Life Updates

I know, I know. I'm slacking in the blog department. Honestly, I have several posts in my head...posts about marriage, faith, a Saturday night at the camp house...I just need time to sit and write. I hope these quick updates will hold you over until then.

First I want to say THANK YOU  to my sweet blog friend, Tiffany, who sent me a little something to congratulate me on my new job. Opening and reading her sweet card put a huge smile on my face! Thanks, Tiff!

So, life updates...

- Life is good. Brandon is continuing to work hard at his job, and we are finally starting to somewhat get used to his schedule. I shouldn't even use the word 'schedule'. He's here for a few days, then he's gone for a few days. He's in Dallas for a few months and then Oklahoma for a few weeks. There's really no rhyme or reason to it. I've just learned to go with the flow. When I tell people about his job, and how often he is gone they say "I don't know how you do it." Well, I don't either. I think the only thing that helps is knowing that it's not going to be like this forever. It's only temporary. That's what I keep reminding myself.

- As far as my job goes, I'm still getting used to it. The schedule, itself, is an adjustment. I'm working Sunday through Thursday, 3:00pm to 11:30. It's not the best, but it's not the worst. I'm starting to get used to sleeping later, which was actually hard for me at first, and waking up at 8:00am and not going back to sleep 'till 2:00am can make you {or at least me} crazy.

I'm also adjusting to working at another facility, a facility that does things a lot differently than what I'm used to. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail, but I will say that I have moments, days even, when I feel very frustrated. That's when it's helpful to come back to my office and read this:

It's something my mom gave me when I was in high school, and I've carried it with me through every stage of life since then. Mom, I bet you didn't even know I still had it! It is a great reminder, and something I will be reading often.

- I'm headed to Austin this weekend to run in the Color Me Rad 5k with my sister. I've heard it's one of the funnest {is 'funnest' a word?} races, and I can't wait to show you pictures!

- I finally stepped out of the stone age and into the world of Instagram. I only follow a few people {four, to be exact} but I love it! If you have Instagram, find me! {@emrenken} And if you don't have Instagram, get it. Then you can take super fun pics of what you eat when there's no groceries in your house, like me!

{#starving #unhealthychoices}

- One good thing about my work schedule: Today's my Friday! Haha, hope you all have fun at work tomorrow! Don't worry, you can rub it in my face on Sunday when you're all at home relaxing. Seriously, have a great weekend! And thanks for reading, friends!

Life Update

- Have you noticed anything different? I'll give you a hint: it starts at the top of this page. It's my new design! I've been playing around with it for a while {I have a secret 'practice blog' that I've been using to try out new designs}, and I finally created one that I'm happy with. It would be a lot easier if I had Photoshop or InDesign like we used for the yearbook in high school, but I don't, so Microsoft Publisher it is! If I keep blogging long enough I may give in and pay someone to do it, but I don't think I'm there yet. I will do my best to get the new tabs at the top up and running soon!

- I need to apologize for the lengthiness of this post. I should know by now that if a post takes me that long to write and edit, it's probably too long. It really should have been three different posts. Bear with me. I'm still learning. And if you did start to read it and either lost interest or ran out of time, I encourage you to go back and pick up where you left off. At least read the piano bar part. That's the best part! And if you make it all the way to the end there may or may not be a fried s'more waiting for you. Yum!

- Next up, the garden! Oh, the garden. I think it may have died at one point? I'm not really sure. For about a month or so it completely stopped growing. I was watering and fertilizing, and it just wasn't growing. At all. And some parts were starting to turn brown. Then out of no where it started growing again! And one of the plants even has blooms now! So we will see. By the way... My dad's tomato plants are taller than I am, and my PaPaw has them randomly growing out from underneath his porch. He calls them 'volunteers'. I call it not fair. I think just his presence makes tomato plants grow. *Thanks to our sweet neighbors and their boys for watering while we were gone. If we ever actually get tomatoes we'll bring some over!*


{Notice the ones on the right are a lot smaller than the ones on the left.}

- I haven't updated you all on my running progress in a while. I'm still running, just not as often as I did before the 5k. When we got back to Corpus {after Brandon working in Dallas for three months} I was so ready to jump back into yoga. Finding a good balance between running and yoga was tough at first {I was trying to add yoga without cutting back on running, and I wasn't doing either one successfully}, but I've now fallen into a routine that works for me. And even though I haven't ran in another actual race, it just feels good to know that I could if I wanted to.

- I haven't done a fantasy football update for two reasons: 1. I don't want to bore you. 2. I have actually lost interest, myself. The first few weeks were exciting, but after that it's been the same routine every week, and I just really don't care anymore. I'm still the owner, but I've hired Brandon as my manager {he sets my line-up each week, with my input of course} and my dad as the head coach {he keeps up with how my team is doing and gives me updates}. It's a system that works for everyone. Oh, and I beat Brandon this week.

- Lastly, if you haven't seen Pitch Perfect GO SEE IT!! I've seen it twice. And I'm trying to think of who else I can take, so I can see it again. It's that funny!



I hope you're having a great week!!

Blogger Dilemma

I've been thinking a lot about what kind of blogger I want to be.
It's been almost a year since I created this little site, and I feel like it's time to reevaluate.

I am amazed at how many options and choices there are in the blog world.
I am also surprised that I can actually connect with other people.
There are even blogs out there with hundreds of thousands of followers.
Crazy, right?

There are guest posts and giveaways,
blog hops and link-ups.
There's photos, vlogs, comments, emails, friends, followers...

It can get overwhelming.

So I feel like I need to make a choice.
What kind of blogger do I want to be?
What do I want my blog to become?

Do I want to continue to blog for me, and only me?
Do I want to branch out and become bigger part of the blog community?
Should I link-up every now and then?
Do I care that I only have eleven followers?

Right now,
I don't know.

What I do know is that I love to write. 

I love having an outlet, both for my creativity and my emotions.

I love telling stories,

and I love being able to look back on those stories to relive days, moments in our lives.

Maybe one day I'll have one of those big-time blogs.
You know, the ones with awesome blog designs and professional looking photos.
But for right now,
maybe this is enough.

Why thank you, thank you very much!

Yesterday I got an email from Tiffany at The Austin Family Diary saying she had nominated me for a little blog award. I was so excited she thought of me! If you haven't been to her blog, go check it out!

After reading a few of Tiffany's posts I quickly realized that we are the same person. We have so much in common, and I have really enjoyed getting to know her via blogs and emails! Thanks again, Tiffany!

Here are the rules for this award:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you

2. Include a link to their site

3. Include the award image (above) in your post

4. Give 7 random facts about yourself

5. Nominate 15 other bloggers for the award

6. When nominating, include a link to their site

7. Let the bloggers know they have been nominated (email, twitter, etc)

7 Random Facts:

1. I am a teeth fanatic. Seriously, I'm a bit paranoid. I wore my retainer at night until I got married, and only stopped because my husband made me.

2. I love pizza and could eat it for every meal.

3. I love wedding planning.

4. I hate smacking, HATE it. If I feel like I know you well enough, I will ask you to stop.

5. I am a complete grouch when I get too hungry.

6. I hate making decisions, especially big ones. And I always second guess myself.

7. I love ice cream, especially at places like Cold Stone and Marble Slab.

Amaretto with coconut mixed in, or birthday cake/cake batter with rainbow sprinkles = YUM!

Nominations:

Some of these blogs are much bigger than mine, and some are just getting started {like me}, but they are all on my list of daily reads. Enjoy!

From Mrs. to Mama

The Chronicles of Ruthie Hart:

The Small Things Blog

Lovely Little Things

The Dressing Room

The Magnolia Pair

The Hinton Hook-Up

Keeping up with Kennedy

Forever Young

Happy in Life, Young in Love

Little Miss Momma

Baby Wyatts

Life with the Beverly's

Mrs. Alana's Miscellany

The Life of a Southern Wife

Writer's Block

It's been almost a month since my last post. It's not that I haven't wanted to write, because I have. But everytime I sit down and click 'New Post' I dont know where to start. I've had so many thoughts running through my head lately, and I can't seem to sort them out in a way that makes sense.

Brandon's job has kept him busy, and I am continuing to sub. I've had several classroom 'firsts' and am learning with each job what I like and don't like about the classroom. We've made new friends, tried several new restaurants, and seen a few good movies. We spent an afternoon at the aquarium and are contemplating planting a garden.

Life is good. I just haven't felt like writing about it. But this is just a phase, and I will be back to blogging soon.

Happy Monday :)