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Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Friendship

Woohoo!  I'm so excited - I heard from BAG-Friend today (though maybe we should change that name πŸ˜„)!  It's always sad when life happens and you're not sure if you'll be able to stay in touch with people who are important to you.  See that BAG-Friend? I put it on the internet, so now you have to stay in touch (heehee!)

I'm also having lunch with a friend I haven't seen in almost a year and I'm so stoked!  What a great day for friendship!  Just an obvious note - it's important to have good friends and you shouldn't let life or distance get in the way.  I'm going to do a better job of staying in touch as I am often the worst at remembering to call/text/visit/etc.

Have a great day everyone and stay in touch!

Monday, August 28, 2017

Coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee!

Okay, now that I've gotten my caffeinated kick-in-the-pants, it's time to update my blog (insert face of shame here.)  It appears that I haven't exactly kept up with my posts as I said I would and I am deeply sorry.  The things you've missed!  I'm sure you've been trying and have been unable to cope with the loss of my semi-regular posts. I hope I haven't caused too much grief. Ha!

I believe I saw that my last post was in March, so let's see what you've missed.  I became very busy in April, planning for our biggest event at work, and that's when I dropped the ball on my posts.  I let the ball remain dropped as I took a second job in May when Mr. P's hours were cut at work for a couple of months.  No worries, it's only part time and it's a pretty simple job washing laundry at a hotel.  I took the job intending to work until Mr. P's hours were back to normal, but I've decided to stay a little longer to get our finances back in order.  I also want to take advantage of the discount I'm supposed to get. πŸ˜‰

In addition to my working 6 days a week, you missed the entirety of the little league baseball season (Little A did so well!) and the beginning of our early-onset mid-life crisis.

Let me back up a bit and remind you of some of my 2017 goals.  I have been determined that 2017 is going to be a good year, and it has been.  We've had ups and downs like everyone.  One of our goals at the beginning of the year was to pay off 2 credit cards - check!  Another was to take a family vacation.  That goal was offset by the fact that we had 2 school trips for Big A, prom and an assortment of fairly costly car repairs all of which occurred at nearly the same time.  It seemed we were not going to be able to take our vacation after all.  πŸ˜­  Now, I am very proud of myself and how I handled Big A's transition to actual licensed driver, etcetera.  However, the stresses of work and the realization that he will only be home for 2 more years fueled Mr. P's and my breadown. We decided that we're tired of working our fannies off just to pay bills.  We're tired of watching everyone else enjoy their lives, have fun and do what they want even when they're stressed for cash. How do they do it???  Well, we still don't know, but we came up with our own solution - we will embrace our debt! We figure we will always be in debt, so why not have a little fun along the way. Let's quit using phrases like "I wish we would have..."  Let's actually see the concerts we're excited about and let's take the vacations we want!  Let's explore and live life, no looking back! I bought tickets for some concerts and I booked a vacation on one of my paid off credit cards and I don't even feel bad about it 😀.  (I should note here that I have not completely charged up the card, the concerts are paid off and I plan to have said vacation paid off before we go in October.  I might be having a nervous breakdown, but I'm still responsible!)

So now you're caught up - I work a lot and I've gone a little (a lot?) crazy, but my spark is back and I'm counting down the days until our much-needed family vacation!

Friday, March 24, 2017

Time for another

Flashback Friday!

I've been feeling a little nostalgic this week, so I decided to post some things from my childhood, some that I even forgot about until I saw them.  Once again, thanks to the people of the internet for providing everything I need and more.  I foresee another post... Enjoy!























Tuesday, March 14, 2017


I'm so excited to start my Pinterest Party posts!!  I will write about anything I steal from Pinterest (mwa-ha-ha!)  Food, crafts, hairstyles, exercises, decorating... anything I try!

For this first post, I'm going to share what I made for Sunday dinner.  I tried 3 new recipes, which is pretty risky because I never know if everything will be good, and there's nothing familiar for those boys of mine to fall back on.  We had Balsamic Pork Chops, Greek Tomato Cucumber Salad with Crispy Chickpeas, and Broccoli Cheddar Quinoa Bites.




I learned several things while working on this project and post. 1. I do not know how to photograph food! 2. I missed photographing some of the steps, sorry. 3. Gah!  I forgot to add the feta to the salad. It would have tasted so good, too. 4. I should not try this many new recipes all at the same time.  It got a little difficult trying to flip between the different recipes and that's probably why I forgot that stinkin' cheese! 5. My old-ass kitchen is not conducive to taking beautiful cooking pictures. 6. Quinoa is not scary. 7. I'm glad I did this. 😊

Would you like to see the final product?


All in all, I thought this dinner was very tasty (it looked a lot nicer in person, too) and I thank the people on Pinterest who share such yummy recipes for me to copy.  Mr. P and Big A liked the pork chops, but didn't really know about the rest of the meal (see why I should incorporate some familiar items?).  Little A thought everything was delicious and he took the leftovers for lunch.  He's such a good eater!

Have you tried anything new lately?  Let me know in the comments!





Monday, March 13, 2017

New!

Happy Monday!  I just realized that St. Patrick's Day is this Friday, so I'm going green on the screen this week. πŸ€  I've decided that I will be changing the color of the blog, so be on the lookout - I'll be changing it to go along with holidays for now.  If you see a color you really like, let me know and I'll consider keeping it. I like the original color I picked, but it might be too dull - not bright and fun enough.

I'm also going to start a new regular post about my Pinterest projects.  I'm one of those people who saves everything on Pinterest and then I never actually do anything.  That's going to change! I need to go through and make some things, get rid of the pins that don't turn out well, and keep the things that work great.  In fact, I tried some new recipes for dinner last night and you'll see that in my first Pinterest Party post this week. πŸ˜‰

I hope everybody has a great week!


Friday, March 10, 2017

Fun Fact Friday

Some fun facts for your Friday! 😊


Okay, I cry a lot, so I'll try and see if this is true.

Huh, I learn something new everyday. 




Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Weather

Ugh!  Do you know what's not fun?  Cowering in your hallway waiting for tornado sirens to go off and hoping like hell nothing will happen.  How do I know that's not fun?  Because that is what I did last night!  Luckily everything was fine, except my ability to fall asleep when it was over.  There's just something about that adrenaline rush (combined with the storm still raging outside) that just won't let me drift off into slumber.  Boo!  Oh well, I'm glad everything turned out okay.  There were some parts of the state hit a lot harder than we were, so it could have been much worse than just a little scary.  What stinks is it was so beautiful yesterday, sunny and 70.  Whatever, Missouri...


I think this is a fairly accurate description.

Monday, March 6, 2017

The Martian

Holy cow, did I love this book!


Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?


I was not expecting to enjoy it so much. This book is exciting and so easy to get into - I was hooked from the very first sentence! It was smart, and not only in the technical, sciencey (yes, I made that word up) way but also in the delivery. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story from the perspective of the main character. The way Andy Weir brought Mark Watney to life is wonderful. I laughed a lot, but was also on the edge of my seat for most of the story. I even found myself holding my breath a couple of times! I enjoy a lot of books, but do not give out 5 star ratings often - THIS IS A FIVE STAR BOOK! This is not your typical "science fiction" so even if that's not your cup of tea, you should read The Martian by Andy Weir. Now, to watch the movie and see if it does the book justice...

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Random Thoughts for Thursday

Just some things that are running through my mind - 1. I'm going to do away with the rating system on the movies I've watched.  Sometimes it just depends on my mood as to how much I like it, so it's not really fair.  2. I'm excited to move on to a new exercise challenge!  Ms. Attitude picked this one:
  
I think I'm going to keep doing some ab work as well, so I don't lose the habits. You should do the challenge with us and let us know how you're doing!  3. I really like the book I just finished! It's The Martian by Andy Weir and I am pleasantly surprised by how good this book is.  I wonder if I can get Mr. P to read it...4. I have to remember that Big A has the pie auction fundraiser for band this Saturday!  I keep forgetting for some reason.  Also, his girlfriend is in the running for Band Queen and I need to budget some money to vote for her a million times - she's such a nice girl! 5. Little A is 10 and he has a little girlfriend and it's cute, but the girl calls 5,000 times a night!  Soooo tired of her calling!  Sometimes I hear the phone ringing even when it's not... 6. I need to clean Goldie's (the goldfish) bowl.  Fun.  7. I've been thinking about changing the color scheme of my blog.  I think it might make it a little easier to read.  What do you think?

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Back again!

Good grief, has it really been 2 weeks since I last posted?  Time is flying by, as usual.  Since it is now two months into the year, I thought I'd give you another update on my goals.

1. Okay, I've slipped up a little in maintaining regular posts, but overall I'm still doing better than the past couple of years, so you have to give me that.
2. If you haven't been tracking my progress on Goodreads, I've read 20 books toward my 50 book goal, so far.
3. I will update my movie list so you can see what I've watched recently.  I'm now up to 28 movies!
4. Woohoo!!! Both credit cards have been paid off!  Now, I just need to get the rest of the bills sorted. πŸ˜ƒ
5. Well, the plan was to pay off some of that debt and then save for a family vacation, but I'm not sure how that's going to go.  Big A needs new dress clothes for FBLA and then he has State FBLA registration fees and spending money for his trip, money needed for his band trip, I need to get his tux and stuff for prom, and I still need to add him to my car insurance in April when he gets his license. All of that, plus Little A's baseball registration and all of the regular expenses like clothes and lunch money that those kids need - *sigh* - I'm just not sure we'll be able to save enough for vacation this year, but I'll keep working on it.  This might just be postponed to next year.
6. I made it!  Look, I completed every day of my 30 day flat belly challenge!  That's so good for         me.  And believe me, it was hard to do some days, but I pushed through the exhaustion, the days I felt unwell, bad cramps, and I even completed a couple of nights when I might have been a little tipsy. Also, you'll be happy to hear that this didn't ruin my friendship with Ms. Attitude after all!😏  As of this point in the year, I've lost 6 pounds and I'm starting to feel better though I haven't measured myself since 2 weeks ago, so I'm not sure if my belly is actually flatter or if it's all in my head. Whatever, I'll take it!
7. Oh my gosh - why haven't I picked this blanket up all month and just finished it?  It's not that far from being done.  Maybe I'll make it a secondary goal to finish by the end of March...
8. It's getting ready to be that time to start some plants.  I haven't started gardening yet, though I have some plans and will hopefully have starters ready to plant by the end of March.
9. Ugh! I still have not gone through clothes.  I just haven't been able to bring myself to start this project yet.  Sooo many clothes in my house! 😭
10.  Spring cleaning won't be until April, so my garage will have to wait.  Too many things I need to take to the dump for free.
11.  Hey, I'm doing pretty good so far this year.  I just keep going over everything that Big A has going on and reminding myself that he's growing up.  Hopefully this will prevent everything from hitting me so hard. We'll see...

Enough about me!  How are your goals going for the year?  

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Breakdown

Why oh why does my brain hate me so??  How is it possible that I can chat with anybody, in a group of any size, but if I have to stand in front of 8 people and tell them about what I do, I freeze up, get the shakes, feel sick to my stomach, and come out sounding like a robot?  In fact, the rest of my day is ruined because it takes so long to calm down that I can barely function.  You would think the fact that I have done this twice per month for the past 6 months would make it easier - it doesn't!  My goodness, have I got problems!  Maybe I should change my blog name to 'Riding the Crazy Train' or 'Conducting the Crazy Train', because I am pretty sure I'm the crazy one, not the world full of people posting everything about themselves on the internet...  Anyway, I had to get that out of my system as I'm feeling particularly neurotic at the moment. *deep breath*

*another deep breath*

Okay, I know I said that I'm trying to be more positive this year, and that is truly the case, but I think I'm also going to stop worrying about not sounding positive all of the time.  I'm going to let you all in on my frustrations as well as the good things, crazy things, etc.  I'm convinced that too much positive cannot be good and it kind of goes against my nature (ask Ms. Attitude!)

Whew!  I'm glad I let that all out.  Now I can get on with the rest of my week.  Friday is only 2 days away...


Friday, February 10, 2017

It's finally Friday!

I cannot decide if this week has gone by too fast or if it was too long - ever feel that way?  I'm pretty excited because I have no plans this weekend except taking Little A to a free throw contest and watching the new episode of The Walking Dead (so excited about that!)  Hopefully I can finish a book or two.  Maybe I'll start going through those closets...


Monday, February 6, 2017

Update!

Since we've made it through a whole month (already) I figure it's a good time to give an update on my 2017 goals:


  1. I've already posted several times this year, so I'm going to say that I'm right on track with hitting my goal to maintain this blog and make regular posts (yes, I'm disregarding the fact that I forgot to write my usual Friday post. πŸ˜‰)
  2. If you haven't been following along on Goodreads, I've read 10 books so far this year.  That puts me about 6 books ahead of schedule!
  3. So far this year, I've watched 20 movies, 15 of which were new to me.  I updated my movie list so you can see what I watched. You will notice some trends, I'm sure. 
  4. I feel pretty good about this goal because it looks like it will be accomplished by the end of the week.  Now, this is in good part due to income tax, but we've also saved like crazy.  I can't wait to officially check this off!
  5. Once #4 is done, we'll start putting all of our saving efforts into working toward our vacation, which will probably be at the end of the year.
  6. Okay, I have not actually gone to the gym twice per week, however, I have been working out at home.  I started a 30 day flat belly challenge with Ms. Attitude, plus I've been learning yoga and doing some morning routines as well.  You can see the challenge here.  I'll keep you posted on whether or not our friendship survives this challenge! πŸ˜‚
  7. I am glad to report that this afghan is almost done.  I'm going to try and finish it up and then I'll post a picture so everyone can see.  Little A picked out neon colors and he wanted vertical stripes.  
  8. As it's only February, I'm going to hold off a little longer before I start some plants, but I will let you know when I get that going.
  9. Oh man, I really need to get started on this goal of cleaning out our closets and drawers.  We have so many clothes that we don't (or can't) wear and I would feel much better getting that out of the house.  Need motivation...
  10. Yeah, the garage is not going to get done until the city-wide spring clean up in April.
  11. I don't know if I'll be able to avoid the meltdown.  Unless, maybe, preemptive medicating is in order?
I hope your goals are going well, too.  Feel free to share in the comments section!

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Random Thoughts

My husband likes to tell me that I'm very random and sometimes hard to follow when I jump around from subject to subject.  I have a very 'buzzy' brain, thoughts are always running wild (mostly when I'm trying to sleep πŸ˜’) and if I don't follow a train of thought, I'm likely to lose that thought forever. (He also calls me Dory, like the forgetful fish from Finding Nemo, if that tells you anything.) Now, where was I going with this....?

Just kidding!  This post is just a bunch of random things I've been thinking of lately.  I'm hoping it will force my brain to organize a bit if I put these thoughts down on the internet forever.
  1. I have a lot to get done at work, but I have not been feeling very motivated lately.  My to-do lists just seem to get longer.  I hope I get past this soon...
  2. I'm really looking forward to hanging out with Ms. Attitude today!  I can definitely use some girl time. (I hope I remember to not go straight home after work!)
  3. I really need to finish Little A's afghan, it's so close to being done.
  4. I need to post an update on my 2017 goals.
  5. I'd rather be reading right now than working.
  6. I'm soooooo tired!
  7. I need to come up with a game plan for Super Bowl now that my family is probably coming over.
  8. I really need to mop my kitchen.
  9. I'm really glad I made my bed this morning.  One less thing to do when I get home.
  10. I need to start going through my clothes.  I've been helping get my mother in-law's house cleaned and organized and I have the sudden urge to de-clutter everything I own.
  11. I need to clean my car.
  12. Can I take a nap now?
Okay, maybe most of the things on my mind right now revolve around going to sleep.  Don't worry, I am a semi-responsible adult who will not nap at work during the day.  But maybe during lunch...?

Friday, January 27, 2017

Four F's for Friday

Mr. P's favorite word is the 'F' word and in the spirit of being more positive in 2017, I decided to focus on some nicer 'F' words (because believe it or not, f&@! is not always used in the most pleasant context.πŸ˜₯) So there you have it -

Four F's for Friday


1. Fantastic - Big A placed in the district FBLA contest, so now he qualifies for state.  This is his second year in a row going to state (he's only been in FBLA for 2 years) and if that's not fantastic, I don't know what is! So proud - congratulations Big A!!

2. Funny -  I read this and laughed way too hard! "I just saw some idiot at the gym put a water bottle in the Pringles holder on the treadmill."  I want to do that now, but first I'll have to motivate myself to get on a treadmill...

3. Fulfilling - I completed 1 (of my 4) to-do lists at work yesterday.  I feel so much better now.

4. Factual (at least as far as the internet is concerned) - Banging your head against a wall burns 150 calories an hour (this fun fact specifically for Ms. Attitude in honor of her super fun job πŸ˜‰.)

Friday, January 20, 2017

It's Friday!

Flashback Friday!  

The other day, Mr. P and I were discussing movies we loved as children. Does anybody else remember this movie?  I'm going to have to order it online and watch it with Little A.  I think he'll love it as much as we did!



What are some other movies you loved as a kid? Enter your favorites in the comments section. I can't wait to re-visit my youth! 😍  

Monday, January 16, 2017

New Year, New Review

To kick off my goal of 50 books in 2017, I read Yes Please by Amy Poehler.  Her book was a little different than expected.  While I thought it was going to be belly laughs all the way, she surprised me by incorporating deep thoughts and life lessons in her stories; she was honest and open.  I feel we'd have a lot in common (you know, minus the fact that I'm not hilarious and am in no way rich and famous.) I really enjoyed reading this and there were a couple of times I laughed so hard I was crying and my husband worried that I wouldn't be able to stop.  I gave this book 3 stars out of 5.  You should give it a read!

In Amy Poehler's highly anticipated first book, Yes Please, she offers up a big juicy stew of personal stories, funny bits on sex and love and friendship and parenthood and real life advice (some useful, some not so much), like when to be funny and when to be serious.  Powered by Amy's charming and hilarious, biting yet wise voice, Yes Please is a book full of words to live by.

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Let's Talk Goals

I know we're already 10 days in, but it's 2017!  Time for a fresh start, a new year.  Time to set some goals, grow a little, and accomplish something.  Now, goals should mean something to the person setting them and they should be attainable.  It does no good to set a goal too high and then become discouraged when success isn't achieved.  That being said, I am what you would call "a little bit of an over-achiever" and I am highly motivated to GET MY SHIT TOGETHER.  This is the year!  So, I am sharing a list of my 2017 goals (as they currently stand) and I will try to keep you posted on the progress of these goals.
  1. Maintain blog and make regular (hopefully entertaining) posts.  This specific goal is to beat my 2015 record of 4 posts. πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚    
  2. Read 50 books.  You can watch my progress on Goodreads.
  3. Watch 100 movies.  (This was actually a goal set by Mr. P and UJ.  I overheard them and decided I'd take part as well.  What a great excuse to watch all of the movies I've missed over the years!) 
  4. Pay off 2 credit cards.  This one is going to involve a major budget overhaul, as that is approximately $5,000 of debt and my job change included a pretty big cut in pay, but I believe it can be done.
  5. Take a family vacation.  We've only taken 1 and that was about 4 years ago...
  6. Go to the gym at least twice per week.  This goal is inspired by Little A, who has become quite the drill sergeant. 
    • Specifically, I'd like to go from a size 10 to a size 6, but the change in behavior is really what's important.
  7. Finish the afghan I started for Little A last summer...
  8. Start gardening (just one or two plants and we'll see how it goesπŸ˜‰.)
  9. Go through all of our clothes and weed out the things we don't need/wear anymore.
  10. Clean my garage.
  11. Don't have a total meltdown and early/mid-life crisis when Big A turns 16 and starts driving by himself and goes to prom with his girlfriend.  This is, quite possibly, going to be the most difficult goal on my list.
Okay, I think that's ambitious enough for 1 year.  Feel free to share your goals for the new year!

Monday, January 9, 2017

Movies

2017 - Follow along as I strive to hit my goal of 100:
*Underlined titles are movies I have watched for the first time
  1. Star Trek Beyond 1/1/17 
  2. Elizabethtown 1/2/17 
  3. X-Men Apocalypse 1/2/17 
  4. Thor - The Dark World 1/2/17 
  5. Pan 1/6/17 
  6. Baby Mama 1/6/17 
  7. Captain America - Winter Soldier 1/7/17 
  8. Stitches 1/13/17 
  9. #Horror 1/13/17 
  10. Captain America - Civil War 1/14/17 
  11. Paddington 1/15/17 
  12. The Boss 1/21/17 
  13. Keanu 1/21/17 
  14. RV 1/23/17 
  15. Annie 1/23/17 
  16. Shaun of the Dead 1/27/17 
  17. Ice Age - Dawn of the Dinosaurs 1/28/17 
  18. Ice Age - Continental Drift 1/28/17 
  19. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 2/1/17 
  20. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 2/5/17 
  21. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 2/7/17 
  22. The Secret Garden 2/11/17 
  23. Beauty & the Beast 2/19/17 
  24. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 2/20/17 
  25. The Money Pit 2/21/17 
  26. The Odd Couple II 2/21/17 
  27. Stuck on You 2/25/17 
  28. Willow 2/27/17 
  29. Napoleon Dynamite 3/5/17
  30. The Waterboy 3/13/17
  31. Tickled 3/18/17
  32. Beware the Slenderman 3/18/17
  33. The Martian 3/25/17
  34. Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates 3/25/17
  35. The Benchwarmers 3/25/17
  36. Coraline 3/25/17
  37. The Emperor's New Groove 3/26/17
  38. Kronk's New Groove 3/26/17
  39. Turbo Kid 3/26/17
  40. Les Miserables 3/27/17
  41. Chicago 3/27/17
  42. Into the Woods 3/29/17
  43. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 3/28/17
  44. Pocahontas 3/30/17
  45. The Wizard of Oz 4/2/17
  46. Brave 4/2/17
  47. The BFG 4/8/17
  48. Grumpy Old Men 4/20/17
  49. Bridget Jones' Baby 5/4/17
  50. Beauty and the Beast (live action) 4/4/17
  51. Moana 5/20/17
  52. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children 5/20/17
  53. Trolls 7/1/17
  54. The Land Before Time 7/4/17
  55. An American Tale 7/4/17
  56. Grumpier Old Men 7/7/17
  57. Star Wars - Rogue One 7/8/17
  58. Star Wars - The Force Awakens 7/8/17
  59. Storks 7/9/17
  60. Screwed 7/11/17
  61. Spring Breakdown 7/11/17
  62. Parenthood 7/11/17
  63. Ferngully: The Last Rainforest 7/11/17
  64. Heathers 7/15/17
  65. Amanda Knox 7/20/17
  66. Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart 7/20/17
  67. Doctor Strange 7/21/17
  68. Sing 8/12/17
  69. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. II 8/27/17

Did you miss me??

Hello beautiful world full of internet people!  Long time no see.  I understand that it's been well over a year, nearly two, in fact, since you've seen a post from me. (Shout out to my lone reader, Ms. Attitude!) When I last posted, I was trying to keep myself busy while looking for a job.  I was growing a garden and (obviously) working on starting up a blog.  Let me catch you up.

I found that job I was looking for in March of 2015. My training took 3 months and I spent that time traveling for said training and being away from home.  Once I settled and took over my office, I worked 55-65 hours per week and became incredibly stressed due to both the number of hours worked and the negative attitudes of, well, people in general.  All of the sudden, 2016 was halfway over!  What happened to 2015 and, for that matter, the first half of 2016?? Luckily, I did take away a few things from the experience: 1. some new friends 2. the knowledge that  I DO NOT want to be in management and 3. a new job, which I love!  I took this new job in July 2016 and I have been so happy.  I get to see my friends and family again!!

I'm sorry to say that all of my plants died during the chaos of my schedule.  The poor things were probably doomed from the start as I lack any shade of green in my thumb(s), but this was still disappointing as 2015 was supposed to be the year I finally got something to grow.

I'm sure you realize that the blog was put on the back-burner as well during this time, so I won't bother to update you on that bit. :) The good news is, things have settled down considerably since my job change and now I'm feeling the motivation to get my blog back on. It's a new year and a fresh start and I'm going to make it a good one!