His & Her Style: Sunday Best.

On Haley: dress, oxfords, ring - Forever 21// sunglasses - Red Velvet// tights - Target

On Blake: shirt - H&M// shoes - Urban Outfitters// sunglasses - Ray Ban// jeans - Hot Topic

This weekend has been so eventful!

Friday, Blake and I went to Worship Night at our church, which was incredible. I invited Breigh along and we had a blast. Afterwards, Blake and I saw Don't Be Afraid of the Dark... which was slightly disappointing (except for the end, surprisingly enough). But it wasn't in the least bit scary because they left the theater lights on during the entire thing. Laaaame.

Saturday, Blake and I went shopping (had to return one of the two perfumes I got... silly me, I bought two of the same kind), and he bought me this pretty new dress! He's such a good boyfriend. Later that night his band, The Midwest Indies, had a show at The Front Porch, so that was a fun conclusion to our day.

Today we went back to Marshfield to visit my parents and see my grandma. I haven't seen them (with the exception of my dad) in nearly 3 weeks! Crazy talk!

I'm pretty excited for the coming month, though.

Blake and I have a very special date coming up soon, and then towards the end of September, grandma and I have a date to see Gone with the Wind at the Gillioz Theatre! We're mega excited because Gone with the Wind was always our favorite movie to watch on snow days while playing board games. :)

How was your weekend? Do anything exciting?

xo Haley

Outfit + Life

Outfit Details: flower hair clip + sunglasses - borrowed from Anna// button up + undershirts - Forever 21// jeans - American Eagle// flats - AE for Payless

I wore this last night on a little date with my sweet boyfriend. He was kind enough to snap these photos for me. :) We had dinner at Aviary, the cute creperie downtown. After that we made a stop at Starbucks for tea, and then we went to the Moxie to see The Trip. It was funny..but I got slightly bored at some parts, which I was afraid of happening! The trailer was so hilarious, but it looked at had potential to be boring.

I've been a nanny for two full weeks now! I absolutely love it! It doesn't feel like "work," which is fantastic, and I don't dread going to work like I have with every other job I've had. I love it, I'm glad I got this job.

I'm not going to school this semester, so the past few days have been strange. It's funny though - I don't feel like I should be there. Ha. So I don't know why things feel so weird!

Breigh's not going either! By the way - stop by her blog and congratulate her on her new hair color! It's pretty. :)

I finally got to hang out with Colby! I'd missed that boy a lot, a lot! I'm so glad he's finally back, and that we live in the same city for the first time since high school! This should be a good and exciting year.

xo Haley

Thoughts on being a big kid.

So I moved out nearly two months ago, and have been loving life on my own. (Seriously, Breigh- you'll love it, too! Can't wait to live with you soon, biffsters!)

Along with the fantastic independence that comes with living on your own, there's also so much responsibility. It's crazy!

Here's a few (fun?) things I noticed about myself after living on my own for 2 months:

*Anna and I don't have a dishwasher in our place, so I had to learn not to complain when I have to clean up my dishes.

*I used to dread doing laundry at my family's house - but I love laundry days now that I'm on my own. Maybe because I only have to worry about my clothes and not everyone else's?

*I go to bed earlier than I ever did when living with my parents. And I go to bed without watching tv, which was a tough habit to break!

*Speaking of TV - Anna & I don't have one! I make due with Instant Netflix & Hulu on my laptop & semi okay wifi connection, though.

*As much as I love baking - I've only baked one cake while here, and even then - I messed that one up!

*I can go anywhere, anytime, which is nice. Blake and I have gone to see movies at 10 pm before because I now live 5 minutes away from the theater instead of 30. so nice!

*I'm bad at grocery shopping. I'm very absent minded, and I just start picking things up off the shelves that I don't really need. &&&& HAVE YOU SEEN THE PRICE OF CHEESE?! $4?! I've never bought cheese before, so I had no idea.

*I go to church more now than I did when living at home.

*I had an "I'm A Big Girl Now" Aha moment the other day while on my way to work. I had bought groceries, I bought my own gas, and am getting ready to make an insanely large purchase (more on that later..) soon. I'm such a big kid! I've been very blessed to have parents that paid for my gas every week, but now that I actually have a real job, I have started paying for it, and although I dread having to go get gas, I enjoy being able to pay for it myself.

I'm so excited for Colby to be back in Springfield! The boy has yet to see my apartment, and I can't wait to help him shop for things for his new place! The best friends will soon be reunited, and I'm STOKED! :)

So what have you been up to lately? I've just been working (and loving my job, by the way!) and hanging out with Blake (and his friends on #hipstertuesday. Haha! I'll blog about it next week, maybe!). Also thinking about making some changes to the blog to help me blog more often. Ever since moving, blogging has been a fun, side project for me, and I want to be more serious about it again. So we shall see. Have any suggestions? :)

xo Haley

Blake's a birthday boy!

Dear Mr. Tucker,

Happy birthday! I am no longer your cougar mama, and we're the same age again for the next 11 months (and then I turn 21 a month before you. SUCKER).

Even though you have to spend your day at work, I truly hope that this is a special day for you. You are the best boyfriend in the world, and I hope I can make your 20th birthday half as awesome as you made mine. I have a big surprise planned for you soon, mister! You just have to wait a few days to find out what it is. :)

Anyways.
I hope you have an amazing, amazing birthday, old man.

You are the greatest. :)

Love you, boyfraaand.

xo, me.

ps. everyone! go over to Blake's blog and wish him a happy birthday, I know he'd love it. :)

I'm a Nanny.

This is my cousin Max, the love of my life!

Hey! It's been a whirlwind of excitement and anxiety these past few days!

I'll start from the beginning, on Thursday.

As I've already told you about, I interviewed for a nanny position for a sweet family near Springfield. Later that night, I got the call that I got the job.

Friday, I changed my availability at the restaurant I work at so that I am only available Thursday & Saturday nights for hostessing hours (which is only 3, maybe 4 hours each night).

Saturday, Blake and I went to see Final Fantasy 5 in 3D (absolutely atrocious, but hilarious & awesome), and during the movie, I have 2 missed calls: one from the lady that hired me to nanny, and one from my manager at the restaurant (panic sets in, duh).

So, I return the call to my manager - he's not happy about my change in availability.

I return the call to Kim (the momma), and she tells me she's hired someone else and I didn't actually get the job.

I cried. A lot.

I had been so excited for the job, and so happy, and relieved that I had a job I actually enjoyed and I didn't even get a chance to start and show her I could do it! To say that I was bummed would be an understatement.

Sunday, after church, Blake and I went to the lake with the college Sunday school class. It was a super relaxing day, good for just forgetting about all of my previous day's troubles.

I ended up staying the night at Blake's parents house. We made plans to stay up late and eat snacks and play Guitar Hero. Reality: We ate a few chips, watched half an episode of So You Think You Can Dance and were both passed out.

Monday morning, I wake up to a voicemail from Kim. I call her back. She asks me if I'm lost & having trouble finding the house because I'm 30 minutes late & she's worried about me.

I tell her that she said she gave the job to someone else and I wasn't supposed to come over.

She tells me that she really does want me to have the job and to come over.

I get there about 2 hours after I was originally supposed to be there.

Turns out, her husband read her the wrong phone number for the girl she wasn't hiring. And she called me instead. So as it turns out, I really do have the job, and I love it so far.

I've only been there 2 days, but I really really like it. I watch 4 kids, and when school starts next week, I'll only have 2. They are just the sweetest (and liveliest) bunch of kiddos. I go out there all this week (all day) but my regular schedule starts next week, and will only be Monday afternoons/ Tuesday & Thursday, all day.

Next Tuesday will be interesting - it's literally all. day. I work from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

I'm excited to see what that will be like, but nervous at the same time. That's a very long day.

We shall see! I'm excited.

On the other hand, I have to end up quitting my job at the restaurant completely. I won't even be able to give a 2 week notice, which sucks, and makes me feel awful.

I thought that I would be able to handle doing both, at least for a few months, but the family will need me more often than the 22 hours I'm guaranteed each week. Meaning I need to keep my weekends open. Meaning, I can't work another job.

Which is okay with me, I just feel bad for needing to quit so soon at the restaurant. For example - she has me on the schedule for Saturday night, 6-9 pm, but I'm also scheduled to work at the restaurant for the same hours.... there's no way I'm going to cancel on Kim to work the same hours at minimum wage! No way, jose! I'm taking the $12/hour job over that!

So, I'm in a tough spot, and I feel really, really bad. But.

You gotta do what you gotta do.

Enough about me. How are you?!

xo Haley

Blogging has taken the back burner lately.

And I feel awful about it! This past week has just been so busy and has gone by so fast, I've almost forgotten to blog. Not to mention, I really don't have anything of importance to blog about!

Let's see...

Monday, I started a new job at a restaurant, as a hostess and server. This is the sort of job I'm used to. I've been doing it since my sophomore year of high school, so this is nothing new to me. So all week, I've been training for that.

In the meantime, I've been searching for a nanny position. And yesterday, I interviewed for one for the sweetest woman, who actually already has a nanny, but needed another.

During work, I got a call from her offering me the job! I am SO excited. So I start that job on Monday. I need to go to the restaurant and change my availability now. I'm so, so excited for all these changes!

So... that's about it. That's all that happening in this girl's life.

Today is mine and Blake's 8 month anniversary, so we were planning on seeing the Glee Live movie, but I really super hate 3D. So we're skipping it. Although, I decided I'd sit through 3D to see Final Destination 5. HA.

So what have you been up to lately? I've been away for a week. I feel like I've missed out on a lot!

xo Haley

ps. check out my latest blog over at After Your Heart! It's about praying for your future husband. I really like this one :)

pps. go over to Breigh's blog and follow/leave her some love! She now has braces and brown-ish hair! :)

love you biffers! :)

That one time Breigh & I planned our entire weddings..

I spent a good chunk of Tuesday with Breigh. We just so happened to plan our weddings.

Neither of us are close to getting married.

We found venues, decided on food & desserts, found dresses, picked our wedding parties. No joke.

Here were my sources of inspiration:
Breigh and I even set a potential date for my wedding. Originally it was April 14, 2013... but then I thought, who wants to get married on the anniversary of the Titanic sinking?! What a way to celebrate Jack dying. So then we started thinking, maybe 2013 is just a bad idea in general. 2013 just doesn't sound good. But... there's a problem, 2012 is too soon. 2014 just feels..too late. So 2013 it is. I hope that future husband of mine is okay with this.

I also decided my father/daughter dance will be to "No One's Gonna Love You" by Band of Horses. I told my mom this in the frozen food section of Wal-Mart. She started crying.

Something about how my dad and I both have a crazy love for Band of Horses, and the lyrics "no one's gonna love you more than I do" really hit a soft spot for my mom.

We also decided that simplicity is best. So we both decided on having only one bridesmaid. Each other. Aren't we the cutest best friends ever?! And then I found this dress....
And Breigh fell in love. I officially want it for her bridesmaid dress. Seriously. And she loved it so much that she offered to buy it right then. Because we all know that ModCloth will not have this dress in 2013.

Here were Breigh's sources of inspiration...
As you can see she's going for a very rustic feel for her wedding, hopefully we'll find a good venue for her! She wants it in a barn, of course. We found this one, and it's absolutely gorgeous. But she feels that traveling 3 hours away is a lot to ask for such a big guest list she intends on having. Oh, I love my best friend. :)

Seriously, the guys we marry are super lucky. We have general ideas of what we want to do, and all that's really left to do is actually plan and get it ready. Oh boy. Lucky guys. :)

So what about all of you? Do you have your future wedding planned already? :)

xo Haley

I apologize for not having any sources for our photos! I can tell you that we found all of them on 100 Layer Cake, Once Wed, and Ruffled Blog.

love letter.

Dear Best Friend,

I miss your face. I miss our silly conversations.

I miss our junk food binges and mutual love for McDonalds.

I would just really prefer it if you came back as soon as possible.

Or like, text me or something.

xo Hayhay

p.s. just wanted to pop in and say hello to you all! i extended my stay in marshfield, to hang out with my parents, so that's why the third and final part of my 'series' on After Your Heart has yet to be added. I'm doing it first thing tomorrow morning, I promiseee! Enjoy your night and eat lots of ice cream. I just did ♥

Change of heart + Big News

Hello, hello! I haven't been able to talk to Blake for 28 hours. And if you ask Breigh, I was a mess for the first few hours. I just don't like this level of separation. I can deal with being in different states, but not being able to talk to him at all is tough. business.

But I have had a recent change of heart.

While I was preparing a new lesson on After Your Heart (this one is about Being God's Mrs. Right... it'll be up tomorrow!), I realized I was going about this 'break' all wrong. While I've been fretting over our separation and lack of communication, I should be working on my alone time with God.

With him being gone, I've realized just how attached I am to Blake. And while he'll be happy to know I missed him lots, I'm finding it kind of... startling, and not to mention a bit frightening.

I should feel this way about God. I should feel this attached to God. I should be longing to hear His voice, longing to feel His presence in my life.

So I had a change of heart. While I still miss Blake (I really, really do), I feel so much more at peace with him being gone. I felt alone at first, like I'd be incredibly bored with absolutely nothing to do, but now after spending some time digging into God's word, and spending some suuuper necessary time with Breigh, I feel so much better. And I no longer look at it as not being able to talk to him until Friday, but as I've made it this far, I can make it a few more days.

----

In other news!

I had a phone interview today for a nanny job... in New York. Approx 30 minutes away from Manhattan, right on the Connecticut border. It's a perfect fit for me (and my schedule), so I'm praying that it works out. The only thing is - they need me to be moving in with them the last week of August/beginning of September. Which is like, 3 to 4 weeks away. I should be receiving a call by the end of the week regarding if I've gotten the job or not. I'm praying that I do. But at the same time, this is such short notice, it sort of freaks me out! I hate putting this sudden change of plans on my roommate, Anna, & I also hate not being able to include Blake in all of this. (darn cruise ship stealing my boyfriend!)

So I just ask that you pray for this decision, on both ends - the parents doing the hiring, and for me. I'm praying that NY is the right place for me, and that this family is a good match. So if you have a moment just say a little prayer/send me some positive thoughts! I'd greatly appreciate it!

&& pray for Miss Breigh, she's getting braces put on (again) Thursday! And she's supposedly dying her pretty blonde hair darker! So many changes in our lives right now! ;)

xo Haley ♥