She's not just a JOB.

She's not just a JOB.

January 31, 2012

I am very blessed to be a nanny.

Yep, there are those days I want to scream out of frustration and defeat but

 I am the most fulfilled and rewarded with this job than any other.

I started as Elle's in-home nanny when she was 2 months old; She's now 20 months.

Looking at pictures I can't believe I've been there from the beginning!

I saw her crawl first.

I witnessed her first steps.

I comforted her when she got her first bruise.

I teach her the word of God.

I helped her learn to eat with a fork.

I weened her from formula to milk.

I discipline her.

I reward her for good behavior.

I make her sit in time out when she's acting like a DIVA.

She's like my own.

[first time crawling with some incentive of a paci]

[becoming a little character]

[life as of now]

Occupation: wife.

Occupation: wife.

January 30, 2012

I used to say I wasn't going to marry or have kids until my 30's but here I am married with a step-son at 22. I realize on a daily basis that this is who I am. I love being a wife. I love being a mom. I love having the men in my life and I can thank God for all of it.

Andrew and I met when I was 11yrs old. I grew up dancing with his sister where her and I became pretty close friends. Over the years Andrew and I had spoken maybe 10 words to each other; it was always because I was so dang nervous around him! He was my crush for a looooooong time. In September 2009 God had our paths cross again and almost immediately, we were inseperable.

They say "when you know, you know" and it truly was that kind of relationship for us. He was my best friend from day one, my biggest supporter, my shoulder to cry on and the person I wanted to spend my life with. Andrew asked my dad for my hand in marrige December 2009.

We were engaged December 23, 2009.

When I promised my life to Andrew October 1, 2010 I didn't take it lightly. We went through a few months of marriage conseling before the I do's and I was so thankful for God to lay that on our hearts. It taught us so much during our engagement about having the Lord the center of our marriage. I was never the girl to have the desires to live my life traditionally but God worked miracles in my heart late 2009 until our wedding and I am about as close to Pleasantville as you can get.

I love being a {housewife}.

I desire making meals.

I desire doing laundry.

I desire giving my husband a massage.

I desire cleaning the house.

I desire dressing up to please my husband's eye.

I desire putting my husband's needs before mine.

I desire making him a priority when we have children.

Through thick and thin.

Til death do us part.

Those vows will forever be in my heart through this walk of life that I am so blessed to experience with an amazing man. I praise God for Andrew. He's been a blessing to me and has worked a small miracle with helping me adapt to a fulfilling life as a spouse and wife.

[Wives, submit to your husband as you do to the Lord.]

Ephesians 5:22

DIY Mustache Pillow- Yeah Buddy!!

DIY Mustache Pillow- Yeah Buddy!!

January 26, 2012

Well we all know by now I'm loving the mustache.

Let me clarify...

I don't love the mustache my husband grows cause it's blonde and he looks like a molester.

I love the simple black silhouette.

So geeky, fun and ME.

I mentioned a few posts back [here] that I made a stache pillow for my step-son's room when we recently re-vamped it. Here are the steps I took to accomplished this cute and cheap item!

I purchased this black OUTDOOR paint for $.50 at Michael's

I chose outdoor so it will be more durable with use.

Grab some different sized paint brushes.

These I already had but I bought them at Michael's a few years back. If I remember correctly, the bag was $12-15??

Somewhere around there.

Plain cream pillow

I purchased mine at Ikea 2011

$3.99

Find a mustache picture you're loving.

This happens to be the image I've used for my blog layout.

Free hand your stache with a pencil on the pillow.

[use a pencil so you can erase mistakes as you go]

If you don't trust yourself with that, trace the stache onto some paper, cut it out, and trace directly onto the pillow.

You'll end up with something like this.

I wanted my stache to be mid-size but you can alter yours to whatever you desire.

Throw some paint into a bowl and trace the outline with a tiny brush; you'll need quite a bit of paint cause the pillow absorbs a lot. If you're going for a more "distressed" look, don't make the outline/fill so full. 

This is what you'll end up with. I don't mind it being a little sloppy cause I'll be filling in with the following step.

Grab a large brush.... fill it in!

Let it dry and VOILA!

Enjoy your handsome mustache pillow!

Like I said, super cute and cheap; are you all making yours this weekend??

Contact me if you have questions!

Are you embracing life?

Are you embracing life?

January 17, 2012

It seems like lately with life being so crazy the last few months, my husband and I have been letting all the excess shenanigans get to us. Yes, shenanigans. It's a silly way to refer to all the chaos of life but that's the word I feel best suits it.

Back in October life hit hard. My Uncle Jim went missing and that chapter in my life closed 

[it was a sad, sad time].

Our home was broken into and since then I feel...violated... being in our home alone. If that makes sense.

BUT life is too short to let it all slow us down and to get caught up in it!

Last night the hubs and I had a heart to heart.

This is rare cause he's not one to really communicate about his feelings and I'm one who wears my heart on my sleeve. This isn't saying we don't talk about life and have meaningful conversations [duh]; it simply is stating we are blessed and haven't had many obstacles we've both felt pain from since our journey began [praise the Lord for that!] 

We have come to a place where we've been hit with a reality check.

What's the point in wasting energy on the materialistic things in life?

It's always getting bigger and better so you'll never be completely satisfied.

What's the point in kicking someone when they're down only causing more pain and resentment?

All you're doing is losing a valued relationship.

My husband stated it so beautifully... he feels convicted for not enjoying life and letting everything stress him out. God is knocking at his door saying "let it go, Andrew".

 I couldn't agree more.

There are so many things in life I am tense and concerned about. I have anxiety and stress DAILY.

It's that time for Andrew and I to embrace being 22&24 and embrace the love we have for each other and for life. The love we have for our families and amazing friends!

God has worked seamlessly in our hearts to enjoy all he's given us. It now time for us to realize it and take life head on and ready for a party! ;)

God is good, always.

Does everyone else feel like they struggle in the same way??

yay for spring decor!

yay for spring decor!

January 11, 2012

This last holiday season I wasn't much in the mood for decorating for Christmas which is a SHOCKER cause that's all I normally look forward to throughout the year. So now that Christmas is over and the holidays have passed I was so excited when I found all the new spring decor at Target [I know, I was at Target- crazy]. I was basically jumping up and down in the store cause I loved what I saw; I even called my mom and was practically hypervenilating telling her about all the great things they have available.

After we got our dining set for Christmas I went to Target.... [again] for some great beaded placemats that I had been dying to purchase!

[Target Noel Christmas Collection 2011; $15.99each]

I was loving these guys.... for the 9 days I had them?? :(

After using them ONCE the beads were literally falling off, everywhere. I about cried. Thankfully Target has some great return options and I got some store credit [YAY]. I was rejoicing when I saw the spring stuff cause now I didn't have to spend a dime having the store credit from the failed placemats.

Many of you have seen pictures of our home [if you haven't, check it out here] and know it's all basic, neutral stuff with pops of green throughout. I have been wanting to bring in teal for quite some time to spice it up a bit and guess what?? Target had some amazing options!

Look at my great finds:

[placemats; Target $2.99]

[teal damask pillow; Target $19.99]

[basic teal pillow; Target $19.99]

That's all I got in the teal to throw around the house but then I went to Lowe's and grabbed some teal spray paint and simply sprayed a few items to add more pops of color.

[lowe's $4.98]

[K monogram was originally gold from Hobby Lobby; $2.99]

[candle sticks were a wedding gift purchased at Target Fall, 2010]

[frame was black from Ross; $.99]

 I also grabbed some chevron patterned pillows in a basic cream and white to throw in our master bedroom. I'm planning on painting one accent wall in there in a dark brown and cream with the chevron pattern so I thought these would be great to add some fun.

[chevron pillow; Target $19.99]

[Target also had these pillows in teal and light pink chevron]

[lamp; Target Spring 2011- $19.99]

[shade; Ross Spring 2011- $.99]

[vase; Ikea Fall 2008- $3.99]

[flower; Hobby Lobby Spring 2011- $.50]

All in all, I am so pleased with how our house has been spruced up and is nice and bright. The teal and green work great together and I spent a total of... $.32! WOW. What a no brainer. I hope you like what I've done and get some good ideas for your home this Spring!

the icky weight talk & resolutions...blah.

the icky weight talk & resolutions...blah.

January 6, 2012

Okay, let's get to the good stuff. It's a new year and that means New Year Resolutions. I have to say I am not one for it cause I normally never keep it for long; I think my record was last year with no coffee and I made it til.... February 9th?? Yeah, I am terrible. On a daily basis I think of tons of things I could do differently and want to grow on so as always a big one this year is losing weight.

But then I got to thinking.... I will never be 105 pounds and a size 2 again. I mean I was dancing 20+ hours a week. It was like a job to me and I loved doing it. I need to be realistic here. I need to understand that I have grown into my "womanly figure" as many call it and I need to embrace it.

I hate going to the gym. I'd much prefer having one of my intense migraines cause I just feel down right awkward there. People stare, you sweat and grunt with the hard work and I don't even want Andrew seeing me that way so why would I want tons of stranger seeing that?? I did do the gym last year as often as my mind and body would submit to it but I definitely had a stalker. This guy would always stare and come say "hi" and ask about my weekend. Let me just say, I am one of those people with their iPods in with no intentions of talking to anyone and I don't give any inviting signals either. I am there to get it done and that's that. I started going with my Dad to see if this guy would get the hint and it didn't change; it never halted. So for obvious reasons, I don't enjoy going.

Thankfully, I have come across {ZUMBA} and it has been life changing. It's so much fun and easy to do and you feel great after! I get the work out I need to drop a few pounds and I get to let the old Dancing Diva out for a bit ;)

So here it goes, I am laying it all out there. I started 2011 weighing.... ugh... 160 pounds. GASP! I know, it was horrendous. I look back at pictures and want to punch myself. I gained tons of weight right before Andrew and I wed and kept it on through the first months of 2011. I thank God for blessing me with Andrew cause he was by my side through the whole weight gain and was still telling me I was beautiful and that he wouldn't change a thing. But I can happily say that I am now starting 2012 weighing.... 133 pounds. It may not be much of a difference but being 5 feet tall, those pounds are compacted and adds lots of volumptuous curves I didn't want.

I would be lying if I said I was content with the weight I am now, but I am embracing what I have worked for in the last year. I changed  my eating habits and minimized the coffee and soda. I drink TONS of water... I mean enough to where I pee about every 40 minutes, haha, and it's been paying off. I try to be intentional with Zumba a few times a week and the gym here and there but mainly it's just trying to stay HEALTHY. I don't want to be a skinny-mini the way society has brain washed the world to be, I only want to be health. By being active and eating right, I am.

So I guess all I am saying is that the Resolution I want to make is just sticking to what I changed about my lifestyle last year. Maybe God will keep blessing me and I'll shed a few more pounds. ;)

Happy 2012, my sweet friends.