WOW! It's been awhile, huh? I'd like to say it's because I'm shredding my little brains out, but unfortunately, that's not entirely the case.

We have lots and lots of exciting things happening in the Brock house ~ however, I can not share quite at this moment, but I promise, AS SOON AS I CAN, you will all know!

I have SO much to update you on and PROMISE ~ OH YES, I PROMISE, I am back to my regular blogging!

BUT FIRST ~ Since I have neglected my sweeties, I'm doing a giveaway! YES, YES I AM!

The wonderful people over at Skin MD Naturals contacted me after I posted about going gluten free - which, I must tell you, BEST THING I have ever done! They sent me a bottle of their Skin MD Natural Shielding Lotion. NOW, if you follow me on Twitter, you know I have been complaining of ultra dry skin on my hands. Peeling, PAIN, just plain 'ol ugly hands ... y'all, this stuff is AMAZING! It cleared it up right away and my hands are so wonderfully soft! It did take about a week, but let me tell you, this mama is SOLD!



This is what their website says:

"Shielding lotion is a lotion that forms a protective barrier on the skin and keeps out irritants and chemicals. It also allows the natural oils and moisture to remain in the skin so it can heal better. It is a big advantage that shielding lotions are light and go on without a greasy mess," says Dr. Brian Zogg, a dermatologist in Albert Lea, MN.

"When you have dry, itchy skin you know that the protective outer layer of skin has been stripped away. In southern Minnesota most people need to use a shielding lotion. In the winter they all get very dry skin. We also recommend shielding lotions for anyone who is exposed to chemicals in their work environment. Your skin is exposed to irritants and chemicals almost every day, even in a normal household environment, so a shielding lotion can be a useful dry skin care solution for most people.. And it won't create the negative moisture message skin can get from conventional lotions.

The artificial moisturizers in conventional creams and lotions can send a signal to the moisture producing parts of your skin that enough moisture is present. Your skin then makes less of the natural moisture needed to resolve a dry skin problem. With a shielding lotion you protect your own natural oils and moisture in the skin, so it heals faster," says Dr. Zogg.

"A conventional lotion is not formulated to protect the skin like a shielding lotion does. Conventional lotions only add surface moisture to temporarily alleviate dry skin or itching. Shielding lotions stay on because they bond with the skin and protect it for long periods of time. With this protection in place your skin keeps its own moisture in and has a chance to use this natural moisture in the deep layers of the skin to heal itself," states Dr. Lisa Benest, a board certified dermatologist of Burbank, CA.

It's also:
Dermatology tested
No animal products or testing
Hypoallergenic, non-comedogenic
Fragrance and colorant free
Paraben free

And guess what? The wonderful people at Skin MD Natural are going to send one lucky reader their very own bottle of Shielding Lotion!

The rules:

~ Leave a comment with "GIMME THAT LOTION!" in the body
~ Make sure you check out Skin MD Natural website and read all about their wonderful products!
~ If you do not have a blog, please leave me your email address so I can get in touch with you if you win!
~ Please do not leave a comment on my Facebook, you must come to my blog and enter!
~ You do not have to be a follower, although that would be nice.
~ Winning entry will be pulled Wednesday, February 3, 2010!

Thanks, and GOOD LUCK!

Hello, my name is Natalie and I am a wuss ....

I've had this for a year and I'm FINALLY taking it out of the package:





With 2 weddings to attend {one of which I'm IN}, a girls trip and clothes just not fitting like they should, I felt the need to bust out the DVD. I'm starting Monday and I VOW to go the 30 days. Should I take pictures to document? Am I that bold? We'll see.

Anyone have any tips? Suggestions? Done this DVD before and seen results?

Make sure you check back this weekend for a GREAT giveaway I'm hosting!!

.........how are we almost 1/2 way thru JANUARY!?

This weekend went by so fast - I swear I went to sleep Friday, woke up and it was already Monday!!

Friday night, I had a lock-in w/Princess's cheerleading squad. It certainly did not disappoint! We went bowling and then headed back to the gym and played games, ate pizza and slept ... well, all except that LAST part!! At 1:30 AM, I literally could not fight it anymore and crashed. I woke up at 6:30 AM absolutely freezing my tail off and found girls strewn all over the place. I woke Princess up at 8:45 to go home and she informed me she didn't go to sleep until 5 AM!! It made for a very difficult rest of the day for her but I think she is finally caught up on her sleep!!

Yesterday was Wild Child's 5th birthday! Gosh, I look at him and can't even believe he's 5 {which he has reminded me about 500x that he is not 4 anymore}. It seems like he has grown overnight and just this morning, I realized he is up to my hip in height!!

Wild Child loves a particular character in a video game, and so we had this character (a friend) call and wish Wild Child "Happy Birthday" and it was HYSTERICAL! The video is too long to post, but if you follow me on Twitter, I was able to get it posted there!!

My gluten-free ways are still in force, although I did cheat this weekend w/the pizza and boy did I EVER pay for it!! Menu Monday will resume NEXT week & I hope to be able to mix in some g-free stuff too!!

Have a great Tuesday, my sweets!

Taylor Swift - Our Song

hey taylor it is me k***** Big Daddy's child

SO it appears my sweet daughter went onto YouTube under my account and looked up Taylor Swift songs, made a comment on "Our Song" and then hit 'Publish' - which means it published to my blogger account! HA! I decided to 'edit' what she wrote, for SOME privacy ~ but whatever!

You MUST check out this site .....

I was recently asked to be in a wedding and we have been on the hunt for bridesmaid shoes to go with our totally rockin' bridesmaid dress. Can't post a pic of the dress b/c they are being CUSTOM made .... yes, you read right ... CUSTOM. I'm so excited, although I nearly barfed when the dude told me my measurements!

Let me put it this way .... I can not eat crap and not gain weight anymore.

SO - ANNNNNYWAYS, I had been searching for shoes and could only find expensive ones, and since this whole bridal party is on a budget, I knew I needed to find shoes that were not incredibly expensive, but still nice looking! Impossible, right? No....

I remembered a post my friend, The Dishy Decorator did about Go Jane. I decided to troll around on the website and lo and BEHOLD, what did appear??




Oh, and guess what?? They are $10.60 ... yes, 10 AMERICAN dollars.

Guess what else? They came in today and they fit WONDERFUL and are so comfortable!


While I was buying all the shoes for the bridesmaids, I needed to add ONE MORE PAIR of SOMETHING so I could get free shipping ..... and I found these:

I know to some of you, they may look a little crazy, but I put them on when I got home and they are AWESOME! The heel is high, but it's nothing more than I'm used to....they look GREAT with jeans.

So go check out Go Jane ~ you'll be glad you did. For the record, I bought the size I normally wear and they fit perfect!

... and no, this is not a compensated review, but I DO have a very exciting giveaway coming up this month! STAY TUNED!

It's 2010, baby!

What a whirlwind week it has been for me! As most of you know, after having dinner with Shawn and her husband on Sunday night, we were kinda thinking maybe we would drive to Atlanta and surprise our family for New Year's. I initially said "NO - I have too much to do, don't feel like driving, etc etc etc" but then by the time Monday afternoon rolled around, Big Daddy had pretty much convinced me that life is way too short, how different this New Year's could be compared to last New Year's and he wanted to go hunting.

I told 2 people in Atlanta we were coming - and pretty much all my friends in Florida and a few of my Twitter (now in real life) friends knew we were coming - so thanks girls, for keeping my secret. It was pretty much all that and more. My sister and her family, along with my parents, were completely surprised and it was just the PERFECT way to start off the New Year!

I owe you many updates, Christmas coffee, Christmas, New Years, etc - but I want my FIRST official post of 2010 to be about the life changes I have made. These are "not" resolutions, but actual life changes that I feel I must implement to be happier and healthier.

In no particular order:

• Go gluten-free: I started this on Saturday and so far, it has been fairly easy. Yes, it about killed me to go to Wendy's and order a salad instead of their awesome fries, but I know in the long run, it will be better for me! Big Daddy has agreed to jump on board and we will slowly ease the kids into this. I do not plan on taking them TOTALLY gluten-free, but I will cut out a lot of the crap they are eating. I also plan to be in the gym at a min 3 days/week for now and work up to 5 days/week.
• Organize my house: this is starting today. I have a mindset now that I need to get organized instead of living in organized chaos. I have a plan set in place and will share with you once it's implemented.
• Organize my LIFE: I purchased a momAgenda this morning and I can't wait to get it. I did get a small one so I can put it in my purse.
• Be more spontaneous ~ obviously, this isn't a problem. I tend to be a homebody (I know, shocker) but I'd like to go to a movie by myself, or call a girlfriend to see if she wants to go, etc - instead of just sitting at home, doing nothing.
• Start AND finish laundry - meaning start it, fold it AND put it away (I can tell you, this one is going to be hard for me)
• Cook dinner at LEAST 5/nights per week. Considering my diet change, this is a must.
• Write letters to people I care about - randomly. I used to be so good about this and have really flaked off and I blame it on the internet, email, facebook, and just plain laziness.
• Quit worrying about things I have no control over. Honestly, if y'all knew my life before we ever moved to Florida, you'd wonder how we ever made it. By the grace of God and there's really no other explanation - so I need to continue to cling to that - empty myself and let God fill me up with his Promise that everything is going to work out according to His plan.
• Go on more trips ~ this is done. One in Feb planned, one in April planned, etc etc etc.
• Start AND finish projects. Big Daddy and I talked on the way home and we are going to make a list of everything that needs to be done, from little things to bigger projects and either do them or have our friend do them for us {yes, we'll pay him and it's totally worth it}.
• Clean out my car, every single day (Shawn, quit laughing, yes, I'm going to do this).
• Blog more consistently. I've got 117 followers, so I am assuming people want to hear what I have to say.
• Do more fun/spontaneous things with my husband and kids.
• Finally, and honestly, this is the most important - spend more quiet time with God. So often, I put it on the back burner. I do read several inspirational blogs each morning, but I need to spend more time in the word, growing and building a deeper spiritual relationship. I believe by growing more with God, the things I worry and stress about will tend to not freak me out as much as they normally would.

So that's it - I'm sure there are a million other things I can do, but I believe I'm starting out on the right foot. I have the right attitude, that's for sure!

Happy New Year, my sweets! I hope it's everything you wish for and more!

And now, Lord, what do I wait for and expect? My hope and expectation are in You. Ps 39:7