If I Had to Grade the Cast of Teen Mom and Teen Mom 2

As ashamed as I am, I have to admit, I have kept up with this trash-heap of a phenomenon. Not because I like it….but ya know….it is very hard to look away from a train-wreck. Honestly I am very glad MTV wised up and started cancelling this joke of a “documentary”. This show is the FARTHEST thing from a documentary. It is (was) the most scripted, manipulated piece of garbage on television now. And MTV obviously thinks its audience is extremely stupid if they think for a moment that anyone takes this show seriously anymore. (Like we are really supposed to believe these girls have financial issues when their hair, makeup, and nails are professionally done in every scene)

I could go on and on about the show itself, but that is really not the purpose of this post. I was thinking the other day (while seeing a commercial for the “reunion” show that was conveniently taped a year ago and has NO relevance to the present day since MTV REALLY stays on top of things) If I had to give each girl on one of these 2 shows a letter grade, based on their actions on the show as well as the upbringing they had...…here is the order I would grade and why:

1.      Catelynn Lowell-A

I have to hand it to this girl and her fiancé/ex-stepbrother. These two had the shittiest upbringing of ANY of the cast members and still managed to turn out the most “together” of anyone. I honestly have no idea how you are this level-headed when you have a crackhead father who abandons you and a white trash alcoholic mother with severe anger issues. I really cannot figure out the x-factor here. Even from the beginning, Catelynn and Tyler were smart and selfless enough to realize that they were not ready to be parents. While giving their daughter up for adoption had to have been the hardest thing they had or ever probably will do in their entire lives, they loved her enough to know that they wanted better for her than what they could give her. They did not want her growing up in the awful circumstances they did, so they put her above themselves and gave her to a family that could give her what they wanted for her. There is so much controversy over why MTV chose them for the series because they “really aren’t parents”. These two ignored their own selfish wants in order to give their daughter what she deserved. If that is not a parent then I don’t know what is…

2.      Maci Bookout-B+

It is obvious that Maci is a girl from the south who had a good upbringing and just made some dumb decisions. Although she got annoying and stupid in the last season, it did not affect the happiness or well-being of her son, Bentley. (Biiiiintley) Any drama surrounding Maci was typically just stupid surface-level high school problems with her baby daddy and never really affected her mothering skills. The reason I like Maci is even though she was lucky and has good parents who provide for her and are supportive, she still is the main provider for her child. Any time she dealt with relationship or custody drama, it was very easy to see that Bentley was always her priority and was kept out of it. The only thing I will ding her on is bringing men in and out of Bentley’s life the way she did towards the end.

3.      Kailynn Lowry-B

Although she was a manipulative and emotional basket case at times, you can’t totally blame it on her. First off, she had some abandonment issues. Her mom, although present at times did not seem like the best support system, and she supposedly has bi-polar disorder. That doesn’t excuse the domestic violence and her quick ability to make herself the victim in any given situation without even considering the feelings of her baby daddy. But it’s whatever. If anything she was the most boring of any of the girls to follow. I guess that just means she is normal…

4.      Leah-Messer-Simms-Messer-Calvert(??)-B-

Ok first off….let me just say, I admire anyone who has twins. That HAS to be difficult, especially one that has special needs. Although she is a bit erm…uneducated sounding (“Is the schools good here?”), you can tell she genuinely cares for her daughters and she does her best to co-parent with her baby daddy/ex husband Corey.  Ok. There is the positive. Now for the negative. I don’t get why this girl thinks she has any right to play any sort of victim in any hard situation she is in. She puts it on herself. SHE cheated on Corey a week before her wedding but then gets upset because he buys a new truck and it was supposed to be their “house money”. Uh…YOU cheated and YOU filed for divorce? But I guess common sense comes with maturity and she clearly doesn’t have either. Also, the whole Jeremy-Corey love triangle was just pathetic. This Jeremy guy is pathetic…but whatever I guess he just really wanted to reproduce with Leah, as he kept getting her knocked up. On a side note, I have heard several stories about her house being disgusting and she never cleans it and her kids eat off the dirty floors so that is why she gets a B-. Maybe it should be a C?

5.      Chelsae Houska-C

Ok help me out here….does this girl think that stupid=cute? If that is the case then she is one of the cutest girls I have ever seen. Aslo, if you look up whiney, lazy, spoiled baby in the dictionary there will be a picture of her hair, because that it all that will fit in the picture. Good lord where do I even begin?? First of all, her parents are not doing her ANY favors by spoiling her the way they do. (It took her HOW long to get a G.E.D while she had NO job and always had a babysitter at her disposal?) And what was her excuse for missing so much beauty school? Oh right, the fact that she is so hung up on her douche bag of a baby daddy, (the same guy that called his child a “mistake” and her a “fat stretch-mark bitch”) that NOTHING else in life matters… All I ever hear when I think of her is her whiney-ass voice (“Addddaaaammmaaaah!”) She gotta cute lil baby though and IS an attentive mom when she IS with Aubrey so I will give her that. I just wish she had a few more brain cells in that giant mess on her head.

6.      Amber Portwood-D (Eligible for make-up homework)

Amber made me the angriest of anyone when I would watch this stupid show, as anyone would agree. She was just a horrible excuse for a mother, whether it be the domestic violence,  the constant cursing and screaming at her baby-daddy Gary Shirley, IN FRONT of her daughter Leah I might add, or her God-Awful nails/hair/make-up and press on eyelashes that made her look like some sort of witch/gypsy/angry raccoon. There is nothing that wouldn’t set this girl off and she used any opportunity to scream, yell and blame others as her life spiraled out of control. If you watched her enter and leave rehab several times on the show and even attempt suicide, it was clear that she had some severe mental issues that she was hardly doing anything to resolve. After having CPS take her daughter away and give Gary full custody, Amber finally ended up with a 5 year prison sentence, which she is currently serving and may even be released early for good behavior.

What is interesting to me is that Dr. Drew did a TV special interviewing Amber in prison. Here is what I took from the interview: She was extremely effed-up on the show. The drug use took control of her life and her mental health. She is not a bad person, but she allowed herself to succumb to drug abuse and behaved horrendously, (which there is NO excuse for but you will have to give the drugs and poor mental health some of the blame for that). As Amber talked to Dr. Drew, she had never seemed more self-aware. One thing I admire is unlike ANY other girl on this show, she owned up to her mistakes. She sat with Dr. Drew and said, I was full of drugs, I didn’t want to give them up, I became materialistic, my daughter was not a priority, and I knew it was jail or death. She chose jail for herself because she knew it was the only option left that would force her to get her act together, since rehab clearly didn’t work. I am curious to see how she responds once she is put back into the real world again. I honestly hope the best for her and can tell she really does love her daughter. I am hoping this jail sentence is some “make up homework” and that she can become a thriving mother and a functioning member of society again. Time will only tell….

7.      Farrah Abraham-F

Ugh. I don’t even know where to begin with this chick. I honestly put her above Jennelle for one reason and one reason alone. She takes care of her daughter….sometimes. There. That being said, there is a multitude of reasons why I just don’t get this girl. When someone on the show tends to behave unfavorably, I try look for the reason why. I am no way a psychologist but it is interesting to read into the psychology behind things and I just can’t come up with any other reason besides she is bitter, hates the world, has an undeserved, narcissistic sense of entitlement, and is a nasty spoiled brat who is never in the wrong and feels like the world OWES her something. That sum it up? Her attitude towards everyone and everything is appalling and she will continue to isolate herself from everyone if she doesn’t change. (Which I really doubt she will). She seems to think she is allowed to treat others like garbage because she is this magnificent being who miraculously conceived a child young and ‘gave up everything’. Someone needs to tell her to look to her left and then to her right at one of the reunion shows and see that everyone else on this show is dealing with the same thing, and some in much worse situations than she, and they don’t have an enormous redwood tree trunk shoved up their ass the way she does.  Her parents are just as weird and absolutely clueless, yet they also enable her to act the way she does, no matter how badly she treats them. She is a skanky fame-whore who will do anything (and I mean ANYTHING) for attention and not own up to any of her poor decisions. I believe she loves her daughter but only when it is convenient for her. I am sorry but the whole “I need to put my daughter on a plane back to Iowa” so I can whore around  study was just…I don’t even know. The thing to me that was weird was if I put my son on a plane with his grandmother to go away for a month I would be an absolute wreck! I would be crying so hard that I would not be able to stand up straight. Farrah didn’t bat an eyelash the entire time, knowing her daughter was going away for a month. She eventually DID end up reuniting with Sophia and now takes her along to negotiate her porn contracts. What a wonderful role model this child has. Oh and come to find out she is now talking about how Catelynn Lowell has a weight issue?? Are you freaking kidding me? This girl needs to be launced into outer space because that is about as isolated as she is going to be in a few years…BLECH. I can’t talk about her anymore. Moving on…

And Finally….

8.      Jennelle Evans-I (Incomplete. She is NOT a mother)

Well! Jennelle! I see ya wif Keefah and you was gettin’ HIGH! HIIIIGH!!! So GET OUT!!! And go live on da street WIF Ya Boooooooyfriend!!!! (hahahaha btw Barbara gets an ‘A’ for making me laugh) All joking aside…this girl IS a joke. The best think she could have done, she already did by letting someone else have custody of her son. She is in no shape to be anyone’s mother. It is blatantly obviously that she does not give two shits about Jace and really all she cares about is keeping her name in the tabloids and getting HIGH! HIIIIGH!!! I really have no other words for her. She is extremely dramatic, immature, stupid and just plain trash. Lucky for her, her mother does the best she can with Jace, even though she has some anger issues as well, but they tend to stem from her “bitch of a daughter”.  I really feel sorry for Jace. It breaks my heart to see this poor child unconditionally love a mother who only conditionally loves him back. I really hope to God Barbara does her best with him. Otherwise I will take him! L He and Brady can play on our new slide for hours and have a blast. As for Jennelle….”Te hell with you! Rot in Jail!”

Meghan

Chipotle Bean Burritos

O.....M.....G.....

This is probably in my top 3 of recipes I just stumbled across on the internet. No joke. Not only is it delicious, but is also makes enough for me to take to work for leftovers the next day. Also, it hardly takes any time at all to prep! My 19 month old even kept saying "Bite! Bite! Bite!" wanting to take bites of it. (Although I am not sure I would recommend this for children since it has a little kick to it. We just fed him some of the beans)

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
• 1 clove garlic; minced
• 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans; drained and rinsed
• 1 (15 oz) can kidney beans; drained and rinsed
• 3 tablespoons refrigerated salsa
• Flour tortillas
• 1 cup pre-shredded Mexican blend cheese
• Any Other toppings you would like. Here is what I used:

Directions:

• Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook 1 minute stirring frequently

• Stir in the chili powder and salt. Cook for 30 seconds stirring constantly
  
  

• Stir in 1/3 cup water and beans. Bring to a boil and reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.



• Remove from heat and stir in salsa.
  

  
  

• Partially mash the bean mixture with a slotted spoon.

• Warm tortillas in a microwave. Spoon about 1/3 cup of the bean mixture into the center of each tortilla. Top each with cheese, lettuce, sour cream, green onions, ect... Roll up!

Meghan

10 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Had a Baby

Welp, since I had a top 10 list for having a wedding last week, I figured it would be only fitting to do the same for having a baby. The one thing I have found to be most comforting as a fairly new parent, is that I am usually never alone. If my son leaves me feeling uncertain or worried in any sort of way, there is ALWAYS someone who has dealt with the same thing or has even had a worse situation. Even so, there are a few things either no one ever told me, or I refused to listen to out of my own stubbornness. Here are just a few:

10. Let others help

I have become increasingly better at this. I am the type of person who hates accepting help from anyone. Even though it is not always the case, I feel I owe them something in return if I take their help. If you want to get into the psychology behind it, there are several instances in my life where someone has thrown “I can’t believe you said/did that after I did THIS for you” in my face. So it had honestly taught me to be self-sufficient and not ask others for help in fear that they would one day use it against me. It was not until after Brady was born, that I realized I needed the help that was offered to me. Honestly, LET people come over and watch your baby so you can nap, shower, whatever…LET people cook you meals…LET people babysit so you can have a night out! Honestly, allowing others to help has made me less stressed and has allowed me to flourish as a parent because I AM getting time to just relax and recoup.

9. Your life WILL change and it WILL be hard…

Let me clear this up a bit. I DID already know this, as I am sure most expectant parents do. I just never really fully understood the full extent of that phrase until October 16, 2011. I never truly knew what it was to be sleep deprived. I never knew what it was to feel terrified as well! I had done everything to prepare for this time yet I had absolutely NO idea what I was doing. Every assumption I made about bringing home a newborn was wrong. All I knew was that I had this teeny-tiny (and adorable) little being that belonged to me and was completely dependent on me. And that I loved him with every ounce of my being. Still, I don’t care how many kids you have “nannied” for or how many nieces and nephews or *sigh* dogs and cats you have, you really don’t know the full extent of how HARD it is until you are completely and fully responsible for this human being.

8. ...but it WILL get easier.

I felt like the first couple weeks of Brady’s life were an initial SHOCK. Almost like getting into the freezing cold water for swim practice at 7 am. You are up on warm dry land, still groggy from just waking up, and then all of a sudden you hit that water and your eyes fly open and you are completely cold and uncomfortable. Then after swimming a few hard laps, you start to warm up and get used to the water. That is exact same thing with parenting. He started sleeping longer stretches of the night, he started smiling, laughing, crawling, walking, feeding himself, talking, and sleeping through the night! And it got so much easier and so much more enjoyable! That little sack of potatoes we brought home from the hospital is now a little person with his own little personality. Every little fear and worry I had about being a mom was eventually calmed in one way or another. Some things quicker than others… And I was able to move on to worrying about the next phase and what I am doing to screw it up….but at least now I know….I am really not screwing it up and in the words of my husband, “It will be fine.”

7. When you are in the hospital LET THE NURSES TAKE THE BABY!

This is not true for everyone. This is a personal lesson for myself and no way am I meaning to advise anyone that they should give up bonding time with their baby on the first days of his/her life. But personally, this is something I wish I would have taken advantage of a little more. We were in the hospital for 4 days due to my c-section. While the nurses did take Brady to the nursery from time to time, I kept him with me mostly. I really wish I would have taken advantage of this more. I had just had my abomen cut open and something extracted from it. I needed to heal. By the time we got home I was an emotional nut case (partially because of the hormones) but mostly because I had not slept as much as I should’ve. Instead of enjoying my time with my new family, I was crying every 30 seconds for no reason. (Seriously….watching an episode of Full House would send me over the edge) Any time I got a stretch of sleep that lasted more than two hours, I woke up feeling like a new and happy person and was able to properly care for and enjoy my new son. It is crazy what just a little sleep can do for you.

6. You WILL go back to being yourself

Even when I was pregnant with Brady, I had the feeling that I was never going to feel “good” again. I felt horrible, was in so much pain and was exhausted. I just wanted him out. Then when he DID come out, I was sleep deprived, fat and didn’t have an appetite for the first few days. This initially subsided and I actually felt like a normal human being again. I remember being so swollen from the IV fluids at the hospital and one morning I woke up and looked in the mirror and my face had shrunk!! All the water weight was coming off. I also had horrible edema in my feet! I remember the day before my water broke, Steve and I were going out for a while and he was trying to get my shoes on my feet. They wouldn’t even go in halfway and tears just started streaming down my face. I was this monster who couldn’t even wear shoes and was forced to wear flip flops in fall weather because I was a giant puff ball. About a week after Brady was born I could easily wear the shoes again.

5. Don’t ask for parenting advice on Facebook….

….unless you really want to hear what every single person on the face of this earth has to say about something. Seriously, when it comes to parenting, everyone is an expert. And when you ask a parenting question on facebook, you are opening up FLOOD GATES!!! Now, trust me, when someone ELSE does this, I will give my opinion but I clearly state “This is what worked for me, but do what works for you.” There is no right or wrong way to do anything. There are OPTIONS and sometimes people just need to know something exists. (aka: teething tablets. WTF are they???) But you don’t need people telling you “You need to do this because I did.” I honestly only ask questions on Facebook when I really want to hear what other people did in the same situation...which isn't very often. 

4. The only consistency…is inconsistency.

As soon as I get excited about my child doing something, he stops doing it. He changes so much every week that I can hardly keep up. I learned that if I expect change and welcome it, I do not get disappointed. On the flip side, if he starts doing something I do not like (aka: hitting me when he gets frustrated), I find comfort in knowing that it is probably a short phase and it won’t last.

3. Me going to work, is not taking “me” time.

I had this view for the longest time and did not realize how sexist it truly is. I see Dad’s all the time that have jobs and still go hang out with friends or have time away or go on date nights and no one gives it a moment’s thought. So why should being a female make this any different? Now, I WILL admit, I carried Brady  for 40 weeks and 4 days before his life began, so I honestly think he and I have a connection with him that no other person will be able to duplicate. But me going to work and financially contributing to our family is not “me going out and playing” by myself. I honestly thought I WAS until a very wise person told me otherwise. My son is the most important person to me. My time with him is precious and when I am not working, I try to spend as much time with him as I can because I feel guilty enough for spending so much time away from him. But every now and again, it is ok to have “me” time.   

2. They won’t understand until it happens to them

So in our various groups of friends, Steve and I were among the first to have a baby. Not THE first but we were and still ARE among the early ones. It got really old to hear “Why can’t you just get a sitter?” or have people wonder why we couldn’t just drop everything at the last minute to go get drinks. Or why can’t Steve go on vacation with his buddies while I stay home with the baby? No biggie, right? While we still try to be spontaneous (as much as our schedule allows) and make social time with friends, it just isn’t as easy as it was before. But it keeps us feeling connected to others, even if our time with them is not as often as we would like. Eventually, some of our friends and acquaintances started having kids. “Ohhhhhhh! Now I get it!!! Man I can’t just get up and leave whenever I feel like it and actually have to plan for things” Yep. Welcome to parenthood. Your membership packet is in the mail…

1. This too shall pass

One of my best friends mentioned wanting to get a tattoo of this phrase on her wrist. At first I thought the full meaning behind it was that hard times will go away and not last forever. She explained to me that it was partially true, but also that the good times will pass as well. It got me thinking about my own situation. My child will have phases that I do not like. He already has. But also, there are things about him that I LOVE that are going to pass as well. I dread the day that I come home from work and he does not run to the door yelling “MaaaMaaaaa!!!” with open arms, or being able to hold him in my arms while he falls asleep, or even have him help me with chores because he thinks it is fun. (He LOVES to vacuum). There will be a time when he grows up, becomes more independent, realizes I am not as cool as he thought I was. No matter how dependent he is at this age, I never ever want to take this time for granted, because it too shall pass.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meghan

Cheesy Bacony Jalapeno Poppers!

We were at a friend's house a few weeks ago grilling out. Someone brought over jalapeno peppers, stuffed them with cream cheese and then wrapped them in bacon and threw them on the grill. I have never truly been a fan of jalapenos, but let me tell you...this made me a fan. It was absolutely delicious!!! I am not an avid grill master or anything so I was not planning on trying to duplicate this recipe myself, until I found a similar recipe that required me to bake this in the oven!!! I changed a couple things to make these less fattening and made them for my husband a week or so ago and he LOVED them!!

Ingredients:

• 5 or 6 jalapeno peppers. (You can use more of you would like. The cheese mixture will fill a lot more than 5 or 6. Just depends on how many you want to make)
• 6 strips of bacon cooked until crispy. (I used turkey bacon since it is healthier)
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 8 oz softened cream cheese (I used 1/3 fat Philadelphia)
• And last but not least I used 1 Kraft Cheddar Jack Fresh Take package. I had no idea these even existed but here is where they are located:

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Fry the bacon. I have always had a hard time frying turkey bacon in a skillet. It doesn't really get crispy. If you cook it on a paper towel in the microwave (45 seconds per piece), it will be crispy. So that is what I did.

• While the bacon is cooking, remove the seeds from the jalapeno peppers.

• Once the bacon is done, crumble. In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese, Colby jack cheese from the Fresh Take package, garlic salt, and crumbled bacon.

• Using a fork, stuff the cheese mixture into the jalapenos...





• ...then dip into the breadcrumbs from the Fresh Take package.
• Put the peppers on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake according to the following directions:

                                    -Hot: 25 minutes
                                    -Medium: 32 minutes
                                    -Mild: 40 minutes

Our house smelled HEAVENLY while these were baking!

ENJOY!!!

Meghan



10 Things I Wish I Knew Before My Wedding Day

We have been invited to about a gazillion weddings this spring/summer/fall. (I promise we are going to try and attend most of them for those of you reading). I always knew I wanted a big wedding. Nowadays more and more elope or have something small or just go to the courthouse to save them the stress. I had always envisioned myself walking down the aisle of a big white church on my dad’s arm. Cliché as it sounds; I did not want to leave this earth without having that experience. I watched my older sister and my older brother plan their weddings and at times I witnessed glimpses of the stress that manifested itself…but when all was said and done and their wedding days rolled around, with all the excitement, love and happiness, I knew it was all worth the stress.

Steve and I chose to get married after Brady was born for 2 reasons. 1) I felt like crap the entire time I was pregnant. 2) We had enough on our plate with the baby that was coming and didn’t want to stress ourselves out even more. We set the date almost a year and a half before it actually took place to give ourselves plenty of planning time…and on August 25, 2012 we became man and wife. Although the day was absolutely perfect and one of the happiest days of my entire life (aside from Brady’s birth) there are always lessons to take from any situation-good or bad. So here is my good deed for anyone who is planning a wedding or planning on getting engaged soon. And for those of you who are already married and had a big wedding as well, you will probably find yourself agreeing...

10. Not everything will go according to plan.

As much time as you give yourself to plan every miniscule detail of this day, there WILL be things that do not go according to plan. One particular instance I can think of was everyone walking down the aisle too fast and the musicians having to cut out an entire song. The one song I really wanted played in the wedding (“Only Hope” by Switchfoot in case you were wondering). The musicians just went to the next song as if nothing had happened and could not have been more professional. (They sounded INCREDIBLE by the way) Another thing that happened was that our photographers took picture after picture after picture between the wedding and the reception. Although our pictures turned out gorgeous, this began to cut into the reception a little too much. We were getting off schedule and the guests wanted to eat. I finally ended up telling the photographers (who were super nice and professional the entire time) that they had taken enough photos of the bridal party and I wanted to enjoy my reception. And that is just what I did. Enjoyed every minute of this perfect day regardless of what went off without a hitch and what didn’t.  You can spend this once in a lifetime event upset because something didn’t go right or you can roll with it and have a blast! But its best to go into it not thinking everything will go according to plan.

9. It is YOUR day

Everyone is going to have opinions, suggestions, comments, ect…While they are sometimes helpful (and sometimes annoying) just remember, ultimately that this is YOUR wedding. What you say and what you want should be the priority. Now on the contrary, please also have the consideration for those who are helping with/paying for the wedding. There is no law saying anyone HAS to help you plan your wedding and anyone one HAS to pay for your wedding. We allowed our parents to have more say than anyone else in what they would like, since they were the financial contributors. But there were things I would not budge on. For instance I was told that certain people (the extremely conservative religious ones who still lived in the 18^th century) probably would not come to the wedding because there was *gasp* alcohol being served. I busted out laughing. If THAT is what gets someone all bent out of shape, then they probably shouldn't come.

8. You don’t HAVE to talk to everyone

I don’t care how many wedding websites say that proper etiquette is to have a receiving line or to make sure you talk to every single person who comes to the wedding. Unless the wedding website is going to pay for the extra hours you would have to add on to your reception to do that, they can shove it. Depending on the size of your guest list, you may not be able to do this. It’s ok. Talk to as many people as you can but remember to have fun and enjoy yourself as well. The whole day will be one big blur that goes by extremely fast (My husband finally just had to grab me a drink and pull me onto the dance floor). You did not do all this preparation for only GUESTS to enjoy. You need to enjoy as well.

7. This is one day where it is OK to over-do the makeup.

As someone who enjoys wearing make up almost all the time, I sometimes wonder if people think I wear to much or think I do it because I am *gasp* naturally really ugly!!!! (I just like make up….suck it) But on this day you will be photographed a lot and usually under bright lights (which tend to make you look pale...although I definitely overdid the tanning a bit). You will also be going non-stop all day and probably will not have time to do any real touch ups so make sure you are wearing enough so it doesn’t melt off before the wedding even starts. (You will sweat, summer wedding or not)

6. In most cases….you get what you pay for

This does not apply to everyone in every instance. I know a lot of people who really do their research and really find some unheard-of deals and people have connections.. For my wedding, truth be told, most of the time when we thought we were getting a great deal, we weren’t. I am going to use our florist for instance. Her prices were remarkably low and since I really did not care about the flowers since they would die anyway, we went with her. I really wish we hadn’t. The flowers for my bridesmaids looked like they were picked out of a field by a 4 year old. She kept changing the delivery time for the flowers and made it so I had to get to the church earlier than I wanted to, to meet her there. Then she ends up sending her son who shows up LATE and then she shorted us flowers for the reception tables and we had to go to Kroger and buy more. Then she proceeded to tell us it was our fault.  Brady was even supposed to have a clip on flower for his suit and she forgot to include that as well. She allowed us to borrow a couple nice pots to keep the flowers wet as long as we returned them….out of spite, we kept them.

Oh yeah what was I talking about again? Getting what you pay for! Yeah that’s right. Sorry I am off my soap box now. It is funny because we can usually tell where people spend their money at weddings. I don’t get why people use cheap DJ’s. (Before your claws come out, I understand not everyone can afford the best of everything. I am no different. I had to do without some things I really wanted so I could have other things yadda yadda yadda. I get it.) But DJS who sit in the corner of a room, have no personality, have a horrible sound system and act like they are at a high school dance don’t impress me. The DJ is the host of the entire evening. I feel the DJ is the one thing that will make or break a reception and set the tone of the evening. If a fun DJ is not your priority, then ignore everything I just said. But seriously, I am in no way meaning to sound superficial. I am only speaking from experience and no DJ that was going to charge a couple hundred dollars was going to be that good.  I just know from my own personal experience, when I go to a wedding I do not remember the flowers or the vows or the hair or dresses or tuxes or even the music. I remember if I had fun at the reception or not.

5. Truthfully, if you can help it, try to get married before reproducing

I am one of those people who couldn’t help it. Actually yes I could have. But the night I conceived my son, I was not thinking about how hard it would be to plan a wedding while working full time and taking care of a baby. Even though I did pull it off like a Rock Star, It was HARD!!! When you plan a big wedding, unless you hire a wedding planner which just wasn't in the budget for us,  you will spend a lot of time in meetings with different vendors. We were able to get a sitter for the ones that definitely required our full attention, but I did not want to dump my child off with someone every time we had to meet with a photographer, florist, DJ, pastor, baker, caterer, exorcist, ect…Ok just joking about the exorcist…kind of…

It cracks me up when people who don’t have kids complain about how stressed out they are when planning a wedding. I want to tell them to take a baby with them who needs to be fed in the middle of EVERY MEETING and then gets fussy and craps themselves while you are trying to listen to the sales associate and sign paperwork. Then on your wedding day, even if you have a sitter, you still worry about your child being taken care of and if you go on a honeymoon, you have to prepare your child for a week without you, which was probably harder for us than it was for Brady. In all honestly though, I envy anyone who does not have that added stress. Although I love my son more than I have ever loved anything in the world, it was a challenge to do all this wedding crap and make sure all his needs were met. No matter what….your child will always come first. Even if it IS your wedding day.

4. Make sure you have something lined up to eat AFTER the reception…

…because you will be famished. The food at our reception was delicious! I really hope our guests enjoyed it because we had a few bites of everything and then we were done. And that decadent cheesecake…That bit of cake that we smushed in each other’s faces was all we ate of it. (Luckily we do get a free cake on our 1 year anniversary so we can truly enjoy it). But what I am getting at is between the adrenaline from the entire day and the “getting pulled in a hundred different directions at once” thing doesn’t really end until the night is over. I had no idea I would be starving the way I was. Luckily, one of my most amazing and wonderful friends has a husband who at the time was a manager at the world’s GREATEST restaurant…drum roll….Bonefish Grill! Between the wedding and the reception they stopped at Bonefish to have drinks and they picked us up some Bang Bang Shrimp to go! We ate it in the hotel after the reception. This was seriously the coolest thing anyone did for us that night! (Thank You Alicia and Leighton!!) I seriously want to pay that forward and do it for someone else at their wedding just because of how baller it was!!!!

Who wants to invite me to their wedding???

3. People will show up who didn’t RSVP…and people who RSVP’d won’t show up…

This is frustrating because in most cases, the majority of everything at a reception is based on head-count. So you basically just flushed the money you paid for someone’s food and alcohol down the toilet. I understand some things do come up. People get sick, people have emergencies, AA, rehab, cult-obligations ect.….but mostly people are rude and don’t realize what they are doing when they "just aren't feeling like being social" that day. Send them a bill for the money you wasted on them……..Joking. But in all seriousness, let it go. The people who DO show up and did not RSVP will probably balance it out anyway.

2. Say Thank You!!!

Steve and I have gone to 2 weddings where we either bought a really nice gift off the registry or gave money and we did not receive any sort of Thank You. That is tacky. Even if they are thank you cards from the dollar store. Take the time and do it. They got all dressed up and bought you a gift or gave you money out of their own pocket. You are not too busy to say thank you. If you don't have their address, look it up.

And last but most importantly…..

1. As you are planning for your wedding, make sure you are also planning for the marriage…

People tend to focus so much on the details of their upcoming nuptials, that they completely neglect the preparation for marriage. In order for our pastor to marry us, he required us to attend 8 pre-marital counseling sessions with him. I was not too thrilled at first. And usually no one really is. Something ELSE to take up our time and money….but honestly it was the best investment we could have made. We learned how to communicate and understand each other so much better. We learned what we needed from each other and we learned that if ever there was a time when our marriage wasn’t doing so hot, we could look back on these 8 sessions and remember what we learned in the beginning.  If I can offer you any piece of advice, do this! Your wedding will be over after one day but your marriage is forever. Now enjoy a few photos from our wedding day:

Meghan

Strawberry Romaine Salad with Sweet Poppy Seed Dressing

I first had some form of this salad at a bridal shower and became OBSESSED with finding the recipe. It did not take me long at all to find it online. I made a few revisions and brought it to my husband's Easter celebration with his family and they ATE IT UP. I did not know that my husband's brother-in-law does not like mayo, and he was licking the dressing off of his plate, not knowing there was mayo in the dressing. I guess that is good for those of you who do not like mayo because you can't even taste it. I made this the other night for dinner but I added grilled chicken to make it more of an entree and less of a side dish. It was AH-MAZ-ING!!

Ingredients:

• 4 cups shredded romaine lettuce.
• 1 small bag chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup low fat mayonnaise
• 2 table spoons white wine vinegar
• 1-2 cups grilled chicken; cubed (optional)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons poppyseeds
• Red Onion (Use as much as you want. I like the flavor but I don't like it to be too overpowering so this is how much I used....)



• And lastly, 2 cups freshed sliced strawberries. Don't these look yummy?
  
  



Directions:

• In a large bowl, combine the romaine, strawberries, chicken, pecan and onion

• Give it a good toss

                         

• In another bowl, combine the mayo, vinegar, sugar, milk, and poppyseeds

• Divide the salad into salad bowls and drizzle the dressing over top!

????????

Brady likes his grilled chicken and strawberries!!