Goodbye 2013

Was 2013 a good year for you or would you rather leave it behind and not reminisce over it?

New year can reflections are different for everyone. I myself don't really celebrate it with a party or a big to do. As bad as it might sound for someone my age, I usually just sleep through all ball drops, kisses and champagne etc. I mean as a mommy, sleep trumps most things in my life. 

Last year, my lovely neighbor were blaring bass music and shooting guns or fire works and woke up my kiddo! Grrr. Not cool. My hubby went over there and asked them to turn it down. I was proud of him for not loosing his cool. It's not like we could call the police on New Years for a noise disturbance.

Anywho, I came across this New Year's printable on Smart School House and wanted to share some of my responses to the prompts. 

My highlights for 2013:

Greatest lesson learned- never take anything or anyone for granted.

Hardest thing this year- Loosing my Aunt this year was probably the hardest and most difficult thing I had to deal with this year. She was loved by all our family and we miss her every single day. I think about her often.

Favorite memories- My daughter turned two years old. I was able to decorate my home with a re-purposed dresser into a coffee bar. ( Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) I know I still need to post the final part for that one once I get the wall decor up! Stay tuned....

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What I loved about 2013- I loved that I kept up my blog for more than 6 months which was a big improvement over 2012 when I stared this whole thing. I also saved up for my new DSLR camera!

Goals for 2014- Read more books, get better at photography, continue my blog and get more followers. I am also considering purchasing a domain provider. As a family, we might try and take our first family vacation instead of bumming around at home so much.

Happy New Year Everyone! May God continue to bless you and I hope that you accomplish your new goals and dreams, but in all things keep it simple and significant.

You know you're a mommy when

You know you're a mommy when you are thankful when your child wants to watch something new on TV or a movie!!

My daughter is obsessed with Mickey Mouse "mooeys" (toddler speak for movies which she over genderalizes for TV shows too). There are days when my husband and I want to bang our heads on the wall if we have to watch one more episode on Mickey Mouse Club House! Any other MMC parents out there? Can you sympathize with my plight?

Some days we tell her that Mickey is "sleeping" and we can't watch him right now. Don't judge....it works! If you haven't seen the recent version of MMC, here is a clip of the hot dog dance. It's quite catchy.

What is your kiddo obsessed with? How do you manage?

Why Yes I Shop After Christmas!

As a life long bargain shopper, I am always on the look out for a good or great deal. Somethings are not worth payinig full price. Ya feel me? I know that Christmas is about Jesus, giving and family among many other important things, but I am not afraid to admit that I like the after Christmas savings! As if stores didn't get my money before Christmas, they have to have store and seasonal clear outs.

Here are a few things I picked up this year:

I bought myself a new pink cardigan at Old Navy for $8. Normally they are priced at $20! Cha-ching.

I also found Little Miss some cute flip flops for $1.50! Shut the front door and slap your grandma at that price!

At Target I picked up some socks for 50 cents a piece because they were 50% off. Holla!

I also ventured into Michael's hoping to score some Christmas decor, but they had barely anything left on the shelves. I did manage to find this cute UF Nutcracker ornament to add to my new collection.

I didn't go crazy with my spending so yay me!  Did you find any great after Christmas deals? What did you get?

More Conversations with My Husband: Smash Mouth

Here is another snippet from my simple, but significant day to day life with my husband. My hubs and I have been married  six years and I love him to pieces and sometimes the conversations we have can be down right hysterical! Here is conversation we had today:
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As were are driving around town listening to the radio.....

Hubs: Is that Smash Mouth playing?

Me: Yea, why?

Hubs: You know we're getting old when a classic rock station starts playing Smash Mouth.

(Brief but dramatic pause)

Hubs: Oh wait, I think it's picking up another station. We're good.
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Just another simple, but significant moment for us! You've got to take time to laugh at the little things.

Another Simple Moment: Christmas Morning

{my simple moment} – A new ritual. A single photo, maybe two – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, significant, blessed moment. A moment I want to treasure and remember

inspired by SouleMama
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"Christmas Morning"

The Tradition of Traditions

Every family has it's quirks, peculiarities, and traditions. I wanted to take a moment and share some of my family's traditions. Now that my daughter is a year older to the big age of two, she was able to help momma make gingerbread cookies this year.

This cookie is a favorite of our little family trio. I made the dough in advance and after dinner Little Miss helped roll and cut them out! I've used this recipe for the past two years and it has been great! I am hoping next year we can decorate.

When I was a kiddo, my mom, sister and I used to buy my Nana a nutcracker every Christmas. She would proudly display them all over her living room. Good times. Good memories. Well, this year I decided that I wanted to start this tradition at my house! So I told the hubby I wanted at least one nutcracker this year for my Christmas decor. My hope is that as Little Miss gets older, she and Daddy can go out together and pick one out for Mommy each year! We'll see.

The one on the right is the one I got this year. The little bitty one was a surprise gift from my husband's grandmother after I told her about my hope of a new tradition. The one of the left is one I picked up at CVS on clearance! LOL I could help myself.

I usually host my hubby's family Christmas Eve. We eat ham and watch a movie later. My tradition is to make Fanny farmers twice baked Mac and cheese! Seriously delicious and totally not diet friendly. Here is the recipe I use.

At some point during the holiday season, we also watch our favorite Christmas movie, "It's a Wonderful Life." If you don't like this movie we can't be friends. Just kidding....we can be friends, but I'll keep my eye on you!

What are some of your favorite family traditions? Let me know in the comment section. The best traditions are simple, but significant!

Grown Up Christmas Challenge

Do you ever sometimes think that grown ups loose sight of Christmas magic and purpose? I will sheepishly and honest raise my hand and say I have at times. Buy, buy, buy. Wrap, cook, drive here and there. Drama, sarcasm, and maybe tears. Ugh. It very well might make you want to bury yourself under a mountain of blankets and sleep through it all out of avoidance.

 A lot of people get frustrated with themselves or their families. It's fairly normal depending on the extreme of it. While others have no family or few close friends to share the holiday with.  Perhaps, you lost someone you love this past year and the season just doesn't feel the same with out them. Where do you go from there? How do you handle it? I wish there was a simple answer because if there was I am sure it would have been said by now.

Here is a list, in no particular order, of things one can do, give, say or witness this Christmas season.

1. Watch a child open Christmas gifts and see the joy, wonder and love through their eyes.
2. Do something unexpected for someone else. Random Acts of Kindness are too few and far between. It doesn't have to be overly extravagant. Simple, small and significant might be a good rule of thumb.
3. Eat something delicious.
4. Invite someone over for dinner, brunch, lunch, snacks who otherwise might have been alone.
5. Give the gift of forgiveness. This gift is very much for you as well because carrying around hurt and resentments can change you. People can see it in you without so much a word. 

Love is the reason God's love to be exact. Let us not loose sight of that. Though we may have experience bitterness, heartbreak, loneliness, anger, awkwardness, and confusion. We can rest assured that love never fails. With love in our hearts there is little room for all the other "bad stuff."  It's not easy. My list of five could easily be much larger. Being an adult is not easy in so many ways, but this holiday season can be a chance to do and be something more.

Merry Christmas and God bless!

Teacher Love

I am extremely blessed at work. I love my job and generally enjoy all my students. Some classes are more difficult that others and many are unforgettable. I definitely experienced both ends of that spectrum this year.

As my Christmas break begin this afternoon, I wanted to share a quick pictures of my Christmas teacher love gifts and goodies from my students and secret Santa!

I've got enough cookies and candy to keep my sweet tooth satisfied for a while. My secret Santa got me a lovely picture frame which will display some of our new family photos beautifully. Now, where should I hang it?

I'll try to keep all the warm and fuzzy feelings in mind as I work over break on my AP class website and creating new tests for that class as well!

I want to also share with you this cute little Christmas break poem I found on the internet...so obviously I did not write it!

What I Love Christmas Edition

I am the type of person who gets excited about Christmas like Buddy the Elf when Santa comes to town!

It's true and I have no shame. Our Christmas tree was up the weekend after Thanksgiving and I had our house decorated shortly after. Side note confession......I don't decorate outside AT ALL! In my mind it's extra work and because we live in a rural wooded area no on will see it except our neighbors.

Here are a few things that I love about this time of year.

1.  Knowing the real reason for the season
2. Spending time with my family. (I miss you Aunt Jan).
3. I love the homey feel my house gets with all the decorations.
4. My daughter is older now and loves the lights on the Christmas tree. She gets quite perturbed if the tree is not on while she is at home and awake.
5. Baking cookies while listening to Christmas music.
6. Tug at your heart strings and make you cry  holiday movies. 
7. Shopping! (both in store and online)
   
8. Seeing lots of presents underneath the Christmas tree
9. Gift giving and seeing the looks on the faces of my loved ones as they open their presents.
10. Christmas break #teacherlife!
11. The sometimes cold weather here in Florida that makes it "Christmasy"

What's on your list of Christmas favorites, likes and loves? Let's share them out in the comments.

Another Simple Moment: Family Photo

{my simple moment} – A new ritual. A single photo, maybe two – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, significant, blessed moment. A moment I want to treasure and remember

inspired by SouleMama
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Photo credit to Blessings Captured Photography for doing our family photos this year!

Tis' The Season

I've been a lazy blogger lately. I have been here there and everywhere, but never fear I am still keeping it simple and significant! I wanted to share a quick picture of how Floridians celebrate the Christmas:

While everyone across the country is dealing with cold snaps, ice, snow and blustery wind chills, I can wear capris and flip flops in December! Stay warm y'all!

 Here's some more Florida themed Christmas cheer: