As big as a...

Okay, readers...  This is another honesty session. Before I became pregnant and had many of friends that were or have been, I resented phrases such as "as big as a while... as big as a planet." 


I am going to use this time to apologize to you all. When those phrases were said, and I rolled my eyes thinking you all looked stunning, I did not know the "pregnant" feeling.


The problem is that I am only six months pregnant and I find myself waking up every day thinking that more and more! I am beginning to absolutely hate the pregnant models who are not actually pregnant. It gave me such unrealistic hope - I need to write a letter about that. 


As I know that I am nowhere near as big as I will be, I can't help but wonder what I will say. I already feeling planet-like... Will that make me a solar system? 

An Extraordinarily Early Birthday List

Okay... don't you dare judge me. 


Yes, it is true that my birthday is in July.


Yes, it is true that I could change my mind.


And, finally, yes... it is true that I have created a blog post for all to preview my birthday selections.... five months early.


Here is the deal. I am pregnant...6 months pregnant to be semi-exact. I am so looking forward to wearing normal clothes again, but am not ready purchase them. I can't wait to see our sweet baby girl and get to cuddle her and love on her. This will all be possible on my birthday. So please enjoy my birthday lust day.

Piperlime, I love you. A true, yet materialistic, love.

I can't decide if I want these...

Or these... or BOTH (yeah right) via Dillard's. 

I really love stripes right now. I think it's because Spring is quickly approaching and stripes are always so clean and fresh... Hence my last wish list item for now...

 from West Elm inspiration

I love GREY. I am thinking of redoing our bedding set since we are moving/house hunting, and I want something clean and relaxing. This reminds me of the beach for some reason, and that is where I long to be at this windy, Oklahoma moment. 

Also, it doesn't hurt that white forces you to keep a clean room. It also doesn't hurt that I am nesting and cleaning every inch of my room on my day off. 

I encourage each of you to create an early birthday list. Your happy mood will thank me later.

Back from Christmas Break :)

Hello there... I have been taking a much needed Christmas Break. It was absolutely wonderful and I hope all of you had a great Christmas season! 


JJ and I celebrated our very first Christmas together. It was so special. My sweet husband bought me a heavy duty camera that I can use to take pictures of our sweet baby on the way! We were way beyond blessed by both families and enjoyed spending the holidays with them and making new traditions. 


JJ and I also celebrated our 1st anniversary as a married couple yesterday. We had the entire day to spend together and somewhere in the midst of it, we decided what our child's name will be - boy or girl. 


I have become more and more aware of God's glory and how wonderful He is when you let Him completely take over your life. There are many things that have made us anxious in different ways, until recently we realized that none of them were as important as we were making them. God has a way of showing you when you are completely blowing things out of proportion. The point is that God will take care of everything - and that no matter what happens in this life, there is an eternal life waiting for us that is much better. As wonderful as my life is, God has much more in store for me and I am so excited to see what that is! I encourage all of you to pray to Him to completely take over your life and take your worries and struggles along with it. 


We also went to Chicago... I will upload pictures when I am not so lazy. We were given a gift of vacation to NYC from my parents this Christmas. Unfortunately the blizzard stopped us from entering NYC, so we went to Chicago. It was such a wonderful trip and I am so thankful for my parents and how much fun we had! As much as I loved Chicago, I learned a few funny things throughout the week... 


1. When you are passing through the street, you and everyone around you are invisible. In Chicago, they don't see you coming. So you either get out of the way, or you get run over. EVEN IF YOU ARE PREGNANT. And it's possible that since I am pregnant, I am further blowing this out of proportion.


2. Grocery shopping is an event in the city. Really! They let you try everything and eat samples until you don't need lunch anymore. As you can imagine, at this point in my life, that was incredible. 


3. IT REALLY IS THE WINDY CITY. Wow, was it cold! 


Along with seeing Blue Man Group and Wicked, combined with spending quality family time, IT WAS GREAT!!!!!!!!!! 


I hope you all have a blessed week!!! 

Merry Christmas Eve....

...from Cousin Eddie

May you and yours have a blessed Christmas time! Spend as much time with the people you love and thank the One who allowed it!

... I am so sorry... 


I know that I have neglected you. Between student teaching, being in my first trimester, and getting ready for Christmas - I have lost time to blog. 


Now that I have graduated and become an adult again... I will be blogging all of the time. That's a promise - ish. 


I am so looking forward to Christmas. Today, I completed all wrapping and stocking gifts as did my husband. This means, my sweet readers, that -


I am DONE. 


As this would THRILL most people, it makes me sad to think that I have no shopping or wrapping left. Call me crazy, but I love to wrap presents. I love to put on Pandora Christmas music, sing to it and pretend like no one else is in the house, and drink coffee (which this season has been switched to green tea with honey). 


In honor of my affinity for gift wrap, here are some of my favorites from none other than Martha Stewart. 

I love how this one looks like something you'd receive in the mail - and all she did was buy the stamp!

Not that I am sending anyone anything internationally, but wouldn't this be fun if I did? 

I love this thought of all-natural wrapping paper... In no way does that mean I don't spend $4 on a package of paper, though.

MY FAVORITE - when my child begins to write and draw, we WILL be doing this. This is kid's art made into wrapping paper. I love it. 

You know what else I love? I love the fact that I get to see "when my child..." because there is actually one on the way! 17 weeks on Sunday! :) We find out if it is a boy or girl in a couple of weeks... Any guesses? 

Have a Merry Christmas. I know I am looking forward to Christmas Eve service, lots of great food, family, It's a Wonderful Life, and much more... and the best part is that it is all because of Jesus that we do anything! Let's celebrate Him now and every day of the year! :) 

MORE Breaking News...

Ladies... and possibly gentlemen that read my posts - highly doubtful unless it is JJ or my father... Hi Dad - I have a breaking news announcement. Okay, not as big as our little bambino due in 7 monthsish... but big.


Those of you that are near and dear to my heart know that I absolutely love Ree Drummond, A.K.A The Pioneer Woman. My sweet sister bought me her cook book last year SIGNED for Christmas, and I read her blog daily. In fact, if you ask my husband, he would heartily make fun of me for it. 

He doesn't complain when I make her chili, desserts, and other tasty treats. Hmm...

Anyway, here is my (her) news. I live vicariously through her blog. 

SHE IS THROWING DOWN WITH BOBBY FLAY. Even better - she is throwing down Thanksgiving - style. So, friends, I don't have to be a holiday skipper while watching my favorite lady! It is on next Wednesday on the Food Network. You can read about her big announcement here. I am sure she tells the story WAY better than I ever could. 

There is her sneak peek. I am just so happy.

Happy (early) Thanksgiving Throwdown, y'all!

Is it too soon to be looking at this?

I am one of those people that gets very annoyed with Holiday Skippers. 


Holiday-Skipper: (Proper Noun); one who skips over very important holidays (i.e. Halloween and Thanksgiving) just to get to Christmas


In fact, I have mixed feelings about Christmas decor being out at Hobby Lobby before Halloween. In some ways I am way excited. In other ways I think - WHAT are you doing? We have two great holidays before that! 


Nevertheless, the giant amounts of Christmas decor and buying tickets to Christmas events has made me begin to slowly search myself. I am determined... I will NOT be a holiday skipper.


But, just this once... I looked at ways to create a fun tree by making a lot of it yourself! 


HGTV had ideas for just this. Look below at these homemade ornaments. 

Don't you just love it? And I know I have way too many clothes I don't wear that I could use... after Thanksgiving. :) 

The directions are here.

Enjoy! :)