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Welcome to April

April. Hopefully it means lots of good things. The top of my list is getting my real estate license. I got the paper in the mail from my class, now I just have to sign up for the state exam. Then, lots of birthdays. Yesterday was my mom's, tomorrow is my brother-in-law's, the day after is my nephew's, and the 19th is Anthony's. And what's even better is that Anthony's birthday always falls on his school vacation, so he'll have it off. He started working at Home Depot again yesterday so he's going to be really busy. He's working 3 nights a week, plus a weekend day on top of what he's doing at school. It makes me feel terrible, but we need it while I'm transitioning into a new job.

It's also time to start planning Kallie's first birthday party, since it's only like 2 1/2 months away. I've got the guest list together (around 100 people, someone kill me now), so now I need to get together a list of all the things we need to buy. I'd like to think I'll start today, but I started watching Friends from season 1, so there's a good chance I won't get anything done today ;)

And on that note, Kallie is up, so I'm off to play! Thanks for reading! Xo.

A whole month. Oops.

So... real estate class went well. I was very busy, obviously. 16 hours of class per weekend and a lot of studying kept me quite occupied. But I got a 91 on my final exam and a 92 in the class, so it paid off! Just have to take the state test as soon as I get the certificate of completion from the school, and I'm a licensed real estate agent!

I'm really excited to go back to work, but I'm also really nervous to start sending Kallie to day care. Not only because I've never sent her to day care before, but because it's really expensive and a real estate paycheck isn't the most reliable. It's a huge catch 22. I can't send her to day care if I can't afford it, and I can't get paid if I don't work and send her to day care.

Anthony is picking up some shifts at Home Depot to help us out while I'm not making any money. Also, we have to buy another a car. So we have to start paying for day care, another car payment, higher insurance, and more gas. Ugh. It will suck for sure, but once I start making some money, we can figure it out and it'll be okay. We can't be a one-income family anymore, especially since we want to have another baby. It won't be anytime soon, but it's definitely not something we can do on one income.

Not much else is new in my life. Besides Kallie crawling everywhere and standing up on everything. She's getting SO big, so fast. I can't believe she's 9 1/2 months. Yikes. She'll be a year before I know it.

I suppose I should finish making her finger paints, and perfect the recipe because it came out pretty chunky at first! It needed to be thinned out big time. I tried more water to see if it worked, so I'm gonna finish it and have her make a card for my mom's birthday on Sunday.

Thanks for reading! Xo

Tonight, tonight!

My real estate class starts tonight! I'm so excited but so nervous. That's what I didn't really want to talk about previously because I wasn't sure if it was going to happen or not, but I'm all paid for and good to go! It's going to feel weird to be in a classroom again, but I think I'll enjoy it. It's only for a month, but it's 2 Wednesday nights, and Saturday and Sunday from 8-5 through March 21st. I think it's like 8 classes total and a test, then I can start working! It's a scary thought to go back to work, not because I don't think I can do it, but because I'll have to start sending Kallie to daycare. I'm sure I'll be so sad the first time she goes, but I know she'll be in good hands, since my mom works there and in the room Kallie will be in.

I know it's WAY early to think about this, but when she starts school, I want to be involved with anti-bullying campaigns. It's something I really feel strongly about and I think it's important for schools to have a zero tolerance policy. I told Anthony that yesterday and he said it's more in high schools than younger schools, but I think it's just as important, if not more in elementary and middle school. Kids are so susceptible when they're young and it's really crucial to get them into being positive and supportive of others at that age. If they start young, they'll continue it. Plus, kids in elementary school can be mean and bully others and I think it shouldn't be tolerated at all.

Anyway... that's my bullying rant. I like to think that by the time Kallie is in school some sort of policy will have been implemented anyway, but who knows. If not, I plan to petition for it. :)

Thanks for reading! Xo

Reflection

I was thinking about random things this morning, and my train of thought is so weird that it lead me to thinking about life in general and whatnot, so I wanted to write my thoughts down somewhere.

I always tell people that I have zero regrets, and that is 100% true. Even if I'm not crazy about something in my past, I can't regret what happened because I honestly believe that if something had been different, I wouldn't be where I am now. And I love my life. I wouldn't want to change anything.

Sometimes I find myself wondering, "what was I thinking?" but I don't feel like this is the same as regretting it. I just look back and say, "yeah, I was acting crazy back then," or, "those weren't very good decisions." I'm not mad I made them, nor do I wish I hadn't.

Also, I hold grudges. A lot. I wish I didn't, but I do. I think I've come a really long way, though. For example, I used to really not like my future sister-in-law and now she's a really good friend. I realized that the fact that she makes my brother happy should be good enough for me and it doesn't matter why I was angry before because it's in the past. I'm trying really hard not to hold them anymore, and I think I'm doing better. That one alone was a huge step in the right direction for me.

I always tell Anthony that I don't want to go to my 10-year high school reunion because I don't really want to see my exes. I realize that this is stupid because it was high school, and who really cares anymore? My guess is no one. I don't care. I thought I did, and maybe I actually did for a while, but it doesn't matter. I wouldn't feel awkward running into them or having a conversation. I have nothing to hide and over the last year and a half, I think my maturity level has skyrocketed.

Anyway, just wanted to get some stuff out! :) Thanks for reading! Xo

Hair bow tutorial

Okay guys, here it is! This is my process for making my own hair bows. Please keep in mind that there are TONS of different ways to do this, and this is just what works best for me :)

These are the basics (other than ribbon, of course) that you'll need for your bow:
-Scissors
-Thread
-A measuring tape (not really necessary, but I find it useful)
-A clip
-A lighter
-A glue gun

These are the ribbons I used. You really only need one, but I'm showing you a double layered bow. They are all gosgrain ribbon. Usually, I use a 1 1/2" for the back, but today I'm using a smaller width.

First, measure your ribbon to the length you want it. I used 18" for the back bow, and this is pretty standard (I use 18-20 for a larger width ribbon). Make sure you use the lighter to heat seal all the edges of all the ribbons! This is important, so they won't start to fray over time.

This is me heat sealing. You just run the lighter over the edges of the ribbons fairly quickly so they melt together. Ta da!

Fold your ribbon in half and pinch the middle so that it makes a line that you can see. You'll use it to gauge where to put the ends of your ribbon. When you open it, you should be able to see a line that marks the center.

Fold one side of your ribbon over to the center. It should look like a breast cancer ribbon without the tail on one side. This loop will make your top 2 loops in your bow.

Fold the other half of the ribbon to the center on top of where you put the end of the first ribbon. Notice that the first loop goes on the top and the second loop goes on the bottom. It should look like a symbol for "infinity."

Pull the middle of the top loop to the center of the ribbon, where you met the two ends together. This makes your first two loops.

Do the same thing for the second loop. These are your four loops in your bow! From here, adjust them to how you'd like them shaped and sized.

Next, fold the center of the bow with 3 folds. This part can be kind of tricky because the ribbon can slip sometimes. You can, of course, fold it however you like, but I think that three folds looks the best and comes out the nicest.

While holding the three fold in place, wrap the center with thread. It can be any color- you're not going to see it. Tie the thread in a knot at the back of the bow, and you have your bow!

Next, take your glue gun and put a line across the bow. Hold your clip open and put it on the glue. This step and the next will go fairly quickly to make sure the glue doesn't dry.

Put the end of the ribbon over the glue on the clip. Let it dry for a second (doesn't have to be completely dry), and wrap the ribbon around the entire bow. I do it at least twice to make sure it's on tight and won't come apart.

Put another dab of hot glue, snip the end of the ribbon (don't forget to heat seal!), and push it down so it stays put. Then, voila! You're done!

The end product! I made a double layer- just make one more bow and glue it on top of the other for multiple layers. Ta da! Now you have an adorable bow to either put on a headband or right in hair :)



I hope you guys found this useful! Happy crafting, and thanks for reading! Xo.

I'm a bit slow today

So I thought I'd have time to put up a bow tutorial today, but I ended up being out for quite a while and now at 5:15pm I've just sat down now. I left my house at 9:30am. Yikes.

I went to the podiatrist this morning to finally have my ingrown toenail checked out. I went to my regular doctor first- she told me to soak it in Epsom salt and if that didn't help, she wrote me a prescription for antibiotics. The soak didn't help, so I took the antibiotics, which didn't help either. She told me if they didn't, to call back and they'd refer me to a podiatrist. I called a couple weeks ago and my appointment was finally today. He told me he doesn't usually just go ahead and do the procedure, but since I'd already taken then antibiotics he wasn't going to make me do it again so he just did it. Basically, they stuck my toe with Novocain 3 times, let it sit, and then he put something under my nail, clipped it off from the end all the way down to the cuticle (gross, I know), and cauterized it so it wouldn't happen again. Now my toe is swollen and huge, and has a little toe cast-like thing on it that I have to wear until tomorrow night. My toe is actually still kind of numb, so I'm basically just sitting here, waiting for the pain to kick in because I can't imagine it won't hurt. Ugh. At least I can go to the gym in a couple days! Wooo! I haven't been in like 2 or 3 weeks. Yuck.

Anyway, that was my eventful day. I'm finally sitting on the couch watching Friends, and thinking about what to have for dinner :)

Thanks for reading! Xo