Life of the Party

   With all the excitement of the upcoming holiday, I have forgot the real reason for celebration. We have made it another year around the sun. We are here together. There is always a chance that a loved one will not make it to see an additional Christmas, so be thankful for the small things.      Today I'm thankful for old handmade ornaments. The precious memories of making them come flooding in like a cascade of rain. It is both heartbreaking and cherishing. I can remember painting small facing on the snowmen with my dad. I can somewhat hear his voice in my head as he told me we have to use, "happy colors for happy occasions." His ever guiding hand helped me paint 22 of these tiny figurines. I still have my grandmothers glass angles that get wrapped in double layered newspaper each year. She used to have stories about how her and grandpa collected on each year. This year we will add salt dough ornaments of Taylor's handprints.       Today I...

       Every year people set goals for the upcoming year anticipating that there will be some cosmic change in their attitude. I guess my new beginning will be loving myself. All the flaws I usually see in myself is something I don't want my own daughter to think about herself. I will be trying to use more positive language when talking about my body in hopes that she will love herself.      My mother was so hyper focused on staying thin in my early years that sometimes I think this is why I hated my body so much during my teen years. It's hard to believe that even occurred if you were to look at her today. Mom was always a smaller woman who kept her hair perfectly curled and her makeup was flawless. I have never been the definition of pretty. I've always been a bigger person, but I've never been the kind of person to layer up clothes. As a teen mom would often remind me of what I was eating or how tight my shirts were.   ...

    The house smells of warm apple pies cooling on the kitchen table and cinnamon covered pumpkin pieces on the stove. All the desserts are made the day before so this is a PREP day for tomorrow's feast. Although feast doesn't really describe it. There will only be a few left overs and nothing will go to waste. When I think about the word, "feast" I often imagine a bounty of food that will yield lots of leftovers.      Today I'm thankful to have a warm home, a loving husband, and a healthy toddler. She has got to taste bits and pieces of the pies throughout the morning. I hope one day she too will have this same experience with her own children. The turkey is currently soaking in a salt garlic mixture in the fridge awaiting the oven. According to the news we have an Arctic blast heading our way to animal prep has begun as well.       I even collected all the eggs super early this morning to be used accordingly. The only thing we are currently...

       It's strange not going to work and having a few days off to spend with family. I'm very fortunate enough to have a job that allows family time. I have had jobs in the past that I missed all major holidays. Honestly, you cannot get that precious time back. I missed several holidays that I could have spent with my grandpa. I ate Thanksgiving dinners in the employee workrooms by myself while my shift partner ran the register. It's odd to think about how many families go through the same thing each year. Our family specifically buys everything prior to the holidays for this reason.         

      Seeing this term is cringe worthy and for a good reason. We all like to think we have a good mindset when it comes to spending money, but the truth can be far from reality. I took sometime today to really investigate where all our money is being spent, even included an estimate for gas to and from work. With the upcoming holidays I need to be really careful with our cash. There is no  room for error and spending money on unnecessary items. In our house the gifts for kids goes as follows: one thing to read, one thing to learn from, and one thing to wear. Seeing endless Christmas trees being completely surrounded by gifts is something I have never been able to do. There is no feeling of guilt, but there is a sting of awe.        I wonder what it must be like? Clearly, I'm thankful for what we do have and feel grateful for a warm cozy home. I think the traditions are more important than pricy gifts and superficial speciality photos. I cannot re...

         Today's dilemma is what size turkey to purchase for next week's family feast. It's either too big or too small. I could just butcher one of our current turkeys, but I have grown to like them and have named nearly all members of our small flock. I pet and feed them out of my hand. I crossed a line and have made them into pets. Purchasing a turkey from the grocery store seems useless and somewhat embarrassing. We live on a mini farm and our main meat source should come from our land. It feels like we are missing the point.           I just cannot bring myself to harvest an animal I have befriended. This is an area that I personally need to work on. If we were starving this would not even be a question. Do any of you guys have the same issues?

I have waited all summer for the babies to bloom. It has started to frost and look here! They are in full bloom and sadly the frost will take them out. I am beyond frustrated with these. Has anyone else had any success?   Last year they bloomed off and on all summer. The ones I have planted in the lower yard bloom multiple times each season.   

      What an experience?  My child can officially say that she is NOT a fan of Santa. Cherish Photography did their best to make this experience a special moment, but Taylor was just not having it. She wouldn't go to Santa, or sit beside him, or even stand out from him. The photographer was so understanding and smiled through the whole event. She ended up not getting any decent photos. Wasted money...  I do NOT care to pay for the photographer's time. She went above and beyond to get Taylor to settle down. 

       It is more like window shopping. The prices are just too high, but I really need a new car. When I say "new" I mean new to me. It's actually used cars that I'm looking at. The milage on my current car is just getting too high and I'm done with doing constant repairs. I have spent over $4000 in just repairs in the past few months. At this rate I will be broke soon.  We have to have a car to get to and from work. There isn't affordable public transportation out this way.      Suggestions?       

        Yeah...  I said it. I'm not so sure this is my true calling. Don't get me wrong; I love my animals and the monotonous routines.  When people come out to trade or buy from us the men always seems confused to deal with me. They want to deal with the "man of the house."         The jokes on them. HAHAHA        Ultimately, I do most of the chores and caregiving activities. So, yes you have to talk to me sometimes when my husband is unavailable.       The transition from my normal to living on a farm has been 3 years in the making.   I have learned: 1. Sometimes things don't go as planned. Goats seem to always give birth while I'm away at work or during the dark depths of the night.  2. Chickens are some of the dumbs creatures around. My chickens forget where to roost all the time and will often hide their eggs. Mama hens don't always have a loving nature toward their young....

     Time is a thief, or at least that what I'm told. It just rushes past us to greet the following day. We don't truly take in things as they are occurring, but we will often reflect back to days past with grief. I should have enjoyed that while it lasted.      Today marks one of those moments. Last year at this time I was activity encouraging my child to walk and now she is running circles around me. Stop and take it in. I should have relished in those candid moments of laughter as she was learning to walk. She would scream in joy as those first few steps took place. Man... what I would give to go back! Each new learning phase is precious.        I'm a mom who doesn't get to stay at home with my baby. My 8-3 job is essential for my family to support us. I wish I was fortunate enough to have the income to afford that luxury. Those of you who get to stay at home, please remember that some of us wish we had that chance. 

        Returning to work after such a long weekend was beyond what I could handle this morning. For the first time in months my husband decided to take us on an adventure. We spent the weekend in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. I must say that the Rainforest Adventures Zoo was the highlight of our weekend. It had something to offer for all members of our family, especially my little one. The traffic wasn't bad and there were no lines to wait in. We were able to be directly seated everywhere we went. They have already begun to put up the numerous Christmas lights, so I was thrilled to see them.          We ventured out to look at the Deer Park as well. It is an older attraction, but well worth the drive. I enjoyed petting the Camels and feeding the Lamas. To hear my child's laughter made it worth the smell. Emus smell absolutely nasty. :(         So, let's talk about trying to get a toddler to sleep in a strange place that i...

     Once again, it's November. Time is passing us by so quickly and I cannot seem to grasp why it feels this way. Is it seasonal depression or the upcoming holidays? I dread this month each year and here we are again and the exact same feeling of emptiness is here.        I watch my child transform from last year's photographs to yesterday's. She has supersized. Walking with small stumbling steps as she tries to explore the environment. I will take this take to fully appreciate  her 19 months. Her mischievous smile and waddle makes my heart happy. So, why I am I so sad about November?        Maybe this year will be different.

    Everyone seems to be hyper-focused on the election results, and as always the losing side claims there has been a miscount. I will never write about my personal opinion on who or what leads our nation. I will however discuss the importance of decency. No matter how you voted, I will still respect you as a person. The wonderful part about having a democracy is that we get to vote and help make decisions as to who our leaders are. I was asked several times at work who I voted for, my opinions, and why I had refused to answer.      With all the Hurricane Helene issues here in Western North Carolina, I always felt that something was off. Ask me about that! Ask me about friends homes who were completely destroyed and they have no where to go. Ask me about sending supplies. Ask me about the smell. To me this is more important than anything right now. There are still people in tents and it's getting cold at night. So complaining about the election will fall on deaf...

     It's Wednesday and my students have rushed in to see the newest election updates. I have the live polling board up displayed gallantly on the Smart Board. Students are asking various questions about the key (colors and what the represent.)  One very quiet student asked me who the other people were on the board.  Teaching moment!!!     They didn't realize that other independent parties can have a candidate  as well. This was a student led conversation about why they are "in the dark." Students discussed the importance of funding and how to "get your name out there." I got to sit and listen as they were actively Googling the questions they have.  Proud moment!      One of my middle school students stated that "maybe funding isn't the issue but who controls what is being put out there." As the bell rang for them to head to first period I overheard her say, "we can look that up too."          As  ...