TGBTL Week #5. Admiring his perseverance.

Hey loves! For those of you just stopping by - welcome. Glad you stopped by. Today & every Wednesday, I am linking up for TGBTL with Lauren & Hayley.

Today's prompt is: Tell us about a trait you admire in someone you look up to & why.

I have to agree with Lauren, that its hard to just pick one because those closest to me are all pretty flipping amazing in their own way. That being said, there's one big quality that always speaks volumes to me in my dad - that of his perseverance. My whole life, he has consistently shown and taught me to appreciate working hard to achieve my goals, small or big. He is just always persistent and has perseverance in every area of his life. I feel like this has passed down to me in mostly every area of my life. Sometimes its paid off in a positive way and sometimes, not so much. But its taught me to be stronger.

My dad was taught from day one to not ever expect anything from anyone. He had some amazing mentors & family to give these important lessons. When he was a small child, he faced devastation. He lost his right eye at the age of 5 over something not in his control. From then on, he marched to the beat of his own drum. He didn't use this setback to hold himself back- he still achieved greatness. He played football throughout high school & college. He graduated with his Bachelors Degree from Defiance University. He worked hard to earn a top notch executive position at his work. He married my mom & because of their choices together created a powerful legacy for myself & my siblings. He has persevered through everything thrown at him and its only made him come out strong on the other side.

He's an excellent role model and I can't wait for the day when I have kids so they can learn from his example as well. He's blessed my life more than I could ever imagine.

He was super proud to accompany me to my company Christmas party too.*

Again, thanks for stopping by & you stay classy. I've been working hard on my goals for this month which you can check out here! I am super glad its Wednesday, and ready for Disney on Friday night :)  - Jessica

Back to the Grind.

Hello, loves!
Hope you've enjoyed the past 48 hours of 2014 thus far. I've been inspired from visiting other blogs through a weekly linkup I post on & I'm trying to blog more substance-y posts than just what the weather is & what I ate for dinner because well I think there is more purpose in life than boring people on my daily life.

Anywho - I came across something that a fellow blogger who is a daily must read for me over at The Everyday Joys - does that makes way more sense in terms of making goals. See I'm a planner. I like, erm looove to plan things. I turn 30 next year - that is insane to me. I have already begun making ideas for it, trying to imagine what I want to do & after some brainstorming - I've decided on the beach which is a great thing since I live by all the beaches & mostly sunny weather year round. I digress - that is over 22 months away so I am going to stop looking for now. My blogger friend does monthly goals and revisits them after which I think is fantastic for holding yourself accountable. So instead of looping up my yearlong 2014 goals, I am going to break them down into a more eye level approach - monthly goals.

JANUARY GOALS:

1) Exercise 26 days out of the month.  If you follow me on Instagram, soon you'll be seeing my workouts & myself more frequently especially in the next twenty minutes. I am going to be coming on here with weekly updates because its true, working out alone & trying to yield results is harder than working out with others. I am going to start back up Monday with myFitnessPal & own up to the holiday weight gain :( I think exercising 26/31 days is pretty darn good. 

2)  Be a better friend. This really applies to family/friends who don't live close by but are still dear to my heart w/ monthly Skype dates.. 


3) Use Instagram more. I try to be all miss photographer but I sometimes forget about it. It's time to be a bit more #carpediem on a regular basis!


4. Watch the excessive sugar intake. Being a woman - its okay to indulge on chocolate or Starbucks from time to time but I need to learn when to say no. I am really going to wean myself off the extra soda that I've been drinking and I know this will help me for the long term as well as drop additional weight. Need to get back on the addicted to Smart Water train (which happened tonight!)

5. Entertainment Book = Creative Date Nights. Being that we subscribe to Netflix/Hulu on a monthly basis means we're rarely movie theater people unless its Anchorman 2. *tomorrow!* So, I am going to use this book this year to come up with fun date nights with my mister so that we can see more of our city, save money & be together. So far this far - we've been to Disney, taken some selfies & tomorrow we'll be doing it again - Everest @ Animal Kingdom & Magic Kingdom. Hooray!

6.  End every post I do with "Hallelujah's" - on a weekly basis. I think its important to remember the positive in everything we do. Maybe one day that could be become a linkup in itself but for now, it will be my way to keep the positivity a float in my life. I'm already a fairly positive person as is - it's in my DNA so finding positivity in my life won't be overall a complicated task but actually quite enjoyable. I also am a big fan of sharing so I will be providing y'all with my positivity so check back - it's a comin'.

7. Sew something. For Christmas in 2013 - I made my dad a 'Cleveland Browns' pillow. For my mom & nephew, (it didn't happen for Christmas) I am finishing their minky blankets once my sewing machine gets fixed. I am new at sewing but come from a family of crafty women, literally. So, my goal is to peruse Pinterest for productive projects that I can continue to improve my new talent. 

8. Make my passion for writing a priority. I have a voice & I do have a goal to someday self publish my book so in order for that to happen - I need to write the book to publish it.

TGBTL Week #4.

Happy New Year, loves! Excited for the linkup to be back, I felt like something was missing from my day & when the calendar reminder came on my phone last night - I smiled with pangs of bittersweet feeling, knowing that it was Christmas and that there would be no link up. Anywho, we're back, its a new year & back to linking up. This year - I've adopted the word 'transparency' in terms of how I view the next 365 days that have a purpose in line. I have a Biggest Loser amt of weight to lose to be ready for Baby #1. I have theme park passes & I am all about enjoying the adventures I seek out or find myself in.

2014 Adventures thus far:
Visited & enjoyed Epcot & MGM with my hubs.

Soaking up the rainy day that Orlando has by cuddling w/ my pups.
Tomorrow after the dentist: Animal Kingdom & Magic Kingdom w/ a showing of Anchorman 2.
& the list goes on.

Here's to the unforgettable adventures in 2014 for each of us.

You stay classy & thanks for stopping by. - Jessica

& that's a wrap. 2013.

I cannot believe that tomorrow is New Years Eve. I also can't believe that Christmas came last week. This year flew by. My husband & I are graciously off this week from work and I am so happy. I hope you enjoyed your Christmas with your family. My hubs & I are starting to begin our own traditions for the holidays, kind of getting them started for when we have our own kids. Christmas morning started out with Chris making us breakfast and him unwrapping a gift from his family - this one had strict 'Don't open til Christmas'. His brother bought us a Wii U and his sister's gift was a new Wii U game. Which was perfect because I had bought a Zumba game for the Wii U - I am opening it tomorrow :)

Afterwards - we headed to my parents for the afternoon of opening more presents, a nice lunch and just time with my family. When we got there - wrapping paper & boxes were strewn all over my parents because my sisters & little nephew just couldn't wait til we got there to open their gifts. So - everyone was all happy when we got there because we had gifts for them & we got all of our gifts right then and there. A tad hectic. Honestly it was one of those years when each gift I got - I loved & were a favorite. My sister got us a Mickey Ornament that she was stoked to give us because it was 'so US!' It was so cute. My brother/sis in law got us a Starbucks gift card which they knew I'd be overly excited for. My parents got us gifts - some individual & some for both of. Two of my faves from all of them: my mom sewed us throw pillows for our couch & my husband surprised me with *early* Disney season passes!

BUT TOMORROW IS THE LAST DAY OF 2013! WHAAA?!

I posted this on my Facebook last night because I thought it was important to be transparent. I saw a post on a friend's blog over the weekend and having a 'word of the year' and after much reflection. I think my word of 2014 is going to be TRANSPARENT. To a degree - I have no problem being honest with family & friends about my personal goals for the new year. In fact - there are 4 main things about this next year that I fully plan on being TRANSPARENT about & accomplishing wholeheartedly:

2013 has been kind of a roller-coaster ride for us. Honestly there;s a few things I'm thrilled for in 2014:
1) Making a noticeable dent for repayment of student loans.
2) Continuing to make sacrifices for my hubs in all aspects of our lives.
3) Continue to be more active & healthy.
4) Seek out new adventures for ourselves daily.

I'm really excited for the blessings, joys, and even the lessons to be learned in 2014 & for a fresh slate.  Ps. I am really stoked that I am ending the year with Tijuana Flats!! :) :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR! You stay classy :) -- Jessica

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Merry Christmas (Eve), y'all! The past 48 hours I've been cramming as many Christmas-y movies in my life as humanly possible. Last night I re-watched Christmas Vacation. Tonight I am determined to watch Elf, shockingly haven't watched it & am making sugar cookies/peanut butter fudge for tomorrow. 

Hubs & I are SO excited for 2014 and that all of our hard foundational work these last few years will start paying off next year. I thought about it & I want to share my top 5 BEST moments of 2013.

Ohhh snap - the GOOD:

1) I graduated with my Master's after 3+ years of grueling papers, sleep deprivation and changing my major a few times. April 27th is a day I will never forget. 

2) I worked my booty off at work & it paid off two fold. I earned Top Performer at work & then I was promoted in November to my new position.

3) I celebrated my big ol' 28th birthday with my first-ever Disney cruise. & had this amazing drink with my hubs in paradise. :) 

4) My best friend got married. Love you, Mrs. Rhodes :)

5) I celebrated 10 years of friendship with this lady (We equally looove Ross!) 

Overall - I had a pretty fantastic year. I learned, I grew, I soared. I learned more about my marriage and how to serve my husband best. I grew to love Mexican food, and helped my husband appreciate chick flicks and why they are needed. I soared - I graduated with my Master's, I met new friends through blogging. I lost some weight (more to come on that). I discovered what I liked, what I didn't & appreciated why I am blessed. Once again, family trumps everything. I am ready for 2014 to come & for the opportunity to learn more about my life and those around me. Have a very Merry Christmas & stay classy. - Jessica

Weekends, #Coldstone & work Christmas parties!

Happy Monday, lovelies!

Hope everyone had a fantastic relaxing weekend. I took my sisters Christmas shopping Saturday & was able to take advantage of the 10% discount they gave over the weekend. I also felt generous & treated my sister to Starbucks as a tradition we have. It was rushed but we have sister dates every so often. Then I spent the next evening fighting with my Mom's sewing machine & sadly, her machine won & I got zilch sewing done. That leaves tomorrow to finish all 3 projects.

Overall - I had a fairly fantastic weekend. Yesterday, my mister & I saw Frozen. I liked it but I guess I am more of an old school when it comes to Disney princess movies. I prefer that if you have a princess w/ a love interest whatsoever that they get married at some point. I feel like I prefer Tangled over Frozen, because I was more engaged & while there were funny moments - I was falling asleep in the movie.

However, after the movie - my hubs & I treated ourselves to #Coldstone, we definitely take advantage of the Groupon offers occasionally. My hubs went with Peppermint flavored & I went with Peppermint & Cookie Dough w/ Cake Batter ice cream - my signature preference.

Last night was our annual Christmas party at work. Every year, our company makes it the party of the year with incredible food, desserts, entertainment - and for the second year in the row - we brought my parents. It's nice to introduce them to my friends at work. So many people go so its hard to see people you know. They must've known I was coming with the mini red velvet cupcakes for dessert. Only one of the options, I had some of a brownie sundae complete w/ maraschino cherries, ice cream, warm hot fudge - the works. & on the way out - I had a flaming s'more. Incredible.

My parents & I always take pictures together at this party because I'm blessed they are my parents. & because I want people to come see how good we look. We take sweet selfies.

 Hope you & your family have a very Merry Christmas! Thankful for all of you who I met this year through my blog & excited to meet even more through various linkups to come. You stay classy! - Jessica

#12daysofblogging: my Wish List

Hiiii there. For those just stopping by my blog - welcome, glad you're here. I've seen this linkup come through a few times and I just never found the time to get my post up & shared. So - here we go. First time on this particular linkup. Onward & upward.

Decided to join this linkup on day 9 of #12daysofblogging! if you’re just joining us, you can find out more about the Christmas linkup here. Today’s prompt is “Christmas wishlist”. get inspired and spread the Christmas spirit! 

Once we get past all the giftcards this woman could enjoy - there are a few items that I'd love to see under the tree next week. 

 Black Amethyst anything & everything is pretty freaking fantastic.
My sister actually got me fairly excited about this scent when she had the body butter in her room. When I'd be over at my parents, I'd always take a detour into her room just to have the opportunity of using her body butter. She no longer has this so its up to my parents or myself to go the distance.

If I could walk into my kitchen on Christmas Day & have my kitchen re-modeled to something similar like this. My husband & I are just beginning loan repayment from grad school & its simply not something we can even think of seriously for another 15 years.

I take tons & have tons of good pictures from my wedding & life since to put in canvasses up around my house. While I want bigger sizes, just having the money to be able to afford the opportunity would be fantastic.

I am pretty blessed - I have everything I needed & these are just wishes. Over time they will go from wishes to the opportunity of having them happen but for now -- I just like to think of these 3 things as ideas that I wish for. Thanks for stopping by & hope you have a Merry Christmas! :) - Jessica