Oh, the time has come. . .

So those who know me, know that I loved to hate my '05 Saturn Ion.

WELL, I'm happy to say that we've moved on up, in a FABULOUS way instead of dumping more and more in a POS car :)

The other day, we picked up a 2011 Dodge Charger, and I couldn't be happier with that choice!

Not only are we riding in style now, but this car so far is averaging way better gas mileage than my Saturn ever did! (doesn't hurt that the kids all love it as well).

My 'NINJA'

This family has a weird obsession with infomercials ;) For months on end, I have been hearing about how cool the Ninja blender is, and how badly we need one.

Well, folks, we finally caved in this weekend, and bought the 'Ninja', and I have to admit, it is the coolest blender I've ever used. Anything that puts this big of a smile on Tim's face is awesome in my eyes!!!!! I'm super excited to see what this bad boy (the ninja, not Tim) can do in the kitchen!!!!!!

Nerd Herd + Three = Entertaining Evening

Saturday afternoon/night, in addition to our regular nerds, we had two more teenage boys and another tween (so SEVEN kids altogether). Lets just say, I learned a LOT that night, about what goes on in the minds of teenage boys....

The entire herd spent the afternoon outside, since it was absolutely gorgeous out, until dark, and that's when things got interesting in my eyes.

I never knew what teenage boys did at sleepovers, and now I do (at least these nerds!)....

When I went downstairs to swap the laundry, what I walked into made me seriously Laugh my A$$ off!!!!! Who would have thought that when you put three 13 year old, and two 10 year old boys in a ginormous basement full of space, that you would find them having a Cartwheel contest?!?!??! Tim and I literally stood there laughing for like a half hour at the crazy amount of fun, and horrible cartwheels, heel kicks, and somersaults that these boys were doing. I haven't laughed that hard in god knows how long.

Picture of the day, March 26, 2012

Just another lazy Sunday at home :-) Couldn't resist taking a pic of these two

JJ ~ Dog, or Toddler.......

I told Tim before, that I always end up with the weirdest animals, and last night it became clear that JJ is no exception!

When we went to bed last night, JJ was shut in our room with us, just like every other night since we got him. Just like every other night, I woke up around 3 a.m., but this time something was off. I realized that the dog was not in our bed, and our bedroom door was wide open!!!!

WTF…… When this clicked in my head, I started looking everywhere in the house for him. I thought that he might have gone to lay with Mackenzie in her room, but nope…… After searching the whole house quietly, not wanting to wake Kenzie or Tim up, I heard some crying coming from downstairs. When I went back to the basement, all of the doors were still closed, but I couldn't find him anywhere…..

….. WELL…. Somehow, the silly animal got himself locked in the bathroom. Man, was he happy to see me. After I got him out, he came with me back upstairs, and went right back to sleep. When it was time to wake up at 5:30, I was completely sandwiched between the dog and man sleeping on either sides of me.

I think we need a different door knob on our bedroom, so he can't open the door(s) anymore at night and explore to prevent him from locking himself in another undisclosed location!

~~~SIGH~~~

A Year Already!??!

I just realized that in less than a month, we will have been together for a year already! This year has been by far, the best year of my life. It's so hard to believe that it's only (and already) been a year with the best man I could have ever dreamed of finding. Sometimes, it honestly feels like I have known him forever, yet when you stop and look at things, we've barely begun to scratch the surface with each other. I don't know and don't care if that is a good or bad thing, all I know is that I'm going to do everything in my power to keep it that way.

When I met Tim yes, I appreciated what I had in life, but now I see things totally different, and I have a completely altered view on every little thing in my life. Instead of going out with the girls when I had a night here and there to go drink, I would much rather stay home with Tim and do absolutely nothing. Yeah, I tell myself "we need to go OUT" but then when we actually do go out to the bar or something, I realize how over-rated it is, and how I'd much rather be at home. Before I met him, yes I would cook, but I didn't "enjoy" it like I do now, or strive to do better with every meal I cook like I have since we met. I could go on and on with the things that have cliqued in me within the past year, but who wants to read all that mumbling!?!

I never thought that I would be able to find someone that didn't drive me nuts, but oh my goodness, am I glad that I got lucky, and found him. We don't have a ton in common, but we offset each other perfectly in my eyes, which I think is even better.

Every day, I look forward to what is going to come my way, and I'm super excited to grow with him and our family over the upcoming years! I’m not ashamed to let anyone and everyone who will listen how truly happy I am. Even if I'm just talking to myself, I love saying it, because FINALLY, it's true :)

Until next time…..

Our New Addition!

So, Friday afternoon, we decided to take a jaunt over to the humane society to see if they had any dogs that fit what we thought we wanted.

Needless to say, we found exactly what we were looking for in JJ. He's right around 1 year old, and the sweetest little dude :) So far, he seems to be a very well behaved dog, and I'm excited to see how he blends into the family. Mackenzie found out we bought the dog yesterday (so a couple days after we got him, since she hadn't been home all weekend) when we picked her up. Since she's always wanted a dog, but never had one, she's in little girl heaven right about now!

Picture of the day, March 19, 2012

Happy St. Patrick's Day :)

Picture of the day March 15, 2012

All I can say is I love these girls!

New 'do, New You?!

So yesterday, while sitting at the office, I realized how much my hair was driving me bonkers! I started looking for new cute styles, and decided to revert back to the trusty bob! I called the salon and set up an appointment for that evening, because I know me, and know that if I didn't go in yesterday, I would definitely chicken out, and keep "trying" to grow it out more.

Even though I had to use a stylist that I haven't used before (since mine was completely booked for the week), I still toughed it out. I almost cried when I saw all the hair on the ground afterward, and it may take a while to grow on me, but I'm hoping that I'll love it as much as everyone else seems to!

Food, Food, and MORE FOOOD!!!!

I don't know if everyone feels this way, but there is no better feeling than when your family LOVES what they eat, especially when you're the one that's making it! I love making my family happy, and it makes me happy when they let me know they appreciate what I do for them (which is quite often), makes everything worthwhile!

Lately, I've been on the prowl for new, fun recipes to cook, and have found one that the ENTIRE herd loved. When you're family consists of four kids, and two adults, it is RARE (at least this far, for me), that EVERYONE loves what you cook, so this is a MUST SHARE!

I've made Calzones twice now, altering the recipe with ingredients that have been a hit in my homemade pizza rolls, and both times, the entire family tells me how gooooooood they are!!!!!

The other night, when I was making dinner, one of the kids came up to me and told me he wanted the "inside out pizza" and how much he likes them. This is one of the best feelings EvEr!

You Make Me Want to...........

To be frank, in the past, I have generally been the type of person that gets sick of people super fast, or just nitpicks to find something about them that completely turns me off, and then I run away and never look back. I was totally prepared for this to happen between Tim and I, but decided that this time, I was going to take things one day at a time, and enjoy each and every moment when it was happening.

Never have I met someone that I get along with, and agree on 90% of things with. And then, I met Tim. From day one, things have been effortless, bettween us. When it became clear to me that this relationship was more than anything I'd ever been a part of before, it made me want to be a better person, all around.

Don't get me wrong, before meeting him, I would cook and clean (not to mention all my other mommy duties), but nowhere near to the extent that I do now, and I did NOT enjoy it most of the time. I just thought of it as something that wouldn't get done if I didn't do it myself. NOW, however, I am in my happy place when I'm cooking, baking, or cleaning the house!!!! I absolutely love doing these things for my family, and I know how much it's appreciated (most of the time).

There are times, however, that I'll admit that I feel the opposite. Like when a kid comes up to me, and tells me I'm like a house-maid because I'm always cleaning something. I don't want them to see me like this at all, but I also don't want them to live in a messy house!!!!! I get over those moments VERY fast! It's so hard to stay mad when I know how much GOOOOOD I have in my life, and a man who goes out of his way when he notices me getting "pissy" to either make me feel dumb for over-reacting, or makes me pretty much fall to the floor laughing so hard at something stupid!

Until next time.......

Our first "Date"

New relationships have always been a little awkward in my eyes, but with Tim and me, it's been nothing but the opposite since the beginning (minus a few awkward moments over the past year).

The night we met, he had told me that he wanted to show me what a real first date should be!! Sure enough, a couple weeks after we met, he took me on my favorite "first" date that I had (or hopefully will) ever been on.

His venue of choice was an awesome place in Uptown called Chino Latinos. If you've never been there, I would highly recommend it. It's street food from all over, and absolutely DELICIOUS! The atmosphere at Chinos makes it very hard to have awkward silence, and is very inviting!

A side plus, who isn't absolutely stoked to buy a cute new dress (and have a reason to actually wear it)!?!

I've already said it once, but ever since day one, things between us have been absolutely effortless, and being with him feels so right all the way down to my toes. Throughout the evening, there was never odd silence, it was quite the opposite in fact. We talked in depth about our children, jobs, hobbies, and much much more!

Oh, the changes......

Our story started almost exactly a year ago already <3 <3 <3 <3

One of my girlfriends had roped me into going on a date with someone we met at a bar, and let me just say, it was the WORST first date, EVER, but the one of the best days of my life!

To start with, this guy brought me to a hole-in-the-wall dive bar at three o'clock on a Saturday afternoon (well, I drove myself, and he rode his bicycle there...) to play bar bingo and eat some food. Over numerous cocktails, he proceeded to tell me how he was banned from the bar by his house for life, and couldn't remember what he did to provoke that. Not the kind of thing that you want to hear on a first date, especially when you're a single mom (just ScReAmS bad role-model, if you ask me)...

By this point, I decided I was going to milk the date, and get myself a good (FREE) buzz on! Later that night, I saw someone walk in, and was instantly attracted! Turned out this man that just walked into my life went to high school with the guy I was on a "date" with.

He sat with us and started chatting, and we sort of cliqued right away! Shortly after we started chatting, I ran out of cigarettes (I know, you don't need to say anything), and I asked this mystery man if he could drive me to the gas station since I was in no shape to drive there myself. We exchanged numbers, and went back to the bar.

When we got back, his buddy had arrived, so I went back to the "date" but we kept texting each other. When it was closing time, they both ended up coming back to my apartment, and had another drink with me :-) I've been head over heals in love with this man since I first laid eyes on him that night....

I know it's not all roses and champagne, but I have never been this happy in my life, and I look forward to every minute and every day that I have with him and our crazy little family.

In the coming posts, I hope to convey a lot of different things:

1. Different reasons I love him
2. Watching my awesome daughter adapt to not being an only child anymore (one of four now!)
3. Me being something I never thought I would be (DOMESTICATED) and all that goes with that!
4. Everything else I love about our family and the crazy things we do/say/think

Until next time <3 <3 <3