The Band Perry

Congrats to The Band Perry on their awards at the CMA's last night!!!!!!! You are way better than Taylor Swift!!!!!!!

If I Die Young- Single of the Year and Song of the Year!!!

I like the steampunk style that they have in their music videos... ;)

This is by far my favorite song from them... All Your Life... :)

Choosing Joy

Whew have I been busy!!! Three jobs, multiple ministries, and various social activities leave almost no time for relaxation... or blog posts for that matter... But I have been getting a lot of comments on my Pinterest post from people who read and like my blog (I so do appreciate the comments!!! :D) that I figured I had better give an update... :)

As I said, I have three jobs... At the library, at my church's Christian school, and my Thirty-One business... Those are enormous strains on my time... A lot of days I leave for school at 10:30 in the morning, go straight to the library from there, and then go straight to a party in the evening not getting home until 9 o'clock... This is a very radical change from my life 6 months ago which is why I think it is so hard on me... I struggle daily with not being cranky with my family and just trying to not be miserable... But, you see, things like that- crankiness and misery- are choices that I make... And on the flip side, so are joy and happiness... So we are only as happy as we choose to be...







And when I stop to think about it, I have a ton of things to make me happy!!! I have multiple sources of income, parents that don't want me out of the house, a car that I can drive whenever I want, wonderful friends that I can email, Facebook, and text with, and the assurance that no matter how many mistakes I make, God will always love me!!! Sometimes I don't understand why I get so depressed... lol ;))

other musings...


It is fall!!!!! I was not ready for fall this year, but all the colors and the cute fall fashion trends won me over!!! I bought awesome Sperry's and a khaki trench coat... Next on my list is a pair of brown boots to wear with skinny jeans... But I think I will have to wait till after Christmas for those... ;)

So I actually do do other things than work... One of those things is watch Downton Abbey... Or should I say live it... Downton Abbey has become a part of my very soul... From the very first episode I have loved it... The acting, the script, the casting is so utterly perfect that you feel with the characters and don't mind that some of the dialogue and plots are a little cheesy because you *want* the characters to end up well... The first season aired in the UK last fall and in the US at the beginning of this year... The second season just finished in the UK and will air in the US in early January... But me and my sisters scoured the internet for some nice person in the UK who would post the episodes online for us Americans to watch... And we found it!!! If you are interested in watching the second season (or the first for that matter) go on mopvideo.com and search for Downton Abbey... The only bad thing about that website is after every 70 minutes of video you watch, it make you wait 30 minutes or buy a subscription to the website... Kind of annoying, but hey, us raving fans will take what we can get... ;)

The second season takes place during the first world war... You can imagine the drama that ensues... Young men going to war, lovers left at home, and the war waged on the home front... This second season does not disappoint... ;)


christmas fever...


Yes, I have the Christmas Fever early this year... I *gasp* have already started to listen to Christmas music... That is quite scandalous in my house... It has been an unspoken rule for years that you don't listen to Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving... But I don't care... Bring on the Michael Buble!!!! (his new Christmas CD is awesome, btw ;))





The Christmas spirit is really amazing... It can lift you up out of the dreary day to day routine and make each new day something special... I don't know why, but it does... Maybe it is the nation wide sense of giving, the toasty warm feeling you get when it is cold outside, the beautiful lights on houses (light-looking is my favorite childhood Christmas memory ;)), or maybe it is the joy Christians feel because this is when our Savior was born so long ago... Whatever it is, I am ready for snow, Christmas lights, and nativity scenes... Oh, and the red cups at Starbucks... The red cups make the coffee taste better, don't you think??? :)



Working, for me, has really given me a new perspective on "breaks"... I appreciate them so much more now... I get three full days off from both jobs for Thanksgiving and for Christmas I get two weeks off from school and four days off from the library... Contrast gives perspective... I used to get a day off whenever I felt like it... Christmas is going to be more special to me now that I am working, I think... ;)


Oh, and Happy Veterans' Day!!!