married bliss.

hey beauties! man, I am struggling with the blues this week. I apologize for the late in the day post. I hope to brighten up tomorrow.

So my goal was to do this last week when it was actually our anniversary but not being able to blog pushed this one to today. I understand that a year of marriage is hardly anything to brag about but I am proud of us and also see where we need to grow so I just thought I'd give y'all an insight to the first of year of marriage and my goals for the second year. We are always open to advice and realize our flaws so please let me know what helped you guys at the beginning of your marriage.
This is us. We are the same and we are VERY different. 

[how cute is he?!]

 [yes I'm eating pizza right before my wedding!]

 

I think that's what makes us work, we aren't too much alike but in the areas that we are we don't butt heads. We are both into anything athletic. We both enjoy humor, even when it is not appropriate. We both like car rides and talks. So that is some areas where we are alike but today I am sharing some of the differences and some things we learned in 1 short year.

1. Holidays will always be complicated. I did think with marriage it would be a little more cut and dry, it is not. Families have expectations, I had expectations, Tripp had expectations. It was not easy. I don't think we've figured that out yet either. If y'all have a set scenario that works in your marriage, please share!

2. Time takes effort. When you're dating, you take significant time to see each other and care for each other. When you're married and around each other everyday, I don't think I realized how much effort I need to intentionally put into my husband. It is not something that just happens, I need to intentional put my phone down, get dressed and go places with him giving him my full attention.

3. Marriage does not mean slaves. You think wife..cooking comes to mind, cleaning, caring for the family. I have realized that being a servant to my husband does not have to necessarily be in that manner. Cooking is not my thing y'all, I very rarely enjoy it and we live in the world where the husband and the wife works. So I find that serving Tripp in other ways is how I feel led. I don't think it's my job to make sure he is fed when we are both working, I do think it's my job to serve him by attending work events and that's just one example. I think it's different for everyone but I have learned that being a servant can be taken in many different ways.

4. Family means two. I think that a lot of people in our lives have a hard time of considering Tripp and I as our own family, being that we are just two people. We are currently on the fence about having children so I feel that we should really respect and have boundaries with the family that we are now and whatever we may plan on being. I find myself being very protective the longer we are married in the small family we have currently.

5. Marriage has ups and downs. Understatement of the year?! When we were going through marriage counseling, our counselor really stressed how there are phases in every romantic relationship. The Enchantment Phase [nothing could get better, basically he is romeo and you are juliet], the Disenchantment Phase [could he be more annoying? could she nag more?] and the Maturity Phase [you are realistically in unity]. We had been dating for 4 years so I did understand this but buddy, marriage has just solidified it. I thought that he meant, years like an enchantment year or even months, but this is a day by day thing. You have to wake up every day willing to work and choosing to love and it is hard some days, wow is it hard!? Then some days you wonder how it could get any better?! Marriage is a crazy, fun, terrifying, hard thing y'all.


Y'all have any tips for the 2nd year. Bring them on friends! I hope y'all can relate to some of these.

See you tomorrow for What's Up Wednesday!

What's Up Wednesday

wowwww have I missed y'all!! I love being back in the blogging world and I want to assure you that I will not do that again [it was seriously an emergency and I'll let you guys in on that tomorrow when I show y'all what's been going on this week]. So put my normal Monday & Tuesday's on a pause for this week and let's just pick right up for "What's Up Wednesday" where I'm linking up with my favorite bloggers to join in on there last Wednesday of the month adventures.

 Just a reminder of the questions we go over.....[link up with us too!] 

What We're Eating This Week.....
 I mentioned that this week has been crazy for us [we literally ate cup noodles for two meals one day] but this was my favorite purchase from my most recent grocery run...

This with chips or carrots is my favorite summer snack right now! [during the summer we LOVE anything with lime!]

What I'm Reminiscing About...
Thinking about how relaxing [minus a few events] this summer is compared to last summer! 
This Summer.... we're like

 
What I'm Loving..
The warm air and soaking in the time I get to see my husband because that changes August 1st! 

What We've Been Up To..
Well I was gonna update you tomorrow more but we got a call Saturday while in Atlanta that my grandmother was being rushed to the hospital with some bleeding so I've been chauffeuring different people back and forth to the hospital and she finally got to come home today and Tripp's grandmother is still there[for about 3 days both our grandmothers were on the same floor in the same hospital]. In between chauffeuring, we cut the grass today in 104 degree Alabama heat! 

What I'm Dreading..
Returning to work tomorrow, working a customer service type of job - people aren't always the most understanding of having to take days off [even if it's a family emergency].
 
What I'm Working On....
I'm deep cleaning my house this week in between work and everything else...it's a pretty big dread because it is a bigger ordeal than expected! The slip and slide party with my family is scheduled for Saturday, right now it is predicted to storm but we are playing it by ear.

What I'm Excited About...
Honestly, after getting my grandparents home from the last hospital ride last night, I was just excited to have life go back to semi-normal [getting back to you guys!], regular work schedule, exercise, etc. 
 
What I'm Watching and Reading...
The trainwreck that is The Bachelorette.... #TEAMSHAWNB

Currently not reading anything but I am thinking about starting this...

What I'm Listening To..
I read about this podcast on buzzfeed {link: here} and tried it out. LOVE IT! She gives tips on how to live an all around healthier life [starting the 1 minute rule asap!].  Listen to it and let me know what you think. 

What I'm Wearing....
I had some serious generosity showed to me this past week. One of my readers read some of the posts about my brother and asked if she could spoil me with some of the shorts I had posted a few posts back. I seriously could not see how I could accept this offer but my mom told me that I shouldn't take this sweet lady's blessing away. 

So she sent me a sweet e-gift card and I was able to get a few of the shorts posted [some were sold out.]  I got...

 and a few more things! I'll show y'all Friday! 
 
What I'm Doing This Weekend...
We started a small group at our church this past Friday night so we have that to look forward to, as well as the Slip and Slide Party on Saturday! 

What I'm Looking Forward To Next Month....
Tripp and I are taking our mama's on a relaxing beach trip the week of our 1st anniversary! We had several trips last year just the two of us so we thought we could get these girls away with us this time. 
 

What Else Is New.... 
I went to the dermatologist a few weeks ago and left y'all hanging on what happened, well she put me on one prescription pill and two creams for it. She said it could take from 3 weeks to 3 months [I go back in to see her in September].  I really enjoyed my experience at Village Dermatology and I feel like so far [2 weeks in] my skin is looking better [which isn't great but BETTER!]. I posted the two creams she has me on and they haven't been irritating me at all [unlike any washes, creams or toners I have tried thus far]. 

Check back tomorrow for a post about everything going on this week!

What Are You Doing For The 4th?...
We haven't decided yet but I did ask to watch the fireworks on the local lake in our area so hopefully we get too! Our town has fireworks downtown but nothing beats seeing them on the water. 

 

our little lives lately...

Another Thursday edition of our lives lately...This past week{end} was busy with working, family and friends [[please keep Tripp's grandmother in your prayers, she was rushed to the hospital this past week]].

 The weather has been beautiful during the day lately [the alabama heat is NO joke tho, y'all]

Adventures of Tobes [We cut grass Saturday & everytime I would take a break, Toby would be in another spot in the house]

Sunday- We spent the day with most of Tripp's fam at the zoo. Seriously so fun getting to see our niece and nephew enjoy moments like that!  

{butterfly garden}

{me and my girl on the train #forgivemyappearance it was SO hot}

{we had to send this pic to my mom, DEBRA'S monkeys}

 

{poor elephant was missing his tusk}

{ice cream after a long hot day!}

{Uncle Al came over Monday, these two are always quite odd couple-y}

{Tripp wearing my eye mask while we take a nap}

 {walked into work yesterday to this mess which I did not make}

{my office which I clearly couldn't even get into yesterday}

{after tobes eventful day, he was in pain with his back so this is after a couple of pain meds}

That's all we've been up too lately! What about y'all?! Tune into tomorrow for Friday Favorites!

what's on #5 with a side of exciting news!

I'm dragging this Monday morning! 
It's week 5 for my What's On series and it is wish list. I went over a few of my wish list items on Friday, shorts and shoes so add those to this list too! 

My needs {wants} {{wishes}}...these are the big items I'm dreaming of {I dream big, y'all}

I have always had a hand-me down dryer but one of these days I'm gonna get me a spankin' brand new one and this one is at the top of my list. I do think hairdryers are really important to keeping your hair healthy and I want long hair so that is a priority. [Did I justify it enough?! ha!]

 Tripp and I started biking as y'all can see in a few previous posts and we are currently using two bikes my brother and I had growing up like more than a decade ago...#thestruggleisreal

This is me dreaming REAL big, I love sectionals and these LOVESAC's are amazing. I dream of the day when Tripp and I can actually sit or lounge together. The furniture we have now, Tripp got for free {so no complaints}. One day when we purchase furniture, we will be looking at sectionals. Right now, the way our house is arranged it could hold the second small one but the first one is too big for our current living room but a girl can DREAM! 

 With the biking we've been doing, we've been looking into other adventures. Kayaking is definitely next in line, we've found out that as much as it cost to rent two for a few hours, we could actually just buy two and it will be cheaper so add two of these babies to the list! 

Also, paddle boards! Before we even think about kids, we want to do as much as possible so we've looked into these too. 

I've always had like the $4 ear phones from Ross or TJ Maxx but I purchased these for my husband for his birthday and he loves them. I wore them while I cut our grass this past weekend and it is pretty envy-worthy how great you can hear with them! {I would want a different color, obviously!}

And of course, some clothing wishes to end this post...my question with the last dress is HAVE YOU EVER LIVED IN THE ALABAMA HEAT?! I love the flowy-ness of it, but hunny, I would die wearing that in this heat! 

And some activewear wishes! Enjoy! All of these are from Forever 21 [wallet friendly!!!] 

What is on y'all's wish list?! I need some more ideas! 

PS. For some exciting news, Tripp and I received some an invitation to be GODPARENTS to our friends, the lovely Moore's baby girl [coming in August!] and we accepted [of course!]! We could NOT be more excited, appreciative and just overwhelmed with joy that someone would consider us for such a big role in their child's life. Sydney is about to have her world rocked with love! 

PSS. You can tell we didn't know we were going to be asked by how great we looked, right?! #forgiveus