Super Bowl XLVIII

Okay I have been telling myself I would post about the Super Bowl and party planning for this Sunday, February 2, 2014. If you don't know what you're doing yet than here's a few ideas and perhaps you just need to throw your own party!

If you don't know who you are rooting for than no worries, let me tell you all that matters... The Seattle Seahawks!!! Oh... and they are playing some ponies from Denver?

Nowwho are you inviting and is it child friendly?? We know if there's no kiddos involved that it's free for all on how loud and crazy you can get! For those of us with the little ones we have to keep in mind that odds are there may be a few more coming along, how do we word the invite to inform friends that their kids may be subject to "Football language?"

Earmuffs!!
That's right... while you should probably try and keep your adult language to a minimum, at least give a fair warning that you can't make promises...

Now that we know what kind of party we're having, let talk food! Really, it doesn't matter what kind of crowd you're having, there's plenty of options that will make several people happy. What's your budget? Are you doing all the food? Is it BOYB?


You'll save more money if you just opt for your guests to bring their own drinks and provide the main course. Let them know what you plan to have and that if they have any additions they'd like to bring the more the better :)

While it will take more time for you to do it all on your own vs. have it catered or pick up a bunch of prepared plates at Costco, you will still save more money that way!! Consider crowd favorites and do as much as you can the day before. I've already got some wine glasses, décor, crackers and main ingredients for our "Chili Bar."

That's right, Chili Bar!

What else is a great idea if you don't like this one??? Nacho Bar, self-made Sandwhich line, Spaghetti, Taco bar, and the always easy, Pizza... Really, people want easy to eat, easy to serve and to know what they are eating. There's always wayyyy too much veggies and fruit left over, so to plating it right will help encourage guests to take some and to finish it too! Veggies in mini cups and fruit kabobs would be perfect.

Now you got your appetizers and you need a chili recipe. I have a favorite, but I know there's a lot of good ones out there. Once I tried "my" recipe I was in LOVE! Plus I served it over Jalapeno Honey cornbread!



So if you're looking for a twist, like something spicy and love pumpkin here is what you want to make...Spicy Pumpkin Chili

And we don't all like the same so here's a few other favorites I've saved along the way...

Slow Cooked Sweet Potato Chili
Game Day Chili
Slowcooker Lumberjack Chili
Cream Cheese Turkey Chili
Wendy's Copycat Chili
Texas Chili
Big Batch Chili
Creamy White Chili
Jalapeno Popper Chili





So now you have your recipe, your appetizers and by this point your guests should be a few drinks in and ready to eat!

The best part about chili is that it goes with so many options and you can provide them all to guests without breaking the bank. So what's your favorite!? Most the time we don't think far enough outside the box, or we forget the best and most simple ways to do it. So here's what we plan and a few additional ideas as well...

The Jalapeno Honey cornbread won't disappoint you, but don't forget the ever famous Chili Dogs. How easy to make your crockpot masterpiece into a opportunity for those to enjoy it on it's own, or cover their weiner and bun in their favorite toppings?? While it takes a lil extra time, if your crowd is a lil smaller I bet they'd get a hit out of the Cornbread waffle and don't forget to have some tortilla chips, because nothing is better than Chili Nachos!

So set up the table and make it something to talk about... Shredded cheeses, jalapenos, sour cream, fritos, etc... Your guests won't be disappointed and they will be full and happy, most likely be requesting your recipe :)

So Happy Super Bowl everyone!!! I hope your bellies are full of good food and you enjoy a great game!!! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HAWKS!!!!

Overcoming Post Pardum Depression

There are several degrees of sadness that can be involved after having a baby and you may think it's just some "Baby Blues," or you may be suffering from Postpardum depression and truly need some help. You probably don't want to share your feelings with just anyone or at all because you are afraid of their response and that it will be embarrassing. You will look crazy, like a bad mom and you know that you don't need help with your baby, right? It may feel this way, but it's not true and you need to find the right person, even if it's your advice nurse, counselor, or 911.

I'm not qualified to tell you what you may be dealing with, but I know that after 2 kids in 3 years it was difficult to remember who I was and what being "Happy" truly meant. Seeking help was the hardest thing to do for all of the reasons above and couldn't even use words and share what I was going through, I sent a text. After I found my way out of the darkest hole I'd ever fallen into and could barely ask for help that I decided I had to put it out there and hopefully help those that are also feeling helpless and alone.

When you hear your baby cry do you cringe, feel your heart race, blood boil and wish that you were anywhere else but where you are? Are you cursing yourself because you feel you are an evil person for hating the tiniest and most innocent being you brought into this world? You cry all the time, can't eat, think about hurting others, yourself, death, etc? The anger you are feeling is being targeted at everyone that crosses your path and if you're in a relationship there's a chance that it's taking it's toll and you believe you are going to lose your partner and lose your baby for being a hateful and abusive?

Hopefully you're not envisioning or actually physically abusing your baby, or maybe you do and find yourself feeling this in extreme moments of frustration. If this is the case you need to find help ASAP. You need to put the baby down in another room, walk away and call someone and if no one close to you is available call 911 and go get a neighbor. You are not a failure, you are not bad, you are a human being that is feeling overwhelming emotions and needs someone to understand and there's far more of us suffering from this than you realize.

What's most shocking is hearing how common it is for mothers to feel a level of depression or sadness after having a baby and don't share it at all. We just aren't able to seek the help as easily because shame and embarrassment causes us to sugar coat situations and make life seem blissful when it's anything but. Yes, there are women out there that find their post pardum experience to be very wonderful and easy and rather than envy, be grateful they aren't being forced into this awful place that you are. Tell yourself that you will be a stronger, better woman for finding a positive way to deal with this and turn your life around.

My biggest fear was that it would take me too long to get back to a level of "normalcy" and how would I ever have the love and bond with my second son as I did with my first when I spent the first 2 months of his life resenting his existence? Luckily I did research myself and sought help early on because I knew the thought and emotions I was experiencing were not okay, nor was I okay with having these thoughts and emotions.

After looking into every resource possible I decided to go against my usual choice and take a doctor prescribed medication, Prozac (Fluoxetine Hcl). Knowing the potential side affects I figured that along with cardio (8wks post C-section) it would balance itself out and I'd be "happy" again in no time and loving everyone, not just my oldest son, whom I clung to.


After a few months of being on prescribed medication and denying a family member's offer to send me to a Doctor of natural medicine the emotions were no longer present, but neither was any emotion for that matter. The attachment to my oldest was becoming less and rather my annoyances more frequent. Overall I was numb, forcing myself to stay afloat and find something to make me feel like a human being with interests and passions again. So, I returned to work serving tables a few nights a week.

My personal solutions may not necessarily be yours and the biggest struggle we have is finding something we love and making time for ourselves to do it. I tried the medicine, going back to work and the cardio still did nothing for me. My relationship was rocky, my oldest was enrolled in preschool and #2 was proving every stereotype of the second baby being easier to be wrong. So what I tried next and what I swear by to this day and forever will might blow your mind, not surprise you at all, or make you say no fucking way!?

HOT YOGA.

Before depression and children I had always thought that yoga was for people that were already flexible, or didn't really want to do real cardio. Do they even sweat and get their heart rate up? Oh yes. And if you're doing it in 105 degree heat you better believe you will be sweating like a hog and feeling exhausted, yet amazing afterwards. Don't assume hot yoga is what you need to do and start googling the nearest location, but do ask yourself what is it that you makes you  happiest as an individual? What do you want to do for yourself? You may need to seek postpardum therapy to help get answers to these questions and while you're not sure what you'll benefit from talking to a stranger, you're certainly not benefiting from being alone.

Being a part of something and feeling a connection with others and yourself is the most natural way to begin healing. Within a few months of going on a regular basis I felt like a new woman and knew as long as I could maintain this routine that I would be okay without additional medication. Benefits of yoga go far beyond added flexibility and physical wellness, it will heal your mental and emotional spirit too. (http://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/2562)

Don't give up on yourself and don't give all your energy to the negative thoughts and feelings, rather fight back with that energy and find yourself. Now is your time, 1, 2, 3+ kids doesn't change that you were a person before they came into this world. How will you guide them, teach them and show them what life is about if you are unsure yourself? Maybe you can start learning together :)

How Do You Blog?

Despite the title that refers to myself and how I do it all, I'm here for the same reasons as most bloggers. I have things I want to write about, I love writing and this is a great platform to do it, but I struggle like most in getting the blog traffic, understanding the codes and making it happen just as I want it to!

That's where I just have to suck it up and so do you when it comes to starting your blog and making it happen. It has to be about you to begin with and your passions, because you're no good to anyone if you don't know what you have to offer. No one wants to hear about what you did last night, but they definitely want to hear how you're recovering and what you do to make the hangover less dramatic.

Girls don't just need to know how to look good as a Victoria's Secret model, but how to look good as themselves. I could've been writing when I was in my deepest depression, but I had no desire to share with anyone how to sit on a bathroom floor and cry all day while contemplating the least violent ways to take my own life.

So I promise this is not just a platform to talk about myself, but to give you a resource to all things that are awesome to me :)

Unless requested, I am not God so I have no idea what everyone is looking for, but I know what Mom's like me are looking for and what they probably need!

So don't give up on what you love and write til your little heart explodes, but don't be that annoying person taking up blog space talking about absolutely nothing and expecting someone to follow. If you're the Jenna Hamilton's of the world and are using it more for your personal diary and reasons, so be it, but if not here's some pages and tips that help me along the way, good luck!

http://goinswriter.com/more-blog-traffic/
http://moz.com/blog/21-tactics-to-increase-blog-traffic-2012
http://startbloggingonline.com/how-to-promote-your-blog-and-get-visitors/

Stop Driving, I Hate You

If I based all of my friends off their driving ability, odds are I wouldn't have many. I am not calling all my friends bad drivers, but what I'm saying is that driving is what I hate the most and each time I have to drive somewhere I like people less.

You'd think with the inspiration of Oprah and the constant media attention to "Texting and Driving," that people would get a clue. Even with there being laws in place that forbids being on your cell phone and driving, people still openly use them. If you don't know the laws yet, read on and learn, but it's obvious each time I drive that people are getting dumber and I often wonder if I was selfish for bringing children into this world of stupid.
http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html

It's not only unsafe, distracting and unnecessary, it's annoying! It's far too often that I'm following a driver doing 10mph under the speed limit and seems lost, only to pass them at the next opportunity and see that they are starting down at their phone and NOT the road.... I know how long it takes me to get from A. to B. I like to give myself a few extra minutes so that there's no need to stress, speed, or get angry, but when I leave early and arrive late because someone couldn't figure it out I want to punch them in the throat.

These drivers tend wonder why someone is flipping them off, honking their horn or staring at them like their the world's biggest idiot? We'd be better off without clueless people that are so self absorbed with their day and what they are trying to do that they can't stop and pay attention to the person waiting for them to get out of the fast lane, can't do the speed limit, can't use their blinker and probably need to get off the road all together.

I'm sure that this could be classified as a case of road rage on my part and I can guarantee you that at an earlier point in my life I was definitely aggressive, selfish and less aware. I don't think that there was one particular event that altered my views, but the death of a friend, an ex with several accidents and DUI's and constant stress and aggravation from others on the road had brought me to the point of wishing I could move to a teeny tiny town where driving is totally unnecessary.

I'm intrigued by the fact that I recently took a survey that determined I would best be suited to live in Los Angeles, CA. Seriously!?? (http://www.buzzfeed.com/ashleyperez/what-city-should-you-actually-live-in) That couldn't be more wrong in my opinion, but maybe a smaller version? So I researched the best small towns to move to and they still aren't small enough for me. What makes it harder is that if I ever wanted to get out of here it has to be near a large body of water and although the East Coast is beautiful, my mother would die if I moved more than 10min away with her grandchildren. http://www.fodors.com/news/best-small-towns-in-usa-6591.html

These are more like it.
http://www.pictorymag.com/showcases/best-small-town-america/

Obviously I'm being dramatic about what I need to do to solve my hatred for driving. Perhaps I should begin with removing traveling the USA in and RV from my bucket list?

None the less, each Tuesday, Thursday and any other day I decide to embark myself into public beyond a walk to the park I find several degrees of stupid surrounding me in all kinds of cars and I can't help but imagine how far far far away I'd rather be. Then I usually go home and tune into a pre-recorded episode of House Hunters International and imagine myself in the vineyards of Italy.

Grateful I am for the laws regarding new drivers and the limited times and passengers, because I know these factors contributed to my teenage years. I'd have my 4dr Geo Metro hatchback filled with friends running around the Couve' looking for anything that was going on. Once upon a time I was trying to get the attention of one of our buddies about 2 cars in front of us, we were driving up hill and struggling to get ole "blue balls" to accelerate and catch his Thunderbird. We were on the shoulder of the road passing cars, honking my horn and screaming like crazy, a cop on the other side of the road catches the show and has no trouble catching up to us and pulling us over. Oh! And it was in the Hollywood Video parking lot where our friends were headed anyway... so they got to catch the show too.

Five cute blondes in a tiny clown car doing everything they shouldn't be including smoking cigarettes and he asks if we're okay? He thought that we were trying to intentionally get his attention because we were being harassed by the other drivers... Being 15yrs ago and almost as clueless as I was back then I can't tell you how I explained that one or how we got out of it without a ticket for any of my stupidity.

Point being that we were dumb back then and we're not seeming to get much better now. People think merging onto the freeway doing 40mph is somehow safe, they can't tell the difference between a "Yeild' sign and "Merge Lane," drive the school zone even when there's no school, drive in the passing lane when they're barely doing the speed limit and are on their phone while driving!

For God sakes people, you're making me wish I was a mermaid, I always loved The Little Mermaid. I think when angry and in doubt, always watch a Disney movie, so I think I will. My shoulders are tense and my mind is all over the place just thinking about the subject, hence this entire post. I wouldn't be surprised if this subject made a regular appearance, but I'm going to try not to let the suck ass drivers of America eat away my positive energy.

Namaste.

Are You Ready!??

 

It's time to start the countdown!! And for Mom's like me I have to start planning a Super Bowl Sunday party that is for both adults and kiddos! Should be fun and this also means I get to dedicate my life to  Pinterest, my Bible and have some fun in the kitchen! Stay tuned for lots of tips, tricks and amazing party ideas for the mama's out there!!! I know for sure there will be my delicious Spicy Pumpkin Chili and Jalapeno Honey Cornbread! Oh Ya....

 

http://www.nfl.com/superbowl/48

Seahawks Are Going to the Superbowl!!!

Odds are if you watched the Seahawks vs the Broncos yesterday you enjoyed the game as much as I did! You probably also caught the post interview with Richard Sherman and your immediate thoughts were "Holy shit dude! Intense!" But if you're smart enough to realize that he just made a play that sent his team to the 2014 Superbowl you'd act a fool too! Never judge before you know all the info...
http://www.forbes.com/sites/tommytomlinson/2014/01/19/22-brief-thoughts-about-that-richard-sherman-interview/

On that note!!!
Call it what you want, SUPERBOWL, "Weed Bowl" but the SEAHAWKS are going!!! I can't believe that after 6yrs of living with my now husband and our friend/roomie that of all 3 teams that are rooted for under this roof, MINE is going! I knew it would happened before the Cowgirls... I don't even know if I want to give attention to the name of their overpaid superstar. I'll just say I'm glad Jessica Simpson got away from that dusch bag. And well, Da Bears just didn't have it this year...

Either way the game is going to be amazing and played against the Denver Broncos, home of my best friend and her husband, a Colorado native. Their baby boy is due in less than a month and while her husband is pretty sure he's going to name the baby MacGuyver, we all know that shit isn't happening. If the Bronco's manage to pull out a win I'm sure Peyton will be the front runner.

However, I think the stipulation should be that if the Seahawks win their son shall be named either Wilson, Golden, Marshawn, or Tarvaris... Totally fair.

If your team didn't make it either this year, no need to miss out on what will be the most amazing Superbowl ever and you'll definitely want to see who wins because it will determine the name of little baby boy Myles! (okay, I don't have a contract on this, but I'll still make her choose for shits and giggles)

Let me not forget what should also be one of the most amazing Superbowl halftime shows! Bruno Mars is definitely a wise choice of entertainment to the masses. While I thought Robin Thicke would be an excellent choice, I'm not disappointed and for once plan to tune in 100%. I just hope he makes the right song choices and doesn't "make love like a gorilla" on stage!! We know we'd love him to throw a little Miley in there too ;)

For more information on the 2014 Superbowl teams visit the following sites.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/stats/_/name/sea/seattle-seahawks

http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/stats/_/name/den/denver-broncos

Cheers!

Last time I was here it was a different version of me all together. I don't think I need to go back in time and explain why my views were a little more negative and I'm sure in time on here it will be easier to understand!

I am the ultimate stay at home mom that does it "all," and while I don't succeed everyday, it's my goal to keep shit clean, keep the people fed, keep myself pretty and keep sharing my hot mess of a life because if I don't, I'll go fucking crazy.

Wait, I did go crazy and that's pretty much why I disappeared. House Full of Heads was not what I wanted it to be, the stories I told were not taken in the context they were intended. Now that I've found a better voice I know that I will tell it how I mean it and if it's taken any other way, it's not my problem.

My problem is people and toddlers and babies that scream too much. Mine are just as guilty as the other lil monsters and have caused me to "runaway" on several occasions. Since I can't actually travel far away, dress up every night and have dinner parties on a regular I figured this is the place that I can! I'm here to share my awesomeness and how I "do it all!" ;)

I apologize in advance if I offend you...(okay, no I don't)

I apologize in advance if I offend you because if I apologize later for saying what I feel, it's like apologizing for being real. Which I am. Just consider me the 30yr old version of Miley Cyrus (with a better ass) and you're a part of my movement. That, or you're just looking for someone to show you how to do it all!

I wake up to two of the most handsome lil monsters in the world and before the day is done I have changed a handful of shitty diapers, cleaned the shitty diapers my dog ate because I didn't throw them away fast enough, made three meals and cleaned them up, went to the park, went to the store and cussed someone out on the way, pinned a hundred fashion, food and funny quotes on Pinterest while entertaining the monsters. The only thing is that I like to look pretty while I do it all!

By all means I am not implying that I've got heels and a dress on, this isn't the 1950's and although I'm a domestic Goddess my husband isn't my supervisor and this is MY castle. Just take off the "give ups" aka your sweats, take a fucking shower for God sake, put on a bra, dry your hair, leave it down and fix your face!! You'll feel prettier while reading what I have to share and you're welcome.