taming the chaos

about three times a year (fall, spring & summer semesters) i have to do what I call "taming the chaos" of my family. for my fellow students out there, it's always challenging to coordinate a work schedule, a school schedule, a social life, perhaps a greek organization....it's hard. or at least it was until I became a mom/wife/student/intern-turned-producer whose husband has a full time management position.

i'm not whining. trust me. I know how fortunate a young family is to be employed, educated and still have some time together, particularly in this economy. 

actually, i'm bragging. 

my dear friend Nathan has long since been a strange combination of impressed & petrified of my organizational & time management skills that have only been more finely tuned since becoming a mother. 

And I wanted everyone else to share that mixture of awe and fear.

nathan & I looking a little bit like siblings. 

which is only fitting since his girlfriend (ellie, the best friend) & my husband look exactly like brother & sister. 

see what I mean?

anyways, in the face of all of that madness, i've found that i thrive in the situation and my organization skills are pretty top notch as of late. 

just to be a little bit more specific, here are the many elements of scheduling that I have to organize:

Adam's Work Schedule. 

i have to do my best to keep him as the opener most mornings (as that is where he is a rock star) while i work on a morning radio show. 

i also have to do my best to arrange around adam's weekly game night which is ever changing due to two of the players being university professors and another being a PhD student. 

Reed's Child Care Schedule. 

in case anyone doesn't know, reed is 2 and a half now. 

he goes to a parent's day out twice a week for about five & a half hours a day.

we love it, he loves it. he really thrives in the social interaction. 

however, sometimes life starts before the 9am drop off time (life like a morning radio show maybe?) and that's when creative scheduling comes in handy. 

My Class Schedule

the longer i'm in school, which who's really keeping track (please nobody keep track), the harder this piece of the puzzle is to manage. 

the higher division classes are harder to schedule because there are fewer of them, particularly in a program on the smaller side like journalism. 

my 1st semester back after having reed I took 15 hours. 

I stacked my classes primarily on Mondays & Wednesdays and then had 2 classes Friday mornings. 

this fall, i'm looking at 1 class monday/wednesday/friday, two classes mondays & wednesdays, two classes on tuesdays & thursdays.

Oi with the poodles already. 

The Morning Show

 this one is probably the most fun & the hardest to work into my life. 

adam opens every morning at Starbucks, save for his 2 days off a week (if that). 

he gets there at 4:30am. I have to be at the radio station at 5am. 

we have a small child. 

see the problem?

but i love it, so I tame the chaos. 

and in case you're wondering why dear Nathan has ever been scared?

it's my desk calendar. 

(complete with a color coded highlighting system)

the above + my iPhone are my biggest lines of defense in the war against disorganization. 

what keeps you organized? 

and would you like lessons in the art of arranging your life via color coded highlighters? cause i could teach that class. 

It's Splitsville Time in Tinsletown

Tragedy has once again struck the collective of celebrity romances and it's time for me to write about it.

Just a week before Christmas, People Magazine's Current Sexiest Man Alive and the GQ Babe of the Year announced that they were splitting up. I assume there was simply too much vanity & hair products in this relationship but supposedly, it was simply that they never spent time with each other due to work. If that's the reason for your marriage ending, you are pretty much saying "Hey, I love my career more than I love you. But it's been fun." 

Scarlett & Ryan in happier times.

Zac Efron & Vanessa Hudgens.
 I'm not particularly upset about this one, though the Disney Darlings were fairly adorable together. It's still sad to see a years-long relationship end, whether I have an abnormal attachment to this particular couple or not, but I'm actually still surprised they survived the Vanessa Naked Picture scandal.

This is the one I'm truly upset about lately. 

Macaulay Culkin & Mila Kunis
These two went their separate ways after 8 years of dating, which always blows my mind that people can spend that amount of time together and then just throw it away. For celebrity couples, these two were pretty low key without being obsessive about privacy and just utterly adorable. In some pictures, they look a bit like a lesbian couple since they're both so tiny and pretty. I will miss them. 

If only I wasn't so enthralled with the goings-on of certain celebrities, I wouldn't be so upset when they had real life problems. Currently, I'm also pretty obsessed with Seth MacFarlane (the creator of Family Guy & American Dad) and trying to find out what he does besides a lot of voices and sing Dean Martin & Frank Sinatra. It's my new project, at least until school starts back up.

Stay Tuned.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...Break!

I think you already know what I'm going to say. Obviously, I've neglected my blog.
There were times where I could have updated it but for the sake of sanity and not having total sleep deprivation, I decided to take blogging off of my list of things to do and stick to being a momma, working, and studying for finals/writing papers. Oh and not letting my house fall into total disarray.
However, as of about 15 minutes ago I turned in my last paper, all of my finals are over and my fall semester has officially come to a close. Well, all except selling all the godforsaken textbooks back.

In my absence from the blog world, life did go on for the Hinson family, slightly beyond school and work.

The most important of which is the food. Adam and I went on a few date nights, the first of which was at Old Venice. Sadly, we went with friends and I didn't feel comfortable asking them if I could photograph their food. The second was a happy just for me, Adam treated me to sushi at Sekisui Pacific Rim and a matinee of Love and Other Drugs. Sushi and a naked Jake Gyllenhaal. Do I have the best husband ever or what? 

My Spicy Salmon Rolls with Avacado :)

Adam got California Rolls because he's scared of raw sushi. I ended up eating most of them.
I treated him to a burger after the movie.

And lastly on the topic of food, my dear friend Heather & I had a play date with our boys and, after a long day of school, she made me lunch. Isn't she adorable?

In case you can't tell, that's a peanut butter sandwich, baked lays, grapes and spicy pickles.

And here's what reed is up to:

Reed managed to find all things Thomas in BookStar within 2.5 minutes.

He became his father. At least I don't have to worry about him being the 16 year old dad on the 2020 version of 16 & Pregnant (he'll at least wait til 24).

And wait for it....

And then he joined the teeny tiny Village People.

Celebrate my return to my blog. Seriously. Have a party with really good food and cupcakes and then invite me. It'd be kind of lame if you didn't. Next up in the life of Raquel, Adam & Reed Hinson....Christmas Shopping! Stay tuned.

it's the worst kind of heartache

tonight's blog is going to be about something very important to me.
it's a highly emotional topic and it's one that often I'm too upset to speak of so this is a special occasion.
i'm speaking, of course, of Celebrity Break-Ups.

there's been a string of them recently, some more devastating than others, and really, I needed to take to the blog to let out my feelings about this.
hey, it's cheaper than therapy.

let's go back to the genesis of when the celebrity break-up's really started to wound me. there were a few that tugged at my heart strings in the beginning;
riding to school freshman year of high school and hearing on the radio about Tom & Nicole (remember they were married before he kidnapped Joey from Dawson's Creek) was slightly disheartening but not truly upsetting.
No, the big one for me was also the big one for America:
the beloved Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston.

Brad & Jen
I have to admit, I'm still not over this. Despite their six kids, I still think Angelina Jolie is a homewrecker and I would rock those "Team Aniston" shirts from back in 2005 (that I totally would have bought if I'd been old enough to posses a credit card and online shop back then). The couple formerly known as Mr. and Mrs. Pitt are heartbreaking but not all that recent (tell that to OK! Magazine though, they are still running weekly stories about this drama).

Last year, the collective of Celebrity Relationships received another blow.

Tim Robbins & Susan Sarandon Split after 23 years.

This was pretty devastating. If you're not familiar with this particular coupling, despite their years together and two children, they were not married. At the time of their separation, Adam & I weren't engaged, much less married, and their supposed success without a marriage license gave me hope. After they broke up, all I had was Goldie Hawn & Kurt Russel.

It seems like in the last year we've had a lot of celebrity break-ups. The Tiger Woods and Sandra Bullock respective serial cheating sagas both ended in divorce. Bristol Palin got re-engaged and then re-broke up with her PlayGirl babydaddy all in the time that it took 2 US Weekly's to come out (publicity stunt?) And the final nail in the relationship coffin of The Notebook couple Ryan Gosling & Rachel McAdams was hit with a hammer (I'd like them to get back together, please) and Christina Aguilera filed for divorce a few weeks ago, despite telling the world that there Ain't No Other Man like her hubby.

But if there was one couple in La La Land who I thought would actually make it, it was Jen's BFF and her manchild husband.

Courteney Cox & David Arquette
Granted, the Arquette’s haven't filed for divorce and the lady of the family herself has said that this is a separation, not a divorce. However, David has gone all over the Howard Stern Show and Twitter about the girls he's screwed since their split and how his wife is tired of being his mommy. I smell divorce attorneys any second now.

If Celebrity Break-Up's don't break your heart, then probably you find me and this blog utterly ridiculous right about now. And that's okay, I understand. There are lots of things that upset other people that don't upset me. I can only hope that by some miracle of God or Perez Hilton one of these celebrities mentioned will be pouring through google posts of their name, come across my blog and realize they HAVE to get back together with their lost love.

that might happen, right?

happy tuesday, blog loves. if you're in Memphis, I hope you voted and I hope you remembered your rain boots. I only remembered to vote and I was cold all day.
Au Revoir.

What It's Like to be a Wife: Day 17

My blog is sad, so I am sad.
I haven't had a lot to post about; most of the stuff in my life right now is either too boring or too personal to put on a blog. And so my blog is sad.

But we are changing that tonight.

1. I need a new book to read. Suggestions from readers?

2. My dear friends Jesse & Robyn (read her blog, it's fab) are throwing a Halloween party.
In honor of my new wife status, I've decided to actually dress up this year.

I'm going to be a retro housewife. Pictures of the real deal will be forthcoming.

3. I lied before, I'm definitely blogging about the wedding one more time. I got all the pictures in and they are up on my facebook. But honestly, it was just too big of an event for me to not give the joy of it a blog post, especially since i went on and on about the stress.

4. Speaking of housewifely duties, I've been trying to cook for Adam more consistently. A lot of my friends, particularly the married ones, plan out their meals for the week so this week I'm trying it out.

Tonight
Veggie Burritos with Spanish Rice

Thursday
Buttermilk-Brined Fried Chicken, Twice Baked Potatoes & Asparagus

Friday
Four Cheese Homemade Pizza with Garlic & Veggies

Saturday

Spaghetti with marinara sauce, parmesan & romano cheese
(cheap dinner night)

Sunday

Cornish Game Hens with Greek Rice

Hopefully, HusbandAdam will be pleased with the effort. I don't have that much experience cooking meat so I'm relying heavily on cook books, cooking shows and the internet.

My blog is happier and so am I.
Don't forget those book recommendations :)

What It's Like to Be a Wife: Day One

the wedding is over. check my facebook for pictures.

Adam & I are now married.
He is my husband, I am his wife. I am Mrs. Hinson.
I assumed, since literally nothing of our daily life would change, that being married wouldn't really feel any different. Granted, I'm only about 22 hours into this, but it does, in fact, feel different.
But what is more interesting, to me, is the wedded bliss thing that has, however momentarily, clouded our usual line of thinking. (the same thing happened after we got engaged- we didn't have a single fight for about 6 weeks)

Exhibit A
"Honey, wherever you want to eat tonight is totally fine. You put all the work into the wedding and this is your treat."
Okay, Adam can totally be the sweetest guy in the world but the man has strong opinions about food. Not only did he suggest sushi (I love it, he's not a fan so I don't eat it that often) but he asked our sister-in-law for a recommendation to a nicer place than usual.
It was his wedding night too but he made sure dinner was a treat for me :)

Exhibit B
I woke up this morning at 6 am and couldn't go back to sleep. I reached over to Adam's bedside table for the remote to catch up on our DVR'd shows. Adam stirred and I asked him if he wanted me to watch television in the living room: "Nope, I'm not going to ask my wife to watch television without the warm blankets we have in her"
Yeah, a week ago my ass would have been on the couch.

Exhibit C
At 9 am, I was bored and hungry (not bored enough, however, to get up and cook something for breakfast) so I woke Adam up and asked him to go get breakfast with me.
Normally, this is a sin against nature. Adam wakes up at 4 am nearly every morning so if happens to be capable of sleeping in, he really isn't to be woken.
Married Adam, however, rolled over and told me he'd love to as soon as he brushed his teeth.

It seems like I'm making unmarried Adam out to be a jackass (which he wasn't) but it's funny, marriage didn't seem to be a big deal to Adam. It seemed like he figured we were more or less married, but we should probably make it official for reed.

However, it seems as though Adam is pretty pleased to be a married man, and honestly, I couldn't be happier that the wedding is over and that I am his wife.

Now we get to go pick sweet little reed up from school. And yay, no more wedding blogs :)