Something You Didn't Know About Me!

     

    I have an odd obsession with elephants.  And by odd obsession I mean I freaking love them.  In fact I love them so very much that our someday children will have purple polka dot elephant nurseries.  Don't ask me why.  I just am completely in love with their huge majestic silliness.  Something about them makes me want to take myself and life less seriously.
    We are blessed to live only one hour away from the amazing San Diego Zoo.  If you haven't been there, put it on your bucket list. It's absolutely magical.  Imagine miles of winding jungle like paths with hundreds of species of animals everywhere you look.  And my absolute favorite part?  The spectacular elephant odyssey  of course!  On our most recent zoo trip I stood in front of the elephants for almost an hour in complete heaven.  There was even an elephant splashing around in the pool.  I could not be happier.  Luckily my wonderful husband loves the zoo as much as I do.  And he happily grants my requests to visit every chance we get!

XX

S

Gratitude

    

     It's been kind of tough around here lately.  I'm adjusting to working full time.  And even though I love my job, it's tough to keep everything running smoothly while spending less time at home.  On top of my heavier work load Joey has been away training significantly more than he's been home lately.  It feels like deployment and its a constant reminder that deployment number 2 is just around the corner.  I keep telling myself that it will be okay and I'm strong.  But I couldn't feel more weak than I do right now.  Instead of letting myself sulk away, I've decided to focus on the things that I'm grateful for.  As a reminder that not everything is bad and stressful (even if it feels that way)

• I'm grateful for my adorable dogs. Who never always make me smile. 
• I'm grateful for our home.  A space all ours and all about us. 
• I'm grateful for the beach, and the wonderful effect it has on me. I spent my Saturday reading on the beach, just relaxing and reminding myself that I'm okay alone.
• And I'm grateful for the wonderful friends I've gained here.  The ones that understand exactly what I'm going through and know exactly what to do and say. 
• More than anything I'm grateful for my husband.  My Joey.  I'm so unbelievably blessed to get to share my life with my best friend.  And even though we have to spend time apart I know that after we will be that much stronger. 

Life As A Wife

     

 

      I hope you're ready for a new series!! I know that most of my posts have something to do with my husband.  That's because he rocks!  My marriage will always be my top priority.  And that means quite a bit of my life is dedicated to my husband and being the best wife possible.  That being said i've decided to do a series about my life as a wife. The things that we love, hate, and everything in between.   My goal is to be honest about my struggles and triumphs.  Because marriage is the most challenging and rewarding experience that I will ever have.  It's a journey and I look forward to writing all about my journey here very soon! 

XX

S

Challenge Me May!

        This is the first post in my Challenge Me series! In case you missed my other post you can check it out here. This series is all about me and the little goals I make for myself to be a better me! This month my challenge is to stop procrastinating!  I have always had a problem with time management.  I focus on the things I like to do and completely put off the things that I dislike.  It's a problem.  Especially now that I'm working full time! I don't want my job to get in the way of my wife duties and I do not want Joey or my wonderful furbabies to suffer because I don't have time to spend with them! So for May I have decided to make a huge effort to stop procrastinating. No more sleeping in past my alarm, No more pushing the not so fun things to the last minute, and definitely no more wasting time on unproductive Netflix marathons! (sorry pretty little liars, i'll miss you!) From now on I will keep my planner close and keep checking off that to-do list.  Wish me luck! And stay tuned for my progress! 

XX

S

What do you do to stay on task?

Challenging Me

     

     I've always been big on goals.  I feel the need to constantly work to better a small portion of myself or my life.  Some call it perfectionism, I call it healthy improvement.  To capture my need to achieve little goals (and maybe to help hold me accountable?), I've decided to create a series to capture my monthly goals and my efforts to just BE BETTER! I'm thinking the first of every month I will post that month's mission! And near the end of every month i'll update everyone on how it went. Wish me luck!

XX

S

How do you challenge yourself?

Pray for Boston

     

     I am a runner.  I have run many shorter races.  I'm currently training for my first half marathon.  I know the amazing, empowering feeling that you get when you cross that finish line.  I can imagine exactly how it would feel to finish a marathon for the first time.  The feeling of I DID IT or I EARNED IT.  Those feelings I know all too well.
     What I can't  even begin to imagine is crossing that finish line only to have it blow up.  That thought sends chills through my spine.  Right now my thoughts and prayers are centered on the people of Boston.  My mind is full of questions.  How could anyone wreck such an amazing event.  How could anyone have the need to destroy so many lives for no reason?
     The reality is there are bad people out there.  Really evil bad people.  And those people are going to hurt other people no matter how many gun laws or public safety regulations are in place.  It's up to the good people in the world to off set the bad.  God bless the first responders and the people that rushed to help the injured today.  And my prayers go to everyone effected by this complete tragedy.

XX

S

Pinspiration: May

    Just a few of my favorite Pins!

pin

1. I've been on the hunt FOR YEARS for the perfect soft sugar cookie recipe. And ^ that one looks EXTREMELY promising! Stay tuned I will be trying it very very soon! 

pin

2. Joey and I are currently planning our next photoshoot! Poor Joey. I love having our picture taken so much that we do it multiple times a year! This will be our "redeployment" shoot. And i'm thinking that it will include more fun relaxed photos like ^ this. 

pin

3. I've been looking everywhere for a great lip scrub recipe! I'll be trying this one out ^ this week! It includes coconut oil!

pin

4. I love DIY calendars! This ^ one looks like it would be WONDERFUL for my blog! 

pin

5. I try to surprise Joey with something every time he returns from a long training trip. A wall full of heart shaped love notes is in his near future!! 

     Want to check out all of my pins?  Follow my pinterest!

XX

S

Are you addicted to pinterest too?

I LOVE SUCCULENTS

     We've definitely caught spring fever around here.  Unfortunately I am not very good with plants.  I try really hard, but I generally end up killing them.  Joey has a wonderful way of inspiring me to be better and encouraging me to try when I think I can't do something.  Last weekend he drug me to our local hardware store, I say drug because usually when we go he slowly walks through every single aisle stopping every three minutes because he has a crazy complicated exciting project in mind.  He's just plain wonderful.  And even though it drives me CRAZY sometimes, I adore his creative side.

Anyway, this time we went straight to the garden section.  He loves plants.  SO we decided to get a few plants for our patio.  Hopefully I can keep this batch alive! 

Mini helped us plant them!

She likes to stand like a person.

I have had two white pots from ikea and a red one from target for a few months now. 

They made lovely homes for my new succulents!

Fletcher decided to get in there and help too. He's a bit camera shy.

     Our patio has never looked better! I wish I could keep these inside but our apartment just does not get very much natural light and I doubt they would do well. Next apartment hunt I will most definitely pay more attention to light!! 

What are your favorite plants to have around your home?

XX

S

Pinspiration: Spring Cleaning!

    

      It's no secret that i'm unbelievably addicted to pinterest.  It is the most visited site on my laptop and the most used app on my phone.  I have TOO MANY boards and thousands of pins. It is my absolute favorite website and a constant source of inspiration.  I just love it.  Once a month i'll showcase some of my favorite pins in a Pinspiration series!  

     This week I am focused on spring cleaning.  I'm what most people like to call type A.  I like things to be clean, organized, and whenever possible, color coded.  Spring cleaning is practically a holiday around here.  However my wonderful husband is as far from type A as can be.  He's messy.  And color blind.  My need for order and his messy tendency can clash at times.  Lucky for me he's amazing and patient and tries everyday to be cleaner.  And lucky for him I actually enjoy picking up after him.  I'm constantly looking for ways for us to organize our tiny apartment that we can both be happy about and keep up.  

     Spring cleaning signifies a new beginning.  A clean slate.  For some reason I just love that.  Plus it gives me a reason to completely scrub and reorganize everything. :) 

     This spring has however gotten off to a rough start.  Our dishwasher leaked under our wood floor and ruined the floor in our kitchen and dining room.  The complex is getting it fixed but it's still causing a major delay in my spring cleaning schedule!  I like to disinfect things with my dishwasher.  Plus the big gross hole in the kitchen combined with the lifting wood makes me cringe. It should be fixed by next weekend and I will be having a proper spring cleaning week then.  For now I am taking advantage of the delay and scouring pinterest for great spring cleaning ideas to add to my cleaning list!  Here are a few of my favorites. 

source

This is supposed to be the best tutorial for cleaning a microfiber couch.  I clean our couch once a month using an oxiclean spray that takes forever to dry.  This rubbing alcohol idea sounds much much better!  Although I plan on adding a few drops of lavender to my spray bottle for scent.  Along with being a clean freak i'm also paranoid about my house smelling like dog.  

source

I hate the build up on ceiling fans.  I do clean ours weekly however dust still builds up very quickly.  I'm excited to try the pillow case trick and I wonder whether it actually will keep the dust shower that usually happens! 

source

I LOVE this. I had no idea we could clean between the glass!  I CAN'T WAIT TO TRY IT!

source

Confession, I suck at folding sheets.  But this little tutorial looks easy enough to follow! 

source

How to clean different kinds of walls!  Our apartment has cheap paint.  It's nice to know the right way to clean a wall!  

     I'll be sure to feature a few of my favorite cleaning tips and DIYs soon!  What are your favorite cleaning and organizing tricks? 

XX

S

Our Perfect Chaos

   Our Christmas card photo from 2012

My life is chaos.  I have chosen to embrace this fact instead of constantly fighting it. Because I love my crazy unbelievable life so much. In the last few years I've married my best friend, moved to another state, welcomed two adorable puppies into our family, and so much more. Our entire life is one thing after another. It absolutely is complete chaos all of the time. And I would not have it any other way. Our chaos is perfect. And I can't wait to share it with you.

xx

S

bloglovin

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/4873653/?claim=tgtd35wnc43">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>