Our Home: 1 year later

At the beginning of last October, Jackson and I moved into our home sweet home.  We picked out a tiny 631 square foot apartment because we liked the listing on Trulia.  We signed our lease in July and got our keys on the first of October. 

The first day we moved in, Jackson and I layed in the floor watching Despicable Me on his laptop as we waited for Comcast to come hook up our cable to our 13" TV.  There has really not been a more overwhelmingly simple time in my life other than that. 

Four days later, we enlisted boys from church to help us move in our furniture.  We inherited almost every item of furniture we own.  That same weekend, we painted our chalkboard wall, and my sweet daddy bought us a kitchen table and chairs. I took so much pride in knowing that that piece of furniture was 100% ours, and I still love it more than Dad will ever know. 

  The week we moved in, the garbage disposal died, the dishwasher leaked, and somewhere down the road, the washing maching tried to kill itself.  Thank goodness for maintenance and not being responsible for the appliances!!   One of our favorite things about out home is the chalkboard wall. It has had something on it since the day after we painted it! Even if it was a result of a boys' night...  

  

  

  

   We have pictures on our walls, things that mean the world to us stacked on our tables and shelves, plates that we have painted are hung around the top of our kitchen, it is our home.    Believe me, sometimes I have fits because our tiny little home is a wreck. Right now, there are towels folded on our coffee table, there are clothes piled up in our laundry room, and I can't even see our dining room table.... but it is our home.  It is where we live, and it is the place we share life together.   Happy one year, 227.  Thank you for being the starting place for our lives, and the first Little Hiney Home.  Thank you for treating us kindly and being so safe.  I know that we will look back someday and miss the simplicity (and the very little cleaning required) of our little home.     

Friday!

 

1. I got these awesome boots for $11.24 from JustFab.com.  I have been looking for a cute pair of wide calf boots that didn't cost over $40 for forever. Win!    2. I updated our chalkboard wall this week for football season. I'm not going to lie, I squealed and took a screenshot when the Tennessee Titans Instagram liked my picture. ;)   3. My sweet baby sister felt like I was competent enough to help her with her resume and cover letter for an internship application.  Not to toot my own horn, but I'm resume champ. Love her! (Ignore the mushy mush in the green. ;) )

 

4.

One of the three musketeers (the one on the right) is moving to Texas in October.  I cry everytime I think about it, but I am taking it as a chance to throw a party for her.  I love throwing parties, and this is the perfect excuse! 

 

 5. This handsome man's birthday is tomorrow.  This is the tenth birthday we have spent together, and every year I love him more and more.  I have planned breakfast in bed, helping dad capture and take kittens to the humane society (that one has no significance to his birthday, I just promised Dad. haha), maybe some exploring, presents, and then dinner at the cheesecake factory (where he has never been?!)!

Linking up with Karli and Amy and Lauren

Friday!

Whew! Is it just me or did anyone else's week fly, too?  I'm not complaining at all, but I know my blogging suffered.  I spent most of my workday yesterday catching up on reading your blogs! I missed so much fun! haha. Having to work Monday and being off Wednesday cut my week right down the middle, and I would be lying if I said I didn't love it.    1.  It is tax free weekend here in Nashville, and I plan to totally take advantage of it. I need some new work pants because mine are all worn out. Jackson could use some new dress pants, too, and I know he needs good socks for work. I will probably be hitting Kohls, JCPenney, and Target, Walmart for the socks, and who knows where else tomorrow morning while Jackson is at the Duck Blind Drawing!   2. I monogrammed the cutest backpack for a coworker's son who is starting Kindergarten next week!!Love how it turned out! The final product is so worth the struggle and strain I endured to get it in the hoop. My thumbs are in pain.

    3. I played in Home Goods for a while Wednesday when I was off work.  Boomer has had a hard time getting up and down on furniture, especially dad's bed, lately. So I found these steps! They were on clearance for $10. It said cat furniture, but I imagine they'll work just fine, right? 

    4. I finally updated our chalkboard this week. It's been a big black wall staring at me for weeks. I just felt uninspired and everything looked lame.

    5. I'm not going to lie. I had a week of wonderful hairdays and cute outfits. Some days I feel motivated, but this week it was every day! I can 100% guarantee it won't happen two weeks in a row. ;) 

 

I hope you're all gearing up for great weekends!!

 

Linking up with Karli and Amy, Lauren

Look at the Birds

In my opinion, so much of our time is spent looking in the rearview mirror. We spend so much time grieving missed opportunities or taking the wrong path at the fork in the road, trying to get back to a "better time".  Why was it so much better than right now or even better than what's to come?

  It's better because we're on the other side.   In high school, I spent so much time being "miserable"... miserable because my two best friends became best friends and left me in the dust... miserable because I couldn't play soccer anymore... miserable because Jackson moved to another school. Now? Now I would swear to anyone who asked that those were some of the best days of my life.   In college, I spent too much time looking back at high school... missing my friends so badly that I refused to make new ones...regretting not going to a college closer to home or with said friends...especially missing Jackson who was now almost 100 miles away from me.  I decided I didn't want to be an engineer because I didn't want to go to that school anymore. end of story. So, I admitted defeat, transferred, and found my niche.  I met my best friends, my person, and my calling.   I trusted my future self to make the decisions that would support my jump off of that cliff  

 

So, future self, I trust you (both self of tomorrow and self of age 30 and beyond). I trust you to make and support good decisions. I trust you to do what is best for your family and no never do anything halfway.  I trust you to know when it's time to get involved and when it's time to jump ship.  I trust you to trust God to handle everything for you.    The sooner I trust God with my future, the sooner the right-now-self can enjoy life today. He is already there, after all.     

Bachelorette Party // Mother's Day Weekend

Hi friends.   Sorry I missed you all Friday. I was totally consumed with the stress of planning a bachelorette party, Mother's Day, etc. haha. :) The party went off without a hitch. Well, except for the awful cake plan falling through. It's okay... I improvised.    Enjoy the appropriate photos:

 

 Saturday, Jackson and I spent the day with our parents. He went to hang out with his dad, as did I.    Sunday was Mother's Day (also known as my least favorite holiday ever.. more on that later this week), so we spent the day hanging out with Jackson's mommy. We had lunch at Cracker Barrel, gave her her gift, and came home to nap the rest of the day away.

 

FRIDAY!!!!

Happy Good Friday! I hope we're all taking a few minutes to reflect on today and its meaning.   High Five that we made it to Friday, yes? Knowing I had Friday off work made this week drag.   1. I updated our chalkboard to reflect something Easter-y that had nothing to do with bunnies, eggs, and seersucker.  Don't get me wrong, I love it all. The only time I don't love it is when it takes precedence over Jesus.

 

2.

For some reason, my teriyaki chicken kabobs were the bomb dot com this week. Not that they aren't always (toot, toot), but they were awesome this time. Maybe it's the blood I shed using our mandolin slicer to make zucchini chips before making the kabobs. I'm completely kidding - I put a bandaid on that mess!

 

3.

I found this throwback from my Senior prom in 2010.  Cue "I'm not anywhere near a size 6 anymore" thoughts, yes? haha, I'm joking.  But really, it's crazy how much we have changed in four years!

 

4.

Hubs won this toolbox at work retailed at $5,000. He bought raffle tickets to benefit one of the men in his company who needs a life-saving surgery, and he won! Now the dilemma is to keep or to sell it.  He has a massive multi-thousand dollar tool box that is perfect size, but we could really use the money. We could pay off almost half of his tool bill with that money which would expedite the plan. Of course, if we could sell it for full retail, we could split it 50/50 and pay down some of the tool bills and donate half of it to the man having surgery.  ohh the dilemma. I'm so proud of him, though! Winning is in his blood! His mama is sweepstakes master!!

 

5.

Today I'm enjoying a daddy-daughter day with my dad. I miss that old geezer and spending time with him.

   

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.



 

High Five for Friday

Well, I can't say I have welcomed a Friday as much as this one in a long time. I'm so excited for the first High Five for Friday with Lauren on Little Hiney Home!

Even thought I had Monday off of work, I feel like I have been running non-stop and I'm so ready for Saturday so I can sleep in.   

1. 

Monday, I got to sleep in and have late morning snuggles with my sweet husband.  He doesn't have to go to work until 10am, so he always gets to sleep in and run late in the mornings.  

2.

I went to get my hair cut on Monday and ended up donating eleven inches to locks of love.  I hated it at first, but it's growing on me. 

3.

I scored some great deals at Kohls this week! 

My favorite was this Wallet! It has so much space!

 

4.

I'm loving doing wifely things like cooking and cleaning, but one of my favorites so far has been dropping off the dry cleaning.  I feel awesome to own clothes that need dry cleaning, but I feel so official dropping them off with his clothes.

5. 

Since we don't have another holiday until St. Patrick's Day, I needed to change our chalkboard wall from Valentines to an everyday thing.  I felt this was fitting.