A milestone in my life

On Friday June 3, 2011 I accomplished something I never thought I would. My ten year High School Reunion is this year, but one I did not feel I should join in. In March 2001 I dropped out of High School. We were six weeks from graduating and I would have been in the top 10% of my class. I had a full ride to NAU and a bright future ahead of me.

I was dating someone and decided to move in with him. When I did that I moved over thirty minutes from school and it became to much of a 'burden' to finish. I let my grandparents down, as I lived with them. I would have (at that time) been only the second in our family to graduate and only the first to go to college. I still remember the disappointment on my grandmothers face up until the day she passed in 2003.

After my grandmother died my husband and I divorced. I bounced from job to job, I tired to get my GED but life always got in the way. This past year I had the opportunity to go back to High School. This is not one of those through the mail things. I mean I went BACK to High School! I attended classes, relying on my mother-in-law and husband to watch the kids after work so I could go to school. Then when my pregnancy took a severe downward spiral, I was allowed to do class work at home and check in at school.

I finished my 2.5 credits in March right after Faith was born. On June 3,2011 I joined GED graduates and 8 other Adult High School Graduates at Commencement. I walked proudly across the stage as my husband, mother-in-law, and daughter cheered from the audience (Faith cheered I swear, it does not matter that she is only 2 months). I was called back to the stage not once but TWICE to be honored as Valedictorian and presented with a scholarship from the local newspaper.

Ten years after the worst mistake of my life, all is in the process of being made right. I will be attending Roane State this fall to obtain a bachelors in Social Service. It may have taken 10 years but I fixed it. I truly pray my grandmother is looking down on me proud! Please remember it's not the mistakes you make it's HOW you FIX them that truly count!

Parenting Realities

I was looking through the Welcome Wednesday Blog Hop. When I came across Undeserving Grace. I was reading through her blog and came to this post. I wanted to share it with you and I hope you will consider jumping over and following her too! I look forward to reading more posts of Tara's. Feel free to let her know if you have anything to add to the list!

My 3 kids!

MIA

Sorry I disappeared and have been MIA. I have had a lot of issues in this pregnancy and they are being handled by a new dr now. Also Ken lost his job in December and has just now found a new one. Life has been so hectic but I will be around more now!

I will update the winner of the Kikis Fashions giveaway PLUS post a new giveaway and a new review this next week! This weekend is Ken's birthday so I am going to enjoy it with him and then get back in the swing of things!!!

UPDATE about Thirty-One and L&D

The 31 giveaway will end 1/19 around 3pm CST.  This is due to just getting out of the hospital. Faith is still inside my stomach BUT it was a close call. After 12 hours of pre-term labor they finally got it stopped. Thank you for all your prayers!

First Snow of the Season

First snow of the season AND of course they cancel school (they cancel if someone dreams it will snow!!. Anyone want me to ship them two boys??? 

(pics of boys taken yesterday when it started to snow)

Gender Update

I went yesterday for the 20 week ultrasound. The baby is a perfectly healthy on time baby girl! I am so excited and I thank each of you for your support these last months! Now please let me know of any good deals on girl's baby things because I need it all!

Updates on me! Plus a giveaway!

Slowly but surely I am getting back into blogging. I mean how can I not with the holidays fast approaching! I wanted to give all of you some updates since I last posted anything about me.

• My husband and I are doing a lot better. He is working during the week now so I don't get to see him as much. Our marriage is growing stronger and we have learned we need 'Our' time as much as we need family time.

• We have made plans to move this spring (probably around April or May) so that we will be under one roof again. Because of this I am trying to stretch pennies even further now.

 

• I have started school. I had posted before that I dropped out of high school two months before graduating. I would have graduated with honors and in the top 10% of my class. Well TEN years later, yes ten, I will finally be graduating high school! No this will not be a GED or a home high school program. They have an adult high school program in my area and I'm actually going to graduate in June!

 

• I am now 19 weeks and 2 days pregnant! We find out next Tuesday, what we are having. I am hoping for a girl as this will be our last biological child. This got me thinking...... Keep reading for an exciting offer!

• This blog started off as a savings blog and then turned into a giveaway blog. I will be shifting back to a savings/personal blog. That is not to say there will not be giveaways, because there will. (Look for an exciting one next week just in time to order Christmas Cards!) What I am saying is it will be more savings and personal then giveaways. This is to both keep true to me but also that that I have more time for my family and other obligations. Believe it or not, it is nice to get the items to review but to run a review and giveaway is a lot of work!

• Now on to my idea!!! I am posting a giveaway on Facebook right now. This giveaway will run from now till Monday at midnight! It's going to be so simple with only one way to enter! Head on over there now and enter, you won't be disappointed!

Our Halloween and a Recipe!

This year for Halloween we decided to take the boys to a bunch of different Fall Festivals at churches. They had such a blast! 

 Now what to do with all the left over candy?!?!

Snickers Bar Salad

Ingredients:

• 6 fun-sized Snickers Bars, cut up into bite-sized pieces (more if a bad week or PMS are involved…)
• 3 Granny Smith Apples, diced
• 1 5-oz package Vanilla Pudding mix
• 1 8-oz package Cool Whip
• 1 cup Milk

Directions:
In a bowl, mix pudding mix and milk. Fold in Cool Whip. Mix in apples and Snickers Bars. Cool and enjoy.

A complete Update on Me! Raw and truthful!

So I know I have kind of up and disappeared. My blog is not the only place that has happened from though. First let me preface this post by saying what you will be reading is 'me uncensored and real'. I know going into this that I will get some support and I will also get some fall out do to what I write. I guess thats with anything in life though, right?

July 12th it was announced I had been chosen as a Mamavation Mom. I could not have been more excited or happy at that moment. I mean Mamavation is the reason I began my weight loss journey back in April. It is the reason I have totaled a weight loss of over 30 pounds since April! For that I will forever be thankful to Leah and the ladies of Mamavation. Saying that though being a Mamavation Mom does not jive well with a home life that already has some issues. (I will explain more later in this post)

July 22nd -25th I spent in New Orleans with a wonderful group of women bloggers brought together by Leah and Trisha (momdot). This trip was fun but not what I expected going into it. I think being a Mamavation Mom and going on trips like this is adding undue stress on an already stressful situation. I spent the entire weekend so stressed in what I could not do/eat that I did not enjoy myself in times I would normally have had a blast. I was so concerned with making the wonderful sponsors of Mamavation proud and making Leah proud that I actually did not get to be myself. I think it is funny I heard ladies spoke well of me at the end of the trip when in all honesty I left with fewer friends then I arrived with. There are certain ones I have not heard one word from since this trip. That is sad as these ladies are my biggest inspiration each day to do as I needed to. I look up to each and every one of them. I realized I am not ready to be away from my kids and out of my 'comfort' zone.

Online people get the impression of a cookie cutter family; we are anything but. We struggle financially day to day.  I will be 27 in just about 2 weeks and this is NOT where I thought my life would be. I thought I would have graduated from college, have a career , just be getting married and having kids, and own my own home. Instead I am a stay at home mom of two boys, never went to college, been divorced once, and rent a home. My husband works and lives two hours away and only comes home if he has 2 or more days off. We have our issues because of life's situations and for two years we have been on the brink of walking away. I recently found out I am pregnant. This came as a complete shock as I am on the mini-pill. Just after finding out I was pregnant and dealing with the fact I am not happy about this pregnancy.... I spend a night in the hospital. I was told there are some serious issues with this pregnancy.
My HCG is 35,000
There is a bleed near the sac in my uterus (no tubal)
I have a cyst on my right ovary and it is desinigrating (should not be till about 14 weeks)
There are two sacs but one has debris in it and is not viable
Sac two has nothing in it
Dr said I have a 50/50 chance right at this moment. I have to have a follow up later this week and see where my progesterone is (may need supplements, had those when I was preg with ds last year)


Ken and I thought again very heavily Monday about walking away from our marriage. We love each other more than anything in this world but we realize neither one of us is happy right now. After hours of batteling knowing we are to stubborn, hard headed, in love to not fight for our marriage; I made a counseling appointment. I have dropped out of Mamavation and I am sorry for everyone I have let down. I had two weeks to go but between this pregnancy and everything I felt this was best. Know this was never my intent. I will not be joining in on Mamavation as I know I can finish this journey on my own. I now have the confidence and tools to succeed. I will still be posting updates on my journey here on my blog.

I want to take this chance to one more time thank all the Mamavation sponsors. These are amazing companies and deserve much love.Earth Footwear, Smooth Fitness, EA Sports Active, and Chef’s Requested , Pete Cohen, Dr. Renna, and Tracey Mallet

I did not receive my treadmill so I can not really comment on that although how amazing is it from this company to give to much deserving moms. I truly will look into their treadmills at tax time as I really think this will help me continue my weight loss journey. I know as far as the rest of the companies you have me as a customer for life. Thank you for your help with my journey.

To my readers, I ask you from the bottom of my heart to keep my family and me in your thoughts and prayers. We need them now more than ever. Know that no family/life is perfect no matter how they are portrayed. I will also share (without great detail) our journey to making our family whole again. Your support means the world to me! 

(edited with bold so maybe my true feelings will come through instead of people telling me how awful I am. This post is about ME no one else!)

Bloggers On Bourban Trip Overview

I recently got to participate in what was, for me, a trip of a lifetime. July 22-25th I got to spend the weekend with no kids, no hubby's (okay not mine), and 30 bloggers from around the country. This was a meet-up put together by Trisha from MomDot and Leah from Mamavation. Thank you ladies for such a wonderful weekend!

I can not wait to tell you all about my trip and over the next week or so will be going into details every couple of days. If your looking for a vacation spot please come back and read up and why New Orleans may be just the spot for YOU. Also if your a blogger I urge you to come read up as Trisha has promised more of these trips to come.... Maybe the next one can include you!

Meet-ups like these can only happen with the help of fantastic sponsors! Our trip to New Orleans was one for the blogger history books! Take a look at who helped make this trip not only possible but FANTASTIC!

MIA~ An Explanation

Since winning Mamavation I have been so busy and I am so sorry I have been missing. Now I am at Bob. What is BOB? Bloggers on Bourbon is a trip planned by momdot and Leah from Mamavation. So here I am in New Orleans with 30+ bloggers and I will update you as I can!

Where does the time go?

So it honestly feel like just the other day that Ken and I brought Caleb into this world. That was the day Ken had his first birth experience, Aaron became a big brother, and I became a mom of TWO boys! That day our world changed was July 10, 2009!

One Last Push till the End?

Mamavation has been the utmost center of my life this past 7 days! I have talked to more people about my weight loss journey and this wonderful support/ guidance network; than I have ever talked to anyone about my weight. Tonight marks the start of the 5th campaign for two moms on mamavation. There are 6 (including me) wonderful mom's all vying for these two spots. In the end everyone of us deserve and could benefit greatly from being chosen as a mom.

I am so thankful to each of you that have voted, whether you have voted in secret or let me know, I am forever indebted to you. I pledge this to all of my readers, friends, supporters: No matter what happens tonight I will continue to work as hard as I can and try to be an inspiration in your life!

You can still vote today (Just make sure you get your votes in before 8pm). Just go to Mamavation and vote for all_about_savin! This last push is so important and I thank each of you! I know I have focused on me me me this week but today I wanted to share with you the 5 other ladies that are running for the 2 mom spots.
Good Luck each of you and know you make so many people proud @IamSucceeding @jennydecki @ljenator @chobysauce @rachelsteffan

Your Comments Mean the world to me!

I will admit I often feel like everything I blog, unless it is a giveaway, is important to know one except me. My Mamavation posts get the comments from the same sistas each week and although they mean the world to me I just did not feel like I was reaching people.

Over this week with the voting of the Mamavation Finalists I have been shown just how WRONG I was. I will admit I usually hate being wrong but this time I will accept it graciously! I have received so many comments and emails of people telling me what my posts mean to them and how inspirational I am to people.

Help me be the next Mamavation MOM

Hey everyone so this is day two of voting and I am so excited! I am so thankful for all the wonderful comments you have left. They truly touch my heart; and yes I read every one of them. I truly hope you will keep spreading the word about voting and entering to win the faboulous prizes. I really do want to give away a Wii, Ipod Nano 16gb, or an Amazon Kindle. I chose to give away the Wii because its what first started me on my fitness journey, the IPod because it helps me get my steps in everyday, and the Kindle.... well because its cool!

So don't forget to vote today and tell EVERYONE you know to vote for me too. Head on over to the giveaway and enter to win one of these great prizes! As long as my name is announced as a mamavation mom I will choose the winner on the 13th. Yes I know it will be announced on the 12th but if I win I will faint so need time to come around ;)

Please note I know blogger is having some issues posting comments. They are working on this and it is pretty widespread. DO NOT FEAR!!! All comments you make are emailed to my blog email and I am keeping a log. If once this glitch is fixed your comments do not appear I will manually add them all. SO please keep entering and voting!

From the bottom of my heart THANK YOU!!!

Sorry If I dont post today

I don't even know if this post will go through. If it does I will work on some more. Blogger has been down for days for some people. I have no control over this and hope it will be resoved soon. I keep trying and some how at least got this far just now. Please bear with me. It seems the last two weeks have just not been good ones for me.

Explanation for being MIA.

I wanted to let everyone know I have been without internet since Friday. I guess the lines are down or something. I live in a community that has wifi and no one has access. I have drove around all day today to try to get where I could at least post. Right now I am sitting in the hospital parking lot....

This stinks and I am so sorry. I will update Mamavation, Winners, Reviews, and Giveaways as soon as I have internet at home. Please don't forget about me!

MIgraine Day

So I woke up with an awful migraine. Since getting pregnant with Caleb I have been off my migraine meds and can not go back on them till after I stop nursing. Needless to say I am having one of those days where everything is piled up yet I just can not complete anything. I am going to be a bum today and hopefully all will be back tomorrow. I have several reviews and giveaways I will be posting this week. Don't Forget about these giveaways that are ending!

# Penny & Rio Book 5/12
# Baby Dipper 5/13
# Teething Bling 5/13
# 18x24 High Gloss Photo Poster 5/13

Wonderful Mother's Day

This weekend was the best weekend in a long time. My kids are my pride and joy, my husband is my everything, and I will admit I had been feeling under loved and under appreciated! My husband lives two hours away from me and only gets to come home if he has 2 days off in a row. That does not happen very often as he works in a machine shop that is under staffed and over worked. He works 12 hour shifts usually 6 days a week. We just can't afford to move until our truck is paid off next year so for now this is how our lives are. I am essentially a single mom who deals with the day to day life of two boys and there are times we go a month without seeing my husband. When we do see him everything is a jumbled rush of trying to fit our lives in 24 hours. (Please don't take me wrong I am thankful he has a job yet this is just as hard as when he did not)

So I decided I would surprise my husband. Aaron went to my mom's friday after school and I thought I would take Hubby camping. I would get everything ready and surprise him.... Thursday he called and had to work Friday. I cried forever but then decided this was to important to not do. So I decided we would go Saturday. Around noon I was waiting on Ken to get home; I had already gotten Caleb to my Mother-in-Law and there was a knock at the door. UPS is standing there with a box from Pro Flowers! In almost 3 years my hubby has brought me flowers about 5 times but never sent them. His card even said 'This is PROOF I can send Flowers!'

So Ken gets home and we pack everything up and head down to our camp spot; about an hr away from home. He was so shocked that I put this together. The way down is always rough but it was really rough this time. The storms we got here in TN have made it almost impossible to get to out camping destination. We did get there but here is what we went through:

We had so much fun just the two of us. We really needed the alone time and we grew from it. We needed to remember why we are together and why we have two little boys. We talked about our life and how things are heading. I can honestly say we are closer this weekend then we have been in forever. So whats your favorite thing to do just the two of you? How do you reconnect when your drawing away because of life's demands?

I will share my actual Mother's Day with you all tomorrow.... yep it's not over! I told you it was a wonderful Mother's Day this year!

Happy Mother's Day

I will be taking a breaking from posting for the weekend. So I wanted to wish each of you a Happy Mother's Day. I will be back Monday with my Mamavation update, Fat Fling update, and Giveaway Monday Roundup.... Plus I may have another giveaway for you!




Mother's Day Glitters