Happy

I'm happy.  Like deep in your bones, glowing happy.  I'm tired because we're still not sleeping through the night.  I still can't keep up with the housework.  Work is crazy busy.  The scale has crept up significantly since I decided that leftover pumpkin pie is a nutritious breakfast.  It doesn't matter.  I'm happy anyway.

I'm happy that the house is all lit up with Christmas lights.  I love that Isabella wakes up every morning so excited to see where her elf on the shelf is.  I'm happy that we were able to host Thanksgiving and instead of it being stressful, we all pulled together to make it an amazing holiday.

I'm so happy to be in this house and to be creating memories with my little family.  I'm just so happy for all that is happening and all that is yet to come.

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$50 MasterCard Giveaway

Just in time for some post-Thanksgiving shopping deals I have an amazing giveaway for you.  One of you lucky readers can win a $50 MasterCard Gift Card, which is completely awesome because you can use it to buy almost anything, however you will be required to provide a W9 in order to receive the gift card.  I had to do it and it's no biggie.  And don't we all sort of struggle to find the perfect gift?


 Here are some tips when it comes to finding the perfect gift:

• Dining with a Top Chef? Box seats at the Super Bowl? MasterCard helps you give the gift of experience with its Priceless Cities program, which gives cardholders extraordinary experiences, exclusive offers and privileged access to culinary, shopping, sports, travel and entertainment events.
• Want to avoid the unfortunate yearly tradition of returning or re-gifting? Give your tweens or teen a SpendSmart MasterCard Prepaid card. The card will help teach how to budget and with instant text alerts, keep you connected as purchases happen.

Some tips from MasterCard in regards to holiday shopping:

• Divide and Conquer:  Don’t do everything yourself. Empower your kids to make their own gift purchases. Set budget limits by loading a MYPLASH Reloadable Prepaid card for them—it works everywhere Debit MasterCard is accepted.
• Build a Budget:  Write down how much you can afford for gifts, travel and other expenses. Use one credit or debit card for everything to help keep an accurate record. A prepaid card limits spend to the amount on the loaded on the card.

When you're traveling for the holidays

• Fuel Your Trip: Join a free loyalty program that helps save money at the gas pump. MasterCard’s partnership with Fuel Rewards Network  allows members to do just that.
• Check Your Offers: Check with your membership associations or credit cards for special travel offers. For example, World and World Elite MasterCard cardholders get valuable saving, upgrades and experiences including ‘best available price’ across all travel categories—air, private jet, cruise, chauffeured car service or rental, packaged tours and concierge.

·         Website for more information; www.priceless.com.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**I received a free gift card in exchange for hosting this fabulous giveaway**

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Thankful

So many wonderful things to be thankful for this year.  Here's a top ten to keep it short and sweet.

1.  My two little girls.  Love them both to bits.  They bring me to my breaking point daily, but they also bring me to peaks of happiness.

2.  Andy.  I couldn't do this thing called life without him.  He has my back in all things, as small as making my lunch and as big as supporting me through all the ups and downs.

3.  My house.  I always joke that this house is a money pit, and it totally is (cue $2,500 to replace the fireplace), but it's in a great neighborhood and I love that my kids have a huge backyard and a basement to play in.  I love all the holidays and memories that we are making in this house.

4.  My job.  The commute sucks.  The politics sucks.  But I love being a teacher.  That moment when a kid "gets it".  When I hear my words coming out of my student's mouth, or even better, when they take what I've taught them and put their own ideas into it.  There's nothing better than that.

5.  Weight Watchers.  I am currently down to 126 lbs.  One pound away from my pre-pregnancy weight and 6lbs away from my goal.  However I am not counting calories today so those numbers may be skewed.  It's a sin to diet on Thanksgiving.

6.  Friends who became family and family who became friends.  Christie, Meaghan, Crotch, Lara, Christina, Teresa, Ally, Monica.  I've grown in my understanding of what friendship means.  It doesn't mean spending every weekend together.  It doesn't mean talking on the phone all day long.  It means being there for each other, showing up for each other and understanding that everyone has their own lives and respecting that, but also trying to fit in the time to be present in each other's lives.  I'm happy to share my life with them and am happy to share in theirs.

7.  My mom.  That woman saves my ass on a daily basis.  She drives me nuts and I drive her nuts, but I'm sure my own daughters will pay me back in their turn.

8.  Coffee and alcohol.  'Nuff said.

9.  A disposable income.  It's not as large as it once was (see #3), but we're able to go out to dinner or take the kids out for ice cream or go see Disney on Ice on occasion.

10.  Isabella's teachers.  She loves school and I know it's because of them.

What are you thankful for?

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A Girl

My cousin Christina just found out that she's having a baby girl and I'm so excited.  She's a close friend of mine, besides being family and I think it's so awesome that her and Arya will not even be a year apart.  My cousins and I all grew up so close together and I think it's wonderful that all of our kids are close in age so they can recreate our childhood experiences, without all the bad 80's hair of course.

And I might just be biased because I was never able to shop for a boy, but shopping for little girls is just so much fun!  I love Miss Grant dresses from Strawberry Children and adorable little diaper covers and headbands with obnoxiously sized flowers on it.  I know that she'll wind up with a ton of stuff because we have the same family and I had a ton of stuff for both of my girls.  I had newborn clothes that neither one of my kids got to wear, so I'm thinking instead of just getting her the standard newborn or 0-3 outfits I can get some baby girls designer clothing range from 6 months and up.

It's so great that she's having a baby and it's also so great that I wont be the only friend in our crew to have kids.  I always feel like such a stick in the mud because I can't always meet up with them for dinner or wine, cheese, and crackers or for a stoop party.  I need like 24 hours advanced notice of anything so I can make sure I have someone to stay with the kids and that I have enough bottles to pump into.  I know that as Arya gets older it will get easier, but I really miss my friends and I'll be glad to have one on this motherhood ship with me.

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Getting Your Halls Decked

We are full effect in getting ready for Christmas over here.  We're sorting through decorations and scouting out places for our creepy, hypocritical Elf on the Shelf to hide.  It's been about a year since we've moved in.  I remember the first night that the three of us spent together in this house was Christmas Eve.  I remember rushing to just get the tree up so we could have ourselves a proper Christmas morning.  I remember feeling my baby move and kick inside me, wondering if it would be a boy or a girl.

A full year later and I can't believe how far we've come!  We've taken the money pit and turned it into a full fledged home.  There's still a lot to do though.  Our bedroom is in dire need of some TLC.  Even some cheap eyelet curtains would help bring things together.  I'm looking for something in yellow to tie in with our throw pillows.  I'd also really love to redo the floors in the family room because they're tile and they freeze my feet.  And the green carpeting in the attic needs to go, but it costs a lot of money to recarpet stairs, so we're holding off. 

My favorite part about spending the holidays in the house is the fire place.  I love how cozy it is, how homey.  When I was little I grew up in an apartment and I always wished I could have a fire place and it's so nice to see Isabella getting a chance to enjoy it.  I wrote a week or so ago about my Halloween party and how we played beer pong outside, I think it would be awesome to get a wall mounted flame effect fire type thing for the back porch to keep us warm while we're out there plus bringing in the fire place effect.  

It's been a trying year in regards to the house.  A lot of stress, a lot of money, and a lot of things breaking and/or getting struck by lightening, but I'm still happy to be raising my kids in this house.  

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