INSTAGRAM wednesdays: a DRAWING app

I found an app that is perfect for Isabelle to use as a drawing board.  She loves to draw smiley faces.  She also loves to take a picture of all her drawings.  This makes for interesting times whenever I'm browsing through our pictures on the iPod.

She's a fun little girl and I'm glad she loves to draw.

currently.....

Currently posts are the best because they are easy to write, don't require anything more than facts about your daily life and people genuinely seem to enjoy reading them.  It's a great way for me to kick my blogging blues and get back into the habit of posting.

READING

I'm actually not reading anything right now.  I've been thinking about reading the Harry Potter series, you know, just so I can say I read it.

Source

LISTENING TO

Isabelle's latest favorite song is "Come to my Window" {much to my husband's elation}, so I tend to hear that song a lot in the car and at home.

Source

WATCHING

New Girl reruns {thank you DVR}.  Is there a better show on TV these days?  Probably not.

Source

DRINKING

Still too much Dr. Pepper, but at least it's the diet and caffeine free version.

LOVING

That a new Indian restaurant is opening up near my house.

LOOKING FORWARD TO

This Friday because my cousin is coming over to my house for a play date and my cousin is seriously the coolest person ever.  It all runs in the family. 

SURPRISED BY

Some recent events that have transpired at work.  All I'm going to say is that having a good attitude and being genuinely nice to other people can get you going places in life.

IN DESPERATE NEED OF

I'm pretty content right now, but I guess I could say some new bed sheets.  The whole in our fitted sheet isn't getting any smaller.

THANKFUL FOR

The frustrated dad I overheard at work last night begging his child to behave.  It feels good to know I'm not alone.

WANTING TO CHANGE

My health.  It's time to be healthy.  I'm trying to find a new routine, but I think I'm going to start by cutting out pop and sweets from my diet.

FAVORITE TIME OF DAY

When my little family and I get to have dinner together.  This doesn't happen very often these days since I mostly work nights, so when we are able to all sit at the table together it is a really good feeling.

WANTING TO BUY

Tickets to the Joshua Radin concert in July.  

Source

HOPEFUL FOR

A good summer.  Bring on the nice weather!

mom GUILT

I've read a lot about working mothers feeling "mom guilt."  I guess I can consider myself apart of that crowd because these last two weeks have definitely made me second guess having a job.

It all boils down to the fact that Isabelle is horrible at night.  Horrible.  The days of putting her in bed at 8:00 without any problems are long gone.  Now, Isabelle is usually wide awake when I get home from work, which is usually close to 11:00 at night.  And, Dustin is at his wits end as he's been trying for the last three hours to calm her down.

I'm trying to convince myself that this is just a phase, because certainly Isabelle has gone through her fair share of weirdness at bedtime over the years.  But, it doesn't help that this phase coincides perfectly with when I started working again.  Well, I guess I can't say that for sure, but it really seems like things weren't this bad before.  They may have been rocky, but not this bad.

It also doesn't help that the last time I remember Isabelle going to sleep at a decent hour was when I had the day off and we didn't do anything.  We didn't go anywhere.  We stayed at home and had a relaxing day.  And that night, just like the good ol' days, she's was in bed at 8:00.

I thought Dustin and I had made a pretty good schedule for ourselves.  The overlap between when he gets home from work and when I go to work is slim.  She plays hard while at my parents' house, which would normally equate to one tired little girl at the end of the night.

Bottom line, the biggest difference between now and then is that I'm not home.  What once felt like such a mundane process {wake up, get ready, spend the day with Isabelle, make dinner, eat dinner as a family, put Isabelle to bed, go to bed} all of the sudden seems a little bit more important in terms of my daughter's stability.

I guess, for now, I'll just wait things out.  Perhaps Isabelle is just adjusting to a new normal.  Maybe she just needs more time getting used to me not being there as often.  And, if that's the case and this really is just a phase, I hope it ends soon because I don't think I can take the guilt much longer.

INSTAGRAM wednesdays: HOME decor

I think books make great home decor.

This table is in my entryway and I love it!

Link up and show off your Instagram Photos!

Z is for ZERO 7

If a movie has a great soundtrack, it makes the movie that much better to me. 

I really enjoyed the movie Garden State starring Zach Braff and Natalie Portman.

Garden State had a fabulous soundtrack, full of great artists.  One of my favorite songs from the movie was  In the Waiting Line by ZERO 7.

It's a really chill, mellow song, and right now the only artist I can compare their sound to would be Dido, but that's a pretty bad comparison because their sounds are different.

Anyway, check out the Garden State soundtrack.  It's a good one!

P.S. Sorry!  This is such a sorry excuse for a post, but I'm really, really, really glad this challenge is over.  I'm glad I did it, but not sure I ever will again.  :)

Y is for YOUTUBE

I love YouTube.  I've never actually uploaded a video myself, but I have received countless good times while watching random videos that completely random people have made.

One thing that just blows my mind about YouTube is that people become famous from it.  They become rich from it.  It's insane.

If I knew that NOT knowing the answer to this question would make me famous, I would've stopped learning years ago!

Who knew having such an affinity for rainbows was so funny?



I don't know where I'd be if I couldn't watch this masterpiece with just a few clicks of a button.



And I'm pretty sure all of Britain was put to shame the minute this woman began to sing.

Let's face it, the world is a better place now that we have YouTube.

Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but let's just pretend it's true for today.

X is for generation X

I think the differences between generations is so interesting.  I really ought to do more research on the matter.  

Anyway, according to this website, I am a generation Xer.  There are plenty of interpretations of when Gen-X begins and when it ends, but it seems most people agree that this generation was born between 1965 - 1980.  And, despite the fact that there are plenty of words that begin with X {most of which I have no idea how to pronounce, let alone define and write a blog post about} I'm going with characteristics of Generation X for my post today.

Here we go!


Gen-Xers are geeks. Some of the most influential Web sites of today -- including YouTube, Amazon.com, and Google -- sprang from the minds of yesterday's video gaming, flannel-wearing slackers.


Gen-Xers are independent thinkers. Gen-Xers are often referred to as first latchkey kids. As the divorce rate rose in the 1970s, Gen-Xers were left to look after themselves while both parents entered the workforce. As a result, many Gen-Xers developed independence and self-reliance. They prefer to do things their own way and thrive in casual, friendly work environments [source: Theilfoldt and Scheef].


Gen-Xers are artists. There are well-known Xer artists (director Quentin Tarantino and actors Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt come to mind), as well as those who are known only inside their own circles of expertise. Kevin Bradley and Julie Belcher of Yee-Haw Industries are making waves in design, bringing back old letterpress techniques. Abattoir's up-and-coming Chef Joshua Hopkins is reimagining whole animal and farm-to-table cooking. Sarah Marks and Lori Kishlar of Third Half Studios regularly make the rounds of festival and craft shows with their macabre anime-like melamine dinnerware, prints and textiles.


You can read more about this article here.


I think I fit into a lot of this.  I do like technology.  My independence is very important to me.  And I do enjoy music, a lot.  


Are you apart of Gen-X?  Do you fit into any of these defintions?