happy birthday grayson! :)

today is a wonderful day to celebrate my little brother's 21st birthday. 

he loves the dallas mavericks, his family, texas tech red raiders, and eating pizza for breakfast.

o,

and did i mention that he's spending his birthday at Pine Cove Orientation because he's going to be a super-duper-awesome camp counselor this summer?!

yup. my brother is cooler than your brother. :)

always cheesing it up for the camera.

the biggest raising cane's fan on the planet. no contest.

grayson and me at my engagement party last fall.  such the stud!

dear grayson,

you'll always be my little brother,

even when you're 85 years old.

hehehe

waking up to the real world

this morning was a little rough.

i knew going back to work after two weeks of wedding and honeymoon bliss was going to be tough,

but goodness,

i'm still not a morning person.

thankfully,

one of our lovely wedding guests left us a caffeine-pumping, happy-good-morning, gift.

who knew one little black box could bring such joy to an early morning?

my brain has turned to avocados

after 22 years of being afraid of the slimey, chunky, green stuff, i finally caved, and fell head over heals for the fabulous fruit:

the avocado.

i can't get enough of the stuff.

it's like i'm making up for lost time.

not only are they yummy yummy yummy,
they have great health benefits as well!
they are full of B, E & K, have more potassium than a banana, and are a healthy fat.

sounds like a good reason for me to eat as well!

avocado chicken parm.

Source: ellenaguan.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

spinach, avocado, quinoa and tangelo salad

Source: theinvestmentboenker.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

ummmm.....guacamole bruschetta. yummm!

Source: greatrecipestomake.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

how yummy do these chicken enchiladas look?

Source: thenovicechefblog.com via Sarah on Pinterest

and my most favorite pin of the day:

pesto, mozzarella, baby spinach, avocado grilled cheese.

i've been craving this beautiful sandwich since the very first time it popped up on my pin-feed.

yumm!

 

Source: diana212m.blogspot.com.au via Sarah on Pinterest

yes i know. i have a problem.

and i'm heading to mexico for treatment! :)

what are you pinning this week??

guacamole and love songs

this week has been such a whirlwind of craziness.

the greatest advice i've received so far has been to carve out some time for a date night,

and that is what bryce and i did tonight.

it was so great to spend some one-on-one time together,

to talk about the wedding and our days and our week and to just be together without craziness,

and of course,

with table side guacamole. :)

it is so easy to get wrapped up in the wedding festivities and forget about the true purpose.

a wedding is not just a party.

a wedding is about a marriage.

my heart is overwhelmed with love and gratitude to our sweet Savior for allowing us to share in his beautiful gift of marriage. 

i know that i am so blessed to be able to marry my bestest friend,

it just makes me all gooey and melty on the inside.

have you heard of JJ Heller?

JJ Heller sings many lovely songs, and one of them, the "Boat Song" is my favorite new love song.

i think it is a beautiful picture of how the Lord brings two people together to compliment each other and to support each other, and of how the Lord, in his beautiful sovereignty can bring two sinners together in marriage to glorify his name and to bring glory to his kingdom.

i hope this songs brings you a small bit of joy to your heart.

my first blog award!

i am excited to say that i have been nominated for a leibster award by kate @ classy living. the liebster award is given to up-and-coming blogs, with less than 200 followers.

Kate's blog is so cute and i love reading the daily posts about her life, and i feel so honored that she would think to include me! thanks kate! :)

so here are the rules:

1. choose 5 blogs to give awards

2. show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them

3. post the award on your blog.

4. list the blogs you gave the award to with the links to their sites. Leave them comments or send them e-mails to let them know they received the award.

5. share five random facts about yourself.

Alright, so here are my five lovely picks:

Kelsey @ Home Sweet Home

Courtney @ Frankly, My Dear 

Brittany @ Fun with the Fullwoods

Connie @ My Life Belongs to Him

Amy @ Taking Steps Home

here are 5 random facts about me:

[1]

i love flavored tea. lemon, peach, raspberry, blackberry, blueberry...i love it all.

[2]

even though i love my job, i sometimes wish i was just able to do arts and crafts for a living.

 

[3]

my favorite flower is the peony. they are so lovely!

 

[4]

i love being short.  yes, sometimes it has its disadvantages, but it's also really fabulous when trying to fit in small or stuffed cars, or when i want to wear high heels.

 

[5]

my favorite foods are pizza and ice cream.  if i could eat them them every day without complaining, i would do it without a doubt.

 

 

sometimes, i get wrapped up in seeing how many followers other bloggers have, and how many comments they have, and really, that's not why i started doing this, so it's silly to let that be the focus.  i am so grateful to be recognized by another blogger, and i hope that you will check out the five lovely blogs above!

 

happy saturday everyone!

:)

high five for friday! :)

this has been such a fast and fabulous week.

i can't believe friday has already arrived.

[1] 

on wednesday, bryce moved all of his stuff from his college apartment to my apartment.

actually, our apartment! we were both kind of nervous about having enough room for both of us, but i think after a quick trip to Ikea, everything will fit perfectly!

ooooo goodness. 

i'm going to be living with a boy!!

[2]

one of the many parts of my job includes handling events for our firm.

sometimes the venues are boring and plain,

and other days, i get to drive around on a golf cart drinking iced tea.

and i met a new friend on the cart path. mr. turtle.  :)

the 5 am start to my day was definitely worth it. :)

[3]

i've started packing for my trip home.

this includes one suitcase for bryce's graduation weekend and pre-wedding week,

and one suitcase for the honeymoon!

i was hoping to try and pack efficiently, but it just isn't going to happen.

i've decided that i will just keep packing until my car is full and organize it later.

[4]

i'm in love with my new fedora. 

it looks so great sitting on my dresser,

and i'm working up the courage to wear it in public.

i don't know why i'm so nervous to wear it.

when i see other girls wearing hats out and about, i always think, "man, that is such a cute look! i wish i had a fedora to wear!", and now i have one, so i'm going to be brave.

why yes that is a leopard print band. love me some target. 

[5]

this time next week, i will be at my bridesmaid's brunch,

setting up the church sanctuary, 

and getting ready for our wedding rehearsal.

eeeeek! :)

high five it's friday!!! :)

what's a bride-to-be to wear?

there are so many wardrobe considerations a bride-to-be must make, and as a result, my boards are covered in pins of shirts, dresses, hair styles, and nail polish choices.

 my bestie sent me pin the other day,

and i immediately shouted out an "AMEN!".

girls kill themselves getting ready for their big day,

the least they deserve is a cute shirt with a bow on the back! :)

 [via]

i can't decide if i should go neutral or classic.

this essie polish is beautiful.

"topless and barefoot"

[via]

so, i used to think that the "mr. & mrs." and "hubby & wifey" honeymoon shirts were super cheesy,

but then I came across these on etsy,

and i'm in love.

i may or may not have already made us a set.

;)

you only have one first day of being husband and wife right?

you might as well flaunt it,

and get lots of free stuff on your honeymoon! :)

[via]

 

[via]

[both from this beautiful etsy site]

this one is pretty cute and classy as well.

[via]

this necklace is beautiful.

although, to be honest, i've never seen anything with the beautiful kate spade name on it that i didn't absolutely love.

[via]

what have you been pinning lately?

the vintage apple

my talented baby brother

last weekend i traveled home to watch my brother in his very last vivace show.  

vivace, a.k.a, super awesome high school show choir.

they had so many fun songs, 

and they had really cute choreography.

and it was so fun to watch the performances.

i was dancing in my seat like a crazy person!
it made me wish i was coordinated and had moves.

but of course, my baby brother's filler was the best performance of them all! :)

[no bias here at all folks, he really is the best!]

yes, i am fully aware that my videographer-skills are lacking,

but just close your eyes, 

pretend you're sitting on the beach with  an umbrella in your glass,

and be jealous that you're baby brother isn't as fabulous as mine. :)

'ode to the trail mix cookie

when i first arrived home on friday afternoon,

there were six trail mix cookies in the box.

by 11 pm that night,

only this one lonely, delicious cookie remained. 

and i realized that i had eaten them all. 

oops. 

i am a sucker for sweets.

yummy, chewy, fresh baked goodness. 

full of oats, walnuts, almonds, cranberries, and heaven.

yes, i did just do an entire post about a cookie.

they are just that fabulous.

i dare you to try and say no.

wow it's friday. high five for that!

wow.

i'm running out of days.

i've officially hit the point where i have so many things i know i need to do,

and want to do, i can't seem to shrink my to-do list.

but amidst all the craziness,

there were a few lovely things and thoughts that have kept me pepped up this week:

[1] 

have you tried the peach citrus fresca??

i can't get enough. 

it tastes so yummy, has zero calories, and no sugar.

a girl on a pre-wedding diet's best friend.

[2]

my poor stuffed monkey took an unexpected swim.

i was trying so hard to get all my laundry done,

and the poor guy got thrown in with the sheets. 

he's a warrior that one.

loving the crazy eyes...

[3]

i may or may not have bought a bright, neon pink swimsuit from target,

and it may or may not make me look like a highlighter,

but i LOVE IT!

and i think it will be a perfect honeymoon-being-lazy-on-the-beach-swimsuit.

[4]

new nail polish of the week...

sinful colors, hazard.

i hate that the brand is called sinful colors,

but it was only $1.99 at target,

it's a subtle shade of coral and i love it. 



i have hazardous toesies.
hehehe
i crack myself up. :)

[5]

i get to fly home this weekend to see my baby brother perform in his last show choir concert.  i can't believe it...he's almost in college!

i'll be the one hootin' and hollerin' in the front row,

impossible to miss.

what do you have to high five about this week?! 

dear monday on tuesday

dear monday, how did you get here so fast? time is flying by so quickly.  i didn't even have a chance to be bummed about it being monday before it was tuesday. snap dragons.

dear tuesday, hello there, where'd you come from? 

dear summer lights cd, you are fabulous and definitely exactly what my heart needed. 

you can purchase the goodness on itunes [here].

so my favorite songs so far:

10,000 Reasons.

God is Able.

love love love it.

and,

my future best-friend-in-law in singing on half of the songs, so you know it's fabulous!

[braddaugherty.com]

dear lack of apartment storage, you're about to win this battle. i'm about to go crazy.  i never really thought of myself as a neat-and-tidy-tot until now.  i really don't like things just sitting around everywhere, and that is the state of my life right now.

dear fiesta shower, you were a blast and full of friends, guacamole, sweet gifts, and lots of laughter.

wow. happy week ya'll!

 [o happy day.]