Brittany's Blessings

SUYL: My Amazing Brother!

2012-02-02T15:19:00.008-06:00

If there is ever an opportunity to brag about my (very handsome) brother, I jump on it!

After a little convincing and explaining how this process works, I was able to get him to say YES to doing a post all about him. He is not familiar with how the blog world works, but I told him to trust me and to let me play cupid just this once. Here we go!

Meet Travis:

Travis is 30 years old and has a sincere passion for life. He works full time for our uncle's business and he is also a musician. Travis plays lead guitar for a band called 'Chasing Pictures'. They have been working hard writing their own music and making an album. (ask me if you want a CD!) :)

Travis is the best big brother anyone could ask for. He is caring, supportive, and loving. He is very outgoing and knows no stranger; he has a million and one friends (for real!) He also loves to play and watch sports, especially soccer....okay maybe not soccer, but he was my biggest fan.

And last but not least, my favorite quality about Travis is that he is the best dad to my perfect, six-year old niece!

I am honored to call Travis my brother and I am incredibly blessed to share a friendship with him! Leave me a comment or email me if you feel led to meet Travis!

nolanbrittany14@yahoo.com

Travis and me:

A Trip Home & New Friends!

2012-01-16T22:09:00.007-06:00

I always have great intentions on keeping up with my blog a bit more than I actually do, but life gets in the way. That's okay, right!?

Anywho-- I had to update about a great weekend that I had! I experienced a lot of "firsts"... some firsts that a lot may call crazy, but I am glad and thankful I did it!

As some of y'all know.. I tweet. I tweet a lot. At first, I thought Twitter was quite silly and I never cared to be apart of it. But being apart of the Blog world opened my eyes to Twitter, and last summer(ish) I created a Twitter account. Through Twitter, I now communicate with a lot of blogger 'friends' and I 'meet' a lot of ladies who I have a lot in common with. I also tweet with some real life friends too, which is always fun. :) Okay, on to my story...

A couple months ago I "met" a sweet gal named Jillian (or Manina) ;) through Twitter.

Throughout our chats, we realized we only live about 20 minutes from each other. We talked about getting together for lunch, but we never found the time to do so. Jill knew I was from Arkansas, and her best friend happens to live in the same area my family lives, so when she planned on going there this past weekend for her friend's birthday party, she invited me along for the ride! At first I was hesitant, but I said yes! We had some mutual friends through Twitter who also live in Arkansas, so we decided to meet for dinner Friday night.

When informing (asking) my husband if I could travel 300 miles in a car with a stranger, he was a bit skeptical considering we are avid Dateline watchers every Friday night! He does not quite understand the blogging world and twitter relationships just yet, but I know he was just being a sweet, over-protective hubby. When meeting Jillian for the first time (as he was dropping me off with her for our long car ride), he informed her that he was writing down her license plate number. Ha!

After getting into Arkansas Friday evening, we met Whitney and Lindsay for the first time and then headed to dinner with some other blogger friends! (All who I just met that night)

It was a lot of fun! Although it was a little bit out of my comfort zone to do this, I was SO glad I did. I met some amazing girls and I also got to spend the weekend with my parents (oh yeah...I forgot to mention that I stayed with my parents... Hi mom, I know you are reading!) :)

Here we all are after dinner!

Front: Lindsey, Katie, Jillian, Taylor, and Lauren

Back: Lindsey, Me, Whitney, Rachel, Kim, and Tara

Jill and Me

Miss Whitney and Me

Lindsay and Me

Being goofy (cell phone pic)

And just because this is hilarious to me... Mom and I went through a ton of old pictures when I was home. I can't decide who looks more funny, me in my gorgeous bridal gown, or my super tough Power Ranger brother!

JESUS >religion

2012-01-11T19:57:00.004-06:00

i love this.

Happy 2012!

2012-01-01T15:08:00.004-06:00

I hope everyone had a fabulous New Years!

We had our friends over for some games, food, and FUN!

I made a backdrop for some 'photobooth' fun!

Praying that you all have a blessed 2012!

11 in 11

2011-12-31T12:49:00.003-06:00

Reflecting back on 2011 reminds me how blessed I am! I feel like each year that goes by gets better and better. I have high hopes for 2012! I know that God has amazing things in store for us as R and I both venture into the 'big kid' world. We are excited!

I thought it would be fun to pick my favorite 11 things that happened in 2011 (in no particular order)

1. Hillsong United Concert (this may actually be my favorite part of 2011) :)

I went with my friend Hayley and we had a blast.

Hillsong was PHENOMENAL and it was beyond moving being in an arena with over 7,000 people praising JESUS for hours!

2. We were able to go to game 1 of the World Series!!

3. We celebrated the CARDINALS winning the World Series downtown with about ten million other people (or at least it seemed like it!)

4. My church's VBS: JUMP! I was a group leader for 2nd graders, they rocked my world!

5. More Concerts!! Hayley and I saw Chris Tomlin concert in November. Another outstanding concert!!! Louie Giglio was on tour with Chris, and he took my breath away with his sermon. I have to combine another concert into this one. In April we also saw MercyMe, Natalie Grant, and Brandon Heath. In September, Stephanie and I saw David Crowder Band. I have checked off a lot of amazing artists, now I just need to see Kari Jobe, Castings Crowns, and Jeremy Camp!!

6. Finally graduating!!!

7. Getting placed for Student Teaching... something I had been praying for for a long time. It was 100% a God thing that I was placed for the Fall, let alone in the best school district in St. Louis, and, in my opinion, the best school in St. Louis! God was all over it from day one and boy was I thankful! It was an incredible semester.

8. Getting my first teaching job as a classroom assistant! I was hired the beginning of December and I start on Jan. 3! God is good!

9. Spending Thanksgiving with our closest friends. We usually head home for Thanksgiving, but with us all being so busy with school and it being our last Thanksgiving in St. Louis, we decided to get together with friends. It was so much fun and Ashley did an awesome job preparing the feast!!

10. Going to Las Vegas with Reddell in June. We were spoiled rotten by staying in a suite at the Venetian and ate at some great restaurants, saw the Blue Man Group, and shopped!

11. Spending Christmas with both of our families. We are blessed.

I am in faith that God has big, amazing things in store for us this next year. He is SO faithful, always provides, and loves us SO much.

Thank You, Lord, for the best year yet!

You crown the year with Your good blessings and You leave abundance in Your wake. Psalm 65:11

WOW, is this verse so true!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-30T20:03:00.004-06:00

We had a wonderful (and fast!) Christmas. Reddell and I have said multiple times the last couple days that we still cannot believe Christmas has already came and gone. I feel like it goes by quick anyway, but with us traveling from St. Louis, to Arkansas, to Oklahoma it makes it go so much faster because we are so busy.

Just a little recap of our break:

We were planning on leaving STL to head back on Thursday the 22nd early in the morning. Wednesday night we were getting our things packed and at about 6:00, I had the brilliant idea for us to leave that night! We laughed that we had not thought of leaving that day at around 3:30 or 4:00 when we got home from babysitting/school. We ended up getting to my parents house in Arkansas at around 11pm. It worked out well because we were able to sleep in the next morning.

I decided to stay at my parents house that day, but R headed to Oklahoma to spend some time with his friends before the Christmas festivities began.

My niece, mom, and myself went to lunch with my grandma and dad, and then we headed to the store to get some things for a FULL day of baking. We had a blast making oreo pops, chocolate covered pretzels, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, Andes mint cookies, rice krispies, and chocolate covered oreos. Phew! We made a lot! Brilee was a great helper and I was so thrilled to spend the entire day with her. We even got to cuddle in my bed that night!

Friday morning we did a quick run to the mall and then my mom met R halfway between his parent's house to get me.

Friday evening we watched Christmas Vacation and lounged around. Saturday (Christmas Eve), we did some things to get ready for Christmas (cleaning, more baking, shopping). Saturday night we enjoyed spending Christmas with my FIL's side of the family at R's grandma and grandpa's. It was nice to be there because we have not been able to make it the last couple of years because we have a lot of going back and forth between both families.

On Christmas morning, we got up and got ready for my MIL's side of the family to come over. We had a big Italian feast with Ugly Christmas sweaters. :)

It was a great time, and I love spending time with the extended family. We always laugh a lot and catch up on life. It was nice.

{homemade lasagna and homemade pizza}

{group picture... the best we could do with a self timer and shadows!}

We had to leave the Italian Christmas a bit early to head to Arkansas to do Christmas with my side of the family.

We got to my house a little later than the rest of my family because of the drive. After giving all the hugs to everyone, I walked into our dining room to the dining room table filled with things to celebrate my graduation. I was completely shocked (and may or may not have cried). My mom had talked to the rest of my family about surprising me since I was not able to walk or have any other way of celebrating my graduation. I'm not gonna lie... I felt a little sad that I finished school in December and my school not having a ceremony until May. I felt like it was pushed to the back burner just because there was no "party" or ceremony, and a lot of people did not know about it.

But, like ALWAYS, my mom OUTDID herself and surprised me.

My family is the best and I was seriously overwhelmed that night. My mom made cupcakes, ordered the cutest cookies with owls on them, and made a banner that said "CONGRATS" with adorable owls. (I love owls) :)

(In no way am I trying to sound selfish or wanting it to be all about me... I just feel like graduating college is a big deal, especially since I am the first in my family to graduate.)

After reading all of my cards and wiping my tears away from reading the incredible words all of my family shared in their cards, we transitioned to celebrating CHRISTMAS.

My heart was incredibly full surrounded by my loved ones. Being home for Christmas and being with my family is by far the best gift of them all. I have always loved, cared deeply, and adored my family, but since moving to St. Louis and only seeing them on occasions, it makes it that much more special.

We ended the night playing Quelf with my parents, brothers, and cousin. I laughed so hard I seriously almost peed my pants about five times. If y'all haven't played this game before, you MUST!!! It is a good, clean, FUN, hysterical game!

Shame on me for not getting pictures at my house. My mom took several, I need to steal some from her.

I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas!

NYE is TOMORROW!!

What are your plans??

Unspeakable JOY!

2011-12-19T18:06:00.001-06:00

My favorite Christmas song!

Chris Tomlin's version of 'Joy to the World'

2011-12-14T13:50:00.002-06:00

Done

2011-12-12T10:13:00.003-06:00

A word that I have been longing to say for a long time now. I am officially done with undergrad! I have so many thoughts and emotions about my journey through college, all six and a half years of it! :) Every now and then I will think, "What if I would have graduated after 4 years with a Marketing degree?" or "What if I would have just went with my dream of Elementary Education when I first started college?" I always stop myself when thinking this though, because I know that where I am right now, is exactly where I am supposed to be. Yes, it stunk being in school for so long. Yes, I have more student loans than I would like. Yes, I am 25 and just now graduating. But I have learned so much about myself these last six plus years. I have developed relationships with people that I know will last a lifetime and I have had opportunities to do things that I would have never been able to do with a full time job. And to put the icing on the cake, I just finished my student teaching with the best class I could have possibly imagined. My heart explodes with gratitude thinking about the 21 students I had the opportunity to work with for four months. I am forever changed because of them.

And now I get to continue with my dream and passion to teach kids the rest of my life. I am a blessed lady.

I can do ALL things through Christ. Philippians 4:13

A lot to Celebrate!

2011-12-09T07:21:00.002-06:00

I have a lot to celebrate/be thankful for today!!!!

1.) My 25th birthday

2.) My LAST day of student teaching. It is VERY bittersweet. I could not think of a better way to spend my birthday than with 20 sweet kiddos who I have grown to love and adore.

3.) I have a JOB lined up starting in January! (more on that later)

4.) And I am also celebrating that I will have more free time to blog! :)

God is GOOD... ALL the time!!!!!

Pictures.

2011-11-25T18:19:00.005-06:00

We had a friend take a couple pictures yesterday... :)

I spent about an hour and a half deciding on a Christmas card and trying to choose which pictures to use. I cannot wait until they come in.

Here are a couple pictures of my little family. I am so blessed.

ONE MONTH until Christmas!!!!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

2011-11-23T10:41:00.004-06:00

Happy Wednesday, y'all!

I am excited to be linking up for "What I'm Loving Wednesday" again. It has been awhile!

I'm loving... that it is Thanksgiving tomorrow! Although I cannot believe it! This year has flown by. We will be spending our last Thanksgiving in St. Louis with our closest friends. We have a big feast planned and although we will miss being with family, we are thankful to have friends who are like family to spend the day with. :)

I'm loving... that I was able to sleep in today... and the next 4 days! This is a much needed break to catch up on cleaning, relaxing, and spending some QT with my hubby.

I'm loving... that I only have two more weeks until I graduate! (Well, my university does not do a "graduation" in December, so I technically will not walk until May... but I will be DONE in two weeks!) This is actually a bittersweet time for me. I have grown to love and adore all of my kiddos and it makes me sad to know that I will not be spending five days a week with them when I am done. But it is nice to know that I will finally be done and will be able to hopefully start teaching in my own classroom next August!

I'm loving... that my birthday is in a little over 2 weeks! Which also happens to be my last day at school. Partay! :)

I'm loving... that the ARKANSAS / LSU game is on Friday. I'm actually quite nervous about this game. It will be HUGE for us... and I am praying we can pull a big W!!

I'm loving... everything about the Christmas season! I pulled out our Christmas tree and some decor a week and a half ago and it makes me so happy. I have been too busy to search for my Christmas CD's, but that is on my to-do list this weekend!

via pinterest

As always.. I'm loving... my sweet, little family that I get to cuddle with each night. :)

A Whole 'Lotta Randoms

2011-11-09T16:05:00.008-06:00

Hello Blog World!

(here is my brain dump)

I have missed blogging on a regular basis, but as of about 3 months ago, there has not been near enough hours in the day! Since I have started my student teaching, I have minimal time to do any extra curricular activities (that even includes spending time with my hubs, boo!)

But I wish I could express how much I LOVE and ADORE my students and this entire experience. It has been eventful, tiring, nerve-racking, exciting, fun, and a million others all in one!

My days usually look like this:

Wake up at 5:50 am.

Get to school at 7:15 am.

Get home around 3:40 pm.

Relax until 4:30 pm.

Make lesson plans, grade papers, and write papers for class until bedtime.

Repeat. :)

Oh and also throw in staff meetings and my university class once a week in there. Whew!

I definitely miss my free time and being able to lay on the couch and not think about what I should be doing to be productive. But again, I am loving every second and I am amazed at how fast these 3 months have gone by already.

I will be DONE one month from TODAY! (which also happens to be my b*day... what a great gift!) Then the job searching begins in the big girl world!

Anywho... here are just a few things I have been up to since my last blog post.

Thankfully, I have managed to enjoy some things outside of school.

-We went to game 1 of the WORLD SERIES!!!

-The CARDINALS WON the WORLD SERIES!!!!! (and we were downtown celebrating the victory with the other 304,108,113,295 people...or at least it seemed like there were that many people there)

Luckily, I am able to keep up with all of your blogs throughout the week on my phone. I wish I had the time to comment on everyones' posts...but the day will come!

Is anyone else EXCITED for CHRISTMAS!?!?!!? Oh my gosh, I.CANNOT.WAIT! I usually wait until after Thanksgiving to start decorating, but I am going to MAKE time to get all my Christmas decor out this weekend while watching my all time favorite movie, ELF! Eeeeeek! :)

I deactivated my facebook over the weekend and deleted my twitter ap from my phone. Sadly, I never thought I could go a day without checking either one of them. I am proud to say that I have not even attempted to look at either since I deleted them. I felt led to take a break from them after an awesome sermon at church on Sunday. It was about distractions. Not that twitter and facebook are a bad thing, but I was losing focus on the important things in my life.

Louie suggested I post a picture of his preciousness.

And I will leave you with a picture of my precious babies:)

“Now then, my children, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways.

Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not disregard it."

Proverbs 8:32-33

Remember When...

2011-09-17T08:04:00.001-05:00

I have to remind myself daily (sometimes hourly) of the times this spring and summer when I sat around twiddling my thumbs of boredom. I would dream of being in the classroom everyday and having a set schedule and staying busy.
My dream cane true and Words can't express my gratitude for the opportunity to student teach. I'm thrilled to be living my dream of being surrounded by sweet kiddos learning everyday. It fills my soul. What I didn't fully prepare myself for was the energy it would take from me! I knew I would be exhausted, but goodness...it is taking its toll on me! I thought that I would be used to the routine by now, but by the time 3:30 rolls around each day, you can't pay me to get anything done! I long to be snuggled up on my couch with my pup and a good afternoon tv show.

My weekends have also stayed busy as can be!
Last weekend I was busy preparing for a baby shower I hosted with some friends. We had the shower on Sunday afternoon. Saturday morning I took some maternity pictures and edited them to be ready for the shower. That afternoon I also finished up some decorations and minor details. Here are some of my favs from the shoot:

And the diaper cake :)

The shower turned out well and it was a beautiful day to celebrate Baby P.

Saturday night my friend Ashley and I went to a Britt Nicole concert at our church. I've always been a fan of Britt, but I fell in love with her even more that night. She has a heart of gold and is on fire for God. Britt was the cutest thing and every note that came out of her mouth gave me chills. She is incredibly talented!

This week I have been playing 'mom'. One of the families I babysit for went out of town so I have been staying with the daughter at their house. I take her to school bright and early, spend the day at my school, then pick her up from her school and go home. It's been an eventful and tiring week! I'm getting a small dose of what it is like to work and have a child. ;) I will be spending the weekend with her as well. Today we plan on going to the zoo!

Even though my little eyes can barely stay open at the end of each day, I wouldn't trade it for the world. I know God has me exactly where He wants me, and it brings joy to my heart to be doing the passion he instilled in me (to serve children). I am blessed!

1 Chronicles 28:20
"Be strong and courageous. Fear not...for the Lord God is with you, always!"

Labor Day Weekend Fun

2011-09-05T18:27:00.007-05:00

I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend!! I definitely did! I think that it should be mandatory to turn the weekends into 3 days instead of 2! Anyone else with me? I'll start a petition! ;)

We ended the week on Friday night by just lounging around the apartment. R and I went to the grocery store to grab a few things and then watched a movie and went to bed fairly early. It felt SO good to sleep in Saturday morning!

Saturday was a day full of football and food! We had some friends over to eat and watch college football. I cleaned, cleaned, cleaned our apartment all morning and got dressed in my Razorback attire. We had a lot of fun and even though it was over 100 degrees outside, it felt like Fall inside with chili cooking on the stove, football on tv, and my pumpkin candles burning. :)

Sunday was a great day! We went to church and then I volunteered in the nursery. We had 6 boys (1 year olds) so they kept us very entertained and busy! I'm so thankful that I have the opportunity to serve at an incredible church with such wonderful ladies.

Sunday evening my friend and I went to the David Crowder Band concert! We had a blast and I'm so glad I got to see them since they just announced their last tour dates! David (the lead singer) was hilarious and kept us entertained throughout the night. And of course he is an amazing worship leader. There is just something about worship music that gets me. I know people vary in how they worship and connect with God. But music is what gets me the most. I'm so thankful for worship music and the opportunities I have had to see such incredible artists this year. God is good.

{We also were able to see a great band, The Great Romance, open for DCB. They are from the St. Louis area and they are now on my list of favorites!!!}

Today has been the most perfect day. I prayed for this day to be as. slow. as. possible. ;)

And it has gone by pretty slow! We slept in, had some french toast, and then enjoyed the most beautiful 73 degree day at a state park with our friends Mike and Kayleigh. We found a 2 mile trail to hike and took in the beauty of the day. It was much needed for the soul.

Here are some (unedited) pictures from the day. :)

the pups drinking from the water fountain :)

Hope everyone has a great week!!!!

My 1st VLOG! :)

2011-09-01T18:09:00.002-05:00

I've been major slacking on my blogging skills lately, but I thought it would be fun to jump on the bandwagon of this accent VLOG :)

I am cracking up at myself because I look like a dork.

But it was fun.

Enjoy.. and try not to make fun of me too much.

Smith Wedding

2011-08-28T16:43:00.005-05:00

This weekend I flew to Montana to photograph a friends' wedding.

Here is a sneak peak of their beautiful day...

Ramblings

2011-08-19T21:58:00.001-05:00

Just a couple randoms from throughout the week! :)

•Our first day of school was on Wednesday. I will be completely honest and say that I was so glad when the day was over. I was SO exhausted when I woke up that morning from a long couple of days before that will little sleep. Throw in the stress of meeting 20 new students and learning all the rules/procedures on top of that and that will tucker you out (mentally and physically!!). It was a good day but I was happy to get home and nap and lounge!! I kept my momma's tradition going that morning by taking a first day of school picture.

Haha!

•Thursday and Friday were much better! Still a little much with having to know everything in a small amount of time, but I was well rested. I LOVE our kiddos in our class and I can't wait to see what the semester holds for us!

•My in-laws came into town yesterday (Thursday) and are staying until Sunday. We had dinner and went to church tonight and have plans to lay low tomorrow...possibly a movie??

•I LOVE my church. I say it a million times and I will say it a million times more. WOW- God is so good!

•Louie took a nap on my legs today. Spoiled much?

•do you all love my new blog design?! The very talented Jenn did it for me! I love it!!!!!

:-)

Have a fun, safe, and blessed weekend!!!

Thankful/1st Day of School

2011-08-15T16:54:00.001-05:00

I am so behind on posting, but to be honest it has been nice having a break from writing. Sometimes I feel like I have to blog just to keep up, but I never intended it to be like that. So it has been nice to have a break and not feel like I have to write something just because. I blog because it is fun, but most importantly it is a journal for me (and my friends and family to read since we live out of state).

One of my last posts was that I was placed for student teaching for the fall. This was a HUGE prayer that was answered and every tiny, little detail about it was definitely apart of God's plan. And I am SO thankful that He has showed me that. I feel that we (I) take so many things for granted in life and it's easy to get caught up in our day to day activities and forget to be thankful (not purposely...it just happens!) Anyway, after my whole experience (and a bit of stressing) about whether or not I would be in the classroom this fall, I took some time to step back and just thank God for everything. I'm thankful that I have the opportunity to get an education. I'm thankful that I had the opportunity to "start over" after selecting a major in college that was not right for me. I'm thankful that I am now doing what I am passionate about. I'm thankful that I wasn't just thrown into a random school to student teach with an unknown teacher/staff. God had this worked out for me far in advance and I just had to lay it at His feet and be patient. (patience is not my strongest asset).
I often wonder why I'm so blessed. I know it's silly to question that, and in the most humble way, I know that God WANTS the best for his children. Think about your parents...don't they want the best for you?? Our Heavenly Father wants the best for us too. It's not always going to be easy, but it will always work out and it will always be worth it.

(I'm laughing right now because I did not intend to blog about this, I even changed my subject line...but it's my heart and it's important to me). :)

We have been busy in our classroom getting ready for school to start on Wednesday. More on that later, but this little girl started Kindergarten today!!

I had to hold back some tears when my mom sent me this picture this morning. Not only because she is the prettiest girl in the world, but she has grown up SO fast. Wasn't it just last year I got the phone call that my sister in law was going into labor??! Goodness, I'm so proud of that baby girl. Love love love her. :)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A Day in the Life of

2011-08-04T11:05:00.001-05:00

Louie. :)

Lou feels a little abandoned from my blog lately, so we decided to share what a typical day is like for him. He has a rough life...

Mornings usually start off with a lot of cuddle time...our favorite part of the day.

After cuddles, Louie likes to lay in bed for awhile by himself. He loves his dad's Razorback pillow and the blankets on him.

Then we go outside for a bit. If it's not too hot, we go for a walk, but that hasn't happened too much this summer with the insane heat. We have our breakfast and he always makes sure he stays by my side just in case I drop a bite! Sometimes he gets a small nibble or two ;).

Lou loves to play with balls, his bones, chew toys, or his dads' socks...whichever he can find.

Or cat toys

Then it's naptime...

Lunch time rolls around and he manages to find his way between his momma's legs while eating- just like breakfast time.

He's my crumb catcher.

He helps me read-

Sometimes he gets to go on car rides to Sonic during happy hour!

Then the rest of the day is spent just looking as cute as can be...

:)

What I'm Loving Wednesday

2011-07-27T09:58:00.003-05:00

Happy Wednesday!

I have a very grateful heart this week! I try to always be thankful of the things around me, but I'm human so it's not always easy. But this morning I woke up in a fantastic mood, and God continues to show me ways to be grateful!

Onto what I'm loving.. :)

I'm loving... the planner I purchased from Erin Condren yesterday! If ya'll have not seen her site, go check it out! I am in love! I ordered a planner for student teaching for this semester... they are designed specifically for teachers, with spots for lesson plans, school activities, attendance, etc. I cannot wait to get it in the mail! She also has everything from notepads, life planners, address labels, invitations, announcements, and lots more! Check it out! This is the planner I got; swooooon!

I'm loving... FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS!!!! Hubs and I started the first season on Netflix on Saturday and we are HOOKED! He is gone a lot because of school, but I'm serious when I say that the second he walks through the door we both look at each other and say "Friday Night Lights!" haha... We have completed the first 14 episodes of season 1.

I'm loving... that school starts 3 weeks from today! I get to meet my host teacher next week, and then the week after that, we start getting the classroom ready and have meetings/team building. I cannot wait! I know this semester will be a lot of work, but I'm so ready for it and BOY am I thankful for this opportunity!!!

I'm loving... my good lookin' husband ;)

wheew, this is good:

I'm speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it's important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.

Romans 12:3 {the message}

Wedding Pictures

2011-07-25T11:08:00.006-05:00

Last month, my mom and I shot our very first wedding for Reddell's cousin. We love doing photography, but we soon realized how much work shooting actually is! And then the editing process after is quite the work! But we both agreed it was so worth it and we can't wait to have more opportunities. (I have a wedding to do next month!)

Here are some of my favorites... :)

My Hope is in You

2011-07-23T11:43:00.001-05:00

Psalm 38:15
For in You, O Lord, do I hope; You will answer, O Lord my God.

SUYL- Marriage Advice

2011-07-22T08:20:00.005-05:00

This weeks Show Us Your Life topic at Kelly's Korner is about sharing marriage advice.

I laughed at the thought of sharing advice on marriage because I feel like I am the one who needs as much advice as I can get! But having been married a little over 3 years, I have learned a thing or two!

I was actually just praying over our marriage this morning and the biggest thing I prayed for is that God will show us each individually the things we can provide for each other (emotionally & spiritually). I want to love my husband by serving him, respecting him, & supporting him in all he does. Obviously marriage is all about giving and taking and finding that happy medium.

One of my biggest struggles in my marriage is comparing our marriage to others. R and I got married when we were 21, so we were young and quite immature when it came to living together and dealing with things. It was easy to look at other couples around us and "wish we had a marriage like that" But you never know what goes on behind closed doors! I have come a long way with this through prayer and it has helped a lot! God put R in my life for a reason and I am SO thankful for him. I can't imagine laying my head down next to any other person at night.

Also, a book I suggest every wife reads is "The Power of a Praying Wife" by Stormie Omartian It will change your marriage, for the better! (even if you already have a great marriage!)

And like Kelly said... Laugh a lot! :)

Wives, submit to yourselves to your husbands, as fitting in the Lord.

Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh to them.

Colossians 3:18-19

Weekend Recap

2011-07-21T11:08:00.009-05:00

It's Thursday already? I have my days mixed up this week from a long weekend at home in Arkansas. I left last Thursday afternoon and got into town around 6:30. After dinner with my parents, Louie and I headed over to my best friend and her husbands' brand new house!! They just moved in a couple of weeks ago, it is gorgeous! I'm so happy for them and proud of all of their hard work! Laine just graduated in May with her Masters and already has a teaching job in Rogers teaching 2nd grade!

Friday mom and I got ready early and headed to pick up my niece. One of my favorite reasons to go home to Arkansas is to see her sweet face! I can't get enough of her (although she definitely wore me out that day! that girl never stops moving and talking... it's precious, but tiring!;) ). We decided to have a fun girls day so we went to get pedicures. Brilee had never gotten a mani or pedi, but she did SOOO good! Mom and I weren't sure how she would be since she seems to never sit still, but we know now that if we ever do need her to sit still to take her to the salon! ha! She was so sweet when the lady was painting her nails... and it was even sweeter when she got done and they were drying...waving her hands in the air and trying not to touch anything.

After our nail appointment we met up with Laine again at Shogun for lunch! Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm, I love me some filet mignon from Shogun!! :)

Laine and I go waaay back when. I went through old pictures the night before and found some hilarious ones of us from when we were younger. We were dying laughing.

After lunch and a slight scare with my sweet Louie at my parents house (long story short: he started having what we thought was a seizure or tremors? scared. me. to. death!! but he was fine after 2 minutes and never showed any symptoms after), we headed to pick up my brother at the airport. He flew in for the weekend from Los Angeles! We hung around the house a bit and then headed to Red Lobster with the rest of the fam!

Saturday was an exciting day! Several months ago, my mom and I decided to plan a reunion with my club soccer team. I played for the Comets from 6th grade until I graduated High School. The girls on the team were like sisters to me. We played year round (minus high school season) and we traveled many, many miles together for tournaments. Some of my greatest memories growing up are with these girls. It had been almost 6 years since most of us had seen each other, so we decided that we should start planning this reunion annually. Because of all of our busy schedules and a lot of us living out of town, it was hard for everyone to make it this year, but we have high hopes that we will continue this each summer and more and more will be able to come! It was so nice to catch up with everyone and reminisce on the past.

Saturday was also my oldest brothers' 30th birthday. A group of about 25 of friends and family met for dinner at Outback Steakhouse.

Sunday I enjoyed a great church service and lunch with my parents. I was reeally looking forward to Sunday afternoon for the Women's World Cup Final. I was sad with how it ended, but so proud of the USA team for their heart and determination! I was planning on driving back to St. Louis after the game, but with it going into overtime and penalty kicks, I would have been driving home too late, so I decided to stay another night. My mom took me shopping and spoiled me like she always does! ;) Thank, Mom!

I had a fun weekend home and I'm so thankful for the times I get to spend with my family.

i LOVE her!!!

Oh, Happy Day!

2011-07-19T10:40:00.003-05:00

I am OVER the moon excited!!!

If ya'll have been following my Student Teaching story over the past yearish, you know how frustrated and nervous I have been about being placed. Originally, I was "supposed" to graduate this past May, but a silly little test was holding me back. I finally passed the test in April and then turned in my completed student teaching application to my school to be placed. I was late getting it turned in so there was no guarantee for me to be placed. I did not get my hopes up on being placed, but I was also full of hope that I would be for this Fall.

I woke up every single day checking my E-mail to see if I had been placed. Day after day I was slowly getting disappointed, but not giving up hope. I had heard from 3 different districts in the area that turned my application away because they were full.

(Side note: when I turned in my application, the #1 district on my list was full and I was practically laughed at when I asked if there was a way to get in... it is the top district in the St. Louis area and fills up QUICK) I was bummed but I did not care, as long as I was placed somewhere.

So last Wednesday I woke up to an E-mail (from the #1 district on my list!!!) saying that they had a random opening for a class and after contacting my school, my application was sent to them. I had to fill out a survey online and wait to hear back from them to see if they were interested. I anticipated that the wait could be days (or even weeks!?) but they contacted me again within hours! They wanted ME to fill this student teaching spot! I had to send them a background check and then they would contact me with all the information.

I received my background check yesterday, ran it to my school and then woke up to the best E-mail of my life this morning!!!!

I knew that I would be placed in the district of my dreams, but there are about 20 schools in this district so I was unsure what school I would be placed in. This school is less than a mile from my apartment! And I already completed a 60 hour practicum last year at this school and fell in love with it. I'm SO grateful.

I will be in a 4th grade classroom and right now I am SO excited for school to start. I'm ready to meet with my host teacher, meet the kiddos in the classroom, and to finally be apart of an amazing school year.

I know that God has had His hand on this the ENTIRE time. I was frustrated with myself for not passing my test at the beginning and for not having my degree by now. I'm 24 and still in undergrad. I've switched majors and switched schools in different states. . I often wonder what things would be like if I would have graduated after 4 years and where I would be. I would question if I am called to be something else aside from teaching? I knew that it was what I wanted to do, but was it what God wanted me to do? I prayed for guidance and direction. But I know that where I am right now is exactly where I am supposed to be. And I'm so thankful. God has continued to provide for my husband & I, and I know He always will. This has been a humbling experience for me. I wouldn't have it any other way.

I am about to embark on a journey in life that I have dreamed of since I was in the 2nd grade. I am passionate about teaching and being around children, and I am so thankful that God knows my heart and He never fails me.

So after I got this email last week, I was driving home and this song came on the radio. It is about how much God loves us...

"I love you more than the sun and the stars that I taught how to shine, you are Mine and you shine for Me too."

My prayer is to shine for God in my teaching and all that I do.

Also- if you aren't sick of my babbling enough, I am guest posting today at What Makes Savanah Smile :). It's all about my pet peeeeeve.

What I'm Lovin'

2011-07-13T09:12:00.005-05:00

Happy Wednesday, Friends!

I woke up this morning feeling extra excited... what better way to share than with What I'm Loving Wednesday:)

I'm Loving... the E-mail I woke up to! I have been not so patiently waiting to be placed to student teach this Fall. I've been trying to not let it stress me out, but time's been-a-tickin' and I've been getting antsy. Wellll the best district in St. Louis are E-mailed me to fill out an assessment online to further the placement process! I was thrilled! This is NOT a guarantee to be placed, but it is progress, and I am THANKFUL! So now I am praying that the ones who are in charge of placements do not overlook my application/assessment and that God will make a way for a placement for me. I have faith in this! God knows my heart and he knows my passion to teach.

Exodus 14:13 Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you.

I'm Loving... that the USA Women's Team are in the Semi-finals of the WORLD CUP! They play TODAY at 11 central time on ESPN! Goooooo USA! I am getting flash backs of the 1999 World Cup that they won. I will never forget that day... my friends and cousin and I dressed up in our red, white, and blue soccer attire and watched the game together. We screamed and celebrated their victory by running through the house and up and down the streets. :)

I'm Loving... that I am going back home to Arkansas tomorrow!!! I am quite exhausted from traveling the last several weekends, but I'm thankful I have the opportunity to do so! My brother who lives in Los Angeles, is flying in for the weekend. We are really close and I cannot wait to spend time with him. It is also my oldest brothers' 30th birthday! I get to spend time with my entire family which makes my heart really happy! (minus my hubs, which makes me sad)

Ryan and me: (ladies... he's single!)

I'm Loving... my hunk of a husband who I love with my whole, whole heart!!!!

old school pic ;)

Fish Fry 2011

2011-07-11T22:55:00.006-05:00

This weekend R and I made a trip to Oklahoma for the annual Fish Fry that his entire family (mom's side) does. Since moving to St. Louis, we have been unable to make it to them the last couple of years, but it worked out with R's schedule for us to go. We were so excited to see all the family!

We got into Tahlequah about 4pm on Friday and then soon after headed to his Aunt and Uncle's for a little bit of pre-game for the next day ;).

Not everyone was in town yet because the actual fish fry was not until Saturday, but we enjoyed some time with the ones that were for the evening. We stayed out late talking by the pool and just enjoying being with each other.

The next day we headed back over for a fun day of fish, family, and HEAT! (100+ degree plus humidity!) The rest of the family was in for the day and we had a blast playing water volleyball, water basketball, laying out, eating, diving board contests, and shooting each other with water guns.

The cooks (aka the Village People)

Story behind these 2 pictures: R's grandma and aunt put on small visors above their sunglasses and funny cousin Joey asked if they were panty liners. We were cracking up that he would think that... but then Courtney and I decided to dig out some panty liners in our purses and put them above our sunglasses and join everyone in the pool. :)

R and his dad playing basketball

All the boys playing bball--

Joey on the diving board

Heading home-

Me, R, Courtney, and Daniel

The entire day was a blast! I always laugh so much when I am with this family. I am eternally grateful to have married into such a wonderful family. God is too good to me! R and I were talking that next summer we will be moved back to Arkansas for good and will hopefully never miss another Fish Fry again :). I'm thankful for that.

Hey!

2011-07-07T21:52:00.003-05:00

I just wanted to say HI to all of my new followers from Jenna's blog! :)

I love meeting new people through the blog world-- it sounds silly but ya'll are all an encouragement to me and I love being apart of blogging. I don't think people actually "get it" unless they blog! ;)

I pray that each of you guys have a wonderful weekend!

I will be enjoying the weekend with my husbands family back in Oklahoma for their annual Fish Fry, which includes lots of food, swimming, family, and FUN! We cannot wait!

Charm is deceptive and beauty if fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord shall be praised.

*Proverbs 31:30

4th of July Weekend

2011-07-05T18:44:00.006-05:00

I hope everyone had a fun and safe weekend! We definitely enjoyed ours and had a blast spending as much time as we could with friends and the sun! ;)

Friday evening we went to dinner with some friends and then saw Transformers 3 in 3D at the imax. I am not a fan of these kinds of movies but I decided to hop on the band wagon since everyone else was going. It was a fun evening but the movie was about an hour too long (in my opinion). It was cool to watch it in 3D though!

Here we are with our awesome 3d glasses on!

(phone pics)

Saturday we slept in and then enjoyed some donuts for breakfast (yum) and then headed to the pool with friends for some water volleyball (my FAV!). We originally had planned to play sand volleyball but it was SO HOT! There was no way we would have lasted in the heat diving around in the scorching sand. We played boys vs. girls and the girls won 2 out of 3 games (duh!). We dominated. We attempted to lay out afterwards but that did not last long either. I'm telling ya.. it. was. HOT!!!!!!

After a couple hours of relaxing and showering, we got together for a fun night of card and dice games. Every time we get together for game night I think that there is no way I can laugh harder than the times before, but I always do.

I love my friends :)

We overslept on Sunday and missed church :( I think the couple of hours in the sun on Saturday did us in. I was able to get some laundry done and our apartment cleaned up while R studied. We laid out a bit before the sky decided to turn dark. We ended up getting some crazy storms and it rained from about 2pm on out. Our plans for Sunday were to head to downtown St. Louis to the arch to see Maroon 5 play. We were unsure of what the weather would be like so we headed down there anyway--- we tried out a pizza place for dinner (which was delicious) The rain and storms had let up a lot so we made our way towards the arch about an hour before the concert was to start--only to find out it had been canceled. We were so bummed!!!

I was definitely looking forward to jamming out with Adam Levine. We go way back when. I spent a lot of my high school days singing at the top of my lungs to "Sunday Morning" & "Won't Go Home Alone". We brainstormed ways to hunt down Adam Levine to chill with us for the night, but none seemed to work. Luckily, we have a friend that lives downtown and we had another game night at his place followed by some cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory to cheer us up.

We woke up on Monday to clouds that did not seem to be moving out of our area. The forecast showed for 70% storms all day. We were bummed out again because we had plans to be at our friends' parents house to grill out and swim for the majority of the day. Rain or shine we were going! We left at about 12:30 and about that time the sun decided to come out and it stayed out ALL day!!! We were happy campers! I was SO thankful for a beautiful 4th of July day!

We had a blast swimming, playing with ~~baby~~ Wyatt, diving board contests, water volleyball, grilling out, and just enjoying each others company. And of course the SUN!

Here are some of the millions of pictures I took from the day.

These boys are quite the entertainment!!

Wyatt

We ended the night watching a great fireworks show close to our apartment with some friends :)

mike and kayleigh :)

Vegas Trip {part 2}

2011-06-30T11:18:00.005-05:00

Our second day of Vegas was my favorite :)

I had scheduled an appointment to get a manicure at 9am, so I set my alarm for 8, rolled out of bed, grabbed some breakfast and then went to get my mani. I am not a big fan of manicures but my nails were in desperate need of some TLC, so I took advantage of the wonderful spa (and spa credit I had) and got one. I got the Shellac nail polish mani which is supposed to last 14 days without chips or coming off at all! So far, so good! :)

After my mani I met R back in the room to get ready and then we headed outside to walk the strip. It was hot! The temps were 105-107 while we were there.

It is fun to just walk around and see all of the hotels, inside and out!

I am sad that we do not stop to get something at Serendipity's... I heard that it would have been heaven for a sweet tooth like mine! We were both still so stuffed from our dinner the night before and breakfast that morning that we did not eat lunch until later in the afternoon when we had already passed Serendipity's.

The Bellagio is one of my favorites in Vegas. I'm obsessed with the fountains outside! (pictures of that next post)

Of course we made a stop at the Coca-Cola store! This Diet Coke addict fell in love with all of the DC products they had! They sold everything from DC tshirts to wallets to purses... you name it, they had it! I could only get myself to buy a sparkly diet coke keychain though ;) And of course a Diet Coke to drink!

This was just half of our adventure walking the strip. I have so many pictures to go through and edit so I am breaking them up to make it easier for me.

More to come again soon :-)

Vegas Trip {part 1}

2011-06-28T15:20:00.007-05:00

We are back from Vegas (as of 2 days ago) but I feel like we are still trying to recuperate from the jet lag and time difference (which is only 2 hours, but it takes on a toll on ya!)

I just have to say that we were incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to take this trip- all expenses paid! It could not have come at a better time and we are so so thankful!!

Friday we left St. Louis at noon and arrived in Vegas at 4pm. We had a limo transportation from the airport to our hotel. This was of course nice because it was a limo, but also very nice to not have to hunt down a cab. We arrived at our hotel and had a private check-in on the 23rd floor with some bubbly and a beautiful view of the strip outside the window. R and I were in heaven when we walked into our room. There was a giant king sized bed, a living room area with an L-shaped couch, 3 TVs (one being in the bathroom), and the bathroom itself was bigger than our room in our apartment, ha! We were definitely spoiled.

We were in awe of our beautiful suite, but we were so excited to see what all there was in our hotel and in Vegas. Each evening we were able to have heavy h'ordourves and an open bar in the hotel. This was for prestige guests only so it was a nice, quiet place to relax and hang out. The food was cooked by a personal chef and it was delicious. We took full advantage of this the first day we got in because we were starving when we got there.

Then we ventured off to look around in our hotel (which is connected to the Venetian- another big hotel). There was a level of just shops alone, the casino (obviously), and several restaurants. After a little bit of shopping... I may or may not have spent all my spending money in the first hour we were there ;)... We went to dinner at LAVO. We sat outside on the patio looking towards the strip. It was about 100 degrees, but it was nice enough to sit outside and we were able to enjoy it. If we were back home in the humidity we would have died eating outside. R ordered a huge steak and I had chicken parmesan. Both were delicious but mine was bigger than my head and I could barely eat 1/3 of it!

After dinner we walked about 30 minutes on the strip. I found myself being very judgemental towards people and I had to repent several times (I found this to happen quite a bit during the trip). It was quite interesting...the people you see. But what can you expect in Vegas, right!? We decided that the nightlife (just walking) on the strip was not our cup of tea so we headed back to the room and decided we would walk it again during the day on Saturday.

We were really wanting to see a show while in Vegas and The Blue Man Group has shows at our hotel each night so we took advantage of that! We bought tickets for the 10pm show (which was really midnight our time) We were exhausted by the time we got to the show but it was so entertaining and funny that we did not even think about being tired. We really enjoyed the show and would highly recommend seeing it if you ever have the opportunity. I was unsure what to expect because I had not heard much about them, but they had us laughing the entire time. Very entertaining!

We ended the night with our heads hitting the pillows hard (but not until R donated some money to the casino) and getting a wonderful nights sleep!

View from the plane ride there

finally in Vegas!

limo ride

getting the night started off right! diet coke!

lounging with a view!

handsome hubs at dinner

we love palm trees!

R's dinner

my (huge) dinner

our hotel at night- the Palazzo

we came back to our room to find champagne and fruit

I think this is more than enough pictures for one post! Part 2 coming soon!

What I'm Lovin Wednesday

2011-06-22T16:16:00.004-05:00

Happy Hump Day! It's easy for me to lose track of what day of the week it is since I am not in school now and I have the best job in the world and do not work regular 9-5 hours! I often have to look at my phone to check what day it is!

But I am soo thankful that today is Wednesday. I have been looking SO forward to this weekend and of course this week is just creeping by ;)

I'm loving... that our VEGAS trip is in TWO days! 2! Woo Hooo! My husband and I are so excited we are about to jump out of our skin! R has never been to Vegas and I have only been once when I was 17. Of course I was underage but I don't think that will change much about this trip since I do not drink or gamble. I'm just excited to relax, explore the city, watch the dancing fountains at the Bellagio, and of course spend precious time with my husband (which is a rare occurrence lately).

I'm loving... that there is a possibility that I am going to splurge and buy a Coach purse in Vegas! I love purses and have always wanted a Coach purse, but when your a broke college student married to another student in school to be a dr (hello, LOANS!) you kinda have to watch where your mula goes. Hopefully I can find one that I am in love with and is not ridiculously expensive ;)

I'm loving... PINTEREST! oh em geeee, it amazes me how creative people are! I have a million ideas for what I want to do when hubs and I are ready to build our dream home. I'm also getting cute, fun ideas for upcoming baby showers and decorations for holidays. so fun!! Here is what I'm drooling over for now!

Source: sadieandstella.blogspot.com via Brittany on Pinterest

LOVE white kitchens!

Source: fortheloveofahouse.blogspot.com via Brittany on Pinterest

and i'm obsessed with this office space

Source: benjaminmoore.com via Brittany on Pinterest

I'm loving... my wonderful, hardworking, goofy husband.

Trust in Jesus

2011-06-20T21:24:00.001-05:00

Fathers Day/ Video

2011-06-19T17:54:00.002-05:00

I am SO blessed to have an amazing father who is hard working and supportive of all that I do! Growing up, we may not have had it all, but my dad did everything he could to make sure we had more than enough. My dad works long hours doing physical labor and ensures that he does it at his best! Throughout the years my dad would bust hump at work and then spend the evenings and weekends cheering my brother and me on at our soccer games. He is an inspiration and encouragement. My dad is the kindest, most gentle human being out there!

I'm very grateful for my dad and all he is and all that he does!

Love you, Dad!!

*They played this video at church this morning and it is way too funny not to share! :)

JUMP. Week 1

2011-06-11T08:48:00.003-05:00

I have been volunteering at my church's Vacation Bible School: JUMP!

Let me just tell say that my church does not mess around when it comes to VBS! They do it and they do it BIG!!

I found this video from last years JUMP! via jumpkids

JUMP 2010 RECAP from St. Louis Family Church on Vimeo.

This is my 2nd year volunteering as a group leader and I cannot get over how much fun it is.

I am like a little kid :) I know that every single child that comes has an absolute blast.

It has grown so much over the years that we have had to split it into 2 different weeks. This first week we had about 2,500 kiddos and we are expecting the same amount next week!

They expect that it will continue to grow and grow each year. Praise God!

I was so blessed this week to have the BEST little group of kids and an amazing assistant leader.

Our days consist of carnival rides, crafts, arcade games, huge blow ups to bounce in, a FUN worship and drama all about Jesus, face painting, 2 water parks, snow cones, popcorn, cotton candy, and much more!

Every single one of my kids rocked my socks off; they were so well behaved and loved on me so much (and of course I loved on them back all day!)

The little moments when they all want to hold my hand when we walk from station to station and want to sit next to me during worship and drama make it all so worth waking up early each morning and doing anything I can to give them all my energy.

I did not take my camera at all this week, but I did manage to get a couple of pictures on my phone and a couple of videos. =)

These videos are from worship/drama that we go to for an hour each day. It is a blast! The kids go craaaazy (if you can't tell! )

I could only get one video to upload... but we also had a special guest, Minista, come and rap for us! ;)

My heart is full! I'm excited to see what God has in store for us next week!

Cpl. Aaron Mankin

2011-06-10T10:27:00.004-05:00

I've posted before about my brother's best friend, (also like a brother to me)

Aaron Mankin.

He is my hero in life and I love him so much!

I am so proud every time I get a chance to watch him on TV.

Yesterday morning he texted me and told me to turn on MSNBC.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

He makes me so proud!

God bless Aaron and every single soldier fighting for our country!

Vegas countdown!

2011-06-08T19:51:00.003-05:00

Let the countdown begin!!

Our vaca to Vegas is officially booked! We will be treated like royalty for the 3 days we are there... I would share all of the details but I don't want to rub it in! ;)

But this is where we will be staying...

(in a suite on the 23rd floor... with champagne and a big spa tub waiting!)

absolutely. positively. canNOT. wait!!!!

15 more days!!!

Family, Friends, & a Wedding!

2011-06-05T19:33:00.004-05:00

Phew! Long time no blogging!

R and I went home last Thursday for his cousin's wedding... we stayed one night at my parents house and I was able to see my perfect niece and two of my best friends from high school.

Then on Friday we headed to Oklahoma for Reddell's cousins wedding.

My mom and I were the photographers for this wedding.. it was our very first! We were completely exhausted afterwards, but we got some great pictures and we are excited to edit them over the next couple of weeks!

Here are some pictures of my favorite people in the world!

and a sneak peak of Brittanie and Joe's wedding.

*FYI... Brittanie and I shared the exact same name up until yesterday! first, middle, and last!

Brittanie and Joe did not want to see each other before the ceremony, but we made sure we got some pictures of the 2 of them without seeing each other beforehand. It was a sweet moment!!

The next 2 weeks I am volunteering at my church's vacation bible school; JUMP!! I worked it last summer and had a blast! We are expecting over 5,000 kids between the next 2 weeks! yes...5,000!!! pray for us ;).

I'm so excited!

Celebration!

2011-05-28T09:43:00.005-05:00

Today we are celebrating a very special birthday for this sweet little guy!!!

Wyatt is 1!!

What I'm Lovin!

2011-05-25T11:49:00.005-05:00

I hope everyone is having a great week!

I'm Loving... that my husband and I had a great 3 year anniversary yesterday. We walked around the mall for a bit (window shopped because we are broke;-) ) and then we enjoyed a delicious dinner at Outback Steakhouse. We ate way TOO much! But that doesn't stop us from getting our favorite dessert at Sheridans frozen custard. We were SO miserable last night after stuffing our faces. I was really close to making myself regurgitate (ew) to make myself feel better. Yes, we are pigs ;) We decided that next year for our anniversary we will just make sandwiches instead of stuffing our faces. ;)

I'm Loving... that today is our dear friend, Elyse, is celebrating her birthday! We are thankful to have Elyse apart of our life and are praying she enjoys her special day!

Elyse, me, Kayleigh

I'm Loving... that my favorite little guy, Wyatt, is turning ONE next week! And his birthday party is this weekend!! I am helping his momma decorate for the party tomorrow... can't wait!

I had the privilege to take his pictures over the weekend. I'm so grateful to have friends who let me practice taking pictures. :)

I'm Loving... that my husband and I will be going to VEGAS!!!!! We are hoping to go in June!! We were completely surprised by this and are so grateful to have the opportunity to go!!! I have been to Vegas once with my family when I was 17. I loved it! R has never been, so we are both really excited!! I could say this a million times, but we are SO BLESSED!!!

I'm Loving... my iphone 4! I finally got an upgrade and got my new phone this morning. :) love it!

I'm LOVING... this song. Take a minute to listen to the words. It's crazy how much the Lord loves us! No matter how much we sin.

"i am the thorn in Your crown... but you LOVE me anyway... I am the nail in Your wrist... but you LOVE me anyway..."

3 Years!

2011-05-24T08:36:00.003-05:00

Today my husband and I are celebrating our 3 year anniversary!

It blows my mind that we have been married for 3 years... It feels like we just met not too long ago! If time could slow down just a little bit, that would be great! ;)

I could not have picked out a better person for me to spend the rest of my life with. God created Reddell for me and I thank Him for that daily.

Of course, marriage is a lot of hard work and it's not always easy.

But it is SO. WORTH. IT!

I love every second of being married. I love that Reddell and I get to see each other at our best and worst (like what I look like when I wake up in the morning!) ;)

We don't have much planned for today... probably grabbing dinner and hanging out on the couch! We were planning on doing something else, but we found out over the weekend that we are going to VEGAS sometime soon (more on that later!) so we decided to save our money for our trip!

Here are a couple pictures from the best day ever!

I thank my God everytime I remember you.

Philippians 1:3

Recaps

2011-05-15T19:30:00.005-05:00

- Don't forget about the Scentsy party I am hosting! And the GIVEAWAY! :)

- Darn Blogger put a little twist in everybody's posts last week! I hate it for any of ya'll that lost anything because of it, hopefully it will come back! Luckily, I didn't have any posts planned for last week that were lost.

-Last Wednesday we went to a gender reveal party for our sweet friends. The Weaver's are expecting their first baby GIRL in October! I'm so excited for them! I knew it was going to be a girl, and I am honestly afraid that I am going to get in trouble for buying precious little things for her. I have to have self control! ;) Here are some pictures from the evening of the get together we had at their place.

Smiley Wyatt :)

love this boy!

R and Autumn. I think someone is ready for babies, what do you think?! ;-)

I love this sweet little girl!

One of my favorite families ever! :)

Mommy and Daddy to be!

Hubs and me. We were team pink!

-Thursdays are now one of my favorite days because I am (finally) playing soccer again. A group of students from R's school has played on a co-ed indoor team close by and they were needing another girl so I told them to sign me up! I was hesitant at first because I haven't played or done any extreme conditioning since I finished my last season of soccer at NSU, so saying I was (am) out of shape is a major understatement! But I am getting back into it and each week I play I feel like I am getting back with it. I have always had a passion for soccer, but it had been over 2 and a half years since I've played and I forgot how much I really really love it. I think it's important for people to find something to be really passionate about and love (I have a million things) and I pray that soccer will always be towards the top of my list! I hope I am still playing with friends when I am 50! ;)

-Friday evening we headed towards downtown St. Louis for Arthritis Walk. R's school had tents there to adjust/stretch/etc. for those participating in the walk, so the girls decided to come along and participate in the 5k walk! It was fun and we got to bring the pups along! Before the walk they had a mini-petting zoo. We brought Louie around and he loved this llama!! We stood there talking with friends for about 20 minutes and he just stared at this llama and wagged his tail the entire time. It was priceless. I think the llama would have eaten Louie for a snack if he could!

- Saturday we had some crazy weird weather stroll in. It felt like winter again. It was rainy, windy, and so cold! R and I met up with another couple at the movies and saw Fast Five. I'm not a big fan of action movies, but this one wasn't too bad. Maybe I didn't mind it as much because Paul Walker is very easy on the eyes! ;)

-Saturday evening we grilled out at the Dumond's and stayed up late playing games! We always have a blast with game night. :)

-I am patiently waiting for my placement for student teaching this Fall. I would appreciate prayers for this as it could possibly take up to several weeks. I know that God has the perfect placement for me and I am trusting that everything will work out for me to graduate in December! It's easy to get stressed out about this situation, but I came across this quote last week and it is the perfect reminder for me!

"Be confident that God's timing is perfect. He's always on time, and He knows exactly the right time to accelerate your life!"

Amen to that! :) Hope ya'll have a wonderful week!

Tail-Waggin' Tuesday

2011-05-10T07:18:00.001-05:00

Ok, Ok... any chance I get to share pictures or talk about my Louie, I jump right on it! We all know that I am obsessed with my sweet little furbaby.

I was never a dog person before we got him, but this little guy has changed my world.

He's so sweet and cuddly... and definitely a Mama's boy! (and i love it!)

So what better way to show him off than in Tail-Waggin Tuesday!

This week is all about treats!

Louie loves his treats! R and I often have to spell out the word if we do not want Louie to have one, because he gets excited and will run to where his treats are by the counter if he hears the word.

He usually only gets one after he does his business outside!

hi handsome:)

he knows to "sit" for his treat!

thanks, mom!

one of our favorite treats is a puppy-cone from Sheridans! We love ice cream! :)

See ya next week!

Don't forget to check out my Scentsy party and GIVEAWAY! :)

Scentsy Blog PARTY! (and giveaway!)

2011-05-09T07:12:00.000-05:00

Hi Ladies!

I am so excited to be hosting this Scentsy party on my blog!

My good friend, Melissa, from back in the soccer days is now a Scentsy consultant and we thought it would be fun to share with ya'll some of our personal favorites from Scentsy and give you guys the opportunity to order some of their amazing products!

First of all, if you have never heard of and seen Scentsy, I urge you to check out the website HERE. I think this is the greatest product ever! Scentsy is a safe, wickless alternative to a candle. I have always enjoyed having our apartment smell nice, especially when we have company over (which is quite often). As much as I love candles, they often make me nervous with the flame and objects being close to them. We had a fire in our apartment complex (right next door to us) just a couple of months ago, so it can be scary to worry about an open flame.

So how does Scentsy work?!

It's EASY!

You plug it in, turn it on, put one or more Scentsy bars in, and enjoy the aroma!

The best part about these is that you can touch it and it will not burn you (which makes them child-friendly), all while filling your entire room up with whichever scent you choose.

Here are some of my favorite warmers and scents. There are a lot of colors and styles of warmers to choose from to coordinate with the colors of your house!

and we can't forget the Razorbacks! (check here for your fav. college team!)

These are just a couple of a large selection! They have Full-size and Medium-size warmers, as well as plug-ins, room sprays, fragrant foams, and travel tins for the go (great for the car).

Some favorite scents include Cucumber Lime, Cherry Limeade, & Black-Rasberry Vanilla. And we can't leave our guys out! They have some masculine scents too: Amber Rose and Sharp-Dressed Man are two of them. :)

Alright, so if you would like to purchase a Scentsy product, visit Melissa's site here. Make sure you are buying from "Brittany's Blessings Blog Party". (it will appear as you checkout)

It will be open for 2 weeks.

Items will be shipped directly to you within 24 business hours of your purchase!

But since I love ya'll so much, I thought we could do a little giveaway :)

Melissa and I have decided to give one follower the option of purchasing a Scentsy warmer for half-price or one free plug-in.

{Mandatory entry} In order to enter this giveaway, you must "like" her facebook page here, and then post a comment on this post saying you did so.

{1 extra entry} Leave another comment sharing your favorite warmer and/or scent!

{1 extra entry} Follow my blog

{2 entries} Blog about this Scentsy blog party and include a link to this post.

that is 5 possible entries,

please leave separate comments for each!

My Mom is Cooler than Yours. :)

2011-05-07T19:27:00.004-05:00

Mom,

I feel like each time I try to write the words that my heart feels about you, it does not come close to doing justice. I often feel like I repeat myself with the things I say to you, but every single bit of it is true and very sincere. You mean more than the world to me.

Growing up I can remember that we were close, but if you would have asked me in high school what our relationship would be like 6 years later, I would have never dreamt up something this great. I knew we would always stay close, but never imagined the friendship we share now. Not only have you always been a great parent to Travis, Ryan, and me, but you have been our friend. It is amazing how well you balance the two of these. I am not a parent yet, but I can imagine how difficult it is to draw the line between being a parent and friend, yet still maintaining them both so well. I know for a fact that Ryan and Travis can agree to that.

We have had our tay-to-tay's throughout the last 24 years of my life... as most mothers and daughters do... but I believe that made us stronger and it made me more mature and respectful of you.

You've been my biggest fan in everything I have done: school, soccer, marriage, and in life. I'm not sure I would have made it through so much without your encouragement and the determination you have instilled in me. You never let me give up, ever. And if I even think about giving up on something, I think of your voice in the back of my head telling me not to. (and possibly getting a butt-whoopin' from you if I do...) ;)

You have taught me respect, responsibility, integrity, determination, ~~photography~~ (oops, getting off track), and love! Love for others, for myself, and for life in general.

I have a billion reasons to be thankful for you.

I wish I could celebrate this day with you today, and give you a big big hug.

I love you forever and ever!

Blogger Help

2011-05-07T13:38:00.002-05:00

Hey friends, any of you Blogger experts out there?

The last several days, each time I log onto to blogger, the list of blogs I follow are not coming up. I have tried reloading the page, signing out and back in, and still nothing?

I use google reader on my phone, so I still have access to the blogs I follow, but I'm frustrated that it will not come up when I am on my computer.

I'm frustrated!

Help! :)

What I'm Lovin...

2011-05-04T08:17:00.001-05:00

I'm so thankful that Jamie started this link-up awhile back. With so much negative going on in the world, it is nice to be able to look at the positive in life. There is so much to be thankful for!

Here is what I'm loving this week!

I'm loving... the new show "The Voice"!!!!!! I think that I can say that this is by far my favorite show ever. I am a huge fan of music and I love the concept of this show. There are some talented singers that were chosen, and the judges (Cee-Lo, Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, and Christina Aguilera) are hilarious!!! Can't wait for next weeks episode!

I'm loving... that we are going to our favorite Mexican restaurant tonight with friends to celebrate Cinco de Mayo (a day early). It worked out better for everyone to go tonight instead of tomorrow. What better excuse to chow down on some yummy cheese dip and hang out with the best friends ever!? :)

I'm loving... that my sweet Louie resembles an angel in this picture... oh wait, he is an angel! ;)

I'm loving... the sun! It decided to make an appearance yesterday and today! And the forecast for next week is looking promising! Lots of sun and temps in the 80s! In my opinion, the warmer the better!

I'm loving... spray tans! I got my very first one the week before Easter. I was hesitant at first to get one because I have heard horror stories of turning orange or looks of it being un-even. But I love love loooved the way mine looked! It only last about a week, but it was well worth it. I plan on getting another one this week since the weather is warming up! No more tanning beds for me!

I'm loving... that my hubs and I have been able to spend more time lately because of his break from school!

I'm not who I was

2011-05-02T17:30:00.002-05:00

One of my favorite songs right now that has been on repeat is Brandon Heath's "I'm not who I was"

When we saw him in concert a couple weeks ago singing this live, I got to thinking about who I really am now compared to who I was in the past.

I'm 24 and I know that I still have a lot of "growing up" to do, but I feel like I am very secure in who I am today. I can definitely see a difference in who I am today as opposed to who I was several years ago, or even just a year ago.

100% of who I am right now is because of the grace of God. I am absolutely nothing without Him. I tried living my life for years by my rules and my ways, and it sucked. I was lost. I knew God and I knew that I should have been obeying Him, but I was immature, selfish, and stubborn.

But once I decided to fully give my life to God and let go (which is not always easy!), it was a burden lifted off my shoulders. I was free and it was relieving. I know that who I am now is who God created me to be. He did not create me to live my life for me. He doesn't intend that for anyone. If you make that choice to live your life for Jesus, it is seriously the best decision you will ever, ever make. :)

I am sidetracking a bit, but I found a lot of meaning from this song. For several reasons that I do not feel like sharing, but ultimately this song is about forgiveness. And it is nice to say that I can finally forgive.

I am not who I was... and I like that! :)

Catch Up

2011-04-28T17:41:00.008-05:00

First and most importantly, my prayers are with those affected by the outrageous storms in the south! My heart breaks for anyone who has lost loved ones, homes, belongings, etc.

Now to play catch up!

It has been an eventful week! We traveled home on Saturday and got back yesterday late afternoon. Aside from working a little bit this morning, today has been a day of much needed rest! Traveling is exhausting (especially when a lot is going on!)

We had a great time and I'm so grateful that we had the chance to spend time with both of our families.

Friday we had tickets to the Cardinals game vs. the Reds. R found a good deal on these tickets a couple months ago that we could not pass up. We had been looking forward to this game for quite some time. The seats were on a patio with our own little table and we had an all you can eat and drink buffet.

We got there early and enjoyed hanging out. The forecast for the evening was not looking so promising though! We were praying that the storms would miss us, but we were not so lucky. The game started at 7:15, and by 7:17 they called the game because of rain/thunder/lightning.

It poured for about 2 hours straight along with tornado sirens going off from time to time. This is what the jumbo screen looked like during the 2 hour delay.

It was one storm after another. We learned later that night that a tornado did touch down in St. Louis (at the airport and in some neighborhoods). Thankfully no one was hurt or badly injured.

Here are some pictures from the night!!

i really need to start editing pics before posting! {lazy!}

where our seats were!

humid hair! eek!

the storms' a comin!

R caught a shirt that was thrown in the stands! We were so excited that it was a medium.... but then found out it was a kids medium!

The game started back up in the 1st inning at about 9:20.

We stayed until the end of the 7th inning and then headed home at almost midnight.

Saturday morning came very early. We were up at 630 and had the car loaded and on the road by 7am. After getting home from the game and finishing up some packing I didn't get to bed til almost 1:30. I.was.tired!!! But we wanted to get on the road as soon as possible and it was well worth it. We got to Tahlequah about 2pm and then my mom and I took some bridal pictures for R's cousin who is getting married in June. We got some awesome pictures!!

We had a laid back evening with R's parents...watching movies, eating pizza, and enjoying each others company.

Sunday (along with Saturday) was very rainy. I woke up several times throughout the night to bad storms. I was bummed because I had a springy Easter outfit picked out for church. I still wore it, but it was such a dreary day outside! Church service was perfect! I love the church that R's parents belong to. Praise and worship was awesome and the pastor shared a great sermon. I love celebrating the fact that our Jesus is alive!

After church we went next door to R's grandparents house for an Easter lunch. We had a great time with his family and spent hours laughing at his cousins' stories! They are a hoot!

Sunday afternoon was a bit unexpected as it POURED nonSTOP for hours and hours! The front and side yard of R's parents house was completely flooded and R and his dad ended up having to run next door to his Uncle's house and help sweep water out of their garage for about an hour and half to keep from flooding inside their house. It was insane!

We are thankful that nothing was damaged and everyone is safe!

Part of that is a street, but you can't tell because it is so flooded!

I know that this is nothing compared to the damage down in GA, AL, TN. We are thankful that we were not affected and that we are all safe. Praying for anyone affected by the tornadoes!

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T18:04:00.002-05:00

Celebrating today that...

Our God is not dead.
HE'S ALIVE!!!!

We are one with Him again.
Hallelujah!

Jiggle Challenge

2011-04-21T07:58:00.001-05:00

It is week 2 for me for the Jiggle Challenge!

Last week I weighed in at 146.5 lbs.

This week I weigh...

143.5!!

I am honestly very surprised that I lost 3 lbs this week!

Since last Thursday, I have been staying very active. I had a soccer game Thursday night, went on a long walk Friday, and then started TurboFire workout dvd's on Saturday. (which are obviously working well for me!) :)

I have been so sore all week from these workouts. I love it so much. The workouts go by fast and I actually enjoy them and look forward to doing them.

I am even waking up extra early in the morning to do them first thing before my day starts! (something I have never been able to stick with!)

The reason why I am surprised I lost 3 this week...

My eating habits have not been so great...

I am a very picky eater so it is hard for me to eat healthy. This is something that I know I need to change and I need to force myself to eat better. I'm hoping I can do something about this soon. I have been doing better on portion control and not eating after 7pm.

Any tips for picky eaters would be greatly appreciated! ;)

This weekend will be a challenge for me to eat good and to also workout. I will be in a car majority of the day Saturday and we plan on having dinner at our favorite pizza place which is the fattiest pizza in the world! And then Sunday is Easter (meaning busy with little time to work out and lots of food)

Hope everyone else is doing great!

God Bless!

What I'm LOVIN!

2011-04-20T07:15:00.000-05:00

Waaaa-Hooooo!

I am excited that this week is already half way over! I have so much to be excited about this week!

I am linking up with Jamie for What I'm Loving Wednesday:)

I'm loving... that my hubby finishes his last final tomorrow morning!!!! That means I get at least a week of him all to myself! No studying, no books, no clinicals, etc! Praise Jesus!

I'm loving... that we are going to the Cardinals game this Friday evening. Hubs got a great deal on some awesome tickets awhile back. We will be sitting on a sweet patio with an all you can eat/drink buffet. Uh oh diet, we will be cheating!! ;) This will be my first Cards game this season. I am pumped!!! The feeling of being at Busch stadium cheering on the Cardinals is the best!

I'm loving... that we are taking a trip home to Oklahoma and Arkansas this weekend! We will be going to OK Saturday and Sunday and then to AR Monday-Wednesday. So excited to spend time with family and be home for Easter. While in Arkansas, hubs will be meeting with a few different Chiropractors to see how their office is ran and talk about different techniques, get advice, etc. Prayers for guidance for his future career would be appreciated! :)

I'm loving... that my mom and I will be taking some bridal pictures for my hubby's cousin on Saturday. We are so excited! Can't wait to see how they turn out and do some more editing!

I'm loving... as always... my awesomely, hott, hard-working, stud-muffin of a husband!

flattering...yeah?!

and of course, this ball of precious-ness.

Weekend Recap

2011-04-19T10:28:00.004-05:00

This past weekend was so great. I wanted to rewind back to Friday and do it all over again!

Friday evening we got together with some friends for a game night. (always a fav of mine!)

We played several different games and of course laughed all night. My friends are so dear to my heart!

Saturday we slept in and then got up and worked out (it was my day 1 of TurboFire!! i looove it!)

I spent most of the afternoon catching up on cleaning and then got ready for our concert!!

We decided to go to TGI Fridays beforehand and had some good girl talk. We got to the concert a little early and stood in line to buy a tshirt! Our seats were great! Especially for the price we paid!

I can't even explain how great the concert was. In my opinion, just about any concert is fun. This was of course fun, but also moving. Being in an arena of over 6,000 people worshipping our Lord is a moving and powerful experience. I definitely left with a full heart.

Also, Natalie Grant, Brandon Heath, and Mercy Me are ALL incredible LIVE!!! You never know with artists these days with all the vocal editing done in the studio. But I have to say that they were even better live than on the radio! UH-MAZING!

Oh.. and I have a major crush on Brandon Heath. He was beyond precious. (it's okay, my hubby already knows;) )

Hayley, Kayleigh, and Me

I am sad that I did not take more pictures.. but I brought my old camera and it doesn't take very good pictures :(

We are already planning the next concert in June... Hillsong United!!! can.not.wait!

Sunday was a busy day. We enjoyed a great Palm Sunday church service, and then I was scheduled to volunteer for the last service in the children's ministry. I got home late afternoon and finished some cleaning and stuff around the apartment. Then the girls headed to our weekly 3.7 mile walk around a small lake. It's my favorite.

After showering and dinner I was spent from the eventful weekend. It was the best.

I got my booty up early this morning and did day 4 of TurboFire workout. It felt good! I am loving it so much and cannot wait to see results!

Hope ya'll have a great tuesday!!

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord not for man."

Colossians 3:23

Look!

2011-04-17T07:52:00.000-05:00

I have two friends back at home who are working hard to show off their creativity!

Take a look!

Jenna is a new(er) mommy to a precious little boy, Hudson. She has recently put her creativity to work, creating adorable items for you mom's out there! Check out her facebook page HERE

and also her blog HERE.

Here is a little info from her business

JKB specializes in custom baby gifts. Many different designs for burp cloths and diaper wipe cases are available. Embroidery and Monograms also available. Babies are going to spit up and make messes. so you might as well have something cute to clean it up with!

I will ship to the continental US for an additional $3.95 flat rate or if you live in my area I will be happy to meet up!

email Jenna at jmkbuett@gmail.com for inquiries about orders and for customization information.

Please allow 3-4 weeks for product completion and delivery. (this is a one woman show I am running here, and I am NOT super woman :))

Jessie has found a passion for creating beautiful custom jewelry.

Ethnic Brilliance creates beautiful, wearable works of art inspired by journeys around the world. Creator Jessie Hester has a love of travel, photography, people, and jewelry. Ethnic Brilliance is the culmination of these passions. While traveling during her college years and studying ethnography, Jessie experienced sites that amazed her. She now continues to travel and photograph the beauty around her with her husband. Each piece of hand-crafted Ethnic Brilliance jewelry is inspired by a specific place or photograph.

Check out her facebook page HERE.

and her website HERE

I would love it if you took the time to check these 2 ladies' stuff out! They work hard and would love to create something specifically for you! :)

All prices and details are on their facebook and websites!

I'm.SO.excited!

2011-04-16T10:08:00.002-05:00

I just can't hide it!

This evening my 2 girlfriends and I will be seeing..

MERCYME

NATALIE GRANT

BRANDON HEATH!

I.cannot.wait!!! :)

Jiggle Challenge

2011-04-14T07:22:00.000-05:00

Happy Thursday y'all!

I'm so thankful it is almost the weekend!

I am really looking forward to Saturday night's concert with some of my girlfriends... I will probably not shut up about it until it gets here (and then I will probably talk about how awesome it was!) ;-)

I mentioned yesterday that I ordered a new workout program. (TurboFire!) It is supposed to be coming via mail within the next couple of days. I am anxiously waiting for it.

I know that this will kick my butt into shape and I cannot wait to get started.

With summer being right around the corner, and spring/summer clothes taunting me every which way I turn, I am determined to lose these extra pounds that I have so easily put on the last couple of months.

What better way to start eating better, feeling better, and working out than with these awesome challenge!?

so here are the rules:

The rules of the game are simple. Write a post about your weight loss goals (how many pounds you'd like to lose) and what you plan to do to get there (exercise, diet, etc.). Then for the next 8 weeks, come back and link up and tell us about your progress: the percentage of weight you've lost, the exercise you've done, and how you've eaten. Any details you'd like to share.

The challenge started last week, so I am a week behind. I do not have any results for this week. I decided a couple of days ago to participate in this challenge for several reasons. One of the main reasons is accountability. (along with receiving and giving workout tips, eating tips, recipes, etc.) I have gone back and forth as to whether or not I should share my weight. I think that only 2 people in the world know how much I weigh. No woman likes to share their weight, but I decided that maybe if I do, it will encourage me to push harder to get to where I want to be.

My current weight is 146. I am 5'8", so it is not an unhealthy weight for me.

BUT, I would like to lose about 10 lbs to feel better and be able to wear my clothes more comfortably. In all honesty, I don't care what size jeans I wear or if I do not end up losing all 10 lbs. I want to be healthy and feel good about myself. If that means losing more or less than 10 lbs, then so be it!

So overall, my goal is to have and maintain a healthier lifestyle and feel better.

With that being said, this is most importantly a document for myself and to track my progression and accomplishments.

I look forward to the next several weeks seeing everyone else's accomplishments as well!

Let's go girls!

I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me! Phil 4:13

W.I.L.W

2011-04-13T06:37:00.000-05:00

I am loving... that this Saturday is the MercyMe, Natalie Grant, and Brandon Heath concert!!!!

It seems like it has been forever since I bought the tickets, and it's finally here!

i.can.not.wait!!

I am loving... that I was sucked into this info-mercial over the weekend and bought it!

I'm not really a big fan of at home workout DVDs, but after watching this, I know that this is one that I will stick to (and look forward to doing!!!)

It is a mix of cardio-kickboxing and strength training and then some. When we had our gym membership at Lifetime Fitness, I did all the Kickboxing classes that were offered. They are by far my favorite. So this really excites me to do the exact same choreography as the classes I took!! hello summer!

I am loving... the show intervention. Netflix has all the season. I am pretty much addicted. If they have interventions for the show Intervention, sign me up!

I am loving... this verse!

You who are young, make the most of your youth. Relish your youthful vigor. Follow the impulses of your heart. If something looks good to you, pursue it. But know also that not just anything goes; You have to answer to God for every last bit of it. Live footloose and fancy-free-- you won't be young forever...

Ecclesiastes 11:9-10 {the message}

I am loving... that I am finally getting to play soccer again!!! A friend in R's class plays in an indoor league and they are in need of another girl on the team, so I told him to sign me up! I am pumped. Now I need to get into shape and hopefully make it through a game without having to be escorted out by ambulance.

I am loving... my oh so handsome and sweet husband! :)

and, of course, precious Louie.

Top 2 and Target Tuesday

2011-04-12T10:33:00.002-05:00

I am linking up with Taylor for Top 2 Tuesday

and also Tara for Target Tuesday!

This week is Top 2 Drinks

1. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a soft place in my heart for Diet Coke!

I am slowly trying to wean myself off of it as I try to get back into shape and train for a half marathon in October. I was drinking at least one a day (usually more!) but now I just have one every now and again. :)

2. And lately I have been loving me some SWEET TEA!! (Chick-fil-a, Arby's, and McDonalds have the besttt sweet tea!) I make sure to try them all ;)

Target Tuesday

I definitely need to lay off those drinks above if I want to wear these this summer!

I am loving yellow for the spring/summer!

I have always been a fan of rompers! Love the navy!

And I Luurve these shoes!!

Ah, I have no clue why all of my font is underlined? ...until now?

Happy Tuesday!

Frosted Tips (not mine)

2011-04-09T19:41:00.002-05:00

Whew, this week flew by!

For the first time in a very long time, I stayed busy all week! And I loved it. For awhile I felt like I was going to poke my eyes out of boredom (especially when the weather was cold and dreary)

But now that we are so blessed with this amazing weather, I make sure I take advantage of every second I can. I am loving it!!

This week I stayed busy babysitting and going to different preschools to teach soccer to the little ones. I am also volunteering for a program and I go to a 2nd grade class at an Elementary school and teach a 30 minute lesson every so often. I love being in the classroom and will take any opportunity that I can to teach! :)

Thursday evening I made an appointment to get my hair done.

I hadn't been to the salon since I chopped all my hair off in September. I was in desperate need of a trim. The day before I went I decided I was bored with my hair and decided to do some blonde highlights. My hairdresser (who is also a friend) told me we have to take it slow if we do blonde. She did just a little bit and she warned me that it is not going to look like I want until I come back again. I decided that it was okay because I know it will be worth it.

She did my hair blonde 2 years ago and does an awesome job. I can't wait to go back in a month or so and get some more blonde and start to feel more comfortable with my hair!

(I like it now, but it is just a bit off from what I am really wanting... which is a lot more blonde)

Friday evening we enjoyed some yummy mexican food at our favorite Mexican restaurant with some of our favorite friends! We ended up staying for almost 2 hours and chatted and laughed and had a great time. After that we headed to the bowling alley for some more fun.

Every so often R's school will host what they call a "tri-party". They usually rent out a place for only the Logan students (and spouses) to hang out and have some fun. This trimester it was at the bowling alley.

Some of our guys had a bet for the first game they bowled.... whoever lost had to frost the tips of their hair. (yes, this was my brilliant husband's idea)

Luckily, my husband did not lose! It was a tight game but Donnie ended up losing.

So he has to go to school for the next 2 weeks with frosted tips!

Those boys crack me up! There is never a dull moment!

Today R and I had a lazy morning.

After finally getting up and about, he headed to the gym and I went for a run.

...My first run in months... eeek!

It was tough, and I did not make it very far, but at least I ran! ;)

We spent part of our afternoon playing some tennis too! We are not much of tennis players, but I am up for anything outside if the sun is out!

I think I got a little burnt, but it was worth it.

Tomorrow I am looking forward to a wonderful church service, and possibly some more time outside! Can't wait!

Pictures

2011-04-03T19:59:00.004-05:00

I got to take some pictures of a sweet family (who are also good friends of ours) this weekend...

I had fun with them and am love how photogenic they are!

Look at this beautiful family

I am sad the weekend is over.

It was perfect.

Perfect weather... perfect time with my boys ...perfect time with friends

It got up to 90 degrees today!

LOVED it!!

Makeover!

2011-04-02T18:27:00.000-05:00

Do you love my new look?

Leslie at Sweetie Baby's Custom Blog Design did it!

She rocks!!!

Check her out here!

We had a beeeeautiful day here in St. Louis!!

I took some engagement pictures for a friend today, I'm so excited to see how they turn out!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!