Dear readers,

Dear readers, friends, and family,

Let me start out by saying I love this blog and thank you for reading! I really want to be able to write every day and share my life with all of you but unfortunately some things have come up in my life recently that I don't feel I should share with the world (not yet at least).  I ask that you patiently await my return as well as prayers for an unspoken request. God knows whats in my heart so a simple prayer will do.

I hope to be back here very soon, I hope y'all understand.

Until then I will be keeping up with my other social media networks such as twitter and instagram (same user name as my twitter) Hope to see y'all there.

xoxo
E

Hint hint...starting a new DIY

Check back soon for full details!
Xoxo

ultrasound

OMG WE ARE SOOOOO NOT PREGNANT!!!!! HAHA HAPPY APRIL FOOLS!!!!!!

one day at a time

as i sit here writing this i think back on how slack i have been, to be completely honest it's not slacking (even if that would be the easier answer) it's fear! I have come to terms that i live in a constant state of fear and frankly that i no way to live the best years of my life! i have recently started attending al-anon meetings to cope with this and learn how to get past it. To give ya'll an example of what I fear I have made a list

• I've picked the wrong major
• I live in the wrong city 
• I'm failing my husband
• the bills won't get paid
• the house isn't clean enough (if a surprise guest comes over)
• I wont be able to have breakfast 
• the dog wont get enough exercise
• the house we want will be rented before we come up with the deposit
• I'll never have a published book
• J wont find his dream job
• The students I teach will not have a fulfilling time in class
• That painting wont get done
• I will loose my car keys
• My phone didn't charge
• I run away from my problems
• My nails will never grow because I keep biting them
• I wont get to do my dream job (consulting for Phi Mu) 
• I can't loose this last 10 pounds
• My loved ones won't get better
• I need to find a good carpet cleaner
• My ears wont stop itching therefor I must have a terminal disease (yes I am a hypochondriac)
• My wedding rings will fall off today and end up in some students art work (or my own) and I'll never find them against
• Chris wont get the care package I sent
• my blog will never pass 4 followers
• Chris wont come home
• my english paper wont get done
• I wont stop worrying over EVERYTHING

this all happens in my head at least before 10 a.m.

mom calls me chicken little, I truly live up to this!  I mean honestly who on earth needs to live this way?!  Not me!!! I'm letting the little things go. Today I made a list of homework I had to do and it honestly wasn't as scary as I was letting myself think it would be. I am surrounded by family that I love and that loves me back. Seriously, that should be enough to keep me in check, but my brain gets ahead of me. 

Mom keeps telling me to give it over to God and he will take care of me. As much as I know the truth in this statement I can't seem to make myself live it.  These past months have been so crazy I couldn't seem to find the time to find myself.

How crazy does that sound?! I don't know who I am? I mean I can list off a billion things that define me but nothing seems to be the missing puzzle piece (don't worry I won't make another list) I'm still not sure what it is that makes me me but I am working hard and praying harder to figure it out. I look back at pictures and art that I have done and say "damn, that girl has got it together" but really, I don't think I have it any less together than I did then it's just a new set of circumstances. 

There aren't many people in my situation and I seem to be where I can't find anyone else that is actually...I know ya'll are out there! Teach me!!! haha I've said this to people and they always try to match my place and as encouraging as that is I just need to know that I am unique, my situation is unique, and my life is unique because that is who God made me and that is where he wanted me to be at this time in my life. It's my job to figure it out from here.  Ok, I lied I am going to make another list, a small one :) this is who or what I am right now:

• a 21 year old
• wife
• student
• sorority sister
• student teacher
• regular sister
• friend
• novice cook
• wine lover
• habit former
• God lover
• baby wanter (not really a word, don't care)
• artist

I want to find someone like me...to connect with and to vent with and to oggle over baby pictures, maternity clothes, new cities, big little gifts, wedding plans (even tho I already had my wedding), all while drinking wine! I found someone pretty close to all these things but (unfortunately) she is an engineer with absolutely no spare time haha

I keep telling myself "one day at a time" or on really hard days "one hour at a time" I know I can get through this but it's going to be hard and stressful but I can do it!

Ok if you made it all the way through this post I will reward you with some pictures of fun things I have done lately (and by lately I mean in the past few months I have been away!)

bonded with my new sisters

found a wonderful new bestie

celebrated mom's birthday

pet a giraffe!!!

fostered a dog

took this terrifically handsome man to formal

danced the night away

more sister bonding :)

I hope I didn't bore you and I hope that I didn't scare you away with all this crazy haha I will try to keep up with this blog better I promise!!!

xoxo

E

Photo challenge

I am doing really bad at keeping up with that photo thing that I started..if you were following it I'm sorry :(

I'll start over in a couple weeks when I'm not so busy.

xoxo

Day 4 and Day 5

Leaves and morning sky. We don't have our leaves yet but I just love this tree in front of the sunrise. This is my morning coffee view. This tree is also the resting place of many beautiful birds! :)

Day 3

HAPPINESS

The Beatles had it right when they sang "Happiness is a warm gun" but replace gun with bed, soup, weather, or sometimes gun if you like to hunt or are going to target practice (ok I'll admit I like all of those things...minus hunting, I've never done that before but I think I would enjoy it)

Let's go back to bed...yes I love my bed, I never want to get out from under those deliciously warm covers but the bed I'm talking about has a  bad rep and I'm not looking for a lecture because it has good effects for me.

• it clears up my skin
• it makes me a very pretty tan color
• it releases seratonin (just like sun does) so it makes me happy

Any who, I like to tan. It is the perfect place for a power nap and it's so warm, I mean I would prefer to fall asleep outside in the sun...but in January that isn't really an option.

 

Next thing that makes me ridiculously happy is soup. Chicken noodle, mom's veggie, tomato with a grilled cheese, you name the soup I probably love it!

 

i call this hair style the "don't get hair in my soup" up-do

but pictures look better with my hair down

What makes you happy?

xoxo

Day 2

Day 2 is SMILE

So I picked my favorite photos of me and some that just made me smile.

I ended up coming across video that just makes me giddy. 

~enjoy~

too small :(

xoxo

Day 1

My most recent favorite food is NUTELLA!!!!! I eat it all the time and want to put it on everything! Well not everything, but it is the perfect midnight sweet snack! Also there is no good way to take a picture of yourself eating nutella...so just laugh at the picture and move along. But don't forget to check back tomorrow for day 2 :) Don't worry you won't be laughing at me...you will be laughing with me!

xoxo

starting now!

Home made sprinkles!

So I've learned that in SC it is hard to find the necessary sprinkle colors for a certain Louisiana themed cake I'm making for my sweet husband! I needed purple, yellow and green but publix only had yellow! You can't make King Cake with only yellow sprinkles!!

So I took it upon myself (with moms advice) to find a way to make my own.

On allrecipies.com I found out how! All it takes is a cup of sugar and about 2-5 drops of food coloring. Combine this in a mason jar and shake for about a minute! They turned out so pretty!!!

What I Wore Wednesday

Today I was inspired by my new shoes!!! Also that I haven't worn anything but p.j.'s and yoga pants for the last few days (good thing I have a large supply of both :)

I do love a good preppy outfit and today I nailed it!

With the jacket on the look is a little more edgy!

This pose made me look a little boxy, but now I know for next time.

 

new favorite shoes!

Jacket-Express

Shirt-T.J. Maxx

Sweater-Old Navy

Jeans-Rue 21

Shoes-MIA (T.J. Maxx)

Bag-Kate Spade (T.J. Maxx)

Pearls-Nonna ;)

Linked up with The Pleated Poppy!

xoxo

Bargain Alert

As I have mentioned before I love T.J. Maxx!!! Not only is it like a sponge just waiting to take up all of my time but also it helps me save money on things I really want!!! I have two bargain finds to share with you today!

My first find was a pair of leopard print loafers! I had originally found them on Pinterest but wanted to find a pair for less so the hunt began, and let me to T.J. Maxx for my lovely $30 version!

My second T.J. Maxx miracle was my very own Kate Spade purse.  Its not identical to the one on the link but pretty close and for almost $200 less than asking price...tell me that's not a good deal?!

I think all these new bright colors will get me ready for spring...I sure am ready for it to get here!!!

xoxo

Happy New Year

Happy 2012 readers!!! I hope your holidays were as wonderful as mine were!!! We went to Charlotte for a NYE night out with Rachel, and her man! So much fun! Here are some pictures and a mini tutorial of how I did my hair!

 

So this part was easy enough just take the curling iron and do a regular curl but catch it before it falls after you take it out of the iron clamp and pin it up while it's still hot and while it cools leave it up so the curl has a longer time to set. I showered in mine and it didn't mess them up any, just make sure you have a fancy shower cap to protect your hair :)

So the make up was pretty simple just some Mac Cultured lip glass and winged eyeliner!

After the shower I took the pins out and this is how it looked...

So I brushed them out a little, added a bow and painted my nails and this was the finished product!

so the glitter nail was easy I painted one coat of Essie Lollypop on my pointer finger and then dipped it some red glitter

nothing better than that perfect NYE kiss

xoxo

Tie a Yellow Ribbon

Today was one of the hardest I've had in a while. No amount of crafting, singing along to Jack Johnson, or even baking could have made my Uncles deployment any easier to take. I am the proudest niece in the entire world believe me, and completely support all our troops, but this feeling is leaving me completly lost. I have nothing to grab hold of or even know how to wrap my head around the fact that Chris is on his way to Afghanistan right now to do the most important job ever assigned to him. 

If you don't know my family this might not make much sense but I've always believed in the adage "it takes a village to raise a child" and as a child not only was my mom working incredibly hard to make sure I was brought up right, respectful, and God fearing, so were 4 grown men, 1 crazy woman, and 2 grandparents. (This list doesn't even include my dads side of the family, and believe me that is a whole other list of amazing people, but for know we are focusing on the James') So anyway not only do I have the most amazing mother and grandparents but also these 5 other people who helped raise me in various ways, they aren't just aunt's and uncle's, because the word aunt and uncle only meant brother or sister to the mother and father but the relationship I have with these people is not just an adult in my life that drops in for Holidays and calls to check up on me. They don't treat me like someone lesser than them they treat me like an equal, well almost haha, how about they treat me like the little sister (yes that might be thinking a little high of myself but that's how they make me feel and I love it) 

So unfortunately that makes Chris leaving that much harder because to me he is like my brother.  I remember his medical school graduation, he bought me my first Ipod and let me drive his BMW (only to re-enforce my love for German engineering, but that is another blog for another day).  He also has always been there for the love and support I've needed.

All I want is for Chris to come home safe and to find a way to keep calm and trust God that everything is in his hands. If anyone has any advice for this please let me know!  

Also, Please feel free to share the picture/name to prayer groups!

xoxo