Is this real life?

Yes, I’m back after what was a {too} long hiatus. Life gets in my own way in the summertime, y’all, you best believe it! Between wedding showers, baby showers, going to the lake almost every weekend, Blues Festival, cookouts, and many more exciting yet exhausting summer activities, I just haven’t had time to blog. By the time I get home on Sundays, I’m usually cleaning, getting my grocery shopping done, then taking a shower and falling into a nice, deep sleep.

First and foremost, since summer is slowly coming to a close, I have to say how excited I am that Razorback football is only 38 days away! Charles and I always have the best time during fall: Amazing weather, grilling out and making incredible food {especially Charles’ famous smoked ribs..lip licking good}, spending time with friends and family, and of course, FOOTBALL!

Fall for the Alley family also means our wedding anniversary! Can you believe it’s already been almost a year since Charles and I got married? Year one has flown by. We also get to spend our first fall in our new house, which I’m thrilled about! We have been working in the yard and purchasing patio furniture in preparation for the season!

Charles also has converted to Catholicism and he is about to graduate college with his leadership degree. I’m so proud of my hard working husband. I couldn’t imagine “doing life” with anyone else.

Let me share a bit of what has been going on through pictures..

Charles and I are both directors for the Riverfront Blues Festival, and here we are, directing on!

Quite a lot of boating has been occuring this summer

After Charles converted, I threw a small brunch for a few family members. We had champagne for mimosas in a cute bucket, fruit in fun, colorful little cups, spring colored flowers, quiche, and sausage balls. And of course rolls! I love the look of this setup. I also had cute, colorful little plastic mason jars for the mimosas for a cute little touch.

The BMW is no more, someone purchased her, so we got the new 2014 Ford Escape Titanium. LOVE IT, thanks so much to Hug!

Charles and I before Easter mass, right before he converted {dress - Suite One Boutique}

Backstage at Dierks Bentley thanks to my awesome sister in law! {Kimono - Suite One Boutique}

Our wedding made it into a local magazine here in Fort Smith called Entertainment Fort Smith. We had a two page spread, and my bouquet even made the cover! Thanks so much, E Fort Smith!

Funky fourth at Lake Ouachita! We like to be patriotic {kimono & headband - Suite One Boutique}

There's been quite a bit of grilling this season. Charles and I have taken to grilling pizza's in our Pampered Chef pizza pan, so there's bit a lot of relaxing on the patio, enjoying our time together

You can't beat a Lake Ouachita sunset. You just can't!

My BELOVED patio furniture! I scored the sectional at Big Lots for 20% off during a sale, I scored the rug which was a display rug at Wal-Mart for $30! They took money off of it due to it being a "display" which I thought was awesome! I also scored the pillow on clearance at Target. The umbrella was one I purchased 2 summers ago at Wal-Mart. So excited to relax on this sectional this fall while we watch football and grill with friends...

 

 

Well, friends, I'll be back again soon with more updates. I hope you've all enjoyed hearing from me, because I've enjoyed catching up with you!



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..

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

Running on coffee and fumes!

Is it really Monday again? I promise y’all, Mondays come around sooner and sooner every single week. I feel like I have completely reached my limit with all of these crazy and hectic weekends. Being gone every week sure is fun; however, it is finally catching up to me! I’m exhausted and Charles and I are living out of travel luggage – not ideal. Not only am I exhausted (and a little crankier than normal...Oops!) but I feel like my housework and my appearance are suffering because of it! I kid you not; I have boxes among boxes of wedding gifts from our three showers just sprawled out on the floor of our guest bedroom, living room, front foyer, dining room, etc. It’s hard to even move around! Plus, the house could just use some all-around TLC, and so could my body! When you’re always on the go, you don’t have time to cook a proper meal, so you end up heading out to your favorite fast food restaurant (hey Chik-Fil-A, you’re looking tasty…) for quick and easy meals. I also have been struggling to stay awake long enough to take my make-up off before bed (HORRIBLE).

Even though right now the only thing on my mind is a nap, I’ve decided to dedicate this week to getting my house in order and getting caught back up! I really believe that a clean house can make all the difference in your stress levels and your life. People need to be surrounded by a calm environment. I am all about making lists, as I’m sure you already know, so I have been searching the ever so wonderful Pinterest to find some good cleaning lists and cleaning ideas to help keep me on track! Here is the list I am going to try to follow this week, since for once I have NO set in stone plans for any nights this week:

I think sticking to a cleaning schedule it a very good way to not get behind. I know that with everything that people in their twenties have going on, sometimes life gets in the way and things such as doing the dishes seem miniscule, but at least with a schedule, maybe I won’t get AS behind? One can only hope! In the midst of blogging this, I’ve already made plans for two nights this week (maaaaybe this cleaning schedule won’t work after all…)

So the past weekend was the bachelor / bachelorette parties! The future hubs and his friends went to Dallas! What a great time they had. I went to Wal-Mart and stocked up on Water, Gatorade, Granola bars, band aids, gum, roto, BC Powder, tums, etc. I wanted to make sure they had everything they were going to need for three days since I wouldn’t be there to baby my baby! He had an absolutely fab time, I couldn’t be more grateful for the friends that he has! I truly believe that absence makes the heart grow fonder, because these past few days of having him home makes me truly appreciate him and we have been loving on each other non-stop!

Here's Charles and a few of his buddies on the way to Dallas! He had 14 friends go!

 

My bachelorette party was also this past weekend! We started out the morning with some to –go coffee from Sweet Bay (a locally owned coffee shop that is THE best, what have I told you about shopping, dining local?) Then, we ventured on to Tulsa, where we did some light shopping and a light lunch at The Cheesecake factory (their pomegranate mojitos and chicken caesar salads are to DIE for!) Afterwards, we got ready and headed to dinner at an Italian hole in the wall called Ti Amo, which was heavenly! Unfortunately, it was right by the BOK center, which just HAD to be hosting Rascall Flatts and the concert started right when we were going to dinner. Parking was a nightmare, let me tell ya! We then ventured out to some bars and started our night, then drove back the next day! Now that all of the showers and parties are complete, the WEDDING can happen! We are into the 30 day range, y’all! 38 days until I get to marry my sweetie! It’s insane the amount of emotions I am feeling right now. Here are a few pictures from the low-key trip!

Started off with some Sweet Bay!

Per usual, our sisters before the bachelorette picture

Koozies I made from www.totallyweddingkoozies.com! I also ordered our wedding favors from this site, highly recommend!

 

 

 

Well, everyone, it's been great, but it's time for me to get back into the swing of things! Hopefully my life calms down this week and I can get into a better routine (fingers crossed, not holding my breath!) Until then!

 

Michele