Inspire Me: Healthy

Last Friday I found this amazing link up that was so real, honest and pertains to my day to day life. Plus, it is a topic that I have a lotttttt to say about, so needless to say I was pretty pumped to write my first post and participate in Raven and Kristen's Inspire Me Healthy link up!

 

Thanks to my stressful life and hellacious week of work - I did not have the time to write out my thoughts, goals and motivation to get skinny. With that said, I just wanted to link up  - say "hi" and tell you all that you are so motivating and there will be more to come from me on this topic!

Eight Fears

I am loving the 10 Day Challenge - my answer's today were a little on the sad side and made me think a lot about life and how much I actually do fear. So sorry in advance for the depressing approach to my answers!

1. Driving. This one may be silly BUT I blame this one on my work. I work for a personal injury law firm that specializes in motor vehicle accidents. I sit at my desk for 40+ hours a week researching some pretty horrific car accidents and that in turn has given me the worst anxiety for driving.  I do not care if someone thinks they are an amazing driver  - you are never in control and you never know what the person next to you might do.

2. Airplanes. There are so many reasons to be scared of flying - but really being thousands of feet in the sky.. that just scares me so much!

3. Divorce. Not that I have any doubt in me that my marriage will not work - but I do know marriage is hard and takes a lot of work. I want to always make sure my marriage comes first even when I do start a family. I have watched so many relationships fall apart because they put all their time, attention and effort in to their kid's first and put the marriage on the back burner. 

4. My parents getting old. I think some of my fear of starting a family worries because that means my parents will be grandparents and in my mind I am still a little girl with totally fit and young parents.  I absolutely know they will have years and years to come.. but it still makes me cherish every moment I have with them.

5. Death. I believe in God and know that heaven is a better place then being here on earth - but the end of a life scares me and makes me so sad.

6. Never feeling good enough. I am outgoing, happy and cheerful on the outside but definitely struggle with my self worth.  I want to eventually be content in life and love myself despite imperfections I may have.

7. Not being able to have children. I spent so much of my "younger" years trying not to - but now that I am thinking about getting pregnant it worries me that there may be complications or troubles when I actually want to start a family.

8. Bad guys. Terrorists, burglars, criminals. Whatever you want to call them I am scared of them. It is sad how much fear I actually do have in life. Safety is not a high ranking in the world and you never know what can happen.

Watershed 2012

At the beginning of August I went to a kick ass county concert at the most amazing concert venue - The Gorge. I spent my weekend drooling over my husband sexy cowboys, drinking some delish drinks in the 100 degree sun and showing my love for America - all while listening to some AMAZING county music artists! It was a three day line up with Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton.. and many more singers! 

The Gorge is located on the Columbia River - roughly 120 miles from Seattle. It is so beautiful and the views we had were so incredible.

And I have to say, Miranda Lambert is a bad ass. This chick performed like a rock star and looked so cute! Her sass, charm and wit made me love her even more then I already did!

Sunday Social

Boo, it is already Sunday.  My weekend went by so fast, which is a total bummer! Sunday Social always creeps up on my so fast! I hope everyone had a great weekend!
1. What is the first website you log on to each day? Facebook and then I usually check my email.

2. Give us some funny websites you visit that we need to know about. Oh gosh, I am not really a funny website kind of person.  However when I do go to a funny site it is usually The Chive with my husband.

3. Pinterest or Facebook? Why? Definitely both.  They are both great in different ways. I love Pinterest for planning parties, recipe ideas and the endless DIY projects (WHY did this site become popular literally 1 month after my wedding).. Facebook is great for keeping in touch with family and friends.

4. Twitter or Instagram? Why? Neither. I do not understand Twitter for the life of me and I do not have a smart phone (I know way behind the times) so I cannot use Instagram.. I have been sneaking on my husbands phone lately to use Instagram and can see how it can be very addicting. I love pictures!

5. Favorite youtube video... Post it! Anything that Sophia Grace and Rosie are in!! These girls make me smile anytime I watch them! (for some reason I can't post it - check them out here)

6. Biggest online pet peeve? A lot of little stupid things bother me... but one thing that always bugs me is when people post status updates every 5 seconds on Facebook... Facebook is not a diary people!!! 

Nine Loves

Linking up with Tiffany and Lauren for week two of the challenge.  This week I am sharing "Nine Loves".. This was so easy for me - there is so much in my life to love and celebrate!

1. My amazing husband of course.

2. My caring and loving family.

3. My faith and love for God.

4. My puppy babes.

5. Best girlfriends and influential women.

6. Traveling.

7. College Football. Go Cougars!

8. Beach days and sunsets.

9. Camping and long hikes.

Sunday Social

Happy Sunday! This post was fun for me - but I think I concentrated on late elementary through junior high. I would hope to think that I was a bit more together come high school :) Also, pardon the editing on this post - I am making some changes to my blog and this one got messed up with some color changes! 

1. What were you like in Middle School/HS? I laughed at this one. I found two pictures that are very me late junior high/early high school. Crimped hair for special occasions, I used so much sun in during the summer that my hair was orangey blonde, tiny lensed sun glasses (they were blue), shorts that basically rode up my crotch.  I was a fashion nightmare, but felt so cool at the time.

Personality wise - I am proud to say I was friend with everyone.  I was very in to our school ASB, school spirit was my middle name. I absolutely loved school (minus the girl drama) it was such a easy time in life.

2.  What were your favorite past times? I loved (and still do) my Tamagotchi. Seriously, they were the best. I loved sleepless sleepovers with friends and waking up in the morning and their parents would have breakfast waiting for us. Playing outside all day/evening without a cell phone, feeling safe and our parents feeling safe that wherever we were we would be okay. Collecting Beanie Babies - and actually believing we would make money off of them in the future because they would go up in "value".  I remember my brother buying me a Beanie Baby Selling Guide from our Scholastic Book Order's one year for Christmas. Times sure were simple.   

3. What songs were you obsessed with?(Backstreet Boys anyone?) Anything Britney Spears! Is it sad that my music taste has not changed to much since then?? I was a Boy Band girl all the way too - so anything that had my hottie boys singing songs about love and broken hearts, when they themselves were teenagers..........  

4. What fashion statement do you look back on and cringe? Old Navy Family Performance Fleece, circa 1999 anyone???  I at church that year everyone was getting family pictures for our church directory and a majority of the families came in wearing their fleece vests in matching colors for their pictures.  

5. Who was your celeb crush? You do not know how bummed I am that I cannot find a picture of my bedroom from junior high of my bedroom.  This would have represented me and my BOY CRAZINESS! My room was covered with Boy Band posters - they were in section by band. 98 degrees (Nick Lachey, yummy), N'SYNC (JT, mmmmmmmm) O-Town (remember them?) Backstreet Boys (Nick Carter, duh)... I lived for these guys. I also had pictures of Leonardo Dicaprio, Prince William (5 foot tall poster), JTT, and any other guy that was "hot" from my Teen Beat Magazine. It was always a score when it was the poster edition - my room was covered.

6. What were your favorite tv shows/movies? 7th Heaven was so my favorite. I also remember 

watching TGIF every Friday with my family - we never missed it!

It's Ok

It's Ok........

Blogging is sure an interesting concept to me. I have loved my first few months blogging and have cherished the friendships I have made along the way and feel that they are real - but have you ever noticed how some people can be who they want to be through their blog and no one will know the truth if they are lying, fibbing, pushing the truth just a bit.... not that I am taking ownership of lying on my blog BUT I know their are days where I defiantly make my life sound out to me a little more exciting then it really is. Life is hard. Marriage is hard. Stress is hard. My life is not THAT perfect - yet at the end of the day it is my life and I love the journey I am on.  

With that said I will be honest and not sugar coat my current living situation.  John and I are living with my parents AND IT'S OK! 

To make a long story short, when John and I got engaged we learned several weeks later that his Dad's cancer had come back.  It was a long and hard battle and in the end he did not make it (it was the hardest thing to go through.  We both took several weeks off work unpaid.  That January John was sick with the typical winter fly bug and one night had chest pain. I ignored it and told him to just sleep it off, I assumed he was being a whiny guy and just wanted a good night of sleep.  He woke me up around 1:00 a.m. saying we needed to go to the hospital because the pain had gotten worse - and little did we know he had had a heart attack. Normally the flu symptoms are fevers, colds, nausea... apparently the flu can attack the heart as well. Luckily, my J boy was alright (and there was absolutely no permanent heart damage) but he lost is job. 

So there we were six months out from our wedding that we were paying a majority of and my money maker was jobless. We racked up some debt paying the hospital bills and everything wedding. 

After our wedding, John found a great job which was an absolute blessing  - but the hanging debt was stressful and we felt we were getting absolutely nowhere paying rent at an apartment.  My parents suggested we move in with them when our lease was up and save up for a house and get all of our debt paid off. 

So here we are, 11 months in and paying so much off. It has lifted so much weight off our shoulders and is helping us prepare for our future in so many ways.  Our plan was to only stay here for one year but we are extending our stay here one more year because honestly, saving so much money has felt so good and we figure since we are settled here for now, we have the space and privacy and are planning on waiting a year or so more until we begin to start a family - why not stay here a little longer and save up an emergency fund and have an actual savings before all of our money goes to kids and mortgages!!!

My parents are so wonderful and really having two extra years more of living with them has been so good on me.  Loosing John's Dad was a huge wake up call for me on how short life is and I truly cherish every moment extra I get with my parents.  Also, it has been so sweet watching my husband become even closer with them.

My "It's Ok Thursday" post was a little long but I felt like I needed to throw it out there on what life is like at the moment for me. It's also okay.. that all I do is look on Pinterest for decorating and organizing tips for that future home of mine!!!!

Simple

The simplicity and practicality of a chalkboard are wonderful.

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That is all :)

Ten Secrets

So excited for Tuesday's now! One of my favorite blogger's; Tiffany at the Austin Family Diary has started a link up and this is going to be a fun one! With that said, today I will be sharing ten secrets.. which kind of turns in to a "about me" post but here they are:

1. I was a swimmer for 15 years and miss it more then anyone could imagine. It was my feel good, mind cleanser, work out and passion for so long and I know I need to get in the pool.

2. I love Hollywood, celebrities, Hollywood news/gossip... and my Dad is my go to person to discuss the "hot topics" of Hollywood.  My Dad is a sports maniac and is completely a man's man... BUT he somehow keeps up on the who's who of Hollywood and I LOVE IT!! I got a text from him a few weeks ago that said "I knew Tom and Katie would not make it"....

3. While on the subject of my Dad... he is deaf and I am fluent in sign language.

4. I struggle with my weight - constantly. It has brought me in to many depressions.

5. Loosing my family and the people that are close to me scares me so much. I cherish life so much and remind myself constantly not to take the people I love for granted.  Life is so short - live it happily.

6. I have developed such bad anxiety while driving by myself or with others.  I am a paralegal and our main focus in the firm I work for is car accident injuries and since I have worked there I have become terrified of being in cars.  I constantly remind people that I am driving with that it is not their driving I worry about - it is the idiots on the road that are not paying attention that I am scared of.

7. This whole getting older thing is scaring me.  Everyone is starting to have kids and I know my husband and I will make amazing parents but in the back of my mind I am not sure if I am ready to give up my freedom. Selfish, I know. But at the same time I have my baby names picked out AND have bought several baby outfits that I just had to have for my future offspring - you would do it to if you baby shower shopped as much as I have!

8. I like wine. A lot. Pinot Grigio specifically - but I LOVE fruity mixed drinks too.

9. I am a lover of board games.  I would choose a game night in my PJ's at home over a night out at a bar anytime.

10. I am a true and loyal friend. I take friendships seriously. I attract crazies though. So many of my failed friendships have been because of "the other person"... I compare myself to Theresa and Jacqueline from RHONJ.

Friday, Friday

Friday, I have needed you desperately to grace me with your presence since Monday morning when work got stressful -  and continued to be stressful the rest of the week. I need a drink a bottle of vodka. This weekend will be nice and relaxing. I sound spoiled when I complain about this - but I have been out of town every single weekend since June and really am loving the thought of being home, in the sun, hanging out with friends and family.

Dear Massage Lady:  My insurance covers massage treatment - 25 per year to be exact. I just became aware of this last week. My lunch break today was spent getting a massage by the sweetest, petite woman in the world.  But my goodness she was stronger than heck and gave me the best massage ever. I know I am going to be sore tomorrow.

Dear Alcoholic Beverages: What to drink this weekend? My Mom and I are having some people over for dinner and we were throwing out the wine vs. margaritas vs. vodka cranberry options... What to choose, what to choose....

Dear Sun: Ooooh baby, Washington will be a comfortable 79-81 degrees this weekend. Perfect pool weather.

Dear Coppertone Sunscreen: This is my favorite summer scent. 

Dear Snoop Lion: WTF? As most of you have figured out I am a surburban girl that loves country music and is a teeny bopper. What most of you won't know is I love Snoop Dogg. His recent name change confuses me...



Dear Future: So much is in the air for us right now - I feel I am overly planning life and need to let God do the rest for me. 

New Link Up

So excited that my bestie blogger friend Tiffany at The Austin Family Diary will be co-hosting a new link up starting August 14th which I am SOO excited for! I can't wait to participate and have 10 weeks to learn something new about all of you!! Spread the word and see ya next Tuesday to kick off this new link up! xoxo

Hi, Kathleen here!

I am linking up with Mrs. Monolouges today for my first time!! Loving this one - post once a month with some random facts and information about yourself! So here it goes, a little bit about me these days!

1. I love living in Washington. Yes, I may complain  a lot a little about living here (the rain would annoy you too).. but in the summer there is nothing better and more beautiful. The drastic changes between Western and Eastern Washington make me love this state even more. My husband and I traveled East this weekend and camped at The Gorge.  We were there for the Wastershed County Music Festival and it was AMAZING.  Three solid days of country music, camping, beers and sun!!

2. I love wine tasting! When I was in San Fran last weekend I visited an amazing winery and loved every single one of their wines. Hannah Nicole Vineyards, check 'em out!

3. Since it is wedding season right now and every post I see every weekend is of people at weddings, having their weddings and getting engaged.. it makes me miss last summer.

4. My husband is amazing. I smile just thinking of him.

5. While I may be a summer girl forever and for always, I do love Fall and can't wait to do all the things that make it a happy season for me!

Full House Flashback

Last Friday I jetted off to San Fran for a quick weekend away to surprise my best friend for her 30th Birthday! The surprise was such a success and the look on her face was priceless when she saw my walking towards her at the airport (and not her boyfriends brother who she thought dissapointingly thought was coming in for the weekend).  

 I have to admit - I felt so Full House while I was in San Fran and I loved every second of it!

Happy Friday!

Dear Celebrities

Dear Dream Vacation - Please ask yourself this... how amazing would it be to vacation with Elton John and Neil Patrick Harris. UM ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! I love this!

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Dear Media, Your Olympic coverage is fabulous but really media, taking the time to make this collage of pictures of William, Kate and Harry.. is it really necessary to see who makes the funniest faces of the Royals?????

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Dear People Who Think Cheating Is Okay, EFF YOU............

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Dear Ryan Lochte, Will you marry me??? Oh please, oh please?!

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Dear JT, Even though Ryan Lochte is currently my hottie of the week.. you will forever and ever and ever be my one true celeb love. I adore you. I was happy to hear you and Jess have not planned much for your wedding.. although I am happy you ended up with Mary Camden though (gosh I loved 7th Heaven)

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Wednesday Random

So I have recently been missing from blog land and that is because my life has been taken over my 50 Shades of Grey. OH MY GOODNESS - almost done with book one and just bought book two today!!! So to sum up my week I had to share some funny - yet true - 50 Shades of Grey funnies! 

I hope everyone is having a great week - I will be in touch soon and update you all with all the new happenings around here! xoxo