The B Family Blog

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Day 3: Things that make me uncomfortable.

This little blog challenge has really gotten my wheels turning. Today's topic is things that make me uncomfortable.... I could talk about this for days, weeks even. So, let's jump right in, shall we? ~ Being home alone. Don't like it, never have and never will. Not to be confused with alone time, that I enjoy, I just rather there be someone home and in another room. ~ Empty public bathroom, you pick a stall and then someone comes in and chooses the stall right next to me when there are 8 other options. Why? ~ Car problems. ugh. My husbands car started making this mysterious noise literally a week ago and what do you know, $4,000.00 worth of repairs on a 2002 isn't happening. ~ Medical problems. Enough said. ~ When you lend someone money with the promise to be paid back and they never pay you back. It's awkward to ask and frustrating to be owed. Not good. ~ Having a conversation with someone who has a different political/religious view than I do and knowing it's going the wrong way and fast. I'm all for a friendly debate but when the person is a butthead and can't ever see another side to the story those conversations make me want to run for the nearest exit. ~ The gynocologist, cuz that's always fun. ~ The blow test at the eye doctors. I'm an eye doctors worst nightmare. I hate having anything close to my eyes so I pretty much freak out the entire time and refuse all the tests.

...well I'm thinking this is enough for today! Apparently lots of little things grind my gears! Hah!

Day 1 - Story of my life

Day 1, Wednesday: The story of your life in 250 words or less I was born on August 19, 1983 and am an only child. I grew up in Rhode Island and lived with my parents with family always close by. As a child I was always overweight and it's still a struggle today. When I was 19 years old I met the man I'd marry 7 years later. May 29, 2010 we married and on October 7, 2010 we had Olivia. The past 3 years have been amazing, tough, exciting and scary all at the same time. I've never known a love richer than having your own family unit. I have a few close friends that are sisters I never had. We've been through a lot over the years and I love them dearly. In 2012 my husband and I accepted Jesus as our savior and our lives have changed for the better. Our main focus is to honor Him every day and raise our daughter according to His will. We're still sinners and we struggle all the time but we're forgiven and it's beautiful.

Blog every day in May Challenge

...I just stumbled upon the best link up ever - a "blog every day in May" challenge. I've been struggling with what to blog about lately and I'm really excited that this will give me topics to think about. Here's the list of topics that were given. Day 1, Wednesday: The story of your life in 250 words or less (or one paragraph... no one will be counting your words... probably)
Day 2, Thursday: Educate us on something you know alot about or are good at. Take any approach you'd like (serious and educational or funny and sarcastic)
Day 3, Friday: Things that make you uncomfortable
Day 4, Saturday: Favorite quote (from a person, from a book, etc) and why you love it
Day 5, Sunday: Publicly profess your love and devotion for one of your blogger friends. What makes them great? Why do you love them? If you don't have blogger friends, talk about a real-life friend or even a family member
Day 6, Monday: If you couldn't answer with your job, how would you answer the question, 'what do you do'?
Day 7, Tuesday: The thing(s) you're most afraid of
Day 8, Wednesday: A piece of advice you have for others. Anything at all.
Day 9, Thursday: A moment in your day (this can be just a photo or both a photo and words)
Day 10, Friday: Most embarrassing moment (s). Spill.
Day 11, Saturday: Sell yourself in 10 words or less
Day 12, Sunday: What do you miss? (a person, a thing, a place, a time of your life...)
Day 13, Monday: Issue a public apology. This can be as funny or as serious or as creative as you want it to be.
Day 14, Tuesday: Ten things that make you really happy
Day 15, Wednesday: A Day in the life (include photos from throughout your typical day - this could be "a photo an hour" if you'd like)
Day 16, Thursday: Something difficult about your "lot in life" and how you're working to overcome it
Day 17, Friday: A favorite photo of yourself and why
Day 18, Saturday: Tell a story from your childhood. Dig deep and try to be descriptive about what you remember and how you felt.
Day 19, Sunday: Five of your favorite blogs and what you love about them
Day 20, Monday: Get real. Share something you're struggling with right now.
Day 21, Tuesday: A list of links to your favorite posts in your archives
Day 22, Wednesday: Rant about something. Get up on your soapbox and tell us how you really feel. (a pet peeve, a current event, a controversial topic, something your husband or roommate or neighbor or boss does that really ticks you off)
Day 23, Thursday: Things you've learned that school won't teach you
Day 24, Friday: Your top 3 worst traits
Day 25, Saturday: Something someone told you about yourself that you'll never forget (good or bad)
Day 26, Sunday: Something you read online. Leave a link and discuss, if you'd like.
Day 27, Monday: A letter to your readers
Day 28, Tuesday: Only pictures
Day 29, Wednesday: Five songs or pieces of music that speak to you or bring back memories. Use Grooveshark or YouTube to include them in the post
Day 30, Thursday: React to this term: Letting Go
Day 31, Friday: A vivid memory

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Getting Personal (Answering The Tough Questions)

Today I'm touching on some deep questions and linking up with Erin from Living in Yellow. (http://www.livinginyellow.com/2013/04/getting-personal-answering-tough.html). One thing I need to work on personally is getting to know myself better. For me it's easy to just go about the day to day activities and not really dig deep because as a mother others always tend to take precedense. So today, I'm answering 10 questions that Erin posted and I'm focusing on me. 1. If you could do one thing differently in your life, what would it be? I would have pursued a career in college and stuck with it. I went to a local 2 year school but then fell into a good job and dropped out of college. Granted I'm still with the same company and make a decent salary but I wish I'd pursued a passion and got into a field that I love. 2. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Living in Florida. We have a 5 year plan and the ball is already rolling. Olivia will be 7 years old and I'd love to have another child by then. I'll most likely still be working. I pray that my faith grows and I am still active in church. We'll see what God has in store. 3. Do you honestly want kids? Of course. I never saw my life without them. Olivia is honestly the best thing that's ever happened to me. My days are brighter because of her. I hope to have another child someday too.

4. What has been the best moment of your life so far? By far - giving birth. Those moments of anticipation right before your baby is born and the first time you get to meet them and hold them outside of your body, it's all just so surreal and amazing and emotional.

5. What is your life theme song? This is a tough one for me. I'm not really sure what my life theme song would be since my life is constantly changing but my "life right now" theme song would be Come to the River by The Rhett Walker Band. It's a Christian band and the song is just so moving. It's so applicable to my life right now. Being a fairly new Christian I'm still learning how to rely on God and not myself. This song talks about going to God all the time, for everything instead of trying to make your own way. It's really a life lesson that I need to work on. It also helps that Olivia loves this song and jams out when we have it on in the car! 6. What is one thing you have yet to accomplish that you want to do before you die? Lose weight and keep it off. My lifelong struggle so far has been my weight and although I'm working on it right now it's still an everyday battle. I've learned that it will always be an everyday battle for me, it's just my cross to bear. I want to be successful. I want to not give up when I have a bad week. I want to be healthy and be around for my family for a long, long time. 7. If you could choose one thing to be known for, what would it be? I want my legacy to be that I was a great mother. I love my family more than anything in this entire world and I always want them to know that. I pray every day for God to guide me down this journey of motherhood. It's the most important "job" I'll ever have. Olivia's well being is my top priority.

8. If you could do anything you wanted right in this very moment (no consequences, no fear, etc) what would it be? As long as this came with an unending amount of money, I'd probably pack up my family and our most important belongings and move somewhere beautiful. Somewhere that I could relax and raise my daughter without fear of the real world hurting her. Keep us all safe and make our own little world away from the world. 9. What has been the most challenging moment of your life? When my Grandmother died. It was just awful. I miss her all the time and think about her every day. I remember every moment like it just happened yesterday. 10. Summarize yourself in one word? This is a tough one for me since I wear so many hats. I'd have to say "growing". I'm constantly growing in different areas of my life. I'm growing in my faith, parenting, learning about myself...and the list goes on and on.

Monday, April 22, 2013

An epiphany.

{Written 3/19/13}

I posted this picture on Instagram the other day because I had a moment. You know what I mean by a moment? An epiphany. When a lightbulb goes off?

My normal nighttime routine has been the same for as long as I can remember, give Olivia a bath, put her to bed, make my lunch for work the next day, finish leftover chores, grab a snack and a drink and watch a show on the DVR, then bed.

Not much has changed with my routine, but what has changed is what snack and drink I grab. In the past it would be any of the following - chips, fritos, chocolate, ice cream - you know, the taste good, bad for you stuff? That. Oh - and a soda.

Now? Now my snack is different. Now I grab fruit salad (my latest obsession - zero points!!) or an apple or a banana, something healthy. And my water - my 25 oz water bottle to be exact.

So, the epiphany? I've always watched The Biggest Loser which in turn leads me to eating while watching a weight loss show. But, in the past I'd be sitting there eating crap and drinking soda and wondering to myself 'why are they successful and I'm not?' all while having this internal pity party.

This past Monday as I was eating my fruit salad and drinking water it just made me feel so good, so proud of myself for finally, finally making a healthy choice for myself. And for the first time there was no internal pity party. Nope. For the first time I had a feeling of 'I got this' 'I'm doing this' 'I'm making progress!' And I felt good.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Finish This Sentence

Once again I'm linking up with Holly and Jake for "Finish This Sentence".

1. I laughed so hard I cried when... I ran over my husband’s foot with my car. We were still dating at the time and I was joking around and trying to drive away as he got into the car, yeah, big mistake. I guess I drove away a bit too fast and he moved a bit too slow and his foot got stuck under my rear tire. It wasn’t broken, thank God, but my laughter was out of sheer panic and laughing at the most inappropriate time of course leads to more laughter which then led to tears because I thought I'd hurt him.

2. My high school... was a 5 year plan. I failed my junior year. It sucked big time, I was so upset with myself for messing up and having to stay back but in the end, everything fell into place and I'm glad it happened.

3. It really pisses me off... when I get frustrated with Olivia. I always step back and think about people who are missing their children or who have lost loved ones and here I am frustrated with my beautiful angel of a daughter. I always feel disappointed in myself afterwards and apologize.

4. In ten years... I'll be living in Florida, my daughter will be 12 (say what?!?) and I'll hopefully have another child in tow!

5. If I could erase one thing... it would be the hurt I caused to my husband the year before we got married. We went through a really rough patch which was all my fault.

6. In 1999... I was a junior in high school (the first time) and I'd just gotten my license. I drove a red 1986 Camaro and thought I was the coolest thing in our whole town. Driving up and down Mineral Spring Avenue after school with friends was the best part of my day!

7. Honestly... I'm at a place in my faith right now where I can rest knowing that with all the bad in this world and all the devastation, this is not my forever home. Take this world and give me Jesus.

8. To me, Sushi... is disgusting. The first time I tried it I was newly pregnant and at a work function. I had to excuse myself to puke.

9. Someone really needs to invent... what isn’t already invented? Technology is so amazing. In my own vanity it would be nice to have a magic make-up machine to make getting ready easier and faster.

10. The first time I drank alcohol... well see, I'm the youngest of my cousins on both sides of my family so I'm sure at some point one of them slipped me something to drink. The last time I drank is much more interesting. I was home alone with Olivia, she was about 9 or 10 months old and I'd just put her to bed. She was sound asleep so I figured a long day deserved a nice glass or two of wine. Those 2 glasses went down nice and easy and quick and then what do I hear? Crying over the baby monitor.

11. The one question I would ask God is... why is there all this hurt in the world? Why do bad things happen? Why do children get sick? That was more than one right? oops. Part of me knows the answers to these questions, or at least the rational I've used and learned to make myself understand His ways but it would still be nice to ask the Big Guys upstairs. I'd also ask him how my Grandmother is doing. I miss her.

12. Lindsay Lohan... needs to grow up. It's not cute honey.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Weigh in Wednesday & SWW

It's been a while since I've update my little ol' blog here regarding my weight loss so I figured I'd link up with Erin and Alex to share!

I joined weight watchers 4 weeks ago and I'm very pleased with my progress this far.

Week 1 - lost 4.2 lbs
Week 2 - lost 3.4 lbs
Week 3 - lost 6.4 lbs
Week 4 - lost 2.8 lbs

These past 4 weeks and including all weight loss since January 1 I've lost a total of 29.6 lbs!

When I had originally started this journey I gave myself a measly goal to lose 30 lbs by my 30th birthday which is in August. I really doubted myself, I didn't think I could do it and I didn't think I'd stick with it but I'm proud to say that just a little over 3 months in and I'm thisclose to my first goal!

....and now for my weekly So What's!

So what if Olivia has been having way too many temper tantrums. I hate it and I'm really struggling to figure out how to stop/prevent them.

So what if I lingered in Olivia's room a bit longer than usual after she fell asleep last night. We had a rough day and I was sad about how she's been acting. Seeing her peaceful little face sound asleep have me a glimpse back to the normal sweet natured Olivia that I'm missing.