Down

I'm in a funk. 

I get this way every semester about this time, but this is worse. I have so much homework that needs to be done and not enough time to do it all in. 

I need to be doing it now, but I just can't seem to make myself. Eventually I'm going to get in a mode where I do nothing but homework. I'll have to if I want to finish.

It's harder this time because I'm doing it on my own half the time. I can't just lock myself up in the bedroom and crack down because there's no one to watch Archer. I could do it when the husband was home, but he's gone so often that I don't want to waste time doing homework when we could be hanging out.

Then I think I want to start walking and exercising now that the weather is decent. Except, I have homework to do. Even though I'm not really doing it.

I'm a procrastinator. I always have been. Really, I have no self-discipline. It's not a secret. I'm very aware of it, since it affects all areas of my life. My house is never clean enough. I don't eat the way I should or exercise enough. I don't have a set schedule anywhere but at work. Archer doesn't get a bath nightly, because by the time I'm finished, the last thing I want to do is bathe him. 

I know all of this about myself, I just can't seem to change it. It's a vicious cycle. 

I feel so overwhelmed. There isn't enough of me to go around. I have so much on my plate, school, work, husband, kid, myself. I'm too selfish of a person to not put myself in there. I can't pretend that I don't need things too. I feel like everyone and everything is demanding something of me and I can't do it all every day. If I manage to take care of my husband, kid, and pick up the house, that's all I can do for the day. Homework and work get a smaller piece of the pie. Except homework is overwhelming and demanding and if I keep putting it off, I won't finish and I won't graduate.

Hopefully soon I'll get my homework done. And then after that I'll exercise.

I'm Sponsoring over at Cait.Create!

If you saw my post yesterday about motherhood, then you saw my link to Cait+Create. 

Caitlyn recently posted that she was seeking advertisers (FREE) for her blog. Her reasoning was simple, she had a little help getting her blog off the ground and now she would like to help others. 

I immediately emailed her to jump in on the opportunity. There is nothing in the blog world more rewarding than getting new readers to enjoy your words, so I hope this provides a little of that. 

I am so grateful for this opportunity. To be displayed in her blog as a sponsor is awesome. I hope that you all check her blog out (there is some great stuff there) and that you will stick around awhile, as I plan to guest post there in the near future. 

Facebook Friends

I recently saw a post on facebook talking about how superficial people were for spending so much time on facebook, how those weren't real relationships with real people. 

I felt aghast at reading those words. Many of my closest confidantes are sitting at their computer as we share conversations daily. 

I met these wonderful women on an online message board for expecting and new mothers. It was the best decision I'd ever made, or best coincidence I'd ever stumbled upon really. When I found out that I was pregnant way back in 2007, I started searching for resources online. One of my first stops was Ivillage's pregnancy calendar. From there, Ivillage suggested I join an expecting club and the rest is history.

We all moved our conversations from a very public, broad place like Ivillage where everything you say is moderated, to facebook. It was difficult at first to decide who we meshed with and who we clashed with, but eventually, we've worked ourselves into pretty good groups. 

I wake up, check my facebook and see the things they've commented on my statuses or in the group posts. We share photos and stories daily. We offer and seek advice from one another. We laugh and joke and tease each other. Sometimes we vent and cry and sometimes we celebrate with each other.

These women were strangers. They weren't real people to me four years ago, but today, after meeting a few, they are very real. And very much a part of my real life. I cannot imagine going a day or two without checking in with them. 

Technology has changed the world, and thus how we interact. I have created more new friendships online than in my physical life (I'm refusing to call it real life at this point) and that's okay. We met in a monumental time of our lives, we had nothing in common but being pregnant or having new babies and now I'm proud to say that while our children are still a major topic of conversation, we are friends because we like each other and care for each other. I'm so blessed to have these real life, real friends.

(This post is not to say that people should go around making friends with random strangers online and then meeting up with them. I invested many hours (days, years) talking to these ladies online and came to knew them on such a personal level that I trust them. Please do not see my experience as something everyone should do. Disclaimer**)

Motherhood Simplified

I was reading a blog today guest hosted by Cait+Create about motherhood. At the end they asked for comments about your favorite part of motherhood. The entire blog post left me a bit sentimental, but here is what I came up with as a comment, and I wanted to share it with you.

I loved being pregnant. It was truly wonderful. I wasn't sick often, so I know that I had a better experience than many. I had an easy, safe pregnancy, so I know I was blessed.

I loved feeling him kick and swim inside my belly. I still miss it, three years later.

I loved holding my newborn close to my heart. That was his favorite way to sleep until he was over a year old. He would climb in my lap and lay his head on my chest. I loved snuggling with my small boy. I miss that even more than the kicking.

Now that he's three, I love how smart he is and how he never stops talking. He remembers everything and is constantly telling me a story about something. He is so imaginative and just a wonderful child. 

The best part about motherhood is that no matter how much I miss the stage we've grown out of, the new one is just as good. 

I love being a mother. 

Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas

I saw a recipe on pinterest the other day for slow cooker Chicken Fajitas. I didn't want to do all of the work that it asked me to do, so I improvised. 

I chopped and mixed every thing the night before so I could just toss it in the crock pot. I mixed about half of the seasoning packet with the sliced chicken in a bowl the night before and let it marinate all night.

They ended up really good so I thought I would share with you!

Even though I live a block from the grocery store, it's raining and I forgot the tortillas SO we had them in taco shells. They were so good, especially with the fresh salsa. :) 

Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas

1.5 lb Chicken breasts, sliced

1 package McCormick Fajita Seasoning

1 can Rotel 

2 red peppers

1 small onion

Half a lime juice

Add chicken, seasoning, rotel, peppers and onion to the slow cooker and cook on low for 6 hours (or however long it takes your crock pot to cook it since they are all different depending on the size, etc). When it's done juice the lime over the top and mix in for a fresh flavor.

Fresh Pico de Gallo

1 medium roma tomato

1 small serrano

1 small onion

Half juice of a lime

Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder

Roughly chop the tomato and onion. Squeeze lime over the top. Let sit for an hour for the juices to set.

(Linked at I Heart Naptime)

My Planner (and Giveaway info!)

A while back I read this blog post about this really awesome life planner. It was so pretty and functional that I decided I needed one too. Much to the chagrin of my friends. :) But hey, I like pretty things. 

I never got to share it's awesomeness on my blog, so here are a few pics of it, and proof that I do, in fact, utilize it. 

So pretty, and personalized.

TABS! (PS, I have no idea what that smudge is.)

Month at a glance.

Each two page spread is a week broken into morning, day, night. 

Folder pockets and a zipper pocket!

I've had this calendar since early September and I love it!! 

Here's the best part, I Heart Naptime is having a giveaway to http://www.erincondren.com. 

Check it out!

Occupy Wall Street

If you've watched the news lately, you have surely seen something about Occupy Wall Street. This is a protest movement, people who consider themselves the 99% of the population, who are rallying against Wall Street, big banks, and massive multi-national corporations that they feel have created the down turn in the American financial situation. 

The movement is leaderless and calls for revolution. The problem I (and many others) see with that is a lack of focus. It's unorganized chaos with too many different agendas. This could lead to dangerous territory, as people who relish the idea of leaderless revolution could look for ways to cause mass anarchy. While I do believe some changes need to be made, a public call to anarchy does not seem to be the solution.

The 99% ideal is based on the fact that the richest 1% are ruling the world, making the decisions, and we, the rest, are dealing with the consequences while they continue living a lifestyle we could only dream about. That this 1% have abused the financial system in America with no legal ramifications and no changes being made by the government to stop it from happening in the future.

This quote from wikipedia really stood out to me, 

"On Oct. 10 and 11, the polling firm Penn, Schoen & Berland interviewed nearly 200 protesters.^[76]Half (52%) have participated in a political movement before, 98% would support civil disobedience to achieve their goals, and 31% would support violence to advance their agenda. Most are employed; 15% are unemployed. Most had supported Obama; now they are evenly divided."

We are told in elementary schools when we first learn of the constitution and in college when we pretend to study more indepthly that we have the right to assemble peacefully. Situations like Kent State and the Occupy Oakland protests suggest that maybe there is a little more to it than just showing up and marching where ever you choose. But to see that 98% would face the repercussions of civil disobedience is a little shocking to me.

Both sides of this issue, those who see it as chaos with little productivity and the side that is desperately trying to get some measure of change admit that Americans are frustrated. There aren't enough jobs, companies are rapidly moving out of the US sending jobs away, unemployment is at a 9% stand-still (which is scary after the near collapse of 2008), and yet there are still people and companies making massive profits off of the system. 

The top 1% is now making more money than the lower 50%. That number is staggering and scary.

In a conversation I had with a friend when our credit rating was lowered, my friend said, 'It's not the fault of the bankers/banks, they will only do what the market can bear.' And my gut, instinct reaction to that was, the market can't bear it. We're at the snapping point. Financially, and now politically. People are responding.

I will be following this topic and writing about any major updates. It's incredibly interesting to me and I only hope that those who are truly about positive change, not the anarchists who are after destruction, in America succeed. 

Happy Birthday to Me!

It's the 25th, which means my birthday has come and gone. 

It was a quiet affair this year. After last year, I just wanted something simple. You see, last year I wanted to lessen the blow of turning 25 by having a little party and I asked for a really pretty cake. That was it. Well, the people invited to the party blew off my birthday, which really, really hurt my feelings. And Chance sort of screwed up the cake. In the end, we spent my birthday alone at home watching tv which was really depressing.

This year an awesome friend planned a dinner for my special day with some of our friends. We had sangria margarita swirls (awesome) and she got her dinner free because it had a bug (disgusting). But we had fun, that was the most important part. 

Chance got me some really great gifts, something different this year since we're actually not poor like we usually were in the past. :) Can I just say how much I love amazon gift wish lists? He got things directly off my list like the smart man he is.

Now it's back to the usual grind of massive amounts of homework, a hectic work life, and keeping track of a very busy three year old.

New Styles

I bought my very first pair of skinny jeans yesterday. I've never worn them before, but I'm wanting to wear more boots this fall/winter and you kind of need skinny jeans to make them work. 

I built this entire outfit from Maurice's website. I own the jeans and boots. I wish I owned the top and the necklace. lol The purse is just an extra. 

Helping.

I posted a few months ago that I hadn't really done anything nice for anyone lately. I wanted to remedy that. I hadn't found a way until today. My cousin's husband posted this link, and I loved the idea. I've seen it before, a blurb or something on TV, but I'd never seen the actual website. 

Now I'm signed up and plan to lend $25 a month. My goal is to lend to women entrepreneurs unless there is someone who I see that I just really want to help out. 

If you'd like to get started with Kiva, follow my link. It's a great way to help out. 

http://kiva.org/invitedby/sally9640

Andes Mint Cookies

A friend had these cookies at her daughter's party this weekend. I thought they were chocolate chip with nuts or something, grabbed one and sat down to eat it. It had Andes Mints. Are you serious?! They were awesome. I asked her for the recipe, but when I went to buy the Andes Mint chips at the store I found a recipe on the back so I didn't hesitate to come home and make them. 

The recipe was easy, I've never made cookies from scratch so I was worried, but it was simple. After I mixed the dough, it was a little dry and crumbly. I think it was because my eggs were small, so I would suggest using large eggs. Mine were medium farm fresh brown, so there just wasn't enough moisture. I mixed up another egg and rubbed it into the dough after letting it cool. 

The cookies grew really tall, so make sure after you make them into a ball that you flatten them out.

Yum!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 (10 ounce) packages Andes mint baking chips
• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour sifted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Blend butter, brown sugar, white granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla and eggs until ingredients are mixed.
3. Add Andes Baking Chips and mix.
4. Add Flour and continue to mix until all ingredients are well blended together.
5. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 45-60 minutes.
6. Spoon out approximately 1 oz of dough per cookie.
7. Form a ball and then slightly flatten.
8. Place on non-stick baking pans and bake for approximately 8-10 minutes.
9. Cool on pans for 2 minutes, then remove.

Shared at: http://www.jamhands.net/2011/10/recipe-sharing-monday-10-features.html