Weekend Recap + Did they say what I think they just said

Is it too late to do a weekend recap of two weekends ago?! 

(Really wish I could add emojis in here)

Goodness, I'm behind!

Snag this cute suit for under $20!!

Kyle and I spent a lot of time in the sun this past weekend.

On Saturday we headed to my parents for some pool action, 

followed by a MUCH needed dinner at Texas Roadhouse. 

If y'all haven't ever had their Chicken Critter Salad, i'm urging you, 

GO NOW.

Hands down, best salad ever.

 [with ranch of course]

Dang it, now that I typed that I need one right.this.second!

Anyways, I'm thinking about doing a post soon about,

"What not to say to a pregnant woman"

If you follow me on instagram you maaaaaay have seen a rant on my stories this Saturday.

WAY too many people have given me their 2 cents on my pregnant belly,
and I had just had E N O U G H.
So thankful for all of my fellow mamas and sweet friends though.
You all shared similar stories with me and cheered me up REAL quick.
I love y'all.

For those who have no clue what i'm talking about,
There were multiple different instances where people had let me know
that my belly was way too big for how far along I am,
and well, I let it get under my skin.

BUT i'm feeling much better now and know that unwanted comments and opinions
are just something that comes along with pregnancy!

I love this {big} belly of mine, and I am so incredibly proud of my body and what it's doing.
For all you other pregnant mamas who have had similar experiences,
you're not alone and you're PERFECT!
To all you pregnant mamas who aren't showing yet and getting the,
"ummm are you sure you're pregnant??" "are you feeding that growing baby??" etc...
Hang in there!
You are perfect as well and everyones body changes and grows at it's own pace.
We mamas need to all stick together and support each other no matter what,
no more body shaming, and judgment!

Have a happy Tuesday Y'all!

Thanksgiving is tomorrow...

Top: WindsorStore | Vest: Tobi | Jeans: CottonOn | Booties: Zara

Thanksgiving is tomorrow - 

and I was going to write up this perfect little post about everything i'm thankful for and how blessed I am and how thankful I am for everyone and everything in my life.... 

Of course skipping over all of the bumps in the road that Kyle and I have endured this year.

BUT instead of pretending like everything's perfect and chatting about how happy I am, 

I figured I'd be R E A L with all of y'all instead. 

And if i'm being completely open and honest, life has been a little hard lately.

No one ever warns you that your mid to late twenties will be some of the toughest years of your life.

Talk about growing pains y'all.

Kyle and I are definitely in a transitioning period, and well, 

it hasn't been as easy breezy as we had planned.

[This post was actually typed up a few months ago, but I wasn't brave enough to share it. I don't want anyone feeling sorry for me, or thinking that i'm complaining.
This post was written in hopes that someone could relate and know that they aren't alone. As i've gotten older i've learned that it's much better to be human and be open about your struggles rather than hiding them -- because you never know who's struggling with the exact same thing, and could use a friend to lean on.
So here it goes...]

It's a scary thing --- making that decision.

 The decision to grow your family, to bring life into this world.  

At the beginning, I kind of just thought it would happen, ya know.

I mean it's pretty easy right? 

You get off whatever birth control you're on and do the thing, and 

WABOOM. 

There's a baby in your belly.

I have always heard about infertility, about people struggling to get pregnant.

Of course, my heart went out to them.

But that would never happen to me. 

I'm healthy, and active, and I mean - I've always wanted to be a mom. 

I mean, half my friends got pregnant without even blinking, 

so I'm bound to get pregnant the first time I try, right?

It's funny --- when you make the choice to have a baby...

You start thinking of how you're going to tell people.

How you're going to tell your husband, your mom, your best friend.

You think of how surprised and excited everyone is going to be.

You picture all of this in your head and it fills your entire being with SO much joy.

The first few months are all fun and games.

When I saw that little negative sign, 

or those big letters spelling out "NOT pregnant"...

I didn't let it get to me too much,

I just went on with my life, and figured it would happen the next month.

During those first months,
you'll have friends get pregnant.
You'll laugh and cry and celebrate with them, knowing in the back of your mind -
that you will have a baby of your own soon and they will be the best of friends.
A few more months will go by,
and you'll see pregnancy announcements and baby announcements all over social media.
You'll smile and feel so happy for the couple who's pregnant,
but deep down you can't help but feel sadness and wonder why it hasn't happened for you yet,
and then you'll quickly push aside that sadness because you know it's selfish.
But i'm finally realizing that it's okay to feel sad.
It's okay to want a family of your own.
It's okay to be jealous of women who get pregnant naturally and quickly,
we're humans, and all of those feelings are normal.
It's okay. 

Fast forward to over a year later,

that little negative sign, and those big letters spelling out "NOT pregnant",

seem to have a much stronger effect.

In fact, they're absolutely devastating. 

But with all that being said, I know I serve a God whose timing is perfect, 
I do have times where i'm sad and frustrated,
I'm not naive, I do know there are people that have been trying MUCH longer than I have.
I do know there are big things going on in the world and in peoples lives that
are far more serious than this issue that Kyle and I are currently facing.

But the thing is - we're all human, we all have struggles.
Social media and the way people portray their lives on there isn't real.
If you just scrolled through my Instagram you would never know that we've
been struggling to get pregnant or that my house is an utter disaster 98% of the time,
or that I absolutely suck at cooking,
[literally made my husband easy mac & crescent rolls the other night]

It doesn't matter who you are or where you're from,
we've all got something we're dealing with.
And I think instead of being ashamed or embarrassed of our problems,
or struggles, or downfalls...
Why not share them and embrace the fact that those are what make us human.

So this Thanksgiving, although it's different than how I pictured it would be,
I'm thankful.
I'm thankful for my true friends, i'm thankful for my families health, i'm thankful for the people I work with and how they always make me laugh, I'm thankful for the patience Kyle has with me, I'm thankful for dogs, because Lord knows the love they give is one of a kind.

and I'm thankful for struggles, because without them, we would never grow stronger or be able to appreciate all of the amazing little things that we so often take for granted. 

Happy Thanksgiving y'all. 

What i've learned -- in my 2 years of marriage.

First, and foremost.

I am by no means a person to be giving any marital advice, that is NOT what this post is.

It's just me sharing what i've experienced & learned  in my 2 years of marriage,

 after making mistakes and doing a little trial and error. 

My hope is maybe that it will help someone who may be experiencing the same things,

to know they are not alone,

or prevent them from experiencing some of the hardships of marriage that can be avoided.

Let's get started....

There is no such thing as perfect people, 

which means there is no such thing as a perfect marriage/relationship.

So to everyone watching romance movies and reading romance novels

 and expecting that to be your future, keep crying ladies, because perfect men do not exist.

Neither do perfect women, so go ahead and set your tiara down.

We as humans have a sinful nature, and that's that.

My husband and I dated a good 7-8 years before we made the decision to get married.

I mean, I thought I knew everything there possibly was to know about him...WRONG.

We had never lived together previously...and good God almighty you learn A LOT about a person after living with them.

For instance, Kyle's learned that I always leave the bathroom messy, especially the sink.

I'm an extremely messy teeth brusher and it drives him absolutely nuts.

Not to mention all of the clothes I tried on for the day, those are all on the floor. 

And I've learned that men are incapable of wiping off the counter/sink after they shave.

Kyle is somewhat of a clean freak (which I love) BUT for some unknown reason

he does not mind his facial hair sitting in our sink for days on end. 

(needless to say our bathroom is repulsive...ha! totally kidding I actually cleaned it yesterday)

Those of course are silly/little examples that you learn to work on for the sake of your spouse.

Kyle and I had a pretty great & easy going first year of marriage,

I remember people always telling/warning us,

 "Ohhhh the first year is the toughest, Just stay strong, you'll get through it"

and I always remember thinking during our first year....

"Dang, if this is what people consider tough then we're going to be the happiest couple alive."

Fast forward to our second year...

"OHHHHH this is what they were talking about!"

Marriage is such a beautiful and amazing gift that God has given us,

but it's also a lot of hard work.

There will be days when you want to physically strangle your significant other...

and it's all up to you to not act on that desire (haha laugh, its a joke --- kind of)

Now i'm not saying EVERY single one of you will experience these struggles, 

but let me just warn you that not one person is exempt from them.

There will be times in your marriage when you will struggle financially,

There will be times in your marriage when you will struggle with time management,

There will be times in your marriage when you will struggle with freedom,

There will be times in your marriage when you will struggle with temptation,

There will be times in your marriage when you will struggle with selfishness,

There will be times in your marriage when you will struggle with feeling alone,

There will be times in your marriage when you will struggle with household chores,

There will be times in your marriage when you will struggle with in laws/ family members,

There will be times in your marriage when you will struggle with deaths,

There will be times in your marriage when you will struggle with heart ache, 

There will be times in your marriage when you will struggle with picking up your socks off the floor...

And consider yourself one of the lucky ones if you only experience one of these at a time.

Because, they sure as hell can all hit you at once,

 and that's only a short list of all of the possible struggles....

But guess what?! It's ALL worth it. 

Whether you're married or not, relationships are hard work, 

and to those people that say, 

"if it's true love it shouldn't be work at all"

they can all go shove that sentence up their butt because they don't know what they're talking about,

or they've just never been in a serious long term relationship before. 

I'm not saying it's always hard work y'all.

Loving Kyle comes very easy the majority of the time.

He's handsome, he's caring, he's giving, he's faithful, he's a hard worker...

I could go on and on about the qualities I adore about him. 

 But one of the most important things I have learned these last 2 years is about myself.

I've finally learned after 26 years that I cannot rely on a man for everything.

God gave us a partner to enjoy and do life with but not to BE our life.

As soon as you start relying on your spouse to be EVERYthing for you, 

you are going to find yourself VERY unhappy.

People are flawed, 

no man/woman will have every single little quality on your "perfect spouse" check list, 

You have to be happy with yourself, and your life before you can truly be happy with your spouse.

You have to find your purpose outside of just being a wife.

And that was one thing I really struggled with this 2nd year of marriage.

Yes I own a business, I work from home, where I'm alone, by myself, all day, every day.

and y'all that's TOUGH. 

I remember being in high school and just wanting to be a stay at home mom, 

or having a job where I could work from home...that was MY DREAM y'all.

And fast forward to now, I'm literally living my dream and i've never been so unhappy. 

But that's okay. Because i've finally learned what's causing that sadness and guess what?

It's NOT my husband!!!!

It's ME.

I am a very social person, I need people, I need communication, I need physical affection, I need to be challenged, I need to have a goal i'm working toward.  

Working from home I get absolutely ZERO of that, and by the time Kyle came home from work every day I was absolutely desperate for all of it...and he was exhausted and just wanted a few minutes to himself. 

This my friends, is a very dangerous path...

Now i'm not going to get into all the details... but if you aren't happy with yourself it can cause you to blame others for your unhappiness. 

It may have taken me a lot longer than I would have hoped but i've finally come to the realization

that it's not my husband that's not giving me enough,

it's me expecting him to give me EVERYTHING, and then being upset when he isn't able too.

You CANNOT rely on your spouse to fulfill your every want and need at all times. 

This is what you have God, family and friends for. 

Happiness starts with YOU, 

not your relationships, not with your job, not with your money, but with YOU.

I'm so thankful for a God who shows me that i'm capable of so much more than I think I am. 

Who loves me though I fail him every day,

Who sees the depths of my heart and loves me the same.

"I will praise you in this storm. I raise my hands and praise the God who gives and takes away."

Life is all about learning & growing and becoming better than you were yesterday.
And I can't wait to see where God takes Kyle and I the next 100  (give or take a few) years we have together...

Shout out to Jesus.

Every now and then life throws you a curve ball and you have to make really tough decisions.

At the age of 26 i've officially learned that life truly isn't fair, 

and sometimes things happen... 

 People will enter into your life and completely alter it without your consent or control... 

or maybe you do have control, 

but you just have no idea why God placed them there or what their purpose in your life is,

Questioning if they are supposed to stay and be a big part of your life, 

maybe even your whole life...

or if they were always just supposed to be temporary.

I guess there will always be unanswered questions in these crazy lives we lead,

 and maybe it's better off that way.

Shout out to Jesus. 

For loving me even though I fail Him every day...

For pushing me to make tough decisions and grow from them...

For blessing me with a TRUE friendship when I needed it most...

 For providing me with a husband that sees all my flaws and loves me the same...

For a family that supports every decision and goal I have...

 Going back to what I said about life being unfair,

maybe it's only felt that way lately because i've been relying on myself too much and not on Him.

Vegas Day 2...

Day 2 in Vegas...

My friend Patric was supposed to arrive the night before and him and I were supposed to spend the day together exploring Vegas and hanging by the pool while the other boys golfed....

Well, his flight got cancelled and therefore I was left all alone...

His new flight was supposed to arrive around 2:30 so I had planned on enjoying the morning and doing a little shopping and then once he arrived we would go to the pool together!

 I spent most of the morning lounging around and enjoying getting to stay in bed.

Then decided to order a little room service...

After breakfast I continued lounging...

And maybe took a selfie every now and then...

an hour or 2 went by and I decided it was time to do a little exploring!

I'm not gonna lie I was a little nervous to explore this city all by myself.

As soon as I got into the hotel lobby a drunk guy grabbed my arm, spun me around,

and pulled me into him....

our faces were literally 1/2 an inch apart and for half a second I was terrified that he was going to go in for the kill.

Thank God I had the strength to pull away and give him the death stare.

He still had a hold of my arm and was mumbling some random questions,

and I just politely smiled and shook my head....

I knew he meant no harm and was just being drunk and annoying.

He asked for a kiss on the cheek and I respectfully declined {in front of all his friends} 

and went on my way...

I made it out of the hotel alive and started heading towards the strip...

Let me tell ya, I had a pretty good time even though I was by myself.

I was SO tempted to whip out my selfie stick, but I didn't have the courage to go that far haha

I walked about 15 minutes over to Planet Hollywood and did a little shopping!

Bought myself some adorable floral shoes and floral shorts at H&M,

I'm sure you'll see them soon ;)

After walking around for a while I headed back to the hotel in hope that Patric would arrive soon!

I get back to the hotel only to hear some bad news...

Patrics plane was still on the ground and maintenance was working on it. 

*fml*

I really wasn't surprised since we had already been have such crappy luck.

This meant I had a few more hours to kill a llllllll by myself....

The good news is the selfie lighting in our room was superb.

Ha! 

It was a very lonely but pretty good day in Vegas for me!

I was SO excited when the boys finally got back from golfing! 

<3

The Travel Struggle is SO real.

Top: BrandyMelville

Shorts: American Eagle

Chambray: Charlotte Russe

Booties: Zara

Last Thursday Kyle and I woke up bright and early at 3AM to jump on a plane and head to Vegas!

Only, things didn't exactly go as planned....

We get to the airport, wait in a 30 minute line, only to find out we had gone to the wrong airport.

Yes, you read that right. We had 20 minutes until we were supposed to board,

and the airport we were supposed to be at was 40 minutes away. 

{Back Story}

We were heading to Vegas because the boys qualified to play in a golf tournament there.

A few of us girls all decided to tag along with them and enjoy/explore Vegas

on the days that the boys golfed.

Well, last minute all of the girls bailed on me and I was left being the ONLY one.

Kyle and I were supposed to arrive in Vegas around 6am,

We figured this would be great and give us time to explore and see the sights

before the other boys arrived and they all left to head to the golf course.

Well, needless to say we missed our first flight since going to the wrong airport.

Of course we were both super frustrated and disappointed,

the next flight we could catch didn't arrive in Vegas until around 2:30 

and the boys had a tee time at 3. So there went mine and Kyle's first day together.

I tried to shrug it off, and remember that my friend Patric would be there around the same time

and him and I could head to the pool and relax while the other boys went to the golf course....

Kyle and I are about to board the new plane and they announce that the AC isn't working and will have to wait and find a new air craft...30 minutes go by...new aircraft arrives and about 20 minutes later we finally board and are ready to lift off and head to vegas....something is wrong with the plane and maintenance comes out...40 minutes sitting on the plane....we're FINALLY ready for lift off.

By this time, I'm SO frustrated and just ready to be there.

A couple hours later and the Pilot announces we will be landing in around 15 minutes.

I was THRILLED and so ready to be off the plane.

5 minutes later...the pilot announces we've come up to some bad weather and will be circling around for the next 20 minutes until it's safe to land...

**insert dramatic hysterical angry face here**

30 minutes go by and we're still circling, at this point i'm trying not to cry...

and then the worst thing happens...

"The weather isn't clearing up so we're going to be flying to an airport in Phoenix and waiting there until it's clear..."

**NNNOOOOOOOOO**

I think y'all pretty much get the gist of how are trip there went...

We stayed in phoenix for over an hour and didnt land in vegas until around 8pm,

then we weren't allowed to get off the plane because of lightning...

we finally get off and wait for our luggage...

then find out we can't get our luggage because the people unloading it aren't allowed to do so because of lightning....

Our ENTIRE first day of vacation flew right before our eyes...

Oh, and it was the ONLY day Kyle and I would've had time together just us 2...

One of the other guys had a flight 12 hours after ours and we arrived at the airport the exact same time....

Talk about one hell of a day.

We didn't get to our hotel until about 10pm and were SO ready for bed.

Check back tomorrow to see if our trip got better...or worse...

xoxo, Monica