Making a Blog Book

I'm pretty sure I'd have a meltdown if my blog ever disappeared. I've actually heard of a few cases where this has happened, so I decided to make sure I'd have this little journal forever! I did a bit of research and found this website that would make the process simple! I'm going to make a book for each year of blogging, and I've only done 1 so far, but I LOVE IT. 

It ended up being close to 300 pages, so it was important that I chose a website that would do all of the work for you. It was the easiest process ever and probably only took me 30 minutes to make. I highly recommend you get yourself one, too! 

Show Us Your Life SINGLES!

I am so excited about today! Kelly over at Kelly's Korner has a series called Show Us Your Life, and every few months, she does a singles edition! So far, there have been 5 couples that have gotten married after meeting through this! Plus many others are still dating/engaged! That's pretty incredible. 

Speaking of incredible, I'd like to tell y'all about my amazing friend Rachael! I just can't say enough good things about this girl. Rachael is truly one of the sweetest, most thoughtful people I've ever known, and I am so so blessed to have her as a friend. And right now, she is single. So to any nice southern boys who may be reading this, this girl is one in a million!

A little bit about Rach:

-24 years old, a Christian, and works as a medical assistant in Atlanta

-the proud (fur) mama of Luke

-Enjoys cooking and baking (and is REALLY good at it)

-Has the best sense of humor
-Is the best friend anyone could ask for

-And is just an all-around amazing person!

If you're coming over from Kelly's Korner and you or someone you know may be interested in this gorgeous girl, leave a comment or send me an email! 

Attitude Adjustment

Lately, I've just had a bad attitude. Things haven't been going exactly as planned and I've really let them get me down. In the grand scheme of things, I realize that our issues are minor and it could be a lot worse, but I guess when they pile up like this all at once, it's harder to keep a positive attitude. I'll explain... 

As you know, our moving plans were suddenly changed 5 days before we were supposed to move and then over the weekend, everything seemed to be falling apart. We moved into a temporary apartment, and our toilet overflowed not once, but 3 times in 3 days (with maintenance coming to 'fix' it after each incident). And then Maisy started acting really weird. She wouldn't jump up on the couch or bed and didn't want to play at all. We thought something was wrong with her leg, and I was completely expecting that we'd have to spend thousands on another surgery for her. (For the record, I'd pay any amount of money for this girl, but it's still not fun) Oh and then, someone stole over $6,000 from our checking account. I was furious at this point. And most of this happened during the UGA-Missouri game, which was painful to watch for 3 quarters, so it made me even more irritable (we had an amazing 4th quarter, so it was fine in the end! But still frustrating to watch....obviously, I let football affect me way too much!) And to top it off, I've had an annoying head cold through all of this.

There I go again, complaining my head off. I'm not proud of the attitude I've had for the past week. Sure, things haven't really gone according to plan and I've dealt with some less-than-ideal situations, but I usually consider myself to be a very positive and optimistic person. For the past week? Not so much. 

Doug has actually handled my negativity pretty well, probably because he was terrified of me :) I've finally found just the perspective I needed to snap out of this. I am very, very blessed to have a roof over my head, family who loves me, friends who support me, and food on the table. I need to stop planning every aspect of my life, and trust that God has it all under control. There are still some big things I worry about, that I can't really talk about on here, but all I can do is pray and trust in the Lord. God is good, all the time, and I need to remember that.

For the record, after a few days, Maisy started acting normal again, the toilet has finally been fixed, and we've been talking to the bank and placed the fraud claim. I'm ready for life to be a little more boring now :)

Let's end this on a positive note, shall we? Here's the rest of the pictures I never shared from our trip to Puerto Rico. 

Balboa Island, Part Deux

As I mentioned last post, Rachael, Doug, and I also went to one of my favorite places in California, Balboa Island. I walk around and dream of living in one of these houses and enjoying a slower pace of life. I've posted pictures here of it, but here's a few more pretty ones....I just can't get enough of this place!

A Cowboy, a Nerd, and a Creepy Clown

A couple weeks ago, one of my best friends, Rachael, came to visit us! It meant so much to me that she would fly all the way out here, and I think I speak for both of us that we had THE BEST weekend! I don't think I've ever laughed so much! Rach brought us all goodies, too. Have I mentioned how much I love this girl? :) She made homemade dog and cat treats that the pets devoured, plus delicious banana nut bread for us. 

The first night she was here, we heard some strange noises coming from the kitchen. She went to see what it was and texted me this picture of Diego attacking the treat box. He desperately wanted more! Pep was just an innocent bystander.

See the puncture marks? HA!

Our first stop was Laguna Beach, my favorite of all the beaches in California! We found this incredibly beautiful wedding spot on a cliff. Maybe it's time for a vow renewal? :) This is stunning!

We had margaritas and fish and chips at my favorite restaurant there, Greeter's Corner. 

The next day, we tried to ride the hot air balloon again but of course, it was all booked up! So we decided to make our own fun and went to Party City.

We were planning to take Rachael to our home away from home, Boomers, for some laser tag, and we decided to kick it up a notch by going in costume. I had bought some cowboy boots the day before at Target, which inspired this idea. 

I/Bobby Jo was a cowgirl, Rachael/Gertrude was a nerd, and Doug/Mr. Giggles was a creepy clown. And I must say, we were a hit at Boomers. Kids asked to take pictures with us, and we tried to stay in character the whole time. I swear, Rachael was born to be a nerd, and I just couldn't stop laughing at her. Combine her uncanny nerd impression with laser tag? Well, you have a geek in argyle rolling around and army crawling on the floor, screaming at the kids with almost incoherent lisp. Hysterical! 

And then we made Maisy a nerd, too. One of my favorite pictures ever :)

*We also went to Balboa Island, but there are way too many pictures in this post already, so I'll post those tomorrow*

Safari Park Blate

Doug and I recently met up with Katie, from Katie Lately, and her hubby Zach! Katie and I found each other last year and realized that her husband is from my hometown (and went to the same high school as my mom!) We immediately hit it off and eventually met at a meet-up in February. Since then, we've been talking about a double date at the Safari Park in San Diego! We finally made it happen and had the best time!

You can barely see him, but there was the most precious baby gorilla there. He was tiny!

One thing that I find hilarious...Doug seems to be under the impression that all blog friends are weird. But after he has met every single one of them (and their husbands)? He always acts surprised at how great and normal they are. It just makes me laugh and say "See! Bloggers are awesome!"

Katie and Zach, you are no exception to this...we absolutely loved hanging out with y'all! And I cannot wait to see sweet baby Bennett! :)