Memorial Day Weekend

Long, holiday weekends are simply the best kind of weekend, am I right? I'm sure most of you would agree with that. If not, well then I probably don't want to hear it. But thanks anyways... ;) Mine was the bestest, and honestly it wasn't long enough...it was full of sunshine, good food, friends, and relaxing. If only every weekend could actually be three days, right?! Right.

FRIDAY - we went to Hobby Lobby real quick after work (haven't actually done the craft I bought the supplies for yet), and then we ate dinner at Momo's Pizza again, since we were on that side of town. Super yummy.

Had to send out a Snapchat to a few friends of course ;)

SATURDAY - we met some friends down at Alligator Point Beach, and spent the day soaking up the sunshine, with our toes in the sand. The weather was perfect and breezy, and it felt great. On the way back to town, we stopped to eat dinner at Tropical Trader in Panacea. For you locals that might not realize this, it's like the little brother of Angelo's! Owned by the same people, but more casual and a bit less expensive. Such good food too! We all shared an appetizer of calamari, and I got a mahi mahi sandwich.

SUNDAY - ate sandwiches for lunch at Jimmy John's, and then went back down to meet our friends at the beach again! The weather was lovely again, and it was another good day in the sunshine.

MONDAY - we were up bright and early, so that our landlord could come by to look at the hot water heater, because it had stopped working... Long-story short, he ended up just buying a new one, and by 7pm last night, it was finally installed and working properly again. Thank the lord he worked so quick to get that done for us, or else this morning's shower would have been so freezing! We also did a lot of work around the house - laundry, tons of dishes, Jeff mowed the lawn (until the mower just stopped working), and we went grocery shopping.

Jeff grilled burgers and corn on the cob for dinner, and we had watermelon. And what I'm most proud of, was my homemade coleslaw! Our neighbor brought over a fresh head of cabbage from his garden, so I threw it in the Ninja blender, added in some carrots, mayo, salt, pepper, sugar & balsamic vinegar, and then topped it with sunflower seeds. It was so good y'all! Jeff and usually don't really even like coleslaw, but we both loved what I made last night! I was sad when I realized at like 10pm that I didn't take a picture of the fresh cabbage or the coleslaw though, so y'all will just have to pretend like I did, OK? :)

We were exhausted last night after a couple days in the sun, and a long day of working in and around the house. But it was all worth it, and we had a great three-day holiday weekend! We're thankful for those who have served in our military to make our lives so amazing in this great country of ours. We remember those who gave their lives, so that we can live ours free!

Happy Monday Tuesday! (This is going to be a confusing day...)

Cookout, Games, Kayaks & Food

Hey there fellow bloggers! I'm actually really excited about today's weekend recap, because of two reasons: 1. I used an actual camera this weekend, not just my phone, and 2. it was an awesome weekend, so there's good things to share today! I mean sure, there is always something good to share from the weekend, but this one was particularly good, so let's get to it, shall we?

FRIDAY

Some friends came over and we grilled hamburgers and corn for dinner. We sat out on the deck until after dark just having fun and talking, then finally moved inside once we couldn't see anymore. (We don't have a light out there...) Then we played some games for a while, and eventually they had to head home early, because she works the 7am-7pm shift at the hospital, so she needed some sleep! It was a great night though, and lots of fun for sure.

SATURDAY

Saturday we used our Groupon for Rum 138, and went kayaking down the Santa Fe River! It was gorgeous and sunny and we loved it so much. The current is pretty strong, so we hardly even had to paddle that much, so we basically just floated a lot of the time, and that was nice and relaxing. We packed a cooler full of lunch, waters, and some fancy giant cans of Arizona tea, and had lunch at the picnic tables at Poe Springs Park, about an hour down the river. It was so awesome! The trip was about four hours total, and it was gorgeous. We definitely loved it, and were glad we were able to go on this little adventure together! (And now I get to cross this off of our summer bucket list!)

On the way home, we took the back country roads instead of the interstate, and we came upon this super cute and absolutely delicious BBQ place in the tiny town of Mayo, Florida. The portions were huge, and everything is super fresh and homemade. She also makes her own desserts, so we enjoyed some peanut butter pie before heading back on the road.

SUNDAY
Sunday I accidentally slept in till after 10am, so we missed church yesterday. I was exhausted though after our big day on the river, so it felt good to get some extra rest. We lazed around for a bit, then decided to treat ourselves for lunch out somewhere, and I chose this new place I've really been wanting to try - Merv's Melt Shop. And y'all it was so good! I had a clubhouse sandwich, and absolutely loved it, with sweet potato tots. Jeff got a breakfast sammie of fried eggs and cheese, and his was really good too. We will definitely be back here many more times to come! (And this is new restaurant 1 of 3 for my summer bucket list!)

These next two pictures are just some random ones from before lunch.... These cute little dandelions are growing all over our yard right now, and I'm loving them! Unfortunately they're only growing because the yard is overgrown and needs to be mowed, but that's okay, I'll enjoy them while they're here! And then the second one is just because my little Primrose is the cutest girl in the world!

After lunch, we didn't do too much except check out a townhouse for rent (we didn't love it...), and went to Winn Dixie. Jeff is dealing with a serious cough and severe allergy issues, so he pretty much slept the afternoon away, while I watched Parenthood on Netflix. I cooked us dinner, and played super-wife doing all the laundry, dishes, taking out the trash, and straightening up. Normally Jeff would have been helping with all that, but since he was sleeping, I just handled all of it, and I felt super accomplished!

It was definitely a good weekend, and I loved just about every second of it. (Except for the fact my pitiful little husband was feeling so awful yesterday.) Thankful for all these great things and blessings and people in my life! Hope y'all had a great weekend too. What did y'all do? And Happy Monday :)

Summer Bucket List 2014

I've been meaning to post my Summer Bucket List since May 1st yall, but obviously I didn't quite make it for that... But it's still fine, because they're is of course still of ton of summer-time left. I mean technically summer hasn't even officially begun yet, but us Floridian's don't pay attention to actual season, and just base it on the scorching temperatures.

So it's unofficially summer down here now, and so I'm sharing my short little list of summer goals and plans. Can't wait get going on these, and share all the updates along the way!

1. Go kayaking (with our Groupon for a trip down the Santa Fe River!) wrote about it HERE
2. Start running in the mornings again, two days a week
3. Find a new house, maybe even one with a fenced-in yard for Primrose
4. Host a family BBQ out on our deck before we have to move
5. Visit a new beach in Florida, to collect another jar of sand and shells
6. Read 3 books (other than GoT, once I finish that series)
7. Get the second bedroom completely clean and ready for the boys to be here in June
8. Go to an FSU baseball game (since we didn't make it to one in time for my "spring" list...)
9. Go camping again (since we didn't make it in time for my "spring" list...)
10. Figure out the favorite books link-up idea I have swirling in my head, and do it!
11. Try three new restaurants around town (1. Merv's Melt Shop...)
12. Explore a new city nearby
13. Roast weenies & s'mores with the boys in our fire pit on the deck
14. Get snow cones from Big Easy Snowballs and eat them outside at Lake Ella
15. Set up a blate for a few Tally bloggers I haven't met yet

We are already planning to go on our kayaking trip this Saturday, and I'm super pumped about that. It's going to be so much fun! Did any of y'all make a list of summer goals and plans? If so, let me know so I can go check it out! Or if you haven't made one yet, you should! Because it's fun :)

32 Things That Make Me Happy

Yesterday, Erin at Two Thirds Hazel host a little link all about happiness. Since I had already posted a blog yesterday,  I decided to wait and use this post today instead. I started writing it yesterday though, and had fun thinking of some serious, some funny, and some random things that make me happy!

32 Things That Make Me Happy

1. Gorgeous, bright sunshine and warm spring weather.

2. Fun adventures and quality time spent with my husband.

3. My super cute and adorable doggie, Primrose.

4. Being able to make just a short drive to the beach for a day in the sun and the salt air.

5. A loving family that is also fun and supportive and caring.

6. Pizza. Seriously - it makes me happy. I just love carbs and cheese, y'all!

7. Cuddly nights on the couch under a blanket, watching a cute movie or tv show.

8. Craft time, and making random things for our house.

Just did this on Wednesday night, to finally re-pot my little African Violet!

9. Decorating our house!

10. Camping trips.

11. Walks around the park by our house.

12. Taking tons of pictures, even when it's of just everyday, ordinary things.

13. Brightly colored pens used for everyday activities. (i.e. at work)

14. The Easter wreath my MIL made for our front door.

15. Six months of marriage. Tomorrow is our 6 monthiversay of marriage, and I'd say things are going pretty great so far! I sure love this man :)

16. Living in The Sunshine State.

17.  Looking forward to seeing old friends at weddings. We're going to one at the end of the month, and I can't wait to see a big group of people I love so much!

18. New nail polish. Especially super bright colors that are perfect for spring and summer.

19. Wearing flip-flops all year long. And yes, I really am one of those girls that does that. I'm pretty sure I was wearing them with my sweater, scarf and jeans on Christmas day this past year...

20. Finishing a good book.

21. Our ever-growing collection of movies, both for grown-ups and "kids". AKA - Jeff and I still watch the kiddie movies just as much as the regular ones :)

22. When my husband texts me randomly in the middle of the day just to tell me he loves me.

23. Good music.

24. Getting coupon codes for Shutterfly in my email, making a book the day it expires, getting it only a week later, and being in love with it!

Thanks to my husband for being the hand model in this one ;)

25. Burning a yummy smelling candle in every single room of the house, so when I walk around I get bursts of a new smell in each room.

26. Spending an entire day in my pajamas - but most importantly, not putting on a bra the entire day.

27. Game nights with friends.

28. Making lists, of any kind. (Also see, I'm OCD and I love lists....)

29. Singing along at the top of my lungs while watching a musical or movie at home.

30. Florida State football.

31. Chapstick. Especially if I haven't put it on in a few hours and I've been craving it, my lips get real happy once I'm finally back together again with my beloved Burts Bee's or EOS.

32.  Having so many happy things in my life! I think I could list at least 32 more (my brain is still on a roll right now thinking of more things), but for the sake of brevity and closure and sticking to Erin's allotted number of 32, I'll cut to the credits now...

This was so much fun to make! I think I need to make these kinds of lists more often - things that make me happy, things I'm grateful for, things I love about where I live... I just want to bring so much positivity into my life and into the blogging world, and what a fun, easy way to do that!

Oh, and one more thing I'm happy about - it's Friday!!

Sunny Love,
Halie

Spring & Summer Playlist

Morning! Something my husband and I like doing every couple of months is making a new playlist for us. Jeff uses Google Play on his phone, and he pays for "All Access" which is awesome and means you can listen to ANYTHING. You can download a whole album, or make a radio station (similar to how Pandora works), or you can create your own playlists. This is actually what we did for our wedding reception, and just had our own playlist going in the background, rather than having to worry about a DJ or asking a friend to pick random stuff. We got to pick exactly the songs we wanted, and put them in the order we wanted them too. It was perfect. 

And we've been listening to that playlist a lot since October, but we were ready for a new one for the spring and summer, so this baby was born last week. We listened to it on the way to the beach Sunday, and it was great! Now it's a little heavy on the country music, but I did try to add in a good mix of other stuff too. Just thought I'd share this with y'all, in case you'd like to use it as inspiration for your own spring and summer playlist!

 

• 19 You and Me - Dan & Shay
• Automatic - Miranda Lambert
• Beat of the Music - Brett Eldredge
• Best Day of My Life - American Authors
• Bottoms Up - Brantley Gilbert
• Chainsaw - The Band Perry
• Compass - Lady Antebellum
• Cop Car - Keith Urban
• Dark Horse - Katy Perry
• Don't Let Me Be Lonely - The Band Perry
• Done - The Band Perry
• Drink to That All Night - Jarrod Niemann
• Everything I Shouldn't Be Thinkin' About - Thompson Square
• Goodnight - Glorianna
• Groovy Little Summer Song - James otto
• Happy - Pharell
• Hey Brother - Avicii
• Island Song - Zac Brown Band
• Jump Right In - ZBB
• Keep Me In Mind - ZBB
• Not A Bad Thing - Justin Timberlake
• Play It Again - Luke Bryan
• Pompeii - Bastille
• Radio - Darrius Rucker
• Red Lights - Tiesto
• Rewind - Rascal Flatts
• Send Me On My Way - Rusted Root
• Slow Me Down - Sara Evans
• Song About A Girl - Eric Paslay
• Sunny & 75 - Joe Nichols
• Sweet Annie - ZBB
• Talk Dirty - Jason Derulo
• Team - Lorde
• That's My Kind of Night - Luke Bryan
• That's The Only Way I Know - Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Eric Church
• The Man, Aloe Blacc
• The Mona Lisa, Brad Paisley
• This Is How We Roll - Florida Georgia Line, Luke Bryan
• Timber - Pitt Bull
• Toes - ZBB
• Wagon Wheel - Darrius Rucker
• Wake Me Up - Avicii
• Whatever She's Got - David Nail
• Wild, Wild Love - Pitbull

I know no one technically asked to see the playlist I made, but maybe you'll enjoy it anyways. I know we are enjoying it already, and will for the next couple of months, until we decide to make a new one! I'm sure we'll also add some more songs along the way, because these kinds of things are never really final. Hope y'all have an okay Tuesday, and I'll be back tomorrow to share another wedding shower post :)

Sunny Love, 

Halie

Paint-Splattered 5K Finisher

YOU GUYS!!! I ran my first 5K last weekend!! I've been training for this for the past nine weeks of the summer, by running "longer" distances three times a week, and just one mile two times a week, meaning I ran at least five days a week. I got up at 6 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday in order to follow Hal Higdon's 5K novice training plan, and ran before work three times a week. It was not always fun, and sometimes I hated it - but obviously I'm so glad I did it, and completed a huge accomplishment for me!!

For my 25th birthday, I created a 30 Before 30 list, and I had included "Complete a 5K." I had every intention of doing that, I just didn't know that it would get done before my next birthday! So now I get to cross that off my list! Oh, and for my summer bucket list, I get to cross off "train for a 5K," now that I completed my training plan and the actual race itself!

I had only run the actual 5K distance about two or maybe three times before the race, but I knew all along that I wanted my goal to be under 40 minutes for the race. My couple of training runs had come in under that time, so I was pretty sure I could do it on race day as well...

My wonderful fiance, amazing parents, and sweet Granddaddy all came to support me in my first race. And then my awesome aunt and uncle surprised me and showed up too! I had such a fantastic cheering section! They were at the starting line, then they walked up to one of the color stations, and then found a new spot at the finish line, so I saw all of them three times on my run. It was such a great feeling running past them, while they screamed and cheered and clapped, and of course took pictures. It was like my own little fan club and paparazzi! 

What I didn't take into consideration in my training though, was that it was going to much hotter from 9-10 a.m. during the race, as opposed to 6-7 a.m. when I usually ran. And it. was. super. hot. So hot in fact, that at one point, I had pretty much given up on thinking I could finish in under 40 minutes. My goal changed to "Just finish, Halez - just finish." 

The other tricky thing was that I didn't have my phone with me, mapping my distance. I was afraid it might get messed up, so I didn't keep it on me like usual. So I had no idea how far I had gone, since there were no mile-markers on the course. (At least none that I saw...) I did however wear my Polar heart rate monitor and watch though, so I could time myself. So I was burning up, and had no idea how much was left, but I kept on trucking. And when I hit that last color station around 35 or 36 minutes, I kicked it up a notch, and ran the rest of the way, just hoping it wasn't too much further.

Once I realized how close I actually was, I picked up my speed just a little bit more, and as I crossed under the finish banner, I stopped the timer on my watch as fast as I could. And to my astonishment, I then looked down, and saw I had made it in 38:45!!!!

I finished the race with a fair amount of color on me. Not really much at all. But then I went over to the stage for one of the celebratory color parties, and that's when things got crazy. We all counted down, then we each threw a color packet up in the air, and danced and jumped around in a colorful powdered haze for a few minutes. And it was so much freaking fun! When I returned back to where my family was waiting for me, my Mama kinda shrieked and laughed a little, and immediately got the camera back out. Because after this awesomeness below, I came back looking like this.....

Check out the sweat-concentrated areas around my lips. That's just lovely, right?!

Then I had Jeff follow me around for a little bit, being my personal race-day-photographer, snapping all kinds of pictures here and there. What a great future husband I have :) He got an awesome one of me jumping up in the air with the color party happening behind me, but some large woman decided to get all up in my way, so she ruined it. Jeff's going to Photoshop her right on outta there though, and then I'll share that awesomeness with y'all. 

This was something that even just a year ago I wouldn't have thought I would even try, nonetheless actually finish. And hello - not only did I finish, but I actually had fun too! I am honestly just so stinking proud of myself. I've always hated running, but crazy something happened in February, and I just gave it a try one day. Now, just a little over six months later, I ran my first 5K, and I would actually call myself a bit of a runner. What kind of craziness is this?!

This was a great first race for me to do, because it's kind of given me a little bit of a taste to try out more now. I think if I do find other races to run, they'll need to be sometime fun or different or unique - not just a boring, serious race. I've heard rumors that The Color Run will be back in Tally in March, and if that's true, I'm signing up faster than you can imagine. It was a blast, and I would love to do it again!

Much Colorful Love,
Halie

Oh, and P.S. - I also painted my nails kinda cool for The Color Run. I tried out a new tutorial for paint-splatter nails, and it turned out pretty decent. It's not my favorite mani I've ever done, but I didn't hate it. And it started growing on me even more as I wore it. I think I might try it again, but just with only two colors, instead of six. But for this super colorful event, six colors was absolutely necessary.

P.P.S. - I'm linking up with Glitter & Gloss for Mani Monday, and Sami's Shenanigans for Weekend Shenanigans!

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

Party, Pool, Pictionary, Pizza & Putt-Putt

Whoa that's a lot of things in one weekend that start with a "P!" Makes naming this post pretty easy :) So, I'm feeling a bit tired today, but (as weird as this sounds) it's a good kind of tired, because I started off my day and my week with a 2.5-mile run this morning! My legs are now tired and sore, but I'm feeling good about it, and definitely glad I got up and did it! Week 5 of 5K training is underway. And now of course, let's rewind the past few days and do a bit of weekend recapping. Well, the weekend plus a Thursday recap as well...

THURSDAY
Pizza and putt-putt with the fiance, the twins, Lacey, Josh and Danielle at Fun Station! Their awesome Thursday-night deal is: buy a large pizza for $3.99, and get four games of putt-putt for free! Holy crap that's just too good to pass up, am I right?

FRIDAY
Tried out a new pizza place here in town, Uncle Maddio's Pizza Joint, and it was so freaking delicious! I had a Portobello Pesto Pizza, and I loved it. Sooo yummy. And there were so many other options I wanted to try, so I can't wait to go back and get something different. Then we did some shopping at Walmart to get ready for the twins' birthday party the next day, and even found us all matching shirts to go with the party theme - get ready for pictures of those from Saturday :)

SATURDAY
Birthday party day for the twins! It was actually about a week and a half ago, but we waited until we could work it out the best, and it ended up being a great day for a party at the park! We had a Superman theme, so there was red and blue everywhere, and the four of us all wore matching Superman tshirts we found at Walmart!

After the party, we spent quite a few hours enjoying the beautiful sunshine at the pool, then cooked dinner at Josh & Lacey's house. Then while the kids all watched a movie, we played a couple rounds of our favorite game - Pictionary! One round of couple vs couple, and one round of boys vs girls. Always lots and lots of fun when we play Pictionary!

Picture of ALL the kids at the pool ;)

SUNDAY
The usual morning of hurch and lunch with my parents, then my Mama and I went wedding shoe shopping for me at DSW. Unfortunately, we didn't find anything, so I'm still on the hunt for shoes. Turning my search online now to see what I can find! Then Jeff and the boys and I enjoyed movie rest time for a bit, before the boys finally got restless and forced us back into action. We made a trip to Target (I bought a new dress, in a smaller size!!), then grabbed food from a new-ish place called Zacadoo's - where thanks to a coupon and kids meals being cheaper past 4 pm, all four of us ate dinner for a mere $8.94, and it was really good too! Score!

I then went to Kohl's while Jeff bathed the boys and got them ready for bed. I found a new dress for one of my upcoming wedding showers, and a potential leaving-the-wedding-dress. I just want to try it one with the proper undergarments (*ahem* my Spanks slip....) and see how it looks. I also got two cute, soft v-neck t-shirts, and since I had a coupon, and a couple gift cards, I only paid $4 for two dresses and two shirts. I love when stuff like that happens!

Now it's Monday morning, and I've got two full days ahead of me at work. I've been in training for the last three weeks, just sitting in my supervisor's office learning and watching. Today and tomorrow however, she's out of the office so I finally get to do some work on my own! It's a big responsibility, but I'm ready for it, and I'm ready to just do some hands-on training of my own. So wish me luck as I work on my own the next two days! Happy Monday morning, and happy start to a new week!

Oh, and here's my current mani, which I kinda love! This is the first time I've tried the free-hand painted clouds, but I think I did a decent job, and I will definitely be trying again sometime. Jeff also likes them, and says they remind him of the clouds from Mario (the video game), and I think he's right!

A bit chipped, because this is four days after I first painted them last Thursday...

Much Love,
Halie

*P.S. - This week I'm linking up with Glitter & Gloss, Sami's Shenanigans and Synfully Delicious.*