a saturday morning giggle

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no more arguing with stupid

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I do not know what is wrong with people these days but I seem to have to deal with more and more stupid people on a daily basis.

I know calling them "stupid" is super ignorant of me but I do not know how else to label these people who say and do things that are so ridiculous and not smart so I just use the general term of stupid.

They are everywhere. The guy that fingers me because I don't stop in the middle of a round about to let him in. Stupid.

The person at work who makes selfish decisions that have nothing to do with anything and ultimately wastes a ton of time. My time. Stupid.

The list could go on and on. I deal with a ton of stupid people during the week at random but I also have stupid people in my day to day life at work, in my circle of friends and in my family. It doesn't necessarily mean I care for them any less bit their words and actions tend to be stupid based on a regular basis.

And now, I'm putting my foot down. If you want to live your life a certain way, operate your business a certain way, parent a certain way, etc., that is 100% on you. I know that has always been the case but no more helping or giving advice - my breath has been wasted too many times.

It is time to concentrate on the smart people in my life and although I will never throw away any of the stupids - they are just now officially on the back burner. You don't care? Great - neither do I.

No more arguing with stupid (or hypocrites or people who change their mind as quickly and as frequently as they change their underwear) - such a waste of time. It might have taken me forever to have this Oprah AHA moment but it is here to stay and I feel lighter already.

the number one lesson i want to teach my daughter

Be secure. I am 34 years old and have just come to the conclusion that a lot of the trials, troubles and tribulations I have experienced in my short lifetime are due to me being insecure.

I see it everywhere I look - men, women, close friends, family members - insecurity is not prejudice. It attacks all walks of life and stumps people's growth potential as a human being.

I want our little girl to know that she most definitely is special. That she does not need to lower her standards for everyone. That her power to say yes or no is hers alone and not up for anyone else to dictate. That she is ALWAYS beautiful - inside and out. I want her to know that she doesn't have to be the best and that doing her best is what counts. That winning isn't everything because the experience - her experience - is what counts and matters. That the feeling of jealousy is evil and having her own thoughts, plans and individuality will make her own person and that is so important in life. She is original and should be proud of that. Always. Be a leader, never a follower my dear - you are going to go places!

I just want her to know that she is loved, she has the power to love herself, she is a brave female and if she does her best, no one can fault her for that.

I want her life to be easier than mine. Throughout my 20's (especially) I made my life much harder than it needs to be. Today life is easy because I focus on what's important, what matters. I want to teach her these skills early so she can enjoy the peace of mind I'm starting to enjoy - without waiting until her 30's to enjoy it.

Here's to you beautiful baby girl ... Cheers to a life of security, happiness, originality, strength, health and gratitude. I already know you will be your best and you are already loved. Can't wait to meet you!

today's inspiration

It is always a good day when you are alive and healthy. I must remember this when the pregnancy is taking it's toll on my system.

I really want to teach our little girl that every day is for living. If you want to wear your Easter Sunday dress on a Tuesday just because you want to feel pretty - go for it! I love celebrating holidays and special occasions but everyday can be a reason to celebrate too!

Another life lesson that needs to be passed on. Basically - treat others the way you would like to be treated and we will all get along just fine :)

I can't wait to spend time alone with our baby girl exploring her fingers and toes - making each and every moment count.

This would be a gorgeous tattoo ... note to file.

And last but not least, this photo of my nephew, Chance, and my niece, Sidney, melts my heart and inspires me to enjoy the little things in life - and to smile through it all!

five ways to follow through on your goals

If you are anything like me, to do lists and goal lists tend to help me run my life. I live for them and feel a great deal of satisfaction if I cross something off my list or accomplish a goal. I am always collecting tips and ideas on how to better manage my time and basically, get S*&% done! Found the following list of Five Ways to Follow Through on Your Goals and thought I would share it - a great reminder and a pretty list to hang on your mirror or put anywhere you collect your inspiration that helps you stay on track. Enjoy friends!

a rare post about fashion

A fashionista I am not. I do find myself daydreaming quite regularly about all the stylish clothes and outfits I would love to wear but clothing is not a huge priority for me. Shopping for clothes is usually the last thing on my to do list and the last thing I would like to spend money on. Yes - I am a girl but it never has been my thing. 

I dream about winning the lottery so that a) I can hire someone to clean my house and b) I can hire a doppelganger to buy clothes for me. You see, I don't even want a personal shopper or a stylist, I want a twin who will put together awesome outfits for me each morning so I don't have to think. Most days, I am just happy that I don't leave the house naked. 

I do keep a Fashion Fantasies board on Pinterest where I pin any cute outfits I see thinking that one day I will take those photos into a store and duplicate them. Um no, that has not happened yet. 

I came across this "Choosing Necklaces for Necklines" image on someone's Facebook page and immediately stole it. I cannot tell you how many necklaces I have but when I pair them with a certain top that I think will look cute, I am often wrong. It looks good in my head but it doesn't always translate onto my body.

So for all you non-fashionista ladies out there, feel free to steal this cheat sheet for your own personal use. Hopefully it will help you take that basic black sweater (that all of us people who do not care about trends, have multiples of in our closets) and dress it up a little bit. Trust me, if you are anything like I am, a little bit of help goes a long way! Have fun friends! xo

a recent read

I am a HUGE fan of Jen Lancaster's writing. She is witty, humourous, entertaining and brilliant. I've read all of her books so far and just finished Here I Go Again. It did not disappoint.

Here is the Amazon.ca Description
Twenty years after ruling the halls of her suburban Chicago high school, Lissy Ryder doesn’t understand why her glory days ended. Back then, she was worshipped...beloved...feared. Present day, not so much. She’s been pink-slipped from her high-paying job, dumped by her husband and kicked out of her condo. Now, at thirty-seven, she’s struggling to start a business out of her parents’ garage and sleeping under the hair-band posters in her old bedroom. 

Lissy finally realizes karma is the only bitch bigger than she was. Her present is miserable because of her past. But it’s not like she can go back in time and change who she was...or can she?

I highly recommend this for anyone who is looking for a fun, girly, easy summer read!

baby brain

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Found this article and realized that I am not alone (thank goodness)! Here are just a few things I have accomplished so far:

• Forgot to take my contacts out before I went to bed. For some odd reason I reversed my morning and evening bathroom routines and when I woke up in the morning, I realized that I had done everything backwards and still had my contacts in. Duh.
• I leave things in random places. I left my face cloth in my craft room closet one morning. I don't even know what I was doing there in the first place - ha ha. 
• I thought I threw my earrings in the garbage but turns out I just moved them to a random place for no good reason. So relieved when I found them.

I am sure I will have more and more "experiences" like the above in the second half of my pregnancy. What's the craziest thing you did when you were pregnant?

we found out

I know everyone's opinions are all over the map in regards to finding out the sex of your baby before the deliver but my husband and I were so excited, we wanted to find out for our first baby. We have already decided we won't find out if we have more children but for this one, we wanted to know.

I am a strong believer that the moment is special - no matter when, where or how you find out, and the moment the doctor told me what we were having in her office yesterday, my whole world changed. It was happiness, magic and love all rolled into one warm all-over-my-body feeling. I can't explain it really, it was just ... perfect.

what i've learned since i started telling people i'm pregnant

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People kind of suck, are super selfish and incredibly judgmental. Not everyone, of course, but some of the reactions and comments I received so far have really surprised me.

"You HAVE to wait until the baby is born to find out the sex."
Um ... why? This is not your decision and although I appreciate hearing your stories and advice, I can make up my own mind thank you very much, and we will do what is best for our family.

"You are hungry all the time? Why? Is something wrong with you?"
Um ... what? I'm pregnant. I'm hungry and therefore I eat as much healthy food as I want to, or makes me feel good. This is a normal side effect of pregnancy and the fact that someone doesn't realize that, is just plain dumb.

"Sorry, but I hope it's a girl."
Okay. Why are you sorry? I can't magically make a boy or a girl. It isn't a decision. Are you going to be upset if it's a boy? Are you going to apologize if it's a boy? Just plain weird people!

"Don't worry, you're going to have plenty more pregnant bitchy moments to come."
Wow. Thanks for that. Or maybe you are just extra special annoying today and I'm just now deciding to let you know!

"Yeah - I know exactly how you feel."
Really? Do you? You know exactly how I feel inside my body? Ignorance is not bliss people - it's stupidity.

Came across this article and realized I'm not the only pregnant woman who has had to deal with stupid people :)

What's the stupidest thing you heard when you told people you were pregnant?

nursery planning

At first I thought our nursery would just be an overall "animal" theme but when we found out we were pregnant, my husband so heck to the no on that idea and I was secretly thrilled. I have been collecting stuff over the years - things I had as a kid, things I had when I lived on my own but didn't really fit into my adult life, things that others had given me, etc. and all of them related to animals. I started a bin and just went with it. But now - I want to start fresh. A new idea, a new theme, a new project to get excited about :) I have no clue when we will actually work on the nursery, and I know that the furniture will be white (we have some already) but here are a few Pinterest nursery design boards that have caught my eye recently:

Then I was really leaning toward a Garden Gnome themed nursery:

from etsy seller TinyRed

from etsy seller StudioWallStickers

from etsy seller TheWishingElephant

And now this is my new favourite inspiration. I know, I know - at least I have some time to figure it out :) What's your favourite nursery theme?

So many adorable choices! But for now, my main mommy-to-be-mission is to find a pair of jeans that fit! Happy day friends! xo

i am pregnant

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Say what now? I am still in shock and not quite sure what to do with myself. When my doctor confirmed the pregnancy I stared blankly at her and asked, "Now what?" She asked if I had any questions and I said, "A million but first I think I might crap my pants." Yep - classy :)

Timeline:

• Tuesday, February 12, 2013
• Previously I had made a non-emergency doctor's appointment for this day just to check in because I have been so sick this cold and flu season. I woke up that morning and noticed that my armpits were really sore (which is part of the reason for going into the doctor in the first place). I decided to take a home pregnancy test (really - just for s&*^%s and giggles) and it said I was PREGNANT. Shocked, I tried to take another one but couldn't pee because I had just gone to the bathroom. I waited and took the test at work ... 2 tests said I was PREGNANT. Ironically - my boss came into work that morning and told us that her daughter (same age as me) is pregnant for the second time. I am so thrilled for their family. My boss is an amazing grandmother :) Went to my appointment and told the nurse that I thought I was pregnant and that my armpits weren't the problem - I just had really sore breasts. Surprise, surprise - not sure how I didn't figure it all out sooner! She took a urine sample and I waited and then had to explain the whole thing over to the doc again. And she confirmed it - I'm PREGNANT. When I got back to the office I was still shocked. It felt so surreal. I had to wait the rest of the day before heading home and I came up with a special way to tell my hubby. I sat and waited for him to get home (it was a LONG day) and when he finally put 2 and 2 together, his reaction was priceless. I just love him so much. After all that waiting, there was no way I was cooking so we went to our regular celebration spot - good old White Spot - for dinner and talked about what might be. It was an exhausting, frightening, stressful, amazing, beautiful day.

• Wednesday, March 6, 2013
• Chad and I both had the day off because we had our very first ultrasound. I was excited and nervous at the same time. I had a bath in the morning and felt horrible so I watched an episode of "Mad Men" before Chad got cranky and wanted to leave early because he wanted to return something at Country Lumber. I did what they told me and peed an hour and a half before the appointment and drank a large amount of water. We were at the appointment early and when they finally called my name, then told Chad to wait in the waiting room. I waited for a tech to come get me and she said she was going to do some looking first and then she would call Chad in so we could see the heartbeat together. It didn't sound good or promising from the start because she was super quiet and in total concentration. She thought she found a heartbeat but couldn't be sure so she said she had to do another type of ultrasound (where a wand is inserted ... um ... where the sun don't shine) and she could tell me close to the day of my due date. Okay. Fine. I went to the bathroom (this test needed to be done on an empty bladder) and then went and got Chad. Of course he made jokes when I was getting changed and when the procedure started. A few minutes later we saw the blueberry with the rapid heartbeat on the screen and was told that I am 7 weeks and due October 24th, 2013. I thought I would feel happy, relieved, motherly, focused, ecstatic ... something, ANYTHING positive but I felt sad. ONLY 7 WEEKS - 4 or 5 more weeks until the "safe zone" and 4 or 5 more WEEKS of feeling like absolute crap. A wave of depression hit me as we walked to the truck. How was I going to survive my first trimester?

• Friday, April 12, 2013 (Also my Mom's 62nd Birthday!)
• Had a touch of the flu on top of everything and that turned 3 or 4 days of my life into a disaster. Had a pre-set doctor's appointment for my pregnancy physical so hubby drove me and I suffered through it. Bright side - I heard our baby's heart beat! Loud, clear, powerful, fast and - most importantly - happy. Um yeah - so this is really happening :)

• Thursday, June 6, 2013
• We went to our 20 week ultrasound and the baby is 100% healthy and on target for all measurements, etc. So happy. Husband got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time so it was all perfect and magical. When we got home the baby was moving like crazy - the first time I really noticed it. I guess he or she was annoyed with the pressure from the ultrasound wand for about half an hour :)

So I'm 20 weeks, morning sickness is over but I'm still feeling sick daily. Heartburn runs my life these days but we find out the sex on Monday. Woohoo - cannot wait!

sold!

I am very happy to report that we sold our very first item off of Craigslist last night and got the asking price - yay us! Ha ha - I didn't realize how easy it was and I even got a super nice email from the buyer this morning. You hear horror stories all the time about things going wrong with online sites but we had a great experience. I know I will be looking around the house all weekend for other goodies to sell ... but in the meantime, I am off to research the new camera I am going to buy! Happy Friday friends!

heaven is here

As mentioned in a few previous posts, I follow Stephanie Nielson's blog, Nie Nie Dialogues, and I love how inspiring her life is and I adore the stories about her family so it was a no brainer for me to read her memoir, Heaven Is Here.

The memoir follows her personal journey from falling in love with Mr. Nielson to her first 3 pregnancies and then the story of her tragic plane crash and her recovery from her burn injuries. 

The book was so easy to read, I could not put it down. Stephanie is a practicing Mormon and even though my thoughts on God and religion are kind of up in the air at this moment, I could not help but respect her undying faith and devotion to her God and her religion.

When I was in grade 1, we lived next door to a prominent family in our community. They were devout Christians and the father was a well known business man. They had 3 children - all girls - and one of the daughters was my age, one was my brother's age (5 years older than me) and the oldest was in a wheelchair (developmental challenges). I spent countless days swimming in their pool, playing with the daughter who was my age (and in my Kindergarten, grade 1 and grade 2 classes). Their house was covered with religious art and decor - bibles littered every room. Out of the blue, we got a notice that he was in jail for assaulting the oldest daughter (in the wheelchair). There was a big trial and he went to prison but he was able to get out after only a few years due to good behaviour so the mother took the daughters into hiding. We ran into them before they completely changed their lives and their mother told us that it was their faith and belief in God that allowed them to move on with their lives. That God had a purpose and a plan for each of them and would never give them more in their lives than they could handle.

To this day I think about this family often. I was not brought up in a religious home (my mother is an antagonist) but my parents let me explore whatever religion or church I wanted. Nothing ever really stuck with me but I was always in awe of those who were deeply religious and held on to their beliefs so tightly that it got them through the dark times. I admire it and almost feel a twinge of jealously for those who have that in their lives.

THAT is exactly what Stephanie Nielson has - her faith is stronger than anything else in her life and it has gotten her through so much pain and suffering. It has allowed her to thrive and even go on to have another beautiful baby (Charlotte) after a year of recovering from the plane crash. Her life will never be the same and she has come to terms with that. She is a survivor, a thriver and a believer.

If you are looking for a little inspiration in your life, I highly suggest Stephanie's book and blog. No matter what you believe, her family will put a smile on your face and life your spirits when you are having a not-so-great day. Enjoy friends! xo