Life Lately

FRIDAY! Hello, old friend!

Do you ever have those weeks where you have gotten so much accomplished…and somehow, absolutely nothing accomplished at the same time?

Welcome to my week.

I have somewhere in the realm of 10 meetings this week. We have about 6 or 7 new hires joining our group next month. I’m overwhelmed, but in such a good way. Shockingly, the house work and our “better eating habits” haven’t fell behind. Even so, I can’t help but feel like I need to spend tomorrow deep cleaning the house. I want to open the windows, get some fresh air circulating {and it’s supposed to rain tomorrow…even better, the sound and smell of rain and an indoor day cleaning}, steam clean every piece of carpet, clean the windows, clean, well, everything.

I used to fight my parents tooth and nail to do chores. Now I {gasp} like doing them! It’s almost therapeutic..and Charles will be out with a friend all day tomorrow, so I can pop in a chick flick and clean away without interruption! A perfect end to an overwhelming week.

As for our Friday night…for the past month, Charles and I have had “movie night Friday night,” and this week is no different. We are going to watch “Bad Grandpa” and get some Popeye’s chicken {ok, not healthy…but the new one just opened close to the house and we have been eating so well, we wanted to splurge!} It’s a rainy day here, so it will be perfect to sit with a glass of wine, a fire, a delightfully tacky movie, and fried chicken {we’re rednecks tonight.}

I know we were supposed to go to the lake this weekend, but what can I say, mother nature and her wacky weather ways has a mind of her own. We didn’t want to driver down in rain, be in rain all Saturday, then drive back in sleet and snow on Sunday for the Superbowl. So here we are.

 

Life lately..

Date night with this handsome man...and look at the adorable photobomber in the background..

Married night in watching an adorable movie!

Had a rough day, came home to a bottle of wine from my wabes with the most adorable bottle stopper!

Honestly, this has been my "life lately"...papers on papers on files on work. Cube life at it's finest. Having a blast, but absolutely needing more than 1 cup of coffee each day.

What a gorgeous Friday I woke up to this morning! You can't beat sunrise, you just can't! How great thou art.

Baby shower at work for my friend Allison and her soon to be baby boy, Will! I work with some great people, and it's fun to celebrate big life changes with people that you love!

 

 

It's funny how the people you surround yourself with can impact your attitude. Surround youself with the wrong people and you'll be irritable, it will cause you stress, and just overall unhappiness. Why waste the time hanging around people that bring you down?

I understand that you've had the same crowd since high school. But that doesn't mean you can't grow apart. People want different things out of life. It's as simple as that.

I'm blessed to work with people who have the same goals and the same attitude towards life as I do. You can't cruise through life working part time at a fast food joint and not go to school and expect hard working "grown ups" to want to spend time with you. Let go of the people who are bringing you down.

"Be with those who help your being...I want to be around people that do things. I don't want to be around people anymore that judge or talk about what people do. I want to be around people who dream , and support, and do things."

Prepare to Plan

And We’re Back..

Happy beginning of the week, my friends! I hope you’ve all had relaxing and refreshing weekends and are ready to tackle this work week. I know I had a fantastic weekend, but I feel like I’m {still} trying to get on board with the fact that I have about 8 meetings this week, on top of all my day to day work that I have to complete. Going to make for a tired wife and a coffee overload.

This weekend was full of friends, family, fun, and relaxation. The weather was absolutely stunning, so I hope you all managed to get out if you live around my neck of the woods. Charles and I managed to sneak in a few hours binge watching episodes of Last Man Standing {I’m kind of a Tim Allen freak, love him!} It’s so nice when we actually find a show that both of us really enjoy watching. I’m on the hunt currently for all seasons of HBO’s Entourage, because we both love the show and it hasn’t been aired in quite some time. We want to buy all the seasons and watch the episodes together.

Here’s my life via iPhone...

Glade released even more new products, and you know how obsessed I am with candles, scentsy stuff, sprays, etc. So of course I had to get a couple...I need help. Also pictured in this collage is myself, bored, waiting for Charles to finish his errands {I swear, errands take about 10x longer when he goes.. :D} On the bottom, we have some fresh veggies we made to go with our dinner on Friday. We are trying to replace the pastas we used to have with veggies. Pictured above are some of our favorites...and we also had some delicious strawberry muffins for breakfast this weekend, because breakfast really is important..who knew?!

 

A little Sunday afternoon golf. Look who's in the background {the hubs!}

My little golfer :D

Enjoying a cozy Sunday with my husband, drinking a hot cup of coffee, watching Last Man Standing. Perfection

Make ahead fritattas for breakfast! Serve them with a little salsa and they're incredible, but I like my make ahead breakfast burritos better. Recipe for the fritattas here!

 

 

 

Typically, I know when busy weeks are coming…they say the best defense is a good offense, so I figure the only way to beat it is to get ahead of it and attack. I can’t stress this to you enough, if you know you’ll be busy, plan, plan, plan.

Yes, I realize that sounds extremely boring. You’ll thank me later.

If you don’t plan ahead for weeks like the one I’m about to have, you’ll get behind, you’ll get stressed, you’ll be tired, you won’t stay on track. The first thing I do when I’m stressed or tired? I grab a coke. This doesn’t need to happen when I’m trying to only drink water {…and my nightly glass of wine..} Water is not only good for your skin, but helps your hair grow and helps it from becoming less frizzy, but it also helps clear your skin, helps there be less bags under your eyes, helps you lose weight, and the list just keeps on going. I want to be bikini ready by boat season. I want my hair to grow. I want my skin to glow. Coke. Just. Cannot. Happen. Yet if I don’t plan ahead and I get behind, or stressed, or tired, it’s the first thing I grab. That makes me get off track in one way.

Meal planning has been big for Charles and I this month. We are both wanting to tone up for lake season, as well as we just want to become healthier overall. Meal planning has helped me in several ways: first, I am not having to think long and hard about what we have in the fridge that I can cook for dinner, which typically leads to me either having to make another trip to the store or making something completely unhealthy. By making weekly menu’s, we know we have all of the ingredients that we need and we plan to make it healthy. When I get home from work, I simply prepare the dinner while we watch the news {we’re getting older, I can feel it every day…} and then we sit down to a nice dinner.

We have also started eating breakfast and taking vitamins. I already feel like I have 3x as much energy as compared to before, which helps during stressful weeks like the one I’m about to have. By prepping these breakfasts ahead of time, all I have to do is “grab it and go” in the mornings and take it to work with me. No fuss involved.

Last week, I planned out my daily to do’s for work out to make sure I had an adequate amount of time to complete all of my work responsibilities, and I planned this time around all of my meetings. Now I know that I have enough time to keep up with my work, my meetings, my training, etc. which leads to a less stressed Michele.

If I don’t plan ahead, I get stressed. Plain and simple. That could lead me to snapping at my husband, yelling at the dogs, being irritable and making others around me uncomfortable, grabbing the coke because I need the energy, grabbing junk to eat because I don’t have time to prepare a decent meal..the list really goes on. Why not just AVOID these things altogether and stay on the track to becoming the best possible version of myself.

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail”

Better late than never..

Well hello, my favorite followers!

I know I say this almost every single post, but I have had such a busy week! Brutal, in fact. Not only has work been particularly hectic, but our office is undergoing the process of getting a new roof, and they have been vacuuming the roof for the past two days {and will be for more days to come!} Imagine the sound you hear when you are walking onto an airplane. You go through the tunnel, and you walk outside for a few seconds right before you get in the airplane. That loud, awful engine like sound that you hear while you're waiting to walk onto the plane? That's exactly the sound that I've heard for 8 hours a day for the past two days. Needless to say, this girl has a headache. 

People also keep getting sick...this flu, y'all, is not messing around. I felt a bit under the weather today {most likely just due to the headache from the hellacious sound that I've heard at work}, but just in case, I decided to down a glass of Emergen-C. This girl does not have time for the flu, thank you. 

We have one more non-eventful weekend at home before we head down to the lake for a weekend. Charles has a few projects he wants to get done, and I want a weekend of movies, puppy cuddles, and "spa time". There's nothing like going to the lake, giving myself a mani-pedi, slapping on a face mask, and being make-up free for the weekend. Bliss, I'm telling you, bliss. 

Here's the only things I need for a relaxing lake trip with my hubs...

Time for a {very slight} photo recap...

Every so often, I like to make time to go out of my way and do something sweet for C, even if it's something really small, like bringing him a Sweet Bay drink. 

My new "I don't have to work until 8am" morning routine. Prepping and packing breakfast, lunch, and snacks for Charles and I to bring to work so that we stay on track!

Yes! Look at what time my alarm goes off now. Notice I said this is when my alarm goes off...but I'm awake far before this, sadly. Old habits..

Honestly, y'all, if I post any more pictures from this week, all you would see if my pillow and my desk. I'll try to make my life more interesting in the next few days {miracles can happen....}

Something I got the privilege of undergoing this week was an online training course on how to be a coach, not a boss. I'll have to admit, when I got the email about taking a required training course, I thought I was going to open it and just power through to get it out of the way {is that bad?}, but I actually ended up enjoying it more than anticipated. Pleasant surprises...

I don't believe I really took to heart the difference between a coach and a boss until now. Bosses attempt to dictate, to show that they have power over you, and to motivate through fear and pessimistic outlooks on your performance. They look at the negative. 

Coaches take a different approach. Coaches try to build up and encourage people. They see the positives, and try to coach you to improve things that aren't stellar. They treat you as an equal, and as an asset to the team. I'll tell you what, I've experienced both types: the bosses and the coaches. I respond better to people telling me when I'm doing good, and I shut down when people tell me I'm doing poorly. 

I really believe that this can be applied to your marriage or relationship. Don't think about what your partner is doing wrong. Focus on what they are doing right. Then work together to try and perfect the other things that aren't where you would like them to be. Encourage each other. Don't tear each other down by constantly focusing on what they are doing wrong, or else you'll end up like employees when they are discouraged: your marriage will start to shut down. Your spouse will be afraid to get close to you, for fear of doing things "wrong." 

Learn together. Grow together. Fix your problems together, and immediately. 

With that, I'll say goodbye. Charles told me if I got my blog post done, I could have a glass of wine. 

Motivators :)

"Be an encourager. The world has plenty of critics already"

The Little Things

 

Haaapppyyy Monday!

I trust that everyone had wonderful and exciting weekends. The weather was just wonderful around my neck of the woods, just incredibly windy. Nevertheless, I feel as if we didn’t get out as much as we should have since it was so warm.

Friday night, Charles and I watched White House Down, and man oh man, for a movie we didn’t think would be that good, we were seriously surprised. If you are looking for a funny movie to watch, I highly recommend that one. It had me laughing and interested the whole time, and usually about ¾ of the way through any movie, I become disinterested and start playing with my phone.  Not this time!

Saturday morning, the husband and I went to Hobby Lobby and the grocery store together. Can someone please fill me in on why exactly it is that whenever Charles goes to the store with me, it always costs me about twice as much as if I had gone to the store by myself? Even so, I still love when he goes with me. He gets to show me some items that he likes and wants me to purchase, and I love his company, even if he does still play on the carts, sneaks cookies in the basket, and opens the bag of chips before we pay for them.

After the store, we had a nice lunch at home and watched another movie before we both got ready for the evening. He went and washed/detailed my car for me {without me even asking…he’s a keeper, I’m telling you!} while I got ready for girls night. We had SUCH a blast. I kind of without a doubt need to have girls nights more often, it’s nice to stuff our face with chocolate, drink wine, and catch up!

Sunday was spent being lazy! We ended up taking the dogs on a 2 and a half hour walk around the park next to our house, and let me tell you, I was one sore lady this morning. We all ate lunch and took naps when we got back from the walk, it was exhausting. There was some good football on Sunday, so we all watched the games as well as the Kardashian’s marathon {yes, I like the Kardashian’s…everyone has a guilty pleasure}

Photo Recap!

Fondue, wine, and girls night! How can you beat that? The fondue maker is one of my all time favorite wedding presents...

Of course, you have to have chocolate fondue! I couldn't keep my hands out of it, dangerous with a bunch of women! We dipped in pound cake, apples, strawberries, bananas, and pretzels into the chocolate peanut butter fondue...amazing!

Charles prepared us a nice sushi lunch on Saturday. A man of many talents =)

LONG walk! Beautiful day for it, and we had a blast...although I am incredibly sore today!

Nap time :)

Since I have started my new schedule, I'm able to pack Charles a lunch every day again and add a cute love note! Good wife =)

 

Do you ever feel like your spouse is the version of yourself that you wish you could be? I feel this way all the time. He is me-only better! I literally find myself smiling because he has qualities that I wish I possessed. For example, I’m extremely shy in some situations, whereas my husband is extremely outgoing and can talk to anyone. People absolutely love to be around him because he can have a conversation with absolutely anyone about absolutely anything. He is such a delight!

We are very similar in our values, goals, dreams, wishes, and wants for life. Today {and every day} I’m extremely grateful for that. We have enough similarities and enough differences to keep things interesting but to keep us venturing down the same path without straying. It’s the little things.

“He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.”

 

Spark some Controversy

You know what the silver lining is about this particularly gloomy part of late January? I just placed my Girl Scout cookie order! Hooray! I know I shouldn’t be so thrilled about this. I’m 24 years old…and I am trying to eat healthy and set a good lifestyle. But sometimes, you just have to have the cookie.

Well, the ending of this week was an interesting one, especially at work. Since I got the promotion, I have to move “offices” to a new space. I am also going to be switching shifts. I will no longer be working from 6-3 {tears} and will be going to an 8-5 shift. I loved my 6-3 shift, but I’m surprisingly happy to be going 8-5. I’ll get to sleep in a little longer and stay up a little later, I won’t have to tiptoe around in the mornings so I don’t wake up my husband, and I won’t have to get dressed in the dark! Plus, Charles and I will start car-pooling now, which means spending more time with him. It will be an adjustment, but I’m ready for it!

Photo Recap!

Ok you get three guesses on what I'm making, just to keep things fun. Give up yet? It's salsa =) My husband so kindly informed me at 2 in the afternoon the day before that he had a mexican potluck the next day and needed me to make homemade salsa. So off to the store I went, and he had homemade salsa to bring to work. "Working wife-a-holic"

After cooking for Charles' potluck, I had to start dinner. Since I had already cut up so many fresh veggies, I decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and whip together some meatloaf. You can't beat a meatloaf with mashed potatoes and green beans on a cold night

For art's sake, I had to finish a bottle of wine so that I could use the cork to add to my new monogram cork holder =) Cork Art at it's finest. And filling it up is pretty fun, too! 

5am Wife-a-Holic duties! Leaving Charles a note to make sure he takes the salsa to work for his potluck, and of course leaving him a mushy love note as well. All in a day's work.

 

 

Let's spark some controversy today and talk about gender roles. I know several of you probably won't agree with my views on the topic, but we got into this discussion at work the other day, and I thought it was a fun conversation...

Drumroll please..

 

Gender Roles. First, let me start by disclaiming that I work for a living {hence my tagline, working wife-a-holic}. That being said, I also feel like there are completely different expectations for men and women, and you know what? I'm okay with that. For example, when I get off work, I feel that it's my job to do the dishes, do the laundry, sweep, mop, vaccuum, cook, etc. Those I feel are "woman jobs". By the same token, I'm not going to want to mow the yard, rake the leaves, take out the garbage, work on the car, etc. Those I feel are the "man" jobs.

Sometimes, I think women get too bent out of shape over realistic expectations from men. Yes, men expect that you dress nice. Yes, men expect that you do sweet "wife" things for them {like cook things for their potlucks at the last minute...}. Yes, men expect that you clean the house. But you know what? I want to do those things!

Think that's old fashioned? Go ahead and think that. Because you're exactly right! Back in the old days, women were very concerned about making sure their husband's every need was catered to. Women wanted to keep their men happy and to please them. And you know what? There wasn't a 50% divorce rate back then, either.

Don't argue for the sake of arguing. Don't "hate cooking and cleaning" just because you think it's anti-feminist. Take care of your husbands {or fiance's, or boyfriends...} and take joy in doing things for them. Be a good wife. Respect your husband's, even when you don't feel like they deserve it. Treat them well. I know they say "happy wife happy life," {and it's so true}, but as a wife, you shouldn't be happy or satisfied when your husband isn't well taken care of.

When you get home today, go get your husband a beer, let him sit in front of the tv, and go cook dinner. Spoil him! I think you'll like how you feel when you do.

"The real act of marriage takes place in the heart, not in the ballroom or church. It's a choice you make -- not just on your wedding day, but over and over again -- and that choice is reflected in the way you treat your husband or wife."

 

 

Half way there

Well it's not even 7pm here on Tuesday night. I'm sitting in my pajamas, no makeup on, my night mask already applied, eye cream applied, hair pulled back, practically ready for bed. You know..it feels wonderful. 

But maybe that's because I also have a glass of wine, one of my puppies in my lap, and my show is about to start! I'm seeing a correlation. I'm still not quite sure if I'm going to finish this and prepare to post tonight, or if I'll just jot down a few words and save the final touches for morning. 

Actually, morning sounds better, come to think about it. I'm still not so surprisingly exhausted after getting news of the promotion. For about another week or so, I'm still trying to juggle some aspects of my new position while finishing up with my old one at work. The struggle is real, y'all. But no complaints here, I signed up for this, and I'm loving all of my new tasks.

 

I'll tell you what. We have had some beautiful weather around here for the past few days: sunny skies, a nice temp around the 50's and 60's, and not a cloud in the sky. We have been getting to let our dogs run in the backyard, and we have actually been out there playing with them ourselves, trying to get some of their pent up winter energy out. Unfortunately all good things must come to an end, and this weather is starting to cool down a bit. No big problem, as spring is just right around the corner {wishful thinking, right?} I'm particularly looking forward to this spring for several reasons, but a big reason is we finally have a nice neighborhood and a park just out of our front door, so I'll be able to safely walk my puppies every day! Those two are the world's greatest walkers, they love it and they are {shockingly} extremely well behaved on walks {and so is their daddy...hehe}. Not only that, but we are amped to use our new firepit for the first time, go to the Horse Races, and last but not least, Abita Strawberry Lager comes back in the spring, and I've been patiently waiting ever since last season for their return. We also want to change some of the landscaping at the new house. There are bushes to trim, I want to start a flower bed in the front yard, we need to clip the rose bushes in the back, and a few other tasks that we have to wait until the spring to accomplish.

 

I've managed to babble on for long enough, so without further delay...

 

Charles baked some homemade bread...he comes in handy

My stash of scentsy related products and sprays {trust me, you don't even want to see my candle collection..Charles has flower scented nightmares about how many I have}. I am just obsessed with all things candles/scentsy/sprays...I like for things to smell nice!

I spent about two hours cleaning and organizing my closet on Sunday, which was much needed and overdue. Now let's take bet's on how long I can keep it clean this time. Closets are the one thing I consistently have trouble keeping organized. At least this time if it gets a little messy, I will be cleaning it and re-organizing it in March when I do all of my spring cleaning...here's hoping I can keep it tidy until then!

My busy bee cooking me a fantastic dinner

I've got some sweet co-workers who worked together to make me an  awesome sign to hang in our new home as a housewarming gift! How talented are they?! I absolutely adore this, it fits in perfectly with the theme of my living room, and it flows with the rustic yet modern decor that I'm trying to achieve in our new home! Big shout out to Terry and Stephanie for their hard work!

Sunny days where I am teaching "classroom" for the new hires calls for a Captain Crunch Frappe from Starbucks to put a little pep in my step!

Since I've been a little busy bee lately, I've been bringing my breakfast to work with me. I make my own parfaits and it's so easy, I just add a couple of spoons of vanilla yogurt, top with strawberries and blueberries, and add some vanilla crunch granola. Yummm...

 

 

 

Over the course of the past few months, I've gotten married, purchase a new home, went through the holiday craziness, gotten a promotion...etc. Let's suffice it to say, I've been busy and worn out. Something I haven't made enough time for is time with my friends! It's just that time of the year, folks. That changes this weekend. I have a few girlfriends coming in from out of town, so we are calling all the girls to come and spend some time laughing and enjoying each other's company, catching up, having some wine, and relieving some much needed stress.

 

If you don't have a group of close friends that you get together with every once and awhile and let loose, you don't know what you're missing out on. I don't know what I would do without my group of girls to support me, be there for me when I'm down, smile with me when I'm happy, and so on.

 

I'm hoping to create a better time management system for myself so that I can make time for everything that's going on in my life. I need to make more time for family and friends, spending time outdoors getting some fresh air and exercise, and keeping my house in order. I don't know about all of you, but if my house is a mess, I feel like my life is a mess. Funny how that correlates...

 

The rest of my week seems like it will be fairly clear, not a whole lot of "after work plans," so hopefully I can do some house work and have a free weekend! Here's hoping...

 

"If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to"

 

 

 

 

 

Rubber Band Week

I'm embarrassed. 

It's been since Tuesday since I've last posted {as my dad so bluntly kindly pointed out to me yesterday.} Thanks, dad.

Do you ever feel like you've stretched yourself too thin? That was this week for me. I let things pile up and didn't give myself adequate time to complete the tasks I set for myself, thus explaining my 3 day late blog post. No problem here, I just need to be sure to readjust and get organized for next week. Start fresh. Everyone has a rubber band week. 

{Insert deep breath here}

I've got quite a to-do list today, guys. On top of my usual Sunday Funday that consists of laundry, grocery shopping, dishes, cleaning the counters, mopping, sweeping, and vacuuming, I now have a few work things to get done, as well as finishing some chores that I didn't do during this past week. Not ideal. 

This week, albeit very sluggish and full of activities, was a pretty fun one! Per usual, here is our weekly adventures in photo form {and there's more than usual, since I waited so long to post...sorry!}:

My sweet boy brought me flowers to work to congratulate me on my new promotion

He was truly on a roll this week with being the best husband ever. We had a bit of an ice storm this week, so he picked me up from work AND had Starbucks waiting for me. It's the little things. 

Ice day activities! Despicable Me 2 =) 

Charles and a few of the Blues Fest members had a photo shoot for Entertainment Fort Smith magazine as the "Best Festival in Fort Smith". I went as their cheerleader!

I told you my week was hectic...this was my lunch one day, vending machine food. I worked extremely hard this week, and sometimes that means missing a few meals. Not the most healthy lunch ever, I suppose. I need to keep a few things at work in case of times like these.

A sweet friend sent me this picture she snapped of us at our rehearsal dinner, watching the video my dad made for us. 

It was icy and frigidly cold, so Milli had to bundle up in her scarf. This is the day that I got stuck at home and couldn't make it to work on time, and a coworker had to come pick me up, resulting in me having to work longer and skip my lunch...what a week. 

Made a trip to Staples and got some new organizational items for my new position. I'm not sure where my desk will be quite yet, and not all items I purchased are shown, but I thought this part of my desk looked cute!

Errand running!

A few VegasBombs were needed to combat the stress of my rubber band week. 

At a Blues Fest fundraiser with this handsome man. Sorry for the poor quality...it was dark and my phone wasn't cooperating. 

My current view! What I'm doing right this second =)

For those of you who thought I should have done a readers digest version of those pictures, well let me tell you, that was the readers digest version. It was a week, I assure you that. 

The truth of the matter is, everybody gets behind. It's stressful, I know, I've been there. I'm actually currently there right now. They constantly talk at work about setting attainable goals for yourself. Don't stretch yourself too thin, it's a slippery slope if you do, and it's easiest to just avoid rubber band weeks if at all possible. But sometimes, it's just not possible.

The one thing you have control over during a rubber band week is your attitude. No, the situation is not ideal, and you might be stressed, but don't take that out on the people around you. It's a struggle not to, but I have to take deep breaths, put a smile on my face, and remember that it's not their fault that I'm in this situation. 

Something I like to do when I have a stressful week is to set a reward for myself for when I finally get myself all caught up. It doesn't have to be anything big, but here is how I incentivize myself. My plan as of now is to get everything on my to do list finished by tonight so I can start my Monday morning stress free and ready to tackle what's ahead of me. It may lead for a busy day today, but it will be worth it tomorrow morning. 

Once I've accomplished everything on my list, I pour myself a glass of wine, start a hot bubble bath, light a few candles, put on some music {or maybe some Netflix or Hulu...}, put on a stress relieving face mask, and soak until I can't soak anymore. Perfect reward, and it always works for me! 

I hope you all have productive Sundays that lead to stress-free Mondays! Stay on track this week =) 

"As much as you want to plan your life, it has a way of surprising you with unexpected things that will make you happier than you originally planned. That's what you call God's will"