It's the most wonderful time of the year

Sure Christmas is great for spending time with family, celebrating the birth of tiny baby Jesus, gifts, and awesome food.

But, I think my favorite time of year is tax season. We get a small portion of the money we gave Uncle Sam back in a lump sum. I'm not great with saving (but thanks to my budget I'm doing much better!) so this check is AWESOME! This year I have some big plans for my tax check.



Avery and I are going back to Hawaii. This isn't a pleasure trip, although I'm positive we will clock some hours on the beach. We are going to visit my sister, brother-in-law, and brand new niece. This might be the last time I visit them while they still live in Hawaii so I will be sure to soak it in!



I'm adding this guy to my camera bag. I love my lightscoop and it has really helped me with photos but I want to make an upgrade in the hopes that one day I can really take this hobby a bit more seriously.(I also have my eye on an 85mm lens, but my budget doesn't allow for all the things I want!)



I'm having new carpet installed in my living room and hall. Yep, I tore up the old carpet late last spring and I STILL haven't redone the hardwood. But, you know what? I think I prefer the carpet anyway. My house seems to have been colder this winter, it's difficult to keep clean, and Avery falls down all.the.time. when she has socks on. It's almost comical. She gets so frustrated when she tears out of her room and through the hall into the living room and wipes out on her butt.



I'm looking at new laptops. Only, I have no clue what I'm looking for. I do think I'm going to stick with a PC. I know I need a card reader, a webcam, and I mostly edit photos and surf the interwebz with my computer. In all honesty, my computer is still perfectly functional (at almost 4 years old) so I might just put that money in a savings account.

Whatever is left (if anything) will be going in a savings account in case of emergency.

What do you have planned with your taxes?

Permanent markers

This is what happens when a toddler sneaks out of her room at 10:30pm.

Online dating, racism, and exposing my underthings

I ventured back into the world of online dating. I know…lame, right?

But here’s the thing. It gets kind of boring around here after 8pm. There are only SO many loads of laundry to do or shows to watch. And since the kid is asleep and it’s FREAKING FREEZING outside I’m confined to the house.

I joined a free site, because I’m not paying for that shit, it doesn’t even work! I spent a large majority of the time pointing and laughing and most of the people on my screen. Some of the messages I received I couldn’t even read due to extremely poor grammar (worse than mine!) and I’m convinced half of them weren’t even English. The funniest? Those that left their number so we could meet and “hook up”. Is that what people do nowadays? Icky.

I have a picture on the site of myself (duh) with my obviously biracial kid. I thought I might get a few comments about it and OH BOY did I ever!

One strapping young fellow (::eyeroll::) messaged me. At first I was impressed because it was longer than a few words and it seemed there were OMG PARAGRAPHS! But then I started reading.

I have to paraphrase because it has since been deleted, but it went along the lines of I should be ashamed of myself for breeding outside of my species and no self respecting white man will ever touch me because I am tainted. My child shouldn’t exist. Why do dumb bitches think it’s ok to breed with animals?

I wasn’t going to respond. But, let’s be honest, most of you know me by now and know that I CANNOT keep my mouth shut sometimes. I said your parents must be so proud to know that they raised such an ignorant racist. My daughter’s father is of a different RACE not a different species….Einstein. He bleeds red just like you. There is nothing wrong with me or my vagina. I had a child with a man, that yes has many MANY faults, but is a lot more open minded than you appear to be. My daughter SHOULD exist and it is unfortunate that we live in a world where people like you are going to try to make her feel inferior for something that makes her UNIQUE and BEAUTIFUL.

He emailed back spouting more ignorant shit but I didn’t read it.

What a piece of work right?

I’m not gonna lie I was fuming about it for a little bit. But, people like that DO exist and they WILL always try to say something to get to me. But, there are others that make me feel uncomfortable too.

Those that just stare.

I was on a date last weekend. (Eeeeek! And no, I’m not sharing…yet.) And a woman at the next table kept peeking at us. It wouldn’t have been so noticeable if her back wasn’t to us so she had to TURN AROUND every time. At first I thought, I know I look cute and he’s a total babe….stare away. And stare she did. And KEPT STARING! How awkward. What bothers me the most about these people is that I’m a fairly open person and I’m not easily offended. WHY are you staring? Do you have a question? A comment? Just say it! You’ll feel better getting it off your chest and I’ll feel better knowing it’s not because I have a booger hanging out of my nose or my dress tucked in my underwear.

Someone would TELL me if I had my dress tucked in my underwear right? RIGHT?!?!

I've been sitting here for 20 min with my heated blanket set on high wrapped around my frozen toes. I am frozen down to my core. My nose is cold, my fingers are chilly, my BACK is cold. I can feel the warmth of the blanket but it's not un-thawing me.

I'm CRAVING summer right now. Hot summer nights with the windows open. A cold beer on the front porch watching the fireflies. Suntanned skin and barefoot toes. Driving with the windows down.

YAY for new babies!

My newest niece is here!



Keianna Isabelle was born yesterday at 2:38pm Hawaii time. She was 8lbs 1.5oz and 21in long. There was a bit of confusion about her weight for a time...we thought she was a 9 pounder!

Congrats to Brandon and Tiff! I can't WAIT to get out to Hawaii at the beginning of March to squeeze her!

"I have a dream"

".....I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."



I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.




I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.




I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.



This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.




When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!""

-MLK Jr. at the March on Washington, August 28, 1963

The winner is.....

Commenter #3!!



Yay Tiffani!

Contact me within 48 hours and I will get you in touch with Becca at Jumping Jax Designs!

Didn't win? Becca is celebrating the new baby in her belluh through the weekend with 15% off ANYTHING in the store! Just use the code GUMMYBEAR.