TAKING A 6 MONTH BREAK FROM INSTAGRAM - THIS IS MONTH 3
/Hey hey hey!!! It’s been three months since I signed off Instagram and I’m back again with another monthly roundup so you can keep up with my little family if you so choose. ☺
You can read about month one here (April 2020) and month two here (May 2020)! But be sure to come back here so we can catch up when you’re done. hehe!
Grab a drink, and let’s chat!
This month’s been all about getting settled into our new home in Texas (we moved for the Army), learning the area, exploring, celebrating Father’s Day, celebrating our 9 YEAR ANNIVERSARY…do whattttt, and preparing for daddy to leave for 3-4 months of training. (insert sad face here) We also got to have Blake’s dad in town which was so good for our souls to see family again!
So let’s get to it! Let me show you around our new place, a little of what we’ve seen around Texas, and share some incredible memories with the family.
(The girls’ sandals are linked here, the girls’ outfits are from Indy and Pippa, and my outfit is from Lullaby Club)
First thing’s first…we made it to Texas!!! We’re nestled in a small town outside of Fort Hood, about an hour from Waco (OH YES HEY JOANNA!!!) and an hour from Austin! YEAAAAA ATX!!!
One of my favorite things about being here is seeing all of the desert plants everywhere! Talk about picture backdrop heaven hehehe!
Of course, when we got to Texas, we got In-N-Out, because why not? ha! The girls loved it! Obligatory selfie of course. paha!
The girls and I arrived first before Blake did, so we had about 2 weeks to get settled into the house! Which by settled in I mean we set up our backyard and ENJOYED THE TEXAS SUN like nobody’s business! ha!
We don’t plan on doing much with the house as far as renovations go, but we do plan on extending the back patio/roof so I’ll be sure to share progress shots of that!
The water slide is linked here! It’s been our saving grace this summer!!! And we love our blow up pools, linked here!
These are some of my favorite pics of the girls this month! They are having a blast with all this sun!
We got to see/meet some of our favorite (and not so favorite haha) friends! The day I got here I found a tarantula by our front door, and that took some getting used to…especially after I found numbers 2 and 3 as well hahaha! But I’ve learned that they are so kind. So we just let them be!
We also got to see JOC JOC AND SWEET BEAUTIFUL BABY LILY RAE!!!!!! And our sweet EMMY AND LANDON! And we got to watch my handsome nephew graduate 8th grade online! So many fun memories!
We are a food family, that’s for sure, and love trying new places! Thanks to my dear friend Porshia who’s from San Antonio and super familiar with the Hood area, we’ve been able to try so many places! (Including learning all about H.E.B. which I am OBSESSED WITHHHHHHH to say the least!)
This month we had Home Slice pizza (a must!) Whataburger and JuiceLand (where the peachy green drink is my all time favorite jam now). I also have been making summer salads at home and endless blueberry + banana french toast! Food’s been great this month!
BUT OUR FAVORITE PART ABOUT OUR NEW HOUSE?!?!?!
IS PRACTICALLY IN OUR BACK YARD!
THE LAKE!!!! WHERE WE CAN’T GET AWAY FROM! There’s so much room and hardly anyone ever there, and boy oh boy it’s been the best time for our souls. Thankfully I’ll have this while Blake’s away this summer and beyond. So grateful for God’s creations.
Our bestie Haley from Indy and Pippa launched some new summer sets and we’ve had so much fun in them all summer so far!!! They’re our favorites to wear! So comfy and lasts for so long because of their oversized fit!
And another sweet friend Kelsey from No Small Miracle has been launching the sweetest stuff all summer long too!!! We love the sweet baby dolls and accessories we’ve received from her shop!
I’ve really been putting my health first this month, and working out every day, which has truly felt so so good. I have stopped caring about counting calories and watching the scale, and instead I’m embracing my body for what it is. I’m finally proud and content with the woman in the mirror. I feel healthy, and that is truly what matters most. I wanna be able to play ball with my grandkids one day.
And finalllyyyyyyy we got reunited with daddy halfway through the month and we missed him so much!!! I’d show you the video of the girls seeing him for the first time, but I didn’t realize Hadley had no panties on and she flashed the camera hahahaha!
The girls made Blake these little canvases for Father’s Day all by themselves so that was super special. We also got Bella some new toys to welcome her back home too!
We made a Starbucks stop in The Domain in Austin and LET’S JUST SAY I’M IN LOVE WITH THAT PLACE!!! Blake shared his drink with Hadley and the pic I snapped is hilarious haha!
Another restaurant Porshia told us about was Hopdoddy and it too did not disappoint! We ate there for Father’s Day and we loved it! The girls were being so silly for pictures. We got it to go and ate outside all by ourselves which was our very first time in 4 months eating out, and that was weirdddddddd.
Our all time favorite family activity is neighborhood walks, which we really loved in Kansas, and we’re so happy to continue that here. Here’s the view of the lake from behind our house! It’s so beautiful here, that’s for sure!
Here’s daddy’s first trip to the lake with the girls! Let’s just say they love LOVE having daddy home haha!
Daddy snapped some pics of the girls and I while we were out and about and I sure do love these pics with them. Motherhood has both wrecked me and raised me this month, but when I stop and thank God for these tiny little blessings, I realize just how Blessed I am.
And now for a tour of our house!!! This is the mirror in our front entranceway, and yes! OUR FLOORS ARE CONCRETE! HOW COOL IS THAT!!! I’ve always seen it on pinterest and never thought we’d get the chance to have a home with them, but thank you Texas!!!
We have had the same furniture in our house for the last 9 years since we got married, so this year we upgraded a lot of it. That allowed us to sell a lot before we moved too! We plan on this furniture lasting us our final 10 years in the military, so it was fun to redesign the home together…but it was sad saying goodbye to furniture that’s been with us since the beginning of us!
Here’s some more pics of the entryway and little Hadley posing because HELLO MOOD! haha! Bella’s corner also cracks me up haha! She’s so spoiled. My mom’s friend drew us that pic of her! YES DREW. How crazy is that!?
Our entry light is linked here, and we love it!!! It also comes in gold!
Another favorite little spot is this rug by our back door!!! I ordered it with this peace bowl for the girl’s play kitchen and I highly recommend both of them!
Another favorite little spot in the house is this archway to the bedrooms on the other end of the house. Which btw it’s our first time in a ranch style house and we LOVE IT!!! I love not having a second story so so much!!! These little wall weavings were from a small coffeeshop in Kansas that I got before we moved, and I’m so happy to have them displayed here. I love the story behind them so much and that they were handmade!
This is a little picture wall above our piano, and I have to get the pictures reprinted but we love it so far! I’ll be adding a few more frames to each end as well.
Here’s our cozy little fireplace nook. I can’t wait to see garland up there for Christmastime with a tree by the fire! I think we’re gonna paint this white too! (Well, if I can convince Blake!)
And here’s the living room!
Our tv console is linked here.
And sadly our rug is not available anymore. :(
Our dining area is a work in progress, and we’re still waiting for our dining light, but here it is thus far. Lot’s of work to be done.
Our bedroom is super simple, which I love, but we still have work to do. Here’s a progress pic!
We upgraded the girls’ play kitchen too! I’ve been eyeing this one for awhile because the last one was just too large to keep moving and I love that this one is all one piece! The quality is wonderful and it was much quicker to put together. It’s definitely pricier, but it was kinda our present to the girls for the new home, new lives, new school (maybe), new friends, etc. We know they’ll make tons of memories with it here and beyond!
The girls’ bedroom was one of the first rooms I got ready, andddd I am not the biggest fan. It’s way too busy and cluttered. Soooooo there will likely be changes over the next few months, but for now here’s Hadley’s princess corner, their reading nook, and Everly’s CRAZYYYYYYY dino corner hahaha!!!
And to end the month off, Blake’s dad came and stayed with us for a week and it was FABULOUS HAVING HIM HERE!!! Wait, are these guys brothers or father and son? hehe. We toured Blake’s stomping grounds on post and got to see the airfield a bit where he’ll be working when he gets back from training too!
We also got to take him to our lake, which my word we had so much fun with him there! Can’t wait to take his mom and my mom there as well! The girls love their grandpa!
But to end on the best note.
I got to celebrate 9 years with this man. We got to kiss in the lake, and he squirt me with a toy water gun just like he did 9 years ago on one of our first dates at a lake in Alabama. I was lucky then, and I’m even luckier now. I jove you BRH. Here’s to the future, and next year blessing us with a decade together. Wow.
So there ya have it! Month three down, and I’m still loving this time away from social media. I truly think everyone needs to do this. I’ve realized how unhealthy it was in so many aspects of my life, and I’m grateful the Lord called me to rest.
But this time with COVID is just wild, isn’t it? I just don’t know what’s to come for the girls’ school and whatnot this fall, and it’s driving my planning anxiety crazy. However, I am generally way less risky when it comes to health stuff, especially when it involves the girls because they do both have weakened immune systems with their health issues. Therefore, I’d much rather be safe than not. We have no idea if we’re gonna homeschool or not, but it sounds like Texas is giving parents the option to keep kids home or send them to school. Such crazy and scary times. The girls just keep asking for their old friends back and for all the people that are sick to get better, and it truly breaks my heart every time they cry because they miss the way life once was. This just isn’t fair. It’s all just a bit sad, huh? It’s crazy to think that these same insecurities, fears, pressures, anxieties, stresses are the same ones my relatives are dealing with in Korea, and all the people across the world are dealing with. When in our lifetime have we ever been able to say that, ya know? That something has affected ALL of us the same.
Honestly, my heart just breaks for my girls and other kids who just wanna be with their friends. My heart breaks for teachers who just wanna see their students. My heart breaks for the playgrounds that just wanna have kids swinging, and sliding, and twirling all around. My heart breaks for families who just want to be reunited. I just want things to go back to the way they once were, but alas…this is life.
And together, we will adapt and overcome.
I was in Target the other day, and getting emotional as per the usual.
I stood there looking around at everyone with their masks on, keeping their distance. How we’ve all just adjusted our lives in an instant to this new normal, this new way of life.
And as I stood there tears filled my eyes, because for the first time it really really really hit me. To see how resilient our nation is. How we, in 2020, are dealing with a pandemic like we’ve never dealt with before, and we’re doing it. We’re learning, we’re changing, we’re growing. Are there bumps in the road? Of course. But we are doing it, and we will continue to do it…I just know it. It may not seem like it now, but I just feel deep down we will come out of this stronger than ever before.
I know we tend to see and hear how far we have to go, and don’t get me wrong…we have a long ways to go…but can I just say for a second how proud I am of how far we’ve come?
I know there’s so much work to be done, and I will continue doing that hard work too, but hey you! Whoever you are reading this. Know that I am so proud of you and everything you do every day to help our nation win this fight.
Thank you for your sacrifices day in and day out.
Thank you for learning and growing with me.
Together, we can do this. Hang tight friend.
Oh and hey, wear your masks. ;)
Well, I guess I’ll end there.
I’m halfway through this break and this journey, and I’m loving every minute of it.
Be well, be still, and be safe.
XX,
Amy
anddddd HEY P.S.!!!
I’ve worked two days this month, and one of them you can see here. I sat outside at The Domain in Austin all by myself and worked on my dreams. There’s so much ahead for The Ever Co that I can’t wait to share. But for now know that our shop is now live with what we have left from the error sale! There’s more information there, but if you have any questions leave a comment below or email me! Thank you for supporting us!!!