Tag: Life

Currently…

Published on by Louise42 Comments

Let’s get into this life update, shall we?

Thinking about 100% of the time… selling the house. When the buyers (who’d put in an offer 2 days after our house was listed and had us cancel our first Open House) backed out of the contract K and I felt pretty defeated. We’re not discouraged, just let down. I promise we’re trying to bounce back and stay positive.

Working on… Chelsea and Ryan‘s 31 Days of Kindness! It’s not too late to join in!

Reading… four different stories at the moments… I’m making my way through Erin’s Challenge, slowly but surely.

Listening to… a lot of country music. Especially Kenny Chesney. He’s my feel-good artist of the summer. We saw Incubus & Jimmy Eat World last week so I’ve been mixing a little alternative rock in, too.

Watching… nothing really. I’m getting my film list ready for Jenn’s challenge and I just shared the Fall shows I’m looking forward to.

Loving… the cool evening temperatures around these parts. I sleep with the windows open when it dips below 70* and I love it!

Hating… loud neighbors, contrary house hunters, the p.o.s. potus, half-ass sunscreen, drama, stress, ticks, keeping the house in pristine condition for last minute showings.

Experiencing… summer concerts, races at Mid-Ohio raceway, outdoor parties and bar-hopping.

Planning… so many things. Bridal showers & Bachelorette parties, a potential lake-day, business trips for this fall & winter, a Halloween party (WOO!), Christmas gifts, etc.

Wanting… kayaks for the husband and I.

Craving… a fall getaway. I’m thinking maybe a girls’ trip, but I haven’t reached out to anyone yet…

Eating… cherries! I freaking love cherries.

Drinking… sweet wine or amaretto & rootbeer because my aunt-in-law has me hooked.

Looking forward to… being in a new house with some warm sunlit rooms and quiet neighbors 😉

Linking up with Kristen & Gretch for What’s New With You?.

What's New With You

Exhausting Musings

Published on by Louise33 Comments

I had a different post lined up for today but a) I just want to ramble and b) I haven’t quite finished it yet…

Last month I read ‘The Art of Racing in the Rain’ and it mentioned Formula One race tracks all over the US/world. One of those tracks is about two hours from me but we’ve never been there. Then, at the beginning of this week, my brother called and said his work gave him 8 tickets to the Indy car races at that track! I don’t know why, but it feels so cool to have read about the sport and the tracks, and now I get to go to one!

K and I are obsessed with Bravo’s Below Deck Mediterranean. We watch the new episodes on Tuesday nights and we know all the crew members’ backstories and we actually discuss the show. It’s embarrassingly satisfying. Hahaha.

I didn’t know it was possible to be this mentally and physically exhausted without the involvement of college, children, or holidays. July has 100% kicked our bootys- professionally and personally.

Our dogs killed a nest full of rabbits on Friday. The main reason this sucks is because 6 bunnies lost their lives. Secondary reasons this sucks are because a) I can’t tell if Enzo is moody or if he’s sick from noshing on bunnies and b) trash day is on Thursday… so our trashcan is not smelling its freshest and it makes the driveway area quite heinous.
*Fortunately the trash truck came today.

A few days ago I went to Starbucks to get K and I drinks. I also had a free reward. Well, they 100% botched mine. The guy scanned my phone at the window and then tried to hand me the wrong drink order. I corrected him and he blushed and admitted he was flustered and handed me the two I’d ordered (although one was totally wrong). Regardless, I asked if I still owned him since he only scanned for the reward drink. He shrugged and told me to forget it. Lol. I still feel like my experience was a win.

Guys. It’s so hot & I hate summer. (Don’t stone me- I’ve tried to like it, I swear.) I just want to sit in front of an a/c vent in a sports bra and underwear and drink icy drinks. (Let’s remember I live in Ohio. If I was a southerner I think I’d actually die.) Please, oh please let fall kick in early this year…

*My grandparents had a large in-ground pool when I was growing up. When they sold that house my hatred for summer was born. I know that makes me spoiled. Sorry.

At the end of August K is playing (in a band) with an Elvis impersonator. I don’t know why I find that so amusing (especially since he’s done it before), but I do. Also, it’s an outdoor concert at our local park and I’m really excited to fill a water bottle with wine and sit on the lawn and listen to him 😉

Ok. That’s all I’ve got. Tell me about your weekend plans! I’m hoping in the car with one best friend to go celebrate another best friend at her engagement party! Woot woot!

Chats with K

Published on by Louise29 Comments

Before we dive into our conversations… today is my parents’ 30th wedding anniversary! ❤︎ So I want to devote a paragraph or two to them real quick…

My parents are wonderful odd balls. (My brother and I got it honest.) My teenage years gave them (esp. my mom) a run for their money sanity, but as an adult I spend so much time with them. Mom and I still bicker sometimes & Dad and I shout over politics, but through the years I’ve learned so much about marriage and life from them. Honesty, forgiveness, understanding, and humor are the key ingredients to a happy relationship.

Bonnie & Clyde trying to steal the getaway-car thunder four years ago at our wedding…

So Happy THIRTIETH Anniversary to the animal-loving, garden-growing, child-raising, country-living parents that I’ve grown up loving and admiring. Fred and I are better people and better spouses because of you two. Thanks for everything! ❤︎

And now… a collection of random, weird conversations with the husband… 🙂

Me: You know… when I’m calm, I imagine these smooth-yet-wavy purple lines running through my body, carrying my calm energy to every limb. But right now I’m filled with these spiky hot pink and orange wiry balls just pulsing all throughout my insides because I’m so freakin’ anxious about all the things we have going on!
K: …your head is one f*cked up place to be, isn’t it?

In preparation for my garage sale…
Me: I’m pretty much done collecting stuff, but I wanted to ask if you had any shoes you wanted to get rid of.
K: No.
Me: …what about the ones in your office that you said you didn’t want.
*K glares at me.*
Me: So what you mean is ‘Yes, but I don’t want to take the time to look and weed them out.’

We’d been waiting almost two weeks for an important call…
K: Alright, Miss Cleo. You think they’re going to call today? What’re they going to say?
Me: Oh, Kyle. I don’t have that kind of foresight. I can’t predict when or how you’ll die, but I can predict that you’ll die.
K: Not me. I’ve hidden horcruxes everywhere. You’ll never get rid of me.
Me: …I so appreciate that reference, honey. But also I know two of them are the corvette and Lylee.

K was letting the dogs out and called me to the back patio.
K: This is either the biggest maggot I’ve ever seen or it’s the fattest, shortest worm.
Me: That’s a slug, dear.

Coffee & Conversation

Published on by Louise26 Comments

Hello, beautiful friends. It’s been a while since we just “chatted.”

First and foremost, can we sit inside? The temperature has been tickling 90 degrees and I’m just not having it. Is it before 10am? If so I guess I can handle outdoor seating.

If we were sitting down for coffee I’d probably smell a little like mint (Biofreeze) and look a little stiff. Tuesday was one hell of a day- then, to top it all off, I went home, vacuumed, and pulled a muscle in my shoulder. I’ve had back problems all my teenage/adult life, but my shoulder aches SO BADLY. Fortunately it’s a bit better than it was on Tuesday.

If we were having coffee I would talk for at least a half hour about last weekend’s Buckeye Country Superfest! I went with my best friend and my elementary school best friend. (We amicably went separate ways in our teens years but stayed distant friends and our parents are pretty good friends and, as it turns out, we still have a lot in common.) GUYS- if you like country music you need to see Miranda Lambert live. The rush of female badass-ery that flowed through the stadium was unreal. She was so, so good!

Also, Kenny Chesney puts on a fabulous show. There was one moment when I was dancing and I just stopped and looked up to the star-dotted sky and felt so happy and at peace and euphoric. (Yes, I’d been drinking. No, I wasn’t fall-over drunk.) It was just a really fun weekend surrounded by wonderful people.

That said, if we were drinking coffee, I’d admit that I’m still recovering from the weekend. Two nights of music and drinks and little sleep tend to do me in. I’m no longer the 21 year old night owl I used to be… The Monday morning drive and workday was rooough.

If we were drinking coffee I’d admit that I’m counting down the days until vacation. I’m also craving ice cream every dang day. And I’m currently reading The Sisters Brothers (sent to me by Erin)! And I think that about wraps up my life right now.

So refill your cup and tell me what’s going on in your life!

The Fruit & Flowers Anniversary

Published on by Louise34 Comments

According to the internet the 4th anniversary is traditionally the fruit/flowers anniversary.

(C)Ryan Armbrust Sniper Photo LLC

Every single anniversary blows my mind- half my brain can’t believe we’re been *married* so long and the other half thinks of the wedding as mere weeks ago. It’s weird but I imagine most people feel this way about big days/events (…right?).

When we got married I was transitioning between jobs. I’d just left my role as an administrative assistant and was due to start as a technical writer once we returned from our honeymoon.
Four years later I work for/with K at Pageantry Innovations ❤︎

When we got married K was working full time at Dr.Pepper/Snapple. Then he’d spend 3 to 5 to 8 more hours a night at the PI workshop (a.k.a. my dad’s truck garage). All weekends were spent at the shop.
Four years later K works full time for himself and he operates out of a 25,000 sq. ft. warehouse with five employees (including me!).

When we got married I still lived at home. The week after our honeymoon I moved all some of my stuff to our 475 sq. ft. apartment that K had been living in alone.
Four years later we’re very comfortable and happy in our two-story home.

When we got married we had one dog and zero children. We adopted Lylee the December before the wedding.
Four years later we are still human-childless, but we’ve added a wagging tail to the pack with Enzo. The dogs will be 6 (Ly) and 4 (Enzo) this year.

Taking our 4th pic sometime this week!

When we got married my hair was brown and I was a life-long nail-biter.
Four years later it’s blonde. Ha. And I’ve mostly quit biting my nails!

When we got married my brother was single and lived at home and K’s brother was dating a fabulous girl named Alice. I gained one sis-in-law (K’s sister Lori) at our wedding.
Four years later my brother is now married to Xtina and living two hours from home. K’s brother also got married (to Alice!) so I gained two additional sisters-in-law!

When we got married our best friends were either single and loving it, dating and loving it, or newly married and loving it.
Four years later a few of our friends have a child or two and some of our friends are engaged to be married this year or next!

Bridal Shower 2013 (inspiration below…)

When we got married K didn’t have a passport.
Four years later I’ve gotten that boy out of the country three times. Heck yeah!

So… regardless of the way four years feels, I’d argue quite a bit has changed. I’m a big advocate of doing life at the right pace for you, and I’d say Kyle and I are managing that. I feel very lucky to have spent the last 4 years as his wife and I am ridiculously excited to spend the next 100+ more right next to him.

Happy Anniversary, Kyle ❤︎

Things I Never Knew I Never Knew pt. 2

Published on by Louise56 Comments

While I consider myself to be intelligent and educated, there are obviously a bazillion things that I don’t know. And then there are a handful of things that I should know, but apparently don’t. (Like this story.) For your entertainment, I’ve collected a few of those recent revelations.

…we all understand the use of this gif, right?

. . .

‘The Beatles’ is a pun. Thank you, Chrissy Teigen.

. . .

The song “Fancy” by Reba McEntire/Bobbie Gentry is about a prostitute (and overcoming poverty). Which makes me feel weird when I groove to it…

. . .

Compton is not in New York. Or Detroit. It’s in LA. I HAD NO IDEA.

. . .

The song ‘Moondance’ is by Van Morrison. I definitely thought it was some old Sinatra song…

. . .

And there we go- a handful of things I should’ve know, that I didn’t, but I do now. I try to keep a running list of this stuff on my phone because every day is a lesson for me, ha. But I’m sure I’m not the only one… right…?

What’s something you recently learned that (you think) should’ve been common knowledge?

Last night was crazy…

Published on by Louise32 Comments

… yeah we tore it up again / Kicked off our shoes and went to bed by 9pm / We were balling and Netflix / We turned it up to ten / Last night was crazy…

Name that song… (Here’s the answer.)

I decided this post was happening 15 minutes before I left work yesterday. I was going to post about our trip to Texas but I didn’t have the pictures edited. I know some folks document their whole day, but this was a last minute decision.

4:30 pm

Time to go home. I prefer to grocery shop on Sundays but the NASCAR season started and my Sunday afternoons are now tied up. Instead, I popped into the grocery store tonight to get goodies for the week.

(Usually I buy enough for three meals. This week we have some evening activities so I skimmed the list down to two meals.)

5:15 pm

Once home I’m greeted by the welcome committee.

And then they expect me to play with them…

Typically I’d start dinner, but the local cantina changed up their menu and my parents invited us to join them for dinner.

6:00 pm

I swear I ate food, too.

Dinner at the JNG (I told you we always end up here…)

7:15 pm

Home again. Time to feed the dogs, throw the leftovers in the fridge, and change into not-real-pants. (#FavoritePartoftheDay) Now I’m working on this post and lounging on the couch with the husband and dogs.

I end up standing here throughout the evening… Someone always needs a potty break.

8:00 pm

The Voice is on. So I’m still glued to the couch. But now I’ve got some ice cream.

8:41 pm

A dog farted. It was Lylee. K and Enzo both almost puked.

9:00 pm

Technically The Voice is still on, but K’s show comes on (Gas Monkey Garage) so I bid him adieu and retire to the upstairs.

So… now I either crack open a book or switch on some Netflix (cough* Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries *cough).

10:00 pm

K usually wanders up to bed and we drift off to sleep watching Bob’s Burgers.

… 11:00 pm

Let’s be real. I’m usually still awake at 11 so I watch an episode or two of Family Guy. Then I finally fall asleep.

And there ya have it. I’m always curious to see what other people do in a day/night so I figured this might entertain some folks. Some days are a little more productive than yesterday… I squeeze laundry or dishes or organizing into my nights. Monday was pretty lazy because #Mondays.

What does your Monday usually look like?