My Adult Version of Red Light, Green Light

Did you ever play the game "Red Light, Green Light" when you were little?  If you aren't familiar, it's a really simple game.  The way we played it was a group would line up as if about to run a race, and someone would stand at the finish line and when they said, "Green Light", everyone would take off running towards the finish.  When "Red Light" was yelled by the announcer, everyone had to freeze in their spot and wait for "Green Light" to be said again and so on until someone made it to the finish line. 

 

I feel like this is how I live my life...mainly due to my job.  I'm a CPA and do financial reporting for a company in downtown Houston.  I actually really like what I do, and to top it off, I work for a great company, have a wonderful boss and like the people I work with.  The only downside are the cycles of reporting as we get busy after every year-end and every quarter-end and tend to work long hours during these times.  This is when I feel like my life gets put on hold a bit.  So there are about five months out of the year that I'm in "Red Light" mode.  We don't make plans much on the weekends as I need to be in town and available to work if I need to.   I am usually at work late and eat dinner in the office, so when I get home, I get ready for bed and sleep, and then wake up to the daily grind the next day.  After quarter and year-end reports are filed, I feel like someone yells "Green Light," and I take off running trying to fit in everything that I've put on hold.  I try to see all the friends and family I can, meeting for dinners, happy hours and other social events, and also I try to catch up on housework and a mile long to-do list of errands that will have inevitably built up during my busy time at work.  I then seem to exhaust myself by doing all of these things, although the social parts are fun and I feel better when I've scratched all of the items off my list.  However, by the time I get caught up on life and start to relax again, it's time for our busy time at work again.....and so the cycle continues.

 

Why am I telling you all this?  I felt like my little blog here was a good place to sort of dump these feelings.  Like I said, I like my career of choice, but I seem to struggle at times with keeping it all together and maintaining a balance... but I know most everyone understands this as it applies to everyone in different ways.  I just sometimes wish for a more stable routine with regular hours on an on-going basis.  I sometimes am envious of friends that are able to have their evenings free and never have to consider whether it's a quarter-end or not. I feel like I'm always telling people I can't make it to some event or dinner because "we'll be in quarter at work" or "it's our busy time."  I'm sure my friends get tired of hearing that from me as well.  It's the nature of my job, and I must accept it.  I know that.  It's what I've chosen, and I'm happy with my choice.  Also, now you all will know that when I've seemed to have disappeared from writing my blog that I'm either in my "Red Light" mode and don't have time to blog as when I have any free time, I'm probably sleeping.  OR that I'm in my "Green Light" mode and running around as fast as I can so that I'm not taking the time to blog.  I'd like to try to start blogging on a regular basis and make it more of a priority.  I really do enjoy blogging, and it's actually a form of stress relief when I make the time for it.  It's a way to share and connect with people and in a way, for me, it's a bit of an escape...like I can go off to BlogLand for a bit and get out any thoughts or feelings I want or dream and look at pretty pictures, and then step back into my reality. 

 

Thanks for reading...if you still are.  I'm usually not so personal or this chatty on here, but I thought a change for once was okay.  Hope all of you lovelies are having a wonderful week. 

Let's end on a fun note.  Here are some (somewhat blurry) pictures from my phone of outfits I've been wearing to work this summer.

 

 

XO,

Tara

 

Weekend Recap

This past weekend was the perfect long weekend. 

It started off with shopping with a friend Friday afternoon.  I got this new bookcase for our office!  The room is coming along slowly but surely.  I like the direction it's going.  Of course I still have to style the shelf, but I just had to share.

While shopping, we sure did work up a thirst...so that led us to have a drink.  We chatted for hours and then just went ahead and had our guys come meet us for dinner as we weren't leaving anytime soon.

 

Then on Saturday, we went out in the boat for a day of fishing.  Here's me and my hubby.  We had another couple with us, and it was a great day!  We didn't come off the water until right before dark, just in time to eat some delicious seafood at TopWater Grill.

Here's my big catch of the day!  I'm pretty sure it's the biggest trout I've caught.  It's going to make some good fish tacos for sure.

Then on Sunday, it was a pool day in our backyard.  We had friends over, drank margaritas, floated in the pool, grilled out, and topped the night off in the hot tub.

Yesterday, I may have repeated a day of lounging in the pool, and then the hubby and I got in bed early to watch this:

It was definitely just what we expected it to be - silly, crude and over the top.  It gave us some good laughs though as some of it is just life and what happens without all the glamour.

Hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend.  We are so blessed to live in this country!  Thank you to my Dad and the many other women and men who have served our country.

XO,

Tara

Three Years

It's our three year anniversary today.  Can you believe it?!  I can't.  What I will say is that marriage is challenging.  It's hard at times.  But that's why it's worth having right?  It's not supposed to be easy.  We are still learning about each other and figuring out what works for our marriage.  At the same time, marriage is also really rewarding.  It's wonderful to have someone to go through this crazy world with.  I like knowing that I have a partner to make decisions with, to lean on when I need strength and to be there for when he needs me.  It's amazing to know that we've been through so much together, and we have so much to look forward to.  So with that, I will say all of the hard work is more than worth it.  I'm so lucky and blessed.

I showed you our wedding rehearsal and ceremony and you can see it here on my wedding tab, but I still need to post pictures from the reception and honeymoon. yeah yeah I know it's been 3 years.  Who's counting? ;) 

 Here's a peek at both!

Wedding Reception at Schroeder Dance Hall

Honeymoon in Zihuatenejo, Mexico

These are my flowers I received today here at work.  I can't get over how big they are! Purple is one of my favorite colors, so I think he did good.  :)

He's been at a conference this week for work but will be returning today.  We are celebrating our anniversary tonight at a little Italian restaurant close to our house that we've been wanting to try.

I love you, hubby. 

Tara

Prayers for West, Texas + Boston

Words cannot even begin to describe the events of this week.   I wouldn't even know where to begin.....

What I do know is that prayers are needed.   I am a Texas girl - born and raised and currently living in Houston, and I know right now that my fellow Texans are needing help.  Prayers of course are on the top of the list, but there are other ways to help too.  My friend, Lauren, posted this on her blog, Simply LKJ and asked that the information be passed along. Her daughter is currently attending Baylor University.  There are quite a few faculty, staff and students that have been affected, and as such, Baylor University is helping out however they can.

Praying For West Texas

The link below provides information on how to help if you are interested in doing so.
http://baylor.edu/west

For those of you on Facebook, Baylor has also set up a facebook page that can be found on this link.

We are still praying for Boston too! What a crazy week for sure.

New House

It's final!  We have a new home.  We closed on our house yesterday, and this weekend we'll start moving in.  We're having some rooms painted and a few other minor home improvements done this week before we start the unpacking process.  We are thrilled to have found a home we love so quickly and are eager to spend our first night in it!  I have so many things to show you all and hope the decisions I've already made work out!  eek Picking paint colors is so stressful for me.  I'm eager to see the new paint on the walls!  Many more pictures coming soon, but here's a peek of the outside.

XO,

Tara