Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Christmas break {Christmas Movie list}

 Well we made it to Christmas Break. We survived our first (technically second semester of remote learning). While we are so thankful for the break. We are definitely apprehensive about the next school year. I can't wait to go back to normal. Not this new weird normal. 

So to bring some joy into the equation here we've been binge watching Christmas movies non-stop.

I've put together a list of our favorites must see every year with some newer ones or even ones you have forgotten about. 

Feel free to comment with your favorite Christmas Movie.


Classic Christmas Movies:

1} Home Alone

2} Home Alone 2

3}  Santa Clause

4} Santa Clause 2

5} Elf

6} A Christmas Story

7} A Christmas Carol (George C. Scott version is the best)

8}It's a Wonderful Life (we watch it every Christmas Eve)

9} Miracle on 34th Street

10} White Christmas

Honorable Mentions:

11} Four Christmases

                                                                    12} Bad Moms Christmas 

 

Christmas Movies you may have forgotten about:

1} Jingle all the way

 2} Jack Frost

 3}  I'll be home for Christmas

4} Christmas with the Kranks 

5} National Lampoon's Christmas vacation 

 


 

HULU/NETFLIX/Amazon/ Disney + worth watching:

1} Borrowed Hearts

2}  Holidate

3} The Holiday Calender

4} Noelle

5} Holiday In the Wild

6}Jingle Jangle

7} The Knight before Christmas

 

 











 

 

 

 

 


 

 


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Tuesday, December 8, 2020

Leopard in the Fall

Look at me back again. I honestly am on a roll. I'm just getting organized! Do you ever get like that? Where you just can't take the mess anymore. You put on your loud music, have some kind of caffeine and just check those things off your list. Remote learning and remote working has made it more of a challenge. That's for sure. But I'm definitely feeling it today and this week. We've almost been in Colorado for a whole year now and I just want to finish the things that I've started. This is mainly due in part to all my Christmas decorations still sitting all over the floor. I think I am definitely over thinking things. It's hard when you are in a new house and you have to find new places for things. Things get lost or broken in the move, your style changes. There are certain things I look forward to when you retire and are in one place. 

With that said I'm going to get back to it.
I will leave you with this outfit of the day. 

Be on the look out for more ...Because I have a lot up my sleeve. 










 

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Monday, December 7, 2020

Just another fashion post

 There are 24 days left of 2020. It really feels like the longest year. I feel like I went through the stages of grief or something. It's insane how much life has happened just in the last 9 months. 9 MONTHS!!! It's like we went into a chaotic cocoon of transformation. Wow that was really cheesy but you get the point. 

What have you done? Do you feel you have accomplished anything? I really was hopeful for 2020. I'm sure we all were. I can't tell you how many times I heard people say "2020 is going to be my year". I hope you still made the best of it. I hope you figured things out about yourself. 


I'm hoping to finish off this year well. I hope you are too! By the way this isn't a New Years post.. Even though it sounds like it. I'm just rambling at this point. 

Cheers!






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Wednesday, November 4, 2020

Days of Thankfulness

 Well today is a crazy day isn't it! We are living in the twilight zone people. I can't even with this year. It's almost over but it doesn't make me excited for next year. Then I took a double take at the date and realized it's been a whole month since I posted anything. 

 

Oops! 

 

It's been like this so much this year. It hasn't been a priority. I'm trying to fit all these things in and then something ends up falling through the cracks. Since it's November now I wanted to make a list of all the things good and positive this year. A few of the things I'm thankful for. 

 

1} The family and I moved to a new place. Throw a pandemic in there and we have had tons more time together. 

2} We saved enough money for my new car! {Also a result of the pandemic}You can find that post here.

 

3} I wrote 5 songs this year and recorded two of them. { "Waves" is out now available on all streaming platforms.}


4} Found a great church with lots of awesome new friends pretty quickly. 


5} I now have an office/studio space in our new house. Super excited for the progress I'm making with it.

 

 






 


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Thursday, September 24, 2020

Real Talk: {Toxic Relationships}

 


 

This year or maybe even a little longer has been the year of self reflection for a lot. We are stuck inside with our thoughts, our feelings. The worst parts or the best parts of ourselves are showing. I've been wanting to address this topic for awhile now. I feel like it's a common topic that people don't really talk about. I've been gathering my thoughts on it. I've been reevaluating past relationships/friendships and current ones.  I'm no stranger to toxic people. I'm sure you aren't either. Sometimes it's so abundantly clear that its toxic and you don't want to, or don't know how to get away from it. Or sometimes it's a sneaky little devil. Something doesn't sit well with you but you ignore it, or you can't put your finger on it. 

It's something that I feel like I have dealt with it a lot in my past. I don't think we are equipped as a young person to develop healthy boundaries. To speak up when we our feelings are hurt, when we are offended etc. Then we just grow into those bad habits. We allow people to cross the boundaries and it ends up being a vicious cycle. I can admit that in some of my own cases I initiated relationships or friendships for some other reasons maybe to put a band-aid on some old hurt. I also can admit I allowed others to overstay their welcome in my life. Because I was glutton for punishment. Or maybe I was trying to prove something to that one person or to myself. I'm not sure. 

I dove into research. Self help books, The bible, Church sermons. I wanted to know what the bible said not necessarily what the world said about distancing yourself from toxic relationships. I thought there had to be a marriage between the two. It can't be so black and white. "Love all people, forgive all people" doesn't mean allowing them to be in your life. It doesn't mean allow them to continue the pain, abuse, control, the manipulation. No matter who they are.  I'm not a big fan on confrontation. But I do believe in addressing things with a person and allowing them the chance to change. If they don't its on them its no longer on your shoulders.

 I've had several relationships that are toxic, or unhealthy. You don't see it in the beginning or even your own true intentions of starting that relationship. If it was started base on the wrong thing it will eventually grow into a toxic relationship. I had to walk away from several. Maybe it wasn't a healthy situation for both sides and someone needed to be the one to pull the plug. It brought out bad feelings on both sides. Friendships/relationships shouldn't leave you feeling like that at the end of the day. They should lift you up, support you, encourage you, be your own cheerleader. They shouldn't criticize you or tear you down under the guise of love or something else. It shouldn't be an unspoken competition to see who is better. It shouldn't be not telling true feelings or confronting an issue for fear of an argument or backlash or some other consequences.

With all that said I've accumulated a lot of different information on toxic relationships/friendships. How to spot them, how to work through them etc.  It's never that easy to just walk away. But your life will be the better for it and maybe even their life.

 

 Harbor Church "Toxic Series"

 

"When Toxic relationships go unchecked it can imprison our future" 

1: Relationships where only one person is in control. {Is my opinion valued? Do I feel like I can never do anything right?}

2: Relationships based on manipulation. {Is this person taking advantage of me?}

3: Relationships based on lies. {Can I trust this person? Or do they have a pattern of deceitfulness?}

4: Relationships where one person always puts their needs first. {They are selfish}


 

"Red Flags" from Top Buzz Blog  

5: "Conditional friendship. We’re friends until I question you in the slightest way, and if I do, the relationship is tanked."

6:"Inability or unwillingness to apologize when they do something wrong. It’s symptomatic of an ego issue that will eventually infect every aspect of your friendship."

7:"Continually feeling like you want to say something but should hold your tongue."

 



What does the bible say ? - Beliefnet.com

When faced with toxic people.

"Ending these types of relationships can be very scary, and the person is likely to erupt in anger. Trust God to help you recognize when a relationship is becoming detrimental to your business, your spirituality, or the health of your family life. Further trust Him to give you the courage to end the relationship, and to give you thick enough skin to take the criticism that you may face for ending the relationship.

God actually warns us of the many different types of toxic people we might encounter in our daily lives.

Some people we are to avoid friendship with include: the violent man (Proverbs 16:29, Proverbs 1:10-12), the wicked man (Proverbs 12:26, Proverbs 4:14-17), the gossip (Proverbs 16:28), the perverse (Proverbs 16:30), those who engage in deeds of darkness (Ephesians 5:11, Proverbs 2:12), the thief (Proverbs 1:10-19), and the adulterous woman (Proverbs 2:16-19). Furthermore, 2 Timothy 3:1-5 tells us we should not be friends with lovers of self, lovers of money, the proud, the abusive, those disobedient to parents, the ungrateful, the heartless, lovers of pleasure, etc.


"We are likely to be faced with a toxic relationship sometime in our lives. This might be someone very close to us, like our own parent, or someone in leadership such as a boss. Whatever you face, understand that these relationships are not a blessing from the Lord. When the devil wants to tear you down, he will send people to do so. Learn that these types of behaviors are not healthy, and do what is necessary to remove yourself from the situation."

 

Psalm 147:3 tells us that God "heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." Only God's healing power can truly restore peace to a broken or traumatized heart. As much as we wish that the toxic person would apologize, there are many times where that simply won't happen. Only God will be able to truly heal us where we are broken.  

 

______________________________________________________

 

Quotes from "Unglued" by Lysa Terkeurst

 


“Forgiveness is mandatory; reconciliation is optional.”
Lysa TerKeurst, Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions

 

"My job isn't to fix this person or make them see my side of things. My job is to obey God by offering an extension of the forgiveness I've been given. But I can also stay healthy in this situation by remembering forgiveness doesn't mean giving this person access in my life that sets me up for destructive patterns." Lysa TerKeurst, Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions

 

“Saying “I’m fine” to keep the peace, when we’re really not fine, isn’t honest. It may seem godly in the moment, but it’s false godliness. Truth and godliness always walk hand in hand. The minute we divorce one from the other, we stray from soul integrity and give a foothold to the instability that inevitably leads to coming unglued.”
Lysa TerKeurst, Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions  

 

“When we have the same thought again, the line of the original thought is deepened, causing what's called a memory trace. With each repetition the trace goes deeper and deeper, forming and embedding a pattern of thought. When an emotion is tied to this thought pattern, the memory trace grows exponentially stronger.”
Lysa TerKeurst, Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions 

 

“But it is a rare and beautiful thing when we choose to offer love in situations when most people would choose to scorn or ignore.”
Lysa TerKeurst, Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions 

 

“Friendships are like plowed open fields ready for growth. What we plant is what will grow. If we plant seeds of reassurance, blessing, and love, we reap a great harvest of security. Of course, if we plant seeds of backbiting, questioning, and doubt, we reap a great harvest of insecurity.”
Lysa TerKeurst, Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions  
 
 

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Friday, September 18, 2020

Old Soul

 Fall is in the air. It's starting to cool down here. The snow isn't too far behind. I see some leaves start to accumulate on the ground. I'm starting to miss a New England Fall a little bit. Nothing beats New England in the Fall. The rich colors within the trees. The apple picking, and all the apple and pumpkin recipes. I got my favorite Fall/Winter Drink mix in the mail. I'm seriously contemplating bringing all my Fall decorations out and going to town! 

I must restrain myself. I have one more week until the kids go back to school in person. Then I think I shall take my sweet time and enjoy the creativity, the alone time. I'm finding joy in the slowdown. The blissful contentment in taking time to create something. UNINTERRUPTED.

I'm a firm believer in having Mommy breaks. A few hours, a couple days to yourself to make sure you are rested, filled up again. I thrive on it. I'm looking forward to some of that soon. 

Also excited to see what I come up with during that time. 



In the meantime. Let's get into Fall! 

What's your favorite Fall tradition?











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Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Falling or Flying {Remote Learning Update}

 

 

I had a moment. Literally just a moment to sneak in here and tell you how insane remote learning is. I'm basically going back to Kindergarten. I'm so thankful for the teachers and the schools for being so flexible, patient and understanding of how our kids are doing during this. We only are set to do it for the first month. I'm hoping and praying they do not extend it ..because... honestly. I'm dying! I'm not ashamed to say that this is the absolute worst. My kid is not the sit down and listen type. At least not in this setting. I literally have to sit next to him all day long to make sure he learns something from his teacher. 

Every day I'm just so thankful to survive the day. I know all the schools are doing things differently. How are you doing things? Are you in person learning? Strictly remote learning? How are you surviving?

On a side note when you are stuck at home doing remote learning you might as well be comfy and cute. These pants are by far my favorite. I have collected 3 different colors new and they are all perfect for fall. They are so versatile. Clearly, because you guys have seen them multiple times. Whats your favorite color to wear for fall?








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Thursday, August 20, 2020

Back to {HOME} School

 We are in full swing of back to school stuff here. I really hate the unknown! Which I'm sure you can understand fully how terrible 2020 has been on my brain. I like to have all the information so I can make informed decisions. But It's really no different than being a military wife. Over a decade of being an army wife has prepared me for this pandemic!... Kinda...

 All the schools are doing things so differently. Even here all the counties are doing things differently. We were told later then everyone else that we will be doing remote learning for the first month then they will reevaluate. That answer doesn't help. Another month of the unknown. We literally have been mastering this "one day at a time" mentality. 

I haven't bought any back to school clothes. I attempted to buy "supplies" after a list was posted. Then this morning got a new list and didn't need a good chunk of the supplies. I know its frustrating for everyone across the country. It just feels so aggravating. So I think I'm just going to not do anything until the last minute. The perfect time to showcase my procrastination skills. Another thing I am really good at!


In the mean time while I get my end of summer and fall/winter act together enjoy the last few summer looks in the next few days/weeks! 










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