almost normal.

Hi friendlies! I feel like I am sloooowly getting my life slightly more organized and used to this new schedule I've got, so hopefully I can get back to posting more regularly soon. Right now, by the time I get home, cook dinner and get my lunch and clothes ready for bed, it's lights out. And not to mention, I have required reading after work that is sooo fun. **insert eye roll here...** 

Anyways, here's a quick recap of my life over the past few weeks!

The baby brother graduated from high school!

B came to visit for graduation.

My present to myself for starting my new job.

Another benefit of working in the country...a nice drive!

Part of the scenic drive to work.

Horseys!

Little bro was in the newspaper!

Got to meet this little cutie!

The littlest baby bunny ever in our back yard!

Never have I ever...

...had a big girl, Monday through Friday, 8-5 job before now. But I have almost completed my first week of being in the big girl world!

And DAAAYYYYUUUMMM, ya girl is tired.

Seiously, I love my new job. There are so many things that make it awesome, and I think it's only going to get better. I am going through a three month training process right now, and each week or so I am getting a little more responsibility put on me. But from the word go, I have been slammed. I mean non-stop. I never in a million years thought 8-5 would go by so fast! I can't imagine how busy and hectic things are going to be when I am fully responsible for everything.

But right now, my brain is pretty much mush. I have information overload. And I can't possibly imagine how long it is going to take me to get used to this schedule. Going from a bartending job and retail-type schedule before...this is a complete 180 for me, and my body is slow to adjust!

Oh, but wait. The girl training me, who held this position before...? Well, I found out yesterday she is getting married in two weeks, and will then be on her honeymoon for a week. FREAK OUT TIME.

In two weeks, I have to be (sort of) able to do everything by myself and that has me over here hyperventilating just a wee bit.

Anyways, I know the other lovely people I work with will be there to help me if I need it, and I will make it. I am just so thankful for this job, and how perfect it is.

I promise to get back on the blogging train after I get through this first work week, my little baby brother graduating from high school TONIGHT, and this awesome three day weekend!

Thanks for all the positive thoughts and prayers y'all sent my way during interviews, the waiting process and this first week!! :)

Weekend Shenanigans...and day 1 of my new job!

I'm writing this post tonight like a good little blogger because I know I won't be able to do it tomorrow morning.

Why?

Because it's my first day at my new job!!

I am finally getting excited and nervous, and I should seriously be asleep right now because 5:30am is going to come so early.

So, while you're looking at all these pics from my weekend shenanigans, send some good thoughts my way that this first day is going well!!

one. attempted to tint some mason jars...not too sure about the outcome, so I think I will be trying it again.

two. ella has grown so much since we saw her about 2 weeks ago :(

three. tinted jar chandelier at breakfast friday morning...love!

four. b was still adjusting to the jet lag, and woke up at 5am friday, the day after getting back from europe. how does he make it up to me? by taking me to get possibly the best breakfast in athens (at 7am...)

five. lots and lots of mama's boy coffee was required after getting up so early.

six. baby ella bella learning new tricks.

seven. spent a little time on the lake friday and saturday...while the weather cooperated.

eight. ella is working on her modeling portfolio.

nine. seriously though, how perfect is she?!

How was your weekend?!

Making changes?

I have been thinking a lot about changing things around here. 

And by things, I mostly mean my name--my blog name, not my actual name.

I know this blog is pretty new to be making changes like that, but I don't think the name fits me, or where my life is headed right now, and I don't like that. I want something I can relate to a little more, and that's a truer depiction of what's going on over here on this little bloggy.

When I started with this name, it fit well because I was still a college graduate, working as a bartender in Atlanta. I had every intention of finding a job somewhere in Atlanta, and eventually moving closer in to the city. I have always assumed, ever since I graduated, that I would wind up in the city...maybe not this city, but a city all the same.

But I was wrong. My job is nowhere near the city. It's actually probably further away than I am now. It's on a farm. No, I'm not a farm hand. 

The founder of the company I now work for loves animals, especially horses. When she quit working for a large PR firm in the city and opened her own company, she thought she would finally be able to have a farm with horses. But not if she was still going to be working daily in Atlanta. So how did she solve this problem? She took the money she would have spent to buy office space in the city and she bought acreage about 20 miles northwest of Atlanta. She has horses, goats, donkey, dogs...all kinds of animals. And she also has an office space there, too. So she has the best of both worlds for her.

And I can't complain. Yes, it's still a long drive for me...about an hour. But it's a peaceful, scenic drive. And I'm actually moving the whole time I'm driving out there. I don't mind the drive quite so much when it doesn't involve sitting in interstate traffic! And I do plan on moving somewhere closer to the interstate, so the drive won't be quite so long. I just haven't quite figured out exactly where yet...

So with all this being said, I just feel like I should change my blog name. When I think of the name, some of the things I would expect to see when coming to this blog would be...

-someone in their early 20's who has just graduated

-someone who actually lives/works in a city

-stories of city living and adventures

I feel like these statements don't really apply to my life like I thought they would. I am 25 now, and I've been out of college for two years. I don't live or work in a city. And I very rarely ever go out and have fun adventures in the city. My fun adventures still happen in Athens--not in Atlanta. 

So now I have to begin the task of finding a new name. If anyone has any suggestions, or where/how to find inspiration, I would love to hear it! This is definitely NOT one of my strong points. 

Let the brainstorming begin!

Weekend Shenanigans: Mother's Day Edition

This weekend was pretty boring, which seems to be a trend for me right now. B is still in Europe, so I stayed home all weekend, spent lots of time with my family, and continued recovering from this strange virus/bug/sickness thing I've had. I also worked my last weekend ever (I hope!).

Friday - Mom usually works from home on Fridays, so we got to hang out, then we went shopping and ran errands for most of the evening.

Saturday - I worked promos, then met Mom for a mother/daughter Mother's Day dinner at church.

Sunday - Sunday morning we went to church, then we worked in the yard all. day. long. My little brother graduates from high school next week, and we're having a low-country boil and pool party next Saturday to celebrate. My parent's have spent the last several weekends getting the yard, pool and house ready for the party, and just for summertime in general.

Collage I made for my mom on Sunday.

1. Peony and rose bouquet from all of my Mom's pretty plants. She has a green thumb, I have a black one. That's one trait of hers I really do wish I'd gotten...

2. The pool quickly turning blue after loads of chlorine. It was greeeeeen just two days ago!!

3. My step-dad putting the gazebo together as I gave him directions...that was an interesting experience. (He doesn't take direction well...ha.)

4. Lots of pretty planters my mom and I worked on. Our house and yard is covered in plants everywhere. I tried to do the same thing when I was in college, but I killed everything. Oops.

After working in the yard all day, my step-dad grilled ribs and veggies and we had a nice Mother's Day dinner...then we all passed out. 

We are a super exciting, crazy family y'all.

Celeb-fession

Y'all, I have a confession.

I am not celeb-crazed.

I don't follow them much, I don't have favorites (or most hated), I can't put a lot of their names together with their faces.

I'm weird, I know.

I feel like being super up-to-date on all things celebrity is pretty much a necessary requirement for being a good blogger. And I never realized till recently how bad I was at this.

The ugly realization occurred a few weekends ago when we got on the topic of my friend's 'top 5.' She whips out her phone and proceeds to show me her Pinterest boards for each of her top 5 celebrity crushes. Then she asks who my top 5 were... You should have seen her face when I said I don't have a top 5. Or a top 1. Or none...

Now for all of you who are celeb-lovers, thank you. I promise I read your blogs and follow you on Twitter and you teach me things. I mean, the little bit of celeb news I do know, it's because of you. So I'm not completely celeb-ignorant.

I mean, the tweet from Robin Williams comparing Mrs. Doubtfire to Kim K. at the Met Ball? AMAZING. And the updates on each time Miley or Amanda does something a little crazier than before? Thank you.

These things make my day, and y'all pretty much narrow it down for me so that I only know the really good stuff worth actually knowing.

I'm going to work on my celeb knowledge and see what I can do. I guess I should probably start watching reality tv more...

....just kidding, that's probably not going to happen!

But ya know what is going to happen? I'm going to link up with Whitney again. Because it's Friday. Which means we should all be ready to #backthatazzup.

MIA

Holy sickness.

I have felt like a totally different person lately. aka miserable.

I feel like I need to do a week recap so far, because I haven't shown my face around these parts since Saturday. Saturday! Oops. Although there's not much to say since I've spent most of the week so far in bed...

So, here we go. Monday I had to say goodbye to sweet little Ella baby after spending less than a day with her. Then I had to take B to the airport and say goodbye to him, too. So sad.

How cute are my babies?!

 And yes, I have been a little crybaby since then. I miss just being able to talk to him whenever I want. No text messages are allowed, and I just have to wait until it's convenient for him to call me. I have no clue how all these amazing women deal with their significant others being in the military and not having normal communication with them. I really do not think I could do that. It takes an insanely strong individual and my heart and admiration goes out to each and every one of you!

Tuesday was all normal and boring...until I got a migraine. Cue bedtime at 4pm. And then this migraine just turned right into some lovely little stomach flu/virus/bug thing that just doesn't want to go away. Wednesday, I thought my life was over. (Yes, I'm being overly dramatic, I know...)

But I was mis. And I'm still not completely back to normal. But at least I have enough energy to get out of bed and make it to the couch. Baby steps, y'all, baby steps.

Anyways, enough whining. I have to work my last Saturday doing promos ever this weekend and I am soo excited. After this weekend, I have a week off of work, B comes home Thursday, and then next Monday is the big day..I start life in the real world!

Saturday Instagram Recap

This is my first time linking up with Sara at Pearls and Curls for her Saturday Instagram Recap!

My Insta' skills have been lacking here lately, and since I've never linked up before, I'm doing more than just a weekly recap. More like an "as far back as I have to go to make this interesting" recap.

Spring has sprung. Well, at least it pretended it did...

I love this dress more each time I see it!

Yummy dinner cooked on B's new grill!

Sweet baby Ella, whom I finally get to meet tomorrow!

Half moon mani.

One benefit of my new job..a gorgeous drive to work.

Perfect way to spend a chill evening in with B.

Starbucks + pedi = best little treat to myself ever.

Big news!!

So yesterday, pretty much the best thing ever happened.

I got a job offer.

Finally.

The past year has been full of ups and downs for me, which I know is just part of life. However, I feel like there were waaaay more downs than ups. 

But hopefully, this well help that trend swing to more ups and less downs!

I just realized today that next week will mark 2 years since I graduated from college. That is insane to me.

Right after I graduated, I started an internship that wound up lasting 8 months. So I didn't really start my job search in earnest until January of last year. I still had my part-time job from college, and I was living in Athens and everything was ok for awhile.

Then, my job started cutting hours as a way to help meet budget. Which meant all part-timers could work no more than 12 hours a week. Who can live on that?! 

All during that time, I was searching for a job, especially one that would allow me to stay there in Athens close to everyone, and everything, that I love. But for whatever reason, that wasn't meant to be. I couldn't find a job, and when my lease was up, I wound up moving home.

At no point in my life did I expect to be living at home at the age of 25. At no point did I expect to just be really beginning my career at the age of 25. And at no point did I expect to be dating a guy two years younger than me and still in school at 25.

But ya know what I've learned?

That when it comes to God's timing and plans, the only thing you should expect is the unexpected. Because it's not up to me. I have absolutely no clue as to why I had to spend the last year and a half searching for a job, living at home, and working jobs I hated.

I have no clue why He led me to this particular job, which is not at all what I expected, and is in a location I never in a million years planned to be.

But I do believe that one day down the road I will look back on these times and this job and I will get it. I will see the lessons I was supposed to have learned during the struggle of job hunting. I will realize the purpose of being at this job, and what it leads me to.

It's all going to come in His timing, and be revealed in His way, not mine. I just have to be patient, and trusting.

Right now though, more than anything, I am so, so thankful!

Introducing Ella! ...and my favorite pins this week.

Hi friends.

I have been MIA this week...my bad. Monday was cray at work...I was making phone calls allllll day. I've tried to blog while spending a lot of time on the phone, and I finally had to quit. It never fails that I wind up saying something I'm typing to the person I'm talking to. Not cool.

And yesterday, I had a second-round job interview! I should know something by this Friday...I am super nervous. I can't really function normally because I can't stop thinking about it.

But first...I have big news! If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you already know...

How cute is this little baby girl?!

Ella is our new little black lab puppy! And by 'our,' I mean she is my boyfriend's, B. And since she is his, she's kinda mine, too, ya know? 

I don't get to meet her until Sunday though (another perk of a LDR...not.) I can't wait. I have a feeling I'm going to fall in love, and it's going to be so hard to leave her every time I have to come back home. It's just one more thing I'm going to miss...boo.

Stay tuned for more Ella pics next week...I'm sure there will be a million after I actually get to meet her!

Now, on to my favorite pins as of late...it is always soo hard for me to pick just a few!

DIY love!

I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest, not gonna lie.

I mean, we all know it's awesome. It has the best ideas, the prettiest projects, the yummiest recipes, the cutest outfits.

But it also makes me want everything. 

Well, almost everything. Sometimes people pin stuff and I'm like wtf?! No.

But let's be real. I have like 37 different ways I want my closet in my future home to look. And like 62 different wedding dresses and engagement ring styles. Not realistic. I know this. But it's still a fun, guilty pleasure. 

I think the main thing I actually use Pinterest for is recipes. Because sometimes they're actually fairly easy (and that's my main goal when cooking...quick and easy!) And usually pretty yummy, too! I've found some of my go-to meals on there that I make time and time again.

But one of my absolute favorite things about Pinterest is all of the amazing DIY's on there. I get so excited every time I find something I want to make and I'm all like omgIhavetogetstartedonthisrightnow!! But let's be honest...I've made like maybe 2 or 3 things so far. Not a great record. One day when I actually have both time and money, I will get to more (I hope!)

So here are the things I've actually tried so far:

The letter photo art for my main squeeze. I saw this pin a long time ago and wanted to make it, but I just couldn't decide for who. I had the idea to do it for my boyfriend, but I knew there was no way he would like just a regular black and white, architecture themed one. But once I found some pictures of letters using nautical/water themes, I knew that touch would make him love it!

You can find the tutorial I used for the letter photo art here.

The photo canvas and bottle makeover. The next two things I tried were also presents for my boyfriend. When he moved into his new place, he desperately needed some items to put on the built-ins, and he had zero pictures in his house. These were both things I wanted to do for myself, but I realized that trying any of my crafts out on him first is a great idea! (As long as I can make it male-appropriate and not at all girly ha.) I am a perfectionist, but if I practice the projects for him first, he will never ever notice if I make mistakes (or if I decide there are things I would change when I do it for myself...) 

His mom recently got remarried, and all the brothers (one of whom is also his roommate) were in the wedding. So I got a copy of one of the pictures they had taken after the wedding and made the photo canvas for him to put on his shelf in the living room. The second thing I made for him was a repurposed bottle. I used to bartend, and I collected a lot of our more unique liquor bottles to do something with. I redid a Bulleit bourbon bottle for him, and I used a combo of the tutorials listed below to do the bottle.

These are both projects I want to do again...but I'm glad I tried them on him first, because I definitely learned some things to do different the next time!

You can find the main tutorial I used for the photo canvas here and the two for the bottle are here and here.

Sorry for the crappy photos of the finished products...since all of the gifts were for him, I don't have any of them at home to take better, more blog-worthy photos of!

These are just the few projects I have attempted so far, but my DIY board is constantly growing, and I am trying to decide just what my next craft will be!

Have you been crafty with any of your DIY pins? What are some of your favorite DIY ideas that you want to try? 

TGIF?

TGIF, right?!

Well, kind of. Friday's aren't always that exciting for me unfortunately. They're usually more like my Sundays (aka I feel like I'm preparing for Monday).

Since I do a lot of events for the company I'm interning for (which is a cocktail company), I spend lots of my weekends working. Including tomorrow. 

But thankfully, I've gotten to spend some time in Athens with B this week, today included. So instead of dwelling on the fact I have to leave and work all day tomorrow, I'm going to just enjoy the time we get to spend together today, and this awesome weather we're having before it rains all weekend!

I mean, how depressing is this?! Rain for pretty much the next 7 days all over the metro ATL area. Boo.

Sometimes when I know I'm about to have to leave him and be away for awhile, I get bummed out and have trouble focusing on and enjoying that last little bit of time we have together. Kind of like as you near the end of your vacation, you begin to dread it, knowing that you're about to have to go home and back to the real world, ya know? Does anyone else have this problem? It's something I'm definitely working on so I don't waste the good times being sad!

This week I've had to work especially hard at remembering to stay positive, because I don't know for sure that I'm going to get much time with B before he leaves for his study abroad. I have to work all weekend, and then he has finals next week. And then I have to work a ton over Cinco de Mayo weekend (our best-selling mix at work is a margarita mix, so of course Cinco de Mayo is huge for us!) And then B is leaving next Monday. 

Now, he's only going to be gone for 10 days, which is very short for a study abroad trip. But I am used to being able to pick up the phone and text or call him whenever I want to. But with him being in another country, being 6 hours ahead of me, and him being on a strict itinerary  the entire time he's there, being able to talk to him is going to be few and far between. And that makes me sad. I mean, I know we'll be fine, but it's just going to be weird that whenever I think of something hilarious (because I'm sooo funny...), or when I see a picture I think he'd appreciate, I am not going to be able to just pick up my phone and text him. Ugh. But he does have a certain amount of international calling time we can use, and I'm going to be relying heavily on Facebook messaging I guess...as long as he has internet. But have any of you had your significant other/bffs travel internationally before? How did you communicate?!

Anyways, back to the positive! We have plans to maybe go to the Botanical Gardens today, and then head downtown for dinner and happy hour. 

It's Twilight weekend, so there's soo much going on, including lots of free shows! I'll explain more about Twilight in my weekend recap post...I had never heard of it before coming to Athens. My favorite description I've ever heard of it is that it's the NASCAR of bicycle racing...if you can imagine! HA One of our favorite newly-discovered bands is playing on the street stage tonight, and I can't wait to see them again! They opened for a group we love not long ago, and we barely made it in time to see the last song or two they played, and they were awesome. I've been waiting on them to come back ever since!

And, to end it on a pretty awesome note...my first time participating in #backthatazzup Friday. Because what better way than to get in a positive, upbeat mood than to listen to all this good stuff?!

Weekend Shenanigans, and other randomness...

Yay for another boring weekend with not too many shenanigans! HA

I feel like I say that pretty much every Monday morning. Is it getting old yet?! My bad. It's true though, which is really sad.

This weekend B was super busy with school stuff...it's almost the end of the semester, so I think we all know how that goes.

So, I stayed home and hung out with the fam for most of the weekend (which explains the whole pretty-much-no-shenanigans thing.)

The one fun thing...my little bro had his senior prom Friday night! I didn't get to see him off the past two years because I was living in Athens, so it was fun for me to be able to go.

The pictures the girls in the middle are holding are of one of their best friends that they all grew up with...he passed away when they were in middle school from leukemia. But they have all done a great job of still including his memory and his family in everything they do.

They had a huge group go together...this isn't even all of them! Seeing everyone's pretty dresses and hair is so much fun now that I never have any reason to do that!

There group was so big they took a coach/tour bus looking gigantic thing. I mean, what happened to just normal limos?! And yes, this thing had a stripper pole...

The prom was in the Grand Ballroom at the Georgia Aquarium...isn't this the cutest little picture ever with the beluga whales?! And please notice my brother's caption for the picture...he is quite the little comedian.

So, that's pretty much it for the excitement from this weekend. Saturday I worked an event at the Mall of Georgia, which is so not close to my house (unfortunately for me, fortunate for my bank account...)

While we're talking about how far away that was, let's take a minute to talk about Atlanta traffic. If you're from here or live here, you know. It is the devil. And as if the regular, every day traffic wasn't enough, I run into random things constantly that just aren't normal. Twice in the past 3 days, the interstate I needed to be on was completely closed. What is that?!

So Saturday I was supposed to be at the Mall of Georgia at about 11:30. I left in plenty of time to make that happen. I had 2 choices of how to go - the perimeter around Atlanta (285) or straight through Atlanta (the connector/75/85). I decided to go the connector because no one said anything about it being messy on the radio, and for pretty  much the past year there has been road work on 285 every weekend. So I head through Atlanta, and guess what?! Someone called in a suspicious package, and 85 was SHUT DOWN. So of course, everyone and their brother was trying to get on 400, the only other option, and guess what now?! They were doing construction there, too, so it was only 1 lane for a few miles. It sucked. Needless to say, I was not on time for that...

Fast forward to this morning. Obviously, I expect Monday mornings to suck. But I am lucky enough to not have to be in the office until 10am, which means I usually have a pretty easy ride to work. But not today. Today, a car was on fire (I have no idea if there was someone inside or if everyone was ok...I can only hope and pray that no one was seriously injured. I know my complaining about traffic seems insignificant in comparison) and my entire side of 285 was shut down. There was well over an hour worth of delays to go about 10-15 miles, and over 10 miles of bumper to bumper traffic sitting at a dead stop on the interstate for most of the morning. So I headed towards my alternate route, the connector. And it was backed up onto I20, with lots and lots of traffic and delays, too! So, I wound up having to drive all the way through Atlanta on I20 and up 285 on the complete other side to get to 85 and Norcross. It was a long morning...

To sum it all up...don't ever try to go anywhere on time with me. It just doesn't happen.

And while we're on a depressing note...can we please all have a moment of silence for my missing May Designs planner? I am devastated. I feel lost, I have no idea what's going on in my life, and I have no clue where to be and when. It's not a good feeling.

And finally, the last little bit of all this randomness...and it's positive, too! I couldn't end it on a depressing note, especially not with all of the negativity and heartache of the last week. But today...I got a call back for a second interview!! My initial interview went really well last week, and I really like the company and environment, and I think it would be a great place to really start my career. So again, please keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer for me!!

Sunday Social

I decided to link up for Sunday Social again today. I think the questions this week are fun, and being a newbie blog, it's a different way for you to learn a little more about me.

What is your shopping weakness? 

Target in general...for just about anything. But I mean, that's the case for pretty much every female, ever, right?! Downtown Athens - all the cute little boutiques. And pretty much anything to do with jewelry or makeup. Let's just say my taste is way better than my income at the moment.

What is your food weakness?

I am a super weird, picky eater. But sweets, particularly chocolate, are my primary weakness. I am doing everything I can to control it and not give in to my constant sweet cravings, because I know how unhealthy it is. Also, chicken wings. YUM. Oh, and Mexican. I can eat it pretty much every day.

What is your go-to movie to watch when nothing else is on?

I don't watch a whole lot of movies just because...I have Netflix, which is pretty much the best thing ever. Although it's kinda overwhelming at times because there's too many choices and I suck at making decisions.

What is your go-to breakfast food?

Usually cereal. Occasionally oatmeal (I like that mostly in the winter though, I rarely fix it in the summer...idk why?!) And for lazy weekend breakfasts, I prefer eggs, bacon, grits, biscuits, and gravy. Ya know, the works.

Do you drink coffee? If so, how do you take it?

Yes. Every day. The question should probably be more like "do you drink milk and sugar with a side of coffee?" Because that's how I like it, with sugar and milk (and a lot...told ya I have a weakness for sweets). And in the summertime...I like it cold!

Weekend Shenanigans...better late than never!

Sooo I am super behind today on getting this post up...whoops. I don't know why I have been so slow. But it's ok. Better late than never, right?!

Here is a very quick recap of my weekend.

Did my own nails for a change and tried to make a little half moon mani with NARS Orgasm polish.

Had my first pool day of the year and it was glorious (minus the fact that I put on a little tanning oil, and was covered in pollen within about 5 minutes...)

Saturday was the first ever concert in Sanford Stadium, and it was part of Jason Aldean's Night Train tour. It was pretty awesome and I really wish I had more pictures. But I was trying to just be in the moment and enjoy my day! We started the day off tailgating on North Campus, and then headed to the stadium around 6. We saw Thomas Rhett, Jake Owen, Luke Bryan, and then of course Jason Aldean (with a special appearance by the one and only Ludacris!) I just wish it could have lasted soo much longer!

They couldn't sell alcohol of any kind in the stadium of course, so we made it our mission to see how many mini bottles we could fit into one pair of cowboy boots.

Jason Aldean!

Panoramic view of Sanford during the concert!

I did not want this weekend, or all the time I was getting to spend with B, to come to an end! 

Ohhh...side note! I have a job interview in the morning. Please say a prayer, keep your fingers crossed, and whatever else works for you. I haven't been on a job interview in several months and I am super nervous!