Off to start my first day at work!

Getting ready to head to La Petite Academy for my first day of work (really just some paperwork and training today). Enjoying my green smoothie and trying to convince myself I am not nervous. I hardly slept last night. Will post more later.

Summer Bucketlist

Better starting late than never? Based off the Real Simple one with a few personalizations of my own. (please ignore Word's dislike of the term playlist)

There are some we have already done!

 And the list is scotch-taped to the wall since we don't 

have our own fridge or bulletin board at the moment. 

One Year Anniversary

Yesterday, July 21 was mine and Ricky's one year anniversary. It's been a whirlwind of a year, and there is no one I'd rather have by my side to deal with everything life throws our way. He is an amazing, funny, intelligent, gentle and sweet man and I am blessed to call him my husband. We celebrated by having a night away, to ourselves, at the Westin here in Tampa. Last year on our wedding night we stayed at the Westin in Lake Mary, so Ricky thought it would be sweet to return to a Westin hotel. And for those of you who don't know, we are temporarily staying with Ricky's folks- so a night away to ourselves was very nice.

We ate room service dinner and breakfast, watched Trouble with the Curve and relaxed. Ricky got some good sleep and I had a nice bubble bath.

When we got back at lunch time Sunday we did a little thrift store searching and adventuring, then went to our good pals' Sean and Raena's for dinner and to eat our one-year old wedding cake (seriously, who came up with that tradition?).

Ready to go!

Traffic en route to hotel

Opening his present.

My favorite of my Anniversary presents.

Ricky's cute card!

My "paper" anniversary gifts. Isn't he cool? Traditional gift giver.

Ricky's headphones broke on our recent trip to England, 

so I got him some nice, new, and not-paper ones.

Our pretty room service spread.

Selfie!

After our hotel splurge, we just had lunch at taco bell on Sunday... 

The sauce packets didn't realize we were taken.

Before trying the cake.

Ricky's face and look as if to say

 "Does she think this is as gross as I do?"

"Yep."

Yuck.

What little we ate of it, including Sean's bite.

How the cake looked after a year of freezing, moving, and sitting.

Okay, if our faces were that bad, Sean had to check. Yep, disgusting.

RED Alert!!!

I am a HUGE fan of Target. Love affair with a store levels. Anyhow, get thee to the little dollar section right now!

Being an organization freak, I love labels. I really want a label maker, but until then I use handwritten sticker labels which can get expensive for cute ones. Check out these in quantities of 48 or 124 for only a buck! Super cute. 

And there were these adorable, light-weight, summery infinity scarves for only $3 each.

A good day for a shopaholic who's currently broke.

Training for the future

A few weeks ago, I finally decided to speak my mind and take my own path about some really big stuff. It took me a long time to do so because I was afraid of disappointing my husband and his family. A plan had been set in motion to start a cafe to go with my husband's brewery opening Labor Day weekend. Everyone wanted me to be the cook and at the time I was getting a little anxious to feel useful, so I think I just went along. After months of struggling with it, and Ricky being up at night with me having nervous breakdowns about my total inability to do such a job- I finally told the family the decision that Ricky and I had been coming to for sometime. I didn't want to be a part of the cafe. While I do love to cook, cooking for family or entertaining friends is a totally different ball game than being a professional. And I am pretty sure I wouldn't like it. And I definitely didn't want to do it. I held out on the decision for a long time because I felt like backing out would make me unsupportive to the family. But I am so glad I mustered the courage to show how I was feeling. And everyone took it really well. They understood that your career (especially in a small family run business) is a huge part of your life and your time and didn't want me to be doing something I didn't want to be doing.

So, then, what do I want to be doing? If you know me then you know I have struggled with this for a long, long time. Ugh. What am I meant to do? What is my purpose here? What is fulfilling and makes the world better?

I want to be a preschool teacher/worker. I am working on my DCF training at the moment. I just finished my first course today:

Being a rules and regs course it was a little more boring than I think some of the others will be. And, naturally, all of the courses are a lot more boring than kids themselves. The courses don't have to, but can be, completed before I start a job. They just have to all be finished and my tests taken within a year of when I started.

I am so excited about this new journey! Tomorrow I have my first interview, so please say a prayer or cross your fingers or whatever it is you do. 

Quick and delicious Sunday lunch

BLT salad with a lemon-Dijon vinaigrette and a deviled scotch egg! Yummy!!

VBS Week- Hometown Hangin' Out

So, I have basically forgotten to post anything since we have been living in Tampa. I have been having a really tough time adjusting to the changes in our lives and not having our own place (we are staying with Ricky's parents while we are in transition, and not having my own home is driving me bonkers, no matter how thankful I am for the money we are saving or how much I love our family). Because of this stressiness in my life, the blog- which I had planned to majorly step up- has fallen to the wayside.

Since this past Saturday, I have been away from my sweet hubby. This is the longest we have been apart since we've been married. Too long. I was telling a woman at church the other day that my mom and one of my favorite girlfriend's assured me there would come a day where leaving for a week would thrill me, but that I am just not yet at that point. Being away this long from Ricky was the main reason I looked for excuses to not do VBS this year, and was on the fence about it for so long. I can't wait to see him when I get home tomorrow night.

Having said all that, I am so glad I came to do VBS. Seeing the sweet nursery kids get so excited each day totally fills up my cup. I am really starting to feel settled in the fact that I am called to work with toddlers. It's just my thing. It's exhausting but insanely rewarding. When I see them get excited or happy, or when I know they are getting to like me or trust me and can feel how much I care for them- it just brings me joy. Those little folks are so real- you know how they think or feel, the world has not grubbed up their sense of self and their joy and their love. :)

The next picture pretty much sums up his week.

The next two are from the VBS facebook page. Me and a plate of dino chicken tenders, getting snack ready!

And sweet Miller just being Miller.

Hopefully, I will also have a good photo of me and my beautiful friend Aja who made this week fun and easy too! And tomorrow afternoon is the first birthday party for Penny, the sweet daughter of my long time friends, Kevin and Jennifer. It's been a good week with my family, friends, my home church and hometown. But I am ready to go home to my Ricky!