Mommy Self-Care with Smile Brilliant At Home Teeth Whitening

Messy Messy Fail - Over Christmas break, I saw my sister for our family celebration.  She must have read my mind because she brought a one-step gel nail polish with her.  I begged and she let me use it so I could have nice holiday nails (see manicure status in post below).  Although the gel polish DID last quite some time, I am currently sporting the "chippy" look on my nails, and I'm not talking cute farm house decor.

Tidy Victory - I have gotten into the great habit of IMMEDIATELY throwing away or recycling junk mail (which we get a lot of).  Credit card offers, advertisements, unwanted solicitations - immediately out of the house almost as quickly as it came in.  This makes our paper clutter nearly non-existent which is FANTASTIC!

LuLaRoe, Here I Come!

Messy Messy Fail - I've been to what my local peeps will understand as Tiny Tops (a Tops Friendly Markets in our neighborhood that's really small, hence the name) a total of three days in a row.  Nothing like forgetting a VITAL pantry item at every trip - first it was milk, then I realized we needed bread, then the third and final trip for peanut butter.  The cashiers were laughing at me.

Tidy Victory - While at Tiny Tops - my 2nd visit - I came across a 50% off bin FULL of E.L.F. Makeup which I happen to like!  I scored a tube of mascara, a baked blush, two other blush palettes and a purple cream eye shadow crayon (complimentary to my green eyes) for a $1.50 each!  So far I've only tried the baked blush and I REALLY like it, gives off a nice glow!  Did you know I have a blush obsession?  You can read about that here :)  

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #108

Messy Messy Fail - We are winter break from school this upcoming week, and I will say I am embarrassed about the condition I left both of my classrooms in - disaster.  I had a guest conductor in at both buildings on Friday to complete a workshop with some of my students who will be participating in a side-by-side concert shortly and it was quite the whirlwind getting to both buildings on time.  Let's just say I'll be going in for a little tidying up during my vacation.  

Tidy Victory - Last year, I tried making it a goal to do a small organizing/purging project a day.  Be it my makeup drawer, a bookshelf, etc., I wanted to make a little difference one small step at a time.  Sometimes I did my project for the day, sometimes I didn't.  I came across this blog project from Susan at Organized 31 - 31 Days of 10-Minute Purging Tips and I was really inspired.  You can start with her first post at the above link and she gives you a task every day - very manageable (10 minutes or less!) yet very effective.  I'm going to try this and attempt to get rid of some more nonsense in my house!

100 Great Movies for Valentine's Day

Messy Messy Fail - A very large wine store in Nana Patti's hometown called Premier was having a mail in rebate sale with Relax wine (I know what my bloggy friend Rhiannon is thinking right now, but she understands my struggle is real) so I bought a bottle.  In order to get the $3 back, I had to mail in the rebate with original receipt by January 15th.  I had every intention, but of course I forgot and completely missed my deadline.

Tidy Victory - The laundry volcano that has been erupting in our house last week finally came under control - about 12 loads later.  I'm not quite sure how it builds up as much as it does, there's only four of us, but at least the multiple mountains of dirty clothes are gone.

My Word for 2016 - Ahead

Messy Messy Fail - I know that I definitely have food in the refrigerator leftover from Christmas - I spotted some sautéed green beans, mashed potatoes and the remains of a leftover roast in the back of the fridge.  Good thing garbage night is tomorrow evening.

Tidy Victory - We had some friends over to celebrate our Christmas together quite late on Friday and I made a terrific somewhat authentic Mexican dinner - hard and soft shell tacos with my own taco seasoning (I just cannot use the packets anymore, so salty!), Paula Deen's mexican rice and this delicious recipe for restraunt style refried beans.  Let me just say there were no leftovers.  

Be ahead of the game. 

Think ahead.

Be ready.

Be early.

Do you see the common theme?

Punctuality is not necessarily one of my strong suits.  I am a procrastinator tried and true.  ESPECIALLY if it is something that I don't really want to do.  

But you know what?  That's a terrible excuse - I can be very lazy and that's the truth of the matter.  

Therefore, my word for this year is AHEAD.

Anticipate what is coming and be ready.

Think about the future and plan accordingly.

Do not set it aside for later, do it now.

Some of my specific goals include:

• better meal planning - I typically plan ahead for a week in advance, trying to go to the grocery store only once a week.  However too often we resort to running our for a quick pizza or sub. 
• keep our wipe off calendar in the kitchen updated - it's pointless to have if we don't use it properly!
• try to stay tidier - I'm always in a mad rush the night before our house cleaner comes to get clutter out of the way
• finish the task at hand - I am notorious for starting something then getting distracted by something else
• try to keep a "big picture" view - what will the consequences of my choices be and how will they affect others and not just myself

How ironic that my word for the year is being posted at the end of January ;)

What is your word for year?

Did you set specific goals for yourself?  I'd love to hear about them!

Click here to see where I like to par-tay!

Friday Favorites - Post-Christmas Recovery

Messy Messy Fail - My feet are horrendous, just ask my husband.  I pay regular visits to my podiatrist, but for the 2nd time I completely forgot about an appointment this past week and didn't even realize it until days later.  I felt so badly - when I called to reschedule, I identified myself as "The jerk who forgot about my appointment again.".  Thank goodness they are so understanding.  

Tidy Victory - Over our vacation, hubby and I managed to clean out the unfinished portion of the basement.  The pantry and baby clothes were resorted and organized, wrapping paper totes cleaned up, kitchen appliances reconfigured and decorations all boxed up in labeled containers.  Pandora helped out A LOT with that project.  What can I say, music inspires me!

Blogger Recognition Award

Messy Messy Fail - Made a delicious ham (bone-in) for our little Christmas dinner.  Lovely brown sugar and honey glaze courtesy of Liz of the Western New Yorker.  At my husband's request, he asks for a ham gravy which I had never heard of or had until I had been introduced by his family.  As I am using the drippings from the ham to make the PW's ham gravy recipe, I realize we may have a problem with the brown sugar in the pan.  As in it is burning as I am stirring in the flour and such to make the gravy over the stovetop burners.  Nothing like a burned sugar ham gravy.  Fortunately I added some more brown sugar and it ended up being okay, but this is not something I would recommend for those who may think for a fleeting second that this could work.

Tidy Victory - Going to see the new Star Wars movie at a Friday matinee show while visit my family in the mighty Buffalo, NY and we managed to borrow episodes IV, V and VI so we could be somewhat caught up and in the know for the movie.  Three nights in a row of Star Wars movies is pretty fun, I guess I never realized what great movies these were!  Any other Star Wars fans out there? :)

Why It's Good To Take A Blogging Break

Messy Messy Fail - When we dug up most of the landscaping in the front of the house to preserve and replant after the front yard revamp (will be posting!), we got everything back in the ground EXCEPT one last dwarf Alberta spruce.  It's currently leaning with it's giant rootball on the side of the snowmobile trailer.  My husband and I cannot decide on a place to plant it, the snow is really going to fly soon and I HATE being wasteful!  I may just drop it in the center of the front yard to plant it.  Except my husband might kill me.

Tidy Victory - I made a goal for myself to put one piece of clothing from my closet into the donate pile EVERY DAY and I am pretty sure I've been sticking to it.  I don't know why I have such a hard time getting rid of old clothes - I think it's guilt from throwing perfectly good items away.  They are just old, out of style and need to be replaced.  Replacing is the key word ;)

Oh, Hey Friday - Slightly Shallow

Messy Messy Fail  - It's nearly 12:30 on my Friday night and I'm finishing this post.  I'll pay for this tomorrow surely.  I am a night owl.  

Tidy Victory - The UPKer ate the leftover Chinese from yesterday for dinner!  I promised a pretzel from Auntie Anne's at the mall if he ate it all.  Whatever works.

5 Reasons Why I Am Excited to Start Teaching Again

Messy Messy Mess - I should have known when I left my computer bag next to the dog water dish that someone was bound to dump the water on the floor, hence soaking my computer bag.  Good thing the computer was charging on the end table!

Tidy Victory - In my new middle school classroom, I finally have four (cue gasp!) large bulletin boards to decorate.  I've NEVER had bulletin boards to decorate - I had to hang posters with duct tape on painted cinder block walls, which usually only stayed up for a few months.  So I made a trip to Joann's and found some cute fabrics on clearance, grabbed some borders at Office Depot and a staplin' I went.  I am so excited to hang up some fun pictures and my sticker charts to help the kids with their practicing this year!

To Be Grateful

Messy Messy Fail - I haven't had my hair cut or colored since last October.  You google "split ends" and pictures of my hair show up.

Tidy Victory - I made a hair appointment with my girl Faith at Jefferson Terrace Salon & Day Spa for my upcoming Friday off on Memorial Day weekend.  She swears she won't judge me.

Our community has recently experienced a great loss with the passing of a young child due to cancer.  For many months, our small city pulled together hosting various fundraisers to help the family in any way possible.  The high school where I work chose the child's charity to receive the money they raised through their Penny Wars and ended up donating one of the largest amounts in the history of the event. 

Seeing what this child and her family has gone through made me really think.  I can be superficial and unreasonable at times. I often complain about about unimportant things:  I don't have a pair of jeans to wear, the dog chewed up a roll of toilet paper, I didn't have enough time to finish a blog post.  Well Katie - get over yourself and be grateful for what you have.



<One>  I am grateful for my happy and healthy family.  These are two of the most precious things and I will never take them for granted.

<Two>  I am grateful for my full time job.  Sure there are tough days, but those are out numbered by awesome days.  There are many education students graduating from colleges and universities around the country with no job in sight.  I was offered a job within a year of graduating because it was available - and I was extremely lucky.

<Three>  I am grateful for our house.  My kitchen is not huge or updated, but the appliances work and I can make healthy dinners.  Our water tank is old, but we have clean, hot water at our disposal.  When it's raining or snowing, I know my family is safe and warm inside our home.  I've heard horror stories about the homes where some of my students live and I remind myself that not everyone has what I have.  For an excellent post about this topic, check out Momastery.

<Four> I am grateful for my health.  Illness can strike at any moment, and until this point my most serious hospital visit has been for a kidney stone.  Although painful, this problem can be controlled with small dietary changes.  This isn't the case for other illnesses - life can be turned up side down in a heartbeat.  

<Five>  I am grateful for my life.  Things have come together for me so that I have a happy marriage, an excellent career and a wonderful family.  I can live without the shoes, the cars, the vacations.  I have everything I need right here.

I am not an outwardly or overly religious person, but I strongly believe that God will not give you anything you cannot handle.  That being said, the life and fight of the brave young lady and her family has not only inspired me but our community to reflect on our own lives.  She smiled through it all and taught us to live every day to it's fullest and to show appreciation for all that we have.  

In honor of her beautiful life, we shine an orange light on our front portch to show our support for her and her family.  

For more information about her fund, please visit:



Kallie's Krusade






Always remember to appreciate what you have AND to tell people that you appreciate them!

Katie