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Sunday, July 29, 2012

Weekend Update.

Hey everyone! Thought I would give you all a little update from my weekend. 
Friday was Mike's birthday! We both had long, busy days, so we decided to celebrate on Saturday. After work on Friday, I went to my friend's bachelorette party at Spaghetti Warehouse. It was a great time catching up with friends :) 
me & the Bride. the lighting is awful..sorry!

Saturday was such an amazing day! Unfortunately, I had to start the day by working from 8-noon. When I returned home from work, Mike and I decided to go to a lake nearby and rent a paddleboat for an hour. It was such a beautiful day & very relaxing :) 
We came back home after the lake and got ready to go out for dinner and some fun! We ate at Mongolian BBQ :) YUM! Gotta love their FREE birthday meals! Then we did some shopping {well, I did ;)} & decided to see the Batman movie. AHH, we LOVED the movie! So, Mikey's 23rd birthday was a huge success :) 
{sorry no pics of the rest of the night}

And for today, well...we haven't done much. The sermon at church was on God's will & it was amazing! Definitely something that Mike & I both needed to be reassured about. Lunch was provided by Wendy's :) and then we came home to rest! 
Enzo pretty much represents how our day has gone :) 

Side update: Mike's new job is going beyond amazing! He has been "promoted" to a manager-type position already! The company has some big things in store for him! This is a HUGE praise! Please pray for Mike & his journey with his new job! 

Hope your weekend was as wonderful as mine was! 


Wednesday, July 25, 2012

The 3 D's: Decor, Drywall Issues, & Dogs.

Good morning :) Last night I decided to document some things that were going on around the house. We recently have added new touches of decor or just given a new look to others and I though I would share. I am just excited to decorate our WHOLE house when it is finished! 
{lots of pictures in this post}

Decor
my favorite little decor details...for now!
I have tons of glassware I bought for our wedding last year, so I am trying to come up with ways to use most of it. I brought this into the kitchen & we love its use! We put snacks in this in order to free up some cabinet space & it makes things much easier when on the go! 

 Our wall in the living room is now complete! The "C" really brought it all together. Mike's mom gave it to us because she was no longer using it & we gladly accepted it. We love it! Thanks, Marsha :)

This is my shelf from Pier 1 I bought when we were first married. Love this thing. It just contains those nick-knacks you aren't sure where to put anywhere else. :) New stuff is being switched in & out at times. 

 For our wedding, I used a bunch of river rock for our reception. It was just sitting in a big and I honestly had no idea what to do with them. The big glass thing was from our wedding as well. My mom suggested I do the above and we love it! Looks great on the coffee table with our little plants. :)

This white hang-up thing was given to me by a friend that no longer wanted it. Once again, I gladly accepted it! It works wonderfully as a key holder as well as a place for scarves :) This has definitely saved time in the morning instead of frantically searching for keys.

Our bathroom is done {besides 2 minor details}. The color of the bathroom has been a hit with our family & friends {Red Delicious by Glidden}. I picked up these storage boxes up at Kohl's last year. A great friend gave me the "love" decoration as a gift. For our wedding, I also used lots & lots of mason jars, which creates an overabundance when everything is said and done. I decided to use mason jars as storage for q-tips & cotton balls. 

Towel rack was a gift! Love the little details! 

In our bedroom as a constant reminder that Mikey & I are blessed! 

This is out of the decoration realm. More of a cry for HELP! My jewelry is just spread all over this little storage container & our dresser. Any cute ideas for organization to help tame this mess? 

Drywall 
the joys of owning a home!

  My husband is seriously, Mr. Fix-it! I love it. Saves lots & lots of money! As of late, we have been discovering our washer leaking little puddles of water as it washes clothes. Obviously this is not good for 2 reasons. 1.) It's a pain to step in those little puddles. 2.) Damage to the drywall behind the washer is apparent. Mike pulled the washer & dryer away from the wall to fix it last night & the damage was done. Do you see the bottom of the wall and how there is a hole? Yeah, SURE sign that we need new drywall in our laundry room. Thankfully, when we begin the kitchen renovation, we were already planning on replacing all the drywall in the kitchen/laundry room. THANKFULLY, Mike fixed the problem & there are zero puddles :) :) 

Dogs
wow..

Seriously, this little turd poses for the camera! I had the camera out & Enzo sat all by himself and was waiting for his picture to be taken! Haha, love this little pipsqueak! 

Um, Brutus on the other hand. He hates pictures. He was being rude last night ;) 

Zo didn't like this pose very much. 

Candid.

Well, any decoration ideas? Or home renovation projects that anyone else is taking on? Dog pics? 

Anywho, have a wonderful Hump Day!

Monday, July 23, 2012

Beiber Fever!

I discovered Justin Beiber's song "Beauty and a Beat" this weekend, courtesy of Spotify. It's been on repeat. Oh goodness, what is happening to me?! Can't help it. Love the beatssss.

.....oh, and I'm dying laughing while looking through the "Humor" section of Pinterest. 
Love those silly e-cards. 

be blessed tomorrow.

::oh yeah, i added an Instagram gadget to my page::

take a look ;) 

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Update from Braceface.

hello friends! 

 
Today I decided to give an update about my braces while Mike goes through some old boxes. My last orthodontist appointment was two weeks ago. It went really well and I received some exciting news about my expander. September is the magic month...my expander comes out for good! For those of you who have had the "pleasure" of wearing an expander, you know how excited I am! 6 months with a big piece of metal stuck to the roof of my mouth is way too long! However, it has done wonders concerning the issues I had with my upper jaw. Cannot wait to see the all the progress when it comes off in 2 months! 

Yeah, this picture is super creepy. I'm sorry. But it does show the progress that has been made...so it's necessary. 

This past appointment, I had my braces tightened again, along with a "chain" thing inserted where my two front teeth are, in order to close up a gap that was starting to form. Wow, can I just say that they adjustment has hurt the worst so far! The pain was terrible. 

My next appointment is August 20th & I am super excited....because it means I am one more appointment closer to being finished with this process ;) 


have a lovely Sunday! 
 

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Big 'Ol Bums!

FREEEDOMMMMM!!! 

Mike & I have enjoyed our freedom this weekend from everything. No work. No plans. Just good 'ol laying around...and it is AWESOME. Last night, we came home from work and brought our TV into our bedroom. We ordered a pizza from Papa John's & perused through Netflix looking for a new show to watch. 

 
Auction Kings it was. We really enjoyed this show! ...So much so, we watched all 20 episodes in a period of 30ish hours. Ha..like I said, we were BUMS! 

Today has basically been a repeat of last night. I made bacon wrapped water chestnuts & we snacked on those while being silly. I talked to my dad on the phone for 2 hrs and just caught up on life, then laid around some more! Haha. On this grand day, Mike introduced me to Spotify. 

 

This is awesome. It means that I can listen to Beyonce's "4" cd...all I want. Eek :) 

...Now I am browsing through Tiffany & Co.'s website for a potential gift that Mike can buy me for Christmas ;) I'm thinking maybe this! Love the simplicity. :) We shall see!

Due to our free night, I am super excited to start a new book I bought maybe a year ago..
This is something I do a lot...and it needs to change! Here's to a good read & some new things to apply to my life! 

Tomorrow we are starting on our office. Ya'll have no idea how excited I am! 
Pictures of the progress will be posted :) 

have a happy weekend! 
 

Thursday, July 19, 2012

My Day in Pictures.

Browsed through ideas for my sister's bachelorette party.

Found my Matron of Honor dress for my sister's wedding :)
here is the dress. 

Got my workout on.

Finished my art collection I painted. These will go in our guest bedroom when finished!

Enjoyed some Starbucks with my man!

Hallelujah for no work today. It was a nice day :)

by the way, I found this CUTE picture of my hubby
{taken about 3ish years ago}
my FAVE! <3 

enjoy your weekend...it's quickly approaching!

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Rambles & Musings




 

Hey friends! Yeah, the coffee in that picture up there is what is getting me through the work week! For some reason, I am stupid tired! Blah..thankful for Starbucks at home though! YUM. 

Anyways, I came home from a BUSY day of work to my 2 dogs. They were super pumped to see their momma; however, probably because they were dying to go outside to use the potty :/ Oh well. While I was outside with them, the best breeze was whipping on by and the sky was turning darker--*que the rain*. I stood outside with them on our patio-thing and just watched them eat and let out a large sigh. Something had hit me, this life I am currently living is NOTHING I had ever planned. 

 (Kayla, if you are reading this...I still have your skirt;))

Life is so bizarre. Plus, give your life over to God & be ready for Him to turn it into something you really never expected {in a good way}. 

Never thought I would be considered a homeowner at the ripe age of 21 with Mikey. Sidenote: in November, it will be 2 years since we have owned our home! WHoA!

Or..that I would have a 5 month old pup running around.

 And the possibility of maybe moving in the next year or so..we will see!

Yeah, I'm stumped why God has blessed me so much!? BUT what I do know is that change is always around the bend. I need to be okay with God changing my "plans".


On a COMPLETELY different note, 2 things:

1. I made this basic wrap tonight for dinna & it was yummy. 
{whole grain wrap, turkey, shredded mozzarella cheese & ranch}

2. I need my hair colored again because my hair has not been did since last November. My lovely sister moved to NC with her hubby & she always did my hair {love having a licensed cosmetologist in the fam}, but now..I have no idea who to try. Boo. BUT, I want to go back to lots of blonde highlights and such. Thanks to Ashley Tisdale, I found the look that I kinda wanna go for..
Hmm..maybe not so much blonde, but I. LOVE. IT.

Suggestions would be great :) 




Sunday, July 1, 2012

10 Randoms.

This past week has been an absolute whirlwind of GREAT things and some new revelations about myself. Not all of these so-called "revelations" have been easy to accept, but God has really been hitting me hard concerning some things I need to change.
I will be sharing 10 random facts, musings, {or whatever you want to call them} ranging from surface level to pretty deep stuff. Honestly, no one probably cares, but I need to share these with someone other than Michael & my pups ;)

1. Sometimes, I document weird things. Example:
 Honestly, is this moment really photo-worthy? No, but I was bored while waiting for Michael in Auto Zone..so, I took a picture. What is frustrating is that I saw my dear sister that same night and didn't get a picture with her..but I made sure to document my green apple Twizzler. Hmm...something is wrong with me! Ha. If anything, this just represents my love for candy. 

2.  I take too many pictures of my little pup, Enzo.
 I can't help it! He is smiling at me...seriously, I promise you he poses for the camera! 
See, I told you! :)

3. Inspiration for office desk.
I love this corner-ish desk. Looks classy, clean, and fresh. Maybe Michael can build one? Fingers crossed! :) 

4. Make-Up free for almost a week.
Last week, I really didn't wear any make-up, besides maybe mascara for a couple days. I did this for two reasons. 1.) My left eye is being a jerk and not cooperating; therefore, I have skipped out on my staple make-up item: eyeliner. My logic was, well, no eyeliner..then I won't bother with putting make-up on at all. && 2.) I have been uber lazy when getting ready for work in the mornings lately. Oh well, it has actually been really, really nice just rocking a fresh face and slapping on some mascara here and there! Cheers to au naturale! 

5. New Car! 
Say "hello" to my new ride. I love her. We had to find a new vehicle due to getting rear-ended on the way back from vaca a couple weeks ago. My old Civic was being totaled, so we needed a new car. God blessed us with her for super cheap. Blessing!

6. Michael's new job.
Well my hubby & I were blessed with wonderful news this past week. Mike got a new job. Lemme tell you, this was definitely all God's doing. The day we were leaving for NC a couple weeks ago, he received a random call from a factory that he had applied to, had several interviews with, and passed all their tests; however, for whatever reason, he was never hired by the company. Well, that same company called him and told him that if he wanted, they were going to refer him to a sister-company of theirs for a job since he passed all the training and tests at the company. Mike accepted the recommendation and was given instructions to email his resume and fill out an application. He sent those items out to the sister-company and we put the rest in God's hands. Well, he was called back and was asked to take a test. He not only passed the test, but scored the highest out of everyone else! That's my man ;) The interview went well for him and he was called on Wednesday and told that he GOT THE JOB! 
This picture was taken in the Wendy's drive-thru a couple hours after we found out that Mike got the job. It represents so many emotions. Thankfulness. Contentment. Joy. That feeling of no longer struggling. & about a million other things. I know you may not see those emotions in the picture, but my heart was certainly swelled with such things. This job is a gift from God because it will provide us with more money, insurance for Mikey & ME, amazing benefits & a wonderful retirement plan, and an unpredictable, adventurous future for Michael and I. This company has more than 70+ locations over the U.S. of A. ..Management positions are in Mike's future at this company, which means some moving for us in the future! :) 
Sorry this random thought is soo long, but you have NO IDEA how much my husband deserves this.  I am a proud wife.

7. I need to be okay with this season in my life.
Unlike Michael, I have not found the exciting job that will help us out financially or move us to cool U.S. cities....well, not yet, that is. Unfortunately, I have a hard time with being patient. I'm sure more than one person can relate to this feeling. As I have mentioned in the past, I am currently in graduate school working towards my degree in counseling. If you don't already know, it is nearly impossible to get a psychology-related job with just a Bachelor's degree. Honestly, it sucks. You work 4 years towards your Bachelor's degree in psychology to graduate and not find a job. It is crucial, no NECESSARY to get your Master's degree when majoring in psychology {just a BIG FYI}. Anyways, since I am working towards my Master's, I am stuck working these random jobs that have nothing to do with psychology. While I am very, very thankful to have a job, it's just incredibly discouraging to not yet see the light at the end of the tunnel. I have a problem with realizing that I am only 23 years old. I mean, my husband and I own a house! How many other 23 year-olds can say that? Not many. Yet, I still get uber frustrated that our house isn't perfect, we don't drive 2 nice cars, and that I am stuck in this weird job phase. 
I had an eye-opening conversation with a superior of mine at work last week. She is so sweet & a wonderful Christian lady whom I admire. We were talking about my search for other part-time jobs so I can help Mike out financially and etc. and I was expressing my frustrations to her about this crazy, "stupid" season of my life. She calmly and politely reminded me that I am 23. It's not necessary for there to be 2 super nice vehicles in my driveway or to be successful at my dream career yet. As she continued to give advice, a flood of conviction hit me. Why am I not okay with this season? Honestly, I feel like a failure. Which is stupid. How can I fail at a career that I'm not even licensed in yet? Or does it really matter that Mike and I drive Craigslist-find cars and our friends don't? Heck no it doesn't! That doesn't define my success in life. Anyways, the point of this thought is that I need to discover why I feel so insecure in this season and I need to change my attitude. God is here in this moment trying to teach me something...and it's really hard to learn when I am constantly complaining about it and comparing my life against others. Prayers please.

8. I am a critical person.
Whew. This was insanely hard to realize and accept. Michael and I were laying down in bed one night this past week and were just talking about life. The conversation drifted towards what God was revealing to the both of us, on a personal level. All of a sudden, it felt as if God took His holy hand and slapped me across the face. I came to the realization right then and there, that I am very critical. Not only am I critical of myself, but of others as well. I'm sure that various events in my life have have transformed me into this critical being, but I hate it. I don't give people enough credit at times, nor do I always put myself in their shoes. After the shock of this realization wore off a little, I started to cry and beg God to help me with this ugly trait. I know that 99% of people don't see this trait in me, but poor Michael does. And ONLY because I share all my thoughts with him about people and myself--whether they are good or bad. This is a major trait that I am really trying to change about myself because it sincerely is an ugly thing that Satan uses to put wedges between the children of God. Thankfully, God still loves me and extends His grace towards me! Ugh, this needs to change! 

9. Children?
Since Mr. Michael and I have now been married for over a year, I have been receiving more questions about little kiddos. For those of you who have known me while growing up, you know that I have never been the "motherly" type of person. This was always my sister's personality. Little kids clung to her and she was so great with them! I, on the other hand, was more of the "okay kid, you are annoying" type. However, more recently, God has really planted this hard-core desire to be a mom in my heart. DISCLAIMER: I am NOT pregnant, nor are we trying! {<--had to get that out there!} For whatever reason, an unexplainable love for my future children has resided in my heart. I am more than excited to start a family with the love of my life, but WHEN I AM FINISHED WITH SCHOOL :) Until then, Mikey and I are very content to enjoy life together--just the 2 of us. 
I just think its extremely cool that God has really changed my heart when it comes to kids :)) 

10. God is in control, right?
This last thought is a question I have been asking myself recently. I can be a control-freak at times, so its difficult to realize that my plans are not always God's plans. He has a much better direction for my life than I ever will; however, He will only take me down that better road if I am willing to let Him take control! 

Okay friends, I am sorry I just wrote a novel, but they were thoughts that I really just needed to write down. You pretty much just read an entry I would write in my journal. I would really appreciate your prayers concerning the internal issues I expelled upon. It takes a lot to be this vulnerable on the internet, so please...be nice and don't judge me :) Just kidding, but seriously, I hope someone can read this and relate to one of the thoughts and find some sort of encouragement or nugget of truth. 

Have a lovely week <3