Thursday Three Archives - Page 10 of 12

Thursday Three

February 7, 2014July 22, 2014Samantha Gratton

It’s here, it’s here, it’s finally here!! The OLYMPICS! (Bet you thought I was going to say Thursday). Yes, the opening ceremonies are tomorrow, but some of the events are already playing on TV tonight! I’m so excited! Tomorrow I might even wear red, white and blue. This week has been a lot of highs and lows and not much in between, but I’m excited to end it on a high note.

1. Date night is a vital part of any relationship. I wish we were better about setting a night aside for date night because whenever we do, it really helps to have conversations that never seem to get brought up in the day-to-day at home. We hit up the art museum for the Porsche exhibit and ended the night with an entire pie from the pie place down the road (if you’re going to spend that much for two slices, you might as well go for the whole thing).

2. How does one talk about stress, struggles and insecurities gracefully on a blog? I’m not sure that I’ve figured that out yet. I sometimes consider never mentioning the dark days that I just feel kinda worthless and wonder what I’m good at. There’s days that someone gets mad at you and you don’t know how to handle it but to go home and cry it out. Days when you feel alone even when you know that’s far from the truth. This week has had included days like that. I hesitate to talk about it for several reasons—I don’t necessarily want to keep talking about, I don’t need a pity party and don’t really want to whine about it. That said, I decided to share anyway because often our social media culture is conducive to posting only the glory moments. We post the pretty pictures of parties and traveling as if our life is nothing but celebrations and fun. The problem is, it’s just not reality. We all have good moments and bad. Sometimes it’s nice to know you’re not the only one whose life isn’t always picture perfect.

3. We celebrated Groundhog Eve for the first time ever. Then on Groundhog day we met a real live Groundhog and witnessed the official winter prediction. Honestly, this should be an entire blog post in itself but clearly I’ve been a little behind with my blogging. Let me just tell you that it was awesome. We threw a party and dozens of people brought brown food to join in the festivities. We love hosting this party for so many reasons, but the main one being that it’s really fun for us to introduce our friends to our other friends.

Thursday Three

January 31, 2014July 22, 2014Samantha Gratton

What is it about Thursdays? You look back at the week and think it was ages since the weekend. What did you even do last weekend? Gosh. Yet it’s marks the beginning of an end (or vice versa I suppose) to the week that has something great about it. Besides, who knew I could start so many blog posts just talking about Thursday? I sure didn’t.

1. We said YES. This past week, friends of ours asked us to be in their wedding this September. Friends we met here, in North Carolina. Something about that is crazy to me. We were both really honored to be chosen for these roles and especially after only knowing them for the past year or so. When we moved we really hoped and prayed we could both make close friends and be close friends. While being in someone’s wedding is far from the deciding factor on your friendship status (please, don’t even get me started about how weddings weirdly make you rank your friends), we are really excited to be a part of their big day and their lives.

2. Shut the front door, there’s snow outside. I know I went on a mini-rant/lecture on what is and is not cold last week. This time, it actually is. I wouldn’t say all of the snow days the kids got away with were totally justified but hope they had a good mini-vacay anyway. I decided to embrace a new-to-me Southern recipe by putting a bowl out on the porch to catch some flakes for snow cream. It tastes about as exciting as it sounds: milky sugar snow. As long as there’s sugar involved, it’s a bona fide Southern dish. And alright already. There’s something really pretty and even kinda fun about snow. I said it.

3. There’s a lot of people in the world. Yep, I’m going big with this last one. But it’s true. People are everywhere and I keep being reminded we have to work at things together. People can challenge you and frustrate you but they also strengthen you. It’s worthwhile to come together, even if it’s sorta inconvenient or outside your comfort zone. They’ll rub you the wrong way and sometimes you want to say, “I can do it all without them!” But there will always be someone else that will annoy you in almost the same way. Might as well figure out how to bring out each other’s strengths and work as a team.

Thursday Three

January 24, 2014July 22, 2014Samantha Gratton

It’s been a long week. Nothing particularly bad or big, just lots of little things happening and stress from all those things. Work has been a little hectic lately for everybody here and sometimes it’s hard to know what will be more relaxing: tackling all the things looming over your head or blowing it all off completely. So let me bring you a super short Thursday Three that consists of the most bizarre and unrelated items possible.

1. Something about being tired brings a strange mix of emotions to the surface. You fight easier or spill over too soon. It can also bring out your comfort creativity. When you’re energized that creativity can ooze out in all sorts of wonderful ways but when you’re weary there’s something raw there. It can either sting or soothe to expose that fatigue. Somehow we keep forgetting that our comfort creativity takes very different forms. He plays music and I ~~eat chocolate~~ write. Even though we’ve been married for a few years now we’re constantly seeking and remembering what are strengths and joys are. The trick is figuring out both how to make them work together and when it’s okay for them to simply stand alone.

2. I don’t want a dog right now. I was going through some sort of major puppy fever not so long ago but now that desire is buried deep once more. It’s nice to know that at least. I’d rather plan a trip and save up money. Whew. Glad that discussion’s finally over.

3. Senior photos are the best. We have a nice camera, and I decided it was time to have a decent “casual” headshot. You know, for my work email or the blog or that frame on my husband’s desk I’ll be buying this weekend. So the hubby was given the title of art director, and we spent a few minutes awkwardly walking around the neighborhood. Got a few decent ones…

Then we got this gem.

I channeled all of my inner high school senior meets glamour shots.

Feel free to vote for your favorite.

Thursday Three

January 17, 2014July 22, 2014Samantha Gratton

Hello Thursday, my day of the week. The day that I’m tired and ready for the weekend but sometimes stay up too late anyway just because. Getting home when it’s dark outside makes me feel like I never even had a chance at the day, so I try to stay up late out of defiance but usually don’t accomplish much in those hours anyway. So it goes.

1. Sore muscles are the best worst feeling. After months without formal exercise I decided to try the gym that’s much closer to where we live last night. It was good to get back there and fake some confidence while I lifted baby weights next to hulking men as they grunted. Glorious. Okay, not that part. But I tried to do the machines for the first time since the big injury this summer and didn’t end up on crutches. Success.

2. Learning is fun. I’m taking not one but two graduate level classes this semester at a nearby university. So far so good, but the homework hasn’t really piled up yet. I’m really glad for the opportunity though to learn some new things and hopefully open up some interesting opportunities down the line. The classes are in the nonprofit management program, which in no way relates to what I’m doing in my day job. Sometimes I think doing things like this is really great and interesting and other times I wonder what the purpose is or what I’m doing with my life. But in a good way.

3. February might be my favorite month of 2014. I know that sounds a little presumptuous and not totally fair to the rest of the months. But seriously, so many of my favorite things are happening this February that I can hardly wait! First of all, my favorite holiday (Groundhog Day) is on February 2nd, as always. We might even try to throw another party this year for it. Too soon to say officially, but it’s a good possibility. Second, the Olympics are coming! It will be like a party every day for 17 straight days! I LOVE the Olympics! So, even though that has no direct relation to this week, I’m pretty pumped about February.

Thursday Three

January 10, 2014July 22, 2014Samantha Gratton

And we’re back! Back from a cold and snowy state we love, back from all the holidays and back from a month of very little blogging. I can’t say I have listed out my resolutions for 2014 yet (partly because I am still searching for last year’s list to see how I fared), but I will say that I hope to blog more. It’s a wonderful part of my life and sometimes people even tell me it inspires them. What’s not to love about that?

So we continue with the Thursday Three. Something about it is just a little charming to me. Clearly it’s been a while so let’s just make this three a wrap-up from where we left off instead of only about the past week, shall we?

1. Christmas is a wonderful thing. Some people get all crazy about it and I’m not to that level. There’s not months of Christmas music or much talk of Santa here. It usually is a busy time of work for the hubby and even a little bit of stress as we squeeze too many things in a packed month. But it’s still good. It’s a celebration of a Savior, a time to gather with family and share time and food with others. Maybe I’m all sentimental because it’s already over and our tree is lying cold and lonely on the curb. But let me say it anyway—it’s good. We got our first ever real tree and decorated it in simplicity. We went caroling, sang songs and smiled for the Christmas card. We talked to some kids about what Christmas means for a video we worked on together. We hosted each of our sisters and their families which included several dogs and small children. We exchanged gifts, watched Netflix and found ourselves in a Nerf war.

2. Snow and cold are not our friends. We moved away from that stuff but managed to visit right in the middle of winter. To Iowa we went to visit friends and family and celebrate a wedding of dear friends. We hit some of the town’s finest establishments, rang in the new year (and the hubby jammed along for a song on stage), visited my grandparents and watched two people say “I do.” It was fun and freezing, but we’re glad we got to go to all of it. And bonus—our trip got extended due to days of cancelled flights. Yay cold.

3. Being a grown-up is a funny thing. Sometimes I feel like I’m running around trying to chase down my life. Trying to check off all the lists, go after my dreams and be good at whatever role I fill. Some days I think maybe I’ve made it and I wish I could just walk away with a trophy. But it doesn’t work that way. It’s a constant process of learning and growing. So tonight I’ll sort through weeks of mail while eating cereal for supper at 11 p.m. and just be okay with it. Here’s to another year of who knows what!

This is the only photo we have from last weekend’s wedding, and I’m wearing a baby fur hood from the photo booth. The hubby was super excited about it and insisted we take this photo but somehow managed to avoid donning any sort of accessory.

Thursday Three

November 22, 2013July 22, 2014Samantha Gratton

It’s back and better than ever. Welcome to Thursday! I’m not sure anybody else celebrates Thursday quite as much as I do, but it’s nice to spread some love around the whole week, not just Friday. I used to go all out nuts on Fridays at 5:00 p.m. and practically run out of the building, only to realize I still had an hour and a half (or more) before my commute home was over. It was still this desperate moment of celebration after a week of longing to escape. Not really a way to live, so I am grateful to have a mile long commute now.

1. My dad visited the big NC this weekend. We made sure to show him around town (mostly by eating everywhere) and hiked at Hanging Rock State Park a few hours away. It was crazy foggy but still quite scenic. All in all, a good time.

2. A home theater now resides in our living room. The hubby had been wanting something that didn’t weigh 100 pounds and make a high-pitched noise every time you turned it on. So when a friend of a friend was moving and needed sell a TV for cheap, we came in to save the day. What I didn’t realize at the time of said agreement was how huge it was. Movies have been an entirely new experience. The first movie to hit the screen in our house?

3. I am content. On a drive home from dinner with a friend, I couldn’t help but think of all I had. I have so many good things to be grateful for. A loving husband, good friends, a decent job, an adorable little house, overall good health and plenty more. We live in a more, more, more society, but today I am declaring contentedness. Obviously it’s still good to work towards goals and by no means do I have a pair of shoes to match every outfit in my closet, but I am happy where I am right now with what I’ve got.

Thursday Three

November 14, 2013July 22, 2014Samantha Gratton

I think the Thursday Three needs a theme song. Waaa bow bow!! If only you could hear it directly as the phonetically spelled lyrics do not do it justice. Don’t ask… this is just half the crazy that’s in my head. But it is Thursday. Helloooooo (almost) weekend. You ready? Here’s the past week in review.

1. We got school spirit. That reminds me of my cheerleading days (can you believe it?) – we got spirit, yes we do, we got spirit, how ‘bout YOU? Sorry, I don’t know what’s come over me. Anyway, last Friday we put on some Carolina blue and headed to the basketball game. If you know us, you know that with the exception of the Olympics and a bit of March Madness, neither of us really follow sports (but you better believe I have my calendar already marked for opening ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics). It was fun though to hit a game, catch a win and embrace the basketball culture we are surrounded with. We met up with a few former work friends and had a fun night, despite being able to touch the back wall we were so high up.

2. My dog longing was temporarily fulfilled. No, we do not have our own dog, but we did watch our neighbors’ dog, AJ, for a few days this past week. Oh, and it was so, so, so fun. We went on long walks, she destroyed a bone, we played catch, she chomped on ice cubes, we took all sorts of silly pictures of her being cute and ridiculous. Glorious. And then we picked up poop and had to lint roll our entire couch. In conclusion: I still want a dog, just one that doesn’t shed or poop. Okay, okay. Eventually, I want a dog (that doesn’t shed much), but not today. One day in the distant future.

3. We’re settled in, finally. People keep asking if we’re settled in and unpacked and I would now like to formally announce – YES. With my dad coming to stay for the weekend, we had a deadline and little choice but to finish the job. See that room up there? Well, that’s just a glimpse of it in the final cleaning stages. I seriously wish I had before and after pictures from this weekend because let me tell you, that room was completely filled with boxes. The bed was vertical up against the room because there was no space before now. It was embarrassing, but it was also a fact of life. If you managed to miss any of the blogs from the past three months I’ll fill you in—it was hectic. We were busy and exhausted so clearing out the spare bedroom just wasn’t a priority. But now, we’ve moved in. The job is done. There’s a few odds and ends but all of our rooms are fully functional and you can see the floor. It’s amazing, and we love our little house all the more.

Thursday Three

November 7, 2013July 22, 2014Samantha Gratton

Gee, I blog almost everyday for a month and as soon as we hit November go quiet for a week. What the heck? I’m going to partially blame studying for an exam I had earlier this week. Something about homework makes you feel like if you aren’t doing it then you shouldn’t be doing something else you enjoy. So instead you sit around procrastinating and not really accomplishing anything. But here we are, it’s Thursday. Oh blessed Thursday. Sidenote: “Bless” and all forms of the word is all sorts of Southern charm—something I’m learning to be quite a bit more cunning than we simple Midwesterners might imagine.

1. Marriage brings us together... Over the weekend our church had a marriage seminar that was very interesting to say the least. All in all it was good to go but what I liked the most was that we made no plans for rest of the Saturday night when it was over so we had plenty of time to just hang out. We were totally adorable and laid the quilt in the lawn, surrounded by leaves and the lights strung from the tree to our house, and read a magazine together page-by-page. That was followed by a family band jam session and a walk through town.

2. We’ve hit the anniversary stage with Raleigh. When we went on our walk we wound up downtown (it’s only a mile away) in the middle of a festival. It just so happened to be the same one we randomly came across a year ago when we hardly knew anyone and had no real friends to call. It was fun to reminisce and see how far we’ve come. We’re not always doing something new anymore but doing things twice, setting traditions and making memories. Before it was, “a year ago in Iowa” but now it’s, “a year ago when we were here…” Sorry if I sound like a broken record about that sometimes, but I still think it’s pretty amazing. It’s as if our relationship with Raleigh has really started to blossom and hit its stride. We’ve figured out some of the patterns and are getting into a routine together with this city.

3. I love antiquing. Sunday afternoon we stopped by Vintage Village where several shops are all in a row and perused place to place. The bounty? Two necklaces, a ring, a cast iron rooster and a snare drum. Gosh it’s just too much fun to look through old stuff (junk and treasures really). It’s so interesting and inspiring to me. Whenever I go to a place like this I feel like a part of myself is realized and unleashed. I know the antique look is a little more trendy right now, but I often think I should have been born in a different era. The drum was a great find by the hubby, and I’m fairly sure he loves this sort of stuff as much as I do. It seems to have been owned by only one family before now and had all sorts of memorabilia from the 70s inside the case. The World’s Finest Chocolate Bars were apparently the fundraising tactic way back then—same label just a different expiration date. A lot of the things we find captivate us and adorn our homes but the drum might actually prove to be a profitable pick. That is, if the hubby’s ever ready to give it up. (Who wants to take bets?)

The Week’s Threes

November 2, 2013July 22, 2014Samantha Gratton

I wanted to get to the Thursday Three, I really did. I also had a great last post for the month of October and relationships in mind, but life happened instead. As a writer, I go back and forth between wanting to write all about life and living it. Or maybe it’s just that tumblr keeps seeming to crash every time I try to do something, and I just don’t seem to have the patience for that. Oh, but I have so much to write and think about so here it goes…

1. The fair here is nice, but I still say Iowa’s is better. We spend Saturday perusing the fair during the day time this year and met up with my sister and her boyfriend. We saw some shows that ranged from clogging competitions, dogs jumping and BMX/FMX tricks. All that and it was a perfect sunny and cool fall day.

2. Too many shows, so little time. I know, I just said last week we wouldn’t have anymore shows any time soon but somehow we ended up with free tickets to Michael Buble, and it was so good. We sat about as high up and far away as possible in that big arena, but I still loved it. He is quite the singer and hilarious Canadian man.

3. Costumes aren’t really our thing. We embraced them anyway though for the weekend’s festivities. Every year the hubby is “Floyd the mechanic” thanks to a goodwill find years ago, and every year I try to be creative and end up looking kinda strange. There was a failed attempt at a costume constructed primarily out of cardboard boxes but then I was a cowgirl instead. We ended up at two very different but fun parties on Saturday night and it was good to see so many new friends.

Thursday Three

October 25, 2013July 22, 2014Samantha Gratton

Oh man. I mostly want to cozy up under some blankets and head to bed. It’s hardly chilly here compared to everywhere else but we’ve had the air off all week and the windows opens so it sounds like a good idea to me. Here’s the three.

1. Last weekend we hit the mountains. We stayed in the cutest little cabin and then hiked Stone Mountain. Funny enough, we managed to see someone we knew at the summit and hiked the rest of the way with him and his friends, making new friends all the way down. The joke of course being that now we can tell people we met on the top of a mountain.

2. Nashville remains a wonderful place in my heart. We hit Music City for the past few days so the hubby could attend a conference and I came along and ended up attending as well. We met some great people and visited old friends all while breathing in the Nashville fall air.

3. Tomorrow is almost here. I’ve got a big day tomorrow. More to come! This whole week has been one thing to the next so I’m afraid I missed a few blogging days because of lack of internet or simply lack of time. It’s been a full past few weeks, but I am glad for all we’ve been able to go see and do.