Hello readers!  I am BACK!  Yes, yes I mean it this time.  I actually had every intention of coming back last week, but because of the death of Robin Williams and the riots in Ferguson, Missouri (which, yes, is across the river from where I am, but it's still too close for comfort)--I decided to keep quiet.  Everyone else was jumping on the bandwagon to "blog about it" and I chose not to.  It wasn't because I didn't have anything to say (because, let's face it, if you know me, you know I always have something to say), but to rather remain quiet and use that week to reflect on what I needed to say. I don't want my words to be taken lightly.  If I am going to contribute to the masses of blog posts about those current issues, I want it to actually mean something instead of just another blog rant. 

Those post(s) to come...

Anyway, I am back and I am ready to bring you all the budget fashion and beauty posts that you all have missed for so long.  I took a lot of time off, so I hope some of you are still here to enjoy all the tips and tricks I have to dish out.  Also, my favorite time of the year is coming, and I can't wait to talk about fall fashion and show you all what I've been buying to keep myself warm as the weather changes. 

This week I will have my monthly Literary Junkies post up and on Thursday, I have a guest post coming from Nikki at Dollar Store Diva!  Stay tuned and watch me get this blog back to normal in no time! 

*ahem*

Anyone still here?

Have you ever had one of those days where you were going through your "normal" routine and you stopped in the middle of your day and you thought to yourself, "I'm not feeling *insert chore* today.  It can wait till tomorrow"? Well, that was how I stopped blogging. 

I just decided, one day, that I didn't want to blog that particular day and so I didn't.  The same thing happened for twenty-one consecutive days.  I found other things to do than sit at a computer and pound away at a keyboard.  I started going outside and doing yard work during L's nap times.  I started reading books after L went to bed instead of getting on the computer.  I simply just let the blog go.  

I let it go because I needed to think without the monotony of a routine or the click of the keys on the keyboard.

I let it go because my brain was so full of blog junk that it was keeping me awake at night.

I let it go because I needed to be able to think about other things that I wanted to do with my life other than this blog.

Life & Leopard isn't going away.  It's not even in transition.  It, and I, are still here, we are just quiet.  We are thinking.  We are contemplating.  We are brainstorming.  We are delegating responsibilities.  We are taking some of the weight off of our shoulders and our minds.

I will return in August, but my postings will be less.  I will be dropping down to 1-2 posts a week and opening up Life & Leopard for guest posters.  (So, if you want to write a beauty/fashion post, email me!) This strategy will allow me to work on another avenue that I am passionate about and perhaps allow me to sleep through the night without waking up with random phrases in my head and my fingers on fire.

I think I have ignored it long enough.

See you all in August with more fashion and beauty love!

Oh, lookie here, I'm writing a blog post! I should have taken off the month of June in regards to blogging.  I just haven't had the brain capacity to write anything that I had planned.  I'm taking some time today to sit down and just write all this out so I can stop thinking about doing it--hence the title of the post. 

This month has been full of planning L's 3rd birthday party, Father's Day, a weekend getaway (which is happening this weekend), and all the other daily things that come up.  I had tons of blog posts planned for this month and I think I managed to write five posts I really wanted to get out in the world.  I apologize guys!  However, I think you all enjoyed what I did put out this month, so that's a plus.

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Earlier in the year, I had talked about how I had a few projects up my sleeve for 2014 and I think one of those needs to be started ASAP.  I am looking at taking down the Facebook page (don't freak out on me!) and producing a newsletter that would come straight to your inbox once a week from Life & Leopard.  Facebook has completely screwed with their algorithms and has made it almost impossible for bloggers to get our content seen from our pages.  Only ten of you see my posts via Facebook on a daily basis.  There are 92 fans on my page.  That's insane and I feel like I am putting too much time into something that isn't helping me.

However, there is a way that you can all follow me on my personal profile and you can get my blog updates that way.  I'm still working out the details on that portion, but I think a newsletter and having readers follow my personal profile on Facebook would really help out in the long run. 

I've also been thinking a lot about my personal writing lately.  I love writing beauty and style posts.  Surprisingly, I do well with them, but they aren't satisfying my creative writing side.  This tells me that I need to start making time to write creatively and really work on getting those things out into the world.  That is where my heart is at and it's why I started blogging in the first place.  

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I love Life & Leopard.  This blog has helped me in my journey back to myself after L was born.  I went from not caring about anything "me" wise to being able to balance it all pretty well.  There are still some things I'm working on, but I'm much further than I was a year ago.  I have all of you to thank for that.  I really do. If it wouldn't have been for all of you coming here to read what I have to say in regards to beauty and style, I would have quit.  

So, that's what has been on my mind lately.  We are going away for the weekend and I am checking out of the social media world to give my brain a break.  I am going to take some books, a pen, and a journal and remember what it was like to entertain myself with those things.  Have a great weekend everyone!  I'll be back next week! 

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Let's talk about what happened last week, shall we?  We are going to refer to last week as "The Unintentional Break".  What started off as a normal Monday off, quickly turned into Tuesday off and then it was just over from there. 

Along about Wednesday morning, I realized that the universe was trying to tell me something when I said, out loud in the shower, "Screw blogging this week.  I just don't have it in me." 

I love to blog.  I love talking to you guys about fashion, style, and how not to break the bank re-vamping your wardrobe.   I love trying new products and writing about them in hopes that it will work for someone else and make their life easier.  

However, I haven't had much of a creative writing outlet lately.  I've been putting a lot of energy into this blog because it is my baby and I love her and she needed attention.  Well, I burnt myself out.  I burnt myself out and the universe was trying to tell me to stop for just a bit and re-group.  So I did.

During that time, I decided that I was going to have to start putting more work into my other dreams, the largest of those being a published author.  There are many emotions that come along with that big dream, and they have been a bit hard to work through this week.  The biggest thing is fear, but I am aware of it and I am working to get through it.  

So, last week was a decompression week and now I am back here and blogging.  I have the wheels turning and I feel like I'm actually getting somewhere this week instead of stuck and behind.  

My biggest goal right now is getting two weeks of blog posts written and scheduled so I can take two weeks and focus on writing for a new venture of mine that has been sitting and waiting patiently for me to pay attention to it.  

So, here's to new starts and new posts! 

I haven't posted a lot this week because my brain is just mush.  I have been trying to plan my blogging calendar and get posts written in advance and scheduled so I can breathe a little, but coming up with new content is rough when your brain is mush.  

Hello everyone! Welcome to my new blog, Life & Leopard!  Soooo.....how do you like the new look?  Take a minute to browse around and get a feel for the new look.  You are going to notice that some links are dead links-I know and I'm sorry! I am still trying to get things transitioned over to the new blog address, so bear with me on that.  Hopefully I can have that all taken care of by the end of the week!

First off, I want to give a HUGE shout out to Jessica Lynn from Creations by Jessica Lynn.  She is the one that did this whole entire layout for me.  Her process was super easy and she's a dream to work with.  She was even nice enough to offer a coupon code for all my readers who may be in the market for a new blog design, social media buttons, or even some handmade goodies from her shop!  Go on over and check her shop out and if you see something you like, she is offering 10% off using the coupon code LifenLeo until April 23!  So, go check out her shop and get you a little discount!

Secondly, this space is now more of a lifestyle blog where I will jabber on about finding my style again, the kiddo, how I get my craft on sometimes, and how I go through phases where I think I'm a goddess in the kitchen.  As for more of my introspective writing, that is all going to be done here.  (I know, it's a little dead over there right now, but that is my next project to tackle.)

Lastly, you all have been really patient and I thank you for it.  I am still in the process of changing social media over so please be sure you are following me, in some way, other than Facebook.  I will be shutting down the current Facebook page and opening up a new one.  I realize I have almost 600 likes on there, but I don't know how many of them are actually genuine, if you know what I am saying.  As bloggers, we get sucked into these link ups and giveaways and we go through and like all these blog pages on Facebook and then half the time, we don't even look at the page again.  It's kind of silly.  Besides, I would rather have 75 interactive Facebook fans than 7500 silent ones.  :)  I'm not about numbers.  I'm about having fun!

And that's all I got for you today!  This week I am looking at posting another spring must-have for your wardrobe post, so be looking for that!  I am currently in the throes of a sinus infection, so I am not going to promise anything else this week.  That way, you'll be surprised. :)  Have a great week guys!

First of all, I wanted to thank everyone for the sweet comments on my last post.  That was actually one of the hardest posts I have hit 'publish' on, believe it or not.  I got tired of it just sitting in the back of my brain, nagging at me.  Ha!  What is it that they say?  Sometimes you only need 20 seconds of insane bravery to change your life?  I believe that was mine.  :)

Since I am in a period of transition here on the blog, I thought I may take today to stop in and say "hello" and fill you all in on what is going on.

I am in contact with Jessica from CreationsbyJLyn and we are working together to create a brand spanking new blog for this little space right here.  Up until this point, I have done most of the work around here, but I wanted to step my game up a bit and have an expert come in and give this space a face lift.  Guys....it's going to be epic!!

Secondly, I've been doing tons of research on blogging and really trying to get myself organized since I am going to be managing two blogs instead of one.  There is a lot of information out there on managing your time, how often you should post to social media, SEO, blog organizers, your about me page....I mean, Pinterest is full of this stuff!  I have been reading and pinning so late into the evenings it's shameful!  I have found a lot of great things though, so there is that.

Lastly, I've not really talked about it much here on the blog because I didn't want to jynx myself, but....I've been working out.  I have been putting L down for a nap and walking on the treadmill (that my completely awesome husband got for me) every day since the beginning of February.   I am up to walking two miles a day (at 3.8 mph) and have noticed some results.  My waist is a half an inch away from pre-pregnancy and my hips are about an inch and a half away from pre-pregnancy size.  This is the best I have felt in over a year and I don't even care what the scale says.  I never thought I would say that.

So, there you have it!  I am still here, I'm just decompressing.  I am nearing the end of a chapter in my life and I am getting ready to begin a new one.  I am all kinds of emotions right now, but they are all expected.  I will keep you all updated on the progress of this blog and will let you know when the changes take place so you can come celebrate with me!

Have a great weekend everyone!

I have always felt myself to be a two-sided individual.  One side wants to be fashionable and girly.  The other side loves her books and her writing and would love to be a librarian or a book store owner.  (Read: Nerd)  It has always been very hard for me to get those two sides to coexist within myself.  For a very long time, I was of the mentality that it wasn't possible.  I don't know how that way of thinking got embedded in my brain, but it did, and I have virtually had a block going on for years.

Around the first of the year, I took a very hard look at myself and my life.  I didn't look at myself as a mom or a wife, I looked at myself as an individual with dreams, goals, likes, dislikes, and aspirations.  I thought a lot about my life before L and how I had changed since she came along.

Two things became very clear to me:

1.  I was doing my daughter a major disservice by not being my true and authentic self.

2.  All those years I spent in college, being completely in love with my major (the second time around), buying fashionable clothes so I could look decent in the classrooms that I was observing (and eventually teaching in) was two sides coexisting to create one kick ass woman.

So, basically, I discovered at 30 years old that I am a kick ass woman and I've been blind to it this whole time.

Imagine the money I could have saved on therapy! :)

Since discovering that I am, in fact, a kick ass woman-I have made some plans for myself in regards to some more personal goals of mine that are separate from this blog. However, by making these plans and putting them into motion, I'm going to have to do a little pruning and re-planting around here.

With all of that being said, I did say at the beginning of the year that there would be changes coming to the blog.  After many hours of thinking and research, I have decided to re-brand A Plethora of Ponderings.  In the next few months, you will be seeing a new name, design, and focus here at APOP.

I have decided to open up a separate blog for just my writing.  So, for those of you who enjoyed reading things like a letter to a mother I didn't know or about the old man in the parking lot, be watching for that blog because it is coming very soon.

As for this space here, this will become a life and style blog.  This space will become more colorful and lively.  This space will be where I talk about being a mom, sharing recipes, crafts, and DIYs, and how I am finding my way back from the fashion catastrophe I was in with the yoga pants series. I will be letting my hair down, so to speak, with this new focus.

I am excited for the changes that are coming.  You will be learning a lot more about me as a thirty year old woman and how I handle life as me.

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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....

Today I decided to do a post for the 5 Little Grins Link Up that is going on right now over at Warrior Queen.

I have recently talked about how there are a few areas of my life that I would like to improve on.  I believe we, as human beings, are better focused when we are actively participating in life.  I am at my best when I am creating something.  I am the type that needs  craves an outlet to express myself.  If I am not able to do that in a timely manner, I start getting very crabby.

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Well, this has definitely been a great day around here!  Justina from Justina Who... nominated me for the Liebster Blog Award!  This is a really cool way for bloggers to meet other bloggers and give us "small time" bloggers a chance to flourish!  THANK YOU JUSTINA! 

Image from Stock Free Images

I read a lot of blogs.  I read a lot of blogs that run the list of blog niches out there-mommy blogs, craft blogs, beauty blogs, and life and style blogs.  There are a few that inspire me to keep doing this blogging thing and Rachel Martin at Finding Joy  is one of them.  Rachel recently wrote a blog post about celebrating ourselves as mothers and part of that post resonated with me very deeply.  

Every day, at some point, I feel like a crappy Mom.  Motherhood is hard.  This is, by far, the hardest thing I have ever done.  I lay awake nights worrying if I am a good mom or not.  I never laid awake at night and worried about how good of student I was or how good of an employee I was.  I got good grades, I got raises, I was well-liked.  Now, a lot of nights, I go to bed just feeling defeated and I lay awake and think entirely too much.    
I am me.  That is all I am.  I have changed and I have grown.  I can no longer be who I used to be.  I have been through things, seen things, heard things, and done things that have shaped me into who I am today.  If I am not "measuring up" to someone else's expectations, well, I can't help them.  I'm sorry.  I can't go back.  I won't go back.  I live my life in the now because it's all I know to be certain.

Welcome to week two of The Month of 30 Series!  If you are a first time visitor, go here to find out more about the series.  If you missed last week, you can catch up here!

For a very long time, I didn't really laugh.  I was a very serious person for various reasons.

It took me a long time (and much work from my husband-thanks babe) to get me to loosen up. Someone once said not to take life too seriously, you won't get out alive anyway.  It took me year's to wrap my head around that.  Life was going to go on, regardless of my state of mind, and I needed to make the best of it.  Once I got my head around that, it all started to get a little better.  The best parenting advice I ever got was not to lose my sense of humor, I was going to need it.  We are almost two years in to parenthood and, let me tell you, laughter has helped immensely.

This week I have broken up certain aspects of the past thirty years and categorized them.  There are still thirty things, but they are more like short blips, stories, etc. that I find humorous or that happened and I can laugh about it now.  Get comfortable and get ready to laugh.  (And go ahead and laugh at my expense-it's okay. Some of these are kind of embarrassing to admit, but they are funny nonetheless.)

Parenthood

1.  I cannot count how many times my child has pooped, peed, and thrown up on me.  One time in particular was when she was still "new" (probably not even six weeks old) and she had a poopy diaper.  I went to change her, of course.  Well, she wasn't done.  At all.  I will spare you the details. I got the short end of the deal on that one. :-/  She also ruined one of my shirts.

2.  When L gets mad, it's kind of hard to keep a straight face.  This seriously may be a parenting fail, but the kid is so darn cute when she does her "open mouth, silent cry" that I have to stifle my laughter when I comfort her. Sometimes I ask her in the middle of her open mouth, silent cry if she is mad.  It usually comes out like this:  "*big deep breath*  YEEEAAAAAAAAAA!"

3.  I forgot to put a diaper on L after I changed her once in the middle of the night.  I took the old one off, cleaned her up, buttoned her sleeper back up, and put her back to bed.  Yea, she woke up twenty minutes later and that resulted in new bedding, a new sleeper, and this time, a DIAPER.

4.  Taking a shower with a toddler present in the bathroom results in three cats, a toddler, and every dry surface in the bathroom to be soaked by the time the shower is done.

5.  My daughter likes to yank my shirt down in various stores.  I'm sure the loss prevention people love seeing me come in the store with my kid. *sigh*

6.  The doctor that delivered L wore a gold chain and smelled of Old Spice.  (Trust me, that wasn't my normal doctor.) I now have an aversion to Old Spice.  And gold chains.

L Antics

1.  L has an obsession with putting skirts, pants, and shorts on her head.  Sometimes she just wears them around her neck, other times she wears them like a hat.  Yes, I have pictures.

2.  When L gets really excited about something, her mouth makes the perfect O shape and she says, "Oooooo WHAT IS DAT!?"

3.  She could mosh with the best of them.  That's what her dancing looks like.

4.  She used to always fill her diaper on the way to Wal-Mart, forcing Mommy to make a beeline for the bathroom to clean her up and change her outfit.  And sometime's Mommy's shirt. :-/

5.  L is never allowed to have honey ever again.  She had croup at one point and I had read that if you give a teaspoon of honey to a toddler, that it would help coat their throat, thus suppressing the coughing so she could get some relief.  Well, I gave her a half a teaspoon and she bounced off the walls for three hours.  NEVER. AGAIN.

Driving

1.  The first day I got my driver's license, I ditched my car, and did $1500 worth of damage.  To only the underside of the car.  Making a left turn.  In a 1994 Mercury Topaz.  I was going to visit a boy that I liked.  Oh, did I mention I ditched it right in front of his driveway? :)

2.  I backed into a pole I didn't see.  A huge pole.  Like, I can't believe I missed that.  I gave myself whiplash.  Thankfully, L wasn't with me.  My car now has a huge black patch on my red bumper. :-/

3.  I totaled a car by simply deploying the air bags.  (I rear ended a car in front of me and it hit the sensors on the front of my car just right that it deployed the air bags.  That was the only thing wrong with it.  No major damage.  It was a 1999 Grand Am.....My wreck was in 2012....My parents bought the car for 1500 bucks.....deployed air bags=totaled car )

4.  Every time I get a new car, I do what I call the "Cup Holder Test".  If I can fit a 44 oz. fountain soda in the cup holder, it's a good car.  If I can't, I hate the car and I wish I never would have bought it.  (I have since learned to bring a 44 oz. fountain soda with me when I test drive.)

5.  The first new car I ever bought myself was a 2005 Chevy Cobalt.  It was red and her name was Mia.  I bought her because of the commercial they used to advertise it.  Yea, not one of my finer moments.

6.  I sing and dance in the car.  I don't try to hide it either.  My favorite place to do it is stuck in traffic.  If people notice, the crazier I get with it.

Household

1.  I am forbidden to use anything but a butter knife or steak knife in the house.  I slit my palm open several years ago on a butcher knife and scared the crap out of E.  He banned my usage of knives after that and I abide by that rule.

2.  I have to climb on top of our counters to get into our cabinets.  Yes, I have a step stool.  I am not allowed to use it if E isn't home.  I fall off of them when unsupervised.

3.  I killed a Peace Lily.  That we got when E's grandmother died.  Peace Lily's are almost indestructible plants.  I watered it too much. When I want to plant something or buy flower's for the front porch, E just says, "Peace Lily", and I abruptly shut up.

4.  We have what we call "Kitty NASCAR" every night at about 11pm.  Our three cats chase each other in a circle starting from the living room, into the kitchen, down the short hall, and back into the living room.  They do it for an hour.

5.  I can't work a recliner.  Seriously.  I get stuck in them and end up just climbing out of it without putting the leg rest down.  I can't operate the handle most of the time.

6.  I will bust out into random dance moves all over this house.  My favorite place is at the kitchen sink doing dishes.  I always have a song in my head.

7.  Our bed is too tall for me.  I pretty much have to launch myself into bed at night.  I won't let E buy me steps or a stool because I will feel like I am a dog.

Random

1.  I always sing, in my head, "Fat guuuy in a little coooaat" when I put on my coat.  I sing it just like Chris Farley, too.

2.  This video.

3.  This website.

4.  I have a friend that threatens to put on a cow suit and come dance outside my window when I am having a bad day.  That's a friend right there.

5.  There were a lot of nights I don't remember from my early 20s, but I do remember having a party at my apartment one night and a police helicopter flying over and spotlighting the woods behind the complex.  I got so freaked out (which was probably the stupid amounts of alcohol in my system) that I curled in a ball on the couch and was trying to think of what to tell my parents when I had to call them from jail.  Sidenote:  They weren't after me.  They were looking for a burglary suspect.  Also not one of my finer moments.

6.  When I was in college and a summer RA (Resident Assistant) I, and a couple other's, would sneak over the fence to the pool and go for late night swim's.  One time I misjudged my landing and I rolled my ankle.  We walked to the pool.  It was on the other side of campus. :-/  I also had to file an accident report with the university since I was on call. :-/ Sidenote:  My boss was pretty cool about it.  She thought the pain of a rolled ankle would be enough to make sure it never happened again.  It didn't.

Alright folks, there you have it!  I hope I at least made some of you laugh, smile, and/or reminisce about some of the things that have make you laugh over the years.  Stay tuned later this week when I share my teenage year's with you.

Until next time,