#wwtk

[redsailsahead]

TK Ref 2023 (basically 2024) -

Had to give him a new ref since is other one was quite lacking and I want to make a new painting of him soon. Love this guy so much🥺

[wiseguyusa]

This weekend was the @mirfontane #WWTK. If you missed it, it was epic. Congrats for putting Camden, NJ on the map. 📽: @harrisonxkendall #WiseGuy (at PhilaMOCA)

[diverze]

#Repost @theliaijon with @repostapp ・・・ BLESSED 🙏🏾 #Repost @mirfontane with @repostapp ・・・ Thank you @oldmanebro 🎈#Beats1Ebro #AppleMusic #BoroBanger #WWTK

[in-the-neighborhood]

I am the Kiss Monster

{1} If you had an extra hour to do ANYTHING for yourself each day what would you do? Work out. Hubby and I are in the process of revamping our schedules/routines, so hopefully this extra hour will be presenting itself shortly! {2} Are you a morning person or a night owl? NIGHT. OWL. For sure. No question about it. No "Hmmm...well let's see..." I HATE waking up. Hate it. Love what I wake up TO, but hate waking up....which sucks when you have a 5am shift - not only to I have to wake up early, I have to go to bed early as well. {3} How much sleep do you get on an average night? Oh man....remember how I just said I go to bed early? Well that was a lie. I SHOULD go to bed early, but I don't. I usually get to bed by around 10 or 11, which means I get around 5 hours of sleep every night. I really should go to bed earlier... {4} When do you find the time to blog/surf the ol' interweb? During breaks at work and after G. goes to bed. It's really hit and miss at home, so I really just depends on my schedule. {5} What is the ONE thing you're never too busy for? Lovin' on m'boys! Hubby and G. are the best best BEST and I love attacking them both with snuggles and kisses. 

Sappy, I know--but it's true! I am the KISS MONSTER!! Watch yourself. Link up with Mamarazzi and Queso!!

[in-the-neighborhood]

Back on the WWTK wagon

I've been out of my bloggity habits for a while. So here goes. WWTK! 1)Do you prefer to text or call? Depends. I usually hate talking on the phone, so most of the time I'm a texter all the way. There are certain conversations that just need to be spoken, though, ya know? I can deal with that I guess... 2)What is the last text message in your phone and who is it from? My mom: "Hey I've been talking to my old teacher Mary from high school, I wanted to share with you what she did to potty train her kids. They were potty trained before 1"  --Potty training is a hot topic at my house right now... 3)What are your favorite phone apps? Mozy, Gospel Library, TeleNav GPS Navigator, Visual Voicemail, Flashlight, Cozi, and MyDays (in no particular order...) 4)At what age do you think kids are ready for a cell phone? I don't know. I only have one child so far and he's not quite 2 yet. My husband and I have talked about it, though, and we've decided that we're not going to give our kids cell phones--they are going to have to earn them. We have a whole system devised that would take too long to explain, but it's a good plan! I imagine they'll have cell phones around junior high or so...if they can keep up their grades, chores, and good behavior. 5) Share a current pic or video taken with your phone:

We went to "Free Family Swim Day" at the pool on Monday--Gabe had a blast!

Feel free to join in and link up!

Thanks to Mamarazzi and Queso for hosting!

[in-the-neighborhood]

Blog love, babies, the great debate, scents to avoid, and plastic surgery. Sounds like a party!

It's that time again! We Want To Know Wednesday - I'm linkin' up, people, and you should too! Head over to Impulsive Addict, Mamarazzi, Janette, or Shawn's blog and link away, friends! 1-Name five of your favorite new blogs that you're reading. Welllll......"new"...? I've been feeling kinda bogged down lately...which means I haven't been taking on many new blogs....so I'll go with "relatively new", yeah? A Momma's Desires and Pacifiers Lightning Bug's Butt

yours, mine & ours Confessions from an Impulsive Addict *Est. 5.26.07*  

2-When you were a young child or teenager, did you have an idea of how many children you wanted and what their names would be? Did you follow through on your ideas?

The names have changed over the years....and so has the number. For the longest time I only wanted two kids. A boy and a girl. Now I hope to have three. I've got one so far and I'm crossing my fingers that God will bless me with a couple more over the next few years! (you nosey, nosey reader--I know what you're thinking! We aren't "trying" at the moment, but we're thinking maybe in a year we'll go for number two)

As for names....that's just funny. When I was a child, I wanted to name my boy that I was just SURE to have Bradley and my absolute GIVEN girl Keirsten. 

You don't really think about the possibility of not being able to have children when you are a child dreaming up your future wedding with Prince Charming and the family that would unquestionably follow. 

Needless to say, I've changed my mind on the names. (No offense to anyone with those names--my taste has just changed over the years) I really wanted to name a little girl Candace Jane (my sister's name is Candace and we would call my daughter Jane) and I could never settle on a boy name. My son has four names (went with hispanic/latin(o?) tradition and gave him two last names and one ended up having to be a second middle name and....yeah....). His first two are Gabriel [have loved that name for a while] Thomas [family name]. 

Anyway, I want two more. If I could design it the way I wish for it to be, I would have a girl next (whose name is absolutely concrete, but I won't tell! Don't want anyone stealing it!) and then a boy (whose name is also concrete and will not be shared....). We have a secondary girl and boy name in case we don't get a boy AND a girl (you know--if we get two more boys or two girls....and this is, of course, arrogantly assuming we'll be blessed enough to have two more children...)

3-What is the silliest thing you fight with someone about? Ummm...I'm a debater, so I "fight" with a lot of people about silly things...just for the sake of arguing. Most recently, it has been the way my husband blows his nose. I'm not kidding. The man blows his nose in the loudest, most obnoxious way possible. It drives me CRAZY. He has woken up the baby several times when blowing his nose. Gabriel actually associates that sound with "Daddy". He knows if he hears this loud, weird, annoying sound, Daddy is somewhere nearby. I could scream every time I hear it. Makes me want to throw something at him. 4-What is your favorite scent that others may not find very nice? I like the smell of a match that has just burnt out. I also like (this one's the weird/gross one) the smell of burnt-out cigarettes. Ew, I know.... 5-What are your thoughts on plastic surgery? I think a lot of people go overboard with it. I think God gave you the body(parts) that you were meant to have. He also granted the agency to choose to change it. I think it's fine unless you use plastic surgery excessively to attempt to achieve perfection - IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN! When I'm done having kids, I told McKay that I want a Mommy Makeover! He says I'm a trooper and I deserve it (wahoo!). I would get a tummy tuck to get rid of this extra stretched out prego belly skin and a boob job. Not the way you might think though.... I have been well-endowed in the breast area and I kind of hate it. It's too much. Without sharing my exact size for all the world to see, let me just say that Victoria's Secret doesn't sell my cup size. How do you like them apples melons? It sucks. So I want to get a reduction, and then pump those babies up with some implants to make them cute and perky again (because heaven knows they'll probably be sad and droopy after a few more kids....). I would like to head back down to the C cup range.....

[in-the-neighborhood]

Stressed out Scorpio blogger mamma with a complicated family dynamic - who wants ice cream?!

1- Everyone seems to have a quirky family situation-- what is something unique about your family dynamic? Ohhh my.....family. Well, my husband and I were married back in 2006. We got divorced in 2008. After the divorce I was in a relationship with a guy, broke up with him, found out I was pregnant (great timing, right?) and now it has been over two years since I have seen him. I moved back to Utah and happened to fall back into a relationship with my, then, ex-husband. I moved to Hawaii and had a baby, and he went to boot camp. After about a year, I moved BACK to Utah and remarried my ex husband and things are better than ever! He is the only Daddy my son has ever known and I'm hoping it stays that way. He has never met his biological father (deadbeat), but he has a great relationship with the rest of his family! We get to see them a couple of times a year and are actually going to visit them this summer! 2- What is the most stressful aspect to blogging (aside from the network going down)? Ummm....I don't know. I'm a procrastinator, so I have all these draft posts that I need to finish up and get published, but I'm just so busy lazy!! So I guess the most stressful aspect is just keeping it up in general. Of course, as a blogger, you want readers. I think we are (or at least I am) reaching out to the world to make connections and feel validated or listened to or whatever. I get hung up on my follower count, and I really shouldn't. I know there are at least a handful of people who follow privately (and to be completely honest, that bugs. Seriously.) so I guess it's not as bleak as it looks.... 3- We all end up on a blog at some point in our day, but name your top 3 favorite websites you flock to daily (non blog)! Facebook - duh Pinterest - (it's all your fault Kara!) Woot! - Love. Woot.  4- What’s your sign?  Believe in it or not, does any part ring true to you? Scorpio (HOLLA!!) Most of the time (though I don't really to the whole Astrology thing) the descriptions are 50-80% accurate. Part of me hates that. I don't like to be defined. And that's a scorpio trait, which is even more annoying. Stay tuned, though, because I'm working on a post that touches on this subject. It's going to be a fun one to write/read! 5- IceCream!! ICECREAM!! We all scream for icecream! Name your favorite flavor/brand! (Its hot here, can't help it) Easy - Breyers All Natural Natural Vanilla (yes, I meant to use "natural" twice--it's the All Natural line and the flavor is Natural Vanilla). It is, by far, the BEST vanilla ice cream I have ever tasted. Better than home made. Wanna know what's in it? "Milk, Cream, Sugar, Natural Tara Gum, Natural Vanilla Flavor". Yup. That's it. And you can actually SEE the little flecks of vanilla bean in it. And yes--my favorite flavor or ice cream is vanilla. I like it simple. Plus, it's easy to dress up and add to if you want a custom-made dessert!

You don't have to feel left out! Grab the questions, answer them, and link up!

Thanks to Impulsive Addict, Janette, Mamarazzi, and Seriously Shawn for hosting!

P.S. Check out Ashley's Music Corner to see what has been stuck in my head lately!

[in-the-neighborhood]

TV, Tattoos, Jewelry, and Road Rage

It's that time again and I couldn't help but join in--I love the questions for We Want To Know Wednesday this week. N-joy... What game show have you always thought you could be on and totally WIN!? There are two - the Newlywed Show (McKay and I were GREAT newlyweds--we knew everything about each other!) and Family Feud. I know that there have been others that I have sat at home and thought "Oh my gosh!! I would be a freaking millionaire right now!!"....if only... Do you have a tattoo(s)? What are they and what made you chose them? If not, would you get one, yes/no/why? I don't have any tattoos. I went through a phase where I seriously thought about it though. I went back and forth for months trying to decided if I really wanted to get one and what I would get. I thought about getting a long-stemmed rose on my right side (ribs to hip). I also thought about getting "INVICTUS" tattooed on my left side (Invictus is latin for "Unconquerable". William Ernest Henley wrote a poem which he titled "Invictus" that I have loved since 8th grade). I finally decided at one point that I was definitely going to get a tattoo. It was going to be a tattoo of a Lily in honor of my grandmother who passed away in 2007. We were really close and Lilies were her favorite. I was going to get it done on a weekend and I found out earlier that week that I was pregnant....and I have never had the desire to get a tattoo since. What is your favorite piece of jewelry that you own? I love my wedding ring and, obviously, it is a very special piece of jewelry. But that's a pretty obvious answer. Aside from my wedding ring, my very favorite piece of jewelry is a necklace that my sweet husband got for me for Christmas last year from Arjento. (Can I just say that I LOOOOOVE Arjento? Yes. I freaking love Arjento. They have beautiful jewelry for affordable prices and the best part? They engrave for free!! I got my wedding jewelry from them and I still love it. It will be passed down to my daughter if I have one.) It's a silver silhouette of a little boy with my son's name engraved on it on one side and his birthdate engraved on the other side. Here is what it looks like:

I really really really love it - you can tell that I wear it a LOT! The smooth finish is looking a little worn...lol They have little girl silhouettes too. I want to get one for each of my kids (if/when I have more). I would say you should check out their website, but it's not working right now for some reason, but I linked to their FB page above!

What are your driving pet peeves? I will tell you right now. I have major road rage. I cannot STAND bad drivers!! I ACED my driver ed class and I think that is why I have a pretty low tolerance for bad driving. Slow people in the fast lane, illegal lefthand turns, texting while driving, people who try to let other people turn on a busy road which causes a big  traffic jam and all kinds of confusion. IF YOU DON'T HAVE CONTROL OF ALL THE TRAFFIC ON YOUR SIDE OF THE ROAD, DON'T TRY TO BE THE NICE PERSON--JUST GO BEFORE YOU CAUSE AN ACCIDENT!! I follow the rule my driver ed teacher gave me back in High School: "The best way to NOT get into an accident is to not try to be courteous. Just get to where you're going and follow the rules." Anyone who has ridden in a car with me can attest to the fact that I am pretty vocal when I encounter bad driving and I am not afraid to use the horn!!  What was your favorite sitcom growing up that you wish was still on? That one is easy--my favorite was Full House!! I loved it! Not sure if I wish it was still on though... Another show that I loved that I wish was still on is Friends. Want to participate in WWTKW too? Head on over and link up!!

Big thanks to Impulsive Addict, Janette, Mamarazzi, and Shawn for this fun little link up!