It is what it is

by

Buy Me Some Peanuts and Cracker Jacks

Well personally, I want a big hot dog and a soft pretzel when I am at a baseball game, but that’s neither here nor there.

We love baseball in our house, which I am sure you noticed with our pregnancy announcement.

Opening day was today, and we are so pumped to have our beloved Royals back!

941481_10100202542814941_180377433_n

Tom was so pumped to get a camo KC hat!

Unfortunately, being a Royals fan comes with a lot of pain. We lost our first game today to the Tigers.

But never fear, the season is long! And I am sure we will bounce back!

We are not fair weather fans in this house!

I grew up in KC, and my mom’s house was down the street from the stadium. Many weekends we spent in the parking lot riding our bikes and watching fireworks on Fridays.

My brother and I collected baseball cards like it was our job there for a time.

We ate ice cream and applesauce out of our beloved small plastic baseball caps.

You just love the men in blue when you grow up in KC. And luckily I married a man who also loves my Royals, despite where he grew up being mostly Cardinals fans. He knows where the true sportsmanship is!

Our wedding was also unintentionally in Royals colors. Tom’s favorite color is blue and mine is yellow. That is how we picked out our wedding colors, and we soon then realized that we had matched our Royals.

250270_718855047131_2554501_n

I have had so much fun over the years watching games. The Royals fans and the stadium atmosphere are top notch.

We stand behind our team no matter what.

The games are fairly cheap, and they do a great job entertaining between innings and pitches. It really is a fun time. Plus they have lots of give aways, so generally you are guaranteed some swag when you go. I can’t wait to live closer to take advantage of T-shirt Tuesdays!

484755_10100202542745081_1493802429_n

Some of my Iowa favorites reuniting at the game

251760_687967945131_4192176_n

I had one of my bachelorette parties at a game. Seriously a fan, and I won’t hold it against my sister-in-law (pictured here) that she roots for the wrong Missouri team.

251708_687967745531_1011359_n

250847_914537747431_2020621784_n

My best friend and other half with their men, my mom, and my sister-in-law. They were keeping me distracted while Tom was on one of his Army adventures.

177854_915377225111_285378371_o

This was at an I-Cubs game in Des Moines, but they were playing the Royals farm team. So obviously we came decked out in blue!

4207_559485869241_4358941_n

My best friend and other half (two different people folks)

4207_559485849281_7293084_n

My dad and step mom at a game.

71_506960345811_7003_n

One of the fortunate things of my undergrad was that it was close enough to make it to some games with college friends one in awhile.

233_520735061171_9716_n

Match made in heaven with our fandom!

71_506960290921_8117_n

I think this was opening day one year with my Best Friend and Slugger!

35726_600589108021_2204099_n

My brother and I at a game. See wedding colors?

Tom and I were both born in 1985 when the Royals won the World Series. We were born to be Royals fans. So we are hoping that little birthing luck will be passed down to our Little Guy, and this will be a good year for our boys in blue.

If you were not aware, Lorde’s song “Royals” was inspired by the MLB Royals player George Brett. She saw a picture of him in a Royals t-shirt, and the rest of her fame is history. So it is only appropriate that someone in KC made a parody.

Do you watch baseball? Who is your team? Have you ever experienced a baseball game at the K?

by

My Fashion No

I would like to think that I have a fairly good fashion sense. I would say I am by no means a fashionista, but I like to dabble in making my wardrobe pretty classic. And with being pregnant, I have to work my closet a little more to fit the snuggness that is going on right now. So I have been eying some new items to add to my collection.

Audrey Hepburn and Jackie Kennedy are my fashion icons. Anything they wore, I pretty much think needs to be in my closet.

I love mixing colors. I often spend a lot of time in my closet pairing up different pallets that most wouldn’t do. One this expands the possibilities of my closet, but it also keeps me from buying clothes as often because I see more possibilities this way. I just really enjoy it!

What I don’t enjoy is mixing patterns.

I don’t get it.

82b4c8d88a0897f5c69a4f4bc10ecc77

image via

57cc9903a81ca7255375c20c87919457

image via

e86b29a152640f569883108b1da0faf3

I don’t even know…

image via

d36dcf65c9e618aabbfcb5c523942f03

image via

bced2ea0c6720598b1052babd0c0ef89

image via

This is like nails on the chalkboard to me. I hate it. I truly believe that if you do a pattern, all other items should be simple and understated. And there should only be ONE type of pattern. You have too much going on with more than one varied pattern. My eyes don’t know what to do or where to look. It’s like looking at one of those crazy image things that you stare at and make you dizzy trying to find something.

Again, I am not a fashion guru, so I know there are going to be people who disagree with me.

But I just don’t understand this fashion trend. So I will stick to my simple old fashion ways this spring.

I also don’t like crop tops. Why these are coming back in style is beyond me.

Are there fashion trends that you disagree with or just can’t get on board with?

Are there fashion trends you wish would come back? (Mine would be overalls. Although, I am not sure these were ever in style even though I thought they were.)

by

30 Before 30 Update 4

Here we are another month has past.

1. Crochet something else besides blankets or scarves-so something that isn’t straight lines.

  • Done.

2. Do a 30 day photography challenge

  • I have one picked out. I am going to do it sometime this summer.

3. Visit 3 cities I have never been to before (1/3)

  • I am thinking maybe we can do a babymoon trip this summer.

4. Tour at least one of the distilleries in the area

  • We could still do this but I can’t partake obviously. The Jack Daniels one doesn’t do samples anyway, so we may look into doing that.

5. Send at least 5 snail mail a month

  • Complete.

6. Become a “professional” photographer

  • This last month, I had a lot happen. One of my pictures was featured on one of my favorite photography websites to be critiqued. I got a lot of great feedback on my work, so that was really exciting. This last weekend I was the photographer for a charity art auction. It was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot. One of my photos was also auctioned off, so that was a feel good photography moment.

7. Run at least 5 races (any distance)

  • I am not doing much of running or planning really.

8. Go camping with Tom

  • We are still planning this for our anniversary, however I will be 6 months pregnant. So we may have to make other plans.

9. Pay for the car behind me in a drive through

  • Ugh I need to put a reminder in my car because I never remember until I do these updates.

10. See Tyrone Wells live again

  • Going in May!

11. Tour Fort Defiance here in Clarksville

  • Not yet.

12. Water ski with my dad

  • The pregnancy complicates this a little bit.

13. Do a 5K with my mom

  • Not yet.

14. Take a swing dance class with Tom

  • I will have to wait until my doctor clears me for more activity.

15. Read at least one fun book a month and one professional development book every three months

  • I have slacked on the fun book. The last read was a struggle for me to get through. I did finish a professional development book.

16. Take a pottery or stained glass class

  • I need to look this up to make a plan.

17. Learn how to make sushi

  • Well, the pregnancy is putting a stalemate on this too.

18. See both a Clemson and UCM football game live

  • The baby is due during football season, so it may not be feasible to travel with the bundle of joy to a football game.

19. Volunteer with MCFOTS and Special Olympics on a regular basis

  • Because I am pregnant,  I can’t volunteer anymore. So I may need to find something else, or just lay low for the time being.

20. Explore Land Between the Lakes

  • This is our anniversary trip plan.

21. Ride in a hot air balloon

  • This pregnancy is making this list interesting.

22. Go to at least 10 “new to me” restaurants in Clarksville. (3/10)

  • My supervisor took me to Johnny’s which is a mainstay for Austin Peay. It is a local burger joint. All grease and all goodness. Surprise it was no Chinese. Tom and I didn’t go anywhere the last month thanks to morning sickness.

23. Stay at a bed and breakfast

  • Maybe babymoon?

24. Spend a day without electronics (phone, t.v. and computer)

  • Not planned yet.

25. Have a Kentucky Derby themed 30th birthday party.

  • Still a ways away.

26. Go to non-touristy parts of Nashville

  • We were going to do this when we were in Nashville on Valentine’s Day, but then we found out we were pregnant and then Tom’s car almost exploded. So we didn’t do as we planned. But we found out we were pregnant! And I ate McDonald’s in an AutoZone parking lot. I guess that was a non-touristy part of Nashville…

27. Watch at least 10 movies that I have not seen before that won Best Picture at the Oscars and at least 10 documentaries (not necessarily Oscar winning) Movies (0/10); Documentaries (4/10)

  • We watched a documentary on Auschwitz.

28. Sew an item of clothing from scratch

  • I know what I want to do, I just need to do it.

29. Find a church home here in Clarksville

  • Thanks to morning sickness, I haven’t been.

30. Become a mom

  • Ahhh YES!

So I have been thinking because of the pregnancy, there are a lot of things on this list that I am not going to be able to accomplish within this time frame. I am completely ok with that because being a mom is such a blessing. I do want to continue with this list, but I think I am going to change it to 35 before 35 to give myself more time and add 5 more things to do. I haven’t thought about what those things are, so I plan to have an updated list by April.

I am in charge of this so I can change it if I want!

by

My Thoughts on the Oscars

I.LOVE.THE.OSCARS.

I watched the whole red carpet. (I may have DVRed it, and watched it again.)

I stayed up for every second. (And for this gal who has been falling asleep between 7 and 8pm for the last two weeks, this was a big deal!)

This was one of my favorite Oscars to watch. I know others were not as found of it, but I really enjoyed it. It might be because I think Ellen can do no wrong…

I also love all the glamor and glitz of the evening.

Here are some of my thoughts as the night went on.

  • I absolutely loved the dresses that Sally Fields, Pink, Lupita Nyong, and Jennifer Lawrence wore. I would put them on in a heartbeat.
  • I have two dream jobs. One is to be one of the escort women on stage who just stand there in beautiful gowns. I love wearing fancy ball gowns and to do so without a script or much spotlight, absolutely. My other dream is to be a seat filler when stars go to the bathroom or where ever they may run off to. How cool would that be?
  • “Happy” by Pharrell was my favorite performance. I love that people got up and danced.
  • I am going to say it and probably be crucified because of it, but I don’t see what the hype is about “Let it Go.”
  • I think they should give more time to group winners. The second person to the mic always gets screwed because the first person took so much time! I always feel bad for them.
  • This is the first year I have seen none of the films that were nominated for the big awards…I blame it on the morning sickness. I will be remedying that soon since they all currently are saved on Netflix.
  • Lupita Nyong’s acceptance speech was absolutely my favorite speech. It was so genuine and full of emotion. It made me cry it was so beautiful.
  • I also loved watching McQueen react to winning Best Picture for “12 Years a Slave.” I love when people aren’t too pompous about winning. He was just so perfectly excited.
  • Ellen giving out pizza had to be the best thing. I really loved how she interacted with the audience, but watching the stars scarf down pizza in their fancy wear was just delightful.

Someday I am going to host Oscar parties at my house and do ballots, dresses, and the whole shabang. It is going to be awesome.

Also, I am guest posting today for Elizabeth over at Army Ever After! You should check her out!

What were you favorite parts of the Oscars?

Did you have a favorite outfit?

by

Being Still

This week Tom has been out at the range with overnight training, so the dogs and I have had full reign of the house.

I have been taking advantage of the time to myself and making myself be still.

I don’t do still very well.

But a month long episode of nausea will make a person not want to move.

Because of my health concerns over the last month, my doctor has restricted me to no activity over walking or yoga for a few weeks. (A doctor restriction sounds a lot more serious than we believe it to be. I just need to slow down a bit to keep it that way. No worries friends!)

So I have to be still.

This is so hard for me, but it has been really good for me at the same time.

I have taken the time to breathe more, to sleep more, to not worry about connecting online as much.

It’s just me and the dogs.

While I like being busy and having things to do, it is so important for us to take time to be still. You can reconnect with yourself and listen to what your body needs.

So I am still here. I am just taking some time to be still.

Now if I can just get the dogs to be still, we would all be great in the Whitener household. Just kidding, I enjoy watching their energy.

cd52bfd6aa59966ebda6ea501f0acc78

image via