A Week in the Life of a Stay-at-Home Wife...

So...I took a week between working at ITF 280 and starting full force with ITF John's Creek to get my mind right after the wedding and to get a few things accomplished. I've mentioned before how organized and detail/task oriented I am...but this week it was like I had an IV of Spark running straight through my veins.

In 5 days this is what I accomplished:

*Write, address and mail 45 thank you notes.
*Return/swap all remaining wedding gifts to Target, BBB, Pottery Barn and Macys.
*Get my car washed...which birds have now crapped on and you'd have no clue it's freshly cleaned.
*Get Chaz's car washed.
*Get my wedding ring cleaned.
*Visit the chiropractor.
*Grocery shop - a million times...Publix once, Whole Foods twice, and V'Richards three times.  Obviously I cannot remember everything when I'm there the first time.
*Organize under the bathroom and kitchen sink.
*Organize every drawer in my dresser and chest of drawers - creating a Goodwill pile.
*Take said clothes/shoes to Goodwill.
*Organize every cabinet and drawer in the kitchen and pantry - creating a garage sale pile.
*Wrap said dishes/pots in wrapping paper to relocate to mom's basement.
*Vacuum entire condo. Twice.
*Sweep front porch.
*Change sheets on both beds.
*Organize the "cave"... the large closet in our house that serves as the equivalent of a basement.
*Wash/dry/fold 4 loads of laundry - not sure how 2 people create that much laundry but we do.
*Create and write in new blog.
*WOD 6x. One day I did strength and normal WOD back to back = extreme exhaustion!
*Play tennis.
*Go for a 3.5 mile run.
*Watch 2 movies.
*Have coffee date with 3 different friend groups.
*Successfully unsubscribe from every single annoying junk email I receive daily.
*Update phone and all apps.
*Phone date with multiple out of town friends to catch up.
*Participate in ITF conference call.
*Answer a million emails - work and personal.
*Visit the dentist.
*Read an entire book.
*Cook lunch and dinner every night.
*Start the process of changing my name...bank - check. Sadly, this task cannot be accomplished in 5 days. I'm braving the social security office and the DMV next week.

I have no idea HOW women who work full-time WITH children get everything done. Kuddos to them.

A week of relaxation...Jamaica baby!

Chaz and I are both adventure seekers, with a list a mile long on the places we'd like to travel! After just  3 months of dating we spent a week galavanting around Paris together. When deciding where to take our honeymoon, we consulted the list and decided we'd go somewhere tropical. Jamaica it was.

We flew into Montego Day and took what was supposed to be a 90 minute shuttle ride through the mountains to the other side of the island to a city called Whitehouse. What they didn't tell us was the roads in Jamaica make the worst roads in Alabama look like a newly paved highway and they were about as wide as a a one lane road. Then, of course, we got stuck behind a Jamaican funeral. More than 2 hours later we arrived, starving, at our hotel. Greeted with a rum drink (yea!) we checked in and began 8 days of lounging.

Chaz and I both are super active Iron Tribers - doing as least one workout a day. Also, being the head chef of Team Tillman, I am very diligent about serving paleo meals - not even keeping non-paleo foods to tempt us in our home. My sweet husband convinced me that we had "earned" this week and we agreed that we would not workout the entire time were were there and we would enjoy all the cuisine the hotel had to offer.

If I had to sum up the week in minimal words this would be it: Rum. Expresso. Champagne. Desserts. Rum. Seafood. Sun. Pool. Sun Screen. Rum. Sleep.

By day 7 I had exhausted my "being lazy"card and was anxious to get back to normal life. He has pictures to prove it, but I actually participated in an aqua aerobics class one morning with women more than double my age just to get my heart rate above 50 beats/minute.

Ahead of time I had planned a little excursion for Chaz and I...even though he is not a fan of heights, I booked us a trip off hotel property to go zip lining. :) Little to my surprise, he loved the trip. We zipped hundreds of feet above YS Falls...Jamaica is an amazingly beautiful country! He agreed he would have never chosen to do such a trip, but was glad I challenged him to step outside of his comport zone. I pray that as we continue to travel and tackle our bucket list we push each other to do/try new things we never thought we'd do.

Don't get me wrong...we loved our trip to Jamaica. And after all the wedding planning and stress, a week of doing absolutely nothing was extremely welcomed. BUT...we've decided we are an adventure couple. Most of our trips moving forward will be more like the week in Paris - going and doing. Sight seeing and exploring. I'm so grateful for a partner who wants to see the world...and now we each have someone to do it with. Up next? On the honeymoon we discussed climbing Machu Picchu. We'll see...

The day we became Team Tillman!

March 29, 2013. The best day of my life.

Our first date: March 27, 2012. Almost one year to the day I joined my life and took the name of my best friend, my personal cheerleader, my encourager, my leader, and my rock.

Life leading up to the wedding was NUTS! For those of you that don't know me well, I'm obsessed with details, I'm super organized, I love design and I am a control freak. Combine all these characteristics together and you get one stressed out wedding planner/bride. Ask Chaz, I didn't want/like help for anyone else...I wanted to do everything myself. Bless him for being a very patient man for putting up with me the 8 months we were engaged. Leading up to the big day, I cried (LITERALLY) every day for 50 days in a row. Some days were overwhelmed tears, some days were excited tears, some days they were stressed tears, and some days they were pure joy tears. To say I'm an emotional person is an understatement. I wear my emotions on my sleeve and I'm not afraid to show them.

That being said, I had prepared myself for the waterworks to make their presence on March 29th.

I woke up that morning like a little kid on Christmas, giddy and anxious. Since knee surgery (which was about 5 months prior at the time) had slowed down my running...but that morning I had a little extra kick in my step. So like any crazy bride, I went for a 5 mile run before stating to get ready. Had to get out some of those endorphins. Mom and I arrived at The Sonnet House, an event home in Leeds, AL around 11am that morning. I knew I was going to blink and the day would be over. I tried to slow my thoughts, take in all the details and enjoy the time with my bridesmaids as we prepared to get ready. My hair and make up girls were amazing. I have NEVER, and will probably never again, feel that beautiful in my entire life. They are miracle workers. Thank you!!

I'd like to sit here and rehash all the little details of the day...but that's boring to you. So instead, enjoy a short video from my AMAZING photographer as she captured all the details through her lens.

http://www.awweddings.com/blog/tillman-slideshow/

Chaz and I saw each other before the ceremony one, because I am so emotional - I didn't want to cry my way though the ceremony and two, because we didn't want to take a million pictures after the ceremony...we wanted to enjoy the evening with our guests. We had our private moment down by the barn...and GUESS WHAT? I didn't cry!! Not one single tear.

I didn't cry one single tear the ENTIRE day!! I was in shock. I think I was so overwhelmed by everything that I didn't have time to cry...all I kept thinking was "This is MY wedding. This is really happening right now. I'm married to Chaz. I'm Chelsey Tillman."

We shared our special day with 115 very special people. I cannot thank each of them enough for celebrating in the union of Chaz and I. We were surrounded by so many couples we consider role models and many of them we will miss terribly when we move to Atlanta. I've told most of them this, but I hated that I didn't get more time to talk to each person. People warned me that your wedding will be the fastest day of your life...they were so right. I often catch myself looking at the wedding photos - it's like playing a movie in slow motion and remembering all the details a little more clearly.

Chaz and I joked on the honeymoon what we'd talk about now that we are married and there is no more wedding to plan. It's weird - our lives revolved around preparing for this day for so long...and within 24 hours it's gone. What do we have left - a husband and an exciting life!! :)

Chaz is obsessed with his wedding ring. I love seeing him wear it and what it represents. I think we both walk with our shoulders a little more proud now that we have some extra metal on our left hands. Together we are Team Tillman and I'm excited about tackling life head on with him by my side. We have grand plans...many trips to take, kids to have, things to accomplish and goals to achieve. God truly created us for each other - there is no way I could have constructed a more perfect man. I am grateful every day that he chose me.

New Name...New Blog!

A lot is happening in my life recently. I've gotten married, I've finished up working at ITF 280, I'm preparing for a new job/becoming a business owner in Atlanta, I'm prepping our crowded condo for a 200 mile move - even though I don't know where we are moving yet, I'm nursing a back injury even though I cannot pinpoint how I hurt it, I'm attempting to read a book a week like I use to before I met Chaz, and my "to do" list constantly grows instead of shrinking.

With the name change and the move, I felt it only fitting that I start a new blog. I convinced Chaz the other day to go for a walk through Highland park. Chaz, a man who hates going on walks because he says I don't just enjoy the walk, I treat it like a workout agreed without hesitation. On our walk we discussed the plans for ITF John's Creek and things we want to work on personally once we move to ATL. First on my list - write more. So...in efforts of creating this new blog, I hope to be more diligent about writing and share my life/ambitions/struggles/goals/books/etc with everyone. Transparency. 

I write because I'm an extremely fast typer (ask Peggy, she's mesmerized by listening to my fingers peck the keys) and it's a whole lot easier for me to put my thoughts onto a computer than to write them in a journal. I hope to share my adventures, the ups and downs of married life, and the silly situations we get ourselves into. Enjoy.