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 :)

Random Thoughts

I'm taking a break from watching TV. Ha. I was supposed to be with Tate looking at houses this weekend but we had a change of plans. Hello Leah. You have dogs. Who is going to watch them for you? One of the coaches usually does but he had plans this weekend too. So here I am, at home, while Tate is house hunting for us. He did excellent with the house we are in now and I'm not looking to move like next week, but the sooner we find something, the better. We will more than likely (haven't talked details over with the landlords) be out of this house at the end of May and if we don't have a house yet I will live in Odessa or Abilene with family and Tate will be residing in the coaches office on an air mattress. Lucky him. I cleaned my house earlier this week so I would come home to a clean house when we got back (I know I'm not the only one that does that, right?) so I'm actually quite bored. I do have things planned for Brylee and I in the coming up weeks but nothing was planned here this weekend.

See... randoms! On to some more. 

• I thought my spider adventures were over. I woke up this morning to find a spider in the sink. I turned on the water and sent him on his way. I moved the computer to the guest room and will continue to leave the computer in there. 

• I'm dreading packing. When we moved here Tate left me to pack up alone. Thankfully I had family there to help me keep Brylee. Here I have no one. I'll have Tate here some weekends and will introduce him to packing. Any tips to make this process any easier? We will be moving a lot due to him being a coach so I'll take any advice you have.

• Speaking of packing and spiders... I could start packing but I refuse to get in the attic and get the boxes out. I can almost guarantee there is a spider up there. Probably an entire family of them. No thanks!

•  Brylee is becoming super sassy and I'm finally coming to terms that she gets it from me. I see this as some type of payback. I'm talking hands on her hips shaking a finger at me sass. Oh my goodness. 

• I say 'hot mess' a lot. Probably more times a day than anyone should. I've also realized I say 'stop it' (bachelorette fans, think Andi), 'Cool!' (as in being sarcastic about something), and 'all kinds of crazy, stupid, fun, etc (as to like describe that something is very crazy, stupid, fun, etc).  I've said all that for as long as I can remember but I'm now noticing just how much I say it thanks to the 2 year old that repeats me.

• I think it's absolutely ridiculous for someone (realtor) to talk to a potential tenant (me) about scheduling an appointment to view homes and then decide to go out of town. I talked to him last Thursday and he told me to call back Monday after I had a chance to talk with Tate about when we wanted to view a house. I called him Monday (2x), Tuesday (2x) and Wednesday once. I left a voice mail each time. The second time I called on Tuesday I asked to leave a VM and then talk to another realtor. That other realtor came on the phone and said this guy was out of town until Monday but she would check her schedule and get back with me. Guess what? She never did. I totally get if he had an emergency situation and wasn't there, but I would have thought that the people he worked with would know his situation and quit sending me to VM each time and try to work with me. 

• Which leads me to this.. why can't someone return a phone call? I get it. I'm sure there are plenty of personal phone calls I haven't returned but when it comes to something work related, shouldn't you call them back? Not only would it be respectful to do so but isn't that your job? I totally get being busy and all, been there done that, but sheesh! 

• Why do people think it's appropriate to leave you kid in their underwear in public? I'm talking like 10-12 year olds. Brylee and I went to the park earlier to get out of the house and there is a splash pad there. I'm not even kidding, about 8 kids were running around in their underwear! The park was packed, too, so it's not like you had the entire splash pad to yourself. Accidents happen, sure, but to 8 kids?? That when you pack a swimsuit and/or a change of clothes. I can maybe see this happening to a toddler aged kid but not one that should know better. 

Annnnnd, that's all for today. I'm sure I've had plenty more thoughts running 95 MPH in my head today but these just stood out.

Tomorrow is Friday! :)

-Leah