My Favorite Romantical Type Movies

A friend of mine challenged me to list my favorite top 10 romantically inclined movies. This was super tough as I am a huge fan of romantic movies, even more so if they are romantic comedies. I tried to pick a mix of movies so hopefully there is something here that appeals to everyone. Happy movie watching.

1. Sense and Sensibility
A fantastic book, a wonderful movie. My favorite author.

2. Becoming Jane
OMG a movie about my favorite author. Of course I list it, and its so great.

3. When Harry Met Sally
No explanation of this pick needed.

4. Under the Tuscan Sun
The movie that showed us love doesn't have to be from a partner but can be found in sometimes random people that enter your life.

5. Princess Bride
Farm Boy and Princess Buttercup. Something pretty for both genders to gaze at as you follow them through the Fire Swamp.

6. An Affair to Remember
A obligatory "its a classic" shoutout!

7. The Wedding Singer
Great music and a cutesy love story. I watched this about a thousand times leading up to my wedding.

8. Say Anything
Who wouldn't want a guy be that devoted to not losing you. Hopefully the neighbors don't call the cops if my husband ever stood outside our house holding a stereo blasting Goo Goo Dolls.

9. The Vow
Channing Tatum is hopelessly devoted to his amnesia suffering wife. He stands by her guys! (And seriously if you wake up from a coma and the doctor says your husband is Channing Tatum, you shut your mouth and roll with it.)

10. While You Were Sleeping
I quite enjoy watching this movie during Christmas time but I think it would still be great for Valentines Day. Such a sweet, clean, good hearted movie.

Valentines Day Dates on a Budget

My husband and I have little interested in standing in line for hours and paying extra just because that is the tradition of the day. Instead I would like to share with you not only what we do but also some inexpensive ways to still share the day without spending a fortune.


1. Pizza and a movie at home. 

This is the one that my husband and I do, so of course it is first and my favorite. We order a pizza, eat dinner as a family, put the kiddo to bed and then watch a movie we both have been wanting to see. This year we are going to watch "The Interview," mainly because we just saw it pop up on Netflix and we prefer to watch something on a service we are already paying for.


2. Bookstore and a Coffee

If you are in a relationship with a reader, this might be the ticket. Visit your favorite bookstore, stay together, don't wander off to look at your own favorite genre, and talk about different books you come across. My husband and I used to play this game at Blockbuster but alas it is not more so we moved the game to Half Price Books, my favorite bookstore. Clearly because I am a cheapy cheap. After chatting about some books and possibly and impromptu purchase, head over to your favorite coffee shop and enjoy a cup of joe while you continue to enjoy the night together.


3. Pack a picnic and head out...or in. 

I live in South Texas so packing a picnic in February is not completely unheard of. My husband and I enjoy eating outside and being star gazers together. Super romantic. However if colder climates threaten to ruin your picnic, move it to a room in the house. We have had picnic in our living room and moved the furniture out a little so we had extra space. We keep the T.V. off and even light candles and enjoy a dinner by candlelight. Sometimes you just have to have date night at home, while the kids are asleep in the other rooms.


4. Dine In and Dessert Out

My husband and I like to do this year round, usually after dropping the kiddo off at the grandparents for an overnighter. So with this idea you eat dinner in, now bear in mind this should not be your usual dinner. Challenge yourselves to try a new recipe and enjoy cooking together. When dinner is over, throw the dirty pots and pans in the sink, grab a coat and head out. Usually but the time you get to a restaurant its later in the evening and the majority of the V-Day dinner crowd has left, or you can usually easily grab a seat together at the bar. We like to order the pizookie from BJ's (ask for it half chocolate chip/half peanut butter for a life changer)


5. Celebrate on a different day.

We are under no obligation to celebrate our love for our partners on a specific day, after all you love each other everyday. It ticks me off that prices are higher for food and flowers on Valentines day and knowing that I have a hard time justifying going out on the day. So, plan a super special day and celebrate your love for each other and the day will be special because you are together celebrating love.


Until next time, pass the sugar.

The Mystery of Parents

I grew up as an Air Force brat, did you know that? I was born in the friendly part of the middle east and lived in five different places before my dad finally retired.

It is hard you know, being a military kid. I have all the standard complaints that everyone does...losing friends soon after making them, not knowing when you parent is supposed to arrive home after a TDY or deployment and spending agonizing hours every 1st and the 15th at the commissary. I was super excited when my parents started sending us to the Youth Center on base and the commissary trips at least for two of the three kids became non existent.

Another part that I don't really hear a lot about but happened in my family was my dad was a mystery to me. My earliest memories were of us stationed in Florida and him either coming home or leaving to go somewhere shortly after coming home. I am sure it was longer than I remember since kids have such poor perception of time. Dad did try and make coming home a nice event though for my brother and me. He brought home money from other countries that we made serious fun of, perfume or gold for my mom and some sort of local treasure that gave us clues to where he might of been. You see my dad's career field was "communications." He went places for months that we were not allowed to know about, and guys, this was before email, cell phones and Skype. We would go weeks sometimes even a month before we heard from him. I can only imagine how pleased my mother was at that idea.

Back to the mystery that is my dad, or our parents in general. I noticed that as I got older and had children of my own my dad would start to let things slip. Little things, about how he once bought land in his home state with the hope that he could move back there to live near his mom again. My grandma had already passed when he made this comment and I happened to hear it and his final statement was "but we sold it, my mom isn't there anymore." I knew how devoted my dad was to his mother but had no clue that was why he bought land, that was his eventual dream. Another time whilst standing next to my dad in church we sang this song about the walls of Jericho falling down and my dad had tears streaming down from his eyes. In my parents house I know the rules about crying, you keep it to yourself and don't question why someone else is doing it. Emotions are not to be talked about. I asked my dad a few weeks later if he had "ever heard of" the song and he quietly and quickly said he remembered singing that with his mom and dad growing up.

My mom is not so much a mystery, she lets everyone know what she thinks/feels/cares about any topic at any given time. Her life before my dad remains a mystery to me, even when I asked my mothers side of the family questions about her they remain vague and noncommittal as if some unspoken agreement with my mom was in place.

It is amazing to me how much we think we can know someone inside and out, there are still parts of them kept shielded from us, especially as children. I think it's OK that we don't know everything about our parents. Lord knows I don't want them to know every little thing about me. Having personal events and thoughts that I never knew about and only slowly find out about make my parents a little more human to me and less...parental.

Until next time, pass the sugar.

It's More Like A Mission Statement

Ahhh the famed New Years Resolution blog where I state that this is the year I will get my act together and lose some more weight and keep it off. I have reconciled myself to the fact that this needs to not be a yearly renewal but a lifestyle change. So what to I plan to resolve?

More personal contact. I read a story about a man this year that was tired of the passive electronic friendships that he had and decided he was going to have coffee with every single person he was friends with on Facebook. He accomplished his goal through several different ways, including FaceTime, because lets face it, sometimes our friends get all crazy and go live in other countries.

I noticed that I was drawing more and more into myself and not really interacting with individuals other than my immediate family members on a regular basis. I see myself every night scrolling through Facebook to see how others are living their lives, pinning recipes, birthday planning ideas and workouts that I will probably never do but make me feel better to pin them. My husband has told me on more than one occasion that he hates when I zone out on my phone and ignore whats going on around me. Perhaps you are thinking "OMG there is something completely wrong with this chick and she is using her phone to escape." I can assure you that no....I have nothing to escape from. I have a great life actually but I have allowed my phone to rule my life, and that I must put an end to.

So what does more personal contact mean for me?

1. I will only check Facebook once a day, which will be in the evening.

2. I will make plans with people I am friends with on FB and in real life to re-establish friendships or better maintain the ones I have. I already have one recurring lunch date set up for the 2nd friday of every month! Go me!

3. I will accept invitations to outings and make an effort to find a baby sitter. (Let's face it, sometimes finding a sitter is a huge freaking hassle.)

4. I will make an effort. I feel I haven't done as well as I could have as a friend and have given a lot of half hearted promises to people and never truly made an effort to be part of their lives.


Perhaps this new years resolution will also turn into a lifestyle change, I hope it does. At the end of the year I really want to look back and say "I am a better friend, wife,  and mother because I made an effort."

SO...who's coming with me?

Pass the Sugar!

The Ultimate Buyers Remorse

There is something you should know about me. When I make a major purchase of ANY kind I have immediate buyers remorse. I could be in dire straights and need said purchase in a bad way and yet, here comes the remorse. The thoughts of: I should have done more research, maybe I could have gotten a lower price, could I have just dealt with the situation in another way instead of replacing the item….variables of self doubt float through my head and into my stomach until they settle in that special place that makes me want to vomit. Nice mental picture I know. 

So what is my own personal hell you ask? Well purchasing a home of course! So many decisions, so many questions, so many….everything. Just filling out the application to get pre-qualified to purchase the home had my hands shaking. What if they say no? What if they laugh me out of the office? Get out here silly girl with these wild dreams of home ownership, we have actual grownups that are ready to move forward with this important step in their life. 

I do feel ready though. 

My husband and I didn't make the best financial decisions our entire relationship and we have been paying the price for quite some time, and the interest that goes along with it. As we have grown up we have really tried to make better financial decisions to try and get us ready for this moment. We have gone without many things to pay off debt and make payments on time for this moment.

This moment.

We have mentally prepared ourselves that the answer might be no and secretly hope that the answer will be yes. If no, we will retreat back to our credit reports and see what other things we can do to make things better and vow to try again in one years time. 

But if the answer is yes. 

If the answer is yes…. It will take me at least a week to appreciate the new house as I wallow in buyers remorse…but when that week is over…oh beautiful wonderful day. 

Until Next time, Pass the Sugar.

Just a Hop Across the Pond

In about eight days my mother, my child and myself will be embarking on an international adventure to Northern Ireland. We are going to visit my family that live there (my mother is Northern Irish and immigrated to America to marry my American father). It has been ten very long years since I was last there and I am so very excited to see them all, especially my lovely little Irish nanny. 

Preparing for international travel is no joke and preparing for international travel with a five year old is even less funny. My daughter, Lily, who is a pretty fantastic traveler, I think will probably do well on the flight but I think by the time we hit our seven of eleven…might be a different story. So how does one prepare to try and minimize airplane meltdowns as much as possible? Well I have a few thoughts for you on what I do to prepare. Enjoy!

Packing Prep

1. Children’s Medicine. Did you know that many over the counter medicines are only available by prescription in other countries? When your kid is running a fever or has an earache having readily accessible medicine makes all the difference, in both peoples worlds. Make sure to pack a travel size of children's Motrin or Tylenol to have on the ready. 
2. Pack with meaning: Just like with an adult you don't want to pack a ton of random clothes because they are cute or you hope she gets a chance to wear it so everyone can see, you pack with meaning. I like to lay out all my daughters outfits on my bed, match an outfit together, roll it all together and pack it. This makes your life so much easier when you need to just grab an outfit and get going out the door for the days events. I also only pack three pairs of shoes; sandals, sneakers, dress shoes (for church on sundays). 
3. Important Documents: Make copies of your child's passport (and yours!) and scan and email the copies to yourself. This is also a good idea to do with their birth certificate. If the passport gets lost or stolen it can become a huge headache dealing with the Embassy to try and get a replacement and get home.

Plane Ride Prep

1. Parental Entertainment. I use this time on flights to talk to my daughter about where we are going, what to expect when she gets there and ask her about a zillion questions about what she thinks it will be like. I have her draw pictures of places I have only described to her. It is important to realize that on any flight you are your child’s primary source of…everything. On flights with my daughter I wait until she goes to sleep before I break out my book or device. I find that if she sees that she has 100% of my attention, she is a little more well behaved.
2. Electronic Entertainment. I am packing my daughters iPad (she has our old one, don’t judge us) with movies, TV shows and her favorite games that don’t need an internet connection. Also on the international leg our our journey from Chicago to Dublin each seat comes with a personal TV for people to watch. They have such channels as the Disney channel and some animated movies. You can check your airlines website to find out what is playing so you don’t double up and put that on your electronic device also (variety is the spice of life). 
3. Nurture the Artist within: My daughters backpack carry on will have a few favorite toys, a blanket and some art supplies. I have packed her a blank notepad that she can fill up to her hearts content and then also two very different coloring books (princess’ and animals). My daughter will get so caught up in coloring that she will ignore you for very long periods of time. Win.
4. Potty Time/Stretch Time. Use potty time as a time for not only taking care of nature’s call but a chance to stretch your legs. On international flights the plane larger and there is usually more room in the bathroom area towards the back of the plane. I plan on letting my daughter and myself stand and look out the window at the back of the plane for a few minutes before returning to our seat. It is also fun to chat with the flight attendants if they are not in the middle of something, they usually have funny stories and respond really well to children (read, give them free stuff to entertain them). 
5. Sleep time. It might be hard for your little one to settle down and I judge no parent for the steps they have to take to survive an international flight with a small child. What I like to do for long flights it bring a favorite sleep toy, a small pillow and a small blanket of their choice. I make a big freaking deal about letting my kid pick it out as we pack, this gives them a sense of the importance of the item and are less likely to reject the item at sleep time on the flight. My daughter also quite enjoys listening to soft lullaby sounding classical music at bedtime, I shall have this on the ready for her also. 

Don't Forget about You!

In addition to all the fun stuff we get to haul around for our kids, we can not and must not forget about ourselves. Even when I traveled to Ireland myself as a college graduate I walked off that plane in complete misery. With huge time zone differences to deal with along with a small cramped seat that your have been occupying for the last eleven hours, its hard to be in high spirits and want to deal with…well anyone. Well you got a five year old in tow who more than likely got more than just one or two hours of sleep and is feeling grand. SO, I have decided I will not be Heather pissy-pants when we land but at least a somewhat functional human being. This is how I plan to make it through. 

1. Neck Pillow and noise canceling headphones. Seems like common sense right? Well the key here is quality. Nothing will tick you off faster than watching your companions and the whole rest of the freaking plane sleep and you can’t. And anger is not a good emotion for trying to get to sleep. I purchased my wonderful, amazing neck pillow from www.cabeau.com. It is a memory foam pillow that provides great support all around your neck and can be adjusted based on how you sleep. And bonus! folds up into a small little travel bag. The Noise canceling headphones can be tricky because of how bulky they are. I found a little travel headband on Groupon with built in headphone, that wrap snuggly around your head. I figure if I can have some soothing sounds of rain I am good. 
2. Snacks: Now this goes for everyone you are traveling with. I have had situations that I have just been starving upon arrival because the airline food was just not that great. This time I plan on packing granola bars and some gummy fruit snacks (clearly for the kid…clearly) for us to munch on. Again…trying to avoid Heather pissy-pants upon arrival. 

Again, this was not an all inclusive list but just some thoughts regarding getting ready for travel with a child. I am so excited to get the adventure underway! Pass the sugar!

Treat Yourself First

Money makes me very angry sometimes usually because it seems like there is not enough to go around. When my husband and I first got married we had loads of debt, anything from student loans to a bunch of crap we put on credit cards. It seemed like our entire paychecks went to pay bills and we had little to nothing left over. I would cry as I opened what seemed like bill after bill. I cried mainly because I realized how many foolish decisions I had made financially while in college. I really wish someone had sat me down and said, look you need to chill the eff out, because you are going to regret this for...oh a decade or so. Yup folks, a decade.

In the years since those times things of course have gotten better, it had to or we wouldn't have survived. All the credit cards from college are paid off and we now only have three, one for each of us and one joint one for when the world ends and the only they accept is MasterCard. I am now 15 months away from paying off my student loans which is just amazing to me. I learned a lot about myself, my family and financial stability along this train wreck of a financial journey. A concept I want to talk about today is called pay yourself first. Now there are a lot of ideas about what this means and we take two theory's into consideration in my house. The first being, make sure to take some money right off the top of your paycheck and put it in an emergency savings account. The second, allow yourself to enjoy the fruits of your labor, or as I call it "treat yourself first." I realized I got really angry at my husband and life in general because I felt like I was working for nothing. Sure we were paying off bills like gangbusters but I never felt like I got to enjoy my earnings, at all.

We decided to allow ourselves to start doing something really small with each of our paychecks, honestly just to make ourselves feel better. So I started to take $10 from each paycheck (I get paid twice a month) and I get a little something for myself. It has become a challenge to see what all I can get for $10 and as it turns out with a little planning and sometimes coupons  it is quite a lot. It has become a game of sorts and as a recovering shopaholic this helps me keep the beast at bay. Here are some of the things I do with my $10:

• Hair trim (such a small thing but makes me feel loads better)
• Coupon @Ulta. When you have the $3.50 off $10 you can actually get about $13 worth of products and still be in budget.
• Coupon at Drugstores for new makeup-Drugstores like Walgreens and CVS always have sales going on so I buy stuff for a little "me time."
• Matinee movie with a friend, no concessions: we each pay for ourselves and bring our big purses.
• Lunch with a girlfriend
• Book purchase: now this one might mean I have to save for 2-3 paychecks depending on the book. I do have a Nook though and can usually find cheap classic books that I have never read. I also visit my local library (FREE) depending on the book.

In a world where it seems like there is a cost for everything and it is just never ending I hope that my little idea might give you some insight on how to make you even just a little more happy in your life.