Let's Hear It For The Girl!

Last night I had dinner with my lovely friend, Christine. It was so nice to catch up on everything and just talk. We are in constant communication through social media and texting, but it's nice to see each other too.

She has so many incredible things happening for her right now. She bought a house! On her own. By herself. With no help from a man, family, or otherwise. I am so proud of her! She gets the keys in a matter of days and I can't wait to help her paint and move in. She deserves this after how hard she's worked for this. As long as I've known her, she's always talked about buying a house as soon as she could. It's finally time!

As we talked about our lives and caught each other up on mutual friends, I realized how much I value my friendships. I have some great friends in my life and they are constantly pushing me in the right direction. They are all going places in life and inspiring me to dream even bigger than I already am. Those are some irreplaceable friends right there.

My wonderful mother raised my sisters and me to be strong women. She was a strong woman from pretty much when her life started and she has always instilled that in us. We have never been able to hide behind a man or excuses the rest of the world has given us. Not once have we been permitted to throw it all away for love - rather, she's showed us how to find a love that will let you keep your independence as you grow together. It's about being independent minded while being able to depend on a spouse in certain areas. What an incredible virtue to be passed down. I will be passing this down to my daughters too.

I say all of this because last night I realized that my girl friends are all strong too. Over the past years, I have had friends come and go. And the ones that have remained are strong. That isn't a coincidence. I want to be surrounded by strength and independence. I like having friends that move across the world, buy a house, start careers, and even find true love without the help of a man.

These girls would never let anyone walk all over them. These girls wouldn't put up with mistreatment from their partners. These girls aren't afraid to make big plans and enjoy it when their significant other happens to "fit" into that plan without compromise. These girls aren't going out every night/weekend to find someone to keep them warm - instead, they use their free time to save lives, better the world, continue their education, and more. These girls keep me in that frame of mind too.

I love my girl friends. A year ago, I thought I was losing some of the closest friends I could ever have. But now I know that is not the case. It was God's way of showing me the true friends I need to be surrounded by. He was cleaning house to get rid of the drama, the dependence, the lack of motivation, and more. I need encouragement, reinforcement, no drama, and real strong women. I have all of that in my friends.

Let's hear it for the girl!

Cleanliness

Today I cleaned the whole house. From top to bottom. I haven't done that in a long time. I clean on a weekly basis and the house is always clean, but this was a deep scrub. It was exhausting.

Since being in this new house, I have become quite the house wife. I don't mean to brag, but I've really got this down! I feel like I'm always cleaning and always doing laundry, but everything always looks so nice. I don't have to be afraid of last minute visitors. I like it. Today's cleaning is particularly nice since we're likely getting a new recliner this week! (Yes! Another piece of furniture... we have a lot and always feels like acquiring more.) I am excited about working in the recliner while watching TV. This is of course when the hubs isn't at home. We need to fix the tv soon too... That's a whole different issue.

But a clean house sure does feel nice. It'll be the perfect backdrop for our [hopefully and finally] first fire. Yes readers, we keep having fireplace mishap after mishap so we haven't even had our first fire yet. But don't think we haven't tried with all our might. Tonight will be the final attempt before talking to a professional and/or buying new things. Wish us luck!

The agenda for tonight is simple and relaxing. Baked potato soup. A fire. Spending time with my love.

My (Other) Favorite Things

Yes. I am posting yet again about my favorite things. The last post, about our post-wedding things was a great way to share with you the things I love. But it has got me thinking ever since then, what are my favorite things? What do I use frequently that I couldn't live without and am desperate to show all of you? Well here they are...

Target Laundry Sorter

This gem is great! It rolls when I need it to go from our closet to the laundry room for major laundry days. And yes, the wheels are sturdy enough to go from carpet to tile to carpet, and so on. The four bags are the perfect size for four loads. And each back is the perfect size for one large load in the washing machine. The bags easily lift off for easy one-load days. It's not unattractive. It was that expensive. Basically, I just love it.

BBB Avocado Slicer & Pitter

Shout out goes to the lovely Tiffany Rigby for registering for this great find! When shopping for a wedding gift for her, I saw this and instantly bought it. I have not been let down. This thing does everything it says it does - slices and pits avocados with ease! I love it. My life has been changed forever.

Ulta Benefit Cosmetic Line

I was searching for the best skin care product out there and wound up with this one. Yes, it is quite expensive, but the stuff lasts you forever. I am still using up the "cheaper" sample pack you can purchase (I bought it last winter). I just add the larger products as I can afford them here and there. But I love this line. It is for literally ALL SKIN TYPES. I have combination skin. It does a fantastic job of moisturizing the dry spots and balancing the oily parts of my face. Suggestion: You only truly need the Foamingly Clean Face Wash, Triple Performing Facial Emulsion, and Moisture Prep Toning Lotion. The rest of the products are also wonderful, but these three are the essentials.

Keurig Platinum Brewing System

This is self explanatory. I cannot live without my keurig. I am the only coffee drinker in my house, so this is definitely a necessity. Plus, I rarely have more than one large cup a day. So I am the ideal consumer of this product. I am a little more open-minded when it comes to others asking if it is right for them. But for someone who only drinks one cup a day, someone who is the only coffee drinker in their dwelling, or someone who entertains tea or picky coffee drinkers, it is perfect. My only suggestion is to make sure you get one with the filtered water reservoir and one that gives you the ultimate flexibility of cup size (that part is great for the one big cup coffee drinker like myself, who also enjoys a small cup of tea from time-to-time, and also has weirdly shaped coffee mugs that don't fit perfectly to the pre-determined sizes so I need extra tiny shots of coffee).

Shark Steam Pocket Mop

I love this too. It's a little bit of a hassle to bring it out, plug it in, and wait for it to heat up. But once you get past that, it makes tile floors so beautiful. I'm a bit of a clean freak, so I especially love that it sanitizes, and you really do see the nastiness you pull out of the floors. I haven't used it on wood yet. But I do know that it works decent on laminate/linoleum, and works wonders on tile! Much better than mopping!

Ok I could go on forever, but I will leave this post to just five. I don't want to overwhelm all of you with a huge shopping list. ;) Look forward to more posts. I just love sharing my favorite things with you. Some of my favorite finds have come from other bloggers so it's nice to get these things out into the universe with real reviews.

Life-changing Hair Cut

Yes ladies and gentlemen... I had a life-changing hair cut this afternoon. It was wonderful.

On our wedding day, I had my hair styled at Shelton's Salon. I have always heard rave reviews, and when one opened down the street from my parents' a few weeks before our big day, I knew it was the right place for me to get my lovely locks done up in a wonderful up-do. And boy did they do a good job!! They did my hair and makeup - and almost all of the girls in the wedding party did the same! We all looked so beautiful, don't you agree???

Well, since then, I have been going back to the salon for my hair cuts. First, I chopped my hair off (in true post-wedding-need-to-be-drastic-and-chop-my-hair-off-to-feel-like-a-grown-up fashion). Then I worked on maintaining it. This ended in January. That day I went in to see my "usual" girl for a great trim to keep my hair healthy and looking nice. She butchered it. I said shoulder, she heard chin. I said long layers, she heard short. I said I wanted to grow it out, she heard I wanted a short bob. It was a disaster. A disaster I tell you.

Needless to say, I did not go back to her.

... And this was my first hair cut since January...

Obviously I am exposing the fact that my hair grows at an alarmingly slow rate, and that I don't apply enough product and/or style it nearly enough to give me enough dead-ends in the past 9 months to warrant another hair cut. I am admitting a lot to you readers. This is starting to sound more like a confession entry...

But anyways....

I went in to a new girl today. I loved her. Well, love is an understatement. She was so wonderful!!! I got a great trim, with the best layers I think I have ever had, and she gave me incredible advice. She gave me pointers on how to "lazy style" my hair so it looks like I spent hours on it! She encouraged me to style it with a blow dryer instead of the straightener so I don't feel like I'm spending an hour fixing my hair in the mornings. She was a practical stylist who made it feel like she knew exactly what I was thinking. And not to mention, she has the same hair as me... and remembered me from my wedding day and subsequent appointments afterward. She even remembered that fateful January day that I received a bob instead of long layers...

My life is changed. I bought a new blow dryer (per her suggestion). I am starting to try new styles tomorrow. She says my hair is great and should be able to do anything as long as it is done right. I am excited to try new things. She showed me new tips on drying my. It was the first time that anyone has ever walked me through the blow drying process. Who knew that parting a different way or pulling it to a certain side could make all the difference in the world!?

Basically, my life is changed. By a hair cut. Yep. That's all it took.

Sometimes the little things in life mean the most.

Unexpected Twist

Do you ever feel like you've planned the perfect day only for it to turn out not as you thought? That happened Saturday.

It started off just as planned. Yummy apple oatmeal was ready for breakfast when I woke up. Candles were lit rather quickly so I could enjoy my cup of pumpkin coffee and breakfast under a blanket.

And then starts the changes to plans. Don't worry, though, the night still turned out wonderful. Just not like I originally planned.

On Friday, Murphy decided that he can jump the fence and get out of the backyard. This is not a trick we like. In fact, I was very angry when I had to corral him back into the yard that afternoon while Phillip was working. So Saturday morning, my relaxed morning was slightly interrupted by a trip to Lowe's to buy the stake of all stakes to secure our beloved puppy in the backyard. When you come over, try not to point out the obnoxious bright orange stake in the middle of the yard. We promise the benefit outweighs the eye sore.

Later that day we went to the pumpkin patch as planned. Let me tell you how impressed I am with my husband's ability to find this patch. It had hay rides, bbq, pumpkins, kids activities, wagons, photo opportunities, and more. It was a blast and I hope Josh and Christina had an equally fun time with us.

The apple cider was delicious. The pumpkin pie Christina made for dessert was wonderful. Dinner didn't turn out so well. Somehow I managed to ruin chili. I followed the directions. But alas, it turned out like ground beef soup. It was awful. So plan B was Chuy's for some mexican food and margaritas. A suitable alternative if you ask me.

The fire also didn't happen. Turns out we don't have a fire grate for the wood - which was noticed at the last minute. Therefore, our first fire will have to wait.

It was a fun evening, don't get me wrong. Just different than my previous post of planning led on. I like my first full-fledged fall day. Sunday and yesterday were good too with good family times, a salted caramel latte from starbucks, fires, warm red wine, luxurious bubble baths, good chili, and other fall activities. Ready for more!!!!

First Cold Weekend

Yes you read right. We are getting our first cold weekend. In October. The high so far is 55 degrees. The high!!! They haven't yet set a low temperature... I think they're waiting to see how far this approaching cold front gets. As of late it is in the 40s, but one small move and lows will plunge.

I need to get the seasonal clothes switched out. This weekend will be boot weather. Sweatshirts will return. My fall decor will finally feel appropriate. Maybe it'll be our first fire of the season too? One can only hope.

I can also hope this weekend will be pumpkin carving time. I'm ready for that. I love the cooler weather. The holiday season. It is absolutely my favorite time of the year!

Mission: Office COMPLETE

Today I ventured into my office to finally tackle it and make it more pleasant to work in. Lately I've been working from the couch out of laziness and because I wanted to avoid the task of putting it together.

But today I opened the door and conquered the craziness of organization and decorating. It is now complete. No longer is it the eye sore of the house. It looks wonderful!!

Now all of you need to come over and check it out. It is adorable, functional, organized, and a joy to be in once again. Hooray!