It's Freakin' Friday Blog Hop (I'm the New Host!!)

I am so excited to announce that I'm going to be the new weekly host of the It's Freakin' Friday Blog Hop! Anestazia contacted me asking if I'd be willing to host with her, and of course I said yes! So be sure to come back here or to her blog Eccentric Delirium every Friday to link up your blog and make new friends!! :)

 
Now, let's get on to the party...

 <a href="http://yourworkistodiscoveryourworld.blogspot.com/search/label/freakin%27%20friday"><img alt="bloghopbutton" height="200" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1307/5188648574_061fbbde73_m.jpg" width="200"></a>

Requests of the blog hoppity hop:

• Please, follow me via GFC or RSS feed, when putting your link in the blog hop. Provide the link to your main blog site.
• Please put my blog hop button somewhere on your blog.
• And if I feature a blog, please follow that blog as well. Its kind of like a giveaway by joining, and then reward is being featured. So this last one is not required, but its definitely greatly appreciated. 

Make sure to follow your Hostess:

Eccentric Delirium 

First, I would like to congratulate

Chloe from Rainbows & Honeysuckle

as a new permanent hostess!

Next, make sure you follow this week's Co-Hostess

 NAVYWIF33 

     

How to Cope With Being Overdue

So, yes, I understand there are women out there that are worse off than me. There are women that are almost 42 weeks pregnant and still have no signs of their little baby arriving. But I feel like I'm allowed a little bit of bitching time at being 4 days overdue. Especially when I expected to go early my entire pregnancy.

So I'm going to take my few moments of bitching and explain how I've learned to cope with being overdue and having absolutely no clue when Little Man is going to decide it's time.

One. SLEEP! I haven't woken up before noon in weeks. And two days this week I've slept until 2PM. I am not ashamed. I've even thought about staying in bed all day and just sleeping until he's born, but I do have some things to do around the house that keep me from getting to that point.

Two. Pamper myself. I've actually started trying to shave again. Yes, I know, TMI, and poor Jon, but come on. It is impossible to look or feel sexy with a belly this big, so for a month or so there, I just stopped trying. But now, I've decided enough is enough. This baby is not going to come into this world with an unshaved and unmade-up mama. I've even started trying to do my hair and put on make-up everyday. This is big, because these are things I tend to skip even when I'm not pregnant. Who wants to spend hours every time they get up making themselves look good? Although I do love that when I spend the time on myself, I feel invincible. So I've started trying to look all pretty everyday. Jon's mind is boggled.

Three. Not stay sitting at home thinking about being overdue all day long. I still make plans. I'll even make plans for next week and just assume that baby will still be in there. Seriously, what is so great about my belly? Talk about claustrophobic. I just assume that I'll make it to my next doctor's appointment, that any contractions I begin to feel are just Braxton Hicks and will go away as sure as they have been the entire last month of my pregnancy, etc. I try to see my friends and Jon and I try to enjoy each other alone while we can. We even went on a date to a Japanese Steakhouse the other night. :)

Four. Cleaaannn!! My nesting has fully kicked in, and although there are still a few times that I'll find myself lying on the couch for hours, there are still many other times that I just can't sit still because I know that there's things around the house that need to be done. The dishes almost never sit in the sink as long as they did before. The laundry is starting to get done much more regularly. I've finished just about all of my crafting and organizing in the baby's room. We are ready.

Five. Respond nicely to all of the phone calls, texts, tweets, and Facebook messages I get asking when my baby is coming. If I knew when my baby was coming, we wouldn't have problems like this. Instead, I just joke around and tell them that he's obviously very comfortable where he's at, or something of that variation. My belly is like a five-star hotel. I'm jealous. I answer the phone calls and just let them know that I'll call them as soon as something happens.

Six. Make friendship bracelets. I've made like almost ten in the past two weeks. It's been that bad. Jon just gives me the strangest looks, wondering how on earth I can just sit and tie knots for hours at a time, but it keeps me busy! :)

Seven. Meal plan. Make todo lists. Sometimes do what's on those todo lists. Start reading a book. Start reading a different book. Think about writing a book. Realize that I would never finish writing a book and scratch that idea. Plan Jon's school schedule for the next two years because I love schedules and I'm a nerd like that. Refresh Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Blogger, and my e-mail every two minutes to see if anyone new wants to talk to me. No one ever does. Sigh. 

So, basically, I do almost anything I can to try to keep busy and keep my mind off of this annoying, bulging, uncomfortable, constantly-in-the-way belly that I have. Soon it'll be an annoying, crying, pooping, eating, constantly-needs-to-be-held baby, but I'm okay with that. :)

And yes, I did have tons of fun with MacBook Photobooth today...obviously... :)

February 2013 Calendar Printable

Wow, can you believe January is already over?! This year is already going by way too quickly.

February 2013 Calendar

February is going to be an exciting month on the blog, filled with fabulous guest posts and all kinds of great information on getting your finances straight! Can't wait! :)

Craft Yourself Crazy Link Party #5

Welcome to another Craft Yourself Crazy link party! Here are our features/most viewed links from last week's party!

Dinner Decision Maker by A Little Bit of Craft

Crochet Hearts with Free Pattern by Little Rays of Sunshine

Custom Money Envelopes by Redfly Creations

DIY Smash Book by The NO Drama Mama

Washi Tape Charger by Sew Much Crafting

Go ahead and grab a featured button if you're one of the links above! And great job on creating such fantastic stuff!

<a href="http://rainbowsandhoneysuckle.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq111/chlxee/craftcrazyfeat_zpsb9944ba0.png"></a>

And now for this week's party! Feel free to grab a button to link back on your blog!

<a href="http://rainbowsandhoneysuckle.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq111/chlxee/craftcrazy_zpsa98de800.png"></a>

Rules:

1. No etsy shops, giveaways, or link parties, please!
2. Link up anything you've created (not just crafts!) such as recipes, printables, DIY, anything! Also, feel free to link up as many things as you want!
3. Link up something new or different from last week!
4. Add the button or a link somewhere on your blog and follow me!
5. Take a look at some of the other links. Don't just link up and leave. :)

Blogger Opportunity with Free Signup Available!

Ohsoamelia will be hosting another HUGE giveaway as the $100 cash giveaway was such a success last month! Interested in participating in this awesome giveaway? Keep reading for more details! You can now sign up for free by re-posting this post or purchasing a link from $5!

We are giving away an Ipad Mini! That's right! One lucky reader will win an Ipad Mini 16gb in the colour of their choice! Last months Giveaway was a tremendous success for our participants and of course for our winner Bex who was super lucky to win $100 in paypal cash! The giveaway rang in an enormous amount of bloggers and traffic to all co-hosts blogs. Participants on average saw a growth of 200-500 GFC followers each!

Don't want to participate? Don't forget to come back February 15th and enter for your chance to win! :)

- Giveaway will run Feb 15th – March 15th
- Hosted By: Ohsoamelia
- Prize: Ipad Mini 16gb Wi-fi Colour of Choice!
- Open Worldwide
- Entries will close once we have reached the prize total amount.
- The blogger who refers the most amount of people gets $25 Free Paypal cash!


SIGN UP OPTIONS:
- FREE SIGN UP by copy and pasting this post onto your blog
OR...
- Pay $5 for ONE LINK Facebook or Twitter ONLY. (If you would like other links you must purchase them separately i.e 2 links = $10 3 links = $15)

For more information and to sign up CLICK >>>>
BLOGGERS WANTED

A-Z About Me

Right now I'm just sitting at the bowling alley watching Jon's bowling league and reading blogs. Then I stumbled across this baby, and was like, "Yes, something to do!" :) So for those of you who love these little surveys as much as I do, I hope you enjoy getting to know me a little better! :)

A - Available or married?
Why are the only two options available or married? Do you have to be married to be officially off the market? I'm not married yet, but I'm having a baby with the love of my life, so I am definitely not available!

B- Book?
I'm in the middle of like five different books. I always start reading them, then get bored and start reading something else. I really need to learn how to finish a book! The ones I've been working on are The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, One Day, Prince Caspian, East, and the last book in the Pendragon series.

C- Cake or Pie?
Cake, definitely! But I can really eat anything sugary. I'm a desserts girl.

D- Drink of Choice?
Usually Coke, but sometimes depending on what I'm eating, I really want water, milk, orange juice, or sweet tea.

E- Essential Item?
My phone, most definitely! I couldn't go anywhere without it!

F- Favorite Color?
Teal, hands down. Teal, turquoise, Robin's egg blue, blue-green, green-blue, seafoam green, etc. Prettiest color ever.

G- Game to play or watch?
I love watching baseball and football. I like playing card games a lot, though.

H- Hometown?
Hanahan, SC. Not born here but have lived here for most of my life.

I- Indulgence?
After I've spent a long time on a project or cleaning the house, then getting to lounge around and admire it. Best feeling in the world!

J- Job?
I was working at Outback Steakhouse as a server, but just finished up work last week before I have my baby! Not sure if I'm going to go back to Outback or try to find something else until I finish school.

K- Kids and names?
We're about to have a baby boy named Travis! :)

L- Life is incomplete without?
Without friends, family, love, laughter, good food, and fun!

M- Music group or singer?
Hmm...I don't think I could pick a favorite. I'm really into country music at the moment, though.

N- Number of siblings?
One sister and one step-sister, both right around the same age!

O- Oranges or apples?
I like apples better, but I hate apple juice. I love orange juice, but the fruit is just too complicated to eat!

P- Phobias/Fears?
I'm scared of everything! I hate the dark and I'm scared of things grabbing my feet from underneath the bed. I'm scared of brake lights and freak out whenever anyone else is driving because they never slow down early enough for my nerves.

Q- Favorite Quote?
Everything happens for a reason. I actually have it tattooed on my shoulder blade!

R- Reason to Smile?
The fact that my little baby boy will be here any day now. :)

S- Season?
I love fall! It's just the most absolute perfect weather of all!

T- Tattoos?
Just the quote on my shoulder blade. Although I want another one eventually, just not sure what I want!

U- Unknown fact about me?
I am EXTREMELY OCD. All of my notes, blog posts, journals, and planners have to be formatted the EXACT same way every time.

V- Vegetable you love?
Green beans! I love the canned green beans and could eat them with dinner every night!

W- Worst habit?
My sleeping habits. I stay up until about 2 or 3 AM every night then sleep until noon. It's going to be really difficult adjusting to baby's sleeping patterns!

X- X-Rays you've had?
Only two I think. One when I was 4 and broke my collarbone. Then one last year of my chest when I was having chest pains and breathing problems.

Y- Your favorite food?
Pizza. Can never go wrong with pizza.

Z- Zodiac
Scorpio! October 28!

If any of you decide to do this A-Z thing, leave me the link in the comments! I'd love to read your answers! :)

5 for Five

Here's how I did last week:

1. Have a baby! Really thought this was going to be the week, but apparently Travis is taking after Mommy and Daddy already and is going to be late!

2. Look into selling ad space. Check! If you're interested in sponsoring, you can actually go to this page here to check out prices or swap! Also, get 50% off using the promo code "ADSALE" :)

3. Meal plan. All done, and very cheap and hopefully realistic. Let's just say we're having lots of Campbell's canned soup and Hamburger Helper this week. ;)

4. Organize desk. Yes! I got so much done yesterday! Desk organized, bathroom cleaned, kitchen cleaned, dishes done, nursery finished, can you say nesting?! I am so ready for this baby.

5. Nursery mobile. All done and I love it!! Can't wait to write up a post about it and show you guys how it turned out!!

4/5 and one being out of my control is definitely a good week. 

Now for this week:

1. Have a baby--without being induced. At my last appointment on Friday (I was 39 weeks 5 days), doctor already brought up induction! She offered to induce me Thursday the 31st, but Jon and I both agreed that we want to wait and see if Travis will make his way out on his own. So let's hope he decides to make an appearance! I'd really rather not go all the way to 42 weeks only to have to induce anyways!

2. Make friendship bracelets. This is something I've always loved to do since I was a little girl. I've been working on some this week, and Jon just looks at me like a pitiful little orphan girl or something and has no idea how they entertain me for hours, but I love it. And did you know that people actually sell these things on Etsy, too?! So I'm trying to see if maybe I make enough, I can open an Etsy shop, too! How cool would that be?

3. Eat what I planned out each night this week. Unless of course something legit comes up, like giving birth or free dinner at a family member's house. Never turn down free food. But if nothing is going on, I don't want any excuses not to make anything. I hate cooking but that needs to change.

4. Sort out who is going to get what pictures. Jon and I got our first couple's pictures done recently and still need to divvy them up and give them out! And of course frame a few for ourselves, because we want to be like all the other vain couples with pictures of ourselves on our wall. :)

5. Spend less than $20 at the grocery store. I'm trying to give couponing a go, and I'm hoping I'll be able to find some coupons for the things we need this week so that I won't have to spend more than $20! If I can keep a $20 weekly grocery budget, we will be all set. But I don't even know if that's possible.

Happy Monday everybody! Have a good week!

Painted Yellow Dresser for Nursery

As one of the final touches in Travis's nursery, Jon, my dad, and I all painted this dresser that we'd been given. It was frustrating having all of the baby clothes scattered around the room while the dresser was out of commission, but as always, the end result was so worth it!

Now I apologize for my terrible blog-photo taking, in that this is the only "before" picture I have. I forgot to take one before my dad took the dresser to his house, and then even after I asked him to, he forgot to take a before picture before he started priming it. But you get to see one side of how it looked before we started.

Also, here is a picture of the drawers, ugly gold handles already removed, and all ready to be sanded and primed!



My dad was nice enough to sand/prime the entire dresser, and I was in charge of the drawers. I just gave it a light sanding, just enough to scuff it up a little bit, then primed each drawer.



Here it is, back in the garage, waiting on the primer to dry!



The entire project took almost two weeks. One coat of primer and three coats of paint, and we weren't able to make it to my dad's every day in order to get some done.



Jon and my dad did the dresser, and I kept my job and painted the drawers.

Then we went to Lowe's to get new drawer handles. The ones before were extremely ugly and they were gold--definitely would not go with yellow. I originally wanted plain white handles, but Lowe's didn't have any white handles at all. So we settled on black, which actually turned out quite nicely.

So after two weeks, we finally got our dresser back and filled with clothes! :)

I really like how the yellow turned out, even if it wasn't the yellow I was originally thinking of. I wanted something more "sunflower-y" but it still looks nice. Jon wasn't too happy when I told him I got yellow paint, because I first wanted to paint the dresser blue. But after the wall art I made, I thought yellow would match quite nicely. Even though "boys do not have yellow dressers!" (Says Jon.) 

We also ended up with way too much paint leftover. I've never bought paint before and I ended up going to the store by myself to get some. The woman asked if I just needed one gallon of paint, so I just said yes. Apparently you can get smaller sizes than one gallon? Jon and my dad laughed at me when I showed up with my whole huge gallon of paint for one dresser. Oh well, we have enough for about 100 touch-ups if it should need it!

Have you spiced up any rooms in your house by painting the furniture? It was my first time painting anything, so I had a lot of fun! :)

InstaSaturday: Jon's Birthday!

This Wednesday was Jon's 23rd birthday! He had gotten his birthday present a few days early because he went snooping through my desk and found it and begged me to let him go ahead and have it. I felt bad when his birthday came around, though, because I had nothing to give to him. So I had to still surprise him, somehow!

I made up some excuse when he was going to sleep so that I could stay up a little bit later and put balloons outside of the doorway for when he woke up. He really liked it and had quite a bit of fun running through the balloons. :) Definitely something I will be doing for our kids in the future!

Jon's not a big dessert person, but loves chocolate cake. So I made him a triple chocolate fudge cake with chocolate fudge icing. Can you say yum?! It was delicious. And yes, I know, I should be a professional cake decorator. You don't have to tell me. ;)

And the best part? Travis stayed put so now they'll each have their own birthdays! Yay! :)

2013 "Goals"

Although I've already expressed that I don't do/believe in resolutions, I wanted to make a list of "goals" I have for 2013, persay. Or rather, things that I want to learn how to do this year.

1. Learn how to embroider. I think these things are so neat and I want to be able to do this! I have tons of embroidery thread I've always used for making bracelets, but everytime I go to the craft store, I can't bring myself to buy embroidery hoops/fabric/needles.

Tutorial from Wild Olive

2. Learn how to decorate cookies with royal icing. Because they look incredible and food is always more delicious when it's pretty.

Tutorial from Sweetopia

Tutorial from Strawberry Mommy Cakes

3. Learn to crochet. Or knit. Or sew. I know, I'm hopeless.

Tutorial from Versus

4. Learn how to properly fold bedsheets. Those cling sheets are freaking impossible, I swear, you have to be magic in order to fold them.

Tutorial from Guide to Imperfect Homemaking

5. Learn how to budget. In other words, we're 'bout to be broke if we don't figure this one out.

Tutorial from Our Family World

6. Learn how to decorate a cake with fondant. Because like I said, all food tastes better when it's pretty.

Tutorial from Meaningful Mama

7. Learn how to manage my time better. No more sleeping all day, sitting on the couch watching TV/working on blog, or just being lazy and not getting things done. Also, lying in bed playing on your phone for two hours every night does not help you get to sleep any faster.

Tips from Becky Higgins

8. Learn how to meal plan.

Tutorial from The Frugalette

9. Learn how to coupon. Goes with the last one a bit.

Tutorial from It's a Fabulous Life

There's my list of nine "goals" or things I want to learn how to do this year! They mostly have to do with crafting/cooking or saving money. Because even though learning how to save money is important, we still need to have fun with our crafts/baked goods! :)

What are some things that you want to learn how to do this year?

How to Remove Nail Polish WITHOUT Nail Polish Remover

Remember this post here? About getting my nails done? And about how nice it is to be pampered like that and everything? I'm not changing my opinion, trust me, it's awesome getting your nails done, and it actually lasted almost an entire week! (When I do my own nails, I can't even go five minutes without messing one of them up.)

But. After a week (even though the woman told me it should last twenty-one days. Last I checked, you cannot fit twenty-one days into a week.) the nail polish started chipping. Bad. And because they put about twelve billion coats of nail polish onto your nails, it's thick. So when it chips, it is so annoying. Or maybe that's just me being thirty-nine weeks and four days pregnant talking. Either way.

The only problem, is that I for some strange reason do not own nail polish remover. And I hate making runs to the store for something so menial. (Not even sure if that's the right word, but I don't feel like checking the dictionary right now.) Even if it was a huge annoyance. Although it's not like I could afford nail polish remover at the moment anyways. (Lord I hope that you are never broke enough to not be able to afford nail polish remover.)

After chipping at the nail polish all day long and basically just ruining my nails, I knew that something had to be done. So I opened up my handy-dandy Pinterest app (Boy, I love Pinterest) and looked up "homemade nail polish remover." I figured there had to be something I could do!

Anddddd......drumroll, please........I NO LONGER HAVE CHIPPED NAIL POLISH ON MY FINGERNAILS!

This was a very last minute post--I usually try to plan everything out weeks in advance--but sometimes things are just so exciting, that you can't not share them. In fact, I've already posted all over Facebook about my find, but I had to let you guys know, too, just in case you're ever in the same situation as me.

Depending on how thick the nail polish was, it may take awhile--about 20ish or so minutes--but for me, it was so worth it. Just grab your nail polish (preferably a light or clear color--at least, that's what the website said) and cover your nail with it. While it's still wet, use a napkin (I used a wet wipe) and wipe it off. Like I said, I'd had really thick polish on, so for me it just continued to thin it down until it finally came all off. Not sure how it'd work if you only had one coat on. Probably much better, but I'd still suggest using a color that you don't really like.

But it actually works. And the best part? My fingers don't have that impossible-to-get-rid-of nail polish remover smell!! I. Am. Way. Too. Excited. Don't you just love it when you can substitute something you have for something you don't and get the right outcome? :)

Sponsor Rainbows & Honeysuckle!

<a href="http://rainbowsandhoneysuckle.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq111/chlxee/200x200-1_zps8b1af3a7.png" /></a>

Since you clicked on the Sponsor tab, I just want to say thank you so much for your interest in sponsoring Rainbows & Honeysuckle! And I would absolutely love to have you and help you to grow your blog/shop! Not only do we want to get you other readers, I also like to follow all of my sponsors on all of their social media, along with reading/commenting on most of your blog posts. I look forward to working with you and promoting your blog!

Stats as of 4/5/13:

• 615+ GFC followers
• 275+ Bloglovin' followers
• 1350+ Twitter/Facebook/Pinterest followers
• Over 13,000 pageviews last month
• Average of 300-600 daily pageviews
• Over 60,000 total pageviews
• Posts 6-7+ times per week + weekly blog hop

Craft Yourself Crazy Link Party #4

Welcome to another Craft Yourself Crazy link party! Here are our features/most viewed links from last week's party!

Yarn Wrapped Wire Sign from Sewing Barefoot

Budget Binder from Thrifty Crafty Girl

Birthday Cake Fudge from The Velvet Moon Baker

Stenciled Canvas Curtains from My Crazy Beautiful Life

How to Meal Plan from Purposefully Simple

Go ahead and grab a featured button if you're one of the links above! And great job on creating such fantastic stuff!

<a href="http://rainbowsandhoneysuckle.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq111/chlxee/craftcrazyfeat_zpsb9944ba0.png"></a>

And now for this week's party! Feel free to grab a button to link back on your blog!

<a href="http://rainbowsandhoneysuckle.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq111/chlxee/craftcrazy_zpsa98de800.png"></a>

Rules:

1. No etsy shops, giveaways, or link parties, please!
2. Link up anything you've created (not just crafts!) such as recipes, printables, DIY, anything! Also, feel free to link up as many things as you want!
3. Link up something new or different from last week!
4. Add the button or a link somewhere on your blog and follow me!
5. Take a look at some of the other links. Don't just link up and leave. :)