Thankful Thoughts..

Hello, all!

I hope you are having such a great week. It’s the day before Thanksgiving! I wish I was at home, snuggled with a blanket and a cup of coffee, getting ready to cook all of my sides for both Thanksgivings with my husband’s family and my family, however now that I’m out of college and a working woman, the tables have turned and I’m at work. Bah humbug, I really love the day before Thanksgiving! I am, however, incredibly fortunate to have a job that allows me to have off Thanksgiving and Black Friday, so I am counting my blessings today. Plus, everyone is in good spirits here, so you can’t complain about having to work.

I have a BILLION and one errands to run it feels like today. I’m going to sneak out on my lunch break and get my mom’s birthday gift {her birthday is the 28^th, so this year it falls on Thanksgiving!}. After work, I need to run to the grocery store and get the items necessary to all of the Thanksgiving items I have been tasked to make. Then, this evening we are having “Friendsgiving” with some of our friends who are in town for the holidays. We are so excited! This year we are going to have it at a local restaurant called AJ’s Oyster House, since it was a last minute plan, and Charles and I have virtually no kitchen or furniture due to the move, so we couldn’t host a homemade meal.

Tomorrow should be another busy yet fun day! Every year we start off with heading to my parent’s house in the morning for sausage balls, coffee {and mimosas…} and to watch the Macy’s Day Parade, and I always look at all the ads for Black Friday and plan my attack. From there, we head to Greenwood to have appetizers and then a meal with Charles family {and watch the dog show..those dogs are TOO cute}. This year, I am making chipotle ranch dip, green bean stacks, and jalapeno cranberry sauce. After spending time with Charles’ family, we head back to my parents for Thanksgiving meal there. This year, I am making green bean casserole and a pumpkin dessert! Nothing too fancy with my cooking this year, as I barely have a kitchen to cook in. It makes me sad, but it will be worth it! Afterwards we are so tired that we go home and CRASH and I rest up for black Friday!

I wanted to share with you all some things for which I am thankful this year…

First and foremost, I am thankful for my husband. I cannot thank the Lord enough every day for the wonderful man he has blessed me with. He knew exactly what he was doing by putting this one in my life, and I am thankful for him daily, not just around Thanksgiving.

Secondly, I am thankful for my family. My family has drastically grown in the past year. I am so thankful for the love and the support that I constantly am blessed with from both of our families. We would not be the man and the woman we are today without our wonderful families.

I am thankful for my job. In a world where it is becoming increasingly difficult to even get a job, I am blessed to have a job {me and my husband both} that has benefits, is challenging and rewarding, and one that I love.

I am thankful for our new home. We are so blessed to be able to have the ability to purchase a new home and have the family and friends to help us with the transition. We are so fortunate.

I am thankful for puppies, and lots of them. Because really, what is better than puppy cuddles on a bad day?

Here is a picture of some of Charles’ family and us on Thanksgiving last year! Boy how time flies!

 

I hope you all have a SAFE and blessed holiday. Be blessed, and be thankful!

XoXo..<3

Life via iPhone, again...

Hey, y'all!

I did better this time, only 6 days since my last post...I'll take it.

I'm currently sitting on my bed, cozied up under a nice blanket, puppies in tow, big slippers keeping me warm, and watching Christmas movies while it's sleeting outside. It's a little early in the season where we live for it to be sleeting, typically it doesn't start this weather until Christmas or a little after..sometimes even as late as February. But hey, I've seen crazier. Last year we had the most beautiful white Christmas you could imagine, and I'm hopeful for a repeat!

Let's do another phone explosion, shall we? Albeit, my life has not been exciting in the past week at ALL (honestly y'all, it's been nothing but boxes, packing, sleeping, working, repeat. But let's take a look...

Even though we have been extremely busy with moving, we still make time to spend time with our family and most importantly to spend time together. It's very important ladies to show your men how much you care for them! Even though they don't express their feelings as much as we do, they still enjoy feeling wanted just as much as women. 

We had a few friends over to the house to have a final farewell to the house. We had a blast with the people who helped us create all of our memories in our old house!

Holiday finds =) How adorable is this towel?

Mimosas, anyone? It makes packing go by SO much quicker!

We have been wanting to try these for a long time, and never seemed to pick them up at the store. While I wouldn't recommend these every day {pretty rich..}, they were an excellent stressful week treat!

Furniture shopping with my husband..I guess this is where all the guys hang out while the women shop?! At least it got him out of my hair! 

Oh look...more boxes! 

What's a chilly, sleeting afternoon without my favorite candle of all time and a nice Chai drink?

The first pieces of furniture we purchased for our new home. The chairs are the brand Threshold and they are by Target! They were a great deal. My husband actually picked them out, maybe I underestimated him... ;)

There was plenty nephew loving when he was in town. We don't get to see him again until Christmas which is a total bummer, but we are so thrilled we got to love all over him! 

Well you guys, next week is Thanksgiving, which means a 3 day work week! Can I get an amen for that? I'm thrilled. Although I am extremely excited that it's a short week, it's also going to be CRAZY hectic {aren't the holidays always? Add moving on top of that..not our wisest decision but we are having a blast with it..}

I hope you all enjoy your holiday with food, friends, and family! I'm off to cuddle up with the puppies, drink the glass of wine my husband just poured me, and watch some more Christmas movies..'tis the season, right?

Happy Thanksgiving, lovies! XoXo..

Holiday Bucket List!

Over a week again!

I apologize! It’s been a long, hectic, and tiresome few weeks, let me assure you.

My life has been filled with big brown moving boxes, lots of coffee, and a plethora of cleaning products…Moving is hectic, but it has been such a fun experience for Charles and I thus far. I got to go to Bed Bath and Beyond last Friday, spent 2 hours and way too much money, but I picked out everything we need for organization of the bathrooms and kitchens, as well as decorations. I also picked up all of the needed supplies to stock the guest bathroom {toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner, loofah’s, etc}…I’m pretty pleased with my choices and even more pleased that the new house will have all new fresh items to make it feel like a fresh start! What an incredible feeling.

I thought I might give you a treat today and share with you my “Holiday Bucket List” thus far. Here are the fun things I want to do this holiday season!

·         Bake Christmas Cookies for all of the neighbors and friends! Charles and I do this every year and we have so much fun with it! We have already started the planning process for accomplishing this in our NEW house. It will be a hectic holiday so I’ll be having to make a set plan in order to make time for this.

·         Watch all of the Christmas movies I can watch. Needs no explanation, I’m pretty sure everyone does this.

·         Get an Angel from the Salvation Army Angel Tree. Again, Charles and I do this every year and we have a blast doing it. It is so rewarding to help others, and especially children needing presents for Christmas.

·         Go look at Christmas Lights while sipping hot cocoa! Again, another tradition that requires no explanation.

·         Put up Christmas decorations to my dad’s Christmas CD. Many of you don’t know this, but my dad plays the keyboard/piano for fun, and he makes these amazing instrumental Christmas CD’s of his songs and of holiday classics and distributes them to the family every year on Thanksgiving. I listen to these cd’s religiously all Christmas season, and I can’t wait to see what my dad comes up with this year!

·         Make a gingerbread house! Sadly I haven’t ever made one…Pathetic? Yes.

·         Host Christmas Eve at our new home. Charles and I host Christmas Eve at our house for his family every year, so this year is no different. I want to do it BIG this year, with Christmas music, punch, ham, casseroles, stuffing, and the works! I am so excited to host my first big holiday!

·         Wear red lipstick to Charles’ work Christmas Party. Okay now this is a bit of an odd thing to want to accomplish, but I rarely wear colored lipstick or lipgloss, and I always think the ladies Charles works with look so fabulous, so what better way to stand out than red lipstick during the holidays and a fabulous dress?

·         Fall asleep by my new fireplace! Purely because I can

I’m sure I have a thousand more things I would like to do during the holidays {after all, it IS the MOST wonderful time of the year} I hope you all have a Happy Holiday season. Let me know what YOUR bucket list entails..I’m always looking for more ideas. Be a blessing today! <3

As of Late..

Hello, lovelies!

I'm such a slacker, I know..I haven't posted in over a week!

Let me start off by saying that I had every intention of posting...and then life happened. I have so much to share with you! Instead of me writing out long paragraphs explaining what prevented me from staying in touch, how about I just empty out the contents of my iPhone for you.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words...

Sick husband survival kit

Remember how last time I told you Charles and I had plans last weekend to go to Fayetteville, visit his grandmother, tailgate, and watch the game with friends? Well my dear husband caught the stomach flu. We had a very hard, long weekend. Luckily I get the awesome wife award for getting him soup from Fuji {the only broth he will eat} and a bunch of other necessities. I also disinfected the entire house..I have no time to get a stomach bug

Cran-brrr-itas came out...kept me occupied

Took care of spoiled rotten puppies

I became obsessed with vanilla and chocolate chai's..

Drumroll please....NEW HOUSE!

So here is what took up most of my time last week. Aside from training at work all week AND our company changing it's name, which caused a headache during working hours, Charles and I purchased a house!! It has been a hectic and truly exciting week! We are blessed beyond measure. We anticipate closing on December 6th {SO close!} and then moving in before the holidays! My birthday is Dec. 3rd, so happy birthday to me! Best present ever.

The wedding presents waiting to move into the new house!

I got the opportunity to go enjoy a nice evening with one of the best friends a girl could ask for!

I'm sorry I slacked last week. I can't promise I will be {too} much better throughout the coming weeks, but I will try my hardest! Please bear with me, the holidays are a busy time as is, and add moving into a new house on top of that? I'll be living on coffee, fumes, and pure excitement for the next few weeks...

Stay tuned..XO

5 for Friday!

Hi, lovies!

 Have you been enjoying the wedding posts? I’ve sure been enjoying posting them. I plan to do a post on the honeymoon as well, but I figured since it’s 1) Friday and 2)November 1^st, I’d do a 5 for Friday of all of the many wonderful things going through my head this Friday.

First, let’s start with a week recap, since all I’ve been doing is lazily uploading pictures.

Monday night…{it’s sad that I have to think so hard to try and remember what I did on Monday…I’m getting old..}  Oh yes, nothing too fun. I cleaned, cooked dinner, took a bubble bath…that’s about all folks! Typical, uneventful Monday night.

Tuesday  night we had a going away dinner for a co-worker of mine. We all went out to dinner at BWW, and Charles tagged along as the world’s most handsome date. He hasn’t really gotten to meet my coworkers, so it was a good chance for him to do so. We had a blast! It’s fun to hang around people you work with in a different setting {it’s how Charles and I fell in love..}

Wednesday night – The night before Halloween! It started off with my awesome sissy bringing me a Starbucks drink and some breakfast! After work, I rushed home to put some baked potato soup {that homemade recipe I posted a few weeks ago..divine} in the crockpot to bring to my old next door neighbors because her husband {and the kids father} passed away. My mom and sister and my mom’s best friend all brought food to go with it, so we were able to provide them with a full dinner and got to indulge in some great conversation with them. It’s also a tradition that my mom and I make Dirt Cake the night before Halloween and watch The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. We have done it since I was little and this year was no different. We had a blast, my sister and Ann even jumped in this year!

 

Thursday night {HALLOWEEN!}: Charles and I cooked dinner, had a few cocktails, and watched Monsters University {his choice, and SO adorable}. We only got one trick or treater and I was super bummed. The church down our street does Trunk or Treat so all of the neighborhood kids go to that instead. Note to self, change neighborhood…

 

Now that we are all caught up…here goes 5 for Friday!

{ONE}

My Sweetie Pie Nephew!! I haven’t gotten to meet him yet, but I will soon. Here’s some of the latest photos I have of this cutie pie! I love him already.

 

 

{TWO}

Houses, houses, houses! Charles and I are starting the staging process for getting our house ready to rent or sell, and looking at houses to purchase. We are weighing all of our options and are having a blast! It’s been hard work making sure our house is up to par for the selling process, and will continue to be difficult. We have a meeting with a realtor in a few weeks to they can tell us exactly what we need to get out of the house, how to stage it, if anything needs to be fixed, etc. It’s a very exciting time in our life and I can’t help but smile to think about the possibilities in a new home!

{THREE}

The holidays! My holiday bucket list will be up soon, and I can’t stop thinking about the greatest time of year! It’s November 1^st, y’all! When did THAT Happen? It’s insane how fast this year has gone by. In fact, one year ago tomorrow, Charles proposed to me. Now, I’m his wife! I have a lot of great holiday ideas in store, so stay tuned. My heart is a little happier, my family is a little closer, people are a whole lot friendly, clothes are a whole lot cuter..I’ll go on if you’d like. These holiday feelings are real, y’all.

{FOUR}

You might need to sit down for this one. This product has kind of saved my life.

Let’s back up.

Whenever I get out of the shower {even though I keep a wide tooth comb in the shower and make sure I have no tangles when I get out of the shower}, my hair turns into some knotted mess in about 3.1434554 seconds. I cringe every time I look at my comb after I try to get the tangles out of my wet hair {no matter how much product I put in it to prevent that very thing…sigh}. I don’t care what they say, wide tooth combs still cause pain when trying to detangle my hair, and I still think I lose way.too.much hair when detangling. Let me introduce to you my very new BFF in the hair world.

Introducing the Conair Wet Dry detangling brush. I didn’t think such a miracle brush could ever be possible but it just is. It detangles my hair, doesn’t pull, and works on wet and dry hair! It’s AMAZING. If you don’t go get one right now, shame on you. It’s incredibly inexpensive {I think about $5 at Wal-Mart} and you just won’t be sorry. My hair thanks me every day and I no longer dread leaving the shower and combing my hair. You’re welcome in advance.

 

{FIVE}

It’s the freakin’ weekend baby I’m about to have me some fun. What a throwback.

Charles and I plan on taking advantage of this beautiful fall weather and grilling out with some new friends! Can’t beat making memories like that. Tomorrow, after I sing at a funeral for our dear neighbors, we are making the trip up to Fayetteville to see Charles’ grandmother and to tailgate! Then we will be heading to a friend’s house to watch the HOG game! Fun times with fun friends in store.

Sunday will most likely be spent getting the house in order. We are trying to go through each room one by one to get all of the unnecessary items out and throw away junk that we have saved due to our hoarder ways {I blame this on Charles.}

 

I hope you all have a BLESSED and relaxing weekend!