Turning off the TV

My ideal work day would end in coming home and doing absolutely nothing. Pull in the driveway, play with the dogs in the backyard for a bit, come inside, put on pajamas and open a bottle of wine. The end. And that's how most of my days end, plus or minus a couple other tasks. The thing is, my life is exploding right now, at least I feel like it is. I have to move out of my house in about 5 weeks, and in that time I have to not only find a new house but pack my entire life, oh yeah, and did I mention that before moving day I have 3 birthday parties, 2 graduations, 2 graduation parties, Mother's Day, at least one Ranger's game, and a wedding to fill my weekends.

So my 'come home and veg out' days are over, for now. For the next week, or more if needed, I will come home and the TV will stay off until I finish my daunting To-Do list which includes...

Around the house-

• grocery shopping
• exercise (3x)
• pack kitchen decor
• pack living room decor
• put away laundry
• make headbands
• make wreath
• cook dinner (3x)
• Twins' birthday presents
• Taylor's birthday present
• pack and clean outside
• clean kitchen
• change bedding
• find a house!
• graduation gifts
• School (3x)
• Blog (3x)

Scheduled Events (today until Sunday)-

• Jazz Fest
• Babysit (Friday and Saturday Nights)
• Taylor's Birthday Party
• House Hunting
• Dinner at Kyle's
• Monthly work friends dinner

My Fairy Tale

Today was the first day that I was going to post something creative... I had it all planned out to sew Gracyn a pillow case dress out of a vintage lace trimmed pillow case. But honestly my kids are not going to let that happen today. There are tons of blogs out there that write and make their lives seem like fairy tales, they have great happy kids, a husband that supports everything they do, they live in a house that looks like the pages of a magazine. I do not. Most days I feel like I'm treading water and about to drown. So today I'm going to write about the real life of a single mom of two.

Lets get started...We start our morning at about 3 in the morning when one or both of my children end up in the bed with me. Gracyn wants to sleep on me, and Gavin snores (he makes noises that someone that size should not even be able to make) oh and he grinds his teeth. They wake up some where between 7-7:30 and are ready to go for the day. I fix breakfast...pancakes, toast, pop tarts....what ever they ask for and keeps them from screaming. They usually end up fighting because Gracyn eats part of Gavin's and even though he doesn't want it, he doesn't want her to have it. I love the days I'm working because that means I get to take them to daycare! I love daycare. Its the best thing in the world. Work is not work...Home is work. So if I'm not working then we are home for the day... they watch TV, play, and we read lots for books...well not really lots of books, but I read the same Christmas book over and over and over. I used to let them go outside and play.... but Gracyn runs right for the horses so they can't go outside with just one adult I have to have another set of eyes. I cook lunch at about 11:30, grilled cheese, or ravioli something easy, Gracyn eats all of hers, Gavin does not. Gavin wants to snack all afternoon because he wouldn't eat lunch and I usually end up finding him on the counter fixing himself a nutella sandwich and he gets in trouble.

Gracyn cries a lot. A lot is an understatement. She was born almost 2 years ago...she started crying then, and still hasn't stopped. We spend the afternoon playing....and they fight. I cook supper and they eat some more...I really can't wait for bed time. Finally the room is quite...except for snoring and teeth griding. I can breathe. I'm so exhausted that all I want to do is sleep but I usually can't go to sleep so I lay there and think about projects that I want to do...I keep a note book next to my bed so I can write important things down, I always come up with the best ideas, and solve all my problems as I'm drifting off to sleep.

Those of you that are single moms you understand. Those of you that want to get married and have 5 kids...well you are insane...and those of you that are surviving with 5 kids...give me some tips on how you keep your head above water. Cause at least once a day I have a moment when I want to run away....I don't do it...but oh how I want to. There are lots of thing that I wish I could go back and change in my life...stupid mistakes that I have made, people that I have hurt...but I wouldn't trade my kids for anything... they are something that I would not change. They are a part of me...maybe all the bad stuff... but that's my fault isn't it. But when Gracyn crawls up in my lap and tells me the she "woves" me it makes it all worth it. That is my fairy tale. I will work on some projects over the weekend and be ready for next week...but in the mean time. I'm going to take my kids to their dad's house for the weekend and I'm going to drink some wine.

Let the Reading Begin!

I am a habitual reader. It is a hobby that I've loved my entire life and something that I've grown to not only love but I crave. My brain depends on the nourishment that the pages in books provide. The whole process is so therapeutic to me, the cracking open of the cover, then the smell of the pages and the constant anticipation I feel as I finish one chapter and make time for 'just one more,' then finally the rush of joy as the story concludes. I always come upon a couple problems after I finish one book and want to start a new one. Problem number one--What do I read now? Problem number two--I don't have money to blow on $20 books from a certain mega-chain book store (rhymes with Parnes and Moble). Well, this week one of my favorite places to spend not only time but money at: Half-Price Books posted my next reading adventure on their Facebook.

My first trip to the library



40 BOOKS YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO PUT DOWN!

Doesn't that sound amazing? Those are the kind of books that I love, where all your free time is spent reading, even if it's just a paragraph, heck even if it's just a sentence. So, after seeing the post, I of course clicked on the link and began scanning the list. Then I thought, if this is a list of books that I supposedly won't be able to put down, then I should read them all. Here is my first challenge to myself, read all 40 books. I have already read some of them and let me tell you, I think they definitely deserved a spot on the list.

Okay, problem number one: solved.

After accepting the challenge my dilemma was, how was I going to buy 40 books and not go completely broke. Then I remembered, I go to the Library once a week with G3. So, between the library and my local Half-Price Book store I will conquer this list.

Here's the list:

Books I've already read:

• Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows--J.K Rowling
• The Glass Castle--Jeanetter Walls
• The Hunger Games--Suzannne Collins
• The Help--Kathryn Stockett
• Me Talk Pretty One Day--David Sedaris

Books to be read:

• The Road--Cormac McCarthy
• The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe--C.S. Lewis
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo--Stieg Larsson
• The Da Vinci Code--Dan Brown
• The Catcher in the Rye: J.D. Salinger
• City of Bones--Cassandra Clare
• Storm Front--Jim Butcher
• Siddhartha--Hermann Hesse
• The Wanderer's Necklace--H. Rider Haggard
• Bossypants--Tina Fey
• The Leftovers--Tom Perrotta
• Catch-22--Joseph Heller
• You Shall Know Our Velocity--Dave Eggers
• I Love Everybody--Laurie Notaro
• Explosive Eighteen--Janet Evanovitch
• The Book Theif--Markus Zusak
• Halfway to the Grave-Jeanine Frost
• Murder on Astor Place--Victoria Thompson
• Are You There God It's Me, Margeret?--Judy Blume
• The Princess Bride--William Goldman
• The Thin Man--Dashell Hammett
• The Man Who Planted Trees--Jean Giono
• Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl--Susan McCorkindale
• The Crying of Lot 49--Thomas Pynchon
• Prey--Linda Howard
• High Fidelity--Nick Hornby
• Deer Skin--Robin McKinley
• Dead Until Dark--Carlaine Harris
• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas--Hunter S. Thompson
• Deadly Sins--Lara Leigh
• Angus, Thongs & Full Frontal Snogging--Louise Rennison

Books on the List that I won't read because I've tried and I can't get into them:

• The Hobbit--J. R. R. Tolkein
• Ender's Game--Orson Scott Card

And the First Book is...

written by: Sami

Welcome!

Hello everyone! I am Jessika, I am a single mom of two beautiful, wild, crazy, make you want to pull your hair out toddlers. Gavin is almost 4 and Gracyn is almost 2. We live in a small town in the middle of no where called Windom. I am a hair stylist, a profession that I started at the ripe age of 5 when I chopped all my blond curls off... on one side of my head.

I have always been crafty, I would make my barbie houses out of milk crates, and search my house for anything that I could cut up or glue to make into furniture. It got me in trouble some...but it was well worth it, my barbies had to live in style too! I took my first cooking class when I was in the third grade. I got my first camera with my birthday money when I was 11. My mom taught me how to sew when I was in Jr. High, the first thing that I made was a pair of pj pants with jalapeno peppers all over them, I called them my hot pants, and I still have them and wear them. As a teenager I would go to the mall with friends shopping and everything I picked up I would say "I could make that...I'm not going to buy something that I can make..." I was in art in high school and loved every minute of it. When I got out of school I woke up one day a couple of weeks after graduating and decided that I was going to cosmetology school...that's how I decide things in my life, if I wake up and want to do it...just go for it, if I over think it I will chicken out. I'm notorious for changing my hair...blond, brown, red, short, long, curly, straight.

Creating is something that I love to do... I'm kind of a jack of all trades when I comes to art, I love all forms of it, and I want to learn as much as I can. So my half of Living in the Junk Drawer will be a journal of my journey to create art, meals, and a beautiful home. Mix in some crazy stories about my kids and my life, and you will fully understand why we called the blog Living in the Junk Drawer. You never know what you are going to find when you look in, but you always find just what you need. Hope y'all enjoy reading just as much as we are going to love writing and creating for y'all.

It's Nice to Meet You All

I am Sami, I'm a twenty-four year old single girl living the very single lifestyle in the lovely town of Denton, Texas. I am a nanny to three incredible kids (who I will refer to throughout this blog as G1, G2, and G3) and the mommy to my two precious pups (Nolan an Lola). As my big boy Nolan's name suggests, I am a HUGE fan of the Texas Rangers (owned by Nolan Ryan, for those of you who aren't knowledgeable in baseball).

This whole blogging thing is something I've tried and tried again. I love the idea of sharing my ideas, and projects and life with people who may or may not really care, but my laziness and lack of motivation have left other blogs gathering dust. Luckily I have an amazing best friend (of 14 years!!) who loves creating and DIYing and blogging as much as I do. So we've put our brains together and created Living in the Junk Drawer.

Logistically we have decided that us co-writing posts will never work out so we will be individually posting. After many many days of brainstorming what exactly I'd like my half of the junk drawer to consist of, I've decided that although I am a creature of habit and I thrive on schedules and routines I just cant imagine telling you that my blog posts will be this, this, and this. I can't limit myself, so all I will say is there will be a  little bit of everything, no rhyme or reason...just like a junk drawer. Let's get started, Cheers!