Likes, Loves & Life.
- caitlyneolvera
- Mar 20, 2018
- 7 min read
The last couple of posts have been more on the heavy side diving deep into the feels and though they’ve been remind-fully convicting to me, I am ready for a breath of relaxed air.
As research for my own, I’ve started digging into dozens of different blogs that cover an array of themes and though the topics are diverse, most of them shared a common place. Each blogger tends to include an entry on themselves and their current ‘favorites’ – that being meals, entertainment, products, or just their general personality’s best-loved things. Learning about people and what pieces of their average day lives look like is so interesting to me, so I thought I’d offer the same.
Below I’ll share an expanded version of the ‘about me’ section, focusing on some of my likes, loves and life. I must forewarn that it is not too exciting and if it bores you, just go right on ahead and skip over it. But I was assured by my cousin today that she was very interested to read this so here’s to my cousin because she likes me even in my boringness. 😜 I'll try to include lots of pictures to spice things up!
Bean Littlefoot.
Right now, and for the past 9 months, I’d say my biggest obsession has been for my puppy! I have always, always wanted a dog but growing up, my family were never really dog people. Instead I had a house trained bunny named Scamper and she was the sweetest creature in the world!
So when I got married, it was decided that we would definitely be a family with dogs and I starting browsing online for local dog adoption centers and even applied a couple times but they always fell through.
My dream dog was a Dachshund; something about them made me insanely happy and I wasn’t going to settle for just any dog, I wanted a hotdog. And the week before my birthday, just after our first year anniversary, my husband surprised me with going to pick up our sweet puppy, Bean, who is a Dachshund-Australian Shepherd mix and I was dying of excitement.
At first I was a little skeptical of this random and rare mix because google could give me no pictures of what he would grow up to look like but as soon as we met him it didn’t matter because he was absolutely perfect! His colors are Australian Shepherd but he is shaped like a Dachshund and has the behavior of both. He LOVES to cuddle and sleep on me all day long, he has to be by my side at all times. He prefers just being outside to actually going on walks and his favorite thing to do on a slow day at home is to curl up on the back of the couch and watch out the window. Being comfy is his #1 goal in life and I'll add in some pictures to show him in his coziest moments.
He keeps us so entertained and I’ve recently started a lot more intentional obedience training times with him which keep me busy while my husband is at work.
DYI & Creating.
I would never consider myself artistic at all but I do love to create; whether it is painting, planting cute arrangements for my walkway, occasionally drawing or doing full renovation projects.
During my engagement, I really started to get into more Pinterest-esque hobbies and I started building and painting home decor signs and even sewing my own couch cushions. So when we moved into our first home, I went to town on creating all that I could in it.
The biggest project that I’ve tackled thus far is our kitchen table. Our table is large and farmhouse styled with a tile top. It was actually the table my husband grew up with so it was old but sturdy and in great condition. However, the colors and pattern of the tile top did age it a lot, so last fall I decided that I wanted to rip into it and re-tile the whole thing with a crips white finish. Naively, I thought it would take a week at max to complete but rather it took three+ weeks and a lotttt of work. But in the end it was so worth it and I absolutely love it!...although I don’t think I’ll be as eager to do any major reno projects any time soon. I’ll add some before and after pictures below as well as some random around the house projects I've created.
Before.
After. (not the clearest pic though)
Essential oils.
The other thing that I’m loving lately is Essential Oils. Now I am so not a “trend” person. I avoid fads and am pretty stubborn to the point of dismissing all things surrounding said fads, but this past summer I had an experience that caved me into falling suit in this as of late trend.
One of my friends was throwing an essential oils party and had invited her sister-in-law to come teach all about them but she was scared that not many people would show up. So Caleb and I went as support but I had zero intensions of coming away with anything other than sore eyes from all the rolling they’d be doing. It was a small but cozy group of people and was a simple hour long session educating us on the uses, benefits and wonderfulness that is essential oils. We even came away with a couple prizes and a small sample.
The party sparked my intrigue about them so in the following days I did a ton of research.
I came to the conclusion that they were all that they offered to be; natural oils were all that civilization had at a time to use for medicine and health so it seemed to make sense to me that this wasn’t just a new world fad but was instead tried and true. I didn’t decide to go to the extreme of becoming an all natural organic vegan or anything wild like that, but I did order a trial set of oils and a diffuser and became a fast supporter. I use them almost every day now! They are my go-to when I have a headache, feel a cold coming on, am feeling stressed or having trouble sleeping. There are so many that act for all kinds of different needs.
In my own extensive research I’ve finalized (I think) my take on all things natural/organic vs consumer foods and products etc, but I don’t want to sounds pushy and obsessed because I run away from those kinds of people. So do investigate and check it out for yourself and if you already have, you can let me know what you think!
Days.
As I’ve shared before, I spend a lot of time at home while Caleb works 14 hour shifts every weekend (Saturday-Monday), so I can expand on the few things I fill my days with and what I enjoy spending time doing.
I love curling up on my couch, snuggling up with a big blanket and my sleeping Bean to watch any old movie or tv show; if it is a sitcom from 1950’s to the 1980’s, sign me up! I grew up watching old movies all the time and that gave me such a love an appreciation for all things classic and vintage and I dream daily of living in the 50’s or 60’s.
Once I’ve had my fill of old school life, I love to dive right into writing for hours. In between writing sessions, I usually break with skype calls to my cousins and my parents to catch up on our weeks.
I also try to get a workout in every day. Running outside is my activity of choice but in the winter when that’s not as feasible, I follow a lot of fitness accounts on youtube that offer a lot of different exercise options. Right now, the account “Lumowell” has been my hands down favorite and I love doing the occasional Zumba tutorial!
The other aspect of my days that I love doing is cleaning my house!
Now for some that may spark a groan, but for me I genuinely love to clean! I was a kid that loved to have families from church over because when they left, I got to clean up and organize all the toys that their rambunctious kids had pulled out.
I could have worse hobbies I suppose and my husband definitely doesn’t complain that our house is too clean, although he has had to pull me away from obsessively cleaning already clean things every now and again...
And that basically covers the three parts that are consistent in my weekends at home, while the rest of the hours are filled with the random to-do’s of adulting.
Dates.
I LOVE to play games so in our free evenings we play a lot of games. My favorites are Dutch Blitz, Trivial Pursuit and Blokus. We also love to play the handed-down from our bible college’s rendition of UNO.
During the days we love to explore new parks and go on hikes in the summer time; Bean especially likes the park days. I am not in the least bit athletic but every now and then I get a burst of sport-sy energy and newly, my kick has been badminton/or tennis. I’m not especially good at either but I enjoy them a lot. On nice days we’ll set up the short box set net in our yard and play intense matches with our always breaking birdies.
On relaxed afternoons, we love to grab some good food (Chikfil-a, Moe’s and Sweet Frog are our favorite date day treats), and head to Barnes&Noble to read and snack. I have a hard time committing to just any book right away, so I opt for home interior magazines, any information about the Royals, short autobiographies and anything written by Lysa Terkeurst. Meanwhile Caleb dives into real books. My favorite part about these dates is that we are so comfortable with each other that we can sit in silence for hours, just enjoying being side by side and enhancing our minds.
Finally, the other thing that I love that we do is discussion times. As I grew up, I was never the kid to ask questions in class or anywhere really. I always had millions of questions running through my active mind but I never sent them out for answers. Yet now, since my husband is an actual genius, I’ve created the habit of asking almost every questions that comes up – and that is a lot. Asking more questions formed a love of learning and conversation in me so for some date nights, and particularly when we’re riding in the car, I’ve filled a small jar with slips of questions and topics of all sorts to pull from and create discussion. It is a super fun way to learn more about each other and really dive into subjects that you might otherwise never think to talk about.
So that’s what my life looks like on the regular! Not thrillingly interesting but oh so lovely in its own way.