catching up

Well, January bites the dust. 

So little time but so many amazing things going on. January has been really fun, honestly just a really solid start to 2017. This month has been super busy but busy in a really good way. I've really settled into my job, found a good balance, and just enjoyed the little things that have happened which is exactly what I want to do this year.

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Recruitment. Sorority Recruitment.

A lot of people don't like recruitment, I was always the weird one that looked forward to it and loved it. I always felt like you lived and breathed recruitment when you were an active sister, going back as an alum really solidified that idea. It resembles that feeling that you have on Christmas morning and the genuine suspense. Very happy that I was able to spend some time with my very favorite girls, they had an amazing outcome, and their hard work paid off. 

I miss having these girls 2-5 minutes away or only a text across the hall. The convenience of being at school surrounded by 50+ of your favorite people is something that I definitely overlooked at the time but miss the most now!

 

My babes. 

It is hard to believe this was over a year ago.

 

Baby Quinn arrived!!!

I wouldn't really classify myself as someone who adores kids, everyone knows that. It isn't that I don't like kids I think it is just that I haven't had much experience around them being an only child. I'm sure I'll like my own just fine I'm just not a huge fan of stranger's babies. I can also say that the older I've gotten the more that has changed and now having friends have their own babes has made my heart a little softer. 

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't counting the days for Q to arrive. After much anticipation baby Quinn finally entered this world after making us wait long past her expected due date. You have no idea how loved you are already, you are so beautiful, and I cannot wait to spoil you rotten much to your Mom & Dad's dismay. Your Momma is one of my very favorite people and boy are you lucky have parents as amazing as yours!

Cannot wait to watch you grow Q.

Reading. 

I love to read but I always find reasons not to. 

I've picked up more books this month than I probably did in all of 2016 and boy does it feel good. I've been trying to read at night when I get in bed rather than watching TV and it is fun, it is fun to escape into something else for a little while or to find some inspiration after a long day. 

With so much hate and negativity on the television and social media right now sometimes we need to turn it all off and remember the good things in this world.

 Poppie. 

This man, I couldn't love him more. He keeps me on my toes, reminds me that I am far from perfect, and always lets me know if he doesn't like my outfit but some of my favorite memories are with him. He reminds me that success doesn't come from anything but hard work and it is isn't something that happens on it's own. He also enjoys a Costco pizza with a glass of wine, obviously we share the same last name.

Someone posted this picture of Main Street in Farmville on Facebook today and it made my heart so happy. I can't tell you how many times I've walked up and down this road from Ruffner to our apartment. I miss my time in this little town, it truly is a magical place that doesn't compare to anything else.

I've gone to the same place to get my nails done since I was a freshman in high school and I've always gone to the same person, Vy. She is amazing and a frequent texter of mine, she has the biggest heart, she cracks me up, and she's always up to date on my life. I'd compare her to a therapist.

I'm not really sure how it happened but somehow Izzy and I ended up at Mindy's house for Vietnamese New Year last night, well it was fabulous. I mean this is what most 22 year olds do on a Saturday, right? The food was amazing and they sent us home with leftovers, I love any reason to not have to cook. I was telling someone about it today and I realized that when you've known someone for so long they kind of become just like family. 

An unexpected evening but a ton of fun with some of my favorite people!

 I mean they had cake, if you know me you know that I was completely sold.

Impromptu visits are my favorite, friends that you can talk to everyday but go two weeks without and pick up right where you left off are also my favorite.

Cupcake dates with this girl will always be a fabulous way to end a weekend, see you soon Al gal.

 

The countdown begins until my view is similar to below, looking forward to some much needed time away celebrating some of my favorite people!

Cheers to Monday!

2017 & photo dump

2017. 

Someone randomly asked me a few weeks ago when I graduated from high school and just like second nature I said 2012. It took a second to register but it hit me that was 5 years ago, I don't think it really hit me until I said that out loud. Time goes by so fast, you blink and you're talking about something that you did 3 weeks ago.

Anyways, onto the moral of the story here. I'm not making a New Years "resolution" this year, I somewhat think that resolutions just set you up for failure and mine are never realistic...for example one year I gave up Diet Coke for 3 days, you see the trend (I also apologize to my roommate during that time). I've decided to set some goals, things to work on, and little changes I plan on making but a major one is just to be content.

I want to focus on being thankful and happy for where I am along with what I am doing in the present. I'm SO blessed, I think it is easy to forget how fortunate you are and just like anyone else my life is far from perfect but it is also pretty damn great. I like to think I'm a motivated and driven person but sometimes I find that I'm so focused on the future and thinking ahead that I forget to stop and enjoy the moment I am. Everyone tells me that these years are the best and I don't want to miss them thinking about what lies ahead. 

So 2017, I want to live you to the fullest and enjoy all of your moments, I want to take a step back and breath it all in, as I know that this year to be filled with amazing adventures. 

 Cheers to you 2017.

 

I flew home to Richmond last Wednesday night, pretty much early Thursday morning after so many flight issues. Anyways, I came home to much cooler weather. That is one of the things that I love about going to Houston during the holidays, the warmth and the sunshine. I live for the sunshine and a tan, it was a nice little recharge to get me through some of our cold days ahead. 

I also spent a lot of time on the street that I happened to grow up on during my visit. 

My Grandma still lives next to the house that I grew up in and my time there is so very precious. Her house is really one of the only places I have vivid memories from living in Houston and the fact that visiting her at 22 is still one of the highlights of my trip says a lot to me, I couldn't love her more.

This street, those houses, and the sound of her hardwood floors take me back like no other. 

 While our neighbors are definitely extra I'm also overly curious as to how they got their lights so perfect.

 A few iPhone pictures from our day trip to Waco.

The day we decided to go was literally the only rainy/cloudy day during my entire trip but it was still so great much to the opinion my Dad would probably give you!

I might have a slight obsession with a Mexican restaurant in Houston known as Gringos. 

If you ever go to Houston it is a must eat on my list. I'd be lying if I said that there was anything super fancy about it but I'm also a sucker for barbecue ranch salad dressing. Take my word and go if you're ever in the area, get the soup and salad. I might have gone 5 times in a 16 day visit. 

It was a great trip, one I always look forward to. 

I love getting time with my Dad just the two of us, time like that is few and far between and I know that will only continue the older I get. The older I get the more I also realize how much my Dad and I are alike. I catch myself saying or doing things that stop me in my tracks and I think "holy crap I am my father" but this also makes me very proud. I couldn't think of anyone else that I would like to be like, minus the road rage and channel flipping skills (I know you read this occasionally)

But there is nothing like coming home to your own mattress and pillow. 

But I came home to snow. 

A lot of snow, we got around 5-7 inches depending on where you live in Richmond between Friday and Satruday.  Not my cup of tea but I suppose everyone should have a snow or two per season. 

I'm talking temperatures in the single digits, it may or may not have been 4 degrees outside when I woke up this morning. 

July, where are you?

But, I wouldn't want to spend it with anyone else.

 Who needs a man when you have Izzy to shovel your sidewalks??

And last but not least!! 

I headed to Kroger tonight to pick up a few things and I was browsing in the produce section only to look up and see one of my favorite people! Papa was doing his grocery shopping too,  it was a pretty good surprise for a Monday.

xo