Update

Hey everyone, I just wanted to stop in quick to give a little update.

I haven't been around much, lately. My school schedule has been pretty easy lately, so I've actually had some time to post projects.

After my last semester, I received my PN diploma. I haven't taken my LPN boards, though, because I see no point since I am continuing on in my education. If for some reason I am no longer able to attend school, I can always take my boards then.

I'm saving myself the $250 for the license.

So the actual reason that I haven't posted anything is that I no longer have the laptop that kept all my pictures. And, no, I didn't back up any files. I'm lazy.

I have an IT guy at my mom's work that says that he can 95% likely fix my computer, or else retrieve everything from the hard-drive.

The up-side is that this fiasco made my husband and I to purchase a new laptop, which we so desperately needed.

So, long story short, I will be posting my two newest remodels as soon as I have my pictures back.

Since my blog will be pretty quiet until I do get my laptop back, you can always follow me on my Pinterest page to get updates on ideas or projects I have in mind.

Ciao!

Character

"Character is what we do when no one is watching."

I love that quote.

It says a lot.

Most of us behave well when we are under watchful eyes, but how do you behave when you think no one important is watching?

Let me share a story with you:

     I was driving my daughter to her preschool today, since my daughter's afternoon bus driver is recovering from a surgery. I noticed that the morning preschool bus driver pulled out behind me. In no time, this bus was mere inches away from my bumper. Inches. I checked my speedometer: 30mph in a 25mph zone. I was already going enough over the speed limit. I wasn't about to speed and get a ticket just to please this crazy lady.  I was getting agitated really quickly. It takes me about 15 minutes to drive my daughter to school. Ten of those minutes I was close to getting into an accident. "If you're in such a hurry, either go around me or choose a different route!"

     I thought about tapping my breaks to scare her off. Nope. Couldn't do it. My daughter was in the back of the van, and the bus was so ridiculously close that even just tapping the breaks would have caused an accident. The bus would've been the winner in that accident.

     So I drove the rest of the way, my road raging bus trailing me. I pulled into the preschool parking lot, unloaded my daughter, and began trekking up the path to the school. We had to pass the bus parking on the way. The look on the bus driver's face screamed, "OH CRAP!"  I admit, I was a little smug after seeing the look on her face.

     So then the internal battle began. Do I say something? I hate being a tattle-tale. I don't want to ruin this woman's life. What if this job is the only thing supporting her family? If I don't say something, though, will she do the same type of driving with 20 children in the bus? How would I feel if she were my child's bus driver?

     In the end, I chose to write a formal complaint. My reasoning: I asked myself what any respectable parent would have done in that same situation.

     The bus driver is a grown woman. She chose her actions. She never would have driven that way had her supervisor been with her. She also is well aware of the consequences.

     My concern is the safety of all the children. The children that she buses now, and possibly my own child next year (she's in 3K right now).

     Character is what we do when no one is watching, and she thought no one was watching.

Always be proud of your actions.

Always.

DON'T Remove Your Shoes

I love looking at everyone's creative ideas out in the world.

That's why I love Blogger so much.

Tons of ideas.

I ran across a blog post at Tip Junkie today about funny/quaint ways to ask guests to remove their shoes at the door.

There are a lot of neat ideas!

I do understand the reason people don't want shoes in their house. Shoes track in tons of dirt.

I get it.

I do.

But I want my house to be different.

I've ripped up every scrap of carpet in my house for ease of cleaning.

I choose easy-wash fabrics on my furniture.

My house is washable.

My house is livable.

I want guests to feel comfortable.

Don't want to release your smelly dogs?

Good, I don't really want to smell them either.

I guess what I'm trying to get at, is worry less about the mess, and more about the good times you should be having.

If you're ever at my house, feel free to keep your shoes on.

I don't own any coasters for a reason.

My coffee table can double as an ottoman. Kick your feet up!

Curl up on my couch.

Go ahead and sit on my countertops. I do all the time.

Make. yourself. comfortable!

Family

Most of you know my personality by now.

You know what makes my heart sing.

Antiques

Auctions

Daisies

Nature

Beautiful artwork

Calmness

Sunshine (then again, thunderstorms rock, too!)

Family

Could it be summed up any better than in this amazing family portrait?

My kids are 11, 6, and 3, and this is our first family portrait.

I know, shame on me!

You know how it goes, life goes by so fast!

This photo is courtesy of Brittany Menor of b. menor photography & design.

She is one of my favorite co-workers as well!
She is studying Graphic Design at UW-Stout, so if you're not in my area for a great photography session, she can make amazing headers for your blog instead!

Thanks a ton, Britt!

April Showers Bring...

I was finally able to bring bucket-loads of lilacs into the house.

They look gorgeous and dramatic grouped.

They make my heart sing....

Birthday Roses

Okay, so my birthday was actually yesterday.

My husband surprised me with a dozen roses and breakfast in bed yesterday morning.

Isn't that sweet?

However, I always find it hard to display them.

I'm really not a fan of the cliche roses and baby breath jammed into a run-of-the-mill vase.

It screams "cheesy Valentine's Day present" all over it.

How do you mix cheesy roses with an antique-loving country-girl-at-heart?

Cut the roses short and display them in Ball canning jars!

Too bad I don't have any antique turquoise ones.

Oh well, can't be picky, can we?

I love how flowers can brighten up any room.

I'm getting pretty excited lately.

My bearded irises just poked their heads out, so I know it's not too far off when my lilac bushes will be in full bloom.

The usually bloom in May.



Aaron Rodgers

He rocks my socks.

=D

Hope everyone enjoyed the Super Bowl as much as I did!



Green and Gold

Is it sad, that when I'm chopping peppers for supper, I think,

"Hey, those are Packer colors!"

You see, my love for the Pack runs deep.

I remember my dad eating hot peppers each time the Pack scored a touchdown (though I'm not exactly sure why).

I received my amazing "scream at the TV" skills from my ma.

...using green and yellow food dye to draw Packer related pictures in the snow-banks.

I love my Pack.

I do.

When they defeated the Bears for the NFC Championship, my family went crazy.

We teach them young.

;)

I am beyond excited for this year's Super Bowl.

The last time the Packers won a Superbowl was 1997.

I was only 10 years old....

Though I remember it, at 10, you don't really "get" football.

Even if they don't win, I'm just glad they got there, ya know?

Coming up:

-recipes

-recommendations

-closet progress (building a wall)

Wine

It took me a long time to appreciate wine.

My MIL first introduced it to be a few years back.

I choked it down with a smile.

You see, I come from a line of beer drinkers. I can name the favorite beer brand of most my aunts and uncles. Now, I'm not saying we are a bunch of alcoholics, we just appreciate an ice cold bottle/can/mug/pint of a perfectly brewed beer after a long day.

Then I went on a wine tasting tour for my husband's cousin's wife's (did you follow that?) bachelorette party.

I was skeptical, but I like the girl, and she was soon to be family, so why not?

That's when I began to appreciate wine.

I don't love every type. I like white more than red. Something sweet with high residual sugars.

I like a Riesling.

I hate a Cabernet.

I began fine-tuning my love for wine.

I began researching doo-dads, gadgets, and what-nots for wine.

Take, for example, a vacuum sealing wine preserver.



While interesting in thought, I think it's a waste of money.

Maybe because, in my house, the wine bottle gets emptied before the end of the night.

(Which, to me, means the party was a success!)

One product that I am glad that I purchased is an aerator, similar to this one:

from Younkers.

This isn't the model that I own. The one I have twists onto the end of the wine bottle so that it aerates as you pour it.

Nifty.

It actually changes ("blossoms" as the product packaging says.........sure....) the taste of the wine.

I've tried it.

It works.

I'm going on a "Girls Night In" at my good friend's house tonight. We have to bring a bottle of our favorite wine to pass around and everyone samples.

Fun hey?

It was my idea.

;)

Is there any wine do-dad that you swear by? Any fun tricks (such as "trilling") to drink the wine?

Please share your insight!

The Master Bedroom is Done!

I worked extra-special hard to get the 4 doors painted in the master bedroom.

I can finally happily say that my master bedroom is complete!

This is how my masterpiece looks today:

?????

I think maybe I should explain myself....

You see, almost instantly after completing this room, I received a very important phone call from some contractors that need to do some very important improvements to my home.

I had only 45 minutes to clear all the junk out of my closets so that they could come over and install some drywall, tape it up, and mud them.

Hence all the junk ended up on my bed, under my bed, all over the floor....etc.

The thought popped into my head that I should ask them to wait so I could snap some oh-so-important photos for my personal blog, but the Hubs didn't really go for it, haha.

So the closets are done, and since everything's out of them anyways, I'm going to finish up the flooring in them.

I have decided to not yet prime and paint.

1. Because I need to re-route some wiring. I don't like cables/wires just tacked to a wall. I think they should be hidden.

;)

2. I think you all have waited too long already to see the master bedroom reveal.

The contractors will be here for the remainder of the week. I'm going to finish up the closet flooring tonight and start putting everything back in, so that hopefully I can snap some photos for everyone!

I also noticed that my Followers are dropping off like flies, no doubt from my failure to deliver some promising projects.

I really appreciate everyone's patience with me. This whole thing took me by surprise, and I know it's frustrating to keep waiting. I also delete many blogs from my Following list if I get bored with it, so I know how it is.

However, this is a personal blog for me. I don't use this as a source of income, but just to keep people updated on what's going on in my life, and possibly a few tips/tricks around the house, so if nothing exciting is happening, then I don't write, ya know?

;)

BUT I'm extremely happy that you are reading this, because that means YOU haven't given up on me!

Thank you so much!

Anyways, today the contractors finished up putting up drywall, taping, and mudding 4 kneewall closets.

They also blew in some insulation in our attic, which was desperately needed.

William got a brand new aluminum double-pane window today.

Tomorrow's "hopefully" agenda:

Patching a bad section of the roof.

New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Years, everyone!

Did anyone do anything fun for the New Year?

It's time again to make resolutions, but before I do, I want to reflect on how well I did from last year's resolutions.

You can find the original post here.



1. I will fit into my old wedding dress.
Done! I tried it on a month ago, and I even had spare room! Would it be weird to ever have my old wedding dress altered? Haha....

2. Complete my first ever half marathon with my mom and family.

Never even tried. I think it was a combination of being too busy and not being fit enough. During the past year, however, I have doubled my stamina, so maybe I'll give it a whirl this year.

3. Learn how to sew.
Nope. Still never learned. However, I do have a sewing machine now. I just have to find the time...

4. Be proficient at using my new Cricut.
I'm now a pro.   ;)

5. And lastly, but most importantly to me, maintain (or heighten!) my 3.5 GPA.
I brought it up to a 3.658. I feel so proud of myself for keeping that resolution.

My 2011 Resolutions

1. Complete a marathon with my family. Do you think I'll make it this year? I hope so!

2. Potty train Hailey. I'm really getting tired of changing diapers. So is my wallet...

3. Get my LPN license. I will be able to become a Licensed Practical Nurse after a year into my degree.

4. Visit family more often. I see my husband's family quite often, but I don't get to see my side much at all. My family is huge (one grandma had 10 children, the other had 5), and I know it's impossible to stay in touch with everyone, but it would still be nice to see the family that is around the area.

5. Learn to sew. Maybe. Hopefully. I really wish that I had my craft room set up.

I can't wait to see what the new year brings!

What are some of your New Year's Resolutions??

I would love to hear them!

Happy Thanksgiving

I was in a food coma today.

It was awesome.

=D

(Photos are from my "Pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving.)

What I am thankful for this year:

*My family's health. It's been a rough year for many members of our families, but everyone is still here with us today, and for that I am truly thankful.

*The opportunity for my husband and me to continue our education. It's been a tough road, but I know it will be worth it in the end!

*My kids. My kids are great. My 5 year old is one of the top students in his class. My daughter knows the entire alphabet at 2 1/2 years old. My 10 year old shows more morals and appreciation than many of his peers. We are great parents, even though we were young when we had them.  ;)

*My forever-friends. This year has brought a lot of harsh realities to me. I have almost successfully weeded out the toxic friendships in my life. My supportive friendships mean so much to me. I never wanted to have sisters, but I'd imagine that some of my friendships are just as strong, if not more.

*My marriage. I know that he will be making me laugh every single day until the day I die (whether it be with him or at him). He grounds me. Sometimes I can be too serious, and he reminds me to just laugh.

*My Followers. I can't even begin to describe how important you all are to me. You make me feel important. You encourage me to better my home, my cooking....well...my life in general. Without you, I doubt I would have the motivation to accomplish as much as I have. You give me advice. You pick me up when others have beaten me down. Thank you SO much for everything!

Tell me what you are most thankful for. I'd love to hear it!

Intermission

I generally like to keep this blog about inspiring my readers.

I like to jog your creativity.

Today isn't going to be one of those days.

For some of my readers that have been with me for a long time, you may remember that I had a scare about skin cancer.

Did you notice that I never did a follow-up?

My insurance was not covered by the dermatologist.

I had to find a place to would cover me.

That would be up in Marquette, Michigan.

I haven't been there in about 7 years, when my husband attended college at NMU.

It's probably nothing.

I'll probably laugh after this is all done.

Unfortunately, I'm an over-worrier.

In my head, I'm thinking:

"How will my family handle a serious medical condition?"

"How would my family fare if I die?"

"Would my husband remarry?"

"Would treatment hurt?"

"How much treatment am I willing to take on?"

"What would I look like with no hair?"

Hahaha, not good, to say in the least!

Okay, those aren't my ears. Those are the bald man's ears that I merged my photo with. Not that it justifies the horridness...

Anyways, as soon as I get the lab results back, I will be sure to let everyone know.

It's probably just an ugly mole. Okay, two ugly moles. My physician is probably just an over-worrier like me. I doubt it's anything serious.

I'm probably making a mountain out of a mole hill, but it makes me feel a little better not keeping my worries to myself.

;)

10 in 10

Jenn, over at MX Momma, is doing 10 projects in 10 days.

It's a great way to get the motivation to get stuff done in your house.

She has provided a link-up, so you can start your own 10 in 10 and share it with the world!

Here's my 10 day list:

1. Winterize the outside (covering patio furniture, turning pots and birdbaths upside down, etc.)

2. Winterize the indoors (plastic on the windows)

3. Finish my Christmas wish list.

4. Buy the kids' Halloween costumes.

5. Make a Halloween treat.

6. Clean both vehicles

7. Sign the kids up for swimming lessons.

8. Cut trim for insides of kitchen cabinets

9. Finish taking glue off basement stairs.

10. Book salon appointments for my mother and me. (Certificates for massages/pedicures to use).

I'm actually going to be working on #9 a little bit every day, because there is no way that I can get the glue off in one day.

I think the 10 in 10 starts tomorrow, so start cheering for me!

Are you inspired to start a list now?

U.P Autumn

There's something about the Fall in Upper Michigan.

It's my favorite season.

Hoodies

Crisp Air

Pumpkin pie

Football

What's not to love? Not only that, but Fall comes early around these parts. The leaves have been sporting a magnificent red for weeks and weeks now.

(Okay, but that means that Winter also comes early. Ick.)

Though my schedule has been busier than usual this last week, due to a presentation, I managed to squeeze in quality time with the family.

So what do you do for fun during Autumn in the U.P?

Go to a corn maze, of course!

And go on hay rides.

And play in a "corn box."

We had a great day in Wilson, MI.

If anyone's from around my parts, Getzloff's Corn Maze is amazing! It only cost us $23 for our entire 5-person family.

Not only that, but they have the cheapest Autumn yard decor:

Pumpkin: $2

Hay bale: $3

Corn stalk: $4

You'll know your heading in the right direction if you pass this sign:

Haha. I love the U.P.

Happy Autumn everyone!

Picaso

My daughter loves to draw.

She's the new family artist.

I know that she's just trying to help Mommy make everything pretty.

Luckily Magic Eraser takes everything off.

Actually, I'm not even mad that she drew on the kitchen walls.

And I'll tell you why in a few days when I reveal my latest project!

On a completely unrelated note, I am forever grateful for all of the support I receive from each and every one of you.

You gals are my rock!

 Unfortunately, it has come to my attention that one of my readers (not listed as a Follower) is not so supportive.

Let me explain:

1. She makes fun of my Facebook status updates.

I update my friends/family on what I have done or will do in my day. I'm a very busy mother. My day is very busy. She believes that it's a bragging tool.

No.

It's to keep my real friends/family up to date on my life because it's the only way I keep contact with them.

2. She discovered my blog, and made fun of the "Superwoman" title.

First off, it's okay for me to name my blog whatever I want. Secondly, Superwoman, to me, is my journey to become just like my mother, who has always been my idol, my "Superwoman."

The intentions of this blog is not to brag about my life, it is to give tricks/tips/recipes/funny stories to the rest of the world. I like sharing what I know or what I have done to inspire my readers.

I know this doesn't pertain to mostly any of you, but I thought I would clear this up right away.

My advice for any haters:

If the only reason you hate me is because of my accomplishments, then you should go out in the world and make your own accomplishments.

Stop dwelling on mine.....

....or at least stop reading my blog.

;)