Monday, April 29, 2013

M is for Marriage

I have always wanted to get married.  Since the time of Barbies and Cabbage Patch Kids marriage and a family has been in the plans.  But hasn't happened yet.  Which is hard some times, unbearable others and sometimes fine and dandy.

Sometimes when my married friends with kids are complaining about in laws and no sleep and their spouse I think, you know what? I'm ok.  I can sleep when I want and do what I want and don't have any mother in law drama.

Sometimes when I see people with their wedding pictures and baby pictures and idyllic looking lives its hard.  When something goes wrong or I need someone to talk to it would be nice to have a husband who was on my side.

And sometimes, when people are callous and insensitive to the plight of singledom it is nearly unbearable.  It is a slap in the face and tears from hurt feelings and friends who SHOULD know better and understand how you feel.  They were single once, but in my experience, becoming a
"smug married" makes you forget all that.

But you know what?  As much as I want that, as much as I want a marriage and a family, sometimes it scares the daylights out of me.  Because I have seen too many people, in my family even, who have completely lost their identity in their marriage.  Who have tossed aside their own family and have become selfish self absorbed robots who can't do anything without the approval of their spouse. I've seen others who have marriages that would make me absolutely miserable.  Honestly, of the young married people I know and am friends with, there are about 2 that I consider to have a "good" marriage.  Something like the one I want. The others?  Their husbands are selfish or lazy or big kids themselves.  That's scary.  So is the thought of marrying a person you think you know who turns out to be crazy or have a whole other life or personality you've never seen.  This is what terrifies me the most.  It's a scary business, this marriage.  I won't even get into in laws.  Yikes.

It's scary.  It's a huge decision, among the most important you will make in your life.  And even with all that, I still want it. 

But I vow, here and now to NEVER, EVER become a smug married.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

M is for Mint

I am digging, and I mean digging, the bright colors of spring clothes right now.  Corals, mints, pinks, yellows-all gorgeous.  I am also loving, that for the first time in my life I am comfortable enough with my body to explore the colored pants/capris explosion that is currently happening.  I may or may not have purchased a mint pair of capris, a dark coral pant and a lighter coral capri this weekend.  This losing weight/feeling more confident in my clothes thing has not been kind to my bank account.

Today I am rocking a look I saw on another blog I follow that I loved.  Mint & denim.


I love mint.  I think it looks so crisp and clean and classy.  The problem?  Apparently I have "witch undertones" in my skin (30 Rock?? Liz Lemon anyone?) that makes me appear tres Wicked Witch of the West whenever this beautiful color is near my face.  I have tried on a blue million mint tops this spring in the desperate home one particular shade variation will work.  Yeah, no.  So I decided to try pants-and voila!  No witchy skin (probably partly due to the rocking playground tan I am pimping).  I paired the pants with a denim shirt I already had-one of several-I love denim-I'll admit it.  I then threw on my favorite pair of silver sandals from Rack Room Shoes-they go with everything, and what they don't match the identical bronze pair I have does :)



And to top it all off this fabulous mint ring from Maurice's that I bought before I had anything to possibly wear it with.




I'm digging it-what's your favorite style/color this spring?  I am loving pretty much everything from the colors to the styles and the oh so lovely dresses.  I was never happier to put away my drab winter clothes-how about you?

Friday, April 19, 2013

Top Five Friday: Top 5 TV Shows!!!!

I am a TV nut. There, I said it.  I love TV (and movies) and literally look forward to certain days of the week when "my" shows are going to be on.  So, in no particular order, here are the top 5 shows I can't get enough of lately:
 
#1-New Girl-I LOVE this show.  It is one of the few shows that literally makes me laugh out loud every. single. episode.  I am loving how they've handled the whole Nick & Jess thing and can never get enough Schmidt.  It's one of the few shows I save up on my DVR to rewatch when nothing else is on.
 
 
#2-The Mindy Project-I initially checked this out because I liked Mindy Kaling on the Office and it followed my aforementioned fav New Girl so I thought eh, why not.  I love it too.  Mindy is hilarious and so very relatable.  She so badly wants her life to be a romantic comedy/drama-what single girl doesn't really?  Chris Messina as her colleague/friend/?? is hilarious.  They have great chemistry. 

 
 
#3-Psych-my all time favorite and another that never fails to make me lol.  I love Shawn. I love Gus.  I love their bromance.  I love Shawn and Juliet's love story.  I love Shawn's tenuous relationships with Lassie and his father.  This is another that gets the high honor of being saved in the DVR.
 

 
 
#4-Nashville-This is another new show I am hooked on.  Throw Connie Britton, Chip from Who's Line Is It Anyway? and some fantastic country music together?  I'm in.  I just really, really hope Rayna and Deacon can work it out.  Those two deserve to be together. This is a truly drama filled show...I'm always on the edge of my seat and several of the songs have made it onto my iPod.
 

 
 
 
#5-Duck Dynasty-OH MY GOODNESS! I made fun of this show without ever watching it but it is definitely one of my top 5 now.  This show revolves around the Robertson Family, self proclaimed rednecks who made it big (and rich) selling duck calls.  They are hilarious.  Jase and Uncle Si are my favorites.  Each episode has the family on some new adventure and ends with a lesson and prayer at the family table. It's wholesome, real and always entertaining.
 

 
 
If you haven't checked any or all of these shows out yet, I highly recommend them all.  Let me know what you think and let me know what some of your favorites are-there may be a little room left in my DVR yet :)
 
Happy Friday Homies!

Sunday, April 14, 2013

B is for Baptism

Today was baptism Sunday at our church.
And who got baptized? This girl.
I went up and made my public profession of faith about a month ago and today was baptized.
It was the most amazing day.  I have been feeling nervous about it and anxious and excited so I prayed to God for peace.  And boy did I ever get it.  I was calm, sure, steady and never more sure about any other decision I have made.

But just in case I needed a little extra reassurance this was the verse of the day when I opened my Bible app this morning:

"Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Acts 2:38

I love small but meaningful affirmations to little me from a big big God.

Monday, April 8, 2013

P is for Prep

Spring break is over.  Allow me to sing you the song of my people...

WAHHHHHHHHHHHH!

But I am clinging, desperately, to the fact that there are only 6 weeks left until summer vacation.  I think I can, I think I can...

With the return of school and my alarm clock (yack) also came the return of breakfast/lunch prep. Which I loathe.  But it is essential to sticking to a diet and is one of the reasons I do much better when I am in school as opposed to off for vacations.

So last night I hunkered down in the kitchen and over about an hours time cranked out:

-4 servings of eggs whites, mushrooms and avocado
-5 days worth of salads with egg whites, tomato, tuna or chicken, sweet pepper and avocado
-5 days worth of snacks (sugar snap peas, carrots, hummus and cocoa covered almonds (my newest addiction-ah-mazing!))
-grilled chicken and mushrooms to pair with some Steam Fresh veggies tonight for dinner post boot camp

It is not an hour I enjoy but I do greatly enjoy not having to spend time each night packing and rather condensing it into one block of time.  I also LOVE being able to open the fridge in the morning and have everything ready to go into the lunchbox.  This is convenient and increases the chances I won't make bad food choices, since the good ones are already there for me.  It's a win win. 

And one of my best tips-wanna lose weight and make sure you're on target with eating clean? Plan & prep folks.  Plan and prep.

Friday, April 5, 2013

Top Five Friday

Soooo.....I haven't posted since last weeks TFF. And when you see the topic of this week's you'll understand why :)

Top Five Things I Did On Spring Break:

(see, I was on break, from everything, blogging included)

#1-spent a day (or two) doing NOTHING.  Vegging out, watching Tv, being lazy.  Those days are necessary and oh so nice from time to time.

#2-spent a day with my Dad at the barn doing some spring cleaning including pulling out old fence, repairing stalls, hauling hay, cleaning out stalls and hauling shavings, etc.   Which reminded me how much I love the barn and my horses.  I love the sound of horses eating in the morning.  The smell of fresh bedding in stalls.  Ahhh the life of a horse girl.

#3-A day with my girls shopping, lunching, watching The Host (that Stephanie Meyers has some issues ya'll!) then eating dessert, then dinner in that order.  Insert lots of laughs and fun.  So blessed to have these girls in my life.

#4-A day at home cleaning EVERYTHING.  Thrilling I know, but its super nice to be going back to school next week with everything spic and span, laundry caught up and to not have to worry about it.

#5-This is not happening until tomorrow but a cookout with friends including some corn hole and roasted marshmallows? yes please.

It wasn't wild and crazy but it was a relaxing and productive break.  I would have liked to go somewhere tropical but maybe next year.  I will go back to school feeling re-energized and ready to head down the backstretch of this school year.