Well...Hello Again.

Oh shit, well look at me being quite the hypocrite. 

Nearly a year ago, I relinquished my blogging life and called it quits for a host of reasons, that you can read in the previous post. And while I still for the most part stick by those points, I miss having this space for myself. 

I miss sharing the exciting or mundane things on my mind, 

I miss documenting our lives and having a place to look back on it. 

I miss having another sense of community, especially in this season of my life. 

I always wondered before how bloggers so easily gave up blogging once they had children and now I kind of understand. Those first few months of motherhood were fucking intense. I was barely keeping my head above water being a first time mom and seriously, keeping her alive was a concern of mine. I didn't know how to be a mother...I didn't know how to be a mother and still be a good wife. I didn't know how to do alot of things and after the last two years, I think I'm starting to come out of my fog of uncertainty. Each day, I'm starting to feel some of myself come back. I'm starting to get my footing as a mom and I'm really enjoying this stage with Amaya. 

She is at such a fun age right now and has developed quite the personality. An even mixture of sassy and sweet and all that I imagined any child I would bear would be. She's smart and talkative and as lovable as can be, giving hugs to anyone she can wrap her little arms around. In true toddler fashion though, she is a tornado of toddler emotions. A once happy moment can quickly turn into a screaming, falling to the floor, kicking her feet, hysterical hot mess of a tantrum. 

I fear the terrible twos....since she has already gave herself a headstart on the shenanigans. 

The husband and I are,...good. In all honesty, we're a work in progress. This year has really tested our marriage and although I don't think it's fair to us to share the dirty details all over the world wide web, I will share that we are in a really good place right now and starting to put our marriage first again. I want to hit on this a little more in a separate post but coming back together and truly making our marriage a priority is something that is really important to us right now.. 

Concerning the pup of our fam, Mia Martian is chilling like a villian. Bringing Amaya into the family threw Mia for a loop but she's finally warming up to her, especially if Amaya is doling out treats. Amaya wants to be BFF's with Mia so lots of hugs and kisses are given and maybe a little bit of tormenting when Amaya chases her with her toys, 

I think that is a decent update as of now. There is no grand return. No grand announcements No grand plans or promises. It just feels good having my fingers type away again. I might not be the best writer or the best maker of sentences (see...) but it feels good to share again. It feels good enjoying something for just me again. The blogging world as changed and whether it's just me, a handful, or a hundred people reading this little nonsense blog of mine....I'm happy to be back.....for now ;) 

Finding Time For Fall Fun

This is another Fall Bucket List.
Amongst the thousands of others.
This one is for me. Fall shizz I want to do.

Yes ma'am, here I am throwing another into the bunch. I do these almost every year and just like to switch up my design so I can throw it in a frame and check them off. Something about having it printed out and in the 'flesh' makes it feel more real and keeps me more accountable. I wish I could say that I came up with this entirely by myself but I must give all the props to Katie from Loves of Life who created the first I ever saw and who updates her design each year for her readers. Plus, she has quite a few more options on hers too.

But here's mine and I'm pretty excited about it.
We all love us some Fall and I can't wait to get out there and get these crossed off. They all scream tis' the fall effin' season to me.

What are you looking forward to doing this Fall?!?

P.S. Feel free to right click and copy and print if you please, but please just give credit where credits due if you do use or pin it. 

'You Had Me At Cheesecake...'

Blate: the date and/or meeting of two bloggers.

To be honest, I didn't even know what that term meant until about two months ago and if I'm being really honest, I think it's a seriously ridiculous term. But who am I to judge? The blogging community or atleast some are known for using ridic words such as cray cray, amazeballs and totes. Anyways, I'm getting away from the subject at hand and that is I got to meet up with another beautiful blogger and I wanted to share our lunch together for blog memory sake. 

I've met a couple other bloggers and even had a girls weekend with an amazing group of girls (read here and here), so when Bryan and I were planning our roadtrip, I hoped to meet some of my favorite ladies along the way. Welllll.....then I found out I had a bun in the oven and all planning and thoughts other than baby went right out the window. Luckily though, I was able to still keep in contact with one friend and I'm so happy that after years of reading each other blogs, I got to meet the beautiful Brittany from Not So Newlyweds.

After our adventures in Canada, we made the 5 hour drive down to Columbus, Ohio and met Brittany at one of my favorite places, The Cheesecake Factory. Seriously, she rattled off a couple other restaurants but she had me at cheesecake. Our closest Cheesecake Factory is two hours away so I jump at the opportunity when it arises.

Since we were on a time crunch, we sadly only were able to eat, chat and dash but it was still a great time. We talked about blogging and babies and how cool it was to finally get to meet each other. It's a weird thing meeting a blog friend in real life. You know so much about each others lives but have hardly ever heard each other talk. We HeyTell'd a couple times in the past but I had forgotton what her voice sounded like but when we met up again, I definitely could put the voice to the face. Not to sound weird, but Britt's voice is equally as sweet as her personality. Mine on the other hand, well I tend to ramble and I'm sure I sounded like a mouse on speed.

Brittany was also one of the first bloggers to hear about our Little before we announced it last week...

Sorry to my dearest ladies, but I was sworn to secrecy by B until we were able to tell his mom. We were about to see her 9 hours after this so I thought it was safe to spill the beans. You know, otherwise, I couldn't keep a surprise like that. 

The funniest part was that we did this picture with Brittany too (came out super blurry...boo) and some guy was walking by and muttered something to the effect of 'Isn't that obvious?' about Britt's baby bump. What a tool, doesn't he know that we're bloggers and blog babies will be documented in such a manner. Dumbass. 

Thanks so much Britt for taking time out of your day to come meet up with myself and Bry. Hopefully, the next time we meet up it will be a blate/playdate. ♥

Oh Hey, Did You Miss This Face?

I bet you did.
Don't lie.
Okay, so maybe some of you did but I bet an even bigger majority didn't even realize I was gone.
It's ok, no judgements here.

My almost month long blogging hiatus was completely unintentional but after the first week, when I didn't open my laptop and didn't feel any stress I decided to roll with it. And well, days turned into weeks and weeks turned into now. It felt good not to struggle with what to write and not have to keep up with anyone but myself. I know nobody is holding a gun to my head making me blog but let's be honest ladies, some of us feel that twinge of anxiety when we aren't pumping good posts out.

No?
Well that's the way I was feeling and it was really bumming down my blogging mojo. I've shared my feelings of how I blog before but let me just take a second and share my feelings on your blogging. Not you, in particular but blogging in general, and to me it's seems alot more commercialized lately. Everyone wants to be blog famous and have the bestnewomgRTgiveawaygiveawaygiveawayadhashtagnewrecipe blog and the competition is getting out of control. This blog post kinda explains my feelings perfectly. If those things are your deal, than more power to you but I'm looking for more personal blogs that share more of their 'real life' than just shilling the next paid for product or giveaway. I like giveaways and pretty clothes as much as the next girl but after reading a million posts about the same thing, it starts reading to me like the Charlie Brown teacher.

'...Womp da womp womp womp womp...'
Hashtag that shit under fact. 

But yes, over these last couple weeks and dealing with some issues, I've learned that my time (as well as yours) is valuable and I shouldn't be wasting it on activities and blogs that I'm not actually enjoying. Hence why I haven't been reading or writing much. Nothing much to say = no blog posts. Sad face. Sorry.

here is a pretty picture to lighten things up. 

But back to why I've been MIA. 

I know some people don't care but whenever a favorite blogger of mine goes ghost, I'm always curious about why there gone and I thought I'd share since I would want to know myself if the blog shoe was on the other foot. 

So let's break this down to some pretty bullet points: 

- It's Summer!!! Yes, that is a reason in my book. The official day of summer might have just been this weekend but summer has started in these parts for awhile now and that equals relaxation here. I sadly even stepped away from our photo challenge for this reason. I don't want to half ass projects I've committed to and I know between work, vacations, and just chilled out summer activities I wouldn't be giving it the 100% that I want to and that wouldn't be fair to the other girls or participants. But yes, summer is in full swing over here and hopefully I'll have some fun stuff to share soon while we enjoy this beautiful weather. 

- We've been working on the house and eeek I can't wait to share. This blog is called Little Woman, Little Home but it seems like the home part gets the shaft a lot of the time. Well my friends, that is about to change because, we've painting, pulling weeds, laying things down, and switching things up and I'm pumped to share our progress. Little Home is getting her pretty on. 

- My uncle passed. This was one of the biggest reasons I've been gone. He fought a good fight and held out to the very end but lung cancer sadly took him from us last Saturday. The past few weeks have been spent with my family by his bedside letting him know how much we love him. Though we are heartbroken that he is gone, we are glad to know he is no longer suffering. I would go into more but the wound is still pretty fresh and I would just rather leave it at that now. We love you Uncle Bub. 

So there it is and here I am.  I'm not going to make any grand gestures or promises for my blogging and it's future but right now I'm glad to be back and ready to start catching up with some of my favorite ladies.

Hope everyone is having a great summer so far.
Bring on the pictures of grills, parties, and fruity drinks...this lady is ready for them.

5 Reasons Why I'll Never Be A Fashion Blogger

It's a big blog world out there. Wherever you turn there is a blog to fit any niche or trend you want.
There's newlywed bloggers. Mommy bloggers. Photography bloggers, Healthy Living bloggers. Lifestyle bloggers. Fashion bloggers. The list goes on.

I like to think of myself as a lifestyle blogger.
Little Woman, Little Home mostly chronicles our lives together, our adventures, our relationship, our home, our pup and other little tidbits of randomness and opinions. I think I have the life part covered....but the style....not so much. My life isn't that fabulous and neither is my style.

My wardrobe is pretty much non existent and is in need of major overhaul so when I was contacted my EShakti to review a piece from their customizable collection, I jumped on it.

There is just one five reasons, why I am not and will never be a fashion blogger.

1. I Don't Own A Tripod
While other more fashionable bloggers are setting up tripods across the lands taking beautiful pictures in fields and next to awesomely graffiti-ed buildings, here I am standing on my dining room chair in my living room trying to snap half assed selfies. Which brings me to my next point...

2. I Don't Own A Full Length Mirror
Yeah, those aforementioned selfies, kind of hard when you don't own a full length mirror. I awkwardly stood on that chair trying to snap pics that cut me off mid thigh, knee, or head. Hence, why you have the headless Little Woman up there.

3. Ok, I Also Hate To Doll Myself Up Unless I'm Going Out
I am not the girly girl and unless I'm going out or trying to get sexy with B, I don't usually lather on the makeup or tame the beast of curls springing from this pretty little head of mine. It just seems like too much work. Sure, I have my days where I do like to get dolled up for nothing....but to go out of my way, just for a blog post....no thanks.
Note: the wrinkled dress...my apologies...it's looks a million times better with an iron ran over it. 

4. WHERE DO YOU PUT YOUR HANDS?!?
Seriously, where? I felt like Awkward McAwkwardpants standing there with my DSLR in one hand and my other just chilling like a orphan of limbs. Luckily this dress has pockets so I had an out this time, but otherwise I just settle for the unoriginal hand on hip.

5. AND WHAT ABOUT MY FACE?!?
I must have a face made for radio because I don't even know what to do when it comes to the proper etiquette of facial expressions and selfies. Do I smile? Do I frown? Do I look off into the distance? Should I have plucked my eyebrows? What about my lips? I don't have to do that God awful ducklips do I?? It's too much stress for me.

So can we all agree, fashion blogging is not my thing, yes?!?

I must admit though I love love love this dress and I'm proud to show it off on behalf of this company. Not only are their outfits and dresses customizable but there shipping and service is golden in my book. I received this only a few short days after I ordered it but I didn't want to show it off till the weather warmed up some. Sorry ladies but I wasn't going to rock sleeveless and mini in the dead of winter.

In full disclosure and honesty though, I feel I must share. that the customization that I chose in getting the 'short dress' was a mistake on my part. I like to show a little leg and am usually a fan of the shorter dresses but with this badonk I have, it put my goodies a few centimeters away from pulling a full Britney. If you lean more on the modest side, I would definitely suggest going for the above the knee version or investing in a good pair of booty shorts.

Thanks EShakti for this opportunity and for bloggers out there who handle the fashion parts of posting much better than I ever could.

***
- I was given this dress in return for a review from EShakti. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Quinientos

I'm not fluent in Spanish but guess what that little number means up there...

After a little over four years and heading quickly towards five, I've finally made it to 500 + followers.

I know it seems lame since blogs now a days quickly rise to over a 1000 followers in their first year, but when I first started blogging, bloggers with 500 followers we're 'those bloggers' to us little ones.

And it's always been a number that I look forward to getting to.

For no reason other than to see it in my sidebar.

The number surely doesn't reflect my pageviews and sure as hell doesn't represent my comment section and I'm pretty sure the first 100 have dropped off the blogging face of the Earth, but it's still good to be here none the less.

I've never been one to follow their follower count too closely but I'm glad that I have a solid group pf lovely ladies who truly enjoy LWLH and who take the time out to comment and make connections with me.

Thank you. : ) 

Blog Shizz That Drives My Husband Cray Cray

I'm going to make a broad statement, in hopes that many of you are in agreement or that can relate to on some level. 

Most people DON'T understand blogging. 

More specifically HUSBANDS DON'T understand blogging. 

I've been blogging for close to four years now and over the last couple years, I think Bryan has really come around to what blogging means to me. I believe he now knows this is more than a hobby for me, and is more like an outlet for me to express myself without having to bitch and moan to him constantly. 

He gets it. 

He occasionally humors me and even participates in some blog shenanigans and guest posts as well. 

But there are a couple things that B just can't hop on board with. 

So I bring to you today...

The small things that us bloggers participate in and don't think twice about may give our hubs a little pause...let's see if yours might agree.

You have to admit us bloggers have our own language and to the outsider, some of the stuff we say might sound ridiculous. Words that that Bry needs constant vocab lessons on...

- Coding - Cray Cray - Bee Tee Dubs (I've had to tell him multiple times that it means By The Way) - Totes - Amazeballs - FTR - SMH - 

- If I # anything in a text message. Being that B doesn't have Twitter (that's another one), he doesn't 'get' the whole hashtag to further your point concept. I sometimes forget this and homeboy is lost in the sauce then. 

Please don't think I use all of these in my everyday conversations, but I can openly admit that I have left some of them slip IRL that made my husband look at me sideways. 

Maybe B is behind on the times, or maybe he is one of many husbands....but dude does not get the whole hype that is Twitter. Maybe it's us just being girls, wanting to gossip and BS all day with our girlfriends, and have that immediate reaction. But updating our everyday moves to pretty much strangers, boggles his mind. He sits back and laughs as I 'twit' (what he calls it) with my blog friends but you will never see an account in B's name. I don't think he would know what to do with a @ symbol. 

Pretty much on the same page as Twitter, as in 'Why do you take pictures of errrrrrryyyythingggg...?' 

The one that drives him batty though, is the whole taking pictures of food trend...

When we're out in a restaurant and try to take a picture of our meal, I'm met usually with a 'No.No.No.' and that is why, I've become quite the master of the I'mjustcheckingmyphonebutactuallytakingapictureandIturnedthesoundoffsoyoucanttell shots. 

If it's my food and drinks, he really doesn't make that big of a deal but B is a hungry man, and the last thing he wants to do is wait to eat while I get the 'perfect' shot with my iPhone. He humors me sometimes, but most times, usually not. : ) 

Back before I reevaluated my blogging and real life balance, I used to get really anxious if I didn't catch up with my favorite blogs or answer emails or do 'blog stuff' in a timely manner. This drove B insane. He couldn't understand why I would get so upset about an online activity and not be as invested into our real life. This is one of the things I'm glad he opened my eyes up to but yet was one of his biggest pet peeves. 

I now try to schedule my posts for the week over the weekend (Saturday or Sunday morning) and catch up on all my blog reading on Fridays that I am not working overtime. If you don't see me in your comments in awhile, I am probably working and will hopefully be back in the blog world in a bit. I'm sure you all don't miss my face that much. 

Though Bryan supports me fully in my blogging endeavors, I know there are times when he wishes I never picked up this hobby. I'm sure he longs for the days when parts of our lives weren't documented and shared for all the interwebs to read and when he got a substantial uninterrupted time with his wifey. On the other hand, I know that in some small way, he is glad I have this online journal. Without this, we wouldn't be able to easily recollect our first years together through our apartment, our time in FL, our move, and pretty much aspects of our lives together we would miss the little memories of. 

Will he ever really get it and accept it?!? 

Probably not. 

But hopefully, he'll love me regardless and just maybe come to terms with this crazy little thing called blogging. Because you know damn well, I'm not stopping anytime soon : ) 

Love you Boob.

What blogging shizz drives your husband or boyrfriend cray cray?!? 

Misery loves company, right?!?

A New Year...A New LWLH

Break out the bells and whistles, confetti and streamers and all the bamboozles that helped you ring in the New Year. It's 2013 beezies and I feel like this year is going to be the bombdoteffincom year for all of us. Maybe I'm still high on the 'It's a fresh start, everything is all sparkly and new' part of it being the New Year but what the hell, I like this part of the New Year. 

Even if it might last mere hours, days, weeks, or months...I like when everybody has this kickass attitude that they want to take their health, relationships, bad habits, home and everything else and try to make them positive and better. It's empowering and enlightening to see what parts of every bodies lives they want to make better. What they value and find importance in. 

Of course, my health and my relationships with my husband and family are of the utmost importance to me and will always hold weight over everything else but I also want to shine some more light on this little old blog of mine. With the new year, I wanted a fresh start and look to LWLH to go along with my new and hopefully improved blog attitude.

 I will be the first to admit that I do get jealous when I see a one year old blog with over a 1000 followers, and think 'Damn...WTF? She just started...'  but then I have to give myself a reality check and a blow to  my ego and realize that these girls WORKED for it. Maybe it was by reaching out and connecting with bigger bloggers with bigger audiences or hosting giveaways or creating an awesome and inspiring link up. Be whatever it may be, but I can't knock someone for their hustle especially if I'm not working on mine. 

But I'm hoping to change that this year and really work on making connections with you ladies and creating a community at LWLH that reflects myself and what I love better. 

So give me a moment and let me show you around....

About Me

I've finally come around and created an about me page to give some of the newbies a glance of what LWLH is like and about before they dive head first into all my posts. Also included in there is some new and surprising information about the hubs and I. It's time to come out of the shadows. 

FAQS

I'm still compiling questions from various emails so that page is still a work in progress. If they're is anything your inquiring mind wants to know, now is the time to ask. : ) 

Advertise

I mentioned this earlier this week with my call for sponsors, but as of right now LWLH is exclusively offering swap ads as my form of sponsorship. It's easier for me at this point in building LWLH and I feel like it's kinda getting me back to the roots of blogging. Showing love and showing support. Of course, I don't knock anyone who does sell sponsor ads, get it girl. And hell, I know I will even be buying some for myself in the future. This is just what works for me and my blog right now. 

There was also some new things added to sidebar as well, that I'm really excited to share. 

Little Home

Not necessarily a 'new' category but since we bought our first house in September, we have been remodeling and I'm excited to share some of the reveals soon. Now, if we can talk Bry into letting me go on a no hold bar shopping spree at HomeGoods, we will be set.  

Photography

This is quickly becoming my most favorite and most soul fulfilling hobby. I feel like a different person when I have my camera and lens in hand, a person that is seeing the world through new eyes. That's what photography makes me feel like. It has made me look for the beautiful in everyday life and try to capture it. I know I am just an amatuer right now and I have a long way to go but I look forward to sharing my progress with you all. 

Blogging

I will be doing this 4 years this November and sweet baby jebus, I am still learning new things everyday. I'm going to break down some of the things I have learned and also share why's of why I do what I do and what I don't. This is me breaking out of my blogger shell, be ready : ) 

Marriage

This one is close to home and one that I am truly dedicated to working on in this New Year. I say this time and again that everything is not rainbows and sunshine and it really isn't. Everyone's relationship and/or marriage is going to have it's bright spots and rough patches but it is in our power in how we deal and react to them. I'm not so much a weekly link up person but I have something that I am working on that I hope we can come together on and do on a monthly basis. I'm excited to share but I want to make sure I have everything ironed out and ready first!

And last but certainly not least....

LW DESIGNS

I decided to advertise this a little more considering it is the New Year and most bloggers are looking for a more fresh and updated look. I am not a professional designer (as in I don't have any graphic design degree) but I am dedicated in producing quality designs that my clients ask for under the conditions I am working with. Feel free to check out my portfolio and my extremely affordable prices. 

Here's to a New Year and a New LWLH!!

Hope you guys enjoy my journey! 

***

I also want to give shoutouts to some of the ladies that gave me my design inspiration:

Bekuh @ Secondhand Sundays- She's a beautiful soul and a fabulous blogger. I loved her simplistic look and her navigation bar above her header and I knew those we two elements I wanted to bring into my new design. I hope you don't mind Bekuh, but thank you regardless.

Shay @ So Shay - Have you seen here blog, her photography, her adorable and sweet husband? I don't know Shay personally but from what I gather from her blog she is a complete sweetheart. I love her blog not only for her writing and pictures but also her simple yet feminine design. And I am obviously a fan of all that glitters myself. But she seems to be the one truly with a heart of gold. Thanks for the inspiration Shay.

Every other blogger out there: You guys rock my socks and pretty much every piece of you guys goes into me wanting to create a pretty space that is easy on your eyes...I hope you enjoy!!