A new season, a new blog.

If you have followed me here for a short while or long while, please go over and follow me on: 

The Ruff Adventure.

I uploaded a couple of posts from here to there, and will be updating there from here on out. I thought it would be nice to start a new blog that Aaron can also update on. 

So follow and be prepared for lots of Ruff adventures! :)

An update four months in the making

Happy Friday blogging world! I sure have missed you, and I'm sure you've missed me. It has only been four months. Ha ha ha. I think the quickest, most effective and most fun way to jump back into blogging is to join a link-up and make a list. So here you go... Five on Friday!

[ONE]

This whole post may or may not be prompted by my dear friend Sarah who blogs over at Sometimes Screaming Helps and is the Creative Editor at SheLoves Magazine. She is an incredible writer and blogger and photographer and coffee dater. Just saying. She is a world traveler and leaves the country just about every other weekend. (Okay, so yes... we live in Washington and she jaunts up to Vancouver, B.C., but that's still another country!) Our weekly coffee date conversations range from our beliefs about Jesus and where He is leading each of us... to the struggles of crossing your legs when you are wearing tall boots. I'm not making this up. She is cooler than she knows.

[TWO]

All Sons & Daughters. If you don't already listen to them, stop what you're doing and go listen. But maybe finish reading my post first. Then go look them up!

[THREE]

This past December, Aaron and I started a new adventure in nutrition- Isagenix. Considering that we were already eating really healthy, I was skeptical. What difference would a shake in the morning and a protein bar here and there make? Lets just say that a total of 16 lost inches later, I am no longer skeptical. By replacing part of our monthly grocery budget with Isagenix products, we're able to use the rest of our budget to buy the most high quality foods we can find without breaking the bank. Think organic, fresh, local produce and dairy, eggs, etc. And I can workout like a champion, so that's cool.

[FOUR]

I finished another of my 25 books while I'm 25, A Year of Biblical Womanhood. I'm currently working on a review that I will post later. I really enjoyed it though! And I may be a little behind on my reading list, but I'll explain at a later date. 

[FIVE]

Aaron and I traveled to a couple of my favorite southern states this past weekend. Here are a few quick snapshots for you.

 It will be a holiday in the Ruff household when Chick-Fil-A opens their restaurant in Tacoma. 

That is all.

 Our first night in Alabama we trekked around Montgomery late into the night. Tyler and Katie Gray, and Tyler's fiancee Lauren were the most gracious of hosts. We had an absolute blast with them, so much so that Aaron suggested we come back to visit before I had the idea myself! We love the Grays! This photo is in downtown Montgomery by the river and the riverboat.

 I am missing this sunshine. And my sandals. But I know it will be here soon enough.

 Auburn, the most beautiful of college campuses. Brick buildings make me swoon. And they make me look up real estate in Alabama. Oops.

 Dark and blurry, but such a fun memory of drinks and dessert (skillet cookies!) at The tipping Point in Montgomery. Our waitress was the most hipster of all hipsters, down to her PNW attitude. It made me a little homesick. Aaron got her to crack a smile, it was great! 

The Tipping Point a little coffee/drinks/dessert place outside of Montgomery with almost all outdoor seating. Imagine this Washingtonian's delight when we were able to sit outside in short sleeves and sandals in MARCH under a clear sky. I keep reminding myself that those days will be here in July. Only a couple more months.

 This sweet blonde baby girl stole my heart. The youngest Isbell and long awaited girl is sweet, spunky and downright hilarious. She posed for every picture, and encouraged her equally adored cousin Ellie to joined. It was late and Ellie was very interested in the legos. 

So there you have it. A quick list update.

Sickness and moving and pointy noses.

Dearest Blogging World, I have not forgotten you. I swear. Love, Meagan.

Okay but let's be real, I really have forgotten you. I just don't want to hurt your feelings. I am trying. Really, really, REALLY trying to be good. Because if there was a blogging Santa, I'd be getting coal for sure this year. 

Anyway, I'm going to link up with the good life blog and post a Five on Friday post. Because they are my favorite and I have five really awesome things to share. Or maybe they are five really lame things. Don't tell me.

..ONE..
It's Friday. Woo. Can you tell I am excited? I woke up this morning feeling TERRIBLE. I was sure I had a fever and that I would never talk again because my throat was mutilated by all the razor blades I'd apparently swallowed in my sleep. But no. Ninety-eight point four. Practically perfect. So I called in to work, which would have been fine. Except we're moving this weekend. So I can't lay in bed and relax when my house is a wreck and my new house is sweetly whispering, "Come! Fill me with your stuff and light candles and decorate and enjoy HEAT and mold-free air!" Yes, our current place has mold. This was not supposed to be a rant. But thanks to the sick day I am taking a few minutes to blog, so that's nice. Ah, Friday.

..TWO..
I am literally wearing so many layers I lost count. When you're sick and moving and you live in western Washington and its November... layers are a must. Socks over jeans are a must. With socks underneath as well... because, well... IT'S COLD.  But this is what I absolutely love about fall. Knee socks under boots with polka dots, flannel everything, sweater headbands. The works. Also, does anyone else have sick hair? Not sick hair are in "so rad, man", but as in "I am so sick and my hair knows it so it absolutely will not do anything" hair. Just me? So, the sweater headband is helping that.

..THREE..
My lovely bonus mother-in-law and aunt AND grandma are coming into town RIGHT NOW to go to the Funky Junk holiday show with me! They are bringing cousin Adam too, but I'm sure he's not so stoked about the antique show as we are.  ;) My mom and Talicia are going too. I've sworn off coffee for a while because I can sleep better, but I might need it for tonight. I can't have other ladies stealing my good deals just because I'm sick. I've got to be on top of my shopping game.

..FOUR..
Everytime I have moved in the last year, it has been on day with pouring rain. After I called in and got everything squared away at work, I grabbed a coat and rainboots to go stand in my new house and enjoy it before we fill it. Not even a drop of rain on my way over or back. So I packed up my TINY car and started moving a few loads of stuff. First box out of the car and a raindrop hit me square on the nose. Just like in the movies, I looked up and it started pouring. It hasn't stopped since. I love you Washington.

No but seriously, I love you Washington. I'll put up with your rain FOREVER.

..FIVE..
Speaking of my nose, I've always liked it. It's little and straight, and it does its job. But yesterday one of my sweet second graders (Just kidding, she is the bane of my existence at work. AND you could say she is nosey, ha ha ha.) said, "Mrs. Meagan, you have a pointy nose. You must be from the land of the cold! Pointy nose, pointy nose!" Whatever that means?! I mean, technically I am scandanavian, and I hear that it gets pretty cold up in Finland and Norway, but where do kids come up with this?? I am totally okay with this, not offended. Maybe she thinks I'm an elf or something. ;)

Forgive me

Please forgive me. I love blogging. And my blogger friends. And my other friends. But life as a Ruff has been B-U-S-Y this month. Of course, the month I pledge to write everyday. But, I can't help it.

I am overjoyed to be a working wife again. Don't get me wrong, being a stay-at-home wife was awesome, but I love my new job. I won't go to into detail because, well, this is the internet.

I'm working on a post about the cara box I receieved. I'm also packing for a trip to Spokane this weekend. And preparing activities for this week at work. And procrastinating tackling the HUGE task of packing up our house. Because yes, we're moving. In a week and a half.

I will be back to blogging.

I will post pictures.

I will be funny, and type like I talk, and even might possibly give you some quotes from the ridiculous children I work with everyday.

But that will have to wait until tomorrow.

What The Walking Dead and Taylor Swift have to do with being a newlywed

Today Aaron and I have been married for three months. It seems like much longer in the best way possible!! I am looking forward to many, many more months and years, and also enjoying where we are right now.

If you have been following my '31 days of newlywed life' posts, you've noticed that I missed a day and half. But let me explain.

Part of newlywed life that I've learned over and over again is to be self-less. (Really that is a lesson for all of life, but I'll briefly explain how it pertains to newlywed life and ours in particular this weekend). These past three months I have learned (in huge doses) that part of being married is being self-less. 

 My own self wants to be at all the Sounders games with Aaron. And if I can't go, then I want Aaron to stay home and watch them with me. My own self wants to watch Gossip Girl just a little more than it wants to watch The Walking Dead. And my own self definitely wants to listen to Taylor Swift... a lot more than my own self gets to. My self wants to be with Aaron all the time and not share him with middle school students. Or high school students. Do you see how this is sounding ridiculous? 

Obviously no one is that selfish. Or maybe they are. But in being a newlywed, I learning to give up what I want in order to be a better wife. There are times where I have to completely give up something in order to meet a need we have (think shopping for clothes and/or crafts vs. paying extra on our student debt to pay it down faster) and times when we compromise so that Aaron and I are both happy, like listening to Jack Johnson instead of T-Swift in the car.

This weekend was another full weekend. I'll spare you the boring details, but I chose to spend the free time I had with Aaron instead of keeping up with my blogging. If that makes me a bad blogger and a failure at the 31 day challenge, so be it. I'm trying to be an awesome wife first.