Shattered Glass & a #Novica Giveaway!

You know what sucks? When you spend a bunch of time preparing a delicious family dinner and you're about to sit down to eat and your mouth is watering, but you need a drink to go along side. That's when you open the cabinet where the glasses are and one falls out and smashes into a zillion pieces all over the kitchen. Not only does this delay your meal, now you have to worry about glass shards for weeks that you might have missed during the clean up and you're now down one wine glass.

I believe things happen for a reason. Yes, even broken glass while my stomach is yearning for dinner. This all happened because I was meant to buy new, pretty wine glasses. Even more awesome? The people of NOVICA were in touch the following day wanting to work together again. Yes, please.

Aren't they gorgeous?

NOVICA has gathered artists and artisans from around the world to offer you handcrafted items that sing.

  

Lucky for you, NOVICA has extended a $50 gift certificate for me to give to one of you. How great is that?

Simply leave a comment (be sure to include your email address) if you would like to win. Want extra entries? Tweet or share the link to this giveaway on Facebook, come back and leave another comment linking to it, and you got yourself another entry. The winner will be announced on Monday, July 2nd. You will have 24 hours to collect your prize or another winner will be chosen.

Good luck!

Moving Forward - - Living the Life We're Meant to Live

I used to be excited to call myself a resident of Florida. Living here was easy but lately, I'm talking the past several years, it has been way too hot for majority of the year. Doing anything outdoorsy has been a chore when actually acted upon (Last weekend I slathered sun block all over my three year old and we hit the beach. After being there for ten minutes he said he "hated it" and wanted out.). Most of the time, I keep to my air conditioned home. It's easy and way more comfortable. Over the past year, there were only a handful of  "open the windows" days.

The next year is going to be filled with changes for my family and I. My oldest will be a senior in high school and once he graduates, we're moving onward to build the life we're meant to live. That means...leaving the Sunshine State (and quite happily I might add).

Where will we go? This is to be decided. I have a list of States I would love to end up living in, but I don't know how my husband and I will finally decide. There's so much to consider!

My picks? Washington (State), Pennsylvania, Virginia or North Carolina. Living on (or very near) a coast is simply a must. Since my husband recently finished getting his degree in Network Administration, being near a big(ish) city is also a must so he can have a fulfilling career in the industry. I'm adamant about being able to comfortably enjoy the outdoors year-round. I realize that means embracing the fact that snow will once again be involved (I lived in New Jersey for the first nineteen years of my life and my husband and I lived in Colorado for six). Give and take, yes?

Up until three years ago, we've always lived in apartments. It has its positives and negatives. It was nice not having to worry about caring for the grounds and such. Now we live in a house and it's so fantastic not having to worry about the people above, below, or next to you (sharing a wall). We also have a garage which is a blessing in disguise. I figure, if we rent a house with a garage big enough for both our cars to fit, we'll be one step ahead of snowy weather. The other night we were joking about having to shovel snow. Then we're all, duh, we have sons for that AND snow blowers have come a long way. I'm down for snowman building, sleigh riding, hot chocolate filled, lazy Winter days. Especially after dealing with the deadly heat that has become Florida, yuck! Four seasons, what a concept.

I've been looking into Sequim, WA specifically this week. It's a few hours drive time from Seattle and has the lowest rainfall of the entire State (most people hear Washington and instantly think of nothing but rain). I'm drawn to the idea of having both the ocean and the mountains within reach. The pictures of the city blow me away. I realize this isn't much to go on for such a big life changing decision, but it's what I have. For now.

Berry picking!

Lavender

Photo Credit {The first six photos} via Kay of the Sequim Daily Photo Blog {Remaining three photos via Google Images}

How about you? Do you love where you live? Have you ever been to any of the States I've mentioned? Sell me on it.

Michael {Myers} vs. Jason {Voorhees}

I was in and out of sleep all night. It's not what you think. This wasn't a case of the "I can't sleeps". No. It was my dreams keeping me from slumber.


Here's the thing. I have a crush on Michael Myers. Yes, blue jumpsuit...white mask...butcher knife...traps young women in closets...doesn't talk (probably my favorite part).

Where am I going with this? I was dreaming about Jason Voorhees (think hockey mask minus the NHL) last night!
 
GASP! It was as if I was cheating on my beloved.

One minute my eyes were closed and I was running from Jason and next it was like some sexual fantasy. Like...it was foreplay. 

I kept waking myself from this nonsense. I lay in bed all shaken up trying to get the visions to leave...I even splashed cold water on my face but every time I closed my eyes, that damn beat the fuck up hockey mask returned.  And seriously? Jason? He's coated in mud half the time and I'm a clean freak!

Isn't he a vision?

I'm damn exhausted and not just from all the running I did last night in my dreams. I got no sleep!

And? I have this overwhelming urge to watch Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan. Nobody ever wants to watch that mess of a film. Hell, I wouldn't even call it a film. It's more of a fairy tale gone awry.

Quick! Someone tell me where to purchase a pumpkin this time of year. I need to carve the shit out of one stat. It's the only solution I can think of to swindle Mr. Blue Jumpsuit back into my arms. 

I wonder if Michael will ever forgive me?

How does the average person do this thing called life without medication?

I've been at work for exactly 23 minutes. It's my first day without taking anxiety medication at the office. At home it has been a breeze. Here? I'm already choking for air to come into my lungs. Big, heaving breaths.

I've been reliving yesterday in my head since about 11pm last night. Sleep was rough. When my alarm kept going off every ten minutes, I almost chucked it at the wall.

Last night at dinner was like any other. We broke bread over strange conversation. My oldest asked something along the lines of, "You know what's stupid?" and the middle son chimed in, "Your face?"...from there we ended up talking about storks delivering babies to our house...only the middle son was all, "You mean a pelican?" and I laughed so hard I almost needed mouth to mouth. Kind of like how I feel right now, only under different circumstances. It's weird how things can shift so quickly.

When it comes to my kids, they drive me bat shit crazy. Pretty much as long as they're awake, I'm trying not to lose it. On them. But just like sibling rivalry, when someone messes with my kids, I'll drop any grudge I'm holding in the moment and protect them. It's how it's supposed to be.

My son's heart was chewed up, mangled and thrown to the ground for continuous stomping last night. He's only thirteen but that doesn't change how he was feeling. There was nothing I could do. In fact, my husband handled it because I couldn't. This is going to take place at least three dozen more times before he finds "the one" and yet I sit here crushed because he's crushed.

I want to fix it for him because I'm "the mom" but I can't. Instead I sit here, heart thumping, hoping my phone doesn't ring because he's lost it at school. A broken heart makes you do funny things. He's an emotional child as it is and even though I knew this day would come, I didn't think it would be so soon.

I want to place my kids inside a bubble so no harm can come to them. I want to protect them from future heart breaks over girls and everything else. I want to be their human shield. I know that's just silly. These are life events that will make them grow stronger. These events will form them into men who have to fight their own battles. I guess this means that starts at a young age. For us, that's thirteen...