Currently

I have been seeing these "currently" post up on a lot of blogs and I really enjoy reading them. So I have decided to one too!

FEELING: Better today. I had a good laugh from a friend last night via text message. It was much needed. 

READING: Nothing right now, but I plan on starting the last book of the Fallen series by Lauren Kate today. 

LISTENING TO: It raining outside. Again. 

THANKFUL FOR: A husband that is good at fixing things.

THINKING ABOUT: Our next preview service and my to-do list to get ready. Also, homeschool planning for Finley for next year. I have a list up supplies I need to get, and more gets added every day. I am also thinking of how to set up her playroom to make it a good place to do school.

EATING: homemade and slightly healthy Chocolate chip banana muffins.

WATCHING: PowerPuff girls with Finley

LOVING: Finley being in the random compliments phase. All day "Mommy, I love you!" "mommy, I like your eyes." "Mommy, I like your shirt." It is pretty awesome!

LOOKING FORWARD TO: I am looking for to seeing some friends at a friends birthday party this weekend (adult style! no kids!). And a baby shower for one of Matthew's co-workers. I can't wait to meet some of the people he works with! 

lonely

If I had to be honest, today I am feeling very lonely. I haven't felt like this much since we've moved, usually it is just a fleeting moment of "oh man I miss (fill in the blank)...." But for some reason today it is weighing really heavy on me. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy the city, it is a lot of fun. But I don't really know anyone, and that is hard for me. I hate doing things on my own, but I am also a very shy person and I have a hard time putting myself out there. I feel like I sometimes have a hard time connecting to people and making new friends. 

I use to be a very busy active person. For years I worked a full time job. Then once I stopped working full time, I started working part time for our church. With the 2-3 days of work and then other activities we did, I still stayed really busy. Even when school was out and we were on break I still had stuff to do. I am use to having weekly play dates and a pool I could go to whenever I wanted. This was great for me and Finley for getting out of the house regularly. Right now I don't have any of that, and I miss it. When Heidi and I joined BSF, I was really excited. I thought this would be a good chance for me to meet other moms with kids the same age as Finley. But the group wasn't super welcoming. No one really talked, not to just me, but to each other. Every week while we waited for group to start we would all just sit there and look at each other. I tried to talk to a few of the ladies, and they would talk back for a bit. But once the small group was over, everyone went their own ways. No one really reached out and the group felt really awkward while I was there. So I never really made any connections with any of the ladies. 

So now I am trying to fix how I am feeling about my loneliness. I have contacted a few MOM groups in the area and I am waiting to hear back from them. We will see what happens. I hope one is a good fit for me and Finley.

sorry for being such a downer today....

Weekend Shenanigans

I did not make a High 5 for Friday post the other day, well because I wasn't home long enough on Friday.

We had a pretty busy day, that started first thing in the morning.

We had planned to go on a duck boat tour of Chattanooga with some friends on Thursday night, but it was raining in downtown when we got there. We never saw a drop at our house, but it was like a monsoon on the other side of the mountain. So we decided to go first thing Friday morning, without Matthew (somebody's gotta work, right?). 

We took 2 of the Hicks' neighbors kids and everyone had a really great time. Finley and Kylie did great for the first 40-ish minutes, then they started to get restless. Any of the kids that wanted to drive the boat could. Finley and Kylie got a chance and Finley grabbed the wheel and started to spin. The boat started to go in circles and everyone aboard was like "uuuhhhhh.... stop please!"

After the boat ride, Heidi and I headed out to meet up with a new friend for lunch.

After lunch, we headed home to get stuff ready to go camping. Shortly after I started my drive home, my car started to act funny. I really didn't know the area I was in and I was just praying that my car would make it home. When I called Matthew to tell him what was happening he told me to just get it home, if it didn't make it let him know. It is never a good sign when Matthew says to try and just get it home. I was freaking out, especially since I had to go over the mountain and it got worse when I had to accelerate. Luckily I made it home and Matthew arrived shortly after me. He was able to figure out what was wrong and fix it. Because he is awesome!!

Earlier in the week we got a call from a friend. He was bringing his boy scout troop up to Cloudland Canyon for a camping trip. He had made reservation for Friday through Sunday, but wasn't able to make it up until Saturday. So he asked us to hold his spot. 

I am not much for camping. This was my 3rd time ever camping, and I hate being hot and sticky. So I wasn't SUPER excited about going. We had a good time though. Finley loved playing with the tent and running around. Since we had been so busy that day, she didn't get her nap. She fell asleep on me around 10 pm and it was awesome. I soaked up every minute of it. None of us slept well that night. It wasn't too hot, but it was humid. There was a layer of sweat on my skin and as the temp dropped over night I got cold, but in a weird I am still sweating kind of way. I was  a rough nights sleep. No one slept well and we had to be up and out early so Matthew could meet a friend to go paddling. 

Saturday was filled with Hart of Dixie and Gossip Girl marathons while Matthew was gone for the day and Finley took and extra long nap.

Sunday was church and late afternoon naps for everyone.

Even with the busy Friday starting our weekend, the rest of it was filled with nothing and rest and it was much needed!

Happy Monday yall!

Weekend Recap

Well here I am, 9:00 on a Monday night and Matthew and Finley are already in bed!

We had a great weekend celebrating dads.

Matt's mom and step-dad came down for the weekend. It was good to get to spend some time with them.

"Let's go to a swimming hole!" Matthew said.

"It will be fun!" he said.

"It will be a bit of a walk." he said.

"We will have to cross a creek." he said.

So we packed up our stuff, slipped on some flip-flops and headed out. A MILE and a RIVER crossing later we finally reached the swimming hole. The water was cold, but it felt great.

Finley loved "skipping" rocks and hated swimming.

There was a huge rock everyone was jumping off of. As soon as I saw it, I told Matthew that I was not jumping off of it. He could forget it. About half and hour later I was kicking off my flip flops, handing my Coach sunglasses and wedding bands to a friend. I threatened his life if he lost them and walked to edge. Matthew counted to 3 and we closed our eyes and jumped together. I hit my butt on the bottom, got some water up my nose, and came up screaming. But I had a smile on my face and said "That was fun!"

Isn't that kind of what like is like. You don't want to and you fight it. Finally, you walk to edge, count to 3, and jump. You might hit your butt, get water up your nose and come up screaming. But you have a smile on your face and say "man! that is fun!"

Sunday after Matthew's parents left we headed out to the farmer's market. It was Blue-Grass and Brews, 2 of Daddy's favorite things!

I also made him a mustache cake. Which, by the way, is starting to make a come back. Unfortunately.

Sunday evening was spent with some good friends at a cookout. It was a great weekend!

High 5 for Friday

1. Spending time outside.

2. Fresh flowers for a new friend.

3. Nap in the car on the way home from Newnan.

4. French Macarons

5. Head wraps and big sunglasses.

Fashion

OK, I want to start this off by saying that I am NOT a fashion blogger. I love fashion blogs and enjoy looking at and reading them. There are some really fun things out there that make me want to try new things with my clothes. I also don't feel like I am a very fashionable person, nor do I buy things often enough to warrant blogging about it on a regular basis.

But........... there are a few fashion trends going on right now that I just DO NOT understand.

1.) The high waisted pants/shorts.

Really did we not learn our lessons from the "mom jean"? 

I get it.... they look retro and retro is cool. 

There are some items that look good high waisted. Like a wide leg trouser or a pencil skirt. If they are done right. But the pants with the tapered leg and the wide hips??? Really??? This is cool?? You are just making yourself look like you have bigger hips then you actually do.

Maybe that is why I don't like them. I already have big enough hips. I don't need my pants or shorts making them look bigger.

This takes me to the next item.

2.) The MC Hammer pants.

via

Again... really? Again.... Did we not learn our lesson?

I guess not... because these are what's cool...

via

They are just not cute. Why would you want to walk around looking like your crotch is down around your knees? This can't be comfy to walk in. I just imagine there is a lot of swooshing going on. They also don't help the hip situation.

3.) Prints.

There are some pretty crazy prints going on. Most of them aren't horrible and truthfully I don't hate the floral thing going on. Some of it is really fun and cute. But then every now and then I come across an item that looks like it use to be on someone's grandmother's sofa. Or that you raided your grandmother's closet. The pattern looks old, therefore makes you look old. Just sayin'.....

That is all I have for now.... Happy Tuesday!

Highs and Lows

This past week has been full of some great highs and some hard lows.

Highs:

* We spent a sunny day at a local public pool.

When I think of a public pool, I am not super thrilled about going to it. I always think they are going to be packed and nasty. But Heidi found a really great one close to us. They had a splash pad for the kids to run through. Then there were 2 smaller kiddie pools and a larger pool that had inflatables in it. 

* Heidi and I planed and pulled off a surprise visit to Newnan for a wonderful friend. 

We missed her baby shower last weekend because we had our preview service. So we made plans to head to Newnan and pick her up for a girls night. Everything went great! She was totally surprised! We posted a picture of Heidi and I right outside of where she was on facebook saying we were going out for a ladies night and tagged her in it. We timed it just right that she saw the picture and actually posted on it and then we walked through the door. The look of surprise on her face was priceless. She would look at her phone and then look at us and said "You're here!" Her husband was a great help in making sure she had everything she needed to go out without her knowing.

* I went shopping at Aldi for the first time.

I have heard mixed reviews about Aldi and wasn't sure I really wanted to try shopping there. I like the brands I like and I'm not really willing to try other brands. This makes for hard grocery shopping when you are on a tighter then normal budget. Heidi was telling me what great deals she was getting at Aldi and their food was just as good a the name brands. And I have to say, I am pretty impressed with them. They have good prices (I spent $76 and got all of our food groceries - no paper, or self care, or pull-up products) and everything has had a great taste and quality to it. 

* Lunch with a friend and her girls at CFA!

While in Newnan I met up with a girlfriend and her 3 girls and we had lunch and then went to do some shopping. It was so good to see them! The girls had a great time running and playing together. We ate at Chik-fil-a!! We have CFA's up here in Chattanooga but there isn't one close, so we don't eat there as often as we use to. So anytime we are close to one, we always stop. I miss CFA! 

* Season 3 of Pretty Little Liars was released on Netflix.

EEEEEEEEEEK! I was so excited to see they finally released season 3! Season 4 starts tomorrow, although I will catch in on Hulu on Wednesday. And I wasn't sure if I was going to be fully caught up on the seasons before the next premier. I now have 2 days to get through 14 more episodes (there are 24 in season 3!)!

Now I just need season 4 of the Vampire Diaries to come to Netflix before the next season starts.

Lows

* Fits at the swimming pool.

So I mentioned we went to the public pool and it was fun, right? Except for the first hour we were there. Finley pitched a fit and didn't want anything to do with the water. Finally she warmed up to it and started to have a good time, but it took a while and I was ready to leave when she finally started to play.

* The humidity in Newnan was awful.

I miss Newnan so much sometimes and being down there it seemed like we had never left. Driving the roads came back to me instantly and getting to go to some of our old stores and shop felt good. But the humidity was horrible. All the time spent on curling my hair that morning was wasted. It frizzed out the minuted I stepped out of the car. I do not miss that part of being in south Georgia.

* A great man from our home church went to be with God this week.

He has been fighting cancer for the last year, and his fight is finally over. He is cancer free and home. I think a persons true testimony comes at their funeral when someone else is telling your story. Stanton had an amazing testimony and it was amazing to get to celebrate his life this weekend. So our surprise trip to Newnan for a girlfriend was timed perfectly to be able to attend Stanton's funeral. 

This was the first funeral I have attended since Matt's brothers memorial almost 7 years ago.

After going over our week there were definitely more highs then lows, which is always a good way to end a week. But the main low we had is always that worst kind and the hardest. The Johnston family has been in our thoughts and prayers for a long time and they will continue to be. This is a hard time, and no one can say anything that will make the pain stop, although we wish we could. All I can say is that I am praying for y'all, always. It doesn't ever go away, there wont be a day that you don't think about him. But it will get easier, and one day you will find yourself laughing about all the great memories you had with Stanton and your tears will be of joy. I hope that day come soon for your family. He will truly be missed.