29

Today I turn 29...

I celebrate my final year of being in my 20's

While in my 20's,
I married my best friend and love of my life
Gave birth to the most amazing little boy
And will become a Mommy of two
Will welcome our daughter during my final year in my 20's

In my 20's
I have learned who I am
Things I like & don't
Learned to take better care of my body
Love being a stay home wife & mommy
But still don't know what I would be if I was choosing a career

Through my 20's
My relationship with God has grown tremendously
My faith in Him is like nothing else
Trusting in His plan has been tested & proven

I am so very blessed & love this life I have been given. I am beyond excited to see what 29 brings! Looking forward to celebrating a final year of being in my 20's.

A Mom Challenge

Erin of In Between Laundry recently posted this 30 day mom Challenge. After reading over the list it seemed like fun.  It was a few days before August began I decided to give myself the challenge too. We are now 8 days in and it has been great to have a small challenge each day to focus on for my relationship with Jake.

So far it has all been pretty simple things, but special at the same time. And some of this is stuff I want to be doing all the time, but sometimes the busyness of the day makes me forget.

Over the last 8 days it has been: Go the whole day without yelling at your child, hug your child 3 times today, kiss them while they sleep, or remind yourself they are only "3" years old & treat them that way. Along with some others too.

Do you want to join in with the 30 day mom challenge? We are only 8 days in and most of the first 8 days you could do all in one day and be caught up.

Go to imom to print a copy of the 30 day Mom Challenge. 

If you decide to participate or even decide to wait until the next 1st of the month I would love for you to comment and let me know you are joining in.

Would you add anything else to the 30 day challenge? What are some things you struggle with in your daily life as a mom.

Hair Styles

How do you wear your hair? I feel like every day my hair is styled the same way. So I am giving myself a challenge for the month of June. Wear my hair in a different style everyday this month. I got the idea from  Beauty Riot where they did the 30 days 30 styles and it really got me thinking.

I would say at least 90% of the time I wear my hair straight, down, with a little flip at the ends. Another 5% I wear it curly & then the rest of the time it is up in some type of pony tail.

So here it is the challenge to wear 30 different styles for the next 30 days!






I began on June 1st with my normal (90%) style and then the next day with the curly. Got my 2 usual styles out the way right from the start. I will say that I have a bag of tricks thanks to the wonderful pinterest. Are you there? If so follow me & if you need an invite let me know.  Oh my goodness internet wonderfulness.(I could post a whole post just on that)

We are a couple days into June, but it isn't too late to join me. What do you say are you up for a new style every day? Be sure to leave a comment if you are going to join in or if you have a link to some fun/easy hair styles. 

Not feeling the itch!

Today we celebrate our 7 year anniversary. Neither of us feel any kind of itch...do you have that during your 7th year or when you are at 7 years? It doesn't matter we don't and are happier then ever.

Happy 7 Years to my wonderful husband...I love you more then I ever knew I could. Each day keeps getting better. Looking forward to the next 7 years and beyond!!

Our wedding song is Tim McGraw-My Best Friend...here is a little bit of the words. And how wonderful it is to know that even 7 years later these words are still true if not more so then they were the day we got married.





Your More than a Lover
There could never be another
To make me feel the way you do
Oh we just get closer

I fall in love all over
Every time I look at you
I don't know where I'd be
without you here with me
Life with you makes perfect sense
You're my best friend


You stand by me
And you believe in me
Like no body ever has
When my world goes crazy
You're right there to save me
You make me see how much I have
I still tremble when we touch
And Oh the look in your eyes
when we make love

I am so blessed to have Jason as my wonderful husband!!

(FYI...I scheduled this post..don't think I am spending our anniversary on the computer)

Boy Mommy

When I was pregnant with Jake I always said we would be happy with a boy or a girl. I really thought this. We had tried for 2 years and were so thrilled when the stick finally read "pregnant." Of course we would be happy with a boy or girl...we just wanted a healthy baby.

We had a boy name picked out-Jacob Ryan and a girl name-Olivia Grace along with a boy or girl nursery theme.

Our 20 week ultrasound we were so excited and couldn't wait to hear the words boy or girl. The technician said "it's a boy" and we both said Jacob it is...as tears streamed down my face. I cried tears of joy for our little boy, but also I think I shed a few tears because we weren't having a girl.

As soon as we stepped into the elevator to leave the doctor's office I broke down to Jason. I didn't know if I really wanted a boy. I wasn't sure I liked the boy theme we had chosen. And besides...I had no idea what to expect from a boy. I was the oldest of 4 girls(one is my step, but we don't think of her that way), surrounded by girls my whole life. A  boy would be so foreign to me...all the boy parts and stuff.

How could I be a mom of a boy?

Ok, my little freak out lasted about a week and then we were back onto happy soon-to-be parents. Excitedly buying boy things and calling our sweet little baby Jacob inside my belly.

The day my little Jacob was born all of the boy mommy doubt had faded. I had a boy! A precious baby boy who would be a Mommies boy. A boy who would love his Mommy no matter what.

There is just something between a boy and His Mommy that can never be explained in words. I am so blessed to be a boy Mommy!!

God knew what he was doing when he gave us our precious little boy(of course he did...please tell me sometimes you wonder what God was thinking too?)  Jacob has the best Daddy around & he knows all about boy stuff. :) I still don't know that I really do?

But I can't imagine life without our sweet, yet wild little boy....however, sometimes I still wonder...how did I get to be a boy Mommy?

It's A Party...

There is a party going on at 5 Minutes for Mom...The Ultimate Blog Party! 5 Minutes for mom has been hosting this blog party for 5 years. Bringing bloggers together and giving a place to get to know other bloggers via this great wide world of internet.

If you are here from The Ultimate Blog party...welcome! Get comfy, grab a cup of coffee & take a look around.  I am so glad you stopped by and I hope you will leave comment to introduce yourself or just to say hi! 

I am Melissa, wife to my wonderful husband Jason for almost 7 years(in May). We have a 3 year old little boy named Jake. He has truly filled our lives with more then we ever knew possible. And although, I have enjoyed every age...3 has been my favorite. 3 is so much fun. I am also extremely blessed to be a stay at home mom & love being home to care for my first ministry...family!!

The blog started as a way to share our lives with family and friends. But has grown into a little more then just Jake updates. I share pieces lives. Usually fun things we are doing, but sometimes opening the door to the things that are on my mind or that I am processing at the time.

Here are a few posts from the last few months:

Daily Moments
Joy Follows
Public or Not?

You can subscribe to Nunnally Family Fun and get updates straight to your in box or just click the follow button on the side of the blog. Again I am glad you stopped by. And have fun partying with other great bloggers during the Ultimate Blog Party!

Joy Follows

It has been a month since I took the Dare!
Only a month since I began my journey to One Thousand Gifts. 
In this one short month I have counted my way to 75. I feel like my eyes have been opened. I am abundantly blessed. In the daily moments of life, in the here and now, in moments I have counted these gifts and given thanks. 
That is really what it comes down to...giving thanks. Thanking Jesus for the gifts. Recognizing that even the small things are a gift of His love!


 Creamer for coffee
Family snuggles in our bed giving extra minutes of sleep
Hand holding on the couch
 Dinner with my sister & our boys

We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks. 
Thanksgiving is necessary to live well, whole, fullest life. 
 (One Thousand Gifts...p.39)

 Afternoon dates with Jason
 Boy whispers of "your the best mommy"
 Spring weather in the middle of February
 Hearing Jake sing God's word from the back seat

Gratitude in the small things will help to appreciate each day and moment. Look to find the joy. (One Thousand Gifts)

Now that I see all these gifts around me it is hard to turn off. I am always looking, always listening, and searching. Keeping notes of what I am seeing and silently giving thanks as I note each gift. Looking at these moments as a "gift" is joy itself. 

To feel the joy. You can't help but be joyful when you are counting so many gifts along the way.
Find the grace, give thanks, and joy will follow...

It may seem finding the gift is difficult.  We can feel so overwhelmed with life and can't imagine where we would see these things. And even more times we wonder where the joy will come from. It really is a simple formula. All you have to do is take the Dare just begin writing down what you see throughout your day. By writing it down we are giving thanks to Him and before you know it joy will follow.

Ann says she writes her list in a normal spiral notebook and others use pretty journals. Whatever you use it should be small and portable. Take it with you so you can jot down no matter where you are...trust me once you start you will see these gifts everywhere. I am using my phone to keep my list. It is almost always with me. I have the cozi calendar app on my phone which has a journal section. It is so easy for me to pull it out no matter where I am and easily type in what I see. I tried earlier to use a notebook. But I found if it was open on my counter I would forget to grab it on my way out the door. Then I would see something and forget to write it when I got home. Or I would scribble it on a scrap piece of paper, but my scraps never made it to one list. I am sure most of us take our phone with us everywhere...this has worked for me.

 Running outside
 Talking dreams with Jason
Rocks becoming Dino teeth
 Fresh scent of a little boy after bath
Spinach in eggs to make them green
 Sunny yellow of fresh blooms glistening in the rain

The proof is in the list 75 and still counting to One Thousand Gifts.
The Joy is the hunt. His list of love toward me. (Ann Voskamp)

Crafting Christmas

I love to craft! And I really like Martha Stewart's ideas. It has been fun for me this year to make several things from Martha Stewart.

We made these beautiful glitter ornaments. You pour a little bit of pledge floor wax into a clear glass ball and swish it around inside. Dump the excess out and then pour some fine glitter into the ornament. Shake the ornament to get the entire inside of it covered. They look so pretty hanging on our tree.

Then I took on folding a magazine into a Christmas tree. This took a little bit of time, but it was super easy. I love the way they turned out. I sprayed painted it gold and sprinkled with gold glitter. The next one I do I will use super fine glitter instead of regular. 

Then the hardest, but super cute sock dog. My best friend saw this in Martha Stewart's magazine and thought it would be fun to make them. I thought it would be fairly easy and would be able to make stuffed sock dogs as Christmas gifts for my youngest nephews. Umm lets just say that this 3 hour project is super cute, but I don't know that I will be making any more. And I won't be parting with this one that I did get made. The dog is made from one pair of socks and then his sweater is from a Christmas sock. So Cute!!!

There you have a Martha Stewart Crafting Christmas!!! So much fun...any fun crafting ideas you want to share? I am always looking for new fun things to make.

Gratitude

I might be one of the last blog readers to hear of Ann Voskamp who writes at A Holy Experience. Her words are so poignant and true. So from the heart and able to speak right to my heart. Her words are thought provoking and encouraging.

She recently wrote a book called One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Where You Are
In One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are (Zondervan), Ann Voskamp invites you to embrace everyday blessings and embark on the transformative spiritual discipline of chronicling God’s gifts. Because it’s only in the expressing of gratitude for the life we already have that we discover the life we’ve always wanted—a life we can take, give thanks for, and break for others. We come to feel and know the impossible right down in our bones: we are wildly loved — and by God. (taken from A Holy Experience)


 What a fabulous idea to list our daily gratitude. I often see things and think to myself thank you Lord that I can enjoy this beautiful weather, or take my child to the park on a spontaneous day. But to have these things written down somewhere just for me. To keep to see the gifts in each moment, throughout my days. A place to have A thousand gifts from God written down for me. I have to say this might be a genius idea. 


I am sure wanting to find gratitude in everything has struck a little closer with Thanksgiving being only a few days away.  I want to be able to jot down the joy, the gift, the fully lived life at the moment I think it or notice it. And not just for Thanksgiving, but for every day all year long. 

 I have begun quietly writing down the things I find in my day to day that I want to see as gifts things that I am grateful for. I am sure sometimes I will share post here on the blog listing my One Thousand gifts.

I hope you will visit Ann's blog. You can read a few post about her Thousand Gifts here and here.
 I can't wait for her book to come out this is no doubt going to be a great uplifting read.  I believe here book will be available in January. And if you don't start counting your 1000 gifts now, it would be a great & fresh way to start the new year. (not sure why my typing changed to italic, but it won't let me change it back to normal)


To start my list: #1 people who share their heart so others can learn

Beat my time!

I finished my 2nd 5K this weekend!!! Seriously these things could get addicting...I hate it while I am doing it and feel like it is so hard, but as soon as I am finished I feel awesome and wonder when the next one will be.

Today's time 42:50 almost exactly 5 minutes faster then my 1st one (47:47).

Coming around the corner to the finish line I could see the clock and that it said 42 minutes...I ran faster then I have ever ran in my life knowing that I could finish in 42 minutes. My goal this time was 45 because to me 2 minutes faster seemed good, but a WHOLE 5 minutes for me is fabulous!!!

I wonder if I will get teary every time I start approaching a finish line.

You might remember this post several months ago about dreaming to be a runner. I am still not there yet, but I am running a lot more in with my walking. Still not totally getting the mind freeing thoughts while running, but when I am done it really feels good to know I ran (even if for only a few minutes at a time).

It was great to do this 5K with my very best friends, sister, cousin, & step-dad. We all started together and then found our strides, finishing any where from 28 minutes to 45 minutes, but we all finished!! I have to say we are all are GREAT!!

So my hope is that one day I will be able to run a complete 5k without walking. But for now I will strive to beat my time with each race!!

Blessed

Today is my BIRTHDAY!!!

I love birthdays...even my own!!!  

If it was my husbands birthday or my sons birthday I would have a whole post to write about all the great things about them. And how wonderful their birthday is to me.


With today being my birthday I can't really write a whole post about what makes me great...could I?

                                                                         Beautiful & delicious cake made by Vickie (Spoonful of Frosting)
Instead I just wanted to say how blessed I am!!!  This year has been a wonderful year and I am so excited to see what is in store over the next year to come.

I had a fabulous weekend celebrating my birthday with my very best friends on Friday night and with my family throughout the weekend!!! Oh and with some delicious food too!!

And all I can think to reflect on this past year and today my birthday is....

I am truly deeply blessed!! And I love this life I have been given!!

RUN

It is time for the monthly Learn 12 New Things link up with Like A Warm Cup Of Coffee. You can read about the other things I hope to learn over the next 12 months( I guess 10 now) here. 






My new thing for September was to run 1 mile with out walking.  I was tempted to call this post Fail!!!

And to add salt to my wound just as I had finished running on my tread mill I watched Biggest Loser and Bob says "every American should be able to at least run 1 mile."

I was able to run .76 of a mile without walking. By that point my legs were hurting and I really felt like I couldn't breath. I did continue on with walking(after taking this picture). For some reason I can walk 2-3 miles with short run spurts(like 2-3 minutes) without my legs totally feeling like jello.  But running just seems so hard for me. I REALLY want to be a runner.



As you can see I didn't call this post fail. Because after thinking about it I decided that .76 of a mile is like 5 X's better then I was able to do at the beginning of September. So because of this Septembers new thing was not a fail. I will keep working at it. And maybe one day I will be running a complete 5K instead of walking.

When I was planning this post in my head as fail I decided this was probably the reason I don't publicly share goals very often. If I just have a goal in my head or written down in a place only I can see I can lie to myself. I can push the goal back a month and give myself more time to accomplish it. When other people know about the goal I can't really lie about whether I accomplished the goal or not. The perfectionist in me doesn't want other people to know that I failed at meeting a goal I had set.

I am so glad I was able to see the good in this months challenge and if I do say so myself .76 of a mile is pretty darn good!!!

Next months challenge is much more relaxing and hopefully I will have a knitted blanket to show you by then!!

Come on In

I really enjoy hosting people in our home. So in the spirit of Fall Welcome to our home!

As I type this I have a pumpkin pie candle burning and it smells so yummy!!(it actually might be making me hungry)

Here is what you would see if you were to come visit during the fall season! We don't have any pumpkins yet (at least not real ones) so it would be a little different in another couple weeks. But you can imagine pumpkins on the front porch & probably a few around the house too!
 Come on in...

a close up of the fall arrangement on the front door.

Our entry table in the foyer

And our mantle in the living room.

We have a few other small things throughout the house, but these were some of my favorite decorations that I thought I would share.

And since I do live in Georgia it just wouldn't seem right for me to end a fall post without saying...

                            Happy Fall Y'all!!!

Ruined

I hate to feel this way (it might be even harder for me to actually admit in writing) and I am really struggling with it especially now with the whole baby talk.

I feel totally ruined by my labor experience with Jake. It was nothing I wanted & now seems to have repercussions even 3 years later.

When I was pregnant with Jake(well probably way before that) I read as many books as I could. Mostly about natural birth, healthy pregnancy, a few about actual baby stuff. But I was really focusing on natural birth.

I wanted a natural birth so bad!! But most of all I did NOT want a c-section. I envisioned a drug free delivery with my sweet baby being placed immediately on my chest.

Our first minutes of bonding.



Being a first time mom I had no idea what to expect. Even though I thought I was prepared for everything(after all I had read the books).

Pretty early into my pregnancy I was given the word I had gestational diabetes & had to control it with insulin shots. As soon as I was given this label I heard the fist talks of being induced. The doctor I had doesn't let you go past 39 weeks with gestational diabetes for fear the baby could get too big. Being labeled with this also meant I became high risk and had to see a specialist along with my regular doctor the rest of my pregnancy.

I did kind of love being able to see my sweet boy almost weekly through ultrasound there were still lots of other extra things that had to be done.

Unfortunately  at about 35 weeks my blood pressure started going up (I am not sure what my numbers were I should have asked). I was put on moderate bed rest. The following week it still hadn't gone down the specialist thought it would be best to induce labor as soon as possible. Which meant I would need an amniocentesis to determine if Jake's lungs were mature enough for him to be forced into our arms.

Yea for the doctors his lungs were in great shape to be delivered at 37 weeks.

Even though it was 3 weeks early(and he showed no signs of wanting to come out).

I was given the weekend and then Monday night Jason & I checked into the hospital to begin the induction process.

At this point I wonder...after all the books I read and the horror stories about pitocin...why didn't I question it more. Push to be given a little more time with Jake still where he belonged at that moment. The only answer I have is no matter how many books you read when the doctor tells you something you might not really be totally prepared. After all the doctors are supposed to know best...right?

The pitocin worked great to bring on terrible contractions and move me in the direction I needed to go. It also led to tons of monitoring and not being able to move from the bed at all.

But with Jake not being ready...he was too high and wasn't dropping down. His head was positioned wrong they say. And no matter what he wasn't going to come down any more.

So a c-section was necessary...the one thing I dreaded most about delivering Jake!!

Now that I have had one c-section doctors believe I should be assigned to a c-section for every pregnancy from here until we are done having babies.  

Never to experience what I truly want a natural delivery. No medicine, no intervention, just delivery!

I must add here: that of course having a c-section isn't the end of the world. No matter how it happened I still brought my precious Jake into this world. I am eternally grateful for him and we are blessed beyond our wildest dreams. We love him so much and it really doesn't matter how he was delivered. He is here!! I also understand that it is all part of God's plan for me & for Jake. God knew this would be the way!!!

But this is not the kind of birth story I thought I would have to share.  And as we talk about babies I can't help but feel ruined.

However, I am on a search!!!

This is just a piece of my heart as we look forward to future babies. Things that have started to become all consuming of me.

Control

There has been lots of talk about another baby in our house. Both from Jason & I & even Jake has gotten in on the conversation. His Aunt had twins about 9 weeks ago which I think is what has sparked Jake's interest in talking about babies. But for Jason & I it is just getting to be about that time.

I am a huge planner...like to a fault. I know that my plans aren't the plans that matter. That I should be leaving my plans in God's hands and fully trusting that he knows the way. But I just haven't been able to give up my control and let God lead the way. I am praying about this daily.

I know that it is always a good time to have a baby!!

But I just can't help, but think if we wait for this or we do that it might be better. I am at the point now where I just want to give it to God and let him take charge of when is a good time. You would think after struggling to get pregnant with Jake I would know that my plans aren't always the same as God's plan. If it had been my plan Jake would have been born in April of 2007. But instead God knew what we needed and blessed us with Jake in October (only 5 days after my birthday and the day before Halloween).  I should have learned that no matter how much planning there is on my part usually it doesn't work out that way.

It seems that when Jason & I talk about it I just can't really seem to give it all to God. It is so easy to say, to pray, to ask God to let me give up control, but when it comes down to actually letting go of control I can't fully release it. I still have a hold maybe not as tight of a hold as last week or even yesterday, but still  holding on to control. 

However, there is planning that needs to be done here on earth.

The biggest thing I need is to find a new doctor! The doctor I have now won't allow vbacs.

There have been plenty of women who change doctors in the middle of their pregnancy, but I want to start out with a good doctor who will listen to my wishes. So I have partially been on the hunt for a new doctor. I think I haven't really been putting my all into searching for a doctor because I am not really sure if this is the *right* time for us to have a baby. Feeling like if I put off finding a doctor I can wait until what seems like the *right* time!

But will I ever feel like this is the *right* time?

I am opening my heart just a little & sharing some of these struggles. This is what is on my mind right now and is basically all consuming of every free moment my brain & heart has.  Is the time now??

Braid Rug (12 new things)

So my new thing to learn for August was how to make a braid rug. Although, I haven't completed a rug I did learn how to make one.

Last week my mother-in-law showed me the steps to do it. Umm...I thought the rugs were just called braid rugs had no idea it was really  braiding.

She sent me home with some scrap fabric to practice on. I think I have it down and am ready to start on an actual rug. I will be going to pick out some fabric and get started on that.






As soon as I have a completed rug I will share it will all of you.


**my Sept. new thing is run a mile without stopping...this morning I walked/ran 2 miles and was able to go a full 1/4 mile without stopping. I am on my way to my Sept. goal.**

Learning

Although, I am not in school it is always great to learn new things. I am joining in with Like A Warm Cup Of Coffee for her 12 new things in 12 months. I am getting in a little late as everyone else will be posting their new thing they learned for August today. I am just now posting my list of 12 new things. I will have my August new thing up on Monday of next week. 



So here is my 12 in 12:

August- Learn to make a braid rug
September- Run (1 mile without stopping)
October- Knit a blanket
November- Make a pie crust (no more Pillsbury refrigerated crust)
December- learn how to make jewlery
January- find and perfect a homemade chicken noodle soup recipe
February- perfect a cake recipe(that will be my go to cake)
March-learn to ice a cake(smooth pretty...nothing fancy)
April- Learn to sew
May- Make homemade yogurt
June- Learn how to use a lawn mower
July-Learn the basics of grilling and how to grill a hamburger

It was actually a little harder to come up with 12 things I wanted to learn then I thought it would be. But I am super excited about each of them. And can't wait to keep track of my progress and let you all know how each thing is coming along.

Visit Like A Warm Cup of Coffee if you want to join in. Leave a comment and let me know if you know how to do any of these things I listed...I might be calling on you for instructional help.

How about you are there 12 things you would like to learn to do over the next 12 months?

'stache bash

My best friend (spoonful of frosting) throws the very BEST parties. She is so creative and when she decides on a theme she runs with it.

She was selected by houseparty.com to host a Baboli grilling pizza party. Instead of just having a pizza party she went with an italian theme and turned it into a 'stache bash.

Random fact did you know that mustaches are the it thing right now...and super fun too!!

The kids each got to make their own pizzas and all of the adults helped make some super yummy pizzas.

With Vickie's help I made Jake a super cute I love mustaches shirt(which he loved!) Every time I put makeup on Jake asks for makeup so a while back I started drawing a mustache on him with my eye liner. So he was all about this mustache themed pizza party!

We all had our picture taken in the mustache photo booth with mustaches on sticks.






And of course did we not only enjoy s'mores pizza & fruit pizza for dessert...we had mustache cookies, mustache cake, & mustache chocolate suckers too.

 Just because these 2 are just way too cute & in an ideal world they would be prearranged for marriage!!

Good Morning Girls

I have a group of friends that I love so dearly. Some of these friends have come along with me and joined in the Good Morning Girls group. Thanks to Courtney at Women Living Well for starting this.

I really feel so close to this group of Good Morning Girls & I love that we are so transparent with each other. I can feel us growing closer with each email.




Oh...I didn't tell you what the Good Morning Girls were all about it?
In a nutshell we are an accountability group (that is really the nutshell....we are SO much more to each other).

We email each other every day to share what we read/learn during our quiet time with God that day. Some of us have our quiet time 1st thing in the morning and others not till late at night. But whatever time of day you have your quiet time you email the group and share a little piece of what you read that day. Usually we end up sharing a lot more...and really opening up to each other about struggles, praises, or thoughts. And best of all when we share with each other we get emails back with great Godly wisdom and encouragement.

Over the last several weeks I have learned so much from this great group of ladies. We are finishing up our final week now...and I already know I will miss our daily emails so much. I think I will start marking off the days on my calendar until our fall session starts up.

To celebrate our time together(I really can't remember when we started was it June or July?) we had a wonderful Girls night out dinner (we were missing 3 of the girls). We all know each other in real life and are real life friends, but it was so great to get together and just hang out and talk after spending all this time emailing every day.

It really was wonderful!!!

I am sure when we rejoin up in a couple weeks a few will drop off as fall is a busier time. But I think most of us will be back and counting down the day until we get our 1st email that says Good Morning Girls!!!

Thanks friends for letting me be transparent and knowing that I needed to have my quiet time because there was someone waiting for my email that day. Will be praying for each of you daily...during our time apart!

Rubbermaid Clean Little Secrets

I finally was selected for my very 1st house party. If you have never heard of house party click the link to get all the info. But basically they host different types of parties featuring different products and you can apply to be one of the host for a particular house party item. I pretty much apply for every single one because I really want to do it. My best friend got to do an awesome William Sonoma one and that is how I found House Party.

Finally I was chosen for my 1st one. And it is totally up my ally....
Rubbermaid Reveal Mop

I received my party kit last week and was so excited to open it and start using my mop. I literally could not wait to mop my floors.

However, I also had a 2 year old who was equally excited(if not more so) about our new mop. He couldn't wait for me to take it out of the box. And he kept saying "can I mop?"

Being a nice mom, I mixed up our floor cleaning solution into the mop spray bottle and let him try it.

Little did I know I would literally have to fight him for the mop just to try it out.

I LOVE it!!!
And best of all it is super eco-friendly.

You can use whatever cleaning solution you want. No using the swifter poison cleaner in a bottle. For us that meant vinegar, water, and a little bit of method dish soap.(the same stuff we have always used...except now it sprays out of a bottle attached to the mop)

Then the pad that you use to mop the floor is-WASHABLE! Hello money savings.

The handle swivels nicely making it easy to use and get into hard to reach spots.

It probably won't be the best choice if your floors are super dirty with a lot of caked on grossness. I had a sticky spot on my floor and it was a little difficult to scrub. But after a few more squirts of the cleaner and pushing down kind of hard it did come off the floor. 

I am hosting a Rubbermaid Clean Little Secrets party later this month. Where several of my friends will come over and have a chance to try out the mop. As well as, compete against the mop with their own mops right here in my house. And they each will  walk away with a few little party favors of their own.

For now I will keep blissfully mopping my kitchen floor...at least when I am not fighting the 2 year old for it. Seriously...he has asked me every day since the mop arrived if he can mop the floor. My floors have never been cleaner!

Of course when you are 2 and have spent 30 minutes mopping the floor. The only other logical thing to do would be get all your little people figures and line them up on the floor. Then spraying them with the mop and mopping them up. This lasted another 30 minutes at least. He is too cute!!!