End of the Week Roundup

Holy schnikes this week flew by! I feel like I blinked and I missed it! 

Here is the round up for the week:

1. Labor day weekend was spent up in the rural mountains of PA. You can check out the pictures here. It was so nice just relaxing, outside on a comfy chair, curled up with a book, listening to the babbling creek by the house we were staying in. It's definitely a much calmer environment up there than the typical hustle and bustle down home. 

2. Wednesday was my birthday and it was a good day. I had to go to work and school which was a bummer but Dave did make me cupcakes....who doesn't love a good cupcake? 

3. As some of you may know, I am partaking in the Blogtember challenge that Jenni at Story of my Life set up. This week was the first week and I have to say I'm really enjoying the prompts and hearing what other bloggers have to say. It also makes me feel like I'm finally really connecting myself to the blog, a true representation of me....if that makes any sense. The posts that I've written so far are all here. 

4. These birthday cards from my co-workers and Lola. I always love a funny card!

5. Birthday love from Nibbler. 

That's all I have for my week, how was your week?

As always, linking up with Lauren!

Blogtember: Advice

Pass on some useful advice or information you learned and always remembered.
Hmmm....advice is like air, people breathe it out all the time. If I had to narrow it down to one, it would have to be this:

Source

My ex-stepfather used to stress this to me all the time. He'd say "Pick (shortened version of my childhood nickname, Pickle), it doesn't matter how much money you make, if you don't love what you do, you'll never be happy". 
He was right.
When I graduated high school, I wanted to be a teacher, but I didn't want to go to college, so I decided I didn't need to be a teacher. I figured I just needed a job that could support me being independent and let me buy lots of clothes, and I'd be fine. 
I was wrong. 
Before I decided to go back to school, everyday I would go into work with a longing in my heart. I knew that where I worked at the time wasn't what I wanted to do. It was a job, but I wanted a career. I wanted to be someone, and I wasn't happy being the someone that I was. So I went back to school to try and be the person that I want to be. There is a big risk that I might end up hating it, but then I'll go back to the drawing board and figure out what is it that I love.
Then I'll find a career for it.
What is the best advice you've ever gotten? 

Blogtember: Dreamweaver

Today's prompt: If you could take three months off from your current life and do anything in the world, what would you do? (bonus points for fun photos from Pinterest, but don't forget to cite the source!)

I guess the simple answer to this is travel, isn't it? If I were being completely honest, if money was no object, I would live like I was dying. I would do all the things that I've always wanted to do. Yes, I would travel to places I'd love to go, but no, I wouldn't spend my whole time travelling. Why? Because then I'd miss Nibbler and Squishee too much, and no mama should go three months without her babies. 

Here's my wish list in no particular order:

1. Visit Bora Bora and stay in one of the ocean huts

Source

2. Read for pleasure. Between school and teen book club I don't have much downtime for my own personal reads. 

3. Sew. I sew for fun but again I'm a bit too busy to really sit down and do it. I'd love to sew some quilts up, learn how to sew more detailed quilts and maybe even try some clothing patterns. 

4. Tour Europe. 

Paris, Italy, England, Ireland, you're all mine. 

Source

5. Spend a day in bed cuddling my husband and my cats, watching movies, drinking hot chocolate with whipped cream. 

6. Get a DLSR camera and learn how to take amazing pictures, like this:

Source

7. Learn how to cook incredibly difficult meals. Like things that take all night and half the day to cook and five minutes to devour. 

8. Take classes for back massage, basic hair styling, makeup application, home decoration, home decor craft classes....all the things I'd love to be amazing at, that I'm maybe mediocre at. 

9. Most importantly, learn how to relax.  I'd love to take three months and learn to just chill out. 

Labor Day Weekend

A good friend invited Dave and I up to her parents house in Emporium, PA for a few days over labor day weekend. Emporium is about five hours upstate from where I live and is a small, small town surrounded by mountains. It's beautiful. 

We arrived Saturday afternoon and went up to the Elk Viewing Lodge the state park created to try and see some elk. We got to see one very large one hiding in the woods on the way up there, but sadly we didn't get to see any at the actual lodge. Saturday night we went to a local pizza place and sat around laughing and chatting up a storm. 

Sunday we prepped for the picnic and then lazed around in the afternoon enjoying good food and company. Sunday night we had a small fire and roasted marshmallows and enjoyed s'mores. Monday morning we stopped for breakfast together and then went our separate ways. It was gorgeous up there, and I took the time to learn some new tricks on my Iphone. Enjoy!

Not the best picture, but it was a tough shot! Can you see the elk? He was HUGE!

Blogtember: Who Are You?

As I mentioned before I'm taking part in Jenni at Story of My Life's Blogtember Challenge. Todays prompt was: Describe where or what you come from. The people, the places, and/or the factors that make up who you are.

Here goes nothing....

:: I am hard working and dedicated, thanks to my Aunt Penny ::

All through middle school and high school I worked at the family gas station. Every Saturday I was there pumping gas, helping to work on cars, manning the cash register, you name it I did it. My aunt instilled in me what it meant to work hard. It's something that has helped me get where I am today at work and get me through school. 

L to R: Aunt Penny, Me, Ma

:: I have save the world syndrome, thanks to my mother::

You have a problem? I'll do what I can to help you solve it. Stray dog in the middle of the street? Lets pull the car over and give Fido a ride. Don't feel good? I have a litany of items in my purse for the sole purpose of making you feel better because I rarely use them. Sometimes it's a not so great trait to have, especially when I feel guilty if I can't personally help someone or something, but it's something my mother has to a fault too, and I think it makes us good people. 

:: I am creative, because being a little sister, middle sister and big sister requires some creativity ::

My parents divorced when I was young. On my mom's side, I was the little sister to my big sister. When my dad remarried, I became the middle child in between my older sister and my younger stepsiblings, plus a half brother. When my sister turned 18 and moved away, I became the big sister to all my younger siblings. Did you follow all that? 

So why did this make me creative? Well as the younger sibling, I had to spend a lot of time entertaining myself, sister my older sister and cousins were "too cool" for me. I played alone, A LOT. As the middle child, it fell on me to entertain my younger siblings to keep them busy, since I was never too cool for them (no seriously, my little sister was my best friend growing up). As the "big sister", it was up to me to make sure my littlest brother had the best childhood memories when I was around. Why? Why not, It was fun. 

I am so much more than what is on this list. But it would take me days to think of it and you hours to read it. I won't say this is me in a nutshell because there is more to it than that...let's view this as a quick blurb of me. See you tomorrow for the next blogtember post!