August (birthday month) goals!

Caleb texted me this morning reminding me it was my "birthday week". We're just 7 days out from my birthday...its never too early to start celebrating, right?!

I'm going to be honest and tell you my running goal is basically shot for the summer. I honestly did horrible, but you know what? I'm okay with that. I've had a great time being outside and being active other ways (hiking/volleyball/long walks, etc.)! Being outside was a priority for me this summer and I'm happy to say I made that happen more than previous years!

So here goes my list of goals for August;

-Send snail mail to at least 3 people. I absolutely love doing this. Getting fun mail is the BEST! Bills are boring, but surprises are awesome!

-Be outside as much as possible. I continue to change my mind on which is my favorite season between spring, summer and fall...BUT regardless, I absolutely love the sunshine. Being outside when its warm is just the best. Even when I'm sweating, I try not to complain about it!

-Hit the gym at least 8 times. We joined a new gym a couple months ago and at first were using it all the time. Now? Not so much. I still want to utilize the natural pavement outside, as well as some at-home YouTube workouts, but something about actually driving to the gym makes me want to try my hardest to make the drive worth it, and push myself really hard!

-Use our gift cards. Caleb and I have a few movie gift cards as well as dinner gift cards (hello cheesecake factory!) and who doesn't love a free date?!

-Spend more time with friends. Some of my friends are pretty far away, and some are close. Regardless, I want to make plans to pursue my friendships more than ever. Whether that be through more phone calls, Skype, or in person to grab a coffee, I want to make it happen!

-Drop off our goodwill/donation box. I had this on my list a few months ago and we didn't make it happen. I need to just stick it in my car so next time I'm near there, I will actually do this. We've accumulated so much junk, I know it would feel great to get rid of it.

PS - anyone else PUMPED that football season is nearly here?! I can hardly contain my excitement. Our first preseason game is NEXT WEEK!

Happy August everyone, make it a great one!

Welcome to the best month ever.

HAPPY AUGUST, EVERYONE! Oh, am I the only one that excited about this month!?! It's always been my favorite (hellooo, birthday month), but in the last few years its become my favorite for a few other reasons!!

It was August 18th, 2012 when Caleb and I arrived in Hilton Head with my family and he asked me to take a quick bike ride down to the beach to finally get a few minutes of alone time (we were in separate cars the whole drive down with the kiddos), so I hadn't thought much of it. I changed into a less sweaty shirt and we hit the trail for the beach. I was so pumped. Right when we get on the beach we just started jumping around in the sand...we were made to live at the beach, fyi ;) anyway! He tells me we should make a silly video to send to his brother (and Erin) so they can be jealous we're on the beach. If you guessed that he tricked me into video taping my own wedding proposal, you'd be right. Our engagement is something I'll always remember with some really awesome memories (including the engagement photo session: photo below).

It's also the month of my 24th birthday. Woop woop!

OH and its the month Caleb and I officially began dating. August 24th, to be exact. Man, we were babies.

It's also still summer, plenty of pool time, and lots of time with family. I'm excited to get started with this month.

I took July off from posting about my goals, I honestly felt like that helped take some of the pressure off and I got a lot accomplished. I feel like August is a great time to get back in the swing of things though, so here are my August goals!

WORK OUT! I know, such a specific goal ;) but I kind of  like the idea of leaving it open ended. No specific number of trips to the gym or anything like that this month, as I'd rather focus on the quality of my workouts. It felt so good to finally find my groove again in July, so I'm ready to keep at it and impress myself! The weight room is addictive, friends.

Continue reading my Bible every day. Once we returned from Tennessee with the teens, I've been so inspired. I've done a great job at studying my Bible daily and it gives me a much better perspective  on life and my daily attitude in general.

Get to the pool more. Caleb and I were really good about making trips to the pool in early summer, but now that our tans have faded, we're missing it. We were able to make  trip up there yesterday and Caleb's brother even stopped by so we played some "pool football" for a while. It felt nice to be out in the sun while being somewhat active, too!

Make new meals for dinner. This is huge for me. Caleb and I are so good at just laying out meat and cooking it as is with a can of veggies on the side (so blah), I want to utilize my crock pot more and make a few new meals for our post-gym evenings!

Make a huge dent in our debt payoff. We're currently working on loan #3 (now that our car is paid off, holllaaa!) and we're hoping to cut it nearly in half this moth. That would be a huge step for us and I know we can do it!!!

All in all, I think I can accomplish this list of goals for myself. I'm excited for the challenge! If you wrote about some goals today, I'd love to hear some!! Happy August, friends!!

See you, August!

Ahhh sweet, sweet August. You came and went so fast. You know, you are my favorite month of the year.

It's my birthday... the month Caleb proposed, the month we celebrate our dating anniversary, and its the start of a wonderful football season... oh, and it also means FALL is right around the corner.

So, what were some of my favorite parts of August?

Oh you know...turning 22 (I have yet to blog about that!) Caleb took me to the new casino downtown for a fun night of stuffing my face (see picture below this one) and winning some cash!

Eating way more crab legs than an average human probably should. No shame.

Taking a new favorite picture of my HUSBAND and I!

Getting birthday presents!

Yellow earrings from link-up host Ashley herself!

Monogram necklace from miss Anna!

& hilarious "I shoot people" necklace, from the sweeeeet sweet Alexaaa!

Thanks also to Robin, Amanda and Ashley for the cutest birthday cards, EVA! (wow- almost all of their names started with A!)

Seriously, can I wear them all at once!?

Receiving this candle from my soulmate, Erin!

Shooting more in August, like the cutest gender reveal party on the planet.

Getting my picture taken in front of my fav place EVAAA. Seriously, the chicken has to be coated with drugs. I can't stop eating them!

& last but definitely not least... one of my favorite families I got to photograph earlier this month.

I hope you've all had the BEST August ever.

Looking forward to the last few months of this year, with lots of football...and lots more pictures.

Stay happy, friends!

Why August freakin rocks.

If you aren't a stranger to this blog, you know that this month is my absolute favorite. I have been SO blessed in so many ways. So many good things just happen, and have happened in my past that just make my heart skip a beat! 

So, why is August freakin rockin, you ask?!

1. Weeelllllll...for starters! On the 18th of August last year, my man got down on one knee on my favorite beach in Hilton Head and asked me to spend forever with him. This is still, to date....like one of the best days of my life. I will never forget these moments, and thankfully since my man caught it on video...I'll never have too.

Picture of a video, sorry! Maybe one day I'll upload the real video?

Just moments after it happened. Tears, so many happy tears!

2. Flash back even BEFORE the proposal... to the 24th of this month, FOUR YEARS AGO, Caleb asked me to be his girlfriend. He was so darn nervous he even spelled my name wrong on the card he gave me. This is a picture from that night. We made each other T shirts, played Boggle, and he made me dinner. He even handed me a Taco Bell Fruitista (which kiiind of has a strong part in our relationship! Hehe), as he asked me to be his girlfriend.

Oh hiiiii 2009.

3. 22 years ago this Friday...I was born! So that is pretty cool! ;) -- shout out to my Dad, too who was born on the 3rd.

From my surprise party last year!

4. Ummm duh, football... & that I'll more than likely get more picture messages from my stud of a husband that look like this.

5. Fall is RIGHT around the corner. Which means that so are fun fall double dates with our faves!!

6. This is the month I started my blog, last year!

7. On my 18th birthday back in 2009, it was a Sunday. That is the day I got baptized, and then went Skydiving afterwards. Life. Changing!!! If you've been wanting to do this...do yourself a favor and DO IT ALREADY!

8. Finally starting to take my own photography seriously. This month has been rockin!

9. We get to take a road trip with E&J to Memphis, for a friends wedding! Woo to the hoo! Couldn't be more excited about this. 

So seriously...we're only, what? 6 days into August and its already proving to be amazing. I got some in-freaking-credible news the night before August started...that I'm excited to share (in the near future). So, stick around! ;)