"I Love" Sunday v.71

Hello dearest Dreamers,

I hope this post finds you well!

Happy Sunday!!

** I picked up my books for my new classes on Monday. I started getting things ready for classes. Thankfully my coworker had a calculator for my College Algebra class... that was a money saver! Classes actually started on Wednesday. My first class was Critical Thinking at 0800. That teacher is very informal and full of way too much energy! He's got a thick accent which makes him hard to understand, but I do like his class a lot. My second class, College Algebra, is split into two sections : Lab and Lecture. The Lab portion is nice because it is optional and gives us time to work on our homework and he's there to answer questions. The Lecture is frustrating because he talks way too fast and it's hard to keep up. Most of us haven't taken math in more then 3 years, so it's a little difficult.

** We ordered shirts for the band and they will be ready this coming Friday (the day of our next show). I can't wait for them to be ready!

** I finally got my appointment scheduled with optometry for new glasses. I've been waiting for this appointment for a while, because I need new glasses, so I have to have an exam with the VA. I don't understand why appointments are spread out so far.... but I will take what I can get for now.

** I set up my school bullet journal. This makes me super stoked because it's easier to keep some of the information together. School specific and advisor specific stuff. I put in my weekly schedule for classes as well as the teacher information from the syllabi I printed. I really love the bullet journal system and I can't wait to share that with you guys.

** On Friday, Lee and I decided to go on a dinner date together. We went to our favorite Mongolian grill and it was nice. We do live together, so we see each other a lot, but it's nice to have some time dedicated to just us. Especially since I am going to be busy for the rest of this month balancing school and work. It rained like crazy while we were driving to the restaurant so his hair was crazy ( he chose to spike it while we were eating) so after dinner, we decided to go home and watch movies at home.

** Yesterday was a quasi-band practice day. Our base guitarist is visiting his family in CA, so they didn't really practice a lot of show related stuff. It was more just for playing around with well known songs and just jamming together. I think I told you guys last week that Chey and Roger got engaged last week. Well, yesterday, she told me that she wanted me to be her maid of honor!!!!! I feel so special and honored that she asked (ok, she really just told me that she wanted me to be her MOH... she didn't actually ask). So while the boys were playing around, her and I started pinning things on Pinterest!

.: Little Loves:.

|| Gaterade | friends | homemade dinners | Skittles America Mix | Bullet Journaling ||

What are you loving from this past week?

"I Love" Sundays v.64

Hello dearest Dreamers!

Happy Sunday!

So the only reason that this post is so late today is because I am visiting my parents in Florida for the weekend. I had to clean out my storage unit there so I can stop spending $70-ish a month to house stuff that I want in my house anyways. I drove down yesterday and unfortunately leave tomorrow... but it's been nice none-the-less. I did however find my cowboy hat, which made me super happy.

** After arriving home yesterday my best girls Ashes and Lindsay came over for a visit and we headed out to the beach for a walk. On the weekends there are usually street vendors out and about selling stuff, but the weather kind of prevented that this time around. Which probably worked out better in the end since apparently it's Spring Break week here....

** If you haven't seen my announcement across social media, on Monday I was alerted that I was picked to be part of the Awesome Ladies Project Creative Team for 3 months starting in April! This is the first time that I have been picked for a creative team, so I am pretty excited about that!

** My first check came in from the VA finally, which was nice. I was a little concerned that it got lost in the mail, but it eventually arrived.

** While getting my oil changed on Tuesday, I made friends with the guys that worked there. I brought them coffee from work, so they said they would help me out next time I had to come in for some work on my car. They were just great guys to talk to, so I don't think I'd be going anywhere else anyways.

** Got to have lunch with Lee again this week. It's always nice to be able to meet up for lunch in the middle of the day. I see him most evenings, but lunch is always nice too. :)

** Saint Patrick's Day was definitely a blast, both at home and at work. We got to dress up at work, and we all kind of went all out on it! Amy made corn beef and cabbage, potatoes, and some other Irish things for dinner (which was awesome) and then I took some food to Lee since he had 24 hour duty.

** I also helped my dear friend Sarah start the stuff for her own blog. Once we get some stuff finalized, then I will share her with you guys. She is writing a blog about her blended family, children with autism, having a newborn, and just starting over.

.: Little Loves :.

|| Dr. Pepper | my Travelers Notebook | being home | good friends | holiday shenanigans | Clearwater Beach | Steak n Shake | crafting ||

What are you loving from this past week???

"I Love" Sundays v.63

Hello dearest Dreamers

Happy Sunday to you all!!!!

** Monday was quite successful for me. I started two new bullet journal books, one for my blog and another one for my photography business. I love the way these things help me stay organized and I like having separate ones for my blog, photography, and my personal life.

** I also applied to be part of the RUKristin Awesome Ladies Project Creative Team! I will share a post tomorrow about the results of this!

** Tuesday was the first time in my life that I have ever (be able to) call out sick from work. I had a horrible sore throat and I didn't want to be around people. The constant weather changing and my cold house.... it was only a matter of time that my allergies kicked me in the face. In the meantime, I did get a lot of photos printed out and caught up on my scrap journaling. There will be an upcoming post about there in the near future.

** Amy and I started to plan where we were going to hang pictures and art in the office spaces. We took two of my pictures to Hobby Lobby for framing. I got them from a street vendor in Nurnburg, Germany and I wanted them to be similarly framed since the pictures were similar. I can't wait to get them back and get them hanging on the wall.

** Thursday brought me my acceptance letter from Fayetteville State University. I am officially going back to college... this time in an actual college (well... I'll be taking classes on post instead of on the actual campus - it's a bit of a drive for me and not the best parts of town), no more online classes for me!

** Friday brought our Housewarming Party. Before that though, we got a LOT of stuff accomplished (you should see my list for Friday in my planner). You should read that post for the beginning looks at the McNaugle House. My friend Sarah also asked me to help her start her own blog! I am pretty stoked about that one.

** Today I got to spend the day just hanging out with Lee. We went to the mall so he could get some clothes and then we went on a long walk around the neighborhood. It was nice, because we're always either at my house or we're hanging out with Amy and Mem (not complaining, but it's nice to do something that is just us). Afterwards, we went to Red Robin with Amy and Mem and had a good evening.

.: Little Loves :.

|| Bullet Journaling | Starz channels on tv | cuddling | friends and family | salad ||

What are you loving from this past weekend?

"I Love" Sunday's V.62

Hello dearest Dreamers,

Hope this Sunday finds you well.

This week flew by so quickly, I blinked and it was already over!

** I set up my new monthly plan book and started printing pictures for my latest scrap journal! I'm kind of combining Bullet Journaling with the Planner Perfect method and it's actually starting to work well for me within my TN. I'm working on a post for later this week showing you guys what that looks like. I haven't done a video in a long time, so maybe I'll do something like that.

** Molly Girl (and her mother Sarah) came for a visit this past Wednesday and they hung out all day long! It was awesome! Molly was a little grumpy due to teething, but we still love her! Amy grilled out so we had a full house for dinner that night after I got out of work. My coworker even came over and so did Sarah's boyfriend.

** I got to see my favorite old coworker, Kelli and friends for lunch. We met at a Gyro place on the other side of base and I got to meet up with another friend I hadn't seen in a long time.

** We finally went and picked up the free table a family friend gave to us. My boyfriend and I spent the evening painting the table top white and the legs black. This is the table that Amy and I are using for a main workspace in our craft office and where I plan on shooting my videos and taking blog photos. We might just need to sand the top down a little because the chalk finish paint was a little chunky. After we got done painting, I made Lee take a picture with me (we ended up getting paint on each others noses).

** Amy made some Bourbon chicken for dinner based off a new recipe that she found on Facebook. It was super yummy, I'll share that recipe later on this week! I haven't shared a recipe in forever, so it's about time now that we're settled in more.

** Friday was kind of rough for me fibro-wise, but meh. It's life. Amy spent the day while I was at work painting the hutch, two end tables, and two folding tables. Once I got home from work, to make myself feel better, I painted the kitchen table and we did a second coat on the hutch. We've decided that we need to get all of that done before our house warming party this coming Friday.

** My friend Kelli's husband threw her a Medical Retirement party last night, it was quite amusing. Lee (the boyfriend) and I went for a few hours. I showed up early (thanks Army), so I helped with dinner. I got to meet a bunch of people that she works with in our old unit, I made some new friends, and got to hang out with some Air Traffic Controllers for a while. It was definitely much needed to be around my people.

** Today Sarah and Molly girl are here to hang out. We're just hanging out around the house and Sarah and I are supposed to be discussing some photography related stuff because we are really wanting to focus on our photography this year. I did manage to get her set up in her own TN earlier today, so that was exciting.

.: Little Loves :.

|| Painting | Meishka | friends | warm blankets | having curtains | bourbon | Cherry Cola | new friends | Harry Potter Marathon on Freeform this weekend ||

What are you loving from this past week?

"I Love" Sunday's v.62

Hello dearest Dreamers

Happy Sunday! I hope this post finds you well!

** Amy's father drove down from Ohio on Monday and I got to meet my new Grandpa. This gentleman is awesome and I am grateful to have met him. We went to Moe's for dinner, which is always one of our favorite places to go. "Welcome to Moe's!"

** Tuesday brought the beginning of our move into the new house, and what an adventure that was! It started raining as soon as we loaded up the trucks and a trailer and stopped once we were finished. Thankfully we had a couple of great friends and coworkers who came over to help with the move, which obviously made things go by much faster. We got the majority of our stuff moved in the few hours before I went to work, despite the rain.

this is just a few of the people who came in to help.
A couple of people had to leave before we got around to taking a picture.

** Wednesday was the final push to get all of our stuff moved out of the old apartment and into the new house. I thought that I had to work but didn't, so that went well! The poor TWC guy came over in the morning and got rained on for the whole 2 hours he was there. He was even under the house and thankfully he brought a jump suit. We went to get a tv for Memphis (which he was super excited for) and then we went to get a box spring for me (which of course meant it was time for the sky to open up and POUR down on us). We were driving down the road holding onto the mattress, which meant the inside of the car was soaked and then once we got home, Grandpa was standing in the WORST spot when Amy and I went to move the mattress and he then got DUMPED on yet again. Apparently the universe thought he needed another bath.

** Friday was my day off and I got to spend some time with my boyfriend. He was out in the field all week, but they let everyone come back on Friday (after 2 days of being poured on) and he came over and hung out for quite away. Amy was excited to have an excuse to fire up our new grill and make some Italian Sausage and Hamburgers. Dinner is always fun in this house.

** Saturday was our first night out in quite a while. Amy and I joined a couple of her EMT friends for dinner last night, and I love being able to see some of those girls. The service wasn't that great, but it was still nice to see people and for Amy and I to get out of the house. Memphis later joined us after his friends birthday party. We got ice cream once we were done, which is always a great way to end the day.

** I thought I had to open this morning, but it turns out that I had to work this evening. This is awesome because Mem and I got to sit around all morning while I got caught up on The Arrow. I love lazy days at home.

** This song was my jam on the way home from work today. It's a good lesson to learn and I love it! It's on my iPod because I like another one of her songs, but have never heard this one before. I really like it!

.: Little Loves :.

|| Music | Time with family | New Friends | The Arrow | Netflix | Having a bed | Having my own room | Family nights ||

"I Love" Sunday's v.58

Hello friends

Happy Sunday!! 

** Tuesday was a big day for me. The Golden Snitch Giveaway hosted by Kimi from KimiWho went live! I am a sponsor for the giveaway and her blog. I have gotten to know her over the course of this month through her blog and through email exchanges.... she is AWESOME! And super sweet! Each month she is hosting a geek related giveaway. Make sure to check it out! You can also check it out my post that went live on Wednesday!

** Tuesday was also my first day at my new job! I am now a barista at Starbucks here in Fayetteville. I am pretty stoked about it because I love the people I work with already!!! I get to wear an apron that says I am an Army Veteran with a flag, I get a book to read if I want too, and lots of benefits that I didn't know existed for a company like this.

** My roommate and I started going to the gym after dropping Memphis off at school. Right now, all we're doing is spending at least 30 minutes on the treadmill, but it's definitely a good start considering I haven't worked out since March or April of last year. I'm hoping that it will help both of us with our productivity during the days (instead of just coming back home to go back to sleep).

** Friday was fun. Amy and I went out with some of the EMT's at her hospital for dinner and then we ended up at our favorite country bar. I made a couple of new friends, taught some ladies how to two step, and just had a great time. It started off slow (no one really wanted to talk to me at first) and they wanted to let me talk to my roommate (they said I needed to make my own friends), but eventually we started talking and hit it off.

** Earlier today I made the drive to Raleigh to meet my new chapter of Geek Girl Brunch. Today's brunch was Star Wars themed and we had a blast. I made 5 new geeky girlfriends and I can't wait to see them again at our next brunch! I am waiting to get the group picture, but here are some goodies that I went home with!

.: Little Loves :.

|| Geek Girl Brunch | Star Wars | working | Criminal Minds | NCIS | crochet | geekery ||

What are you loving from this week?

"I Love" Sundays v.54

Hello dear friends and readers!!!

Welcome to the first post of 2016!!!!!

** Monday was kind of a boring day.... my parents were at work so my younger brother and I hung out at home watching HGTV all day (although he also napped a bit). I finished packing up my belongings to get ready for my trip on Tuesday back to Fayetteville. That night we went out to a family dinner at our favorite little Irish place, called O'Keefes. I love their fried pickles! yummy!! Mom called them fried tickles at one point and it stuck from that point on! We had a lot of good laughs and it was a  great dinner.

This is from my brother's senior photos back in June of 2015.
It's the most recent family photo I have of us.

** Tuesday was the long drive back to Fayetteville with the husky. I love my family, but I was very glad to get home! My roommate and I arrived back at the same time (she went home to Ohio with her son). We were both super glad to get back!

** The 30th was my last day in the Army. This is a good thing, but it also made me kind of sad! 

**  New Years Eve! The end of 2015! Holy cow, where did the time go?!? I got enrolled at my local VA and was also told about them hiring for some admin people! I just gotta finish my resume and get that turned in! Oh! I also applied for some jobs at other places as well!! There was also THIS post about officially being a retiree fro the US Army. My roommate, her son, and I hung out at the apartment for the evening, watching Friends on Netflix until the ball dropped. We called our families and then went to bed. We're kind of lame AWESOME like that. My kind of people!!!

** I've just been applying for jobs while finishing up the rest of my college application. The school didn't get back to me in time about my transferred credits and my JST transcript, so I don't think I will be starting in January like I had hoped. Like I said, I've applied to several places and am just waiting to hear back. Hopefully I can start school soon though! 

** I went and bought a bed, a frame, and a nightstand today from Ashley furniture and they will be dropped off in a couple weeks. This gives me plenty of time to get my apartment (hopefully done tomorrow) and have a place set up for when my stuff arrives from Germany. The best part is that I made a new friend that works at Staples (went in for a pen and came out with a new friend) and Ashley Furniture (the chick that helped me out). All because of my Harry Potter necklace and Darth Vader shirt!

OH! I also had lunch with a dear friend of mine today! We were in AIT together back in 2011 and ended up stationed together at Bragg right away! I was there when her son was born after deployment and right before I moved to Germany! I missed this chick and her no bullshit attitude. <3 Sam!

Kind of a busy week and I have a lot of stuff going on in my life. 

.: Little Loves:.
|| Family | friends | Dr. Pepper | New friends

"I Love" Sundays v.53

** Amy got out of work early on Monday to deal with house stuff since we both left for our parents houses the next day. We closed all the windows, cleaned out the fridge, did last minute laundry, and made sure everything was packed and ready to go. Monday night we watched Sister Act II

** Tuesday was a bit of a hum dinger for me. The good news is I made it home safely and at a reasonable time. The bad news: the rental car company my mom used to get me a car, screwed me over. I almost didn't get a rental car to go home (couldn't fly because I had the dog). Luckily my usual company (although the branch on post) saved me and I got a rental car for $273 for the whole week I'm gone!

** We had a Christmas party at my parents house on Wednesday so I could see some of my old friends. I think this is becoming a tradition at my house (at least I hope so) because it's the second year in a row. I'm pretty sure my mother even suggested it this year. Some friends came over that I haven't seen since I graduated high school and we had an absolute blast!

** USAA saved my butt by the way. The short of it all is that someone got ahold of my card information from a gas station pump and stole money from me. USAA alerted me right away and closed my account until I could pull cash out the next day. Once I pulled cash they closed my card for good and immediately expedited me a new card that would arrive to my NC address the same day I did. The good part of this story - they acted immediately when they noticed something weird with my account. Walmart has a way to override USAA's security measures, which is how the people got the money out, but they gave me back the money taken from me.

** I got to hang out with my "second family" - the Buss family. That is my best friend's family! I always make time to see them when I go home, its as much of a mandatory thing as seeing my actual family. I got to sit and chat for a while, which was spectacular! I've really missed this.

** Mom and I spent a couple of evenings crafting. I worked to get caught up on my Dec. Daily ((still behind on videos))  and she did some stamping. 

** Christmas came and went at our house. It was easy because it was just our little family of 4 (and 3 dogs). We all got presents we absolutely loved! My brother and I even sword fought with his two foam Minecraft swords for laughs. My parents got me a gift card for photography equipment, which I am beyond stoked about.

** I started working on my roommate's Christmas present, her first handmade MJdori! It was kind of fun to make one from start to finish. My mom had to help me cut the leather down, but then I rounded the corners, put the holes in the spine, added the grommets, and then finished off with adding the elastic strings to hold it closed!

** On Saturday we signed Mom up to be part of the Women's Auxiliary at the local VFW, under me. The special part is this VFW is named for my dearest friend Zack. I've talked about him before. The guys there were super nice and they thought it was awesome that we actually knew Zack (I don't think any of them actually knew him before he passed away). Glad that my mom is signed up and apart of something great!

.: Little Loves :.

|| Family | friends | traditions | Canon Selphy | Warm weather | Cards Against Humanity ||

What are you loving from this week?

"I Love" Sundays v.51

Hello dear friends!

Happy Sunday!

** It's been a lazy day for me and I finally have some motivation to knock out a blog post! It's a little overwhelming having this much time off, but I try to find something to do each day to be productive. Today is was going to get some refills for my Canon Selphy as well as a bag to carry it home in.

** Something I am really loving this week is my friend here, Amy. She's the awesome woman that is letting me stay with her and her son until I get my own place to live! When she has to work, she asks me to take her to work so I can use her car during the day, I just have to pick her up at the end of her shift at the hospital. Amy is the bomb diggity!

** A lot of things I love this week involve friends of mine. This wonderful lady and I were stationed at Bragg together starting back in 2011 until she ETS'd in 2013. Her and I became best friends during our deployment and she is still one of my all time favorite people. I met her for coffee earlier this week and it was fantastic to catch up! We're working out having a crafting day. She does Project Life and Amy and I do scrap-journaling.

** I got caught up in my December Daily album and finished the first week's video (which is up on my channel). I am super excited for my progress. I received an amazing package from a sweet lady in one of the DD groups I'm in full of scrapping goodies that I cannot wait to use!!! I have to make her something as a thank you!

** Got to have lunch with these two beautiful babes! Amy was nice enough to take the picture for us. Last minute Amy got to join us at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. Again, these are two girls from when I was stationed here at Bragg. Kelli, the one in the middle, and I had lunch last week (I think she was wearing the same shirt actually) and Jen and I were instant friends! It's always a little confusing since we have the same first name, but she is Jen with one N and I am Jenn with two N's.

** So, Tuesday I went and purchased this Funko mystery box from GameStop. I originally had the Blackest Night Superman, but after talking to the awesome dude at the counter, he and I agreed to trade. He really wanted that Superman and I am more of a fan of Batman. He said he had a Batman and Batgirl, and I said I would accept either. So, when I got there on Friday to trade him, he gave me this box. He asked if it was enough, to which I said it was more then enough, but he insisted that I take them both. Believe me, I was secretly super stoked!!

** On Saturday, I got to see this beautiful girl! Her and I became friends after my deployment. She is my crafting and photography buddy! I got to meet her new daughter and see her younger son as well! Her son didn't like me much 2 years ago, he was 5 then, but when I saw him yesterday, he waved excitedly at me and the first thing he did when he got out of the car was give me a big hug!

**  When I say that we made a crap ton of cookies on Thursday night, that would be a severe understatement. Amy taught me how to make cookies from scratch (she needed a distraction) so we made about 6 dozen or so cookies! Enough for us both to take home for Christmas vacation! Lots of yummy cookies!

.: Little Loves :.

|| Mountain Dew Voltage | Butterbeer Frappaccino's | Harry Potter Trivial Pursuit | my Canon Selphy | new and old friends | Crossing Lines on Netflix | being home | fast food ||

What are you loving from this week?