The truth is She Doesn't.........



{via}

I saw this movie a couple weeks ago, and it's really stuck with me. I love SJP so of coarse I wanted to see it, it's written and viewed from the perspective of a working Mom, her life, her kids, her woes and trials.

There's some funny scenes in the movie that I think all Moms and parents can relate to. Then there's really emotional scenes that I found myself relating to her character and seeing how that mirrors my own life.

The dynamic of a work out of the home Momma can be a tricky one. There can be moments of pure joy, and pure guilt. Moments where you feel or know you're missing so much, and it can be hard. There's this scene in the movie where Sarah Jessica Parker's character and the other working moms are scared and intimidated by the stay at home moms, and then later on you see the Stay at Home moms intimidated by the working Mom because they feel like "they can do it all" and they can't figure out their secret and wonder if they "measure up?"

Those scenes in the movie made me laugh, and really made me think.

A working Mom is something I can relate to, but the truth is I believe every Mom works. In the home or out of the home every Mother works and what she does is so important.

Want to know the other truth?

The reality is "SHE" me, you, other Moms we don't do it all. While although the illusion may make it seem like I can do it all, or the Mom next to you in the grocery store "does it all" the reality is NO ONE can do everything.

Nope, they can't!

For me, I carefully select what things I can and can't do based on my priorities. I know for a lot of Moms out there this is also true. Also, without the amazing support from my spouse and family I couldn't do anything. Not as a Mom, working Mom, wife, sister, friend, blogger, etc.

It's all about serving the Lord, the team around me and the support they give. Allowing me to follow my dreams, and giving me the freedom to be the MOM God has called me to be.

So when you're looking at that Mom who you think "can do it all" or when you're asking yourself;

"How does she do it?"

Know that she needs your support and encouragement just as much as you need it too! Let's create a community of motherhood that builds each other up. Instead of judging; let's encourage. Let's find strength in our differences and allow each Mom to be the best mom she can be for her children, for her family.

Here's my challenge for you; find a Mom today that you can encourage! Maybe it's a mom at your church, maybe it's your best friend. Or maybe it's a stranger. Encourage them! Tell them what you love about them, how you admire them, what ever it is find their strength and encourage them.

And, give yourself a break too!

You're a MOM, you ARE amazing!

Blog Roll Monday: I AM Momma



A new blog I love served up fresh every Monday! I tell you why I love it and why you should be reading it too!

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I am Momma is a fun little blog that has a good mix of just about everything! Some musings about motherhood, some crafting, and some lessons of learning mixed it.

Cheri is a mother of two boys! She's a singer/song writer. Wife, craft er and lots more. Her blog is filled with lots of really fun projects that's what drew me in at first! I mean who wouldn't love her awesome son's super hero room, or the re done play room? One of my fave tutorials is her up cycled shirt dresses, I plan on making one of these pronto for Ava!

Go to her blog for fun easy arts and crafts.

Go to her blog to for Wake Up Wednesday posts! Original and fun!

She's was on Martha last week! Isn't that awesome! Go here to visit her blog!

A Day in:: January 23, 2012

It's been a while since I documented a full day in our lives. I wanted to start doing this again since our days looks drastically different than they did almost a year ago. The biggest change you might ask? It's been in our schedule more specifically Hubby's work schedule.

You may remember if you've been reading for any amount of time that Hubby works till 7 pm, and I do this crazy run across town pick Ava up from day care and then drive back across town and get him from work. Getting us home about 7:30 pm nightly, and eating dinner around 8 pm. I'm happy to rejoice that the Lord heard my prayer and he answered it by giving my Husband a new schedule putting him to work earlier, and getting home earlier.

This is going to be a BIG welcome change to our family, and I'm excited about giving us more time together during the week nights, more time in general as a family. It's amazing how just a few hours can give you so much.

So now, here's what our days look like on a day of the week.

It was Monday January 23rd.

5 AM: My alarm goes off, I lay there and debate just how much longer I can sleep in before finally getting up to get ready for the day. True story.

5:30 AM: Hubby is up and getting himself ready and then gets Ava up while I am still getting ready.

5:45 AM: We're getting breakfast for ourselves packing our lunches and getting everything ready to leave for the day. 

6:15 AM: We're heading out the door loading in the car on our way to day care. 

6:30 AM: We're at daycare just down the road from home. I take Ava inside get her situated and then we're off headed towards Orion's work. 

7 AM: Drop off Orion at work.

8 AM: I arrive at work.

Lunch! Me and Kindle have a date!

Head off to pick up Hubby from work. We're at Ava's daycare by 5:30 PM.

5:45 PM: We're making a quick stop at Wal-Mart, I loathe that place but they have the best selection of blank shirts and I have some custom orders to work on tonight. 

7:30 PM: We're getting Ava ready for bed. We read stories, sing songs and say our prayers. Hubby gets Ava ready for bed tonight so I can watch this;



I spend the next two hours watching The Bachelor and texting my friend Jessie back and forth while we watch together!

After that, I head to my studio {aka: my bedroom} to start working on these:

10:30 PM It's bed time, and just about now is when Ava's insomnia starts to kick in.

That's our day!

What do your days look like? DO you document them in any special way?

PS- My sister is coming to visit today! To celebrate we're having a sale in the shop! 30% off using code: CYBER30 at check out! Click here to get your shop on!

All images were taken with the Instagram app, labels were added with the Picframe app.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake & Ambiance Coffee #MyBaristaMoment

If you don't know by now that I'm a huge coffee fan, let me tell you again "I love coffee." A couple years ago I worked as a barista in a coffee shop, I had a lot of fun whipping  up my own creations. I love trying new flavors and new drinks, Hubby bought me a Keurig last year for Christmas and I love it. 

I headed to Smart & Final to try their line of Ambiance coffee, and whip up a yummy treat to go with it. I've never made a coffee cake before, so I wanted to try baking something new. I found a recipe on Pinterest that I loved for Sour Cream Coffee cake, and decided to make that. 

I had a great shopping experience at Smart & Final, everything I needed I was able to find easily. Their staff was more than helpful since it was my first time shopping with them. I was able to pick up my coffee, and all my ingrediants to make my coffee cake right there in the store. They had everything I needed including the baking pan that I didn't already own but needed. 

So, let's get started on making this Sour Cream Coffee cake! It's from www.foodnetwork.com 

Here's what you'll need:

Ingredients

• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 extra-large eggs at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups sour cream
• 2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For the streusel:

• 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts, optional

For the glaze:

• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons real maple syrup

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Finish stirring with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.

For the streusel, place the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and butter in a bowl and pinch together with your fingers until it forms a crumble. Mix in the walnuts, if desired.

Spoon half the batter into the pan and spread it out with a knife. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup streusel. Spoon the rest of the batter in the pan, spread it out, and scatter the remaining streusel on top. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. (side note: I did mine in reverse since I used a bunt pant instead of a fluted pan, still tastes the same but the presentation is a little different.)

Let cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes. Carefully transfer the cake, streusel side up, onto a serving plate. Whisk the confectioners' sugar and maple syrup together, adding a few drops of water if necessary, to make the glaze runny. Drizzle as much as you like over the cake with a fork or spoon.

While my cake was baking I started to get my coffee ready. I choose the already ground French Vanilla house blend from Ambiance coffee. I loaded it into my Keurig and brewed. Hubby decided to have the same. 

We also got fancy and topped ours with First Street Whipped Cream! 

Here's what my coffee cake looked like after cooling and adding the topping, 

Paired with my yummy cup of Ambiance coffee and I was ready for a after dinner snack! 

We had a ton left over, and I took some to work the next day for my co-workers and they loved it! For sure a crowd pleaser! 

You can check out more of my shopping experience with Smart and Final on my Google+ page here.

Smart & Final has an offer for you, if you switch to Ambiance coffee from Smart & Final, they can go to www.smartandfinal.com/Ambiance2012 enter the code on the receipt from their purchase of Ambiance and be entered to win some of these amazing prizes: First Prize (one grand prize per week, 3 total over the campaign): DeLonghi BCO264B Cafe Nero Combo Coffee/Espresso Maker, a $200 value!, or one of six $50 SmartCash cards (Two winners per week, 6 winners total)

Also, visitors to the www.smartandfinal.com/Ambiance2012 will be able to vote for their favorite Ambiance Coffee recipe and everyone who votes will be entered for a chance to win $50 worth of Ambiance products! (6 winners - Two winners per week over the campaign)

This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for #collectivebias #CBias, as always I don't endorse anything professionally that I wouldn't personally all the products mentioned I have used personally. 

Blog Roll Monday: Project Nursery



Blog Roll Monday is a weekly feature where I share one of the blogs on my reading list and why I'm lovin' it, and probably why you should be reading it too!

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real life project galleries! Tons of inspiration there.



Project Nursery is one of my fave blogs for nursery ideas and everything baby! They celebrate the best in nursery design, parties and all stuff baby! I found them to be a great resource when I was pregnant with Ava.

One of the things that I love about them is how they celebrate and encourage their readers! They have monthly reader projects where you can vote on your fave nursery's and parties done by actual readers! It's such an awesome tool to browse different design ideas all in the same place and be inspired.

A couple months back I even interviewed for a job with Melisa and Pam. Both ladies couldn't be more sweet! And, even though I didn't get that job I fell in love more and more with what they are doing and how they are encouraging Moms to design more and sharing their love of anything and everything baby!

They are always showing the latest in design and party. Baby gear too!

When you visit their site you'll have so much fun checking out everything they have to offer. One of my faves is the

I have my own linked there too! You can visit Ava's nursery here, and see her first birthday here.

Check out their blog here.

Shredded Chicken Tacos {Crock Pot Style}

I don't know why I haven't shared this recipe with you yet on the blog! It's easily one of our favorite meals and we have it usually a couple times per month! It's made entirely in the crock pot, which I love since I'm a working Momma anything I can make in my crock pot that is good, is a WIN for me!

This is a really easy meal, it serves a lot of people and it's always a home run for my family and friends!

Here's what you need: (feeds 4-5 people)
3 frozen chicken breasts
1 12 oz bag frozen corn
1 can black beans
1 can Rotel (tomatoes & green chilies)
1 taco seasoning packet
1 cup chicken stock

Directions:
Throw your frozen chicken breasts (yes, frozen) into the bottom of your crock pot, then add in your corn, black beans, rotel and taco seasoning on top. I don't drain anything I just throw it all in there. Stir together, then add your chicken stock just to keep it moist while cooking.



I usually do all this the night before and then turn it on before I leave for work in the morning. Turn it on low and let it cook for 8-10 hours. It's done by the time I get home from my work day. If you're home all day too you could still do the same thing.



When I get home, I take two forks and pull out all the chicken and shred it and then add it back into the crock pot to cook together for about 10-15 more minutes.



While that's going I get all my tortillas, and toppings together. I like to use corn tortillas and bake them in the oven but you could use any type of tortilla or taco shell you'd like. I top mine with cheese, lettuce, salsa and sour cream.



That's it! Eat and enjoy! For our family of three there's always left overs and they are great the next day for nachos, tacos again or even on a salad!

If you make this let me know your thoughts and if you love it as much as our family does!

Happy Friday!

Instagram:: Changing the Way I capture Life!

I got an Iphone for Christmas! It was actually an early Christmas gift from the Hubs, I'd been hinting that I wanted one for a while now, and when my upgrade came up I made the switch and I'm excited that I was able to get it.

Love it! One of my fave apps has been Instagram. I've been using it for a while on the Hubby's Itouch but since now I have it on my phone I've been able to capture those every day moments and share them instantly with everyone.

Friends and family really love me for it, I am sure! :)

See what I mean......

A little shopping at Homegoods.



Dance party captured.

Birthday party crafting is happening.

Mommy and baby TOMS.

Sunday walk into church.

New bedroom decor in process.

Reading. Yup, check!

Little orange box arrived.

Party Planning in progress.

Capturing life one Instagram at a time.

I also really love the PicFrame app too, it allows me to make these super fun collages and add the labels! So fun!

I'm really excited to make some Sticky Grams, that turn your Instagrams into magnets. I can't wait to cover the fridge.

What about you? Do you have any fave apps for picture taking?

Do you Instagram? You can find me here (photosbyandrea)