Making Memories With My Grandmother

Today I went to go visit my grandmother, since I had a day off from school. The weather was absolutely terrible but I was determined to have a good day. I am very close with my grandmother and I visit her often. So I drove over for another day of fun with her.

We always exchange stories for hours and have a ton of laughs. No matter how many times I visit, she never fails to put a smile on my face. I could listen to her tell stories about my family and historical events (she was born in the 30s) for hours. And I do.

But I love it. Always have, always will.



A few weeks ago, my grandmother had a heart attack and I was really afraid that I was going to lose her. Thank goodness, she is still around and doing well. And as I was sipping coffee with her, listening to the storm outside and watching movies on the Hallmark channel with her, I felt blessed.

No matter what happens in life, it's the little moments that mean the most. I'm so glad that I have such a close relationship with my grandmother and that I see her as much as I do. When I was younger, she used to babysit me a lot and I spent the night in her condo frequently. We'd spend hours coloring and watching Disney movies together, especially Beauty and the Beast. And it brings me such comfort and joy to know that after all of these years, I can still revel in those wonderful memories and continue to make more.

The idea of moving away and leaving my family behind terrifies me and makes me sad, but I know that I have to do it. So I'm going to spend as much time as I possibly can with my grandmother, creating moments like these, because they shouldn't be taken for granted and the little moments truly do mean the most.

I love you, Grandma Stella.

-Chelsea

Meet Katie

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting one of the most positive, upbeat people in the world. Everyone, meet one of my very good friends, Katie.

We originally met when she was drafted onto my team in football about 5-6 years back. Little did I know that she would leave such a lasting impact on my life. She has an uncanny ability to make me laugh, especially with her charmingly corny jokes. And that is definitely a quality that you want in a friend.

Katie absolutely loves this! 

Katie and I have a lot in common, which obviously strengthens our friendship bonds. However, we haven't seen very much of each other over the past year. But now we go to the same university and on Thursday, I finally ran into her again. She and I sat down for a while, catching up and exchanging stories. The topics ranged from fun and light to deep and meaningful.

You know that you have a true friend when you can be separated from them and then when you see them again, it was as if you were never apart. I could share my deepest, darkest secrets with her and not be worried about judgment, not for one second. And it made me so happy to release some of the burdens that I've been carrying around and knew that I could trust her with that information. It is really hard to find someone who understands you and when you do, you have to hold onto them with all you have because they are truly a treasure.

And Katie truly is a treasure.

I'm very thankful that I've been lucky enough to know her and I'm glad that we'll finally be hanging out again, just like old times. She could not have come back into my life at a better time.

-Chelsea

Charming Charlie Christmas Wishlist!

I absolutely ADORE Charming Charlie! It's my favorite store and I could spend hours there, perusing the color-coated displays. So I thought I'd share some of my favorite items with you all... and if you know me in real life, "hint, hint."

1. Totally Triangle Earrings: here.

2. Pumpkin Spice Latte Nail Polish: here.


3. Clever Girl Clover Nail Polish: here.


4. Lucille Printed Scarf: here.


5. The Bold Bow Set: here.


6. Ring It On Hobo: here.


7. Shirting The Issue Shirt Dress: here.


8. Frill Me Tank: here.


9. Cheyenne Chiffon Dress: here.


10. Bow No You Didn't Sweater: here.


Hope you guys liked the stuff! Can you tell that I'm ready for Christmas?

What's your favorite store? What do you want for Christmas?

-Chelsea

Melissa Explains It All

If you follow Melissa Joan Hart on Instagram, you'll know that she's been promoting her book, Melissa Explains It All, for weeks. Being a huge MJH fan for my entire life, I couldn't wait to pick it up! So I put it on hold at the library and raced over to get it when it was ready.

It's been out for a few days and I'm pretty ashamed to say that it's taken me 3 days to read it cover-to-cover. (I normally finish books in a day.) But although I do love nonfiction books, I don't always find them to be the page-turners that fiction books are, so I put them down a lot more often. I find that after my brain has sponged up a ton of information about one topic, I need to take a break. But nonetheless, I found it an extremely captivating read.



As a rule, I tend to stay away from memoirs because (I hate to admit this but it's true) I'm an extremely judgmental person. When I read Gene Wilder's memoir, I was so disgusted with what I had read, I couldn't watch Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory for a year. I was afraid of what I'd learn from Melissa's book and wondered if I'd be able to watch Sabrina the Teenage Witch ever again without cringing.

So the reason that I picked up this book was to take a step forward in the right direction, to make myself more accepting of other peoples' flaws and mistakes. And I figured that Melissa would talk about drugs, cheating and things of the like. Sure enough, she did and I found myself a bit upset with her stories of her non-stop party days and cheating on her boyfriend James with Ryan Reynolds while shooting the Sabrina movie.



But then I thought to myself, am I going to punish Melissa for mistakes that she made in her 20s? Especially when she's brave enough to air her dirty laundry out to the entire reading public?

No, I'm not. I'm going to accept that she's lived her life and it's not my place to judge, which is what I was hoping to get from reading this book. I really feel like Melissa Explains It All (a clever reference to her previous hit TV show, Clarissa Explains It All) was a well-written, well paced and informative story of Melissa's life. It was written in a conversational tone, easy to follow and provided a lot of insight to a person I adored as a child.



I don't agree with every choice that she's made but I still admire her nonetheless. If you haven't picked up the book yet, I suggest you do. It's a really good read and you should definitely form your own opinion on it. :)

Do you have any new book suggestions?

-Chelsea

Future Tag!

1. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

I see myself married, living on an army base and with a kid or two.

2. Do you want to get married?

I am married but I'd definitely like to renew my vows in a few years!

3. Do you want to have children?

Yes! 2 or 3!

4. Do you want to move? If so, where?

Being an army wife, I don't really have a choice about moving. But I'd love to life in Oregon!

5. What does your dream house look like?

2 stories, big yard, white picket fence, etc. You get the idea.

6. What is your dream job?

Novelist!

7. What are 5 things you want to do before you die?

Have kids, publish a book, skydive, travel, rescue a puppy.

8. Are you scared of the future?

Excited, actually.

9. What is the biggest dream in life?

To make a difference.

10. What is the ideal age for you to die?

At whatever age it is that I've lived a full life. 

Tags are really fun, so if you're reading this, I am tagging you! If you fill one out, leave a link so that I can find and read it! 

-Chelsea 

Blog Challenge, Day 30: 10 Things I Hope to Be Remembered For

Well, I did it again! I finished another month-long blog challenge! I'm pretty proud of myself because, believe it or not, this is harder than it seems. Although it is nice to not have to worry about having something to post about. But with that said, let's post this last prompt!

1. Writing novels


2. Volunteering for charity


3. Being a good wife


4.  Being a good mom


5. Making my parents proud

6. For being a good influence
 
7. Loving Disney


8. Being a good friend
 
9. Always being myself

 
10. For being positive
 

Thank you to everyone that joined me in this challenge! It means a lot! If you participated in any of the prompts, don't forget to link up! I'd love to read your posts!

-Chelsea

Blog Challenge, Day 29: What People Misunderstand About Me

I am not funny. I'm going to go ahead and admit that right off the bat. I wish that I was. In fact, I hate that I'm not. I've always been a bit jealous that my sister is so hilarious that people laugh at almost everything she says but most of the time, people don't get my jokes.

What's actually the problem is that most people don't know when I'm joking.

I tend to be sarcastic, like most of my family but I guess I just don't know how to deliver jokes well. So, people tend to misunderstand my sense of humor.

This creates problems because when people don't understand my sarcasm or my jokes, they tend to think that I'm saying something really terrible about them and that I meant it. But I don't. I tell them that I'm joking and they just look at my like I'm crazy.

It's not from lack of trying either. I really do try to portray myself as humorous and make sure that I emote/project the jokes as funny but for some reason, the only reasons that people ever laugh at me is when I do/say something stupid.


I realize that it's not the end of the world to not be funny but if I was, it'd sure make my life a heck of a lot easier.

What do people misunderstand about you?

-Chelsea