I feel like Willy Wonka!

   If you're anything like me, you've stood in the candy aisle eyeing all the different types of chocolate bars available trying to decide just which one would satisfy your sweet tooth, but none of them seem to have just the right mix of ingredients. One has chocolate and nuts, another one has caramel, but Oh...peanut butter would be awesome too! Sadly no one candy bar has everything you crave, so maybe you cave in and just buy one, but it still leaves you wanting after it is gone.

   I was recently given the opportunity by Chocbite to go to their website and create my own chocolate bar! I was really excited as I looked through the different types of chocolate available, I chose milk chocolate, and by the time I got to the toppings I was seriously giddy. Macadamia nuts? caramel bits? And toffee crunch? YES please!

   Not long after I received a small white box in my mail, and nestled inside it's bubble wrapped home was this heavenly looking bar of deliciousness...MY personal creation, a chocolate bar that was everything I wanted.  This was a custom made chocolate bar, with a cute little "bite" taken out of one corner, and as I broke off my first square I was literally drooling with anticipation. There weren't just pieces of macadamia, these where like HUNKS of macadamia nuts, and delicious little balls of caramel, with tiny little crunchy toffee bits (I loved these as they reminded me of the things they used to sprinkle on Toffee Nut lattes at Starbucks...I miss those).

 I just have to say, I was not disappointed, as I took a bite the chocolate was unlike anything I have ever tasted (and I've had some GOOD chocolate in my time including Godiva) it was so smooth and soft that it just melted in my mouth, the toppings were all high quality and very fresh. This definitely a chocolate you must savour and enjoy, this is not your kids chocolate bar...in fact I doubt you'll want to share this with anyone (yea, sorry hubby)!

Have I hit you in the sweet tooth yet? Well it gets better...from now until the end of the year you can use the code: CHOCBITE20 at checkout to receive 20% off your order! (Think: Fathers Day and Christmas!) Be sure to check out Chocbite on Twitter and Facebook! I ate my very last piece of my milk chocolate, macadamia, caramle, toffee crunch bar while writing this post, and I'm very sad...looks like I'll need that coupon code myself!

Disclaimer: I was given a free bar of chocolate from Chocbite for the purposes of sampling in order to write a review.

Terrific 2's-day (err...Wednesday)

Okay, so technically it is Wednesday, since it is 12:45am..but since I haven't been to bed yet I still say Tuesday. lol

A little background on today's post...I met my hubby through a personals ad he entitled "Shrek seeking his Fiona."  and one of our early dates was seeing Shrek the 3rd when it came out in theatres, so the Shrek movies have always had a special place in our hearts. So when we heard that a 4th Shrek movie was coming out we were really excited. Then we got to thinking about the possibility of taking Amryn with us to see her first movie, she likes to watch TV and has a pretty good attention span for a 2 year old, so we decided to give it a try.

Monday we decided that Tuesday would be the big day. We wanted to go to an early showtime during the week, so the theatre would be less crowded, so there would be less chance of annoying large amounts of people with a talking 2 year old ( but really it's a cartoon so if people can't get over the fact that there will be kids there and that hey, kids tend to make noise, then well, they should just wait for the DVD).  We really started hyping it up, telling her about the "big TV screen" and how she would have to be quiet while watching the movie. So all day yesterday all she talked about was going to see Shrek, and the "big TV" and "Shhh...quiet."

So we get to the theatre early, wanting to make sure to get a seat where Amryn would be able to see, and to have time to get settled and everything. She did really well sitting in her own seat, eating some popcorn, during the pre-show stuff, all the previews, and some of the movie.  But then she started to get a little antsy. So she sat with Daddy for a little while but then starting fussing a bit louder, so he took her out of the theatre for a minute to talk to her about being quiet. She came back in and stood up and walked between hubby and I for a good portion of the remainder of the movie, but she did a really good job at being quiet, and I think all and all for her first movie theatre experience she did an awesome job! Now all she talks about is Shrek, the dragon, and Donkey, so I'm guessing she did in fact watch the movie. So all in all it was a pretty terrific 2's-day. Next on the list...Toy Story 3!

(Oh, my review of the film...it was good, not nearly as good as the other 3 though...)

Holy Crap! It's Friday!

So yea, this week sorta flew by for me, and well I didn't do too good with the blogging thing...AGAIN. Life has been a bit hectic around here lately...getting hubby ready for his new job (he starts on June 1st, yay!)...getting me to a job interview today (I think it went well, but I've said that before and gotten no response what-so-ever, so maybe if I don't get my hopes up and think I totally won't get it, they'll call me for the 2nd interview), and a host of other possibly important other stuff like laundry and TV watching, and hubby playing Xbox...ya know busy busy busy.

And it isn't like I don't have stuff to write about, I've actually literally got piles of stuff here to review..including OMG the very best chocolate I've ever tasted, a REALLY AWESOME kids book, books and websites and other cool junk. But lately after Amryn goes to bed (which is when I do the bulk of my blogging) all I've really wanted to do is climb in bed and zonk out...which sometimes happens. But I promise I'll be back soon with all those cool product reviews, (cause I know you're all dying to know about this amazing chocolate) and maybe a coupon code or giveaway or two. Big things I tell you, big things...okay well atleast things.

Sorry, time to catch up again...

So I haven't posted in a few days, things have been busy around here with hubby getting a new job, and the weather has just been way too gorgeous to sit around the house all day! Unfortunately as we say here in Oregon, if you don't like the weather wait 5 mins, and now our sunny nearly 80 degree days are going to give way to rain with 50 degree temps by the end of the week. But it was nice to get outside with Amryn, to blow some bubbles and help her learn to ride her trike. She's starting to get the hang of it, and can pedal for a couple of rotations and then ends up steering herself into the grass, still not too good on the coordination of hands and feet together, but she'll get there. I'm planning for a lot more outside time this summer, especially with the possibility of hubby having to work graveyard shift at his new job! (Apparently shift requests will be based on performance during training class, so here's hoping he does well, as trying to sleep with a 2 year old in a small apartment will probably not be much fun.)

I've been over-run with great blogging opportunities lately, and I'm working on bringing you all some great reviews about some cool new books, websites, and products, so be on the look out for those soon! Tell your friends and neighbors, the more followers and hits to my blog the better opportunities I will get, hopefully including some giveaways for all of you!

Have a wonderful week everyone!

100!!!

Wow! I finally reached 100 followers! Amazing! I'd like to say I have something cool to give away or something...but I don't...yet. I'm working with several different blogging agencies, so we'll see if I can get something soon. But thank you to everyone for following!! And if for some reason I don't already follow your blog, please let me know! Thank you!!

So I won't have to resort to killing him after all...

My sweet hubby has been unemployed for about 5 1/2 months now, and all this 24/7 always togetherness stuff has been getting a bit old lately. I love him dearly, but I don't think any couple was meant to spend THAT much time together. Luckily for us and our marriage, HE GOT A JOB TODAY!! Whoohoo! He will start training in the beginning of June! So no husband-cide for me. LOL

Terrible 2's-day errr Wednesday...

Yesterday was my hubby's birthday, so I was a bit busy and didn't get a chance to post my usual Terrible/Terrific 2's-day post...but that's okay because I didn't really have much to write about until today.

We live in a fairly large apartment complex made up of many many buildings, and in front of each building is a parking area, some with carports and some uncovered spots. Our parking spot is directly in front of our apartment, so when you open the door you can see our car. Usually when we go to leave, Amryn will walk out ahead of me and then stop right outside our door, and then I'll either shut and lock the door, or if my hubby is with us, he'll do it, and then I take Amryn's hand and we walk out to the car. Well today the 3 of us were leaving to go to the library, and I open the door and Amryn TAKES OFF RUNNING! I holler after her to stop, and when I realize that she's NOT STOPPING, and is almost past the parking spaces and INTO THE STREET! I start running and screaming at my husband (who is still inside w/ the door open, why I thought he could get to her faster I don't know.) She stops IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD, just as I catch up to her, THANK GOD no cars were coming or going at that time (we live just 2 buildings in from the exit), because I'm pretty sure she's too small to be seen by someone in a car, I would hope that the sight of the crazy mother running and screaming would have slowed them down, but who knows. I grabbed that child by the arm and right in the middle of the street I swatted her on the butt twice, and told her that she is not allowed to run in the street! (I do realize this is a popular hot bed topic, and I do not believe in beating children, but I see nothing wrong with a couple of pops on her diapered butt when she has done something life-threatening dangerous.) Yea, I think that whole situation took a few years off my life! And now the new rule will be that Amryn must be holding my hand when I open the door! Ahh the terrible 2's.

Micro Monday

Dear Sigmund,

What is your fascination with eating Amryn's crayons? I get that they are kinda chewy, but I doubt they have any discernible flavor, and honestly I'm tired of picking up rainbow colored poo. So just leave the crayons alone, thank you.

Love,
Mommy

Six Word Saturday!

I love Starbucks Happy Hour! Yummy!

In case you haven't heard, Starbucks is doing 1/2 priced Frappucino's during "Happy Hour" from 3pm-5pm now through May 16th! It was exactly what I needed to day to help get rid of a 2 day migraine! Plus it went really well with the beautiful Spring day we had!

New Friend Friday!

I love reading new blogs, and I love having new followers...so once again I've joined in on New Friend Friday from The Girl Creative Who is I might add doing a cool giveaway on her blog right now so check it out!

So welcome to those who are stopping by, and please follow me and leave a comment so I can return the favor! I'm just starting out on this blogging journey, but I have some new things in the works right now, including some reviews and possibly some giveaways soon...but in the meantime I hope that I can at least be somewhat entertaining.

Confession TIme

Ok...I'm about to make a confession that no adult woman should probably ever have to make. I Jessica, like totally uncool music. Yes it is true, I love singing along with my Neil Diamond CD's, and dancin' in my car to old Billy Joel, in fact right now I'm singing along to Barry Manilow's greatest hits..."At the Copa...Copacabana" yea I love me some Manilow (I REALLY wanted to go see him in Vegas, but none of my friends would go with me :( ) My musical tastes are super eclectic, I always say that pretty much anyone could find atleast 1 CD in my collection that they would listen to. I have pop, rock, classical, country, show-tunes, dance music, you know it...my iPod playlist is a bit schizophrenic one minute you might be listening to Adam Lambert, the next minute you're listening to Neil Diamond, and then Rascal Flatts. To me it is not as much about the type of music someone makes as it is about how well they make it, I like people who are genuinely talented, so many artists these days are nothing but studio creations who really can't carry a tune in a bucket. But if liking good music makes me totally uncool, I think I'm okay with that.

Yay! Potty training...yea...not so much...

So we've had this potty for awhile now about 6 months or so, it started off with Amryn just sitting on it with her clothes on, just to get her used to the idea and to adjust to it gradually. Then every once in awhile she would sit on it without her diaper, and 2 times she actually did pee. Since she's turned 2, I have been wanting to get serious about this potty training thing, and she seems to be showing all the signs, telling us when she's wet, taking her diaper off when she's wet etc. She also LOVES the Pull-ups (actually I guess ours are Easy-ups) because they have Dora on them (which she doesn't actually even know about since she's never seen an episode of Dora because I hate Dora, but that's a story for another time) and she will actually ask to wear "Doras" instead of diapers, but sadly 10 minutes later she's peed in the Doras and dang those things are expensive! If we take her to the bathroom every 15 minutes, she's peeing every 20 minutes in her Doras right after she sat on the potty! *sigh* I've thought about doing training underwear instead with plastic covers, but we only have like 3 pairs, and buying enough for her to pee her pants every 20 minutes everyday would be more expensive than the pull-ups. lol Others have suggested "Oh just let her run around naked" yea...we rent. (And I do not have a stream cleaner.) and we have a very curious dog who is known to be slightly inappropriate with the licking...so yea, naked not going to work so well. I know she'll get it, I know she won't be going to college in diapers, I know she's still pretty young...but it is still frustrating.

Now I've heard things about a 3-day program. Does anyone have and experience with this? Any good books you've read on the subject? How long do/did you have your child sit on the potty? I'm taking tips, so please comment away!

Wordless Wednesday

Terrific 2's-day - My sushi baby.

Ever since Amryn started eating solid foods my hubby and I have tried our best to introduce her to a variety of different foods, including things like Thai food and sushi. Now I will admit this isn't regular toddler fare, but I love the reactions we get when we pull the highchair up to the sushi bar. A terrific thing about having a 2 year old is that she can now express to us what things she likes to eat, and for several days Amryn had wanted sushi. So on Friday we hit one of our local sushi restaurants for their daily "Happy Hour" where everything on the rotating bar is only $1.50 each.

As soon as we get her strapped into the highchair she's reaching for the sushi bar saying "Sushi!! Sushi!!" We started off with some California rolls, and gave her one, she downed that thing in a split second was asking for more! Then we got a plate (3 pieces) or her favorite House Rolls which she ate all by herself and demanded more. At one point a member of the staff was walking by and stopped to watch as Amryn was eagerly shoving sushi into her mouth, I heard him kinda chuckle and walk away. This wasn't the first reaction we have gotten to Amryn's eating habits, one time at the same restaurant a lady was walking out and came up to us and said "She's the cutest little sushi baby I've ever seen!" I'm a firm believer that children are not born disliking certain foods, no one told Amryn that 2 year olds don't eat sushi so she doesn't think it is at all unusual, she just knows its one of her favorite foods, which I think is pretty terrific!

Amryn last summer at the sushi bar.

Attention Dog Whisperers.

So my dog Sigmund, who is a pug, thinks he is a person. Well, atleast I think he does...or maybe he thinks that Amryn is some sort of strange dog or other pet, because he has a serious case of jealousy. Now I know that sometimes dogs can get jealous when you bring home a new baby, the funny thing is though we got him when Amryn was about 18 months old, so she was here first! Here's some examples of his jealous behavior, today I was sitting on the couch eating some pretzels and Amryn came up to sit with me so she could have some too, well of course Sigmund has to jump up on the couch and sit there staring at us like "Where's mine?" Or if I'm sitting at the computer and Amryn wants to sit in my lap, I'll lift her up and hold her on my knee, and everytime Sigmund is there jumping up and nipping at her or scratching her, and when I put her down, he won't leave her alone! He puts his mouth over her hands (does not bite her though) or knocks her down, I think he's trying to play but is just too rough or doesn't understand why she doesn't particularly like it. I'm not sure if he is jealous of me for being with her, or jealous of her for being with me, because he has sort of adopted me as his "person". I think that the other problem is that the family we got him from also had another dog, so he's used to having someone to play rough with, but they also had a 4 year old daughter, who would have been Amryn's age when they got him, and they said he was great with her.



Anyway, the hubby and I are at our limits with some of his behaviors, so we have signed Sigmund up for a training class at the local park n' rec, but it doesn't start until June! This is the first dog I've ever really owned, as the dogs my family had were all when I was Amryn's age, so I have no clue how to go about training a dog. Any dog experts out there have any advice? My husband already has 2 different homes lined up for him, but I really really don't want to get rid of him, I mean just look at this face!