The Latta Family

Instagram is setting a very unrealistic set of expectations for me.  Not in body image ways. I don't really get impacted by that very often.  Home project ways.  I follow a lot of home decor/DIY influencers.  It seems like they do a project in a day or two and their house is right back to being amazing.  They don't really show the setbacks.   I decided to paint the main living areas of our house over break.  So I have painted: the entryway, the dining room, the laundry room, the hallway, and the living/kitchen.  Well . . . almost.  The kitchen area is not done.  It took me a month to settle on a color.  I needed it to match with an accent wall behind the tv in our living area.  According to Pinterest and the patches of paint I painted all over the house- it was going to be perfection!   I decided on a nice greige and fully committed to it as I purchased 5 gallons to start with. Good thing I really really like the...

 I know it's Christmas, and I should be posting about all the good cheer and happiness, but I just finished baking a recipe that I HATE preparing (However, I do like eating them).  Like, I really effing hate it.  I fix it every year.  Sometimes more than once a year.   Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Rolls.   I have a love hate relationship with them.  They're such good cinnamon rolls.  So good.  They have lots of filling, a delicious moist dough.  They smell amazing when you're baking them.  It makes a TON.  It makes about 48-50!!!  Clearly I give them away.  No one needs that many rolls- or else you'll have rolls that don't fit in your pants.  (LOL) To make them???  Well- I will say one benefit to making them is it's like child birth and you don't remember how much it sucks . . . until the next year you go to make them.  It all comes back to you.  It takes approximately 10 cups of flour and 1.25...

 Have you ever heard the term phrase Murphy's Law?  I first heard it way back in the late 80's because there was a tv show called Murphy's Law.  Apparently the phrase means, "Anything that can go wrong- will go wrong."   Now I bet you're thinking this is going to be a blog post talking about 2020.  It's not.  It's a blog post about TECHNOLOGY BEING AN OVERALL PAIN IN MY PATOOT. Last week I had to take a video, and create an audio file for one of my classes.  When I initially learned of this event I had to perform, I assumed I would just go to school and get an audio recording device.  Turns out we didn't have one of those.  Turns out to purchase one is $100+.  I wasn't spending that money for one use.  I thought I solved the problem because the school does have a snazzy recording device and I was initially told it does do audio recordings in addition to awesome video recordings. . . it doesn't do just audio.  I was startin...

 Alexa got cut on an alligator tooth today.  This is actually a true story.  Upon first examination of the wound, I wondered if I would have to take her to get stitches.  The cut is pretty long.  And there is a spot where the toe got hung on the tooth, that's a little worrisome.  I'm gonna keep a check on this today and see what I think as the day goes on.   Are you like- Kate, give it up.  Alexa did not get injured by alligator!  But she did.  For real.  That is a stuffed alligator head.  It was previously a real alligator- the living, breathing, predator kind.  Why is it at my house?  The story makes complete sense once you hear it.  My mother is involved.  Those of you who know my mom- are like, "Say no more Kate.  This makes total sense."  How did my mom obtain this alligator head?!  Somehow when my brother was in college, he came into possession of this alligator head.  When he ...

 Are y'all familiar with the children's story, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" by Laura Numeroff?  If not- here's the basic premise.  The little boy, gives his mouse friend a cookie, but the mouse decides it needs some juice to go with the cookie, and the juice reminds him he likes apples, which then he has to go do . . . anyway.  By the end of the book, the boy and the mouse had many adventures all because the boy gave the mouse a cookie.  There are several similar books: "If You Give a Moose a Muffin," "If You Give a Pig a Pancake . . " anyway.   Let me preface this story by saying . . . everytime I say "need" please know- I don't actually need  any of these things and I am 100% fully aware of that, which is why I was getting so frustrated with myself.   The other day I was sitting on my couch and thought, "I should move my coffee pot."  Right now it's sitting on a make shift coffee spot, on a piece of furniture.  I...

 Wow.  I am a terrible blogger.  I just went 2 months with not a word.  I didn't even tell you how the "No Processed Sugar" situation ended.  Also- I was just looking at my statistics over the last ten years, and I'm on track to have the lowest amount of blogs published in a year.  What have I been doing this year?!   1. The No Processed Sugar.  I did it.  I made it 21 days and then I went crazy and have been eating sugar like a lunatic since.  I like sugar.  I like baked goods mostly.  I love cookies and pumpkin muffins and brownies.  Do I eat candy?  Yes.  But you know what?  I don't love it.  I know.  That's some crazy talk because I do love chocolate.  Here's what I've noticed- I will eat the heck out of it, but if I really stop to think about it . . . I don't actually love it.  I like it, but frequently I find out the actual flavor of it is . . . too sweet.  I think that's ...

 Technically, it's not quite 14 days.  Tomorrow morning is officially 14 days.   I'll say this, I'm surviving.  And this week it's been easier than last week.  I still want treats, but not with that same level of desperation I did last week.  Last week I needed cheerleading and being talked off the ledge and I had to pep talk myself a lot.  This week . . . I haven't had to get any cheerleading.  I've also not really needed to pep talk myself much.  In some ways I am feeling positive and in others . . . I am feeling frustrated.  I have definitely noticed some patterns.  I'm feeling positive because yes! I'm doing this, and it's definitely getting easier in the day to day.   I'm frustrated because the patterns I've noticed, are going to be hard to avoid when I release myself from the challenge.  1. I want sugar when I'm stressed, but the feeling goes away fast.  So I just have to wait it out.  I can do th...