness.

FAVE COPYCAT RECIPE

Every year I swear we aren't going to eat out as much as the previous year.  I am really going to try hard to stick to it this year - at least for awhile!

Although we rarely eat at Chili's, I absolutely love this pasta dish from there.  I'm a self proclaimed starchaholic so this fits right in my wheelhouse.

Ugh... I think I need to go back to work.  Or maybe take some more time off.

Click here to link to the yummo recipe ------->  Copycat cajun chicken pasta

Have a fantastic weekend, friends!

 Jen