Days 22 – 25

Day 22: What’s in Your Purse?

Publix receipt, diaper wipe case that I also cram a spare diaper in, this weeks' Publix ad, emergency baby entertainment, organizer (holds my coupons and grocery lists), wallet, keys, eye drops, lip balm, ipod

You know what wasn’t in my purse Friday evening? My laptop charger so I was computer-less all weekend. I’m not going to lie, it was kind of nice!

Day 23: Favorite Movie

We've already done this topic, you can see my answer here.

Day 24: Something you've learned

I've learned lots of things in my almost 32 years but I'm guessing that the original creator of this list meant something I've learned during this challenge. On that note, I've learned that I do all my blogging when I should be working. Shhh, don't tell! :)

Day 25: Put Your iPod on shuffle, what are the 1st 10 songs

Prepare to be amazed & astounded by my musical schizophrenia!

1. The Trees - Rush

2. Love Shack - B52's

3. Until It Sleeps - Metallica

4. Jackson - Johnny Cash

5. Hazy Shade of Winter - The Bangles

6. Dirrty - Christina Aguilera

7. Stars In Heaven - Jack Johnson

8. Hurt - Nine Inch Nails

9. Hair of the Dog - Nazareth

10. Rollout - Ludacris

Day 21: Favorite Picture of yourself ALL TIME Why?

I'm not sure what it is about this picture that I love so much. My eye makeup is smeary from crying and sweating like a pig, maybe it's the smirky look on my face. Either way this is not my favorite pic of me, it's also one of my favorite wedding pictures.

Day 20: Nicknames

Before I tell you about my nicknames, I want to tell you about an anonymous comment I received yesterday {it was really rude and didn't make the cut so you won't see it if you go looking} asking me if I "seriously named my child Sassy, what a terrible name". For starters, what if I did?? Are you so superior that you dare judge what I name my child? There are people out there naming their kids all sorts of stupid names, Sassy is hardly the worst I've ever heard. But NO, that is not her real name. I call her Sassy or Sassy Pants because she's just that, she's had a spunky little attitude since before she was even born {rumor has it she gets it from her Momma}.

 

Now onto my nicknames...


Junebug - my Mom has always called me Junebug {I've always assumed it's because I was born in June but have never actually asked}

Dooley - my brother couldn't say Julie when he was little, he called me Dooley

Julie-Poolie -I got this a lot several years ago, no idea where this one came from but thankfully it seems to have stopped.

Jules - I'd say this is one that everyone named Julie gets called, I've even had people who don't know me very well call me Jules.

Day 19: Something you miss

Naps – I’ve always been a sleeper. My mom has always said I was the best baby because I was such a good sleeper. And in turn, I’ve said the same thing about Sassy Pants; she started sleeping through the night at 4 weeks old.

Before I was a Momma, I had a fairly regular weekend habit of laying on the couch snuggled with one of our mutts and taking a nap. That hasn’t happened in quite some time now – 8 months to be exact.

Sassy Pants good napper too but somehow I’ve not been able to get in on naptime.

When I try to get her to nap with me, she’d much rather pull my hair, necklace, clothing, you name it, or show me her new trick of sitting up then falling backwards (which she finds hilarious), or practice her back-bends. But 5 minutes on the couch with Daddy and it’s lights out {for both of them}!

And of course, after they’re both asleep I think about all the stuff I should be doing and there’s no nap for Momma. 

As much as I don’t want to rush Sassy’s growing up, I’m really looking forward to the Saturday when she can get up, get herself some Cheerio’s , and entertain herself so that I can at least sleep until 8:30 – later would be great but right now an extra 2 hours sleep on Saturday morning would suit me just fine!

Dear Walmart,

That's right, I'm calling you out by name. There are a lot of reasons I could spout off complaints about you but today we're going to focus on a pretty simple one: The Re-Usable Grocery Bag {and your attitude towards them}

Now, I'm not a tree-hugging hippie who thinks plastic bags should be outlawed across the board. I find them easier to lug into the house since they have long straps, they hold a heckuva lot more than those plastic bags, the couple of insulated ones I have keep my cold stuff cold when it's 1000 degrees in my car, and they don't rip, spewing my purchases all over the parking lot halfway to the car (unlike your cheap plastic bags that rip if you look at them the wrong way). And most importantly, I can use them repeatedly and I don't have all those plastic bags to figure out what to do with.

One would assume that since you sell them that you'd encourage your customers to use them - why else would they buy them?? But every time I get to the checkout line and tell the cashier that I have my own bags; I get attitude, eye-rolling, and more than once I've been told that I'd have to bag my own groceries if I was using "them bags". What's the problem? Is it because none of my bags actually came from Wal-Mart? Publix had them first, so that's where I purchased my first few. I have a couple of others that came from various trade shows, charity races, and freebies from places using them as promos. By the time you guys jumped in on the reusable bag bandwagon I was stocked up. I don't get any flack from other stores when I give them my reusable bags that do not have their name on them. I've even had a few ask where I got a few of my awesomely big insulated bags (they're from freebies from a trade show). Is it that every check-out line I've gone through in my many shopping trips have been manned by reusable bag hating, bad attitude having, Wal-Mart employees (yeah, I guess that is possible)?

Maybe I should be happy to bag my own groceries; I don't smash my bread, stick boxes on top of tomatoes, or put toilet cleaner in the same bag as the cheese.

Day 18: Favorite Place to Eat

JB's Smokeshack.

I've mentioned before that I LOVE me some BBQ and this place has the.best.ever. JB's is located on Johns Island, SC about 45 minutes from where we live but we make the drive as often as possible. Getting there is never the problem, its the LONG drive back with a full belly that's tough!

Just like the name says, it's a shack.



It's a small place where you'll likely find yourself sharing a table with strangers, don't worry bbq lovers are all generally very nice people to chat with.



The bbq is to.die.for.


The mac & cheese, awesome.

Cucumber & tomato salad, potato salad, & corn muffins...yes, please!

They also cater - the last 3 pics in this post are from our wedding. Not only did we have delicious food that we loved at our wedding, it was affordable. We fed 60ish people for around $700 and had tons left over (seriously, we ate bbq for the next week).

Day 16 - Dream House

It would be on the side of a mountain in the Blue Ridge Mountains

I love wood and rock exteriors and check out that awesome rounded porch on both levels!

2008 Golf Magazine Dream House

A pool is a must - I love these that look like natural springs.  I think I'd want to go with a bit more of a blue water look it doesn't look like you can see the bottom of this pool and that would freak me out. I'm not a fan of swimming in natural bodies of water (aka water I can't see the bottom of) due to my fear of snakes.

Inside I'd have a kick-ass shower that could blast the paint off a car 

A library full of books and comfy places to read

An awesome kitchen to make all my friends jealous since I don't cook (of course I suppose dream houses could come with personal chefs - since we're dreaming)

And a sassy playroom for Miss Sassy Pants

Day 15 - Last 5 Pictures Taken With Your Phone

Ah, cell phone pics. I don't know how we ever functioned as a society without all this wonderful technology! How else would I send a pic of the thing I want my husband to buy at Walmart on his way home, or complain about the neighbors and their "Clampette-esque" habits, or snap cute pictures of Sassy when she's doing something cute and the good camera is in the other room??

It looks like he's biting her but they were taking turns growling at each other and she was cracking up.

This is the empty house next door to us - the guy across the street keeps piling stacks of tires in front of the door and I complain to the HOA on pretty much a daily basis about it. It looks so trashy!

Playing with a new "fish eye" app on my phone. We drink a lot of Dr. Pepper!

Sassy's first time on the living room floor - she loved slapping the floor like bongos. We were hoping she'd crawl but instead she spun around like a little break dancer and beat the crap out of the floors.

Baby Cage - so we don't have to worry about her getting trampled by dogs if she's in the living room floor. 

Day 14: A picture of you last year - how have you changed?

6.29.10 - cell phone pic (blackberrys have the worst cameras!)
Cody loved to lay his head on my belly when I was pregnant. We sat on the couch like this pretty much every night after I got home from work. My husband was convinced he could hear her moving around in there.

Well, let's start with the obvious - I'm not 6 months pregnant, I no longer have the option of  falling asleep while still mostly upright on the couch, and I never get to cuddle with the dogs anymore.

But now I'm a Momma to the cutest little 8 month old there is and that's total awesome-sauce! {I guess technically I was a Momma in this picture too but I certainly didn't feel like one} I have an adorable little girl who is always excited to see me when I get home. Who makes me laugh every single day. Who's growing up way too fast.

Day 13: Goals

Here’s a mish-mash of some of my goals, some of them will take longer to achieve than others...

• Make a living doing something I actually like and care about

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• Build up a healthy savings account so #1 might actually be possible
• Grocery Shop on a weekly basis {I’m a every couple of days shopper and I know I spend way more $ because of this}
• Become one of those crazy coupon ladies who gets a cart full of groceries for $20

• Wash, dry, fold, and put away laundry all in the same day {I loathe laundry folding}

• Take a mother/daughter class with Miss Sassy Pants when she’s older; be it dance, art, theatre, whatever…just something we can do together.

Day 12: Something you don't leave the house without

My phone

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{I saw the list below posted by a friend on Facebook - no idea where it actually originated}

without my cell phone i wouldn't:
1. know what time it is
2. be able to solve a math equation
3. know a single phone number
4. know the date
5. be able to text my friend when i'm at their house
6. take a snap shot at a picture perfect time
7. be able to wake up from an alarm in the morning
8. find my way in the dark
basically, i wouldn't be able to live.

Day 11: Favorite tv shows

True Blood

{warning: this clip has blood & guts but it's my absolute favorite scene)

Dexter

Vampire Diaries

Day 10 - Something You're Afraid Of

Snakes - I can't even see one on tv or in a picture without getting the willies. This guy doesn't scare me though...

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Day 9: A favorite picture of you & your best friend

This is me and my BFF Carrie circa 1996. We would hit these photo-booths every time we saw one back then, we must have spent $100's on those little strips of pictures! Here are a few of my favorites

Day 8 – A Place You’ve Traveled To

Prague – when I was 10 the dance group that I was in traveled to Prague for a performance one summer. I’d really like to go there again now that I’m old enough to appreciate it (and take pictures, when you’re 10 that’s not a top priority!)

Prague Bridges by upperclasslemon via Flickr

Day 7 – Favorite Movies

Here’s my All Time Top 5 “Desert Island” list

Gone With The Wind (it’s possible I have this whole 4 hour movie memorized)

La Vita e Bella - Life is Beautiful - seriously one of the most touching stories EVER

Shawshank Redemption

The Proposal {because A. Betty White is hilar B. Ryan Reynolds is HOT and C. the scene in the woods with Sandra & Betty makes me laugh so hard I almost pee my pants every time I see it}

Love Actually

Day 6 – A Picture of Something That Makes You Happy

Easy-Peasy, I mean seriously how cute are these two?!?

Day 5 – A Song to Match Your Mood

Lately, I’ve been feeling stressed and whenever I’m feeling overwhelmed and stressed out I tend to listen to Nine Inch Nails’ album Pretty Hate Machine. I probably listened to this cd a zillion times in high school, it was the theme music to my teenage-angst.

The lyrics themselves may not fit 100% but bits and pieces of them do like this:

And all the world's weight is on my back and i don't even know why.
And what i used to think was me is just a fading memory.

This is the part of momma-hood I’ve struggled with since pretty much the instant I found out I was pregnant…who am I going to end up being, will I like her? 

Day 4 – Your Parents

I’m going to blame them for my falling off the 30-day challenge wagon so quickly. My mom came to town on Sunday and my regularly scheduled life has been paused ever since. And THEN, Blogger was down for a day and a half so I’m even later getting this posted!

I’m not going to go into a long speil about how awesome my parents are, there’s already an ode to my momma here and I’ll just say that my step-dad has been more of a father to me than the real one {and in my opinion that says a lot about a dude}he gave me away at my wedding while my real dad sat in the audience (is that the right word?) with everyone else.