Six Random Things

I forgot to prepare some more wedding recap posts over the past weekend, so I don't have a Wedding Wednesday post ready today. So now that I'm here with a new post open, I don't really have a specific plan here in bloglandia today, so I'm just going to throw out some random thoughts and ideas that are currently swirling. These posts always end up fun for me, so I hope they're fun for y'all too :)

1. Monday night I washed a load of clothes, then forgot to put it in the dryer. So when I tried to get dressed for kick boxing class last night, I had literally NO workout pants, because they were all still in the washing machine. We ended up having to re-wash the load last night too. I felt pretty dumb...

2. I don't think I properly washed out my daily travel coffee mug last night, because my coffee tastes a little bit like soap this morning. Kinda weird y'all.

3. I've been wanting to learn embroidery lately. Super random, I know. But I've seen some really gorgeous/cute things posted on Instagram lately, and it's got me curious. Anyone already know how to do this? Is it doable for someone who's never attempted anything at all with a needle?

Image found on Sarah's blog, here

4. Jeff and I don't have cable (we just have a digital antenna for the basic channels), and usually we're OK with that. But sometimes, we just really, really want to watch HGTV or DIY network. Well, Jeff's parents are out of town this week, so we're watering their plants for them.... and we might also be watching some DIY network while we're there. Thanks in-laws! :)

5. I got a new game app on my phone, and it's pretty addicting. It's called "Blendoku", and you just have to line up the various hues of colors in the correct order, then it gives you a new set of colors. I'm already on level 83, and I just got it yesterday. Simple concept, but it's a bit addicting.

6. Jeff is going to help an older couple install some Comcast stuff at their house tonight, so I'll have the house to myself for a couple of hours. I'm debating whether I want to be productive and clean something, or be lazy and watch a couple episodes of Parenthood on Netflix.... Votes?

Oh and y'all, don't be confused (kinda like me), today is Wednesday. Hump Day. Not Tuesday. So enjoy that... :)

Projects for the Wedding

As of yesterday, we're exactly two months and two weeks away from our wedding day! Holy crap. I just about had a little panic attack there - because we still have soooo much left to do! For serious. I'm trying to stay on the ball with things, but it's just a lot. Right now, we're focusing on figuring out the flowers. I'm going to use the same florist my sister did for her wedding (so that part was easy), but I just don't know exactly what I want! We're setting up a meeting with her one day next week for me and my Mama to go talk with her, and hopefully we can get that settled and move on from there. Here's just one of the many options I think would make a great bouquet:

Found via Pinterest

And we have a few craft project ideas in the works, but we really haven't started on any of them. Some are small and can be completed rather quickly (like the mason jars wrapped in book pages I showed yesterday), but others are a bit more time consuming and tricky, and will definitely take much more work. One of those kinds of projects will be to make a good amount of these pom-pom tissue paper puffs. I've made them before, but it's been a few years, and now I don't exactly remember how. The picture I have pinned to my wedding board is a false link and doesn't lead to any instructions, so I just need to do some Google-ing to find how to do this:

Found via Pinterest

And I don't want to give away all of our little craft ideas and projects yet, but here's a quick list of a few other things we still want to do:

-- Decorate boxes for favors
-- Make flags for straws
-- Find/create chalkboards
-- Pictures lining the walkway
-- Book page crafts
-- Fix up my old bicycle
-- Create boxes for our ring-bearers
-- Make groom & groomsmen's boutonnieres

See? Quite a few craft projects to tackle all with about two months left. And like I said, some will be quick and easy, but others are definitely going to be a bit tedious. Looks like we need to get ourselves moving, big time huh?! In addition to these craft projects, there are still plenty of other very important wedding planning items that need to get done as well...

-- Begin our pre-marital counseling
-- Talk with venue about food
-- Get invitations created, printed and sent out (ASAP!)
-- Find my shoes and accessories
-- Finalize groom and groomsmen outfits
-- Figure out plan for ceremony
-- Make honeymoon reservations
-- Buy Jeff's wedding band
-- Get alterations done on my dress

All-in-all, I don't feel tooo stressed about everything yet, but I know I will if I don't start making some serious headway on both of those lists up there. The boys are here again until August 10th, but this time, I'm not taking the whole three weeks off from wedding planning - otherwise, that would be some serious time wasted! I'm hoping to be able to at least cross off a few of those wedding-planning items in the next few weeks, and maybe one of the minor craft projects as well. Here's hoping I can keep myself determined and focused on all my tasks!

And I am still planning on sharing our amazing engagement photos, but I think those will come on Thursday. For now though, I'll share just one for the road to hopefully pique your interest to come check them all out in a couple days! :)

Taken by Phil Pullen Photography

Much Love,
Halie

Puzzles & Parks - My Summer Bucket List!

Apparently the thing to do around blog-world this summer is make a summer bucket list. So of course, y'all know I just had to jump on that bandwagon! I mean, hello? Summer is my absolute favorite season. (Thanks Florida for basically an 8-month summer!) And obviously I'm a sucker for a good list or two, or three, or forty-five... And so the two together? Summer and a list? I just had to! And now without any further ado or rambling, I introduce you to my...

2013 Summer Bucket List!

1. Go tubing at Bear Paw

2. Go to a country concert - preferably outdoors!

3. Visit a new beach in Florida with Jeff

4. Buy fruits and veggies from the farmer's market

5. Go antique shopping and to the flea market

6. Ride 75 miles on my bike

7. Go on a picnic in a park

8. Complete another thing from my 30 Before 30 list

9. Eat at 3 new restaurants that have outdoor seating

10. Clean out under my bed

11. Actually start training for the 5K, with the C25K app

12. Find a place for Jeff and I to live! (and move in!)

13. Clean out under my bathroom sink

14. Take the boys to a water park

15. Plan, decorate & cook for family dinner one week

16. Keep learning the ukulele

17. Create a giant pot of succulents (once in my new house)

18. Purge & donate some of my clothes and shoes

19. Complete a 1,000 piece puzzle

20. Do some more Pinterest crafts

21. Make a really awesome summer playlist

22. Try Geo-Caching, finally!

23. Make something cute for Megan and Bo's new house

24. Build a sandcastle at the beach with the boys

The "time-frame" for this will officially be starting this weekend, for Memorial Day Weekend. And even though summer is usually considered to be over by Labor Day, I'm extending this through the end of September, because summer weather in Florida can really last through Thanksgiving sometimes... So I might as well take advantage of that. So I'm starting this weekend, and I'll get to cross things off all the way through September!

Between all of these activities and things to do, and also planning a wedding for October, we're sure going to be super busy! But I'm just excited about going out and doing more things! Life is so much more fun when you make a real effort to do fun things and enjoy your time. So that's exactly what I plan on doing over the next few months :)

Did you make a summer bucket list? Do you want to? I think we all should! Doesn't it just sound like so much fun?!

Prompt 1 - My Life in 250 Words

Back with a second post today (my weigh-in was posted earlier this morning), because I want to share my super quick auto-biography, in 250 words or less. (Mine turned out to be 249! Bam.) I just found this fun idea today, and I can't wait to join in the rest of the month. I doubt I'll be able to do every single prompt, but I'll do what I can, when I can. If you want to join in on the challenge to Write Every Day in May, visit Jenni's cute blog HERE.

I was born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida. For a long time, my little family was “broken” and so my mom took care of my sister and me basically all on her own; then my parents divorced when I was 12. Even through the trials though, my Mama raised us in a Christian home, and we know that our faith in the Lord is what brought us through some of those tough times. Luckily, my Mama got remarried to an amazing man when I was 16, and he loves us as his own. I was a cheerleader in high school, and was also involved in a ton of groups and activities in both school and church. I went to Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida, for college, and made an incredible group of friends who I love dearly. I am so grateful for all of them! I am now living in Tallahassee again, engaged to an amazing man and planning our wedding for this upcoming October! Jeff and I love riding our bikes and going on adventures together. Besides blogging, I like to learn new recipes, try new crafts, and attempt cute nail art. I’m also on a journey to become healthier and lose weight, so that’s a big part of my life now too. I’m very positive and organized, and somewhat outgoing. I love smiling and laughing and playing games with my friends. I am a blessed woman, and I thank the Lord for what he’s given me! 

Photo by Phil Pullen Photography

Pinterest Tutorial - Written by Me!

Most of you've probably read by now, but my little sister is getting married in mid-May, and I'm her Maid of Honor. And as such, one of my goals was to throw her a beautiful wedding shower. And last Saturday that happened! I shared some about the shower and some pictures back on Monday, but today I want to talk about the centerpieces that my Mama and I made for it. And I am also linking up today with Stephanie at A Beautiful Mess for Saw it. Pinned it. Did it.

Megan's colors are yellow and gray, and I definitely knew I wanted to use yellow in the centerpieces somehow. I had seen a great pin on Pinterest with lemons lining a mason jar, and I loved it. We knew pretty much right away that's what we wanted to try . The problem however was there was no instructions or a tutorial anywhere on how to do it! The pin I found led to basically nowhere. And so we had to just wing it, and figure it out on our own! Well, it was a bit tricky, lemme yell ya. So I decided I was going to write my own little tutorial, and pin that to Pinterest for others!

Found HERE on Pinterest

So first of all, I want to say that I loved this idea because it's relatively inexpensive. I already had six mason jars just sitting around at home, so those were "free" for us to use for the shower. And the lemons really aren't too pricey either. We got three two-pound bags, which were about $3 a bag. Then we went to Publix to buy our fresh flowers, and got six bouquets, which were on sale, 3 for $12. (We then added one more $4 bouquet after they were all done.) So total, we spent only $37 to make six centerpieces. Obviously, if you don't need that many, it can be even way cheaper.

All you need is: mason jars, lemons, flowers and water. Easy. Oh, and a long-handled wooden spoon and some kitchen shears to trim your flower stems.

Start by slicing your lemons. I did kind of thicker-ish slices, because I figured if they were too thin and wilty-like, they wouldn't stand up as well against the jar. Also, don't slice too far to the end of it, as you want to leave the ends (or "butts" as I was calling them) to use as well. I was able to get about four slices per lemon, with leaving a good size butt from each end still.

Then begin by dropping in your first lemon slice down the inside of the jar, right up next to the glass. You can get about three of them down in there before they start falling over. Then, use one of the butts and place it flat side down on the bottom, between the standing slices. Then you can add in your fourth slice, which should form a little square and just about encircle the whole jar. Now comes the trickier part...

From here on out, you have to just kind of roll with it, and figure out the best way for you and your lemons... Begin wedging the butt pieces up against that center butt and the other slices, in order to keep the slices pressed up against the outside of the jar. I found that you could place the sliced side facing outwards, and the butt end facing the center, and it worked well and still looked nice. I used on long-handled spoon to push the lemons around and get them in place, and to help hold them steady. (It's hard to fit your hand way down in there!)

Once you think you have those bottom four firmly in place, you can begin adding the next "level" on top of them. Continue using more and more butt pieces to wedge in the center of the jar so that the jar is basically completely full of lemons. You can even leave some of the smaller lemons whole and put them in the center as well. (You will be cutting the flower stems super short, so don't worry about leaving space to fit the flowers down to the bottom of the jar.)

Once you reach the mouth of the jar, you should probably just go ahead and wedge in another butt piece, in order to keep everything good and pressed against the glass, just in case. Then you can pour in the water. Pour it almost completely up to the top of the jar! Then begin trimming your flowers. We wanted ours to be just poking out of the jar, with not much stem, so we cut them pretty short. Also, we kept the leaves and greenery to a bare minimum and ripped off some of the leaves too. Then just arrange your flowers how you like them in the jar! We used a mix of hydrangea, alstroemeria and dasies, all of which were white.

And now you should have one cute jar completely done! Continue on with however many more you want to do. You can do about two and half jars with about one bag of lemons, so keep that in mind. And the amount of flowers you need is really your preference, but we used seven small-ish bouquets from Publix for our six mason jars.

And just for convenience, here's a quicker run down of the instructions:
1. Gather jars, lemons, flowers, water, long-handled spoon, kitchen shears.
2. Slice lemons thickly, leaving ends or "butts" of lemons as well
3. Place lemons in bottom of jar, using long-handled spoon to push around and hold in place
4. Use butts of lemons to wedge between so that the slices stand up against the jar
5. Continue layering lemons up the jar, placing more butt pieces as often as needed to hold in place
6. Fill jar with water
7. Trim flower stems relatively short, and arrange in the jar
8. Enjoy your precious little centerpieces!

I hope that those instructions made sense to y'all! I tried my best at least to describe things, even without step-by-step photographs that would have probably been helpful! I had the idea to write this tutorial after I had already completed the project, so I didn't think about it in time to take additional pictures of each part of the process. Oh well. Hopefully this made sense anyways, and you guys can try this out on your own!

Another variation of this that I think would be super cute as well would be to use limes instead of lemons, and use blue and/or purple hydrangea's and whatever else, in order to mix up the color scheme! (And that matches my wedding color scheme, so maybe I'll use that idea for something for my own wedding sometime!!) My centerpieces didn't turn out absolutely perfect or anything, but they turned out great to me, and I loved them! And so did my sister, which was important! And so did all of the shower guests. :) So I'd say it was a successful Pinterest project! And now I get to move another thing to my "Already Accomplished via Pinterest" board! Yay me! 

Peter Pan, Post Office & Po'Boys

Not to brag or anything, but I had a great weekend! It's not that anything super terrific or crazy happened, it was just one of those weekends, ya know? I was able to get a few things done, ran lots of errands, ran 2 miles, spent time with family, friends and boyfriend, went to church and just had a good time. I love weekends like this that are somewhat busy and full, but also full of relaxation as well.

Friday:

Hung at Jeff's right after work waiting to meet some friends for a semi-late dinner

Walked outside the house, and immediately realized we were locked out of the house and my car

Tried to take a good picture of us while waiting, and it wasn't working out

Thankfully, they came to pick us up!

Super yummy dinner at Bonefish Grill with Josh and Lacey

Saturday:

Luckily, I got to sleep in a little bit

Laundry, cleaning, errands, and bought Valentine's presents

Lunch with parents at Jersey Mike's

Jeff and I ran more errands all over the place: Target, Post Office, his work, Harbor Freight & Costco

Jeff stuck his head out the car window, and got crazy hair

Milled around Target for about an hour

Had dinner at Chick-fil-A

Went back to Jeff's and watched 'Peter Pan' on Blu-Ray :)

Started working on a tissue paper garland for Valentine's Day!

Sunday:

Took pictures all day long for Ten on Ten, to link up with Bits of Sunshine

Taught 3rd grade Sunday school with my parents, and made a cool craft for the lesson

Had lunch with my parents at Po'Boys

Went to my high school alma mater again to run/walk - and I did 2.07 miles!! It felt great.

Headed to Jeff's house, to chill and relax for the rest of the day

Painted my nails, worked more on my tissue paper garland

Downloaded a ton of new music and also made an awesome running playlist

Watched a couple episodes of 'Fringe'

So you see, it's not like any of that was out of the ordinary or super spectacular. But it was just the kind of weekend that I like. Productive with some time to also be lazy. Those really are the best kinds of weekends for me! What is the perfect kind of weekend for you? And what did y'all do this past weekend?

And as usual, I'm linking up with these lovelies: Covered in Grace, Sami's Shenanigans & Synfully Delicious.

Pink All Over the Place

Ten on Ten. With Bits of Sunshine.

Ten pictures, on the tenth of the month, capturing the little, every day moments of our lives.

8-9 am: Shower time before church

9-10 am: Bananas I wanted for breakfast, but weren't quite ripe enough for my liking

10-11 am: Teaching 3rd grade Sunday school, and making crafts for the lesson

11-noon: 'Big church' Bible stories

12-1 pm: Lunch with my parents at Po'Boys

1-2 pm: Running with lots of pink (Watch, shoes, shirt, earrings, iPhone case...)

2-3 pm: Fab Ab February challenge

3-4 pm: Attempted painting my nails special for Valentine's Day

4-5 pm: Redeeming iTunes gift cards to make an awesome running playlist

6 pm: Turkey sandwich and grapes for dinner

This was so fun to do, and to take so many pictures of random things all day long. I definitely want to make sure I remember to do this again, hopefully every month! Easy, fun, great way to remember little things that we often forget about or even take for granted. Can't wait to do this again on March 10th!

Paper Snowflakes & More

Dear Boyfriend: Thanks so much for being excited about the activity calendar I made for us for this month, and being so great about participating in the things I planned for us! I had such a great time cutting out paper snowflakes with you the other night while we drank hot tea and watched a movie. It was such a lovely at-home date night :)

Dear Tallahassee: If you'd like to come hear me sing in our church's Singing Christmas Tree, it will be happening at 7 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, at Bradfordville FBC. It's free, so just show up! It's a great night of Christmas music, and I think you should come :)

Dear Throat/Voice: We've got a lot of singing to do over the next three days, so let's keep it together and not freak out. I'll be drinking copious amounts of hot tea, and I bought a brand new bag of cough drops yesterday. We gotta stay healthy!

Dear Fingernails: You looks so much better now that I finally got around to painting you! Sorry it took so long. But you're adorable and Christmasy, with a special twist for the Singing Christmas Tree! :) {And I'll have to share pictures on Monday because I don't have any right now, and I actually need to do a quick touch-up on one of them!}

Dear Housegirl Haley: Thank you so much for sending me those cute ornaments, for our swap Living In Yellow hosted! I'm sorry I forgot to post about them earlier this week like we were "supposed" to, but I do like them! I'll be putting them up on the tree this weekend :) And isn't it so funny and ironic we got matched since we have the same name, and live in the same state only a few hours apart?! Such a small world we live in :) Oh, and the teal box and burlap ribbon was just the cutest, it made so so happy when I pulled it out of the brown shipping box!

Dear Office: Breakfast this morning was super delicious.... BUT we're gonna have to slow down and chill out on the holiday snacks and parties, or else we're all gonna weigh a bajillion pounds by the new year...

Dear Pinterest: Thanks for yet another successful and delicious meal for me and my family. Yesterday's Crockpot Angel Chicken was so yummy, and I'll definitely be sharing the recipe with y'all one day next week! (My picture below doesn't look like anything fancy, but believe me, it's tasty for sure.)

Dear Influenster: I'm sooo excited I finally got my first box, and I'm so excited to start trying everything out! I am wearing the tiny new perfume today, and it really does smell great. Can't wait to see how the other products all work out as well! (Although apparently you're having some serious website issues today...?)

I'm off now to force myself to do some work for the rest of  the day...however I don't wanna overdo it or anything, so I'll still try to take it easy. And then I'll be singing for the rest of the weekend, with of course some fun and relaxation thrown in there as well! Oh, and a holiday craft show tomorrow!

Linking up today with Ashley at Adventures of Newlyweds for our usual Friday's Letters!

Postal Delivery

I love getting Postal Deliveries -- getting packages in the mail and opening up little gifts! It's just so much fun! Even if you paid for them yourself, it's still like receiving a present, and it just makes me so happy :) Well the other day, I got TWO packages in one day! One of which I ordered and paid for myself, and the other one was a free gift!

The first one (the one I paid for) was from this awesome site called Pick Your Plum. If you haven't heard of it, go check it out and sign up for their daily emails. They have really cool stuff, and it's all at such great prices! The first thing I ordered from them was a set of six rolls of washi tape. Washi tape is just cute little rolls of decorative tape, that come in pretty patterns and colors! They're kind of all the rage right now in the crafty/bloggy world... ;)

I just used them for the first time the other day, and I think they look so cute! Then my second package was the free one! A couple of weeks ago, I won a giveaway on Beka's awesome blog, and so I won a print from Carly's Etsy shop! She let me pick out any of her 8x10 prints, and she sent it to me for free! I seriously loved sooo many of her prints, and kind of had a hard time choosing my favorite. But I really do love the one I chose! My favorite part of this is definitely the super girly, flowery umbrella! So cute!! Now I just need to go out and buy a pretty frame for it. I'm thinking white, or silver, or maybe even light blue or pink might be cute!

And the reason I ended up picking this print, was because of the scripture verse that it represents. It comes from 1 John 3:1, which reads, "How great is the love the Father has lavished upon us, that we should be called the children of God! And that we are! The reason this world does not know us is that it did not know him." 

This was one of the first verses I can remember memorizing. I colored the bubble letters in on an activity sheet, and it hung on our fridge for what seemed like ages when I was younger. I read it over and over so many times, that it turned into a little sing-songy tune, and I've never forgotten it. So not only do I love the colors and graphics of my new print, I also really love what it represents. :) Thanks again Carly! 

What cool things  have y'all gotten in the mail lately?

Pizzazz'd My Pledge

I finally got my little list of 25 Before 25 lookin' all cute and pretty, and it's on display in my bathroom! It was a very simple project too. One "professional" photo mat, an 11x14 piece of poster board for some stability, my list, and a pretty piece of scrapbook paper. I knew I was going to put it in my bathroom, so I chose colors that would match/compliment that color scheme. I cut the scrapbook paper to fit inside the frame, and used the extra strip for some extra pizzazz! I love it. Simple, cute, effective. And it will be a lovely little reminder to actually be working towards accomplishing all these goals in the next 5 1/2 months! So check it out....

So that's that. Super simple, but super cute. Or at least I think so. I'm still so very excited about this list of stuff. I'm thinking about  how to accomplish things, and the time frame in which to do so. It's coming along so far so good, and I just can't wait until I actually get to physically cross one of the things off the list! 

Happy crafting, and happy Wednesday. Much love!

Pink, Blue & Polka Dot Bookmarks

Since I'm at home recovering from my wisdom teeth removal surgery, I had some time on my hands, but had to keep my productivity at a low, easy-going level. So, I made some super simple, super cute bookmarks for myself and some of my family members.

Supplies:
Scrapbook paper scraps
Scissors
Glue stick
White paper
Laminating machine (or simply some clear masking tape if you're not as fancy as me to have a machine...)

Cut up some little shapes (mine are all basically triangles, squares or weird rectangle things), and then glue them on in a mosaic-fashion to a bookmark sized piece of white paper. Flip it over and do the reverse side. I'm lucky enough to have been given a tiny little laminating machine a while back, so I then stuck the bookmarks into the little plastic pockets, and fed it through the machine. (I also made two bookmarks per plastic pocket, then cute them apart, and fed them through again separate to reseal that open edge.)

Done and Done! So fast. So easy. So cute. And free since I didn't have to buy any new materials!

L to R: mine, mine, Jeff's, Papa's, Megan's & Mama's. (I already gave my Grandparents' to them before the pic.)

I made eight bookmarks total - one for each of my Grandparents, one for each of my parents, one for Megan, one for Jeff, and two for me. :) And this is one of my spring cleaning to-do items, so that's another thing I get to check off! Real cute, and it took about half an hour for this cute and simple project! My kind of craft :)

This week was crazy busy and rough with the oral surgery, and so I've missed blogging regularly. But I plan on coming back full-force next week once I'm better! Because I really like writing, and from what I can tell, some of yall like reading what I write :)

Oh, and based on the amount of page views that my weight loss and diet posts get, I'm planning on sharing a lot more of that journey, and being completely open and honest about my weight and my journey and everything that comes along with that! So, get ready for more of those kinds of posts in the future.

Love to everyone! :)