What I Love About Today

Top Ten Things I Love About Today

1. I had the chance to run in the quiet mist of the morning.
2. Cooler air is moving in on this new fall day.
3. It's officially fall! Even though I absolutely love the summer, fall brings so many things that summer just can't.
4. My goal skirt...fits in the waist finally, but my legs have refined into bulk muscle to a point where it's a bit too tight to walk in.
5. I'm 4 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight before my second son, and in the best darn shape of my life.
6. I've fallen in love with a couple of songs that I can't get out of my head. Thank you, Lady Antebellum.
7. I realized that I have made some of the most awesome friends via the internet.
8. I also realized that without internet (mainly through Facebook, thank you) I would have never reconnected with many people that I thought I had lost forever or had never truly found before.
9. I love the fact that I have a job that I'm darn good at, and I still have it, despite this rollercoaster economy.
10. I have a great family, and I love the fact that I've helped them be great!

The Muno Birthday Cake Test

This past weekend I crossed over from a bakery cake consumer to a home cake maker. The process was fairly easy with a minor hiccup (whipped frosting), all in an effort to make my youngest son a Muno birthday cake for his Yo Gabba Gabba birthday party. Here is the final outcome.It was a hit, only one piece left. Guess that triple chocolate fudge cake was hard to resist. :)

The First of Many New Blogs

I originally had this blog as a private "vent", say whatever kind of blog. Around my birthday a couple of weeks ago, I realized I needed change, and the best way to get change is to make it yourself. So, I have adopted a "positive" outlook. Not just an optimistic view, but an active mental participation on making myself happier. I read "Happiness From the Inside Out" by Robert Mack. I've applied some of the things he wrote about in his book. I've made decisions solely based on whether it will bring me happiness. Now, you may chuckle and ask, "how hard can it be to make yourself happy?" To someone who, over the years, has become a naturally critical and pessimistic person...it's a difficult challenge. Therefore, changes have been made and the changes are for the better. I exercise...daily, no excuses. I do have rest days, but they are not routine. I do hobbies and events for me and only me. I play soccer; I scrapbook; I read, I take long baths, I learn. Whatever gives me happiness. Yes, it may sounds as if I am becoming selfish, and in a way, I am. My boys and my husband see the new happiness in me and in turn, they are happy. Therefore, our happiness makes a large circle feeding off the happiness we make and the happiness we receive.

My Husband, the Blogger

My husband has officially joined the blogging community. He is actually quite good at it, especially since he's writing about his one true love, the only love I have to compete with, music. He's having so much fun, and I am glad for him, eveh though we now have to compete for "quiet computer time" a.k.a., blogging and computer research without kids in our laps or kids yelling or fighting right beside us as we are trying to be brilliant. Yet, we will manage. :)

In honor of him joining the throngs of the online writers, I dedicate this post solely to him and his blog. Subpar is a blog dedicated to the rare and often forgotten music that I have rarely heard or not prefer to hear. Read more below.

!!!Warning!!!
SUB-PAR: Not measuring up to traditional standards of performance, value, or production. Music available from this Blog, the U.S. Government does not warrant or assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed. The music on this blog is intended for review purposes and should not be seen as a substitute for the original, legal product. Support your Artist and Musicians by Purchasing Music if you like it.

So, have fun, you guys and remember support your music by purchasing, not pirating!

A Dreamer's Heartbreak

I always used to pride myself on the fact that I was a dreamer, living with expectations of things that could happen. I guess you could say I was actually an optimist at one time. But the life of this dreamer has led to nothing but heartbreak. No, I'm not talking about the romance kind of heartbreak. Heartbreak when you realize that your dreams have just put your expectations of life way too high. Heartbreak that you realize that you're not the person who can conquer the world, or the city or hell, even some days your own home. Heartbreak when you realize that plans are made to be broken, expecting leads to disappointment, and dreams are just something to keep your mind entertained when you're not busy with something else. Heartbreak when you realize that the adult version of you is nothing like the person you know you should be, but you don't know how you got there or what to do to change. Heartbreak when the fun, creative, smiling woman that you once were is now hidden away in some shell that functions through your everyday life. Heartbreak is knowing that you have to pretend your happiness so the significant people in your life will stay, when all you want to do is just "be".

I keep being told "don't give up", "just hang on", etc., etc. When are people going to realize I am exhausted, and the fingernails I've been hanging on by are ready to break. I've had one dream come true in the last 7.5 years. If the fact that dream wasn't my youngest son, I'd be highly disappointed. Yet, my boys are my reasons. They are the reasons I endure this heartbreak, disappointment, anger, and loneliness. They are the reasons I try somehow to make things better everyday for them. They are the reasons I hide my tears in the streams of the shower, in the pockets of my pillows, and in the words I never speak.

Blogger Moms in DFW Can Test Drive a Chevy Traverse

All blogger moms in the DFW Area, take notice! Go to www.mommymadnessdfw.com and register to be one of five moms to test drive a Chevy Traverse for 8 weeks! How cool is that?!? You also get a family pack for a day at Six Flags and a massage for you from Massage Envy. Go check it out!

Recycling is a Family Passion.

For almost this entire school year, my 8 year old son, Taylor, has been learning the other set of the Three R's...Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. We have contributed to his class's recycling projects wholeheartedly. From donating bags of recyclable goods to helping him make posters, we have passionately helped him and his class learn more about recycling. Taylor now understands why I have always tried to recycle as much as I can. Sorting the recycling is something he and I now bond over, and the treks to the recycling sites are "our" adventures. Even our volunteering together usually incorporates recycling or an environmental theme!

Recycling is a passion for our whole family. I've been recycling ever since I moved into my first place. My friends then used to laugh at me and call me "hippie". LOL. My friends now ask me for recycling and environmental advice. I'm putting a couple of links that I use all the time to find recycling information.

http://earth911.com/
http://www.obviously.com/recycle
http://www.freecycle.org/

The EPA and the National Institute of Environmental Health Services also have fun sites for kids to learn more about recycling.
http://www.epa.gov/recyclecity
http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/recycle.htm

Recycle something with your kids today! Never know how passionate they can get about it!