Thursday, April 30, 2015

Vacation In Rockford

I've decided 2015 shall be the year that I campaign hard to have my SC friends visit. In other words, SC, NC and GA friends who read this blog (you know who you are), I'm launching a RAD vacation package and it's got yo name on it!

This June will mark three years since leaving my beloved Charleston and although the distance never seems to shorten, visiting with friends always does my soul good. When my dear friend, Heather visited it was a blast! We ate a ton, relaxed, shopped and even went sledding as her trip happened to fall during a legit blizzard. Thanks, Soles, for coming!

Disclaimer, this post is in no way designed to shame anyone (quite the contrary, actually).

This post is simply to declare that I am up'ing my Vacation in Rockford campaign. It's about to get serious up in here.

Shall anyone decide to take part on the 2015 Vacation in Rockford package, I'm throwing in the following incentives:
  • Sunshine, blue skies with plenty of warm weather, and hardly any humidity (your hair is already thanking you for even considering this trip)
  • Fun on the river in our 6 person raft w/ built in coolers and drink holders
  • Unlimited boat rides (if we have one by the time you arrive. If not, the raft it is!)
  • A complimentary RAD t-shirt of your choice (AKA Rockford Art Deli).
    • Aren't their shirts not the bomb.com? I own 4 and our munchies loves his "made in Rockford" onesie. He's such a little Rockford hipster.

 

 

  • Wonderful food compliments of our local eateries (no chains taking place while you're on vacay, I promise)
  • A possible Cubs game if you play your cards right (AKA if they're in town)
  • A guest bedroom with one of the following:
    • Your own private, rooftop deck (I mean, seriously, are you looking at flights yet?!)
    • Your own patio on the water
  • Lots of laughter
  • Lots of wine
  • Lots of doing whatever we want
  • Lots of hugs and kisses from Nash
  • My smiling face anxiously awaiting your arrival at the airport
And just like that, I've officially launched the VIR campaign. Who's going to be my first taker?!

The world Rockford will be your oyster!

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

What's Up Wednesday



Because I cannot resist a good link up par-tay, we're joining the lovely ladies of The Larson Lingo, Mix & Match Family and Pinterest Told Me To today to discuss the following (although I'm picking and choosing which ones I'm sharing, because what I'm wearing today is about as exciting as watching paint dry):

 
What We're Eating This Week
I don't know if it's the warmer weather or if things are just picking up this time of year, but we seem to be slammed this week which means fairly quick and simple meals in our casa. Thanks to Trader Joe's, we dined on some pretty tasty Mushroom Ravioli with Truffle Sauce. Thanks, TJ!
 
 
 
What I'm Reminiscing About...
This week marked the start to an end of an era for me by officially listing my townhome in Charleston, SC. Even though I've been gone for almost three years, it still bought me much peace to know that I still owned a home in my beloved state. This was my first home purchase and I watched it being built from a grass lot to the home where I spent some of my best years. I hope the next person loves it as much as I did and still do.
 
 
What I'm Loving...
This warm weather! Now I just need some sun.
 
What We've Been Up To...
Two words, people, house projects. Will they ever end? When you own three homes and two of them are for sale, there is always something to be fix, paint, clean, coordinate, etc...
I'm mentally exhausted.
 
What I'm Dreading...
Speaking at an event on Friday evening (public speaking is not my jam) and going a few more months on our home in IL being unoccupied without any offers.
 
What I'm Working On...
Coordinating five large events within a three month span for the college.
Good Lord, there's a lot of moving parts.
 
What I'm Excited About...
Anything involving the hope of a vacation this summer!!
 
 
 
What I'm Watching...
My current go-to's are: Dancing With the Stars, Married At First Sight, 8 Minutes,
Grey's Anatomy (RIP McDreamy), and Secrets and Lies (sooo dang good!)
 
What I'm Listening to...
I'm a Pandora junkie from 8am-5pm. My fave stations right now are Straight No Chaser, Hillsong, Sleeping At Last, and Jason Mraz.
 
I wish I had more exciting things to report, but I've declared this month National Run Around Like a Chicken With Its Head Cut Off Awareness Month. In other words, if it's fun, creative or relaxing, ain't nobody got time for that!
 
And that's what's up, y'all.
Thanks for stopping by!
 
 

Monday, April 27, 2015

25 Things You Don't Know

As a fan of US Weekly, one of the first sections I gravitate toward is the "25 Things You Don't Know About Me". I love reading the little, useless tidbits about some of my favorite celebs, partly because they're usually so random that I wonder what makes them choose the items they list, but more so because it makes them seem so normal.

So today's post is inspired by US Weekly and all of the randomness I've read over the years. Without further ado...

25 Things You Don't Know About Me:

1. I love Milk and drink it with everything (pizza, tacos, everything)
2. Peonies are my absolute favorite flower
3. I rarely wear the color red. Just not a fan.
4. I watch The Devil Wears Prada every single time it's on TV. I'll even watch it twice if they play it back to back.


5. I once raised Teddy the tadpole in a bowl in my bedroom until he became Freddy the frog. Then we released him in a creek.
6. On the night before my parents had to leave me in SC for college, I locked myself in our hotel bathroom and sobbed and begged them not to leave me in Charleston. I wanted to go home so badly.


7. If there is an animal in a movie who I'm afraid might be killed off, I'll quickly Google "does the dog in _____ die?" I need to be mentally prepared.
8. I could eat Chinese food and sushi every day.
9. I love the smell of skunk.
10. I've been rear ended 6 times. Two times were in the same exact spot on the road, with one of them being in a rental car since my car was still in the shop from the first accident in that spot. How does that happen?! I immediately jumped out of the car during the 2nd time and just started screaming "Are you serious, lady?!"
11. Everyone lovingly buys me Swedish Fish which means I'm now growing tired of Swedish Fish.


12. I've eaten 3 meals with Luke Bryan, cooked dinner for Clint Black's steel guitarist, drank a beer with Dierks Bentley and his band, and have worked at a Tim McGraw concert where I got to go backstage and hold his Jack Russell Terrier while he sang.
13. I've zip-lined 5 times in 3 different countries.
14. I play a solitaire app every night before bed.
15. I'm convinced sharks live in the drains of pools. I thought I'd outgrow this. I have not.
16. I once caught a fish in my bikini top and unknowingly wore him around all day. RIP fishy.
17. I've been turkey hunting, camo and all.
18. I told my brother to jump off a spinning tire swing while babysitting him and he flew face first into a railroad tie. I thought he was dead as he laid there limp and bleeding. It resulted in an ER trip and many stitches.


19. Some of my favorite childhood memories are centered around my Grandma and Grandpa Meyers. They AWLAYS had an activity planned for us.
20. My first two concerts were Lee Greenwood and New Kids on The Block. I heart Joey!



21. I can only name maybe 12 states on a US map. Name all 50? Forget about it.
22. I've always wanted to be a firefighter.
23. My celebrity crushes are Kevin Costner and Dennis Quad. I will watch anything with Kevin Costner.
24. I befriended the dining hall manager in college and he'd set aside mashed potatoes for me even when they weren't on the menu. I called him "The Potato Man".
25. One of my very best friends disliked me greatly when we first met. We're now extremely close and even had our sons within 9 days of each other. "We're the same!" I'm so glad I won her over with my charm and good looks she gave me a second chance.










Tuesday, April 21, 2015

The Name Game




As the always entertaining Show and Tell series continues compliments of Andrea at Momfessionals.com, today we're talking names. What's in a name, you ask? Well, it's a lot more than I ever thought possible until being tasked with naming someone this past year.

I can vividly remember telling my husband pre-pregnancy "picking out a name should be fun. I mean, I guarantee there aren't any parents who wake up 7 years after naming their son only to look at him one morning and think "man, you are totally NOT a Matthew. We blew it! Sorry, Steven." Honestly though, once our name game began, the pressure and realization of all that goes into a name began to freak me out a bit. Not freak me out in a bad way, but I knew that we had one shot to get this right. And thus began the great name debate of 2014.

Side note-Had our son been a girl, it would've been a done deal. I have had the name Kensington Grace aka Kensie Grace picked out since 1999 when I drove past a gorgeous neighborhood entitled Kensington Woods. Cool neighborhood=I shall name my child after you. Super meaningful decision making up in here, right?

Boy names? Those just didn't come as easy to me.

As we threw around name after name, one name kept rising to the surface...Nash. I knew that I wanted our son's name to have meaning and with our family names not really striking our fancy, I started to brainstorm places that have meant something to us as a couple. With the Hubs and I dating long distance from Illinois to South Carolina, a perfect meeting place was Nashville. We had great friends who lived there, we loved the vibe and all the city had to offer, we found my engagement ring in the music city, and thus the name Nash was born.

With Nash being a bit different and a little edgy, we knew we wanted something classic to really anchor the name. And so I did what any good momma to be does, I hit up Baby Names for Dummies. And it didn't take me long to find the perfect middle name for Nash...Alexander. With a few scares over the first 10 weeks of my pregnancy, there were times when I thought for sure our little peanut was gone. And yet every time they'd have me rush in for an ultrasound, there he'd be. Heartbeat and all. In those moments, I thanked God profusely and dubbed our baby a fighter.

With Alexander meaning "defender of men", the minute I read those words, I just knew that was his middle name. To defend someone you must be willing to fight for them. I also knew that as a mom, some of my prayers for this child would be that he will grow to love and know Jesus, that he will fight for what he believes in, that he would become a man among men defending those he loves and those who may not be able to defend themselves, both in his words, his actions and his service to others. And it didn't hurt that our newphew, Alex, is simply one cool dude who makes the moniker equally as cool.

Just like that, on Aug. 13th, Nash Alexander came into this world and stole our hearts. And I can assure you I have yet to look at him and think "Man, you're totally a Steven. We blew it."

Names that did not make the cut, but one or the both of us really liked (or hated):
Meyers (My maiden name)
Colton
Hudson
Crosby
Deacon
Harrison (we both loved this one, but I couldn't get passed Harry)
Shep (I got a lot of flack for that one, but I stand by it)
 
Nash Alexander
 

 

 
 
See y'all next time for:
 
 


Monday, April 20, 2015

The One Time I Was Early

Have you ever had that dream where you show up for a party but there's really no party. It's just you and the hosts staring blankly back at you? Yeah, me too. Although mine wasn't a dream. It was the real deal and it was humiliating.

Last summer, I was roughly 38 weeks pregnant and it was hot and humid and my brain was mush as we approached the last few weekends of hurry up and wait prep for our little man, AND it was my cousin's son's Bday party weekend. So the Hubs and I ventured off to Oregon, IL, roughly 45 minutes away, for said Pirate party. I was excited to see the family, relax and crush some cake. Or so I thought.

My cousins live out in the country with a long driveway leading to their home and barn. At first glance, I didn't think anything of all the cars in the drive. They usually have 50+ people at their parties so the crowd seemed appropriate. That was until I noticed that every single car in the drive was a huge pick up truck. "Where's grandma's car?" I asked Tim. "Where's Tanner's car? They're never late." This is odd, I thought to myself, BUT there were still a ton of cars and activity so we grabbed our pirate gift and headed into the barn amongst the crowd.

Ummm, I didn't know pirates ate crap tons of sweet corn? Who knew?! I, once again, thought to myself. And as I watched 20 men hauling tubs of sweet corn into a huge water basin and about 10 women shucking corn in the center of the room, I suddenly realized that this was no pirate party. Not even close. This was some sort of sweet corn party that we surely had not been invited to. Awkwarddddddddddd.

As we found my cousin amongst the corn, she shockingly questioned "what are you doing here? Were in the neighborhood?" In that moment, I should've just said yes. Yep, we're totally in the neighborhood. 45 minutes from home and randomly in your neighborhood aka the country and just thought we'd drop by today for what appears to be a corn party of great proportions and then again TOMORROW when the actual BIRTHDAY party is scheduled. OMG, ya'll. It wasn't bad enough that we were there a day early, but we had somehow crashed a corn party. And when a 38 weeks preggo woman thinks she's getting cake and is offered a bag of sweet corn instead, it's just sad. Tragic really. And because I was swollen and exhausted and it was hot and we had already driven almost 2 hours round trip the day before, we never even made it to the pirate party the next day. It was a total loss.

And, that my good people, is why I NEVER go anywhere early. Or on time for that matter. Even if you're late to a party, you usually still walk away with cake. You go early and you might be rewarded with corn. Crap tons of corn.

Friday, April 17, 2015

Friday High Faves

This post will be short and sweet, my fellow Friday lovers.

I do believe I survived this week by the skin of my teeth. I've battled a nasty cold, navigated major curveballs, and juggled so many balls in the air that seemed to be falling off a cliff and lived to tell about it.

That being said, I don't have too many high fives, however there is always, always, always something to be thankful for. Am I right?

  • Absolutely stunning sunsets. Thank you Lord for magenta sunsets that make you stop, take a deep breath and soak it all in.


  • Our little Munchie mastering his kissing technique. He's been kissing for a while, but it was usually a big, wet open mouth sort of a deal. AKA, not quite the kiss you want to give your son forever. He will now pucker up and lean in for the kill. It seriously melts my heart. Good job to the Hubs who helped him hone in on this life skill.
  • Knowing that groceries are in my near future. I didn't have time to do anything this week so we are pretty bare bones and running out of creative meals.
  • Hitting up a phenomenal rummage sale. With three vintage markets in my future this summer, I'm aggressively trying to beef up my inventory and this sale was a true winner in items and price. There's nothing like finding awesome junk;)

  • Stumbling across this gem. I try, I really do try. I just seem to generate dust at an incredible rate. Sigh.


  • Watching this studmuffin love on his "Bebo". He loves his little blue Bebo like this momma loves cake. I snapped this pic of him watching an episode of Mickey Mouse Club while resting on the couch with his Bebo. How is he growing up so quickly?!



Happy Friday, Y'all! We made it!

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Creative Parenting

I've posted before that I'm a fan of creative parenting and creative discipline. Well, this dad definitely took his creativity and his clippers to a whole 'nother level. Poor little Tay Tay and John John.

I'm sure there's probably something a little mean and possibly traumatizing about making your kids look like fools in public, but today I applaud him for thinking outside of the box. We can worry about what sort of counseling this action might require when his boys are 30, but quite frankly, that's not as fun as finding the humor in their current humiliation, is it now? My favorite line "you wanna act a fool, I act one with you." Boom, daddy-o, that's how it's done.

I guarantee this kiddos will think twice about their grades and the amount of effort they put into their school work in the future. Enjoy!


Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Enough

I've toyed with the idea of adding another tattoo to my already existing tat for some time now, and although I don't know that I'll ever follow through, I do know exactly what I'd like to get. It'd be simple and to the point. "Enough. Isaiah 6:8"

The above verse is near and dear to my heart and has become my life verse since 2008. Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?And I said, “Here am I. Send me! NIV. Although I fail at times, my goal is to always keep my ear to the ground and to my heart (and more so to Jesus' heart) to see where I can go. Where will you send me? Use me, God. Send me out.

The "enough" part is simple. It's a mantra, it's a reminder and when I'm living amongst awareness, it's a way of life. I want to live in the margins of "enough". I do not needs tons. I do not need extravagance, I simply need enough.

He is enough for me. He is enough power, enough love, enough truth, enough peace, enough grace, enough forgiveness, enough everything. He is enough.

In Him, I am enough. I am beautiful enough. I am wise enough. I am loved enough and sought after enough. I am as enough to Him as the next person is regardless of accomplishments, career, money, and beauty. I am enough. I was enough from the minute he formed me in my mother's womb. Nothing I can do will ever make me not enough in His eyes. Not enough sin nor distance can make His love not enough to redeem and sustain me.

Knowing all of that, today is one of those days where I wish I had that tattooed on my wrist for the world to see, but more importantly for me to see. Today I do not feel like enough. Not even close.

Today I am struggling with a cold and just want to be in bed, but I have a job and a family who both rely on me. I have emails coming in faster than I can respond and tasks piling up no matter how quickly I try to knock them out. I have people that want answers but none to give them. I have people who want results now but also have others in line before them already for their own results. I cannot work fast enough or hard enough. I cannot be in two places at once. Today I feel like I am anything but enough.

There's not enough of me to go around. Not today, at least. Maybe tomorrow I will be enough.




Monday, April 13, 2015

Eight Months and Counting

Our sweet boy is eight months old today. Where has the time gone?! It's really only felt like 5 minutes...under water, as my husband's uncle would say.

Seriously though, I feel like just two short months ago I was 9 months pregnant and the size of a small house, with "cocktail wieners" as toes (thanks to my brother for pointing that beauty out), and a wicked case of pink eye and BAM, I now have an eight month old.

We've survived sleepless nights, RSV, a hospital stay at 3 months old, and now the cutting of two teeth. And through it all, our boy has been the happiest little champ. I don't know what we did to deserve such a phenomenal child,  but I'll take it and thank the Lord for it!

Likes:
  • Sweet potatoes
  • Puffs
  • Celery stalks for teething
  • Anything that plays music
  • Mickey Mouse Club is our jam!
  • Talking jibberish with an occasional "da-da" and now "ma-ma"
  • His tiny basketball, aka his peepee teepee that he thinks is the best toy in the world
  • Swinging with mom and dad
  • Watching his puppy, Piggy
  • Jumping in his bouncer
  • Pulling momma's hair (which is on my dislike list)
  • Bath time and splashing
Dislikes:
  • Stuffy noses
  • Nose Freida aka the snot sucker that is the bomb.com
  • Going to sleep and missing out (at least for a few minutes til he passes out)
  • Green beans
Munchie, you amaze me more every day. I thank God for you multiple times a day, and every night when I tell you that I'll miss you til morning, I truly mean it. You make my days brighter with your smile and I will do anything to make you laugh. I'm sorry I have the worst singing voice in the world, but thanks for humoring me and snuggling in close when I try to make my way through a comforting lullaby. You are the handsomest boy and it makes me so happy to be stopped by 5 different strangers on the way into church so they can talk to you or comment on your smile or eyes or hat. Every day I see a bit more of me in you and I pray that you somehow inherit all of my good characteristics and none of my flaws. But if somehow you do get my not so great traits, we'll navigate them together and make each other stronger. And worst case, we'll just annoy everyone else together;) Thanks for making me a mom and for not knowing any different so when I do screw up, you still love me as though I'm the only woman on the planet. You hold my heart, little man, and I know without a doubt you always will. I love you so, so much!






Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Spider Trauma




Today could possibly go down in the books as one of the most traumatizing days of my life. I don't even know if I can write this post through the massive amounts of heebie geebies surging through my body, but I'll give it a go.

1) I hate spiders. I hate everything about them. From the creepy way they move around to their webs to their fangs. H.A.T.E. I'm 36 years old and for roughly 30 years, I have done a "spider check" every single night. That's approximately 10,950 checks of my bed for spiders before I can lay down. I just know that one is waiting for me under those sheets someday.

2) I am beyond afraid of spiders. If you want to see my pulse double in under a second, show me a spider. Even the mere thought of having to kill one sends me into a small panic attack. If no one else is around and I'm on my own to kill a spider, I have to do the whole count to 3 thing to get my courage up to get close enough to crush one and even then, it usually takes me 3-4 tries to swing that shoe through screaming and cold sweats. Killing spiders is the stuff my nightmares are made of.

Now that you're in on my unfounded fear of spiders, my morning commute today was a full on stage 5 panic attack. All was going well. I was in the car with the tunes playin', steamy coffee in the console, and apparently a daggum spider dangling less than a foot from my head. Something caught my eye and when I tured in the general direction of said movement, boom, spider man is swinging next to my face from my sunroof. Ahhhhhhh! No, seriously. I screamed and just started swinging! Both hands left the wheel and just began flailing. In that moment I could not have cared less if I hit another car. There was a spider next to my FACE!!

You know what the downfall is of swinging at a spider? You might actually hit what you're aiming for. You know what's worse? When the stupid thing vanishes. Where. Did. It. Go???? It was there and now it's gone and the only thing that caused it to disappear was my ever-lovin' arm. MY ARM! Now we're talking full blown meltdown. I looked everywhere all while frantically shaking my arm like it was on fire. Still no blessed spider. Excuse me while I dab these cold sweats from my brow as I type.

Needless to say, my drive to work this am was anything less than relaxing. You might as well have held a gun to my head. Okay, maybe that's a bit much, but it was so scary, you guys!

And this is where it all turns just about as far south as it can go...

Fast forward four hours and I head to the restroom for a bathroom break. You see where I'm going here?

As I turn to flush, something catches my eye, again. Say. It. Ain't. So. And there he is, people. The DAGGUM spider!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is now in the toilet, swimming. I just can't. Where the he@# has he been for the FOUR hours?????????? He was on me for FOUR hours!!! During TWO meetings, I was chillin with a spider on me! Was it in my hair? On my back? Under my skirt? In my sleeve? Again, I just cannot... It's all too much. I may need counseling. Or a can of raid to spray in my hair and a match to burn my cute new skirt.

When I told my coworker that I had found the missing spider and that it had been on me for the last four hours, she simply stated "well, maybe it was just sitting on your back" all nonchalant like. Oh, okay, good. Thank God it's only been on my back like a dang spider backpack! Thank the Lord you cleared that one up!!! Excuse me while I dry heave into my trash can now.

How does one come back from this? I'm really not sure. But I can confidently tell you that my beloved spider checks will now go from the bed to the car and back again every single day. And if one more spider EVER falls out of my hair or my skirt OR takes a free ride on my back for four hours, you can put a fork in me cuz I'm straight up done. Done. My heart simply cannot take it.




Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Show and Tell- My Favorite Vacation



As we link up with Andrea over at Momfessionals for today's edition of Show and Tell- My Favorite Vacation, this post was BY FAR the easiest one to narrow down thus far. I've taken many a trip and have also lived in the #1 Best City in America, Charleston, SC, which is pretty much the equivalent of living "on vacation", but my favorite vacay would definitely be our honeymoon in 2012 to St. Lucia, BVI.


After planning a wedding in Charleston AND a large reception in our hometown of Rockford, IL for those who couldn't make the trip to the actual wedding, this bride was beyond ready for a vacation. To give you a glimpse at just how exhausted I was, I was so physically ill the morning we embarked on our honeymoon from being overtired, that I asked the Hubs if we could leave the next day instead. Thankfully, he showed a little tough love and off we went.

St. Lucia was exactly what I needed to recharge my dwindling batteries. I had made decisions for 8 months on what everyone would eat, what type of chairs people would sit on, what flowers went with what vase, etc... I was DONE with decisions. That was until I encountered the swim up bar at our all-inclusive resort. From that moment on, my toughest decisions were which fun cocktail to try and what point in my pool lounging should I flip to the other side as to not burn. Tough life, right?



Sandals La Toc had everything we could've asked for and more. The food was amazing and plentiful. The ice cold Piton beer flowed like wine. The nightly entertainment was just that, entertaining.



The views were incredible and colorful and a perfect reminder of how creative God must've been as He planned everything out.


We visited a mud bath that was featured on the Bachelor and then soaked it off in a hot spring, followed by a dip under a waterfall. We visited the Piton Mountains courtesy of Joe Knows tourboat, which was a party in itself. Thankfully I'm not a huge drinker, but I did see that rum punch sneak up a few newlyweds who appeared to be a little seasick after snorkeling while tipsy. It's all fun and games until you create fish food. No thanks.






There was lots of reading by poolside and amazing dinners.


 
There was a street festival and a newlywed photo shoot compliments of the resort.
 

 
And what is a honeymoon without a little "Daniel Son"? Empty, I tell you.
 
 

We took out the stand up paddle boards and kayaks, and at one point something VERY large swam under our kayak and scared the life pretty much out of me. Think a "Jaws" sized something. As it swam under our kayak, neither the Hubs nor I uttered a word about it, but I did notice the pace of our paddling increased substantially. I think we were both hoping the other person didn't see it and were trying to remain calm until our kayak hit sand and we bolted. Once on land, I turned to the Hubs and began to say "umm, did you..." and before I could finish he confidently replied "uh yeah, I saw it too." Needless to say we never took that kayak back out. I've totally seen that Lifetime movie and it does not end well, y'all.


All in all, it was the perfect trip with my new husband. We got to relax, re-center and enjoy being us outside of our beautiful wedding haze and hustle. Whoever invented the honeymoon was quite possibly the smartest person on the planet. I would like to meet them and hug them profusely.

Tim, can we go back? Pretty please with a Piton on top? There's a dirty banana cocktail calling my name.




Thanks for stopping by!