Never Have I Ever… had a speeding ticket.

For someone who regularly drives 20+ miles over the speed limit (only when there’s not traffic, mind you. I am smart, you know) I’ve been very lucky. Also, I do attribute this to two things:

A. Paying attention. Obviously, if you know a cop sits in a certain spot, you never speed past it. Annnd, I’m not one of those jerks who is constantly flinging in and out of lanes making people slam on their brakes. I am a pretty respectful driver. :)

B. Knowing the right time. My speediness comes out when the roads are empty, and I find the right opportunity. There’s this stretch of interstate South of all the traffic, where things really clear out and it’s the perfect place to fly… so that’s where I go. You won’t find me doing 100+ in the middle of the interstate in town… that’s a death sentence and asking for a ticket. I don’t want a wreck, or to hurt someone else.

My need for speed is genetic. My grandfather used to race cars, and ever since I was little, all I wanted was to drive faster… to ride faster, really just to feel like I’m flying. I want a motorcycle, but Jake says no. He constantly says, “They’re dangerous, and you can die.” I TOTALLY WON’T DIE! I just want to feel freeeeeeeeee. He say’s I’m crazy, and I say “You married crazy, so who’s crazy now?”

One day, I will own a Porsche 911 GT2, and I will drive and be the happiest clam there ever was. Until that day, I’ll keep building my Porsche on their website and drooling and fantasizing about winning the lottery and buying one. ;)

Happy Tuesday! Don’t forget to visit the others that are linking up!

Today’s Blog Every Day in May prompt is to write a thank you note to anyone for anything. I’m mentioning a few people, but thanking all the same. I love putting my focus on being positive and thankful, so it’s a great way to start the week strong!

I’m excited to be linking up with the beautiful Belinda at Found Love Now What for Blog Every Day in May. Today’s prompt is easy: Introduce yourself.

I am a 25 year old office manager in Northwest Arkansas. I love being active, flowers, puppy kisses, and laughing. 

I’m married to the most amazing man, Jake, and we have a maltipoo named Ted and a hedgehog named Connor.

I believe Saturday mornings are best spent on the porch with a cup of coffee and a good book.
I believe in the healing power of exercise.
I believe the ocean is the ultimate place to be.
I believe I am a mermaid.
I believe some days the perfectly created cupcake holds the magic I so desperately desire.

I love driving, and I drive everywhere fast… as fast as I can. I am impulsive, emotional, and strong. My independence is something I will never give up, and my love of travel fuels me. If I didn’t have to be in the real world, I would have no “home” and I would wander forever.

I am an open book, so always feel free to ask whatever you’d like to know! I look forward to getting to know the other participants this month and seeing where the posts take us.

Lemme tell you… budgeting is not fun. I’m going to go ahead and say it… budgeting sucks.

No one likes it, and if you do you’re a bad cyborg from another bad planet and you’re crazy. #justsayin

We budget. And it’s not fun. There are many growing pains, and shrinking pains that come with the budget, but it’s doing it’s job. We’re paying off debt, saving money, and everything gets paid on time. Not that that was ever our issue, thank God, but still. Be thankful for the little things, right?

I’m struggling so hard right now with my desire to go buy approximately $50,000 worth of Pottery Barn furniture, do my house from top to bottom, then just move on with it. Jake says no, and that it’s a bad financial decision to do that. I say satisfaction is worth it.

Just kidding. I really am kidding on this one. I think. I mean, I know it’s a bad decision, but somehow in my head it would be so lovely. Maybe I could get a part time job at Pottery Barn and I could live there in the store and it would make me feel like my house was Pottery Barn.

SOMEONE HELP ME! POTTERY BARN HAS STOLEN MY WILL TO SAVE!

Last week was an “off” week for me. I felt like my body hated me, the numbers hadn’t moved on the scale or tape measure like I wanted, and nothing felt right. I ate like crap, I was angry at the process, and I just generally had a crap attitude.

Friday morning I had a great conversation with the owner of the Barre3 studio and she was able to give me some really great reminders of what I already knew, to put away the scale, to focus on how I feel, to find peace knowing that I am being active and doing something good for my body and just leave it at that.

I realized about Friday afternoon that the real problem was that I had been “going” so long and so hard that I had completely depleted my stores of energy, good attitude, resolve, and strength. I was OUT.

Luckily on Wednesday, Jake told me that he was missing “us” time and that he really needed some this weekend. I immediately pulled out my calendar and marked a red box around Sunday, the day when we had no plans, and texted him a picture saying “You and me, no phones, just lots of love on Sunday” with an assortment of emojis. ;) I knew we needed it, and as fate would have it, Saturday afternoon/evening ended up clearing out as well.

Saturday afternoon I weeded the flowerbeds and fluffed the mulch, sat in the back yard and read a book, and then we went on a date to the drive in movie theatre to see The Longest Ride. We’re old and didn’t stay for the second movie. Sunday we did nothing but watch Netflix, laugh, read, and go out to lunch.

Half way through pic! Looks so much better! :)

This weekend was exactly what I need to recharge my batteries, get my mind back in a good place, and get a grasp on reality again. I also managed to squeeze in a much needed pedicure, which was just the cherry on top of a perfect weekend. I am so ready to attack this week!

Loving the Mermaid color! <3

How was your weekend? :)

Friends. I have the best friends in the world.

Early morning conversations about life, loving ourselves, helping each other reach goals, porch weather, coffee drinking, AdvoCare loving, and everything not mentioned.

Days where I feel like my spirit is being depleted by life I know that I just have to turn to one of my friends and they’ll know what to say to help me. I know that they’ll make me laugh, think, and smile just by being there.

I couldn’t do this crazy thing called life without my friends. I am seriously a lucky girl. :)

Friday afternoon, while driving to find some lunch, we had the first sunny day in probably two weeks. It was warm, cloudless, and one of those perfect days. I had the windows rolled down, my sunglasses on and the music up loud… the usual for me. Pandora pulled this song out, and it really was the best thing for that moment. I needed to hear it, and it filled my heart back up and gave me the pizazz needed to finish out the day. The Middle by Jimmy Eat World:

Hey
Don’t write yourself off yet
It’s only in your head you feel left out or looked down on
Just try your best
Try everything you can
And don’t you worry what they tell themselves when you’re away

This song was one of my favorites in high school when the album was released, and it just hit home so thoroughly that it’s stayed with me all these years. I have to stop worrying about what people think about me and say about me. If you’re tearing me down, it’s because you’re unhappy with yourself, not that you’re unhappy with me.

It just takes some time
Little girl, you’re in the middle of the ride
Everything, everything will be just fine
Everything, everything will be all right

I am in the middle. Things are supposed to be in flux right now. Nothing is set in stone, and that’s the beauty of life in your twenties. I can change the things I don’t like, and it’s not the end of the world. EVERYTHING WILL BE JUST FINE.

Hey
You know they’re all the same
You know you’re doing better on your own so don’t buy in
Live right now
Just be yourself
It doesn’t matter if that’s good enough for someone else

I spend so much effort worrying about other people, and I need to quit. It’s a waste of time, and a waste of energy. I just need to LIVE RIGHT NOW AND JUST BE MYSELF. It doesn’t matter if it’s good enough for someone else.

It just takes some time
Little girl, you’re in the middle of the ride
Everything, everything will be just fine
Everything, everything will be all right

It just takes some time
Little girl, you’re in the middle of the ride
Everything, everything will be just fine
Everything, everything will be all right

I don’t have to prove to anyone else that I’m good enough. I don’t have to be perfect. Everything takes time. I don’t have to have the perfect house, or wardrobe, or life, I just have to accept that good things take time. I’m in the middle of life, everything will be fine.

Hey
Don’t write yourself off yet
It’s only in your head you feel left out or looked down on
Just do your best
Do everything you can
Don’t you worry what their bitter hearts are going to say

Well, if feeling left out and looked down on isn’t the story of my life, I don’t know what is. Literally, my entire life. But guess what? It’s only in my head… I just need to keep doing my best, because that’s all I can do. The only thing I can control is myself and my actions, so that’s what I will take control of.

It just takes some time
Little girl, you’re in the middle of the ride
Everything, everything will be just fine
Everything, everything will be all right

It just takes some time
Little girl, you’re in the middle of the ride
Everything, everything will be just fine
Everything, everything will be all right

This is why I love music so much. A song that was so powerful to me in high school, can still be so powerful and mean so many of the same things, but so many different things because of where I am in life.

I love that music can change my mood with one song, that it can inspire me, that it can uplift me, that it can recharge my soul and make me feel like EVERYTHING WILL BE JUST FINE. Because it will be just fine. It’s life, and it’s a roller coaster ride, and I’m just in the middle where things get uncomfortable sometimes.

But everything will be all right.

I’m beginning my second month of Barre3 classes and I am still LOVING it! I’ve talked with the owner of the studio and am working on getting myself ready to get certified to be an instructor!

For quite some time I’ve known that I had interest in teaching fitness classes, I just never found the right place for me. I’m excited to go to Barre3 class and I love, love, LOOOVE the changes that I’m seeing in my body.

I have seen significant increases in my physical ability in class as well as serious muscle change. A few people have commented that they can definitely tell a difference, and that makes me sooo happy! I love it when you find the stage of physical change that others can see. I am definitely motivated by the changes. :)

I’ve switched to morning classes which as completely eliminated me making excuses not to go. I went 5 times last week, and have been 3 times this week, but I’m hoping to squeeze in a class tomorrow!

For whatever reason, I feel that Barre3 is the “happy” place for my body to change quickly. I am getting good cardio, strength, and stretching in one class, and I love that.

If you’re looking for a great class to try, look in to Barre3!

Have you ever tried Barre3?

Well, hello there.

For some reason I have no words. I’ve had lots to do and a few late nights the last couple weeks, and I just haven’t had the pizazz needed to come here and tell you anything.

I know I’ll find my funny words again and that my blogging slump is just a phase.

I’ve been back and forth on whether this little space is worth the time, and I keep coming back to the fact that I like my blog and I want to blog, so I take that as a sign that I should be here… Maybe just put less pressure on myself to be “ohemgee a totes ah-mazing blogger-extraordinaire”.

We’ll see where that gets us. I’ll just be me, and you just be you, and we’ll all be friends.

Here’s a wonderful website all about peonies and gardening them. Enjoy!

I posted annoyingly cryptically a couple weeks ago about some issues we were having with our house. I can finally say we have some resolution on the issue.

Here goes with the whole shebang…

I came home on a Wednesday, just like always. Wednesday is trash day, so I parked in the garage and walked to get the trash can and bring it into the garage, when I noticed this:

I immediately knew that was a survey marker, and that it was NOT in the right place. We had seen the markings of the lot when we purchased the house, one year ago. My mom was a real estate agent in the area for 20 years, so I immediately called her and said, “What do I do? They’re trying to steal my yard?”

And thus, CHAOS WAS BORN.

Then I called Jake. I was yelling and crying at this point, cursing the house, cursing our crappy realtor, cursing the crappy builder, and lighting matches to burnt the house down. OKAAY, I’M KIDDING. I wasn’t lighting matches. Poor poor Jake. He finally got home to a hysterical wife.

I called the builder and asked what the devil was going on and for days and days I got “I don’t know.” I finally got a hold of someone, and explained the issue. The biggest issue at hand was our fence was no longer in our property line and they were building the house next door… which meant we were going to have to pay to tear down our fence and pay to have it rebuilt.

Eventually I got to the Division Manager of the building company and explained the issues, at length, and alllllllll the problems we had had and very explicitly told him that I would NEVER give a positive review about his company, I would never recommend the builder to anyone, and I would NEVER ever let someone I know buy a house from them. He tried to calm me down, and placate me like a child, but I held my ground, told him that they had lied to us when we bought the house and that was not my fault.

They rebuilt my fence for free.

Now, they did a very shoddy job (what would you expect from liars and cheats, right?) but at least we aren’t out any money…. just three feet of yard.

So there’s my drama. It’s been “resolved”. I want to kick my house, but I’m afraid it wouldn’t affect the house one eensy bit. :(