Out of pocket, into a new home

I have a feeling that for the next couple of weeks I will be away from this blog. I don’t want to be. I want to write and share my stories with those of you who care to read. I will definitely be here on Wednesdays to post my WPC 2011 for the week. Other than that though, I am probably not going to have time.

As most of you know, I have been “homeless” for going on 7 months. Due to a break up in June and numerous attempts (and failures) to buy a home, I have been living with my Aunt and Uncle, in my cousin’s room. It’s been a blessing to be reminded every day how lucky I am to have the family I have. It’s been amazing to have my aunt “momma” me on a regular basis. I have loved becoming so much closer to my cousin.

It’s been interesting to learn how little you can live with out. 99% of my possessions are in a storage building at my grandparents. Sometimes it has been frustrating to not have a specific purse, craft item, book, etc. I have a feeling when I begin unpacking this weekend it will be like Christmas! I bet I will say “oh I forgot I had that” or “Ohhhh, I missed this!” It’s also been hard to not have my animals with me. I have missed my puppies immensely. It saddens me to know that only one of my babies will be coming home with me next week. Xan will have to attempt his great escapes alone. The squirrels in my new yard will be thankful that Nellie won’t be there to terrorize them.

Sometime this week (hopefully Wednesday) I will be closing on my new home! I still don’t have a close date and time, but hopefully sometime today I will know exactly when. Waiting on lawyers to make a decision is killing me! The past month or so has been spent sending hundreds of emails, digging up old records and paychecks and saving every spare penny I could find. Buying a house is a pain in the rear people! I have been making lists, and choosing paint colors. I am stressing over power, water, gas and my NEED for a flat screen to go above the fireplace. (That one will have to wait!) I have to re-buy all the things you normally have in your home when you move. Cleaning supplies, toilet paper, brooms and mops, soap, detergent, etc. I will be watching my non-existent flat screen from my non-existent couch in my very bare living room. Ha! Fortunately I have fantastic friends who have donated some items I needed. (no one has coughed up a flat screen yet. And no, Sarah, I don’t want your broken one!!)

Through all the stress and tears, there is an amazing sense of accomplishment and pride. I have owned a house before. But this one is mine.  It’s mine to grown in. It’s mine to create new dreams in. I can’t wait to eat dinner at the dining room table my dad is building for me. I can’t wait to hang out with my roomie, Kim, and giggle all the time. I can’t wait to have my people over for Alabama football games in the fall. I look forward to holidays and meeting my neighbors. I am excited about the neighborhood and location.  I can’t wait for the day when, hopefully, I share my life and home with the person I love and want to spend forever with. I love thinking about raising a family under that roof. This house is more than just a house. It is my home.

The next few weeks will be interesting and busy. Hopefully it won’t take much to get settled into my new routine and new bedroom. I can’t wait to sign all those forms and have the keys to my home in my hands!

-m

boring… you don’t even have to read!

I am so behind…. The past few weeks have been insanely busy for me. I took a trip to arkansas and spent time with people I love. I just haven’t had a chance to come back and tell you (document for my own memory) about how soul settling that trip was. Well, it was. I came back from my 4 days away with a renewed sense of life and love. The weeks that followed have been full of good things. Great friends, new people and a lot of laughter.

Life still kicks me in the ass on a daily basis, but I am enjoying the good, while learning from the not-so-good. I still  find myself thinking I have it all figured out and then it falls apart. I am just learning to kick the peices away and move on. So far, something better has come outta no where and I find myself thankful the last thing fell through. That’s all pretty vague, but it all comes down to how my life is. Relationships and house buying mostly!

So, I went out of town. I worked. I put an offer on another house. and promtly got rejected. I had a photo shoot with 6 adults and 2 kids. I went on dates. I hung out with my nephew.  I fought the tail end of a cold. I had a Bachelorette party to plan, then a wedding to be a part of.  I saw my family and my dogs. I took the kid to Harry Potter. Then I saw Harry Potter again. I watched football. I ate too much on turkey day. I drank too much on turkey night, but laughed with friends, old and new.   It’s been crazy busy!

I am coming back this week to give you a prievew of the photo session, and to share pics from the wedding I was a part of yesterday. I just have so much editing to catch up on!

I really don’t know where I was going with this post. I thought once I started typing, more would come out. But I guess I am tired! I slept ALL day today, and have only been awake a few hours (it’s 530pm as I type this!). I stayed out latet then should be allowed, but had a fantastic time. I am now considering going to see a band play tonight, only because the lead singer lives out of state and they only play a few times a year when he is home for holidays. I am just having a hard time convincing myself to get out of my comfy clothes to go.

wow. what a pointless post!

-m

ps. I do not like thick and creamy kraft mac and cheese… I guess I like my mac and cheese to be thin and non-creamy.

I giggle about dumb things

I was scrolling through my blog posts last night on my iphone using the wordpress app. I was trying to find a blog in which I had posted some pictures of my dogs. Instead of actually finding that, I giggled my fool head off at some of the titles of my blogs… It made me wonder what in the world I was thinking when I wrote them. Most of them I couldn’t even tell you what they were about with out opening them and reading them.

Here are a few of my favorite titles… (you don’t really have to go read them, the contents might be completely lame!)

I might use the “f” word a lot in this post, beware. I really do use the f-bomb a few times too many in this one, but trust me, it’s for a good reason.

This one made me question my own sanity… and now that I am looking at it on a real computer, it’s not even an actual real post… it’s just a draft. So I see myself reusing the title in the future…My teeth hurt and it’s only monday. And the words written in the draft could be reused every monday (or tues-friday) of every week of every month of my life!

 All I wanted to do was cook a hamburger. Why did I think anyone would care about my cooking of a hamburger? I doubt it was life changing for anyone to read. Though I know, the guy at the end only reads my blog if his picture is in it.

And it’s that time of year again, so I am sure you will see my obsession for all things Pumpkin come back full force. There is just something about the colors of fall that make me all happy and giddy inside. Last year I over did it. Pumpkin cookies, Pumpkins! and More pumpkins!

Ok, I am off to spend 2 days in Atlanta for work meetings(boo). I can’t wait to have some time this weekend and next week to actually shower in my own shower and sleep in my own bed. Not to mention edit some pictures from Pittsburg and write a more interesting blog!

-m

my google calendar is a rainbow of fun

 I am a pretty busy girl. I stay busy so that I don’t completely go insane. In the process of staying busy, I am completely insane!

I started using the calendar on google a few months ago. I am a huge fan of an actually paper planner in my purse at all times, but I am trying to get away from that. Eventually I will own a smart phone and it will be right there at my fingertips.

I like that you can set up separate calendars to show different types of events. Currently I have 8 different colors that represent 8 different items through out my month…

Makin the Moolah                 Birthdays and Anniversaries            Fun Stuff – Friends

Fun Stuff – Kiddos                  Hatred and Anger (aka workouts)    Other

Photography                            Roll Tide Roll

 

My calendar is PRETTY. And packed! I like it that way

Did you notice none of those say “sit my happy ass on the couch and do nothing”? I am horrible at that!

Mainly it’s packed with makin the moolah, and fun stuff.  I work all day and then cram my afternoons and evenings with awesome people and great times.

I am actually excited to be adding more “Hatred and anger (aka workouts) to my days. Don’t tell Mike,  but I actually enjoyed walking 4 miles in the torrential down pour Sunday night. I feel better already and can’t wait (did I say that out loud?) for the next workout. Even though my legs hurt like hell, I am liking it.

And most importantly my Saturdays are soon to be filled with friends, food and football! I am pumped about  September 4th. Not only do I get to celebrate the 2nd annual M&M day with my great friend Mandy, but we get to yell and scream at the tv while Bama plays ball.

The rest of this week will be working the 2nd job, a baseball game and cheep beer, working out, volunteering for BAAM!, listening to great music and maybe a trip to the Museum of Art.

Next week will be a little slower til I fly out on Thursday to visit my friend Ben. I can’t wait to spend a few days in a new city with an old friend. My camera will be well used that weekend!

I am excited to be doing new things, meeting new people, and enjoying the life I have.  I am finding it easier to express myself. whether it be through this blog, talking to a stranger, making new friends, or scribbling out my thoughts on a random scrap paper. I am finding it easier to keep my head up and enjoy the good things in my day-to-day life. As I read back through this, I laugh because I was frustrated with life when I started typing, but look at all the good and fun stuff I have going on…that makes me happy.

-m

my life changes and so do my goals

I have been working my way through my 101 in 1001 list. Due to the life changes I am smack dab in the middle of, many of the items on my list are impossible right now. So many of them are “nesting” things. Unpacking, organizing, refinishing, etc… Considering all of my things are in storage… those things are not gonna happen anytime soon. 
I am in a big ol rut, trying to entertain myself and keep my mind off of the changes and uncertainty in my life right now. I started thinking about my 101, and what I can accomplish from it right now. Some of the ones I can still do: 

15.Get my passport (though I don’t know where I would go with it right now!!) 18.Read Dark Tower series again

 35. See Courtney

 50. Spend a weekend in a town I haven’t ever been to, being a tourist - totally hitting Charlotte, NC in a few weeks! So excited to hang out with a friend in a new place!

 61. Get another tattoo - this one is weighing heavy on me right now… just gotta part with the funds and the skin to get it done. Well, and decide what I want exactly

 64. Go camping. like in a tent. ha! (this may be the least likely of all of em!) I think it’s about 3000 degrees too hot for this right now though! And I just watched a show about bear attacks, I am not cool with that!

 74. renew my library card.

 77. Spend a day/weekend being a tourist in my town… Vulcan, Museums, etc

 81. take one picture a day for 30 days. and post them

 85. go to the zoo

 91. Learn to drive a 5 speed vehicle

    I think #81 will start today. I haven’t been carrying my camera around with me much recently, or at all. (shocker, I know.) I have had so many pictures to catch up on editing. Now that I have completed that, I can start shooting again. I have missed it, but I was overwhelmed with the amount of full memory cards I had lying around!

So, when I find myself bored out of my skull… Maybe I can be reminded to do something from this list. 

Also, I feel the need to add to the list… I have found myself face to face with this fear of being alone. There are things that I am uncomfortable doing, but I keep finding myself wanting to push myself a little more. Mainly its facing being lonely.  

• Eat in a restaurant alone/Go  to the movies alone.
• Take a road trip or vacation by myself.
• Jump out of a plane… (*gasp. I know. this one is complete BS. It’s my “hell no. there is no way in hell” item. But the older I get the more I just wanna see if I can do it.)

We’ll see how this goes. I seriously don’t see me jumping out of a plane anytime soon… but you never know! 

  

-m 

  

  

 

todays to-do list

laundry

pool

picture editing

sleep

Those are the things on my to-do list for today. Not necessarily in that order! This is the 1st day in a long, long time that I haven’t had definite plans to take up my entire day. It’s slightly awkward. If something comes up I might not turn it down, but the things above will most definitely occur!

It makes me crazy that I am so far behind on picture editing and blogs about my current life. I am hoping to remedy that somewhat today. I am ready for posts with pictures again. It makes me smile to see my crazy friends or family staring back at me in a blog. I have a  lot to share. My kids knee surgery, 2 birthday parties with pinatas (for grown ups), a  2 year old Mickey birthday party and tons of randomness in between. It’s gotten so bad that I am not even taking my camera out with me. I don’t have room on my memory cards and I know I have hundreds to edit now. I don’t want to add to it.

Being alone every day has been a change in pace for me. I am still working, and hanging out with friends and new people. That has been fun and kept me sane. But the time I have just to chill is there now and I AM BORED OUTTA MY SKULL! But too tired to really GO, GO, GO like normal. I am reading more, writing more, watching more movies I want to see. I have actually considered going to the movie theater alone. (which is something that makes me freak out about. Like eating alone in a restaurants!) I may do it just to get over my “fear”.  I really just enjoy movies with people. So I can talk through it and drive them crazy!

I have a feeling that this situation I am in right now will change me for the better. (though I think everything I have been through has made me better and stronger.) It’s odd to live out of a suitcase. It’s odd to go out side of my element and hang out with people I don’t know. It’s odd to not cook a real meal every day, and I miss that. It’s odd to not have MY things. I can’t just go grab a book I want, or a pair of shoes, or some craft thing I want to work on. When I finally do have a place, it’s going to be like Christmas! I will open all my boxes and be excited about my long-lost treasures.

Looking at the big picture, this is good for me. And I will enjoy it (and the pool) the best I can. Change is scary and awesome. I am excited to see where it takes me.

-m