Collars and Bows

Today when I got home from Huntington, I had a package in the mail - I'd been waiting not-so-patiently for a week! Someday, I hope to have a daughter to dress all frilly and put bows in her hair, but for now Gidget is my baby girl....here are some pictures of what was in the mystery package!

A new Valentine's Day collar/bow with a 'G' for Gidget on it! So cute! I bought it on etsy - I don't know who comes up with this stuff, but obviously someone will buy it! :)

 And here's princess with it on - fortunately she tolerates it a lot better than all of her outfits she has (when I put them on her she goes and hides like she's embarrassed!) G's excited for V-day too!

How Do You Remember Your Love?

Usually I steal, or rather 'reuse', other blogger's ideas, but tonight I thought up one of my own!  I am just so excited about Valentine's Day this year, and this has everything to do with it.  Beginning February 1st, I'm going to post a picture (or a few) each day until V-day of things that are memories of my relationship with my husband over the years.  I know that some of you probably have a lot more than I do because you have a lot more years, but that just means you have a lot more things to choose from! :) Actually just use keepsakes from anyone you love - husband, kids, boyfriend, mom, dad, fiance, whoever!  For example, I have a few notes from Tyler that I'll put on here for one night, etc.  Hope you join in - I've already had a cry-fest just finding and remembering all kinds of things I'd forgotten - I'm so lucky, and I'm sure you'll feel the same way if you rummage through and find your keepsake memories!

A REAL Snow Day!

Before you begin reading this post, I just want to let you know that it is filled with A LOT of things that are not related at all - kind of just how my day has been.  Everyone who knows me knows that I HATE snow, and today is no exception; however, it's been a much more tolerable snow day because I've stayed inside the whole time except to take Gidget outside and it has been so refreshing to not have to worry about driving.  Actually, I do have class tonight, but I'm not even ashamed to say that I'm playing 'hooky' because the roads are so bad I feel justified not even trying to go at all.  With that being said, today has been pretty eventful - I got enough sleep last night, I've gotten a good bit of homework done (because the Directv unfortunately lost signal due to the weather :), I cleaned up around the house, paid the bills, made a real lunch, and did laundry and the dishes all before 3:00!  Here are some pictures of my day I thought I'd share...

 I love when I'm home and I have enough time to light candles and let them burn so they don't waste - not to mention they make the house feel so cozy!

 Last night Tyler and I were in Charleston and I had to do a return at TJMaxx....and of course the 'Hot Now' light was on at Krispy Kreme when we passed and that means Tyler has to have 'Hot Now's' Right Now :) So that has been our healthy breakfast for today, and probably tomorrow too...

 Here are some pictures of Gidgey while I cook in the kitchen....she thinks that if she stands there and begs long enough I'll let her have some people food - she didn't have any luck today...

 ...but look at this face!!! So hard not to cave in! :)

 Here is my soup I made, and I have to admit - it is delicious.  I had it at my cousin's house during a shower, and fell in love!  She sent the recipe to me and I've made it a couple times this winter.  It lasts me for a couple days' lunch and dinner, so it serves multiple purposes - tastes good, fills me up, and ensures I don't have to cook for a few days!

And here is the recipe in case you want to try it yourself! Of course if I can make it it's super-easy - don't worry :)

Potato soup:
6 cups of peeled and cubed potatoes
1 cup of chopped onion
2 cups of chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrots
3 chicken bouillon cubes
small block of velveeta cheese
Add all ingredients but cheese to kettle with enough water to cover veggies. Add salt, pepper and garlic salt to taste. Cook on med. heat until veggies are tender. Lower heat and add the block of velveeta cheese (cutting it into cubes and stirring it in the mix). Stir until well mixed and cheese has melted. For topping add bacon pieces, green onion, crackers, or sour cream. Enjoy!!  (Thanks Brandi!)

 This is our backyard at about noon....may I mention there was NO snow at 11am?

...and this is our front yard and street - good thing I'm not going anywhere!

And sorry if I bore you with more pictures of Gidget - I just can't get enough of her!

 She always chooses to lay on this rug in front of the door, even thought it's hard and cold and she has all kinds of other places she could lay - on the couch, in her bed, on top of the heated VENT? (That would be my choice!)

 And here is her close-up - she may be going blind soon due to the hair in front of her eyes :p

 And last one, I promise! She's just so cute I can't choose just one picture to put on here! 

Finally, I just wanted to show a picture of the new vase I got for my Tiffany room - it just matches perfectly! I am so lucky that I get to have my own 'dressing room' haha...that's what I like to call it.  I've always had to share a bathroom with somebody, whether it be my sisters or roomates at college or Tyler, and it is WONDERFUL to have a room to myself to do what I want - it's like a huge walk-in closet with my clothes, vanity, and desk! Hopefully someday when our family grows our house situation will grow too so I don't have to let go of my haven :p

Anyway, hope everyone else has a safe and happy snow day today too! Hope to get to church tonight though - that's one place I don't care to brave the cold to get to!

 

Happy (Early) Valentine's Day!

My mom always tells the story about how I used to complain about her decorations and how I 'was NEVER going to put them up! It's such a waste of time! Etc...', but.....now that I have my own house, I can't have enough decorations for even the smallest holidays! I LOVE to decorate my house, and Tyler says it's getting a little bit out of hand and 'cluttered' in here.  My reply to that is that I don't bother his garage or his office, and I get to do whatever I please with the rest of the house :)

Here are some of my Valentine's day decorations, but I'm sure I'll have more Valentine's Day - themed blogs before February 14th.

 I just LOVE Valentine's Day - no pun intended! I even liked it when I didn't have a significant other - probably because my mom and dad made up for it with their love and gifts :)

I made the next two frames because I couldn't find any Valentine's Day ones that I liked (that I could justify buying)...so I just bought two black ones at Big Lots and put some heart stickers on them!

This is Tyler and I about four years ago...we look so much younger but I don't feel like it was that long ago - I guess that's how time goes as you get older...

 

 

 And I had to put up this picture of Gigdey - she's part of our family too!

 And of course I always have to take pictures of my cute little princess who follows me around no matter what I'm doing....

...and her TRUE personality when I don't spend every minute paying attention to her! :)

 This next picture is what I'm MOST excited about...I saw the idea on another blog, and went straight online and bought one for us because I loved it so much! It's Tyler and my monogram on the big mirror in the living room - I love personalized stuff - it just makes everything more special! (And just a little information - I didn't get this from personalizationmall.com, but if you need a gift idea for V-day I just got a coupon code in my email - 20% off ALL orders with code LOVE1234 until January 30th!)

 Have you noticed how many times I've said 'love' in this post? It's not just because Valentine's Day is coming up - I LOVE everything about my life, every day of the year!

Here are some free downloads from Amazon if you need some love music to get you ready for the season! <3

German Chocolate Cookies and Thank You's!

A few days ago I was having car troubles on my way to school, and since Tyler dropped his phone in the toilet (yes, you heard me right), I had no way of getting ahold of him.  I called my mom and she gave me the number to call our wonderful neighbors down the street, and they trudged through the snow to come to our house and let Ty use their phone.  I'm so thankful we live near people that will help us when we need something.

I wasn't sure what to do to thank them because I wanted to do more than just give them a card, so I decided I would bake something (everyone likes homemade treats, right?).  I decided on this recipe for 'German Chocolate Cookies' because I LOVE German chocolate cake:

http://family.go.com/food/recipe-802373-german-chocolate-cookies-t/

This website is created by Disney, but it's not all for kids! I have gotten tons of craft and food ideas here and they all turned out great!

Here are some pictures of the finished product:

And here are a few of my little helper while I was cooking :) ....more like little beggar!

Now to deliver the goodies - Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin!

 

Steals and Deals!

Last night, Tyler and I had to go get a missing piece of one of our cabinets in Charleston.  We went to Harbor Freight first, because Ty had to get some 'stuff'.  Then we ate at China Gourmet, which was delicious.  But the best part of the trip was going to Lowe's...I loooove to look for the yellow tags that mean 'clearance', and actually that's all my eyes really fix on when we're there.  I probably haven't bought anything at 'full price' since I was in high school (and didn't know any better :p).  Last week, I bought a new curtain rod for our room for $12.95 - marked down from $59.95! Gosh I get so excited about sales!  Well last night, right when we walked in the door, my eyes were drawn to some lamps that were my very favorite black and white damask pattern (like the theme of our wedding decor).  To my surprise, I looked at the price and there were those yellow tags - $9.95 instead of $29.95! They weren't in the budget for the night, but I just had to have them :) 

Someday, when we get a new house, I've already decided this will be the theme of the whole house - I just love how simple, elegant, and classy it looks!

(don't mind the messy-looking shelf - there is NO good way to organize that many school notebooks!)

I LOVE steals and deals!

School Again?!

I can't believe the day is already here....January 10th - the dreaded first day of the semester.  Tonight I'm getting all of my stuff ready to start all my new classes, and I thought I'd share with you my load of nursing school 'stuff'....that unfortunately probably costs as much as my car.

My books for *just* this semester (and I'm still missing two of them that haven't came in the mail yet).  There is a bookshelf in our house that holds about four times this many from other semesters!

And the stress level increased when I started filling out my agenda for classes, assignment due dates, and the dirty word exa*s. This is a picture of last week - nice, cozy, and EMPTY...

...and here is just the beginning of this week:

BUT...

as I write this post I can't help but be thankful.  So many people don't get the chance to even go to college, whether it be for financial reasons, inadequate grades, or family issues - God gave me the gift to be able to learn and retain the things I need to, which led to scholarships, which led to my attending college for free.  Every time I get down in the dumps about school and how much I hate it or how hard it is, I'm going to make myself come read this blog post and remember that this is just one of the MANY gifts God has given me - and I'm in every situation for a reason! Pray for me - I'm sure you've heard it before but nursing school is HARD! :)

Winter Jam 2011

 [They] were celebrating before God with all their might, singing songs and playing all kinds of musical instruments--lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets. - 1 Chronicles 13:8

Tonight was KLove's annual Winter Jam tour in Charleston.  The feeling of having so many people around you praising God is one of the best feelings in the world! The whole Civic Center was full, and you could feel the spirit - I had friends all over the building texting me so we could wave to each other from hundreds of feet away :).  The line-up consisted of Chris Sligh, Chris August, Sidewalk Prophets, Red (my and Ty's main reason for going :),  Newsong, Francesa Battistelli, David Crowder Band, Kutless, and Newsboys.  It was a music and fun - filled night, and we had awesome seats thanks to our friend Nelson!

I chose to put this verse at the beginning of this post, because there are many people who believe that drums and 'louder' instruments shouldn't be played when worshipping (and the Westboro Baptist "Church" was there protesting), but alas! There it is, right in the BIBLE - tambourines and cymbals?!? I think we should praise in whatever way we feel gives GOD the GLORY!

On our way!!

Here's my lovely husband giving a view of the only half-filled auditorium before the concert started :)

Red

Happy Saturday! - don't forget to set your alarm for church tomorrow! :)

Picture Perfect - The Hall Family

  Before Christmas, my great uncle and aunt decided that their present to my Great-grandma Ruth would be to get EVERY member of our family into one picture, which is pretty hard since we're all in different places and different stages of life.  This is the only time I EVER remember us all being together in one place at the same time! I don't have the pictures yet, so these still have the copyright mark - but you 'get the picture'! :)

This is a picture of the great-grandchildren.  Because my grandad was the first child and my mom the was the first grandchild, I just happen to be the first great-grandchild! As you can see, there's a huge age span between all of us! The photographer kept asking my sisters and I if we were supposed to be in this picture or not :)....and yes, I still think I look young enough to be a great-grandchild!

 This is a picture of the WHOLE family! I can't stop thinking about how it's just amazing that if God didn't place my grandma Ruth (in the very middle in green) in the exact situations she was in in the past, none of us would be here - CRAZY!

 We had to get a picture of 'our' family too - I can just picture my grandad sitting in that space in front of me being mad that he was having to get his picture taken with all those little screaming kids running around (haha) - but he's in even a better place than that :)

And then, because I LOVE getting my picture taken (even though Tyler doesn't :p), we had to get one of our little family (I think it's still a family even if there are only two! :)

Again, although I don't get to see many of the people in this extended family very often, I am so thankful that God blessed me with so many people who care about me :)

Another "Beginning"

I created a blog a few years ago, but had absolutely no time to update it, which led me to just delete the whole thing.  Now I realize that a blog is a gift to yourself to help you remember things you would otherwise forget! As I was looking at my mom's blog the other day, I saw multiple posts that were about things I didn't even remember! And for that reason, I decided to start a blog again so that I will be able to remember all of God's blessings in my life for years to come!! Hope you enjoy!!

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