Motherhood Means #2

Fitness Friday - 11 Day Check In

I am on day 11 of the Advocare 24 day challenge and I wanted to check in with my progress. First off, I have lost 10 pounds, and while that doesn't sound like a lot... when you are only 4'10" it is a huge loss. Like, a super big weight loss.

I am also down three inches on my waist, and I am physically feeling so amazing. The dietary changes, alongside of the savings I've had on food is astonishing.

Two more weeks to go, and I can't wait to see where I end up!

For more information on the Advocare 24 Day Challenge, check this link out!

Sometimes Life...

Sometimes life throws you into a tailspin. One minute everything is fine, looking up... and the next minute you are blindsided by illness or loss. This week that is what I've been thrust into dealing with. Caring for an aging parent is stressful, and since December of 2012 it became my reality.

Now, overall this isn't my story to tell so I am not going to go into the gritty details of my FIL's health problems but jumping from mild aphasia to dementia has been one of the most difficult things. Ever.

Dementia is a nasty illness, and it strikes so quickly. At least that has been our case. On top of this, I am going back to work outside of the home and continuing to write full time. Putting a lot onto my plate and try to lessen the burden on everyone else involved. I guess that is just what I do... take the bulk of the problem on my own shoulders so those I care about don't have to really deal with it.

It isn't sunshine and roses, but it is life. Being positive and staying positive through it all is the challenge.

I am proud to say through it all I have continues to stay on point with my advocare 24 day challenge and going to the gym. Even if my hour long workout morphed into thirty minutes, or whatever time I actually have available for the day.

Life may be crazy... but I guess it is just what I've gotten used to.

On a side note, my newest book is finished, and I am so happy to be pushing publish a couple weeks early. It is a huge relief, and now I can focus on writing the next book in the serial.

My words of advice today... let you choose the life you want to live. Don't let life's circumstances dictate your world. You are the master of your own fate. Grab the bullshit by the horns and make it your bitch. Because if you don't... you will only fall victim to the negativity surrounding us in every corner of the world.

There is something beautiful about today... you woke up. And that right there is a gift in itself.

The Job Volume One - My Next Project

All work no play for me the past couple days. I am so happy to say I am finished with the first installment of The Job serial. Now, most people may not know what a "serial" is, technically it is a novel broken down into several books. This series is going to be three books.

Volume One of The Job is slated to release on February 3rd, exclusively to Amazon. It will also be available for the Kindle Unlimited program.

Synopsis:

BOOK 1 of 3 Parts!

During the day I’m your average mother of three. The PTA President, football carpool mom, you name it – my kids are into it. But by night I’m someone’s dirty little secret.

I never meant for my life to become what it is. Desperation is a tricky little bitch. My husband of thirteen years left us to fend for ourselves. Doors closed. Opportunities vanished. I saw no other choice.

My world changed when I created an ad. It was dangerous. But it was also empowering.

For the first time in years I feel desired.

This was only a means to an end. Instead one ad changed my life forever.

Length: 22,079 words (8 Chapters)

I am so happy for this to finally be in the hands of my editor!  I always do this to myself, and I wait till the last minute to finish up anything. I ended up writing half the book in two days. But when the story starts to come to me, I just have to jump on it. Now, I have the voices screaming at me for the second installment which comes out three weeks after the first.

So maybe for once I will jump on it and actually get shit done ahead of time instead of procrastinating to my deadline?

HA! Who am I fooling?

Enjoy a teaser for the book ;)

Valentines Day by Origami Owl

Have you checked out the new adorable Origami Owl jewelry for Valentines Day yet? If you haven't yet, you can click on the picture above to check out all the new goodies!

A couple special offers I am working on for the months of January, February, and March... because we have SUCH an amazing hostess exclusive:

*NEW* Hostess Exclusive!
With 4 ways to wear this incredible look and a retail value of $161... they'll be going fast! I can BET you that!

Earn yours today by hosting an Origami Owl Jewelry Bar with me! How? Contact me directly at OrigamiOwlDawn@gmail.com

Included: Large Heart Locket, Silver Link Locket, Over-The-Heart-Chain, 7" or 8" Link Locket Bracelet, *Exclusive* Love Infinity Dangle, Red Crystal Silver Dangle, *Exclusive* XOXO Charm, Two *Exclusive* Red Heart Crystals by Swarovski, *Exclusive* Medium Silver Endless Love Round Plate

Now since that is out of the way... I have ANOTHER offer!
If you choose to host a party in the months of January, February, or March... and have a Jewelry Bar total of AT LEAST $750 in retail... I have a special offer for you to become an Origami Owl DESIGNER!  (If you are interested in starting your own business in 2015!)

So let's do this!

Motherhood Means #1

Inspired by true events of my day-to-day life.

Congratulations Florida!

Congratulations Florida on getting it right!
Today, same-sex marriage became legal in the great state I now call home. Typically this wouldn't be such a big deal to me because it was something I had grown so accustomed to in Connecticut. I quickly realized when I re-located to a red state, that not everyone is going to be as liberal as I am.

In fact, the vast majority of people in Florida aren't liberal by any means. Which is a huge problem for me. Alas, politics to the side... I am over the moon that "gay" marriage is finally on the table for all the same-sex couples who choose to marry.

Not only do I have many close friends, and even family members who are gay but at the end of the day it is a basic human rights issue. Bible or not, you can't expect an entire country to follow Christian laws when in fact not everyone is Christian. It is what makes everyone different, and what makes our country so damn great.

Diversity.
Culture.
Differences.

I'm happy for the 21 same-sex couples who married here in Volusia County today. I am over the moon that they finally have the opportunity to be treated the same as every other couple. It truly is a beautiful thing.

I'm also over the moon that my own favorite local watering hole, Garbo's is offering to have someone on site to officiate same-sex marriage all weekend long.

Congratulations to all the couples who chose love today and finally could LEGALLY marry their partner!

(The song may be played out, but every time I see the video... God... I just love it!

Her Glasses

My daughter... she is a unique girl. Much like myself when I was a little girl. And in the past couple weeks she has become increasingly mouthy about what she wants to wear and what she doesn't. Almost as if she has become this fashion icon overnight. No joke.

It started with my pink glasses. One of my favorite pairs I recently pulled out of retirement. She wanted to wear them, and I just couldn't let her. There is no way she can wear them without doing damage to her eyes, and I already have one child that is on the road to glasses, I'm not going to throw another into the mix.

So, in desperation I told her I would get her a special pair of her own glasses. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I offered that though. It took an hour, and a trip to two different stores for her to finally decide on a pair.

The picture cracks me up because it doesn't do her any justice, but she was on a mission to make a funny face in every single picture I took last night.

She wore them to bed. She insists on showing all the neighbors her new glasses. She is absolutely obsessed with these glasses. Oh, and the best part?

She wants more.

All I have to say is Thank God for Claire! 

Next stop, Addison's own fashion blog... or some shit.
Because I have a feeling this is only going to escalate.

My Week in Pictures

Happy New Year!

2015 is upon us, and it has been a super stressful week. I finally got back to "work" and I say this extremely loosely because the children are still off from school until January 6th. Whoever thought winter break should be two full weeks, clearly doesn't have three children in school. 

I took three weeks off from work. I roughly threw in the towel the week before Christmas and trying to catch up hasn't been easy. And it is still going to take another week at least before I am not completely drowning in emails and trips to the post office.

I know I haven't updated in a while, and to be honest I've opened up a blank blog post and tried to write probably six times since my last post.

Today, my week in pictures.

I finally hung the handmade Sugar Skull mask I bought in Charleston, SC in August. I got it for my work space, because I completely fell in love with it. Talk about lazy!

Trying to get back to work... trying to bad. I busted out my Seven James cup figuring she would whip me back into shape. Total pun intended.

New Years aftermath. This is what I looked like when I woke up on New Years morning. I sat down on the couch with my caffeine in hand and started trudging through my to-do list. I got a ton done before the kids woke up too. Because once they are up... yeah. Good luck with that.

Laundry?  Yeah. I went and put a load in the dryer, and when I came back down the stairs with the kids laundry basket... this is what I found. They were both in the laundry room sink just... "Hey, how you doin?"  Um... now if they could only load the washer and dryer for me...

Day one: I've been battling with weight for years. It's like a yo-yo. One month I am a fresh 120 pounds and the next I pack on an extra ten pounds. So, in 2015 I have decided I am going to lose 20 pounds, and keep it off. I'm starting with the Advocare 24 day challenge, and combined with my gym membership, I am hoping to rock this!

Starting weight: 135 pounds

Goal: 115 pounds.

Mini Me... Since we've been out of school, everyone's sleep schedule is completely screwed up. I had Addison in my bed the other night trying to get her to relax, watch some Disney Jr. and GO THE F TO SLEEP!  Well, as I am sitting at my computer working away... I turn around and see this. 

Yup. She is my daughter.

Part 2 of the weight loss project...

Meal prep.

I spent two hours yesterday preparing a week's worth of meals. Lots of chicken, veggies and brown rice. Salads, greek yogurt, fresh juice, etc.  I'm praying I can stick with it.

Last... the mini me again. Last night I caught her in bed like this. Mind you, its 70 degrees out in Florida. You would think that she is back home in Connecticut preparing for a snow storm. Also, can you just note that she has completely taken over my bed? 

Be sure to follow me on Instagram!

She's an Old Soul

My daughter is a pistol.

I'd certainly say her personality is rounding out to give me a run for my money... just like I did to my parents once upon a time.

Recently we've been arguing over music in the car. I don't mind because sometimes the silence when it's just the two of us is great. Other times, she chats a mile a minute like any other three year old little girl.

So, a couple mornings ago when I was driving her to school we had the usual morning music battle. With Sirius in the car the default radio station typically ends up on 40's on 4. Why? She thinks they are Princess Songs. I guess if  you think about the music to all her Disney movies... it isn't really far off.

Yes, you read that right.
My three year old daughter's favorite radio station is 1940's classics. Full of swing, big band, and the music no typical child would want to listen to today. In her defense, her absolute favorite CD (yes, we still use those LOL) is the Pitch Perfect soundtrack.

So, as we continue the drive to school with the music playing lightly in the car... I hear it.
She starts to sing along with the song. A song I've never heard in my life. She hums, and whispers along with the words like she KNOWS the song! I am not sure if I was shocked, or completely creeped out. But, it was certainly a moving moment.

It really gave me a new perspective on some of her other behavior I find odd for a toddler.

I am pretty sure this little girl is a very old soul.
Maybe a grandmother, or great grandmother. But, if I had to put my money on anyone... it would be my own Grandmother Ann, whom Addison (Ann) is named after.

Have you ever run into anything like that with your kiddo?

Once Upon a Time

Once upon a time I wrote a blog full time. In fact, I blogger for Babble, Lamaze, The Broad Side, and my own site all at once. Saying I got overwhelmed would be an understatement. I was in way over my head and then I thought it would be a good idea to start writing romance novels on top of that.

Yeah... I know right?

So, I stopped blogging and wrote a dozen books in a year's time. No joke. I put out 8 full length novels, 2 novellas, and 3 novels that were also collaborations with other authors. Overnight Dawn Robertson (my pen name) became an easily recognized name in the Indie Romance community, as well as on the Amazon Best Sellers list. My novel's cracking the top 100 three times.

My blog got shut down.
My dot com expired.
I resigned from Babble, and The Broad Side.
I started focusing on my fictional writing 100% of the time.

The entire time I missed blogging. I missed the personal I put out there with my kids. I missed the opinion pieces, and diving into current events. I missed the bloggers I became friends with. I missed it all.

I've made a couple decisions over the past month. One is that I am going to blog again. I may not be putting up a blog post everyday but I am going to do my best to really create a great space that not only Mom's will love to read, but something that gives me an outlet away from the fictional characters that currently run my life.
 

I've also decided to slow the amount of books I am writing in 2016 and focus on a couple other things (including my three amazing children) like my Origami Owl career. Yes, in the midst of all this I decided to start selling Origami Owl. In my first month with the company... I was one of their top sponsors. Yes, out of the entire company of thousands of women. I went from a Designer to a Leading Designer, and to a Team Leader in just short of two months time.

 It isn't about sales, it is about the community, and working with women I truly enjoy and for a company that I genuinely stand behind. It isn't just a job to me, its a hobby, its a passion. It is downright awesome.

If you are a SAHM (Stay-at-home-mom) or even a working mom looking to make some extra income, send me a message for some details about becoming a designer! The extra income is awesome!

Lastly... I realize I haven't documented my life in Central Florida with my children yet. There is so much here that we love, and do. Disney, the Beach is mere miles from our house, Cape Canaveral, the Space Center... the list goes on and on. I honestly love being in Florida. And buying a home here solidified we won't be leaving to go back to Connecticut anytime soon.

Hell, I went up there in March this year when I was signing at Authors in the City and I froze my ass off! No joke!

Harper Sloan and I bought literally... EVERY scarf and hat some guy in Times Square was selling one night because we were frozen solid. When they say your blood thins out quickly in the Florida weather... they aren't kidding.

I've also made the executive decision not to sign anywhere COLD during the winter months anymore. It requires a jacket? Dawn Robertson won't be there!  (Maybe... or maybe I just exaggerating right now)

Long story short... I'm back ladies!
And I won't be going anywhere anytime soon.