Gift Giving

I love giving gifts, I also love getting them...but who doesn't?

Recently I hosted a White Elephant gift exchange, the idea being to exchange gifts that you already had laying around the house. Some of them quite humorous and others turned from trash to treasure with the new owner.

I gave a Christmas decoration that I cannot remember  where I required it from, but it had plastic greenery that resembled algae. I received a very LARGE spatula that I could be used to flip a pancake the size of a large pan, or a pizza. I loved it! I mean it is something I would never buy but if I ever needed it, now I have it!

In my opinion I love hand made gifts (that includes baked goods) or gifts that you put together as several parts. For example, we received a picnic basket for our wedding day. Inside, it had all the things necessary to go on a picnic. Just something that doesn't say "Hey I picked this up at Macy's last week, it was pretty."

That is why my favorite place to buy gifts for others are local stores. Instagram is EXPLODING with independent businesses. Some of my favorite include: The Banner Shoppe,  Just Add Sunshine Inc.  Hello Lovely People (Watercolor prints), Gulush Threads, and Dunn Rustic Designs...is it sad I could go on and on?

This year for Christmas I tried to shop at local stores  ( I did have to go to Macy's for two things, no shame). Some of the best places were two little shops in Eufaula, AL, which looks like a story book southern town..someone told me it is where they filmed Sweet Home Alabama? It was great to support their local business. One was Superior Pecans & Gifts, they were beyond excited! They even took a picture of our group...which we get a lot of attention for all the sweet babes!

Although a gift can be physical, I also love gifts such as "Go have a date night" which my mom loves to give Logan and I or go sleep in, I will watch Ben!

No matter what the gift is I believe as long as it comes from a place of love whoever receives it will feel the love!

These are a few of my favorite things

I love: 

Burlap (According to my husband its more an obsession)

Homemade gifts 

Walks in the park or down the road 

Hole-in-the-wall coffee shops

Libraries 

Photography

DIY decor

Ben's laugh

Watercolor prints

Local businesses (the kind you know it was built from the heart)

Empty grocery stores 

A cup of coffee with a great friend

Pinterest

Old recipe books 

Teaching someone to read

Cookie Oatmeal candles from Yankee Candle (they are hard to find now) 

Chevron 

Pasta x 100

Hosting get togethers 

Long drives in the country

I have had a hard time finding friends with things in common. Not that I haven't found friends, it is just hard to find people you "click" with. I often tend to think, "I wish we lived in Indiana" but I know God has a plan. If you know any super cool people in GA send them my way! 

Much Love 

A Hoosier in a Southern World

Since moving to the south I have developed a love/hate relationship with this whole new world.

I have always heard about "southern hospitality" and it is a wonderful thing. Most often appreciated at the grocery stores. Yes, grocery man, I would love for you to carry out my groceries! Even if you do call my cart a "buggy"

My neighbors are also amazing! Offering to babysit whenever needed, even though I know they are crazy busy (maybe they hear him screaming at night, and take pity?).

I love the grits here, they are legit.

Chicken Biscuits, yes please...

Also the weather (mentioned earlier) is wonderful during "winter." I never have to worry about scraping ice off my windshield when I leave the house.

There are also some things I do not understand:

Why is everything monogrammed? Believe me, I love a good monogram but sometimes I feel like it is taken to the extreme down here.  Bless them.

Boutique baby clothes. I have to admit, some are adorable, but if you asked a hoosier what a john-john is, they would look at you like you have lost your mind. Also, there is one for every holiday.

The driving! Seriously, I have always had a touch of road rage but not using your turn signal is just ILLEGAL!

Y'all. Enough said.

A pork shoulder is also known as a "Boston butt" mmm I love to each things that have the word "butt" in them :)

The standards for lawn care are beyond my budget, although I do appreciate a nice green lawn.

Those are my random thoughts of the day!

Logan

My husband is the best! I know you've heard that about a million times from a million different people...but really, he is the best. I feel like I am always asking him to express how he feels about me but I am never expressing how I feel. So here are some things I LOVE about Logan. 

He is patient (far more than I am) 

He is the kind of person who if you name a restaurant he could tell you exactly what he is going to order

He loves to help others

I have never met anyone who doesn't like him

It is rare for him to make impulse decisions (I on the other hand...) 

He is really handsome, but doesn't act like it!

He could have a full conversation in movie quotes, and I would have no idea what is going on

He does the dishes and laundry without me asking but when I need help the most

He gets up with Ben, almost every night...this started after I stopped breastfeeding but when people have asked him about this he says "Well, she has to do it all day." 

He enjoys being with his family both immediate and extended 

He is really funny

I could go on and on, but these are just a few that come to mind today. I am so happy God gave me Logan. Especially when I am tired and worn out...

Love Always,

Laura 

Changing Dreams

That moment when you become a mother, its beautiful and indescribable. The whole world looks new and bright and just plain wonderful (Even that taco I had after birth seemed like the best taco ever created). Then the exhaustion sets in and you wonder "Can I do this? Can I survive another night with virtually no sleep?"

I am more blessed than most, in that I am fortunate to stay home. Sometimes I feel like I need to post this on every mirror in our house, because I feel like I fail all...the ...time.

YOU ARE BLESSED

YOU CAN DO IT

Believing it is a whole other battle. Until I became a wife and mother I was told to go for my dreams professionally. Don't get me wrong, I love being a mom and have always wanted to be one, but for most my life all I have known is my dreams. Some days when I am in the middle of Target trying to calm my screaming baby I want to scream "I HAVE A COLLEGE DEGREE, I HAVE LIVED IN AFRICA, IM NOT JUST A MOM!" But then I realize, being a mom is pretty darn awesome, it is a lot of work and takes more skills than most careers will ever require. My dreams have changed.

Now I think of Ben's dreams, how can I make them come true? How can I be the best mom and wife possible? How can I balance everything?

My answer:
Not losing myself, not losing the person my husband married, not forgetting I too am a child of God. Now this is not saying I am going to be selfish, but rather know how much to give of myself to others. Striving to be the person God called me to be, not the person the world calls me to be.

One of my biggest enemies right now is Facebook. I struggle with seeing my friends from college post their adventures and their dreams coming to life. Then I think, they don't get the moments I do, the moments I share with Ben and Logan. Sometimes I feel like they are sharing those pictures, statuses, whatever, because they do not have an AMAZING husband to confide in or a baby to watch. You think you can know someone through Facebook but when was the last time you sat down and had a conversation? I need to be content with my life, not having to share it for the world to see...not that I don't love a cute baby picture or pictures of you standing by an ocean, it is just easy to get sucked into.

Maybe I will never be that crazy, outgoing, adventurous person I was in college again...but that's okay. I have gained more skills being a mother than I would have ever gained through traveling the world. God has a plan for me and I am going to try to rock that plan out as best I can. It's far better than any dreams I have.

P.S. I still want to travel the world,  just not with  9 month old :)

Remember me?

Hello,
Again.
Finally blogging again, I stink at it, well really I stink at remembering to blog. Maybe I need to make it a routine? Then again, I like the randomness of blogging I hate when blogs are forced or redundant. Then again who am I to talk?

Anyways, we just came home from two weeks in Indiana. WOW I learned oh so much. Lately Logan and I have talked a lot about moving home post-army career. So much so it has been hard to appreciate what we have here and this past trip reminded me to be thankful of our Georgia life.
Some of the things we learned:

1) GA weather kicks Indiana weathers butt, 60's and sunny over snow any day
2) We LOVE having grandparents around, but Ben isn't used to another person at night. Sorry about that Grammy, I mean he only screamed for an hour? Oops.
3) I hate suitcases. Really, I hate disorganization with a baby. Do you know how hard it is to find a mini-sized sock in a suitcase?
4) I love our home, everything about it, especially when I walk in and it smells like home. Such a good feeling after two weeks.

On another note, Christmas is around the corner and I dominated cyber-monday/black Friday online deals. Crowds freak me out at times so I love shopping online. Still remembering the reason for the season, although I love seeing smiles on people's faces after giving them a gift. It's the best. What do I want for Christmas? Sleep, lots of it.

Much Love,
Laura