It's in the air...

Fall! Football! Darker/richer colors in clothing, nail colors, lip colors!  Scarves!  Oh I am so excited I can hardly stand it.  Let's not forget the smells, too. I ran in Bath & Body yesterday and picked up a couple of their 3-wick candles in some yummy fall scents, Autumn & Leaves.  I love these!  I love the smell of the crisp apple and spicy scents in them.  If you are a sucker for fall, like I am, I suggest trying these scents.  I also love their Sweet cinnamon pumpkin, especially for my hand soaps.  I got the wallflowers in this scent, too.  It just puts me and my house in the mood for fall!
I am in search of a cute blazer, to fit my body right.  I love the way they look and what they can do to an outfit.  Y'all know I love my scarves, so I cannot wait to put some on daily!  I have a few "summer scarves" that I could be wearing, but for some reason, I haven't been doing so lately. I think I need to just get in my closet and pick out some tops for them. (Or maybe I need to go buy a couple more tops... shhh) ;)  Either way, I'm looking forward to rocking a scarf and blazer sometime this fall.  Let's not forget the cardi's and scarves.  I've started belting more tops, so I think maybe the boyfriend cardi, thin belt, clean laying jeans, scarf and booties will be a good look.  Why do I feel the need to explain my wardrobe to you?  I don't know, but did I mention how much I love fall?!?! haha!
Back to some football: I am (like the Jacksonville Jaguars' slogan says) "all in!" this season. I am on a quest to fill my closet and incorporate some Jags gear - "cattitude" as we like to call it here, like this super cute scarf.  Can't wait to rock it this fall!  Throw a black, white or teal top underneath, I'm good to go! I just picked up these cute shoes last weekend too!  I may need to get this top, too - and throw a black cardi over it w/some skinny jeans and platform wedges.  I love a good animal print.  What's funny is that it's "leopard" print but we call it "Jaguar" print in Jacksonville.  We own that.  It's just fun!  As for my Gator gear, I've recently purchased a super cute orange Michael Stars top w/dolman sleeves (couldn't find an exact pic of it, but it's pretty much like the one I linked, just in a brighter, summery orange).  You have seen the cobalt blue bubble necklace from my previous posts, that will go perfectly w/it.  Can't wait to wear it this Friday - College Colors day!!  I also snagged some tops on sale @ Old Navy, a blue gingham camp shirt & a light orange oxford shirt (along w/2 pairs of their $19 jeans - hello!).  So I'm getting ready.  I've got to polish my nails today in essie bazooka (that wasn't as orange as I had thought, btw).  Oh how I love it!  Flags for the car are ready, koozies are ready to hold a beverage of choice, and Coco has her collar ready, too.  Oh, I almost forgot to mention!  I signed Coco up for the Wiener Dog Race again for Oktoberfest in Savannah, GA.  I think I had mentioned that last year, just 2 days before the race, she had gotten terribly sick and we had to take her to the vet to get fluids, antibiotics, etc, so we didn't make it.  Poor little girl, she was so sick it was pitiful!  We think she had eaten something gross outside, you know, like dachshunds do.  So we're super excited this year, it's on October 6th, and we'll be set!  I'll have her in some Gator gear, don't you worry!  I had made her a pearl necklace/collar and fashioned a blue & orange grosgrain bow on it.  I have to keep her streamlined, though, so she can run and not be distracted.  If you search the site, you may find video of the previous years' races.  They are hilarious!
Well, hope y'all enjoyed all the links I've posted today... and hope that your Sunday afternoon is wonderful.  Pray for all those who went thru the hurricane & those that will feel it tomorrow, Tuesday, etc.  We're going to be fine over here in Northeast FL I believe, but we'll get some rain.  (and darn it if I never got my rain boots!)

xoxo

It figures!

Funny how when you have a horrible day (like I did last Sunday), something happens and totally blows the bad out of the water.  Or even just gets a little better.  Does this ever happen to you? It usually does to me, and this week it sure did!
So you remember how my rant on Sunday went, about just not feeling it, etc.  You may remember that we are in the process of shopping for a home?  I put an offer on a short sale home on July 3rd, knowing full well that it will take some time.  We had been thru it ourselves, and waited 9 months for the bank to approve the buyers' offer - after waiting maybe 2 months for a bite.  After the bank didn't accept their offer, we were crushed.  What were we to do now?  We ended up foreclosing on it, b/c it was just a mess.  We made out just fine, since the condo was in his name only.  (note to single people: you may really want to think twice before purchasing a home w/someone unless you are super serious about him/her.  If something goes awry, you or they are the only ones affected by the outcome. Just a word of wisdom, b/c Don bought the condo just before we got married, w/his name only.  My credit wasn't affected by the foreclosure, so this home, I am buying.  He will be on the title, but not the offer.) So anyhoo... It's been about 6 weeks or so, and my realtor emailed me to call him asap - he had news.  Turns out that my offer had been accepted -over the other offer!  omg... why there was even another offer submitted is beyond me/us.  Apparently the seller had a rookie realtor and he was not so smart about it, which led to a slight bidding war; we've been waiting this whole time to see which offer was going to be accepted first. And it was mine!  Yippee!!  So now, they are to submit it to the bank, to see if the bank will accept it.  If they do, sign my name one the x!  We're going to be waiting for 30+ days, but this is better news.  It means that we are closer to our dream of 1. owning a nice  home and 2. owning the home that we both love.  We've kept our options open, and have been looking all over, esp closer to my mom (she's only 20 min away, but to my mama, that's far! haha), esp for when we have a baby & we need her to come over. But we LOVE this house.  It seemingly needs only cosmetic updates, which my husband and his bro's can fix. Oh and paint (which my bro happens to be great at).  So that's where we are now. If you follow me on pinterest, you'll see that I have gone crazy with my "for the home" board, pinning the heck out of stuff.  I literally went thru each picture of the house and pinned things to do - built ins, bathroom sinks, storage, for each room.  We are trying not to get too excited, in case something falls thru, but praying that it will continue to go in our favor.  Who knows, our annual Christmas Eve dinner may be in our home!
On top of that good news, I'm trying really hard to pass the test of patience  My mama told me to really try (in regards to the pregnancy test etc), so I am.  I'm in a different place, and have decided to just wait a few more weeks before I start worrying about it.  Besides, football season starts next weekend --Go Gators!!  Don't forget to wear your college colors to work on Friday the 31st! I already have my outfit planned!
To top off the week, my husband and I had the most fun last night - no tv, just listening to music on pandora, rocking out and dancing, talking and being silly.  He's truly my favorite person and I'm so in love.  We even got real for a minute and talked about a one day baby.  Life is good.  Now I'm off to brunch with a girlfriend I've not seen in a while!  Can't wait!! I love this place, First Watch, bc the food is so fresh and clean.  Mmm....
Have a great weekend, y'all!!

xoxo

Days like this.

Ever have one of those days where you feel like you could punch a hole in the wall, without hurting your hand or nails? I may be frustrated, but let's not mess up the hands!  Or the kind where you go to do laundry in the garage and start throwing the mass of your husband's work clothes in large piles b/c they're all over the place, secretly wanting to throw them all away but you can't b/c you know he will come home and wonder where in the heck all of his concrete spotted clothes are... Yikes, I digress. Anyway, today is that day.  Why is it that it's on a Sunday, after church?  Shoot, I can't be the only one that experiences Sundays like today.  No, it's not because there is no football to watch, or the fact that I have 3 + loads of laundry to do, and have a ton of clutter all over my house (sorta) and dust bunnies all over the place, and bathrooms that need cleaning, and groceries that need purchasing, and oh wait, that's it.  Hold up, I know exactly why... So I'm going to lay it out for you.  Blogs are personal sometimes, and they are like a diary to some writers . I've shared some personal things with y'all in the past, so why stop now?

Remember that miscarriage I had - a year ago?  Even just saying, "a year ago," is emotional for me, because I would possibly have a little bunny to hold right now. However, that is in the past, scars are healed [for the most part], and life goes on.  We are trusting God to bless us again, and I've not changed my mind or thoughts whatsoever.  I do think I will stop saying, "when it happens, it'll happen," b/c that's just too cliche for me, and duh, I got it.  So anyhoo, for the last 3-4 weeks I've been taking ovulation tests - some that a girlfriend of mine recommended to me (from  amazon.com that worked for her and another girl).  I had gone for 12 weeks, yes 12 weeks w/out a . (May - July or something) So I finally got the green light and started taking the tests.  They were pretty spot on, in that the day I found out I was ovulating, or the LH surge, the lines on the test strip were obvious. What was kinda weird though, was that the date was about 10 days later than I had thought it would be, but I just figured my dates were screwy since it had been a 12 week break.  (Note: since I had the miscarriage, and began having a regular cycle, they were just that - regular; about every 4 weeks, which isn't bad.  Just that last time was 12 weeks, but I think it was the stress and over-thinking.)  So my husband & I had some fun the night before & after the day I got the positive LH test.  That's pretty much the way to hit it  (pun intended!) if you're trying for a baby.  Since technically I would've started my . already, I took a test.  I probably, no, definitely made a mistake in doing that just a week after, b/c it was negative. I'm not going to lie, a little piece of my heart broke.  I knew that it was too early to take it.  I mean, it could take up to a week to actually become pregnant, based on what I've read this past week.  So I brushed it off, and hoped for the best.  Again just this past Friday, almost 2 weeks later, I took another test.  Results?  You guessed it, negative.  Am I still too early?  My boobs are sooo tender right now! My back hurts.  You know what those are signs of in my body?  Yep, guessed it again, a .! But still, if I think about it, logic would tell me that I would only be 2 weeks pregnant, maybe.  Typically you wouldn't know until you're what, 5 weeks along, maybe 6?  So, as hard as it is to tell myself this, I am going to just ride it out. I'm going to wait to see if I start or not.  I've got like 7 more pregnancy tests in the kit I bought, as I'll have to just hold off.  Over-thinking it is wrong and can hurt me.  But tell me not to think about it, I dare you.  Tell me not to worry about just waiting.  Remind me that I have gained a lot of patience with some of the things that have taken place in my life - and our married life.  I know all of this.  I know God will bless us, in some way, shape or form.  He doesn't make mistakes; He doesn't say, "Oops!"  Everything is calculated to what He has laid out.  I  know all of this, but I'm going to be honest - it doesn't make it any easier.  When you want something pretty badly, and it's just not working out for you, it's not the easiest to accept.  It's like that saying, "Wanna make God laugh?  Tell Him your plans." 

Maybe it's time I really crack down on losing weight.  Maybe? Um, seriously.  I cannot get motivated.  Is God waiting for me to take care of myself first?  I have to say, that I've been emotionally eating these past couple of weeks. That's not the best idea... I don't even really like doing it, so I don't know why I continue.  I feel miserable and not even hungry! Crazy, I know, but not good. 

I close asking that you please don't think of this as me whining to you and saying, "poor me!" I am not. I assure you, I realize that things could be much worse.  There are many more girls out there that are going through things much more      serious, more heart breaking, more painful than what I am.  I don't want to downgrade that at all.  This is just what is  frustrating me today, and I wanted to share.  I pray for all of the girls that are hurting, and thank God that I am only going through something so small.  Really.  I love all of you that have lost full term babies, that are unable to conceive, that are lost and in pain.  I appreciate your strength and admire your ability to go on - even if you're hurting on the inside.  You are so precious in God's sight.  I only hope I can have an ounce of your courage and strength, on days like today, and everyday for that matter.  Note to self: chin up, buttercup!  

xoxo

ch-ch-ch-changes

Am I the only one that doesn't like the changes that blogger has made to the layouts?  OMG! I have spent probably an hour trying to look at my blog, and then I realized that it has been changed, and I can't fix it! You'll probably look at it and not notice anything different, but it's super different to me. Sheesh!  Not what I wanted to do all night.  I had plans! Plans to wash my hair, bathe Coco for our trip to see grandma in GA tomorrow, movies to watch, junk food to eat!  (I don't really even have "junk" food, but I can pretend.)  Oy!   I also had plans to post something new, but honestly, after all of this crap that I've been dealing with, I'm not going to waste any more of my Friday night on this. I act like I had major plans... lol.  I'm so crazy.
Did y'all know that it's supposed to be a full moon tonight?  I have rats in my attic. I will be watching 21 Jumpstreet again tonight. (It has quickly become one of the funniest movies I've ever seen!  I grew up on the real 21 Jumpstreet, so this is hilarious.  Spoiler alert!! Some of the real characters are in the movie.  Sadly, not Richard Grieco. haha) I hear something in the wall right now.  I wish I could release Coco in the attic & walls. She would definitely handle business.  But for now, she has to sit and stare at the walls.

enough delirious randomness............

xoxo

This was Monday's post...

But it's been hung up in my phone! So I'll keep it short & sweet!  (mostly bc I don't remember all I wrote and I can't open the post to look! Grr)
Ok so I got a much needed and desired pedi Saturday and chose essie's a crewed interest, a pretty, creamy peach.  I'm on a quest to try a new color each week, seeing how I have about 50 different nail polishes - no lie. Last week I had essie's smooth sailing (a pretty light blue w/shimmer).  So back to the subject - I got a little wild and decided to mani up! I put a few coats of a crewed interest on my nails and then used OPI's up close & personal, a pretty white/gold shimmer on my ring fingers.  It was cute! (And came off the next day... lol.)
What mani's are y'all rocking and what colors are you sporting for the upcoming fall? Football season is upon us, so I'll be rocking some orange & blues (Go Gators!!), and then I've GOT to figure out the Jaguar spots!!

xoxo

P.s. I voted yesterday! Did you?