I miss you.

I always envisioned my friends being the ones that my kids would call "Aunt"/"Uncle" without even batting an eye to them not being related. I always thought that we'd have fun together, kids included. However, truth is, that doesn't happen.

I think my kid-less friends seem to forget that I'm still me. No, I don't want to go out on a weeknight, but come on, it's time to grow up anyways. Yes, I still would like to be included on girls night out, home parties, concerts and shopping trips. I still love to watch movies, I still like to lay by the pool, I still like to drink wine and complain about our lives, it's just that I have a tiny human companion now.

& let me tell you something about that tiny human. He's my whole world, he's my whole life, and I love him more than anything. He also comes first in my world. Sorry if that doesn't work for you, but that's how it will always be, so suck it up.

So "hanging out" may consist of movie and popcorn at our house with the baby, but he doesn't make a ruckus (yet anyways lol). I will do my best to get a sitter for other outings, but if I can't, I hope you understand that I will not be tagging along. I understand, as well, that you have different priorities. I understand that drinking, parties, and being reckless is still your thing, and I love a good party, but I don't want to party three times in a week. A good party once a month, sure, count me in.

I also want you to know that I suck at life. Yes, I said it, and it's the truth. The moment that that sweet boy came into my life, I forgot how to keep up with everything, friends included. My cleaning, my laundry, my job, my own needs, my husband's needs... Yeah, they've all been neglected, but it's worth it. I may not call or message you first, but I'm still here. I'm doing my best to be the best mother and wife that I can, so I apologize to you, because our friendship has suffered and it's partly my fault. But, the really sad part is that you don't hold up your end either.

I look forward to when you say you'll drop by or meet me for lunch, but when you don't show, my heart is broken. Sometimes I just need that 20 minutes of conversation outside of baby talk and my husband talking about motorcycles and fields to feel normal again.

I promise to not babble on about my cloth diapering, baby wearing, or healthy lifestyle (unless you ask of course). I do want to hear what's new with you, good or bad. Please, give me a breath of fresh air because sometimes I don't even get to see the daily news or gossip.

My baby boy is more important to me than anything, but I still need you. I can't live in this world without my best friend. I miss you.

The Teaching Drain

I never knew that a clogged shower drain could teach me so much about life, but it has.

After two rounds of dumping nasty chemicals into the drain, it was still clogged. Lesson learned: put crap in, get crap out. A nice little reminder to do better with my clean eating and living.

Then, a coat hanger twisted into a makeshift drain snake still couldn't do the trick.
Lesson learned: sometimes you have to really work hard to get the results that you want. A reminder to get my butt in gear with all of my plans.

After many, many rounds of plunging the clog, I decided to just deal with my greasy hair as it is.
Lesson learned: appearance isn't everything. A reminder that I don't need to look "put together" to be "put together".

Finally, I tried baking soda and vinegar. Still, the clog won.
Lesson learned: sometimes it's best to just throw in the towel and ask for help. A reminder to call the plumber first thing in the morning.

Shower Drain=1 Karissa=0

Grab your boots, it's getting deep.

I have seen things that I wish to never see again. I have heard and learned things that I later wished I hadn't. I know too much, I hear too much, I see too much..

Yet, nothing changes.

Weather changes, seasons change, faces change, but the problems never change. Never moving forward, never shifting gears, never getting any better. Just the same old shit, different day.

& I'm stuck. Stuck in the middle, stuck in the process, stuck in the same gear.

& When it's all over, and the fat lady sings, I won't be here to mop up what's left of the catastrophe.

I am moving, I am changing, I am switching gears. I've overstayed my welcome and it's time to kick rocks.

I'm spreading my wings because there are far greater things ahead than anything I leave behind.

Little Bitty Appliance Monster

Small town, small family, small house. It kind of reminds me of the song "Little Bitty" by Alan Jackson.

Our house is a small 1,000 square feet. It's 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom with a large eat-in kitchen, large laundry/mud room, and a ridiculous wasted space that is called a "dining" room. Anyone interested in buying?! KIDDING..only a little.. [we could use some more room]

So we moved into this little house in 2011 and have been there ever since. It's our home. It's where Tyler proposed to me and where we brought our baby boy home. It's the perfectly perfect little place and it's ours. I love it and it's decorated just the way I like and the kitchen and laundry room are my favorite rooms [weird, I know]. HOWEVER, since we have lived in this house, we have replaced all of the appliances besides the dishwasher. And since I brought it up, the dishwasher is now making a funky noise when it's rinsing.. SUPER.

So our washer... When we moved into the house, they left the old appliances, so we used them and we knew that they wouldn't last forever, so we saved some money for when that time came. When the washer quit, we decided to just buy a used one. So that lasted all of 4 months, but hey, it was $75 bucks so it's still cheaper than the laundromat! The dryer was still holding strong, so we bought another used washer. Things were going great until it decided to stop washing our clothes. At this point, I'd had enough and we bought a new washer. Well let me clue you in on something, DO NOT get a washer without the agitator thinking that it will wash your clothes better because it's nothing but a pack of lies! Took over an hour for it to be done and I still had to rewash the clothes most of the time!!! So...we got another used washer....

Then a dryer..& then a fridge..& then two stoves and two washers later......

The washer has quit, surprise surprise. I'm over it. I'm done. We are joining a nudist colony and going off the grid. Who needs to do laundry anyways?!

Oh, but did I mention that we cloth diaper??? YEAH, I need a washer ASAP.

I have come to the conclusion that our house is the black hole. It eats every appliance that we get!! It doesn't have a preference of new or used, it just likes them all!!

On the bright side, I now have plans for my Saturday. So if anyone needs a ride to Sears or Dick Van Dyke, truck leaves at 10 am sharp!

I am also accepting applications for workers willing to help me with Mount Everest that seems to be growing in my laundry room since this catastrophe. I pay in baked goods, so name your price!



UPDATE: If you were following about my mystery illness, it has been solved! The joint pain is from Viral Arthritis. I apparently had a bad virus that was causing all sorts of craziness and now I have this joint pain that keeps lingering, so nothing a little pain relieving oils and a chiropractor can't help! :)

Ahhhhh....

As some of you may know, I haven't been feeling well for almost two months now and all of the doctors that I have been to can't seem to tell me what's wrong or give me any sort of relief...

I've had all of the skin on my hands and feet completely peel off along with swelling everyday, joint pain so bad that I sometimes need help to get up from a chair or out of bed, my hair falling out in handfuls, extremely dry skin, fatigue, stomach pain after meals, and extreme fatigue. So basically I've been a hot mess.

They have tested me for lupus, celiac disease, thyroid problems, and many, MANY others and still no answers. So, I've decided that something else had to be done...

I've seen a chiropractor regularly for many years now, so I've been going more frequently and I've also been trying to fit in at least one or two massages a month. I am also looking into acupuncture, but I'm still a little nervous about it. I also use Young Living Essential Oils and I started using even more when all of this started. I use them in the morning, middle of the day, and at night. They go everywhere with me and Waylon even has his own oils in the diaper bag that we use on him quite frequently. Along with the oils, I've been looking into more natural ways to treat ailments, so my step-mom suggested that I go see Pam Linville.

Pam has the cutest little room where she does her work! She welcomed me in and then gave me a brief overview of what she was going to do. She took two slides out and pricked my finger and then put my blood on the slides to put under the microscope. Right away she was able to tell me that my body was trying to fight off some sort of bacteria and that I had something going on with my gall bladder. The gall bladder was interesting because I had mine taken out five years ago, but she told me that the energy of the organ is still there. So then she sat me down for a Zyto scan that measures bio-markers in your body to determine what you are lacking and will suggest essential oils to help. Out of the 76 bio-markers, 33 of mine were off and 29 of them could be back on track with the use of Harmony blend and the other 4 with Cardamom. Needless to say, those are both on my monthly essential rewards order for this month now!

After the scan she faced me towards the town I was born in and told me to take some deep breaths and then she tapped my head multiple times and turned me a quarter turn to the right. She then repeated that three times to the right and three times back to the left so that I ended up where I had started. I will be completely honest here, I really didn't think this would work. I was really skeptical, but instantly when she was done with the series of taps, I was already feeling better. My tiredness was relieved and I felt like I could move easier without so much pain. It was such an odd feeling, but so welcoming because I have felt bad for far too long now.

After that, she had me lay on the table and she was testing my chakras to see if they were open or closed. She took Valor oil (one of my favorites!) and rubbed it in her hands. Then Pam took a stone that was attached to a chain and held it over my first chakra, and the stone didn't move. So then, she took her hand with the oil still on it and ran in a circular motion over the top of my body over that chakra. After a few times of doing that, she held the stone over it again and it began to move in a circle, as it should. The next two were the same situation. However, when she got to my third eye chakra, it was open and the stone began to move right away. I could feel the stone being drawn to the energy and I thought something was going to come out of my forehead! It was so neat, so eerie, and so eyeopening. Who knew that our bodies could tell us that our energies aren't working?!

So then Pam took some all natural supplements off her shelf along with a few essential oils and did muscle testing to see what my body needed. Muscle testing is something that I do a lot. You can do it alone or with the help of someone else. This time Pam had me hold one arm out with my thumb in the air and the other hand at my side. I would then grab a bottle of supplements or an oil and hold it to my belly button. She then told me to hold my arm as strong as I could, and then she would press down on it. If my arm held strong, then my body didn't need it, but if it gave away, then I did need it. After going through a lot of different things, I ended up with the two oils mentioned above, serotonin oil and five all natural supplements. I take three of them twice a day, two once a day, the oils twice a day and the serotonin before bed time. AND AGAIN, I was still a little skeptical.

Once I got home, it was time for bed, so I went ahead and used the serotonin. I put seven drops under my tongue (which I washed down with water) and then went to sleep. The next morning I woke up and didn't have near the joint pain and I managed to actually have a decent night's sleep. I started the supplements that morning and night and I am on day two of them now, and I can't believe the difference!! Pam told me that since I just had Waylon and everything else going on, I was just completely out of whack and my body just wasn't working the way that it should.

I feel so much better and I am completely convinced that all natural supplements and oils are the way to go!! If anyone has questions, feel free to ask. I have lots of oils that I can show you and I would love to help you get on track to a healthier lifestyle! I HIGHLY recommend making an appointment with Pam. She is such a wonderful lady and she taught me so much in the short time I was with her and I can't wait to go back!

Now I can breathe, I can move and I can get back to doing the things that I love to do. I can start my exercising because the joint pain is pretty much gone, and my husband and I can start our new found hobby...Riding our new (to us) motorcycles!!!!

Tyler's Bike

My Bike

Don't give up, and don't back down. If you aren't getting the answers or the relief that you need, seek other options and keep an open mind. Young Living Essential Oils have completely changed the way that my family lives. Don't hesitate to ask and if you're skeptical like me, just try them. I promise you won't regret it! 

-K.Carls

OH & I almost forgot to add this......

Happy 7th *Dating* Anniversary to my hubs!! I love you more than you know, always have and always will <3

My Perfect Little Family

Let me introduce you to my little family and our little corner of the world.....

My husband, Tyler, and I have been dating for 7 years and married for almost 2 years now. We met at our local county fair where we showed livestock together in 4H. I was OBSESSED with him and thought he was just the cutest boy ever!! Fast forward about 5ish years, and we would be attending the same high school... & the rest is history! He's one of the nicest and most kind hearted people that I've ever met. He drives me batty, but I don't know how I could ever be without him because he is seriously my best friend. I tell him everything, good, bad or ugly, and he still loves me :) He's my rock, my friend, my lover, and one of my greatest joys in life.

 A little throwback to our first school dance together & then my handsome husband waiting for me at the altar ;)

And next up is our sweet little baby boy, Mr. Waylon!! Tyler and I always knew that we wanted a family and we wanted to be young when we had kids, so just a few months after our wedding, we became pregnant and we were so overjoyed and instantly began preparing (as much as we could) for everything that life was about to bless us with. After a very LONG pregnancy and what seemed like an endless labor, on December 19, 2014 at 11:57 PM, I gave birth to the cutest boy ever, Waylon James. He looked just like his daddy!!! So handsome, a head full of hair, and the sweetest little features and we instantly fell in love. I will never ever forget the look on Tyler's face that night either; and I just knew that his heart had grown even more with the first look at his new baby boy.

Waylon has been the BEST baby! We had a rough first month with breastfeeding, but once we got everything sorted out, he's been sleeping through the night and he's just the happiest little thing ever!! We are loving every second of watching him grow and learn and he amazes us everyday with how much he changes!

We've just recently started cloth diapering and let me tell you, it's absolutely wonderful!! & talk about saving some major money!!! Plus.. look at how cute these diapers are!!

Those chubby cheeks and thigh rolls just melt my heart!! I LOVE this boy soooo very much!!

'

Crazy hair just like his momma!!! 

oh, and I can't forget our girls!! Our first babies, Casey Jo and Bella Mae, have been wonderful with Waylon and they are so protective of him. They have to always know where he is and who is holding him :) 

Casey Jo

Bella Mae

Waylon with his "sisters" :)

-K.Carls <3

Hello & Welcome!! Now, you better go grab ya some popcorn..

So, as you can see, I have decided to start a blog. Why? Well, some times I just feel the need to tell the world about random things! Also, it's quite possible that MTV could pick up a ridiculous reality show off of the crazy stuff that happens to me and my family, so why not share the funny stories with everyone?!  

Now, let's get a few things straight here...... I like a lot of different things and I mean A LOT. So this blog is going to be very random at times. However, I promise to give you some interesting tidbits, how to score good deals, a lot of DIY, lots and lots of laughs, and maybe even a few tears along the way! Also, there will be some mild curse words, just so you are prepared, because I refuse to sugar coat shit ;) it is what it is!

So, stay tuned....My first *actual* post is coming soon.

-K.Carls <3