fresh air and crunchy stuff

I proposed that we go camping for Thanksgiving.

I regret nothing.

I regret some things.

I regret a lot.

 

My husband and I alternate holidays with each other's families. This year was the year to spend with his parents. Since many family members couldn't make it from up North, I proposed the idea of camping instead so we wouldn't spend the holiday sitting around sulking because all the fun people are missing.

The husband's parents are hardcore campers and my husband loves camping, I've only camped once and the kid's have never camped before so everyone was on board.

The park was already dull brown and dry - we were too late to see the fantastic Arkansas mountain foliage. Curses! 

But with it being Thanksgiving weekend, the park was super quiet with only a handful of other campers. We had plenty of space to roam about undisturbed. It felt like the park belonged to us. 

We set up across a path from the in-laws who were set up right at the top of a hill that overlooked a crystal clear river. The river looked so dang clean and inviting, I wanted to splash around in it but that wouldn't have been a very wise idea as the water was probably at about 40F. Still, the urge was SO dang hard to resist! No mosquitoes, no snakes, no weird swimming creatures. Just a clean stream of cloud juice.

So the regrets?

The boredom.

The soul crushing boredom.

Not just boredom.

Loneliness. 

Holy smokes. I had no one to talk to and oftentimes nothing to do. I explored, took photos and walked about and enjoyed a little alone time but when I was ready to talk, maybe do a little bonding with the in-laws, no one was interested in jack squat I had to say.

"Do you have something else to do besides talk to me? Oh, you wanna stare at the river in silence for a few more hours. Sorry, for disturbing you."

I was more baffled than hurt that no one wanted to talk to me. My kids had plenty to do rolling around in leaves and throwing rocks into the river so they were good to go. My husband, brother in-law and father-in-law kept to themselves talking theology and man stuff.... My mother-in-law just simply wasn't interested in talking to me. No rudeness about it. No tension. Just not interested.

I shrugged it off and tried to keep myself company but the books I brought were awful and there was no phone service and of course no wifi. So I began to mosey about feeling kind of sorry for myself.

3 days and two nights in the wilderness with no one to talk to is pretty dang tough.

But anyways. I survived. 

I'm still here.

BAM! PHOTOS!

Sheesh, it took me ages to finish this post. Uuuuggghhh.

I've picked up a new client, looking for more clients and it's time to start cranking out Christmas posts for the other blog.

Christmas posts = $$$$

$$$$ = Bills paid.

Bills paid = electricity, phone, a home, a car, etc...

You get it.

See you folks laaaaaaaaater.

ganksthiving

 It's Thanksgiving here in the States. It's definitely one of my favorite holidays. Anything involving food had my heart. Right now, I'm full, I'm lethargic, I feel gross and I need a bath so here's a brief post about the day.

Thanksgiving dinner (lunch, really) was held at my mom's place in Atlanta, TX. Why do we eat Thanksgiving dinner so effin' early? 11:30am is not exactly what I call dinnertime. We were running behind schedule so I whipped up a green bean casserole while I did my hair and makeup and had to throw on whatever didn't need ironing so we could hurry up and hit the road.

I set my hair on curlers last night. It started off looking great, but it just wouldn't keep the volume (as usual) and I even sprayed the dickens out of it.

Here's my last remaining grandparent. My granddaddy will be 90 in March, stands well over 6-ft and when he was younger he looked just like Nat King Cole.

Black Friday deal hunting. 

 Mom and sister selfie.

Oddball in the kitchen.

 Niece, sister, River and Husband.

 Too full to walk - tempted to nap on the ground.

 Basking and posing.

 Leaf shower.

 Oooooohhh....

Happy Thanksgiving folks.

Ramsey Thanksgiving

Cute autumn socks, fresh out of the package!

Thank you Just a Dollar. You're my only friend.

We spent Thanksgiving this year at the husband's parent's new home in Nacadoches, TX. 

Heh, I thought the photo above would be a good way to bring up this next pic. Get it? Buns in the oven? GET IT?!?!? DO YA!?  The husband's sister and her husband came down from NY. It's always a joy to see them but it was an extra special visit this year since they have a little one due in the spring.

 Little River had a blast. He finally got to swing and play in leaves for the first time ever.

It's been miserably wet and cold in Texarkana so all of our leaves are limp and soggy and the ground is ridiculously muddy everywhere.

 The leaves at his Granny's house were so crunchy and perfect, everyone wanted to play in them. 

  We had a decent and relaxing time even though I was pretty dang tired the entire time from lack of sleep due to a poor mattress and a possible kidney infection. 

We ate, we played games and there was lots of flatulence....

No kidding. After the Thanksgiving meal, we all sat around in a small room and played a game. There were a lot of farts that were not being claimed that evening and I didn't appreciate that one bit.

And what's worse is that they were ninja farts: Silent but deadly.

So how was your Thanksgiving weekend? (Or you know, for most of you just the weekend...)

Thanksgiving Recap

Even though me and the husband have been married for two years I decided to cook our first Thanksgiving meal the evening before Thanksgiving. I've never done it before because my cooking skills were non-existent until earlier this year- mostly because we went the first two years of our lives together without a fridge. Try never cooking before in your life and then becoming a wife... with no fridge. Your cooking experiences with be very limited!

We spent this Thanksgiving in Tyler, TX at my aunt and uncle's house. It was a great mixture of family from my mom's side of the family and my dad's side. See, my mom's sister is married to my dad's brother and even though my parents are divorced, we're all still family- doubly. 

(FYI: That's my mom in the red shirt)

This is my adorable Aunt Alice and Uncle Wil. They we're the hosts of Thanksgiving this year.

This precious chunky fellow is 6 month old Lucas- enjoying his first Thanksgiving meal.

This is the first time I've met him! (He's my newest baby cousin, Aunt and Uncle's new grandbaby). Don't you just wanna bite those cheeks and fat legs?!

Me and Aunt and Uncle

When it was time to leave, everyone went outside and started taking random photos of anyone who would stand still long enough to have a photo taken. It was hilarious and the whole ordeal lasted for about an hour!

So how was your Thanksgiving??

Feel free to share links of your Thanksgiving blog posts in the comment section below!

Autumn Maternity Fashion Inspiration #7

Walmart- a love hate relationship

I used to hate Walmart. Well, it's not that I hated Walmart as a store, I just hated going to Walmart period.  I hated the freaky people, the crowds, the loooooong lines- twenty registers available with only three open at any given time. The harsh florescent lights and screaming children...

But now that I'm seven months pregnant, I'm actually pretty grateful that Walmart exists. I can't really walk around and get in and out of my car as easily as I used to.  Running errands is pretty demanding physically but it's the only time I can get out of the house - other than that, I'd have no reason to leave my home.  But too much walking and motion makes my pelvis feel like it's cracking in half and my feet feel like bricks. Going to Walmart saves me so much time and energy. The the hubub and noises- well, I've kind of learned to just deal with it.

Here's a good example of why I'm so thankful for Walmart, especially today:

I made a to-do list last night of all the things I want to get done today and it went something like this:

Go to Michael's arts and crafts store to get felt and embroidery thread for a project I'm working on for the baby.

Go to the Family Dollar to get a prepaid phone card

Go to the Granary to get some fish oil capsules

Go to PetSmart to get a new water bottle for our bunny and some nom-nom treats

Go to Walmart to get a rolling pin, cereal, pasta and blush.

Go to Target to find a couple of blouses (I'm outgrowing a lot of clothes now)

Mmm... no.

How about I just go to Walmart and kill six birds with one stone? You know there's just something magical being able to get your eyes checked, get your hair styled, tires rotated, pick up a prescription and grocery shop all in one location. Magical.

Plus, our Walmarts' are actually pretty tame. We don't have much grossness like in the photos above. Just a lot of screaming bratty children.

Love it. Hate it. I need it.

Walmart.

Oh, Pinterest

Why am I thankful for Pinterest? Well, why shouldn't I be?

65 boards, 5,262 pins and 181 followers. I love Pinterest and here are 8 reasons why.

1. Recipes - there have been times when I was at a complete loss for what to cook for dinner. Never fear. Pinterest to the rescue. No more flipping through cook books, no more index cards and paper towel book marks. Now I can just browse through my board of recipes I've saved. It's like having your own customized cookbook online.

2. Saving Computer Space -  I used to save and hoard images onto my computer's hard drive: pics of cute outfits and pretty dresses, funny photos and art work. Cleaning out my files was always a very tough task. If I saved something on my computer, that means I REALLY wanted it. Now I can satisfy my compulsion to store images by pinning them on Pinterest.

3. Finding good blogs and other websites - Whenever I come across an image on Pinterest that really strikes my fancy, I often follow the link so see where it came from and to see if that site holds more goodies for me. I have found many wonderful online shops, blogs and websites this way.

4. "Slap-your-forehead-say-duh" tips and projects - I've come across some serious money saving tips and projects on Pinterest. My favorite so far has been putting a bread bag closure tab under your flip flops to secure the strap if it breaks through the sole. I buy cheap flip flops because I mostly just wear them around the house. I'm so happy I found this- plus many other "well why didn't I think of that" tips that will seriously help you in a semi-emergency.

5. DIY projects -  I love making stuff. Mostly because I'm a little on the cheap side. I can't stand spending money on something I know I can make for half the cost. Pinterest is full of super unique and often simple DIY projects that can make you feel like a frugal crafting genius.

6. Wedding blogging made easier - I have a budget wedding blog. I'm on hiatus right now from it so I can focus more on this blog. The DIY and budget wedding projects on Pinterest are so incredibly helpful and inspiring. Blogging became so much easier after I discovered Pinterest. Now that I'm hiatus from the blog, I pin inspiring wedding images and projects for my readers to view while I'm away.

7. Mock baby registry - I am super picky about my baby items. I don't like sports themed stuff for a boy and cutesy pink ruffly stuff for a girl. It's all so silly to me. People can go really overboard when they buy baby gifts. They buy what THEY think is cute, not what they think YOU'LL think is cute. I often find myself really disliking other people's baby taste so I started a board to show my specific baby style taste. I hope people pay attention.

8. Planning my Renaissance Faire - I started a separate Pinterest account for my Renaissance Faire. I found so many wonderful ideas for costuming, decorating and money saving DIY projects that helped me this year and will for sure help me in the future. I think I'm the only Renaissance Faire int he world that uses Pinterest for Faire planning... and with 41 boards, 2,564 pins and 289 followers, I think I might be one of the most popular Renaissance Faire accounts on Pinterest!