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!