Pinstagram Summer

I took the last couple of days off from blogging, but I'm still alive and kickin'. It was weird not coming here and writing a post, and still weird throughout the day with no comments to read and emails to respond to, or check on my stats too many times....but it was also good to just breathe a little bit. I'm not here with any sort of writing that would win any prizes, I just want to share a few of my Pinstagram Summer moments from my life recently. It just seems like so many more things Instagram-worth happen during the lovely summer months, and I've certainly been sharing my share of photos lately....

1 / Beautiful sunrise on an early morning run

2 / Super cute trinkets and sweet note from my friend Megan in Tennessee

3 / Big Easy Snowballs with my family

4 / Wedding invitations ready to be taken to the post office!

5 / Gorgeous, random hibiscus flower in the middle of our azalea bushes at home

6 / Finally got to play Cards Against Humanity, and had a blast

7 / Free chocolate ice cream cones at Bullritos, somewhere in Georgia

8 / My wedding shoes are in that box!!

9 / Chipotle salads are really freaking delicious, and don't even need the dressing

1 / Putt-putt night with Jeff and the twins

2 / Beautiful blue skies and corn fields in the middle-of-nowhere-Georgia 

3 / Movie night with my man 

4 / Love my amazing photo guest book I made using Shutterfly!

5 / Drink break during a long day of running errands and shopping

6 / Sweet Bath & Body Works haul from their semi-annual sale

7 / Pretty flower/plant-thing from my coworkers, before moving to my new job

8 / Love summer days spent at the pool

9 / Matchy-matchy family for the twins' Superman-themed 7th birthday party!

And for you bloggers who stopped using Vine the minute Instagram got video, you've been missing out on (barely any) videos made by yours truly. But when I do remember to make a video on Vine, they're kinda cute :) Or at least I think they are...



So that's all I've got to share with y'all today. I may not be back to every-day-blogging status again for a while as wedding planning gets crazier and crazier, but I will still be here when I can be. And then hopefully I'll be able to resume my regular blogging schedule again in just a couple more months! Thanks for sticking around here with me though! Bloggy friends are such good friends :)
Much Love,Halie

Pinstagram Moments

I took the day off work today in order to enjoy a nice, long four-day weekend. So Jeff and I are running errands and planning and researching all-things-wedding. The original plan for taking the day off was to hit up our favorite beach, but it's cloudy and stormy, so that's not gonna happen. So I'm just popping in real quick today to share some little moments from my life lately, through the lens of an Instagram filter. (Idea inspired by my good bloggy friend, Rachel.)

*Side note: I started using the word "Pinstagram" a long while back in order to make it fit in with my theme of starting each post title with a P. However, my dear friend Nicole told me I wasn't allowed to just make up my own words, but I say pish, posh. I like 'Pinstagram,' so 'Pinstagram' it shall be! :) Haha*

1 // This super colorful umbrella makes rainy days a little bit brighter

2 // I wish I could always gorge on delicious sushi, but that's not a healthy idea...

3 // Still obsessed with making this caprese for myself every chance I get

4 // Love cuddling up on the couch with my man and just reading our own books together

5 // We went through a phase of playing card games every night for about two weeks

6 // Random mani, showcased on top of 'The Hobbit' (which I finally finished on Tuesday, and loved)

7 // Got kinda emotional while writing graduation cards for my high school seniors

8 // Delicious cake tasting appointment at Publix, with the cutest wittle baby cakes around

9 // These beautiful purple flowers are blooming allll over the city, and they're so gorgeous!

I love sharing photos on Instagram, and following along with all of my blog friends as well. So of course I'd love for you to hop over and join me there! My username is HalieRenee88, and you can find me here.

Hope y'all's 4th of July celebrations yesterday were tons of fun! If you had to go back to work today, I'm so sorry about that, but no worries - the weekend is well within your reach. Happy Friday to all, and I'll see ya back here on Monday morning!

Perfume, Pictures & Plans (Currently I'm...)

Thursday. One more day before Friday, and then the weekend. Ahhh it's so close I can almost taste it. Right?! Anyways, I love doing these "currently" posts, and it's been quite a while since I've done one. So guess what? That's exactly what I'm going to do today. (Big surprise right? Not like that was actually hard to guess or anything.)

- Wishing: that I didn't have to work today. Jeff took today and tomorrow off to hang out with the boys, and I wish I could have done that too. But I'm OPS (hourly, not salary) so I don't get paid if I'm not working. And I need to get paid...

- Wearing: the pretty pearl necklace my sister gave me as part of my bridesmaid gift last month

- Listening: to Lady Antebellum's newest album 'Golden' on repeat allllll the time. It' so good!

- Missing: my friend, old roommate and bridesmaid, Bridget! She lives in Ohio, so it's not like I see her often, but we have a phone date scheduled for tonight, so I'm excited for that!

- Obsessing: over Gems with Friends on my iPhone. Seriously guys - I think I might actually be obsessed with this game. Get it, and then add me to play: Halez88.

- Craving: sushi again, and I just had it last night. (Not low-carb, I'm aware, but I don't care....) But that's what seems to happen with me though - once I eat it, I crave it again and again and again. Oh, but this was a new place we tried, and liked it a lot. Great prices too, especially for dinner-time sushi. Definitely will visit this place again.

- Planning: a wedding, duh! No but seriously, once the boys go home for 2 weeks, that's 2 weeks full of go-go-go wedding planning time.

- Ignoring: the huge stack of mail that I need to go through. I hate getting junk mail, and I hate having to go through it. I know there's some bills in there though too, so I guess I really do need to get on that.

- Anticipating: Going back to the pool on Saturday for some water and sunshine, and Wild Adventures on Sunday!

- Loving: that the new camera we ordered finally came in last night! We had talked about getting a new one for the honeymoon, and when we saw a great deal on Groupon, we snatched it up real fast. Can't wait to test it out later tonight!

- Reading: 'The Hobbit' and really liking it so far, although I'm only about 50 pages in. I've seen the movie a couple time already though and loved it, so I'm pretty sure I'll like the book too.

- Procrastinating: laundry. I always hate doing laundry. Hate it so much.

- Feeling: dumb because I locked my keys in my car last night, again. This is probably my worst habit - I get to where I'm going, but I'm not ready to get out quite yet. So I turn off the car, and pull the keys halfway out of the ignition. I sit for a minute or two or gather up all my stuff, and then exit the car, lock the doors, and leave the keys still hanging from the ignition. I've got to figure out a way to break that bad habit. (Luckily, I have the greatest fiance ever, and he drove over to my house with his spare before work this morning.)

- Smelling: same as last time I did this in January, my favorite perfume - Versace Bright Crystal

Well that was fun and easy, just like usual. And look at me go - I even had relevant pictures to accompany the post this time. (Granted, I took one of those at my desk this morning just for this post. I'll let you decide which one that was...But still, better than nothing.) We're taking the boys swimming again tonight, at one of their church-friends' houses, so I'm looking forward to that. All I have to do is make it through the rest of the work day first. Blah.

So what are you currently up to? Have any other fun 'ings' to add to my list? Happy Thursday friends :)

Pool-Crashers & Water-Splashers

Good morning lovely ladies! Hopefully your Monday's are off to a decent start. Mine seems to be good so far. I'm in quite a nice mood, and I don't really even know why. But you certainly don't hear me complaining about it! I think it might be because I got more sleep last night than I have in the past like 10 days - so that's definitely a good thing. And it was necessary for sure after the fun and busy weekend I had! Wanna hear about my weekend shenanigans? Well,

This Weekend I....

Friday
+ Went to dinner with my parents at Applebee's, and even though we had a good time together, we weren't impressed with our meals or our server, so we probably won't be back for quite some time.
+ Then I met up with Jeff and the boys for a quick trip to Publix, to grab groceries for Saturday
+ Rented "The Rise of the Guardians" from Redbox, and watched the first half before the boys fell asleep
+ Then Jeff and I finished our week-long game of rummy, and clearly I blew him out of the water
+ Oh, and I made some delicious "redneck" caprese to take as part of my lunch on Saturday. I called it redneck because I forgot to buy fresh mozzarella, so I just cut up some string cheese sticks :) And it was soooo good. I'll be buying more tomatoes and cheese tonight to make this again, ASAP.

Saturday
+ Woke up early-ish and headed back to Jeff's house to get packed for the day, then we met my friend Lacey and her daughter, and we all headed down to swim at Wakulla Springs for a while! Since it's a natural spring, the water is always 72 degrees, and even though that doesn't sound particularly cold, it actually feels freezing. So the "big kids" didn't really do too much swimming, and instead just supervised the little ones in their floaties.

+ Then Jeff had to run the sound booth at his church for a wedding, so Lacey and I took the kids to a local apartment complex, and crashed their pool. There's no security guard or code or gate or anything, so we just walked right in. It was a great find, and we'll definitely be visiting many more times this summer!

+ After the wedding, Jeff came to meet us finally, so we got groceries, and cooked dinner for everyone at Lacey's house that night, and the kids all watched "The Rise of the Guardians," twice. And luckily I got to see the end of it the second time around. And it's such a good movie! For real, so good people.

Sunday
+ Went to Sunday school and church with my parents, and then met my sister, brother-in-law and step-brother for Father's Day lunch at Beef O'Brady's
+ Saw "Man of Steel" for Father's Day, and it was so good!
+ Cleaned out under my bed, and even though it's not completely done (still a DVD player and some other random things under there), it's about 95% done, so I'm crossing it off my list
+ Took the boys to swim at one of their church-friends' house for a couple of hours. And we spent a good amount of time working with them on learning how to swim more (they got so close last summer), and I think they've just about got it now!
+ Came back to Jeff's house and got some good snuggle time before heading home

Lots of activities, lots of sun, lots of water - lots of fun! (I love when I accidentally rhyme...) We had such a great time this weekend, and I realized how blessed we are to have such great friends for us, and for the boys, that we can hang out with all the time. I also had a great time celebrating Father's Day with my dad and siblings. And of course, just like everyone else on just about every Monday morning, I only wish it could have lasted a little bit longer! But we do have a couple fun things planned for during the week, and we definitely have fun things planned for next weekend as well!

How were y'all's weekends? Hopefully you enjoyed it, no matter how busy or relaxing your weekend was.

Much love,
Halie

Pudding Mix, Games & Randomness

And thankfully, another Friday rolls around again to grace us with it's presence. This week has been fun, but exhausting, and that makes me so glad it's the weekend, where I can rest and play and recharge myself a little bit. And since this week has been a bit crazy, I have no specific topic for today's post, so I'm just gonna wing it. But these random thoughts posts always end up being really popular for me, so I guess wingin' it is A-OK with me!

First of all, let me tell y'all about my breakfast. I mentioned in my weigh-in post from Wednesday that I'm drinking ViSalus shakes every day for breakfast and lunch. This isn't my first time doing this (I did it for a while back in April), but it is the first time I've jazzed them up a bit with some fancy recipes. And y'all, this morning's was de-lish-us. It's called the Butterfinger shake, but even as much as I love me a Butterfinger, I was skeptical this would actually taste like one. I figured it would be good, but not actually match the flavor of the candy bar. But boy was I surprised when I took the first sip. It tasted exactly like you would expect a Butterfinger milkshake to taste like! Soooo yummy. I'll definitely repeat this one.

For those interested, the recipe is: 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, 2 scoops of Vi-Shape mix, 1 tablespoon sugar-free Butterscotch pudding mix, 1 tablespoon PB2, 1 cup of ice cubes. Blend until smooth and creamy! And then enjoy your super yummy breakfast shake, for only 163 calories. Yup, 163.

A while back, I got super excited for my first ever 5K race. I pre-registered for the Run or Dye race here in Tally, and got super pumped about it. But that was back in April and then my excitement kind of fizzled out. But this past week, it's ramped back up again. First, I confirmed with my friend Jenni (who has already done like 4 marathons!) that she is planning to come up from Orlando to run the race with me. Second, because I actually figured out a "training schedule" of sorts for myself, that I'll start the first week in July. It's gonna be pretty rough (with it being about a bajillion degrees and all), but I'm pretty determined. And then third, my friend Lacey also pre-registered to do it with me as well!

Last night after dinner, Jeff and I and his mom took the boys to Nuberri for some frozen yogurt for dessert. Mmmm yummy. I was good though and only got a little, and only topped it with fresh fruit and a tiny bit of sliced almonds. Still so yum. And those boys are just so dang cute :)

Sunday I'll be seeing my sister for the first time in two weeks, and I'm really excited! It's still so strange adjusting to not living with her, and I miss that girl. So glad that we get to all have lunch together for Father's Day, so that forces us to have some time together.

I just started reading "The Hobbit," and even though I'm only about 20 pages in so far, it's still really good already. It probably helps that I've seen the movie a couple of times, so I'm picturing that as I read, but I'm still really into it so far. Hopefully I can find the time to read some more, so I can add another book to my read list for the year!

Since Sunday night, Jeff and I have been playing a running game of Rummy after the boys go to sleep every night. Normally, we would be watching a movie or catching up on some of our favorite TV sitcoms, but it's been really nice to have some time to just be together and talk and laugh. Last night, the boys actually went to sleep super early, so we sat next to each on the couch and just read our own books for a while, and that was really nice too. I just love spending time with this man, no matter what we're doing :) But back to the card game - I'm whooping his tail...

And now for a little preview of the weekend: tonight I'm having dinner with my parents, because I haven't seen them since Sunday basically; tomorrow we're going with some of our friends and taking the kids to go swimming at Wakulla Springs; Sunday is family lunch and Father's Day and fun time; and hopefully I'll be able to find some time to straighten up my room a bit and do a load or two of laundry. Gonna be a good weekend! I'll get a good mix of family time, sunshine, time with Jeff and the boys, friends, cleaning and rest. Love those weekends. 

What are your weekend plans? Will you be doing anything crazy fun, or are you keeping it low-key and just relaxing? Whatever you do, I hope you enjoy it! Happy Friday, friends!

Pool, Hot Tub, Slip-N-Slide, Games & Girlfriends

I don't mean to rub it in or anything, but I'm pretty sure my weekend was better than yours. Actually, I'm quite positive it was better than yours. I got to spend it with seven of my bestest girlfriends, at a farm house in the country, playing games and having fun and slip-n-sliding and laughing a lot, and just having the most awesome time. Because this past weekend was our second annual KAG dubbs weekend! (As previously explained, KAG dubbs is our awesome nickname for girls weekend, that just makes it sound so legit, and stands for kick a** girls weekend.) I could go into a ton of details and account for every fun minute, but instead, I'll try to give you the "Reader's Digest version" of the weekend!

Friday night we all met up there around the same time, got our cars unloaded and claimed beds, and then immediately started having so much fun. We made some dinner and then started right away playing a game! We played for a couple of hours and then finally called it quits pretty late, only to stay up with two of the other girls chatting till 3 am. But it was so great to have some real talks, and get caught up with them, and just enjoy our time together.

Saturday morning we woke up and Kaley made us breakfast sandwiches, we put our bathing suits on, and then we got our giant slip-n-slide ready! We played on that for a while, and then made our way over to the not-so-full-pool to hang out in there for a couple of hours chatting and making up our own games. We also ran around in circles to make a whirlpool a couple of times, which was fun and funny. Dani and Jeannine took orders and made sandwiches, and we sat on the amazing back porch eating sammies, chips and veggies.

After lunchtime, a few of us played some cards and then got back in the pool once we got hot. Then we all sat in the hot tub for a while and put in some yummy smelling eucalyptus-scented hot tub stuff and it felt like we were on vacation in the mountains. Then we went back in the pool for a while until we decided we had had enough water for the day. Saturday night, Nicole and I made tacos and Spanish rice for dinner, and we just kinda chilled for a bit watching TV.

Once we were rested and ready, we started playing games again! I got a real bad stomach ache, so I laid down for a nap around 9 p.m. and missed the end of the game, but woke up around 10:15, just in time to have a giant nail-painting party with everyone. We took out all of my nail polish and the supplies, and everyone painted our fingers and toes and they all looked so pretty. Then even though it was after midnight, we wanted to watch a movie, so we watched "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel." It was my second time seeing it, but most of the girls' first, and it was so cute and they loved it.

Sunday morning, I was the first to wake up so I sat on the back porch reading a little bit until some of the other girls woke up. Jenni and Cally made us omelette's and a fruit salad and we had a late breakfast/brunch. Then we had an issue with the trash compacter, so a couple of us worked on it for about 30 minutes, before we realized there was a latch on the side that made the whole thing kinda of flap open, to make it easier to empty it.... Awesome. And then since we were tired and it was overcast, we decided to just camp out indoors for a while, so we watched "Identity Thief" and ate sandwiches and snacks and it was such a funny movie.

Finally, we started getting the house cleaned up, and put the water stuff away, and showered, and packed our bags and our cars, and then it was time to head out. We of course made sure to take a couple of group shots though first, and they turned out great. I love these girls so much :)

And of course we're all already excited for KAG dubbs 2014. Hopefully we can arrange it on a long holiday weekend or something, because two nights and only one full day just isn't enough time together. We definitely need an extra day in there! Can't wait to see them all again, and soon. Love y'all!

Paleontology to Plantation

Last week, my blog-friend Kristen posted about using Wikipedia as a boredom-buster game. She suggested you start on one page, and click through to five different links, reading a bit about each one as you go, and just see where you end up! Well that's fun, but I play that game a little differently. I was first introduced to this my some of the kids in my youth group over two years ago, and I even wrote a little post about it! (Back when I had like 11 readers, all of which were my friends and family.) But I'm gonna talk about it again today!

So here's the deal - it's like Connect the Dots with Wiki articles. I can't remember right now what it might be called though...? You randomly choose two words (any words you think might have a Wiki article) and see how many clicks it takes you to get from the first word to the second word. The goal is to keep the number low!

So for example - let's start with "Spaghetti" and try to get to "The Holocaust."

Go ahead. I want you to try it. Really!

It takes a bit of reading, and figuring, and making strategic clicks. Think about how you can get from a food to an event, and that makes it seem a little more manageable. You may have to scroll through a bit of the article before you find something that seems like a good idea. Don't just click on things all willy-nilly without thinking it through though!

So have y'all tried it yet? How many clicks did it take you? It took me only TWO! But I'm a pro at this point, honestly. I had people text me their challenges with word combinations while I was bored at work. I spent quite a bit of time on Wikipedia that summer I first learned this game ;)

Here are a couple more that I just randomly challenged myself with. And of course I want you to try these as well. Let me know how many clicks it took you on some of these!

Paleontology to Plantation (I can't actually get this one!?!)

Lampshade to Penguin (6)

Meatloaf to Computer (4)

Globe to Soybean (5)

Kelly Clarkson to Fax (4)

Body wash to Outback Steakhouse (10)

So how did y'all do with those? Did you beat my amount of clicks? Or maybe did it take you twice as many clicks as it took me?! Did you at least have a little bit of fun?! I did :) Except those first and last ones were really hard. I never could figure out the first one, and the last one took forever! There's got to be an easier way to connect body wash to Outback, right?! Oh, and here's another helpful tip - I like to read over the ending term a little bit first, to get a couple ideas on how I might be able to make the connections. Learn a little bit about it, and it'll be easier to figure out how to get there.

Anyways, I always love random games. Can y'all think of any good combinations that I should try? Maybe I'll send a little prize to the person who's suggestion takes me the most amount of clicks! So let me know which combinations you think I should attempt!

Oh, and in case you're wondering how I did the first one, here's how:

Spaghetti - scroll down to the section labeled 'Consumption' and find the link for World War II in the first sentence. Then scroll wayyy down to the section labeled 'Impact' and you'll find the link for The Holocaust in the last sentence of the second paragraph.

Spaghetti > World War II > The Holocaust = 2 clicks. Boom.

Places To Go & Things To Do

I haven't shared a good "About Me" style post in a couple of months now, and my blog has definitely grown a lot since then. So today I've decided to give y'all a little more insight into my life! I've seen this in blog-land before, so I can't take credit for it, but I have no idea who came up with it to give them credit....Oh well. It's gonna be fun anyways :) So here's a reverse pyramid of getting-to-know-Halie facts.

10 Favorite Foods

Pizza - just about any toppings make me happy

Pasta - I like the 'short' noodles best, i.e. penne, rotini, bowtie, elbow...

Popcorn - at the movie theater is best

Buffalo Chicken Po'Boy -or anything buffalo!

Chicken Pot Pie - homemade by my Mama

Chocolate cake - or anything chocolate!

Chips & Salsa

Pretzels

Big juicy burgers from restaurants

Cupcakes

(Note: these are my favorite foods regardless of how healthy I'm trying to eat. I try to limit them, but I still love them anyways.)

For the record - Jeff & I split that and made it into 2 burgers. I didn't eat that whole thing...

9 Favorite Movies

The Sound of Music

Pitch Perfect

Pirates of the Caribbean

My Girl

How To Lose A Guy in Ten Days

The Little Mermaid

The Princess Bride

the Harry Potter series

The Holiday

(Note: I have sooo many favorites, narrowing it down to 9 was difficult!)

8 Favorite Musical Artists

The Civil Wars

Carrie Underwood

Gavin DeGraw

Rascal Flatts

Kelly Clarkson

The Band Perry

Lady Antebellum

Walk Off the Earth

(Note: Again, I have so many different ones, and they're constantly changing, but this is good for now...)

7 Things I Love Right Now

The sunshine

Avocado

My Polar Watch

Vine (find me! - HalieRenee88)

Bike Rides with Jeff

Learning how to play my ukulele

"The New Girl"

6 Places I'd Love To Visit

Italy - let's be honest - to eat my way all over the country

Switzerland

Cincinnati, Ohio - to visit Bridget!

Any tropical island (really, I'd take just about all of them)

California

Paris, France

5 Favorite Games

Catch Phrase

Pictionary

Quelf

Golf (the card game, not the ball & putter game)

Phase Ten

4 Things I'd Like To Do Again

Take a trip back to NYC

Go on another cruise

Take a cross-country road trip with my college girlfriends 

Go snorkeling in the Keys

(Seems like all the things I want to re-do are all travel-related!)

3 Things I'd Like To Do in 2013

Visit a new state

Ride my bike 500 miles total (Only 7 down...)

Read 24 books (So far, I'm only on number 6)

2 Facts About Me

I get really easily creeped out - random things give me the "heebie-jeebies" all. the. time.

I've never broken a bone or had surgery or had braces

1 Meaning Behind My Blog Name

It's just three of my very favorite things - that just all happen to start with the letter "P!" I also really just like alliterations wherever possible, so that's one reason I did it that way. And for those those haven't noticed, every single one of my blog post titles starts with a "P" as well! (Full story of when/why I started my blog HERE.)

And that does it for the about-me stuff!

This morning, I did day 2 of the 6 Week Six-Pack, and was able to keep up a tiny bit better. Not completely, but better. By the end of this thing, maybe I'll be able to stay with her the whole time!? I'm feeling pretty great though, and it was a good way to start off my day, despite the fact I did not want to wake up that early to do it. But I'm glad I did :)

I'm only working a half day at work, and then leaving at noon. Then, the Family & Child Sciences department (my sister's major) is hosting a reception for the graduates and their families, so we'll hit that up this afternoon. Then our whole family is having dinner together and finally heading to the Civic Center to watch my sister and my cousin both graduate from Florida State University! Yay!! Tomorrow, myself, my Mama and my Aunt Suzanne are going shopping in Jacksonville (mother-of-the-bride dress for my mom for Meg's wedding, and wedding dresses for me!). And then Sunday Jeff and I have planned a beach trip to St. George Island for the afternoon! Definitely looking forward to that. Hopefully the weather cooperates!

I hope y'all have wonderful Friday's, and even better weekends! Enjoy your Cinco de Mayo!

Panera, Shopping, Po'Boys & Games

I'm freezing in my office, my back is sore for some reason, I'm not quite awake yet, and it's Monday morning. I'm feelin' kinda rough right now....I had a great weekend though, so of course in typical blogger fashion, I'll be sharing all about the weekend on the blog this morning. I mean, what else would you expect?

FRIDAY
Although not technically considered the weekend yet, at lunch, I went with my parents to a new BBQ place here in town that they love and I hadn't tried yet, Sweet Rack Rib Shack. It's been forever and I just kept not getting to go, but it was soooo good. Definitely need to take Jeff there sometime soon, because I know he'll love it too! I got a 'kids meal' with pulled pork sammy and mac-n-cheese. It was delish.

After work, I went to Jeff's house to get changed, then I ran a mile around his neighborhood, and then did a couple of circuit-training things to target my thighs, abs, and waist. Just a quick little workout, but it was better than nothing at all, am I right?!

Then we spent the rest of the evening at our friend Lacey's house, playing games, making dinner, laughing and having fun. We played girls-vs-boys Pictionary, and as usual, Lacey and I killed it and beat the boys :)


SATURDAYMy Mama and I got up and got ready, and drove just a little bit north to Thomasville, Georgia, to go shopping at The New Image. It's a little shop that sells bridal, formal, and mother-of-the-bride dresses. She was looking for a dress for my sister's upcoming wedding, and I got to try on some more wedding dresses!! (And I think we found a really great contender!!) Then we had to go help out with some craft stuff for the lady who altered my sister's wedding dress (too confusing to explain what we were doing...). Later, my mama and I went shopping again trying to find her a dress, but with no luck. I did however buy the other half of Megan's graduation present, so that was good! 
Then Saturday evening, Jeff and I had a great little dinner at Panera, where we sat outside in the lovely weather, then we just spent the rest of the night hanging out at his house, relaxing, I painted my nails, and we got caught up on episodes of "The New Girl" and "Big Bang Theory!"
SUNDAYSunday school, big church, lunch with my parents, and then the fourth and final wedding shower for my sister, given by her fiance's church. Then later that afternoon, Jeff and I, and his friend Len, went back to Leah's house (who just recently finished massage therapy school and she gave us massages back in February), for some massages! It was great and it felt so very nice. And while it wasn't my turn, I was actually reading in my book, "The Host," and I went from page 50 to about 120 now! Look at me go... It was about 8 p.m. by the time we finally left her house, so we went to Po'Boys to grab some dinner and just hang out! It was lots of fun, and it was actually Len's birthday, so he had a great day, getting his very first massage ever, on his birthday, for free! And of course I loved getting one too, whether it was my birthday or not :)
I kinda forgot to take any pictures of anything at all on Saturday and Sunday, so unfortunately, the only ones I have from the weekend are the few from Friday afternoon. At least I also had that Vine video to sneak in there too! (Follow me at HalieRenee88 - I changed it to actually be that now, since it wasn't before for some reason...) But since I didn't have a lot of pictures, I decided to share another engagement picture from our amazing photographer Phil Pullen :) This one is my absolute favorite one!

Hope y'alls weekends were good, and that your Monday is off to a bit of a better start than mine. And don't forget tomorrow is when Hallie and I are sharing the news about our link-up and how it's going to be changing a bit! Can't wait! Happy Monday ladies!
Linking up today with Covered in Grace, Sami's Shenanigans and Synfully Delicious.

Ponce Hall, Roommates & College Days - First Things First

It's another cold day down here in Florida, and they said on the radio this morning that it's actually 15-20 degrees colder this year than our usual averages for this time of year. That's not cool! Where did my glorious spring weather go? Not that I can complain too much, because half of the country just got half a foot of snow or more, including one of my lovely co-hosts... More importantly than the weather though, is another week of our First Things First link up! And this week we of course have another round of amazing co-hosts, Jess at Jess Is More and Veronica at Passion, Pink & Pearls!

First Roommate (s)

First Time Living Away from Home

First Dorm Room at College

First Roommate (s)
Well first of all, I wasn't able to go to Flagler my very first semester, because they had no room for me. It's a requirement for freshmen to live on-campus in the dorms, and they were full by the time I would have been accepted. So instead, I was accepted for the spring term in January, and I just went to community college for a semester here. So while that was happening, my future roommates had issues with the third girl in their room, and she was leaving, and they got to look through and pick out a new replacement - and they did an awesome job picking me out, because they were some fun first college roommates!

After the Christmas break, I was to move in about 4 days before the returning students, and I got there to find that Emily and Linnea had left cute notes and pictures all of the room for me :) Those first few days alone without them were hard and boring, and so when they finally got there, I was sooo dang excited!! They welcomed me with open arms, and we kicked off that first semester with a game night in our dorm room, with a group of some other girls. We had so much fun that semester together. We went to the beach, had game night every single week, had fire alarms go off three times in one night, dealt with the awful laundromat, visiting the Jax zoo, watching tons of movies on our laptops, and so many more fun memories!

First Time Living Away from Home
This goes hand-in-hand with the first question, because the first time I lived away from home was that spring semester of my freshman year, at Flagler College! Like I mentioned before, I moved in about four days before my roommates did though, and that was close to torturous. Talk about major homesickness! It was super quiet in the entire dorm, but also in my tiny room, and it was rough. But once the girls got there, the fun never seemed to stop. I met soooo many amazing girls that first semester I lived away from home, and seriously had a blast. There was just so much fun and freedom and opportunity and adventure! And I made sure I took advantage of all of that as often as I could. I mean, I was only taking 12 hours that first semester, and I didn't have a job, so I had plenty of free time to just live it up as a care free 19-year-old! And I loved every second of it.

First Dorm Room at College
First I just want to share some background info about my school, Flagler College. (I'm only going to share a little bit, but there is some amazing history and interesting facts about it, so take time to visit the links I provided!) It was originally built as the beautiful Ponce de Leon hotel by Henry Flagler, and opened in 1888. It was quite a fancy place, and definitely a popular destination. Then during WWII, it was used as a training center for the coast guard. It was also a very prominent part of the Civil Rights movement. Then in 1968, it was finally opened as Flagler College. (I could go on and on with cool stuff about the college, but I think I'll save that for another post - because now I'm so excited about sharing that with y'all!)

When the hotel was turned into the college, the main building of the hotel housed the girls' dorms. It was called Ponce Hall, but usually just shortened to Ponce. So like I mentioned before as well, Emily and Linnea had prepared the room for me, and left cute notes for me for when I moved in. It was a good-sized room with one bunk bed, and one additional twin bed. There were two real closets and I had the free-standing wardrobe. Then we each had a desk and a small dresser. There was even a cute fireplace in the room! (But it didn't work, it just looked pretty.) And we shared our suite-style bathroom with the room next to us. Luckily we really did have one of the bigger dorms, so we had tons of open floor space in the middle of the room. Even though it was a little bit cramped, it was still a great dorm room in general, and we had tons of fun in it! Our favorite thing to do was find ways to creatively hop up into the top bunk with flips and jumps and chairs and hoopla. That was fun times. I loved my dorm room days, and would definitely recommend it for at least a year in college. SO much fun. :)

If you'd like to join in on this fun link up, check out the super simple 'rules' below, and get to writing! Can't wait to see all the new link ups this week, meet new friends, and read y'all's posts!

1. Write your own post about this week's topics

2. Please follow me, as well as this week's co-hosts, Jess & Veronica.

3. Put the new button on your post or somewhere on your blog

4. Link up with us! (Link will appear on all three blogs.)

5. Visit some of the other links, and share the love with them on their posts!

6. Spread the word on Twitter and/or Facebook

And if you'd like to prepare and get ready for next week's First Things First link up, start by checking out next week's awesome co-hosts, Syndal @ Synfully Delicious and Erin @ Love, Fun & Football. Next week's topics are all about home sweet home:

1. First house or apartment on your own (either rented or owned, just away from your parents!)

2. First room you decorated in it, or would like to decorate

3. First thing you bought for it, or would like to buy

Pictionary, Pitch Perfect & Pizza Recap

Hello Monday morning! Hello blog friends! It's freezing here in Florida today - which always makes for an interesting day for us 'natives.' I mean it was 27 degrees when I woke up today - that is just not normal here! It's 'warmed up' a bit since then, but the high is still only in the 60's for today. (I know I probably should not be complaining because my blog friends up there in Minnesota would trade places with me and this weather in a heartbeat, but still...us Floridians aren't made for 27 degrees.)

So first of all, there are a ton more of new lovely followers today, than when I last left you on Friday afternoon! So welcome to those of you who are new around these parts! I'm guessing my very recent engagement story might have reeled a few of you in? Or maybe Maria from Agape Love sent you over here since she started pimping me out as one of her new sponsors? However you found me doesn't matter - I'm just so glad you're here! If you haven't yet, let me know you're new by saying hello, because I really would like to send an email your way and get to know you a little bit more! And in the mean time, here are a few blog posts to get to know more about me if you're interested :)

25 Facts on my 25th Birthday

My entire weight loss journey

Random facts of me

30 Before 30 list and goals

And now, here's my weekend recap, although it's not much, so don't get too excited just yet... ;)

Friday:

Ran a quick mile Friday after work
Talked to a couple lovely friends on the phone

Picked up Jeff

Went to a friend's house for some pizza, and we ended up watching "The Wedding Planner" :) 

Went back to Jeff's house early, and just relaxed

Saturday:

Hiked the trail at Maclay Gardens with my parents, and luckily we didn't get stormed on like we thought we might

Picked up Jeff, and had lunch at Tijuana Flats

Ran errands at Costco and Home Depot

Both of us got hair cuts (him a lot more than me)

Made a cute cover photo for my Facbook timeline  

Went to Walmart two more times to find the right part for his broken toilet

Fixed the toilet

Went over to a friends house for a giant game of boys vs. girls Pictionary

The girls killed it, and we won like usual :)

This cute boy just being silly with his Valentine's candy I gave him :)

Sunday:

Went to my church, but a small SS group ended up combining with another teacher, so I was done for the day

Then went to Jeff's church, and showed off my ring to everyone there :)

Had lunch at his house, then stayed home allllll day being so lazy (Pitch Perfect, HIMYM, Big Bang Theory)

Seriously - one of the laziest days we've ever had, and it was great

And that's about all. It was wonderfully lazy and relaxing, but we had fun together and laughed a lot. And yes, I still stared at my ring a lot too :) Oh, and the tulips he sent to my office on Valentine's Day are opening up and looking beautiful! There are still a few that are closed up some (mostly the white ones), but they're all still gorgeous!

We just had a big breakfast at work to celebrate our February birthday's, and now I've probably eaten half of my calorie allotment for the day...although I'm not going to input any of it into MFP, because I'm scared to know how much it truly was. I'll just promise to eat good for lunch and dinner, and make sure I do some workout something-or-other after work today! (Run if it's not freezing? Zumba at home if it is?) It was worth it though - because there were some delicious casseroles and grits. Yum! Here's to another Monday in the office (although I hear some people have today off for President's Day? Ugh, not me), and getting through another week! Then tonight I'm going grocery shopping, because tomorrow I'm starting a two-week carb-cleanse. I'm not going to eat bread, pasta or anything like that for two weeks. I did it once before last year, and it was great, so I'm hoping for good results this time around too!

Tomorrow is our "First Things First" link up just like every Tuesday with myself and Hallie from Life: Oceanside. And of course we would love for you to join in with us! Tomorrow's topics are:

1. First thing you do at the gym

2. First date with your current significant other (or pick any first date if you're currently single)

3. First email address you ever had

Can't wait to hear all about y'all's weekends, because I'd like to hear some of y'all did something more exciting than me?! I want to read all about it! And I can't wait to read your First Things First post tomorrow as well! What did y'all do this weekend? Was it crazy and fun, or more chilled and relaxing like mine?

Linking up as usual today with: Covered in Grace, Sami's Shenanigans and Synfully Delicious. 

Perch From the Top

So first up, I got 11 new followers over the weekend, which I was seriously shocked about when I opened up Blogger this morning! What an unexpected excitement! So welcome to all of you who just joined the last few days, I'm so glad to have you here. Pull up a chair, get cozy and stay a while :)

Now, moving on to my usual weekend recap post!!

Friday
Lunch time sushi date with my sweet man, which was super delish
Had some afternoon tea and a cookie at work
Finished the day at my Grandparent's house with the fam, for a joint birthday party for my sister, uncle and step-bro

A bit of delicious lunch time sushi. I'm ready for more again already! I'm becoming obsessed I believe...

I had the chai, and it was sooo good. And this tin was only $4 at Ross!

Grandparents said they needed this Snoopy to go with the Charlie Brown tree :)

Cute little sister

Peach cobbler for birthday party dessert

Saturday
Went to pick out our family Christmas tree in the morning
Finally cleaned my super crazy messy room, and it feels sooo much better in there now :)
Hung out at Jeff's house for just a tiny bit
Went downtown to meet Lacey for a late lunch at Po'Boys
Walked around downtown waiting on the parade to start, then watched the parade
Finished up the day at Lacey's house playing an intense game of boys vs. girls Pictionary

We got the one on the right, although I voted for the taller one on the left. But it looks good in our house still :)

Festival of Lights celebration downtown

He thought his card said "killer waffle" -- it didn't. Any guesses what it actually said?!

Sunday
Started off the morning with my family and coffee from Dunkin Donuts before church
Watched some super precious children's choirs sing during "big church"
Celebrated my sister's birthday with family lunch and presents at our house
Put up our Christmas tree and decorated the rest of our house
Went to Singing Christmas Tree rehearsal at church, and found out I'm on row 11 of 12, which is super high up
Then went to the ugly sweater Christmas party for the youth! (There were some really ugly sweaters by the way...)
Finished up the day hanging out at Jeff's house, watching re-runs of one of our favorites, "How I Met Your Mother"

One of four of our bins of ornaments!

First on the tree this year! "I" made this in pre-school, back in 1991, when I was three!

My view of the sanctuary in my Perch From the Top of the Singing Christmas Tree! So high up!

The youth that wore their ugly sweaters for our party. 

I'm sorry for another week of only iPhone pictures. I never realize how crappy some of them are until I put them in my blog, and then I'm mad that's all I've got. Maybe one day I'll learn... But anyways, it was a good weekend, and as usual I'm not super stoked to be back at work this Monday morning. Here in Florida, today is supposed to be a record high of 81, so that should be lovely in December... oh well! I'd rather have that than a foot or two of snow! So I guess I can't complain :)

Hope your week is off to a good start! And I look forward to reading/hearing about y'alls weekends as well!

{And today I'm linking up with Covered in Grace, Sami's Shananigans and Synfully Delicious.}