I Am Successful

Recently, I was asked what it means to be successful.  Of course, I naturally thought that being successful meant that you had a lot of money, nice cars, a nice house, etc.  But, after I thought about it, I realized that success may have a little to do with money but not everything.  I have not succeeded in everything that I want in life but I am successful in many things.  People take too many things for granted so I am determined to make sure that I take nothing for granted in my life.

I have succeeded in coming this far in school while being a mother.  I know I will get my degree and even go on to further my education.

Even though my job sucks and is nothing more than just an hourly minimum wage job, I am successful at it.

I have been successful at being a mother and showing my son the things I value in life and would like him to value as well.

We're certainly not rich, we have no savings because, well, we are bad with money, and things just keep coming up!  We don't have an amazing, new car but it drives and it's safe.  We don't have our own home but we do have a really decent apartment.  We don't get to take great vacations to beautiful beaches but we do get to spend a family day at the lake.  

We both get to see our son every day and spend time as a family.  We get to have food on the table every day, even if it has to be takeout because we are too tired to cook.  

We are happy...so I'd say that's pretty successful in itself.

Swagbucks. No, It's Not a Gimmick!

I rarely ever write reviews of products (or anything). I barely even write here, for that matter! I just don't have the time, or the energy, nor do I really care about writing product reviews. The biggest pet peeve I have about most bloggers is that they write almost no actual posts by themselves. They usually write about something that was given to them for free or that they were paid to write. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with a sponsored post..it's just wrong when you write nothing BUT sponsored posts. I'd really like to hear your thoughts based on your actual opinions, not favoring some company just because you like it.

Anyway, after going on a tangent, I'd like to introduce you to Swagbucks. If you have no idea what it is, it's a website where you do tasks, take surveys, watch videos, etc., all to earn "swag bucks". When you earn a certain amount of swag bucks, you can use them to buy products from their store such as Ipads, jewelry, clothing, and gift cards. You can also just trade in the bucks for Paypal dollars, which is what I do. I've been a member since February and have cashed in about $300 dollars worth of swag bucks. Now, that may not seem like it's a lot of money since it only comes out to be about $50 a month but, considering that I had to do almost nothing for it, I'm pretty happy with it. I just run the videos while I'm doing other things on the computer, run the app on my cellphone while driving (it just runs on it's on! I don't have to even look at my phone!), and take surveys once or twice a day to make the daily goal.

The best part about it (to me) is that I started Swagbucks solely for spending money.  I was tired of hearing Anthony complain that I spend too much money on baby carriers, so I decided that I would use Swagbucks to make money in order to buy more carriers.  This way, he can't complain that I'm using "hard-earned money" to "waste" on carriers! 

Basically, you should give it a try!  It's easy! Sign up here!

Oh, and I was NOT paid for this post.  Although, if you use my link (above), I will earn some swag bucks from your search wins!  Full disclosure here =)

We Went to the Bristol Renaissance Faire!

Today was opening day for the Bristol Renaissance Faire in Wisconsin.  My uncle invited us to go along with him, claiming that opening weekend is the best time to go, so we decided to go on a whim (this morning!).  Anthony had to work so I took Leo by myself, which scared me a little.  I'm pretty used to being alone with him but not for a whole day away from home.  It wasn't so bad, haha!

 Leo tried beignets for the first time.  He thought they were alright but much preferred the powdered sugar.  He licked all of it off of my beignet and then continued to dip his fingers in the sugar to eat it. It even came to the point where he was licking it off the table.  Addicted much?

 

He also went on his first "amusement park" ride today.  He seemed like he would be okay and I thought he would enjoy it with his friends.

 Everything still seems okay!

 Then, everything changed!  They had to stop the ride to get him off.  Maybe next year little man!  It's too bad we already bought tickets to Knotsberry Farm for our LA trip at the end of the month.  I don't think he's going to enjoy any rides.  Hopefully riding with Mommy or Daddy will make it better!

 Luckily I brought the stroller!  We babywear most all of the time, so much that this stroller had dust and cobwebs on it when I pulled it out this morning!  We haven't used it since last summer, when we bought it insisting that we would jog with it (hahaha to that).  Anthony insisted that I wouldn't need it and that I could just wear Leo but I figured I'd bring it *just* in case.  He didn't want to be worn because he was just too hot!  The stroller allowed him to get a good hours nap.

I did see quite a few babywearer's though, which is great!  I hardly ever see any but I saw at least 10 today so that makes me happy!

 He woke up feeling nice and refreshed!

 We saw some camels!  We didn't ride one because Leo was still too small.

 And saw the "Aerial Fairy".  There are always a lot of men watching her shows!

 Leo felt the need to take a selfie.

 Leo definitely enjoyed spending time with the girls.  It was great to have them around to run after him everywhere.

 And he finally had his first pony ride!  Of course, I had to take multiple pictures.  He was a little scared at first but had fun once I started to say, "Horses go ba-boom-ba-boom-ba-boom", which he would then repeat.  He also learned that horses say "Neigh!" so we repeated that during the whole ride.  Hopefully he will love horses as much as I do!

We're planning on going again later this summer with Anthony.  I'm curious to see how Leo will react since he'll probably remember having gone!  I'm hoping we get to sit down to watch some shows and listen to music next time!

Cheeks is no longer with us

 

Well, he's not dead =). My dad recently moved though and his dog, Kiko, was having a really hard time adjusting. Kiko and Cheeks get along really well so my dad had Cheeks "visit" for awhile.  Well, it's apparent that Cheeks no longer wants to come home and is more than happy to live with my dad.  I suppose he got tired of a crazy toddler jumping on him and riding him like a pony.  Even though he's not really gone, he's still missed around here!!  Leo still tends to jump on him when he sees him at my dads about 2-3 times a week (so Cheeks hasn't totally escaped!).  Doc and Xavi seem to really miss him, their fearless leader has left and these two don't have enough leadership material to step up to the plate!

I hate the Holidays

I can't be the only one, right? To me, it's just a giant pain in the butt. We have to go out and buy a tree, I have to decorate it, then I have to clean up the house for guests, and clean up after the tree, and then, when it's all over, I have to clean again. I hate cleaning, with a passion, so the Holidays just means I get to do something I hate for my entire winter break. I thought my winter break was supposed to be a relaxing time off from school. I'm always wrong! And you'd think that Anthony would be willing to help me, right? Wrong! He's always "too tired" after coming home from work. Don't you think I'm tired after running around after a toddler who's learning how to run, climb on the oven, desk, etc, as well as color on EVERYTHING with pens he finds who knows where, and cooking and cleaning? Plus, I am the only one who actually walks the dogs, while carrying the toddler on my back. Plus, he's bragged before about how all he does at work some days is watch netflix on his computer. Seriously? SERIOUSLY? And you want to tell me you're so exhausted when you come home that you can't even take out the garbage?!?! Not only do I have to clean but I have to go out and buy gifts for people with money that I don't actually have. I never know what to buy people! Of course, there are things that I know people would really like but they're always way out of my price range. Luckily, my sister and I agreed that we would just put a small cap on gifts for each other this year. We decided a ten dollar limit would be just fine for something small and cute. However, I went over the limit with her a little because I found something for $15 that is perfect for her. I can't even buy the gifts for Leo that I would like (a year long pass to the children's museum) so I think I'm going to end up selling some of my baby carriers to fund it. And to top off my Christmas Hell, we have to do Christmas at our apartment. Nevermind that my parents have a huge house with a full kitchen and a nice dining table that sits at least 8-10 people, and even more if you add all of the extenders to it. We have a pretty large apartment, but not large enough to comfortably fit 8 people plus Leo's highchair. Our table sat 5 people at Thanksgiving, and that was it. Leo couldn't even sit at the table, his chair was a little off to the side next to me. Oh, and since we're hosting, we're cooking...which means we have to buy all of the food. How is this fair?!?! I just cannot wait until January, when things will be back to normal and I can breathe and take a nap or something fun like that.

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This year has gone by so fast

Obviously, I haven't posted since Leo started walking, which was back in the summer. This semester has been living hell. My classes have been AWFUL and require a lot of work. I'm still working, and working doubles a lot of days. And I still have to be a mommy, first and foremost. I haven't had time for anything else (my house is a freaking mess!) Luckily, this week is finals week. I look forward to being able to spending more time with my baby boy (who is no longer a baby =(!). Hopefully I'll remember to post more often!! Follow my blog with Bloglovin