Lets Talk About... Marriage

Kelly's Korner is talking marriage today, so I figured I'd link up! 
I'm by no means an expert on marriage. E and I have only been married for almost 7 months, so we're still getting the hang of things, haha! So, instead of advice, I'm just going to shoot for talking about what I've learned so far on this journey.

Patience.
Oh I think that's the biggest! Can I just tell you how unbelievably stubborn I am??  I have zero patience... especially when it comes to men. I swear, if he leaves his clothes BY the hamper one more time I'm going to freak, haha! But... I've been trying to learn to be patient with him and appreciate the great things he does for our family.... and let the 'small' stuff slide.  I've also learned a lot about 'appreciation.' I used to feel like I had to DO things to receive love... to keep someone in my life. But now I've learned that simply telling my husband how much I appreciate the things he does for me or Tayler goes quite a long way! It's amazing how he'd rather hear, 'Thanks for working so hard today!' than me bring him home a surprise from the store. I never knew words could go such a long way, but they do! 

We had our first baby in March and we found love on such a deeper level. He watched me give birth. I don't think it can get any more intimate than that :) I saw a different side of him.... that 'father' side and it was beautiful. I love watching him interact with Tayler. He changes her whole world when he walks through the door!
I love that man more than I could EVER imagine loving someone. He is my very best friend. I've learned so much by becoming his wife.. and I'm excited to learn even more in the next 50+ years!

Project 365: Day 35- July 21st (And Project 52)

Tayler turned 16 weeks old today! It's hard to believe that 16 weeks ago, I was holding a 6'3 oz, 20" long baby girl in my hands. Now?

She's 15.6 pounds and over 25" long. How crazy is that? I just can't  believe how fast these kids grow!! In 16 weeks, she has gained over 9 pounds and has grown over 5". Imagine if adults grew at those numbers consistently? haha! No wonder she can be fussy :( Poor baby! She's also started these 'teething process.' She doesn't have any sign of teeth yet, obviously, but she's definitely gettin' the ball a'rollin! And she's grown to LOVE her thumb.. She was sucking on it while watching 'Little Einsteins' yesterday. It was freaking adorable! She even giggled at the show. hehe!  Then we went to the ball field to watch Papaw play some ball! :) Here is the big girl and Gigi watching! Doesn't she look so grown up here??

 And I got some snuggle time with Bryn. Isn't she tiny? I can't believe my baby was once this small!

Happy 16 Weeks, Tayler!
Cheers!

Project 365: Day 34- July 20th

We FINALLY had a lazy day today... halle-freaking-lujah. (Is that saying 'pc?' haha!) 
We laid around the house and caught up on our DVRed shows that we LOVE from Tuesday :) What are those you might be wondering?
Pretty Little Liars
101 Ways to Leave a Game Show
America's Got Talent
Tosh.0
Good stuff.

And we all played with Tayler. She makes the day fun regardless. She loves standing up holding things now. Of course, she can't pull herself up, but once we stand her up... she thoroughly enjoys it! :) 

 

She's huge, right? Okay-- not compared to a 6'3 man or anything, haha, but just compared to how little she was when she was born! Crazy talk, people!
And guess what else?
She tried 'oatmeal' for the first time last night.... ever. We mixed  2 tablespoons of oatmeal with 4 tablespoons of her formula. That was some good stuff. Well, not at first-- she spit it out haha! But after that, she really got the hang of opening her mouth and saying 'ahhh!'  :)

We're still working on getting it in her tummy instead of her chin... haha!

Don't you love that face? haha!
Cheers!

Buying a House.. OH MY!

Buying a house is STRESSFUL.
Oh, I know. Complete shocker, right? I'm so freaking gullible, it's insane, haha! I think everything is just black and white.. crisp and clear. How wrong was I!
I'll say this one time and one time only... no not really. I'm probably going to reiterate this TONS of times..... people (and when I say people I say MOST realtors and salesmen..) are manipulative and materialistic. Now, if you're a realtor or saleman out there, please don't take offense... that's why I clarified 'most.' And I'm not usually this pessimistic, but mercy.
They are heartbreakers. They dangle things in front of you, give you hopes, then take that hope away with one quick wave of their magic 'i have the house that you want but can't really afford' wands. Boo on them, right? 
I know our budget. I know our prequalifying score. And I also know that this world has prices immensely screwed up.. or I guess not prices. How about 'values?' Grr. $139,000 for a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house with no central air and no basement? No thanks! Goodness gracious. Once again, no offense to the sizes of anyone's house. I currently live in a 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath house and I LOVE it. It's just.... I don't think this house we saw was worth that amount. Or how about calling a house and setting up a time when we could see it, telling them we're only approved for 'x' amount, and them telling us that since it's $4,000 LESS than their asking price, they don't want us to even come out to see it.
It hurts. We're a young couple. We're just starting out. We want enough space to really start our family. And we can't even catch a break :( 
I've heard over and over again to be patient, but it's not even like we WANT something right now... we just want a goal.. something to work towards, you know? Good thing we got pre-qualified or I doubt ANYONE would help us. It took that to even get a realtor to call us back. I just wanted to tell them-- 'No, we aren't preapproved YET, but please just hear us out -- hear our dreams.' I guess it's just the world today though. The drive is money, not helping others get to a good starting place in their life.
Alright-- enough of that venting. Now on to the good stuff. 
I'm trying to plan the decorations for our NEW HOUSE (in Jesus name!) How I want it to look, the improvements I would want to make considering what our new house looks like...
Our bedroom? BIG-CITY THEME. That's right. I wanna do it big, haha! I want to try and get a giant mural on one side of our wall of NYC or Paris or London... amazing! Tons of black and white. Classy, but fun! 
Our bathroom? (Hopefully we can have one, haha!) I want it to be Zebra Striped-- that's right-- stickin' with the whole black and white theme. We doin' it right, ya know! :P
Kitchen? I WANT A BISTRO! That's darn straight folks! The gorgeous wrought iron table, an island with bar stools to serve the kids breakfast in the morning... *sigh*
Living room? I'm gonna stick with our browns, tans, and teals :)  I have all of those decorations saved for a good ol' rainy day ;)
Tay's room? That's already figured out. Hot pink, black, and white polka dots!
The kid's bathroom? Something fun! Rubber duckies perhaps?
One day... 
one day...

Project 365: Day 33- July 19th

We ran MORE errands today... again.. poor Tayler! Eating on the go again! :( But she's a total trooper, haha! Once we got home, I made 'breakfast casserole' and then we got ready for Papaw's softball game :) It was a REALLY late game tonight (talking 8:30PM!) sooo we got prepared with everything we might need-- blanket for Tay, extra clothes (in case it got cold which was highly unlikely considering the heat index was 103 yesterday-- I'm still that crazy, paranoid lady!), bottles, formula, diapers... and we hit the road. Tayler spent some time with Gigi because she hadn't seen her all day long! 

 

She loves her Gigi! :)
Malorie even snuck in some time with her, haha! :) It was BABY CENTRAL there last night.... no kidding! Audra had all 4 of her kiddos there, Malorie had all 4 of her kiddos there, another girl had 2 kiddos, and I had mine, haha! Yea, it's a little wild, huh? :) 

 And look at this face, haha! She's so freaking cute.

We got home kind of late... like wayyyy past Tay's usual bed time, so I got home, gave her a bath, got her ready for bed, fed her a bottle, rocked her to sleep, put her to bed, then climbed into bed myself so I could watch ALL of the shows I've saved onto my DVR since Sunday. Just haven't had time to watch any of them! One Tree Hill.. Secret Life.. How I love you :)

Project 365: Day 32- July 18th

I was already prepared for Monday to be a BUSY day. We had to meet with the mobile house consultants again.. plus meet up with some other individuals concerning land, etc. Whoo! So, E got up, we had some breakfast, and we hit the road! I feel so bad because it seems like we're never home anymore.. which means Tay is constantly eating on the road, bless her heart. I told E we've got to pick at least 1 day a week where we are just relaxing. This poor girl is getting worn out. (Including this momma ;))

But before leaving the house, I had to put an idea I had for Scentsy on to paper.. err.. computer :) I wanted to host a 'Scentsy Consultant' contest for the month of September. Here are the conditions:

I know some of you ladies have expressed an interest in becoming a Scentsy Sales Consultant and I also know that what holds most ladies back from becoming a Consultant is that $99.00 that must be paid in order to receive your starter kit (which comes with some AMAZING things that are a necessity for building your business :))

So, here's the September Contest:

I will go half with 2 different women in order for them to start their Scentsy career which means this-- I will be paying $50 and you will be paying $50.00 (plus shipping and taxes which are about $16.00) . It's as simple as that!

So, a little about this contest.

First, I want to know that you are going to take pride in becoming a Sales Consultant. Our team is the key to growing your business--- sharing ideas, sharing questions, sharing concerns. We build our team, we build our business. It's as simple as that. Which is why it is SO vital that we have a strong team... a team that will work hard, sell, and host as many parties as possible. (And don't worry-- you can have basket parties, online parties, home parties, and open houses...) I typically host a party 2 days a month... the rest... well, Scentsy sells itself!

If you are seriously considering becoming a Consultant and would like to win the $50 to put towards your Scentsy Starter Kit, here's what you need to do:

- Submit a photo of you supporting Scentsy in some shape or form. You can be sniffing the product, lighting a warmer, holding up a sign... be creative! Then we will have voting on those pictures. This shows that you can be creative with your business and that you know how to spread the word to others!

- Along with your photo, submit a paragraph about yourself and why becoming a Scentsy consultant would be beneficial to you and your family, why you think you would do a good job, etc. Remember the key is to BE CREATIVE! :) You want to attract individuals to your photo/paragraph to where they HAVE to vote for you ;)

The two women with the highest number of votes will win $50.00 each to put towards starting their Scentsy business. It's as easy as that!

I will need these photos and paragraphs by August 31, 2011 so you have about a month and a half to work hard and get as many ideas as you can! The voting will begin on September 1, 2011 and the winners will be announced on September 16th, 2011-- after that, we will work together to get you signed up to be a Scentsy consultant so that you can start working towards your goals! We will tell the people voting to vote on CREATIVITY and WORK ETHIC.  You have a great deal of time to work towards this as well as a great deal of time to raise the money to put with your $50.00. I would take advantage of this offer because most consultants have had to pay the entire $99.00 plus shipping and taxes. But believe me-- it was worth it! I love my job and I love feeling like I give something to our household income. What I've found is the harder you work-- the more money you earn. Would you like to join me today?? If so, please send me a message, a comment.. anything! I'm so excited to have 2 other people join me on our team!

I even made a cute little picture posting the next 2 contests :)

Check out www.facebook.com/alyssbayscentsy if you're interested!

After that, we hit the road! :)

We like to have fun... our kids are in for it LOL :)

We must have reallllllly wore Tay out today. This is her getting ready to go in to Tla Que Paque...

Tuckered out! She slept through the whole meal too LOL (which was yummy by the way :))

When we got home.. there was a surprise waiting for me :)

MY DIPLOMA FINALLY CAME!! :)

I completed my Master's Degree in Education on April 11th and finally have proof. I think my husband was beginning to doubt that I actually did any school work, haha! :) Well--- now, he can see it :) I feel SO good seeing this!! It's so amazing. Now... to find a place to put it! :)

 

And check out my daughter and the cool thing she's doing now--

Yea, yea, yea.. she's still basically supported, but I'm not holding her, haha! I'm so impressed :) She's getting so big! 

Project 365: Day 31- July 17th

Sunday, I assume, wasn't a very productive day because I have no pictures of the morning, haha! We have had such a busy past couple of weeks.. it's no wonder we did next to nothing, LOL! :) But we surely made up for that in the evening, folks!
Mom and I went grocery shopping. Since we moved in with them, it's been a different experience planning the groceries for the week. I'm used to our $40.00 budget.... haha! And it's a little more extensive now with all of us living here! :) But the dinners are out of this world as are the desserts ;) On the menu for this week is going to be: chicken alfredo and garlic bread, taco bowls, breakfast casserole (I have that recipe if you'd like it!), beef and noodles with mashed potatoes, and pizza. We've got to have an easy meal thrown in there somewhere, haha! And I'm going to make some chocolate pudding this week with reeses cups, a no-bake Oreo dessert, and no-bakes. Yes, we have a personal trainer that lives here.. and yes, I bake this way all the time, haha! :) My hubby needs that energy at night while he's working ;) 
Tayler is a HUGE fan of grocery shopping.... obviously..

It must be pretty relaxing for her, eh? :)
And everyone always says 'You know you can hook that onto your cart so she's not actually sitting IN the cart right?' and I do know this, but I don't trust it. I've read entirely too much about those flipping over and stuff so no thank you, haha! :) I just put her in the cart and we get the shopping done in another one! It's simple and I feel much safer doing it that way! Nothing against anyone that puts their children on the top of the cart..it's just I don't want her up there :)
Once we got home, we unloaded the groceries, and I painted Tayler's toe nails :)...... they're GLITTERY! This was SUCH a rough process because I was absolutely brilliant and did it while she was awake, bahaha! Silly me thought that would be a simple task. But they do look cute ;)

Then Tayler went to sleep in her big girl crib :) and I curled up to watch 'Bridezillas' and 'Amsale Girls' :) It was 'Amsale Girls' Season Finale... I was heartbroken. I LOVE that show! :)

Cheers!

Project 365: Day 30- July 16th

Today was our family reunion :) I LOVE family reunions and it was even more special this year because it was Tayler's FIRST family reunion! YAY :) We were giggling because no one knew I was pregnant last year (I didn't know either because I was only like 2 weeks pregnant, haha!) The way the timing worked... I wasn't pregnant last year and showed up with an almost 4 month old daughter this year. Yes, that was slightly confusing for those that didn't keep up with my life, haha! 'I didn't know you were pregnant..' Yea... I didn't know either. SURPRISE! lol! :) But we had soo much fun! We participated in a corn hole tournament, there was tons of food, and karaoke! :) Here's E, Tayler, and me:

We're a happy family, hehe! :) 
The decorations were adorable too:

Even though some of them kind of made me mad because they started tearing down like an hour into it. I thought I was going to have to twist people's arms to keep the fence up so we could get our pictures in front of it, haha! I know I shouldn't have been so invested in simple decorations, but it was Tayler's first reunion. I wanted pictures of it, darn it! :)
Ethan wouldn't let Tayler go most of the time. He misses her a lot with his whole working midnight shift thing, poor fella.

Aren't they adorable. Those are my heartbeat right there!
Once we got home, we headed to our home town where our storage unit is to get all of the things to decorate Tayler's room at my parent's house. It's finally carpeted and painted, so now the REAL work began, haha! :) And this is the final result:

We LOVE it and I think Tayler does too! ;) Thanks mom and dad for everything!
Cheers to Project 365!

Project 365: Day 29- July 15th

Friday we had a meeting with Mid West Homes to look at our NEW HOUSE! :) It's finally all coming together!! God is sooo good to us. I just didn't 'feel' any of the houses we had been looking at. (You know what I mean?) You just get that FEELING. Well, we looking at the manufactured homes here... and guess what? we fell in sweet, sweet love with one of them. We'd seen it online and loved it, but seeing it in person made it that much more real! It was breathtaking!

The Classic-- 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms :) The kitchen is everything I could have imagined! It has an island where barstools can be.. and the sink is attached to that part! :) Mmmm! My favorite! We have enough room to have a study/library because I LITERALLY have like 150 books in storage... I'm ready to have those out where I can see them, hehe! Tayler can have a huge bedroom... her own bathroom. We'll have our own bathroom with a big tub. We have a utility room with a sink.... and we can build a basement. I'm literally in love! Just be in prayer with us about land. If we can find a place to put it, we can be moved in my Christmas! OUR DREAM!
After the meeting, we went to a Scentsy party at our friends house! :) It was sooo much fun! Ethan tagged along and took care of Tayler-Bug so I could focus on hosting the party. Such a sweet hubby! 

 There's Gabi trying to climb up there too, hehe! :)
We had a great time and the party was a success! Thanks everyone for coming out! :)
Cheers to Project 365!