When blogging falls short...

Obvs I'm referring to when blogging falls short

in comparison to my Instagram obsession...

whew...girlfriend needs a 12 step program!! Yikes!

I haven't even read any blogs, much less attempted to write 

a post in atleast 2 weeks, maybe 3. The last time I sat down to write a post

was the day of the SandyHook massacre. I just sat

there reading posts that people had so eloquently written

and I just couldn't put any words together.

I've always said the blogs I most enjoy and admire are

the blogs that are written with gut-wrenching and

no-holds-barred honesty...but turns out that

reading those blogs and writing one of those blogs are two

totally different things.  For 1 in takes much more thought and 

blatant talent but for 2, you have to consider the fact that

any Yahoo you work with might read your blog and all your

blogging business....not cool.

But anyways, the holidays are over, 

(THANK YOU GOD-I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER)

and I'm ready to get on with the new year.

I was already feeling scrooge-tastic heading into the holiday

season and then Christmas turned into a nightmare.

(oh yes....second year in a row) 

So while I grumble under my breath looking at everyone's

posts with their idyllic Christmas trees and family

festivities I try to remind myself not to compare my

behind the scenes with everyone else's highlight reels...

Words to live by....

I saw that on Instagram, go figure.

So here's my uber lame attempt at catching up...

I'm going to go the route of posting random pictures with 

brief explanations below them.

Bonfires at mom and dad's

Playing with goats at Kelly's

Halloween!

I really don't care much about Halloween, but I 

do love to dress up and I'm down for any opportunity to

wear a wig!!!

Annual Halloween Wig-out at work

Such a great turn-out!!

I attended a co-workers baby shower where we

donned moustaches of course!!!

These make me laugh so hard...

Alicia...your moustache is falling off...

Charlie Chapman??

Welcome James Jr.!!

Thanksgiving was at my sisters house this year....

Roy and I went to his cousins house initially but then I left

and headed to my sisters to spend the rest of the day with 

my mom & dad.  It was just the four of us which seemed

strange, but we made the best of it and managed to

get some family pictures.

Note to future self: do not wear billowy blouse to family photos...

 My favorite shot of the day

I ate pizza with friends....

I've been watching a lot of The Walking Dead lately, and

Alicia frighteningly resembles one of the zombies in this picture...

 Post-work breakfast at McDonalds with Rach

Roy turned 31...

pardon me while I freak out cause I still can't get 

over the fact that he's 31 and I'm 28!!!

I went to first fridays where I found a helpful little

kitten who kindly held my coffee for me...

Roy even said I could keep him,

but alas he was $5 so he got left behind...

sorry kitty!

I celebrated with Alicia for her 30th birthday....

we failed to get a decent picture...Rachael you're reminding

me of a turtle pulling into his shell in this picture...

we sampled the whipped cream off of fancy martinis

I don't even know what was happening here...

but I love it!!!

Alicia the rat

I swear we weren't trashed, don't let the bloodshot 

eyes fool you!

Christmas Shopping at the legends with mom & Kelly

And the few pictures I took at Christmas were from
Christmas Eve at my  Uncles House. I had to work Christmas Eve
so I was dressed in my AMAZING ugly sweater...

what you can't tell from this picture is the fact that it had bells

all over it that jingled when I walked---perfect!!

Kelly & I

Cousins!!

Sarah, Brianna, myself and Kelly

So that was my lame catch-up post.

I'm going to try to do a post revisiting my New Years resolutions from 

last year, however after some examination I'll probably

realize that I fell short of most of my goals...Eeek!

Oh well, theres always 2013!!

Busy Days...where does the time go??

These spring days are flying by!! How is it already April??
As of late my days are filled with....

• Working...extra shifts will be the death of me I'm certain...  

 

• Family time...I had to work on Easter Sunday, so our family celebrated on Saturday. My parents, my sister and her friend Jackson came over and we grilled out.  It was pretty laid-back, but fun none-the-less.  I was lame and took absolutely no pictures...fail.  The weekend before I went over to my friend Lillie's house for an Easter BBQ...it's always so good to spend time with old friends.  Holidays like Easter and Christmas always leave me thinking about the traditions that I will one day want to have with my own family...I find myself already overwhelmed by the responsibility of having children and teaching them the importance and magnitude of days like Resurrection Sunday. I know I have plenty of time to figure these things out and there will lots of learning along the way, but I just want my kids to know the real reasons we celebrate these holidays....I of coarse want their memories to be fond ones filled with fun-times...but it's even more important to me that they know it's not about bunnies in baskets or brightly colored eggs.  How do you find the balance thats right for your family?? I'm sure when that time comes, there will be lots of praying and seeking done on my part!

                                                             

• House cleaning and sprucing up for spring....well, let's be honest...I'm barely keeping my head above water in the house wife category.                                                                                       Roy is back to work, so I've lost my live-in 'Man-Maid'....oh, hello laundry piles and dirty dishes...I so didn't miss you  :(  But what is it about the spring that makes you want to re-landscape your entire yard, while washing all your windows and redecorating your entire house? Maybe it's because the spring always seems like such a fresh start...but, unfortunatly for me... we're trying hard to reign in any extra spending these days so we can pay off some bills, so for now, I will just have to drool over pictures of beautifully landscaped yards and decorated homes.

• Sewing!!  I'm loving sewing even more than I thought I would...unfortunately most of my projects so far are for my best friend who also happens to be my only blog reader :) Hence I will not be posting many pictures of my masterpieces until later...

•  Cooking dinner and packing lunches...something I've never been too great at.  But it turns out that when you're trying to save money, cooking and packing your (and your husbands) lunches becomes part of the deal.  Doesn't sound like too big of a burden, but when I get home from work at 8 in the morning the last thing I feel like doing is putting together some semblance of a decent lunch for Roy.  Alas, I will push-on!!

• This is off the subject....but have you seen the new FOX comedy 'New Girl' with Zooey Deschanel?  It's hilarious...and I'm a tough crowd when it comes to comedies.....but  I don't go a single episode without seriously cracking up and several episodes have had me to the point if tears. Not sure what strikes a chord with me, it's just quirky and often inappropriate in the most hilarious of ways....watch it!! 

• Shower Planning!! As previous mentioned a zillion times already, my best friend Rachael is having a baby in June!! Myself and our friend Alicia are throwing her a shower for all of our co-workers in May. I'm being a psycho and unnecessarily stressing out and putting way too much pressure on myself...but I just want her day to be everything that she deserves!!  At first I just had a bunch of jumbled ideas, but no real plans, but as the weeks have gone on we've gotten a pretty good idea of what the party will be like. I'm feeling slightly less stressed and much more excited.  Part of what has me stressed is just the fact that it's going to be held at my house. I've never had a big party at our house!!  I feel WAY pressured to have our home looking perfect...which is just ridiculous and is NOT going to happen. I should just get over it...No, Beth, we are not going to be buying new living room furniture and painting the house for Rachae'ls shower!! Sheesh...I really think I need some Xanax sometimes!!  I'll try to keep the blog updated on my progress without revealing too many details!

St. Paddy's Day weekend and baby shower fun

Happy Belated St. Patrick's Day!

I'm about 1/64th Irish so I'm totally

validated in wearing green and speaking

in an Irish accent, right??

Actually....in all honesty

I could kind of care less about

St. Patrick's day...I'm not one for

the bar scene...

or beer in general...

but I am a fan of dying your food green

and Corned Beef & Cabbage.

So, In celebration of corned beef & cabbage

I invited my parents and sister over for dinner

Saturday evening. 

My mom volunteered to cook the meat...

Thank God, cause the first and only time I tried

to make corned beef it turned into some semblance

of charred jerky.

It was such a beautiful evening

so we had dinner out on the deck and the

food turned out delicious. I had hoped we could

play some games and hang out awhile after dinner,

but my parents scattered like roaches when the 

clock struck 6:45 pm...wah

oh the trials & tribulations of having old fogey parents

that live in tim-buk-tu....nobody ever wants

to stick around into the evening.  Ohwelll

I didn't take any pictures of dinner..oops.

Today I had fun plans to go shopping

with Rachael and to attend a work friends

baby shower. 

It's so fun to see your friends going through

these amazing stages of life...watching

them and their families change.

Having worked at my job for almost 5 years I've

seen plenty of girls get engaged, married and

start having babies.

I work with such generous people who do a

really great job of showering new mommys with

lots of gifts, despite the overwhelming amount

of pregnant women we work with.

This shower was for a sweet girl, Michaela who

Rachael knew previous to her working with us.

She is such a kind-hearted and caring person.

They are having a little boy that they're naming Jonah.

She'll be an amazing mama and I can't

wait to see this little guy!!

Here's a few pictures from the partay...

Rachel, Aja and Laura holding Laura's twins

Ava and Jackson. 

Aja is holding sweet baby Claire who is 

only 6 weeks old!

Beautiful mommies-to-be!

Rachael and Jenna.

The guest of honor, Michaela!

She looks so great!

I insisted on 'fluffing' my hair prior

to taking this picture...

in the future I think additional fluffing

of my fro will be avoided..eeek

Belly comparison...

Rach still has a ways to go!!

The three bump-eteers!!

(corny-ness is a struggle for me...I apologize)

Rach and I.

Again, I just had to show baby girl some

attention with a little rub..

Can. Not. Wait. for this little one!!

And BONUS...

I found a super-cute pair of skinny

jeans and even a cute pair of shorts

(which is a miracle in itself)

at The Gap today!!

Yay for 30% off coupons and jeans

that fit!!

Summer, you are officially welcome 

to make your appearance!

Overall a great weekend!

A Very Maney Christmas 2011

Ahhh....

Christmas has come and gone once again.

Usually I feel a sense of post-Christmas let down...

can't really say that I'm minding this year.

This was the first (and maybe last) annual Christmas at the Maneys.
Ok, Ok that may be a little dramatic..

Overall, things went well...

Of course we had our fair share of family drama...

but I suppose that's sometimes just unavoidable.

Hopefully the next 363 days will be long enough for me to 

forget about it...kind of like forgetting about the

pains of childbirth!!

Anyhoo..I'll go ahead give myself props for pulling it off.

The menu turned out great...there was more than

enough food and drinks to go around.

Everyone said the house looked pretty,

(not that they would tell me if it didn't...) and we 

got to have several family members over that hadn't been

to our house since we'd moved in.

Christmas Eve we stuck to our annual

tradition of heading over to my Aunt and Uncles house

to have Christmas with them..

I was really excited that we got to spend some

time with both of my cousins. There's only 

4 of us girls that are first cousins, and it's really

a shame that we don't see each other more often..

Kelly and I have made a pact to try and 

be better about staying in touch and reaching out..

Someday we'll be the ones organizing these

things-so we need to stick together!!

Here's a few pictures from Christmas Eve..

Kelly, mom, Ladonna, Uncle Steve and Sarah

pullin' out the old family photos...

Kel

My nuclear family

Undersheriff Jackson

Cousin Brianna...

15 years old and standing 5'10"!!

Uncle Steve and Aunt Barbara

Sisters....

I think we can finally settle the debate on who's

head is bigger....

Christmas Eve night

Mom, Dad and my Uncle Jeff all decided

to stay the night at our house instead of

driving back to Mound City.

Who wants to drive an hour only to turn

around and come back in the morning??

Better yet, who wants to live in

Mound City??

This remains a mystery....

Christmas morning we woke up and I

got busy working on breakfast.

Fortunately, I was able to prepare

most of my dishes in advance-so all I

really had to do was pop everything in the oven..

sometimes it really pays to be Type A..

The Christmas breakfast table!

You never think when you're buying your 

first dining table that you will ever need

anything that seats more than six people...

and then you host Christmas...

After breakfast we opened presents and then

spent the afternoon snacking, visiting and

watching movies while waiting until

it was time to eat again!

Passing out gifts

Clark Griswold in the flesh..

I do believe someone was about to be assaulted

with a shovel...

Dinner is served!!

And now, because I can...

some self indulgent pictures of my

favorite Christmas decorations and 

the tree I worked so hard on...

My little tree with nursing ornaments

...cheesy, right? I just can't help myself..

Our tree!

Definitely the most 'grown up' tree we've

ever had and quite the labor of love...

One of my new favorite ornaments...

my best friend made me this sweet 

ornament with a little gold "R" 

on it for my Grammy.

I will treasure this forever!

Hope you all had a blessed Christmas

with your families and friends!!