Open your heart to others….Christmas Edition

Good Morning, rise and shine!!

We are approximately 6 weeks and a few days away from Christmas time! This year has flown by, right??

Like most people now, I’m pretty sure you’re surfing the internet trying to find the websites with the best deals and the best items, like I do.

To me, Thanksgiving and Christmas are really depressing holidays because there are so many homeless people across the Untied States and not to mention the kids overseas that aren’t so fortunate; some may not even see Santa.

While majority of people are gathering with family, eating, and giving gifts.. there’s someone out there that wishes they could have or experience that again, or maybe for the first time, who knows.

I like to know that I’m benefiting something or someone around the holidays, so with that being said, if you are looking for a website to shop for Christmas gifts, please head over to: Amazon Smile

1. You MUST have an Amazon account or create one to access Amazon Smile
2. When you log in, you’ll see this screen, I THINK! I can’t remember if it asks you to choose an organization that you’ll be supporting before or after, any-who: here it is: Doc64

(Not sure why it says Doc64 BUT that’s what your screen should look like.)

Amazon Smile is basically Amazon, except, every purchase you make, some of the money that you pay for that item will go to an organization that you picked.

There are some organizations that you can pick from or you can type in an organization in the search bar.

I am supporting the Wounded Warrior Project. Why? Well, because my husband is in the military and I know if something were to happen to him, we would need all the support and financial needs that we could get. I can’t imagine how hard it is on that individual and their family. It’s the least I can do.

I know around the holiday seasons there are food drives, and volunteering. Where I live they have an Angel tree at Walmart, where you can pick a child’s name off the tree and buy them presents. There hasn’t been one year where I haven’t done this. Knowing that I can buy a child gifts, when their parents can’t gives me a feeling I can’t describe.

I hope everyone has had a lovely weekend and an even better start to the week tomorrow!!!!

XO, K

P.S: I will be starting a YouTube channel here shortly. I’ll be sure to attach my channel link. It’s up running now but NO videos, YET.

Wounded Warrior Project

“Christmas is the spirit of giving, without a thought of getting.”-Thomas S Monson

 

 

Ideas to SPARK your Adventurous side

HEY! Yes, you.

It’s been a little bit since I last posted a blog, but here we are.

I decided to write something informational and to maybe give you some ideas on how to seek your adventurous side instead of doing the same thing all the time. These are just some things that I’ve done that has really hit my adventurous side: (these will be ranked from the best starting a 1 and so on)

1. Hiking Trails (by far my favorite thing to do), BUT it has to have beautiful scenery as well.
2. Museums/National Parks
3. Zoos
4. Going on vacation to a different location every time
5. Trying new food/restraunts
6. Outdoor activities (i.e. riding four wheelers, washing cars, etc.)
7. Shopping at different stores
8. DIY
9. Cooking new foods
10. and Yes, finding new TV shows to watch when I just want to relax.

**1 and 2 correlate with each other because I LOVE hiking trails that are also part of some sort of National Park or well known scenery.**

*Pinterest is my GO-TO for food and DIY*

Below I’ll attach photos of all the places that I’ve been or things I’ve done that sparks an adventurous side.

If you have any suggestions of places to go, please let me know! In May, D and i will be heading to possibly Virginia together for our one year marriage anniversary, BUT, I’m not too sure yet!

Enjoy!

XO, K

The Pros and Cons of Wedding Planning | Tips!

SUNDAY FUN-DAY which means ANOTHER blog post while at work. THREE, in two days!

If you found your way to this blog, I’m pretty sure you can either relate to the title because you know that there are some Pros and Cons OR you just need a few tips.

I recently just married my high-school sweetheart on May 6, 2017!

Basically this blog post will be a list format for the most part.

PROS:

• You’re getting married!! Yay!
• You get to decorate.
• You get to plan it out how YOU want it!
• You get to look at venues and picture your perfect day.

WEATHER CAN GO BOTH WAYS.

CONS:

• MONEY MONEY MONEY!!! Everything is a little pricey when it comes to a wedding.
• Drama! Maybe not everyone experiences this. I really didn’t. There were some instances where a little drama arose but nothing to extreme.
• Stressful.
• Frustration.

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Really, that’s all that I can think of right now but I will share some tips on what I did.

TIPS:

• Start EARLY planning. I started buying things two years out.
• Save MONEY!! I can’t stress this enough!
• Shop around. Don’t settle for the first thing that you run across.
• Shop venues! Don’t settle.
• SHOP AROUND!!! LOL
• Budget yourself. You don’t have to spend a bunch of money to have a nice wedding.
• Pinterest! PINTEREST!!
• Get creative.
• Don’t feel like you need every little detail. (I can’t tell you how many times I printed off wedding checklists and half of it I didn’t even need or use) i.e.: bachelorette party, shuttles, hotel rooms, bar, or whatever
• Don’t let others pressure you into having a bachelorette party if you don’t want one. I personally don’t agree with them so I didn’t have one. Rather I had a movie night and spa night with my mom.

 

Prices: (below I have attached just a rough estimate of how much I spent on my wedding and then you can see that I did somewhat budget)

1. Wedding dress, shoes, veil, and accessories: $300
2. Venue: $850 (Venue came with tables and chairs for reception)
3. Photographer: $60-$80
4. Caterer: $2,100 — My mom, Dj, and I went in half and half. Three meats, sides, punches, pies, chocolate fountain with fruit, and my wedding cake was all included. She also provided the utensils, cups, plates and napkins. She set it up, cleaned up and packaged all the left over food for us.
5. White Chairs: $250
6. Decorations: Roughly I’d say $400-$500 if that

Slideshow of just some pictures!

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I’m also attaching a link to the venue where I got married if you’re interested and a contact form if you’re getting married and next advice or tips!

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The Howard House

XO,

K

What’s it like being a Wife, specifically an Army & Correctional Officer Wife?

Let’s talk about what it’s like to be a wife to someone in the military and someone who works in a prison.

Army:

I’m not going to say that I have a lot of experience in this field because Dj is the National Guard so he doesn’t have long work days and he isn’t gone all the time, however, we have had to go through basic training and AIT together. He does have drill once a month and Annual training two weeks to a month (depending on where they go) once a year. This past June, he had to travel to Romania for Annual Training which was also our first over-seas experience.

Dj has changed as a person since he has joined which has affected our relationship greatly. When he’s away he puts up a wall, and doesn’t really communicate. I feel it’s harder for National Guard because you don’t have time to adjust to anything unless you get deployed. Every so often, (RARELY), he does have to go to training for school or something like that. I wish I could speak more on the distance aspect but I can’t.

It’s hard on me because when he puts this wall up, I feel left out which is obviously a natural response.

But, I love him and I’ll always be here for him.

Correctional Officer:

Now we’re going to talk about the civilian side. When Dj isn’t drilling or at training, he is working on the inside of a prison, minimum security to be exact. I’m not going to say this is a hard wife job because it’s not but Dj has been on night shift for a little over two years and I can’t even remember what it feels like to have him home every night.

On our days off, it’s usually consisting of him catching up on sleep which can be difficult and frustrating but at the same time, I completely understand why he’s tired. He works 12 hour shifts. I managed to get the same schedule as him, except I work at the hospital 12 hours, and during the day. We sometimes don’t see each other that much.

I sometimes worry about him when he does go into work, because who knows if he’s coming home in the morning but usually that thought is at the back of my head.

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I love being married to my high-school sweetie, no matter how tough the job is or how often we see each other or don’t.

 

XO

K

Expectations….Self-Love….Society

Good Morning Love!

It’s Saturday, and I’m at work so why not write a blog post. I may even write two, who knows.

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This blog post will focus around society, expectations and somehow trying to love yourself through all of this. Sounds overwhelming, but trust me, we got this!

If you’re on social media you know that society has created this image of what you should look like, correct? Your eyebrows need to be on “fleek”, you need to be a certain weight, you need to know how to highlight and contour your face, you need to have a guy that will surprise you with dinners and roses daily, you need to have a nice car, you need to have high end clothes, you need to do this and do that… I could go on forever, but I’m sure you get the point.

A couple of days ago I was given this task to tell myself everyday that I am beautiful and that I am worthy no matter what society portrays as “worthy”. Now I sit here and wonder, how am I suppose to tell myself that I am beautiful when I don’t even believe it myself? So here I am, fighting another battle within myself but I know that if I don’t try, things aren’t going to get better for me. You know that saying, if you tell yourself something over and over again, eventually you’ll believe it..I hope that happens.

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While I write this, I feel like the pot calling the kettle black because I’m going to tell you that you don’t have to fit societies expectations to be beautiful, but yet, I feel I need to. See how confusing this is. I can sit here all day long and tell you that you’re beautiful no matter what, but when it comes to myself, I can’t.

So what if your eyebrows aren’t on “fleek”, majority of the time I attempt to put them on “fleek” but I’m just not that girl. I try to contour and highlight but that isn’t me either. So what if your husband/boyfriend doesn’t surprise you with dinner or roses. D and I use to scrape change just to go to McDonald’s and some months are still like that. If you have a car that gets you from point A to point B, who cares? High-end clothes? Nah, I’d rather hit the clearance racks. More for your money.

And the biggest of them all, your weight. When D and I first met, I was so skinny. I didn’t have the weight that I do now and I didn’t have the fatty rolls like I do now. I go to the gym to get fit, and skinny… but at the end of the day, is it for me, or is it for society? I’m having a hard time determining that answer sadly. I hope soon I figure that out.

I can’t stress this enough, do not let society label you. Be you and only you for you.

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I may try to change my body and appearance as far as makeup but there is one thing that I will not let society change and that’s my personality.

I know deep down, one day, I’ll be able to sit here and say “i love myself”. It may not be next week. It may not be two weeks,  a month or even a year but I’ll get there.

With the “self-love” task, I want you to look in the mirror AT LEAST once a day and tell yourself that you are beautiful and that you are worthy no matter what.

With all of that being said, Stay True to yourself.

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Instagram Account for blogs: @greatestlifeadventures

 

XO,

K

 

 

 

 

Fall is in the air!

It’s OFFICIALLY that time of the year, FALL! The idea of this blog is to give you some ideas of what you can do this year instead of the same ole, same ole.

My husband and I decided to take a weekend trip to Boone, NC. Now I know there are a lot of people who reads my blogs who aren’t located in the United States. Boone is a little town nestled in the North Carolina Mountains, the greatest place of all time in my opinion. The weather is always nice and you just get a certain feeling that I can’t quite explain. Anyways, we went up there Friday and came back on Sunday.

This was my husbands first time ever going and he LOVED it!!!

Friday: We got there, checked into the hotel, went out to eat and that was basically it.

Saturday: We woke up at 9:30 a.m. We decided to have an adventurous day. Don’t worry, I’ll attach pictures at the end. Actually, the top picture I took, so there’s one! We drove to the Blue Ridge Parkway which is basically going up the mountains, and every so often there are places you can pull over and take pictures which is what I did with the picture that I attached above. We then drove to Blowing Rock which is basically a small state park in which you can take in breath taking views. We went back to the hotel to take a nap considering we had a full schedule for the night. 🙂

We decided to purchase tickets to the Ghost Train at Tweetsie Railroad and if you have no idea what Tweetsie Railroad is, STOP, and head to www.google.com

Tweetsie Railroad consists of shops, rides, a train ride, and so much more. All year round during the day they have an Indian/Western setup, during the night in the halloween months they have the Ghost Train and during the winter they have a christmas train ride. I wouldn’t suggest taking your kids on the Ghost Train ride since it does get a little scary. It’s a 30 minute train ride of your life. Enjoy the pictures below!!

Stay tuned for a Halloween blog since this is the first time that Dj and I have actually both been off and are going to spend it TOGETHER in seven years!!!

Anxiety & Depression

Its been awhile since I’ve posted anything so today I want to take the time to talk about something that’s been really heavy on my mind. Obviously you know this blog will be about Anxiety and Depression. Approximately 40 million people in the United States suffer from some sort of Anxiety, depression or both. Most people won’t admit that they do have these disorders, or the beginning signs of it. With that being said I’m going to share my personal experience with it, how I feel, and how I’m dealing with it.

I hope this helps. Feel free to contact me if you want to talk about any problems that YOU are having.

Let’s get started….

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Let me start off by saying that I’ve always been a strong willed person, a strong minded person. I always have a lot on my plate, that’s just my life and I never relax. I noticed a change the year of 2012 going into 2013. Some events occurred within my relationship that I would rather not talk about on social media. These certain events made me feel less of myself, insecure, angry, betrayed and so many other emotions. Before you say anything, I do not resent my significant other for these events, these are personal issues within myself that I didn’t know existed until now.

Lately, my anxiety has been worse because these events have made their way into now, about two months ago to be exact. I’ve been suffering from anxiety since 2012 but it has never been a “real” issue until now.

I rarely have days where I wake up and I’m content with who I am. I have days where I analyze every single detail. I have days where I just want to lay in bed all day, sleep my problems away. I have days where I tell myself that I just want a complete makeover, or to be someone different. I have days where I feel like maybe it would be better if I didn’t exist.

Depression and Anxiety runs in my family which doesn’t help the problem. I also do not have monthly female problems which means that my hormones are so jacked up and imbalanced that I’m like a roller coaster 99% of the time.

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What do I feel like when I’m having Anxiety?

• Angry
• Hot
• Tingling
• Chest pressure
• Sometimes I cry, rarely.
• Shortness of breath
• I pace back and forth, a lot.

I know you’re thinking, girl you need to go to the doctor…. I did. I have had a complete panel of blood work done, I’ve had shots and guess what? I’m the healthiest person alive they said. Now what? I’m healthy but I’m still having problems…

Counseling? Sure lets give it a try, maybe. I’m at that point where my anxiety is so bad that I can’t function like I should. I have no other options.

So here I am, in counseling two times a month at least. You’re thinking counseling doesn’t help right? Yeah I was that girl too. I was the girl that said that counseling is for the weak. Counseling doesn’t help.

My first appointment of counseling, I walked out feeling better because I was able to express myself in a calm manner without attacking anyone, specifically my husband. The second appointment I really didn’t feel any different because we talked mostly about family, and how your roots can affect your well being, and mentality.

My next appointment is next week so I’m hoping that maybe we can get this ball rolling because I’m getting really impatient. I want to be able to enjoy my life without having anxiety, because on my bad days, everything is a complete blur. The goal for counseling is to find out what triggers my anxiety and how to work past it. I’ll keep going just for my sanity and just pray that everything works out for the best.

Now lets transition into the depression aspect and how anxiety correlates with my depression. Depression can mean different things to people. Depression can be simply saying I’m not getting out of bed today, I’m depressed, I don’t feel like doing anything or depression can be as serious as suicide, correct? If you’re reading this and you have suicide thoughts, STOP, contact me via contact me link, Facebook or Instagram and I’m all ears for you.

Depression for me is not being who I want to be, not being where I want to be in life and just the whole fact of having anxiety makes me depressed because this is not me. They say in life there are seasons. There are good seasons and there are bad seasons, currently I’ve been going through a bad season for awhile, but I will not let it consume the rest of my life.

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I hope that if you are suffering somewhat from the same thing that I am, things get better for you. Talking to someone who doesn’t understand may not be the key, because I talk to my husband but he doesn’t really understand where I’m coming from. Sometimes it helps to talk to someone who can understand.

Disclosure: **(( don’t think that anxiety just comes from relationships. I have anxiety on so many different levels, driving next to transfer trucks, going out in public, doing homework, and trying to figure out what to eat. ))**

Just remember….

xoxo,

K

Marriage or Battling a War?

The secret to a happy marriage is if you can be at peace with someone within four walls, if you are content because the one you love is near to you, either upstairs or downstairs, or in the same room, and you feel that warmth that you don’t find very often, then that is what love is all about.

-Bruce Forsyth

Marriage or Battle?

You’re reading that title, and probably thinking, if marriage is a battle, you shouldn’t be together, because that’s how I USE to think, until I was in a committed relationship and now married. Let me just answer a few questions that I have received recently.

FAQ:

How long have you and D been together?

• D & I started dating in June 2011.
• We got engaged December 2013.
• We finally got married May 2017.

Married for almost 4 months and together going on 7 years, next year.

How did y’all meet??

We met in high-school

Who made the first move?

He did.

Do y’all argue? Y’all seem perfect!

We argue, sometimes more than usual. Don’t let social media fool you. I let social media see what I want it to.

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The most common question I always get is how do you do it?

I wish I could answer that but honestly some days, I ask myself that same question.

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Some days we wake up, and everything is perfect, well close enough to it. We don’t argue. We hold hands, we cuddle, we hug and we kiss. We say sweet things to each other, but then other days , it’s like the devil is coming through.

There are some days when he leaves to go to work, or I leave and we don’t say a word to each other. It shouldn’t be that way considering how dangerous of a job he has or anything can happen while traveling to work, but that’s what happens when two  stubborn people love each other.

Some nights we go to bed without saying anything to each other because of anger and frustration.

We have so many good memories as well though. It’s not always bad. We’re learning to adapt to each other and the new “marriage life”. We’re learning how to control our arguments and what battles to pick. Lately, it’s been going great….knock on wood.

So why it is sometimes married couples feel like they are fighting a battle?

Our issues include:

• MONEY
• Laundry/Helping each other out
• MONEY.
• Expectations
• M.O.N.E.Y

Now, I’m not going to say that D and I are broke, because we’re not, but we want to buy a house, however, I want one NOW… and because we aren’t where we need to be financially, it creates a lot of tension between us.

LAUNDRY. I hate the word laundry because we argue about it so much. I think we argue about laundry at least 4-5 times a week if not more, BUT, it’s calmed down. 🙂

Expectations. Everyone has them. When we get let down because we’re expecting the same, we get angry. Who doesn’t?

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There are some other things that can make you feel like you’re fighting a battle such as personal things that I would rather not discuss in a blog or on social media for that fact.

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At the end of the day though, we know how we feel about each other, whether we say it or not. Some days it’s going to be tough and other days, it’s going to come so easy. Some days, loving you will be hard. Our love sometimes is an effort.

If times get hard for you and your spouse just stop, take a breath, and remember that the storm will pass, it will come, and maybe one day you’ll learn to dance in the rain. I’m not there yet, but I will be.

My biggest advice for you would be, don’t let social media give you unrealistic expectations of what a relationship should be. This isn’t the Notebook. Just because you can’t afford fancy dates or mall trips after mall trips doesn’t mean you’re any less than those on social media. I can tell you this, when D and I were in high-school, we would gather up change and dollar bills just so we could go to McDonald’s to get something off the dollar menu. We didn’t have the money like we do now, but sometimes it still seems as if we are scraping up change and dollar bills.

Money isn’t happiness, it just makes things easier. I’d take eating Ramen Noodles in bed playing video games for a whole month over spending bunches of money eating at fancy restaurants.

“Siate Felici”

 

xoxo

 

 

Do NOT stand here. Even if you are not hit, someone else will be.

This past weekend my husband (who I will start referring to as “D”) and I decided to head to the North Carolina Science and History Museums. Usually, the science museum is the one that ALWAYS captures my attention, but for some reason, the history museum kept my attention.

This sign was very contradicting to me. Yes, the military offers you insurance, allows you the opportunity to go to school, gives you the opportunity to travel the world, and they have housing opportunities as well, BUT, what happens when you get out of the military?

There are approximately 50,000 homeless veterans across the United States today, if not more.

Now, don’t think i’m anti-military, because I’m not, considering D is serving.

With a lot of politics and talk about the military, Which side of the Window are YOU?

Enough with contradicting pictures.

Let’s have a history lesson:

Did you know?

“French caltrops like these were dropped from aircraft to cripple horses and mules that were used to pull artillery and supply wagons.”

Interesting.

Want to see the world in a different perspective?

The first picture below shows how the battlefields looked like back in World War 1, with the trenches and all.

The second picture shows how it looked to look over the trenches.

With all the race, and hate going on in today’s world, just remember how things were in the past with the wars, and how many people lost their life defending this country and making it a freedom land. 

xoxo

 

What’s your next destination?

First blog post, whoop, whoop! 

I’ve been sitting here for 10+ mins trying to figure out how to start this off, and I still haven’t decided on a title. We’ll just jump into it head first, with our flippers on.

Have you ever thought about traveling to different states, maybe even overseas to another country? Have you ever done it? Did you like it?

I’ve traveled to Florida, Oklahoma, South Carolina, New Jersey, and New York, however, I really want to travel overseas!

Can you tell where these places are below?

I’m sure everyone knows the first one.

Exhibit A: Paris

Exhibit B: Greece

Exhibit C: The pasta/pizza country, Italy.

One day, I hope to go to at least one if not all of these places.

My husband just recently returned home from Romania and he says that he wants to take me there. He said the culture there was so much different than the United States.

I’m only 21, and I want to travel as much as I can.

My next blog will be about the North Carolina Science/History Museum that Dj and I attended this past weekend.

Stay Tuned!

 

xoxo