Category: Family/Fun/Fashion

Book Adventures

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Congratulations! “Mad As Hell A Mom’s Journey” is available for pre-order in the Kindle Store.

It is available* for customers to pre-order here. 

Customers who pre-ordered the book will receive the content on the release date, 09/16/2019.

The paperback will be available on 9/16/2019 but cannot be pre-ordered.

I hope that anyone who has ever had a child incarcerated will find one thing in the book that makes them laugh. Thanks for the support.

All proceeds from sales will be dedicated toward the fight for the removal mandatory minimum sentencing for first time and non violent drug offenders. 

Camping Adventures

Published on by ssgreenbean1 Comment

My husband and I go on an annual tent camping trip every July with a group of friends. Yes we sleep in a tent but anyone who knows my husband understands that he is a glamper not a camper.

  • He has a water module that hangs from a tree and a room that goes underneath it so you can wash off, and the water is even warm after being heated by the sun all day.
  • The tent, this mac daddy Mountain HardWear beauty that a man over 6 feet can stand straight up in.
  • Cooking over a camp fire, ha you say. We have a stainless steel massive camp stove that runs on propane.
  • Air mattress, double decker with an auto pump so no sleeping on the cold ground.
  • Rugs, rugs and more rugs. My husband doesn’t want dirt tracked in the tent, ha

So I tell you all this because we finally took the plunge and purchased an actual RV. It is a 27 foot with 2 pop out beds and a slider. Now we were not planning on buying a trailer. We kind of fell into it when a gal I used to work with posted it for sale at a price we felt was too good to pass up.

  1. How in the hell do you back a trailer that is 27 ft long when the only thing we have ever towed is a small tent trailer when our boys were young?
    1. Practice for my husband as I won’t be doing that, EVER. I have a hard time backing up my smart car ;0)
    2. Turn the wheels left to go right, huh that makes no sense
    3. You Tube is our newest obsession
  2. Tires- who knew that tires on a trailer only last a max of 7 years
    1. A trip to the tire shop to ensure we don’t have any unforeseen blow outs
      1. The tires are pretty cheap and have hard side walls unlike car tires and have different weight limitations, who knew
  3. A generator-  we learned that if you are camping somewhere without power (such as the camp site we stay at )you will need one if you want to have lights, fridge, etc.
    1. An inverter I learned is quiet and pretty efficient
    2. I found one on Craigslist that is 2000 watts which is plenty big for our use
  4. Gear- lots and lots of gear
    1. A sanitation hose used to empty the poop tank
      1. My husband has already told everyone there is no pooping allowed in the trailer, ha
    2. Power cables, stabilizer jacks, hoses, stabilizer bars (keep the trailer from swaying while being towed), leveling pads, and too much other crap to mention
  5. Decorations- as the thrift store queen, I bought sheets, hanging storage, and kitchen stuff galore.
    1. Amazon is your friend, next day delivery and everything you ever need in life for an RV.
    2. Etsy- the custom decals are fantastic and super easy to apply
    3. Joanne’s- fabric on sale and then 50 % off, replace those old ugly curtains

Here are some photo’s. Our adventure is in 2 weeks and we cannot wait to make the maiden voyage. I had to add some flair so I added some super fun wood look self adhesive contact paper. Amazon 9 bucks and what a great update.  Hand painted closet handles (home goods $12) and fun dog artwork, replaced those ugly green curtains (Joanne fabrics $15), ram head (a buck at the goodwill). oh and nothing beats some good ole elbow grease- we scrubbed every inch of the trailer inside and out and it looks beautiful. Hope you enjoy

 

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I’m a Official Smarty

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I work approximately 12 minutes from my house and go down one road, no freeway commute for me. I decided for Christmas I would get myself a cheap (you know I’m cheap right) commuter car and here it is a used 2011 Smart Car. It has this funky little manual/automatic transmission that would probably make most people crazy because it hesitates when shifting and if you want a zippy car this is NOT it but for me it is perfect. I can literally park anywhere and if it takes a while to get up to speed ok. I am certainly in no hurry at 5:30 am on my way in.

And the funnest thing is this little thing is convertible so in the summer it is going to be Great. Apple car play and cruise control, who would  have thought. I sent a picture to my older brothers and they asked why I didn’t buy a bike with a motor, ha they are hilarious.

Anyway Super cute and fun and I will get it wrapped eventually with some crazy graphic.

Friends

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Since moving to Washington 4 years ago we have made some fantastic friends. My girlfriend from high school that I had not seen since the 11th grade has lived here with her wife for years, so of course we have picked up right where we left off. It is not very often you come across two people who are caring and would truly do anything for you.

Now let’s talk about our camping crew. My husband gets to be friends with a guy from work and of course his partner is the best. For the last 3 years we have an annual grass cart camping trip that truly is good for my soul. There are not phones, you get filthy, sleep in tents and cook all your meals on the grill. Doesn’t get any better, I feel like I can exhale when I am camping with these 2 great men.

Last night we had a small get together at our old, new house and we played games on the patio and everyone got to pick a different pandora song each time it was their turn. Needless to say we had way too much fun and I wonder why we don’t get together more often with the people we care about.

Surprise you’re not who you think you are

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My mom and I decided it would be fun to sign up to have our DNA tested through one of the advertised companies that do ancestry research. It was pretty easy, you get a box in the mail, spit in a vile and in 6 weeks received a report back of your ethnicity.

I have been told my entire life that we are German on my mom’s side and Native American on my dad’s side. This made sense as my skin color is kind of yellow and I have always turned super brown in the summer after being in the sun. Well guess what, it was a lie I tell you. Shown below are my results, huh, what? Where in the world did those last three come from? And not a mention of ANY Native American heritage.

Now the questions begin, what if my mom’s comes back completely different, ha. This has been interesting and I now think I need to develop an accent.

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Great Fashion at any Age

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Iris Apfel at 94 is a true inspiration. She continues to amaze the world with her sharp mind and continued focus on great style. My hope is that I too will continue to push the envelope and dress in a way that expresses who I am to the world.  

I can say I have never met a shiny piece of clothing I didn’t like, ha. I was reading an article in Arts and Entertainment where Apfel states “Fashion has this youth mania,” “But 70-year-old ladies don’t have 18-year-old bodies and 18-year-olds don’t have a 70-year-olds’ dollars.”

I believe that the fashion industry is so focused on skinny youth and the ideal of an unobtainable model figure that they fail to recognize what the older generation brings to the table.  

It doesn’t have to be expensive, as you will soon know if you follow my blog the most unique finds for me come from the thrift store, also known as the “wheel” in my world. Buying something that is mass produced is fine if you can afford to follow the trend cycle but the last thing I want to do is wear the same pair of pants or a skirt that someone else in the office has on.

The hunt is the funnest  (I know not a word)  part of the journey and vintage clothing often has so much character. My husband will attest to my joy of spending hours at the wheel.

I encourage you to explore and have fun with your clothing; we only get one shot at life so let’s live it to its fullest.

Here is my big glasses in celebration of Iris

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Photo credit goes to hips.hearstapps.com

Lots of hair

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My oldest son has let his hair grow for the past 4 years and when it is combed and conditioned it is fabulous loose Shirley Temple curls. Now when he gets it braided and wears a scull cap for months and doesn’t comb it that’s a whole other situation🙈. He resigned himself to cutting it off and last night it happened, I first had to cut off all the braids one by one to even get to what was a huge dread underneath. He just kept complaining about It hurting, ugh yeah. So here is the small animal I cut off his head. I think he is 10lbs lighter at this point and it sure has to feel better.

my funny life

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Saturday by default is normally the day I steam my floors, I pour myself an adult beverage to make it fun. Today my drink of choice was an old school grasshopper and as I finished the kitchen and got the throw rugs back in place the cord caught my beverage and dumped it directly into my husbands backpack on the chair. I rushed it to the sink and as you can guess it dripped all over the just finished clean floor. All I could do was laugh and get the laptop out so it didn’t get wet. I have to admit the thought of my husband going to work everyday with his backpack smelling like creme de menthe was amusing, ha. So today I steamed the floor twice and have a funny story for you all.

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College graduate

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Ok so super excited my baby is a college graduate but now that means he’s moving home until he decides his next steps, and this is how many damn clothes he brought home and all of them need to be washed. Good lord help me. You can’t tell me that a normal boy has this many clothes, im thinking the goodwill is about to get a big donation

Accidents

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This is whats left of my sons vehicle after a crash 2 days ago. My heart stopped when he called, so thankful he is alive and no one was seriously hurt. Whiplash we can deal with, a car can be replaced and insurance is there for a reason. I always say everything happens for a reason but sometimes its hard to see it since you can’t work without a vehicle, better things to come n grateful for life.