Goals for August

I realize that I have a master list of goals (25 before 25). In school, I took a leadership class and I learned about making SMART goals. 
You can't achieve your big goals unless you make small goals along the way that make the larger goal attainable.  Plus, there are some little baby short term goals I have for August. So here goes:

1. Read our Bible and pray together every day.
2. Start working out 3-4 days a week
3. Go through boxes we moved into the apartment and haven't looked at since
4. Handwrite our vows in our wedding book
5. Handwrite our vows and frame them next to our mirror in the bedroom.
6. Buy and start reading "If I Stay"
7. Pay off emergency credit card from car repairs so we can save for truck tires.
8. Spend more time with my nana.
9. Take Boomer to a dog park
10.  Decide if we want to add a puppy nugget to our family.

  

  I can't wait to work through these and to look back at the end of August and see how many we did!  Some are on the way to achieving some of the long term goals, some are just for fun! I think that's the best way to do it, honestly. That way you're striving for more than a strict set of long term goals. 

Weekend Recap

I hope you all had a chill weekend. We did, but it had a busy undertone because we were rushing to chill in a thousand places. Here, let me explain.   Friday, I told Jackson I didn't feel like cooking, so we went to one of our favorite Nashville spots: Los Tres Amigos.  We ate dinner and then went to see How to Train Your Dragon 2 with Jackson's best man and his girlfriend!!

  Saturday, I slept in until 10 (oops)! Jackson and I both had busy days planned.  Last week, Jackson, who sits knee first, broke the middle support of our bed. He spent Saturday constructing wooden support beams for the underside of our bed.  We literally have the most comfortable bed in the world now.  My Saturday looked a lot like this:

Saturday night, we went to go to the grocery, I opened the door, and there was a 4 foot snake in front of our door.  I died, literally.  We called the maintenance to come get it and he took forever.

 

Sunday, we got up and went to church. We hurried home to grab our beans and change clothes to head to a Bible class cookout 35 minutes away.  A 35 minute trip took almost an hour because I-65 was closed! Once we got there, we ate lunch, played in the pool, and went to look at her parents' dog's newest litter of puppies. They're Black Lab, Australian Shepherd mixed.  Jackson and I fell in love with this sweet little nugget. We're trying to look at what we've got going on to see if a dog is a good idea. She may just end up being one of those things that doesn't work out on paper but makes sense anyway:

Sunday night, serious storms rolled through Nashville.  We sat on our friends' front porch and watched the lightning flash.  It was a great end to a busy weekend. 

Friday!

 Well, here we are, once again! What does this mean? It means we made it through another week, we have a weekend upon us, and that I'm going to sleep from 10 tonight until 10 tomorrow morning. Exhausted is an understatement this week. I hope yours was great!!

 

1.

Tuesday, I finally hung the name frame over our gallery wall.  I don't know that I love it yet, but we still have some pictures to add and the "I love you"s where the paper pieces are on either side of the H.  Maybe it will grow on me.

 

2.

Wednesday, I ordered some Alumni swag, finally. In my defense, I sold the same amount on eBay, so it's justified, right? I ordered a car decal to replace the other one that got killed when we had the ice storm earlier this year, and a t-shirt! Why it is being rerouted to Memphis and Mississippi, I don't know.  I live 25 minutes from the pickup site.  sigh.

 3.

Jackson and I have been taking advantage of the pool in the evening before it closes.  It really helps his aches and pains after a long day at work.  And it's almost always empty which means we get to act like five year olds.

 

4.

We have a food truck coming for our monthly birthday luncheon today, and I'm leaving for that special project this afternoon, so I have like four hours of work today. Win. Have any of my Nashville friends ever heard of Captain Slider?

 

5.

I'm so thankful for all of your sweet words about my budget crisis this week.  Knowing I'm not the only one who has ever forgotten a massive bill makes me feel so much better! ;)

 

Linking up with Karli and Amy, Lauren

Confessions

This week is hit or miss. Some parts are really awesome (i.e. the burgers I made last night, perfect coffee to creamer ratio this morning, husband snuggles) and some parts have been really awful (i.e. sleeping until 5:36 and needing to leave for work at 5:45 this morning, missing Jackson because I got used to having him there all day, Jackson telling me he hates fish tacos and they were on the menu this week...)   I confess...   ::: I set my keurig to run at night, put my coffee in the fridge, and ice it in the morning. Sometimes it's really good! Sometimes.. well...

 

  ::: I made a new budget and forgot to add in hubs' tool bill. big oops.      ::: My boss told me she nominated me for a special project on Friday, and my reaction was "do I get to keep my job when it's over...?"

  ::: I have started my birthday and Christmas lists.  They aren't until November and December. #notsorry #Iamonlyhelping

  ::: I emailed my photographer yesterday about doing bridal portraits.  I'm dreading having to wait until the end of August to do them, but let's be real - who likes sweaty portraits? Not this girl!   ::: It's Wednesday. Which means it's my second day of work this week. I don't understand why I'm so tired.  I slept really well last night and even way past my alarm clock! gahh. I need a vacation.

  ::: I scheduled my vacation days for the rest of the year in hopes that I will have a new job before any of them get here.

 

3-Day Weekends!

Howdy! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! I'm not going to lie, it was great to unplug from everything and just spend a weekend being... being with my family, my husband, myself.   Friday evening, Jackson and I went to his parents house so he could change the oil in my car. Ricky is officially back on the road! Thank goodness!! :)   Saturday, we slept in. By that I mean until 9:45. Hey, we'll take it where we can get it.  :) We got up and ran to Cracker Barrel for brunch. We're suckers for a good brunch.

We went home with the intention to watch all of Season 5 of Dexter. I fell asleep on episode 2.  We decided to do another bonfire on Saturday because the weather was so stinkin' perfect! We roasted hot dogs, made smores, and laughed the night away.  I found this adorable can in our pack of cokes!

 

Sunday, we got up after staying out all night and went to church.  Jackson was just a little exhausted and fell asleep at his parents' house while his mama and I went to a baby shower:

Sunday night, we went to Pie Five for dinner and fell in love! It's so good! I had a pepperoni, mushroom, artichoke pizza, and Jackson had every meat they had on his pizza!

 

Because my weekends include Monday until the end of August, I get three day weekends every weekend! Monday, I went to my parents' house and hung out there for a bit. It was their 24th anniversary, so we went to a yummy lunch at the Mexican restaurant, and went shopping for a bit. 

 

Sleep, food, friends and family... that pretty much sums up our weekend!

TGIF

I am truly learning the meaning of TGIF more and more every week.    1. First and most importantly, little Ricky is back on the road! Praise God! Jackson has him at the shop today to run some tests to check his work, but we're pretty sure he's perfectly okay! :) The best news?! We came in at under $500! Woo Hoo! We owe it all to Pull-A-Part!   2.  Wednesday, my boss came to my office and told me she was going to be teaching me the ins and outs of Human Resources so she could give me the work she is too busy to do. Yay for experience, boo for her timing!   3. I am loving this Nashville weather! Sure, we can't live in the freezing pool, but we never go there anyway, so it's the best! It's really making me want to pull my boots out from under our bed, and I may be wearing a sweater to work today! Thank goodness it's never too early for a bonfire!

    4. I found my favorite pillow after I washed sheets this week.  I thought it disappeared in the move, but I'm so glad I was wrong! It was stuffed into one of the shams that just gets thrown in the floor at night.  I have been sleeping like a baby ever since.   5.  I am so thankful for the sweet man who has had his head under the hood for three weeks. And for my in-laws who have cooked us dinner and helped with the car and housed it for three weeks. We are immensely blessed, even if this is the main view I've had of my husband for a few weeks. 

Linking up with Karli and Amy, Lauren

Holidays in the Little Hiney Home

I woke up in the middle of the night last week and thought, this is our first round of holidays as a married couple in our own home! holy smokes   I'm a fall freak, so of course my mind automatically went to the items I will need to decorate for fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and my birthday! I pulled up my panorama picture of our living room, and started marking where pumpkins would sit, where leaves would hang, and where our scarecrow would stand. THEN I realized that after Thanksgiving comes....... CHRISTMAS! I'm getting way ahead of myself I know, but I only get a first Christmas once (Lord willing!)   Here's my must have list for this year! First, Fall:

 

 

I will definitely have to make one of these. Maybe out of fake pumpkins so we can keep it?	(via) I have an adorable crystal jar for these
(via) I cannot believe this is only $30! I would love to have this on our front door!	(via) These guys are so cute! They would make a great bar decoration between our kitchen and our living room!
(via) This was on my "hmm...maybe" list, but the more I look at it, it gets cuter and cuter!	(via) This garland is adorable! I haven't been able to think of a place for it yet, though.
(via) I would love to see this hanging right over our TV on that blank wall!	(via) As much as I love doing appliques now, there is no way I could pull this off, so I'm completely okay with buying it! How cute!

Next, Christmas!!

(via) I am in love with these stockings. Love love love. I had my heart set on Mr. & Mrs. Stockings, but it'll be so much easier to transition from Mr. & Mrs. to Daddy and Mommy someday if just our initial is on them!	(via) I don't know when reindeer garland became a thing, but I couldn't help but fall in love with it! How adorable is this?!? It would be so cute hanging between the pictures in our gallery wall!
(via) I somewhat like the idea of having a neutral tree skirt and sewing a fun border around it, slapping "The Hinners" on it and calling it a day! I will probably look for it a tad cheaper, though!	(via) Here is where we may enter world war 3. I have grown up with a shiny star on my tree, I don't know what has gone on his tree, though. It may cause some internal conflict, too, because I can't decide if I want to start new traditions or choose whose tradition we like more.
(via) I think I want something simple on our door for Christmas. Something not distracting or overwhelming.	(via) The last thing to do is decide on a color scheme for the tree! I really like these - they're really neutralish without being bland. Jackson grew up with colored lights and really bright ornaments, so we'll see how he likes these. ;)

     

Confessions

I'm having a rough week. Everything that can is going wrong and I just want to sleep until Friday.  Please? Pretty Please? I confess...   ...I'm in a funk.  I'm tired of waiting on this stupid car, but we don't really have the finances to buy a new one.  I am trying to be patient with having Jackson home and not being able to spend any time with him.  It's just... funky... and I'm over it!  

  ...I'm totally loving this mid-summer freeze. Oh hey, Nashville cold snap!? Where'd you come from?! I'm not even mad! Just a little chilly   

 

... I have had to practice my secret keeping skills this week, and I am awful at keeping secrets. So I told Taylor and my daddy and that's all. That's what "tell no one" means, right?  

    ... My ThredUP box should be here this week. I have forgotten what is in it because I ordered it so long ago.      ... Maybe I have baby fever a lot worse than I thought. I sent a text to my best friend asking for prayer for my funk and she sent me a onesie and said "this should help". She knows me so well.  

 

... seeing all of my friends setting up their classrooms is really making me hate my job a little more.  I should have been a cowboy teacher.       ... I hate that awkward interaction between yourself and someone who bought you a really expensive gift, even after you've written the thank you note. It's like the elephant in the room.  At work, that gets awkward fast.       ... I'm really hoping that "You've moved on in our hiring process because you were qualified" e-mail doesn't end in a dead end.  I'm ready to move out and up.       ... I am starting to have little to no tolerance for the "I have no money, I'm going to probably file bankruptcy, I have it so bad" people who find money for clothes, restaurant dinners, and elaborate vacations. It's a matter of time until I say something I'll regret.