Five on Friday!

1. Outside Walks - Some friends and I have decided to start walking together every Tuesday, this past Tuesday was the first time, and the weather was so perfect! I am so excited about being able to be outside more!

2. The Best Yes - I started this book last week, and haven't wanted to put it down. . . unfortunately I haven't had many chances to read so it's going a bit slower than I had hoped. But if you haven't read it, you need to! This book is such an encouragement and a rebuke at the same time! I'm already seeing it make a difference in the decisions I make. 

3. Bonfire - We just recently started a small group in our church, and it has been going so well. This past Sunday we had a bonfire, and it was so wonderful to hang out with all of our good friends!

4. Audra McDonald - Tonight a friend and I are going to see Audra in concert. And this song. . . there are no words. . . 

5. Friday - I can't think of another highlight for this week, but that fact that today is Friday is highlight enough!! 

I'm linking up with Caitlin, Amy, and April!

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Five on Friday

I am so glad it is finally Friday! Honestly All day Wednesday I though it was Thursday, so I felt like the last half of this week just drug by! 

1. There are ladies that take turns doing the flowers for the front of our church. Well this week she gave them to me, they were the most beautiful roses, with a ton of greenery! They also happened to match our new room! If you can't tell from the name of this blog I love roses! (Rose is my middle name) They've added such a beautiful element to our room, and I hate that they're already fading. . . 


2. Our church cancelled services on Wednesday (because school was cancelled, the light dusting that we had was gone by noon) So we went out with some friends to a sushi/Asian restaurant. I don't eat sushi, but their fried rice is absolutely amazing! Anyway we had so many people we were able to get a sushi "boat" I wish I had taken a picture, but just believe me it was awesome! 


3. 2/52 I've finished my second book so I'm one step closer to finishing my Reading Challenge!

4. Aaron started grad school again . . . ugh! This isn't necessarily a happy moment in the Five for Friday, but o well! It's definitely a major part of our week now, and I did get a lot of reading done last night when I took this picture! This was our attempt at quality time! Ha!


5. My parents are coming up tomorrow for a little bit, and I'm hoping we'll get a few projects done around the house!



I'm linking up with Lauren Elizabeth, Meet @ the Barre, Carolina Charm, and The Farmer's Wife, and Coffee with Caitlin! Check out these awesome ladies, all of their blogs will keep you entertained for hours! 

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Current Reading

Wow, I have not keen very good about my reading list this year! I only put 10 books on there, because I knew I hadn't been reading a lot lately and wanted to feel accomplished when I went way above and beyond my reading list. . . that plan didn't work out so well! Here is the list I made at the beginning of the year. I ended up taking off the Monuments Men. . . so really there are only 9 on my reading list. 

Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World by Bob Goff
 In the middle of this book, it's been very encouraging so far, and I definitely recommend it. 

Divergent, Allegiant, & Insurgent by Veronica Roth
These were an easy read, it only took me about 2 days for each book. They were very interesting, and the movie was a very good adaptation!

The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide by Francine Jay
Wow this book is wonderful! I finished reading it right around when we were moving so it     really helped as I was going through things to sell, donate, throw away. I did not go to the extreme that the book mentioned sometimes, but I do feel like I got rid of some useless things, and streamlined my closet more. I probably need to go through objects in my house again with this "Joy of Less" mindset!

L. O. V. E.: Putting Your Love Styles to Work for You by Les & Leslie Parrott
Hoping to get to this book in December!

The Monuments Men  by Robert Edsel and Bret Witter
The movie was amazing which made me want to read the book, but it just isn't going to happen this year!

Every Woman's Battle  by Shannon Ethridge
 Eh - that's all I have to say about this book, I found it in a pile as I was going through some things, and thought I should read this to see if I would recommend it or could ever use it in the ministry. It was an okay book but I had to force myself to read it, and I think there are better written and more interesting books that cover the same topic matter. 

Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen
Hoping to get to it on Thanksgiving break or maybe December!

Balancing It All: My Story of Juggling Priorities and Purpose by Candace Cameron Bure
This was a good book, she has an interesting writing style that took a while to get used to, but all in all it was very encouraging and challenging!

I still have 3 books to go; L.O.V.E. Love Does, and Water for Elephants. I also really want to re-read the Hunger Games Trilogy before I go to see the movie in November! I also still want to read The Fault in Our Stars so that I can watch the movie! Looks like I'll be pretty busy before 2015. 

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Happy Monday!

Happy Monday! You don't see those words too often, but I had a wonderful weekend, and I'm only working half a day today! So I would call that a happy monday!

We had Pastor Appreciation yesterday at our church, and I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful it was! We are so thankful for the church the Lord has put us in. When I was growing up I never even heard of Pastor Appreciation, but our current church (my husband is the Student Ministries Pastor, but there are only 2 pastors so many times he seems like more of an Associate Pastor) goes all out. We had a couple of people who completely ran the service so that the pastors wouldn't have any responsibilities. I know that sometimes pastor's can be overlooked, but this is a wonderful way to show love for the staff you may have at your church! October is Pastor Appreciation Month so you still have a couple days! It can be as simple as getting him his favorite candy bar, or a heartfelt note! We were so overwhelmed at all the love we received, between the kind words said at the pulpit, and the gifts we received! 

 One of the ladies in our church made flower arrangements for the wives, and this bouquet is just too beautiful. Every time she does the altar flowers I love them, she has a knack for finding the perfect balance of arranged and handpicked. 

I loved the decorations they put on the door to the Youth Room! They did such an awesome job! 

Over the weekend we had a gas fireplace put in! There's a little more staining/trim work to do, but I was too excited to not put decor around it! 

She Reads Truth just started their study on Hospitality, and it was already an encouragement! Make sure you go check it out on their site!

Another happy thing I don't have a picture for, is Aaron and I booked our trip to Disneyworld for next year! I've been talking about it since we got married! He seems to think he doesn't like Disneyworld, but he hasn't been since he was 10, and last time they went with his 8 yr old sister and 2 babies, in July, and there was some kind of big convention. Ugh I might not like it under those circumstances either? October 19th I am already counting down the days! 

Hope that you have a wonderful Monday!

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Sushi & the Opera

Whoever did the design for the opera was amazing! I think it is so beautiful!

Well as you can imagine after that all-nighter on Friday all I wanted to was sleep! But we had tickets to a brand new opera that was premiering just down the street from us! Since my husband was so sweet to come with me, I decided we could go to a sushi place for dinner (I hate sushi- probably stronger than hate, but anyway. . . ) Luckily I think that made him a little bit happier about sitting through an opera with me! 


This opera was so cute, it was written as a children's opera so it was very easy to follow. It was written in English rhyme. It had everything that a fairy tale needs: a princess, a magical quest, a frog you know the deal : ) 

This was the only photo of us we got that night, we didn't even think to charge our phones!

I feel like we didn't even have a weekend from how busy we are! O well! eventually things will slow down, but right now I'm learning to be content with the busyness, and to get things done as fast as I can when I have the chance! Any awesome time-saving tips out there for me? ; ) 

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Five on Friday

I've been off this blog for the past 2 months, and it feels like it has been forever! I figured the best way to jump back in is with my favorite Five on Friday! So here it goes! These are some of my highlights from the week!

1. Salted Caramel Hot Cocoa - This hot chocolate is ssoooo wonderful! Seriously I love salted caramel, in fact a salted caramel mocha is my choice fall drink at Starbucks. I've been having a tasty cup of this almost every night since I found it!

2. Fall decor - I love fall. . . but honestly I don't care that much about decorating for it, I'm basically chomping at the bit to decorate for Christmas!!! But because some of my regular decor is summery/springy (think lemons, pineapples etc.) I decided I should at least switch those things out. So I went down to my Christmas bin and got myself some pinecones. . . they count as fall decor right? And then hit up Dollar Tree for some pumpkins, and paint! Voila my kind of fall decor, subtle but still in season!

3. Alexander, and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day - When I was little my aunt would read this book to me every time I came to visit her. I always loved that book, and was so excited about the movie. . . my husband was a little scared about how excited I was! And it did not disappoint! Seriously, I think if something has Steve Carell in it, it's a pretty safe bet that it will at least be a little funny! But really the entire show was just cute, and so funny! Check it out!

4. The Three Feathers - You guys, my husband seriously loves me! We are having an all-nighter with the youth group tonight. . . yes you read that right! an all-nighter. . . bring on the coffee and Pib Extra! Well there is an original opera that is premiering over at VT this weekend, I mentioned it in passing to Aaron, one of those "I know we can't go, but isn't it awesome that it's premiering here, and I'm sure it would be wonderful. . . " and that amazing man said we should go! So the plan is all-nighter from 8PM-8AM sleep 8AM-5PM opera 7PM-10PM my dream Saturday huh?

5. Mocassins - These wonderful slippers were a surprise from my husband yesterday! These kind of slippers are my absolute favorite, and I wear them out in public way too often. . . 

Hope that everyone had a wonderful week, and that your weekend is much more restful than mine! I'm so glad to be back in the blogging world, and the plan is that you'll be hearing from me more! Hopefully, I can keep it up!

I'm linking up with Carolina Charm, Meet @ The Barre, The Farmer's Wife, and Lauren Elizabeth! Check these awesome ladies out, they are some of my favorites!

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Seasons of Love

I was thinking about today's post, and all I could focus on was my to-do list, which seems like a very Mondayish thing to focus on. Over the next few months, my to-do list will be growing, mainly because today Aaron is starting up his grad school again. 

When we first got married he took a couple of classes, but I wasn't working full-time and we weren't really involved in a ministry. Things have certainly changed though! I am now working full-time, teaching music lessons on the side, and am really involved in the church youth ministry, as well as a few of the administrative tasks. Aaron's obviously involved since he is the Youth and Children's pastor. 

The past couple of weeks I've found myself frustrated with the thought of the extra work I'll need to be doing. Aaron is absolutely amazing so he often cleans the house and does the grocery shopping on his day off - Monday. Since Aaron will be so much busier, I'll get to take over these jobs. . . you may be sitting there thinking this girl is crazy it's not that big of a deal, but I'm awful at that stuff especially the cleaning part! And while I may be better now than I was when we first got married, leaving the cleaning up to me is a scary thought! (Just ask Aaron, my mom, or any of my college roommates!)

However, I love this man. And in every season of life my love will be manifested in different ways. When we were dating in college it was sitting together even when we were just doing homework, over our long distance dating it was taking the time to call him(it was a sacrifice - I hate talking on the phone), or send him letters. These past couple months it's been expressing my appreciation for all of his help while I was involved with Oklahoma! I know that during this season what will help him most is having a clean home and full fridge! A dirty house stressed him out, and that definitely doesn't help when you're studying or taking a test! 

As awful as I may be at these things I know that during this season of our life, this is the best way to show love! Later this week I'll be sharing my cleaning schedule!! Fingers crossed that I'll actually stick to it!

All of this to say. . . love your man! We're all in different seasons of love, and I know that every person wants to be loved in a different way, but be thankful that you have someone to love! Love him, regardless of how busy you are at work, how many children you have, or how often you see your special someone. There will always be an excuse, but love is a choice, and I promise you'll both be a whole lot happier if you choose to love him! 

What season of love are you in? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

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Taking Stock

Kate at The Small Things Blog wrote a post like this on Friday and I thought it was a great idea! Sometimes it's good to have these on file to look back to where you were, and also evaluate where you are now. Taking stock was a perfect title given by the original. Many of us don't take stock of our lives often enough. Either we get so busy buzzing through without enjoying life or we waste our days without any purpose! I'm guilty of both sometimes even on the same day! 

Last month I wrote about a 90 day challenge that some of the ladies in our church are doing. I found that it was making me dread my Bible time! I definitely am not saying that you shouldn't make a goal to read your Bible in 90 days, but I chose to do it at the wrong time. I'm in rehearsals a minimum of 3 nights a week, I'm still trying to unpack and decorate my house, and summer is one of the busiest times for my husband so I do most of the housework at this point.

 It's time to take stock, and prioritize! Since I don't have as much time to read my Bible I want to make sure I'm getting the most out of it! I don't want to waste the opportunity to read it through in 90 days! I'll come back to it, but right now I'm finding that I can focus more on a few verses and feel more refreshed rather than attempting to rush through 15 chapters a day feeling frazzled and unaccomplished! 

I hope going through this list will help you take stock of your life and shed some light on things that you need to let go and things you shouldn't have let go of in the first place! You can copy and paste and fill in your own answers, and please leave a comment if you decide to do it!    


Making : a lot of progress on the new rental house
Cooking : on the grill
Drinking : more and more water (trying to get up to a gallon a day) 
Reading: my Oklahoma script over and over!
Wanting: an object to go on my living room gallery wall
Looking: at beautiful blue skies
Playing: candy crush. . . far too often
Wasting: time on candy crush!
Sewing: . . . nope
Wishing: for more time in the evenings with my sweetheart
Enjoying: our new patio furniture
Waiting: on my new white plates to come in!
Liking: my new make-up primer Benefit Flawless
Wondering: about where to go on my lunch break today
Loving: the coming 3 day weekend!
Hoping: I can go to the zoo this weekend!
Marvelling: at God's great work
Needing: to decide what color to paint my TV stand
Smelling: Yankee Candle Campfire Treat
Wearing: maxi skirts!
Following: up on so many calls at work!
Noticing: how different I feel depending on my first thoughts in the morning
Knowing: that we're on the home stretch of having the house where we want it
Thinking: about my weekend to-do list
Feeling: determined!
Bookmarking: my Oklahoma script
Opening: emails
Giggling: at Parks & Rec always!
Feeling: like it's Monday, but glad that it's really Tuesday!

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90 day challenge

I am taking a break from my regular reading, because there is a group in our church doing a 90 reading challenge. This means we are reading the Bible in 90 days. . . it equals out to about 14 chapters a day, which as you can imagine doesn't leave a lot of room for other reading!

I wanted you guys to have access to the chronological plan I am using so it's available below! We began June 1, so we're only a few days in,this challenge has been tough so far, and honestly I'm already behind, but it's been wonderful as well! There are so many stories in the Bible I haven't read in so long, or I have only read the snippets that the Pastor speaks about. As a person who was saved at a young age, I often feel like there isn't anything I haven't already learned about these stories. However, the thing I have caught myself doing the most so far, is just being in awe of God and how so many times in the Bible, it is pointed out that He knew exactly what He was doing. The characters like Noah, Job, Abraham etc. they didn't have the whole story we have now, they simply knew what was happening to them in the moment it happened. That's how we are right now, we can only see what is happening right now. What we can't see is that God is orchestrating this entire season of your life! So feel at peace, because our God is in control, and there is no one else i would rather have in control!

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