Blogtember: Relive a Memory

Tuesday, September 17: A memory you would love to relive.

This post will probably not come as much of a surprise to you all, but the memory I would love to relive is when MG proposed. I still play it out in my head, but I would love to actually go through it again. I was hoping he was going to do it during the weekend that he ended up proposing, so I had been on the lookout for a proposal. After a bit, I figured it wasn't happening, let my guard down and put my investigator hat away. And BAM, that's when he did it.

It all happened so fast, and I was so surprised and overwhelmed that I don't vividly remember the whole thing. I DO, however, remember saying "Oh my God" and "shut up" through his entire proposal. So, if I could relive it, I would shut MYSELF up, and really focus on what he was saying.

But, even if I did nothing differently, I'd love to go through it again. It was a moment I had waited my whole life for, and one I had looked forward to happening with MG, so when it came, it was SO exciting and overwhelming.
I still have this picture as one of the backgrounds on my computer, and when all of my screens are minimized, and this one happens to pop up, it makes me smile every time:

I was saying "shut up" or "Oh my God" here...lol

There are tons of other moments I would love to relive, but this one is my most recent favorite, and I would relive it again in a heartbeat!

Weekend Recap

This weekend was fun-filled, mixed with a bit of drama...

Friday night MG and I were both pretty beat from the work week so we decided to grab dinner locally and eat outside since the weather was stunning out. I had two glasses of wine with dinner, which meant that when we got back home that night and sat down on the couch to watch tv, I fell asleep. #oldladyproblems

Saturday my friend Emily had a bridal shower brunch in the morning so I went to that and avoided the girl who's created all of the drama in my life (and she pretended that I don't exist). The shower was great--lots of time to mingle, and the bride had requested that all of the presents come un-wrapped so that she would have more time to socialize with all of us. She ended up opening presents for a bit, which was fun (and went by fast since there was no wrapping paper). There was TONS of yummy food and drinks, too.

I did a few errands that afternoon, including getting a new pair of sunglasses. MG was sweet enough to buy them for me--love that guy!

Later that night I drove him to his friends' place so they could watch college football, and then got ready to go out for Emily's bachelorette in Georgetown that night. I headed over to my friend Jackie's place beforehand to hang out and have a couple glasses of wine before meeting everyone else out.

The bachelorette party was a lot of fun, too. I love love love the girl who is getting married--she's one of the sweetest and funniest people I know (not to mention she's also helped me BIG TIME with my own wedding planning). I just adore her.

And then I find out that drama bride is talking crap about me because a group of 4 guys was talking to me at the bar. In fact, they were asking about what we were all there for, and then asked if I was single and I said no, that I was engaged. So, it's not as if I took my ring off of my finger and said "nope, I'm single!!" Not to mention, the same guys were talking to the bachelorette's sister as well. But, it's only a problem when I do it.

And then I see that SHE is talking to some random guy. But, it's ok when she does it, right? Ugh, enough on her. 

I had a nice night celebrating that sweet friend. And then I felt like terrible terrible crap the next day haha. Unfortunately I had to drive out to Leesburg (about an hour away) for my hair consultation. I did NOT want to drive, at all, let alone 2 hours that day, but I did, and now I have my hair person for my wedding day.

And then this morning I got the best news of all!

My friend Bree is ENGAGED! Her fiance popped the question yesterday at a winery and I'm SOOOOOOO happy for them! Yay for more friends getting married, and another person to plan a wedding with!! So excited for you, Bree! Love you!

And with that happy note, I'm off to see my kiddos and get this Monday started!

 

Friday, September 13: A self portrait

This should probably be a scary face since today is Friday the 13th, but instead, I give you this... (sorry Instagram friends, you've already seen this one)...

Me and my own personal pillow pet. Except mine breaths, eats and poops. And spends the majority of the day sleeping. I may be a little jealous of that one.

Slightly more messy than a regular ol' pillow pet, but much more snuggly and fun!

Happy Friday! 

Blogtember: Blogging's Impact on Me

Thursday, September 12: Discuss ways that blogging or social media has changed you.

I started my blog as a kind of creative outlet for myself. I've always enjoyed writing, and at my job the only writing I do is reports and other things related to school and kids. Nothing too creative, and certainly not personally related. So, I think from that standpoint, blogging gave me a way to get some of my creativity, thoughts, etc out.

The unexpected part of blogging that has had a HUGE impact, is the support network and bonds that are formed through blogging. When I went through my long distance relationship breakup, the outpouring of love, kind words and support was overwhelming. Hearing that others had gone through what I was going through, only to find happiness on the other end, made me believe that I would be ok and have my happy ending eventually, too.

Since I've recently been dealing with my wedding drama, you guys have all been there to let me vent about it, support me, and let me know that I'm not crazy in that whole situation. That alone makes the whole thing better for me.

Not only have people been there to help pick me up when I'm down, but when I got engaged, the outpouring of love and excitement made me that much more happy and excited. I have this HUGE group of people to share such happy times in my life with, and that's pretty freaking awesome!

I've discovered new friendships that I otherwise never would have made, like with P!nky for example. We lived right around the corner from one another, and never would have known it without blogging. We became good friends over the past almost 2 years, and just this past weekend I was at her wedding and she'll be at mine in April.

Blogging has brought a lot of blessings into my life. The creative part is cool, and I love that, but my favorite part is the relationships and connections that I've made with so many of you. I can only hope that that continues and grows as I continue to blog.

Chicken Orzo Skillet Meal Recipe and link up idea

I'm thinking of doing a link up for recipes on Wednesdays. It could be something that you've made and want to share, or it could be something delicious that you found on Pinterest that you want to share!

Let me know what you guys think about the idea, and I might start a link up for us all to participate in and share some yummy recipes!

Now, getting back to business....

I'm here with another great recipe that I got from my good blog buddy, Shari at The Daily Dish. I've gotten SO MANY great recipes from her and her blog, and I love that she lets me share them with you whenever I try a new one! If you haven't checked out her blog, go do it...and make sure you have something to wipe your face with, because you WILL drool!

What You Need:

-1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small cubes

-12 oz uncooked orzo

-2 tomatoes, chopped

-3 cups baby spinach (or one salad bag of baby spinach)

-juice from 1 lemon

-1 tsp olive oil

-1/2 cup white wine

-1/2 tsp garlic powder

-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

-2 tsp tomato paste

-feta cheese crumbles for topping

-1/4 cup reserved cooking water from the orzo

What You Do:

1. Cook the orzo according to package instructions. Drain and set aside (remember to reserve that 1/4 cup of cooking water)

2. Season the chicken with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil and the chicken. Saute the chicken until it's cooked through. And remove it from the pan.

3. In the same skillet, add in the reserved cooking water, tomatoes, tomato paste, red pepper flakes, and a little bit of salt and pepper. Cook for approximately 2 minutes.

4. Add the orzo, chicken, wine and spinach to the skillet and mix until the spinach has wilted (this may require you to put a lid on the skillet for a little bit).

5. Add in the lemon juice, and stir. 

6. Add the feta cheese, mix, and serve.

Enjoy!

Thank you, Shari, for another yummy recipe! 

Blogtember: Pivotal Life Moment

I'm linking up again with Jenni for another Blogtember post:

Tuesday, September 10: Describe a distinct moment when your life took a turn.

This one might be slightly surprising to you guys. You might think that it was the moment that I got engaged, and as important of a life moment as that was to me, my life didn't really CHANGE, it just got better.

The moment that I can pinpoint in my life where things took a turn was when my 2 year (almost) long distance relationship ended, quite suddenly. For those of you who don't remember or weren't around then, we'd been planning on me moving to St. Louis in 1-2 months time. I had already told my job that I was leaving, told my apartment complex that I was moving out, and I'd just gotten a job interview for the county that I was going to be moving to.

And then my world came crashing down in one unexpected phone call.
All of a sudden, I didn't have a relationship, a job for the next year, or a place to live. I was devastated.

In that moment,one thing that I realized was just how powerful my friendships were. My roommate at the time, and now best friend, was kind enough to stay home from work the next day with me to make sure that I was ok, which was incredibly sweet of her. The following day, I went back to work and a friend there let me spend the entire day with her class. We talked and it helped. It was a hard 2 days, but after LOTS of tears being shed, I reached a place where I felt like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. You're probably thinking "2 days?? Yeah right!"

But in reality, during that 2 year relationship, I had been worried constantly. I knew that he had cheated on me (still not sure if it was physical, but I know emotionally at least) at least once, and possibly more. I worried all the time about him being faithful and if I didn't hear from him, what was he doing, and with whom? It was a constant state of stress for me. And once it was gone, I realized that I didn't have to worry about it anymore. And that if I was worrying THAT MUCH, that it should have ended sooner. I just wanted my happy ending so badly, that I was willing to talk myself out of what I was truly feeling.

It was also the first time after a break up that I got the overwhelming feeling of "everything is going to be ok....this is what's supposed to happen." Now, sure, I had TOLD myself that with other breakups, but this was the first time that I FELT it to be true.

And then cut to a few months later, I had gotten back out into the dating world, signed up for Match, and I got a nice email from a cute guy who happened to live about 5 minutes from where I lived and we went out on a date...

....and now we live together and are getting married in April!

The pivotal point for me was realizing that I KNEW what I deserved and I KNEW that I wasn't going to settle for what I had been accepting up until that point. I wasn't going to make excuses for someone else anymore. And once I told myself that, and learned a couple more lessons along the way, the universe gave me the guy I've been waiting my whole life for. Someone who never gives me the slightest reason to worry, listens when I'm upset, and works to make our life better. As cheesy as this is (feel free to make gag noises, it's ok), he's the guy that made this quote....

{via}

...100% true. 

On top of everything else, if I had moved to St. Louis, I wouldn't have been close by when my dad had his heart attack that October, and I would have been tortured not being able to drive to see him.

In the end, it was a painful time, but one that I felt like I got control of my life back and learned that I was strong enough to stand up for myself and for what I deserved.

Weekend Recap: P!nky's Wedding!

Phew! Another weekend and it feels like a blur since there was so much fun packed in!

Friday after work MG and I hit the pool for a bit to soak up the incredibly nice day (and the last pool day we'd have before our pool closed on Sunday), and then spent the night in.

Saturday I dropped Coop off at my parents' house since we were going to be at P!nky's wedding that night, and my mom got him groomed so he's all nice and cute for our engagement photos in a couple weeks. We then headed to a cake tasting for our wedding and found some really delicious flavors to choose from. I think we may have found our cake place!!

That afternoon, we went to P!nky's wedding. The ceremony was heartfelt and full of love, and the reception was SO much fun with the people we were sitting with!

The church was beautiful and bright, perfect for their day!

After the wedding, my new friends from the bachelorette party invited MG and myself to their house to have a beverage and hang out. After a glass of wine and a fireball shot (eep!), we were off to the reception.

The reception site was nice and the hors d'oeuvres were yum!

And then the happy couple made their appearance!

The whole night was filled with happiness and love--everything I hope my own wedding to be like. P!nky has a great family and group of friends, which made the whole thing that much more fun-filled. 

And then there was LOTS of dancing. And I mean LOTS! I can only imagine the hilarity that's captured on video and in pictures.
At the end of the day, I feel incredibly blessed to have witnessed such a great girl get to marry her best friend. I feel even luckier to have had this girl come into my life thanks to the blog world, become such good friends, and get to be a part of such a special day.

I wish you nothing but happiness for a lifetime!