What's Up Wednesday | October

Well.. I'm back again to this lovely blog space of mine. I haven't been here since the last What's Up Wednesday post. I was just telling my mom on the phone that I'm in some kind of funk and can't seem to get  myself back in a normal routine. But who am I kidding, it's football season and we don't really have a 'normal'. I don't even know what it's like to have a normal routine anymore.. except for working 8-5. Everything else it just a fly by the seat of your pants kinda thing... which I hate.

Thanks, OCD personality. Sigh.. Nonetheless, here I am again with a Wednesday catch up and I'm hoping to start making more posts again but I can't make any promises.

Shay | Sheaffer | Mel 

• What we're eating this week...

Monday: Crockpot Ribs, mac and cheese, and squash

Tuesday: Sloppy Joe Pie and sweet potato fries

Wednesday: Mix and Match Mama's Apple Cider Pork. I went home for lunch and it smells amazing

Thursday: Probably leftovers. Tate goes to the JV games and they are away this week and there's no fast food to just grab and go, so it'll probably be leftovers.

Friday: Football Game... we eat out.

Saturday: No plans

Sunday: Pineapple grilled chicken and zucchini.

• What I'm reminiscing about...

Well, thanks to Timehop, I'm reminiscing about Brylee's first Halloween. Just look at my sweet little ghost!

And then, also thanks to Timehop, look at that baby standing all on her own. And she was only about a head taller than the coffee table. Now she's a little over 3 foot and a complete sass! Ahh.. all these sweet baby moments. I need another.  

• What I'm loving...

My Rodan + Fields! I've always struggled with acne. It started realllly early for me, long before it should have. I've tried so much. Prescriptions, drugstore products and high end products. The last thing I tried was Clinique's Acne line and it did okay, but I was still having constant breakouts and it did nothing for my cystic acne. I finally bit the bullet and messaged Erika at A Little Bit of Everything and she set me right up with R+F's unblemish line. I'm three weeks in and currently have two spots on my face. Two. Yes, two!! After 15 years, this may be the stuff, y'all! 

• What we've been up to...

 Well, since we last talked

We've gone to the State Fair and had a blast.

Went to the Homecoming Parade. Welcome to small town life. :)

 Brylee got to join Tate in it.

I started painting Brylee's room and bought paint for the living room and our bedroom. Here are the before (before we even moved in) and during.. I don't quite have an after yet.

We had pink pancakes.. just because.

Had family pictures made. I'll share more later. :)

Played in the puddles.

Went to a Halloween carnival. Props to my friend Linzi for doing this with Brylee!

And, football. Always football. :)

• What I'm dreading...

 Well, a month ago I was dreading painting the wood paneling in the living room. Guess what? I'm still dreading painting that AND now I've decided to whitewash our fireplace. Here's why... we went to pick out the colors for the living room, Brylee's bedroom and our bedroom. The last two were easy, the living room, however, we couldn't agree on. I wanted a sandy brown and Tate wanted grey. I just knew grey wouldn't look as good as he imagined but I let him think so and we bought a sample. I was worried the grey wouldn't look good with our fireplace so I painted the area right next to it. Guess what? I was right. :) The color is pretty, but it's all wrong next to the fireplace. So, after much debate about it, I looked up ways to paint fireplaces and have decided to whitewash it.

I'm not quite sure what I've gotten myself into. Has anybody else ever done this? Thanks pinterest!

• What I'm working on...

 What am I not working on should be the question, but most importantly I need to work on Brylee's Halloween costume. Yes I'm aware Halloween is this weekend, but I'm quite the procrastinator and my best work is almost always done last minute. I have everything I need, except time. Ha. Last weekend she went as Rapunzel but that's not her actual costume. 

• What I'm excited about...

This weather. It's finally starting to feel like fall here. I actually wore boots and sweaters three times this week! 

• What I'm watching/reading...

I haven't had any down time to read. Watching? Ha on that too! I've "watched" things like The Voice and Dancing with the Stars while cooking/cleaning/laundry. On the occasion that a favorite happens to dance (uhhh like Nick Carter) I do actually sit to watch. Yes, he makes my pre-teen heart happy. :)

Last night, I did have the game on, though.

If your curious, I do have some down time at work and that's where I blogged today. Except pictures. I waited until I got home to download my pictures here.

• What I'm listening to...

Thomas Rhett on Pandora but I'd be lying if I said I didn't listen to Christmas music today. 

• What I'm wearing...

Currently, this. Excuse my mirror. It's the only full length mirror I have in this house. That's on our 'to do' list.

haha.. I love that I can wear my sweats. I change into comfy clothes the minute I'm home. I don't care if I'm only going to be home for 30 minutes, comfy clothes, y'all! These are my favorite and unfortunately Nike has discontinued them. But, today I wore this.

Y'all, this shirt is everything. It is my current favorite. I may have actually squealed when I opened the package. It's from Pearl and Monroe and Jessica has such cute stuff! I'm too tall for it to be worn with just leggings, but it rocked with skinny jeans!

• What I'm doing this weekend...

We have big Halloween plans this weekend! 

• What I'm looking forward to next month...

My best friend's baby shower, finishing my Christmas shopping (60% done), and enjoy every bit of Thanksgiving. 

• What else is new..

This. This is new. 

I never sleep in! I'm always up before my alarm clock but remember from the top of this post, I'm in a funk. Sleeping in happens to be part of that. This was the first thing I saw this morning on Instagram so it must be a sign. I'VE GOT TO START WAKING UP EARLY AGAIN!

Apparently spelling is also part of this funk. It took me way too many times to spell sleeping! What? I'm losing it, I tell ya!

• What's my favorite Thanksgiving recipe...

My pumpkin roll. Seriously so good. 

Recipe to come later. 

Hope you had the best day!

Leah.

What's Up Wednesday | September

Well, Hello lovelies! I had no intentions of going so long without blogging, but life happens, right? Last time I wrote, we were in the very early stages of moving. We spent the entire summer looking for a house, trying to decide whether to rent or buy, and moving from south Texas back to west Texas. It was a beautiful chaotic mess but that's the glamorous life of a football coach for ya! :) I didn't even know if I wanted to start blogging again, but to be honest, I really enjoy it. 5 followers or 1,000 followers, to me it's my own little escape, something I can do to share thoughts, feelings, or updates! So, in trying to play catch up, I decided no post would be better than linking up with Shay, Sheaffer and Mel for a What's Up Wednesday post!

1. What we're eating this week:

 Let me just explain something first.. we moved to a small town. Tiny. We have a small (and I mean teeny tiny) Walmart and a local grocery that has all necessities but not a lot of variety so I have to go to San Angelo or Abilene (40 min drive) to get groceries. Joys! We were out of town over the weekend so I went shopping on Monday night which meant drive thru Rosas for dinner. If you're from west Texas, you understand. Here is our weekly menu (there's a Mix and Match Mama recipe on there, too):

2. What I'm reminiscing about:

Our old houses. I have a love/hate relationship with the fact that we will move around a lot. Each house we've lived in were made our home for that period of time and each hold their own memories. The plus side to living in multiple houses is that when we do get settled for a longer period of time I will know EXACTLY what I want my house to be like. So far I have a list of things I love and hate about the way each house was built. :)

3. What I'm loving:

I recently bought a ton of new fall clothes; some have made it and some have not.  Here's some of my favorites of what has!

Toms Booties

Altar'd State Plaid Dress | Infinity Scarf

4. What we've been up to:

 Football, Football, Football and settling into our new home. Brylee's bedroom and our dining room are the only rooms that are finished, and I say finished very loosely. Things are put up on the walls and everything is where it belongs, but painting definitely needs to be done.

5. What I'm dreading:

 We have a ton of updates we want to do to our new home but first thing on our priority list I'm sooooo dreading. PAINT. WOOD. PANELING. It exhausts me just thinking about it. We could take it down but there isn't sheetrock behind it so a painting project would turn into so much more and since we know this isn't our 'forever home', we don't want to spend that money on it. These pictures were taken before we moved in, but as you can see.. wood paneling everywhere! It'll be a project that's for sure.

6. What I'm working on:

My best friends baby shower and Brylee's 3rd birthday party! The shower is in November and Brylee's birthday is mid-December but I wanted to get ahead of myself so when these next few holiday's come up, I can completely enjoy them without having to worry about completing anything else. Hallelujah! I'm doing a Gingerbread House theme for Brylee's birthday and Rachel is doing a Tribal them with those colors in the nursery. I'm in love with both.

7. What I'm excited about:

Getting my new Keuirg! Unfortunately mine broke during the move and I've reverted to an 'original' coffee pot. However, this is headed my way. I don't know if I'm more excited about the fact that it's bigger than my old one or that its white! I'm in love.

8. What I'm watching/reading:

 Watching: Dancing With The Stars, The Voice, and Football, lots of football! I wanted so badly to watch Grandfathered last night but forgot to set my DVR! Dang! Maybe next week.

Reading: I'm in the middle of reading Someone Like You and when I'm finished with that one, The Nightingale should have arrived at my front door. :)

9. What I'm listening to:

Rod Stewart on Pandora. My mom will be so proud when she reads this. :) Hi mom.

10. What I'm wearing:

Currently, my VS jammies. These to be exact.

11. What I'm doing this weekend:

Well, I just got word today that Tate is off for the weekend so we are leaving for Dallas Friday night and going to the State Fair on Saturday. We don't really have any other plans while we're there and sometimes that makes for the best time. I can't wait. Brylee will love it.

12. What I'm looking forward to next month:

All the fall things! And yes, I was singing it like Blink-182's All the Small Things in my head. :)

13. What else is new:

When we first found out we were moving, it was decided I would go back to work. I had been staying home with Brylee for almost a year and wasn't sure how the transition would be for me, not her. She is very social and loves to be around other kids so I just knew she'd love 'school'. SHE HATES IT! Well, hold on, she doesn't hate the school, the kids, the teachers, etc, but she hates me dropping her off. I can stop by randomly during the day and she has the best attitude. When I pick her up she tells me she had a good day playing and having sleepovers (nap time, ha!), but dropping her off, whew, that's hard on both of us. She just cries and cries, tells me she wants to stay home with me, and one day even asked me why I didn't love her to stay home. broke. my. heart. She's too young to understand why she has to go to school and I pray and pray that it gets easier on her. We're going on 6 weeks, y'all. This was on her first day and she was so excited, until I dropped her off.

14. What is my favorite Halloween tradition:

Well, we don't have one yet! We've only had 3 Halloweens with Brylee, each year being in a different place. I'd like to start some kind of a tradition with her, though. Maybe a spooky dinner before trick or treating. We'll see.

And Wednesday, that's whats up! Hopefully there won't be another long blogging break after this.

Have a great day friends.  

Leah

Oh hey, May!

7 days later! Ha! I decided in April that I would do an 'Every Hour On the Hour' on the first of every month. I tried. I really tried. I reminded myself on Thursday that I needed to take pictures every hour and even set an alarm. I was so excited to do another month and guess what, I forgot! So instead of doing an every hour post, I figured I'd just do a weekend recap. Makes sense now that is four days past the weekend, right? Scratch that, this is a Life Lately post with May goals.

 Let's back up a little bit... I got in so late Wednesday night and didn't plug my phone in to charge so it died in the middle of the night. I woke up late on Thursday, was supposed to have my dog to the groomer by 8 (at this point, yeah right!) and then headed to meet Tate to look at houses in San Angelo by 10.

I woke up at 9:30. Called the groomer and was told to bring her at 10:30. Called Tate and we decided that since either no realtor wanted to talk to me or they didn't have anything available it would be a wasted trip to drive there if I didn't have any homes to look at. So, I got ready super quick, had Dustee to the groomer right at 10:30 and met Stormi and Jackson for lunch at one of my favorites, Casa Ole! 

These two seriously missed each other and neither of them could decide what side of the booth to sit on. 

When the food finally made it they had to sit right next to each other to eat.

After lunch I had to run a few errands. I went to Dillards to get Tate a tie and a wedding gift. While they were wrapping my gifts I decided to go get my mom and Janis (Tate's mom) a Mother's Day gift since we won't be there for that. Next was Target to get a wedding card and Mother's day cards. While I went to Target I decided to track my steps...haha I cracked up at this. Considering I was at Target about 15 minutes before I started tracking, I'd say I walked about 3/4 mile just walking around. 

My sister planned on having a BBQ at her house that night so we met her at Walmart to get my mom a cake and some flowers. These two fought over who was going to hold the cake and at one point even had it open. Crazy kids. 

Friday morning I met Janis and Tate's aunt, Detra, for lunch and then to help decorate the church. Brylee practiced being a flower girl and played the piano while singing. It went right in with her reading the Hymns at Tate's other cousin's wedding rehearsal in March.

That night at rehearsal these two did so good! Although neither one would look at the camera at the same time, nothing new. These two missed each other so much also. They really stick up for each other and I hope that is something they will always do. 

Wedding day as arrived! Janis and I went to a brunch with the bride that morning and then to finish up some last minute details at the church while Brylee got some one on one time with Tate. He got her to take a nap (sweet princess wouldn't have been so sweet at this wedding without one) and then we got her ready. 

 She was super concerned about the glitter that got on her hands. Ha!

These two had so much fun at the wedding. They are seriously some dancing fools! Rachel and Skyler's wedding here, Lance and Lyndsey's wedding here, and Ross and Lauren's wedding here: 

I don't think they stopped once, unless it was for a Play-doh break. :) The next day B was telling me her feet 'were broken' from all the dancing. 

I got my phone out to take a picture and Tate did this. Typical him.

But I was able to get a good one. I'm so glad I get to do life with him. 

Sunday morning Mickey Mouse while I got ready and loaded up the car to make our long trip back home. 

My mom's house is on our way out and she kept our dogs for me. I went by her house to get them and my sister was working outside in their yard. Brylee was excited to ride the tractor with Uncle Jack.

Finally, we are home and the packing extravaganza has begun.

Brylee is just as much help today as she was 9 months ago! 

May Goals:

1. Find a house and pack: We still haven't found a house. We've Tate has looked at a few and hasn't been impressed with any of them. Some seemed to be great houses online until you actually get in the house. As far as packing goes, I'm slowly getting things done. The office, half of the closet, and decor in the bedrooms, dining room and kitchen are packed. It's harder packing this time because I have no help with Brylee. I pack up one room and she tears up another. 

2. Find a job: I'm looking and there are quite a bit of options for me but my dilemma is not knowing when I'll be moving. I haven't applied for any, but that is my plan for this week and hopefully someone is willing to work with me. 

3. School for Brylee: I've got it narrowed down to three different pre-schools that I want to check out. Fingers crossed one of them is perfect for her. 

4. Pediatricians, dentists, etc.: This was an issue we had here in McAllen. With us not knowing anybody there were no 'word of mouth' references for anybody. When we finally did meet someone with kids their pediatrician wasn't accepting new patients or they didn't have an opening for 4 months. I know a few more people in San Angelo with kids so I'm hoping I won't have that same problem there. 

5. Don't skip a TIU day: I'm very proud of myself that I haven't skipped but a couple Tone It Up workouts and meals. Being back home for a wedding was a little challenging but I didn't do too bad. Six more weeks to go for their Bikini Series challenge. 

6. Plan a vacation: With us moving it needs to be something small and fairly cheap. We moved in August and Tate left in July so we haven't had any kind of date or trip since last summer when we went to Lajitas. We're due for another one, I'm just not sure what yet.

7. Amber's BBQ Shower: Along with moving, I'm planning a 'sprinkle' too. My cousin decided that since this was baby #3 we would just do something small. I saw ideas on Pinterest for a "Baby-Q" so we are doing a Backyard Barbeque at her house. I'm so excited for baby Westen! :)

Happy Thursday, y'all! 

Leah :)