A Look Back on 2013

As 2013 comes to a close, I look back on the year and I see how much God has blessed us.

I am in complete awe as I look here and see what has been accomplished and what we've done.

In 2013, I made my word of the year, 'Grace.'

We bought a new-to-us car for Tyler.

We had our first B&B experience.

We vacationed at Walt Disney World {Here, here, and here}

We started a new way of eating.

I wrote for Young Wife's Guide.

We celebrated two years of marital bliss.

We had a getaway to celebrate those two years.

I quit my horrible job and got a new one!

We bought our first home!

I learned what grace really meant.

Overall, this year has been a milestone for us in our adult-hood.  We've made a lot of adult decisions, but it's been a fun year!  I am extremely blessed to get to do life beside my best friend.  

I hope and pray that your New Year will be blessed! :)

Miscellany Monday

Oh Monday...
Today I woke up feeling like I was ran over by a Mack truck.
But alas, I took some Claritin D and ran out the door.

Our mid-week was a little crazy, because we had a half snow day!
My office closed down at noon, and I made the trek home.
It only took me a little over an hour (it is usually a 35 minute commute).
We got tons of snow in a matter of a couple hours.
I'm thankful we didn't get as much ice as they were predicting.
I'll take snow over ice any day.

Did y'all have a great weekend?
Ours was really busy.


Friday night, we went out for a spontaneous movie night.

I was on the fence about this movie...I'm not really into dark/scary movies at all.
Of course, I would not say that it's a "wholesome" movie, but it was better than I expected it to be.

Saturday mid-morning, we left for a quick trip to Dallas.
Tyler's company was having a Year End Party and paid for us to go!
It was actually kinda nice...

We stayed at the Gaylord Texan.

It was such a fun hotel!

About 8 years ago, my family went to Nashville for the Supernationals Chess Tournament, which was held at the Gaylord Opryland.

Don't laugh...one, if not both of my brothers came home with a trophy.

Anyway, the Opryland hotel was amazing...

And they say, "Everything is bigger in Texas."  

This time I have to disagree.

The Opryland hotel is way bigger than the Texan.

But both have an amazing atmosphere.

It was fun to get dressed up for a night.

My handsome date really knows how to look good!!

Oh, and the food was really good.

We got back Sunday around 1 pm.

So I had plenty of time to catch up on stuff around the house.

Except...I didn't.

I was so tired, I felt like a zombie and didn't do much at all.

We did, however, get our taxes done.

I hate taxes (says the girl with the accounting degree).

Okay...

Here's some other random things that I'm super excited about:

Have you heard of the Hope Spoken Conference?

It's going to be in Dallas next March.

I'm secretly hoping that I can attend since so many of my instagram friends will be there.

I would just LOVE to meet them all.

For more information, you can check out this website.

If you are planning to attend, leave me a comment and let me know!! :)

See that pink-ish button up there that says, "A Simple Kind of Love?"

That is my very first blog advertisement!!!

You can check it out here in person.

I am praying that God will open some doors through this,

and that I can use my shop for His glory!

Oh, and did you hear?

I updated my shop on Friday!

Check it out!!

I hope ya'll have a wonderful week!

Linking up with Carissa today!

Weekend Fun

We had a good weekend.

It's been cool lately, and I'm not complaining.

I love being able to shut off the A/C and open the windows.

The best part is waking up in the morning and all you want to do is stay in the covers because it's sooo chilly.

Saturday started off right.

We slept until 8:30 or so {which was marvelous}.

I got to drink some hot chocolate out of my new mug.

I also did a little meal planning for the new week.

I think the most I did all day {besides getting my oil changed and buying groceries} was baking my awesome husband his favorite kind of cookies...

...snickerdoodles!

I was okay with that.  

We had a busy week, so all we felt like doing was lounging around the house.

Around 3:30, Tyler asked me what the plan was for the rest of the day.

We didn't have one.

So we found out that "The Great Forest Park Balloon Race" was going on, so we decided to head that way to watch.

We couldn't find a stinking parking spot in the whole entire park! 

It seemed like a million people were there!

We ended up driving around the park {which is beautiful}.

Then we headed to the Galleria to walk around the mall for a bit.

On our way there, we could see the balloons coming our direction.

I'm not really sure what the object of it is.

I know that the Energizer Bunny hot air balloon launches first.

The the other balloons launch and whoever throws a birdseed baggie closest to the bunny wins.

Of course, we didn't stay that long.

However, when we got to the mall, we could see them coming our direction.

It was so cool.

I've always wanted to ride in a hot air balloon...

I better put that on my bucket list.

Sunday is "Football Sunday," in our house.

That means that I get to do whatever I want to and not feel guilty. 

Last week I crafted and got my shop ready to reopen.

This week, I decided that I had probably better do some cleaning.

Thinking back to Proverbs 31, that woman was not lazy. 

So that made me get my rear in gear to get the laundry started and the bathroom cleaned.
I also cooked a pretty darn good meal {if I do say so myself}.

I don't want to be "lazy."  

I want to be someone who works as if I'm working for the Lord (Colossians 3:23).

I hope to keep working toward that goal.

What are you working toward this week?

Random Facts About Me

Happy Sunday!!

Since I'm still at home today, I thought I'd share some fun stuff.

{I'm probably in Sunday School at this time when this post is published.}

How about random facts about me?

I've been trying to come up with a list, so here goes...

1.  I'm a list maker:  to-do list, grocery list, wanna-do list, bucket list, blog list.

You name it, and I've probably got a list for it.

No joke.

I'm Red.

2. S-A-L-E is my favorite four letter word.  

Rarely do I ever buy something full price.

There's no need.

3.  I love spontaneity....

...unplanned events and flying by the seat of my pants.

It's wonderful.

4.  At the same time, I love having my family calendar and personal planner filled out and organized so that I know what's happening in the upcoming weeks.

That may sound like an oxymoron, but there is definitely a balance between the two.

5.  My all time favorite movie is Princess Diaries.

I own it on VHS and DVD {oh! as well as the 2nd one, too}.

6.  Writing soothes my spirit and calms my soul.

I may not be the best at conveying my thoughts or just writing in general,

but I write from my heart.

7.  I hate those letter things that you have to fill our when you submit an online form or blog comment to make sure you're a real person.  {I've already made it easier for you to comment on my blog because I don't make you fill that out.  You're welcome.}  

I hate them because it takes me 5 tries at least before I get them right!

**So it's your turn...what do you want to know?  Leave me a comment and maybe I'll do another post with your questions.**

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. 

Mug Swap

So I was actually working on another post when I got really excited.  That post will have to wait for another day...besides, it was a deeper, more intense post which requires a lot more thinking/editing/re-reading before posting.  I thought I at least could share some excitement first.

So since about the end of December, Tyler and I haven't hung out with any friends.  We've seen family lots...sometimes too much.  Haha!  However, we still have yet to make any friends.  It's been difficult, especially for me because I'm such a people-person.  I'm extroverted which means I get my energy from people.  So, I've turned to my blog and my Instagram.  I've made tons of friends through Instagram and am so grateful for them.  They give advice, support, and encouragement.  Tyler says I'm addicted to my phone, but honestly, I'm just "hanging out" with my friends. :]

Through Instagram, I've been able to find people's blogs.  Have I told you how much I love reading people's blogs?  I LOVE it!!  It's neat to get to know people from all over the world just by reading their blog.  Well, I've been following a couple people fairly regularly.  Just recently, I've found other women's blogs through their blogs.  

I happened to stumble upon this blog last week and I started reading.  Come to find out, she has been blogging for two years!  Wow...I just finished my first year, but I don't  blog every day.  Two years is pretty impressive...because when I first started, I didn't know how long I would last at this.  Anyway, so to celebrate her 2 year blogiversary, she's hosting a "Mug Swap."

I thought about doing it, but then I shied away from it.  Why?  Because I was a little intimidated.  All these wonderful women have been promoting it on their site, and I read almost all of their blogs on a daily basis.  They are the "Ultimate Thrifters" and full of grace, compassion, mercy, and hospitality.  I wasn't sure that I could keep up.

Well, fast-forward to Monday (today).  I read again, on these ladies' blogs about this mug swap.  They had just finished up a Thrift Swap and everyone was posting about what they had received.  I thought to myself, "How awesome to be involved in something like that."  So I immediately went back to Kim's blog and signed up.

I got an email reply from her within an hour and she was so excited that I was joining in on the fun and sharing in my excitement that it was my first time for a "blog swap."  So, all this to say that I'm so blessed to be encouraged by all these women who are followers of Jesus Christ!  They have no idea how just by living out their lives for Jesus and blogging about it, how it's made an impact on me.

Would you like to join in on the fun?  I'm so excited to be gaining another friend from this swap!  Don't let Satan turn you away from it like He almost did me. 

If you'd like more details about the swap, click here.  You have until Wednesday to sign up.  Next Sunday will be the day when she gives you your "assignment" (person you buy a mug for).  Then you have until August 23rd to send it to your new friend!! :]

Hope you will join in with me!! :]