TBT: The House That Built Me

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The first place I remember living in was a two bedroom apartment in Norcross, GA. But the majority of my childhood took place in a pretty blue house in the next town over. I was about 5 or 6 when we moved in and I was finally going to have my own room! I got to pick my paint color and everything! I chose pink of course, and my brother chose blue. I wish I had pictures of my bedroom, but sadly I could not find any.

Getting Edumacated

When I wake up in the mornings, I like to lay in bed a few minutes and check my social media accounts before getting up. Then I saw the date on the top of my phone and it hit me. I start my classes on Monday. That's just THREE days away people.

Reality TV: The Compromise

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Reality TV. I love it. I love that they show them in marathons on the weekends and that it makes me feel so much better about myself and/or my relationship. For some strange reason, I've started wanting to watch The Bachelorette this season. Probably because Andi is from Georgia and she's pretty awesome. But, Marriage Bootcamp is by far my favorite show, and the new season starts this Friday! Only I can't watch them in real time with everyone else.

Half-Ass It Out Tuesday

Via Google Images

Guys, I suck.

After last week's pity party, I thought I might hop back on the work-out train and step up my eating. Well, I only did half of that. My food intake has been pretty good, minus the three Sonic milkshakes over the weekend (they were half off!), but I cannot seem to get myself motivated to move my body. Honestly, that has always been my biggest challenge.

A Grateful Heart: Time

Good Morning! I hope everyone is enjoying this last day of the Memorial Day weekend. Drink lots of water and don't forget to put on sunscreen!!

I'm popping in today to share with you, how grateful I am to be able to spend time with my husband. He generally works twelve hours a day Monday through Saturday, and sometimes a few hours on Sunday. But this weekend, he got half of Saturday, and all of Sunday and today off. Two whole days, in a row, to rest and play.

Friday Favorites: My Everyday Jewelry

Even though no one has emailed me, tweeted, or just plain asked me, I'm sure you are all dying to know, but too afraid to ask. What pieces of jewelry do I wear almost every day? Well, calm your tits, cause I'm going to show you! Peeing your pants with excitement yet? no? Fine, steal my thunder.

#TBT: Prom

Sadly, Melissa will not be joining us this week. Google has decided to delete her account for no apparent reason causing her to have to start completely over. Hopefully she'll be back next week in time for TBT.

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I'm Not Into Politics, But America is NOT Dead

I was browsing Facebook yesterday when I saw a picture shared by someone close to me. It's of a political celebrity whom I don't particularly care for, regardless of what party they are associated with, wearing a shirt that says:

United States of America

1776 - 2009

Rest In Peace

Sorry, I'm A Mess Right Now

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Going to my mom's for a long weekend threw me off even more than I already was before I left. I am so disappointed in myself for getting so off course and I honestly don't even want to talk about it. I keep saying over and over, how I'm gonna get back on track and make it work. But something or other happens and I don't. Sometimes I wonder if it's really meant to be for me to lose the weight.

Grateful Heart Monday

I've been sitting here thinking about what to write this morning, because I couldn't think of anything last night, and I still have no idea what to write about. I haven't been in the best of moods lately because of a disappointing realization that a person I thought was nice and welcoming is not and the budding friendship I thought we had is not real.

Then I remembered that Emily over at Ember Grey. has an awesome link-up called Grateful Heart Monday. I love this idea and I really need a pick-me-up right now to focus on the good things going on right now.

Let's do this in list form, because lists are awesome.

Super Duper Long Weekend in GA Re-Cap

Now that I'm home and settled, I can do a re-cap of my super long "weekend" in Georgia for Mother's Day. So here we go!

Thursday: Driving to Georgia. I saw the sunrise for the first time since December! The trip down took me about 13.5 hours this time, stopping three twice for gas, once for food, and a couple times to use the restroom.

#FirstsTotalSocial

Linking up with Helene and Sarah today, on top of my #TBT post, because I can't pass on a good link-up and I had written something a while back that fits right in with the theme this month: Firsts. I picked a few of them to share again today.

Read my original post here.

Throwback Thursday

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This week is a free week! 

Tell us any story you want to share!

We're being a bit lazy because Melissa is out of town without her laptop and I just got home from Georgia yesterday with a car load of stuff from my storage unit. Lots of unpacking will be happening today. But, here's a picture of a six-year-old me!

Lavender Dreams

I was looking through my posts and realized that I haven't shown you much of our home, besides the kitchen and bathroom. I am driving home from Georgia today, and besides my husband (!!!), my bed is what I miss most when I'm away from home, so I thought I'd take you on a tour of our master bedroom.

I didn't have to do much in here, as it was already painted my favorite color. I hung curtains, put some art on the walls, and rearranged the furniture a few times until I found a layout I liked that worked with the functionality we needed in the room.

Sadie, Sadie

Not linking up for TIOT today, but I have some exciting news! And now that I have had the chance to tell most of my immediate family, I am going to share it with you. Let's go back to Philip's four day Easter weekend. We got so much accomplished! Read all about it here. The last day of our weekend adventure, Monday, April 21, 2014, we went to Eureka Springs, Arkansas. We didn't just look into a couple of wedding venues and packages while we were there...

15 Lessons From My Mommy

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day, I know I did. We are sitting on her couch being lazy this morning, and I realized I didn't have a post ready. Then I thought "My mommy has taught me so many things", so I asked her to share her wisdom with all of you.

This Is Where I Write

Today I am pulling another idea from my Snicklefritz's blog idea list. 

#17 Where do you write your blog posts? Show me, Tell me!

The beauty of using a lap top is I can write from anywhere I want. For instance right now I'm writing from the guest bedroom in my parents house in Georgia.

TBT: Siblings

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Siblings! Tell me all about them! How many do you have/wish you had?

I have six. Yes, you read that right. SIX. Granted we don't all have the same mom/dad, we are still siblings and I love them all. Here's the kicker: I'm the oldest. Three brothers and three sisters. There is a ten year gap between me and the youngest, and the fact that she's got her drivers license now makes me feel old.

#RedBalloonsForRyan

Last night and into this morning I have been grieving the loss of a little red haired boy I did not know. I had never heard of his mother Jacqui, who blogs at Baby Boy Bakery, until yesterday afternoon when I was browsing my Instagram feed. As I saw pictures of her beautiful little boy and read the captions my eyes filled with tears. I clicked the link (here) to read the whole story behind this outpouring of support on social media and it touched me so deeply that I could not stifle the tears.

Georgia On My Mind

If you haven't guessed yet, or read this post, I'm originally from Georgia. I miss it all the time and have hopes to move back one day. Don't get me wrong, I have a great life here in Missouri with my Love and our fur babies, but Georgia is where my family is, it's where most of my friends live, it's where my heart yearns to be on a regular basis. The first month here was fine, I had a new house to decorate, a new town to explore, and I was finally in the same space as Philip daily instead of a long weekend every few months. After I settled in, it really began to hit me how much I left behind. I took a lot of things for granted and now wish I had made an effort to spend more time with my siblings, my grandparents, and my friends.

I Cheat

The things I struggle with most about getting healthy and losing weight is the dieting. I love food. I love to eat food. So restricting myself to celery, salads, and fruit is a huge challenge for my chocolate and bread addiction. My mom has some crazy will power to resist that stuff on a more long term basis. I cannot do that, so this is where Sir Cheat Meal rides in on his noble horse and saves the dieting damsel that is me.

I mean, who wouldn't want to be saved by this hunk of man meat? - via

DIY Key Hook

Our entry way is not very spacious, and the steps leading down into the living room don't leave much room for a hall tree or entry table for my purse and the goodies in Philip's pockets. I have a plan for it, but it has to wait for our September trip to Georgia to retrieve the rest of my things. In the mean time, I knew I wanted a key hook. Not just any key hook, it had to be elegantly rustic, durable, and functional.

After browsing Pinterest for ideas and a trip to the craft store, I came up with a nifty project that will serve our needs and look nice as well. If I can do this, so can you!

What you need:

Unfinished CD crate - I got mine here

Wood stain - we had some leftover from our cabinet project

A foam brush

An old rag you don't mid throwing out (not pictured)

Hooks - I used clear command hooks

Wide head hanging nails

Step 1: Lay out news paper either on a table or outside. The stain stains (duh)! Then use the foam brush to stain the CD crate. Following the directions on the can to get the desired shade. After the appointed length of time, you wipe off the stain and let it dry. This can take anywhere from a couple of hour to overnight. Just to make sure it was completely dry, I left it overnight.

Step 2: Prep your command hooks. Make sure you put the sticky strip on right!!

Step 3: Turn the crate with the side you want to be the "bottom" up. Figure out spacing and placement of the hooks, then attach. I left room to add more hooks if needed.

Step 4: Turn the crate on it's side so it's like a shelf, and hang on the wall using the wide head nails.

Then add your stuff! I put a jar on top for Philip's utility knives and safety glasses and he can put his pocket knife, wallet, and gum on the inside. Of course, our keys are hooked on the bottom.

Try it! It's super easy! Do you do DIY craft projects for your home? Show me!

Sunday Social

My mommy :)

1. Who do you call when you need to vent?
Most of the time I vent to my mom. She always gives the best advice, even if it's not what I want to hear. I did have to tell her once that I knew what I needed to do, I just wanted her to be mad with me. She responded with "I am so mad! Gosh darn it I'm mad!" in her snarky serious voice. I laughed so hard and felt so much better.

2. Where do you go when you need alone time?

I don't have to go anywhere. Philip works during the days, and I am home by myself. I get plenty of time to be alone with my thoughts. When school starts that might be different.

3. What is your favorite alone time activity?
Reading or writing. I enjoy and do both all the time.

4. What is something we should all stop and read right now?
Shannon's blog: Awash With Wonder. Her writing makes my heart smile.

5. Who do you wish would read your blog that doesn’t already? Family? Celeb?
a. Family: I would love for my mom to read my blog. I mention her a lot here and I've sent her the link a few times, but she's never been a blog or online reader, so it's hard to get her interested in starting.
b. Blog Celeb: I would probably pee my pants if Whitney became a regular reader. I adore her, her blog, and her dog.
c. Celeb: I would pass out from elation if Jennifer Lawrence or Anna Kendrick decided my blog was worthy of reading and/or mentioning to people.

30 before 30

I woke up this morning and realized that I didn't have a post written for today. I opened a new draft, positioned my fingers over the keys, and just stared at the blank page. Nothing was coming to me. I checked my planner for unused blog ideas I like to scribble down on post-its, but there wasn't anything there that inspired me to start banging out words on the keyboard. So I started looking through the documents on my computer hoping to find something interesting or funny to share with you from my past (I have had this laptop for about 6 years now, there's no telling what's saved here). A few minutes later, I came across a bucket list. Most of the items were silly and irrelevant to me now, but there are a number of them that still apply.

In just over two years, I will turn 30. THIRTY. In TWO years. This realization led me to make some adjustments to my old list that reflect my current life and turn it into a 30 before 30 list.

Current Age: 27
Birthday: August 15

1. Get to my ideal weight and fitness level

2. Have a beautiful wedding

3. Go on a cruise

4. Apply for and get accepted into school again

5. Learn American Sign Language

6. Pass all my classes

7. Grow my hair out for the wedding

8. Convince Philip we need a doggy

9. Read a book before it's even rumored to be a movie

10. Learn a Regency Dance from the 18th and 19th centuries

11. Re-decorate our house

12. Make a new friend

13. Help Philip make a new friend

14. Make better food choices

15. Have a white Christmas

16. Start a new tradition

17. Go zip lining

18. Meet another celebrity

19. Take a cross country road trip

20. Live in a home for longer than a year

21. Become a regular at a local restaurant

22. Pay off debt

23. Grow my blog to 1000 readers/followers

24. Take a trip to visit bloggy friends

25. Monetize my blog

26. Pet a giraffe

27. Fly first class

28. Learn photoshop better
29. Stop complaining about household chores

30. Actually complete this list

There you have it folks! My 30 before 30 list. Hopefully I'll be able to do all or most of these things before the deadline and I'll be sure to keep you posted.

Do you have a 30 before 30 or Bucket List?