Officially official...

Welp...it's officially official!  Cat's out of the bag!  

My Ben cat :)

Today I told my school I will not be returning in the fall.

Starting Wednesday, I will be a full time trainer, office manager, marketing {and whatever else needs to be done} gal for CrossFit Pineville!!!  I'm sad and excited and thrilled and a little scared and super pumped and then a little sad again.  Basically, I'm a ball of emotion!

If you've been around here a while, you may remember this post I wrote last fall.  Suddenly, I feel like I'm a flip flopper and going back on everything I wrote in that post.  But I know in my head and my heart that's not true, I'm not flip flopping.

My principal summed it up well today when she said "You're not running from something, you're running to something."  At the end of the day, even with all the mess going on in the educational world - all the politics, low teacher moral, terrible pay, standardized testing, 21st century teaching, yada, yada, yada - I'd still be going back in the fall if CrossFit Pineville hadn't been born.

I was fortunate to work at a great school with great people and great kids!  And I will sincerely miss the people and kids!!!  But will I miss the mess and the stress?  No sir-ee bob! :)

So tomorrow, you may hear me squeal with glee as I leave the school building and I'll be doing my happy dance all the way to the box!  Haha

In non-box/CFP news...

Brandon and I finally got to meet our sweet baby nephew, Weston, in Michigan this past week!

He is the cutest little man!!  And feisty!  So glad we could meet him before he was walking and speaking in full sentences!

And our sweet new little niece, Scarlett, was born yesterday!!

Born June 9th at 3:20am, 6 lbs 14 oz, 19.5 in long.  She's a little peanut!

And a doll baby!  I can't wait to get my hands back on her!!

These baby nieces and nephews give me fever....

But then I remember how I like sleeping through the night so we'll wait just a bit longer ;)

Happy day friends!

5 On Friday

Hello Blog World!!  I promise I haven’t fallen off the face of the planet, I’m still alive and kicking!  Remember that time I opened a CrossFit gym while still teaching full time!?  Yeah that was a crazy, busy, fun time!! Oh wait, that’s right now!

So since I’ve been absent from the blogging world for {ahem} over 3 weeks now, let’s just jump back in with a little link up 5 On Friday love, shall we!?

1 – So I’m loving every minute of being at the box – coaching, meeting new members, working out there!!  But, things are just a tad busy so not only have I been absent from blogging, I’ve pretty much fallen off the face of social media! 

Home girl has no time.  I’m talking zero free time.  Between school, sprinting home to grab dog, squeezing in my own work out, coaching 2 evening classes, getting home around 9, making dinner and lunch for the next day, sending any emails or any CFP social media posts, showering and passing out around 11….yeah I’m pooped.  Happy!  But pooped :) 

There is a light though….we’re down to 1 hand.  I have 5 days left!  5!!!  Sweet glory hallelujah amen!

2 – The barista this morning accidentally made my latte a double.  I’m pretty sure that was actually a small Friday morning miracle!  I should have told her I love her.  Let’s be honest, I could pretty much use an IV of caffeine at this point.

3 – Little Scarlett Idalia should be here any day!  We’re all {not so} patiently awaiting the arrival of my newest little niece!!  I know my brother & SIL are ready to meet their baby girl & we’re all excited to add another girl to the brood!  My niece Roen’s excited to have a girl cousin since she’s holding her own with 3 little brothers!

4 – Season 7 of Dexter finally shipped to us last weekend!!  We’re already 4 episodes in and I can’t wait to watch more this weekend.  It’s weird to have a favorite serial killer, but I do!

5 – I may not be having a summer off as I have in the past since we now own a gym and all, but that doesn’t mean my summer to do list isn’t growing!  I have a few house tasks to accomplish and we’re planning to get a new bed for our master bedroom & {finally!} put together a guest bedroom.  I think I’m probably more excited about the guest bedroom than our own new bed, ha!  Of course my summer to do list will get its own post :)  You know I love a good list {or 12!} ;)

That’s all for today friends!  Hi 5 for Friday & Happy Weekend!!!

Weekend

Hello.  My name is Michelle and I am an absent blogger.

It's been a whole week since I posted!!  Boo.  Clearly, though, y'all have survived during my blog drought, which I was not at all really worried about!  Phew!

As much as I {heart} springtime and all it's warmer temps - sun is out longer - trees are blooming - pollen in your face - goodness, {ok maybe the pollen part isn't actually so good!} springtime is a busy time!!

But I'm surviving & there's only 28 school days left!!!!  {The Hallelujah Chorus is playing...do you hear it?}

Here's what I did this weekend....

:)

What were y'all up to?

Loving Lately

It's Wednesday y'all!  Which means it's practically Friday eve already, so we're keeping it light around here, k!?

Some of my fav bloggers do a post every few weeks featuring their most current obsessions as of late.  I have a couple things I'm currently swooning over so I figured I'd hop right on the bandwagon :)

Seche Vite  Y'all!!  I've seen April post about this miracle top coat a few times and have no clue why it took me so long to go buy it!  It's the next best thing to having your own nail toaster for at home shellac manis!  But let's be real, I'm not buying an at home nail toaster.  Ain't no body got time for that!  I wouldn't toy with you my friends, this top coat made my nails dry super fast & shine like I just walked out of the nail salon!  I'm sold.

I take lots of beauty advice from April y'all!  Girl knows her stuff ;)  She posted about this mascara some time ago somewhere on social media & I didn't wait very long to pick up a new tube to try out.  I was then in love with my fat, gorgeous lashes!  

2 tubes later I thought I'd switch it up and try something different.  Aka the twitterverse has raved about Falsies so I thought I'd give it a try.  Mistake, mistake!  If it ain't broke... I gave it a good 3 or so weeks and Falsies just didn't do it for me.  Back to my L'Oreal love!!

I bought this fun spring pink last week on spring break and now I'm obsessed!  Essie Muchi, Muchi :) I'm a sucker for a pretty pink nail and this is the perfect shade!!

I think I'm behind the times with this one, ha!  I've never been one to wear foundation.  Thanks to mother nature and maybe some good genes I've always had pretty clear skin {ya know, except for those awkward teen years} and never needed to wear foundation.  Too heavy and just yuck!  

So when all the rage about BB Cream started I was less than interested.  But I've mixing it with my moisturizer and now I'm hooked!  Feels light and makes me glow {ya know, in my opinion} ;)

This radio is the bees knees!!  It's from Uncommon Goods & my MIL got it for me for Christmas.  We have enjoyed the heck out of it so much already!  It blasted some country while we sipped a few adult beverages in our driveway a few weekends ago {we're so classy!} and pushed me through a little at-home-outside WOD yesterday afternoon!  Awesome gift!

This article.  Go read it!  It's long, but for real, go read it.  It has everything to do with why I wrote this post last summer!!  And completely sums up the same exact thing I would tell my previous 18 year old self or an 18 year old asking for my advice.  Well said Mr. Turner, well said.  It's a scary world out there y'all!

throw back

A run/dinner date with this pretty lady tonight!  The weather is too gorgeous not to!!  It's calling us to the greenway and to a patio somewhere with a cold glass of white wine!  :)

Happy hump day friends!!

Random Life Update :)

Catch up!  That's what I need to play!!  My poor, sad blog is so lonely and neglected :(

I get sad that blogging has taken a back seat for the past few months...I so enjoy journaling our little life's journey and this sweet community! But when I get sad, I just try to remember I am doing a great work right now.

I am working and making an impact and bringing in a little bit of money for our family and all the while struggling trying to find balance.  And sadly, right now that means that most nights I am doing work or when Brandon is home I am not typing away on a post...although he'd probably tell you I have my face planted in my iPad playing Candy Crush!  Whoops....seriously, don't download that game!  But go download it, cause it's such fun, mindless entertainment!

I digress...back to my point!  I definitely don't plan on giving up blogging, but I'm just going to have to come to terms with the fact that it's not going to be anything regular for a few more months.  I am doing a great work and one day I might have regular posts again!  Maybe ;)

So onto a random life update...let's play catch up {aka a picture and brain dump}, shall we!?

All clean after the groomer :)

How cute are these animals!?! Omg....it's impossible to be mad at them if they do something wrong, because then they just get all cute & you can't even act mad!  Love my fur babies!

My sweet MIL sent me these redneck wine glasses for my birthday!  Seriously, it's super fun drinking out of these bad boys!

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I bought myself a food processor with all my birthday money!!  I'm so excited about it, too!  You know you're old when.... Ha, seriously, it was between a food processor & curtains for our bedroom.  I've already used it twice, I think I'll be getting lots of use from this bad boy!

Speaking of our bedroom...I've decided I really want to be the kind of person that makes their bed every day.  Because, I won't lie to you, I am not one of those people!  I don't exactly know when I'm going to become this person.  Soon, I think!  I really like getting in a bed at night that was made and it just makes the room look put together!  Ok, so, it's settled....starting soon!!

I think I'd also like to be one of those people that uses less exclamation points!  But I just can't!  Nope.

Sportin' B's way to big aviators!

This is what our Saturday afternoon looked like...perfection pretty much!  The weather in the Carolinas this past weekend was GORGEOUS!!  We brought our beach radio out to the driveway, I lounged in a lawn chair with Berkley tied up to it and read magazines while B washed our cars!  It wasn't a bad view ;)

When B was done, we had a couple beers right there in our driveway!  Redneck!? Quite possibly!  Ok with it?  Yep!  We both got a little sun & then went right up the street to grab some dinner and green beer (bottles that is!) for St. Patty's Day!

Between last weekend's weather & day light savings, I am so ready for spring & warmer weather!!  Flip flops, tank tops, porch sittin' weather, grilling out, pool days....yes!  Bring it on!

Sadly, the forecast is going in the crapper for the next week or so.  Which is terrible news for the Spartan Race this weekend!!!  I'm so nervous, y'all!  On top of it probably being the hardest thing I've ever done physically to date, it's supposed to be 52 with possible showers.  Wahhhh...can I change my mind!?!?

Say your prayers for me on Saturday!!  Eeeeeeek!

On a brighter note....there are 7 school days until Spring Break!!  And counting!  :)

Counting Down

via pin from Words to Live By by Michelle

So, I know.  I know I need to live for today and enjoy life here and now and not get too hung up on the future.  I know these things....and I feel like I'm doing a pretty good job of that lately!

BUT.  There are a lot of exciting things coming up!!  So here's what I'm looking forward to and making my count down list...

Any day now - A new baby nephew!!  Official due date - Wed. Feb. 27th

1 week - March 2nd - My 26th Birthday!!  Bring it on!

1 month - March 23rd - My first Spartan Sprint!!  Bring it on!?  :/  Haha

5 weeks - March 30th - April 7th - Spring Break '13!  Woop woo!!!

6 weeks - April 6th - Cooper River Bridge Run & a long weekend in Charleston!

14 weeks - A new baby niece!!  Official due date - Fri. May 31st

15 weeks - aka 68 school days until - Summer, Summer, Summer, Summertime!!!

Yes, I'm officially counting down until summer.  Please don't judge me!  :)  But until summer gets here, I'll be sure not to wish away the days in between.  They're of great value, too! 

Hope you're all having a stellar weekend!

M.I.A

Missing. In. Action.

That is what I have been lately!  Sadly, most of the action hasn't really been too exciting, ha!  Just the regular old stuff.  Work, working out, playing with fur babies, cooking, cleaning....it's a glamourous life really ;)

Last week we celebrated Valentine's Day!  I am spoiled with somewhat of a romantic husband, and he definitely speaks my love languages!  I posted "The Story of Us" last year on Valentine's Day, so feel free to read up on us if you like :)

B & I cherish good quality time together, some in part due to the fact that Brandon travels 3 nights/4 days a week.  So for Valentine's Day this year, a nice dinner in, some wine, our sweats and Grey's Anatomy sounded like a perfect evening!

And perfect it was!

B spoiled me with flowers at school, in addition to the gifts he'd already given me!  (We're so bad at waiting to gift each other!!)  See...I told you, spoiled!

I got him a coupon book!  Yep, you read that right.  Haha, a coupon book!  A real one, too!  From the cutest website called Datevitation.com.  You should definitely check them out for a unique gift!

B now has 10 super fun dates that he can cash in whenever he likes (some require more planning than others) like breakfast in bed or visiting a nearby winery!  I'm so excited for him to use them up :)

We were super surprised to see some snow this past Saturday!  They were calling for us to get some, but we were skeptical.  We were sitting on the couch doing our taxes, looked up and the ground was almost completely covered from the down pour of snow that started!

B dog loved it!!  He was sprinting around the back yard!  Crazy dog.

We braved the roads that night and headed out for dinner to celebrate our friend Greg's birthday!  The roads weren't too bad and, per usual, good times were had by all :)

I was so thankful to have this past Monday off!I had a super productive day, if only every week could be 4 days!

I took a crack at the above workout I found on Pinterest on my day off!  Kicked my butt :) in the best way possible of course!  I dare you to try it!  And if you do, tell me your time!  I finished in 16:35.  I'll have to try and beat that again soon!

I'm so glad this was a short work week!!  Even so, it felt so. long.  Bless it!  Is it bad that I already feel like I'm in survival mode!?  Just trying to survive til spring break...til summer.  Yikes, it's probably too early for that :/

At least it's the weekend!!  Cheers to that!  

Happy weekend friends!!!

Weekend Recap!

Welp, even though it was a 3 day week, I sure was happy to see 4pm on Friday roll around!  Love walking out of work on a Friday...feels good!!

Even though I spent a good portion of Friday night doing school work.  Yuck!!  But a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.  I'd much rather do work on my couch anyways!

That was only after a good workout & then some delish turkey burgers & sweet potato fries cooked by my favorite man.  Yum!  I left the bun off and topped mine with some bacon & avocado to stick to my Paleo ways :)

Saturday was a big day!  We got up early (for a Saturday) and headed to the gym, then it was time to celebrate this cutie's 3rd birthday!

Sadly, we were an hour late to the party because we were REAR ENDED in Brandon's BRAND NEW TRUCK!!!  Unbelievable right!?!?  We'd had it a total of 5 days.  5 days!!  But thankfully, there were only a few scratches on the truck bumper.  Can't say the same for the guy that rear ended us!

We finally made it to the party!  This little guy is always sleeping through the action.  It's tough work being a baby  :)

Roen was there to make sure he didn't need any help!

He got lots of fun new toys, even a remote control Ford Raptor, just like Uncle Brandon's!!  We didn't even get that for him, ha.

They had fun checking out the real thing, too!

We headed home to shower up & head off to the second party of the day - Rob & Gale were having their gender reveal party!!!

They found out the gender Wednesday at lunch after their anatomy scan & had known for 3 whole days!!

It's a....

Girl!!!!

This picture is awesome!!  Rob already knew what was coming out, but by the look on his face you would never know!  Haha, he has said all along he really didn't care, boy or girl, as long as the baby's healthy!  His face is saying "Oh, boy, what are we in for!?" hah!

We're so excited to welcome a new little niece!!  She'll be our 2nd niece out of 6 nieces and nephews, it was about time for another girl!  :)

We picked up some dinner and planted ourselves on the couch for the rest of the evening.  There was nothing on, so B indulged & let me watch Pretty Woman while dog slept in between us.  It was bliss!

We slept in today, boy did we need that!  Then barely finished out a long run.  It was hard today! We ran our normal Sunday errands, I did a little food prep & then more school work.  Womp womp. Now we're relaxing on the couch & watching The Biggest Loser!

via

We love Bob & Jillian (and Dolvett now, too)!  I want to be them!  My dream job :)

Happy Sunday evening friends & happy TV watching!

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...

via

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!!

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!!!

Ginormous Sized Update

Hello blog world!!!  Man have I missed you!

I think I'm finally {bless it} getting into a good routine with school, which means I've found a few minutes to actually blog! :)

Since it's been {ahem} 2 weeks since I last posted, there's a lot to share!  But in an effort to keep this from being the world's longest blog post ever, I'll just detail the highlights, bullet point style!

• The last weekend in August, B & I flew off to Michigan for his company's summer work party! Friday night was spent on a dinner cruise on Lake Michigan with everyone in the sales department...

We kept the party going in the bustling town of Muskegon and went out with everyone afterwards!

Saturday, we were off to Michigan's Adventure where we got our roller coaster/water slide on {aka waited in a lot of lines!} and I nearly died on the Rip Cord {video posted here}!

We were glad to get back home to this naughty boy...

Someone shouldn't be on the pillows!!

• It was back to real life on Monday after getting back as school started!  B sent me a gorgeous bouquet on my first day, as he always does :)  He never fails to make me feel special!

• Our Labor Day weekend was full of family, friends & fun!  We had a family cook out at my bro & SIL's house up in Concord.  It was pretty much a dog party (their 2 dogs, Berkley & my parents dog!) and Berkley got to meet his doggy cousins :)

Sunday night of Labor Day weekend, we finally caught up with our friends Kelly & Ryan!  They brought their {huge} pup, Bentley, over and we all ate some awesome food and watched the pups play!

Tug o' War!!

• Somehow, even a short work week after labor day was still exhausting!!  But I survived the first 2 weeks, so I'm counting it as a win :)

• I started the Paleo diet on Labor Day and I'm on week 2.  I'm loving how I'm feeling & really loving how I'm looking!  So far, it's much easier than I was prepared for and I don't miss dairy or grain near as much as I thought I would....but Paleo requires a post of it's own, so more on that another day!

• This past weekend, I helped host a baby shower for my sweet friend, Rachel, at my house! Rachel is expecting a precious little baby girl toward the end of next month, so soon now!

Rachel with the hostesses :)  Katie, Erin, Rachel, Ashley, & Me

2 out of the 4 hostesses are also expecting!  Something's apparently in the water, but don't worry, I filtered mine before I drank it ;)

The shower was so, so gorgeous!!  Unfortunately I didn't take pics, but when Rachel, Erin or Katie blogs about it, I'll share the link!

• B & I grabbed dinner with some good friends Saturday night and then enjoyed a busy, productive Sunday together!

Surprisingly, I think that pretty much sums up the past 2 weeks in a nutshell!  I had several meetings today at school, but the rest of my week is shaping up to be less busy on the school front, so I'm going to relish that and this amazing weather while I can :)

Ahhh...feels good to blog again!  Hopefully I'll be able to manage at least a post or 2 a week, but I can't make any guarantees just yet!

Happy almost hump day!  Here's to a speedy rest of the work week friends!!

Remember when I used to blog!?

Well, hey there dear, sweet blog friends of mine!!  Are you still actually there!?  Still checking back to see if I've posted, updated anything, or am even alive!?

I assure you I am alive!!  Just super busy, living on caffeine & a prayer ;)

Remember when I used to have all this free time over the summer?  And before that, when I was in a good routine/flow with school!?  And when I actually, regularly posted on my little blog!?!

{Sigh} I sure do.  That was fun!

Between getting back in the swing of things (aka waking up at 520 everyday and working until 4ish), having a puppy, and trying to get my fitness on daily amongst the other gajillion things to do - there is so little time for blogging :(  wahhhhh!!  I've yet to even recap our weekend trip to Michigan :'(

I will eventually recap & share our pictures, but until then, I'll leave you with a little teaser...

Yes, Brandon & I are certifiably insane!!  Thought I was going to die!  But more on all that later :)

Ok friends, just bear with me while I get my school legs back on!  And don't worry, Stella Michelle will get her groove back ;)

Weekend Recap!

Well friends, as always the weekend flew by and I feel like I need another weekend to recover from my weekend!  If only we could work that out somehow.  

But alas, today was back to work - we have lots of training this week and a different grade level is bringing breakfast each day!  That sure makes coming to work a little easier, knowing a yummy breakfast is waiting, hah, but not so fantastic for the waist line.  Whoops!  Thursday is open house & I get to see all my kiddos, and Friday I'm off to meet B in Michigan for the weekend - should be a good week! :)

But back to my weekend recap...

Friday night we fought off the rain & headed downtown to get our tailgate on!

My partner in crime :)  And a rude photobomber!

Bromance

Andrea, Angela & moi

The men!

A sweet friend from school gave us their tickets for the night and we scalped a few more!  The game was so fun and my Panthers were looking pretty good!!

A little blurry but I love the background!

The night was going perfectly according to plan - rain held off, fun was being had by all, a new Panthers shirt was bought, the Panthers were winning (and won!), and then I had to go and ruin the night by dropping my phone in the toilet!!

Did you get that!?  Yes, I dropped my phone in a dirty pee toilet!!! 

You see....my phone was in my back pocket, I went into the bathroom as we were about to leave the stadium, and as I was sitting, my phone fell out of my back pocket into the toilet.  Unfortunately, I did not see it at that point, and proceeded to pee on my phone!  {Sorry, TMI?!?  Haha}

Then, I stood up to fasten my pants and proceeded to turn & flush the toilet only to realize first, that, oh yes, that is my phone in the toilet & second, the toilet is FLUSHING!!!  Automatic flush!

Thankfully {or maybe not} my phone was too big & didn't flush down the toilet.  So you better believe after it flushed I stuck my hand down in that dirty pee toilet and grabbed my water logged phone!  

I was basically in a state of shock!!  I have a mild {ok, extreme} addiction to my phone and never in my 10 years of owning cell phones have I completely ruined one.

Until Friday night.

Upon getting home, I put my phone in a bag of rice and it stayed there until about 4 pm Saturday.  I tried plugging it into my computer, but nothing would happen!  The apple would pop up, then go away, but even when it popped up it looked...wet.  Haha.

So I spent the weekend phoneless and contemplating my options.

Saturday, we attempted to sleep in and I attempted to pretend my phone wasn't ruined!  We watched a few episodes of Dexter Season 6 (!!!) and finally convinced ourselves to work out.

We had friends over Saturday night to cook out & Berkley got to meet 2 doggy friends, Rookie & Hugo!  I'd love to show you pictures, but I didn't have a phone, so therefore none were taken :(

It was fun to hang out, watch the pups play, and just enjoy each other!!  We have some great friends!

Sunday was a lazy morning with more Dexter & I went to upgrade my phone :/  Thankfully, I was eligible for an upgrade, but I upgraded to the white iPhone 4S (I had the iPhone 4) which wasn't exactly cheap.  

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B was none too thrilled.  Expensive mistake friends!!!  PSA - Ladies, do not keep your phone in your back pocket when going to the restroom!!  Please and thank you!  You're welcome :)

We finished our Sunday off with a long workout, the grocery store, some laundry, and fighting off the Sunday night blues!  

Another work week, but B is home tomorrow night before flying out Wednesday, I have a working phone & a great week ahead...I guess I can't complain!

Happy Monday, y'all!