Let's Get Real

We live in a world where everything is exaggerated. The images that represent the ideas are embellished, therefore giving us a sense of disdain for the ordinary and mundane. So often, I can get caught up in the "I will be happy when..." mindset.

It used to be that I thought I would be happy when I found the perfect boyfriend (at least perfect for me). Then, it turned to "I will be happy when my boyfriend proposes and I can start planning my wedding." And after I saw all of my newly married friends facebooks and blogs about marital bliss, I thought, "I will be happy when we're married and I'm the perfect wife."

I'll let you in on a little secret... I'm no where near being a perfect wife. And married life isn't always bliss. But marriage has been up on a pedestal in my life for years and years. It wasn't until I was actually in it that I realized that sit coms and movies shaped most of my ideas of marriage and I was too scared to let them go.

Because of that, Facebook and often my blog is only the representation of what I want you to think my life is like.

For every status that says "I just cleaned the house and dinner smells awesome. Can't wait for Hunter to come home," there should be twenty that say "I'm so tired of doing housework and inventing new dinners, this isn't always fun."

For every status that says "Date night with my hubby," there should be 33 that say, "Hunter and I are in an argument, sometimes we just can't agree on things."

And every time I have said I love being married on this blog, I should have also said, "This is much harder than I thought."

So often I wish we had more date nights or exciting outings. Last night I started to think about writing this because we did something that seemed mundane and ordinary but I treasured. We played Scrabble while watching Emma (I heart Jane Austen). Hunter doesn't like playing board games and Emma was not his first pick for a movie, but he did it for me.

Seven months in I'm learning to love the ordinary more and more and let go of the idealized view I had of marriage. A life of commitment means giving maximum commitment even when there are minimum results. I am so thankful that even when we are in the down part of life's ups and downs my husband gives maximum commitment to our marriage, even when it doesn't live up to his expectations, and even when I fail.

Love Loft

When i first got a job at Ann Taylor Loft, I was desperate. I couldn't find a job anywhere else and we needed more money. It was a good "place-holding" job until I got started with a career. I never expected to fall in love with the company, and much less with retail.

Fast forward four months and I'm getting promoted!!!! Turns out, I'm good at business numbers and I'm a good sales person. But when my job is to sell adorable clothes, it's not that hard. This past week I went to two interviews at two different LOFT's and got promoted to a sales lead at Stonebriar Mall. I'll have a further commute but this store is in a high traffic mall and I am excited to take on the new challenge. I am even more excited to be on the way to hopefully becoming a store manager one day.

Of course with excitement also comes fear. I have to meet and get to know a new team. I'm praying they like me. I have more responsibility in making our business thrive. Also, I'm scared I'll spend too much money at the Starbuck's RIGHT beside the LOFT.

Change is always scary and I'm learning to embrace it. For right now, I am so thankful that God has blessed me with a job where I have the potential to grow. A job I love and find joy in every day. I am so thankful He worked in a way I hadn't even considered.

So here goes... to a new adventure. I start on Monday...

Let me tell you about the last week

I didn't blog about our spectacularly romantic date a little over a week ago, but let me tell you why...

Right after we got home from dinner, a pain started on the right side of my jaw. At first, it was just a lingering pain. Barely enough to make me feel uncomfortable. By 10 PM my pain was so strong I had to go to the emergency room (that I secretly wished was more like Grey's Anatomy's ER) for pain killers. Vicodin and Penicillin didn't do the trick and I was back in the ER Sunday afternoon.

I desperately wanted to feel better for Valentine's Day. I could barely get up to go to the bathroom much less to cook a nice meal or clean up the apartment. I mustered up the energy to cut out a bunch of red hearts and set up the coffee table for our dinner. Then I ordered chinese, which I thought would be soft enough for me to eat.

Hunter came home with flowers, chocolates (that I couldn't eat), and a dozen cupcakes!!!! Thank goodness for soft cake and icing.

On Thursday I went in for a root canal. I took some happy pills and they put me on nitrous and it was the most relief I had felt all week. Hunter said I made up songs and apparently said some pretty mean things about Rhianna on the way to the dentist's office. Blame it on the drugs. While on the nitrous, I listened to Glee and had hallucinations of singing and dancing with them. Neither of which I am actually good at. Needless to say, I don't remember much from the first part of that day. But I do know that my husband took wonderful care of our home while I was "away."

I've been joking around that I went on the "my-tooth-is-killing-me-diet" for the past week and a half. Main food group: jell-o and apple sauce.

I survived. Yesterday was the first day I did not take a single pill. And believe me after taking on average 18 pills a day for almost a week, that felt awesome.

By the way that was not an exaggeration.

Valentine's Date Outfit Trouble

My job consists of putting outfits together for other people. And if you know me well enough, you'd know that I'm right at home in that profession. But for the life of me, I cannot figure out how to best style the dress I'm wearing on a date tonight.

Hunter and I haven't had many really nice dates, but God provided some extra money around Valentine's Day and our six month anniversary (wow time flies). And so, my hubby is taking me to the most romantic restaurant in Dallas, St. Martin's. It's a french wine bistro with the best creme brulee in the city. The best part is HE picked the restaurant!!! I just showed him a chic little black dress I wanted to wear and said, "Wherever we go has to be nice enough for me to wear this."

Well he outdid himself and now I don't know how to accessorize the dress. Here are my options... please someone let me know what you think!!!!

This is the best picture I could find on the internet of the dress, but mine is black.

I have the t-strap peep toe heels the model is wearing. They are one of my options for the dress my other option is...

But my real dilemma is choosing jewelry after I choose the shoes. The first heels look better with silver, the second with gold. And I don't want anything to take away from the "chicness" of the dress. Here's the necklace I had in mind...

It's a good thing I have to go in to work today. I could use some inspiration. I'll upload my finished outfit later tonight!

Reservations at 8...

Living Room Walls Are for Telling Your Story

Each week I'm going to give a sneak peek into our little apartment and the small ways I made it feel like home. I finally feel like I finished decorating minus a few things here and there. My favorite part of the living room is that now we have pictures displayed everywhere. In my opinion, photographs are the quickest way to make a space your home. Here's how I did it...

I love our beautiful print of Burruss from the Eggleston arch. It is hands down one of my favorite things in the apartment!

Aren't the little button jars precious? I got the buttons at Michael's. The bag was labeled "grandma's buttons."

Hunter can't wait until we get a bigger TV, but for now we're so thankful for what we do have.

Ice Day

Hunter and I had our second ice day in a row and I am so thankful. We very rarely get to spend this much time together because of his job. I also find it relaxing that on these days it is perfectly acceptable to not do anything but bake, eat and watch TV all day. We have no where to go, the streets are covered in ice.

Periodically we hear skids on the roads outside because the drivers are pressing on their brakes even though they are driving on sheets of ice. Do Texans not know how to drive in ice?

Today I baked cinnamon banana walnut muffins. Say that five times fast. I ate four of them and I am not proud of that. Right now Hunter is fixing chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese sandwiches to help my sore throat. He has his head phones in because he's watching netflix on his ipod. He can't hear the fire alarm going off, but can he not smell the burn????

Don't worry our apartment is not on fire. And I would have come to the rescue eventually had he not realized there was a piercing siren going off in our home. But I'm sick. I'm just sipping on my hot tea watching him cook from our bedroom. Keeping my fingers crossed for another day of closings... I want to make scones tomorrow.

Craft Much?

I get sad when things aren't decorated so it doesn't make any sense that I decided to decorate our bedroom last. My reasoning at first was that people saw the living room/dining room/kitchen when they visited. But truly we haven't had too many visitors so the room I SHOULD have focused on was our bedroom. I wanted to find something unique and inexpensive. I ended up walking around Michael's for two hours waiting for inspiration to kick in... and boy did it ever!

A little Deco Podge, some paint, a pretty silk peony, a couple pieces of card stock, and a spool of ribbon later and a masterpiece was born. Ok so it isn't a masterpiece but it's pretty darn cute. Don't you think?