Throwback Thursday! (cue the eye rolls)

This was me a couple years ago. 

Looking back on the way my life was at that time brings so many emotions and memories. A lot of things, too personal to mention, seemed to all happen to me at once. The most tragic being when I was held up at gun point and robbed in my own home (living alone at the time, so imagine the fear!) and my mothers heart attack. It seemed to all happen at once. I got robbed and the next day it seems, my mom was in the hospital from a heart attack. I am not one for dwelling on the past, but I do tend to wonder how life would be right now if things went differently. Being scared for my life, I packed up and moved to a new city for awhile, changing schools, meeting new people, and discovering even more about myself. If it weren't for those tragic events, I would not be who I am today. Although I am not thankful for those events, I am glad I was able to recover from them, proving to myself that I am a lot stronger and more capable than I thought I was. 

Keeping a smile on my face has always been the one thing I can count on. No matter what, it seems to trick my mind into being more positive, eventually helping me to change my outlook on life. I am now starting to love life again, and it is wonderful to be able to smile and mean it! 

Don't take your life for granted! Nothing is guaranteed, and life is what you make it :)

My Mini Vacation!

Hello everyone! You may have noticed my brief absence this past week. A lot has been going on, and I have been extremely busy. I felt that a short break was the best option, as it would give me time to relax and lose stress. Since starting this blog, my real life has kind of been postponed. I was falling behind on many things, and missing out on some pretty excellent weather. I have gotten all of the fresh air I have been longing for, and feel better now that I have had a chance to catch my breath. I am feeling great and looking forward to many more blog reviews, recipes, and photos of my adventures.

This week I visited a Botanical Garden, discovered an awesome little burger shack, and adopted a Border Collie named Talley. Pretty eventful if I do say so myself!

How has your week been so far? Any plans for this weekend?

Happy Belated Holidays!!

I have been steadily writing reviews the past day or so, and it just now dawned on me. I have been so busy that I never wished anyone Merry Christmas. I am so sorry! I have been absent for several days, and I know it was a bit selfish. I felt that I needed the time to relax and hang out with friends and family. I hope everyone had a great time and stayed warm! I am in desperate need of some hot chocolate, but of course, it isn't very cold outside at all. I remember one year, when I was about 13 or so, it was too warm to have the fireplace going when we brought the tree home. My parents turned the AC on until we were shivering, set up some logs, and started a fire. We proceeded to decorate the tree and have a real festive time. Simply speaking I learned that if the weather isn't helping set the theme of the holidays, we can do it ourselves! So here's to cranking up the AC and enjoying a nice warm cup of creamy hot chocolate! I hope everyone is enjoying the rest of this year :)

Do you have any silly memories from a time spent with family during the holidays?

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my birthday! I may or may not post a new giveaway, that is still up in the air. It all depends on what I end up doing today. It is a bit too cold to enjoy being outside, I hate cake, and I think going out to eat is huge waste of money (and generally a disappointment as I can usually cook better myself.) If I don't post anything today, I will make up for it tomorrow! I have five reviews almost finished being written, just waiting for me to make a rafflecopter for them!

Have a great day, lovelies!

-Paisley

Silly Texas Weather part 2

So remember how yesterday I was boasting about getting to enjoy 80 degree weather? Well a lot has changed in roughly 24 hours. I can literally hear the cold front coming in. The wind is whirring and the leaves are spiraling around like mad. The birds have been singing all day, do they enjoy this weather? Either way, I fed them a giant breakfast of wild bird seed while on my morning walk. The thermostat reads 40, and the winds are at about 10mph. All I can say is.. Silly Texas Weather!

Silly Texas Weather..

I have been hearing about it snowing all over the US. My grandpa in Michigan has already gotten snowed in, and is soon to seek refuge by coming to Texas. It is already 71 degrees with a high of 81 today. I live very close to Houston, meaning it gets rather humid due to the gulf. Inevitably making the 81 degrees seem even warmer and worse than it has to be. If I could be somewhere that stayed a constant 65-70 degrees, I would be so happy. I feel like I miss out on the seasons here, as Texas seems to only offer Summer for about 8 months, followed by a few months of winter. Maybe, if we're lucky, we get a couple weeks of what could either be fall or spring weather (not even necessarily IN fall or spring). A couple weeks ago, we had a random freeze. It happened overnight, and killed off the rest of my vegetable garden. It has since rained a lot, and the ground is soft. Pliable. Perfect to start building things, preparing for the spring. I envision a chicken coop, a nicer fence for the dogs, and a better box garden set up. I am definitely going to take advantage of this nice summeresque weather while it lasts. In just a few days, it's predicted to be in the mid 30's.

Any plans to take advantage of this last bit of Autumn before it quietly fades away? Or perhaps winter has came early for you this year?

Just Some Minor Annoyances..

So, many of you know I have been running this blog for about a month now. I think it has really blossomed since then, and I have been having a lot of fun. I did not expect this blog to take over the majority of my days, but it has been worth it. I love trying new things, and I get to almost daily!

So what am I annoyed about you ask?

Well.. I have been hosting a lot of giveaways. That part is great, the not so great part is that some companies send me something in a sample size only to want me to offer a reader the full size if not better. To me, that doesn't seem fair. I admit that I am being a bit of a brat about it, but hey.. If I am the one who found the company, took the time to email them, test their product for several weeks, then give an honest review (which takes AT LEAST an hour or two to write up) why do I get gypped?

Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled that you guys get to enjoy something awesome. But to be fair, I feel like most of my followers are here for one thing only: free stuff. And hey, winning giveaways is what drove me to blogging in the first place! But now that I have been blogging a bit more, I am hoping that more people want to read about other topics and that my honest reviews help people find new products to try. I am not just a giveaway blog, though it may seem like such. I have just been working my butt off to offer giveaways to draw more people in. Yes it has worked, and yes many of you are actually engaged in conversations with me. BUT I want you guys to learn about green living and be able to grow with me and my family. That means a lot to me! I want all of you to be happy and healthy for many years to come.

Thank you guys SO much for reading this, and being a part of my blog. I hope to see you all stick around! I have a lot of great things in store for everyone.

Rant complete.

November at a Glance

15 Days of Giveaways Starts TODAY!

Hey guys! I have been so busy these past couple of days, what with Thanksgiving, reviews, fall cleaning, etc. Speaking of which, I hope everyone had a great holiday! I have some exciting news to share. It just turned from November to December, and now it is my birthday month! I am going to be celebrating by posting a new giveaway everyday for 15 days, until the big day! So make sure to check back daily for new reviews and giveaways. I don't want to give anything away, as I love surprises and hope you do too, so I am keeping the products a secret until the review is posted! I am overdue for some much needed sleep, but when I wake up a giveaway shall be posted! Sleep tight everyone.

Oh my, it has been too long..

..since I have seen this movie!



I just finished watching it for the first time in several years. Now I am all in a silly mood, and wanting to watch some more Will Ferrel movies.

Have you seen this movie before? If yes, what did you think of it?

Kleb Woods Nature Preseve

It is always remarkable how quickly the weather can drop. Here in Texas, cold weather is never taken lightly. We tend to freak out about it. The weather here in general changes A LOT. At least we where I live it does. It dropped almost 40 degrees in the matter of 24 hours. The high today was in the low fifties.This kind of weather makes me so giddy. I am not a huge fan of the freezing cold, but a proper chill is rather enjoyable. I chose today to visit the woods, after throwing together my first ever pork loin. I discovered this little gem several years ago as a young teen. It has really expanded since then. I have loved watching it grow up, so to speak. I have lived many places throughout the years, but I always find myself coming back here.

There are many trails throughout the 133.5 acres of luscious woods. More and more signs have popped up, informing me about the flora, buildings, machinery, and several other park amenities. While more trails have been created, and old ones made more accessible and family friendly. I could easily spend hours here.
I always find interesting things, like that fuzzy yellow guy.


Despite the cold weather, some things continue to grow. It amazes me how this place keeps a running garden going. I saw some tiny eggplant as well as several flower gardens dedicated to hummingbirds and butterflies. I didn't see any of those guys today, but I look forward to seeing them again in the spring.

My all time favorite discovery at Kleb Woods was the windmill in the woods. There is a funny little sign saying "Why is there is windmill in the woods? Where are the woods in the windmill." There is actually a clever little tree growing right through the middle of of it! I have no idea how old the windmill is, but seeing old thins like this really makes me ponder about the lives that went on when this windmill was in working condition.



Are there any places like this around where you live, or that you like to visit whenever you get the chance?

Paddington- Worlds Saddest Dog

                 This is Paddington. 

I have self titled him as being the saddest dog in the world. His dark eyes and perpetually sad expression just makes him look so depressed. Even when he is super happy. Maybe it is the Newfoundland in him..



 He knows that I am cooking, but little does he know that I am cooking for the doggies today! I am in the process of cooking up a whole chicken in the Crockpot to make a delicious and healthy dish for the dogs. They don't normally get homemade dog food, but since whole chickens were only $4, I decided to spoil them a bit. I will be posting the recipe and outcome later. You can tell by the photos that Paddington is going to love whatever he gets.

I hope to finish everything soon before he fills the entire camper with drool..