Friday Favorites

Can you believe it’s the first Friday of APRIL? Again, 1/4 of 2016 is already gone. Woah, Nelly.

In typical Friday fashion, i’m sharing my FAVORITES with you for this week. Join me and link-up with Erika, Andrea, and Narci.

Happy Friday to you!

The most exciting part of this past week was that Morgan and I threw together a little surprise for my parents. She had no intentions of coming home at all this semester, but when she told me her plans of leaving Gulf Shores halfway through their Spring Break I told her how fun it would be to have her surprise mom and dad. She agreed and we planned.

Our plan was that I would tell my parents I wanted to take them to lunch and when we’d walk in Morgan would be sitting there waiting for us. It worked for the most part, except Morg was awkward and didn’t know what to do so she went bouncing up to them and I couldn’t video it! ^ That was the best I got.

Pissed. Ha, just kidding, she’s in an intense conversation…aka probably being lectured by dad about something 😉

We got the cards going that night and enjoyed the rest of our weekend as a family of 6 again. So much fun.

My family has an obsession with Buffalo Wild Wings. Everyone but me that is. My siblings went for lunch that afternoon, but I tagged along for the company. You see, when Morgan isn’t here my brothers don’t want anything to do with me.

And then Sunday night she had to leave again. All good things come to an end, but as mom says, that just means she’s one day closer to coming home again.

While you northerners have been bundled up in your hats, coats, scarves, and snow flurries, we southerners have been laying out in our backyards catching some vitamin D. I’m usually not that excited for summer, but for some reason this year i’m seriously looking forward to it! This sun has been my FAVORITE lately and it’s putting me in the best spirits. I’ve been taking my reading out there while (hopefully) getting darker. We all know homegirl needs some of that.

On Tuesdays, I have a 3.5 hour break in between my classes. I dread it, but I’ve learned to take advantage of it. Usually I stay on campus, but this past week I drove to our nearest Starbucks and was pleasantly surprised to see this little outdoor area in the sun with comfortable cushioned chairs.

 

I pulled out my lunch, I got my coffee, and I ended up being so productive. It was one of those “ahhhh, I am seriously enjoying life right now” moments. You know those. This was definitely my FAVORITE 3.5 hours from this week.

For a while now I have been trying to get myself into hot tea. I just see all the advantages (on Pinterest of course) and I see how many people love it. I’ve been trying to detox lately and I picked up this Yogi Detox tea (which i’m totally loving) and sip on it right before bed while I finish up my blog or whatever it is that i’m doing. It seems like Yogi is everybody’s FAVORITE right now so I had to test it out. So far…2 thumbs up.

Okay. Hi, my name is Molly and i’m addicted to chocolate. And dessert. And having a chocolate dessert every night after dinner. Like it’s just a thing now. I was at the grocery store on Monday and snooped up and down each aisle as I always do. I’m notorious for spending way too much time at the grocery store.

WELL.

This week I came upon this little snack. And friends. My life is changed for the better. I have a chunk or two every night. It goes along with my food allergies to dairy and gluten, it’s healthy yet it’s dessert, and it’s in line with my sugar detox. Like, there’s no sugar (because it’s sweetened with date paste). A packaged product with no sugar? I about died. If you see it, just try my FAVORITE grocery store find.

A couple days ago I found this bag and within seconds of spotting it, I knew it was a keeper. It’s my FAVORITE. It’s big, it’s roomy, it’s perfect for these upcoming summer months. I’m totally loving all this light colors this year. Lots of white and stripes. Two of my FAVORITE things.

This week on the blog…

Monday I shared an update on my 2016 Bucket List. Some of my FAVORITE goals have been checked off already.

On Tuesday I shared what my talk show would look like if I had my own. You can bet two of my FAVORITE ladies were on there.

It was the first Wednesday of the month, so of course, I hosted my FAVORITE linkup…Bookworm Wednesday. It’s good stuff.

And yesterday I shared my FAVORITE go-to breakfast recipe at the moment. Healthy almond butter banana waffles for the win!

Have the best weekend!

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! 🙂

Friday Favorites

This is the first time in a long time that I can say I am NOT excited about Friday being here. It means spring break week is over and I am not a fan.

But the weeks keep on moving so I have to get over it. Sigh. Today i’m linking up again with Erika, Andrea, and Narci for Friday Favorites!

Date Paste

So I mentioned that I was doing a sugar detox weeks ago. Well, now that i’m on vacation I couldn’t still do it. But as soon as I get back I am doing it again because I LOVED IT. This is date paste that I made and used it as sweetener in all my recipes and it is my absolute FAVORITE sweetener ever.

Class?

I have a Tuesday night class and a couple of weeks ago absolutely nobody showed up. I mean I guess that’s a fib because there were 4 of us. I was so mad and it was my LEAST FAVORITE part of the week. I did get a lot of work and blogging done but why even hold class when nobody is there??!!

Tanning in March

I posted this on snapchat the other day. It was early March and I was tanning while drinking my FAVORITE La Croix. I couldn’t complain. After winter and cold weather I always get so excited for some sunshine and warmth. Follow me on snapchat… i’m “mollymiddleton” pretty simple!

Coffee

I’m sure if you went through my Friday FAVORITES posts, the majority of them would have coffee on them. It’s not a secret to anyone that this drink is my FAVORITE. I love picking up a cup filled with my drink with a picture of my girl on the front.

It’s just a beautiful sight when you’re on your way to work in the morning.

22

On the 7th my FAVORITE girl turned 22. She came home for the weekend and I celebrated with her, Tyler, and their families that night. Food, friends, and my bestie. Such a good night! Happy Birthday Em!

The Sauna

My FAVORITE place to go right after a good workout is the sauna. I love to sweat. That’s no secret either. But as soon as I get done with my HIIT class on Saturday morning, I like to walk on over to the sauna and stand in there for about 20 minutes before I carry on with my day. It’s so refreshing and I would recommend it to those of you who have a gym membership with a sauna!

On the blog…

Last Friday, I talked about my FAVORITE lactose free products.

Next Friday, I’m talking about my FAVORITE gluten free products.

You won’t want to miss it. Just like I hope you didn’t miss our guest bloggers this week…thanks again ladies. XOXO.

To see why we all love ______ and how we think you can too. Click the one that interests you:

Why I love Running, and you can too!
Why I love Yoga, and you can too!
Why Kylie loves Spinning, and you can too!
Why Jamie loves Celebrating, and you can too!
Why Christina loves Hosting, and you can too!
Why Julie loves Hiking, and you can too!
Why Randi loves Pittsburgh, and you can too!
Why Angie loves Self Care, and you can too!
Why Mattie loves Zumba, and you can too!
Why Katie loves Reading, and you can too!
Why Lindsay loves Hot Yoga, and you can too!
Why Emily loves Decorating, and you can too!
Why Tara loves Cooking, and you can too!
Why Erika loves Online Shopping, and you can too!
Why Lauren loves Traveling, and you can too!
Why Shelly loves Giving to Others, and you can too!
Why Alexandra loves Photography, and you can too!
Why Haley loves Thrifting, and you can too!
Why Jacquelyn loves Sewing, and you can too!
Why Jackie loves Orlando, and you can too!

Have a great weekend!

Lately…

I have a list of posts that I could have put in here, but instead I decided to do a little life lately check. I like doing these every so often…they’re just fun to me! Beware: this is a long post since I haven’t done one since November!!!

Lately, I have been getting to Church a little early on Wednesday nights to have some quiet time or school work time before my high schoolers start getting there.

With a mocha fit frappe of course. Honestly, I think any kind of iced/frozen drink (especially if it has coffee) is the way to my heart. See. These are two separate nights!

Lately, I have found Gilmore girls re-runs on TV so when i’m at home eating, I like to remember the good ol’ Gilmore girls watching days 🙂 Oh and you heard a couple episodes are coming to Netflix right? So much of my heart was caught up in this show as a middle schooler. Ahhhh!!

Shortly after the new year, we (as in Mom, Morgan, and I) went to some shops so Morgan could exchange her Lululemon leggings and on our way out, we were walking by Mi Cocina and we were all feeling Mexican food. #gimmealltheguac #andchips #andsalsa

Lately this is what my desk has been looking like. My planner, recipe books, my Bible, Pandora in the background…gettin’ work done, bein’ productive, one day at a time!

The first week back of the semester I tried out for my school’s volleyball team. I didn’t tell anyone I was doing it, but when I made the team I finally told the fam. I decided not to join the team due to my schedule this semester and other things, but I was still pretty proud that after not playing for 4 years I even made it! (This was before I told them I probably wasn’t going to do it.)

I told you that on the 11th, I turned 22 years old. That Friday night I had a birthday dinner and Valley, Maddie, Emily J., Me, Reeana, Emily S., Morgan were all there. I love these people. They are the absolute best!

A photographer at the restaurant came and took our picture and on our way out showed us the original, and one where they switched our face on someone else’s. So funny! I snapped a picture…and I wasn’t suppose to because they wanted me to buy it. #oops #buti’mnotsorry #ididn’tliketherestaurant

We went back to my house after dinner and pictures and these three stayed and hung out with me for a little bit. We decided to run up to the grocery store and buy a gluten free cake mix for them to try…and me to be able to eat. This was after going about 4 places for dessert and they were all closed! #rude

Emily took this picture and said “put this on the blog and tell them you forgot to add water to your cake mix”. Because I did. And then she was convinced my mom does all my baking and cooking that I post about on the blog. #bloggerfail #i’mreallyintohashtagstoday

And then this one saying we added water so it looks normal again. She cracks me up because she’s always like “are you taking this picture to put on the blog?”. Love that girl!

My personal photographer got me pouring the mix into the pan 🙂

And the (uncooked) finished product! Gluten free funfetti cake, y’all. They all tried it and said it was good! And I don’t think they’d lie to me…

Lately, i’ve been trying to spend my free time with my Bible, my journal, and my Jesus Calling. Quiet Times are the best and i’m really working on this becoming a priority and not a “free time” thing.

Lately, i’ve been drinking a lot of this. But is that really much of a surprise? Nope. My iced Starbucks of choice is an iced doppio espresso with soy milk. This day I got 1/2 a pump of mocha. I don’t like sweet coffee as it is (never thought i’d say that) and now that i’m doing the sugar detox, I don’t get it. And I don’t miss it! Tomorrow i’m talking about what you can/can’t eat on the detox since I got some questions about it 🙂 So come back!

The Monday after my birthday dinner, Valley and her husband invited her brother and I to a Dallas Mavs game with them. Uh, going to watch sports? I’m in!

We got a group picture with Valley’s little boy Clay. Couldn’t you just eat him up?! Oh yeah, and she’s due February 22nd with her second boy!!! I cannot wait!

Lately there has been A LOT of traffic around here. I think I read somewhere that the Dallas metroplex is the fastest growing metroplex in the nation. It’s true. And it’s kind of ridiculous that we can’t even get anywhere without it taking 25 turns of a light. Like, do you see it all the way up there??? Don’t drive with me, i’m not pleasant.

The other day at school I was fuhhhreeezzinnggg and tired. The only obvious remedy was hot coffee (I know, where is my iced coffee!) during my lecture for the night. Yes, coffee at 5:30PM. #becausecollege

Mom went to visit her dad the other week and she sent us a picture of her in the snow and considering it’s been between 50-70 degrees around here, i’ve just been taking a dip in the pool. I mean come on??? It’s February! Texas weather I tell ya.

Lately, i’ve been hitting the steam room after my workout classes. This was my first time in a sauna/steam room setting so I had to document it. It was always something I wanted to do, but didn’t know what to do so I never did. I was like, do I go with shoes? or a swimsuit? or what do I do?

The next time I was in there, homeboy decided to do pushups in the middle of the steam room. I’m sorry what??? Sit. Down.

The other day we got a ping pong table. WARNING: DON’T GET ONE IT WILL TAKE AT LEAST 2 DAYS TO SET IT UP. Ryan was obviously super helpful…

Whew! I think you’re caught up with the random happenings in my life. Did you make it? I hope so. Now I need to go tell my mom to read this post so she can learn to hashtag properly…

Now you deserve a second cup of coffee! Have a great Thursday!

Friday Favorites: New Years Edition

The second Friday of 2016 is among us. And I hope that Andrea, Erika, and Narci are still doing Friday Favorites this year.

This is probably the only time i’m sad for a Friday to be here. And it’s because I know that come Tuesday, i’ll be sitting in classes for the majority of the day. Joy.

And i’ll probably be wearing something like this outfit. My aunt gave me this workout shirt and new running shoes for Christmas. She couldn’t have done better…I asked for new running shoes since mine were about 2 years old and very worn. These ASICS are a perfect fit. And the shirt is something I also wanted but didn’t have on my Christmas list. This is my daily uniform and it’s my FAVORITE. 🙂

I’ve said it plenty of times before, and i’ll say it again. ASICS are the BEST running shoes out there. That’s my personal opinion. And Nike Frees are the worst. That’s also my personal opinion and the Nike salesman that I talked to about them. If you’re trying to run/do any kind of workout in Nike Free shoes and you’re having problems, seriously get new shoes!

The day before NYE I went into work and she told me there wasn’t much going on, so I could leave. Well, I left and headed straight for Reeana. She got a new apartment over in the Fort Worth area, so I grabbed a Starbucks to sip on, turned my music up way too loud, and made the hour drive to see her new place and hang out for a bit!

I told her to pick a place to eat that was on her list to visit/try but she hadn’t been before because it was on me! The place she wanted to go to was closed (RUDE) so we went a couple blocks down to a bar/grill type place. She got a beer and we shared their fish tacos (YUM) and sat and talked about life for a couple hours.

I tried to get out of there to make it back to the gym before traffic hit the city, but I ended up getting stuck it in part of the way.

We had a mini-Christmas exchange with each other and along with some face masks, she gave me this blanket. It is my FAVORITE and I haven’t let go of it since I got it. This was the picture I sent her after I got a picture from her that she hung the two pieces of decoration I bought for her apartment.

NYE was me hitting the gym for an 8:30 dance class. HAHA to that. And then I went straight to work for the lunch shift. When I got home it was time for the OU game in which they lost to Clemson (WHATEVER LAUREN). My blog friend Lauren went to Clemson so I was texting her about it. And she made sure to let me know she was super excited about it 😉 The rest of the night consisted of me spending time at home cuddled up by the fire with my FAVORITE Molly milk and cookies. AKA Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough QuestBar and lactose free milk.

And then I went to bed after the ball dropped, because is that not what every 21 year old did on NYE?! #noshame #ilovesleep #anddoingnothing

It’s been rather warm for Texas around the Holidays. But on New Years Day when my dad wanted to go for a walk, it was NOT warm. Walking with my dad is one of my FAVORITE things to do, so I couldn’t say no when he asked…but a mile in and I was done because my nose was running and I had to work that night.

New Years Day night I went into my other job (which yes is waiting tables) and we were serving black eyed peas! Apparently it’s a southern thing, but you are suppose to eat black eyed peas on NYD for good luck. I love beans and traditions so this was one of my FAVORITES. Although…I didn’t have any. What, Molly?!

The rest of last weekend I spent working out and going to work. How typical for me. Man, I am so not ready to go back for another semester of classes. I’ve enjoyed this past week too much.

Here’s to hoping this weekend goes by EXTRA slow for us all! 😉

Happy 2016!

Hello everyone! Welcome to 2016!!!

I am so excited to be ringing in the new year with each of you. I don’t know if I would still be blogging if it weren’t for meeting y’all and the support you have given me. I know I tell you all the time, but I just look forward to your comments and e-mails so much! And I truly mean that.

Today’s assortment are a couple random things that I haven’t shared with you yet. 🙂

Last week, Alexandra featured me as a guest blogger. 5 things I love about Texas…check it out!

If you remember, my friend Tara at Hill Country Heart won my ultimate Chranksgiving (I made this word up) giveaway. Well I came home last week after work so it was super late and I was in a mood for who knows what reason. I see that there is a package from Tara to me. I was like there’s no way that she sent me something but remembered that she had my address since she won my giveaway package. She sent a pair of her favorite boot socks and a little prayer box for me with a thank you for everything in the giveaway. I mean, seriously. I have THE best blog friends and i’ve worn the boot socks approximately 3902572 times already.

Speaking of THE best blog friends, Kylie at Kylie McGraw is one of them. So I get home the next night which just so happened to be Christmas Eve and my sister’s like “you got a package, open it” and I couldn’t wait until the next day so I did. And Kylie sent me this cute M keychain. I love it. It’s already on my purse looking faaabulousss 🙂

THANK YOU KYLIE AND TARA!!!! You both made my entire week by that your thoughtful gesture 🙂

The other morning I had bought a Starbucks coffee and didn’t like it, so I took it back and got a new drink. Well I decided that I wanted to take that drink to my dad at his office, so I did. I don’t even remember snapping this picture, but apparently I did cause I found it on my phone. I think he was very appreciative even though he said “bring it earlier next time”. Beggers can’t be choosers, pops.

This is my new favorite flavored drink. I love vitamin water and this is Costco’s brand. Raspberry and green tea. They just go together. And green tea is supposed to be very good for you, I always read that we are suppose to drink it so here I am…drinking it!

And for fun…I loved seeing which posts other bloggers have found to be their most viewed, so i’m adding mine today. Here’s the top 6:

Show and Tell: Your Yard
Favorite Things: Target Edition
Show and Tell: Your Home
Show and Tell: Beauty Routine
Show and Tell: A Day In The Life
Meet My Peeps

So I should just Show and Tell all the time i’m thinking 😉

And the top 6 most viewed pictures…are random. Apparently we all have a mutual hatred for Wednesdays.

And you all loved my yard.

And apparently really loved my sister’s sprained ankle…

And liked what I put together back in November of 2014 🙂

So random, right?

Next week will be another week’s worth of Online Bible Study. I’ll be sharing my resolutions for 2016 and recapping 2015’s. And don’t forget about Bookworm Wednesday!

I hope you eat some black eyed peas, collard greens, and pork today 🙂 Happy January 1, let’s get started on our new goals!

Friday Favorites: Thanksgiving Tradition + Fitness Goals Update

I mean, honestly. Can you believe that it’s already the SECOND Friday of DECEMBER?!

As usual, i’m linking up with Erika, Andrea, and Narci for Friday Favorites. It’s Friday Favorites…Thanksgiving in December style?

I forgot to include this in my Thanksgiving post, but i’m probably going to have to go back and add it. A couple years ago I cam up with a fun Thanksgiving tradition. Don’t get me wrong, I love the food that the Holiday brings, but I love the Holiday for just what it stands for. A couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, everyone draws one name (secretly) of another person in the family. For the person that you draw, you have to write them a letter of why you’re thankful for them and then we get that person a little gift. Nothing big, just a little gift.

This year, Morgan had me…and she did awesome. This was my gift from my sissy and she picked it to personally match my office (from a year ago) because she knows how much I love my yellow and grey together.

This year, we started another tradition. Mom came up with the idea of everyone writing something about each other, then crumbling up the paper and sticking it in their glass. After dinner and gift exchange, the person to our right read each note and you had to guess who it was.

I saved my little papers from everyone to tape to my home “desk”…so I can look at it when I need to smile 🙂

Dad said: Molly’s perseverance
Mom said: Focused on health and fitness
Morgan said: I’m thankful your worms (inside joke, she’s referring to my health issues) didn’t kill you and you started cooking more for all of us.
Rick said: I’m thankful you let me pick on you and still be nice to me.
Ryan said: I love your room because you share it with me.

Well, since mom mentioned health and fitness above, i’m going to roll with that.

Month 2 Fitness Goals: Week 1 Update

Wow this week pretty much got away from me and I didn’t even remember that I had fitness goals that I was working on!

• No eating within an hour of a meal. I started keeping a food journal if I didn’t already mention that, and as i’m looking back on it now i’m seeing that there was only 1 day that I didn’t stick to this goal.
• No QuestBars or Larabars more than 2 days in a row. Boo. I didn’t accomplish this goal this week. Sometimes a bite of one of these bars just sounds sooooooo good. Every day. Sigh.
• Continue working out 5 days a week. Yep, check! I’ve worked out every day except for Monday this week.
• Be in bed by 11:00. Oh, yeah. Well like I said this week snuck away from me. I feel like i’m trying to fit a lot of things/accomplish a lot in a short amount of time, so there were a couple nights I was still up and about after 11:00.

Yesterday morning I was running some errands and stopped at Starbucks to pick up a gift card. I have cut back SO MUCH this fall on my coffee intake, which is probably a good thing. In the last month and a half i’ve only had 8 cups of coffee. And usually when I do I get an Americano with soy or a Blonde Roast Misto with coconut milk.

But yesterday I decided I deserved a 1 pump iced mocha with soy. It was the best. Give in to your cravings every once in a while…it’s good for the soul!

Online Bible Study is starting on SUNDAY!!!!!! Wahoo!

Those of you signed up: You should be receiving an e-mail from me today.

Those of you not signed up: You will get a glimpse of what it’s going to be like. If nothing else, just pray for all of us joining in on this journey together. And I hope you’ll consider be part of it next time. 🙂

Annddd last thing today, if you’ve missed any other posts on the blog this week, check them out.

Monday: Month 2 Fitness Goals
Tuesday: Show and Tell: Christmas Decorations
Wednesday: December Goals (A recap of 2015 goals and everything accomplished.)
Thursday: Guest Blogger! Lauren talked about why she loves traveling, and we can too.

Aaaahh, enjoy your second weekend of December!

The ULTIMATE Colors of Life Blog GIVEAWAY!

HI FRIENDS!!!

Right now we are in between two of the best Holidays of the year. And to show you just how THANKFUL I am for you, today i’m giving away the ultimate Colors of Life blog gift. It’s a MERRY Chranksgiving (Christmas + Thanksgiving ;)).

Ya know, since this is the Colors of Life blog I decided to go with a theme. I am going to giveaway an item for each Colors of Life post i’ve done this far. All to make a HUGE gift.

 One of my first COL posts was about my time at The University of Oklahoma. So for my OU post, i’m giving away these tailgating napkins. I just don’t think some of you out there would’ve appreciated the ol’ crimson and cream like I would 😉

My next post was on Friendships. For my friendships post i’m giving away these initial mugs for the winner and a friend of their choice, along with a gift card to Starbucks. Those two can enjoy a Starbucks date with new mugs!

  + 

The post on my health leads me to think of a healthy lifestyle. One thing i’ve found that really works for me as well as something I really love…is yoga. And what’s the number 1 brand for yoga? Yep, Lululemon. For my post on health, I threw in a Lululemon Headband. LOVE these. This one is the flyaway headband and is highly recommended.

Then I blogged about my relationship with Jesus. When I think about that relationship I think of the way Jesus and I talk..through the Bible. I’m including a Bible in this giveaway, if you have one that you like…give it to someone else who might not have one!

I talked about Quiet Times, so next is a copy of Jesus Calling, because this is what I use during mine and I definitely believe you need this in your life. Again, if you have a copy, I challenge you to give it to someone who might not.

As for crafting…I crafted one of these chocolate sleigh (thanks Pinterest). You need chocolate. And it fits the time of year.

Eating Disorders was a hard one for me to think of something for. However, I chose to give away food…two of my favorite bars/snacks/desserts to keep me healthy but still feeling good about myself. Ps i’ll be willing to negotiate your favorite flavor if you’re not a fan of mine 😉

Being an introvert is something else I know about myself. For this COL I chose this wooden plaque. I feel like there are so many meanings to it, and I really like message especially when referring to introversion.

The color of my life that is blogging led me to give away a pair of earrings that every. blogger. wants. or has. It just makes sense.

Having a Military Father. Gosh, well i’m not giving away my dad so instead a red, white, and blue picture frame. It’s festive, fun, and will be great decoration all throughout the year. Cute army guy not included 🙂

Anxiety and Depression really go hand in hand for me. The best temporary relief for these two colors of life is Bath and Body Work’s Aromatherapy. I promise you will love it.

A Homebody. To which many of you can relate. I read Let’s All Be Brave by Annie Downs about being brave. She talked about leaving home and other life experiences where she was forced to be brave. It really made me think and now I want someone else to read it and be challenged by it!

And last but not least…A Night Owl. These socks are my absolute favorite. You can pretty much find me in fuzzy socks no matter the season. And these are night owl socks. They’re perfect!

Some of these items I don’t have because it’s going to be personalized based upon the winner. Therefore, I don’t have a picture of everything together.

All of this…PLUS

THESE? I mean, i’m just excited about today!

Sorry the widget isn’t showing up…click the link below to figure out how you can enter! Winner will be announced MONDAY MORNING!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck! PS…you might want to tell your friends to enter (then you might have a better chance of winning the friendship gift ;))

Life Lately

The last time that I caught you up on life lately was in July, so guess what? It’s time to get you caught up again…

…all the way back to the second to last weekend of October.

Reeana and I met up for margaritas at Fuzzys with some chips and guacamole. She obviously knows the way to my heart. A margarita or a mimosa..sign me up for both! We planned to go to our high school’s volleyball game against our rivals and we ended up spending the night laughing about high school and old memories and our coach.

That Saturday night my co-worker got married. Let’s all swoon over her cake here for a second.

I MEAN…if I could’ve had some I totally would have told you how amazing it was.

I have some of the best co-workers.

Adam is a hoot and a half. He had me cracking up all night! Love him!

The next week came and went…you already heard about that Friday.

So Halloween night had me spread out on the couch covered in blankets, watching Scandal, and eating WAY too much Halloween candy. Because I could. And because it was the perfect Saturday night.

Randomly around 9:00 the trick-or-treaters stopped coming. I mean, seriously so sad because even when I went out nobody was walking around either! Where are they?! I got a random craving for some coffee and hit up Starbucks for an Americano.

And then I forgot how much I missed my coffee after not having it for a while…

…that I went the next day, which meant THE RED CUP IS BACK! Happy November 1st!

I recently started volunteering on Wednesday nights for our Church’s youth group. I had been praying about this for a while and just felt called to be a leader for high school girls. I remember that time in my life and wish I would have had a college student as a leader as a Godly example or just someone to talk to. I was placed with freshman girls and have been going about 3 weeks. Praise Jesus for answering prayers and giving me exactly what I was praying for. I now have 4 years with these girls and know that it will challenge me in the best way possible. I mean, lifting my hands to praise Jesus with at least 100 high school and middle school students is exactly the thing that makes my heart the happiest.

It’s been rainy and getting colder here. I feel like class shouldn’t be held if it’s raining. Can we make this a rule? Government?

Last Thursday, Ry texted me to tell me the high school volleyball playoff game was that night. I asked him if he was going and he said “if you do then I will” so I told him to get mom to bring him to my school and i’d take him since I was still in class. So…I spent my Thursday night at the volleyball court again. This is the best picture I could get with him 😦

I spent my Friday, Saturday, and Sunday reading Candace Cameron Bure’s book “Dancing Through Life”. I just bought another one of her books too. Come back for Bookworm Wednesday to hear what I thought about them 😉

Put yo’ hands in the air if you love Fridays! I spent this past weekend hanging out with Jonathan, his friends, and his brother!

I’m pretty sure I wore this outfit all weekend too and I have #noshame. It was so comfy and perfect for our weather here in TX.

Now you’re caught up. Aren’t you glad?! Me too 😉

Friday Favorites: Thanksgiving Break Edition

I’m so ready for this week of Friday Favorites, because it’s been a good week except for this crazy amount of school work that I have to complete by Sunday.

Join in with me, Andrea, Narci, and Erika for Friday Favorites!!

Friday, my favorite little one and I went shopping so he could get some Christmas gifts. We traveled to a nearby store for him to sniff some perfumes, look around the store, and pick something out in time for me to make it to work later that night. Love having brothers!

Saturday night I was asked to babysit and I can’t say no because look how adorable this one is? She and her brothers had mac-n-cheese for dinner and then we played for a while and pulled out the game sequence. Then, when it was bath time I found my favorite animal print headband in her bathroom and had to take a selfie….

 I spent my morning at Church, because what is a better way to start your Sunday? I wasn’t able to make it the week before, so I was totally loving it and I was looking forward to hearing another message in our current series. This is my favorite part of Sundays.

Monday morning I started off with an 8:00am test. In order to make it through the day I had to swing through Starbucks for one of my favorite drinks, a Pumpkin Spice Frappuchino because how else would I have had the energy to make it through? McCafe was too far out of my way, so Starbucks was a good second.

If you follow me on Instagram, which you should, and if you don’t…what the heck, man? Do it HERE…you saw this adorable, precious, handsome, favorite boy that I got to see Tuesday morning. This is my friend’s baby and also my new boyfriend, Clay. Couldn’t you die looking at that smirk??? #heartmelted Also, when I looked at that second picture, i’m wondering….is my nose really that big? It’s true your nose grows over time, but obviously i’m clueless that it grows to be like Pinocchio.

I started wrapping presents this week and also made my favorite Thanksgiving side dish for our feast yesterday. A good start to my Thanksgiving break, indeed! And i’m feeling so relieved that I don’t have to worry about my own shopping during the holidays, and I get to relax and watch everyone else stress about last minute gifts. Ahhhhh, it’s good to be me!

Happy Thanksgiving from my home to yours!!!!!!

EEEEEK, PSA PSA PSA!
My Stella and Dot trunk show is still going on as you know, and the sale section is 25% off right now, yes!!! This ends Sunday you need to see it! I’m totally determined you will find something that you love. If you’re a follower of Shay’s over at Mix and Match Mama, you will see how much she loves Stella and Dot too!

So, click HERE and once you hit “Shop online now” you will want to head over straight to their sale page. Have a great weekend, and find tons of sales!

To Houston

I was told Thursday night that I was going to Houston this weekend to drive my dad for my sister’s soccer tournament. I worked Friday night, but we were going Saturday morning and then came home last night. One of my September goals is to work out 3-4 times/week, so I woke up extra early Saturday morning to run (about 7) which is sooooo unlike me. I’m not a morning worker-outer. So this is my “i’m-yawning-it’s-too-early-to-work-out face”. Clever, huh??

My goofy father has to clean the car before he goes on a road trip. Goofy.

Of course, we have to stop at Starbucks for dad. He was able to drive because this was during the day, which is why I had to go along because he is blind in one eye. So I had to drive most of the time.

And on the way down, we saw cotton fields. And the state penitentiary.

And we were ready for a snack by 1:00. 2 hours on the road is just so exhausting, you know. That’s what boredom does to you.

Once we got there we got some BBQ for lunch. We like to go to local places that we would normally can’t go to. We got some chopped brisket and sausage on the side.

 

Morgan’s game wasn’t until 5:00, so after lunch we went back to the hotel to read. Dad caught up on the paper and I got farther into Sweet Salt Air. Y’all. SO GOOD!!! I couldn’t put it down.

The game got rained out. You can kind of tell from this picture, but I thought this was a beautiful picture from our creator.

For dinner Saturday we ordered some King Crab legs and other seafood. My dad is the king of seafood, i’m telling you, I even said it in our orange beach vacation. It was sooooooooo delicious!!!!

Then afterwards I wanted to go look around at stores, because we had nothing else to do. So TJ Maxx and Bed Bath and Beyond it was. Our thing is to do last minute BBB shopping for my mom…and she knows it to. Dad even said “it’s just not the same unless we’re here last minute with everyone else” so we didn’t get anything for her…yet. Don’t worry, we will!

She haaaaaaates candles, because dad ALWAYS gets her candles every year. It’s just a joke now.

I’m telling you…

At TJ Maxx we found dad some good ol’ bargains. He was digging this whole shopping thing.

Then we went back to the hotel and read until we fell asleep. Yesterday morning Morgan’s game was at 11. So we got breakfast at the hotel and had to drop her off an hour early. On the way to her fields she scouted Trader Joe’s. So YES WE WENT! I got my yummy iced coffee because my mom said she couldn’t find it here.

And of course, a stop at Starbucks. Y’all. Starbucks has mini!!!!! So I got one this time. Java Chip Frap with soy. Ahhhh haven’t had one of those in forever. And dad got his two drinks. Goofy.

And we watched some soccer in Houston humidity….oh my gosh i’m so glad I don’t live there.

After her game we went back to the hotel room for showers and Applebee’s then got on the road. And on the way back I attempted a picture of the Sam Houston statue. Kind of hard from the driver’s seat but this is the best I could do.

Needless to say it was a fun, spontaneous vacation. Plenty of daddy-daughters time, food, starbucks, and humidity. It beats working for sure.

P.S. I recently signed up for the Susan G. Komen race for the cure, if you feel inclined to donate my fundraising goal is $100. Follow this link http://northtexas.info-komen.org/site/TR?px=19280923&fr_id=4135&pg=personal and make your donation 🙂