Low-Key Halloween... just the way I like it

In a vast contradiction to last year's Halloween, Matthew and I thankfully enjoyed a calm weekend with friends. Last year was quite dramatic so I'm so glad that we didn't have a repeat situation.

Friday night we tagged along with our great friends Matt & Megan for dinner, pumpkin carving & trying to scare some kids at a Halloween party. Some of the older kids at the party commented on how they weren't scared this year, so Matthew & Matt hid in a field with a chainsaw to scare them on the hayride. I'm pretty sure they were freaked out, whether they wanted to admit it or not!

Saturday we had a garage sale at my house and made $322 to put towards our mountain trip! :) I was shocked to make that much money, especially since I felt like I was selling everything for a quarter. I'm not very good at garage sale pricing because I always think about how much I originally paid for them.

Molly, Matt & Megan's baby, dressed up as Snow White for Halloween. Isn't she the cutest thing ever??? She HATED her costume though!

Pumpkin carving took way more concentration than I was prepared for on a Friday night, but we had a lot of fun making them! Mine & Matthew's pumpkin is the bat on the left.

Post-Wedding To-Do List

Just when I thought my life would slow down after this weekend, I stumble across this super fun blog and come up with a completely new to-do list!

Suzanne at Our Southern Nest is a fabulous do-it-yourselfer and is gracious enough to share her tips and instructions to recreate your own version of her ideas and projects. I've already added pumpkin topiaries (my fav so far), magnetic frames and a console table to my project list for next month-- and that's only because I haven't made it very far in reading all of her posts. I'm sure they'll be much more to come!

Call me cheap, call me frugal, call me whatever you want, but I'm the type of person who hates to pay for something I feel like I can make myself! So, this blog is absolutely PERFECT and exactly what I've been looking for to show me how to bring my ideas to life. Hello to homemade Christmas presents! :)

I'm the first to admit that my creative abilities are primarily great only in my mind and in real life tend to fall short of my expectations. But with some help and tips from blogs like Suzanne's, hopefully my projects will come a little closer to what I imagined!

I can't wait to get started!

here we go again

Well, here I go again with another desperate attempt at blogging. I'm starting to feel like I need to pick up the habit again just to keep up with my own life. I woke up today and realized... It's almost OCTOBER! What happened to September?? Did I sleep through almost the whole month? Or did I spend most of September at wedding showers and other volunteer events that I just don't remember the days without them? Yes, I think the latter is exactly what happened.

So, what have I been up to? Well, let's see... the past month went a little like this...

8/21 weekend- baby showers and wedding showers
8/28 weekend- more wedding showers and a wedding
9/4 weekend- Dad's birthday and one last beach vacation which ended in lots of money being spent, one birthday party missed and one boat being put up for sale
9/11 weekend- volunteered at Dothan CityFest (which was a lot of fun!)
9/18 weekend- wow... I really don't want to relive this weekend (even in words), but let's just say it was super busy with wedding activities and showers, plus a little Auburn football (aka... near heart attack from rising blood pressure)

Fill in the remaining week days with shopping trips for the numerous baby & wedding showers & my daily schedule of work, gym, clean, pass out.

My cousin, Amber, is getting married THIS SATURDAY!!! :) :) :) hence the wedding showers and activities. I'm so excited for her and can't wait to help send her off on a fabulous honeymoon! In the meantime, I can't wait to see the amazing details and touches she and her mom have put on the wedding plans and reception. They really have an eye for these things, so I know it's going to be beautiful.

So, I'll spend the rest of my month trying to desperately finish a wardrobe plan for dinner party Thursday night, dinner party Friday night and a bridal tea Saturday. Thank goodness I have the perfect bridesmaids dress for Saturday night because I just don't think I could fit anything else on my to-do list this week.

See you in October!

back in the routine

I'm just coming back to work from a 10-day vacation and I'm very much struggling to get back in the routine of waking up and being somewhat productive. Example: Today I woke up at 7:00 a.m. which left me with a whopping 25 minutes to get ready for work. Hence, the awful ponytail, minimal makeup, and outfit that consists of whatever clothes weren't wrinkled.

I had this problem before vacation though & thought I was just burned out on work and a few days off would somehow cure me of this horrible habit. So much for that idea because the horrible habit is back. It seems that no matter what time I go to bed (which is usually before 10:00--if I'm not in bed by then I'm cranky), I can't seem to wake up on time. I would like to say I wake up at 6:00, shower, get ready, have time for breakfast and get the dogs taken care of before I head off to work at 7:25. However, 99.99% of the time, I wake up between 6:45 and 7:00, shower as quickly as humanly possible, throw some gel in my hair and pray that I can tame it with a pony tail and put on makeup in the car. No breakfast. Dogs fend for themselves. Make it to work at 7:59.

I've tried taking B12 supplements thinking that improved oxygen and blood flow would help my engery levels rise from 0, but even with 5000 mg per day it hasn't made a difference.

It leads me to think that maybe I need to make other changes in my life. Maybe I can't seem to wake up early enough because I can't seem to get excited/motivated/positive/inspired... pick one... about my day ahead. I've thought a lot about this. Each and every single day in fact. And I'm struggling to decide what change I need to make. I think there's an obvious answer (which I won't name here in the rare case that the wrong person stumbles across this) to what I should do, but for now it's very much a waiting game.

So, any ideas to help with the motivation/energy levels? B12 doesn't work. Exercise is good, but doesn't help. Going bed earlier just means I sleep more while still waking up at 7:00. So, I'm open to anything.

capt. lou-lou charters

i FINALLY got to go fishing on Mary Jane (the bf's boat) this weekend in panama city. it was a gorgeous day out on the water, despite the hot & humid weather. we've all been worried about the oil spill (along with the rest of the gulf and U.S.), so the bf has been trying to fit in as many fishing trips as possible. after all this, who knows when we'll get to go again. so, here's what happens when i get to go fishing and have my chance to show up the boys. :)

my first fish of the day. at this point i'm wondering what the $@#*! is on the end of this line that's trying to pull me in the water?!? not to mention, the rod is jammed in my stomach, surely giving me internal bleeding, but i've been told to "never let go of the rod. if you get pulled in, we'll get you out before a shark comes." comforting, huh?

then i find out this guy in on the other end. a tasty amberjack. as hard as it was getting him in the boat (i'm attributing that to the fact that my stomach was hurting from the rod by the way), he wasn't even legal size. maybe half of the legal size, but a smaller aj nonetheless.

the bf always told me that i couldn't reel in an aj, but look who reeled in an aj!!!

who knew snapper had teeth like this?

since the bf went fishing the day before and had an awesome day catching lots of fish, he let me do most of the catching on our trip. but i let him sneak a few in every once in a while.

wedding season part 3

this past weekend, a long-time friend of mine married her best friend. it was scorching hot, but amazingly beautiful! here are just a few pics since my battery was going dead & didn't make it throughout the day.

here are the bridesmaids with the beautiful bride at the rehearsal. most everyone was also friends throughout college, so it was so great to hang out with everyone and celebrate two amazing people.

we had to work pretty hard to stay cool in the 105 degree weather. i can't remember any single moment when we all weren't sweating or fanning. needless to say, there was tons of hairspray, makeup, oil blotting sheets and deodorant on hand. :)

I just had to post this picture of me and the cutest little girl EVER! meet molly, who might as well be a cabbage patch twin. she is always so happy & sweet, you can't help but love her. this is the bf's best friend's little girl. i'm just hoping my kids one day turn out as cute as she is! :)

i miss auburn

i miss auburn. i miss everything about it. the people, the town, the school, the pride, even the classes. but what i miss most today is the feeling that i could literally do anything i wanted to.

we're always told when we're younger that we can be anything we want to be, do anything we want to do, go anywhere we want to go. then we grow up and realize those doing some of those things cost money and time that we don't always have.

right before i graduated, i had my heart set on moving to boston. why? i don't know really. it just sounded fun and was completely different than anything i'd ever done. then i realized how much money it would cost to 1.) move up there and 2.) pay for living expenses until i found a job. on top of that, as a new pr grad, you don't expect to make a lot of money for a while, and after my parents paid for the best 4 years of my life (so far), i didn't want to ask for more.

so, i moved home with the plan of working for a while & building up my savings account so i could fund my own move to a big city. that lasted all of about 4 months. after that, i couldn't deal with living with my parents again after being on my own for 4 years. something about the 'rules' (which were, for the record, not unreasonable at all) just drove me crazy. i moved out & remembered how much i loved to spend money & shop. so much for the savings account.

...anyway... long story short... today, i'm still in my hometown and very much feeling like my options are extremely limited. i know that's not true and that somewhere deep down inside there's still a part of me that can do anything i want to, but today i'm feeling stuck.

today i'm feeling like i will probably live paycheck to paycheck for the rest of my life. i'm feeling like i may never find a my 'dream job' (even though i don't know what that is yet) and i may always feel limited in my possibilities.

all of this is not to discredit the wonderful people in my life who bring me more happiness than they know. i have a very loving family, an outstanding boyfriend that i couldn't live without and amazing friends that keep me sane and laughing every single day.

i'm just in a funk.
maybe i'll have another diet dr. pepper. :) hehe.

addiction

Just call me Jessie from Saved by the Bell and imagine me screaming, “No time! There’s NEVER any time!” … right before I break down and admit my addiction to caffeine.


Unlike Jessie, however, my addiction isn’t to caffeine pills so I can study and sing at night, but rather an addiction to Diet Dr. Pepper and my ability to function throughout the day.

I spent the past two days not having ANY caffeine. I should be proud, right? Since it seemed I was on my way to a new, healthier habit? Wrong. I felt AWFUL. Bad mood, headache, sleepiness, laziness, lack of motivation… you name it, I was feeling it.

That’s when I decided to screw being healthy for just this one thing. I can convince myself that I need to eat better, exercise more, take better care of myself, blah, blah, blah, but I refuse to give up my Diet Dr. Pepper. Granted, I only allow myself one drink per day (two if I got out to eat- I’m usually afraid of drinking restaurant water), so I don’t know why one drink can make such a difference.

This morning I’m back to drinking my daily Diet DP and feeling great. No headache, no sleepiness & I might even have a little tiny ounce of motivation to actually get some work done. Bring on the caffeine, because there are no plans to kick the habit in the near future.

sex & the city

i'm going to see Sex & the City 2 tonight! whoo-hoo! i can't wait! i even watched the 1st s&tc movie last night to get ready for it. i forgot how much i loved it and how much i missed it.

what surprsied me even more was how it made me miss my girl friends.... and vacations.... and shopping... and having my hair done. i'm feeling a girls' weekend coming on!

bachelorette weekend

congratulations to my friends A & B on their upcoming wedding in 2 weeks!!

last weekend was the bachelorette party at the beach. it was the first time this year i actually got to lay out on the beach and the weather was fabulous. friday night was full of the annual bachelorette party gear and parties. i spent way more money than i intended but don't think i have laughed that hard in a LONG time.

official bachelorette party gear...

 

I mean, what kind of party is it without the flashing lights, crowns & buttons? Thankfully, despite the bachelorette status there was no... um... adult-themed paraphernalia.

There was a little drama concerning an issue with a guy trying to steal the sacred bachelorette crown, but I think 5 crazy girls yelling in his face made him give up the fight. haha.

Five crazy girls as mentioned above:

dear donora...

I figured since it's been a good two months since I've written a letter to you, so I guess it's time I update you on the happenings here in peanut land.

It's been a stressful day, but slowly improving.

The BF wrecked his truck this morning. Or rather, someone wrecked it for him. Here's how my conversation went at 5:00 a.m. today.

BF: I need you to come get me. I've been in a wreck.
ME: Ok, you're on your way over? I'll see you in a minute.
BF: No, I need you to pick me up. I've been in a wreck.
ME: You saw a wreck? Oh no, was anyone hurt? Are you in front of my house?
BF: NO!!!! Get out of bed and come get me. I, ME, MYSELF, have been in a wreck!

...and so the panic attack ensues. The other guy ran a red light and t-boned his new-but-slightly-used truck that he's had for a grand total of 2 weeks. He was fine, but a little shaken. More mad than anything else. But can you guess what his biggest concern was for the day???

"How am i going to haul the boat to the beach today?"

Not, thank goodness I'm alive. Not, oh no what am I going to do without a truck for a while. But how am I going to take the boat to the beach to fish. Such a boy!

So, I've been up and going since 5:00 a.m. (which I know for a lot of people is normal), but now I'm feeling a little loopy. I've had the swagger wagon song stuck in my head all day. Really. I can't stop singing it.

Weekend-itis

Dear Donora...

Just an update on my life. Nothing too exciting, so don't get your hopes up.

1. We don't know if 'she' is pregnant or not. (For anyone who might stumble across this, no, 'she' is not me. And, no, I won't tell you who 'she' is.) She went to the dr. this week, took another test -don't know why- and it came back negative. So, 'she' is asking 'him' for more money to go to the doctor again. However, 'he' isn't going with 'her' but rather just forking over money. Big mistake. 'He' is such an idiot sometimes.

2. I got asked to help with another wedding. Whoo-hoo! This time I'll be helping with the floral and design part of it. I've never done that before, so I'm really excited about it. One step closer to being a fabulous wedding planner!

3. I think I'm forgetting how to do marketing. I was asked to help on a city event, (I think I mentioned this to you once before) and as of right now, I'm kind of in charge of all the marketing efforts. You remember that feeling once we graduated of "Oh crap! I have no idea what I'm doing!" Well, I have that feeling again.

4. I really don't want to work today. It's beautiful outside, my boss is in a bad mood & it's been an incredibly long week. Since Ben got a promotion, can you beg him to pay my bills so I can quit my job? :) Me and Matthew are too poor to do it on our own.

5. I'm ready for the BEACH!!!

Have a fabulous weekend! Love you and miss you!

p.s. I might have to revert back to emails. I can't be quite as open and honest here on the worldwide web as I can in a private email where only you and email hackers can see.

in search of a long lost friend

i'm changing my blog. i know, i know... all my followers (all 3 of them) are going to be so confused, right? i post so many different things and do so quite often, that a name change might throw someone for a loop. i really should take a break on blogging. i mean, who wants to read stuff every other month anyway, right?

...ok... i'm done with the sarcasm now. but i really am changing the name. you see, the whole reason i started this blog was because donora made me. not asked me to. not encouraged me to start it. she literally forced me to do it. it started out with good intentions, and then turned into me reading everyone else's blogs and never updating my own (which was ok, b/c i talked to my friend on a almost-daily basis).

but now my friend donora has seemed to disappear. last i talked to her she said something about an internship, school, work, family, blah, blah, blah. and then she said something about never having any time. i can't really remember what all she said because it was so long ago.

so, this is my attempt to find her again. maybe if i write letters to her more often, she'll somehow track me down on this worldwide web thing and i can keep up with her life again. until then... here are my letters to donora. :)

i found that motivation i was looking for

so, yesterday was pretty rough. i found myself begging for motivation and energy to overcome my crazy anger and not let a certain someone control my mood so much. (side note: am i the only one who has such a hard time not letting a person control my thoughts and feelings? why is that so hard?) well, to deal with my anger my plan was to head to the gym for a kickboxing class and pretend like i was punching and kicking that someone in the face. even though i forgot to picture her face, i actually found myself having a pretty good time in the midst of all my sweat. i was pushing myself a little harder than i usually do and surprisingly making it through without collapsing.

and then came the motivation. right as i was thinking i needed a break b/c surely this was too much for my body handle, i look to my right and see the lady with cancer and going through chemo kicking this class's butt. I don't mean just going through the motions and keeping up with the class. I mean really kicking butt.

at that point i quit making excuses. no matter how hard my day had been, no matter how sweaty and tired i was, i didn't have to worry about a horrible disease trying to destroy my life. if this lady, who sometimes probably feels like the world is against her, can fight with a positive attitude, why can't I? i've seen how difficult the chemo treatments can be. i've seen people who sometimes just want to give up. and i've seen those same people keep pushing, keep fighting, keep praying and keep having faith.

God has a funny way of putting things in perspective right when we feel like we can't take anymore.

To the lady in the gym class-- thanks for keeping us all going. thanks for making us more grateful for what we have and here's to kicking cancer's butt like you kick butt in class! :)

un-addicting myself to chocolate

today i'm needing some motivation. or inspiration. or determination. or maybe just about any other kind of
-ation you can throw my way. it's been a rough day. and when i say rough, i mean trying not to cry my eyeballs out every single second that passes by. but not because i'm sad. because i'm p*ssed. i'm mad as h*ll and can't do anything about it--which only makes me madder. (yes, i know madder isn't a word, but when you're this mad, you have the right to use whatever kind of made-up words you feel like) last time i felt like this was when i was about to leave my last job. i would get so worked up about work, that it literally drove me to tears and near panic attacks. this time though, i'm just at the tears. i think i've realized that the panic attacks only made things worse, but with the tears came some small sense of relief.

but instead of crying (or maybe downing a bottle of wine), tonight i'm turning to kickboxing- with a certain someone's face in mind with each and every single punch, kick and scream. i'm just proud i haven't turned to chocolate. that would definitely be my usual response. but if i turn to chocolate, the other person wins. if i let them (her) make me eat my anger in pounds of chocolate, she will also make me undo all of the hard work i've done so far. she may control a certain 8 hours of my life each day, but she will not control my "me" time at the gym and away from junk food.

ok, that was determination right? why, yes I think it was. score one for me.

complaining

Have I mentioned I'm trying not to complain?
Well, I am.
But today got the best of me. And it's only lunch.

Here's a reminder to myself...

i'm thankful i have a job i'm thankful i have a job i'm thankful i have a job i'm thankful i have a job i'm thankful i have a job i'm thankful i have a job i'm thankful i have a job i'm thankful i have a job

no good very bad day

I’m very much having a case of the Mondays today. Today is definitely NOT what I needed after such a beautiful weekend. Speaking of the weekend, it was wonderful. Fantastic dinner at Mikata with amazing company. Beautiful Saturday at the beach shopping, complete with ice cream from Cold Stone and finding shoes on sale. Saturday night eating Mexican, seeing old friends, hanging out with some of the cutest kids and most fun families. Eating a delicious home-cooked meal with Mom Sunday afternoon followed by a productive afternoon with the BF.

Then it starts.

For some reason, someone told me that I needed to watch The Stepfather because it was such a good movie. They said it was suspenseful-- not scary and not gory (I don’t do the blood and guts. I have no desire to see anyone’s insides… yuck). I’m still not exactly sure why this person told me it wasn’t scary. What I am sure of is that I barely slept last night and kept dreaming that someone was chasing me or trying to break in my house. Not a good start to my week.

...and here comes Monday.

Not only did I dream that someone was trying to get me, but I also dreamed that I overslept for work, woke up at 9:15 (I have to be at work at 8), and my roof was leaking and basically pouring rain in my bathroom. Granted, it was storming this morning, but thank goodness the roof is fine.

My main question of the day is… WHEN IN THE WORLD DID I BECOME A SECRETARY AT WORK??? Not bashing secretaries/assistants by any means b/c they do a lot of work… but when I was hired, the words secretary or assistant was NEVER mentioned in my job description or interview.

Here’s what I’ve been asked to do today:

1. Order new name tags for my boss and 2 others 
2. Have a door prize ready for an event by Friday (consisting of the daunting task of pulling a blanket out of a box… whoa… I know… Good thing I’ve been working out.) 
3. Email someone about a copy of a paper 
4. Make copies for a co-workers presentation
5. Email another co-worker a file that she already has
6. Read about 100 stupid blogs that’s sent to me everyday

… and this is all on top of creating our employee newsletter, writing new radio ads, writing new press releases, getting ready for a trade show on Wednesday, writing new class material for financial classes, editing videos, and I can even remember what else. And ALL this has to be done today. Not to mention I’ve already taken on IT’s role and have been fixing computer issues this morning.

So you tell me… why can’t anyone else do this?? Especially Mrs. Big Fancy Boss Lady herself? You got me.

Like I said… I have severe case of the Mondays. Bring on Tuesday.

Five Question Friday... on Sunday

Just for fun... :) Happy Valentine's Day!



1. What is the one thing your love does for you that you can't live without?
He does a lot for me, whether he knows it or not. So, for the sake of being specific, I'll name a top 3 instead of saying everything...

1. 1. He keeps me sane. Seriously. He keeps me very grounded. I have extreme tendencies to get really worked up, stressed, worried, etc. He calls me on it and brings me back to reality. Without him, I'd probably be on all kinds of anxiety meds.
2. 2. He takes care of me... he may not wait on me hand and foot all the time (which would probably make me very lazy), but he makes sure I do the things I always forget about. Like changing my oil. Getting new tires. Spraying for bugs in my house. Changing my air filters. Little things like that makes me know he's taking care of me in his own expert way. He knows I know nothing about cars & houses & sometimes life, so he always looks out for me.
3. 3. As corny as it sounds, he really makes me want to continue to grow and be a better person. Kinder, healthier, more trusting, all of those things we work for everyday. Most of all, he makes me want to continue to grow spiritually, and that's huge.

 2. When did you know your love was "the one"?

 On our first date. I knew from day 1 that he was the one I wanted to be with. Our first date was a lunch date and we went to Longhorn's on a Sunday afternoon. I remember what he wore, what I wore, what the weather was like, how nervous I was before we left, how excited I was when I got home and how much fun I had while we were there. I could tell from our conversations that he was what I'd be waiting on for a long, long time.  

3. Does your love have a special ringtone on your cell?

 Nope. But only because I have a cheap, simple phone that doesn't do that stuff.... i think.  

(sorry, i have no idea how to rotate this, but i love the pic)

4. What are you attracted to most in your special someone?

 Well, first of all, he's soooo cute! I've known him since I was little and I've always thought he was the cutest thing ever.

 

But on a less superficial note... I don't know if I can pick just one thing. He's very hard-working in all areas of his life. When he does something, he does it to perfection and gives it his all. That transcends from his work and hobbies to the way the cares about and loves people. He doesn't realize it, but he's full of passion for the things and people he cares about. When he loves someone, he loves them with all he has. When he helps someone, he'll do anything he possibly can, and I know he'd do anything in the world for me. 

5. Did you know when/where he/she was going to pop the big question?

 Since we're not married, we're going to pretend that the 'big question' was when he asked me to be his girlfriend. I don't know that anyone has actually asked me before, so this made me especially giddy and 7-year-old-like. :)

I had no idea he was ready to be serious. We had both recently come out of pretty rocky relationships, so I think we both tried to take things slow. Didn't work out so well though. I think we both knew we had something pretty special, so we had to grab each other before the other one got away.

Snow Day!

I was VERY surprised that it actually snowed here in Dothan. They talked and talked and talked about it, closed schools, closed roads, declared a state of emergency, but I never really thought it would snow. Usually when they predict things like this, we shut down the place and get our hopes up all for.... nothing! So, when it actually snowed I was AMAZED.

Beginning of snow day...

I kept taking pictures of my car because I thought that since this was all the snow we were going to see, it would show up better on a dark color.

I know it's blurry, but this is Bo freaking out when he felt something hit his back. Not a fan of the white stuff.

Bella usually loves to go in the front yard because she thinks of it as her closest chances of escaping... however, like Bo, she wasn't too happy with white cold stuff on her back. This was one time in her life she was happy to go back inside.

Matthew's mini snowman...... right before he threw him in the street to see him explode.

It just kept snowing... and snowing... and snowing... and snowing... and everytime I thought it was over, it would snow some more. So, this is what we ended the day with.

I thought a pic of my mailbox covered in snow would be a fun picture... until I remembered the dead flowers at the bottom.

i'm working on it...

"To forgive is to move on, not to think about the offense anymore. You don't excuse him, endorse her, or embrace them. You just route thoughts about them through heaven. You see your enemy as God's child and revenge as God's job. "

This one is tough... especially today. I'm working on it though, because I really want to get there.

Thanks for the quote Ivy!