Then and Now

Remember how I told you that we had a beautiful weekend last time I posted? Well, we did! The weather was perfect, not too hot with just the right amount of sun. It made me get a little excited for Summer! Unfortunately, I had to work most the weekend so I didn't get to enjoy it as much as I wanted, but I know The Mr. got to enjoy every moment of it!

As soon as he woke up, he was outside fixing up the Jeep. I could tell he was starting to get antsy about taking the roof off and with the weather being so nice, it was perfect timing! He spent most the day outside working on the cars and soaking up the sun.

On Sunday, I went to Yakima to see my sister and niece. A lot has changed since I wrote my last blog about her but to make a long story short, she is still in rehab, she has custody of my niece again and things are still going great. The beautiful weather held out for the weekend, in fact it was about 90 degrees and we tried to take advantage of it! We did a little shopping, grabbed a bite to eat and then headed to the park. I feel so blessed to be able to visit with them as often as I can, being able to kiss and hold my niece again is amazing!

Now quick, fast forward two weeks! The Mr. and I will be heading to Yakima tomorrow to see my sister graduate from rehab and help her move into transitional housing. I am so excited and nervous all at the same time. Don't get me wrong, I am so happy she made the choice to get help and fix her life, but the next few months are going to be challenging and will truly test everything she has learned. 

I know she wants only the best for herself and her daughter and I know she has everything in her power to make it happen, but she has to know she has it in herself to make it happen. I hope that I can continue to be someone she leans on when she's had a bad day and I pray that she stays clean and sober.

Most importantly, I just want to continue to see her true smile and hear her beautiful laugh.

Planning and other important stuff

The ball is starting to roll again on the wedding planning. I'm excited and nervous all at the same time. I still find myself having a hard time believing that I am planning my wedding with the man of my dreams by my side.

We have our engagement photo session booked and on the calendars; have some save the dates ideas rolling with a pretty amazing graphic designer and we're working on eating healthier and losing some of these pounds so we can look A-MAZING on our wedding day!

So far, the hardest part has been deciding what we want when it comes to food or center pieces. There are SO many ideas and it's not that The Mr. and I can't agree on it, it's that we just like so many of them that we can't decide.

I'm still in love with my dress. From time to time, I'll sneak into the closet and open the dress bag, you know, to make sure there isn't dust collecting on it or that it doesn't have a stain or anything, and every time, I remember why I bought it. When I see it, I wish the wedding was sooner just so I can wear it.

As far as work goes, I'm getting settled in my new store. It was a lot harder then I thought it was going to be but each day is better. I'm still excited about the future and looking forward to growing with Starbucks.

The Mr. and I have been really good about writing out a meal plan and sticking to it. My work schedule has been a little funny, so somedays I'm cooking dinner at 10am so I can take food with me to work and he can have dinner ready when he gets home. It's been working out really good even though I still laugh that I'm in the kitchen so early in the morning. I won't lie though, coming up with 2 weeks worth of dinner ideas is a little hard.

This past weekend was beautiful and we stayed busy, but I'll save that for another blog!

Why do you blog?

When I first started blogging, I had this vision that I was going to become a world known blogger with thousands of followers, and one day I was going to do giveaways and get paid to blog. I tried to have the cutest design in town, made by one of the best blog designers out there and tried to update my blog everyday.

After months of trying to keep up and spending hours in front of my computer I decided that my vision was short lived and that my life would go on if I wasn't a popular blogger. Those giveaways sounded good for a moment but I'm sure they are a lot of work.

I went from being a nanny (keeping up the children) to working at Starbucks and not doing a lot of creative things. I find myself spending less time around a computer and trying to keep up with the house work or making sure I'm cooking dinner five nights a week. It was one of those days that I was home alone and I was probably preparing dinner that I started to question why I blog. Do I blog so I can become popular in the blogging world? Do I blog so I can just type to type? Do I blog so I can pretend I'm keeping up the Kardashians?

I decided then that I want to blog for myself, for my far away friends and family and for my future family. I want to be able to sit down, write about what's going on in our life (wedding planning, weekly updates, weight loss, etc.) and be happy even if no one reads it or comments on it. I hope that someday I can come back to my blog and read about life 5 years ago and see how far we've come. I want to be able to show my children this blog and hope that someday they read about The Mr. and I, when we were young and in love.

I want my represent who I am, how I live and what I do. I really don't have a million friends, I honestly don't have the cutest house on the block and I sure as heck don't have anything free to giveaway!

I'll be around and I'll continue to blog but I'll be making memories and enjoying life as I do it!

....the future comes one day at a time....

I'm not a big fan of change, in fact, change is really hard for me. It wasn't until I was older that I realized it and this last week has been a little rough. When change is happening, I get really irritable and will normally have a crying fit. This may or may not have happened this week....

A few months ago, I met with the two district managers in our area for Starbucks and got asset to see where I was in my development at Starbucks and to see if I was ready to move up the chain of command. Everything went well but I needed a second store experience, (bigger store = more people to manage, more challenges) and I needed to work in a drive thru store. It took a few months to get the ball rolling but not long enough. Earlier this week, I worked my last shift.

I'm not sure why I had such a hard time, maybe it was because I was PMSing, who knows, but it was hard to leave. I even picked up one last baby shift just so I could have one last final close. It was a good close too, I got to see most my favorite evening customers and got hugs from some amazing partners.

I know the store is literally right down the road and I can go there anytime and even pick up shifts to cover but I loved that store. When I started there last May, I had a hard time fitting in. A lot of the partners had been at that store for years and they had their own clique. The store was at a rough patch and a lot of work needed to be done, so I went in and helped get the job done. I learned a lot from that store, grew a lot as a manager and met and made some great friends.

I'm excited for my future with Starbucks and I know that when doors close others open up for certain reasons.

I've worked two shifts at my new store and I hate feeling like the newbie. Today was harder then yesterday but I know it will get better. I am truly thankful for the partners that have welcomed me with opened arms and I sort of dislike the ones that have not been very nice to me. I won't hold that against them though.

With all of this, hopefully change will become easier. Someday.

My first giveaway win!

From time to time I'll take a dive into the blog giveaway world, most the time luck is not on my side but last week I actually won a giveaway! I was so excited! Not only was it just a "giveaway'" it was a giveaway by one of my favorite bloggers and it was stuff from her amazing Etsy store! So cool!

I love everything I got in my package but my favorite part is the Eisley Necklace. It's one of those necklaces that can be worn when you are dressing up or if you're just out and about. I can't wait to wear this with one of my favorite outfits!

The best part of the whole giveaway is that she sent one one of those super cute necklaces to my best friend! And I got to pick the color of it! I hope Amanda loves it!

I plan on placing an order soon so I can enjoy more of the goodies Your Wishcake has to offer! I also suggest you go and read her blog! She writes to inspire and to share her dreams but charms you with her humor.

Lunch break

I spent the morning cleaning house. It's not my favorite thing to do, but being able to sit down and look at a clean house is refreshing. The pile of laundry that needs to be folded still haunts me, but I'll get to that later.

I normally do housework on Sunday's and spend Monday's running errands and whatever else I think I need to do. Instead of doing housework yesterday, we spent the day with my parents and niece. We went and had brunch, went to the mall, to the craft store, to Best Buy, to Starbucks, and then came back to our place and relaxed a little bit. After a little R&R, we went and showed them the wedding venue and then went out for dinner. It was a great day! I didn't get anything productive done, but oh well, there's always tomorrow, right?

So today, I'm doing laundry, dusting and vacuuming the living room, sweeping and mopping the kitchen and then folding all the laundry. I was on a roll but I sat down to eat lunch and decided to blog. Now I need to find the motivation to get back up.....

Here's to a clean house and folded clothes! Happy Monday!

Life is good!

I haven't blogged in awhile; there really hasn't much been to blog about. I suppose that is a good thing though. I find myself going through phases or maybe it's really writers block, whatever it may be, no news is good news, and nothing but good is going on here. 

Wedding plans are going well, we're kind of at a stand still for now though. We have over a year left and there isn't much else we can do until the day gets closer. We've been working on finalizing our guest list and getting a rough head count. The Mr. and I have been talking about food and what we want to serve and we just can not agree on something. All I know is that I want amazing food that everyone will love....and it needs to pair with wine! That's not too much to ask, is it? 

We plan on taking engagement pictures in the summer and once we get those back, we'll send save the dates out. I can not wait to take pictures! 

Work has been good, I've been opening a lot which has been really nice but by the end of week, I'm one tired lady! I enjoy being home in the evenings and cooking dinner. I have found that I'm running out of ideas though and have been spending a lot of time looking up new recipes. I made a goal to make weekly dinner menus in hopes that I get inspired to find new ideas and meals!

Another goal that I have is start decorating our place. We've been here since July and have yet to put anything up the walls. I have picture frames on the end tables and shelves but nothing up on the wall and I'm tired of staring at blank walls. When we lived in the apartment, I bought picture frames, printed pictures and got them all set up to hang but never actually got to it. I'm determined to do this! I just need nails and a stud finder, I see a trip to Home Depot in our future! I'll have to take before and after pictures of our walls, I can't wait to get this done!

Other then all of that, life is good and it gets better every day!