Happy Monday...

....said no one ever. Some Mondays I feel more exhausted than I do on Fridays going into a relaxing weekend.    Friday, I worked and came home. End of Story.  Jackson and I were going to go see God's Not Dead, but the only showing available was at 10:25 and let's be real... I play the granny game. I did make these delicious Honey Garlic Porkchops.  I'll share the recipe tomorrow. :)   Saturday, Jackson and I got up early and went to the bank.  Exciting, right? We can finally cross off "Join Bank Accounts" from our Newlywed Checklist. We spent Saturday evening celebrating the upcoming marriage of two of our best friends, Taylor and Jason.  We had so much fun with them at the shower, and we had even more fun after the shower.  We went to hang out with Cody and Alex, two of our other best friends, and stayed for hours just catching up. I realized how "friend-sick" I am since moving away from Murfreesboro.  I miss my girls so so much.

  Sunday, We got up and went to church, and then my other best friend's shower took place.  We loved celebrating with Brittney and Jared! I made this ADORABLE chalkboard banner for their shower. ;)

After their shower, we went home and watched the first 4 episodes of Dexter.  I've seen it all, but Jackson has been fighting it for years! He's addicted, now.  We had our weekly fire-pit, hot-dog roast, friend time after the evening service.    I am so not ready for this week full of the same ole' same ole'.  Sleep, please and thanks.  

It's Friday, Friday

Gotta get down on Friday... just kidding... and I apologize for the awful memories that brought back.   High Five for Five on Friday!   1. It snowed/sleeted/hailed/iced this week for all of two minutes before the sun came out and melted it all.  It was beautiful while it lasted!

  2. I applied for a new job! (here's to hoping my boss doesn't read my blog, huh?) It's a Project Coordinator job for my BFF, and I'm really excited about what could come of it.   3. I'm finally done with our shutterfly photo book! Now I'm waiting for them to go 50% off again so I can order it without it being a million dollars! I am literally obsessed with documenting our lives with these books! It's easier than scrapbooking, less expensive (in my opinion), and you'll keep them forever.  Plus, should anything happen to them, you have them stored online so you can order a new one. 

  4. Finally decided what to get my bride-to-be best friend, Brittney, for her birthday! We got one of these for Christmas and LOVE it!

  (via)   5. I found these at the grocery store this week and OHMYGOODNESS. Go get them now! They are like...heaven in your mouth. I love them!

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Idk, my BFF Dave?

So, it's no surprise to many people that I love Dave Ramsey.  I grew up listening to 1510 (yes, that's AM radio) WLAC in my Dad's car on the way to and from school.  I love the e-meals program he endorses (read about it here)   I knew we would have debt after we got married.  I was blessed to not have to take out student loans for my college education.  Jackson went to a technical school which is a lot of money right up front rather than $3k here, $1.5k there, etc.; so, he has student loans.  He is a diesel technician, which means he needs expensive tools to do his job. "Spend Money to Make Money" is the motto in regard to the tool debt.    We're in a hole, but hey, people start off much worse than we did!   That's where my BFF Dave comes in to save the day with his Seven Baby Steps.    Step 1: Build a $1,000 emergency fund Step 2: pay off debt using the debt snowball Step 3: 3-6 months of living expenses in an emergency fund   I only listed the three we are working on right now.  We're doing Step 2 and 3 simultaneously.  I was playing with the debt snowball the other day and figured out that we have three years until we are COMPLETELY debt free. May 2017. Frustrating and overwhelming? a tad. Exciting? VERY.   We decided to take this information and write out our four year plan:   Enjoy apartment living where we don't have to pay for expensive repairs (i.e. our broken faucet the first week we lived there, the rusted garbage disposal, the broken air unit, etc.) until debt is paid completely.    Live in our 1-bedroom apartment until our lease is up in October, then move to a 2-bedroom apartment in our same complex. This way we have room if babies become a thing before all debt is paid off; we won't have to scramble to find something with more than one bedroom.   Save everything we're paying toward debt for another 10 months after all debt is paid off for a down-payment on the house of our dreams.   Move and fill it with furniture and small humans.   Having a plan takes a HUGE weight off of my shoulders because I'm such a Type-A plan-it-all.  Yay for the future plans for the little hineys!   How did you manage newlywed debt if you had any?

The Shopaholic and The Drug

My name is Chrissy and I'm a shopaholic

hiii Chrissy

 

However, I have shopping rules.

First, you check the Clearance racks, then the Sale racks, then (and this is rare) you look at the other stuff.

I am a proponent of places like Plato's Closet.

Which brings me to this amazing online store called ThredUP.

It is an online Plato's Closet. Oh, you don't have one of those where you live? Let me catch you up to speed... You sell them your gently used, brand name clothes and they pay you cash money for them.  I found this useful when I needed one more book for the new course I picked up and had zero dollars.  ThredUP is useful in the same way.  You request a clean-out bag, they send it to you, you pack up your clothes and send it back.  Easy-peasy, yes?

After that, every friend you refer gets a free $10 to spend in the ThredUP store.  No strings attached! You don't have to make an account, you don't have to sign up, it's free money to shop.

 

I recently found myself obsessing shopping on their site and got a cart full of goodies for next to nothing. 

 

1. Old Navy Dress ($5.60) // 2. Elle Dress ($11.60) // 3. Gap Dress ($13.50) // 4. Mossimo Dress ($10.00) // 5. Ann Taylor Dress ($16.80) // 6. Lauren Conrad Dress ($15.60) // 7. Old Navy Tank ($3.60) // 8. Gap Blouse ($11.20) // 9. Old Navy Blouse ($4.40) // 10. The Limited Blouse ($8.00) // 11. Banana Republic Blouse ($8.40) // 12. Old Navy Star Khakis ($6.80) // Old Navy Bell Bottom Jeans ($5.20)

 

My grand total was $150.37.

I got 20% off for using my mobile device to check-out

I had a $20 credit to use, too!

That brought my total to $100.30

WHOOOP! That's a savings of $467.63 off the retail prices!

 

I am so excited to get this package in the mail! 

Have any experiences with ThredUP? Share!

Would you like a free $10 to spend in their store? Click here!

 

Note: I am affiliated with ThredUP, but my opinions are not paid, they are simply opinions of a very pleased customer! 

Weekend Recap

I had one of those weekends where you're just desperate for some relaxation, rest, and quality time with your spouse. 

 

Friday, after working all day and having the work chili cookoff, I went to pick up my car from the shop.  They found taht the shop that replaced my timing belt back in January hit a clip that held on a hose. The hose fell off and caused the huge leaks. So they reconnected and secured the hose and I was only charged for an hour of labor.... $105. At this point, I just laughed.  I couldn't help it.  So much money has been poured into this car to find that a hose is disconnected.  If I didn't laugh, I would have cried. But, my chili was great, my car was fixed, and my husband was home.  Successful Friday, if I say so.

 

 

Saturday was a busy day for us.  I woke up and made Jackson a "welcome home" breakfast - his favorite: fried bologna and eggs.  :) Then we went to First Tenenssee to try to join our bank accounts.  We sat there for literally 55 minutes and there was still someone in front of us waiting to be helped.  So we said forget it and went to his parents' house because his grandmother was going to be there. On our way, we made a detour to grab lunch from the Grilled Cheeserie. Soooo gooood.

 

On the way home from his parents' house, we stopped at Opry Mills to hit Vicky's 7/$26 (um hello Vicky, what were you thinking running this sale on Spring Break? I had to fight off a million high schoolers!).  Jackson found a really cool pair of sneakers on sale! While we were at Opry Mills, we stopped by a kiosk that was selling wooden decor with Bible sayings on it.  One of them really spoke to me, so I put it on our chalkboard wall when we got home. :)

Sunday, we went to church (where everyone got the denim jacket memo) and then had lunch at Las Maracas with some of our great friends.

(couldn't help a photo-op with two of my favorites!) We then helped out with my best friend's pre-marital counseling.  We were able to give her advice from the newlywed standpoint.  We shared with them just how different it is and how hard it really is to learn and mesh with this person you thought you knew so well.  While they were still in their session, before we came to help, we were on Puppy Patrol for our Minister's dog, Ruby Jane.

 

After their pre-marital counseling, we had a fire-pit and roasted hotdogs.  It was a chilly night, but I love hanging around the fire with my husband and our best friends. 

 

Needless to say, I'm not very glad it's Monday.



 

Friday!

High Five for Five on Friday

Well, I am thankful for Friday this week because my sweet hubs is on his way back from St. Louis.  

1.

Monday, I came home and cleaned out my closet and sent it all off to ThredUP. You can sell them your gently used clothes and even shop for them, too! You can request a Clean Out Bag, they mail it to you, you fill it up, send it back, and they pay you for what they accept! They carry great brands like my favorite Ann Taylor, J. Crew, Gap, etc.  If you click here you can have a free $10 to spend.  This is wonderful because if the item is less than $10, you just pay shipping! AWESOME, right?

2.

Speaking of buying from ThredUp, I got these two gorgeous dresses for less than $1 each after my free $10! I can't wait to get them! 

3.

We're starting to understand that we may be in our sweet little apartment a little longer than we originally planned. And that's perfectly okay with us.  It lets us make it a little more like home.  Jackson hung one of our personalized wedding gifts Monday.  I need something to go under the clock now! 

4.

This week, we were gifted this wonderful book called Loveology: God. Love. Marriage. Sex. And the Never-Ending Story of Male and Female. So far, I love it.  It really is helping me understand the "why" behind marriage, and the why behind little arguments.

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5. 

We took my car to the shop this morning for (hopefully) the last time for a long time.  I was tired of getting the run-around, so I decided to take sweet Ricky to the Suzuki dealer.  AutoZone ran my Check Engine code and said my Fuel Tank Pressure Sensor was faulty which is what has been causing this EVAP code all along. sigh. so $400 to tell me I was fixing a problem that wasn't the problem. Oh well, I'm not dwelling on that; I am focused on having my sweet car fixed ASAP! 

I'm fed up.

I have been struggling a lot lately with body image issues.  Am I confident? Yes.  Do I know I am created in God's image? Yes.  Do I feel good about the way I look, feel, and eat? Not at all.

I have never been itty-bitty; I've always had an athletic build.  I have never seen myself as fat; I've always gone for "big boned" or "thick".

I think my recent body image issues started right before our wedding.  I bought a dress more than a year before our wedding date and six weeks before the wedding, it didn't fit. Between the dress purchase and our wedding, I had my gall-bladder removed, I no longer attended school on campus, and I had a desk job which didn't require any activity.  Gall-bladder removal is usually known to cause weight gain;  because I wasn't walking my daily three miles on campus, I started packing on pounds. 

I didn't notice it right away, but when we started looking through old pictures from senior year, I realized how much weight I had gained since I graduated high school. 

So here I am, married for a month and a half, and I'm fed up. 

I'm fed up with pants being tight, with dresses not zipping. I'm fed up with not having energy and always being exhausted.  I'm fed up with looking in the mirror and thinking, "bleh." I am SO fed up with climbing the stairs and being out of breath.

No more "bleh"!! I'm doing something!
And this is not "doing something" like the time I started weight watchers and didn't keep up with it.
Or the time I thought "slimquick" would help.
Or the time I started running and made excuses about how it hurt my knees.

I'm getting in shape.  I'm toning my tummy. I'm losing weight to be healthy and to be confident. I'm twenty-two, and I have a long life ahead of me.  I want to be my best me for myself, and for my family.  I deserve to look great. I owe it to myself to do this. 

Pep talk, check.
Workout plans from Pinterest, check.

Our Wedding: Here Comes the Bride and Ceremony

Our wedding ceremony was perfect! From the song selection to the vows, everything was just as I've always imagined. We were married in the church Jackson grew up in, the church both of us were baptized in, and the church in which we plan to raise our family.  It was so meaningful to us! We were married by one of our best friends.  My daddy and I walked down the aisle to Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini from our favorite movie, Somewhere in Time. Listen and fall in love. 

 

Our unity candle was lit to the song "Then" by Brad Paisley.

(This is my favorite part on our wedding video because you can hear everything we're saying while we're lighting our candle.  I said things like "Why did we pick such a long song?" and "I can't wait to kiss you." and "I can't believe this is the day we've waited for our entire lives.")

...and our first kiss looked a little something like this: 

 

Boomer's Story

If you're here because you found me there (there being the old blog that shall not be named), you know my love for my sweet canine, Boomer.

Boomerang.

Boomerbear.
Boomster.
Boomy.
Boom.
BoomyWoomy.
Dang Dog.

My sweet brown eyed boy.

 

 

Tolerator of all nicknames, good and bad.  Cuddler.  Hider of dog treats he doesn't like, especially when I bring them home from trips. Lover of Cheese. Foot warmer. My Boomer is a rescue. Not from a shelter, from a neighborhood family. Here's his story.

 

I came home on a Friday in March 2011 and got out of my car. I saw this dog running in our back yard. He started to run away from me, so I made a kissy noise for him to come to me. He came right over. I called dad and said, "I know that when Lassie is in your yard, Timmy is in the well, but what about Benji?"

I took this picture to send to him:

I fell in love.

Dad's one rule was "don't feed him." so of course, all I had to say to that was "oops." because I had already treated the pup to some bologna. He was matted, dirty, smelly, and had a cold. The night before had been a huge storm.

Weeks later, after we had let him in the house, made him our own, and named him Boomer, Dad was out walking him and ran into a lady who said, "oh, Cody! you look wonderful!" and Boomer ran right to her. It was the next door neighbor of Cody's Boomer's former owner. She said that they used to tie him to trees, leave him outside with no food and water, leave him outside to freeze when it would snow.

 

 

 

Dad decided then that if the old owners came for him, Dad was going to fight tooth and nail because Boomer was ours. By this point, we had noticed Boomer had high anxiety - he was always biting on himself, chewing, biting his nails, scratching, etc. Come to find out, our baby has PTSD. You're right - the thing that military members come home with.

 

Dad ran into Boomer's owner a few weeks after that and the owner gladly said, "Keep him. He looks happy."

 

So that's the story of our sweet rescue, Boomer.

He is an amazing dog and we love him with all of our hearts.

It breaks my heart that I had to leave him with my parents when we got married, but I know he loves Dad, and Dad loves him.  The boys have to stick together.  :)

 

 

:)



Weekend Recap

Our weekend was (and please tell me we're not the only ones that have these) not restful, not rejuvenating, and busy!

It's Monday and it feels like a Wednesday I'm so exhausted.

le sigh.

Friday, Jackson got home and we ate dinner (stay tuned for delicious Breakfast Casserole recipe later this week).  We watched the Croods on Netflix; SUCH a cute movie!! I spent most of the night working on our wedding album so I can order it from Shutterfly! I am so addicted to their photo books it's not even funny.  But for the most part, I had the longest most exhausting Friday at work ever, so it was good to unwind.

 

Saturday, was my sweet little sister's birthday. We went to the movies and she chose to see Son of God.  Can we just take a second to talk about how intense that movie is? Wonderful, but intense.  Then we ate at our favorite Mexican restaurant for Lunch.


Sunday, Jackson woke up not feeling too hot, so he slept in and I went to church.  We met his mama and daddy for lunch, and then we went to the grocery and to return some stuff that we had buyers remorse about. haha. There was a baby shower at church Sunday, and I was overly excited about the adorable gift bag and card I got for baby Maddux. 

 

And of course, I couldn't help but snag a selfie with hubs:

 

 Here's to hoping everyone has a great week! I'm avoiding children because I couldn't find green today!

Erin Go Bragh!

 



High Five for Five on Friday!

I had a nightmare last night that we skipped the weekend and went from Thursday to Monday.

Needless to say, I'm so thankful for a Friday and a weekend!

 

High Five for Five on Friday!

;)

 

1.

Monday, I went to the DMV and got my new license with my new name.  Can we just talk about how much my face has changed since I was 18? Four years have not been kind to me! Anyway, it is so weird to see my license with my new last name on it. And believe it or not, it took me longer to get to the DMV than it did to wait in line!! And the lady was pleasant. All around win, if you ask me!

 

2.

Tuesday, I got to celebrate my sweet Boomer's Adoption Day. Yes, I'm that person and I'm not sorry. He came to us three years ago after a big big storm and we adopted him after I accidentally-on-purpose fed him and he wouldn't go away.  The top left picture shows what he looked like when he came to us.  He was matted, yucky, and timid.  We came to learn that he had been abused and neglected before he came to us.  His story is soon to come, I promise. :) 

 

3.

My sweet husband has been blessed to be able to go in to work early twice this week. Sure, he has to get up early early, but he is off work and home when I get there.  I loved spending afternoons with him this week.  I may have gotten a little too used to it, though, because knowing that today he's working until 7 just stinks.

 

4.

My sister and I went to see Sister Act at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.  I wasn't really looking forward to it, but the play was GREAT! All of them had incredible voices and it was hilarious.  We had a great sister night until I twisted my ankle on my stupid wedges and bit the street with my knee. Owwie.  We're having a funeral for my favorite pair of dress pants later this week.

 

 

5.  

 I'm working on getting wedding picture prints ordered to frame and hang.  I can't wait to have them hanging in our home!! :)

 

 

Our Wedding: Father Daughter First Look

Happy Wedding Wednesday!!

We were not able to have our first dances as father and daughter and mother and son, so I knew I wanted to do something special for my dad.  I got the idea for a father daughter first look on Pinterest and knew that I had to have one! My dad has always been my best friend, so our time together was special for us.  He told me how much he loved me and gave me a special gift. 

The gift I received from my dad was this Precious Moments figurine.  It is special because he collects them and I have always admired his collection.  He started my own with this figurine called "You'll Always be Daddy's Little Girl"

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