Pushover? Um...no!

With Cadence starting school in less than three weeks (holy moly!) it got me to thinking about my school experience. From K5 up until 4th grade things were fun. I loved going to school, learning, recess and just the overall experience. I am guessing that when kids hit 5th grade that's when the cattiness and drama start because that's when it started for me and my own personal experience.

I was never the popular girl and although I had a few friends looking back now, they weren't true friends. It's amazing to me how much we learn as we grow older. I'm in my mid-twenties and have learned a lot about myself and the kind of person that I am. All throughout middle school and into high school I was a push over. I hated confrontation so I just steered clear of any negative situations.

If someone picked on me I would just walk the other way.

Bullying is part of this world. It's sad but true. Although I was never physically bullied, emotionally and verbally I was. Now that I'm a parent, a pushover is the last thing I am. I'm not sure if it has something to do with age and growth or just knowing that you now have someone to take care of and that you are solely responsible for, but I don't mind speaking my thoughts.

I sure wish I would have had this mindset back in the day!

Tarl and I are both raising Cadence to know that she should never start an argument, pick a fight, bully or tease in anyway, but if someone is doing this to her she needs to stand up for herself.

Cadence needs to know that she will have an assortment of friends. Friends that will be true to her forever. Friends that will defend her even when she is not around, those are the ones that you want to keep by your side and cherish. Those friendships are the real deal.

Cadence will have those friends that are the fun ones. The friends that may not have the best influence, but as long as it's not illegal it's OK to have fun every now and then. I'm sure Tarl and I will gain a few gray hairs, but for the most part we'll laugh along with them.

Then Cadence will have those faux friends. They're the ones that call themselves a friend, but the moment you walk away they will have something negative to say about you. They won't defend you when it's necessary to do so. They will always find faults in the things that you do. They will be supportive to your face, but fake and phony when others are around to make themselves seem more relevant. These friends are good for no one. A good way to tell this about these so called friends is if they talk badly about others to you, do you not think they are doing the same about you? Lose 'em and move on.

I pray that Tarl and I instill the best values and morals in her to be able to tell the difference. There is no saying more truer than "quality over quantity". I have very few friends that I trust whole heartedly and to be honest most are family, but I know they will have my back forever, through thick and thin and that's all that matters.

That quote my Maggie Kuhn is one of my all time favorites. To this day I still hate confrontation and negative energy. I mean who likes to be around that kind of drama anyways? Not this girl! You bet your ass though I will always voice my opinion if necessary and I hope and pray my daughter learns that way sooner than I ever did! If not though, mama and daddy always have her back! :)

Disney World's FastPass+

Yesterday was our 60 day mark. We are now less than 60 days away from our vacation and all of us are tired of counting down. We are just ready for it to be here! Come on September!

Anyways, since I have documented the whole trip I also wanted to document our FastPass+ selections as well, just in case any of you have a trip planned for the future or are thinking of planning one.

Disney FastPass+ is essentially an allotted time where you can skip the line and get directly on the ride without the wait. You start with three per person per day, but once you arrive in the parks and use them all you can get more while there.

Here is what we chose:

MGM Day

Tower of Terror

Voyage of the Little Mermaid

Toy Story Mania

Epcot Day

Spaceship Earth

The Seas w/Nemo & Friends

Soarin

Magic Kingdom Day 1

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Peter Pan's Flight

Splash Mountain

Magic Kingdom Day 2

Under the Sea - Journed of the Little Mermaid

Enchanted Tales w/Belle

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Animal Kingdom

Kilimanjaro Safari's

Expedition Everest

Kali River Rapids

Magic Kingdom Day 3

Splash Mountain

Haunted Mansion

Buzz Lightyears Space Ranger Spin

We chose based on what we wanted to do and also took into account the busiest rides in each park. People have asked me why plan so much and truth is, with Disney you have to. Disney is not a vacation where you go to relax. If that's more your style go to the beach. With Disney you have to plan out your dinners and park days along with your FastPass+ choices. This ensures your family will have a great time and I cannot wait to see all my hard work planning, come into fruition. I know Cadence is going to have a blast, as well as Tarl and I.

From what I read from Disney FB pages here are the busiest, most crowded rides from each park. These are the ones where you definitely want a FastPass for: Toy Story Mania, Soarin, Peter Pan's Flight, Kilimanjaro Safari's and Space Mountain. We're not doing Space Mountain because although Cadence is tall enough to ride it, it's a ride where I can't physically hold on to her while riding due to the seating arrangement in the ride car. That ain't happening! It's dark with big drops and mama ain't letting her do that alone!

Healthy Home Made Popsicles

While in Target the other day and their amazing dollar spot, Cadence saw a $1 popsicle mold and immediately said, "mom, we can make our own popsicles.". I put it in the buggy and didn't think twice about it. When we got home that is all she talked about so I literally threw ingredients into a mixing bowl and froze them thinking that it was going to taste awful and in fact it was the complete opposite. 

They were delicious and we've made them twice since. 

Here is what you will need to make 8 popsicles.

A handful of blueberries (we use around 7 large blueberries, cut in half)

Teaspoon of Honey

Two Bananas

One Peach

One 8 oz. carton Organic Vanilla Milk

Mash the bananas on a plate while your good looking hubby peels and pits the peach.

Then mash the peach...

...add the peach, bananas, blueberries and honey into a mixing bowl and stir. Then add the milk and stir until it's all incorporated. There will be small chunks of fruit but that's OK.

This is what they look like out the mold.

They taste great too, and the best part is, they are healthy for you.

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On another random note, I made an impulse purchase for Cadence yesterday and bought some flowers to surprise her. She loved them!

weekend and more

This weekend was great and like most, it went by way too quickly. Seriously, can I be a stay at home mom yet? A little more than a year to go, and yes I am so counting down the days!

We did date night with the three of us on Friday night. Me and my girl took some selfies to document the moment.

Silly faces.

On Saturday night Tarl and I got a night alone. Time for the two of you is always important. It's about finding a good balance between marriage and family. I couldn't imagine never having time alone with Tarl for us to reconnect but on the other hand we couldn't imagine going out all the time without Cadence. We try to go out once a month for just the two of us and one weekend getaway a year for just us, other than that Cadence will always be involved and that's what works best for our family. That's what I love about us. We are and will always be involved in our child's life.

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 We headed to Savannah for some good food and a little window shopping, I also got to meet Olaf :)

On Sunday we had a relaxing day at home. Cadence played in the sprinkler while Tarl and I sat and watched. We also rode over to my sisters house and let the kids play together while the adults sat outside underneath the shade of course!

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Tomorrow I make our Disney FastPass reservations. If you aren't familiar it's basically where you get to choose three rides a day, per person to skip the long wait in line. It is a necessity when going to Disney.

I'm narrowing down our final picks today and tomorrow morning I'll be making our reservations. Yay - Disney is so close. Less than 60 days until travel! We also added an extra day to our trip to visit with Aunt Nancy, I am beyond ready!

Tomorrow I'll be sharing with you a recipe for some yummy and very healthy homemade popsicles that Cadence got to eat for breakfast this morning. Popsicles for breakfast? You can't beat it! The best part is, it's all organic and all healthy ingredients!

Oh, Hey Friday!

Click the pic to link up!

So here's the quick version of my hair. My hair is naturally black, not dark brown, black. When the summer months approached I got with my stylist and got some highlights put throughout to lighten it up a bit and it looked great. Within a month my quick growing hair had already had the highlights grown out and I didn't want to drop another $60+ getting it re-highlighted just to continue the process. I went and bought a box of dye and am back to my black hair. 

Fast forward to now...

I am swooning over the balayage (ombre) look. The best part about it, your hair is lighter at the bottom so no roots showing after a month. I am  highly considering it and here are the looks I'm loving!

Swoon! It's like hair porn right there! Love these looks.

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I am slowly but surely getting all of Cadence's Disney outfits coordinated. So far I have purchased an outfit for her to wear to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and MGM. I even sweet talked Tarl into wearing a Mickey head with Dad monogrammed underneath, small on the pocket of his shirt, for Magic Kingdom day. I honestly don't know how I did it, or I should say Cadence, once she sweet talked him he was hooked and told me to buy the logo. He didn't have to tell me twice, done! I of course got a coordinating mom/minnie head. I can't wait! A lot of people have asked how to afford it and let me tell you Etsy is amazing. I purchased cheap iron on transfers and will do it myself on a plain t-shirt. I did splurge on her Animal Kingdom outfit, but YOLO! Less than 65 days to go...

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When I got home from work last night Tarl told me to sit down so we could talk. He had a smile on his face and I honestly had no clue what was coming next. I was thinking surprise date night this weekend or he hit some cash on a scratch off (he's lucky with those things and has totaled over $1000 in them. Me, I'm lucky if I win my money back!). 

Let's back track a little bit. We sat down two weeks ago, did the math with old school pen, paper and a calculator and after two hours realized that we could be debt free within the next 1 1/2 years. Not long at all. I'm not including our mortgage, but all credit cards, tedious bills, etc. will be completely paid in full.

Moving on to last night. He told me stories of how there was a time his mom stayed at home with him and his sister. She was a stay at home mom for a few years and he remembers all the fun things they did together, even if it didn't involve spending money he still remembered having fun and spending quality time with his mom. I've wanted to be a SAHM with Cadence ever since I was pregnant but financially we just couldn't. Much to my surprise he told me he wanted Cadence and I to have those same fun times that he remembers having with his mom. I literally teared up at the thought. In 1 1/2 years (not long at all) I will be able to have that dream come true. March 2016 cannot come fast enough :)

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Football season is quickly approaching and here are two items that are on my "to buy" list just to support my SC Gamecocks!

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Those boots are for sale at a local store where I live and they need to get in my closet stat!

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It's Friday! I hope each of you have a great weekend!

It's here and it's uh-mazing!

No joke, I've watched it about 6 times already. 

I was very hesitant about Jamie Dornan but Oh Em Gee is he perfect in the trailer. 

Between the trailer and Beyonce's haunting version of "Crazy in Love" I am sold!

I cannot wait until Valentine's 2015.

What are your thoughts?

Today

Today...


I will go home to my healthy child and husband and send a birthday card to a five year old little boy with an upcoming sixth birthday who is battling brain cancer. Danny Nickerson loves getting mail. His birthday is coming up in a few days and the world has took note of his love for birthday cards. Will you join me in sending a card or small gift to Danny? You can read more about him here. You can send mail to him @
Danny Nickerson, PO Box 212, Foxboro, MA, 02035.

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I am dreaming of cool fall weather. I'm not a summer junkie, never have been and probably never will be. For me, summer fun ended with summer breaks the day I graduated high school. Hot muggy weather and daily storms aren't my cup of tea. I love every thing about fall. Cool nights around a small fire. Long sleeve dresses with tall boots. Camping. Halloween. Birthdays. Knowing the Christmas season is quickly approaching, there just isn't anything better.

Here are some Fallspiration outfits I'm loving.

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The boots in the last picture are so my style. I seriously would never take them off. They are a great mixture of both tall fall boots and cowboy boots all rolled into one. I've searched and searched but no luck. If you know of something similar with a good price tag to match, do tell. As always you can keep up with me on Pinterest or follow my "I'd wear it" board below.

Follow Miranda • Life in the Lowcountry's board I'd wear it! on Pinterest.

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I am anticipating the 50 Shades of Grey trailer for tomorrow. I mean it's the only movie I have ever known to have a trailer for the trailer. Seriously?! Last night while watching Chasing Life (more to come on that show) the trailer for the trailer came on and I started screaming like a school girl. Tarl came running in and just rolled his eyes. It's an obsession I tell you and I can't wait. The trailer better live up to my expectations. We shall see... If you haven't seen the pre-trailer yet, here you go:

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I am anxiously waiting for next weeks episode of Chasing Life. If you have never heard of it, it's a new show that comes on ABC family once a week about a 24 year old girl who learns she has leukemia. I didn't think I'd like it when I first saw previews but I'm officially obsessed with the show. If you have been watching it then you are aware of the characters and let me just say, I sure hope that April ends up with Leo, and that Leo miraculously is healed too! Once again, we'll see.

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I am loving my hair. Rare occasion but true. I just didn't have time to take my big curling iron this morning and mess with it, so instead, I just wrapped my hair around my 1 1/2" curling iron like a wand and am loving the results. My curls are very subtle and wavy more so than using a wand. Plus it saved so much time just to wrap a piece or two of hair around my curler.

xo

Rambling...

This post might be a little bit everywhere today and I'm probably going to ramble, but it's my blog so rambling it is...

On average I spend $15 on under eye concealer. The bags under my eyes aren't designer and not much covers them up, however I decided to splurge this weekend on Macs Pro Longwear Concealer. It works like a charm. I love how it doesn't crease, it lasts way longer than any other concealer I've purchased and also primes my eyes for eye-shadow. The best part? It was only $5 more than what I normally spend on concealer. Score!

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I feel like I am getting sick and I'm not at all happy about it. Last night I got a headache at around 9:30 after feeling fine all day long. I thought nothing more of it, just a headache, went to sleep and woke up fine this morning. Once I got to work my nose started running but the worst part is my eyes. They will not quit watering and it looks like I'm crying even though I'm not. They're also very glossy looking. I pray it's just a head cold and nothing more. Being sick during the summer sucks!

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The official Fifty Shades of Grey trailer comes out tomorrow and this girl right here cannot wait! I read all three books in four days and re-read them a few months ago for the second time. I truly enveloped myself in those books and they are beyond great in my opinion. I can't wait to see the movie.

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I am currently in the process of organizing Cadence's outfits for Disney. We purchased the Memory Maker package while planning our trip which gives us all of our pictures for free, whether it's ride pictures, random pictures photographers take throughout the park or even while at dinner, so I wanted to make sure that she had a coordinating outfit with that theme park. I just bought her Animal Kingdom outfit off Etsy and it's so cute!

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Not only does the zebra give the animal kingdom feel, but it's got a minnie print on it, how precious! I can't wait to see her in it.

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I get several emails each morning which feature new products. Jane, GroopDealz and Zulily always have the cutest items and today I made my very first purchase off of GroopDealz with the Kendyl blouse in neon green.

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I also found the cutest beanie inspired boots off of Zulily for less than half the price of an original beanie boot. I love them and am I happy I splurged today on myself! Click here to purchase or see these cute boots!

Sometimes its OK to splurge, right? :)

Weekend

This weekend was a lot of fun and as usual went by way too fast. Don't they all?

On Friday night Tarl surprised both Cadence and I with a family date night at our favorite Italian restaurant, Carrabba's. Cadence loves their fried mozzarella and I indulge on their grilled tilapia.

Cheesy grin :)

Afterwards we went into Downtown Savannah and had some frozen yogurt at La'Berry. Their taro flavored yogurt is delicious and a family favorite for all three of us. 

Saturday we let Cadence play in the sprinkler and she loved it.

Both my sister and cousin have swimming pools but I swear she loves playing in the sprinkler more. 

Afterwards we went and did some uniform shopping. It's so hard to believe that she starts school in less than a month!

It has been months since Tarl and I have had Melting Pot and we were craving it on Saturday, so we splurged and went. Cadence loved both the experience and the food!

It sure does beat cooking at home, but I have been doing a lot of that lately, but no complaints. Recently I made shredded chicken tacos and homemade chicken pot pie, both were great and something new to add to our dinner menu.

Our weekend was fun and I sure can't wait until next weekend already!