oh the things i have pinned!

oh the things i have pinned! i joined pinterest at the beginning of this year and have done several projects and made several recipes that i've pinned. sometimes i'm not sure if it's more of a waste of time and procrastinating or if it's actually putting real ideas in my head and is useful for tips, recipes, etc.

i have pinned things that i like, like different decorating styles, fashion, books, recipes i want to try and have tried. this might be a good thing in the cooking area, since the kitchen and i have not been friends for so long. we are definitely becoming reacquainted and are almost liking each other, at least to the point that i don't feel like i have to run out after getting a glass of water.

trying all of these different recipes has made me see that i can cook and that i still don't really like to cook but will do it to help out and contribute more for my family. my mom was quite impressed that i was cooking, because she knows my relationship with the kitchen has been a sketchy one at best. js is happy because he doesn't have to do it all the time and is really enjoying all the new recipes. pbs doesn't realize what's happening, but seems to enjoy the fruits of my labor.

i think i've been trying three or four recipes a week so the other nights we have left-overs. we're saving money and feel like we're going out to dinner because we're dining on new treats a few nights a week.

so i guess that pinterest might actually be more than a time waster and is a good thing. maybe i'll share some of my creations on here. (i don't want this to turn into a cooking blog or crafting blog but a few posts here and there would be okay, i think.)

from the mouth of a two year old...

i guess i thought that when pbs started talking he would be saying things like ball, yes, no, eat, etc. i didn't expect him to be saying the names of different dinosaur species, (like tyrannosaurus rex, triceratops, lambiasaurus, just to name a few) hippopotamus and hypothesis.

i didn't even expect him to want to try potty training. i'm glad that he has a sometimes interest in it and am starting to realize that it is going to be a process. a long, long, long process that will be full of humor, messes and struggle but will make us realize how much we love and need each other.

while we were on vacation this past week, pbs asked to use the potty again and mama k and papa b were there to celebrate with us. pretty exciting stuff for a two year old and his parents. pbs told mama k and papa b all about his trains and the dinosaurs on "dinosaur train". they were pretty impressed, and so were we.

it just amazes me how much pbs' two year old brain is soaking up all the time. i wish i felt like i was learning even half as much as he is every day. i guess i need to pay more attention to what he's doing and saying and learn from the mouth of a two year old that way.

more potty talk

pbs came up to me last night and said "potty!" then he took me by the hand and led me to his potty. he proceeded to sit down and use the potty. js and i were very surprised and very happy. we haven't been saying anything about the potty since pbs seemed to lose interest.

i guess that's kind of how potty training goes though, right? we'll have a few good days and then nothing or all diapers for a while and then a surprise like this. i hope we have more instances where pbs wants to do it himself rather than not.

he is only two so i am a little hesitant to start down this road but he's been showing signs of being ready for months. i'm also hesitant to start so early and then have him end up feeling like we're forcing him to do this rather than him wanting to. he's still not quite able to pull his pants down by himself so i know we have a little while before he'll be completely potty trained.

i've always heard that boys are more difficult to potty train than girls. well i have nothing to compare this to, so i don't know if that's true or not. what i do know is that pbs seems ready, according to the books and articles that i've read, but maybe i'm not ready to go full on on this journey. i'll get there soon enough and so will he. but until we both get there, there will always be more potty talk.

saving, shopping, shoes and stuff

so js and i are saving to buy a house. this has been a challenge for both of us, i think...probably more so for me, unfortunately. i like, scratch that, make that love to shop and shopping for shoes could be a very fun, although expensive hobby for me. i have really tried to bring in the reigns on my spending habits. let me tell you it's not been easy! i don't know how good of a job i've really done.

i have my favorite places to shop and so when i'm out and anywhere near one, it seems to have a force field that reaches out to me and pulls me in. i have to admit that i'm not going unwillingly but am going guiltily. shoes seem to be the worst. i can't seem to pass any shoe store without at least just looking. i can look and not buy, it's difficult but i can and have done that very successfully many times. so if one of these excursions is not so successful in the saving department, i feel incredibly guilty and down on myself.

js and i have a rule that if we buy something we have to get rid of two other things that we don't use or need any longer. this method of purging helps when it comes to packing all of our stuff for a move, local or cross country. we tend to get rid of even more when we're getting ready to move. we do this method so that we don't become the focus of the hoarders tv show on tlc.

i guess this purging method is good until we have so many bags and boxes to go to the thrift shop, not enough room in the car to get it there and end up having to make two or more trips. if we keep up with it we probably take three or four boxes of stuff every three or four months. it helps to keep our closets clean and junk free.