Five Question Friday, again!

..I know I already posted Five Question Friday but I was a week behind with the questions so I figured I'll get caught up with the rest of you and post one more today!


1. Would you ever vacation alone?
Ummmmm...no. It would get a little lonesome. I would def. want JJ or a friend with for some entertainment!


2. Do you go the speed limit?
always. Well, most of the time. I just got pulled over recently for my first time BUT it was my mom's fault, seriously. She told me if I didn't speed up she was going to drive! LOL. EVERYONE gets me crap for how cautious of a driver I am.


3. Why did you start blogging/following blogs?
It's entertaining and I like to journal. Plus it's nice for my family to keep updated with us!


4. Where do you shop for yourself?
Mostly Old Navy..I LOVE that store but hate the fact that everyone else does too. I hate when people have the same clothes as me and my children. But really I shop anywhere and everywhere..heck, I even went to The Salvation Army a few months ago to get some things for Halloween and bought a few over sized tops/sweatshirts..they're cute to wear with leggings!


5. What was the song that you danced your first dance with your spouse to at your wedding...or...what song would you like your first dance to be to?
It's going to be a surprise..I don't want to give out a lot of details about my wedding! SORRY! :P



xoxo...thanks for reading!

Five Question Friday!

..The rules? Copy and paste the following questions to your blog and answer them in your Friday post!





1. What is better, growing old with out money or dying young and wealthy?I always say I'd rather be happy and poor then unhappy and being wealthy so I kind of think this is similar..death is my biggest fear so of course I don't want to die young. Money is nice, I love money but my life does not totally depend on it. Therefore I choose to grow old with my love and so what if we don't have money!


2. Who takes out the garbage at your house?
JJ. I will not take out the garbage, I'll set it out in the back patio but I will not walk it to the garbage can. I believe it's a guy thing..no woman should have to walk with a garbage bag! :o)

3. Have you ever had the same dream many times?
I can't say that I have.

4. Can you play a musical instrument?
I can play a few tunes on the recorder and that's it.

5. If you owned your own store, what would you sell?
A boutique with etsy stuff...clothing, jewerly, vintage, and antique stuff!

Food 101

Do you know where your food comes from?
You have the right to know!

I was watching Oprah today, big surprise right?! ;) Well I had no idea what today's show was going to be about because I had fallen asleep to yesterday's Oprah(it wasn't entirely boring but I was just really tired) anyways so I missed what the next episode was going to be about. Well as soon as it came on today and I read the description of the show I was STOKED! I absolutely love shows like this, documentary type shows and especially ones that have a major affect on me and my family.

Today's show..Food 101 w/ Michael Pollan. I have to admit I agreed with almost everything the man said, it totally made sense as to why us humans are always sick and how an alarming number of people are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. It's the Western diet we've all been eating for years..lots of processed food, added fats, and sugars. Michael made some good points and things we should avoid, let me share..

*Don't eat anything grandma wouldn't recognize as food. Those funky looking yogurt tube things she could mistaken as toothpaste!

*Avoid products that contain ingredients that a 3rd grader can NOT pronounce.

*Eat foods that will eventually rot.-Okay, I came across an alarming video on youtube a year ago, I will post the link to it..EVERYONE needs to watch this. This is why my family and I skip out on McDonald's. Check it out..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IGtDPG4UfI

Next..this is about our animals that we eat.

*Us humans as a whole take 3 million pounds of antibiotics, livestock..28 million pounds! YIKES!
When we're eating all that meat that's full of antibiotics our bodies become immune to it and the next time we become sick and need an antibiotic it's not going to work as effectively.

*Grass fed beef don't need antibiotics because grass is what they were meant to eat, therefore they don't get sick from it.
*Corn fed beef get sick a lot because they are not meant to be eating all that corn, therefore they're injected with an antibiotic.

We need to change the way we support our farmers even if it costs us more to buy grass fed beef and that our animals aren't filled with steroids.

Us Americans eat 200 lbs. of meat per year..that's A LOT!

We pay 9% of our income on food and 17% on health care..that should be the other way around. If we paid more for our food, it would be because it's healthy which would mean less medical problems for us. It totally makes sense, doesn't it!

Let me share something that I've NEVER forgot and it's so true. I was watching Montel Williams a couple years ago and he said about grocery shopping.
When you go to the grocery store..stay OUT of the inside aisles, it is all processed food. Everything on the outside is what you need to eat, which is the dairy, meats, and veggies/fruit. That makes perfect sense!

There's 47,000 products estimated in a grocery store...we don't need most of that!

I'm guilty just as is everyone else but after watching this show, it was an eye opener for me, I wish we could make a difference as a nation and get the fast food out of here and to bring in healthy happy animals we can eat without being injected with chemicals.
We need to make conscious food decisions, NOW!!!

Get involved..here are 10 simple things YOU can do to change our food system:

1. Stop drinking soda's and other sweetened drinks. (You can lose 25 lbs in a year by replacing one 20 oz soda a day with a no calorie beverage (preferably water).

2.Eat at home instead of eating out. (Children consume almost twice (1.8 times) as many calories when eating food prepared outside the home.)

3.Support the passage of laws requiring chain restaurants to post calorie information on menus and menu boards. (Half of the leading chain restaurants provide no nutritional information to their customers.)

4.Tell schools to stop selling sodas, junk food, and sports drinks.(Over the last two decades, rates of obesity have tripled in children and adolescents aged 6 to 19 years.)

5.Meatless Mondays—Go without meat one day a week.(An estimated 70% of all antibiotics used in the United States are given to farm animals.)

6.Buy organic or sustainable food with little or no pesticides.(According to the EPA, over 1 billion pounds of pesticides are used each year in the U.S.)

7.Protect family farms; visit your local farmer's market.(Farmer's markets allow farmers to keep 80 to 90 cents of each dollar spent by the consumer.)

8.Make a point to know where your food comes from—READ LABELS.(The average meal travels 1500 miles from the farm to your dinner plate.)

9.Tell Congress that food safety is important to you.(Each year, contaminated food causes millions of illnesses and thousands of deaths in the U.S.)

10.Demand job protections for farm workers and food processors, ensuring fair wages and other protections.(Poverty among farm workers is more than twice that of all wage and salary employees.)


After watching today's show and learning more about the food that my family and I eat on a daily basis I am going to make changes in our household. That will be another post but I hope you and your family can help make a difference.

I have NOT seen the movie "Food, Inc." YET but you can bet that I will be buying it here shortly! I recommend you do the same or at least rent it!
I know we all of our own personal opinions and views on everything but when it comes to US, I think we should all make an effort to prevent all these deaths and diseases from the food we eat...who knew that eating a hamburger can kill you instantly from E. Coli.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 76 million Americans are sickened, 325,000 are hospitalized and 5,000 die each year from food borne illnesses.

DO SOMETHING!

http://www.foodincmovie.com/about-the-issues.php

Not me Monday!

..Ahhhhhhh! Are you guilty of doing something embarrassing or wishing you could forget that it ever happened?! If so, then "Not me Monday" is a pefect start to your Monday entry!
I forgot to do it before my previous blog but here on out I will start every Monday with my guilts and admit most every single one of them! ;)

I did NOT eat half a gallon of cookies N cream icecream within 2 days! NOT me!

I did NOT leave 3 loads of laundry on the couch for JJ to bring upstairs when he got home from work!

I did NOT make my kids eat spaghettio's, garlic toast, and banana's for supper while daddy and I had Domino's! NOT me!

Nope! NOT me! Especially NOT on a Monday!

Think before you ink!

A tattoo is a true poetic creation, and is always more than meets the eye. As a tattoo is grounded on living skin, so its essence emotes a poignancy unique to the mortal human condition. ~V. Vale and Andrea Juno, Modern Primitives

..Just want to post something cute about my little Piper. :o)



*This is her tattoo that she drew on her foot..I can only assume she got the inspiration from her mama!? :P
She's always drawing on her foot and it finally occurred to me tonight why she does it and doesn't color anywhere else!
She pointed to mommy's foot(my tattoo) and said "pretties." Then pointed at hers saying the same thing!!! Awwwwww, such a doll, I absolutely love her and am sooooo blessed God gave us such a precious little girl, her and Taylor both!!!!

Gee I really love you

“Waiting is a trap. There will always be reasons to wait. The truth is, there are only two things in life, reasons and results, and reasons simply don't count."

Obviously a lot of people are interested and curious as to why JJ and I haven't tied the knot yet. We're going on 7 years in May..which in some states it is considered "common law" marriage where I would have all the rights a wife does! :o)

So back to why we're not married yet. Well I'm not exactly sure to be honest. I mean we've done a lot of things backwards in life, having our first child while in high school caused a lot of stress and responsibility for us at such a young age. We weren't worried about getting married right away, we just needed to focus on starting our life as new parents and be successful for our daughter.
To be completely honest I rarely brought up marriage with him for the first 3 years, for some reason it wasn't a priority for me! But then I started realizing it was important to be married for our daughters sake..and now even more so it's been driving me crazy to get engaged but I know better then to nag on him about it!
I'll let him do his thing and hopefully I'll see a ring soon, better be this year!
It has to be this year, I truly believe it! ;)

Anyways, I guess that kind of sums it up..it's not much but it is OUR reasoning..we have a lot of love for each other and I can't wait for our day to vow our commitment together!

Love Know's No Gender.

Why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands? ~Ernest Gaines



I am truly inspired to write this blog about gay rights.
This is a very personal subject for me and also my family. I've always been for gay rights and marriage ever since I was able to understand the meaning. But more so now that one of my closet family members is proud to announce she is gay, my sister.
I want to write this in hopes that someone else is reading this and is in my situation and that just wants to know how this has affected our family.

Let me explain my sister a little bit. Would you believe me if I told you I had known she was gay ever since she was little? I know there's no radar to detect a person that is gay but looking back it all makes sense as to why my sister was the was she was. She was a different little girl from the beginning, not different, but special. I can't explain it in words for you to understand, even if I could it doesn't necessarily mean that is why she is now gay. So I will skip over those details.

How we found out the news..it was December 2008 right before Christmas. Actually it was like 2 hours before our annual family Christmas party. Perfect timing Lindsay! NOT. LOL. Anyways, my sister decided to let me be the first to know and when she told me I was not one bit surprised..honestly. I knew it deep down. I was just waiting for her to come out with it. Now the hard part..I was sworn into secrecy. I could not tell anyone else in my family, she was not ready to tell the rest of them, UGHHHHHH. This killed me to keep this, especially from our own mother. Do you know how long I had to keep this in? TWO MONTHS!!!! I finally told my sister "Lindsay, you have accepted for yourself, I have accepted you, you need to tell everyone else or I will." I was a little upset that she was making me keep this secret but then again I knew how hard it had to have been on her. So in February she finally told my mom. As you would expect most parents, my mom was devastated. Asking why? how? What did I do wrong? My mom and I spent what seemed to be hours on the phone...all I could tell my mom was it was not her fault, she was not a bad mother because of her daughter's orientation. I personally believe you're born who you are sexually. I do not believe the environment contributes to someone becoming gay, I know most Gay's are proud to be who they are but in all honesty I highly doubt they'd choose this if they had a choice BUT it's a crazy little thing called LOVE and frankly, you have nooooo control when it comes to LOVE!

So, back to my family and their thoughts on this..for weeks my mom was calling me just to talk and wanted to hear my opinions on this and I basically just told her she just needed to accept and be proud of Lindsay. She is obviously proud of her daughter, loves her unconditionally, but was still disgusted over this. It took her awhile to get use to the thought of calling one of her children gay and one her biggest fears is my sister bringing home a girlfriend, which hasn't happened yet.
But now that it's been almost a year my mom has accepted the fact and hasn't really talked much about it, she now knows that this is who Lindsay is.
At first she thought this was just a phase, that Lindsay was confused and that she may have just been doing it because guys think it's hot or what have you..I don't know..I think she was trying to think of every excuse to check off that her daughter was NOT gay.

Anyways, regardless of Lindsay's hair color, style, choice in music, or orientation..we still love her just as much and are very proud of her! She's our smarty pants with no common sense! bahahaha. KIDDING. But we are very proud of her, more so that she went onto to College and is in her junior year at Gustavus..to be a high school English teacher.

If anyone has questions regarding this subject for me OR my sister, let me know..I will gladly answer most anything as I probably left out a few important points that should have been in here but I can't think much more at the moment. :D

What's cooking.

...MMM, yum. yum. TACO CHILI
I am currently making one of my new favorite comfort foods. This is the 5Th time I've made it since Annalisa brought it over for our NYE party. It was a hit with our family, so when I come across a meal that we ALL enjoy I tend to take advantage of that! Might I add Taylor and daddy are VERY VERY picky eaters so this is definitely something everyone would enjoy, especially if you're a taco AND chili lover.

This is what you'll need..



* 2lbs. ground beef
* 1 package of taco seasoning
* 2 cans of diced tomatoes
* 1 can diced tomatoes w/ green chili's
* 1 can pinto beans, drained
* 1 can chili beans w/ sauce
* 1 can kernel corn
* 1/2c. chopped onion


Brown ground beef and onion.



Then combine ground beef and the rest of the ingredients into crock pot & cook on high for 4 hours, although it takes about half the time.
I actually like to reheat this and eat it the next day, after all the seasoning has sat in the refrigerator overnight it has a much more of a flavorful taste.
Another thing, if you want some "heat" to it, you can add 1-2 dried chili's.






You can top it with your own preference..sour cream, Frito's, shredded cheese.
ENJOY!

On my nightstand..

..I've recently picked up reading again! And well, made the time for it also. I've found it really helps put me to sleep at night..although I was up until 3:30am this morning finishing up one of my books, it seriously was that addicting I couldn't put it down!


I bought LA Candy back in July and JUST finally got around to finishing it.
It was a decent book, a lot of gossiping and just basically a documentary type to LC's life in The Hills. There was no climax to it, which I think is why it took me awhile to finish reading it. Also, not knowing who the charters were in the book made it frusturating and kind of made me lose interest. All the names are made up and she doesn't really give a lot of information in letting you know who the actual characters are so you're constantly guessing throughout. I do look forward to her second book "Sweet Little Lies" to come out Febuary 2nd. It seems like it'll be more dramatic and full of a lot of gossip and happenings! If you are a fan of The Hills then you'll enjoy!





Alright, so I've started to see the previews for "Dear John" to come out in theatre Febuary 5th..it looks AMAZING! And especially coming from Nicolas Sparks, who has written sooooo many wonderful books and one of my favorites "The Notebook."
So I bought the book "Dear John" and read it within one day! It is truely an inspiraing love story, I was literally in tears a few times throughout the book. I recommend this book to EVERYONE..men and women I think would equally enjoy this A LOT! I am sooooo looking forward to the movie!

My Mothering Style

..I really enjoy reading and talking about parenting.
I think it's interesting to see what other parents beliefs are for their own families. Obviously what works for one child may not work for another, or a family for that matter. However I do believe parents learn the most from each other.

Over the 5 years of motherhood I have been asked a lot of questions regarding topics from breastfeeding to potty training to sleep overs. Not that I am a "know it all" when it comes to parenting because I am far far from it but I would like to share some things that I as a mother believe for my children. This is just going to be totally random and out of order but I will give you a just of the things we do and don't do!

Medicine: This is a really iffy/tough subject for me. I've been doing a lot of researching over the pro's and con's of my children's vaccines. With the info. I have gathered I really believe the majority of the vaccines that are required are NOT needed and are actually more harmful then anything BUT my kids need to go to school and daycare therefore they need the shots, well that's not the only reason..but I've just really started to feel this way about the vaccines.. now that my babies are already full of the toxins...:(
Another thing with medicine..ever since I had my first child, Taylor I never gave her any pain relief medication UNLESS she absolutely needed it, and I still stand true to that to this day..my babies don't get Tylenol or whatever else, unless they are in extreme pain.
When it comes to teething, I don't use orajel..I think that's harsh. Instead..I came across these magical and natural teething tablets that just worked wonders!!! Hyland's Teething Tablets..you can find them at Walmart.
I'm not telling other parent's that it's bad to give your child Tylenol, or teething gel but I do believe were are injecting ourselves and children with a lot of unneeded chemicals.
I've never been one to take medication..heck, I gave birth to two children all natural..I didn't want any drugs in their little systems, nor mine. Not that I am putting a mother down for receiving pain medication..but you have to realize women have been birthing babies for thousands of years, many of those years they didn't have pain relief, if they did it..why, you def. can! I won't get into that subject in this particular blog..that's a whole new chapter!


Discipline: I'm not going to go into a whole lot of detail on this subject but I will tell you that I will never lay a hand on my child, well I may give an occassional slap on the hand or a litle tap on the butt BUT nothing like bending over and beating them with a belt, I just don't get how some parents can do that...that's only teaching your child it's okay to hit and be abusive.
Some examples and things we do with our children, well more so with Taylor since Miss Piper is too young for the same type of discipline Taylor is.
Mind you, we've still got a ways to go in finding the best tactics when it comes to discipling our children..believe it or not but I am the disciplinarian! However, we do not let our children talk back or walk all over us. I've always used the time out rule of putting them in a room with no activity such as other people, or Television and they're in there a minute for every year old they are..so Taylor's time out is 5 minutes..I usually send her out to the kitchen and set the timer, so she doesn't even have to speak/ask when it's time to get down.
Another thing that has worked soooo well, especially just recently is taking away her prize posessions..Ipod, TV, not joining the family for an activity.
Which leads us to Taylor's bedroom..she has a very hard time cleaning, or picking up after she's done playing with her toys..then it just becomes such a mess and she gets soooo overwhelmed and doesn't know where to start..so JJ usually is the one to clean her bedroom...which he is now starting to throw away toys she leaves out and he actually really does it! :/ Sure get's her going though!
Now with Piper, obviously she is old enough to start knowing feelings..so we've really been expressing to her if she hits sissy, that makes sissy sad, and we'll give her the pouty face, and tell her let's be nice to sissy and then we'll "pet" Taylor and say this is nice..ya know, almost like a dog I guess..but I want her to know that it's not acceptable to throw a fit, or to hit, and to be loving..seems to be working well. There's sooo many other things that I am probably leaving out...but we're working on it..we better start soon..our girls will be pre teen's before we know it! :(





Pop/Sugar: Big NO! NO! around here. It astonishes me seeing a 2 year old walking around with a can of pop, I mean seriously..I have to admit that is bad parenting and just pure laziness on the parents part. For one, if your kid needs sugar or you need something conveient..give him a juicebox so at least he's getting nutritional value and is not rotting his teeth. Taylor does not get pop, she will occassionally if we're out to eat but even most of the time if we go to fastfood I still get her milk, and to "spice" it up sometimes I'll get her chocolate milk and that's seriously a HUGE treat for her.
There's also no candy for her, unless she has earned it as a treat or it's a special occassion.
In Piper's 17 mos. of life she's barely had any juice and if she does I dilute with water..I just feel it's not neccassary to give her juice yet, even the "healthiest" of juices is still full of sugar.
I don't need my kids having 5 cavities before they even start kindergarten! I do relize some kids just have "bad" teeth because they inheriented it but most cases it's the poor choices their parents have made.



Co-sleeping: I'm going to guess the majority of parents are against this but there are quite a few we believe in this and I am one of those parents. I mean, I have nothing against a baby sleeping a crib BUT I do believe there's more benefits for a baby to sleep with parents then alone in a crib. I've done TONS of researching on this over the years and came across a couple highly respected doctors who strongly believe in this as well. Some benefits include: babies who share a bed with their parents are more independent then others, reduces the risk of SIDS, babies who sleep alone have a greater risk to develop stress disorders, babies sleep longer throughout the night without waking..this as all proven to be sooo true with us.
People often ask the "big" question.."How do you and JJ have intimacy time?" Well I will be completely honest with you..I guarentee our sex life is much better then most parents out there..because of the fact we have a child in our bed we have to find other love making places! It's what keeps the fire going! haha! I can't believe I just wrote that but I want to be completely honest! :o)
Obviously co sleeping isn't for everyone but before you judge..do your research!



Potty training: I can only hope that Piper will be as easy as Taylor was..we did not have one issue when it came to potty training Taylor(she was potty trained fully by 22 mos.)..I guess it's because she did it at her own willingness. We never once forced her to sit on the potty. I truly belive that's key. The one major sign for readiness is when they're interested in sitting on the toilet themselves. Every child is going to be completely different when it comes to this, it's basically trial and error to see what works best for your child..a potty chair, a smaller seat to put on the toilet, or just the toilet itself. Another thing to do to help excite your child about becoming a big girl is to buy her underwear and let her wear them over her diaper. Ummm..I can't think of anything else to write about this..it's been almost 4 yrs since I've done and now it's time to start it all over again!


Alright, there's sooooooo much more that I could talk about and sit here and debate about but this is well enough for now. I look forward to reading your comments, questions, disagreements, anything you want to add!
Enjoy!

OMG Facts!

..Just want to share some free entertainment and chuckles your way!
Here are some fun facts to get your brain thinking and wondering...BAHAHA!

Honeybees never sleep.

Eagles mate in mid air.

All swans in England are the property of the queen or king.

The oldest dog died at the age of 29.

One California law states that sunshine is guaranteed to all people.

In ancient Egypt, priests plucked every hair from their bodies.

Coffee beans aren't beans; they are fruit pits.

The world record for time without sleep is 264 hours (11 days) by Randy Gardner in 1965.

The day after Thanksgiving is the busiest day for plumbers in the US. (Hmm...)

Everyday, 15 billion cigarettes are smoked worldwide. (Disgusting.)

The bedroom is the most common place for love making, and the car is second. :D

Among older men, vanilla is the most erotic smell.

If you keep a Goldfish in the dark room, it will eventually turn white.

There are no cemeteries in San Francisco, CA.

The inventor of Vaseline ate a spoonful of the stuff every morning.

The chances of you dying on the way to get your lottery tickets is greater than your chances of winning.

The can opener was invented 48 years after the can.

More than 40,000 parasites and 250 types of bacteria are exchanged during a typical French kiss.

In Arizona, it is illegal to have more then two dildos in one house.

At age 37, Jack Nicholson discovered that the woman he'd always thought his sister was actually his mother.

Musician Eric Clapton also grew up thinking his mother was his sister.

Watermelons can cost up to $100 in Japan.

Every U.S. president with a beard has been a Republican.

Women who read romance novels are reported to make love 74% more often than women who do not read romance novels.

Women end up digesting most of the lipstick they apply.

Up to the age of six or seven months a child can breathe and swallow at the same time. An adult cannot do this.

The average single man is one inch shorter than the average married man.

The average American eats at McDonalds more than 1,800 times in their life.

People who are lying to you tend to look up and to their left.

Over 18,000 people die a year from having no insurance.

In Haiti, only 1 out of every 200 people own a car.

40% of Americans have never visited a dentist.

Boys who have unusual first names are more likely to have mental problems than boys with conventional names...

(cont...) Girls don't seem to have this problem. (MY NAME IS ADORIAN! UNCONVENTIONAL!)

2,500 newborn babies will be dropped in the next month.

There have been over 7,200 acts of terrorism against the US over the last 15 years.

80% of Americans will be the victim of violent crime at least once in their lifetime.

A man gets robbed in London every 4.5 minutes.

WAL-MART generates approximately $3,000,000.00 in revenues every 7 minutes.

There are more telephones than people in Washington, D.C.

On average, 100 people choke to death on ballpoint pens every year.

Q-Tip Cotton Swabs were originally called Baby Gays.

More Americans have died in car accidents than have died in all the wars ever fought by the United States.

By raising your legs slowly and laying on your back, you can't sink in quicksand.

68 percent of a Hostess Twinkie is air.

The smallest human penis ever recorded was just 5/8 of an inch long. (Ouch...)

It is possible to go blind from smoking too heavily.

If you were to roll a lung from a human body and out flat it would be the size of a tennis court.

By the age of 60, most people have lost 50% of their taste buds.

Eco-Resolutions

..I always tell JJ how I'd like to start being more Eco-friendly but don't know where to start, until I got to researching and came across this list which I totally agree with and think it's VERY doable by all of us..it's something we all will eventually have to start doing to keep our Earth clean and live able so why not start now! I understand this all may be overwhelming to someone who doesn't know where to start but pick a couple things to start out with..I especially love the idea of re using your grocery bags OR buying the reusable ones for $1 at Walmart. Another good one is donating your gently used clothing and shoes..those are def. a good start!
I know most of us say well, what's a difference going to make if I don't do it...well it makes a huge difference and I highly encourage you all to start looking into ways to help our environment!

1. Take reusable bags on all shopping trips, not just for groceries – Nicole Richie and Jennie Garth love these ones.
2. Take your shoes off at your front door – why bring that outdoor road gunk inside (lead included)?
3. Clean the greenest way possible and get rid of all your household chemicals – Gone Shopping offers the Eco-Me home kit.
4. Don’t buy unnecessary and un-NEEDED toys for your children…and watch for pvc, lead, phthalates…why are they in our toys in the first place? Read Slow Death by Rubber Duck to learn more.
5. Turn the water off while brushing your teeth…there is NO reason why this can’t start happening today!
6. Make sure your tires are properly inflated – just ask how to check at your next service call if you don’t know how.
7. Don’t chew aspartame (ick!), and certainly don’t give artificial gum to your kids – try Glee Gum.
8. Do not give out conventional invitations when throwing your next party (I do hope you have a lot to celebrate) – try this instead.
9. I’m hoping that you’re excited knowing that this next point was checked off your list ages ago - NO PLASTIC water bottles…disposable or reusable…use a Klean Kanteen or a glass bottle.
10. Try packing a waste-free lunch–Oprah, Martha Stewart and Rachel Ray all agree.
11. Be an Agent of Altruism TM. Nothing will make you feel better than doing a random act of kindness. Check out Boom Boom Cards to get started.
12. Avoid canned foods – the same scary BPA made famous in baby bottles are in those can linings. – Eden Organics cans of beans are BPA free and a healthy choice too!
13. Try a little alternative medicine – consult a naturopath and avoid putting synthetics in your body that are harmful in production, to your body and when you pee it back out and it goes into our water system! Women take note: FemMed has a solution for everything!
14. Source one new and very safe personal care item…maybe mascara, toothpaste or a shampoo…wondering why only one? I know once you get started, you’ll keep going. Try Green Beauty or your local health food store.
15. Donate something – recycle stuff you don’t use and give it to someone who needs it.
16. Inspire your school or organization to run an eco-friendly, intelligent fundraiser like this one.
17. Don’t idle your car, and ask those that you see idling to cut their engines too.
18. Use an eco-friendly ice melter/traction control – where do you think it all goes once you dump it on your walkways and driveways? Aside from our water system, it travels to our interiors (think cars, landscaping, pets and our children), and it gets taken into our schools. Home Depot has multiple options.
19. Spend a few minutes on the Canadian food inspection website and sign up for their alerts via email. This will be the quickest way to convince you to buy as local, as fresh and as organic as you can…melamine? Listeria? Oy.
20. Admit it, there’s something gross about rubbing germs around and getting a chemical to kill them on your hands (where do you think the chemical is going?). Alcohol kills both bad AND good bacteria and synthetic antibacterials (Triclosan as an example) has shown it can lead to super germs…ick!. I tote around Clean George, now available in Canada!
21. Watch Garbage Revolution– you’ll learn the acceptable kind of “trash talk”.
22. Join a few free campaigns that allow your small actions to be part of something bigger! Take a look at TakeOutWithOut. Fill your stomach and not our landfills!
23. Ditch the tea bags (who need the string, staple, bleached bag and wrapper?) and get into brewing loose leaf tea – nourishtea has a wide variety!
24. Make something with a foreign-to-your-kitchen ingredient. Kale Chips? Quinoa? Gogi Berries? It’s good to try new things – you’ll surprise yourself!
25. Give up plastic one step at a time! Get a glass straw that is so durable they offer a lifetime guarantee! And, while you’re in the kitchen, recycle all of those plastic containers, especially the ones without matching lids! Instead invest in glass containers with lids.

Focus on the positive impacts your eco-reSOLUTIONS will have and remember that every decision you make does have an impact, whether negative or positive…so inform yourself and make decisions wisely.

Non Essisential baby items

..So I've been asked numerous times throughout the years what I've boughten for my kids and what I thought was just a complete waste! So I'll write a list on my personally experiences with my own children..

Bassinet- They may be conveient and easy to be able to move room to room BUT your baby will outgrow it fairly fast and then you'll have to get him/her use to sleeping in a crib..I think it's better to just start them out in the crib and save your money.

Changing table- We had bought one for Taylor when she was a baby but honestly we probably used it a total of 5x..it was just a hassle to bring her to her bedroom every time we needed to change her, I do however recommend a diaper pad..you can get one at Walmart for $20 or less and they come with washable covers.

Wipe and bottle warmers- come on! For one, if you have a fussy baby you simply can not wait that long for a bottle to warm up. And for the wipe warmers, it dries up the wipes, also do you plan to bring the warmer with you everywhere you travel...no! Just get the business done and put a diaper on her toosh, she won't hate you because you used a cold wipe! sheesh!

Diaper genie-I don't care if it holds in smells or that it has perfumed garbage bags..that's just gross and pure laziness keeping 10 diapers in a pail! Put the dirty diaper in a grocery bag, tie it up, and throw it in the garbage.

Baby monitor-Unless you live in a castle these are totally not necessary...I got a set with each baby and never used them..heck, Piper's is still brand new in the package..I should return it, it's $40 to go to something useful.

Lots of cutesy infant clothes- I admit I LOVE to buy all those cute little newborn outfits but seriously your baby may not even have time to fit into all of them..I know my kids didn't. I have tons of newborn clothes with tags still on them..I think you need about 6 newborn outfits tops..they really grow out of them FAST!! Same goes with infant shoes, and onesies. Be careful with how much you buy!



It really just depends on your baby and his/her interest...my oldest lived in her vibrating chair, but my youngest would not sit a minute in hers!

The swing has always been a lifesaver with both of my children!

I absolutely think the Bumboo seat was an excellent invention, even if it's just a big whole thing of foam! However I do suggest you not pay $40 for it brand new and try to find one in a consignment shop.

I can't think of anything else at the moment but I will edit and add more as I continue to regain thought about my own personal experiences....

There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction.

..I posted a status on facebook a month ago stating bad news..well obviously that was dumb on my behalf..I had everyone asking what was going on and I couldn't tell ANYONE! I mean, I could..but I just felt like a failure, soooo let down, and depressed, and basically just didn't want anyone to know the news.

So, December 15th, it was a Tuesday..it was 12:21pm, I remember the time because I was watching "The Wendy Williams Show" and looked at the clock when I heard the door open..it was JJ, I just thought to myself yayyy! he's home from work early! Thinking that a machine went down because it does happen but this time it wasn't the case.
I asked him why he was home early, what machine went down?!
He said "think of the worst thing you can think of".....my heart sank, I knew immediately what that meant. He was fired. Considering that he kept pretty cool..I on the other hand bawled..went in to panic mood. What were we going to do?!
The company JJ works for is with the Union, which can be a bad or good thing, in his case it turned out to be a VERY good thing..the Union "fought" JJ's company to get his job back...he got the call on Wednesday, exactly a month later!
So we went an ENTIRE month with no income, besides his second job but that covers just enough for his cigarette's and gas money..seriously. I have noooo idea how we made it through this month, plus he was let go during the holidays, it couldn't have came at a worser time! But we made it and now things will be back to normal, well kind of! ha!
As bad as we needed him to go back to work I was REALLY hoping he wouldn't get his job back..I know that sounds shallow and selfish on my part BUT I thought this was the perfect opprutinity for us to start fresh! I wanted to move out of Minnesota, knowing it would be sooo hard being away from family but I just feel like we need to explore a little...my first thought was Maine..I've always wanted to move there! So, I started searching homes and jobs for JJ and I...I came across this BEAUTIFUL home to rent in a small town, Waldoboro, ME. I found a job for JJ..I mean, I was quite serious about this all!!! I talked it over with JJ and he said "no way!"
Fine whatever, I understand it would be a huge adjustment so then I brought up moving to the cities, there's no where in our area that pays as much as JJ's job does, he probably couldn't even find that up in the cities anywhere either for starting wage..but he didn't even want to look! I don't know why he insists on staying in this small town..all that's here is family, which is a big deal..but we're a family of our own now, it's not like we still depend on our parents!

UGH, Well now he goes back to work this Monday...I'm grateful for that, did I mention how he got his job back?! The Union guy, Joe called him on Wednesday and said "you go back to (blank) on Monday, 6am!" Basically his job really liked his work ethic and pretty much the company screwed up on the point system that JJ goes by in order to keep his job or not..it's quite confusing if you don't know the whole system..but really it was NOT JJ's fault for getting fired!

Now, I decided it's time for me to go back to work so we can be more financially stable..basically my income goes to all our luxeries! So I've put my resume in at a few places here in town..fingers crossed!

The tooth fairy will make a visit shortly!

..Awwwwww, my little oumpa..AKA Taylor got her first loose tooth!
She had a dentist appt. back in November and the dentist had said that her two bottom central incisors were loose. Well ever since then Taylor has been soooo proud and kept saying "I'm gonna lose my teeth!" Well we couldn't feel them loose, although the dentist had stated they were..well sure enough they would be loose shortly! She woke us up yesterday morning to make her big announcment.."MOM, LOOK MY TEETH REALLY ARE GONNA FALL OUT, THEY'RE LOOSE!" She's been playing and wiggling it ever since! I never thought losing a tooth would be as big of a milestone as it is but it is quite exciting!!!! My youngest is getting in her teeth, while my oldest is losing her's....FUN!!!
Also, about 3-4 weeks ago we noticed Taylor was getting her 2 bottom adult teeth right behind her baby teeth...it is soooo weird looking! I freaked out, seriously. Me, the research guru that I am..I googled it and turns out it is actually quite common, it's called "shark teeth." In most cases the adult teeth just push the baby teeth out of the way, which is probably why her bottom ones are loose. I just hope it doesn't mess up her teeth, we should probably just start a fund for the Orthodontist just in case! LOL.

Home alone on a Saturday night..LOSER!

...Alright, so I finally gave in and let my little Piper go to my mom's house and spend the first night ever in her 16 mos. of life! :P

Taylor goes to JJ's parents every Saturday night over night..which I would like to stop but it's caused soooo many problems fighting with this issue, I just need to accept the fact that they are obsessed with my daughter, I FORBID them to take over Piper like they did with Taylor..I blame it on the fact that I was a teen mother and I moved in with them when I was pregnant so they were they "helping" me raise my daughter. I guess I have never explained to anyone really my situation back then, so here's the chance to do so!

JJ(Joshua John) and I met in school(ALC) the end of my junior year, we started dating May 24th, 2003. Due to calculations and my grandma telling us we conceived Taylor on Halloween(like she knows! pssshhh! LMAO.) she was conceived in October sometime, I had nooooo idea I could have been pregnant, honestly, I still to this day do NOT know how it happened, well..I do but it was quite a shock! Eight weeks later, December 12, 2003 my mom brought me to the Dr. for a "checkup"..skiping the details, the Dr. later walked in, didn't even sit down..I don't think she even shut the door, she just stood in the doorway and said "you're pregnant" in a very disgusted voice. My mom broke down bawling and said "I'll meet you in the car." Wow, I still remember the exact feeling I had..I was frozen..mixed emotions. And I still felt this pregnancy was impossible to have happened but it was a very blessed mistake.
Granted I was young and still needed to finish school, I NEVER once thought about abortion OR adoption. My mommy insticts kicked in immediately..I quit smoking that day! So..after getting in the car, my mom drove right to my school, went in and pulled JJ out of class and said "Court's pregnant" and walked out and left. UGH. So JJ and I left school for the day, drove around for hours discussing our plans and what we need to do to raise this baby. I felt soooo bad about letting my mom down, I know it was killing her..I was following right her in footsteps, as she got pregnant with me at 17..we got pregnant the same time, the same age, WEIRD!
Well not even a week later and my mom is out baby shopping buying the baby things and trying to be happy and proud, although inside she was ashamed of me, I know. I think her biggest fear was that her and everyone else didn't think I would graduate high school, but I did..and went off to college afterwards to Cosmetology school but then later dropped out, beauty school dropout..I just lost interest, it wasn't what I wanted, and it was definately hard going to school with a newborn.

Five years later, here we are TRUELY blessed with a gorgeous, sassy, daddy's little girl..Taylor Jo Radsek! I honestly believe God gave her to me at such a young age for a reason, to keep me out of trouble, and to settle down. I lost a lot of friends becoming a mom, I just matured and had a lot of responsibility, PLUS everyone else went off to college..it was hard having to grow up soooo early and fast but looking back I would NOT have changed anything. Taylor has made me the person I am today, sometimes I think I am too much of a mommy, if that's possible?! I always felt sooo guilty going out with friends and leaving my daughter behind..I remember on my 21st birthday I went out with a bunch of my friends and just bawled, saying I guilty I felt leaving her at home with daddy while I was out drinking, and doing a selfish thing..I know it's unhealthy for mother's to not get a break but it's hard not being there for my kids at all times..
IDK..back to the beginning..so here I am home alone..no kids, waiting for my buffalo wings to get here..LOL. Then I don't know what I will do!? Watch a sappy love story, paint my nails & toes, finish reading "LA Candy" and wait for JJ to get home to have a romantic evening, if we can remember how to do that! LMAO. I told him I would make him shrimp scampi when he got home from work at 9pm but thats too late to wait to eat, I've only had a bagel and a chai tea today...I'm starving!!!
Perfect timing, my wings are now here...mmmmmm! Til next time...love y'all for reading! (:

Family arguments

..Family arguments SUCK! SUCK! SUCK!

I'm not going to get into much detail for respect of my family but I just need to vent about this and hopefully my sister's are reading this and know that I am not on ANYONE'S side, honestly.

Earlier today, my mom sent me a text of her hand with a big diamond ring on it..at first I thought maybe it was a joke and wondered why she didn't call me to tell me the news, so I call her and come to find out, she is indeed engaged! I'm happy for her! But let me explain why I am a little hesitant with this situation..

My mom, Tianne has been with Mike(her now fiance) for almost 3 years. He is a good guy, owns his own cooling/heating business and has two boys, whom honestly are the most well behaved & disciplined kids I've EVER met! Also, he's from Utah and comes from a very religious background as a Mormon. So he has good morals and values. My younger sisters Lindsay(20) and Tessa(13) along with the entire family really approves of him and is happy to see my mom so happy and in love, until just recently.
They bought a house together this past June but then things started to get a little rocky..they were constantly having this petty little arguments over the sillest things, I am not kidding..it was just sooo childish! It got so annoying and unhealthy for my mom and sisters to continue living there, so they moved out in November...well my mom and Tessa. Lindsay resides 40 mins. away at college.
To sum it up..he's been chasing her, begging for her to come back, and then it leads up to today...HE PORPOSED! My sister's are FURIOUS and neither will talk to my mom, they think she chose him over them. I understand both sides, I really do. I see why my sister's are so mad..they're sick of seeing/hearing them argue all the time. And I know why my mom is giving him another chance...LOVE. My sister's are too young to understand the meaning of love and what it's like to have a special someone in your life. Nobody can wake up one more and stop loving and forgetting a person, it takes a lot of strength.
Now my older sister, Lindsay won't talk to me because she thinks I'm teaming up with my mom..I told my sister.."I know you don't accept this and it hurts you but please be happy for mom." She didn't say anything back, and has avoided me ever since, well it's been 2 hours. psshh.
And I'm the one stuck in the cross fire..in my family I am the ONE that everyone goes to for being the first to know family secrets and all the 411..I mean, it's a good feeling knowing that my family appreciates my trust and support but it's hard keeping secrets..which can lead me on a whole nother topic but I won't get into that one on here!
I just hope we can get this straightened out..now my mom wants to give the ring back to Mike because Tessa and Lindsay won't talk to her..I feel bad for the guy, seriously..I hope it doesn't lead to that! I just wish Mike and the girls could talk and develop the relationship they had together..he is a good guy for the family and more so for my mom, she needs him, emotionally.

Happy 2010

..So, I'm not one to have a new year's resolution...because it always ends in failure. But this year I decided I was going to make one and stick with it. As much as I need to lose weight and get fit again my goal was not that. My resolution this year is to be more positive and non judmental. IDK what it is but I've caught myself being quite the Debbie Downer lately and talking about people and being negative about things. I want to be that happy positive person again! I swear I have seasonal depression..I know a lot of people hate winter and get all "depressed" about it...but it's different for me..I haven't been outside in two days, yes I have NOT gone anywhere in two days! I guess I can also blame that on the frigid weather we're having..-20 degrees, who wants to leave the house anyways!? Today I am breaking that stretch and getting outta the house..we're heading over to the In Laws, and then grocery shopping afterwards to get ingridents to make Taco Chili, Annalisa made it for our NYE party...it was awesome and the whole family loved it too!
So back to NYE..we laid low this year...had Annalisa and her boyfriend, Aaron over. It was nice..we played games, watched the NYE festivies on TV, ate a lot of yummy food, and caught up on some much needed details! :D
It's been 3 yrs. since I've gone out for New Year's to celebrate, but in all honesty I think I'd rather spend NYE at home with my family bringing in the new year then to be out at a bar...going out to the bars in general is just a "no no" for me anyways. A little off subject BUT the small town we live in and I see mothers out at the bar every weekend, while their kids' are with the babysitter, it's just sooooo trashy and it really goes to show they were not ready to be parents. I understand parents need a break but go out to the movies, out to dinner, a play..whatever..but not the damn bars every weekend! GRRRRRRRRRRRRR..I have major issues with this subject but I'll keep my mouth shut and stick to my resolution to be positive! :D