New Year's: Fresh Start

Cliché? Too bad. 

If you know me at all you know I love a fresh start, 

what’s more of a fresh start than the New Year? 

(also, I loathe the number 13, so I'm glad I can stop typing it everyday. yes, i have issues.)

We chose a few things that we can realistically

 accomplish in 2014. 

 It can't be accomplished if you don't try it!

Phillips 2014: Realistic Expectations

Savings jar: An easy way to save an extra $1378 this year ~ then we will doing something super fun with the money in 2015.

for the savings schedule click here

Friday night chores: This is a non-issue in the winter, however from May-September all we really want to do it be out on the boat throwing a line in. So we thought it was time to get balanced and compromised with the fish- we’ll stay off the lake on Friday nights and stay at home, eat at home and work on house projects. We’d really like to sell in two or three years but there are some projects that need our undivided attention before any calls to a realtor can be made. [will this be the year the kitchen cabinets FINALLY get refinished???]

20 bags in 20 days: I saw this idea on a friend’s Instagram (thanks Jenn Stricker at Random Vintage Finds ! She’s super crafty and smart)

Choose 20 (or 30 or 40- we are doing 20 because it’s just the two of us and our house is small) places in your home and then over the next 20 days fill a bag from each place, then toss or donate what you are cleaning out. Totally realistic.

Example places: bathroom closet, buffet, pantry, vanity/jewelry boxes, et cetera

And of course, as always (well, since 2010): 

CHOOSE JOY!  We will choose to be happy. We will not concentrate on the crappy. We will live in reality. We will count our blessings. We will be thankful everyday, especially Thursdays. We will pray that you find joy in the everyday.

CP’s Goals for 2014

Run: 4 days a week minimum

Low Carb Life: There is always some special occasion, that’s great but it’s not an excuse to eat pasta, bread, potatoes or dessert- so I’m going to knock that off.

Read 2 books a month: one Christian, one secular.  Check out my Goodreads link to the left.  Join Goodreads here

Daily Devotions: Jesus Calling by Sarah Young ( Facebook link )

Celebrate Wedding Anniversaries: when is yours? I’d be honored to pray for your marriage and recognize it as something you work at every day.  Birthdays are great, but we didn’t really DO anything – our mothers just gave birth…maybe we should be gifting mothers on our birthdays? We choose to be married. We choose to stay married. Marriage should be celebrated.

Scrapbook: I love it. Why don’t I ever do it? I am going to intentionally do this thing I love. I’m going to use supplies I have and not buy anything new

(only exceptions: Danielle’s wedding, State Fair entries and/or if it’s for a gift)

Make cards/Send cards: Thank yous, birthdays, anniversaries, get wells, sympathies…all of them. Recognize them.  A chance to be crafty.  A chance to love on someone.

Happy New Year, friends.

The Phillips: Vow Renewal in Vegas!

Nate and I met when I was 21 and he was 19. We met on a Thursday, had our first date a few Sundays later and we have been together every since. It's never been perfect, but how boring would that be!?

We grow together, we support each other's goals and dreams, we trust in God to get us through all of it. 

...maybe it is perfect. Our perfect.

On October 18th, 2013

Nate & Christina and Eric & Crystal renewed their vows in a double ceremony

in Las Vegas at The Elvis Chapel

Nate and Christina

We did not want a large, formal wedding when we got married on May 1, 2004.

We had one anyway. Lame. 

Facts of a Friendship

Crystal and I went to high school and college together

 Crystal and Eric met two months before Nate and I met each other

Crystal and I "broke up" for TEN years. We call it our divorce. It sucked.

We "got back together" 6ish years ago. Thank God.

Crystal & Eric and Nate & I got married during that ten year hiatus

Crystal and I were both sad on our wedding days that our best friend wasn't standing next to us

We needed to fix that!

Nate and I always wanted to run off to an island or find a cheesy Elvis in Vegas to make us official.

Crystal & Eric were up for the adventure and wanted to renew their vows too.

This also satisfied Crystal & Christina's need to have each other

 as "the bitch up front" (aka matron on honor, we are so classy)

We finally did it- on October 18, 2013!

Here are some of our fave photos for our 4 day Las Vegas Vow Renewal Adventure

Mr. and Mrs. R

Mrs. P

The Crew

at the Venetian- how cool are these guys?!

Crystal being beautiful

The guys being...well...them.

ha. love this one of Nate.

So cheesy-rific!

Crystal channeling her inner Elvis

Bitches up front

Limo rides. Of course our driver, David, was from Minnesota. 

And of course Eric made friends with him.

It was perfectly warm and Vegas-y

They are rarely serious.

Good times were had by all!

3 Rants and a Rave

3 Rants and a Rave!

New Segment to the blog- which I suspect will usually occur shortly after visiting Target, the grocery store or somewhere with copious amounts of children and/or crazy people. Meh, it is what it is.

Yes, I live by the mantra CHOOSE JOY! I'm trying. Every.Day.

But I also live in reality. Things bug me, things annoy me, and some things make me want me to punch people in the wrist. 

Ideally I’d like this to be 3 Raves and a Rant. We’ll see how that goes.

But today- for the first installment of this new segment:::

Three Ridic things I saw at Target over my lunch hour on Monday and then one thing that gave me hope in mankind.

THE RIDIC:

•   Hey lady- changing your newborn baby’s diaper. On the bench. Next to the automatic exit door. Your baby is screaming because THIS IS MINNESOTA, its 23 degrees out, your baby is naked and the door keeps opening- 30 more seconds and I would've taken your baby from you. Not sure you are smart enough to neither raise her nor keep her safe.
•  Two women, with carts, facing opposite directions (I know you've ALL experienced this). They are stopped, they are talking. They ignore my THREE “excuse me, please”/”excuse me, I just want to scoot past”/”pardon me, please”. NOTHING. They just look at me. REALLY?! It’s that hard to move to the side and let me through so I can get to the items I want to purchase?  I suspect these are the same people that would get furious if you did this to them. Ugh, narcissism- hard to escape it.
• Child in line in front of me wants to help his mom, well that’s cute enough. Then demands a sticker from the cashier as a reward for helping. The cashier COMPLIES (more on her later). The mother answers her iPhone and does not tell her child to 1) be polite. 2) don’t be rude. 3) be polite. The child, at NO point, says THANK YOU. Really?! Really?! He was 5ish, totally capable of this simple gesture.

THE RAVE!  

                As I unloaded my cart of Target goodies, yes of course triple the amount of what I went there to get, the cashier starts singing “Monday, Monday”.  She is SMILING! She is SINGING! She is HAPPY! Her attitude= contagious!!!  We then spent 4 minutes discussing all of the songs that she can sing on different days of the week.  She (Cheryl- North Saint Paul Target) was a pure joy to encounter.  Cheers to Cheryl for her great attitude and not letting that rude little boy change her mood. Cheers to a great customer service experience. Cheers to her contagious positive attitude! 

Reflection::: Top 10 Lessons of My 37 Years

So Predictable: had a birthday = life reflection time.

Yesterday was my birthday so I, of course, was doing some reflection on the last 37 years. I don't plan on repeating that number aloud much over the next year. 

 I now understand why people say "I'm 30-something". yep. totally get it.

My Top 10 lessons learned (not in order, necessarily) in my 37 years:

1. Embrace the power of coffee.

2. Don't lie. Yes, easy as that. Just don't.

(side note on this one, if you don't know this already:

If you LIE to me, I will find out. I will call you out. I will hold you accountable.)

3. Be thankful.

4. Sugar is yummy but very dangerous.

5. Comfort is overrated.

6. Have boundaries with your relationships. 
Boundaries, fences with gates.
 Not brick walls.

7. My relationship with Jesus is FAR MORE IMPORTANT than what anyone thinks about me, any other relationship and/or myself. 

Don't be ashamed of your relationship with Jesus.

8. Keep your finger off the trigger, but know where it's at and how to use it.

9. Don't procrastinate. Stay organized.

    

10. Choose Joy.

So Long, Farewell...Diet Soda

~Cue the violins~

 

I did it. I gave up diet soda.  This Diet Coke (or Diet Pepsi, not ashamed that I wouldn't discriminate) loving gal put the diet soda down for good.  I wasn't addicted by any means. We don't, as a rule, keep soda in the house but when we'd go out or have friends over I'd certainly partake in a diet soda.  I relied heavily on diet soda to partner with my vodka on a regular basis.

For years I've read articles and been brow beaten by my loving father-in-law about how bad artificial sweetener is for me. 

Example: Women being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis were actually being poisoned by artificial sweetener= YIKES! They stopped "using" and all symptoms were gone!

 

My logic was: I'm terrified of becoming diabetic and regular soda and sugars are full carbs (my husband and I follow have low carb lifestyle) but at least then I can have soda.

Have you seen the calories, sugar and carbs in regular soda??? DISGUSTING!

 

So. I finally listened...I'm not happy about it, but I did it. This also includes giving up Splenda, which I was using pretty regularly.  I used Splenda in baking and my daily cup o'coffee. 

Good bye, Splenda.

 

I had ridic headaches for the first 6 days, perhaps just from the sadness of losing my friends Diet Coke and Splenda- but perhaps I was experiencing some kind of withdrawal.  The headaches are gone and I feel like my weight loss has had a jump start...related???

Maybe. Maybe not.

 

Another sad note the Sweet Iced Tea I've been dreaming about all winter will not be making an appearance on my deck this summer, as the one I love without carbs, OF COURSE,

uses aspartame [sad face].

 

Iced Water and Coffee for me.

Great.

...well, and dirty martinis- seriously people, I have to live!

 

 

Just the facts so you can check out for yourself:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/artificial-sweeteners/MY00073

 

No worries- you do what you want, I will not judge- just thought I'd share the temporary sadness, but I'm feeling much better about having real sugar, IN MODERATION, versus some mystery chemical to sweeten my world.

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

Grandmothers- a little therapy for CP~

A brief CP~  grandmother history

The most important women in my life were my Grandmothers.  I had three, (divorce makes family math complicated) my Gram Millie (my mother's mom), my Grammy Alice (my bio-dad's mom) and my Grandma June (my step-dad's mom). I was very close to my Gram and Grammy.  All three of my grandmothers died within nine months of each other. I was clearly devastated. I think of myself as someone who has her act together most of the time, but those few months wrecked me.  I still worked, I took care of things at home, I certainly didn't starve myself (clearly), I still laughed, smiled and enjoyed life but I would cry at the drop of a hat. Note: I REALLY don't like crying in front of people, I think it shows weakness...meh, I've got issues.
*this is a good example of when Choosing Joy is really important, although I might be missing my grandmothers I Choose to remember the good, I let myself feel what I'm feeling but don't let myself linger in self pity. It does no good. My grandmothers were trying to teach me that...I wish I would have understood it sooner, but am thankful that I get it now!

Grandma June

My Grandma June died first, in September of 2009.  I was not close to her as I got older but when I was a kiddo I spent a fair amount of time with her and Grandpa Frank. I was a BIG Grandpa Frank fan, I loved hanging out at the Cincotta Greenhouses with him. He was gruff, hard working but he also had a wonderful smile and a very sweet side that he showed me since the moment I became one of his family.  Grandpa Frank would tell me to go get his pipe out of the drawer and Grandma June would say "no you will not"...and I was torn but I always got it because Grandpa Frank was louder.  Grandma June and I were never tight but she was always kind to me and I have fond memories of her.  I would go with her and her mother to the beauty salon- that's right, old school/smelling like perm chemicals/little old ladies gossiping beauty salon.  Grandma June made the best peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, she made really great food in general, but those sandwiches are attached to memories of having lunch with Grandpa Frank so it's all I can really remember. My cousin Chris and I would have sleepovers at Grandma June's house and it allowed the two of us to have a special cousin bond, I'm grateful for that relationship and the others that I have with my Cincotta cousins.  Grandma June always made sure Nate had a full plate and was very kind to him, I appreciated that, very much.  My "step" dad, Bob, would do anything for his mother. His sun rose and set in her, it was very sweet (maybe not always healthy, but what do I know).  When she died I was very sad for the entire Cincotta family. My heart broke for them.

The family that Frank and June Cincotta built

Gram Millie

Gram Millie died in February of 2010.  She was my best friend for, easily, the first 8 years of my life; definitely the first 4 she was my world. Gram Millie and Grandpa Mike were my favorite people (in my Minnesota world). I was at their house every-ish weekend and THRILLED to be there. I loved every minute of it. They made me feel special and loved and safe. And I needed that. Gram would sing-song all day long, really silly old songs about nothing and she breathed joy. Gram was never a good cook but everything was made with love and she could buy Double Stuf Oreos with the best of 'em.  I have so much to say about this woman that she's getting her own post as I have something that needs to be said that wasn't at her memorial service and I'm still pissed about it. I miss her, my heart still aches. She's in heaven and that's awesome, but I guess I'm a bit selfish and still need her.

Nate, Gram and I

Grammy Alice

My Grammy was the last of my grandmothers to go to go Heaven; she died in June of 2010 . She was my everything when I was growing up and would go for visitation to see my dad (the original one, Alan) in Wisconsin.  She could be a little, um, ornery on occasion and she could spin a tale like no one else I've ever known.  I'm still finding out a few "exaggerations" were not completely the truth but that was just her way...I guess I know where I get the "embellish a story" gene from.   Grammy was a hard worker, a bit complicated but most importantly a Jesus Follower. I didn't know what all of that meant, but I do now and I am honored to be her granddaughter and I miss her EVERY.DAY. I have a LOT to say about Grammy as well so maybe she deserves her own post as well...and no, I don't feel silly as a 36 year old still calling her Grammy.

 my sister Ashley, Grammy and I

So What?

I guess I just needed a little therapy.  I wanted some of my peeps (that's y'all) to know a little about these three women and how they each, in their way, made me who I am today. I am blessed to have known all of these women and that they all had something to do with raising me.  Grandparents are so very important so if you are lucky enough to still have your grandparents on this planet PLEASE find time to love on them.  They have important things to say, take time to listen.  One day they are gone and you want to call and ask them a question, but you can't...I know, I've picked up the phone.

Love and God's Peace,
CP~

Moving Mountains!

 

LET HER SLEEP

FOR WHEN SHE WAKES, SHE'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS

 

Here is a little crafty project that I did for my

Cuzzie (cousin) Danielle's baby

Riley McKenzie.

 

I found the saying on Pinterest, of course. 

 

Needed:

11x14 canvas

letter stickers for the words

paint & paint brushes

a ruler (if you are fancy, I just winged it- clearly)

Paint pens

 

Please note: I'm in this place in my life where I want to make things for people, I think it's a nice personal touch. 

 (Also note, I learned the hard way not everyone appreciates this- but Cuzzie Danielle did)

Anyway, that same place in my life is also where I'm finally letting go of always wanting things to turn out PERFECT.  It's not going to happen.  I am not perfect (shocking, I know).

 I will still try my DANGDEST (that's gotta be a word) to make whatever craft/art/food/etc. nice and personalized but I already have WAY too many gray (grey?) hairs to freak out that each letter is perfectly straight...blah, blah, blah- this makes me want an adult beverage just thinking about it and why I did not use my ruler.

 

How To:

(prepare yourself- this is super simple)

 

Adhere the sticker letters to the canvas

 

 

 

 

The rest of the letters I used a variety pack of sticker lettering

 

 

Then I chose my paint colors and began painting.  BE CAREFUL around the letters.  I tried CRAZY HARD not to let any paint seep under the stickers and thought I had succeeded...not so much. 



 

 

 

 

 After the paint dried I carefully peeled off the stickers.  In order to correct the places where the paint did seep I took a white paint pen (LOVE PAINT PENS! MORE ON THOSE LATER) and was able to clean up the lines nicely.

 

 

 

 

This is the sweet, sweet baby girl that will be moving those mountains-

stay tuned for that...give her a few years, she's brand new.

Riley McKenzie