Dry skin? No problem.

Wow. Winter is always really harsh on skin but this winter weather in particular was appearing to do a major number on my skin so I brought out the big guns.

 PONDS.

 Yeah, old school Ponds. Listen, I've tried Mary Kay, Philosophy, Murad, St. Ives and many other products to combat my dry skin woes. Philosophy was always the one that worked the best but I was seeking a new product that I wouldn't have to sell my first born child for. Seriously. $40 for 2ozs of product just isn't realistic anymore.

 My skin gets so dry in the winter that I could bathe in vats of vasoline and still need to use moisurizer afterwards. Seriously.

So if you have normal to oily skin this particular cream may not be for you. But boy, oh boy, does it work for me.

 Yay for me.

 Anyway, it's got a semi-baby powderish type smell to it that, according to makeupalley.com, offends some people but to me, I just put on my big girl panties (no whining.) and slathered it right on, no problems. I've been using it for 6 weeks now and have noticed a major difference in my skin. It's not dry (duh) and it seems to glow instead of being dull like before. Now,use this stuff in the morning before I apply my foundation and at night after I wash my face. And it rocks.

 Since it's only $8 and some change I thought I would share it with you. Also, if you want to try it out before buying a big portion of it Target has small travel sizes of this product for $1.99

Just a blurb

Winter makes my (now, yay!) very manageable chronic depression so much more hard to, well, manage. The things that help me out so much become difficult because of the weather like exercising and being outside. Those two simple things are a lifesaver to me and my children.

I've been fighting very hard for the past two weeks not to succumb to those feeling but I'm kind of losing the battle which is why my blog has been sort of silent for a while. Plus, the older I get and the more I figure out about life the more guilty I feel about complaining. It could be soo much more worse and indeed, I'm very lucky to have the life I live.

It seems like everything outside blends in to each other. The grey sky, concrete, houses, cars...blah, bland and yes, boring. This is why I loved living in North Carolina. Even in the dead of winter you still had beautiful pine trees so high up in the sky and you knew something out there was alive and thriving. Here everything is dead, yellow and grey this time of year. Dreary.

Next week my family from NC arrives and I'm so excited to share the holidays with them. My brother in law and his wife will be staying with us and I LOVE having their company so much. Also, the husband will be off work for a few days and that will be great. So good things are coming and that is keeping me going this week.

Also, even better news is that my mother in law that I previously wrote about is cancer free for the time being! She found this out earlier this week and we are all so very happy about that. What a nice Christmas present for her and the family. Keep her in your prayers that her scans will continue to come back cancer free. Speaking of, now is a good time to educate yourself about ovarian cancer. It's a "silent" type of cancer but any knowledge is good knowledge.

PS - I wanted to add links regarding ovarian cancer but blogger is not cooperating right now. I will add them later when, hopefully, it is.

Friday is My Monday

Friday is my Monday.

By Friday afternoon all the Monday go-hung-ness and ambition I have is completely wiped out and I struggle to keep up with the kids, the laundry, the house, the everything.

My shoulders are tense, my hips are sore and my head is normally pounding.

It's a very physical reaction and a testament as to how much I need and depend on my husband to be the great father that he is.

I need a break so bad. Like, a complete weekend by myself kind of break.

I told my husband that I'd like to rent a nice hotel room, buy lots of chocolate, wine, cheese and Ruffles Wavy Ranch chips and veg out and watch reality TV - all by myself. He didn't get it but then again, men often don't.

This too shall pass.

<---can't think of a clever title

Today we went to Crestwood Court. A dying, yet very cool, mall. It reminds me a lot of Eastland Mall in Tulsa when it first started to decline and vendors started leaving one by one and you had lots of interesting choices to eat in the food court. Anyway, Crestwood is actually pretty neat for a few reasons. Lots of artists are renting out retail areas and making it their studio so there is lots of beautiful and interesting art and sculptures to look at (from the window that is, you know, the toddler and all) and there are dance studios as well. So, we liked it because there is so much room and when playing outside is not an attractive option to Momma you can take your kid and let them run around and also they have a small indoor playground. Of course when Henry saw the mechanical toys that cost $0.75 to ride on that was HIS real attractive option but we quickly got over that with minimal melt down. It was great to get out of the house and I met up with a friend with two kids and I very much enjoyed (needed!) the adult conversation even if it was all a bit distracted.

In other news, I have finally gotten Henry to say please! Big deal! And he is saying "Yes" instead of "yeah" which is very good and proper but I miss his sing song voice saying "yeaaaaahhh?". He's getting so grown. I spiked his hair for him today and watching him run down the walkway at the mall reminded me that he is growing up fast. I usually don't say those cliche things like "wow. The time it goes by so fast!" because to me it doesn't really feel that way. I definitely have felt the last two years and I don't mean that as a complaint.

This week has been another nutso week and to tell you the truth, I don't know why. I suppose it's because Lucy is getting bigger and we are spending more time interacting with her a playing, reading books and making sounds and she is sleeping less and less. We sort of had a nap time show down a few minutes ago. I knew she was so tired but couldn't sleep but needed to so very much so I had to do the 10 mins of crying, check on her, then 15, check on her, then she finally fell asleep. I HATE doing that, it breaks my heart to hear her cry but I knew that's what she needed - to cry a bit, get it out, then sleep. She'll be 5 months old in 3 days.

And that's all I got today.

The Mother of All Mac and Cheese Recipes

I did it. I "created" the perfect baked mac & cheese recipe. A few of you will remember I posted another mac & cheese recipe on my facebook weeks ago. Scratch that. This one is much, much better, I promise.

I borrowed 2 recipes from Mrs. Paula Deen. Hey ya'll #1 & hey ya'll #2 and combined them into the most perfect, creamiest, yummiest comfort food you can imagine.

Here it is. Share and be merry. :)

4 cups cooked elbow macaroni, drained

3 cups grated cheddar cheese (use 2 cups sharp and 1 cup mild if you really wanna be fancy)

3 eggs, beaten

1 cup milk

1 can of cheese soup

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 cup of Italian breadcrumbs

sprinkle of nutmeg if you like

*cup of diced up ham (optional)

Once you have the macaroni cooked and drained, place in a large bowl and while still hot and add the cheddar. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and add to the macaroni mixture. Pour macaroni mixture into a casserole dish and bake for 30 to 45 minutes. Top with additional cheese if desired.

Quinoa and Chia Seeds

I'm trying to improve my eating habits an embrace a new way of eating.

It's hard. It's made me a little cranky.

I'm eating things I never thought to eat before such as quinoa and chia seeds.

Wait, chia seeds?!? Like cha-cha-cha chia? Those kind of seeds?

Those would be the ones. Well, to be technical I don't eat them but I mix them in my morning orange juice and then later on in the day, in water. Sounds pretty gross and I was very, very apprehensive. However, when you mix them with water they turn kind of jelly like (again, gross, I know) and less seed like. They go down fairly easy especially if you know how to open up your throat when drinking (thanks college drinking parties!!).

Why on earth am I doing this? Well, I've put on 20lbs after giving birth to Lucy. I hate carrying around the extra weight. It makes me feel gross. I just want to drop a couple of sizes so I can be a size 18 again which is a comfortable size for me. I'm a big girl after all. Anyway, the chia seeds are full of fiber, omega 3 acids and antioxidants. For me they are acting as an appetite suppressant which is always my problem. I AM PRETTY MUCH HUNGRY ALL THE TIME.

I am also eating a lot of quinoa which is actually delicious. If you like brown rice then this is a great substitute. It is a complete protein source, full of fiber and it's very satisfying. Today I had quinoa with a tablespoon of salsa and a sprinkle of cheese mixed in and it was super yummy.

I am refraining from pretty much all processed foods, eating tons of raw veggies and fruit and chugging water non-stop. I'm peeing all the time, yeeeeehawwww.

Next week I plan on starting walking in the morning. I've got to gather some work out clothing to wear thought because it is brrr cold in the morning. If that doesn't work out for me we'll start going to the gym again. I didn't want to do the gym just because the kids have to be in the nursery where they'll pick up all those nasty winter germs but I think I just need to get over that part.

I owe all of this nutritional inspiration from my husband who's turned into a nutrition buff over the past year and he's finally inspired me to get on board.