Tuesday, December 31, 2019

2020 Goals


I’m not a fan of New Years Resolutions. I feel they set you up for a big let down and failure. However, I am a fan of setting goals and in the last few years that’s what I’ve done for myself. This year I have a few goals...


Travel


I love to travel. I also think it’s a good thing to teach your child to love to travel, get out and explore the world. You will always remember a trip and if you don’t the pictures will live on forever for you to look back on. So when Presley was born, I made my mission to try to give him some great travel experiences. Our goal has always been 4 good trips a year. In 2019 we took him to West Virginia, Tennessee, Lake Tahoe and Disneyland. We we to WV three times, to Tennessee twice and Disneyland twice. So while he got four different places he went several times to the majority of them.


In 2020, I would love to take him overseas. I am wanting so bad to go back to England but I’m also wanting to go to Australia. I’ve always wanted to go there and I’ve been following the prices and its really cheap right now to book for later in the year. However, I know we will go to Tennessee and Disneyland again this year. I’m also weighing Hawaii. So while we are debating our actual trips this year, I know we will travel. I also love the idea of going to Philadelphia and seeing the liberty bell and doing the Rocky steps. I also want to see the grand canyon! The list goes on and on....

Passports


This goes hand in hand with travel. Presley needs a passport, so does my husband and I need to get mine updated with a name change. It seems like a simple task but I’ve been trying to do this now for a year. We both have to be present with Presley so that’s challenging due to work schedules etc, the post office schedule etc. So I’m making this a goal this year. We have to get everyone their passport. This might be the easiest goal on the list!


Weight Loss


When I was pregnant with Presley, I gained 60 lbs. It was insane and once I had him I dropped maybe 5 of those pounds. I started breastfeeding and that helped me. I got down to about the last 20 lbs and I’ve stalled. The holidays have come and I still need to drop those last pounds. Now he’s almost two and I’ve still got those 20 lbs on me. It’s time to get them off. So my goal for 2020 is to finally get those last 20 lbs off of me. I plan on doing better at portion control, walking more and trying to stay away from sweets. I think that’s what gets me. I love cookies and ice cream and chocolates. YUM! We also got a bike so I could ride that even in the cooler, wet weather of the winter. 


Be in the moment

I've tried really hard to do this since Presley was born. I've tried to stay off my phone more when we are together and during big moments. I use it for the photos and to track his diaper changes etc but other than that I'm trying to live in the moment and be authentic. I can't handle all of the perfect posts and photos people put out there. Here let me post my picture of my messy house with my messy hair and you can see the real me. That's where I am at. Live your life and if people don't like it then UNFOLLOW. My life isn't about followers. But I do like it when you heart my stuff. HAHA

Fabric Christmas

I've been working really hard to grow my side hustle. If you haven't heard or don't know, I make handmade fabric ornaments. I focus a lot on Disney so if you are so inclined go check them out on IG or my website. I make them all year long and really enjoy it. It's fun and it's extra income for my little family. Plus they bring tons of happiness for people at the best part of the year when they hang them on their tree! I want to continue to grow my audience and spread the love of Fabric Christmas. 

A Cross Country MOVE

No, not me again. I want my mom to move to California. We miss her everyday and Presley would love to have his mumsie around all the time. This is one of my main goals in 2020. I want to help my mom move to California or be closer to us even if she moves to Nevada (cheaper). That way we could see her more and she would get to spend more time with us. So I've bought my lottery tickets and I'll be saving as much as I can!

What's your goals for 2020? 

Monday, December 30, 2019

Disneyland During the Christmas Season

Surprise! We hit up Disneyland again this year! 

Our anniversary was on December 13th so we thought hey, why not go to Disney for our Anniversary and see all of their Christmas decor. We’ve only ever been during the Halloween time or during no holiday so this would be all of the winter decor. This time we knew Presley was going to have even more fun because we’ve been letting him slowly watch Cars and he’s really into them so Radiator Springs was going to be real life for him. 


We only have one full day in the parks so we started the morning in California Adventure. We wanted Presley to be able to see Cars Land and enjoy his time there seeing all of it. He was even tall enough to ride Mater’s tow ride. We also visited Stanley the founder of Radiator Springs and saw everything they had to offer from Fillmore’s Organic Fuel to Sarge’s Surplus. We also got to meet Mater, see Lighting McQueen and meet Cruz Ramirez. 



Once we left Radiator Springs, we headed over to Pixar Pier. I do want to tell you though that I got the Macaroni and Cheese/Bacon bread cone at Cozy Cone and it totally changed my life. Probably some of the best Mac and Cheese I’ve ever had in my life. If you go to RS, get the cone... trust me.

Once we got over to Pixar Pier, Presley rode the carousel and the Imagine ride. We also rode the Cars ride and Incredicoaster while Presley got to pick out a toy in the shops.

We had went to a character breakfast earlier in the morning but Presley was thrilled to run into Mickey and Minnie again.

Next we headed over to Disneyland to spend the rest of the day there. We of course did all the fun photos in front of the Christmas tree and Castle. We rode Jungle Boat, Pirates, the Matterhorn and by then we were worn out. We will be back though! Christmas was super nice at Disney and this was our first time but it won't be our last!


Wednesday, December 18, 2019

2019 Reads

Another year, another round of books.


          




 

 



Mrs. Jeffries & The Feast of St. Stephen
The Overlook
9 Dragons
Barely Legal
Quick and Dirty
Unbound
Game of Thrones
A Clash of Kings
A Storm of Swords
The Drop
The Black Box
The Riddle of the Frozen Fountain- Dana Girl Mystery
The Hunt for Red October
Tahoe Killshot
Tahoe Silence
Tahoe Avalanche 
Tahoe Heat
Tahoe Hijack

I read 18 books in 2019. Not as many read as other years but pretty good! I’ve got a full time job, a part time ornament business and an almost 2 year old. So for me this number isn’t too shabby. I clearly have a love of Bosch books and I’m really into the Tahoe Owen McKenna stories from Todd Borg. I also read the first three Game of Thrones books which took a large part of the year to read. If you’ve ever read those books then you understand. The books are extremely long and very hard to read (at least for me). Those were the hardest to get through. I started book four and I just had to put it down. I needed a break. I might go back to it in 2020 and try to finish the series but we will see. I have other books I want to read. I’m also on the hunt to find more Dana Girl Mystery books. Their becoming really old so their hard to find or really expensive. 

What books did you read in 2019? Is there anything that I must add to my list? What was your favorite book for the year? 

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

A Pigeon Forge Pre-Christmas

If you've followed me for awhile or know me then you know that I have a deep love for Pigeon Forge. One day I'll retire there because it's my happy place. I love it... winter, spring, summer and fall. You can't go wrong there. 

Any chance I can get, I visit and I recently had the chance to go and see some Christmas shows. This was Presley's third visit to the area and I think he agrees with me... it's a pretty great place. 


If you drive to the area then a must stop is the Tennessee Welcome Center. Not only can you stretch your legs and use the restroom but you can peruse the hundreds of brochures and pamphlets on everything to see and do while you are in town. This time on our trip (the week before Thanksgiving) we were able to ride the Ober Gatlinburg. 


We stayed at the Inn at Christmas Place, which we love for several reasons. They have milk and cookies each night, Santa visits, the beds are sleeping in heavenly peace, the Christmas decor in every room and the all you can eat breakfast included in your stay.

We also saw some shows. We went to Dolly’s Stampede (formerly known as Dixie Stampede), the Comedy Barn and the Pirates Christmas Show.




We also went to The Islands to see if there was any shops we wanted to get Christmas gifts at and to eye spy the fountains. We also had the chance to let Presley ride some of their kid rides.

We had a great trip and I can’t wait to go back again. Here’s some more fun times from our trip!









Tuesday, December 3, 2019

A Lake Tahoe Thanksgiving

This year we did something different for Thanksgiving. We loaded up the car (three cars to be exact) and hit the road to South Lake Tahoe. 

This was my first time to spend Thanksgiving in Tahoe. My husband has spent many Thanksgiving holidays there but this was our first time together and as a family. This was also my first time travelling to Tahoe in the winter. If you've ever been to South Lake Tahoe or even Tahoe in general then you understand the tortuous road that it takes to get there. You climb to a grueling 7,382 feet at Echo Summit to then fall down into the basin of Tahoe. Oh, did I mention there's no guard rails at some points along the road? All that keeps you from falling to your death is white knuckles on the steering wheel and 2 feet of dirt on the side of the road.

With all that said, that's the main reason why I had actually never ventured over to Tahoe in the winter. However, a few months ago, my husband's cousin and I had the brilliant idea to plan a Thanksgiving out of town and dreamed of loading up 9 adults and 2 toddlers to make the trek for a winter trip at Thanksgiving. What we didn't know when we planned it months ago, was that it was going to become a winter storm advisory with whiteout conditions only hours before we were set to hit the freeway. 



This live camera feed of Echo Summit saved us all because I religiously checked it. We got chains for the cars and loaded them down with all the bear necessities. When it came time to pull out of the driveway we headed into the snow and grueling pace of 20 mph with one lane of traffic moving through chain control and what is usually a 2 hour drive turning into almost 4 hours of being in the car. But hey... we didn't go off the mountain so that worked for me!

When we arrived in South Lake we were greeted with a winter wonderland. It was like living in a snow globe with never ending snow flakes, freezing temps and bears galloping in the background on people's house steps. We not only saw one bear but two along with it opening our unlocked car door to get a piece of gum. At least he left our cash.

We went to Heavenly and the beach which was covered in snow and ice all the way down to the water's edge. 


Presley got to play with his cousin, we all enjoyed the view and company and we made some winter memories in the snow. It was a great time. I think we will do the same thing next year but hey... you never know where life can take you. Also, the place that we rented was great with a wonderful view above the lake. You can see it here if you are interested where we stayed. It was close to the shops and Heavenly and it was pretty easy to get in and out of considering the weather.