The End of 2015 (Things I Meant to Blog About But Didn't)

Even though I feel like I either napped or wanted to nap throughout the last few months of 2015, we still had a lot of fun and excitement that is absolutely worth sharing. 

In early December, my mom and I went up to Buffalo to visit my sister and her precious children. Traveling with my mom is always the best and what made this trip even better is that my sister was under the impression that I was the only one coming. We surprised her so good by having my mom hang back and come down the escalator a few minutes after I did. It was so great. I was able to get the whole surprise on video and if only I could figure out how to get it from my phone onto the blog post I'd share it with all of you because it is the best. I also got to tell my sweet sister in person that I was pregnant which was super special. We came up with a sneaky surprise for this too -- which I also got on video and it is priceless. I really wish I knew how to get those dang videos on here...

Our timing was perfect because we got to attend this cutie's third birthday party. This kid loves trucks and tractors like you wouldn't believe so my sister threw the cutest construction-themed party - hard hats and all!

A few weeks before our trip, I saw a picture of my sweet nine-year-old niece making a duck face and I made it my personal mission to put a stop to this as soon as humanly possible. Here is just one of many chats where I was explaining to her that wholesome, happy smiles are totally in right now. 

I love these sweet weekend visits to give me a little dose of these guys and knowing we get to see them again in March made leaving them just a little easier this time.

I wasn't even around enough in November to share that we decided to get a goldendoodle puppy. On Thanksgiving weekend, we went and picked out this angel....

...and we got to bring her home for good just before Christmas -- quite the perfect little Christmas gift for us this year.

Her name is Abby and she is now 12 weeks old and full of energy and sweetness. The great thing about all this is that Taylor cat is actually adjusting pretty well to her new sister. I can't say she is thrilled with the whole situation, but thankfully it's going much better than expected.

Like I said, Taylor isn't thrilled as you can see by her facial expression above, but she is hanging in there.

We did the usual Christmas activities like going to pick out our tree, walking around our town to see the lights and taking too many photos of our pets near the Christmas tree...

We celebrated Christmas day at my parents house, hosted a small NYE celebration at our house and proceeded to enjoy our annual New Year's Day ritual of doing absolutely nothing.

Thankfully Abby went along with our lazy New Year's Day plans for the most part. Other than a few spurts of spastic energy, she was quite the snuggle and nap partner.

On January 3rd, we celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary. It was our last day before getting back into the swing of things with work and whatnot, so we had a low-key day at home and went out for a nice dinner that evening. With a little babe on the way, I couldn't help but think of how much will change in our third year of marriage. We have lots of decisions and changes on the way but I couldn't be more excited to experience it all with this incredible human being. 

The tail end of 2015 was a whirlwind and we certainly started 2016 feeling hopeful and excited about the new year. I hope yours is off to a happy and healthy start!

A Bittersweet Day

Tuesday was an emotional day.

I took the day off from work to move the rest of my things out of the house and clean in preparation for the closing Wednesday morning. This was the day I'd spent the last few weeks preparing for.

In the weeks leading up to the closing, I was great about getting rid of things, organizing and prepping for the move so I wouldn't have as much work to do when the time came. My weeks of hard work paid off because even though I still spent the entire day cleaning and moving, I know it could've been a lot worse.

I'd worked so hard prepping for the move and preparing myself mentally to say goodbye to my first home. I was so ready to move out, to get one step closer to marrying and moving in with Jonathan.

I felt so much relief over selling the house so fast. I was ready to lock the door one last time and drive away from my first home, a place that holds so many wonderful memories--dance parties, girls nights with my sisters, baking extravaganzas in the kitchen, that time I decided to paint the master bedroom and bathroom by myself (not my best decision), the time my family helped me decorate for Christmas after I got home from a two week hospital stay and so many more memorable moments.

I was prepared to sell my house and let someone else start their story there.

Our last day at the house.

One thing I hadn't prepared for and never could have, was saying goodbye to Blake. It was months ago that we decided Blake would have a new home with my roommate once the time came to move, then the house sold quicker than I ever could have guessed and everything just happened so quickly.

I never could've prepared myself to say goodbye to Blake on Tuesday. He was by my side all day as I cleaned and packed the house. We planned on Natasha (my roommate) picking him up at the end of the day and taking him to her new townhouse and as the day went on, I found it more difficult to prepare for. I couldn't even look at him without crying. Anytime I sat down at the kitchen table to take a break, or to cry, he would jump onto my lap and sit with me for as long as I sat there.

When I finally finished cleaning and the house was empty, I spent the last hour in my home just sitting there holding my sweet puppy. He slept in my lap and opened his eyes to look up at me a few times. Honestly, I think he was just glad I was finally sitting still for a while so he could cuddle. When the time came for me to leave, I lost it. I said goodbye to Blake and cried the whole way to Jonathan's house.

The thing is, I know this is the right thing to do. Natasha is going to take such good care of him and I know he'll be happy. I know Jonathan and I made the right decision to give both our pets a new home. While Blake might miss his momma and I will miss him, we'll both adjust and the best part is that I will still be able to visit him anytime. Unfortunately, none of this makes it any easier to say goodbye.

I've had Blake since he was just a few weeks old. When I first got him, he was so little he just slept in my lap when I took him somewhere with me. As he got older and his right ear started to stand straight up while his left ear flopped down, people always asked about it and told me it was so weird. I just told them it's what makes him special. He's quirky and his biggest flaw is that he is just too excited about life. I know giving him a new home was the right thing to do, but he's still my little boy and it was more difficult than I could have ever imagined to say goodbye to him.

Just a few days after I brought him home.

This might be my favorite of all time.

Thanksgiving 2012.

One thing I've realized is that doing the right thing is sometimes the hardest thing. Making the decision to give both our pets away wasn't an easy one for Jonathan and I. It's easy for people on the outside to judge our decision, but this was the right thing to do for our relationship and our future. It's not something others have to agree with or understand.

I know in my heart that Blake will be more than okay, otherwise I wouldn't have given him to Natasha. I know I will feel better soon. It's difficult to say goodbye and Jonathan will go through the same thing when his cat goes to a new home soon. We're going to help each other through it and as long as we know we did the right thing for our relationship and our future, it will all be okay.

Needless to say, this week has been emotionally exhausting. I've gone from feeling complete sadness over saying goodbye to Blake to feeling absolute relief and joy signing the closing documents for the house the next day. It's been a bit of a roller coaster, to be completely honest. I'm just grateful for my fiance' and my family. These wonderful people in my life have been so supportive this week. They've shared in my joy over the sale of the house and made sure I wasn't alone in my sadness over Blake. Poor Jonathan has basically had a front seat on this emotional roller coaster all week. Thank God for his strength and patience!

Everyone has an opinion

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Today I'm going on a bit of a rant and I hope you don't mind.

When Jonathan and I got engaged just a few weeks ago, I had so many questions for him. How long have you been planning this? When did you get the ring? Oh, is that what you were doing the day you said you had a "work thing?" Did your family know you were about to propose? Who else did you tell?

He filled me in on the details and told me that while his family was fully supportive of his plans, several friends, neighbors, acquaintances he told weren't quite so supportive. He said he stopped telling people after getting comments about how he is too young to settle down, how he hardly knows me, how we are moving too fast, etc. He just didn't want to hear all the negativity and I can't blame him.

From a friend saying we spend too much time together, to a family member saying "Don't you think that's a little fast?" when Jonathan gave me a key to his house, we're used to the criticism. That's life, I guess. People are always going to have an opinion. I'm sure you or your relationship has been criticized a time or two so you know exactly what I'm talking about. We typically brush this kind of stuff off because none of it matters. When it comes to relationships, my thinking is this:

If you aren't in the relationship, you are in no position to criticize it.

Anyway, getting back to our conversation on that most wonderful day, I reminded Jonathan that this is only the beginning of dealing with the opinions of others. If it's not people criticizing our relationship, we'll have people who don't like the food we have at the wedding or people who don't like the music the DJ plays. People will have an opinion on what we put on our wedding registry, what we choose to name our kids, how we discipline our children, the list goes on and on. We decided right then and there that we have to stay true to ourselves and we can't worry about what others think. Just because everyone is entitled to their own opinion doesn't mean we have to let their opinions affect us.

Unfortunately, as I'm wedding planning and making arrangements for us to move in together after the wedding, I'm finding this whole "don't worry about what others think" thing so much easier said than done. 

See, we have some decisions to make as we move into the next phase of our lives together. One of the more controversial decisions we've made is about our pets. Jonathan has a cat and as you all know, I have a dog. We both love our pets. Unfortunately, we haven't had much success in getting our pets to get along. I don't mean they haven't become best buds (I obviously never expected that to happen). I mean they don't even tolerate each other. We have to keep the cat locked in the bedroom while Blake gets the run of the house. If Blake sees the cat, he attacks. We've tried to introduce them on multiple occasions and we've tried a few different approaches. They are no closer to getting along now than they were the very first time we introduced them. Add to that the fact that Blake is really bad with children and you have a really difficult situation. 

While it's easy to say one of us just has to get rid of our pet, this just isn't fair. If I give Blake away and we keep the cat, Jonathan will always feel guilty and I'll always feel a little bitter about it and visa versa. Nobody wins in this situation. The only fair thing is for both of us to find a good home for each of them and start fresh. This breaks my heart, but I know it's the only fair thing to do. I also know that it will save us the stress and frustration of trying to manage both animals who don't get along.  I also can't imagine trying to bring children into our home with Blake being so bad with kids. I'll feel a little better finding Blake a new home with a close friend or family member, so that's what I'm hoping for. As you can tell, it's a tough situation. 

While I don't want people (my family, specifically) to criticize me for giving Blake away, I have to trust they know me well enough to know I don't take this lightly. I'm not a cruel person. I love Blake and the thought of giving him away breaks my heart. This is difficult for me, but I have to do what's right for Jonathan and I. At the end of the day, we have to live with whatever decisions we make. Other people may criticize, but that isn't something we can control, unfortunately.

Needless to say, I know we'll be criticized for this, and many other things throughout our life together. Heck, I'm sure a few of you are even judging me right now based solely on our decision about the pets.The worst part I think (and the reason I am writing this post) is that I am criticizing myself, too. I shouldn't be concerned with what other people think and especially need to stop judging myself. 

At this point I'm kind of just rambling so I'll just stop, but I feel a little better. Thank you for reading. This is why I blog, to sort out my thoughts and get things off my chest. At the end of the day, I'm not perfect, Jonathan isn't perfect...we are both just trying to do what is right for us. End of story. 

Love found us.

Yesterday was just another day. Another wonderful day, but still...just another day. I absolutely couldn't wait to head to Jonathan's house after work. We didn't have elaborate plans...just to go for a run, go rock climbing...something active. Instead, when I got there we both decided we weren't up for all that so we relaxed for a bit and planned to see a movie later in the evening.

Later on, we got in my car to head to the movies. In the driver's seat, Jonathan sat there sorting through his mail as I texted my roomie something about how I was probably going to stay at Jonathan's for the night. There we sat in the driveway, me texting away not really paying attention to anything else...when out of nowhere he blurts it out..."I love you."

Before I share what happened next, I should probably tell you that I kinda already said this to him last weekend. I say "kinda" because (1) I had a few too many drinks downtown that night and (2) up until last night I wasn't sure if I had actually said it or I had simply dreamt that I said it to him. I hadn't said anything to him after the fact because I didn't want to make him uncomfortable if he wasn't ready or anything.

To be honest, I have been holding myself back from saying it for a few weeks now. What can I say? When I fall, I really fall. I've been falling in love with him since our first date when he knocked on the door of my favorite frozen yogurt place begging them to let me in after they'd already closed. I don't know the exact moment I went from falling in love to being in love...but I've known for a few weeks now that I'm absolutely in love with this guy.

I obviously didn't want to say those words to him too soon and certainly didn't want to drunkenly blurt them out, but there is no doubt about the fact that I absolutely meant it.

So back to the driveway...

He says it and I can't really believe what I just heard. I slowly look up from my phone and say "Did you mean to say that?" He laughs and says of course he meant to say it. "I love you." He said it again. Here we are on a Tuesday night just sitting in the driveway and this man manages to make me feel like I could stay here, in this car, in this moment, forever. I obviously tell him I love him too, give him a big, smiley kiss and we finally pull out of the driveway and head to the movies. Just like that.

A funny part of all this is that I proceeded to text Natasha right after this (I had been texting her when it happened) and the conversation that follows is seriously one of my favorites ever. We were both too excited to type apparently because this stops making sense at one point.

Yes, she is talking about my dog, Blake

Only a best friend gets just as excited as you do about this kind of thing. I love her!

For the record, I cleared things up later last night by asking if I drunkenly said I love you the other night and he confirmed that I did. I did say it. Of course I did. To be honest, though, I wasn't freaking out too much. After all, if I had said it, he didn't run away or anything so no harm done and I knew if anything, at least he would know where my head was at when he was ready to put his feelings out there.

I'm in love with someone who truly deserves my love and affection. The best part? This wonderful human being loves me right back. He doesn't just say this, he shows it and we show each other every day. I've never felt so safe and secure in love. I'm overjoyed beyond belief.

P.S. I promise to get back to other topics around these parts eventually. This relationship has overwhelmed me in the very best way, so bear with me while I soak it all in and I promise to start mixing it up soon.

Christmas Snapshots

Hello! I hope you all had a Merry Christmas. The last few days have been absolutely wonderful. I feel relaxed and so completely blessed after being home for Christmas. I'm back at work for 2 days, then off to Jacksonville for a long weekend to see my cousin get married. I really want to update you on the man in my life because things are moving right along, but that will have to wait until tomorrow because I have too much to say. In the meantime, here are a few snapshots of my Christmas -

On Saturday, I spent the day at Disney with Taryn. She was in town for Christmas and Saturday was our only chance to see each other before I headed to my parents'. As always, we had an absolute blast.

Minnie Mouse ears were a must!

My mother and I schedule a day just for baking every Christmas. We did this on Sunday and as always, we had a wonderful day in the kitchen together.

 

I still had a bit of last minute shopping to do on Christmas Eve, so my brother, dad and I braved the crowds (which actually weren't too bad) to finish up. I told them it would absolutely make my day if they wore Santa hats out shopping with me and after putting up a bit of a fight, I walked out that morning and they were both wearing hats. This made me happier than you can imagine.

 

they are such good sports!



It just wouldn't be an occasion if I didn't get a family photo of Blake and I. This is my first Christmas with Blake and he was so adorable playing with all his new toys and playing in the piles of wrapping paper in the living room on Christmas morning. 

 

 

It's safe to estimate that I cried happy tears at least 5 times over the last 2 days. My parents always made Christmas so special growing up, making it less about the gifts and more about being together and appreciating the special time together. This is why I get emotional during the toast at dinner and why I love looking around the living room as we open gifts on Christmas morning. Our house is so filled with love and support. It is such a blessing.

 

 

 

Tell me...

What was your favorite Christmas moment this year?

Speaking up, Sea World, Being Crafty and a Runaway Blake

Hello friends. I have a lot I want to say this week and I don't know where to start. I guess I'll start by telling you about my weekend and figure out the rest later this week.

Sometimes when I reflect on the weekend, it's hard to believe I crammed so many adventures, mishaps, awkward moments and good times into such a short time. This weekend was definitely one of those weekends.

Saturday I spent the day at Sea World with The Dog Whisperer, his roommate and a lady friend of his. I hadn't seen and hardly spoken to The Dog Whisperer in a few weeks so I was feeling a little anxious. We had a really fun day and got to hit up just about every attraction they have. The dolphin show is by far my favorite show there and everytime I see it I am completely overwhelmed by how amazing it is. I also cry tears of joy everytime I watch it and this time was no different. Did our whole group think it's weird and hilarious that I cry? I think so, but oh well. Sea World at Christmas makes me ridiculously happy. They have fake snow and do Christmas versions of some of the shows. We fed sting rays, which if you've never done is really awkward because they basically suck the food out of your hand. We also spent way too long in the game area of Sea World and The Dog Whisperer walked away with a creepy amount of small stuffed animal prizes. It was a really fun day.

While I had a really fun day, I have to say that The Dog Whisperer treated me like nothing more than a friend all day. Because he's been sending such mixed signals, I've already backed off quite a bit so if he just wants to be friends, that's cool. It would be nice though if he would just say so instead of leaving me to figure it out on my own. It's exhausting.

My goals for Sunday were simple: at least start to decorate the house for Christmas. I'm saving the Christmas tree for this weekend when my roomie and I can go pick one out and decorate together, but I wanted to get some lights up, get the Christmas candles out and finally pack up the fall decorations. As I tend to do, I got a little overzealous and decided I was also going to attempt to make one of those adorable yarn wreaths I see all over Pinterest.

I wouldn't describe myself as crafty, but I used to scrapbook a lot and I can pull off pretty basic DIY projects. The problem is, that no matter what I do, I always end up spending 3x as much on the supplies and the project takes about 2 hours longer than the tutorial says it should. This is why my crafting days are few and far between. The good news is that I'm pretty happy with the result.

I didn't really follow any specific tutorial because there are so many online and honestly, this is pretty easy to make. Wrapping the yarn around the wreath is really more of a two person job (it took me about 2 1/2 hours and it is not perfect by any means), but other than that, it's pretty self explanatory.

I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty exhausted and mentally checked out after the wreath was complete and I hadn't even gotten around to hanging any lights yet. This explains how I didn't notice Blake walking right out the front door somewhere between me trying to hang the wreath on the door and standing in my kitchen sink trying to hang Christmas lights in my front window (side note: you can't help but stop and laugh at yourself when you're using an ice cream scoop as a hammer for an hour before realizing you have a tool kit in the garage).

When I was finally finished, I realized I hadn't seen Blake in a while. He hadn't been feeling very well and I kinda figured he gave up on following this mad woman around the house and went to sleep on the couch. I walked through the house calling his name and he was no where to be found. I started to panic realizing he could have been gone for an hour or two at this point. I had been so wrapped up in what I was doing, I had no idea when he got out. I started freaking out, crying, calling his name and as I ran outside to look for him, my neighbor from a few houses down was walking up to the door with him.

I was so relieved and panic-stricken that I brought Blake inside and cried like a baby for a good 10 minutes. Before you judge my parenting, I am usually much more attentive. Blake is still a puppy, so I don't let him out of my sight most of the time. I honestly don't know how he got outside without me even realizing it and it really makes me worry about my mental health. He would've had to walk right past me to get outside when I had the door open for goodness sake! The good news is that thanks to my neighbor walking his dogs, Blake didn't go far and I didn't end up having to roam the streets hysterically looking for him.

So yeah, to summarize: Hot mess, party of one right here. I'll get it together soon, I'm sure. I do know that though I feel like I am kinda falling apart, it's making me say and do things that need to be done. I don't ever fall apart without coming out of it feeling better and more secure with myself. So, there's the bright side. Oh, and I'm sure you would all agree that succeeding in any DIY project can make you feel like you could take over the world, assuming you don't let your dog run away without you noticing in the process.

Holy cow that was long. Thanks for sticking around to read it if you did and I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Hello friends. I hope your Thanksgiving weekend was delightful. Mine was so delightful that I'm having a really tough time getting my shit together this week.

Thanksgiving weekend is always wonderful. Celebrating Thanksgiving with my family is always special, emotional and full of joy. The long weekend is like a little mini-vacation from work and it's so relaxing to spend a few days at my parents' house. I even volunteered to give the Thanksgiving toast before dinner and I am a little embarrassed to say I wasn't even halfway through it before I started sobbing. Maybe next year.

It was my intention to take lots of cute photos of my family on Thanksgiving, but that didn't work out as planned. My brother acted like the paparazzi was trying to snap photos of him without his consent, my sisters weren't much more cooperative, then I started baking away and didn't really think of it again. I can, however, always count on my child to suck it up for a photo session with his momma, so there's that.

So thankful for this little boy.

I baked my ass off for Thanksgiving this year. I don't bring many cooking skills to the table (yet!), so this is how I contribute to Thanksgiving. These are all super easy to make and I loved how they came out. I linked to the recipes so you can try them for yourself.

Pumpkin Streusel Pudding Cookies

Apple Snickerdoodle Cobbler

Peanut Butter Cookie Cups

Even Blake was exhausted from all the excitement. He absolutely loves weekends at my parents' house....so much room to run and so many other friends to play with!



Sleepy boy.

Because my BFF Taryn was in Orlando visiting her family for Thanksgiving, I drive back to Orlando for Friday and Saturday to spend time with her, then went back to my parents' for Saturday night and Sunday. This resulted in my spending what felt like 80% of my weekend in the car, but it was totally worth it.

In less than 2 days, Taryn and I managed to squeeze in rasberry mojitos and banana pizza at Cafe Tu Tu Tango, meeting friends for a night on the town and a few hours of fun plus a photoshoot at Epcot. Best friend time is always good for the soul, even if we did get into a drunken argument about nothing on Friday night. When I get my hands on the rest of our photos from Epcot, I'll share them, but in the meantime, this is our time together in a nutshell.

As we typically do, we were running late to meet our friends downtown. I pulled up to the toll booth to find this guy parked there. I was obviously excited about the prospect of a random act of kindness falling into my lap and we couldn't really get around him, so I jumped out to help. He didn't understand English, was lost and didn't have any change, so we helped! I was so caught up in the moment, I didn't think for a second he could've thrown me into his car and driven away. Let's just say my dad wasn't thrilled...

"Every brunette needs a blonde best friend." This photo was taken at Epcot and we got the idea from this pin on Pinterest.

Yes we are almost wearing the same outfit. It wasn't planned, but we went with it anyway.

After dropping Taryn off at the airport and begging her not to leave....

Just causing a scene at the airport.

...I hit the road back to my parents' house to relax for the rest of the weekend. I spent Saturday night watching Elf with my momma and spent Sunday doing a little shopping with mom and dad. My weekend was the perfect combination of fun and relaxation/friend and family time. Thanksgiving was absolutely wonderful and now I'm psyched to get ready for Christmas.

I'm probably due to update you all on other life happenings, but I'll save that for later. Hope all is well in your world today!

Halloween Snapshots

Good morning! It's 10 a.m. on Halloween and I already have a tummy ache from eating too much candy corn. Is that going to stop me? Nope.

I have Blake at work with me today for our Halloween potluck and we are heading over to The Dog Whisperer's house later this evening to hand out candy and enjoy the beautiful fall weather we are having. I'm a happy girl.

Since I should really get to work since we'll be slacking off most of the afternoon...here are a few of my Halloween snapshots so far.

My bumblebee costume. I wore this downtown Saturday night. Today I'm just rocking the wings and antenna since it's a little chilly today and my boss probably wouldn't appreciate this outfit too much.

Blake is a Wide Retriever today. I can't get over how adorable this is
and he doesn't seem to mind the shirt too much! 

Pumpkin cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting
 made from scratch by yours truly :) You can find the recipe here.

I absolutely cannot wait to spend the evening with some wonderful people in my life. I hope you all have a safe and happy Halloween!


When you put a birthday hat on your dog and he becomes visibly upset

I'm sure if Blake could speak, he'd say he had the most wonderful 1st birthday yesterday. Since I was at work all day, he spent the day at The Dog Whisperer's house. When I showed up last night so we could all celebrate his birthday together, Blake was adorable. He was so happy and exhausted from his day of fun....

Then we put a birthday hat on him and he went from excited to shamed in an instant....

"Really mom?"

 

I can't say Blake loved the birthday hat, but he definitely had a happy birthday. In all seriousness, though, I am so thankful for all the joy this little 1-year-old has brought into my life.

We may have overcelebrated Blake's birthday by going bowling after all of this and taking a few too many shots. Note to self: Taking an excessive amount of shots doesn't make you any better at bowling. It does, however, make the attempt much more entertaining.

Happy Friday!

It's Okay Thursday

I really love this linkup. It's at the point in the week where I am ready for the weekend, where I start to wonder if I really have gone crazy...and seeing everyone's "It's okay" posts makes me realize I am at least not alone in my quirkiness. So here goes!

It's okay to be overly emotional about the fact that my child is turning one-year-old today. I can't stop looking at pictures from when I first took Blake home and remembering how tiny he was. I might shed a few tears at some point...and that is okay.

On that note, it's okay to have a full-fledged birthday celebration planned for him. We'll be celebrating with The Dog Whisperer at his house with his roommate, his dog and my roommate. There are birthday hats to go around and I bought Blake a special birthday treat. Is this overboard? Yes. It is necessary? Absolutely. Is this one of the reasons I start to wonder if I've truly lost my mind? Yes. But, it's okay.

It's okay that I haven't stopped listening to the new Taylor Swift CD all week. Really, though...listening at work, in the car, at the gym....I can't turn it off and want to twirl everytime "Holy Ground" comes on.

It's okay that it's only 11:38 a.m. and I'm already mentally checked out at work. What? I'm going bowling tonight with The Dog Whisperer and can't wait to show off my skills....or I can't wait to drink and attempt to bowl. Either way, it's going to be fun!

It's okay to stop overthinking everything and just go with it.

It's okay to take a random Tuesday off work just to go to breakfast with a sweet boy and shop for your puppy's birthday celebration. Totally worth every vacation hour spent.

It's okay to have random moments where you feel so alive, and so happy, and so happy to be living your life that you laugh and cry at the same time and and you kind of never want the moment to end.

On that note, I hope you all have a more than okay Thursday. xoxo