IT'S PUNKIN DAY!!!! As we get ready to trick or treat around the neighborhood I want to invite you to trick or treat at our house er, well our website. Click on the little door in the left hand corner and claim your treat, or maybe a trick? Little dude is going as the Lone Ranger, his cousin will be Tonto :) What are your kids dressing up as this year? Feel free to share pix on our Facebook page!! Have a safe and happy Halloween!
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Tomorrow is Halloween, or as my son has been calling it "Punkin Day". It's every year around this time the scary movies and haunted houses show up, and people flock to them, many times paying to be scared. Honestly, I don't get it. I don't like being afraid. Maybe (and it's confession time here.) it's because I believe in Ghosts, demons, and other paranormal things. Or maybe it's the death and gore that bother me. I can't even watch TV shows that I used to love like CSI,Cold Case, and Bones due to the death and gore. The trailers to movies like Annabelle are enough to fill me with fear, weirdly enough I am still a highly dedicated and loving fan of AMC's "The Walking Dead", but Zombieland scared me? I will be the first to admit that I am a bit odd, and I am totally ready for the Zombie Apocalypse should it come. Do you watch horror movies or go to haunted houses? Do you stay away? Why? Yesterday I stepped on the scale...it may sound silly to some, but when I looked down and seen that I had gained a pound this week it felt like a little piece of my heart broke. So what did I do? I made spaghetti, meat sauce, and garlic bread for dinner and consumed more then I should have. That also included a 42 oz bottle of coke which I finished in a couple of hours, a bowl of cheerios, salt & vinegar chips, and a block of ramen noodles, that isn't counting the reasonable breakfast and lunch I had eaten before I stepped on the digital monster. Mathias Vanpelt "The Cross Eyed Blogger" writes: Alcoholism can cause you to have complete loss of power or control over your drinking. For me? Most of the time I didn't care about how much I was going to drink. The more I drank, the better. I didn't want to control my drinking once I got my hands on alcohol. When I ran out I was on the hunt for more. If I had money for it, off to the liquor store I went. If the store didn't open up for a couple of more hours, well, since I was already there I would just wait in the parking lot until the store opened. If I was broke, I'd beg, borrow, pan handle, or do whatever I had to do to get more alcohol. Though not alcoholic, I am an addict, I'm addicted to food and his writing is spot on with what I feel when I eat out of boredom or emotional hurt. When eating the spaghetti, drinking the soda or consuming the snacks that I did, my mind wasn't on my weight loss goals, I wasn't thinking about wanting to get healthy for that 2nd baby we want to have within the next couple years, and once I blew it with the spaghetti and garlic bread, I figured why not just drink the entire bottle of soda, and have the chips, and cheerios, and noodles. It sounds stupid and illogical now that I sit here, feeling the guilt and failure, but in the moment I forget how bad the failure feels, and there are times when the guilt only causes more over eating. This is where I have to remind myself that this is a lifestyle, not a race, not a quick fix, it's a journey through life that because I am imperfect will cause me to stumble and fall, but what really matters isn't how many times I fall, but how many times I decide to stand back up again. And today I am standing tall. So what about you? is there a place in your life where you feel you have failed? Share it! Sometimes talking about it can be one of the first steps to getting on the road to recovery from any form of addiction. If you'd like to read more about one mans road to recovery and encouragement check out my friend Mathias Vanpelt "The Cross Eyed Blogger" . Its hard to believe I'm already on Day 11 of the 30 day Blog challenge. I took Sunday off as a day for family and yesterday posted our Week 1 link round up. I also want to invite you to check out our "About Us" page to find out a bit more about who the Mason Jar Mamas are. Since starting this challenge I have been uplifted and encouraged, not only as a blogger but as a person. I have always loved writing but never thought it was a practical option for making money, but since I've started blogging more recently I've been looking into freelance writing jobs, if I submit pieces of my work, whats the worst that can happen? Over the past week I have learned how to improve my writing, write outlines, write as it flows, even if that means writing 2-3 blogs in a day (just save them), I have learned more about SEO, Keywords, blog titles and "about me" pages. I'm not going to pretend it hasn't been difficult, or that there haven't been times I wanted to give up (like today for example) because of the 20 thousand excuses I can give myself and readers as to why I didn't write, but I am working past that, and pushing towards my goals. My main goal for the week is to continue the blogging challenge without a break (except on Sundays.) Comment below with your goals for the week? month? rest of the year? Good Morning! After a fun filled evening of pumpkin carving, seed roasting, watching Monsters Inc, meal prep, menu planning, and cleaning I am ready for another day. Last week was crazy! 8 Blogs in a row! Just incase you missed it here is "The Best Of Mason Jar Mamas Week 1"
8- The Invisible Wall: Did you have all the motivation you needed to succeed with a project or meet a goal? Check out why you may have failed and how to prevent it. 7- Going Bananas: We spent the day baking! It's a link round up of all the banana recipes we used. 6- 5 Tips For Easy Peasy Menu Planning: It seems like such a daunting task, but these 5 tips make it quick & easy. 5- Dance Break: A little perk of being a blog at home mommy. 4- Adventures In Bloggersitting: Catch a short glimpse into the daily life of a mommy blogger, I'm sure you'll find something you can relate to! 3- Unfinished: Sometimes we have trouble finishing what we started, here are some tips to finish. 2- The Magic Weight loss & Healthy living formula: Is there a secret to weight loss & healthy living? Find out more about it here. 1- 5 Tips To Surviving Toddler hood Without Losing Your Mind: Being mommy (or daddy) to a toddler can be difficult, follow these tips to keep you sanity intact. Well there it is!! 8 Days of recipes, tips, and recounts of the mom life. Enjoy and be sure to share your favorite(s) with a friend! The invisible wall started to rise yesterday, it's a constant in my life, it starts slowly just tripping me a little here and there but before I know it, I am running in place, hitting my head against the inevitable invisible wall. Call it apathy or boredom, maybe it's a lack of motivation or faith but for some reason week 4 in every attempt I have made to lose weight has been when I've quit. Studies show that 88% of people who make New Years Resolutions fail and I'm willing to bet the number is the same or even higher of those who make commitments outside of New Years Eve. So how do you stop quitting?
My house smells like a jungle, or at least what I imagine a jungle to smell like. I think it smells like bananas but I am more then likely WAY Off, that's ok, it's MY Jungle and it can smell however I'd like it to :) This past week I was blessed with an over abundance of bananas, and not wanting them to go to waste I did the next best thing, I went to pinterest and tried to find banana recipes. I found a few favorite and spent my morning and into the afternoon baking with my own little monkey helping me of course! If you've got a bunch of bananas and you are looking for something to do with them here is a recipe roundup for everything I made today. Click on the picture to go to the site for the recipe! My finished products look delicious! We had the pancakes for lunch with a little peanut butter drizzled on top. Oh and before I go, an added tip: cut or mash up your bananas and freeze them, you can use them for recipes that call for mashed bananas later on. Leave a message in the comments below with your favorite way to use over ripe bananas! Oh and BTW: It's 30 Day Challenge Blog #7! I made it a week!
It seems like every where you look there are calenders filled with menu plans, even people who will do the menu planning for you, for a cost. Menu planning doesn't have to be intimidating. I'll admit it has taken me about 6 months to get a system that works for me, and when I first started it took about 4-5 hours to find recipes, write the menu plan, write the ingredients, get my list together and get ready to go shopping. It now takes less then an hour, and the only list I have to really write anymore is for items that aren't on my list. I also take notes of what stores have what sales on the items I'm looking for, so I can try to coupon match to save even more money. If you are just starting out here are a few tips to make your menu planning a little smoother and help save time & money. 1. A Blank Calender: You can download and print a blank calender or I bought a blank 12 month calender from dollar tree. Make spaces on each day for breakfast lunch and dinner. 2. Write a list of meals- from family favorites to quick and easy to crock pot meals. Use the quick & easy and crock pot meals for those days when you don't have much time or energy to cook or meal prep. 3. When making your grocery list separate items into different areas of the store (Deli, Dairy, Meat,Produce,Frozen, Ect.) filling in your list and shopping with be easier and quicker since everything is in order and you won'd run around the store getting things you forgot. 4. Fill in your calender. I usually use the same breakfast 2-3 days a week and just alternate. The same with lunch. 5. Go shopping! One of the great things about menu planning is the fact that everything is planned. I have a plastic tub in my fridge that I use for my meat for the next few days. I take out what's needed for the next 3-4 days, so no waiting for things to defrost! One of the best things about being a stay at home mommy blogger is the unlimited opportunity to interact with my son. While admittedly it's not always easy, there are dishes calling me from the sink, the dog is pushing her food bowl closer to me, and my 2 1/2 year old is demanding my attention (who can resist toddler hugs & kisses?!?!) I wouldn't have it any other way.
Getting to be a stay at home mom has always been a dream of mine. I also love writing, so becoming a mommy blogger seemed like a very natural choice for me. As this blog first started I thought it would be easy, just write some stuff, share some recipes and you will start getting readers because they love your witty banter and delicious food. Then reality hit me, blogging and building a "fan base" is hard! SEO's, Audience, Social Media, Content, Outlines, Brand Marketing, These words once foreign to me have become a part of my every day vocabulary. Moments of my life have turned from being funny or tragic to "This would make a great blog", I am just dipping my toes into the world of blogging but I intend to make it big. *Pharell Williams- Happy comes on over the radio and another dance session ensues* If you are a mommy (or even a daddy) blogger, leave a comment below on your favorite and least favorite part of being a blogger? It's a little after 9am, my son has slept in a bit, I saunter out of the bedroom to Piles of laundry by the door, waiting to be done, mountians of dishes the sink that I left overnight "to soak". Before I know it, the fridge door is opened by tiny hands attatched to a little boy who wants to "eat!", thankfully I made muffins last night, so they are a quick and ready breakfast for the both of us. The phone rings, I answer thinking it's my best friend in Kansas, instead I am greeted with a thick Indian accent that tells me they have been monitering my windows usage and there is something wrong with the *click* I hang up, part of me wonders what they would have said had I told them I was running a mac? or that I was a windows support tech myself? I always seem to think of these things after the fact.
I glance back at the laundry thinking about how I should go do it, its just across the street. But even a short laundry trip across the street means having to get shoes on my 2 1/2 year old, getting the dog out on the deck so she doesnt chew a toy while we are away, and carrying the laundry over, it seems like too much work for the morning. I'll do it later. The phone rings again, Aha, there is my Kansas state friend! We talk for a bit inbetween my son climbing into the fridge, trying to ride the dog, and crying over sprinkles that I didn't know he wanted. That reminds me, I have a couple phone calls I have to make! In amongst all of this I sit at my computer, staring blankly at the screen. What do I write? should I give up? I can't think of anything to write! Does anyone even read this thing? This is the life and mind of a mommy blogger.... Let me check my facebook, my son is in the fridge, AGAIN. The dog needs to go out. I think I need a glass of water. Oh look, the dog is out of water too, it's too quiet what is my child getting into now? He walks over climbs in my lap, turns towards me wraps his arms around my neck and says "Mommy Hug!!", I wrap my arms around him and even for the smallest amount of the the laundry, dishes, phone calls, and even blogging don't matter anymore. The only thing that matters is here in my arms, my son, my answered prayer, my dream come true, and as the years pass no matter what life may hand me, it's moments like this that will continue to be the only thing that really matters. Just before I hit submit to post my precious dream come true walks over, he is now my precious smurf, it seems he has found a blue marker..I'm really not sure If I want to walk into the room from which he came... |
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