Tag: Missouri

A Night In My Hometown

A Night in my Hometown

I live in a small town outside of my college town and some times when I venture into town I see things/people that I don’t like or understand, but it’s my hometown.

 I’m going to tell you a story of my Friday night, well part of it that it is.  It all started when I tried to be a good fiance to J who had already clocked a 14 hour day with no end it sight.  So, I thought food.  That’s the way to any man’s heart, right?  I mean that’s what I was always told by family and it always seem to work.  It’s funny because the way to my heart is chocolate and that’s technically food, so I guess that’s the way to anyone’s heart – their favorite food.  

Anyway back to my hometown story…

My hometown doesn’t offer too many options for good food, so, I ordered some wings for J at a local pizza joint.  I went to pick them up and they weren’t ready so I grabbed a seat to wait.  In walks this man, I instantly got a weird vibe from him and hoped that he wouldn’t sit next to me to wait for his order.  Now, let me say that I am never that person.  I really can talk to anyone, but some people give me the creeps and this man was no exception.

He sat down and said hello.  I said hello back.  Then he starts making fun of one of the workers.  I wasn’t a fan of that so I just sat there nodding, which I guess that opened the door to more free conversation.  The next topic he decided to talk about was boobs.  Other women’s boobs …for about five minutes.  All I kept thinking was really, seriously?

Seriously?!?  Do I look like I am open to that type of conversation?  I don’t want to hear about how five years ago you got to see a girl who was probably 15 at the time that had ginormous boobs.

I just sat there with my fingers crossed and hoped that my order would be up and I could hear that magically words, “Meredith To Go.”  I may or may not have jumped up so fast that I almost face planted into the counter.

Oh it’s just another night in my hometown.  Got to love it!

Cheers!

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Perfect Summer Evening

yawn
Sometimes you have just a perfect evening. Earlier this week J and I had one of those evenings. We grilled, sat outside on our new patio set and played with the dogs. I think Maggie is used to me taking pictures of her…lick maggie maggieandtiny Tiny doesn’t sit still long enough for too many pictures, but little Maggie doesn’t mind a photo or two …or three.

Here’s to more of these perfect evenings.

Cheers!

How to Naturally Repel Flies

Flies. I hate them.  Hate. Hate. Hate them.  With summer here and a nice patio that we are wanting to use, J and I have made it our mission to rid our backyard of flies.  We have a new grill and lovely patio set that are calling our names.

So, after some research we have come up with a few ways to repel flies and will document these how-tos.

The first, which is probably the simplest one to do is the Water Bag with Pennies.

You only need three things:

1) Baggie with zipped closure
2) Water
3) Pennies

pennybag pennybag2Fill the bag half-way with water, add the pennies and then seal.  We hung ours in an area where the sunlight would reach.  It is said that the light reflection from the water and pennies bother flies and they avoid the area.

We’ll keep you updated on whether this tactic makes a difference.  We are going to add a few more tactics under our belts too, so be on the look out for those.

Cheers!

Summer To-Do List

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It’s official. Summer is here. The humidity is up and my allergies are finally starting to subside, a little. I put together a little list of fun things that I’d love to do in these next few months. What do you have on your to-do list?

1) Attend a Cardinals Baseball game
2) Go to the lake as much as possible
3) Grill majority of our meals
4) Learn to make a new summer cocktail, preferably with raspberries.
5) Work more on our wedding plans (getting those invites addressed without pulling out my hair)
6) Commit to Crossfit at least 3x a week (fingers crossed)
7) Spend time with J’s family and my family
8) Teach Tiny a few new tricks
9) Start saving for my Bachelorette party(!!!) in NOLA.
10) Go to Founder’s Park to watch a movie

Cheers to a great Summer!

M.I.A.

I feel as if I’ve been M.I.A. for the past few days. I haven’t felt like doing anything. My poor house is a mess, the dogs need baths, and my little ole blog has been neglected.

Where have I spending my time?

Well for starters I’ve been attempting to do Crossfit 3x a week… it’s slowly getting there. At least I can wake up the day after and not fall out of bed because my legs aren’t there to catch me.

#perfectevening #springfieldcardinals #springfieldmo

Next, we went to a Springfield Cardinals game last week.  J had won a contest at work and got free tickets to the Budweiser suite.  Of course we could not pass up a night of Cardinals baseball, beer, and stadium hot dogs.

Then I’ve been adding prints to the MereLynne Etsy shop. If you haven’t seen the new listings, please check it out.  Plus, learning the ins and outs of Etsy has been a bit challenging for me.  Promoting my pieces, my site, and my Facebook page are a bit time consuming.

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Not your average pillow #dog #doglove #sleepypup #goodmorning

King of the mountain. #dog #doglove #cardinals

Finally, I’ve been spending some quality time with J and the pups.  I’m sure they appreciate that the quality time does not involve water and soap, but they can’t escape that for long.  Honestly, I should have cleaned around the house this past weekend.   I really, really should have.  But the couch looked some comfortable and there was a really good movie on all day… so alas I did not clean.

I’m pretty excited because my parents are coming for a visit this weekend.  My Dad hasn’t seen our new place yet.  Which means two things: 1) our house has to spotless before 8pm on Thursday night 2) we need to go grocery shopping so that it appears we have food and are doing just fine.

You know, the basics before any parent comes to visit.  Don’t look like a slob and pretend that you have enough food to feed yourselves.

It’s going to be a pretty busy week and I’m glad that I took the weekend to prepare for it.  See, I’m still trying to convince myself that it was a good thing I was lazy this weekend.

Cheers!

6 months to go

Love <3 #branson

Here we are: six months to go till J & I say “I Do.”  Whew! TIme flies when you are having fun.
Trying on my WEDDING DRESS this afternoon. I'm so excited! #wedding #weddingdress #thebigday
I found my dress – that was a huge weight off my shoulders!  My dress is absolutely perfect, in every way.

Here are a few tips that I’ve discovered along this wedding planning process:

– check your budget.  It’s very, very important to stay on top of your budget. Buying wedding gifts, favors, and little things here & there can really do a number on your budget.  You think you are a-okay and in the green, but then as you get closer to the big day and final payments are due then you might shock yourself.

– prepare your rehearsal dinner. I have the venue booked for our rehearsal dinner and a menu in mind, but it’s time to start narrowing down your guest list. If you’re wedding plans are similar to ours then a small, imitate dinner is all you’re looking for.  Our venue is a room at an event center where we can come and go easily.  It’s small enough that we are envisioning a room full of family and future family sharing stories, laughing, and eating some good food.

– block hotel rooms.  J had one task that he made his own. I had no input in which hotel he blocked, I just wanted to make sure that we had a room.  I have to admit – he did good!  We have one of the nicest hotels in Springfield reserved with a shuttle for our guests so no one will have too much to drink and no way to get back to their room.

We are still working on finding an officiant.  It’s next on our list and will be done ASAP! It’s making me a little nervous that we don’t have someone booked yet, but can have everything fall into place perfectly.  So far, I will not complain about how smooth the wedding plans are going.

Cheers!

Meanwhile at the firing range

IMG_2251 copy Anytime J and I will be at home visiting my folks we always try to make a stop at the gun range. Something about showing up J and my dad on my awesome marksman skills makes a girl happy. However, I do have to admit that J isn’t too bad of a shot. IMG_2283 copy IMG_2293 copyCheers!

Wacky Springtime

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It’s finally springtime in Missouri … well at least it is today. It was in the 80s earlier this week and then snowing on Friday. So, we don’t know how long this weather is going to last. When we do get a burst of nice weather the dogs have eaten every second of it up.  Well, J & I have soaked up using our new grill a lot too… I’m not complaining!
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Cheers!

I have the most photogenic pups. Ever.

My little wolf-looking pup got groomed! #byebyeearhair #dog #doglove #tailwaggersMaggie feels so used. #mypoorpuppy #dog #dogloveMy little watch dog... precious. #doglove #guarddog

  Yes, I may be a bit obsessed with my pups. But who can blame me when the pups look like mine? Okay, okay. I know, I need to bring it down a notch.
This weekend J and I are headed to St. Louis to see his family and then my Grandma. Tiny is going to make her debut at his family’s house. Keep your fingers crossed that it goes well. **

Cheers,

Mere

Now that the moving is done, it’s time to unpack

moving_boxes
Oh how I hate moving. Something about moving furniture, boxes, trying to stay organized is one of the most tiring things I can think of.

J and I are officially in our new place; however, the unpacking has begun. It’s a challenge combining two people’s apartments into one house. Compromise is huge. J has dealt with the fact that I get more of the master closet than he does, but I have accepted that I now have a Bud Light picture hanging in the kitchen. It’s all about compromise people. I’m trying hard here.

While moving I’m sure that there will be items that you no longer need/want to keep. For instance, I have a lot, a lot of clothes. So, I went through while packing and unpacking to see what I don’t wear on a normal basis. I’ve collected about 6 garbage bags full of clothes to donate. Now I’ve done my research and have decided to make my donation to Missouri Council of the Blind that is here locally.

This week will be long and feel like it’s going to be some time before all of the boxes are unpacked. Just keep working, one box at a time. I had a goal to get the kitchen in order, most of the master bedroom, and the guest bedroom (mainly because my Mom and sister are coming this weekend). Slowly, but surely it is coming together.

Cheers,

Mere