Life Laid Bear

Thankful 22/52

Happy Thursday. And what a spendid Thursday it is because Friday is almost here. This week I am thankful for upcoming weekends that are filled with warm weather, beautiful eyelit dresses, swimming pools full of laughing people, and tasty cookouts. 

March Project Life

March was a truly amazing month for us, and it took me a long time to work my way through pictures and items I collected over the month. The first page is the 12 x 12 picture that we took during our third anniversary trip. I added some teal letters and wrote a little about the month right on the picture. 

This page is books 9-11 from The Vampire Academy series. I wrote reviews of all of the books here. We had our first really warm day and decided to sit outside at a local restaurant. The bottom three photos are from a great weekend spent with our family in Jacksonville. 

Some other random things that happened in March. Book number 12, baby shower invitations went out for my sister in law, a movie date, Waffle House (my favorite), and a lazy day with my guy. 

I separated the month with a section devoted to our trip to Savannah. It was an absolutely amazing trip, and the perfect time for us to relax, talk of the future, and just be together. I added an 8x11 photo and printed the date and trip information on the photo.

On the next two inserts, I added some items I collected while we were in Savannah. We spent some time looking around The Cathedral of St John the Baptist which was absolutely stunning. We grabbed a program as we left. 

The next insert is a Project Life envelope that I put in to hold our smaller items. We added the key to the hotel we stayed in, arm bands from a bar we went to, and receipts for items we bought. 

This insert was cut from a larger page with just three 6x4 slots on the front and another three on the back. 

I reused a photo that we took on the first day we were in Savannah in the middle of this insert. We kind of love that photo, and the fact you can walk around with a drink on the streets. 

I threw in some 4x6 photos around a card that was in our room when we arrived. I love that the staff signs every card.

Some additional photos from our trip with the back of the card at the top left. 

The month ended with a 12x12 photo of Kyle and I outside of our room in Savannah. I love the smile on my guys face. 

 

Thankful 21/52

You know those weeks? The ones that are really rough to get through. Time seemed slow, the nights were restless, and at the end of the day you are just exhausted. That has been the scene over here this week. Full of a sick day, some bad news, a completely messy house, and some major work frustrations. But I have almost made it to Friday with the promise of a Memorial Day holiday on Monday! All goes by the wayside after that realization. 

I am thankful for this extra day to regenerate, clean, organize, and maybe catch up on some reading! I have some small goals for my long weekend that include working on the back patio, possibly the first backyard cookout, and hopefully a lot of time spent with the husband. Have a wonderful and safe Memorial Day weekend  you guys. 

 

Graduation Day

This past weekend, my brother graduated from high school. We are 5 years apart, so I knew this day would come but I wasn't fully prepared when I saw him walk across the stage at the ceremony, I can tell you there were unexpected tears spilled. The ceremony was relatively short but very beautiful. 

We don't get family photos very often, so this seems like a pretty good time to snap one. This is the best one we could get, and I think it's pretty great. 

We had a wonderful weekend of being with family, friends, and celebrating my brother! He will be heading to college in just a few short months and it was so nice to spend some time with him.  

Thankful 20/52

These pictures were surprisingly taken one day apart. One last Saturday, and the other on Sunday. The left, I totally have wet hair before getting it cut and the right is Sunday before Mother's Day brunch. What a difference a couple inches and some highlights make! Strange but I am very thankful for a new haircut this week. Something new and fresh for summer that I am playing with. I am still getting used to it, but am just glad I went with something different for this exciting season in my life. 

This weekend me brother is graduating, and I can't believe it. We are just five years apart, and it doesn't seem right that he is now graduating from high school. This summer he will be down in south Florida playing basketball for a D1 school, and it hasn't set in that I will be watching my brother on tv in the coming months. So proud of him, and thankful to call him my sibling. 

With graduations come family. And I can't wait. I am so thankful for these special people in my life, and I can't wait to spend a whole weekend celebrating with them. 

So for those that have a big step towards the future this weekend, good luck and happy weekending!

Books 13 and 14

Some books are planned out on my neverending list. I want to read this one next, this one after that one... and so on. But some are spur of the moment, pick up off the shelf because you really like the cover. That is what these two were.

Looking for Alaska is another sad book by John Green (also the author of The Fault in our Stars). This book was about growing up, moving away from your family, love, and life. It starts with the main character, Miles, moving from Florida to a boarding school in Alabama. While there, he meets a group of good friends who go through a lot together. 

The first half of this book was fun, witty, and all things silly. But flip to the second half and a huge surprise and I was kind of just done. Along the same feelings as I had for for The Fault in our Stars. I just want a stinking happy ending in a John Green book! Is that so much to ask? The writing was entertaining and the book was an easy to read weekend book. All in all, I enjoyed it, but had a hard time getting over the twist. 

I have to admit, I picked this book up because of it's cover and almost put it down after reading what it was about. A society without love? I don't know if I even want to think about that! But it was definitely worth reading. The premise reminded me a lot of The Divergent series. But instead of banning Divergent's the ban was on love. What a strange concept.

Lena is the main character, and she falls in love with a boy in a society where this is not allowed. They see love as a disease. It is banned and once you reach a certain age, you have a procedure which keeps you from falling in love. The government decides who you will marry, what you will do, and how many kids you will have. The book is a series, and I am still deciding if I want to read the other two. Again, I need a happy ending to be able to move on to the next book. 

Thankful 19/52

This coming Sunday is Mothers Day! I am so thankful for my mother, as most of us should be. In every way I am thankful that she decided to go through two difficult births in order to hold my brother and me in her arms. Mom, I can't always be with you but you are always with me! We are so much alike, and at the same time so different. But the one thing I know for sure is that I was made for you, and you were made for me! 

Priorities

pri·or·i·ty

noun

plural noun: priorities

1. a thing that is regarded as more important than another.

   "housework didn't figure high on her list of priorities"

These little things called priorities are hard to understand. Sure, we know what they are. By definition, it seems so easy to comprehend. But that doesn't tell you how to manage it in real time. Our parents told us all about having them, and also about cleaning our rooms, and not procrastinating. But now that I am an adult, my mindframe is "do I have something to wear to work tomorrow, or do I have to do laundry". It isn't always pretty, but it is definitely true. Are you with me? 

 

The hard part to me about understanding priorities, is trying to balance them. How do you decide what things stay and what things can wait in our already too short of a day? 

 

I want to write more, journal more, make more, and just sit and have a morning coffee. But do those things matter when you have laundry, a husband to feed (who am I kidding, I don't cook), dogs to love on, work and an ongoing list of spring cleaning you don't want to do? 

 

I guess my point, which leads to a question is how is everyone else doing it out there? Are you making lists? Do you have a secret weapon to managing time? How do you prioritize your life into need to do and have to do? Any suggestions?

 

May goals

Months are funny. Funny not in the laughable way, but in the bizarre way. For me months come with memories, feelings, and of course weather change. May has always been a pretty great month in my book. I was engaged in May of 2010, made an offer on our first home in May of 2011, got Lucas in May of 2012, and infused vodka in 2014.

The weather is not terribly overwhelming, everything is beautiful and blooming, people are in great moods, and it is beach time all of the time. What is not great about that? On top of that we have a holiday. Which means a wonderful day of rest off from work. 

My goals for this month are simple, as they all are. Because that is the way I like it. Simple, realistic, and of course me. 

- Buy a new bathingsuit. I am so leaning towards this one or this one. 

- Decide on some lighting for outside. I have been pinning like crazy. 

- My brother is graduating. Like from high school. This is not happening, he is not old enough. So I have to make it through two hours of graduation without crying. This will be hard. 

- Spend some weekends working towards a beautiful outdoor patio. 

- Get a good family photo. These are tough with two very squirmy pups.

- Catch up on some reading. Six books are waiting for me this month. 

- Scrubs marathons with my guy. 

- Booking flights for a birthday weekend in July for Kyle's 25th!

- More sleep and more cuddling on Saturday mornings. 

 

 

 

Happy Day

Happy Cinco de Mayo Williams style. We are spending the night in making homemade margaritas and being silly. Hope you had a margarita and remembered the reason for the season.