Friday, February 27, 2015

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!!  This weekend can not get here soon enough.  It's been a long week and I have been looking forward to this weekend for months because...tomorrow night I will be in Detroit to see Garth Brooks!!!  I am beyond excited for this concert!  My mom, sister, and I and going to the concert and spending the night in Detroit--it should be a great time.  

Today, I'm sharing my Friday Favorites kind of like Liz from Liz Marie Blog does.  I LOVE reading her Friday post each week, so I am doing today's a little like hers...some of my favorites I've seen on Pinterest this week:

see more Amazing Gray Comfy Asymmetric Jacket for Ladies, Love it


Tomato, cucumber, avocado salad


Patio / Deck Cooler Stand


Favorite Cleaning Tip:
Clean years of stubborn grease using baking soda!


Favorite Printables:
Get ready for St. Patrick's Day with these Irish inspired art printables from Elegance and Enchantment, for Remodelaholic { 3 free printables included }

Hope you enjoy some of these as much as I do.  Have a great weekend!




Linking up with Momfessionals for Friday Favorites!
Momfessionals

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

One of Those Days

Do you ever have "one of those days?"  One of those days when you are making a big deal of something small, whether at home, work, school, etc.?  When you are stressed out like crazy?  When you are on the verge of tears for no reason?  One of those days when you just feel off?  Well that's me tonight.

I'm feeling really stressed and overwhelmed, over something that probably isn't a big deal.  But I'm a worrier.  If something is bothering me, I can't stop thinking about it.  I can't let it go until the issue is resolved.  And then it just eats at me...until I'm on the verge of tears or feel sick to my stomach.

I don't know how to change.  I don't want to worry about things so much.  I want to be able to let things go.  Maybe it just means I care a lot?  I don't know what it is, but I don't like it.  I don't like when my mind won't just turn off for a little while.

Maybe you can relate.  Maybe you've had one of these days before.  In case you're feeling the same way I am, I looked up some inspirational quotes on Pinterest, so maybe they will speak to you, the way they spoke to me.


My sudden job change is proof of this. Fired 1/14 hired 1/23 at a better job. God is good we just have to trust Him.
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30 Motivational and Inspirational Picture Quotes
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50 Inspirational Quotes to Live By in Daily Life | http://blog.piktureplanet.com/inspirational-quotes-to-live-by-in-daily-life/
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i need this as my screen saver!!! Stop focusing on how stressed you are and remember how blessed you are
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If it was easy...     http://www.janetcampbell.ca/
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Monday, February 23, 2015

At My House...

Once again, Monday arrives way too soon.  We didn't do much this weekend and it was amazing.  Just caught up on the DVR, laundry, cleaning, and blog reading.  I hope this week flies by, because Saturday I am headed to Detroit to see Garth Brooks!!!

Since I don't have much to share from our weekend, I thought I would do this fun "At My House Survey" that Julie from Peanut Butter Fingers did.  I loved reading hers, so I thought some of you might enjoy reading mine.  Please feel free to do this on your blog too, and then let me know so I can read yours!

Household chore I actually enjoy:  Vacuuming.  I love how it makes everything seem so clean after I'm done...and it's a quick chore!  The chore I hate the most is cleaning the stove...HATE it.

Biggest house disaster:  It used to be our office, until I cleaned it up for Junk Free January.  So now it would probably be the "nook" in our upstairs.  It is holding all of our yard sale stuff for this summer, and there are a couple of bookshelves that I have just thrown things on over the past couple of years.  The space is serving no real purpose and needs a lot of work!

Before company arrives, I hide:  All the piles from the kitchen counters.  For some reason things just seem to pile up...mail, papers from work, receipts, etc. 

So me :/
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Most recent music download:  Taylor Swift "Shake It Off."  I love running to this song!

The last thing I bought online:  Kevin and I just upgraded to the iPhone 6 (big upgrade going from our iPhone4 to the 6!) so we just bought phone cases and a new arm band for running for me, all from Amazon.

so true!
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I hate to shop for:  Groceries.  I try to go early in the mornings on Saturday or Sunday, and it's not as bad because there aren't as many people in the store and the lines aren't as long.

Favorite family ritual:  Going for walks after work with Kevin and Admiral....I really need Spring to get here so we can start doing this again!  Winter is so depressing when you can't go outside because of snow/ice/below 0 temps.

I sleep in:  Usually yoga pants/sweatpants and a t-shirt.  Sometimes shorts if it's warm.

I have a style crush on:  Emily from The Sweetest Thing blog.  She is gorgeous and I love all of her outfits!!
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I'm currently reading:  Gone Girl.  I just started it, and I don't know how it ends, so please don't tell me!

How did I ever live without:  Cuddles from Admiral.  He is the sweetest dog ever and LOVES to cuddle.



Hope you had a great weekend and enjoy your week!

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

How I Met My Husband

Today I'm linking up with Andrea from Momfessionals for Show and Tell Tuesdays.  Today's prompt is "tell us how you met your mate, got engaged, etc."  So today I'm sharing how Kevin and I met.  You can read about our engagement story HERE, but I don't think I ever really shared how we met and started dating.


I think it was the summer of 2007 (is it bad that we can't remember? haha).  Anyway, it was summer.  My friend Kristen invited me to play co-ed softball with her and her boyfriend (now her husband).  It sounded like fun, so I went out and played in a moonlight tournament.  I had fun and met some people that were on our team.  One happened to be Kevin.  Him and his brother were playing on the team.  They actually worked with Kristen's boyfriend at the time.

We played softball together and a big group of us hung out a lot that summer.  Kevin and I were the only single ones of the "group."  Funny how that worked out ;)  After hanging out for the summer, we officially started dating in September.  I loved the way he made me laugh and have fun.  I can be pretty serious at times, he made me let go and relax.  And he still does today, 8 years later (or 7 years...whatever it is).


Whenever people ask us how we met, we always say playing softball.  We still play together now that we are married.  It's nice being married to someone who enjoys the same things you do :)

Monday, February 16, 2015

The Friday the 13th From Hell

In case you didn't realize it, Friday was "Friday the 13th."  I don't typically "believe" in that kind of stuff or even think twice about it.  But after last Friday, I will never think of Friday the 13th as just another day.

It started off just fine...work was a typical day, nothing out of the ordinary.  I had plans to see Fifty Shades of Grey with my sister (Ashley), sister-in-law (Lisa), and best friend (Kristen).  We were going to the theater in my hometown, since that is where everyone but me lives.  I figured only one of us should make the 45 minute drive, not three.  So after work I went home to let Admiral out and hang out with him for a few minutes before I left.

I should have known the second I got on the highway, and traffic was stopped to just turn around and call off the movie.  But that's not out of the ordinary for 5:00 traffic, on a Friday, in a decently large city, during a snow storm (we had a winter weather advisory I think).  After being in the car for about 30 minutes and going maybe 7 miles, my wipers were starting to build up ice/snow on them.  So I rolled my window down and tried to "fling" the ice off of them...you know how you do that sometimes, right?  Well the second I touch my wiper, it flew off.  I just laughed.  I couldn't believe it.  Here I am, in the snowy weather, stuck in traffic, with no wiper.  So I called Kevin and told him what happened.  I could see enough out the other half of the window, so I continued until I reached an exit that had an auto store where I could get a new wiper.  That was a story in itself, but I'll spare you the details.  Just know that another 30 minutes later, I was back on the road with a new wiper.

After dealing with more traffic and bad weather/roads, I finally made it.  It took me over 2 hours to go the normal 45 minutes.  But I got there.  I met my sister-in-law at my husband's grandmas and we ate dinner and hung out for a little bit before heading to the movies.  We all drove separate, because I was heading back to my house after the movie, and they were all heading the opposite direction.

Lisa headed out and I was behind her.  Due to cars and stop lights, she was a little ahead of me.  We got on the highway, and after a little bit, I see a car pulled over on the side of the road with it's flashers on, and I see the person get out of the car and run toward the ditch.  I look and see an SUV in the ditch and I started freaking out.  My sister was driving my mom's SUV to the movies because her car isn't great in bad weather.  It looked just like my mom's SUV and then I realized the person running toward the car in the ditch was Lisa.  I pulled over and with trembling hands tried to call my sister.  Twice.  Straight to voicemail.  All I could say was, "no, no, no."  I was just starting to dial Lisa when she called me.  I said, "is that my sister?" she said "yes."  I said "is she ok?" and she said "yes."  I breathed a sigh of relief and said "I'm on my way down."  

By this time, my sister and Lisa were up out of the ditch on the side of the road.  We all got in Lisa's car to stay safe and warm while we waited for the police to arrive.  

I should also mention, as soon as I pulled over on side of the road, I saw another vehicle spin out, hit the guardrail, and then slide across to the other side of the road, about 50 feet in front of me.  This spot of the highway was treacherous.  It didn't look bad, but the cold temps and blowing snow kept the roads slippery.

Once we were all in the car and I really could see that my sister was, we started talking about what happened.  Lisa was the car behind my sister, but she had no idea it was her.  My sister must have hit a patch of ice and she started spinning and then her vehicle ROLLED down in to the ditch.  It did a complete roll and landed back on it's tires in the ditch.  When I heard that it rolled, I freaked even more.  Even though I knew my sister was ok, the thought of what could have happened scared me to death.



We waited and talked with the cop and waited while the tow truck pulled it out of the ditch.  I think we probably sat there for about an hour total.  In that hour, we saw three vehicles within 50 feet of us spin out in to the ditch or crash.  While the tow truck was pulling out a vehicle in front of us that had lost it, we nearly witnessed 3-4 other cars hit him...I don't know how they all stopped/missed the tow truck, but it was scary.

Needless to say, we didn't make it to the movie.  That was the least of our worries.  My sister walked away unharmed and was able to drive my mom's SUV home.

I am beyond thankful that my sister had a guardian angel watching over her that night.  I am also thankful for amazing friends/family.  My sister-in-law Lisa witnessed the accident and immediately pulled over and ran to make sure she was ok, even though she had no idea it was my sister.  And she sat with us the whole time and made sure everything was ok.  My friend Kristen made it to the movie theater and we had to call and tell her we weren't going to make it.  All she cared about was making sure my sister was ok and seeing if there was anything she could do.  I seriously have the most amazing people in my life.

I can't even explain what I felt when I drove up to my sister's vehicle in the ditch. I think I knew immediately it was her, but once it was confirmed, my heart sank.  Once I learned she rolled the vehicle, I really lost it.  I was shaking the entire time and my heart was beating out of my chest.  Even when I knew she was ok, I couldn't calm down.  I don't think those images/memories will ever leave me.  Things could have been totally different, but I thank God that they weren't.  Someone was looking out for her.

That's why I will never think of Friday the 13th the same way again.



Friday, February 13, 2015

Five on Friday

I'm so happy Friday is here!  My job keeps me really busy, so the weeks have been flying by since I started a little over two months ago.  However, this week has seemed to drag for some reason, so I'm really glad that it's Friday.


ONE.  Do any of you follow @EliteDaily on Instagram?  I just found their account last weekend and I love it!  If you need something to make you laugh or some words of wisdom, be sure to check it out.  You won't be disappointed.

TWO.  Tonight I have plans to go see Fifty Shades of Grey with my girls (my sister, sister-in-law, and best friend).  I read the books and now I'm excited to see the movie.  Did you read the books?  Do you plan to see the movie?

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THREE.  Kevin and I have no big plans for Valentine's Day.  No fancy dinner or anything, and that's just fine with us.  After being in Cincinnati last weekend, we are looking forward to a weekend at home together.  I'm sure we'll watch a movie at home and just hang out--sounds like a great Valentine's Day to me!

FOUR.  Speaking of Valentine's Day...the only decorations I had for Valentine's Day were a cute kitchen towel and a red/pink candle.  I really want to add more to our Valentine's decor.  Even thought we don't make a big deal of Valentine's Day at our house, it would be fun to add some cute, colorful decor to the house around this time of year--the cold and snow get old after a while.  Here are some of the DIYs on my list for next year:

Chevron Heart Door Hanger
From Making It In The Mitten
Gold Glitter Felt Rosette Love Sign for Valentines Day
From My Crafty Spot

FIVE.  I REALLY want to make myself get out of bed earlier in the mornings.  Especially so I can work out in the mornings, since I don't always have time or feel like it after work.  I don't like to be rushed in the mornings and I've been hitting the snooze so much every morning that I'm running around like crazy trying to get out of the house for work every morning.  Does anyone have any tips for helping myself get in the routine of getting out of bed earlier?  Once I actually get up and out of bed, I'm fine...it's the whole getting out of the warm, cozy bed when it's still dark out and super cold thing that the hardest for me.  Tips are greatly appreciated!

This is so fucking true. For me, the pain of being morbidly obese was far worse than getting up early to work out or dealing with sore muscles all day. There is no comparison.
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That quote is so true and great motivation...hopefully I can start this by working out in the mornings this weekend to start me on the right track.

Have a great weekend and stay warm!  Our windchill is supposed to be -31 degrees on Sunday morning...too cold for me!


Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Four Things About Me

I saw this post on P!nk Persistence and thought it would be fun to do on my blog too.  Some of you might be new readers so this is a good way to get to know a little more about me.  For others, it might be some fun new randomness you didn't know about me :)


Four names that people call me other than my real name:
1.  'Cka  (like the last half of my name -EriCKA)
2.   E
3.   Rikki
4.   Cubster

Four jobs I've had:
1. Babysitter
2. Secretary
3. Administrative Assistant
4. Executive Assistant

Four movies I've watched more than once:
1.  A League Of Their Own
2.  Ocean's Eleven
3.  Major League
4.  The Notebook

Four books I'd recommend:
1.  Lone Survivor
2.  The Women's Murder Club series by James Patterson
3.  50 Shades of Grey
4.  Jemima J

Four places I've lived:
I've lived in Michigan my entire life, so this isn't very exciting...
1.  My parents' house
2.  Apartment #1
3.  Apartment #2
4.  Our current house

Four Places I have visited:
1.  Atlantic City, NJ for our honeymoon
2.  Mackinac Island, MI
3.  New York City, NY
4.  Indianapolis, IN

Four places I'd rather be right now:
1.  The beach
2.  The beach
3.  The beach
4.  Did I mention I LOVE the beach?

Four things I don't eat:
I'm not a real picky eater, so there's not much I won't eat (within reason), but here are some things I could go without eating and be totally fine with it:
1.  Roast
2.  Brussel Sprouts
3.  Meatloaf
4.  Cooked carrots (I only like them raw or steamed)

Four of my favorite foods:
1.  Mexican - all of it
2.  My mom's homemade mac n cheese and sloppy joes
3.  Shrimp
4.  Pizza

Four TV shows I watch:
1.  Scandal
2.  How to Get Away With Murder
3.  American Idol
4.  Criminal Minds

Four things I'm looking forward to this year:
1.  Getting back in shape and running more races.
2.  Birthday Bash
3.  Having Fridays off in the summer
4.  Summer in general...everything about it!

Feel free to do this on your blog, and then let me know you did it so I can read it.  I love reading these and learning more about the bloggers I love!

Monday, February 9, 2015

Oh Monday...

And just like that, it's Monday again.  We spent the weekend in Cincinnati helping Kevin's brother and sister-in-law pack up and move back to Michigan!  The weather was a beautiful 53 degrees and sunny there...it made it hard to come back to the cold, snowy, Michigan weather we have.  

I'm back to work today with no set plans for the week, except to catch up on our mountain of laundry and get back to eating healthy and working out...wish me luck.

Hope you had a great weekend and enjoy your week!  This basically sums up how I feel every week.  Can you relate?

A Crucial Week: 10 Reasons NOT to date a girl who teaches
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Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Junk Free January: The Reveal!

Well, January is over, which means so is the Junk Free January: 30 Day Room Challenge.  I'm so glad that Serena from Thrift Diving hosted this Challenge, and that I had the guts to sign up.  I decided to clean out our disaster of an office.  You can see all of the before pics HERE.  Warning: It was AWFUL.

I'm so happy with the progress I made in this room.  It was basically just sorting, purging, organizing, and moving furniture, but it made such a big difference.  I mean, I can actually see the floor in this room now!  It seems about 10x bigger when I walk in this room.  Probably because I can actually walk in there now haha.



 








There are lots of things I still want to do in this room like paint the trim white (to match rest of house), paint the walls a different color, add length to curtains (I bought them too short-oops), re-do the desk (it has lots of scratches when you look up close), hang things on the walls, and the list goes on.  But I am SO HAPPY to at least have a functioning office for the first time in the 2.5 years we have lived here.

Thanks again Serena for hosting this challenge and motivating me to get this room in order!

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Five on Tuesday

Since I didn't do a Five on Friday post or a Weekend Recap, you get both today...in Five on Tuesday!

ONE.  Thursday was Kevin's birthday and we celebrated by going out to an amazing dinner at The Chop House.  It was the first time we had been there and were not disappointed, that's for sure.  The service and food were great, we will definitely go back.  They have a great special if you go there on your birthday, so if you're looking for a great place for dinner in Grand Rapids, make sure to check it out!

Scallops for an appetizer.

Kevin's steak.

My lobster and crab cakes.
TWO.  We headed to our hometowns on Saturday to celebrate Kevin's birthday with our families.  First we got lunch at Red Wok (great Chinese buffet), then we went and saw The Wedding Ringer--it was really funny, we both really liked it.  Then we headed to my parents' house to celebrate with them and my sister, then we went over to Kevin's Dad's to celebrate again.

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THREE.  Sunday we got pounded with snow.  It started before we woke up and continued all day and all night.  I had to venture out to the grocery store and it was miserable.  It was snowing and blowing so hard that I could barely see when pushing my cart to my car.  And the snow was so deep, it took everything I had to push my cart through it!  The drive back home was rough too...the snow was coming down so fast the plows just couldn't keep up with it.  After that adventure, I decided I was staying in the rest of the day!

Crazy snow drifts in our back yard.
FOUR.  I finished up the Junk Free January: 30 Day Room Challenge that I was doing.  I worked in our office, and I'm so excited about the way it turned out.  I'll be doing a full post on it this week, but I'll share my favorite part...my little coffee bar!



FIVE.  I'm so excited that my shows are back after their break!  I loved watching Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, and The Blacklist over the past few days.  What are your favorite shows on TV right now?