New Changes, New Goals

There have been a number of barriers to my continuing to blog recently, but it's all for the best. About a year ago, my blog host's site crashed and I decided around the same time that I no longer had the time (or the energy) to post enough to warrant paying for a hosting service. Since I basically just blog for myself and the only people that happen to see it are friends and family that I direct there, I went back to the free blog.

That being said, I'll try to make it a little more frequently than once or twice a year. :) It also works out timing wise that my Day Zero goal list was deleted, but there have been so many changes in my life over the past few months that my goals have completely changed anyway. In the past 4 months we started looking for a new house, bought and moved into a new house, sold our old house, bought a new car, and found out that I'm pregnant with our second boy-due right around Halloween. If all of that didn't change virtually everything on my original Day Zero list, I'm not sure what would.

So, time for another one. It's been one of my favorite parts of keeping up with my blog and since I'm now the only one who reads it, that's what I'll do.

100 Gifts For The Women In Your Life

One of my favorite parts of Christmas shopping is picking up the odds and ends that go into a stocking or finding that great gift that you know someone is wanting. This list might just contain a few of my all time favorites too. Here is a list of 100+ items that the women in your life might just love.

1. Not Soap Radio The Phoenix
2. Young House Love Book
3. Vinyl Monogrammed Wine Glass
4. Hunter Boots
5. Mongrammed Duck Boots
6. DSLR Camera Bag
7. Camera Lens Coffee Mug
8. Fitbit
9. A Fitbit bracelet for every day
10. Kindle Fire
11. Corksickle (or beersickle)
12. Barefoot spritzer cans
13. Kendra Scott Elisa Earrings
14. Tree Hut Coconut Lime Body Scrub
15. Bath and Body Works Wallflowers
16. Himalayan Salt Lamps
17. Address Stamp
18. Photo Canvas Art
19. Feetures Socks
20. SD card for camera
21. Breast Cancer Lokai bracelet
22. Benefit Benetint Lip and Cheek Stain
23. Kitchen Aid Artisan Stand Mixer
24. Nessie Ladle
25. Anchor Hocking Glass Jars
26. Washi Tape
27. Clarisonic Face Brush
28. Patagonia Pullover Toasted White
29. Personalized Christmas Ornament
30. Tommy Girl by Tommy Hilfiger
31. OPI Not Really A Waitress Nail Polish
32. Planetarium
33. Frederik Fekkai Glossing Crème
34. Chuck Taylor Sneakers
35. LL Bean tote
36. Moon Phases T-shirt
37. Demeter Cucumber Fragrance
38. Open Knit Cardigan
39. Tennis and Wine Tshirt
40. Philosophy Miracle Worker
41. Nielsen Massey Vanilla
42. Dooney & Bourke Handbag
43. Digital Camera
44. Classic Boatneck Striped T-shirt
45. Kate Spade Bunny Slippers
46. Amazon Echo Dot
47. Dove Dry Shampoo
48. Hair Tie Bracelet
49. Faux Fur Throw
50. Dragonfly Inn Tshirt
51. Le Creuset Dutch Oven
52. Lodge Cast Iron Skillet
53. Nike Pro Shorts
54. Cooling Wine Glasses
55. Diamonds Will Do
56. Green Grass Candle
57. Velvet Sequin Legging
58. Winter White Cashmere Sweater
59. Plaid Leather Gloves
60. Scattergories
61. Lush Bath Bombs
62. Orbit Key Finder
63. Roomba Vacuum
64. Tennis Tote
65. Vitamin E Serum
66. Ipod Nano
67. Silhouette Ornament
68. Thirty One Tote
69. Macaron Assortment
70. Heart of Gold Bangle
71. Online Quilting Class
72. Namas-Tea Mug
73. Bee There In A Minute Watch
74. Le Petit Prince Socks
75. Dapper Foxes Rain Boots
76. Nebula Umbrella
77. Toms Del Rey Shoes
78. Scratch-off Map
79. Scrabble Magnet Set
80. Company Store Comforter
81. Things Organized Neatly
82. Granite Top Kitchen Island
83. Marble Luggage
84. Christmas Sweater
85. Pioneer Woman Traveling Vines Bowls
86. Pioneer Woman Basset Hound Charlie Treat Jar
87. Corgi Socks
88. Bandolino Zippered Booties
89. Monogrammed Linen Pillow
90. Happy Everything Sweater
91. Color The Earth
92. Magnetic Necklace Clasp
93. Keysocks No Show Socks
94. Matchy Matchy Bra Straps
95. Lavender Tights
96. Chopin Cutting Board
97. Marble Stud Earrings
98. Tulle Midi Skirt
99. Little Mermaid Cup
100. Monogrammed Plaid Gloves

Things I Love Thursday...8/11/16

* Nap times- Not my nap time, but my son's nap time. Over the past decade or so of reading various blogs, I've noticed a trend of mom bloggers mentioning that they get a lot of their blogging and answering emails done during nap time. Now that I'm in that same boat myself, it's not that nap time is a good time to do these things-it's literally the only chance you get to sit down with it quiet. :) I'm loving a quiet few minutes this afternoon after a hectic day yesterday-we both needed some time to rest and relax.

* Jello Sugar Free Pudding Cups- I've got a massive sweet tooth and if I can replace one thing in my usual diet that's not full of sugar, I'm definitely making a difference. Because of my aforementioned son, I have a hard time sitting down and having a healthy breakfast and lunch (don't we all, regardless of our child situation). I had been grabbing all kinds of snacks, mostly unhealthy and was noticing the weight packing on quickly. Of course, these pudding cups aren't going to make you lose weight, but they're yummy and not packed with sugar and fat so I'm calling it a small win. Plus, they always seem to be on sale which is a nice bonus.

* Swagbucks-I try not to spread myself to thin when it comes to online earning. While it's fun to earn money for doing stuff you already do, if you earn 30 cents here and there, it never really amounts to anything. I've been a member of Swagbucks for a number of years and I use several different options that they offer to earn gift cards. I try to keep it simple-I always cash out for Amazon gift cards. I earn by buying items from partner sites (like Target, Amazon, etc), doing surveys, or using coupons. Since I've made it part of my routine, I'm reaping the rewards like crazy. I'm trying to hold on to all of my online earnings from now until December to help with Christmas shopping, so I can't wait to see how much I will have earned by then!

What are you loving today?

Things I Love Thursday..8/4/16

While every week is fairly easy to come up with a number of things that I love, this week it seems it's even easier. It feels like a holiday week and it's hard to remember that it's really only a holiday for my husband and I. That being said, we've got so many great things going and a great many things to be happy about.

* Our 3rd wedding anniversary-we celebrated our third wedding anniversary yesterday. It doesn't seem like 3 years already and although that's not all that long, we've had some fantastic memories in those 3 years. We had a low-key celebration since we now have a baby and babies necessitate either lots of planning or a low-key night. We opted for the latter and had steaks on the grill, boston creme cake (a first for me), and a celebratory drink. What a fun, quiet celebration.

* Seeing my husband play with our son. It's such an amazing joy seeing my husband and making up voices for stuffed animals and playing with our son.  Seeing them play wrestle on the floor only shows what fun things are to come since our son is only six months old. Oh the love!

Things I Love Thursday...7/28/16

*First, one of the things that I'm most excited about this week is the simplicity of writing this post. Several months ago, I went to check on my self-hosted blog through godaddy only to find that not only had the blog been completed deleted by no fault of my own, but the saved file that I had made of all my blog posts for the past several years was corrupted. You can imagine my less than favorable reaction, but I'm back on blogger where it's free and where it's easier to write. In a way it feels like starting over, but since so much has changed since I first started this blog, now is as good of a time as any for a fresh start.

*My Day Zero list-I've been trying to come up with 101 things for a few weeks now and I've finally had the time to sit down and complete that list. The Day Zero list is comprised of 101 things you want to complete in 1001 days. I'm now onto my third installment of the Day Zero list and so much has changed since I started the first one-I met and married my husband, we bought a house, and now have our first child (at the time of writing this, M is closing in on 6 months old). I love having a list of goals to work towards and keep me looking for the positive and things I can achieve.

* Our son-Of course since he's a little less than 6 months old, he's constantly growing and doing something amazing. Beyond all that though, we are lucky to have our first kid just be a genuinely happy kid. He has meltdowns of course, but for the most part, he's a smiling, happy baby. I'm genuinely thankful since I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be equipped to handle a less happy baby.

What are you loving today?