productive day!

just stoppin' in to say hello!

tim & i are about to go pay mom in law a visit

but he's takin' a nap first

i believe we are going to get some bbq for dinner

squealers, maybe?

excited!

let me tell you

we spanburgs have enjoyed a rather productive day

husband does has a sore back

don't even get me started on that one.

ask me about it in person

and i have a pretty pesky neck

but we did a pretty good job nonetheless:

had our home appraised...

fixed a few things that had to be done before closing

and packed up some boxes

i don't think he was very happy about this!

poor guy barely has a place to sit

i've also been making an effort to clean the house for the people moving in

i finally decided to clean out my fridge

prepare for disgusting-ness!

uh... what is that??

if you are currently eating food,

stop!!!

ugh!!!!

sheer disgust.

i don't know what those black things are.

they weren't moving so that's a good sign they weren't alive.

while i was trying to get that hot mess cleaned up, i made this hot mess

i just left the water running and it overflowed everywhere!

what the heck is wrong with me.

i'll be glad when this move is over & done with

i'm a total space case scatterbrain!

mostly my week in review...

i haven't much time

so i apologize in advance for the haphazard nature of this post

things have been insane

but i've been dying to bring some positivity to this outlet of mine

not sure when it happened

but this humble journog (or blournal)

is something i truly look forward to updating on a regular basis

helps me de clutter the mind

and even though i may not have time to speak with the few of you who read this on a super regular basis,

i know we are connected throughout the week.

might seem cheap

but i kinda like it :)

i love when you guys have updates, p.s.

and check for new posts on my lunch break everyday

'kay.

while i'm looking forward to moving to a new place during the beautiful and comfortable season of fall, i'm also terrified of chicago winters. the other day while the husband and i were visiting with some friends (my first close friends who are expecting, which is super exciting....) tim checked his iPhone to see what the temperature in highwood was. it was fifteen degrees cooler than it was in jamestown.

fifteen degrees

!!!!!

it's non negotiable. i am going to have to get a better winter coat. i'm kind of a loser. last christmas tim's papaw gave me a nice monetary christmas gift that i planned on using to go towards a realllly expensive north face jacket. they are so expensive but i think so worth it and i so want one. well, we never found one i thought was reasonable and would work well enough for my needs so i ended up buying shoes or something. who knows, i can't remember. so this we must save up some money for. tim thinks if he can tough it out i can. but i will not be able to live right next to lake michigan wearing my fall calvin klein jacket. (it was my fault, i bought that jacket knowing it wasn't a winter coat but pretended it was a winter coat anyways.) oh, how i learn from my stupid trendy-driven mistakes :) i don't care how i look anymore!

so... a few things happened in the past few days

the 'bucks found me a store in chicago

and it it sans drive thru

which means no chicago drive thru winters

yay!!!

i used most of my teavana birthday giftcard the other day

...$43 i spent on tea...

i purchased Arcadian Apple

smells like apple heaven!!

i'm sure they don't recommend you do this:

you can actually eat the pieces of apple after you steep them

(it was that delicious!)

... i was really hungry when i made my first cup....

Emerald Bamboo Forest

the guy who helped me recommended this one to me and i was told to try it iced with the arcadian apple... the guy is a genius and it is incredible

Rooibos Tropica/Jasmine Dragon Pearls blend

i have been lusting after this blend for a long time!!

unfortunately, teavana will be discontinuing arcadian apple so i need to go back and get some more... i wanted to try it before i bought several ounces of it. i also would like to get their white earl grey tea... i was told you can get three steeps out of each batch of tea used. and it smelled wonderful! i saved a few dollars from this week's personal budget and then will be using next week's and the rest of my gift card to get stocked up before the big move. i'm sure they have teavanas there... i just won't know how to get to them for awhile :)

back to this past week... husband and i finally saw The Town

definitely gets an A from me

i thought it was incredible

and i officially crush on boston accents more than the british ones

i keep making husband say "get in the cahhh" to me

he gets a kiss when he does it right :)

so go see it!!

warning: there is one boob (yes, one) and lots of language.

so know that before you decide to go or take your man!

also this week,

my parents bought me a GPS for chicago

seriously the sweetest thing

i'm so thankful for my parents

through this gift they reminded me they know me inside and out

and that's pretty touching :)

in other news,

nash has been quite the holy terror

how is it that i love him more and more despite this fact?

here is he is lying next to a pee spot i had to clean up

how can he be so precious one minute...

and then eating dollar bills the next?

maybe it's because he smells really good when he's sleeping

(i know this is creepy, but it's true. ask husband)

maybe it's because he sleeps in my lap every time i write a blournal

hopefully my kids will be better behaved!

so i think i should stop here. as you can see, this is like two weeks worth of blogs crammed into one... i have more cute pictures but i think i'll have to wait 'till next time.

thanks, casey, for clearing this up for us

regarding I'm Still Here

to see or not to see?

i might need to mention that one of the biggest reasons this whole film piqued my curiosity is that i absolutely love casey affleck. i'm often bitter that my many of my favorite actors aren't given credit for their brilliance

casey affleck, matthew fox, robert pattinson....

so sue me

casey is a genius. so is joaquin phoenix. casey producing joaquin's mockumentary?

still not sure

i might have a friend...

There is a lovely couple at our church who introduced me to their daughter Amber sometime ago. She and her family live in the Chicago area and Amber's mom (Judy) wanted us to meet because she thought we were alike and would click. Amber and her husband stopped at Starbucks the other day, as they were in town for Old Fashioned Days and to visit (I think) with family. We are facebook friends and have been communicating through comments and status "likes." She does not realize this because we really don't talk but Amber has been a great encouragement to me as of late. Knowing I have someone in the area who shares in my faith and seems to be amazing makes the move feel less lonely. I know that this move will be difficult on a lot of people because change is just plain hard. At times I feel I romanticize this move simply because I desperately need a change at work. When it really comes down to it, I know that a part of me will be broken hearted... because we may not come back. We have no idea what the future holds.

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for providing for my every need... and for loving us through friendship. Thank you for Amber, who though I barely know her, has encouraged my spirit leaps and bounds. It seems Your gracious Love knows no limit.

Oh how He loves us.

:)

can't help it

i want to see this

go here to read one review

and here for another

different (or better?) perspective

i am intrigued.

and i want netflix so i can satisfy these doc(or mock)umentary cravings of mine.

cheap shots?

not a fan.

just tell it like you feel or see it.

the boys

p.s.

tim lied.

those apartment pictures?

not ours.

:(

we'll have a much tinier yard but we still get a patio.

ohwell...

weird.

Today I realized that I have two absolutely ridiculous quirks and in true misty "that's a good story" fashion, I'm going to share them with you.

quirk #1

This one I have actually known about for quite some time: my disgust for the smell of syrup. I walked into my store's restroom this afternoon and literally wrinkled my nose in disgust like somebody had farted. Did it smell like fart? Nope, it smelled like syrup. Yuck. It's absolutely repulsive. And it just smells dirty. Husband gets into biiiig trouble when he fails to rinse his pancake dishes. Wife kinda wants to kill him. Ask him, he'll tell you.

quirk #2

I am severely uncomfortable when I have to eat food with my shoes on. Even when I wear chacos I'll notice that I slip them off under the bar (we are sans table until the big move) every night at dinner. Today at lunch I went outside on the patio to eat my Wendy's and my shoes came off. Eating outside on the Starbucks patio in my socks. Very professional. I grew up in a house covered with carpet and living in our house now with the hardwood floors is still hard to get used to. I never used to wear shoes. They stifle me, yet they aren't optional if I want happy feet and joints. Even though everybody & their mother tells me hardwood is so much better (and I believe them) I'm excited to have carpet again!! Carpet means I get to walk around in my socks again. So yeah, back to the food... I guess I just need to be absolutely comfortable when I eat my food or something.

so i enjoy talking about why i'm weird.

i hope this inspires you to stay weird.

that was weird.

weird.weird.weird.weird.weird.weird.

hah :)

utter. cuteness.

friend, julie

posted this today and

these kittens are so cute i can barely stand it!!!!

oh how i wish husband wasn't allergic

(and yes i copy "husband" from taza)

oh... just 11 things

1. seriously, coke is so much better when it is the kind that was made in the '60's

and when it is from a real glass bottle.

seriously, why is this?

2. my sister is the best

in our defense, these pictures were taken awhile ago

but this pretty much sums up why she is awesome.

and oh do i have some of these with miss tiffany

sooo look forward to that tiff :)

3. i perfected my hummus recipe

this is the way that misty star spanburg likes it:

1 can chick peas

some chick pea juice

2-2 1/2 cloves of fresh minced garlic

juice from 3 lemons

zest from 1 lemon

(if it's large, use part, then add more to taste)

2 1/2 Tbsp olive oil

this recipe will cause garlic to seep out of your pores...

and you will reek of it

no matter how many showers you take

or how many times you brush your teeth

it, like indian food, will stay with you

but it's sooo worth it!

4. today i bought triscuits to go with my hummus because i didn't realize that triscuits are made of like four ingredients. that's pretty awesome!

5. husband can't come home 'till midnight tonight an' that just sucks

:(

6. our official move in date is set for october 9th

7. why do people think it's okay to knock on your door to ask you if they can rent your house?

8. why do people think it's okay to creep around your house, next to your windows on a monday morning when it's obvious two people are in the home... then set up a showing a few days later to see the inside?

jeesh, i'm glad that lady didn't make an offer. creep.

9. started physical therapy this week... it went well

10. i'm exhausted... constantly

11. i want another one

update.

big news:

we got an offer on the house.

!!!!!!!

if all goes well, we will be closing on the 15th of October. we would move the week of the 9th (we're not yet sure if we'll pick a friday or a saturday to move). the scary part about that is it usually takes 30-60 days to transfer someone... hopefully they can get it done in 30... we are in between district managers which makes the whole situation even harder... but hopefully since my boss has worked in chicago he can make it happen!

there is a starbucks in highwood and it is 1/2 a mile from our apartment.

let's pray that happens...

more updates to come.

spanburg home.

okay so here is my news:

we think we've set a date for our move.

it's not official yet... we should know in about a week

but tim put a hold on an apartment!!

i am super sad to live far from my good friends & family

but i also am terrible at this limbo deal and am ready to get on with it, already

it's also no fun having a husband who leaves a few days every week

tuesdays i'm good

(lacey has been coming over and i'll never tell you what we've been doing)

wednesday nights after youth group i'm completely worthless

ready for him to come home

so this apartment is fantastic. it's in a nice neighborhood. it has a door that you have to have a key to get into or (i believe) be buzzed into by one of the tenants. it's sort of expensive but doesn't look like it was remodeled in 1962. the best part is this:

originally we thought we'd have to live somewhere on the 4th floor. that's all they had available because one of their buildings was being remodeled. having a daschund means we'd have to carry nash up and down 4 flights of stairs everytime we took him to the bathroom... and i don't even want to think about hauling groceries. great exercise but i know that would get old. this building is still undergoing some construction in the hallways (so they won't look so nice just yet) but we can move into the apartment and i'm confident it will be worth it to deal with the construction during the day. the most awesome part about the first floor is it has a little yard! which means nash can still go out on his stake and lay dead in the grass... and letting him out will be so much easier. we'll have to train him not to act like he's going to kill everyone who walks past with that ferocious bark of his, but it will be worth it. he needs to get over that. this apartment is also slightly bigger than the one on the fourth floor.. and you can get to the patio via our bedroom.

!!!!

very excited.

not to mention that i am so ready for a transfer.

so without further ado, here are the first pics of our place

this is our place

and here is nash's yard

the patio...

you all can come visit and stay i don't know where.

hah.

and so our tentative move in date is october 9th

we will know for sure next week!

sigh no more

love

it will not betray, dismay or enslave you.

it will set you free.

be more like the man you were made to be.

there is a design,

an alignment,

a cry of my heart to see

the beauty of love

as it was made to be

thank you, grandpa, for that food processor i insisted i didn't want

today i made hummus!

the recipe needs perfecting

and i tend to be harsh on myself when it comes to my cooking

the first batch was destroyed by too much olive oil & too much water

the second was a bit too lemony...

but i've been mowin' down on it all afternoon so it's really not that bad!

you can bet i'll be working to make it better...

here were my ingredients:

i had to laugh because after i concocted the first batch i went to walmart specifically to pick up a few more cans of garbanzo beans so i could try again... and of course, i got some other type of bean and then had to go to iga to get the right kind. this is why i'm a bad cook, people! i don't pay attention!

so the next time i make my hummus i'm going to use less of the lemon zest.. i believe i used about two lemons worth and it ended up being a bit too heavy. i also need to replace my pepper.. it's old! i'd also like to use fresh garlic! i've been watching youtube videos all afternoon about how to crush, chop, and smash garlic.

anyway... some exciting news i'll try to share tomorrow. today was pretty nice... i made hummus and cookies, bought a new steamer and some makeup, went to the doc and he's sending me to physical therapy for my shoulder and making me take medicine (i'm really proud of how little i've been relying on it lately), met some great girls at youth group tonight and had a lot of fun with the kids...

hope you are doing well and have a great rest of the week!

yes again.