25 Things about Me

My friend Cait, over at Fit, Fierce and Fabulous is doing 25 things about me. I thought I'd join the bandwagon so ya'll can get to know me. I feel like I've been a little bit out of the blogging loop between Thanksgiving and working a TON over Black Friday. I apologize!

Feel free to write 25 things about you on your blog, and leave me with the link.

1-I LOVE Starbucks!

2-I love everything about summer time. no school, shorts, Chacos, work, it's perfect.

3-I can't handle scary movies, like barely even Star Wars. It's bad.

4-I say like ALOT, especially when I get excited.

5- I've had 3 surgeries on my mouth alone. That's about 3 too many.

6- I've lived in 6 different states. West and East Coast.

7- I wear my heart on my sleeve. I'm realizing the consequences of that.

8-I have a freakishly weird memory. Like little, small details. Don't judge.

9-I have no food allergies.

10-I won't leave the house without my purse, chapstick, iPod, and my phone.

11-I'm addicted to Target. I spend way to much money there. Our Target also has a Starbucks which is double trouble.

12- I tweet all the time, but I'm awful at #hashtagging. Truth.

13- I don't like mustard, cottage cheese, miracle whip, or pickle relish. I will only eat a little bit of mayo.

14- I would love to be a famous blogger. We'll see how that works out because I have 39 followers right now. ha!

15- I can be very sarcastic. fluent actually.

16- I'm very honest.

17- I'm scared of clowns and mascots at football/basketball games. I will scream and run away.

18- I'm also scared when people jump out and scare me. I will scream bloody murder, and start running.

19- I love music! all kinds, artists and genres. I love finding new music and having my own personal jam sesh in the car.

20- I don't like frosting on my cake or cheese on my pizza. un-American?! sure.

21- I love my Chacos and wear them all the time, or I did in the summer. I still have a Chaco tan and it's almost December. I love it.

22- I love to dance, but I can't do "it". I look like a mad women, or a fool.

23- I'm not athletic at all. I don't run. But I am very competitive, so if somebody challenges me, I will take them! win or lose.

24- I'm a night owl. I would rather stay up late and work than have to get up early anyday.

25- I love to travel. I want to go to Europe, and do the Italy, France, England, Scotland tour. I'd really love to go to London next summer for the 2012 summer olympics. wishful thinking...

Wordless Wednesday- Thanksgiving with Cousins

awkward prom pictures

love Cousin Jon!

I'm Thankful For....

Days of Thankfulness for 2011

1- I'm thankful for my Savior.

2- I'm thankful for my friends.

3- I'm thankful for my church.

4- I'm thankful for my family.

5- I'm thankful for my car.

6- I'm thankful for my warm house.

7- I'm thankful for my trip to Israel in 2012

8- I'm thankful for my acceptance to Evangel University

9- I'm thankful for my two amazing jobs.

10- I'm thankful for my great bosses.

11- I'm thankful for my smallgroup.

12- I'm thankful for beautiful weather.

13- I'm thankful for lessons learned this year.

14- I'm thankful for godly mentors and influences in my life.

15- I'm thankful for music.

16- I'm thankful for girls' nights.

17- I'm thankful for my pastors.

18- I'm thankful for coffee.

19- I'm thankful for snow.

20- I'm thankful for fresh starts.

21- I'm thankful for forgiveness.

22- I'm thankful for Starbucks.

23- I'm thankful that I'm almost done my Senior year of High School.

24- I'm thankful that my graduation is planned.

25- I'm thankful for each new day.

Now it's your turn! What are you thankful for? We are so, so blessed.

Happy Tuesday!

Have a wonderful week celebrating and being thankful!

Love,

Monday Randoms

~My big news of the week: I am going to Israel!!!!!!!!!! I am SO excited! I will be going for 10 days in March of 2012. God continues to provide and open the most amazing doors for me. Simply Blessed. I'll be doing a full post soon!

~My other big news: I colored my hair! See full post here!! I LOVE it :) shout out to Addie!!

~ I got rid of all of my "bad music" this week. I'll explain in full detail soon. Addie challenged me to start praying in the car instead of listening to music. So not only did I stop listening to music, I got rid of alot too. I'm s-l-o-w-l-y starting to see some change.... Thankful for a Savior who doesn't give up on me. Relentless I'd say.

~It's been raining here. alot. Fall is leaving. Winter is coming.

~Saturday I worked at the Ziplines. We are opening our 2nd location, Moto Zip this week!!! I'm SO excited. I get to work a little on Wednesday to get the feel for the new location. Maybe I'll get to try it out :)

~Thanksgiving is coming!! Holla!! I'm also excited about this! College kids coming down, family, friends, cousins, late nights, coffee, FOOD, laughing, shopping, ooo it's going to be SO fun!!!

~I work 20 hours in a day and a half! Black Friday!! I'm showing severe self control and not shopping. Heaven help me!

~I finished sending in all of my paperwork to CofO today!! Now I wait and wait.

I'm so excited for this week! I will try and write and post pictures! One more day of school, then break!!! SO happy :) sleeping in will be oh so wonderful!

Happy Monday Ya'll!

Love,

The Day I Finally Colored My Hair

Yes I did. I colored my hair. Actually I didn't. Addie did. I love it. I really do. I went over to Addie's house on Thursday. Starbucks, laughing, hair coloring, and just "flat out good girl time", as she put it. I LOVE her :)

I used Revlon #20 Black Brown.

Heavier on the Black than the Brown.

"Before"

I asked Addie if I went home like this...

clearly I had never colored my hair before!

Stupid Pre-Shower Pose!

Scarrrrry BEFORE:

Blurry After:

After Take 1:

After Take 2:

I LOVE IT!!

Thank-you Addie!! :)

It's Perfect!

10 Truths for Thursday, since Tuesday I forgot to post

- I love the leaves right now. They are changing into a gorgeous red/orange color; truly beautiful. I can't wait to make a big giant leaf pile to jump in! traditions...:)

2- I'm a daddy's girl, through and through. I love him :)

3-I dislike winter. End of Story. I'd pick a hot day over a cold day, any day. Spring/Summer are my favorite seasons.

4- I love meeting new people. Preferably in small groups. I'm not one to stand up in front of an entire group of people and talk. which bring me to my next truth...

5- I have a M-A-J-O-R- fear of public speaking. I'm talking knees shaking, (entire body shaking), nervous, knots, it's bad. I'd rather eat something disgusting or swim across the English Channel in January. Seriously.

6- I don't like taking notes. End of story.

7- I really would love a pair of Cheetah Sperrys! Christmas? Birthday? LOVE

8- I got rid of all of my bad music. ALL of it! It has been very hard to do, but something Addie challenged me to do, and I knew I needed to do it.

9- I've only been praying or listening to Christian music when I drive. This is also very hard to do. This girl LOVES her music.

10- I'm giddy about girls night tonight. Really I am. I'm going to Addie's house. Starbucks, girl time, mmm can't wait!

Christmas Ornament Exchange 2011 Partners

Alright Ladies! It's time to find out our partners for the Ornament Exchange!! Yay!! If you signed up through my blog and don't see your name, scroll down and go to the blog that will be hosting your name/letter :) *I have the names Les-Mol

Remember $10 limit and mail your packages out by November 30th! Happy Shopping!

Leslie and Lindsey B

Lindsey K and Mandy

Megan C and Megan

Meghan and Meghan

Melissa and Melissa

Mia and Michelle

Miranda and Molly

I'll be emailing everyone this afternoon! :)

A - Ashely: Addie's blog, Just Another Day in The Life

Ashleigh - Be: Ashleigh's blog, This Lil Heart of Mine

Br - Co: Ashley's blog, Ashley's Carnival Ride

Cr - H: Faith's blog, Walk With Me By Faith

J - Joa: Jenn's blog, Knee-Deep in Munchkin Land

Jod - Kil: Kerbi's blog, So Are You to Me

Kim - Len: Leah's blog, The Imperfect Momma

Les - Mol: Emily's blog, A Beautiful Beginning

Mon - Sonja: Karah's blog, Chateau Stracener

Sonya - W: Sonya's blog, Ladybugs, Butterflies, and Boxing

Happy Wednesday!

Love,

Monday Randoms

***Remember, this is the last day to enter the Christmas Ornament Exchange! There is already over 100 participants. It is going to be so much fun! I will post partners on Wednesday

~Last Monday, we went to the EU at CofO basketball game. CofO played awesome. Evangel did not. Of course I would be wearing my EU hoodie. Walk.of.shame.

~Youth last Wednesday was incredible! Keith Chancey spoke from Kanakuk Institute and it was on trusting the Lord through our struggles. That.really.hit.home. I'll be sharing in my part 2 of to trust Him more.

~The weather here today is gorgeous. It is about 70 degrees and sunny! Feels like spring. I took a nap with the windows open yesterday. Perfection.

~This weekend we had our youth fall retreat, SHINE! Our guest speaker was Jeremy "Bub" Thomas, and we had an amazing guest band lead us in worship every session. The food was yummy, the friends and the small group talks were a blessing, paintball was slightly painful, but a blast! (I DO have some nasty welts to prove it), and our leaders/host homes were awesome!! There were many points to take home. My favorite three were: 1-Remove your old, dirty clothes. 2-Put your sin to death, once and for all and 3-Clothe yourself with righteousness, kindness, humility, and compassion. Colossians 3:12. This was probably my most memorable fall retreat, and my last :(

Here is our group!

This was for a photo content on 11/11/11 at 11:11pm

~Today is my grandpa's birthday. I sure love him :)

~I'm SO excited about Thanksgiving. Only 10 more days! I can't wait to have our house filled with college kids, family, and friends. It is one of my favorite times of year!!

~Speaking of counting down, only 40 days till Christmas, 38 days till my 18th birthday, and 173 days till graduation!!! Can u tell I'm excited?!

I'm off to enjoy this beautiful day! :)

Happy Monday,

Love,

to trust Him more part 1:

This week I've been struggling. There has been alot I've been thinking about, internalizing, and processing. To say it's been easy would be lying. I've been struggling with trust issues for a while now. I hadn't really shared it with anybody, and I didn't plan to. I guess the Lord had another idea :) He does have a way of doing that.

Tuesday night I was a church and I get a text from Addie. "You doing ok love?" That was just the beginning of our conversation that night. She offered for us to talk and I quickly took her up on it. I told Addie what was going on and she could not have given me more perfect words that night. She came at just the right time, she really did. I'm thankful. I've heard this before but I have never taken it into consideration, and done something about it. I know that I'm struggling, but I've been avoiding the one thing I needed to do. Run straight into the arms of My Savior, the one who created me, cares about me, and loves me more than anybody else has and ever will.

Addie said this and it hit home; "You seriously have to bring yourself to the point of laying these things at the cross, getting away, and getting into the heart of God. That is the only way you can find shelter, hidden in the heart of God." She challenged me to pray whenever I have moments of silence, to turn off my music when I drive and pray. I need to open my heart to the one who loves me, and the one I have needed to completely turn to this entire time.

Addie texted me this verse and note yesterday evening. I almost cried reading it. 2nd Corinthians 5:14- The love of Christ controls us, because we know that one died for all, so all have died. "just breathe, everything is already taken care of". I'm so thankful for friends that speak into my life, challenge me and love me enough to care about me!

Ten Truths for Tuesday

1-I'm hungry all the time. I mean it's bad. I eat breakfast, then I want a snack. I eat lunch. I'm hungry at 2 again. Time for another snack! Dinner time, I eat alot. I usually have a snack before dinner. If I stay up really late, I have a 4th meal. It's a vicious cycle.

2-I love rain. I hate thunder. It's raining today. It's so peaceful sitting here listening to the rain. Then all of the sudden CRACK! BOOM! SHAKE! It thunders really loudly, and I cover my ears.

3-I really dislike making my bed. I really do. I'd rather vacuum my room. But even that does not happen often enough.

4- I have a slight obsession with Ebay. I recently cleaned out my closet, and listed a bunch of stuff on Ebay. I made alot of money, which meant I spent alot of money, and time looking.

5-Remember how I said I eat a lot? Well, Saturday at work I packed my lunch. I actually packed my lunch, and remembered to take it. Score! I packed a hot pocket actually. I get to work, and I'm hungry. Surprise! I'm given a piece of pizza (meat lovers, the kind with bacon, sausage, pepperoni, ham, extra cheese), a large fry from Wendy's and a bunch of leftover Halloween candy. I ate it all. All of it.

6-Fries. I love french fries. I love dipping them in BBQ sauce or ranch. My favorite fries are from Fuddruckers or the natural cut with sea salt from Wendy's! But fries are not good for me and I shouldn't eat them.

7-Because I eat all of this wonderful err awful food, I have to go to the gym. I should go more often, but I don't. I don't like walking on the treadmill or elliptical. We have a love-hate relationship. Stronger on the hate, than the love.

8-I have a countdown to graduation. Several of them actually. 1-7-9 days! SO excited.

9- I really am craving some Cold Stone ice cream right now. Coffee with Heath Bar or Cake Batter with Cookie Dough. I miss it. I miss summer.

10-Last night I went to the Evangel at CofO basketball game. Here is my dilemma. My dad went to Evangel. My mom went to Evangel. My brother goes to Evangel. Almost my entire family goes to Evangel. I just got accepted to Evangel!! Naturally, I would be an EU fan. But, I really like CofO. I really would like to go to college there. But I have NO Bobcat/CofO clothes. So, I wore my EU hoodie. I think I was the only one there with an EU hoodie. And wouldn't you know? Evangel played awful and lost by a whole lotta points. FAIL.

What about you? Tell me your truths for Tuesday.

Pinnable Me: S'mores

Pinterest: S'mores

Nothing quite says Fall like a hayride with friends, a big bonfire, and making s'mores around the fire. Fall is not complete unless you have participated in at least one, if not all of these activities. (in my own opinion) Today my Pinterest Post is on S'mores. There are several ways to make s'mores. Outside over a bonfire, inside in your fireplace, or even in the microwave. Here are just a few of the ideas I found this week! Have fun looking! Feel free to link up with me!

How cute is this?

Microwave S'mores are perfect for families with small children. Safe, tons of fun, and you can even enjoy during bad weather :) Just assemble everything and microwave for 10-15 second. Perfection.

Check out this handy little machine!

How funny is that?

It's only $9.95 from this website !

This was originally pinned on to Wedding Inspiration

for the wedding favors!

You could totally use this for party favors for a fall party.

Idea 2 :)

I know Halloween already passed,

but I thought this was pretty cute :)

I just love this :)

Happy Monday!

Love,

Giveaway Winner: Starbucks

The winner of my first giveaway, the Starbucks Gift Card is:

ERIN from Healthy Branscoms!

I'll be contacting you soon! Thanks everybody for participating! :)

Sunday Randoms

~I finished sending in all of my paperwork to Evangel this week! My transcript is finished. I booked my graduation party at The Well too. Everything is finally coming together. Now to wait and hear....

~My friends have been in Israel all week long. They get back this afternoon. I've been reading updates and seeing some pictures. Israel looks incredible. My friend Alex got baptized in the Jordan River on Wednesday. SO cool! I don't think he will ever forget :)

~I always dislike this time of year for a couple of reasons. Both of my jobs are seasonal. If you live in Branson, the busy time is from Memorial Day to Labor Day. After that, most business happens on the weekends. It is always hard right about now because the weather turns cold, school is school, and jobs significantly slow down. Thank goodness for Pinterest and good Starbucks :)

~Not sure if any of my other Branson friends felt or heard about the Earthquake last night. Apparently it was from the 5.2 Oklahoma Earthquake, that happened yesterday. We were feeling some of the ripples I think. It was about 11pm. That is crazy to me.

~Last night we got 1 extra glorious hour of sleep!! For the first time since school started I took a Sunday nap!!

~Last night we went to the Novak's house for their annual fall party, bonfire, and hayride. SO fun! We made s'mores, roasted hotdogs, sang songs, and went on a hayride. Fall is not complete until you have partaken in these activities.

~Tonight is our fall work party/bonfire at the Ziplines. It is also a goodbye party for my manager AJ. He leaves for the army tomorrow morning. :(

~This week we had some friends over for movies, make-your-own-pizza-night, and lots of snacks :) making memories...

~On Friday I went to church to help Julie Novak cook food for our youth retreat, SHINE, this upcoming weekend! We will be fed well, that is for sure. 18 lbs of frozen chicken sliced, and 12 lbs of pasta cooked al dente for baked Ziti.

Happy Sunday!

Christmas Ornament Exchange 2011

Hey Everybody,

It is time for the 2011 Christmas Ornament Exchange. Shout out to Jenn from In Munchkin Land. She is heading it up, she made the Google form, and the grab me button with coding. She is amazing! Isn't it cute? :) Jenn did a fabulous job!!

So, here is the instructions

Head over to the right column of my blog. You will see the Ornament Exchange Button. Click on it. It will take you to the official form. Fill it out, in as much detail as possible :)

Here is your date timeline:

Friday, November 4th, today, is the day we start accepting entries

Monday, November 14th is the last day you can enter

Wednesday, November 16th I will post partners with their emails/and other notes

Thursday, November 17th-SHOP. Find the perfect ornament for your partner

Wednesday, November 30th- Mail your package, no later than this date.

Also, there is a $10 limit!

Here is list of all of the participating ladies and their blogs!

addierose8 - Addie from Just Another Day in The Life

ashleyo23 - Ashley from Ashley's Carnival Ride

emilytheduncan - Emily from A Beautiful Beginning

kerbih - Kerbi from So Are You to Me

leahkait - Leah from The Imperfect Momma

ashlovebash - Ashleigh from This Lil House of Mine

SonyaRK - Sonja from Ladybugs, Butterflies, and Boxing

karahsfCa06 - Karah from Chateau Stracener

FaithyMay1 - Faith from Walk With Me By Faith

In_Munchkinland - Jenn from Knee-Deep in Munchkin Land

I can't wait to get my ornament in the mail! How about you?

The weekend is here! yahhhh

Happy Friday,

Love,

Last day to enter my Starbucks giveaway!

It is the LAST day to enter my Starbucks Giveaway!

Head on over to my post and enter while you can!!

I'll announce the winner on Monday!!!

I have 28 followers. If I get to 50, I'll giveaway a second Starbucks Gift Card!

Thursday: Thankful Day 1-3

The past couple years have started a trend on facebook and on blogs. The 24 days of thankfulness, prior to Thanksgiving. Each day you list something or blog something that you are thankful for. I missed Tuesday, and Wednesday. I'm catching up today :)

For 2011:

Day 1: I'm thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ. Without Him, I.am.nothing. I'm thankful for his relentless pursuit of me, regardless of how I act.

Day 2: I'm thankful for my friends! I have some of the best friend that a girl could ask for. I mean really! They are there with me whenever I need them. They laugh with me, they cry with me, we are awkward, random, silly, loud, and fun! I LOVE them :)

Day 3: I'm thankful for my family. They are there for me, day in and day out.

What about you? What are your first 3 things you are thankful for? Link up with me at the bottom of this post and do tell :)

Happy Thursday!

Love,

Wordless Wednesdays: Evangel