A Weekend Wrap Up Except it's Not About the Weekend per Say

I asked Nate a minute go, "Nate, should I blog?" and he said, "If you want to," so then I was like, "What should I blog about?" and he goes, "my sh***ing habits." So then I was like, "What if I actually blogged about your sh***ing habits, would you care?" and he laughed a funny laugh and said no. I'll spare you though, so don't worry. I won't blog about Nate's sh***ing habits.

Truth is, I have nothing really to blog about. This weekend was pretty low key and relaxing; the kind where I didn't put makeup on even once - which is a good kind of weekend I think. But in an effort to start blogging more habitually I felt like maybe I should come up with something anyway - hence the asking-Nate-for-blogging-advice intro paragraph. I should know though not to ask him for blogging advice. Like, I don't even know why I did that actually. So the rest of this is just gonna be like a, "whatever comes to mind first" sort of post. Apologies in advance.

I will say though, I did get something accomplished this weekend. I woke up early on Saturday and......went running. I know, queue gasps and horrified facial expressions. I'm trying (once again) to get into this running thing. I hate it and it makes me uncomfortable, and I have really bad knees but the reality is, it's cheaper than a gym membership or to outright purchase a cardio machine of sorts, so running (or slogging more like) it is. I started using the Couch to 5K app and so far so good. I've only finished the first week though, so ask me again in like, two weeks and see if I haven't given up yet. I got out to the canal behind my house Saturday morning and it was brimming with people walking their dogs, running, and riding bikes. I'm like, "So this is what the people look like who don't sleep in until 11am on a Saturday."

Saturday afternoon ASU played (and won) their last home football of the season and upon its conclusion, so begins Hate Week...

Arizona State and Arizona play their rivalry Territorial Cup game on Friday. Truth is, I don't really hate anyone and I really don't get into all the shit talking cause quite frankly, I'm a terrible shit talker. If you hurl an insult at me the worst you'll get back is probably like a, "Yeah well...yeah well.......I mean,...." and so on and so forth. I have a lot of friends that went to UofA and I appreciate that the shit talking gets kept to a minimum. Outloud anyway. I mean, I talk shit in my head all the time, I just don't verbalize it (insert winky face emoji).

You know what I accidently did the other day? I broke my own Instagram rule and I accidently posted two alcohol photos back to back. I try not to do that because I feel like it's a bad look. But when you're enjoying $4 frozen sangrias one weekend and then the next day you're at happy hour with your girlfriends, you can't really not Instagram it right??

Patios and fireplaces and red wine are a few of my favorite things for winter in Arizona.

Here's an awkward picture of Gunther and I.

Here's a picture of Gunther and I snuggling.

And here's a picture of Maycee pretending like she wants to snuggle but really she's just begging for breakfast and Gunther's in the background all jealous cause Maycee's getting more attention than he is.

And so concludes the dog portion of this blog post.

You know what - I love being an adult. Like, I love being done with school, having a good paying job and on the right career path, having fur-children and a husband and blah blah blah. And for as much as I feel like I'm an adult, when my mom tells me I have to bring a dish to Thanksgiving dinner in my head I'm like, what the hell do you think I am??? An adult??? Like in my head I'm still a child and Thanksgiving is something I participate in, not something I contribute to via bringing a dish of sorts. I'm like no, I don't do Thanksgiving. I just eat it. Please don't make me cook. I tried to reply to the family email with a joke and then the next time I saw my mom she's like, "Ok but what are you bringing?" and I tried to brush it off and make another joke, and then the next time I saw her she asked me again, "SO WHAT ARE YOU BRINGING TO THANKSGIVING?" ...I'm beginning to think she's serious. Ugh, adulthood sucks.

Anyway, that's probably a long enough blog post full of things that aren't important so I'll stop there. Normally I would conclude this post with some sort of complaint that tomorrow's Monday but hey, we only have to work for three days this week so yay! That is indeed something to be thankful for. Hooray Thanksgiving!  

I Can't Stay on Top of Blogging Anymore so Here's What's Been Happening Lately

I was paying bills this morning and I got to the bills that were due on 11/17 and in my head I was like, "OK good I still have time before those need to get paid"...and then I looked at the calendar and realized today is the 16th. But seriously, WHERE did November go?? I was just on here catching up on all my October stuff and now all of a sudden we're in the latter half of November. I feel like I'm sucking at life lately and it's just flying right by me. So bear with me while I go through yet another "here's what I've been up to lately" post.

Halloween came and went and my dogs were as cute as ever in their Halloween costumes:

You can't really tell but Gunther is a lion and Maycee is a zebra. I'm kidding you can totally tell Gunther is a lion right?? Like, was he not BORN for that costume?? And was he not born to stand atop of Pride Rock and rule over the kingdom with Zazoo at his right hand and Rafiki as his wise and noble counsellor, as he watches all the animals perform a rousing rendition of I Just Can't Wait to be King??? I think so. I think he was born for that. Although Maycee probably wouldn't let that happen cause she's the alpha B in these parts and I'm sure she wouldn't let anyone rule over her, let alone Gunther.

Anyway, you know who is ruling my headphones/CD player/iTunes these days?? None other than Ms. T-Swift herself cause her new album dropped and it's the most fantastic thing I've laid my ears on in a long time...figuratively, that is; I mean I can't physically lay my ears on anything seeing as how they're attached to my head in such a way.

I just feel like all you T-Swift haters need to just give in and admit she's good, cause this album is just so dang good and there's no other way around it. So good in fact, that I use the word "good" twice in one sentence. That good, OK?? One of my best friends Kayla and I waited all day and met up after work to go buy the CD together at Target (cause why download from iTunes when you can get bonus tracks and polaroid pictures when you purchase the hard copy??). We then proceeded to get dinner at Chick-fil-A, took it to-go, and ate it in my parked car so we could listen to the whole CD all the way through.

Cause that's just what you do when Taylor releases a new album. On top of that, Kayla and I scored our tickets to Ms. Swift's 1989 world tour coming to AZ next summer!! Countdown to August 2015 has begun!!

Ok, moving on from T-Swift madness...

If you live in AZ in the east valley - have you been to The Perch?? If not, drop what you're doing right now and go. Well maybe not now per say, I dunno what their Sunday hours are; but go tomorrow for happy hour or something, cause this is my new favorite spot and I just know you're gonna love it as much as me.

It's all outdoors and has a rooftop lounge-ish area (which is perfect for the AZ weather this time of year) and they specialize in craft beers and food. They atmosphere is just fantastic and they have live birds that they've rescued in cages around the dining area. It sounds maybe a little weird but trust me, it's not. Now go.

One of the reasons I didn't have a chance to blog last week (or the week before) is because work has been so cuh-ray-zee busy. We just finished up (for the most part) our annual audit and it's been so stressful. Like, work 12 days in a row with a crap-ton of overtime hours kind of stressful. So Friday when I finally got off work and put these last couple weeks behind me, I celebrated with wine and mac and cheese. Cause I deserve a whole box of mac and cheese to myself and a bottle of red wine for all that overtime right??

I thought so too.

You know what else I deserve?? And everyone for that matter? Everyone deserves a huge bowl of fro-yo that you overpaid for because you put so many dang toppings on it. That's what Brianna and I did last weekend. And it was definitely worth both the calories and the cost.

Fit fam y'all!!

You know what else is worth the cost? Frozen sangria swirly alcoholic drinks in huge glasses.

I went out to lunch with my mom and my sister this weekend and my sister was like, "Are you guys getting a drink?" and I was like "No probably not; I had wine last night and I haven't had breakfast yet (cause you know, I slept until 11am)." But then my sister and my mom proceeded to order drinks and so I couldn't be left out right?? We ended up a little loopy at 1 in the afternoon - which means it was a successful Saturday.

So other than that, that's what's been going on around these parts. Nothing terribly exciting (except for the Taylor Swift tickets; that is terribly exciting). Hopefully the last half of November will include more blog posts than the first half. Hopefully.

Happy Monday friends!

My Soldier

How many times are you allowed to recycle a blog post? There's probably an unwritten blog rule somewhere that says like, "never"...or something. But whatever. I recycled this post last year and I'm recycling it again because it's my favorite post I've ever written. So I'm posting it again. Cause I love it so much. And I love my husband so much. 

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Today we celebrate Veteran's Day. My husband is a veteran: Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom from 2007-08.

A while ago I went to an Eric Church concert. I know you're probably thinking "and these two go together, how??" but stay with me...

At the Eric Church concert he sang his song "These Boots," and if you haven't heard it...Google it.

But he sings about his pair of boots and all the places they've been, and what they've seen over the years, and it got me to thinking about my husband's boots. His Army boots. And all the places they've been and things they've seen.

Those boots were laced up every morning for over a year, to run missions all day that lasted well into the night, often times through the night. 

They carried an extra 100+ pounds of gear, and withstood the heat of the Iraqi summers.

Those boots have been dusted with the sands of Tikrit and the dirt of Mosul. They've walked along the gravel near the Tigress River. And they sat crammed next to bunch of other boots on a C-130 for hours to get there.

Those boots stood next to both Iraqi forces, and young locals; all in the name of a better Iraq.

Those boots spent Thanksgiving and Christmas, and rang in the new year overseas.

Those boots were there, on the floor of Saddam Hussein's mother's palace, when Nate was planning our engagement.

  

Those boots have seen a lot, heard a lot; most of which, I'll never know. But those boots came home on the feet of my husband...alive and in one piece.

These days, those boots spend their time in the mountains of Arizona, chasing deer and elk, and anything else that has four legs. But they come back home at the end of each day. Just as they should.

Thank you to all those who have served, and are currently serving our Country over seas.

"Honor the fallen, thank the living"