Valentine's Day

I'm not able to share my Valentine's Day plans - my husband reads my blog and he would find out what I was thinking :(  I promise to share once it's done.  I was just so excited that I thought of the "perfect plan" and I had to say something.  :)

What are you doing for Valentine's Day? (Those of you who haven't already shared)

I hope to someday (meaning, when we don't stuggle with money) to be able to do fun things on our anniversary, birthdays, and special days like Valentine's Day.  When you live on a tight budget, it's hard to squeeze extra out for special things. 

What do you like to do for special days throughout the year? :)

Routine's, De-Cluttering, and Sleep!

So – I need an evening routine. I am a person who likes structure, a schedule, a ROUTINE. It seems like every evening I am so totally lazy that nothing gets done. I need some type of routine to follow, and then I might have more success and actually feel motivated because I can SEE that I accomplished something. Some things I would like to incorporate into my routine are: Reading, Relaxing, Getting my things ready for the next day, Brush my teeth, etc. Do YOU have an evening routine? If so, please share! I’d love some ideas.

I finally made it through the introduction and 1st chapter of “The Happiness Project”. It’s getting late in the month and I’ve only made it thru the 1st chapter, so I really need to pick up the pace. It’s not because the book is written poorly, it’s because I haven’t actually sat down and read it! The first chapter was about going to sleep earlier, exercising better, “toss, restore, and reorganize”, tackling a nagging task, and acting more energetic. Sleep plays a MAJOR role in just about everything. If you’re tired, more than likely you’re not in the best mood, more than likely you’re not performing at work like you should, more than likely you’re not accomplishing anything. In the book, she suggests going to bed an hour earlier. Some people, like me, tend to stay up late because it’s the only time during the day when they’re actually ALONE and they feel like they can unwind. When I do this though, I’m totally exhausted the next day! I have vowed to get at least 8 hours of sleep per night to see if this helps with my tiredness. By feeling more rested, I actually feel happier because I’m so much more productive AND I actually feel better! See – sleep IS important! Another thing she mentions is cleaning out clutter. Now note that there are different types of clutter. The clutter you can visually SEE and the clutter in your mind. She talks about cleaning out her closet and getting rid of the clutter around her house. I can totally see how this would lift someone’s spirits. I know when I’m surrounded by clutter it definitely effects my mood. It’s actually motivated me to clean out my closet! I also have clutter in my mind – tasks that I need to get done but have been putting off always sit in my mind and after a while it starts to affect my mood. It’s time I got rid of all the clutter filling up my life.

So, now I need an evening routine (for the part of me that craves structure) and I need to reorganize and de-clutter my life.

AND on another note – I have a really good Valentine’s Day idea but I don’t know how to pull it off!

Tuesday Ramblings :)

It's a rainy day in Florida!  It's cold too.  Rainy days overwhelm me with un-motivated feelings.  I am totally worthless on days like this! I'm doing much better now than I was this morning - this morning I didn't even feel like blogging! ;-)

Tonight at the Tucci Household we're going to have Chicken & Rice (Tucci Family Recipe) and relax :) Mr Tucci is actually on his way home now with little Tucci - I wish I could go home too!  Yesterday evening we played lots of games with Tristan.  He was awake the whole evening, and we acutally had to put him to bed because WE wanted to go to bed! We were exhausted! ha!  He is eating so much more these days.  Almost 3 jars of food per feeding.  He still drinks formula, but mostly only before bed.  I had to buy him bigger spoons because he wants to take biiiiiiig bites! ha!  He opens his mouth so wide that his little nose scrunches up :)  We are working on the sippy cup, but unfortunately he'd rather play with it than drink out of it. 

One of the detectives in my unit's wife is an amazing party planner.  I was able to pick her brain today about T's 1st birthday party.  She gave me some great ideas and some websites.  I can say I've at least got an "idea" of what I want.  I still have a lot of research and planning to do, but I'm getting there.  My sister-in-law already booked her flight to come to his party and my in-laws are about to book theirs as well.  I'm glad they're going to come!  I think I might (I say MIGHT) make his invites myself.  With a western / cowboy theme a lot of places suggest a "WANTED" type poster - which is something I could basically make myself.  I'm kinda torn because I LOVE all the cute designs out there for b-day parties.. but if I can save some $$ on that maybe I can use that towards something else! My friend Lyndsay said she's help me with planning - I appreciate her SO MUCH!  I am so happy to have someone to bounce ideas off of.. and of course, someone who's already BEEN there.  She's an expert! 

So, speaking of picking someone's brain - can I pick yours?  I'm having a hard time trying to come up with ideas for Valentines Day (for my husband)  He LOOOOOOOOVES golf, but I don't want to get him a box of golf balls.. that's not very V-Dayish. We don't have a ton of money to spend AND he has access to our checking account and can see everything (or every place) I spend money.. so he might figure it out before he gets it.  See my concern?!  ha ha.  What are YOU getting for your man for Valentines Day?  I need some inspiration!