Bass Lake, I love you.

A few years ago, my mother and father-in-law started a new tradition at Christmas. They do a family gift at Christmas. One year we went to see Carrie Underwood. The next we went to Bass Lake. Well we had so much fun at Bass Lake that they decided a repeat trip was needed! 

Bass Lake is one of the places on earth that makes my soul breathe a sigh of relief. I love it there. It was a quick trip and I was still healing from having Lauriana, but I'm so glad we went. We laughed so much. We stayed at the Pines Resort and drove up to take Shepherd to the snow. He loved it! He even went sledding. One of the things I've observed about Shepherd is that he is generally down to give things a go, even if he is wary about it. Typically the first round of whatever he is attempting he has a pretty straight face. He's soaking it all in. Then, if he decides he likes it, the boy goes ALL IN. It says a lot about his character. 

I spent most of the time in the car with my hungry little newborn, but I made sure to snap a picture to capture our first visit to the snow (and first trip!) as a family of four.

I seriously can't wait to go back. 

xo, 

Meg

Notification Overload

Bryan likes to do things that normal people don't usually do. For example, if I'm on my phone not paying attention to him, he might contact me via every social media platform he has access to in order to annoy the heck out of me so that I yell at him, thus letting him win by gaining my attention. 

Don't be like Bryan.

Planner Stamp Haul: Mommy Lhey

At first, I was definitely wary about stamping in my planner. It seems extremely time consuming (from the little I've already done). I like "decorating" and planning in my planner to be relaxing... Not stressful. Stamps stress me out. There is all the different inks, not to mention the shadowing and bleeding that can occur! However, Mommy Lhey had a sale a while back and I picked up a few of her sets. I knew for sure that I wanted the Walk By Faith set (shown in the middle). The others were just too cute to pass up.

The quality of the stamps is great. I've used a few of the stamps in some layouts. I used the Jesus and Cross from Walk by Faith and the Rabbit stamp (shown on the left, see the ears?) for my Easter layout. You can see them in a line under the Sweet Stamp Shop Weekend banner stamp on the right.

I haven't quite got the hang of stamping but it's been kind of fun to try out. Apparently lots of people stamp and then just use color pencils or fancy markers to color it in... like a coloring book! How fun would it be to stamp it all up and then let Shepherd color in the spreads? It would be a disaster in the end but an amazing memory to look back on. 

Do you stamp in your planner? If so, what is your go-to set? Enlighten me! 

xo, 

Meg

Being Preggo in Vegas

Remember that time I went to Vegas and went to see Britney Spears? No? Ohhhh, riiiiight. I'm a bad blogger and never wrote about it. 

Bryan bought me tickets to the show for my birthday, so we hauled my giant pregnant butt to Vegas. DID YOU KNOW that this is my second trip to Vegas, and coincidentally, the second trip in which I was not able to go dance at a club, enjoy a beverage or even stay out late? 

Why you ask? Because the last time I visited Vegas I was under 21. I went to a wedding. I spent most of the time in the hotel room because everyone else spent most of their time gambling. It suuuucked. This time wasn't as bad. Luckily, pregnant people can gamble. We lost $7. We only gambled $7. It was all we cared to throw down the drain. 

The night we arrived we stayed with some friends at their house. We all went to dinner, talked a lot and then went to sleep so we could head out the next day and site see a bit! I wanted to check out some hotels that I didn't get to see the last time I was there, so we went to the Bellagio and New York, New York. Everything is amazingly grand in Las Vegas!

I could not get over how amazing the Bellagio Conservatory was. All the detail and the flowers! Gorgeous. Not to mention that the entire thing feels so put together but at any moment they can remove it all and re-design everything from the floors up. It was breath-taking. Some of the trees were even animated!

Of course we went to the Hershey's store, but I didn't get anything. Just inhaled and tried to control my preggo self. 

After wandering around for a long time, I was exhausted and wanted to rest before getting ready for the show. The second night in Vegas, we got a hotel room at the Holiday Inn Club Vacations: Las Vegas at Desert Club Resort. We stayed off the strip (like one block over, I think) and the room was AMAZING. It was like a little apartment and there was definitely enough room to bring the kids and a babysitter if we wanted to the next time around. I made sure to take some pictures for you!

After we rested for a while and I took a LOOOOONG bath in the amazing tub, I got ready! This is the only photo I took of myself and it was just to send to my sisters and my friend Denise, but I love it and it makes me wish I was pregnant again. (Which is seriously not okay.)

But look! Look at my pregnant belly. Lauriana is in there! Man. I felt really, really pretty that night. I got that dress from Pink Blush Maternity. So comfy and so cute!

Once we were ready we went to Maggiano's Little Italy for dinner. It was really good. We actually used Uber a lot that evening and had great experiences all the way around! We tried to be off our phones during dinner so I didn't get many pictures there either, but I did snap this one of Bryan. Even with that long hair he is smokin' hot. Whew!

Then it was off to the show! We got there a little early and I had to go around security and be wanded because I was pregnant, which actually sped up the process a bit. There was lots of Britney gear but I didn't partake in it. I just wanted the show. We got there early and they had pushed back the start time a bit, but we just took some selfies and waited patiently.

The visuals were amazing, the music was loud and it was a standard Britney experience. Her dancing was better than it has been in years but I'm sad to say that she didn't even sing one song live this time. The last time I saw her, when I was in high school, she sang one live and I was so stoked! I had hoped to hear her again live, but no dice. Anyways, the show was great, we sang loud and the seats in front of us were empty so we had a really good view the entire time! 

After it was over, we took a long walk, watched the fountains at the Bellagio and then grabbed some dessert and coffee. I had the best bread pudding and I can't for the life of me remember where it was. I know that it wasn't even 11pm and everything was closed! I couldn't believe it. The places we called to see if they were open for dessert and coffee were all closing. What kind of late night world IS THIS?! Jeez. 

The next day, we really wanted to hit up a buffet for brunch. Bryan looked online and we went to the insanely expensive Caesars Palace brunch. It was the BIGGEST buffet EVER. Like, walls and walls of every kind of food and a huge dessert area. I let the pregnancy do the walking and indulged my little heart out. It was amazing and I'd definitely go back! 

We walked all around the hotel, checking everything out. It was beautiful. Seriously gorgeous. I have a new appreciation for Las Vegas as a whole! I can't wait to go back.... as a non-minor and un-pregnant person. Haha!

xo,

Meg

Confession Time

Ya'll know my love for the Plum Paper Planner. Specifically the My Everything (formerly called Family Planner) I've written this popular review about it.  Oh, and this one too. I'm all about that sticker and stamping life. I've been sucked into the vortex of all things planner and I've been kind of shy about it because it's not for everyone. Most people that see me do it or talk about it kind get that glazed over look in their eye which I TOTALLY GET.

Cause I'm that way when someone talks about baseball. Snooooze.

The thing I love most about the whole decorating-your-planner thing is that it's a creative outlet that I can do regularly that keeps. Yes, I love makeup and makeup can be art. But makeup doesn't keep. Which is the best and worst thing about it. At the end of the day you wash it off and you start all over again.

The planner thing not only helps to keep me focused on life instead of fumbling my way through it, but it's a tangible project that will stay with me. It's a journal of sorts that I can look back on. I've come to really appreciate that. It's like scrap-booking but way less intense.

I've recently started using more stamps which is more cost effective than stickers and there is some REALLY cute stuff out there. Too much cute stuff. I have a long wishlist and a husband that is not happy I've found another hobby. ;)

Anyways, the confession is that not only am I a member of a ton of groups on planning, hope to attend a meet-up with some other planner girls, but I've started an Instagram (@containthecrazy) and even have made a few plan with me videos!

I am stinking obsessed with watching plan with me videos. It's the same satisfaction as watching a makeup tutorial. It's so interesting to me to watch other people create! I really don't even care what it is. I just like it. So, without further ado, here are two plan with me videos that I've made. I'm NOT good at editing yet. My computer is so slow that I often don't see un-clean edits until its already published. To fix it I'd have to delete the upload, go back to editing, try to fix it and then process and upload it again. And by that time my give-a-darn is busted. #sorrynotsorry.

I'm hoping to get a better, faster, stronger computer (that Daft Punk tho) to do some real editing later this year, especially because I'm going to help Bry get some new content up for BVB.

UNTIL THEN, this is what I got and everyone has to start somewhere. The first video is long because I wasn't properly prepared and the whole recording thing freaked me out. The second video I had a better groove (but also my camera died without me knowing it so there is a stamping chunk cut out.) I also sped the second one up more. There are no edits in the second video until the very end.

Anyways, I know that this is not for everyone, but if you want to watch a girl play with some stickers and stamps (#lisafrankforever) and try to get a handle on life, press play and subscribe! :)