Merry Belated Christmas everyone!!! And Thanksgiving... And Halloween... And a lot of other events that I have missed in the last 6 months!!! But hey, life happens :)... At the beginning of 2012, I had no idea that I would be going to college full time in the fall, but life has this way of turning out different that we plan. I have slowly been learning that what I *thought* God's plans were for my life were actually *my* plans for my life. Through the encouragement of a friend and lots of prayer, I have been trying to find joy in my very busy and sometimes hectic day to day life. I am by no means there yet, but I do have a direction... :)

It has been two years since I have been in school...  Coming off of that, I didn't expect much of myself in college. But I underestimated myself. God has given me a brain that learns very quickly and easily if stimulated... I credit my 4.0 GPA at the end of this semester to that. :)

 I really forgot how much I LOVE learning!!! It took me a few weeks, but after I got used to the lifestyle change, I really started to enjoy myself. This coming up semester I am starting French which I am REALLY excited about. There is something about learning another language that is wonderfully romantic. :)

I couldn't begin to catch ya'll up on everything that I have been doing... Not that I have done much besides stuff that relates to college :). The short of it is I did homework, went to work, and hung out with friends... And watched movies... Namely, The Hobbit and Les Miserables... Both of which are FANTASTIC!!!!!!! :)

I will be putting up a 2013 To-do list tomorrow for the New Year. Hopefully, I will be able to keep up with posting a bit better than I have been... Ta ta!!! :)

Hey, just a quick note to tell ya'll that I did a guest post over at Rhapsody in Pink!!! :) Hope you enjoy!!! :)

I hope everyone had a good 4th of July yesterday... Mine was... Interesting... My mum was at the hospital most of the day due to a migraine induced by dehydration... Probably from this past weekend... So it was just me and two of my sisters that had to make sure the house was clean and all the food was prepared before our guests arrived... The trouble was that I wasn't sure exactly what all we were making... And when our guests did arrive, how was I supposed to entertain them??? They were mostly my mum's friends... Thankfully, mum got back home just as our guests were supposed to arrive... And they were late which was even better... ;) 

So we hung out and chatted with our guests until about 9 when we walked over to where we could see the Fort Belvoir fireworks... Then we walked back home and went to bed...

As far as 4th of Julys go, I would say that I have had better... But it did go with the theme of the week... Life doesn't stop when unforeseeable and extremely inconvenient things happen...  

On a happier note, I was very pleased with how this outfit turned out earlier this week... I have never been able to do the "tucked in" look cuz of my big butt and thighs, but the cut of these shorts really help that problem, I think... ;)

Oh, and I absolutely LOVE my TOMS!!!!!! I ended up getting both a red pair and a navy pair... The sizing was an interesting part of picking them out... They run about a half a size to a full size big, so make sure to try them on if you are thinking about buying some... I got a size 5 in the youth size in red and a 6.5 in regular women's in navy... The style is a bit different between youth and women's, but I like them both... ;)

I am trying to think of a creative, happy way to say I got my first Glossybox in the mail today... But I am so excited that it just keeps coming out I GOT MY FIRST GLOSSYBOX IN THE MAIL TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I think I will just go with that... :)

I GOT MY FIRST GLOSSYBOX IN THE MAIL TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I first head about Glossybox over at Bramblewood Fashion... I checked out the website and totally fell in love with the concept... I mean, who wouldn't want to get 5 European travel sized beauty products once a month in a gorgeous box??? I ordered it earlier this month and have been anxiously awaiting its arrival... I was so excited when it came today and even more when I opened it!!! It had some amazing products in it!!!!! :)

The box... Isn't it darling??? And a beauty magazine... ;)

I LOVE how it is wrapped... Very glamorous and chic... ;)

The products... I have used everything except the perfume so far and I totally love it all!!! have I mentioned how much I love Glossybox??? :)

This mascara is my favorite product... I have been needing new mascara for, like, a couple of months now... And this is a full size tube!!! I was so excited!!! :)

I was also super excited about this shaving creme... Smooth legs are one thing I love but rarely have... My legs feel great after using it this morning... ;)

The other product is a face firming lotion... Not exactly sure how to use it, but I figured I would try it anyway... ;)

This stuff is amazing... I LOVE the smell... And the texture... :)

This is a hair moisturizer... I am not all that big on conditioner or moisturizer for my hair, but I am gonna give it a try and see what it does... ;)

I can't wait to have an event fancy enough to wear this perfume to!!! It looks so glamorous!!! :)

Next time, I think I am going to try Birchbox... It is a different company, but it basically does the same thing... I have heard rave reviews from this blog... I want to see if it is better than Glossybox... :)


Well, I hope ya'll have a good rest of the week!!! :)

I used to think a long term power outage would be exciting... Well, this week I learned that I was wrong... They are not exciting or romantic... Especially in July... Or when you have a grandmother that lives off of machines living with you... Or when you have guests... But super especially when you have all three of those happening at once... 

The past two days have been completely miserable... There was a really bad storm on Friday night with hurricane force winds and lots of cloud to ground lightning... It knocked out power for all of Northern Virginia, DC, and a lot of Maryland... With temperatures reaching up to 100 degrees yesterday and today, everyone was totally miserable... 

On Saturday, we camped out at the library that I work at to charge up our phones and laptops (not that we could use our phones because the cell towers were down too)... My library was one of the only ones in the county that had power and internet so it was totally packed... People were sitting on the floor next to outlets charging their phones, ipods, and laptops... Northern Virginia people are not very well equipped to handle disasters like this... ;)

Another horrible thing is that payday was Thursday so my mom went grocery shopping on Friday... So we had a whole fridge and freezer full of food... On Saturday evening, we cooked up all of the chicken and hamburger patties we bought... It was a good thing we had company over... 

Saturday night was the worst... Everyone slept downstairs... Sorta... I don't know how much sleep everyone actually got... It was so hot... One of my good friends and her husband slept in their car because it was 90 degrees in their attic apartment... 

At about 4 in the morning, my disabled grandma who lives with us went into distress... She has to be on a breathing machine at night and periodically during the day otherwise carbon dioxide builds up in her bloodstream... Due to the power outage, she hadn't been on it for more than 24 hours... So my mom had to call 911 for an ambulance to come get her... We all envied her... She got to go into air conditioning... She will be fine now that she can be on her machine and have doctors monitor her blood gases... But it was horrible to be woken up at 4 in the morning by a 911 call... 

Our first plan for today was the pool... But would ya know it, it runs on electricity!!! So we went to Fredricksburg instead... I would have had a really good time if I hadn't had to drive... That put me in a sour mood... So I just didn't talk very much and avoided people... Charming Charlie and frozen yogurt helped... :) 

When we got home, the power was back!!! I cannot describe to you how amazing it was to walk into an air conditioned house... I didn't care so much about not having internet or having to shower by candle light... But the a/c... That is an absolute necessity of life... 

Now we are sitting at home hanging out with our friends and trying to decide what movie we want to watch... This might take a while... ;)

Lesson of the weekend... Power outages are not fun... And your attitude is a choice... I could have chosen to be more joyful today, but I didn't... I restrained myself from killing anyone, but I was miserable myself... So now, I am trying to be more happy... Hence all the happy pictures... ;)

Ok, it's I <3 Thursday time!!! :D What have I been loving this week??? Nautical and coral fashions, playing with little kids, and waking up early... Ok, maybe not so much that last one... But I do enjoy the effects of waking up early... i.e. having much more time to do things... ;)

You already know I got some coral shorts... I have been having fun picking out things to wear with them this week... And today I got some orangy-coral-ish nail polish... It is so much fun making new outfits with this fun color!!! :)

I just love kids... Not all kids mind, but good kids... Kids that are nice, kind, sweet, inquisitive, silly, goofy, squishy, kids that make silly noises, say funny things, have bright eyes, fat bellies, pinchable cheeks... And I am surrounded by them!!! There are the two little boys my mum babysits three days a week and then there are about a million little kids at mu church... This week is VBS and I got to sit in the nursery with the workers' kids a couple of evenings... Oh how glorious it is to sit with a little boy and go over what different kinds of matchbox cars were in the toybox!!! "This one is a car, this one is a truck, this one is a jeep" ect.... And then to get into naming colors... "This one is a red car, this one is a yellow van, this one is an orange truck just like your shirt!!!"... Such precious and simple moments with such precious babies... I love them all to pieces... :)

Some pins that I like this week... :)

I have never cared for William's looks... But this portrait is quite handsome... ;)

Ok, this is just awesome... You plug your ipod into the egg and them the duck plays your music wirelessly in your shower... And its completely waterproof... So awesome yet completely lame at the same time... lol ;)

It is nautical and beachy at the same time... LOVE!!!!! :)

Yes, I watched Top Gun... It was good, but very 80's... Is it just me, or is Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer being young and hot a little weird??? ;)

One more thing... I am going to be getting some TOMS... Probably tomorrow (Friday), but I am completely conflicted on which one to get!!!! I was very set on getting red ones, but with my recent obsession with coral, I am second guessing myself... Red doesn't go with coral... But navy does... And if I got navy ones, that would also go with a ton of my other outfits... But red is such a classic color for TOMS!!! 

And... I have a shoe confession... Even though red is my favorite color for pretty much any article of clothing and it is a component of my outfit at least 3-4 times a week, I don't actually ever wear red shoes... I own three pairs... But they are the fancy, shiny, easily scuffed, high heels type... Nothing that I would wear to work or out on the town... I have been meaning to rectify this for quite some time, but something else always seems to take precedent... So what should I do??? Navy, which is probably tied with red for how much I wear it... Or the classic red... Or both... ;)

I got coral shorts!!! I have been wanting to expand to the colored shorts realm for a while, but I haven't been brave enough... I saw these at Target on sale the other day and totally fell in love with them... I went back today with a coupon and got them and a matching lip gloss for 13 dollars!!! Now I get to find all the things in my closet that match this color!!! I will be surfing pinterest and blogs for ideas... ;) 

This color also brings out my tan really well... I look brown!!! :)

Poor Grant... He fell off of something (his mum doesn't know what) and split his forehead open... Had to have it glued together... Then it started swelling with blood!!! Now he has to have an ice pack attached to his head periodically through the day... He calls it his "hat"... "Where's my hat!!!" he says when mum takes it off... lol ;)

I had to bribe him with a popsicle to take pictures of him... lol ;)

Ok, so I am going to try this I <3 Thursday thing... It sounds fun... Oh, and I am going to try a different font alignment... I usually do a center alignment, but there is something a bit more whimsical about a side alignment... You must tell me what you think about it... ;)

What am I loving this week??? Summer... As I said in my previous post... I will try to talk about some other things, though... ;)

Psych... The show... Shawn Spencer, Burton Guster, Juliet, and Lassiter... It is just so stinkin' funny!!!! And Shawn and Juliet are the most adorable couple ever... I just finished all the seasons on Netflix and have patched together most of the 6th season on various websites... I can't wait for the next season this fall!!! :)

Pandora... I have been tailoring my Pandora station for a few weeks now... It is almost perfect... I started with the Easy Listening station and then seeded it with a lot of pop artists and songs... There is still a little bit too much Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra for me, but it is coming along... :)

Yo-Sicle... Frozen yogurt popsicles... They are yummy... :)

Navy outfits... :)

Hey Girl Memes... I love these things... I don't care if they are dumb... Anyone who doesn't think they are hilarious has no sense of humor... :)

Enjoy the rest of your week!!!!!! :)

Wow, now that the 15 for 15 fashion challenge is over, I don't know what to blog about!!! lol ;)

I suppose I could write about how much I am loving summer!!!!!!!! I have the Rascal Flatts song "Summer Nights" running though my head... "Summer nights, everybody's feelin' sexy!!!"... There is just something about summer... ;)

~favorite things so far about summer~

Local restaurants... I have just discovered two local restaurants... The first being a self serve frozen yogurt shop!!!!! I have been looking for one of these in my area for almost a year!!!! Only to happen upon it when I was in Old Town with friends last Sunday... I was filled with utter ecstasy... :) The other restaurant is called Tubby's... Yeah, I don't know who thought of the name... It is an ice cream parlor/diner... It is super cute and just down the road!!! I don't know why I haven't gone before... I went last night with a friend for a Bible study and totally fell in love... I went back after work today for a milkshake... :)

The pool... I LOVE our pool!!!!!! How much more relaxing can you get than laying out in the warm sun, reading a book, and listening to the sounds of kids playing??? Knowing that you don't have a thing else in the world to do??? Utter bliss... :D

Long days... I can't tell you how awesome it is to get off of work and still have three hours of daylight left...

Reading outside... This is a critical part of my morning... Get my coffee, get my book, head outside... I don't know why, but it is so much more relaxing and you feel so much more productive when you read outside... And also when you blog outside... Which is what I am doing right now... (although, the mosquitoes are about to drive me inside :/)

And finally...

Lightning bugs!!!! :D

Enjoy!!!! :D

Quickie 15 for 15 Conclusion

Ok, so I got really lazy... 0:) 

So since the challenge is now over, I am just gonna wrap up all my remaining outfits in one post... Further laziness... ;)

Day 13... Skirt: Thrifted, Cami: Khols, Button-up: Thrifted, Shoes: Rack Room, Earrings: Random Jewelry Store

Day 14... I cheated here a little bit... I added this Khaki Corduroy Jacket... But hey, you can't fight inspiration... :)

Jeans: Old Navy, Shirt: Old Navy, Cami: Khols, Jacket, Old Navy, Necklace: Forever 21, Earrings: Random Jewelry Store, Purse: Thirty-One ;), Sunglasses: Charming Charlie, Shoes: Chacos

Day 15... Ok, so I didn't actually "wear" anything... We went to the pool again and so I wore pool stuff and chill out clothes all day... But I did get a picture of my pool outfit... :)

I must say, I am VERY glad to have my whole closet of clothes to wear again... I had fun, but it got a little repetitive towards the end... Next time, I will do a better job picking out my clothes... ;) 

15 for 15 Day 12

This was not my outfit today... After taking my outfit pics, it got rainy and chilly and so I changed into my jeans... And then my tank top got annoying to keep up and pull down at the same time so I put a white cami underneath... It looked a lot better after that...

And the picture itself... Lets just say, I fired that photographer... ;)

My hair also looked a lot better than the picture... I totally loved it... Just a simple side pony with some teasing to give it a messy look... ;)

Shorts: Wal-Mart, Tank: Wal-Mart, Button-Up: Thrifted, Shoes (not pictured): Chacos

15 for 15 Day 10 and 11

Wow, I am late... 0:)

Ok, so this was Sunday's outfit... I was very "Un-Baptist" and wore jeans... I had nursery so I feel justified... lol ;)

Now for Monday... I didn't actually "wear" anything... We went to the pool and were there pretty much all day... And then for work in the evening, I just threw on sweats and a t-shirt because my sunburn was so bad... :) 

Ooo, speaking of the pool, I got a new bathing suit today!!!! I will take a picture of it next time we go... Which should be Thursday... :)

15 for 15 Day 9

I had a rather fun day today... Which is unusual for Saturdays that I have to work on... Maybe it had something to do with me being able to sleep in after a week of torturous 7 a.m. wake-ups... :) 

Oh, and me and my sisters went to the pool today... Which is an accomplishment in itself... We have been, kinda, public pool snobs pretty much our entire lives... We just don't go to them... It might be because of all the half naked people, the stench of baby urine, or the large concentration of chlorine in the water, I don't know... But today that all ended... The pool we went to was actually pretty nice... We are planning on going back next week... And since school isn't out for a few more days, it will be deserted in the mornings... ;) 

Anyway, on to today's outfit...

Shorts: Wal-Mart, Cami: Khols, Turquoise Cami: Ann Taylor, Cardigan: Thrifted, Earings: Gifted, Bracelet: Pool Pass ;), Shoes: Chacos

I am seriously psyched about getting a Chaco tan line this summer... ;)

15 for 15 Day 8

So, I am late again... I blame it on my busy work schedule this past week... But that is over now, so hopefully I will post on time from now on... :)

Pants: Thrifted, Cami: Khols, Shirt: Thrifted, Blazer: Thrifted, Necklace: Charming Charlie, Earings: Some random jewelry store, Shoes: Sperrys

I was naughty and wore jeans to work... I figured since it was my last day it wouldn't matter... And I promised the kids I would wear pants so that I could play tag with them... :)

Love my plaid Sperrys... ;)

15 for 15 Day 7

Another color scheme I love is red and mint... :)

Skirt: Thrifted, Cami: Khols, Shirt: Thrifted, Shoes: Rack Room, Earrings: Random jewelry store

Grant givin' me kisses... :)