This is a pretty amazing topic this week don’t you think? And while I could go all serious and list 10 toxins in the air that aren’t safe, or world events that are going on- that’s just not my style. I chose a more humorous route! (Please not that this is not intended to be snarky at all- just funny!) Enjoy!

10. Lindsay Lohan. I am so sick of hearing about her in the news. It just baffles me why the media feels the need to keep us posted on her 24/7. If she stole that $2500 necklace, just give her the proper consequences and move on. Clearly, she isn’t learning anything by her mistakes.

9. Stupid Questions. Lately, the hubs has been the most recent offender for this one. “Where is the ice cream?” IN THE OVEN where we ALWAYS keep it, silly! Cracks me up every time, but seriously- think.

8. Shedding. My hair keeps just falling out and it is making my bathroom look like I NEVER clean it. Which is obviously NOT the case- it’s just gross. I am tired of finding my hair everywhere.

7. Overly strong perfume. Perfume, to me, is more like an accessory to a good outfit like jewelry. And I will admit, there is a fine line with some people and their tolerance for perfume. I come out on the low end of that spectrum- a little goes a long way.

6. Friends that live far away. Why can’t we all just live in the same place and see each other regularly and not have to plan lunches? *sigh* I miss my friends that live far away, but I guess it IS nice to be able to visit.

5. Cravings for foods that I can’t have because of location. I have eaten at the Bonefish grill twice in my entire life (both times within the last 4 months) and I JUST WANT it ALL THE TIME. The caesar salad, Bang bang shrimp, and jumbo crab cakes. Why does this happen? Why can’t I crave the stuff that is actually in my refrigerator?

4. Terrible audition songs on American Idol. As I alluded to in my post last week, there are just some songs that should never be sung on that show. Never. And I feel like maybe they should add some sort of screening process. I feel bad for the judges some nights!


3. Losing to my husband in Words with Friends. Can I just say that I am slightly regretting my idea to get him an iPhone for Christmas? He hasn’t won every game but enough that he is gloating- and no one likes a gloating husband! I suppose it is all in good fun though, right? 


3. Writer’s Block. For those of you that know me in real life, you probably know that I am not a very shy person. A “talker” as the hubs would say. SO WHY can’t I ever think of anything good to write about? I am struggling here lately…but still pressing on because I love to write. 


2. Diets. I am a sucker for chocolate, pop, coffee, 2% milk, Oreos, and pizza. Diets don’t work for me, and cutting back is SO hard because I seem to always have a craving. Sheesh. 


1. Any more snow/ice. I love it when the seasons change here, but after last week’s blizzard? I am so done with winter. Spring, anyone?


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This week’s topic is the Top 10 Blog Posts from your OWN blog! This was definitely a challenge, but here we go! I am just going to list them- you can read them for yourself if you want!

10. Stereotypes and a Vent
9.   Wedded Wednesday: Date Night
8.   Wedded Wednesday: Romance
7.   This Could Be The End
6.   A Work in Progress
5.   Relieved
4.   The Age Old Question
3.   Wild ending to a Wonderful Evening
2.   Best. Weekend. Ever.
1.   Coming Clean

Enjoy! And visit Sluiter Nation to see everyone else’s!

It’s Top Ten Tuesday, everyone! This week’s topic is the Top 10 Moments/Memories of 2010. Here we go!

10. Brayden sits up by himself for the first time! I was such a proud mama that day. He was starting to show his slight independence at almost 6 months old.

9.  Playdates with Laura and Caden. These boys are only 10 days apart, making them absolutely hilarious to watch when they are together.

If there is a holiday, you can bet there are treats in the Sancken home. My mom, sister, grandma, grandpa, and I get together every year to make LOTS of candy and treats. We did this all this past weekend, but I forgot my camera…so you will just have to trust me!

10. Glass Candy. Think homemade jolly ranchers rolled in powdered sugar. This is one of my favorites! We made three flavors this year- wintergreen, cinnamon, and strawberry.

9. Butter brickle. You may know it as toffee, but it is butter brickle in my house. This is one of my grandma’s specialties, but in recent years, I have learned how to make it. Good thing too, because for some reason my mom always has trouble. You cook butter, sugar, vanilla, and water for what seems like forever, until it is JUST right. Then, you pour that over a bed of pecans and top with Hershey bars so that the chocolate melts. We generally set our candy in the garage or outside to set up so we can enjoy it faster!

8. Peanut Brittle. This is one of my grandpa’s specialities and we didn’t have a lot of luck with it this year. I am pretty sure it wasn’t cooked long enough but I am sure SOMEONE will still eat it!

7. Homemade caramels. Again, my grandpa’s specialty. They are SO good, and we always make a bunch to send to my aunt and uncle.

6. Peanut butter balls. Word got out at church that my sister makes these homemade, and they are requested for their cookie walk every year. They are a tedious project, but oh so yummy!

5. Gumdrop cookies. These are not my favorite, but they are a tradition in my mom’s family. Think oatmeal cookies with gumdrops.

4. Chocolate pixies. These are chocolate cookies rolled in powdered sugar and then baked. These are Brandons’s favorite, and I just made these successfully for the first time on Sunday. yum!

3. Sugar cookies. Because you have to make frosted santa’s, snowmen, and trees! This year, I used a new recipe that I found- amazing.

2. Hot Chicken Sandwiches. Yes, this isn’t a sweet one, but it is a HUGE tradition on my dad’s side for Christmas Eve. Every year we have chili, oyster stew, and these sandwiches. My mom cooks a chicken, grinds the meat up with her grinder, stuffs homemade rolls with the chicken, and bakes them. Yum. They are my favorite part of Christmas Eve I think! Simple, but holds a lot of tradition.

1. Artichoke Dip. Again, not a sweet thing, but we have this every year at least once or twice between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am definitely making it for Christmas eve this year. And if you notice the title- no spinach.

(Sorry I didn’t post the recipes! If there is one you are dying to try, e-mail me and I will hook you up!)

Make sure you visit Sluiter Nation to see everyone else’s top Holiday Treats!

Is it already Tuesday? The holiday season is just absolutely FLYING by! Let’s get to this weeks top 10 shall we?

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving surrounded by those you love. We ate ALL weekend. But it’s a good thing. I definitely want to make a turkey of my own in the near future just for the leftover turkey sandwiches! Let’s get to this list, shall we?

1. My husband. After almost 9 years total together (Crazy, right?) I can honestly say he is my best friend. We have been through a lot together, and I know that our lives have so much more to bring us. I can’t wait to experience it all with him next to me.

2. Brayden. What a gift he is from God! The miracle of life continues to astound me even when he is right in front of me. He is the reason I get up every day (literally!) and the reason that I strive to be a better person. I know both of his eyes are constantly on me. No pressure or anything!

3. My family. They are pretty much the best. They are always up for a laugh, always there when I need a hug or advice, and I just love that we are all so close.

4. My warm, cozy home. It is by no means our dream home or our forever home, but it is definitely ours. We bought our home right before we got married and I waited until our wedding night to live here. I loved the element of the newness of that part of our relationship. It’s gone through some major changes in the last 3 years (new siding, new roof, an addition, all new windows, new roof, etc) but it is still ours. It will always be our first home, the first home we brought Brayden to, and where we celebrated our first holidays as husband and wife and as a family.

5. My camera. It was a fantastic investment just about a year ago, and since then, I have barely put it down. It allows me to do what I love- take GREAT pictures and preserve memories. If only it came with a person whose job was solely to update and organize my photos!

6. My friends. I am blessed to have a great bunch of friends who I can call on for anything! Near or far, we value each other’s friendship, and I am just incredibly thrilled to have them be a part of my life and to be a part of theirs!

7. My hubby’s occupation. Farming, although not the most glamourous of jobs, really is IT for us. It is Brandon’s passion. I am a firm believer in that you have to do what you are passionate about, otherwise, what is the point? It’s not a 9-5-get-the-same-paycheck-every-2-weeks job, but it’s what he loves. And it provides for our family not only in the monetary sense, but in the sense that we have a lot of flexibility. Flexibility in the down times to work on home improvement projects, spend quality time together, tackle our never ending to-do lists, and just BE together.

8. Yoga pants. I know, I had a lot of mushy, non-material things up there on that list. But my yoga pants? Are my best friend. I wore a couple pairs of them out while I was pregnant with Brayden, but I just couldn’t bear to get rid of them. Not yet.

9. Coffee. I am SO thankful for a hot pot of coffee every single morning. Even more so when I get to share it with my hubby! There is nothing better than waking up to a pot of coffee with your favorite creamer in it to help start the day. I look forward to it every morning.

10. My education. I have a bachelor’s degree in Family and Consumer Sciences with an emphasis in Human Development. Although I am a stay at home mom now, I just never know when that degree will come in handy, and I am so thankful that I finished college.

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It’s Tuesday! So you know what that means- it’s Top Ten Tuesday time! This week’s topic? Top Ten Christmas Wish List’s- Internet Edition. These are in no particular order!

1.  Anything from Gussy Sews. I could literally utilize any of the items that she makes! Mostly though, I want the LoveFeast vaca bag. It is stunning!

2.  The Nook Color from Barnes and Noble. I have wanted an e-reader for a long time, but I could never decide what I wanted! This year, Barnes and Noble is blowing everyone out of the water with their color screen Nook. It has a web browser, read aloud to you, and stores more books than I would know what to do with!

Link up at Sluiter Nation!

I am BACK to doing Top 10 Tuesdays after being gone. Yay! I am so excited to be back! To see everyone else’s top 10′s, check out Sluiter Nation.

This week’s topic? The Top 10 things I HAVE to have on a daily basis. Ready?

1. Morning cuddles on the couch with Brayden. When he wakes up, I change his diaper, grab his milk, and we sit on the couch while he wakes up all the way. Sometimes we watch the news, listen to music, watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse- but it’s always in the same place on the couch with a blanket. I love this time of the day.

2. A nice cup of coffee. With either Peppermint Mocha creamer or Vanilla creamer. Either way, doesn’t matter. But I love my morning cup of coffee.

3.  I am a techie, so I don’t go anywhere without my iPhone. It’s how I catch up on e-mails, Facebook, Twitter, and not be glued to my computer. Plus, I like to play music throughout the day so my iPhone comes in double handy!

4. My Ugg Moccasins. I wear them pretty much everywhere this time of year to keep my feet nice and toasty!

5. Another seasonal thing, I love soup for lunch this time of year. Absolutely love it. I generally do try to have it for lunch though because Brandon isn’t a soup fan, so it’s how I get my fix in.

6. Nap time. Not for me, although sometimes I DO nap. Brayden’s nap time. This is when I recharge, throw in some laundry, shower, catch up on my blog reading/writing, clean, prep dinner, etc. It’s my ME time. Sometimes, I even catch up on my tv shows or a magazine!

7. Yoga pants. If I don’t leave the house, these pants don’t leave me. I love them. I loved them before I was pregnant, while I was pregnant, and now that I am not. They are comfy, cozy, and all mine. Brandon hates them so I try not to wear them out of the house. Sometimes, it is awfully tempting though! And who am I kidding? I have no one to impress at home, so why not?

8. Diet Pepsi. I am trying to break myself of this once-a-day pop habit, but it is so hard. Diet Pepsi is my lifeline in the afternoons, and I look forward to my daily 12 ounces of it!

9. Family Dinner Time. I try realllllly hard to have us all sitting at the table for meals at LEAST 3-4 times a week. Sometimes, it is difficult because Brandon will work late, or Brayden will be hungry early, but for the most part we accomplish this. Even if it is a frozen pizza or leftovers, we still manage to be at the table together.

10. Bedtime routine. I will be the first to admit that Brayden’s bedtime routine can be exhausting since it is the same every night. But it really is something I look forward to. I love his bathtime, getting him in his cute little jammies, cuddling in the recliner, then putting him to bed, knowing that now I have a little more ME time left in my day. Some nights, I am just relieved and head straight for my pillow! But it means that we made it through another day, and that we get to start all over tomorrow.

My bloggy friend Katie just invented Top Ten Tuesday, and as soon as I heard about it, I was super excited to participate! These are the top 10 blogs that I never miss- that I love to read, people who inspire me, and who I keep going back to for more! In no particular order…

10. Marital Bless: Leah’s blog was one of the first that I ever started to read, and it was when she was pregnant with her son, Isaac. Her reaffirming words, honesty, and open relationship with the Lord drew me right in. I cheered along with her and her husband when Isaac was born, and cried tears of my own when she miscarried earlier this year. Plus, she is a lifestyle and wedding photographer and I am so inspired by her work! Leah’s blog is a must read for me!

9. Cameron Crazy: Laura and I are twitter BFF’s, and she is the one behind my fantastic blog designs. Her son, Cameron, is pretty close in age to Brayden, and I love all of her photos of him. He is such a stinkin’ cutie! Plus, since they are close in age, we can swap stories like none other. She is a digital scrapbooker (something that I have never tried) and very talented!

8. All Things G&D: This was another blog that I have read since I started blogging! I love D’s fashion sense, and when she was pregnant with her daughter, I could relate to almost every single one of her posts. Plus? She loves wine like I do! And what she did with her daughter’s nursery made me want to completely redo Brayden’s. She is so creative!

7. KimberlyMichelle: I love Kim’s blog. She talks about all kinds of fun things, like cooking, her daughter, books, home decorating, and most recently? Her time spent on jury duty. Plus her blog is so pretty, you can’t help but fall in love!

6. Chronicles of a Monster-in-Law: This anonymous blogger has me reeling every time she posts about the crazy antics of her mother-in-law. It is almost like straight out of the movie with J.Lo! You can’t miss this. Seriously. You might count your blessings twice.

5. Heir to Blair: You all probably already know about Blair. Mommy to cute Harrison, PPD warrior, and this woman has more guts and honesty than I could possibly describe here. She is real, down to earth, and I love reading about her small victories over PPD and of course, seeing lots of photos of her cutie pie!

4. Jeune Marie: Sarah is a fashionable southern belle living in TX with her hubby of a year. She has a fashion sense that I could only dream of, and her blog is about all things lovely. I started reading her in the very beginning when she was planning her wedding, and was hooked! I know you will be, too!

3. Nuestra Vida Dulce: Joi was one of my first bloggy friends, and I still can’t wait for her posts! She has an incredibly creative mind, her home totally shows it, and I love seeing her DIY projects! If only I could be so daring! She writes What’s Good in Your Hood every week, showcasing awesome Craigslist finds in cities all over the U.S.

2. Sarah Says: Mrs. Lukie is married to a fire fighter, is going back to school, and blogging about it all! I love her blog! She is another honest gem, and her 101 in 1001 list on the side roll of her blog keeps me coming back to see what she has accomplished.

1. Sluiter Nation: I can’t leave out this one! This is a recent find, and I am loving it! I am also an author for Katie’s book blog (she juggles 2 blogs, I know!) and she is such a sweetie. She has the cutest little boy, E, and is a PPD warrior as well. I love her Friday Flip Off’s, and hearing how she juggles home life with work life. I know in real life, we would be great friends.

So there you have it! Go to www.sluiternation.com and link up YOUR post about YOUR top 10 blogs! I know there are lots more that I can’t live without so stay tuned!