I haven't posted in forever.

We're talking nearly 3 months here.

My life is really stressful right now, and blogging just isn't happening.

BUT.

I just had to brag about this.

You know that awesome show called Glee?

Well I'm kind of in love with it. Kind of in love actually doesn't even begin to cover it. More like borderline-unhealthy obsession. 

And!

There's this little thing called Glee Live that they do while on summer hiatus. They go around to different places (big cities, NOT in the South) and sing their songs and do wonderful things.

I looked at tickets when the shows first opened, and there was NO WAY that we were going to be able to go. The closest place was DC, and that's just not really reasonable. We can't pay for plane tickets just to see a concert so I can fangirl. Too far. Too expensive. Not worth the trouble.

OR SO I THOUGHT.

But I just so happen to have the most amazing husband to ever walk the earth.

And last night...

...wait for it...

he SURPRISED ME WITH TICKETS, AND WE ARE GOING TO SEE GLEE LIVE, IN WASHINGTON, D.C. ON OUR FOURTH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!!!!!!

I am freaking out.

Reasons why this is INSANE:

-We are totally roadtripping it. Plane tickets are still too expensive. It's 12 hours to DC one way. We're leaving Thursday morning early early early (Mark is still calling it Wednesday night.) We're driving straight to DC, checking into our hotel, and taking a nap. We're eating dinner somewhere. Seeing the concert. Spending the night, getting up at the buttcrack of dawn AGAIN, driving 12 hours BACK to Birmingham, and WE ARE BOTH WORKING ON SATURDAY MORNING.

-We're not spontaneous people. THIS IS THE MOST SPONTANEOUS THING WE'VE DONE, MAYBE EVER.

-The tickets were EXPENSIVE. I mean, we got them for a good deal in comparison, but still. EXPENSIVE.

-The concert is on Thursday. THURSDAY. As in THREE DAYS FROM NOW.

-I am in the middle of a cold. Like, I have no voice. I will probably still sound like a man on Thursday.

Do I care about any of this?

Um, no.

NO.

Conclusions we can draw from this:

-I'm officially crazy.
-I might be slightly unhealthily obsessed with Darren Criss. Because it excites me to no end that in three days, I will be breathing the same air as him. OMG.
-My husband is the best. husband. ever.
-He loves me a whole freaking lot.
-We're not THAT old. Because old people don't do crazy crap like this.

I WILL BE FREAKING OUT OVER THIS FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE, PERHAPS.

Life, or Being a Grown-Up Really Sucks

*a note before I post: some of Kelly's shower pictures will be making an appearance soon ... I just haven't gotten them onto my computer yet. It's on my to-do list.*

 Can I be really honest with you, few blog-readers of mine?

Life sucks sometimes.

Some days I wish I was still in college.

Some days I just want to scream about how life just isn't fair.

Some days I don't want to be a grown-up anymore.

Don't get me wrong - I am aware that we are blessed, and in the grand scheme of things, we are so very, very rich. But it feels like we can't catch a break right now.

Emotions have been running high in this heart and head of mine. My sister is moving far, far away to Los Angeles this summer after she and Colton get married. Work has had its ups and downs lately. My mom has been sick, and I am worried about her. We still honestly have no idea where we'll be or what Mark is doing in 3 months. (We will hopefully still be here, but who knows?) And to put the icing on the cake, Mark went back to the dentist two days ago, and my poor hubby had to have some MORE seriously extensive work done on his mouth. Dentists are becoming a major bummer for us...

It's just hard. That's really the only way to put it. It is what it is, and we're dealing with it, and it's fine. But it's hard.

And honestly, I'm bummed about turning 26 next week. This is the first year that I haven't been partying it up, celebrating my birthday month. Instead, I'm budgeting and price-checking and organizing and planning baby showers for people. Turning 26 means that I'm closer to 30 than I am to 20. I had a lot of expectations of what life would be like at 26, and they haven't exactly happened. I feel like that's a normal thought process of most mid-20's these days ... life isn't what we thought it would be. But it's a hard thing to wrap your head around. And compounding those feelings is watching friends and acquaintances who are my age doing those things that I thought I'd be doing by now.

Buying a house.

Having a baby.

I think I've mentioned this before, but the pregnancy count is now up to 14. 14 of my friends and former classmates are pregnant, or have just had their babies. Now, I don't want a baby right now. We are not trying (in fact, we're actively trying NOT to), but it's still something that I thought I would want by this point in my life. I feel like there's something wrong with me, like I'm not maternal or something. Like I should want one.

I do want a house though. Soooo badly. We're waiting because it's the wisest thing to do financially, but it is so hard for both Mark and I. We have been patient for a long time, and we're going to have to be patient still. But it is a little bittersweet to watch good friends purchase and move into their new homes. I'm really happy for them, but it makes me a bit jealous, too. That's kind of my life right now. Happy but a bit jealous. And stressed. And worried.

I wish life would just settle down for a little bit.

(My apologies ... I didn't mean for this post to get all serious and unhappy, but that's life sometimes...)

i'm still here.

There I go, taking breaks again.

Life is just so busy. Sometime it's hard to find time to blog. And then there are days like today - when I have a to-do list a mile long, but it's sleepy weather, rainy and cloudy and yucky and cold-ish, and I don't feel like doing anything but siting on the couch. What a spoiled life I lead...

Things that are happening in my life lately:

-Kelly's shower was so fun!! She's in LA right now with Colton, apartment-hunting during spring break. Crazy. I still can't believe she's moving so far away.

-I'm doing another shower, this time a baby shower! Our good friends Andy and Suzie are expecting their first little one in a little over a month (crazy! So much crazy lately!), and we're throwing them and the bambino a party to celebrate. I'm in charge of invitations and cupcakes. I'll have to post a picture when they're done...

-On that note ... everybody I know is pregnant. Like, seriously, I know at least 10 people who are either pregnant right now or have just had babies. At least. Who I know personally. CRAZY!!

-I am on my 9th book of 2011. Reading more has been my favorite part of the new year. I love it!

And now ... back to the invites. I have at least 15 to make!

I'm a nerd.

This warm spring-y weather has been SO good for my soul the last two weeks. It's such a nice, welcome departure from all the snowy nastiness and bitter cold (and yes, when I say bitter cold, I do mean like 30-40 degrees Fahrenheit. Sometimes I think I'm cold-blooded, like a lizard.)

So far today, we have taken Luna to the dog park and I made a yummy lunch of cheeseburgers, oven fries made with Yukon gold potatoes, and red cabbage and carrot slaw. The CSA cooking is back in full swing :) I'm so thankful for those yummy veggies that come in my box each week!

I have a great big long to-do list to accomplish today, but I'm taking a break before getting into it full-throttle. To-do lists always work so well for me. If I don't make one, I tend to sit around and do nothing (ie watch Glee reruns on Hulu, Google Darren Criss to my heart's content and have Say Yes To the Dress marathons on Netflix...) But if I know that little checklist is sitting on my table, just waiting for things to be crossed through, it motivates me to get my butt in gear and get things done.

(An aside: I may or may not have developed a ridiculous schoolgirl celebrity crush on Darren Criss. Who is actually younger than I am. But not by a lot. I'm actually sad to say that I first saw him on Glee, and THEN made the shocking and amazing and exhilirating discovery that he co-owns a theater company who has done not one but TWO Harry Potter musicals. And he played Harry Potter. In both of them. BE. STILL. MY. HEART.)

(Also, if you're interested, said musicals are called A Very Potter Musical and A Very Potter Musical: The Sequel, and can be found in their entirety on YouTube. Just, you know, in case any of you are facing a similar Darren Criss predicament. Or love Harry Potter to embarrassing proportions. Either one.)

Ahem.

Now I need to go do actual grown-up things, like vacuum my house. The to-do list beckons :)

(But seriously, you should watch that musical.)

New layout...

So I just wasted WAY too much time doing a new blog layout ... one of my favorite ways to procrastinate :)

I like this new layout. It's simple and understated and not busy and I love the fonts!

Now I'm actually going to try to get some stuff marked off of my to-do list. Hope everybody's having a great afternoon!

PhotoBooth Fun with Luna :)

Gosh, I love this puppy :)

Apologies for my greasy hair and messy bangs ... I need a shower :)

So, I couldn't stay gone for too long...

Too many exciting things are happening lately, and I want to share them with you guys! So I guess I'm back, but in a very non-pressure way for myself ... Hopefully that's ok with everybody else :)

Things that are happening:

1) Luna is getting huge! Here are some current pics:

She loves her walks :)

I love this - she's all beagle :)

Wearing the cone of shame - she was spayed about 3 weeks ago, and we're going this afternoon for (hopefully) her final checkup ... she was allergic to her stitches, and liked to lick at her incision.

2) I got my hair cut - bangs!! I love it :)

3) I've been reading a ton - I think I'm on book 7 or 8 so far this year, and right now I'm reading Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I made a bucket list of books that's got about 95 books on it (and counting...) so I'm working on that.

4) This week in particular, I've been crafting crafting crafting ... I'm helping out with Kelly's lingerie shower in a couple of weeks, doing the decorations and such, and I've got all sorts of cute ideas up my sleeve. Pictures hopefully to come after the shower ... I want the decorations to be a surprise, and if I put them on here, Kelly will probably see them :)

5) We got a new dining room table! It's so pretty :) (The picture doesn't nearly do it justice...)

6) Mark bought me a new camera for Valentine's Day! It was supposed to be my birthday present, but because of all the happenings as of late, he wanted me to have it early so I could document all my fun times. It's a Nikon Coolpix S8100, and it's pretty awesome :) I love it! (I would post some pictures from it, but I seem to have misplaced the USB cables ... awesome...)

Anyway, there's a brief synopsis of what's happening in my world lately. Life is good!

On resolutions and other new things, and a farewell.

I can't believe it's 2011.

We had a good holiday, even if it was a little weird this year. Mark couldn't come to my family's celebratory events because of work, and we didn't go to Disney after all.

But my sister got engaged. We're all pretty thrilled about that :)

And I got a cast iron skillet that I have yet to season.

And we got to go to the Davies' New Years Eve party.

And I worked a lot.

I don't have too many resolutions this year - I feel like the fewer you choose, the more you can acutally commit to.

I want to take a yoga class.

I want to pay off debt. (We're in the process of doing that now - it's so exciting!)

I want to be a better wife to Mark, less snippy, more patient.

I want to cook more and eat out less. (This is actually more of a get-back-to-what-I-was-already-doing-before-the-holidays resolution, and not something new.)

And I want to read more for pleasure. I'm doing a lot of that now - I read The Help by Kathryn Stockett in a 24-hour time period, and loved it, and I'm close to being done with Eat, Pray, Love, and now that Mark's working at the library, he can bring books home for me.

So that's it. There are also things that I'd like to continue doing that aren't really resolutions, but are good as a general practice - walk Luna (who is so BIG, and doing so well, and is sitting on top of me right now) every day, try to keep my house clean, etc. etc. And Kelly's getting married, and I'll have all sorts of fun matron-of-honor duties (that sounds so old to me!), so I'll be busy with that. And I want to start scrapbooking again - I haven't had time since we got Luna, but she's starting to calm down some and be better left by herself, so that might be a possibility soon.

The thing is - that doesn't leave much time for blogging. I'm sure you've noticed my lack of posting. I've just been so busy lately that I've not had time to write about all the things I'm doing. And to be very very honest, it's felt nice. Somewhat of a relief.

So I'm taking an official break.

It may or may not be permanent, I don't know.

Essentially, I want to live my life to live it, not to blog about it.

I have enjoyed reading all of your blogs so, so much, and I'll probably still read them from time to time. I will miss getting to hear about your lives and your children and your animals, but I want to enjoy my life and my puppy-child and everything else involved in that, and to do so means saying farewell, at least for now.

This is something I'm doing for me. And sometimes, it's really good to do that.

So goodbye, for now.

Thank you all for being so great :)

(If you're interested, you can continue to follow me on Twitter at thewife85!)

I hope and pray that 2011 brings you all only good things!

No mistakes, only happy accidents!

I can't believe this is my 300th post! I was going to do something celebratory, but, like most things, it's just sort of snuck up on me, and I clearly haven't thought of anything at all.

The bad thing about pre-scheduled posts is that they leave little room for changes. (Especially when we're so busy with those changes that I can't post to my blog and update!)

I worked all weekend, like always. But you know how we were going to IKEA yesterday and getting a new bookshelf? Yeah. That didn't happen.

Mark had some stuff in a collection to finish up at his internship, and he asked if we could reschedule. I was disappointed, but said that was fine. And then Sunday night, Elissa texted me and said that her flight had been cancelled (she was flying from Seattle to Nashville, and there was snow!), and could she come and crash on my couch in Birmingham?

Little did she know that I'd been planning to surprise her and come to her birthday party in Nashville today! So after several phone calls to a couple different people, we got things worked out - she'd fly from Kansas City to Dallas Sunday night, spend the night in the airport, then fly to Birmingham early Monday morning. And then, depending on the weather, I'd drive her back to Nashville at some point and spend a few days.

She was tickled pink :) I love making her day!

So here I am - I picked her up at the airport yesterday morning, she crashed on my couch and took a long nap, and then we left yesterday afternoon for Nashville. Spent the evening with Price and Mel (her brother and sister-in-law), and now she's at work. I'm planning to knock out the Christmas shopping today (since I've done exactly NONE thus far, and our family Christmas is less than a week away!), then Lissa's birthday party is tonight, and I'll spend the rest of my time here reading and relaxing and trying to stay warm. Oh, and just as an aside ... it is 11 degrees right now. ELEVEN. I am not made for weather like this...

Wish me luck with all my shopping!

It doesn't really feel like Christmas to me until the decorations are put up, and I wanted to get right on that after we got back from Thanksgiving. Easier said than done when I'm working one to two extra days a week, and trying to look after a puppy at the same time!

But I did manage to get them up, and I like the way everything looks despite the fact that we're lacking a tree this year. (We decided a certain furry someone would eat it, and all the ornaments, for an afternoon snack...)

Here's what I have gotten to do this year:

The dining room area:

My sweet Mark, even though he pretends to hate Christmas decorations, helped me put up my little greenery on our banister :)

He is a good husband :)

Mark with the baby :)

I think that would be even prettier if it was framing a Christmas tree ... oh well, maybe if we're still here next year...

My pretty table - the color is terrible, but that tablecloth is a pretty bright Christmas red, not ugly burnt orange...

The kitchen:

My sweet little wreath (made by my mom) hanging on my fridge :)

Also made by my mom (I inherited a box full of Christmas goodies this year), these cute little cabinet hangers make my kitchen look so festive!

My collection of snow babies sitting in my kitchen window. Mark thinks they're creepy :)

My favorite part of Christmas, lately - my late grandmother's Christmas china! My sweet aunt was kind enough to let me have it - I may have to share it with Kelly and/or Brooke someday, but for now, I'm the only married female, and I get it all! It's BEAUTIFUL. 

I've always loved this china :) It makes it the season feel like Christmas to me!

The living room:
My only decorations, because this is where Luna hangs out the most, and is the most likely to try to eat things!

The downstairs bathroom:
I kept this pretty plain and understated, but I like the way it looks :)

 

The upstairs bathroom:

Our bedroom:

Pretty (but fake) candles in our windows)

And last, but certainly not least... my pretty wreath that I made for the door! I think it looks pretty good, if I do say so myself :)

Hooray, it's nearly Christmas! I love this season :) I'm even okay with the cold, for now...

Exciting news - today, while this post automatically is blogging (LOVE this feature), we're traveling to Atlanta for a short day-trip. We're going to IKEA for the first time, and I'm sure I'll be totally flipping out in a couple hours. We're searching for a new bookcase for our dining room to replace the ugly old winecart that we've had since we got married, and before that Mark and Andy had it, and before them somebody else - it's one of those thrice-removed hand-me-downs that needs to go away, plus we need the extra storage space that the wine cart just can't accommodate like a bookcase can. So excited!!

Happy Holidays to everybody!!

Our Thanksgiving Festivities, Part 2

Wednesday was the day that we were going to be actually celebrating Thanksgiving at my parents' house. Mark and I and Kelly and Colton all had to leave that evening, so we decided to do lunch, but there were scheduling conflicts that left Kelly and me to cook about half of Thanksgiving dinner. I've made a few dishes here and there for Thanksgiving, and have watched my mom for years now, but this was the first time that I was in charge of the turkey, plus several side dishes! Luckily it all went without a hitch, and dinner was fantastic!

The turkey going in the oven - my mom chose to do 2 breasts rather than a whole turkey this year (which was just fine with me), and I rubbed them all over with sage butter. So yummy!

Kelly loves her some Sister Schubert's rolls!

Before getting pretty...

And after! We figured we had a few minutes to get ready while the turkey started cooking :)

Kelly making our grandma's vegetable casserole

Dumping it in the dish...

Making sweet potato casserole from my CSA sweet potatoes :)

The spread. And what a spread it was! Turkey, dressing, green beans with lemon and red peppers, sweet potato casserole, vegetable casserole - it was all SO yummy! (And amaretto pie for dessert, too - yum yum!)

Mommy with the table, decorated all pretty :)

The gang, minus me (taking the picture)

Colton was nice enough to offer to take a picture of our whole family for us :)

Still sickly, but enjoying the food!

Mark and "Momma Shannon"

Daddy was excited about some sweet potatoes!

Kelly and Ninny ready to eat

That afternoon, we played a rousing game of Trivial Pursuit, and then Mark and I left that evening for Griffin. The puppies were introduced and did really well (aside from Luna picking the dining room as her chosen place to poop, and Cocoa acting completely out of character and peeing ALL OVER the living room rug...), and we were off to bed.

Thanksgiving morning dawned brisk and clear and beautiful and warm. We let the dogs play that morning, put Thanksgiving dinner on to cook, and then decided to go to "the farm," basically a 114 acre piece of land that Mark's family owns. It's beautiful out there, so quiet, and made for the perfect way to spend Thanksgiving.

The puppies playing - Cocoa's not such a puppy anymore...

They like each other! 

Out at the farm - Mark's dad and Cocoa :)

Luna really hates the water - we kept trying to get her to go in, but she wasn't having any of it. She went in once (potentially not so voluntarily), swam around a bit, and came right back out.

Cocoa, on the other hand, would LIVE in the water if she could. I think in another life she could be a fish :)

Mark's mom with the dogs

I love going to the farm on fall days like that - it's absolutely gorgeous :)

With my love on Thanksgiving :)

The last picture I got before my camera died ... Mark's carrying Luna to a big old log where some bunnies live to see if she'll go "wabbit hunting." She caught the scent, but there were too many other smells distracting her for her to really follow it well.

Mark's dad and brother brought their guns, and we walked around and looked for deer - I'm sure all the noise we were making totally scared them off, but it was a great, leisurely way to get some exercise before stuffing ourselves silly again :) We went back to the house, ate another fantastic Thanksgiving dinner and vegged on the couch the rest of the day. Mark and I had to leave the next day so I could get back to work, but it was honestly the nicest Thanksgiving I've had since we've been married. I think because it was so low-key, totally not stressful at all, it was a really, really nice time for everybody :)

Can't wait till I see Mark's family again - we'll be Orlando-bound!