Currently

Watching:

The Walking Dead! We are obsessed! We finally caught up with the current season. We DVR'd the current season when it started and we've gotten through the first two episodes. It's cuh-razy, people! I also recently watched This Means War (super cute & now I LOVE Tom Hardy!) and The Amazing Spiderman (good but nothing to get super thrilled about.).

Listening to:

Ellie Goulding's Halcyon OVER AND OVER AND OVER! No joke. I have listened to it daily for weeks and I'm still not tired of it. My hubby bought me the album on Amazon (because my car still uses CD's.) and I'm supposed to get it tomorrow and I'm going to play it like crazy in my car!

Planning:

.....for the Holidays. Getting everything in order for our trips. One this month and one next month. Now that I'm working and Gianna is in school we have to plan these things a little more than we used to. We can't just decide to up and go.

Thinking about:

....a lot of things. Trying to figure out life and where we are going and planning for the future, etc. We just bought a condo and I'm thinking about all the painting and decorating that I hope I can do next year. Trying to decide what steps we need to take next for our life ahead. I'm always scared that we might make the wrong decision - what if we don't do something and we regret it later on or what if we do something and then it messes things up......I'm always scared to take the next step.

Looking forward to:

Going out with my sister and some girls she knows on Friday - we are going out to dinner and to see Breaking Dawn Pt. 2!!! I'm looking forward to it so much - just getting out with some other girls and doing something fun and relaxing! And then next week we are headed to Bama for Thanksgiving with my family. It's been years since we've been with my family for T-day and I'm beyond excited!!!!

And then in December we are headed to TN for our annual family Christmas trip - so lots of exciting things to look forward to before the New Year!

Oh, and I did I mention we are getting iPhone upgrades this week too?! We've had the 3GS for two years now and we are going up to the 4. I know, it's not the newest BUT the 4 is way better than the 3GS so I'm super stoked!

Reading:

Currently reading Dreamcatcher by Stephen King. It's a huge book and really weird. Lol! We watched the movie years ago but I don't remember it being anything like this book has been so far.

Making me happy:

Off days from work, hot chocolate, lazy days with my kiddo, watching shows with my husband, going out with friends, seeing family, the thought of the holidays, chocolate croissants, maybe getting new ink soon, and dreaming of what our family could be one day!

Thank God for Craigslist.

So we decided we really had to part ways with Gaspar. As much as it really broke my heart I knew it was for the best.

Let me tell you this first, I have a very special place in my heart for animals. My husband thinks it's funny that I can watch a human be hurt or killed on TV or in a movie and I'm ok but if someone kicks a dog or grabs a cat the wrong way I'm done! I just feel like 1. animals have feelings they just can't express them like we can and 2. they are mostly helpless to truly defend themselves. So when I feel an animal feels neglected or not wanted it just kills me! And the thought that Gaspar would feel that way had me bawling Thursday as I was trying to find him somewhere to go.

They have no-kill shelter's around here but of course all of them were full to capacity. The only place that could take him was a shelter that did. I was so upset. In a last ditch effort Thursday afternoon I thought I'd put him up on craigslist again (that's where I got him from). Put up lots of pictures and listed all his pro's and con's (I didn't want to hide anything. I wanted someone to take him knowing his good and bad sides!). I figured I wouldn't hear anything before the next day when we planned to take him to the shelter. But at 11pm, while we were laying on the bed watching The Walking Dead, I get a text asking me if I still had the cat and that they'd love to give him a home. They didn't have other pets or any young children which I thought would be a better situation for him.

After talking for a few minutes I found out it was young collage guy who lives in a big house with a couple of other guys. They all wanted a cat but not a kitten. He was really excited about getting Gaspar! And he said he could take him the next day....

Luckily, he lives right down the road from us and we agreed to meet up at the Wal-Mart. Gaspar FLIPPED out on the ride. Screaming (for lack of a better term) and drooling buckets everywhere. It was THE longest 8 minute ride of my life. I warned the guy ahead of time that Gaspar would probably be really upset and probably wouldn't be very nice for the first few days. He said it was no problem, he understood. I text him a few hours after just to see how it was going and he said everything was fine, Gaspar seemed like "a nice guy" and was exploring the house. I really hope it works out and I felt SO relieved to send him to a home. He promised he would be well taken care of and even "spoiled a bit!"

The funny thing was I had another call about Gaspar Friday morning from a lady wanting him! But yeah, I'm SO glad I had a random thought to put him back up on Craigslist or he'd be sitting in a shelter and I'd be torn up so bad. I was a little sad after we dropped him off. My husband didn't understand why, he was relieved to have him gone, but I cried when I had to get rid of my crazy cat and she drove even me nuts. I just hate thinking that pet feels unwanted by me. The same way I'd feel if I knew a young child was unwanted by their parent. Same feeling.

So anyway. We haven't sworn off a second pet. We just know we are going to have to get a kitten we can train and one we can hand pick, making sure we get a laid back, docile, lap cat. Gianna wants a pet she can carrying around, at least for a bit, and play with. And I want her to have special memories with a pet that she helps pick out so to speak. I remember my dad taking me when I was about Gi's age to pick out a kitten of my very own - a little orange and white female I named Wendy after the character in Peter Pan because it was my favorite movie at the time. I loved her and she had a billion kittens over her lifetime with us but that was such a special memory for me. I get my love of pets from my daddy!

I still miss Gaspar a little. I expect him to come running every time I open doors or closets, or to be laying on Gi's bed staring at me when I walk in.....but I'm happy he had a home to go to! Thank God for Craigslist!

When you can't grant requests....

There is nothing I love more than granting my daughter's requests. It makes me so happy to see her happy. Obviously sometimes I have to say no. And I know even as a child myself I thought my parents got a kick out of telling me no. But now that I'm parent myself I realize that sometimes the frustration behind the 'no' isn't because they didn't want me to ask or did love doing or buying things for me but because they were frustrated they couldn't grant my request. Whether it be money, time, etc. sometimes it has to be a no. And I hate that. I wish I could always says yes and hand over whatever my little girl's heart desires. But it's just not possible.

Today, as I was parking the car at Wal-Mart, Gianna pipes up from the back and says,

"I want a brother or sister!"

Out of no where.

She went through this about a year ago too. She kept asking for a brother or sister. Her cousin Ava, who is her age, has a little brother and at the time Gianna had been around them a bit and I think she really wanted to be a big sister too. Like Ava.

For those of you who don't know my tubes are tied. We can't biologically have any more children. At the time that Gianna was born we were really young, barely making it and the thought of "accidentally" getting pregnant and having another child was terrifying. I had two surgeries back to back, a month apart. I was an emotional wreck and being on birth control pills was making it 100% worse.

In the county we lived in, if you were over the age of 20 and already had one child you qualified for a free tubal ligation. It seemed like the perfect idea at the time. No more BC pills, no more worrying about accidentally getting pregnant. We have one kid and we were done!

It never crossed my mind that maybe one day my little girl would grow up and want a sibling. And now, now I can't give her one. I never thought I'd regret my decision to tie my tubes but I do now. Do I want to be pregnant? Not really, but I know it's worth it in the end. I feel like my husband and I are at such a better place in life and would be able to handle another baby so well. Not that we didn't enjoy Gianna as a baby but I feel like I'd enjoy another one so much more. I wouldn't be as "green" about motherhood as I was the first time around. And to see my daughter with a sweet sibling to love would probably make my heart burst with love and happiness!

People tell me, "You can have the tubal reversed" but no insurance (even if we had it.) would cover it because it's not a necessary surgery. So it would cost anywhere from $8,000-12,000 to have it reversed. So that's not really an option!

About two years ago, even before Gianna started asking for a sibling, I really felt like God placed adoption on my heart. Let me say this, in all honesty, I don't dream big. I guess I just don't have the faith yet to see far beyond where I am now. Adoption seems completely and utterly out of the question. At the time I talked to my husband about it and he said that maybe at the right time that would be something to consider. 

That was two years ago and I guess I honestly don't know when the right time will be. To me there will always be reasons not to and the money it takes to adopt?! Wow. But I guess I also have seen, over and over, people pull together to raise money for adoptions so I know it can be done!

I dream of starting the process, of being approved, of meeting that sweet baby for the first time but most of all of seeing my little girl as a big sister!!

It's an overwhelming idea but one that two years later is still growing strong in my heart.

And sometimes, like today, Gianna says something that makes me realize that idea isn't as crazy as it may seem. Adoptions happen all the time, people make it happen. When you want something enough you make it happen, right?! Hopefully it'll happen. 

Gianna's 5 1/2 now, to me she's the perfect age to be a big sister. She's past all the potty training, she sleeps without issues, she's becoming more and more independent around the house and taking her out places isn't a problem. And I know more than anything she'd be a sweet and loving big sister!

So who knows, maybe one day I'll be able to grant even that big request. And nothing would make me happier!

Second Pet Curse

This is Gaspar. We got him about a month ago. And this is probably the one and only time you'll hear anything about him. We got him off Craigslist. A family was trying to get rid of him because their daughter's asthma was linked to him and they wanted a good home for him. I wanted another cat. He was fixed and declawed and it sounded like a good fit. I wanted a cat my daughter could interact more with since Gandalf is so old and out of it. I originally wanted a kitten but I knew getting it's shots, getting it fixed, keeping it from clawing the furniture, etc. was going to be a challenge so I opted for a cat out of the kitten stage.

He was NOT happy when he arrived and spent the first few days hissing and slapping at us if we got near him. And flipping his lid if Gandalf got close to him. Right away my husband didn't like him but I figured he'd be fine after awhile. It's been a month now and he's "settled" in now. He'll let us pet him and stuff but he doesn't like to cuddle or even get in your lap much (he's climbed in mine twice for a minute or two). Even though he's short haired he sheds like crazy. He sleeps on my daughter's bed a lot and her covers are covered in fur all the time. Gandalf is messy with his food and Gaspar is messy with the litter. He constantly climbs on the counter tops and table which is a BIG no no but his previous owners allowed him to climb on theirs for four years so I don't even know if we can break that habit. He also bites occasionally, never drawn blood but he left four teeth marks on me before. 

For me, I grew up with TONS of pets. We constantly had dogs and cats around and I'm used to the crap that comes a long with them. It's much harder for my OCD hubby to deal with. So needless to say it's been stressful the month he's been here. My daughter has suddenly decided she doesn't want him in her room anymore which leaves very little space for him to roam and be in. 

So needless to say we're giving him back. I hate it and I feel awful but ultimately I guess it's the right decision. And I know I'll get over it at some point.

But we seem to have what I called the Second Pet Curse. 

Gaspar is the fourth "second pet" we've tried to have since we got Gandalf shortly after we got married. The first was a cat I adopted from our local vet. She seemed really sweet, I named her Esme' and brought her home. She was bat crazy. She tore up stuff around the house, would bite at you when you tried to touch her, etc. After several months I knew it wasn't going to work out so I had to get rid of her. 

Then we got Gypsy. He was a kitten from my mother in law's cattery and I LOVED him. He was beautiful and the perfect lap cat. He'd snuggle with you all day and had the sweetest personality. After only a month or so we lost him in an accident with the dryer. (That was almost two years ago and I still get choked up and I'm still nervous when I start the dryer every day.)

A few months later my mother in law talked me into another kitten. A little female named Gemima. She wasn't nearly as loving as Gypsy and kept to herself a lot. But she was perpetually sick and constantly got crap everywhere. Literally. In the end I was able to place her in another home because it was just too much.

And now.....many months later I wanted another cat. Again. Gave it a try and well, here we are.

I think I'm done with pets. I guess I figured since Gianna is an only child having pets around would be fun for her and important. But obviously it's just not meant to be. So after this I seriously doubt we'll ever get another cat. At least not at my suggestion.

So that's that. Within a week or so I think his previous owners are going to come get him and hopefully they'll be able to find a good home for him.

*sigh*

Tat Talk

Did a video about my tattoos and why I got them.....I've done similar blog posts but sometimes it's hard to type it all out so I talk about it and show them to you!

The hubby & I vlogged!

So yesterday, while the kiddo was still at school, the hubby and I sat down and did a marriage tag vlog. We got this from my friend Mallory and her husband. She has an awesome YouTube channel where she does tutorials on hair and makeup....she's flawless so check it out! She also has a blog she just started, so go show her some love!

So anyway, the video is a little long but it's funny and gets better as we go so take a few minutes to watch it! And let me know if you and your hubby decide to do one - leave me a link! I love watching these kinda things.

I think that I may start vlogging more - since I'm kinda over the whole blogging thing. But I'll leave links here. I've got a video about my tattoos coming up soon and also a tour a our new house! So stay tuned!

25 Things....

(Stole this idea from Jess over at irocksowhat!)

1. I haven't bought new clothes in almost 2 years. I think the last clothing I bought was a pair of khakis and a blue shirt for work. It just always seems there are more important things to take care of first.

2. For the first time in my life I am living away from family completely. I've always had some family within 30 minutes of me. Now the closest is an hour away but we don't really talk. The rest live in AL - about 6 hours away.

3. I don't really enjoy watching movies at home, I get bored. I'd rather flip channels and watch various shows on TV. But I LOVE going to the movies - I'd go every weekend if I could.

4. I've never felt like I truly fit in with any "group" of people. I always feel out of place with almost everyone. I'm not really nerdy, not preppy, not hipster, not artsy....

5. Originally Gianna was going to be Eisley Tatum. Even though I like her name I kinda wish I had stuck with Eisley especially since I love the band Eisley and the girls in it now!

6. My husband says I have really taste when it comes to picking out men (lol!) - I like them tall and thin! The opposite of myself! Lol!

7. At 26 I feel like I know what I'd like to do in life but it would require me to go back to college and I just don't know that I want to....I guess I'm lazy. Or lame. Or both.

8. I don't really love to cook but around the holidays I get this urge to bake. But because I can't say no to eating them all I usually avoid baking anything. Cakes are my favorite to bake.

9. I'm slightly addicted to Instagram. It's my favorite thing ever. I'd give up Facebook and Twitter (if I absolutely had to!) to keep Instagram! (follow me at @alaythea)

10. I am HORRIBLE at home decorating. I see all these great ideas and have a vision of what I want but when it comes to executing it I'm all thumbs.

11. I could eat Taco Bell everyday. I don't think I would get tired of it. I love it.

12. I'm "allergic" to pork but I still eat bacon because I mean, it's worth getting sick to eat bacon, right?!!

13. Chocolate & peanut butter and Chocolate & Mint has to be two of my favorite flavor combo's ever!

14. The smell of oranges and cinnamon makes me happy and makes me feel like it's the holidays.

15. I LOVE Salt & Vinegar Kettle chips. I can literally eat them until I get sores in my mouth from the vinegar! lol!

16. I have this thing about "modern" vampires. Ya know, the more romantic vampires like Twilight and The Vampire Diaries. The romance, the "danger", the adventure, the secrets, etc. It's all so exciting!

17. I think well done tattoos are SO gorgeous. If it weren't for money I would be really inked up by now. Fit women with beautiful tattoos intrigue me like nothing else & hot guys with tattoos? To die for.

18. I blogged religiously for years, almost daily. Suddenly I just hated it. So now I randomly post whenever the urge hits. 

19. If I could move out of the country to anywhere I'd go to Greece. I think it's unbelievably stunning and I love the laid back feel those little Greek towns have.

20. I would be completely and utterly starstruck around Brandon Flowers, the lead singer of The Killers. After my husband I seriously think he is the most gorgeous man alive. Perfection. AND he can sing. It doesn't get much better! :-)

21. I have this dream of vacationing at the beach in a tiny little seaside cottage. A little run down but quaint.

22. I have tiny feet, my dad has always joked that he doesn't know how they hold me up! I can wear kids sizes in a lot of brands. It's saved me money over the years because the kids sizes are usually cheaper.

23. I absolutely HATE feeling like I'm "in trouble" or I've done something wrong. Hate it. When I get corrected at work or anywhere it just makes me feel so awful and I think about it constantly until I'm able to "fix it" or do it right.

24. I'm the oldest of 5 kids, I'm not super close to any of my siblings really. But I do enjoy getting to hang out with them around the holidays.

25. I've never played sports of any kind, I'm just not coordinated enough. I duck when someone throws a ball my direction! 

Share 25 things about yourself and come back and leave me a link in 

the comment section! I'd love to read about you!

Currently....

Watching: The hubby and I have been slowly working our way through the show Jericho on Netflix. It takes awhile because I work 4 out of 7 evenings each week which means I'm not home until after 11pm. But usually Thurs and Fri night we try to watch an episode or two. I'm so bummed that season 2 got cancelled so I'm afraid season 1 is just going to leave us hanging. :-/  On my own I'm watching The Vampire Diaries though. I started watching the first season on TV, finished it on Netflix then kinda forgot about it but a week or so again I saw a commercial for the new season and thought I'd get back into it so I'm working through season 2 now. Not really watching anything "current" on TV. Too much work to try and keep up with a show weekly. Even with our DVR it doesn't really help. We've got half a dozen Restaurant Impossible episodes saved and have yet to watch them!

Listening To: No new albums or anything really. I kinda get hooked on a particular song more than a full album. I'm back on a Coldplay kick so I've been listening back through some of their stuff recently. And I'm also totally hooked on a few songs by the artist Birdy. She's mesmerizing! Just A Game and Skinny Love are both beautiful songs. Also check out Natalia Jayden. I heard about her after my husband showed me her cover of Justin Bieber's As Long As You Love Me. Now I'm in love with her first single Run For The Door! Go check it out and shake ya booty a little!

Thinking About: Honestly, I have SO much on my mind right now. In fact, my husband has mentioned I've been a little quiet and moody lately. I don't mean to be but when I have a lot I'm trying to sort through in my mind I just get that way. Sometimes I feel like I'm mentally arguing with myself a bit. No, don't get worried, I'm not hearing voices or anything! But I do feel like my inner self is reasoning and working and doing it's best to figure out everything. Sorting through what is emotional fads and what are legit things I should pursue.....then figuring out how to pursue them, etc. I'm 26 and I'm still trying to figure out what I want to be when I "grow up"! I think I have it narrowed down to two things (lol!) but how do I go about becoming these things?! That's the scary part. I have a hard time balancing things - how do I balance working my current job, taking care of my child, spending time with my husband, supporting his dreams and pursuits, and also pursuing my own. I guess because of that I tend to just push mine to the back and support his because if I can't mentally figure out how to do both I'd rather give up mine so he can have his. So yeah, SO much on my mind right now. Things I want to make happen but don't know how, things I'm afraid may never happen and things, things, things! Lol!

Trying To Figure Out: Well, I think I kinda covered this one in the paragraph above! Lol! But overall, this is what I'm trying to figure out....
1. What I want as a career...and how to go about making that happen.
2. The next step for us a family....
3. How to help my husband pursue the career he dreams of.
4. How to raise a well rounded daughter.

Looking Forward To: The holidays! I know that sounds kinda cliche' but I am! The festiveness, the fun, spending time with family. I do miss my family and it'll be fun to enjoy some time with them around the holidays. I'm also looking forward to a few days off around Christmas too (hopefully, waiting for my manager to approve it. Fingers crossed!). I'm also looking forward to going out with friends Friday night too - they are taking us to this little crepe place downtown, I'm excited to try it! We are blessed to have a well behaved daughter that we can take out and not worry about her being "bad" or having "melt downs" because otherwise we'd never go out now because we don't have any babysitters here!

Reading: I've still yet to get a library card so I'm reading the few books around the house that I haven't read so I'm working through Firestarter by Stephen King. It's been good so far, not the best by him but still not a bad story at all.

Making Me Happy: Off days! Lol! I really look forward to those two days where I feel like life is still mine. Having Friday's off has been nice too because I get the spend the first half of the day with Beej even if it's just running errands and grabbing a quick lunch. It's nice having a little time with him. Since we don't really have anyone around here to babysit we don't get any date nights so Friday mornings have become our new "date night" while Gianna is at school. And he also has the option to go do something fun for himself like golf or whatever since he's with Gianna Sat and Sun while I work.

So yeah, that's what's up. I don't really take the time to truly blog much anymore. Sometimes I miss it and sometimes I don't. There are so many things I'd like to blog about and share but I'm not sure right now is the right time. There are still a lot of things up in the air and things we are waiting on......

What are you currently up to?! Leave me a link if you decide to do a "currently" post!

"Hurr did!"

(Why can't the video still ever be cute?!!! Lol!)

(Good hair day yesterday, had to share!)

SoulKitty

I had no idea when we moved up towards Asheville that it was such a HUGE dog city. Like seriously, everyone has a dog. Anywhere from tiny little pooches up to giant Great Danes. In particular our condo complex is FULL of them. We even have a special little fenced in area for you to take your dog to run around. The park is always covered in owners walking/running their dogs. So I'll admit I sorta thought I wanted a dog too. I mean, come on, everyone looked like they are having such a great time with their dogs. But it seems Gi might have a slight allergy to dogs, not positive but it seems that way. But mainly we just can't take that on right now - a dog is SO much more responsibility than a cat(s). Its sorta like having a kid that can't talk! So as much as it sounds like a good idea I know it's not. BUT that doesn't mean we can't have a new pet, right?!!! Gandalf is old, plain and simple.  He'll be 14 on Oct. 1st and he's never been much of a cuddler. He likes to have his space and the only person he really likes is my hubby. We've had a few "second cats" but none of them have worked out in the end - the first was crazy (literally!), the second one we lost in an accident (I still miss him! He was such a sweet cuddly boy!), and the second one was a female (my mistake) and she was just WAY too much work. And she found a great home with a family so I'm happy for her.....but I do want another pet. I want one that will let Gi and I love on it a bit more and we've moved into a new place and I'm just ready for a new pet! I've been searching the adoption listings trying to find one that I just felt was "right". I've looked at dozens and nothings caught my eye until this boy.......

......is he not beautiful?! I'm in love with him! I want him so badly. He's a 4 year old male, pure white with a blue eye and blue/green eye. Currently his name is Winter although I would change that. I'm trying to find out what his adoption fee is and see if I can figure out a way to make us his forever family. I keep imagining him in all his stunning white glory lounging on the couch with me, hanging out on Gi's bed, calling him and Gandalf "the boys", etc. So yeah, I'm saying a little prayer that this fellow will be mine! We will probably never have dogs and we will never have more kids but that doesn't mean I can't have something to dote on.....we've always said we will never have more than two cats. More than that and you start getting into the crazy cat lady/man territory! Lol! But I just wanted to share, this boy is my latest obsession and I'm doing my best to figure out a way to bring him home!!!

Inkspired

I am not ashamed in any way to admit that I LOVE tattoos. Love them. I find them so pretty, enticing, intriguing, etc. I mean, obviously, well done tattoos. Crappy ones make me laugh! If it weren't for the money I would be very heavily inked. And I get tired of people telling me I'm going to regret it. I don't foresee that ever happening but if I do, I do! Seriously, it's my decision and my regret (if that were to ever happen), not yours. Around here well done tattoos are everywhere. There is never a shortage of great ink to look at. I have to keep myself from staring sometimes because I don't want people to think I'm being rude, it's quite the opposite, I love their ink! I find beautiful women with beautiful ink inspiring and amazing, I find great looking guys with ink so attractive (I'm still trying to convince my great looking guy to get ink. *le sigh*.). Now that I have a job I can hopefully start saving towards some bigger pieces to add to my "canvas." My hubby asked me how many I have the other day.....he said "I've just gotten so used to them being there...." and as silly as it sounds that was kinda a compliment to me. My ink is apart of me, it all means something to me, I love it. Instagram has introduced me to some of my favorite tattooed moms - beautiful, fit, inked women! Not to mention it's provided me with the wonderful, endless possibilities of the hashtags #tattoo, #foottattoo and #tattoos. Geez, so much eye candy to take in! To me it's like art, it's beautiful and unique. I'm so inkspired lately!

CURRENTLY.

Loving:  Living up near Asheville! We are still settling into things and there is still a lot to be settled but I'm starting to feel more at home here. I'm looking forward to getting this place bought so that we can start painting and really decorating like we want. I'm also excited and loving the fact that it hasn't been very hot here lately. It's also rained a TON but it's helped to cool things down. I feel like Fall is just around the corner & I'm getting excited about it! My collection of boots is waiting to be worn and I want to stock up on colored skinnies to go with them....come on, Fall!

Reading: Mr. Murder by Dean Koontz. I started it a long time ago and didn't really like it so I stopped reading it. But decided to pick it back up and try again and this time around I'm getting into it more. That's the one thing I like about the school pick up line....I can catch up on reading! I've got to get back down to the library and get a card so I can start checking out some new stuff to read.

Watching: I haven't really gotten into any shows lately. I just kinda randomly watch whatever but I do love the shows Awkward and The InBetweeners on MTV! I don't watch them religiously or anything but I catch up on them when I can or when I remember to check the DVR! Lol! We are also trying to get through Jericho on Netflix. Awesome show....

Thinking About: Christmas! I know, it's not even Fall yet but I'm excited about Christmas. Getting a new Christmas tree, decorating our new place....all that jazz! Well, really the Holidays in general. It'll be interesting to see how the Holidays go this year since I'm working at Wal-Mart and they aren't great about letting you have holidays off so I'm not sure how happy I'll be once they are actually here but I can dream, right?!

Surprised by: some of the things I wish for or think about having. Like a dog or a baby! Lol! I keep telling myself things are WAY easier the way they are but sometimes things worth having aren't easy. But whatever, some things are just out of my control! Lol! But I'm still surprised by how my thought process and things I wish for and want has totally changed. It's weird how getting older changes you....

Making me sad: the stupidity of America. Seriously, election year always brings out the dumbest stuff in people. I'm not going to get into all that because it just turns into a pissing match but I can't believe the craziness people "believe" in. 

Making me happy: How Gigi's growing into such a great young lady. She's changed so much and I'm so proud of her! And dreaming up new tattoo ideas! I've just got to start saving towards some of the bigger pieces I want next (and I keep dreaming my hubby might actually get one before he turns 30!).  And pinning lots of great ideas for decorating our new place especially the kiddo's room!

SO what are you up to currently? If you do a "Currently" post leave me a link to it in the comment section, I love reading these things!

On the first day of Kindergarten....

Welp, the day finally came! Gigi started Kindergarten. I feel like we've been thinking about it and talking about it forever. I was afraid we wouldn't get moved and we moved exactly a month ago today! Great timing! We went and saw her room and met her teacher last week and she was really excited. I'm honestly not a big fan of her teacher, so far. She's nice but she seems very uptight and formal. Gi's preschool teacher was so much more outgoing & I really felt like he throughly enjoyed being with the kids. Her...well, I dunno. I'm sure she's great. Her assistant seems super nice & I like her a lot! 

 She was so excited when she got up this morning. Her aunt bought her the backpack and her lunch box. So naturally she decided, at least for now, she wants me to pack her a lunch! So now I'm trying to find some creative lunch ideas for my little picky eater.

Her backpack was SO heavy this morning with all her school supplies! She couldn't even carry it, poor thing. We got there a little too early but I'd much rather be early than late. She was the first in the classroom. She was very excited about hanging her lunch box on a special hook and coloring a picture of a gingerbread man. There were no tears (THANK YOU, JESUS!) and she waved happily as we left. I think she has been ready to get back into the routine of school. Even though we try hard to keep her entertained I think she's just been bored the past few weeks.

The pick up line was insane (all those kids are just the kindergarten classes!). I think there are four or five Kindergarten classes with 18-20 kids in each class. So it's a big school!  I got in line 30 minutes early but by the time I got through the line and actually got her it was almost 20 minutes after school dismissed. But she was very happy and kept saying she couldn't wait to go back tomorrow so I'm pretty pleased with that!

She seemed so grown up carrying her backpack and lunch box in when we got home. She didn't eat a lot of her lunch (which I expected) so she ate the rest when she got home! Lol! They do rest time at school but I can tell she's exhausted, I think we'll start doing a short nap when she gets home....maybe.

One a side note I've been planning to start running now that we live less than half of a mile from a really great park with a paved trail and a nature trail. So after I dropped off Gi at school I headed over there and it was super busy. A few middle aged moms but mostly old people with dogs! Haha! But I ran and I'm proud to say I ran 3 miles in 35 minutes with only 3 short breaks. Woohoo! I'm hoping to do that at least 3 days a week maybe more. I just need something new, I'm tired of my old work out routines so maybe this will give me a big of a boost. My eating habits have been crap since we moved and I eat junk from the deli. I've got to get that together too, ugh! But yeah, one step at a time....

....and then we moved!

So we have finally moved, people! It has been an extremely busy three weeks. We found out we were moving about a week and a half before we actually moved. Luckily we had gotten rid of everything we didn't absolutely have to have and packing wasn't too bad. Especially since my husband did most of it! My husband's friend and his wife came and helped us load up, it didn't take long to load everything and then we headed up the mountain! The hard part came when we got to our new place. We're on the third floor and there is no elevator. Yeah, it took forever, we were all dripping sweat and exhausted. I can't thank our friends enough, it was such a kind act on their part and such a HUGE blessing for us. But we're finally moved in. Currently we are renting from the owner until the bank processes everything and actually lets us buy it. We are getting closer, we think. Lol! They keep telling us "soon". We were hoping by the first of September but who really knows. I'm just happy to be up here and near work. It's been so nice being like 7 minutes away. The hubby is still about 25 minutes from work but that's way better than an hour away. We are just ready to really call this place ours and be home owners.

We've been dealing with vehicles issues since we got up here. We are down to one vehicle and now it's been having issues. After several trips to the mechanics we've finally figured out it's a part in the transmission going out. Not the whole transmission but an expensive part. And since we have so many miles on our Jeep they've told us it would be stupid to replace the expensive part & risk the actual transmission going out any time. So we are going to have to replace the whole thing. Oy. BUT the good news is we've worked out getting a second vehicle now. We wanted to wait to take out a car loan until after we get this house purchased but since that is taking awhile we really needed a second car by the time Gigi starts school on Tuesday. So we are purchasing a car from family....it's really worked out well and I'm very grateful. I was starting to really worry but every time I did I just prayed....HARD! And even though things haven't gone perfect every time a need or an issue comes out somehow God works it out for us even if it's not in the way we imagined. We truly are blessed.

For now everything in the new place is kinda neutral. The bedroom walls and carpet are all various shades of cream and beige. The main living room/kitchen/dining space is all various shades of grey with wood flooring. And as pretty as it is my husband and I had already decided that when we moved we wanted to go the complete opposite of neutral and go with bright bold colors! Now I'm just trying to decide which colors! These are a few inspiration photos I've pulled.....

Tomorrow is my 26th birthday. Honestly I'm feeling sorta, well, undecided on it. It's kinda weirding me out that I'm 26. I don't feel that "old", but part of me is happy with who I am, slowly, becoming as a person. I've grown and changed a lot of the past few years and I hope to continue to do so. The hubby is working and I'm going to be driving to TN to meet up with family and get my "new to me" Explorer. So I think we're going to do a little window shopping and grab lunch. And then the hubby is taking me out for Mexican for dinner. We have a place up here called Papas & Beers that is supposed to be really good authentic Mexican food. So I'm excited to try it out!

The kiddo starts Kindergarten on Tuesday. We've checked out her school and it's really big! There are 4 or 5 K classes with 20 students each. Whoa. We're going to meet her teacher and see her classroom Friday. She's more excited now that we've been to visit the actual school. I think she'll still be nervous the first day but I think she's going to have a blast. We went and bought school supplies last night so we are ready to roll!

Her school is less than half a mile from the house and we also have an amazing park too. I'm hoping to get into running now. Drop her off at school then go run at the park. I'm getting kinda bored with my home work out programs and I just need something new to try and challenge myself at.

So that's what's up with us! Hopefully I'll be able to say we are home owners soon!

1, 2, 3, 4....

1. I've become a horrible blogger and I felt guilty about it as first but now I'm ok with it. I've never been in this to gain tons of followers although I love each of my followers tons! This was more of a place for me to just express myself and get things out when I needed. Lately I just feel like there are more important things to do even if that's just sitting on the couch watching cartoons with my kid.

2. The kiddo is growing like a weed lately. In the past year she's grown 3 inches and I'm pretty sure at least 1 (or more) of those inches has been in the past month alone. She suddenly outgrew like 10 pairs of shoes and I'm not even kidding. One week she was wearing them fine and then a week later I couldn't even get her foot in a some of her Toms and her toes were hanging off the end of her sandals. All of her shorts and dresses and obviously shorter now.....it's crazy! I'm still mentally blocking out the fact that she starts actual Elementary school in a little over a month.

3. Work has been crazy lately. When I first got hired we were still short staffed but within a couple of weeks they had hired enough people to finally get us in a good place with scheduling and all that. Then we got a new co-manager and yikes! She fired 2 people and one person who was transferring in a few weeks she told them to go ahead and go. So in other words, we are once again, short staffed. Sunday (which is one of our busiest days) I got there at 12 and was supposed to leave at 9pm. With a lunch break at 4. Well, from 1-4 there was just two of us there then at 4 the other person left and I was there by myself from 4-6:30pm. Yup. It was crazy! We got super busy and not only did I have to take care of the deli counter and the hot bar, I also had to keep the hot bar stocked which means cooking...it was nuts. Not to mention I had been there and on my feet with no break since 12. My closer came in at 6:30 but he's only been there for a couple of weeks and they had him closing by himself (which I closed by myself not to long ago and it's insane!) so I offered to stay for an extra two hours and help him closer. I didn't eat much, I was on my feet for 10 hours almost straight, didn't eat much and drank almost nothing (a Red Bull & part of a Coke.) Yesterday I woke up and literally felt like I was dying (slight exaggeration but not much!). I was SO dizzy and felt feverish and weak. Then it dawned on me I was probably severely dehydrated! So I spent most of yesterday laying in bed and drinking water and juice. I felt better by the evening and I'm back to myself today!

4. You are all probably wondering what happened with us buying our first place. Or maybe you aren't. Lol! But anyway. The place we are purchasing in a short sale. We were told it would take 4-6 weeks to get our offer put through and approved. That time line has long since passed. Apparently we're approved on our end now but there is some process they have to go through on the seller's end.....it's complicated and ridiculous but the short of it is they say it's now going to be another 4-6 weeks before we can actually own it. But the seller has already moved out, she's been out for several weeks now and has agreed to rent it to us until we can actually own it. We really loved the place and it's an amazing deal so we don't want anything else. Now I'm just PRAYING we can get in by Aug 1st!!! Fingers crossed!

So that's about all the excitement that's been happening around here. Working three days a week has made me really appreciate the time I am home and especially the time I get to spend with my hubby and kiddo now. Evenings are much more important than they used to be. And it's also made me realize, even more, how amazing B is! He keeps the house up better than I do, he entertains Gigi and did all the mowing this past weekend on top of it all! Amazing man, I say!

Slicers, sloppy floors & schedules.

I'm starting to kinda settle into the routine of working now. I miss getting to hang out with my hubby on the weekends though. That is still taking some adjusting but I find we value the evenings far more now. Last weekend I worked a couple of really late (and long!) shifts. Going in at 2pm (which means I leave the house at 12:45) and didn't get off until 11pm (or later) and that puts me home after midnight. Needless to say Monday morning I felt like a zombie and was SO glad I was off.

My first day overwhelmed me like crazy but I'm starting to get the hang of things now and it's not as bad as I thought. I've learned all the front stuff like slicing, packaging, and the hot bar stuff. I've learned how to make sandwiches for the fridge shelves out front, and now I've learned how to do the closing routine. It takes 2 of us about 3 hours to complete everything. My favorite part is sloshing soapy water all over the floor to clean it! Lol! I've had some interesting customers, no one extremely rude yet (except a lady that got made because we closed at 8pm and not 9pm like she thought.). Everyone I work with is pretty nice. There are some I enjoy working with better than others but that's just a preference thing, not because they are rude or anything. It's funny though because even though I've only been working a few days total there I can already see the vein of drama that runs through it all. I'm doing my best to stay out of it because I've got enough drama dealing with people in my own life much less the people I work with. Apparently this Wal-Mart has a hard time keeping employees though. Most departments are very short staffed, including the deli until just recently. Everyone at the deli, excluding two people, have been there 2 months or less! Including the department manager. Yikes. I'm taking it a day at a time. By no means do I plan on being there forever but I'll stick it out unless things get really bad. I'd still love to get on a Target or Old Navy but we'll see.....right now I'm just thankful to be earning some kind of paycheck. And I get my first one tomorrow! Yay!

We are still waiting to hear about our home offer.....I'll admit my patience is starting to wear thin. We knew with it being a short sale it could take a little while but we didn't think it would take this long especially since the offer has 2 of the 3 signatures it needs to be processed and accepted. Every morning I'm praying that today will be the day and every day at 5pm I have to swallow the fact that yet another day has gone by without an answer. The "good news" is we were originally told once the offer was accepted it would be 3 weeks before we could actually close and move in. That gives time for inspections, contracts, the bank, and for the sellers to get moved, etc. But we just found out that the seller is moving out at the end of the month wether it's sold or not. Which means that we can probably bump up the moving time, instead of waiting 3 weeks we might be able to close in 10 days or something like that. I'm crossing my fingers for that and that we will hear from the bank within the next week (pleassssseee!!!).

Summer is going good so far. We didn't open the pool up because we didn't plan to be here much of the summer & didn't want to have to spend all the money on chemicals and such for it. Gigi and I still go out and lay out on the deck and she plays with the hose and buckets of water. It's the next best thing! She's adjusting to the new routine of being home all the time and me working now. She loves all the one on one time with her daddy for three days straight! I'm trying to keep her on a similar sleep schedule like we do when she's in school. I'm letting her stay up till 9pm usually instead of 8:30 but then she's up by 7am usually.

Sorry I've been a bad blogger lately. Just been busy and my "creative juices" just aren't flowing lately. I open up blogger thinking I'll post something, stare at the screen for a few minutes then click off. But I still update my Twitter (@alaythea) and my Instagram (@alaythea) a lot so check them out for more current info and photos!!!

Working Girl

So, it's a official. I'm a working girl again. It seems so strange to say that after being home for 6 years. I literally can't remember most of the details about the last place I worked, that's how long ago it's been. I will admit the one great thing about working as a hair stylist was a I could wear basically whatever I wanted and I could have any color hair, any piercing I wanted and show tattoos all the day long. But I guess you make sacrifices when you have to, huh? But yeah, I'm working at the Wal-Mart deli up where we'll be moving. For now it's just Fri-Sun because it's an hour drive up there until we actually get moved. Saturday I had orientation most of the day, Sunday was my first official day in the deli. The first few hours were pretty quiet and I just followed my trainer around learning the basics and getting a feel for the it all and the other workers. After lunch we got really busy and I just had to sorta jump in there and help. It got a bit overwhelming a few times but I held it together and got through it. I mean, you'd think, how hard is it to slice meat and cheese. That part isn't hard. It's all the rules and policies about what you have to do and how in order to maintain proper health regulations that make it hard. Especially when you have 6 people all standing there staring and watching you work. Luckily, I didn't drop anything although I came close a couple of times (those huge hams are slippery!). But I made it. I don't think it all really hit me until last night when I got in bed and I sorta had a little mini panic attack. The thought of going back next weekend and doing it all again and learning even more just sorta overwhelmed me. I know, people do it every day and I will get through it but it's just a lot to take in.

Fab outfit, huh? Seriously, why did Wal-Mart have to pick khaki? It's not really flattering. I like hair styling "uniforms" - just wear black and you're good. I get to wear a hair net and apron, that's also pretty fab. *sarcasm* But yeah, whatev's. It's a job, for Pete's sake. 

The other part of working at Wal-Mart is a lot of history and policies and terms. So on top of learning your job requirements there are also tons of "overall" stuff you have to learn. We have to take all the "tests" every so often to make sure we are up to date on the ever changing systems. It's seriously SO much to take in. And of course my always present fear of failure makes me that much harder because I'm constantly freaking out that I'll mess up. 

The people I work with are pretty nice, only one person my age and I didn't work with him long yesterday. Thank God because I sorta "threw me to the wolves" yesterday for about an hour and we got really busy and I was freaking out inside the whole time. He doesn't really like working the front so he just kept disappearing in the back and leaving me to fend for myself. Eventually I'll learn to cook all the hot bar stuff and make sandwiches, etc. But yesterday I was just trying to figure out where all the meats and cheeses were and where to put them back.....sheesh. I didn't think a job in the deli would be so overwhelming. Luckily, I have four days at home to sorta re-coop and get myself together mentally.

I feel my husband's pain now driving an hour to work (he's been doing it for six years!). It sucks and now I'm even more ready to be moved up there because then I'll be 5 minutes from work! Next weekend I work closing - the deli closes at 8 but then it takes 3 hours to clean so I won't get off till 11pm then I have an hour drive home......whew.

I had to remove my nose ring which makes me so sad. I can show my tattoos but I can't have a nose piercing and I'm not even allowed to put a clear spacer in it. Grrrr. I was really hoping for a job at Old Navy because you can wear facial jewelry there. But they weren't hiring. I do hope that one day I can get a job somewhere a little "cooler" and fun! But for now I'm thankful to have something. After putting in applications for months and months around here and never hearing back actually having someone call and want to hire me was awesome!

And a quick update on our home buying situation - we are still waiting to hear from the bank. The place is a short sale so the process of getting our offer accepted is a little more complicated then just with a regular seller/buyer thing. The deadline to hear from the bank is this Wednesday and we are praying we hear something before then (like today would be awesome!). We are pretty sure we'll get it though - if we don't we'll all be shocked, including our agent. Once it's approved we'll have three weeks before we can actually get the keys and move in.....three weeks. Boo. But at least we'll have an actually date to look forward and not just feel up in limbo so much. 

So that's about it. My blogging has lacked greatly lately - we stay pretty busy and I also have just felt very uninspired when it comes to blogging lately. I still read my blog feed daily I just don't write as much myself. Hopefully I'll be checking in soon to say we're home owners! Woohoo!