5 on Friday.

I'm participating in the 5 on Friday link-up. That's what happens when writer's block gets the best of me.

One: Sean and I leave for our west coast road trip in less than a week. I am so excited. We're flying to Seattle, Washington and spending 3 nights there, then 1 in Coos Bay, Oregon, 2 in San Francisco, California, and 4 nights in Southern California. We'll be seeing family & friends, the sights & hopefully taking tons of pictures along the way.

Two: Tonight is the Taylor Swift concert -- that I've been waiting for and for which I've had tickets since November. It's an outdoor concert and unfortunately it's raining. Not just a light drizzle, either. It's down pouring with no end in sight. Really, Summer? Really?

via.

Three: I've been trying to get ready for the school year and just got my class list (!). It's very exciting to look at names and try to imagine what the child is like. I've been making some classroom materials like this color matching work that I first saw on Pinterest.

Four: I've been an iPhone owner for 5 years now but I'm debating changing sides. I went to the Apple store over the weekend to ask them about my power button (which is stuck down). They were no help, in fact, they were rude and never made eye contact with me or looked up from the iPads they were using for whatever reason. She actually responded to me by saying, "ooooh, ya that happens. We don't fix it though". What kind of customer service is that Apple? So, I'm currently shopping around.

Five: I'm planning out some scheduled posts for when we're away since I'm not taking a computer with me. As of next Thursday, it may be quieter around these parts, but I'll try to have some quality posts lined up regardless.

Link-up here!

Thoughts: 30 days without accessories.

Around June 1st, I participated in a 30-day challenge that included stashing away all of our home accessories. Pretty much anything on a counter top or a bookshelf was stored in our second bedroom, a sort of "out of sight, out of mind" mentality to show how much stuff one has yet doesn't use -- thus doesn't miss when it's gone.

So, my thoughts on this little adventure?

Out of sight, out of mind? That didn't really work. All of my things taunted me for 30 days from the second bedroom. I guess I could have closed the door -- but the cats really enjoyed the mess (read: they like sleeping among the vases and inside all the empty baskets). I found myself in that room, more than usual, looking at all the stuff that I just don't use. I purged, and sorted, and cleaned constantly. Putting all non-essentials in one place makes me really realize how much stuff I have. And it was overwhelming.

Tossing personal preference aside? I missed our scrapbooks and our framed pictures. They add life and personality to our apartment and they make me smile when I look at them. I missed our framed wedding pictures from our bedside table and I missed the cute little trinkets Sean buys for me (like the message in a bottle he gave me for our first wedding anniversary).

I can do without. I don't think of myself as sentimental. I can toss things aside with the best of them. I do feel strongly about things (pictures, knick-knacks) that are reminders of my marriage. But other things? --baskets, candles, vases, throw pillows, etc. I didn't miss them one bit. In fact, I tried to sell them half way through the month at our town yard sale. 

Any permanent changes?

I haven't really decided. I like the open space; it requires less dusting. I enjoy the look and feel of our apartment; it has that simple and clean thing going for it. It's less stuff for the cats to try and knock over. 

Over all, it's been a good run -- and I'm not ready to make another change quite yet.

How we celebrated our first anniversary.

As of July 1st, Google reader will be no more. Keep following us on bloglovin. 

I can't really believe that our two year wedding anniversary is coming up next month. It's crazy to think that we got engaged 4 years ago and got married nearly 2 years ago. I feel like it was all yesterday.

I saw a first year anniversary recap link-up on Kaitlyn's blog and just had to participate. Around this time last year I talked a little bit about how my idea of a vacation, and Sean's idea of a vacation, is slightly different. I like cities, he likes nature -- neither of us really enjoy the beach for a long period of time. So when it came time to discuss what we'd do for our first wedding anniversary we had to compromise. And by compromise I mean he took me to a large city, in a fancy hotel and I took him somewhere that he could ride a boat and see a majestic waterfall. Well, sort of. I think he may have compromised more than I did...

Honestly, I don't remember how Niagara Falls got into the mix. It was probably my idea since I'd never been there and wanted to go. Luckily, we had passports (well kind of, mine technically isn't valid since my name change but I was just really hoping they didn't want to see my passport AND my license -- they didn't). So after about a 7 hour drive we made it to the border. We had some trouble at the border because they did not believe our car was in fact our car. So they tore it apart. Like actually tore it apart... and once they realized they didn't find anything they left the pieces of the car just dangling (which are still like that by the way) and we were on our way to our celebrate our one year anniversary!

We stayed at The Tower Hotel. I don't remember the floor number but it was pretty high up there -- you could feel the building swaying in the wind and when you got off the elevator your body sort of jolted forward and you had to catch yourself. Thinking back it was hysterical. 

We like to see and do a lot on vacations, especially when they are short trips. Since we were only in Niagara Falls for Friday night into Sunday morning, we crammed a lot into Saturday. 

It was one of those trips where we did anything we wanted and told ourselves we'll think about money later. :) those are always my favorites in the moment and not so much once I get home. But we ate at fancy restaurants, and went to museums and on tours and did everything the brochures told us not to miss. We loved it.

In addition to the weekend away which fell on the weekend after our anniversary -- on the actual date (July 16) we went out to dinner near our house. We exchanged gifts (year one is for paper) so he gave me a message in a bottle (I know, so sweet) and I gave him a scratch-off where you've traveled together map that can be found here. 

Our first wedding anniversary was very special! 

A vivid memory.

Today's challenge: A vivid memory.

When I was younger, my mom and my aunt would do a scavenger hunt for me every Easter. The eggs would be hidden and numbered. I would find egg #1 and it would have a written clue on the inside to help me find egg #2 and so on. Typically, at the end of the hunt I would find a gift. One Easter, the scavenger hunt led me to the basement, and inside the dryer was a white stuffed animal -- a rabbit. She was particularly fun because she was inside a balloon with confetti and to get her out of the balloon you had to pop it. You know how they can do that? Well, I immediately loved her and named her Zelda (I'm not too sure why), and that day I got to bring her to church with me. I propped her up right next to me in the pew. Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to play with her during the mass -- my grandmother wouldn't stand for that, but she let me bring her along which I thought was the most amazing thing ever.

That's always been my favorite Easter memory. I mean there was another Easter that was equally as cool because the scavenger hunt led to concert tickets -- but that's a story for another day. :)

A life update + day 30.

It's been a while since doing a post about regular life updates. So, today's the day!

- The school year is coming to an end. This means a lot of report writing, tying up loose ends, meetings and organizing/cleaning my classroom. I have 3 full days + 3 half days left. It goes by so quickly.

- On Memorial Day, I got a sunburn which has now apparently turned into sun poisoning. It's not that comfortable. It's actually a bit miserable.

- Since the end of school year and sunburns go along with SUMMER it's time to start thinking about plans and goals since I have the entire summer off. (I can't even contain my excitement). A post about this will be up in the next few days.

- The kittens are getting along... some days more than others. But they're lovable!

- Sean made a major healthy change in his life during the month of May. I couldn't be more proud. A post about this will be up in the next few days.

- Tomorrow's the last day of our May pledge. I can't believe we made it.

- I also can't believe that I did so well with the Blog Every Day in May Challenge. I never missed a day! So let's do today's...

Today's challenge: React to this term -- letting go.

Honestly, I don't do well with letting go. It's something I'm trying to work on. I tend to bank things in my mind for later. I forgive people for disappointments, or come to terms with something going wrong -- but just enough to continue on. I'd love to say that I forgive and forget. But I don't.

I don't think it's really possible to completely let go of everything. You have to feel pain to know what comfort is. You have to feel hate to know what compassion is. And it's easier to deal with the negative things life throws your way if you keep your past experiences close to your head and your heart so you don't fall victim again.

To let go of yourself -- is to really put yourself in a place that can be uncomfortable. I don't like to leave anything to chance. But that's why I surround myself with people who I love, and trust and know they feel the same about me. It would be silly to do anything else. Right?

5 songs that bring back memories.

Today's challenge: 5 songs or pieces of music that speak to me or bring back memories. 

This challenge was one that I have been thoroughly excited for! But when it came down to it, it was really hard to choose just 5 songs. I love music and most music I listen to speaks to me in some way. 

But I did narrow it down for the post, so here goes...

This song reminds me of my childhood. I was obsessed with Blessid Union of Souls and enjoyed this song the most. It makes me think of calling into a local radio station to try to win concert tickets. 

This songs reminds me of my cousins, Chelsey & Brett, who I spent most of my childhood with. We would listen to it on repeat, until one day their older brother (also my cousin), tore it out of the CD player and threw the disc out the window. I guess we played it too much. :(

This song reminds me of listening to any radio station when I was in elementary school. I didn't realize at the time how sad it was...

This song reminds me of when Sean and I started dating. We made each other mix CDs and this song was a common song between them. We listened to it very often.

This song reminds me of our wedding. It was the song for our first dance. :)

:)

Day 28: Only pictures -- Happy Memorial Day.

Today's challenge: Only pictures.

A letter to your readers.

Today's challenge: A letter to your readers.

Dear readers,

If you're reading this it's because you're an avid reader of our blog and you come every day to see what we're up to. Or it could mean you're a sporadic reader -- maybe you saw a link somewhere (maybe on facebook, twitter, instagram, etc.) and your interest got the better of you. Or it could mean it's your first time reading -- maybe you saw the link through a link-up or bloglovin. Or maybe you've clicked on this thing totally by accident and you're currently looking for the X.

Either way -- whether it's your first time here or a stop on your daily blog roll -- thank you.

Blogging is a funny thing. You sort of start with this undetermined goal in mind like "hmm, I need a hobby" or in my case "well, I'm engaged... let me talk about myself on the internet". Seriously, that's what happened.

For a while, no one reads it but you and your mom. And slowly, family and friends find out about it and acquaintances are like "what... so you just talk about yourself?... isn't that sort of weird?" -- and well, yeah, it's a little weird. But it's no different than sharing your life on Facebook or Instagram or some other type of social media.

So, my preferred method of talking about myself is blogging. And it's nice to know that people are so receptive to what I write and share. There's been numerous occasions where I've been out places and someone has told me they read my blog and like it. Or they agree with something I've written. Or they're able to relate to what I've written in some way. Or it made them laugh. Or think or wonder. Or they enjoy knowing what we're up to. So, thank you.

How nice is it to hear that something that you put a lot of time and effort into doing... other people appreciate and enjoy. Who wouldn't love that?

I sure do. And lately, I've been getting a little more traffic than usual and a steady incline in readership and followers. Between all the different outlets associated with my blog I have more than 300 readers. I admit... in the blogging world that's barely a blip on the radar. But in the "real world" -- seeing that over 300 people are interested in reading about your daily life. How fantastic is that?

So thank you for reading and sticking around (even through those spurts where I give up on blogging for a little bit). I love your comments, and your advice. I especially love when there's a blog associated with the person who reads my blog. Because even more than writing this blog -- I love reading other people's blogs.

To become familiar with people and their lives from anywhere in the world! -- What an amazing time to be alive. It's through your blogs that I feel like we've gone out to lunch together, or that I've been to the beach that day, or I've cooked a delicious meal, or gone shopping with you. I love reading your stories, and reading your thoughts, and feeling what you're feeling and being a part of what you choose to share online. So, thank you.

I love blogging and love that people are experiencing life with me and that you're all along for my journey. You make my day. :)

With love,
Jasmine

Day 26: Something you read online.

Today's challenge: Something you read online. Leave a link and discuss, if you'd like.

Amanda Bynes twitter account.

Why, oh why? Some people shouldn't have access to the internet... or their right to freedom of speech. They just shouldn't. The amount of nonsense this girl tweets about every day is ridiculous. She has her own segment on the local radio station's entertainment update where they talk about how crazy she's acting. I mean, today alone -- she's called out Rihanna (tweeted she deserved to be beaten by Chris Brown because she's "ugly"), claimed an officer sexually assaulted her (when he arrested her for throwing her bong out her 36th floor apartment building in NYC), and is mad that some magazine used a "bad" picture of her (pre-nose job) and wants to sue them. Like, what? 

Oh, and I can't stop reading it....

Weekly Recap + a one-liner.

On the  blog:

Sunday: Blogs I love.

Monday: Let's get real & A busy weekend.

Tuesday: Favorite posts & Our pledge, part IV.

Wednesday: Rant about something.

Thursday: What life has taught me.

Friday: Worst Traits.

Happy Memorial Day weekend! Even though, it's snowing in some parts of the state and in others it's too cold to celebrate outdoors -- I hope your weekend is filled with family, friends and fun!

We've had a day filled with movies (all that rain makes me want to stay indoors), and home-cooked meals. A three-hour nap may or may not have happened as well.

Today's challenge: Something someone told you about yourself that you'll never forget.

I thought about this challenge, all day. And there's a couple things I could probably share but I'm going to go with one that put a smile on my face. 

After my most recent doctor's appointment, Sean and I walked into the elevator after hearing about this gene mutation. I was feeling very confused and a little down and neither Sean nor myself said anything to one another as we waited for the elevator. Once we walked inside and we were alone, he looked at me and said "so, you're like an X-men!" with a big smile on his face.

I couldn't help but smile back and both of us laughed hysterically until the elevator doors opened. It makes my heart happy that I get to spend my life with someone who can make me laugh when I'm sad, and someone who believes a "flaw" is a pretty neat thing.

Day 24: Worst traits.

Today's challenge: Your top three worst traits.

I'm very excited I've made it this far in the challenge. Some days it's easier to do than others. Yesterday's post was really difficult, today's a little easier but I still needed some help. Not because I can't think of negative things about myself. I totally could... but I decided to open up this question to Sean and I think he thought it was a bit of a trick. But after some discussion we've decided, which I'm okay with, that my 3 worst traits are:

- I force conversation, specifically with Sean. (Clearly, since I made him have this conversation with me and answer this question). Sometimes, when we're falling asleep I wake him up just to ask him if he's awake and once he answers me, I tell him I want to talk. He says "okay" and I immediately ask him what he wants to talk about. :) every single night...

- I move his stuff around. In fairness, it's because I clean -- I argue that it's always in the same area and that I probably just put it where it truly belongs. But he insists that I do it as some type of scavenger-hunt game. Regardless... I guess it's a flaw of mine.

- I'm paranoid. I can't argue with this. I am paranoid. I watch way too many episodes of Criminal Minds and 20/20 and think that everyone is out to get me. I lock my car doors immediately, barely talk to strangers, and stay home when I can. It borders on unhealthy.

:)

What life has taught me.

Today's challenge: Things you've learned that school won't teach you.

This challenge was really difficult. Partly because I'm exhausted and just can't think but also because I think I learned a lot in school. Maybe it wasn't necessarily always from the teacher in the classroom but I think the whole process of being with peers day in and day out is really educational in itself and has nothing to do with textbooks and formal lessons. You learn, independently, how to function in a group with friends, and people who are not your friends. You learn how to be around adults who aren't family. You learn what can happen if you're late, if you park in the wrong lot, or if you don't do your work. You learn about friendships and relationships and how to feel when someone hurts you and that you should surround yourself with people who respect you. And I don't think you'd learn all that without going to some type of school. So while I wished they taught more home management and life skills such as paying bills, filing taxes, registering to vote, etc. -- I think school teaches an awful lot and anything else you can Google. 

So... I'm sort of changing this up a bit. These are the things I learned in school that I still apply to every day life (because honestly calculus and biology haven't come in handy... yet): kindness, compassion, punctuality, fairness, effort, motivation, inspiration, how to be a friend, forgiveness and empathy. 

I know a lot of people say that school doesn't teach all of those things but I do feel that I learned how to do all that... in school. Through relationships, and friendships and routines, and expectations all of that is taught. I think life has just refined those skills and has turned all of my education into experience.

  

(And when all else fails... life has taught me to turn up the radio and belt out a tune.)

Day 22: Rant about something.

Today's challenge: Rant about something.

So I could rant about politics, or the weather, or life in general. I could rant about celebrities, or natural disasters, or people's lack of kindness and consideration towards one another. I mean someone dropped a door in my face today and I was cut off in traffic, twice.

But you know what really gets to me? When my TV shows get canceled.

TV -- one of the things in life you can control.

I mean, I can't control politics, weather, celebrities, natural disasters, people's lack of kindness, or people in traffic. But I can control what I watch and when I watch it. If I want to stop watching, I can. I want to start watching a show? I go right ahead. It's easy to spend a lot of time in front of the TV and since I spend most of my day moving around, I figure it's fine to spend some all of my time after dinner each night catching up sitcom re-runs and new dramas.

So imagine my surprise each Spring when I realize all the shows that have been canceled since their premiere in the fall. Sometimes this realization comes before springtime. And let me tell you, every single time -- I cringe. And complain. And curse the TV that I've been spending so much time in front of. I mean this is valuable time that I spend investing in shows and characters and plot lines. And when, all of the sudden, these shows are dunzo -- UH!

Just for complaint's sake, and the fact that this is supposed to be a rant post, here's a list of all the shows I watched this year only to find out weeks into enjoying the show that it would be canceled (either right THEN) or now (in May): 666 Park Avenue, Don't trust the B, Happy Endings, Last Resort, Malibu Country, Red Widow, Partners, Ben and Kate, Animal Practice, 90210, Go On, Guys with Kids, Smash, The New Normal, Whitney, Up All Night. How annoying!

Oh, and I could do a whole other post about how people tell me I watch too much TV and need to go outside more. So, please. No, thanks. :)

Day 21: Favorite posts.

Today's challenge: A list of links to your favorite posts in your archives.

Here goes.

Me:

- Me in 250 words.

- Why I can't go to the grocery store.
- What I learned from Dirty Dancing.
- What I learned from Rory Gilmore.
- When I realized I'm old.
- My thoughts on the Boston Marathon.
- The time I bought a new car.

Sean:
- Sean turned 27 and I was creative with the wrapping.
- Sean's new band.
- We agree to disagree.

Relationship:

- Our love story: part I, part II, part III, part IV. 

- Our one year anniversary: part I, part II.

- Being married to a musician.

Blogging:

- My thoughts on blogging.

- Why I think blogging is hard.

Enjoy!

Day 20: Let's get real.

Today's challenge: Get real. Share something you're struggling with right now.

source

I tend not to write about negative things or things that I feel are not that interesting, or entertaining, or upbeat. If I write about them, it's casual, maybe a quick one-liner, or a story with a healthy positive spin on it. Not that I avoid our struggles, but there's a time and place and I'm not sure that for me, that time or place is now on this public forum. 

But in an effort to continue with this blog every day in May challenge, I feel as though as I need to say something regarding today's chosen topic: struggle. So here are two things that basically tie into every other thing that I ever think about:

- I'm twenty-six and don't really know what I want to be when I grow up. I like what I do each day (teaching), but it's a struggle financially. Every time I pay a student loan, I shed a few tears and think "why did I waste my time". And there's no end in sight to the amount of money we owe in loans, or bills, or debt. My monthly paycheck barely contributes to anything and besides finding a new career I don't really see a solution to any of it.

- I'm at that age where I want a baby. Unfortunately, because of the state of my paycheck we can't really afford to take care of another person. I also struggle with the idea of giving up our daily life and routines for a baby but feel that probably changes. Maybe? 

So, two things? I mean -- I could go into more. Like how: my house is a mess, the end of the school year is so stressful, my new kitten is afraid of me, Sean's band is taking his time away from me, my other kitten is mad that we got a new kitten, our lease is due and I can't find it, I desire to make my blog a full-time job, someone scratched my new car, we have a situation with our neighbor's lizards and their unfortunate smell, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson broke up. I mean really... I could go on and on.

A busy weekend.

Our weekend was packed full. That's a rarity for me and it makes me exhausted. Like I can't even switch the laundry from the washing machine to the dryer. Or watch my DVR. So... it's pretty bad.

But we did a lot of fun stuff: the drive-in (we saw Star Trek for him, The Great Gatsby for me), homemade breakfast (I made him breakfast for a change), a wedding, a Sunday morning flea market, grocery shopping, family dinner, etc.

Is it bad that I'm already looking forward to next weekend?

Day 19: blogs I love.

Today's challenge: Five of your favorite blogs and what you love about them.

I wrote about this a few months ago. But if I had to list five blogs that I go to every single day -- and sometimes just type their URL right into Google chrome (opposed to waiting to see if they've updated through bloglovin') -- they would have to be:

1. Living in Yellow.

2. So Shay.

3. Across the Pond.

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4. Katie Did What.

5. The Daily Tay.

source

I just love these blogs. They're funny, and real, and emotional. These women are down to earth, take beautiful pictures, tell hysterical stories and update nearly every day (very important in the blogging world!). I feel like if I met them in real life, we'd probably get along.