Keeping It Real

So I was talking to a friend today (by talking I mean texting. Introverts unite!) and she gave me some great inspiration! We both became mothers last year. Her adorable little boy is getting close to the one year mark and Lily's about to be five months old! Anyway, we were talking about cleaning and organizing. She expressed her frustration that she doesn't always feel compelled to get things accomplished and she doesn't have a lot of time with her little running around keeping her busy. She expressed a wish for an organizing list that could be completed during a realistic time frame and said she couldn't find one that suited her needs. 

I looooooove organizing! There's not much that makes me feel more at peace or gives me a greater sense of accomplishment than making my house tidy and useful. I also love all the follow along cleaning and organizing plans on blogs and Instagram. I used to attempt to join along, but inevitably I wouldn't make it the whole year, or I'd go rogue and start organizing whatever I wanted to cause the plan didn't suit me anymore. 

You ready for the funny part? A lot of those organizing plans I'd see were very detailed. Like you'd have to be Martha Stewart with her team of people to get it all done. So I always thought... Oh these stay at home ladies have it made! They have the whole day to clean and organize! Of course they can get it all done. So I was so excited to become a stay at home lady! I thought of all the projects I'd get done and how nice the house would be. I'd finally be able to paint every room and caulk the porch and landscape the front yard and every   afternoon when hubby gets home from work, won't he be surprised by my amazing accomplishments! I'd get it all done while the baby naps. They make excellent baby monitors nowadays. How hard can it be?

And the I had Lily. 

Boy was I optimistic! Don't get me wrong, I am able to clean and organize, but nowhere near the level I thought I would. My little darling is a great baby. But like anyone's story, it isn't perfect. For instance I breastfeed and Lily isn't keen on taking a bottle. So if she eats it's primarily at my breast. She's also entered a phase where she'll wake up if I move her after she nurses to nap during the day. I know everyone has advice and opinions on these things and what do do, etc, but so far I'm making it work. I don't mind her napping on me. It forces me to not be all work/ no rest which I'm bad to do. And I can still get some work done while I'm trapped under her. Point is, I thought I'd have all the time in the world, but at this current juncture I have small bits of time between naps. And that's ok! It's real life! 

So in honor of this realization and my burst of inspiration today, I have decided to post about how this real mamma, with muuuuuch less time than she anticipated, is getting her house clean and organized (relatively speaking). My house isn't "done" yet. My photos won't be the loveliest. Nowhere near as lovely as most of the home style blogs I come across. But it is real. I'll post as I'm able about what I'm getting accomplished (if anything). You're welcome to follow along and organize along with me. I'll be posting pictures here and on Instagram with the hashtag #keepingitrealorganized. Cause that's exactly what I'm planning to do... Keep it real! 

Wish me luck! I'm gonna need it!

Away

Wow. I've wanted to blog for so long now, but life got in the way, which is perfectly fine with me, since life is short and one must try to enjoy every bit of it. 

Since I last blogged I got pregnant and had a baby, Lily Jane. She's amazing and wonderful and the sweetest little girl! We didn't find out the gender until baby arrived. I'd always assumed I'd have a boy if I ever got pregnant so Lily was a big surprise! But knowing her now, I can't imagine having a boy instead of my darling girl! 

Lily smiles all the time. It's so sweet! Sometimes we just smile at each other like a couple of fools! (Except during this photo shoot because obviously if your sweet smiley baby knows you're paying someone to photograph you, she will refuse to smile the entire time).

My girl is 4 months old now! It's gone by so fast!! I've hardly blinked and here we are! But these four months have been the best of my life! It's been stressful, and challenging, and sad at times, but my love for this girl helps me pull through. 

I'm not sure how often I'll post as I seem to be constantly trapped under a baby, but I look forward to this outlet again. I'd like to post about my post partum depression and maybe even Lily's birth story. Sounds like a fun time right?? (Crickets chirp). 

Until next time...

Smooches! 

     ~Katie

Movin On Up!

We FINALLY got a king sized bed recently! I've waited for this for YEARS! I even registered and received two sets of king sized sheets at my bridal shower FOUR YEARS AGO! I know I shouldn't shout so much, but I'm just really dang excited!

We tried to stay under a certain budget, so at the time we were only going to purchase the mattress. The plan was to buy a bed frame and maybe make a head board out of some old doors we have. Well Charlie being the awesome husband that he is, not only helped me buy a mattress, but scoured Craigslist that week and found a bed for $400! Up until now we hadn't found a bed that we agreed on and any ones that we did like were in the $1500+ range. Yikes! At first I wasn't 100% sold on the bed, but Chuck said "we're getting it" and that was that. He was right and I'm so glad we bought it! I'm not sure how old it is, but it's real wood and it's been refinished. We bought it from Shabby Pickins if anyone is interested.

The bedroom looks a million times more put together now! We were sleeping on a 15+ (I know it's gross, don't judge!) queen mattress that I've had since high school and Charlie's bed that he's had who knows how long and it just wasn't our style.

It was super hard to get a good photo in that room, but here is the before and after for ya. I can't wait to get some updated nightstands and matching lamps, hang up some artwork and photos, and get my parents to bring down my Grandmother's cabinet that I have big plans for.

BEFORE:

Muuuuuuuuuch better AFTER:

Jean

I mention with sadness that my Grandmother passed away on April 25th. She was a wonderful beautiful soul and I loved her very very dearly! As a child I never went to daycare, I stayed with my grandparents during the day. She was like a mother to me. She will be greatly missed, but I am very happy she is at rest now. I visited her at the nursing home she was in a few nights before she passed and she was very restless. She looked sad and in pain and I truly feel she was ready to go to Heaven and be with my Papa (who was something of a favorite of mine). I held her hand and kissed her forehead and told her that I loved and missed her. She didn't really speak very much toward the end, but she looked me in the eyes and shook her head yes and I know that she was saying she missed and loved me too. I am so grateful to have had that moment with her and that I got to say goodbye.

Her name was Jean. I don't dare post her whole name, because she never liked it. She was very spiritual, very kind, nurturing, and a wonderful cook! She always had something in her cake stand on her dining room table. And no matter if you had just eaten, if you went to Grandma's you ate again! My favorite thing she made was fried squash (no body made it as good as she did!) and her French coconut pie. She knew how much I loved that pie and every time she was making one she ended up making a second one just for me! Loved that woman! I have all of her hand written recipes and I'd love to post a few on here and maybe even veganize (it's totally a word) a few someday.

I used to sit in Nana's lap while she would rock me to sleep, and as I got older I'd sit beside her on the couch and throw my legs over her lap and tell her all my troubles. She told me I'd never be too big to sit in her lap. And I guarantee I'd still be doing just that if I could! She used to sing me to sleep to songs like Frankie and Johnny (my favorite!), Two Little Orphans, & Froggie Went a Courtin. I wish very much I had recorded it.

She always had a way of comforting me. Of making everything seem all right. I knew that no matter how much I messed up Nana and Papa would always love me. It was pure, true, unconditional love. She called me her tender-heart (and occasionally pumpkin-eater). I learned so much from her. My only regret is that I there is still so much I wish I had learned from her. I wish she could have been at my wedding, known Charlie better, met Otis, and see the ranch! I know she would have loved it all!

I wanted to post this today on the 4th of July because this day makes me think of her. We have a big family. She had four sons, all of which have children, so I have lots of cousins. We'd always get together at her house on the 4th and have a cookout and homemade ice-cream. Nana made the best ice-cream!! We usually had chocolate and two ice cream makers full of vanilla (my fav). All of the guys would be on the deck watching the ice-cream to make sure it was just right and even turning some of the crank type ice-cream makers.  Nana would be inside mixing up a batch of ice-cream mixture in a huge metal bowl in her kitchen. Kids would be running around the yard. Then we'd all gather together and fill up our solo cups with as much ice-cream as it could hold. I miss those days, the days of my childhood. I have such wonderful memories and Nana had a big hand in those.

I miss you so very much Nana! But I am so glad you're at peace now! I love you a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck!

Settling In

I haven't posted in well over a month. My life has been moving at a faster pace lately. There have been many changes happening. Four months ago my hours got cut back at work. I've been searching for a new job ever since, going on interviews, and talking with recruiters. I'm happy to say that I finally found a job! I worked my two weeks notice and I've been at my new place for four weeks now! Everyone seems really happy to work there and the environment is really nice. Plus the benefits are great and it's really close to my house! I think the job itself may prove to be a bit stressful, but hopefully I can handle it. Only time will tell. Now that I'm working full time again, I don't expect to post here with any extreme frequency, but I would still love to document our house progress and general life stuff.

It feels really good to be settling in again. I've felt like my life has been in disarray since the beginning of the year. But now as I adjust to all the new things in my life I feel really blessed and happy! I feel like I can finally breath a sigh of relief! Here's to getting back on track! For moving on to brighter and better things! For moving forward! So happy to be back!

All the photos in this post are ones I took a few years back at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. Charlie and I spent a very relaxing day there and relaxing is something I'm hoping to do more of.  Especially now that some of my troubles have been lifted. Plus, everybody hates a photo-less post! Am I right?

The Fox

Charlie recently took me to see The Lion King at The Fox Theatre. I love going to The Fox! It's my all time favorite building ever. Anyway, while I was there I snapped a few crappy photos from my phone (cause I stupidly forgot to bring my DSLR or what I call my "fancy camera"). It's beautiful inside. It looks like you're watching a play outdoors in some far eastern place under the night sky. There actually is a night sky above you complete with twinkling stars! I wanted us to get married there, but it was above my budget. We did have a few engagement photos taken outside of it though. If you've never been, I highly recommend a visit!

I apologize for the PDA, but I couldn't resist. 

Vegan Dog

It's Otis' birthday month! He's 6!! The adoption place we got him from didn't have an exact birthday for him, but they told us they thought he was born around April of 2008, so we always celebrate his birthday on tax day, April 15. I thought in honor of his birthday I'd share some of his favorite diet/chewing related things.

A lot of carnivores (non vegetarian or vegan peoples) that I know feel bad that Otis has to be vegan. They think he is deprived of all the meaty wonderfulness that dogs seem to love. I don't want the poor little fella to suffer or be teased by all the other doggies at the dog park, so we try our best to find vegan alternatives to popular dog items.

We feed Otis Nature's Recipe Healthy Skin Vegetarian Recipe dog food. More for convenience than anything, since this is the ONLY vegetarian dog food that our local pet store carries, and we haven't found any other great vegan/vegetarian options locally. He really seems to like it. Or at least he gets super excited when we say the words "dinner time".

As far as treats go, I surprisingly have awesome luck at TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Home Goods, and Ross at finding vegan dog cookies. They normally always have a box of organic cookies in fruit, peanut butter, carob, pumpkin, or ginger flavor. Otis does seem to prefer some over others, but the brands are ever changing so I just go with whatever they have. Boxes of these are normally around $2.99 to $3.99 and they last us for several months. We normally give him a portion of a cookie whenever he comes back in from peeing or pooping outside, or right after we brush his hair or teeth, or wipe his face clean, as a reward for the torture that is grooming. The super adorable painting of Otis in the photo below was done by my best friend Bonnie. We LOVE it!!!

I always see a lot of what I call chewy treats on the market. By this I mean moist, chewy, not dry cookie type treats. I knew Otis would love them, but I never could find a vegan option... until recently. Otis really loves both brands listed below, which can both be found on Amazon.com. I'm pretty sure I purchased the Wag More Bark Less Soft & Chewy treats at Drugstore.com and the Lick Out Loud treats I think I found at Ross. The Lick-Out-Loud treats I purchased in Peanut Butter flavor. To me they smell a bit weird and they are tiny, but he seems to like them. The Wag More Bark Less Soft & Chewy treats he goes crazy for. We buy these in Pumpkin Pie flavor & Peanut Butter Cookie flavor. They last a long time unopened in the bag, so I normally stock up. I don't dare run out of these treats! We give him these whenever we have to crate him or right before we leave the house if we are leaving him un-crated. I'm pretty sure he's so spoiled now that if we tried to get him in his crate without a chewy treat he'd just stare at us.

Our vet recommended we give Otis a dental chew once a day to help keep his teeth clean. That's all fine and dandy if you've got a meat eating dog, but finding a vegan/vegetarian dental chew was crazy hard. I did finally find these C.E.T. VeggieDent Chews on Amazon.com. We've been through two bags of these now and I can say for a fact that Otis absolutely LOVES them!! We give him one around 7pm every night and if we forget he will stare us down until we remember. He actually sits himself directly in front of us and stares at us until we give him one. We buy the regular size dental chews instead of the small dog chews, because we are able to make them last longer that way. When we get the bag, we break up each regular sized chew into three smaller chews. I am always concerned about Otis' safety and we have watched him very closely with these to make sure he doesn't choke on them. Many months later he seems to be absolutely fine eating the regular size chews broken up. 

Dogs love bones and rawhide right? Well I did my best to find a solution to that. It's crazy frustrating how even the nylon/plastic type bones are flavored with beef and chicken. I finally found a couple that list peanut butter as the only ingredient. I had previously purchased a JW Pet Evertuff Bone Toy in peanut butter flavor which Otis absolutely loved, but I won't be purchasing one again because I found out they are made in China and I prefer to only buy treats and doggie edibles that aren't made in China. Ya dig? Anyway, I thought all was lost until I found these puppies (pun intended). Nylabone Dura Chew in allergen-free Peanut Butter flavor. Made in the USA. We just gave him his first one of these for his birthday and so far he seems to like it. I wish they had a smaller sized bone, but I didn't find one. This one is about twice as thick as the JW Pet Evertuff Bone and slightly longer. Otis doesn't seem to mind the size though. I laid both bones right beside each other in a brutal head to head battle to the death and Otis chose the Nylabone for the last three times. I'd say it's a definite winner.

Otis also loves fresh vegetables and fruit. We're careful not to give him anything not safe for doggie consumption. He goes crazy for lettuce, carrots, frozen blueberries, pumpkin, applesauce, and banana. We tried pineapple once, but I'm not sure he knew what to think about it. He also loves dehydrated sweet potatoes which we buy for him from time to time. I'd like to get a dehydrator sometime and dehydrate my own for him. 

Anyway, there's my incredibly long post on what my dog eats. Riveting stuff right?  

We love you Otis!