Tag Archives: happy

Dec28

Monday Update: Holiday Haul Edition

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Monday Update: Holiday Haul Edition

Hello everyone and happy Monday! Welcome to this week’s Update: Holiday Haul Edition! Lil Red made out like a bandit this Christmas and it’s still not over! I still have presents to receive from my sister and my best friend later this week. But so far, the loot has been fantastic. I feel so spoiled because I’ve never had a boyfriend during the holiday season and Kyle and his mom were nice enough to give me some amazing presents. Take a look at what I received on Christmas according to each person:

My parents:

I am SO in love with the gorgeous coat that my mom and dad got me. I’ve been eyeing this jacket from Target for over two months now and I’m so happy that it’s finally mine! My mom got it for me the day after I tried it on in front of her in October and has been hiding it for my surprise ever since. What a lady! I also received a generous donation to the Lil Red Foundation as well as a fresh supply of my favorite beauty products from The Body Shop and Trader Joe’s. Thanks, mom and dad!

My brother and sister-in-law:

From Peter and Megan I received my first Adult Coloring Book, complete with colored pencils and a sharpener. My sister and I have been interested in these for a while so I’m so excited to unleash my inner child and crack open the coloring book with her. I also got a Groupon for two free admissions to a Paint Nite. In Ohio, there are certain bars that offer a night of drinking and canvas painting and I’ve heard that they’re so much fun! It will be the perfect date night for me and Kyle!

The most special gift I got this Christmas, however, was the rosary that Peter and Megan brought home for me from their honeymoon in Italy. It’s my favorite color and it is also blessed by Pope Francis from when they had the honor of meeting him. How cool is that?!

My other brother:

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From my second oldest brother, Andrew, I received another generous donation to the Lil Red Foundation. You can’t go wrong with cold hard cash!

My boyfriend:

My darling Kyle spoiled me rotten this year with some of the most fantastic gifts ever!! He gave me an entire family of stuffed animals from Despicable Me – one of our favorite movies. I also got a stuffed Moogle from Final Fantasy, which I’m pretty stoked about! To continue with the Minion theme, Kyle got me the most comfy pair of Minion patterned fleece pajama pants, which were unfortunately in the washing machine while I was taking my haul photos! Rest assured, they’re cute. 🙂

Kyle did a wonderful job of picking me out some beautiful accessories as well. I was so surprised when I opened the boxes of gorgeous jewelry, which included two stunning bracelets and a necklace. Kyle also knocked it out of the park with a burgundy and grey infinity scarf (Which I’m wearing right now!) and burgundy and black trimmed gloves. I can’t wait to wear my new scarf with all of my favorite sweaters and pair my gloves with my new coat from my parents! Thanks, babe – I love you! ❤

My boyfriend’s mom:

I was so humbled by the lovely gifts that my boyfriend’s mom treated me to. She got me the absolute cutest ornament for my tree of a little penguin ice skating. I made sure to put it right by my human skater, which I got at a figure skating competition in New York. Mrs. Kyle’s Mom also gifted me with some luscious bath and body products from Philosophy. I’ve never used their products before but have always wanted to so I was SO excited to try both of them out! Spoiler alert: They’re amazing and they smell heavenly!

As much as I enjoyed receiving all of these beautiful presents, I enjoyed giving everyone the gifts I picked out special for them even more! I am so thankful for all of the goodies that I was gifted with but would have been just fine with only having the quality time with my family and loved ones. My Christmas this year was one of the best ever and I can’t wait to continue the celebrations this week with my sister and darling best friend!

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: Holiday Haul Edition! How was everyone’s holiday? What was your favorite gift that you received or gave? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec26

Be Back Monday!

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Be Back Monday!

Helloooo everyone and happy Saturday! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas that was filled with family and good cheer. I’m taking the weekend off from lifewithlilred as a little holiday vaca so I’ll be back with you on Monday for the usual Monday Update which will be the Holiday Haul Edition! Until then, how was everyone’s Christmas? Was Santa good to you this year? 😉 I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

^^^ If you haven’t seen the movie Vacation, do yourselves a favor and do it! It’s me and Kyle’s new favorite! ❤

Dec25

Merry Christmas!!

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Merry Christmas!!

Hello everyone and a very Merry Christmas to all of you!! I hope that you’re surrounded by people you love all day and have a joyous time celebrating. I’m keeping this post short and sweet so all of you can read it, smile, and move on to all of the exciting plans you might have going on for the day. I can’t wait to hear about how you celebrated this holiday season. What is your favorite gift you received? What is your favorite gift that you gave? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

❤ HAPPY HOLIDAYS! ❤

Dec23

The Happy Couple

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The Happy Couple

Hellooo everyone and happy Hump Day! Kyle and I celebrated our four month anniversary on Monday (woo!) and we have the cute photographs to prove it! When it comes to taking pictures, Kyle and I are the polar opposite. I like very posed photos that are taken in a timely manner and Kyle just presses the “Ok” button rapidly thirty times in a row and hopes for a good one…Not that there’s anything wrong with that!

After we examined the photos taken from his shooting spree, he told me that we were only going to put two on Facebook so we don’t look like an “annoying” couple (Which is a good rule to live by.). Kyle’s choice is my featured image photo, which has grown on me after a few defiant “no-s” from him when I asked him to change his mind! My choice is as follows:

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^^^ The lighting is lousy, but when the opportunity for a couple’s pic arises you have to seize it!

My beau and I had a great day together. We went for drinks at the Burntwood Tavern, which is where we had our first date. Then we hit up the gigantic Giant Eagle that I live by to grab some beer, compliments of the option they have to “build your own” six pack, which Kyle loves! After we got our refreshments, we settled down at my place for some snuggle and TV time followed by dinner with my family. We concluded our day by watching Kicking and Screaming, which Kyle has never seen before and ended up really enjoying! It was perfect. 🙂

Today, Kyle, my brother Peter, his wife Megan, and I will be going to the Great Lakes brewery in Cleveland for drinks and dinner, which should be a lot of fun! Anything that keeps my mind off of trying to guess what Kyle got me for Christmas is time well spent!! For the past two weeks the poor thing has had to deal with me asking him if I can have my presents multiple times per day…Whoops. :*)

I’m so excited for a great day with my beau, brother, and sister-in-law and I hope all of you have a wonderful day as well! What are your holiday plans? What is a gift that you’ve bought or made that you’re most excited about giving? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec21

Monday Update: NCI Training Edition

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Monday Update: NCI Training Edition

Hi everyone and happy Monday!! This past Thursday I had my training for the National Core Indicators (NCI) research project in association with the Ohio Board of Developmental Disabilities at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio…What a mouthful! I had the honor of being one of fifty out of over five hundred selected to take part in this opportunity and I was so happy to be there – even though I had to get up at 4:15 in the morning to begin my day! Let’s discuss, but first take a look at some of the responsibilities that my new job will hold by watching some or all of this video:

My day began early on Thursday morning and didn’t stop until I got home at roughly 7:30 in the evening. After I finished getting myself ready for the day, I packed some snacks, made some coffee, and then hit the road. I live in Akron, Ohio and my drive to Columbus took a little over two hours. Luckily, I began my drive early enough to account for traffic because the rush hour traffic was insane! I had to be at The Ohio State University’s McCampbell Hall by 8:30 to begin checking in and because of my early start I made it right on time.

When I got to our designated room number, I was a bit taken aback by the fact that I was easily the youngest person there. Everyone was at least thirty or older and as I learned throughout the day, all of them had some type of job in the field of service for people with developmental disabilities. Other members of the research project had children with some type of special needs and there were also some fantastic self advocates taking part in the day as well. My parents were so impressed when I told them this and I have to say, I was quite impressed with myself, too!

Our day began at 9:00 sharp and we were introduced to the responsibilities we would have as members of the NCI research project. It’s going to be our job to interview people with developmental disabilities to make sure that through the Ohio Board of Developmental Disabilities they’re receiving the best care possible. It’s also going to be our duty to report anything suspicious to make sure that there is no negligence or abuse going on.

Throughout the day we watched and analyzed the video I posted above, learned how to report possible cases of abuse, and listened to speakers such as the head of the Nisonger Center at OSU who is assisting with this project, department heads at the Ohio Board of Developmental Disabilities, and the people in charge of the NCI project. It was so cool to be able to ask questions and interact with people who are in such high esteem in the world of developmental disabilities.

My training went on until five in the afternoon and I learned so much. We went over the survey that we’ll be completing in extensive detail and I feel confident in my ability to do it well. I have a folder full of paper with the slides of the Powerpoints that we were viewing too so I can look over them whenever I need. My mom read some of them with me too because she’s a developmental pediatrician and is always hungry for more knowledge!

My day was so jam packed with information that I couldn’t even begin to cover it all in one post. All of the speakers did a great job of holding my interest because it definitely would have been easy to zone out during the day! I am so happy to take part in such an important project and I can’t wait to begin conducting my interviews throughout the next few months!

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: NCI Training Edition! How was everyone’s weekend? What are your plans for the holidays? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec11

So Long, Fall Semester

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So Long, Fall Semester

Hellooo everyone and TGIF! This week marks the end of my fall semester at Tri-C and I am SO relieved to be done! I took all of my exams within these last few days and passed with flying colors, of course. This semester I took French I, Comparative World Religions, Intro to Civilizations, and Ethics and for the most part really enjoyed all of my classes. After my winter break, I’ll be taking French II, Abnormal Psychology, and Intro to Criminology – but I have an entire month until I have to start thinking about that!

I’m looking forward to having some downtime for once in my life during my winter break but not too much because I’ll be starting my new work opportunity this upcoming Saturday! As I mentioned in my previous post Exciting Announcements, I’ll be taking part in a research project as an interviewer for families effected by developmental disabilities. I’m so excited to get started and the beauty of the project is that I can make my own schedule for it so I can interview people whenever I want during my break. This is great for the days where I feel like lounging on the couch and watching America’s Next Top Model marathons!

I have a lot of friends returning to Ohio for the holidays so my winter break provides me with a lot of much needed catch up time with some of my dear friends. My brother and his wife will be coming home for Christmas. A pal of mine in LA will be returning to the home front AND my beloved best friend in the army, Tyler, will be making an appearance, as well! I’M SO HAPPY!!!

In the last couple of weeks of my fall semester, all I could think about was winter break…But that didn’t stop me from fully enjoying all of my classes! I learned so much in each of my courses and rocked straight A’s for days in all of them. Not only did I excel in my coursework but I also got accepted into two different advertising companies, Wordads and Twistfire Media, which I am SO thrilled about. Everything seems to be falling into place very nicely so with a happy heart, I can say So Long to my Fall Semester!

I hope all of you are having a fantastic start to your weekend! Where are all of my college kids at? Has your winter break started yet? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec9

Exciting Announcements!

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Exciting Announcements!

Hellooo everyone and happy Hump Day! A few weeks ago I applied for an interviewing position for families effected by developmental disabilities. I would get to chat with the family for a half hour or so and report my findings so that they can be provided with the best services possible for them. Well, yesterday I received an email that I was one of the fifty applicants accepted out of over five hundred for the position!!

Next weekend I’ll be making a two hour trek to Columbus for a day of paid training and then I can be on my merry way with the program. It promises to be a great opportunity and I’m so excited to get started! I was so happy to have heard back from the company because I had given up hope on earning a position with them! The timing couldn’t be better, either, considering my winter break from Tri-C starts next week! It looks like homegirl won’t have to scrounge around for a short lived retail job for my month off! 🙂

You’ll notice in the title of this post that Announcement was plural, so yes, I have one more cool happenstance to share with you guys. As you know if you follow lifewithlilred, I started working for Twistfire Media last week. Things are going fantastic as you might have read from my post about it! Someone pretty special to the company also happened to stumble upon the article, as well…The president of Twistfire!!

Yesterday when I was with Kyle, I checked my email and saw that I had a new message with the subject “Blog Post”. I opened the email and saw the sweetest memo from Twistfire’s very own president thanking me for my post and also giving a shout out as a fellow redhead. I was SO surprised and proud as I read through the email and it made me even happier to start working for a media company where the founders have a genuine interest in you and your work. Thanks again, Mr. President! (And if you’d like to know more about working for Twistfire Media, you can email me at sarah.mush6794@gmail.com)

So there you have it, this week’s Exciting Announcements compliments of Lil Red! Who else has some exciting news to share? What was the best news that you’ve received this month? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

^^^ That pretty much sums up how I’m feeling! 🙂

Dec8

All Done Christmas Shopping!

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All Done Christmas Shopping!

Hey everyone and happy Tuesday! This past weekend I was SO happy to finally finish my Christmas shopping! I got a vast majority of my shopping done at Kohl’s, TJMaxx, and some local shops in downtown Kent. But this weekend, I broke out the big guns and let Amazon take care of the rest. I ended up saving a lot of precious time and moolah this year thanks to smart shopping and all I can say is…I’m glad it’s over. Let’s discuss:

I was really pleased with all of the items that I bought in person and because I had lots of great coupons and gift cards, I was able to save a lot of money, too! But after spreading the wealth in stores, I knew that there were things that would just be simply easier to buy online. That’s when Amazon and a beautiful gift card that my mom got from work came in.

I affectionately call myself the “Queen of the Amazon” because I really am. Give me an hour on that site and I’ll have a shopping cart full of the perfect gifts for everyone on my list. I spent some time writing out ideas of what to get everyone who I still needed to shop for and then I logged on to Amazon to browse what might work for each of them.

When I’m doing a big online shopping haul, I have a tried and true technique that I return to year after year:

  • Step 1) Make a handwritten list of gift ideas.
  • Step 2) Browse the ideas on Amazon and bookmark anything that might work.
  • Step 3) Mull it over.
  • Step 4) Return to the site a few days later to make your final decisions.

I bookmarked so many items on Amazon that I lost count and ended up forgetting a lot of the things that I had saved. But that’s the beauty of expanding your options far and wide. Because I picked out so many possibilities, there were only a chosen few items that I really remembered and those were the ones that I ended up going with each time. I’m all about picking items that are memorable, useful, and relevant to the person that I’m shopping for.

After I had time to think of each gift, I returned to Amazon one last time to make my final decisions. This is when I start the nitpicking. I look for the best price on the product, an item that will ship for free, and the one with the best reviews and ratings. My rating rule of thumb is that if it has less than four stars overall, then I don’t even consider it.

Once I’m 150% sure that I have the perfect gift for the best price, I add the item to the cart and repeat the process for the next product. Thanks to this ballin on a budget method, I ended up spending under one hundred dollars for SEVEN items and still had cash to spare on the gift card! Nice!

Thanks to smart shopping, coupons, gift cards, and having a keen eye for the best deal, I ended up spending a grand total of…Eighty dollars of my own money for multiple gifts for seven people! Not bad, not bad at all!

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I can’t say what I got for everyone because you never know who’s tuning in to lifewithlilred! BUT, I know for a fact that my dad doesn’t read my blog so I can say that I’m pretty excited for what I got him! My dad loves to travel and plans fantastic vacations so one of the gifts that I got him will definitely come in handy…A brand new atlas for 2016, which will be a vast improvement of his torn and used 2005 atlas that has never been updated. I think that after eleven years an upgrade was much needed! 🙂

I’m All Done Christmas Shopping and I couldn’t be happier! Now it’s time to sit back and relax until it’s time to start wrapping all of the presents up! Who is all done with their holiday shopping? Where do you usually do all of your shopping at? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec7

Monday Update: Winter Fest Fun Edition

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Monday Update: Winter Fest Fun Edition

Hellooo everyone and happy Monday! I had a sub par weekend due to some unfortunate family falling outs BUT I did have an awesome Saturday morning! I coach figure skating for the Special Olympics and at the Lock 3 skating rink in downtown Akron a winter fest was held through the Summit Developmental Disabilities Board. I had such a blast with my skaters and their families and my mom joined us as well which made the outing even better! Let’s discuss:

Lock 3, as pictured in my featured image photo, is a fantastic landmark in Akron. There are concerts there during the summer and a lot of great winter activities as the weather gets colder. It was a frigid morning on Saturday but when my mom and I arrived at the rink, I was happy to see a lot of my skaters already there chatting, skating, and tying up their skates.

I was excited for my mom to meet everyone and I was also pretty pumped to have some Sarah skating time, too. When I’m coaching, I rarely have time on the ice to do any of my old jumps or spins so it felt SO good to be able to break out some of the tricks up my sleeve, even though my skates are dull as dish water…They need sharpened so bad! After some time to myself on the rink, more of my skaters showed up, so I got off to assist in tying up skates, helping with stretches, and introducing my mom!

After everyone was geared up and ready to go, we all got on the ice together along with the members of the community who were there. I was under the impression that my skaters were going to be able to perform their routines that they’ve been working on as their showcase for the morning, but I was in for a pleasant surprise once the ice was cleared and my skaters began to line up.

I got off the ice and put my blade guards on then took my spot by the side of the rink to watch the show. But because the event was thrown together pretty last minute, it turns out that my skaters were just going to have the ice to themselves for five or so minutes to show off a little. I then got called over from my spot by my students and the organizers of the event because they wanted me to join the skaters on the ice!

I haven’t been on the ice to “perform” in years and it felt great to share the rink with such wonderful skaters. All of my students got to share some of their moves with the crowd as I skated back and forth between them to check up on them, offer words of encouragement, or give suggestions. The exhibition was a hit, and the Akron Beacon Journal was even there taking pictures! All of my skaters did so well with their laps, spins, and gliding and I was so proud.

After our five minutes of fame, the doors to the rink opened and the community members were able to join us. I got off of the rink and was greeted by the crowd who was so kind and a big hug from my mom. She told me that “every second spent on skating was worth it to watch you just now” and it warmed my bitter and cold heart.

I spent a little more time on the ice with my students and then my mom and I hit the road. I didn’t exactly want to go but it was SO cold and my mom didn’t dress accordingly! The winter fest was a huge success and it was one of the best times I’ve had in ages. I was so happy that my mom, my skaters and their families, and the community was able to share in such a special event!

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: Winter Fest Fun Edition! I hope all of you had a great weekend! Do you have something similar to Lock 3 in your neck of the woods? Who has gone ice skating this winter? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec4

Twistfire Media

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Twistfire Media

Heyyy everyone and TGIF!! This past week I started working for a new advertising company called Twistfire Media. I got invited to work for the company by a friend of my sister’s because she knows that I have a pretty strong social media presence and I am so glad that she did! Basically, I run different ads on my personal Facebook page as well as on my page for lifewithlilred and I get paid per click on each ad. Take a look:

If you like the way that the ads look on my pages and would like to become a member of Twistfire, you can email me at sarah.mush6794@gmail.com. These ads can run on your Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest accounts and they’re pretty cool! You can pick which campaigns to feature and you can run as many as your little heart desires. If you’re a prominent player in the world of social media then Twistfire is the perfect company for you!

Once again, if you’re interested in becoming a member of Twistfire Media, you can email me at sarah.mush6794@gmail.com or shoot me a message on either of my Facebook pages. While you’re at it PLEASE like my Facebook page!! What is everyone up to this weekend? Any big plans? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah