Something Beautiful

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kellyrsimpson — Wed, 15 May 2013 01:06:02 +0000

Just over a month ago I started working back in Charlotte, while Clint stayed in Raleigh to finish up some cases before transferring to Charlotte. I must admit, after I accepted my job offer I had a moment of pride. I wanted to leave Raleigh. I wanted to move back to Charlotte. I got a job. And I found a way for us to move. I had a goal and I made it happen. I made it all fall together. I was taking the credit and dripping with pride about it. When God so clearly spoke truth into me, “I will boast in the Lord my God, I will boast in the one who’s worthy.” Who am I to boast about getting a job I almost didn’t even call back when they first contacted me? Who am I to boast about Clint being able to transfer, something I couldn’t have had any less to do with? I was so willing to trust in the plan of the Lord when I was praying out from the bottom of my heart and soul, and I was more than happy to receive His blessings, but I sure wasn’t centered enough to give credit where it was due. So, before I go on with the rest of this post I have to say, and am joyfully happy to say, Glory to God.

“All I have for your glory Jesus,
All I am for your Kingdom, your name.”

Of the top five words I would use to describe myself, sentimental would definitely be one of them, so it comes as no surprise that as I walked out of our Raleigh apartment for the last time over the weekend that I felt the nostalgia tugging at my heart-strings. We called Raleigh home for almost exactly 9 months (though Clint a while longer). Though it certainly wasn’t always with a smile on my face. I developed a love/hate relationship with the Capitol city (and not just because I loved to hate it) but because even though I never quite felt at peace there, I created some great memories there. It will forever be the place that my Mr and I began our marriage. The city we would take on as newlyweds. And while I spent about a dozen too many days crying over spilt milk (sometimes quite literally), it gave us the opportunity to be our own little family, away from what we know and who we know, to figure it out on our own. Like that time that I was convinced a dead bird fell into our fireplace, or the many times I yelled at Google Maps through my phone as if I was showing it who’s boss. I am certain that our time in Raleigh was one of great growth. Above all, if Raleigh gave us anything, it was and is, a great, profound appreciation for all the things we never knew we needed to love with all our hearts. The places we call our own. Like our church, a place I didn’t realize was so special to me until I had to find a replacement. Or our favorite restaurants that we’ve shared so many great meals at. Or the places we’ve developed loving memories at (we’ll be living across the street from where Clint asked me to be his girlfriend 7 and a 1/2 years ago ) And the thing that is most familiar to us and the thing that is more ours than anyone else’s, our families.

So, in my natural list making ways, here is a quick list of the top two things I will miss about Raleigh,

1. Driving back to Raleigh from Charlotte. – Clint and I shared so many great car rides driving back to Raleigh on the occasional Sunday night. We always took that dreaded 3 hour drive and opened our hearts to one another. Sharing the things God lay on our hearts. I loved those moments of fellowship. I loved those drives.

2. Goodberry’s. – Yes, my list went from sentiment to frozen custard that quickly. Goodberry’s don’t exist in Charlotte (but Pinkberry does!) so I’ll be missing that delicious frozen custard that Clint of course hated (Pretty sure our tastes couldn’t’ be more different.)

With that being said, I wouldn’t truly allow my nostalgia to run its course if I didn’t pay a little tribute to the place we’ve been and the memories we made, and of course, the great direction we’re headed in, from Raleigh to Charlotte. 9 months, many trips home, countless prayers and I can finally say…

The Simpson’s are home.

http://vimeo.com/66203704″>Home.; from http://vimeo.com/kellysimpson”>Kelly Simpson on http://vimeo.com”>Vimeo;.

Awkward and Awesome.

kellyrsimpson — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 22:30:16 +0000

Awkward.

-Sometimes you just have to cry. Can I get an Amen, ladies? Well, when I was driving the horrible 3 hour drive from Raleigh to Charlotte, in pouring rain, with a headache, and realized about half way in that I left something back in Raleigh that I absolutely needed, and then had to drive back, I found myself sitting in my car in a Firebird’s parking lot crying a seriously not-cute cry to my understanding husband. About 3 hours later when I was still in the car, not yet at my destination, but rather s l o w l y making my way through traffic I yet again couldn’t resist letting the flood gates down and letting the tears flow. It was bad. And at the end of my 5 and a half hour car ride I arrived home with a headache, a neck ache, a sore behind, and puffy eyes. Man oh man I will not be missing that drive.

-As I now know. I’m allergic to Gain Apple Mango Tango detergent. $15 right down the agitating drain. On the flip side, now we can splurge on the Tide and feel pretty good about it.

- In our old apartment we lived above a man name Joe. I only know this because of the nasty note he once left us, not because we ever spoke. Joe apparently felt the need to leave us a note on our door step one morning telling us that he was terminally ill with cancer and slept a lot and that we were disrupting him with our “loud project” (We’re about 90% sure the issue was our washer and dryer.. sorry, but sometime’s a girl’s gotta start the dryer at 10:30pm). We also believe that Joe once ripped open a bag of trash we left outside our front door before taking it up to the dumpster. Aside from all that, I kind of always worried that Joe was going to die in his apartment and we’d never know, and I’d just be living above a dead person. Now that we no longer live there, and we now live above a young lively-looking man, I just kind of worry that Joe is going to die in his apartment and there will be no one living above him to slowly begin to figure out that the strange smell invading the place is Joe.

Awesome.

- You guys. I touched the Titanic. And as I shoved my hand down inside that little tiny hole in the display box and reached out my long fingers to touch a piece of history, I felt the connection. And I’ve never felt closer to Leonardo DiCaprio then at that exact moment. I’ve been wanting to go to the Titanic exhibit at the Natural History Museum for a while now and Clint and I finally made our way there. On the surface, it was a let-down. However, as an absolute fanatic of The Titanic (the movie) I just imagined that it was Jack and Rose who sipped tea from the tea cups on display. There were actually a LOT of pieces recovered from the ship but none of it really wowed me. Actually, if it wasn’t for that small piece of ship I got to make contact with, I’d likely call the whole thing a bust, but hey, I touched the Titanic and that makes me a happy lady. Also, we received cards on our way in that assigned us a character. We each had a back story and some info about our new titanic-riding selves. I was a New York lady who was in England purchasing my wedding dress, headed back to the States in 2nd class and traveling all by my lonesome. Clint was a Husband and Father of three, traveling in 3rd class. I survived the sinking, he did not. He didn’t check to see if his wife or children survived so I’m pretty sure this is what happened. We fell in love on board the ship, he abandoned his family during evacuations to be with me and selflessly gave up his own life so I could go on to live out my dreams. Or… he and his family got locked below deck and embraced each other as they drowned.

-Sometimes I actually get a shopping cart at Target that doesn’t have a squiggly, wobbly, pirouetting wheel and I’m able to smoothly navigate through the store without a squeaking echo. It’s the little things.

-This is my last week as an official Raleigh resident. If you even kind of read this blog, you know that makes me a happy happy happy person.

-The Sermon from our church this Easter Sunday was incredible. Absolutely the best yet. And you can go watch it right here. The final monologue had me in tears, and the response of people accepting Jesus as their savior, beautiful.

What’s been awkward and awesome lately?

We’re throwing confetti.

kellyrsimpson — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 01:45:04 +0000

We’re throwing confetti over here, people.
Why? You ask.

Well, after 8 months, 2 moves, countless hours scouring the internet, 93 job applications, and two interviews,
it is with a very excited, joyous, and thankful heart that I announce.

This girl…

Got.

JOB.

In two weeks I will finally begin my career as a graphic designer and I couldn’t be more excited. Because, not only do I get to begin a career in a field I’ve been working towards for the past 5+ years, but I get to do it in Charlotte, North Carolina!
That’s right, folks… The Simpson’s are moving home.

Awkward and Awesome.

kellyrsimpson — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 16:43:41 +0000

Awkward.
-When you play the whole “guess how much it cost?!” game with someone, trying to show off how little you paid for something, but they guess a number even lower. $4 for a banana republic bracelet? no-no, thats called stealing.
-A man in our apartment complex has a hover round chair, which I kind of just love all in itself… mostly because I just imagine he rolls around singing the song… hover round takes me where I want to go, where will it send me. However, this man has taken his hover round lifestyle to a whole new level. I saw him taking his trash to the dumpster, via rolling office chair. As in, he was sitting in his hover round, pushing a rolling chair, with a bag of trash on it. It got even better as I watched him come rolling back from the dumpster, so he was just a man… in a chair… pushing a chair. Kind of kicking myself for not taking a picture.
-Hey Jet Dry, if you’re going to explode bubbles all over the floor maybe you and your 30% more! bottle could warn me to move my brand new kitchen rug out-of-the-way first.
-I made scrambled eggs for breakfast. Scrambled them all up in a bowl and then put them in a pan, took care of a few things and then came back to actually cook them, and apparently those things unscrambled themselves, causing me to scramble the eggs in the pan while I cooked them. I could feel The Barefoot Contessa shaking her head at me.
-Oh ya know, just realizing I basically didn’t pay federal taxes at my last job. Goodbye large chunk of the tax return. Sorry honey.

Awesome.

-The moment you spot a gas station and you’re pretty sure you use your last little bottle of acceleration to pull up to the pump, no greater sense of relief.
-Daylight Savings Time! This should really fall into the awkward category because there is probably few things that I understand less than DST, I really can’t even think about it for that long. [[Side story: Two years ago I was in Arizona for spring break and my last night there was during DST, however I was in a part of Arizona that doesn't do Daylight Savings Time, and my flight home was early, and I had no idea if the airport was doing normal time or Arizona no daylight savings, time. Even thinking back to it now gives me a headache, I have no idea how I made it onto that flight.]] Although I don’t understand it even in the slightest, I know that it’s now brighter later and that means Summer nights and weekends spent by the pool are just around the corner!
-A cup of tea in the afternoon… and the fact that our faucets give out water that is so hot I don’t even have to heat up water. (This is literally the only time I appreciate it, burning my hands 20 times a day and then doing that awkward jig of trying to turn on the cold water with your wrist… not so great.)

What’s been awkward & awesome with you all lately?

Fashion Friday.

kellyrsimpson — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 19:52:40 +0000

This week I am officially eating my words. Once upon a time I uttered words that went a little something like this… “Leggings are the worst, people just need to put some pants on, seriously!”

I’ll go ahead and assume it was the four years of college in which I had every other co-ed’s bum bopping around campus, showing off just how many people really don’t understand that leggings are not pants. The legging overload averted my desire to ever put on a pair myself. Now that I’m nearly two years detached from the days of college (and even though I live in a city stacked to the rim with Universities) I found myself standing in my closet the other night wearing an outfit that I just could not get right… it needed leggings. I knew it. The Mr knew it. Even our little kitty knew it. Fast forward an hour and the two of us are standing in Target trying to decide if black or navy jeggings is the way to go (we went with black- I would have gone navy but sometimes I have to trust the husband’s eye and let him be my stylist). So now, here I sit, very comfortably, in my jeggings. They are kind of fantastic. I still contend that any and all leggings need to be paired with a top that doesn’t show off one’s derriere, and I think they are pretty inapro-pro for the gym, but for a comfy-cozy but still want to feel put-together kind of day… they’re perfect.