I'm Moving

I decided to move my blog over to wordpress. I just became a little annoyed with blogger and felt like I wanted to change blog sites. I had checked out wordpress a couple years back when I was starting my fit journey blog but never switched over, but now I decided to start fresh over there. It will basically be the same deal; the story of our lives, but it feels good to have a fresh start for some reason.

If you're at all interested in still following my ever so interesting life ;) feel free to follow me over there too.

caseyandbobbygraham.wordpress.com.

Hope to see you all over there!

xoxo

I'm an Auntie!

On February 8th, 2014 at 12:21am Maddox Andrew Rainwater finally made his debut to the world and we all could not be more overjoyed and in love! He was about 8 days late and came in weighing 9lbs and was 21.5" long. He is perfect in every way and both of our families instantly fell in love with our little raindrop. My dad was up there for the birth (LUCKY) but my mom and I are flying up to Portland to see him March 6th and we can't wait to snuggle our new little gentleman.

Here is our little chunkamunk!

Welcome to the world Maddox!

Daddy loves his boy

future baseball player like daddy?

All ready to go home!

My little Valentine <3

Sneak Peek of their newborn photos. Little gentleman <3

It goes without saying Auntie fell instantly in love, as did we all. Can't wait to kiss those cheeks and get some MAJOR baby snuggles in in a few weeks!

xoxo

Spartan Race 2014

Let's go WAY back to 7 days ago, yes one week. I get a text from Bobby saying a girl he works with has an extra entry ticket to the Spartan Sprint because her sister had to cancel last minute. When is the race? Sunday...as in 6 days from now. No wonder nobody in the office wanted to volunteer, but Bobby told her I had been wanting to do one (which is true) so after texting me and deciding why the heck not I agreed. Immediately I was thinking omg what did I just do, but I was super excited! Despite only having 6 days to "prepare" I was thankful I had been working my but off the last 6 weeks so I was at least in somewhat decent shape.
Well yesterday was race day. We had the open registration time slot so we didn't go until 1pm. We pull up and saw some of the big obstacles and were just overwhelmed with anxiety. I am so glad we didn't get there any earlier than we did because the anticipation of starting was the worst! I just wanted to GO! Finally 1 o'clock rolls around and we are off through the start line, only to then be corralled to the actual start line and get a pump up Spartan pep talk to get us off and running, and off we go AROO!

This was by FAR the hardest most challenging thing I have EVER done in my life. I have never had to mentally push myself so much as I did throughout this race, but never once did I even think about quitting. You do not quit this race. Once I got through the first couple of obstacles I was in the zone and all I could think about was the finish line. It was 4.3 miles long and there were 20 obstacles, with new obstacles never seen before on one of these races (although they were all new to me! lol). Everyone both racing and volunteers were SUPER encouraging and although we were racing individually there was always someone there pushing you and encouraging you and even giving an extra hand if needed. What an amazing experience this was. It truly showed me how to push past my limits and REALLY challenge myself. I thought I had challenged myself before, no way. You want to really push limits and challenge yourself not only physically but mentally, then get out there and sign up for one of these races!

Even though it was seriously hard I would do it again in a heart beat! I would even do one of the longer ones (super or beast) If I had some time to actually train for them! They're awesome events and you feel like a complete BA when you're done (rightfully so!). The girl I ran with ended up rolling her ankle pretty badly at the 4th to last obstacle and couldn't finish, I felt so bad for her but in my eyes she finished because she made it through all of the hardest stuff! So I had to finish on my own, but it was still the best experience of my life. I am SO glad I decided to be spontaneous and brave and sign up last minute I know I would have seriously regretted it had I not.

I am really sore today, have a good amount of cuts and bruises, but I feel on top of the world and get a huge smile when I go back and look at the pictures that my amazing husband took :) Hearing him tell me how proud he is of me is the cherry on top! <3

Before the race

If you couldn't complete the obstacle in ONE try you had to do 30 burpees, I had to do 90 (3 obstacles) One I was SO close. 2 were two of the last obstacles without my partner where everyone had help scaling the wall...was SO close! grr! The other was a rope climb...I had no chance lol SO hard!

Quarter Life Crisis?

I am 26 years old, almost 27 in May and I think I am going through a quarter life crisis and here's why:

As much as I love children and caring for them I came to the realization that I am burned out on nannying. I used to really enjoy it, but after going back to more hours with a second family I started dreading it. It has nothing to do with the child or the family because they truly are great I just don't think it is for me anymore not as my "full time" job anyway. I enjoy watching Jack and the twins because it is only for 4 hours at most two days a week for Jack and once a month for the twins. Those are like side jobs, some extra cash, something to do to break up my week. I just know it isn't something I see myself doing forever, because I ultimately want to take care of our own children and not someone else's. I don't know exactly what switched in my my mind to make me come to this conclusion; probably multiple things. Getting married and just getting older and closer to becoming a mother myself are probably the major things. We are still a ways out from starting our family, but I think the next children I want to take care of on a full time basis are my own.

I am ready to do something else that isn't child related. I have gotten extremely comfortable being a nanny and know it is easy money for me because I am good at it and have a lot of experience, but like I said above I am just burned out.

It is scary to think about jumping into something completely different because I have been doing this for so long but I believe that is the only way I am going to grow as a person. If it doesn't challenge you it doesn't change you. There could not be a more appropriate phrase to describe what I am talking about. I am a very shy and introverted person so I want to challenge myself with something that will help me to come out of my shell a bit. I want to do something I enjoy again. Something that I can be successful at and prove my success. I want to do something I can be proud of. Not to say that caring for a child isn't rewarding, I think it is definitely a very under appreciated role to say the least, but I am just ready for something else.

I have been thinking about this for awhile, but have been too afraid to change gears. A recent situation with my most recent nanny job has made me really open my eyes and take a look at my life. It has brought me to this realization and shined a light on just how unhappy I am with what I am currently doing. Due to some unforeseen personal circumstances with the family this next week will more than likely be my last week working with them. When I was told the bad news I didn't really take it as hard as I may have taken it a year ago. I was surprisingly ok with it, maybe even a little bit relieved and excited. It has given me an "out" to pursue something more fulfilling for my life right now.

I will probably babysit occasionally for them, and I will be keeping my job watching Jack, but other than minimal babysitting hours every week I am going to start shifting gears and start down a new path. Something just for me, something new that will be 100% up to me to make successful. I am taking this situation as a blessing in disguise and going to take full advantage of this opportunity to better myself and grow from it. They say there is no perfect time for things, but I think in this circumstance this is the perfect time for me to change things up a bit.

I am still researching, soul searching, and figuring things out, but I have a pretty good idea what direction I want to go and what I want to do it is just going to be a matter of taking the plunge.

Stay tuned.

xoxo

Best. Year. Ever.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I can't believe it is officially 2014. 2013 was quite literally the best year ever because, well, obviously because I finally married my best friend and that was the best day ever! I don't foresee 2014 topping that, but it doesn't mean I am not excited for a fresh start to a new year. 365 days of possibilities, opportunities, and blessings. 2013 was full of our highest highs and some lows as well.

Bobby graduated from Simon with his MBA.
We moved cross country back to CA.
WE GOT MARRIED!
Bobby started at American Express 2 days after our wedding.
We moved to Arizona 5 days before our wedding.
I found out I am going to be an AUNTIE to my nephew Maddox! :)
Grandma Dorthy passed away just 10 days after our wedding.
We celebrated 12 years together.
We spent Christmas with family for the first time in 2 years.
Celebrated births, marriages, and many engagements of friends!

People make fun of  others who make "resolutions" and mock them for only making them at the beginning of the year. I applaud them. I always think it is a good thing to set goals for yourself, whether it be in June 1st or January 1st whatever motivates you and gets you thinking about working towards bettering yourself I am all for it! I made resolutions last year that I posted on here and I actually completed a few of them. I finished P90x, I traveled, and I definitely did my best to live in the present and go with the flow…especially when everything possible was happening in the days leading up to our wedding I would like to stay I stayed pretty calm and as stress free as one person could possibly be given he circumstances.

I always have room to improve, I definitely fell off the clean eating/exercise wagon the last 1/3 of this year after the wedding and that's ok. I am not back where I was this time last year, I am still much fitter than that and I plan to start this year the same way I started last year. Detox and hitting that P90x grind again. They came out with P90x3 and I am REALLY excited to start it. Bobby and I have made a pact to get fit together this year. Last time I was on this journey alone and I exceeded my own expectations. I was pretty much the fittest I have ever been in my life and if only I had kept it up throughout the year. ;) Programs like P90x really work for me and really get me on track where I need to be. So cliche to have a fitness resolution, but it worked for me before so I know it will again! I will finish P90x3! :)

Another goal of ours is to travel somewhere TOGETHER. We both traveled last year, but separately. He went to India and I went to Hawaii so this year we will hopefully be taking our belated honeymoon..if you want to call it that and travel somewhere abroad together! Where? Who knows!?

I also want to read more books. I used to read a lot, but I haven't read hardly anything this year aside from the Grey trilogy lol

Another goal is to pay off all of our credit card debt that we have accrued over the years. We have been slowly chipping away at it since Bobby started at Amex, but it our ultimate goal to be debt free (aside from student loans) by this time next year, if not sooner. It is definitely doable, but will be something we have to really work towards.

These are the main goals we want to accomplish over the course of the year. I am sure once we complete some we will come up with others as well. These give us something to work and strive to accomplish and I know that we can and will do it.

What are your New Year's resolutions/goals? Or just life goals in general?

Hope everyone had a fantastic first day to 2014!

xoxo

Professional Wedding Photos!

THEY'RE HERE! YAY! Our beautiful, amazing, gorgeous, perfect wedding photos arrived two days ago and I went straight to work narrowing them down to a "Facebook appropriate" number. If I had it my way I would have just posted all 2,121 lol But I figured that was probably overkill, so 438 it was ;) I actually selected 488, but 50 just mysteriously didn't upload and because FB sucks and doesn't upload them in the same order as I select on my computer there is slim to no chance I will figure out which ones didn't post. OH WELL! With our files we also received our prints LOVE and 3 adorable little accordion photo books from Aimee! So sweet and thoughtful :)


Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and then Friday I leave for HAWAII for a week! WOOHOO! This week has been exhausting with starting my new job, preparing for Thanksgiving AND preparing for a trip…I am very much looking forward to eating and relaxing tomorrow…in between cleaning, laundry, cooking, and packing…oy vey!

HERE ARE THE PHOTOS! <3

Our venue was so beautiful. I could live there! Such a hidden gem!

All of the beautiful details. I just love these types of shots and there were so many amazing ones, it was hard to choose. The earrings on the blue tile and the rings on the shoes are two of my favorites!

My mom helped me get my dress on and everything else alone. The girls waited outside to see me for the big reveal :) I really liked having that time with my mom (no offense ladies!) ;)

Our gifts to each other. I got him a Saddleback leather briefcase he has always wanted, and he got me an awesome Canon rebel! Both huge surprises!

 

Some more getting ready shots :) Me and my "wedding monster" haha!

Our "no look" first look. It was perfect in every way. Got to talk to each other and have fun without breaking tradition ;)

My lovely bridesmaids

Dad's first look :)

Seriously love them with all my heart <3 my ring bearers 

 WE DID!

Family <3

Wedding Party photoshoot/dance party!

Bobby's mom made all of our wood signs! 

Globe as our guestbook to go with our travel theme

Laura's mom printed these up for us :) 

Each table was a destination we have traveled to together. They named the place and our top 3 things that we experienced at that place. There were also photos on the tables of us from our travels.

Travel themed cake. Suitcase as the cake stand. 

Our DIY candy bar. The white table cloth is an old family heirloom that had been in every wedding on Bobby's mom's side of the family, and now ours :) 

DIY seating chart. Luggage tags with the name and destination (table) for each guest. Bobby put in some serious hours perfecting this. We were very proud :) 

Candy bags from Etsy! "It was very SWEET of you to join us! Bobby & Casey 8.23.13"

"All you need is LOVE and maybe a little candy" 

Like a boss

Cake & Kisses <3

Our wedding day was nothing short of perfect. Despite hating our flowers because they were completely wrong and a few other irritating things everything important was still perfect and I couldn't have asked for more! I get butterflies looking through our photos and re-living that day/night like it was yesterday. I don't think I have every felt so much love and joy in one 24 hour period! It was quite honestly the happiest day of our lives. We couldn't thank our friends and family enough for everything! Our amazing vendors (aside from one or 2) who made everything run perfectly and provided us with the best of the best! There are no words to express our gratitude and love for everyone involved, we will never forget our dream day! 

And they lived happily ever after…

THE END 

XOXO