This and That

School is chugging along and I am staying busy this semester!  We have almost made it to midterm, so I am  in really good spirits!  I knew coming in that this semester was going to be exhausting and intense, so to see I have made it halfway is awesome!  Posting has been so sporadic because of this busy schedule, so I feel like I have so many things to say, but 90% would not flow with this post...so I will just hit some highlights.

A couple weekends ago, Thomas and I went to Belk to make a registry!  I already went to Macy's, but I was NOT impressed with selection or the store registry.  I figured it is probably a good thing I registered there since some of my family lives far away and I believe Belk is more of a Southern chain, so they can order gifts from their local Macys.  Belk was so much nicer registry-wise.  They had more selection and the people were just so nice and helpful!  It was so much more fun and the registry experience that I had always imagined.  Right now our registry is a mess because Thomas scanned just about everything I told him, and if I changed my mind, he couldn't delete.  I think he might have scanned a few silly things too!  :)

Last weekend, my mom, Ashton, and myself went to see Easy A.  I have seen it twice now and LOVED it!  I am definitely going to buy it when it comes out!  My mom and I decided to have a girl's day the day that we went and ended up going to a local jewelry store that was having a sale to buy Christmas presents for my SIL, MIL, Ashton (she already knows, so no worries about her seeing that), and my mom (who picked out her present).  I am really excited and pretty prepared for Christmas now!  That day was so much fun!  My mom and I haven't had a girl's day in a while, and it was so nice hanging out with her and shopping.  We both bought some new shoes at Belk and I got to show her my china since she hasn't seen it.  She loved it!  :)

I am finishing up making the Pioneer Woman's French Onion Soup right now, and OMG is that stuff good!  I have made it once before and it was amazing!  I am out of wine right now, so I am omitted in that this time around, but I am sure it will still be good!  If you are interested in the recipe, check it out here!

I have found the best applique store recently!  The store is called Planet Applique.  The prices are great, and right now there is an amazing sale going on that is really tempting me!!!  These are appliques you have to use an embroidery machine with and look very nice!  I am currently waiting for my embroidery thread to show up at my house, so I will show y'all some of the finished product when I get some of the things I making done!  I am really excited for the Halloween shirts I am making my sweet nieces!

Got to go stir my soup!  Talk to everyone soon!  Have a fabulous week!

Make-Up Love

Last night, Ashton and I went on a little impromptu shopping trip.  She needed a dress and I needed some t-shirts to monogram for my nieces and some foundation.  I recently have become really cheap (hello, college student!).  Just being honest here!  I used to wear nothing but Clinique make-up, but that was back when my parents were buying.  When I first went to college, I kept up the Clinique thing for a while, but I started realizing my skin was changing and the Clinique skincare and make-up wasn't really for me anymore.  I didn't get enough coverage with the foundation I had always used, and the one they had that had more coverage was not available in a color that matched my skin...strange!  Ever since I decided I wasn't going to buy Clinique anymore I have been on the search for the perfect make-up.  The thing is...and this ties into me being cheap...is that I didn't really want to spend $30-40 bucks on foundation to realize I didn't like it a couple months later.  So, I tried all the drugstore brands...and didn't really love any of them.  I spent a TON of money on Mary-Kay last year and although I liked the product, I didn't LOVE the foundation and I really hated that you had to order the make-up and wait for it to come in.  Around my birthday in March, I decided I wanted to try Bare Minerals.  I had recently gotten acne (which I have NEVER had...NOT EVER...so why now?) and felt like maybe my skin wasn't considered to be dry anymore.  I got Bare Minerals and sucked it up realizing that I wasn't going to be happy with cheap make-up and this was some place I needed to spend a little cash.  I loved it at first.  I was going through an oily stage, I guess (is that TMI?  sorry) and it worked for a while, but then the new make-up high wore off and I realized it was a total mess and took a lot of time and the coverage was terrible in my opinion.  Then I ran out and I was feeling cheap and bought a drugstore knock-off for half the price since I didn't think the original was worth the $23-28 Ulta sold it for.  I hated the drugstore brand even more and have been so frustrated with my make-up lately.  Last night, even though I just bought that drugstore brand and it is full, I went against my instinct to use it til it's gone no matter what and bought a new foundation. 

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AND...I am in love!  Granted, I have only used it one day so far, but so far the coverage is perfect and my dry skin that so isn't oily no matter what I thought months ago feels quenched with it on.  This is definitely for someone who likes a good bit of coverage and maybe even someone with skin on the dryer side though.  It is a bit heavy for the oily skin girls.  I tell ya though, if you are like me and battle dry skin...Bare Minerals made me feel like the Sahara!  And I don't want to knock Bare Minerals at all!  They are great products but I would recommend them more for those with oily skin.  This make-up smooths on so easy and you don't even need concealer!  You just dab it on your problem areas and pat it and it disappears and blends perfectly without any work!  So far it has been on for 4 hours and it looks very fresh!  If it stays on all day (I will let y'all know) then this is my new dream make-up.  Okay, the price tag was a little high to me at $34, but I think so far it is worth it.  Plus Ulta always does coupons, so next time I need some I will use a coupon (which I forgot last night, but I did get it on sale).  I want to try the whole line of products now!  The packaging is so cute and fun!  My make-up color is called Spin The Bottle...how cute is that!!!  Do any of y'all use Benefit?  If you don't use Benefit, which line do you use?  I have always been a girl that buys all her make-up from one line, but I am trying to break away from that.  I really love the Mineral Veil by Bare Minerals, so I think I am going to keep buying that for my setting powder...but who knows.  I have a full thing of it now, so you know I am going to use it til its gone!  I am in need of mascara though, so GO...what's your favorite brands for your make-up!

Rewarding My Hard Work

This past weekend and what we have seen so far of this week has been unbelievably tiring.  Without getting into it, just imagine working on something very important for 15 hours only to realize that you could have A) done it an easier way and B) didn't even need what you spent that time on therefore it is worthless.  I was almost in tears on Monday when I realized all that.  I am doing my Senior Thesis for my B.A. in Economics right now and had to get the data for that.  This is the capstone requirement for a degree from my University and at the end of this semester I have to present my project to the entire Economics department faculty to graduate.  Obviously this is an extremely stressful and busy time for me.  After that horrible moment when I realized that all that work was for nothing, I decided that I was going to reward myself for all this hard work I am putting in this semester.  I thought I might wait until the end of the semester, but I have some Christmas presents I am planning to make and this reward is going to make them nicer.  If I waited until the end of the semester, I wouldn't have time to get everything done.  So, what did I reward myself with?

Brother PED-Basic Software!!!!  

I am so unbelievably excited about this!  I have been wanting to monogram for a while now since my machine has the capability.  Unfortunately, I wasn't really thrilled with the monogramming options my machine had and if I wanted more I needed to have this software.  If I had known a year ago when I bought my machine that there were ones that Brother made with the sewing/embroidery capability that had a USB versus a card set-up for a similar price, I would have bought those.  BUT I didn't and it is the one thing I don't like about my machine.  Now that I have this software I can plug the card into my reader thing and download designs from cutesy websites that have designs for appliques and monograms and home decor and whatever and then plug that card into my machine and GO!  YAY!  I have been trying to do some research for a couple months, but I have yet to  bite the bullet on this.  Some of the software items are out are awesome but honestly out of my college student/bride-to-be/almost newlywed and never lived anywhere but home and therefore own NOTHING budget.  The PED is pretty budget friendly, but I have already sunk a large chunk of money into my sewing machine and fabric and stuff, so I was hesitant to buy a piece of software that is over $100 when I wasn't sure if I would really use it.  But, the more I sew, the more I realize that I could use this enough to get my money's worth.  I love making stuff for all my prego friends and acquaintances.  I want to make some cute little things for myself and my future home and my 3 little nieces and appliqueing looks so much better when it done through an embroidery machine versus how I used to do it.  The direction my sewing is taking me is going to make this purchase well worth it.  I still love to make "real" clothes for me, but I want to get more into sewing the boutique style children's clothes and baby shower gifts.  This is perfect for that!  Soon I will be making cute outfits like this for all my friends and family, and who knows, maybe when I graduate I might re-open my Etsy shop (right now it's out of the question time wise).  

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Seriously, how flippin' adorable are these pictures!  I have never bought from any of these websites (just found them on google), but do these people not make clothes that are cute cute cute!!!! 

So, I am super duper excited about this purchase!  I am glad I finally decided that I would buy this and cannot wait until Friday when it is supposed to get here!  We have Amazon Prime, so I promise I didn't spend like $20 on express shipping out of excitement...it was free.  I am super impatient when it comes to things coming in though and 2-day shipping doesn't seem fast enough!  Haha!  I will keep y'all posted!    

Bridesmaids, Registry, and A Lot of Rambling

So, I planned to make a Weekend Wrap-up post but then I just never got around to it.  I am still trying to get into a good groove with school back in session.  I know you forgive me though!  Saturday, I started having second thoughts on my bridesmaid dresses that I picked the weekend before.  You see, they had a little train on them and it wasn't sitting well with me.  Silly, I know, but I am the Bride and the only one that supposed to have a train in my mind.  I contemplated leaving it be, cutting it off, and even changing dresses.  Well, changing dresses won out!  My mom and I needed to make the trek up to Statesboro to get my wedding dress anyway since it came in about a month ago, so we headed up and decided to look at bridesmaids, jr. bridesmaid, and flower girls dresses while we were there.  I grabbed all the dresses I liked and tried them on and looked at swatches and tried the original dress back on and finally decided that which one I wanted.  It is quite comical because I am so indecisive about things, especially these bridesmaid dresses.  It's funny though that I went to look at wedding dresses 1 time and bought one, and I have looked at stores for bridesmaids 4 times and spent countless hours online looking since July before I made a decision!  Though I did spend countless hours looking at wedding dresses before that trip though and knew exactly what style I wanted, so that made it a little easier.  So, enough rambling right!?!  Without further ado, here is what my wedding party will be wearing!

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Sophia Tolli Bridesmaid Dress in Pink with a Pink sash.  The sash will be the same color as the dress becase the sash really didn't stand out with the ruching anyway (although the picture makes it look like it does, I promise it doesn't) and the store had it all one color and it looked really pretty.  Plus, and this scares me a lot, the store didn't have the Sophia Tolli taffeta swatches.  I had to pick the color based on the ST satin and chiffon swatches and the internet site (which we all know how reliable colors are on there).  So, I didn't really know what the taffeta gold would look like with the pink and figured I better play it safe and stick with all pink.  The girls are going to wear gold heels (yet to be found), pearls and pearl earrings, and carry bouquets or pink garden roses, sweet peas, and ranunculus.  Oh, and this dress also has a train...BUT it is much shorter and fits the design of the dress perfectly, so it doesn't bother me.

I also picked out my junior bridesmaid and my flower girls dresses, but I am not 100% sold on them yet.  ST doesn't make dresses for little ones, so I am worried about picking these dresses and them matching.  Since I don't have a swatch of the ST taffeta, I can't even compare against brands.  I am planning on emailing the company to see if they will let me purchase some swatches (fingers crossed they will), and then match them up to other brands where I can get dresses for little ones.  Do any of y'all have suggestions for good brands that have dresses for little girls?  I am wanting an all pink taffeta dress for my junior bridesmaid and a white taffeta with a pink sash for my flower girl.  I am really at odds with these dresses, so any suggestions will be oh so appreciated!!! 

Tonight, Thomas and I are going out with our best friends Trey and Ashton for dinner (mexican I'm sure), but between meeting for dinner and leaving work...we are going to register for the rest of our stuff at the department store.  I registered at Macy's earlier this summer but I was not impressed with their selection since registering there.  I am planning on going to Belk tonight to make a registry and letting that one be my #1 registry, and Macy's will just have my china and a couple other things for those people out of town who don't have Belk.  I am also pretty much decided on registering at Pottery Barn too.  Thomas' grandmother has been extremely generous with buying us things like china and cookware, so I am thinking I have room to register for some home decor as well.  We just found out that we are going to have two bedroom suites to take with us (mine and Thomas').  We are going to need two bedding sets and decor, so might as well register for that as well.  I am definitely still making the duvet cover, but depending on what is on PB's website, I might make the yellow/brown combo the guest room.  Anyway, enough rambling about wedding stuff and logistics of decorating our first home!  Have a fantastic weekend! 

Weekend Sewing

Happy Sunday!  There are so many things I want to share today, but first I am going to admit that I am totally bored with the 30 day blogging challenge.  It seemed like a good idea when I started it, and it totally pulled me out of my blogging rut...but now the topics are not what I want to blog about and it is making blogging feel too much like a chore.  So, I am dropping out of the 30 day blogging challenge.  I am glad I was doing it on my own anyhow so that I don't have to feel like I really dropped out of something.  It isn't really dropping out when it is self-imposed, right?  :)

So, last weekend I did a good bit of sewing and I wanted to share with y'all.  I had kinda lost my sewing mojo as of late with quite a few wadders and I was in serious need of inspiration.  When one of my favorites, The Cupcake Goddess, posted that she was going to do a pencil skirt sew-along, I knew I had to participate!  One of the inspiration photos she put up was a skirt with a super cute ruffle on the bottom made by Pretty Ditty.  I had seen the photo before somewhere, and remembered how much I loved it.  I decided that was the direction I wanted to go with the skirt.  For the fabric, I decided to cut up and use a dress that my mom was going to give to Goodwill.  My mama has been on a diet since January and has lost a good bit of weight!  She is doing amazing and working so hard!  This dress was one that she loved, but with her new figure she couldn't wear it anymore.  It was only wore a handful of times and I thought it would be fun to refashion it into something I could wear and that she could wear when she hits her target weight!  Won't it be fun to see a before and after shot of that!  That would be awesome!

Before:

After:

I am really proud of this skirt because my construction is the best that it has ever been.  I finished the inside side seams with french seams, the facing with bias tape, and the ruffle with an overcasted edge (since it was too thick for bias tape).  I didn't have a great top to wear with it last weekend when I took these pictures, but Friday Thomas and I went to Target and I found one of my fave Merona t-shirts in the perfect blue!  I am planning on wearing this tomorrow to work!

After that, I wanted to make something that would a good transition piece for the hot weather in Fall in GA.  Like I said before, I had kinda lost my sewing mojo, so I pulled out one of my favorite patterns that I knew would turn out!  The pattern is McCall's 5425 and I have made it once before in a ITY jersey.  I wear that dress so often and I would say it is my most successful garment I have made based on the number of times I wore it this summer.  You can see my original M5425 here.  I just realized it is out of print, but you can still get it on McCall's website.  It is a great beginner pattern that I would highly recommend if you sew!  Well, I decided that I wanted to try my hand at making it in a cotton print and in View A.  I liked that cute bow on the side, and I have a seersucker dress with a bow on the side like that and I love it.  I figured that a cotton print would work for this too since it worked for my seersucker dress that is very similar (V8380) other than the bottom of the dress.  Also, if I made it in cotton I could wear it in the summer as a dress, and in fall with tights.  Here is the dress styled for fall (wishful thinking with that turtleneck, huh?)

Well, this post is getting kinda long, so I will fill y'all in on the sewing I did this weekend and the fun we had on tomorrow's post.  I will give you a little taste of it though...it includes me changing my mind on bridesmaid dresses!  Ha!  I am a indecisive bride on everything except my groom!  :)

30 Day Challenge - Day 8 and 9

School, work, work at school, study, eat, sleep...that's about it around here.  I don't really have much to say about that, but I did get some sewing done this past weekend and I have the fruits of my effort to show to y'all when I get everything together in a post.  Last night I was having the weirdest internet problems!  I wrote up my Day 8 post and tried to put the picture in...it wouldn't post!  Then I just said forget the picture and tried to post...it wouldn't post!  Then I couldn't even load a page on the internet!  I ended up rebooting and my computer got signal then...but the post was lost and it was midnight and I was over it.  So, you get two days in one!  Just know that I didn't really miss Day 8 since I did write it!!!  

Day 8's topic is a picture that makes you mad or sad.  I really don't want to go all Debbie Downer on you, so here is something that makes me mad that is light-hearted!  I am so sad that Big Brother 12 is coming to an end, but one thing that happened this season made me mad!  Matt lied about his wife having a medical condition to make people want to vote for him.  I hate when people go on reality shows with this strategy!  It is just wrong!

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Day 9's topic is a picture that you took.  I thought I would show y'all a picture I took of the Disney World castle all lit up for Christmas!  Ashton and I went a few years back at Christmas and had a great time!  As y'all know, I love anything and everything Disney!  I can't wait to go back at Christmas one day!  

30 Day Challenge - Day 7

Today is filled with school and working at school for the CRA.  I have to go to school tonight, so I thought I would hop on blogger real quick and get my blogging in for today.  I have to present my topic for my Senior Thesis this evening to my class and my teacher, so I am a little nervous!  I am really excited about the topic I selected though!  I talked to my professor this morning and he really was glad I went with the topic that I went with and thought that I would have great success with it!

Today's topic is a picture that makes you really happy!  There are so many, but this is one from Thomas' graduation this past May!  I could not be prouder of my college graduate!!!  

30 Day Challenge - Day 5 and 6

I am so not in the mode of blogging on the weekend.  I usually don't even turn on my computer on the weekend unless I absolutely have to.  So, I didn't get my blog post up last night.  It's okay that I missed a day of the challenge though.  I am going to post both topics today and I am letting it go.  :)  Yesterday was another fun day!  I finished up a little skirt that I have been working on that was made from a Ladies plus-sized dress.  It has a really fun story behind it, so as soon as I take pictures I will put that up and share the story with y'all!  Later that day, I hung out with Ashton a little bit and then went to Thomas' house for dinner and a movie.  We had a great night!

As promised, here is a picture of me all dressed up for Hawaiian day last Friday!  I was flipping through the channels at some point this weekend and saw a commercial saying that Office Space was coming on and in it they showed the part where the boss tells everyone to remember that Friday is Hawaiian shirt day! Haha!  Sometimes I really see the humor in day to day office stuff...and we totally would have made an episode of The Office with this little event!  Everyone was so excited! Ha!

Also, my mom took this great picture when Ashton and I went out to Logan's and I thought it was so great!  I had to share it with y'all!  I will share which dresses I picked later this week for those of you that are interested!  

Now onto today's topics!  

Day 5's topic is Favorite Quote!  This one is so easy!  

Wear Pink and Make The Boys Wink!  - Lilly Pulitzer

Day 6's topic is 20 of my Favorite Things!  Here is my list in no particular order!

1. family and friends

2. shopping

3. sewing

4. reading a good book

5. blogging

6. English Breakfast tea with cream and honey

7. cheese and wine

8. candles

9. taking a hot bath

10. watching a good movie

11. my Lord, Jesus Christ

12. listening to my favorite music

13. antiques

14. playing with my sweet puppy

15. traveling

16. playing video games (Zelda and Mario are my favorites) 

17. manicures and pedicures

18. home decor

19. going out on the boat 

20. laying out in the sun (but the sun doesn't love me so much...so I have to wear like SPF 50 sunscreen)

My list consists of the first 20 things that I love that popped into my head!  I always have a hard time making up those type of lists!  

Have a fantastic Labor Day!  I am off to do homework...bleh!

30 Day Blogging Challenge - Day 4

Today is Day 4 of the blogging challenge.  I have had such a BUSY, but fun day!  I am going to try to upload those pics of our Hawaiian day tomorrow, because I have to go locate my cord and honestly...I am not feeling that right now!  Thomas just came over to my house and I am trying to type this up quickly while he is on the phone, so you will see those awesome pics tomorrow!  Today has been so fun though!  My mom, Ashton, and I went to The Gingerbread House in Downtown Savannah to look at bridesmaids, junior bridesmaid, and flower girl attire, as well as veils for me!  We have a ton of success and figured out what everyone will wear and I found the perfect veil!  I went ahead and ordered it even though it is a little early because they were having a tax-free day, and that is a huge savings on something that costs a few hundred dollars.  After that we all went to Logan's for lunch.  It was my mom's birthday this week, so we were going to have a girl's day to celebrate.  We had to drop Ashton off after lunch, and then my mom and I went to the mall for the first time in forever for both of us.  We shopped a little bit and got a couple things on super sale.  We were planning to go see Eclipse one more time before it went off, but we got to the theaters this evening...it was already off.  :(  Oh well, I asked mom was she wanted to do for the rest of her birthday celebration and she decided that we should go get some Japanese food.  We like to eat in our family!  We went to eat and then have been hanging out at home ever since.  We are both wiped out!

Day 4's topic is favorite book.  I have a tie for my favorite book.  My faves are the Harry Potter series (with 4 and 7 being my favorites within the series) and the Twilight series (with no favorite within the series...I like them all for different reasons).  I have read both of those series numerous times and they never get old.  Last year I decided to read all the Harry Potter books again and spent about 2.5 months reading here and there to finish it up.  I am thinking that I might start the series over again since the new movie will be out soon!  I can gear up for it!

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I also really love Twilight and first read it in December/January of this year.  I have read the whole series 2 times now.  I was thinking about starting the series for a third time, but I read half of Twilight and thought that I needed a little break from the storyline.  GAH!  I can't believe I just admitted that in 8 months I have read the series twice and thought about reading it a third time!  I am a little obsessed like everyone else in the world right now!  Haha!

30 Day Blogging Challenge - Day 3

It's Day 3 of the 30 Day Blogging Challenge!  I am really enjoying it!  I am liking getting back into the groove of blogging everyday!  As promised, I am going to fill you in on what is going on around here today!  It's Hawaiian Day at work!  Yes, ma'am!  We have this guy we work with who is a complete character, and everyone loves him! He is such a fun person to work with!  He had the great idea to have a happy hour of sorts every month to help morale, help people get to know each other, etc.  Last month was the first one, and it was a roaring success!  It always has a theme and last month was "Seersucker" and we had about 50 people show up to the event!  Today is the next one!  Like I said, the theme is Hawaiian and everyone is dressed Hawaiian and the office is decorated Hawaiian!  It is so much fun!  We are all going out to get pizza tonight in our Hawaiian gear!  I was deemed the official photographer of our themed events, so I have my Hawaiian gear on (pics are sure to follow tomorrow) and my camera ready!  So, onto Day 3's post!

Day 3's topic is favorite TV show.  As usual, I have a hard time picking a favorite of anything!  I am a bit indecisive, huh?  Overwhelmingly, I like to watch reality tv, both the trashy junk and the good stuff.  I watch I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant, I'm Pregnant And...(Did y'all see the nud*ists? OMG, no words), Toddler & Tiaras, anything and everything else on TLC, Hoarders, Real Housewives, The Food Truck Race, The Amazing Race, Big Brother, etc.  If it is reality and comes on...I watch it.  I don't like sit down every Monday at 9 to see something usually, but I catch all the re-runs on Saturdays or watch it on On Demand.  I don't like those Dancing Shows though, or American Idol...those all bore me to tears.  So, I decided that naturally my favorite had to be a reality show and one that has never really lost it's charm to me! Without further ado...my favorite TV show is:

SURVIVOR!!!!

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I have been hooked since the 2nd season.  I have never seen the 1st season, and I have missed a couple seasons here and there because sometimes I get tired of it, but I have seen almost every single season of the 21 seasons it has been on!  WOW!  My friend Melissa (my god son Preston's mama) and I used to watch it when we were like 8 after gymnastics every single week!  Good memories!  It is my not so secret dream to be on Survivor...but I know I couldn't do it.  I would freak out from the bugs and starve to death because that food they eat looks gross!  Seriously though, I have thought about applying! ha!  Could you imagine!!!  I would be a riot!  I think Big Brother and The Amazing Race are more my style!  I am so excited for the premiere of Season 21 this month which is taking place in Nicaragua and the theme is Old vs. Young!  It is sure to be interesting! 

*Glee was a very close second since I am obsessed with that show, but since I have been watching Survivor longer that is why I picked it my favorite.  But, just know I seriously contemplated Glee too! 

30 Day Challenge - Day 2

Okay, I had to pop in and keep up with my blog today!  My computer is about to die and I am exhausted from working all day long at school for my position with the Center for Regional Analysis...but I can't miss the 2nd day!!!  It was a great day though, and the teachers in our department surprised us with an ice cream sundae party for all of the students and teachers that were hanging out this afternoon.  I thought that was so nice!  Apparently, the school had an ice cream party for the professors for some event, and there was a ton left over and our professors offered to take it off their hands at the end of the event.  So, this afternoon the History and Economic departments professors and students had a little sundae party!  How fun!  We share the building with the History department...which is why we had a little impromptu party together.

Today's topic is Favorite Movie!  This is tough because I LOVE movies.  Thomas and I watch movies all the time and I daresay it is our favorite thing to do together...well, maybe traveling might be better, but watching movies is a close second.  I have a ton of "Favorite" movies, but if I had to pick just one to watch over and over again I would have to pick Under The Tuscan Sun.

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I keep this movie in my player all the time.  I have seen it more times than I can count and it never ceases to make me cry and laugh.  It is so uplifting!  And can we talk about Diane Lane!!!  She is just fabulous, don't you think?  She is probably  my favorite actress after seeing this movie.  If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it!

*I just saw the clock hit midnight, but oh well, I am still counting this as posting on September 2!  Y'all can see that I put in the effort!!! :)  Now it's time for this girl to go to sleep!  I have a fun day ahead of me tomorrow!  I will fill y'all in when I have a little more energy!

30 Day Blogging Challenge - Day 1

In order to break out of my blogging rut, I thought it would be a good idea to make myself blog every single day.  I have seen a few people participating in the 30 Day Blogging Challenge hosted by Just To Keep In Touch...and although it technically ended yesterday for them, I am starting today for myself!  I have enjoyed reading them, and getting to know other bloggers through the challenge topics, so here we go!  I am going to use the same topics Just To Keep In Touch did even though I didn't get the chance to participate this month. 

Day 1 - Favorite Song

Isn't it so hard to answer when people ask you what is your favorite _____ is?  It is for me.  I can NEVER pick a favorite.  I always have long lists of everything I really like, but actually narrowing it to one is a huge challenge for me.  My favorites depend on the day and my mood that day.  One day I want to listen to some hard rock, the next I want country, the next I might want classical.  I am a variable person.  I am going to try to play by the rules here, and I am going to really try to narrow it down to my favorite! 

So, without further ado...my favorite song (today) :)

Simon and Garfunkel - The Sound of Silence

I like this song because Simon and Garfunkel are amazing artists with great voices and the harmonies are chilling.  I cannot listen to this song just once when I hear it.  It is constantly in my playlist and listen to it everytime I turn on my ipod.  I also like the deepness of the song.  I have read it was said on NPR by Paul Simon that apparantly this song has no deep meaning to it, and then I read somewhere that Art Garfunkel said it is about people and their inability to show love to others, but whether he meant to write the meaning or not...I believe it is there.  I believe this song is about conformity and not making a figure, media, political, or otherwise into a diety.  Others have differing opinions, and if you google it, you will see what I mean.  And apparently Simon and Garfunkel themselves have differing opinions!  It's a great song regardless what you interpret the meaning to be. 

A rut?

So, I am in a rut.  In every since of the word.  It really dawned on me last night during the mid point break in my 3 hour class when someone asked me about my job and what I do and I was less than enthusiatic in my response.  And I want to say this before I say anything else because I don't want people making assumptions that I hate my job because of that statement...I absolutely LOVE my job and am so unbelievably thankful to the Lord for leading me to this opportunity and for never leaving my side when I took the major leap of faith he called me to when changing my major to something I never even took a single class in and had no idea if I would even like (which was necessary to take the job).  I really do not talk about my job on my blog because of privacy and safety reasons, but I will tell you if I haven't said it before that I have a job where I work and go to school as a Student worker.  I basically already do the job that I will do when I graduate and that every other person in the office does, just on a slightly lesser scale since I haven't taken many of the required training classes or gotten my certification yet.  When I graduate, as part of the program, I will be given a job in the office.  Like I said, it's an amazing opportunity.  I had no idea if I would like it, or if I would like Economics for a major, or anything, but the Lord really led me here and I have no doubt that this is where I am supposed to be until he tells me otherwise.  But, stress has been getting to me.  Without getting much into my daily stresses since that is not what I want to talk about and it's not what you want to hear, let's just say I have a lot of things happening in the next year.  Y'all already know that.  They are frightening, life changing, but exciting and absolutely wonderful things.  And then there is the daily stuff.  The stuff that occupies that little part of your brain and can keep you from enjoying life if you let it take over.  I feel like that part of my life has taken over.  The do this, then that, then this, and then if there is time between 9:00 at night and midnight maybe you can sit back and relax but only if you can turn your brain off enough to not think abou the things that tomorrow will bring.  That is me right now.  And it has put me into a rut.  A full blown stress shutdown rut.  I don't care much about what I will wear tomorrow...whatever matches and is clean will suffice and usually it is a t-shirt, jeans, and rainbows.  I haven't changed my purse to match my outfit in months.  Most of the time my hair, make-up, and nails don't look their best.  I haven't been the best friend with calling, emailing, texting lately.  My car is filthy and needs a good washing inside and out.  I never feel like writing on my own blog anymore and can't think of fresh ideas.  The fact that lately all my blog posts have been of the sentimental kind, or the I'm so sorry I never blog kind.  Those are just a few of the signs lately that have been telling me I am in a rut.  For me, they are a biggie because they aren't me.  And then there are the bigger things...like my attitude about things in general and the fact that I haven't been to church since, um, Mother's Day.  Oh my gosh I can't believe I just admitted that. But rut's are good.  They tell you it's time to change some things.  It's a wake up call.  It's time to remedy this.  It's time to get to feeling like me again.  This is the last I am talking about it.  From now on...I am getting back to myself!

*Oh and I watched Eat, Pray, Love, Julie and Julia, and Waitress recently...and they all told me that I am stuck in a rut and need to get out of it!  The magic of the movies...