AND. THAT IS JUST WHERE I AM HEADED. I FLY OUT TOMORROW MORNING FOR A SHORT, BUT MUCH NEEDED BREAK FROM REALITY.
THE ONLY CALLS I AM ACCEPTING ARE FROM KYLE AND MY FRIENDS. AND THE ONLY EMAILS I WILL LOOK AT ARE THE ONES THAT CLUTTER MY INBOX BUT OFFER ME DEALS ON THINGS.
IF YOU NEED ME... I WILL BE ACCESSIBLE LATE SUNDAY NIGHT, BUT I WOULD PREFER IF YOU LEAVE ME ALONE TILL AFTER LUNCH HOUR ON MONDAY!
-b
I can cross shooting guns off my “bucket list” and things I want to do and I can add it onto the “things I will never ever ever do again” list. Long story short: it was pretty bad and unenjoyable.
My friend Afton and I both wanted to go to a shooting range and there was a Sweet Jack deal and we snagged it. And then we planned a fun little outing with a guy we work with who is experienced and thought it would be fun. But it was really nothing like we pictured it.
It was loud. Really loud. There were bullet casings all over the floor. We couldn’t hear a thing {let alone the how to}. We were SO out of place {evidently Tory Burch flats are not appropriate footwear}. There was no safety video for us to watch. Or test to take. Or background check to pass {there could have been felons with us in there}. There were big guns and big burley men. Again. We were SO out of place.
I decided to go first because Afton look terrified. Fred was giving me/us instructions {that, I couldn’t hear!!} and it all went downhill when Fred decided to demonstrate and a shell came flying at me. I screamed. And almost started crying. So Afton stepped up to the plate to fire away. And I said no way, no how I am out of here. Afton fired a total of 13 bullets and was done when a shell went down her shirt. she then made me give it a try and i have never been so terrified in my life.
sweaty palms. couldn’t pull the trigger. and when i did, my eyes were closed and i would hop and scream. and i could never remember to take my finger off the trigger when i was done. needless to say, i terrified Fred {and probably many of you readers}. I shot 3 bullets and was done with it.
In total, we bought 100 bullets and shot 16. We donated the others to Fred since we pretty much wasted his Sunday. And it sounds life Afton will give it another try. Me. Yeah. Not so much.
we have not even started the home buying process yet other than looking at houses online and making our “want to see” list for when we do start looking {in 2-3 weeks} but i have already started thinking about paint colors and decorating. and i 100% blame pinterest for that. but i have told kyle that before i {or we} do any major work we will LIVE in the house for a bit. but i cannot sit still and even though we don’t have a new home yet I am already thinking about the details.
i want a gray bathroom i think. and i love these bath towels from World Market. they would both go with a muted gray paint color. but of course i cannot decide which i like more. and i would have to worry about finding bath mats that are matchy matchy. and in real life, there is no reason to be buying hand towels when i do not even have a house. but, if i had to chose: i would go with the one on the right – love the print and colors together.
kyle has also made it pretty clear that we are not getting new bedroom furniture immediately {even though i think we NEED king bed thanks to mulligan sleeping with us}. but that has not stopped me from eyeing Haverty’s website and of course, I have picked out our new bedroom furniture. again. cannot chose between two and will have more than enough months to figure it out new furniture. but how pretty are these bedroom sets?!
I think I need to take a house decorating idea chill pill. especially since once we BUY a house we will be uber poor. but it is all just so pretty and fun.
this week was not bad. i cannot complain. i am without a doubt counting down the days till i board a plan and leave my life for 4 short days and go to the beach. but my life lately has been good.
i started running again and made myself a plan. this week, every day that i hit the gym or the path my by house I am running 2 miles. just 2 miles to get my legs back to it. from there i will up to 2.5 or 3 miles {still undecided} and will focus on my sub-30 5k goal. at this point, I am not running for the medals, i am running for me.
Oh my gosh. Total Win for me. Sunday, I went to my typical 10:45 AM Flywheel class {come ride with me!! it is amazing!!} and one of the local Lululemon girls was there too with 5 goodie bags. Well, I got lucky and got one of those goodie bags and got a FREE lululemon tank top {retail: $52}. But of course, it now ranks HIGH on my favorite running top list and i need/want more.
sadly, my headaches are back and they have brought an eye twitch/spasm with them. and my body just CANNOT handle muscle relaxers {i could never be a pill popping druggie}. which means i will be having a CT scan to make sure there is not any weird brain issues going on. honest moment: the whole thing is kind of annoying. i have re-worked and re-managed my work/life balance stress and i have been feeling good. so why are the headaches back?!
Kyle’s Mom and Step Dad are coming in town this weekend. Who knows what is on the agenda, but we will keep and stay busy. I am hoping they are not coming to lecture me about how I stole their baby away and made him move to Georgia with me and then REALLY stole him away since we’re going to buy a house. {the plan had always been to move home to VA}
Sunday I am excited because I am heading to the shooting range with my friend Afton and co-worker Fred to shoot some guns. Not really sure how it will go and if I will enjoy it, but it is on my 30 before 30 list and it seems like an experience. honest moment: i am a little nervous. and yes. there will be a blog post.
Kyle J and I still have not started the home buying process. We have decided that we’re going the 1st weekend in November to get pre-approved and will start the hunt from there. But, leave it to me to find my legit real dream home. {The other one I posted... had an offer on it 2 days later. Y’all better not have stolen it}
Keep your fingers crossed on this one – it is a potential short sale, still not approved by the bank which means it could 100% work in our favor and timeline or 100% not work in our favor and timeline. But for real. I could live her and be happy about it.
But I think that was my week. Uneventful. Not bad. 100% manageable. Just the way I like them! :)
Have a very happy weekend and BEAT TENNESSEE – ROLL TIDE!! :)
i was walking down my blog memory lane earlier this week and discovered an oldie, but a goodie! Do you remember {three things Thursday} and how i did it every stinking week? Well. I am brining it back this week.
{one} In 7 days, I will be in sunny Florida with my mom and dad. And, I have nothing planned but to read and maybe run and lay by the pool. I do need to finish the AWFUL book I have been reading for what seems like months now, but i cannot seem to pick it up and just read. but i am someone who finishes EVERY book I start. I want a real, true beach read and I have a zillion on my bookshelf to read!
{two} Despite going to Nordstrom on Monday and using a Visa gift card to buy a new pair of black Tory Burch Revas {they were basically free/paid for by my company thanks to credit card points}, I also bought a pair of tan ones on Tuesday thanks to that amazing ShopBop sale. My obsession with all things Tory is a little out of control, but I do not care . And I spent all day yesterday telling kyle “shopbop.com. Tory Burch. 20% off. we are family. Christmas.” ...doubt he got the hint {fingers crossed he did}! Did any of y’all cash in on that Tory sale!?!
{three} i am currently in a torn state. I had planned on heading to Tuscaloosa for the Western Carolina game with my friend Afton and to stay with my friend heather. There is 50% of me that wants to go. it will be fun. a girls weekend. we all need one of those. and then 50% of me wants to stay in town/knows i need to stay in town and house hunt with the husband since our weekend looking time will be limited due to being in VA for Thanksgiving & Christmas. if you were in my shoes... what would you do?! Part of me says push it back till January. Find a house and THEN head to Tuscaloosa for a girls weekend. what would you do?!
1 more work day to the weekend. i think we can make it! And... for all my Tennessee friends – remember this?! Mt. Cody and the blocked field goal for the WIN! Cannot wait for this weekend’s game! Roll Tide!!
You’re going to love me and then hate me and then love me.
So you know those amazing Reva flats that just never ever ever go on sale. Well. They do today! :)
I am going to get you 20% OFF + 2.5% cash back.
{you can thank me later}
So not only are you saving 20% ... but you will get a check at the end of the quarter.
Plus you get free shipping and no tax {depending on your state}
shop.away.my.friends
And seriously, I do ALL my online shopping now through Ebates thanks to the cash back.
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Every year Kyle and I go to the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins, shoot corn from the air cannons, ride the hayride and get lost in the corn maze. And since yesterday was Alabama’s off weekend – we thought it would be the best weekend to go!
It took awhile to get there because Kyle took his sweet time getting ready {he got distracted by video games and then his book} but when we finally did we were OFF! We knew the corn maze started the day and we ended the day with pumpkins! But we got distracted by the corn air cannons and went there first. And... neither one of us hit the target {we blame the wind} so no one walked away with bragging rights this year!
We then ventured down to the corn maze. And we like this pumpkin patch – even though it is in the middle of nowhere - because of the corn mazes. We FLEW through the 3 corn mazes this year – mainly because I was complaining the whole time about being hot. I know. Me complain? Never. I got us lost a few times because I kept insisting we needed to find the front {duh} and didn't account for dead ends.
When we got out of the corn mazes we were supposed to hop on the hayride {there is order and structure to the pumpkin patch trip} but they were not happening because of the pig races. We didn’t get to see the pig races last year so we wanted to see what all the fuss was about. and i have to admit, it was so cute. 4 pigs racing around a track, jumping into a trough of water for a swim ... we definitely we not in Atlanta anymore. But it was cute and entertaining.
The green pig won 2 out of the 3 races. Once that fun was over we went to the hayride and it was full. So we decided to wait for the next ride. And then the next ride was going to be a “trial” ride {empty} to see if they discovered a better route. And knowing we would have to wait 30 more minutes, we decided to call it a day.
We picked out pumpkins because leaving and when I spotted my pumpkin it was such a mission to get it i lost a shoe. My eye catching pumpkins is a 16 pounder. Kyle’s weighs 29 pounds. And I broke my own rule of not getting a pumpkin you cannot carry. It started to get heavy as we were walking to the car. {totally forgot to get pumpkin holding pictures!}
But what I learned at the pumpkin patch is that my husband LOVES fair food. He wanted a hot dog and a hamburger and a bbq sandwich and fries and a funnel cake and kettle corn .. but i only let him have kettle corn, fries, a bbq sandwich and we split a funnel cake. We also realized that two 20-somethings are really out of place at a pumpkin patch without kids. oh well.
Remember that 30 before 30 post and how I mentioned that I wanted to find a charity that I believed in and mirrored something that I loved and then donate to them each month? Well. I made a decision this week.
I broke up with Birchbox after 5 disappointing months of horrible boxes and beauty products that didn’t meet my needs/wants/likes and decided to take that $10 per month and donate it to Lucky Dog Rescue. But, for me $10 didn’t feel like enough – that would be $120 a year – so I decided to donate $25 per month. Still. Not a lot. But it is something.
I knew I wanted to donate money to an animal rescue and I thought of different ones here in Atlanta but I kept coming back to Lucky Dog. Maybe I was partially swayed because Ashley is an Alabama alumni {ROLL TIDE}. But ultimately, there was something about the honesty in Ashley’s blog posts about her dogs. And how she tends to take the dogs that are in the worse shape and have the most horrific stories. And how she sacrifices so much for those dogs everyday. And how she gives dogs that would die in shelters because of their breeds second chances at life. And how she has suffered so much heartbreak while caring for dogs that deserve good, loving homes. There is just something that is so amazing about Ashley that shines through her writing.
I think Ashley says it best on her blog when she says:
“Lucky Dog Rescue focuses on the forgotten souls--dogs from death row, the abused, the sick, the special needs, and those with no other hope. .... Most of my rescues come from the worst situations imaginable, and they often have many medical issues that require expensive treatments. Any donation will help give them the futures they deserve.”
I know $25 is not a lot of money. It is only $300 per year. But I know to her, $300 equals food and heartworm and flea preventative and rabies shots and vet care. But, at the end of the day, I have fallen in love with so many of her little babies and their stories that I just had to help her out.
If you want to donate to Lucky Dog and Ashley’s AMAZING work with dogs you can do so HERE!!
