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Friday, January 31, 2014

Celebrate the Small Things

Every week some of us like to share the small things that we have accomplished. Thanks Viklit for giving us an outlet!

1. This weekend I have two Painting With A Twist paries to attend. The first is my daughters', she will be 14 on Feb. 4th. And the other is a friend. Super stoked! I love painting on canvas and a little wine.

2.  The kids FINALLY went back to school. Out of 20 days of school, the kids have only been able to go 10. 50/50 is bad I guess. I just wish Old Man Winter would head back to the arctic where he belongs.

3.  Yesterday my daughter got her braces off. I asked if I could share the picture of her before/after and she said ok. I've never had braces but after what I witnessed yesterday, I'm blessed God gave me perfectly straight teeth. She teared up a few times and cried once when the Dr had to push down on a tooth to straighten it out before he put the permanent retainers on (apparently he didn't think it was perfect enough). I thought she was going to deck him.
The left picture she looks like Lohan from Parent Trap. She has grown up so much! Time flies!!
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!


Monday, January 27, 2014

Express Yourself - Self Reflection

Express Yourself Meme is a way for our community to learn a little more about each other.

This week, Jackie and myself want to know...

Is there anything you'd like to change, or work on, about yourself this year?

Of course! I'm always trying to work on myself. I think everyone should in some form or another. Like...
  1. To look in the mirror and love myself more.
  2. To embrace what makes me unique. (my laugh, the way I walk, my opinions, what I like, etc.)
  3. Not dropping the ball on my commitments.
  4. Learn to take a more positive outlook on others' choices.
  5. Stop judging books by their covers (literally!).
What are somethings you are wanting to work on about yourself?

Have a happy Monday!

Friday, January 24, 2014

Celebrate & Friday Fun Facts - Cities Going to Hell and Weird Teen Drug Fads

I haven't posted something to Celebrate in a while... I've had some pretty busy Friday's. This one is equally busy but I'm trying to fit it in between work.
  1. I'm wearing yoga pants and furry boots to work today... it's usually frowned upon (but not a rule) to wear yoga pants, but since it's "jeans day" I thought I'd skip the jeans and go straight for comfort.
  2. We bought my son a Jeep this week but he doesn't know yet. He doesn't turn 16 until June but we got a good deal. So you know, we couldn't wait. I think we are showing him this weekend!!
  3. My daughter is getting her braces off next week, she made it 5 days before her 14th birthday. She is so excited!!


Friday Fun Facts from www.bustle.com

Top 10 Cities "Going to Hell"

10. Santa Rosa, CA
 9.  Portland, ME
 8.  Manchester, NH
 7.  Boulder, CO
 6.  Burlington, VT
 5.  Cedar Rapids, IA
 4.  San Francisco, CA
 3.  Boston, MA
 2.  Albany, NY
 1.  Providence, RI


The Weirdest Teen Drug Fads

Apparently, teens are now targeting the most unwanted Halloween candy of your childhood — Smarties — and are snorting them to get high. Or, at least, they’re trying to, since it seems nothing actually happens when they crush it up and snort it into their noses. The fad isn’t really new, but a warning from a middle school in Maine now notes that kids can develop “nasal maggots” if the colorful candy gets lodged into the nose cavities. If you’d really like to Google “nasal maggots,” go ahead, but be aware that’s it’s completely disgusting.
Let’s take a look at some other questionable and dangerous teen drug trends from recent years.

5.  Hand Sanitizer -
It looks innocent enough, but a palmful of hand sanitizer could equal the alcohol intake of a few shots. When teens found that out, all hell broke loose. In 2012, six teenagers in California were hospitalized in one month alone due to alcohol poisoning from hand sanitizer. With a bottle of the stuff equal to a 120-proof drink, Purell isn’t actually so pure.
4.  Vodka Tampons
Apparently, kids don’t have enough time to wait for alcohol to travel through their digestive systems to start working. Lo and behold, the vodka tampon was born. Teens soak it in alcohol and shove it into their, um, crevices, to get a quicker effect. Also popular? Vodka eyeballing. Yup, that means pouring alcohol straight into the eye socket. Side effects? Just blindness.
3.  Freon
Do you have a giant gap in your window where your air-conditioning unit used to be? Do you know any teenagers? Well, you might want to check on them, because teens have apparently taken to huffing the Freon in air conditioners. Not-so-good side effects include frozen lungs or brain damage.
It’s probably best to secure your air conditioner from those thieving teens. Or take a more blunt approach: “It will kill you,” says air conditioning technician Lynn Morris.
2.  Smoking Alcohol
In videos, users pour alcohol over dry ice or make homemade vaporizers with bike pumps. Liquid alcohol is poured into a bottle, which is then inserted with the bike-pump needle, and voilĂ , smoking alcohol is born. It’s just as terrible as it sounds: Alcohol smokers are at a far greater risk of poisoning because it doesn’t metabolize through their stomach and liver.
1.  Digital Drugs
Way back in 2010, the Internet’s morality police was aghast when a report about i-dosing came to light. I-dosing, or using digital drugs, allows users to listen to music that alters their mental state, apparently inducing a high equal to smoking pot, cocaine, and opium. This author is skeptical about the whole process, but sites that promise a digital high are still up and running.


Hope everyone has an awesome weekend. Watch what your teens are doing and maybe you should make them aware that you know what is going on so they know you aren't as clueless as they think you are.

*Thinking to self* Vodka Tampons, talk about sterilizing. Sheesh!!

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Express Yourself - Chores

Express Yourself Meme is a way for our community to learn a little more each other.

This week, Jackie and myself want to know...

Name a chore you dislike and one you love to do.

I really like to dust. I like skipping through the house dusting off things with my little swiffer do-dad-thingie like I'm a fairy. I wipe my wood stuff down with lemon scented polish. LOVE the smell.

I REALLY hate folding clothes!! Arg!!

Have a great Tuesday!

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Healthy Hump Day - Headaches


I’m totally disappointed with myself. Yesterday I forgot to post my Healthy Hump Day post. Why? Because, while I was at work I was totally sucked into a book and in between the buttloads of work on my desk, I would sneak in a few pages. Alright, maybe more than a few pages because I finished the whole book in one day. What book was it, you ask? Sick by Tom Leveen.
Anywho, on with my Healthy Hump Day post. What is Healthy Hump Day? It’s Wednesday, more specific, its Health posts I will be posting on Wednesday. Each week I will blog about different Health topics, show diagrams and pictures I find from Pinterest or Net. Maybe even some home remedies that were passed down over the years.
This week’s topic – Headaches

One of life’s pains that can purely unravel someone. I suffer from lightweight, annoying headaches to full-blown migraines. Debilitating, need all the blinds closed and light off, pull the covers over my head – migraines.
Sinus headaches - a trick to find out if your head is pounding because of a sinus headache is... breathe in heavily through your nose. During the intake, if your headache vanishes, then you are likely experiencing a sinus headache. I will post more on this at a later date.
There are several remedies from quick fixtures to life changers. Here are a few quick fixes, depending on your opinion, none of these are rather healthy, though I am a loyal Mountain Dew drinker. Hopefully I can fix this habit.
Caffeine
Chocolate
Self-medicating – Tylenol, Ibuprofen, etc.

Pressure Points and messages can take the headache away for a short time or permanently, depending on how long your apply the pressure. Shoulder rubs are a great way to alleviate pain.



Yoga, being a lifestyle change, is a vital way to reduce the onslaught of headaches and stress.

Nondrug, herbs, homeopathies are another amazing way to make subtle changes in your diet and every day that can help with decreasing the frequency of head pain, joint pain, and even sinus pain.

Hope some of these little tricks and hints help!


Monday, January 13, 2014

Express Yourself - 2014 Movies

Express Yourself Meme is a way for our community to learn a little more each other.

This week, Jackie and myself want to know...

What movies(s) are you watching in the theaters in 2014?

There are a ton of movies that are coming out this year that I want to watch. But the ones I would spend money on at the theater are on a shorter list.

I, Frankenstein
The Monuments Men
Vampire Academy
Divergent
Noah
Transcendence
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Maleficent
Transformers: Age of Extinction
Hercules: The Thracian Wars (Dwayne Johnson not Kellen Lutz)
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Giver
The Maze Runner
Fury
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - part 1
The Hobbit: There and Back Again
Into the Woods
Unbroken

Those are the ones I want to watch but lets be realistic. I will probably only watch a fraction of these at the theaters. There are soooo many books in the theater this year.

What Movies are you looking forward to?

Hope everyone has a splendid Monday!

Friday, January 10, 2014

Small Things to Celebrate, IWSG and Cover Girls

Let's start by saying VikLit rocks by giving us bloggers a outlet to brag  talk about our accomplishments each week!

I'll start by celebrating that I am back to blogging regularly. During winter break I decided to not only take a break from work but also blogging. It was a nice little vacation!

My birthday is tomorrow and a few of my friends and I are painting. My dad is watching the kids so my husband can come and hangout with us. Maybe I can con him into painting as well, even though he "hates" it.

I love Fridays at work now. They changed the policy at work and we are able to wear jeans to work on Fridays!! Woot! Business up top, party on the bottom... that just sounds bad. Oh well!



I missed IWSG. Yeah I recieved the email from Alex J. Cavanaugh, which stated it was this Wednesday but my mind was still thinking it was last Wednesday. My bad.

What I wanted to share was... I'm taking a break from writing for a good long while. So I if any one needs a Beta... I'm your gal!

Since I will not be writing, I will be bored and need to something to do with my time. I love reading and instead filling my time with reading what's on the shelf, I'd rather help you guys out. So if anyone trusts me enough with you lovelies, just let me know via email or twitter or even in the comments below. That is all.


ALSO!! Today is the last day to sign up for the GIVEAWAY Jackie and I have going on over at COVER GIRLS! The prize? A book from each of us, off our own shelves in our homes. Go on over and see!

Hope you all have an amazing Friday and weekend!!

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

EYM and Cover Girls Giveaway

Express Yourself is back for 2014! This was started in 2012 to help our community of bloggers ger to know one another better. Hope everyone went out with a BANG in 2013 and are having a wonderful New Year so far!

The state of Indiana was closed yesterday due to snow but today we have been downgraded to "Orange" so I'm at work once again.

From Jan. 6-10, Jackie and myself want to know...

What book(s) are you looking forward to reading in 2014?

Right of the bat I have to say Unhinged by A.G. Howard which is out TODAY!! Woot!!

Sunrise by Mike Mullins
Fire & Ash by Jonathan Maberry
Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
Infinite by Jodi Meadows
Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi



Also, over at my other blog (co-blogged with Jackie) Cover Girls, we're giving away two books:

Jax will be giving away Shiver (Wolves of Mercy Falls) by Maggie Stiefvater (YA)
I will be giving away Deeper Than the Dead (Oak Knoll #1) by Tami Hoag (Adult)