Favorite Halloween Costumes

One of the first blogs I started to read {and one of my favorites} is Whitney over at The Glamorous Life of a Housewife.  Talk about impeccable taste. She and her mom can come decorate my house anytime!

Yesterday, Whitney posted all about her favorite costumes. I thought it was such a good idea and I had to follow along. So thank you Whitney for this great idea!!

I wish I had pictures to share with you but I'm pretty sure they're packed up in my parent's basement!

• {Snow White} My mom made my costume herself that year, which was a huge feat for her (she's not the craftiest but she sure can throw a party)! I wore a short black wig with a red ribbon in my hair. I was obsessed with Snow White to say the least. I thought she was the prettiest princess in all of Disney, however I was too afraid to watch the movie. Totally makes sense. After Halloween, the costume was retired to the basement playroom where it was worn for years until it started to fall apart and it had seen better days.
  
• {Minnie Mouse} This was probably one of the easiest costumes and it was one of my favorites. We had visited Disney over summer break and came home with the big Minnie gloves and Minnie ears. My mom purchased some polka-dot fabric, which I tied as a skirt on the side, and I was good to go!
  
• {Sleepover Party} In middle school, at just about the age where we were too old for trick-or-treating, a few of my friends and I decided to all wear our pajamas and go as a sleepover party! We had curlers in our hair and used pillow cases to collect our candy. It was such a blast and I have to admit we were pretty creative as well.
  
• {Tooth Fairy} This idea actually started out as a joke. I needed a costume for a party in high school and had nothing in mind. A friend of mine had a beautiful but simple light pink dress she wore for prom. I loved it and really wanted to wear it. So I busted out some old fairy wings I had from an old angel costume, work a tiara, held a wand, and I was the Tooth Fairy. Definitely one of the most unique costumes I've had.

I wish I could take credit for the next few costumes but I definitely can't. My dad is super artistic and creative. I did not get any of that from him. Here are my favorite costumes he wore:

• {Gumby} Yep, you read that correctly. My dad was Gumby for Halloween once and it was awesome. No other explanation needed.
  
• {Mr. Peanut} This costume was thebomb.com. He actually made this costume himself. I'm pretty sure it was out of cardboard. He also wore the tights, top hat, and eye glass. It was pretty cool. I'm pretty sure that he won an award for this costume.
  
• {Grapes} Back in the early/mid 90s, my dad thought it would be hysterical to go as the Fruit of the Loom grapes. Little did we know, this costume is a lot more popular now. He wore a purple sweat outfit (I have not the slightest clue where he bought a men's purple sweat outfit) then he blew up a ton of balloons and safety-pinned them all over his body. It was quite the scene trying to get him in the car! I'm pretty sure he won an award for this costume as well.

My beef with donations

Okay, first let me post a little disclaimer. I do not mean anything bad or negative about this post. I'm just stating what I think and how I feel. After all, this is my blog and I write what I want to write about.

If you've ever read my blog before you may know that my Aunt passed away of melanoma almost two years ago (12/26/10). My mom and I made a blog for her so family and friends could read and keep up with her journey. You can read more about her story here. Basically, Aleisha was diagnosed with melanoma when she was 35-years-old. She never tanned and didn't even stay in the sun very long because she was fair-skinned. If she had to be in the sun for a longer period of time, she would always be sure to cover herself. She was very careful. Not because she was afraid of melanoma {did we even hear that word eight years ago?} but because she was careful in general.

Melanoma is not just caused by too much tanning, but that definitely does not help speed up the process.

I love to read the blog Adventures with My Enemy Melanoma. Chelsea is a 25-year-old who was diagnosed with stage III melanoma a few years ago. Girlfriend is a fighter and is doing so well! If you read her blog, you will find out that she loved tanning beds. Today not so much. She spreads the word to help make people aware of this monstrous disease.

Okay, here's my beef.

October is breast cancer awareness month. I'm totally for it. I know several people who are breast cancer survivors and sadly, a few who did not survive.  My mom even went through a lot with it a few years ago. Thankfully everything turned out to be okay. I agree that you should be checked yearly and that money does need to be raised.

But...

When money is being raised and you are promoting another type of cancer, then that's wrong. Also, how do we really know where that money is going?

Let's see...

"D-Feat Breast Cancer" by getting a tan because you need some vitamin D.

So let's just hop in a coffin tanning bed and help prevent breast cancer while you're getting another.

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The website Think Before You Pink has some great advice when giving money. Here are some of the questions they say are good to know the answers to before you donate money (to any organization)

1. Does any money from this purchase go to support breast cancer {or any cancer} programs? How much?

 EXAMPLE: In 2010, Dansko shoe company sold pink ribbon clogs. Consumers likely thought that a portion of theirpurchase of pink ribbon clogs went to a breast cancer program. However, purchase of the pink ribbon clogs was not connected to Dansko’s donation—none of the portion of the sales went toward their already set donation of $25,000to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. No matter whether or not you bought the clogs, their donation was the same.

2. What organization will get the money? What will they do with the funds, and how do these programs turn the tide of the breast cancer {or any cancer} epidemic?

EXAMPLE: The KISSES for a Cure music box is advertised by its maker, The BradfordExchange, online with the following: “A portion of the proceeds from this music box will bedonated to help fi ght breast cancer.” It is not clear what breast cancer organizations would benefi t, how much money they would receive, and what programs or work would be funded by the donation.

3. Is there a “cap” on the amount the company will donate? Has this maximum donation already been met? Can you tell?

EXAMPLE: In 2010, Reebok marketed a line of pink ribbon emblazoned footwear and apparel at prices ranging from$50 to $100. Though it heavily promoted the fact that some of their pink ribbon product sales would be donated tothe Avon Breast Cancer Crusade, they set a limit of $750,000, regardless of how many items were sold, and therewas no mechanism in place to alert consumers once the maximum donation had been met.

To find out the answers to these questions or read more about it, you can visit Think Before You Pink here.

Please remember, I'm not "picking" on breast cancer. In fact, I'm sure it is this way for many other donations. I just was appalled by the tanning for a cure {shown above}. I also want to make sure that the money donated goes to the right place so we can find a cure.

My 28 Acts of Kindess

If you read my blog post 28 days ago, you may remember that I pledged to accomplish twenty-eight acts of kindness in 28 days. 

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Well, today is my 28th birthday and my 28 days are up. 

Did I complete my goal? You bet!

Some days were more difficult than others and there were two days where I couldn't get out of bed because I hurt my neck/back, so I had to double up on other days. But I'm done and it feels great!

• Sent my sister a surprise package after she got her DZ bid
• Paid for someone's {coffee} order in the line behind me
• Left an extra tip for the waitress
• Wrote/Sent a Thinking of You card to a friend
• Invite friends {coworkers} over for dinner
• Brought my neighbor's trashcans up to the garage
• Made a special treat for friends
• Let the person in line behind me at the store go in front of you
• Helped out a family member or friend (x2- but not consecutive)
• Said something nice to everyone I saw that day (aside from my students)
• Donated clothing
• Put quarters into the grocery carts at Aldi
• Wrote anonymous, nice notes for others to find 
• Pre-pay a vending machine and pop machine (x3)
• Gave clothes pins to another teacher in need
• Emergency hair updo for a friend after she paniced about her new hair color
• Asked others what I can do to help them
• Left the nice parking spots for other people at the mall
• Took a friend out for coffee
• Brought coffee to a cowoker
• Donated money to charity
• Gave a coupon to someone in line behind me
• Stayed on recess duty longer so a coworker could finish lunch and use the restroom
• Brought lunch to a cowoker (x2)
• Picked my sister up for college {I'm counting this one because we got in a big fight and I was really mad at her...haha}
• Gave a first year teacher a secrete note and Tim Horton's gift cards

Things I would still love to do:

• Renew an old friendship by sending them a letter--not sure who to send it to
• If you see an older person or soldier eating alone, pay for their meal
• Send a dessert to another table

I know, I know...some of them are doubled, but at my job it was difficult to be "sneaky".  I made J take some dollars to campus with them and put them on the vending machines so my school wasn't the only place to get the special "treats".

I also wanted to note that after I blogged about this 28 days ago, I started seeing a lot of Random Acts of Kindness pins on Pinterest. I guess I'm not the only one out there with this idea! You will definitely have to check out the others!

Just in case anyone actually did a random act of kindness, I added a link up below! Thank you for making my birthday a great day!

Guest Post from The Ruby Tuttle Hippie Times

Meet Sam. She is such an inspiration! Girlfriend just ran her first half-marathon over the weekend and I couldn't be more proud of her!! I'm hoping we will have the chance to meet before she goes back to Oklahoma because we've "known" each other since she moved to Michigan. You are definitely going to want to read about her amazing journey and check out her blog when you're done here!

Hi y'all!

My name is Sam and I blog at the ruby Turtle hippie times. I'm from Oklahoma, but my husband and I currently reside in Michigan because I'm in law school here.

This past year, I made a resolution to take care of myself and lose weight. I'm doing it for multiple reasons.

I was morbidly obese, first of all. I don't say that lightly. The amount of weight I need to lose total puts me in the option to be on The Biggest Loser show. So in other, words, I am doing it for my overall health both, now and for the future. 

Secondly, we want to have children. I don't want my weight to be the reason that we can't have children. I would much rather work on the weight loss now, then have a doctor tell me I need to lose weight and I'm stressed out as it is and then I have one more issue to add to the problem.

Third, I want to be happy. I was not happy with my body when I was at my starting weight. I was not happy with myself for letting myself get to that point either. Clothes didn't fit. I didn't feel good about the way I looked when I was intimate with my husband. I also hated the way I looked in pictures. I didn't recognize myself.

So, I have been doing lots of things this year to change that. I very proud to tell you that I am down 53 pounds and counting as a result! So what am I doing? The biggest two are obviously, what I eat and how I exercise. I'm on the Weight Watchers Plus program and I'm a runner.

I realize that not everyone loses weight the same way, but those two things are what have worked for me. The Weight Watchers program is realistic and I still get to have things that I enjoy eating. It encourages and rewards healthy eating.

Running for me is how I lost weight during college. Now, it's not only something I do to lose weight, but it's something I enjoy. I am actually running a half-marathon very soon. I never knew that this was something I wanted for myself, but here I am. I wouldn't have been able to do it, if I hadn't been working on taking care of myself this year. Icing on the cake to all of this is that it also is a MAJOR stress reliever for me.

The other thing that works for me and I think is important to all major change is accountability. My sister has been my source of encouragement and I wouldn't have made it as far as I have without her. You need someone who knows you well and will tell you to get back up and try again.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to shoot me an email! I LOVE talking about any and all of the above things I've mentioned. If you want to read about my progress in detail, just click here.

Happy Tuesday!!

College

Yesterday I drove the 5 hour round trip to take my sister back to college near Cleveland. It is a long trip when you're driving by yourself and especially when you made the same trip on Thursday to pick her up.

This was the third time I had been to her college campus (including picking her up Thursday), but the first  time I spent some time there. Thursday she walked me around a bit to her Student Union and yesterday I hung out in her dorm room for a bit while she unpacked and sent me home with more crap stuff.

Other college campuses always amazing me. I went to a very small, private college. There were 1,200 students enrolled my freshman year and less than 1,000 on campus. It's definitely grown since then but overall if feels very small. My sister's college is also quite small but bigger than where I went, therefore I'm amazed by the huge Union that has a sandwich shop, coffee shop, cafeteria, and store. It's definitely fun to see other college campuses.

Dropping her off today was the weirdest feeling. I remember going to college and thinking that when my sister goes to college I will be old. Like married with kids old. Oh wait, I have one of those down. But when you're 18, that's how you think. Now that I'm {2 days away from} 28, I think, geeze, what was I thinking? Even though I still feel 18! 

As much as I like being older because there are so many more opportunities, visiting her beautiful campus really made me miss parts of college.

 10. It's okay to over sleep

Oversleep my class? Okay, not the best thing but if there wasn't a test you could survive

Oversleep work? In big trouble.

Thankfully I only overslept 1-2 classes in my 4 years. I also have never overslept on a work day *knockonwood*

{indoor corn hole}

9. Power naps

My roommate and I used to take a power nap almost every day. It usually lasted 15-20 minutes but they sure did help!

8. Meetings

I dread most meetings today. They're boring and could be done in much less time. Some are helpful and my principal is great about using time wisely.

College meetings for my sorority or Student Senate were fun. We would get things done but there was always something that made it entertaining. 

7. Cleaning a small space

Cleaning a dorm room, piece of cake!

6. Date Parties

My sorority always had the best themed date parties!

5. Wearing sweatpants

Don't tell me you never wore sweatpants to class. I tried to only wear them on Fridays but some days were just a must.

4. Not cooking

Even though I've become a much better cook, it was always nice just to go to the cafeteria and dinner was done...even though sometimes RomanNoodles were better.

3. Always having people around

J and I are very busy. I finished grad school in the spring, but he won't be done until this spring and then he starts his PhD in the fall. We see each other probably two-three nights a week. I never complain because he works hard and I know it's going to help us in the long run, but sometimes it's too quiet!

{chubby bunny-before I gagged-I hate marshmallows!}

2. Small town/community

Some of you may think I'm crazy, but I miss the small town my college was in and how close of a community we had. I enjoy living in the suburbs of Columbus and missed it at times while I was there, but since I've gotten older I enjoy the small towns much better.

1. Being in your own little world

J will tell you I'm still in my own little world, which I probably am. However in college you don't have many worries except for when your next paper is due and what you're going to wear to your formal.

In all reality, college was a great part of my life and there are so many things I do really miss. I definitely don't miss sharing a bathroom, my long drives home alone, or the drama that would randomly pop up being at a small school. But now I'm in a whole different chapter in my life. I'm married {which is still a surreal feeling sometimes}, we own a home, we have two fur babies, and have "real life" adult jobs. We have both come a long way. While it's definitely interesting to visit my sister, I don't think I'd want to go back to that. I actually don't think the older me could handle that anymore! But it's fun see it through the eyes of another.

28 in 28: Coming Soon!!

In case you did a few random acts of kindness, there will be a link-up this Wednesday on my birthday! Hope you can join in, even if it's just for one!

Guest Post: Crock Pot Pumpkin Chili

Hi, I'm Jenny from Life, Love, and Marathons and I'm so excited to be guest blogging for Brittany today.  Like Brittany, I also live in Columbus and have had the privilege to hang out with her on several occasions, like at the Columbus blogger meet ups in 2010 and 2011 as well as the Olympic Gymnastics Party I hosted this past summer.  I've been married for a little over a year and I love to travel and try out new recipes.  I have a busy schedule as I'm a full-time Clinical Exercise Physiologist during the day and a Spinning & TRX instructor on the side.  I also love to run marathons and will be running the New York Marathon in just a few short weeks!

With the colder weather hitting Ohio recently, I looked to Pinterest for a fall-inspired meal and decided to try out this Crock Pot Pumpkin Chili.   The best part of the recipe is that you can prepare it the night before and then put it in the crock pot to cook all day.  I came home to the most amazing smell the day I made this and it took everything in me to actually wait until my husband came home from work to dig in!  For those of you who don't like pumpkin, there wasn't an overwhelming pumpkin flavor and in fact, I could taste more of the cinnamon in it than the pumpkin.  It was the perfect twist to a classic cold weather meal.

Source: fatgirltrappedinaskinnybody.com via Jenny on Pinterest

Cooking all day in the Crock Pot

Topped with cheese and sour cream with a side of cornbread

Crock Pot Pumpkin Chili

Ingredients

1 lb. ground beef
Salt and fresh ground black pepper, to season meat
1 yellow onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 tbsp minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
1 tbsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional, adjust according to how spicy you want it)
2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp cocoa powder
2 cans beef broth (~3 cups)
1 can (15 oz. can) red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (15 oz. can) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (15 oz can) pumpkin puree
2 cans (15 oz can) diced tomatoes with juice

Directions

1. Heat a small amount of oil in a large heavy frying pan, add ground beef, season with salt and fresh ground black pepper, and cook until the beef is well browned. Drain browned beef and add to the crock pot.
2. Add a little more oil to the frying pan, add diced onion and green bell pepper and cook 2-3 minutes, until the onion and pepper is just starting to soften. Add minced garlic, ground cumin, cayenne, dried oregano, cinnamon and cocoa powder and sauté a couple more minutes.
3. Put the onion mixture into the crock pot, then add the beef stock to the pan so it picks up the beef flavors and juices, and add that to crock pot.
4. Add beans, canned pumpkin and diced tomatoes with juice in the crock pot. Stir the mixture to combine ingredients.
*At this point you can refrigerate the chili and put it in the crock pot to cook later. I made everything the night before, put it in the fridge, and then turned on the crock pot the next morning before work.
5. Cook on high for 4-6 hours (or 8-10 hours on low) stirring a few times if you’re home. I was at work all day and didn’t stir it and it still tasted great. You can garnish the chili with sour cream, cheese, chives, and/or bacon.

from Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body Thanks again for letting me guest post! Hope to see you again soon. -Jenny

I'm so thankful that Jenny shared this delicious recipe with us. Thank you so much for guest posting, Jenny! I hope you all enjoyed it!

Guest Post: You're in for it

I'm so excited that Emily is guest posting today! I loved her blog post and I hope you do too!

Hi all! I'm Emily and I usually blog over here. Brittany asked me to guest post for her, and I was happy to oblige. But before I get into the real juice of the post, I'll just share a tid bit about how Britt and I know each other.

Brittany and I are IRL (that stands for "in real life", Mom) friends and we have the internets to thank for that. Even though I'm sure we would have somehow become friends anyway (because she grew up right down the block from my Aunt and Uncle, my cousin and her sister went to HS together, her husband is from my 'hometown area' (he and I had a shared obsession with rap music in high school, it's a Southern Ohio thing) and she and I just so much darn alike). {I promise I didn't pay her to write this..but how sweet is she?! So thankful we are friends!}

I don't consider her just a blog friend that I get together with occasionally, she has become one of my best friends in real life - we've traveled to Chicago together, she's nursed me through break-ups, shared many great girls-night-outs and girls-night-ins, she posted an ad for me online and we even pet sit for each other. You get the picture, right? Oh, and her mom gives one helluva pep talk when you need it most. So thank you Britt for being one of my besties. :) I'm so glad we met.

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It's no lie that this past year has been a very challenging and trying time of my life, but it's also been the most rewarding and I have learned more in the past 15 months than I ever thought possible. I have gone from the wishy-washy of want I wanted out of life and being afraid to speak up for myself, waiting, waiting and more waiting.....then what I thought was my low point (it wasn't)........then the highest of highs (fairytale land)......and then I hit rock bottom. Like rock, rock bottom.

This was my problem. Spot on.

I remember sitting at the kitchen table at Brittany's parents house back in March while her mom was giving me the aforementioned pep talk and I just remember thinking about how unhappy I was and I was not happy with me. I was dealing with so much insecurity, I didn't have a lot of friends because I'd spent 4 years of college and 5 years after basing my life around what someone else (boyfriends) wanted and not what I wanted. I had no idea who I was or what I liked. I bet I cried myself to sleep every night for a solid two months and woke up crying too. (This wasn't just because of break-ups, it was because I was unhappy with me!)  So I decided to make some changes.

Last September I made a list of 101 Things To Do in 1001 Days. This was the second attempt. My first round was done here. When I made these lists, I included a lot of things that I wanted to do, not necessarily what anyone else wanted to do. As you can see (if you visited the link that is), I didn't get a lot of the things done on the first round.

So many of the things I didn't get done because I was relying my then boyfriend to do them with me, rather than just doing them because I wanted to. I was waiting. The same went for the first 6 months of my second round. I had hardly even touched it when I looked at it again in March. Again, because I had been in that stage of life where I was waiting on others to make decisions for me. More waiting.

I've spent my whole adult life waiting and worrying. Waiting on others. Instead of doing and enjoying life, I was waiting. On what? I was putting my life and happiness on hold and in someone else's hands.

When I moved in to my own apartment, I wanted bedroom furniture, but I didn't get it because I just figured I would get something when I got married. Same with dishes. I wanted a pink shower curtain, but I got gray because I was afraid my boyfriend wouldn't want to come over as much if it was pink. (Yes, I really thought that!) I wanted to go skiing, but I didn't want to go without the boyfriend. If I wanted to go to a fair or festival, or a tailgate or football game, or a concert or wedding or trip, I wouldn't go if the other half didn't want to go. Even when I started dating boy #2, I didn't even make my opinion known at all. Right from the beginning I was all about 'whatever you want' and 'you're the boss' and anything just to make sure he was happy. I was never doing anything I wanted to do and always waiting on someone else to figure out what I wanted. I was a people pleaser.

Bad advice and lack of good advice also played another roll in this people pleasing, self-esteem lowering behavior of mine. I was told not to get nice stuff for my house after college because I can just register for that when I got married. So I didn't. I was never told that it's ok to have an opinion and express it and not to be worried about if the other person agrees with that or not. I saw women of another family wait around on their husbands, so I did the same. I mean, they've been married 30-plus years, so doing whatever I can do to make my boyfriend happy must be the right way to do it, right? He makes decisions on where we go to eat, when I go home, if and when we go and leave a wedding. I was pretty much a little puppy lagging behind and just did whatever I could do to make the other half happy.

Looking back and seeing how I acted seriously makes me sick to my stomach. How I put my own wants and needs as the very last priority in every relationship I had - boys, friends, family. It didn't matter if it was a date with a boy, a brunch with the girls or a football game with my sister - I was just making sure everyone else was happy with me.

I knew something needed to change. I wasn't sure if it was a job change or a move, but it was definitely something. I started seeing a counselor. (Yes, I did and I'm not ashamed at all. She helped me through a lot of shit!) And I also was put on some anti-anxiety medicine. No shame there either. That stuff has worked wonders. And it also helped that I just started doing things that I wanted to do.

I went to NYC just for the heck of it. I'd always wanted to go, but because no one else I knew wanted to go, I assumed I'd never go. Dumb.

On Broadway in NYC.

I made my hair dark - my natural color because that's what I want it to look like. I'd always been afraid to do it before because I didn't want it to look bad for 'this upcoming event' or 'so and so's wedding." I also cut it off. I just did it. My mom hates it and tells me every chance she gets, but I love it. It's my hair. I see it in the mirror every day, not her.

My hair has looked the same for the last 10 years. Not anymore.

Four five years I avoided the high ropes course at 4-H camp when I was in high school because I was afraid. I did it this year when speaking at FFA camp. I also ziplined again in September and didn't even get nervous.

I went parasailing at Myrtle Beach. Again, always had been scared, I just went. I don't know why I was ever afraid. It was the most awesome thing.

I went to a Cubs game in Chicago BY MYSELF! No one ever wanted to go before, so I just went. Got on the El Train by myself and went. And made friends when I got there.
 
I've made friends with people I met on the internet and they are some of my best friends.

I've joined organizations and a bible study that I love.

I've decorated my house because it's my home. I could only live there another 3 months or for the next 10 years, but either way, it feels like home to me and not just a temporary dwelling.

I got a cat because I always wanted one.

My precious Bowie.

I've taken risks and done things that make me uncomfortable, but that is ok. That's good for me.

Last week's news of Matt Turner's passing (he was 32), in addition to the loss of my cousin last year who was the same age as me (26), and a series of other people that were young, I realize you never really know how much time you have. Enjoy the life you have. Do what you want! Quit waiting!

So tell me, what are you waiting for?

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That wasn't the normal guest blog post fluff. I'd been wanting to share it for a long time, and when Britt asked me to guest blog, it just felt like the right time to get it all out. :)

Thanks Brittany for being there for me during all of this and not thinking I'm crazy!

Vlog from Wembley

P.S. Who knew Wembley was Australian??

Check out Voki here

Sunday Social

Lets get literary!

1. Favorite childhood book

I loved the Berenstain Bears books, Morse the Moose Goes to School, and a Sesame Street Collection of books that I had.

2 . Favorite Book lately

This is actually tough because I never have time to read something for me. I'm currently reading five books that my students are reading in their reading workshops at school. I really enjoy any books by Andrew Clements.

3. Book you wish you could live in

Hmm...I'm not really sure. Again, my book list consists mainly of young-teen books so I can't say that I'd like to switch places with any of those kids! I loved ready the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants a few summers ago and thought that they have such an amazing friendship. It reminded me a little of three of my girlfriends from high school. :)

4. If you could be any character from a book who would it be and why?

Again, see above. I did read all of the Emily Giffin books, which I just adore (Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Baby Proof, etc.) however I don't think I'd want to be any of those characters. Maybe Rachel from that series because I love that she's a little nerdy and quiet but really stands up for herself towards the end. Even though it's sad that she looses a friendship, she sure gets a good lookin' man!

5. Favorite Book turned Movie?

I love Holes! I think it's a great movie (although the book is better). I also like Something Borrowed and can't wait for the new movie to come out. I wish I could say I read all of the Harry Potter books, but that never happened. The movies are great but I'm sure no movie is as good as the book.

6. Favorite Magazines

I love Southern Living, Better Homes and Garden and People.

If you like it then you shoulda put a pin on it

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What I'm loving on Pinterest this week!


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"How to"
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"How to"
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For the future
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Where was Pinterest when I was little?
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I adore!!
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What are you loving this Wednesday??

A moment of silence

Praying for Julee, Preslee, and family today.

"I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

Philippians 4:13

Prayer

Yesterday I was kind of down in the dumps. I hurt my neck/upper back last week (not sure how) and have been in a lot of pain. I was up quite a bit Saturday night with pain as well as feeling like I was going to get sick and had a horrible headache. I finally caved in and made sub plans so I could take the day off on Monday to go to the doctor. Side note: I hate going to the doctors. I feel like unless I'm super sick with a temp and everything I'm wasting their time. I don't want to be some crazy who is there all the time. I don't even see my doctor once a year but I still feel this way. Please keep me in your prayers. I have no idea what is wrong and it just doesn't seem to all make since. I'm praying I just pulled a ton of muscles and I don't need a lot of pain meds (don't like those either). I just can't help but think of other scary things it could be.

So I get to school Sunday to make sure everything is set for my sub and my dad calls me with sad news that my great uncle died. I was just heartbroken. He was the last family member I had that was on my dad's side (my grandpa's brother) and I was extremely close to my grandpa. I hope to go to his funeral but it's in Kentucky later this week so I'll have to see how my back feels.

Then after laying down for a while yesterday, I decided to check some blogs online. Shortly later I found out Matt Turner passed away. Matt is the husband of Julee and father of Preslee. I have never met this family but have been reading Julee's blog for a few years now. I read the article and just started to cry. Such a wonderful man lost his life at such a young age and left his wonderful wife and darling daughter behind. I can't imagine what Julee and her family are going through and I ask you to keep them in your prayers as well.

Give your family extra hugs and kisses tonight because you never know the amount of time you have with them and I think sometimes we all forget how precious life is.

Update 28 in 28

I was delighted to guest post on Holly's blog yesterday. If you don't read her blog, you definitely should. I've met her a few times and she is such a doll!

I wanted to check in to see how your random acts of kindness were going. Mine have been wonderful so far and I get excited every day to do something new. Tonight I had a small dinner party for some of the teachers I work with. We had to be back at school for a meeting at 7pm (I know--but only once a year) and I decided it would be nice to have them over! Dinner was delicious! We had bbq, homemade slaw {which I made and was so yummy}, grilled veggies, and chips. It was very fun to talk with them about things that were not school related and I definitely enjoyed their company.

Today I am bringing lunch (leftovers) to another staff member in our building who said he would be happy to enjoy any one of my acts of kindness. I thought that might be a nice surprise for him.

I hope you all are doing well with yours and don't forget to link up on October 24.