When we walked in to our home on Saturday evening – it felt surreal. I was only gone for two weeks, but my house felt foreign and fresh. I could even smell the “new house” smell that I thought had gone away, and I love that smell. It’s so easy to get used to your home, your things, your life. Everything becomes routine until you don’t notice it any more, or you only notice what you want to change. Your house is just there, your closet full of clothes is just there, your decorations, your furniture, your husband, your family, your job, your pets. Until you just forget that any of it doesn’t have to be there.

Toward the end of vacation I started to get tired of being away from home. I love the beach and I long to be there so often, but I was ready to go and I couldn’t understand it. When we pulled into our drive way after a long 14 hour drive I realized that I had been craving so many simple things that only my home could provide. I just wanted to feel comfy, to have my space, to know that I wasn’t going to have to make three trips back and forth between the bathroom and the bedroom because I forgot one more thing I needed for my shower, after taking all of my clothes off of course! I just wanted to be at home with my husband – simply. I was so excited to get things back in their places that I unpacked my suitcase and did all of my laundry within the first few hours we were home. Yes, I have control and organizational issues – I like my stuff where it belongs! Haha.

I’m positive that everyone needs a fresh perspective now and then. I think a few weeks away from home made me realize how much I loved being able to visit my first home (Sebring) and the beach, but also how blessed I am here in the home I’ve built with my husband. I aim to wake up every morning grateful for the life I have – even if it’s routine and every day.

Today’s Positive Monday is more like Manic Monday. If it can break, it already has or it’s getting ready to. That’s how my work day is going so far. Oh and if there’s a deadline to meet let’s wait until we need it RIGHTNOW to ask for it. Deep breaths over here, deep breaths. You may have also noticed that my blog went down for a period of time. That would be because I forgot to renew my domain! Can you tell that I’ve been a little busy lately? Yikes!

NONE of that matters though because I have basically 3 days left to work before my 2 week vacation begins!! Hooray!! Nate and I are flying down to Florida on Friday for my cousin’s wedding, then he will fly back on Sunday for work on Monday, and drive BACK down with his entire family on the following Friday so that we can all head over to the beach for a week. I’ll be staying in my hometown with my parents while he’s gone and then my parents are going to spend a couple of days over at the beach with all of us as well. It’s pretty surreal because I’ve been so busy that I’ve hardly had time to think about it, and now it’s just HERE. I haven’t even started packing or thinking about what to pack.

Sewing with my Mom last September! She finished the dress we were making and I can’t wait to see it! <3

**You may remember me talking about my cousin Garrett in this post or on twitter here. He is now alert, knows who people are, and can speak a little bit. I’m still not totally sure I understand fully how well he’s doing because I haven’t visited him yet.. but I’m really excited to see him next week! Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support – it means so much!

I’m feeling a little drained from the hustle and bustle of an extremely busy (but fun!) weekend this Monday afternoon! I’m positive that I really just want to crawl back into bed for another 2 hours of sleep, but that’s not an option. So to lighten things up – I’ll share a few instagram snaps that remind me exactly why it’s worth it to make it through a long work week!

01: Finding amazing deals on a whim! // 02: Pretty views from a new office. Even if I am at work – at least the view is pretty!

02: Girls nights out downtown! // 03: Hula hooping and fun filters on my phone!

04: Trying a local specialty at Meadowthorpe Cafe – The Spalding Burger (fried egg, cheese, and bacon burger between a Spalding Bakery Donut)
05: Daydreaming about the next time I’ll eat sushi…

I hope your Monday is filled with positive thoughts to get you through the work week! I’m already feeling better just thinking about fun times with friends, shopping, and yummy treats!

It’s another Positive Monday, my friends! Today I’m positive that things are looking up in every aspect of life and I couldn’t be happier to share a bit of extremely positive news with you! As most of you know, my Father-in-law is battling a rare form of cancer, and on Friday we found out that the tumor in his chest has shrunk by 40% and the tumor in the liver has also shrunk significantly. We haven’t received a single bit of positive news from any of the previous scans he has had to check progression, so any little bit of good news is something to be thankful for! Cholangiocarcinoma is incurable – but the extra time we are getting from treatments is a blessing.