Tell Me About Your Town : Fun Facts

History to me is fascinating. I'm thrilled that the month I get to co-host Tell Me About Your Town with Amanda we get to talk history! 

I had to do a bit of googling about Monroe. Cause, let's be real, y'all. Georgia is a massive state. Not the biggest by any means, but it's big. I grew up in one particular county and knew very little about many other counties / cities most of my life. Hubs and I have lived in Monroe for about 2 and a half years now, so I guess it was about time I started learning a little more about the city... other than where the best place to get pizza was. (That's Amici's by the way!) 

Random fact: Monroe, GA has an elevation of 909 ft. 

The town was founded in 1818 and made a city in 1896. The county we live in (Walton) was named in honor of George Walton. So basically the county I live in was named after a guy that wasn't even BORN in this state. That to me is hilarious. 

George Walton

In the 1900s, Monroe was one of the state's top producers of cotton. 

The two main cotton mills no longer produce cotton, however they still serve as economic engines for the city. They have been turned into two large antique mills. One rests nicely behind our house about 3 tenths of a mile. The back of the mill near our house is sometimes used to film the Walking Dead. About once a year since we've been here the film crew and trailers park back there. Can you blame them for wanting to use it though? It's creepy at night back there

Random fact: Monroe has the nickname "city of Governors". Seven of the men to act as Governor over Georgia have come from Monroe. In Chronological order: Wilson Lumpkin, Howell Cobb, Alfred Colquitt, James Boynton,Henry McDaniel, Clifford Walker, and Richard Russell, Jr..

And a fun fact about Georgia in general:

It's illegal to tie a giraffe to a lamp post 

What's a fun historical fact about where you live? Link up with Amanda and I to share! 

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An InLinkz Link-up

Getting Fit Takes Time

Working out. Dieting. Trying to live healthier lives. A lot of people make new year's resolutions to do all of these things to lose weight after the holidays. Some people do this knowing they need to get healthier. Knowing they're outrageously overweight. I fall into the latter of the two. I was the person that said every new years "I will lose weight". And then when I didn't see results, I'd give up.

Two kids and almost five years later, I'm finally seeing results.

Y'all... did you know making a lifestyle change to be healthier takes time? It's not something that's going to happen overnight. It's definitely not going to happen three months into you making the decision to get healthy.

I'm not telling y'all this to bring you down. I want to tell you this to encourage you. Because if you stick with it, change will happen. I want to share this with you because I'm still struggling with this. I look at pictures of how I was in 2006, and I get myself upset because of how "tiny" I was. Then I look at this:

This was May 2011. 4 years ago. This was me at my heaviest. I'm not proud of this. In fact, it repulses me pretty greatly, and my husband has even said "I didn't realize you had gotten THAT big". Ouch. "That" big. Granted, he loves me no matter what size I am, but he has said since then that he's glad I'm getting healthy. He's glad that I'm doing this for myself.

At that time I weighed close to 245 lbs. Heck, I may have even been pushing the 250 mark. This was also a little over a year after having Zander.

I'm here to tell you that I did try the fad diets. I tried losing weight quickly. It all came back and it came back almost double from what was lost. What works? Exercise, eating right, and drinking water. Plain and simple.

Here I am at 185 lbs today.

I still have problem areas. I'm still working on my belly fat. However, I'm much happier with the way I look and more importantly the way I FEEL today. I actually have better muscle than what I had in 2006. I've learned that the number on the scale is just a number.

These pictures are 5 years after the first time I said "I need to make a change". Even after falling off of the wagon and going through phases of eating poorly, I've still been able to lose. There may be months where I just maintain my weight, and that's OK. The important thing is this has been a lifestyle change for me.

I hope if you're reading this and going through a similar journey this doesn't discourage you. I want you to keep going. If I'm anything, I want to be proof that hard work pays off. No, I'm NOT perfect. Not at all. I do still love donuts and pizza. But this journey is teaching me that a healthier mom is a happier mom.

Linking up with Kenji

Workout Wednesday

Dear, Georgia... I Love You

If someone (not from Georgia) were to ask me what it's really like living here, my initial reaction would probably be "wet". It's humid here, y'all. But realistically it's so much more than that. I was born and raised here. This is my home. I really couldn't imagine being anywhere else.

Climate
Georgia actually gets all four seasons. Sometimes it feels like Summer lasts longer than the other seasons. Especially considering we usually start getting 70+ Degree temps starting as early as March some years.
Don't get me wrong. There are definitely some years where the winters here are pretty terrible. In fact, March of 1993 we had a terrible blizzard. Last January was snowpocalypse for Atlanta. I would also say we get about a normal amount of rain. I think technically we're still considered to be in a drought because Lake Lanier is still a little low, but it's no where near as bad as it was I think 6 or 7 years ago.

Scenery
Y'all! Seriously come to Georgia if you want amazing scenery pictures.

There's mountains. North Georgia is full of mountains, camping, hiking trails. The Appalachian trail starts at the base of one of the mountains up there. Helen, GA is a beautiful little German town in the middle of the mountains.

Cleveland, GA

Stone Mountain, GA

There's bodies of water. Oceans, lakes, rivers. You name it, we've got it! All within relatively reasonable driving distances depending on where you are. For us, the ocean is about a 3-4 hour drive. A lake is about 20 minutes. The Chattahoochee river runs through the whole state so we can easily get to the river anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour depending on where we go to play.

Lake Lanier: Buford, GA

There's tons of nature centers. Georgia is all about water preservation, saving the trees (hello, Earth Day!) and protecting the wildlife. The nature centers all over the state help educate kids about the animals and nature in the state and how to protect them. How awesome is that?
Plus, the trails at the nature centers are amazing! We went to one for  birthday party last month and the kids were able to see a family of deer up close!

Flowery Branch, GA

So, seriously y'all, come visit. You won't be bored. You may be hot if you come in the Summer but we can just go hang out at the lake!

Linking up with Amanda 

To Spank or Not To Spank?

Being a mom is seriously a hard job, y'all. You have a million jobs rolled into one. You're the teacher, the boo-boo kisser, the tea party hostess, knight in shining armor, and hero. But sometimes you have to take on the roll no mom likes. The disciplinarian. I've said it before there's no rules or guidelines about parenting. So how do you know what's the right punishment for your child?

Week Two || Mamas Tell All 

That Southern Mama//Everyday ThoughtsThe So-Called Homemaker//The Rambling Llama

Discipline and punishments are seriously a touchy subject all around. It's really a matter of preference and what works best for your family. I'm glad this was one of the topics for our linkup because I'm very curious what moms with older kids will have to say!

I think it's important to keep in mind, if you have more than one kid, that one form of punishment might not be as effective for all kids. This especially holds true for us. Additionally, What works for you and your family will probably not work for us.

When Zander was born five years ago, my husband and I, like most new parents were clueless about how we would raise Zander. Sure we had a few basic ideas and we knew we didn't want him (or any future kids) to be spoiled brats. I'll be honest though... our only experience in seeing a parent discipline their child was watching my brother in law spank his son (who is two years older than Zander). Is that how we wanted to punish Zander when he got older? We thought that's just how it was done.

Wrong. SO very wrong!

Yes. We tried the spanking method. I do admit it. Am I proud of it? NO. I'm not. I get knots in my stomach thinking about it to be honest. Sure, it may work for my brother in law and his boy, but it's not something that goes over well with either of my kids! Let me tell you something about my kids. They're sensitive souls. They're full of heart. They're emotional. When they get spanked or even threatened to get spanked, fear washes over their faces and it's a look that would break anyone's heart.

So what do we do? Well, without going into too much detail, the picture above is an accurate example. Time outs and explanations. If either of the kids does something they know they're not supposed to do (like snatching a toy away from someone without asking first) they get sent to the timeout corner. They have to sit quietly for however many minutes myself or Daddy deems appropriate. The longer they ask when they can get up, the longer they sit. Once time is up, they then have to come and sit quietly with me or Daddy so we can explain why they got sent to time out.

The explanation method has really worked with Zander because he's a "why" kid. He's a learner and wants reasons for everything. If he doesn't understand exactly why he got punished, he's just going to do it again. This was something we learned over the last 3 years. Trial and error, y'all.... trial and error.

Ainsley is still young. We send her to time out as well, but mostly she comes out on her own. We do explain what she's done isn't right. Both kids do apologize for what they've done wrong. Zander has gotten really good about apologies. When he interrupts adults talking & I have him say sorry he says, "I'm sorry for interrupting you while you were talking." My kids are awesome, y'all!

What discipline methods work for you and your family? Please link up and share your thoughts! We'd love to see what y'all have to say!

And in case you missed it, here's the upcoming topics for the Mamas Tell All Linkup!

April 15: Kids Say the Darndest Things – the crazy things that come out of our kids’ mouths
April 22: Saying Goodbye to Diapers – tips and tricks or just stories about the potty-training process
April 29: The Man Behind the Mama – talking about husbands, boyfriends, etc. 
May 6: Fighting the Green-Eyed Monster - talking about how all mamas sometimes get jealous of others 
May 13: Dating my Daughter/Son – spending special time on “dates” with our kids 
May 20: Last Year We Bought a Zoo (or Not) – a discussion on pets in the family - do you have any? why or why not?

Be sure to grab the button and link up with us! 

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Fifteen in 2015

Y'all, I'm going to be super honest today. I have a LOT of blogging ideas written down, drafted, in my head, quite literally everywhere. However, there's a lot that I'm really not ready to share as of yet. This is where Cassie has come to my rescue with her "15 Blog Prompts for 2015"

I'll be the first to admit that I will pin to my little heart's desire on pinterest all day long. It's not nearly as organized as some other blogger's pinterest accounts might be. I try. I make new boards and everything, but I know it's still a mess. When I saw Cassie's prompt for trying new things, I immediately thought of my pinterest boards. I haven't done A SINGLE thing that pinterest has inspired me to pin. Sad, huh? Well, this is a new year and it calls for things to change around these neck of the woods. All of these are items I've pinned (via Pinterest) over the years.

Five New Foods:

1. Santa Fe Stuffed Peppers

2. Avocado Mashed Potatoes

3. Portobello Pizzas

4. Panko Coated Veggies

5. Cucumber Rolls

Five (hand-made) Gift Ideas:

1. Lip Gloss
2. Candy Flavored Vodka
3. Birthday Board (This would be perfect for my parents!)

4 & 5. Two different "gifts in a jar". This pin has 37 different recipes for gifts in a jar. Ranging anywhere from cake in a jar to pies in a jar. How fun, right? I will do at least two of these this year!

Five Crafts with the Kids:

1. Bubble Paint. 

2. Spaghetti Painting

3. Homemade Flubber!

4. Ice Cream in a Bag. This would be perfect for the outrageously hot Georgia Summer!

5. Snow globes. My kids love these and we can find them at the dollar store so easily, but how fun would it be to make them? It's settled. We're doing it!

Would you try any of these? Oh, and don't worry! As the year progresses and we do these, I WILL be updating the blog with any successes and/or failures. Because where's the fun if I don't, right?

In true Wednesday fashion,
I'm linking up with Anne for Wednesday Wishes.

My wish is that y'all help keep me accountable. Because obviously I can pin away but I may need a reminder or a nudge from someone saying, "hey, done any crafts with Ainsley lately?" haha! I also wish that y'all try something new this year as well! It's only February! We have all year to get out of our comfort zones and explore! Try that new recipe or redecorate your house!

New Year, New Love!

Happy New Year, Friends! 
I'm happy to announce that today, not only am I linking up with Meagan for Blogger Love, but I am also co-hosting with her! I'm beyond excited! Meagan has been a great person to sponsor this past month! LOVE HER!

So...
I learned something yesterday - my recovery day/ day off. Despite being 27 years old now, I am afraid I cannot party like I could in my early 20's. Don't get me wrong, New Year's Eve was a blast! But New Year's DAY was rough.

My mother in law came over to bring in the new year with Josh and I. I ended up being the only one drinking. Josh and I thought that she'd be spending the night since New Years with us usually means a few adult beverages and a traditional champagne toast at midnight.

Wrong, Melissa. No one wants to play your reindeer games.

This happened NYE...

She didn't want to spend the night so she only drank sparkling juice. That's all Josh drank too. But that was fine with me! More booze for me. Only someone forgot to remind me that my kids' version of "sleeping in" is 7 AM. Oops. Someone also forgot to remind me that because of the 7 AM wakeup call, and I not only drank a lot but also stayed up until after 1 AM. Ugh.

I was drunk but we were still super cute! xoxo

Thursday was a rough recovery day. But I survived. I'm at work today. Can someone fast forward to May now so I can have another long weekend? Pretty Please?
Actually, no. Now that I say that I don't want to fast forward just yet.

I do have a few things I'm looking forward to this new year. like...
Ainsley will be TWO and Zander will be FIVE.
Ok... I'm a little saddened by this too, because it means my babies getting older. I'm already planning their (joint) birthday party. It'll be zoo themed. Stay tuned for some fun pinterest inspired zoo decor!

My brother in law is getting married in Sept. 
We always take a trip to Jersey once a year. This year we're going later in the year to celebrate a WEDDING! Josh is the best man. He's nervous but I know he'll be great! Even if I have to help him write a speech.

Ok... well, I thought there'd be more than that. Oops. I'm sure there is, but I did have some favorite blog posts from this week, and that's kind of why we're really here today... right? right!

+ Christine // The So-Called Homemaker : Playground workout for Mom's on the go. Um, firstly I cannot say enough how much I LOVE THIS! I'm always trying to find new ways to switch up my workouts. Sure, I just got back into it after almost 5 months, BUT having variety helps. This is a great way to get outside with the kids and do something!

+ Liz // Simply Complex Mom: Entrapped. Y'all... Liz has a way with words. I have very few words that can describe this post, but if you haven't read it already... you should.

+ Kristyn // Chits & Giggles : We Chose Giving. What Kristyn and her husband did for Christmas is truly inspirational. I love to hear stories like this, and it's even better when it's someone I "know". Kristyn and her husband "adopted" a child for Christmas and filled her wish items for gifts. It's so sweet to see people helping other people in need this time of year!

+ Rebekah // The Straight Arrow : Taxi Safety Tips! Would y'all believe I've never ridden in a taxi? My experience with them goes about as far as seeing people whistle for them on movies and T.V. Shows. So, basically I'd be the one you'd see on the news being kidnapped. NOT ANYMORE thanks to Rebekah though! With these safety tips, even a NOOB like me will be OK!

Who were some of your favorites from this week? Or Last week? Link up with me and Meagan to share!
This weekend I'm looking forward to not doing anything. We've already taken the Christmas decorations down, so I get to have a weekend of relaxation and recovery! Lord knows I need it!

An InLinkz Link-up

Happy Friday, Friends!

xoxo,

The Breakfast Club

Spending time with family is the best. Catching up, and having conversations. It's the perfect day to share conversations because we're linking up with Amanda for #MyConversations

Conversations With...

...My Family!!

This is what happens when there's been a lot to drink and we start talking movies...

Uncle: We should watch The Breakfast Club!!

Me: OOOOHH!! YEAH! love that movie!!

Sister's Boyfriend: What's the breakfast club??

Sister: [embarrassed] He refuses to watch it.

Uncle: That's it! We're watching it!

Boyfriend: [to sister] is that the one that you've been trying to get me to watch forever?

Sister: YES! It's a classic!

Uncle: What would it take to get you to watch?

Boyfriend: Two bottles of whiskey and a gun for Christmas

Uncle: Done. We're watching.

Me and Sister last night. After this conversation

We didn't watch The Breakfast Club. Turns out my Aunt doesn't own it. Uncle was too drunk to remember this conversation after 10 minutes anyway. But it was hilarious at the time!

Do you have a funny conversation? Link up with Amanda!

Tell Me About Your Town

The place we call "home" tends to hold a special place in everyone's hearts. It could also be a very different place to everyone. It could be where they're living now, or the place they were born. Wherever that place may be, it's clear everyone is Thankful to have a place to call home.

A few weeks ago, Amanda announced this awesome new monthly linkup to take place the third Tuesday every month. I'm happy to join Amanda and Rebecca in linking up for the kickoff this month, and to talk about My Town.

I'm thankful to live in a small town. Josh and I have moved around quite a bit, and there's plenty of places we call "home". I'm one of the few that are actually born and raised in Georgia. I've lived in many different corners of this beautiful state, but where we live now has really started to hold a special place in my heart.

Source

Josh and I live in a small town called Monroe. Population: 13,466, and it covers approximately 10.5 square miles. It's not a very big town at all.

Why I'm thankful to live in Monroe

• The kids can play outside with no one bugging them
• We run into people we know at Wal-Mart, the library, CVS (everywhere) and it will usually turn into an impromptu coffee date
• There's always a festival, farmers market, or event going on in the downtown square
• I know ALL of my neighbors. 
• Our utility bills are all on one bill that we pay to the city. What we pay for everything is equivalent to what most people pay for just their electric bills. 
• We can walk to the park and not risk getting run over by the crazy Georgia drivers!

The best part about our town is we're very close to a few of the major highways, so when we want to go see family it's no trouble to navigate. We're about 30 minutes away from my mom and about 45 minutes away from my mother in law. My sister is only 20 minutes from us. We're surrounded by family so we don't feel stuck in a small town. 

If we ever want to venture into the city, it's only an hour drive. Of course, with Atlanta traffic sometimes that hour turns into an hour and ten minutes or more, but it's still not a bad drive all the time

I seriously think everyone needs to experience the small town life at least once in their lives. The festivals they have here is what I really love the most. They recently put up the Christmas lights that will line the streets of downtown until the new year. It's SO PRETTY! 

Source

I'm also thankful that my town is used in major films. Anyone remember "American Reunion"? The square and downtown scenes in the town in the movie is Monroe! How cool is that? /

Mike Cash Store // Source

Why are you Thankful for your town? Are you thankful for the town you grew up in or the town you're living in now? Link up with Amanda and Rebecca to share! 

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