Spring {Cleaning, That Is} Came Early!

Magazine articles and Pinterest links touting advice on how to organize your junk drawer always make me laugh; as though I only have one junk drawer. I always try my best to keep a clean home because I start to get bitchy cranky when it's a mess; true story, just ask Reg!  Everyone has heard the age-old saying: "A place for everything and everything in its place, unless you want me to poison your cupcakes." Or something like that.  However, even those of us with Type A personalities have at least a few areas that we're ashamed to shed light on; those places where life's odds & ends (or perhaps an excessive shoe collection) just sort of pile up - until now, that is! Spring came early to the Williams' house this year, or rather Spring cleaning did, and we spent this week putting together new shelves for the garage, reorganizing the junk drawers and cleaning out closets - oh, did I clean out closets!  It took a few hours, three $14 shoe racks from Walmart, twelve baskets for the top shelf and several trips to the local GoodWill to make donations, but I finally tamed the secret monster in our closet and transformed it from this...

to this...

I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out. I'm even more pleased with the purge of old clothing I never wore, which means that now I get to go shopping for new clothes I'll never wear. Kidding. (Probably.)

But honestly, the best part is the fact that even though it may look like I still have too many shoes, Reg can't say a word about it because I'm not even the partner in this marriage with the excessive shoe collection...

Nope, I wasn't joking. 

Marriage ProTip: To avoid a lifetime of sighs, eye-rolls, and impatiently tapped feet, marry a man who a.) you love,  b.) treats you well, and c.) also enjoys shopping.  You can thank me later. 

Black Tulle & Leopard Is Never Not A Good Idea

As it turns out, when you get married, those regular date nights you and your beloved grew accustomed to aren't quite so regular anymore. It's not intentional, or even a necessarily bad thing. Maybe you just get swamped with homework.  Maybe your husband is exhausted after flying all week and working 12 hour days. Maybe it's because there's this thing called yoga pants, and those little bitches are irresistibly comfy. 
Whatever the reason, Reg and I had yet to make it out to dinner to celebrate the New Year, so last night I took matters into my own hands and met Reg at the door as he came home from work with my heels on, a kiss, and a "Get dressed, we're going out." 

Black tulle and leopard is never not a good idea. 

Coincidentally, he had secret plans of his own and, after making a quick stop after work, met me at the door, DVD in hand, with a movie he knew I'd been wanting to see which resulted in the dream date night: a lovely dinner out and yoga pants. 

Cactus Flower's legendary Santa Fe Chimi with cilantro rice: get in my life! 

Jack & Coke for him. Moscato D'Asti for me. Comfy pants for all. 

I kind of lucked out with this man. He's a keeper. 

As if that weren't enough excitement for one weekend, we're looking forward to a game night with dear friends this evening. Do you have any special weekend plans? 

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Less Like Christmas, And Other News

As I write this, it seems incredible to me that we're already at the end of the first week of the new year! I feel like we were literally just in Wichita, having the time of our lives for Christmas. Ok, maybe hanging out at Mom & Dad's, baking, playing board games, reliving old traditions and making new memories isn't everyone's idea of having the time of their life, but considering I hadn't been home in six months and have missed my family immensely, those two weeks were a godsend. 

Would definitely recommend flying next time, as opposed to that sixteen hour road trip, but I loved that Sundown got to come!

However, as they say, time waits for no one and here we are: January 7th and what a whirlwind of a year 2015 is already proving to be! 

This makes the third year in a row that Reg has managed to elude the dreaded chore of taking down Christmas decorations - I'm not even mad; just jealous! Nonetheless, I got everything down, packed away, and harassed Reg into storing everything in the attic (hey, it was the least he could do) by January 1st - a personal record! 

It's beginning to look a lot less like Christmas!

As much as I adore decorating for the holidays, there's something to be said for the peace and tranquility of a freshly cleaned and redecorated home once January rolls around. It's also the perfect time to revamp your style, which is how we ended up with a new dining room rug and bedroom comforter that I am in love with. 

Unless Reg is reading this, in which case they've always been there and he's just failed to notice them. Whew. That was close. 

In other news, as almost everyone who knows me knows, we had the pleasure of adopting our lab-mix, Sundown, a year ago (January 3rd, 2014 to be exact) and he's been the best, sweetest dog we could have hoped for. After pressuring Reg into it for forever, he finally relented, I mean, we came to the conclusion together that we would like to add another dog to our family and celebrated Sundown's adoption date this past weekend by rescuing this snuggle monster from a local shelter.

Meet Achilles, our newest fur-baby! His ears melt my heart.

But wait! We're actually a family of FIVE now. No, sorry, I'm not pregnant yet, we just also got Francis the fish this week! If you get the name reference, you, my fellow bookworm friend, are awesome. 

Other than that, it's pretty much an enchanted life as per usual down here. The new semester has begun and I've also created this blog. It's something I've been tossing around in my head for over a year now and I just never quite seemed to get around to it. I think a part of me was afraid to put myself out there, but then I came to an important realization: I don't have to care if someone else likes it or not. I'm not doing it for fame, or glory, or to please anybody else. I'm doing it because it's something I've wanted to do for myself. And right after I had this epiphany and published my first post, a favorite song by Francesca Battistelli came on the radio:

"He calls me chosen, free forgiven, wanted, child of the King,

His forever, held in treasure...

I am loved

I don't need my name in lights...

I'm famous in my Father's eyes..."

So, in an effort to live up to my New Year's "resolution," I'm spending my time intentionally and doing something meaningful to me. 

Thanks for stopping by for a visit! How's 2015 treating you so far? 

And Now We Welcome The New Year, Full Of Things That Have Never Been

There's something about a new year and a blank calendar, brimming with untold possibilities that I absolutely love. In fact, January 1st of every year, you can find me in my office, washi tape and Sharpie precision pens in had, prepping the new calendar for the upcoming year and day-dreaming about all of the adventures waiting to be had. 

I don't usually make New Year's resolutions because I, like most people, find myself giving up on them too soon. However, when the end of the year rolls around I inevitably find myself wishing that the past had been just a smidge different. 

Something about writing it down and putting it 'out there' holds a person accountable, and so while I've still set a few specific goals I'd love to reach in 2015, I think this year I'm going to try something new and focus instead of just one little word: Intention.

I want to be intentional with my 'me time' and spend more time adventuring and dancing in the living room with my love, and less time 'Netflix-ing' and 'social media-ing.'

As Reg & I move toward our second wedding anniversary, I want to be intentional about our marriage and continue to build a strong foundation that will last all of our lives. 

I want to be intentional about the words I choose to speak, and make them sweeter. 

Rather than focus on numbers on a scale, I want to be intentional about the foods I choose to consume, and strive to be a healthier version of myself.

And, most importantly, I want to be intentional about my relationship with Jesus, and draw closer to Him. 

 What about you? Have you made any resolutions or goals for the New Year?

I hope 2015 is brimming with magic and dreams and good madness for each of us. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful. And I hope, somewhere in this next year, we all surprise ourselves.