When Does A House Become A Home?

I haven’t been able to write because for the past 2 weeks I have been preparing our whole family to move.  We started packing on January 19th and our move date was January 29th.  

Our 2200 square foot home had finally become too small.   Well it actually became too small once Frankie was born.  His room used to be the girl’s playroom. 

For the past year, Frank and I talked about different improvements we’d like to make or what we wished this house had and then we would say “or . . . we could just move”.  So it was the running joke of the past year.  Especially since our home had become worth less than what we owed on it. 

Thankfully, at this juncture, we are able to afford to keep it and hopefully get it rented out.  We won’t be able to get enough rent to cover the entire mortgage payment so we’ll have to cough up the difference every month until the market gets better.

But we found a beautiful new house less than 2 miles away and it is more than double the size of our old house.  It’s great to have so much extra room and the cupboards aren’t busting at the seams anymore! 

We had 50 boxes of just “stuff”.  Not even stuff that normal people use every day!  For example, a Tazmanian Devil popcorn machine!  I have no idea where it even came from!

My mom, my aunt, my soon-to-be sister-in-law, Kaitlyn and Britney both helped me pack up the kitchen 2 days before the move and I swear they just kept pulling stuff out of the cabinets and I kept saying “Where’d that come from?” or “Where was that hiding?”  It made for some good comic relief.

However, now with so much room I have found that it’s not cozy anymore.  Our old house was cozy and warm and now our house feels cold and dull.  True, we haven’t hung any pictures yet or anything but it should still feel like our home and it doesn’t.  

It just feels weird.  Not since my childhood home have I felt so content as in our old house.  For some strange reason I get attached to inanimate objects.  I don’t know why.  I guess it’s the memories and the sentimental things.  

I asked Frank last night if he was sad and his answers are always so logical and witty.  He says, “Why would I be sad?  Hun, you can’t get attached to inanimate objects.  Yes, we’ve created a plethera of memories here but they stay in your heart, they don’t stay with the house.”

Completely true statement.  However, it still feels strange.  

So here’s my question:  when does a house become a home?  Because I need this feeling back as soon as possible!  So please help!?

A Beauty Must Have

I have to share with the world another beauty secret:

Kinerase.  It all started back in November when I went to Sephora to get my beloved mascara.  Then I get home and open my bag and see a few free samples.  Mind you, I have been a devoted Dermalogica connoisseur for almost 3 years.  But that night I tried something new.  It was the Kinerase Extreme Face Lift.  I don’t really believe I need a face lift just yet but thought I’d try it anyways.

It remarkably smoothed my skin within seconds!  I used it for the next week and only wore it on days I wore makeup to make the makeup look super smooth.

So, a couple days before Thanksgiving I went to the mall to go buy this wonderful serum and I find out its $150.  I was bummed.   But the Kinerase “specialist” at Sephora showed me the kit that comes with the extreme lift, a cleanser, cream and eye cream for $130. 

                                                    
But I wasn’t about to spend $130 on me right before Christmas so . . . I went home and told Frank to buy this for me for Christmas!   

 

Christmas morning comes around and YAY he bought it for me.  Here’s the thing though:  the extreme face lift that came in the kit is the same size as the free sample I had before!!! 

But, I have been using the cleanser, cream and the lift ever since Christmas and I am in love with it.  My skin looks healthier.  It never looks dry anymore.  I only have 2 problems with it.  The smell isn’t really that great.  It smells like butter.  Second, the kit didn’t come with an SPF cream.  So naturally, now I need the SPF cream, the extreme lift cream and I want their Ultimate night moisturizer.  I tried it and I fell in love with that too.

So I think I’ll head to the mall today.  Hmmm, better yet I’ll have Frank get it for me for Valentine’s Day! 

  

Nothing Feels Better Than Family

2008 was a hard year for millions of people.  Many of us probably are still struggling with finances and wondering if our jobs are safe.

What better time is it to reconnect with our families?  Spend more time at home playing games with your kids or just go for a walk with them.   Read books, go outside or just ’hang out’ with them?  What would your children say to you if you were 100% there for them with no distractions? 

The next time they go to their room, go with them and just be there for them.  Just sit there with them and do nothing but watch them until they start interacting with you. 

Depending on their age they might hand you a toy (2-3 year olds), they might want you to play ‘make believe’ with them (4-5 year olds), or they might just say something so astoundingly astute to you such as ”our democracy is a great thing, except for the part about letting anyone vote” (6-7 year olds).  And yes,  my 7 1/2 year old daughter really said that.  It was last October during election season!  We laughed so hard.

Anywho, what do you think your children would say to you if they noticed you sitting there for 5 minutes just totally focused on them?

Remember when our children were babies and we would just sit on the floor with them and watch them explore?  Remember their sincere delight when they noticed you were sitting there just for them?  Our children still need that closeness. 

Something that I found that works really well to break the ice is right after dinner go around the table and start with the youngest and play the ‘high/low’ game.  Their high is what made them smile the most that day, and their low is what made them sad or unhappy that day.  I wish I could take credit for this idea but I can’t.  It came from the movie “Story of Us” with Michelle Pheifer and Bruce Willis.  Love that movie and I still cry every time I watch it!

Also, don’t neglect your spouse.  They need one on one time as well.  Get the kids to bed a little earlier tonight and make a separate dinner under candle light for just the 2 of you.

I’m feeling a little mushy tonight because today we had a family photo shoot with the photographer who’s going to shoot our wedding.  It was supposed to be an engagement session but we already got that done so we wanted to include the kids.

We met Jennifer from O’Grace Photography at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess

                                                            

and she took some really great photos.  She’s big on candid shots and so am I so I can’t wait to see all the images.  I’ll post some once I get them.

Have a great week everyone!                                                  

The Power of a Shared Laugh

Happy Saturday!

So last night, in all attempts to redeem ourselves from last week, we decided laughter would be the best medicine.  Yesterday morning I was listening to the radio (the Johnjay and Rich morning show to be exact) and every Friday they let the headlining comedian of the Tempe Improv give a little shameless plug for their show that weekend.   Normally, it gets a little chuckle out of me.

But yesterday morning I get in the car to go get my Starbucks and as soon as I get in the car the comedian starts saying “wouldn’t it be nice if we could order a spouse the same way we order our Starbucks – Yes, I’d like a tall, only half bi-polar and . . . nonfat”!   I started laughing out loud in my car!  So I called my friend and asked if her and her hudband wanted to join us for dinner and the show.  She thought it sounded like a great idea. 

Then I called Frank with our plan for date night. 

Turns out – it was a great idea.  It was very funny.  Christopher Titus is superb.  We sat right up front and all 4 of us loved every minute of it. 

                                                       

It was fantastic.  I have a new favorite comedian!    There were some moments that hit home a little too much like his divorce, and trying to raise kids with joint custody.  But that only added to his likeability.  I found myself trying to hold back tears and a split second later I’m laughing again. He said a few times that his routine would either make your current relationship stronger or break you up.  Then he would say “either way – you’re welcome!’

Frickin Hilarious!  I would encourage everyone to go see him or buy his DVD.  I know this seems like a nice little advertisement for him but I don’t mind!  Just givin’ a little love!

My friend said she had a very stressful week at work and this week for Frank and I was also a bit stress-filled but when the 4 of us left last night we were all smiling.

Never underestimate the power of a shared laugh.  It rejuvenates the soul. 

Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.  ~Victor Borge

A Secret for Weight Loss that Men Don’t Possess

BOOBS!  That’s right.  You always hear that men have an advantage to losing weight.  Well not if we’re nursing.  Nursing burns 500 calories just by itself.  Then add good nutrition and a little exercise and you’re well on your way to a leaner you!

Here’s a picture of my secret right here.

  Frankie turned 1 in December and about a week later we stopped nursing.   But 2 months before he stopped I started eating low carb again.  In those 2 months I lost almost 10 pounds.  I think the combination of eating low carb and nursing really did the trick (not to mention chasing after a 1 year old).

But before I got pregnant I would combine low carb with running and that gave me some pretty fast results too.  But nothing like this.  I am amazed.  I wish I would’ve connected the two together before so I could’ve kept pumping!

I know a lot of people question the low carb lifestyle and say its not healthy.  But for me, it’s the only thing that works well.  I was afraid to start low carb when the baby was still young because everything I read said it would diminish the milk supply and could also taste differently to the baby so I did the Body for Life  diet which made me lose about 5 pounds.  But the last couple months that I did low carb he still nursed and we didn’t have any problems.

That brings us to now.  I try to run every day and do a little circuit training every other day.  Plus, sometimes after I run I rollerblade for another 15-20 minutes just to change it up.  I get bored really easy.  Sometimes I’ll even take a spin class at the gym because I get bored of the treadmill.

 The circuit training is more effective when I do it right after cardio.  The thought on this seems to be split 50/50 in terms of people saying weight training should be done before or after cardio.  But cardio gets my heart and strength ready and then I’m burning more calories and being more effective with every rep. 

Others say to do your strength training before cardio so you have the energy to complete each set efficiently.

I’ve heard both opinions but mine makes more sense to me.  Just do what works for you.  I’m a firm believer that just one way doesn’t work for everyone.

What a Beautiful Day

Congratulations President Barack Obama! 

Today was a moment in history.  Never before have I cared to follow the journey of a President Elect, or for that matter, watch the inaugural celebrations.   But today I did.  And today I felt inspired by a person I had never heard of up until a few years ago.  Today I fought back tears to the most amazing speech I’ve heard from a President.  And today – I got chills hearing President Obama say that change is here and “we must change with it”.

I am proud of this country.  I am proud to be an American and I am proud that we have finally embraced all of humanity together, as a nation.  When our children look back they will be proud of their parents for being the generation to decidedly . . . make a change.

To You Mr. President, We Salute You!  You have made us proud.  You have inspired us to become a better people. 

“What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility –a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.”                                                                                        ~  Barack H. Obama

A Road Trip

So yesterday we decided to go on a road trip just Kaitlyn, Britney, the baby and me.

We went up The Apache Trail.  It was beautiful.    

It was full of winding roads, steep cliffs and gorgeous sights.  We left at 1:30 and we didn’t get back home until 5:30.  But we talked, sang songs and got out to walk around and breathe the fresh air.  It was fun.  We all had a good time.

There is a sign that warns that the next 22 miles is a dirt road, however, it takes an hour and 30 minutes to get through it.   But the scenery made it all worth it.

I definitely recommend this day trip to anyone.  You can see so much just from the comfort of your own car. 

We did get out and get an ice cream cone at Tortilla Flat. 

There was a band playing and then after the girls finished their ice cream we wallked down to a little waterfall where they hopped on all the rocks.

 

The best memories that were created on this trip were the memories of laughter and singing along to Grease with the girls.  Not to mention the different things we talked about.  We saw a woman with tattoos on her arms and both the girls promised me they would never get a tattoo because they thought it looked awful! 

Yes!  

Army of Women

Do you know someone who is affected by breast cancer?   Most of us know someone who has or who is going through this.

Now there is something for each and every one of us to do that can help us get closer to a cure.  Researchers need healthy women who do not have the disease in order to find the cure.

 I have been registered since October and all they do is send out emails asking you to help if you live in the area that the researchers are in.  I haven’t been able to do anything yet but I’m hoping I will at some point.

Go to www.armyofwomen.org to register and help. 

“Tuscany” in Phoenix Not So Tuscan

Happy Saturday Everyone!

So first before I go into my latest critique let me first explain that the only times I leave the house without the baby these days is for “Date Night” which is every Friday.  So needless to say, every week I look forward to it passionately.  Usually, we just go out to dinner and go see a movie.  (I would much rather go dancing but I’ll save that for a different post.) 

So last night Frank and I went to Tuscany at the JW Marriott at Desert Ridge.  We’ve wanted to go check this place out for a while and we finally got around to it.

Hmmm . . . it was ok.  Nothing to write home about.  Although by the price of things they really must think the food is superb.  It is not.  First, it took us forever to decide what to order.   Typically we get an expensive entree for dinner when we go out.  But none of the entrees sounded appealing except for the filet but we didn’t want to order the filet at a “Tuscan” restaurant. 

So we ordered the Rigatoni Bolognese with italian sausage.   When we got it there was no italian sausage!  It was stew beef with diced up rigatoni.  Not what we had expected.  I’m sure the folks in Northern Italy are not enamored with stew beef and chopped up pasta!

Urgh!  Disappointing.   Mind you, Frank is Italian and is also from New York.  So he is very hard on italian restaurants but last night I was right there with him.  Then we tried the zeppoles for dessert.  Also disappointing!  They were filled with mascarpone cheese.  Which to someone who didn’t know any better would probably be pretty good.  But not what we’re used to.

Anywho, enough about them.  Next time we spend that kind of money we’ll just go back to Mastro’s, The Chart House or Elements!

For Now

I have always wanted to write a book and I have started many.  The problem is I can’t decide where I want it to go.  What would the purpose be?  Who would be my target audience?

I have gone through an emotionally heartwrenching custody battle and thought about writing a “how to”, if you will, or a “what not to do”.  But then I think maybe I should write a fiction novel and get lost in my ideas of the perfect life while simultaneously making millions of women eager to turn every page and come back for more and more. 

Just kidding!  Not a romance novel.  More like Sex and the City. 

But currently, I am a Mom of a 7, 6 and a 1 year old.  They take up so much of my time.  And by the time I get to have a moment to myself (10pm) I am so completely exhausted. 

So I thought why not write about being a Mom?  So, here I am blogging.