Balance is hard. Blogging was everything to me, I enjoy writing and sharing my story, I love DIY projects, I love ranting and venting without caring really what the comments or feedback was, because at least it was my outlet. Helping people has always been a passion of mine, but wait….so is DIY, so is fitness, so is health, so is family, so are my dogs. We all have countless passions I have come to realize, and for a long time I was trying to maintain a sense of order within my blog…
But order is not what my life is about. My life is messy at times, but it’s fulfilling. I have taken on new endeavors that keep me busy, but I no longer use that as an excuse. You make time for the things you are passionate about. Plain and simple.
Goals change, ideas, and you gain a sense of who you are, even though it takes years to develop into the person you want to eventually become. You work so hard to become successful, to just pay bills, to survive. You try to maintain that balance but don’t really know why you aren’t taking more risks.
Risks are unsafe. They cause discord and mayhem, they cause unorganized thoughts and impulsive decisions. But risks are my life, I took a risk when I decided to add 2 more jobs into my life, I took a risk when I moved states away from my family, I took a risk when I decided to embrace the mayhem and discord in my thoughts, instead of pushing them aside.
No one wants to relate to someone who acts like they have their life together, because the truth is that no one really does. No one wants to reach out to someone who idealizes perfection, because no one is perfect. That’s too much pressure to try and act that part.
We don’t want perfection, some strive for that balance. But the truth is that success doesn’t follow a straight line, it’s a wild and curvy path that only our actions can help to lead. Instead of thinking and dreaming, I’ve decided not to maintain balance, no longer to dream it, but to do it. Dreams are goals that we wish to bring into fruition, and I intend to do just that.
So hubby and I have been married for 99 days as of today! Put into day terms, that’s a lot longer than some celebrity marriages! In my book that means we’re off to a great start! As all newlyweds can agree, you can get some really annoying questions after you’re married. So as a kind of warning to all of the happy couples out there, you WILL get asked these questions, and it will get more and more annoying the more the days pass. I wish I could tell you when these questions finally end…but we’re clearly not at that point yet, but don’t worry I’ll make sure to follow-up when I know!
“So how is married life? Does it feel any different?”
It’s great I guess? In all honesty it feels no different, but we have been building a life together for the past 4 years….I mean I don’t want to kill him yet, so I guess that’s good? I mean honestly do you really care?
“When do you plan on having kids?”
We JUST got married, children are terrifying and stinky. I like having a clean house, clean sticky-free walls and a full 8 hours of sleep every night. I think we’re good right now. Besides, I have my pups and they’re much easier to handle than a child would be.
“Are you sad that it’s all over and there’s nothing to look forward to now?”
Well aren’t you a bundle of joy! Do you really think there is nothing else to look forward to in life now that we’re married?! I couldn’t be happier that the wedding is OVER with, that was too much planning, too much stress, and while it turned out beautifully I am so THANKFUL that it is done with. The amazing thing right now is that we don’t have to make plans, it’s AWESOME. We’re relaxing, enjoying each other’s company, there’s plenty to look forward to, and all of it is much less stressful!
“Are you excited you can gain weight now?”
What is wrong with you people? Is marriage really viewed as an excuse to NOT take care of yourself?! If I don’t feel attractive within myself how could I ever feel like my husband finds me attractive? So the quick answer to that is, NO! I am not letting myself go just because I’m married, if anything I’m going to drag him along with me to a healthier and happier lifestyle. Marriage is not an excuse to gain weight and become unhealthy. Plain and simple.
“I could never get married at your age”
This one is more of a statement than a question, but a statement that nevertheless I don’t rightly care to hear. Of course you could never get married at my age, you’ve been single since I’ve known you! That’s great that you feel that way, good for you, but that’s YOUR life. Not mine. So please, keep the comments to yourself.
“Don’t you want to travel?”
Actually we do, thanks for asking! Does everyone just think that once your married you can’t go anywhere? That you’re just going to sit at home for the rest of your life? It is POSSIBLE to travel with someone else…not just by yourself. Most people travel with their best friends…well jokes on you, I get to travel with the ultimate best friend..oh and with benefits for the rest of my life!
“Does it suck you won’t have any time to yourself?”
I have more time to myself than I know what to do with. I mean we do have jobs, and his hours are the complete opposite of mine. If you add together all the hours that I have to myself it equals to about a days worth of so-called “alone” time, and no I do not wish I had more of it. Call me crazy but I enjoy spending time with my husband.
“Does it get annoying that you have to share EVERYTHING now?”
I didn’t know sharing a last name meant that we were all of sudden required to share EVERYTHING. It’s not like we’re one massive blob of a person, we are still each our own person. It’s a complete misconception that everything is shared, but hey if I’m not too hungry at dinner I have my reliable hubs to go halfsies on a meal with me…you don’t see restaurants having special priced meals for “one” now do you?
So please I’m begging you, if you have any friends or family members about to tie the knot…DO NOT ask these questions, but regardless of what I say the questions will still be asked, the rude statements still be made. But at least now you get to sit at home watching Netflix reruns with your spouse, laughing and joking at all of the stupid things everyone else says. Jokes on all of them, because you’re both awesome.
Tis’ the season to start cleaning, it seems like everyone I’ve spoken to as of late is either organizing or decorating a room this year. My mom is giving away items left and right, with my brother graduating this year they want to downsize, my friend Catherine (check out her blog here) has been painting and creating her office oasis, and then here I am…pinning all of the ideas I have for a future home.
Well this past weekend I was searching endlessly for some medicine – tis’ the season for the flu/cold as well, it has not been fun – I was completely fed up with the lack of organization in our medicine cabinet. On a whim, I just went on a complete organizing rampage, I still have a lot of other cabinets I want to tackle, such as the dreaded tupper-ware cabinet (UGH). But honestly, I only got through two cabinets, my medicine and the baking cabinets and it’s the GREATEST feeling in the world.
Everyone knows that feeling I’m talking about, it’s the equivalent of buying a new pair of favorite jeans. You began so frustrated but then the outcome makes you sigh a breath of relief. Every time I open the cabinets now it’s just pure bliss and it only took me maybe an hour to complete both, it’s better than sitting on Pinterest looking at people’s organized homes and wishing my circumstances were different. Might as well make the change myself and with what I have right now, granted I didn’t go out and buy any fancy organizing cubbies, I created my own. I can beautify them if I want to, but what’s the point when I don’t own the place and who really ends up looking in the cabinets? The three people who live there, that’s who. I’m not trying to win any home awards or make a fancy statement, I just wanted some organization to the chaos.
Of course the first step to organizing ANYTHING, is to completely gut whatever it is you are working on. It’s really mind blowing how much crap you can accumulate, and turns out you end up finding like 5 of the same bottles (Advil)…money wasted. I need to apparently take better inventory of the meds I do have as well, so I chose a method that allows me to view everything in plain sight in the cabinet!
As you can see, I cut up a Ritz box to store all the gauze and bandages, a cereal box to line up all the tape and even more bandaging. Ziploc baggies also came in to play, what’s the use in keeping tarnished boxes? Just takes up more space than it’s worth. Oh, and just an FYI we have all of the bandages because Clay worked at the hospital and somehow it always came home with him. At least we’re overly prepared!
From what I learned looking at organizing methods through Pinterest is that you can’t copy someone else’s ways to organize. We each have our own habits and preferences of doing things. What works for me may not work for someone else and that’s okay.
As for me, this works out! The list is endless still for what needs to be done around my house! I’m sure the majority of you have a list of your own! Let this be part of the inspiration to get your life organized! Trust me, the cabinets are just a small portion of what I still need to do to get everything else going on in order! In no way am I perfect…this baking cabinet sure is though 😉
This past week I missed my Throwback Thursday post, so I am very sorry for that, but in all honesty there was just no way I could write on Thursday. It had to be one of the most stressful, uncomfortable, and just absolute worst weeks that I have endured in a long long time. I figured it would be nice to just lay it out day-by-day, mostly because I feel the need to vent about my problems, make someone else feel better about their day and be grateful that this just wasn’t them. I left off on Tuesday, it was pretty basic of a week by Tuesday….then Wednesday hit and it all just went downhill from there.
Wednesday:
It was a great day honestly, I didn’t have to go in to work because I was taking my notary class, that work paid for AND I got paid still for being in the class. DOUBLE WIN! Well Leia (my little pittie/boxer mix) had started getting sick. She was throwing up and not keeping any food down, we figured it was just a bug and just babied her a bit to try and appease her, see if we couldn’t cure the symptoms ourselves. Well dinner time comes and we decide to go out for dinner…NEVER AGAIN. We went to Twin Peaks – if you aren’t familiar it is basically a restaurant like Hooters, Wing House, or Tilted Kilt. I have only been there one other time and it wasn’t that great, but I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt and just ordered something different than last time….it was just absolutely terrible. Honestly I don’t even think they gave me what I ordered, but anyways we get home and I feel awful. Leia was still sick, and by Midnight I joined her in sickness….FOOD POISONING. The absolute worst experience of my life, I was up for a straight 12 hours, I slept on our bathroom floor, if you can even count an hour at a time to be sleep. Needless to say I texted my boss at like 3 and 7 in the morning, telling him there was no way I was coming in to work.
Thursday:
Food poisoning is something I don’t think I would ever wish on my worst enemies, it’s worse than the world’s worst hangover times ten. If any of you know what I am talking about then you know. I swore off of eating out completely after this experience. Anyways, I got super dehydrated and it was impossible to even get any fluids in my body because they just came right back up. Not to mention sleeping on the bathroom floor was just absolutely freezing. It was a very uncomfortable night, but on the bright side by about noon the vomiting began to subside. I wish I could say the same for my little Leia though. We were two peas in a pod Thursday, if someone came into the house they would have thought a bomb of infections had gone off from how pathetic we all probably looked. Staying home from work, I wish I could say I enjoyed myself, it was miserable. Not to mention I was completely weak from no food and no fluids staying in my system, then trying to take care of one sick dog and two others who just wanted to play. Hence why there was no Throwback Thursday post.
Friday
Finally Friday, I should have been more excited, I was still exhausted from lack of sleep the day before and still kind of off. I had rice for dinner Thursday, but that was it. Food was not a priority of mine. Well I get back to work and completely forgot I was supposed to go to Raleigh to pick up some permits, so with a quick check of emails off to Raleigh I went. Of course at first I didn’t mind because at least I wasn’t sitting in the office…but it was 3 hours to get there, then three back, on top of that my boss tried getting me to turn around and go back while I was ALREADY DRIVING BACK….if any of you are in the corporate world, then you know that your bosses just work off their own time so by the time he called me he had just gotten into the office. I was not turning around, so guess who gets to drive all the way back up there again this week!?! Yeah, so exciting. Well that’s not the worst part yet, I get home finally and go to let the dogs out. Leia had an accident in her kennel that consisted completely of blood. I waited for Clay to get home and showed him as well, we went out to get groceries shortly after and stopped at a vet hospital to talk to them about what we found. (I don’t trust her normal vet…) They told us it was up to us but that we should take her to an actual specialist because they would be able to determine exactly what was wrong….so off the to vet ER we went with Leia. She is by far the most lovable dog in the world, even sick she doesn’t act it unless it’s really bad and is excited to meet everyone. Well like any ER it takes FOREVER, we got there around five and were there until about 8:30 pm. By the end of the appointment they discovered that on top of being super dehydrated, her liver was completely inflamed, and three times the enzyme count (whatever that is) than normal. She ended up having to stay overnight hooked up to antibiotics and IV fluids. 😦
Saturday
It was an exhausting night for me, she has never been gone from me, at least not to the vet or boarding. The only time we have been a part was when they were still with my parents when we first moved up here. By seven in the morning I got a call saying that she did very well throughout the night, with no vomiting or diarrhea, thank God. They were scheduled to check her liver again at noon. We spent the afternoon cleaning and running more errands, finally by about 2:30 pm we could finally pick her up. To say this was expensive is an understatement, thankfully they calculated in more treatments that were just in case scenarios that got deducted and the only thing I ended up paying for by the time we got her was her antibiotics, having paid the large sum the night before. She was out of it all Saturday, just sleeping on and off, very calm for her normal personality, threw up her food again. But it was to be expected, she didn’t really want to eat in the first place. I was just grateful that she was home and that she wasn’t dying, because of course every worst case scenario ran through my head during this whole process.
Sunday
Leia finally kept food down, she was more up-beat and hyper and we could finally rest easy knowing that the antibiotics were beginning to work. We spent the majority of Sunday at home since it was raining all day. At least it was relaxing and I knew the food I was eating was made by my own hands and I wouldn’t go through another episode.
That brings us to today, work..as always sucks. I still have to pick which day I am going to Raleigh, more than likely tomorrow, but my little Leia is so much better. I have never been more thankful than I am this Thanksgiving. It takes those thoughts of the worst case scenarios to really snap you into reality and be grateful that everything is slowly getting better, and didn’t get worse. Not to mention I can hopefully eat some delicious Thanksgiving delicacies…it is after all my favorite holiday…mostly because I’m a fatty.
Well yesterday I got the call from Shane while he was still at work. The possible deployment call. My mother has always said I have a very weird intuition, it’s that same intuition that guessed the genders of both my brother and sister when I was young, keeps me from taking certain roads at certain times, and completely staying home instead of going out. Because I’ve had so many of these experiences in my life thus far, I’ve not put down deposits for the wedding when it comes to vendors, and have not sent out any invites or even save the dates even though the wedding is a mere 8 months away.
According to my wedding checklist – yeah..right- I am supposed to be sending out invites already, considering I botched on the engagement announcements AND the save-the dates. I opted out of both for the sake of saving money to begin with. The problem is that we do have a venue and a secured date for June, but if he ends up having to go, well he won’t be back in time for the wedding date we have chosen. It’s becoming very clear to me now why so many military wives/husbands just elope, since you can’t really plan ahead, you can only take it day by day and hope for the best.
Honestly a big wedding doesn’t appeal to me to begin with, the whole process has been stressful for me since I have no one really up here to plan with. The last time I got any serious planning done was when my mother and sister visited last May and we were able to find my dress and secure the venue/catering. In our defense, the company we’re working with knew from the beginning he was military and honestly I’m just hoping they are reasonable. But on the one-hand now we also have to decide if we would want to wait until he gets back or all of a sudden now be married before March.
All in all I’ve basically written off having a wedding where all of our friends and family can make it there, it would be too short notice and so impromptu that we just really don’t have a choice. Regardless if we do it before or after, I wouldn’t be able to send out invites in time for people to make any plans to make the trip, considering all of my relatives are in Minnesota, his are at least in North Carolina, but both of our parents and siblings are in Florida.
The whole situation isn’t ideal, but in the end it’s down to us and what we want. I’ve completely ignored everyone’s complaints at this point, because there’s just nothing I can do. One thing that it’s been hard to deal with in this whole wedding planning process is trying to just focus on us and not be concerned with everyone else’s feelings and schedules. At the end of the day, no one is going to be 100% happy, but honestly that’s not my problem, and to them I’m coming off as a bitch, but in reality I’m getting married to Shane whether these people show up or not.
In the end, I can’t make all of our family members happy and I have now completely accepted that, I can only make myself and Shane happy. That’s all that matters in a marriage anyways, not living your lives to everyone else’s standards, but living to your own.
xoxo, Bee
P.S. Check out a sneak peek picture for our engagement photos this past weekend! This would happen as soon as we finally get them done!
I sincerely apologize to each and every one of my followers at this point, not only have I now been absent for any updates since mid April, but it has taken me almost three weeks just to complete this post about what all has been happening within that time period! Talk about everything changing immensely within that time frame! I guess even at this point it hasn’t all really sunk in yet, time just keeps flying by. Already over a year now since moving up to North Carolina!
I was going to try and split this post up between a multitude of updates but that proved to be even more difficult than just laying it all out in one post. So excuse this very long post, but you know a lot happens in six months, so bear with me 😉
Might as well start where I left off, well I still am doing pole (sort of) I ran into some health issues at the beginning of September and have been off of any work outs and let me tell you, it has SUCKED. When it comes to pole I have progressed further than I ever thought I could. My strength -was- beyond anything I could ever imagine for myself. I will add some pictures in for your benefit don’t worry!
I can now officially do a pencil, and yes I am extremely proud!This beautiful move is called a Jack-Knife, and it took me almost a full week to get right.Last but not least, the HARDEST besides the pencil to achieve, the dreaded Flag Pole. For some odd reason its much harder to hold your body up horizontally than vertically. I apologize for the awful camera glare!
Well as you all know Shane left for his basic training back in March, I got into a routine with myself for awhile there, actually a week after he left I wound up in the ER for choking on some apple seeds. Let me tell you, that was not the best insight into the next five months without him, and I am sure that Clay (our roommate) was very happy once May rolled around and I could finally be on speaking terms with him again. Throughout that entire three month period (basic military training lasts three months, then he was gone for another two months for his schooling) I got to hear his voice on the phone maybe three times at most, and only for about five minutes tops. Our only form of communication were our letters to one another. I wrote him at least twice a week and that still didn’t feel like enough for me, or for him. While he was gone, it not only gave me the opportunity to come to terms with myself, but also our relationship. When you are apart from someone for so long, you really realize how important they are to you. With him being gone, I knew for a fact that I would wait forever for this man and that I love him with all my heart, yes before he left I knew that…but I didn’t KNOW it. To be able to miss someone as much as I missed him, be able to smile just by receiving a letter and picturing him writing it to my best abilities, that was everything that kept me going.
His BMT (basic military training) was at Lackland Air Force Base, all the way out in Texas. Well of course my thoughts were, “oh it would be fun to do a roadtrip for when he graduates!” WRONG! Okay, yes I am glad we drove because we got to see parts of the country that I have not yet been to, we stopped on the way there to see New Orleans, but honestly for me it wasn’t that great. Maybe sans Mardi Gras it’s just a normal tourist attraction. While the buildings were gorgeous (I am a huge fan of historical buildings) it just smelled like vomit and sewage. We arrived around 11 o’clock at night and headed straight for Bourbon Street, it didn’t take long to walk the streets and scope out everything, but God forbid you stop to map out where you actually wanted to go. We stopped by the staircase of a building for five minutes to gather ourselves when a sketchy homeless man came up to us and started unraveling a crack pipe, and with cops on horses patrolling the street we wanted no part of that and quickly walked off to one of the bars playing heavy rock music. Another awesome thing about New Orleans was just the music pouring out of every single bar, a combination of jazz and rock, it was booming with sound.
One thing I can honestly say is that I am from Florida, and Orlando has some crazy people in it, but nothing compared to New Orleans, the array of people there was completely staggering. It was quite an experience, we ended up eventually finding an Irish dueling pianos bar (I forget the name, Pat O’Brien’s I believe), but that was the highlight of the night. Clay and I sat there for maybe an hour or so and had their signature drink, which was a gigantic Hurricane, and by far way too alcoholic for my liking, but hey, it was worth it. The women on the piano were taking requests at that point and it was truly beautiful to behold, and makes me wish I would have kept up with piano as a child. After that we called it a night, and yes we found a Wal-Mart parking lot and slept in the car, but don’t worry it was in the same lot as the police department. At our ages right now, we might as well take advantage of the fact that we can pull somewhat all-nighters driving and be perfectly content with sleeping in the car. We had planned to see all of the antique shops and galleries in the morning, but unfortunately nothing in New Orleans opens until 11 am, and we wanted to be back on the road well before then. We ended up walking along the Mississippi River boardwalk, Clay got to have his fortune told by a tarot card reader on the corner, we saw the beautiful St. Louis Cathedral, and then were back on the road.
We got to our hotel in Texas at about dinner time and met up with Shane’s parents for dinner, we were exhausted and to add on to that had to go to base late that night to make sure we had our visitors passes. On top of that we had to be on base by 7 the next morning, no time for rest. But what did I care, I got to see Shane for the first time in months. If you ever do take a trip to Lackland, this base is HUGE, we got lost so many times it’s unbelievable. But finally by noon, we witnessed Shane’s coin ceremony and then were given permission to go out and find him. That was hard, considering all of them are in uniform and so tightly knit together, I remember seeing him and tears just instantly sprung to my eyes. I let his mother get in the first hug before I completely collapsed into him. He had lost so much weight I just wanted to feed him immediately, but unfortunately we had to stay on base that day. We ended up going to a BBQ place on base for lunch and afterwards went to the bowling alley. It was so weird, being with him finally after all this time, yet he was so different. He was reserved and more quiet, just well behaved and even just to take his uniform boots off and his ABU jacket off he asked for permission at the bowling alley. All of his fellow graduates had the same mindset, that if anything was out of order or place that they would get in trouble, it made me realize just how intricate their training is.
Friday came and it was his official graduation day and afterwards we could finally go off base. His first time off base since getting there, he was thrilled and so were we! There really isn’t that much to do on base unfortunately, it gets very tiring just being able to walk around the entire time. So to relax we went to his parents hotel (much nicer than ours) and were able to go swimming for awhile before we went back up to the room and all passed out. After our brief naps we went to get some food and then to best buy to look around at laptops since he would need one for his technical school. But before long he was already due back at base, the worst part of my days with him, on the bright side the next day we had the whole day to spend off base!
Well Saturday was the absolute best day of my life (so far) basically in a nut shell, Shane and I are ENGAGED!!!! To view the full story of the proposal click here! The proposal just added to the already beautiful San Antonio Riverwalk, which we spent the majority of our day at. We also got to see The Alamo, which in all reality was much smaller than I was thinking it would be. Unfortunately pictures aren’t allowed to be taken there either. I accidentally snapped a few though before reading the signs…oops. Well after viewing The Alamo it was getting really hot outside and his parents were ready to go back and relax at their hotel. We ended up going back to our hotel and just hung out there until meeting back up for dinner with his parents, then it was already time for him to be back on base…
Sunday went by in a blur, we had to stay on base again, we ended up getting some breakfast then going to a movie. It had to be one of the most depressing days, to all of a sudden know this was my last day I would see him still for another two months. By about 3 pm we knew we had to be back on the road, another 20 plus hours in the car. JOY. I couldn’t even choke out a goodbye to him, just hugged him as tightly as I could before jumping straight into the car. I was on the verge of a breakdown at that point and didn’t want him to be upset over it either. Besides, in just 24 hours he would get his phone back and I would be able to talk to him whenever I liked.
We were supposed to be getting back into work Monday morning…that DID NOT happen. We drove straight through, alternating sleep shifts while the other drove. It was just plain awful, I could never do that again. Road trips are only fun when you have plans to sight see along the way….there was no stopping other than for gas, food, and bathroom breaks. Which of course were all in the same stop for the most part. I can say that the one awesome thing about the trip was seeing a sunset in the West, then the sunrise in the East. It’s a mind blowing experience in itself.
As for the next three months, well after Shane was in Tech School I got to visit him one weekend in June, we came across a cheap plane ticket to Oklahoma City, where one of his buddies girlfriends lived. I’ve never met the girl prior to her picking me up from the airport there. Then we drove about two hours to Wichita Falls, Texas; where I was reunited with him again. As soon as he knocked on my hotel door and I saw him there, instant tears just sprung into my eyes. I only spent about one full day with him that weekend, but every moment is worth it.
By the end of July he was finally home, where he also surprised me. He had told me he wasn’t able to come home on time because of graduation requirements, but no, Clay and his younger brother went and got him from the airport, and I was laying on the couch reading and had not even gotten dressed yet that day. I wasn’t the only one ecstatic he was home. Seeing the dogs react to him coming home was the most precious moment I’ve ever seen. They were crazy, they were whimpering and jumping all over him, because of course for a dog I know that it felt much longer than it was.
In all reality those are the most important moments that even happened in the past six months, life without Shane was just mind-numbing. The days went by, I got into a routine with myself, focused all of my energy on taking care of myself, went through a huge juice cleansing period, worked out consistently. Just did everything I could to stay busy, and then while he was in tech school I had the fun tasks of wedding planning (still do). This whole experience has really made me appreciate him more, the time that I get to spend with him. I feel for all the women out there who have their husbands, sons, brothers, boyfriends, actually overseas right now. It’s hard, but I truly believe that the women going through all of this are equally as strong as their loved ones fighting for our country. When Shane gets deployed, which in time he will be, I know I will have to be strong again without him. If you think about it though, I am not without him, I am being strong for him.
Finally, there you have it, the past six months (in a nutshell). Pictures will be added as well! I will also be adding some Wedding Budgeting tips that I’ve been going through as of late, and a new section for Pinterest inspired recipes that I have tried!
Christmas is coming, at least I feel like- for the most part- I have gotten the gifts I need to, but when it comes to time I am now completely out of spare time. Not to mention suffering from a huge writing block ever since the start of this month. Things are getting so hectic, which is understandable around holiday times. Deadlines at work are due before the end of the year, I just started a second job to make some extra “fun” cash, and Shane is working two jobs as well. To say we don’t see each other often is an understatement. Not to mention my early Christmas present that Shane and our roommate pitched in to get me requires a lot of maintenance and upkeep. We will get to that in a few 😉 I am in need of a good holiday rant right about now so here it goes:
1) I am now a Hooters Girl again (woohoo! – major sarcasm) I thought it would be the easiest job to get back into and be able to control my schedule the best. Guess we will find out, what really blows is having to go through training all over again and try to track down my servsafe certification. For those of you who have no idea what that is, it’s basically my license to be able to serve alcohol and food to customers. All waiters/waitresses are required to have this….I just refuse to sit through the four hour class again. No thank you, it’s bad enough I have to be “trained” again when it is all drilled into my brain for the rest of my life.
2) Shane may be leaving at the beginning of January for basic training for two months….what am I going to do in that time period?!? Well, hence the second job. I need something to occupy my time and make the days go by faster. I am in no way a needy girl, I quite enjoy my alone time, but it’s going to bed every night and not having him by my side that will really screw me up. Bring on the sleepless nights!
3) As always family drama’s are a given around this time of year, well for the past few weeks my Great Grandmother has gotten very ill and I want to be able to visit her in case anything goes wrong within the next few months. I have not experienced a death in my family since I was about five years old, I am not psychologically prepared to be given this burden on top of everything else. It would be nice to get to Minnesota and see her before it’s too late. I know that’s a terrible outlook right now and I probably sound like a pessimist, but since her surgery failed, and family members keep lying to us about her true conditions, I need to see her for myself at this point. Family has become the most important thing to me as I get older, and I just miss my relatives.
4) If getting a second job isn’t stressful enough, having my first job is even worse right now. It is major deadlines month, I am the manager when it comes to getting these deadlines completed. Those of you in a business like mine with meeting – unbelievably ridiculous – deadline amounts know my struggles. Plus everyday now I am required to be on a conference call until the end of the year, even on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I am beyond pissed off, especially since each call is the same conversation over and over again. Add in having to somehow make it to a second job with a smile on my face and hair and makeup all done?! I don’t know what I was thinking honestly.
Since this post is running long I will do a separate post about my beloved Christmas present 😉 maybe today….I might make ya’ll wait until Christmas! Maybe if you’re good I’ll let you unwrap this one on Christmas Eve!
Tis’ the season!
xoxo Brenna
This is our small little hometown up top! At the bottom are our first home decorations for Xmas!
Again, I am sorry about my delays with Blogtember!! I have been swamped at work the past three days so I am getting all of these late posts up to speed now! So I left off at: only photos! I could not decide what I should post picture wise, so I chose to go in depth so you can all see the different sides to me, as well as who has brought so much happiness to my life! To sum it all up, below are my country backwoods side, my modeling side, my happiness, and just myself. Normally I don’t like to be this conceited, but hey we all need to love ourselves before we can ever be loved in return! So here is the REAL me!
There seem to be many memories that I would like to relive, but one memory is my family’s trip to Captiva, Florida for one of my dad’s work conventions when I was sixteen. I remember this family trip more than most probably because it was my last with the family before I got to absorbed in my own life to go with them again. About two years later my dad’s company went through a merger and he was let go. No more yearly conventions in beautiful cities. Captiva is gorgeous, most people know it more as Sanibel Island, which is literally its own island off the coast in the Gulf of Mexico. If you grew up in Florida like I have, you will know how gorgeous the beaches are on the Gulf rather than the Atlantic.
Don’t get me wrong, I mean all beaches are amazing, but on the Gulf side, the water is so calm and about ten degrees warmer and much clearer. Which for me can be both good and bad. I will always have a fear of the ocean. Just one of those rational but irrational fears in the back of my mind. But to get back on topic, we spent four days on the island. There were not many busy roads so I explored the island a lot on foot and taking the trolley that was used in town. I also got to go deep sea fishing with my dad, the first time I had ever been and I have been in love with it ever since. To relive those four days would be a dream, not only to spend time with my family but to be reminded of the beauty of the island. My inspiration for my book I am writing (slowly) actually came to me after this trip. I began writing it on our last day there and the entire four hour drive back home. Of course with the occasional nap. 😉
Describe a distinct moment when your life took a turn. (I have my days six and seven swapped, oops)
I could write about a lot of instances where my life took a turn, from moving up to North Carolina a little over a month ago, or to the day I met Shane. Seeing as I have already done both to an extent, one moment stands out in my mind. It was in 2011 and it was the day I decided to move on from all of the drama that I was – at the time- involved with and start over. I had just quit my first job at Auntie Anne’s in the mall, too many people knew that I had worked there, two months into my new job at PacSun at a different mall, I wasn’t making enough hours in retail and I could not handle the atmosphere anyways. It just wasn’t my thing. My dramatic turning point was one day after work I planned on going to the chain of restaurants surrounding the mall in hopes of a waitress position. My first stop was Hooters, and needless to say I didn’t need to continue on to the other six places to even apply. I met with the manager for an on the spot interview, and was told to come in the next day for second interview. Well the next day came and I was officially dubbed a Hooters Girl. I was ecstatic! Of course my mom had to be worked up to the fact that her daughter was now a Hooters Girl, which she did after the first month once I got on my own phone plan and was getting tuition reimbursement for school every semester. I loved working there, and the girls were- and still are- always amazing.
Many people are prejudice when it comes to Hooters, but it really has progressed into a family restaurant over “every-man’s fantasy.” I had my regulars in time, and many of them were families with younger children. I made new friends, my parents didn’t need to worry about me financially, it really was a turning point in my life that I really needed. Not to mention the girls there, which many people don’t realize, some already had degrees, almost all were going to school on a regular basis. It was a family and I never regret working there a day in my life. I miss it a lot at times, working at Hooters made me not only more confident in myself, but be able to take the criticism that I often got whenever someone found out about where I worked. I sure wouldn’t be where I am today without ever working at the Hoots.
(Sorry for the picture quality) My days as a Hooters Girl 🙂
But honestly, I only got through two cabinets, my medicine and the baking cabinets and it’s the GREATEST feeling in the world.
I’m sure the majority of you have a list of your own! Let this be part of the inspiration to get your life organized! Trust me, the cabinets are just a small portion of what I still need to do to get everything else going on in order! In no way am I perfect…this baking cabinet sure is though 😉
They told us it was up to us but that we should take her to an actual specialist because they would be able to determine exactly what was wrong….so off the to vet ER we went with Leia. She is by far the most lovable dog in the world, even sick she doesn’t act it unless it’s really bad and is excited to meet everyone. Well like any ER it takes FOREVER, we got there around five and were there until about 8:30 pm. By the end of the appointment they discovered that on top of being super dehydrated, her liver was completely inflamed, and three times the enzyme count (whatever that is) than normal. She ended up having to stay overnight hooked up to antibiotics and IV fluids. 😦
No Limits 
