I've Moved!

.......check out my new blog here!

Tronesia Yvette

M.I.A.

It seems like it has been weeks since I have blogged. It probably has. So many things have happened. We made a road trip to Alabama this past week. We got back home Sunday afternoon and man, that was the LONGEST drive ever! My daughter had a good time visiting with her cousins and grandparents, so that definitely made a sad trip turn into a good one. 

Lately, I started working on a new blog. I really miss my Wordpress blog. I love blogger, but I love the WP platform even more. I am customizing every code I can to get it just the way that I want. Hopefully, I will be able to share it soon along with some other new things that I plan on sharing. One thing I can say, the blogger spacing on posts is much easier to deal with. When I enter, it gives me a line break without question. Right now I am having to reformat all of my posts on Wordpress. I bought a new domain so I am trying to decide if I should even move all of my blogger posts. It is becoming more work than I thought it would be to reformat all of the posts. I am such a perfectionist and I really need the spacing to be the same for each of the posts.

I definitely have some scrap booking to catch up on. Working on my smash book has even been put on hold a bit and it makes me sad. Still trying to find things for Aida to do each day. Her birthday was about a week ago, so I officially have a 5 year old. I wake up before her every day, but on her birthday she woke up before both of us. Her dad said she was in face talking about her birthday before he even got up for work that morning. This was the first birthday that we did not go on a big, elaborate trip. I miss that but it was nice celebrating all day (and week) with my baby girl. I have so many photos to work on from her birthday. I need to make a huge task list of photos to edit, share and scrap. Let's hope I even remember to do that...lol!

Just wanted to share a photo of the little lady from April of this year. I was cutting out shapes for her to put together a flower. She enjoyed it and now I have an adorable flower in my kitchen.

I must get back to it now....thanks for visiting!

Almost Over

NSD weekend is almost over....but not yet. I completely forgot to come back and post. Bad me! Lots of sales and challenges are still going on. Today is the last day for the storewide 30% off sale at Sweet Shoppe Designs and The Lilypad. If there is any digital scrapbook item (kit, element,  paper pack...etc..) that you have been wanting, now is the time to get it. I love shopping on NSD weekend just because of the great deals you find at the forums and other social media (i.e. facebook, twitter). This year I am beyond grateful to be on the creative team of my favorite stores. So many new and wonderful products were released this week. I definitely did not have enough time to create. I have a few of my favorite pages to share. 

This first page I made last night. I downloaded the kit yesterday and as soon as I unzipped the kit, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. It usually takes me a long time (more than an hour) to finish a page, but this really inspired me.

My Scrap Journal

Warmer days are here...finally!! I am so excited. This past weekend it was beautiful outside. Lots of sunshine and people were outside all over the place. It is the first day of May and the month is already starting off very well. I have been busy with creating pages for National Scrapbooking Day (NSD), which is this Saturday, May 4th. There are so many activities that will be going on all week long and some will not end until next week. I will come back later and do a post of links to some of the festivities. 

Right now, I really wanted to share my latest project. Browsing through a certain favorite store of mine, I came across these notebooks called smash books. I remember when quite a few of the digital ladies on my FB feed were doing them and at the time, I did not have the time to even look at paper goods for scrapping. Fast forward to present day- and I have more time to do some things for myself. I have plenty of journals from when I was younger and have been anxious to start one as an adult. I figure this will be fun and will give me a chance to do a little scrapbooking of my own random thoughts.

Now- for the cover of my scrap journal, I chose the PrettyPink journal which has this beautifully embossed cover. I started looking through Pinterest and google to see how to pretty up the outside a little more and make it more me. I absolutely love color. I came across an idea on Pinterest to color in the embossing. I thought, "why not?" So I went to Amazon and got on the hunt for markers and found a nice variety pack. The colors are very nice in person and I think I am going to have to do some doodles on my own besides on the cover of the book. The colors came out darker when I was coloring in the design on the journal because of the material.

Lately

These past few days I have almost felt like I have been living in a bubble. Under a rock or something. If I find a new project I want to start, I get completely consumed with it. First, it was reading this HTML/CSS book. I could not focus on anything else and now, it is scrap booking but with paper materials instead of digital. By Friday, I will be ready to start my scrap journal. I am even contemplating a hybrid 2013 project life which I am still not sure that's a good choice (considering I am behind on 2012).  I am pacing myself though - one step at a time. 

I got a nice surprise as I clicked a link from my email today. One of my pages was included as inspiration on the Creating Keepsakes blog. I was shocked! I am over here ready to learn to scrap as well as those ladies with the paper goodies...I am really honored, smitten and all of that. You know, when I get comments on my pages, most times I do not know how to respond. It makes me feel good and I am excited to read each one... I smile.... I even get surprised when people I do not think would look at my page will stop to make a comment. It really and truly is a feeling I cannot describe and so, sometimes I may not respond just because I cannot find the words. I am not good at all at being social but I am trying my best to do better. My child is very social and loves interacting with others. I know that she has gotten this from her dad, and her grandparents, even. I mean - I am an extreme introvert about some things and it has always been easy to write it down (or type it out onto a blog). I have all of my old journals and diaries and I even kept up with some of my web URLs that I have had in the past. I have a lot of thoughts that go through my head and I wish I could express them as well as I think them. Now...surely...that is not why I started this post but it came out as I typed...lol!

Scrapbooking: New Goodies and More

So. It is Saturday and almost 2 am on my side of the world. It feels like it has been longer than a couple of days but Aida and I went out for breakfast Thursday morning. We went to IHOP. I decided to wait to go to the two local places I had scouted to try. We did go to a local cupcake & cafe afterwards just to try the cupcakes that got them named in the newspaper for three years. The cupcakes were delicious but the lady that actually helped my child and I was just not that friendly. I almost tired of hearing myself say that. And I do need to clarify.

I myself, when I am around people I do not know, I am quiet. I smile, greet them will respond in conversation if we happen to start talking. I do not have a problem with others that are just like me - kind of hesitant to speak to someone else, because I understand being that way...but a business owner being that way is kind of odd. You have a business, which means you would like customers and that should mean at least being cordial. You do not have to speak to me like I am your best friend but please do not look at my child and I like you wish we would run out the front door. Now I will say it was rather humid inside the place. They had fans on but it was still hot. No need for AC because it was barely 50 degrees, rainy and very windy. I thought that maybe the lady was flustered because it was hot and she was doing a lot of moving around. Either way, I will not be going back. Good cupcakes...perfect amount of sweetness...and not too much icing.Oh well! Not like I needed them. (lol!)

This girl!

My daughter and I have been enjoying our time together these days. I am still trying to find my 'fit' as a stay-at-home-mom. Gosh! I am not really sure I am even worthy of that label. I hate labels but it is what it is. I am a mama and very grateful to have this man in my life that says "take care of the child and I will take care of you all." My little ladybug, on the other hand, is taking advantage of mama. At least I think so....lol! Every day starts with breakfast of her choosing. It is either cereal with fruit or waffles/pancakes with fruit. At some point during the day, she tells me "I am tired of this." I know that means she is bored, so I try to find us something to do.

This Monday I beat her to the punch and decided to wash her hair. At first, I was going to style her hair as normal with mini twists, but instead, I decided to straighten it (temporarily) with flat irons. We deep conditioned, conditioned again after washing and applied my favorite leave-in. Since my hair is natural and I use no heat, it was weird to smell that familiar scent of heat being applied to hair. It will be a long while (years...yearrrrss...) before we do this again, but I thought it would be fun. She loved her hair once it was done...and there is a lot of it. This is just one of the photos I got of her before she made outfit changes (photos to come later).

I used grapeseed oil, coconut oil and Camille Rose Naturals Moisture milk as I blew her hair dry. Then before flat-ironing each section, I used a dab of shea butter and Darcy's Botanicals Madagascar Vanilla styling creme. I love love Darcy's and Camille Rose's product lines for our hair, so I had to experiment with them when styling my daughter's hair this time around. Her hair was still big but it was also soft and bouncy. Detangling, as usual, was torture. I need to find an easier way for both of us. I can use my fingers to detangle when our hair is wet and it is super easy, but as soon as it dries, those little curls bunch back together. It really drives me crazy. Maybe one day I will solve that dilemma. :-)

Lots of Blue

Not sure why I am so obsessed with blue lately. Funny thing. I was on Education.com with Aida the other day and they had these mask templates for the Chinese birth year animals. My daughter, fiance and I are all born in the year of the rat. One of our "colors" is blue. I was thinking maybe that is why I am so into blue. I mean, I love colors-most of them, but I was never fond of blue until I was trying to find blog colors and I realized I needed blue. Then, I got to thinking about my project life album and how it is mostly shades of blue and yellow. I thought that was kind of cool. Probably just my weirdness to connect all of that....lol!

I have been happily scrapping these past few days and have a few pages to share. This first page uses photos I recently converted. I have been converting my RAW files to DNG, and I was looking at a few and figured I really need to get to processing and using these photos. I tried to do a nice, clean edit on these which I posted on my photo blog. 

Cold, maybe?

Looking through photos and I realize why I do not post nearly as many as I have taken. I hate converting and editing! Lately, I have not done much editing to my photos but even the little touch ups on white balance or the brightness or adding a little matte finish or even converting to black and white, I just do not have the drive to do it. It has been a very rainy week and I was hoping that we would be able to get out and explore. It would be nice to take photos elsewhere and maybe of some things, so that my daughter is not bombarded and so that I can have some to look back on of where we lived for this time. 

I do have one to share today of my daughter. This was taken at the end of March. She had gotten some new boots in a larger size for next winter, but she really wanted to try them on. I kept telling her it may be cold. Well, she ran outside so quickly and once she felt the wind, it was over. I told her we would make it quick and this is all she would do.

Decision Made...

Since I have had more time to actually think through things, I have come to a decision. I have a Marketing degree. When I was about 14 or 15, I said I wanted to be in advertising. I grew up and learned that I am too much of an introvert for that. I could never be easily sociable and explain to others the ideas in my head. For a long time I had a cloud over my thoughts. Like I was afraid to process and sort through them..in my own mind, which is just crazy. I know why I chose Marketing. I get bored easily. I change my mind frequently. Marketing was the one area of study that could be used in any field I ever decided to learn more about. My first thought upon entering college in the Fall of 2002 was that I should do something computer related. 

First two years of college are like a "buffer" zone, so I had that time to really decide what my major would be. I stuck with Marketing. Now...I wish I had done web design or something programming related. Those things speak to me. Computer geek stuff excites me. It is like breathing for me. So why did I not do that? It seemed like so many people were going to school for that. What would set me apart? Knowing how to market myself. My favorite professor at UAB taught my International Business course, Mr. Pang. He would always ask us: "What is Marketing?" I would never respond...quiet old me..and most everyone would look around in a daze or confused or just sleep...mostly because that's what we were there to find out...and he would laugh and tell us that it was easy, it was "market things." Really and truly...that is all it is. Market things...whatever your business is..market it...sell it...make someone else want it. I wish I had opened up more in class because now I get it...I get the point of it all, the big picture. So! Know how to market your skills and no matter if you are the best or moderately good, if you market yourself the right way....it will work. 

Monday Blahs

Monday still feels like Monday- whether I work in an office or home, it is still my least favorite day of the week. I have no idea why! It is like everything that annoyed me all during the week is compounded on Monday. No idea why...probably all in my mind. Anywhhooo... I have not been scrapping as much as I would like. I thought if I had more time at home, got in some family time and got away from the stress of my job that I would scrap so much and that has not been the case. I even think my child believes she has her own personal server (i.e. me!). Her dad says this my fault for always being right there when she needed something when she was a little younger, but what was I supposed to do? Lol!! I will admit I may have and still do go overboard, but I cannot help it. The before-a-child me was selfish and hated to share, but after meeting my fiance and having a child, I am mostly different...lol! Mostly because I still do not believe in helping others that are not helping their self first. As far as my child, I would do anything for her...as most parents would agree when it comes to their children. 

I remember when I had to save as much money as possible to cover the bills for maternity leave. Or when we were eating sandwiches and spaghetti almost every other day to keep down the grocery bill. I even remember eating Cheerios on the way to work and taking sandwiches for lunch with peanuts, chips and water because I had no lunch money. BUT...it did not matter. My daughter was at a daycare with teachers/caregivers that loved her and took very good care of her; she had a closet full of clothes and plenty of diapers; and, we enjoyed weekends at home or visiting our families who always fed us and even were sweet enough to pay for the gas for our trip to their house and back. We were blessed in so many ways, so then and now I feel like I have to give her all of that and more. 

Sorry about that entire thought ramble...it all just came out...surely my hands were possessed.. lol! 

Now...I do have a few recent pages to share. I dug deep into my older photos to find some that really needed to be scrapped (or re-scrapped) and I loved going back and seeing how much has changed since those times and now.

My daughter was a month away from her 3rd birthday in these photos and it was Easter Sunday.

Why I Made the Switch

I have been meaning to post about this and now I am finally sitting down to do it. 

A little before I relocated, my hosting with Ultra Web Hosting was going to expire. I loved them as a hosting company. I googled for weeks to find out who I would first try and they were who I decided on. I could not find one bad review and the ones I found were rare finds. Now, this would have scared me except all the big hosting companies that I knew of, I had heard about all types of issues. With Ultra Web, I paid roughly $80 a year for unlimited everything and they kept everything up to date. Whenever they were going to do an update, I received an email in advance. I got my domain name (which I still have) hosted through Namecheap with a coupon and shortly after, I started building my first WordPress blog. I had maybe ONE day of downtime with Ultra Web in the entire year and a half I was with them. It was easy to set up and their support team responded in a timely manner when I had no idea what I was doing trying to set up name servers (lol!).

Our Day

Today was pretty quiet. Normal stuff going on..nothing too fun. Ohh! The other day we went to get the enrollment information for my dd to start kindergarten in the Fall. She was very excited about that (as she is about most things)! Mommy is still nervous and will be until, and after, that first day. I am going to try this. There is a virtual academy and there is home school, soooo....if it is not to my liking...who knows what will happen.... I really want her to go because I know she is different than I. She loves interacting with other children whereas I enjoy the quiet more, away from others. That and all of the sad, tragic news stories...scare me about sending my child to school. I figure I can say that here...but at the same it SCARES me to even say it...think it...but I am a realist and cannot ignore the negative things in life. At the same time, I do believe there is a higher power in charge and the fate of the world has already been written. And if I believe it's written, then I know it cannot be changed. So...I live my life day to day. I do everything I can to have a good day and to make it through one day and then I deal with the others as they come. School and my child - I definitely see it the same way. Things can happen walking out the front door or just driving down the street....one day at a time and I am breathing, slow and steady...lol! 

Her Words...Not Mine

April is here and the anxiety of my child turning 5 years old in May is really getting to me. I have never been one to ask others to babysit. She is my child and I wanted to have her for a reason. I love being around her. Yes, she jumps on every last nerve I have...and at the end of the day, I laugh about. How can a little person come up with all of these things to do? Lately, her vocabulary has been changing and she is using new words. It is FUNNY to hear her come up with these outlandish phrases. 

Just Another Day

Today I am officially 29 years old. I have never put a lot of thought into my age or worrying about how old I am ... it is merely a number. I have always felt like I was born in the wrong year or dimension for my fellow supernatural/other world phenomenon believers. I like to keep this day a secret. This will be the first time in a very long time I have mentioned it. It has always been just another day for me. No excitement. No fun. Just work and keep it moving. My daughter sweetly wished me happy birthday and said she wanted to make me a cake but did not know how. I told her she did not need to make me a cake; her sweet smile is enough for me. Usually the day is a downer for me but I think today will be a "whatever...and I will do whatever when I fee like it" kind of day...lol! That was a lot huh?!? Anywayyy...

I have been playing around in photoshop with my photo processing. I have so many actions that I spent money on but most times it is my own way of editing that I like. I like clean, colorful photos but I also like the matte finish with rich color. Creamy tinted whites are okay some days. It really depends on the photo. I have a photo of my daughter from the other day enjoying a bowl of Froot Loops. I love, love lifestyle images. The ones that are not posed, but clutter-free and all you see is "the moment." I tried to get that in this photo.

Nice and Clean

For my daughter and I, the days we wash our hair are long and seem never-ending. Her hair has the same curl pattern as my own but it is soft..almost like cotton balls. Her hair absorbs moisture much more quickly than mine. So, when it is time for a wash, I have to take my time to get it clean and make sure it gets moisturized at the same time. On this particular day, I decided to let her hair air dry while styled into a puff. I twisted it the next day in her usual twists but I am sure she was mad at me. It was a chore to untangle...but hey...she looked cute wearing her puff!

Project Life Update & More

Yes. I am still working on Project Life. Yes. I am still on 2012. Now I read somewhere that there should be no such thing as "being behind on Project Life." I cannot remember where but I am slightly offended...mainly because I am behind. Lol! You know working and being mama and doing all of that other stuff around the house does not leave a lot of time to do whatever the heck I wanted. I mean....my daughter's albums are pretty much up to date...just need to print some pages. My project life pages are not so simple. I know they should be but I wanted them to reflect me and what I like...and that's not always simple. So...I will do this my way and maybe I will be able to "catch up" since I have time now. Sooo in honor of that ramble...guess what...I finished a couple more pages...lol!!

So Many Flowers

Saturday...Saturday.... I no longer count down the week days waiting on the weekend to get here for relief. My mind is clear. Sometimes it is too clear that I start to think of or find things that I just need to be doing. Being a working mom since my daughter was born makes it a little more trying to be a stay at home mom. She is 4 and we are able to do more things, but there have been days that I felt like I was just getting to know this little human being next to me. That made me sad. Fast forward a few days and you have her telling me she wants mommy to get a job so that she can go to a new daycare and make new friends (she is such the social butterfly!). We only have a few months or so left until she begins school and I am not sure how we will make it. Some days she wants to leave the house and some days she does not. I ask her to play or start some reading exercises and she is like, "Mommy, I am busy." Lol! So that makes it hard to determine how she really is feeling. I know she is okay but I also know she likes to be more social than I.

I have always been quiet and to myself. I have moments where I wish I had someone to talk to but those moments are not very common for me. Most times I would rather enjoy the quiet or I will just talk to Denard or call and see what one of my parents is doing. Aida is a little different; she is more outgoing, like her father. I have made us a little calendar of the things going on in the area at the library, Childrens' Museum and natural science center. Hopefully she will enjoy those. 

Playing with Flash

For the past couple of years, I have had a Canon speedlight. Only once have I fiddled around with it off camera. I never actually tried to learn it, master it or anything. Tuesday of this week was a "get to know you" kind of day with my flash. With my camera, I am able to enable the on-camera flash to act as a trigger for the external flash (Canon 430 EX II).  It was pretty cool and I just did some test photos with my silly child and her wild hair.

In a List

So I have made it through my first week in the northern part of the U.S. of A. and this Alabama girl sure has some things to get used to. I thought I would just list a few of my thoughts of things I wish I had known before moving to Wisconsin....while it is still VERY cold! :)

#1 - I wish I had known I needed 2 or more pairs of socks inside the house. My fiance has had the temp around 70 degrees and my toes have been completely numb. My entire body is cold; I bumped up the temp a few degrees and can finally feel the warmth in my toes. I surely need more socks. 

#2 - I wish I had known how cold WIND can really be. We went to the grocery EARLY Saturday...well before 1 or 2 pm and the WIND hit me and whipped straight through my ear canals and made me feel like I might just get the flu, congestion or something from that wind alone. It was crazy!

#3 - I wish I had known NOT to try to go to dinner after sundown. We ventured out to Texas Roadhouse on Friday evening. The food was good but my teeth were chattering the entire walk to and from the restaurant and during our wait to be seated (it was VERY crowded).

We are here

We finally got everything loaded up and moved to our new place in Wisconsin. It took us longer to get here since we had to stop for gas quite often and give the kids (my daughter and her little cousin) breaks to stretch and go potty. I was knocked out as we approached the city. Denard claims to have been trying to wake me up...of course, I remember none of this....lol! I was up just in time to see us approaching the community where we would be living. I was just in awe at all of the snow and even more in shock at the cold I felt when I stepped outside. It was about 3 or 4 am when we finally got inside and got settled. My parents followed us up here...and that was such a blessing. My parents and my great-nephew got settled into their hotel and the three of us snuggled up on an air mattress. That was the coldest sleep ever! I knew we had to get the furniture in and the bed up soon as we could the next day. 

That morning I woke up around 9 and waited a little bit to get up. Aida must have a sixth sense about when my eyes open because she was soon looking around. I started getting bundled up to get some things out of my car and she followed. The moment we stepped out the door she asked, "Mommy, can I make a snow angel now?!?" Keep in mind, she has been asking me this all week and the past two months that her dad has been sending her pictures of the snow. I did not even get a chance to answer her. Next thing I knew, she had flopped back into the blanket of snow and starting moving her arms and legs.She was enjoying herself and I was panicking because she only had 2 extra outfits until we started unpacking. And there she is...having the time of her life laying in the super cold snow.

A Little Different

Today was the first day with Aida and I at home - no work and no daycare. That was how we had labeled our weekdays the past few years. "This is a work and daycare day"- I would remind her each morning. It got to the point where if I was taking off to give us some time together, she would ask when she was going to daycare. It made me sad but I knew how we got to that so I understood. My sweet child has also been reminding me of her daily activities that normally go on at daycare. I wonder what happens if I keep deviating from the plan that she believes is the right way to do things.

My Bright Idea

So here I am the other day trying to think of how I am going to take control of my life and make some changes about my weight. I have a habit of start to workout for a good two weeks and then I completely stop for a month or so ...and then I feel bad, start again.....then the cycle repeats. Well, I figured because of my DNA that I needed some diet changes and to exercise. I was scanning Pinterest for all of these smoothie recipes and decided to try some. I was so excited. Did not one time stop to think about my fruit allergy. So I buy the fruit, almond milk, spinach and oat and proceed to making my smoothie. It looked green and gross  [recipe called for 2 cups of spinach] but it did not taste bad. Within seconds, my lips, inner mouth, face, throat and hands are starting to itch. My throat itches so bad that I wish I could remove my esophagus so this smoothie does not get any deeper in my digestive tract and make me itch even more...lol! I look around the empty kitchen and proclaim I must be an idiot. LOL!!! Cause who else would do all of that and forget they have an allergy to the best part of the recipe [the fruit]. I mean I don't know what made me think I would not have a reaction. Surely I will scrap about it one day. ..but mannn...I really need to think more before I act...lol!!

Early Surprise

When we got home today, there was a wonderful surprise waiting on our doorstep. Aida loves to get deliveries even more than I do. As soon as she saw the boxes, she ran onto the porch. She was already smiling from ear to ear before I could get the box opened. She squealed and batted those eyelashes and goes "ohhh DaDa you shouldn't have!" I fell out laughing...lol!!! Here is Aida's surprise from her Da-da....

It's Official!

In a few weeks, Aida and I will be joining the old man (Denard) in Madison, Wisconsin. She is excited about seeing her dad. I am pretty sure she will trample him when she sees him cause it's been about two months. So far, she has done well with the temporary change of routine. I always tell her our "plan" for anything that we do. I have been doing that since she was an infant and now that she is older, she tends to ask me every day "what are we doing mommy." For the most part, I state out loud what I am going to do so that I can remember. If I hear or see it, I will remember the moment I heard it or read it like it is a movie and that makes things easier to remember, but it has also helped her when we need to do things that are not part of our normal routine. She knows what to expect so it is not a surprise to her and if she needed to have a tantrum about it, most times, she will have had it when I was telling her the plan. Some times it works out and some times it doesn't ....lol!! I just try to go with the flow. :)

New Girl

So I finally watched the latest episode of New Girl....and wow! I have been waiting for that moment since the show began and finally it happens. Now I am anxious to see what will happen in the next episode. Watch... it will be something silly like it was all a dream or they will totally act like it did not happen. I would rather Nick just finally be honest with Jess and get on with the plot...lol!

This has been a whirlwind of a week. This whole moving thing is just too much to handle. I am very forgetful and tend to work better when I have a list. This has resulted in a LOT of lists...all over the places. I have  lists on index cards in my purse, in my desk at home, on my notepad on my phone and on my email. Lists...lists...lists....Changing things over and getting things ready to be turned off...it's just a ball of confusion in my head. The lists have been very helpful though. They are more of a comfort thing because I can mark off what I have done and easily see what is to be done next.

Project Life: Week 13 of 2012

I still have a ways to go on my 2012 project life album. I am doing my best to catch up. I think I am going to set myself a goal to have it completed by this summer. I have so many things I want and need to do as far as completing and printing albums. For now, I am going to work on getting Aida's 2011 album and 2012 project life completed. Just a quick share today since I am pretty exhausted...week 13....

Special Day

Normally I try not to discuss anything political. I am not a big fan of conflict. Although my guy will say differently, I really try to stay away arguments..but today is a special day- it's Inauguration Day for Barack Obama. He is beginning his second term as president of the United States of America. For reasons I am choosing not to discuss, I did not vote in this election. I am happy that he won because he deserved it. Comparing coverage of other candidates and the image that was portrayed of them by the media or their own campaigns, President Obama was the best choice. As I watched some of the Inauguration moments on the web, a thought crossed my mind. I wished and hoped that my great-great grandmother Gertrude Fort could see this moment - the second time around. She was born in 1896 and I remember the stories she shared with me and finding the old newspaper clippings in her armoire. I was young at the time - well under 10 years old, but she read and explained to me the stories that were told in the papers.

Let Her Win?

It has been a long week, or at least it seemed that way to me. I slept through my alarm two days in a row. I got to work 20 to 30 minutes later than usual. It really was not as big a deal as I made it out to be but it really throws my entire day off when I start it later than normal. Forgetful is my middle name. I try to do things in a routine - the same way every day, or at least in the same order; it helps me to remember things. The best way to make sure I remember a thought or a moment is to associate it with a sound or song. Sounds strange when I type it out and re-read but hey...it helps! Lol!

Finally...

Yesterday my mother was over to relax with Aida and I. Somehow I mentioned getting Aida's ears pierced. When she was a few months old, everyone kept asking if I was going to get them done and my answer was: no. I want her to decide when she is ready to make these type of permanent choices. With any decision, there is a certain time (in my mind) when it is okay for you decide the when and the where. Ear piercing- as long as she is old enough to understand that we have to take care of her ears and that there will be some pain involved- I was willing to let her decided when and if she wanted this done. I cannot remember having mine done, but my mom says that I was around Aida's age. So if I was...I don't even remember it so it could not have been too bad (I hope...lol!). Anyway, I told her it would be like getting shots at the doctor's office (which she never cries about) and she was okay with that. 

And it begins....

As 2013 rolled into existence, I was sitting at home with my four year old daughter...in our pajamas... watching the clock on my computer. We were cuddled up and both smiling and wish each other a happy new year. I thought I would be happy to see 2012 behind me but I am not so sure...I have mixed feelings. The new year ahead will be full of changes for my family. The first thing I just HAD to do was get a new "free" blog up and running, so I can at least have a place to ramble...yes, I said ramble...lol! I used to always blog but now...being a mom...I almost feel like I have a 'censor' filter when I am writing a post, and that must change. So right now...forgive me for any grammatical errors....typos....or made-up words I may use from now on...lol!!! It is all being done in the name of my peace of mind.

So my first photo of the year was of the raindrops frozen on the tree limbs outside of my door. It was not very cold at all, but the water was just sitting there. I wish I had gotten a little bit closer but Aida was about to come springing through the door and it was still raining, so I had to get this pretty quickly.