That time I accomplished my dreams while cutting all the corners.

Wow! It's been too long since I've updated. It's only slightly ridiculous that I'm consistently away for extended periods of times now that I've moved to Charlotte. It has gone from daily or bi-daily posts to once every month or so. I'm sorry for neglecting you! In reality, my life is not as interesting as it used to be.

Last I left you, I was so very thankful that I had been blessed with an amazing partner in crime. This is how that day went:

Lucky girl!

*****

You would think that we were busy bees these last few weeks being unemployed and all, but that couldn't be further from the truth. My days have consisted of a lot of this:

This happens to be my new textbook that arrived for my next semester, but I'm on a break from school, so this isn't very representative of what I've had my nose in. Also, that was not a cocaine joke.

College Gameday: Saturdays consisting of nothing but pajamas, junk food, and couch potato-ing.

The only legit thing we've been up to. Shared prayer time makes for stronger relationships.

Foot fetish. Leo's got one.

Chocolate chip cookie mug cake.

Productive, as you can clearly see.

Seriously though, our spiritual journey is probably one of the only things in our life that is making constant progress. We've started with the Fergusons' One Year Couples Devotional: reading and studying and praying our way to open and honest communication. Very enlightening! It came to me one night before bed. It was hidden away in one of our many bookcases; it's initial intention to guide me toward marriage all that while ago. Finally, it's use has a purpose. I am finally finding solace in a healthy prayer life that compliments our healthy lifestyle.

And now onto the most exciting news of the week! 

I'm so very happy to announce that I've been offered a position with a local, prominent nonprofit organization as a Behavioral Health Counselor working with children. And I really have no one else to thank for this except for God, Himself. I have no previous experience, no master's degree (yet), and very little exposure to the counseling environment. This Monday, I'll start a two week training session that will introduce me to the work they do there, and the most reliable means of communication and interventions available.

And while I have mixed emotions, I'm also grateful that my hours will be confined to Saturday and Sunday (for a total of 32 hours), with the opportunity to make an additional 8 hours during the week. I will have the rest of the week to myself, to keep up with housework, homework, and to define a regular exercise regimen.

I'd also like to thank everyone who has been supportive (with prayers or otherwise) while we've been making these transitions. David has almost completed his insurance license coursework. All that's left is the state exam and he'll be ready to start! We do ask for continued prayers for this long-anticipated career opportunity.

It's been a while, but I did a Frenchie for this upcoming week! Yay for professionalism, class, and neutral tones.

Thank you for all that you do, reader! 

The next post should be as equally as exciting, so stay tuned! 

xoxo

Scoute Route Scavenger Race

On Friday night, David, Amanda, and I headed downtown to collect our race packets from Fitzgerald's Irish Pub. Good thing packet pickup was at a pub because after the day we had, Amanda and I were in serious need of a good drink and filling food. We managed to get our packets, but we're lousy alcoholics and the food was much like cafeteria food. Needless to say, we probably won't be eating there again. All the let-down-ness was quickly forgotten, however, after the excitement for the following day's scavenger hunt.

Last week, I mentioned that I bought tickets. David and I were one team, cleverly renamed "Wild Things". Hooray for finally having a legitimate use for buying matching shirts.

I know you can barely see it, but my hair was a FRO of teased and tangled hair; spray dyed a tealish blue. David's was just dyed. Men have it so easy! I was able to spray David's hair in under five minutes. Thankfully, he also agreed to help me with mine. I would tease it, and he would dye it. Layer. By. Freaking. Layer. I was already dreading the clean up. But when we got to the judges, we got the full 3 points for creativity and costume effort. Amanda and our other friend from work, Jamie, were also a coed team; vying for the first place, "cruise-to-Belize" prize. They both happened to wear grey shirts, and renamed their team on the spot to "50 Shades of Grey". They got one point for spontaneous creativity. Hey, it was something!

We got our map with the addresses of the challenges and tried to figure out the best way of covering all of the 10 challenges efficiently. The only thing we didn't know prior to race day was what each challenge consisted of, or how many points we could make at each, or how long the line would be.

The only modes of transportation we could use were the light rail and the city bus. We got day passes, knowing there was no way we could run around the entire downtown in three hours. Talk about huge. It'd be like having a race that covered the entire city of Tallahassee. There was just no way to run it all. And (!) I had completely forgotten my inhaler. I was one stressed out mess, however smiley I was trying to be for David. First team back to the finish line with 100 points in under 3 hours wins!

The scavenger hunt was less scavenger and more Amazing Race. At every checkpoint, there was a challenge you had to complete that you received  points for based on your performance. The only one we did terrible at was the bowling challenge. After running for 45 minutes already, we had to run up to this bowling alley and we each had a chance to throw a ball down the lane for points. One ball, one throw, per teammate. If the first person threw under 10, the second would have to knock down the remaining pins. If the first person threw a strike, the second person could have their own chance at 10 new pins. Shakey and sweaty, we both rolled gutter balls. So 15 minutes wasted at this checkpoint for a grand total of 0 points. But all we could do was move onto the next one. What I did enjoy, though, was how at every checkpoint that required team work to complete the challenge, we did great on. We got a lot of "best so far" or "excellent"s. The challenges that were one person, then the other, we didn't do so hot at.

But! We made it through 8 of the 10 challenges with a half an hour left, knowing relatively nothing of the city or places we were in. With the finally two challenges being too far from the finish line to make it before the course closed, we headed back to the finish line with 73 points. Not bad for a 0 pointer and skipping two challenges.

At the end of the day, we had managed to run a large portion of the race and finished in the top 20. I used Google Maps to figure out how far we ended up traveling (with the closest matching route we took) and it totaled up to 8 miles!

Can I just say--I am one lucky girl. I would say "in the world", but I feel like this feeling rings true for every woman who finds their "other". From start to finish, and everywhere in between, David was strong for us and worked with me. He helped with the costumes at 6am, helped strategize throughout the day, held my hand for the entire race (we must have looked so silly holding hands while running!), washed all of the dye out of my hair, and then helped me wash and dry Leo before we fell asleep on the couch. I can definitely say that it was one of the best bonding experiences I've ever shared with him, and one of the most exciting days we've had (second only to our spontaneous trip to Harry Potter world).

I don't know if Jamie and Amanda has as good of a time, but I'm glad we all got to participate. After this experience, David and I are definitely going to do it again next year. I hear people train and strategize all year for this race. I suppose a cruise could be worth it. Day 1 after race day, though....it doesn't feel worth it. I'm in pain, I tell ya! 

Much better than the half gallon plastic tank we had him in. No more hard plastic palm tree. Now he has a heating rock, and some Roman memorabilia. Oh, and a filter. So no more changing his water daily. $300 later, Rocky (aka Franklin) is a happy turtle. We aim to please.

Only a few more weeks until Lauren and Tyler get here. I'm anxious to finally get some quality girl time in. Shopping. Movies. Gossip (you know, about our men). It's all very thrilling.

Thanks for keeping up, guys!

Next week probably won't be as exciting, but I'll do my best to keep you updated. 

xoxo

Busy bees

We have been busy, to say the least. Even though it hasn't felt like it the past couple of days. We've managed to sleep in a day or two, and somehow found ourselves asleep before 9pm a few days this week. We're so old!

Monday! Whew! Talk about out of shape. I couldn't believe we'd only been sans exercise for a month. You'd think it was a year! While we both finished our very first Charlotte run with pretty decent stamina and buckets of sweat, both of my legs were cramping as I neared the end of my workout. With every step, I was anticipating falling head over spaghetti legs and flat on my face. More water, more potassium. Noted, body. It's three days later and I'm finally starting to feel some muscle relief. *Shakes head* This is an utter disaster. All that work....basically undone! The good news is that I'm more motivated than ever to get this whole "new beginning" thing under control. We're doing so well in everything else. As soon as we can get back on track with regular exercise, I think we'll be set.

4th of July 2011

Tuesday, we decided to ring in 4th of July at Dave and Buster's. It was fun to eat out, play games, and day dream about giant stuffed bananas. Against his better judgment, David has agreed to help me save up tickets so that, one day, I'll be the proud new owner of said banana. *Swoon.* He's so good to me!

Wednesday: Happy 4th!!! We spent a few hours swimming with the family at the Y, followed by extremely delicious food that led almost directly into napping. I woke up, ate more food, and then drove home...to sleep. I'm pretty sure we were both passed out before 6. I didn't even hear fireworks through my mini-coma. Did I mention old?

Today was a long day. We both had to be in to work at 6am, and left around 5:30pm. I had way too much coffee. I'm still a little wired. I'm anxiously awaiting my sugar crash--gratefully prolonged by apple pie and ice cream (did I mention we were eating healthier? diet fail.). I'm hoping to fall asleep within the next hour or so. I can't wait for Friday! (Nothing important is happening on Friday. Sadness.)

This weekend will be full of moving (I hate moving.) and niece-ing. Saturday, we're due a sleep over with the girls. And they get to meet Leo! Very exciting.

Hope everyone enjoyed a fun, safe 4th of July.

Happy birthday, America!

xoxo

100th Post Time

Happy almost 4th of July!!

Happy 100th post day!!

It's crazy that there's been so much time between my most recent posts. I seriously have no time (or energy) to do anything anymore. I'd forced myself to finish my coursework, under great duress, but that's pretty much it. I've checked my facebook while waiting for things, and I've used instagram to document our lives in pictures, but I really hadn't dug up my laptop until now.

I wish I had something more exciting to update about for this 100th post, but alas, my life has fallen into a satisfyingly monotonous routine. I get up, go to work, come home, and then {this is the best part} I get to choose whether I'm going to make dinner, go out to dinner, or skip dinner and head straight for bed. Exciting, I know. Soon, though. We're really not that boring. Just tired. I either need to start drinking more coffee or settle for exhaustion. We'll see. Plus, we're on a tight budget until we can get ahead of ourselves. Then we can start saving for things like vacations and cruises and weddings. Whoops! I mean....not weddings. Or maybe I just mean wedding, singular. Never mind.

We've also mapped out our budget and set up a joint account for bills. The good news is that saving up for a couch and dining room set and a new car(!) won't be as difficult as I thought it would be; even with the ridiculous (I say that because I'm yet to realize that we're finally--really--adults) amount of bills we have now. We should have all of our (Ikea!) furniture by the end of July (just in time for his dad's visit), and a car within the next few months. Pretty exciting. It'll be nice to be able to have people over without having to offer them a camping chair and a tray table.

We're torn between these two couches:

This one is super comfortable. You really sink into it. But it's smaller. But...cheaper.

This one, on the other hand, is my favorite. And it opens up from the bottom into this:

You can see our dilemma. Comfort, cheaper, but small...or expensive and awesome and et cetera. Stupid cool things. Gets me every time.

The new church is great, for all who were wondering. We've made a bunch of friends that have definitely exceeded my expectations. We were expecting a little bit of judgment and reservation, given our not-really-a-situation situation, but we've certainly been welcomed with open arms here. It's a drive to get there, but it's nice. A perfect fit. And lots of married couples. There's much less pressure about sex and relationships when nearly everyone is married.

Speaking of which, David and I are doing wonderfully! "Playing house", as some would have it, has served us well. We're still staying true to our virtues, despite the close proximity, and maintaining a healthy, blessed relationship. The only thing that's changed is that we work more and spend less, and sleep more and exercise less. Tonight, he's enjoying a night out with our friends while I finish some domestic duties; a courtesy I rarely get to extend, but enjoy. My 50 hour a week job has made it impossible for me to clean on the daily. Time away from David helps me refocus to tackle things like laundry and vacuuming that I'd rather not do after working 12 hours. But! Things are getting done. There's nothing I like better (well, not many things anyway) than a clean house.

Still no fitness update at this point. I was hoping to get in my first official run in Charlotte tonight, but the 104 degree weather that didn't cool down much even after sundown was a little discouraging. So, not today. But, also soon.

There have been a lot of "soons", lately.
Thanks for being a reader. YOU are great.

xoxo

Oh, and as a last minute side note, say hello to the girl who misses two weeks of school, and a combined total of four 10-page essays, and still makes the Dean's List. Recognize.

That time you remembered that God is why it's possible.

I want to begin by saying that God. Is. Awesome. 

Everything that's happened in the past month or so has not just been luck, but true direction and opportunity from the Great Almighty.

Check out God's light shining down on us...literally.

I'm behind in blogging. Admittedly, I haven't been keeping up with the 100 or so blogs I frequent. I haven't read. I haven't written. In fact, I can barely find time for sleeping in between work and homework and family and church. BE GRATEFUL! I'm staying up way passed my bed time in order to get this post out.

David (finally!) has a job. With me. Which is perfect (thank you, God) since we're now a one car household. I was afraid we'd be spending so much on gas and that our schedules wouldn't work. But now we commute together, I still don't have to see him all day because I'm in the office and he's in the field, and even though he usually works longer hours than I do, we only live 10 minutes away; making it convenient to pick him up after I've already gone home. David's first week was paid daily in cash. That, with the birthday earnings from the previous week, was just enough to get us gas, food, pay bills, and whatever other necessities we needed to make it through the week.

He's happier. It's pretty obvious.

I've already worked overtime my first week...which I believe is going to be a reoccurring thing. My boss has considered moving me to salary to avoid having to pay me $200 extra dollars a week because I end up working 10 hours a day, and working a few extra on Saturday. We're busy, busy, busy!

Speaking of church, we've started going to Providence Road Church of Christ. I love it! The service is perfect. Lots of singing, lots of worship, lots of friendly people, lots of community outreach, and plenty of women holding prominent positions in the church. All of it was strange to see at a COC, but I enjoyed the change of pace. God really directed us to the perfect fit.

As an update, all of our stressful nonsense seems to have worked out. We ended up having to sign the title over to the wrecker company that towed David's crapped-out Xterra during the move. The few places in Georgia (where the car was broken down) that gave money for parts/scrap metal were only offering us about $300. When we discussed the "storage fee" with the wrecker company, we would pretty much break even, so we agreed to swap the title for the fees and just break clean and start over. It saved us from having to do any traveling and left the arrangements up to them. It was a bit of a loss because we're down to one car, but I hated that ugly (in its defense, it was David's fault that the car had an ugly mug), sun-screen-smelling car anyway.  All that means is that we can get a newer, safer car that can fit more than two people...if you catch my drift. Not that that'll happen anytime soon, but I'm glad I don't have to trade my Mustang for another car. It all works out in the end.

And! I'm back on the homework wagon. This is my last week of this session, followed by a two week break, and then new classes. I really screwed up my GPA this quarter by missing two weeks of assignments, but I did what I could. All I can say is that I'll do better next week. It won't be as exciting as having a 4.0, but damn it, it's been a rough month. And here we are. Alive. Maintaining. And happy.

Unfortunately, all this 50-hours-a-week-ing and homework and other exhausting stuff has made it nearly impossible for us to run. My body is aching to eat good food; begging me to get my behind on the pavement, but it's just been too difficult. I'm getting up at 5am, dragging home anywhere between 5 and 9, and after dinner and homework, I'm DONE! Once everything slows down, and our schedule falls into a pretty solid routine, we need to start back. We're eating crap because it's convenient (though we've managed to successfully stay away from fast food...with the exception of our two nights at CookOut), and too poor to eat like we used to. Being an adult is HARD.

Hopefully, I'll get caught up with everyone else in the next week or so. Thanks for sticking with me, folks! It's been an insane few weeks. Much love to those who have stuck by us from the beginning. "If you were absent during my struggle, don't expect to be present during my success." Thanks, Will Smith, for some words of encouragement.

xoxo, Lovies.

Carolina Swag

Prise de conscience: realisation

I am very much in love with David Hindman. I revel in that every single day.

I never attributed my level of happiness to how close I drew to God.  

I can't remember ever being as happy as I am now. It speaks for itself.

I want to live in NC. In David's dream house. With the three "guest" bedrooms.

We've slimmed down so much since then! (10/2011)

Decisions that need to be made about my projected path in graduate school have been creeping up on me lately. Licensure laws and requirements to become a licensed mental health professional are different for every state. And it costs a hell of a lot of money to get licensed. I'm slightly worried about where to get licensed, knowing very well that I won't be in Florida forever. And hopefully not even too much longer. This anxious feeling I'm having is incredibly premature, but I can't shake it. I'm used to knowing and planning and doing. Even as I type this, I know I should be praying harder. But I'm impatient for answers. I'm good at being spontaneous. This situation demands just the opposite. Hello, reality.

Fitness Update:
Day 3 of Week 5 was a breeze! Warm up for 5 minutes, jog for 20 minutes, cool down for 5 minutes. Day 1 of Week 6, on the other hand, was brutal. David and I thought it would be easy; we were back to interval training. We'd already done it. Run for 5, walk for 3, run for 8, walk for 3, run for 5. By the time I was halfway through with the 8 minute interval, I was done. Winded. Exhausted. Mentally defeated. While this could be for a ton of different reasons (wearing a sports bra that has become too big, forgetting to use my inhaler before the run, speeding walking two miles with Monica the day before, the 90-ish-degree-pollen-filled weather), all I'm really left with are excuses. Though I made it through without stopping, I can't help but feel disappointed in my body.  It was so frustrating! Not to mention, it's been so hard to eat healthy. I've been so hungry. I can't afford all the fruit and filling, fat-free stuff that I'd been eating with all the wedding stuff and the whole "providing for two" situation (not that I'm complaining, darling). I'll just be glad when the wedding is over and I can get back on track with my finances. If David can land this job with Florida Commerce, I can start saving again. Then a move to NC wouldn't seem so unrealistic. If I could just save between $7,000 and $10,000 over the next few years, it'll be easy.

Week 6, Day 2 was much easier. I'm enjoying the long distances much better. Yesterday, we flaked out on our running, which means we'll be running Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday this week. I was disappointed that we didn't stick to the schedule, but sometimes quality time together is more important than our "to do" list.

Other news:
Everyone's talking about it, so I'm sorry for the repetition. (I'm not.) The Hunger Games movie was...decent. I enjoyed the slight character development that was only suggested in the book, rather than actually explored. And for the sake of "theatrics", the movie wasn't that far off (ahem...Harry Potter) that I was upset. Most noteably, the "pin" situation, and Haymitch's character (even though Woody is awesome). All in all, it was alright. Stanley Tucci (Ceasar), Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss), and Josh Hutcherson (Peeta) were great. I would see the other two if they came out as movies. As a side note, I wasn't gunning for Peeta until I read the third book, Mockingjay. Also, read the books before you see the movie. It's a must.

Saturday, I went to a "spa night" with some ladies from my church. While I didn't really get spa'd up, I got to enjoy some great company. I painted a lot of nails, and got to work on my french manicure skills. Oh. And I made my own foot scrub! I was hesitant about adding food coloring to the scrub (it was an awful diarrhea yellow), but after testing it on myself, I knew it would be fine. For about a week, I had been considering opening an Etsy shop after experimenting with a few scrubs. I'm thinking this summer will slow me down so that I can concentrate on some products, and maybe get together with Brittany so she can sell her awesome homemade polish.

Life goes on with fragile normalcy.

I feel slightly anxious; slightly captivated. I'm a mess of creative genius trying to outdo myself for the hundredth time. The past few weeks have been somewhat of a blur, and I sincerely apologize for the lack of update.

After just getting back from North Carolina- family, fun, marriage, kids, love, and comfort food- I'm a glass half full of emotion. Mostly due to the changes I've gone through over the past few months, and the emptiness that a failed engagement has left. Not that I'm regretting, or reconsidering any of the decisions made, but marriage and family-making excitement is now the last thing on my mind. I miss the way it used to drain me. I miss the possibilities. "The more distressing the memory, the more persistent it's presence." Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants. But that's neither here nor there. The day goes on.

My trip was breathtakingly quaint. Everything about NC was beautiful; riveting. I was lucky enough to spend time with a wonderful family that welcomed me into their equally wonderful homes. And quite frankly, it was one of the best family get togethers I've had the pleasure of being involved in in a very long time. The love was so powerful; perfectly picturesque.

I'm currently in a place that I always enjoy being: independent, creatively motivated, and very much head over feet. Not to mention, I'm in a state of peaceful repose that accompanies patience in its finest hour. I picked up crocheting today as an outlet for both perpetual boredom and the propensity toward keeping my hands busy. I'm about to pick up scrapbooking to capture some of the excitement that goes on in my life. Plus, these skills will come in handy when I finally get down to Christmas shopping/creating. I've already got most of my list planned out, but there are still a few people on the list that need deciding. The decorating starts next week. Very exciting!

Mallory moved [back] into the house while mon petit chou and I were in Charlotte. I'm enjoying the constant companionship. I think it will be even more rare that the house is unoccupied. In fact, I think we're about to have a full house shy of ten people here this weekend. I sometimes worry about the increased electric bill, the lack of food, and the clutter that guests bring, but I think my need for interaction trumps that of my own paltry concerns.

That's about as much update as I've got in me to share. Stay blessed, friends.