Showing posts with label Atlanta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Atlanta. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

I've Been Lost.

People tell me everyday that I should "blog" professionally or that I should write a book - and while those sound like GREAT ideas, I could never do it.  Reason #486...  I haven't blogged since SEPTEMBER!  Who would follow that?  LOL.

Honestly, I haven't done a LOT of things since September... like, run, practice my yoga, cleanse, or have a girls night.  Going to mass weekly has also fallen off and just structured prayer in general.

I feel like my internal compass is stuck going in the wrong direction.  Am I depressed?  Am I bored?  Am I heartbroken?  Am I overwhelmed?
These are all possibilities.

Before anyone calls in reinforcements, don't worry... I am not going to do anything crazy.
I simply feel like 2014 was so nuts for me!   I started the year with our second dog dying Christmas Eve (2013) and getting a new puppy three weeks later.

Then, I left Bailey for 2 weeks to go to Shanghai with Christian.

When we returned, Christian took his new job and we spent all of March working on getting the house ready for the market.

Once that was done, Christian was off to Atlanta in April and I stayed in Iowa with Bailey until May.

Over the summer, we lived in a loft which was MISERABLE - and followed that with the move from HELL and closed on our new home in August.  All the while the stress of 2 mortgages hung over my head but praise Jesus!! (in my best Melissa Gorga voice) we closed on our Iowa home in September.

In the midst of all this moving, packing, traveling, and transferring - I also had some personal struggles.  Falling outs with old friends, a run in with the cops (I will never tell ;0), and Bailey starting school.  As all of this is unfolding, I am still striving to be the best mom that I can be and also the best wife.

It is all hard.  I think that one thing that I have found is that those who are still standing with me today even after all that craziness, are the ones who will be there forever.
Stress doesn't bring out the best in people and it certainly didn't for me.  I have not been the best friend or even the best person, but some chose to take this moment of weakness in me and attack me while others unconditionally have loved me.  I also have learned that at the end of the day, your spouse will be your redeemer.  Through all of this, Christian has just stayed strong and been my biggest advocate and most understanding ear.  He has let me know when I should have acted differently but loved me all the same.
I felt like many times over the year last year, people were a little thrown off at my half-insane attitude and instead of just supporting me, they tried to FIX me.  I don't need fixing.  I don't need an intervention.  And I don't need criticism and judgement.

I guess, like I said in the beginning, I may have been overly stressed, which definitely left me overwhelmed, which made me vulnerable - and people took advantage, which in the end left me heartbroken.

but I am wiser all the more...

As for my internal compass, I will reference the old adage, "All those who wander are not lost."
I am not lost, just off the beaten path, but I am making my way back!

I am running again, I signed up with a new yoga studio, and am looking forward to an exciting girls weekend next weekend as I go with my best friend Ashleigh wedding dress shopping!!!
I am getting back into my prayer cycle and Christian and I are planning our 10 Year Anniversary trip to St. Maarten!  But best of all, I am BLOGGING!!!

xoxo

Katie


My friend Michelle (middle) visited me from Iowa!


Bailey was a pirate for Halloween!

Arrrggghhhh!

Pure excitement!

Thanksgiving Party at Bailey's school

Thanksgiving in Charlotte

Going to see Santa!

nailed it.

Bailey's teacher, Ms. Laney

Bailey turned 4 this past Christmas!

but first, let us take a selfie at the party...

Christmas morning at our house

Otto - 12 months, 100 pounds

Bike ride :)


On the sky view Ferris Wheel in Atlanta... where I discovered that I HATE heights...








Friday, June 13, 2014

This Life...

While I recently visited Charlotte my sister was showing me all the houses in her neighborhood where friends had lived but moved.  Then she said, "We're the only people who haven't gone anywhere!"  

My sister and I are a perfect combination of my mom and dad but it is clear who is more like the other.

While I tend to favor the look of my mom, I have the attitude and behavior of my dad.   My sister looks more like my dad, but her demeanor is all my mom.  She is calm, wise, thoughtful, and nurturing.  I am for lack of a better word a spaz, quick to speak, a little more selfish, and not nearly as patient.  If you knew my mom - you know that my sister is just like her.  If you know my dad, you see where I get my fire from!  I also think birth order has a lot to do with it... I'm just sayin'

As I get older, more and more I go to my sister for help and guidance.  She is such a woman of faith and the closest thing to a mom that I have.  She always takes careful consideration before responding to my questions, often telling me that she is going to "have to pray about it first".  My sister is nearly 15 years older than me... when we were young, it was a bigger deal.  But as we get older, the gap kind of closes more and more.  When I lost my mom, I was only 28.  I was not a mom yet, and really was still finding my independence.  I now know why God gave me a sister that was so much older... he knew that I was going to need that later.  She is such a great reference with everything dealing with kids, friends, psycho friends, parents, psycho parents, and so on...


When I first told her that I was moving back to Atlanta, she was happy to have us back in the South, but worried about me going back to Atlanta.  She worried that I would get caught up with old friends who really don't have my best interests at heart.  She hates that we love living in the city and how fast paced it is.  She really would like to see me settle down in the suburbs and be the leader of the PTA... please.


But we are different.  She said that they had never moved because she did it once 15 years ago and it was so awful that she swore that she would never do it again!  I can relate to that... moving SUCKS.  It is one thing to move across town, it is another to move across the country... and to do it twice in 2 years!  


The move to Iowa was pretty easy... but this return has almost killed me.


Some days I wake up and don't even want to get out of bed.  I know the minute I put my feet on the floor, it is going to be a long day.  Letting the dog out every couple hours, managing Bailey in this crazy city, house hunting, working with lenders, Christian being out of the country, wondering why the hell our house in Iowa isn't selling... ahhhh!


I think it has also been hard because my expectations may have been a little off when I moved back.  I suppose it isn't realistic to think that you can leave for two years and return like you never left :(


Either way, we love being back.  This city is such a big part of my life!  This was the first city I lived in as an actual adult... that paid my own bills!!  Bailey was born here... and the Braves are here.  I mean, it doesn't get better than that!


I just think that I may be suffering from a little situational depression... not that I am not happy, but because I think stress is fogging my lenses.  One day our house in Iowa will sell, we won't be paying two mortgages, I will have a yard for Otto, and Bailey will have all her favorite things and a room... with walls... and a door :) Then I will be able to fully grasp being back home in the South!


At the end of the day - I think I secretly do love it though.  Stress that is.  If I didn't, I wouldn't do it to myself all the time!  I would be like my sister, and be content in the same place.  But I am a free spirit... I just go wherever the wind takes me and I kind of like the excitement.  My friends tell me that if they were me, they would be in a mental institution and that they think I am great at handling all these things... I suppose it is true :)


I love following Joyce Meyer on Facebook. She has the best little one-liners... these spoke to me...



The more you hurry, the more mistakes you make. 
Slow down, breathe and learn to be led by God, not driven by impatience. 

God loves you too much to leave you in a mess. 
He has a plan for you that far exceeds anything you may recognize.



Despite all of that... we are still having a great time!  Here are some "moments" from our last couple weeks :)

My best friend Megan's son Manning - presh

Megan and I destroyed these chocolates... it was like eating art...
I am not sure if we felt more guilty because we ate a bunch of chocolate, or because
they were so pretty???

I missed this place while in Iowa!  I go here everyday now...

Jazz Festival at Piedmont Park

Family Selfie


this girl.  LOVE her!

she is DEFINITELY a cabana girl... no getting wet for her...

went to visit Christian's parents while he is in Brazil... his
dad is great on the guitar :)

Leaving Winston-Salem

Charlotte to see my family and mooch off my sister and her pool

Me, Sadie - my sister's youngest, and B

My sister's son has 2 hammocks hanging from his ceiling... why?
I have no idea... I don't have boys...
Bailey loved it though!

Playing on the trampoline with Sadie... and yes
we bought a slip n' slide (in the background)

Bailey woke up every morning and went strait outside to jump... she's a trip!

Breakfast with mom :)

First swim lesson!!!

She was TERRIFIED!

Brunch :)

Since Christian is in Rio - we went to have lunch and go see Rio 2
So fun!
Had to hit up Little Five Points... Bailey found some shoes she liked...

While house hunting I saw Ms. Lawrence from RHOA!
Leaving church of all places...


Me and one of my besties Ashleigh... we are not normal
and we like it that way...


This is cheering me up!  World Cup 2014!


Got bored at the hair salon last night and took some online quizzes...
apparently I need to move to Brazil and become a writer :)


But not anytime soon... I am staying put for a while!!!!



xoxo