Top Ten Tuesday - 10 Things I'm Thankful For

Since it is November and we are heading towards Thanksgiving (at lightening fast speeds!), I thought I would pause and share 10 things I am thankful for!



1. My Family. My husband and kids are my world and I love them. They continue to teach me, support me, and love me and I hope I am able to give it back ten fold. Everyone else that is related to me is pretty awesome to - Thank you!

2. My Job. I like to gripe about it a lot and that alarm clock kills me every.single.morning, but then I think of how it would be if I were unemployed and I realize that I am thankful to have a job in the field that I love.

3. Great Friends. I feel so thankful to have developed deep, meaningful friendships in all stages of my life. To me, friends are family members that you choose!

4. My Resiliency. I'm so thankful that I was blessed with a fall down seven times, get up eight type of attitude, it has definitely been serving me well these days!

5. My Sense of Humor. I can pretty much find humor in any situation and that is great for days when you feel like the world is against you!

6. I am thankful for when other people love my children. I'm not sure if I will articulate this correctly, but I'm the Mommy, so I have to love them; bababysitters, teachers, and friends don't - so I'm thankful when they do :)

7. Words of Encouragement. Who doesn't appreciate this? Sometimes, I think I am on the wrong path and doing everything wrong and some one steps in and offers encouragement in some way - it makes all the difference!

8. Kindness of Strangers. You've seen me at the grocery store, 9 months pregnant with a two year old going crazy and you let me ahead of you in line! I am thankful for you and strive to pass it on!

9. People who serve our Country. You are awesome and I am thankful for your sacrifices.

10. Faith and Hope. Without these two simple things, life would be unlivable.

Top Ten Tuesday: Audrey is 6 months old!!!

Yes! I can hardly believe it myself! There are so many great things about having a 6 month old!

 Like:


1. Being able to sit up on her own (if only for a couple of seconds)


2. Starting Solids, or getting more adventurous with solids

3. Watching her play, especially with big brother!


4. Baby giggles

Yes,  I know she sounds like the Count on Sesame Street :)


5. Discovering new things (even if it is her feet)

6. Waking up and greeting mommy with a smile

7. Watching her try to crawl - Video to come soon :)


8. Having serious, in depth conversations with her

9. Watching her light up when someone she recognizes comes in the room


10. Seeing her grow...

Happy Half Birthday Audrey!

Top Ten Tuesday - 10 Things I am Happy About

1. My fitness - my jog/walk program is going strong! I am on week 4 and I am now completing 1.65 miles in 23 minutes and I have lost 7 pounds!

2. My new phone - I'm sure everyone is sick of me talking about it, but I switched from Blackberry to iPhone 4s and...it was life changing! I am now categorizing my life as Amy before iPhone and Amy after iPhone!

3. The Eagles won against the Redskins!!!!!!!

4. On Saturday, we are taking Vincent to see Yo Gabba Gabba Live and I cannot wait! This is our family of three at the show last year in our DJ Lance Rock glasses:

5. Halloween is coming and this is the first year Vincent will be Trick or Treating. He is going to be Buzz Lightyear - it's going to be adorable! Now, to figure out Audrey's costume!

I'm thinking either:

A. Baby Chef - Audrey loves to watch me cook and how adorable?!?!

B. Pumpkin - Very traditional, which I like, but will it be too warm?

C. Snow White - Of course I would finish off the look with a red bow as well!

I don't want to torture the poor girl - thoughts??

6. Audrey's sleep training is going well and I'm feeling more rested!! Praise Jesus!

7. Next week, Audrey is 6 months old! At her check-up she will be getting her ears peirced!! So excited!!!

8. Thanks to Pinterest, I have sooo many fun recipes to try out in the coming months! Cooking is fun!!

9. My Fall wardrobe! Between being pregnant last Fall and losing weight this Fall, I feel as though I have a new wardrobe, even though I haven't been shopping - it's awesome however I do want a new purse which I will treat myself to once I lose 6 more pounds!!

10. My social life! Having a baby takes you out of the game for a bit, but I'm feelling very social once again and that makes me happy!

Top Ten Tuesday - 10 Things I'm Working on Right Now!

1. My health, isn't everyone? I'm tracking my nutrition and fitness with sparkpeople.com and I'm tracking my steps with a pedometer and I've been jog/walking for about 3 weeks 3x a week and am up to jogging for .75 mile without stopping!

2. Time Management. I could really use say... 32 hours in a day, but that is just not realistic so I'm learning how to better manage my time now that I have two kiddos and a full time job and lots of laundry.

3. Finance management - daycare x 2 = more than my mortgage - my husband and I are trying to figure it all out right now!

4. How to say no.... without feeling guilty....

5. My resume! I've had my Master's Degree since last December and I am still under employed. It is definitely tough out there so I have been working hard to update and network and job search.

6. Maintaining relationships. I apologize on a weekly basis for not returning text messages, calls, or emails to my friends and now I am working on catching up and maintaining all of the great relationships I've built over the years.

7. Having ME Time! I think anyone with children can relate, but even if I get to go to a grocery store by myself, I call it ME time and I may or may not gloat as I walk down the same aisle as a woman who is wrangling her kids.

8. Family Time!

9. Transitioning Audrey from breast milk to formula. She will be 6 months old and my supply isn't keeping up so let the transition begin and let my husband take over a feeding or two :)

10. Being a good person, doing good things, and sending out positive vibes into the universe.


I'm a work in progress!

Top Ten Tuesday - 10 Moments of Awesome

A few weeks ago, a friend from grad school came to visit me in my office. She was holding a book called "The Book of Awesome." When I asked her about it, she read me a few passages about awesome things like when you spot a group of friends in the lunch room when you had previously thought you'd be sitting alone.

So, using that premise I thought it'd be fun to come up with 10 of my own moments of awesome... I haven't read the book, so hopefully my moments aren't repeats, but they might be - sorry in advance!

1. Perusing through the shoe department at your favorite store you come across an awesome sale on THE cutest shoes you have ever seen. You try not to get too excited as you scan the boxes to see if your size is there. It's not, but wait.... you flip over the display shoe and hallelujah... your size! AWESOME!

2. It's the first chilly morning in October. Your sleep deprived thanks to your beautiful, teething 5 month old. You open the door to the coat closet to dig out your coat and are met with yet more obstacles as tennis rackets and book bags fall at your feet. Finally, you manage to pull out your coat and put it on. Making sure it still looks nice, you begin to smooth and pull at it. You put your hands into the pockets... wait what's this??? A ten dollar bill!!! AWESOME!

3. For the past four nights, your adorable bundle of joy has decided that she will wake up every hour on the hour. Your are on the brink of insanity! You can barely remember your name and you look like a zombie. As you get ready for bed, you pray to whichever God will answer your prayers for just 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep, that's all you need.. you're not asking for much... You go to bed full on expecting to be up again in no time, but when you do wake up you are met with sun on your face and birds chirping. You feel rested and sane.... your baby has slept through the night!!! AWESOME!!!

4. Hearing your child say "I Love You" and knowing that they have some idea as to what that actually means. AWESOME!

5. You pull up to the gas station to fill up. No surprise, the price has gone up yet again. You swipe your Kroger card to make it go down $.02  when you see a message on the screen... what? You qualify for $.20 off each gallon? AWESOME!

6. It's freezing cold and you are running late. Of course there will be frost on the car and of course you have no time to defrost - you have a very important staff meeting in which you will be taking very important notes and you still have to drop off your kid to daycare! Ugh! You fly out the door kid in tow and keys ready already wondering were that damn ice scraper is... until you look up and notice that your husband has already scraped your car for you. Your love for him returns and you remember why you married him. He didn't abandon you in this tundra land to fend for yourself! AWESOME!

7. Whether you're in elementary school or grad school, the moment you see your school on the CLOSED due to inclement weather list, that is AWESOME!

8. When your student loans get deposited into your bank account without you knowing it and you go online to see a balance of $14,000 dollars in your account - AWESOME!

9. The first time you say "my husband" - pretty AWESOME!

10. The first time you see  and touch your child, even with all the gross stuff before he/she get bathed, is probably the most AWESOME moment of all time!

Top Ten Tuesday - Favorite You Tube Videos

Me and my co-workers are constantly exchanging you tube videos... here are 10 of my favorites!




Happy Tuesday!

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Top Ten Tuesday - 10 Things Every Momma Should Have

I love lists! They are easy to read, they remind you to do things, and they look pretty! Since I love lists so much, I decided that Tuesdays should be deemed Top Ten Tuesday and I will do a Top Ten list on various topics that I or you come up with.

There is already a blog hop put in place and everything!



So, without further delay, here it is -

10 Things every Momma Should Have

1. An Amazon Mom Account. Not only can I order diapers, wipes and breast milk storage bags online, but I get Amazon Prime for FREE and I get a huge discount when I stack my amazon mom discount with the subscribe and save discount. If you aren't a part of Amazon Mom yet, do it - right now!

2. A great pair of yoga pants and several of them! Once you find the right pair - get about 10 of them! Nothing beats the feeling of peeling off my work pants and pulling on my yoga pants after a long day. The right pants should feel "like buttah" as I like to say! They are the standard uniform for my second full-time job as Mom and in them I can tackle anything from laundry to dinner and from temper tantrum to dance party time!

3. A large (28- 32oz) refillable water bottle. The University I work for has installed water bottle filling stations throughout campus which makes it so easy to get the recommended 8 glasses of water each day. Pair that with a large water bottle and you are gold - Stay hydrated!

4. A pair of comfy shoes that stay in the car. Have you ever felt stranded in your shoes? Keeping an extra pair of shoes that are comfortable and easy to walk in are a life saver. I also keep some in my desk at work as well.

5. A Smart Phone. Need to call poison control, google a recipe at the grocery store, or get directions to a birthday party? Yeah, you need a smart phone!

6. A membership to your local Children's Museum or Amusement Park. Not only are these great places that keep your kids entertained and active, but the memberships also get you in to fun festivals or special appearances by your kids' favorite character. The memberships pay for themselves in only a couple of visits and usually come with guest passes so you can bring friends!

7. A Hobby. Whether it's scrap booking, photography, blogging, or jogging, a hobby gives you precious time to yourself  to do what you want to do - without children tugging on your shirt!

8. A Mini HD Camcorder. Such as the Flip. Never miss a recordable moment! These camcorders fit in your purse, hold up to 2 hours of footage, connect right in to your computer, and comes with editing software so that you can make cute videos. I wouldn't call myself technologically advanced and I can do this!

9. A masseuse. Whether you treat yourself  at the spa or you enlist your partner (I tell my husband it was a part of our marriage vows, right there along with accepting children lovingly into our lives), or both - get a massage, it's a neccesity!

10. A Sense of Humor. When the kids go crazy and your world is insane, the best defense known to man is a good sense of humor! My favorite thing in the universe to do is laugh, so when I dump an entire cup of milk all over myself because the top wasn't on quite right or trip over the same toy that has been sitting in the middle of the room for a week and I feel like crying, I stop, breath in and out, and the laugh!