Three day weekends really throw me off

Happy Day after Memorial Day! I hope everyone had an absolute blast celebrating their three day weekend and unofficial start to summer! Except for it really confused me (and the rest of blog world, maybe?). Do I post since its still considered the "weekend" and therefore can't write a weekend recap? Will anyone even read a post today? I went back and forth, and obviously decided not to post anything. So without further ado, my Memorial Day weekend:

Friday night we drove down to my parents (which is half way to the beach) to sleep before we headed to Orange Beach on Saturday. So we woke up at the crack of dawn Saturday to head to meet some of Derek's jetski buddies for a day of riding. We started off at the beach, then they went to the boat ramp for a "little while" to do some riding in the bay.

 

A little while turned into three hours of me on a beach by myself with only one bottle of water and some banana chips. Obviously I survived the time by taking selfies, taking leg/ocean shots, and catching up on my twitter feed.

Finally someone came and picked me up on a ski and took me back to the boat ramp where I was able to rehydrate and hang out with everyone. (Don't worry I wasn't really abandoned, I told them I didn't mind laying out alone).

Sunday we went to church with my family, where the choir/high school JROTC put on a good little skit about Memorial Day and it's true meaning. After church, I went to my little brother's baccalaureate service. Sadly, I'm not going to be able to make it to his graduation, so this was the second best thing.

 

I am so incredibly proud of him, he has accomplished so much this year. And we found out last week that he was offered a full-ride scholarship to play baseball (which he accepted) at a college that's less than an hour from me! I'm couldn't be more happy or excited for him.

Monday I actually worked half a day then met Derek at the river. This was the first trip on the river in the "big" boat this year, which is crazy, because last year we were on it every weekend starting in April.

We relaxed and cruised the river all afternoon soaking up the sun (not that I needed anymore), and even found a sunken boat. Which we contemplated towing back but thought better of it. It was the perfect wind down to an awesome weekend. I really kind wish three day weekends were an all the time thing.

On Mondays we write about our weekends

Hey there Blog Land and happy Monday! Per usual, the weekend started with Friday night, which consisted of getting off work, eating a sandwich, slipping into my jammies by 9 and in bed by 10. I know, I need to calm down.

Saturday started off with the usual game of "I don't know, what do you want to do?" and we finally decided to go get some lunch and do some shopping for our upcoming trip to 'dega. While at lunch, Derek got a call from a friend (who he had called earlier) giving us permission to borrow his bikes. We were going mountain biking! I wouldn't call Derek a professional but he definitely has experience (he rode BMX for years and has been mountain biking for a while too). My experience consists of riding my Academy bike to the pool and back when I was 16. Needless to say I didn't know what I was getting myself into.

In the end, I survived. Check back in later this week for a more detailed account of our 8 mile ride. After the ride, we ventured over to the Jordan Dam just because we felt like it.

They only had one turbine open, but the water was still pretty high.

 

Sunday we stayed around the house most of the day, doing yard work and some cleaning. We eventually made it back into town to get the things we needed for camping. And ended the night grilling out and being lazy. All in all, it was a pretty laid back, uninteresting weekend.

 

Linking up for:

Weekend Shenanigans

This Weekend I...

Mingle Monday

Not too many shenanigans

It's Monday, hooray! Wait.. why am I so happy about it being Monday? Because this is really kinda like my Friday or something like that. It's the last day of my three day work stretch and all I can say is Hallelujah! Since I worked on Saturday and Sunday I'll include Thursday and Friday's adventures as well. Cause no one really wants to hear about work.

Thursday I had another eye doctor appointment... the contacts I got two weeks ago were bothering my eyes so we are trying a different kind. My eyes feel better, but still not great. So I have another appointment to see what the deal is.

Fun selfies just because. I think I like my natural hair. Maybe I'll wear it more often.

That night my cousin Daniel, that lives in Illinois, called me to tell me he was in town and he wanted to have dinner with me!

I can't tell you how happy I was to see him. Even though we're ten years apart, we have always been close (he's my Mom's favorite nephew, shh don't tell anyone) and since he moved we don't get too see each other very much.

Friday I made the most healthy delicious pizza I've ever put in my mouth.

Doesn't that just look divine??

 

Friday night we ventured out with some friends to our hole in the wall to listen to one of our good friends sing and play guitar. Since I was off, I was at home watching the news aaaallll day, so after all of that stress and then the releif of finally catching the guy, a drink was called for. I am beyond relieved that Boston (and the rest of us) are finally able to breath easy.

 

Good 'ole Bud Light.

 

Since I had work the next morning we turned in pretty early and got some shut eye. Not too much excitement on Saturday or Sunday except I was suuuper busy at work, which is rare for a weekend.

 

On another note, Today marks the first day of the 7 Day Green Smoothie Challenge, which is co-hosted by Kristine at Heart Shaped Sweat. If you want to know more about it , click on that button down there!

 



 

I'm super excited about it. I'm a big fan of green smoothies but haven't had a lot of experience with experimenting and making my own recipes, so I figured this would be a good way to start. I'm going to try to make a different one every day and keep everyone updated along the way. If you want, it's not too late to join!

 

 Linking up with Sami and Sarah!

And don't forget to add your Bloglovin link to the link up hosted by Northern Belle Diaries and Confessions of a Northern Belle.

Heeeellooo there! I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend basking in the wonderful spring weather! What did I do, you wonder? I spent all of the daylight hours indoors, working. I know you're so jealous right now. Really. So I'm going to include some stuff from earlier in the week too.

Thursday I went to they eye doctor and decided I wanted to try contacts for the first time. (I know, I'm a little behind). Nothing too exciting except I got to wear sunglasses for the rest of the afternoon. While it was raining.

I even had to wear them inside, which is when the really strange looks were pointed in my direction.

Remember when I said that every day I was going to challenge myself to do more? Well more I did on Friday. I went to my first ever RPM class. Or spin. Whatever you want to call it. Then one where you ride a stationary bike for 27 hours while some incredibly fit woman yells in the front of the room.

I'm going to get a little personal here and say that it was really difficult to sit down for a few days. BUT... I'm going to do it again. Call me crazy.

 

That night, Derek and I joined some friends of ours for sushi then decided to be extra spontaneous and wild and rented a redbox movie on the way home. Wow, what a wild Friday night, Kalyn! I know, riiiiggght?!

So Saturday and Sunday I worked. Nothing to exciting happened except I ate some super teeny tiny pickles and looked at funny pictures on pinterest during my lunch break.

I didn't even know something this cute existed.

 

I literally could not stop laughing at these:

Kill me dead.

 

Happy Monday! Linking up with Sami, Sarah, and Lisette.

Easter Shenanigans

Wut up blog land and Happy day after Easter! I hope everyone had a good time dying eggs, hiding them for your little ones, and then eating pink and blue devilled eggs. I will admit that the deviled eggs are one of my favorite things about Easter. Or any holiday for that matter. This weekend was the kitties titties. I had an absolute blast being with my family and old friends. Here's how it went down:

Friday night I got off work all ready to throw down and kick off my Birthday weekend. Well sometimes things don't go as planned, but that's okay. I had to pick up a shift at work and didn't leave till almost 10 pm (which is late for me) and I just ended up coming home and laying around and packing to go see the parentals.

Saturday we woke up and sold a jetski and then drove down to the big city of Atmore, where we spent the afternoon getting pissed at the Arby's drive thru worker and not dying Easter eggs. I was really excited about doing that, but apparently I was the only one. Sometimes I wonder if I really was adopted.

 

Saturday night I had a few of these bad boys. Which turn out to be a lot like cats. I know that's a weird analogy but you know how you're hanging out, playing with your sweet kitty and they're all like, purr purr purr; then out of no where....BAM! ATTACK MODE! The cat slaps you with her claws of fury and the next thing you know you have a few battle wounds and you cant exactly remember how you and your cat got to that point? Okay maybe your not getting it. These things will sneak up on you and bite you in the butt if you aren't careful. But that's okay, good times were had by all parties involved.

 

Some good friends came over to my parents and we reminisced about running over trash cans and throwing basketballs at freshmen. Ah, high school.

 

Sunday was Easter, obvs. We went to church with the fam and then I forced everyone we decided to take some pictures on our land with some shrubbery behind us.

 

My wonderful family. Ignore my awkward slouch.

 

The best picture of me and Derek so far. Look at that smile!

He may or may not be laughing because my brother was saying some pretty rude things about my eybrow.

 

Then I stuffed my face with way too many deviled eggs and sweet potato casserole and Derek and I headed back home. The return trip was no, mainly because of this:

 

On the interstate.

 

After about 20 minutes of driving 20 mph we were blessed with this gorgeous reminder of God's love and promise to us.

 

Happy Monday! Linking up with Sami, Sarah, and Lisette.

 

  I ALMOST FORGOT.....

I am officially accepted to the RN program I was hoping for. Woo hoo!

 

Work, rain, and income tax returns

Hello and Happy Monday, Blog Land! I hope everyone had a super duper relaxing weekend while I was busy working my pa-tootie off. That didn't sound bitter, did it? On the real tho, my weekend was pretty good.

Friday consisted of my not feeling well, doing some blogging and a lot of lounging around in my PJs comfortable clothes while it rained. I also got my tax return back, but it went straight into savings. Because that's what you do when you want to buy a house.

Friday we decided that we should go on a date. This started off with us driving around for about forty five minutes saying "I don't know, where do you want to go?" back and forth to each other.

Thumbs up for great decision making. And the debut of my new rain jacket.

 Finally we decided on Red Lobster. FYI I have only been to Red Lobster once before, and I wasn't a fan. (Growing up on the coast, "seafood" consisted of what my Dad caught that week fishing, and then cooked himself) But I will say that this time around, I enjoyed it. And the cheesy biscuits. Oh. My. Gosh. Aaahhmazzing.

Saturday, I got up at the ass crack of dawn to head in to work. Not much else happened that night besides getting free waffle fries at Chick Fil A.

Sunday was the same as Saturday minus the waffle fries and plus we bought Tickets to Dega! I'm so excited. Remember when one of my goals was to get Derek an awesome anniversary present? Well this is it. I was planning on surprising him but I ended up needing his input (where to get seats, etc) so now he knows about it and (bonus!) he's splitting the cost so we can get a nice camping spot too (happy Birthday to me!!!).

Picking our camping spot.

If you can't tell, I'm super pumped about it. This will be my second time attending a NASCAR race, you can read about my first time here.

Also, last night I corn rowed my hair, so there's that.

Obvs not a legit corn row, I was just bored while Derek was playing ps3 and this was the outcome.

 

Linking up for Weekend Shenanigans with Sami and This Weekend I... with Life of Love. Have a fabulous Monday! TTFN

Linking Up

If you're not new to blog land, you probably already know what a "link up" is (also referred to as a blog hop) but if you don't know here's a little help from google:

 

Link Up - (noun) 1. connect: be or become joined or united or linked (source)

 

In blogging terms: when you link your blog post to the host blogger's page for a common theme. Usually the host blogger will have a button or image with a code to add to your post that will link back to her page. Some of the weekly link ups I join are:

 

Weekend Shenanigans with Sami from Sami's Shenanigans. A link up party every Monday where us bloggers share our exciting weekends. This was my first ever link up. The first two times I "linked up" all I did was add her button to my page and didn't actually submit my link on her site. Such a noob.

Travel Tuesdays with Helene from Helene In Between. This is a newer link up and quickly becoming a favorite. Every Tuesday you write about a travel experience and link it back to her page. I love visiting everyone's page and seeing all of the fun places they've been.      Just Because with Northern Belle Diaries. This is a link up party on Tuesdays where you don't have to write about anything specific, just add the button to the end of your post and visit other blogs.

  

 
Random Wednesday with Shanna from Because Shanna Said So. Every Wednesday, you write about whatever you want to write about and join the link up party. Shanna usually posts a super adorable outfit but I look awkward in pictures so I don't go there.

 
Back that Azz up Friday hosted by Whitney at I Wore Yoga Pants to Work. This is a link up that doesn't require a whole post or even a sentence. Just ad your favorite Friday jam to the end of your post and link on up.


On Saturdays, add the week's Instagram images and link back to Sara at Pearls and Curls. Usually I don't post on weekends but this is one of those posts that you can do in about 5 minutes and gives people an insight into your week.

There are quite a few one time link ups that I've participated in and you can read about them here, here,  here, and here. They are some of my most visited posts and I had a blast writing them and visiting other bloggers who linked up as well.

 

Wow that's a lot of link ups throughout the week, I link up on five out of six blogging days. Why, you ask, do I participate in so many? I like all of these link ups because you still get to write about what you want and then you just link back. Yes, link ups are a great way to get traffic on your site but they're also a good way for you to discover new blogs and people. Most every blog I follow I have found through one of the above weekly link up parties. Every link up I participate in, I try to visit as many blogs as I can, usually somewhere between 5-10. Sometimes I find blogs that I like enough to follow, but usually I have a good time just visiting and commenting on others' posts.

Do you link up? How many do you participate in?
 
Do you try to visit/comment on a certain number of blogs when you link up?

 

Green Shenanigans

Happy Monday, everyone! I know most of you are going to work but not me! Sorry, I couldn't resist. Here's how my weekend went down:

Friday started off great with a nice 12 hour shift at work. And ended great with PJ's, zombie killings, and snuggles with Derek.

Saturday was an absolutely gorgeous day so we decided to take the boat out on the river and do a little fishing. And by fishing I mean reading while basking in the glorious 78 degree sunshine, while Derek fished. Not to say I didn't wet a few lines, but ever since I was little I never enjoyed fishing like the rest of my family unless it was shore fishing, but that's another story.

It was such a gorgeous day. At the end of the day, we didn't catch any fish but had a great time cruising the river, turtle watching, and sitting on the shoreline just enjoying the day with each other.

 

That night we went to our friend's house to help celebrate his birthday, then to our usual hole in the wall bar where I had my very first green beer. I was smart enough to drink it through a straw and lucky enough not to end up with green teeth at the end of the night. We ended the night pretty early, but it was still fun.

Sunday we spent the day unloading my whole apartment from Derek's enclosed trailer to the loft of his barn (where it will stay until we have a permanent home), cleaning out my car, and helping fix a lawn mower.

 

I finished Silver Linings Playbook, which was so good (look for a post this week) and now, I can finally watch the movie. We finished the weekend grilling hamburgers and sitting around a fire with some good friends.

via Gracie on Instagram

Definitely not the wildest St. Patrick's Day I've had, but still a darn good weekend if you ask me.

As usual, I'm linking up with the fantabulous Sami for Weekend Shenanigans and Sarah from Life of Love for "This weekend I..."

 

Also.... I am linking up with Northern Belle Diaries for a fun Bloglovin' link up. Can't wait to meet new blog friends!

Be sure to follow me on Bloglovin' if you aren't already! TTFN

Family Shenanigans

Well, if you haven't noticed the trend here... I work every other weekend. So on my work weekends I don't really have much to share besides some things that would most likely gross you out. So today I'm going to post about some other days.

Thursday, I was off and my brother had a baseball game so I decided to venture down to Atmore to see him play and spend some time with my parents and fur babies.

It was such a beautiful day for driving, my first official open-sunroof trip.

 

After visiting with my mom I went to get my hair done at my old beauty shop. Man, there is no where better to go if you want to get some dirt on people in your hometown.

 

Before/after of my hair. Its taking some getting used to but I'm liking the highlights and length. Also I make some weird faces when I take selfies.

 

 

Unfortunately, the Chiefs didn't win the baseball game, but I did get to indulge in some cheesy, gooey ballpark fries.

 

I spent most of Friday morning getting some good snuggle time in with this princess.

 

Even the Queen of Sheeba aka Stevie decided to come visit me. But she doesn't like getting her picture taken and didn't come much closer until I put my phone away. Then she was all snugs.

 

On my way home I found my most favorite candy in the world and really couldn't stop myself from getting one. Atleast I didn't buy the whole box. I'm proud of myself for that.

 

Fortune from Saturday. I've convinced myself that this means Derek will be taking me somewhere exotic for our anniversary. (a girl can dream, right)

 

I have seriously been craving some Moe's for weeks now and finally got my wish granted yesterday. It was every bit as satisfying as I dreamed.

 

Linking up with Sami for Weekend Shenanigans!



Grown Up Shenanigans

Happy Monday fellow blog lovers! This weekend was fantabulous in that I didn't have to work, except Friday, but that's okay.

Friday night we headed back to good ole Lake Martin for the third round of Kowaliga Idol to support our good friend Wes. It was a smaller group of us than last time but a good time was still had. Unfortunately Wes didn't make it to the fourth and final round, but he did so good. There was a lot of great competition.

Saturday Derek and I left the freezing lake house and took the long way home to go ....(wait for it)....... HOUSE HUNTING. Yes that is correct, we are finally taking a big grown up step and are going to buy a house....one day. We found a few just driving around that we liked, but didn't stop at any of them. Obviously we aren't going to be doing any purchasing at the moment since we aren't officially hitched yet. But it's lot's of fun to look.

Whilst driving around, we saw one of our good friends who then invited us to dinner at their house. Dinner turned into drinks which turned into a great night around a bonfire with some great friends.

Sunday was a lazy day spent lounging around the house keeping our toesies toasty with a fire. I finished up reading Little Altars Everywhere and was thoroughly impressed.

I really love the style of writing in this book and  The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood. Where in TDSYYS Wells focuses on Sidda and Vivi both as children and adults, Altars has stories from points of view from all of the children, Vivi, Shep, and even some stories from Willeta and Chaney. these stories are mainly all when the children are growing up, except the last few which has a story from each child, Vivi and Shep in the present, reflecting back on their lives. If you've only ever seen the movie, I recommend reading both of these books since the movie takes stories and situations from both. They're both relatively short and written in a way that is so easy to read.

I hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend, and an even better Monday. Don't forget to link up with Sami for Weekend Shenanigans!