Singles Day 2015

I'm linking up (again) with Kelly's Korner for Singles Day!!

A few things have changed since I last posted for Singles Day...or posted in general (whoops I kind of forgot which email was associated with this blog...)

So here are a few things about me...

My name is Staci and I'm 26 years old. I live and work in Greenville, S.C. I graduated from Clemson in 2010 with my undergraduate degree and again in 2011 with my Masters...I wasn't ready to leave so I extended my college experience another year. I'm a hardcore Clemson fan and I love going to football and baseball games. 

(hawaii - april 2014)

I'm currently working as a treasury accountant for an energy company in Greenville and I love my job. It can be crazy busy but at least I like it :)

I'm also super involved in the children's ministry at my church. So you can typically find me working on plans for the kids a few evenings a week. My faith is very important to me and I am definitely looking for someone who feels the same way. 

(my mom may kill me for this picture but oh well)

While I'm not working on children's ministry stuff I enjoy random crafting projects and baking. I think one of my favorite parts of working in my office is that I can take my baked goods to work...so I always have an excuse to bake. I'm mildly obsessed with monograms, bows and sharpies. Everyone at work knows me by my color-coded calendar and bright notepads. I'm a little crazy, sarcastic and random. But I'm also responsible, hard-working and honest...and probably a little too honest some (or most) of the time.

(hawaii - april 2014)

I tend to get along with people a little older than I am...the majority of my friends are married and have kids...So I'm looking for someone who likes kids and definitely wants them (one day).

(me and one of my favorite little people)

Please leave a comment if you'd like to know more!

Hope this crazy link-up works for some of us!!

The "American GIrl" Dream

i stumbled upon this post by the fulltimegirl.com and i absolutely adore it

http://www.thefulltimegirl.com/2013/11/18/the-american-girl-dream/

i promise i'm not going to quote the entire thing (even though i could) but i will just say this article pretty accurately sums up my motto on dating...and maybe as i've gotten a little older, i've realized a little more about my worth...and maybe that's why being single doesn't send me into a full blown panic attack complete with sobbing and everything like it did 2 years ago...and i still want to get married (that hasn't changed) but i'm not going to settle...and i don't want someone to just settle for me (i'm crazy and obsessive and honestly a little judgmental and very sarcastic...so yeah i've got a lot going on...but he will love that about me...or at least tolerate it and think i'm funny)

reading more in 2014

i've always enjoyed reading but i've never really picked that love up since high school...but i'm going to change that in 2014

i got a few books for Christmas and i went on a downloading spree on amazon so i have lots of reading material to work with

i started reading one on my ipad earlier this week, purely based on the name..."the single woman: life, love and a dash of sass"...yeah i'm kind of in love with this one already...and i'm almost done with it

i think the thing i like best about this book is that it's fun...and while it covers the normal issues that a book on being single has to cover...it definitely has that bit of sassiness...and obviously i embrace that...it also has this great prologue that i've read every morning this week...and while i won't put the entire thing here, i am going to share a few of my favorite lines

"she walks the unaccompanied path. she has her own back. she asks for no favors. not an ounce of independence does she lack"

"she's sassy and feisty to those she meets, but some nights her tears fall on empty sheets."

"but she loves God and she loves to dance, and she's her own better half"


so basically i love this book for real...and i'm sad that since it's on my ipad i can't write in the book...but that's probably a good thing or else i would have highlighted the entire book already  (no but really i would have)

{promise i'll eventually talk about a book that isn't about being single...}

My Year

I distinctly remember my mom telling me on new years eve 2011 that 2012 was going to be my year...and i also distinctly remember thinking all throughout december 2012 that 2012 had so NOT been my year...but 2013 was definitely my year
i can honestly say that this year that i turned 25 was nothing like i thought it would be 3 years ago...or 5 years ago or 10 years ago..but somehow i'm so much more content than i ever would have expected myself to be...and i still haven't had the major freakout over turing 25...and i've been waiting for it for 3 months now!

i've written a little bit about it here before but no one loves a good plan more than i do...and in 2013 things came together in a spectacularly unplanned way...but i really couldn't have planned it any better

i won't lie...the beginning of the year was a little rough...my younger brother got married and i may not have handled that situation as gracefully as i could have...but i'm working on it

then someone who was my only other single close friend in greenville moved back home...and i was again back to being lonely...

and then the twins were going to start school in may meaning they didn't really need a nanny anymore...

so maybe around march of 2013 i was panicking that this wasn't going to be my year either...maybe it was going to be even worse...

but then things just came together..and i'm still in awe of how they did

i was approached about the possibility of taking over as the children's minister at the church i attend...just for a year or so while they searched for a long-term fit and i looked for an accounting job...and then i got a phone call from a staffing agency about an opening with a company in Greenville that was interested in me

i took a working interview for a week there...the exact week that the twins started school...which i think made the transition a lot easier for me...it's kind of like we all grew up together on that same day...

i got an apartment in late may...i was brought on full-time in august...and i'm part-time in the children's ministry with one of my really good friends...and then in late october, i transitioned to a new role at the same company and i absolutely love it...it's a lot more responsibility and stress...but i kind of thrive on that so it all works out 

so 2012 was not my finest year but 2013 was my year...and turing 25 was a walk in the park compared to 23...and while maybe my little story of God working things out sounds so simple (and it is) but it's my story and i kind of love it...

and i can't wait to see what 2014 will add to it!

twenty-five

This past Wednesday (yup on the 11th) I turned 25. And it was nothing like I ever thought my 25th birthday would be. And yet it was a pretty perfect day.
I will be the first to admit that I thought turning 25 was going to be rough...really, really rough. But it wasn't...and for that I'm grateful.
I went to work like normal...wore one of my favorite tops and woke up early to enjoy coffee on my couch. Got a phone call from my favorite twins and Riggs sang me the ABCs. At work, I was surprised with pumpkin coffee from Dunkin Donuts as well as a new clemson tervis, earrings & twizzler bites. Had a great lunch downtown at the Green Room and the owner of the company I work for sang me happy birthday...and then joked that I had to only be 19...close enough I guess :)
Church was really good that evening...my craft went over really well with the older kids and I got a few things done while other stations were happening.

But really had you asked ten years ago, five years ago or even last year...this is no where near what I would have told I wanted my 25th birthday to be like...but it was such a good day.

I will admit I so do not think that being 25 has sunk in yet (i'm sure a rambling post is coming soon about everything I'm no closer to having then i was a year ago...or 5 years ago but for now we just enjoy the positive and content feeling that I have) I still feel so much like a child most days and I can't believe that I'm already 25...and that I haven't accomplished more than I already have.

But then I think that I've probably done more than I realize...and that this past year has been full of unexpected changes...and while I'm definitely not where I ever thought I would be at 25....I'd really like to think that 15 year old me would be really happy with where she'll be at 25, even if it's not what she saw coming at all.

Life

so i haven't updated in years it seems but a lot LOT of things have changed...things i'm super excited about!

to start, i'm no longer a nanny...instead i'm a staff accountant at an energy company...same thing right?

at the start of May, the twins started school and i started my first big girl job..although i have to admit being a nanny is kind of big girl job...just one where i could wear my pajamas everyday. the company i work for is right downtown and i really like the people i work with. it's busy but i like that part too. when people ask me how i like my job, i always respond with something about how it's accounting but honestly i really like it. so yeah that's probably why i went to grad school for accounting. (that and my cute advisor told me too...)

i also recently moved into an apartment...and I'm really loving being so close to my job and Greenville in general. i do really miss the twins but i love seeing them so excited to see me. last sunday when they saw me and i got running hugs...yeah it was pretty much the greatest moment ever...same thing when we FaceTimed and Jackson couldn't stop saying my name. yeah i kind of love those kids...and i'm so glad they still love me :)

i'm also involved heavily in the children's ministry at my church...and by heavily i mean i'm running it with my good friend. so yeah life is busy but i'm loving it. 

i think it's so strange how things can change so suddenly. i was really worried that i would get a job not in Greenville and i would never get to see the twins again and they would forget me. or that i would end up moving back home...but i'm kind of where i thought i would be when i graduated...just two years later. but i wouldn't change those days i spent with the twins for anything. and now i love things like walking downtown on my lunch break. but i will always love Jackson & Riggs...so good luck to any babies my friends have in the future...you have some tough competition :)

(i mean seriously does it get any cuter?)

(pushing brother)

(she insisted on the hat and the glasses...i love her)

(jackson napped on the couch with me)

(i found this book one evening and asked Hayley if i should go ahead and get it just so i have it one day to give to Riggs...she informed me that i would have plenty of time to get it...seeing as how i'm not even dating anyone)

(nap time their last day as one year olds!)

(loves her books)

(snack time...and fyi he doesn't share)

(again she insisted on the hat and jacket)

(Riggs wanted to smile and take pictures...she then called us pretty...oh i seriously love this girl)

(he's about 2 years too old for this)

(i'm not sure where she learned this attitude from...definitely not me...except i'm pretty sure she did)

Beginning of October...in late December...

[please let us play in there]

[snacks outside...best staci ever]

[ready to tailgate one Saturday]

 [victory!]

 [someone stole her brother's shoes]

 [watch me bounce on this ball]

 [you can never have too many shoes right?!?]

 [i love this outfit]

 [he KILLS me]

 [look what I found Staci...a leaf!]

 [trying spoons and applesauce for the first time]

 [one morning Staci got to hang out with a sad jack-jack at 7...so he got to play in the dishwasher until the little girl woke up]

 [again, how could you ever get mad at this face]

 [don't worry she can climb in the chair too...and she stole her brother's shoes again]

 [oh is this okay? are you going to stop me?]

 [so if i sit, i won't get in trouble...]

 [colored cords and boots...it's definitely fall]

 [first bridal shower for Nealee]