Answers and a Vlog!

Oh my gosh.

You guys kill me.

Nancy Clue suggested that I answer these in a vlog... so I asked my handy-dandy side kick to join me while we answered some of the popular questions.

Kristen: How long have you blogged and what made you start?
I started blogging about three years ago. While searching for something, I came across Meg's blog. I can remember going back and reading every post she ever wrote. I still love her. She is the epitome of an excellent blog-mom blog.

Nancy Clue, of course, had a few..

If you could choose three real people, living or dead, to invite to dinner, who would it be?
Um... Nancy Clue, Bill Clinton, and Pioneer Woman. Someone to make me laugh, someone to make out with stare at, and someone to cook the food!

What is your all-time favorite fat girl pleasure?
Pizza and beer. I could do pizza and beer for dinner every night. Pizza, beer, and a blizzard for my TV show? Bring me the insulin now.

Favorite drink or shot?
Back in the day, Old Holly, would drink Keystone Lt and Jager. Oh my gosh, I just slightly dry heaved. Today... I would say a Busch heavy and I still love a Red-Headed Slut. Nothing classy around here.

Kait: How did you survive the 30 Day Shred?
Barely. Like, I was doing it twice a day because I skipped it so much. My brother saw my results and started it yesterday. I would seriously give my right arm and week worth of calories to see him do the workout.

Shelli: Where did you go to college?
Southern Illinois University- Edwardsville. The nerdy sister school of SIU. But I loved every minute of college... the whole five years. :) I did Student Government, lived with the wrestling team, hosted food parties, and met some of my best friends.

Melanie: Where is your favorite restaurant in St. Louis?
My favorite one is in the Metro-East... Bigelo's Bistro. Nothing fancy, just really good food and wine.

Melanie: What's your favorite band?
Modest Mouse. I love their lyrics. Lately, I have been listening to a lot of country and Pop radio.

Elle Noel: What motivated you to post before and after pictures of your weight loss?
It sounds bizzare, but the second I hit publish, I was doing all I could to get the weight off. That, and I am obessed with any kind of Before/After picture {weight, food, crafting, remodeling, hair, makeup, car waxing, etc}.

Jamie: What is your biggest food weakness?
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Really, I do so well during the week and then I eat, without prejudice, all weekend. I love snacks. I love the word snack.

Emily: Did you read 50 Shades of Grey?
No. I know, I know. I just love books where you have to read the whole thing before they fall in love. The suspense of love-- so basically Nicholas Sparks. I couldn't get into 50 Shades.

Courtney: What's your favorite way to motivate yourself when it comes to weight loss?
Sounds corny, but I love reading other blogs. If it wasn't for Mama L and Emily, I would be 40 pounds heavier, at least.

Shelly: If you could get schwasted with any celebrity, who would it be?
I'd get chocolate wasted with Zooey Deschanel. She would play the guitar and we would sing weird girl songs all night with Joesph Gordon-Levitt.

Kate asked Chris about his graphic novel... and he was seriously high as a kite all day. I'll be emailing you his response. :)

Emily: Where do you shop?
My two-kids-in-daycare shopping budget puts me at Target. But I love a J Crew sales rack and LOFT, if they have a 40% deal. And yes, Darci.... I need to go shopping with you! Can Emily come, too?

JMc and Becca: Did you really drive yourself home from the hospital?
Yes. I'm crazy. And I wanted to go home, really bad. Plus, my anxiety is like a 10 the month before and after birth.

JMc: Where are we going when I come to St. Louis?
Oh, we're going to Par-tay town. :)

Melanie: Do you hang out with your hubby's friend's wives?
Chris has two good friends-- Jake and John. Jake and John are brothers... and I love both of their wives {Amy being one of them}. Once a month or so, we have everyone over for game nights. We sit around and eat while all of our kids go crazy. I even got Amy to play beer pong with me the last time she was over. :)

Elle Noel, Ty, and Mrs. D: Can we be friends/meet in real life?
Um... yes... I thought we were already? Aren't some of your blog friends better than your real life friends? I think we're better at communication.

Lindsey: Are you happy to be back home with your babies?
Oh yeah! Haven and I both sleep better together. I missed his little munchkin butt.

Darci: Any update on Olive's eyes?
Thanks for asking, Darci! Nothing new since my last update HERE. For my new readers, Olive has ocular Albinism and nystagmus. This was all discovered earlier this past spring. You can read those posts HERE and HERE. We go back in two months to look into surgery and glasses. She appears to see everything fine, but her eyes just shake when she is tired or not focusing on something.

Kate: What are the top secrets that parents never tell the childless?
Whoa! Question of the day. My personal motto coincides with an e-card on pinterest. Something along the lines of "Give your children enough love to make them confident, but enough dysfunction to make them funny." We really try to enjoy our kids, to be fun, to do it all. I would just say to be prepared to love someone deeper than you ever imagined. And enjoy going to the bathroom alone for as long as you can. :)

-----------

On a side note, blog sponsors will be up next week. If you're interested in being a sponsor, click HERE... and then shoot me an email. :)

Questions

Over the last few weeks, I have seen people post Q&A's on their blog.

People are nosy. People as in me... the nosiest person around.

Perfect example:
One time in college, I was not-really-sort-of-dating this child guy. Anyway, I had the feeling that maybe he was kind-of-sort-of dating other people too. No bueno. To get to the bottom of it, I sent my roommate at the time {who wasn't playing with a full deck of cards if you know what I mean} over to his house. I knew he was at wrestling practice and he always left his front door unlocked.

I told her to get on his computer and look up his facebook messages.

So she walks over to his house and gets on his computer. His facebook account was always signed into, so she starts going through his private messages.

While she is doing this, she starts copying and pasting the messages into Instant Messenger and sending them to me.

No dirt. Completely harmless stuff.

So I tell her to close everything out and hurry back before he gets home.

Later that night, I see him on IM, so I say "Hey!"

What happens when I did that? Oh, all the messages between my roommate and I that day pop up in his conversation history.

Busted.

Anyway, if you have any questions about me like... Holly, how does your milkshake bring all the boys to the yard? Or Holly, how did you deliver two almost-ten pound children and still drive yourself home from the hospital the next day? Or Holly, why are your teeth so damn big?... Then please leave your questions in the comments below.

I'll answer them tomorrow!

Heading Home

Oh Chicago.

It's been real. It's been fun. But it hasn't been real fun.

In a few hours, I get to head home to my babies.... bloated and 5 pounds heavier. I'm retaining water like the Hoover Dam right now. There is no way I am stepping on a scale when I get home. I think I'll detox until Monday... I'm a Ben & Jerry's Half Baked bar away from dia-bee-tus.

-----

Did you guys see Mama Laughlin's post yesterday? She is running a half marathon in Tulsa in November. On Monday night, Aly and I decided we needed to go down and be her groupies cheerleaders.

I remember at the beginning of this year, after I had Olive, I suffered some post-partum depression. She had MJ a few weeks before I had Olive, and she was already back on the weight loss bandwagon. About four weeks after Olive was born, I started gaining weight. Seeing her post pictures and documenting her journey, made me want to get my old body {and feelings} back. I'm just really happy to be able to go support her, since she has given me so much motivation this year. {I wrote a little bit about that motivation HERE}

Want to hear something hilarious? For about 12 hours, I really contemplated running the half marathon with her. You know, because I am a natural athlete and all.

-----

I loved your comments on the Ugly Clothes post yesterday. There were a few of you that I couldn't email because your profile email isn't linked to your comments.

What does that mean?

Whenever I get a comment on a post, I get a message in my email box. Then if your profile email and comments are linked, I can directly email you back.

If not, it just shows up as a "No Reply Blogger."

If you want to get a novel from me every time you leave a comment, then follow the directions HERE.

-----

Happy Wednesday... I need to go stuff my face at brunch before fat-girl reality sets in when I land.

Tootles!

Ugly Clothes

Once upon a time, in the days of my youth and no budget, I used to dress well.

Well, as in, I considered myself to be quite fashionable.

Somewhere in between having two babies, gaining and losing weight twice, my body isn't the same as what it used to be. Same ol story... ba ba blah.

When it comes to shopping for kid clothes? I drop it like it's hot. For me? That's a big fat NOT.

Am I the only one that goes to the mall and wants to know why everyone is dressing so.... ugly? The clothes are ugly. They don't match. They're not flattering. Skinny jeans make me look like a walking birthing machine with my breeding hips.

Lately, I just feel like Boring Bertha. I have had a hard time trying to find clothes that match. I want to do the colored jeans so bad, but I feel like a fraud. A fashion fraud that is dying to get back into their Gap khakis and plain 3/4 sleeve sweater.

I need help. But not the hired store help that follows me around wanting to start a room, open up a credit card, tell me about the sale on jeans, the buy one-get one free offer, ask me what I am shopping for, if I'm shopping for anything specific, if I'm shopping for anyone in particular, if they can have my phone number, if they can have my email address, if I just want the gun to my head already.

I just wish I was better at putting outfits together. Usually, the Limited is my go-to place if I got dolla dolla bills ya'all.

 But please look at these outfits....

One shopping store that I never bought an outfit from is Anthropologie. I love their dishes and pillows. But I cannot fathom paying $200 for a dress that looks like it came from Forever 21. Can I get an Amen?!

Ok... rant over.... Someone please come shopping with me.

What is your usual clothing store? Will someone tell my husband that 29 is too old for Hollister? :)

Chicago

I'm in Chicago for a few days while attending a work conference.

I love Chicago, but I suffer from extreme home sickness. It might make me sound pathetic, but I really don't like leaving my house. When I get ready somewhere else, I don't ever feel I look as good. I only like the taste of water from my house. I miss sleeping with Haven's foot in my side. I really do like playing dead while Chris gets up with Olive. I want it all right now.

But, the great thing about this trip was that a few people I know were also in town.

Like Aly!

For the record, Aly is exactly how you would imagine her to be. Very relaxed, gorgeous, perfect teeth, etc. We ate nachos, went to a dive bar, and quizzed Chris on all the hot blog moms. You're still in first place, Mama L.

Chris came into town to see his friend. They were going to hang out for the day and then he was going to meet up with me that night. Then as he was getting ready to board his flight, his friend called and said he couldn't hang out. What? His friend has mild Asperger's and Chris is used to giving him his space. But this also met that Chris was left to wonder Chicago all day by himself, with a red bathroom bag that matches my luggage. He looked like a homeless hipster. :)

Anyway, Chris is home with our babies now... and all is well here.

I've been eating delicious calories and nursing my food baby with some Mint Oreo gelato.

Back on the badwagon when I get home. Debating about going into crazy mode with p90x or putting up with Jillian's voice again by doing Ripped in 30....

What's your favorite workout DVD?

Do you get homesick?

Television

Oh the ol telly....

I'm linking up with Shelli today to talk about favorite TV shows. :)

I never thought I was a big TV person, until we sold our house and went two weeks without cable.

Chris and I watch a lot of TV, but we're usually pretty far behind. We love recording shows and watching them on the weekends when we can fast forward through the commercials.

Favorite Shows:
Parenthood
The Voice
Tosh.0
Workaholics
It's Always Sunny
Homeland-- oh my gosh... My new love!
Honey Boo Boo

Let me talk about Honey Boo for a minute. This is coming from someone who is proud for never watching an episode of Jersey Shore or Teen Mom.

Chris on the other hand, lives for trashy television. Anyway, he recorded Honey Boo Boo (and what he lovingly calls Olive now) and loved it.

I held my ground. I refused.

Then one night, he begged for me "just to give it a chance."

And now I am hooked. Like, I want to make a Thanksgiving dinner, sit around a feast while watching Honey Boo Boo.

If you've seen the show, have you seen the episode where they make "Sketti"...? "Mama" makes "sketti" by boiling spaghetti noodles and then putting a bowl of ketchup and margarine in the microwave as the "sketti sauce." They then eat this "sketti" out of old Country Crock margarine tubs.

Then I died.

And of course, it left me curious. So, while making my own family spaghetti last week, I decided to mix a little ketchup and butter in a bowl with my noodles.

Verdict? Just as disgusting as it sounds.

Oh, Boo child!

Sponsorship Operation: Get to Blissdom

It's no secret that I want to go to Blissdom. In fact, I have already found my roommates, bought a teeth whitening kit, and started looking up all the good places to eat in Dallas.

My only problem, like I mentioned yesterday, is that it's pretty expensive.

Taking into consideration airfare, hotel accommodations, and conference registration... it's going to cost $800-1000.

I figured that if I could raise half the funds to go, then I could justify spending the remaining amount.

That is why I am now offering sponsorship on my blog.

If you're interested in becoming a sponsor and seeing what I have to offer, click HERE.

Muchas Gracias. :)

Holly is All Over the Place

Tonight is the season finale of Big Brother. I'm hoping for a Dan/Ian Final 2-- but can't decide who I want to win. Dan is tha man... with an "a" at the end of the... THA Man. :)

----

I got to go to the baseball game last night with my best friends from college. Every year for Hogan's birthday, we go to a Cardinal game. Usually we are sitting in the bleachers directly in the sun, sweating out our $10 beers.

This year, my brother in law's team was in town... So of course, I have to be that family member begging requesting for the best seats in the house. Not being a big sports fan, it was still an awesome experience... but for some die-hard Cardinal fans, it was the equivalent of taking 11 year old Holly to a Hanson concert.

During the game, I also got to meet my blog friend Jessica! She had a photo on instagram with a funny caption, so I showed it to my friends. Monica was like, "She is here. That is a picture of the section right there!"

We met during an inning break... and she was so nice! {Hi Jessica and the girls at Sprint!}

We snuck around the clubhouse downstairs and took pictures like tourist. :)

----

I have everyone listed as a celebrity in my phone, depending on their name. Here are some funny text messages from Chris.

Chris is "Chris Farley".... Aly is "Aly McBeal... Hogan is "Hulk Hogan".... Emily is "Emily Blunt"... Monica is "Monica Lewinsky"... Amy is "Amy Winehouse"...:)

I still need to find a new computer bag.

----

THANK YOU for all of the comments on my Shred post. Wow... I've never received that many comments before and I have read them over and over. You guys are great motivation for me. I am so glad that I stuck with it-- I can honestly say, for the first time in a long time, that I am happy with my weight.

----

Best $17 I've spent in a long time... But it's not going to make it to Halloween, so I'll probably have to buy another one.

----

And finally... I am thinking about putting sponsors on the blog. My only reasoning is that I really want to have a slumber party with Aly and Mama L go to Blissdom in March.

Only kicker? I'm in the poor house. Poor house meaning that daycare is my number one expense every month... and yearly "tuition" is equivalent to a year at a private college.

So to meet my goal, I need to start sponsors in October. If you're interested in a charity case, just shoot me an email! :)

----

Happy Wednesday!!

Hubby Guest Post: Walmart and 50 Shades of Grey

Chris is back with another guest post. I ask for him to write on the blog all the time, but he is always afraid that he will "offend the blog moms of America."

Anyway, be sure to check out his Blog Design tab HERE... He did a few more over the weekend and they look awesome.

----------------------------

Hello Womens,

I have the day off from work which is always a hassle for Holly, because she has to think of extra things for me to do around the house so that my “servant” skills don’t get rusty.  One of those tasks was writing a guest post, so here we go.

Today I went to Wal-Mart (amazing intro, I know, hold on, it gets better) and I saw not one...but TWO men with their shirts off…for no apparent reason…on two separate occasions (one when I went in and one when I left.)  Now it’s about 70 degrees here, so heat wasn’t a factor.  They were just in the parking lot doing white trash stuff (smoking, looking at dog food bags, etc) but it got me thinking about how Wal-Mart is different in a city. 

I grew up in a small town and Wal-Mart was the biggest, nicest store, so I didn’t know it was a gathering place of mutants, because in a small town, I guess everyone is a mutant.  Well, here in “the city” it’s REALLY a haven for the unwashed.  Everyone looks at you like that mean kid in high school, just begging for you to say something so they can start a fight.  Also, there must be some type of terrible tattoo organization meeting in the women’s shoes because I saw 2 Tasmanians Devil’s and the cartoon Calvin giving the finger.  Yum.

There was also a big display of 50 Shades of Grey (convenient how “Christian” Wal-Mart now sells them because they are popular).  The book must just now be making its way to the Hoosier side of life.  I’m hoping hair washing, teenage birth control and dental hygiene are close behind.  But, I see this book as something interesting because you keep hearing about all these women who are now sex crazed because they read the book (expect for Holly of course; she has book ADD unless it has “amazing narration”).

The general consensus from men is: “Awesome, we’ll take it!”  However, I find it funny that when woman are “exposed” to graphic material they start handing it out like the lady who gives free samples of Pizza Bagels at Wal-Mart. 

All the while men are thinking, “Hey!  Smut has been around forever!  It’s basically the reason we have computers, phones, iPads, walkmens, and electric toothbrushes.”  This book is no revelation, but if it’s helping things, then MORE BOOKS FOR EVERYONE!... Maybe stories about Bill Clinton in the future. J

Back to Wal-Mart, when I leave the store, another shorter man has his shirt off and is running around yelling for his friend.  I’ve been angered by waiting in a long line to check out and yokels getting in my way.  The man yelling is annoying, so being the hero I am, I yell, “SHUT UP!” then get in my car and quickly drive away realizing that I have become a what I have grown to hate…and then I suffer another blow, I notice that I have been walking around the store with a ranch dressing stain on my shirt….damn, I guess there is a little Wal-Mart in us all.

30 Day Shred: Before and After

I started the 30 Day Shred last month... You can see that original post HERE.

The reason why I decided to post Before pictures was to make myself accountable to actually finish the thirty days. Like I said before, if I had a dollar for every time I've started the 30DS, I could afford for someone to chase me some plastic surgery and call it a day.

Thirty days ago, I had hit a plateau. It was an up two pounds, down two pounds rodeo all summer. Combining this with some clean eating, finally knocked me into gear.

I do want to mention that I didn't do this every day for 30 days. There were a handful of days that I didn't do it... so to make up from my fat girl excuses, I would do it twice in one day-- once in the morning and once in the evening. This was an effort to do the workout 30 times in 30 days.

Without much more mumbling... I am so glad I actually stuck with it because I finally saw the 130's-- even if it's just barely.

 

Here is the Before and After comparison.

 

Before and (After) Measurements:

Right leg: 19.5" (19'')

Left leg: 20" (19")

Waist: 29" (28"')

Hips: 40" (38.5")

Ketchup packets Bust: 34" (33.5")

Left arm: 12" (11")

Right arm: 12" (11")

 

4.4 lbs and 6.5 inches!

 

On a side note... in the Before picture, my forearms look like twigs and my upper arms look like turkey legs from 6 Flags.

 

 

Also... the iPad took another hit. On my second to last night, I put down my 5 lb weight on the couch. Haven had the iPad in upright position against the cushion while watching his show. The weight rolled down the couch and tapped the screen-- cracking it.

 



 

I'm so happy that money grows on trees. :)

 

Now... I never want to hear or see this DVD again... So who wants it? I will mail it to you and you can pay it forward to the next friend that's in the weight loss dumps.

Updated Link-up Party: Day in the Life

My friend Amy and I are linking up today to host a "Day in the Life" post. I love Amy... if you're someone who loves dogs, babies, and/or planning parties... then check out her blog!
-------

<a href="http://www.thestanfieldclan.com/"> <img src="http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z468/suit1/linkupbutton.jpg"alt="linkup" width="295" height="295"/></a>

Chris's cell phone usually goes off about 5am.

I usually wake up with Haven's foot in my side. He is still co-sleeping with us. We've created the monster and now we'll just remaining celibate dealing with it.

Oh there I am... moping around the house in the dark. I usually read Big Brother spoilers on my phone and check my email.

Most days of the week, I take the bambinos to "school" aka glorified daycare. This involves chasing Haven around the house trying to brush his teeth and taming Olive's hair. They get dropped off at 6:30am and I cross the bridge to be at work by 7am.

This is what Work Holly looks like on a normal day. Plain Jane. Khakis, flats, and carrying enough bags inside that it looks like I'm camping out for the week.

I can't say much about my job on the blog, but I will say that it's enjoyable. I feel really lucky to have this job at 27 years old. I can't say there are many days that I dread going into work.

As a Political Science major, I should just be happy that I'm not going door to door asking people to put a sign in their front yard.

Instead, the majority of my job is contract support and reconciling invoices all day. Which is hilarious, considering I just figured out how to reconcile my bank account a few years ago.

Over lunch, I go over to the fitness center. It's one wing down away from my desk. The sole purpose of going to the fitness center over lunch is to prevent getting an office butt. I don't want no flap-jack-patty-whack-give a dog a bone-kind of butt. So I do some squats... and then some side bends and sit ups. ;)

Chris picks up the kids after 2:30pm and I meet them all at home around 3:30pm.

We snack, pick up the house, and then decide on dinner.

Like most senior citizens, our dinner is made, consumed, and cleaned up by 5pm. {We've already been awake for 12 hours, people}

Then, in an effort to tire out Haven, we go to the park or on a walk.

When we return, Chris starts the baths for the rugrats and I do my workout DVD or walk over to the high school stadium. I don't know how to work our TV/PS3/AT&T box, so any workout DVD has to be loaded and started by Chris. I should mention that as far as the husband department goes, I have it made in the shade.

Olive Betty is in bed first by 7pm. At this time, Chris crashes on the couch, Haven watches a show on the iPad, and I read all of my blogs.

In the meantime, I change out the laundry, pick up the house, lay out clothes for the next day, and try to use the bathroom by myself.

By 8pm, Haven and I are whiny and crabby, so we pass out. Haven is going through this phase where he has to sing himself songs before he goes to sleep. So we usually sing, "Haven's sleeping, Haven's sleeping, Ding, Ding, Dong. Ding, Ding, Dong."

Then I go to bed dreaming about Hostess Ding Dongs.

What's your average day like? Write a post and link up with us! Grab the button code and paste it inside the HTML of your post. Then come back and join the link up by entering your name and blog address by clicking the link below. Jump around and meet new bloggers. :)

Five Pounds, Five Months: Breaking Through the Plateau

If you're having plateau problems, I feel bad for ya son. I got 99 problems...

Wait, no. Just kidding.

It has literally taken me five months to lose five pounds. My last post was before Easter.

I quickly realized I couldn't keep doing the same song and dance to shake this weight.

Instead of eating whatever I wanted, within my calorie range, and doing cardio, I had to do more.

Eating clean... No bread, cheese {my first real love}, pasta, and sweets {my mistress}.

Training mean... Upping the cardio {my drug of choice}, adding strength training {my frenemy}, and stopping with the excuses.

And I am so, so good at excuses.

When I finally put myself on Lock Down, I got the job done.

My Teletubby Recap:

Side note: My picture at 160-- that's what all of my yearbook photos look like. Scared shitless.



And here is the 30lb comparison.

What is sad is the fact that I wore these pants at 170 in public. Like every day. With a baggy t-shirt, I didn't think they looked that tight.

That's how I know Chris is a chubby-chaser loves me. Because he never said anything. :)

But seriously, if you're stuck in the same spot... Try doing something different. Clean up your plate, switch up your cardio, and even try a work out DVD.

I'll be done with The Shred at the end of this week... and I'll talk about it more next week, but it has really helped me push through this plateau. Also, everyone that I have met through this little blogging community as been so encouraging. We all need to be guilt tripping motivating each other.

Come slap the Chips Ahoy! out of my hand.

So with that... Today is Monday. No better day to start on a new plan. :)

Blog Designing

Chris re-designed a few blogs this week. They turned out great, so I thought I would do some bragging and a shameless plug. :)

First of all, I've given him a lot of experience. He no longer thinks four or five re-do's is a big deal. He has pretty good blog-design-radar.

His first paying customer, ever, was Kassie from Southern Girl Gets Fit. She's a wedding planner from Louisiana. Kassie posts about her different work outs and meal plans. She is very bubbly and fun... I think her new blog layout fits her perfectly.

Then Kassie recommended Chris to her friend Leigh Ann Noel at Elle Noel. And since my sister's name is Noel, it was hard for me not to call her Noel at the beginning of every email, but that is what Chris and I called her in conversation.

She told Chris that she wanted classy-girly design with a side of trash. What man doesn't love to hear that? She has lost over 40 pounds and looks AWESOME. I want her hair and some of her motivation.

And then the latest blog that got re-designed is Lindsay from Mommarazzi. Let me just say that this woman is amazing. She has a 4 year old little cancer survivor, a two year old, and then a set of 7 month old twins. In one of her first emails, she said she hasn't posted on the blog much because she has been busy. Understatement of the year. I don't know how she had time to send the email. :)

Lindsay is just waiting on her photographer to send her an image for her blog, then she'll be good to go.

If you're interested in a blog design, see the tab on the left. Chris is charging a $40 flat fee and his turn around time is about three days. His PayPal money is my Zappos money, so my ugly-mom clothes thanks you.

--------------------

Also, be sure to come back on Tuesday for the "Day in the Life" link-up party with my friend Amy.

I posted detailed instructions yesterday, since a few people haven't participated in link-up before. You can read that post HERE.

Just write a post about your average day.

Copy and paste this blog HTML in your post.


<center> <a href=" http://www.thestanfieldclan.com/" target="_blank" ><img src="http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z468/suit1/linkupbutton.jpg"alt="linkup" width="295" height="295"/></a></center>


And then come back to my blog to link up in the fun.

You'll be prompted to enter your name and blog website.

Jump around and find new blogs to read.

-----------------------

Have a HAPPY Friday!

Link-up How-to

I don't know if I am capitalizing the correct words in my title... I'll have to wait for my English snob husband to check the post {Teresa, feel free to let me know in the comments}. :)

Anyway, I posted yesterday about how Amy and I are doing a blog link up next Tuesday. The topic is "Day in the Life," which basically means telling us all the things you do on an average day. We thought the topic would be a fun get-to-know-you activity since a lot of our blog friends are new bloggers.

One thing about Blog Land... It can be intimidating. Especially Mommy Blog Land.. it kind of feels like high school all over again in some ways. I was in the nerd herd during high school, so no judgment from me.

After I posted yesterday, a few girls emailed me asking me how a link up works.

Good question!

1. Write a post on your blog titled "Day in the Life," just telling us what your average day looks like, what you do, do you work inside the home, work outside the home, do you have kids, do you cook, do you work out, etc.

2. At the end of your post, you would paste in the button below. There is HTML with the button {but I don't know what that means because my technology skills got the short end of the stick}. What I do know is that if someone clicks on the button inside your post, it will take them to my blog. Just copy and paste the HTML inside of your blog post and the picture and link will automatically work. It's like pulling a bunny out of a hat.

3. After you publish the post, come visit my blog. At the end of my post, there will be a "linky" link. Sounds cute, right? You click on the linky party... and you are prompted to put in your name and your blog website.

It's s lot easier than what it sounds.

All of the blogs that link up will be featured at the bottom of my post.

Click on the blog links to be taken to new blogs who also participated.

Leave comments and find new friends.

Here is the button in case you want to get started on your post.


<center> <a href=" http://www.thestanfieldclan.com/" target="_blank" ><img src="http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z468/suit1/linkupbutton.jpg"alt="linkup" width="295" height="295"/></a></center>

Email me any questions... I'd love to help you! :)

Link up party is next Tuesday! 

Jibber Jabber

Can I ask for a blogging favor?

I've have found so many new blogs... and every time I go to leave a comment, this blurry box pops up and wants me to play a guessing game about the letters and numbers inside the box. I know this is to prevent spam, but I'm partially blind from Microsoft Excel and tanning in my teens without using goggles.

I fail them at least three times before the Caption Warrior realizes that I am too dumb to be a Spam Robot.

To read the posts, I have to dig out my "Gideon-Yago-MTV-News" glasses. We should all go into our settings and remove this feature. It will be like a virtual hug for me. :)

-----

Next Tuesday, Amy and I are hosting a link up. We have found so many new blogs and thought it would be fun to do a "Day in the Life" kind of post. Basically, just documenting your average day {mine will be pictures of cute babies and spread sheets}. Chris is putting together a button for us now... so we can be real cool blogger linker uppers.

-----

Speaking of Chris.... Thank you for all of his birthday wishes. He loves all of my blog friends, so I know he was happy reading all of the comments.

He has been so busy doing blog designs {shameless plug on the left}. On Friday I am going to post a few of the blogs that he has designed this week... they look awesome. :)

-----

Little Olive Betty is a crawling machine. Now she is doing a downward dog pose trying to get up on her feet to walk. She loves wrestling with her brother.

-----

Happy Wednesday, Friends!

Birthday Balloon Wreath

This wreath gets brought up from the basement for every birthday.

I made this a couple of years ago, you can see the post HERE.

Anyway, for $20, this wreath will definitely get some use. I bring it out for Haven's birthday, our dog's birthday, Abraham Lincoln's birthday, etc.

You can find the original post here.

What you'll need:
(1) 18inch straw wreath with the plastic wrapping still attached ($3.99)
(2) boxes of floral/greening pins ($1.99 ea)
(200-250) 12 inch balloons ($10)

Note: In her original instructions, she only used 144 balloons. However, if you read through the comments, a lot of people mentioned that they had to use many more. Also, 12 inch balloons mean the balloons are 12 inches after they are inflated. I'm a dum-dum and was at the store for a long time before I figured that out. And something else worth mentioning is that Dollar Tree nor Target had the variety pack of original balloon colors. The Wal-Mart by my house prompts an anxiety attack, so I overpaid for my balloons at Party City.

All I did was take two balloons at a time, stick them in the middle of the balloon, and pin them into the wreath.

For the first half hour, I was still seeing the "pin marks" and it didn't seem to be going the way I wanted. But, I just kept pinning like it was the only way to get into Heaven... and it really did come out cute.

Happy Birthday, Pumpkin!

Today, Chris turned 29 years old.

Over the weekend, I made him this Paula Deen cake called Chocolate Heaven.

It would have been heavenly if I did not burn the chocolate in the microwave trying to make the frosting.

After icing it yesterday morning, before his family arrived, I noticed it was too tall to be covered by the cake lid. So we improvised. We placed a reusable shopping bag straight over the top to make a tent.

Without even realizing it, Chris had covered the cake with a Toy Story bag, which created a temptation that Haven could not handle. It was a fun morning.

Chris asked for a new car for his birthday. And anyone that has seen/heard his toaster {Scion xB} would beg for the same thing. But I asked him to go one more year without a car payment... and on his 30th birthday, I would stay home and let him buy whatever he wants.

Instead, he got things like new underwear and football tickets.

Chris was on-call this weekend, so there was no staying up until 11pm all night and ending the 20's with a bang. We had his family down for the afternoon for pizza and cake.

 

Chris deserves the best birthday because he really is, without getting too mushy on the blog, the best husband.

 

Olive is still waking up once a night with teething or growing pains. He gets up with her every night-- I don't even ask. He never even says anything to me about it in the morning.

 

He gives the kids baths every night while I do my work out DVD or go to the track.

 

Any time that one of my friends needs help with their blog, he'll drop what he is doing and fix their blog problems.

 

He has the best sense of humor and dry wit that is already rubbing off on Haven.

 

He is so proud of this little blog of mine and tries to bring it up in conversation with anyone that will listen.

 

Chris is the happiest when we all go walking around a mall together.

 

He puts all of our wants and needs ahead of his own. He is always the first one up and the last one to bed.

 

And I am just beyond lucky that he is my husband.

 

Happy Birthday, Chris! I love you more and more every day.