tuesday's ten: things that i am loving right now

1. goodreads.com. i found this on a blog the other day. i decided to check it out. it's like a virtual bookshelf. i have mentioned on here before about how much i love to read and that i have about 100 books on my to-read list right now. this helps me keep track better!

2. easter candy: m&m's and eggs

3. LOST. it's so good. i am so lost (pun intended) because there are so many story lines going on. but i am loving it and hate waiting a week to see where they will lead me next.

4. house hunting. don't get the wrong idea. i am not in the market for a house. A and I are not married. but for the past 2 saturdays, we have found ourselves trolling our favorite neighborhoods looking at sweet little houses. we are so excited to get married and have a house together that it is quickly becoming a little tradition of ours.

5. speaking of A, i love him. i know i know. how cheesy. but i moved down here to SC to be closer to him so we could grow up one day and get married. and i keep falling for him even more. sorry to make you gag but i really really love this man. {and i love dancing like crazy people when we are in public}

6. reading through matthew.

7. frilly aprons. especially when they look so fresh and springy. makes me just want to cook/bake a lot.

8. busting out the spring/summer wardrobe. this weekend i started my spring cleaning extravaganza {to be detailed in another post} and i switched out some of my winter clothes for my summer ones. it just got me pumped for this warmer weather.

9. the return of thunderstorms. i should point out that i am fascinated with the weather. the weather channel is one of my faves (don't get it with my basic cable...tear). i love thunderstorms in the spring and we had a good one this week. severe thunderstorm warning. loved it. it was too short lived but it brought the wind, rain and hail like no one's business. and i was giddy.

10. the kind diet. i talked about the book in my food post {here} and have just started to dig through it. so far...i'm liking it.

2 things that i love that didn't make it on my list...

*the new tv show "minute to win it". A and I are obsessed.

*that i am going home in 2 weeks for a visit. can't wait. i get to see my family, besties, lexington and meet little baby james (one of my besties cory just had her first little bundle last week. can't wait to meet the little guy)

so my sweets, give my your 10. or just 1 or 2. i want to hear what you are loving right now.

all pictures courtesy of google images (except for A and me. duh)

just call me queen

a coupon-ing queen that is. i decided in february that i need to start clipping coupons. i need all the dollars i can get right now and decided the sunday papers (full of coupons) were my ticket to savings.

enter cute binder stage right...

i thought "what better way to encourage my coupon-ing than to get a cute binder?" so i picked up a leafy print binder (from target) and some baseball card holders (from walmart) and made myself a little coupon binder.

i clip coupons every sunday and use them to save dollars at the grocery store. but i need to teach myself more. i hear people say things about double savings (where they multiply your coupon amount by 2) and how people save lots and lots of dollars (like $50+) on grocery trips. how do they do it you think? how?

so maybe just call me princess for now. i'm still learning. not a queen yet. spill the secrets will you? i want the dish on how to become a {coupon} queen.

drew + ellie

last week, A and I went to see some of our dear friends play in concert. drew and ellie holcomb. drew and ellie were the musical guests at the YL camp where A and I met 3 summers ago. they are so wonderfully talented, love the Lord and are absolutely adorable together.

the first stop on their spring tour was my little city in SC and so we went to visit and see them play. it was so wonderful to visit with ellie and catch up on each other's lives. she radiates such a sweetness {a gift the Lord has given to her no doubt} and it comes through just when talking with her. what a blessing to be around. her hubby drew is a great guy and the two together create such perfect music. i just love it.

although i usually forget the camera, or bring the camera and neglect to take pictures, this time i made sure to capture a little of the action.

my pictures of the stage turned out horrible. so i grabbed this one off of ellie's facebook from their night in SC. much better and i'm sure she won't mind!

i decided that in this picture, i look like i have on some sort of weird hat. i assure you i do not. must have been the wall of posters behind us. but i still just love this picture of A and I.

we had a fabulous time seeing our friends and getting to catch up. y'all definitely need to check them out {here}. amazing music i tell you.

lovely friday

here is a little lovely friday post. it has been awhile hasn't it? and this lovely friday is coming to you just a little late because i am a slacker.

SC has been beautiful lately. in the 60's and 70's almost everyday, which makes me so very happy. i just want to sit outside all day on a blanket and read. nap. do anything. as long as i am outside. but i shouldn't/can't. i am oh so very allergic to the outdoors right now. death by allergies people. it's not pretty. and it hasn't caught up to me yet. so i'm trying my darndest to keep my windows closed and not be outside for long periods of time.

but that doesn't mean i don't dream of sitting outdoors. preferably in a beautiful backyard {that will hopefully be mine someday}. dining alfresco, drinking sweet tea and hanging out with my loved ones. makes me giddy just thinking about it.

something like this should do...

and i will take the draping fabric in either of these

or how about the fire pit in this little outdoor space?

and couldn't you just picture twinkle lights hanging in this yard at nighttime?

isn't the seating in this space so chic? i'm in love.

or this sweet bench...

and these last 2. i could curl up for a nap in either of these outdoor getaways.

i would even suffer through my allergies if i could just call one of these rooms mine just for a day.

all photos from domino {duh}.

sister sister

last week my sister was on her spring break. she decided to spend the whole break with me down here in SC. it was beyond wonderful. i love her so much and it was so great to spend some quality time with her. A and morgan get along so well. they really love each other, which makes me so blessed. they are becoming such good friends.

on monday, we celebrated A's bday. morgan made cupcakes and decorated my apartment while i was at work. we made games to play and wrapped his presents. it was awesome and hilarious. morgan is one of the funniest people ever and when she "hosted" the games we made up, we almost peed our pants it was so funny.

we took no pictures the whole week. not one. we are so lame. i hate doing that. i guess because i have an old camera that i don't like using it. i hope someday to get a fancier one. then i think i would be inspired to take a lot more pictures. (tangent now done).

i will, however, share pictures of me and morg over the last year.

i am so blessed with my sister. i couldn't have asked for a better week. we loved every bit of hanging out. we ate out (a lot), watched basketball, and played games. anyone ever heard of this one?

A bought it at barnes and noble one night. we played a bunch. and morgan beat us every time. beginners luck or she is a rockstar. can't decide.

thanks sister for driving 7 hours to come visit me. i couldn't have asked for a better week. tears were shed when you left. come back soon will you?

my sister has a blog about her life in college. check it out {here}

lost and found

this weekend, A saved two things in my life. made me so happy.

the first thing was so sad. remember when i introduced you to 'little one'? well, last week he escaped from A's apartment when one of his stupid roommates left the front door wide open. but on friday night, as A was out looking for him, he found him. made me the happiest girl ever. i love this little kitty and i was heartbroken when he was gone for 5 days straight. pure torture. but he is safe and sound and we spent some time this weekend cuddling him. (judge me, cat haters).

the next story of lost and found was insane. you probably won't believe me but i swear it is all true.

A and i like to go look at houses on pretty days. i can't wait to get married to A and have a little house with him. we are both so excited so we love looking at houses in neighborhoods we love. i jumped out of the car during one neighborhood to grab a flyer. as i was getting back in the car, my phone (which was in the door handle of the car) fell out, hit the ground and slid into a storm drain. all the way down. not even joking. can you believe that luck? i freaked. we stayed there in shock for a few minutes, realized we probably couldn't do anything and left. i was so pissed. how does that even happen?

we started driving to the closest sprint store to talk about my options. before we got there, A thought about calling the local police department. they might know what to do. maybe. i was doubtful but they said they would meet us at the storm drain. so we drove back to the grave site of my cell phone's death.

while waiting for the cop to show up, we called my phone. i could hear it plain as day, which meant it wasn't under water. thank goodness. i told A that i had some tire tools in my car if he thought he could use those to pry open the man hole. he fished them out of my trunk and pried the man hole. and there was my phone. about 4-5 feet down. no water and not even mud. perched on top of dry dirt. A climbed down, rescued my phone and popped back out. i jumped up and down and hugged him to pieces. i was so thankful.

probably my favorite part was that the cop called A right after that. A told him what happened, about climbing down the storm drain to rescue my phone. upon which the cop replied "wow. you are way more brave than i am".

hilarious. that couldn't happen again...even if i tried.

spring has sprung

it was so warm here today. and so perfect. mother nature better not play any tricks on me and pour snow on SC in a week. i just really want it to stay like this. i sat outside. i didn't wear a jacket. and i drank some sweet tea. i got into full spring mode and i expect to stay there.

spring has sprung and i am looking forward to bursts of color, bathing suit weather and sunny days.

each picture linked to owner.

the madness

march madness. oh how excited i am.

i was raised with blue blood being from the great state of KY. cheered for the cats growing up. went to school there. graduated from the university of kentucky, which only heightened my pride in my university. i am obsessed with college basketball season (as any cats fan will tell you).

the madness is beginning this week. i have yet to fill out my bracket (even though i have already printed it out). and let me say...it feels good to be a number 1 seed. college basketball is a given in kentucky. you love your blue. cheer your heart out. and when you have a good team, my oh my, does it make the season wonderful. (although i do cheer for my cats when we are, ahem, less than perfect)

this past weekend got my heart really pumping with the SEC tournament. sunday's game was amazing and i'm not kidding when i say i had a raspy voice come monday. it was amazing and exactly what this season is about. edge of your seat, heart beating out of your chest, pride oozing for your bluegrass team.

let the madness begin.

GO CATS!

finding a home

since i have been down here in SC, A and i have done some church searching. we are trying to find a church that we can call home, a place to be refreshed and poured into, and a place to be challenged in our faith. i came from a huge church in lexington that stole my heart away. i absolutely adored my church and felt so encouraged by the way the church was living out Christ's calling for us.

"therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." {matthew 28:19-20}

my church in lexington lived out that verse so beautifully. and although, no church has it perfect, that place was going hard after what the Lord commands us to do.

so since my time here in SC, i have been looking for that (and trying my hardest not to compare). i think i might have found a place that i will eventually love. it is hard to transfer from my ky church to a different one but i definitely wanted to find a church that was going hard after that verse. and i think i found one that we both like.

A and i went to a discovery class on sunday. it was to learn more about the church, what they believe, and how to get plugged in. it was encouraging and i really liked their mission and what they are doing in greenville.

i have shared in the past the difficulty i have had in moving my whole life to SC. i don't sugarcoat the process because i like to be open about things on my blog. i am hoping that finding a home church and getting plugged in will help me feel like greenville is my home. that is something that i have been struggling with lately and i hope that this will be a step in the process of making it feel more "homey".

that is all for now. thanks for listening to me pour my church thoughts onto you! i am excited to plug into this church more, get to know the leaders and members and see how the Lord will grow us with this church.

i'm a winner!

can you believe it? because i sure can't. i never win anything. ever. ever. and i have won 2 giveaways this year so far. y'all...this is epic. huge. insane.

first up, i won this little etsy print from wendy over at a southern accent. first giveaway win ever. i squealed in my desk at work. and clapped my hands like crazy. i was so very excited.

i can't wait to give it a little home. i was thinking of putting it in my bathroom. but first i want to get a big colorful frame (the print is 8 by 10) to make it look lovely.

i would call this next win the epic one. one of my favorite blogs in all of blog world is john and sherry over at younghouselove. they have a giveaway every week. usually there are like 2000 entries or more. so i enter all the time but never really thought i would ever win. and then one wednesday night, i got an email from the youngsters that i had randomly won. let me tell you...i looked like a madwoman. A thought i had gone insane. i ran around my apartment, jumping up and down, and yelling something like "i'm the luckiest girl in the world". just trying to be as candid as possible with y'all as possible ya know?

i won a $100 giftcard from lisa leonard designs in that giveaway. i got to pick out some precious jewelry and i got it in the mail today. everything is so so cute. let me walk you through the girly little pieces i picked out...

the middle oval necklace in the last picture is what i selected. it is very cute and dainty.

have y'all won any giveaways recently? share your little wins with me.

food for thought

lately, a lot of random thoughts about food are stirring around in my mind. i thought i would pour them out here on my blog.

today one of my favorite episodes of oprah was on. I don't normally watch oprah but every once in awhile, i will leave it on if i catch the ellen show before it. i saw this episode a month or so ago, loved it, so i sat and watched it again. it all had to do with food.

first, a guy came on and was talking about his book and his feelings on the food industry. it was very interesting. his thoughts were to eat meat that was organically raised on a grass diet. he also said to eat lots of greens and fruits. fresh foods. not eating anything you can't pronounce.

they also talked about the food documentary food inc. this was up for an oscar last weekend so it must be a goodie. i really would like to sit down and watch it. but i am such an animal lover and absolutely cannot stand to see animals mistreated. therefore, i don't know if my heart can take watching it. but i want to. thus, i debate it and can't decide if i can go through with it.

lastly, they talked to alicia silverstone who lives a vegan life. i have looked at her cookbook, the kind diet, that she has recently released. i think i am going to get it from amazon and read up on her lifestyle and get some good recipes. i probably will never ever be a vegan. i just don't know if that is the route that i personally want to take. but i do respect her and her values for food a lot and want to hear more about what she has to say.

it was a very informative episode and i want to start being more conscious of what i put in my body. i have taken baby steps but i definitely want to start challenging myself a lot more. i want to get away from processed foods and eating way more fresh. more seasonal fruits. more leafy greens. they are so good for you and i know my body would respond in a positive way.

i have considered recently about trying to eat vegetarian for a month. a little challenge for myself. somedays, i think i would like to be a vegetarian. other times, i think about just shifting to organic (even though i already try to eat organic milk and meat). i don't eat a lot of meat anyway but i do love my chicken and turkey sandwiches. so vegetarian would be a big step for me. i am just trying to decide what bigger steps i want to take so maybe i will just try it for a month.

feel free to post your thoughts. i love to hear what other people have to say on this topic. it is hard to change one's eating habits and i would love to hear what steps you have taken {if any} on changing the food you eat.

two loves

both of my loves have to do with one name: stella.

the first is my sweet stella bella pup. well...she is actually not mine. she is rach's {one of my besties} and eric's. but she is my fur niece. and i miss her dearly.

i can't wait to get a pup of my own!

the next has to do with both rach and stella. my bestie rach has an online store, stella bella boutique. she makes jewelry that is so very cute and girly. dainty. pretty. classy. i could go on and on.

some of my favorite pieces include:

check out her online store {here}.