The Evolution

This is my 100th post!!

Happy 100 to meeeeeee!!!!!!!

Let me take a deep breath so I can make sure to get all 100 blown out....because you better believe I want all 100 of those wishes that they represent!

It's been so fun to watch the evolution of my little bloggy.

Like so many other blogs, it started out as a way to include friends and family who lived away in the planning of our wedding.

{here}

Back then, my little corner was called, "Just A Life Full of M&Ms"!

Then, once the wedding was over and we were all settled in, the blogging continued as a way to connect back home with my family. 

And the blogging continued.

I truly was in love with it.

And then one of the first big steps of the evolution began:

"Just a Life Full of M&Ms" changed to "A Sigh and Sanity".

My blogging time became my time.

It was my time to sit down, relax, take a deep sigh and find some sanity in all the craziness that our life held.

So I kept writing, and writing, and writing.

And then I found this whole new community in blogging! 

I started reading, and reading, and reading and.....you get the idea.

I will admit, though, when I first found this community, I initially became OBSESSED with gaining more followers! I would check and re-check my stats bar. And then hit refresh so I could check it again. 

It was bad!

I had lost sight of why I started my blog and was only writing more often to get more statistics.

It literally burned me out. I didn't enjoy writing anymore.

I decided to take a break for a little bit and when I did write, I banned myself from looking at the stats bar! Haha...maybe a little drastic...but it worked!

I got back to my old self. The self that loved writing.

The self that loves writing.

It's so much fun to read back and remember what was going on in my life when I wrote certain posts. 

When we first moved in to our house, my blog was almost all DIY projects as I documented every little project I made that helped transform our house in to a home.

{here}

Then, we adopted two little poochies who made a regular appearance in posts...mostly because I needed sanity from all the tearing up and pooping they were doing around the house.

{here}

Then, once we moved, I did a little bit of fashion blogging.

{here}

And now, it's been hijacked by a 6 week old little princess {who also happens to be my niece!} 

My blog is pretty much a combination of everything! A little of this and a little of that!

It's funny how slowly it grew when all I did was obsess over new followers. But once I sat back and just enjoyed myself, the growth process was natural. Funny how that happens, huh?

Well anyway, thanks for letting me wish my blog a very happy 100th!

And thank you for sticking along the way!

I love reading your blogs just as much as I enjoy writing my own.

Some days {which seems to be most days lately} when I'm so exhausted from work and my brain can't bear the thought of typing one more thing, I treat myself to your little corners. The corners that make me laugh, make me cry, and help me realize that I'm not the only one out there rocking week old hair! Ha! {Yes, I usually only wash my hair once a week. Twice, if you're lucky. But that's a post for another time, because I know I have you all disgusted.}

So happy, happy one-hundred posts to me and my bloggy!

Cheers to 100 more!

Crackers and Peanuts

Pardon the absence...

...but this little peanut surprised me with a visit!

Two amazing things about my little Rosie Posie:

{1} She slept the entire flight here.

{2} She rolled over at only 5 weeks old! Is that normal?! Because I feel like she's wayyy above average.

Isn't she adorable?!

I could just spread her on a cracker!!

Husband also put on his pastor pants this week for a friend's wedding!

We kept ourselves quite entertained!

And now it's time to play catch-up!

To the Best Gift A Girl Could Ever Be Given: Dad

To my Dad:

The most selfless, hard-working, patient and loving man I know.

Once upon a time there was a little girl.

She had a mom, a dad, a big sister and little brother.

The little girl grew up, very loved by her whole family, and she loved them.

She also loved to dance.

When she was very little, she would dance around the house to the "Dirty Dancing" soundtrack.

Her daddy taught her how to dance. 

He would pick her {and her baby doll} up, and they would all dance around the room together.

It was a grand time in the kingdom!

He taught her how to have fun.

When she got a little older, and would sometimes not understand things, he would pick her up, put her upside down and help her walk on the ceiling. 

He gave her a different perspective.

He taught her how to see things from other points of view.

The little girl would get very excited when he came home at night from building things around the kingdom.

She would stand at the top of the staircase and wait for him to walk through the door.

When he would, he would glance up and say, "Hello, Punkishine!"

The little girl would light up and jump from the staircase in to the safety of his arms!

He taught her how to fly.

The dad worked very hard every day. Always making sure there was enough food for everyone and that everyone in the kingdom was happy!

Everyone loved the dad, and he especially loved the queen!

As the girl grew older, she watched her dad very closely, studying every move he made.

For when the time came, she knew she would want to find a man just like him.

Many a gentlemen came to call, but each time, the girl refused.

For none of them held the courage or integrity that she had grown up with all her life.

Then, one day, a knight came along that possessed the character that she so easily recognized.

They fell madly in love and the knight asked the dad for her hand in marriage.

The dad was very sad, for the knight lived in a far away kingdom.

However, he knew that the knight could be trusted to take care of the princess.

So on a day of much rejoicing and some sadness, the two were wed.

The dad had one last dance with his daughter.

It was the time of their life!

They said their farewells and as the knight and princess rode away, the dad knew that he need not worry, for her had taught her how to fly. ♥

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Thank you for being the best demonstration for what a man should be.

I love you so much and so wish I could be there to celebrate in person!

Love,

Punkishine

And now....for your viewing pleasure....I present to you: The Dad Life

Seriously peeps, where would we be without our dads?!

Lucky like a four-leaf clover!

Howdy folks!

Okay, wait...that was a weird opening after being MIA for the last week.

Let's try again.

Hooooooooowdy folks!

Ehhh??

No.

Two years of Oklahoma living and I still can't pull it off.

Maybe one day I will.

One day I'll be able to say that phrase as cool and suave as my dad does when he answers the phone.

"Howdy, this is Mike!"

Yep, he really says that.

What makes it even better is that my dad's name is Mike Jones {like the rapper}.

And this Mike Jones {the original, of course}, says "howdy"!
{For more "howdy" talk, refer to the bottom of this post.}
Do you really want to know the best part about having a blog?? You can post as many pictures of yourself as you want and no one questions why or thinks you're weird. Sometimes, if you're having a good hair/makeup/clothes day, you need evidence. That's what blogs are for. Or at least, that's what my blog is for. Evidence that I wear more than just sweat pants.

Speaking of my blog....we are feeling quite lucky and lovely today!
Lissa over at The Looking Glass nominated us for The Lovely Blog Award!
We are both {the blog and I} so flattered! Thank you, thank you, thank you Lissa! We think you and your blog are lovely and we are most definitely kindred spirits! :)

So, in order to accept this award, I get to share 15 of my favorite blogs {and ladies behind the blog} with you as well as seven facts about myself! These girls keep me inspired, laughing and totally entertained! Check them out!  

 Oh Pish, Posh

Find Your Sparkle

On the Adventure

The Coffeehouse

The Funny Thing of It Is

The Way I Am

Becoming What I Always Was

For The Love

Treasures Over the Rainbow

la la Love, Learn, & Laugh

25 in my 25th

Red Dress Studio

City Born, Country Bred

Chasing Kite Tales

Girls Love Fried Pickles

{1} I only like my coffee out of a cup. Not a mug. 

Call me crazy, but I can't stand the taste of coffee in a mug. The insulation in the mug completely sucks out the rich and bold taste that coffee brings to my life. Plus, when the lid is closed, the coffee has no place to sweat except inside the coffee! So essentially, you're drinking coffee sweat. And I don't know about you, but I like my coffee sweat-free! Oh, and one more thing, mugs are rarely if ever as cute and cozy as cups! :)

{2} I'm a closet song-writer.
There's total sarcasm in this statement because no, I don't write songs. I can't even hold a tune. I'm truly tone-deaf. But, I CAN do a mean lip synch and air guitar! When I say I write songs, I really mean I change the words to songs that exist and sing them to husband. Sometimes he loves them and most of the time they make both of us laugh....really hard! Maybe I'm a closet comedian?!

{3} I prefer my nails & toenails au-natural.
Now this one is mostly due to my laziness. And my germaphobia. After working in a dermatology office and seeing wayyyyy too many pedicure induced infections come through the door, I'm paranoid about even setting a tip-toe inside those salons without knowing their complete bleaching history! And since my nails grow so fast, I feel like I would have to change my toenail polish weekly in order to keep up! Hence, the nakedness on my hands and feet. I don't have the patience to keep up with it all the time. But every once in awhile, my girly side has a major flare up and you'll catch me with a little bit of rainbow on my fingers and toes! So I guess this one is maybe a contradiction in itself? Story of my life.

{4} I get obsessed with one phrase, and then use it over and over and over...until it dies!!!
Ha! Okay, that sounded superrrr gruesome! But that's kind of how it feels. Currently, my phrase is "cray-cray" instead of saying "crazy". Old phrases include and are not limited to, "homie don't play that" {thanks, Heather} and "I will cut you". Not sure most of them are ghetto-gangster, but I just roll wit it {lean wit it, rock wit it}. Maybe I'm a closet rapper?!

{5} I've been skinny dipping & streaking more times than I can remember.
I've also been caught streaking and skinny dipping more times than I can remember. I guess that means I need a better watch dog?? Ha! Seriously though, there is no more feeling of being "alive & free" than when you're running around in your birthday suit! Haha! Totally my favorite! I make it my goal to induct every single one of my friends into the so-called "club"! But I have yet to induct husband. He thinks that's too wild and free for his tastes. I'll get him one day.
You all know it's on your bucket list...get crackin' girl!

{6} I name inanimate objects.
Yep, pretty much everything around our house has a name. The cars. The bikes. The phones. The trees. I'm kind of like Pocahontas in that way {even though I'm totally Belle in real life}. I think everything has feelings. When we were trimming trees the other day, I felt so sad...almost guilty....with all the tree limbs laying around! It was like a mass murder and I was the perpetrator! I almost wanted to cry! Husband says it just means I have a big heart.

{7} Rodeo Queen
Last but not least, I spent the early years {i.e. jr. high and high school} being a real live rodeo queen! Me and my horsie were quite the team! Our summers were spent in long sleeve sequin shirts, tight jeans, silver and gold plated buckles, and of course, big hair to match the big hats! And I just had to share pictures...mostly because they look like they were taken 20 years ago when this was still in style:

Drastic Measures

Two nights ago was Monday night.

Monday night means Bachelorette night.

And Bachelorette night means Marcie gets a little crazy.

For the untrained ear, one might think that all the yelling coming from the back room was for the Thunder vs. Spurs game {#THUNDERUP!!!!}.
But no, it wasn't.

The yelling was just me giving some friendly advice to my girl, Emily.

Anyway, to say I've become obsessed would be the understatement of the year.
Husband won't even watch it with me because of all the, quote, "loudness" that comes out of my mouth.
I don't know why he complains. Do I complain when he and his friends are yelling about an oval shaped ball?? No.
Bachelorette is much more interactive than any football game.
Reality tv at its greatest!
Which is why I have taken it upon myself to do something drastic.....
I have this friend.
This best friend.
Who is everything any guy would dream of having.
She's really got it all....looks, awesome personality, goal driven...American Pie at its greatest!
Which is why I've been telling her for the past year she needs to go on the show.
Friend doesn't believe me. She's too modest and sensible to have anything to do with the show.
She doesn't even watch it!! {I know, right?! How are we even friends??}
But luckily for her, she has me as a friend like me to prove otherwise.
And that's why I sent in her nomination for the show.
However, when I informed her of this event, instead of gratitude, this is the response I get:

A little sassy, right?! That's probably why we're best friends.
But I think I've got a lot more convincing to do before she'll let me submit the DVD portion.

Personality Test

Oh, hey!!!

It's just me. And my curly hair.
Yes, I have curls. And they sometimes like to go on adventures without adult supervision.
Notice the curl on the left.
Yep. That's one of them.

We're just sitting here {me and my curls}, waiting for husband to get home.

We {I} really miss that man when we're not together!

Good thing it's FRIDAY!!!!!

But in the meantime of me waiting for him, I thought I would share an awesome site Matt and I ran across the other night. 

We're kind of nerds and loooooooove taking personality tests! Ha, don't ask me why, but we think it's super interesting! Just one of our little quirks, I guess.

So one day while husband was searching personality tests, he ran across one that was eerily accurate in describing the man. So eery that I had to take it and see if it did the same for me. 

And it did.

This test not only described me to a "t", but also explained so much about why I do the things I do! It described why I love coffee, animals and my huge need to be surrounded by nature. {Cough, cough, hippie.} Haha! I was so excited after reading it and had a whole new appreciation for who I was.  I think so many times, we have this super version idea of who we wish we were, what we wish we liked, what we wished we looked like, etc.....and in the process of wishing ourselves away, we lose sight of all the awesome and unique things that make us, us! I've learned so many things this last year, and one of the biggest things is discovering who I'm not and becoming comfortable with it! On our journey to finding out who we are, I think it's just as equally important to find out who we're not. With that, we find a whole new appreciation for other people and their differences. We realize that we can't do it all and that other people's strengths and giftings make up for our weaknesses, and vice versa. It's been an awesome {and often frustrating} discovery. And one more cool thing {I promise}.....my personality type is called "The Artist". How awesome is that. That makes me feel, well, super artistic! And really creative. Which has been a HUGE part of the self-discovery journey I've been on  these past couple years! :)

But getting back on track, this personality test made me appreciate not only the way God created me, but also the way he created my husband! Husband's test revealed just as many awesome things about him and helped me understand and appreciate so many of the little quirks that are unique to Matt. We make quite a pair, the two of us. I'm the "earth loving, in-touch with nature, savor every sensation, process everything internally" type, while he is the "all-business, cut the details and give me facts, talk every emotion out and debate everything" type. Nearly complete opposites. But I guess that's why we're so good together! :)

So now after hearing me blabber on about this, I'm sure you're more than ready to get to know yourself!

Take the personality test here {click on "Free Personality Test" at the top}, and then after you find out what your personality type is {it will be 4 letters}, you can either 

a.) pay $35 to the website to get the full description {BOOOO!!!!}, or

b.) Google it! This is what Matt and I did. Mostly because we're cheap. And we like free things.

So for instance, I found out my personality type was ISFP so I googled "ISFP Personality" and the best site we found for descriptions said something like "Portrait of an ISFP - Personality Page"

Get it? Got it? Good. 

Pleeeeeease let me know if you take this and if yours was as accurate as ours! I'm extremely curious!!