What’s Up Wednesday: March

What’s up?!

I’m here and i’m linking up with Mel, Shay, and Sheaffer. Every last Wednesday of the month, we all blog about what’s been going on. If you missed 2015’s posts, check them out!

What I’m eating:

I post about food a lot…if you hop around here you’ll be able to find something. 😉

Yesterday I posted everything about the sugar detox I completed.

A couple weeks ago I mentioned my daily eats.

Before that I told you all about my favorite lactose free products. Later this week my favorite gluten free products are coming!

What I’m reminiscing about:

My spring break in the midwest. Oh how I miss it and my family. It was such a great vacation. Check out my recaps of this trip:

Day 1, 2, and 3
Day 4, 5, and 6
Day 7, 8, 9 and 10

What I’m loving:

Kale.

Look, I realize i’m hopped on this bandwagon super late, but I am ALL ABOUT kale right now. This salad has kept me going for the past couple weeks.

What I’ve been up to:

A little bit of everything. I like to keep busy, so that’s just what I have been doing!

What I’m dreading:

All of the schoolwork that I see coming up on my calendar. It’s just so time consuming and boring and I just want to whine okay 🙂

On another note…I love the simplified planner.

What I’ve been working on:

Something exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. I don’t want to mention anything just yet in case it doesn’t pan out, but there’s the potential that I may have just gotten my degree in one thing and take a complete opposite direction.

What I’m excited about:

Baseball is back!

Last night I cheered on my brother at his baseball game…

…and in 2 weeks i’ll be cheering on the Red Sox for opening day!! YAY!

What I’ve been reading/watching:

I’ll talk about what i’m reading next Wednesday, April 6th for Bookworm Wednesday!! Link up with Katie and I for that.

As for what i’m watching…

My last Bookworm Wednesday turned into TVworm Wednesday. Check it out because I talked about all my favorite shows. But since then I found this show on Netflix…

…and i’m obsessed with it. I find it so dang hilarious. Do you watch?!

What I’m listening to:

This song on repeat for the past month!

 What I’ve been wearing:

Jeans, booties, and some kind of cute shirt. This is my go-to outfit. Always.

What I’m doing this weekend:

Work and school. Nothing exciting is on the agenda this weekend.

What I’m looking forward to next month:

The semester being over and only having 3 classes standing between me and graduation! I’ll be looking like this come last week of April!!! 🙂

 

What else is new:

I’m trying to get myself, specifically my blog out on social media.

Follow me and i’ll follow you back!!!

Instagram: @mollymiddleton01 here
Facebook: click here to like my blog
Pinterest: @mollymiddleton1 here
Bloglovin’: click here
Snapchat: I’m “mollymiddleton”

What is my favorite spring cleaning tip:

To get rid of all the winter clothes in your closet that you didn’t even wear. I like to do this after every season. My clothes get all sorts of piled up and I end up keeping it because I think i’ll wear them next season, and then I don’t, and then they sit. Just do it now!

And that’s March!

Let’s Talk…Moms

So I was going through my blog on Friday afternoon and realized that I completely forgot my post for Friday Favorites. What the heck??? Sorry about that. My post will just have to wait until this Friday…think: Gluten Free Products!

Today’s let’s talk link-up with Andrea and Erika is all about moms. And while i’m not a mom just yet, I thought i’d share with you two great moms that I know….starting with my mom. Even though the topic of this post is moms and that’s what i’m sticking to, a lot of what I say goes to my dad too. I’ve been blessed with the parents I got.

I know just about every girl says this, but my mom is truly my best friend. In every aspect of the title. She’s the first person I call when I have a good day and she’s the first person I call when I have a bad day. She defends me, she helps me, she supports me, she’s my biggest cheerleader, and she’s a huge comfort to me. I think the best way to describe her would be calling her my safety blanket.

My mom is the one who got me through my hard times at Oklahoma (like this day pictured below when we moved my things out). When I say I don’t know where I would be without her, I mean that with everything in me. I was spiraling fast down a long and dreaded path when she stepped in and helped me.

But when I was younger, we were not close at all. In fact, we could go days without speaking to one another. We butted heads far too often and were constantly in battle with one another. It wasn’t until my high school break-up senior year that we became close. I realized then how I could confide in her and how she would do anything for me. She would stay up until 3:00AM talking with me when I couldn’t sleep and she would sleep in my bed with me when I just needed her there.

Mom and I kind of have our own language. We think a lot of the same things, say a lot of the same things, and do a lot of the same things. My brothers and sister started calling me “mini” because they think i’m “mini mom” and while they’re just being obnoxious I actually take it as a compliment.

But at the same time, we can argue. We can be honest and tell each other when we’re being stupid or being sassy. I have to tell her to “calm down” sometimes and she has to tell me to stop being dramatic. I love it though because I wouldn’t want a mom who only shows the good side.

I can’t tell you how many times she has seen me cry within the past 4 years or listened to me whine. These past 4 years have been tough on me, but luckily I have had her there to just…be there.

My mom grew up in small town Iowa. She can cook, she can clean, and she can get down and dirty with the best of them. She has been known to tackle a dummy at my brother’s football camp, she can jumpstart her own car, and bugs do not scare her one bit…she’s a farm girl after all! And I love that about her. She’s the farm girl, my dad is the city boy, and i’m still wondering how that worked. 😉

The way to my mom’s heart is random acts of kindness without speaking on her behalf. I surprised her with flowers right before Easter, just because I thought they were pretty and it meant so much to her. I think there has been maybe 2 times in my life that I have physically seen her cry, but 1 time that I wasn’t there. I was going back to OU one day and it was before her birthday. I got her flowers, a card, an apple fritter, and a present and left it on the kitchen table for her to come home to and she texted me later saying she couldn’t call because it made her cry.

She has the mind of a creative genius. She is pure right-brained! She owned her own business, she was in charge of my volleyball banquets, and she used to make curtains and window treatments galore. Not to say her right-brain doesn’t drive my left-brain crazy because I want to organize her dad-gum pantry and refrigerator, and well, everything because it’s not organized!! Haha

It takes my mom FOREVER and A DAY to make any sort of big decision. She is very detail-oriented and needs all the facts from 324 different people and then she can process. I realized that I am this way too…and my dad is, so it makes sense

My mom loves cooking, and it’s where I get my love of cooking from. We can spend hours on end in the kitchen, with our Pandora on, and just be chopping away and chatting away. It’s one of my very favorite things to do on the weekends.

My mom looooovvveeesssss her kids. There are 0 doubts in my mind about that one. From all the days she has stayed awake worrying about us (literally she never went to bed until I got home at night), to being at all of our games and practices, to watching tv shows with us, mom is our #1 fan.

Mom always tries to make holidays special for us and Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny will be coming to our house until we have kids…and then they will probably make two rounds for our kids.

When either of my parents pass, it’s going to be a devastating day for me. I told them they were not allowed to die. But I know at their funerals I will be thinking nothing but good thoughts about them. And i’m truly thankful to Jesus for that. Some people don’t have good, loving parents. And some people my age don’t have their parents here on Earth anymore. I couldn’t image my life without my mom (and dad).

Mini loves her mom! 😉

Other posts about my momma you can just click here.

And I can’t forget to mention JJ. She is my paternal grandmother. My maternal grandmother died when I was just 3 years old so I don’t remember her at all. That’s why I feel extremely lucky to have had JJ in my life for so long.

JJ passed away my senior year of high school and it was a sad, sad time for me. I will always remember going to visit her during the summers, playing cards with her while drinking cranberry juice and sprite with bugles during Christmas, and laughing about the silliest things with her. I see her a lot of myself in her (my uncles laugh about that because she could be feisty at times).

We all miss her a lot, but she was a good mom to my dad and his brothers. I always remember them talking about how they would never tell her when their games were as kids because she would be the only parent in the stands. That’s our JJ!

Molly loves her grandma too!

Moms make the world go ’round, y’all. What are some of your favorite memories with your mom?

Spring Break 2016: Day 4, 5, 6

I’m still recapping my Omaha trip. If you missed Day 1, 2, 3 click here.

Tuesday started day 4 of vacation. Reese and I talked about Starbucks and he said he didn’t know what to order there, but he knew he wanted something. Helllllooooo you’re talking to the queen of coffee. So I asked what he liked…you know, hot or cold, chocolatey or vanilla, and we took a trip to Starbucks. I got my iced coffee and he enjoyed his Vanilla Latte. Now that wasn’t too hard, was it? 😉

As soon as we got back to the house, my aunt and I hit the road for my grandpa’s house in Iowa.

Around 1:00 or so, I wanted a salad. A grilled chicken salad. While we were driving my aunt mentioned something about wanting an ice-cream cone, so we ended up stopping at a dairy queen and I was pleasantly surprised by how good their salad was! And get this…Tuesday, March 15th happened to be FREE CONE DAY. What the what?! We all won!

We got to grandpa’s right around 3:00 in time for a Dr. Phil episode. I spread out on the couch eating grapes while gramps sat in his beloved chair and we watched all the crazy play out on Phil’s show.

Later that night we went to dinner at a local Tavern and while it was taco night, I ended up with a grilled tenderloin. All I got was a tiny piece of meat and I was still hungry so when we got home…

…I made some popcorn and we all munched while watching updates on the presidential race. Gramps enjoyed some leftover birthday cake.

Ohhhhhhh how I love this guy. I was so happy we got to come down and see him!

On Wednesday we woke up and were lazy all morning, so come lunch time my aunt made grandpa a lasagna and I laughed because it looked SO GROSS. Word to the wise…don’t buy Stouffer’s lasagna if you want to eat something that actually looks yummy. If you don’t care, then by all means!

Later that afternoon, we did what gramps does during the afternoon. He sat in his chair and read the paper while I continued on in Candace Cameron Bure’s book. With more of the news in the background of course.

That night my cousin Dani (who’s basically the older sister I never had) and her husband, and their little boy Tommy came to eat. So we went back to the same tavern for dinner…because when in small town Iowa, you have limited options. This time I got a grilled chicken breast and baked potato.

We came home and I got a picture with grandpa. And it’s a shame I don’t do something with my hair because ew.

I posted this picture on Instagram. FOLLOW ME @mollymiddleton01. Tommy pooped his pants right before this picture and it was hilarious. Nonetheless, I still got a picture with him (and gramps in the background) so it’s my new favorite.

I had to grab another selfie with grandpa while I could.

We hung out, chatted and then all went to bed.

Thursday morning we woke up and grandpa had his cereal. We said our goodbyes as we were going back to Omaha that day.

We stopped by my other aunt and uncle’s house to say goodbye and my aunt gave me this drink to try. I’m a fan. Have you had it before?!

And then we stopped at our Dairy Queen again. And here’s the deal with that.

My aunt did something to her knee to where she could barely walk, so she wore a knee brace down. When we went into the DQ on Tuesday the lady behind the counter asked if she could pray for her. She said yes and we left. Well, the next day my aunt woke up feeling  100% better and said we were going back to her! So we did. And she had her pray for some other stuff going on in her life. And it was so refreshing to see!

Thank goodness for people like Bev from DQ.

When we got back, I quickly showered and headed over to my uncle’s house for some corned beef and cabbage because #stpaddy’sday

And then I went out with one of my other cousin’s and her parents for happy hour.

We came back and they had this appetizer made. I found it on Pinterest and am totally going to re-create it soon! Sooooo good!

My uncle has his famous drink that he makes and when we got home he got to it!

I had one of his drinks and a drink that my cousin made. Trust me…you won’t have to worry about an alcohol deficiency when in the presence of my family!

My cousin and my aunt just cooking away and spoiling me.

Steaks, kale salad, and sautéed mushrooms and onions. DELICIOUS. I want it again!!

We sat around the table for a couple hours after dinner talking, laughing, telling stories, and all of that. I ended up going home around midnight and went straight to sleep. All of these events were wearing me out!! But it was so much fun!

Tomorrow we’ll be wrapping up and coming home. Come back to see! 🙂

Show and Tell: Your Hometown

Every other Tuesday I link up with Andrea and we show and tell about ourselves!

This week we’re talking…Hometowns.

Every time I think of my hometown, I think of Carrie Underwood’s song “Thank God for Hometowns”. It couldn’t be more true. When I would drive back from Norman I would blast this song as I was pulling up into my driveway and it would make me happy. In case you haven’t heard it, listen to it:

This song reminds me of college!

I grew up in Frisco, Texas. It’s a suburb about 25 miles north of Dallas. We moved here when I was just weeks into Kindergarten. While I can still remember Virginia and our house there, Texas is home.

When we moved here in 1999 the population was about 33,000 people. I went to school on a winding dirt road. There was nothing out here. Now in 2016, there’s about 150,000 people and growing. It’s so crazy!

http://bestneighborhoodsindfw.com/frisco/

This is our downtown area where there are many shops and restaurants. We don’t go there too often, but on the right side of this picture is where our “Snowcone Lady” had her little shop. It was just a shed and she would have lines down the road of people wanting snow cones. She put her kids through college with her stand and was the sweetest lady. I always got the wedding cake. We loved going there as a treat after a long, hot day of swimming in the summer!

Where to View the Best Christmas Light Displays in Frisco

This is another part of our downtown during Christmas. You can drive through this downtown area and if you turn your radio to a certain station the Christmas lights will flash along with the music.

The Athletic Shoulder Workshop in Frisco, TX

Near our downtown, we have this Heritage center. I’ve actually never been here, but heard it’s amazing. The restaurant I waited tables at all through high school is right next door to here. And fun fact: real cotton grows in front of the Heritage center.

http://friscoblog.dallasnews.com/2015/09/national-soccer-hall-of-fame-space-among-proposed-improvements-for-friscos-toyota-stadium.html/

Toyota Stadium is right across from the flashing Christmas lights part of our downtown and is home to FC Dallas, our Major League Soccer team by day and any kind of concert by night. The Women’s National Team was here a couple weeks ago playing Mexico. Jimmy Buffet comes every May. Blake Shelton, Sam Hunt, Eric Church, Chris Young, Chase Rice, Jana Kramer and more will be here for The Off The Rails concert in April. Dying to go to that concert!!! A lot of our high school football games were played in this stadium as well.

http://www.visitfrisco.com

And our newest addition is the Dallas Cowboys practice stadium. It should be completed this year or next, and it is HUGE. Hey Jerry, your girl is graduating in August and needing a job!!!! 😉

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frisco,_Texas

We also have Dr. Pepper ballpark where the Frisco Roughriders play. They are the AA “feeder” team to the Texas Rangers. When Josh Hamilton got hurt, he came down to play for the Riders and it was the most packed I have ever seen it…obviously. My brother might try to get a job here, which would be SO FUN! I’d love that.

http://www.amxrealty.com/Buyers/Relocate_to_Frisco_TX

On the other side of the parking lot from Roughriders stadium is Ikea. It’s a HUGE furniture store that people drive hours to come to. I had a professor from OU once e-mail me during break to say that she was coming and thought of me because she knew I lived here.

And of course we have our mall, lots of shopping, tons of restaurants, and plenty of sights to see…but really,

It’s where I went to all my school dances.

It’s where I met all of my awesome friends.

It’s where I got my first job.

It’s where I know all the short cuts to any place I want to go.

It’s where all my memories are. Like my boyfriend and I breaking up in Toyota Stadium. Haha 😉 Although it wasn’t funny at the time.

It’s where we learned chores, where I learned to love cooking, where I learned to love exercising.

It’s where I learned to drive.

It’s where I found my Church and my love for the kids there.

It’s where we’ve spent all of our days. Rain or shine.

So many classmates of mine would always complain about “there’s nothing to do”…are you kidding?!?! We are so blessed to have been able to grow up in Frisco, Texas and I don’t take it for granted.

Frisco is my story. It’s who I am. And made me who I am.

Thanks for visiting home with me today, friends! 🙂

For more posts about home:

5 Things I love about Texas
Show and Tell: My Home
Colors of Life: A Homebody
Or look at the posts with the Home category.

In case you missed any of my S&T Tuesdays for 2016:

Introduction
Momfessional Moments (I didn’t participate)
How To Win My Heart
Favorite Pinterest Pins (This was during my blog break)

And here are all my 2015 Show and Tell posts.

Happy Tuesday!

A Day In The Life

Ah, good morning!

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you woke up as someone else? Well if that’s you, today’s your lucky day 😉 Here’s what a day in the life of me on a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday looks like. My morning pictures are from Monday and the rest of the day is Wednesday (yesterday) since I forgot about my pictures on Monday afternoon. It worked out though because on these 3 days of the week I pretty much do the same thing.

6:54AM and my alarm goes off. Random fact: I never set my alarm on a 5 minute interval. It’s always a random number. And i’m really not sure why. At 7:00AM I finally hop out of bed.

I’m not a Keurig person, I just don’t like the taste. So i’m attempting to use our old coffee pot. This morning I had to get mom to teach me how to brew from our coffee pot.

With my brewed coffee and ice water (always), I make the long trek to my home office. AKA our dining room. I mean where else is a girl to go when she doesn’t have a desk and chair?

Time for Jesus and time for blog reading.

Yikes. Someone tell this girl to get more sleep. #bagsfordays Here I am. A college student. Doing work before 8:00AM. With my blanket, space heater, computer, and water for an hour before my day gets going. But we already knew I wasn’t normal, remember? It’s so quiet and such a great way to start the day!

At 8:05 I go upstairs to change for the gym, and at 8:10 I come down and listen to The Today Show for a little bit before I say bye to the brothers on my way out the door. We keep things healthy with Pop-tarts for breakfast…which i’m a little bitter about. When I was younger/their age I was ONLY allowed to have Cheerios for breakfast, never sugar. And now this kid eats Pop-tarts for breakfast, and lunch, and dinner, and snacks. UGH #oldestchildproblems

8:30 BodyCombat every Monday morning. I looovvveeee this class. It’s boxing, kickboxing, Tae Kwon Do, and Muay Thai. I leave feeling like I could be the next Muhammad Ali or Floyd Mayweather or whoever is famous for fighting.

As soon as I get home from the gym I shower and change clothes. And then I eat a quick breakfast before work. It’s something different every day, but on this particular day it was an egg scramble.

I get into the office around 10:30 and work until about 2:00. Part time hours are great especially when you’re working a couple other jobs and going to school full-time.

Around 2:00 I hit the grocery store for the ingredients to make Andrea’s Pulled Pork for my brothers and dad to have as dinner while i’m in class tonight and mom is out of town.

Then it was time for lunch. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d actually made a sandwich and I was so shocked that I decided I needed to eat a turkey and swiss melt with a sliced tomato while I watched my PLL recording. And yes I ALWAYS have water on me at all times. Always. You’ll see.

And then I went back to the home office with a Seattle’s best frozen mocha while I worked on some schoolwork and a project for my mom.

Speaking of that project for mom, she happened to leave out the fact that I would need pictures that had to be scanned in. And since we don’t have a scanner, I had to come up with a solution. So to dad’s office it was!

Every time I go to the grocery store I get one thing that’s new. I love to try new things, so when I got home I tried this spearmint water. It’s an acquired taste…i’m still working on that one.

At 6:00, I put my future-baseball-mom skills to work and hopped in the car to pick Ry up. All I have to say is I better not have all girls *knocks on wood*. I snapped a super flattering picture of us for y’all because #itsadayinthelife.

On Monday afternoon, my mom and I made chicken salad…and can I just tell you that this is the best chicken salad you’d ever have. Ever. In your life. I became an addict at the young age of like, 10 when she first made it. I never was a picky eater growing up.

I’ve had it every single day since we’ve made it and I won’t confirm nor deny that I have eaten it for breakfast one morning. I mean, I crave this stuff. It’s pretty much all my favorite ingredients put together. Drooling.

So when I got home around 6:15, I unloaded the dishwasher while I munched on some of this infamous chicken salad. Pair this with rice crackers, or lettuce, or by itself. It doesn’t matter. Warning: You have to use some serious self-control with this stuff!

It was Wednesday. So around 7:00, I drove up to Church only to BE SURPRISED BY MY SWEET GIRLS AND CO-LEADER. I come trotting through the door and one by one they start walking up to me handing me flowers. Stop it. It was just a “thank you” for this past weekend. Y’all. It’s the little things like this that get me.

I was so confused by what was happening…I thought they were playing a joke on me but it turns out that they weren’t. Jen, my co-leader remembered me saying that I liked the flowers at our host home’s house and that my favorite color was yellow, so she planned this whole thing out! Oh. Wednesday nights rock.

Church goes until 9:00, but as soon as I got home these bad boys went in a vase and a picture was sent thanking them. Dead. Who needs a boy when you have 15 nineth grade girls to give you flowers???

By 9:30, pops and I were huddled up on the couch watching an episode of The OC. Because it’s what we do. And Ry came out for a little bit too.

Snack time consisted of blueberries and carrots. And then some other stuff that I forgot to photograph.

And after our episode was over, I came back down to my office so I could finish my blog post, get organized for today, and wind down. Last night was a late night and I didn’t hit the hay until 1:00ish. Usually I’m long gone before that, but I had some things to do.

G’night from Rachel Bilson and I. Heart of Dixie on Netflix before bed is always a good idea.

There you have it. A day in my life.

Curious of day’s past? Check out a Day In The Life (or as I used to call them #everydaymollay when I did it every month)…

After You Lose Your Job – November 2015
Summer Before Senior Year Of College – June 2015
Spring of Junior Year – First Semester @ A New School – April 2015
The Day of Thanksgiving – November 2014
As a Nanny – September 2014
The Day of Labor – August 2014
On The Farm – July 2014
My First (Most Amateur) One Ever – June 2014

Show and Tell: How To Win My Heart

Ah, yes. It’s that time again…show and tell with Andrea!

So you wanna know how to win my heart, huh? To be honest, I kind of feel like i’m filling out a match.com profile. I can just see my friends making fun of me now, haha! But in the name of #blogworld we’re doing it.

First, you might want to wake me up with some coffee. For you and for me.

And you see that B in the background of this picture? With the red and the blue? Yeah, to win my heart we will probably take a trip to Fenway.

Or if you’re more of a football person, I don’t discriminate. We can go watch another sport besides baseball. As long as we can see the Sox play at some point 😉

If you’ve won my heart, we’re probably going to the gym together.

And on our first date we most likely got frozen margs with a side of chips and salsa because #indulgences

To win my heart, you’ve got to be okay with my scented candle obsession.

AND YOU HAVE TO BUY ME A PUPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know where you can get one too!

We’ll probably spend a lot of time watching some of my favorite shows…we can watch yours too. I can be fair.

You’ll have to be okay with a gluten free/lactose free cake on my birthday.

And my constant obsession with trying new recipes/foods even when they go wrong.

You’ll have to accept me on my days when I look this good…because more often than not this is how you’ll see me 😉

You’ll have to get along with my family. And they will have to like you. I know some people don’t care if their family gets along with their significant other…but there is no way. Not for me.

To win my heart, you’ll have to want this many kids. Ha kidding. But seriously my significant other will want kids because I know that’s where a lot of my joy in life will come from…raising a family.

But most importantly…if you’ve won my heart…it’s because God has your heart first.

I mean, is that so much to ask for?? 😉 Really though, I could care less about chocolate and flowers and jewelry…those don’t mean anything to me. I took the 5 love languages test and I got quality time BOTH times. And now as i’m done writing this post and looking back i’m seeing a lot of what I said was quality time related. So there ya have it…now i’m just hoping I haven’t scared off any potential contenders at this point. Haha!

Have a great Tuesday!

OH DON’T FORGET:

BOOKWORM WEDNESDAY IS HAPPENING TOMORROW!

In case you missed any of my S&T Tuesdays for 2016:

Introduction
Momfessional Moments (I didn’t participate)

And here are all my 2015 Show and Tell posts.

Friday Favorites: What Is Colors of Life?

Whew! I’m late today…don’t worry Kylie already got on to me for it 😉 BUT I’M HERE NOW!!!!!! So in weekly Friday fashion i’m linking up with Erika, Andrea, and Narci!

I thought today’s FAVORITES would be for those that are newer to the blog. Since 2016 started, I have done a couple posts re-introducing myself. And today I thought i’d re-introduce the blog. Because even my long-time-reading blog friends liked my re-introduction posts! So this is what Colors of Life blog is.

BUT FIRST PAUSE….

…and read this article right here. Actually it’s a blog post (which is why I don’t have a picture) that someone shared on Facebook and I loved it. Like, it’s so much my FAVORITE that I want to print it out and hang it somewhere in my room. It’s perfect for today’s post because it ties in to things i’ll mention later.

Fashion

In all honesty, i’m really not that into fashion and that may be the phase of life i’m in now (although I doubt it) or it may just be me. I don’t post many fashion blogs because usually i’m in my FAVORITE Nike shorts or yoga pants with a t-shirt. And i’m completely happy with it. However, on occasion I will talk about clothes i’m wearing or loving. And when I do…it must be seriously great, or a seriously good deal 😉 With that said, back in November of 2014 I participated in the “November Pin-spired” link-up and that post just happens to be one of my most viewed blog posts to date.

To see other Pin-spired posts, you an click here.
To see other shopping/fashion posts, you can click here.
And when i’m done with certain things in my closet, I post them here.
And to see posts of the online boutique that I work with, click here.

Friends

I talk a lot about my friends. And I try to blog about them when I get to see them. Since we’re all growing up it’s getting harder to see one another, but I do my best to spend as much time with them as I can. Having good friends is so important and my friends mean so much to me. They just make life more fun.

I introduced you to each of them here.
And I blogged about friendships here.
And not only am I talking about my real-life friends, but I have awesome blog friends too…read their guest posts here.

Family

Ahhhhh, yes. “My people”. My family goes beyond my siblings and my parents. I mean, this guy is in as many posts as I can put him in!

My grandpa is the BEST and I am super thankful for him. I’ve got some awesome aunts, uncles, and cousins as well. I truly feel sorry for the people who don’t have good relationships with their families. My family is the most special thing in my life.

To read about grandpa, you can click here.
To read about my siblings and my cousin Reese, you can click here.
To read about our yearly trips to the farm, click here.
And our Christmas fun is all right here.

Fitness

…and with this one comes food too. Health and Fitness is something that has always been a part of my life, but took a spot on the back burner up until a couple of months ago. I explained it a little bit more in my re-introduction post when I talked about my new year’s resolutions. Health and fitness has become a huge passion of mine and I think a lot of it has to do with the struggle of an eating disorder, going to college, and a long battle with my health. This is a journey i’m traveling right now, so expect to see more where these posts came from this 2016! 😉

To read my monthly fitness goals, click here.
To read all health and fitness related posts, click here.
To see my recipes, click here.
To see my fitness routine, click here.

Faith

And most important of all….my faith. Faith is defined as “complete trust or confidence in someone or something”. I am a Christian, I believe in God, and my faith is my FAVORITE part of my life. It’s something i’m always striving to make better. I think there are a lot of things I probably do right in this area, but a lot of things I know that I do wrong. And I choose to blog about all of it.

To read about my Jesus relationship, click here.
To read about my thoughts on quiet times, click here.
To read all my Jesus-related posts, click here.

Colors of Life

The reason my blog got started. These posts were a way for me to communicate and share with others the things I have gone through, experienced, and attempted to navigate. Not all of them are easy and not all of them are super serious. But they are all part of me and who I am. They are the different colors of my life. And I share them based off of this quote below. I am hoping that through being vulnerable and sharing parts of my life someone can benefit and connect with my blog through them.

Click here to read all of my Colors of Life posts…ranging from topics of depression, to crafting, to being a night owl, and even having a dad in the military!

As always, use my contact page to connect with me. E-mail me, follow me on social media, and let’s become friends! 🙂

So, this is my life. Hence, why I created a lifestyle blog back in 2014. It’s a way for me to share my life and remember everything! Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for reading and following along with me!!! Have a great weekend!

 

22

On Monday the 11th, I turned 22 years old. Oh, my i’m getting up there 😉

How did I spend my 22nd birthday you ask? Well, guess what? You’re about to find out!

I woke up and hit the gym for an 8:30a.m. BodyCombat class. If you haven’t tried one of these classes before i’d totally recommend it. It’s a mixture of boxing, kickboxing, and muay thai, teakwondo, and other forms of martial arts. It’s so fun and I totally leave feeling like a bad a**.

Once my class was over I met my pops for a Starbucks because #duh. We sat there for an hour and talked about life, and money, and the future and other kinds of daddy/daughter topics. I love going to Starbucks with my pops.

Once I got home, I showered, and grabbed some breakfast. This is my go-to breakfast people. A slice of toast with avocado and 2 egg whites on top with some salsa. SO GOOD and I crave it all the time!

My mom and I facetimed grandpa after I was done eating to chat with him and let him know my mom was going up there soon. We just had to remind him it was my birthday, but then he wished me a good day 😉

It was then that I decided the birthday present I would ask for was an hour of quality time with each of my family members. Because that’s just me. Everyone responded naturally. And wanna know something? Still never got my hour with the brothers.

Mom is in mattress shopping mode so we went and tested out a bunch of different ones for a couple hours.

And then had to test out some new outdoor furniture!

When we got home, I was hungry so Morgan and I went to pie five for some personal pizzas. THEY HAVE AMAZING GLUTEN FREE CRUST!!! And they only look at me a little funny when I don’t get cheese but it’s fine because I was craving pizza and it was amazing.

I mean, obviously. Thanks for the mid-chew photo Morg!

I ate 22 slices, 1 for each year I was born. Or did I??? If you’re not familiar with Pie Five, I seriously recommend you try it if there’s one near you. I thought this was just a normal pizza place, you put in your order and then wait for them to bring it to your table in about 15 minutes. Nope, you go in and create your own pizza and then it takes FIVE MINUTES to cook. Hence the name Pie Five. Amen to only waiting 5 minutes for your pizza to cook, am I right?! Go there!

When we got home I decided I would just go ahead and make my own cake. I didn’t have a cake and I would feel bad someone having to make a gluten and lactose free cake (and icing), so I did it myself. It was Danielle Walker’s recipe and it took me about 2.5 hours. Yes….from 3:15-5:45 I was in the kitchen making a cake.

But honestly, look how cute it turned out?? I’m not quite sure why we have a power puff girl, but it worked! I always wanted to be the yellow one and Morgan always wanted to be the green one because those were out favorite colors. Haha!

I had to head up to school for something from 8:00-10:00 so we didn’t go to a birthday dinner Monday night, so we each ate a slice of cake instead. I made my brothers since it took me so much time and then mid-slice when they found out it was gluten and lactose free they no longer liked it. #annoying

I mean y’all I don’t want to toot my own horn, but toot toot. This layer cake was AMAZING!  I want another slice now that i’m writing this post.

After we ate and talked for a bit I went up for my thing at school and then when I got home around 10 we opened my “presents”. AKA gifts that were re-gifted because #myfamrocks and then we all hung out and finished watching the Clemson/Alabama game

Even though Clemson beat us, I was still rooting for them because ANYONE but Alabama please!!!! #sorryalabamafans

Mom and I watched Monday’s episode of the Bachelor and I read some blogs before bed. And get this??? I couldn’t fall asleep Monday night. I got 3 hours of sleep. And it was the first day of classes yesterday.

SO TIRED.

So what did I get?

My mom gave me a camera (that I still have to go pick out) so I can take pictures of my brothers playing baseball this year and then we’ll also have some good quality Christmas card pictures. I’m excited about this!

Morgan gave me a necklace that she said she had picked out way before Christmas too.

Ryan gave me his old iPad because he didn’t use it anymore. He got it from Santa so that made for a couple mouths to drop when I opened the gift (including mine) but that’s just like a 14 year old boy.

Rick gave me nothing…well, technically a month worth of being nice to me because when he asked what I want that’s what I said, but that won’t happen.

And my dad said he hasn’t decided yet but I have a feeling that it will be a trip to San Francisco since i’ve never been to Cali and the Red Sox are playing there this June. It will be another tradition of a trip 🙂

Birthdays are exciting but it seems like as we get older they’re just even more anti-climatic. It’s just downhill from here right? 😉 22 will bring me college graduation, (hopefully) a job, a couple vacations, time spent with family and friends, hours at Church and volunteering in different ministries, and of course probably some tough times. But i’m ready for it all! I’m truly just thankful to be alive and well.

Here’s to 22 and all that’s in store this year!

Christmas 2015

Oh boy, I can’t believe another Christmas has come and gone.

Christmas break started out with some good ol’ Christmas pictures.

In between that time and December 22, life was pretty normal. I worked both of my jobs, Morgan started working with me at one of my jobs, the brothers played their video games, and my aunt came into town.

On December 22 my dad’s brothers and my aunt’s husband came into town. On the 23rd, we all went to visit the George W. Bush Presidential Library in Dallas. My parents had gone before, but my mom loved it so much that she wanted to go back again so we took the family!

Who’s ready to learn?!?! My siblings are!! 😉

The first exhibit that we went into was the Home for the Holidays one, it mimicked what The White House is like during the Holidays. It showed how it was decorated and all the work that goes into making it Christmasy over there in DC. My favorite part was Curious George, he’s definitely the best cartoon. They have the White House decorated with all sorts of different cartoons. Alice in Wonderland too. I mean, you name it!

This is the replica of one of the many Christmas trees that decorate the White House. Each of the little characters on the tree are hand-made and signed by the maker.

I personally think they are super creepy…but hey it’s not my house 😉 Here’s a close-up of Cinderella for ya!

Rick LOVES The Polar Express so when we saw the train mom wanted him to take a picture. If you know Rick you know he hates allllllll things picture related. This was the best I could do.

One we rounded that corner we got to The Lamb of God. Every year, George Bush hand paints a canvas. They then have the painting put into an ornament and sell it in the gift shop. He’s seriously talented. It was cool looking at it from the side to see where the raises were from the paint. In the top corner you can also see a cross.

We walked to the other side of the library and the first thing you see is all this information about his life. Where George and Laura both grew up, what home was like, raising their girls, etc. There are narratives where he starts talking as well. I took a picture of this quote, because I just really liked it.

After seeing a mock oval office, we went to this theater. Every player had the opportunity to get information from congress, the united nations, and others about a situation we all voted on. Everyone in the room picked Saddam Hussein and so we’d get the information and vote on it. At the end it showed us what George Bush chose to do and what the room chose to do about the situation. Our room chose the same thing Bush did. That was really cool to see!

After we went through the gift shop on our way out, purchased little mementos, and walked out, I of course requested a picture.

The fam minus my dad and the uncle my aunt is married to! And me of course.

Then we got a picture of everyone in besides my aunt this time. Ahhhh, what a fine looking group of Middletons.

Goodbye George Bush Museum!

Christmas Eve consisted of wrapping, eating clam chowder for dinner, going to Church, and volunteering at Church. But Christmas morning came and everyone was all kinds of excited…especially Rick. He couldn’t sleep!

The Christmas morning family room!

After we opened stockings, my dad needed eye drops. Rick being the oh-so-kind son that he is decided dad needed moral support so he held his hand. Weird family…

We finished presents around 2:00p.m. and all layed around with our gifts and played with our presents for a couple hours. Around 5:00 my dad, uncle, and I went for a walk around the neighborhood. We got back, ate dinner, and then by 8:00 we were playing Bean Boozled that I had my mom get my brother!

If you’ve never played before it’s pretty simple. When it’s your turn you spin the spinner and eat the jellybean that it lands on. The spinner will show you two options that the jellybean might be…for example “Chocolate Pudding or Canned Dog Food”. This game was SO FUNNY! We were all cracking up at each other, but not when it was our turn. You should play at least once! But I will warn you: I got canned dog food and I seriously felt like I could taste it the next morning still. Awful.

My dad’s brothers left the next morning and I went into work while Morgan, my mom and aunt went to run errands. I went with them later in the afternoon and then we hung out the rest of the day. My aunt and uncle left Sunday and we’ve been unpacking gifts and cleaning up the house since everyone has been gone. Christmas was awesome this year.

I love this Holiday. And I hope you enjoyed yours too!

Thanksgiving 2015

Thanksgiving has come and gone. Boo! Why am i’m just now recapping this holiday a week later? Because lots of fun stuff has been happening on the blog this week!!

Monday was all things stocking stuffers related.
Tuesday was the ULTIMATE giveaway.
Wednesday had us talking about great reads for the month.

And today is all about Thanksgiving. I love this Holiday.

You know, when you’re old and grown and have grey hair (ha, kidding) Thanksgiving break just doesn’t hold the same meaning. In grade school we got the week off to literally sit around and do nothing at all. That’s not so much the case when you have to be an adult and still make money. Therefore, I got Tuesday and Thursday off…where I did absolutely nothing productive.

This girl came home late Friday so I met up with her for dinner on Saturday night. We went back to her house afterwards to watch One Tree Hill and eat our popcorn with butter because #traditions.

Morgan came home the Thursday before Emily. She did a lot playing Mario with Rick…but I joined in too. I didn’t really know what I was doing so I kept dying at all the levels and they wouldn’t save me anymore so I wasn’t allowed to play. RUDE.

One day (I began to lose track of my days) my mom was wrapping presents in the guest room, so I took my laptop in there to work on my school stuff while Santa’s workshop was producing. We had Christmas music playing and the sun shining in on us. Life was good.

There were a couple (heated) games of Monopoly. Someone might have quit…not to name names *cough rick cough*. But it was still fun.

We usually do our Christmas cards during Thanksgiving break when everyone is home to give enough time to have them out by Christmas…we got lucky last year and used this one from our vacation last July.

But we didn’t take them last week. By the time we started planning outfits, it just got too late. So that might be happening next week when Morgan comes home again. Maybe.

 Finally it was the long anticipated time of the week. Mom always plans to eat around 4, but everyone was starving at 3….alas we waited until 4:00 and…

…Potatoes, Yams, Green Bean, Corn, Cranberry, Turkey, Ham (WHAT?! Yes, only my family…), jello (Morgan really wanted jello, so she made our family. You can kind of see them), and pumpkin pie for dessert. Oh my!

Here’s a totally unflattering picture of me. The 4 siblings went to see Mockingjay part 2 Thanksgiving night (Ryan’s hiding). I had never seen any of the series before, but Morgan briefed me a little beforehand. We got there super early and the guy that ended up sitting closest to me smelled, was chomping on his popcorn loudly, sniffling, and just about everything else that annoyed me enough to have my mom pick me up. I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle it for 2 hours, so her and I popped popcorn and watched Hallmark movies. And yes the siblings laughed at me when they got home, but I actually thought i’d go crazy…tell me you’ve had an experience like that before too.

I didn’t take as many pictures as usual this Thanksgiving. A lot of the time I was working, doing schoolwork, or online shopping so it was nothing glamorous. Along with looking like ^^^ most of the “break” because why wear make-up when you don’t have to, right???

We still had a good time. And a great Thanksgiving. And now as we go into the rest of the year and begin a new one, i’m really focusing on this quote…

Show and Tell: Favorite Party You’ve Hosted

Good morning and happy Tuesday. Today is the first Tuesday since the middle of January that I haven’t had to be in classes all day. SO so SO excited about that! With that, let’s talk party-time with Andrea!

Without a doubt, this is my favorite party that “I’ve” hosted. Technically, I didn’t host this party. Technically my mom was the one who thought of everything. And technically it wasn’t even at our house or in our state. But that’s only if you want to get technical.

My parents celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary in 2011. They were trying to think of where they wanted to go and what they wanted to do for their anniversary. My mom said “Why don’t we throw JJ a surprise 80th birthday?” (Their anniversary and my grandma’s birthday are on the same day.) Also, we call my grandma JJ in case you’re confused.

This was April 2011 that we were trying to plan this shin-dig. The September before we had thrown my grandpa his 90th birthday party – the fam and I with gramps below.

So mom thought we should surprise JJ for her 80th. She knew how much her dad appreciated his little party and seeing as my grandma lived in Virginia with my uncles we knew she would NEVER have expected it. My dad agreed and off we went.

The day of her party we set it up.

And we waited patiently….ish for her two friends to roll her down in her wheelchair to the party room at her Assisted Living Facility. Her friends came and told her they wanted to take her to lunch so we were in the room next door to the dining room so it wouldn’t be obvious. We had actually flown in the day before, but of course she had no idea.

And the rest of her friends plus her family lined the outside of the room 🙂

SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She didn’t know what to think. I love, love this picture!

“I was wondering what they were doing here!” (She actually saw our old neighbors from when we lived in Virginia walking in and didn’t think anything of it. Ha!)

Cake and goodies for everyone!!!

Showing her the cake, giving her an 80th birthday necklace, and letting her soak it all in!

This was our family, my dads brothers, and her niece with her husband. She was happy as can be.

Love this lady so darn much!

JJ and her three boys. She got all boys and was ELATED when she found out my parents were having a girl as their first born because my dad is the only one that had kids.

My family and our JJ!

We had such a good time and my dad was so happy that we did that.

So we visited her in April 2011 and she passed away in August 2011. Her little party was perfect timing considering that was the last time my siblings, mom and I saw her. And it was on such a happy note. She had a lot of health issues and ended up passing away after a major surgery. We all miss her every day. That party continues to hold such a special meaning in my heart so it’s without a doubt my favorite party that we or I have hosted.

In November of 2011, the same crew that was at her party flew to Boston to bury her next to my grandfather.

And speaking of that spunky woman, I went and visited her this weekend in Boston….come back tomorrow to read about that memorable trip.

XOXO

Friday Favorites: Another year closer

Happy 2015. This means i’m one year away from graduating college and I may be hyperventilating or something because what? Who wants to become an adult??? 😉

However, I know it happens to the best of us. Today during Friday Favorites with Andrea, Erika, and Narci i’m going to show you what I am glad about though.

Friday was the last day that we had our family in town for Christmas, and I was so glad we got to spend a little bit of time together even if it was getting ice-cream in the middle of winter. And even if I can’t have any ice-cream. It’s tradition every time my uncle from Virginia comes into town.

Just in case you needed the reminder.

Sunday my dad called in his troops (his kids and wife) to help him move offices. I went sporting my new everything…rain jacket, water bottle, yoga pants, yoga bag. I’m so glad I have a family who loves me and gets me cute things for Christmas 🙂 Excuse my “just-finished-yoga” look.

Eeeeeeek! A week from this past Monday the Bachelor comes back on…i’m so PUMPED! I’m excited about Iowa being pictured on national television and about seeing how the good ol’ country folks take to having a bachelor. It’ll be interesting to see how Chris handles the whole situation. I would never have put an Iowa man on a reality tv show, but i’m glad they did and i’m sure Chris will represent. Are you going to watch on Monday?!

If you were looking for me on Tuesday you would’ve found me at the office with hot coffee in hand…yes I said it! Hot coffee and me in the same sentence. I think i’m progressing away from cold coffee and 30 degree weather, which now means i’ll be glad that the baristas won’t give me super weird looks all the time!

New Years Eve brought me and two of my best people together. They’re awesome and i’m glad I got to third wheel on New Years with them 😉

In celebration of the NEW YEAR and it being my birthday month, I went shopping. I bought new work clothes, decoration for my office, and made some returns. I was a little productive and i’m glad i’ve got some of those things done. You’ll hear more about the holiday on Monday 🙂

So, i’ll see you then! Happy weekend! Try not to freeze wherever you are!

Weekend Recap

This weekend started off with me driving the cart for mom at Costco, because that is her second home. I swear she’s there at least once a week, if not more. I always tell her how much of a groc-a-holic she is. But it’s fine, our pantry is stocked all the time. And I don’t have to pay for it. So yes mom, I shall drive the grocery cart around for you!

And then Friday night I worked. This is not me, but my friend Maddie had to scrape something off a shelf at work because our manager made her….the things we do to stay employed and this just cracked me up. #shortpeopleproblems

Friday night after work I stayed at my friend Emily’s apartment for the Susan G. Komen race for the cure early Saturday morning. So yes, here we are having been awake at 6:15am for the race. Tired. Don’t want to exercise. Food. Hungry.

And here we are acting exhausted and worn out…after walking the whole 3 miles 😉

And then iHop happened. Because when you burn calories, it’s necessary to go eat your calories again you know. #welovefood

If you look closely across the table is Chicken Fried Steak…um Maddie (scraping things off shelf Maddie) ordered cfs and eggs at 10:00am….debating whether i’m still claiming her as a friend or not. After ihop we went back to Emily’s apartment to hang out, gossip, play would you rather, and do some other girly things. And then I went home and napped in my wonderful dark room, with my king bed. Yes, Tired. Hi, beautiful :-* (kissing face)

I had off work Saturday for the race…whoop, whoop! So I went with my mom and we met up with my dad at Morgan’s soccer game.

Sunday afternoon we all went to Oktoberfest for the first time.

We heard German music.

Sweat outside for a bit.

Saw some weenie dog races.

Taste tested some salsa.

And tried out some German food.

Sunday when we got home, it was back to work for me. Relaxing after being randomly sick saturday night. Working on the blog and working on school work.

A fun weekend in the books. Family, friends, food, and fun! My kinda day/s.

Wordless Wednesday

 

 

Friendships

 Ah, this is such a true color of my life. I don’t know if it’s just the way kids are raised now, if it’s where I grew up, if it’s because i’m such an introvert, or whatever it could be. All I know is I have struggled so much with finding those real, authentic friendships.

I believe many people experience the same things I have, but maybe not everyone wants to admit it or even experience it in different ways than I do. Friends come and go. In the 4th grade I had a best friend steal my boyfriend, a friend call me “werewolf” because I had hairy arms and legs, and many arguments, hurtful words, and hurtful things done not just to me but to people I knew. I went through a nasty breakup with my boyfriend of 3 years. In college I tried finding close friends to click with, I joined a sorority, did everything I thought possible to make friends, and it just seemed to never work. I felt like I was trying waaaay harder than I should have. Now, I may have been pushing my friendships, but I have struggled with finding good friends for a lot of my life.

Instead of worrying about the friends lost, I want to show you these people below, these are the ones I am most grateful for. These are the people that through all of my health issues have still been my friends and were the ones who knew everything, but stayed my friends no matter what. It’s hard to say “no” when friends ask you to hang out with them. But when you have a thyroid condition and it’s a struggle to make it through the day/shift at work/class/ etc because of how exhausted you are, you need true friends who will just understand. When you feel terrible all the time and don’t know why, you just need someone there to text you or keep you company or say they are there for you.

Jonathong (don’t know how he got this nickname) and I have been friends for about 8 years now. He sent me this the other week:

With the text saying: “You are number 2.” Which is so true. We made fun of each other the rest of the way through middle school. In high school Jonathan’s family was zoned to a different school so we weren’t able to see each other as much but we would still meet to catch up. Jonathan has a huge heart; just the other day we were talking about gym memberships and after me saying how expensive they were he says “Well i’m going to buy you one.” In 7th grade, he bought me the 7th season of Gilmore girls for Christmas. I always see him put others before himself, which I personally think is a rare quality in males. We are always there for each other, aka he was there to be my homecoming date. And I was his prom date. And for that, find a friend just like this ol’ teddy bear Jonathan.

 EMILY. Emily and I were the typical high school best friends. We got in arguments about work, boys, and a couple other things. Who knows, but we always get over it. We’ve continued to be friends after not talking for a couple weeks. The two of us always have a good time together, she’s always fun to talk to, and fun to be around. Emily is the friend you always make fun of because she’s such a goof. I love this girl and our friendship. We have to work harder at our friendship because we live so far away from each other, but we do it because we are best friends. We both joined the same sorority at different schools, dated best friends, and are determined we will be sister-in-laws one day by our siblings. We have similarities and differences, but I think that’s why we are so compatible. And for that, find a friend just like Emily.

Oh Reeana Reeana Reeana. We are two of the goofiest, introverted, world-hating females you’ll ever meet. Kidding, we don’t hate the world we just like to complain to one another about how stupid some humans can be. You know, everyone does it. Reeana and I became friends in 7th grade through volleyball. We didn’t always talk all the time, but she’s the type of friend that you can pick up with a year later and nothing has changed. This is the most down-to-earth human you will ever meet. She’s got it all together and a wonderful, quirky sense of humor to go along. She started coming to my Church after they moved here and that was where most of our fun memories came from. I stayed at her house about every Saturday night and her family and I would go to Church the next morning, and get BBQ afterwards. I look up to Reeana in more ways than she knows, and for that, find a friend like Reeana.

These friends are my most recent friendships. I like that I can I look forward to my job because of these girls. Regardless of the fact that we are going separate ways for college this semester we will still be able to see each other during breaks, and for the ones that are staying for school we will see each other at work. So for that, find friends like Carli, Emily (different Emily), Maddie, and Paige.

Family. The most genuine of friendships. These are my 6 most favorite people in the world! Literally, in the world. I know technically family and friends are in different categories, but these people are my friends AND my family. And how can one be so lucky to get this? Let’s be real, they HAVE to be my friends. There’s just no way out of it.

Y’all know I can’t forget my main man here. G is a true friend. The kind that will make you smile, make you laugh, make you feel better, make you want to be just like him. This is the most wonderful person I know. I enjoy our weekly phone calls and I miss being so far away from him.

Life’s Color: Rainbow, because of all the different types of friends out there.

You find out who your friends are. Don’t settle for average. You shouldn’t have to change yourself for friends. Quality is better than quantity. Blood is thicker than water.

Friday Favorites

Kicking my Friday afternoon off with Andrea, Narci, and Erika!

1. My Asics

These are the best shoes i’ve ever ever had. I always choose asics because they fit my foot the best. These in particular have cushion in the back but not in the front so they don’t feel huge on your feet. I can run, walk, go to the gym, do jumping jacks, whatever I feel like and I don’t get pain in my heels. I went to Nike for a couple years and my feet would always hurt every time I took them off and I would have blisters everywhere. If you are looking for this same comfort, check out these ASICS and I can tell you that you won’t regret it. And they are fun and colorful. One of the teachers in my exercise class uses them also, so they’ve got to be fantastic!

2. FULL. HOUSE.

Oh my gosh, people!!!! I was looking on Amazon today, and I FOUND A BARGAIN
! The entire Full House series for $54. This is originally a $170 value. IT IS SIXTY-EIGHT % OFF! I will most likely order this to give as a gift. We grew up on Full House and I still watch it all the time. This show is so family-friendly and funny. My mom would watch it with us sometimes, so people of all ages can enjoy! Buy one for you, your mom, your sister, your nephew, everyone! You can’t get enough FH. How could you not want to be part of this crazy crew?

3. Iowa State Tumbler

I got my beloved tumbler earlier this week, and it has become my most favorite thing within a couple days. I drink my morning coffee in this cup and then I carry my water in it throughout the day. It doesn’t sweat and get the table all wet and it’s the perfect size, plus look how pretty it is!! I will always be an Iowa State-er at heart. For my fellow cyclones…a Tumbler that is the closest I could come.

#4. Pictures like this

 

Dad always jokes with mom about her big nose. We see where she gets it from. Lord, help my sister and I if we have noses like mom and grandpa. We know we probably don’t have much control over it, but we still had to get the picture. If I must say so, I think Morgan will be more like them 🙂 It’s only natural I put some of my favorite people in my “Friday Favorites” post.

See you Monday!

Orange Beach and New Orleans

I hope everyone had a relaxing weekend! Today I am going to share about our vacation last week. We spent a week in Orange Beach, Alabama. And we had so much fun. On Saturday morning we were all packed up and on the road by 6:30am. 6 people with our luggage on top of the car.

We were under the impression from dad that it would only be about an 8 or 9 hour drive. We ended up in the car for 13 hours. All I wanted to do was run and run and run after sitting for that long. But finally, we arrived!

Girl’s Room

Boy’s Room

Stocked up Kitchen

Family Room

When we got to our condo and unpacked after dinner it was about 9:30/10:00. First thing we wanted to do was get out to the water! So that’s just what we did…a night stroll along the beach.

After we woke up on Sunday we went to Pensacola, Florida to meet my dad’s friends for brunch. We then stopped at this place:

Joe Patti’s is a popular seafood market down in Florida. This is where we got our seafood that we made for the week. As soon as we thought we were leaving my dad saw something else he wanted. Shrimp, shrimp, scallops, sea bass, crab claws, peaches, tomatoes (at an outside stand), gumbo, clam chowder…he went to town! The rest of Sunday was spent hanging out. We didn’t plan any activities because we didn’t know what the weather was going to do. So the majority of the night we strolled through gulf shores and orange beach. And spent the majority of our night out here:

We were able to go out to the beach Sunday, but Monday was our main beach day.

 

and it was so much fun! We started planning our activities Monday when the weather looked as though it would be okay but nobody had availabilities until Tuesday, so Monday night we went to the local “Adventure Island” to ride go-karts, paddle-boat, and we even got into a hurricane simulator machine.

Tuesday was our ziplining day in the afternoon. Morgan, Ryan, Myself, Rick, Mom and Dad. A picture of our whole motley crew is at the end.

This was definitely the boys’ favorite activity that we did. After this we had a little downtime before our sunset dolphin cruise in the evening. All aboard!

Morgan claimed this was her favorite activity. I bet I know why…we both held a LIVE CRAB! My brothers were way too scared. Chickens!

This crab’s name was Georgette and she lost a claw before I got to hold her. One of the little girls was holding her she squirmed and dropped the crab. The deckhand had to step on her claw to get her, but let me tell you. I laughed for a good 10 minutes afterwards.

Tuesday went by pretty quickly. We had a reservation to Parasail on Wednesday, but it stormed during our time so we had to improvise after they cancelled our flight. Wednesday we just hung out along the beach in the morning during the good weather. Whenever it started to rain we decided to drive around, stop for lottery tickets, and get our t-shirts/souvenirs. Wednesday night we drove across the gulf into Florida to a quiet little beach to take our own pictures with our camera, and tripod.

We got some pretty good shots with the camera that we have. Even this was some quality time together and the boys didn’t get that cranky. Morgan also took some senior pictures while we were there.

My little sis is a beaut. We went to the condo to make seafood after this. We were leaving the next morning, but we were able to sneak in an 8:00am Parasailing Flight. It. Was. Worth. It. My dad did not want to go and the first thing he said when he came down was “That was really fun”. It was so much fun and so relaxing being up there. We went doubles. So it was mom and dad first, then Morgan and Rick, then Ryan and I.

See how excited and happy we all look? Because it was exciting and happy! If you haven’t parasailed, do it once in your life! I promise you won’t regret it. After our Parasailing flight we had to go pack up to. We drove to New Orleans for the night. We just walked around New Orleans because my dad and I were the only ones who had been there. For dinner that night we went to the restaurant of the guy who created “blackened” as a seasoning. It. Was. Delicious. and we got to sit at the Chef’s table.

After, I took everyone for the famous beignets

We walked the streets of NOLA

We wanted to get in before dark though. So we hung out in the hotel room for a while. Friday morning we woke up and traveled to Morgan’s college that she’s playing soccer at.

After a trip to a local hole-in-the-wall diner for lunch. We were sad to say goodbye to vacation.

I’d tell you what we ate the whole, but really all it was is…

Scallops

Seabass & crab claws

Shrimp & Gumbo

And more shrimp!

Foodie Heaven. With some kids’ chicken tenders and fries with a dinner of BBQ thrown in.

This truly was a vacation of a lifetime. And so much fun to hang out with the family. I’ll never forget this trip. If you are planning vacation to Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area, or even New Orleans and need phone numbers of the places we went to for activities, or food. E-mail me! colorsoflifeblog@gmail.com

Everywhere we went, we enjoyed and I would be happy to share names!

Happy Monday, friends!

Friday Favorites!

Happy Friday, I am so jet-lagged. This week my favorites are going to be beach related, because we just got home from our vacation to the beach! Literally, just got home. And what do I do when I get home? I get to my computer so I can blog with Andrea, Erika, and Narci.

Ahhhh, that brings me to favorite #1: Home

I don’t have a picture of home, but this is the empty garage waiting for our return. Home really is where the heart is. I think that being on vacation makes me appreciate home that much more. My siblings and I always talk about how there is a certain smell that our home has when we walk in…whatever that is. We can’t really describe it. It’s so nice to just walk in your own house after a long week gone. Being able to have my own shower and bed back is my most favorite thing!

Favorite #2: Long walks along the beach

 

Isn’t that so cliche? But actually, this was one of my favorite parts of our vacation. I went walking around 7:30 with my mom and my sister in the morning. On our last morning we had there we went searching for shells. Is this not the prettiest thing you’ve ever seen?!

Favorite #3: These two signs

 

The top one says:
Family

The ones who…1) I love most in this world. 2) Teach me to laugh at myself. 3) Drive me crazy. 4) Keep me sane. 5) Remind me where I came from. 6) Watched me grow. 7) Tell me that I am loved.

The bottom one says:
The South

The place where… 1) Tea is sweet but accents are sweeter. 2) Summer starts in April. 3) Macaroni and Cheese is a vegetable. 4) Front porches are wide and words are long. 5) Pecan pie is a staple. 6) Y’all is the only proper noun. 7) Chicken is fried and biscuits come with gravy. 8) Everything is darlin’ 9) Someone’s heart is always being blessed.

These were in our condo as we walked in and I thought they were so cute. I’ve actually seen them before so I found them for you to purchase for yourself or to use as a gift…

The South only has 20 left. It’s a 6×18. Click for your South Wall Frame.
Now, I couldn’t find the exact family one…but here’s a Family Rules Fence Post Decorative Wall Plaque that I probably like just as much, if not more. There’s only 14 left!

Favorite #4: Seafood

This foodie loves her some seafood. And dad loves seafood. He grew up on the East Coast so he could eat seafood for every meal if he wanted. In fact, he did. His breakfast the past two mornings was shrimp and scallops. He’s a weird human, but we love him anyways. Almost every night in our condo we made crab claws/scallops/shrimp/etc. It was relaxing to kick back on the balcony and enjoy our seafood while watching the waves and listening to the water.

Which brings me to favorite #5: Dad, Mom and my siblings

We ended up taking our own beach pictures, with our tripod and self-timer. Guess who got to be the designated runner? Yep this girl! Actually it wasn’t that bad. And we got some good pictures from it. The whole trip was my favorite part, but my absolute favorite part was just spending time with these people. It’s so much more relaxing when everyone is out of their daily routines. We had maaaany laughs, a lot of good quality time, and a few arguments. But hey, that’s normal for us. I’ll never forget this trip.

Enjoy the weekend. See you on Monday for my post about Gulf Shores/Orange Beach!

Wordless Wednesday

 

 

🙂