Words for Wednesday

Happy Wednesday Friends! Hope you all had a great Wednesday! Mine was full of cleaning and, well, dancing. Haha. Gotta love music while you clean! Also, I have some good news...the one company has started the background/reference check on me...that means I'm a finalist! HOORAY! 

Now, here are some words for the day...

Source: m.weheartit.com

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

    It really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Well, that and Christmas is only 3 days away! Ahhh! Can you believe it?! Where has all the time gone? Wasn't it just the summer? Man, how time flies! It's been a busy year for us...and this week, man oh man, boy has it been busy! I've been sick, we've been packing, cleaning, and buying last minute Christmas presents. So, sorry for my lack of posting. I will try to get back on my schedule after the holidays.
    Today, we had to say bye to our first place here in Germany. It may have been old and falling apart, but it had it's own charm. I'm sad to leave it. The guy who came to clear us came at 8 this morning! It's already been a long day. Unfortunatley for us, the Army only pays for us to have 3 days in the hotel. But, God bless great neighbors/friends who let us store our stuff in her apartment and even spend the night. :)

    This year, Christmas will be a bit different for us. We're not going to be with any of our family, plus, we're going to be in a hotel room on base, oh yeah, and we're in Germany. Weird, huh? Though, Germans do Christmas very well.
    As I've said before, we are blessed to have great neighbors/friends. Several of them are also going to be around for Christmas, so we're all pitching in and having Christmas dinner together. Tyler and I are making green bean casserole and apple pie. Mmm, I'm getting hungry already!
    This would be the perfect year to start some of our own traditions, but it's a little hard since we will be in a hotel and not a home of our own. But, if we do come up with anything, I'll be sure to let you all know.
    When I am in Texas for Christmas, we go to church Christmas eve for the candlelight service. When we were younger, Santa would come while we were at church Christmas Eve, so we would get to open the presents from him after church.
    After Christmas day church, we would have brunch and open the rest of our presents. Then, later in the afternoon, we'd go over to a family friend's house for a big get together. My sister and I usually had a friend or two there, but it could still be awkward. Hey, at least we had each other! I know my parents enjoyed it, and as we got older, we would also chat with the adults, so it became more fun I think. :)
    For the past few years, I have been doing Christmas with Tyler's family. Usually the weekend before Christmas, Tyler's dad's side of the family would get together to have dinner, chat, and do a gift card swap game. You all bring $35 gift cards (from anywhere) and you wrap it up. They kind of play it like white elephant, so you all draw a number, you can pick a gift, trade, etc. I think it's a great idea so you don't have to buy a present for everyone, plus, it's fun.
    Sometimes on Christmas Eve they would go to church, but so far, we've only gone one year. On Christmas day, it's an immediate family affair (this includes grandma and possibly and aunt and uncle). Tyler and I last year served everyone mimosas in the morning with Christmas brunch. The mimosas are definitely becoming a tradition, hehe. Then, after brunch, we open presents (still in PJs of course), and after that, it's kind of a lazy day.
    Last year, since Tyler had just gotten back from Afghanistan, we decided to split our time between the two families. First, we flew to Texas for a few days (and had an early Christmas with my family), then, a few days before Christmas, we flew to California.
    People with both parents in the same state or close together are EXTREMELY lucky. I wish we didn't have to choose which family we get to spend the holidays with, but alas, we do. Since we're moving to California, that means that we will see Tyler's family for holidays more, which is fine, but I would really like to see mine as well. I do have a family afterall. Someday we will have enough money to fly all the time to see my family for holidays. Until that day, we will try to split it up the best we can, or maybe just have some on our own. Hmmm...I like that idea!

    What are some of your Christmas traditions?
    Do you have to split your holidays between families? If so, do you have any suggestions, tips,
    or advice?

Winter cleaning?

    With December right around the corner, it's time to do some winter (I guess late fall) cleaning! That and we're moving soon, so I need to organize things anyway. We're supposed to find out today when we leave and when they're coming to ship our stuff! AH! It's a happy and sad feeling really. I'm excited to go back and see friends and family, but I'm also sad because I'm made some good new friends here. I also feel like there is so much more I could do here. Sigh. Also, I'm scared to start working again. I mean, ok, I am excited, because let's face it, I'm going stir crazy and need something more to do. But, I'm also scared.
    This past Thursday (Thanksgiving), Tyler and I left for Madrid Spain. We got to travel around with his cousin Jenna who lives 30 minutes or so outside of Madrid. We had such a great time! I even got to hang out with a old college friend :). We got back to our apartment late Sunday night, well, actually it was more like early Saturday morning...about 1:20am. AH! At least we made it back safely and our flight was on time haha. No worries friends, pictures and blog post all about Madrid to come!

    As you may have noticed, my blog has been going through an update. What do you guys think? I'm LOVING it! It's all thanks to my dear friend Joelle over at Something Charming. Didn't she do a great job? :D Thanks Joelle!
   

Weekend Review

    Friday, I went to the gym, cleaned, folded laundry (thrilling I know) and just relaxed. Saturday, I attempted to see Crazy, Stupid, Love. My friends and I got there and they told us that the last base had scratched it a little, so bits were ruined. We decided to not go and go back to my place to pick a movie to watch. If I would've been expecting people, I would've prepared more food, but since I wasn't I had to scramble together some things like chips and salsa. After the movie, we all started chatting, two of us has some wine and we stayed up til about 2:30! WHAT!? It was a lot of fun. Two of the girls husbands are deployed and me and the other girl's husbands are training, so it was a nice girls night. :)
    Sunday, I took a very chilly walk (it's started to get cold booooo) and then, I actually saw Crazy, Stupid, Love. I really liked it! I mean, it's kind of depressing at times, but I REALLY liked it. Afterwards, I went to dinner to with my friend who I haven't seen in months. It was so nice to catch up. :)
   Today, I'm going to go to the gym and hang out with some of the neighbors...go shopping and what not. :) Should be a good time!
   How was everyone else's weekend?

Inspiration

   I haven't been too inspired to write lately, not sure why, just haven't. Last night (I guess this morning) I started feeling nauseous. Oh no. I'm doing better this morning, but yikes, I HATE that feeling. Apparently a flu type bug is going around, so I need to be careful. Anyway, I'm slowly but surely working on the guest bedroom for when my parents come, but I'm having problems picking sheets and a duvet or quilt.

Source: tumblr.com via Beth on Pinterest

   Wouldn't it be amazing if I could find that bedspread? It's so bright and cheery. I mean, I am working with a futon instead of a bed, but it should still look good and be comfortable. Any ideas on where I should go for sheets and bedding? Remember I'm in Germany lol.

Source: dunelm-mill.com via Beth on Pinterest

Or maybe something like this? Sigh. I love Pinterest. :) I need to get inspired to write, to clean, to cook more. Well, last night I did make myself some steak. Usually Tyler cooks the steak, but I feel like I did a pretty good job. What do you guys do to get inspired? Any ideas for the guest room?

Motivation

   Yesterday I got in a great hour workout, just cardio, but still good. It's really what I need. I was so proud of myself. I hadn't really worked out in awhile do to the cold/allergy thing and all. I mean, I tried to take walks, but that would even tire me out and/or make me cough. Finally I could do it without getting super tired or coughing. woot!
   I haven't been really inspired to blog lately, not really sure why...just not in the mood. I feel as if I have nothing to write about at the moment, that, and no one really reads this anyway so why bother? But it shouldn't matter how many people read this, I should just do this because I want to. Thus, I will keep going.
   I've been so lazy ever since I've gotten back from the states, well, yesterday I did clean a lot and get a workout in (our apartment looks greats btw :p), but I ended up falling asleep on the couch at like 6 for like 30 minutes or so. Haha.

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Then I couldn't get to sleep til like after 2 am. ugh. And to make matters worse, I kept snacking.
Oye. Snacking late as night is terrible for you. What's wrong with me? I need more motivation or something. ha.

    As the picture above says, today, I'm trying to stay motivated. I did sleep longer than intended and have had a lazy morning, but hopefully the afternoon will bring better results. I also need to stop watching True Blood. 

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It's one of those shows that's kinda bad, but you have to keep watching and I'm addicted haha. 

How's everyone else doing today? How do you stay motivated?