100 Days Of Happy

There's a new photo challenge going on on Instagram, "can you be happy for 100 days?". The challenge is to take a picture everyday of something that made you happy. I love this idea! Life is so busy and with so much running around. I'm going to make it my goal to post daily one thing I'm thankful- now I don't plan on taking pictures everyday, but I do plan to be aware of things that are making me happy each day, even the little things.

So here it goes... Day 1 of being happy!

Today I'm thankful for rainy lazy Sundays.  Lazy days being spent cuddling with my dogs and my wonderful Bradley. We started to pack for our trip to North Carolina- so many things to bring when you're renting a house ((& not staying in a hotel)).

Here's to a short week and spring break right around the corner!

Xo, Tiffany

Spring is beginning to "spring"

It's finally here... the moment that we've been waiting for since December... the snow has melted, the birds are coming back, and signs of spring are starting to appear! This winter in Wisconsin has been miserable... we've set the record for the number of consecutive days below 0... but FINALLY! It looks like winter will be ending, and spring will be coming soon.

In honor of an entire week of temperatures in the 50's, we had the windows open & played outside with the dogs. The dogs have been anxiously awaiting ball time outside!


So here's to you Spring... I'm glad you decided to show your face finally! I hope you stick around!

Xo, Tiffany



Where did time go?

Oh goodness... so much for my new year's resolution to blog more. Life has been fantastically busy lately.

Between being busy with advisor duties for Alpha Xi Delta, trainings, parent-teacher conferences, and my regular hours at work, I feel like it's been a non-stop month. A busy month, but a really wonderful month also.

February is also a really busy month because it's a month of a birthdays! Mine and Brad's birthdays are both in February. I'm 10 days older (something he reminds me of OFTEN!) and we love to celebrate both birthdays with presents, dinner, and cake! Check out this picture of the amazingly delicious cupcakes I bought for my birthday "cake"! Brad & I split one in half each day- there's so filling you can barely eat half! They're so good though.

From back to front- Reese's, Snickers, Dirt Cake, Blue Moon, M&M, Triple Chocolate

We went out for dinner to celebrate at a hibachi restaurant. I love hibachi- yum! For Bradley's birthday we had Chinese food from our favorite place- Lee Yang's; and we had Brad's favorite- Ice Cream Cake from DQ. Who lives in Wisconsin and gets an ice cream in the middle of February!? Only for my husband! Brad's dad and brother are also February birthdays, so we got together for dinner to celebrate our birthday month.

March has been busy with birthdays also! My dad's birthday is on the 7th, celebrated with family dinner and time spent at my parent's house. Brad's mom and many family members on his mom's side are also March birthdays. We had a family birthday party this past weekend to celebrate them. It's always nice to get together with family and spend time together.

We were finally able to get together with my best friend Brittany, her husband Andrew and our friend Ellis. We went to a hockey game and had a wonderful time spending the evening together. It's nice to spend time with friends.

Brad & I are anxiously counting down the days until we leave on vacation! Spring break in the Outer Banks can't come soon enough! Spending time relaxing, soaking up the sun, swimming, and enjoying delicious seafood. We can't wait! 

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Xo, Tiffany

My Bucket List

Last weekend, I turned 26. Where did the time go, seriously!? Now that I'm 26 and (as my husband so lovingly told me...) I'm out of the "young adult" phase and into the adult phase, I decided to create my bucket list. The list of goals, achievements, travels, and milestones that I'd like to accomplish in my lifetime.

Here goes nothing....

-have a long, happy marriage. Those couples that have been married for 50+ years inspire me. I love my husband more then anything in the world and I can't wait to see where life takes us.

 

-have children. Brad & I would love to have children some day.

 

-travel. it's my goal in life to travel to as many countries as possible.

I'd love to travel to all the 50 states also.

 

-along the lines of traveling, I'd LOVE to go all of the Disney parks in the world. I've been to the ones in the US (Disneyland and Disneyworld) and I've been to Disney Paris.

 

-play the piano. I played when I was younger & I would LOVE to learn to play again.

 

-go to a professional NHL game. I love hockey and would love to go to a Blackhawks game.

 

-complete RAGBRAI again. it's a bike event across the state of Iowa. I completed it in 2010 but I missed a day because I was sick. I want to do it again and be able to complete the whole thing.

 

-read as over 500 books. I have no idea what number I'm on right now, but I'm sure I'll have no problem completing this one. I LOVE reading.

 

-travel first class. I think it'd be fun to travel this way just once.

 

-own a farm-ette. I really want some goats, chickens and cows. One goat, one cow, and like 5 chickens would be suffice also.

 

 

Those are my only goals I could think of right now... but the wonderful thing about the internet is that I can always add to it!

 

Xo, Tiffany



 

 

That Special Somone!

I love doing "Link up" posts- it's fun to answer the questions and it's fun to read other people's blogs and their answers to questions. This month I've found a Link Up on Endlessly Beloved.
The topic is "that special someone" and then you write your "10 Favorite Things" about the someone.

  Since Valentine's Day is right around the corner, & it's February (mine & Brad's birthdays are both in February so I like to think of it as "our month"), I obviously decided to write about my husband Bradley. We've been together for over 10 years, married for almost 3 years, and I'm crazy, madly in love with him.

1. He's supportive- I'm super busy and Brad is always there to help out with anything I need. He's always there to listen, offer advice, and he's always up to cuddle on the couch.

 

2. He's smart- He's a computer programmer & I literally have no idea what he's talking about when he comes home each night. He loves his job and is always reading new books or looking at things online to see what is new in the computer world. He's a hard worker.

 

3. He loves to travel! We've had the wonderful opportunity of going vacation with each other at least once a year since we started dating. We've been to new places, old places, traveled out of the country and had many adventures together. 

 

4. He's hilarious- I feel like he's constantly doing something to make me laugh or roll my eyes at him. He's always making jokes, "singing or dancing" in the kitchen or just doing something to make me laugh.

  

 

5. We never fight. Honestly. Yes there are times we annoy each other and we have disagreements about things, but there has never been an issue we've had an "I can't stand you, don't call me for days, I don't want to see you anymore" argument.

 

6. He married me. This might see weird, but one of my favorite things about Bradley is that he's mine. He's *my* husband. I'm going to spend the rest of my life with him and I'm beyond thankful that I was blessed with him.

 

 

7. and with that goes the fact that he puts up with me... I know I'm not the easiest person in the world. I'm controlling, things have to "perfect", I'm always over-planning and rushing to "stay on schedule", and I'm an emotional woman; but Brad just smiles, calms me down, and holds my hand. He keeps me in the moment.

 

8. He's always up for an adventure. Whether it's driving an hour and a half to a small town in Wisconsin to go to a random county fair or not taking any toll roads on your honeymoon and driving in some pretty sketch areas from Orlando to Key Largo.

 

 

9. He's a "guys guy"- he loves sports, eating hot & spicy foods, fishing, hunting, being outside.

 

10.  He's protective- he's always texting me to make sure I made it to work safely and making sure that I'm safe if I'm home-alone. I have a horrible back and he gets upset whenever I try to shovel or help with snow blowing.

 

I hope that this post doesn't have you gagging or super annoyed by the amount of pictures- but what can I say?! I married my high school sweetheart, we have 10+ years worth of memories and wonderful times together. I'm crazy in love with him and I'm so excited to continue this journey that has God has blessed us on.

 

Xo, Tiffany

Polar Vortex?

"Polar vortex"... if you live in Wisconsin, you've been hearing this phrase non-stop since the beginning of 2014. Polar vortex has brought some pretty frigid temperatures to our lovely area lately. Temperatures below freezing plus wind chill temperatures, meaning weather that feels like -35 to -40. Absolutely freeeeezing outside!

On the plus side though, there's no school today so I'm spending the day watching SVU, working on assessments, and working on lesson plans. The dogs are loving having mom home because they get to work up a sweat by laying on the couch cuddled in blankets all day. I know, hard work right?

2014 has been very cold lately, so that means lots of staying inside, cuddled in blankets, sitting next to the woos burning stove. And since we live in Wisconsin, cold temperatures and wind means it not very fun to travel outside because a) the wind blows the snow everywhere and b) let's be honest- it's cold out there!

But- last weekend Brad & I braved the elements and took a much needed trip to meet up with some friends. Friday night, we meant some of Brad's fraternity brothers for dinner. We had drinks, yummy food, and enjoyed laughs and conversations with friends. Our drive home was not so wonderful because it was snowing ((again!!))...

Saturday was family day! Brad spent the day snowblowing the driveway, and I spent the day doing my weekly cleaning. After all of that it was time to enjoy time with my family. Along with my sisters and parents we went to Madison for dinner and a hockey game. We love going to the "Nitty Gritty" for dinner before Badger games. They have great food & beer, and it's always jam-packed with other Badger fans! We headed over to the Kohl center to watch the Badger hockey team take on Ohio State. Unfortunately it wasn't Bucky's night and they lost, but it was still a really great game.

It was fun weekend and we enjoyed not being cooped up in the house. I'm counting down the days and minutes to nice weather so we can get back outside and we spend more time with friends.

Stay warm out there people!

Xo, Tiffany

Welcome to the New Year!

It's hard to believe that it's already 2014, and it's been over a year since I've posted my last blog. I think that it's taken this long to post something because I was searching and looking for something "big" to post about. You see we live in a world where we put everything out there for people to see; we have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snap chat, and about a million more other apps; we carry smartphones that are instantly connected to emails, and all of these social medias sites; we have all of these apps in our lives to connect us to the world in a minute second. But you know as I've been thinking about starting to blog again, and thinking about what goes on my life, and what is really "worth" putting out there for people to read; I've realized that people only put information on these websites that they want people to see. People want other people to see how fantastic their lives are, and then we compare our own lives to the "lives people want us to see." No one is obviously going to put up pictures of them crying their eyes, or how horrible their day was because they ran into the wall, got in trouble at work, and got into a huge fight with their significant other. We put up pictures of the good times, of family get-togethers, parties, sporting events, and nights out with friends. I think I've taken so long to get back into blogging because I've been comparing my "social media" life to the lives that people want me to see, the good times.

Now don't get me wrong... I love social media... I love reality television... and I love my smart phone. I love being connected to people and to everything going on around the world. But I need to remember in this coming year, that my life is my life. I don't need anyone's approval; I'm perfectly ok with sitting at home on a Friday night, snuggled up with my husband & our dogs; I'm not ashamed that I don't go out to the bar every weekend and get so drunk that I need my pictures to remind me of the night. I'm 25 years old, I'm married, I have a big girl job and I love my normal, quiet life. I don't have to answer to anyone but God about my life.

My goals for 2014:

-build my relationship with God; turn my monthly devotional time into daily devotional time.

-spend more time with my family & Brad's family. There's nothing better then sitting at the dinning room table, playing cards with my family, or fishing with my Papa, or enjoying a nice relaxing day sleeping & reading on the dock with my mother-in-law.

-spend more time with my friends; leave the cell phone in the car (or at home even!); and really just spend time enjoying the moments with my friends. I don't live as close to my friends as we did when we were in college, and grown up lives have seem to gotten in the way lately.

-get back into biking. I completed RAGBRAI a couple years ago, and it's my goal to one day complete it again. I would like to ride 100 miles in one day with no problem.

-just enjoy the year; I really feel that 2014 is going to be a great year, I have high hopes & expectations for this year. I'm excited to see what it has in store for us!

Here's to good health, Happy Times, & a Great new year!

Welcome 2014!

 

 

Xoxo- Tiffany