Recurring Series – Page 101

A Weekend in Pictures

This weekend was all about packing, moving, nephew time, and dealing with the news that my ankle is not sprained… it is broken. In two places. As in, I walked down a mountain on a broken ankle, walked all through Six Flags on a broken ankle, and have been walking around for over two weeks on a broken ankle. Yikes! Today, I am getting fitted with an air cast and I have no idea how long I will need it. I’m very bummed because I’m pretty sure this means exercise is completely off the table for weeks. My appointment will shed a lot of light on the break and my recovery and honestly, I am glad to have an answer and reason for why my ankle still looks like there’s a ping-pong ball attached to it.

But onward to my weekend!

Our empty living room. So much possibility! Please notice the gorgeous TV on the wall (came complimentary!) and the fireplace (also complimentary). Living in Florida, fireplaces aren’t actually necessary and I doubt we’ll use it much but I love the way it adds to the room.

This is our screened-in porch. I mean. THIS VIEW. It’s just incredible and I fully plan on investing in a chaise lounge and some porch furniture and taking advantage of this view.

A necessary strawberry-mango margarita on Friday night. Oh, my heavens. This was delish. Friday was a pretty stressful day on so many levels and this hit the spot!

Our sectional was delivered on Saturday afternoon! She’s a beauty and so comfortable. I have been coveting a sectional for the longest time and this one is perfect for what we need.

Well, this is what it’s come to. My face is a mess of breakouts, redness, and oily, oily skin. My skin has never been one of my finer features and I just want to get it under control. I’m hoping Proactiv is the answer and I got ALL of that for just $30, which is normally $100. (Of course, if this kit works well for me, continuing the process won’t be cheap but it will be SO worth it. I just hope it works!)

This boy. He is my favorite. And he looks SO big in this photo. He came over on Saturday night while my brother and his wife had a date night for my brother’s birthday and slept for about an hour and a half before waking up in a super silly mood. He’ll be 4 next week and I absolutely love the age he’s at now. I mean, when he’s not being a grump.

My mom ran a 10K yesterday and I went to support her. She did amazing for a crazy hilly course and her first words when she saw me were, “Where’s the beer?”

How was your weekend? Have you ever broken a bone?

Categories: Recurring Series

Fill-In-The-Blank-Friday (4)

I haven’t done one of these since March! I was planning on writing a nice post for my brother, since his birthday is tomorrow, but my mom and I got our keys to our new apartment yesterday and spent a few hours last night moving things so there wasn’t time. (And oh my goodness, our new apartment is amazing! We have insane views, a spacious kitchen, and it already feels like home. I can’t wait to show it all to you guys!) For today, I’m fillin’ in the blanks!

1. Right now, the weather where I live is gorgeous in the morning but hot as hell once it hits 10:00. The nice morning weather (70’s with a hint of a breeze) has been great so I’m not complaining. I’m getting more and more excited for cooler weather to be on its way but let’s face it: I live in Florida. That probably won’t happen until late November.

2. The best piece of advice I’ve been given is “You are not perfect at everything, but you are brilliant at being you.” This quote was from one of my Fierce Love videos by Molly Maher of Stratejoy and it was one of those lines that made me stop the video, write it down, and mull over it. I watched that video about a month ago and that phrase still rolls over in my brain, during this journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance. I think it’s so easy for us to get down on ourselves when we start comparing the way we do things and the struggles we have with the way others are doing/triumphing/struggling. I am not going to be perfect at everything I do and I’m going to struggle a lot on things others can do easily… but the fact of the matter remains: I am brilliant at being me. I don’t need to change who I am to fit this mold I think I ought to be. I just need to be more accepting of my faults and more passionate about my strengths.

3. My most favorite person in all the world is my mom. DUH. I’m so blessed to have her not only as an amazing mother but also as my best friend.

4. If I were to have a “mission statement” for my life, it would be “Stop questioning myself. Live life on my own terms. Be more badass.” After a situation with a boy ended badly, I came up with this new plan for my life. He said a lot of hurtful things that made me question who I was and what I was doing and I let him run right over me. Those three sentences? They are just the beginning of my personal manifesto.

5. My most favorite item in my closet is my pair of zip-up boots. I can only wear them two months out of the year but they make me feel so confident and sexy. Also, an adorable little flirty skirt my mom bought from Target that I stole from her one day wearing it.

6. The best cure for a bad day is a bubble bath and time spent curled up on the couch with a smutty book. That always helps me take my mind off the bad day and onto something totally different. And talking it out with my mom helps if I feel like talking, which sometimes I don’t.

7. Today is a busy day! I have an x-ray appointment at 8:20, then have to rush to work where my to-do list is out of control, and then I’ll spend the night packing and going over to the new apartment and unpacking and getting more settled in!

Happy weekend, friends! What would your “mission statement” be for your life?

Categories: Recurring Series

Currently…

Reading…

The Night Circus. I finished this book last night, our September #twookclub pick. I tried reading it earlier this year but couldn’t get into it at all, so I can’t say I was excited when it was chosen in the September poll. The first time around, I was very confused with all the different plots and characters and the story moved so slowly. The second time around was a little better, but not by much. The second half is much better than the first and I actually think the writing is fabulous, but the plot was just a little slow-moving for me to enjoy the book.

Twenty-Something, Twenty-Everything. I started this book in June. JUNE! I’ve been stuck on a long journaling passage and haven’t picked it up in over a month. I really just need to set aside time on the weekends to sit down with this book and my journal, but it never seems to happen. I’m giving myself a deadline date of December 31!

Listening to…

Yours Forever (Dara Maclean). Dara is quickly becoming one of my favorite singers. Her voice is so hauntingly raw and beautiful and, while all of her songs seem to speak to me, this one especially so. It’s basically a love song to Jesus and it’s one of those songs I desperately held onto during the dark moments of August.

Watching

Football! Can I even express how wonderful it is to have my beloved sport back on TV? I basically spent so much time last weekend with the TV tuned to a football game. This time of year is my favorite.

Big Brother. Is it reallllly coming to an end soon? I’m always so sad at this point in Big Brother and I get especially nervous about my favorites. My whole life revolves around BB from July to September and I really can’t get enough of it. I’m Team Ian all the way, but also Team Shane because good lord, the man is hot. Not the brightest tool in the shed, but really hot. Okay, I’m done.

Needing

More money. I’ve been very ambitious with my plans for my new bathroom and bedroom at our new apartment but to see it all come together in a way I want, with my own money, is really thrilling! But my finances have taken a hit and it’s been hard to try to get everything I want, but also make sure my bills are paid! I guess this is adulthood? I mean, it’s not all bad since I can still get what I want… but a little more money would help smooth out the waters.

My ankle to feel better. I’m seeing a doctor about it tomorrow because I’m starting to worry it’s not healing well. I’ve been wearing my brace and staying off it (I haven’t exercised since last Monday!) but there’s still a lot of pain. Hopefully, it’s just taking longer to heal because it was a bad sprain, but I want to cover all my bases. And honestly, I just want to be able to exercise again!

Avoiding

The scale. Oh, man. I’ve gone way off plan for weeks. I’ve been using lots of excuses for why I’ve fallen so hard off my healthy eating, but the truth is I’ve just been lazy and it’s easier to eat when I’m feeling sad and not have to deal with resisting temptation. But does it make me happier? Not in the long run. I’m just struggling so much with this part of my life and honestly, it feels like my biggest failure and I just don’t know how to right the ship.

My one-year review. I keep putting off reminding my boss about it, even though part of that is because he’s been crazy busy with big changes to our company. But I get super anxious about work performance things and talking about how I’m doing in regard to that, so putting it off is so much easier. Even though I know what I need to improve on and I know I’m not doing a terrible job… I just get all nervous about things like that. My plan is to remind him today. TODAY! I’ve put it off for two weeks now.

Loving

That we start moving this weekend! And our brand-new sectional is being delivered on Saturday! I am just ecstatic to begin the moving process. Since we have until the end of the month to be completely moved out of this apartment and my brother isn’t helping us move the big stuff until next Thursday, it’s not going to be a crazy move which will be SO nice. We’ve barely packed anything but I’m sure we’ll do more this weekend and next week. It’s going to be a crazy few weeks as we move out and get settled in, but I’m ready for it.

*Post inspired by Melissa’s “Currently” series.

credit: x, x, x, x

Categories: Recurring Series

Five For Friday

1 – My emotions have taken a severe beating this week. It’s been one of those weeks where bad things on top of bad things on top of bad things are happening. Between drama with a guy to making careless mistakes at work to all-consuming stress about life, I am really happy to see Friday. I have had “It Is Well With My Soul” on repeat in the car for my drives to and from work and continuously repeating, “Just because you’ve had a bad ~~day~~ week, does not mean you have a bad life.” Over and over again. I have to remind myself that this week is an anomaly and next week will be better.

2 – On a much happier note, today is the Opening Ceremony for the 2012 Summer Olympics! I am so excited about the Summer Olympics. This ranks right up there with football for me and I can’t wait to devote all my free time to watching the competitions – especially swimming, diving, track & field, and gymnastics. AH! Is the workday over yet?

3 – Whenever my mom and I watch So You Think You Can Dance, we have this thing where we shout out the name of the choreographer we think choreographed the opening routine. The only rule to this “game” is that you can’t repeat what the other one said so we have to be quick! It’s just one of those silly games my mom and I play that I love more than anything. We have a lot of those. (I guessed Tyce, by the way, for this past week’s routine. And I was right. BOOYA!)

4 – People I really like in Big Brother: Ian, Ashley, and Shane. People that need to leave Big Brother very soon: Jenn and Danielle. (I hate floaters.) People I’m still on the fence about: Frank, Wil, and Joe.

5 – Sunday is our #twookclub chat on The Book Thief. I’m going to try my best to shake from my gloomy mood to have a great chat. I loved the book so I’m actually really excited to chat about it. I’ll also be announcing the book for August an hour before the July chat so if you haven’t voted yet – go vote!

Categories: Recurring Series

Currently…

Loving: Minimalism! My mom and I are moving into a new apartment in September and I’m trying to focus on downsizing my stuff as much as I can to make the move a lot easier. I’m getting rid of my desk (and adding a night table), 98% of my books, and various other items. If it’s something I haven’t used in the past 6 months, it’s going to Goodwill. Even though our new apartment will have more space, there’s something about minimalism that excites and thrills me. I can’t wait to go through the rest of my room and our apartment. (Let’s hope I can get my mom on board, too!)

Reading: I’m finishing up The Book Thief for #twookclub right now. It is seriously such a good story and one of those books that’s going to stick with me for a long time. I’m also slowly making my way through 20-Something, 20-Everything. It involves a lot of journaling and soul-searching so I’m taking my time with it. But I am getting so much out of it!

Watching: Big Brother! This is my #1 summer show and probably my most anticipated show of the year! I get so caught up in all the drama, game-playing, and excitement. It’s a show you have to dedicate time to, for sure, as it’s on three times a week but it’s so worth it. It’s quite a guilty pleasure for me. And this year, with the addition of the coaches, it’s even more intriguing! (I’m also ready to become besties with Britney at ANY TIME NOW. She’s the best, really.)

Anticipating: Our move! I am SO excited to move into a bigger, much nicer place. We applied on Sunday, signing the lease soon. (We’ve been approved, just can’t log onto the website to sign the lease!) I really love everything about moving. The packing, the cleaning, the unpacking, the feeling of newness, getting to know a new neighborhood… it’s all so fun to me. (I may be eating my words come mid-September…)

Listening to: Right now, I’m in love with Rihanna’s “Where Have You Been”. It is the perfect song for the stationary bike. It really gets me moving! (It also makes me wish I still had access to spin class. I’m about 99% sure they’re playing that one out at spin classes!)

Planning: Some money goals. Our move is not going to be cheap and our rent is going up by $400 so it’s going to require a much stricter budget for me. I need to be smarter about how I spend my money and how I save. There are a few fun trips on my 2013 horizon but they won’t happen if I don’t tighten up my budget. (And I also want to have some fun money to play with!)

Working On: Myself. Trying to live a healthy lifestyle is not going well and I’m trying to figure out exactly why I’m sabotaging myself so much and what I need to do to achieve the place I envision myself. I feel like a broken record, honestly, but I also can’t go backward. I can only move forward. Maybe I need therapy. I don’t know. Or I just need to stop making excuses and get tough with myself.

Wishing: For a money tree to appear outside my window soon. I am stressing a lot about money and I think a part of that stress comes from the unknown. And knowing all my travel plans for 2013 are flying out the window. Boo. Boo. Boo.

inspired by gina