Christmas is more than toys...

For all of my upbringing, I looked forward to Christmas Day. The month before looking at the toy ads and circling things I "wanted" and then as a teen loving the gift cards and clothes I would receive just to return to my previous ungrateful child-self within a few days after the holiday was over. All my parents efforts always seemed to go unnoticed by me because once school was back in session I would just compare what I got to my friends and think how I was so underprivileged. Guess what, it wasn't that bad. My parents did best they could and now looking back I was a total a-hole. So, sorry Mom & Dad, I sucked, as a teen especially.(But, just so you know I turned out okay, I am almost 30 and I finally "got it" in the last few years) Don't get me wrong, my parents and I didn't really see eye to eye on much since about age of 14 but I do know one thing, no matter how much I made them angry and they made me angry, they loved me and every Christmas put themselves into debt for next 6 months just to please my sister and myself.

Since I have met my husband I have done a lot of "soul searching." I am far from perfect by any means, but I want more for my kids and I want them to learn things that took me a lot longer to learn.  Now, the realization that I can try but cannot force them to get what I am trying to teach is there in the back of my head but nonetheless, I am going to try.

With Christmas around the corner this year my wonderful hubby and I have had many discussions on what Christmas is about. We have come to the conclusion that our children think its about presents and well, I don't agree. Erin, being only 2, this is our chance to get it right and start some new traditions and teach our older children a thing or two. Now on top of it, my dad hasn't worked in 3 years and my mom just lost her job, so they don't need to buy any gifts this year.  We decided between my sister and I, with 10 grandchildren that there would be no need for gifts except to buy for your own children and that is it. We had the kids draw the kids names out of a hat and each child will be making a gift for one of the other kids. They all have been told about no gifts and seem to understand but we will see who says the first thing on Christmas. I am hoping that when we sit down to talk about the last year and all we have to be gratefult o God for, they will see something new in us. We are making new traditions this year. Making a homemade gingerbread town(with 6 kids we need to have more then one house) and doing fun things like making cookies and going for walks and playing Wii Dance and kicking my kids butts!! I want to remember this Christmas for years to come.

Don't get me wrong, the kids will still get gifts, but it wont be as much as they used to from us. I will not put us into debt for toys that will get dusty in a few months. I will not allow my parents to not pay their truck payment or house payment just to buy my kids more stuff that they don't really need.  I love my kids and hope that this year starts to make a real difference on the meaning of Christmas in their eyes, so maybe one day they will be ones writing their own blog talking about the best year ever when they figured out that their parents loved them enough to not buy them a bunch of stuff they didn't need and instead filled them full of memories.

What a Weekend!

So this Thanksgiving weekend, my hubby was fortunate to have a 4-day weekend, so we drove up to VA to see his family, especially since we are going home for Christmas.  We headed up on Wednesday night and came home on Sunday. It was a great visit. We hung with the family, Jay had his birthday, did a little Black Friday shopping, and even managed to get my Mother-in-Law's Christmas tree up. 

I think I have found the key to Black Friday shopping. See, I have been apart of this crazy day since I was a little girl. A memory I have that is my favorite is of an old lady hitting my dad's cart with hers at Walmart, all for a stupid popcorn tin that she wanted and he had.  I used to be nuts, getting up at 3am so I could be at Walmart by 4am, toting along my two toddlers at the time. Using my cart as a battering ram...lol. But, after I met Jeremy we never really had a desire or need to do this craziness so I have not done it for at least 3 years, plus those years in retail instead of shopping it, I was managing it.

Our trip idea started on Thursday, and decided we would go to Target at 5am then hit the 5Below at 6. Well, my alarm went off on Friday morning at 4 and I hit snooze, then next time it went off, I asked Jeremy if he wanted to get up? and his answer was a low moan, so I just turned off the alarm completely and went back to sleep. See, he was my excuse for my laziness or maybe I can blame the turkey coma from Thanksgiving Day, either way, we did not get up. But, by 6am I was wide awake so I got the hubby going and by 7am we wondered into Target. It was busy, and we got a cart. The bad parts of the store were electronics, so we quickly got through it and wondered to look at what we needed to. We ditched to cart to avoid people and it worked great. We shopped, and looked around, laughed, and played with toys. After we made a few purchases(we also walked right up to a register), we grabbed Starbucks and off to the next store. Traffic wasn't even that bad, we just parked far out, because we didn't care. We went to a few more places, then even braved ToyrUs. Holy Cow, now the line to check out was nuts, all the way around back of the store, I guess their specials ended at 1pm, so as soon as 1pm hit, Wa La! No more line, at all, associates just standing there, doing nothing. We didn't even plan to buy anything there, just went to go wonder around and play, and we did. Erin had a great day and after we went back to the in-laws. The key to Black Friday is not to stress and have fun. We didn't try to park close, we didn't get upset if something we wanted was gone, who cares really? If it's not there then it wasn't meant for us. It was the best ever Black Friday ever and I am so blessed that my husband has changed me so much to relax a little more everyday and not sweat the small stuff.

Having MS Sucks ;}

I don't what is with this time of year. I can't stay motivated. I would like to say that I have control of my MS but it's all an illusion. MS takes control whenever it freaking feels like it, well, in case your wondering I would love to take control back now. Feeling like you can barely move or get off the couch bites. When my husband is speaking to me and I am too tired to even talk, it's ridiculous. Then I had joy of falling in love with my husband all over again last night as I watched him exsert every bit of energy he had to play like a crazy guy with our 2 year old little lady. It was amazing and I sat on the couch and watched. I am lucky to have him be my husband.

I am happy to report that Betaseron is doing what is supposed to, currently no new active lesions in my brain, so that is good news. Bad news, the symptoms never completly go away. I really hate the, what I have learned people call it, as MS hug. My body feels so very uncomfortable, and eyes are blurry every so often for few minutes at a time.

I am looking forward to the holidays this year. Mostly because I miss my kids like crazy and I cannot wait to be with them. I am using all the energy I have to keep going right now. We are going to my in-laws for Turkey Day, which is good. My sister-in-law was diagnosed with Lupus recently. I find it a little crazy that 2 of the Farley boys have wives with auto immune diseases. I love my sis-in-law. She is a strong person and I know talking and hanging out with her will be a great pick me up while I am in VA.

Hopefully the fatigue will pass soon and I can rejoin my life that is already in session.

Turkey Talk

Have you ever heard of Alton Brown?? He is the man behind Good Eats. This show is on Food Network and I LOVE IT! My hubby turned me onto it when we first met. Holiday episodes are my absolute favorite. He explains everything and also from scientific side so you can really understand. Here is link for his recipe for brining a turkey
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe/index.html


But, I am now going to explain it to. Brining your turkey from 24-48 hours before will give it more flavor and make it more juicy then it has ever been. I could tell a huge difference in our turkey done this way and I have been making turkey since at least 1997ish.



Now you want to make your brine in a clean 5 gallon bucket with lid or use a cooler like we did(we didn't have a bucket and no place close to even buy one). You want a gallon of vegetable or chicken broth. We found that not everywhere sells vegetable broth so we used chicken. 1 cup of salt, 1/2 cup brown sugar, your seasonings, 1 gallon of ice water. Now for our seasonings Alton offers different ideas but we went with garlic, thyme, rosemary, allspice berries, he also suggest candied ginger but in Fort Irwin California we couldn't find it, so I look forward to the different flavor of this years. All of these ingredients are in the brine, not inside the turkey, now for the turkey himself.


Sage, rosemary, and 1/2 of a onion(I prefer yellow). You stuff inside of the bird with these things and set it inside brine. Cover and keep ice on it and keep it cold. For us, it was cold enough outside and I kept ice on it for 2 days and it worked out perfect.


After your brine, pull out your turkey and set him in the sink. Pat him dry. Now you want to bathe him in extra virgin olive oil. Bathe him, rub him, and give him lots of love. Set him into his baker. Create a "turkey triangle" with foil to only cover the breast. You want to do this because the breast does not need to get overdone(obviously this means you place it breast side up). Bake your turkey at 500 degrees for 30 minutes. This is to seal turkey and give it the beginning of the beautiful outside crust. At 30 minutes drop temp down to 350 degrees until breast meat reaches 161 degrees. Let your turkey sit for 15 minutes before cooking to allow the fats to resettle in and give you the beautiful cuts you want. Alton also can teach you the most beautiful way to carve your bird. I learned a lot from this episode. I am sure you can google it and watch it online. For those of you that this is your first cooking venture or even your 10th year of doing Thanksgiving you can learn a lot from this man!!

Happy Thanksgiving. I am thankful this year for quite a lot, my husband, my kids, having answers to my health this year, finally!

Check me out on Facebook too, my Pampering your Kitchen with Niki FanPage is for my Pampered Chef Business and I post lots of giveaways, specials, recipes and extras!!

It's another week

Oh boy! Oh boy! Another week. This week will be a short week for us. Hubby gets a four day weekend and I have 3 Pampered Chef shows this weekend. Yep, 3. I am looking forward to it for the most part. I like it, it's fun, but I will be so tired by time the end of the last one on Sunday. But, I will kick some butt while doing it.  

So in my always crazy mind, I made up the mind to work on hair bows and to also try my hand at making felt toddler size handbags. I am a creative person and pretty proud of my creations, but after all the work doing it, I realize do all mom's know how freaking easy this is? I mean, it does not take that much creativity to make some basic ones and they are really cheap to do. I went to Hobby Lobby(OMG I LOVE THIS PLACE) and all the ribbon is 50% off so I got all different kinds ranging from $1.99 to $3.99 and at 50% off no more then $2 a roll. Then they offer different barrettes that are in bags ranging from $2.99 to $4.99. I got some larger clips for my older daughters with more hair and the smaller ones for Erin.  So for about $20(not even that much) I ended up making 20 bows all of different styles and colors. My friends say they are good enough to sell which I think will be my main goal. Start an ETSY site? Maybe. I see people selling these for $5-$7 and I would make at least 50% profit, now if I can just get my skills and experience up to make a tutu.

 

 
 
 

So, here is some of what I have made. I like pink a lot, guess I need to look at more colors.

When is it time for a cane?

I have thought a lot about this lately. MS is different now then 10 years ago. Back then it was more common for MS to make you truly disabled at an early age but today, if found sooner and treated, they can slow the progression of the disease or they think they are. Since they don't really know what causes MS I think we are lucky we have medications we have, even though it cannot be entirely explained why they work.  So, to keep my MS from progressing to point of losing the ability to walk I do an every other day injection of Betaseron. I loathe injection day, but it's necessary, so I suck it up and drive on(Army term used to tell soldiers stfu and let's go).  But I wonder when I will need a cane or walker or wheel chair. So often I have to tell my legs to work or use wall to help, especially when I first stand up from sitting or lying down. Like first thing in morning I always grab the dresser. I guess I will never move that furniture around because I NEED that dresser first thing in the morning or I'd probably fall over. So is it time yet for a cane? Maybe not quite there but when I do get one it will be coolest can possible. I think I will get zebra print with bright pink accents, just so I can say, "Hell ya I got cane, and you don't, jealous yet?" 

I am

wanting to do some redecorating. I know, right before holidays you ask. But, I am a cheapskate at heart. I love a good deal and my favorite is free stuff. Like my hubby. He made a pirate ship, not joking, a pirate ship for FREE, this Halloween and our yard looked freaking awesome. Everyone thought so. Now I gotta figure out how heck I am gonna set it all up alone next year, anyways, off subject. So, when it come to doing a little redecorating you can do a lot with a little if you know how.

First off paint, but since we are in military housing and I already put my hubby through that once, we will nix this idea for me, but for you it can work. You can look online and find some amazing ideas on painting techniques or really just pick a great color, do a whole room or accent a wall. I do suggest thinking it through with the color though. My neighbor across the street painted her house, and its looks like someone threw up Pepto Bismol all over the walls. I mean what hubby is okay with that. It's pink everywhere. It's not a damn sorority house, I mean jeez, poor guy. I am pretty sure his wife wears pants in that house. Point is, if you live with someone, agree on color, and please, please, please, don't paint your walls Pepto pink unless it's a little girls room and even then I would rethink that idea. Oh and don't do black either unless you are totally Emo and then it's okay but if you are truly Emo you won't like it for long anyways so instead cover your walls with newspaper and call it a day(or wrapping paper too, it could be fun, you can tear it off weekly and try new pattern).

Secondly, fabric is so important. There is this place here in Fayetteville, well technically Spring Lake, called REA. I have no idea what REA stands for but I vote for Really Earthy Aroma, as in, it smells awful in the place, but, when it comes to there being a good deal, I will hold my nose.  This place sells the stuff no one else can or is opened, like when a idiot goes to Walmart and doesn't bring a diaper for their baby and instead of buying a pack and going to change the baby in the bathroom, instead they very slyly open a bag of diapers in the store, steal one and leave the bag opened on the shelf, just to piss off an underpaid worker later.  Anyways, REA has fabric. Lots of it, some ugly, some cute, some that you ask yourself wth?, but lots of it. The fabric runs $1 a yard, yes I said only $1, and then they have things like faux leather and suede for $2 yard, now that is even better deal. That being said, I go at least weekly to check and see if they have diapers because as I said I am cheap and $4 for bag of diapers rocks! and I always check and see if they have any fabric that is nice. Just this last week I snagged a nice suede material in tan and then this silky kinda striped and ta-da, I made new pillows that are light colored to break of the monotony of the dark brown leather sofa(which I hate). While I was at it, I got this super thick fabric in pretty brown. Fabric feels kinda like those curtains you buy to keep out sun, so I got it and made curtains. Wa-la, I made curtains and pillows all for about $5(I stuffed the pillows with fluff from old pillow we no longer used from one of the kids beds).  So look for cheap, clearance fabrics. You can use diff patterns and colors together to make some really cool looks and making things like curtains and pillow can change so much for so little. Maybe some day I will try couch cover. We will see.

The amazing pirate display this year at no cost.

Third, placement of furniture. You can change a whole room just by figuring out new arrangement or bring some things from other rooms into different rooms. For instance I move at least one room around a month. It's a weird thing I do, but my hubs has gotten used to it. My MIL says you move furniture around a lot and change things because you are unhappy in your life and desire change. I would not agree, I just like changing things up a bit. It's like trying a new "position," you don't know if you like it till you try it, so I try it. If I don't like it, I move it again. Not like it hurts anyone for me to be crazy. At least I am a nut with sense.



I just added this one so you can see the daylight and my little pirate princess.



Ugly pillow, blending in before

Pretty new suede pillows with contrast of colors and fabric

So as I write all these ideas for you, and selfishly look around my own room to decide what to do next, I think I decided on a photo project for the wall behind the couch. 6 square photo frames with a black and white of each of our kids in it, an up close pic. I guess I need to start looking for frames for cheap. The color never matters, really just the shape. I found I can find frames cheaper if I care less about color. That's what paint is for. 

Well, that's my 2 cents for today. I have to go do laundry now. Blah! The life of a mom and wife is never dull.

And don't forget my new curtains!

God only gives you what you can handle...

Yep, I tell myself this all the time. And, repeatedly tell others the same when they ask about my MS. So I politely say it's okay, I deal, "God never gives you more then you can handle." Guess what? What I really wanna say is you have no friggin clue. God must think I wear a cape and mask, I must be a super hero. But you can't, people already feel pity towards you because you are sick. Jeez, okay, yes I am sick, I feel like pooh a lot but I do not need to be handled as if I am a piece of thousand year old parchment.  But then toss in those who say well, you look fine, you must be faking it. Well, if only it was that simple.

But, in the light at the end of all this, I do know I can handle it. I have my bad days, bad weeks, bad months, but it eventually passes. I always find happiness in my life. My hubby is amazing, my children are fab-u-lous, and all healthy and can be. So, can I really complain?

There are things I wanna do with my life still. I am almost 30 now. Crazy how fast time goes. I tried to go back to school. I found it hard to concentrate and understand and comprehend what I needed to know to pass tests which were my big down fall and since school makes you take those damn tests all the time to make sure you actually are doing the work, I think I closed that chapter in my life, but just because it's closed doesn't mean it can't be reopened.  I also would like to write more. Although, I don't think I am all that good at it. When I was a kid I wanted to write children's books. I don't think I want that now, probably because I don't think I can be "that" happy of a person to write a cheerful book to make children smile, unless I could write Halloween only books about vampire ninjas and pirate vampires.  You know that is not a bad idea. I really like vampires(yes I AM TEAM EDWARD) and if you toss in some pirates and ninjas too that be a hell of a story.  Lol. You know, it'd be nice to be interesting enough that people read my blog.....hint here...read my damn blog people. I mean come on, sitting on couch surfing web all day, you have nothing better to do really or maybe it's just me, I really have nothing better to do. Well I take that back, I do have a lot to do but the MS fatigue crap is kicking my butt for going on two weeks now and sitting on my butt typing to no one seems to be about all I can handle. Insert grin here.  But, whatever though, I know I am interesting, just ask my 2 year old!

So part of MS apparently is I jump from subject to subject and have no real way to lead into each different subject. I am going to use that as my excuse now so I don't have to make an effort to sit here and make my brain work to create a nice way to transition.

Anyways, so having MS sucks. I don't really know what to do with it. For those of you that know me, I am a "do-er." You know what I mean, you are given a task, idea, whatever it is and you make it happen. So now being told that you have an auto immune disease with no cure, what the h#$% am I supposed to "do" with that. I like volunteer work, so of course I could work with MS Society or something like that, but that is hard to do when I live where the Army dictates. So you got any ideas? My brain isn't working right so your ideas could help.  What do I do? Oh, and don't say live, take care of your kids, your spouse. I do all that but I know there is more out there. I would like to help other MSers but how. With a blog on rantings to know that my life sucks sometimes too, maybe. It is always nice to know you aren't alone. But I can't always be negative either. So not me, but I am quite a smart a$$. Gotta love that right?

So, I guess I just press on. Almost 30 years old, trying to figure out what I wanna be when I grow up still. When are we supposed to know this by again? I hope that my kids figure it out well before they hit 30, maybe like before they go to college and waste money trying to figure it out. Who knows, but even if not a lot of people read this. I decided I want to post more on here on my craziness of life. Maybe it might get interesting.