Yesterday I was working and Austin was napping. He came out of the room after an hour or two and climbed up in my lap. We always have post-nap snuggles. Next thing I knew, he was very still and very quiet.

I got a few sleeping baby boy snuggles. I NEVER EVER get them anymore. When is the last time he’s just fallen asleep in my lap?! I don’t know either.

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Yaaaaay I got a new job!

I am going to be working front desk at an AMAZING urgent care center here in Charleston. I got my scrubs today & a kick-ace zip up fleece that I want to wear all the time.

It wasn’t the one I was posting about last week {breastfeeding peer counselor position for WIC}. They still haven’t gotten back to me about it, and my heart sinks every time the phone rings because I think it could be them offering a dream job to me. But I keep reminding myself that THIS IS my dream job. It happened quickly, it has great benefits, it’s something I’ve done before and LOVED and it’s, get this, 3 12 hour shifts a week. I have FOUR DAYS OFF with Austin. We can still go to the water park and have so much time together. I can still do my work for AppleCheeks!

So yaaaay for me! I took a good year off from LIFE after the whole split, and it’s totes time to get back in the saddle. Get a job, save up some money {Splittin’ the tax return with the baby daddy! HOLLA!}, get my own place, and be ME again! Maybe I’ll score a boyfriend to make me some food once in a while too ;)))

New Job Paperwork

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Oh hi, It’s me! I know you all have just been dying to know where I have been… I can tell from the bajillion emails and tweets and Facebook comments…. ;)

I’m here. Just doing the life thing. Trying to get it back together. Spending lots of time with friends, old & new. The things I am DYING to write about I don’t feel is appropriate due to my situations. The amazingly terrible match.com emails {“looking for someone interesting under the sheets”}, the baby-daddy, his new gf, my “social” situations, & many many many other things I JUST CAN’T DISCLOSE. Damn non-anonymous blog…

Austin is big. He’s totally regressed on the potty. He is back in diapers about 90%. I’m sure I could have spent a little more time on him and been a little tougher, but oh well. He knows ALL his letters and sings the alphabet song :) He knows all his shapes {he loves the octagon!} & colors & loves to draw smiley faces {complete with hair, eyes, nose, ears, and smiley mouth!}. He KILLS me with HILARITY daily.

I’m waiting to hear back from an amazing job… Should hear either way ANY day now… I’m starting to lose some hope… I LOVE my parents but I HAVE GOT to get OUT of this house and on my own again! My AppleCheeks job is going AMAZINGLY fabulous. We just released Appletini and I have so much in store for our next Limited Edition release, I just can’t stand it.

Even though Austin was in the running for the star role in the next exorcism movie yesterday, we had a FANTASTIC Valentine’s Day, definitely the best one yet. Lots of love from all the people I love the most :)

For your viewing pleasure, one million pictures:

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Merry Christmas! Hope your holidays are amazing! Hug your family & get cozy. Here are some of my favorite Christmas pins. They {& their credits} can be found in my For The Hollerdays board!

Merry Christmas!

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Having only had 2 Christmas’s as a family of 3 {the first of which Austin was a month old, so it didn’t count too much} we didn’t have time to make a whole bunch of family traditions. Austin & I get to make new ones. Christopher & Austin will get to make new ones. This year will be okay because both of us will be with Austin on Christmas morning and neither of us will miss it, but I know in the mornings and years ahead it’s going to get a lot more difficult & possibly heartbreaking. But I won’t think about that now ;)

All of my Christmas decorations are in storage and the thing is PACKED literally floor to ceiling. I won’t let myself feel sorry for me because just thinking about the unit makes me so upset and angry, so I haven’t really thought much about it, not much about my childhood ornaments or Austin’s 1st Christmas ornament. What REALLY is important is that I am with my little boy on Christmas and I get to share this time with him.

We weren’t able to get a tree this year, but are house sitting for my BFF. Her tree was begging for more pretty ornaments and I lucked out on some amazing 50% off deals at Kmart and stocked up on some gorgeous ornaments and tree trimmings.

I thought decorating this tree would be a disaster, but I really only got frustrated when Austin kept wanting to stand on the hooks. Boys ;) He had a great time and is super proud of HIS branch with the 3 ornaments hanging from it! I can’t BELIEVE he is old enough to understand decorating it. He says “Christmas tree!” every time we see one. He’s aware that Santa Claus brings presents. But I know he doesn’t totally grasp the concept. I can’t wait to see his eyes light up when he sees all his presents under that tree in less than 2 days!!!! Making new traditions with this sweet little man really does make me excited, and in a few years when my life is a little more put back together, I can decorate a tree and look at these ornaments and they will remind me that what really matters in the Christmas season is my little family & love. I can look at these ornaments and be reminded of how much I have grown this last year and all the things I have learned about myself, being a mommy, relationships, and life. These ornaments are our new beginning!

What are your Christmas decorating traditions?!

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias

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& don’t forget last year’s!!!!

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To prove I’m still alive, here are some recent pics from my iPhone!

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I haven’t been a HUGE Christmas fan in the past, I despise how Hallmark-y and materialistic people can get. But since having Austin, the excitement has come back a bit! With all of our ornaments and Christmas decorations in storage and not much of our own area to decorate, I headed to KMart to buy some new stuff knowing that we were starting new traditions and would have new things to celebrate with.

For once Austin didn’t flip out while we were in the store and sat still most of the time ;) We had a great time picking things out. Austin LOVES his new snowman ornament the most I think!

Not sure what’s up with the lazy eye and funny face lol but he played with that snowman forever!

PINK!

My favorite! And yummy cupcake ornaments! :)

We got TONS of stuff, including a tree skirt and star!!!

I was super excited that they had so much pink and color and not just a ton of old lady decorations ;) We got a lot of really cute tree trimmings that I know I’ll continue to love every single year! Check out my Google+ album with all the shopping photos and deets!

What are your tree decorating traditions? Do you buy new stuff every year? One special thing annually?

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It’s the holiday season, and if you’re anything like me every year that means you’re wishing you had just a little (or a lot!) more cash to play with and buy gifts. Well, here’s just what you’ve been wishing for! I’ve teamed up with some great bloggers to offer not one, but 2 cash giveaways. You can enter one, you can enter both, or you can enter none (but that’s just silly!). Winners will be announced on the 23rd and will get paypal sent directly to them! So enter below, and then head on over to Little BGCG to enter the second giveaway!

Good luck!!!

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