Stay-at-home Moms need a break too!

When I was younger, being a stay-at-home mom is what I always dreamt of becoming when I grew up.  How fabulous would it be to get to stay at home everyday with your kids and just play with them... all day long?  I figured I'd never actually be that lucky and I'd end up having to work a 9-to-5 job in order to support our family and have the nice things that we wanted for ourselves, just like most of the moms out there today, but to my surprise I have been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to stay at home with my two little guys.  


Now while I love being with them all day, everyday, I have also found that being a stay-at-home mom is way more challenging than I had always assumed it would be.  From the moment they wake up at 7:30am (8 if I'm lucky) to the moment they fall asleep at 10pm 8 o' clock on the dot, I am usually with them.  This is great because I don't miss a beat with either of them.  I know I will not miss my lil' guy's first steps, and I'll be there to witness my 3-year-old's first potty word come out of his mouth (I keep telling myself that he yelled SIT when he dropped his cup from the back deck last weekend).  But after a long, tiring day of chasing after my preschooler and telling him repeatedly that it is NOT okay to push baby down when he has finally pulled himself up, and then trying to calm the baby down when his big brother comes and snatches all his puffs in one swipe... I need a break!


Take time out for yourself!  This is advice that I have gotten from each and every fellow mommy out there. "Join a mommy's day out, or meet up at the local playground or Panera with other moms", they say.  But for me, it's not that easy.  I am only 25, with two kids and have moved two hours from my hometown to live with my husband.  The other moms that I meet are usually a little older and look at me as if I should be on that MTV show, Teen Mom.  I guess I do look much younger, but I feel that it puts me at a disadvantage.  Or maybe I just need to get over my insecurities and put myself out there to make other mommy friends.  I do have a few friends who also have kids, but they work during the day and barely have enough time to spend at home with their families, much less make time to hang with me.  


I guess I'm getting a little off track here, but I suppose the point I'm trying to make is that being a stay-at-home mom is not as easy as everyone makes it out to be.  When I wish I could just sit and relax and play batman with my son, I am usually doing laundry, folding it, doing dishes, making lunches, feeding the baby... you name it and I do it.  I think being a stay-at-home mom also means full-time-maid to the husband who gets to go to work and interact with other adult human beings all day.  Since he's at work all day and I'm just at home playing with the kids all day, it's expected that I have the place well kept at all times.  If only they could switch spots with us for a week, I think men would have a whole new found respect for the stay-at-home mom/housewife!  We need a break too...


How do some of you fellow stay-at-home mama's take a time out for yourself?  Do you feel overwhelmed being at home everyday with your kids or is it the absolute dream you always imagined it would be?  Maybe I need to start scheduling my days out with activities and plan the chores around the times they are either in bed or napping (but this is usually my only "me time").  I'd love to get some comments and feedback on some of the secrets to juggling it all and keeping your sanity in the process.

50 Questions that will free your mind

This month I have knocked out a few things from my list of 101 in 1001.  I have run a 5K, taken a road trip with the family (a 12 hour trip from VA to FL), danced in the rain with my husband and kiddos (so much fun), influenced someone to make a list of their own and now I am crossing off #61, which is to answer the 50 questions that will free your mind.  I thought I would share this with you guys. I've decided I won't bore you with my own answers, but go through and answer them for yourself to free your mind and feel free to share some of your thoughts along the way.  

These questions have no right or wrong answers.

Because sometimes asking the right questions is the answer.

1. How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are? 
2. Which is worse, failing or never trying?
3. If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do?
4. When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?
5. What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world?
6. If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich?
7. Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing?
8. If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?
9. To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken?
10. Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things?
11. You’re having lunch with three people you respect and admire.  They all start criticizing a close friend of yours, not knowing she is your friend.  The criticism is distasteful and unjustified.  What do you do?
12. If you could offer a newborn child only one piece of advice, what would it be?
13. Would you break the law to save a loved one?
14. Have you ever seen insanity where you later saw creativity?
15. What’s something you know you do differently than most people?
16. How come the things that make you happy don’t make everyone happy?
17. What one thing have you not done that you really want to do?  What’s holding you back?
18. Are you holding onto something you need to let go of?
19. If you had to move to a state or country besides the one you currently live in, where would you move and why?
20. Do you push the elevator button more than once?  Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster?
21. Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton?
22. Why are you, you?
23. Have you been the kind of friend you want as a friend?
24. Which is worse, when a good friend moves away, or losing touch with a good friend who lives right near you?
25. What are you most grateful for?
26. Would you rather lose all of your old memories, or never be able to make new ones?
27. Is is possible to know the truth without challenging it first?
28. Has your greatest fear ever come true?
29. Do you remember that time 5 years ago when you were extremely upset?  Does it really matter now?
30. What is your happiest childhood memory?  What makes it so special?
31. At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive?
32. If not now, then when?
33. If you haven’t achieved it yet, what do you have to lose?
34. Have you ever been with someone, said nothing, and walked away feeling like you just had the best conversation ever?
35. Why do religions that support love cause so many wars?
36. Is it possible to know, without a doubt, what is good and what is evil?
37. If you just won a million dollars, would you quit your job?
38. Would you rather have less work to do, or more work you actually enjoy doing?
39. Do you feel like you’ve lived this day a hundred times before?
40. When was the last time you marched into the dark with only the soft glow of an idea you strongly believed in?
41. If you knew that everyone you know was going to die tomorrow, who would you visit today?
42. Would you be willing to reduce your life expectancy by 10 years to become extremely attractive or famous?
43. What is the difference between being alive and truly living?
44. When is it time to stop calculating risk and rewards, and just go ahead and do what you know is right?
45. If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake?
46. What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?
47. When was the last time you noticed the sound of your own breathing?
48. What do you love?  Have any of your recent actions openly expressed this love?
49. In 5 years from now, will you remember what you did yesterday?  What about the day before that?  Or the day before that?
50. Decisions are being made right now.  The question is:  Are you making them for yourself, or are you letting others make them for you?

I'd love to hear some of your responses or thoughts on these!  Feel free to share in the comments section below!

Audrey Hepburn's Beauty Secrets!

In honor of the fabulous Audrey Hepburn's Birthday, I decided to share this lovely poem, where she shares with us, her beauty secrets to life.

• For lovely lips, speak words of wisdom
• For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people
• For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry
• For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day
• For poise, walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone
• People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed and redeemed. Never throw out anybody
• As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others
• The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes that she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to the heart, the place where love resides
• True beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives and the passion that she shows. And the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows.

What a beautiful woman, inside and out.  Remembering Audrey Hepburn on May 4th, 2011.  She would have been 82 today!

Shoe Dilemma

I am very indecisive and am having serious issues trying to decide on a shoe for my bridesmaids to wear with their purple dresses.  I can't even decide on a color, much less a specific shoe.  I just love shoes and there are so many to choose from at DSW.  Every shoe that I have fallen in love with has either been in the wrong color, has too tall of a heel or is sold out of a majority of the sizes I would need for my girls.  


I also don't want a heel that is too tall.  My bridesmaids are wearing pretty short dresses for a wedding already, so I don't want to hooch it up too much.  So I'm thinking nothing above 4", but I would prefer something around 3"-3.5".  I even gave everyone the chance to pick a pair that they love and to post it on facebook for the rest of us to see, but only one girl posted a pair.  Love them, but I guess I was going for something a little more stylish and a little less simple.  Or maybe thats what I need to do, is keep it simple.  AHHHH... I drive myself crazy sometimes!


So this is where you guys come in.  I need some input!  First of all, should I go with purple, black, silver or champagne shoes to go with the purple dresses?  And secondly, would it be easier just to give them a color, height requirement and let them just choose their own shoe, style and price that they're willing to spend on them?  This would be the easiest choice for sure, but I figured since everyone has different style dresses, then the same shoes would tie it all together.


PLEASE SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS! :)