LIFE LATELY | ROUNDING OUT SEPTEMBER

Life has been full speed lately and this past weekend was the first weekend in months where we had zero plans. We took advantage of that and other than running a few errands on Saturday afternoon and church on Sunday, we stayed in the whole weekend!

Since it's been a little bit since I did a 'life lately' post, here are a few snip-its from the past couple of weeks to round out September.

Last Saturday we went to 'Family Fourth' at Matthew's parents house and then we all went bowling. It was a really fun time and the perfect activity to do since it was a rainy day out.

The rain continued on into the week and I do believe it rained every single day of last week. The rain did bring cooler weather and I did not mind it one bit while I worked from home. I opened the window in my office and listened to it rain all day while the cooler weather came in. So relaxing and a nice change from the HOT weather. 

Reagan was a huge fan of it too. Her favorite place to stay when I work from home, in one of our dining room chairs I brought up to my office by the window. 

Working from home is great until they ask to use cameras and you are in your comfy clothes and have no makeup on lol!

One afternoon last week my uncle surprised me by stopping by the house with this ADORABLE wreath that he found at Home Goods! He knew that we hosted Friendsgiving every year and said I needed it. He's the sweetest!

No political talk here, but I watched the whole senate hearing last Thursday and snapped this picture of Reagan at the perfect moment- it looks like she is watching it too here lol.

I have been doing a lot of painting projects recently. I forgot how much I love painting. Reagan has not been enjoying that because she can't sit in my lap while I paint. I snapped this picture Saturday morning because I took a break from painting and she jumped in my lap as soon as I put the paint brush down, ha!

Matthew grilled us delicious burgers for dinner on Saturday (we had plenty for leftovers too -woo hoo!) night and we watched the State vs. Florida game.

Reagan found a turtle in our backyard while Matthew was grilling. We had to put her inside to get the little fella to safety....away from her and on the OTHER side of the fence. 

We bought new curtains for our living room last month and we absolutely LOVE them. Since our kitchen opens up to our living room I wanted to use the same design. We bought another pair (Amazon for the win!) and I took it to my seamstress in town and she made them into valances for us. They turned out beautifully and I hung them up Saturday night. We are so happy with them and only regret not doing this sooner. I'll share more soon!

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LIFE LATELY | ROUNDING OUT SEPTEMBER

LIFE LATELY

Summer is wrapping up and I am hoping to get back into somewhat of a routine, and hopefully get back to blogging a little more. I do believe we had something to do every weekend this summer but one or two, and while it was great and a very busy summer, we are ready for some down time! So here's what we've been up to the past few weeks.

We spent Labor Day Weekend in Gatlinburg and it was such a nice getaway, and could not come at a more perfect time!

On Labor Day, I took down alllll of our summer decor and brought out the fall decor. Fall and Christmas decorations are my absolute favorite so I was not one bit sad to see all of our summer decor boxed up.

hello fall!

I am trying to hold off another week or two before I buy our mums and pumpkins, but I've been seeing them out at all the stores and it's making me so excited!

I left the following Tuesday for a work trip to Connecticut for the week. It was great meeting one of my clients face-to-face, and I got to mark another state off my bucket list! While there I got to catch a very quick glimpse of Yale University after work one day on our way to dinner. Very cool experience! I told Matthew that one fall we have to go to Connecticut for a personal trip because it was such a cute place and I'd love to see it in the fall! Being the huge Gilmore Girl fan that I am I was pretty stoked to be in Hartford and on Yale's campus. ;)

I FaceTimed Matthew one night to tell him about my day and Reagan heard my voice and kept sniffing the phone in his hand LOL.

I arrived back in Nashville Friday afternoon and Matthew picked me up at the airport, and we headed straight to dinner because we were both starving. After dinner we headed to the grocery store to pick up a last few minute items that I needed for the next day. Saturday we threw my parent's a surprise 30th anniversary party at the church they got married at! I am planning on doing a whole post on that, but for now here is a 'then and now' picture from their party! (Note: their cake topper...we found their cake topper from their wedding and used it at their party)

A couple days later was my 25th birthday and I woke up to a delicious homemade breakfast! Matthew woke up early and made me white chocolate strawberry pancakes...with a homemade strawberry syrup. Literally the best breakfast I have ever had!!!!!! So good and so many calories, but hey, calories don't count on your birthday ;) He gave me my gift at dinner and completely surprised me with tickets to Dave Barnes Christmas concert in a few months! I have talked about wanting to go to that concert for years and he remembered. So I am definitely looking forward to our fun Christmas date in the future!

We went to one of our favorite Mexican places for lunch later that day to continue to celebrations. Bummed I forgot to snap a picture of the two of us but I did snap one of my cute lunch date!

We had out first crock pot of chili this fall last week as well. It was 62 and rainy one day so chili for dinner it was! I had planned on making cornbread to go with it, but Matthew and I both ended up working so late that by time we got home we were so hungry we just ate the chili by itself lol. Sadly, the temperature has gone back up into the high 80's so I don't think we'll be having chili anytime soon, for now at least.

I snapped a picture of Reagan the other day and it reminded me of one I took a couple of days after we brought her home...I love her.

Continuing on with the #crazydogmomstatus...I have been on the search for a cute Halloween costume for our girl, and there are so many stinkin' cute ones to choose from!! We'll have to see which ones fit her though lol. 

My best friend is having a baby boy in January (!!!!!!!!) so me and my other best friend are throwing her a baby shower sometime later this fall. We have chosen the theme, "Ahoy, it's a boy", and there are SO many cute ideas on Pinterest, so we are very excited to plan it. 

I am also working on planning our third annual Friendsgiving. This is our absolute favorite dinner party to host and we have a date set, invitations designed, and now I'm searching Pinterest for cute fall tablescapes!

This past weekend I bought my bridesmaid dress for my best friend's wedding next March, and I am in LOVE with it. Absolutely beautiful...the color and the style! Also, it's super comfy!! Matthew is in the wedding party as well, so we are really looking forward to it.

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LIFE LATELY

LIFE LATELY

Let's back up all the way to the Saturday before Easter (4/8/17). I talked to my mom that afternoon and she told me that she thought my dad had caught a stomach bug. He had been out in the yard working that day and got pretty sick. Fast forward to following morning, I talked to my mom after church and she said my dad was feeling worse and had even had some chest pains, but was being stubborn and didn't want to go to the ER. I got off the phone with mom and told Matthew I thought we needed to go home so I could make my dad go to the ER to get it checked out and he completely agreed. So we changed out of our church clothes and got a few things for Reagan and headed home. We decided that I would drop Matthew and Reagan off at his parents house and I would go to my parents house and try to convince my dad to go to the ER. I honestly thought it was going to take me all afternoon to try and convince him but after 10 minutes I asked him if he was going to the ER in his house shoes or if he wanted to change shoes...he gave me the look...and I gave it right back lol and he changed shoes and off we were to the ER (he can be stubborn when he wants, but I learned it from somewhere ;)). Luckily I only had to tell a few white lies to get him to the hospital, but it worked and I'd do it again in a heartbeat if I had to. My dad's side of the family has a very long history of heart problems/heart attacks so I was not going to chance anything. My mom and I waited with him at the ER and they immediately took him back- PSA: keywords to get you taken back immediately....high blood pressure, and chest pains. They were hooking him up to the EKG machine before I could even get him completely checked in. We ended up spending the whole afternoon in the ER while they ran some test and did blood work, thankfully everything came back perfectly normal and they said he was really healthy (PRAISE!), but it wouldn't hurt to start seeing a cardiologist regularly. So I called first thing Monday morning and scheduled him an appointment. What had made him so sick and caused chest pains- weed killer poisoning. He had just mixed up some weed killer that Saturday and stared spraying the yard when he got really sick. The doctors at he ER said there wasn't really anything to do but to just let it get out of his system. He had a weak stomach for the next couple of days but it finally was out of his system around Tuesday. He was wearing gloves but not a mask, so they think he just inhaled it (it was kinda windy) and it instantly made him sick...lesson learned, he'll be wearing a mask from now on when using it! Overall it was a scary couple of days, but we are so incredibly thankfully it wasn't worse. This picture was from last summer.

Monday night my BIL and girlfriend called us to let us know that they were ENGAGED!!!!! He had just proposed and they were calling all of their family and friends to let us know. Woo hoo! We are so excited to be adding to our family and I get another sister! I stole this picture from their facebook page, but look how gorgeous her ring is. They are planning on getting married this fall, so it's going to be an exciting next few months!!!!

I took the following Tuesday and Wednesday off from work. On Tuesday Matthew and I were supposed to go to Cookeville for $3 Tuesday with our college ministry that we were apart of when we lived in Cookeville, but Matthew ended up having to work so I just took the day off anyways lol. I did meet Matthew for lunch close to his client's office and after that I went and got my nails done for Easter. Since my Easter dress was pink and white and Matthew was going to be wearing green/navy I decided to go with a pretty pastel purple. It is Polly Want a Lacquer? by OPI and I love it!

I spent the rest of the afternoon taking Reagan on a walk in our neighborhood and letting her play in our back yard while I read and did things around the house.

I took off Wednesday because my sister was receiving an award at school later that afternoon. Since I had the morning open I decided to take Reagan to Lowe's with me and look at flowers. It was my first time taking her and I was a little nervous that she would freak out but she did great and LOVED all of the attention from the workers and other shoppers lol. 

 

I ended up just getting a hanging pot of impatiens for our back patio. I do plan on getting some ferns soon for out two planters out in front of the house.

That afternoon I went to my parents house and we headed out for Mady's award ceremony. It wasn't at her campus but at another campus that was about an hour away. It was just the four of us, since my youngest two sisters were still in school. We hate that they had to miss it and that Matthew couldn't be there for he had to work but we still had a good time!

She was awarded "most outstanding student" for the education department- she was actually the only one in that department out of all three campuses. And to make it even better they surprised her with a small scholarship for when she transfers to the university in the fall! 

 After the award ceremony we made the drive back home and stopped at Olive Garden for dinner. It was a really fun day and I was sad it went by so quickly!! I am so proud of my sister, she has worked so hard and is at the top of her class there. She is transferring to the university in our town in the fall and I know she will excel there as well! All of her professors had many great things to say about her and it's great seeing her so passionate about her future and future career!!

Friday afternoon (Good Friday) our best friends, Ethan and Rachel, got ENGAGED!!!!! We are so excited for them and can't wait to plan all the couples trips together in the future!!!! She had no idea it was coming and it was the best surprise. Ethan told her they were having family pictures that afternoon at his families lake house and that he wanted to have a couple of them taken before. So sneaky but the pictures were absolutely adorable!! We met them later that night for ice cream and to hear all about it! They are planning on getting married next year sometime. 

Saturday morning Matthew did some yard work while I cooked breakfast and worked on our dessert to take to our Easter celebrations. I let Reagan play in the backyard while he mowed the front yard and she watched him the whole time lol.

Then she watched from inside while he mowed the backyard. Girl was having a fit because she couldn't go outside while he was mowing lol.

You can read about our Easter weekend here.

- I have been obsessed with Pioneer Woman lately and trying to watch all the shows that I can. I have a few recipes of hers that I have saved and want to try over the next few weeks. I made her cinnamon rolls for family and friends back at Christmas and they were delicious. I am trying this recipe from her blog this week!

- We dropped cable last week too! When we first got married we didn't have cable for the first few months and then decided to get it. We've been noticing over the past couple of months that we really don't watch a whole lot cable so we decided to cancel it. We have Netflix and Hulu, but really only watch TV via Netflix, so we were just wasting money each month. We've been without cable a week and haven't missed it once!

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LIFE LATELY

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Tuesday morning our neighbor text Matthew and asked if we wanted tickets to the Predator's game that night. He had four all inclusive tickets for the last regular season home game that night and we immediately accepted. I wish I would have taken a video of Matthew because he was so excited! We were just talking a couple of days before about how we wanted to go to the last home game, but never got around to looking in to tickets...so it just worked out! Matthew immediately called our best friend, Ethan, and told him that he and Rachel were coming to the game with us that night to cancel their plans if they had any lol, thankfully they didn't. So after work I ran home to take Reagan out and Ethan and Rachel met me and then we headed to Matthew's office to pick him up. The weather was perfect so we didn't have to pay for parking in a parking garage, so our whole last-minute-double-date-night was free! Woo hoo for having the best neighbors ever! The all you can eat buffet was pretty nice too ;) 

This girl is just the cutest thing ever. She has been l-o-v-i-n-g the warmer weather outside and loves to just lay in the grass and roll around while I read on the patio in the afternoons while we wait for Matthew to get home from work. We have two baby gates up downstairs that prevents her from going in the dining room, Matthew's office and upstairs. Last night we took one down for a little bit and forgot to put it back up. We were watching TV and just assumed she was under one of our recliners like she always does but turns out she was ready for bed! We found her laying on the stairs waiting for us to come up to bed lol. When she is ready for bed she definitely lets us know each night.

Yesterday they were calling for sever weather in the afternoon. They kept talking about potential tornadoes and hail, and even let a lot of school out 2 hours early and our Wednesday night church service got cancelled. The weather was beautiful all day yesterday and I was able to eat lunch outside while Reagan played. I thought the weather would be bad by time I got off so I even let her play outside at lunch a little longer than normal. It was extremely windy all day but I didn't think too much about it since I knew we had storms coming.

When I got off the weather was still really nice out, sunny and very windy still but that's it. I kept getting weather alerts on my phone of tornado watches and to "take cover now" but we never saw a dark cloud in the sky lol it was definitely very odd. I do know some places around us got a lot of hail but we never got anything, except a ton of high winds. The wind was so bad that it turned our patio table over and shattered the top. I am so bummed that happened, since I usually eat lunch out there everyday while Reagan plays and we occasionally eat dinner out there, but I'm thankful that's all that happened. I know there were trees down in some places. This was the patio set that I bought for my apartment in Cookeville, so it's a little bittersweet to see it go. 

I snapped this picture after I got the "take cover now" notification lol.

On Wednesday nights I usually try to plan a quick and easy meal since we have church, so I had planned on making egg and bacon sandwiches. Matthew asked if we had any biscuits in the freezer and said he was really craving a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit but we didn't have any so I told him I would just make french toast since we needed to use the bread before it went bad lol. Well when I got home and remembered church had been cancelled and that we had extra time I decided to try and make homemade biscuits. I had never made them so I was pretty nervous about how they would turn out, but much to my surprise they turned out pretty good! After I made the dough up for one batch I realized it didn't take that long and was actually pretty easy so I decided to make another batch up and then freeze the leftovers. They were husband approved and now I don't have to by the overpriced  biscuits at the store!

 Funny little thing to note about our dinner last night...The directions for the biscuits said to bake them at 450 so I completely forgot the oven was on 450 when I put the bacon in and set the timer...when I went to check on the bacon it was completely burnt lol. So egg and cheese biscuits it was! You win some and you loose some ;) I had a jelly biscuit with eggs on the side.

Also, another funny story...I usually pick up groceries on Thursday or Friday afternoon when I get off of work. Well I was sick last Thursday so I didn't get groceries on Thursday or Friday.

Back at the beginning of the month I had gone over our weekly grocery budget a little so I knew I had to watch what I bought to stay within budget. I went through our pantry and freezer and realized that we had plenty to get by for the next week and that I would only need to pick up a few things to complete some dinners. I kept putting off going to the grocery store until Sunday afternoon when I realized I better grab a few things so I could be prepared for the week. So off I went to the store and only got the things on my small list to make sure I stayed within budget. I got home and told Matthew how I stayed within budget and he informed me it was April the 2nd...and that our grocery budget had started over, and not only had we stayed within budget for groceries, but we were under budget for groceries in March...LOL. If I had known that I would have definitely picked up some Halo Top ice cream... ;) That just goes to show how staying home from work one day during the week can throw off my whole schedule and get me confused on what the date is, or that I was just not paying attention lol. So woo hoo for accidentally staying under budget!

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WHAT'S UP WEDNESDAY | FEBRUARY 2017

ONE | What We're eating this week...

Funny, I posted that on Monday! You can see what we have meal planned for this week, here!

TWO | What I'm reminiscing about...

Our honeymoon and cruise...it has been warmer the past couple of days here and it's making me excited for summer coming up and some trips we are wanting to take this year! Literally wanting to use my packing list that I made ASAP...I do believe I have the travel bug!

THREE | What I'm loving...

THIS diffuser. I love it so much I have one for at home and one for my desk at work, ha! 

It's the perfect size and I'm obsessed. 

FOUR | What we've been up to...

I went to Murfreesboro this past weekend and watched my sister's last basketball game and then had lunch with my mom and sisters, my dad was at work. Sunday we had lunch with my in-laws, and this week we have been working and going to bed somewhat early...woo hoo for early bed times!

FIVE | What I'm dreading...

Nothing! 

SIX | What I'm working on...

Organizing our house...little by little, it is getting done and it feels great! I'm not following a specific schedule, just doing what I feel like, when I have the time.

SEVEN | What I'm excited about...

Matthew's birthday is next month and I have just about nailed down his birthday plans! I love celebrating him. And my new car! My dad works at Nissan so I am able to participate in the employee discount lease (which I am extremely grateful for!!) and my new car should be ready any week now. I am getting a Juke this time and I am so excited! Anyone drive a Juke? They are just the cutest!!

EIGHT | Watching I'm watching/reading...

We are almost finished with Gilmore Girls, which I'm really bummed about lol and I am almost finished with Emily Ley's book!

NINE | What I'm listening to...

Don't laugh...I'm still listening to The Sound of Music soundtrack...#noshame

TEN | What I'm wearing...

I have been able to wear a couple of short sleeved shirts this week (with a light jacket/rain jacket) because it has been so warm!

ELEVEN | What I'm doing this weekend...

Reagan is getting groomed bright and early Saturday morning- girl needs it bad! I am hoping to get on a 6 week schedule with her groomers! 

TWELVE | What I'm looking forward to next month...

Like I mentioned up there...Matthew's birthday, another month closer to summer (hello warm weather and pool time!), maybe a couple of new house projects??  And being another month closer to the end of Matthew's busy season! #Imarriedanaccountant #averyhandsomeaccountant 

THIRTEEN | What else is new...

We hung up some curtains in our dining room that I am in love with. I'll share them later this week or early next week, but all I have to say is...buffalo check is my new favorite. 

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WHAT'S UP WEDNESDAY | FEBRUARY 2017