Monday, September 30, 2013

I don't like this Monday.

I normally like Mondays since they're usually spent hanging out with Christian, blogging, cleaning up the apartment and not working. Today, though, I work 2p - 1a. Not a happy camper. BUT it's for a good reason: I have a 4 day weekend this weekend! It's our anniversary and we have so many fun things planned (more on this later)! 

This weekend wasn't anything too crazy but it was fun. 

Friday 

Christian had meetings in the morning and was supposed to be home by 1p. He wasn't home so I got my nails done and ran errands. And by errands I mean shopping. Duh. I was in desperate need of shoes and over the last week, I bought 5 pairs! My fall closet is so happy. 

Some of my new shoes as seen throughout the week on Instagram!
Once he finally got home, there was Chipotle put in my belly and some Scandal watched. We were supposed to see my grandparents for dinner and at the last minute they cancelled on us. So we took a nap at 6p... logical. Once we got up, we decided we needed brownies. So I made brownies of the "slutty" variety. 
The brownie progression.
We spent the rest of the evening cuddling up on the couch with my new blanket from Target!

Nails, new blanket, cuddles.
Saturday 

After staying up WAY too late (thanks to that nap...), we slept in a pretty decent amount. After a breakfast of Bojangles, we headed to my old apartment to finish getting every single thing out of it since my lease finally ends on the 6th! 

Things I didn't throw away.. WHY? Good question.

After getting things over to the new place, I spent a lot of time finally getting our closet in order so we could use it and organizing more things around the apartment. You would THINK we'd be done but the more stuff I bring over from my old place, the more work I have to do here. Christian says I'm a closet hoarder... I think he's dramatic.

This isn't even half of them.. 
Again our plans for the evening fell through, but we ended up going to Scarowinds, instead! Now, I love roller coasters and that's why I went. Plus, it's free for us since we have season passes. But, I don't actually like scary things.. so I did a lot of screaming and a lot of trying to squeeze Christian's hand off his body. 

Sunday 

After a long, long, long day at work, I came home and made grilled cheese and soup for dinner. It was the perfect fall meal followed by watching the fall premiere of Once Upon A Time! Fall shows are officially back, now, in my opinion!

Sami's Shenanigans
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Thursday, September 26, 2013

Cohabitation.

I've been living with a boy now for a whole entire month. And man, does time fly when you're having fun! Granted, with my weird schedule we don't see each other as much as a normal couple living together would, but it's working for now!


one // There's always someone for me to cook for! I enjoy cooking but living on my own (or with roommates) it was hard to cook for one person. I would end up with a week's worth of leftovers and no one wants to eat that much leftovers! He eats so much we usually only have one serving of leftovers or none at all! 

two // I hate cleaning the kitchen... And Christian has no problem with it. He's very picky about the kitchen's cleanliness so I cook and as soon as we're done eating, he gets up and cleans the kitchen. It's basically heaven. 

three // There's someone to help me take care of Zuko. With my weird shifts, I always felt so guilty leaving him alone all day. But now, I leave around 12:30p everyday and he gets home around 4:30p, so that spoiled little kitty is only alone a few hours a day!

four // I can cuddle anytime I want. Movie time? Blog reading time? Bedtime? I'm constantly insisting upon cuddling. Nothing beats a long day and coming home to your new comfy couch and a boyfriend to cuddle with! 

five // The TV. Yep, I went there. He's a boy and my teeny, tiny TV wasn't cutting it for him so he went out and bought us a huge flatscreen, SmartTV. I was super against it and didn't think it was necessary. Then I realized I know have Netflix on. my. TV. 

six // Bugs. Between Christian and Zuko, I don't have to kill bugs at all anymore and it's awesome. Especially since I'm deathly afraid of spiders!

seven // He's so handy! I can't wait to show you guys what he did with our "entertainment center" (pictures coming next week, I swear!). He can fix anything. Toilets, showers, garbage disposals, cars, etc. You name it, he can probably fix it. It make my life so much easier and saves us so much money. 

eight // I only have to pay HALF the bills! Sorry, had to go here, too. We were able to get such a nice place with a garage for WAY less than what I paid when I first moved in and it's not much more than what I was paying in Boone for a ton more apartment. We're able to do so much more and save so much more because our monthly bills are so much lower than what we were used to!

nine // My groceries don't go to waste. I always like to have cereal/milk/eggs/etc but I can never eat them all before they expire. That is no longer an issue now that Christian is responsible for drinking the milk!

ten // I get to see my best friend every single day. Even if it's just as a sleeping lump Tuesday-Thursday, he's still here. I come home every single day SO excited that I get to live here and live with the most amazing person in the world!

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Wednesday, September 25, 2013

I've Got A Secret.

I'm just going to come out and say it: I need my mom on an almost daily basis

I'm almost 23 years old and I talk to my mom almost every single day - whether it's a phone call or text message. And here's why:

one //  What kind of medicine should I take?! And how many? And how often? And what if that kind doesn't work? But my throat hurts, too. What should I do for that? 

My mom always knows exactly what medicine you should take for any and everything. She worked in a doctor's office and she always knew what we needed and took great care of us when we were sick. No matter what's wrong with me, I still call her to make sure I'm taking care of myself the right way.

two // How do I make that?! To be honest, my mom isn't the best cook in the entire world. But, what she does make is delicious. I'm constantly wanting to make her recipes. As a matter of fact, I made her cubed steak and rice on Friday! 

three // How do I get that stain out?! I'm the WORST at spilling things on myself and I'm always afraid it won't come out. Of course, Mom to the rescue! 

four // Look how cute Zuko is! Seriously, mom and I send each other cat, dog, puppy pictures at least every other day. We obviously know where I got  my crazy cat lady gene from!

five // I AM SO STRESSED OUT. I have a tendency to freak out about big life changes. After sitting through a club meeting in Boone where we discussed job applications at the beginning of junior year where I had a complete meltdown about jobs, moving to Charlotte, work clothes and how I'm supposed to buy a house. Obviously, things escalated pretty quickly but Mom can always bring me down to Earth and calm me down!



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Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Tattoo Talk! {A Link Up}

Today, I'm linking up with Allie for Tattoo Talk! I've talked about it before, but I have more readers now so I'm allowed to do it again ;)  Currently, I only have one tattoo but I'm planning at least two more. Although one is just an extension of the one I have currently. Let me explain.. 

My current tattoo: 


Excuse my pale face.. I'm scared of needles. Granted, a tattoo only hurts when the needle is touching you. Shots and giving blood is a million times worse. Not that you can tell from these pictures... 



Now onto what I want to add. Originally the plan for this tattoo was to get four sparrows flying around it: one for each of my family members since this tattoo was for us. In this instance, sparrows would stand for always coming home safe. But, my best friend and I also want to get a tattoo together and she suggested two birds since our friendship is long distance and probably always will be. 

I didn't want that many birds all over my body, though. So I've been brainstorming some other possible ideas and the idea of an elephant connected to my current idea came up thanks to my friend, Sam! SOmething like this but with the trunk connecting into the "g". 


Then, if Katherine and I decide to get birds, I think I would like something like this. And probably in this location, as well. 


And last but not least, as nerdy as you might think this is, I'd love a small Harry Potter tattoo. I've been obsessed with the books since the very first one came out. I've got two locations that I would like: my left hip on the very side (not the front!) orrrrr here:


And I would like to have something small like a lighting bolt or the Deathly Hallows symbol. 


Christian on the other hand would like me to get no more tattoos. But, he doesn't get to decide and I've said as much as I want on on my wrist, I won't get one that I can't cover when I'm out in the business world so he can just deal with it :) 

** All of these pictures come from my tattoos Pinterest board**





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Monday, September 23, 2013

Oh. It's Monday.

This weekend was busy. I feel like every weekend since we moved has been spent working on this apartment and trying to get it done as quickly as possible. Luckily, we're slowly getting there and I'm almost completely satisfied.. SO expect a little tour sometime soon!! 

Friday 

I demanded that I sleep in late, so I did! After we got up, Christian told me his mom was coming over in two hours... By Friday, our apartment is a wee bit messy and we usually clean up Friday or Saturday. So we cleaned as fast as possible while also getting dressed. But, his mom forgot she was coming over. Lucky for us we were all done cleaning and could enjoy the day! 

We went across town to Old Time Pottery to see what we could find for the apartment. I wanted to buy everything, but Christian kept me in check and we walked out with just a few really cute fall items. My grandmother works right next to the store, so I had to drive through the parking lot and see if she was there. She was, so we stopped and visited for a couple hours! 

Apartment sneak peek!

Thankfully, I had put dinner in the crockpot earlier in the day, so we came home to a delicious dinner and a movie! 
My boys.
Saturday 

Originally, we were going to Carowinds Friday night, but we stayed with my grandmother too long so we planned for Saturday. Sadly, it was rainy but we definitely made the best of it. I spent the first couple hours of the day talking to my best friend on the phone. She goes to Purdue so we hardly ever get to see each other and it really sucks! 

I did get to eat at one of my absolute favorite restaurants ever, The Flying Biscuit, and it was amazing. I've been living here for 4 months and this was the first time I've been over there. Shameful. 

Heaven. On a plate. 
After that, we headed to Old Navy so I could return some jeans that didn't fit which turned into a trip to Home Goods where we got THE cutest little chalkboard framed in our colors and another cute basket for our shelves! Then, I bought the best fall boots!! Now, I need it to be cold pronto!

Sunday 

As we know, I had to work all day. But, I came home and we made pizza for dinner and watched an episode of Scandal (I've got him hooked, too!) and played with Zuko for a bit for heading of to bed. 

Weird cat behavior. 
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Sami's Shenanigans

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Fall Lovin'

In my opinion, it's definitely not fall in Charlotte but some days it almost feels like it may be coming. Everyday that it's not fall, I wish I was in Boone because Boone is the most glorious day to be on a crisp fall day with the breeze blowing the gorgeous red and yellow leaves across campus. And that would be why Christian and I are planning a trip up there in two weeks for our anniversary!

While I'm dreaming of a true fall, I thought I'd tell you a few of my absolute favorite things about the season and some of these might be just a little bit weird.

one //  The clothes. Seriously, my fall/winter clothes board on Pinterest is out of hand. But, I adore jeans, boots, scarfs and cardigans WAY more than I do shorts and tank tops. This may stem from the fact that I hate shaving my legs but who knows...

Yesterday's outfit!
two // Fall candles. At Cracker Barrel, we sold Woodwick and Yankee candles. Woodwick are my favorite. They have a wooden wick that crackles and pops while you burn it and it has a wonderful relaxing sound! Of course, I also love Yankee's fall scents. I dragged Christian to the store last week and made him smell a million candles!

Some of my current favorites!

three // Corn mazes. And carving pumpkins and everything else along those lines. We have a huge corn maze near my house in GA and it was always the thing to do in high school on Friday nights. Last year, we found one in Boone and it was such a fun way to spend the day. I plan on going back in a few weeks!

Last year's trip!
four // Driving around with the windows down, with the cold air blowing through the car and the heat on. I know that may sound weird but the day that Christian did the exact same thing on the way to dinner, I thought it was adorable!

five // The colors. Seriously. The leaves. I could stare at trees all day. I always used to take a drive up on the parkway to watch the leaves change colors. In my last apartment in Boone, there was a gorgeous tree outside my room that had the most beautiful colors, ever!

I mean, it's beautiful in the winter, BUT LOOK AT THE FALL COLORS.
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Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Hide & Seek

Hi there! It's Zuko, again. I just wanted to stop by and share how I'm feeling about this new apartment Mom and Dad dragged me to. At first, I really hated it and I ran around meowing. But, now I'm really liking it. There are SO many windows to stare out of and SO many things to jump up on, too! 

Today, I wanted to share all my favorite hiding spots in the new place!

Spot 1: On the arm of the couch, staring out the window at all the birds, neighbors, dogs, bugs, etc. This spot is awesome.


Spot 2: I can only assume that the reason these shelves don't have much on them is because it's for me to sit on. I mean.. Mom keeps telling Dad to keep his crap off it so she can finish getting her books on it buuuut I'm just going to go out on a limb and say it's just for me. 


Spot 3: I always go for this spot when the apartment gets too bright and I'm looking for a nice dark spot to nap in. It's also great when Mom and Dad are annoying me. I can head right off to my box and they can never find me. 


Spot 4: I discovered this spot last night while Mom was folding her clothes. There was only a couple inches of space so I just backed my little butt all the way up and sat on top of Mom's tank tops. 


Spot 5: This is by far my favorite spot. I'm a little too fat for the windowsill but now that the couch is there, I can squish myself between the two and get some quality sunbathing in during the day. 


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Tall Tails Link Up

Monday, September 16, 2013

I love Mondays!

At least for now I do. As long as I get to spend Monday mornings on the couch reading blogs and every other Monday hanging out with my man while he works from home, I'm going to love Mondays. I especially love having a day to relax after such a busy weekend!

Friday

As you may have noticed from me mentioning a million and twelve times, I got my hair done on Friday at Alchemy the Workshop in Charlotte and OHMYGOSH everything Alexa said about it was true. I want to go back once a week! sorry, wallet! If you're in Charlotte, make an appointment today. I'll wait while you go.... Oh and if you don't live in Charlotte come visit and we'll take you ;)

Now without further ado.. my shorter, redder, darker hair!


It's hard to tell here, but it's shorter in the back and longer in the front. I've been playing with this idea but when he said how good it'd look I told him to go for it! He said we'll do subtle this time and next time we can take it up a notch (both with the red and the cut!). 

After that, I made Christian take me out to dinner so I could show off my new hair, of course! Then we made a run to Lowe's. I swear we go to Lowe's and Ikea more than any other place right now trying to get everything together in this place. 

Saturday 

We spent the morning waiting for our new couch to come. They brought the wrong color love seat when they originally delivered the couches so they came out Saturday morning to switch them out!


VERY exciting things happened Saturday that may have involved that thing I'm not so subtlety hinting about pretty often. I still don't think we're there yet, but man oh man did Christian make some moves ;) 

We also ate lunch at one of my favorite places in Charlotte, so far. I know there are tons of places I haven't tried yet and I know this is a chain, but I've never had it before and I'm obsessed with their Double Decker Mac and Cheese burger. I crave it at least once a week. It was definitely a gorgeous day to spend lunch out on the patio!

Taco Mac.
After running errands almost all day long, we finally came home to relax, watch some TV and eat some dinner. It was a perfect day in my opinion.

Sunday 

Of course, I work on Sunday form 10a to 9p. But, I treated myself to a Salted Caramel Mocha. Sorry to all the PSL fans... but... the Salted Caramel Mocha is the best seasonal latte at Starbucks. I don't even like Starbucks but I won a gift card from work and I knew exactly what it would be used on! 


Christian spent the day hanging curtains and doing tons and tons of laundry now that we finally have our washer and dryer hooked up! I came home to our entire bed covered in my clothes. And surprisingly, he still loves me. I spend some time putting it all away while Zuko tried to help. 



Now, I'll be spending the day running errands, grocery shopping and finishing organizing the closet. Is this what being a grown up is like?

Happy Monday, friends!


Sami's Shenanigans

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Friday, September 13, 2013

High Five! It's Friday, Friends!

After taking a 4 day weekend last week, this week went by pretty quickly! Fridays are my favorite days. Christian is always home and I usually have some good things planned!

So here's why I'm loving Friday this week!

one // I'm getting my hair did today! I'm so so excited! I'm headed to the place that Alexa gets her hair done and oh man her hair looks awesome so I've got high hopes for this mop I've got going on on my head!

two // Fall TV shows are almost here! My friend Sam has started watching Scandal and it made my rewatch season 2. Now I cannot wait for fall shows to start! The first one is The Mindy Project this week :)

three // We're getting the right couch delivered tomorrow! We ordered a red couch and brown love seat, but they both came in red. Thankfully, the company did a return/placed a new order at no cost to us and the right one is on the way!

four // The apartment is coming together! We got our shelving up in the living room and once the couches get here, we'll have all the furniture we need (thanks to my parents on Monday)! Now, I'm trying to figure out what's going up on the walls.

five // Life is just grand. Seriously. I'm just happy. I've got wonderful friends, a phenomenal boyfriend and I'm loving everyone I'm meeting through this little ole blog. Life can continue along this great as long as it wants to :)


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Thursday, September 12, 2013

Songs That Define Me {A Link Up}!

When I saw Helene's link up, I KNEW I had to participate! I adore music (mostly of the country variety, but anything will do!). I decided to choose a couple songs that relate to different parts of my life. I kind of wrote a post like this before so there may be some repeats!

I Drive Your Truck - Lee Brice

I Drive Your Truck by Lee Brice on Grooveshark

This song will get you, no matter what. The first time I heard it, Dad was gone and I just heard my brother in the song. He drove my dad's truck every single day but he never talked about any of it. To this day, I still cannot listen to it without crying. Proof: cried on the way to work yesterday listening to it... 

If I Didn't Have You - Thompson Square 

If I Didn't Have You by Thompson Square on Grooveshark

Anytime I hear this, all I think about is Christian. Again, like I mentioned yesterday, he has stood by me through the hardest times of my life and I legitimately don't know what I would do without him. 

Bottoms Up - Nicki Minaj and Trey Songz

Bottoms Up f. Nicki Minaj by Trey Songz on Grooveshark

Black and Yellow - Wiz Khalifa
Black and Yellow by Wiz Khalifa on Grooveshark

Wagon Wheel - Old Crow Medicine Show
Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show on Grooveshark

Football. App State. Boone. There are SO many more that would fall under this category, but I'm just going to leave it at these three!

There are SO many more that I refuse to turn the station if they come on, but I think you guys would get realllll tiredof me just listing songs. But, if anything Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, or Lee Brice comes on my radio is not changing!

Helene in Between

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Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Blogtember

I hadn't planned to post today, but after reading a couple posts from today's Blogtember prompt, I really wanted to add my two cents in. Today's prompt was describe a distinct moment when your life took a turn. 

The very first one that comes to mind is really difficult to talk about and I still don't plan to go into too much detail just to protect my family. But, it's the moment that has impacted our entire lives forever. 

It was January 26, 2011, and I was awaiting a call from my family. They were in GA and I was in Boone sitting on Christian's couch. My friend Kristin had passed me off to him while she went to a meeting. Basically, they were babysitting me until I got the call. 

It had been about 2 hours since I should have heard from Mom, so I was already expecting the worst by the time the call came through. The phone rang as I sat with Christian's arm around me and as Kristin walked through the door. All I heard on the other end was my mom crying and I knew. 

I sat in the floor of Christian's room in shock and tears. I had no words and I didn't even know what I should be feeling. Kristin and Christian both held me while I tried to piece together what was happening and what it meant to our family. 

Kristin offered to drive me to Georgia right then but I decided to stay in Boone. My grandparents called to see if I wanted to come to Charlotte, but I declined that as well. I sat in my room and just cried while my friends took turns taking care of me. 

That day changed everything about my life as I knew it and my entire family's. We had no idea what to do or how we were going to make it. Very, very long and complicated story made short, my dad was taken away from us for 18 months. 

I was sure my friends wouldn't stand by me and I just knew my boyfriend of 4 months was going to disappear as quickly as he had arrived in my life. Neither of these things happened. Christian was my rock (and still is) during the entire time. My dad is home and safe and getting back to life as relatively normally as he can.

That moment showed how much my family could handle, how much we love and will always stand by each other. It showed how much Christian loves me. And it showed just exactly who my true friends are. I hope no one ever deals with what we did but it changed everything and showed exactly how strong I am and how important and wonderful my support system is. 

My best friend, Kristin.
My rock.

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