Get it Together, Danielle.

Confession: I need to be more organized. I might even have an organization deficiency - it's detrimental to my  mental health and state of mind.

The truth is that if you asked me to produce the deed to my house, it would take me at least 30 minutes to find it. My guest bedroom is a black-hole of all sorts of important papers, documents and memorabilia.

I really wish my life and my house functioned like this:

 

 - Everything in its place; everything with a distinct function

I might just need to go on a binge of baskets, shelves, and filing cabinets. Luckily, I'm not the only one and there are endless articles on HGTV's website that'll help me out. I'm on the long road to recovery, people.

Stay tuned.

Are You Kidding Me?

"Times are undeniably tough. Reports have placed the unemployment rate for the under-25 group as high as 54%. Many of these unemployed graduates are choosing to go into higher education in an attempt to wait out the job market, while others are going anywhere — and doing anything — for work. Meanwhile, moving back home helps with expenses and paying off student loans." (TIME article)

I mean, what's the unemployment rate these days? In Jacksonville it's 9.5% (BLS). That's a lot of people. And, by some ridiculous miracle,  I'm on the positive side of that statistic. Somehow, I bypassed the rejection, filling out countless job applications and the stress that goes hand-in-hand with unemployment. As if that wasn't enough, I actually love my job.

(Are you kidding me?)

While hundreds of Jacksonville girls my age have a diploma in hand and are unemployed, I'm running into my third raise and second promotion in the year I've been employed.

Of all the things I worry about, employment was never among them. Maybe Jesus knew what he was doing. He knew a young Danni-wife couldn't handle that one.

So, here's to you, UNF - and the six LONG years you've helped me get here.

I'm a Sucker for a Good Dilbert Comic

http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2012-01-22/

Thank You, Mrs. Mullally.

Let me start by saying that nothing in our marriage is hard if it has to do with Chris and me. If it's just us, it's perfect. 

But, we face obstacles just like any couple, I guess. This is especially true as of late. You should also know what a difficult time I have setting and keeping boundaries. For the most part, Chris and I compliment each other so well: he makes up for what I lack and I pick up the slack on his end sometimes.

But, boundaries are tough for him too. 

So, there you have it. We're two people who enable a lot of people to think they have pull where our relationship is concerned. Sometimes, we let people get the best of us and come home to each other trying to give what's left. Let me reiterate - if it's just Chris and me, everything is perfect. Date nights, vacations, or a t.v. show at the end of the night - there are no complications here. And, hey! We genuinely enjoy each other's company. We have fun, we laugh (and, I mean laugh until I almost pee), and we hold hands even when no one's around. I forget about how much MORE important and prominent those things are in our lives sometimes. I get bogged down by the negativity, the (seemingly) never-ceasing bad news, and by the fact that it is evident we have fallen so short when it came to protecting our marriage from boundary-less intruders.

So, I opened up an old letter today. It's dated April 27th 2006 (exactly 6 years before my graduation date). And, I reread this paragraph:

"Christopher Browning encourages me. He's my boyfriend and my best friend - he carries me when I need it. There aren't words enough to explain how he's impacted my life already. I could go on for endless mushy-gushy pages about how he makes me feel, but above all else, he loves me without hesitation. He loves to hear about my past and can't wait to see who I'll become. He laughs with me when I couldn't be happier and he has a way of comforting me if I'm not quite up to laughing. I can't be sure... but, I kind of am. He's it."

Mrs. Mullally, I just want to say thank you. There's no way you could have known that this paragraph would be a foundation block I would always refer back to. You couldn't have known (or, at least you said you never read them) what was in my letter. You couldn't have known I'd marry the guy on this piece of paper. 

Thank you for taking a bunch of students with senioritis and telling them to write themselves a letter. 

- Danielle Browning (but, you know me as Danielle Alban)

Cast On, Purl, Cast Off.

It's a completely new language!

Chris got me a knitting book with a bunch of patterns as my Secret Santa gift. Up until then, I didn't think I really wanted to learn how to knit. I mean, I can crochet...

But, all I've been doing is looking through this book and watching Beginner Knitting videos on YouTube. I went through my closet and noticed how many scarves, gloves and hats we have that I could learn how to MAKE.

Excellent.

So, we went to Michael's and I bought a pair of knitting needles and some yarn! Here's to a new skill! 

 

It's Ordinary, Plain and Simple.

Most of our Saturdays are spent catching up on the rest of our lives that we've put on hold. This means errands: Grocery shopping, My mom's grocery shopping, cleaning the house and the like.

But, it also means a whole day together.

Look at all the fun we have! Driving home, I noticed his cowlick. It made my whole day.

Sometimes Chris tries to force feed me Arby's french fries while I drive. It's okay. I threw it out the window.

He's not really sleeping. He's just trying to hide.

All in a day's work.


AND THEN WE WEN'T TO ST. AUGUSTINE!
It was cold. I made him wear a scarf... for his own good.

It's Beginning to Look alot Like Christmas!

I spent Saturday afternoon gathering materials to make a wreath that (hopefully) would cost me very little. With Jenn's help, we had everything we needed - I didn't spend a dime!

Materials:

• A wire hanger
• Scrap fabric cut into 1" by 4" strips
• Ribbon to tie into a bow (This will hide the top of the hanger)

Here's The Process!

First things first - bend your hanger to make a circle. Once you get it the way you want it, start tying your strips around the hanger like this!

Make sure to push the ties as close together as you can get them. It'll make for a fuller wreath : )

After about an hour of tying, this was the result::

 

I haven't put the bow on yet, but you get the picture.