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"

New year, New news

Hello, there!

Life has gotten so out of hand these past few days. I know I say this a lot, but I had every intention of making a new post until, well, life happened. Plain and simple. Maybe it's the time of the year, but it seems as if there are so many changes going on around me that I kind of feel like I'm on a rollercoaster ride that won't slow down. Or maybe a merry go round that I can't get off? I really do need to work on my analogies. With all of the changes, it has made it harder to slow down and focus on getting my daily "to do's" done, but I think I have a plan to {kind of} fix that problem. I do, however, come bearing very exciting changes to announce, so at least my absence will be made up for.

First, let's talk about my new promotion! That's right, I am going to start my position as a Specialist for my company, which means I will be responsible for training and evaluating of new hires, maintaing special accounts, etc. I won't bore you with all of the details, but this is right up my Alley {see what I did there?!} I have been with my company for a year and a half, straght out of college, and I have been working extremely hard to get this promotion. Charles and I couldn't be more thrilled or feel more blessed.

Secondly, hopefully later this evening {not making any promises, since it's just been a crazy few days} this blog will be getting a new face. I plan to play around with some new backgrounds, headers, and buttons when I get home from work this afternoon. It's been a long time coming!

Here's what I've been up to:

Saturday Charles and I ventured into Oklahoma for some car shopping for C. It was a dreary day, freezing cold, and just gloomy but we had a great trip just catching up and spending time together.

He brought me home some champagne to toast to my new position at work. Such a sweetie!

In the winter time, I like to make soups or chili for dinners because 1. they're warm and delicious, and 2. I can have them for lunches for a week! Need a good homemade tomato soup recipe? Check out the Pioneer Woman's recipe here!

You know my deep and undying love for candles and wax melts, and lo and behold, I'm walking through Wal-Mart yesterday and saw these new beauties on the shelves. Look at the pretty packaging. I would be lying if I told you the pretty packaging didn't influence my decision to purchase these products {way to go, marketing teams, you win this round...} The new spring scents are coming out, which is a pleasant change from the harsh winter scents that I've been using lately.

This is the temperature as noted by the BMW. 8 degrees, holy cow, the proof is in the pudding. It. Was. COLD! After December, nobody has time for this frigid weather {especially when unaccompanied by snow.}

Pretty winter morning view from our backyard. The sun was peaking through and I thought it looked nice, so I'll share with you!

 

 

 

I'll keep you in suspense for more until after I update this blog's face later on! In the meantime, why don't you give this a read? I think you'll find it as inspiring as I do!

"People are often unreasonable and self centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may acuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway. If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. "

French Dips and Football

Happy 2014, friends!

 

It's FRIDAY! Hallelujah thank you Jesus. These holidays are throwing me off and wearing me out, I need some revamping time. It's a little after 5am here, I decided to get to the office early and make a blog post before the woman I am training for the next few days arrives. Plus, I was running early, since I decided to leave my hair natural today and not straighten it {all part of that New Year's thing I was talking about...including, but not limited to less heat on the hair, drink more water, always take my makeup off at night, eat better...you get the point.}   Ok, recap time:

I hope you all had a fun and exciting New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Ours was uneventful, can you believe it?

We have a tradition of going to the lake with friends and family every NYE, but plans get messed with when holidays decide to fall in the middle of the week. It’s not as easy to make a trip when you worked all day and have to work again the day after. So lo and behold, we actually stayed at home and had two friends over. We grilled and watched the Texas A&M v. Duke game {anyone else watch that? Great game, more exciting than I anticipated given the teams}. We all had worked that day, so we made it to the New York ball drop {11pm for us!} and quickly fell asleep. So no, technically we didn’t stay up until midnight {So. Hard.} But we had a fabulous time nonetheless.

New Year’s Day I had the fabulous  horrible idea to go to the Dillard’s annual New Year’s Day sale. I’m sure you all know that after Christmas, Dillard’s men and women stores have their red tag clearance event, where they mark down a lot of their items to extremely reduced prices. Well, every New Year’s Day, everything with a red tag on it is an additional 50% off. I haven’t been able to go to this sale yet, as I am always out of town, but I went this time! Now I’m kind of wishing I didn’t. I arrived at about 9:50 and barely got a parking spot. I waited out in the cold for 10 minutes and got trampled over and couldn’t even move around.

Women are crazy.

I walked around for an hour and barely saw anything because there were so many people, but I did score a very nice top, a pair of Steve Madden reflective sunglasses, and an extremely nice turquoise necklace for virtually nothing.

Then I walked to the Men’s Dillard’s to browse for Charles. It was packed in their as well, but no trampling, no screaming women, and {in my opinion}, better deals. I got Charles some Polo Ralph Lauren golf pants {originally close to $100} for $20! I also got him a Ralph Lauren cozy long sleeved tee for about $10.

It may have taken me 2 hours to go through 2 stores, but I suppose it was worth it. I went home and took a nap, though, because I was worn out {and had a not so slight headache…thank you, screaming women}.

At least there was a Dance Mom’s marathon on all day! Charles was thrilled. I really need to spoil him, because I napped, cuddled with puppies, and watched my shows for about 4 hours and he did all of the laundry, dishes, took down the outdoor Christmas lights, swept, and played outside with the dogs without complaint. I lucked out with him!

We met up with a few out of town friends for drinks and dinner, and had such a great time chit chatting and catching up that we didn’t realized it had gotten late, and we both had to work the next day. 

 Thursday, I decided that since it was a very chilly day, there was football on in the evening, and because I had all of the ingredients on hand, I was going to make French Dip sandwiches {in the crockpot, hallelujah, 10x easier and the house smelled delicious when I got home from work!} I threw together some broccoli salad to go with it, because even though everyone says to serve fries with it, I think that's just too heavy for such a heavy sandwich. Broccoli salad is a crowd pleaser, especially with Charles and his buddies that were over last night. We had a blast, but we stayed up too late, and now I have woken up with a tired induced headache and dark circles...it may be a 3 cup of coffee kind of Friday...do I dare!?

Ok, photo time:

My 11pm kiss!

Champagne toasts with good friends!

 

Just so you can see a bit of the Dillard's madness before the store opened...

By far the best invention ever. Makes baking SO much easier, absolute necessity for a kitchen.

I may or may not have a chocolate obsession...Making some brownies for Charles and his buddies

The absolutely incredible French Dip sandwiches..maybe I'll share the recipe..to be continued

Look at the neat little table I purchased at a consignment shop yesterday for $20! It's perfect in between our conversation chairs, and I hadn't found anything cheaper that I liked.

 

 

Is anyone else as ready for spring as I am? I feel as though sometimes I try to rush through life, but be honest, do you not feel like after Christmas, the cold weather can just leave and not come back until December 1st? I'm tired of freezing and having to stay inside all the time {although I am loving the fireplace in the new house!}

Spring for my husband and I means a few things: First and foremost, the Horse Races at Oaklawn. We are obsessed {partially because of the out of this world reubens that they have there...} It is also when Charles gets out and golfs the most and we take the dogs for the most walks, and now since there is a park right down the street from us, we will be walking with them even more! It also means beautiful thunderstorms {I love the smell in the air right before a storm...is that odd?}

Float trips are also a common occurence for us during the spring, and I get to bust out my teva's and my chaco's. And let's not forget...Abita Strawberry comes out in February {you're welcome for reminding you}. This quickly became my go to beer last year, but there was limited production of it, and it was seasonal. This year they are supposed to be able to produce a higher quantity, and you better believe I will be stocking up!

In this picture alone, from last spring, I have about 5 of my favorite things: 1} Abita Strawberry in hand, 2} I'm wearing my chaco's, 3} Spring colored nail polish, 4} I'm at the lake and 5} it had just thunderstormed

 

 

I'm not going to say spring is my favorite {that award goes to fall, my friends}, but there are things I get very excited for in the spring.

I've heard it said so often before that a way to help your marriage succeed and thrive is to do couples activities, and get out of the house and your normal routine. Charles and I are thinking of new ideas to try, such as walking the dogs together after work, riding bikes, and things of that nature that keep us active and in shape as well as spending quality time together. What do you do as a couple to become closer?

“The best time to love with your whole heart is always now, in this moment, because no breath beyond the current is promised.”