I was going to post about our Thanksgiving holiday yesterday and how I managed to roast my first turkey and not screw it up.  I was going to post about how much fun L had with her Uncle Bubby and even show you a picture.  Lastly, I was also going to post my outfit from the day yesterday.

However, none of that will be happening today since I awoke this morning to a message from a personal friend on my personal Facebook about how I was the subject of a blog post from a pretty well-known blogger.

And it wasn't praises that were being sung.

I (apparently), according to the post, made someone mad with my opinion on a Facebook status that I responded to on or around November 17.  I was responding passionately to something that I disagreed with.

I am going to be professional and respectable and not say any names or anything that could point fingers to specific individuals.  I realize that I (and some of my personal friends and family) weren't given that privilege of having our privacy protected, but I wasn't raised to blast people out on social media, blogs, etc. (I'm from the South, we just say, "Oh bless their little heart..." and move on.)

Basically, I commented on a Facebook status and let my opinion be known on a specific issue surrounding children's homemade Christmas ornaments.  Sometime between the time I posted my comment/response and the next morning, my comment was deleted.  I wasn't surprised.  I did, however, share the Facebook status on my personal Facebook page that morning because I wanted to see what others would say about it.

And then I forgot about it.

Well, on Wednesday, November 27, that shared status from my personal Facebook page was posted on a blogger's blog.  They did not cover my name or picture NOR did they cover up any of my friends and family's profile pics or full legal names. The blogger then proceeded to berate me for my opinion that they opened themselves up to when they posted a status about it on their Facebook page. 

I was not the only one that had a differing opinion on the original status.  Several people weighed in.  Several people agreed with my comment by "liking" it.  There were some who agreed with what the post was about, too!  I didn't say anything to them.  I directed my comment to the writer.  I thought I was respectable.  I thought I made myself clear.  I don't believe I threatened their parenting skills in any way.

I hit a nerve and now my name is being circulated throughout the internet.  The post, at the
time of this writing, has been shared 532 times on Facebook alone.  Wow.  At least 532 people have seen my face and are all forming opinions of me and my friends and family.  They are all judging me and my friends and family by one post.  One.

The comments on the blog post are very hard to read.  I keep reading the word judgmental and, at first, I was angry. Oh I was so angry!  I am not a judgmental person!  And then, after several conversations this morning with friends and family, their words started to sink in....

It has just gotten down right frigid here in the Midwest this week.  I was looking for an easy meal to prepare since I am saving all of my energy for my big turkey preparing debut on Thursday.  I also wanted something warm and comforting since it was so darn cold outside!

So, this weeks post is a bit different.

1.  I'm not actually wearing the outfit this week.  I've been fighting a sinus infection for the past few days and my face is quite swollen.  I look a bit scary!

2.  I'm not actually wearing today's featured outfit until Sunday for our family photo session.  Since I have felt like crap all week, we haven't really gone anywhere.  Sure, I have ran to the store alone in the evenings, but that's been about the extent of my outings this week.  I just feel crummy.

Alright, so, here's the deal:  I flaked on a recipe for this week.  I totally forgot to include my featured recipe in my grocery list and thus, it did not get purchased.  Next week though, I will have an awesome new recipe to make up for it!

In the meantime, I took the liberty of rounding up some pretty yummy looking Thanksgiving desserts around Pinterest!  Have a look see!  You won't find pumpkin pie in this round up!

It's that time of the month again where I get all nerdy on you.  Okay, wait, this is probably not the only time I get nerdy on you, but you get the idea.

The drill is that I answer five book-related questions provided by Lesley from By the Porchlightt and Taylor from Pink Heels Pink Truck and then I head on over and link up with them!  You can totally do this yourself, too!  In fact, you should because it's totally worth it to browse the other blogs and get book ideas! :)

Like I said, it isn't my "normal" book choice, but it's a nice change.  The writing is pretty good and she has humor in all the right spots. 

2.  How many books have you read this year? Do you set reading goals for yourself? I track my books on Goodreads and I have read 12 books this year.  My goal is 15.  I used to read way more than 15 books year, but since becoming a mom, I don't really have all that much time any more.  However, I still make time and thought that 15 books was a good goal.  Next year, I will move it up to 20.

3.  What do you think are the best and worst book-to-movie/TV show adaptations? Oh wow, um.....the first one that comes to mind is The Twilight Saga.  I adored those books.  I was in my mid-twenties when I read them.  My mom got me hooked on those books.  The movies were good, but not as good as the books.  I faithfully went and saw every movie in the theater (the first one with my mom and some of her friends from work), but they just weren't as good as what I had pictured in my mind.  I don't really care for them to adapt books into movies/shows.  I think you lose a lot of the essence when you take a book and try to portray it on a screen.  

4.  What is the first line of your favorite book? Daaaaaaaannnggg!  Oh this is so hard!  I have many books I adore, but there are a few that have impacted me deeply and I classify those as my favorites.  The first line of one of my favorite books is this:  

Today's post is pretty fun since I get to talk about any outfit from one time in my life that I felt comfortable in.

This was actually a no-brainer for me. I didn't think twice, I didn't try and think of something else, I just went with my first instinct.

I am thirty years old, so therefore, I have worn countless outfits. From the handmade Christmas outfits my mom used to make for my brother and I, to the prom dresses, to the plaid school girl skirts and black mesh shirts in my early 20s: this is the one outfit that I felt the most beautiful, secure, and capable in my life....

Here I am again with another recipe from my kitchen!  This one is good for the kiddos and adults!  Because, seriously, who doesn't like little hot dogs wrapped in melted cheese and a lovely croissant?


I made these for L and I one day for a fun lunch.  In need of a change from our lunch meat/PBJ/Chicken Fingers rut, I started scouring the fridge.

Hmm...Turkey dogs....sliced cheese....a can of croissants...PIGS IN A BLANKET!

I quickly got to work creating the coolest pigs in a blanket I had ever created.

Yesterday was a hard day.  I'm not talking from a parenting standpoint, I'm speaking from a personal standpoint.

Hello everyone! If you're a blogger, then you know what I mean when I say Happy NaBloPoMo! In honor of NaBloPoMo, I decided to take Friday's of this month to do a little prompt writing.  BlogHer has a pretty good list of prompts for this month, so I'll be choosing from there.




*looking up first blog post*.......

*cringing*

*taking a deep breath*....

Okay, so, my first blog post was written May 9, 2012 and you can find it here for your viewing pleasure.

It's kind of an interesting read now almost a year and a half later.  I was freaking out over something that is now what I have come to know.  I didn't get the teaching job that I dreamed of and I became a stay-at-home mom.

I'm just going to say it:  That was the biggest 180 my life had ever taken.

For the first time in eleven years, I had to stop everything that I had known. There were no jobs to apply for, there were no papers to write, and there were no lesson plans to fine tune for the next days lesson.  It was just me, my degree on the wall, and a baby.

It was a very hard smack in the face that came with a very painful transition period.  There were days that were so hard I didn't know how I was going to do it all again the next day without breaking down.

Some days, I did breakdown.

It took a lot of growing pains to get to where I am today.  While the days are still hard sometimes (because that's just called parenting) and there are nights that I fall into bed and don't move until the next morning, I am better at this stay at home mom thing now.

So, while my days still consist of dirty diapers and cartoons, there's more now.  L is becoming her own person.  She's learning things and she is starting to communicate better.  We are communicating better.  I learn a lot about her by watching her play and how she interacts with things.

There is a reason that I am home with L.  I may not know why and I may never know why, but I am where I am supposed to be for the time.  The job has its perks and it has its pitfalls, but I'm paid in hugs, kisses, and stickers.  I can't get that kind of compensation in a classroom.

Hello everyone!  Welcome back for the third week of Operation: Get Out of Yoga Pants!   I am having so much fun with this series.  I am challenging myself and I am starting to notice how I really think about getting dressed in the mornings.  This has already been such a positive experience and I can't wait to see what else is in store for me throughout this process.

I do have a slight confession to make: Today's outfit was not the intended outfit for today.  I had on today's intended outfit and then.....motherhood happened.  Some juice got spilled, Mommy's shirt got the brunt of it, and there was no other shirt to replace the now-covered juice shirt, so I had to improvise.

Just because October is over, doesn't mean that you have to stop talking about pumpkin.  We love pumpkin in this house!  Today's recipe I made a couple of weeks ago and it was gone before I had a chance to do anything about it.

The Hubbs mentioned a couple of times how he was in the mood for pumpkin bread and, after the second time, I thought, "I better make him some pumpkin bread," and set out to find a good recipe.

I went through every recipe I had here in the house before getting on Pinterest.  What I had wasn't giving me the "warm fuzzies" so I set out on Pinterest to find the perfect pumpkin bread recipe.

I wanted something that would embrace the season with its look, smell, and taste.  I scoured tons of pins before finding this recipe from Leah over at Freutcake.  Score!


This post is linked up at:

It has recently turned quite cooler here in the Midwest and we have also had quite a few days of rain.  On the days that it is just too chilly or rainy to go out, I have to have reinforcements for L.

It can be pretty difficult  to keep a toddler entertained.  I realized this last year when the weather turned cold and we couldn't get out as much.  So, I took to Pinterest and found ideas to make a rainy day basket.

A rainy day basket is a basket of things you bring out when there is just nothing else working to keep your kiddo entertained.

1.  Trick or treating was a blast in spite of the rain.  L was really into it this year and was more than happy to go get "canny".  



2.  I did a lot of organizing and purging this past weekend.  It felt great and I have a few new ideas for my kitchen that I can't wait to do!

3.  L is finally starting to let me put things in her hair!  Doesn't she just look cute?  ...And way older than two!?

4.  I also started the search for colors to paint the living room.  I have the wall color nailed down, but we want to do an accent wall to set off the cove that our electric fireplace/huge mantle sits in.  I'm having some issues deciding what color that cove should be.  

5.  And, last but not least...fuzzy socks.