T.G.I.F!!!

It's finally Friday! I don't know why that excites me so much because I usually work at least one weekend day, but something about weekend shifts just don't seem as bad as weekdays. I know, I'm weird. My husband reminds me daily. Today I wasn't feeling very well so I used a vacation day(I have 4 to use and my last day there is Sept. 6th!) to stay around the house and relax since I have a long weekend ahead. Ok really just long day tomorrow. I work 8-4 at my regular job, and then it's my first shift back at the restaurant I used to work at 6-11.

I know it sounds crazy because I used to complain about it all the time, but I'm excited to start back there for football season. I definitely can't complain about the extra money and it will help keep me busy with subbing since that probably won't be full time. Not to mention I LOVE the people I work with there and it's just fun.

So this week I'm doing something I don't normally do and I'm participating in the Mil-Spouse Friday Fill in. If you want to participate head over to Wife of a Sailor's blog and grab the fill in the blanks and link up!

1. The first thing I think of when I get up in the morning is could I possibly sleep in a little longer???
2. Lately, I’ve been craving  cupcakes because i've been trying to eat good so cupcakes are out!
3. Whenever anyone says the word Barbie, it reminds me of my childhood because we used to play Barbies for hours and hours.
4. The happiest word I know is  Disney World, but we agreed that we wouldn't be going for a while because we're going to take a vacation somewhere different next year and then hopefully have a baby the next year.
5. My spouse may hate it, but I absolutely love going on afternoon walks or doing something fun after work.(He's usually tired when he gets home and not nearly as thrilled as I am.)

I'm also linking up with Mil-Spouse round up and I encourage all you other Mil-Spouses to do the same! It's a great way to find other great Millie blogs you can relate to. Today we're linking up with Laura over at Between the Lines as she hosts the round up!



Have a good weekend and happy Friday y'all!

Tell your proposal story

I've told this story before, but to me it never gets old, and I figure I have some new readers. Plus this link up today was just too cute to pass up! So if you would like to share the story of how you and your husband or fiance got engaged link up with BabyBerry to tell your story! I am a complete sucker for love stories, so I've enjoyed reading them all! =)

 

                                                       

When: April 29, 2010

Where: Pensacola Beach, FL

It was a Thursday night in late April 2010 right after my finals were over. Nothing particularly special or out of the ordinary about it. I was still working as a server in a sports bar at the time and had to close that night. Stephen was driving his motorcycle at the time, but it was in the shop so he borrowed my car after dropping me off at work to "have dinner with his family".. little did I know!

I was working with his sister that night and as it came time for us to leave she handed me my keys and an envelope. I was confused, but she refused to answer and ran off to her car(If you know my sweet sister-in-law, you know she can't keep a secret to save her life! She had to get out of there before she spilled the beans!)

Well I opened the envelope to discover I was being sent on a scavenger hunt. (By this time I had a pretty good idea of what was coming and called my good friend Caitlin on the drive out to the beach freaking out!) I had to follow a series of cute clues that took me out to my favorite place, Pensacola Beach. My last clue was at the front desk of a hotel, and I had to go ask the front desk clerk for it. (Side note: I'm painfully shy at times and this seemed so awkward I was not keen on the idea!) I made it to the hotel, and went to the clerk to ask for my "clue". He had to hide his smirk as he asked my name, handed over a room key, and directed me to the room.

I got in the elevator and my heart was pounding! I was so excited I was going to jump out of my skin! I finally make it to the door of the hotel, but I stop. I heard a bunch of voices inside. Hmmm....

I opened the door to find Stephen with several of our friends. Boo. Disappointment. He gives me a kiss and says surprise I thought you would want a break after finals were over so I got a little beach get away. Double Boo. He had packed me an overnight bag so I changed out of my work clothes, and we all decided to head down to the beach.

The weather was gorgeous. It was a full moon and it was huge over the water. It was really breezy so it wasn't too hot for Late April in FL. So we all went for a walk. At one point Stephen called me down to the water to show me something. He gave me a kiss and started rambling nervously, and the next thing I knew he was down on one knee! Not what I was expecting! He said some sweet things that are just a blur now and pulled out the most beautiful ring I had ever seen!

Of course I said "yes!" He put the ring on my finger and then we went to celebrate with our friends. Absolutely perfect proposal, and just so us!

**He has some hilarious stories of his original proposal plans for that night, that didn't quite work out due to wind and a life guard truck that picked up his cups with candlesinside that spelled out "Marry Me?" One day I will have to get him to share his side of the story with you!



How about some fun Wednesdays?!

Ok ok, enough seriousness! Today I'm finally back in the link up with Jamie @ This Kind of Love for

 

Lots to love this week!

Yesterday my Dad celebrated his birthday! And it wasn't just any birthday, he turned the big 5-0!!)

We went to a yummy restaurant in town and then opened presents and had cake at my parents' house. I know, I know, not that exciting, but hey, they man is getting old! (Just kidding Dad! You don't look a day over 49! ;)

Last weekend we had some visitors. I LOVE having company!And it was just the excuse I needed to get my sweet husband on the ball about getting a bed in our guest room so we can usually use it for something other than storage! Well he did, and I finally got an adorable bed set I have been wanting in there! (No pictures. I'll have to post those later). So since these poor guys were coming from their base in Barksdale, and haven't had a home cooked meal in a while I made my famous  lasagna and meatballs. 

 That's me cooking said meatballs. (I actually cheated and I had a whole pan of lasagna left from making it the night before for my brother-in-law before he left to go back to college) But still homemade and still delicious! (Actually my mom swears that Italian food is better the second day, and I kind of agree!)

So we enjoyed having company, but also love having the house to ourselves again!

I'm loving that we've decided that we're way over due for a date night so we're ordering pizza catching up on the 10 episodes of How I Met Your Mother we have on the DVR and enjoying just hanging out the three of us.

My night will probably look something like this! But I sure do love them!

I am also loving my new obsession: Pintrest. I actually avoided this for a long time so I wouldn't get hooked, but clearly it didn't work. If you aren't it yet, DON'T, or better yet, DO. But fair warning, you'll be an addict too!

Which brings me to next link-up. (Yes, I'm saving time and combing two, clever, I know!):

  This is my first round at linking up with this one. I debated on a theme because there usually isn't a rhyme or reason to my pinning, but I finally settled on the obvious: FOOTBALL! It's almost that time again, my most favorite time of year! In case, you couldn't tell I hadn't mentioned I am a DIE HARD Florida State fan! Our kick off game is against UL-Monroe on Sept. 3rd and husband and I are going! It will be our first game together in over a year since he was away for Tech school last year. So without further ADO, my favorite FSU/football pins of the week!:

                                                                          Source: s3.amazonaws.com via Lauren on Pinterest

                Source: footballfanatics.com via Lauren on Pinterest

Source: kohls.com via Lauren on Pinterest

                                                                Source: babyfans.com via Lauren on Pinterest

Obvi the future Baby "V" will ride in style with this, especially straight to Doak Campbell Stadium!

 

                                                                            Source: waytutucute.com via Lauren on Pinterest

                                                                                                                                                 Source: etsy.com via Lauren on Pinterest

DUH, it would be OUR baby!

                                                               Source: jaredandjackiroche.blogspot.com via Lauren on Pinterest

Anyway, I could go on and on about all the amazing FSU things I've found, or you can go look for yourself and become obsessed too! Happy Pinning and Happy Wednesday, y'all!

Thursday and all of it's randomness

Ok, let me just start this post off with what I consider to be very exciting news. I finally broke down and joined pintrest! I had been avoiding for a long time, but I just couldn't resist any longer. And let me tell you what, it is SO addicting! If you're on pintrest too follow me here, so that I can follow you back. I'm new to this so I'm looking for cool new things and trying to get the hang of it all.

My work schedule is never the same. This week it just so happens that after today, I get tomorrow off. Woo hoo! The only bad part of this(if you can find a bad point to a day off!) is that it means I am working all of Saturday and Sunday. Boo! The bright side is that today is pay day. YAY!

Stephen has some AF buddies coming in town this weekend to stay with us, so that should be fun. I love having company. This has also given Stephen the nudge he's been needing to get the bed situated in the guest room. That's the last room in the house that's just a complete wreck and I'm excited to get it all set up and looking cute to have people stay over! Ok, ok, I know we don't have over night company very often, but it's nice to have a space set up for them on the occasions that we do! I'm hoping that the bed will be in place shortly after I get off work tonight, and then tomorrow when I'm off I'll go in search of the perfect comforter and get the room looking cute.

My new found love of pintrest and the potential of decorating my new little guest room have me feeling a little domesticated. In my head, I'm a domestic goddess. This is far from the truth! I admit that I will leave clean clothes in the dryer for a few days hours because I don't feel like folding them and putting them away. I make hamburger helper too often for my Mom's liking(she is anti "fake" food like HH and spaghettio's). I do cook dinner most every night, and pack both of our lunches for work. I try, but let's face it, I would rather go do something fun with my husband then cook or clean. And let's not get started on my lack of decorating skills! I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it here before, but I'm decorating challenged. More so creativity challenged. I can copy other people's cute ideas(mainly my Mom's!), but coming up with my own. Forget it.

Well, I have been on a mission here lately to get more creative with dinner time. I'm a pro at making chicken and rice, but more poor husband needs a little variety! So I've made it a goal to cook at least one new meal a week so we aren't eating so much chicken and hamburger helper! Last night I made breaded pork chops with Parmesan potatoes and green beans. It was very yummy and so easy! (Pictured below) For any of you other newlyweds out there looking for new ideas, I'm gonna share the recipe:

Pork chops: Preheat over to 400. Take out a package of thin cut pork chops(thawed). In a small bowl crack two eggs and beat them well(think the way you would if you were going to make them scrambled eggs), In a separate bowl pour a good sized pile of Italian Style bread crumbs. Dip each pork chop really well in the eggs and then roll it around in the bread crumbs. When it's covered well, place it on a baking sheet. Repeat with desired number of pork chops then pop baking sheet in the oven for 20 minutes.

While the pork chops are baking, wash your red potatoes and cut them into quarters. Place the cut up potatoes in a big pot of water and set it to boil on the stove. After about 12 minutes(or until the potatoes are softened), drain the water, and add a tablespoon of cardio control margarine(or butter if you prefer, I'm just currently trying to be healthier), a sprinkle of sea salt, a sprinkle of basil, and Parmesan cheese to taste.

Serve both with whatever else you've made and enjoy! (I know, I know it was not that difficult of a recipe.) In fact, I don't even know if you can call it a recipe. But that's my point! If I can do this, you can too! I tell you what, for a simple meal, my husband definitely enjoyed it! I thought ahead and made enough for him to take lunch today too, I know cold sandwiches have to get boring. ( I know, I know. I'm a great wife! You don't have to tell me!)

BESIDES my new meal adventure last night and making both of our lunches, I made a big pan of lasagna! Stephen's little brother, Shawn, goes back down to Orlando for college tomorrow and we wanted to see him one more time. He seems to like my lasagna and it makes it easy because I can cook it all the night before and just bake it when I get home from work. So I'm looking forward to that! Yummy lasagna dinner and visiting with the little brother before it's back to school for him!

 

This is what the lasagna looked like last night when I got done assembling it. Tonight I'll bake it and it will turn into melty, gooey, goodness. I can share my recipe for homemade lasagna later, if anyone is interested!

I had intended to delve into my quarter-life crisis I am currently having, but this random rambling has taken up too much of your time already. I apologize for those of you who made it all the way to the end! Tomorrow I will spill my guts about the decisions I'm currently facing and hopefully writing out and getting some input will help? Maybe.

Until then, Happy Thursday y'all!

Not sure if I've mentioned it lately...

But I have the best husband ever!

Just sayin...

I had to work the later shift today.(Which I despise!) This meant that I came into work at noon(which I admit is kinda nice), but also means that I'm stuck here until 8p.m. VERY BORING! Now that summer is winding down we have been unbelievably slow! A little before 6 everyone else in the office had headed for home, and I was settling in to catch up on blogs answer the onslaught of phone calls that were to come.(The phone has not rung a single time!) I keep the door locked after everyone leaves since I'm here by little ol' lonesome. I heard a knocking on the big front door, and I looked up to see my very sweet and thoughtful husband standing there! He had brought me dinner. There is a delicious hot dog place down from my office that I try not to eat at so I won't weigh a million pounds, but it's SOOO good! He had picked us both up a chili cheese dog and a big coke to share. It was such a nice treat, and makes me very thankful, yet again, that I married such a sweetheart and my best friend!

Not much else exciting to report around here. We kept it pretty low key around here this weekend.My sister was in town so we spent quite a bit of family time. But since I have nothing new and exciting to update you on, I thought I'd share some of our most talked about conversation here lately.

Babies.

Yes, you read that right. There's something about being newly married that just makes babies the topic of conversation. Everyone starts asking "when you're going to start having them". If you even yawn too long the girls in the office are accusing you of being pregnant. (WHICH I MOST DEFINITELY AM NOT!) But, it has generated some interesting conversations for the husband and I lately. It's not really a new conversation, we've talked about wanting kids since before we were married. We both agree we want to wait at LEAST two more years, we agree we want 3 kids(ok, usually we agree on this, sometimes I think 2 would be plenty), and we agree we want all boys(again, sometimes Stephen says he'd like at least one girl. Not happening.) We agree on parenting styles, the things we say "we'll never let our kid do", or "ya I don't think that's a big deal, I'll tell them so and so", or "they'll be allowed or encouraged to X". But what we don't agree on are baby names. 

But that doesn't seem to be too uncommon because my family turns their noses up at my names too. But my rule is, until they are the ones pushing a 7+ pound baby out they don't get much of a say. (Side note: I'm a big talker. I will never name our child something that Stephen just absolutely does not like, but I will relentlessly argue my side of each case!)

So what are these great names you ask?

For a boy:

Nolan Dominick

Landon Jeff

For a girl:

 Rilynn Grace 

 Layla Faith

Eh, eh?? 

 Now that you've taken the time to read my completely random and pointless post, I figured I would at least share an awesome giveaway I stumbled across today!

I love the adorable blog over at Beautiful Mess! Well, since she reached 400 followers she's giving away a complete, new blog design to one lucky winner. How cool is that?! I've been working on revamping my blog for a while now, but I am not a pro by any means. If you are in the same boat, enter this fun give away and win yourself a new look!

 That's all for now folks.. it's quittin' time! Which means I can blow this popsicle stand and head home to my amazing husband! Happy Tuesday y'all!

Guest post!

I'm super excited that this is my very FIRST guest post! I've always wanted to be able to say that. (What can I say, I'm a dork!) I'm even more excited that my post is about all of our wedding fun over at Romance in a Glance! I love reading all the sweet love stories, wedding advice, and wedding recaps at Romantic Savy's blog. To any soon-to-be-brides definitley check her blog out for cute ideas! If you newlywed brides are like me, you suddenly find yourself obsessed with wedding stories, and there are PLENTY to read over at this awesome blog! Anyone else just go read because her blog is fun, and of course because I'm guest blogging over there today, what more reason do you need?! Happy Thursday y'all!



Wednesday!

It's one of my favorite blog days of the week: Wednesday! So today I am linking up with Jamie @ This kind of Love for my favorite link up, What I'm Loving Wednesday!

Today is my sweet Mom's birthday! I'm loving that we're going to dinner with the family tonight and then having birthday cake to celebrate! She is truly one of my best friends. I haven't always felt that way. I definitely gave her and my dad a run for their money when I was a little younger, but I'm so glad I finally grew up and realize how much I truly do still need my parents. I talk to my mom pretty much everyday and I would be completely lost without her! From helping me decorate the house to financial advice to good recipes, it's true what they say about always needing your Mama! So happy birthday mom hope your day is SO special I love you!


I'm loving that I have Sunday and Monday off this coming weekend. It's like actually having a normal weekend!

I'm loving that I was able to take off Sept. 3&4 so we can go to the first FSU home game in Tallahassee!! I sure have missed football and my Noles!


I found some awesome tailgating dresses that I just LOVE! Mom and I are going to attempt to make them. (By Mom and I, I really mean that we'll pick out the fabric and then she'll sew them while I keep her company. I'm sewing machine retarded.. and let's face it I don't have the patience to learn!)

I'm loving that my sweet friend Whitney is back from Colorado with adorable baby Annisten so we can start walking at nights after work.. hopefully we can start tonight!

I'm loving that since I was a major slacker yesterday it's actually Thursday now so that much closer to the weekend!

and of course, I'm loving my husband and baby boy Natty!