July 31, 2019

Biloxi Mississippi June 2019 Day 2


Stephanie Kamp Blog: Biloxi Mississippi June 2019 Day 2
Stephanie Kamp Blog: Biloxi Mississippi June 2019 Day 2
Stephanie Kamp Blog: Biloxi Mississippi June 2019 Day 2
Stephanie Kamp Blog: Biloxi Mississippi June 2019 Day 2
Hey guys,

So on Day 2 in Biloxi, Zach and I headed out kind of early in the morning to check out the local lighthouse, the beach, and get some breakfast. We didn't actually "go to the beach" because I guess most people don't really swim or go to the beach in Mississippi. I guess it has something to do with the water there but I'm not entirely sure! But we parked by the lighthouse, and then walked down to the end of the pier that's there. Then we decided to walk down a little bit and walk on the I-110 Loop Walk which is this walk way that like goes around the highway ramp because the highway actually is on the beach and in the water. It was kind of cool but we basically just walked down to the end and then turned around and walked back.

There isn't really that much to do in Biloxi besides the casinos. I'm not really sure what we have planned for the next time but I think all there really is left to do there is the mall and maybe a museum or two? I will have to do more research! But once we left the beach we decided to get some breakfast and found this place called Fill-up with Billups. It was a cute restaurant but it was kind of small. We actually ended up eating there two mornings in a row. We went back the next day with my mom and tried some new foods!

Once we were done with breakfast we decided to go back to the base and just hangout and spend some time together catching up since we weren't able to talk for about two months! My mom went out and explored the town a little bit more. She checked out some antique stores and then the mall.

In the evening we decided to check out a couple more hotels! We went to the Golden Nugget so we could eat at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company because Zach had never eaten there either. Next to the Golden Nugget was the Margaritaville Hotel, which is what we checked out next! Some of the hotels are kind of set up weird there because the first floor is like the equivalent of a mud room. You enter the hotel and then go up escalators to get to the lobby and check in area. For Margaritaville, you enter the first floor and then the second floor was actually an arcade which was great because that's where we spent like the next hour or so just playing games. I'm not a huge gambler so the whole arcade thing was a lot more fun for me!

We then headed back to the base and Zach and I decided to go bowling, which is not something I do very often because I suck at bowling and I don't really enjoy it but I thought it would be fun to go. So we checked out the bowling alley and I got 1 strike the whole two games we played and probably like 10-15 gutter balls! I am that bad at bowling! Needless to say he won! Onee we were done bowling we had to say goodnight and I drove him back to his dorm.

Sunday was our last day and we left pretty early in the morning because we had to make it back home the same day! It was a very long drive but we survived. We ate breakfast in town with Zach and then headed back to the base to say our goodbyes. Saying goodbye is my least favorite thing to do and it's never easy. I usually always cry! I never cry at hellos, I only ever cry at goodbyes! I grew up with a father in the military and the goodbyes have always been the hardest part for me but saying hello is always easy and the best feeling of overwhelming joy!

Talk to you soon!
XO, Steph

July 30, 2019

Biloxi Mississippi June 2019 Day 1

Stephanie Kamp Blog: Biloxi Mississippi Day 1
Stephanie Kamp Blog: Biloxi Mississippi Day 1
Stephanie Kamp Blog: Biloxi Mississippi Day 1
Stephanie Kamp Blog: Biloxi Mississippi Day 1
Hey guys,

So my boyfriend is currently stationed in Biloxi, MS and my mom and I took a trip up there about 2 weeks after her got there which was about 2 weeks after his BMT graduation. I'm actually about to head there myself in about a week in and a half! I'm flying up after work on Friday and then flying back on Sunday in the afternoon/evening. 

Anyways, on our first trip up there, my mom and I actually drove up. We left on a Thursday after work and to be honest, driving up there again is not something I'm really looking forward to doing again. It was very long drive and even though we broke it up on the way up there it still felt like it took forever before we finally got there. We got there on Friday afternoon round 4 and then we left Sunday around 10:20 am and then we didn't end up making it home until about 10 at night. It was a very long day and we were both exhausted by the end of it. However, since I'm flying up there this time I'm going to compare the two and see what happens. We also have friends that live in Tallahassee so I kind of want to drive up there and stay their house for one night since it's like the half way point. 

On our first night we stopped like an hour outside of Tally and found a random hotel that we paid wayyyy too much for. And then on Friday morning we got up, ate breakfast and headed back on the road. Our first stop was Mobile, Alabama. I thought it would be fun to make a quick little pit stop. So we did and we ate lunch downtown at a very cute BBQ place and then we did a guided tour of a historical home in Mobile. It was called the Richards DAR House Museum. It was a very cute tour and ended with tea or lemonade and cookies! I believe it was $10 per person which isn't too bad of a price considering you get cookies!

Once we were done with the tour we headed back to our car and got back on the road. We were only about an hour and a half away from the base so that was nice. Granted the drive still seemed to take forever. We made it to the base at a really good time. We got there only like 30 minutes before he got done with his classes so we just hangout until he was able to meet up with us. We couldn't figure out how to check into the hotel on base so thankfully he helped us with that and then once we got all unloaded we decided to head into town and check out the fancy hotels down by the water. We parked at the Hard Rock and then he and I went on a date at the Hard Rock restaurant there because he had never been to one before. It was a lot of fun and split an appetizer and a meal and a milkshake!

We then walked around the hotel a little bit and then watched the Sunset which is what we are doing in the last photo. Some people apparently thought this photo was an engagement announcement because of my hand placement so that was kind of awkward! But it's okay, I'll just be more careful of where I place my hand in the future. I'm just an awkward posing so I didn't really know what else to do with my hand haha but other than that I thought it was a great photo!

We also walked to the hotel next door to the Hard Rock which is called the Beau Rivage and it is basically Biloxi's version of the Bellagio. It is an absolutely beautiful hotel and I would love to stay there someday. The Bellagio is my favorite hotel on the strip so I think it would be cool to stay at like the mini version of it haha!

Once we got done with all of that we headed back to the base and hangout for a little bit before it was time to go to bed and get ready for the next day!

Thanks for stopping by!
XO, Steph

July 29, 2019

July Life Update 2019

Stephanie Kamp Blog: July Life Update 2019
Stephanie Kamp Blog: July Life Update 2019
Hey guys,

So not a lot is going on right now! I'm mostly just working and Facetiming my boyfriend every night. A little recap of the month includes spending July 4th watching some fireworks on the water with my family and my parents traveling to Alaska for two weeks and leaving us with their new puppy. She's only about 7 or 8 months old. But she is very hyper and active and our two older dogs are not! They are both 11 years old and puppies are very annoying to them! haha but we all survived and as annoying as she may be, she is a very adorable dog and it's hard to stay mad at her. We also had some of our friends come into town which was great! Some of them had never seen our house before so we got to show off all of our hard work and we had such a great time. My sister and I seriously cannot wait until they come back into town! 

I'm currently trying to do a small side business of redoing furniture. It's something I'm very passionate about and I really enjoy doing it. I already had two pieces of furniture and then recently went shopping for some more. I haven't decided where or how I'm going to sell the pieces once they are done but I'm really hoping it works out well. So far I've only invested about $100 into the project/idea so even if I'm only able to sell each piece for $20 then I've still made a profit. It will be a small one but at least I didn't lose any money. So far I have 3 tables, a vanity bench, a small chair and matching stool, 3 matching chairs that I'm going to break up and do 2 matching and maybe someone will buy them as their head of the table chairs and then another single chair by itself. Believe it or not but on all of those pieces of furniture I only spent $24.53 all together. 

I already had a few stains from projects that I've already done around my house so my goal is to use those up and then once I start making a profit and if the idea takes off then I can invest in some other color stains. I also already had some fabric leftover from a couple projects that I did around my house as well so I'm going to use that up and then I bought 3 new pieces of fabric to play around with, which is how I'm able to keep my investment so low. My goal is to sell them for at least $50 a piece so I can make some money and then put some of it in savings and then the rest towards buying more pieces of furniture and better supplies. 

I am also starting to think about what kind of car I want next and how much money I'm going to need to get a car. I'm currently thinking used but only by a couple years so that way I can still have all of the same safety features but not having to spend so much money on something new. I currently lease my car and I have to turn it in at the end of April of 2020 so I have less than a year and I really need to start saving! I still have my old Acura TSX that I plan on selling soon so that will at least get my savings started somewhat! My goal is to have at least $10,000 saved up so I won't have as large of a monthly payment. So it'll depends on how much I sell my Acura for that I need to save up. 

I currently know that I want an SUV but I'm not entirely sure which one or what brand. My longterm goal in life is to own and Acura RDX because I think it's like the perfect size SUV and my mom used to have one and I loved driving it around. I also know what color I want, which is blue. I absolutely hate basic car colors, white, black, silver and gold are not colors! They are accents colors that you wear to finish putting your outfit together. They are not something you drive around in! No offense to whoever drives a boring colored car! 

I also really want to spend some time focusing on minimizing the amount of stuff I have. I have the tendency to buy something whenever I think it's cute but lately my goal is to only buy something if I really need it and use whatever I already have at home. My whole life I've always been told "You can't take it with you when you go" so I'm trying to make sure I don't have too much stuff and that I'm not too attached to anything I already own. 

I hope you enjoyed this post and learning a little bit more about what's going on in my life! I will keep you updated with another post next month!

Thanks for stopping by!
XO, Steph

July 10, 2019

Deleting my Pinterest Wedding Board

Stephainie Kamp Blog: Deleting my Pinterest Wedding Board
Hey guys,

So this post is going to be more of a journal type blog post! So I recently decided to completely delete my wedding board on Pinterest! That's right 1,200 pins and everything idea that I thought was cute probably back from 2012! The colors I wanted, the theme, dresses, floral designs, invitations. Basically you name it and it was on there. And no this doesn't mean that my boyfriend and I have broken up, we're still good! But my reasoning behind deleting is because I want a clean slate. When I created my Pinterest account back in 2012, this was probably my first board. I wasn't dating anyone, I had just graduated from high school and was starting college. My plans were to stay single throughout all of college and then once I was a little more settled to see what happened with life! And that's pretty much what I did. I graduated from college, bought a house with my sister, got a job, and met my boyfriend about a year later! Well we technically had met before but we didn't really get together until later! 

Creating a wedding board is great and all if you're with someone and you're able to talk about everything with them. However, all of the ideas that I had in my board were exactly that, they were my ideas. They weren't our ideas. They weren't what we had agreed upon and when you're with someone that's not what it's about. It's about getting to pick things out together and deciding how you want things to go. Unless you have a boyfriend/fiancé that could careless then I guess go ahead and plan by yourself! 

Planning is something I'm really into and one of the reasons that I decided to delete it is because I wanted a clean slate. I'm kind of a control freak and I have a lot of anxiety so when something isn't perfect or going my way, I tend to overreact or freak out. It's something I've struggled with my whole life. My mom was telling me this story that I had never heard before but apparently one Christmas I had told her about a doll house to buy me and I guess she had bought me the wrong one and so I basically told her how much she sucked and how she ruined Christmas because of this. Granted now that I'm older and can handle myself a little better, I would definitely never tell her that! I might still think it haha but I would never let her feel bad for getting me the wrong thing. Or at least I would try not to!

But as my boyfriend and I get more serious, I want for us to someday be able to plan things together and come up with ideas as partners. I want for us to pick out colors, invitations, flowers, and all of the necessary things it takes to put on a wedding. I want us to agree on how the wedding should go and what should be done at the wedding. I want everything to be something we decide, except you know the obvious things such as my dress and stuff like that! But everything should be something we want!

I hope you enjoyed this kind of weird post haha! But I thought it was an interesting idea to talk about. But I really need to get more into the fashion side of this blog because I really miss it! 

Thanks for stopping by!
XO, Steph

July 09, 2019

Life Lessons with Steph: Dealing with a Stressful Job

Stephanie Kamp Blog: Life Lessons with Steph: Dealing with a Stressful Job

Hey guys,

So currently I do not have a stressful job, which I am so thankful for! I absolutely love my job and the people I work with. Everyone is so amazing and kind and I could not be happier! I obviously wish I was making more money but it's okay. I honestly think that at this point in my life, my happiness is most important to me because I'm young and it's not like I'm planning my retirement anytime soon. Although, lets be honest, it would be totally amazing if I was haha!

Okay so if I'm being honest, I don't really have much experience for this particular topic but I do have some ideas and I also am the type of person that tends to get stressed out easily even though I try really hard not to. Also, I've really only worked 3 real jobs in my entire life so I don't really have that much to go on. However, I've done other things growing up such as teach dance classes, babysit, dogsit, and a few other things here and there over the years. As I've mentioned a few times on here, I did not work the entire time I was in college. After I graduated I took a trip to Europe for a couple weeks with my mom and sister and basically lived off of savings for the entire summer after I graduated. I really did not know what I wanted to do with my life. I think I was really struggling with this because my whole adolescence I basically told myself and everyone I spoke to that I was moving to New York City and that I was going to work in fashion and become this super amazing, cool person and then when the time came down to it, I chickened and totally said I am not moving to New York.

Looking back it was such a crazy idea! I don't know anyone there, I couldn't afford to live there, and most importantly I didn't have a job there. I think it would have been a completely different story if I had friends or a family member who already lived there then I definitely would have taken the huge leap of faith and moved out there but I literally knew no one! And I was running low on money so I had to get a job!

My first job was working for a radio station as a semi freelancer where I would work events and basically promote the radio station. The company had 3 different stations and depending on the event I would have to promote one of the stations. This job was a lot of fun and it surprisingly paid more than my more steady job which was retail. I got my second job at DSW and this was the job that I actually relied on for my income. The radio station was basically just extra money. So if I'm being honest, the reason I wanted to write this article is because I have and have had some people in my life who have experienced stressful jobs. I know working is not fun but unfortunately it's a part of life and we all just have to put in our time so we can earn our retirement and then settle down, do some last minute traveling all before we leave this beautiful Earth! Not to sound morbid or anything but seriously, that's basically the cycle of life!

Anyways, my retail job is what I will be basing most of this off of because this was seriously the most stressful job I've ever had. And when I say something is stressful I don't just mean like what you actually do for the company, I mean the people you work with and the company you actually work for. Also, if you work in a customer environment then that can definitely make your job more stressful as well. 

One thing I have learned about working so far is that you are not going to be able to make everyone happy and that's okay. You just need to learn how to manage that and work with everyone the best you can. My advice is that you absolutely do your best and try your hardest. I also recommend that you don't overthink or overanalyze everything. Getting and staying in your head will be your worst enemy. I also recommend that you don't really have a reaction when something happens. One thing that my boss does when someone comes over with a mistake she just says okay and fixes it. It really makes us feel like there is nothing that can't be fixed because in reality there isn't when it comes to most jobs. I mean if you're a doctor and you kill a patient then that's a different story but with most jobs almost everything can be fixed. Your best bet is to just stay calm and not overreact!

Something I recommend to help you cope with a stressful job is when you get out of work, try really hard not to think about work. Maybe find a hobby or a tv show that you really enjoy and just indulge yourself in that. Work should stay at work and not follow you home. You only get so many hours a day at home, especially if you work full time so you definitely need that mental block to help relieve some of your stress. One thing that my sister and I do when we get home from work is talk about our days and get our feelings out and then we move on! We make dinner, we watch a show or two, do some things around the house and then call it a night.

I hope you enjoyed this post and look forward to reading more! I also really hope that if you have a stressful job that things either workout or you are able to find one that you enjoy more! Working is such a major part of your life and life is too precious to let something like a stressful job get in the way! Spend time with your family, friends, and other loved ones! And don't forget to enjoy all of the amazing moments that life has to offer!

Thanks for stopping by!
XO, Steph

July 08, 2019

50 Random Questions & Answers

Stephanie Kamp Blog: 50 Random Questions & Answers

Hey guys,

Here's a little Q&A for you guys. I haven't done one in a while! I used to do one like every month I think? But I stopped. Also I already totally failed my goal of writing a blog post every week day during the month of July. So I'm kind of disappointed in myself. But we've been super busy working on our house. We have friends coming into town this weekend and we've been deep cleaning and baby proofing because we have kids staying with us. It should be a lot of fun! My sister and I are both super excited! Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy!

1. Where were you 3 hours ago?
At home, probably cleaning something

2. Who are you in love with?
My boyfriend!

3. Have you ever eaten a crayon?
No? lol

4. Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you?
Yes, my hairbrush

5. When is the last time you went to the mall?
Probably like 2 or 3 weeks ago?

6. Are you wearing socks right now?
No

7. Does your family have a car worth over $2,000?
Yes

8. When was the last time you drove out of town?
Two weeks ago!

9. Have you been to the movies in the last 5 days?
No

10. Are you hot?
Yes!

11. What was the last thing you had to drink?
Water

12. What are you wearing right now?
PJ's, it's bed time!

13. Do you wash your car or let the car wash do it?
Both! Well technically my dad!

14. Last food that you ate?
A smoothie

15. Where were you last week at this time?
In bed, getting ready to go to sleep

16. Have you bought any clothing items in the last week?
No

17. When is the last time you ran?
On Friday after work because it was pouring and there was lightning everywhere!

18. What’s the last sporting event you watched?
Maybe some of the Super Bowl?

19. What is your favorite animal?
Panda

20. Your dream vacation?
Paris!

21. Last person’s house you were in?
My parents house

22. Worst injury you’ve ever had?
A torn muscle in my thigh

23. Have you been in love?
Yes!

24. Do you miss anyone right now?
Yes!

25. Last play you saw?
Anastasia

26. What is your favorite food?
Tacos

27. What are your plans for tonight?
Writing a blog post and FaceTimeing my boyfriend!

28. What is your go to shoe?
My Tory Burch Miller sandals

29. Next trip you are going to take?
Probably to Mississippi to visit my boyfriend!

30. Ever go to camp?
Yes! Every summer for like 5 or 6 years growing up

31. Were you an honor roll student in school?
Pretty much all of Elementary school, a little in middle school, and pretty much throughout all of high school

32. What do you want to know about the future?
Nothing

33. Are you wearing any perfume or cologne?
No

34. Are you due sometime this year for a doctor’s visit?
Yes, a couple different ones actually

35. Where is your best friend?
In Mississippi

36. How is your best friend?
He's good!

37. Do you have a tan?
No

38. What are you listening to right now?
Nothing

39. Do you collect anything?
Yes, shoes, handbags, makeup, and basically anything girly!

40. Who is the biggest gossiper you know?
Probably me?

41. Last time you got stopped by a cop or pulled over?
When I was in high school, I got into a car accident

42. Have you ever drank your soda from a straw?
Yes, every time I order soda at a restaurant

43. Who do you text the most?
My boyfriend!

44. Do you like hot sauce?
I like mild sauce?

45. Last time you took a shower?
Last night

46. Do you need to do laundry?
Pretty much always!

47. What is your heritage?
German/American?

48. Are you someone’s best friend?
Yes!

49. Are you rich?
No

50. What were you doing at 12AM last night?
In bed, sleeping!

Thanks for stopping by!
XO, Steph

July 02, 2019

Boyfriend Q&A

Stephanie Kamp Blog: Boyfriend Q&A
Hey guys,

So I thought it would be really fun to do a blog post featuring my boyfriend! So I FaceTimed him and made him answer a few questions about me! I ended up deleting some of them though because we thought they were kind of weird questions lol! But anyways, I hope you guys enjoy getting to know a little bit more about me from his perspective! 

1) Where and when did we first meet?

At his desk at his parents house, sometime 2016?

2) Where was our first date?

Pinchers Crab Shack

3) What was your first impression of me?

Friendly/Cute

4) When did you meet my family?

Before we started dating sometime in the summer of 2017

5) Who said “I love you” first?

He did!

6) What I often do in my free times?

Watch TV

7) How long have we been together?

1 year and 9 months but we sometimes include the months we were talking and getting to know each other

8) What was our first road trip?

A month after we got together we went to Universal with some friends but our first road trip just the two of us was to Disney for his birthday which was like 2 weeks after my birthday!

9) First thing you noticed about me?

My eyes

10) What is something I’m not good at?

Video games

11) What is something I’m good at?

Interior Design

12) Favorite feature about me?

My laugh

13) What do we argue about the most?

Food

14)Do I have any weird obsessions?

How I fold my towels

15) Nicknames for me?

Stephie-poo

16) What is my favorite restaurant?

Cheesecake Factory

17) Complete this sentence “You’re my……..”?

You're my home!

Thanks for stopping by!
XO, Steph

July 01, 2019

June Life Update 2019

Stephanie Kamp Blog: June Life Update 2019
Hey guys,

Long time no talk! I know it's been awhile and I definitely have a lot to say. I have been pretty busy lately. I've been traveling like crazy and I think I might be done for at least a month but we will have to see! Basically my life is going really well! My boyfriend graduated from Air Force Basic Training and we're doing really well. I will blog more about that later. Basically my goal for this summer is catch up on blogging and blog about all of the trips I've taken since December of last year because yes, I am that far behind. I will probably be going out of order but there's no like specific timeline so it's totally okay if I got out of order. I also want to write a few other things here and there but we will see. I honestly feel like life is on the fast forward button right now and it like refuses to pause or slowdown and it definitely will not rewind haha!

Anyways, so life has been great! Since we last talked in May, I have been to Boston, San Antonio, Alabama for a few hours and Mississippi! My boyfriend is currently stationed in Mississippi for his tech school because right after BMT you head straight to tech school where you basically learn the skills for your job. His tech school is a little longer than the average person because of his job is a little more complicated but thankfully he's only a 10 hour drive away give or take a couple hours haha. Basically he graduated from BMT and then two weeks later I decided to take a trip up there with my mom for the weekend! I currently do not have another trip planned up there for a while because I don't really know when I'll be able to get time off. I have an idea for when I would like to go back but so far it's still up in the air!

As far as everything else goes, work is still the same. I love my job and the people I work with are amazing! My boss went out of town for a week though recently and we were all freaking out that we weren't going to be able to get everything done but I think we handled it pretty well! We've been working short lately so we've all been struggling a little. Hopefully things will get back to normal there soon though. Fingers crossed!

Our house is still a work in process but we have friends coming to visit the weekend after July 4th so we've been working out butts off trying to get it in shape for them! However, it still needs soooo much work! We bought this kit to like redo our kitchen but it's definitely going to be a while before that gets done. We are currently working on my bathroom and trying to finish removing the wallpaper and getting it painted. I will probably blog about it when we get done with it! I'm really hoping it turns out super well! But we will have to see! I'm not going to give any details until it's done!

I think that pretty much sums up life so far! It's super hot here in Florida! Thankfully my Disney pass has blockout dates all summer long so I don't have to worry about dying in the heat there. I have a few more trips for this year that I want to take, I'm just not sure when or if I will be able to get time off. I have to say working full time has definitely put a damper on my travel life! I'm used to just being able to say hey I can't work these dates and then taking off on a trip but I guess that's a part of growing up and becoming an adult. I must admit, I have been very spoiled over the years. If I could get paid to travel I would definitely do it! Traveling and exploring new places is one of my favorite things to do! All right well that's it for now! I will talk to you guys later!

Oh by the way Happy Summer and Happy July 1st!

Talk to you soon!
XO, Steph