Currently: October 2013

Currently: October 2013

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Read post

Excited: For Falen and Paul's Halloween party on Friday night! Woohoo! Mama needs a night out!

Worried: Not really about anything at the moment. I'm just being impatient with life.

Reading: Only blogs at the moment. Trying to catch up.

Creating: This blog post. Hey, at least I'm blogging, right?

Loving:  My new dark hair! You would know that though already if you follow me on Instagram!

Hating: The weather. It's just dreary and rainy and cold.

Wondering: About our credit score and house/loan stuff. Again, just me being impatient.

Eating: Pretzel sticks at my desk for my afternoon snack.

Drinking: A coke.

Craving: Nothing at the moment which is unheard of.

Hoping: That Hailey's Halloween costume will finally come together. I found orange leggings yesterday after searching high and low for them. Can't wait for tomorrow!

Watching on TV: So much!! See this post HERE. I've also added the Blacklist to my long list of shows per a recommendation from a friend and I LOVE it!!! I also love James Spader. He plays such a good bad-good guy.



Listening to: MyTalk 107.1 - Yes, I've become THAT person who loves talk radio. Especially celeb trash talk.

Wearing: Nothing fancy today. Gray dress pants from JCP and a navy blue shirt from Kohls. Work attire.

Looking forward to: A great night with friends, a few adult beverages and my friend, Paul's, buffalo chicken dip on Friday night. See also what I'm Excited for.

Feeling: Tired, but motivated.

Weather: Rainy and chilly. No snow yet though.

Wanting: To get all caught up on blogging.

Needing: A million $. Haha. Doesn't everyone?

Thinking: I have so much to blog and catch up on, but struggling with finding time lately.

Enjoying: My coke. See also what I'm drinking.

My Little Goblin

My Little Goblin

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Read post

Linking up with Darci from The Good Life Blog.



Here is my little goblin in one of her Halloween PJ's. Don't mind the horrible lighting. It was right before bed last night that I snapped this.



Happy Halloween everyone!

Be social with me:

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Bloglovin 

Hard Stuff

Hard Stuff

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Read post

Sorry friends for my week long blog break. I know BBC taught me not to apologize, so I'm just going to go with it. I'm almost finished with my BBCMPLS re-cap post, too. It will be up this week. I hope.

Everyone is entitled to a break once in awhile right? It wasn't intentional. I was just focusing on life and my loved ones.

Last Tuesday afternoon I got word from my parents that my cousin, Nicole, had went into labor the night before and gave birth to her baby boy at just 22 weeks along. My heart immediately dropped to the pit of my stomach. I was so sick for her.



She just got married in April, this was her first pregnancy, and she was devasted. She had GIVEN BIRTH to him. They heard him cry. He lived for 1 hour and 16 minutes. His name was Brayden Alexander.



They told us all on Wednesday that on Thursday they were going to have a little burial service in Onalaska for him. That is where her Husband, Alex, is from. Alex's Dad is also a funeral director, which came in very handy for two young parents that were going through something so hard and had no clue on what to do.

Because my Dad would be driving my Grandma and Aunt Jamie down, I coordinated with him to ride along for the day. Nicole and I have been through everything together. Cousins are the best. They are not only family, but they are your friends, too.



I knew I had to be there for her and I'm so glad I went. I know it meant a lot to her and even her parents (my Aunt & Uncle) told me how happy they were to see me. It was a very long day, both emotionally and physically. I needed a few days and the weekend to re-coup and focus on my family. It's just another example of how fragile life is and how fast things can change.

Please pray for Nicole and Al as they continue to grieve and hopefully someday try again. Also, please hug and kiss your loved ones and tell them you love them.

Be social with me:

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Bloglovin

 

Five on Friday {10.11.2013}

Five on Friday {10.11.2013}

Friday, October 11, 2013

Read post

Linking up with Darci from The Good Life Blog.

First off, will you please say a prayer for Wayne's Green Gramma. She's back in the hospital again, for the second time. The first time was back at the end of August. She is having some heart issues that we thought were resolved, but apparently not. She's got plans to move back here to MN within the next couple months and I can't wait to have her back! She will still be 2 hours away, but it will be tons better than having her in AZ. In the meantime please pray for her. Thanks loves.

Wayne starts back on his weight-loss program again on Monday. At the end of his program and about the same time his gallbladder started acting up (middle of August) Bouari changed their name to Soza and decided to go a different advertising route. So we said OK, he focused on dealing with his gallbladder issues, we had the State Fair, his surgery and recovery and well, now they want to start up again. So here we go. He ended at 298 (just under his first goal of 300) and now is starting back at 306. His new goal is to get down to 270 by December 10th a/k/a Jingleball. If you want to catch up start HERE and HERE.

Speaking of Jingleball, this year is going be HUGE and they are announcing artists today! I'm so pumped!! This will be my 6th Jingleball!!

I am so excited that H&M opened in Ridgedale (a local mall close to me). So convenient. Also, a Kate Spade is opening in the Galleria and Madewell is opening in the Mall of America. Although Madewell is way too expensive for my tastes as far as clothes go, it's still pretty exciting. And I'm excited to go check out the Kate Spade store, even if I don't buy anything.

Since last Friday, I have worked out 3 times. Last Saturday (Zumba), last Sunday (Core) and yesterday(HIIT). I missed out on Tuesday's Insanity class cause Wayne had to be at WE Day even earlier then I would be getting up, so it didn't work out, but I am still proud of myself. I could've just not gotten up on Thursday and went back to my old ways. But I didn't and I'm determined to make this a real habit.

UP Jawbone

UP Jawbone

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Read post

So out of the blue I got an email from Jawbone regarding my weekly UP stats. I've never gotten one of these before, but I really like it and hope they continue.

If you are not familiar with UP from Jawbone, you should be. It's just the greatest thing EVER and the technology is outta this world! Go HERE and check it out! I got mine in April for my 30th birthday. I wear it daily and it blends in with my other bracelets and accessories.

Anyways, with starting to work-out more regularly in October, I was glad to see I was making my daily goals.



I usually don't sync for several days, so that's why it looks like I didn't do anything from the 3rd on in the picture below.



I'm going to try and remember to sync daily. It's so easy, I don't know why I always forget. I have been slacking on keeping track of sleep, too, which I also am working on as well. Sleep is very important.

Last Tuesday was the first day I got up at 5:30am to get to the gym. No surprise I had an exceptional day with steps.





While looking at that number makes me feel good on the days I work out, I sometimes get depressed at looking at that number on the days I don't work out, even if I do reach my goal, which is a minimum of 10,000 steps a day. I know it's all relative and in the end it all balances out.

Here is what the rest of the week looked like.

You can see that I actually recorded my sleep this day. I didn't work out and I was just shy of making my goal.



Today was the 2nd day I got up early. I did a HIIT class.



You can definitely tell the difference between days where I work out compared to the days when I don't.



I did my 75 min Zumba class today.



And even though it looks like I didn't do anything today, I actually made it to the gym and did a 30 minute CORE class. Which killed me and made me sore for two days, but it was a good sore.



Like I said, I like getting these weekly emails. Just another thing to help me stay accountable in my fitness journey. I went online to my account to make sure I do still get them and was pleasantly surprised to see that they now offer it for the Android. I know people were saying it was an Apple thing, but it's not, so if you have an Android and are wanting one, go for it!



I'm looking at getting a Polar watch too (probably next week after payday), so I can keep track of my calories better within workouts and really start using MyFitness Pal again. Email me if you use MyFitnessPal and we can be friends. Do you have a Polar watch for working out? Do you like it?

Never Ever Ever {10.08.2013}

Never Ever Ever {10.08.2013}

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Read post

Linking up with Neely.



Never, Ever, Ever

Will I enjoy doing dishes or loading/unloading the dishwasher...least favorite chore

Will I ever LOVE getting up at 5:30am in order to get to the gym by 6am

Do I feel like I get enough friend time. It's so hard to get together with crazy schedules/kids/husbands/boyfriends. I think I'm due for a night out!

Would I put gas in my car before the gas light comes on…my Husband and Dad yell at me for this

Will I hate having windows open on crisp days

Will I not want to eat all the Halloween candy

Will I not love naps...I've been taking them every weekend lately

Weekly Web Recap {10.05.2013}

Weekly Web Recap {10.05.2013}

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Read post

So I've seen this done on several other blogs. I like the idea to highlight and mention any posts or articles that I see throughout the week that are helpful to me or inspire me or just plain make me laugh. Plus a shout-out to a fellow blogger or friend never hurts, right?

First off, I love Alissa over at Rags of Stitches. I love her weekly videos. I loved last weeks video about 3 Myths of Work/Life Balance and I equally love this weeks video where she shared her first 3 of 6 tips of how SHE balances it all. I can't wait for her other 3 tips next week.

As I've mentioned recently, I am going to BBC (Bloggy Boot Camp) next weekend. I scoured The SITSgirls website and read up on what to wear, what to expect, what to bring with you, etc.  THIS was my favorite and most informative read yet.

I also loved reading THIS post from Jess over at Wrangling Chaos on people being opinionated. I love her, too. She keeps it real.

I LOL'd after reading THIS post cause it's so dang true! How could WE, as their MOM, be annoying? Go read Mandy's take on it over at A Sorta Fairytale.

I thought Nicole's post about Marriage + Finance over on her blog Pharr Away had some great tips in it. Definitely things I need to remember.

Five on Friday {10.04.2013}

Five on Friday {10.04.2013}

Friday, October 4, 2013

Read post

Linking up with Darci from The Good Life Blog for Five on Friday.

So I found the Michael Kors clearance website this week. Um, yes please. And how come I never knew about this before now? Does this exist for every brand? I've been wanting a MK purse for quite some time now, but have been putting it off.

I actually put this one on my wishlist on Amazon and have been waiting for an excuse (Anniversary/Christmas), but with these prices, I don't really NEED a reason, right? I have been a Coach girl since the beginning of time, but have felt the need for a change lately. So we'll see. I have my eye on a few one.

So last week I wrote about my fitness struggle and then this week I wrote about my first day working out with a new schedule. If you've been following along, I did not get up and work out on Wednesday morning like I had hoped. I had a little technical difficulty as I like to call it. But I did get up yesterday morning and made it to the gym for a HIIT class. It was hard, but I really liked it. I'm hoping I can stick with this and make it a regular thing every Tuesday (Insanity) and Thursday (HIIT) morning. I think my body needs to adjust a little bit to getting up so early. I have been such a night owl my whole life, that it's been hard to shut my brain and body down at a decent hour, so for now we're going to stick with T & Th's and go from there. I'm also debating on doing before and after pictures, but the thought of that scares the CRAP outta me.

I have been cooking quite a bit the last couple weeks. Which is also another huge thing for me. I'm so not a cook or baker (unless it comes from a box), but I'm trying. I printed off a September - December 2013 calendar and have been trying my best to meal plan and not eat out so much. Also, to try and curb our grocery bill every month. Most of the recipes have been first timers for us and I will be tweaking them the 2nd time around to what works for us. These are not considered healthy recipes or "clean" recipes. I hope to share some of those recipes soon.

Britney Spears came out with her new "Work Bitch" music video. Love it. No surprise. She looks better than she has in a LONG time. I'm really hoping to get out to Vegas within the next couple years to see her out there. I'm NOT a huge fan of Vegas, but I AM a HUGE fan of Britney, so we'll see. We also have grand plans of hopefully buying a house in the spring and having another baby in 2014, so Brit Brit might have to wait. I went to Vegas once on a girls trip and that was enough for me.I'm so not a gambler and I just can't party it up like I used to.

I'm so excited for Bloggy Boot Camp next weekend!! I've been messaging with a few of my ladies and I can't wait to see them in person!! Hugs for everyone!! Anyone else going?

 Happy Friday friends!!

365 Photoaday Challenge {August 2013}

365 Photoaday Challenge {August 2013}

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Read post

This is just an Instagram re-cap of the photoaday challenge that I have been doing since the beginning of the year. Please note, this does not include other photos that I post or videos. You can find me over on Instagram @MrsMamaD

#day213 #aug1 Anyone else as obsessed with the Frosty waffle cones at Wendy's? No? Just me? Ok then. #photoaday365 #suumertime




#day214 #aug2 Prepping for the annual Stager Family Reunion. #photoaday365



#day215 #aug3 Annual Stager Family Reunion Bean Bag Toss Tournament. This is what we do ALL DAY! #photoaday365 #family #fun



#day216 #aug4 Somedays you just need a good hearty bowl of cereal. #photoaday365



#day217 #aug5 Re-gram from @bigdradio This officially marks his work with the Vikungs & KFAN. So proud of him and all he's doing! #photoaday365



#day218 #aug6 Happy Birthday to @bigdradio This sweet guy leaves ME a love note on my desk at work. #keeper #photoaday365



#day219 #aug7 This is what a sick day looks like. #photoaday365



#day220 #aug8 This is happening. #country #photoaday365



#day221 #aug9 Nothing like playing in the dog water bowl. What a goofball. #photoaday365



#day222 #aug10 Hailey meeting Big Time Rush for the 4th time in her life. Also, sound check. #thiskid #btr #rusher #photoaday365



#day223 #aug11 This happened. So good. #popeyes #photoaday365



#day224 #aug12 Just found this in the Sunday paper. Woohoo!! #mnstatefair #photoaday365



#day225 #aug13 She's obsessed with fruit these days. Snack time. Dinner time. Any time. #photoaday365



#day226 #aug14 Loving "Rose Bud" by CND Shellac. #photoaday365



#day227 #aug15 Meals on Wheels annual event Meals on Heels. So much fun with my ladies, Katie, Falen & Ali. #photoaday365



#day228 #aug16 Baby-Q for M & T with great friends. #photoaday365



#day229 #aug17 Urgent Care on a Saturday afternoon for a sprained ankle. Not fun, but very thankful for this wonderful man who is everything to me. Won't be a fun next few days on crutches, but what can ya do? That's life and trying to stay positive. #thankful @bigdradio #photoaday365



#day230 #aug18 Between my ankle and cramps, this is a girls best friend. #meds #photoaday365



#day231 #aug19 Seriously? A whole new meaning to The Learning Chanel. #tlc #wtf #photoaday365



#day232 #aug20 This is why a girl needs so much make-up. Back-up for when you leave your bag in Husbands car. #photoaday365



#day233 #aug21 Added another signed pic to Hailey's collection. @thewantedmusic #photoaday365



#day234 #aug22 First smoothie from The Magic Bullet. 1 banana, 1 cup of blueberries and 1 cup of applesauce. So tasty. #photoaday365



#day235 #aug23 Have to re-post this cause I am so proud of my Hubs. Today was a great day. #photoaday365



#day236 #aug24 Morning outside time must have really worn her out cause she fell asleep in the chair eating her snack & watching toons. Naturally, i just got her blanket. Yes, her leg is in the chair and she still has cheese on her face & fingers. Oh well. She slept for over 2 hrs like this. P.S. I still can't get over her lashes. #photoaday365 #naptime



#day237 #aug25 Finally purchased. Going hard. Wish us luck. #photoaday365 #pottytraining #toddler



#day238 #aug26 Loving this guac from Aldi. Loving Aldi, too for that matter. #photoaday365 #cravings



#day239 #aug27 Bedtime cartoon snuggles laying on Bella. #puppylove #photoaday365



#day240 #aug28 Love good mail days. #makeup #ulta #photoaday365



#day241 #aug29 Haircut day + good listening skills = sucker. Otherwise known as a bribe. #cute #treat #bribe #photoaday365



#day242 #aug30 MN State Fair Day 1. #mnstatefair #photoaday365



#day243 #aug31 Day 2 at the fair with 3 of my fave ladies + a side of Macklemore & lobster Mac n cheese. #mnstatefair @_ktstager @mamiecakes #photoaday365



Happy Hump Day!