Wifely Duties

Bryce is making the transition in his job from being a financial analyst to a full financial planner. This whole process started in July (right before our wedding!), where he is slowly decreasing his salary and going to straight commissions. We are about halfway there! By the end of December he will no longer be bringing in any guaranteed money. Talk about scary.

Through this transition, I am trying to be as helpful as possible. He has to work a lot of late nights and is out of the house some mornings before I even wake up. It has put a strain on us because we aren't seeing each other as much as we were used to, but we are making it work. Date nights have become more of a necessity even if it is only cooking dinner together and watching one of our TV shows.

With him taking on more at work, the transition also means more wifely duties for me. I got an email from Bryce about two weeks ago from one of his co-workers stating that she needs the company Christmas cards from everyone by Thanksgiving. My first response was, "Ummm... what Christmas cards?". In the email she even designated this assignment to the "wives" of the planners. Oh geez, thanks... Come to find out, we are now going to be doing Christmas cards for his clients. I am just thankful that I was given a heads up. So trying to be the good, supportive, new wife, I started researching where we could get the best deal on the cards. Bryce and I picked out a picture from our wedding that we wanted to use so I just had to find the format. I looked on a lot of different websites and came across Walgreens running a 50% off coupon for photo cards. Of course they are pushing their Halloween themed ones, but I didn't care. I found the perfect one and ordered away. When I got to Walgreens to pick them up, the man behind the photo counter laughed at me! He said, "This must be your first time, huh?". I just had to laugh because of course he was right. This was my first time ordering Christmas cards and yes I am way ahead of schedule; but I felt like I couldn't pass up that kind of coupon! So what if I am two months early, at least I have them done and ready for the holiday season.

Now I just have to start addressing all of them...

 

A Busy Bee...

SHEWWWWW... what a week it has been so far!!!  After driving home from the Panther's game on Sunday... Which we lost... booooo :*(   My week started off with a bang!!!! 

Monday was a night out with the friends for a grand opening of Kings Bowling.  It was a great time, between yummy food, a few drinks, shuffleboard **every day I'm sufflin**, bowling and great times ... I didn't even break 100 in bowling.. oops!~  *disclaimer - my fingers are bent the wrong direction for bowling* 

Tuesdays are kickball Tuesdays... Have I mentioned that I coach a co-ed kickball team?  Well, we lost this week, but we still have a good time out there... A solid workout on Wednesday and catching up on some shows at the house... (I have sooooo much to catch up on)  - currently finishing the final season of Sons of Anarchy..it is CRAZY... I also have been binge watching and feel like I am in a biker gang now because of it... haha) 

Today is Thursday and headed to the Brantley Gilbert concert with some girlfriends... Should be a great show... and that brings us around to Friday... which is also HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!  BIG HALLOWEEN PLANS - Soooo pumped!!!!!

**MY FAVORITE OPENER TINDER PICK-UP LINE TO DATE**

"Is it too soon to friend your parents on Facebook?"

Obviously haven't had time for any dates.. haha

oh and projects at the house are still underway .. pics coming soon! :) 

Rusty's

No, I am not talking about my rusty bronco. I am referring to the family owned local deli restaurant near our home when we were growing up.  That place was a dive, but it was so good!! They did finally renovate it and get rid of the green walls and started selling craft beers (now I think this is so cool, but back then I didn't think twice about it). It was a special occasion when mom and dad would take us there and my go to sandwich was the steak and cheese.  

Flash forward many years and many other lacking steak and cheese disappointing sandwiches later... I have found my new home.  

We took the boys to eat there yesterday and tried out a "new to us" restaurant.  This sandwich may not look like much to you, but it tasted "right" and brought back so many memories and I hope maybe my boys will love this steak and cheese and maybe we found our go to place, since the 3 hour drive to Rustys isn't likely. 

YUM! 

Swapping Cars

I kind of feel bad when Bryce and I have to swap cars for the day. I drive a little hatchback Kia that tends to run on the filthy side with going to the barn everyday, and Bryce drives a Jeep Grand Cherokee that he keeps very clean. This past weekend we had to swap cars so I could tow the horse trailer to my show; which meant that Bryce was stuck with the Kia all day on Saturday. He really tries not to complain, but there comes a breaking point when he just can't take it anymore.

I got home fairly late Saturday evening considering I was out before 8am that morning. I was exhausted and working on a good headache by the time I walked through the door. The first thing I noticed was that my loving husband had already started on dinner. He knew I had a long day. One of the first things he said to me was "did you notice your car?". As soon as he said that, I knew he had worked hard on cleaning my car for me. I, of course, had not noticed as I walked past it in the garage with my head pounding.

It is an ongoing joke with the girls at the barn about our cars. We all understand that it is impossible to keep them clean especially when we all bring our dogs with us. The mud and muck sticks to our clothes, shoes, and dogs so therefore it all gets brought into our cars with us no matter how hard we try. I have promised Bryce to try to not let it get that bad again, but maybe that just means I need him to drive my car more often. :)

my husband just called me a bitch

in a joking: "I love you, but I can't believe you posted a video of me looking like an ass"

So, what was my knee jerk reaction? Post said video here!  Please enjoy some laughs at our little one year old's expense:

Sorry, you are the second child.  Instead of scooping you up and coddling you we laughed and knew you were ok.  Babies are rubber till they are five.  They don't break right?!!

PSA: no babies were harmed in the making of this video and we love our little guy and would never let anything hurt him!

Learning to soar... again

Life is a funny thing. What you think is so important one day turns out to not be so important the next. Then some things tend to come and go in waves. Priorities change and that is okay as long as you keep striving for what makes you happy right?

Let me take you back about two years. I was a horse nut! I spent every waking moment that I wasn't at work, at the barn and the only reason I went to work was to pay for my horse addiction. Linkin and I were doing great and we were working hard towards the move up to Novice at the recognized level. I had a plan in place to get me qualified to do the long format in 2014. Well needless to say, that plan changed quickly when one January evening I went on a first date with Mr. Right. Bryce supported my ambition and wanted to make sure I met my goals. He came with me to several of the events and was extremely supportive. Slowly but surely my focus began to change from the horse crazy girl to the girl falling in love with a boy. With my focus changing, my time schedule also changed. I began spending less time at the barn and more time going on dates. I was still riding fairly consistently, but the competing began to fall by the wayside. I found that my rides were more for the exercise rather than the drive of improving.

That August my focus changed even more when I was proposed to by the man of my dreams. The dirty boots and breeches began to become even less important as I focused on the wedding cake, caterer, and wedding dress. Up until the actual wedding, I knew that riding would take a backseat which meant I was no longer aiming for the long format or even showing at all. Linkin even decided to need a few vet visits during that time which of course sucked up any remaining funds that I would have had for showing.

So here we are, two months after the wedding and I have my eye set on a combined test this weekend. I have gotten back to fairly regular lessons with a dressage trainer, and even managed a few jump lessons. Through the past two years I have consistently been riding, but I am finally feeling that drive again. The drive to get better and see where I need to improve. The drive that would send me over fences that I haven't jumped in over a year. My eye for a fence is one of those things I have found that if I don't use it, I lose it. During the past year I have jumped maybe 2'9" at the tallest and that doesn't keep my eye in gear for the 2'11" Novice course that is in my upcoming future. I know three inches doesn't seem like a lot, but when you are pointing your horse at it and feel that extra surge that he gives you as he locks onto the fence, you know there is a difference.

I am blessed to have Linkin as my horse. We are probably the perfect match for each other. I knew I needed to get over a few bigger fences last night during my ride so I started with setting up several 3' verticals and one 3'3" oxer. The ride started out a little crazy. Linkin has been known to be crazy on several occasions, but this time he thought that one of the barn cats was going to jump out of the woods and eat him alive. If you know the cat, it is probably a valid fear. We spent the first ten minutes just trying to get by that side of the ring without a shoot sideways/ plant and stare. Once we started popping over a few fences, Linkin put his game face on. He was still aware of the cat, but he knew I needed his focus. We soared over the 3' fairly easily as long as I didn't get in his way and headed for the line that included the 3'3" oxer. You always school higher than you will be showing so I felt the need to get over it at least once. Linkin locked on like I knew he would, I added my supportive lower leg and let him build up to the fence like he likes to. We soared over and I knew I had to have the biggest grin on my face. Pure adrenaline was surging through my veins and Linkin could tell he did exactly as I wanted.

Of course we had done that height before in the past, but that doesn't seem to matter when it has been over a year. I have found that I am no longer invincible. I can break, and I definitely don't want to. I also have more to come home to at the end of the day and it is no longer just me that I am living for. Bryce is as supportive and understanding as possible of my drive and fear, but if something happens to me I know it is not just me who pays the price.

Linkin gives me wings, and Bryce makes sure my feet find the ground again afterwards. Right now it is a happy balance between the two most important men in my life, and that is the way I like it!

And I Thought Texting was Lame...

When I was in the dating world before I was married, guys would pick up the phone and call you.  It was before texting was a big thing.  Instead you would actually meet up IN PERSON and hang out.  OMG WHAT A CONCEPT... AND THEN (get this....) You would then make plans to hang out again....... Woah.

Facebook was a thing, but it wasn't about hitting on random girls you don't know/not fb friends with through the facebook messenger.  (heyyyyy girllll heyyyyy) So... boy, was I in for a rude awakening when I joined the "dating world" again... This is strange for me and wildly hilarious.

So I joined Tinder.  It is a dating app on your phone that links through facebook and it is CRAZY.  CRAZY, I TELL YA.  I uploaded a few pictures... didn't write a thing about myself and BOOM .. I am up and going in the "online phone dating" world... so strange.  I have a feeling this is going to be a love hate relationship with this app based on my mood, but for today, I think it is funny.

Updates to come.

-Deva2

Getting Into the Fall Spirit

About a year and a half ago I picked up my things and moved to a new city.  I decided that it was time for a change.  A change for the better, a decision I was making for me.  This is when I started working for the family biz and what a great change it has been.  My new city is full of live music, breweries, colleges (college sports- boom!) festivals, and so much more.  Every time I turn around, there is something fun going on in town.  A new job with a career path that is not only challenging, but interesting and also real fun!  Like I said, a decision for me.

SOOO.....I decided to stay and I bought a house this past Feb.  I have done a few fun things to the house to make it feel more "mine" but this week should be a big week of transformation for my 1938 home.  It is getting a little TLC this week.  (more to come - eeeekkkk I am so excited)

So, to start the week...(not only did I wear boots to work today...)  but, the roommate and I went to the pumpkin patch on Sunday and got mums and pumpkins for the house! Hollllaaaaaa!  I am officially giving up on summer and embracing Fall. - Deva2

The Case of the Mondays Cure

Well... Fried Oreos, fried dough, a pita, a Philly cheesesteak, an ear of corn, a candy apple and oh a bottle of water please. (This wasn't all for me, but gah it was all delish) Ehhheeemmm diet water.... Yes, I skipped Bootcamp to come to the fair today. Sometimes you just got to live a little. (Diabetic shock included)

One of my high school friends sings in a country band (you may know) called Love and Theft. Well, they were also at the fair tonight! 

No such thing as a "Case of the Mondays" in my world! 

Happy day and goodnight blogging world! - Deva2

New House, New Hubby, New Holes...

Wow what a difference a year can make! Bryce and I have officially been in our home a year, and in that year we have gotten married and have completed some renovations to our town home. Most people would have thought a wedding would have been enough to plan, but we added in some upgrades to our kitchen and completely re-doing our downstairs flooring. Oh and did I mention that we ripped all of the carpet out ourselves? Yeah that was a task in itself!

In the past year, I have had to take in a cat and Bryce had to accept my mouthy little dog. I am not a cat person to say the least. I guess you could say Dallas (the cat) and I have come to terms with living together, or at least as much as you can with a cat.

Our wedding was amazing and more than I could have ever dreamed of. I had both my sisters standing by my side as I married my best friend and one of the cutest ring bearers that has ever existed! What more could a girl ask for?

   

 

After the wedding, Bryce and I got back to our normal lives and started planning the next thing we wanted to do. Renovations to the town home! We both wanted to upgrade to granite counter tops, and I really wanted to do hardwood floors throughout the downstairs. We started pricing everything and got it all picked out. Within a week of getting the process started we had construction workers coming out to do a template of the counter tops, and another team to do an estimate on our floors. We started moving all of our furniture either upstairs or into our garage so we could start taking up the carpet. And that was when tragedy struck! Remember that little mouthy dog? Well he decided that the couch that we had just bought about six months ago was now in his garage and should be deemed as his bed. I came home to the pillows showing scratch marks and a hole in one of the back pillows! The scratch marks aren't too bad, but the stuffing was being pulled out the pillow no more than five minutes prior to me getting home since the edge of the pillow was wet from doggy slobber.

 

 

Don't let the sleepy look fool you.

 

 

I couldn't even look at Elliot, I was so mad. I am pretty sure he was glad that our floors got installed the next day because I couldn't stay mad when I was so excited about the floors! I am still trying to figure out if I should get a replacement pillow or just try to stitch it up and call it a day. I really think this poor couch is destined to have a hard life since the first day we got it Bryce cut it with a box blade as he was getting it out of the packaging. That was something he didn't tell me about until months later when I found it and thought the cat had done the damage. I am sure Dallas is thankful that Bryce owned up to that one...

 

The anti-minivan

I admit it. I drive a minivan and I love it.  I can open the doors with a touch of a button, heated seats and tons of cup holders! My friends mostly drive SUVs, but those bulky car doors don't open themselves and the back holds at least 3 strollers!! I might have an addiction there too!

But I don't plan to drive a minivan forever and this summer while on a bike ride at the beach I saw it. The next vehicle I want to drive. See, I have these two boys and I want to be a cool mom.  I, also, married into a Ford family and I don't think my husbands 66 mustang is the right choice for the soccer mom/PTA I am sure I will become.  But this might work.  You will need to use some imagination and hopefully with a lot of elbow grease from hubby this rust bucket will be a fun ride one day! 

Meet our latest project '74 Bronco! I think she needs a name because Rusty ain't workin' for me!  

Hey sisters!! Any ideas??