On the road

No, this isn't about the Jack Kerouac book but it is about our crazy cross country traveling adventure. I swear I have been trying to blog... dreaming about blogging really and I've had absolutely no chance to. So many trips have happened and I really wanted to document them in detail but it looks like I'm going to have to play catch up instead. I will be posting about Jamaica and the second leg of our tour/trip in separate posts but here is what has happened since California:

I know I have pictures but they are on my other phone/camera and I'm currently in South Carolina without them. In order to catch you up on what happened driving through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Louisiana I will mostly write... 

Arizona was easy - nothing of note happened and the only regret we have is not stopping to take a picture with one of the GIGANTIC cactus's. Oh wells. 

New Mexico was great because we got to have lunch one of my friends from college that I have not seen in over 5 years! We did manage to take one picture together in the snow (IT WAS SNOWING IN NM WTF) and we got to meet her husband! They just got married earlier this year -- congrats again you guys and it was SO GOOD getting to catch up Jenny! 

After lunch we made our way through El Paso, TX and all hell broke loose. Apparently, there was an ice storm in West Texas the night before and the temperature was still below freezing by the time we got there - then the Sun set and things just got worse. It wasn't snowing but there was ice all over the roads and people were wrecking all over the place. We were 150 miles from Fort Stockton (where we had booked a hotel for the night) and there is absolutely NO WHERE to pull over or stop on that stretch of I-10. I have never been so stressed out and scared in my life while driving. Traffic slowed to a mere 19 miles an hour and I witnessed two cars speed past us and then spin out of control and wreck. Thankfully my prayers were working and none of them hit us and caused us to wreck. Chad was driving his car behind me and we were talking constantly on our walkie-talkies but they eventually died. It was stressful. It added 4 extra hours onto our driving that day. It was horrible and when we finally got to our hotel we both got out of the car and just hugged and kissed each other and thanked God for getting us to our hotel safely. I'm so glad I booked our hotel a few days prior to this because every single room in town was FULL by the time we got there. We saw several people that had to go to local churches and schools for the night or even sleep in their cars - it was just awful but thankfully everything turned out fine for us. 

The next day we woke up and started the drive to Austin, TX. I'm going to post about Austin in a separate post since we stayed there 2 days but one fun thing that happened was getting to meet a long time blog friend Cely from RunningofftheReeses! I can't tell you how many times her blog has made me LOL and she is just as funny in real life. It was so good meeting you Cely!  

We stayed in a Austin 2 days and then we left to head to Lafayette, LA for one of Chads shows. We were SO CLOSE to Mississippi I was a little pissy we just couldn't go ahead and GET THERE ALREADY but we had to stop due to his show commitments and I spent the night feeling like crap in the worst hotel ever. Never stay at the Red Roof Inn there - It was just gross and to give you an example of WHY it was gross; as soon as, Olive ran in the room she went under the bed and came back out with a CONDOM WRAPPER in her mouth. Thank God it wasn't the condom but EWW! After that I checked all the sheets and pillows for anything else weird and after all was good I laid down to watch TV and then finally I fell asleep. Chad had his show and then got back late and the next day we got back to Mississippi! The final count was 3,600 MILES driven! It was a long 11 days and we were so happy to be back home. We got back into town and immediately drove to our new rent house and signed on the dotted line making it ours! We move in February 1st and our stuff should be delivered around that same time. It still keeps blowing me away how everything is lining up perfectly and I am just SO THANKFUL for that! 

The next few days were spent with family and Chad had a few gigs and then on January 10th we took my nephew Matthew to his first Comic Con in New Orleans! (what's another 300 miles driving...) It was a blast and deserves it's on post but here is what we looked like: 

We pulled out our Bomberman outfits from Halloween and Matthew was some Anime character that I still can't remember the name of... oops. #badaunt We ARE those people that dress up... I mean that's like 90% of the reason I love going! After that we headed to Jackson to spend some time with my family and I got to meet another one of my long time blog friends Cassie from Always a Blogsmaid. 

My beautiful Gran and I at our FAVORITE catfish house... it's a tradition we share and was one of the first things she wanted to do once we got back in town. Things like this are why I'm so happy we moved back... it's these little moments and memories that I've missed and I'm so happy to be able to spend time with all my family and friends whenever I want to again. I do miss you already Seattle but Mississippi is just HOME.

One night I was in town I met up with Cassie and we went to a yoga class together and then to Babalus for dinner! It was SO MUCH FUN. I can't believe I'm that friend now that everyone wants to go to workout classes with. My old self would have just wanted to do dinner and eat all the carbs I could find but now I get so excited to workout with my friends. Cassie and I grew up in neighboring towns and have always known about each other but I don't think we've ever officially met. Then I moved away and discovered she had a blog and then we fell in blog love and blogged happily ever after. #truestory She's fantastic and I can't wait to get to hang out more now that we are in the same area again! 

Once I got home I told my Mom and Gran all about my yoga class and they made me show them the moves while my Mom copied me and decided that she could do yoga too. I love it - my Mother and I have so much in common and I hope she was serious about wanting to go to class with me one day! I used to do yoga a lot before I started kickboxing and I've always missed it. I'm pumped to get back into the yoga grove again. 

#camelpose

Later that week we did some work at a few coffee shops because my Gran has no internet and our cell phone data plans are already tapped out for the month. It's been pretty amazing not having to go to work and instead work along side of my main squeeze. He goes and gets me water and does everything I tell him too #bestassistantever JUST KIDDING. He's been working his ass off booking gigs while we are starting our business and I'm just so proud of him. 

After a few days in Jackson it was time to take a vacation... off to JAMAICA we went! 

More to come on that in the next post...  

Maybe we should all go to Colorado

Right now I'm at Disneyland with my husband but I have had this post ready for awhile and I figure today is as good as any...

In October we took a trip to Denver, CO to visit some friends and explore the city. I've heard great things about Denver and it's been on my must see list for awhile. I was not disappointed. It was one of the most fun filled vacations we have had in awhile. Usually when we travel it's just Chad and I off on our own but this time we had so many friends in the area that we were busy meeting up and exploring with them the entire time! The weather was absolutely fantastic - we just couldn't have asked for a better trip.

We spent 3 Days in Denver and Chad played two shows while we were there. Here are a few photos:

It was a fantastic trip. Some other highlights were Voodoo Doughnuts and Casa Bonita. Yes, the one from South Park. With the cliff divers and all you can eat Mexican food. Chad literally squealed and made us promise to take him to eat there after we visited Red Rocks. It ended up being the funnest time I've had in awhile. Blackbarts cave was better than expected and there was a huge arcade and just tons of fun stuff to do. The food is barely decent so don't go there for that but if you're looking to pretend your 12 again this place is for you! Cliff diving shows every 30 mins y'all!

Thanks for the good time Denver! 

XOXO 

Well, that was refreshing.

Hi guys!

So, I've found myself missing blogging lately. I started blogging way back in 2011 and after reading all my recaps randomly, I realized how freaking horrible I am at spelling and grammar but also that I miss having those recaps! I put commas in all the wrong places - sometimes I forget letters - I like to add dashes when I don't know if there should be a comma or whatever - but you get my point right? Oh well, who cares if you do or not. It's not like this blog will ever get to be anything other than a memory book for me which is A-OK. 

I have "met" (followed/stalked???) so many of you guys out there in blog land and I LOVE getting updates into your life and I want to share mine again. Well, some of mine. I really just want to talk about food, working out, traveling, reality tv, movies, oh and my dog. LOTS of my dog because lets be honest I have no tiny humans yet and that little furry bitch is my heart and soul. I can call her a bitch because that's what she is (A FEMALE DOG) so if any of my husbands family is reading this know I love you but I cuss and #icantstopwontstop #iwillstopwhenwehavekids #maybe.

I also really like hashtags but only on instagram (FOLLOW ME @crazythoughs) and twitter but honestly 98% of my tweets are instagram posts I send to twitter.... anyone else?

Okay, so lets get to it. What have I been up to for the last 9 months? Not having a kid I'll tell you that much. I realize it's been 9 months and you guys might be expecting some exciting photos coming about a baby that looks like me -  but no... not yet. While everyone else I know is having kids - I am not one of them. Now, with that being said -- I've been super busy! I took the last 9 months to really find myself again. As an adult this time - ridding myself of negativity - self doubt - worry - and a few pounds. Okay, lets be honest I still worry and have self doubt but I'm a lot better! I got bogged down with blogging and lost the FUN part of it where I get to try and be funny and sassy and make someone else laugh. I've always wanted my blog to be a happy place and it's hard to front happiness when you're a tad depressed ya know.

Since I stopped blogging I started working out like a crazy person. I found Kickboxing and Pole class (Click that link and you can see my TEACHER in her little intro video - she is one of the most amazing women I have ever met FYI) and I stopped eating carbs in June. I know... I have no idea what is wrong with me but I have never been happier. I've lost 36lbs in a little over 5 months - I'm smaller than I was on my wedding day and I can do burpees! Well, like 3 good ones before I start crawling up instead of jumping but hey - I'm a freaking badass. Getting rid of this weight on my body has been a lifelong struggle for me but I finally feel like it's coming full circle. I got this... for the first time in my life I KNOW I can do anything I set my mind to. I blogged a lot before about running and trying to lose weight so I'm sure you guys remember (unless you forgot about me then shame on you) but there came a point where I just felt like a failure. I hated blogging about fitness when I wasn't a good example and not getting any damn results. NOW, I have proof - I have success - I have motivation - I have drive. I've still got about 60lbs I want to lose... but in the end it's not even about a number anymore it's about my health. That was my turning point. Thank God I didn't have any health issues that promoted this change in mindset - it was just after years and years it' finally clicked. That is what I have been up to for the most part since I've been gone. Focusing on myself and my health 110%.

This one is the most recent from yesterday! Look how big my ass was! UGH! It's still big but man... I love it so much more right now comparing these two pictures. You can see my entire fitness journey this year on Instagram if you look for #crazythoughsgetsfit and follow me @crazythoughs - I LOVE me some instagram.

Some other bullet points to catch you up and then I'm done with this "catch up" business (unless you have questions for me then comment below and ask and I will be happy to answer) :

We have been traveling like crazy! In June we went to Alaska on a 7 day cruise which was Amazing. Then we took a few trips to coastal Washington throughout the summer/fall - I don't care that the beaches are cold and gray they are some of my favorite ever. There is nothing better than loading up my car for a quick overnight trip 3 hours away with my husband and the little bitch. Watching Olive run around like crazy in the sand gets me every time. Also, those food adventures of trying to find the BEST local pizza and homemade desserts with my husband (Cheat days! - FYI - I get 1 a month and we make it count!) are what make these trips fill my heart with happiness. If only every day could be a vacation day. I'm sure there are other trips I'm leaving out but just know we have been on the move. Last month we went to Denver, CO for the first time together... Chad booked a few shows (he's a musician remember) and we had the best long weekend ever catching up with old friends and making a few new ones.

^ Long Beach, WA ^

^ Alaska Cruise ^

                                 ^ Ocean Shores, WA ^

^ Denver, CO ^

We also have had tons of visitors up here and we JUST made the huge announcement that we are getting ready to pack all our crap up again and move across the country BACK HOME! I know, it seems crazy to some but after 3 years in Seattle we realized where we want to settle and that is smack dab in the middle of our crazy family. It's fast paced up here y'all, we have done/accomplished so much it makes my head spin. I'm so thankful for these experiences and I'm so EXCITED for what's to come next. I'll share more of that later but just know we have major plans for Laurel, MS.

We have the best family and friends. Seriously, you guys are golden. Andddddd I think that's enough for today. I'm not promising to post 5 times a week but I will get at least one post up a week and hopefully more. I missed this... strangely enough but everyone needs a breather at one point or another right?

- Terri