On my Radar..

Well I’m back again for my 6 month check in!

That’s what it seems like anyway. I haven’t exactly been the best at keeping up and checking in lately. I don’t mean to be this way {and by this way, I mean sporadic in my blogging} but life keeps getting in the way! I’m really trying to make a conscious effort to get back into the habit of regular check ins. I feel like something is missing when I’m not writing about something anything {and if you’ve read any of my previous posts…everything}.

So what was I up to last time? Scrolling through my last post, it looks like it was right before Valentine’s Day as well as right before I hosted my sister’s gender reveal party at my house.

WOW. I can’t won’t even try to find the words to describe the whirlwind known as my last few months. {I said I won’t try to find the words, but I didn’t say I wouldn’t show you via pictures…} That being said, I will be posting some “rehash” pictures at the end, but I figured I would do a segment on “What I’ve been loving lately.” Can this be a wonderful transition post before my next post about what is happening in my life in the present? We’ll see {I do love something to aim for….}

Let’s get right to it:

»   Library Cards. Enter back with me to, approximately, 15 years ago. I was always amazingly in love with reading. Reading by the pool. Reading in bed with a cup of coffee & pj’s. Reading with a flashlight {light’s out is no joke, thanks mom}. Then IT happened. Yes, I’m talking about becoming a teenager. Friday nights meant movies with friends and listening to music, talking on AOL Instant Messenger with my boyfriend, trying out new makeup…the list goes on. Then I grew out of that phase {Lord, help} and then something ELSE happened. Yes, college. Between working and going to college full time, the only books I was reading were textbooks. I have now been graduated from college for 3 years {Hallelujah, thank you Jesus} and I’m finally getting back into the reading swing. But books aren’t cheap, y’all! Enter the library card. Here’s a few suggestions for you: Sparkly Green Earrings, The Antelope in the Living Room, & The Devil in the Junior League.

»   Organizing anything {and everything..} Y’all. It’s as if I’m pregnant and nesting. I don’t know WHY I have been feeling the constant need to organize everything I can get my hands on. My house thanks me for it, so I guess this I don’t really care why this has been such a love of mine lately.

»   Oversized sweaters in statement colors – Particularly loving mustard yellow, burnt orange, and wine colored sweaters..and booties..and jewelry..It’s not even fall yet and I’m already lusting over fall everything. I have to literally talk myself out of putting fall wax in the scentsy burner. I think it has something to do with when they start putting out school supplies, I go into fall freak out mode. {I will wait until football season, I will wait until football season…}

»   Farmers markets – It’s been so much fun walking around farmers markets in the mornings and trying new, fresh food. Not only do you get greater portions of the food for a fraction of the price, the quality is top notch. Charles & I have been having too much fun thinking of all sorts of fun, healthy recipes to create with our farmers market finds.

»   The Bachelor / The Bachelorette – I realize that I’m late to this party, but guys. I’m hooked. Yes I realize it’s one of “those” reality shows, but I can’t help it. It just keeps pulling you in. Nothing quite like sitting in your pj’s drinking wine, & watching 18 girls cry in the span of an hour or two. Genius.

»   Classical Church Music – There is a Pandora station that I have been LOVING lately and it’s called “O God Beyond All Praising.” I love listening to it when I am particularly anxious about something {a musical Xanax, if you will..} and I even like to listen to it at work while I’m working on a project or have a few spare minutes. This is primarily an instrumental version of church music {not Christian radio music, think church music, old school style – As the Deer, It is Well, Be still my soul, Jesu joy of man’s desiring…} Do your soul a favor and have a listen.

If anyone is reading this and you have a new obsession, send ‘em my way.

 

And now what you’ve all been waiting for…I know, the suspicion, the intrigue..A few photos to document my last few months.

We had a gender reveal party at my house {because y'all know how much I love to be the hostess!} My sister was going to have a sweet baby BOY!

We went to a motorcycle rally with great friends..

We got pictures taken by the fabulous Erin Wilson.

We partied for baby Liam!

We Lake Ouachita'ed all over the place.

We were blessed with a new niece, Tess!

WE WENT TO HARRY POTTER WORLD!

We fell more in love.

We became Godparents to sweet baby Liam.

 

That's all...until next time.

"You can't litter negativity everywhere and then wonder why you've got a trashy life"

Sunday, Monday, Happy days..

Hello, blog friends! I hope you are all enjoying a relaxing and cozy Sunday afternoon. Mother nature in my neck of the woods decided to play a prank and make it an extremely chilly April day, for which I was not exactly thankful...

It was another one of those busy weeks in our life, but a fun one! We were blessed with quite a few fun nights and a lot of time to spend together. Lucky for you, this means a lengthy photo section! Your lucky day! Let's get to it. 

Monday night was a dinner with my coworkers at Landry's downtown. We had a blast, and I got to introduce Charles to a few new people he hadn't gotten to meet yet. 

Nothing better than a glass of wine, a hot grill, and sunshine..

So excited that we got to mow the yard for the first time {and by we, I mean Charles...} I have a strong love of the smell of freshly mowed grass, especially since I haven't smelled it in so long! 

I discovered these Odwalla bars at the store the other day. I haven't been getting enough protein in my diet, especially after a workout. These are a delicious way to get your protein in. 

An absolutely amazing couple overheard that we were newlyweds and had the staff bring us these as a gift to bless our marriage. So sweet! We felt so loved. 

Even Cholla had to look out on the beautiful Saturday we had!

We took advantage of the beautiful day and sat on an enclosed patio drinking mojitos! Can't beat it!

We also took a short trip to the Fort Smith amphitheater to watch the pretty, albeit a bit cloudy, sunset! If you haven't gotten a chance to go, I highly suggest going!

It was a big day for Charles today, so I surprised him with breakfast in bed!

Getting ready to be blessed and welcomed into the Catholic Church. Two more weeks until he becomes Catholic!

All in all, we had a beautiful week and weekend. I hope you've enjoyed the same!

Next weekend, we will be fortunate enough to go to Derby day and spent another lake weekend with the family. I can't wait to share all of our adventures with you!

"Everyone wants some magical solution for their problems, and everyone refuses to believe in magic"

Precious Moments

Happy Monday, faithful friends! I trust you’ve all had a productive and long lasting weekend and are ready to tackle this week {or at the very least, at least prepared to start the week.} My weekend was a pretty tame one. There was bowling on Friday, lots of snow {sigh}, dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant Patron, a birthday lunch for my sister {Happy 28^th, Nikki!}, and food prep, grocery shopping, laundry, etc. Just like every other weekend I tell you about. I’m just an old bore, but at least I’m switching it up this weekend and going to the lake! It should be a nice change in pace for us.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been a little stir crazy lately. I’m tired of being cooped up inside, freezing cold, and I’m ready for some spring weather and green grass. I want to bust out my chacos and start working on the landscaping at the new house.

In other news, the Olympics have been extremely fun to watch with Charles. We are having a blast watching and cheering on Team USA! I really enjoy the figure skating, snowboarding, and the luge.

Short but Sweet photo recap!

 

Bowling Friday night! "Alleys at the Alley" :)

Boy shoes vs. Girl shoes

Snow Angels! My dogs ran outside when we were making them so I had to catch her and let her help me make the snow angel. Yes, more snow...

What's your sister's birthday without a deliciously fruity beverage?!

Colder weather calls for yummy K-Cup inserts. Here's our latest obsession, Gloria Jena's "Mudslide!"

 

We heard the news this morning about a friend who passed away. My brother in law’s best friend lost his wife and unborn child due to a horrible case of H1N1. What words can I say except for it’s absolutely heartbreaking, but they have gone to a far better place, and comfort should be taken in that.

So often we take for granted the people in our life and we focus too much on material items. When situations like this happen, it is an ever present reminder that we need to focus on the important things in our life, our loved ones.

When you get home from a long day at work, give your loved one a hug and a kiss. Ask them how their day was. And here’s the kicker: Listen to them when they’re speaking to you. Don’t get too busy for the most important things and people in your life. You never know when they will get taken away from you, and it always seems to be too soon.

When I see my husband {ok, and the fur babies} at the end of a long day, all I can think is “what a sight for sore eyes..” I hear people talk about how they can’t wait for their significant others to go out of town because they want to spend time without them, or wanting to do separate things at night because they need their “alone time.” Well I for one have different priorities. I don’t want to go out of town and leave my husband behind. I don’t want to spend evenings away from my husband. If my husband wants to go to a sports bar and watch football with a few of his buddies, he always invited me, and I always say yes {unless I’m ill} because if he’s interested, I want to be interested as well, and even if I’m not interested in what he is {cough, watching golf on tv…how boring is that}, I’ll still do it just to spend quality time with him.

People can go at any second. I don’t know what I would do without my loved ones, especially my husband. So go the extra mile, say I love you, and say you’re sorry first.

I will make it my mission each and every day of my marriage to not waste the moments that in the future I’ll want back.

“May the Angels lead you into paradise; may the martyrs greet you at your arrival and lead you into the holy city, Jerusalem. May the choir of Angels greet you and like Lazarus, who once was a poor man, may you have eternal rest”

Rest in Peace Leslie Creekmore

Never Alone

Snowmygoodness, it’s extremely cold where I live, and it’s getting a little old. I do like cooler weather and snow, but about a week after Christmas is when I’m always tired of it. Cold weather reminds me of the holidays and it gets me excited, but when it’s February and I’m still freezing my buns off, I tend to get irked by sister snow and her friend winter.

In other news…Denver lost the Superbowl {insert sad face here.} Charles gloated for days, go figure. We were afraid that none of our friends would be able to come over and watch the game with us due to the weather on Sunday, but everyone was able to show up, and we had an absolute blast. Anyone have a favorite commercial? I really liked Budweiser’s commercial “Puppy Love” as well as the Hyundai commercial about dad’s protecting their sons. It was hilarious!

I’ve been increasingly busy this week as we have 4 new hires that started at work on Monday, and we have 4 new starting next Wednesday. Wow. I’ve either worked through my lunch or come into work an hour early each day this week to catch up on everything that I need to do, and I’m still not caught up {go figure}. I would rather come into work early and get things done or even work through lunch rather than staying late, or worse, bringing my work home with me. I have a husband, and he needs my time. When we are at home, we want to spend the time together without worrying about work and stress. I just want to enjoy his company. This might make for early mornings, but it’s a bond that I get that I would not trade for anything.  

I hope you all have started thinking about what you can do special for your Valentine! It’s going to be here before you know it. Don’t wait to the last moment, be sweet J

My latest photo memories:

Beautiful snow falling {{again}} while the puppies played in the backyard!

 

Wearing my Bronco's colors..or close enough

 

This is the way we cook our ribs...out in the snow :)

Made up a little white chicken chili for the cold weather. It's been great, because I've been taking the leftovers to work with me and having them for lunch! Delicious

Nothing makes an afternoon training class more bearable than Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha..right, dad?

I entered a contest on Instagram with Onegirl3letters, and I won this super adorable koozie with my monogram on it! Like it? Get your own! She's on facebook, instagram, and etsy! Search for Onegirl3letters!

The gorgeous view from outside my front porch. Can't really beat it, even though I'm not thrilled about the cold.

 

 

Check out this video of my new all time favorite song "Never Alone" by Jesse Bonanno. It's talking about how you are never truly alone, as God is always walking with you. It brings me to tears, it's an absolute gorgeous song, and you can also view it as a love song. I'm very glad I stumbled across this gorgeous song. Watch, listen, and let me know what you think!

 

"I will stand as your light through your darkest unknown"

Snow way!

Happy SuperBowl Sunday, my sweet friends! I hope you're all sitting on the couch in the colors of your favorite team, delicious smelling food wafting into your living room from the kitchen, and maybe even getting outside, playing a little round of catch outside in the sunshine!

Well what a coincidence, that's  {almost} exactly what I'm doing! Except for that last part..no sunshine, no catch outside. Just mounds and mounds of snow..

I remember when I was a kid, I used to LOVE snow days. My dad would take the kids sledding at a local park {I even made it into newspaper sledding one year!} We would make hot chocolate and watch movies, my mom would make tomato soup, and I got to play with my neighbors. Not to mention, school got cancelled! I hated loved that part. 

I also remember that things changed as I got older. Once I reached about high school, I hated snow days. I was "too old" for playing in the snow, and I did NOT like missing school because I didn't get to see my boyfriend {you know, teenage priorities.} 

Now, I don't mind snow days much. Snow days are pretty, we have a fireplace, I have two cuddly snuggle pups who keep my warm, and my sweet husband and I get to spend the day indoors together. I do worry about how I'l get to work tomorrow, though. My office does not close no matter what the weather is. I'll have to get to work, rain, snow, sleet, or shine. You'd think we were the post office! That's where great coworkers come into play. I have a few people who are willing to pick me up in their 4x4's and get my to work safely! 

It seems like we are a house divided today. Charles is rooting for a Seahawks victory, while I'm rooting for the Broncos {what can I say, I was raised a Peyton Manning fan.} It will be fun to see how this plays out, since we usually root for the same team. 

Oh, and of course we're watching the puppy bowl. How can you resist the cuteness? If you're not watching, shame on you! And don't forget to watch the half-time show {honestly, it's what I'm most excited for.} I'm a die hard RHCP fan, and usually the entertainment during the super bowl is sub-par at best. 


Camera journal!

Cozy with a cup of coffee, a blanket, and a fire {{Snow Day Essentials!}}

Yesterday was the first day of February, so I had to decorate for Valentine's Day <3 xo

Had a slightly elevated temperature yesterday and wasn't feeling so hot. Luckily, I feel better today!

The hubs brought me reinforcements when I wasn't feeling well! 

Snowmygosh!

Cholla and Milli can't keep their eyes off of the Puppy Bowl! 

I hope you've all enjoyed our Superbowl Sunday preview! I'll be posting again with pictures from the Superbowl :) Have a fun, safe, and relaxing Sunday, friends! 

"It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all. In that case, you fail by default."