This Little House

I have put off this post for months now. I have considered not writing it at least twenty times. Life is chaotic. There are boxes filling every room of our new house. I have a very busy baby. I have a lot of excuses... but it just doesn't seem right to move on without pausing to pay tribute to our first house. This little house was so much more than just a house, it was our home. We knew it was the one for us the moment we met it. It was the only we even looked at, but we felt it the second we walked into the door... And now, almost three years later, we put our little house on the market. One couple after another came to see it and when they walked through this is what I wanted to tell them:

To you this is just a master bedroom, but to us this room was our biggest project. We saved up for months and then put the money we received as wedding gifts towards a beautiful new bedroom set. We went to a hundred different furniture stores before we found the perfect one. I dressed up plain ol' lamps with broaches and ribbon. Brandon surprised me by painting the plain white walls a golden brown and then together we spent hours of exhausting work glazing the walls not once, but twice. The time we spent pouring over this room together was special - something that we worked together on and then felt so very proud of. That room was our refuge.

To you it might look like a typical closet, but to us it was a place of refuge where Brandon and I faced the world's problems. We laid in the floor of that closet to discuss the fears and frustrations of residency. We both hung up clothes while weighing out the risks and rewards of leaving a job that I loved for a bigger challenge. We sat facing each other, holding hands, when we decided it was time to start trying to expand our family. And then, Brandon held me as I cried in the floor when none of my clothes fit 8 months later. That closet was our board room.

To you I'm sure it looks like your typical front yard, not even worthy of "Yard of the Week," but to us this was our one attempt at a green thumb after another. This is the yard that my sweet husband planted a million pansies in that first year we were married. A yard where Brandon taught his country girl wife all about city things like edging. A place where we accidentally grew record setting sweet potatoes when nothing else would grow during the driest summer of Oklahoma history. That yard was our project.

To you it's just another kitchen, but to us it was the place where I poured my blood, tears and sweat over a big ol' turkey on my first Thanksgiving as a King. In this kitchen I experimented. I failed. I made really big messes. Every once in a while I hit a home run. I didn't start a single fire. I conquered my mother's chocolate pie. In this kitchen Blythe, Zoe and I made cake balls covered in sprinkles and then ate them for breakfast for the next three days. In this kitchen Brandon and I came home from OU/TX to find all my cousins cooking sushi. In this kitchen Rylee received a million baths despite her attempts to escape. In this kitchen we handed our son his first real food. That kitchen was our operating center.

To you it may appear to be your typical living room, but to us it was the heart of our home. This living room was where we: snuggled on the couch, rang in the New Year, entertained our friends, opened our Christmas presents, wrote a thousand thank you cards, crashed on the couch with our new little human, prayed with our small group, overanalyzed the mantle decor, cheered on our favorite sports teams. That living room was our gathering place.

To you one look at our guest room and all you would have thought was that it needed a paint job, but to us this was the room where our friends and family made our home their own. This is where we held all the slumber parties - friends, cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings and dogs. If it hadn't been for this room our visits from out-of-towners would have gone without the late night talks or the early chats over breakfast in our pajamas. This room brought us lots of memories. That guest room was our families' home away from home.

To you this nursery may have been a little dark, but to us this was a room overflowing with love. This was the room we brought our baby home to. This was a room we had agonized over paint samples and fabric swatches. This was a room that Pops had torn to pieces and then put back together with the perfect boyish, rustic touches. This room was filled with photos of some of the great men in our family that we wanted our son to look up to. This room held treasures that we had collected near and far. This room heard the words of many, many books. This room was where we rocked and cuddled and soothed and just stared in awe of the little boy asleep in his crib. This room was the hardest to pack. This room held so many of my most beloved moments. That nursery held our hearts.

To you this garage isn't anything fancy, but to us this garage was the first thing we saw when we weren't sure if we still had a house or not. This is where I sat outside the door and cried because the tornadoes had spared our home. This garage was where we had a storm shelter installed so that we could keep our Little Prince as safe as possible. That garage was our safe place.

 To you our dining room was just another dining room, to us this was the spot for good conversation. This room is where we fed our friends, found out our baby was a boy and colored Easter eggs with Blythe and Zoe. This table saw many a project from start to finish. This room held the pictures from our wedding and our marriage license. This is the room where we spent a lot of time in prayer - not just over meals but also in our morning quiet times. That dining room was our place for entertaining.

So while it may just look like your run of the mill, typical three bedroom two bath brick house, it was really so much more. It was the place my husband brought me home to after our honeymoon. Its walls heard many hours of laughter and its floors are forever marked by the pitter patter of one tiny little set of feet. This is the place where we went from a young married couple to a family. It was so much more than paint, and flower beds, and decorations - that house was our home. Boy, was it good to us. There will forever be a special place in our hearts for 15904 Stoneview Drive. Thank you sweet little house for all the wonderful memories.

Mamarazzi: Helping Mommies Take Good Pictures

As you all are aware by the insane number of "Cooper Weekly" posts I've put up in the last six months, capturing every second of my rapidly growing little man's life is a top priority for me and something I am truly passionate about. A few weeks ago I attended my first ever photography class and kicked myself for not doing it sooner! Say hello to this mommy's dream and the best idea ever - 

Mamarazzi is a three hour photography workshop taught by two awesome moms who happen to be fabulous photographers - Jenny Collier and Ashley Thompson! The class is focused on teaching mommas how to capture better pictures of their kids so that they can snap the pictures they want and then put down the camera and enjoy being present in the moment.... can I get an amen to that?! 

In the class you will learn how to take your fancy pants camera and switch it off automatic into, drum roll please, MANUEL MODE! I admittedly am guilty of purchasing a crazy expensive camera and then wasting it by using it like a point and shoot. I knew it was perfectly capable of doing so much more, but I didn't have the slightest idea how to make it work... until now!

I learned more than my little brain could hold about composition, lighting, aperture, iSO and shutter speed! Then they "zoomed out" - pun totally intended - and walked us through storytelling through our pictures. Oh my goodness, it was all so wonderful to learn!! (See the girl on the couch? That's my friend Maggie - aka Life of a Farmer's Wife - that I had no clue would be there but I was really happy to see!!)

Oh and I don't want to forget to mention that the class includes a copy of their Mamarazzi Handbook which I have cracked open more than once since coming home and practicing my new skills! The Handbook outlines the class and is so helpful when I need a quick refresher.

The class is very hands-on with both Jenny and Ashley going from person to person making sure everyone is up to speed! There were quite a few things they had me do to my camera that made it work better that were basic settings that I hadn't known to fix. Seriously, I needed these girls to come help me out!! 

At the end of the class they bring in some a-dorable little models and let you practice what you've learned... I practiced and then asked lots of questions!! It was so nice to get to try it and then have their help in explaining what I needed to do to blur the background or keep the blur away or how to better use the sunlight. Also, after the class you have access to their private Facebook group so if you have follow up questions they can answer them!

I truly believe that my pictures are already getting better and I know they will continue to improve the more I practice! Plus, just yesterday, my new lense came in and I can't tell you how PUMPED I am to snap a million and one pictures of Cooper with it!! Ridiculously excited... like to the point the Hubby thinks I've lost it.

So, go check out their website by clicking here! The next class is on April 5th! Also, if photography isn't for you or you're looking for a really awesome present - This was one of my Christmas presents from Brandon - didn't he do good?! It's a gift that keeps on giving! NOTE: I am in no way, shape or form getting paid for this endorsement. I am just one picture loving Momma who wishes I had attended the class sooner and wants to pass the word along! But I did borrow all the pictures for this post off the Mamarazzi website since I was kind of too busy learning to take pictures of the class - therefore ALL photo credit goes to Ashley Thompson Photography.

If you have any questions or want to know more, please do not hesitate to ask! 

All the best, 

Raegan

Making Our House A Home

If I was being honest, this post would have been titled, "SLLLLLLLOWLY Making Our House A Home." 


Back in March I posted about a cute little Easter Garland I whipped up to add a touch of Spring to our mantle. In that post I discussed how I was struggling to make our house feel homey... Well, we have now lived in our cute little casa for nine, almost ten, months and unfortunately not a lot has changed.


So, in order to get our ducks in a row and get something (anything!) hung on the walls, Brandon and I made two large "To Do" lists... The first list was made up of things we needed to tackle that didn't require us to purchase anything and the second list was things we need to buy in order by priority. 

As luck would have it, both lists were almost exactly the same length so in order to encourage ourselves to get things marked off BOTH lists we made a rule: In order to purchase something off list #2, you have to finish a task from list #1. 

 
This girl happens to love four things - 1. God; 2. BK and the fam; 3. Lists; 4. Having a Plan. (Okay, confession: five things... I'd be lying if I didn't have chocolate in there somewhere) Ever since we got this all written down, I have been rollin'! So I thought I'd share our first official something on the wall! 



These dishes are called Johnson Brothers Friendly Village.
I've grown up eating off these pretty plates at my grandmother's house
so when I found some in an antique store, I knew they were a perfect fit.
If you ever find any gigantic platters in this stuff, please let me know!
I'd love a big ol' platter to go on the very top!

I would like to preface these pictures by giving you a heads up on my decorating style... but I can't figure out how to explain it!! So here's the best I can do without over thinking - I love antiques. I like warm colors. I tend to pick things that bring the outdoors inside. Alright, good enough for now...

So, I knew in my living room I wanted to hang some plates because I LOOOOOVE me some dishes! I had also found these pictures of trees that were printed onto burlap canvas in an antique store (even though they aren't old) and I simply had to have them. But that was all I had and regardless of how I laid it out, it just didn't seem complete. 

So I brainstormed, scoured Pinterest and then thought about the homes of people I know and love and tried to remember what they did to decorate. Well, I finally came to the somewhat random conclusion that I wanted to incorporate some old boat paddles. Don't ask me how or why or what brought this about, but I was on a mission to find some old paddles and they were going in our living room. Done.

Do you know how hard it is to buy old boat paddles? I do, virtually impossible. I searched antique stores, flea markets and estate sales - either boat paddles are a hot commodity and they got snatched before I got there or people just didn't have them. I'm leaning towards the latter. 

So, I finally gave up on finding the perfect paddle and decided to create my own. I found two paddles at an antique store (again, not old... what's the deal with that?) and brought them home to begin the transformation! 


This is what I started with...

The paddles were used, so they did have some wear and tear on the ends but overall they were in way too good of shape for what I had in mind. They were also a yellow wood and I wanted them to be dark... 

The first thing I did was buy some sandpaper and sand my little heart out. I had to sand off the gloss sealant and the place where the big ol' sticker was. I sanded, and sanded, and sanded, and wished I had borrowed my dad's sanding machine because the sand paper was doing a number on my manicure.

And then I sanded some more. FINALLY, I got down to the good stuff.

Next I had to rough them up a bit. Using a phillips screw driver, I made some holes of different sizes... not all the way through, just partially. I think they kind of ended up looking like a hole a worm would make, I liked it.

Then I got out the hammer (Yes, my hammer is leopard... Don't act like you aren't jealous.) and beat the snot out of that paddle! I just hammered away, leaving big ol' dents all over it. Then I flipped the hammer over to the nail remover end (I'm sure there is a technical term for this but I don't know it) and made big chunky scratches.




Paddles before/after being glazed...
See how the glaze enhances the dents and dings!

Finally I got out a sponge and started glazing! Because I wanted the paddles to be a dark shade, multiple glazing sessions were required and as I am not a single bit patient when I get a project underway, I never waited the recommended amount of time... Probably not a good idea, it ended up taking at least two extra coats and almost two days for the thing to stop feeling sticky! Oh well, lesson learned.

After letting them dry for a day or two, BK used his man skills to figure out how to hang those bad boys... I had to close my eyes because it required drilling screws into the paddles and I was just positive he would accidentally push them all the way through, but he didn't! He's a pretty good handy man, I think I'll keep him.

Probably should've straightened that middle guy before taking this picture...
Pretend like he isn't crooked, okay? Thanks.

And here is the final result! Trees and dishes and paddles - lots of different textures, but similar color scheme to tie it all together. I was pleased with how it all turned out! Now, just 90 more walls to go... 


Be Blessed!
Raegan

Making Dreams Come True

Today I'm going to tell you about an organization that is near and dear to my heart, the Make A Wish Foundation! I was first introduced to Make a Wish in fifth grade, that's the year I met Linzie...

 
Linzie was the new girl in my class, we were instantly friends. She told me that she moved to my school because the kids at her previous school were mean to her, she left it at that. When I got home that afternoon I told my mom all about my new friend, and how I didn't understand why anyone would be mean to her - she was really nice and laughed a whole lot. I'll never forget my mom lifting me up and sitting me on the kitchen counter, I watched as her face went from serious to sad as she began to explain to me that Linzie was very sick. To this day I'm not sure how my mom knew all this information, then again, when you are in fifth grade you don't pay much attention to the buzz around your small town. My mom told me that when Linzie was born she wasn't a healthy baby like most kids, so in order to make her better they gave her a blood transfusion. Unfortunately, they didn't screen blood for diseases until 1984... Linzie was born in 1983. The blood that she was given in order to save her life turned out to be HIV-positive. Like most fifth graders, those three letters meant nothing to me... What's that mean? What is HIV?


My mom explained that HIV was a disease that was very, very dangerous. If Linzie ever got sick or if something happened and she got hurt on the playground, I was to go get a teacher immediately. Mom told me that I didn't need to be scared, most likely the kids at Linzie's last school were scared and that was why they acted mean, out of fear... Instead, I needed to understand it was important to protect myself, and equally important to protect Linzie. The most valuable lesson I learned in fifth grade was that some people, like me, needed protection with latex gloves, other people, like Linzie, needed their hearts protected by much stronger things, like kindness and friendship. My mother, with amazing grace, encouraged me by telling me how happy she was that I was Linzie's friend because she knew that I would take very good care of her heart. The next day, I returned to school aware but not the least bit scared, and on a mission to protect Linzie by being the best friend ever. {Daily, I pray for the grace, wisdom and courage of my mother}

Linzie and my little group of buddies fell right into stride... We spent our days making friendship bracelets, playing basketball and chasing boys during recess. If anyone was mean to Linzie, I didn't know it - my Mrs. Ford's fifth grade class embraced her with no hesitation. At her birthday party, she proudly showed us her most prized possession - a picture of her with Reba McEntire. She loved Reba! She told us all about her grand adventure... She had gone to the concert, went backstage and even got to hang out with Reba!! It was awesome. On my way home from the party I told my mom all about Linzie's cool experience. How in the world did she get to do that? My mom explained that there was an organization called Make A Wish that helped sick kids get their wishes granted. From that day on, I was in awe of Make a Wish and it's ability to make dreams come true. 


Linzie never made it to middle school. During the summer after fifth grade year, she got sick. My parents had always taken my little brother and me to the hospital to visit family and friends when they were ill. They wanted us to understand how important it was to give people your time, and more importantly your prayers, whenever they were in need. At the time I didn't understand, but we weren't allowed to visit Linzie because our germs could make her worse. So instead of visiting, we became pen pals. In my last letter to Linzie I had enclosed my best string tying work - a colorful friendship bracelet. A month after the start of sixth grade, Linzie went to meet Jesus. My other two best friends and I attended the funeral with our parents. Linzie's mom hugged us and thanked us for our friendship to her daughter. With big tears and an even bigger smile she pulled me aside and told me that the friendship bracelet I had made kept getting tangled in Linzie's IVs, but when the nurse tried to cut it off Linzie put up quite the fight. They decided that she could keep it on... she never took it off. I still have mine today as well, it's in my "Special Box" with a picture of my fifth grade class. 


I have had the privilege of being a wish granter for Make A Wish for three years now. It's the least I can do to return the favor for the great joy they brought my friend! 

Big Sister Taetum, Me and Wish Kid Malie

Since 1980, Make A Wish has been taking the dreams of children with life-threatening illnesses and making them a reality. Their mission is to bring the child hope, strength and joy. How amazing is that?! 


This is how the basic process works - A Wish Kid is referred by a medical professional or his/her parents, Make A Wish matches the child with two wish granters, the wish granters help the kid figure out their wish, Make A Wish finds donors to sponsor the wish, and tada! A child's dream comes true!


I serve as a wish granter for the organization. Our purpose is to be the liaison between the Wish Kid and Make A Wish. We help the parents with the required paperwork (which is pretty minimal) and we try our best to spoil the Wish Kids! The most important responsibility is helping the child determine what their wish is - it can be ANYTHING their little minds can think of! Make A Wish will make it happen! 

Wish Kid Keller and his sister Olivia came to visit me at an OU Basketball Game!
Brandon is their other wish granter, but this was the cutest picture... Sorry B.

Have you ever been to a child's birthday party and little brother/sister is upset because Birthday Kid is getting all the attention and tons of presents? It's a hard concept for a child to grasp, today is Birthday Kid's day. Now imagine how much more difficult it would be if everyday was Birthday Kid's day because instead of it being his birthday, he is sick. Make A Wish thought of this and made sure little brother/sister isn't left out. When we come with gifts, EVERYBODY gets them! When Wish Kid decides he wants to go on a trip, EVERYBODY goes! Make A Wish understands that an illness doesn't effect only one person, it is felt by the entire family. Their goal is to bring hope, strength and joy to the entire family.


Oh and did I mention, Make A Wish makes sure that the Wish Kid gets his wish at ZERO cost to the family. Make A Wish pays for every. single. thing! From the limo rides, to the flight, to the food, they even send spending money! It truly is amazing...


I have had the privilege of working with two awesome Wish Kids, their incredibly strong parents, and their ridiculously adorable siblings. I instantly fell head over heels for both of these precious families! Both Malie and Keller wished to go to Disney World! There is a special 70-acre resort called Give Kids the World that Disney created just for Wish Kids! They resort is staffed by volunteers and medical professionals so that the kids and their families can spend a stress free week at Disney, knowing that if anything goes wrong they are in good hands! The resort is designed to appear as a scene out of Candy Land! It is so awesome!! 

If you have any additional questions or are interested in getting involved, please do not hesitate to contact me or Make a Wish directly by visiting wwww.makeawish.org! Make A Wish has chapters throughout the United States, so regardless of where you live there is a place for you to get involved! A wish is granted every 38 minutes, wouldn't you like to be a part of making a child's dream come true?! 


Be Blessed!
Raegan

Share the Love

Today, starts the one week countdown to Valentine's Day! Before I even get started on this post, let me just tell you my thoughts on Valentine's Day... For starters, I refer to it as "Forced Awkwardness Day."

I mean, I love getting dressed up and going out on the town for a nice dinner, but I don't want to go fight the crowd of couples feeling required to eat in a dimly lit candle lit restaurant. I love getting flowers, but I want flowers because Brandon loves me and thinks I am wonderful... not because it's the 14th of February and every decent husband is supposed to bring home flowers. I love chocolate, but I love chocolate on all days that end in "y" so that's not too big of a deal to me either.

Here's a prime example of what does NOT make me giddy and happy and totally feeling loved on Valentine's Day: Half dead tulips with the Wal-Mart sticker still on the side (Don't get me wrong, I've got NOTHING against Wal-Mart flowers... I think flower shop flowers are WAYYYY overpriced, so I don't think any less of the more reasonable WM flowers but at least go buy them a little early before the selection is picked over... and for goodness sake, pick the sticker off the side! And add a little ribbon tied in a bow while you're at it, put in a little effort here) and a honest-to-goodness 7-Eleven plastic sack with five packages of Chewy Sprees, and their $1.05 price tag still stuck to each bag. In the guy's defense, Chewy Sprees were my favorite candy at the time... other than that, this was an EPIC FAIL. Boy (whose name I will not disclose), you should be ashamed of yourself!!! (NOTE: This dreadful Valentine's day was my own stupid fault, I should have dumped him when he, in all seriousness, told my father my best trait was that I was debt free. The fact that my daddy didn't kill him on the spot, is a miracle straight from Jesus.) Unfortunately, this was a true story and I have lots more where those came from...

On a more pleasant note, here's what DOES make me happy on Valentine's Day... call me high maintenance, but I'd choose a thoughtful handwritten love note ANYDAY over dinner and chocolate. (Yeah, I left out flowers because I really do love flowers... they are up there with thoughtful handwritten love notes.) I don't think Valentine's Day is worthy of expensive gifts... I much prefer thoughtful gifts. Think sweet note and a mani/pedi (Husband, are you reading this? In case you are confused, this would be me dropping you a hint.)... and don't worry so much about dinner! I'll cook up something yummy and you can grab a cute little lovey movie from Redbox and we'll eat and then cuddle on the couch while watching a totally pointless, thoroughly predictable, yet completely adorable chick flick. Now THAT is a great Valentine's Day folks!

BUT here's the big twist... Whether you're married or dating or single, Valentine's Day is a day devoted to LOVE - why does it just have to be about LOVE for one person? In the past year, I have felt incredibly, overwhelmingly loved by so, so many people that I want to

Share the Love this Valentine's Day!!

Starting from the top and going clockwise: Flowered Thank You - TJMaxx, "K" - Anthropologie,
Green Leopard and "Raegan King" - Occasions, Blue Floral - Walmart.

As you may remember, in an earlier blog I did about Playing A Little Catch Up I answered a few questions that my mom had asked about my reflections on 2011. She jokingly, started the line of questions off with "List five things that make your mom the best..." I happily obliged since, well, she was the only one that asked any questions and I DO really believe that my mom is the best. Little did I know that answering that silly little question would have such a profound impact on her... at first she didn't say anything about it, but about a week later I received this email:

Well I haven't discussed this with you on the phone because I wanted to say it right and I just was afraid I wouldn't.  Your blog regarding the questions posted by your mother was so special for me. I really was just kidding when I wrote the part about myself on the questions (I thought my other 2 were quite good and insightful, by the way).  I, in no way, expected you to list anything.  But, you did and your response is priceless to me.  My mothering duties are basically over (though I am still working on some fine tuning on Zac).  And when the thing you have focused your life on for 27 years comes to a close you tend to sit back and wonder if you were a good mom - what will my kids say about their childhoods, their home life?  Will it be "Well, I'll NEVER be like my mom because...." ?  You don't really get any feedback on your mothering.  You tend to console yourself with the fact that your kids are awesome and admired by all, and you may like to think their accomplishments are a direct result of your amazing mothering skills - but, since I know some kids who are pretty amazing and accomplished and have simply terrible mothers - it's hard to take a lot of credit for that.  Most Moms don't get the chance to have feedback from their kids - they just sit back and wait to see what kind of nursing home the kid will pick for them - that's their feedback.  Therefore, thank you for this priceless gift.  I am pretty sure I do not deserve all your sweet words but I am going to revel in them anyway... Thank you for giving me such a sweet gift.  I have thought it over and realized I should give this same gift to my parents - so Valentine's Day seems a perfect opportunity.  I love the saying:

 "Kindness is the most difficult thing to give away

because it is almost always returned". 

I will pay your kindness forward.  Thank you for not making me wait for the Nursing Home to know.   Thank you for forgetting the bad and remembering the good about your mother (at the end of many days I would pray "please Lord take this and this and this from her remembrance").  Thank you for sharing your life with me - for telling me about the good, the bad, the ugly and all the in betweens. Thank you for being my amazing, beloved, precious Raegan.  I love and adore you........Mama

I guess I never thought about giving my parents feedback... I mean, I tell them they are good parents and I think my brother and I turned out pretty decent, so I just figured that was good enough. Except that I don't want my parents to think they did "good enough," I truly believe I have the very best parents in the whole entire world and I want them to have the very, very best of everything - including feedback!

So, this is my challenge to you this Valentine's Day... Go grab some stationary or pretty cards, take some time to sit down and write the people you LOVE. Think about it first, write a rough draft, and then use your best handwriting because I promise you, whoever receives your love note will treasure it for a long, long time. I had a very sweet note that my cousin Callie wrote me framed and it is proudly displayed in our study. It means the world to me... your kind words will mean the world to those you love too. I promise.

Be Blessed!
Raegan

Really Random Thing I Want: A Garden

In my 3.5 months of being a wife, I've tried really hard to whip myself into a Little Miss Homemaker! I always loved to do laundry ("Always" meaning my life after college when Mom stopped doing everything for me.) so adding Brandon's three loads of darks to my normal load wasn't any big deal. Seriously, I think the boy only owns darks... He looks really good in black what can I say? The OCD in me actually enjoys cleaning although married cleaning is so much different than single cleaning... I can't even imagine married with kids cleaning! Makes me tired just thinking about it! B isn't messy and I must admit - the little piles throughout our house are primarily mine - it's just that by the time I make the drive home from work, change clothes, cook dinner, eat dinner and clean up dinner, it's pretty much our bedtime... so little piles start popping up (bills, junk mail, random baseball caps, cards I need to write, etc) and they don't get put away until the weekend. But I'm trying!

My biggest transformation by far has come in the cooking department. I went from burning frozen pizzas to making homemade pizza (probably not a great example, as homemade pizza isn't too impressive... but if you'd seen how bad I was to start you'd be impressed by the fact that I successfully made a sandwich, promise!). The cooking adventure has been great fun and very rewarding when something actually turns out edible but I'm already searching for more!! So the latest thing added to my Little Miss Homemaker list is to have a garden.

Why this entices me, I have no clue! I mean it'd be nice to save money, but it'd probably be much more efficient to just start couponing... (Which BY THE WAY, if you are "couponer" would you please explain this phenomenon to me! Where do you even get the coupons? I shop at Crest and I LOVE it but I dropped a couple of Franklins there this weekend and if couponing would prevent that then SIGN. ME. UP. Let me know! Seriously!) and I love to work in the yard, but typically that only applies to flower beds! Don't ask me why I'm doing it, just know that there will be produce in my backyard this summer (hopefully). Sooooo, in case YOU had the urge to garden I thought I'd share this awesome website with you - Sprout Robot!

It's so cool! I really, really wish they had one of these for flowers!! Basically, you sign up for FREE and enter your zip code. It will prompt you to choose what veggies you want to grow and if you want to put them in containers or in the ground. Then it takes a minute to configure everything up and it shows you a personalized calender for when you should plant what!! And HOW to plant it all! AND it will send you an email to remind you (because I may or may not be all about a garden come May). Awesome, huh!? If you want, you can pay an additional fee and they'll mail you the seeds at the appropriate times and everything... I think I'll just visit my local Atwoods. If you have questions or comments, you can post them onto their forum and people actually answer them... and it sure does look like they kind of know what they are talking about! The only massive drawback that I saw was that okra wasn't one of the vegetables I could pick... considering it's one of the few green things I eat, that's a negative. Oh well, I'll live.

Example of the step by step for planting tomatoes!

Now if you happen to be a gardening expert or a new gardener, please share your gardening wisdom, what you've learned, what you wish you hadn't done, what grew well for you, etc. Or if you just think I'm crazy and feel that somebody should tell me, go for it!! You wouldn't be the first person trust me. I'd also really like to grow fresh herbs in cute little pots if anybody has any insight on that, please share!

Be Blessed!
Raegan

How to Make A Legit Resolution... and Actually Keep It.

I'm baaaaaack! 

I intended to blog occasionally while we were vacationing in my little hometown but for some unexplainable reason my parent's internet has literally been non-existent until today. Out of nowhere, this morning it just came on (Although still at a speed that rivals molasses in February) and so I'm joyfully bringing you a little insight on how to make a real-life, legitimate New Year's resolution... that you might actually keep!! (Don't worry, I'll give you all the details on our last FIVE Christmases later next week! We have to get the New Year brought in appropriately right now.)

One of my favorite New Year's Eves... 2008
Hot tub party with my cousins - Callie, Haley and Maggie

I may not know much, but I definitely know how to make a decent New Year's resolution. I know that resolutions are typically taken lightly, but I consider them a promise to myself. I have no intention of making a serious statement and then going back on my word in less than a month... Surely you don't either. So, I'm going to give you the basic breakdown on how to make a REAL New Year's resolution, one that you can follow through with. (I'll list my dad's  resolution for 2011 as an example!)

Step 1: Think of what you'd like to change, improve, or do differently. 

Don't get carried away - you've got much better chances of following through with one or two resolutions than if you make ten and wear yourself out before you even start. Dad wanted to eat healthier... Good start but wayyy too broad to actually accomplish.

Step 2: Narrow down your subject to a few more specific options.

Identify different ways you can accomplish your goal. He could start exercising. He could eat healthier... Lots of options to choose from here!

Step 3: THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP! 

Choose something that you can easily measure.

This step is crucial to actually accomplishing your goal and keeping your resolution. If you just say "eat healthier" does that mean you accomplished your goal if you stop after the first bag of M&M's or is your goal only met after 10 months of no candy at all? Dad debated a few options - slowing down his  barbeque intake, "stopping after the salad" like he always says he wishes he would have done, or cutting back on salt. Since he salted EVERYTHING and there was no reasonable chance of him laying off the barbeque, he decided that his 2011 New Year's Resolution would be that he wouldn't pick up a salt shaker for the entire year. Period. To my dad's credit, he has not added salt to anything since December 31, 2010!! Now, my mom didn't stop using salt in her recipes so he did get some salt intake, but he definitely made a huge improvement and cut back significantly!! 


So, there you go - three easy steps! Give it a try, I know you can do it!!


Here are my 2012 New Year's Resolutions... I'm sharing them so you can help hold me accountable (that should have been Step 4, pencil it in). 

Raegan's Resolutions for 2012

(1) Work out at least three times a week

(I know, I know - you should work out at least 4 times a week... but three seems much more feasible and if I get 4, good for me!)

(2) Cut out pop 

(I quit for about 6 years and this year decided I was thirsty for something other than water... Now, I'm trying to climb back up on the wagon!)

(3) Keep a daily prayer journal [at least M-F]

(This doesn't mean I won't pray on the weekends, I just am not required to write it all down... Keeping a prayer journal is AWESOME! Try it!)

(4) One random act of kindness each week*

(*This is a resolution Brandon and I are sharing... doesn't matter who actually does the act of kindness as long as one of us knocks it out each week)

I promise to be honest and 'fess up when I break one... So, now it's your turn!! I would LOVE to hear your resolutions! Please share them!! I promise, you'll be much more diligent about keeping them if you're worrying somebody will ask you how it's going! 

Hoping you have a very wonderful New Year!! And please be careful as you celebrate!

Be Blessed!

Raegan