Tuesday, February 28, 2017

WHAT I'M LOVING | FEBRUARY 2017


Today is the second post in this series, What I'm Loving, where I share what I've been loving that month in the following categories: Makeup/Beauty Products, Music, Home Decor/Products, Food/Drinks, Clothing/Accessories, and Priceless (side note: each month might not include every category I just listed!) You can find January's post here! So here is what I've been loving in February...


Makeup/Beauty Product
  • Acure Organics Brightening Facial Scrub Sea Kelp + CGF - I am in love with this product. I picked it up at Target recently and have used it multiple times! The smell isn't the greatest thing in the world, but I can definitely handle it. My face feels incredibly smooth after I use this. I use it in the shower, usually about every other day, and it's wonderful.
  • Moroccan Rose Tree Hut Shea Sugar Scrub - I picked this up in January and forgot to mention it last month, but this is a new favorite, too. During the winter my legs are always incredibly itchy after I shave them, no matter how much lotion I put on them after my shower. I've tried multiple things, shaving with shaving cream, conditioner, etc. and so far this is the only thing that has made an incredible difference. It doesn't hurt that it smells incredible either!

 Food/Drink
  • Crock-pot Taquitos - I made these last week and Matthew and I both agreed that they need to be added to our recipe rotation! 
  • Homemade Meat Sauce - I've been looking for a homemade meat sauce that I could make instead of buying store bought sauce, and this one is definitely a winner! Next time I make it I'm going to freeze half of it.

Home Decor/Products
  • Mrs. Meyer's Multi-Surface Everyday Cleaner, Lavender - I mentioned the hand soap in last month's post, but goodness, I think the cleaner smells even better! In an attempt to buy only natural brands (more on that later) I picked this multi-surface cleaner up on the whim during a Target trip recently and now I want more!
  • 12-Cube Organizer - Matthew recently picked up this 12-cube organizer for my home office, but I think we have both decided that we want to do a small master closet makeover and put it in our closet. We were scheming up plans last night and I am beyond excited to start this project! We are going to get an 8-cube organizer for my office soon! 

 Clothing/Accessories

  • Easter dress - It is officially time to start looking for a Easter dress. Last year I had a blue and white dress, so this year I'm looking for something a little different! This dress and this dress are definitely on my radar. Easter is later this year, so I have a little more time to shop around. Any cute dress I need to see? Send them my way!!

Music


Priceless 
  • Planning out new house projects with Matthew
  • Planning some trips/vacations for this year!
  • Getting to watch my youngest sister's last basketball game
  • Celebrating our second married Valentine's Day together
  • The very mild winter we have had
  • Evening walk with Reagan


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Friday, February 24, 2017

FRIDAY VOL. 8

I literally lol'd at this when I saw it on my Facebook news feed the other day, so I felt the need to share with you all today!

Can y'all believe it's the last Friday in February? January always drags by so s-l-o-w and then February zips by so quickly every year, but I'm not complaining! Another month closer to SUMMER! I am so ready for some summer nights out on our back patio, and I am hoping to hang out bistro lights up out there somehow this year. Bistro lights are my absolute favorite.
Here is a picture of them on our apartment deck.

I think everyone (especially me lol) has talked about it this past week, but THE.WEATHER. 
It is supposed to be 80 today...and I could not be happier about that! Sadly, it's going to storm tonight and a cool front is moving in, so I am soaking up every second of this warmer weather today! The trees at work started blooming this week and there are buttercups popping up everywhere. 


Reagan is so excited for warmer weather and our nightly walks! She made sure to say hi to every neighbor out walking last night lol. 

Since it is going to be cooler this weekend I am making a big crock pot of chili Saturday night and we are hoping to have a lazy night in, probably with the fire going since it will be in the 20's tomorrow night (are you tired of me complaining about the cooler weather coming this weekend yet?? ;))

Happy Friday, friends!


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Thursday, February 23, 2017

MEETING EMILY LEY

I have been a big fan of Emily Ley for a long time. I remember my freshmen year of college finding her blog. I read and read and read tons of her posts. I became obsessed with her products and even woke up super early the day her Simplified Planner was released to purchase one before they sold out! I loved seeing her posts on social media and remember following along through her infertility struggles, and then pregnancy with her twins. So when my sister and I found out that Emily Ley was coming to Nashville for a book signing for her new book, Grace, Not Perfection, we could not sign up to go quick enough!



The book signing was at Parnassus Books here in Nashville and they had it set up very nicely for the event. Before the actual book signing began Emily did a Q&A session and we got to catch the tail end of that. It was nice to hear her perspective on some things and she was really encouraging to everyone that asked questions. When it was our turn to have our books signed she told my sister, Mady, that she almost named her daughter Madison and she complimented me on my vest which lead to talk of our love for vests lol. 



I'm not sure why, but when we arrived at the bookstore I immediately got nervous, which is really weird, I know lol but I was. Turns out I had nothing to be nervous about, Emily Ley was incredibly nice, down to earth, and very friendly! If she ever does a book signing in your area I highly recommend going if you can. It was a fun night and I'm so glad we got to go and listen to her and meet her.

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Wednesday, February 22, 2017

WHAT'S UP WEDNESDAY | FEBRUARY 2017


ONE | What We're eating this week...
Funny, I posted that on Monday! You can see what we have meal planned for this week, here!

TWO | What I'm reminiscing about...
Our honeymoon and cruise...it has been warmer the past couple of days here and it's making me excited for summer coming up and some trips we are wanting to take this year! Literally wanting to use my packing list that I made ASAP...I do believe I have the travel bug!

THREE | What I'm loving...
THIS diffuser. I love it so much I have one for at home and one for my desk at work, ha! 
It's the perfect size and I'm obsessed. 


FOUR | What we've been up to...
I went to Murfreesboro this past weekend and watched my sister's last basketball game and then had lunch with my mom and sisters, my dad was at work. Sunday we had lunch with my in-laws, and this week we have been working and going to bed somewhat early...woo hoo for early bed times!

FIVE | What I'm dreading...
Nothing! 

SIX | What I'm working on...
Organizing our house...little by little, it is getting done and it feels great! I'm not following a specific schedule, just doing what I feel like, when I have the time.

SEVEN | What I'm excited about...
Matthew's birthday is next month and I have just about nailed down his birthday plans! I love celebrating him. And my new car! My dad works at Nissan so I am able to participate in the employee discount lease (which I am extremely grateful for!!) and my new car should be ready any week now. I am getting a Juke this time and I am so excited! Anyone drive a Juke? They are just the cutest!!

EIGHT | Watching I'm watching/reading...
We are almost finished with Gilmore Girls, which I'm really bummed about lol and I am almost finished with Emily Ley's book!

NINE | What I'm listening to...
Don't laugh...I'm still listening to The Sound of Music soundtrack...#noshame

TEN | What I'm wearing...
I have been able to wear a couple of short sleeved shirts this week (with a light jacket/rain jacket) because it has been so warm!

ELEVEN | What I'm doing this weekend...
Reagan is getting groomed bright and early Saturday morning- girl needs it bad! I am hoping to get on a 6 week schedule with her groomers! 

TWELVE | What I'm looking forward to next month...
Like I mentioned up there...Matthew's birthday, another month closer to summer (hello warm weather and pool time!), maybe a couple of new house projects??  And being another month closer to the end of Matthew's busy season! #Imarriedanaccountant #averyhandsomeaccountant 

THIRTEEN | What else is new...
We hung up some curtains in our dining room that I am in love with. I'll share them later this week or early next week, but all I have to say is...buffalo check is my new favorite. 

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Tuesday, February 21, 2017

7 DAY PACKING LIST | PRINTABLE

I love traveling, and oddly enough, I love packing. Matthew loves that I love packing (lol) and usually leaves the packing up to me. I'll ask him what outfits he wants me to pack and then add that to my packing list on my phone. Whether it be a weekend trip or week long trip, I always try to make a packing list to help keep me organized and so I don't forget anything. Usually that list is on my phone and while it's handy to have on my phone I really like being able to write things out and physically cross them off. Same way with my daily lists that I make (#OCDforever). So I created this packing list for when we go on trips and wanted to share with you all! It's for a 7 day trip, but if our trip is shorter (which it usually is) then I just use the amount of days that is needed for that trip. Once I have our bags packed then I lay this on top of our clothes, for reference when we get to our destination, and zip everything up and we're ready to go!

Special note: This is for one person. I use one of these for me and one of these for Matthew. Also, now that we have a sweet puppy I have a packing list for her as well that I'll be sharing soon. There is nothing worse than getting somewhere and realizing you forgot your dog's favorite treats. ;)

I also recently bought these travel bottles that I am pretty excited about using on our next trip. 
They may or may not already be labeled...
#OCDforever


Do you create a packing list when you go on trips?


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Monday, February 20, 2017

WHAT WE'RE EATING THIS WEEK

One of my favorite bloggers, Katie, did a post like this a couple of weeks ago and I thought it would be fun to do one too. So here's what we're eating this week!


I blogged about how we meal plan last year, and here is a quick look at our week!

On Sundays I try to cook a whole thing of turkey bacon or breakfast sausage patties to save time during the week, and all I have to do is cook the eggs in the morning. If we're having hard boiled eggs then I usually fix those the night before too. Side note about breakfast: I used to rarely fix breakfast during the week (#wifefail). We would just eat a nutri grain bar, yogurt, or nothing at all. That left us really hungry by time lunch rolled around so we would eat lunch super early which then left us STARVING around 4 in the afternoon. We usually don't eat dinner until around 6 or after (even later during Matthew's busy season). So it was one of my goals for this year to start making breakfast for us or having a breakfast option that would fill us up (and healthy snack options for the afternoon!). Some weeks I do really well with this and some weeks I really suck at it still, so it is definitely a work in progress lol. I have found that fixing the whole pack of turkey bacon or breakfast sausage on Sunday nights helps a ton with this! Sometimes I make a bunch of breakfast burritos and freeze them until we're ready to eat them, this helps a lot too. 

Usually our dinners make enough for leftovers and we eat those the next day for lunch. If it doesn't make enough then I'll just throw us a pb&j sandwich together or we'll grab something out. Last night I tried a new homemade spaghetti sauce recipe and it was delicious! It also made enough for a small army, so we'll be eating spaghetti for a couple of days lol. Next time I make it I am going to save half and freeze it.


Monday | Waffles and turkey bacon...I always end up making too many waffles so we'll eat those later in the week for breakfast!

Tuesday | Tacos and rice...Taco Tuesday is very much a thing in our home.  I do try to mix it up and do crock pot chicken tacos some weeks, This week though, it's regular tacos! A lot of times I'll just eat a cheese quesadilla and fix Matthew tacos. You just can't beat a cheese quesadilla lol.

Wednesday | Crock pot sausage and cheese tortellini soup....Hands down one of our favorite meals. We could eat this for days...and that's exactly we do! This recipe makes plenty and there is always leftovers. I like to do quick and easy meals on Wednesdays since we have church on Wednesday nights, so we usually do a crock pot meal, breakfast foods, or grilled chicken, a vegetable and brown rice. We haven't had this meal in a few weeks so tortellini soup it is ;)

Thursday | Leftovers....Usually one night a week we leave open for leftovers, I.hate.throwing.out.food. So I always try to leave one night available for leftovers, if closer to time I see we don't have as many leftovers as I thought then I'll do another crock pot meal with items already in the pantry and frozen chicken (I like to keep a 5lb bag of frozen chicken in the freezer at all times for these kinda nights!) or I'll pull out some grilled chicken from the freezer (Matthew grilled a few pounds of chicken a few months ago that we keep in the freezer for quick and easy meals) and fix some brown rice to go with it. 

Friday | Crock pot pork chops, green beans, and brown rice...We have some pork chops in the freezer that we bought a few months ago on sale, so I found this recipe on Pinterest and I'm excited for us to try it!

What are y'all having this week for dinner?

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Friday, February 17, 2017

FRIDAY VOL. 7


This video is the cutest thing I have seen on the internet in awhile. I've watched it like 5 times lol the dads are adorable and you can tell they are trying so hard...adorable. 


And this adorable face melts me, even if it looks like she's missing an eye lol. T-8 days until she gets groomed again! She learned how to go down the stairs this week (which is a big deal in our house lol) and she lost another tooth! Girl is growing up...wahhh 😭

She's also single ;) she decided that she wanted to lay on our bathroom counter yesterday morning instead of in my lap while I did my makeup...it's Reagan's world and we're just living in it ;) 
Don't worry I wiped down the sink after I got her off lol. 

There is so much sickness going around that they are closing schools, it's crazy! 
Seriously, look at all the schools that are closed

I didn't get a chance to organize anything around the house last weekend, which is exactly why I'm not following a specific schedule, but I'm hoping to tackle a few projects this weekend. My organization board on Pinterest gives me plenty of motivation!



I made two new recipes for dinner this week that were really good and left me feeling like super wife..it didn't last too long though, I realized we had nothing for lunch a couple of days this week. #wifefail

I have been on a Sound of Music high every since we saw it live Tuesday night, and I have been listening to this playlist on Spotify all week. It may or may not be driving Matthew crazy lol. I can't help it though, I'm obsessed. Julie Andrews, I love you. 


Happy weekend, friends! 

We are making homemade pizzas tonight and there is a possibility that some Mexican train will be played as well...yay!
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Thursday, February 16, 2017

VALENTINE'S DAY | HOME TOUR

It's no secret that I love decorating. I love the pops of color for each season and trying to get creative with things we already have and then finding a few new pieces that are within budget. And a lot of that comes from the good ole Target dollar section, ha! I don't decorate the whole house for each season, but I love adding some seasonal decor to the areas we are in the most, which would be the kitchen and living room. So here is our home decorated for Valentine's....

The living room
 I picked up the heart doilies at Dollar Tree and already had some red and white twine that I thread through them to make a cute and really cheap banner! The only thing with the doilies is that the heat from our fire place made them crinkle up a bit....as you can tell in the picture below, so I just took a few more doilies and put behind them to make them thicker and that helped for the most part! A few crinkled hearts didn't bother me too bad lol.

 The kitchen 

So, so excited to update this chalkboard every season or for special occasions!
Our coffee bar even got a small touch!
 My absolute favorite milk glass dish, ever. It was used in our wedding and I think it will always have a home on our kitchen table. I love filling it with small seasonal decor (lemons in the summer, pumpkins in the fall, pine cones or ornaments at Christmas, etc.). 
I LOVE IT.
And I found this sign at Dollar Tree that I threw up on the door in the hall way.

And our dining room...I shared our Valentine's Day tablescape, here.


That's it! Just a few small touches can make such a big difference. We are keeping all things red and pink up until the end of the month and then it's all things SPRING!

And since everyone should have already received their Valentine's card, we sent this to all of Reagan's puppy friends lol.
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Wednesday, February 15, 2017

VALENTINE'S DAY | 2017

Our second married Valentine's Day is in the books and it was so sweet and fun, and since this is my online scrapbook/diary I wanted to document it.

I loved seeing everyone's Valentine's Day posts yesterday, they were all so sappy and sweet and I LOVED them! I had planned on waking up early and making Matthew a special Valentine's Day breakfast, but our alarm didn't go off for some reason so we over slept a little bit, so sadly we didn't have time for a breakfast together. I told him I would make it up to him this weekend! 

After work Matthew picked me up at my office and our best friends, Ethan and Rachel, met us as well and we all headed to dinner. Matthew and Ethan got together back before Christmas and planned to take me and Rachel to see the play, The Sound Of Music, at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) here in Nashville on Valentine's Day. So when I opened my stocking on Christmas I found the tickets and we have been counting down the days since then!

We ate at Amerigo, a delicious Italian restaurant, that we all love (and go to often lol) for dinner and then headed downtown for the play. Rachel's mom was able to get us a parking pass in the parking garage (for free!) right across from TPAC, which was absolutely great because it was pouring down rain after the show. We had plenty of time after dinner before the show started so we walked around the capitol hotel/building and grabbed a few pictures!

The play was absolutely incredible and now I want to watch the movie again! I could not get over how beautiful the backdrops were throughout the entire show. I love The Sound of Music movie with Julie Andrews, and now that I have seen the play I love it even more. I also want to watch the one that Carrie Underwood did a few years ago. 

It was a wonderful show and we had the best time! Matthew gave me a beautiful necklace for Valentine's Day and I gave him a new phone case and new toiletry bag. Matthew definitely went with a traditional Valentine's Day gift and I went for the more practical-non-romantic gift this year lol.

I love you always and all ways, Valentine!

Valentine's Day | 2016
Valentine's Day | 2014 
Valentine's Day | 2013
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Tuesday, February 14, 2017

VALENTINE'S DAY: A LOOK BACK

Today marks mine and Matthew's 7th Valentine's Day together and I thought it would be fun to look back on our previous Valentines together.

We started dating in May of 2010, so our first Valentine's Day that we celebrated together was in 2011. It was my senior year of high school and I was still living at home and Matthew was in his freshmen year of college, living in Cookeville. After Matthew's classes he drove and hour home and took me out to dinner, and I think we went to see a movie but I can't remember, and then he drove an hour back that night because he had class the next morning. It was so fun to see him on a week night, because during that time we only saw each other on the weekends.
2011

In 2012 I was still living at home and Matthew drove home from Cookeville again. We went out to dinner and then to the movies to see The Vow. I also made him a no-bake cheesecake. He said he loved it but I tried it and it was pretty gross lol.
2012

The next year was my last Valentine's Day at home and Matthew's last year of having to drive an hour to take me out! We went to dinner and then saw Safe Haven (one of my absolute favorite movies).
2013

The next year I was living in Cookeville with two of my friends from church. Matthew and I went out to dinner in Cookeville and then went back to my apartment and I made him dessert, oreo pie, and we watched a movie. The next day I went over to Matthew's apartment and we left bright and early for a day trip to Chattanooga. It was a really fun day and I'll always remember our spontaneous day trip that year!
2014

Sadly, I don't think I got a picture of us on Valentine's Day in 2015, or if I did I can't find it. We were knee deep in wedding planning so I remember we kept it very low-key. 

Last year was our first married Valentine's Day! It landed on a Sunday so we celebrated with a fancy dinner out on Friday night, where I had the best steak of my entire life. Matthew woke up early on Sunday morning and made me the cutest breakfast in bed before church.
2016

And this year, we get to celebrate with this sweet girl!

Happy Valentine's Day, friends! 
I hope whatever you do today or whoever you celebrate with that you feel loved!
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