Talk To Us Tuesday~ Stand For The Silent

Welcome to TTUT, I am so excited to tell you that in just 2 more days I will be enjoying the company of my co host IA live and in person! I'm sure you've heard me mention it a time or 12 before, I'm just a little excited to see her! And JK, Viv, Becca, Jen, and Connie too of course,w e're gonna tear up California! Go ahead and take just a second to hate me.


I was all prepared with a fun post about our upcoming trip and I was going to link up with Emmy for her 10 Things To Smile About until I attended an event at Honeys school tonight. As a result this will be a serious post...I will not apologize.

We had a guest speaker come to our high school today. He and his wife fly across the country on their own dime to share their story, to help make sure that what happened to them doesn't happen to anyone else.


Kirk and Laura Smalley buried their son 716 days ago after he took his own life on their bedroom floor. He was the victim of bullying. He had enough. He would be celebrating his 12th birthday in just 2 weeks. His name was Ty Smalley.


His Father Kirk gave an emotional talk to the freshman class at Honeys high school this morning and came back again tonight to speak to the public. He was admittedly an unpolished speaker but what he lacked in public speaking finesse he made up in real, raw, passion and heartache.


My girls had the honor of helping him on stage, they read the bio of 2 children who have also ended their pain from bullying by taking their own lives. Honey lead those willing to make a difference in a pledge and Peanut asked a few prepared questions about following through with that commitment. 


The statistics that he shared were staggering. Suicide is the number 2 cause of death in children ages 10-24, second only to auto accidents. I had no clue! As this heartbroken father made eye contact with me with tears streaming down his face and asked that I, we, help make this stop I swore to him I would do my part.


Before he spoke he walked to the picture of his son on stage and talked to him, maybe he was praying, either way it was the most emotional thing I have ever witnessed. I sat through his 1 hour program with a painful lump in my throat, a rock in my chest, and tears rolling down my cheeks.

Kirk carries with him a list of 800 names, all children who have killed themselves as a result of bullying. The youngest name on his list...6. 


I have to help. I will Stand For the Silent and I know 100% that after listening to this man pour his heart out so will my girls! No child should ever feel so helpless as to believe that their only was out is to end their life and no parent should have to bury their child as a result!


For more information on scheduling a time for the Samlley's to visit your town or to make a donation so they can continue to help others go here.

It's a win, win!

Honey is wrapping up her junior year of high school, for those go you who either have children that age or remember it yourself this is a crazy time. SAT and ACT testing, college applications, scholarship forms, campus tours, and looking at prices have sadly become a large part of our life. I say sadly, because I do not want to believe for a minute that my girl will be leaving me soon. Honey has a plan, a pretty good plan if you ask me, and I believe that she is going to succeed beautifully. 


Luckily we took advantage of a program here in Florida where we were able to pay for her 4 year college education at a college in our state at 1994 prices. Prices have gone up substantially leaving me more than grateful that we took advantage of this program for both girls. We still need to pay for a place for her to live, books, and spending money so again I am grateful we saved so big on her tuition. Like everyone else we are trying to find ways to cut a few corners to save a little {or in some cases a lot} of money.


Text books are not cheap but there is a way around that inflated expense. By renting her books through Campus Book Rentals we will save enough to give Momma a little shopping money her a little extra spending money. I'm not all that sure what types of books she will need, she wants to work with children that have either Autism or Down Syndrome, but I'm thinking they won't be cheap. 


Let me be honest...


The main reason we will be renting her books through Campus Book Rental is because of their involvement with Operation Smile. With every book rental they make a donation to this amazing program. Finding companies that give back is not all that common so when I stumble upon one that does I love to give them my support. Thank you Campus Books Rental for all that you're doing to help make those sweet babies smile! 


If you are in need of college books I encourage you to go take a look at  Campus Book Rentals   it's definitely a win, win! 



This is a sponsored post written by me for Campus Books Rentals. The opinions expressed are 100% mine.

Direct TV

How much TV do you watch? If you've been around my blog for any length of time than you now that I watch next to zero TV. My house is TV free all day and I love it. If I do watch something it's typically on my iPad, somehow the shows that I like to watch never end up getting recorded on the DVR...go figure.


Anyway, there have been some discussions recently at the Seriously house over which carrier we should use. Direct TV has been discussed and compared to our current company. Now I'm not nearly as naive as my sweet husband would like to believe that I am, I know he's hot for directtv because they offer the Sunday Ticket, after all the man eats, sleeps and breaths football, especially the Green Bay Packers! 


What I really want to know is a.- Can I still watch Dancing With The Stars after Babe goes to bed because her refuses to watch it with me? b.- Can we still use all four TV's independently because Lord knows I don't want to be forced to watch anything Kardashian with Honey! and c.-Will it save us enough money to allow me to escape the TV madness and get a "free" weekly pedicure? Those are the important things anyway right? I mean does it really matter that Direct TV offers five different packages and almost 300 channels, over 170 in HD?  


If you're in the market for a new TV company take just a minute and go check this website out, it may help make up your mind. www.dx3.net



This is a sponsored post written by me for Direct TV. The opinions expressed are 100% mine.

A guest post from Peanut

Today is National Bring Your Child To Work Day and since blogging is part of my "job" I have assigned Peanut with the task of writing today's post, can I tell you that she is less than thrilled. I think she would rather scrub the toilets! 

Now a word from Peanut...

This is not at all what I bargained for! How this day was supposed to go was...
  1. Sleep in really late!
  2. Have Mom make me a real GOOD breakfast!
  3. Go out and do something FUN! 
  4. Have lunch wherever I want (even if its Chik-Fil-A!)
  5. Come home and spend the rest of the day doing.......NOTHING!!!!


But obviously that's not how the day is working out for me. No, instead here I am writing about whatever is on my mind, I guess that would be that I would rather be doing school work because that doesn't get shown to all my Moms friends unlike this ridiculous blog posting stuff or whatever you bloggers call it. I don't know. But my "WONDERFUL"
Mother has insisted on it because she is to busy being the house "MAID" (um I would rather be in her shoes for once, kind of a shocker for me because I'm not the cleaning type!). But I guess that I'm happy because as I look at it it's time for third period in school with the Wicked Witch of the West (not naming names), lucky for my classmates it's the last day for the substitute or I would be laughing my......never mind. But based on the news my mother has given me I shouldn't be the one laughing at "THEM" because it's now vacuuming time for me! YAY, my "favorite" time of the day, might as well get started the faster I finish the faster I get to do something worth my day "off"!!!!

Awe, don't you just love her! I'm quite certain she wishes she had opted going to the office with her Daddy!


Did you bring your kid to work today?

TTUT ~ Mall Moves

Thanks for joining my partner in crime IA and I for another week of Talk To Us Tuesday! What are you linking up today? A juicy story, great recipe, picture overload, a crafty craft? Whatever it is we cannot wait to read all about it! 


So I will confess that I've been doing a little shopping lately, you know in preparation for my big trip to Cali in just 8 days, a girl must have new clothes for a girls trip, right?


Being at the mall has schooled me, it's sharpened my cat-like reflexes, improved my ninja skills, and enhanced my arsenal of dirty looks and one liners. I'm actually in better shape than I've been in years! 


Walking through the mall likens a stroll through the state fair with a buffet of pushers trying to sell you their goods. Hair straighteners, teeth whiteners {the people actually sitting in the dental chairs with the neon blue light in their mouth in the middle of the mall is a post all its own!}, cell phone screen protectors, and my personal favorite the Barbizon models. 


Thanks to these plethora of pushers I can fake a phone call, dodge a hot flat iron, roll my eyes, take the hem out of a skirt that is obscenely too short and 'no thanks now get out of my face' in 5 seconds flat and in three different languages.


Seriously, what does a girl have to do to walk the mall in peace?


Here's a little sneak at a few of the things I bought...


IA said I had to bring a dress, that's a little problem since I'm more of a jeans and tee kind of girl. So I sent her Janette and Boobies a text asking if I in fact needed a dress. Their response was, and I quote, "Yes, you have to be big pippin'! You need something that screams "I'm sexy and I know it". Well, I don't know if this dress does that but I do like it. I also don't know if I should trust their fashion advice, I have pictures of them that should tell me to place them on eternal fashion ignore! Girls...don't piss me off I have blackmail! 

I also picked up these super cute orange shoes, before I found the dress, for a pop of color with jeans and a tee. I also found this cute purse but when it comes to purses I'm kind of a snob, I only carry one brand so even though it's a near perfect match I'm debating returning it. I'm still on the fence on whether or not I'm going to keep the shoes too, I need to wear them around the house for a day and see if they're going to make my feet bleed before I make my final decision.

                                 

Cute finds, no? I'm loving all of the new colors this spring and I cannot wait to pack my suitcase...I may start today! 

Your turn....what are you talking about today?

instagram April challenge days 10-20

I've been a slacker on my Instagram photo challenge. I've tried, I really have but I'm still a few days behind. This is where I stand...


Days 1-3 can be found here and days 4-9 can be found here. 


Day 10~ My Transportation

I have a great SUV, although I do hate the color!

Day 11~My Space

I moved my office upstairs and I love it up here and so far I've kept it pretty clean which is huge for me! 

 Day 12~ My Eyes

I think my eyes are my best feature. Does that make me full of myself?

Day 13~ My Evening

On tournament weekends I can usually be found in a hotel sharing a queen bed with my hubby while Peanut enjoys one all to herself. This weekend we had a friend in tow and enjoyed a few laughs at dinner before settling in.

Day 14~ My Family

I am blessed...that is all! 

Day 15~ My lunch

Totally slacked on this one so I pulled this picture out of the archives. This is the lunch I shared with my girls in Austin. 

Day 16~ My Guilty Pleasures

I didn't have chips and spicy salsa on hand or that would be on here too.

Day 17~ My Favorite Stuff

There are way too many to list here but these are my most favorite.

Day 18~ My Inspiration

I get the best inspiration from this book, it is after all the only book packed with 100% truths!

Day 19~ My Hobby

I so wish I had more time to scrapbook. I love it but I am so far behind! 

Day 20~ My Breakfast

One egg over medium, dry wheat toast and a cup of coffee. Once in a while I'll get crazy and add strawberries.

Do you Instagram? If so look me up I'm SeriouslyShawn

First Grade Boyfriend

Guest post written by my buddy Angelo Cooper

When my daughter was in first grade she had this cute little boyfriend named Chip. Chip was a sweet boy with blond curly hair. He was very quiet and shy, and I was surprised that he would even admit he had a girlfriend at such a young age. I think that when you are in the first grade, you just say you have a boyfriend or girlfriend and then that is it. Nothing else happens. You don’t date, or call each other on the phone, or even talk much at all. You mostly just chase each other on the playground at school. I don’t think my daughter’s romance with Chip went passed the first grade. I think they were not in class together anymore until they got to high school. By then, they both had different relationships going on and were mostly just friends in passing. My daughter is married now with two beautiful children. I had heard that Chip had gotten married as well and had two or three kids too. I was watching HGTV on Expert Satellite and starting watching a program about a crew that goes into a neighborhood and fixes up a house for someone. It is one of those programs that shows you how they did all the work. Well to my surprise, the carpenter on the show turned out to be Chip, my daughter’s first grade boyfriend. He had a shaved head and huge muscles. He had certainly changed since first grade. What a small world!

What do you think?

Ok so I was thinking that it may be time for another Seriously Impulsive Swap. I've talked to IA about this briefly but she still needs a little persuasion. In order to make this happen you'll need to first let me know if you'd like to be a part of a summer-fun swap {all things summer; books, lotions, flip flops, nail polish etc.} and then go visit IA and tell her she needs to help me host another swap! 


I also need help with some blog ideas, I was thinking a question and answer post could be interesting. You ask the questions I'll provide the answers, anything goes. I'm almost 42, have been married to my high school sweetheart for almost 20 years, I have somewhat successfully raised two daughters, they are almost 18 and 12, the fact that they've survived this long with me as their Mom is huge, trust me! I've also been or currently am a PTA do-girl bitch President, soccer Mom, homeroom Mom, softball Mom, coaches wife, bosses wife, party planner, travel agent, housekeeper, cook, semi-professional shopper, sister, daughter, Aunt, Great-Aunt, friend and still manage to be an all around fun person...all of that to say ask me anything because I've more than likely been there done that and slept in the t-shirt last night.


Well, what do you think can you help a girl out? 

Embracing my inner fluffy

It's Talk To Us Tuesday, IA and I are glad you came by, we love all of our TTUT friends! 


I'm taking about my fluffiness today which is not a real fun topic but whatever. 


I think I have finally come to terms with the fact that I will never be a rock hard size 6. There is always going to be more than a little wiggle in my step and something is always going to be moving when I'm not in motion. I need to learn to accept that as painful as it is! 


As much as I say I'm going to start moving the jiggly parts I find some lame excuse to stop working out after about 2-3 weeks. I feel good when I work out and it's good for so much more than just my physical appearance but I just can't stick with it. I eat healthy for the most part but I do love to indulge in adult beverages on the weekends which as we all know comes with a price. 


I think that at almost 42 I should be ok with the way I look. The only person I need to impress has seen me naked in a variety of sizes for almost 20 years and he's still here, shouldn't that be all that matters? I think it's time to embrace my inner fluffy and just move on. Time to look in the mirror and see past the cellulite, stretch marks {thanks girls!}, and lunch lady arms. Its time to say I don't give a rats ass!


I know the drill, eat less, move more. Some form of cardiovascular exercise at least 5 times a week for at least 30 minutes. No soda, limited sugar and carbs, sweets and crap in moderation. Yes, I know it all but I don't like it! All of the stuff I love is bad for me. All of you naturally skinny, "I really don't like that stuff" people really irritate the piss outta me and can kiss my white, peanut butter and honey eating, dimply ass! 


I had such high hopes to be a smaller, firmer me when I see my girls next month and well, that's just not going to happen. Once again I will be relying on my ability to dress for my body shape and use my height and incredible charm to keep the emphasis off of all my fluff! I'm counting down the days girls...16 days!


 Do you think I could loose 16 pounds in 16 days and still be able to enjoy an in flight drink with IA JK without getting arrested? A reenactment of The Bridesmaids is not something I care to do, although it would make for some pretty funny blogging! 


Your turn....what are you talking about today?

Lunch break...

Being a SAHM mom is beyond exciting, less than sexy and sometimes goes without reward. If there's something on the floor that needs to be picked up I swear everyone in this house will step over or around it before they bend over and pick it up themselves. Why? Is it beneath them to do such a menial task? Perhaps I've spoiled them and they just know I'll do it. I wonder what would happen if I didn't. I wonder what they would do if I quit my job?


What does my job entail? Well, it's Monday so that means the house gets cleaned top to bottom, clean sheets, all laundry is washed, dried, folded, and waiting to be put away, everything is dusted, vacuumed, mopped, all bathrooms are scrubbed, windows cleaned etc., etc., etc. But you know what, today I don't feel like going to work. It's a beautiful day and I think I would much rather sit in the sun with a good book than scrape dried who-knows-what off the back of a toilet tank. 


I need a break too every once in a while plus the vitamin D is so good for me. I do need to get some more color, after all I head off to see IA, JK, Viv, Becca, Jen, and Connie in just 16 days and the Floridian cannot be the transparent one! 


Sadly, doing all of the above is my job. As unfabulous as it can be at times I am beyond blessed to have been able to keep this job for almost 18 years. It is a job I love and one that I'm pretty good at it so maybe I'll make a compromise and kick it into high gear, get as much done as I can before lunch and take a 2 hour break in the sun before finishing. Sounds more than fair right? Who wants to play Words With Friends, Scrammble, share Instagrams or Tweet today between 12-2 EST? Look for me I'm seriouslyshawn and I'll be free! 


Happy Monday friends whether you're spending it at the office or scrubbing crap off a toilet make it a good one! 

The dangled carrot is the most desired!

Have you ever noticed that you really don't want something until you're told you can't have it? I hated broccoli until I was told it was too high in vitamin K and I couldn't have it because of my blood disease. I eat the hell out of broccoli now {and every other green leafy I can get my hands on...except kale-yuck} I just adjust my medicine accordingly. Why yes, I am a doctor.


Today my broccoli is Paris.


Huh?


Well, it seems that Babe has been working his butt off trying to earn a first class trip for two to Paris and several other fabulous cities for 10 days! I've never been, I've always wanted to go but never dreamed it would happen until we retired.


I told him he should have never told me, I'm going to be so pissed off at him sad if we don't get to go. 


To make the trip even more fabulous...it's just 3 days after my 42nd birthday and 17 days before our 20th wedding anniversary. An all expenses paid, first class all the way, trip to Europe with just my love for my birthday and anniversary...Um, YES PLEASE! 

Our passports are expired but I have plenty of time to renew them and get a new picture, the current picture is not my best. I was pregnant with Peanut when it was taken and well, I'm like a good bottle of wine I've gotten better with age! 

Do you think it's bad karma to send off the renewal before we've actually won? I could hold on to them for a few more days, we should know soon.

                                  

So today I'm Daydreamin' about my upcoming trip to Paris and the wonderful time I will have sipping wine and enjoying my hubby while my sister {hint, hint} and my parents tend to my girls.


What are you Daydreamin' about? Go tell Becca all about it over at R We There Yet Mom, she's waiting for you. 

Paint chip project #1

Walking past all of the vibrant spring colors in every store has made me want to redecorate my house and freshen up my wardrobe.


I want punches of orange, lime, teal, and yellow throughout my house sadly, that's not an option.


I use to be a big card girl, a card for every occasion and even for non occasions. Now I just say, "that one's from us" when our gift is being opened. So not cool.


While walking past the display of paint chips at WalMart I grabbed a few in the spring colors I'm lovin' right now and thought, I'm gonna do something with these. And I did! 


I took 2 of the same colors and glued them together.

Then I pulled out my scrap booking supplies and decorated the front. I used a few old school rub-offs, a few flowers and brads on this one.

I added a flower to the back to cover up the ugly side of the brad leaving a perfect space for a personal note.

I added a grommet to the corner, fed a ribbon through it and attached it to the ribbon on the gift.

Peanut wrote a note to the birthday girl on the back and wallah, an adorable and personal card that cost me nothing! 

Another birthday, another paint chip card. The colors are off in the picture, it's a hot pink card attached with a hot pick ribbon, I'm not color blind I promise. I attached the metal flowers before gluing these together, I didn't want the back side showing and it left more room for writing. 

I have a few more ideas swirling around in my head and a stack of paint chips...this could get fun!

Talk To Us Tuesday ~ What's that smell?

Talk To Us Tuesday, the only day of the week were you get to say whatever you feel to your fabulous friends IA and me, Seriously Shawn! So...let's tawk, what's on your mind? {Totally said in my best Jersey accent}


Today my inner bitch is making an appearance...Deal with it people.


I cannot stand smelly people. Yep, it's really just that simple. Smelly people suck! Seriously people take a little pride in yourself and wash...daily...under and in-between all of your places!


I hate when I see someone walking in my direction and I know I need to take and deep breath and hold it while they walk past but for some reason I don't, perhaps it's my inner angel telling me to be nice, I don't know. But what I do know is that when I get a bog ol' wife of dirty naught bits I want nothing more than to punch her in the throat!


GAGGING!


I think what I hate more than that, if that's even possible, is the smell of sour clothes! Seriously people if you take the clothes out of the washer within a reasonable length of time they won't smell like nasty soured dish rags! Nothings worse than taking a nice hot shower only to dry off and smelling worse than before you showered.  


I sat next to someone at the movies, The Hunger Games to be exact, who's clothes had that smell. I wonder if she thought I was strange for keeping my nose under the collar of my shirt the entire movie?


Again, I have to say, seriously! Is this a smell that only a few lucky people can smell? 

What makes you hide your nose under your collar?

Instagram April challenge

Do you Instagram? I'll admit it's quickly becoming more of an addiction than FB or Twitter. You can follow me by searching seriouslyshawn.


If you remember last week I said I was going to try and do the April photo challenge that Paper Coterie is doing, well so far I haven't missed a day.


Day 1-3 can be found here and just like I said here's the rest of the week. I think I will be posting the weeks pictures every Monday, I gotta find something to blog about. I need help getting out of my only blogging on Tuesday for Talk To Us Tuesday with IA slump! Speaking of TTUT, you're linking up tomorrow right? Lots of fun, friends and no rules, you just can't go wrong!


Anyway, back to the pictures...


Day 4 ~ My Reflection...Luckily this fell on a day when I actually had someplace to be or you would have seen me sporting my "Mom uniform". When I'm home my reflection always includes Rogue, and no there's nothing in my pocket keeping him at my side he just loves his Momma!

Day 5 ~ My Favorite Shoe...well being that I'm a rule breaker and can never pick just one of anything I did a little collage of my current favorites. Even though I'm 5'8" I still love heels, I also love my new Toms and my "Mom uniform" Nikes which get the most wear.

Day 6 ~ My Morning...it almost always starts out with Babe getting out of bed and Rogue getting in, like I said, that boy moves his Mamma! After I drag my ass out of bed I go straight to the coffee pot, providing I have time I sit outside and catch up on emails, FB, Twitter, and Instagram on my phone.

Day 7  ~ My Town...this was a hard one for me since I don't live in a small little town or someplace that's know for anything other than an obscene amount strip clubs. This walking trail goes through my back yard, the black fence to the right is my yard, and I just love the canopy of shade the trees offer.

Day 8 ~ My Sunday...yesterday was Easter Sunday-HE IS RISEN!- so it was a little different from the norm. Usually we have a softball tournament forcing us to be up and out of the house early or we go to church, out to lunch, and then to softball practice. This was a treat, we went to Good Friday service and there was no practice so we were able to spend the day at our favorite place, the beach!

Day 9 ~ My Love...Babe. After almost 26 years he's still the one!

Do you Instagram? If so let me know so I can follow you. It's not too let to jump on board this photo challenge, it's been fun playing with all of the different camera apps and thinking about what my next picture was going to be. This weeks challenges are my transportation, my space, my eyes, my evening, my family, my lunch and my guilty pleasure. Dang it, I gotta go wash my car now....