had our college roommate christmas brunch last weekend.

thank you katie for hosting :)

we played Oprah and each brought three of our "favorite things". we drew names and each ended up with some goodies.

julia brought scarves which is why three people in the picture have the same scarf.

i cannot explain why all the people who got julia's scarves also happened to be wearing stripes. we are weird. :) and i love it :)

xoxoxo

goodbye november

goodbye thanksgiving/fall decorations.

here's to some new decor and a very busy calendar. :)

coffee date

so thankful for friends that pack their thermos and let me practice :) so cute. 

vK

these sweet friends let me take some pictures of their cute lil fam on saturday :)

so. freaking. precious.

xoxoxo

so sad

i have just been in a mood.

going through the Crate and Barrel/ Pottery Barn Christmas catalogues, thinking about the new matching Christmas stockings I want to get Drew and I. Looking at new outrageously priced Christmas ornaments I want to hang on our tree. blah blah blah. 

the Christmas ads/ catalogues have slowly started coming and I was even starting to make out my Christmas list, trying to figure out how I could trick Drew into getting me ankle boots AND some new knee-high boots. Both are the trend, ya know.

I want a new phone case, I want a new car. blah blah blah.

my adorable little sister is a first grade teacher.  i called her after work today while I was in a traffic jam waiting to go to the grocery store to get some last minute candy. I was thinking about how the Snickers and Reese Cups were probably all sold out and I would be stuck getting the tootsie roll/dots combination. Yuck. Kids would be mad at us for handing that out and probably egg our house. Duh. 

So she was telling me about all the difference costumes the kids were. A cute little pirate, lots of Batman and Iron Mans. Ya know, the predictable. 

Then she told me about the little boy whose family she knew didn't have a whole lot of money. He didn't bring a costume to school and at recess she sent him down to the counselor's office to pick something out to wear for the party. 

When he got back and she asked him what he had picked out, she said she almost burst into tears. 

He had the BIGGEST smile on his face and was SO excited with his new costume. 

it seriously broke my heart. like seriously. my heart aches when I think about it! 

WHAT IN THE WORLD AM I DOING? I WRITE THIS SILLY LITTLE BLOG ABOUT MY LIFE WHEN SERIOUSLY THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT NEED TO KNOW THEY ARE CARED ABOUT! i spend so much time in my own little world, concerned with my own petty problems. and i am sick of it. 

i have it so, so good. SO GOOD. That simplest little gesture made that little boy's day. His whole Halloween. 

As tomorrow comes and we enter the Holiday season, I want this year to be different. I don't want to go through November and December focusing on myself. What I want, how I want things to be. It's not about me. 

It's about that dollar bill thrown in the bell ringers red buckets, it's about that Adopt-a-Family program at work. It's about that extra "Merry Christmas" to that person who can do absolutely nothing for you.

It's about that sweet little first grader who came to school without a costume. and more importantly, the gesture of that sweet school counselor who made that little boy's day.



and some halloween love that made me happy today:

who is that babe on the left? oh, just MY MOM! hahahaha

cute little jenna mae was our first trick-or-treater!

kailee sent me this. her costume for first grade tomorrow :)

 baby lew came to our little shindig last week :) 

dracula blood cocktail :) cranberry sierra mist, vodka and a maraschino cherry (blood clot. duh) :)

i busted out the powerdrill for this years pumpkin :) 

i hope you have a great halloween!

photo session

we went down to the dock this last weekend and these pretty people let me take some pictures of them. I have come to the realization that no matter how many "camera cheat sheets" I read, I really just need to take pictures to get better. That's the only way it's gonna happen people. 

or just take pictures of beautiful couples. :)

aka. if you want to be my best friend, let me practice taking pictures of you :) please and thank you :)

october 29

this is what my devotional read to me today:


"linger in My presence awhile.

Rein in your impulses to plunge into the day's activities. 

Beginning your day alone with Me is essential preparation for success.


A great athlete takes time to prepare himself mentally for the feat ahead of him before he moves a muscle. 

Similarly, your time of being still in My presence equips you for the day ahead of you.

Only I know what will happen to you this day.

I have arranged the events you will encounter as you go along your way.

If you are not adequately equipped for your journey, you will grow weary and lose heart. 

Relax with me while I ready you for action."

Ephesians 2:10, Hebrews 12:3


Can I get an 'amen'????? ugh. I SO need to read this every single morning. I feel like I am growing weary and losing heart by about Tuesday each week. 

relax with Him? sounds like a plan to me. even if that means setting the alarm clock a few minutes earlier than usual. usual = 4:15am so pray for me, would ya? i need all the help i can get ;) 

gold spray paint

it was a very fall-ish weekend up in these parts :)

got myself some gold spray paint. not sure my life will ever be the same. Instant glamourizer :)

and i mean seriously? 

life is good :)

we went to a wedding saturday night and I was annoying Drew and taking selfies in the bedroom right before we left. 

i married a clever man.

that'll show me. :) 

pictures as of lately

1.) i went to get my eyebrows done, and the sweet girl that always waxes them was telling me about these cute nail sticker polish things she has started selling. They are called Jamberry and there are hundreds of really cute designs. She put a set on my nails for free. :) I am maybe going to host a party thing next month where she comes and shows us all the fun designs she has. we shall see.

this is the design i picked.

2.) the animal saga continues. these things aren't even phased by the fence.

they say that three of the most stressful things you can do in your life are have a baby, move and I forget the other one.

they should make "build a fence with your significant other" one of the most stressful things.

oh my goodness! I am glad we don't have to do that again. Or for a lonnggggg time at least :)

regardless, these little (or not so little) deer are just not in the least bit intimidated by this fence. Instead they just look at me like, "what do you think you are going in OUR yard?"

3.) on saturday we went with our friends to the apple farm. They have a distillery and have tons of samples of their apple vodka, gin, blah blah. To be honest, it tasted like rubbing alcohol. what did NOT taste like rubbing alcohol? there Apple Cider Frosty drink. delish :) perhaps even with a little vodka mixed in? ;)

4.) there is nothing better than hot chocolate when they make it with real milk. even better when you are on a walk and this is what the sky looks like and you have hot chocolate. cozy :)

5.) i have an unhealthy obsession with napkins. they can just spruce up an anotherwise boring Costco dinner :)

the time i had a few hours to waste at Nordstrom....

so last week me and some girlfrands went to a matt wertz concert.

the concert was on a wednesday night and based on my nifty little work schedule I got going on right now, I had the whole day to get ready and head down to Seattle.

i think i got a liiiitle too excited, and I left too early.

I did have to stop at Nordstrom though and get our niece, Charlotte, these boots for her FIRST birthday party that we went to yesterday.

I die.

anyways,

so these boots took a little less time than I anticipated.

as innnn. I had about 3 hours until I could meet my friends.

I had already gone to Target, World Market, Storables, had a latte at Panera, browsed Pottery Born, conveted everything in Nordstrom etc. etc.

I was seriously out of entertainment. (Not to mention the wedges I was wearing were KILLING my feet"

ah ha! I had been thinking about how I wanted some lipstick or some colored lip gloss to brighten up a face that no longer goes to a tanning salon. :(

I mosied right over to the Clinique counter and started looking at the lip gloss.

and then they spotted me.

They offered to try the colors on me. I suppose that was legit.

I think my first mistake was sitting down.

Perhaps my second mistake was telling her, when she asked how much time I had, that in fact I was "trying to pass some time before I met my friends."

we started with the liptstick, and then the questions about what kind of facewash I use..

I was exfoliated, mosturized, blushed, mascared, eye lined, serumed...

and then i told her I was going to a concert that night.

looking back, that could have been the biggest mistake of the night.

green eyeshadow. cat eye eyeliner. red lipstick. oh yeah baby.

it gets worse. i bought it all.

i just couldnt bear to say no to the sweet girl.

then i had a freak out thinking WHY IN THE EARTH DID I JUST BUY AN $80 SERUM?!?!

so I turned right back around and ran to customer service where I promptly said I was sorry, but I was suffering buyers remorse and needed to return this.

slight problem. it had been TOO quickly after I had purchased the makeup, so it wasnt showing up on their computer history. They said I had to wait at least 4 hours before I could return it.


hahahaha.

oh boy.

welll. i ended up going to a different Nordstrom the next day, and returning it all but the lip gloss :)

but man oh man, my face is still feeling the benefits from that lovely exfoliation. so I would say all in all, it was worth it ;)

cupcakes

i made cupcakes for my aunts wedding.

she decided to go with orange crush and rootbeer float.

the cupcakes were displayed on vintage pop boxes and the flowers on hte cake table were in old pepsi bottles. (way to go, auntie sue!)

if i recall, my aunt actually said her favorite part of her wedding was the cake table. ;) (well besides marrying Ryan, of course :) 

mandy did all the dirty work of frosting on the morning of the wedding.

auntie sue bringing the flowers in the old pepsi bottles!

back-to-school? in my dreams :(

if you saw me in aisle 7 of Target on Tuesday, please forgive me. 

I am sorry you had to see that. 

i chose aisle 7 because I thought it would have the least amount of people. It's the pet food aisle. 

I was wrong. I swear people spend more money on their cat food then they do on their own. I also saw they had POTATO CHIPS for your dog? ugh. 

that is besides the point. 

i went to the cat food aisle because I didn't want anyone I knew to see me cry. for some reason that made sense to me. at the time. 

no. i didn't cry because they didn't have the CUUUTE Orla Kiley phone case I wanted in my iphone size. (seriously people, there are some of us out there that STILL have an iphone 4.)

i didn't cry because they have stopped selling my keurig cups in cafe vanilla latte. (BOOOOO!)

i cried because i wanted school supplies. 

i wanted the pink flowered stapler. 

i wanted the chevron covered 5 subject notebook. 

I WANTED THE PACK OF NEON MECHANICAL PENCILS!

I could have been starting school in a few weeks. 

I applied to grad school at Western in the school counseling program. 

they accepted 6 students. 

I had an interview and found out I was on the waiting list. Everyone confirmed their spot. AKA I didn't get it. 

When it initially happened, it really didn't seem to bother me. I worked lots, decided that God was trying to tell me something and that was not where he wanted me. 

I think that was all pent up and exploded on the lunch box aisle. (They have freaking AMAZING tupperware now days y'all.) 

I WANTED to be a student, and WWU decided no. 

The whole concept of it really made me mad. Who are they to decide what I should do with my life? I want to take notes with a uni-ball roller pen in a new pencil pouch, so I should get to. 

right? RIGHT?

instead, I was at Target filling up my cart with this. 

I think it's a little more sensitive this year because not only did I not get into the grad program but my sister is starting her first year of teaching! She is teaching the same grade at the same school with one of my besties, and while I am soooo happy for her and excited and know God made her to be a teacher, I suppose I am kind of jealous. 

After my tantrum in the pet food aisle, I pulled it together. 

Was it really the white out pen that I wanted? 

Or was it the excitement of something new?

Did I really want that new planner starting in September or was it more the idea of a clean slate, a new school "year?"

I started to realize it wasn't the blank sticky notes I wanted nor the highlighters, but instead the promise of being "in" something. Being taught. Being inspired. Having a direction. 

and ya know what?

I don't need to pay tuition to do that. 

I took my toilet paper and paper towels and walked up to that counter. When I first got to the store, it was almost like I was ashamed. I didn't have kids buying school supplies, I wasn't a teacher stocking up  on supplies or a student getting what I needed to get through the upcoming year. 

I felt like I didn't deserve to be around those aisles. I didn't get a fresh start, I didn't get a new binder with paper to fill.

I don't know what it was about the pet food aisle that helped with my a-ha moment but i'll take it. 

God reminded me that I don't need to be a "student" following a syllabus. I think that the concept of following a guided lesson makes me comfortable. I know what is expected of me, what I will learn and when it is due. I know that I will get a good grade on my report, and finish the class with a final exam. 

I will study and have group projects and when I finish I will get some credits added to my transcript. 

I think that is "safe" to me. I know what to expect. 

God doesn't want me there right now. 

:) and for some ironic reason, I learned that in the cat food aisle. :)

summer of love

we had another wedding.

ryan and my dear auntie tied the knot.

this wedding has been years in the making and i think everyone just had such a full heart.

not only did Ryan marry my aunt, but he also married her four girls.

enough said. i dont think God could have made a more perfect man than Ryan to be in all of these girl's life.

My aunt walked down the aisle to "God Bless the Broken Road" and it was such a great moment.  Whatever things led them to that moment were entirely worth it.

and we couldn't have been happy to witness it becoming official. :)

i got to take some pictures.

so i decided to put a fun little name on my photos.
i was telling my dad about lindsay lee photography and guess what his response was?
       "Gregory Allen, Stud Stallion."

well then. hahahaha. my mom just rolls her eyes.


here are some more pictures.

my great auntie sue did the flowers (she did some for my wedding as well, and she is darn talented. all these flowers were from her garden as well!)

we love you guys~ All SIX of you :)