Born to Be

Been a few days since I posted so to recap!

I had a wonderful three day weekend last weekend that included a visit from my daddy. He is currently doing business in GA and since he was off MLK weekend he drove down to visit :) We had such a great time visiting and I love the fact that my husband and father can get along so well... I'm truly blessed. It was such a short visit and I was really sad to see him go again. Living so far away I never know the next chance we will get to visit, so unexpected trips are really nice.
I spent Monday and Tuesday..running errands, cleaning house and truly enjoying my moments of freedom..without the sound of phone ringing. I was cleaning house one of those days and Dr Phil happened to be on. I have near been a huge fan of the man, I feel he does have some valid points, but just been a huge fan. Well considering not much else is on during the day I figured I would see what he had to say. I don't really remember what the show was about but I do remember something he said about his wife..."She was born to be a mother". First things first..I'm not a mother nor are we pregnant...but something hit me when he said that. I get so frustrated with my job, people don't often realize how emotional draining my job is and its non-stop our phones ring all day every day...at least on my shift they do. I luckily have a husband who can appreciate how I feel and its nice to know we understand each other's jobs completely. I was one of those girls who grew up dreaming of the wedding...knowing I would find my prince charming..knowing one day I would be a wife and eventually a mother. I realized in that moment listening to Dr Phil, I'm trying to find happiness in something that I believe will never completely make me happy. I get more fulfillment from my days off spent cleaning house, running errands and cooking my husband dinner than I get from any amount of work at my full time job.
I know right now I have to be a working wife, I certainly wouldn't want to put all the financial troubles on my husband and I do believe I would get bored being at home by myself. But hopefully in the future we will be well enough to allow me to be a stay at home mother. I completely understand and respect working moms, to each their own and sometimes the need of a family requires both parents to work, hopefully the Lord has it in his plans to let me stay home. Since my realization I think I have been less bothered by my job.

Since Craig is working and trying to finish school, I spend a lot of time just hanging out relaxing after work and I have come to realize I want some hobbies. I did decide one of my resolutions for this year is to read a fun book every month...January is Twilight, which by the way is much better than I expected, so I have been enjoying spending time reading while Craig studies.

For the hobbies part I have a few ideas:
1. Baking! I love baking, I love making and decorating cakes. I got some really nice cake decorating items for Christmas and can't wait to use them. Its tough making a cake for just two people, Craig and I certainly don't need the extra sweets in our house so we might be celebrating some Happy Un-birthday's just so I can start baking
2. Photography: I love photos! I love taking them, being in them, looking at other people's photos. I could spend hours looking at them. I have been looking at the possibility of photography classes and will see where that takes me this year
3. Scrapbooking: plays on my love of photos. I have been trying to catch up on scrapbooking for the past year :) I did get a minor delay when I decided to make all of the parents scrapbooks of the wedding for Christmas presents. I hope to catch of this year and get really organized with it. I figure it I can get it organized it will be much easier to stay current with it.

For the most part 2010 has been pretty good. I'm enjoying life, loving being a wife and can't wait to see what else life brings our way.

Our Year in Pictures

So here is the past year in photos:

Valentines Day in Daytona


Cortney visiting at our wedding shower


Rehearsal Dinner


Rehearsal Dinner


Our Wedding Party


Our Wedding Night


Honeymoon...I have so many pictures but this was one of my favorites


First Month Anniversary


My Birthday


Craig's Birthday


Journey Concert


FSU game


Starting the drive to MD


Our attempt at Gingerbread houses


Christmas Eve

What a decade!

So seeing that the last time I blogged was last year...almost to the date I figured I would try this again.
I decided to steal Brandi's idea and start the year off by looking back to the last ten years of my life and see what happened.


* My parents completed our family by adding a little brother. I absolutely love all my siblings but Jacob has such a special place in my heart, I was old enough to really remember everything about him being a baby.
* I went to 3 different high schools. It was really frustrating at times moving so much but its something that I truly enjoyed and I am thankful for the memories made.
* I graduated high school with honors
* I learned to drive... and even bought my own car, paid that off last decade too
* I made one of the biggest moves of my life, decided to leave my parents & move to Pensacola to attend college. I came here to just get my Bachelors, had no intention of staying beyond graduation.
* I lived in 6 different houses, including my own little apartment. I was so proud to move out on my own and enjoyed every minute of it.
* I met my husband. I still remember the exact moment I met Craig and still get giggly thinking about how lucky I am to have such an amazing husband
* I finished college! Wow, what an accomplishment that was, still frustrating sometimes when I like I'm not using what I worked so hard for.
* I got married :)
* I got to travel some amazing places and look forward to many more vacations

The last year of the decade: 2009

January
*Craig and I started the year after playing Apples to Apples with Brett and Elizabeth. It was so exciting to ring in "Our Year..2009"
*Senior Bowl, it for my fourth senior bowl and awesome as always.

February
*Craig and I celebrated our last Valentine's day as an unmarried couple. We also celebrated our one year of being engaged.
*We spent Valentine's Day in Daytona...watching the race. Craig had one two tickets from work and it was a blast.

March
*My sister came to visit for a week and helped throw us a couples wedding shower
*I started my job at NFCU and got to sit next to Brandi. Our job can be so stressful at times it was nice sitting next to her. We no longer sit next to each other and I miss having her to talk to constantly. I am so happy we got to know each so well...I consider her one of my best friends
*Craig got in the truck accident. Wow what a scary experience to get to a scene and only see a smashed truck, I'm so thankful the car accident wasn't any worse
*Roy Jones Fight

April
*Final month countdown
*Bachlorette party

May
* WE GOT MARRIED :)
* My parents came down to visit and it was so nice to be able to spend time with them.
* My great grandmother passed away about a week prior to the wedding. It was sad to see her go especially just prior to the wedding. I know she was ready to go and living any longer was just painful. I am thankful I got to see her in the last days of her life and say my goodbyes. I was even able to get her wedding corsage early for her to wear to the funeral
* WE GOT MARRIED...yah I know I said it twice. But I love being a wife
* We went on an amazing honeymoon to St Lucia. Craig planned the whole thing as a surprise, I had no idea where we were going until Sunday the 10th and we left on Monday

June
*To celebrate our first month of marriage we drove to Destin to eat dinner at PF Changs...amazing
*I turned 24!
*Craig and I spent my birthday weekend in Atlanta watching baseball and playing at Six Flags

July
*We celebrated Fourth of July at the beach

August
*Craig started back to school. I tried to be a good wife and not bother him while he studied

September
*Craig turned 25
*Got to go see Journey and Night Ranger...awesome

October
*Celebrated Kevin and Juli's Wedding...our first wedding married.
*Went to a FSU game...so happy we got to see a game Bobby's last year

November
*Our first Thanksgiving as a married couple

December
*Our first Christmas married
*Drove to MD to visit my family for Christmas
*Rang in the new year in our living room, toasting to each other and another amazing year
*Got to show Craig some new places...DC and PA.
*Traveled through over 20 inches of snow to get to MD

I feel so blessed and can't wait to see what the future holds. To my family and friends who have made the past year amazing, thank you for your love and support. I hope the new year brings you more joy and happiness