The Life & Times of E1

Friday, September 7, 2012

5QF - 9/7

Holy smokes, friends!! Can you believe it?? It's SEPTEMBER. This year has been flying by...and what's worse is that I have sooooooooooooooo much to update you on, but can't find the time to do it. Suffice it to say that we've been running around like chickens with our heads cut off! ha Now that's an image for ya. ;) I've been chaotically trying to keep up with family, work, Scentsy, Velata and Grace Adele. I love it, but sometimes you just need a break...and that's why we didn't do a darn thing on Labor Day. I would love to say that we took the whole weekend off, but I had an event to sell Scentsy on Saturday and Sunday I took Eric to meet some good friends of mine.

I've not participated in 5QF for what seems like a million years! Thursday nights are just too hectic with preparations for the weekend, especially on the weekends when we have his girls (which is also this weekend). The fun never ends! :)

Oh...before I forget...don't miss out on my giveaway over at the lovely Kelly's blog!

So, forgive me for not updating you better about the last few weeks...I may find time to post some pictures of our adventures, but I think those are probably even lacking! Whoops. ha

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1. What is your favorite fall family tradition?

My favorite fall family tradition is......bonfires! We didn't have one at all this summer and that saddens me. Hopefully this fall when can get everyone together for stories and cold drinks around the bonfire! It's something we've enjoyed the past 5+ years. Mom gets a big bonfire going, friends and family come over with coolers laden down, we order pizza or have a pitch-in meal...and then the fun begins...hours and hours late into the night we laugh at shared stories, keep hydrated with our cold drinks, play cornhole, and watch the lil kids run amuck with each other.

2. If money weren't an issue, how many kids would you have?

I've only ever wanted 2-3 kids. I had always kept an open mind about the number of kids my spouse would want, but I feel that as a parent, I could truly give equal time to 2-3 kiddos. I know how busy my mom and grandparents were in running my sister and I here/there for all of our activities, so I cannot imagine adding anymore crazy to that! ha

3. If you were to get a tattoo, what would it be and where would you put it?

I already have a tattoo...on my left wrist, it's mostly hidden by my watch band unless you know it's there. I've actually had it for a couple years and there are people I work with (during that entire time) that have just seen it for the first time within the past month. hahaha It says Dream with a star for each of us (mom, Jen, and I). I love it!! Honestly, my text tattoo is likely to be something after we get married to signify my new family (Eric and the girls)...and again, it will be on my other wrist or under a ring band or something.

4. What condiment is a must in your house?

RANCH DRESSING. I kid you not. I've always loved ranch dressing (thanks to Karissa, I believe), but I now buy the jumbo jar! Eric loves ranch on just about everything...pizza, chicken, french fries, etc...so it is always in stock.

5. How did your spouse/fiance propose?

Finally!!! I get to answer these kinds of questions! :) He actually proposed not that long ago in a game of Hangman. haha It was sweet, romantic and very creative! If you want the story, click here to visit the post all about it.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Guest Post - Hayley

So excited to introduce you all to my very FIRST guest blogger - - and coincidentally, my very first sponsor!! Woohoo! Take time to check out Hayley's blog...and let her know you found her in my lil part of the blog world. ha Oh...and if you're interested in swapping (it's free!) sponsor spots - check out my sidebar! ;)

Find Hayley here:

BLOG / TWITTER

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Hey all of you "Life and Times of E1" readers!!! My name is Hayley and I blog over at Hayleys World. And I'm here to take over the blog for today! I hope that's ok. :)

What's that? Oh, you wanna know a little about me. Sure, I'd be happy to tell you.

I am a 30 something, really only 31...not even 31.5 yet, should I really be saying 30 'something' yet?, anyways....where was I? Oh yes, 30 something Army wife and mom of 2. 7 year old boy and almost 3 year old girl (born 09-09-09...yeah, I know, pretty cool!).

We are stationed in North Pole, Alaska right now and have been here for 2 years. Yes, it's super duper cold in the winters, but I love it. We might come back after he gets out, but the only things keeping us from doing that is it's super duper far away from family.

I love God, my family and friends, photography, blogging, being a stay at home mom, volunteering, cooking and baking and sewing and crafts. I'm possibly opening up a shop. Well, I did open it, just not officially yet. You can check it out here. Just kind of testing the waters and listing things as I make them and get some pictures.

I've been sitting in B&N for almost an hour now trying to come up with a good topic for my guest post. The only thing I can think about is Big Brother. If you don't know about Big Brother, first push that big rock you've been living under off of you and listen up. This year 16 people entered the house. They have no contact with the outside world (unless you are one of the lucky couple who wins a call or gets to be Head of Household and gets a letter from home). They spend all summer in there and vote one out of the house each week.

Last nights episode has everyone's panties in a wad. The guy who was everyone was 97% sure was getting voted out totally turned his game around and is not even on the block to go home. He put on this whole production in front of the whole house, got the veto holder to use it on him AND even convinced the Head of Household, who was also his nemesis in the house to make a final 2 deal with him.

Everyone is all upset because when he got off the block, it meant that Brittney is now on the block AND headed out the door tomorrow. I'd be really really surprised if she doesn't. But everyone LOVES Brittney. And while, I do to, I love the game more and the move that Dan played was FABULOUS!!!!

He has already won the game once and he's working his way to do it again. No one particularly likes him, but he plays the game good and that's what most base their decision on in the end.

And what bugs me too is when people find out someone they thought they were close to had lied to them, or rallied to get them out of the house. Well DUH!!! It's a game, for lots and lots of money!!

Well, so sorry for the ramble, I got a little excited!!! I would love for you to stop by my blog and get to know me a little more. You'll find a bit of everything from menu planning and recipes, to photography to fun linkups.

Have a super fabulous day!!!

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

GFC Blog Hop

It's Tuesday again which means it's time for the GFC Blog Hop!

When I want to follow a blog the first thing I look for is GFC (Google Friend Connect), it's so easy and nice to be able to go and see all of the blogs you follow in one spot. It's really a great tool to have.

One side note- Did you know you can follow through GFC using your Twitter Account? TRUE, it's definitely an option!

If you are interested in co-hosting the next GFC Blog Hop send an email to: melissa@thelifeofanotsoordinarywife.com

Ok, so let's get to the party, shall we?

RULES are simple:

1. Follow your host via GFC

The First link below

2. Follow your co-hosts via GFC

The Next 8 links below

3. Link up below using your main blog url not a specific post.

4. Make sure to visit some of the blogs in the link up and follow them via GFC

and if you want to leave them a comment, I'm sure they'd appreciate that as well.

5. Tweet about this blog hop

6. Share about this blog hop by grabbing a button and putting it on your sidebar!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Hangman

There once was a man who wanted to play a game. He asked his lady and she agreed. Hangman was the game. Something simple and fun. Game after game was played. Some phrases were about the silly TV series they had on in the background (Call of the Wildman), her pet (Toby), and others were about life. Laughs and smiles were plentiful. The man asked for one more game and the lady complied.

As soon as she saw the letter spaces...her heart knew...

And as she guessed the phrase, the man knelt down on one knee and asked the words written on the page..."Will you marry me?"

She said "YES!" He placed a ring upon her finger.

A kiss sealed their fate as future husband and wife. :)

And so a new chapter begins....

**Wedding date will be set at the beginning of the year. We've got so many other things going on and working to get our lives aligned, so we're going to wait and see where we want to be once the New Year arrives. I am feeling so incredibly blessed! I've also been dying to share this with all of you! The engagement took place Sunday night, but we had family to tell in person before sharing the news with the rest of the world.

GFC Blog Hop!

I saw this fun blog hop last week, but didn't know anything about it (and honestly didn't have time to do anything about it!). This week the lovely Breanna posted it as a co-host and I thought I would take time to browse some blogs!

So....welcome, new friends! I am a newly into my 30's gal living in southeastern Indiana. I'm a country girl that loves visiting the city (Indy to see my sis or Lexington to see my cousin, Z). I have an amazing boyfriend, Eric (aka AxMan), and spend a lot of time lovin' on him and his 2 beautiful daughters. I have a rambunctious and rebellious teacup Yorkie, Toby, who gets himself out of trouble by being so darn cute! ha I'm an HR admin for a company in my hometown and I sell Scentsy/Velata/Grace Adele (so if you're looking for a consultant - hit me up!). ;) I'm a Purdue grad. Boiler Up! I love love love to travel and try to go someplace new as often as I can.

Well, that's pretty much me in a nutshell. haha Hope to see you around!

Ok, so let's get to the party, shall we?

RULES are simple:

1. Follow your host via GFC

The First link below

2. Follow your co-hosts via GFC

The Next 8 links below

3. Link up below using your main blog url not a specific post.

4. Make sure to visit some of the blogs in the link up and follow them via GFC

and if you want to leave them a comment, I'm sure they'd appreciate that as well.

5. Tweet about this blog hop

6. Share about this blog hop by grabbing a button and putting it on your sidebar!

Monday, August 13, 2012

Disappointed...

...with myself.

Have you ever worked hard to accomplish something? Have you ever let yourself get lazy and backslide? *raises my hand* I have. Ugh. Makes me mad to say it!

My friends, I fell off the healthier lifestyle bandwagon about 2 months ago. You see, this phenomenal trip I earned with Scentsy to the Dominican Republic happened...and I let myself enjoy the food and drinks. I know, I know. It's not really all that bad. BUT. But then I came home and kept eating the not-so-good-for-me foods and got caught up in the craziness of my life. Don't get me wrong, I loved every guilty second of it. Because yes, I did feel guilty for the first 2 weeks after I got back.

The other week, AxMan and I decided that we both needed to start eating better (he had gained some weight back after losing a bunch while living with his sister - not the healthy way, the man never ate!). I weighed myself when we returned from Kansas City and was not shocked to see that I had gained 12 pounds in 2 months! AHHHHH! Nothing makes me more mad than knowing I failed myself. I put myself 12 pounds behind the ball AGAIN. Will I ever learn??

So I attempted to eat healthy last week. The week started off with good intentions, but then quickly went downhill with a whispered - let me treat you to dinner...and a failed fishing attempt to catch our dinner. ;) It all ended with a rousing day at the State Fair and we all know how good for you fair food is! hahaha

So here we are at the start of a new week...and I am happy to say that I stuck with my food plan for the day and even exercised! I have my meals mapped out for tomorrow as well, so that always makes me feel better. Yeah, yeah...I'm slightly type A organized list maker type. :p

Here's to hopefully getting back down past the 12 pounds I added back...and finally reaching my goal weight! I have a feeling there will be some fun and exciting things coming my way in the next year and I want to look and feel my best. *HUGE smile*

And now you know where I stand...and the fact that not only did I fall off the bandwagon, I apparently got ran over by it...more than once. One day I have faith that I'll learn from my mistakes! ha

To close - just wanna say "Hi hunny!" because I'm sure the mister is reading this since he knows I'm blogging tonight. Also, thanks for your support. And for eating your veggies tonight at dinner even though you'd have preferred more potato chips. Oh...and for only eating one pack of those delicious Dunkin' Sticks today for breakfast. hahahaha I love you!

Prepare Yourself for Pictures

Okay, so I don't really have a lot of pictures...but I am far too busy to blog about all the goings ons around these parts, so you'll have to subside on a VERY brief recap, pictures and captions! ;)

Since my birthday it's been non-stop go go go! AxMan, mom and I packed up the following weekend and made a trip to Kansas City, MO so I could attend my upline's training day. I went last year and had a blast...the trip was just as good (if not better) this year! AxMan even attended the training with me so he could get a better grasp on what all I do and need to do to get where I want to be with my Scentsy Family business. :) And of course, we had Katniss & Lorraine this past weekend, so we ventured to the State Fair! I have a deep-rooted passion for 4-H and FFA, so the fair is a MUST in my life. It was fun showing the girls the place that I have explored, showed animals at, and worked as a college student.

Momma sleeping in the car on the way to KC