• Life

    Currently, January

    This post contains affiliate links.

    Reading// I am currently rereading the Harry Potter series and am on book one, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I’m also reading For the Love by Jen Hatmaker, which is a really light, funny read and am really enjoying it. I’ve also been reading plenty of blogs of course! (Probably spending most of my time doing this over the books.)

    Watching// Tommy and I just recently finished How I Met Your Mother, and just started watching Parenthood after seeing many people talk about how good it is. I’m really enjoying it. It’s a nice show to sit down to at the end of your day.

    Trying// To really stay on top of my household chores this week. I usually put them off until I absolutely have to do them, but then I end up doing 5 loads of laundry at once, or cleaning the entire house in only one day, and this just wears me out and I’m usually dead for at least the next day or so. So instead of that, this week I’m trying to do one small thing each day, like today I cleaned the bathroom. Let’s hope I stick to it the rest of the week.

    Cooking// This past weekend I cooked Sweet and Sour Chicken for Tommy’s birthday. It’s one of his favorite meals. It’s definitely different from what I normally cook so it was fun to do something special for his birthday.

    SOURCE

    Eating// Extra light today because my stomach has been feeling kind of funny. Although last night we went out to Olive Garden and I had my favorite, 5 Cheese Baked Ziti. Yum. Tonight we had chicken soup!

    Drinking// Homemade sweet tea! So delish. I’ve also been drinking lots of hot tea today too. 

    Pinning// New, yummy recipes. I love getting dinner recipes from Pinterest.

    Going// To start planning our vacation to Florida soon! My cousin called me and asked if I’d be interested in taking a vacation to visit my grandparents when she has spring break so that’s what we’ll be doing in April and I am so excited. We are definitely going to plan on going to the beach at least once during the week because come on, just look at how nice the beaches are in Florida!

    SOURCE

    Loving// All the free time Tommy and I have now that I’m not working full-time. It’s been great spending so much time with him without the stress of having to worry about when I’m going to get everything done.

    Hating// That adjustment periods can be really tough sometimes. As much as I love getting to stay home and work, it does come with getting used to it, and I am struggling a bit some days.

    Discovering// New vlogs! I’ve been watching Blair’s vlog and am loving it. I also want to try to find other’s vlog’s as well. I’m finding them to be so fascinating. Let me know if you know of any good ones!

    Thinking// About a lot of things. I’ve been thinking a lot about the changes in our life and deciding how I feel about them.

    Feeling// Hopeful. Even though I may be feeling a little lost because of the huge transition from working full-time to staying home, I am hopeful that I will get used to it and love it. Tommy prayed for me about this at dinner tonight and it really helped.

    Hoping// That spring would hurry up and get here. Although I really can’t complain about the weather. It’s been such a mild winter this year. I just really can’t wait to be able to do things outside again.

    Listening// I’m really excited to start listening to Podcasts. I have a few lined up that I think I’m going to love. I just need to find when is the best time for me to do it. Maybe daily as I work on those household chores that I’m trying to commit to! That should help keep me on track.

    Celebrating// Mine and Tommy’s birthdays!! Tommy’s was Saturday and mine was Sunday, and they were a lot of fun. It was also our eight month anniversary on Sunday too. We’ve had lots to celebrate this month!

    Smelling// The slight lingering odor of bleach. Yuck! I accidentally bought a shower cleaner with bleach, and would normally never use bleach to clean. But I was all out of shower cleaner and I figured it couldn’t be that bad, but boy was I wrong! Our apartment is very small and there is barely any ventilation, and absolutely none in the bathroom. So what that meant was that the entire apartment smelled so strongly of bleach we actually had to leave for an hour because it was so awful and killing our heads. The tub is now sparkly but that is the first and last time I clean with bleach. #nothankyou.

    Ordering// My Young Life Essential Oils starter pack soon!! 

    Thanking// God every day for this life that he has so greatly blessed me with. I don’t think I’ll ever get over how much he has blessed me.

    Considering// Starting an Etsy shop with hand painted coffee mugs (like this one below) and maybe eventually t-shirts! I really hope this happens!

    SOURCE

    Starting// Thinking about how to actually start the Etsy shop and what supplies I need for it.

    What are you up to, currently?

  • Life

    Currently: September

    Today’s Blog-tember post is a “Currently” or what have you been up to? These are my favorite posts too!

    wildwood.JPG

    Reading: I’ve gone on an accidental reading hiatus like I normally do. For some reason I can’t seem to stay consistent when it comes to reading but being on vacation has helped a lot. My mom bought the seventh Harry Potter book and I’ve been reading that. I’m still unsure of how I feel about it.
    Playing: monopoly and all the board games! That’s what vacation is for!
    Watching: Grey’s Anatomy of course! I’m trying to not watch any Netflix this vacation I think and read more. (Also part of my September goals.)
    Trying: to read more, eat better, and work out more. All the good things.
    Cooking: nothing at the moment but I do need to create our food plan and budget for this month.
    Eating:  all of the unhealthy things like chips, processed food, and more chips.
    Drinking: some awesome coffee from a small mom and pop coffee shop right down the road from our hotel.
    Calling: no one, who has time for calling people.
    Texting: also no one. I only ever text my family and they’re all here with me now 🙂
    Pinning: yummy new recipes!!
    Tweeting: nothing. I haven’t used Twitter in a good while.
    Going: to the beach today! The weather looks like it finally cleared up – I’m so excited.
    Loving: this last vacation before fall starts and spending time relaxing with my family.
    Hating: that we only have two more days 🙁
    Discovering: that not everyone loves the beach like me and it’s mind boggling.
    Thinking: about the start of fall and how excited I am for it.
    Feeling: slightly sick but hoping it will pass because I want to enjoy today.
    Hoping: that the rest of vacation we will have good weather and that time will go nice and slow.
    Listening: nothing at the moment.
    Celebrating: the possible new job that I am going to start in a few weeks and how good God is.
    Smelling: salty ocean air 🙂
    Ordering: hopefully some more cute decor for our apartment (I see some cute fall decor in our near future.)
    Thanking: God for this time I get to spend at the beach with my family.
    Considering: the new job and if it is a good fit for me despite being slightly risky.
    Starting: to look forward to fall and the crisp fall air (just as soon as we get back from this vacation!)

    So as you can see I have vacation and the beach on my mind. Sorry if that’s all I talked about lol but that’s currently what I’m up to. What is everyone else up to? This month I’ve re-found my love for blogging because of the Blog-tember Challenge, hosted by Bailey Jean. Come join us!

  • Life,  Wedding

    Currently, February

    Eating

    I am most excited to answer this one – Tommy and I are doing a Paleo diet this week (and hopefully will stick to it afterwards). We went shopping for everything we needed on Sunday which was SO FUN and have been faithfully sticking to it so far this week.

    breakfast
    1 banana + 2 eggs w/ onions and broccoli + water + coffee

    salads

    I’m honestly having so much fun prepping these meals, way more fun than I’ve ever had cooking before. The first picture was my breakfast on the first day and these salads and healthy snacks I prepped on Sunday night after we got back from food shopping. I’m planning on doing just a post on our Paleo journey at the end of the week so stay tuned if this is something you are interested in!

    Watching

    Currently not too much. I’m still in the middle of Gossip Girl which I love but it’s starting to get very redundant honestly. Tommy and I actually started Friday Night Lights over again because that was one of our favs.

    Wearing

    The comfiest of comfy work clothes. Since most of the building was laid off at the end of December, there isn’t really anyone here to see what I’m wearing so I’ve been very relaxed and been dressing very comfortable.

    Also! Tommy was the sweetest thing ever and bought me a long jacket that I have been needing, wanting, and wishing for all winter (because I don’t really have any nice warm ones). He surprised me on Valentine’s Day and I absolutely love it. I can’t find the exact one but it looks a lot like this:

    jacket

    Planning

    Still planning the wedding obviously. I went for my first dress fitting last night! And on Saturday we get to go to the cake tasting. We also need to do some song research and finalize the guest list this month. This month has been a lot easier and laid back in terms of planning so it’s been nice.

    Reading

    I’m currently reading both of these and I’m seriously loving Barefoot. It’s such an interesting but sad story. It has me hooked and I can’t wait to see what happens. Changes That Heal is really good too but it’s a hard read. It helps you realize things you are doing wrong so it’s not a book you can just plow through.

    Loving

    As cheesy as it may sound, I’m just loving life right now. Life has been pretty good to me lately and I’m really trying to appreciate that. God seems to have everything under control and I’m loving seeing him lay out our next steps.

  • Faith,  Life

    Currently // Blog-tember Day 12

    D A Y  1 2

    So today is day 12 of the blog-tember challenge and what I’m learning is I’m more awful at following this blogging plan than I had originally thought I would be lol but I’m back today and the topic is a “Currently” post.

    Currently…

    Reading: The Mingling of Souls: God’s Design For Love, Marriage, Sex & Redemption by Matt Chandler. Matt Chandler is such a great pastor, I listen to him online sometimes and this book has been just as great. He has a way of writing in a really interesting way, and the topic is something that’s very interesting to me. He’s going through Song of Solomon and it’s been really helpful.
    Playing: catch up on sleep. Two weekends ago I traveled home from an airport that was 6 hours from my house and last weekend I was in Maryland and woke up at 4 AM to drive home on Monday morning because Tommy had to work so not having any weekends to just relax and recuperate has really taken a toll on me.
    Watching: Bates Motel. This is the show Tommy and I have started watching since finishing Friday Night Lights and it’s insanely suspenseful but kind of freaky and weird sometimes so I don’t think I’d recommend it to anyone unless you like that sort of thing lol I didn’t realize it was like that until I started watching so now I’m hooked and can’t stop
    Trying: to start eating healthy and start working out regularly. We’ll see how this goes
    Cooking: nothing at the moment. I keep thinking about getting up to get a bowl of cereal though
    Drinking: a nice cup of coffee 🙂
    Calling: I was just recently on the phone with my cousin, confirming plans to hang out later
    Texting: Tommy, of course 😉
    Going: to get up soon to get ready to go for lunch
    Loving: the season I’m in with my relationship with Tommy and that fall is upon us! I went hiking yesterday and the leaves were so orange and already starting to fall, so exciting
    Hating: the stress that I’ve been experiencing lately. I feel like God’s trying to teach me to be content in all circumstances, even when things that I thought were going to happen actually don’t. This has been super hard for me because I love knowing what’s going to happen and having a plan for everything and tend to get pretty cranky when things don’t go as planned but with God’s grace I’ll learn to be content even when they don’t – knowing He knows best and His plans are better than mine anyway
    Discovering: how sinful I can be but how amazing God’s grace is in those moments
    Thinking: about how this is taking me longer than I had thought and that I really need to get up to get ready lol
    Feeling: a million different things. anxious, excited, happy, confused, all of the above
    Hoping (for): a more peaceful week
    Celebrating: that this is the first semester I haven’t had to go back to school!! so much more free time
    Ordering: a case for my Kindle. I’ve been just keeping it in my purse and I’m really worried it’s gonna break

    So this has been what I’ve been up to currently. I really am going to work on posting more regularly, I hope this will serve as a little bit of excuse as to why I haven’t really posted all that much (If not, I’m sorry). I am still planning to write a post about my Bahamas trip. I just want to really have a lot of time to do that to make sure I really show how awesome it was and I think there’s even a day in this challenge that it will fit in with so maybe you’ll just have to wait till then to hear about it 😉

    What have you guys been up to lately? Anyone dealing with anything I am or have any tips for dealing with stress or being content in all situations? Also how do you manage to post regularly, I could use some tips on that too. I would love you hear from you 🙂