Shenaningans

hey there bloggy friends. before we get started today, i just want you guys to know that i am normally a stickler for capitalization but my shift key isn't working and it hurts my finger(s) to press it to make it work. so this post will have no capitalization as much as it pains me. don't judge me. it will be fixed soon, promise.

okay moving on. last night we celebrated timothy's birthday. yay! the tradition in his family is that when it's your birthday, you get to do whatever you want. that includes whatever food you want. so let me tell you what my man had his sister and dad cook for him. we had hibachi which included sweet carrots, onions, mushrooms, and peppers stir fried in soy, fried rice, and shrimp sauce. we also had steak with the option of making burritos. pretty fancy right. we have japanese and mexican.

well my boyfriend was perusing the internet one night and stumbled upon something called 'bacon cheddar burger dogs'. uh yeah...you read that right. those dogs are made up of the following: ground beef, weenies, bacon, cheddar cheese, and hot dog buns. can we say heart attack? like what??? that rounded out the meal with japanese, mexican, and redneck american. 'MERICA!

i bet you're wondering if those dogs were good. yes they were delicious, but i could only have about 3 bites before i felt my arteries start clogging. the meal was very good and we had ice cream cake. what's not to love about that?!

i even got timothy to take 2 pictures with me.
ya see he's not too fond of pictures. i don't know why. i think he's calvin klien model material but i might be a bit biased.

anywhoz. here are the two pictures i got him to take. ain't he just precious. love him to pieces!

   

awhhhh. and not trying to be like conceited but i never dress up but i did last night (if you can consider this dressing up) and i'm pretty proud of the outfit. so just because i can here is a shameless posey, show off outfit picture. you're welcome.

yay for cute outfits. i wish i had gotten a picture of the back but i forgot. oops. sue me.

so anyway that's all i have folks. follow me on instagram and/or twitter to keep up with the shenanigans for the fourth and the thing that is my life.

One Year and Six Months

So today marks exactly 1 year and 6 months with my lovely boyfriend. I made this super cool collage of some the best pictures we've taken over this year and a half. Ain't it awesome?

Awh we is so cute. I don't want to be overly mushy or anything. But I am going to give you a little insight into our relationship over the past year and a half. 

Here are  reasons why I fell in love with Tim. (These aren't in any particular order and there are more reasons than this.)

Reason Numero Uno: He makes me laugh. No seriously. It's crazy how much and how hard he can make laugh. I know this is something that everybody says, but it really is important to me. I am silly and ridiculous more often than I am serious. He's the same way. He has such a unique sense of humor and his laugh is precious and AH. I just love that we can laugh together and find the same things funny. I also like that we can pick on each other as jokes and not really ever get offended. (Most of the time.)

He would kill me if he knew I put this up but it makes me laugh EVERY time.

Reason Numero Dos: He has a huge heart. He is so caring and giving. He has so much love to give and it amazes me how he can love me in spite of how annoying and crazy I am. I mean seriously. It's crazy. He loves people (usually) and animals and his family is really important to him. It's just awesome to see and know and love a man who is manly but has a sensitive and loving side that he's not afraid to show.

Reason Numero Tres: He can handle my crazy. This is big y'all. If you know me personally then you know that I have severe ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyper-activity Disorder). I have been taking medication for this disorder since I was 5. When I don't take these meds, I go buck wild. No joke. Tim loves me like that, well to an extent. He has always told me that he loves getting a glimpse of who I am for real, without the meds holding me back. He is the only person who has EVER said that to me. It was/is a huge deal that he can handle that. Excluding the ADHD, I am still 50 shades of cray and he loves every part of me. Whatta man, whatta man, whatta mighty good man. 

Okay that's all you get right now. Don't wanna make anybody jealous. Our relationship is by no means perfect, but at the end of everyday we know that we love each other and that we will overcome any obstacle put in our path. He's more than my boyfriend, he is my BEST FRIEND. I am so thankful for him.

With love, Carly ♥

Cheesy Couple

I had a hard time figuring out what to write about today. So I naturally turned to Pinterest for inspiration. It worked. I was on Pinterest and I was looking through everything and I came across a few pins all in a row that were about things to do as a couple. Some were funny. Some were cute. So it got me thinking. Tim and I are both romantics but we are romantic in different ways. He's like the fairytale, loving, and storybook kind of romantic. Me? I'm cheesy. There are things that I wish Tim would participate in with me but he thinks they are way to cheesy. Let me explain via el listo. 

4 Cheesy Couple Things

#1: Ridiculously embarrassing pet names. I know, I know. Stupid. But I can't help it. There are times when I wish we had dumb nicknames for each other that only we used. I tried this once. Didn't go over well. He thought I was insane. Maybe I am?

#2: Halloween costumes for couples. I have been trying so hard to get him to dress up with me. It's not happening. I suggested a few last year. I wanted to be a Taco Bell sauce packet and for him to be a taco. He said no. I said I could be a nurse and he could be a doctor. Nope. I also thought we could be like Tarzan and Jane...definitely not. I'm going to keep trying though. Perseverance, my friends.

Except more tasteful girl costume :)

#3: Professional pictures. I this is becoming a thing and I definitely want in. Tim seems to think that this would be conceited. You know, like us showing off how cute we are. So he says he won't participate unless we are taking engagement pictures. I just want good pictures where he isn't acting crazy or making weird faces. I also want one of those super cute pictures where you're kissing and the girl pops her foot and its at sunset so its just a silhouette. Wow, I might be a little neurotic. Moving on.

#4: Sing for me. So my amazing beau has a beautiful voice and is super talented. No, I'm not just saying that because I love him. It's totes true. He's been in countless choirs and musicals and singing groups. We sing together all the time like in the car and stuff. So fun. But I've asked him probably a thousand times if he would sing to me and he won't. I don't know why. It's super frustrating though. I love hearing him sing! I wish he would like record a video of him singing and then randomly show up. Like in this commercial! (Cheesy, I know!)

I tried for 30 minutes to get the video on here so you would have to go to a new page but it didn't work. So instead click here to see the video before reading on. Sorry peeps. 

Those are the biggest things that I can think of right now that I wish Tim would participate in or do for me. Don't get me wrong. He's amazing and I wouldn't trade him for the tastiest piece of cake in the world. But I'm a sucker for the cheesy things. I think he'll come around though. ;)

*What's something cheesy you and your man have done/do?*

With love, Carly ♥

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That Fork In The Road...

Okay guys! I'm writing to you today with such excitement that I can barely contain myself. I hope you guys will share my excitement. So here we go. I'm going to tell you a story, but if you stick with me until I get to the end, you will learn some truly exciting news. I PROMISE.

I can still remember the first time I danced on a stage. I was 4. I remember wearing a pink tutu and pink tights and pink leotard and pink ballet shoes. Totally girly. So I danced for a few years after that. Then I discovered Hot Wheels and Barbies and I stopped going to dance classes. 

Can you handle the cuteness? ;)

So when I was about 9 years old, I picked back up with the dance classes. I did a combination class for three years that was Jazz, Ballet, and Tap. I fell in love with ballet. It was honestly about the only time I was graceful and had good balance. Seriously. I'm a clutzo. Still. So because I loved ballet, I continued to take that until I graduated high school and I took Pointe which is when the pretty girls dance up on their toes. I did the Pointe for 5 years along with the ballet. I also took Hip-Hop. That was a lot of fun. Okay so I know that I just hit you with a lot of information. But here is a picture from my senior year. 

So I graduated high school and went off to college. I became an Appalachian State University Mountaineer. I was an undecided major. I loved dance but I knew I would never make it as a performer. So I figured I would find something I loved just as much. So my Sophomore year in college I declared a Psychology major. I had no clue what I was going to do with it but I knew that I wanted to help people.

Fast forward to this past Spring. I was a Junior and by this point I had taken 5 or 6 dance classes up here. I was in Modern 1 at the time and my teacher told me that she thought I would make a great dance teacher. I was like, uh scuse me. Say what?! I thought about it for a little while then just kind of pushed it out of mind thinking it was too late to do anything about it now. 

I met with my psychology advisor a few weeks later and he made me realize I didn't have a real passion or drive for psychology. I liked it and it interested me, but it didn't excite me or make me want to work hard in my classes. But I figured I would just finish the degree and worry about the rest later. 

One day, I was talking to my lovely beau and he told me that he just couldn't see me listening to people's problems all day. He said he could definitely see me doing something dance related. But mind you he hasn't seen me dance. So I began to mull this over more and more. Finally a couple weeks ago I talked to my sister about it. She told me to go for it. She said that mom and dad would understand and that I need to do what is best for me.

So 2 weeks ago, I went to the Dean's office in the College of Fine and Applied Arts and got a change of major form. I then emailed the Chairperson of the Dance department and she told me to email an advisor. So I did. I met with her last week. We discussed the process and what classes I would need and when I would graduate. I told her I would talk to my parents then let her know what was going to happen. 

I talked to my parents on Sunday and they told me to go ahead and that they were excited. Mostly excited that I finally figured out what I wanted to do. ;) 

So friends, today I turned in my change of major form. I changed my schedule for the second summer session and the fall. Guys. I'm a Dance Studies major and I am going to teach people to love dance as much as I do. I am so excited to start this journey. I will graduate a semester late but who cares. I have direction and I have plans. I made a choice at the fork and I know I chose correctly.

The two above pictures are from this past Spring.

With love, Carly ♥

Funnies from Apartment Life

So I really struggle with what I wanted to talk about today. I had a more serious post in mind, then I changed my mind to something funny, then changed back and then back and forth and back and forth...well you get the picture. I finally decided that I would do something funny, since we all need a laugh every now and then. I think all the mini stories I'm about to tell you are hilarious, but who can know if you will find them funny (not that I truly care). Now unfortunately some of the truly hysterical ones are not appropriate to share. What is said between girls who live together stays with those girls. Sorry!!

But anyway, first of all, here is the most recent picture of my roomies...ain't we cute? 

^Chelsea ^Mackenzie(aka: Kenz) ^Sarah Beth  ^Yours Truly

Yes that picture describes us perfectly. I love every single one of these God-loving, people-loving, fun-loving, and beautiful girls. They are my family. I would be lost without them. 

Now having said that, for this embarrassing post, I have chosen to pick on my main girl, Kenz. We have some crazy conversations. We stay up till the wee hours of the morning sometimes, talking about the most RIDICULOUS things. It's crazy. 

So here are some excerpts from a few of our wild conversations:

So one night Kenz is drinking something with ice in it while we are watching TV and she puts the cup up to her then turns and looks at me and says:  My ice is freaking out. It's like having a little party in there.

Oh okay Kenz.

Sidenote before I share this one. I have the most awkward laugh and tend to make weird noises out of nowhere. Okay continue reading...

Kenz: You sound like a camel!

Me: Use nice words Mackenzie Gail!

Kenz: Some camels are cute. 

Me: Thanks! *insert laugh here*

I don't even know what we were talking about when she said this to me.

Kenz: Whoa that smells weird. Like candy and magazines.

Do you see why I love her? Never dull! Okay so the next thing I'm going to share with you guys is something that actually happened this past weekend when we went driving which you can read about here. So right before we go on this adventure of ours, we are getting in her car and she is texting back her fiance with her door wide open. Out of nowhere, this bee starts trying to come into the car, and Kenz just freaks out on this bee. She starts yelling at it saying, "NO! NO! NO! This is not okay. NO!" I swear y'all she turned into the freaking bee whisperer. That daggum bee just flew away. I started laughing so hard at the whole situation and she just stared at me like I was the crazy person. Oh well! I thought it was hilarious.

So last thing...here are a few pictures that I think are hilarious of Kenz being weird. 

Okay y'all. Do you see the salt shaker? Yeah. Home girl is straight up eating salt. I took the shaker from her and she got all pissy, so I gave it back to her. Freaking weirdo. Love her though.

So we have a beta fish named Clyde and he's like all betas and can be a fishy with tude. So whenever Kenz feeds him, his side gills or whatever flare out and gets all defensive. So this is a picture of Kenz telling Clyde off. I wish I had gotten a video of what she was saying. It was hilarious. Oh and we were watching Army Wives, in case you were wondering. :)

Just for giggles, here are 2 pictures that I find quite hilarious. (If I shared the most hilarious ones I have of her via SnapChat, she would kill me. Which is too bad, cause they is supa funny!)

 

Well friends, that's all I have today. I hope you enjoyed leaning about what I deal live with. Next time I do a post like this, I'll tell you about one of the other roomies. 

With love, Carly ♥

Guest appearance! Hayley from A Beautiful Exchange!

Hey there bloggy world! So I have a real treat for you today! Instead of my boring post about my Sunday, I thought I would let you guys meet a great friend of mine. Her name is Hayley and she's a real peach! I'll let her tell you more! Take it away Hay...

Hi, About the Journey readers!!

My name is Hayley and I normally blog over here at A Beautiful Exchange, but Carly asked me to come chill with you guys today! I am a 20 year old mom of one, and I have been married for 18 months. It's crazy that we will be coming up on 2 years soon! Where in the world does time go? I really love experimenting with makeup, reading tons of good books, and getting lost in Target. My blog pretty much covers all of those things, plus anything else you can think of. I like to view my blog as all of my personal interests, hobbies, and family life all rolled into one! I love it that way, because that means more people can relate to me on different levels! I have done a few DIY things here and there and you can check them all out here. My personal story is on the blog here, and the love story with me and the hubs is here, for all you mushy gushy folks. If you love to read, like I do, you can find my (almost weekly) updates on What I've Been Reading. If you want to get overloaded with cuteness, you can read all about my family posts here! Make sure you come over and check out the blog, I know there's something you can relate to!

The little dude. Isn't he precious?!

So now that I have babbled your ear off about me and my blog, I thought I would share a little bit about why blogging is so great. In case you haven't figured it out for yourself, here's a few reasons:

You make great friends

I told my husband that I feel really lame whenever I say this to people about blogging. I guess it makes me feel like one of those people that sits in their house all day just talking to people that probably don't even exist in real life. I guess the difference for blogging is that the people that I "meet" on here give me quite a few glances into their real lives on their blogs! I know that they don't include everything, but I have made some great friends through opportunities that are out there for bloggers, as well as by just contacting someone I have things in common with!!

It's the age

Right now is the time to be a blogger. I mean, seriously. Everyone in the entire world is obsessed with social media. Those that aren't are at least (closet) reality tv junkies. People just naturally have a nosy tendency. How do you think all of the tabloids survive, people?

Memories

This is one of the main reasons I blog. I love that I can come to my blog and look back on almost every major memory that my family has made in the last few months. Some of Eli's milestones are recorded much better than they would be in some dusty baby book, plus, I get to share them with all of you!

An outlet

Blogging is something that is mine. I don't have to share my blog or my posts with anyone, but I choose to because of the community that is out there. It doesn't matter what you are going through, or what you are particularly interested in  (politics, DIY, makeup, books, product reviews, etc.) there is definitely a group of bloggers out there covering your likes! It really makes me feel great when I have people contact me saying that my story, or a post that I wrote, has truly impacted them! What an encouragement!!

So there are a few reasons why I love blogging! I did an entire post on why blogging is so darn awesome once, you can read that here. I hope you follow Carly, as I know she has a few awesome things up her sleeves! Also, make sure you follow A Beautiful Exchange on Bloglovin', Twitter, and Facebook! I would love to have you!!

OH DEAR! Wasn't that fun?! Now do what the lady says and go follow her blog! You know you want to! That's all I have for you guys today! Catch ya on the flip side!

With love, Carly ♥

Reminiscent

So as I sit here watching Kitchen Nightmares, doing laundry, and packing all alone in this apartment, I have decided to reminisce on this past school year seeing as today was the last day finals. PRAISE HIM! It has been an eventful one that's for sure, but overall it has been amazing. I'm gonna do two lists so this post doesn't go on forever and get all sappy! This first list is 5 major events that happened to me or that I participated in (fair warning: most involve Tim! haha!)

1. Moved into my very first big girl apartment with 3 of the most BEAUTIFUL girls I know!

(Sidenote: not a huge fan of this picture and we actually took a better one today before everyone parted ways for a while but I don't have access to that yet!)

2. I turned 20! WHOO! Not really an important age but I am thankful that God blessed me with another full year of life!


3. Celebrated ONE WHOLE YEAR with this amazing and hilarious man!


4. Found out that my sister's best friend who is like another sister to me is PREGGERS! OMG! So excited!

5. Finally, I used my entire spring break to move the man I love 757 miles away so that he could pursue his dream. I am so proud of him and can't wait to see him in 9 days!Okay so this next list is 5 things that I have learned throughout this year. Little nuggets of knowledge!

1. I believe that I have found friends that will last me a lifetime while here in college and how lucky am I that I get to live with 3 of them!!


2. It's the little things! It's the stupid jokes, mistakes, clumsy moments, and sentences gone wrong that make those stressful times a little easier!

3. Hard work pays off. Seriously. That one speaks for itself.

4. God is amazing. The verse below has become my new motto, thanks to the amazing Beth Moore.


5. Finally, I learned that family is the most important thing. Whether it is your actual family, your church family, or your family of friends, it's the glue that holds you together and makes you who you are.
Okay folks, those are my nuggets and life events! If you have any topics you want me to talk about or anything, just shoot me an email: carlyparrott@gmail.com

With love, Carly ♥