Happy Anniversary!!!

I cannot believe it has already been 6 years! WOW. I swear the older I am getting, the quicker time flies. Seriously. 

This past year of marriage has been another amazing one. But I didnt expect anything less. I feel very fortunate to do life with John. Even with our crazy schedules, up and downs, John is such a strong rock for our little family. We have done a pretty good job at making the best out of our crazy life and it's been fun. Obviously, I would LOVE more time with him, but I am thankful for what I do get.

Saturday nights at midnight are still our solid hangout nights and we fit in time together wherever else we can :D. One day our lives will be more normal, but I have a feeling we'll look back on some of this and even miss it. I dont want to rush our lives any faster than they seem to be moving. 

This year has brought so many blessings to our life- the biggest of which- becoming home owners!!! We love our little home and love building our little life in it. We look forward to one day continuing to grow that family- but again I dont want to rush anything at all. I am very much enjoying my time just being us (and of course Carter) right now. Our house has brought us so much joy. It's so nice to have a space of our own. It's been fun learning how to be homeowners and all that entails. I love our neighborhood and the location of where live. I dont think that seeing that many stars each night will ever get old! 

Anyway, 6 wonderful years of marriage. I just cannot believe it's already been that long. :D Being cheesy for sure- but the best of my entire life. I am so very blessed.

Due to our crazy schedules right now, we were able to work in going to a brewery and making a nice dinner together to celebrate our day :D We went to Raleigh Brewing Company since they allowed dogs and we didnt want to leave Carter out! :D Then we grilled out steaks and corn and let me tell you- those steaks were ah-mazing! It was nice to just have time with him and not have to worry about anything :D

Here is to MANY more years together. I sure do love everything about that man :D

AT RBC

 Oh the shamless selfies he takes with me :D

 There were more...I spared you all :D

 He also surprised me by having flowers delivered to my work. SO STINKING SWEET! They are absolutely beautiful and it was beyond sweet of him :D

Happy Anniversary Babe! :D LoveR you :D

This Awful, Beautiful Life

I feel like I keep saying this, but life has been a true roller coaster the past few months. It's been far too long since I've blogged about what is going on in our lives :(. I used to do it because we lived so far away and we wanted to keep family and friends updated on our life. Now I like to do it because it's become a great way to remember everything! There are so many neat things that we do that are easy to forget about- but the blog helps capture it all. That's why when I havent done it for awhile, I'm disappointed. I know there will be so much I leave out when I do catch up. 
The good news is that we got a new computer! Finally! We went MONTHS without one after Johns died. So now, hopefully, I'll be able to blog more often :D 

Life has thrown some crazy things at us lately. Good, bad, sad, and fun! Lots of emotions running around. (No, I'm not pregnant). So here we go!

1) COMPUTER! I feel like this should be one of the first things I mention as it's really been a major factor as to why I have not been blogging as regularly. I forgot how much I missed having a computer at home. haha

2) Johns job- We have been extremely blessed with John getting a freelance job. That job started a few weeks ago, so he is even busier than before. He is still doing his other job, so we really dont get to see too much of each other :(. However, this job provided us with the opportunity to be able to buy John equipment to do this freelance job and future ones. SUCH a blessing. I know he is very excited about all his new equipment! I've even gotten to play with some of it!! Its AWESOME!

3) My job- A few weeks ago there was talk about me getting transferred to another property! I was then offered the opportunity and decided that it would be a good move. I would be able to learn another property and be given some more responsibility as it's much smaller than Brier Creek. I started working here, in Wake Forest, 3 days before vacation. haha. When I got back from vacation I found out they were moving me back. So a bit of a roller coaster. It's a long story, but it's probably for the best. I love the property in Wake Forest, there is less traffic, great staff, more responsibility. However, I believe there are better opportunities ahead- so I will go where I am needed. I also trust that the Lord has his hand in this and will place me where He wants me. But it has been a bit stressful. Back at Brier Creek now and we have two new people who started. I've been able to help train them this past week and have taken on more responsibility. So we'll see what happens :D

4) Carterbutt- My sweet baby. I adore him more than words can describe. Over the past few months he's battled an ear infection, spent time at his grandparents, and was able to go on vacation with us! He is SUCH a spoiled little pup. He had a fantastic time on vacation (that will be another post!)

5) John turned another year older!- We had plans to have a party for him, but unfortunately his uncle Allen passed away at the same time. So while we were able to spend it with family, it was for very sad circumstances. It is always good to be able to see family, always sad to say goodbye to loved ones. We also worked it out where we got to have a few friends meet us for dinner :D We tried out The Clubhouse in Garner- ah-mazing bbq. SO good. :D

6) Sickness and Death- I mentioned Uncle Allen passed away. So sad to see him leave this world, but I know he's in a MUCH better place. We all drove down to SC to be with Johns aunt and cousin and the rest of the family. His Aunt Carolyn is one of the sweetest ladies in the world and I feel so sad she lost her best friend. The funeral was beautiful and a true testament to who he was. Unfortunately, before the funeral, John's cousin that had the brain surgery for her seizures, had another seizure. It was one of the scariest moments I've ever been a part of. Her husband was a rockstar and knew exactly what was happening and we were able to reduce any injury. So with that, please pray for her and her husband as they try to figure out why she is still having them. I know it has to be very frustrating. Lastly, we have good friends who have a sick little baby. You can read more of their story here. Her son was born with Lissencephaly. Meaning his brain is completely smooth. She explains it better than I can. Anyway, my heart aches for them as they go through this time. Their strength is amazing. Their love for their little boy is amazing. They are simply amazing. Please keep them in your prayers as well. 

7) Baby Ty- I mentioned him in the paragraph above. We were finally able to meet him on our way to the beach. He is such an adorable baby. You just wanna squish him. Jess and Travis are truly amazing people and we love them and Ty dearly. It was SO good to get to spend time with them and I plan on going back as much as I can. 

8) THE BEACH!- John and I were able to get away for an ENTIRE WEEK together! We met our friends in Corrolla, NC and had a great time. This deserves an entire other post! But it was really great to get to spend so much time with him away from the world! haha.

9) Home life- We are still LOVING our house. There is always something to do and buy. We did finally buy a lawnmower! AND- I cut the grass for my first time. :D Now I've done it a few times! I actually dont mind it. We also bought an electric lawnmower! So no having to deal with gas for this girl! It runs on a battery and we can cut the whole yard before we need to charge it again. It's really quiet too. I love it. I also got around to finally making a wreath for the door. I kept it simple since John doesnt love wreaths, but I think it turned out well. So many things on our to-do list! There is just not enough time to them and of course a priority list since we are unfortunately not made out of money. I wish! haha

My roses! :D

New Brewery- Double Barley! It's actually pretty close to our house! We finally got to try it! We really liked the place. Definitely plan to go back some time :

I am more than positive I have left out a million things, which is why I need to start blogging more often. haha. But, this is what I remember for now :D Here is to trying to blog more often so I capture even the little things in our lives. 

"Just Be"

If you know me, you know I have a terrible habit of analyzing and dwelling on every little thing that happens in my life. I have no idea why I do this. I guess I just want everything to be perfect all the time (ha) so I whittle everything down until I know why it wasnt, so I can fix it. 

Why do I do this to myself?

Why do I do this to my poor husband?

It's exhausting. 

Why do I sit and think about every conversation and interaction I've had and wonder how things were said, what was said, was someone upset, was everyone happy, did I do and say everything I was supposed to? That's just the beginning of my insanity. I'm going to drive myself crazy. 

The other day during one of my analyzing episodes with John, he finally just asked me "why can't you just be?" He didn't mean it mean at all, he was being very serious. He was wondering why I just cant be content in the moment. Whatever it was I was worrying about happened and it's over (I cant even tell you what it was anymore, see how important it must have been?). I know I am doing a great job of driving him nuts, since the poor guy has to listen to me.

Anyway, I've been really thinking about his question. Why cant I "just be?" Of course I'm dwelling on it- that's what I do. But after he made that comment every time I start to dissect whatever just happened in my life- I think about his question. 

Why do I care SO much about every little interaction, conversation, comment, action? I am too uptight. Even this post is a bit ridiculous, BUT it's helping me process what I need to do. 

Dwelling on everything does not make me a happier or better person. I'm not "fixing" anything. Honestly, it makes me sad, frustrated, and even angry sometimes. I dont want to be that kind of person. I just want to be happy. I want to be content. I want to be less uptight. I want to "just be."

So there are few things I would like to try to help be be the person I want to be:

1) I really need to focus my energy on my relationship with Jesus. It could use some work. 

2) I need to spend some of that energy on focusing on what is actually important- my relationship with my husband, family, friends. Not the silly stuff.

and 3) #100happydays. If you haven't seen this idea floating around the internet yet- you can check it out here . I'm not going to lie. When I saw people starting to do it- I thought it was really dumb. But the more I see people's pictures of their 100 happy days, the more I realize it's about focusing on the good in your life. Not the bad. It's perfect for me. 

I have an amazing life. I have been blessed more than I could have ever imagined. I need to live my life in a way that shows that. I need to focus on the happiness. One of my current favorite songs says it best "Life's a long and winding ride, better have the right one by your side. And happiness dont drag its feet, time moves faster than you think." I dont want life to pass me by and me always be grumpy. I want to remember the happiness.

So here is to the #100happydays challenge and making my life a little better each day :D

Friday Favorites!

Happy Friday!

1) Day off! Last week I had Friday off with John. Those are the best days. They are few right now, so we try to make the best of them. We had to take Carter to the vet but then we had the rest of the day to do whatever! We went home and hung out some and watched some of the ACC tournament. We had purchased items to make our own sushi the night before so we also got everything ready for that! NC State also won their game on Thursday night!! So, we had plans to make some sushi and watch the game. Steve came over and hung out with us too. It was so much fun. And we WON! 

2) Sushi- I just mentioned we made our own sushi. DELICIOUS! It was a lot of fun too. It will definitely be happening again!

Cutting everything up!

Getting the rice rolled out

All loaded up!

wouldnt be complete without a sushi set up! ;D

Final product!

 We made SO much!

3) NC State- We won both of our first games in the ACC Tournament. Then we lost to Duke. We played a really great game though. We did get a bid for the NCAA tourney! Then we lost our first game in a terrible ending. Worst game I have ever seen. Ever. wait- these are supposed to be favorites right? lol. I was excited about the games we did win! haha

4) ACC Tournament- Last Saturday John didnt have to be in until 7pm! So I got basically an entire extra day with him :D We decided to just up and go to the ACC Tourney. lol. Why not?! We had some friends scout some tickets for us, Chris and Jennifer Mauer, and met them up there. We found some really 

5) March Madness/Brackets- We LOVE March Madness in our household! The games are so much fun to watch and brackets are fun to fill out. This year we even got Carter to play! ;D

This is seriously my favorite picture ever now :D

Hmmmm...Interesting how my favorites circle around basketball and food...lol Hope you all have a great week!

Oh, Weekend...

You came and went so fast. I know I had to work Saturday, but I'm sad it's already Monday! Here was last week in review. Usually I do Friday Favorites, but last week was a doozy.

1) The weather- it was disgusting all last week. It was full of rain, wintry mix, and COLD weather. I hope that was the last of it. I didnt even realize we were supposed to get sleet/freezing rain on Monday and drove the Mustang to work. Fail. Luckily, it wasnt as bad as they said it would be. However, on my way home a rock it my windshield and cracked it :( It scared me half to death, it was so loud! Anyway, I am looking forward to the weather this week! Bring on the sun!

2) Windshields- yes, plural. Monday, the Mustang got it. Tuesday, John took the Tahoe to work too (We shared a car last week since we didnt want to risk the Mustang's crack getting worse). And low and behold, he gets hit by a rock too! So now we have a crack in one windshield and a chip in the other. Luckily, the Tahoe isnt too bad.  I have NEVER in my life had this happen to any of my cars and both of mine get it within 24 hours. Geez Louise. When I found out about the Mustang, I called our insurance company to see if it was something they would fix. Everyone kept telling me that insurance companies would fix it. Well they told me no. So I called around to price how much it would be. Finally, Glass Doctor told me that Allstate should cover it. I told them what they told me. He said- no, no, no. I'll three way call them because they do fix this for free. Guess what? They did. Thank you Glass Doctor! They also told us that if the Tahoe's is only a chip and it didnt go all the way through, that it's considered regular wear and tear and it should do anything unless it cracks all the way through. So I guess that's good too.

3) Washing Machine- My brand new washer is already leaking! :( We found the leak about 2 weeks ago. Luckily, it's still under warranty and they came to look at it for free. Some small piece broke and they had to order a new piece. It should be fixed by Friday! :D

4) Vet- This was actually two Friday's ago, but Carter had to go in for his yearly shots. He also had a rash and is now on antibiotics and a steroid to clear it up. He's also in a cone. I hate when he is in a cone. It's sad to me. BUT! It's getting better and he's all up to date now :D this vet is a lot cheaper than our last one and John said she was really nice- So I am completely happy!

5) Church- John and I made it to church on Thursday again- just barely, the weather and therefore the traffic was HORRIBLE!. C3 was doing a marriage conference thing over the weekend and it kicked off during the Thursday night service, it was great! I'm glad we are going :D 

6) Freelance Job- A HUGE answer to some prayers! John was offered a freelancing job over the summer doing some video shooting and editing. We are really excited about the other opportunities this could open up for him. We actually found out about this a few weeks ago, but things are getting finalized now :D So excited for this!

7) Date Night- Friday night John and I got to cook dinner together and just spend some QT time. It may have ended in both of us passing out at 11pm, but we did make pizzas together! Homemade pizza is the best. :D Love my guy :D

Anyway, last week was full of frustrations but luckily everything turned out okay. Here's to a better week this week! :D

Friday Favorites!

I feel like this week has DRAGGED! SO glad it is Friday :D Here are this weeks favorites!

1) Dinner- I came home to fish tacos ones night this week. These included HOMEMADE tortilla shells and homemade cilantro tarter sauce. I cant make this stuff up. My husband is amazing and dinner was DELICIOUS!

2. Church- John and I tried out a new church near us! We actually tried it last week first, but it was some sort of special night so we went back last night. They actually have a regular service on Thursday nights! That is PERFECT for us. I really hope this church works out for us. It's SO close- 3 miles from our house and then again the Thursday night service works great since we cant really go any other time because of our schedules. We still are not sure how we feel about it yet, so prayers would be great! I really liked the pastor, so that's always a start!

3) Before the Storm- I just finished this book and it's really good! I just started the sequel too :D

4) NCSU v. UNC game- I was able to go thanks to a really great friend! Despite the outcome, it was a LOT of fun! I also got to meet Hodge! It was awkward and awesome all at the same time :D

5) Carter- always the Carter love. He's the best dog in the world. He got to go to a new vet today (one closer to us) and it's MUCH cheaper. So that's always a great thing too! haha. John said they seemed really nice. I hope they work out for us!

 This pictures makes me LOL. He's such a ham. 

6) Scandal! It's BACK and I am so happy. I wont get to watch it until Saturday, but I'm still so freaking excited it deserved a shout out. :D

7) Running- I started running again and I swear I'm committed to training for this half marathon now. haha. I have PLENTY of time to train this time, so even if I have a set back, I can still catch up. I decided to do the half marathon in Sept. I'm really excited about it and I hope it works out this time! :D (if I didnt mention it before, the other one sold out before I could sign up and it put me in a funk and I stopped running. I blame that and the snow on not running, but really I've just been lazy. haha).

Happy Friday Y'all! :D

Life Lately

I think I need to come to the conclusion that life is not going to slow down any time soon. LOL. It really just seems like it is one thing after another CONSTANTLY. Most of it is just life stuff, not really good or bad. haha. Anyway, here is an update on our life lately :D

Our Housewarming Party!- It was so much fun!! We were able to get a lot done before people came over, including hanging curtains!!, some pictures, and we finally decided on an accent color for the living room- so we bought some throw pillows in the color! I'm not going to lie- our house is starting to look good! 

We picked a "clay" color for the livingroom. It's really pretty. I'm extremely happy with it! I'll try to get some better pictures at some point. It's still a work in progress, but it's coming along!

                                   

John and I made LOTS of food for the party and we had a great crowd show up. It was really nice to be able to "warm" up our home with all of our friends. Of course, I forgot to take many pictures, but the memories will always be there! haha 

John made a killer veggie platter!!

The spread

Erin and Jay brought their kids- Ty could not get enough of John! It was precious.

I love that I now have a kitchen big enough to fit all these people!!

Love this kid!

And this lady:D

Anyways, it was a great time!! :DThanks to all who came and made it special!

State Game! The day after our housewarming party, John and I had tickets to the State game! We dont get to go to many anymore, so it was worth noting :D Of course it was fun and we WON in OT!:D

The Invading SNOW-

1st big snow- We were pretty excited to get it! Carter had not seen more than flurries, so we were excited to play with him. I waited until John got home one night after it snowed so we could see him play in it together for the first time. He LOVED it. He went crazy in it. and of course all he wanted to do was play frisbee in it. haha.

Down our street

                                      

Such a happy puppy!

                                     

Love him!

                                     

My sweet boy:D

                                     

These two have my heart.

                                      

Rough housing in the snow

                                      

Our snow covered house :D

                                     

The backyard

                                      

Taking a break in the snow...

Now snacking on it! haha

                                      

WRAL loved the snow and had an ice desk made for them! Crazy.

                                      
We had another major snow storm a few weeks later. I will say- I am OVER the snow. haha. This one hit us very fast and hit where I live before it hit where I work. I asked my boss if I could leave around lunch time since John said the roads were getting bad. Glad I left when I did, it still took me 3 HOURS to get home! Crazy. Krystal and Josh were supposed to go to the Dominican but their flight got cancelled and they got snowed in with us for a few days until they could catch another flight. We had a great time with them! I hate they had to leave for their trip late, but we had a good time :D And of course the dogs were happy to play with each other. haha. They were really cute in the snow! Josh took the pictures, so I'll have to add them after I can get my hands on them :D

When I left work, it was not snowing at all. 

This was about 4 miles from my job.Crazy the difference!!

                                       

This was the road when I got closer to my house. My car didnt have a lot of traction. Insane.

                                       
During our snowed in time together, we got to celebrate Valentines day! We dont usually do much for V-day, because I believe it's a Hallmark holiday. You should show your love to your spouse every day! Anyway, we havent dont anything with another couple on V-day since we were in high school! haha. We all made dinner together- Pad Thai, eggrolls, and wontons. DELICIOUS! John and I got a wok not that long ago and have definitely been getting our monies worth! haha. 

Dinner!

                                      

Pad Thai. Nom noms

                                     

Happy Valentines Day!

                                      

YAY Friends! Sorry it's blurry :(

                                      

So, we dont usually get each other gifts for V-day but my sweet hubby surprised me this year with a little care basket! I love him so much :D Beyond sweet and completely unexpected!

                                      
Hurricanes Game! John won VIP tickets to the 'Canes game! So we got to have a fun but free date! We got to park right next to doors and sit in a suite. We won also! YAY! 
                                      
                                      
                                     

We got lots of love from this guy too :D Even if he does sleep a lot;D

                                                  

Seahawks WON THE SUPERBOWL! YAY!

Wok- I mentioned we bought a wok. We've had so much fun with it! Made lots of yummy food so far and lots more to try :D

Bailey came to stay with us for a week! Carter loves his girlfriend and they played so much they wore themselves out.

Both were snuggled on me :D

Now, I know in most of the pictures Carter is sleeping, but I promise he does play a lot. lol. This was him after Bailey left. like literally 10 minutes afterwards. haha.

Friend time! We had some friends over last week for dinner...guess what we had? ASIAN! I'm telling ya- putting that wok to good use :D JOhn also made some DELICIOUS eggrolls. Can you believe Kristen had never had one!? Crazy. Now I want an eggroll *sigh* 

It has been a fun few weeks for sure :D Looking forward to the next few :D