One Busy Mama - A guest post

Happy Friday! As promised, Elizabeth of Confessions From a Working Mom is my guest poster for today! Actually, she is my first EVER guest poster, and I am super excited that she agreed to write for my blog today. Elizabeth is a super funny and talented blogger, and I hope you all enjoy this post! I'll be back on Monday with a full description of Parris Island & my Brother's USMC graduation...OH and of course I'll have pictures :)




Admit it...
We all think we're the busiest person we know.
Working moms think they're busier than stay at home moms...

"...what do you do all day at home?"
"...how can you not have time to cook/clean?"

Stay at home moms think they're busier than working moms...

"...I'm chasing kids all day, and you get 'me-time' when you're at work!"
"...I never sit down, and you get a cushy desk job!"

Of course, all moms think they're busier than women who don't have children, and married women think they're busier than single women...
...and on and on it goes...
Really, our version of busy is relative. Because, as the famous saying goes, you only have to die and pay taxes. Other than that, you are responsible for your own activities, responsibilities, and schedule. So if you're over-scheduled and over-committed and feel like you should be committed, you only have yourself to blame.
When I was younger, my mom was a stay-at-home mom. I didn't know until just this past year that this wasn't a choice she made-- rather, it was made for her as a stipulation of the adoption agency that placed me with my parents. (Interesting, huh? Is that still status quo in adoptions today, anybody know?) I used to wonder what she did all day... obviously, she cooked, cleaned, and acted as my personal chauffeur. But I also secretly believed that she spent a good deal of time watching cartoons, playing on my Nintendo, and eating bon-bons.
Over the past several weeks, I've had a lot of time off to spend with G at home. I chased her non-stop around the living room. I dragged her kicking and screaming out of not one, but TWO public libraries. I most definitely did not eat bon-bons. I gladly went back to work after the first of the year with the stark realization that I could not survive as a stay-at-home mom.
And that's when it hit me...
Some people might find my life as a career-driven mom exhausting. But for me, it works. I do a great job of managing my time; in fact, time management is always the "skill" I put at the very top of my resume. I thrive under pressure, and do my best work when the clock is ticking. If I'm not busy, I'm bored. But for others, they may find a busy life boring... repetitive... monotonous. I do the same thing every day, it's just that the parts are a little different.

Make sure you visit Elizabeth's blog to read more of her posts! If you don't know her, you have no idea what you're missing out on!

Top 3 Thursday - Favorite Ages

It's time for Top 3 Thursday! If you want to join in just click here or here to get the rules!


What Are Your Top 3 Favorite Ages?

3. Age 8 - What's not to love about the age of eight? The weekends lasted forever, an hour seemed like five, and I didn't even know what a calorie was! I might've been a fat kid when I was eight years old, but I'd take those days back in a heart beat!

2. Age 18 - I finally kicked that jerk of a boyfriend to the curb, and moved on to amazing (& much better) things. I got into my first bad car accident, had my first date with Hubby, and fell in love! 18 was a pretty perfect age, minus the car accident, and I would re-live my first date with Paul over and over again if I could.

1. Age 19 - I had a pretty eventful 19th year. I got married, and became a Mother for the first time. I had a lot of life changes, which was reflected on my tax refund for that year too! Woo hoo...ahem...anyway, 19 was a pretty good year. Not to say that it didn't have its rough patches, but Bree is definitely one of the best things to ever happen to me & since I was 19 when she was given to me...it's the age of 19 that ranks in as my number in my Top 3 favorite ages!

What were your favorite ages?

Pour Your Heart Out - USMC

It's Wednesday, and that means it's time for Pour Your Heart Out Wednesday! As always, I'm linking up with the beautiful Shell of Things I Can't Say! If you'd like, you can click the button below to join in, or just click here.


Today, we left for Parris Island to see my brother graduated from Marine Boot Camp. We haven't seen him in 13 weeks, and I know he'll be different. I am excited to see how different he will be, but at the same time, I'm afraid that he may have changed too much. I have to remember that although tomorrow will mark the end of Boot Camp, he will just be beginning the start of his career. We hope that somehow he will be spared from going over seas to the Big "A", but we also know that it is inevitable. It's a scary thought, to know that my little brother will be doing things that I could never imagine doing myself. He will see things, do things, shoot things, say things, that I will never say or do in my life.

I am so proud of my little brother. He has come such a long way over the last four years. He was the teenager that picked the wrong crowd to follow in high school. He experimented with drugs, and alcohol, and basically crapped away his entire high school years. He could have been so much better. He realized this during his last few weeks as a high school senior. It was too late to change what he had been in high school, but not too late to change his life. When he decided that he wanted to join the Marines, we all tried to talk him out of it. There were so many other things he could do besides the Military. We didn't understand why he wanted to do this; and we selfishly didn't want him to leave like we knew he would have to.

Over time, we became okay with the fact this was what he wanted to do. He was going to do it anyway, with our support or not. I gained a lot of respect for my Brother during the weeks leading up to Boot Camp, and have gained even more respect for him now that he is more or less a United States Marine. I couldn't be more proud of him, and the courage he has developed to serve our Country.

By Friday of this week, I can proudly say that I am a proud big Sister of a United States Marine.

Congratulations little Brother! I love you.

Post-It Note Tuesday

It's time for Post It Note Tuesday! I'm linking up with Supah Mommy, so join in if you'd like! OH! And forgive me if I haven't commented on your blog the past couple of days. I've had/got a lot of stuff to do to get ready to leave tomorrow. Please forgive me!

The Monday Minute & Easter Re-Cap

It's Monday already? What happened to the weekend? Geez. Anyway, since it's Monday that means that it's time for the Monday Minute a blogival created by none other than the one, the only, Ian from The Daily Dose of Reality. If you want to join in, just click here and have fun!



Now for the super random questions...

1. What's wrong with fake breasts?
I guess there's nothing really wrong with them, I just don't understand getting extremely LARGE boobs. Pamela Anderson & Dolly Parton have always just looked so out of proportion.

2. List your latest run-in with the Carnival of Idiocy.
It happens every time I get in my car, and get on the road. Just last Thursday, on my way to visit my Grandmother, I passed 3 separate car accidents in less than a mile of each other. 2 of the cars had flipped over, and the other 2 cars had been a minor accident for rubber necking over the flipped over car.

3. Name one thing you'd like to tell your ten year ago self.
Let's see, 10 years ago I was 12 years old & in the 6th/7th grade. I would have told myself that it was okay to be myself; that I probably would have had more friends if I hadn't been so disclosed. I also would have told myself that I shouldn't be jealous of the popular girls because most of them ended up pregnant with dead beat dad's, fat, and a lot less happier than I am.

4. What's your favorite word that's not in the dictionary?
I like adding "-ness" to the end of everything. The other day I wasn't sure if an animal was a donkey or a miniature horse, so I said something to the effect of "I'm not sure of it's donkey-ness" I think that I must have started a trend though, because a lot of people are using it.

5. Why do fools fall in love?
Because only stupid people allow themselves to fall in love.

...Now for the Easter Weekend Re-Cap

I wish that I could tell you I had an amazing Easter weekend, but if I did...I would be lying. I won't go into detail, because there are too many names that I would have to mention & well...I don't wanna start no drama :) So...just enjoy these pictures of our Easter weekend.


She had fun dying her Easter Eggs.

Bree picking up an Easter Egg

Bree had a lot of fun hunting for the eggs & then she and her Papa counted them afterwards

This is us...not sure why Paul's face is orange...stupid picture uploaders cut down the quality of pictures.