The Happiness Project - January

I'm still working on the Happiness Project & plan to the rest of the year!  I can't fully say that it's working all too well these days since I've been a little cranky, but I'm trying!  So, like I said in my first post, January is about boosting energy & vitality.  My goals for this month are to get to bed early & work out three days a week.  I did terrible with this task until this week when I finally got back to the gym after a nearly one month hiatus.  Now that we're back from Chicago & settling back into our routine, I've gone two days so far this week & also plan to go on Friday.  It is so hard to get out of bed early, especially on my Wednesday off, but I feel so much better mentally & physically when I'm done.  I do notice that I have more energy during the day when I'm working out too.  Win win!

The other aspect of January is tackling a nagging task.  My two biggest nagging tasks are working on continuing education hours to maintain my credentials & getting a skin check with a dermatologist.  I have not done a thing with continuing education in nearly two years & since my licensure is up for renewal in May, I need to get 30 hours tackled by then.  It wouldn't be too hard, but ten of those hours need to be from live education which is more difficult.  It's hard enough for me to be away from my family in the 32+ hours I work per week so getting to an outside conference is not top priority.  But, like it or not, it's what I have to do!  The topic of my continuing education is one that immediately causes anxiety.  Facing my fears & tackling this task will definitely solve that problem.  It's amazing how freeing it is to get things done!  The other anxiety inducing topic is the dermatologist.  I've never had a skin check & it's gotten down to fear & laziness that's prevented me from going.  What if they find something?  What if I have cancer?  How ridiculous!  Especially since I work in the healthcare field & know that facing your fears & being proactive with your health is so important.  With that being said, I have an appointment made for February 12th!  Yay, me!

Speaking of happiness, I always try to reflect on the big & little things in life that make me happy.  Especially when I get into a rut & feel sorry for myself.

This petite little thing with the big personality makes me so happy!  This picture perfectly shows my saucy little girl flaunting her attitude!  She is so opinionated & outspoken & as frustrating as it can be at times, I positively love it.  I hope she grows up to be a strong-willed, confident woman.  She has such a soft, sweet side too which is the perfect balance of salty & sweet.

My sweet pea is saying so many words lately!  Her current favorites are hi, bye-bye, Mickey, milk & doggie.  She's getting more & more hair & it's starting to flip & curl in the back which is so sweet & kissable I could scream!  LOVE THAT GIRL.

Speaking of love, this boy is awesome!  My buddy loves hanging out with me & lately he's gotten into wanting to watch The Chew with me.  The Chew is one of the little things that makes me happy.  I've recently started taping it everyday & watch it while I clean up the kitchen in the evening after Reese goes to bed.  Cam sits with me & asks me lots & lots of "why" questions as we watch.  His favorite is Mario Batali since he love the name Mario!   Music is another thing that makes me happy.  When I sit at my desk & chart my nutrition assessments at the end of the day, I can't imagine doing it without Pandora.  My favorite, favorite group is Maroon 5 & I have a mega crush on Adam Levine.  Ugh, that guy is ridiculous!  Don't worry, Mike, you're still my #1 guy, but a girl can look & admire, right?!  I love their new song Daylight... listening to it makes me happy.  And watching Adam Levine sing it makes me even happier.

On the subject of being ridiculously cute, Reese was just that this morning!  She was rocking out her brown sweat suit & knockoff Ugg boots.  So sweet!  It's a little chilly this morning which is NOTHING compared to what much of the country is feeling.  When I say chilly in Florida, that means about 50 degrees.  Yesterday it was about 63 degrees as I picked Cam up from daycare when I was scolded by his teacher for sending him in a long-sleeved shirt without a jacket.  What a joke!  Floridians are big time wimps when it comes to the cold.

Anyway, that's what's been going on over here!  Hope you're all having a great week!

Sweet home, Chicago!

Even though I've lived in Florida for the past eight or so years, Chicago will always be home to me.  It's been two years since our last visit, so we were pretty excited to be heading up there last week.  Our visits to Chicago are so bittersweet since we miss our family & friends so much.  Leaving is always so sad even though it's good to get back to our house & Florida family & friends.

Reese did so-so on the flight up there.  She didn't nap at all which was rough but as soon as we accepted the fact that she was not laying down, we just fed her & fed her & fed her to keep her little trap filled & prevent her from crying!

It was a relief to finally land & see Grammy waiting for us.  Waiting on the luggage for an hour was no fun though!

I got sort of lazy about pulling out my camera & taking pictures during our trip so there are visits with my friends that I don't even have pictures of.  :o(    It was impossible to see everyone that we wanted to see, but we did the best that we could.  There were some days that we were seeing three separate groups of people.  It's not easy being so popular... ha ha!

Cameron, Rhyanna & Raelynn

Gina, Becky & me

It was great to visit with my HS friends Gina & Becky & meet Gina's daughter Raelynn.

Ron, Gina, Becky, Mike & me

After our visit, we had to bolt back to the Pernecky's house to get ready for Papa's surprise 70th birthday party.  He certainly wasn't expecting it since his actual birthday isn't till the end of April! Mike's mom wanted us to be there for it, so she held it early.  He was beyond surprised & cried his eyes out from happiness!  Unfortunately Reese was sick with a bad cold so I wasn't able to take a single picture!

Thursday night we did Christmas with the family.  

I was so surprised & excited when I opened my new Coach purse!  Erika got me a beautiful Pandora ring too which was so thoughtful!

Uncle Nick spent some time with his niecey Reesey!

My awesome friend Julie cut & colored my hair last Wednesday & then cooked us an amazing dinner on Friday night.  She is such a crafty, talented girl... a little Martha Stuart!

After dinner we just hung around the table & talked to her & her husband Steve.  I love them!

Sunday morning we visited our friends Lesli, Mark, Mike & Jaysa & their kids but again, no pictures!  Gosh, I suck!  Sunday afternoon we headed over to Matt & Amanda's house... they're our very best friends from HS & college.  It's funny when you see long-time, good friends; years can go by & then you meet up & it's like no time at all went by.

Here's a random picture of Mike taking Reese into the Pernecky's steam shower.  Don't worry, he was wearing shorts!  Wouldn't want to traumatize the poor baby!  Our girl is finally feeling better but it appears that I've caught her cold.

Grammy's new dog, Lucy was so cute & energetic!

Mike's awesome cousins, Gia & Paige came over Sunday night for a visit since they had yet to meet Reese.

They found our goofy girl pretty amusing!

Papa loves his grand kids!

Visiting with Aunt Bernice on Monday at her assisted living facility

After we visited with my Aunt Bernice on Monday, we swung by the house that Mike lived in until he was nine.  Then we headed over to Mike's grandma's condo.

It was so good to see Mike's grandma again!

The morning we left Chicago was twelve degrees but actually beautiful!  We landed in eighty degree Tampa yesterday evening after a very smooth flight with our napping baby girl.  Whenever I fly from Florida to Illinois, the weather changes never cease to amaze me.  It's crazy to have a seventy degree temperature difference in less than three hours! 

After our Chicago "vacation" we're positively exhausted but we're so thankful to have gone & see all that we love! 

The red door project

Since both myself & Lauren are living in new houses, we're constantly talking about projects we want to do.  We both said we wanted to have a red front door, so when Lauren messaged me this week & asked me if I wanted to do our doors together this weekend, I said yes!  Apparently in most every culture a red door means "welcome."    In Ireland red doors are believed to ward off ghosts or evil spirits & in Scotland it signifies a paid off mortgage.  In general, the bright pop of color is thought to attract positive energy.  But, I just happen to like it!

We met at the paint store Saturday morning & got to work right away.  You cannot believe just how much work those two innocent looking doors were!  It was probably because of the sheen & the previously deep, dark color but those suckers literally took about seven coats of paint!

We did a few coats on my doors & got to a point where the paint just needed a few hours to dry, so we hopped in the car & did Lauren's door.  Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of her before & after results but I know she'll be blogging about it too.

Her doors were SO much easier!  It got to a point last night where it was getting too dark to continue so I had to paint before & after church today.  I was hoping to have it done in one day, but no such luck!  There were a couple of moments during this project where I thought I would seriously never finish!

 

I positively love the results though & it's so bright & cheerful.  It'll be a great color for the holidays too.  The only thing left to do is get a couple of cute wreaths & a fresh new door mat and I'm set!

Recent happenings

I completely forgot that I took pictures of Christmas morning from our other camera, so I'll share a few pictures from the kids opening presents...

Santa delivered his presents this year in shiny silver wrapping paper topped with bright red bows!

One of Reese's favorite games is peek-a-boo!  She covers her eyes & we say, "where's Reese?  Reeeesseee!"  When she reveals herself we shout, "there she is!"  and she gets exceptionally excited!

Here's a picture of her trying to steal the milk from her new baby's bottle!  Not the most selfless Mama, is she?  Letting her baby go hungry as she fills her own belly!

Reese has been in desperate need for some artwork on her bedroom walls & since my parents own a frame shop, there's really no reason it's taken me this long.  A couple of weeks before Christmas my dad had asked me for a picture of Reese facing the camera wearing only her diaper.  He said the background didn't matter at all.  Once again she was playing peek-a-boo which resulted in the picture above.  I had no idea what my dad was doing with the picture but it turned out to be an adorable present for both her & us.  The pose was just perfect too since it looks like she's catching raindrops in her hands!  The text in the picture says, "Rain rain go away, come again some other day, little Reese wants to play!" 

 

The only white walls left in our house belonged to the bathroom off the bonus room upstairs.  I told Mike that the site of the white was giving me the shakes since I love color so much.  He knew it was only a matter of time before I wanted to paint it & that time came after I finished working Saturday.  I knocked out the bathroom in no time & it turned out great!

I chose a blue color from Porter Paint called Cathedral Glass & I positively love it!  Matt & Kelly just so happened to get us that wrought iron artwork hanging above the toilet & it's a perfect match.

Mike hung a lot more of our artwork over the weekend so our house is really starting to come together.  I still have a long list of things I want to do & buy, but it's a work in progress since all of those things cost moolah!

The other night we put Cam to bed in Mario pjs & he woke up looking like this!  He's been daytime potty trained since about two, but he hasn't mastered night time since a couple of months ago.  I used to joke that we'd probably send him to college in night diapers, but he literally just picked it up one week.  I had been changing Reese's diapers when he said something about babies wearing diapers.  I said, "but you wear a diaper to bed, does that mean you're a baby?"  I swear, after that he just started waking up completely dry.    The other key was limiting his beverages & insisting he pee before bed.  When he was younger he'd sneak drinks from my cup of water & throw a fit when we asked him to go potty before bed.  We were at the end of his package of diapers so I asked him if he thought we should buy more.  He insisted that he didn't need them & has done amazingly since.  Although every once in a great while he gets his pants & undies wet as he's going potty in the middle of the night.  We're pretty sure he's in his sleep & not pulling his pants down enough as he stands at the potty. 

He can't stand the idea of disappointing us so he always makes sure to change before coming out of his bedroom in the morning.

I always tell him that accidents happen, it's no big deal & I can easily wash the clothes.  Poor guy!

I took my Wednesday buddy to the park yesterday & after our picnic lunch we tried out his new stomp rocket for the first time.  We both had so much fun!  You definitely need a big, open space or it's likely to get stuck in a tree or on a roof.

Lately I have been in a major weekday dinner funk.  Over the weekend we like to plan out meals & grocery shop for the week, but with the holidays, that just hasn't happened.  I get out of work at 5 so by the time I hit the grocery store & get the kids from daycare, we're not getting home until a little before six.  There's no way I'm cooking dinner when we won't finish eating & cleaning up the kitchen until nearly seven.  Reese is so tired after school too so dinner is anything but relaxing.  Most nights I'm shoveling food into my trap as she's getting antsy in her highchair & grunting like a monkey.  I now realize why my grandma who had eight children ate so darn fast!  Tonight we made ravioli that cooked in less than five minutes & even that seemed like more trouble than it was worth!  By the time we heated the sauce & some chicken & spinach sausages, we had a sink full of dishes.  We sat for all fifteen minutes & half of that was spent trying to keep Reese happy until it was time to toss them in the bath & get Reese in bed by 7.  

What do you do for dinner during the week?  Do you plan your meals & shop ahead of time?  I'm getting to the point that I wish we could just swallow a meal in pill form & just call it a night!