Hey, It's Okay

  I got this idea from Glamour magazine. You can link up any day of the week. All you have to do is make a list of what you're okay about. Simple! Please do not link up a post that has nothing to do with Hey, It's Okay. It's rude and I'll delete the link.

Hey, It's Okay.... 

....to have had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I was missing my husband, who was deployed, but all the delicious food helped. 

....to have finished the latest season of The Crown. You can't help but feel for Diana. No, she wasn't perfect, but holy crap, all she wanted was some kindness. 

.....to have done Black Friday shopping online! I found some deals, so I'm happy. 

....to hope porch pirates develop an itch they can never scratch. You always hear about them during teh holidays, and it just infuriates me. Go buy you own stuff!

.....to love looking at Christmas lights. We went to Sea World and all the lights were gorgeous. 

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The Mandalorian/Baby Yoda Blue Cookies

This is The Child from The Mandalorian on Disney+ for those who don't know:

He's called Baby Yoda by many people because he, well, looks like a baby Yoda. 

He's super cute. And actually, we found out his name during the last episode. Grogu. But he'll probably be still referred to as Baby Yoda. Because. Well. You know. 

Anyway, in one episode he wanted some blue cookies that the boy beside him was eating. That boy refused to share. (Shame!) He even had the nerve to tell Baby Yoda--pardon me--GROGU--no. Who can tell this face no?

So Bab--GROGU--used The Force and got the cookies.

After the episode, many people went nuts for the cookies because Baby--GROGU--ate them. I mean, precious! Adorable! There are rumblings from people if Disney will add the cookies to the Milk Stand where they sell the blue and green milk. 

But I found the cookies already. See?

Blueberry flavored macarons found at H-E-B. You can find them in most stores. 

Steve was happy.

Steve is what we named OUR child. (He's obviously not the same one in the show. He's a friend of Bab--GROGU.)

Steve shared with us and yup, the cookies were delish. 

Some people have talked about making their own blue cookies, but you know, I'm all for easy, so I say buy some blueberry macarons. 

And then there you have it, blue cookies like Grogu ate. You'll be a hit if you serve them for Mandalorian friends. 

So do you watch The Mandalorian and do you even know what I'm writing about? 

Hey, It's Okay

 I got this idea from Glamour magazine. You can link up any day of the week. All you have to do is make a list of what you're okay about. Simple! Please do not link up a post that has nothing to do with Hey, It's Okay. It's rude and I'll delete the link.

Hey, It's Okay.... 

....to hope everyone who celebrates Thanksgiving this week has a great day. If you don't, I still hope you have a wonderful day!

.....to have already shopped some Black Friday sales. So many popped up online over the weekend. 

.....to currently be reading Friends And Strangers by J Courtney Sullivan. It's about friends who are there for each other, but crazy things happen along the way. 

.....to be glad the kids are mostly done with school for the week. My son still has a few college classes, but many of his professors let them have the week off. My daughter has all week off. 

....to love this phone case I got at customenvy.com. It's so easy to make and would be a fabulous holiday gift for someone you love. It can be made for nearly every phone out there and you can customize it with any photo. 

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Stocking Stuffer Ideas For Teen Girls

Teen girls can be difficult so shop for. They either want things that are incredibly expensive or things that you've never heard of before. Sometimes it can be tricky to decide what to put in their stockings. I mean, yes, gift cards always work, but I like to have more personal things in there. 

So here are some ideas!

Pick up some Jibbitz for Crocs. There are all sorts of wonderful picks and most are only $3.99. Natalie picked these out and is complimented a ton when people spot them. You can buy Jibbitz here. 

Teens tend to love to pamper themselves, so pick up some face masks from 7th Heaven. Natalie loved this Rose Gold mask. You can buy them here!

Piggy Paint is non-toxic, odorless, and cruelty-free. They have all sorts of fabulous colors and gifts sets for under $10 here. 

 

You can never go wrong with candy. I picked these up at Target for less than $5. And yes, they are delicious. 

My daughter loves Kylie products. We usually pick them up at Ulta Beauty because the sets go on sale. Right now their Black Friday sale is up so you can find some deals for only $10. 

Tangled has always been a favorite movie of my daughter's since she was a little girl. I knew she'd love this brush. I found it for under $12 on sale at Box Lunch here. 

Okay, so this ultra tiny purse can maybe hold a few quarters, but it cracked me up. It was under $10 at Shein. You can buy it here. 

Stranger Things is a popular show among teens. I found this package of lip glosses at H-E-B for under $10 but I imagine you can find it at most stores.

Pick up a custom phone case at customenvy.com. They can pick out their favorite photos. You can currently get one for 50% off. You can get all sorts of sizes and it's incredibly easy to make. Buy one here!

I hope some of these ideas helped. Eventually I'll share a post on actual gift ideas for teen girls. I did one last year. Click here to see those and yup, Natalie uses everything that I bought to this day so they were a hit!

                                               Have you started shopping yet?

Chicken Guy Review At Disney Springs

I love chicken.

I love sauces.

So I figured I would enjoy Chicken Guy, which is located at Disney Springs in Florida. 

It's pretty cool inside:

Yup, it was started by Guy Fieri, the one from Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives. 

The prices are fair as well and they have tons of sauces to try. Plus, there's more than chicken if you're not into it. 

The chicken was delicious and all the sauces we tried were tasty. My favorites were the spicy mayo and the garlic parmesan. Your order usually comes with 2 sauces. (You can check out all the sauces they have by clicking here.)

The fries were incredible too. The chicken was tender with a wonderful breading. I got the 3 Tender Combo which was $11.49. (There's also a 5 Tender Combo.)

Would I go back? Absolutely! Remy agrees. I need to try one of the milkshakes. (The Triple Double Mint sounded scrumptious.) 

Have you ever been to Chicken Guy? I hope they open one in San Antonio. 

Hey, It's Okay

 I got this idea from Glamour magazine. You can link up any day of the week. All you have to do is make a list of what you're okay about. Simple! Please do not link up a post that has nothing to do with Hey, It's Okay. It's rude and I'll delete the link.

Hey, It's Okay.... 

.....to be excited for Thanksgiving next week. I do love to eat. I hate that Tom won't be here to celebrate, but he'll get to Facetime with us. So it's something.

.....to currently be reading The Book Of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult. I'm loving it. Her books never disappoint. 

....to have started to watch the new season of the Crown (the one with Diana.) It's almost tough to watch since you know what happens in the end. I seriously want to punch Charles in the face. 

....to have NOT purchased the Playstation 5. I guess tons of people keep trying to get it, but it's sold out everywhere. It's like $499. Yikes. 

.....to have found Little Debbie snacks! I was worried that the Christmas Tree Cakes might be tough to find since it was announced there might be a delay thanks to Covid, but all is well. 

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8 Things To Do Besides Cry During A Deployment

Let me start off by saying that I cried when my husband deployed. He's done it about 5 times now, plus he's done a year in Korea. Things got tough. It seemed everything was breaking at once. The car. The house. The kids.

But crying took a lot of energy. And quite frankly, I didn't want my kids to see me constantly in tears. So I decided that I was going to pull myself together and focus on the good. (The bed to myself. The remote to myself. Cereal for dinner without a husband going, "Really? It's Trix for dinner?") I needed to remember that I was an individual, that even though I loved my husband, I could be fine on my own.

Here's some ideas of what you can do besides cry when your spouse deploys.

1. Make sure you have all the proper paperwork filled out and in one spot. This includes a power of attorney, life insurance, wills, etc. I know it's morbid to think about, but you want to be sure you are protected should anything happen. You'll get life insurance with the military but some people look at other term life insurance quotes.



2. Start a new hobby. Honestly, I stuck with a hobby that I've been doing for years: collecting books and reading them. I would splurge and buy new books because they made me feel better. I had a friend who started to crochet, and she got really good! I'd accidentally poke someone's eye out if I tried, personally. But hey, now would be the perfect time to start a new hobby. Amazon has a lot of fantastic how-to books. 



3. Hang out with friends. I would do this now and again but I'm a bit of an introvert and sometimes I found myself annoyed being with other people. Especially if they were like, "Oh my GOD, don't you just want to DIE having your husband gone?" Uh, no, because I have my own life, thanks. I find I'm tough to get along with at times because I'm quite blunt, but I don't have the patience for constant tears and dramatics.

4. Focus on things that make you happy. For me, that's Disney. I joined Disney groups on Facebook and even planned a Disney trip. You can head to Walt Disney World and start planning your trip! When I wasn't planning a trip I was also reading and watching marathons of Real Housewives.

5. Do things with your kids if you have them. We have movie nights every Friday. We also go out to eat once a week. It gives us something to look forward to. 

6. Work out! Some find this a way to burn off steam. I personally hate working out, but I do try to jog daily so I can eat donuts. I curse while doing it, but I feel good when I'm done. I feel like I've EARNED that donut, dang it. I tried Zumba with a friend once and looked like Left Shark. I know lots of people have bought a Peloton bike so they look amazing when their spouse returns. 

7.  Start a deployment notebook. This is where you can put all the info about your spouse's deployment in case you quickly need it. I probably should have done this. I had papers all over the place. The power of attorney was in one corner. His orders were in another. (You can get a cool deployment binder from Lauren over at The Military Wife and Mom here.)


8. Pig out. I mean. Don't eat your feelings every night, but once in a while is fine. I ate so many fries from McDonalds, and so many chocolate candy bars. Dr. Phil would be all, "Don't eat your feelings," but dude, sometimes you gotta.

(You're welcome, Dr. Phil!)

Is your spouse in the military? Have they deployed before? How did you cope? Or if you don't have a spouse in the military, how do you cope if your partner goes away for months at a time?

Unboxing The November BoxyCharm Box

If you want to receive a box full of beauty products each month, you need to check out BoxyCharm! This would make a fantastic holiday gift. We always look forward to receiving it. It's like getting a bunch of new holiday gifts at once. 

Here's what we got in November (Curious on what we got in October? Click here!) 

Since our skin has been dry, we were hoping for something to help with that, and we weren't disappointed. 

We got this Moisture Replenishing Serum from Farsali. It's worth $24 and leaves our skin feeling soft. 

Our lips have also been quite chapped, so the Essential Lip Enhancer from Jouer helps with that. It's worth $17.

Our faces will get extra help from the Pumpkin Turmeric 2-in-1 Radiance Polishing Mask from Yensa. We haven't tried this yet, but it smells incredible. Maybe this weekend we'll test it out! It's $45. 

These Moda Metallics eye sculptors will come in handy to define our eyes. Plus they're pretty! They're worth $15.

Finally, this Peak Palette from Natasha Denona is perfect for the fall. We are loving these colors. It's worth $48. 

You can order your own BoxyCharm box here. There are different options. We're on the regular monthly BoxyCharm box which is $25 a month and as you see, the items we got are worth so much more than that.

What is awesome is that you fill out a form before you get your first box on what you'd mostly like in it. For example, Natalie wanted mostly makeup, so I made sure to write that down. You also can pick what colors you prefer.

If you want your own box click here or use the code Amber-AREMLXCK at checkout! We'll get charms if you do this so we can shop at the store on the BoxyCharm site with them. You can cancel whenever you want.

What was your favorite item in the box this month? I say the palette because of the colors, Natalie picks the Essential Lip Enhancer because it has been helping with her chapped lips. 

 

Hey, It's Okay

I got this idea from Glamour magazine. You can link up any day of the week. All you have to do is make a list of what you're okay about. Simple! Please do not link up a post that has nothing to do with Hey, It's Okay. It's rude and I'll delete the link.

Hey, It's Okay.... 

 .....to have been enjoying the new episodes of The Mandalorian. That last one with the spiders? Yikes!

.....to be missing my husband, who is deployed. The holidays don't help. I'm glad he got his Christmas package at least. I sent it early since it can take a bit to get to him. 

....to love the White Fudge Oreos that come out around this time. I need to back away from the box.

.....to be checking out the Veterans Day sale at Kohl's on Wednesday. They have a $10 off $25 deal. In the past, there was also free shipping, so I'd do a bunch of $15 orders. 

.....to have enjoyed this book A Week At The Shore by Barbara Delinksky. It's about a woman who returns to the small town she grew up in. Her dad is losing his memory and she wants to figure out what happened on the night his maybe lover disappeared. Oh, and the guy she used to love is still there too.

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Easy Candy Corn Fruit Cups

Hi. It's me again when an easy snack idea for kids. Or for yourself. Once again it's fast. It's simple. And it's fairly healthy. 

First of all, yes, I am one of those people who love the actual candy corn. But I know many people do not and think it tastes like plastic. I disagree and eat many candy corns throughout the fall. If you don't like the candy there is a fruit option. Confused? Well. 

All you need is pineapple, oranges, whipped cream, and clear cups to put it all in. See? It resembles candy corn.

Some people might buy pineapple and actually peel and cut it. Me? No. I buy already cut pineapple. You layer that on the bottom. 

Then you can either peel an orange or buy them already cut up like myself. (Did I mention I like easy?)

Layer that on top of the pineapple.

Then you add whipped cream on top. Don't like whipped cream? Pick up mini marshmallows. 

This is a fun fall treat that takes like 5 minutes to prepare if you do it the simple way. 

So do you like candy corn?