This past year.

I am the world's worst at journaling. I am the world's worst at a lot of things. And as you know, consistency is not my thing. It's something I truly yearn for & just haven't figured out yet. I also yearn to journal, so I feel guilty and beat myself up a lot about that.

Beating myself up isn't why I am posting this update though.

A whole year has gone by and I haven't blogged. and I LOVE blogging. Seriously, I do. So, that just goes to show ya. Maybe I just have more time in the summer so I finally get around to it. I wish I blogged more. If anything, I may just start a private blog to ACTUALLY journal. I can type my thoughts so much quicker than I can write them. And I have a lot of thoughts, y'all, contrary to what some of you jokesters may think! Some that may or may not be "public appropriate."

But actually, I've been a little busy this past year.

Karis Jane is no longer 3 months old.... HA! She is 16 months now, and just the best. Words can't express my love, the pride, the joy that girl brings my heart. I can't imagine a better child. I will believe until I die that God hand-picked her just for me. He knew what I could and couldn't handle. He knew I had no idea what I was doing. She's getting so big, so much more independent. But when anyone asks her whose girl she is she will plain as day tell you, "MA-MA!" That just makes my heart so full,  y'all. She did say Da-Da and Nana for a while when asked that question, but she said Mama one day to the question & hasn't looked back. (Sorry DaDa & Nana!)


We took her for her now second beach trip this summer and she was a champ. She didn't sleep the whole way there & back like she did last summer when she was 5 months old. But, she played until she was wore out, napped great, waved to everyone on the beach, wasn't scared of the ocean, and was in her normal amazing mood 99% of the time.


She spent this past school year with Danae & her boys, Easton & Gavin, two days a week. That was a Godsend and I will forever be grateful to Danae for loving my girl so much. I never worried about her care and got some super sweet momentos from their craft days. KJ loves them all! KJ's "Nana" watched her the other 3 days of the week & that was a blessing in many forms. The most I worried about was her spoiling her rotten....which happened....so, that's that. Karis LOVES her Nana!!

Joke's on Nana though because after she spoiled her rotten, we moved into my in-laws' house! We sold our second home & are in the process of building our next, hopefully forever, home now. I know the Lord is calling us to build instead of buy. First, He calls us to be wise with our money, and buying right now just isn't the wisest decision for our family. Building is going to have to teach me patience, and the Good Lord knows I need it. I want it, and I want it right now. I am not a fan of waiting.

So now we all get to spend lots of quality time with Nana & "Pop," which is a blessing because they're also the best. I couldn't ask God for better in-laws. And Karis goes and hangs out with her Mimi (my mom) & Mawmaw (my grandmother) two evenings a week for a couple hours so they can get their Karis fix.

On April 25th we lost my beloved Pawpaw. I don't have the words right now for that. My heart has not fully healed, nor do I think it'll ever. Maybe one day I'll blog about it. But, I know Mawmaw's heart is happy, even for a little bit, when Karis comes to visit. Some days I work all day & miss that girl so much, but I know she needs her Mimi & Mawmaw time too. And plus, that gives me a couple hours of "me time" to do whatever I need or want to do.

I have been spending any "me time" I get starting my own little business, Nicole Mullen Designs. I sell mainly digital files on Etsy & so far, it's been a success! I really want to pour myself into that because it gives me the best return for my time. Time is so of the essence, y'all. I am learning that more and more these days. I have also started a Facebook group "Nicole Mullen Designs" to share what Cricut creations I have worked on for others & for our little family. (Join!) It keeps me as busy as I let it. I have to rein it in or else it'll consume me. I wish I could take orders from everyone full time, but realistically, I can't. So I've had to learn to say no. Which is hard, y'all!! I hate to turn down money too. But, again, time is of the essence. (I think I'm using that term correctly. I mean: time flies & you don't get it back, so spend it wisely.) I enjoy doing what I can when I'm able. I love making people happy & creating for KJ & myself.

I am about to start my second year at Fred T. Foard High School. It has definitely been a change in scenery & I am grateful for the opportunity to work there and to have wonderful coworkers. I do miss my Hickory High people but keep up with them & their shenanigans and meet up with them as often as I can. FTF has given me the ability to spend more (again) TIME with Karis this year, being a little closer to home & us dividing the workload to enable me to leave at a decent hour most days. There's no way I could have done everything I was doing at HHS & have a newborn. I would have driven myself crazy & missed so much of KJ's first year. The Lord knows, y'all. He knew what I'd need & he knew I wouldn't leave that place for just anything. He made a way & opened a door & I am forever grateful for that.


Where this year will lead me, and us, I don't know. I hope to blog more but won't promise you. We have a couple big things coming up, including my big 3-0 (eek!) & hopefully this time next year we'll at least be settled into our new home.

Until then....

2015's Goals: Where are they now?

2015 has come & gone and man, what a year it was! Remember when I made some goals for myself for 2015? (Probably not.) Well, here they are with some updates... Just wanted to give MYSELF an update & also remind any readers that it's okay to not fulfill every promise to yourself. Did I set myself up for failure? Probably NOT, but, I definitely needed to be reminded more often of my goals in order to maintain them. I think I did okay! I'm not beating myself up at all and you shouldn't either.

Here's what I plan to do in 2015... Wish me luck!

• I want to have technology-free evenings with my husband. At least one a week. Doesn't happen. Don't even know if I brought this up to him. Maybe I should? 

• I want to stick with Weight Watchers and lose at least 25 pounds to start with. I worked my butt off with my gal pal Whitney & only lost 10 lbs. Then I lost another 5 lbs during my first trimester (gotta love morning sickness!) Either way, I did lose some weight, which I was thankful for when I started packing on the pregnancy pounds. 

• I want to sew/hem all my clothes that need it, and get really good at doing it so that maybe I can hem for others in the future. Okay, I don't foresee me doing much for others, considering I currently have a growing stack of to-hem clothes. Seriously every pair of bottoms I buy (pajamas included) need hemming and it is so annoying! I promise I'm getting around to that. 

• I want to get rid of all my clothes that are really too small. Some things I envision fitting back into in the near future, but some stuff I just need to kiss goodbye and donate to someone in need. Done and done. I am so not a packrat. 

• I want to keep growing my hair out. This will be a challenge, as I get easily annoyed & tend to just chop it off on whims. I have not cut the front of my hair at all this year!! The back grows so much faster than the front. Am I the only one whose hair does this? I think it has to do with me wanting the front more perfect, and using heat, etc. more on the front. I did chop like 4" off the back to make it a longer angled bob. The back caught up to the front.... the cycle continues. 

• Keep my new car clean. Inside & out. Not a chance. I am who I am. 

• Find a way to organize all my jewelry laying around. I did but I'm not loving my system, and it has currently failed me at the moment. Or maybe I failed it? Either way, I need to find a better home for my jewelry. 

• Create a 2014 photo book on Snapfish. Forget scrapbooking. I ultimately want to make photo books for every year and occasion I can. That'll have to be a summer project. Didn't happen. Still want to do this. 

• 100% housetrain Chloe. She is good most of the time but if it ain't 100%, we need to work on it. Sometimes we take her out in the mornings & she won't go, but then she's stuck inside all day while we work, and of course she goes inside then. Ugh! Somebody just come take & train my dog & bring her back all obedient and well-mannered. Chloe's good 99% of the time. If she messes up, it's typically our fault. She's great, really. :) 

• GO TO NEW YORK CITY. FOR THE LOVE! YES YES AND YES! I did it! FINALLY! I've only been talking about it for 10 years! I'd like to say I'll blog about it, but I think I know myself better by now. I'd still like to though! To sum it up: I had a wonderful time with my gal pal Elizabeth & her sister, Emily. It was 3 days of awesome. 

• Go on a fun beach trip. HAHA!! So, I totally went to the beach. While I was about 7 weeks pregnant, and SO sick. Worst idea ever. Remind me to never do that again. Alex can leave my butt at home next time. Wait though.... we DID go on a cruise to the Bahamas this year for our anniversary!! That's a fun beach trip!!!! I totally didn't forget about that. I just hear "beach" and think of all the yuckiness from this summer. Sorry, Bahamas! 

Cruise to the Bahamas in April 2015

• Do more couples devotions and praying with my husband. While we have improved in this area, we have a long way to go. 

You win some, you lose some. With a baby on the way, the amount of things I'm trying to improve is seriously so overwhelming. I am just trying to take life one day at a time and hope for the best!

Until next time, readers... here's a pic for the road!

Christmas 2015 & 30 weeks along with Baby Mullen

Wishing you all a very happy & healthy 2016!

♥,
Nicole

BIG NEWS!

So...BIG news!!!

As you may {or may not} know, Alex has been house hunting for months now! I really really really encouraged him to buy a house before I graduated moved back to Lincolnton, if not for the obvious reasons, then solely for the fact that I would give my "things" a new home! In the two years spent in Hickory, I have filled UP my apartment! Well, Alex {luckily} is a stickler for figuring out his budget, figuring out how much he can AND WILL pay for a house {and everything else} and he is pretty good awesome at sticking to it! We counter each other well. ;)

Well, the time has come! Alex has purchased a house!!! I definitely won't tell you how much he paid for it {without his permission} but let me just say, he got a S-T-E-A-L! Gotta love it!!! It's a little fixer-upper in Lincolnton with 3 bedrooms & 1 and a 1/2 bathrooms! He closes on it this Tuesday & we couldn't be more excited! I think I'm more excited than he is!

We get to begin the journey of fixing up & decorating the house together, with the help of family & friends! It'll be a lot of work but hardly anything we can't do ourselves....and by "ourselves" I mean with the help of family & close friends! ;) A lot "needs" to be done {Alex says I use that word more than I should} & we are going to get started on it ASAP....literally, like, Tuesday. :)

We are going "yard saling" in the morning in hopes of finding some good {and by good I mean good and cheap} pieces of furniture that we can either use right away or "fix up." We went & got paint cards tonight to compare on Tuesday, & looked for some things like a ceiling fan and a dining room table today. We didn't buy anything yet. Remember, Alex is frugile so we are comparing prices!! :) We counter each other SO SO well. Trust me! ;)

Of course my camera's battery is dead and I didn't get to take any pics of the house when I visited this week. There will DEFINITELY be some before & "after" {work in progress} photos taken & shared....so stay tuned!!!

I will definitely be blogging our journey with this as we fix the house up....Pray we don't kill each other in the process!! ... Juuuuuuuuuuuust kidding. ;)

Done! Finished! Finito! Fin! :-D

I made it! I am officially done with my first full semester of graduate school. Praise the Lord! I never thought I would see the light at the end of the tunnel that is this semester. In a matter of 4 days last week I wrote FIFTY pages of essay-type things. FIFTY! That's insane! I thought I would go crazy. I took about a week long mental vacation and then had to be back at it. I cranked another 10 pages out, had class tonight (a week after "the last day of classes"), and feel SO relieved! I really don't know what to do with myself. I mean, there is always something I should be doing. I can't go home for Christmas until Monday, the 21st, so, there is RD work to be done, and DEFINITELY cleaning that has been neglected lately with all this paper writing! So, I'll need to get on that. But tonight, I'm just not feeling it. I took a nice, long, MUCH needed shower after I got out of class, and I might just get in the bed with a book at 8pm and see how long it takes me to drift off to dreamland! :)

I've gotta get up crazy early in the morning. I'm working at the gym 6-8 AM! Trying to make a little extra holiday $$$! I'm already counting down the days until February 17ish when I get my next financial aid refund check. :/ Don't get me started...

I don't know what else to tell you right now- other than I am seriously sleep-deprived, smelling beautifully, and so so SOOOO happy that this semester is over with! Oh, and did I tell you that I am taking four classes next semester? We'll see how it goes....

Until then, I'm going to try to have a very merry CHRISTmas with my family, friends, and special someone! :) I hope you will all do the same.

Welcome to Hickory, NC!

Ahh! My sleep schedule is SO messed up! I'll probably end up blogging late at night while I have a ton of energy. Living back in the residence halls have really screwed up my already pretty messed up sleep schedule. And I really reallly really wish I'd work on that more- because it really messes up your day!

About that---as most of you know, I've moved to Hickory, NC. I got a great job too! I am now a Resident Director at Lenoir-Rhyne University. I live in an apartment in Isenhour Hall on campus, one of the primarily freshmen "dorms." (Speaking of my apartment, it was a definite fixer-upper and I took before and after pictures! I'll have to share them another day!) Anyways, my job is to primarily oversee the RAs in the building (who, by the way are SUCH an awesome staff!) and the building itself, and handle any mishaps that happen along the way. Let me tell you, I LOVE IT! Isenhour Hall is crazy. My residents are crazy and I'm enjoying getting to know them this year. I hate hate hate the sound of my doorbell but I don't mind it when I hear it at 2 in the morning if someone is having issues.  It's such a great job to have while I work on my Masters. I can use what I learn in classes immediately and directly with students, which is great!

Again, in case you hadn't heard, I'm working here at LR on my Masters in Counseling. I couldn't decide which type of counseling I wanted to do once I had my Masters and I was seriously struggling with that decision. Usually, graduate schools have you decide which type of counseling you want to pursue: agency/community or school. Well, long story short: Lenoir-Rhyne has an awesome program that lets you do both! So, I added 12 hours to my course load and will be able to pursue a counseling career in either some type of community counseling or in a school! With the economy the way it is, the more doors I'll be able to open the better! And then there's the fact that I still have no idea what I actually WANT to do! So, I have about 2 years to figure it out. :)

I think I've figured that I'll graduate in August or December of 2011. I took two classes this summer and plan to take one in December. It's crazy--those 3 classes add up to only a total of 16 days but those 3 classes alone will knock a whole SEMESTER off my graduation date! You know me....trying to get in and out as soon as possible so I can move on to the next stage! :) However, my LR experience is a lot different from my experience in undergrad at Appalachian. I may blog about that later. :) Therefore I wouldn't mind staying longer if I had to/could. Ok, I've lived here like TWO months...I need to stop. I'm hoping things don't change but I need to stop counting my chickens. Hopefully I'll remember to keep blogging and give you an update on it later on, once I've experienced it all a little more.