Wednesday Hodgepodge!

Happy Wednesday Friends! Time for another Wednesday Hodgepodge with Joyce from over at From This Side of the Pond ....this is always such a fun linkup.. join in anytime! Hope you enjoy. 

1. Are the leaves turning color where you live? Have they begun to fall? Will you have to rake when it's all said and done? Is that a chore you love or loathe?

Well we live in South Carolina so I kinda think fall normally starts a little later for us than most. But I have noticed leaves starting to fly through the air. I seriously think a lot of the US is going to have a bad winter and leaves falling this soon here, makes me think it even more. I don't really rake. I just don't do it and always assume it will turn into compost or something. Its nothing I love or nothing I hate...its just a job for the boys if it is going to get done. :) I do think rake day is always the perfect photo opportunity! 
2. When did you last shake like a leaf?
As I explained in this post and video life has been pretty stressful for me here lately. I am someone who tends to worry and become anxious easily. This year has been particularly hard trying to get it under control. At times my hands will shake horribly. I think its just nervous but its never fun to experience. 
3. After 20 seasons with the NY Yankees, Derek Jeter played his last official game Sunday afternoon. Jeter has been described even by opponents as a 'class act', both on and off the field. The NFL is back in action this month too, with several players in that sport also making headlines. What are your thoughts on athletes as role models? Should a professional athlete be expected to act as role model or is that going beyond their job description? What responsibility do the organizations these athletes work for have when it comes to dealing with off the field behavior? Discuss.

I could do an entire blog post just dedicated to this subject. First...Yes Derek Jeter is a total class act and pretty easy on the eyes too. I think he had an amazing career and will still do great things in the future. With that said, the NFL has some work to do. First their public relations suck. They should be working on cleaning up the behavior and having a standard but they can't get their own shit right. Its all about the money. I don't necessarily think that every athlete is or should be looked upon as a role model but I do think if they start getting sponsors and becoming highly known, then yes. The sponsors need to protect their brands and the NFL should feel the same way. They need to put some serious guidelines out there and let the players pay the consequences for their mistakes. I think if they are being paid millions by the NFL the least they could do is follow some strict rules. The picture above says everything. Its just the pumped up, aggression filled boys club + money....what could possibly go wrong?

4. What season of the year is toughest for you in terms of your health? Why?
Winter. It hurts my body to wake up to a cold house. It makes me shiver which makes my muscles tense causing me to be uncomfortable and I get sick easy. Last year we all got flu shots and I didn't get sick. Its time to do that again. 

5. The top six healthy food trends of 2014 according to Eating Well are-

clean eating (more veg, less meat, less sodium, limit alcohol and processed foods)
trash fish (you know those fish that get caught in fishermen nets and are thrown back? It seems chefs are finding creative ways to make them more appetizing)
cauliflower (this year's IT vegetable)
kaniwa (essentially baby quinoa, so like quinoa only smaller)
fermentation (think pickling except with twists on flavor we're not accustomed to)
community supported food (farms operating with community support/membership). 

Okay-so how many of the hot healthy food trends for 2014 have you experienced, encountered, enjoyed? Any you've tried and said ewwww? Any on the list you'd liketo try before year's end?
The only two off that list that I have tried are the clean eating and community supported food. We don't really eat totally clean often but we do try to balance out the bad with the good. For many years we were apart of a local CSA ( you can find a local farm near you right here ) which brought us fresh farm food, herbs, flowers, pumpkins and such every week. It was kinda pricey but so worth it. We also ended up buying organic beef from the same farm. Its totally worth it if you don't garden! 
6. In seven words or less, bid September adieu.
Goodbye month of issues, hello better days. 
7. What's something on your October calendar that makes you happy just thinking about it?
I hope you don't mind my list! 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
The last couple of weeks of September were not so kind to us around here. I am totally off schedule and life has just been hard. I am going into October with the thought of making this the best month we can. Its even been hard to blog or make videos and I have totally missed the hodgepodge the past couple of weeks. I hope you guys have all been doing well... and I will be sure to visit many of you! Thanks for stopping by. Have a beautiful and blessed day.  If you want to find me buzzing around online, here's where to go! :) Facebook| Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Youtube Main Channel | Youtube Vlogging Channel | Bloglovin

♥'throbs (#BLOGEVERYDAYINSEPT)

Late night hello to you all! I don't know what is up with the late night blog posts but here I am.:) I am back with day 4 in the #blogeverydayinsept hosted byWhitney at Love Letters & List. Feel free to join up if you like!  Here's todays prompt.......         Thursday, Sept. 4: Who were your celebrity crushes from your childhood?

I grew up in the 80's and Bon Jovi was everywhere including plastered all over my walls in my bedroom. Gosh.. his songs touched me then as they still do now. I can remember so many nights just listening to his music and daydreaming that he was singing right to me. He was my pocket boyfriend in a sense....because he basically went everywhere with me. 

Andrew McCarthy was a another dreamy crush I had. Remember him from Sixteen Candles? Omg.. I loved his calm passive personality, I just wish we saw him more now in movies!

Robert Downey Jr. was also another heartthrob that I adored. I mean remember Less that Zero. Even though it was heartbreaking in the end, it sure made me take notice of the beautiful drug addicted man. He captured all of us back then and is still going. 

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Those are my top 3! If you want to share your childhood heartthrobs, feel free to link up or leave them in the comments. Thanks for stopping by. 

If you want to find me buzzing around online, here's where to go! :) Facebook| Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Youtube Main Channel | Youtube Vlogging Channel | Bloglovin

My Romeo (#BLOGEVERYDAYINSEPT)

Hello friends! I am back with another late night post.....I know. I promise I am truly trying to get back on schedule but today was a hell of a day filled with appointments and errands. It was truly exhausting.

Anyway, I am back with day 2 in the #blogeverydayinsept hosted by Whitney at Love Letters & List. Feel free to join up if you like!  Here's todays prompt...

Tuesday, September 2: Tell us about your most prized possession and the history behind it.  
I had to think long and hard about this one... seriously. My most prized possession....I thought of a million different things pop up in my head. My grandfathers cross, a very old family music box that has been passed down to me, but none stuck in my mind as much as Romeo. He is our 2 year old Persian kitty cat who is the superstar of our home. I do own him so technically he is a possession. :) He is actually one of the superstars of my life. I can't count the cuddle times I have had with this cat. He won me over the day he was born and every since he has pretty much owned me. His feet rarely hit the floor because he carry him around everywhere. Breeding Persian Cats was such a wonderful experience that brought me to this boy.  He has fathered many beautiful kittens in his short 2 years and has passed his " awesomeness " down the line to his furry kids. When we stopped breeding them after 5 years, we got him fixed and now he is as lazy as ever but still the most adored animal in the house.

I couldn't just leave it at him. When I look at my current day and think about what I use the most and what I consider a prized possession, I couldn't leave out my planner and laptop. Both are items that I use daily without fail and mean so much to me. My planner is a Erin Condren which I actually just did a new blog post on, is a life saver for me. I couldn't imagine life without a calendar or planner. My laptop is something I also use daily to keep connected to you guys! ♥ It also allows me to stay connected with family and friends who live far away. Its one of those things that I wouldn't want to be without. I could give it up but I sure wouldn't want to. I use it for so many things that its for sure a prized possession! 

Thanks for stopping by. Tomorrow is going to be another busy day with Scott being off work.  Hopefully I will be able to make it back around before another late night rolls in.

Have a great night. 

If you want to find me buzzing around online, here's where to go! :) Facebook| Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Youtube Main Channel | Youtube Vlogging Channel | Bloglovin

About Me! [ #BLOGEVERYDAYINSEPT ]

Hello friends! I am back with a late night post for you guys! My sister in law Trina pointed me in the direction of this daily blogging challenge hosted by Whitney at Love Letters & Lists.

Here's today's prompt..

Reintroduce yourself to your readers. Tell us what you want to get out of blogging everyday in September.

So in case you are new to this blog my name is Kisha! I am 38 years old and currently live in beautiful South Carolina. I married the love of my life in April 2011 but we have been together for a total of 10 years now. Its insane that we have that much history together but each day we keep learning new and interesting things about each other.

I have a older son Jordan and I also am the proud mom of Brittany & Jackson who are 11 & 12. Actually soon to be 12 & 13 years old in the coming months. They are seriously the best things that have came from me. They are always teaching me something new and I hope one day they will understand how much I truly love them.

Most days I am running around here like any stressed out busy stay at home mom. Our life is not one of the perfect pin-able pintrest homes. We have lots of kid stuff around the house, pets running wild, and sometimes you can barely put your thoughts together with all the noise and commotion going on around here. But its my life and even on hard days, I know I am blessed. 

In addition to being a busy and most of the time tired stay at home wife & mother, I also blog daily and  make youtube vidoes. I love blogging. I have been doing it for a long while and its still my first love. However, its so much easier to share a recipe via video instead of taking 30 pictures and trying to write a complete blog post to go with it. Yea.. video is easier! In addition to my main youtube channel where I post my housewife life videos I also have a vlogging channel where I post our vlog style videos. Just in case you want to get to know us a little better, I included our Couples Tag Video that hopefully will give you an insight to our loud, crazy, fun loving life. Hope you enjoy. 

I hope with this linkup, I can meet even more great bloggers. I have made so many wonderful relationships with so many of you guys. I totally cherish all the emails and conversations I've had with other women though blogging and making videos. I hope we can all lift each other up and be an inspiration to each other. Blogging and even making videos is about sharing. I love sharing our lives with you and I hope through out the month of September....I create more bloggy friends than ever! Click the button to the left if you also want to join in. :) See ya tomorrow with day 2. Have a beautiful & blessed night. ♥

If you want to find me buzzing around online, here's where to go! :) Facebook| Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Youtube Main Channel | Youtube Vlogging Channel | Bloglovin

Bloglovin' Blog Hop!

Hi Friends! I am back today co hosting the Happy Kids, Inc. bloglovin' hop! This is very exciting because I have never been a co host on this hop ever! Come join us and link up your bloglovin' account so we can all get to know each other better! Have a beautiful day!

  

Blogging is Hard......* Kinda

I recently found this fun July linkup from Juliette that I thought I would join in again! 

So the last prompt for Blog Everyday in July is "Blogging is Hard".

So I have a few thoughts on this. First blogging is not like brain surgery. Its something you choose do to either for enjoyment or some times as a job. For me, it started out as enjoyment and has turned into a little monthly side money but its not like I break a sweat blogging. However, I do not work outside the house, I consider myself pretty tech savvy, and writing comes natural for me. I have kept a journal since I was old enough to write. I have been blogging since January 2006. YIKES! Makes me feel old! I have the first few years private because they were disaster blog posts but its been a long hobby for me.  But I really really enjoy it. I moved on into making videos a few years ago and have also been enjoying that a lot too. Blogging becomes hard for me when life becomes hard. I can't really get on here and fake it. Firstly, I want things on this blog to be true to time and true in life. Second, I am just too much of an emotional person to try to fake it until I make it. I have learned over the years of blogging that is probably not a good thing to do when you are upset. When those times roll around, I simply turn off the computer and wait until I feel better. Otherwise it will be hard to say anything nice and spread positive energy.

The other way it is " hard " is all the steps that go into a good blog post and or video. Think about it....you need to write, edit photos/videos, proof read, and publish. But it doesn't end there. I pay for a services that publishes my blog post on facebook/twitter but I always always go to my facebook accounts and share the post with more pictures. Then don't forget about making a good pin-able image for pinterest. Yep.. you know you should be doing it. Then if you join up in link ups you have to add your links to their sites for optional views. If you want your blog to be successful, you have to invest time and energy not only in the content but blog design and maintenance, advertise as much as possible, host giveaways for your wonderful.. and I mean wonderful subscribers who come back over and over to view your blog. Its not that its really hard for me, but it is totally time consuming. Another part of blogging that is hard is I basically work from home with this blog and my youtube videos. I make $300-500 a month right now and I am totally happy with that. But being its a home based job, it seems like I am always always working. The kids don't really think of it as a job, instead they see mommy sitting at the computer all day long. So balancing my time is not easy. I am always thinking about a blog post/video and its hard to turn off. That's one of the reasons planners and schedules work so well for me. I also think the reason I don't really consider it hard is because I love it so much so it does't feel like a job. I have 8 years of content right here....and if I didn't love it... I would have never ever kept up with it this long. I love documenting our lives and I love the relationships I have made over the years from this blog and my youtube channels. So for me... its not as much as it being hard but being very time consuming. 

Have a beautiful and blessed night! I will be back tomorrow with my ipsy bag update and giveaway winners! 

If you want to find me buzzing around online, here's where to go! :) Facebook| Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Youtube Main Channel | Youtube Vlogging Channel | Bloglovin

Sorry...I'm NOT Sorry

I recently found this fun July linkup from Juliette that I thought I would join in a little late into the month. I can't promise I will follow along every day but I will sure try! Today's prompt is sorry..but I'm not sorry so here we go! 

That I am political. I feel strongly about my beliefs. It matters and even when I get on here and bash Republicans, I still understand they have the right to feel, think, vote and say what they want. But I won't apologize for actually standing up and speaking out. 

that chances are, you will be covered in cat/dog hair if you come to visit. They are our furry family and most of the time we like them better than most people. Don't come visit wearing black! 

that I never check voicemails. I know it might be rude but I just can't stand listening to them. You better text or email if you are really trying to get a hold of me. Right now there are 15 messages and you couldn't even leave one if you wanted. 

I am a planner and schedule addicted. I know how well my day goes when I follow a schedule.  I am also - sorry I am not sorry - when I get a little testy about changes in the calendar. I just like a neat and tidy planner and changes just mess it up! 

that I am just not a neighborly person. I just don't like the Russian Spies on the left of me and the animal abusers on the right of me..I need a country house!

that I have fought back with the mean commentators, haters, and gossipers who like to criticize and judge. Even though I think they are seriously becoming my greatest teachers and maybe I should send the assholes a thank you card, I meant everything I said and I am not sorry about it at all.  If you don't like me.. why be on my blog or my youtube channels? Makes no sense to me. 

that I don't exercise...Yea. I am so not doing that stuff. Maybe some walking and or yoga but that's where I have to draw the line. I can find better things to do to get hot, sweaty, and tired. 

that most of the time my life is such not pin-able image that I can put on pinterest. Most of the time there is a basket of towels waiting on me to fold them, a sink full of dishes that I need to tend to, toys laying in the hallway, and I am so not sorry for it. We live here, its our home not some cold museum. We live a very real life here and I wouldn't want it any other way! 

Have a great night! 

If you want to find me buzzing around online, here's where to go! :) Facebook| Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Youtube Main Channel | Youtube Vlogging Channel | Bloglovin

Snaps & Likes...a linkup

I recently found this fun July linkup from Juliette that I thought I would join in a little late into the month. I can't promise I will follow along every day but I will sure try!  I am making up with Monday post combining it with today's...hope you don't mind! 

Yesterday Monday's link was  3 Pictures -  1 of anything, 1 you took, and 1 selfie.

Here's my pictures:

My Anything: So if you are a follower of anything of mine, you know I am on the search for a Afghan Hound to join our family. It probably won't happen until after the first of the year but I am really wanting this dog to move in! Look how beautiful and majestic this dog is! I feel like for the first stage in my life we have had golden retriever - you know because they are good with the kids - The middle stage will be this beautiful breed of dog - and in the last chapters of my life I will get a small dog that is easy to care for. Right now.. I'm in the middle and its time to find my dream puppy! :)

My Selfie: I am also a cat person and I loved this selfie I took with Romeo. The sun was shinning so beautifully but I wish Romeo had a better look on his face. I love it though.. its a favorite! 

My picture: I took this picture a couple years ago of the kids. They are seriously the best things I ever did. They are such sweet independent little people who teach me more about myself everyday. Both are growing up so fast and along the way, trying to figure out who they are and how they fit into this world. They consume my thoughts most days and my goal in life is to make sure that after I am gone, they will be ok. That they will be able to stand on their own feet, make strong decisions, who love God and who be themselves... no matter who that might be. They are my hope. 

Today's Topic: All about ME. 5 Things I like about myself. 

1. My planning abilities: I am a planner through and through. I love calendars, planners, and kind of organization really. But I am super good at planning things out. Almost to a fault because if life happens as it normally does, it doesn't make me too happy when things go off schedule. But I am good planner even if every detail is not followed! 

2. Being a Homebody: I like being a homebody. I use to do the clubs and all that kind of stuff ( ha! almost 20 years ago...wow, I feel old ) but as time passed, I quickly figured out...home is where I belong. I feel safe and secure here. Some people think being a hermit is not such a good thing but I beg to differ! 

3. My eyes: I hate to admit it but its basically the only good thing my father has given me. We have identical eyes which I do get complimented on them a lot which does make me feel good. However, its not really the same for me being I only occasionally see them in the mirror or pictures! :) And lets face it, they have shown me everything. 

4. My Confidence: It has taken a long while to figure out what I believe in, what matters to me and feel comfortable in my own skin. After 38 years on this earth, I am starting to figure it out. I feel better in my decisions and that all comes from wisdom from my life experiences. But it also comes from wisdom of people who have been there before. 

5. My Love: I feel like I love hard. I am loyal and think love is one of the only things you can take with you. I fall in love many times a day with as many things as I can. I have compassion for others and I want the world to be a better place and we do that through L♥ve. 

If you want to find me buzzing around online, here's where to go! :) Facebook| Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Youtube Main Channel | Youtube Vlogging Channel | Bloglovin

The Blogmopolitan Quiz!

Hello friends! I am back with another one of the Blogmopolitan Quizes from Erin over at Two Thirds Hazel!  These don't pop up everyday so if your a blogger, you might want to join in! Hope you enjoy! 

Thanks for stopping by! If you are new here and haven't yet entered my Erin Condren Life Planner, Click the below picture and go get entered! Giveaway closes July 31st, and I will announce the winners on this blog August 1st! Good Luck! 

Get Entered in the Erin Condren Giveaway! 

If you want to find me buzzing around online, here's where to go! :) Facebook| Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Youtube Main Channel | Youtube Vlogging Channel | Bloglovin