Respect Him; Love Her

I get a lot of crap about my views on being a submissive wife. (Whoa, cannon ball right into today's post, why dontcha)    I really hesitated to write and publish this post because people I know who are the reason for this post may be reading. But hey, it's my corner of the internet.   Ephesians 5:22-23 says, "Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.    Boom. I have evidence, facts, and reason behind my actions.  Do I bow down at my husband's feet and let him walk all over me? no.  Do I understand that he is meant to be the leader of our family? yes.   What does this mean for my role as wife? It means that I get to uplift and encourage my husband daily. It means that I get to help him make decisions for our home and family.  It means that I know my family and home and future are secure.   What doesn't it mean for me as a wife (aka: what do most people think I'm talking about when I talk about being a submissive wife?)? It doesn't mean that I get no say in anything - I get a lot of say, actually.  It means I get to trust Jackson to make the final call, but if there's any dispute along the way, we get to talk it out.  It doesn't mean that all of my thoughts and wants are dismissed.  They are considered more because Jackson knows he is the one making decisions for our entire family.  It doesn't mean that I don't matter.   Ephesians 5:28-30says, "In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body just as Christ does the church - for we are members of His body."   Jackson is just as restricted as I am in the way a Christian household is to function.   For Jackson, this means that he is to love me as Christ loves the church - unconditionally and wholeheartedly; he is to feed my faith and respect my body.   I understand that not every wife observes and embraces the two verses that describe our role, and I understand that not every husband embraces the three verses that spell out love.  In our home, we do. I don't ask for everyone to believe like I do, but for respect.  Nothing more, nothing less.   #endrant

Happy Father's Day

Father's Day is one of my favorite holidays. Mostly because I get to celebrate the best geezer on the planet.    I am the definition of a daddy's girl.  My dad is and has always been my best friend. Getting married was one of the hardest things I have ever done because it meant that I would suddenly be depending on Jackson rather than my dad.  It took me a long long time to get past that fact.    My dad is my rock. Growing up with an alcoholic mother, my dad always played both Mom and Dad.  He never missed a soccer game, never missed a track meet, never let anyone out-cheer him.  He was at every band concert, every performance and competition, every award ceremony, every homecoming, every prom, every graduation. He chaperoned dances, was the supervision at lock-ins.  He was never absent. Whether he was in the front row cheering or behind the scenes making sure everything was covered, he was there.  I really have no idea how he did it all.  

My dad instilled in me my values and my opinions, allowing me to make my mistakes and choices that would shape the woman I would become.  He taught me the importance of knowing who I am and knowing who I want to become. He taught me about being both conservative and ouspoken.  He taught me to love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.

 

There really aren't words to say exactly what he means to me because it's as big as the world.  He deserves for every day to be Father's Day.

 

They say girls marry men like their daddies, which for me, is a great thing because I have the most caring, loving, giving dad in the entire world. 

Little did I know....

I think when you're dating and you're engaged, you have this preconcieved notion of what marriage will be like with your significant other. I sure did.  Someone recently asked me if marriage was everything I thought it'd be. My answer... no, but I wouldn't change it for anything.  

  Marriage is not like the movies. You rarely wear makeup if you don't have to. Pants are in that same category.  You don't wake up and greet the morning together with coffee and a makeout session...  you spring out of bed to get ready to for work and settle for a forehead kiss because of your morning breath.  Your husband, however, will embarass you in public and exclaim, "I HAVE THE PRETTIEST WIFE! LOOK AT MY PRETTY LADY!"   Marriage is hard.   There are going to be nights when you fight about the tiny things, and there are going to be nights where you fight about huge things.  You're going to learn how to mesh your two personalities, backgrounds, upbringings, goals, dreams, etc.  We were raised differently, so figuring what of his upbringing we wanted to keep, what of mine, and what we wanted to be new was one of the hardest things in my opinion.    Marriage shows you you didn't know the person you married as well as you thought. You marry the person you think you know. For Jackson and I, we had known each other since middle school. We had grown up together, we knew each other's likes and dislikes, and how to make the other tick. We knew the good, the bad, and the ugly. However, there were still so many things we didn't know. We are learning daily, and I hope we will continue to learn about each other.  I'm learning that clothes and hampers aren't a match, toothpaste is a mirror decal, and we're both "just let me do it" personalities. It makes life fun.   The "little things" change.  When we were dating, I loved that Jackson would open my door, buy me flowers, etc.  Marriage changed the little things for us.  Jackson works a hard job, he is tired, dirty, and ready to relax when he gets home.  The little things include him folding laundry with me, him loading the dishwasher, him taking out the trash without having to be asked.  Don't get me wrong, the little things from before are still "little things" that make me smile ear to ear, but there are new little things I never thought would be "little things".   You don't get to spend every waking hour together.  That one was hard for me.  Silly, I know. You get married and go on this beautiful honeymoon where you literally spend every second of every day together, and then you come home and work to get into a routine (see "Marriage is hard.") of working, housework, church, cooking and eating dinner, and bedtime.  I'm lucky if I get four hours in the evening of family time.    Marriage is still the best thing I have ever taken part in, and I love everything about it.  The same person asked me if I would have rather someone told me all of these things... and my answer was still no. I have loved learning and growing with Jackson.  

Pet Peeves

Marriage has taught me that I am a very hard person to get along with. I get annoyed at the smallest things, and sometimes the not so small things. I've always had a huge list of pet peeves, but marriage has made some sink deeper than others. Age is to blame for the others. I'm older than 22 inside... inside, my name is Ethel and I'm 85.
 
I'm still married, though, so yay for coping!
 I haven't maimed any of my coworkers, so yay for being tolerant!  
1. Loud chewers and ice crunchers.  I will stare at you until you notice I'm annoyed and stop doing it.
   
   
2. People who start stories and get distracted and stop mid sentence but keep you there by repeating themselves or saying "um".
   
3. The noise that comes when people pick at their nails. Just stop.
   
4. That feeling of not being able to get comfortable because your legs aren't in the right spot, you're laying funny, etc. It feels like when you can't get a full breath of air.
   
   
5. The "are you decent?" phonecall because we have unexpected company. I'm not wearing a bra, can you wait five seconds?!
   
6. Husband elbows in the neck when I sleep.
   
7. Deciding on a "one lunch out a week" rule and being asked on Friday if your husband can go to lunch because he doesn't have time to pack a lunch. Grab the freezer meal and go, you'll be fine.
   
8. Falling in the toilet because someone doesn't remember to put the seat down. Seriously, is it that hard? One more time and I'm ordering this.
   
9. Socks right in front of the hamper. It's right there.
   
10. Bringing up a joke that wansn't funny ever but you can't let go. Yes, I ignored that you mentioned it and kept walking.
    
11. People who talk on their cell phones in the bathroom. I'm going to flush and this will be really awkward.
    
12. People who don't use a turn signal. I will hit you and it will be your fault.
    
13. Students who ask questions to purposely get teachers off topic. We have heard the story about how he cut himself with a chainsaw like 8,000 times, can we get back to physics, please?!
    
14. Strange kids' names. I like boys names for girls, and even sometimes unisex names for either kid. Heck, I even enjoy a good first-name-last-name switch, but don't slap the keyboard, call that your child's name, and get upset when I mispronounce your child's name. #imjustsaying
    
15. Couple names. Ours is Crackson. or Jissy. Just don't.

 

 

On Growing Up...

Obviously I have been an adult now for four years... I've graduated high school and college. I have a full time job and insurance. I have gotten married and we have a home to call our own. We pay rent and bills.   But I haven't truly felt like a grown up until this week. I've always been able to finagle my vacation time to work around church camp week.  I have not missed a week of camp since my very first year at camp. Even when I was taking a June-mester, I made it work by going to McDonalds and jacking their wifi to do homework.     This year, I didn't get so lucky. Mind you, I wouldn't trade our honeymoon for anything, but I was fronted my vacation for that week off and couldn't work out another week this early in the year.   I may or may not have cried all the way on the two hour drive home. I miss my kids. I miss bunk beds. I miss my friends. I miss my husband who is there while I'm not. I miss the games and hours outside. I miss camp.   And in case you were curious, these are things you don't say to someone who is mourning the loss of their camp week..... "You have responsibility now and that doesn't include camp." "Seriously? grow up." "Well, that's just part of growing up." "Adults don't get camp week... you'll live." "Who takes a vacation week for camp?" "Stop whining."   ...all of which I received after being back at work for ten minutes on Tuesday.   Me and my grumpy tail are going to enjoy the rest of this ten hour day in my office with the door shut.

Our Wedding: Redo's

After attending a wedding post-Hinners wedding, I have a bunch of things I'd do all over again for our wedding. 

1. Having a first look with Jackson and one with my daddy - I wouldn't give these moments up for anything. Looking back, they were two of my top five moments of the day. I was able to decompress and get rid of my jitters with Jackson and I was able to have a sweet moment, just me and my daddy before I was swept away as a bride.  
2. My dress - My dress was one of my favorite parts of my wedding. It took me two trips to David's Bridal and a breakdown with an awful consultant to find the dress. The second I put it on, I knew it was mine.
3. My venue - I loved having our wedding at our church. It was the church Jackson grew up in, the church both of us were baptized in, the church family that had poured into our relationship from the beginning, and the church that we will someday raise our own family. It just made sense.
   

    
4. My reception - Everything about our reception was a dream come true (minus the fact that we couldn't dance).  From the Christmas light, gossamer canopy to the dessert bar to the cake, everything was perfect.
5. The budget - I wasn't given a budget to begin with, I was just very conscious about how much we spent. Our wedding, total, was $7,000 (give or take a few dollars). We had everything we'd ever dreamed of, and that was simply enough. We didn't have to go to ridiculously measures to have the wedding of our dreams.
6. My maids and men - having each of these people in our wedding made our wedding what it was. Each of them brought something special to our day, and we wouldn't have had it any other way.
   
7. My bridal party attire - We used Men's Warehouse for our tuxes. They were a grey, Calvin Klein suit and pant, white shirt, navy vest and bowtie and pocket square. Jackson wore a grey vest with a white bowtie. They all had Happy Socks! :) Our girls wore Mori Lee style 181 in Navy. :) It was flattering on all of them!!
8. My flowers - I may have mentioned before that my flowers were artificial. I put together all of the bouquets and boutonnieres: groomsmen, fathers (I forgot our officiant.. oops), bridesmaids, mothers, grandmothers, and our Kroger florist where my mom works put together my bouquet... all ten pounds of it. :) We went to Joann's and spent $160 on flowers for 21 people (including my huge) bouquet. I bought every pink peony, white hydrangea, white rose, and baby's breath in Nashville. We also used artificial flowers in our centerpieces for our reception.
9.  Having Heath marry us - Our officiate is the associate minister at our church. He was the youth minister when I started attending church at Jackson Park, and for Jackson three years before that.  He has seen our ups and downs, breakups, fights, and our best moments.  I wouldn't have had anyone else marry us for the world.
10.  Hiring a videographer and photographer we knew well - It seems like it is a "duh" thing to hire both the videographer and a photographer, but it was even better having people we knew and trusted in these areas.  Our videographer is a member at our church and does videography for a living. Our photographer was a life-long family friend that I have known all my life. He has taken pictures of my sister and I growing up, so it made sense to hire him. Hiring people we knew also enabled us to use the money saved elsewhere. We only paid $200 for our videos (rehearsal, ceremony, and reception) and our photography was free.
11. My Groom (cheese alert) - I wouild not have traded marrying Jackson for any of the first ten things listed.  :) At the end of the day, we were married and thats what mattered. 



Comparison and Contentment

  Something I think we've been struggling with lately is comparing ourselves to our other newlywed friends.  It's human nature, it's normal, and I know we're not alone.   Comparison is everywhere.   We are constantly comparing ourselves to people at work, and depending on where they stand, we measure whether or not we are successful.    We measure ourselves based on what others have that we don't. We're in a one bedroom apartment, but our two newlywed couple best friends have a two bedroom and a house! We assume we're lacking because we don't have what they have.   We hear others talking about their $100k+ salaries and feel like we're not good enough because we don't make near that much.   What we forget, though, is this: we have jobs. we have a home. we make enough.   It's so easy to get bogged down in this rat race that is American culture. It's so easy to lose sight of how blessed we are to have the little things we have. There are families who are striving for what we have.   Contentment and appreciation: that's the goal.  

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is always an interesting day for me.

 

 

I love my mother, don't get me wrong, but sometimes (often) it is hard to like her. 

  

 

My mother has struggled with alcoholism since before I was born. She didn't drink when she was pregnant with me, but she did while she was pregnant with my sister. She is very hard headed and stubborn and really has never wanted help. When I was in eighth grade, she came to retrieve me from soccer practice and we were almost in a head on collision on the way home. She was charged with a DUI and was admitted to rehab the very next day. I remember crying my eyes out the day Dad told us she would be coming home because I knew she wouldn't change. I was right. She didn't change. She has never changed, except the brand of alcohol she consumes. When she's sober, she is a wonderful mother. She and I could really be friends if she would stay sober. But she doesn't want to.

 

 

Mother's Day is a day for me to put on a fake smile while I watch her unwrap a bracelet and cry tears because she knows she doesn't deserve it. On quite a few Mother's Days, I was questioned with a "that's it?" when she opened her gifts, or a "Go spend it with Ginger!" as I left for church. Often, the day before Mother's Day is a drunken-mother-to-angry-daughter fight about my Dad's mom, my Nana, and what a wonderful Grandmother she is as opposed to my Mom's mom who has never told me she loved me. It's not that she doesn't... she just can't say it.

 

(Nana, Dad and I on my wedding day)

This brings me to Ginger. What a blessing my Mother-In-Law is.

 

 



She has loved me since I was 16, and has prayed over my relationship with her son from the beginning. Sure, she's not my mother, but she cares for me as if I were her own. She is always an ear to listen, a scold when we have made stupid mistakes, and love when I feel discouraged. She will be a loving grandmother to my children, and I am so thankful for her.

 

For me, Mother's Day is mostly about celebrating women in my life who have set an example. Last year, and from here on out, I realize that includes my mom, too. Mind you, she wasn't a positive example, but an example nonetheless. She is an example of all of the things I don't want to be, and a kick in the pants to become the good things I want to be so I don't end up like her. 

 

I am so blessed to look back and have friends' mothers, women in church, etc. step in and provide the love, encouragement, guidance, and discipline I needed. I don't know who I'd be if they didn't invest in me. Mother's Day is about women like that.

 

It's a strange thought to me that someday I will be a mother and to think about my daughter blogging about me. I wonder what she'll say. My goal is to have her say, "My mom is my best friend. She guides me and prays for me, and she's always a listening ear. I hope to be just like her one day."

 

Reminder

Today at work, we had a companywide annual update meeting. Because next month is my "one year" mark, it's my first annual meeting.  We got an update on our finances, our retirement plans, and had "story time" with some of our employees.  I work in the corporate office, so I rarely get to see or hear about what goes on outside this office unless it's negative. These stories about the families and lives we're changing literally brought me to tears.   I've been passively looking for a new job.  After applying for the HR Generalist position, and a payroll position, and not hearing anything back, I made the conclusion that I would be stuck in my assistant job for a while.    After today, I realize why my efforts were nothing more than passive... why I never felt pressured to get out and look... I love my job. I love our company.    I look at this picture from my first day of work where I was overwhelmed and exhausted and oh... overwhelmed. I laugh.

  Sometimes, God gives me very subtle reminders as to why He has me where I am at any given moment.  This is your mission field, I once heard someone say. Sure this company may not provide me my career... it may not be the place from which I retire.... but I'm here now... for this season of my life... and I am so richly blessed.   

20 Things - Mrs. Edition

I found this fun survey Christina posted and figured it'd give you guys a chance to get to know us better. Today, it's my turn. Next week, we'll see if we can convince hubs to give it a go.

1. What brings you the greatest joy?
Family, friends, hubs, and being able to praise an awesome God.

2. What are your vices?
ABC Family. Dr. Pepper.

3. What is on your nightstand?
A frame with lipstick kisses from my bachelorette party (still pictureless, of course), a lamp, a journal, and a devotional. Oh, and my iHome that is never used as an alarm clock.

4. Do you have a secret talent?
Nope. Well, I'd say I've become good at cooking, and it's secret because I don't make a big deal out of it.

5. What is your greatest indulgence?
We go out to eat far too much, but mine personally would be shopping.

6. What should every woman try at least once in her life?
I wish I had some crazy story to back up something in left field like "make out with a stranger", but I don't.  I guess I would say go out with friends and don't look at the clock. You'll hate yourself the next day, but it's worth it.

7. What makes you laugh?
When kids say funny things, when hubs quotes a movie and the quote fits perfectly with whatever is going on, Chrisley Knows Best

8. What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
I'm a homebody. It's not that I don't enjoy company or going out and having fun, but I would rather spend an evening on the couch watching a movie.  It's really not like my extrovert personality, but it's true!

9. What is on your bucket list?
Travel to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
(via) Travel to South Africa and volunteer at The Lion Park
Start a crafting something of my own.

10. What is on your feet right now?
Nothing. I wear cute shoes to work and then take them off when I'm at my desk.

11. How did you make your first dollar?
Are we talking chores, toothfairy, or job? My first job was working at Kroger.  Honestly, if the hours and work uniforms didn't suck so bad, I would do that for the rest of my life.  I am such a people person and I loved working in customer service.  I loved talking to and getting to know customers and I loved getting to supervise and organize other employees.

12. What superstition do you believe in?
I don't know that I'm superstitious, but I do thing bad things come in threes. 

13. What items in your closet do you wear the most?
Now that it's spring, I'll be living in dresses, but I have started living in my boyfriend jeans.

14. What is the best gift you’ve ever received?
hmm. I got my car for my eighteenth birthday.  I love my car no matter how sick it seems to stay.

15. What is on your liquor shelf?
We don't drink.

16. What is on your kitchen counter?
Oh, all two square feet of it? On one side of the kitchen, we have the toaster and coffee maker (for making sweet tea only).  On the other side, we have our Keurig Vue, our knife block with knives, and our utensil holder that I painted. :)

17. What would you never leave home without?
Phone, Keys, Wallet, Bobby Pins.

18. What movie has the greatest ending?
I'll be cliche and say The Notebook.

19. Who is on the guest list for your ideal dinner party?
Our best friends, Dennis Quaid, and Jennifer Lawrence

20. What is one thing you wish you had known when you were younger?
You will be fine. Stressing gets you no further than where you would have ended up anyway.

 

Thank God

I have learned a thing or two in my short two months of marriage. One of our top 5 struggles has been learning to love and live in the here and now.   We dated most of our lives.  When we got engaged, it killed everyone that we had a year long engagement.  Now that we're married, we get asked on the daily what our plans are for adding small humans to our lives.   Let me say this: we have a plan, and we think it's a great plan. There are lots of things that have to happen before small humans are a thing. There are a lot of things we want to do before small humans are a thing. Plus, God's will is greater and more amazing than our plans will ever be, so if our plan isn't His, then it's not going to work anyway.    I struggled for a long time with contentment.  I was never happy with the here and now, I was always looking forward to what was coming.  I obsessed over huge houses and forgot how blessed we were to have our 631 square foot apartment.  I obsessed over filling rooms with expensive furniture and overlooked how blessed we were to have our one bedroom, living and dining room, and even our deck fully furnished for free by family.  I obsessed over filling rooms with cribs and small humans and forgot that I had a fiance (that's right, not even a husband yet) that I needed to learn to love and grow with and pour into.    God put me in my place, to say the least.   A few weeks before our wedding, Jackson and I had a HUGE knock down blow out fight about my lack of satisfaction with the little things.  I was crippled by fear that we were going to get too content and never buy a house or have a baby... that the 631 square feet would be all we would ever have.   My sweet husband found reassuring and uplifting words to, in the nicest way possible, remind me how selfish and greedy I was being.    A switch was flipped, and that was it.   I finally understood how much I was breaking his heart to make him feel like everything we could do wasn't enough for me.  I understood how much I was overlooking the blessings we had.  We had a home to call our own, no matter how small it was. It was furnished with furniture from his sweet grandmother, my loving father bought us a beautiful dining room set, and his amazing brother gave us a 60" smart TV. We had enough money to put food on our table and to pay our bills. We had dishes and cookware and even a knife block!   We're more blessed than we deserve.   Everyday that I get home, before I turn my key in the lock, I take a second to look at the numbers hanging beside our door: 227.  I take a second to appreciate the fact that we have a home.  I take a second to thank God for His blessings.  

  All of that was said to say this: houses, dogs, babies... they will all come in God's time.  Next time you see a newlywed, don't ask them what their plans for a baby are, because odds are, they are struggling with the "what next" complex.  (We're married, what's next?)    It is a daily thought for me that we will never get this time back, that we need to enjoy it and soak it all in.  When we're up all night with a crying baby, when there's food all over because our toddlers are as unruly as we were as kids, when we're dealing with difficult teenagers, we'll reminisce about these days that we've been so ready to speed through.  We're going to think about the day we got the keys to our first home; all we had was a small TV - enough for Comcast to connect our cable.  We layed on the floor and watched Despicable Me.   

    My new goal is this: Enjoy every second of every day.  Sure not every second is going to be beautiful all of the time, but they're always blessings whether they're blatantly obvious or in disguise.  I have a husband who loves me, a home, a car, a job, and I woke up today.   

    Thank God.

Happy Two Months of Marriage, Darling

I know, I know. I promised to share my recipe for Honey Garlic Porkchops today. But I didn't realize what today was!   Happy two months of marriage, sweet thing.   I have learned so much about myself and my husband in the past two months. Remember, we started out as googly eyed seventh graders.     I have learned that some days will fly by, and others will drag, but both kinds of days are great. Some days will drag because you've been crabby all day and are arguing about little things, while some will drag like the longest drag of your favorite cigar... every second of it is beautiful and worth savoring. Others will fly because you're both so busy with work and church and household needs.   I have learned that I can't do it all.  I can't do all of the laundry, cook, do dishes, make the sweet tea, take out the trash, organize the pantry, clean the bathroom, organize the bedroom, and still have time to breathe.  I have learned that it is okay to not be able to do it all, and to tell Jackson I need help.  It's fun doing the dishes together... it's fun doing the laundry together.   I have learned that I have deep dark insecurities that come out unexpectedly, and that he has them too.  Together we have learned to talk through them, nurture them, and grow from them.    I have learned that as well as you think you know someone, sharing a home and a life with them will show you that you know nothing about them.  It's wonderful and difficult all at the same time.    What were things you learned as newlyweds that really surprised you?

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.

High Five for Friday!!

This week has been really hit or miss.  Some parts have been perfect and others have been BLEHHHH. 

1. 

I had Monday off work and went in late on Tuesday because of the ice craziness that hit Nashville. I'm not going to lie, I didn't mind.  I got a million chores done.  I bleached the tub, cleaned the toilet, cleaned the sink, swiffered the bathroom.  I vacuumed the living room, organized the cords, dusted, and cleared the clutter.  In the kitchen, I cleaned every appliance, cleaned out the fridge, and swiffered the hardwoods there. I did not, however, make it to the DMV to get my name changed on my license. 

2.

My free shoes from JustFab came in the mail!! They're so comfy and cute!! 

3.
Monday, while off work, I also monogrammed everything I could get my hands on.  Specifically, the sleeve of a sweater inspired by the following pin.  I also found my monogram magically appear on two pullovers, a tote bag, and dish towels.  Magic, right!?!

4.

I was the first one to hit my best friend's wedding registry!! I even got her spice rack on sale!! ;) Shh, don't tell her! I was also able to score a gift for a baby shower at church on sale, and this adorable set of onesies! I love love love Target days like this! 

5. 

Oh, and last but not least, look what the amazing Jana Tolman did to our blog!! How adorable is this design??! I seriously keep coming back to look at it. I love how wonderful she was to work with and how she truly brought my vision to life!! I had a vision and she took it and ran with it and made it beautiful!! Seriously, work with her! She's great! 

I'm the kind of girl...

(We got our wedding photos back, so I'm very excited to share!)

I'm the kind of girl who....

• Loves the Lord with all of her heart.
• Can't pick a restaurant when we decide to go out to eat.
• Probably should have been born in the forties to grow up in the fifties and sixties.
• would pick Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons over today's nonsense music anyday
• Overthinks the simple things
• Would give you the shirt off of my back, but don't burn me because I'll never do it again.
• Loves to be in front of the camera as much as behind it.
• Planned my wedding from age six to twenty-two.
• Loves Fall weather (high 50's to 70. No higher than 70)
• Loves zombie movies and shows, blood, and gore as much as she loves a good chick-flick.
• Can't shop the real racks until I've hit the sale or clearance one's first.  
• can't justify paying over $12 for a shirt, $25 for pants, and $30 for a dress
• Has to plan it all. If it's not in my planner, it doesn't get done.
• Has never wanted anything more than to be a Godly wife and mom. One of those is finally checked off. Patience, baby crazies!
• Can recognize a face and remember a name from over ten years ago.
• Sleeps until Noon on Saturday, and cusses isn't happy at 6am on Monday.