Be The Change | Till Then Smile Often

February 5, 2014

It’s a Confession Session

Happy Humpday everyone! I am back to work and have a lot of work to catch up on so it may take me a bit to get caught up however I have a few confessions to make so read on…

* I confess that I am working today even though it is snowing like crazy and I got stuck in the snow at one point on the way.

* I confess that even though I am a positive upbeat person things still get me down. Like my basement being gutted and having to pay over $1000 for plumbing. It is going to be a long process and waiting for the insurance to pay so I can get started on the repairs will take weeks.

* I confess that even after almost 12 hours of people in and out of my house I was talking to the plumber and he said “I can tell you are a positive person because you are still able to smile even after a long day” and that made me smile even more.

* I confess it could have been a lot worse and for that I am grateful. I can afford the repairs, even if I don’t want to pay them. My house will get new flooring in the basement and a new ceiling. The bathroom will be re-done and will be better for when I want to sell.

* I confess there is always a silver lining in every bad situation you just have to find it.

What are your confessions?

Linking up with Kathy at Vodka and Soda for Humpday Confessions.

February 4, 2014

Spending Freeze Results

As you may know I was on a spending freeze for January. This meant that I could only spend money on essentials and anything previously budgeted. Keep in mind that January just so happened to be a 3 paycheck month versus the normal 2 paychecks. So how did I do?

The Damage: Well I did manage to put $600.00 into savings. I did have to buy oil heat which ended up being about $578.23 though. So practically a wash!

Running Total: Profit $21.77 – Loss: $0.00

I managed to stay within my grocery budget and even ended up with $11.00 left over even after donating $5 to the local Girl Scout troop. I didn’t take the cookies (Woot Woot) . Since I used leftover cash this doesn’t count as a fail.

Running Total: Profit $32.77 – Loss: $0.00

I did however just before this make a donation to the Young and Brave Foundation – I mean it’s for a good cause so how could I say no. So that put me $15.00 in the hole.

Running Total: Profit $17.77 – Loss: $0.00

I also was under budget for my gas purchases so I had $15.00 leftover.

Running Total: Profit $47.77 – Loss: $0.00

I did go out to dinner/lunch twice this month but those were factored into my budget. I spent $27.00 when going out to P.F. Chang’s.

But then this happened:

They did have underwear on sale 5 for $20.00 and I did have an Angel Reward card for $20.00 off but then I spotted a bra on sale for $13.99 and if you Victoria Secret like I do you know that is a steal. So with tax I was at about $17.00 in damage.

Running Total: Profit $30.77 – Loss: $0.00

Summary: I didn’t have any more issue throughout the month. I did use cash for everything so if I didn’t have cash I didn’t spend money. This really worked for me but getting cash out of the bank was such a hassle. I did amass a list of items i wanted to buy in February so forcing myself not to spend was like dangling a carrot in front of my face and I feel like I wanted to buy more just because I couldn’t. So overall I was able to manage to save a little money. It’s not much but it helps.

Running Total: Profit $47.77 – Loss: $0.00

Have you ever participated in a Spending freeze?

Linking up with Steph from Life According to Steph

February 3, 2014

Floods and Favorites

Well I am going to try and keep this short and sweet since most of my plans for this weekend were drastically changed due to an emergency. You see my toilet flooded but it didn’t just flood through the toilet. Nope that would be too easy.

You see it flooded down through the wall into my basement. It even “crawled” part way through the wall and into the light in my basement. It ended up filling half a bucket with water. Fun times I tell ya. I had to call multiple plumbers because Emergency Plumbers really means, we are too busy for your emergency. My shutoff valve was stuck and wouldn’t shut off. The main shutoff is in the unit next door and the tenant wasn’t home. It eventually got done but not until I called the cops. Fun times I tell ya. Anyoo, on to the weekend.

1. Snuggling with Seamus while watching The Man of Steel (Holy Abs) 2. My attempt to get through my pile of magazines. 3. What happened at 9am and didn’t end till 4:30 pm. Yup my leaky toilet (to be continued on Monday) 4. Finally relaxing with an Angry Orchard Cider 5. Amazing breakfast on Saturday Morning 6. I was stuck in the shopping plaza for a few hours while my remote car starter was being installed. Luckily they had a TGIFridays where I had lunch. Then I went to the Starbucks and Barnes and Noble for the free Wifi 7. While I was there I did a Random Act of Kindness (sneak peak).

It is also the time to linkup with Beauty and the Greek and Lip Gloss and Lunges for the monthly favorite things. So these are a few of my favorites lately.

The Following – I am so excited this show is back! I am loving it and Joe Carroll is alive!

Angry Orchard Green Apple – I love this cider, pretty much all the flavors are good but love the green apple.

H&M Smokey Eyeshadow – Perfect browns and great range of dark to light, matte to shimmer. For under $6 you can’t go wrong.

Starbucks Mug I don’t like the coffee so I used a gift card for a new mug.

Healthy Sexy Hair – I got this in my January Ipsy Bag and I am loving it! Even more so than the It’s a 10 product and it is cheaper too.

Well that is it for me. I think I am coming down with a cold so I am going to go rest. Happy Monday.

Also linking up with Leeann from Join the Gossip for Monday morning gossip.

January 31, 2014

Friday, I Love You!

This week seemed to be really long and went by a little too slowly. I had a rough day yesterday due to a big project that happened last minute, so I had to drop everything to finish it, working through lunch (a few bites here and there of a wrap) and having issues right at the end stressing me out. It did get done though so all was good in the end. I am looking forward to this weekend and my remote car starter is finally getting installed. i will be stranded for four hours but luckily there is a bookstore with a starbucks so I will catch up with blogging and knitting projects. Woohoo! So to kick this Friday off I am sharing my five things, le duh! 😉

One. Working in Government Contracts I am constantly having to change my passwords with the most random requirements but this would be perfect if I could do it.

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Two. If you haven’t seen it already I joined up for the Blogger Book Club to review The Husband’s Secret. Read my review here.

Three. The greatest gift I can ever hope for is making someone else happy. Whether it’s with a smile or holding the door. Then one of my best friends sends me a meme with “so you” in the message and it melts my heart. Mostly because it means I made a difference in how they see me, but also how I may affect the world. Love you Lynnie!

Four. Are you getting fit this year? Are you following @Shonda1020 on Instagram? She is amazing and shares so many fitness videos, clean recipes and inspiration. We even took it to Twitter this past weekend and she is funny! She went from 203 pounds to fiercely fit! She shared this workout that I really want to try this weekend.

Five. Considering the Super Bowl is this weekend I thought this was appropriate. Who is bringing the munchies?

The Two States That Legalized Pot Are In The Super Bowl

Hope your Friday goes quickly!

January 30, 2014

My Husband’s Secret – Book Review

I posted a few weeks back that I was reading The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarity and so I am linking up with Kay from Best Intentions for blogger book club with my review of this book.

I had a really hard time coming up with how I felt about this book. I guess it is a good thing that the book stayed with me, but also not good that it didn’t make me feel one way or the other.

Excerpt from Goodreads: My Darling Cecilia
If you’re reading this, then I’ve died . . .

Imagine your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret – something so terrible it would destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others too. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive . . .

Cecilia Fitzpatrick achieved it all – she’s an incredibly successful business woman, a pillar of her small community and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia – or each other – but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s devastating secret.

The main character appears to be Cecilia with her perfect life, perfect husband, perfect children, and perfect career. Her world is shattered when she discovers a letter written by her husband. It isn’t until she mentions it to her husband and his pretend indifference of her tossing the letter as it was just a silly whim that her life is shattered.

Opening that letter brings her life intersecting with Rachel the school secretary who lost her daughter at the age of 17 in a violent manner. She pegs the murderer as the physical education teacher Connor (I think that was his name?) who looks at her with “guilt in his eyes” when he looks at her. She spirals out of control wanting to prove he did it.

Tess enters her son into the mix when enrolling him in school. Tess has fled to her mother’s in an escape to her husbands ~~mid-life crisis~~ admission that he has fallen in love with her cousin and their business partner. Tess knew Connor previously and dated shortly.

The secret takes awhile to come out and with not much flair. The telling is more so in how they deal with the secret and the decision of what would you do to protect your family. I felt that every intersecting character was well written and you got a sense of each person however after 300+ pages the ending was “neatly” wrapped up in a nice package in the last few pages and the Epilogue. I think my hardest part of liking or not liking this story is that I didn’t like the ending. I didn’t like how the characters chose their future. I felt I knew them through the telling of the story and I liked them as characters but in choosing their futures I didn’t really care for them at all. Some just gave up in such a weak way, and others were vindictive and holier than though.

I guess you will never know what you will do if you were to actually be in their shoes but in the telling of the ending I couldn’t see myself making any of the choices any of the women made. So in that I had a hard time deciding how I felt about this book. I do feel it is worth a read.

Questions I came up with to go along this book:

Would/Have you stay/ed with someone who cheated on you? Is it cheating if it is emotional but not sexual?

Is there anything you wouldn’t do for family?

Do you forgive completely or with conditions?

If you saw someone commit a crime would you report it? Any reason why you wouldn’t report it?

January 30, 2014

Work Hard, Get Rewarded – Be The Change

I had a different Act of Kindness planned this week but certain things didn’t work out due to timing but I still managed a Random Act of Kindness for my Be The Change Series. I think this is something everyone can do, granted of course that you are not a small business party of one. I decided to treat two of my co-workers with a Dunkin Donuts gift card. They work hard so they should have a little java break as a reward. We have about 700-800 employees in our office so it was completely random as to who was chosen. I picked one lunch box in two separate fridges to place the cards in.

Let’s just say my childhood dreams of being a super spy will never happen. I was trying to snap a few pictures before someone came walking by, and got spooked by every little noise. Sorry for the blurry pictures. I walked to the fridge for my own lunch bag giddy to see if the cards were still there or if they were taken (the lunch bags were gone). Let me just say this is so much fun and I love doing this series. For a blank template of the Be The Change cards click here. Are you considering doing your own Act of Kindness? If not, what is stopping you? Grab a button if you would like to spread the word. The change that we seek in others has to first come from within. This year I hope you decide to Be the Change You Seek.

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January 29, 2014

I Confess Nothing!!!

Well, I guess that is not true because I am going to confess a few things but really I have just wanted to say that for awhile now. So here are my confessions….

– I recorded the Bachelor Wedding, so I finally got to watch it on Monday. I was a little creeped out by Sean and the lingerie store then talked down to his crotch. I am all about men buying lingerie for their women but I don’t want to watch it on TV. Creep factor. They are super cute together though so I will give him a pass.

– I am kinda a nerd when it comes to books! I won a Goodreads giveaway and received an Advanced Reader’s Edition of Doing Harm by Kelly Parsons. It doesn’t come out officially until 2.4.14. I am excited to read it and will most likely do a review.

– For most of my life I have always been insecure about my looks. Never feeling like I was pretty let alone beautiful. I saw this on Facebook and I think it is so important to teach young girls to feel beautiful.

– My car is a mess thanks to how cold it has been and not having time to vacuum and clean it. I got the OCD bug to as least dust my dashboard. So this morning I ~~am an idiot~~ didn’t have my coffee yet and I sprayed detailer spray onto my cold dashboard to which it immediately froze. Yeah, I know! DUMB!

– I have been doing P90X3 for about 3 weeks now and I am now getting bored with it. Tony Horton is really annoying the crap out of me now too. I think I may just go back to the gym. I miss lifting heavy ass weight and running. I want to be so sore I can’t walk!

Leg Press for 410 pounds

– One of my goals for this year was to stress less and feel overwhelmed less. I am totally failing at this right now. I made a list of so many recipes and other posts I want to do but so far I haven’t been able to spend a weekend getting a bunch of them done. I haven’t had a completely free weekend once this year. I am hoping I can get this done in one of the next few weeks.

What are some of your confessions?

Linking up with Kath from Vodka and Soda and with Liz from Fitness Blondie.

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January 27, 2014

Breakfast Quesadilla with Chorizo, Egg and Hash Browns

Is it just me or do I add Chorizo to just about everything?! Well this recipe is going to have it too, because it just makes everything better. If you are not a fan no worries there are plenty of things you can substitute if you want (but who wants to)?!

Ingredients: 1/2 package of Chorizo ~ 2 Eggs ~ 10-12 inch Tortillas (I used Wheat) ~ Frozen Hash Browns ~ Optional: Shredded lettuce ~ Salsa ~ Sour Cream or Greek Yogurt

Directions: Cook frozen hash according to directions on the package in a skillet. I didn’t measure the frozen hash but approximately 1/2 cup to one cup will be good for 2 servings. Move the hash to one side of the pan and cook the chorizo until lightly browned.

Crack the eggs into the pan and scrambled mixing it with the rest of the ingredients. Once cooked through, transfer all ingredients to a bowl and set aside. Replace pan to the stovetop and add in a Tsp of oil or spray with Pam; place tortilla into the pan.

Add in half of the Chorizo mix to one side of the tortilla then fold the tortilla in half.

Flip if needed to cook the other side. I choose to let the tortilla cook flat then just folded over just as it was done. Cut into 4 wedges and serve. I added some shredded lettuce, salsa and Greek yogurt to dip the Quesadillas in. I had some Thousand Island dressing too but it wasn’t as good as the salsa and yogurt.

Substitutions: Not a fan of Chorizo? Substitute crumbled sausage, ham, or even bacon. Bacon will not yield as much of a filling so you may need more egg to fill it up.

Vegetarian Option: Skip the meat all together and add in your favorite veggies.

This was a no muss no fuss breakfast and easy to whip up! I really liked it and can’t wait to make it again.

What would you use for your filling?

Do you have a favorite breakfast food?

Linking up with Nap Time Creations and Mandy’s Recipe Box

January 27, 2014

A Night with the Girls

Well, this weekend was much needed but can I say it did not start out the best way. I headed to Target on Friday night for some cleaning supplies and I couldn’t find my wallet so I knew I left it at work in my desk. I luckily had other cash on me or that would have been really embarrassing. So I headed home and had a movie night. I watched Dead Man Down with Colin Farrell (who is serious in my top 5 hottest male actors) and it was really good. I originally was going to watch Only God Forgives since it has Ryan Gosling but it was horrible!! It was so weird, artsy and trip-y I ended up turning it off after 30 minutes.

Saturday: I headed to my work to pickup my wallet fairly early, and since I was on the road I stopped at the fabric store on the way home. My friend Heather had been not so subtly hinting that she wanted a make-up bag since I made one for their Mom so I decided to make one as a gift for her and her sister Lynn (my other best friend – her twin) since I was going to be seeing them later for Girls night. So when I got home I did some errands and then got to sewing. Here is the finished projects.

Heather loves lighthouses so I think it was a perfect fabric choice for her. Lynn’s favorite color is blue so it was picked with that in mind.

Since we were all getting together with both girls and my second Mom (their Mom) I showered and got ready. A girls night means dressing up and taking selfies of course.

Then I realized the lighting was a little harsh, so of course I had to take another one. Duh! Haha! I really don’t like taking my picture, but you gotta document a good hair day.

So we headed out to a place called Ward Eight and I had a Moscow Mule which was really good and then I had a Stella Artois Cider. We shared some pretzel sticks with this cheese dip which was so good.

Then Lynn and I shared a Ward 8 Salad (which we sent back since the chicken was undercooked) and the Funky Apple Grilled Cheese. It had green apple, gorganzola, and caramelized onion with a balsamic drizzle. The menu was amazing and all the food was really good. The service was pretty terrible though. The waitress was alone on a Saturday night and it was a packed night so I feel bad for her but she ~~forgot to put our order in~~ said the computer ate our order and then it took forever for it to come out after she placed it again.

We then hit the movie theater to see August: Osage County. This movie was brilliantly acted (Meryl Streep, and Julia Roberts most notably) and it was a very hard look at a dysfunctional family and how they cope. It touched a little too close to home and I ended up bawling at one point. It was amazing though and I totally recommend seeing it. This movie did make me realize how lucky (not that I don’t always) that I had those 3 women in my life. They helped mold me into the person I am and not let my childhood break me and make me mean and bitter. Having positive and kind people as a reference really helped make me into a better person. My Dad and brother too (can’t forget them).

Sunday: I didn’t really do much other then finish up some chores around the house, started the matching hat that I finished last week, and finished up the last season of White Collar on Netflix. I went grocery shopping and then made a new recipe that I will be sharing soon for a Breakfast Quesadilla. I also put some Valentines decorations out. I downloaded this album but this song really pushed me through my workout.

The rest of the night was pretty boring, watching TV, and doing bloggy things. I am looking forward to not having plans next weekend so I can really get some things done around the house.

How was your weekend?

Have you see August Osage County yet?

Linking up with Leeann from Join the Gossip

January 24, 2014

Friday

Happy Friday! I am excited for this weekend to be here. I am looking forward to my Girls night with some of the best ladies I know! Dinner, drinks and a movie and more laughs than my stomach will be able to handle! So let the countdown begin!!

You know the deal, it’s Friday so I share five things that I have been loving this week, found interesting, or just plain old happened! Enjoy!

One. My fist Ipsy bag finally arrived. I am exciting to give everything a try, especially the Healthy Sexy Hair Leave In-Conditioner. For $10 you can’t go wrong. Subscribe here.

Two. Oreo came out with two new flavors. Be prepare to be over run with reminders on every Social media outlet possible. 😉

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Three. I was making my lunch yesterday morning and I turned around into the living room to find Seamus had gotten into the trash and stole the Greek yogurt container and went to town. His face was then covered in yogurt remnants. Seriously Seamus is a big reason why I smile everyday!

Yes that is yogurt in between his eyes and all under his mouth!

Four. Just a reminder that you are special, you are beautiful, you are unique!

You there…YOU'RE SO BEAUTIFUL!! WHY....BECAUSE YOU'RE YOU AND THE ONLY YOU THERE IS AND WILL EVER BE!!<3xx

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Five. There are a lot of Game Day Eats out there but is there any better than a Queso dip? Since the Patriots are not in the Super Bowl, than might as well have a great dip to help watching the game enjoyable.

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What are you up to this weekend?

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