by Sarah | Jul 3, 2021 | All About Erik, All About Family, All About Home, All About Me, All of Us, Redefining Perfect
Sundays are my ‘free day’. Homework done, I’d just finished up working overnight and had to reset my schedule for class on Monday. Perfect for watching movies with the hubby. Problem was, the conversation always went like this:
“Do you want to watch Alien?”
“Eh.”
“What about Mission Impossible?”
“Not really.”
“Oh, there’s always Star Trek.”
“Not really in the mood.”
“Comedy? We could do Gross Pointe Blank.”
“Eh…”
“What about…”
On and on the endless cycle went. I hardly ever said yes to anything. We have over 2000 movies in our house, plus an extended library thanks to streaming and…eh.
I could tell I was in the mood for something, but nothing ever sounded good.
Thus, the movie jar was born.
The rules are simple, whatever we pull, we watch. No exceptions.
There are movies we both like, movies one of us likes more. (Seriously, this is how I got Erik to watch The Hunger Games) There are 80’s movies, sci-fi, action, Disney/Kids movies, you name it.
Through this method for the past 3 months we’ve watched the likes of The Goonies, Pacific Rim, 9, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, In Time, Mission Impossible 3, even Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and the ridiculous Paul.
There’s been one movie we did not finish (Bliss on the zon. We were both…ugh and done halfway through). There’s been movies that we just sort of wanted to watch when we pulled them, but we watched anyway and have not regretted them.
We’ve both seen movies we would have otherwise never seen (see above about Hunger Games), and we’ve both enjoyed movies we never expected to.
It’s been so much fun, and a great way to spend my most exhausted day together (I always work Saturday nights). I recommend it for anyone that loves watching movies, but has a hard time deciding what to watch.
Do you have any recommendations for the jar? We’ll take anything you have to offer. Give us a movie we’ve never even heard of. We can take it.
by Sarah | May 1, 2020 | All About Home, All of Us, Blogging Life, Redefining Perfect
It’s been a rough month for us all. Isolation and quarantine sounds good in theory, but the reality is overwhelming to so many. I have been battling depression, as has my husband, and so many of my friends. We’re trying to keep upbeat and positive in a world gone mad.
In response, a friend of mine started a group on Facebook she’s called “Kindness Club”. We all have wish lists on Amazon and we share happy posts, recipes, and general kindness….and we use those lists to send each other happy mailings. It can be something as little as a couple of bucks, or something bigger. Whatever we can spare to give each other a little cheer.
It’s been an amazing experience, and it got me thinking on other ways to spread a little love and kindness.
Animal Shelters, charities, they all have wish lists too. So I’ve pulled up several of my favorite places, and found their wish lists and plan on donating something to each of them…whether in cash or something off of their wish list. It makes me feel good to do something nice and give someone else some cheer in their mail.
Here’s my current list, and I encourage you to click one of these links, or to find your own favorite charity and see how you can help today. Even the smallest donation is appreciated more than you know.
- Southside Animal Shelter in Indianapolis. They have been on my feed for a long time, and even though I’m no longer in the Indy area, I still want to support them. They have two ways to help, cash donations and an Amazon Wish List. CLICK HERE to help out.
- Humane Society of Marion County. This one is here in Florida. I really, really want to help them out by fostering, but my husband would kill me. Instead, I’m perusing their Amazon Wish List for something to donate.
- Give Kids the World Village. This place means the world to my family and so many others. It’s, unfortunately, closed right now due to the pandemic…but they create magical experiences for so very many people. They don’t have an amazon wish list, but they do have a wish list on their site. CLICK HERE to find it (they are called “in kind” donations). You can also find a few other ways to help out on their site. For more information on how they impact families, check out my story, or my friend Matt’s story.
- Misty Eyes Animal Center. This is where we got our girl, Ripley (her story HERE). They’re a wonderful organization and I’m happy to support them in some small way through their Amazon Wish List.
- Make A Wish. Oh, how amazing they are. Thanks to them we went to Disney/Universal (Twice!), and realized it was our dream to move to Florida. I even volunteered at the Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky branch for a while (until it was time to move). Our kids got to experience some real magic thanks to their Wishes. They have SO MANY ways to donate. Airline miles, car rentals, hotel points…and in-kind donations. You can find all of the amazing ways to donate HERE.
- Black Pine Animal Sanctuary. For all of you Tiger King fans…I hope you’ve learned that places like that are actually horrible for these majestic animals. Places like Black Pine are a sanctuary for animals rescued from people like him, and many other horrible situations. They have lions, and tigers, and bears (oh my!)…as well as a great variety of others such as foxes, wolves, galagos, parrots, turtles, an alligator, and so many others. I was fortunate enough to visit this place on my big 40th birthday weekend. It’s beautiful and all they do is amazing. They have several ways to donate from several different sources (including Amazon). You can find them all HERE.
I hope something in my list inspires you. If you want, just reach out to a friend and see if they have a wish list.
Inspiring each other, and spreading love & kindness….it will help us get through this. Together.
Do you have any charities you can recommend for giving? These are all dear to me, but I’m always open to suggestions!
by Sarah | Apr 7, 2020 | All About Denver, All About Erik, All About Family, All About Home, All About Kennedy, All About Me, All About Molly, All of Us, Blogging Life, Redefining Perfect
I honestly had no idea what day it was today.
Had a minor panic attack thinking I had to work tomorrow (I don’t), and that we were already on Wednesday and I’d done nothing. NOTHING.
I have finals in less than two weeks.
My adult child is living under our roof again (temporarily).
I haven’t been to Disney since February (and I’m officially going to miss my first ever Flower and Garden Festival that I’ve been so excited to see)
I work in health care…and my floor is the Covid floor.
Hubby’s job has been declared an “essential business”, but if they don’t make sales, then they may not stay open.
The girls are both succeeding, and failing, at the homeschool thing…it’s a total yo-yo day to day.
I have 2 kids in the “danger zone” due to their Cystic Fibrosis (atypical though their cases may be) – and I work on THE floor.
I can’t do normal grocery shopping because everyone else is panic shopping.
But it’s okay. We’re all okay.
Right now we are making it by just fine.
We’re all healthy.
My family back in Indiana is still healthy. My family in Buffalo is still healthy.
My eldest is reading a book (WHAT?).
Birthday gifts for our apocalypse birthday girls have been purchased.
I’m baking bread (this is a pre-apocalypse thing I haven’t done since Indiana), and desserts, and making soups.
I’m crafting. I’m writing.
We have food. We have water. We are safe.
The weather is beautiful.
We are okay.
We are in a weird wonderland where we are all mad here.
But we are okay.
The world is changing, I hope for the better. I hope when this is all done we see what can and should be done.
Right now we’re still working through the trauma, and we have been traumatized, all of us…but I hope we do better after this.
I hope we see the companies that did right by their people, and those that did wrong. That we see what we could be, trauma aside, what a world we can live in.
Until then, I hope we are all okay.
A little mad in wonderland….
But Okay.
How are you holding up out there? How are you coping? Have you tried something new? Or are you just trying to hold it together? Either way it’s fine, you take care of you. Please.
by Sarah | Jun 17, 2019 | All About Denver, All About Erik, All About Family, All About Home, All About Kennedy, All About Me, All About Molly, All About Ripley, All of Us, Blogging Life, Disney, Disney Mom, Florida Dreaming, Oola, Redefining Perfect, Universal, Universal Studios Mom
It’s been over a month since the last update and unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know where we are at.
WE ARE IN FLORIDA!!!
After my last post, things went very quick.
I moved ahead of the hubs and kids, and my first month here in Florida deserves (and will soon get) a post of its own. It was an adventure, I’ll give you that much. A good adventure, or a bad one, I still don’t even know.
Anyhow…the husband and kids have finally joined me.
We have a home.
We’re settled around The Villages area, which my self-adopted pops calls “Heavens Waiting Room”…and he’s not wrong. lol.
However, it’s beautiful here. Our new (rented) home is much bigger than our last, and though it needs a lot of work, we’re looking forward to making progress.
We’re still waiting on our main piece of furniture (another month, oy)…but otherwise we’re settling in.
Erik has a lead on a potential job in a surprising place (more when I know more. No jinxing it).
The girls have been granted placement in the charter school, I just need to get all of their paperwork together and get them in for physicals so we can make it officially official.
The girls have their own rooms, and I still have an office space of sorts.
I’ve been at my new job for a month, and it’s going well. I’m looking into some new possibilities in my plans for the future, and life is just opening all sorts of possibilities.
In short…life isn’t perfect (it wasn’t before and I didn’t expect it to magically right itself because of our location)…but we are excited to make it work.
So from now own, there will be no more countdowns, but plenty of updates.
by Sarah | Apr 29, 2019 | All About Denver, All About Erik, All About Family, All About Home, All About Kennedy, All About Me, All About Molly, All About Ripley, All of Us, Blogging Life, Disney, Disney Mom, Florida Dreaming, Oola, Redefining Perfect, Universal, Universal Studios Mom
*disclaimer* I am writing this over a week before publication. All information is subject to change. I’ll try to update if that happens, but I’m packing and moving and all the things…sooo…
It’s been over a month since the last update and a LOT has happened.
I mean, a LOT.
Namely…
WE ARE MOVING!!!
After months of a lot of nothing and nowhere interviews…I had a great interview about two weeks ago that led to a job offer.
My notice has been turned in at work, I’ve worked my last day, Erik has turned in his notice.
I’m on a packing, cleaning, planning, freaking out, ecstatic, so much to do rampage…all while trying to spend time with hubby and kids before I go…
Yeah, before I go. The kids are still in school so Erik & the girls won’t be down for another month after I head down.
That means I get a month to explore, learn the ropes, and FIND A HOUSE.
Yeah, no house yet. No job for hubby yet either.
It’s gonna be a squeeze, but I know it’s going to pan out.
It’s time to move on, out of Indiana.
My target was June, 2019.
My entire family will be in Florida in June, 2019.
I love it when a plan comes together.
by Sarah | Mar 18, 2019 | All About Denver, All About Erik, All About Family, All About Home, All About Kennedy, All About Me, All About Molly, All About Ripley, All of Us, Blogging Life, Disney, Disney Mom, Florida Dreaming, Oola, Redefining Perfect, Universal, Universal Studios Mom
*disclaimer* I am writing this over a week before publication. All information is subject to change. I’ll try to update if that happens, but I’m working a LOT, so it’s not 100%
It’s been a month of a whole lot and a whole lot of nothing.
Erik and I both got no’s from our interviews last month. However, they were exceptionally positive no’s as both of the managers liked us and wanted to hire but there were key things preventing it from happening. Both of us were asked if they could keep our resume, and keep in touch in hopes they could find the right fit.
So while nothing happened with those, they had positive feedback and left some hope that they could eventually work out.
I have had another interview in the interim. It went pretty well, but I have not yet heard back.
I’m not worried, though. Every time I think about the move and us getting to Florida I keep hearing “June. June. June.” Every single time.
So, I’m thinking June may be our month.
In the mean time we are starting the long road of packing up 16 years of our lives. I started on my office last week in some time off from work. Packed up all but a few books, with one last large stack to go to half price. I threw away three bags of trash in the process of cleaning out my office. It’s not done yet, but it’s close in there.
The girls took a cue from me, apparently, and cleaned/packed much of their room. I heard a rumor that several bags of trash went out during the process there as well.
No, we don’t have jobs yet. That means we certainly don’t have a house yet…but once things happen, they’ll happen fast and the more we prepare ahead, the less we’ll be pressured at that time. Well, that’s the theory at least. 😉
It’s weird living in a house of boxes…but it’s also nice to be just chucking so much excess we’d built up over the years.
So no major news yet…but it’s coming. In the mean time we are keeping the faith, keeping our hopes up, and keeping busy.
Sundays are my ‘free day’. Homework done, I’d just finished up working overnight and had to reset my schedule for class on Monday. Perfect for watching movies with the hubby. Problem was, the conversation always went like this:
The rules are simple, whatever we pull, we watch. No exceptions.
