Happy Friday!

(Image from: http://bynd.com/blog/friday-digital-get-down-august-19/)

~AMK

Dear Future Self: The Home Stretch

Dear Future Self,

So we are on the home stretch of wedding planning, KGK and I! We are putting all the final touches to all things pre-wedding and pre-family arriving into town! :) We are so unbelievably excited!! :)

almost there!

So here's a few things that I want to remember when I look back on the last days/week before our wedding:

***

~I am nervous. Not about getting hitched, but about all the details. We are planners so that helps, but man! It still makes ya nervous. :)

~I have been doing really well with working out and plan to keep that up for the last little while before the wedding. I really enjoy water aerobics, cycling classes, core/abs classes and walking Buddy. I know he likes it when I decide to stay home and walk him instead of hitting the gym!

~I'm getting all my homework done and some from the week of and after the wedding. Staying on top of homework is one thing, but getting ahead...UGH! But I am doing it! Trying to stay positive! :)

~Have a few last minute things to buy, but other than that, all my accessories and dress stuff is taken care of for the most part. PHEW! That's always a big relief!

~Gettin' my tan on! Trying to have a little color so I'm not the stark white chick in the stark white dress;) So just getting a little rays to give me a good ole fashion glow.

~One of my good friends gets married just before us!! We are very excited to see them get married too! :)

~In honor of cooler temps and fall, I have a crock pot full of homemade chili waiting for us for dinner tonight. YUM!

***

So there you have it. Just a few things going on the last stretch before the BIG DAY!  Buddy, you are gonna officially have a Daddy! ;)

Buddy lovin' a car ride!

Until next time...

~AMK

Never Get Discouraged!

A few friends and I send emails to each other almost daily as a reminder to keep our heads up and encourage each other to eat healthily and keep up the good work with working out. I received this one last week and it has been on the forefront of my mind lately as the scale just doesn't like to budge.  But I am noticing a difference in the way my clothes fit from all these workouts I've been doing!

So remember...NEVER GET DISCOURAGED! :)

Until next time...

~AMK

(I don't have the original link, but all credit goes to that blog/site that had it first.)

Pinterest Find: 18 Ways to Deep Clean Your Home

This list sounds like it is just what I need to get our home ready for all the family and friends coming into town in just a few weeks...

You can find the entire post here.

But, I have copied and pasted the list for me to use here:

18 Ways to Deep Clean Your Home

1. Wipe down the legs of all your chairs. Dust tends to accumulate on these.

2. Wipe down all your baseboards with a wet cloth. Follow up my rubbing a dryer sheet on them to prevent dust from sticking. While you are doing this you will find so many tiny weird little corners like these that are so hard to clean! Have mercy on whoever had to install these.

3. Clean behind and underneath all furniture. Move beds, scoot dressers away from the wall and get all the dust that builds up.

4. Dust all fan blades.

5. Wipe down all cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom. Lots of grease and fingerprints build up on these.

6. Wipe down or dust all light fixtures (chandliers, lampshades, etc.)

7. Touch up any spots on the wall with paint that need it. Stir the paint really well first.

8. Recaulk any areas that need it (especially around the kitchen sink, bathroom sink, or bathtub.)

9. Wipe down all blinds. The easiest way is to vacuum them or remove them and spray them down with a hose outside.

10. Clean out the fridge.

11. Clean out your freezer. Discard any old food and organize all that stuff you've thrown in there over the past months.

12. Clean your couch. Vacuum off any pet hair and remove cushions to vacuum.

13. Wipe down door handles and light switches.

14. Clean your microwave, stove top, and oven.

15. Wipe out kitchen drawers. Crumbs tend to collect there.

16. Dust and wipe down the top of your cabinets and fridge.

17. Clean floor vents. Remove metal vents and air registers. Spray them down with hose outside. Vacuum or wipe down the floor around the vents as dust gets trapped under the edges of the vents. If you have wooden vents just vacuum them really well.

18. Wipe down the front and back of all the doors in your house. You will have more doors than you think!

So there you have it! Another list! You know I am a happy girl:)

I am off to tackle some of these...

Until next time...

~AMK

(All credit for the list goes to the D and T Tabb blog)

Finding the Light

As our lives are constantly in flux, we all have our ways of finding the light in the midst of all the crazy. I have many friends with young kids now and I just don't know how they get everything done in a day. Even other friends without kids, have their own set of crazy, and I still have no idea how they get so many things done in a day. Because let's face it, we all have crazy. It just comes in different forms.

For some of us, finding the light while all the crazy is buzzing around us can be overwhelming, tiring, and having feelings of not being able to catch up.

It is amazing how the grass is always greener can be so in the forefront of our minds when the crazy is upon us. Sometimes we are able to look past it and see our own green grass and other times it is so hard to stop drooling over another's greener pastures.

We all need encouragement and help in times of crazy. We just do. We need each other. I remember being in college and thinking, "Man, when I graduate and have a 'real' job, I will have so much more time. After 5, my time is my own. No homework. No obligations until the next morning."

Cue the laughter now!

Then, as I get the 'real' job, I think, man, I wish I had someone to share all this time with. Then, you find your One, and you suddenly have other things filling your time. Good things. But still things.

With all that is looming on my to-do, I fall into this sense of wanting more time.  More time to get things done. I need like 1 week to get caught up on life.  But let's face it, I would find other things to do than the productive things, right?!

Well, last night was a productive night. I didn't tackle much on my to-do, but I had a great sense of accomplishment by the time I went to bed.  I went to 2 classes at the gym and was energized! I got group work done for class, FINALLY washed the new silverware we got from one of our showers, did reading for class, worked around the apartment, etc. etc. etc. And still got a good night sleep. It feels so good to have those bouts of energy and get caught up. Makes you feel like you can take on the world, doesn't it?!

This weekend, I am hoping to carry these feelings of determination and energy. I still have a few things I need to get done and out of the way before the BIG DAY:) So time to get those checked off the list.

I try to remind myself in those times where I feel like other people are able to get so much more accomplished than I do, or they seem to have more hours in the day than I get, I just try and remember that we all get the same 24 hours and we need to utilize what we have of it. Sometimes you need to lay on the couch and watch tv. And that's cool. You gotta do that sometimes. And other times, we need to get up and get moving. Sulking won't get the dishes done, but forcing yourself to tackle one project will feel better than if you don't do any at all. JUST.KEEP.SWIMMING.CLEANING. :)

So cheer's to the freakin' weekend y'all! :) Where our time is our own! :)

Happy Weekend!

~AMK 

Change of Seasons: Energized and Excited

Autumn. I love it. Cooler temps are welcomed around here! But, I don't like COLD. Make sure we clear that up. :) But cooler than 90 degrees is good. And for those that are pumpkin spice latte fans, you are in luck, as they are back! I am very much looking forward to this fall.

With the changing of seasons, I am always inspired and energized by the potential for something fresh and new. Any season really. I like change and try to embrace the energy that comes with the ideas, events, and happenings of another time of year. The shifts to different schedules and the expectation of the holidays around the corner get me all sorts of giddy. Autumn...here I come!

One thing this fall, I would like to be better about is taking pictures. For one, I just don't have time to take pictures on a nicer camera, upload, edit and then post. So I apologize for my lousy picture taking. I intend on improving this one day soon...promise:)  I use my phone for pictures which = boring and blah photos. I try, I do. I'm working on it and hope to make strides here soon with inspiration from the changing of colors coming up. I LOVE the way instagram edits photos simply and quickly, but they just don't show up as well on the ole blog. So one goal of mine is to be better in this time of changing colors and seasons to include some more quality photos. Here's hoping:)

Another wonderful change I am excited about is being able to include some recipes meant for cooler weather. Like homemade chili and muffins and casseroles. YUM. Having a bowl of chili on a 101 degree day just isn't as inviting as on a 60 degree day. So I very much am looking forward to these autumn days ahead.

Lastly, I cannot wait to start up camping again! My camping days seem to be fewer lately with wedding planning and schoolwork. I also want to try a backpacking trip once the wedding is over. Gotta start thinking of what, when and where:) KGK probably has some ideas:)

Hope you too are enjoying these glimpses into fall days! :)

Until next time...

~AMK

The Crazy List Update

So if you read my post about remembering this time of my life in lieu of a letter to my Future Self, then Future Self, I am happy to report that we have checked off a GREAT DEAL from our wedding to-do list and I am feeling SO MUCH BETTER :)

But let's back things up a little...

Last week, I was going crazy. Not literally, because let's face it, I am already there. ;) I was just overwhelmed by all that was going on. So, I sat down and made my good ole fashioned list of all that was in my brain, all jumbled around and in need of escape. So this list....I wrote down all that needed to be done and actually got quite a bit checked off! KGK and I worked like madman and madwoman to get a large chunk of our to-do done. And we did! Here's the low-down (another list, you say?! I love it. It is a sickness, really). :)

1. We finalized our food/menu and some of the logistics of how that would go.
2. We finalized our hotel stuff for our guests (made sure the right amount of rooms were still set aside).
3. We made both my bouquet and my maid of honor's bouquet.
4. We created our photographer and videographer checklists.
5. I started transposing the design of our programs onto its finalized draft with color.
6. KGK started the insides of the programs and what it would say and how it would be formatted.
7. We created our schedules for the entire weekend basically and made the Wedding Day schedule.
8. I purchased stuff for our friend who is making the cake.
9. Did I mention this is a DIY wedding? YHL..you would be so proud:)

We may have done a couple other things too, but they are slipping my mind. Not bad!

I am starting to feel a lot better about the next few weeks now. While I still have homework (oh, yeah I had homework to do this weekend too! haha), I feel like a huge weight is lifted because of how much we accomplished this weekend. Always feels so good when you can check stuff off your list.

Should KGK be worries with how much love I have for lists?? I like to think it is one of the reasons why he loves me:) I will live in ignorance:)

Enjoying some cooler temperature...does this mean I can get all fall decorations out now? I think orange is moving up into one of the favorite colors category.

Until next time...

~AMK

Dear Future Self: Time Enjoyed

Dear Future Self,

Remember: Life will always seem crazy. We usually fill our 24 hours of the day with a lot of busyness. Sometimes it is TV watching, homework, working out, or hanging out with friends. ETC. ETC. ETC.

Cup number 2 of the day

I know that these very busy days we have been having lately (and have scheduled to happen in the next several weeks as we lead up to our wedding), and they need to be treasured. So here are some things that I want you remember when life is so different several years and decades from now. [like...Do you still run on coffee as much as I do right now??] So here is your life as an engaged girl in the last month of preparing for your wedding:

Soon-to-be ~ AMK

~Name Change. This is the last month that I will still be technically single. I will have this last name for only 1 month more, then I will have a new last name and be known to people only by that name. People who have known me forever will know me as AMM to AMK. But people I will meet after our wedding day, will know me only as AMK. That is so crazy to me, but also so exciting! (Future self, how is it to be AMK? Do you ever accidentally sign your old name even though it has been changed for years now??). I wonder these things:)

So very tired...

~Sleep. I am a person that needs a lot of sleep. Like, 9 hours a night. (You are probably laughing at me future self!!) Otherwise, a lot of my stomach issues start to act up and can cause me to have several weeks or months of issues. Therefore, sleeping is a wonderful thing for me so I can tackle my days fully and completely. I don't understand how some people can operate on 5-6 hours a sleep a night and be ok. Now, I don't always get my 9 hours that I like because let's face it, life doesn't work like that. So I try to do what I can to get as much as possible because I feel so much better when I do. But right now? Not happening. After work, I have just a few precious hours before I start to do the head-bobbing, crash on the couch until the TV wakes me up, bit. So after work, I try to fit in a workout, do homework, cook something for dinner, and do wedding preparations. That's a lot for just a few hours before bed. Oh yeah, and laundry or cleaning. HAHA, yeah, that doesn't always happen. ;)

Having a beer with homework? Don't mind if I do! ;)

~Homework. I LOVE school. The deadlines, the task lists, and the ability to further myself. Right now, I am trying to get ahead on my work so I won't have to do anything while family is in town for the wedding and I am NOT logging in during my honeymoon...NO WAY. :) But it takes a toll and doesn't allow much times for breaks. But I have a weekly checklist of all I need to do for that week and then the start of readings for the next week too. Trying to get ahead! :) It feels good when you actually do get ahead!

~Cleaning. Let's face it. This goes to the wayside (as mentioned above). I do my best to keep up, but it is just so tough. Fortunately, I have an awesome fiance that picks up behind me as I leave a trail through the apartment. :) He is an enormous help and I am so grateful for that.

Caught 3 fish but put them all back...they were too small to keep. But it was SO FUN!

~Social Engagements. KGK and I went fishing this past weekend, and it was just what I needed! Some fresh air and a break from all the craziness. I love that boy:) In addition to outdoor adventures, going out to eat with friends is one of my favorite things to do (and I have the waistline to prove it, unfortunately---hence the working out point that's next...hehe). I love going out and being with the people that make you happy and you have a good time with. I also enjoy that a lot of our friends have kids now. It has added such a fun dimension to our friendships and the types of gatherings we have now. A dinner filled with laughter now has the additional shrieks and laughter of little ones. And we used to talk about what we wanted to do with our lives, now its what they will do with theirs. I love it.

~Working Out. My goal this school year has been to incorporate more working out than I did in my first year. It is hard when you work full-time, are planning a wedding, have homework galore, and still have normal life stuff to get done (ie. cooking, cleaning, sleep, laundry, grocery shopping, etc.).--we all have our own crazy version of this list--- But, I know that physical health gives you such a boost to your mental and emotional health too. And it doesn't hurt to make up for those "out-to-eat calories" I mentioned earlier :)

These are the things on the top of my list that I think about on a daily basis, future self. The things that consume my thoughts when I am not allocating my brain resources elsewhere. I find that to get through the times where so many thoughts are swirling, I need to make a good old fashioned LIST. It is like an escape for my brain. If I write it down, I can make room for another thought in my head instead of trying to cram it all in there and the fear of forgetting something.

So today is list-making day...to plan for the next month of my life. It will have things crossed off quickly and other things will be added. But, at least it will help with my sanity:) We gotta do what we gotta do! :)

So, future self, what's going on? How's my life going? Is it time to make a list to get through this crazy time?

Sincerely,

~Almost AMK