Laughing Gas

Last night I made a serious typo will sharing an Ipsy review on my Facebook (I share the reviews for points to buy things, don't judge).  The best part was the stream of comments beneath it.  I  laughed so hard I cried.  It was fantastic.  I'm couldn't screen shot the whole thing, but it's good.  I promise.

Maybe I'm twelve... I don't know, but it was stinking hilarious to me. You guys, I cried so hard.  And not just for a moment.  I would simmer down, and then 10 minutes later I would bust up laughing again.  I would look over at my husband and we would both cry.  This went on for probably almost two hours.

It felt so good.  Laughing felt so therapeutic.  The world was fun, my spirits were high.  All over a ridiculously typo.

On my walk this morning I asked myself why I don't laugh more often.  I'm not a scrooge by any means, but sometimes I just take things way too seriously.  I'm sure I'm not the only one.

I was reminded of my labor and delivery of my first born.  Forget the serene images from the professional birth photographers that are smattered all over my Facebook newsfeed, my labor was nothing any of you would want to see on my profile.  Puke, screaming, crying, more puke, over and over for 36 plus hours ending in a major surgery and me feeling like I was hit by a bus.  Oh, I had a baby in there somewhere, but that memory is a bit foggy.

At some point in my hours of pushing the pain meds failed me and I felt EVERYTHING.  I was puking everywhere in between pushes, then the nurse asked if I would like the laughing gas to take off the edge.  I didn't even know laughing gas was still a thing in labor and delivery but in rolled the dusty machine that looked like an antique.  Puke, Push, Gas, Puke, Push, Gas, then the gas started kicking in and it was wonderful.  The scene changed into something like this:

PUSH, SCREAM
GAS
Me: Wow my ears feel really waxy!! (in a slow slurred, high pitched, happy voice)
Nurse: Would you like me to give you a q-tip
Me: No I think I'll be okay.
PUSH, SCREAM
DRY HEAVE
GAS
Me: How am I doing?  This is great, is the baby coming?? (more slurring.  More happy.)
Nurse: You are doing so great!  She's coming down great (THESE WERE LIES BY THE WAY, I know she was trying to be encouraging, but I was deceived)
PUSH, SCREAM
GAS
(doctor enters)
Me: How was your day, how are you doing?? (even more happy.  slurring.)
Dr: Well... it was good (trying not to laugh at my half glass full perspective), How are you doing?
Me: Oh I'm so glad you had a good day, I'm doing gggrreeeeaaaat.  (one big long slur)

I was the happiest I could have been on that stuff.  I'm betting the anesthesiologist wishes he would have come in AFTER the laughing gas as my saracstic, "Oh, just who I wanted to see, someone who goes to my church," probably didn't go over so well when he came into the room as I was pushing. And YES I still have see this person in real life after he saw me in the worst state of my entire life.

There is a reason they used that laughing gas.  Perhaps laughter is one of the best medicines.  All I know is that after my laughing fit last night my perspective was so much more balanced.  The world wasn't so heavy.  I took a much needed break from overanalyzing this, that and the other thing.

Can we all stop taking ourselves and everything so stinking serious and have a little fun?  I am one of the first people someone would put into the "stick in the mud" category of friends, but I'm done.  I don't want to be a stick in the mud.  I need to laugh more and I hope you will join me.

$10 off of $25 at JC Penny Coupon!

I love these coupons!  Super great to get essentials you know you will need to purchase later.  Head on in with this coupon!  It's good through the 30th!

Shop Highlight: Northwest Handmade Goods

Last week I mentioned I was going to do a shop highlight on my blog, and I finally have a few moments to fill you in on this little treasure in Downtown Lewiston!

Northwest Handmade Good is exactly what it sounds like.  A store filled with Handmade Goods made by Northwest Artists.  

They are located at 527 Main Street next to Ridinger's photography studio.

Here are a couple panoramics of the store! 

Seriously adorable right?  Downtown Lewiston NEEDS business like this!  

They have everything: Toys, clothing, home decor, jewelry, greeting cards! They even have a few of my items!! How fun is that!  Stop on in and let them know I sent ya!

TSFL Update: Week 3

Well I didn't post last week, and It's not even worth posting this week either.  I have lost only 1/2 lb in the past two weeks.  Mostly because I have not been super disciplined!  We had a date night, then we had birthday celebration that involved delicious meals out and wonderful chocolate cake.  Thankfully the scale did not go up though!!! We also are traveling the next week, so I'm sure I will struggle again.

That being said, my activity level has increased from the lovely weather so that is super exciting.  If that hadn't happened I probably would have gained!

Cheers to everyone else on a health journey!  It's hard and I'm right there with you! :)

Birthday Banner

Yesterday was Miss Addy's birthday!!  We will actually be celebrating on Saturday when some family is in town visiting, but I made this super fun banner to hang in our living room for the week!

Right after I posted a photo on my facebook page I had a friend ask if she could order some custom letters for a banner.  I did those for her her right away and thought maybe some other people might want some.  In one evening I sold 6 banners!  Crazy!  I am now making and packaging some for a local shop!  Stay tuned, as I will be featuring the shop next week.

I do all the cutting on my cricut. The creativity comes into play when picking my paper combos and layouts. It has been fun.  I even did one for a newborn baby photo shoot.

Also stay tuned for Addy's birthday cake post.  I'm planning a Disney's Frozen cake. I haven't worked with fondant in a while, so I'm hoping I haven't lost my knack for it!

Family Year Books (and Shutterfly Deal!)

One of my goals the past couple of years has been to stay on top of our family's photos.  With the digital age, and cell phones it is super easy to just store everything on our computers and Facebook and call it good.  I definitely want photos to be tangible and in order so I don't have a mess on my hands 10 years from now.

I used to be a scrapbooker, but I have found that I just don't have the time and it had become quite a burden to me.  I now have been making digital scrapbooks!

The only way I have managed to "keep up" on this is my husband allowing me time to sneak away to a coffee shop and work without distractions.  I got 3 months behind after I had Cece so I spent 3 hours a few weeks ago finishing up our 2013 album!

I make all my albums on Shutterfly and then I wait to order them until they have their awesome photo book sales!  Currently they are offering up to 50 percent off depending on the size of the album (sale is good through 3/18/14).

My albums end up having 70+ pages in them and this one cost about $80.  I just love them, and so does Addy!!  She goes through them often talking about what we did and remembering things.

I sort everything out by month so there is some order to it!

I have 2011, 2012 and 2013 Done and in our home.  I think I will just combine our "life before kids" into one big album in not as great of order.  Life was just a lot more boring then!

What do you do to preserve all your photos??

Homemade French Bread

So I decided to try my hand at making some french bread.  I have been buying the three pack of Sourdough loaves at Costco which are DELISH, but are over $7 for the pack.  I'm not a super big carb eater when I'm being on track with my plan but I've found my family needs a bit extra carbs so yummy bread is the best way to give it to them without much effort.

I used Frugal Girl's French Bread recipe and it is SOOOOO easy!  And it is delicious for it's simplicity.  I turn one dough batch into two smaller loaves since I am not eating them except for yummy nibbles, and then I freeze the other so I don't have to make it all the time.

I'm not sure how much a loaf costs me, but since the ingredients are flour, wheat flour, water, sugar, salt and yeast I'm guessing it's a lot less that $2.50 a loaf!!!