Wednesday, December 31, 2014

2014

2014 was an amazing year for me.

It started out with a bang!
 My best friend ask me to marry him on our anniversary!  

We added a new addition to our little family.
sweet..er..sometimes sweet Luna 

[Joey still loves his little sister]

somewhere this year, in what seems like the blink of an eye, our kitten became a cat

A Tornado hit my mom's house.  Now, this does not fall under the "this was amazing" file, but being able to see a community really come together and help was amazing. It definitely restored my faith in people. 


I'd also like to brag about having the best friends ever who also came and helped clean up.  

Many adventures took place this year.





Josh, Eric & I traveled to Atlanta for the weekend opening of Wish I Was Here
[oh, and geek out moment! Zach Braff favorited Josh's tweet!]

A HUGE dream of mine was marked off of my bucket list!
I was able to see Garth Brooks live!! 

I married my best friend. 


& had a kick-ass honey moon in Tennessee!





Bring it on, 2015.
xo-M
"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Sunday Sounds

Please Don't Tell My Lover- Empires
This song is so infectious. I'd like to think that Meredith Grey would approve of this song for a thirty second dance party session. 

Agora- Bear Hands

I don't know that this is a song I'll ever put in heavy rotation but I did enjoy it. 

Car Radio- Twenty One Pilots


Something From Nothing- Foo Fighters

xo-M

"Happiness is where we find it, but very rarely where we seek it."
-J. Petit Senn

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Christmas.

Merry Christmas! 
May your day be filled with love.


xo-M

"He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree."
-Roy L. Smith

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Sunday Sounds

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays.- NSYNC
I still jam to NSYNC's Christmas album...judge me if you must.

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
This man can do no wrong. Such a beautiful rendition of a classic.

Tennessee Christmas- Alabama
Part of my heart will forever reside in Tennessee. This is a childhood favorite of mine that has not outworn its welcome.

Hard Candy Christmas- Dolly Parton
I have loved Dolly my entire life.

xo-M
Christmas isn't a season. It's a feeling.
-Edna Ferber



Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Positive vibes for a Tuesday.


The older I get the more I believe this is true.
 Lets just chalk that up to wisdom comes with age ;)
xo-M

"Be happy. It's one way of being wise"
-Sidonie Gabrielle Colette

Monday, December 15, 2014

life via s5 snapshots

[ Left- My husband is the best. Top right- I had a really, really good mango black tea this week, it was divine. Bottom right- Almost thirty and sporting a Hello Kitty shirt!]
[Top Left- Me, looking a lot like my mom. Top Right- Joey. Bottom Left- my mom holding baby Kason (she has grandbaby fever) Bottom Right- Eric helping his uncle move a piano]

xo-M

"Adults are just outdated children"
-Dr.Seuss

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Sunday Sounds

a day late...better late than never...right?

Zombie- Jamie T

The Airborne Toxic Event is on my bucket list of bands to see. 


The Mixed Tape- Jack's Mannequin
I woke up with this song in my head today.
How could I post it?


The Adventure- Angels and Airwaves
Every time I hear The Mixed Tape I immediately want to hear The Adventure. They must have been back to back on an old mixtape I made...or something like that....


Sunday, December 7, 2014

Sunday Sounds.


If you know me then you know I love me some NPR Tiny Desk Concerts. I leave with you this week St.Paul And The Broken Bones.

Enjoy. 


xo-M


"It's not always easy to do the right thing. Like putting somone else's feelings first for a change. Even if it goes against what you really want. Of course, there's always ramifications...Even if you do the right thing, there's no guarantee it'll turn out the right way."
                                -J.D. [Scrubs] 

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Sunday Sounds

#Icanteven- The Neighbourhood feat.French Montana
I am not even sure what it is about this song that I like so much but..but I do.

Desire-Meg Myers

She is just so cute and the song is so catchy. 

Turn On The Light- Jamie T

Mary Lambert is a breath of fresh air. (props to anyone who can make me enjoy slam poetry) Anyone who knows me knows I am a sucker for an acoustic song..so..here I give you the acoustic version of Secrets.  

xo-M

"Sunday is my favorite day"
-Emma Caulfield

Friday, November 28, 2014

life via s5 snapshots



Cold weather will forever be my favorite. 

A career is wonderful, but you can't curl up with it on a cold night.
-Marilyn Monroe

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Sunday Sounds.

Da Vinci- Weezer
I have never met a Weezer song that I didn't like. =w=

Fool's Gold- Fitz & The Tantrums

I feel okay with telling the world that Jesse is and will forever be my guilty pleasure.

Animals- Maroon 5

Once upon a time I was lucky enough to see Bright Eyes in Nashville. This is one of my favs. 
xo-M


"When I get the chance to make my favorite breakfast on the weekend, I often choose to make pancakes."
-Michael Samuelsson

Friday, November 21, 2014

B&C&J too.

 I got to take a few pictures of my friend Brandi and her son Carson. 
Here is a few of my favorites pics from today.



(Brandi and Josh- photography assistant, personal DJ and cannon expert)
xo-M

"You never know who's going to become your friend. Friends are always chance meetings."
-Steve Guttenburg

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Sunday Sounds.

Til It's Gone- Yelawolf

This song seems to be playing everytime I get into my car....and I'm okay with that. 

Don't You Find- Jamie T

Bon Iver makes my soul happy.

Cigarette Daydream- Cage The Elephant

xo-M

"If we could all just laugh at ourselves, in hard times or good times, it would be an incredible world."
-Jena Malone

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Sunday Sounds

Today marks the return of Sunday Sounds. Not only do I enjoy sharing the music I enjoy, it helps me stay consistent with blogging every week.

All it really takes for me to take interest in your music is "featuring Tegan & Sara". 

Snap Out Of It- Arctic Monkeys


uh, yes. that happened. 

Every Other Freckle- Alt-J

Once upon a time I was in high school and worshiped Something Corporate. Then I got a little older and loved Jack's Mannequin. (The Mixed Tape is still one of my favorite songs). Now I am closing in on thirty and still love this man. 

xo-M
"Seventy percent of success in life is showing up."
-Woody Allen

Saturday, November 8, 2014

A month later



Oh gosh! It has been a little over a month since my last blog post! I have a good reason, I swear. I have spent the last few months doing a lot of last minute wedding prep, getting married, and enjoying the best honeymoon with the love of my life!

(my brother's wedding...the beginning of it all.....)

I have learned so many things throughout the wedding process.You will never make everyone happy.  At some point you will stress, at some point you will learn not to stress. You have to set limits on invites. Somethings you will not love but you will settle on being okay. You will have to put on your big girl panties and stand up for what you want. If you know you want what you want-- make those things your priority. I am a pretty laid back person and only had a few things that I really knew I wanted out of the wedding. 

Priorities 
Grey and Pink-colors are important! it was a close call between grey/pink or grey/yellow- pink felt more romantic and so..pink it was!
Cupcakes. I knew I wanted cupcakes instead of a cake and I knew which flavors/the type of layout I wanted. They turned out wonderful. 
Bow-tied groomsmen- because it is just cute.
Glittery shoes- While I had originally planned on getting blue glitter Toms, I ended up liking a much cheaper pair of sliver glitter shoes at Payless. Sadly, after wearing them all day I found out how uncomfortable they were. I still do not regret going with the glitter though ;)
Honeymoon. You may be thinking...wait? what? as a part of the wedding? Yes, I wanted to spend more money on our vacation  and less on some things that others couples may choose on wedding details. We chose to go to Tennessee for our honeymoon. This choice has been both criticized and praised by friends, family, and even strangers. At the end of the day, we picked it because we wanted to go and that is what matters. It was the best week spent with my best friend. 

Important but not all that important
Food- I kind of let go of this and let my mom run with it. She was pressing me to do what she wanted anyways. I just decided I didn't even care what we had to eat. In a world where I pick my battles...this wasn't one I felt like fighting.  She did an amazing job and turns out, I didn't even get to sit down and eat anyways.
Invitations- It was important to have nice invitations but it wasn't important to me to spend a lot of money on them. I ended up getting cute invitations at Hobby Lobby and printing them myself. It was something that I was able to spend less money on but still really like.
Reception- As horrible as it may sound, a reception was not on my priority list. I loved our wedding ceremony- it was so beautiful. I fell in love with the house I got married in(which was quite small) and that means settling for not having a dance floor/first dance. This may sound corny but a slow, intimate dance with my husband at home means more to me than it ever could have with everyone watching. I'll chalk that up to us both being a tad introverted ;)

I realize each person has their own ideas of what makes the perfect wedding and that is what makes each person and each wedding unique. I am thankful for my family and friends who worked hard for my wedding and to those who took time our of their Saturday to be with us as we take the biggest step in our lives thus far.

See you soon! 
xo-M

"I love that feeling of being in love, the effect of having butterflies when you wake up in the morning. That is special."
-Jennifer Aniston

Monday, October 6, 2014

ten

1. Fall is finally in the air! yay!!!!
2. I have been exploring different adventures in cooking. We recently got our first crock-pot.  ( I know, I know-*gasp*) This means that I have made our first roast and potatoes! I added half an onion and some Mrs.Dash season to it. I was worried if it would even taste good but it turned out delicious. Another adventure is the chicken and dumplings I cooked tonight.  I used the Pillsbury biscuit recipe. I tweaked it a little, I cooked two chicken breasts and used that broth instead of buying canned broth. I also omitted the celery and carrots bc E doesn't eat them. I was really surprised and impressed by how tasty they are! (it helps that I prefer doughy dumplings)

3.Wedding prep. I am horrible at it. Thankfully, my mom is making me do things.
4.Have you ever wondered what happens if you wear metal in a MRI? Watch here!!
5.Eric & I took Emma to the museum this weekend. She had a blast.


6.Our cat is testing my sanity. She seems to be getting into everything lately. She looks so sweet and innocent. I am hoping she just has a bit more kitten to get out of her and will be calming down a bit. 

7.All day long I was at working thinking about how badly I need to clean...and then I came home...and didn't clean a thing...
8. Today my eye has been twitching. Of course I googled causes of eye twitching and quickly decided I am not an optometrist and need to leave google alone.
9. Emma often steals E's hat. She is too cute. 
10. I get into moods where I am absolutely motivated and inspired and times where I loose it all. Right now I have to admit that I am in a creative slump. I am hoping this weather will bring my creative spirit back into the light.  
xo-M


"The most important thing is to enjoy your life - to be happy - it's all that matters."
-Audrey Hepburn

Saturday, September 27, 2014

last week

Last week I marked a huge event off of my bucket list. I got to see Garth Brooks play at Phillips Arena in Atlanta. It was literally my childhood dream come true.
IT.WAS.AMAZING.
 
"rear stage" doesn't seem appealing...until you are at a Garth Brooks concert.
props to Garth for the round stage and playing to all sides of the arena all night.

One of the best moments of the show was when Trisha came on mid-show to sing a few songs and seeing Garth step back into the shadows and watch her. He could have easily stayed in the lights and been a part of her set but he didn't. It was lovely to see the way he looks at her. 
xo-M

"If you like her and don't know her, you'll love her. If you love her and don't know her you're gonna worship her-she's the real deal"
-Garth Brooks (on Trisha Yearwood)





Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Inconsistency

Hello friends. 
I apologize for the inconsistency of my blog lately. Life has kept me quite busy.
(Also, it is highly possible I have been spending the free time that I do have playing minecraft with E.)


I am much more comfortable behind the camera lens. I hate being in front of the camera. I can't stay still or keep a serious face when someone tries to photograph me. Thankfully, my friend Josh pushed through my awkward nature and captured a few shots of me and E. Josh has been pretty rockin' lately..(more on that next blog post.)

Train track pics are cheesy, but a good kind of cheesy 
This would be one of the many shots of me failing at seriousness.
Josh made us stop at this spot. It turned out to be a perfect shot. 
(We were discussing if it would hurt to fall over the edge and roll down the hill)



Saturday, September 6, 2014

Luna Stache.

Back in May, we introduced you to Luna. She was so tiny and delicate when we first brought her home. A few months later, Miss Luna is growing like a weed and has become quite fearless.

This was Luna when we first brought her home. We gave her a bath and let Joey, our Boston Terrier, get to know her. He had never been around cats so it was a great relief when he loved her as much as we did.

Don't let her sweet face fool you though, she gets into plenty of mischief.
The times when she wants to cuddle & is the sweetest cat in the world absolutely makes up for the mischief.

XO-M
"A happy arrangement: many people prefer cats to other people, and many cats prefer people to other cats."
-Mason Cooley

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Thursday.

Whoa, is it Thursday again already?  Time flies. 
Let us catch up!!

E cut his hair & he is totally adorable.

I cut my hair too! 


I've been listening to A LOT of Ed Sheeran lately. I posted before about how much I love his voice, but I've had Afire Love and Thinking Out Loud on repeat for days. Ed has a way with delivering lyrics that is breathtaking. 




I don't want to admit to anyone that I laughed really, really hard at a buzzfeed article..
but....(I will not admit how many of these I am guilty of)
25 Things All Basic White Girls Do During The Fall

OH! I get married in TWO months! eeeeeek!

 xo-M

"You may delay, but time will not."
-Benjamin Franklin

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Sunday Selfie


It is cleaning day here at Mellyville. I am taking a quick blog/lunch break. The plan is to spend our morning cleaning our apartment. Hopefully this afternoon I can talk E into having a picnic downtown with me!!! 

I want to have the apartment in tip-top shape so that I can spend my afternoons this week editing what I have been filming (more on that later). 
xo-M

"Housekeeping ain't no joke."
-Louisa May Alcott

Friday, August 22, 2014

Addiction.

It is rare that I take to the internet to rant and express my feelings on very personal situations in my life. Today, I need an outlet to vent.

Addition changes who you are. It changes what you care about. It will make some do or say whatever it takes to get the next high. I have seen this first hand.

Unfortunately, E's oldest brother is struggling with addiction. He has a progressively worsening addition to prescription drugs. The past few months I have had an inner struggle with so much anger toward him.I see the pain he causes E. I see the disappointment and the hurt he goes through seeing his best friend deteriorate in front of his eyes. I see how much his mother hurts and how much she worries about him.I find myself the most angry at him for using his grandma for money. He will lie to her in a heartbeat and ask for money "to get my tooth fixed" or "I need to get a part for my car".  It is very hard for me not to harbor bad feelings.

Multiple attempts have been made to TRY to talk to him. Sober moments are few and far between. The few attempts that I have witnessed have ended with him pulling the poor, pitiful me card. "Everybody thinks I'm just worthless" or "I guess I'm just like my dad"  You are a grown man. You are your own person. You make your own choices. People think the things they do about you because of what you choose to do. You have a choice. You choose to continue this lifestyle.

With that being said, I can't begin to imagine the struggle of addiction. The pain of withdrawal and the daily struggle with sobriety seem are things I hope to never know.

It was not easy for me to sit down and write such harsh words about someone who I know on the inside is a good person. Take away the addition and there is a loving, caring, and wonderful person. I fear we may never see that person again.

xo-M

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Sunday Selfie.

I have decided to say goodbye to Sunday Sounds. I have enjoyed sharing music that I enjoy with you all over the past six months, but I feel like it is time to move on. The plan is to stick to a Sunday staple for the blog....I haven't put my finger on what that will be just yet. I am taking Sunday Selfie for a trial run. The goal is to post a selfie with a story each Sunday.




I've been playing around a lot with my hair trying to figure out what I want for my wedding. I curled my hair this morning (sadly, they did not hold for very long). Decisions on my hair have proven to be the most difficult of the entire wedding process.

xo-M

"I like to walk around with bare feet and I don't like to comb my hair."
-Beyonce

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Sunday Sounds.

Back to the Shack- Weezer

I have yet to hear Manchester Orchestra sing anything that I did not love. Andy's voice is amazing. 

No Envy No Fear- Joshua Radin (live)







This is one of the songs that I enjoy and E could go the rest of his life and never hear. I weasel it in every now and then. 

Flaws- Bastille (live and acoustic)
xo-M

"I would rather die of passion than of boredom."
-Vincent Van Gogh

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

The struggle is real.


At this current moment, I am resisting the urge to hop in my car and drive to Starbucks. I really want a peppermint java chip frappuccino. I try my best to occupy my brain when the cravings come on. I find myself wanting iced coffee or frappuccinos when I have a busy or bad day at work. I am pretty much a stress induced sugar devourer. So, instead of giving in to my urges, I am blogging.

I feel like the past few weeks have flown by so quickly. I manage to stay engaged in something most every night. Tonight, I have a few hours before E gets home and we go exercise. I am so thankful for these cool August evenings, they defiantly make my efforts at exercising outside more enjoyable.

[snapped on our walk earlier this week]

Thankfully, one bottle of water and a blog post later, my craving is gone. Cheers to more blogging and less frappachinos!
xo-M
"Idle hands are the devil's playground"
-Haziq Hamid