Happy Monday, friends!!
More importantly, happy Bachelor finale night! I don’t know about you, but I have some FlatTop Grill and Jolly Juice calling my name tonight!!
Lately, life has been challenging. Death, illness, and pain were involved in the last 3.5 weeks of my life. Everything else that could go wrong has.
My 12.5-year-old husky, who we’ve had since he was 8 weeks, had surgery on a fatty tumor. Easy enough, right? Well, it ended up being 4lb, and he couldn’t come home for the night. He has never not been home for a night. It was so hard. $21-worth-of-carrot-cake-ordered hard. When he came back, he wouldn’t eat and was peeing in the house. It was rough there for a while, but now he is ornery and fun as ever. Thank God because Cody literally feels like a brother!
Besides Cody and the death and illness going on around me, minor inconveniences occurred 24/7. Life was going out to dinner, and the waitress charging your card for your meal + another couples. Going to get your nails done and them messing them up. Heading to Olive Garden to get your leg stuck to the table by someone’s fresh gum. Getting a free coffee and them forgetting to put almond milk in it. Ordering bathing suits and accidentally ordering the low-rise, only to realize when the high-rise is gone. Then, finals.
Then, we put an offer on a house. They countered us at 2:50, and Dawson got out of student teaching at 4:30. I had to wait, but I was so excited and finally let my hopes fly wild. Then, by 3:50, they had a new offer (we believe it was 10k over what they were asking), and they withdrew. The realtor said it was the second time in seventeen-years that it had ever happened, and the bank and our relator were shocked. Dawson and I are/were pretty bummed, but we know our house is out there somewhere! Hopefully, the market will pop and boom these next few months, or maybe we will wait until next year!
Regardless, it’s been a tough couple of weeks! I want to thank everyone who Venmoed me for coffee or wine, prayed for my family and me, or just let me vent to them. It all has helped me so. much.
Last week, I couldn’t get something to print, so we ordered it at Office Depot. It was supposed to be ready, so we headed over. They were closed temporarily and unexpectedly, and no one would answer the phone. That was my final breaking point, and I just cried and cried.
I felt so silly that, that was the thing in my life that made me break. It was definitely a Daisy and the t-shirts situation. When I was feeling wrong about being down, my go-to sad girl song came on the radio. A song that I haven’t heard in ages. It felt like God was telling me it was okay to cry and to be sad.
Now, after three weeks, I finally feel better. I mean, damnit, I have a cold now, but emotionally, I feel in a much better place! I’m not sure if it was my overwhelming support system, all the worship music (specifically “Battle Belongs” by Phil Wickham), or that cry session – but I am back feeling happy as ever!
After breaking, I wondered,
So, Like, Now What!?
Well, it was time to get grooving back into life. I mean, look at this weather – phenomenal! Look at Dawson and me, getting ready to get married, maybe looking to become homeowners, and both are wrapping up school (him in the spring and me in early fall!)
I feel good, so I started doing things that felt good.
Which, if you know me at all, you know that the things that I’ve done these past couple of days are 1. listen to true crime 2. do charcuterie 3. wedding plan 4. spend time with the ones I adore.
So, I will tell you that I listened to the Crime Junkie on Elizabeth Smart last week. POWERFUL doesn’t even describe it. Take a listen (click here)! If you’re into more detail, I 20/10 recommend Morbid. They are basically my coworkers as we continue to work remotely.
I could tell you what I threw on that charcuterie board, or I could show you!
Anyways, I pretty much have nothing to do for the wedding for months. So, I added notes on all our gifts on our registry. We are registered at Walmart, Wayfair, and Zola. The Zola registry has items from all different stores and is directly connected to the Wayfair registry (meaning Wayfair items are on both registries). All our things, except for Walmart one’s, now have a fun note attached to them. If you want to check out my [not very funny] sarcasm, check out this registry (click here). If you want to be nosy (I’d want to), here is our Walmart registry, too (click here)!
Lastly, the people I loved – well, that’s everyone. But I thought it was officially time to name my bride tribe!
There are so many wonderful women in my life who could have been included! Ultimately, Dawson and I wanted to keep our wedding party small and as close to family as possible.
Maid of Honor
My Maid of Honor, Reese Furnish, is Dawson’s sister. I knew Reese long before I knew Dawson. She was a year younger than me and played in the same softball league as me. When we were on All-Star’s together, I remember thinking she was so fun, outgoing, and spunky – like the rest of the Furnish fam. I am thrilled to have someone so compassionate and fun as a future sister! ❤ I also know that she is going to be the coolest aunt whenever Dawson and I have kids – they will love their Aunt Roo!
Bridesmaid
My bridesmaid, Brooke Bishop, is my cousin that I grew up with. Everywhere we went, we swore we were twins, and 110% thought everyone believed us. We knew we’d build a house together and live there forever – there was one room we wanted to be made entirely of mattresses. Brooke and I are basically the same person – from screaming the lyrics to Good Charlotte, to bingeing Hallmark Christmas movies, to being gullible. I am so excited to go from dressing up as the Cheetah Girls for their final movie to dressing up in a brides’ gown and a bridesmaid dress!
Bridesmaid
My bridesmaid, Makinnah Grigsby, is the equivalent of a sister. Growing up, I was called Makinnah by my peers more than I was called Chloe. Being new to the school, I had no idea who that was (I had no idea that it was such an honor to be confused as her – she is a top tier person). After meeting her, I wrote her down as “most likely to be president” at the end of my first school year. Fast forward through our seven years of softball together, co-planning events, and our Thomas Rhett obsession – she was voted class president, and I got to serve as her vice president. Makinnah and I have a relationship where I know we don’t have to talk all the time, but she always has my heart no matter what. She is truly like a sister, and I am so excited to scream some T. Rhett with her on our wedding day!
Bridesmaid
My bridesmaid, Ashtyn Custer, is one that you will 20/10 hear on our wedding day – her laughter shakes the earth. When I moved to Garrett in fourth grade, Ashtyn scared the crap out of me. Not because she’s mean, but maybe because her calves were ripped? I’m not entirely sure why I was so frightened by her, but she startled me. Flash forward to seventh grade, and we became inseparable. We shared our one true love – Harry Potter. Throughout high school, we remained incredibly close – especially our senior year (we even won “Best Best Friends”)! I have gone through some of the most challenging times of my life with Ashtyn by my side. When we grew apart freshman year of college, I was crushed. Now, we talk every day, and there’s no one I’d trust more with food recommendations. Ashtyn is one of those people who I know was meant to be my soul friend. I cannot wait for everyone to be startled by her laugh on our big day!
Well, I guess this blog has ran kind of long. It felt pretty therapeutic, so thanks for listening – if you got this far!
I hope this week is filled with what your soul needs – whatever that may be — $ 21 of carrot cake, 12 Venti’s, a good cry, or some furbabe snuggles.
It’ll get better. It always does!
So, Like, Now What? 