christmas party (a video)

Christmastime in Tennessee has been so good to my heart.

my thursday nights are... (a video)

crazy. loud. girly. intentional. 

spiritual. beautiful. intimate. 

ridiculous. wonderful.

perfect.

(Video from our big sis lil sis reveal party!)

mini messages

This picture has nothing to do with this post.

It's 2 years old, blurry, and almost the same pose as the picture to the left.

But I love it.

Dear Bailee,
Thanks for being our little guard dog. Every time you jump off the couch and stare at the ground, I know to scream for Brandon because it's always a bug. Such a life saver, you are!

Dear She & Him Holiday Station on Pandora,
Thank you for not judging me and allowing me to play your goodness all. year. long.

Dear 24 hour headache,
I said "go away", not "bring your friend, super congestion!" I'm seeing a lot of couch time and Reba re-runs in my forecast for today.

Dear Husband,
You are the best caretaker. Sundays are super busy for you, but you still left to bring me some breakfast (and then brought home lunch.) And you still snuggled with me after I was grouchy to you.

Dear Google Reader/Follower,
Rest in Peace. (Don't forget, the nifty "followers" deal is leaving soon! If you would like to continue to "follow" me, click on the Bloglovin' tab to the left!)

Happy Monday!

how to: enjoy laundry

I'm back with another one of my epic "how to" posts. 

Last time we tackled the tricky "how to get stuff done." (seen here)

This time, it's the dreaded laundry/hanging clothes/purging your closet chore.

 As always, music is a must. Pop in your favorite cd. Click on your favorite Pandora station. Set the mood. And don't be afraid if you start dancing. That's totally normal.

 An audience makes any mundane chore seem like a performance. I prefer two, small, non-talking, covered in fur, onlookers. They don't criticize your methods or dancing.

 Wash your clothes. Dry your clothes. Pile them on to your bed. This works best when you've waited entirely too long and have about 10 loads of laundry to go through.

 Be prepared for sock-nappers.

 ...and their adorable mugshots.

Back to the laundry.

 Brand new, bright red hangers always make things happier. You can buy about 1,000 for 50cent at Walmart. Something like that.

 You need a closet, clearly. This is pre-decluttering, so excuse the broken shelves and lack of organization.

 The best way to force yourself to stay inside and do chores is schedule a cold, rainy day. These days are my favorite, so it cheers me on even more.

 Rule number one: get comfy. Husband's oversized pajama pants are my first pick.

 As you are hanging up your clothes, go through your closet and get rid of all the wire hangers. Replace them with your new colorful ones.

Keep hangers in a neat pile (is that even possible?) because you just know you're going to use them for one of your Pinterest projects. Yeah right.

 Don't forget to break frequently. This is not easy stuff. Do not overexert your body. Drink lots of water. Take cute pictures.

 Enough break, back to work.

 Tshirts take up so much needed space in my closet. So, I choose this crammed, stuffed, guarantee-to-wrinkle-your-clothes way to organize my shirts. I guess if you incorporate tshirts into your everyday wardrobe, this is not the most optimal choice for you. I wear mine at home mostly, so I don't put much into what I look like (sorry, Husband.)

 Make a pile of clothes you are ready to give away. I give away anything that a) doesn't fit right b) I never wear c) I just flat out don't like and never understand why I bought it in the first place.

I did this last week and between Husband and I, we got rid of three large boxes full of clothes/shoes.

Took forever. Felt so good.

I hope this motivated you to stop putting the dryer on it's third round of drying, buy some new hangers, and get your closet organized.

Don't forget the music.

Our Saturday (a video)

sleeping in. puppy snuggles. new friends.

mexican food. lazy rides. 

milkshakes. movies.

perfect.

How to Spend Your Christmas Eve Eve...

Put this song on repeat 

(better yet, listen to the Pandora radio station, "She & Him Holiday")

Cuddle your furbabies.

Snuggle with your loved ones.

And breathe.

At least, that's how we're spending it over here.

just a car ride...

Road trips are the best.

Especially with my little family.

*Please note: Husband is the super-duper-est driver I know.

Therefore, he can dog dance and drive.

Please do not try this at home.

things.

Oh, man. I'm so sorry to the 3 readers of this little blog. It's been way too long. I don't think I can say life has been exceptionally busier than normal...so I guess I'm just slacking. But, I'm back from my hiatus, totally missing you guys, and ready to get back into the routine! These are the random ramblings in my head as of late...

Sunday, November 11, 2012, I cracked. One look from my furbabies and all the Chrimma decorations appeared in my living room, waiting to be unpacked. It's uncanny how that happens. Okay fine, it's totally lame to blame this on my girls, but it sure does sound better than the truth: I'm a weak Christmas fanatic. There, I said it. But, as I type this, I am sitting next to the prettiest tree and listening to Pentatonix's Christmas Album (Go to iTunes and buy this album, now!) AKA, I'm okay with the fact that it's before Thanksgiving. No guilt here. Last year I had the decor up before Halloween, so I'd say this is progress.

Speaking of Thanksgiving (kind of) I am so very ready for a week of no Kindergarteners! Woo Hoo! A week without constantly telling them to blow their noses (I mean, can they not feel the snot running down their face?) A week without bending down 500 times a day to tie their never-staying-put shoe strings, without markers/chalk/glue/glitter on my pants, and a week without sing the "Days of the Week" and "Months of the Year" songs! Sounds great to me! And Husband, this goes for you too. I will not tie your shoes and you better learn to blow your own nose.

Can we just agree that puppy hiccups are the cutest?

I have super exciting news to share with you! I mean, it's life changing. Not just news about me, but about some other people. Oh man, it's big. To bad I can't say a word, yet. (And no, I am not pregnant. Please don't get that rumor started!)

I finally got some new specs. They make me feel very nerdy-chic. Plus, they are actually prescription, not some fake plastic posers from Claire's, so I'm totally legit.

I hate hospitals. I hate needles. I hate blood. I hate blood work. Basically, I hate today.

My Husband hates Egg-Nog and I don't know how I feel about that.

While you are visiting the iTunes Store, go ahead and purchase Zooey Deschanel's Christmas album. I promise, you will not be disappointed. Unless, you are one of those people who hate rainbows and flowers and all things awesome. Then, nevermind.

Did you know that "nevermind" isn't a real word? I always have to add it to the list of words on my phone, and my computer puts the red line of death under it every time I try to write it. Nevermind. Never mind.

Happy Tuesday, all!

things.

Wearing your hair down, while teaching at a preschool, almost always turns out bad. What starts out as cute little girls playing "hair do-ers," quickly turns into a form of Chinese torture. A painful form of torture for sensitive scalped, migraine prone people like me. I went to school Wednesday and learned my lesson. Top knots are my new favorite thing.

Husband got an iPad recently, (thanks, Mom and Dad!) and we put our wedding pictures on there. I  made one of our favorites the lock screen background. The next time I opened it, I was greeted by a picture of "The Avengers." Not sure how I feel about that. 

I've been trying to eat healthier, work out, etc, and part of my "training" is to log what I eat. I downloaded a super nifty app on my phone to help hold me accountable. It tracks how many calories I've eaten, how many I've lost after exercising, and how close I am to reaching my goal. After a week of logging, I hate that stupid thing. Nobody likes being told they aren't doing the right thing. I'm slowly getting there though. I have become more conscious about what I eat and how much exercising I'll need to do to work it off. Tough stuff.

It's raining right now and I want nothing more than to jump into a pool. Swimming is so much cooler in the rain. Unless there's lightning, that's not very cool.

My Husband is actually off tonight and the other house dwellers are gone for the weekend...you know what that means! Frozen pizzas and board games. Can I get a "woohoo" for poor newlyweds?!

I am always trying to convince Husband that I'm funny. After 4 years, he's still not convinced. I think he's the one with the problem. I'm clearly hilarious.

To start the weekend off right, I leave you with some Christmas spirit. Can't go wrong with Chrimma music.

Happy weekend

and

Merry Christmas!

I like this song.

Little Boxes- Walk Off the Earth

I love basically everything from these guys.

This song makes my heart sing.

And it's all made of boxes.

Genius.

Joy Filled Friday and a Recipe!

1 writing to release emotions 2 reading to escape 3 music that makes you want to dance 4 Friday nights with Husband 5 instagram for android 6 my nook 7 God's promises 8 peace in chaos 

9 planning "dream" vacations 10 puppies that make me giggle

Well, today is a new day! I woke up giggling to the sound of my malti-pom howling, snuggled with Husband, and enjoyed pizza for breakfast. I'd say that's a great start. Despite the struggles this week brought, I can smile because it's the weekend, I'm alive, and God is in control. Amen to that!

This weekend I will:

-organize the "box room" (that dreaded room in the house, full of unpacked boxes that need to be thrown out, given away, or placed elsewhere) That's been on the to-do list for....ever.

-watch some more of my classic movies collection

-paint my nails

-clean, clean, clean!

Here's to hoping I get at least one of those things done!

Now, as promised, my Oreo Cupcake Recipe!

(I cannot take all credit for this, it's part Pinterest pictures, part back of cake mix box, and part imagination!)

Ingredients: 

Cake mix (and all ingredients it calls for: eggs, butter, oil, etc. They all differ!)

Pack of Oreo's

Frosting

Cupcake Sleeves

Cupcake Pan(s)

Prep the pan.

I had two pans, totaling in 20 cupcakes. One pan (12 cupcakes) had Oreos on the bottom. The other (8 cupcakes) had an Oreo on top. 

Chop up an entire row of Oreos. I chopped each Oreo into 8 pieces, then chopped randomly through the pile. 

Make the cake mix. I used Butter Yellow Cake mix. If you have an electric mixer, you are so lucky. If not, like me, you get to work out for a bit!

Once the mix is the right consistency, add the chopped Oreos.

This is the fun part! I used a spoon to fill each paper cup. The 12 on top have Oreos on the bottom. I filled each cup a little over half way because they will rise. Pop them in the oven! The back of all cake mixes should have the temp and time for cupcakes.

While the cupcakes were in the oven, I got my frosting ready. I used a freezer bag, filled it with chocolate frosting, and cut a small tip out of the bottom.

I was so glad to see they didn't rise up and spill over the sides. I had never made cupcakes before and I kept thinking of how horrible they could turn out!

I frosted the ones with Oreo's on the bottom and chopped up the remaining Oreo's to sprinkle on top. Lesson learned: wait until the cupcakes cool before trying to frost! Otherwise, frosting melts and everything gets messy! For the Oreo on top ones, I left them alone. Husband like them the best, tasted like a chocolate chip muffin to him.

There you go! I have never done a recipe blog before. Mainly because I never really cook and because I don't think anyone would care! 

Funny thing, I didn't eat a single cupcake. I don't usually like sweets, so I judged them by all the guys at the house...it was a success! 

Have a wonderful weekend!!