Good morning, friends! As usual, thanks for swinging by each week and checking in on who the featured blogger is. Today I’m so happy to introduce you to Kristy! We actually went to high school together and have talked a little bit back and forth for a while about getting her blog off the ground. I’m so excited to read her content and add another blog to my “blog roll”. She is such a kind, positive person who is so excited about getting her blog up and running, so I hope when you’re done reading her feature that you’ll head over to her blog and say hello. 🙂 Y’all are the best! Have a wonderful weekend! xo -Erica
Q: In three sentences or less, tell us a little bit about who you are.
A: I’m Kristy, a wife and dog-mom, living in north Alabama. I’m trying to learn how to adult properly aka how to manage working, going to grad school, cooking healthy meals, cleaning the house, exercising, and binge-watching Netflix all at the same time. I love spending time with my husband and dog Kingsley, hanging out with my family and friends, traveling, reading, crafting, bright colors, early 2000’s music, baseball, and quoting tv/movie lines in every day conversation.
Q: When did you start blogging, and what do you primarily enjoy blogging about?
A: So officially, my blog went live the beginning of this month, August. I had planned on getting it up and running back in January, which is when I finally decided to start a blog. I started writing and preparing posts back in January. I wanted to have some content prepared and ready for when school got crazy. Well school got crazy sooner than expected, so my blog got pushed back. I said I wasn’t going to put it off any longer, so as soon as summer classes were over I finally published! So I guess you could say I kind of started in January, but officially August.
I enjoy blogging about what’s going on in my life. When my husband and I got married, one of my co-workers said I should keep a journal of what was going on so I could remember different parts of my life. I decided to start a blog to help capture all of these memories! My favorite subject so far has been travel; getting to re-live all of our adventures! I also enjoy sharing new things that I’ve found that I love whether it’s new products or food or ways to get something done. I want others to get the same enjoyment out of it that I get.
Q: Who do you think would really enjoy your content?
A: I think almost anyone would enjoy it. People interested in travelling, home projects, family and friends, books, tv and movies, food, and basically day to day life.
Q: You have been busy lately with working full time, grad school, blogging, traveling, and more! How do you balance it all?
A: Usually poorly. Kidding! So luckily I have an awesome job where I get an hour lunch break every day. That’s when I do my daily school work and when I write most of my blog posts. It’s when I have major papers or exams that things tend to fall apart. Kidding again. I’m just a terrible procrastinator and wait until like 2 days before they’re due to start. It’s good times! I’m thankful for my awesome husband! He’s been handling all of the dishes lately as well as cooking a lot so I can focus on school!
For other things, I tend to go like full force and focus on nothing but what I have going on at that time. When we’ve got a trip coming up I’m all research, planning, preparing, then travel! If it’s a home project I’m all planning, buying, work! Unfortunately, I’m the same way towards eating healthy, exercising, and cleaning my house. I did a clean eating challenge for 3 months, and I was hardcore for those 3 months. But once it was over I was back to my old ways. I’m definitely still learning to balance everything! I’m hoping that once I graduate (there’s a light at the end of the tunnel: December!), I can focus on trying to adult properly with a more balanced life.
Q: How did you make the decision to make back to your hometown? What do you love about living there?
A: I think my plan was always to come back home. I went to college at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), so I got to live in a big city for 4 years. I loved Birmingham during my time at UAB, but knew I could never stay there, it was just too big. During my senior year, my sorority advisor asked if I was interested in interviewing for a job in my hometown. I thought “sure why not?” I went to an informational meeting and had an interview. They were looking for people to start in January, I didn’t graduate until May, but they told me that they’d be doing interviews the next year for the same jobs. So I basically put all of my eggs in that basket; it sounded cool and it paid really well, I mean what more does a 21 year old want? Haha! I moved home after graduation and kind of just hung out, took some cake decorating classes (because why not?). In the fall, I interviewed again and landed the job! Looking back, it seems pretty risky to just up and decide that I was going to plan my life around this one potential job. I don’t think I’d recommend it to others, but, hey, it worked out for me!
Probably the thing I love the most about living in my hometown is being close to my family. I’m super close to my sister. We have a constant text chat going where we talk basically all day. We live seriously like 2 miles apart, so we get together sometimes just to go on walks! I see my parents regularly, and I get to watch my niece and nephew grow up! Also my church, I couldn’t imagine not regularly going to my church. I love going to church every week and seeing my church family! I hear all the time about people just wanting to leave their hometown; I think a big thing about Madison and the Huntsville area is that it’s always changing. It’s so different from when I was little and even from before I went to UAB. The area is constantly growing, so there are so many new things to do! I’m growing to love the area more and more all the time!
Q: Do you have any big or small DIY projects your planning for around your home?
A: I have a whole list! ☺ Next, I’m going to attempt to take some old dining room chairs I have and turn them into fun upholstered chairs! I also want to put some planks or shiplap up on the wall around my fireplace. I completely forgot to paint that wall when I was painting the living room (who forgets to paint a wall?) so I see it as the perfect opportunity for a project! I also want to paint my kitchen cabinets, put up a backsplash, get new light fixtures throughout the house, and re-do my front landscaping. I’m definitely going to be busy!
Q: I know that you and your husband love to travel! What are some of your favorite places that you’ve traveled to? What locations are on your bucket list?
A: Probably our most favorite place has been is Charleston, SC. There is so much to do and see and EAT in Charleston! We were there for 4 days and packed as much as we could in our days. We’re totally dying to go back there!! Charleston is probably followed closely by St. Lucia, where we spent our honeymoon. We had an amazing time in St. Lucia! It was so beautiful and relaxing with tons of stuff to do! We’re torn between wanting to go back to St. Lucia and wanting to visit all of the other places in the Caribbean.
Number one on my bucket list is most definitely Europe! We’ve been saving for a while and finally reached our goal. So I’m definitely looking forward to getting to start planning that trip! 🙂 Ideally, I’d just take 3 months off work and go see everything! However, realistically I know that won’t happen, so I’ll have to decide where I really want to go! My top 3 are London, Paris, and Santorini, Greece. My husband has this calendar that has a picture of a small, country town on a hillside somewhere in Europe, and that’s where he wants to go. So we’ll be researching that for sure! I also want to find a dog friendly beach to take Kingsley! He loves to swim in my parent’s pool, so I want to see what he’d do at the beach!
Q: Where should new readers start on your site?
A: Anywhere really! We can start together, haha!
To the Person Believing God for Salvation of a Family Member
Q: Where can we find you on social media?
Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram
And just for fun…
1. iPhone or Android? Definitely iPhone!
2. Snapchat or IG Stories? I don’t really understand either one! Is this something I should learn? I feel so old with these apps ☹
3. Spring or Fall? Fall, it rains less
4. Early bird or night owl? Early bird, for sure!
Thank you so much, Kristy!
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Hi! I’m Erica, and I absolutely adore sharing my life on this website with you! I come here almost daily to blab about all of the things related to being a regular wife and mother in today’s ever-evolving society. I share about our new home, what’s on our kitchen table, what we’re hanging in our closets, where we’re traveling to next, my crazy 5 a.m. work outs, how I make time for girlfriends, our faith, and much more. We always have a lot of balls in the air and somewhat thrive on the chaos. I believe in the power of story-telling as a form of inspiration and entertainment, so I’m here to do both! I was born and raised in north Alabama and recently re-planted roots here again after my husband transitioned out of the Army (he is now in the Reserve and it’s going so well!) I’m a super proud mom to three little girls (ages 7, 4, and 1) who seem to be the stars of the show around here (for good reason – they’re pretty great!) I’m so glad you found me and are here reading! I hope we can get to know each other here on the blog as well as Facebook and/or Instagram. xoxo