Top Ten Tuesday--Happiness Is...

This week's Shabby Blogs TTT's theme is "Happiness is..."

1. Happiness is my husband.

2. Happiness is my pug, Petey and Cinnamon, my doxie-beagle.

3. Happiness is knowing God has a plan for me even when it seems like there's no hope.

4. Happiness is having clean water to drink, food in my pantry, and clothes on my back.

5. Happiness is Spotify. (Seriously. Check it out!)

6. Happiness is being content no matter my circumstances.

7. Happiness is baby thigh rolls, bellies, double chins, and elbow dimples.

8. Happiness is arts and crafts. (Check out tomorrow to see the new wreath I made!)

9. Happiness is my family, near and far.

10. Happiness is grace found only through my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ!

Madison Lilly

Madison Lilly is an up and coming artist with a soul-filled voice! She's also my 14 year old sister-in-law! I made the video below using my husband's photography, Madison's recording, and iMovie. Please give it a listen and a like, and don't forget to subscribe to her YouTube channel! We'd greatly appreciate it if you could spread the word! More videos are coming VERY soon, so stay tuned!


*Just an FYI, Madison owns the rights to "A Moment Like This." Vance Bailey Photography, my husband's photography business, owns the rights to the pictures. The chalkboard slides are free for personal use. 

Thankful Thursday 5/31/12

Normally, for my Thankful Thursday posts...if I remember to make them...consist of 4 or 5 things I am thankful for. Today, I'd like to focus on two.

First of all...my husband. What an incredible man! He is loving, kind, sweet, HILARIOUS, sexy (ahem.), forgiving, understanding, slow to anger, patient, empathetic, sympathetic, giving, serving, selfless, courageous, self-evaluating, honest, compassionate, tender, etc. etc. etc. He gives of himself so so much is often taken for granted by those around him. He does his best to provide for our family and hates that I have to work, though really...I don't mind because I'd be super bored if I didn't work! (Plus, my student loans don't pay themselves, ya know!) Vance is an amazing husband. Hands down. My co-workers at Old Navy CONSTANTLY compliment him and talk about what a sweet man he is. I have had several women tell me they hope to marry someone just like him someday. What a compliment to me! What praise for him! What a proud wife I am! Vance is truly my dream come true, and I am exorbitantly grateful that he is in my life! We've been married for almost two years and known each other for three years. These have been three of the best years of my life! I look forward to many many more with him by my side!

Secondly, my job nannying for Max. He is SUCH a cutie pie! I love Love LOVE this kid! He keeps me laughing on a daily basis! I never know what he's going to say next...except that he's in the repeating phase, so he'll pretty much say back to me whatever I say to him...which can be extra fun! For instance, I said, "Thank ya, Bay-bee!" the other day and he said, "Thank you, Bay-bee! Haha....funny!" in reply. Now, it's a game with us. A game which he thoroughly enjoys! He is developing a very funny sense of humor, too! He'll say things sometimes then says, "Hehe....funny!" Even if what he says ISN'T funny, the funny part is when he giggles at himself and says it's funny! I love Max's personality! He is so funny, snuggly, and compassionate! I stubbed my toe the other day and said, "OHHHH OUCH OUCH OUCH!!!" (Seriously. I don't swear, so that's about as strong of language as I use...haha...) Max came over and said, "Ok???" And said, "Kiss it! Kiss it!" He then planted a big ole slobbery kiss on my big toe. It was the sweetest thing he's done in a long time! (It was also kind of gross!) Max is so smart! He knows all of his colors, can recognize his name when it's written out, can find the letter M (and usually the A and X as well) in a sea of magnet letters, knows all of his animal sounds, can count/say the alphabet with a little guidance, knows every type of car that can be a part of a train, knows the name of pretty much every type of vehicle/farm machinery out there (seriously...he's taught me a thing or two!), etc. etc. The kid is smart! The kid is funny! The kid is adorable!

I linked up with my sweet friend Cami's blog, First Day of My Life and Julia at Black Tag Diaries! You should, too! What are you thankful for today?

If you could take 2 seconds and give this a click, it would mean so much to me! Thank you!!

Thankful Thursday 3/22/12

Today I am thankful for...

1. myfitnesspal.com. It helps me keep track of the calories I've eaten/will eat through the day and how much I'm burning with exercise. :-)

2. Losing approx. 6 lbs this week. Official weigh-in is Saturday morning, but as of Tuesday, I had lost 5.5 lbs, so maybe it'll be more? Even if it's less, it's still SOMETHING! I have a long journey ahead of me, but am encouraged by such a great start!

3. My husband, Vance. He keeps me encouraged and is working along side of me to lose weight! I love him dearly and am grateful he chose me as his wife.

4. My doggies! Petey and Cinnamon hung with us for 2 miles when we walked the other day. We tied them to the fence (we were walking a track) for the last mile. They were so tired afterward, but were happy!

5. My jobs. I've been working a lot (worked 55+ hours last week) between them both, but I am grateful for having not one, but two jobs, in an economy which is STILL trying to recover! Every little bit helps!

Max Snuggling

Did you write a Thankful Thursday post? Link up with us at First Day of My Life's blog!

If you could take 2 seconds and give this a click, it would mean so much to me! Thank you!!

Vday Card 2012

Since my hubs reads my blog, I couldn't post this yesterday. 

Here's the card I made for him for Valentine's Day.

(The pic of us on the card is our first kiss as husband and wife!)

(Click to enlarge.)

We originally had reservations for Bleu, a swanky restaurant here in Winston-Salem, but Vance wasn't up to par. SO, he called back to change the time. The only time he could get was 9:30pm, so he made it. When he told me Monday about his initial plan and how it got all screwed up, I seriously almost cried. He put so much effort and thought into it! He had been saving money and planning for weeks! Now, I am no a huge Vday fan. It's never been a huge deal to me, but we try to celebrate special holidays as well as celebrate every day we have together. Anyway, I asked him yesterday evening (when he came to see me at work since I was working 5-10 at Old Navy) to cancel our reservation so we could go another night. I can't wait to eat dinner until 9:30pm and I honestly have to get up too early on Wednesdays (today) to eat dinner at 9:30. Ha. I'm 26 and already old. Anyway, we are going out to Bleu later this week/early next week as well as hopefully seeing The Vow. (We're totally being cliche' here.) I hope you had a fabulous Valentine's Day and your special someone treated you right! :-)

If you could take 2 seconds and give this a click, it would mean so much to me! Thank you!!

Day 27--30 Days of Thankfulness

I know I've already given my hubs props one day at the beginning of the month, but I can't help but be thankful for (read: brag on) him again as we close out the end of the month. I worked this entire weekend. I worked 930a-7p on Black Friday, 9a-6p on Saturday, and today I get to work 2p-7p. Over the course of this weekend, Vance has cleaned the entire house.

Last night after I got off work, I posted the following status on Facebook:

Not even kidding...I have the best husband in the entire world!! The last two days while I worked 930-7 and then 9-6, he vacuumed/dusted the entire house, did all of the dishes, did all of the laundry, mopped the kitchen and bathroom floor, cleaned the stove and counters, tidied up all of the clutter in the office and dining room, bathed the dogs, cleaned their kennels, washed all of their blankets/beds, AND put up the Christmas tree and got all the decorations out for me. He is so amazing! 

That is no exaggeration. That is not even the entire list of the things he's done. He also cooked dinner Friday and Saturday evenings, fed and walked the dogs, dug out my Christmas candles and lit them, made a salt bath for me to soak my feet, gave me a foot massage, changed/washed the sheets and duvet cover, etc. etc.

He is such a great husband! I could not ask for better! Ladies, if you don't have a modern-aged man of God, I highly recommend them! They cannot be beat!

If you could take 2 seconds and give this a click, it would mean so much to me! Thank you!!

Testing the Swimmers Part III--Guest Post By The Hubs

This is the third part of what's now becoming a FOUR part guest spot! Catch up with Part I and Part II before reading today's!


xo,
Angela

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So I did the test/ What an experience! It wasn’t as bad as I thought. As it turns out, I didn’t have to go into a room with adult magazines and take care of business. I was able to take care of business at home. That is where the bad news comes into play. After getting the “SAMPLE”, I had to keep it at body temperature. This meant making the 10 minute drive with a sterile cup of sperm in my pocket.

Once I got to the lab, I had to fill out some very basic paperwork mainly dealing with my insurance. The people were very nice, and apparently I was the only one that felt awkward passing a cup of man juice across the counter. This all happened on Friday. The lady that took the sample said the results would be ready around the first of next week.

That might seem like a short period of time, but when being infertile is one of the possible answers, it feels like forever. As of the time writing the post (11/21), we still haven’t got the results. I’ve contacted the lab every other day and get the same answer. “We’re experiencing an extremely long wait due to heavy demand.” At this point, I’m thinking about going to a place that specializes in fertility testing in Greensboro. If I don’t get the results in the next few days, that’s exactly what I’m doing. As you can tell, I’m extremely irritated by this. My nerves were already on edge waiting for the results, and the stupidly long wait is making it worse.

So I’ll tell you what, no matter what happens, I’ll write another post dealing with either the results, or my experience with the fertility center in Greensboro. Till then…

Clicky clicky for my wifey!!

Testing the Swimmers Part I--Guest Post By The Hubs

I am pleased to announce that today marks a very monumental day for Angela's Favorite Things! Today is the first guest post we've ever had. Who better to write a guest post than that author of The Vance View, my husband, the hubs, Vance? I've tried to keep you all updated on our TTC journey with the most recent info, feelings, potential conceptions, etc. Well, what has been lacking is a male prospective! I cannot express what my husband is feeling along the way any better than he can fully express what I'm feeling/thinking. In this three-part segment, Vance, the hubs, will share his point of view on our TTC efforts and his role in getting tested!


xo,
Angela

Tune in tomorrow to read Part II of this three part guest series to read about Vance's anticipation leading up to the whole testing process!

_______________________________________________________

Before my wife and I got married, we talked about the future, but the one subject that kept coming up was kids. We both wanted them. The question was when? We discussed birth control for the first year and also having kids right away. After thinking about it, I knew what I wanted. At 30 years old, I didn’t really want to wait very long. The way I looked at it was once we got married in June, it was less than two months before I was 31. If we waited a year, I would be 32 when we started trying, and I really didn’t want to be a first time father at 33 or 34. So the decision was made! We were going for it; we wouldn’t get on the birth control train. We wanted to enjoy each other, and enjoy being newlyweds, but we wanted to get pregnant too.

So off we went! For the first couple of months we didn’t worry about cycles and ovulation, or anything of that sort. Then as the weeks and months went on, we started to get a little discouraged. I secretly felt like a huge failure as a man and husband. My wife, on the other hand, went to town on the research. We both knew she wasn’t the most regular when it came to that “time” of the month, but we pressed on. Now, as any couple that has issues conceiving knows all too well, the act of making a baby stops being fun after about the fifth failed attempt and turns into pressure and disappointment. As a man, it is also a huge hit to the ego, I know that’s how I felt anyway. It started to get harder and harder to get into the mood, and I started to get very depressed. At the time, I didn't express this to anybody, not even Angela.

Then, this past summer, we really thought we were pregnant! It was well past “that” time of the month, and I just knew we had finally succeeded! We went out and bought the "family pack" of pregnancy tests, but everyday was the same...no period and a negative test. I’d be lying if I said my heart didn’t break every time she said negative again. We talked to a ton of people that had the same issue, store bought tests coming up negative. We needed to get a real test, but unfortunately my company’s pathetic insurance plan makes it impossible to insure my wife. We researched alternative options. We found that there are a lot of resources available if you just look. So, the next step was going to a place that specialized in this. We found a pregnancy center that was right down the street and we went right in. My hopes were quickly crushed when that test came up negative as well. At this point I wanted to dig a hole and jump in it. I was so down it wasn’t even funny, but I had to be strong, or at least I thought I did. We asked the lady in charge, Nancy, where we could get a blood drawn test for cheap. She gave us the number of a place that would do this. The name is Southside United Health and Wellness Center. After getting lost more than once, we finally found the place and went in to get the test. This was my last hope of good news, and I needed it at that point. It took around 3 days to get the results…NEGATIVE!! The disappointment on my beautiful wife’s face was almost too much to bear! I have never felt like that in my life! I wanted to scream, cry, and curse at God so bad at that point in time. My anger was close to getting the best of me. I know now that it was more hurt and sadness than anger, but hindsight is 20/20.

Our next step was making her lady exam appointment, which we did. When the day came, I went with her, and that is when the doctor gave us the name of a lab that could test my swimmers. Now I am really nervous! This ordeal has been very difficult for the both of us. But to find out it is my "fault"...that is something I don’t want to think about. So I really hope they swim like Michael Phelps, and not sink like the Greek economy.

(This post was written Nov. 7.)


Hey! Give my wife a vote for being so awesome!

Happy 32nd Birthday To My Hubs!

Today is a very special day for the most special person in the world to me. Today is my hubs 32nd birthday!

Alex Vance Bailey, Jr. was born to Alex Vance Bailey, Sr. and Katherine Bailey on August 1, 1979 in St. Paul, MN. He was the answer to their prayers. After several miscarriages and many heartaches, Vance was the first and only baby that his mother was able to carry to term. Due to her heart shaped uterus as well as a couple other minor issues, nature would say that there was no way that Alex and Katherine would ever be biological parents. Good thing God had other plans.

Vance, Mom Bailey and Dad Bailey

Dad Bailey holding Vance before his christening. 

Vance with his Mumu and Pops.

Vance won a bulldog contest with those cheekers!

Throughout his life, Vance was raised to love sports (especially golf), interior design, photography, cooking, music, and computers (his father, after all, has a software business.) His grandfather, also known as Pawpaw, instilled his passion for golf into Vance from a very young age.

Vance and his cousin, Christopher, being hardcore.

Isn't he a cutie??

Why yes, that IS a shower cap on his head...

Sailor suit + golf club = EAT YOUR HEART OUT, LADIES!

Vance's family moved around a lot. Before he was born, his parents moved a lot due to his dad's army job. After Vance was born, they moved a lot due to his father's software company. They lived in places such as Alabama, Ohio, Texas, and most recently, North Carolina. During their extended stay in Ohio, they started foster care. While in OH, they adopted Vance's sister, Amanda. Not too long after they adopted Amanda, they moved to good ole NC.

Mom Bailey, Vance, and Amanda

Vance and Amanda

Dad Bailey, Mom Bailey, Vance, and Amanda

Later in life, Vance and his friends had a bit too much...fun. They made some poor decisions including drugs and alcohol. (Poor T, the cat, will never be the same due to the fact that he was in a room of boys smoking pot. The cat was stoned for a week straight. He's a VERY friendly cat these days, though.) Vance ended up getting his GED, moving to Gulf Shores, AL and enrolling in culinary school. The "partying" only escalated in culinary school. It's a little known fact that the culinary arts are a breeding ground for drug abuse. Emeril himself had a severe problem with drugs, even. Upon making the decision to change his life for the better, Vance moved back to NC to try to rid himself of his dangerous and abusive lifestyle. During this time, Vance's parents continued in foster care and adopted a sibling group of three kids, Kristina, Ricky, and Greg as well as two other children, Katie and Madison.

Vance's Graduation from Tarheel Military Academy

Vance at one of his birthday parties.

Vance at another of his birthday parties.

Vance on Christmas morning. He told me once he's pretty sure he was high here. 

Vance with Greg, Ricky, Amanda, Katie, and Kristina.

Vance with Amanda, Ricky, Katie, Kristina, Greg (what a goob) and Madison.

Vance with Kristina, Amanda, Ricky, Greg, Katie, and Madison.

Fast forward a few years and that's when Angela came into the picture. Vance and Angela originally met online, but their families (her uncle, aunt and cousins and his parents and youngest three siblings) knew each other through their church and the academy at their church. Neither Vance, nor Angela was looking for a relationship. Neither of them expected anything but a friendship. Neither of them were prepared for what God had in store. Angela remembers standing at the restaurant (Sushi Thai) and watching Vance walk up. She was seriously blown away. She was NOT expecting the gorgeous man walking toward her. (His profile picture was TERRIBLE.) Apparently, he was blown away as well, though she didn't quite know it at the time. They went inside to eat and conversation flowed like the River Jordan. (I'm assuming the Jordan River flows well...)

After eating dinner, Vance and Angela went to Starbucks (which they were both addicted to at the time) and spent the rest of the evening, til closing time, talking and laughing outside. She ended up freezing her butt off (it was early June and when the sun goes down, it gets chilly) so they went back to get her car and ended up talking for a couple more hours sitting in his car. At that time, they both had to pee like race horses. That's when Angela did something she has NEVER done before. She said he could go back to her apartment which was a few minutes away and use the bathroom. They ended up sitting on the couch...and falling asleep...til around 430 when she woke up and said,"OH MY GOODNESS!!!" (I do NOT recommend doing this. I should not have done this, but thankfully he wasn't an ax murderer or a rapist.) Anyway, their next date was him going with her to church. That afternoon, he asked her to be his girlfriend. A month later, she went with him and his family to Gulf Shores, AL and to his best friend's wedding. A couple of months later, he proposed. :-) 9.5 months later they were married. :-) (Yes, I realize that was all VERY fast, but when you know, you know! His parents were married within 2 months of knowing each other and have been married 38 years.)

Vance and I the first time he met my best friend!

Vance and I at his best friend's wedding.

Vance and I in Gulf Shores, AL.

Vance and I in Gulf Shores, AL after going on the bumper boats with his family.

Vance and I at a restaurant in Gulf Shores, AL. 

On June 19, 2010, Vance Bailey married Angela Theresa Kahl, the love of his life. He and his wife currently live in Winston-Salem, NC with their two dog children, Petey the Pug and Cinnamon the Doxie-Beagle. They attend church at Pinedale Christian Church. He works for his dad's software company, Polaris Systems, Inc. He enjoys playing golf with his best friend Erik, playing cards, and Alabama football. (Roll tide!) He is currently into photography, playing the ukulele, and photo editing (he keeps interrupting the writing of this post to show me different things he's done to some pictures he's taken! Ha!) Vance Bailey is having the time of his life with the love of his life!

Vance seeing Angela for the first time on their wedding day.

Vance and Angela during pictures before their wedding.

Vance and Angela on their 1 year wedding anniversary in the OBX!

Dearest Vance,
   I hope you enjoy the very short recounting of your life done by someone who has only known you for the last 2 years. Haha. I love you so much and I hope I did your life justice. Your life is truly a miracle, but not just because of the fertility issues your parents had. Your life is a miracle because of all you bring into the lives of others especially mine. You are an amazing husband. I could not ask for better. Happy 32nd, Turtle! I love you infinity and 'yond!

Love always,
Your Sweetpea