The Waiting Game (Update)

Hey Guys! 

I just wanted to give you guys and update, and let you all know that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I am still here! With that being said, I'm not 38 weeks and 3 days, and have fallen into that stage where I'm pretty much miserable and exhausted all the time. All of you mommy's know what I'm talking about. 

I'm pretty much playing the waiting game, and my little Appleseed is determined to do the opposite of what mommy says, already. It honestly feels like my days are dragging, and I've just been too tired and out of it to really post anything of interest, though I do have a few future posts coming up on Improvising-Cooking Edition and a "Off the Top of My Head" Desert, coming soon. It may be after she is born, though, we'll just have to see. 

Anyways, I hope everyone is doing great! And I'll be posting again a little more consistently soon! :)

Oh The Love...

Hello All! 

Happy Friday!

This week has felt super long.... just like last week did. I hope this isn't becoming a pattern. I'm 36 weeks and 3 days pregnant, and now that I'm down to the wire, I do not need my weeks/days/hours/minutes/or seconds dragging. At least until my little Addy finally decides to come out. Then it can slow back down. But until then, can we keep it moving, please!?!

Anyways, this week I've been....tired. That's pretty much it. I've been tired on top of tired. I've only been working half days, and every day I would go home and take a nap, only to go back to bed with my husband by 10 o'clock each night. Anything beyond cooking supper has been a trial for me. I digress. 

Yesterday my mom and I were talking on the way to my sister's house about love and affection in marriage. My parents have been married 30 years (31 years this November), and I when I'm visiting at their house I'm still having to remind them that "hello I'm in the room... you can stop groping each other now".  We all laugh and make funny jokes and innuendos (yes even my dad and mom). We are all pretty open. 

The truth is, though, I love knowing that after thirty years my parents still show that kind of affection, whether we are there or not. I remember growing up, riding in the car, and watching my dad reach over and take my mom's hand, or vice versa. I remember my daddy coming in from work, saying hello to her and giving her a kiss. I remember times where he'd tickle her, making her scream and laugh so hard until she was out of breath. 

As we were talking about love and affection, I made the statement that I thought it was good for me and my brother and sister to see that growing up, to see our parents still in love and affectionate towards each other. And I'm not talking about that overwhelming emotion you have when you are first together and every moment feels like you are walking on air. I'm talking about true love...

The love that has you snuggling closer to your husband, even when the two of you have felt distant.

The love that has your husband still kissing you years later the way he did when you were dating. 

The love the makes you want to give or do for that person just to make their day a little better.

The love that has you forgiving through the hurt.

The love that is still there after arguments and aggravation.

The love that is still there two, ten, or thirty years after marriage.

The love that is still there after your kids are grown and gone.

This kind of love comes with another component called commitment. 

I'm pretty sure since my mid-teens, my mom has spoken to me about the word commitment on several occasions, admitting that she didn't always "feel" the love for my daddy, but the commitment she made to him held them through those times. I've seen the days where I could have sworn they would bite each other's heads off fo real! And then the next day he was coming up behind her in the kitchen and wrapping his arms around her. 

I felt sad when my husband and I, about a year into our marriage, began losing that "overwhelming love" as life intruded. I see now it was a slow fade, and I hated when it happened. It made me feel like I'd lost him or that I was losing him. The truth is we were being brought out of something that would never last,  and into the beginning of something, that with work, would last a lifetime. 

Change is never easy, especially not in your relationship with your spouse. But the truth is you will go through changes in life that will put a strain on your relationship. You won't feel close, you won't feel that overwhelming emotion, you will go to bed without getting or giving a kiss goodnight, or even touching. However, I am finding that it is through these changes that love doesn't always come in overwhelming waves of passion. Sometimes love comes in subtle ripples. 

You know what is significant about those subtle ripples... is that it starts out from something small... and grows. 

Like when I'm sitting on the couch beside him massaging his legs because they are sore from being on them all day, and all he does is look at me and I see his love and thanks in his eyes...and all because I'm doing something so small as massaging his legs without him even having to ask. 

Like when I walk into the house after being out and he has washed the dishes and cleaned off the table so that I wouldn't have to when I got home. 

Like when he gets up and goes to work (a job he isn't liking and where he works with a bunch of but heads), when I know he'd rather just not. But he does it for us, and it reminds me of one of the reasons I fell in love with him. 

Like when we are laying in the bed, snuggled up beside each other, and begin walking down memory lane... Our first kiss (the best first kiss I'd ever had), the first time we went out (Which gave us our mutual love for Despicable Me), when he poked me with a fork at rally (his idea of flirting, and I loved it), the first time we traveled to his parents together, the day we got married, our honeymoon, our first fight and how we both apologized afterwards and held onto each other.

It is in these moments where God imperceptibly drops small pebbles of feeling and commitment into our hearts. The ripples from those pebbles form and grow, bringing back that more subtle, but nonetheless, overwhelming love, reminding you all over again why you committed yourself to that person to begin with.

I may not have been the most beautiful of choices or the smartest.
I may not have been the one with the best personality or the best singer.
But my husband fell in love and committed himself to me.
I don't want to ever take that for granted.

In 30 years...
When the years have aged us,
When we are watching our children have children,
When the world around us has completely changed and evolved,
When our memories may be blurred, but not forgotten,
that my husband and I still feel those ripples and fall in love with each other all over again.

Oh, Fall, Where Art Thou?

Welcome Monday morning....*note sarcasm*

Who really welcomes Monday morning? I am still all for skipping Monday and going directly to Wednesday. Unfortunately, no one is listening to me. Go fig! 

I'm pretty sure that I left over half of me still in the bed at home. The other half, or maybe quarter, of me is sitting here trying to make sense of the world with my sleep-fogged mind. One thing that is coming in loud and clear, though..... I am sick of the heat. And being pregnant. And being pregnant in the heat. 

I'm looking forward to the day where I can hold my little girl in low sixty, upper fifty degree weather. It is pretty sad when you actually start checking the ten day forecast to see if we are going to be hitting anything cool soon in Florida. 

The good news:

We will be hitting high-mid sixties for a low. 

The bad news:

We will still be in the high's of upper eighties and low ninties. 

Ugh! 

Now that it is getting so close to fall, I'm ready to start decorating. For a moment (more like a millisecond), I thought I'd wait and start decorating when it cooled down. Then I laughed at myself. I would be skipping decorations for fall and decorating for Christmas if I was to do that. So I nipped that in the bud. I thought I might start decorating within the next week or so. Since my budget is limited I've been looking up some cheaper DIY fall decor Ideas, and figured I would share. Gotta love pinterest! :)

Hope it lifts your spirits like it did mine in this icky hot weather!!

 Keep Calm and FALL in Love! 

Still Learning at 24

Sorry for my absence. The past week I just haven't felt like writing, as much as I love it. I've been pretty blank, going through a lot mentally, emotionally, and obviously, physically. Pregnancy is no joke. I've also been going through a lot of spiritual things as well. So, needless to say, my desire to do...well anything really, has been pretty below par.

I'm realizing today that I'm never too old to learn things or in some cases re-learn them. I feel like God is doing a lot of that with me lately. I'm having to recondition myself to things I've known all of my life, that I grew up knowing and have just lacked applying them... and God is showing me new things about myself, forcing me to go through things I've never had to go through before.

The old cliche that "an old dog can't learn new tricks" is a lie. At 24 years old (which isn't all that old, really, but old enough to have a few experiences), I'm still learning and re-learning. I'm still having to bite the bullet, to lay down my pride in some matters, and to learn to apply all of those oh so simple words we grew up with to myself and my life.

Here are a few things that God has been teaching and re-teaching me...

#1. I cannot make it without him.

This should be a given. I know this. I grew up being taught that I could try to live life without him, but that when it comes down to true peace, true joy, true love, true happiness, I need him. I have probably felt my loneliest since I've been pregnant. I know that sounds weird, and I don't believe I've told anyone that yet, but it's the truth. I'm going through  physical changes that I know other people have gone through. I'm going through the relationship changes I know others have gone through. I'm going from working to being a stay at home mommy as others have done.... And yet I have never felt more utterly insecure, anxious, worried, weary, uncertain.... you get the idea. I look for the assurances from my husband, my mother and father, my sister... and as nice as they sound they can't give me what I truly need. I have to remember that no matter what, as long as I put God first, he has my back. He will take care of me and my husband. He will take care of our uncertain future. He will take care of my baby girl.

...for, lo, I am with you alway, even until the end of the world.
Matthew 28:20

#2. I have to let things go

As mentioned above, I am about to face an uncertainty I've never faced before. A stay at home mommy? Me? Yeah, I never thought I would be that, much less DESIRE to be that. People change, though. Their desires and circumstances change. So now I'll be quitting work to stay at home and take care of our little princess. I'm thrilled to be able to do that. However, now I'm facing being totally dependent on my husband. Since we've been married, we've both worked. We've both had incomes coming in. While I've been somewhat dependent on him for the main bills, I've still had my piece of independence with the little bit of money I made. Now we are facing living on one income. I honestly have no idea how this is going to work. I have internally debated again and again if this was the right thing, was this our only option, are we doing the right thing. I've been worrying and fretting and punching figures. I've been looking into and learning how to better save on groceries, diapers, anything really. I've even been doing my research on how to coupon, since I've never really been big into it. However, God is once again revealing to me, that I just have to let go. As mentioned above, if I continue to put him first in all things, he'll work it out. It may not be when or how I want it. It may not come as I thought it should. But he will work it out. I just need to let go and let him do his thing. It is a hard thing to do for someone who likes to know the how and when and why, but I'm just going to have to keep working at it... otherwise I'll be grey by the time I turn 25.

#3. Acceptance

I could have tied this into number 2, but I felt like in some ways, to me, it is separate, maybe because it stems from more personal issues. I am learning to accept things as they are. I'm learning to accept others as they are. I'm learning to accept situations as they are. And I'm learning to accept myself, as I am. I have to accept that I will never look like Miss America or be that perfect house-wife. I have to accept that people won't always do or act or be who I think they should. I have to accept that there are things that are going to happen that are going to hurt me, that I'm not going to like, and really I'm not going to know how to deal with at first or how to react to it. But I have to accept that it came and that it is over. This is another hard one for me. When things come at me, it almost feels like there is an instant replay going on in my head, from what happened to the way it made me feel. I will literally lay awake in bed for hours (as I did last night) and my mind just goes over and over and over until finally I am just too tired and fall asleep. Then I wake up the next morning feeling the after affects of whatever happened plus the lack of sleep. I've got to learn to accept that I can't change what happens. I can't change people. I can't change who I am and what I look like (essentially). I have to accept that what is...simply is.

#4. Forgiveness

I'm not sure which is harder... Asking Forgiveness or Granting it.
 There are times where it is easy to forgive people for something that they have done that has intentionally or unintentionally hurt you. Yet the hurt can leave scars. I'm not talking about abuse and physical wounds. There is damage that is done when someone hurts another that no one can see, but God. It leaves confusion. It leaves questions. It leaves anger and bitterness. How do you have the desire to forgive, and yet still feel all of the emotions that person's actions left you with?

I honestly don't have an answer to that question. What I do know is that forgiveness is necessary, not just for the other person, but for you as well. If you never try to forgive then...
One: It leaves you without Forgiveness. For how can you be forgiven if you can't give forgiveness?
Two: It leaves you without peace and will carry the hurt like a weight on your shoulders.

God never said that if you forgive you won't ever feel the hurt again. I don't read that in my Bible. However, I do believe that in time the hurt fades and the acceptance comes, which brings true forgiveness. One just has to remember the following:

-You are just as human as the person that hurt you
So in other words, you aren't perfect.

- You will eventually need forgiveness for something
because you are human (see above)

-You can't look for forgiveness if you have never given it
It kind of goes back to that "give and you shall receive thing".
I think that is something God took seriously.

I'm being pretty transparent on a public blogging site, and the reason for that is I hope that you realize that you are never to old to learn something new and you should not stop trying to learn things that are beneficial to you. God may be trying to teach you some of the things he is teaching me. My advice... let him. For he wants nothing but good for you. 

Any Advice?

I remember when I first started meal-planning after I got married. It started out as bi-weekly planning to fit Wade's bi-weekly paycheck's (since I only got paid once a month), and then went to weekly planning when my work switched to bi-weekly payrolls. It ended up falling on the opposite week of my husband getting paid. It made things easier, as far as the planning goes, to just plan dinners and lunches for the week and go get what we need. Though, the hassle of going grocery shopping weekly gets old, I still loved  the easiness of weekly planning.

You can say I'm a bit of an oddball. Once I got the hang of planning meals out and such, and forming grocery lists, I ended up learning to enjoy it. I loved the feeling knowing that I had a "flexible" plan of meals, and thanks to the planning I would know that when I went grocery shopping I would have everything down on the list that I needed. I wouldn't have to worry about not having some ingredient to make a specific meal, because I'd already planned for it.

However, since we are about to be living on one income, a dramatic cut in money, I'm trying to figure out a new strategy to my meal planning, which I think to be even more important now that we will be budgeting for everything. So do we now go back to bi-weekly, since he still gets paid that way? Do we plan monthly? I'm not sure what is the best way to go. Planning monthly seems so intimidating. I'm not a very good "guesser". I don't like to guess. I like to "know"! What happens if I guess on buying this much bread to last us the month, and it doesn't?

I know it isn't the end of the world, and I know a lot of it is trial and error, learning to see how fast each family goes through different food items. 

I need advice. Do you do monthly meal plans? How much do you budget for food and household items? What is the best way to plan for the month? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! 

Slacker Much?

Yep that's me... a slacker. 

I totally slacked last week on my blogging. It was just one of those weeks, where I had no motivation to do anything, and when I say anything, I mean ANY-THING! Only two days our of an entire week did I work on things that needed to be done at home; Tuesday and Saturday. That was it. Otherwise I was sleeping, going to church, or laying on the couch waiting until it was a decent time to go to sleep (like at least after 9 o'clock). 

I'm still lacking a lot of motivation. It is getting harder and harder to get up to go to work, to not want to lay down and sleep on the floor while I'm at work, and to not go to bed as soon as I get home or do nothing the entire night until I can go to bed. 

The exciting thing is... that with each slacker day I have that goes by, the closer I get until I have my little Appleseed, who feels more like a bowling ball now. I can't wait to have her in my arms! 

With that said, here is a little glimpse from my baby shower that my Mommy and Sister threw for me the weekend before last...

I loved how my mom and sister incorporated Addison's very first nickname, "Appleseed", into the the decor and food! They had an Apple Bar, with Apple slices, melted milk and white chocolate, caramel, peanuts, coconut...etc. It was so cute! I loved the mason jars with the chevron straws and my totally awesome "preggo" cake! The top right picture were all the pregnant gal's at my shower...yes that made five pregnant woman, though I actually know quite a few more who are pregnant as well... 

I had the best time and was truly blessed by all the people who showed up and gave such wonderful gifts! I wanted to take a picture of a lot of things to share with you guys, but there was so many things that I decided against it! Though I will show you the picture I have of my diaper bag from my Memaw!

Yes.... it is a Vera Bradley Diaper bag. And sadly it is the only Vera Bradley thing I own, other than a VB wallet that I paid $10 for at a consignment shop. My memaw gave me a gift card to The Grey Fox to go pick out a VB diaper bag that I liked. I truly have the best grandparents. There was enough on the card to get me the diaper bag and a hair tools travel case! The bonus is.... once Addy doesn't need this anymore I can so use it for an overnight bag or whatever myself! :)

My dad made me laugh when he said he couldn't wait to see Wade carrying that thing HA-HA! My husband then decided that he would carry Addison and I could carry the diaper bag. Oh men... gotta love them! 

To continue on the baby theme of my slacker post (makes a lot of sense right? lol)... Our Maternity pictures are this Saturday! I'm so excited and have been wracking my brain and scouring google and Pinterest for ideas. My cousin, Erin (also pregnant and who done my Wedding pictures) will be coming back into town to do them at the same place Wade and I got married ... Shiloh Farms.

So anyways....that's been the last few weeks and a precursor to my coming up weekend! I know I'm a slacker at the moment, but I have promised myself to try and do better... somehow I need to self-motivate. Not sure how at the moment, but I'm working on it! Hope you guys have a happy Tuesday! :)

Friday Funnies

You remember the time when people actually drove to their job, settled down in their office and actually "worked"? I'm pretty sure that all stopped March 2010 B.P (Before Pinterest). 

Life as we new it ended after that. Work as we knew it ended after that. People now go into work and instead of checking their emails first, they are checking Pinterest. 

I'm pretty sure it is the newest addiction, and should probably have a 12 Step program! 

Hello. My name is Rebekah and I'm addicted to Pinterest. 

*Hi Rebekah*

I have 53 boards on Pinterest. 

I have 312 pins on my funny board alone. 

My boards are in alphabetical order. 

It is safe to say, I'm an addict! 

Admitting you have a problem is generally the first step right?

Obviously, I'm a sucker for the funny stuff. I mean, I do have 312 pins (the most pins of all my boards) in my board titled "Laughter = The Best Medicine". You should really check it out. It has some good stuff LOL.
You can click here to go to my Pinterest!

Anyways, today I actually got up before my alarm clock (first in....forever). And I actually have felt pretty dang good this morning. I'm not a zombie today! Yay! (Again that would be the first time in....forever). 

I even got to talk to my sister this morning and leave her a funny voice mail, which I know she just LOVED after the initial annoyance of seeing that stupid symbol pop up on her notifications he-he! We always have a good time talking to each other, and always end up laughing through 90% of it. 

I'm losing focus... back to the point....

After my funny chat, I got on Pinterest (go figure, right?) and hit up couple of random pins before focusing on the funny one's... and... you know those weird people at work that you hear in the office by themselves making weirdo noises? Well I'm one of those, and the noises come from choking back full blown LOL's from reading the funnies on Pinterest! 

So in honor of my good mood, and the end to a terrible week, I thought I might post some of my  favorite funnies found from Pinterest this week! 

I hope you all have a Fantabulously, Funny Friday! :)

Getting Organized

Organizing... I love it, but it can be difficult for me to stay consistent with it. 

I've always kept a planner. The problem was I didn't always look at said planner, especially during the summer or whatever, because I didn't need to keep up with tests, exams, quizzes, assignments due... so the main time I looked at it was when I was in class. After that, it was forgotten until further notice. 

I started a little binder project earlier to keep recipe's, weekly meal plans, ideas, etc. a few months back, but with some of the craziness going on I've slacked off on it. However, now I'm realizing I may need it more than ever as a new mommy living on one income. 

So now I'm thinking it is time to get my binder in order and add in a few more things I think will come in handy the next few months. 

I'm not a creative person, but I like cute, creative things, so I went to my handy-dandy Pinterest and.... TA-DA....found blogs that had free, cute printable's for the things I needed! 

Here are the things I thought I needed to cover in my Binder... 

Meal Plan/Recipes- Updated

I already had this in my binder, but found another printable that was just a grid to use post it notes. I liked it better than what I already had, and it would be easy to pop the post its on and off if I need to change it. I also want to be able to have my quick/easy recipe's in here.

Monthly Calendar

With Doctor appointments, WIC appointments, and whatever ever else pops up after the baby is born, this will come in handy. I think I may actually print one to put on my fridge as well for an easy look-see. I also found a Dates to remember page, for a one-stop what I need to remember for what month. 

Weekly Goals/Cleaning List

The weekly goals comes with a grid to place post its like the weekly meal plan, so they are easily interchangeable (and cute). Then I figured this would be a good place to have some kind of cleaning list. I like lists and the feeling of accomplishment when I get to check things off lists. My husband is the mental list maker and to mentally check things off. I'm into visual aid. I like to be able to see it, hold it, smell it if need be (which I don't... that would be weird). But if I wanted to I could because it would be in my hand LOL. 

Monthly Budgeting

My husband and I will be dependent on one income once the baby is born, so I thought this would be good in helping us keep things into perspective as well as help us keep putting money back in our savings. 

Important Information/Documents

I thought this would come in handy to keep Insurance information, WIC checks, WIC documents, and whatever else I end up putting in there. I'm sure there is more. This way it is all in one place and there I don't have to pull a search and rescue for it. 

Randoms

I found a cute little printable where for little Jot-It-Notes. I thought this would be good for those little random things I need to remember, for ideas, for anything miscellaneous.

If anyone has any other ideas, printable's that they use or advice, please let me know! Also if anyone uses WIC, any advice on the best way to understand these darn WIC checks, advice on how to organize it all, or any suggestions at all would be appreciated.  :) 

What Happened to the Weekend?!?

Does anyone else on Monday think..."What Flippin' Weekend?!?"

I had kind of a busy weekend, which of course had the whole thing flying by in hyper speed. 

Rude.... 

And it is totally bad, now that I'm trying to think about it, exactly what I did each day. I feel like there are blank spaces in my weekend. I'm sitting here feeling like..... *crickets*....... while trying to figure out exactly what I did on Friday evening 

I know we did something Friday night, my husband and I... but I'll be darned if I can't remember exactly what that is. Pregnancy has me loosing it for real. 

Saturday I remember pretty well... First because My husband and I went to check out this place we heard about for sale... and I totally fell in love. The closets, the cabinet space in the kitchen, the big spacious rooms. Too bad that it is more than likely out of our reach, but that is all apart of life. Eventually we will get there. Just not right now. 

After that I remember I had lunch with some girlfriends, three of which are preggo like me! I know more pregnant women now than I ever have at one time in my life. It is CRAZY! I never believed the whole, "its something in the water" theory, but now I'm starting to question it. Just FYI...be careful drinking the water LOL. 

Later on that evening my husband and I went to town. Yes, we both went and it was actually HIS idea. 

 I know right... I was shocked as well. But he finally realized his desperate need for some new jeans, and heard Sears was having a sale. He still flipped out over spending a few extra dollar's for a pair of nice Wranglers, but I'm pretty he isn't really complaining anymore since he's put them on. 

After that I somehow talked him into going to Ulta... All I needed was a new facial cleanser (cheap) and some makeup remove wipes (cheap). However, It is hard finding good products for a pregnant woman with sensitive, acne prone skin. My Cetaphil just hadn't been cutting it for me lately, and was doing absolutely nothing for breakouts. And I'm limited on drugstore products because of my little mini-me in my belly... so I ended up spending a few dollars more for the Philosophy's Purity Gel cleanser. I used the regular Purity cleanser before, and while it worked well on my sister's face, it did nothing for mine. Did I also mention I have oily skin?!?! Add that to the pot and it is IMPOSSIBLE to find something good for cheap that will help with that as well. 

Anyways... point is...

the gel cleanser was better for oily skin, was also a toner, and cleaned deep down in the pores to remove all makeup (even eye makeup). I was totally skeptical, but I paid the money and bought it, used it that night. It seemed to remove all of my makeup, even my waterproof mascara, but I used my little homemade toner of witch hazel and lemon juice just to see if there was any makeup left on the skin. After swiping the cotton ball on my face, there wasn't anything on the cotton ball. I used it the next morning and night and woke up this morning with the irritated parts of my skin shockingly less red. I'm already impressed, since my cetaphil never did that in the months I've been using it. 

Believe it or not, I started talking about my weekend, not my skincare... Oops. 

Sunday was another busy day of church, visiting my papaw in the hospital, and grocery shopping... 

but I did manage to squeeze in a small nap... I was so stinking tired. 

In conclusion, the weekend is never long enough, and I generally feel like I never really have one. I petition to have at least a 4 day weekend. All who agree say "I" or "Amen" LOL.

Hope you guys have a great Monday! 

Oh, Friday

I will be the first to say, if someone hasn't already beat me to it, that I am so glad it is Friday. 

This past week has felt like the week from H-E- Double Hockey sticks.

Yes I went old school there. 

I could rant and rave about it, but I'm not. I can't do anything to change any of it, so I'm just kind of rolling with it the best I can. Sometimes that just means forcing a smile on my face and staying as positive as possible. After all, things could always be much worse. 

With that being said, I'll talk about some good things... one being the dinner I made last night. 

I am very proud to say that I made home made Chicken Alfredo for the first time every last night; meaning the sauce didn't come out of a jar. Of course it helped that it was so stinkin' easy. So it will definitely be going into my recipe book! 

If anyone would like the recipe you can click here.

Tip: Just make sure you season the sauce with something. I used Salt, Pepper, and some Garlic salt. I also seasoned my chicken with a little bit of garlic salt and Lawry's seasoning. It was super yummy!

As for my 30 days of Change Challenge. It is still a work in progress. I am actually proud to say that I've learned to accept my "not-so-great" skin a little more. I'm also still wearing less makeup, learning that if the imperfections show up, it is OK. Life isn't about the perfection, but the imperfections that can make it so perfect. 

Kind of like being broke .

(maybe that is a bad analogy, but go with me on this)

My husband and I have had many a Friday nights where we just didn't have the money to go and do anything, so we we spent the evening in. What could have been depressing, boring night (and believe me, some started off that way), ended up to be some pretty great nights. We'd watch a movie together and end up in a all out tickle war, or we'd end up at my parents house hanging with them. The point is, the we didn't have the money for that perfect Friday night outing, but the imperfection of being broke forced us to stay home where we made some pretty good memories anyways, without the Friday night city lights. 

So I may not have perfect skin, and my belly may look like the equivalent of two basketballs, and I may not be very good at DIY projects (I totally botched the wood letters for my daughters room), but it is still okay to love and accept myself just the way I am, imperfections and all. Sometimes it is easier said than done, but I am still working on it. 

I hope everyone has a lovely Friday and a easy, peezy weekend! :)

FALLing in Love

I actually have a Pinterest board with this title, where I pin everything and anything pertaining to Fall. 

Of course, I have a separate one, specifically for Halloween, because I'm a weirdo and feel like it is important enough to have it's own board all by itself. 

Karla @ Forever Newly Wedded (one of my favorite bloggers!!) came up with a great link up where you can share things you want to jot down to do during the most wonderful time of the year... I know that is supposed to be Christmas, but I include Fall into this because that is how much I love it. 

Oh man... the colors, the cool, crisp weather, the decorations and smells...

Have I mentioned that I LOVE FALL! 

So here is my to do list!
If you want to join the fun, link up with Karla

Have Baby Dixon

This is pretty obvious, but Its the first on my to-do list. I'm so ready for her to get here so I can hold her and kiss her and love her, and then sometimes let her daddy do the same ;)

Take Fall Baby Pictures

I saw this on Pinterest a while back and knew that I would want to do this when Addison finally gets here.

How stinking cute is that!!!! 

Have (at least) 2 date nights with the Hubby

I know we could do this anytime, but during the Fall we will still be adjusting to the extra little person in our house. So to make sure my husband doesn't feel totally neglected, I want to go ahead and plan a date night at home (home-cooked, yummy meal, desert, and movie of his choice maybe), and a date night out when she's a little older. 

Watch at least 2 scary movies for Halloween

Last year we kind of flopped on getting in the scary movies. We didn't end up getting to watch one until Halloween was already over (what's the point in that, right!). So I want to make sure I get them in early from Netflix this year. 

Carve A Pumpkin

My husband and I actually done our first pumpkin together while we were still engaged. It had been my first pumpkin carving EVER! Last year, though, we were so busy we didn't get the chance. So this year its a must. 

Get pumpkin from Pumpkin Patch

I've never gotten to go to a pumpkin patch and actually pick my own pumpkin. I think it would be so much fun! 

Bake another Homemade Pumpkin Pie

Last year I made my very first homemade pumpkin pie. I got compliments on it, but wasn't too thrilled with it myself. So this year I would actually like to make it and like the taste of it as well. 

Bonfire and Movie

Someone locally puts on this Movie in the Park every year (closer to Christmas). We've never been able to go because of the rain or previous plans or whatever the case. This year I thought it would be fun, since I have a projector and my mom a screen, to set it up outside when it finally gets cool, and watch movies while having a bonfire/cookout! The kids would love it... and of course the Big Kids would too! :)

Try some DIY decorating projects

I have pinned a gazillion things that I want to do to decorate my house for Fall. It would be nice to actually do a one or two of them this year. Of course, the success of this will depend on how well our finances are, since I will be staying home to take care of my little Appleseed. But if we can swing it, I'll be doing some of them! 

Make Homemade Applesauce

Again with pinterest, but I found a recipe for crock pot Applesauce! The smell would be amazing and very Fall-ish... and of course it would be yummy to eat! 

This or That

I woke up thinking today should totally be Thursday. My sleepy, exhausted body told me so. Regardless of what my preggo body was telling me, though, I still woke up to a Tuesday.

I'm not a fan of Tuesday, just like I'm not a fan of Monday. I think that after Sunday, you should jump straight to Wednesday. Wednesday has potential AND purpose. I mean it's hump day, which means you are already halfway through the week. It gives you something to hold onto. Thursday means you only have one more work day until the weekend, and Friday actually begins the weekend so I don't mind Friday. But Monday and Tuesday, in my book should be excommunicated However, I guess skipping from Sunday to Wednesday would defeat the purpose of Wednesday being the halfway point of the week. 

*sigh*

Anyways... Sorry for the ramble. I'm seriously tired sitting here at my desk this morning. I am pretty sure that if I brought my two pillows, I could lay out on my office floor and go to sleep. I digress. 

So today I thought I would do this neat little Tag that I heard of through the grapevine. And now that I am done rambling we can begin! :) 

This or That Tag

Makeup:

Blush or Bronzer?

Blush

Lip gloss or lip stick?

I don't wear either all of the time, but 

I think I would go with lipstick

Eye liner or mascara?

Mascara fo sho!

Foundation or Concealer?

Concealer. You can use that as a foundation as well. 

Neutral or color eye shadow?

I'm a neutral kind of girl.

Press or loosed eye shadow?

Definitely pressed. Loose can be so messy!

Brushes or sponges?

Hmm, I love my new Soho sponge (knock off beauty blender), 

but I'll go with brushes. I can use them with almost anything. 

Nails:

OPI or China Glaze?

Nail polish really isn't my passion, 

but I think I'll go with OPI (I know I have at least one of those)

Long or short?

They are long right now (thanks to pregnancy),

and I like them for the most part. 

Acrylic or natural?

Acrylic is pretty, but so ruinous. Therefore,

I go natural

Brights or darks?

Brights!

Flowers or no flowers?

That's a negative on the flowers,

though they are pretty. 

Body:

Perfume or body splash?

Perfume

Lotion or body butter?

I like them both, but more so lotion.

Body wash or soap?

Body wash! I HATE bar soaps for real!

Lush or other bath company?

I haven't had the chance to try lush products! :(

Fashion:

Jeans or sweatpants?

Jeans, though being pregnant has limited

my wear time with them

Long sleeves or short?

Kind of depends on whether it is cold or hot. 

Dresses or skirts?

I love skirts, but have recently been obsessed

with dresses

Stripes or plaid?

Plaid

Flip flops or sandals?

I love my sandals!

Scarves or hats?

Scarves, definitely!

Studs or dangly earrings?

That's hard... I love them both,

but I'll go with Dangly.

Necklaces or bracelets?

I don't wear a whole lot of either, but I'll go with Bracelets.

I love my Pandora bracelet from my Memaw! 

Heels or flats?

Lately... flats.

Cowboy boots or riding boots?

Cowboy boots! :)

Jacket or hoodie?

I'm totally a hoodie girl

Forever 21 or Charlotte Russe?

Forever 21 hands down!

Abercrombie or Hollister?

Yeah I don't shop at either.

I have curves.

Saks 5th or Nordstrom?

Neither

Hair:

Curly or straight?

Recently, curly has been easier to manage.

Less fuss.

Bun or ponytail?

ponytail. I have a hard time getting buns to look right

Bobby pins or butterfly clips?

I am a bobby pin fanatic. 

I can pretty much pull one from any location of my house lol

Hairspray or gel?

Hairspray

Long or short?

Long...I miss my longer hair :(

Light or dark?

I use to be dead set on dark, but now I'm like it lighter

Side sweep or full bangs?

Side sweep

Up or down?

Down if I can get away with it.

Random:

Rain or shine?

Rain... sun in the hot, humid, sunshine state

is absolutely miserable.

Summer or Winter?

Winter... 

Fall or Spring?

Fall!!!! I love the cool weather, hoodies,

bonfires, and colors! 

Chocolate or Vanilla?

Chocolate... yum!

East coast or West coast?

I'm an east-coaster fo sho! 

Hope you all have a lovely, blessed day! 

MIA Briefing

It has been a crazy, weird couple of weeks. 

That's how long I've been MIA, and I've honestly missed my little piece of blogger.

Hopefully, now that Youth Rally is over, and I'm finally getting over this sinus cold mess I can get back into my blogger groove. 

We had our annual Youth Rally two weeks ago, which I previously mentioned in this post. 

We had such a great turn out of people, good fellowship with old and new friends, and some amazing services and preaching. 

Here are a few photos from this year's youth rally! :)

When I say this was just a few photos, I really mean it was just a few photos. 

I ended up uploading 502 pictures from my camera, but I thought that would be a little bit of an overkill. 

However, if anyways wants to see more pictures or is interested in being added to our mailing list to get registration forms and brochures for next year, please fill free to let me know. I don't mind sharing or adding email or home addresses. 

The only downside to that week was me getting sick on the last night of Rally, and have been sick since. After taking a week off for rally, I had to take an extra four days off to be sick. Pregnancy definitely has its downsides, one being that you can barely take any medicine. It has taken me over a week to actually start feeling normal again, and I'm still sounding like a man with stuffy ears and nose, as well as coughing up a lung on occasion. 

Side note: do you know how weird it is to go into church and have all the music and singing sound muffled... lol I felt like I was in a box, literally. 

Anyways, That is what I have been up to lately, and why I haven't been posting any blogs lately. 

I hope you all had a great weekend and can't wait to get back into my routine blog posts and read all of your great posts once more! :)

Power Up Rally

Happy Wednesday Everyone! 
I hope everyone is having a good week so far, and had a great weekend!  I was up in Georgia this past weekend, spending some QT with my In-Laws! It was nice to get up there and see them, and see my husband's good friend Tony. 
This week has started off crazy busy and exhausting, as we begin trying to get things in gear for our annual Power Up Youth Rally next week. This means finishing all last minute registration stuff for campers, preparing documents for dorms, cleaning rotations, minister schedule, etc. as well as trying to get my house in order, clothes washed, and packing for an entire week of being gone. I love our Youth Rallys, but I have to tell you I'm exhausted just thinking about it. However, I know that it is going to be a great year and that God will do many wonderful things throughout the week. 
Don't know what our Youth Rally is? I'll tell ya! 
Since 2007, a few churches in our area have come together to put on a free, week long youth rally full of good preaching from some wonderful, young ministers, amazing games and activities and great fellowship. We kick off Monday night, and from there have two services a day (morning and night), except for Wednesday, and end Friday night. On Wednesday, we have an Game day, that has previously included an "Amazing Race", Slip-n-Slides, Water Slides, Rock Climbers, and Hillbilly golf tournaments. There is more, but I just don't see the point in naming it all. You get the gist. We conclude our Game day with our Wednesday night service.
 In between services during the week, the youth have pool time, a lake to canoe in, some scheduled games or activities. Some just hang out talking to friends they haven't seen in a while, while others spend their time on the instruments practicing and preparing for the next service. 
The whole week is about encouraging our present and future generations, helping them to build up their relationship with God, so that they can win souls for Christ. In the mean time, they are forming bonds with people they probably wouldn't have ever met, making lifetime friendships. 
I'm still weirded out by the fact that I've been considered a chaperon for six years now. I use to be the little kid running around being told "no", back when they were called Seminar's, and now, I'm having to be responsible. :p  I wouldn't change it for the world, though, no matter how exhausted I am by the end of the week. I have loved every year spent in a dorm with giddy teenagers. I have loved watching them grow and mature, not just physically, but spiritually. I love watching them now stepping up as young men and women of God. It isn't always easy, but it is worth it. 
I actually almost teared up thinking that some of the girls who started coming, and ended up in my room because they needed a chaperon, are now nearly grown. How did that happen?!?
Anyways, I'm excited to see what is in store for us this year.  Here is a few little glimpses of Power Up '12.

         

Find a Memory to Brighten your Day.

 

Warning... I'm about to unload a crap ton of pictures on you guys :)

 

As most of you probably know already (or maybe not), this has been a week full of emotional turmoil, self-revelations, nights of tears and fears, and stepping outside of comfort zones. Some of the things I have went into some detail on in previous posts. The rest I have and will keep to myself for now. This morning, I'm flipping the switch to flash some light in this dreary week.

 

I wanted to start by posting things that I loved and made me happy, and had a few ideas in mind, which were mostly people. However, as I found the pictures I'd had in mind, I began finding others I loved, which made me keep looking. It kind of went down hill from there. Before I knew it I found gazillion pictures that I wanted to post.

 

It was then I realized that it wasn't just the people in these photos that brightened my day, but the memories I made with these people. Which made me realize how truly blessed I was.

 

Some of these pictures range from a few months to a few years back. These specific memories just happen to be caught on film, some random and candid, some posed, but all memories of great times, happy times.

 

Then I realized how truly blessed I still am.

 

God has allowed me to reach the point I am now. He's allowed me to still have these people in my life, and to live my life with them. Not every day, week, month or year is good or great. But there is something worth living for even in the darkest of times. Memories have a way of reminding you of that...

 

Memory Reminder #1...

 

How much I love this man...

 

I love how he is silly with me....

 

 

 

That he suffered  hours waiting for the Harry Potter

Premier with me (he must love me lol)

That he lets me and my sister decorate him :)



 

I love him when he is hairy! 

 And I even loved him after he elbowed me in the head at

our rehearsal....

 

Because he kissed it all better

 And he loves me... even when I look

like a drowned rat!

 

 

Memory Reminder #2...

 

Never Take Your Parents for Granted.

They end up becoming your best friends.

 

 

Not just Mommies....

 

 

 But Daddies too!

 

Memory Reminder #3...

 

Don't take life so seriously, because being serious

is overrated!

 

 

Act like a big kid....

Even when are an adult.

 

 

And face the consequences of getting stuck

in a big ball :)

 

Goofy faces keep life interesting.

 

 

 

 

 Find a reason to play dress up, whether it is for Halloween...

 

 

Because you found some hilariously hideous

stuff in a thrift store

 Or because your nieces make you.

 

And don't forget the wigs... they are fun!

 

 

 Memory Reminder #4...

 

Enjoy each moment as it comes,

because you never know....

 

When you will see someone wear

your pot holder as a hat

 

 

When you will see your Memaw

strip to "Yeah" by Usher

*Side note: It was for a friend's bachelorette party,

and she stripped to her pajamas LOL.

 

When you will see someone get eaten

by dinosaurs. 

 

 

 

If you will ever be this close to a hot rod again in your lifetime

 When you'll see a homemade pool driving down the road

 Or when you'll catch those perfect moments

of those kids who steal your heart over and over again

 



 

 

Life can be so short sometimes, and the sad thing is, a lot of times we take life for granted. We take the people in our life for granted. We take smiling and laughing for granted. Always remember that tomorrow isn't guaranteed. You aren't promised a tomorrow with your spouse, parents, siblings, nieces and nephews, grandparents, etc. Life is difficult sometimes, and there are days where it is taking everything you can do to keep from falling apart, but just remember the happy times, the memories you've made, and realize that you are still living and breathing, which means you can make many more happy memories.

 

Hope you all have a great Thursday! :)