Tag Archives: happy

Dec2

Sorry!!

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Sorry!!

Helloooo everyone!!! I am SO sorry! I totally drew a blank and forgot that American Horror Story was on this week – I thought that they were taking a two week break for Thanksgiving but apparently not! But I’m okay with missing tonight’s episode because you guys know that I don’t care for season five anyways. 😉 And besides…Tonight was date night with Kyle!! And I finally have pictures to prove our relationship:

^^^ Aw, I love us!!! ❤

Because of my uh-oh on forgetting about AHS tonight, I’ll be taking a break from the usual synopsis and opinions post for the week. But make sure you tune in with me next week to pick up where we left off! I hope all of you are having a fantastic night! What was everyone up to on this fine Wednesday? Who has any big plans for the weekend? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Nov28

Thanksgiving Fun

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Thanksgiving Fun

Helloooo everyone and happy Saturday! I hope all of you had a fantastic Thanksgiving and Black Friday if you participated in the madness! I had a great holiday in my neck of the woods. I got to spend it with my crazy family and handsome boyfriend and it was a blast!

I woke up bright and early to help my mom cook our Thanksgiving meal. I hate to brag but I made a pretty mean stuffing and green bean casserole! The morning went by quick and then by the time I knew it my sister, Kristen, was ready to get picked up to join in on the festivities. As you can see by this picture, I was having a ton of fun:

sis1

Kristen and I spent the afternoon finishing some cooking, snuggling, having girl talk, and watching season four of American Horror Story. I had the best time being able to spend the afternoon with her back at the home front because she moved into her own apartment recently and I miss her like crazy! Thankfully, we took enough sister pictures with each other to last a life time so I’ll have a lot of pics to look through and smile/laugh at.

My boyfriend, Kyle, spent the afternoon with his family and joined us for dinner at five. By four thirty the countdown began and we were all checking out the window and staring at the food we were about to devour for a solid half hour or so. Finally, my sweet Kyle came rolling in but rolling was more like hobbling because he sprained his ankle really badly last week and is on crutches. So once Kyle was safely inside my house and seated it. was. ON!

Our Thanksgiving feast at casa de la Mushenheim was delicious! There was stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, rolls, and green beans for days. There was also turkey for the non-vegetarians in the household, AKA Kyle, my dad, and my brother. I annihilated two extremely large plate fulls of side dishes and was about ready to burst at my seams afterwards…So worth it.

After dinner, we lazed around the house and enjoyed some coffee and pie for those who could handle eating another bite. We then decided on going to see Mockingjay Pt. 2 in theaters which was a lot of fun. Or as much fun as it can possibly be, considering I’ve never read the books or seen any of the movies. But Kyle, my mom, and Kristen are big fans of The Hunger Games series so it was nice to see all of them have a cute little holiday outing even if that meant just sitting along for the ride. The movie theater was pretty empty too so we got awesome seats and were able to put our feet up and comment on the film without annoying the other moviegoers too much!

Once we returned home from our movie excursion, Kyle and I headed back to his place and went right to bed. I ended up sleeping in until noon yesterday which seriously never happens anymore – it was great! I had such a nice time on Thanksgiving and I was so happy that my boyfriend was able to be there to join us. ❤

So there you have it, all of my Thanksgiving Fun from this past Thursday! How was everyone’s holiday? Who scored some amazing Black Friday deals? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Nov26

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

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Helloooo everyone and a very Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I hope you have a marvelous day celebrating or doing whatever it is that you do with your family and loved ones. I’ll keep this post short and sweet since I plan on eating every second of every minute of every hour today so let me just list a few things that I’m grateful for and then I’ll be on my merry way:

  • My family: Despite how annoying they are, I still love em!
  • My friends: I only have like three, but I still love em!
  • My boyfriend: He’s the best! What a guy! ❤
  • My dog: SHE’S SO CUTE!
  • My education: I love college. #asherroth #kegstand
  • My blog and all of my fantastic readers: lifewithlilred wouldn’t be the same without all of you SO THANKS! 🙂

^^^ There’s a lot more that I could list but I’ll leave it at that because a big old plate of stuffing is waiting for mama…along with a whole lot of self loathing afterwards. 😉

Have a beautiful day to all of my friends here on lifewithlilred and I’ll talk to all of you very soon! What is everyone thankful for today? What is your favorite Thanksgiving tradition? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Nov25

Bindi Irwin – DWTS Season 21 Champion

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Bindi Irwin – DWTS Season 21 Champion

Hellooo everyone and happy Hump Day! Last night the darling seventeen year old, Bindi Irwin, was crowned the champion of Dancing With The Stars season 21. Bindi and her partner and now six time champion Derek Hough hoisted the source of envy throughout the season, the Mirror Ball Trophy, and celebrated with the entire season 21 cast after their win. Bindi beat out former Backstreet Boy, Nick Carter, and American hero, Alek Skarlatos, who finished second and third, respectively.

Bindi danced her way into the hearts of millions including myself and my parents who enjoyed watching her so much this season. The charming young Aussie animal lover with the infectious laugh and personality graced the dance floor every week with innovative routines that were visually appealing and technically beautiful. And with a partner like Derek Hough – what could go wrong?! Hubba hubba.

I simply adore Bindi Irwin and think that she is such a fantastic role model for people everywhere. Her outstanding work ethic and sunny outlook on life is something that everyone can take note of. I tip my cap to Miss Irwin and like everyone has parroted throughout this season, her father really would be so proud of her. Here’s to you Bindi: Season 21 DWTS champion!

^^^ SO sweet!

I hope all of you are having a fantastic day so far! Who watched this season of Dancing With The Stars? Are you glad that Bindi was crowned champion? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Nov24

1,000+ Followers?! Holy Smokes!

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1,000+ Followers?! Holy Smokes!

Hellooo everyone and happy Tuesday! It’s a very special day in the world of lifewithlilred because I now have over 1,000 followers! HOLY SMOKES! Thank you so much to everyone who has paid my page a visit and thought that it was worthy of hitting the follow button! Thank you to everyone for all of the likes, shares, and comments as well – it doesn’t go unnoticed and I appreciate it SO MUCH!!!

Life is good on lifewithlilred right now…I got approved for WordAds at the beginning of the month, I’ve reached a major milestone in my amount of followers, and I have the pleasure of interacting with all of you every day! I couldn’t ask for anything better and I really am pleased as punch. I started my blog over a year ago and now I’m finally getting my page to where I want it to be and it feels great – so thank you, thank you, a million times thank you!

^^^ Lol, it seemed appropriate!

Once again, shout out to all of my 1,000+ followers new and old. Thank you to everyone who has ever checked my page out. Thank you to everyone who has ever liked, shared, or commented on any of my posts! I LOVE YOU ALL! What blog should I check out on here? Who has recently gotten approved for WordAds? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Nov18

Happy

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Happy

Hellooo everyone and happy Hump Day! So yesterday I had an interaction with my beloved father that made me very Happy. I was having a hell of an awful day and after a complaining vent session to my dear old dad he said one sentence that made me feel infinitely better. Let’s discuss:

On Tuesday I was a frazzled mess. I was stressed from an abundance of school work and a full day of acting as the taxi driver to both of my siblings who currently can’t drive. I was up at the butt crack of dawn to leave my boyfriend’s house and get home in time to take my brother to work and my day never slowed down once.

After I returned home from my brethren’s place of employment I had a few precious hours to cram in some homework before I had to pick him up. So back into the Little Red Love Machine I went to collect him. But did it end there? NO, of course not! As soon as I dropped my bro off, it was time to pick up my sister from work and then go on a wild goose chase of an errand with her. This excursion resulted in some highway driving during peak traffic time, bathroom breaks at a Dairy Queen, and turning my car around to pick up forgotten items. Lord have mercy on me.

By the time that I got home from my running around crazy driving day that should have been a sitting around crazy homework day I was exhausted and I needed to vent STAT. I went into the living room where my dad was sitting on his recliner chair that’s so old his butt is imprinted into it and plopped myself down on the ottoman beside it. Once I was comfortable I opened fire on my busy day of chauffeuring siblings every which way. By the end of my five or so minute rant I was out of breath and even more flustered and then my dad simply said, “you’re doing a good job, Sarah”.

My dad countered my monologue of irritation, frustration, and aggravation with a one sentence answer that made me feel SO much better. These past few weeks I’ve been feeling very unappreciated in the family and yesterday felt like the “tip of the iceberg” as far as that situation goes. My father told me exactly what I needed to hear at the perfect time and afterwards I felt like a whole new person. My day got brighter (even though it was already pitch black out) and my outlook on all of my stresses in life did a complete 180. It. Was. Awesome.

Everyone needs a reminder every now and then that they’re doing a-okay in this crazy world and thanks to my dad giving that to me, I feel reassured and so much more confident about my life and the choices that I’m making. It made me feel so insanely Happy. I hope all of you are having a wonderful day so far! How is everyone’s week going? Who’s watching American Horror Story tonight?! I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Nov17

A Retail Free Holiday Season

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A Retail Free Holiday Season

Helloooo everyone and happy Tuesday! Most of you guys know that before I started school I worked hella retail. My days were spent slaving away in PacSun, The Body Shop, Claire’s, Piercing Pagoda, and Next for what seemed like an eternity. This year, however, I’m so excited to not work a holiday season in the mall. After working five Black Fridays in a row – I am officially free from the evil clutches of the mall during the holidays! SCORE!

On Saturday, my sister and I took a trip to the mall so she could make a few returns and do some shopping. As soon as we entered the premises, we were greeted by Christmas music, decorations, and a mall that was jam packed for an early November evening. Seriously, just being in that environment gave me anxiety and as far as I was concerned, we couldn’t leave soon enough.

Being in the mall among all of the really early holiday shoppers who seemed to be just as crazy as the last minute gift grabbers reminded me how thankful I am that I can finally have a holiday season to enjoy with my friends and family. When I worked retail I can’t remember one holiday season that I genuinely enjoyed because I was too wrapped up in working crazy hours and dealing with insane customers. This year, I don’t have to worry about going into the mall on Thanksgiving day to work a thirteen hour Black Friday shift. I also don’t have to be at the mall late on Christmas Eve to tend to everyone’s final holiday needs and clean the trashed store to perfection. *sigh of relief*

When you’re working every minute of the months of November through January, you simply forget that those times are meant to be for your loved ones. The thing that I’m most looking forward to is actually having a Thanksgiving. For the past five years my Thanksgivings were spent counting down the hours till my Black Friday shift and trying to cram in some power naps before the insanity unfolded. This year I’ll be able to help cook, prepare the table, and spend quality time with my family and boyfriend. It’s going to feel so good but SO strange because I’m completely not used to relaxing during a holiday – what does that even mean?!

I’m so thankful for everything that my years of hard work provided me with before I started college. I was able to buy my car (Little Red Love Machine!), buy clothes, purchase gifts for others, and put money towards my tuition. But this year, I am so ready to sit back, relax, and enjoy a glorious Retail Free Holiday Season! I hope everyone is having a fabulous week so far! Have any of you worked retail during the holidays? Do you have any funny/traumatic moments to share? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

PS: My traumatic story to share from a very retail holiday season doesn’t deal so much with me as it does an unfortunate Victoria’s Secret employee who got punched THREE YEARS IN A ROW during Black Friday. #threepeat

Nov11

What A Pleasure!

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What A Pleasure!

Hellooo everyone and happy Hump Day! Throughout my time at Tri-C, I’ve had a similar encounter with almost every single one of my professors, whether they be in class or online. A common theme of my interactions with them is that at some point during the semester they make it a point to tell me that it’s a pleasure to have me in the class. It may seem like a little thing but boy does it make me feel good!

After I received my all time favorite “you’re a pleasure to have in my class” compliment via email from my French teacher this week, I felt so proud of myself. I then proceeded to go down memory lane and think of all of the times that I’ve been told that (I hate to brag) during my college career and got even more warm and fuzzy. What is it about those simple words that gave me a huge burst of self confidence?

I guess it has to do with:

  • I’m receiving kind words from someone that I admire and respect.
  • I’m doing a sufficient job in my class.
  • My outgoing personality is something that my professors and classmates are responding positively to.

I’m a firm believer in the power of words and the fact that my professors have taken a brief moment out of their busy schedules to let me know that I’m alright in their book is something that really brightens my day. Interactions like these remind me of how important it is to offer a kind word, compliment, or a little something extra to help improve someone else’s day as well. So just as a friendly reminder to all of you: You’re all fantastic wonderful people and I hope that you’re having a great day! 🙂

Make sure you tune in with me tonight after the airing of the newest episode of American Horror Story: Hotel for my synopsis post and then check back in with me on Friday for What I Really Thought, as well! Until then, what is your favorite compliment that you’ve ever received? What is your favorite compliment to give people? (“Nice ass” doesn’t count!) I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Oct26

Monday Update: Special Olympics Edition

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Monday Update: Special Olympics Edition

Hellooo everyone and happy Monday! I hope all of you had a fantastic weekend, I sure did! As you guys might remember me mentioning before, I figure skated competitively for a hefty portion of my youth. Thanks to my background as a skater, I’ve been given the opportunity to coach figure skating for the Special Olympics. I had my first practice with my skaters this past Thursday and it was one of the best times of my life! Let’s discuss:

Every Thursday for the next several months I’ll be at the Kent State ice arena for an hour coaching my new friends for the Olympic games in February. I had the best time during my first evening getting to know all of the skaters and their parents. It also felt so good to get back on the ice because I haven’t skated since last winter! I spent my time on the rink going back and forth between different skaters to check on how they were doing and help them improve. It was so rewarding every time a skater accomplished something that I helped teach them!

I had so much fun coaching my skaters but I also really enjoyed just standing back and watching them skate. All of my friends seemed so at peace while they practiced their sport and it was nice to see big smiles and hear laughter throughout the rink. I was legitimately bummed out when the session came to an end but I made sure that before the ice got Zamboni-ed that I was able to have a race around the rink that I promised to one of my speed skaters. He was thirteen years old and was a freaking speed demon so I can imagine I’ll be constantly reminded of his victory every session by him and his uncle, which I’m so okay with!

I seriously can’t wait until next Thursday so I can see my students and their families again. It was so touching how gracious the parents or guardians were after I got off of the rink but I should be the one thanking them because I think I got much more out of my time than the skaters did! I’m so excited to go on a coaching journey with my new friends and their support systems and I’m so ready for another wonderful session this week!

In other news, my boyfriend Kyle and I had our two month anniversary on the 20th which is really exciting stuff! I also got to sit down with one of my good friends to discuss her Trades Of Hope campaign this past Thursday so you can expect an article about that in a few weeks! AND after skating this upcoming Thursday, I’ll be staying in Kent for a little while longer to meet with a really talented musician, John Patrick Halling, to chat about his cross country tour this past summer! It should be a lot of fun so keep your eyes peeled for lots of cool new posts. 🙂

I hope all of you are having a great start to your week and make sure you tune in at http://www.lifewithlilred.com for all of the latest and greatest! What was everyone up to this weekend? How do you plan on celebrating Halloween? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Oct19

Monday Update: Birthday Fun Edition

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Monday Update: Birthday Fun Edition

Heyyy everyone and happy Monday! So this weekend was kind of a big deal because of October 17th which is both my boyfriend’s and my brother’s birthday! I had the best time celebrating with my man this weekend and enjoyed some mother daughter time when she helped me prep Kyle’s birthday dinner. Sorry that I was away without warning, BTW, because I like to give you guys notice when I’m not going to have a Saturday post of some kind! But I’m back from being birthday MIA so let’s discuss:

My oldest brother, Peter, celebrated his 28th birthday but unfortunately he lives in Atlanta, Georgia so I didn’t get to ring in his new year with him. So this weekend it was all about the boyfriend who turned the big 2-7. Besides from some awesome gifts (if I do say so myself), I wanted to cook him a special dinner too so before I headed to Canton for the weekend my mom helped me with something that I deemed a “must”: a fresh loaf of French bread to go with a Fettuccine Alfredo dish.

My mom is an incredible bread baker and has been doing it for forever. I can remember watching her bake and knead her loaves of bread when I was younger but could never do it quite like her. That was about to change this weekend though because my mama dearest walked me through how to bake my own French bread and it turned out amazing! My mom was an awesome teacher and I liked how she explained the process to me rather than doing it for me so I felt like I was still the one making the bread. She taught me how to knead the dough and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy I found it because I remember it being so hard when I was younger! According to mi madre, I’m a natural and here’s how my French bread turned out:

bwead

While my bread baked I whipped up a quick chocolate lava cake as well and left shortly after everything was baked to perfection. I loaded up my car with gifts, an overnight bag, dinner ingredients, my cake, and my bread on a cooling rack and headed to Canton. The thing about bread is that it can’t go into a bag until it’s completely cool and my mom refused to let my first time bread creation go soggy so she insisted that I drive with the naked loaf on a cooling rack. I was SO terrified to drive quickly or break heavily for the fear of the baguette flying off the rack. Lucky for me, my bread baby sat just fine and we made it to Kyle’s in one piece!

I had the pleasure of meeting Kyle’s brother, sister-in-law, and their two children on Friday night and then we went home for gift opening and Dexter watching. Unfortunately on Saturday Kyle had to work for half of his birthday but during that time I was able to finish some homework, get an article edited, and spend some quality time with Kyle’s mom. Once the evening rolled around I started cooking a surprisingly easy Fettuccine Alfredo recipe that I found online. It turned out nice and creamy and my bread was delicious, if I do say so myself!

After dinner, we were going to see Crimson Peak but we were both so full and sleepy after our Italian meal that we ended up just lounging around for the night. But seeing the movie is on our agenda for when I see Kyle next! I had such a lovely weekend with my beau and it was such a joy to meet his brother and his family!

^^^ This one’s for you, Kyle!!! Happy birthday to both of my favorite boys!!!! ❤

I have a lot of exciting posts coming up in the near future including an article for a dear friend’s Trades Of Hope store and a piece for a wonderful musician fresh out of Kent, Ohio – John Patrick Halling. Keep your eyes peeled for those as well as all of the usuals throughout the week like #WCW and my American Horror Story reviews! Until then, how was everyone’s weekend? Did anyone else have some events worth celebrating? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah