My Paradise

Ten days into the New Year, and I already know that I have started this year off right! I spent NYE with the sexiest man I've ever seen, our move is pretty much planned, and this trip to Florida was one for the books.

This recap is picture heavy, so I'll try to let the pictures speak for themselves ;)
For your sanity and mine...

We spent the afternoon shopping {had to hit the VS Semi-Annual sale, fo sho'}, but the real fun kicked off with dinner at this new place called S3. It is located directly on the beach, so S3 stands for Sun, Surf, and Sand. It was delish, but they did NOT know how to make a good mojito. Just sayin'.

Jessica was too tired to go out after that, but my girlfriends Rachel and Dani showed up at just the right time. We reminisced over the ol' College days, and then it was downtown for some action. We ran in to old friends, made some new friends, and danced to an awesome Blues band. Just like old times.

I've only known Rachel for about five years, but she's one of those friends I will always have. We just click, ya know? Not to mention...we know far too many secrets about each other.

Before we go any further, I just need to bask in the yumminess that was the food we ate. We consumed more goodness than I even thought possible, and I'm still salivating. Even the room service was bomb.com. Especially cheeseburgers at 7AM after gambling all night.

It was rainy on Saturday, but that didn't stop us. I hit the gym, we went to the spa, and then I attempted to get my hair cut. I had a good time at the salon, but the actual hair story will have to be saved for another time. It's a doozie.

Rested and happy, we headed to Hard Rock Hotel and Casino only to realize that Jessica left her ID back at the hotel. That was kind of important, so we just ended up with less time to grub at Cafe Martorano. This made me sad, but George Lopez was at 8PM! In hindsight, George Lopez sucked, and I would have rather stuffed my face with more Chicken Marsala and meatballs, but you live and you learn. Anyone seen Lopez live? More importantly, has anyone actually enjoyed George Lopez live?

Whatev...we were just happy it was over so we could hit the Blackjack tables! Hence, why we didn't leave the casino until 7AM. YOLO.

Obviously, we slept half of our last day away, but we still managed to hit up the pool and beach before it was too late! You know...there is something about Florida beaches that can make me pop out of bed against my own will...

Having one of my signature drinks helped a bit too ;) You should try it. It seriously tastes JUST like a Pina Colada, without the extra 500 calories.

The last thing I ever expected out of this trip was to jump in the ocean in January, but when in Rome...We are the only three that did it, so that makes us the champions.

Where did the random guy come from you ask? Well, let me just explain that in SoFlo, we tend to make strangers into BFF's, and we just so happened to make friends with a nice group of people that afternoon. In turn, our plans to stay in on Sunday night, changed to limos, dinner at Casablanca {one of my favorite restaurants EVER}, and many shenanigans.

In the following picture, you will see the gang, the Canadian country singer Joan Kennedy top right, and my little brother bottom right.

I would tell you more but it's not blog appropriate ;) Tell me in the comments if you want me to send the rest of the details to your inbox! Let's just say...the trip ended COMPLETELY different than I expected. I think I may try to rest a bit this weekend...maybe.

No Two Snowflakes Are The Same

I planned on checking in on Monday, but there was no way that was going to happen...Then I planned on posting for Tuesday, until I I realized I was walking zombie. At this point, I've begun uploading/editing the trip pictures, but having over 200 is making this process extra hard. I guess the recap will be coming to you Friday? For now, I'll just say that it was everything I wanted it to be, and totally worth the loss of sleep.

Instead, let's talk about this crazy weather! Everyone said that this winter was going to be nuts, and boy are they right. It was 50's when I left and a snowy 8* when we got back. The following was taken Tuesday morning, and not a single filter was used. I actually took it very quickly while getting ready for work, and when I uploaded it to the computer last night, I realized how truly beautiful it was. Perhaps it will take your breath away too, or perhaps I'm too easily impressed. I'm okay either way.

If that doesn't impress you, maybe the next will. In case you haven't seen it on IG, I took this one morning while my truck warmed up. In three years, I had never seen the snowflakes stuck to the window like this, and now I have seen it twice. I feel like this is Colorado's way of saying goodbye to us. Don't burst my bubble.

I guess my point that has evolved today, is to always enjoy the simple things, and allow yourself to be wowed. Not everything revolves around social media, even though I totally took these and immediately thought 'I will blog about these'. In turn, if you don't have anything to blog about, you may need to get out there and actually experience life, ya know? For more awe and wonder, go scroll through this site. I totally spent an hour on it this morning, and already feel like a new person.

Hope your New Year is starting off well. However, if it's not, it's up to you to change it. Perception Is Everything, and only YOU can find your own happiness. Someone I met in Florida told me I speak in Haiku and inspirational quotes...I now realize he was completely accurate. It ain't easy being cheesy, unless you are me, apparently. Ciao!

DIY Fringe Boots, Groovy Baby

What do you do when a friend is PCS'ing to Hawaii?

Have a Luau 60's theme party!

{PCS=military move}

I originally thought that the hippie theme wouldn't work, but everyone seriously embraced it. The best part, was that I already had everything but the fringe boots, which I made myself! More on that in a bit...

You may not know this, but Will and I were born in the wrong generation. We lust over everything vintage, think/act like we were raised in the 50's, and now we look like we lived in the 60's. He even picked that shirt himself. H-O-T-T, HOT! As were my girls...

I'm very happy to say, that it was one of my favorite nights after three years in Colorado. I love anytime I can dress up, Will and I both drank without any trouble, and some great memories were made. It's actually sad to think it may be the last big night out for us here. *Tear* Only one month to go.

But enough of that, the night was still young! 

After the party, it's the after party...

Oooh lawd, and this is where I admit that we are too old for after parties. Don't get me wrong, it was super duper fun, but drinking until 4AM just ain't supposed to happen anymore. Luckily, I have the best husband EVER, and he took care of me for the next two days. He even brought me McDonald's AND pizza in bed. My hero...like for serious.

But let's get to the real reason we are here...may I repeat, I MADE those fringe boots. I wasn't about to buy fringe boots for the party {who are we kidding, I just couldn't find ones that I liked}, so I made fringe to go with a pair of boots I already had!

#1 Pick out the boots you want to transform, and match them with fringe and coordinating ribbon. In my case I only had one fringe color option, so I just made sure that the beaded ribbon I chose brought the two colors together.**

#2 I put on nude knee length socks, scrunched them to where I wanted them on my calf, and cut the ribbon to fit. Leave a little extra to overlap, and hem the edge if it is likely to fray.

#3 Sew the fringe to the bottom of the ribbon. Use a sewing machine if you are so inclined, but a hand stitch is just fine.

#4 Now, you could sew it to the socks, but I wanted to be able to transfer the fringe to other socks, and I felt the need to be able to wash the socks after without ruining the fringe. Instead, I simply used safety pins from the inside to attach the ribbon to the socks {while I was wearing them so they were stretched out}, and continued to wrap the fringe to cover the top of the boots, pinning a few spots to keep it in place. Done son.

Can we just agree that if duct tape had a little sister, it would be safety pins? Easy Peasy, and finished in less than an hour. All in all, I spent $15 dollars on the whole outfit by using things I already had and downloading the Joann Fabric app to get access to all their coupons. ** Do it now if you haven't already, and Michaels/Hobby Lobby while you are at it. It just makes me realize that I really need to utilize my DIY skills more often, and I am totally patting myself on the back right now.

Now that I've had a week to recuperate from my hangover, I'm off to Fort Lauderdale for a long weekend. It's going to be a fun girls weekend, but I already know I will be missing Will. I just keep reminding myself it's only four days! Hopefully I'll be able to check in on Monday, but I make no promises. Helloooo warm weather and sandy beaches, oh how I have missed you! 

Peace and love, groovy babes.

Questions I Asked Myself Before 2014

I didn't even think I was going to make it to Midnight, but with sleepy eyes, I rolled over to Will {yes, we were in bed already}, and kissed him for the last time of 2013 and the first time of 2014. Last night, we had a quick dinner, watched This Is 40, and 'snuggled'...While others drank and carried on, we couldn't think of a more important place to be than home with each other. I guess it's a testament to where we are in life, and that makes me happy.

Obviously we didn't take any photos, but here is a gem from 2012/13 New Year's that has never been seen. This was right before the Deployment, so I was hanging on extra tight.

I never do 'Resolutions', but I saw that Whitney and Kenzie had some great Q&A's on their blogs, and I wanted to play. They have 25 thought provoking questions, but I narrowed mine to thirteen questions that round out 2013!

1  | What am I most proud of this year? Making it through the hardest work environment I have ever endured! Will has to 'embrace the suck', so I figured I should too.

2  | How can I become a better _____? Domestic. I keep my house 'clean', but I want to be like my mom who works and still does almost ALL the cleaning by herself, and by choice I might add. I want Will to focus on school and training the next two years, so I need to step up my game!

3  | Where am I feeling stuck? In my search for a career. I'm just not one of those people that wants to be a Doctor/Lawyer/Teacher, and I don't see myself sitting behind a desk or doing something mundane. I don't want to settle, but I'm getting to the point where I need to figure it out. I would go back to school, but no clue what the heck for. I need something that is challenging, fun, gives me flexibility so that I can be there for my soldier, and I have to be able to move every three years...Any ideas?

4  | Where do I need to allow myself grace? I hold myself to a higher standard than others could ever hold me, and a level that I would never hold anyone else. I need to just let go.

5  | What lessons have I learned? Don't let one person out of the seven billion in the world bring you down, and ask your spouse before you cause any trouble. They get a vote.

6  | What did my finances look like? Fan-flippin-tastic. We have been budgeting and saving for five years, and we are really seeing the fruits of our labor. My cousin owns a tax company, and while she was just going over our taxes, even she was impressed with our retirement savings and everything we are doing. I refuse to stress about money, so we control our money instead of it controlling us.

7  | How have I taken care of my body this year? Not only have I stuck to a fitness routine all year, I have made sure that I am learning how to do it right. Yes, I have moments when I want to target a "problem area", but I remind myself that in the long run, that will get you nowhere and it's not healthy. I hope 2014 brings even more knowledge, strength, and health.

8  | How have I procrastinated? Um...when have I not procrastinated...but seriously, I think I am getting better at this. Slowly.

9  | In what ways can I re-structure my time? Blog more from my phone, try to spend less time on Pinterest, and become an SAHW some time in the next six months ;)

10 | How have I allowed the fear of failure to hold me back? The two things I enjoy the most are singing and writing, and both scare me to death. It's like if I keep those two dreams to myself they can't ever be taken away from me. Just like anyone else...I'm not good with rejection.

11 | When have I felt the most alive? During all the fun shenanigans that Will and I have had this year. Anything I do with him, makes me a happy girl.

12 | Do you have a list of goals for the next year? I'd like to find more freelance writing jobs, possibly get certified to student teach, take on more domestic duties when I finish at Hooters, volunteer at Fort Rucker, and keep getting my fit on.

13 | What are you most looking forward to in 2014? Italy! One of our best friends is stationed there, so we are planning a visit next Christmas! It's a long way off, and we don't know what the next year holds, but I'm crossing my fingers that it works out!

In closing, 2013 probably rank as one of the best years of my life, because any year following a deployment HAS to kick ass. Here's a Flipogram for reference...

"But if you close your eyes, does it almost feel like

Nothing changed at all?"

So long, 2013!