Hello, 2016!

Now that 2016 is here, it's time for me to set some new goals for myself. I always like sitting down at the beginning of each new year to sketch out an outline for myself of goals to achieve in the upcoming days, weeks, and months. My plans don't always work out as I'd like, but I know to trust the One whose plan always prevails.

Personal Goals

• Grow. This is the word I'm choosing for myself this year, and I'll elaborate on that in another post coming soon. I want to grow myself in several different ways and different areas. 
• Continue to become a better version of myself. This isn't because I don't think I'm not good enough, but because I believe there's always room for improvement in everyone. This isn't just a goal for my weight or my appearance, but for all areas of my life. I'm a constant work in progress. 
• To be intentional. I love the quote, "in everything you do, be all there." This next year I was to be more intentional with my time, and in all that I do. I want to be more intentional as a wife, a mom, an employee, a small business owner, a blogger, and as a friend. 

Business Goals

I started a new adventure last October as a Plexus Ambassador. I personally took the products for a month and saw great results before starting to work the business. These products have helped me with get rid of my daily chronic headaches, have regularity, energy, and more; so I now want to share them with others! 

• Grow. I want to continue to grow my business and grow my team this year. I've seen what this business has done for others and I want it to do the same for me. I also want to help others make it do the same for them! Helping other mommas is my passion because we so often put the needs of everyone else before our own. I also want to to continue to grow in my own Plexus testimony.
• Educate. I want to expand my education on the products, as well as educate others on what Plexus could do for them.

These are the goals I've set for myself in 2016. I've chosen the word Grow to be my word for this year, and I'll write a post about why I've chose that as my word and what it means for me. I wish you all a year filled with joy, peace, laughter, prosperity and all things good for 2016! 

Looking Back at 2015...

I cannot believe we're about to ring in the year 2016! I feel like it was just weeks ago I was ready to pop out a baby boy and that's now been almost 2 years ago. WOAH... not only am I a mom, but I'm a mom of a toddler. Weird! I still feel like I'm 21 at times. Anyways, this past year was a good one! 2015 brought about many awesome memories, lots of laughter, some loss, and a handful of changes for our family.

In late February, we listed our first house for sale and much to our surprise it sold within 3 days! Just a few days later we went under contract on our new house, and in late April we moved in and now call it home.

April was a busy month for us! Mac turned ONE and we celebrated with a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party. Clete and I went on an adult only vacation with friends to Mexico. It was a fun filled time and I hope we are able to do something similar next year! We celebrated Queenie's birthday, and then on Clete's birthday we closed and moved to our new house!

We celebrated 4 years of marriage in June! And in July, took our first big family vacation with Mac. Our road trip to Seaside, FL was a blast! We're already looking forward to our next beach vacation!

We attended a few weddings in the fall, one being Clete's younger brother's. It's completely bizarre to me that Thomas is now married. He was in the 7th grade when Clete and I started dating, so it makes me feel real old.

Clete received a promotion with work, and finally was the one who got treated to a new truck. I took a new business adventure with Plexus, and am loving it! Mac dressed up as a dragon for Halloween, and loved trick or treating. We spent Thanksgiving in Tulsa at my parents, and stayed home to host Christmas at our house.

Looking back, 2015 has been a great year! We are blessed in so many ways, and so grateful to the Lord above for everything he's given us. I always love New Year's because it gives me a feeling of starting over. You have a fresh year ahead starting on January 1st and can fill it with new memories and new experiences. Happy New Year, CHEERS to 2016!!

October + November Wrap-Up.

Oh Holy Night, I cannot believe it's already December! In just a few weeks we'll be ringing in another new year and then I will have a TWO YEAR OLD! Time please slow down! Anyways... I know it's been a little quiet here on the blog lately. I apologize, but sometimes life just gets busy and this little place that I do love gets put on the back burner. I could've sworn it was just time for me to write an October post, and then I blinked and I needed to write a November one too so this time I'm just combining the two months together! Fall is always a busy time of the year for us.

We started October off with a big celebration! Clete's younger brother got married, and we spent the weekend celebrating him and his bride. We wish Thomas & Kelsey many years of happiness together!

The following weekend we purchased a new truck for Clete, it was LONG overdue! He'd been shopping around for quite a few weeks, and he finally decided on a F-150. Mac had his first experience at the car dealership too, and we think he helped get us a good deal! ;)

The 3rd weekend in October was an eventful one. The weekend started off as a normal one, but ended on a not so fun note. Our family came for the day and we went on our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. Later that evening Mac's fever spiked and we ended up spending half the night in the ER. We are so thankful all is well, and it wasn't anything too serious.

Thankfully, Mac was all well by Halloween. Our little dragon had a ball trick or treating with friends! He got lots of candy, and was so much fun to watch this year. He didn't quite have down "trick or treat" but he always said "tank you" when he got candy in his bucket.

We kicked off November by doing our annual fall family pictures. It was very difficult getting an 18 month old to cooperate and smile for them, but Kate did an awesome job and we have some great pics! There will be a post coming on those very soon.

The following weekend we had our cousin Turner's 4th birthday party at Main Event. Mac had a blast playing games, and Daddy did too!

Mac took his first trip to Seminole Children's Museum with his Queenie & Poppie. Growing up, the children's museum was somewhere I LOVED going with my Aunt Lessa and I'm so glad Mac enjoyed it too. He played his heart out, and I loved getting all the pictures from my mom of him. I know my parents enjoyed it too. I see many more trips to be made there in the future!

Clete and I went to the OU/TCU game, and my parents came and stayed with Mac. We had a fun day date in Norman, and loved cheering the Sooners on to a victory!

We put up our Christmas tree the weekend before Thanksgiving, which has always been a tradition because we're usually out of town Thanksgiving weekend. Mac loves all of the lights and "balls" so it's been interesting trying to keep him out of the tree!

Thanksgiving weekend we spent in Tulsa at my parent's house. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and loved all of the Queenie and Poppie time we got! We gobbled, shopped, played, cheered on the Sooners to a bedlam and Big XII victory, and relaxed. We have so much to be thankful for!

October and November were both fun filled, crazy busy months! And that's a wrap until next time...

September wrap-up.

Hello, October! It's no one of my favorite times of the year. This month will bring cooler temps, OU/Texas, Homecoming, scarves, boots, sweaters, pumpkin spice everything, and it also kicks off the holiday season (kind of). It's crazy to think it's already October, but before we dive deep in to this month let's wrap up last month here on the blog.

Mac and I kicked off September with a weekend at the lake with my parents. Meanwhile, Clete hosted his brother's bachelor party. We had a great time spending Labor Day weekend at the lake and closing summer with lots of sunshine and time out on the water.

We didn't really do a whole lot in September. Football season kicked off, so Mac & Daddy spent lots of time watching "hut hut" as Mac calls it. :) Clete also traveled two different weeks for work, so Mommy & Mac got lots of bonding time. Queenie came one week and stayed a couple nights with us. We really enjoyed having her here! We also had some beautiful weather, so we played outside quite a bit too. 

We wrapped up the month celebrating friends getting married. Congrats to the newlyweds, The Longs! We are blessed to have our little tribe, and are grateful for wonderful friends that are also family.

That's a wrap for September. Cheers to pumpkin spice, and everything fall! 

Embrace the Mess

Not long ago I came across a quote that instantly spoke to me, "Embrace the Mess!" These 3 words nearly slapped me in the face when I read them. You see, I'm a bit of a neat freak. Okay, maybe not just a bit; I'm a total neat freak! (I get it from my mom, she's the same way.) Some people would call it OCD. I like things to be in their place and for everything to be clean, picked up, and neat. While this can be a good quality to have, it can also sometimes drive a person crazy. As other moms know, it's almost impossible for everything to be in order all the time when you've got a busy toddler at home.

So, I decided to make this "embrace the mess" a new goal for myself. I even had the above print made to hang in our gallery wall in the living room as a reminder. I'm slowly trying to teach myself to embrace the mess. It's often much easier said than done, especially when you prefer things to be in their proper places. My husband often reminds me that Southern Living isn't coming for our home photo-shoot. The fingerprints on the doors, stainless steel appliances, and windows, along with the toys in the floor, are little reminders that our house is filled with joy and love. These little things are also reminders that we are blessed with the gift of being parents to a healthy and precious child. Once every other week, the fingerprints and smears are gone for maybe a day or two after the housekeeper makes her stop by our house. During the time in between her visits, I'm learning to let it go and embrace it all. Our house is a home, and it's the place where we live. I want Mac and our other future children to have good memories from home. I want them to feel like we lived in our home, and have fond memories of it. I want them to remember the times that their mama played with them or cooked their favorite meals, not all the times she spent cleaning up their messes.

Now don't get me wrong, I am still a neat freak. I struggle with embracing the mess almost daily. At the end of the evening before I go to bed, I pick things up and put them in their proper places. We're also teaching Mac how to pick up after himself, and put things away once he's finished with it. I'm just trying to loosen up and live in the moment instead of worrying about the house being in perfect condition all of the time. Because as much I hate to think about, I know deep down that far too soon this little boy will be a big boy and one day our house be too neat and too quiet, so for now we will embrace the mess.

August wrap-up.

It's hard for me to believe we're already almost half through September. Fall is my favorite season for many reasons; football, pumpkin spice everything, boots, and sweaters just to name a few. 

August wasn't too crazy around here. It was a pretty subtle month, and was pretty low key. We kicked the month off with Clete's 10 year high school reunion. That was a fun filled weekend spent with his friends from HHS and former classmates. Mac and Honey went to my parents' place at the lake that weekend, while mommy & daddy had some adult time. 

Other highlights of the month included; Mac's second hair cut, the Campbell wedding, Mac bringing home his first artwork from school, lots of time playing outside, Mac's first school pictures, a VIP lunch at a new local restaurant's grand opening, and at the end of the month we found out Clete got a promotion at work! 

Overall, August was a good month! We're looking forward to the cooler temperatures September should be bringing. Until next time, that's a wrap.  

July Wrap-Up.

HOLY MOLY! Is it just me, or is 2015 literally FLYING BY? It's now AUGUST, which means that this year is more than half way over and we're getting closer to Christmas. ;) WOW! However, I am just about over these 100+ degree temps and I'm getting the itch for fall to get here! But enough about all of that... let's talk about what happened in July.
July was a busy and exciting month around our house. We started off the month with our first annual McGriffey family vacation. We spent a full week in Seagrove, Florida and we're all already looking forward to going back again. Lots of great memories were made, and we all had tons of fun! You can read the full details of the trip on this post.

After we got home from vacation, Mac started a new school (daycare center) closer to our house. It was a little bittersweet leaving his previous daycare, but he's now in a class with several other littles his age. The friends he's making now he could go to school with once he gets older, and we feel like it's in his best interest for the years to come. The first couple of weeks were definitely an adjustment, but he's adjusting well and really likes his new friends and teachers.

It's been HOT here in Oklahoma this summer, so we've spent a lot of time around the water this summer. Mac enjoys the water, and when it's so hot you might melt the only way to be outside is in the water.

Mac completed his first year of ISR swim classes at the end of the month. I cannot say enough good things about ISR, and would highly recommend. Our instructor, Marcy, is awesome! It was dedication and commitment for 8 weeks of lessons, 5 days a week, but I now am completely comfortable with Mac being around the water. If something were to happen and him fall in, he knows exactly what to do!

That's a wrap on how July went down around here!

A Letter to Myself...10 years later

This year, 2015, marks 10 years ago we graduated high school. Tis the season of reunions, so I wrote a letter to my high school graduate self. 

Dear Lyndi,

You just finished high school, and you feel like you have accomplished one of the biggest goals in life. Yes, you have as graduating high school is major milestone. There were days you thought you'd never not have to see the walls of Muskogee High but those days are now gone. You're on the verge of opening a brand new chapter. The days ahead of you will bring home sickness, sleepless nights of studying, and new friendships. On the days you want to move back home, just listen to your mother. You're getting an opportunity of a lifetime and you should cherish every minute of it.

If you knew today what I know now, you would be way more appreciative than you are today for the opportunity you're being given. There are other 18 year-olds that would give anything to be your shoes.

In 10 years you'll look back and think about how fast the time went by. You'll be in at a place in life you never imagined you'd be in just 10 years. You and Clete are married for over 4 years, you have a beautiful home, and the most adorable little toddler boy. Your heart and home are filled with joy, and lots of love!  You earned your degree from OU in less than 4 years and now have a successful career in the world of accounting, I know it sounds bizzare.

There will be days that you ask God, why me? And there will be some decisions you make that you'll question if they were the right ones. But you'll later learn that someone out there is always fighting a bigger battle than you are, and heartache and hurt are just a part of this life.

There isn't anything we would change. All the things we've gone through are what have made us who we are today.

So when the days get hard, hang in there! There are better days ahead, and great things in store for you. "You can do all things through Him that gives us strength."

XOXO

McGriffey Vacation 2015

We spent the first week of July in Seagrove, FL for our first annual McGriffey Vacation. Who's McGriffey you ask? It's a collaboration of my parents', ours', and my sister & her husband's last names. I came up with the name when we first started planning the vacation as a joke, and well it just kind of stuck! This was our first family vacation since my sister and I have been married, and the previous family vacation we had was when I was in college. It was Mac's first road trip, and his first trip to the beach. My mom had been planning the vacation for close to a year, so we'd been looking forward to it. Now that it's come and gone seems almost crazy!

Our days were very chill, and mostly spent hanging out on the beach. We'd usually come in mid-afternoon for Mac to nap and then we'd shower and head out to an early dinner because if you waited too late the wait was forever. It was over all a relaxing trip. We all had a fantastic time, and so many great memories were made!

June wrap-up.

Holy Fireworks! Can you believe 2015 is already half way over? June was a busy and exciting month around our house. Mac started swimming lessons, had his first haircut, and took his first trip to the zoo and the Oklahoma Aquarium. We went to a local craw-fish festival, bought new living room furniture, spent lots of time playing outside, and the mr. & I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary.

It was a busy month filled with lots of new memories. We're looking forward to July! We're headed on our big family vacation in just a few days, and Mac will be going to the beach for the first time. Until next time, that's a wrap!

Our Summer Bucket List

Last summer, we had a new baby boy so there wasn't too much excitement to our summer. I returned to work in July from maternity leave, so we pretty much were just figuring out what our new routine would be. Now, instead of a new baby we have a busy and active toddler! Mac is a busy boy, and loves to do new things. I decided to put together a small list of things I'd like our little family to do together this summer, and I'm calling it our summer bucket list. 

• Jump waves in the ocean. We leave for our family vacation in just a few days, and I cannot wait to see Mac experience the beach for the first time.
• Build a sandcastle. I'm counting on Mac loving to play in the Florida sand!
• Go to the zoo. Mac has been to the zoo with his daycare friends, but he hasn't been with us. I think it'd be a fun little outing for us 3 to go do. 
• Go to the splash pad. This is something I think Mac would enjoy! 
• Spend a weekend at the lake. Queenie & Poppie's new place at the lake should be ready shortly after we return from vacation. I foresee us spending a few weekends there this summer. 
• Go to an OKC Dodgers game. I want to go spend an evening at the ballpark watching the new minor league team, complete with hot dogs and popcorn! 
• Have a picnic at the park. Mac loves to be outside, and loves to swing. I think he'd like to play at the park and we can end our play date with a picnic.
• Date night at Top Golf. This is something just for mommy & daddy. Top Golf just opened up here in OKC so I want to go see what the hype is all about, and I'm certain the mr. would enjoy it.

So there you have it, our summer bucket list for 2015! There's nothing too wild or crazy we're wanting to do. I just want us to make some good memories and have fun together as a family! What's on your list of to-do's for this summer?

May wrap-up.

Woah, where did May go? It's like I blinked and it was over. It's hard for me to believe we're approaching being half way through 2015.

May was a pretty low key month for us. We've been getting settled in the new house, and there will be some posts coming soon on that! We really didn't have a whole lot of excitement last month.

Mother's Day weekend we went to Tulsa and spent the weekend with my parents. My mom, my sister, and me spent the day together on Saturday. We did a little shopping, had lunch, and went painting at Pinot's Palette. My mom wanted to do the painting for Mother's Day, so we had booked it a while back. It was a fun day spent with my two favorite ladies!

Mac had a little bit of a rough start to the month. While we were in Tulsa for Mother's Day weekend, we ended up at urgent care with him. He had a case of hand, foot, & mouth virus, plus was cutting molars on top of that. Poor guy, but after about 5 days he was over it and back to himself again. He had his first Saturday morning doughnut date, and he loved it! When it wasn't raining, we spent a lot of time outside playing in our big backyard. 

We're slowly getting settled in the new house. This move happened much faster than we anticipated, so getting things just how I want them is just going to take some time. I know that's okay and perfectly normal, but I'm not a very patient person. I like things to be finished and in their proper places, so this whole process is definitely teaching me patience. We've purchased blinds for throughout the house and patio furniture (I'm planning a patio post very soon- the furniture is due to arrive this week). I also bought new bar-stools in the pick below for the kitchen. After searching since we've been in the house I finally found them in stock at Target! I love how they look at our island bar.

We had a record breaking month of rain here in Oklahoma, but thankfully we've had no severe storms in our area. We've got the underground shelter stocked and ready though just in case since it is spring time in Oklahoma. 

June looks to be a little more exciting, and I'm hoping to be around here at the blog more. That's a wrap for May!