29 ugh!

What a better way to ring in my 29th birthday than the flu. Yep that’s right folks…I was so bummed about turning the big 2 9 that I became physically ill.

So…for my 29th year I think I will live life to the fullest and learn from my past mistakes. Will and I are going to have fun this year! We’re going to go to Chicago to see a Cubs game and on a Christmas Cruise (with my family) and who knows what else is on the road ahead.

So with a positive attitude…I move forward. Forward towards 30….but I’m not going to think about that for a long time. And as my husband explained next year we will celebrate the first anniversary of turning 29!

God Bless!
Angie Collum

Organization!

This is it…This is the weekend I am going to get our apartment officially organized!

Will moved into our little apartment back in September and we took our time getting things in place. We moved boxes over several weeks and never really got things put where they should go. Then I moved in after the Wedding and it seems like we’ve been playing catch up ever since.

Now…is the time however. I am going to go room by room to organize and trash Goodwill things we no longer need and haven’t used in ages. This includes all those things found in the “junk drawer” and the “junk tubs”.

So my question to all you women out there in blogland is… how do you organize your home and keep things in order. Any advice for this newbie is always appreciated!

Thanks ladies!

God Bless!
Angie Collum

Thanksgiving!

Well…I’m a little late on the Thanksgiving blog but I wanted to get it out there in cyberspace nonetheless. I have countless blessings to be Thankful for this year and I just need to shout it out.

How am I Thankful….Let me count thy ways….

1. I have an amazing family!

My husband is so wonderful and supportive! I don’t know how it’s possible but I seem to fall in love with him more everyday! We make one heck of a team! Go Team Positive! !

My parents are the best! They are always there whenever I need them and most time I don’t even need to ask. Words cannot express how much they both mean to me!

My Sister and Family, In-Laws, Aunts & Uncles….they are all awesome and I couldn’t ask for better people to call Family.

2. I have amazing friends!

My friends are the best. They are the people who I laugh with and help me enjoy the little things in life. You all know who you are! Wink! Wink!

3. I have an amazing Church and Church family!

I feel so extremely blessed to be a member of such a great congregation! Will and I took a long time trying to find the perfect Church for us and our family and we’ve definitely found the perfect place. It is so nice to go to Church on Sunday and chat with such sincere people who really care about our well being and help guide us in our walk with the Lord.

4. I have an amazing life!

Things really couldn’t be better….really! Will and I both have jobs. We are both healthy and we have health insurance starting Today!! We have good friends and great family support. We have a roof over our heads and food in our bellies. The Lord has provided for us and for this we are blessed.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

God Bless!
Angie Collum

Holiday Traditions

Whenever the holidays roll around I start to think about all the traditions my family and I have created through the years. These are things I can always count on as part of the holiday celebrations. Now that I’m a married woman these traditions have a lot more meaning as I begin to think about how Will and I are going to raise our children and the traditions we will create for them.

One of my favorite holiday traditions is the night before Thanksgiving. Every year the Wednesday before Thanksgiving my family and I go to Disney on Ice. We’ve been doing this as a family since I was in grade school and I can actually remember when my Sister and I were lucky enough to be part of the show and go on the ice in the Princess Carriage. We thought we were so special!

The tradition continues even today and tonight my Husband, Mom, Dad, Sister, Brother-in-Law, Niece and Nephew will all enjoy Disney on Ice. We will have a night filled with magic, fun, $12 snow cones and $20 light up whirly toys.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

God Bless!
Angie Collum

Crafty

As I begin to settle into my new home with my new husband I realize that all of a sudden I have an extreme urge to become crafty. I want to learn how to sew, crochet and just become an all around Martha Stewart type woman (minus the jail time and all). I know that is a lofty goal for a non-artsy person such as myself but as I begin to blog stalk I’ve found resources out there that may come in handy. Thank you fellow bloggers for doing the leg work for me here. LOL!

So….just a word of warning. As I embark on my quest to become a Martha you may see some projects appear on this blog. Don’t worry…I will show you my successes and failures. Because if at first you don’t succeed…Try….Try again and again and again. Really….I think persistence is going to be the key.

Wish me luck!

God Bless
Angie Collum

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom!

There are so many things I can say about my Mom and the woman she is that when I start to put things on paper they tend to come out in a ball of random thoughts and emotions. My Mom is everything to me and I really don’t know what I would do without her. So today, on her birthday, I’ve decided to post a tribute to my Mom.

Mom….

You’ve always sacrificed for your family and did it willingly with a smile on your face. You gave of yourself freely so we could be our best.

You gave us love, a shoulder to cry on and the shirt off your back. We were always first to you. And there was never any doubt, if there was something we needed you would go without.

You washed our clothes and cleaned our home with little thanks and appreciation at times.

You clean my prints from wall and door for
I’m not careful when I play, but here’s a print you’ll want to keep
It's made for you on this Birthday!

Mom, you’re a pillar of strength and support in my life and I don’t know what I would do without you. You’re an amazing woman, wife and mother and I hope one day I can be as amazing as you.

Happy Birthday Mom! I love you very much! .

God Bless!
Angie Collum

What A Week!

Wow….what a week. I started off the week being unemployed and stressed out about everything from cleaning to money. Then I get a call on Monday afternoon that changed everything….I got a job and they wanted me to start on Wednesday! Yippee!

So, Wednesday I headed down to the DMACC Urban Campus to start my new job as a Financial Aid Advisor. I get to help students with financing their college education to better their lives and the lives of their families. The Urban Campus is unlike anywhere I’ve ever worked. The diversity in amazing!

As I embark on my new adventure in this new chapter in my life I realize this is not where I thought I would end up, but I’m happy it is. I’m so happy to work at such a great school, and feel the community outreach available on campus is outstanding.

I know I’ve had a lot of people praying for me and Will also, and I just want to thank everyone and anyone who kept our family in your prayers. With your help and the help of the Lord things are starting to look up for the Collum Family. Watch out 2010….here we come!

God Bless,
Angie Collum

Weekend Update!

Well..it was a crazy, yet relaxing, weekend here in the Collum home. Will had to work all weekend...Friday, Saturday and Sunday so time with him was few and far between. Bummer for sure!

However, I was not left all alone because my parents were in town on Friday! I hung out with them for the majority of the day and then we all met up with Will for dinner. All and all Friday was fun.

On Saturday my friend Whitney called me up to beg me to go to Santa's North Pole Village with her. She's from North Carolina and had never been so I thought it may be fun to walk around and look. Window shopping only! Well, that lasted about 10 minutes. Then I saw these cute signs from a place called The Front Porch. I had to get one. So here it is.....my new sign for our front door. Pretty cute if you ask me. I was so excited about my new purchase that I had to share it with the world...via Facebook. LOL! What did we all do before Facebook...really?!?!

On to Sunday. Nothing at all exciting. We went to Church and then came home. Will had to work so I was going to do laundry and housework. Yippee! I hope you note my sarcasm. He came home from work tired as can be and I made dinner, we watched TV and I fell asleep on him until he told me it was time for bed. My favorite kind of night!

I hope everyone out there in blogger land had a great weekend! I can't wait to read all about it!

Until next time!

Angie Collum

Wordless Wednesday!

I stole this idea from a fellow blogger....Missy. I always love to log on and see tons of picture updates...so here is my first Semi Wordless Wednesday.

Wedding Pictures!

Getting Ready for the Big Day...So Excited!

All dressed and ready to go. First Pictures with the Photog.

Blocked view pictures with Abbey. The photographer had us practice for the "real picture" with Will. We didn't want to see each other before the Wedding Ceremony, but had a picture just like this taken. I can't wait to see it!

Me and all my girls before the Ceremony. They all looked so beautiful!

Me with my cousin Lydia! She's so cute!

Will and I dancing at the reception. We had so much fun!

The Seafood Station! So Yummy!

Our ride at the end of the night!

The Job Description of a Wife

I know it may sound silly but now that I'm officially a Wife I feel empowered to fulfill certain responsibilities. No No...Not That...And get your mind out of the gutter...LOL!

I'm talking about all the little things that come with being a Wife....it's kind of like a job description. You know...making dinner, doing laundry and keeping things organized. These are all things I've done and have been doing but now I feel more pressure to get them done and keep things in order. Not that Will has anything to do with this feeling, because he is so laid back that he can deal with any mess we create. But as his Wife I want to make things easy for us both. I know it may sound silly and kind of like I'm tyring to live the life of a 1950s housewife but with being home all day and not working I feel compelled to be the best Wife possible.

As I began to write these feeling down I began to wonder if this feeling of trying to be the perfect wife will ever go away. Will and I are only a few weeks into our marriage and I know the road ahead will become harder to travel as we add more road blocks like demanding jobs and kids.

There are women I know out there who are amazing and seem to have everything all figured out in the wife and mother department (Amanda, Kris, Missy, and Adriana...to name a few) and I peek into their lives and blogs to learn from them because they are an inspiration to me and probably many other women out there.

Ok....I know I'm rambling now....But in conclusion, I know I will figure things out and get organized in a way that makes sense to me. God will not give Will and I more than we can handle and I look forward to seeing our marriage grow and becoming the best Wife I can be.

Amen!

It's Official!

October 24, 2009 I officially became a member of the Collum family and it couldn't have been a better day.

First of the weather Will ordered was perfect. The sun was shinning and there was a cool fall breeze which made pictures outside both beautiful and bearable.

I started off the day with a limo ride to the salon with all my girls in tow. We laughed, sang, danced and relaxed for the majority of the morning. Then we rode to the Church where we ate lunch, got dresses and took a ton of pictures....I can't wait to see them all!

Then came the biggest and most important part of the day....Will and I got married!!! It was the weirdest thing too....as I stood in the Brides Room alone I started to feel so many emotions boil inside of me and the tears were ready to flow. When I saw my Dad they bubbled up even more. But then I walked down the aisle and took Will's hand and everything just calmed down inside me and the tears went away. It's crazy how he can calm me down without even saying a word.

After the Wedding Ceremony we took some more pictures (this time together since we didn't see each other before the Ceremony) and headed off to the reception. OMG....What a blast! The reception was so much fun! We danced and danced and danced and sang and just had a ball! The food was amazing....the music was so much fun and the combination of everything made for a night I will never forget.

During our last dance Will and I had the ballroom to ourselves as our guest lined up for our departure and I will never forget dancing with him, singing with him and having that moment with just us. It was the best day of my life and I would do it all over again in a second!

Angie Collum