Currently x20 {link up}

Linking up with Harvesting Kale for Currently.
The prompts this week {watching, learning, considering, needing, changing}

WATCHING:  We got to see two of our awesome friends become parents together this week and might I say I am pretty darn excited about that!  Chris & Kristen brought Baby Everett into the world on Wednesday.  It's gonna be so great to have Everett & Molly so close in proximity as well as age, too, with them being three months apart.  And then next week we get to watch two more friends get married as well.  I can't wait to see Tyler & Marsha tie the knot next weekend!!!
(It's been a long time coming to see Tony's best friends settle their crazy butts down and it is nice to see!) 

LEARNING:  Why forgiveness or just letting things go is so important.  And really, it takes too much energy to hold onto resenting someone or hating certain things.  It feels so good to move on into the light.  I love the saying that goes something like this:  

Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.

CONSIDERING: Writing a blog post about sexual assault and including personal anecdotes.  To do so would obviously mean I would be sharing some sensitive material - which is fine with me - but I'm not sure how it would be received.  I do think it's something important to shed some light on and doing so would show the alarming amount of women this happens to as well as the different forms of sexual assault.  I'm also considering including other folks' personal stories pertaining to the topic - if you know anyone who would like to anonymously be part of the upcoming post, please send them my way. 

NEEDING:  To save money for a new range.  Ours is just awful and I have my eye on a beautiful one at Siano Appliances (where my mother-in-law works).  I cannot wait to replace ours!!!  It's pretty old - still in working condition - but we acquired it in a state of disrepair.  Doable, but certainly not loveable. I can't wait to blog about it and share before and after photos when the time comes. 

CHANGING:  Thought I was going to be drastically changing my hair sometime soon-ish... but now I'm not sure.  I made it through the hot, hot summer with long hair - why would I want to cut it short for the coldy-cold months?  I don't know.  I still consider cutting my hair.  And my big sister is due to give hers a chop soon so maybe that will push me to cut mine after I see how cute hers is and how much she loves it.

(I really love the Jennifer Lawrence short hair cut on the top left.)

Aside from all that fun - I am really looking forward to some upcoming projects we are planning on in the next few months.  We are going to replace the faucets in our bathroom, the guest bathroom, and the kitchen along with the light fixtures in both bathrooms as well.  We really need shoe moulding along the entire house but in not sure we are ready for that project just yet.  Another fun project will include mounting a small TV in our kitchen!  It's not something we would normally do but the folks who lived here before left some pretty awful holes and marks on the wall where one was previously mounted (and hastily removed I am guessing) and this way we will be able to cover that up. It'll be nice to watch something while cooking, too!

It's so funny these projects are something fun to look forward to in addition to being something I like to talk about.  It is interesting how life changes you over time!  I'll leave you with some photos of our everyday shenanigans.

Playing Catch Up!

Good googly moogly!  I can't believe it has been so long since I last signed on here and checked in and dumped out what's been on my brain!!!!  As always... no one is going to be more sorry than myself for my lack of cataloging here lately.

SO, let's back-track a wee bit.  It has been over a month since I last wrote.  Mostly I have to thank the fact that Presley and I got the KILLER stomach virus that had been going around right before Christmas!!!  I was writing about wanting to catch the holiday spirit, not the holiday sickness!  It was awful.  Presley was puking every 15-20 minutes and at first it was all over her crib.  ALL over.  And then after several bedding changes for her, I just threw her in my bed with me.  And after several more bedding changes in my room, I finally got her to throw up into a mixing bowl (somewhat).  It was really very sad for me to watch her get down to throwing up nothing but dark green stomach bile... that was very hard to watch.  And then the next day or so... I got the virus FULL swing.  Thank GOD my mother was willing and able to take Presley for a few hours that day because I was just not capable of anything.  It was seriously awful.  And doing it all by myself without a spouse was scary.  And then the next morning we had to wake up and catch a flight from Moline to Chicago and from Chicago to Memphis.  I didn't think I could do it but I kept telling myself it is 3-4 hours of suffering in this way and then we will be with Tony.  Thankfully, I was feeling leaps and bounds better than I had been the night before but it still wasn't easy.  Consider the fact that I am pregnant on top of all that and it was just awful.  I don't think I ate anything for 24 hours and not only did I feel terrible but I felt guilty on top of it. 

We made it to Memphis, though, on Christmas Day!  We spent a few days with Tony and then said goodbye to him, Chris, and Kristen (two of our wonderful friends) and they traveled back up to Moline to pack up the house into the U-Haul trailer and head back down to Memphis.  They did all this in one weekend all by themselves.  I am in awe of all they accomplished and we will be forever indebted to them and so beyond grateful for their kindness and compassion.  Not to mention... they then proceeded to unpack the U-Haul into a storage unit along with the help of my in-laws.  I felt very unproductive those days when they were so busy and that is not a good feeling for someone who wanted to be in charge of it all.  But, we all survived.  And Chris & Kristen declared their independence from ever having to help us move again!  :)

Since we've been in town, we have been living with Chris and Kristen in their 2 bedroom rental home.  When I said they were wonderful friends, did you take my word for it?  I mean, incredible.  We are in the process of looking at homes and getting approved for a loan, etc.  It has been a somewhat sticky process... it often feels like one step forward and then we take ten or so back.  Though, finally, it feels like we are coming up with a game plan alongside our lender and realtor.  I thank God for their patience because I know I am not the easiest person to work with - I have realized I am very sensitive when it comes to this big decision.  We started out by looking in Olive Branch, Mississippi which is just outside of Memphis.  (For you QCA folks, it's equivalent to Moline/Davenport.)   That didn't pan out well for us so we are shifting our focus to look at homes in the Cordova/Bartlett area.  I am feeling VERY hopeful about out prospects here.  Plus, it cuts Tony's daily commute way down and I am a huge huge HUGE fan of that!

Presley has been adjusting well.  She is sleeping in a pack-and-play and we just ordered a thicker mattress for that and it's seemed to help her sleep sounder.  We've also been watching a disgusting amount of TV lately and I hate it!  I feel like I have forgotten how to be a stay at home parent for some odd reason... and to be honest?  I love Presley but I seem to enjoy it less these days.  I know I wasn't always a huge fan of it but after having gone back to work for a few months before we moved, it really caused me to realize how much I enjoy working outside the home.

Now, onto this whole pregnancy deal!  I am always forgetting I'm pregnant because this one just feels so vastly different from the last one. Your first time around EVERY little and big thing is just so monumental and I feel terrible but this time around, pregnancy is the last thing on my mind.  Presley requires a LOT of attention (point in case: she got SO close to sticking a screw driver in an electrical outlet today...) and when it's not her that I'm focused on it is mealtime, naptime, bedtime, time to focus on home buying, etc!  I'm currently 16 weeks pregnant and for the last few days I have been craving nothing more than a McDonald's cheeseburger (or two), their delicious fries, and a huge coke!  SO BAD!!!  I have yet to indulge... mostly because I just keep forgetting until around this time of night.  I had also been hankering for Mexican food for several weeks in a row but that seems to have subsided after our trip to El Porton last week with Megan, Chris, Kristen, Presley & Tony!  We got guacamole dip (HEAVENLY!!!!) and Presley tossed it on the floor... I nearly cried.  But instead, I sucked it up and ordered another one!  For a while there I was really loving the frozen cheesy garlic bread you could stick in the oven for a couple minutes.  Now?  I just eat what I can when I have the time.  I feel the need to find a Chinese restaurant we really fall in love with because I am missing Ming Wah and our friends there like crazy.  I know that sounds silly, but it's true.  This restaurant (in Moline) is really something special to us!  Not to mention the food is just delicious.  I really need to stop talking about FOOD!!!!

Here is a picture of me & Presley.  I was just around 15 weeks along here and Presley was nice enough to help hold my belly up for the photo. ;)

This is an older one... but we got to spend Christmas with my family before the sickness and move. It was so nice!

Just after we landed in Memphis.  Walking to the cars with her Grandmommy & Papa.

We've also been lucky enough to hang out with my sister & her husband & my niece, Anne Marie, several times since we've moved.  Here is Presley & Annie holding hands in the back seat!!!

Had a very sister Christmas after the holidays and it was very much needed... although it went by in a flash!  Here is Aunt Ashie & Uncle Jojo with Annie & Presley.

One of my favorites of Tony & Presley :)

And here we are earlier this week right around 16 weeks along.

I've been catching up on Parenthood (the TV show) the past few weeks and goodness... I have really been missing out!!!  I've just started with the most recent season and things are getting good.  Anyways, what has been up with all of you?!  I look forward to catching up on everyone's blogs!  Take care.