patience

Home. I rushed through the door today after countless hours of studying and a quick detour to the Old Navy (because a girl needs cheap pants that won't last very long, right?) with one thought in mind. COFFEE. Any other day I would have stopped by Starbucks and gladly sipped on their several sugar laden, bad for the world coffee but today was special. Yesterday C priority mailed Octane coffee for me from Atlanta. The irony of him being there for a month after I moved to Texas is NOT lost on me.

Shit. 

As I'm on the phone with C, I literally blurt it out. I forgot to stop by H.E.B. Which is another Texas thing. Georgia, well, Atlanta is full of Public, Fresh Market, Whole Food and even a brand spankin' new Sprout but no H.E.B. So I had to rush outside in weather that freezes my nose and turns by mitten-less hands bright red to buy some milk. Let me tell you, it was so worth it. I haven't drank coffee that velvety and delicious since I came to Texas a couple of months ago. There are so many things about Texas that take my breath away. Especially C!

I am constantly in awe of his patience with me. I pride myself in a lot of qualities, patience being at the lowest (both literally and figuratively.) He may have many qualities that need improving, honestly I can't think of even on, but he is so patient with me. He tries to understand, and hides dark chocolate in the house, brings me flowers every week, religiously follows through with date nights and loves my family so well! So since he's been gone I've had to be patient especially with myself. After long hard days.

So here's to hoping that this week flies by and I get to be home with my fiancee, girlfriends and most importantly my crazy fun family! And learning patience each day. ;)

everything's bigger

     It's hard to believe that it's only been a week since I packed up all my worldly possessions and moved across the country. Are you allowed to grow as a person in such a short period of time? I feel at peace. Without the crutch of comfort and familiarity, I have been forced to do things by myself on many occasions and it's been good. Have you ever thrown yourself head first into a situation without knowing the outcome but knowing (hoping) that God will catch you? That is the best way I can describe my experience so far in the Lone Star state. C is wonderful to me, as always. He is kind and patient with my many breakdowns. Believe me, there have been plenty. Few nights ago, I was pouring myself a glass of milk before bed and the tears just kept on rolling down my cheek. It's like I'm going through some big emotional detox that I never thought I needed. Those first couple days, tears came from joy, frustration, burnt suppers, overwhelming clutter, homesickness and sometimes loneliness. He nursed and nursed and nursed and nursed my heart filling those tiny holes of family and best friends with promises of new adventures. 

     So here I am, sitting in my still cluttered, full of boxes apartment because C had some army business to tend to tonight, completely at peace with this. If you know me, you know that I tend to make a lot of "leap of faith" decisions. Not in a reckless way but in a "this will be really hard but it's something I need to do to grow" way. We have these wonderful neighbors. Especially two older couples. They say things to me like, "You look just beautiful hon, go out in the town" with suave cowboy hats and massive belt buckles. And remind me that southern hospitality calls for C to treat me to dinner when I have "such a pretty sundress on." I'm sure that when people told me that everything was bigger in Texas, it included peoples hearts. 

     I know there are still many more hurdles to overcome before Texas is "home" but ending this week on a good note is something I cannot cloud. 

Honeybubble Atlanta

First up in my mini series is this darling place called Honey Bubble Tea!

This neat little place is tucked in the Virginia Highlands/Old Fourth Ward district. This area in particular is one of my favorite parts of Atlanta with every little place propping up embracing the old into the new in it's architecture and even the vibe inside. It just screams comfort or hipster, depending on who you are asking.

Boba tea is one of my favorite obsessions right now. I think it's the perfect celebration drink. I mean the tapioca pearls just remind me of confetti at a New Years Eve party. Isn't it? I discovered this place while driving to one of my favorite coffee places in the area. My sister and I ventured to this place one Sunday night at about 6pm. (This is a huge deal because it seems as though everything in the South closes at 6 on Sundays.) The minute we walked in inside we were in love. The decor is warm with beautiful yellow gold couches that invite you to stay a while.

I ordered their Signature Honey Tea while my sister went for the clear Passionfruit Tea. They also have these small rows of macarons lining their little nibbles section which they get from another on my favorite bakery in town. I was dizzy with all the different options that I could choose from, and they also serve warm tea which is a definite keeper. Y'all this tea was the best I've ever had. I knew I had to come back, so I did, the very next day. We talked about just how perfect this place will be in the summer time when Atlanta is extra hot. It's not kitschy like many of the other tea places that are in town, mainly the suburbs it seems. I have no doubt that this place is here to stay.

So no doubts about it, this is going to be my go-to place for Boba. Plus they have plenty of parking, which really is a win-win for Atlanta.

Ps. I wasn't paid for this or compensated in anyway. These are my honest opinions. :) Also excuse the bad quality of pictures. My DSLR was dead. 

Why Atlanta is cool!

I'm starting a new mini-series about Atlanta. You see Atlanta is like me, it's a little rough around the edges but always improving. It surely has taken me a lot of time to fall in love this city of mine, but now I'm completely smitten. I've lived near Atlanta for roughly 4 years, but just never took the time to explore it. When C was home we would always plan trips to some of our favorite cities, like Chattanooga or Charleston but little did we know that everything our hearts craved was so close to home. To be honest, I didn't start to explore Atlanta until C was deployed since we tried to spend most of our weekends together, so either I was in Texas or we'd stick to our old favorite spots around town. Atlanta is a charming city! We truly have a little bit of everything, and the food scene is brimming with clever, up and coming chefs. The art scene is booming. And the coffee. Oh my heart! Anybody can be at home in Atlanta y'all, it's not perfect by any means, but for anyone who has loved before knows that it's the imperfections that draws you closer in.
So, here's my small effort to explore my city better, document it better and show you that Atlanta really does have a lot of heart.
So here we go.

PS. Be sure to follow my adventure on Instagram!

on homecomings w/ DropCam!

Homecoming videos are my absolute favorite! I may a bit partial but there is nobody on this planet that doesn't get goosebumps all over when we watch a soldier coming home. Back, before I went alumna in my sorority, we would all watch these and bawl. So precious. Recently, as we get closer and closer to the half way point of this deployment I've been planning all these things that I would like to do for C and with C. We've been talking about finally throwing an official engagement party, planning a trip way out west to go camp and surf, and more particularly we've been talking about the little things like grocery shopping and cooking together. Isn't it crazy that when you're significant other has been away for a while you start to miss the mundane little things. It's just more fun when you have your love by your side at Whole Foods trying to decide what exactly would you use a crab apple for?
The folks over at DropCam asked me if I would check out their holiday homecoming videos and see what I thought. Y'all I couldn't say no! My roomie and I sat down to watch these, and cue in the happy tears! My absolute favorite one was the Dog! It's number 4 on the list. Chewy will freak out after C is home, and it's going to be even more precious because he's a great dane! Is there anything more adorable? I couldn't not share this with you guys.
So no matter what the season is in your life, I know that this will remind you that somewhere out there in the world there is family being reunited with their soldier. There is no better joy. As for the rest of us spending this holiday season without our special someone, we can watch these videos and feel a little better in preparation for that homecoming!
Y'all be sure to check out their products as well, I'm thinking about getting one of those bad boys so C can feel closer to home.
PS. I'm aware that the quality on that picture is horrible. It was from the Pre-deployment blog this summer, and between awful lighting and camera quality, this is the best I've got.
N.

Lately

Y'all we finally put up Christmas decorations at the apartment. We went through many mental debates on where to do that this year since there is only one more week of finals left and then we will be heading home. But then we got this huge burst of christmas spirit and decided to put it up. That also means we have been in an usually great mood because our home smells like pine and lights up in many corners. We bought these lights for $1 from the Dollar Tree last year which we thought was such a deal until we realized that they don't connect to each other, they only have one darn outlet. So we had to come up with some creative ways to hide the long string of outlets connect at the same point.
It was a struggle, but the end result is quite beautiful. We didn't want to take the flag down because considering C is deployed it just felt wrong. Thankfully both my roomies (my sister and my bff) agreed. with me.
We sent C this adorable Thanksgiving package that he still hasn't received. My heart broke when he told me that.
I'm mostly done Christmas shopping. I know I'll be completely done by the end of this weekend. Hallelujah!
We have been playin' trivia every Wednesday at this Pizza place. We absolutely suck... mainly because the questions are wayyyyyyy before our time. It's all in good fun anyway.
I bought an Aeropress recently so we have been tripling our caffeine intake this week and making lattes nonstop. Y'all NEED to buy this. Put it on your christmas list, it's the best thing you can do for a caffeine lover.
I kind of wanted Hunter rainboots for Christmas but I just cannot justify spending that much money on rain boots right now.
I realize this post is super rambly. But life has been unusually stressful lately so I just haven't had enough time for meaningful posting.
I ran a 5K on thanksgiving remember? Well I'm trying to tackle a 10K next. I'm thinking of blogging about that on a weekly basis. Because the struggle with that is real.
I also have a pair of new running shoes in the box right now that I really need to get around to using but the weather has been SO sucky here in Georgia.
Hope you all are having a wonderful start to your holidays!
N.

6 more months

I have majorly slacked on my promise to myself to regularly blog throughout this deployment. So, here I am recommitting to this little blog. We officially have 6 more months to go! Phew. C and I threw ourselves a mini party over the phone over this small milestone. Our conversations lately only seem to comprise of what presents to buy for our families and friends and avoiding the eminent, you're missing the holidays, moments. The holidays are C's favorite time of the year. I mean Christmas in our home starts by the end of October.

C makes me watch holidays movies on repeat all December. I mean he even buys those awful "Shrek Christmas" movies. It's kind of adorable. I'm patiently waiting for his "deployment christmas present," in the mail so I can ship out his package before it is too late. Overall, we are doing good so far. I hate holidays without him though. Even the stupid little ones. I've said it before and I'll say it again, deployment is easy because of my amazing girlfriends and my family. Oh, I can't even imagine how I would get through this time without my girls.

Today, I told C that I wanted the new Urban Decay Naked palette and surprisingly in his head he narrowed it down to something for your face. It was quite the moment. My first 5K is coming in a week and 2 days. I am beyond excited because I feel adequately prepared for it. That's the newest happenings in the last few weeks. I'll leave you guys with some silly things C does.

He always, I mean always gets inside the shower without grabbing himself a towel.
He sleeps like a log. The world could be falling apart and he could easily sleep through it.
C makes much better pancakes than me. Also pizza.
During workdays, when his alarm rings he immediately springs upto his feet. It beats me. I'm the type of person where I have to set 4 alarms leading to the alarm to wake me up.
His least favorite chore is laundry. His favorite? Dishes. It works out because I prefer laundry over dishes.
When we are out, he has a "Ready to go?" look. It's kind of hilarious.

More over thanksgiving break.
N