Five on Friday

1. My sister-in-law graduated!! I am so proud of her and had such a great weekend down there, it was much more relaxing than I thought it would be. My mother-in-law has better pictures, but this one will have to do!

2. For her graduation we got her a book called "Adulting" and I loved it, I'm tempted to go out and buy one for myself. It had such practical advice, but with some sarcasm and down to earth attitude!

3. As a thank you to our youth workers we got them succulents, and my sweet husband let me pick one out as well! Hopefully I'll be able to keep it alive!

4. A few friends and I found out that Tuesdays at our theater are $6 economy tickets! Our movie theater is so expensive, it's $11 for a movie, which is ridiculous. Now I see a lot of Tuesday night showings in our future! We went to see Hot Pursuit. . . I was literally crying from laughter half the time!

5. It's Friday!!!

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

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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's Friday! I am leaving work today at 2:00 PM and not coming back for over a week! That's what I call a happy day! Without further ado. . . here are my top 5 moments!

1. Zeke's Haircut - This poor guy. . . he couldn't even see! We had to re-schedule his haircut twice because of different things, and it was getting pretty rough, I can't believe how soft he is now. . . and those eyes! I forgot how cute he could be ! <3

2. Pinterest Party - Our teen small groups had a Pinterest Party on Wednesday, and it was a success! I think everybody loved it! We let them make 4 crafts (if they had time) They just brought a few dollars and some mason jars. We had chalkboard paint, and glitter to decorate jars, and then they could make cookie jars, and sugar scrubs. It was messy, but totally worth it!

3. Christmas Decorations - Christmas decorations go up tomorrow night!!! We always put them up before we travel for Thanksgiving so we can come back to a beautiful Christmas filled house! Cannot wait!

4. Glazed Bisque-It - Some of the ladies in our office went out last night for a night of painting pottery, it was so much fun to get to know them out of the office, and enjoy some pizza and crafting at the same time!

5. Cinderella - Hasn't happened yet, but tonight we're heading down to Durham to see Cinderella!!! My husband and I saw it in NYC this past January and it was so wonderful when I heard it was going to be so close to my parents I decided we would make the 3 hour drive to see it, and them!

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

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Five on Friday

Wow can't believe we're already back to Friday!! Hope you guys all had a wonderful week!

1. Halloween Giftcard! Our office does a Halloween scavenger hunt every year. Last year my team won. . . and I may have talked some smack to everyone about how my team would be winning again this year! But we did win!!!! $5 Kroger giftcard - I am living the high life! 

2. Saturday Shopping - A friend of a friend was selling all of her open house Christmas decorations, and we went there on Saturday, wow everything was such a great deal, and there were actually a lot of things that weren't Christmas. I got that boxwood wreath for $10, the acorns for $2, and everything was in great shape! We then went to a local gift shop, and I finally found some cotton bolls! I have been looking everywhere for them, and either they don't sell them or they were sold out. I was so excited! Now I just need to decide what I'm going to do with them! I'm thinking a wreath!

3. Birdseed wreath - Speaking of wreaths. . . my Dad's birthday was on Monday, so they are coming up this weekend to celebrate! He absolutely loves birdbaths, birdfeeders, basically anything to do with birds. I found this nifty recipe and made him a wreath and some ornaments! I'll be sharing the recipe next week!

4. Voting = Starbucks - I hope that you voted on Tuesday! As a reward for doing my duty as a citizen I picked up some Starbucks on my way back to work! 

5. Umm Pizza - I couldn't really think of a 5th item, but I am going out for pizza at lunch today, and that always helps me get through a Friday workday!! only 7 hours to go! 


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

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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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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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O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A, Oklahoma!

This past weekend was the last performance of Oklahoma! It ran for 3 weekends, 1 show on Thursday, & Friday, and 2 shows on Saturday. This was such an amazing opportunity and I am so glad I was able to be part of it! I would encourage any of you that have a community theater to get involved in a production or definitely get your kids involved! There are so many wonderful things about theater: you get to meet new friends, it keeps your mind sharp (all those lines and music!), and it builds self-confidence, especially for children! All of the kids in our show were amazing, they were outgoing, super helpful, and I'm sure they learned a lot! 

Here are a few pictures from the show! If you've never seen Oklahoma, go and find the movie! It's wonderful!

"Surrey with the Fringe On Top" this is the male lead, Curly

"Many A New Day" 

Jud, Ali Hakim, and Curly

"Oklahoma" this is after the wedding!

There's a plot twist at the end that I'll let you find out for yourself : ) 

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Weekend Highlights!

Wow! I feel like I haven't been on here quite as often lately! I'm sorry about that and hopefully I'll start getting into the swing of things again. I hope that you guys all had a wonderful 4th of July! I had a super busy weekend but got so much done! 

My husband was out of town the past week (he got in at 3:00 AM this morning!! ugh) so I did a lot of projects around the house, and then went to visit my parents! Here are a few of the highlights from this past week/weekend!

TV Stand - I finished it!! no picture yet, don't worry it's coming soon!!

Conservators' Center - This is an awesome place my family just found out about. It's about 15 minutes from my parent's house and I can't believe we hadn't heard of it before. I love animals, and going to the zoo is one of my favorite things to do! This wasn't a zoo (as you can tell by the name) their main purpose is education, conservation, and rescue. Some of the cages were a little small I thought, but the guide mentioned several times that they were in the process of building bigger enclosures, and pointed out some of the clearings on the path where they would go. It was a guided tour so you learned a lot about the individual animals. It was really neat! They had about 4 different enclosure for their lions, and they would "talk" to them and the lions would begin roaring at each other (friendly roars of course!) If you live in the Greensboro/Burlington NC area I definitely suggest you check it out! They have a Twilight Tour, that is supposed to be awesome, that'll probably be what we do on our next visit!

July 4th Service - The Sunday after July 4th we had a lot of special music honoring our country and the men who have served in our Armed Forces. All of the music was so powerful, and everyone did an amazing job on it! 

Gallery Wall - I finally finished my gallery wall last night! I might still change it up, but I am so glad to actually have things hanging on my wall in the living room! More details to come!

This Candle - O My Word! This is the best candle ever! I got it at Marshall's this weekend and am completely in love. It smells amazing and will be cute decor even after the candle part is gone. There were 3 when I was there, and I am so tempted to go back and buy them all!

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