simplicity

we are cleaning house. our apartment, as much as i love it just because its our home, has started to drive me nuts on multiple occasions. it is something i have a had a really hard time explaining to adam, but it has something to do with disorganization and how little i feel it represents us. i know that having a pretty space might not be important to everyone. for me it is! i guess it all started because i have a mom that let me redecorate my room every couple years growing up. i just hate that everything is kinda mish-mashed in no particular sequence. not only this...but we have crap EVERYWHERE! in one corner sits a mandolin, a bike rack, and an umbrella in a trash can. in another corner is our sky high collection of recyclables that we can't get rid of because murfreesboro is the most anti-green city ever. and finally sits the chair that only serves the purpose of forcing me to get in weird positions to squeeze by our dining room table to get in the kitchen. it holds everything we plan on returning, throwing away, or just can't find a place for. the latter category is the most popular. there is actually a box of stuff brought back from knoxville in september that i still don't know what to do with. it just doesn't make sense...we live in a one bedroom apartment and some how every time we come back from knoxville, we unload twice as much as we left with. all of this clutter resulted in a frustrated conversation where adam gave us a way out. he took it upon himself to go through the whole house while i was at work and make a pile of stuff to get rid of right in the living room floor. then, he let me do the same. as simple as it sounds, i just hadn't thought about it. "what?! git rid of perfectly good stuff just because we aren't using it?" i couldn't wrap my mind around it (possibly due to a gene passed down from my mom). but how freeing to do it! i set up my first ebay seller's site and everything else is going to goodwill...unless any of you want it of course.

so that's my goal...we are going to simplify our space/life. we will only surround ourselves with things we need or that make us happy and don't take up too much room. as for decorating...that will come, but for now i'm satisfied being able to walk into the kitchen without a stubbed toe.

devasation

the grigsby's are back in action in murfreesboro after a week of family/friends/christmas/new years/birthday time in south knox. it felt strangely good to come back. i guess its that this place is where we have started building our lives together. either way, the peace of returning to murfreesboro was completely thrown within the hour that we were home. since we were starving and hadn't gone grocery shopping yet, the obvious answer to our problem was lenny's sub shop. i had gotten a gift card to lenny's for my birthday. so, even though they are a bit over priced ($6.50 for a sub, not including drink and chips) we were excited to eat our favorite meal for free. we arrived, and soaked in the sights and smells without knowing what was to come. our sandwiches were made to perfection, but as we were paying the girl said, "just so you know, we're gonna be closed tomorrow." now this was a big enough let down because we always eat lenny's after church on sundays unless we are completely broke. we asked when they would be open again, and she replied, "never." WHAT THE WORLD!! i'm pretty sure my heart literally broke. we ate our sandwiches in utter disbelief and decided that we would have to eat dinner there also in order to salute lenny's properly.

what a loss. lenny's was where adam and i had our first quasi-date, where my brother convinced me to do work crew at frontier (where i came heart to heart with christ), where adam and i had some of the best conversations, where my best friends and i knew we would see each other (if just that once) every sunday, where i went to feel some joy in the first few months i had moved here, and we can't forget that they are who catered our wedding. rest in peace my sweet murfreesboro lenny's.

the daily 7: part VI

i am so thankful...

1. we are going home to the land of milk and honey today, sokno ya know!

2. being able to talk to erin on the phone not once, not twice, but THREE times yesterday

3. sweet treats from joyous rorex

4. being so close to one person

-it is amazing what even one month of marriage will do to two people. especially to your embarrassment factor. i mean, i knew the day would come when something like i'd forget to flush or something and adam would realize it before me...but so soon? whooops!

5. by my sheer wit and genius getting our supervisor to let me off 3 hours early...awesome

6. old navy yoga pants

7. WEDDING PICTURES!!! they are not all ready yet, but our amazing photographer put up a preview on her blog. http://meggievelasco.wordpress.com/ here is one to peak your interest:

the daily 7: part five

thankfulness:

1. cancelled classes (even if i forget that the class was cancelled and go anyway)
2. books
-i went to the library today to gather some "scholarly sources" far a looming research paper and was reminded how much i love books. walking through stacks and stacks of hard backs was just so cool...the smell, the quite.
3. two more tuesday/thursday classes!!!!!
4. getting a call about working on a christmas list.
- i love the thought of presents maybe even more than what i actually get. i turned into a little kid before all of our wedding showers and i STILL can't sleep on christmas eve.
5. we are going home tomorrow!
-as much as murfreesboro has become a place of comfort, it still does not conjure the same emotions as south knoxville. (most of) our family is there, our memories are there. because we know that we won't live in murfreesboro after may, i think that our hearts haven't tried to settle here...so it will be a welcome trip to knoxville for thanksgiving
6. devon and erin
-i always look so forward to spending time with my brother and sister-in-law. they are two of the most wonderful people i know and it is so fun to hang out and laugh with them. we are going to cut down christmas trees for our house/apartment. i can't wait to spend time together as married couples!
7. mtsu's unlimited free printing in the library

the daily 7: part 4

today i'm thankful for:

1. the fact that this blog has nothing to do with school and i can miss two days of thankfulness and it not effect a grade of any sort.
2. lazy lazy saturday full of cuddling and sleeping
3. iron and wine at the ryman
-i'm pretty sure sam bean and his crew literally took us to a whole nother world. it was quite possibly the most unexpectedly energetic concert i've ever been to. heard sounds i didn't think were possible and felt emotions only music could provide
4. 4 1/2 hour naps after 8 hour work days
-adam and i both work early morning shifts (starting anywhere from 5-6:30 am) at the hospital. today was particularly hard. for adam it was the 5th workday in a week that he got up at 4 a.m. and for me, it was a case of the mondays mixed with a exhausted body and mind. it was SO good to whisper to each other half way through our shift, "hey lets go home, cuddle up, and go to sleep," and know that we could. freedom to rest is good.
5. conversations with biv
- although we don't get to talk very much, it is such a joy to finally get in touch with one of my very best friends after a battle of phone tag. her 22nd birthday was sunday and i loved hearing about the festivities that went down in celebration of her. i also love knowing that no matter how long its been...we'll never have an awkward conversation...love that.
6. one more week of school
7. sweet notes of encouragement from adam

the daily 7: part tres

thankful for things like:

1. a truck i can get into
-i absolutely loathe my automatic entry. the battery went out in it and i couldn't get in my truck for like two weeks.
2. my husbo- he's just so cool
3. new paste magazines
-chock full of culture and makes me feel like there is so much more to explore in life
4. a clean toilet
5. cold italian dressing on a lettuce salad...just lettuce
6. laughter that counts for prayer before dinner
7. holly grigsby for being the only person to continually comment on my blog...i love her for that and many other things

the daily seven: part 2

thursday's things to be thankful for:

1. old people in the hospital that tell me i'm beautiful
-note: they say this all with me wearing no make-up, dirty black pants, a grey knee-length jacket with shoulder pads so big i look like a linebacker, AND a hair net
2. karl marx
- due to enjoying his writing in sociological theory i succeeded in feeling competent for the first time all semester in my philosophy class. i never took intro to philosophy so i don't know why my advisor thought i'd be ok in a 4000-level philo class.
3. realizing i only have three more classes of philosophy
4. getting a b+ on my philosophy paper! (which was a completely awesome surprise)...suck it dr. michael principe, you will not hinder my greatness
5. we got a big fat iPod
6. gmail lets you pick pretty back ground and theme settings
7. being able to make it through a full day of classes for the first time since last thursday. adios upper respiratory virus!