New Mommy and Daddy Hospital Survival Kit

A while back, our friends from our small group had their first baby.

I wanted to do something a little special for them, but I didn't exactly know what.

Our small group showered them with diapers, but I wanted to do something else.

I had questioned the husband to see if his wife had received anything that was just for her.

He said no, so I proceeded with my idea.

I had questioned my Instagram friends...because they are a wealth of knowledge.

Seriously...a lot of them have had babies and they knew exactly how to reply to my question.

Enter the idea of a "New Mommy and Daddy Hospital Survival Kit."

I knew that I wanted to give the new mommy something special, but I just had to include some things for the new daddy as well.

I mean, it wouldn't be fair if I didn't. :)

Here's what I included for the new mommy:

Deodorant

Kleenex

Wisps

Body Wash

Shampoo and Conditioner

Q-tips

Mouth Wash

Hair ties/headbands

Facial Wipes

Loofah

Chapstick

Chocolate

What I included for the new daddy (and I'm sure he shared):

Animal Crackers

Gatorade

Granola Bars

100 calorie snack packs

Fruit Snacks

They were so appreciative of it, and the new mommy told me that she had several of those things on her list to go buy.
I was excited to help out.
The cute bag was actually a "garden bag," but it was perfect for the project!

Goodbye, 2012!!

2012 was not my favorite year.

It was a year of lessons and trials but had many blessings.

It was a lonely year.

As I bid 2012 adieu, I welcome 2013 with open arms and high hopes.

As I reflect on this past year, I give you some of the highlights:

I gave my best friend a bridal shower.

I learned that I was red.

I got a job!

I went on Girls' Trip 2012.

I was in my best friend's wedding.

Tyler and I celebrated our first anniversary!

Tyler took me on a trip. 

For our One Year.

We had no plans.

We went sightseeing.

I bought a sewing machine and named her Sally.

We went to Vegas for the first and {probably} last time.

We hosted our first Thanksgiving.

We also had our "first" Christmas...but I'll post about Christmas later.

I hope that you had a wonderful 2012.

I wish you all an even better 2013!!

Every Heart Prepare Him Room

And the winners are:

Mandy, Kim B, Coasterkim, and Abigail 

Please email me at asimplekindoflove {at} gmail {dot} com to claim your prize! :)

Congratulations!

How have you been preparing for this Christmas season?

To be honest with you, I haven't been in the Christmas spirit.

I have my tree and decorations up, and one gift wrapped.

I have a list of gift ideas for people, but haven't acted upon it.

I haven't felt like shopping...honestly, we will probably be buying most gifts online.

Shopping in St. Louis is like an Olympic sport, and I don't have the agility to keep up.

The best thing is that I don't feel like I have to.

Want to know a real confession?

I don't like Christmas music.

Well, I don't like it in November or December.

I LOVE it in July.

So that can't even help me get into the spirit of Christmas.

{Side note:  My favorite Christmas carol is O Holy Night.}

But, I don't mean by gift shopping, baking, listening to Christmas music, or even tree trimming.

How have you been preparing your heart?

If I'm being honest with you, my heart really hasn't been in it.

I feel like I need to keep up with the hustle and bustle of the season, but what I really need to do is slow down and reflect the reason for the season.

I've been very bothered by this lately.

With other things going on and a checklist of Christmas things to do, my heart has just been weighed down.

This morning I prayed,

"God, please prepare my heart for this Christmas season."

Reading the Christmas story in the Bible has made me reflect upon who Christ is.

Not only that, but it has made me reflect on who God is.

He gave is only son so that we may have life with Him!

Can you imagine giving your first born away?

Not only giving him away, but then watching as He was nailed to a cross and died for all of mankind??

I don't have kids yet...and Lord willing, we won't for several more years.

But I cannot even fathom what that would be like.

To know that a God loves each of us sooo much that He gave up His ONLY son that we may live with Him forever?

I don't know about you, but every time I think about that, it brings tears to my eyes.

How could I ever be worthy of a Love like that?

Simply stated, I'm not.

But because of God's Grace, I'm worthy of it.

With all the Christmas activities, parties, family get togethers, and gift giving going on, don't forget to stop and let Jesus into your heart. 

Let Him be the reason that we're doing all of this fun stuff.

Let Him be the reason that we're giving to others.

Let Him be the reason we worship.

How are you preparing Him room in your heart this Christmas season?

via

Re-Grand Opening!!

Yay!! I am back in business...literally!  I really needed the break to figure out a routine with my new job.  I couldn't keep up with all the different custom orders that I was doing.  I was so blessed to have started this while I was unemployed, and now I want to continue this as a creative outlet for me.

So without further ado...here's a 10% off coupon code for you.  Use it at checkout to receive 10% off your entire purchase!

BLOGFRIENDS10

Happy Re-Grand Opening!! :]  Click here to start shopping!

A Wedding Reception

Remember my best friend's wedding?

Well, just last month she had a wedding reception in her hometown.

I was blessed to be a guest at the reception as well.

The decorations were beautiful.

It was set up so that her friends and family could feel like they were at the wedding.

Cake table and beverage station

They had bee decorations on them! So cute!

The beverages were in beehives!

The buffet table

Table decorations

 Being introduced as Mr. & Mrs. Wood!!!

Of course, I had my favorite! Red Velvet!! :]  I absolutely loved the sparkles!

Mr. & Mrs. Wood serenaded the guests with some bluegrass!  While Mr. Wood {the father of the groom} played the gee-tar. :]

Pictures on display as the guests walked in

Guest book table 

A not very attractive photo of me talking with the groom. 

With the beautiful bride!  She's stunning.

Here's a snippet of  a song that they sang...I'm pretty sure my phone told me I didn't have any more room to record the rest.  I was a little upset.  But enjoy what I did get!

Reminisce

So today I'm at home. 

The place

...where I grew up.

...where the majority of my memories are.

...where part of my heart is.

...and most of all, where my family is.

It's the town's favorite {or least favorite} part of the year.

Fair Time!!

I happen to love it.

Everyone comes home.

We all hang out on the square.

We talk, laugh, and eat. 

We see people we haven't seen in a loooong time.

Tonight is my 5 year High School Reunion.

5 YEARS, PEOPLE!

To some, you may think, "That's it?"

But to me, I think, "Where in the world did the time go?"

My class was pretty close...we were all friends.

So I'm incredibly excited to see everyone.

Lots of us have gotten married.  Had babies.  Graduated college.  Gotten jobs.

It will be so cool to see what each person is doing in their life right now.

We had a small class...graduated with 88 or so.

According to facebook {because that's where we get all our knowledge these days}, at least half of my class will be there.

*Oh, and I had to get back on facebook so I could get the information about the reunion.  I wasn't really missing it that much.*

I always dreamed that I would be married at my 5 year reunion.

And I'm blessed to be just that.

I'm blessed to be taking my best friend, so that he can meet all the hooligans that I ran around with.

I'm excited to be meeting my friends' significant others and spouses.

I'm excited to be reacquainted again...to see how we've all matured {or not matured}.

Most of all, I hope to see what God is doing in each and every person's life.

I hope that Christ will radiate through me so that others {who may not know Him} will see something different inside of me. 

Weekend Getaway

I love my husband.

He's taking me on a belated anniversary trip.

Happy One Year to us!

He has given me clues for the past two weeks.

I know where we're going.

Do you?

I'll let you know when we get back.

Meanwhile, I'll let you guess.  :]

Little Miss Susie Homemaker

This week has been incredibly hot.  I've been praying for my dad and brothers every day this week since they have to be out in it. 


This weekend was another random weekend in that we are actually home.  It seems that since we've moved to St. Louis, we haven't stayed here on the weekends.  It is way too hot outside to go anywhere, so we stayed home the entire weekend (with the exception of Friday night).


On Friday night, we went out for celebratory dinner.  What were you celebrating?  I got my first paycheck.  :]  We are so blessed that God gave me this job, and we went out to eat. (I LOVE my husband!!)

After going to several places and walking out because there was going to be at least a 45 minute wait for just the two of us, we walked right in to Tahoe Joe's Steakhouse and got a seat.  It was a little pricey, but hey!  We were celebrating!  I got some de-stinking-licious Prime Rib.  Oh, yum!  Tyler got some really yummy steak and some ribs.


I decided to make the best of the rest of the weekend (I love to explore new cities, and I haven't done much exploring here yet), and decided that I actually really needed this weekend to stay home and clean.  I'm not sure when the last time I actually cleaned the whole apartment, so it needed it.


I deep cleaned my kitchen and rearranged the items on my counter-top.  I actually mopped my floors and washed the rugs, too!  It looks awesome!

I also cleaned out my pantry.  It wasn't horrible (being on a budget and meal planning has helped empty it out some), but there were things that I got from working at a grocery store headquarters that I just didn't have any desire to eat anymore.  I rearranged and organized the pantry as well.

I organized our lunch options from an old shoe box that I had.  I know...it seems like I have OCD, but I promise I don't.

I also was able to start a project I had seen on Pinterest.  I was tired of keys cluttering my kitchen counter, so it was time to do something about it.

Wa-la!

Hopefully I can make it a little cuter in the coming days, but for now, this will do. :]


We did leave to go to church today.  We're doing a series on the Lord's Prayer.  I'm so thankful to have communication with God.  This series has definitely been blessing me.

Here's my fashion diaries from today:

This afternoon we ventured out to the Dollar Tree to get some picture frames! I had ordered more wedding photos for my office and for Tyler's desk and we finally found some frames to put them in!

I am so excited to "pretty up" my office!! :]  


My Granny sends Tyler and I cards in the mail all of the time.  I love getting Granny cards.  I have been wanting to write her back for awhile, so I wrote her a quick little card to let her know I was praying for her and to update her on my new job!

On Sundays, I try to prepare us for the coming week.  I had been seeing lots of my Instagram friends make breakfast casseroles, and I knew instantly that I needed to do that in preparation for my work week.  So today, I did.  Look for the recipe on Friday's blog!

Hopefully, it will taste yummy!  It will also help my morning process.  I am not a morning person at all.  That's why I try to help along my lunches as much as possible.  I get up at the last possible minute, and grabbing filled baggies instead of the baggie and the bag of chips is a lot easier.


If I told my momma what I did this weekend, she would definitely tell me I was "Miss Susie Homemaker."  In return, I would tell her, "That's MRS. to you!"  Haha!!


I hope that your weekend was as blessed as mine was.  Sometimes we all just need to stay home and take a break from the world and focus on the people in our own home.  I wish you all a wonderful week!! Please try to stay cool!