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September Writing Challenge - Prompt #22:

Once Upon a Pinterest

I’m not sure where society stands on Pinterest these days. It seems to have fallen by the wayside and become a bit outdated. That’s fine. You know what else is outdated? Blogging, yet, here I am!

So, Pinterest. Whether or not people are still using it, we all know what it's like to be "under the influence." Maybe the pressure doesn't come primarily from Pinterest anymore in 2025, but it's out there, and if it’s not haunting you directly, it’s haunting someone in your life, so you’re never free from the second-hand effects of it! 

I enjoy a cute theme here and there, and I like things to look nice, but I also like things to be easy and practical. So I would consider myself quite “middle ground” when it comes to Pinterest-y things. I’m fussy about my Christmas tree, but I don't care that my furniture is mismatched and mostly thrifted. I love fresh paint, but I don’t want to pay for it or do the work, and I kind of like the freedom of not being upset when my son accidentally rams his head into the wall and leaves a big dent in it (which has happened twice, and then a few weeks before he left on his mission, he rammed his knee into a corner and damaged it). We live in a middle-class, outdated home from the 90’s. I have four kids, and we all hate cleaning. Our aesthetic is “kids live in this house, but you probably won’t get a disease here.” Cozy but practical. Messy but sanitary. Pinterest-worthy? Only if you are a champion of mediocrity and reality. If that’s up your alley, here are some glimpses of our home that might find their way onto your Pinterest board:

We have Legos (yes, “Legos” - I refuse to say “Lego” as plural) all over the house. If I put them away, they reappear. I’ve surrendered. 

Squishmallows have also become home decor. I used to opt for floral pieces and candles on the console, but now it’s just whatever Squishmallows turn up.

Before Nicky left, he put a bunch of photos of himself all over the house. 

 

When the kids clean the family room, a bunch of extra pillows end up on the couch (we keep them in the family room closet for movie watching, and they never end up getting put away). 

Eva’s bedroom door has a posting of rules. 

Our bookshelf always has a row of resin animals. My kids take turns hiding them around the house for each other. They line them up on the bookshelf as they find them. 

Zoe has a huge stash of cardboard in her room for her projects. This is probably one of the hardest compromises for me to make. I hate the cardboard so much! But Zoe thrives on it. 

She got so mad at me for throwing out her cardboard that she added a “security system” to her pile. 

Zoe has also decorated her room for Halloween. She says that the snowman is a Halloween decoration because it’s a “kid in a snowman costume.” 

At least she has a head start on Christmas decorations when it will probably transition to an actual snowman. 

Zoe has been hanging food containers on her wall. 

And she made a glitter light switch cover (which led to three weeks of glitter clean up). 

Last of all, we have the remnants of a snowflake dangling from our closet ceiling. It has been there since 2020 when my kids decorated my bedroom with snowflakes during COVID. 

I think when my kids grow up, they’ll have fun memories of getting to do creative things around our house. They won’t care what color the hand towels were or what condition the couches were in, but they’ll say things like “Remember how we used to hide the little resin animals all over the place?” And “Remember the time Nicky’s head went through the wall?” I like that that memory won’t include anything like, “And mom and dad were so mad!” Of course, we’d prefer that no one’s head go through the wall, but in the end, it’s just a wall. 

As much as their little offerings to the household aesthetic make me crazy sometimes, I know those are the things they cherish most. They like expressing themselves and having things around the house that represent their interests and creativity. 

And as far as Nicky and the walls go, he’s been too big for our house for the past ten years, and now he’s gone for two years, and we have something to remember him by!

My gigantic son in Puerto Rico

IDGARA

September Writing Challenge - Prompt #29:

My Way

Last September, one of my prompts for my writing challenge was “Eras.” That was a fun post to write. At that time, I listed some potential eras I was living… my selfish era, my weird hair era, my raising pre-teens and teens era… to name a few. Since then I’ve added “missionary mom era” to the list, however, I'm now transitioning into a new era, which I realized about three weeks ago, and that's my "I don't give a rat's ass!" era. 

IDGARA, if you will. 

What brought me to this new era is a complicated web of experiences to tell. Basically, I got sick of decisions, information, and expectations, and one day I snapped and yelled, "I don't give a rat's ass anymore!" and that's who I've been ever since. 

My priorities right now are my family, my faith, and my mental health. IDGARA about anything else, and I’m channeling my energy into the things that are directly related to my priorities and not worrying about things that are “priority adjacent.”

Let me tell you what the final straw was that put me in this mode. 

Social media is frustrating, right? We all know it. We constantly have to determine what to believe, and I've become fatigued by wading through the BS. I do behind the scenes research on everything, so one reason social media is frustrating to me is that I feel like I need to fact check every notion that gets put out there. 

You might think, well, just don’t get on social media, then, but whether or not you participate in social media, you are affected by its content. This is discussed in the book The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. Even if we are not consuming social media ourselves, we are always surrounded by people who are. We can't get away from it! So I don't have to scroll or check social media myself; it will come at me through friends and associates who are consuming the content. I, personally, have never used Tik Tok, Snap Chat, or Twitter/X, but I face their content regularly through my friends that do. When I hear comments like, "I read an article..." or "someone told me..." or "I saw something that said..." it's usually followed by something they saw in social media. I don't have to see it, personally. It shows up in my life because our culture is saturated in it. Avoiding social media would definitely help, but it wouldn't entirely eliminate the problem. 

So, in my efforts to not be deceived, I very often look at social media through a skeptical lens. I spend a lot of time exploring additional information about what I see online. There are so many conflicting messages, and so much of what we see in social media can be traced to someone making money. There is BS everywhere, and while that seems like common sense, I know way too many people who buy into everything they see in social media and who live under the spell of influencers. 

Just a few examples of stuff I've sifted through...

You'll have a "doctor" or "health expert" on Instagram telling you all about protein. Protein this and protein that! Then you'll have another "doctor" or "health expert" saying that high protein diets are actually bad for you, and if you look at the diets of people who live in the "blue zones" where there is the greatest life expectancy and best long-term health, the people are not eating high protein (funnily, there was an episode about this on Down to Earth with Zac Efron where Zac Efron traveled to some of these places and learned about their diets, and he was like "I've been forced to eat high protein for most of my life to maintain a specific body type, but I'm never doing that again!" but I think he lied).  

So what am I supposed to believe about protein? This leads me to do a deep dive on protein where I continue to find conflicting information, and in the end, my best choice is to not give a rat's ass.

Additionally, there are "experts" on perimenopause who are preaching all sorts of stuff - HRT is a good thing, HRT is a bad thing. HRT causes weight gain. No it doesn't. HRT causes cancer. No it doesn't. Again with the protein... And then, whenever I look closely, someone is always trying to sell something. So does that "expert" really actually know anything? Is she to be believed? Because when you pull back the curtain, she's selling a book and a perimenopausal management system, so of course she's going to put content out there that will convince you to abandon your doctor and buy her stuff. There's always someone selling something, and people will preach whatever they need to to make a sale. 

So what am I supposed to believe about perimenopause? Once again, I deep dive, find way too much conflicting information, and my best option is to not give a rat's ass.

I'm sick of trying to figure out what to believe. It's exhausting. And in my battle with that, I started seeing posts in social media telling me that drinking water is bad for me. In a day's time, my algorithm started showing me that drinking water is making my face look fat. Drinking water is making me look ten years older. I should only drink water at certain times of day. I should only drink certain kinds of water. I should only drink water at a certain temperature. 

And that, my friends, was the trigger. The straw that broke the camel's back. As soon as social media started telling me water was bad for me, I was like, "Hell nah. I am not doing this!" and that's when I went rogue.              

Is it strange that there is also a Zac Efron episode about water? Yeah. Zac Efron and his hippie friend tried to make me feel like crap about drinking water, too. But you know what? IDGARA! I am not going to stress about water. I'm going to drink it whenever I want. However cold I want. And from whatever source I want. Today, I had McDonald's water, and you know what? It was fantastic! Do I have a fat face now? Do I??? 

Guess what! I don't give a rat's ass!

So that's how I ended up in my current era. Maybe someday, I'll give a rat's ass again, but for now, IDGARA, and it feels great! Protein is not one of my priorities. Perimenopause is not one of my priorities. And my fat water face is not one of my priorities.*

IDGARA!

(A special thank you to all of my friends who have listened to me rant about this subject as I've ushered in this era. Some of you have gotten a real ear full and have heard me say "rat's ass" an obscene amount of times). 

*These are just some examples to help illustrate the frustration I experience from all of the conflicting voices and information out there. I just picked a couple of common topics for discussion purposes. I'm not out to insult anyone's choices regarding these subjects. I've just realized that right now the best thing for me to do is not waste energy on things I'm unsure about. I don't have to pick a protein camp or a perimenopause camp. It's okay for me to just not worry about it. But don't even try me with water!Also, I would like to note tag social media is not the sole source of all of these conflicting topics - it’s just a very dominant one.

At Least I Tried

September Writing Challenge - Prompt #10: 

Effort

I used to be really good at setting goals and actually achieving them. Sometime in the past 5-10 years, that skill left me. I still try to set goals, though, because even if I only achieve a small percentage of them, that's better than nothing... I think...

While Nicky is gone on his mission, I've decided to work on one personal goal each month. 

My goal for July was to quit soda. I had a hard time deciding the parameters of this goal. Did I want to quit for just July? Or should I try for Nicky's entire mission? I stayed off soda for about a month and a half. During that time, I gained 8 lbs, so I decided I might as well drink soda. For the last couple of weeks, I've been back on the sauce. I'm not sure where I'll go from here. Honestly, I think I’m more likable when I’m drinking soda. I want to have friends, therefore, I must have soda. It makes sense, right?

Just me having friends 

My goal for August was to read the Book of Mormon every day (you can read more about that in this post). I haven't been in a pattern of daily scripture study for a really long time, and at the end of July, I had a very strong prompting that I needed to study the Book of Mormon, so that's why I chose this goal for August. I missed six days, which I'm not very happy about, but there's nothing I can do about it. I just simply forgot on those days. 

My goal for September is to spend as little money as possible on food and use up what we have. I made a list of meals that we can make from our current supply, and I wrote down all the times throughout the month where there are exceptions (such as a birthday and a road trip). Basically, I'm trying to not eat out in September and not grocery shop unless we run out of something serious. I'm hoping I can stash away a bit of my grocery budget while clearing out some space in our freezer and storage room. 

So far, the part where I use up what we have at home is going well, but the part where I refrain from grocery shopping and going out to eat is not going as well. On Tuesday we took Daisy and some friends to the lake, and we took some snacks, and I started to worry we were going to run out (those girls were much hungrier than I expected! Normally when I offer food to teenagers, it's like pulling teeth to get them to eat anything, but on Tuesday, they plowed through half the snacks in the first 20 minutes). I sent Scotty to the store for some snacks, and he spent $100! 

The snackers

That same day I ended up having to go to the store last minute due to a roll mishap. I've also purchased a large amount of cheese this week. The month is still young, though, so I still have time to save money... or go rogue and spent it all. 

Last Week

September Writing Challenge - Prompt #26:

Last Week

Sadly, I had this post written, and all I had left to do was add a few photos, but in moving back and forth between using my phone and using my computer, most of the post got deleted. Having to rewrite it was such a bummer, and the second time around, I missed a lot. Sigh. Oh well. Here's a little run down of what last week looked like:

Monday

I went to work. 

Nicky called! He gets to call home on Mondays, and it’s usually kind of chaotic. He calls through Messenger on the WiFi at the local church. He cuts in and out repeatedly. There’s a tinny echo that makes him hard to hear, and everything is kind of muffled. Scotty is usually at work, and I’m usually driving in the van for school pick up. It’s not ideal, but I’ll take it! I’m just so grateful missionaries are able to call home weekly!

Nicky telling us he got to chase an iguana this week

(last week his trainer wouldn’t let him chase any iguanas)

I drove a group of kids (Daisy included) to their theatre photo shoot then took them to McDonald's after. It was really hot outside, and those poor kids were dressed in their thick theatre sweaters, bless their hearts. 

Daisy and her good friend Sami

Tuesday

I spent a few hours up in Layton (about 45 minutes away) because I took a gift to my friend and decided to stick around and run my errands up there because traffic was really weird. 

Zoe and Eva started piano lessons for the school year (Zoe is a returning student, and Eva is a first-timer).

I pulled out all of the sunflowers in the backyard. I didn't necessarily want to get rid of them yet, but they were 10-15 feet tall, and we had dumpsters in the neighborhood, so I thought it would be smart to pull them out while we had somewhere to dispose of them. Otherwise I'd have to remove 1-2 at a time and put them in our home garbage cans across the span of several weeks (these are the kind of details you're here for, right?)

Wednesday

I worked for a few hours. 

I started putting out my fall decorations. 

It was leftover night, and I knew my kids weren't going to eat my fridge offerings, so I took everything we needed to use up and presented it like a charcuterie board to see if they were more willing to eat. Guess what! It worked like a charm! They even tried a few things they previously claimed to hate. I think this will be a new weekly tradition to get them to eat what we need to get rid of. I just gave everyone an empty plate, and I put the tray in the middle of the table and let them take whatever they wanted from it. 

Thursday

I ran a bunch of errands and finished decorating for fall. 

Scotty had to work in the evening (he does security at a concert venue), and I didn't want to be cooped up at home with the girls all night, so we went to Texas Roadhouse on a whim. Eva didn't want to go, so she stayed home, and I brought her a Happy Meal. 

Friday

I worked a short shift and then picked up my three girls from their three different schools. 

Scotty's mom had a campout in her backyard - an annual tradition. 

Saturday

I worked from 5-8 a.m. and then went to Scotty's mom's house for breakfast (a continuation of her campout). 

We took naps to reset and then went to the temple where my mother-in-law (not the campout one, but the other one - because I have two of them) and sister-in-law performed ordinance work for my sister-in-law, Amber. 

We went to dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory with the extended family. 

We went to my brother-in-law Riley's house for poker night. It came down to Riley and me, but he was the final winner. 

My girls slept over at my mom's house. 

Sunday

We slept in until about 8:00 then went to pick up the girls from my mom's house. 

We went to Scotty's mom's house for a couple of hours.

We went to Scotty's dad's house for dinner, and then Zoe slept over at their house. 

Labor Day

(it wasn't technically "last week," but for the sake of holiday documentation, I'm including it!)

I worked for a few hours in the morning. 

Scotty did a bagel run because Einstein had a back to school deal where you could get a baker's dozen and two smears for $10!

We went to the International Peace Gardens. It was weird only having Daisy and Eva with us (Zoe was still at her grandparents').

Nicky called... a few different times because he kept losing service. 

My friend Lynsie stopped by for a spontaneous visit. 

A Quick Look at My Life Currently

September Writing Challenge - Prompt #17:

Glimpse

Reading: 

I still can't read. I start books and forget I started them, and I never finish. I keep trying. It's part of my life I want back. I want to be a reader again! I don't know what has happened to my brain, but it just can't do it anymore. So I know I'll likely never finish this book, but if you ask me what I'm reading, this is the answer for now. 

Wearing: a Beatles shirt and cut off shorts. 

Annoyed by: everything. It doesn't take much to annoy me. This is one of my less flattering characteristics. 

Singing: "Que calor, que calor, que calor, que calor, que calo-o-or!"

(Also known as "Piragua" from In the Heights). 

Craving: a Baby Ruth.

Watching:

Buying: fall and Halloween decorations. I found a few things this week that I couldn't resist. Yes, I needed that ceramic ghost... and that "spooky" sign... and those candy corn candles.

Dreading: re-writing a post that I had finished, but for some reason, it didn't save.

Craving: a long nap on a cold, rainy day.

Celebrating: Nicky has been on his mission for over two months now!

Eating: half an Asiago Einstein bagel with onion and chive cream cheese (twas my breakfast).

Cooking: western omelette quiche (twill be my dinner).

Laughing about: the fact that if I call the quiche “quiche,” half my kids won’t eat it because they “don’t like quiche,” but if I call it “breakfast pie,” they eat it just fine. I’m pretty sure the same goes for Scotty. 

Suffering from: PMDD. Hits like clockwork every month. 

Proud of myself for: not stabbing anyone.

Missing: Vanilla Coke from the fountain.

Enjoying: playing Ark Nova on my phone.

Sick of: having so many places in our area where I have no cell phone service. 

Hoping: that the weather cools down soon. 

Wanting: to go on a trip. I need to get out of here.

Feeling: tired and yucky. I had a headache this morning, and then I got a little nauseous. I took ibuprofen and Zofran and gave it half an hour, and I started to feel much better.

Avoiding: AI. I’ve not yet had any good reason to use it, but everyone around me is constantly talking about it. I like my brain, and I still want to use it. 

Needing: to floss. I just finished lunch, and I have beef jerky stuck in my teeth. 

Grateful for: a husband who makes homemade beef jerky and then let’s me eat it all (it’s so good!)

Dare I Confess?

September Writing Challenge - Prompt #13:

Dare I Confess?

When I was in elementary school, a distant cousin of mine (my grandpa's cousin, to be exact), used to babysit me after school. Sometimes her grandkids would be at her house, and they would watch Barney. I had never heard of Barney before that, but those kids were Barney junkies. They had dozens of VHS tapes, and they even went to live performances. They watched so. much. Barney. 

And secretly, I loved it. 

I was in third grade when I was first exposed to Barney, so I was a little old for it. Everyone at school made fun of Barney and would sing, "I hate you, you hate me, let's get together and kill Barney!" and I would sing right along. Then I would go home and watch Barney in secret. 

I knew all of the songs, and I knew all of the kids. I had my favorite Barney kids, and each episode, I would wait on pins and needles to see which kids were featured (I did not like Luci and Tina, and I longed to be Kathy. To me, Kathy was some sort of Barney royalty). 

The following year, Power Rangers was introduced on TV, and we all talked about what a dumb show it was at school. But secretly, I loved the Power Rangers! I wanted to be the pink Ranger (Kim) as bad as I'd wanted to be Kathy from Barney. I even dreamed about fighting Rita in my pink suit, and sometimes I had nightmares about some of the Power Rangers villains (you have to admit they were pretty freaky looking). 

I mean...

One day I went home with my friend Cheyenne after school, and we watched Power Rangers together and acted like we were only doing it because it was all that was on, and we had nothing better to do. But then we ended up confessing to each other that we actually liked the Power Rangers. We ended up practicing our Power Ranger moves in Cheyenne's garage on her brothers' punching bag. We told no one of our Power Rangers fandom.

The other day I was talking to a friend about The Baby-Sitters Club books. I read my first BSC when I was in 7th grade. I'd never read one before, and for some reason, this one showed up in the mail:

I read it and loved it, and I started reading all the BSC books in the privacy of my home. I felt like I was too old to read BSC, so it was my big secret. I didn't want anyone to know! Surely no one my age (TWELVE!!) was reading BSC! 

My friend that I was talking to about the books said the same thing. She was embarrassed about reading them because she thought she was too old for them. So it seems we were all just reading them in secret and trying to enjoy the last moments of our childhoods while hoping no one would find out!

Guess what else I was doing in secret at age 12! Playing Barbies. I went a while without playing with Barbies because, once again, I felt like I was too old. Then somehow I ended up playing Barbies and getting a friend to confess that she, too, still liked to play Barbies, so we secretly played Barbies at my house.

Over the next few years of junior high, Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, and NSYNC hit the scene (with a slew of other pop stars). Everyone at school mocked them, and I went right along with it, and then I would go home and watch their music videos on The Box, memorize all of their choreography, and listen to their CDs in secret. 

As a child and teen, there were so many things I loved that I felt I had to hide from everyone else because I would get made fun of, and now I find out more and more how many other people were doing the exact same thing. It makes me wonder what things my kids feel pressure to hide from their peers out of embarrassment when their friends are all secretly enjoying the same things. 

Things the Kids Say: Episode 36

September Writing Challenge 2025 - Prompt #35: 

Vocabulary Words

Scotty: I’ve got the vacation bug!

Eva: Is it a beetle?

—————

“I’m literally a poetrist… or whatever you call those poem people.”

- Daisy

—————

"Puerto Rico is like a mix of Jurassic Park and In the Heights."

-Nicky

—————

“You smell like pee, and you’re warm.”

- Eva to Zoe

—————

“My school smells awful - like boys starting puberty.”

- Zoe (7th grade)

—————

Daisy: I want a baby.

Me: No. Don’t be a pregnant teenager.

Daisy: Don’t worry, Mom, I still don’t know how it works, but I know not to get in a bed with a naked man.

—————

“Am I half Pennsylvanian?”

-Eva