Let’s Talk…Moms

So I was going through my blog on Friday afternoon and realized that I completely forgot my post for Friday Favorites. What the heck??? Sorry about that. My post will just have to wait until this Friday…think: Gluten Free Products!

Today’s let’s talk link-up with Andrea and Erika is all about moms. And while i’m not a mom just yet, I thought i’d share with you two great moms that I know….starting with my mom. Even though the topic of this post is moms and that’s what i’m sticking to, a lot of what I say goes to my dad too. I’ve been blessed with the parents I got.

I know just about every girl says this, but my mom is truly my best friend. In every aspect of the title. She’s the first person I call when I have a good day and she’s the first person I call when I have a bad day. She defends me, she helps me, she supports me, she’s my biggest cheerleader, and she’s a huge comfort to me. I think the best way to describe her would be calling her my safety blanket.

My mom is the one who got me through my hard times at Oklahoma (like this day pictured below when we moved my things out). When I say I don’t know where I would be without her, I mean that with everything in me. I was spiraling fast down a long and dreaded path when she stepped in and helped me.

But when I was younger, we were not close at all. In fact, we could go days without speaking to one another. We butted heads far too often and were constantly in battle with one another. It wasn’t until my high school break-up senior year that we became close. I realized then how I could confide in her and how she would do anything for me. She would stay up until 3:00AM talking with me when I couldn’t sleep and she would sleep in my bed with me when I just needed her there.

Mom and I kind of have our own language. We think a lot of the same things, say a lot of the same things, and do a lot of the same things. My brothers and sister started calling me “mini” because they think i’m “mini mom” and while they’re just being obnoxious I actually take it as a compliment.

But at the same time, we can argue. We can be honest and tell each other when we’re being stupid or being sassy. I have to tell her to “calm down” sometimes and she has to tell me to stop being dramatic. I love it though because I wouldn’t want a mom who only shows the good side.

I can’t tell you how many times she has seen me cry within the past 4 years or listened to me whine. These past 4 years have been tough on me, but luckily I have had her there to just…be there.

My mom grew up in small town Iowa. She can cook, she can clean, and she can get down and dirty with the best of them. She has been known to tackle a dummy at my brother’s football camp, she can jumpstart her own car, and bugs do not scare her one bit…she’s a farm girl after all! And I love that about her. She’s the farm girl, my dad is the city boy, and i’m still wondering how that worked. 😉

The way to my mom’s heart is random acts of kindness without speaking on her behalf. I surprised her with flowers right before Easter, just because I thought they were pretty and it meant so much to her. I think there has been maybe 2 times in my life that I have physically seen her cry, but 1 time that I wasn’t there. I was going back to OU one day and it was before her birthday. I got her flowers, a card, an apple fritter, and a present and left it on the kitchen table for her to come home to and she texted me later saying she couldn’t call because it made her cry.

She has the mind of a creative genius. She is pure right-brained! She owned her own business, she was in charge of my volleyball banquets, and she used to make curtains and window treatments galore. Not to say her right-brain doesn’t drive my left-brain crazy because I want to organize her dad-gum pantry and refrigerator, and well, everything because it’s not organized!! Haha

It takes my mom FOREVER and A DAY to make any sort of big decision. She is very detail-oriented and needs all the facts from 324 different people and then she can process. I realized that I am this way too…and my dad is, so it makes sense

My mom loves cooking, and it’s where I get my love of cooking from. We can spend hours on end in the kitchen, with our Pandora on, and just be chopping away and chatting away. It’s one of my very favorite things to do on the weekends.

My mom looooovvveeesssss her kids. There are 0 doubts in my mind about that one. From all the days she has stayed awake worrying about us (literally she never went to bed until I got home at night), to being at all of our games and practices, to watching tv shows with us, mom is our #1 fan.

Mom always tries to make holidays special for us and Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny will be coming to our house until we have kids…and then they will probably make two rounds for our kids.

When either of my parents pass, it’s going to be a devastating day for me. I told them they were not allowed to die. But I know at their funerals I will be thinking nothing but good thoughts about them. And i’m truly thankful to Jesus for that. Some people don’t have good, loving parents. And some people my age don’t have their parents here on Earth anymore. I couldn’t image my life without my mom (and dad).

Mini loves her mom! 😉

Other posts about my momma you can just click here.

And I can’t forget to mention JJ. She is my paternal grandmother. My maternal grandmother died when I was just 3 years old so I don’t remember her at all. That’s why I feel extremely lucky to have had JJ in my life for so long.

JJ passed away my senior year of high school and it was a sad, sad time for me. I will always remember going to visit her during the summers, playing cards with her while drinking cranberry juice and sprite with bugles during Christmas, and laughing about the silliest things with her. I see her a lot of myself in her (my uncles laugh about that because she could be feisty at times).

We all miss her a lot, but she was a good mom to my dad and his brothers. I always remember them talking about how they would never tell her when their games were as kids because she would be the only parent in the stands. That’s our JJ!

Molly loves her grandma too!

Moms make the world go ’round, y’all. What are some of your favorite memories with your mom?

A Day In The Life

Ah, good morning!

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you woke up as someone else? Well if that’s you, today’s your lucky day 😉 Here’s what a day in the life of me on a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday looks like. My morning pictures are from Monday and the rest of the day is Wednesday (yesterday) since I forgot about my pictures on Monday afternoon. It worked out though because on these 3 days of the week I pretty much do the same thing.

6:54AM and my alarm goes off. Random fact: I never set my alarm on a 5 minute interval. It’s always a random number. And i’m really not sure why. At 7:00AM I finally hop out of bed.

I’m not a Keurig person, I just don’t like the taste. So i’m attempting to use our old coffee pot. This morning I had to get mom to teach me how to brew from our coffee pot.

With my brewed coffee and ice water (always), I make the long trek to my home office. AKA our dining room. I mean where else is a girl to go when she doesn’t have a desk and chair?

Time for Jesus and time for blog reading.

Yikes. Someone tell this girl to get more sleep. #bagsfordays Here I am. A college student. Doing work before 8:00AM. With my blanket, space heater, computer, and water for an hour before my day gets going. But we already knew I wasn’t normal, remember? It’s so quiet and such a great way to start the day!

At 8:05 I go upstairs to change for the gym, and at 8:10 I come down and listen to The Today Show for a little bit before I say bye to the brothers on my way out the door. We keep things healthy with Pop-tarts for breakfast…which i’m a little bitter about. When I was younger/their age I was ONLY allowed to have Cheerios for breakfast, never sugar. And now this kid eats Pop-tarts for breakfast, and lunch, and dinner, and snacks. UGH #oldestchildproblems

8:30 BodyCombat every Monday morning. I looovvveeee this class. It’s boxing, kickboxing, Tae Kwon Do, and Muay Thai. I leave feeling like I could be the next Muhammad Ali or Floyd Mayweather or whoever is famous for fighting.

As soon as I get home from the gym I shower and change clothes. And then I eat a quick breakfast before work. It’s something different every day, but on this particular day it was an egg scramble.

I get into the office around 10:30 and work until about 2:00. Part time hours are great especially when you’re working a couple other jobs and going to school full-time.

Around 2:00 I hit the grocery store for the ingredients to make Andrea’s Pulled Pork for my brothers and dad to have as dinner while i’m in class tonight and mom is out of town.

Then it was time for lunch. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d actually made a sandwich and I was so shocked that I decided I needed to eat a turkey and swiss melt with a sliced tomato while I watched my PLL recording. And yes I ALWAYS have water on me at all times. Always. You’ll see.

And then I went back to the home office with a Seattle’s best frozen mocha while I worked on some schoolwork and a project for my mom.

Speaking of that project for mom, she happened to leave out the fact that I would need pictures that had to be scanned in. And since we don’t have a scanner, I had to come up with a solution. So to dad’s office it was!

Every time I go to the grocery store I get one thing that’s new. I love to try new things, so when I got home I tried this spearmint water. It’s an acquired taste…i’m still working on that one.

At 6:00, I put my future-baseball-mom skills to work and hopped in the car to pick Ry up. All I have to say is I better not have all girls *knocks on wood*. I snapped a super flattering picture of us for y’all because #itsadayinthelife.

On Monday afternoon, my mom and I made chicken salad…and can I just tell you that this is the best chicken salad you’d ever have. Ever. In your life. I became an addict at the young age of like, 10 when she first made it. I never was a picky eater growing up.

I’ve had it every single day since we’ve made it and I won’t confirm nor deny that I have eaten it for breakfast one morning. I mean, I crave this stuff. It’s pretty much all my favorite ingredients put together. Drooling.

So when I got home around 6:15, I unloaded the dishwasher while I munched on some of this infamous chicken salad. Pair this with rice crackers, or lettuce, or by itself. It doesn’t matter. Warning: You have to use some serious self-control with this stuff!

It was Wednesday. So around 7:00, I drove up to Church only to BE SURPRISED BY MY SWEET GIRLS AND CO-LEADER. I come trotting through the door and one by one they start walking up to me handing me flowers. Stop it. It was just a “thank you” for this past weekend. Y’all. It’s the little things like this that get me.

I was so confused by what was happening…I thought they were playing a joke on me but it turns out that they weren’t. Jen, my co-leader remembered me saying that I liked the flowers at our host home’s house and that my favorite color was yellow, so she planned this whole thing out! Oh. Wednesday nights rock.

Church goes until 9:00, but as soon as I got home these bad boys went in a vase and a picture was sent thanking them. Dead. Who needs a boy when you have 15 nineth grade girls to give you flowers???

By 9:30, pops and I were huddled up on the couch watching an episode of The OC. Because it’s what we do. And Ry came out for a little bit too.

Snack time consisted of blueberries and carrots. And then some other stuff that I forgot to photograph.

And after our episode was over, I came back down to my office so I could finish my blog post, get organized for today, and wind down. Last night was a late night and I didn’t hit the hay until 1:00ish. Usually I’m long gone before that, but I had some things to do.

G’night from Rachel Bilson and I. Heart of Dixie on Netflix before bed is always a good idea.

There you have it. A day in my life.

Curious of day’s past? Check out a Day In The Life (or as I used to call them #everydaymollay when I did it every month)…

After You Lose Your Job – November 2015
Summer Before Senior Year Of College – June 2015
Spring of Junior Year – First Semester @ A New School – April 2015
The Day of Thanksgiving – November 2014
As a Nanny – September 2014
The Day of Labor – August 2014
On The Farm – July 2014
My First (Most Amateur) One Ever – June 2014

Show and Tell: Introduction

It’s the first Show and Tell Tuesday of 2016…for those of you who don’t participate already, I recommend it! These are fun posts to write and read of other people. You simply write on the topic, find the link-up at the bottom of Andrea‘s post and go through everyone else’s. Do it! 🙂

So today’s topic is a little about myself…hmmm. A whole post to telling you about me. Oh boy 😉

Where to start?

I’m a daughter…

…and a sister.

I will choose my family first before anything.

A friend…

A Starbucks enthusiast…

…but only because McDonald’s doesn’t have Soy milk.

Which leads me to food allergies…if you want to know what life is like without gluten and lactose you’ve come to the right place!

I am an exercise fanatic. I’ve recently found a passion for health and fitness and i’m looking at possibly doing something in the future within that field.

I’m turning 22 in a couple of days and graduating college in August (FINALLY!). I’m pretty much an open book.

I’ve been a Red Sox fan since a young, young age and would choose baseball as my favorite sport. I am a total left-brain and find a lot of joy in planning and organizing.

And most importantly, I find my identity in Jesus and try as hard as I can to live my life like He would. I’ve had a few struggles in life so far, but I feel like it’s taught me so much at the same time. I consider everything in my life a blessing and do my best to find the positive part of everything.

I’m just your average girl.

As for my resolutions this year…i’m doing them a little differently. This year I decided to make a 2016 Bucket List. I sat down on New Years Eve-yes my New Years Eve as a 21 year old was spent at home. That’s another thing about me. I’m fine hanging at home on the biggest party night of the year. Maybe i’m not just the average girl 😉 And New Years Eve night was spent writing down 3 things under the 4 categories that I think are most important for any individual. It’s my 2016 bucket list.

This year, i’m focusing on fitness.

Physical:

*Be able to look at myself in the mirror and be proud of what I see.
*Get my group exercise certification. I’m still contemplating this one to be honest, it’s been on my mind a lot lately, but i’m not sure if i’m wanting to put in the time and work for it yet.
*Work out 5 times/week no matter what is going on. I think this goal and healthy eating will help my fitness goals and i’ll be able to take progress pictures. Hopefully, then i’ll achieve physical goal #1 above.
*Finally get a gym membership. For the past couple months i’ve been testing out gyms across our area to see which one fits me the best. I think I have found one, so I need to sign up!

This year, i’m focusing on contentment.

Spiritual:

*Go on a mission trip. I haven’t been on a trip since 2011 and it’s now 2016. That’s five years…it’s time for another mission trip!
*Spend each morning in Quiet Time. I’m going to do my veeerrrryyy best to spend the first 30 minutes of every day with Jesus. I think it will make a difference for me in how the rest of my day goes.
*Join a small group. Whether it’s another Bible study, a group of young adults, a group of women, or something. I want to find a small group to get connected with.

This year, i’m focusing on independence.

Social:

*Graduate college. August, August, August!
*Find a (full-time) job. Boo. This is bittersweet. Right now i’m loving the free time i’ve been having so it will be sad when I have to go work full-time again.
*Say yes this year. This is self-explanatory.

This year, i’m focusing on happiness.

Mental:

*Do something i’m uncomfortable with. I want to do something that’s going to push me mentally.
*Find happiness with something. Happiness comes from within, which is why I made it a mental goal. I want to find something that I wake up every morning excited for!
*Be in my room at 10:30PM. This has already been hard and it obviously won’t be possible EVERY night but I think it will be a good time for me to relax and reflect on the day. During this time i’m writing down something i’m thankful/grateful for every day. (Got that idea from Reeana, thanks Ree!)
*Work on being satisfied. I think this will be hard because it’s difficult for me to be satisfied, i’ve already figured that out. But i’m working on it this year i’m going to start by writing a list of 15 good things about me and keeping it somewhere that i’ll look at it.

So that’s me. And that’s what 2016 will hopefully look like for me. I hope if this is your first time here you come back, and if it’s your 320957238 time to read all of that, bless you.

Happy 2016!!!

Show and Tell: Christmas Decor

Show and Tell Tuesday…

…Christmas decorations style!

Last year, my mom was really into making these wreaths. She made one for Fall and then one for Christmas. Welcome!

Mom does an AWESOME job decorating our bannister every year.

And Morgan’s job is to set up this little snow village scene…I have no idea what it actually is. Those are her little Houndstooth snowmen she gives mom for her birthday every year too.

Dad decided one year that he wanted to be like the big kids and get lights by his room….so he now has a strand of colorful lights with branches on the window opening of his wet bar.

Another one of my favorites is the decoration around the columns. There are little elves (and big ones) spread throughout garland. PS these are a pain in the backside to put on!

In the entry way sits this table, and this year it’s decorated with one of the 3 plates Morgan made mom for Christmas last year that says “The Middletons” and some fun candy canes with a boot, ornaments, and another Santa.

And this piece of iron decor has little elves looking like they’re hanging off of the fabric and playing 🙂

My favorite part of our Christmas decorations is always, always the fireplace. The fireplace at Christmas just makes my Holiday loving heart happy. Mom decorated the mantle, Santa sits next to it, and I lay in front with the fire crackling behind me. Our stockings are hung by the chimney with care…and my grandma’s stocking is the first one in line 🙂

My grandma made our stockings herself. Hand-stitching each of them with love, and all the bells and whistles, with the year we were born. They are my favorite.

We all have a different stocking holder every year. I don’t know why, but i’m assuming it’s because ours would break all the time.

My aunt gave this Santa to my mom a couple of years ago, and now he sits by our fireplace to watch over us..to make sure that we’re being nice and not naughty.

We love having a real Christmas tree at our house. Ahhh, the smell of freshly cut wood with the mix of the needles. Right now, our tree is sitting naked in our house because we are a lazy fam. O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree, how lovely are your (bare) branches.

Eeek! It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Once we get lights and ornaments on our tree that is. Truth be told, our decorations are pretty much the same as last year, and the years before. It’s just easier that way.

Now I can’t wait to see yours. Just in case you missed any of my previous Show and Tell Tuesday posts:

Mission Trips/Service Opportunities
A Day In The Life
Halloween Costumes
My First Job
The 5 people you’d invite to dinner
Where I was on 9/11
Who I was in High School
My Back to School Traditions
My Home
My Beauty Routine
My Yard
When I Grow Up
Favorite Party I’ve Hosted
How I Got My Name
My Favorite Vacation
My Favorite Room In Our House
How (2 of my favorite couples) Met Each Other
My Groundhog Day
My Organization Tips and Tricks
My New Year’s Resolutions

What’s on…my bucket list?

Yesterday was suppose to be Andrea’s “What’s on…” but she moved it to today. It actually took me a while to come up with a bucket list, I had to really think about it! Also, these are in no particular order or color-coded (I know, surprise!), I just wanted to make it pretty!

Now for my commentary (you know I always have some of that):

Most of these are pretty self-explanatory, but i’ll go ahead and explain the ones I think need it.

9. I think a “4 Generations” picture is the coolest thing ever. I’d love to have one when I have kid, however I would be fine having that picture with my grandkid.
10. I’m serious about this one, however I am not sure how likely it is to happen. I’m working on it!
11. Inspiration for this one came from this picture:

source
12. I thought about just starting with a 5K and then I was all “go big or go home” so I put a half-marathon now that ‘I love running, and you can too!‘
13. My sister saw my bucket list and added it, so I thought I would do this with her!
15 and 16. Probably shouldn’t be next to each other, but maybe that can be my “FUN 21st”?? Eh??
21. It’s true…i’ve never had a dog before. We play with them at my Aunt and Uncle’s dog farm. But we have never had one, and I love doggies. I need one!

Do we have any of the same things on our list?
Did you find anything you’re going to steal off of my list?
Let me know in the comments!!! I’ll be updating as I think of things I may have forgotten to write down.

UPDATE: I DIDN’T ADD IT TO THIS PICTURE, BUT NOW ON MY WRITTEN LIST IS VISIT EVERY SINGLE MLB STADIUM.

#FoodieToosdy Week 9

 Fall food is officially in the air! Last Thursday was a total weather changer for us. All last weekend was in the 60’s and 70’s. Soooo cozy. I’m a total cold weather loving girl. I had my fan going all weekend because I was getting hot. But really there’s nothing better than cozying up in 60 and 70 degree weather with some good ol’ supper.

This week I FINALLY tried Andrea’s pulled pork recipe that Shay swears by. You guys, I finally get it. This is the most flavorful delicious pulled pork I think  know i’ve ever had.

I had everything out and I put it all (by all I mean THREE INGREDIENTS) in the crock pot at 6:30 Wednesday morning.

1 pork shoulder
1 onion, chopped
2 cans soda (I used coca-cola)

This is Shay’s picture of Andrea’s pulled pork.

How to:

In your slow cooker, place your pork and onion pieces inside.  Pour your soda on top of everything and cover and cook on high at least 8 to 10 hours.

Remove the lid after 8 to 10 hours and the meat should be falling a part at the touch of your fork.  Remove all of the meat from the slow cooker into a bowl and then drain your slow cooker of the onions and liquid.  Add your meat back to the slow cooker and shred it up with two forks.  Stir in as much of your BBQ sauce as you like.  At this point, you can serve immediately or you can turn the slow cooker to the “keep warm” setting and let it stay warm up to 4 or 5 hours until you’re ready to eat.

Here’s how mine looked.

When I was finished with classes, errands, and about to go nanny, I finished it up. Is it not beautiful?!

So by 4:30 when everyone’s rollin’ it I had it all set up, for the family to eat whenever they were hungry.

Can I please tell you that I have THE most picky brothers on the planet. One bite into his sandwich the 14 year old says “Wow, this is really good.” The next day the other brother asked for “that BBQ thing” again. My dad had two bowls that night, took it for lunch the next day, had it for dinner another night, and lunch on Saturday. We had a container of leftovers and it’s almost gone. My mom and sister didn’t even get to try it.

 

Now, my next recipe that I tried (because I was in the fall mood) was Shay’s Chicken Fajita Soup

Mmmmmm y’all. It doesn’t make you feel stuffed, it’s the easiest thing to make, and it’s very healthy and full of protein.

Here’s Shay’s…

Get:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (frozen or thawed)
1 onion, chopped
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 can chopped green chiles
1 package taco seasoning (or 3 tablespoons Chili Powder) (I actually used fajita seasoning that we had)
3 cups chicken stock (or water)
1 can (10oz) nacho cheese soup (on the soup aisle)
1 cup frozen corn (I used canned corn)
1 cup prepared rice (I made minute brown rice in the microwave)
Sour cream, tortilla chips, green onions to garnish

How to:

Layer chicken, onion, beans, Rotel and green chiles in your slow cooker. Sprinkle seasoning mixture over everything. Pour chicken stock on top. Cover and cook on low 6 to 8 hours or on high 3 to 4 hours.

Remove lid, using two forks, shred chicken right inside the slow cooker. Add can of nacho soup, corn and prepared rice, stir and cover cooking another 10 to 15 minutes.

Garnish with your favorite toppings.

Here’s mine in the slow cooker yesterday.

And I added some avocado to mine and absolutely loved it!

I’d say over anything don’t forget the Nacho Cheese Soup…I would have never thought about that, but personally I think that’s what makes this soup. My dad told me he had three bowls, my sister really enjoyed it, and I did as well. I can’t wait to see what my mom says when she comes home.

So, thank you ladies for the meals this past week!