The Inevitable 2013 Recap

This has been a long year I feel like, but with that said… tomorrow is already going to be 2014. Should an exclamation mark have ended that? I dunno. Still not totally sure how I feel about it. Feels like any other day really.

There was some heartache in 2013... I watched my parents get divorced after 20 something years of marriage, met their new significant others, saw sides of people that I didn’t want to see, got tendinitis in my elbows, dealt with some serious crazies… but with that, there were so many good things that happened this year too! Overwhelmingly so!

New tattoos, took up blogging (not very well as I don’t post as much as I should), got an amazing old sewing machine that I’ve rocked like no other, made new friends, got a new job (which as of 2014 will be full-time with benefits), started doing children’s ministry (Justin doing high school ministry)… got some seriously awesome new watches…

And in January we got to celebrate being newlyweds with a second honeymoon! Thanks to Uncle Dave for letting us use his time share and Justin selling his bike the day before we left for San Francisco so we’d have money for the week. And what a week it was! From the freezing cold air, expensive taxi rides, sitting on a train for 11 hours both ways, almost missing our ferry from Alcatraz which would have made us late for the bus back to the hotel, nude protestors to a random acoustic show Justin played, seeing the golden gate bridge, the best continental breakfast we’ve ever had (minus the meat, because well, they didn’t have any), free dvd rentals at night, “Jeeves” the guy at the front desk, riding on a double decker tour bus and getting to see the whole city! So many things! Though the best part was just being able to spend time with my HUSBAND, a week’s worth of time, just the two of us together. The most perfect week ever.

Participated in another Be the Church where the church goes out on a Sunday to restore the community rather than a service and this time my sisters came! We also participated in like 2 other houses. 

Yay for the Ninja Team! Still waiting on the shirts though.

We helped/watched a couple friends come to Christ and that has been such an incredible thing to experience in. Seeing their faith in Christ grow stronger all the while ours does too.

Learned how to make simple syrup, it’s just that, simple. It has really helped out in the Making Justin Sweet Tea All the Time Department.

Bought a Roku which has been a solid investment. By investment, I mean, “investment.” No more Netflix on the computer! Yee haw! (Sorry about that last part, listening to some Mike Ness outlaw song where there’s a lot of whistling and yee haws!)

Wednesdays have become my favorite day of the week, not because its “hump day” (I hate that stupid camel commercial) or whatever, but because the day seems so much shorter. No midday or pm kids! And then the best part after that is that I get to hang out with my littlest sister Kate. We pretty much don’t do anything other than drive around, get ice cream or Starbucks, and visit the fabric store. It’s the best time really. She’s sweet and cute and a big dork, like me.

Got the IPhone 5! That’s not really big news, its actually really old news. Just looking around as I think about all the things that the year has entailed and my eyes passed over my phone.

Anyways…

The cars have been up and down. Mostly up though! Thanks to Justin, the bondo work is almost completely done! I say almost completely because I don’t quite remember if it’s almost done or completely done… Either way, it looks so awesome! Justin has done an amazing job!

We celebrated our one year anniversary!!! And what a nice night it was! Driving around, dressing up all fancy, dinner at a swanky place… One year married. Sighhh. I couldn’t be anymore lucky. I’ve found the one whom my soul loves. He’s been there for me through the good, the bad, the broke, the sick, the busy, the great… And he loves me. Only me. Well, and our two little cats. But that’s a different kind of love. Obviously.

I made a really awesome quilt for Justin’s grandma (blog on that later)! And she loved it, so much so she cried. And then cried again when she called me a couple days later to thank me (again).

We helped our friends welcome their healthy little baby Wyatt into the world! So adorable! And so tiny. He’s actually pretty normal sized for a newborn, but he’s just so tiny and fragile!

Another one of our couple friends FINALLY got engaged! And I’m the matron of honor… apparently that’s what you’re called if you’re the maid of honor but married. Who knew!

I know I’m forgetting things, but honestly, despite the small amount of sucky things… this year has been one the best years I’ve ever had. Mostly I think because I got to spend it with Justin. Mostly because I know that I’ll always have him. And he’s mine. And I’m his.

So I know everyone wants to hear about resolutions, but I don’t want to label them as that because really folks, how many people actually follow through with their “resolutions”? No one. Unfortunately, I don’t really have another word to call them by… so I’m just going to list them.

This year has been toughest on me and my mom. And I love her and I miss her and one of the most important things on my list is mending that relationship with my mom. Colossians 3:13 “bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

Another thing that I’ve been sucking at is making time with God. So I’ve made reading plans and a planner that is going to help me with that.

I don’t want to curse anymore. Not that I think that it’s a terrible thing to do or anything, but I just don’t think it’s necessary. So no more cursing. Matthew 12:36 “…men will have to give account on the Day of Judgment for every careless word that they have spoken…”

I need more self-control and discipline. In the mental and physical well-being parts. I need to be consistent in my routines.

Loving others. “…love your neighbor as yourself" and “Jesus had compassion on them because they were harassed like sheep with a shepherd." I just need to keep reminding myself that. Everyone is going through something. Which brings me to the next part of this, praying for others. I don’t do enough of this. Because everyone is going through something, but as it says in Philippians “do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit…” Both loving and praying for others go hand in hand.

All that's on my mind for the new year are: getting out of debt, starting to save for a home, read the new testament again, read the old testament, mend relationships, get physically fit and spend more quality time with my husband.

What are you thinking about as this year comes to it's close and the next one begins?!

The Little Things!

Happy Friday everyone! Friday, Friday, Fridaaaaaay! That was embarrassing. Please ignore that.

The Little Things That Matter. See also, the things that I'm thankful for. So  let's get on with it!!!

-When you're so used to wearing fake eyelashes that you go to bed or get in the shower with them on. That doesn't really matter, nor am I thankful for it. Actually, kind of makes me mad. I either lose them or ruin them that way. Just thought I'd share.

-A husband who is willing to sleep on the couch with me while I'm sick.

-Pictures of really cute babies and puppies sleeping together. Thank you Heather for showing me this yesterday! Puts a smile on my face for sure!

-When your cat climbs your fake tree and you tell her no and she stops and then does it again and then you tell her no and then she stops and then she does it one more time and then you lock her in the bedroom for "time out" and tell her "that's not okay"  and when you let her out, she doesn't climb the tree again. Awesome.

-Ebay. Nuff said.

-Deodorant. Thankfully I have some in my purse because I forgot to put it on this morning before I left.

-Leftovers. Especially at lunch time.

-A clean bookcase. Well, yes, clean. Still busy... well, I'll just leave it at that.

-Cute socks from target. 

-Wednesdays with Kate. I'm actually really thankful for this. We don't even really do anything. Just hang out. And it's nice. And at some point I tell her she's a strange kid and then she tells me that she gets it from me. And it's fun. And sometimes I buy her ice cream or starbucks. And its our time. For just us. I wish I could do this with my other sisters. But I guess that's what we have Sister Appreciation Day for.

-Waiting until after Justin's birthday (December 2nd) to decorate for Christmas because for some reason it bothers him if we do it before. Maybe he just doesn't liking sharing his birthday. Probably so. Even though that's super silly. But I suppose I understand.

-When this one time I practiced doing a stupid trick with Justin's zippo so much that I got a blister on my finger.

-When this one time I sharpened so many pencils with a little dinky sharpener that I also got a blister on my finger. Totally two different times. Both of them sucked.

-My mom gave me a box of ornaments from when I was a kid. Well, let's just say there was a least two from every year from my birth to when I was about 11. That's a lot of ornaments! What the heck am I supposed to do with them?!

This list isn't really "the little things that matter" its more of a bunch of "mini rants that don't quite make a blog post." Maybe I'll change it.

-Being sick has caused my voice to be waaaay out of tune. Not that I was at all a great singer before... but it sucks. And it's embarrassing.

-This awesome cold weather. Even though I haven't been dressing as warm as I should be.

-A home. With my husband. And our two little cats.

What's on your list for the week?!

25 Before 25 Update

So here's where I'm currently at for my 25 Before 25 list. (For those of you just tuning in, you can check it out here) I've got nine month to do/complete these and so far... I guess I'm doing alright.

Lemme start with the first one. Staring a blog. Well folks, I definitely have done that! 28 PUBLISHED posts! (doesn't mean that I haven't started others...) On the note of consistency, that's an entirely another story. My number 21 on the list is maintaining my blog, well, as you all know, I'm failing miserably at it. I'd totally love encouragement on this one. I really want to blog, but at the end of my day, it just doesn't seem to be a priority. Soooo, if you'd like to help me out, post on my Facebook or comment on my blogs telling me to "get the heck with it and post a dang blog!" Thank you kindly. 

On a much more positive note, I can, without a shadow of a doubt, cross off 15 and 151/2! I most definitely wear my fake eyelashes everyday! Exception, that time I was sick. Other than that, every dang day. I'm awesome. And then there's the topic of those stretchy headbands....I have not worn any. At all. I bet my husband loves that! Also, I did cut my hair off, so that too I'm sure helps. Hahha.

Believe it or not, I have been doing crafts... just not blogging them. Please believe me. But I understand if you don't.

Oh! And the quilt! I can't wait for this one!!! Justin's grandma loooooves Elvis Presley. Like, really loves him. So I'm going to make her an elvis quilt! Just bought the fabric yesterday! I'm so excited! Just in case you can't tell. Never made a quilt before, so this will be fun... I think I'll be fine. And I promise to take as I go photos. Just so you can join in on the fun.

I sadly crossed out 13 though. I sent Marie a letter aaaand she never sent one back. She said she wrote me, just didn't have a stamp. I'm tempting to just send her a stamp so I can receive that stinkin' letter, but that defeats the purpose, don't you think?

As for everything else... well, I'll get there. Eventually. Nine months to go, right? I'm not making New Years Resolutions this year, considering this is pretty much resolutions anyways. But I'm curious to hear what you guys have got going on! Have you been thinking about resolutions yet?? Let me know!

A Note To My Husband

Dear Husband,

I have never been so in love with you than I am right now. Really though. You're sitting across from me playing your guitar and though you're not really paying any attention to me, there's just this overwhelming feeling of love in our home. Maybe you disagree, you're so focused on playing the right chords on your guitar... I don't know. (So justin told me that he thinks that this made him sound like a jerk, I don't think so... He was playing guitar and I was blogging, both sitting right next to each other doing our own thing. It's nice that we can do that. That we can do our own things while still enjoying each other's company. I'll tell you what made him sound like a jerk though... When he told me my humming is as bad as my whistling! Ughh.)

So this last week has been pretty terrible. I was the sickest that I've been in a long time. Not only did I feel and sound like death, but I looked like it too. And even though you were going to bed every night with death, you still managed to look at me with so much love in your eyes. Maybe that was all an act to try to make me feel better, but I really don't think so. Thank you for loving me, and I'm sorry for being completely useless and grumpy.

And though I coughed all night, every night this week and you didn't get to sleep well, you didn't complain. Thank you. And even though you probably needed the sleep more than me, thank you for sleeping on the couch with me where I could prop myself up and not cough so much. And thank you for knowing that I wouldn't sleep on the couch by myself. I don't like the idea of sleeping in separate rooms, even though it's just because I'm sick.

And thank you for making me go to the doctors. I would have bronchitis by now had you not made me. 

I am married to YOU, for the rest of my life. And I can't wait to see all the things the rest of our life together entails! I'm so lucky to be your wife.

 

You are the sun to my day and the moon to my night.

I sure do love us. I've seriously found the one whom my soul loves.

Getting My Priorities Straight

MI have not blogged a while a month. It's not that I didn't want to blog, but honestly, it just wasn't a priority.I started working longer days at work, eight hours to be exact. (and I'm not trying to make excuses, seriously, just trying to explain why it wasn't a priority...) And most of you are probably like eight hours?! That's what grownups work! Did I mention I work with kids with autism? (Also not an excuse) 

Anyways, my hours got bumped up (thanks to my own self), I figured I was already going to be there all day, why not be on the clock? Well, that was dumb. For a lot of reasons. Now don't get me wrong, I love my job. Seriously, the best and most rewarding job I have ever had. 

Just a little side note: I have always struggled with what I want to be when I "grow up". Problem being that I want to do everything and schooling just takes way too much time. Especially because I don't care about math or history or whatever. I just want to learn about the job and all it entails. And not even just learn, but do. Sometimes too much time is spent in the classroom and not enough actually doing the job. Also, school is a lot of money that I have never been able to afford and the idea of loans stress me out. I don't want to borrow money and then spend the rest of my life paying it off just to want to go to school for something else later. The list of things I've wanted to do is ridiculously long and I've been fortunate enough to have been able to try out most of them to some degree.

So because I haven't known what I wanted to do, I've done and tried lots of things. Though thing I seemed to love most was working with kids. And thanks to my husband and friend Casey, I got a job with the school district (have I told this story before? Oh well...) 

I'm currently employed as an IBIA, Intensive Behavioral Instruction Assistant. I work with kids who have developmental delays. Basically helping students with autism learn to learn. Their behaviors (and developmental delays) often interfere with their ability to learn and I help by targeting those behaviors and working with the student to reduce them.

Not gonna lie, it's a tough job. Not only is it physically exhausting but also emotionally. Which brings me to the eight hour days... There are a lot of people who work those hours and I honestly don't know how they do it! It was hard, because I love my job so much. And I just want to learn more and do more and because of that, I started to over work myself a little bit. I'd come home and be so exhausted! And just sit on the couch. And do nothing the rest of the night.

But I love working! Most of the people are just amazing and have hearts so big and the kids are awesome too (also not so awesome, but that comes with the job. I can't even tell you how many times I've been hit, kicked, pinched, spit on, had stuff thrown at me, diapers to change, clothes to change, running, some days are just filled with running and even hit with a stupid tennis ball.) There's just so many more things that make it rewarding though. Like when a student hasn't had a "tantrum" in over a month! Or another one who is non verbal tells you "No!" because he doesn't want his grapes. There is nothing as awesome and sweet and amazing as when those things, progress, happens. That's why I do what I do. And it may not seem like much to you, but it truly is.

And then there was the fact that Justin was getting off work earlier. Which meant that he had time to come home and relax and then I'd get off work and be way to tired. I was giving too much at work and not enough at home. And since I was tired all time, blogging was definitely not a priority. Neither were the dishes or vacuuming or making dinner. So we decided that I was working too much. And now that I've less hours to work, more time with my husband, and just about back to complete health after having the worst week of sickness of my life. I'm back at it again.

The Love Story

I met Justin Zerwekh in high school through a friend of mine that he was dating. I had the hugest crush on him, but never would I admit that to my friend, let alone anyone else. (Actually, that's not true. I found a journal when I was cleaning out all the stuff from my mom's  and in it I wrote about this really bad day that I had, and how Justin rode his skateboard all the way to my house from the school just to make sure that I made it home and that I was okay. I wrote about how nice it was for him to do that and that even though he was a big dork, he was really sweet, one the most honest people I knew, good looking, a hopeless romantic (ridiculously so) and how I wished to have a guy like him. Little did I know.... Justin actually hasn't heard that story yet... Hahaha.)

Anyways, he had a crush on me too. Apparently everyone knew that (except us). Even my friend. She told me that I wasn't allowed to hang out with him because I "was the type of girl he would date." Little did she know...) Just to clarify, we never hung out alone. Just in really big groups of like twenty people or so.

So anyway anyways, my friend and I stopped being friends and Justin and I never kept in touch. He was a junior my freshman year, so didn't even see him around campus. I heard through the grapevine that they had broken up, but our lives were so different at the time... 

And then that girl I was friends with asked to be my friend on facebook like three years ago and I was like suuuuure. I browsed through her facebook and saw that Justin had one, so of course I asked to be his friend. And he of course accepted.

Shortly after my contacts in my phone got deleted and I had no one's numbers. Because let's be real. Who remembers anyone's numbers anymore? That's what our phones are for. And to be honest, Justin STILL doesn't even know my number. (That became a problem once, but that's a story for another time.) So now it's programmed in his phone and he carries a paper in his wallet with my number on it (rolls eyes).

So the only way to get the numbers back was to send out a message on facebook (you all know how that works). Well, I sent it only to my actual friends, not all the acquaintances. It was a group message that was something like Hey everyone, my contacts got deleted. Send me a text with your number or message me back here with it. Simple right? 

Shortly after I sent out that message, I got a text, Hey it's Justin, here's my number.

I'm just gonna go back in time a few days. When Justin and I became friends on facebook, I told me sister and she said, "Wouldn't it be funny if you guys started dating?" Little did she know... And then I called my friend Vanessa so we could do what people call "Facebook stalk," I call it browsing through pictures. Whatever. Flashback to a couple days before that I had just got done telling Vanessa that I wasn't happy with who I was and that I needed to work on me. No boys. Just me. For a little while. Little did the both of us know...

Flash forward to the text from Justin. Whaaaaaaaaaat?! He texted me! I was totally fishing for his number and it worked! We went on a date a couple days later. And have been together ever since.

When we went out on our first date (which was actually like four dates in one, but that's a story for later) he gave me this look. His eyes were so sweet and sincere and said I have so much love to give, even with his tough exterior and I  just knew there was something special about him. 

And I was right. So I married him. 

He still gives me that look, but now his eyes say how much he loves me. 

Swooooon.

I sure do love a good love story, but ours is my favorite.

What's your love story?! I promise to do my best to be unbiased.

Got to go! The husband is calling me for dinner! That's right ladies, he makes dinner too!

Where Has All The Time Gone?!

Going through the last of the stuff from my mom's house. Boxes of all the stuff I put in storage when I was like a senior in high school. That means I haven't seen this stuff since at least 2007. That was six years ago!! 

Anyway, it's all the stuff I thought was important or sentimental or "I'm totally going to want this when I live on my own." Okay, let's be honest. I never ended up living on my own. I lived at home and then got married and lived with my husband (obviously). So that whole idea kind of goes out the window. We both kind of got to think that that thing is cool or that we both like it for it go up. Some exceptions I'm sure, but the things in the box were not the case. And to be really honest, none of those things were the case.

I'm looking at stuff that, sure, is sentimental (I guess) because it played a part in my childhood or my grandma or grandpa gave me. But really? That ugly bunny "piggy" bank sat on my shelf when I was like three, I never played with it and it doesn't contain any money in it now. Why do I need it? Also, I pretty much always thought it was ugly.

What about all the McDonald's toy barbies that my mom insisted that I have a play set and a set for on my shelf? Two sets of cheap McDonald's toys. Maaaaaaybe they have some worth, but I really HIGHLY doubt it.

A little side tangent... My mom always did that. We would get stuff (especially from my grandpa, who passed away when I was pretty young) and she would never let me play with it! Like this tour biking Barbie I had on a shelf. My grandpa loved to ride and got me a Barbie that I could play with that rode a bike too. But I never got to play with it because my grandpa passed away and it was too special for me to now play with. Unfortunately, I just threw it away. And I did so because I never played with it. Yeah, it came from my Papa, who I love and miss so very much, but all it did was sit on a shelf. It'd be different had I played with it all the time.

Like for instance, there were two dolls in one of the boxes. One of which I played with all the time when I was a little girl, and the other served as a backup, ya know. Just in case. They both have music boxes in them that play a sweet lullaby. The one I played with is clearly used. Stitches under the arm from carrying it by its poor little arm and the music box in it doesn't work. I mostly likely wound it up too much when I was little. The other one still looks brand new and still plays it's lullaby. Someday we hope to have kids, and I would love to give my someday little girl (Rebelene, Rebel for short. Yes, we've already named our kids. Hahaha. Hudson for a boy, in case you were wondering...) the dolls I played with when I was her age. Seriously, how sweet and precious is that?? 

So my point is, I'm not going to do what my mom did. I'm not going to put that "special" toy on a shelf to never be played with, what makes it special, is playing with. Come on, hasn't anyone seen Toy Story?!

My mom also did this with my Easy Bake Oven. She said the "light burnt out and we can't get another light bulb." Lies! She just didn't want to clean it. Okay, so that wasn't really what I was talking about, and apparently I still harbor some upset feelings towards it. Though the Play-doh (my computer wants to change this to Playboy. Umm, computer... that's really inappropriate.) thing I understand about not mixing the colors... but really, now that I think about it. Just buy more Play-doh!

I started off with three really big boxes full of stuff and what I've came out with (the stuff that I'm keeping) is/are:

- A journal (because its super cute! I tore out all the pages because they were just filled with teenage angst and because it was kind of depressing. I'm definitely more thankful for where I'm at now.) If only I could tell my high school self, everything works out. You find God and love, and in fact, you marry JUSTIN ZERWEKH. Can you believe that?! Probably not right now, but it'll be a love that truly is amazing. (For those who don't know, Justin and I were actually friends in high school and I had the fattiest crush on him! Apparently he did had a crush on me too, and everyone seemed to know except us. But six years after he graduated and a facebook message later, we went on our first date and then later married. That love story is my favorite. Mostly because it's ours. I'll tell it to you guys later <3

- Those two dolls that I previously mentioned.

- A Bob's Big Boy piggy bank. Justin loves it. Hahha.

-A few glass dinner salad plates because they are cute. Somehow they ended up in my box, so I'm keeping them.

- Two very small alarm clocks because they are also cute and match our place.

- A Snow White music box which doesn't really count because I'm giving it to my sister.

And I think that's it. Not much at all really. I was actually kind of worried at first. What if I wanted to keep all the stuff in those boxes? We live in a one bedroom apartment with only a small storage area in our carport. Where was I going to put everything?! Well, all that worrying was for nothing. Thank God, seriously.

Just one last little note for you. My mom bought us all the storage boxes so we could put stuff away that we wanted to keep but didn't want in our rooms because we were too cool now or whatever. Ya know, like stuffed animals, barbies, beanie babies...etc. Well my youngest sister Kate was just a baby when my mom got them for us, so Kate didn't get a box.

Well, I went through my boxes with Kate and she was like this is so cool. But also, a lot of this stuff is stupid. She couldn't understand why I kept all that stuff in those boxes, especially because a lot was, in fact, pretty lame. Part of it is definitely the generation gap between us. I'm twenty-four and she's twelve. What I thought was cool at twelve, is definitely not what's cool anymore. But the other part is that she hasn't really been alive long enough, to accumulate that amount of stuff. So she couldn't possibly understand yet. So I gave her one of my boxes to fill up with her own stuff that she thinks is important now, so put it away and revisit years down the road. And then she can give smiles and eye rolling with head shakes to the stuff she put in there.

It's like a time capsule of sorts. And it all kind of makes sense now. Opening those boxes wasn't just a change to purge more stuff, but to see a former me. A reflection on how much I've grown up. How much better things got at a time when I didn't think things could get any better/could get better at all. Looking through those boxes was an awesome experience. Things I have completely forgotten about, that though may not mean anything to me at all now, but were at some point apart of who I was.

The craziest part, I probably won't ever have boxes like that again. I mean, obviously some small things... But now the stuff I have are for building a home with my husband and someday family. And actually, the time I get another box like that, will probably be when I pass away and my kids and grandkids get to go through it and reminisce about the life they shared with me. Whoa. So crazy. Is it weird that it kind of brings me to a place of peace when thinking about that? That I'll have lived and grown old with an amazing husband and the best kids ever (Come on, look at Jus and I, you know it to be true) and grandkids! I know all that is a long way into the future, but I feel so much love already. And then going home to my rightful place in Heaven with a God who loves me even more than the love that I feel right now.

Don't get me wrong, I definitely can wait for all that. 

Have a great weekend all!

Back On Track!

So I shortly got off track with one of my 25 Before 25 things. As a lot of you know, on my list of things to do/goals before I turn 25, one of the things I want to do is:

15. Put on fake eyelashes everyday. I love fake eyelashes and they'll make me do the rest of my makeup.

Well that becomes hard when you lose both of your eyelash glue tubes! And rather than just going and buying some more glue, I just complained everyday that I lost them.

I bring good news! I finally bought some! I actually bought something different this time. The stuff I used before was great and all, but I felt lacked something. This time I bought Revlon Precision Lash Adhesive. Oh. My. Gosh. (All the stuff I'm about to say are my opinions and in my own words, Revlon is not paying me in any sort of way -- I wish!) This stuff is amazing! It's long lasting, waterproof, clear and has an awesome little brush to put it on the eyelashes. And the plus side, sometimes I don't always put enough glue on my eyelashes, especially on the the inside of my and its a pain in the butt to fix it with a tube! But with the handy brush, it makes that no problem at all! I know a lot of you are thinking, well maybe if you glued them better... Well I say to you, be quiet! 

Anyways, on another note... I'm getting more tattoos today! And that totally relates because that is also on my 25 Before 25 list!

12. Get my arm finished with room left over for two apples to placed under the tree one once we have kids ("the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" Get it? Because I have a tree tattoo on my arm, eh eh?)

I'm only getting the outlines today and then filled in later. I think I'm getting 4 today? Maybe? I'm really excited!! They are so cute! Oh, and two of which will be on my right arm. I know I wanted my left arm finished first, but one is a forearm piece and the other is just so stinkin' cute that it needs to be in a place that I can see it all the time! Because the only place on my left arm that still has room is pretty much under my arm. Oh! And I have a few others lined up as well. But we'll talk about those later.

I'll definitely post a blog later this week on  my tattoos once they get filled in! You're gonna be jealous! Not going to lie... I have the cutest tattooed arm, like, ever. #whenyourhusbandisatattooartist

Have a great Sunday all!

The Little Things

What a long week! It shouldn't seem like it because I was out sick two of the five work days, but those days are exhausting too! I am so tired! It's not even the fact that I got spit in the face like three times today or that I've been on my feet pretty much all day/all week/three days this week or that I forgot I was supposed to be at work early today and had what I'm pretty sure was a heart attack (I was subbing at a new site today because my student was out and luckily I left early to account for traffic because at 750 this morning I realized that I was supposed to be at work at 8am. Praise God I made it on time. Like, exactly on time!), I think it's just because I'm still getting over being sick? Or still adjusting to the new work schedule? I don't know. But all I wanna do is sleep! And I'm supposed to be taking a nap right now and I can't. I have been waiting ALL day to take a nap and my eyes and body are tired, but I can't sleep! What kind of cruel punishment is this?! Ahhh!

So anyways! I still don't think that I'm convinced that numbering these lists is the right thing to do. Maybe I should just go back to listing them. Well, I'll try that for today, lemme know what you think!

It's the little things that matter.

-writing stuff. Nothing in particular, just writing. Not even so much the action of writing, well yes that, but also, I just like they way my writing looks. Is that weird? Too bad.

-Shade on a sunny day. Unfortunately, this makes the list this week because I miss having shade to park under on my breaks to take a nap. Its all sun, all the time. 

- Getting the perfect amount of sleep. Psht. This never happens. It has maybe once. And it was so long ago, I can barely remember how good it felt. And I want it back.

-Getting packages in the mail. Stupid Justin always gets them! I don't even care if its just tubes for his tattoo stuff! I never get them. And I want to get them more. Send me something! Please!

- Nail polish. I love painting my nails. And my nail polish collection just keeps getting bigger and bigger. That's actually something that I never cared about until like a year ago. And now I paint my nails once or twice a week oooor if they get a chip in them.

- Cloudy days, especially after its been hot. 

- For those of you who actually know me... You'd probably never think you'd hear this one - cuddling with my kitten Amelia. Okay, she's not a kitten anymore really, but she still acts like one and she's just so sweet and looks all cute and I just love her (and Marilyn too), but let me be clear, that's the extent of my cat liking. I only like my own cats. #andthatswhatthecrazycatladysaid #shehad50cats

- Staying hydrated with the H 2 0. That's really all I drink. That and iced tea. And pink lemonade (which Justin thinks doesn't taste any different than regular lemonade, which I completely disagree. I'm going to do a blind fold test with him and prove that there's a difference!) Oh, and I'm hooked on starbucks' passion tea with lemonade. M'mm! And no sweetener, okay thanks. Ya know, if ya ever wanna buy me one!

And mostly right now, 

- Friday evenings because ya know, that's when the weekend starts! Hahha.

So what's on your list for this week?!

Take care ya'll! Hahaha oh gosh. Not gonna say that again...

Weekend Getaway

 As a lot of you may know, this Friday we  headed out for the beautiful Julian, Ca. Just to get away for a night/day. We both have been working really hard and lot lately, so it was a nice weekend just for the two of us to spend some time together, relax and reconnect. And what a better way than a small town at 4200 feet!

Since Julian is a small town, we figured everything would be closed for dinner before we got there (because we left in the evening) so we stopped in Ramona for something to eat. We tried our luck at a place called Amerient (it was the only place that looked open still). Its and american and oriental place... it wasn't that great. Kinda actually not that good. Everything tasted the same. Well, the american food did anyways. Hahaha.

We got into Julian at a quarter to ten at a cute bed & breakfast. Our room was super tiny! But cozy nonetheless.  Saturday we spent the the morning checking out all the antique, trinket and crafter stores. Okay, that made it sound like there was a lot of them. I assure you, there was not. Hahaha. Justin bought a corncob pipe (literally) and I bought a cast iron mouse. There was a llama being walked by a young girl, a "ton" of people for some music festival, a little boy selling lemonade for 75 cents, the smell of apples literally everywhere, everyone was friendly, some hipsters showed up (that was a bummer), warm weather with a cool breeze, and the company of my handsome husband.

Then, after lunch, the real fun started! Not really. We were supposed to go to the California Wolf Center just outside Julian where you get to learn about wolves and then see them! How cool is that! Unfortunately, we didn't get that far. Actually, we were REALLY close, but didn't get to make it there. 

Ya see, when I called on the phone to ask for the directions, the lady said make a left at kcjfgvaufng and I was like cool thanks! Honestly, I didn't know exactly what she said, but it sounded like kcjfgvaufng. How could I miss that street?! Well folks, I did. I was looking for a street that looked like what she said, aaaaaaaaaand we passed it. Totally my fault. (It was a nice detour though!) 

Realizing we probably passed it, I looked up the place and found that the street we were looking for was called K Q Ranch.  If you say K Q fast enough, it sounds like kcjfgvaufng (autocorrect wants to change this to Kanchenjunga, which I learned is a place in the Himalayas, and not what I'm talking about lolol) . Try it. Well, not exactly, but you get what I mean right?! Oh well. We find the street and we drive up it and then the truck shuts off. Umm okay, he restarts it and things are fine. Psych. It shuts off again. So not only is my husband upset that I made us miss our street and caused us to be late, but now the truck is like eff this. 

Long story short... Jus rolls the truck back down the hill to the main road, there was an hour fight with AAA on how to get us back home (we lost, they were jerks). Then the tow truck driver showed up earlier than expected and was really super nice and then a two hour and something/120 mile ride home in the tow truck.

I'd say it was all bittersweet. On the plus side, neither of us had to drive home. So I guess there's always a silver lining right? Hahha. 

I still had a lot of fun though! Even with the sucky parts. Honestly, for me, the only "sucky" part was still the Amerient restaurant. And even with the truck breaking down, at least I was with Justin. And though AAA were some poop heads, we made it home safely and I still had time to make some chicken and pasta and watch Emperor's New Groove with Jus.

Any crazy happenings this weekend for you guys??

The Little Things

This week has seemed like the longest week of my life. Well, not really the looooooongest, but it sure felt pretty dang long. With that said, every day when I get home from work I just plop down on the couch and rest. Not nap, or even close my eyes for that matter, just rest. And because that's all I've done this whole week, I have not been a very good blogger. 

But without further adieu, here's the little things that stood out for me this week!

31. Lunch breaks. (45 minute lunch breaks to be exact. I get to take my 15 and my half hour at the same time. Though I sometimes don't know what to do with myself, it's definitely much needed)
32. Chinese food. From this place. Jalapeno chicken please!
33. Lipstick
34. Laminating machines. (I stinkin' love laminating!)
35. Copy machines
36. How cute the iOS 7 is! (It's like getting a brand new phone)
37. Hand sanitizer (definitely it working with kids)
38. Get away weekends with Justin. This weekend we're going to Julian. And let me tell you, it is much needed!
39. My lunch box that Jus bought for me.
40. Buying things on eBay, just bought a super adorable purse (completely on impulse...there was only 45 seconds left on the clock!)
 41. My business cards. Gosh! They are so cute!
aaaaand
42. Running shoes, not even specifically for running - for long days at work too!

That's it for today! Off to start a great and relaxing weekend!

Happy Birthday To Me/25 Before 25

After reading my friend Megan's post, 25 x 25 and with my 24th birthday being today (yeah yeah, happy birthday to me), how appropriate and fun to make a list of my own!

I have but only a couple rules for this. For each thing that I complete, a picture must have been taken and blog entry must be published about said completed item BEFORE it can be crossed off the list. Okay, so maybe that's only one and a half rules... 

Here it goes!

1. Start a blog (I'm with Megan on this one, 25 posts seems like the perfect amount to say "I've started a blog"). 

2. Sell something I've made on Etsy

21/2. Make an Etsy shop

3. Make a quilt

4. Eat the top of wedding cake for our 1 year anniversary!

5. Bake a polka dot cake for any/no reason

6. Take a roadtrip with my husband

61/2. Camp somewhere I've never been while on the aforementioned roadtrip

7. Get my car painted, because let's face it, this just isn't gonna cut it for much longer

8. Make another video like this one

9. Watch the sunrise

10. Get outta debt

11. Take a balloon ride at the Great Park Balloon

12. Get my arm finished with room left over for two apples to placed under the tree one once we have kids ("the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" Get it? Because I have a tree tattoo on my arm, eh eh?)

13. Pen pals with Marie (consists of at least ten letters from each of us)

14. Book at least one photoshoot a month with my business Golly Gee Photography. Starting this month. (go like on facebook here!)

15. Put on fake eyelashes everyday. I love fake eyelashes and they'll make me do the rest of my makeup lol.
151/2. No more  stretchy headbands that my husband absolutely hates. Hahaha.

16. Read the New Testament (again)

17. Read the Old Testament (for the first time)

18. Follow daily/weekly/monthly cleaning schedule

19. 60 day workout

20. This one was actually supposed to be a New Years Resolution... One craft a week every two weeks, bi monthly let's say, (first off, let's be practical and I'll do them on Wednesdays, because with my current work schedule, I have the most time then this doesn't work because I hang out with Kate on Wednesdays. I just have to make time. And I can't say I've been doing them unless I post them on here, Instagram doesn't count.) and no more pinning craft things on Pinterest. Because as you can see, I've got WAY too many things on there, and mostly just because I'd actually like to do those things! So no more pinning crafts. At least until 3/4 of my crafts board is gone. Though I'm still going to allow myself pin Home Decor stuff (see also: Cleaning, Random/Funnies and Food)

21. Maintain a blog... I'm finding this one to be quite hard. Definitely harder than I expected. I'd say at LEAST two solid blog posts a week. I think that can be managed.

22. Take walks at night with Jus. This one is really important. I know we can't do this every night, well, it's just not practical. But I'd like to do this at least twice a week. 

23. Let Sundays be our/my relaxing days. Church, lunch with the in laws aaaaand then just relax away. Our weekends are too busy sometimes.

24. Consistently dye my hair. MAYBE even go get it done at a salon instead of just boxing it. Maybe.

and last but certainly not least (especially because this list is definitely in no particular order)

NUMBER 25. Take a sign language course. Not only does this benefit me at work, but how super cool would that be?!

I was going to add to the list don't wear sports bras so much/to work, but let's be real here. Those things are amazing! So much more comfortable. Sorry Jus! No more headbands and makeup everyday is all you get for now!

Wow. That sounded really bad. Let me be clear here, Justin isn't vain by any means. I just want to look good for my husband. There is nothing wrong with that.

*Moment of truth: I actually wrote this a couple of weeks ago ... My husband came home and asks me what I'm doing -

Me: Making a to do list, well, 25 things to do before I'm 25 kind of list.

Him: You have too much free time on your hands.

And he is so right! Ya see I knew this when I started it. I knew that a) it was gonna take me a long time to do b) more time than I wanted to put into it because come on, it's my birthday! and c) I'm a working woman again now, so why not use up all the free time that I had to prepare this blog for my birthday??

I'm awesome.

So what's on your to do list? Let me know! I would love to hear what you all come up with!

PS.

Keep checking back to see what I'm crossing off mine!

The Little Things

I'm only a day late on this post... Sorry guys! It's been a long week as it was my first day back in a month! I got home from work and really wanted to write some posts, but I was just so exhausted all week long!

Okay, so last week I left off on #20, so I think I'm going to continue from there, sounds good, yeah?

21. Windows that roll down, all the way... and don't have a problem rolling back up. This may be a funny one, but I used to not have this luxury. In my old car, the front passenger side window was broken so we made it so it couldn't roll down, and then the driver side wouldn't stay up. So yaay for working windows in the Falcon!

22. Seeing my husband after a long day of not seeing him. 

23. A hot shower, I tend to take this one for granted sometimes.

24. My husband in the kitchen (doing art) and I on the couch (blogging). Both doing our own thing, but still close enough where I can (non-creepily/creepily) glance over at him and think about how lucky I am.

25. A drive down PCH (though that's not so little)

26. A sharp pair of scissors

27. Learning a new skill

28. Instagram, is that lame? Psht. Whatever.

29. Or even better, the usernames that people use for instagram. Seriously people?? We're grown ups. (@derelict_rebel) C'mon, let's use our real names hahaha.

30. Watching Marilyn clean her face with her paw, that is just the stinkin' cutest thing hahha.

What do you consider a little thing that matters? Is it a moment? Is it literally little? Something that you just take for granted? All of the above? Or just something that seems insignificant, but makes you happy, even if only for a moment....

Only ten for today! Maybe more next week!