justem: little bits of this and that

Ventage Tuesday: 5 for summer...

 

Today's Ventage Tuesday is brought to you by Barb, who requested a fashion themed post in honor of the warmer temperatures we are finally seeing!  This summer my wardrobe is going to have one goal - be comfortable! I'll be pretty pregnant at the beginning of summer...and uber pregnant by the end of it!  I had to buy a bunch of new maternity clothes since I have never been pregnant during the summertime before!  I've got a lot of t-shirts, a couple skirts, and a pair of capri pants that I'm already regretting because they have that stupid little half-band of elastic that is already falling down below my belly! So yes, my top 5 summer fashion finds are not very exciting...but they are practical! ;)

1. The maternity top.  I tend to go with the ones that have ruching on the sides. I think they are a little more flattering to my already curvy figure!! I actually have the exact top in the picture, which I got from Target.

2. The maxi skirt. I have a maternity maxi skirt from Old Navy, and I'm already contemplating buying every other one they sell. It is the most comfortable thing EVER...and it hides my white pasty legs quite well! ;)

3. The flip-flops. I got a pedicure last week, and I've decided that I shall never wear regular shoes again! Okay, not really...I did pull out the Converse a couple times ,and I had to wear some Keen mary janes for a "dress-up" event (that is the extent to which I wear dress-up shoes, ha!), but I will wear flip-flops every chance I have this summer. What can I say? My toes like to be free!

4. The sunglasses. I really think I need a sunglasses stylist.  I always buy the cheapest ones possible because inevitably they will get lost or broken. But...they never look that cool. I need a cute, fun pair to get me through all of our outside events this summer!

5. The necklace. Yeah...clearly I was running short on items! ;)  I slowly have been buying cute necklaces to add to my jewelry collection. I don't have a ton, but I love wearing fun jewelry...maybe I'll come across some this summer!

So there you have it. Totally boring. Totally comfortable. Totally me. :) What is on your Summer fashion list this year?  I'd love to live vicariously through all of you who won't be waddling around all summer! ;) For more fashion finds, be sure to visit my other Ventage girls: Angie, Barb, Katrina, and Stephanie!

Ventage Tuesday: 5 daily necessities...

This week's Ventage Tuesday topic is brought to you by Angie!  Five things daily MUST-HAVES! I'm sure there are more than just five, but here are some that pop into my mind...

1. My iPhone.  I'm a little embarrassed to admit how much I "need" my iPhone. I think when I forget it at home I get the cold shakes and start worrying about my future! ;)  But really, it keeps me connected to everything - probably TOO much.  Email, Instagram, Feedly.  How did I ever manage without it?! ;)

2. My Converse sneakers.  If you have ever met me, you know that I wear Converse sneakers about 97.85 percent of the time. My old standbys are some nasty gray laceless ones that I wear almost every day. But I also have a plaid pair, a plum pair, a seafoam pair, and most recently a brand spankin' new gray pair with laces sent to my by my awesome sneaker sister Mandy!

3. Caffeine. I am not a coffee drinker, but it has become very apparent to me that I need some kind of caffeine on a daily basis.  It's usually in the form of chai tea or my long-time vice Dr. Pepper (yes, I am a disgrace to greenie moms everywhere). ;)  I know, I know...pregnant ladies are supposed to cut back on the caffeine, and I definitely only drink what is the "acceptable" range - but I will never be one of those pregnant people who gives up caffeine completely!

4. A phone call with mom. My mom lives seven hours away from me, and I don't get to see her very often, but inevitably EVERY time I'm in the car I call her.  Even if we can only talk for five minutes, it's worth it. Sometimes I feel bad because I call and vent or whine or complain for the entire time and she can barely get a word in edgewise...but she always does what a mom is supposed to...she supports me and make me feel better. :)

5. Snuggles. I feel like this one is obvious - but I can't make it through the day without them.  Even on the days where I want to pull my hair out and lock myself in the bathroom my mood is instantly turned around by hugs and kisses and little voices telling me they love me. My kids are far from perfect, but at the end of the day, I'm the luckiest mom in the world. :)

So how about you? What are five things you need every day??  Be sure to check out my other Ventage girls: Angie, Barb, Katrina, and Stephanie to find out what they need to get throughout the day!  I promise I'll be back soon with some scrappy stuff, I know that most people coming to my scrapbooking  probably couldn't care less about these things, ha!  This is my slow time of the month, but I'll be back soon in full force! Happy Tuesday! :) 

Ventage Tuesday: 5 on a rainy day.

After a beautiful weekend (I think it almost hit 70!) we've had two rainy days in a row here. :(  Stephanie suggested that this week's topic focus on what we do to combat days like this one!!  So, in no special order, here are 5 things to do on a rainy day!

1. Watch the Muppets.  I'm a pretty big stickler about TV. My kids are deprived of Dora and Thomas and the Disney channel.  One day last month Miri was singing in away in the car, "Hunter, builder! Hunter, builder. Can we fix it? Yes we can!"  It was funny, and slightly pathetic at the same time...I didn't correct her!  We've got a short list of shows that they watch and that's it.  BUT...we LOVE movies, namely the Muppets. My kids are obsessed with the Muppets. Miri has seen like four or five different Muppet movies and loves them all.  Our number one cure for the blues or a rainy day?  Put on The Muppets, of course!  

 2. Bake something. Anything.  I am convinced that even the grayest of days can be turned around by some fresh baked goods! Banana bread and chocolate chip cookies are some of our favorites!!  I try to have cookie ingredients on hand at all times in the event of any emergency cookie needs! A rainy day is also an excellent opportunity to try one of the recipes on my Yum pinterest board, as long as it doesn't require a wet trip to the grocery store, of course!

3. Jump in the puddles. I mean really...is there anything more fun than that?!

4. Do something creative. Some moms are awesome about doing cool, creative projects with their kids like...all the time. ;) Me, not so much. I tend to use my weekends to clean my ever-messy home or to get out of the house and do something fun.  A rainy day is the perfect excuse to paint or cut or make new homemade play dough!! I happen to have a fairly large stash of scrapbooking supplies (ha!) so I can usually find something to do in a pinch!

5. Take a nap.  I have always wanted to have a family nap.  I envision us all cuddled together on the bed, sleeping soundly as we dream of the sunshine. In reality, it's one kid crawling on another, someone screaming, and nobody sleeping. But it's a nice thought... ;)

What about you?  What would you do on a rainy day? Be sure to check out Angie, Barb, Katrina, and Steph for some more rainy day ideas!

Ventage Tuesday: 5 that are lucky...

This week's topic is brought to you by the lovely Angie. :) She suggested, in honor of everyone's favorite green holiday, that we discuss the topic of luck. Okay...full disclosure: 1) I'm not Irish. Not one little bit.  I'm apparently every other European nationality under the sun, but not Irish. ;)  2) I don't believe in luck, with the exception of bad luck.  I seem to have a lot of that lately.  Like...husband leaves for the week the same day we get 8 inches of snow. Like...three calls in three weeks regarding my sick children at daycare. Like...goodbye $525 dollars to root out my pipe so the sewer doesn't back up into my house. Fun times, people...fun times.  But, I'm a team player, so I'll play along.  If I DID believe in luck...these are some things that I might find lucky.

1. Red shoes. I don't know what it is...but red shoes always bring goodness. I've had many different pairs throughout my life, and they've all served me well.

2. Good music. Did you ever hear a song on the radio on the way to work and just know it was going to be a good day? Usually I hear crap like Ke$ha on my way to work, which is probably why my days usually stink, ha! ;)

3. The sun. Seriously.  I love the sun. It can turn my day around. It can bring me joy. If I believed in luck, I'm sure it would bring it.  It is amazing...and it really should come out more!!

4. 11:11.  I have been a "Make a wish, it's 11:11!" girl for about as long as I can remember. People who have known me since I was in high school will still say it to me. I had a random ex-boyfriend mention it once.  11:11. It's serious business.

5. A smile. Okay, I don't know that this one has anything to do with luck. But I've found that if I do things with a smile on my face...well, better things happen. I need to remind myself of this often, otherwise all those "bad luck" instances start to overshadow all the "good luck" instances in my life.  Though, as I've stated...I really don't believe in luck. ;)

Be sure to check out my fellow ventage girlies to find out more about their lucky lives! :)  Angie, Barb, Katrina, and Stephanie.

Ventage Tuesday: 5 on Instagram

If you follow me on Instagram (username: justemspahn), you've probably been keeping up with my #justemeveryday photos.  I, admittedly, have been horrible about updating that little album down there on the right! ;)  For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, these are photos of things OTHER than my kids that I notice during the day. My goal is to take one each day, a la "Project 365" which I successfully completed in 2010.  It's been fun, though there have been a few nights that I totally forgot to take picture, thus we have a few mail and random scrapbooking supply photos!!  This week's Ventage Tuesday topic is instagram...so here are five of my recent favorites!  It's funny that the flower photo and the snow photo were taken less than a week apart! That's the midwest for you! ;)

I'd love for to hop on over to say hi to my Ventage girlies: Angie, Barb, Katrina, and Stephanie.  Happy Tuesday!

Ventage Tuesday: 5 in my shopping cart.

This week's Ventage Tuesday gives you a peek into our shopping carts!!  We are pretty boring shoppers.  I was trying to think of some really fun things to show you that we buy, but seriously...we buy the same stuff every time, and it's really not at all exciting!! ;)  So, here are five items I buy EVERY time I go to the grocery store...guaranteed! ;)

1. Milk. We buy a ridiculous amount of milk.  I think the number one reason I go the store is to buy milk!!  Buying organic is something we are pretty serious about in our house.  I like the Horizon brand because we have a farmer family friend whose milk goes to Horizon. But, truly, I will buy whatever is the cheapest (shhh!). We send organic milk to daycare with the kiddos, too. Once one of my daughter's teachers asked why we brought "that kind of milk?" She wondered if maybe she just liked it better. I wasn't going to get into it with her... ;)

2. Yogurt. We like dairy in this house. Okay, three of the four of us like dairy. The fourth one is allergic. ;) I usually buy Chobani, the kids get Stoneyfield, and Justin gets Whole Soy.  We all eat it!!

3. Three Sisters Oatmeal.  I LOVE this stuff. I eat it every morning. Henry loves it, too. The kid eats a whole packet like it's a snack!!  Everyone in the family has their favorite flavor...except Miri...who doesn't like it. Weirdo.

4. Good Belly.  This is something new that we've been doing for the past few months. ;) Every night Justin and I drink a glass of Good Belly probiotic. I don't know if it's working or not. I prefer to think it is...because sometimes it's got a bit of a nasty aftertaste and gosh darn it...it better be working! ;)

5. Fruit. I admit, we are not the best at eating fresh vegetables in the Spahn household. Frozen, yes. Fresh, not so much. But fruit...we love. We've always got a huge selection of fruit on hand. Grapes, blueberries, strawberries, oranges, pears, and ABBOLS (as Henry says). Unless, of course, we ate it all... ;)
 

And of course there are all the other staples...bread, eggs, cheese, etc. etc.  See...I told you, nothing special at all. If Miri is shopping with us there will sure to be some Pirate's Booty tossed into the cart and maybe some Annie's bunny fruit snacks if she's really lucky! Otherwise, we are pretty boring!  To see the (hopefully more exciting) shopping carts of my fellow ventage girls, check out their blogs: Angie, Barb, Katrina, and Stephanie!

Ventage Tuesday: 5 to Read.

One of my goals this year is to read more books for myself. I used to read probably 20-30 books a year...but after having kids that tapered off...if not stopped completely!!  Last year I challenged myself to read six books for myself (vs. parenting books or teaching books)...this year I'm stepping it up to 10. :)  Barb is my resident book expert, so some of my suggestions come from her!  I love that I can (and I recently did) text her and say "What should I read?" and she answers me within a minute with a perfect choice! Here are four books that I think I might want to read... ;)

1. The Art of Fielding.  This is actually the book I was referring to above... ;)  Barb was right on. In the first page it talked about a main character named Henry, the "mitt of Wisconsin" and Chicago.  PERFECTION. I'm about a quarter of the way through it now and I'm really enjoying it, thus far!

2. The Lover's Dictionary. I know about ten people who have read this, and they all seem to love it!  Plus, the cover is pretty cool...and since I quite often choose my books based on their cover, this one is sure to be a success! ;)

3. The Great Gatsby. I read this in high school just like everybody else, but with the new movie coming out, I think it might be time for a reread! I remember liking it all those years ago...it would be interesting to see how my perspective on the whole thing has changed now that I am older and more of an adult!  

4. Let the Great World Spin. I bought this book at a school book fair YEARS ago. I've started reading it a few times, but I've never gotten beyond the first few pages. I'm terrible about starting books and never finishing them! I want to finally finish this one!

5. The Perks of Being a Wallflower. This is another "that movie looks good, so I should read the book" selection. I should probably be more embarrassed of that fact than I actually am. ;)  But really, the movie looks good...so I'll check out the book!

For more book selections, check out Angie, Barb, Katrina, and Steph! :) Happy Tuesday!

Ventage Tuesday: 5 Soups to Try

Good Tuesday morning! I survived my first day back to work yesterday, hooray! Today's Ventage topic is one I'm very excited about! Barb suggested we write about soup.  And I LOVE soup! ;)  In fact, I have an entire Pinterest board devoted to soup!!  Here are five I'd love to try:

1. Summer Corn, Bacon, and Potato Chowder. I'd take out the bacon. 
2. Yellow Lentil Soup with Cilantro Chutney. Mmmm. And it's yellow, my favorite color! 
3. Roasted Tomato & Rosemary Soup with Kale & Potatoes. I picked this one because it has Katrina's favorite food in it. 
4. Tuscan Bean Soup. I love me some beans... 
5. Slow Cooker Tortellini Soup. Tortellini in soup? Perfection! 

Be sure to stop by the other Ventage blogs for more great soups! :)  Angie, Barb, Katrina, Stephanie.

Ventage Tuesday: 5 for the New Year

#ventageyearofawesome :)

Every year around January 1, everyone does and posts about all the changes they'd like to make during the next 365 days. Because I'm just a giant follower, I'd like to do the same! ;)  But first - a look back at last year's goals:

1. CLEAN. Not like, clean all the time - just be cleaner. It was kind of a joke...because I'm sort of a slob, but honestly, I can say that with the exception of a few bad weeks throughout the year, Justin and I did a MUCH better job of keeping our house in order than we had in the past!!!

2. Drink less soda. I finally got around to this one in November and December.  Up until then I was on this ridiculous kick when I was drinking almost a soda a day. Up until I fell off the wagon due to Christmas festivities, I was down to maybe one a week. I plan on hopping right back on that wagon...now.

3. Read at least 6 books for myself. Accomplished! Now, I must embarrassingly admit that three of them I read were the Christian Grey books...a few hours of my life I can never get back, remember that line about being a follower?!. ;)  I also read: The first two Hunger Games books, The Fault in Our Stars, House Rules, and Out of My Mind. Kind of a meager list, but at least I made it to 6.

4. Spend at least 15 minutes a day in my scraproom. Epic Fail. BUT, I have had probably the best year I've ever had when it comes to the scrapbooking industry, so I can't complain.

5. Be the best wife and mother I can be. Well, of course there is always room for improvement... ;)

SO...on to this week's...

I am not picking a word this year. I really never do - last year was kind of done in jest. But I DO have a lot of goals - things I've started the past year that I want to continue through the new year, along with a couple brand new ideas.

1. CAPTURE: Anyone who knows me, knows that I take a ridiculous amount of photos, but this year I want to do a few MORE things. First, I want to be sure to take at least one family photo a month. This will be much easier now that I have a super cool remote for my camera. I am also giving myself another 365 challenge.  I did Project 365 in 2010, and I'd like to do it again. But this time, I have a few rules for myself. First, iPhone pictures only...just to keep it simple. Two, no photos of my kids, well at least not many. I take enough photos of them.  Instead I want to look around at life and really see it...to capture the details. I am going to tag my photos on Instagram #justemeverday2013.  I'd love for you to follow along!

2. IMPROVE: This is like the cliche "get fit" goal that people joke about. And, honestly, I don't know that I need to get FIT.  I'm clearly not going weigh 120 pounds and be running a marathon by the end of this year. But, I do need to STOP BEING LAZY.  I also need to eat healthier. And continue keeping my soda in check. Maybe meal-planning needs to make a comeback. And there are even things like - wash my face every night and don't forget to take my vitamins!!!

3. ORGANIZE: This is an off-shoot of my "clean" word last year! ;)  Keep up on the laundry. Sweep and put the dishes in the dishwasher every night. Even when I'm so tired or so crabby or so don't want to do it. Make the bed. Have a house that is clean enough that you could stop by and I wouldn't be embarrassed.

4. ENJOY: We are pretty great as a family at getting out there and enjoying life. We are constantly going places, seeing things, doing fun stuff.  So, I want to keep that up. Our traveling and adventuring. ;) I also want to encourage myself to enjoy somethings - maybe read ten books this year, blog more, continue finding time to scrap, finally finish Project Life?!

5. LOVE: This is the same as last year, and it will be the same every year - Be the best wife and mother I can be.  Always.

Happy New Year. :)

(Be sure to check out my fellow ventage girlies: Stephanie, Katrina, Barb, and Angie.)

Ventage Tuesday: 5 Merry Melodies

This week's Ventage Tuesday is brought to by ME and my love of Christmas music. ;)  I requested a week of our favorite holiday tunes. I realize we recently had a music post, and I even mentioned a very important holiday song in my last Ventage post, but really...can one EVER have too many music posts?!  When it comes to Christmas music, I tend to go for the quiet, contemplative songs more than the fast and fun - not that I don't love those, too...these are just the ones I love more than all the rest!  And as always, don't watch the corny videos. Just listen! So...in no particular order, my five favorite Christmas tunes:

1. This is my favorite "feel good" Christmas song.  It's not available on any album I can find.  Which stinks. Because it's awesome...even if you're a Coldplay hater. ;)

2. This is my favorite "get up and go" Christmas song. I have no idea when I first heard it...but it was love at first phrase.  This is always the very first song I play the day after Thanksgiving...and no sooner, gosh darn it!

3. This is my "I used to play the trombone, and I'm a sucker for anything with lots of brass" favorite song. ;) It's from an episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - does anybody even remember that show? I don't remember much about it except this song.

4. This is my favorite "non-traditional" holiday song. I heard it the first time in concert...and I was ever so glad when it finally found its way onto an album so I could stop listening to the crappy live youtube'd versions!

5. My favorite "reminds me of childhood" Christmas song. :) Justin and I saw him in concert when I was pregnant with Mirielle. I can't even begin to describe how amazing it was. 

6. Okay, okay...I couldn't pick just five.  But this one had to make the list...it's my favorite "this is what it's all about" Christmas song. It's pure beauty.

What are YOUR favorite holiday tunes? I'd love to hear! And be sure to check out my other Ventage girls for a list of their faves: Angie, Barb, Katrina, and Stephanie. :) Happy Tuesday!!