Random Musings for Your Friday

Happy Friday there, friends!!  It's crazy how my alarm isn't as terrible on a Friday morning and how much a tall skinny vanilla latte can perk me up :)

This Friday means I'm down to 14 school days before break!  And counting.  I have A. LOT. of work to complete in those 14 days.  My break will be well earned!!

Last week, the rug for our dining room arrived & our chairs arrived this past Wednesday!!!  Now all I need is our table :)  Here's a little sneak peak....

Oh, so...

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Can you believe it!?  I'm so excited!  I love December!  I hope to see some snow like the above picture at least once this winter, maybe even have a white {after} Christmas when we're in Michigan!

Most of our decor is up & we're starting our Christmas shopping tomorrow!  We have a long list to tackle, so I'm excited to check some things off the list!  Then we're celebrating a friend's birthday out to dinner & taking Christmas card pics on Sunday!

Love, love, love this season!  Merry, jolly, happy holiday season, y'all!!

The stockings are hung...

...by the chimney {because we actually one!} with care!

Even Benson & Berkley have a stocking :)

Thought I'd share some of our decorations that have gone up so far!  If you follow B or I on Instagram, you've probably seen quite a few of these, but since it's our first Christmas in our house, I wanted to be sure to document it all!

We picked up our tree this past Sunday from a stand not too far from our house after a disappointing selection at Lowe's.  This was our first real tree since we've been together/married, so we were pretty excited to pick it out!

We bought a stand & got her all set up!  She was quite a beauty even without decoration!

Later that night, we got her all decked out!

Love!

Sweet boy posing!

And sneaky boy photo bombing!  Hah

I'm loving the mantle so far, I just need to figure out out to get some lights up there!  The wreath & vinyl sign are new.  I was unsure if the wreath would be big enough, I think I need a bigger one, but this one will do for this year!

Our big Santa!!  He looks so great on our front door!  Love driving home to it each day :)  And probably my favorite new decor....

Love this colorful, cheerful print and the new frame!!  I try to abide by all of Buddy the Elf's rules this time of year, so I thought it was totally appropriate ;)  I printed one off & sent it framed to my Aunt Stacy!  She shares my love for Buddy!

Once we get our dining room table, I'll have a little more decorating to do!  I'm so excited to create a pretty center piece and see the dining room come together!  I'll do a post once all the furniture is here.

But for now, friends....

Celebrating 2 Years

This past Tuesday, November 20th, Brandon and I celebrated 2 years of marriage!

Well actually, sadly, B was traveling for work, so we didn't exactly celebrate on Tuesday.  But we definitely made sure to celebrate this past weekend!!

Marriage is hard work and we think every year definitely deserves being celebrated!!  Just as we had a big party & celebration to start our marriage, we've decided we always want to stop and make a point to do something special with each passing year.

Originally, we thought we would always take a trip together, maybe far away, maybe close to home, but that'd we'd always go away together.  We went to Asheville last year to celebrate our 1st anniversary.  This year we were hoping to go to Nashville, but with all the logistics of Thanksgiving and what not, a 16 hour drive round trip didn't seem so appealing anymore.

We decided to have a 'staycation' if you will.  Since we live out in the 'burbs now, we planned a fun day of activities & an evening away in our first home, downtown Charlotte!

We started off with a relaxing couples massage and then made our way to one of the best BBQ spots in Charlotte, Mac's.  We watched some of the Michigan game and then shopped small at the Canine Cafe and Good Bottle Co for treats for Berkley & Brandon :)

We decided a few weeks back that this would be the perfect occasion to get the ring finger tattoos we've talked about getting from time to time.  Before, we hadn't really planned what we'd be getting, we just knew it was going to be on our ring finger.  So we started researching ideas, paid the deposit and there was no turning back!

I'm sure many people probably think we're crazy or stupid or have jinxed ourselves for getting a ring finger tattoo, but we are loving our new outward symbol of the inward commitment we made 2 years ago :)  Everyone doesn't have to agree, or understand, and that's fine.  But it was such a fun thing to decide upon and share together!

We ended the evening enjoying an awesome dinner at 5 Church {highly recommend y'all!} and a few drinks on the way back to our hotel!  It was such a fun and memorable day celebrating our marriage!

Here's a few pics celebrating year 2... 

Cheers!

Getting nervous about the tattoo!  Ahh!

Just started!  Our tattoo guy, Christian

B's turn!

Taking it like a champ!

Finished product!!

His & Hers

OOTN

Rooftop pics before going out...same spot as our rehearsal dinner!

The good, the bad, the happy, sad, ups or downs, I wouldn't trade them or want to face them with anyone else!  Here's to many more years of happiness together!!  To the moon, B!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy belated Thanksgiving!!!

As always, I'm behind on blogging!  But I couldn't let Thanksgiving come and go without a little recap :)

We've had such a glorious Holiday break!!  I cannot lie, I think I was most excited for a break from school, the fact that my husband would be home for 5 whole nights in a row, and some dang good food and family time.  So thankful for that!

Last weekend, we finally got Berkley groomed for the first time!  We figured the upcoming holidays called for a first hair cut for sure...and he looked so handsome afterwards!

He wore his reindeer bandana all day on Thursday :)

My parents were up from Georgia and my bro & SIL were hosting Thanksgiving up at their house in Concord.  {We're hosting Christmas this year!!}

We were up to Concord by about 11.  We didn't want to miss out on any fun!  B and I both assumed the positions - he on the couch to watch Football and me in the kitchen with my momma :)

I took breaks and joined B on the couch every so often!

And snacked on all the appetizers - sausage dip, spinach dip, and cheese ball & crackers.

Our day was very enjoyable!  We had 12 people, an infant, 5 dogs & entirely too much good food!!  Our menu consisted of turkey, ham, dressing, noodles, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, pineapple casserole, green beans, fruit salad, and rolls.

Then for dessert, there was apple crisp and ice cream, pumpkin pie, key lime pie, pumpkin roll, berry bars, and chocolate peanut butter pie.  I chose apple crisp and key lime pie :)

I was STUFFED!!  Especially since I hadn't eaten that much grain and dairy in a while.  But this girl can't be Paleo on Holidays.  Sorry that I'm not sorry!  Haha, all in moderation!

Berkley was pooped from all the eating and the fun having!  He is all puppy still and his doggy "cousins" were just not into playing as much he was.  Lucky for him, my niece and nephews love to play! 

I've been trying to fight off a yucky cold and unfortunately, I think Thursday was the worst of it.  But it was a great day so I won't complain!!

B and I ended the night snuggled up with with the animals and watching {or sleeping through} a movie :)

As always, I have so, so much to be thankful for this year!  My awesome husband, our sweet fur babies, my amazing parents and siblings (in laws included!), niece & nephews (and the ones on the way!), our extended family, our health!!  I hope to never take these things for granted!

On a more trivial note, here are a few other things I'm thankful for...

-A steaming, turn your skin pink, scorching, hot shower.  Every day I walk into my hot shower I just want to shout out my thankfulness.  No lie, it's practically holy that's how good it is!  Amen.

-Target.  I love going there.  It never gets old!  I guess I wish I didn't give them as much money as I do, but I could seriously browse around there for hours and I pretty much always leave happy!

-When Berkley wakes up on non-alarm days and B tells me to "Just stay in bed, babe, I'll take him out."  SWOON!  Oh my goodness, my heart melts for that man at these words.

-Chocolate.  I am always thankful for chocolate!  Oh, and wine and a tall extra pump skinny vanilla latte from Starbucks.  All my vices!

Seriously, I hope you had a most wonderful Thanksgiving and that it was spent with those you love!  

I have big plans of actually blogging this week, so keep your fingers crossed for me?!  Just don't hold your breath ;)  Until next time.... xoxo

3 Day Weekend!

Weekends are the greatest!!  Especially 3 day weekends!

My favorites

A whole lotta this went on, which I will never, ever complain about :)

There were some good workouts, some good cleaning around the house, and some relaxing with good friends!

Yesterday, I was off from school to observe Veteran's Day!  I have several Veterans in my family, so yesterday (& everyday) I tried to be extra thankful for all the sacrifices our brave men & women in uniform, as well as their families, have made/make for our continued freedom.

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Freedom isn't Free.

I, also, gladly welcomed a day off!!  It's the little things like watching the Today Show while I sip my smoothie with a white puppy snuggled in my lap, working out mid morning instead of in the evening, running errands with no schedule & dinner with a best friend....oh and a 4 day work week!  :)

Hope your weekend was splendid & that you thanked a Vet!!

And Merry, Happy, Almost Thanksgiving!  Can you believe it's next week!?

Lately

Welp, I've been quite the sporadic blogger lately, but better sporadic than not at all right!?!

Nothing too wild's been going on, just managing and surviving work and living a little in between.  I can't lie, it's definitely been a year so far - I've been challenged mentally, physically, and professionally.  But hey, I'm still here and still smiling, so I won't complain!!  :)

Here's what's been going on lately....

What I'm Loving: Thursday nights.  Thursdays bring my husband home to me and usually end with us on the couch watching Gray's or catching up on our DVR.  Thursday nights are practically the beginning of the weekend...and I'm a big fan of weekends!

  

Watching: Nashville!  I'm obsessed.

Looking forward to: The Holidays!!  I'm so excited for our anniversary, decorations, family time, Christmas cards, celebrating, gift giving, a stocking for Berkley, traveling to Michigan...the list goes on!  I recently downloaded these 2 printables & I can't wait to put them out!

Links on my Holiday Pinterest Board

Making me happy: Our new coffee table!!

We loved the oversized ottoman we bought with our new couch, but thanks to Benson's back claws and his jumping and skidding across the ottoman to escape an active puppy, it's pretty scratched up :(  We fell in love with this coffee table & bonus....it was 40% off!!

Celebrating: ALL THE BABIES!  My handsome nephew was born just over 3 weeks ago, I'm just itching to get back over and hold him.  My sweet friend, Rachel, had precious Maggie almost 2 weeks ago, hopefully I'll get to snuggle her this Friday for a minute!

My cousin is being induced with her baby girl tomorrow!  Brandon's sis & BIL are expecting a baby boy in February - we've been looking at all sorts of Christmas gifts for baby Weston, even though he won't even be here yet!  And another Acuff will be making their debut in May!!!  My brother & SIL, Rob & Gale are having a baby, too!!

Fanning: All these babies are just fanning and fueling the baby fever over here!  I even got an email today from Baby Gap.  What the heck!?  In due time, we haven't drank the water yet.

Memorizing:  This verse.

I've had a tough time staying true to Paleo lately (ahem - get outta my face Halloween candy!!) and I feel like I'm ruining all the progress I've made.  I made this verse the background on my phone and I've been trying to repeat it to myself when tempted to eat just whatever I have a craving for at the time.

So far, it's been helping!

Planning: Paleo meals so I won't cheat!  Ugh...it's so easy to stray, but when I've planned out my meals and have good options in the house, it really helps to eliminate the chances of my going awry.  :/

Enjoying: Weekends.  Seriously...there is nothing better.

I'm so thankful tomorrow's Thursday!  One day closer to the blessed weekend, we can wear jeans to school this week & it's a 3 day weekend my friends!!

Nerd Alert!

Here's what I'm currently doing....a little nerd multi-tasking at it's finest ;)

Writing progress reports (that go home Thursday.  Eeep!), watching the votes roll in, and snuggling my furry faced puppers!!  Think it's time for his first grooming!?

Paperwork lately is never ending.  Whoa!!  Thankful I can do a lot of it at home instead of having to do it at school.

Did you do your civic duty and vote!?!  I hope so!  We got our vote on this past Saturday!

Are you watching the results as they trickle in, too?  I'm glued to Fox News!

Since I always like to keep things friendly....

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Haha, unless your candidate was my candidate ;)

Stay tuned, I hope to be back tomorrow to catch myself up on the past {gasp} week & a half since I last blogged - oh wait, I'm sure you're not surprised by this anymore!

For reals, though....I shall return!!

Happy Election Day!  And God Bless America!!!