Guest Post : The Reel Momma!

i have been truly blessed in my life to have wonderful friends! one of them is my dear friend lee ann from the reel family ( http://www.thereelfamilyblog.com/ ) - she's hilarious and amazing and i have had the sheer pleasure of knowing her since the 11th grade! she has agreed to do a guest post for this blog today. enjoy her candid thoughts on thankfulness and go visit her blog! you'll love it!

As a child I was lucky enough to meet an amazing group of girls that together as we grew up instead of growing apart we turned into dear friends. When Erin asked me to stop by for a visit at her home in cyberspace I was truly honored that she thought of me. Erin is one of those girls turned dear friend and I truly cannot remember life without her.

On daily basis you can find me over at The Reel Family Blog where our life revolves my attempts to battle a messy toddler and husband with my OCD cleaning habits and all that lies in between. We talk party planning, cooking and parenting as I entertain you with stories of my “all-boy” child and our attempts to navigate this great river called parenthood.

For me, parenthood was an “AHA” moment in truly understanding the depths of thankfulness. Sure, I have always been thankful of my many blessings. But, there is something about motherhood that for me was soul changing.

Waking up to each morning to pitter-patter of feet and a soft call for “Momma” overcomes me. I am overtaken with love and gratitude that I was chosen to be his Momma. It makes me thankful for each and every day I have been given. My heart now walks outside my body and love so much deeper.

My husband is the light of my life; he is my person. I have always loved him but now my love grows daily. Each day I swear I couldn’t love him more until I see him interact with our son or go about our daily partnership in this life we have made. To an outsider our daily world may seem mundane but together we tackle life. And, to me, there is nothing like it. There truly is nothing better than us.

And as crazy as it sounds it even makes me more thankful for my past. Hindsight is always 20/20 and I can look at my life and see how each path lead me to road I am on today. I found my person; he’s my perfect match, my soul mate. I found the job I was made for. I spent a lot of life chasing dreams of professionalism. Along the way I realized, work to me is nothing more than a means to pay the bills. I was made to be Craig’s wife and EJ’s momma. And when the world seems dark and life is heavy I try to focus on the reality that this is best times of my life thus far. I am thankful for each day, for each quiet morning in PJ’s with a cup of coffee and Sesame Street playing the background. I am thankful for the blessing my husband has given me by shouldering the weight of finances and working hard for us everyday. I am thankful for family, the one that made me and the one that I have made.

So as we embark on yet another Holiday season I find myself not thankful for things that I have in my life but the people. My friends, the old and the new, who without them my life would be so incomplete. My family who loves always and supports unconditionally. My husband, my best friend who makes me laugh and smile and loves me through raging hormones, childbirth, and both good and bad times. My son who taught me what love really is and reminded me who and what are really most important in life.

i am thankful for...

sitting around the campfire last night with my friends got me thinking about thankfulness. i guess that's a good thing considering what month is now upon us, huh?

well, i have some exciting stuff coming up this month on this blog!!

it's all about thankfulness.

i am very excited that some of my best friends are going to write a couple of guest blog posts for you lovely readers to soak up! some are going to be about crafts, others about traditions and some about thankfulness and what that means to them. i even hope to have a very special blog post from my most favorite woman (or maybe even two of them) ever!

i will also be doing another give-away this month so keep posted to win some fabulous goodies!

there may also be an exciting announcement coming up later this month that i can hardly wait to share with you guys but i really need to just be patient for a bit! so that's my november teaser! it's going to be a great month!!

and thanks to all who voted on my poll - looks like this dorkus is going to keep the blog more-or-less the same as it's been. much love to all!!

honestly,

-e

november already!?!?!?!?!

it's tough to believe, isn't it? it feels like yesterday should have been summer to me, although here in minnesota the temps are far from summer temps! i absolutely love the cooler weather here, and yes, i do know it's about to get a whole lot cooler and snowy! i'm excited, ready and a little apprehensive.

halloween was pretty uneventful for me this year - seems like that's been the trend for the past three years, sadly. three years ago i had a horrible bronchial infection which caused me to cancel my annual party, last year, well, that was the whole beginning of the divorce thing and i didn't really think a celebration was in order. this year, well, working seven days a week definitely lends itself to a bit of unpreparedness (that's so a word!) and having a tiny apartment kind of aids in the whole inability to throw a party! i guess i'll just look at these last three years of no-party-ness as preparation for a gigantic party next halloween! i literally cannot wait!

we went bowling on saturday night, i dressed as a modern day demeter (goddess of fertility) and my boyfriend was a modern day baccus (god of food and wine). it was pretty fun, i even almost broke 100 on my second game which cracks me up - but i still beat the boy so that's what matters! last night i got to tag along with my best friend, jill and meet a new friend, megan, who was amazing! we hung out at her house in the front yard, roasted marshmellows and handed out candy to little trick-or-treaters! it was fabulous! then we followed it up with a bonfire at jill's house with friends and family in attendance. i even got to see my friend, naja, who moved up here from memphis some years back.

well, it was amazing and i hope you had a great halloween! we are going bowling again tonight because we obviously like torture! have a wonderful first day of november and look for another update this afternoon about the month of november and this blog!

honestly,

-e

we have a winner! (or two!)

alrighty, thanks you guys for posting about your favorite halloween memories! we do have a winner this morning! but i decided we needed two winners! so i asked my bf to pick a number between one and four and he picked two, then i asked him to pick another winner and he picked four, so here we go!

"looney4one said...

growing up in northern Minnesota made the choosing of a costume a challenge....did one buy the beautiful costume in the store and then cover it with a winter coat, stocking cap, and mittens, (some years there was snow on the ground by end of October)? Or did one want to show off the costume and turn blue in the sub zero weather? Usually Mom prevailed and I rarely got to show off my costume while trick or treating because of all the layers of warmth I was wearing. My favorite part of halloween was bringing home the candy and hiding it from my dad. Dad always creeped into our bedrooms the next morning and stole our candy and we would jump out of bed and chase him around the house trying to get it back. We never hid the candy too well for fear he might NOT find it...."

looney4one is our first winner! e-mail me and let me know which three little "spookies" you'd like.

aaaannnnd!!! laura is our second winner!

"Laura said...

eating candy? does that count:)? glad you had a day off to make stuff, friend. how fun!"

thanks sweetie!!! i was so glad to have a day off, too! :D e-mail me and let me know which three you'd like!

thanks to everyone for playing along! we'll do another give-away soon :D stay tuned!!

honestly,

-e

"spookies" give-away!

hey guys! here is what i've been playing with lately! "spookies"

so, here's the deal, one lucky winner gets to take home any three of these little guys, i've got three ghosties and five pumpkins. all you have to do to win is post a comment about your favorite halloween memory as a kid. i'll pick a winner at random on monday! so, post away! :D

honestly,

-e

a day off

i woke up early this morning around 4am and realized that i could barely breathe and my throat felt like it was on fire. not so great considering i had a mere 2.5 hours before i needed to get up for work. blah. i fell back asleep for a little bit but when that alarm went off i knew there was no way i was going to work today.

i don't really think i'm that sick, in fact, now that i've slept some and had lots of water and some cold meds, i feel a lot better. but i am so glad i called in. i needed this day off.

i had no idea how difficult it is working every day of the week. i feel like a wimp cause it's not like i'm ever working insane amounts of hours, it's just that every day i have to work at one place or both and that makes it really difficult to get anything else done.

so, today is a day for hanging out in bed with my boyfriend's cat (loudest kitty in the world!), drinking lots of green tea, catching up on my internet addiction and making some cute little crafty halloween decorations to be mailed out to a few people! i think i'll post some pics of the crafties later and maybe do a give-away! sound interesting to anyone???

honestly,

-e

one year later - the aftermath

so, it's been a year since i "dramastically" changed my life. after years of being in a frustrating relationship i decided that it was time for a change. i also decided that that change would be a good time to shake the rest of my life up. i've definitely always went with the thought process that while you're making a giant change why not make the other ones you've wanted to at the same time? that way you adjust all at once and never say that you're bored. so, yeah...this is how that's gone for me:

it's been painful. but i knew it would be. but, i've grown more in this last year than i have in the past ten, so it's been amazing. i've found myself completely broke and broken, sobbing myself to sleep many, many nights but i've learned that i'm so much stronger than i thought i could ever be. granted, i didn't want to find this out about myself but whaddya gonna do???

i've found that from this distance from my family and friends who i've always relied on, i miss them more, i value them more and i know which ones are the true friends. that part kinda sucked, losing people you thought were there for good. but i've also learned to think for myself more. i know that the people i love always have my "best interests" in mind when they give me opinions or advice but i've learned that only i can decide what my "best interests" really are. so, i feel like now, staring down the gun to 30 years old, i've learned to discern between what i "want" and what i "need" and what my decisions are. it's pretty great. although, i do miss my friends and family, sometimes i feel very lonely up here but it's getting better!

i've worked for three different places since moving here in march - interned at one and am still searching. currently i'm working for two of the three places and while the money is nice, the hours are starting to wear me out. if i could just get one day off a week that would be amazing! i feel like a chicken running around without the benefit of ever having a head!

my dog lives up here now, sadly not with me yet. my apartment won't let me have a dog that is over 40 lbs and i just don't think that i should put my 60 lb dog on a diet and shave all of his fur off...although the fur would be about 5lbs i think! but i have a cat - a crotchety cat, who belongs to this boyfriend guy that i have :D but, the mutt lives with friends until my lease is up next may.

the boyfriend guy :D :D :D is awesome. i am so blessed and lucky to have found someone who really gets me. it's one of the healthiest relationships i've ever had, makes me feel so grown up...except when pillow fights ensue.

music and art are still my loves but i just barely have time to do laundry these days and keep my 520 sq ft apartment clean so my loves get a little backburner action sometimes. i still sketch, play my guitar some and write down random lyrics that pop in but i haven't played out anywhere or done serious writing since i got here. all in due time, i guess.

so, that's a semi-short run-down of life after the giant changes. i wish my ex the best of luck and hope that he's ok. life just sucks sometimes but if you aren't true to yourself you're really short-changing everyone around you. alright, time for job number 2! live life the best way you can!

honestly,

-e