September Goals - How'd I Do?

September? Check.

It came and went pretty quickly, but I got a ton of stuff done!

Fun:

*Read 2 books - COMPLETE {Firefly Lane and The Hunger Games}
*Recap Labor Day trip - COMPLETE {read about our trip to DC!}
*Attend/watch 150 football games - COMPLETE {we've watched several and had friends over for the TN/FL game!}
*Play with my new toy - COMPLETE {I'm loving my Mac, but still have tons to learn... see below}

DIY/Crafting:
*Share Canada project - COMPLETE {I am so proud of this!! It's our greatest coffee table book ever.}
*Organize ALL digital photos - FAIL {even though iPhoto is supposed to be easy to use, I'm having the HARDEST time organizing old photos!!! someone please help me. please.}

Home:
*Create photo collage above sofa - COMPLETE {check it out! we seem like the biggest world travelers with all these fun photos :) St. Thomas, Curacao, Moraine Lake, Dominica, Mt. Rundle, & Banff Springs Hotel}
*Hang lights in kitchen - somewhat COMPLETE... {2 down, 1 to go - but we just opened the chandelier box yesterday to find that 1-2 of the glass domes are broken...}

Cooking:
*One new recipe - COMPLETE {As funny as it is that lasagna was my new recipe, lasagna... was... my new recipe.}

Wellness:
*Clock 20 miles on elliptical/bike - COMPLETE {whoo hoo!!}
 

Check back tomorrow to see my lofty wellness goals for October... and other fun stuff!

Open House Party

Last night I had an open house / Initials Inc. party! It was lots of fun and I think everyone really loved all the cute stuff Emily had!

{I completely forgot to take ANY pictures AT ALL!!!

I mean, what kind of blogger am I?!}

Anyway, I took some of the living room for you

so you can see how beautiful it was. :)

Heidi, Sherry, Kristin, Megan, Emily T., Becca, Linda, and Barb all got to come! It was awesome to get to show our house to several work friends, since I talk about it all the time.  

thanks for the frame, Kristin!

And then the BEST SURPRISE (no offense to everyone else) was that Samantha came!!!!!!!! I knew Emily would be in town from VA and was going to be able to come to the party, but no one had any idea that Sam was coming, so it was a fabulous surprise when she knocked on the door. :)

Roomies forever.

It was soooooooo fun!!!! :)

1 John 1:1-7

I started going to a new Bible study yesterday.

Yikes.

I'm nervous but so excited about what God is going to do
with me and all the girls in the group.

We're memorizing 1 John.

Yikes.

Like, MEMORIZING. Remembering and reciting. Which isn't one of my strong points... but with His help, I know I can do this. And with your prayers and accountability too! :) So here's my memorization for the week:

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes,

which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.

2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the

eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.

3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us.

And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

4 We write this to make our joy complete.

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you:

God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

 

6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness,

we lie and do not live by the truth.

 

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another,

and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

 

One verse at a time... one verse at a time...

 

One of the coolest things that stuck out from yesterday was the prayer request time. Now typically, you think of every single tihng in your world that needs prayer, but you tend to forget those deep desires of your heart. The things that you secretly think are too big for God. Stephanie said "We only take impossible prayer requests here, because our God can do the impossible - we've seen it."

 

Oh buddy! I think I'm exactly where God wants me to be!

Goodbye Wagon Wheels: P1

We started our kitchen makeover in June and were pretty much done by the end of the month! The only two (major) things we had left to do were to decide on & install a backsplash, and change out the wagon wheel lights for something from this century.

Well, we FINALLY got one part of that done!!!

Aren't they fabulous?! I mean, seriously - it changes the whole look of the kitchen for me! (And now Jason laments - we need a new fridge... yes, honey, I know...)

We changed out one wagon wheel for the light near the microwave, and in the middle of the kitchen was an old fan that didn't have a light - it actually had a heater on it (weird, right?).

Adding the light has been AMAZING!!!!!!!!!

I can actually see what I'm cooking on the stove - no joke!

Tonight my wonderful, amazing, fabulously handsome hubby is going

to change out the other wagon wheel for a chandelier! :) Stay tuned!

Another small project I did this weekend was put together some of our favorite DC pictures (from left: National Cathedral, Washington Monument, Smithsonian Institution, inside dome of the Capitol Building). I really love how this turned out and we decided to put it on the shelf in the kitchen for now.

Did you work on any large or small projects this weekend?

CO Springs COntinued

Remember my Colorado Springs trip back in July? (here & here)

Yesterday we got a CD with some of the photographer's

pictures from all the activities!

me, Katheryne, Rachel

isn't this gorgeous?!

me w/Heidi

me, Alexis, Rachel

me & Rachel

In case you didn't know, Rachel is one of my very best friends. We work together 40+ hours a week and know basically everything that's going on in each other's lives. I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful friend!!

Glycerin

Don't forget, you can always ask me any blogging questions!

I love my shoes.

I'm seriously IN love with my shoes.

Because they were specifically picked for me,

out of all the shoes at Fast Break.

And because they're comfy.

And because (except for Canada) they have only been

walked on outside from my car to the TVA gym.

And because they're pretty. And shiny. And the insides are lime green.

Today I embarked on an endeavor that could very well never be spoken of again on this blog. I downloaded the Couch to 5K app on my phone. And used it. And tomorrow, I may use it again. Maybe. And in 9 weeks, I may actually be able to jog/run for more than 48 seconds without gasping for air.

Maybe.

Ask Away!

I am definitely not the best person in the world to ask about blog-related stuff, but I sure love all of it!

*Don't have a blog and want to start one?

*Have your blog set up but wish it was more customized?

*Pretty good with blog stuff, but have a more specific question?

I will answer any and ALL questions! 

If I don't know, I will do my best to find out!

Oh yeah! Remember the Custom Blog Header Design Giveaway that Emily Shears won?? 

Well, here it is:

I originally made it the same size as mine, so it ended up being too big for the top of her blog, but hopefully we've got it squared away and she's going to get it uploaded soon! :)

I really like the way it turned out, and I hope she loves it too!

Let me know if you would be interested in getting your own custom designed header! 

So go ahead and ask your bloggie questions! 

I have done my best to help J.e.Raley and Susie Homemaker with a few questions, so don't be shy to ask!

Legally Blonde - The Musical!

Last Friday, Mom and I went to go see....

Legally Blonde The Musical!

It was so cute!!! The songs, the DANCING, the dialogue - we seriously enjoyed every minute of it!

My momma & me!

Elle & Emmett buying Emmett a new suit.

The courtroom scene!

Elle had a fantastic voice, of course, and so did Paulette and Vivian! Amaaaaaaaazing music.

We would most definitely go see it again!

Evolution of My Hair

For your viewing pleasure, here is a compilation of my "hairstyles" from the last 5 years:

(In Spring 2004 I got 10 1/2 inches cut off my hair!! CRAZY!)

Summer 2005: sophomore year bid day, love the little pigtails :)

Fall 2005: homecoming

{we look good, right Em?}

Spring 2006: a sorority date night with my baby-face boyfriend :)

{in a dress I found about an hour prior to this picture at Ross or Marshall's for $8!!}

I'm thinking this is Summer 2008?

Summer 2009: at the Signal Crest wedding shower

Summer 2010: in Canada

Now 2010: at Elizabeth's shower

Speaking of hair... look at this poor guy.

Who's mother would let him go out looking like that?!?
This was in my old car ('89 Volvo) so it's probably sometime in the summer of '05?

Pooooooooor Dash. Yikes.

Curly Pearl Giveaway - Winner Announced!

I'm (finally) here to announce the winner of the Curly Pearl Giveaway! 

Sarah - from the Richest Life!

Congrats Sarah! 

(I should know your address and all, but will you email / facebook message it to me?) 

Keep Curly Pearl in your favorites because Rachael's beautiful jewelry makes fantastic Christmas presents/stocking stuffers!!

I would like these please. Mom? Jason? Anyone? :)

Shower for My Future Sister

Don't forget to sign up for the

CurlyPearl jewelry giveaway!!

Only two more days!!

On Sunday afternoon, we had a shower at Red Bank for my future sister, Elizabeth!

Below is me, Elizabeth, and Bonnie.

In less than ONE MONTH (when Elizabeth gets married) we will all officially be family! :) And that makes me very happy!

Side note: While cleaning out my closet this weekend, I realized that I actually OWN the black dress that I wore to my Red Bank shower last year {see picture below} - I thought I had borrowed it from Emily! But lo and behold, there it was in the back of the closet, so I thought I would wear it to Elizabeth's shower!

There was a wonderful spread of yummy food!! And look at the cool lanterns!

(They are from Bonnie's wedding!)

I was too busy chatting it up and forgot to take many pictures, but there were tons of people there and Hunter and Elizabeth got some amazing stuff.

We can't wait for your wedding!!