Identity Crisis

Lately, I've been feeling like I have an identity crisis brewing.  Maybe it because of Pinterest.  Maybe it is because I have been reminiscing of my single mom days and wanting to watch the Gilmore Girls.  I don't know.  But I do know that I feel like I need a change.  I want to look less like the mom who hangs out in her stylish sweatpants all day, and more like the women whose style I admire.  In the past few months, I've stopped wearing makeup, and barely style my hair.  Definitely NOT the woman my husband married almost five years ago.  Back then I had long blonde hair and always wore makeup.  I also worked out.  Now I have reddish brown hair, and although I try, I am lucky if I get a jog in every two weeks.
So, I've been looking for ideas on Pinterest.  I've never been a fashionista, but I do like to look nice.  And now thanks to Polyvore and Pinterest, I can find outfit ideas already put together, right down to the accessories, as well as hairstyle ideas and how-to tutorials for makeup application.  Of course, our family budget doesn't exactly allow a lot of new clothes, but stylish pieces can be bought on sale at various stores in our area, and just one or two pieces may be just what I need to make me feel stylish again.
As for my hair, well, I can't have it highlighted right now, and I learned that doing it at home is not something I can do well.  (The last time I tried, I ended up looking like a spotted leopard and had to make an emergency trip to my stylist.)  So for now, I will just have to be more diligent about styling it in different ways.
Working out is going to be a challenge, that is for sure.  But if I want to run in some 5K's this year and in the Spartan Race with my husband next summer, I need to figure out a way to work this in to my busy schedule. Sometimes I wish my sister or sister-in-law lived in my neighborhood so we could go on jogs together.  But maybe we could each keep an online log of our workouts and inspire each other that way.
Anyway, here are some of my favorite "style" things from Pinterest:

Polyvore.com

hollie29, polyvore.com

fashionworship.com

kristen-344.polyvore.com

blogs.babble.com

Want to see more of what I've been finding on Pinterest?  Click on the Follow Me icon on the right side of the page.  And please feel free to share where you find your style inspiration in the comments below!

Why Not Share Wednesday!

Today is our first ever Why Not Share Wednesday.  Just check on the right hand side of the page to get the link tool to share your family friendly blog post.  And don't forget to share this blog's link on your page!
You can use the following link info to share Four Kids and a Josh:

<a href=http://www.inlinkz.com/script.php?id=175618&nojump=1&key=IL2.MHiGRbM6I>get the InLinkz code</a>

Have fun!

Hello, Home for Dinner with Jamie Deen

Recently I caught an episode of Home for Dinner with Jamie Deen on the Food Network channel.  I have to tell you, I fell in love with this show.

First of all, when I watched Jamie Deen doing his thing in the kitchen, it didn't feel like I was watching a celebrity chef.  It felt like I was sitting in an old friend's kitchen talking to him while he was preparing some food.  When I get the rare opportunity to watch Rachel Ray or Sandra Lee, I don't get that feeling.  I feel like I am watching a celebrity chef cooking on TV.  But not with Jamie Deen.  And that made me want to keep watching.
Second, I LOVE his kitchen.  It is small, like an average home's kitchen would be.  In fact, I think his kitchen is smaller than mine!  But there are a lot of windows to let in warm bright sunshine, and it looks really comfortable.  And I can watch all the preparation and cooking without having to watch Jamie Deen walk this way and that way.  It stays pretty central.  I like that a lot.  Because in my kitchen, everything is pretty centrally located, and it makes more sense to me to have a cooking show that reflects how the average home is set up.
And third, this guys eats dinner with his family.  I love this part of the show so much that it has inspired me to reclaim our dining room and start eating dinner at the table again, instead of in front of the television.  Which the irony of this kind of makes me laugh...a television show inspiring me me to turn off the television.  I am so excited at the prospect of getting all the excess junk out of our dining room and redecorating it to make it more comfortable and inviting.  And I'm going to do it with as little money as possible.  With NO money, if possible.  Huh, now there's a challenge, isn't there?
Anyway, I just had to share my love for this show with you all.  Hopefully you too will be inspired to be "home for dinner" with your family too. Oh yes, and you can find out more about Jamie Deen's show at http://www.foodnetwork.com/chefs/jamie-deen/index.html.  Enjoy!

Making Mommy Dearest Look Good

Yesterday was one of those days when I made Mommy Dearest look good.  At least the first half of the day I did, anyway.
Eloise is in the fun stage known as "potty training".  And normally she does really well.  But yesterday morning was not her best day.  And I yelled at her.  I let her know I was NOT happy.  I yelled at Cassandra, because she had given me teen attitude.  I let them both know in no uncertain terms that I was angry.  And then after lunch, I yelled at Eloise again.  I threatened to throw her Elmo lunch plate in the garbage.  It was so bad that she asked me through her tears if I could please be happy now.  That was a wake up call, and I felt absolutely horrible.  She had done nothing more than simply be her two-year-old self.  And apparently I was being a two-year-old too, throwing a tantrum because I was tired and things weren't going my way.
These tender young hearts were given to me by the grace of God to love and protect, and I was hurting them.  I asked God for forgiveness, and then I spent the rest of the day doing my best to make up for my hurtful actions.  I grew up with angry outbursts being the norm, and I try very hard to not be that way with my own children.  I just pray that God will give me the patience and grace and strength to not make Mommy Dearest look good ever again.

The $20.00 Food Experiment

This week I am doing a little experiment with my 17 year old daughter, Cassandra.  In order to help her learn the valuable life skill of planning meals and budgeting her food dollars, she is being given $20.00 to buy an entire week's worth of groceries for her own meals, which she must also prepare on her own.  I got this idea from Owlhaven.net.  Wonderful ideas that woman has!  I'll be sharing the rules of this experiment and having Cassandra do a guest post on her experience with this in the Recipes section tomorrow.

The Proverbs 31 Challenge

For the next 10 weeks (or so), I will be taking the Proverbs 31 Challenge.  Sound interesting?  Click on the tab above to learn more!