Nice and Pretty

Scrolling through my instagram during work yesterday, I noticed how nice and clean my life looks. I noticed all of the handsome pictures of my husband being helpful and thoughtful. I noticed all of the pictures of Feeny looking all snuggly. Social Media is not real life.   By that I mean this...   This is not our cat:

Our cat is a high energy, 50 mile per hour running, furniture ripping, scar leaving cat.  He is rarely calm and quiet and napping, yet those are the photos I choose to post. (mostly because bleeding battle wounds aren't as cute).   This is not my weekend:

My weekends are jam packed full of running and driving and doing.  There is rarely a moment for us to pause and just be together by ourselves immersed in the great outdoors, yet these are the photos I post.

 

This is not my kitchen table:

My kitchen table is a home to four chairs, each filled with jackets and bags and random things we don't have a place for.  The top is filled with bills, apartment notices, mail, and sometimes laundry; yet, this is the picture I posted.  If you look close, you can see the straggling bobby pin left over from my "throw everything in the floor for this picture" sweep.

 

Our real life is messy and busy.

I don't take or post pictures of the messiness because no one wants to see that. 

No one wants to see that we went over our grocery budget for the fourth week in a row. No one wants to see the makeup ground into the carpet because the cat stepped in my eyeshadow then took off running.  No one wants to see the awful things a childish friend drew on our chalkboard. But that is our life, and I'm doggone proud of it.

 

Here's to living real life and not sugarcoating it for an audience!

   

Dear 43-year-old Chrissy...

Dear 43-year-old Chrissy First of all, I hope you're happy.  I hope Jackson is doing well and that wherever you are, you've made it a home. I hope you have crystal vases full of faux flowers and places set for the season. I hope your puppies and babies are all that your 23-year-old self is dreaming it will be.  I hope your gray hairs and your wrinkles are minimal and that you laugh and don't care that you're adding laugh lines.  I hope you're taking every day and enjoying it for what it offers... I hope you're taking in the small joys of life and that there are too many joys to count.  I hope you and Jackson have taken more vacations, more pictures, and more time for yourselves.  I hope your marriage is stronger and more God centered than it has ever been and that you never stop encouraging and loving each other more daily.  

Love, your 23-year-old self. 

5 Books I Love

My tip top favorite books are the Harry Potters.  

...followed closely by the Hunger Games

My favorite teacher in High School read us Tuesdays with Morrie every day before we got started with class.  This book broke me and taught me more than I understood at the time. 

Another of my favorite books from High School was To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  If you haven't read this one, go now. 

The last of my academic favorites is a tie between 1984 and Brave New World.  Again, two that if you haven't read it, you probably should like... yesterday. 

What are your favorite books?!?

Never Have I Ever

I found this great link up and can't wait to jump back on the blogging train.  I fell off and just don't have content to get back on.  Thanks to those of you who stuck around!   Never have I ever....   Ridden in a plane Been to California Run more than one mile Lived more than 50 minutes away from my parents Gotten a tattoo Kissed more than two boys.  Been to either of the Dakota's Written in Calligraphy Been fired from a job Attended a professional basketball game Ridden on a train Liked the color yellow (sorry Kayla!! haha) Had the flu (knock on wood) dived (dove?) from a cliff  

What have you never done?!

 

Confessions

I haven't done these in a while, but they're always fun.   /// I almost bought a really cute diaper bag that was $20 this week.  We will need it eventually, right?

/// I am not digging work lately. Everyone is on edge and snippy. 

/// I scheduled my wisdom tooth extraction yesterday and regretted it the second I hung up the phone.  I'm so not looking forward to that one.   /// Cameron's birthday present is on its way here and I'm really excited about it. We are only 2.5 years apary, but she is turning 21 and I'm feeling like a super old older sister.

   /// Jackson being on a work trip is really cramping my style. I can't sleep because I miss his snoring, I can't manage to only cook for one, and I don't like having to do his chores. Excuse me while I pout.

/// I had a sleepover at my dad's last night. Can we talk about how much an old house creaks and moans in the wind and rain? I didn't sleep well there either. 

  /// Also, staying at my dad's allowed me to go through a lot of my old stuff. and my sister's stuff. I inherited my old label maker! #TypeAwin
/// I got more enjoyment from putting $100 in our savings this week than getting new shoes. 

 

Reconnecting

This has been a post I've been thinking about writing, but the timing never felt right.  God wasn't done working so that I could speak to it wholeheartedly. Now I'm here, I'm ready.   Last year was a year of great adjustment.  I graduated college a month prior, I got married in February and moved into a new home, I spent a lot of time working and making sure all of our friends' quality time tanks were filled.  I learned how to make time for myself, how to make time for my sweet husband, and how to make time for my marriage.  I thought the last one would come naturally, but for two extroverts who have a need to be around people, it took some hard work to stop and make time for just the two of us.   The one thing I forgot to make time for was God. I wasn't praying unless someone asked me to pray for a certain person or situation.  I wasn't reading my Bible unless I needed a verse to throw in an argument. I wasn't holding my husband accountable for his relationship with God, either.  I wasn't making sure he sat down and read with me... I wasn't encouraging him to pray with and for me and our family.  I made time for all of our relationships except the most important one.   After months of struggling with that fact, we can fast forward to Christmas 2014. I was feeling burned out, tired, and just... bleh.  I was on my way home from church with my iHeart radio playing some good, old Linkin Park (to prepare for the concert, of course) and my radio switched itself to Switchfoot radio.  The music was completely unrelated, but I went with it... who doesn't like Switchfoot, after all?  Song after song had the basic message "I'm not going anywhere, I will always love you, come to me". Cue the tears. I'm not implying God works through iHeart radio, but it was one heck of a coincidence, and some pretty great timing.    I made it one of my resolutions to spend more time reading and praying with Jackson, and so far, so good.  It, for us, is a matter of turning off the TV, getting off of our phones, and making time for God and our marriage. It's going to be a daily struggle, but I'm almost positive this one will be worth it.  Here's to rooting my marriage in Christ this year!  

Confessions

I confess...   I went to the dentist this morning, and my teeth are bothering me more now than they were before. One of them has a rough edge, and my poor tongue is not leaving it alone. I'm 100% stressed because this whole world of insurance is new to me, and dental allowances were a huge wall in my path. I had no idea there was a limit to the dental work your insurance will allow per year. I have a $1500 allowance, which I'm told is great, and I used $650 of it last week alone. sigh.  #grownupwoes  

    Jackson has a really really really great job opportunity, and I was a brat about it because it would mean he would have to work the night shift for almost a year. Once I got past that initial foot stomping, pouting, pity partying, it is a great thing and will be great for our family!! Attention hog, party of one!   I spilled coffee all over my car today after leaving the dentist and didn't clean it up. I told Jackson it was a new air freshener...      Our balcony was pressure washed last week to remove spiders and the like.  Jackson and I were outside with a can of spider killer last night because holy mess, they were everywhere.  

   I'm doing these a day early because I have had tomorrow's post scheduled much longer and didn't want to be a double dipper.

Confessions

I'm having one of those weeks. The kind where you just want to cry because everything is going wrong. everything.  Plus, I'm so tired, I could die.   I confess....   ... I brush my teeth and floss twice a day, and my husband doesn't always, but I went to the dentist yesterday and I have a cavity in almost every tooth and between almost every tooth.  The thing I went in for wasn't even a cavity.  I have really awful dental anxiety, so I am dreading it all. I may or may not be reassuring myself by thinking that they have seen much worse than mine. 

  ... I didn't get the job I interviewed for last week.  I am more than just a tad bummed.       ... the fair didn't quite meet my expectations this year, but I blame the heat. It was like 97 degrees on Saturday until it poured rain.   ... Pretty Little Liars..... I 100% predicted it, but I was still shocked.  I didn't watch it at 7 because I was in a painting class, so I had planned to watch it at 9.  I ruined it before I watched it by getting on Facebook.    ... I've been playing on Trulia and Zillow a little bit, and I am in awe of how some people allow their houses to be listed. Some look like an episode of hoarders, some are a game of "find the cat in each picture, no the pictures on the wall don't count."

 

... I am contemplating skipping church this evening to sleep. Exhausted doesn't cover it, and it's only Wednesday.

 

How is your week going so far? Better than mine, I'm 100% sure.

Confessions

I confess...   ... Last week I heard Vitamin C's Friends Forever song. You know the one. I broke down in tears. Like ugly crocadile tears. I've been incredibly reminiscent lately about school, so that just killed me.

    ... I had an interview for a new job on Monday and I think it went really well. I sent a thank you card yesterday for the final umpf! :) There are two spots open, so I am really hoping I have a shot. I am dreading telling my current boss. I do love my job and the people, I'm just ready for a change.  

   ... I am so excited for the Wilson County Fair this weekend.  Jackson and I usually go on Sundays after church, but the last day happens to be a Saturday. We are going to ride rides, see exhibits, and eat fried food!! We rarely ride the rides because we are too cheap and rarely get our $25 per person worth because the lines are so long.  We plan to be there when it opens on Saturday, though.  I can't wait.      ... I am tired of people assuming I will do their sewing projects for them. Don't bring me your busted jeans or ripped hoody and expect me to fix it.  #rude

  ... I have completed a spreadsheet with the costs of raising a kitten in effort to convince Jackson we need one.  Overkill? not one bit.    

   

Confessions...

This week, I confess....   .... My daddy and two of my best friends have birthdays in the next seven days.  EEK! Dad wants a Wal-Mart gift card. Sometimes I just can't even deal with this man. I hate giving gift cards.     .... people who buy things on eBay that are described as "new with damage" and even have pictures of the damage, who leave negative feedback when receiving the item..... They're not my favorite people.

  ... I have my first dentist appointment in over two years in a couple of weeks. ew, I know. I am 100% nervous and dealing with serious pre-dentist anxiety.  He may seriously have to knock me out to do a cleaning.  I know I have a cavity or two, too, so that adds to the anxiety.  

  .... We cleaned our little tails off on Saturday and now our apartment feels huge.  Really. Everything has a place (except for the piles on the kitchen table) and the floor has vacuum lines. Now if I can only get the space bags to stay deflated....     ... Also, I stumbled upon this gif while confessing and remembered how heartbroken I am that Robin Williams is gone.  Really.  Hook, Mrs. Doubtfire, Dead Poets' Society, Jumanji... none of them will ever be the same.   ... We are itching for a pet. A baby puppy is out of the question because of our work schedules and how much attention they need.  However, a kitten may work. ;)     ... My sister moves back to Chattanooga this week.  I'm bummed because I hardly got any time to spend with her this summer.  Work makes life hectic, and it kinda (really) sucks.  I feel very Anna and Elsa, and I'm so not afraid to admit it.     .... There is a wedding on our calendar every weekend in October.  Our bank account is just recovering from the wedding mess this summer!!