...Slackerlicious...

Okay, to at least justify my fantastic ability to completely and utterly forget to blog.  Errr...  I've been busy?!?  And well, technically, I'm kinda just making the excuse to myself as nobody really reads these, right?!?!  

Is this thing on?!?!

So Christmas has come and gone and We are WELL over half way through January.  Seriously... I'm not sure where time has been going?!?!  

I haven't been completely lax in all aspects of life.  I've already ditched my holiday weight gain and am  excited about my weigh-in tomorrow... (really?!  Did I just say that?)

I decided to do the year of photos.  I have ALWAYS wanted to, but have issues with starting a year long project on a day other than January First.  Blame it on a mild case of OCD... but it just doesn't seem right on any other day.  (Okay, maybe on my birthday or something... but you see where I'm going with this.)

So, I give to you now... Days 1-10...

 

Day 1

Day 2

 Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9 

Day 10

Simple as Pi...

So, you'd think I would have realized there we a Blogger app for my phone when I first got it, right?  Nope!  Just using it now, for the very first time. 

So here you sit, or stand, (or hang precariously from the stairway by your belt fashioned nicely around tour ankle... I don't judge) witnessing my first ever blog from the comfort of my cozy chair.  yeah!  Sure I could have done it with my laptop...  But no, I saved this experience for this very moment here with you. ;)

Where oh where has the month gone?

So, last I knew it was November 1st, I took in a deep breath of accomplishment and POOF! It's already Thanksgiving week... Not quite sure who stole my last 3weeks, but I think I need them back.

I am at my lowest weight in 7 years... 

I have officially lost 40lbs since January first and

..............................................

 OH MY GOODNESS!! 

{ does that feel fantastic?!?! }

  Would love to make it 50 by Christmas and I think that is completely attainable.  I've plateaued for quite a while now and I think I'm ready for a good loss again!!! 

This couple of pounds was just a kick in the butt that "HEY!!  I can do this!!"  :)

I have had a few great weekends of photo shoots this month and will be maintaining a new blog just for my photography

 but I'll post a few of my favorites here! 

Onto a day of editing, curtain making and if I'm lucky a little time to curl up with my book and hubby tonight.

BOO!

So, it's that time of year again... the time when all of the outside world is shut off to me and I crawl into my sewing studio to not surface until November 1st.  

{ HALLOWEEN COSTUME CRUNCH TIME }

I had some fun creations to work on this year and I kept the amount I took in minimal but it was still that same mad dash.  I swear certain fabrics/ supplies are just never available to me or on sale until just that moment where I really start to sweat and question if I have enough time...  ;)

Sooooooo... without further ado... I give to you

Crumbs Sugar Cookie

THE SPECTRE

and the ever sweet little 

Gypsy

So, Happy Halloween to all.... 

bad addiction in the making

I have seen oodles of friends posting things on facebook about pinterest and had looked around and gotten stuck in the nearly  endless loop  of "Oh, that's cool's" and  "ooooh, look at that's" ...



 I requested an invite quite a while ago and had yet to get anything from pinterest directly.  So, being the mildly obsessive person that I am... I finally broke down and asked a friend, who is pretty active in the world of pinning, if she had invites she could pass out and <poof>  I'm in...

I haven't added a ton as of yet, but I'm getting there.  you can see all of my new found loves here...

http://pinterest.com/PredisposedJoi/



...turn it all around...

I am { p.l.e.a.s.e.d...a.s...p.u.n.c.h } to announce that my darling dear husband has accepted a job offer and is currently picking up his company vehicle, doing paperwork and meeting the rest of his NEW company.  What a super speedy turnaround!!!  We have been blessed with him being able to not only continue on with the freedom he had before in working with his clients (the SAME clients) but he has a lot more chances at making some pretty good bonuses!  What a welcome change...

In our families brief two week stint of unemployment freak out (trust me, it seemed infinitely longer) we have come out on top.  I may have a few new grey hairs and a couple extra heart palpitations under my belt but we are looking to be better off than we were before his previous company shut down Michigan operations!  How crazy is that?!? 

So here's to his new company,

our fresh start

and  knowing how I will be buying groceries every week! 

[ ...thank God... ]

just be...

My little man turned 6 today!  I'm not the sappy sentimental mom rocking the "Oh no... my baby is growing up... whatever shall I do?" stance...  I love that my kids are growing and exploring.  Not that I want them to grow up TOO fast (okay, there ARE days that I wish they might progress a tad bit in age and/or maturity).  I'm not into the whole  "I want another baby" thing, nor will I be. 
I thoroughly enjoy my kids... I really did love when they were babies, but I am so thankful that I am done with that part of our life.  Every age is a new adventure.

I enjoy watching them explore new things, helping them muster courage

 or being blown away when they strut around in their

{ Fearless Boots }

you know, the ones that they can do ANYTHING in and not have an iota of hesitation or fear

(in adults they are called "Stupid Jeans" ) 

<yeah, you see what I did there, huh?!>

So, to my little man...

H A P P Y
B I R T H D A Y

 

Grow up at the right pace...

Be a good friend, but not a doormat

Be wise about your choices, but not afraid to take risks

Be courageous

Be bold

Be strong

Be tender

Be creative

Be inventive

Be a good man... 

But remember you will ALWAYS be my little boy

 

is it school yet?

We are in the home stretch of countdown before school starts... 60 hours from now I will be waking the kids up for their first day of the new school year!  WOWZA!  Where did the summer go? Can it still be summer with the benefit of the kids going to school certain days (for my sanity... and their own). 

We are spending the day laying out clothes for the week, getting our plan in place so that come Wednesday morning when we think we are all prepared we can go bonkers trying to find everything (still)... lol

Brandon had an interview on Wednesday last week and is having a follow-up interview this week.  So, we are very excited that we could have a job under his belt sooner than anticipated! { Dear Lord,  Please! }

This post is short but sweet... Good things brewing for this predisposed family... 

... time out... wait a minute!!! we are going to have FUN!

One thing that I (we) have tried to do is make our children aware of Brandon's job situation without making it a burden on them.  nothing worse than a 7 and soon to be 6 year old having that weight on their hearts.  We have made it clear that we have to cut back and make smarter choices about money, but not to the point that we are screaming "No, we can't we are POOR!" or "Don't ever ask for that again, we can't afford it!"  as I've heard other people say and it breaks my heart.  Give a kid some hope, some faith that they CAN achieve things even if it seems a little out of reach.    It's not the end of the world... and family money issues should be the last of their worries at that age.

Before the "bad news" came down... we had already had the plan in place to go to Michigan's Adventure with the kids on Sept. 1st to celebrate the boy's SUPER SPECIAL BIRTHDAY!!!   

A long time running tradition (at least in my mind) is that whatever day your birthday is, when you turn that age, it is your ultra super duper amazing birthday!  

So little man's birthday is Sept. 6th making his 6th birthday { awesomesauce }....    

Well, when his first question after finding out about my hubby's lack of employment was "do I still get to have my birthday?"  It completely broke our hearts...  The kids had no clue what our fantabulous surprise plans were and we maintained the :: TOP SECRET :: nature of our plan... until the very moment we pulled up to the entrance to the park.  :)

They both knew there was a surprise.  what it was exactly was open to speculation.  There were plenty of guesses but I like hat they believed for the better part of the ride that they were getting shots for school...

*yep, I'm THAT mean!*   It just made them all the more grateful, didn't it?!?  ;)   Their other favorite guess was great white shark fishing... haha

So, as we had been blessed with tickets to the park by my mother-in-law, all that it entailed from us financially was the gas and food (which, you have to eat anyways).  So I made a variety of sandwiches, cut up some fruit, grabbed some string cheese and other snacky goodness, tossed it all in the cooler and we were off.

The moment we pulled up to the park entrance was ~bliss~...  They were both so excited!!!   We were somewhat apprehensive that the day before Labor Day weekend had the potential to be REALLY busy...  wrong!!!  It was great!!!  There were basically no lines at all, with the exception of bumper boats, which I am not getting into.  ;)

 

I was not aware that I had two Ride Warriors on my hands.  He was a little bummed that he was that 1/2" short to go on the good rides... but they still had a blast!  

Next year they are going to experience Cedar Point... forget this "baby park"!!

 

All in all it was an amazing day and we are so thankful that we were able 

to celebrate little man's big day in style.  

our crew all wet and worn out from the water park...  

nothing better!

 

Here we go... again... again...

Okay, so here it is.  I've had the best intentions on blogging at regular intervals; I REALLY did!  Sadly, this has been on the back burner.  We've been dealing with curve balls that this lovely game of life has decided to chuck towards us at lightning fast speed... with  uncomfortable spiky bits... oh and thrown from behind while we were completely distracted... did I mention they were ablaze, as well??  (See where I'm going here??) 

We received a ever so delightful proverbial cherry on top yesterday.  My husbands company has decided that they are no longer providing services in Michigan.  Yeah, we live in Michigan.  So, with that announcement, you'd tend to think an offer to relocation would shortly follow. 

*EERRRRNNNT*

  ~that was  a buzzer for those of you that don't speak (or read) joi fluently yet at this point.~ 

Well, surely they will give clientele (and in turn employees) a fair bit of warning so that they can possibly make the appropriate arrangements and changes.  {Yeah, that was big fat negative as well.}  

No notice...  just a big fat "finish out your week; it's not you, it's us" spiel... a little pat on the bottom before kicking you down the stairs type of vibe.  

That being said.  We've been here before... in fact, in the nearly 11 years that we have been together, we have survived 3 major lay-offs...  By major, I'm talking could NOT find work for over a year (each time),  living off of ramen noodles and hot dogs, struggle to figure out which bill we could pay, which we could put off until the next unemployment check came tough.  

Yet we were still guilty of finding strength in each other and l♥ving one another the whole time through 

(well, there were a few of "those" days!)  

We lived... we know what to cut and where we can go without...  

but I'm a big pouty 4 year old stomping my foot down...

"I DON'T WANNA!!!"   

*you think if I throw myself on the floor kicking and screaming they might decide his job really IS needed?!?*

I didn't think so...

So, here we are... wondering where this change will take us...  

but I'll be here  narrating our story with 

•  heaping scoop of creativity 
• a spoonful of whit           
• a pinch of sarcasm                        

 and hopefully a whole lot of laughs and new thrifty ideas for you to gain inspiration from.

Sunburns, poison oak & ice cream sandwiches

Okay, so I have apparently failed in my attempts to be completely and totally awesome.  I mean, yes, I realize I exceed the norm in my rad quotient BUT my daily blogging, heck even weekly, bi-Saturday-ly or monthly at this point have completely gone down the drain... Boo!

My kids have been out of school for...  36 days   { yes, I AM counting }  I swore it was longer!  ... really...     They have already checked off a fair share of the normal prerequisite summer activities...

• declaring boredom on the second full day of summer vacay
• having a growth spurt, so that none of the summer clothes purchased 2 months ago could possibly fit

• promptly finding any and all poison oak on our property and hopping, crawling and rolling in it
• destroying the freshly cleaned and organized house in a matter of 27.5 minutes
• refusing to come out of the lake in a timely manner to avoid both water log and sunburn
• asking "Are we there yet?" over 100 times on our first road trip of the year... with many more to come.

It really isn't all that bad!!!  [ Truly ]  We have had a lot of fun as well.  It's just amazing how the bad (and mildly annoying) always stands in the forefront of your mind, trumping all the amazing little moments.  

• Realizing that my son's sense of humor is fantastically sarcastic and of uber quick-wit 
• My daughter's love for fashion design is taking off like a wildfire...  To the point I actually teared up!
• being able to have family game night EVERY night

  

• noticing fantastically askew spiderwebs
• ice cream sandwiches and Popsicles a plenty
• teaching them new things daily and having them actually care enough to ask questions about it
• our first REAL family road trip... which took them across the Mackinac Bridge for the first time

• Seeing three of the Great Lakes in the same day

• all the other joyous tidbits of time yet to be written 

{ CLEAR }

busy little hands

With the end of the school year rapidly approaching, I am faced with a plethora of mixed emotions. 

• I'm overjoyed to not have to wake at the crack of dawn to get the wee ones up and ready for the far too early bus ride in...
• I'm delighted with the prospect of warm days with cool breezes, listening to the rhythmic beat of the waves of Lake Huron.
• Eager to spend some amazing quality time with the hubby and munchkins. 
• and TERRIFIED that I have to continually have to find things to occupy the minds, hands and energy of two children with attention spans even shorter than.... ooohhh, GLITTER! 

I was blessed to have my creativity nurtured (and harnessed, as needed) but Super Mom (take that Martha Stewart!)  She would always come up with something to rescue my brother, Jason, and I from the throes of boredom.   When our entertainment was facing eminent danger, Super Mom would fly to the rescue with what seemed to be a never ending supply of felt, ric-rac, paint, buttons, clothes pins, chewing gum and a paper clip... all the staples of any McGyver-esque Mom's survival pack. 

I have been going through my stash of goodies... and by stash, I mean a HUGE room full... literally... I know many people exaggerate and brag up how much "stuff" they might have.  I try to down play it because I am seriously a fabric/craft hoarder...  I can use everything for something...  I can redesign this to make into that... I can't possibly let perfectly good supplies sit on the shelves of a thrift store... It is an addiction, but my goodness... I am having a blast with all the projects I've already got planned for the summer. 

Today, I went on a run with my husband, who had a large shipment of X-Ray film come in and was going to take the box to recycling...  For Shame!!!  

Large Box  +  "Bored" children + Crayons = two  bedrooms up { For Rent } in the main house...

I had planned on saving it for "one of those days" but my husband was a tad too eager to get the french doors cut on the front.  ;)

Here's to a great summer full of artsy~fartsy goodness!!!   

14.5 days left of school... 

* gasp *