Pitiful Guy & Precious Twins

Just as I suspected, my weekend was really chill and easy. Here's what happened...

Jeff had surgery on Friday night, so I spent the majority of my night in the OR waiting room, reading a really good book, and then in his recovery room. Then Saturday morning I went over to his house and played with the boys and watched some Spiderman cartoons, and packed the car, and then I rode with Jeff's mama to take the boys back to their mom. We spent the night halfway there, at Jeff's brothers house, and watched Ratatouille with the twins' little cousin Libby. Sunday morning we got Dunkin Donuts and went the rest of the way to meet their mom. Then we drove back the 5+ hours and got back around 7:30. I got Jeff some dinner, and helped make his foot more comfy, and then we watched "Free Willy." (Which is quite good if you don't remember!)

So that's that. Easy peasy, sort of. Jeff's still not feeling good at all. His foot is in a lot of pain, and the pain meds don't seem to be offering much relief. He already had to go back on Saturday and get them to re-wrap it, because it just wasn't quite right, and was making it all worse. He has to take off work and be laying down with his foot propped up for two full weeks! And then for two weeks after that, he still can't walk or put any pressure on it. And then it will be another month or two before he can run or ride a bike or anything like that... :( Holy moly. This is a big deal folks. He's usually so active and just going all the time, so this will be a huge adjustment for him. Pray for his healing and recovery, but also for his sanity!

Friday night - reading "Room" and waiting on this pitiful guy to wake up more from his anesthesia.

Saturday & Sunday - traveling with these precious little sillies.

For tomorrow, I've got a fun post planned all about Goodbye's to 2012 and Hello's to 2013. That one should be a bit more exciting than this one, or at least more interesting to read! Sorry there's not much else happening here today...

However, I would like to say Welcome to quite a few new followers that joined over the weekend! I'm so glad to have you here! Won't you take of your shoes and stay a while? :) And make sure you say Hi, so that I can say hi back to you! Love to all my followers though - new and "old." I'm so glad all of you are here!

Happy New Year's Eve my friends!!

Pandemonium

Last Friday of the year, last Friday's Letters of the year, last full day of work for the year - holy moly! 2013 will be here in just a few more days! And I don't know about you, but I'm excited and ready for it. Oh, and that is a completely pointless title - I just couldn't think of anything that actually made any sense, so I just went with a random, fun word. So just go with it, OK?! :)

Dear Boyfriend: It really really sucks that you broke you foot. I hate this just about as much as you do. I'm praying that surgery today will go smoothly, and that you will be relieved of the pain and recover very quickly! Until then though, I will do whatever I can to take care of you and help make you comfy!

Dear Surgeon: Please be extra super careful and do everything perfectly, and just be an awesome surgeon for my boy today. Take good care of him please. And get his foot all fixed up!

Dear Twins: We're so glad ya'll could come down to Florida to visit for a few days! We of course wish it could be longer, but we're already looking forward to the next time you come, for your spring break! Y'all are just seriously the cutest, and have been so sweet and cuddly these past few days. We love you so much!

Dear Christmas: You came and went so fast! Now we've got to take down all the decorations, and put away our presents, and get ready to move on with our regular lives. But January holds something exciting - and that's my 25th birthday!! Now if only I can accomplish some more of my 25 Before 25 goals, I'll be ready!

Dear 2012: You've been fun and all, but it's time to skedattle. We've got a big year coming up in 2013, so let's get a move on! I'm of course anxious and excited to see what a new year will bring. So let's get this new year rollin'!

Dear 30-Day Shred: We're starting over again on Monday morning. So get ready. I am so ready to get shredded! And dear Jillian - I know you're going to try to kill me, but I'm determined not to let you and your spunky back-up exercisers get the best of me this time. We. Will. Finish!

And here's a totally unnecessary "selfie" for you today from this past week -- because it's really the only picture I've got that you haven't already seen...

Hope y'all have had a great week, and that you have an even better weekend! Mine will be pretty chill, due to the boyfriend having surgery later today, and then I'm riding with Jeff's mama to take the boys back to their mom. That will be sad to see them go so quickly, but we are so glad they could come at least for a bit! Then I go to work on Monday for a little bit, and then I get another day off for New Year's Day! Hooray! Happy Friday my friends :)

Presents, Puppies & Podiatry

BLOG FRIENDS! I feel like I've been away for sooo long. And I've really missed blogging!  A LOT has happened since I last wrote a post almost a week ago last Friday (although there was also a Christmas-themed scheduled post in there), so there's no way I can do a good old fashioned recap post. I am however going to attempt a quick catch-up of sorts, since there has definitely been some news to share over the last 6 days or so...

OK - first of all, we went to see The Hobbit on Friday night, and it was sooo good! I've seriously been sucked into the world of The Lord of the Rings, and I'm actually loving it. I've now watched all of LOTR, and am also reading a ton about the characters and their worlds online. Nerd alert right?! Whatever, it's fascinating.

Then Saturday morning I went to praise band practice for about three hours, had lunch with my fam, went home and started wrapping presents, only to get a text from my boyfriend saying he just got out of the ambulance and was at the ER!! WHAT?! After a few phone calls to his parents, I found out what happened and headed up there as well. Here's a brief synopsis: he was cleaning the roof, and had just finished up and was heading down the ladder. He had just put his second foot on the ladder, when it slid out from under him. He landed mainly on his right foot, then bounced onto his tailbone - all of this happened on his stone driveway. Ouch.

Long story short - he's been in severe pain since then, with only a temporary splint from the ER. Since it was Christmas, the foot doctor was closed, and we just went yesterday. Now he has pre-op today, and surgery tomorrow evening, around 5 pm. He has two broken bones, one of which will get a pin in it, and then he can't put any pressure on it for at least 4 weeks. Sheesh. It has been a rough couple of days for him, and I'm sure it's only going to be a little rougher after surgery. Please keep him in your prayers, so that he can recover quickly!

Then there were some adorable puppies visiting at his house when we got home, because his Granny is getting a precious little Yorkie puppy! We're just waiting until the puppy is old enough to leave her mama, and then this little girl comes home to Jeff's house!

Moving on to some much quicker recaps now...

Sunday was: church, lunch with friends, checking on Jeff, praise band practice, Awaken worship service, dinner with my parents, back to Jeff's house to check on him, movie time.

Monday was Christmas Eve: pancakes for breakfast, check on Jeff, pick up step-bro on the way home, round 1 of presents to and from my future brother-in-law, shot guns with my step-family in Woodville, Christmas Eve candlelight service, round 2 of presents with their whole family, and then I finished wrapping all my presents late at night while watching a cheesy Christmas movie with Mama.

Tuesday was Christmas day! Round 3 of presents with my 5-fam (mom, dad, me, sis, bro), breakfast with my 10-fam (add in: grandparents, uncle, aunt, cousin) at the Grandparents house, round 4 of presents, laughing and chatting and nap time, lunch time, more chatting, load up in the rain, head home. Then I went over to Jeff's house: round 5 of presents from him and his fam, card games, dessert, movie, dinner, movie.

Wednesday, I took the day off work: grabbed breakfast at Whataburger, went to Jeff's house, ate, took him to the doctor, started reading one of my new books, got a him new prescription, picked up lunch, headed back to his house, foot pain, movie, read more, napped, more foot pain, back to the doctor for a better wrapping on his foot, reading, his boys arrived!, round 6 of presents (this one for them only though), dinner, play time, movie rest time, cuddles, night-night, reading and hanging with my fam a bit at my house.

And now I'm back at work today, and it's about the last place I would like to be. I'd much rather be back over at Jeff's house, in some comfy PJ pants, playing games with the boys then cuddle up later to watch a movie after lunch time. Sounds much better than sitting at a desk all day, right?! At least I get to go over there later tonight for dinner and play time and cuddle time! And I can't believe it's already Thursday! Guys, that means that tomorrow is Friday, and that just seems like craziness. But really awesome craziness!

I hope y'all had some great Christmases as well, and that yours were injury free! Now we have to go about taking down all the decorations, and putting away our presents, and um, *ahem*, maybe returning one or two that just don't fit quite right... ;) Happy Thursday my friends!

Partridge in a Pear Tree

Happy Christmas Eve, my bloggy friends! I wasn't really sure what to write about for today, so I'm just going with a random list of some of my favorite parts about Christmas. In no particular order, here are some of my favorite things about Christmastime and this holiday season...

Christmas Carols. I actually really love all kinds of Christmas music, and have tons of CD's full of Christmas music. I start listening to my Christmas music in November, and will carry it over into the new year for about a week or two. And I seriously just never get tired of it. No matter how many stores play it over and over again, or how many times I repeat N'Sync Christmas in my car - it seriously never gets old. From hymns, to carols, to the new, "modern" stuff - I like it all! I just love Christmas music :) And "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is always a fun , especially repeating "and a partridge in a pear tree," over and over and over again!

Candle light Christmas Eve service at my church, Christmas 2010

Christmas Lights. They're just so pretty :) From the earliest I can remember, my Mama would load my sister and I up in the car, and we would drive around town looking for the neighborhoods with the most lights. We would listen to Christmas music (of course), and maybe get some hot chocolate, and just have so much fun laughing and singing and driving around town. We still do this every year, and I will definitely make it a tradition with my own family and children in the future!

Jeff's mama's tree, Christmas 2011.

Christmas Movies. Yes, even the cheesy ones. Actually, I guess I should say, especially the cheesy ones. Sign me up for a marathon of Lifetime Christmas movies or Hallmark Christmas movies! I'd cuddle up in some comfy PJ pants, some warm slippers and a blanket with a cup of hot tea or cocoa, and I could stay there for hours on end! Then of course there's plenty of  non-cheesy ones too: Elf, White Christmas, Christmas with the Kranks, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and a family favorite/tradition is Emet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas. So cute :)

Family Time. My family always loves getting to spend time together. But there's just something special about family time during the Christmas holidays. Sure, we still have our little issues and attitudes occasionally, but for the most part, everything goes great and smooth and we always have such a nice time together. We laugh so much and just have so much fun. Oh, and we eat a lot of super yummy food too :) Also, my sister and I tend to have photo shoots where we make super attractive faces... These are from Christmas 2010.

Celebrating Jesus. This is obviously the most important part of the Christmas season, and unfortunately it's the part that's most quickly and easily forgotten. Do you guys realize that Jesus was born in a smelly, crowded stable, probably surrounded by a ton of stinky donkeys and goats and other nasty farm animals? Not the most prestigious way to enter this world. But He did that for us. For you and for me. He was born into this world so that he could one day die for us on a cross, and save us of our sins! Try to remember that the reason we celebrate Christmas is not only to give and receive gifts (although it's fun, I'm not trying to pretend like I don't like presents...), but Christmas is most importantly about Celebrating Jesus!

So in all the fun and the busyness and everything that surrounds the next few days, remember Him. And as cheesy as it is, remember that Jesus truly is the reason for the season! Merry Christmas!

Parents, Presents & Letters

Dear Christmas Presents: I'm going to need y'all to just wrap yourselves. I've wrapped not even a single one of you, so I've got a lot to do before Tuesday. So for real here, can you just hop in a gift bag or get a hand from a friend to tape up some wrapping paper? Great.Thank you.

Dear Parents: You guys freaking got us a LIMO for family dinner last night! What an amazing surprise for our entire family! The eleven of us had such a great time riding around town looking at pretty Christmas lights! Seriously, you parents of mine rock. And there will be a whole post about this awesome limo ride one day next week... Probably not until Wednesday or Thursday, but it will eventually be there :)

Dear Florida: Thanks for finally getting a little bit cold! It feels pretty nice outside today. Let's try to stay this way at least for the next five days. Christmas is always more fun when you're not sweating...

Dear Friends (those in real life and in blog-land): Thank you so so much for all of your love and support and encouragement after my slightly depressing and super serious blog post from Tuesday. It really warmed my heart how many of you checked in with me and made sure I was really OK. And I promise I still am OK. There are definitely times I still get sad, but I know that's just a part of working through all of this. I love you all so very much!

Dear Fingernails: We're going to attempt to create some Santa inspired nails this weekend! Hopefully my hand is steady enough to create something like this cute little design...otherwise, we'll just end up with a red and green version of our tried-and-true polka dot creations.

Found on my Pinterest board HERE

Dear Boyfriend: You were totally right about "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy  It rocked my socks off. I got sucked into it so quickly, and I just couldn't quit until we finished the whole thing! It was epic and amazing, and now I'm so psyched to see "The Hobbit" too!! Wanna go this weekend?! Please say yes...

I'm not actually officially linking up today with Adventures in Newlyweds, because she's taking a blog breather, but I am linking up with Oh So Amelia and Let Them Eat Cake.

I hope y'all have a wonderful weekend, and and even more lovely Christmas! Enjoy the time with your friends and family, and make sure we remember that Christmas is about wayyy more than presents and cookies and pretty twinkle lights. It's about the coming of our Savior to this earth, so that we might be saved!! I encourage you to read Luke 2 in order to get the full story of Christmas, and spend some time reflecting on the beautiful gift our Father gave to us, so many thousands of years ago! What an incredible gift.

I may or may not share a few quick posts over the next few days, but I'll be back in full-swing after Christmas either on Wednesday or Thursday. Until then, MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! I can't wait to hear and see all about your Christmases as well!

Pursonal Belongings

I've wanted to do one of those "what's in your bag" kind of posts for a while. I actually have it written down on a list I keep of posts/things to do in the future, and for some reason just never got around to it, despite how simple it is to do! Well today I've finally decided to jump on it, because one of my bloggy friends, Ricci from A Beautiful Mess, was doing a link-up! So I decided I definitely needed to join today :)

Soooo, here's my purse. It's my favorite kind - a cross-body bag. I've been obsessed with this style of purse for about two years, and really I never use anything but this style. I have about four or five that I rotate, but this one is the newest, and the one I'm using right now. I got this baby at Ross for about 20 bucks I believe. What-a-steal.

And here's the contents of my purse. And this is downsized. I used to carry some giant purses around. In fact, my dad always referred to them as my "American Tourister," after the luggage company - as if I was carrying around a purse the size of a suitcase. Puh-lease. Now though, after Jeff started making fun of me too, I carry a more reasonable size purse, and therefore can severely limit the amount of hoopla I lug around with me all the time...

And then I went to much more trouble than was probably worth it, by putting little shapes and numbers all over everything, just so I could easily list out what things were. Because obviously I keep some confusing stuff in my purse...not. I'm pretty sure you could have figured it all out on your own, but too late now because I've already done it, so I'm going for it! If you're confused by anything in the following picture, please direct your attention to the explanations below, as I'm sure that will adequately clear anything up...

1. Christmas cards from friends, so I can hang them up in my office

2. Sunglasses

3. Lotion from my sister as part of a tiny bridesmaid present

4. Makeup essentials - Maybeline mascara, Bare Minerals black eyeliner, Sephora gold eyeliner, E.L.F. eye shadow,           Bare Minerals eye shadow and Cover Girl powder

5. Cute wallet from Charming Charlie

6. Pouch full of lip glosses and lip sticks, that gets exchanged for lady products once a month...

7. Favorite pen (that has purple ink!), and keys

8. Random movie ticket from "Wreck It Ralph"

9. Favorite chapstick = Burt's Bees = my obsession, and my favorite lip gloss, C.O. Bigelow Mentha Lip Tint

10. Staff ID badge to get in my building at work

11. just one single earring...

12. Cute pink pocketknife 

OH! And my iPhone can usually be found in there too. But I was taking these pictures with it, so it's not pictured... And that's all I've got in there, today at least. On other days, you can find additional items like a bottle or two of nail polish, maybe some chocolate, a pack of gum, too many crumpled receipts, and sometimes I'll even cram in a small book! So, those are my Pursonal Belongings! What's in your purse? Write your own post and you can link-up with Ricci too. Or just leave me a comment below if you keep something weird, random or funny in your purse! It's always fun "peeking in the windows" of other girls lives/purses! ;)

P.S. - One of my favorites, Aunie Sauce is also doing a "What's in my bag" link-up too, and so you can go check out her awesome blog too!

Pilot, Venus, Ghiradelli and B&BW

A couple of months ago, I signed up to be a part of the Influenster team, and now I finally got my first VoxBox! Just so I don't confuse any of y'all who may not know what it is, this is directly off their website:

"Influenster is a free-to-join community of invited trendsetters who live to give opinions of products and experiences. Influenster creates links between brands and members to reward participation and influence future products."

The awesome thing about their program? You receive these boxes for free! That's right - they give you awesome products to test and review, all complimentary. There are similar companies out there for reviewing new products and stuff, but some of those can cost $10 a box. But Influenster boxes are always free! They send you a box of complimentary products to test and review, and you get to reap the rewards :)

I waited for my turn to come around, and was so psyched when I found out I was going to finally get one! The first box I received was a good one for me. I got the Cosmo VoxBox, and there were some excellent goodies in there. Here's a rundown of what I received:

Venus Embrace Razor

Venus Olay refill cartridge

Pilot FriXion pens (red & black)

Forever Red perfume from Bath & Body Works

Ghiradelli Sea Salt Escape chocolate bar

And here's what I thought about these products...

Venus Embrace Razor. This thing is good ladies. I for one actually hate shaving my legs, and honestly, I hardly ever do it, especially during the winter! I mean, we're talking once a week during the months of November-February. (That's a Florida "winter" for those of you Northerner's...) So I first used this bad boy after a full week of not shaving, and it was wonderful. It made my legs so silky and smooth. I have sensitive skin, and I always use shaving cream, and the combo was great. Then the next day, I shaved again using only the soap on my loofa, and it still worked great and didn't cause issues with my skin. Then the next day, I got bold and tried it with nothing but water and the blade - and it was still good! My skin was still so smooth and I didn't have any skin issues. I've used it about 2 or 3 times since then, and the blade still feels like it's working great. So that's about 6 shaves from one blade. I'd say it's probably about time to change it in the next day or so... Not to worry - because they also sent a...

Venus Olay Refill Cartridge. And it also fits my Embrace razor handle! They've come up with a genius idea that every one of their refill cartridges will fit every one of their handles! See?! Genius! Their new hash tag is #VenusFits because to put it simply, if it's Venus, it fits. Period. Isn't that so smart and convenient? I think so. Oh, and they sent a $2 off coupon as well! So I'll probably try another Venus refill, just to test them out!

Ghiradelli Sea Salt Escape. Alright, this is chocolate people, so you already know I'm thrilled about it. And Ghiradelli has a reputation for being absolutely delicious already. So of course I'm gonna be all over this bad boy. I don't see a need to go too far in depth about this review, because again, it IS chocolate, but I'll tell you this, Ghiradelli certainly upheld their reputation and did not disappoint this here chocoholic. And I brought it to work with me to enjoy as my snack for a few days, because this is a BIG chocolate bar :)

Pilot FriXion Pens. Guys- these pens are erasable! What a cool idea! And I'm not talking about those crappy ones we used to have in elementary school that tore the paper to shreds. I'm talking about a real pen, that really writes, and really erases. I brought both pens to my office and have been using them, and erasing with them. Which is awesome. No more ugly scratches if you make a mistake writing, because you can just erase it right up with these babies! If I was still in school, I'd definitely stock up on these.

Forever Red Perfume. This is from Bath & Body Works, and like almost all of their lovely products, this smells amazing. And this came in the perfect box at the perfect time, because it's a great scent for winter time! It's a little heavier than a flowery, summer-time smell, without being too overwhelming, and without making you smell like a geriatric old lady... Which I do not want to smell like. I'd definitely recommend this stuff if you're at all into perfume. And since it's from B&BW, it's more affordable than a lot of other options. Too bad it's so tiny, because I know I'll use it all up, and  quickly!

Overall, it was such a great box! I got five new products, all of which I enjoyed and was quite impressed with. I will definitely continue buying refills for my new Venus razor, and I think I know what perfume would make a good present for a few of my girlfriends as well :) Thanks so much to Pilot, Venus, Ghiradelli and Bath & Body Works for teaming up with Cosmo and Influenster to send me these great products! Can't wait to get my next VoxBox, and hopefully it's sooner rather than later!

Peppermint Mocha

If we were to sit down today for a coffee date, I'd start off saying, "Hi! How are you?! How are you doing this morning?!" I'd be pretty chipper and cheerful and we'd chat for a minute or two about easy things and maybe the weather, but then when you'd ask me how I'm doing, and then we'd probably get a little more serious.

I'd have to tell you that the past week has been a little rough, and that life is just too hard sometimes. I'd probably definitely tear up as I told you a little bit about the struggles that I've been dealing with this past week. As I sipped my warm Peppermint Mocha, I'd try to pull myself together so that I didn't start crying too much in the middle of this cute little shop.

I would want to be real though, and tell you what was truly going on, without getting too crazy and involved of course. But I'd want you to know the truth about my other job and the sadness this is all causing me. The sadness comes in waves though, and there are times I can ignore it and be happy; but then there are times in my car or talking on the phone with my Mama or boyfriend, that it gets the best of me and I start crying.

Life is just hard sometimes. Coffee sometimes makes it a little better though. And coffee dates with friends definitely make life better. I'd thank you for letting me vent a little bit, and for lending a listening ear today. I'd say thank you for being my friend and for your support and encouragement in this situation.

I do know that God always knows what He's doing, and we rarely do. But that doesn't make it any easier. I know God has a plan for me and He alone knows what comes next, but it's hard not knowing myself. But for now, as I make it through this, I'll try to wait as patiently as I can for whatever He is preparing myself and my heart for.

Know, my friends, that I'm OK through all of this craziness. Don't let this super serious post worry you too much. Yes, life is a little rough for me right now, but we all have to endure trials like this. I know I'll get through it and that I'll be just fine! Here's what I know I can hold on to during this:

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds. For you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." James 1:2-3

God is just working on my perseverance. For now, I just have to trust Him, and Him alone. In the mean time though, maybe I'll have to sit down for coffee or lunch with a few more friends and family members, so I can work through this with some of the people I love the most. Thanks for listening today though, blog friends. I really do appreciate the opportunity to get real on here sometimes (even though it's very rare that I'm so serious), and use this little space as an emotional outlet from time to time.

Peppadews, Parties & Pippin

Guys, I'm not really feeling much like writing yet today. I think my brain isn't turned on quite yet this morning, due to the fact that I've had zero coffee. This is going to be an interesting day if I don't get some sort of caffeine pumping through these veins sometime soon. But now that I'm typing a little bit, my brain is waking up and you just might get a "real" blog post out of me. Well, a real weekend recap that is...

Friday
We started the night by picking up my Jeep from Costco, after getting new tires, only to find a piece that should have been attached, sitting in my front seat. Luckily my man is great at not only baking cookies but also working on my car! After it was all fixed, we headed up to Thomasville for the Victorian Christmas celebration. When we first walked up we saw these pretty gourds that had been carved out, and little nativity sets put inside them. So lovely! We grabbed a couple of cupcakes from Lucy & Leo's and then walked around but there wasn't too much to do, so we decided to head on back to town, and get dinner in Tallahassee.

When we got back, we decided to eat at Backwoods Bistro! It's relatively new, and only been open for a few months or so, but we know one of the owner's so we figured it was definitely time to check it out. And it was delicious! First we split an appetizer - Hurricane Battered Shrimp, that came on skewers with a remoulade dipping sauce, and these were so yummy. Then we split The Beast Burger - the burger patty is stuffed with onions, mushrooms, and peppadew peppers, with bacon and cheddar cheese on top, served on what is basically a super soft, giant dinner roll. Oh man this thing was delish! But I'm glad we split it, because it was quite a huge beast. I would definitely recommend this place, and I can't wait to go back and try something new, because their specialty pizzas sounded really yummy :)

Also, this was new restaurant #6 of my goal of 6 before my birthday! So that's one more thing I get to cross off my goal list of 25 Before 25! A quick recap of my 6 new restaurants were: 101 Restaurant, Taste Budz Cafe, Monk's, Up In Smoke, Georgio's and Backwoods Bistro. I liked this goal so much, I've decided it will be a yearly goal, to try one new one every month. So here's to 12 new restaurants in 2013!

Saturday
I got to sleep in a little bit, which was nice for a change! Then Jeff and I went to a graduation party for one of his friends who just graduated from UCF. Then we made a couple of stops at some cute stores, and headed to another graduation party for one of my friends who just graduated from FSU! We had some great food, played Pictionary  and just had some fun times at both of the parties. But, I was a huge slacker and have no pictures from either party... lame sauce.

Sunday
I woke up with a horrible headache, so I went back to sleep and had to miss church yesterday morning. I finally got up and took some Tylenol, and started feeling better after eating a bagel. Around 2 p.m., I finally convinced myself to shower and get dressed, and I headed over to Jeff's house. We split a Turkey Tom from Jimmy John's and then went to Walmart with his mama for some gift cards. Then it was their church's Christmas dinner party, so we enjoyed good food and some Christmas songs, and we wore matching hats :)

Not our greatest picture ever, but ya know.... oh well.

After the dinner, we went back to his house, and continued our personal LOTR viewing party and watched the second half of "The Fellowship of the Ring", and then the first half of "The Two Towers."  And I gotta admit, I was always really skeptical of these movies and never wanted to watch them because I thought they would be boring, but they're actually quite interesting, and I'm already looking forward to getting to watch more of them! (And my reference to Pippin in the title of this post, is for one of the tiny Hobbits in the film, for those of you who haven't seen the movies and therefore probably didn't get it) And during the movies, I took some time to do my nails, & I'm loving the way they turned out :)

Well look at that -- I did end up writing a decent weekend recap post! You're all welcome, since I'm sure this was really all you were hoping for on this dreary Monday morning... But, this Monday starts a regular 5-day work week, followed by a lovely couple of days off for Christmas! Thank the Lord for that! I'm of course looking forward to the time spent with family, but I'm not quite ready, gift-wise. I guess I better step to it this week, so I'm not rushing around like a mad woman this weekend trying to finish everything up. Are y'all done with all your Christmas shopping? Please tell me there are others who still have more to do!

P.S. - Linking up today with: Covered in Grace, Glitter & Gloss, Sami's Shananigans & Synfully Delicious.

Penguin Teapot & Friday's Letters

Dear Life: Why do you have to be so hard sometimes? I mean for real...I think I've dealt with enough in my life and I simply don't want it right now. Any of it. So back off, would ya? Because I could use a break right now.

Dear Family & Boyfriend: Thanks for being the bestest and for supporting me through all the craziness this week. You guys really have helped me feel better when I've needed it, and I thank you for your love and support.

Thank you again for this sweet card, boyfriend :)

Dear Bank Account: We're so happy right now! We reached our goal of $_,000 before my 25th birthday, in both my checking and my savings account! Woohoo! Now let's not get crazy and spend too much money around the holidays, OK? I like it where you're at now, so let's keep it that way for a while.

Dear Boyfriend: You looked so cute making homemade cookies the other night :) And they tasted delicious as well! Also, tonight we're going to the Victorian Christmas in Thomasville right after work, and I'm so excited. It should be lots of fun, and just the kind of activity I love doing with you! I can't wait to see what it's like this year!

Dear Readers: I just realized that in past two shorts months, you lovelies have tripled in size. Holy moly. In the beginning of October, I had 50 followers, and now I have almost 160. This is amazing to me, and I'm truly so glad you're here! If you're new around here, which most of you are, then welcome! Glad to have you! If you've been around for a while now, I'm still thankful to you peeps as well :)

Dear Dani-Pants: Thank you so much for sending my a little package in the mail. That was so sweet of you, and it was a great week to get it, since things haven't been so great this week. I had already painted my nails pink on Wednesday, so as soon as I got this on Thursday, I found some little pink flowers that went perfect! Thanks again so much for my random surprise :) You're the bestest!

Dear Sister: I had fun planning some wedding stuff with you last night! Things are coming along nicely, and I'm sure it's going to all be so pretty. Oh, and of course we're so excited about our bridesmaids dresses coming in early!!!

Dear Hallie: I'm so excited and looking forward to our upcoming link-up collaboration! It's going to be so much fun, and I hope we get a lot of participation from both of our readers. I am also looking forward to making some new friends too! So peeps, be on the lookout next week for a fun link-up with me and Hallie from Life: Oceanside! :)

Dear Mama: Thank you so much for my tiny, new penguin teapot! It is adorable and I love it, and I can't wait to use it more. It's just precious, and was such a cute surprise gift this week :)

Dear Instagram: I love you. I am obsessed with you. Thanks for all the entertainment you provide. And thanks for all the pictures in this post today. You can follow me here if you want, or my username is HalieRenee88

Friends, this week has indeed been a little rough. I can't yet say on this blog what all is going on, but I will say that if you're the praying type, I would definitely appreciate some prayers to be sent my way. There's some hoopla going on with one of my two jobs, and it's breaking my heart. We'll leave it at that for now, but just know that I'm OK, but could definitely use some extra prayers around here.

Oh a happier note though - I have a fun weekend ahead of me, and I'm really looking forward to that! Like I mentioned earlier, we're going up to Thomasville, GA, tonight, tomorrow we have two graduation parties, I'll get to spend some time with friends and hopefully get some rest as well. I hope y'all have a lovely Friday today, but an even lovelier weekend!

Present for High School Graduation

I have just one more post from my walk down memory lane and all of my old high school pictures... For my graduation present, me and my Mama went on a cruise to the Bahamas, and had so much fun. It was just us two, and we got to do whatever we wanted. But mostly we just wanted to relax and take it easy. Which we certainly did. It was a great time, and I wish I could go back and do it all over again! 

If you wanna see my other memory lane posts, check them out at the links I've provided below!

Cheerleading // Prom // Senior Girl Presentation // Senior Trip

New Year's Eve // Homecoming // Graduation

We really did have a great time, and it's absolutely beautiful down there. I can only hope I get to go back to the Caribbean again sometime in my life! Thanks Mama for a wonderful high school graduation trip :) Love you!!