A Dog's Life

Having a dog is one of the most amazing and wonderful things in the world. They greet you at the door each day after work with overwhelming joy and excitement. They love you unconditionally, no matter how many times you scold them or punish them. They make life more enjoyable when life seems to have turned it’s back on you. Not to mention, they have the most adorable face that you can’t help but love even when they leave you gifts that are hardly wanted.

Dogs are funny though, no matter how much love they show you, they will still chew up your favorite pen and rip apart your screen door without a second thought about the matter. My sweet, new puppy has made my make-up brushes her personal teeth sharpeners and my liquid eyeliner her play toy.

Most recently, my precious nine-month-old rescue has been quite mischievous around the house. Earlier in the week, she decided to peruse through my articulately organized closet to retrieve a pair of white pumps for her chewing pleasure. These white pumps also go by the alias of my wedding shoes. Now, I admit that when I first saw her gnawing away at one of the most precious keepsakes that I own, I may have overreacted, but who wouldn’t? After I punished her for what she had done, I looked into those big brown eyes and my heart melted inside of my chest.

Later in the day, I was working on a project in the guest room when I thought it to be unnervingly quiet in the house. See, having a dog or puppy is much like having a toddler. If they are quiet, they are usually up to something naughty. With bated breath, I walked into the living room only to discover my sweet puppy lying on the couch. Upon closer examination I saw that she was chewing on a foreign green stuffing of unknown origin. Then, I saw it. The corner of one of my throw pillows had been severed completely and a strand of green stuffing was rolling out of it onto the couch.

No matter how many shoes she eats or how many pillows she mangles, I can’t seem to stay mad at her for longer than five minutes. I guess that is what one might call “puppy charm”, and I hope that for her sake her charm never wears off.  I have a feeling that even if it does, one look at those big chocolate eyes and everything will be forgotten.

Truth be told, we are lucky to have pets in our lives. They teach us how to love deeply without expectations, and they show us what forgiveness looks like in action. We only get to keep them for maybe an eighth of our lives, 8-15 years at the most, so making the most of everyday is what they are intrinsically trained to do. We could learn a lot about life by simply living one day through our beloved pets’ eyes.

Moving Shenanigans

So, moving is great for many reasons!

1. You get to move in to a brand new house/apartment and get to decorate all over again! (Yay!!)
2. You get to find all kinds of new and awesome places to eat!
3. The shopping may be better in your new area (YAY Again!!)
4. And there's all kinds of new things to try and new places to go!

There is also some things that can be frustrating but yet...     ...comical in a way

Like for instance, I visited our friendly neighborhood Wal-Mart (my favorite place to go ever in the history of ever) just the other day. I simply needed a canvas and dish washing detergent- that was it. Well, this was an endeavor that I just wasn't prepared for apparently. For one, why is the layout of every single Wal-Mart different?!? Can someone explain this to me because I really don't understand the purpose. Anywho.. I was completely turned around and didn't even know where to start looking for the craft department. It was located in the very back on the right in our old Wal-Mart so I started there first. Well, sadly, I did not find the crafts back there....   ..so I found a nice employee- well actually he spotted me first. He must have took one look at me and realized I looked like I was in a foreign country, so he offered his assistance. I found the crafts no problem, and picked out my canvas. Okay, next stop- dish washing detergent! This should be an easy one right.. nope! I wandered around for a while and low and behold who do I see??? But the same nice employee who spotted me the first time! He looked at me kind of like, "wow.. what do you need now".. but I had no choice but to ask him or I would have been there for another 15 minutes roaming the long aisles of Wal-Mart. The detergent was in the middle of the food section... ...I mean really? I've never even seen that before! haha

Anyway, it's been a new adventure everyday! Don't even get me started about trying to find my way around town... thank the good Lord for allowing the human mind to create the "GPS". I don't know how we survived without it!

Well hope you enjoyed my story and have a wonderful night!

Until next time,

Brandy

New Places and New Faces

Sometimes in life, things happen. We spend all of our time trying to prepare for any and everything that could possibly go wrong. And it seems the more plans we make and the more prepared we are... the more that goes wrong.

I had plans too.

Plans that were turned upside with one text message conversation that changed the direction of our lives.

Long story short, my plans for the summer were never set in stone. Although I was unaware of this, it didn't change the fact that I was now faced with a dilemma. I needed a job and needed one quick, but in little Williamsburg, KY, jobs are hard to come by.

The plan was to move to Western Kentucky after I finished my Master's program, and try for a teaching job there. This wasn't supposed to be until next fall at the earliest, but more than likely it was going to happen in December after I finished student teaching. We never expected to watch our plans unravel right in front of our eyes.

Zach and I took a walk that afternoon, after we got the news. We walked through our quaint little town and talked about the direction of our lives. After hearing what each of us thought about everything, we made the decision to move to Glasgow, KY and start over there. It's a bigger area and there are more opportunities for our future there.

So after the grueling apartment search, the lease signing, the packing, and the moving, you will now find me sitting in our new office on our computer typing up this blog to catch all of you up!

We found a beautiful duplex out in the country that was perfect for us. Zach got his old job back at the YMCA for the summer, and they have graciously agreed to take me on as a Zumba instructor after I get my licence this weekend. If you know me you know that after last summer becoming a Zumba instructor was a huge dream of mine, and God has put me in a place where that dream can become a reality.

I'm still searching for a job, and still waiting to hear from a few schools about teaching positions. This is a frustrating and uncertain time, but God is walking with me and with us the entire way.

He never leaves us no matter how bad a situation may seem at the time. Although I am still in the valley, I know that the mountain is right around the corner and I will continue to have faith in a God who is bigger than all of my problems.

It's not an easy thing to do. It doesn't always look pretty, and it's almost unbearable some days. But there is always hope that tomorrow is a new day with new blessings! I ask that if you have some time, please say a prayer for us as we make this challenging transition.

Until next time-
Have a wonderful evening,

Brandy

Motivation Station

Okay guys, this post is a little different. I want to hear from YOU!

When I was in college and high school I was very motivated. Not just in my studies and schoolwork, but I was motivated to work out and be active and just basically be the best me I could be.

...however...the time has come where I have lost motivation and I am really struggling to get it back. I work basically full time and I am taking graduate classes. I am also a recent newlywed and spend time keeping up with the apartment and cooking, shopping etc. Not to mention spending time with my hubby. I want to know what motivates you? How do you get pumped up for that after-work workout? How do you fire yourself up to complete a daunting task? I would LOVE to hear from everyone! Please comment below and tell me how you get motivated!

My next post will be the top reasons that I hear for getting and staying motivated :)

Have a happy Tuesday!

-Brandy

Never Ending To-Do List

Do you ever feel like your to-do list never ends? You cross off 5 things, and 6 more magically appear on your notepad...yeah I totally understand that. Some days it seems as if I will never get caught up. I think what we have to do if we are in this situation is realize that we will never be completely caught up. We have to have our priorities in check and make sure we are doing what's MOST important first. For me, God is MOST important, and Zach is next in line. If I am spending my time with God, and giving Zach the next big chunk of my time, everything should fall into place.

Do I do this...? No.

If you are like me you struggle with priorities even when you know who and what should come first. Maybe you have 2 jobs, and you're in graduate school and you promised her you'd be at that event and you have 12 errands to run and you have two huge tests to study for that will determine your future and you have too many obligations to too many people and you're applying for that big first real job and you are trying to figure out your next step in life....and this and that and fifty other things that need to be done..

So here is the punch line-- give yourself a break, you're only human. Make time for yourself so you can "fill your own cup" and therefore be able to pour into others.

Remember, you are loved first and foremost by a Great God and He wants you to be happy.

I hope everyone has a fantastic day today!

Sincerely,
Brandy

Crazy Weather and Hump day Excitement

I haven't blogged in a while and I chalk that up to having a crazy stressful life. Now before you feel bad for me, i've done most of this to myself lol

I love to craft and upcycle things and pretty much do anything that involves a hot glue gun, my husband will attest to that. (Praise God for giving me somebody who is supportive of my crazy hobbies) Sometimes I will literally destroy a room during a project and he never seems to mind :)

So last week we had amazing and beautiful warm weather, and then Monday --it iced and snowed. I was sad, and I truly believe that weather has the ability to get me down. :(

But, alas!

Today is Hump day and it has been my very favorite day ever since this summer. This past summer I worked at a zoo and lunch time was always hang out with the animals time, which is amazing and I miss it terribly. So, one Wednesday afternoon, my fellow interns and I decided to ride the camels on our lunch break. CAMELS ON HUMP DAY! I mean c'mon that's probably the most awesome thing you could ever do right?

This past summer had its ups and down but I wouldn't have traded it for the world.

I am excited to see what this summer will bring. And I am excited/nervous to see where my life is going to take me in the next year or so. A lot is up in the air but I know that God has a plan mapped out for me and all I need to do is listen. I hope everyone has an absolutely fantastic HUMP DAY! Woop WOOP!

Brandy

Saturday Repurposing

We were given a T.V. stand by a friend of ours and we tried to think of what we could do with it, and where it would find its home in our apartment.

 It's made of wood and in pretty good condition. It was previously used to hold a very heavy television (~200 lbs), so it's also very sturdy.

We already had a T.V. stand and couldn't think of anywhere it would be useful, until we thought about using it as a place to store our laundry baskets!

 Perfect!!

 We loved it, it was great! Then me being me..I got onto Pinterest and starting searching for ways to beautify our new laundry area!

And I stumbled across this...

 This was also a T.V. stand that someone had decided to use as a furniture piece for the end of their bed! And they did this with it...

 AMAZING!!

So I my wheels started turning and I came up with a plan!

And this is what happened!

First, we took the shelf out because we wanted to use the space underneath for one of our laundry baskets!

Next...

I bought some paint/primer mix in a creme color and went to town! $14/quart I only used 1/4 of the quart so I have the rest to save for other projects :)

 And three coats later...we began to put the final touches on!

Instead of foam, we used my twin size mattress topper (folded over twice) as the "filling" for our ottoman style piece of furniture.

Then, we put a piece of fabric that I had bought a while back from a little shop down the road for $2 or so over the mattress topper and secured it with thumb tacks! They were white with a circle head, so they looked really good with the piece!

Here is our end result!

This project cost us around $14 to do and that was for the paint because we already had everything else! Not to mention I only used about 3 or 4 dollars worth of the paint on it!

Growing up Privileged

I am the type of person who is torn up when I see a homeless person asking for money/food/clothes/etc. on the side of the road. It breaks my heart, even though I have no idea what their story is. But I never stop.

I never stop. Better yet, I make sure not to make eye contact with them for fear that they will judge me for not stopping.

Why am I like this?

My best answer: fear of the unknown.

Let me give you some background information- I grew up privileged. That is really all you need to know, but I will explain.

I was the girl who was born into a "perfect" family. Perfect as in my parents were married before I was conceived, they both had careers which made our family stable and I was given the royal treatment because I was the first-born.

Let's continue: My younger brother and sister and I attended pre-school and from there we were enrolled in a private, Catholic school from Kindergarten until 8th grade. We were in brownies, girl scouts, cheerleading, dance, gymnastics, softball, track, soccer, basketball, baseball and on all of the elite teams to top it off. I grew up in a big house with a huge backyard filled with several beautiful decks, handcrafted by my father and a big swimming pool with a swing set behind it.  Like I said, we were a privileged family and that was because we had/have parents that gave everything to give us a beautiful life. They worked hard and they still do. I am very lucky and very blessed.

It wasn't until I traveled to the great state of Kentucky for college that I got to see how the rest of the world was living. Surprised?

Here's the catch: until college, I would have NEVER considered myself to be privileged. If anything I was the poor kid who didn't get a brand new car the year I turned 16 (even though I was handed a used car--completely paid for), and I didn't have the Abercrombie and Fitch jeans with the North Face jackets because my parents wanted to ruin my social life. Yes people, I was--what you would call--a brat. There is no shying around that fact and I will own it.

It just took me a while to realize that.

I now live in the midst of the Appalachian Mountains, an area most commonly referred to as Appalachia. More specifically I live in Whitley County, which in 2013 was labeled as "Distressed" in the County Economic Status and Number of Distressed Areas in Appalachian Kentucky, Fiscal Year 2013.

From what I have seen in my 5 years here, distressed is probably an understatement. This community, the things I have experienced, heard about and seen here are enough to break anyone's heart 2 times over.

How can I possibly understand what it feels like to go without?

I cant. But that is what I have seen. Children here go without support from their families, from anyone. They are truly alone in the world. They are seen as "troubled" or having "behavioral" issues during school because they were never taught how to behave. They act out to get attention, attention that they never got from their parents. Can you imagine that? I can't.

Growing up, I never saw what it meant to struggle, to not have support, to not be able to afford a winter coat or socks & shoes during the winter. I never had any friends who had a "bad" home life. 

The worst I ever saw was friends whose parents were going through a divorce, which is horrible I admit. Those parents still showed love to their children though, just separately at that point.

I don't know about you guys, but my parents took us to get a brand new winter coat every single winter. I've seen kids here who wear flip flops and short sleeve shirts when there is snow on the ground, not by choice. 

The sad thing about these kids' lives is that they have no control over their situations. A lot of the time its the parents that are spending their money on drugs and alcohol rather than providing for their children. The face of poverty is ugly and it's a lot more prevalent that I ever knew it to be. Even here, in our "American Dream" country.

I heard a story about a middle schooler who told his teacher he finally met his birth-father. The teacher was happy for the student, until the student finished by saying that it was this past weekend when his mother brought him to his father's funeral. I see children who don't have any faith in themselves because no one has ever believed in them, praised them, loved them or inspired them to be the best person they could be.

People just want to be loved. Deep down, that is our one truest desire as humans: to love and be loved.

God's greatest commandment is to love God and love people. If we only did that, we would change the world, we would change lives and we would give hope to those who have no hope.

That has been on my heart for a while and I wanted to share. I hope you all have a fantastic week!    

-Brandy

Accomplishing Goals and Staying Fit!

      So, I have always wanted an elliptical machine. Why? Well because for one, I HATE running--with a passion. I  actually did run a 1-mile and a 2-mile race a couple years ago, but I only started running because a friend needed a running partner. It honestly gets addicting after a while and the "runner's high" is real guys and gals. So why do I hate it? Because if I stop running for a period of time it's like my slate is wiped clean and my muscle memory is gone and I have to start completely over from scratch. This means that when I do start over--I can run a total of a tenth of a mile and i'm exhausted, my legs hurt and I can't breathe. Not fun. I also played softball for..I don't know 1371237 years--okay actually more like 14 years but yeah--i'm only 23 you know--so like my whole life and consequently I have problems with my knees! Yay sports injuries! But that is why running is both mentally and physically difficult for me to do.

     About a month ago I told my husband that I wanted to save up and buy an elliptical machine, because they are easier for me to use and easier on your body too. Having one in our home would be amazing because it would eliminate the dreaded 7:00 am drive to the gym and the outrageous membership fees!

Let's put this in perspective:

• Average gym membership $55/month which is $660 per year. 
• The average amount of gym membership money that goes to waste from under utilization: $39/month.
• Average times gym membership owner goes to gym: 2x/week. 
• % of ppl with gym memberships that never use them: 67%. 

Stats taken from: http://www.statisticbrain.com/gym-membership-statistics/

     You get the picture--and I would be part of those statistics in that I would not go as often as I would want to and I would not get my money's worth because the only machine I use at the gym is the elliptical machine. So, we began to look into machines and we found one for a decent price of $200 and the reviews couldn't get much better.

     Now that the easy part was done--We found the perfect machine--We now needed to come up with the $200 to pay for it. My husband and I follow Dave Ramsey's advice for budgeting and things of that nature so we are on a strict lower-income budget. We both knew we couldn't use any of that money to help pay for the machine less we go without food for a month ;) SO--we had to figure out another way. Luckily I have a nice little hobby I like to do on the side (painting) that would help with funds. I got really lucky when a friend of mine from work had me do a bunch of canvases for her! :)

     Next, a donor decided to give my school a ton of money in which they distributed to their employees based upon how much we worked over Christmas break--AWESOME! So I got a nice little bonus check that I could put towards our goal!

     We also had an old mini-fridge that we sold and some other little things, but we met our goal and WALAH!

Elliptical machine-- Welcome to the Austin home, you will love it here!!! 

      This was beyond exciting! My husband and I put it together last night! (An accomplishment in itself lol) And I had my first workout on it this morning at 7am! No cold morning drive, no cold drive home, and I got to watch netflix while I was working out! This is the dream, and we are so blessed. I believe God has provided yet again because He loves us. He has been so good to us and we are so grateful! We have more than we deserve.

I hope everyone has a blessed week!

Brandy

Just Another Tuesday Night

I am the type of person who needs a "project" at all times. I constantly need something to work on, work towards or look forward to. I guess I would call myself a forward thinker. Anyway, I love to paint so when I get some down time--after work or on the weekends--I tend to paint...something...anything..whatever I can find :). My husband loves this ;) haha. But he doesn't mind usually because it makes me happy and we have neat things around the house now :)

So, we have this gold shiny lamp that was given to us by a friend who moved to Georgia. It wasn't an expensive or fancy lamp...just ordinary--but in my opinion--way outdated. Tonight I decided that I couldn't stand looking at the gold lamp any longer, so I grabbed my  paint and paint brushes and let loose! haha

Here are some photos of our lovely lamp in its gold get-up. 

And here is our fabulous brown beauty, looking gorgeous in her coral bow! 

Now, before you say a word-- next project: Lamp shade make-over!!

Tonight, I also decided to spruce up our front door--which was looking awfully bland.

I used an 8x10 Canvas panel and the back of a picture frame cardboard insert (the A) to piece together our beautiful door decor! 

I also decorated my coffee mug, to make it look cute...because you know--that matters.

(Draw on a mug with sharpie, then bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes)

Well, there you have it! This is how I spend my evenings! Hope you have enjoyed it!

Life Post-Graduation

So you are in college right now and it's  hard. You stay up late working on assignments, writing papers and studying until you can't hold your eyelids open any longer. Why do you do this to yourself?? Well, to GRADUATE of course! That is the goal of college isn't it..to pass your classes and get a degree!

Well, if you are a type A, perfectionist personality like me..passing  your classes wasn't the only objective. Your goal was to have that perfect, shiny, beautiful GPA: the highly sought after 4.0. Well needless to say, I spent my entire college career putting fun aside to focus on my grades. Don't get me wrong I still had plenty of friends and I still had fun, but schoolwork always took priority.

So you want to know, did all of my hard work pay off? Did I get my perfect 4.0 GPA? Did I conquer the world? The answer is No. But I did get pretty close. I graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 3.95 GPA. I was highly decorated during my graduation ceremony and I had done what I set out to do: I graduated with the highest of honors I could have.

So now what?

That was all fine and great and I made my parents proud and all of that ..but now what?

I immediately took an internship the summer after graduation in a new state where I knew nobody. I was a lowly, nothing, bottom of the totem-pole intern. Nobody gave a crap what my college GPA was. Not to mention having a close-to-perfect GPA is not a good conversation piece because more than likely those people are few and far between. And normal people have better, more interesting things to talk about than grades..you will learn this.

My point is this: your GPA does not define you or determine whether or not you will be successful in your career or in the workplace. It honestly doesn't have an impact on it whatsoever. I ended up not being so successful in that internship and learning that research wasn't what I wanted to do.

My advice to you: do more than just study in college. Go on adventures! Meet new people, learn new life skills and figure out what you like to do for fun. If you don't do it in college, you will have a more difficult time doing it once you are in "the real world". That has been my experience anyway.

I regret not spending more time having fun and taking advantage of the awesome trips my college had to offer. They took students white-water rafting once and I didn't go because I.. "needed to catch up on...something".. see I don't even remember what it was but I bet I would have remembered every minute of that white-water rafting trip. Life is short, so take advantage of every opportunity God lays in your path!

Have a blessed week!

A Sunday Walk

Today I decided to go for a walk to clear my head in the 30 degree winter weather. I took a few pictures while I was out, and I want to share them all with you. 

 Can you see the little bird?? Pretty great camouflage.

Hope you have enjoyed the photos, nature is so beautiful and perfect! I love to take advantage of every chance I get to be immersed in it.