life lately

So, it's been a bit.
Life is crazy. So crazy. Just when you almost have things figured out you realize every day really is just a toss up. Fortunately, the constant changes have all been in my favor, even if it doesn't seem like it at the time.
Since August I've started a new, fabulous job. I have amazing co-workers, bosses and employees. I have stability. I can take my kiddos to school in the mornings and pick them up in the afternoon. It's pretty much heavenly.
The kids are now 10 years (girl-L) and 8 months (boy-Z) (tomorrow). We celebrated that 10th Birthday in a big way. We've gotten our first tooth (Sept 13th it officially broke through!). We had our first Halloween together. I had the cutest little witch and fire fighter. We are crawling...errrr scooting/bouncing. We had our first, and definitely not last, meltdown with L. Homework is not our favorite thing. And just in case anyone was wondering, Common Core SUCKS! I can't even help her with her homework because I still haven't figured out what all of the dots and boxes represent. Needless to say, 23 and no kids to 24 and two is sometimes a struggle, but definitely worth it!
Oh yeah, I turned 24 since my last post! I now consider myself officially in my mid-20's. Kind of depressing, kind of cool...I guess.
I went on another cruise. This time to Grand Turk (Love!), Half Moon Cay (Love, Love!) and back to Nassau (Third time here so not really anything new but still beautiful!). It was a good time but I've definitely decided extended vacations are better spent with friends than family. I love them but I cannot deal with the gripey people that are my family (mostly aunts and uncles). Either way, I got to see new, beautiful places and I met some really cool new people! South Beach is still up there on my list of favorite places, too.
Anyways, there it is. A little bit about life recently. I'm going to get back in to the swing of things now that things are starting to calm down a bit. I'm super excited about the upcoming holidays and can't wait to share my favorite recipes, decorations, traditions, etc.!!
Loves! <3

T.G.I.F.

O.M.G.

Life is crazy.

12+ hour work days. 1 month old baby. Church. Family. Friends. Fur Babies.
I feel absolutely drained. It has been a hard work week. I have five huge events for work each year; two of those are in the next month. Insane amounts of planning go in to these events and hundreds of volunteers put countless hours of blood, sweat and tears in to each event. I LOVE working with these people. They are so passionate about our cause (I'm not sure I've really said what I do before, but I work for a non-profit responsible for raising money that funds cancer research) and I love sharing my passion for it with them.
As much as I love these people, and the cause, it is sometimes so hard to not be completely discouraged when every single day you deal with absolutely insane, demanding, rude, completely insensitive people.
And trust me, for every amazing volunteer and co-worker I have, I also have one that makes me want to pull my hair out, take up drinking and possibly move to a cave in the mountains and shut myself off from any chance of receiving 41 emails from one person in one afternoon, ON THE WEEKEND. Yes, this happened. No I did not answer any of them then, and still haven't weeks later. Don't be ridiculous and I might consider replying. Enough said.
So, even though it is not technically the weekend yet, I am so thankful this work week is almost over! I'm going to spend this
glorious Friday chatting up sponsors and presenting to the lovelies in Kiwanis, and this is going to be the most relaxing day of my week thus far.

Hope you pretties have an amazing Friday and enjoy the heck out of your weekend!!!

Happy One Month

A day late, but this post is dedicated to the sweetest little guy I know turning 1 month old!!

I am so thankful that I was able to start this chapter of my life with this precious baby boy. Fostering has changed my life in the two short weeks that I have had Baby Boy in ways that I can't explain, so I won't even try. 

I just hope and pray that Baby Boy continues to grow in to a healthy little boy that knows how much he is loved by my family and I, but also his Momma and Daddy. M & D got to visit with Baby Boy for the first time in over three weeks today and while I was extremely unsure about it all, I was oh so relieved to get to meet them and see so much love in their eyes when they looked at their little miracle. M & D definitely need prayers and encouragement and I hope that I am able to help them along this journey as we work together to raise this most handsome gift!

So, HAPPY 1 MONTH BIRTHDAY BABY BOY!!! Love and hugs!

Cuddle time is the best time!!

Remembering a Great Man

Today we laid to rest a dear friend of my Grandpa's. While he may have been 81 years old, it seems like his time was cut so short. Just diagnosed with cancer a couple of months ago, he went so fast. It's almost like we didn't have time to say goodbye.

This man, we called him Little Bill because of his small stature, was like a second grandpa. He was my Grandpa's side-kick and partner in crime. From their trips every morning to the local McDonalds for coffee with the boys, to spending hours getting their sprinklers in their gardens working just right, my Gramps and Little Bill spent just about every waking moment together.

Little Bill, thank you. Thank you for being a constant companion for Papa. Thank you for celebrating holidays, birthdays, graduations, births, and housewarmings with us. Thank you for treating us like your own grand kids, and thank you for praying for us, because although you never said you were praying for us I know you were. You will be loved and remembered always.

Well Hello There, Beautiful!

So I am trying to get back in to this writing/blogging thing. In the one year (and a couple of months) since I graduated from college I have pretty much completely stopped doing the one thing I loved so much while in school; writing.

I'm not sure where I will go with this blog. Maybe I'll talk about my family and friends, maybe my travels, or maybe even my attempts at various Pinterest projects. Maybe I will just talk about life in general and all of the things that make my life just that; simply mine.

In my 22 years (and 8 months) I have not lived an extraordinary life, it has been quite common actually. I was born to a small town couple living a small town life. We were joined two years later by a cute blonde haired, blue eyed baby boy, I often refer to as Bubba. Out little family has had more than our fair share of drama, chaos, health issues, etc. but through it all we have stuck together . We are still working on "us" as a family but we love each other none the less. (Notice I said love, we definitely do not always like each other!)

I say all of this to give any of you that don't know me a little history. As time goes on I will elaborate on certain parts of my life I am sure, but for now I want to focus on who I am in this moment. 

To write about myself in the "now" is actually really hard. Mostly because when I thought things were starting to become stable I realize that couldn't be further from the truth.

I mean, if we want to get technical, right now I am employed by a great organization that saves over 400 lives every day! How many people can say that?! I have been very blessed with this job! Right now I am living in a super cute house I purchased on my own almost 8 months ago. I have the cute little flower bed out front with the bird and squirrel feeders and two of the cutest (and oldest...they were rescued from a kill shelter at a fairly old age) chocolate labs in the huge fenced in back yard. 

Sounds picture perfect, right? I thought so too until I realized that I could be missing Gods calling on my life. This calling is something that has been on my heart for years, since before I was even old enough to really understand it. It has taken me all of these years, though, to decide to stop fighting against myself.

I know now for sure what my calling is. In what capacity it will be fulfilled and when, I have absolutely no clue. I do know though that God equips the called, and while I can do nothing on my own, with Him all things are possible!

Whoo! So apparently I may even preach on this blog! Who knew!