In May of 2008, my oldest child moved in with my mother. I followed a year later. When he moved here, the room he was given was filled with my mother’s Doll Collections, her books, pictures of family, and other stuff that was…well…hers. He was able to get her to move the dolls out but the other stuff stayed.

He is a senior this year and has decided to stay home the first year of college and attend a Junior College in the area. However, his room still does not scream “AJ”. It screams, “I am AJ and I sleep in one of my granny’s extra rooms.”

Top that off with the fact that the furniture is a bit old and the carpet as well and you have a room that is crying for help. Here is a video from my son AJ to give you an idea of what I am talking about.

Let me just introduce you to AJ and let him show you why he needs a new room:

I went to the “Your Zone” section of Walmart’s online store and found some great things for his room. They are reasonable and I can redo his entire room with the $500 gift card I am trying to win from Dr Mommy over at Dr Mommy Chronicles.

My son has always had to share and he never really had his own room. Right now he shares his room with his Granny’s stuff and that just should not be. He is a Senior in High School and I want him to have a room that screams about the type of kid that he is.

Ok, so by now you know that I am not a typical mommy blogger. However, my friend, Dr Mommy, thinks I would be great at doing reviews. I am getting books to review and I am even doing some reviews on things to help mom relax. I will be starting those soon and would love to do some more. Here is my dilemma…

Mom Unplugged is not a normal Mommy Blog. I don’t do the Wordless Wednesdays like Ionce did, I don’t talk about other contests, etc, and I really am just not very “mommy blog” centered. Don’t get me wrong, I love moms – shoot I am one – but I don’t follow the crowd. I am just me!

My other problem is that this blog talks about some deep stuff and that is what most of my readers look forward to. I hit topics that many won’t on their mom blogs. I love what I write about and really don’t want to divert from it at all.

The cool thing is that I have done a number of reviews for some of the magazines I have written for as well as for Vegan Family Living (my old blog that hubby is taking over – supposedly) and I do enjoy writing about what I like.

So do I stick to book reviews only or do I branch out into true mommy blogger status?

Do I create another blog just for my reviews or just doing them here?

How do I get started with doing reviews?

Can someone help a sister out?

Do you see that pretty heart? it represents change for a better me, and you if you choose to accept the challenge as I did. My good friend -really i am not joking – Kelly McCausey has decided it is time to become a better her. What a goal! She took some time to talk about it and open up the challenge to all who will join her on a road that is sure to change lives.

I am in. Most of my readers know that I have been on a journey like this for quite some time. so joining this challenge is right up my alley.

Let me share with you what I will be working on in the next 48 days:

1. Getting into the Word Daily.
2. Journaling daily
3. Stretching
4. Managing my time better
5. Eating more fresh fruits and vegetables
6. Reading more life enriching books
7. Stop drinking sodas – a habit I picked back up through this transition period we have been through.

Like Kelly, I am asking that you hold me accountable for my actions. Email me, call me on Skype if you have my ID, Tweet me, Facebook me -whatever- and let me kow that your eyes are watching me.

I am in! Are you? If so be sure to read Kelly’s post about the challenge, pick up the graphic and start your change today. Oh yeh, and leave me a comment if you choose to be a part of the 48 Days toa  better me challenge.

My buddy Arika over at They Call Me Whammy started this really cute meme and since I am starting to be a better blog hostess and guest as well as a better wife, I am participating in this. Here is how you play:

Let’s play shall we? Here’s how.

1. Grab the graphic up there and insert it, along with these rules, in your post.
2. Give at least 5 reasons why you love your hubby. List more if you want.
3. Tag 5 people (or more) to play along and link to their blogs in your post.
4. Then visit those women’s blogs and leave them a comment on any of their posts.

Now I guess I gotta share why I love my man…right? Ok here goes:

1. He challenges me and helps me to grow.
2. Whenever he can he takes Mr Man to work because he knows how active that boy can be.
3. He has a heart that reaches out to so many people.
4. When I get in the bed he sleeps right under me and keeps me warm on cold nights.
5. He love God more than he loves me.

Ok now I have to tag some folks but I really don’t know who to tag, so I tell you what. If you join this meme, just link to Arika and my blogs. Deal

Over the past month, my friend over at Dr Mommy Chronicles has given me a few awards that I have neglected to put up. Oh boy am I bad with that. But I need to get better. I am not sure If I will post them on my sidebar because I don’t like a lot of clutter; so here are my bloggy awards and you know what I am a little happy about them too!

Thank Daisy! I think you are pretty special too.

I am on a mission to do the things that LaTara enjoys doing. If you read my post Nurture You, you will know that I allowed myself to become everything to my husband and kids and very little to myself.

So this was my year to regain LaTara and start doing things that she enjoys doing. A few of the things that i enjoy doing are:

• Reading good books
• Singing – I was in the choir for over 10 years and loved the training and challenge of singing gospel
• Listening to music
• Writing for enjoyment.
• Listening to a good podcast
• Drinking my green smoothies
• Taking nice long bath and even napping while soaking
• Crocheting
• Being home alone
• Going to natural health and living events
• Eating out and taking in a moving by myself
• Playing Mah Jong
• Dancing
• Hanging out with my girls in LA. I am going there for my 40th birthday – ALONE!
• Taking Brehane to hang out for the day
• Laughing with my husband

As you can see most of the things that I enjoy are quite simple. I am not an extravagant.

Just about everything I enjoy doing allows me to listen to music, an audio book, or podcast and I recently received a cool new toy that I won from Kelly McCausey over at Moms Talk Radio. A While back I won an 8 gig Pink Nano Ipod and after a few mishaps and slow delivery, I finally got my new toy.

Now I can enjoy a few of my favorite things while I listen to a few more of my favorite things.

What are some of your favorite toys and things to do?

I don’t do a lot of blog parties but when I heard about the Mom Talk Network having an artsy momma blog party, I just had to join in. I was a bit confused on what and artsy momma is but when I read what they were looking for I thought “yep, I fit the bill”. So here I am sharing why I am an artsy momma.

I have been into crafts for some time. Having owned a day care for 4 years and working at a church as a VBS teacher, Youth retreat facilitator, and Pre-teen bible study teacher, I have the opportunity to make many crafts.

I have always enjoyed crafts but I never thought they would come in handy for everyday living. You see I am a natural living momma and I make a lot of my own products for the home and body. It sorta happened out of necessity more so than a passion to make healthy products for my family.

Because of finances I went in search of how to make products at home that the entire family could use. For us it was hard to even buy lotions at times and the cheap stuff is just no good for the body and it tends to leave my pretty caramel skin a little ashy. Sorry, LaTara was not having that.

So the first thing I experimented with was making bath salts and body sugars. My very first body sugar was a honey lemon one that we wanted to eat more than putting it on our body. But we did and I tell you after a shower that included this body sugar, your body was well polished and smooth.

Then I learned how to make a coconut and olive oil mixture with shea butter and tea tree oil. We call it the head to toe body cream because it is a good cream for the hair, face, and body. Especially here in Chicago in the cold winter months when your skin becomes dry and crackly from the harsh low degree tempts. Before I made this cream I was one scaly looking sister from the knees down.

It was such a great experiment that when it came time to remove the toxic chemicals from the home I started using everyday around the house products like baking soda, Borax, lemon and vinegar to clean the home. Of course I added essentials oils for that disinfecting need that a bottle of Clorox would often solve.

It has been a joy actually using the knowledge I have from years or research and combining it with my love of crafts to make products that are non-toxic and healthy for the entire family.

As a woman who strives to live an authentic existence being able to create products that speak of who I am and what my family stands for makes it all worthwhile. I think a huge part of authenticity includes doing what you do with joy.

If you are an artsy momma why not join us this week over at Moms Talk Network for the party.