Fun Sun and Sand

Good Morning Bloggers,

Hope you are doing well this morning!!! It is the weekend so that is a plus. Waking up this morning I see the heavens have dumped some more snow on us, YUCK that makes this weekend even more appealing. Later this afternoon I will be boarding a flight to FLORIDA! Whoot Whoot!

I am heading on a GIRLS trip to St. Petersburg's, Florida!!!! Who is excited ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our Beachfront rooms!!!!!!

Yes posted this picture 3 times, wanna know why????? Because this is where I plan to spend most of my time poolside next to the beach!!!!!

Hopefully Mr. H  can figure out the picture uploading issue when I get back so you can see some bits and pieces from the trip.

I will however miss my MR. He is heading to Des Moines on Saturday to celebrate his brother's birthday!! Happy Birthday Mikey! It is his golden birthday so that is pretty big!
See you on Tuesday!

We're Back-Vaca Recap

Good Morning Bloggers,


It has been way to long!!! I had a week of blogging planned but when we got home Sunday night our Internet wasn't working and we have spend the past three days getting it fixed.

Also I was hoping to post some pics of our trip but I cant seem to get those to upload either! BOO! Maybe the MR. will tackle that project next tonight.

We had a great time in the CITY!!!! It was great to have some quality time together and to have FUN!

Wednesday we drove to Naperville and my mom took us to the train station. We arrived at Union Station around 5ish checked into our Hotel room and then walked around a bit downtown. I had to scope out the shops and Joe was a great partner in crime.

Then we went back to our hotel room and got ready for a big Italian dinner at Rosebuds downtown. It was delicious and we loved it but couldn't finish any of our meals.

Thursday we were out of the hotel bright and early so we could tackle our to-do list. Our first stop was the Museum Of Science and Industry we did all the exhibits and had some good laughs!
Then we walked to the University of Chicago Illinois and went to Greek town for a yummy lunch. After lunch we were off to the Shedd Aquarium. It was great! This was Joe's favorite place, who knew he was into fish?
After that we headed back to Omnio hotel which has a beautiful lounge that overlooks Michigan Ave. While we were hanging out there we decided to go to a play at the Steppenwolfe Theater. This Theater was originally started by Gary Sinacey. We saw the new production of Sex with Strangers. It was a play about two people that meet through technology. We both very much enjoyed it.

Friday we went out for breakfast downtown and Joe headed to Niketown and I headed over to Crate and Barrel to tackle all  floors!!!! I love that place!!!!!!!!!!!

The trip was great although I think the pictures would of brought this post to life!!!! 
Have a great day and more to come from Turner's Take tomorrow.

Mini VACA

Good Morning Bloggers,

Happy Wednesday- the weekend is getting even closer!!!!!! Hopefully you all had a great Valentine's day. We had a great day. Joey lined up some time for me at the SPA!!! Which was lovely. Then I made a big dinner that night! It was YUMMO!

I will be taking a short break from blogging because me and the MR. are heading on a mini vacation!! Whoot Whoot! Can you tell I am excited???? Well I sure am! We are heading to downtown Chicago and plan to do some sight seeing, trying out new restaurants, and Shopping!

I will be back Monday with a full report of  our weekend and pics.
Below is some information from our upcoming trip.

Our Hotel- Crowne Plaza Avenue

Some of the places we plan to visit:

The Museum Of Science and Industry

Shedd Aquarium

Have a great weekend and see you back on Monday!!!!!!

Happy LOVE Day!

Good Morning Bloggers,

Well it is Valentine's Day are you feeling the LOVE??????? Hopefully so.

I heard this on a commerical this year in preparation for Valentine's Day and it said "Valentine's day inst about saying I love you, it is about saying I LOVE US!"

Isn't that perfect? I don't think there is much more to say then that.

Whether you have been in love for many years or are just in the beginning stages of love you know LOVE is magical, priceless and gives life.

I am very excited for the day ahead! My LOVE has some kind of surprise planned for me this afternoon and to the only clue he would give me was that it is someplace we have never been???? Can you imagine why it was hard to sleep last night some place I have never been? I will update you once this mysterious location is revealed! He He He

Now I want to give my LOVE some some Love
-I love that you are a wonderful writer you notes and cards I cherish!!!!

-I love how you love my family, it is a priceless gift.

-I love that you made our first date church a very important step and ultimately foundation in our relationship.

-I love knowing that I get to watch you be a father someday

-I love the your work ethic. You work not only for yourself but for our future.

-I love how fiscally responsible you are and how you finically plan for our family.

-I love that you believe in people unconditionally. Anybody'scorner that you are in is BLESSED

-I love watching yo succeed you DESERVE EVERY BIT OF IT!

-I love all the memories that you have created for me!

- I LOVE YOU JOSEPH STEVEN HALUSKA!!!

Living A Life With Intention

Good Morning,

Happy Friday!!!! The weekend is Here!!! Yeah!!!! Hopefully you have fun things planned for the weekend.

Today's post was inspired from another blog that I follow called Makeunder My Life- http://makeundermylife.com/

She is a Jewelry designer that lives in Chicago and started her business years ago and started a blog about living a life with INTENTION! I love this. For awhile I have been following her blog and have really started thinking about things she has posted. Recently followers have started posting their intentions for life on the blog so I decided what better way to leave you for the weekend but with with my INTENTIONS for LIFE.
                                      
1. To be a good Wife. Short sentence BIG TASK. I am often reminded that how blessed I am because I married my best friend. Being a good wife is a slew of things for me but here are a few: Being patient, being supportive, being loving, being encouraging, being respectful, being conscious of his feelings, helping his dreams to come true, and to have FAITH IN HIM.  When Joey and I were married we had a big talk on out honeymoon about how we wanted to be a United front for each other, our children and our family.

2. Being a good daughter. My mom has been next to me from the very beginning and she has been such an amazing example of unconditional love and support. When I married Joe she not only accepted him as part of our family but she has created a very special relationship with him and loves and cares about him deeply This mean the world to me. What a gift she has given to Joe and I for creating a strong family unit. I want to be with her through thick and thin and the good and the bad. When I am busy and she needs my attention I need to give it to her.

3. Yup this is right Let Go and Be Open. If you know me then you know that I have just really challenged myself. In most areas of my life I like to be in control. I like to make a plan and stick to it. As I am learning I AM NOT IN CONTROL I AM ONLY A PASSENGER IN THIS CAR CALLED LIFE. This one is going to be a daily reminder and I am going to have to actively Let go and be open to life and what it brings. Scared about this one but optimistic of what it may bring to the table for me.

4. TO BE HEALTHY. yes I could of posted some bananas, water and a treadmill but I think if you follow this post then you already know I am plugging away at this one. I have been given to one life to live and I want to be the healthiest that I can. More water less pop, more healthy food options, exercise, and SLEEP yup I said making time for sleep since it is important to health.

5. To take a Leap of faith and to preserve with my endeavors. This has to do with many areas of my life. We must preserve through things to achieve what we want. A while back I completed a children's book. I attempted to contact some literacy agents to begin the process of getting it published and had no real luck. And stopped pursuing it!!! Well this intention is to challenge me to get through it and keep moving forward with it. Whether I publish it myself, make it an E-book, or contact to pound the pavement with publishing houses I am PRESERVING!!!!!

Have a great weekend and see you on Monday!

A Little Blog Lovin

Good Morning Bloggers,

Who is getting excited about the weekend being right around the corner????? ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The hubster and I had a great night last night watching college basketball! And if you dont know, I won the bet from last night! He He He He!

So when you are  checking your daily blogs? do you ever look at the blogs that others follow? I will tell you that is one of the ways I have found some of my favorite blogs.
So today I thought I would give some blog lovin to a few new blogs-check em out and pass on a few that you would recommend.

1. Sunday Baker: A great cooking blog, the posts are filled with the actual pictures from her recipes and the two that I have made from her have been EXCELLENT!!!!! I mean today's post:Tuscan White Bean Soup-YUMMO! http://comeandpeek.blogspot.com/

2. TIP JUNKIE: I started subscribing to this blog awhile ago but didn't check it out that frequently recently I started visiting it more and I LOOOOVVVEE!! I mean for one of her posts she took broken jewelry posts and make a beautiful decoration for her home- who doesn't love that idea???????? It includes everything from DIY projects, to recipes, to organizational tips. http://www.tipjunkie.com/

3. HOMEMADE MAMAS: Yup another great one and I found this from one of the other blogs that I follow. This is a blog that is done by 3 different mamas and they have a LARGE variety of things that they post about. They have children activities, home decorating tips, ways to save MONEY (who doesn't like that), and GIVEAWAYS. http://www.homemademamas.net/

DIET COKE Recap: Well it's going. I cant say it is easy or that  I like it but it is going. I am doing the best that I  can occasionally I have to have a few sips of one but I think on the whole  I am doing pretty good. I find it completely ironic that The Today show is doing an investigation of how it is NOT good to drink diet pop. Why does it have to taste so good then????

Have a great day!
I would love to hear about some of your favorite blogs!

It's Game Day!!!!

Good Morning,

It's Wednesday one day closer to the weekend!!!!!!

Well tonight is a big night at the Haluska home!! My beloved Duke takes on their arch rival North Carolina. I love college basketball and at a young age started cheering on Duke with my mom!!!!! For the past few years Joe and I have wagged a bet against this game and typically it is a new pair of shoes and I am proud to say the past few times I have ended up with a new pair of shoes.

There's the main man in action- coaching another team to a National Championship ( 12 total championships for the team)

Guess where the game is taking place???????

Yup that is right HOME COURT ADVANTAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And here is the team!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot wait for the Mr. to get home tonight so we can trash talk and get in some college basketball together!!!

So tonight the old school jock jams will be blaring, I will be sporting my new DUKE shirt (thanks to my brother-in-law) and my hubby will be ready for some serious trash talking. Can I tell you something though I think he is starting to like DUKE as well.

Have a great day!

Pink and Red, Pink and Red, Pink and Red

Good Morning Bloggers,

How are you doing this morning??? I am doing pretty well and getting excited for a fun filled weekend.

For today's post I wanted to focus on the upcoming holiday VALENTINE'S DAY if you didn't realize it is less than one week away. We have decided to play it low key this year.
So today I am posting some fun ideas and possible gift ideas.

1.Surprise your man with a fancy home-cooked meal!!! That's right save money and the hassle of trying to land a reservation on that day and turn your dining room table into the Le  Amout Corner. Get a pretty tablecloth, lightt tons of candles, get our the fancy dishes and make his favorites I think most guys would say STEAK but you know your man!!!!

2. I got this idea from when Joe and I did our pre-kana retreat but have a couple sheets of paper and some crayons, markers at the table. Do a a dream picture. This means that you both should spend some time drawing what your dreams are, what vacations do you want to take with each other, what do you want Sunday mornings to look like together, are there children on the horizon, etc. I can promise you it will be great and you will kick a kick out of the drawings.

3. Make a coupon book for your loved one. Yes think of all things that your partner loves to ask you to do, or that you wished they would do and put it into a coupon book. For example one could be this entitles you to a free breakfast in bed morning, or this is entitles you to the remote for the entire night. It is a great way to remember and show that the little stuff matters.

4. Play cards whether it is 21, Gin, or go fish it will be fun. Playing cards is a lost art and so good old fashioned competition can be good for the soul!!

Below are some great gifts that are moderately priced so if the man viewership has picked up on my blog or if you need to give your man some hints hopefully you like the ideas:

Gold watch, Gold is coming back in jewerly. This Armitron watch is $50.00 and can be found on amazon, FREE SHIPPING!
How about a new fragence Victoria Secret has a limited edition for Valentines Day and it is resonably priced at $40.00

Next Up, how about a cookbook that the two of you can use, yup that is right you can mark some recipes for him to try and he can do the same

And Finally how about a voucher to the local bowling lanes! Yup that is right!! When is the last time you have been bowling??? How fun  would it be to go some Saturday and bowl together!! Remember the good ol time and make up ridiculous names to use while you are plowing away for strikes!

I would love to hear about some of your Valentine's day plans and gifts!!!!

Also remember that Valentine's Day should be about the US that you love!!!

Back At It

Good Morning Bloggers,

Hope you had a great weekend!!! In my opinion it went by far to fast!!!

Anyways I thought I would re-cap a few of the highlights.

First of all we are truly feeling the meaning of being homeowners!!!! During the winter storm this past week our chimney cap blew off hit our neighbors house and dinged their siding!!!! Then on Saturday we realized our furnace wasn't working-BRRRR!! So we made a service call and write a big fat check to get it fixed, YIKES! So we are hoping since we have been hit hard the past few days that we are in the clear for awhile with house issues.

Secondly yesterday we spend the Superbowl with very good  friends and had a great time!!!! We both really weren't interested in the Superbowl that much since the BEARS weren't playing. It is now onto College basketball!!!! WHICH I LOVE. This Wednesday is a big game for me my beloved DUKE take on their enemy North Carolina. Me and The Mr have a big bet on it.

Guess who I got to see for a few hours yesterday:

Yup that is Madeline Jane!!!! She brings a smile to all of us!!!
This week I am attempting to clean our carpets with a friends carpet cleaner, I have had them professionally cleaned before but I am going to give this a shot so I can determine whether or not to buy one of these. I will keep you posted as to how it goes! Have a great day!

Can You Dig It???

Good Morning,


Well the weekend has arrived yeah!!!!! I am always happy to see Friday arrive Do you have big plans for the weekend??? I have a long list of things that I need to get done today so hopefully I can power through the LIST ( I am a fanatic list maker- I love them)

Today I wanted to post some things that I DIG!!!

1. HOPE all kinds of it for different things. Being hopeful about my future, the future of my marriage, hopeful about family, Hopeful about SPRING, Hopeful about WARM WEATHER

2. CARBONATED WATER- this is day 2 of no pop, no headache but I can tell it is hitting me this morning.

3. This week I ordered some seedlings and planned out my GARDEN ( can you tell I have warm sunshine on my mind?) Last year I didn't do a garden since we were gone on so many of the weekends and lack of time with wedding planning. So this summer I am back at it!! I will post all the info and layout in a different post.

4. A couple of weeks ago my husband stopped at Barnes and Noble and picked up a few new books for me, isn't he a sweetheart. I have started this one "Summer at Tiffany" It is a memoir about two girls in the 1940's that are attended the University of Iowa that head to New York City to work for the Summer and land a job at TIFFANY'S

5. I was cleaning out a file storage bin last night and I came across a prayer that my mom had written my when I was in college studying to be a nurse, after reading it I knew I had to share because it brought such peace and comfort
"The Light of God surrounds me.
The Love of God enfolds me.
The Power of God Protects me.
The Presence of God watches over me, Wherever I am God is."

Have a great weekend with you loved one bloggers and I will see yo back here on Monday

What's For Dinner? Thursday

Good Morning Snow Bunnies,

How did everyone enjoy their snow day???? Joe couldn't make it into the office so he was home with me and we had a pretty good day hanging around the house. Joe plugged away on the shoveling with the help of Wrigely!!!!

Our neighbor came over and rang our doorbell and he was holding our chimney cap. He explained how he found it in his yard next to his house and it had hit his house and taken out a portion of his siding.

Oh the JOYS of being a homeowner!!!

Now on to today's topic What's For Dinner?
I  wanted to give a re-cap on how we are doing with EATING IN. I think overall the month of January we did pretty good I could see a big difference from not eating lunch out and sticking to the menu planning on weeknights.
Trust me it wasn't easy- there were nights when I wanted to head out and pick something up.

Now that we have entered February I am feeling better than ever about the Menu Planning I have found some great sites that have menu planning down to a science and great ideas to keep it fresh.

Tonight I am plugging away at a pie recipe that I will post- it is for my grammie we are pie junkies!

Have you tried the menu planning? Here is a sample week of ours:

Monday: TexMex with tortillas
Tuesday: Mandarin Orange Chicken with White Rice
Wednesday: SNOW DAY free for all pick what you want fend for yourself night!
Thursday: Spaghetti with Salad
Friday: Salmon, veggies, and rice

Here is a recipe for you:
Tex Mex with Tortillas
Take 3 to 4 chicken breast that are cooked and chop up in small pieces. Put into a large skillet that has olive oil in the bottom of it. Then add a can of Black Bean, diced green chilies, diced tomatoes, a packet of taco seasoning, and a 8oz of cream cheese cut up into the skillet. Let this simmer for about 20-30 minutes. As it cooks it will thicken up. Then you can spoon it into tortillas, add a little shredded cheese and YUMM-O

Have a great Thursday
(So far today no diet coke, lets see how I am doing by next Monday!)

Beauty Rush-2

Good Morning,

Well the Meteorologist were right the Blizzard has arrived and dumped buckets, and buckets of snow on us in The Quad Cities and so many other areas in the Midwest.

The snow drifts in our front yard and backyard are MASSIVE. Poor Wrigley has no legs when he ventures out. Guess who is joining me on a snow day today? MY MR!! Whoot Whoot

Anyways now on to today's post- BEAUTY RUSH Part 2 awhile ago I did a post about some beauty products that I use. It has been awhile so I thought I would follow it up with some NEW products that I have discovered.

A friend of mine featured this soap on her blog, and I really wanted to try it after she mentioned the tingle effect of it:

This soap is called Ain't MisBehavin- it is a great cleanser and when you use it you don't wet your face or hands before you put it on. The cost $25.00 and it can be found on sephora,com

Do you get the occasional breakout or the whooper around your special time of the month- well good we have something in common. You would think at almost 27years old I would be done breaking out but NOPE. This stuff is a MIRACLE worker. You only need a little bit to do the trick. I put it on as a spot treatment before I go to bed and LOVE the results when I wake up. It runs $23.00 and can be found on sephora.com

This has been a staple in my beauty regime for some time now. I keep it in the shower and while I shave or shampoo my hair I slather this on my face and let it sit for a couple of minutes. I love the glisten and fresh look it gives my face. This one is very affordable running $4.99 and can be found at any drugstore.

Wrinkles Wrinkles Wrinkles- You don't want them? Then you must start preserving at a young age when the skin cells are in the early stages. I started using this REVITALIFT from L'oreal because I wasn't ready to shell out $40-$65.00 for a wrinkle cream and I am glad that I gave this a try. It works on both your eyes and forehead and I can visable tell a difference when I use it the next day. Can you believe this it only costs $10.00 you gotta love that and it can be found at most drugstores.

LOTION- during the winter months my skin CRAVES lotion. My dearest MOMMA got me this lotion after she tried it and she picked a WINNER. It is called whipped souffle lotion and the name is spot on. It is so creamy and rich and my skin soaks it all up without leaving that greasy feeling. It runs $7.99 and can be found at most drugstores.

Now for a little bit of make-up. For a very long time I have used Bare Essentials make-up and really liked it but I felt at times that I wanted less coverage and I didn't like the feeling of layers of powder on my face. Before my wedding I bought some products from Laura Mercier and really liked them, The tinted moisturizer is a great product that I can wear with some mascara and lip gloss and be out of the door feeling great about my look. It runs $42.00 and is worth every drop.

This is a staple in my make-up organizer and my purse. I think a big part of having clear skin is getting that mid-day sluff off my face and these little oil absorbent sheets are miracle workers. The sephora brand is $10.00 or you can buy the brand from the drugstore for $4.99. I encourage you to try them out and check out how your face looks after you use one!

What products are staples in your beauty regime????

(ON A SIDE NOTE: Happy Groundhog's Day. The Groundhog did not see his shadow so that is supposed to mean that Spring will come early!! Here's to wishful thinking)

Work It-I Need A Glass Of Water

Good Morning Fellow Bloggers,

Hope you are staying warm and safe we are getting hit with another load of snow and ice. Hopefully this will be last of it!! OR I am just a very optomistic person.

Well I have started a new workout regime. Being healthy is important and I know there are a few things that I need to change about my lifestyle. First Up:

DIET COKE- I am a diet coke junkie and I need to kick the habit, well maybe not say goodbyeto it forever but I need to drastically reduce the amount that I consume. I can easily drink 32oz of diet coke a day. This is not good. So I have been slowly reducing the amount I consume. I am down to one can a day and as I write this we have 2 cans left in our house. Once they are gone- they gone and that is it.

Guess what I am replacing diet coke with:

Yesterday I drank 32oz of water. Do I miss Diet Coke-YES but I have started putting slices of lemon in my water and drinking carbonated water and it really isnt that bad!!! My goal is to drink a minimum of 32oz of water a day.
Next Up: WORKING OUT

I have done the Jillian Michaels videos before and they work. This one especially. It is an intense 20 minutes. After the video I do 30 minutes on the treadmill!!!

It is Feburary 1st so I will give an update/results on March 1st on how the WATER and wokring out is going. If you have given up diet coke and have any suggestions on how to help the headaches let me know.