No dissing the Tic Toc

I’ve heard so many people commenting on social media being the downfall of polite society. The funniest part is, I actually had a psych class last semester and we actually did a study of social media effects on children. It wasn’t good. 

However, I have to say I find social media so helpful. I have gotten close with blogging land for the past 10+ years… You guys are amazing friends that are always there and always commenting so supportively throughout the years! But also, when Covid hit, I started getting into TikTok. Me and the kids would do TikTok‘s to pass the time. They’re really cute short dances set to music and you just copy someone else’s dance moves.

But that’s not all that TickTock‘s good for… It’s taught me how to clean, how to cook, how to bake bread, how to dance and now finally how to wrap presents! I learn some of the cutest present wrapping from TikTok this year. Let me just show you a few…

How to wrap a shampoo or lotion bottle that is large at the bottom and smaller at the top…

You create a flat bottom and slide the present in…then just fold over the top and tie a string through!! So simple and cute…


How to wrap a circle without it being a total mess…ha


And lastly, my favorite, how to wrap with pockets on the outside!!! You can slide a pretty flower or candy cane in the pocket, or a card or face masks like I did for my cat sitter.






Sooo cute!!!! Right!?!?!?  I don’t want to post steps here because it is not my creation but I promise if you Google “wrap with pockets” or TikTok wrapping presents you will find it. It is everywhere now!

I’m going to end this post saying that I am so happy to be on a break from nursing school. I have time to come online and read your blogs and comments and also to write my own blog entries. Next semester is going to be crazy… I’m probably not gonna be able to Blog at all… So I’m going to get my fill during this break. You will probably all be sick of me in a matter of two weeks! Lol!

Happy Thursday!!!

Christmas at Tuesday 4

I am so excited to be joining in my first group blog post in so long! Thank you so much for allowing new people to join - I look forward to meeting many of you and making even more blog friends.

Here we go…

1. Is your tree up? Absolutely! As soon as my finals were over in nursing school I put my tree up. As I was studying for finals the three weeks before I swore I was not even going to decorate for Christmas. I was super overwhelmed with finals and kept thinking I just wanted to be done with this semester and have a break. Once I finish that last final… It was all about getting the decorations up! Here is my tree. It is fake and about 7 feet tall. My absolute favorite part of putting up the tree is looking at all the ornaments and all the wonderful memories I have from whoever gave me that particular ornament. My ornaments are either gifts or they were purchased as memories from different trips that I took.  Here it is…

2. Got a menu for Christmas Eve and Day? I will be at my parents house with my sister and her husband and children. My other sister and brother will not be there this year which will be a little sad. I believe we are going to have fillets wrapped in bacon and probably asparagus, brussels sprouts, and green beans. 

3. When does it go up and how long does it stay up? So like I said above it went up as soon as my finals were over. It was a lot of work so I think it will come down to days before I start the next semester. We have a dosage calculations test the week before we return to classes so actually it will probably come down right before that test.

4. What is your favorite Christmas memory. My favorite Christmas memory is just when I was a child then we would all get up Christmas morning and run downstairs and open our gifts. It wasn’t even about the gifts it was just because back then I still believed. I think once you know there is no Santa Claus and the magic is gone… Christmas is never the same.  I do believe in Jesus and I do believe that is truly what Christmas is about but somehow a little bit of the magic is gone once you are old enough to know there is no Santa.  These days Christmas is about spending a lot of quality time with my family being grateful that Jesus was born.  When do you open your gifts? We still open presents Christmas morning… But we don’t get up at the crack of dawn anymore. We open them when everyone is up and has had their breakfast.

Sauerkraut and sausage balls

Every holiday my dad loves to make these sauerkraut sausage balls for the family. They are delicious and everybody loves them! There are a lot of work but he has it down to a science. This year the kids are older and they asked if they could help make them as well. It was so cute seen them all in together. They mix everything together and then they have to roll it into balls and then bread them and fry them.

Here is the adorable assembly line…

My Dad takes this process very seriously…


Such cuties…


Here is what they look like prior to breading them and frying them.


I forgot a final picture but when I get to my parents for Christmas I plan to eat them so I will get pictures then.

If they sound good and you are interested, comment below and I will get the recipe from them over Christmas.

Steelers win!!!

We attended the second to the last Steeler game of the season this past Sunday. It was Steelers vs Titans.  I found these amazing fake lashes at Target of all places for three dollars!!!! Sooo awesome!!!!

My family meets before the game and I had a very early lunch at Southern Tier Brewery right near the stadium. Below is myself, my parents, sister, niece and brother in law. 


This is my niece posing with Steeley McBeam…


And this is my sister and brother-in-law posing with their favorite player!!! Some of us are ready to see him retire but these two are his biggest fans!!!!


I will leave you with a video of my very favorite part of the game!!!! I absolutely LOVE the Steelers and when you are at the games, the feeling is electric!!! The best moment is when they play renegade!!! The stands go crazy and the terrible towels fly!!!!

Watch HERE

Best gadget ever

I found this awesome little scooper on one of the deals and steals a few Christmases ago. I use it to get the most out of every product! It is the best invention ever. Anytime I finish a lotion or serum I use this to clean out what’s left in the bottle.

I just cut the lotion so that I can access the inside of a container. This is a semi-pricey Mary Kay hand lotion that I could squeeze no more out of. Watch how much more comes out…


You just cut it in sections and scoop it out with this great little tool! For hand lotions I usually put them in a snack baggie so they don’t dry out since they’re no longer in the container.


Here are the leftovers I was able to get out of the container.





If you’re looking to save money this tall is a fantastic little gadget! I got it on a deals and steals a few years ago but you can probably find one on Amazon or at Ulta or Sephora.

Happy Tuesday everyone!!! Hugs to everyone!!!

Thanksgiving recap

Hey yinz!!

I hope everyone had a phenomenal Thanksgiving. 

This post just shows you how behind the times I am that my Thanksgiving post is at least two weeks late… Lol! But I guess it is massive progress that I’m posting at least monthly now. Ha!

I just finished ALL my finals for this semester of nursing school! I finished this semester with 2 A’s and a B.  One more year left and then I am a nurse!!

Here is the picture of my clinical group on our last day of Hospital Clinical. Our instructor is on the end on the right and I am three from the right! I scribbled our badges and school identifiers so apologies for that. I got so lucky - it was such an amazing group of women and we all jumped in and helped each other soo much!!

Thanksgiving was spent the traditional way for my family… Good food, laughter and a wonderful time spent together. We did our usual cookie baking fiasco and as usual it was great! Here are a bunch of photos from the long weekend.

Below is my my brother in laws mom and step-father, my parents, my brother in law and sister and their children and grandchild (minus her older daughter who was working this day). The little tot in the picture is my first great-niece, Leighton! We all love her soo much!!

This is my sister and brother in law with their first grandchild. Soo adorable, right??


This is an impromptu pic of the beginning of cookie baking. Those are both of my sisters and my dad.


This is our side of the family. We do two dinners and this was the second one. This is my sister and brother-in-law their children, grandchild, and one of the kids girlfriend. Also, my other sister and brother in law and their kids. The kids are all so grown up! If you have followed my blog for a while you will probably be amazed… Three of the children in this picture are those three little tiny kids that I played in the lake with for so many years. They’re all grown up now.

Many evenings we have game time. It’s a great time for everyone to just laugh and decompress. I can’t even tell you the numbers of different games we played this year.


More candid baking photos…


The kids and I fought over who got to hang out with this little cutie. She was definitely the hit of the weekend. She’s so much fun to be around and all the kids took turns watching her while we baked.


Sugar cookies…


Candy cane rolling…the worst cookie job that excreting hates-ha!!


A little relaxation - football and screen time!!


Snuggles between batches!!!


My adorable niece entertained us all with her guitar playing throughout the weekend!! Love listening to her play!


My sister started selling Beauty Counter products so of course we all had to mask up and rejuvenate Our skin in the evenings.  If you need a product hookup, let me know. I’ll get you her information!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I hope everyone is happy, safe and well!!!

Thank you all of you for all your words of support!

Love you guys - so many hugs to everyone!! 

Checking in from Nursing School

Hi all you very cherished old friends in blog land!!!! I have been popping onto Blogger to keep up with you all as I crash in bed every night! You guys continue to relax me and I love hearing how everyone is. My appologies for not commenting because I am always so exhausted it is all I can do to scroll through and keep up!!! 

 I am writing a check in post again after another 5 months reprieve filled with Nursing School....studying, zoom and in person labs, in person clinicals at Pittsburgh Hospitals and a whole lot of tests!!!!!!! Right now I have an A in 130 Clinical, B in 130 Lecture, A in 130 Lab, A in 140 Pharmacology, and an A in Developmental Psychchology. This is all four weeks before finals so that could all change soon - HA HA HA!! School, for me, was such a great decision! It is awesome and I love every second!!! 

Cudos to all you nurses out there - I had NO idea how much work it is and how much perseverance it requires!! I can not wait to be an RN!! 

 Since I have not posted for few months I am going to give you a summary photo dump of how things are going when I am not in school, clinical or studying. I wish I could post more school pictures and things but it is against policy to take any pictures at clinical or school which makes total sense!! I will fill you in on my non-existant social life instead!! HA HA! 

 So, first off my parents (78 years years young) decided to get a puppy!!! I still think my little sister was the one that convinced them to get her but they swear that it was their idea! She is adorable!! Her name is Gracie and as you will see from the pictures she grew up fast and is the love of everyone that meets her - especially my nieces and nephew!!! The ifrst picture is the day she came with my Mom and Dad and the rest are the kid with her. LOVE LOVE

In May of 2021 my niece (and Godchild) made her confirmation and I was a super proud Aunt to be able to be her confirmation sponsor!!!

We did a family vacation to the beach with my sisters this year again. Stone Harbor wee missed you and we were soo happy to be back in July as a family! I went parasailing with my niece, we had family pics on the beach and watched the fireworks on the beach!!! I LOVE Stone Harbor, NJ!

Here are a few random niece and nephew pics...my nephew hated soccer and sister kept signing him up so he was soo excited when she finally DID NOT sign up ...we got him a retirement balloon and card!! HA HA! The last picture is my niece with my one and only great niece!!!!! She is adorable!!!

I attended the Harry Styles concert with my sister, niece and her friend here in Pitsburgh. It was a great concert and I was super excited to have company stay over at my house!!! I appreciated the invite so much and loved the music!!

I am happy to report that even after the company overnight, that cat that lived under the bed for over a year is still doing amazing! She is out and about all day and running and playing and even dropping a few pounds!!! She looks more comfortable each day...as you can see in the picture below!!! HA HA! All the cats are actually doing great!! They just lay around all day in the trees while mommy studies!! HA

Speaking of company, now that Steeler FOOTBALL season is here....I have company every home game and I love it!!! The family has attended every home game this year and we are having a great time!!!! I think it is my Mom's favorite thing to be in that stadium enjoying the electric atmosphere! We love Heinz Field and the Steelers!!

This is the sweetest picture I have seen lately...my best friend (the one that lived I Kauai that I went to visit) has recently moved back to Seattle. She had her baby girl yesterday!!!! Her name is Daniela Raquel!! So her daughter Nena is big sis!!!! She and baby are doing great and I am so happy for their family! Maybe after nursing school and NCLEX I can get a visit in!!!

I will leave you with a picture of me and my very best nursing school friend Shawne. We were in all our classes together last semester and this is a lovely photo in the parking garage before clinical!!! She is so supportive and such a great person!!!! I wish I could introduce you to everyone in school because it is a great group of people (young and old) helping and motivating each other to get through and succeed!!! Everyone just wants to see everyone succeed! It is truly awesome!!!

I hope you all have a fantastic day and I promise to do my best to geive more frequent updates!!! And picture dumps!!! HA HA!!! Love you all lots...thanks for the undying support and motivation!!!! You guys are all soooo awesome!!!!