Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!! As usual, I'm super excited it's the weekend!  I love the extra sleep, quality time with my husband and getting stuff done around the house!

Can't wait to see this!  All the feels.

If you watched Titanic (which is everyone), please watch this video.  SO TRUE!!  #sharethedoorrose

I've watched it several times and cannot stop laughing!

Did you catch my January Book Review?  I read two very popular books right now and shared my thoughts!

I shared my Top 10 Organization Tips this week!  I love to organize and hope you can use some of these tips to stay more organized too!

I shared my Baked Ziti recipe this week!  It's a major favorite in our house so I hope you enjoy it too!

Hope you all have an amazing weekend!

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday lovelies!!

I'm so thankful it's Friday!  I'm keeping it real with you all today.   I'm exhausted.  For some reason my body decided about a week ago that it can't sleep more than a couple hours a night and I.am.so.tired.  This has been great for binge watching on Netflix but not so great for my mentality, alertness and productivity.  I have been keeping up with my healthy eating for the most part but I have not worked out at all.  Here's to hoping for some extra z's this weekend and lots of energy next week!

First things first, I love The Vampire Diaries! Yes, I know it's a teeny bopper show but I don't care.  I started watching it years ago and still love it.  The series finale is coming up and Nina Dobrev just announced that she will be returning for it!  So pumped!  I am currently binge watching the first 7 seasons again while I work which makes me even more excited to watch the final episodes!

I mentioned once before that I was cutting down to 4 days a week in my office at my full-time job.  While this has made my 4 days busier and more hectic, it has been totally worth it!  It's so nice having a day in our home office each week to work on our personal businesses, take care of things like prepping taxes and more!  I just finished redesigning our website which you can see here!  If I didn't have this time there is no way that would be finished yet.  You will also see an increase in better posts, photos and topics around here because I dedicate a little time that day to working on this space too!

Ignore the circles (#teamnosleep).  I'm loving my Shakeology shakes for breakfast even more this week because my tired brain can make them quickly and get out the door for work.

Be sure to check out yesterday's post where I showed you which watch I recently gifted my brother with & why!  It was definitely a favorite to be able to give him this gift & there's a giveaway opportunity at the bottom of the post!

I am helping my grandmother organize all our family photos and I found this gem of my brother and I on the farm when we were little.  We still look the exact same just taller!  We've always been country living people and always will be :)  So many great memories of growing up there! 

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Friday Favorites

Inauguration Day!!  If you're not a fan, skip to my next favorite but let's stay friends!  I'm so excited that today is finally here!  I do not agree with everything Trump has said or done but I am excited to have the Republicans back in the majority!  Even if you're not a fan, today is historical.  All inauguration days are!  I love the ceremony, speeches and the national pride they evoke.  I will be glued to the tv in my office taking it all in!  I have great hope for this administration and am excited to see them get started!  I will be praying for them each day and hope you will too!

We went to see this movie last weekend and it was SO GOOD!  It was emotional and hard to watch at times but when it was over I felt so proud of our country and Boston!  If you're looking for a good movie to watch I would highly recommend this one!

I posted a new vlog this week!  Check out my 5 Minute Makeup Routine!   Be sure to subscribe to my channel, let me know what you think & what other video topics you would like to see!

At the end of last year, I switched vehicles and my new one doesn't have Bluetooth capability.  We missed being able to listen to music off our phones in the car so I found bought this transmitter from Amazon.  I didn't know if it would work very well but it did!  We took a 2 hour road trip without having to adjust the radio station.  Plus, it has a charging port in it too!  I highly recommend this if your car isn't Bluetooth compatible.  Check it out here!

Cozy things are my absolute favorite right now!  I put together this collage of my favorite cozy items that are all ON SALE this week.  Be sure to check it out here!

Thank you to everyone that sent me your thoughts on a switch to Word Press!  I am probably going to make the switch in the coming months and can't wait to reveal a new layout, better photos & lots of new content!  Hope you all have an amazing weekend!

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!!

Due to some technical difficulties, this blog post is going up a little late!  Either way, I'm pumped it's the weekend but before it starts I have several great favorites to share with you!

Robe

Y'all I'm not a big proponent of splurging very often but if you like robes and cozy things and soft, plush comfort then this is made for you!  I have been living in this robe when I've been at home this week.  It keeps me warm, it's cute and it makes me feel like I'm constantly curled up in the softest blanket.  Treat yourself and get one or buy one as the perfect gift.

I started a new workout challenge group on Monday!  I'm doing the 21 day fix workouts every day and just trying to eat as clean as possible.  I'm not perfect though!  I drink Shakeology every day and just try to stick to the eating plan as much as I can.  I'm loving it so far!  Have you ever tried the fix?

Told y'all I was living in this robe.  I filmed a video on my 5 minute makeup routine the other day and as soon as I was done, the robe was back!  Be sure to subscribe to my channel and stay tuned for the video!  (In the meantime, check out my video on the Doterra essential oil kit I ordered for our house!) 

 Please let me know what other kinds of videos you want to see too!  My goal is to start posting at least one a week and I need to know what you all want to see!

Cooking Tips, Freezer Meals, Recipes, Home Tours, Closet Clean-outs, Fashion, Beauty/Makeup, Fitness, Travel, Budget, Shopping, Home Tips????  All suggestions on topics/content are very appreciated!

I'm still obsessed with this winter coat.  If you need one I highly recommend grabbing this one while it is on sale.  It's amazing!

My favorite snack right now! It's hard for me to get my protein containers in on the fix so I started eating peanuts with my apple in the afternoon and this might be my new favorite thing I eat all day.  It's the perfect mix of salty & sweet!

BLOGGER HELP

I am considering a move to WordPress and have some questions for those of you who have either done it or who thought about it and didn't do it.

1. Was it worth it?  Did you see your traffic increase?  Are the SEO plug ins as great as they claim to be?

2. Did you lose followers since your blog wouldn't be in the blogger reading list feed anymore?

3. Have you found it easy to use?

4.  If you did it, who do you recommend for design/templates?

Make sure you saw my other two posts this week!  Read about why I ordered a Doterra kit for our house here and see some of my favorite work wear on sale right now here!

Hope you all have an amazing weekend!  See you back here on Monday!

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!! It's so hard to believe it's already time for our first Friday Favorites of 2017!

This year has gotten off to a VERY busy start!  Between house projects, starting a new workout routine, our regular jobs and getting our personal businesses moving again in the new year, it has been a whirlwind!! Hope you all have had a great first week of the new year!

My first favorite this week is this coat!  I bought this on our Opryland Christmas trip and am in LOVE!  If you need a good winter coat, this one is on sale and so cute & warm.  I love that it's longer so when I bend over in it I don't get cold air up my back (please tell me y'all know what I'm talking about.  So. Annoying.) and I love the belt because it accents my waist and doesn't make me look like a big marshmallow! 

As I mentioned, I started a new workout routine this year and am loving it!  I started the 21 day fix on Monday and so far so good!  I love the workouts because they're only 30 minutes and I do them in the living room so I really have no excuse not to get them done.  Stay tuned for a results post!  You can see my 2017 goals post here and sticking to this plan is definitely on the list!

On Monday, we had the day off and we are SO tired of eating out from the holiday season.  Tired of eating processed food & tired of spending so much money on it.  Anyone else?  Not to mention I am working on getting in better shape and need to stick to the 21 day fix meal plan as much as possible.

We used to do freezer & crockpot meals all the time and it's amazing how much less we spent and how much healthier we were.  I spent all day Monday making up 22 freezer & crockpot meals and packaging up chicken & ground beef to use for other meals. 

Tip: brown 5 lbs. or more of ground beef at a time and freeze each pound in a quart freezer bag.  When you're ready to cook spaghetti, tacos, etc., you can just pull the cooked meat out, defrost it and then get to cooking.  This saves SO MUCH TIME and isn't that something we all need? 

I'm thinking about doing a YouTube video on how I meal plan & make all of these.  Anyone interested?

I am not a breakfast girl.  I like it on the weekends every once in a while or as a treat on vacation but I really just don't like to eat a bunch of food first thing in the morning.  I'm also running around the house like a crazy person in the mornings trying to get to work and never have time to make breakfast.  When I started the 21 day fix, I decided to give the Shakeology drinks a try and guys, I'm hooked.  It's kind of pricey but it breaks down to like $4 a day which is less than most people spend on Starbucks.  I'm loving it because I can just blend it up on my way out the door in the morning.  This is making me less crazy and less hungry.  Definitely a favorite this week!!

Other favorites:

- All our tv shows are coming back on! Yay!

- The energy the new year brings that keeps me cleaning out drawers, accomplishing all those "another day" projects & more.

- My first Doterra essential oils order came in!  Stay tuned for a video about that!

- Looking forward to the weekend with my husband!

- I made up a new recipe this week.  Two words: taco lasagna.  Holy yum!  Y'all are going to love this recipe!  I can't wait to share :)  It's healthy, filling & doesn't taste healthy at all.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday lovelies!!

Can you believe it's only 9 days til Christmas?!!  So crazy!!  We have a few little gifts to pick up and some grocery shopping to do but we're pretty much ready to go.  The next 9 days for us are going to be packed full so we're just going to dive in and enjoy all the Christmas festivities :)

One of my favorite parts of Christmas is enjoying all the decorations around our house.  Make sure to check out our Christmas Home Tour!

I'm already excited to shop the day after Christmas for more decorations for next year :)  You can find the best bargains on items to pack away and use next year.

One of my favorites right now are my favorite Christmas sheets!  I have this set on our guest bed and the snowglobes in our bedroom!  We aren't flannel sheet people (too hot!) and these were the only regular sheets I could find with a Christmas theme & we love them!!

An absolute FAVORITE this week was helping my grandparents put up their tree!  We had such a special night spending time together and putting their tree together.  Time with them is absolutely precious and I'm so thankful for these two amazing souls.  My grandparents and I are indescribably close.  We talk every day and hang out all the time!  I was with them all the time growing up, we've traveled together more times than I can count, and I lived with them for 3 years after college when I moved back to town until Jared and I were married.  I am so blessed to have them both and it was so fun to spend a night getting in the Christmas spirit together!

Another major favorite this week was celebrating my Dad & Darlene's birthdays!!  We are so spoiled, loved and taken care of by these two and it was nice to spoil them for a night.  They are always there for us with the best advice, a good laugh and immeasurable support.  SO, SO thankful. 

Other Favorites:

- If you can't tell, one of my absolute favorites right now is family!  I am truly blessed with the most amazing family and I do not take that for granted. 

- I'm loving the view of all the pretty presents under our tree!  The piles will start dwindling after our first celebration on Sunday so I'm loving the way our tree looks right now.

- Hallmark.  Hallmark Christmas movies make me so happy & they are knocking it out of the park with the new ones this year!

- I'm finally feeling better!!  After being sick for 10 days, I'm finally feeling on the mend. 

- We went to see Office Christmas Party last night and it was crude but pretty funny!

Hope everyone has the most amazing weekend!! We've got Christmas lights, movies, shopping, church, football & our first Christmas celebration on the agenda!



Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!!

It has been a long week full of sickness in our house so we are very much looking forward to this weekend for some resting & recovery time!  Even though we've been feeling rough, there have definitely still been some favorites worth sharing!

I'm hiring myself out as a gift wrapper this year and these are some gifts I did for one of my commercial clients the other day!  I love how they turned out!

Love sitting on the couch at night looking at our tree!! I can't wait to share our Christmas home décor post with you next week!

One of the partners at our office parents house is like a Christmas magazine.  Seriously, she does like 25 Christmas trees.  It's gorgeous & crazy and she makes most of the decorations herself!  My grandmother, stepmom & mother-in-law all went with me to check it out!

Are you all watching this show?!  When Jared first told me it was coming out, I was all yeah yeah yeah no original ideas anymore and it can't be as good as the movies. I. Was. Wrong.  It is so good & so funny!  This and Designated Survivor are probably my two favorite shows right now!

  Other favorites this week:

- Have you seen all the news coverage about the fancy rock in a leather pouch that Nordstrom is selling?  I love Nordstrom but people who buy stuff like that are crazy.  You can sell some people anything.

- We had both sides of our family over for an early Christmas celebration last weekend & I can't wait to share the pictures.  Dinner for 14 was a big undertaking but we all had such a good time!

- I started my 4 day work schedule this week.  Unfortunately, I was sick my first day off and couldn't do much but I'm excited for all I'll be able to get done going forward!

- I love the end of the year because it gets me in planning and organization mode.  New to-do lists, new planner, new office supplies.  Love love love!



Have you checked out my other posts this week?!

San Antonio

Magnolia Market in Waco

AT&T Stadium Tour

Dallas Cowboys Game Day

Be sure to visit again next week when I'll wrap up our last day in Texas, share our holiday décor and start sharing my gift guides for the holidays!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Friday Favorites

We had to take a short road trip yesterday for an appointment and I loved this book so much I finished it on the trip!  I will talk more about it in my December book review but if you want an uplifting read on God's faithfulness (exactly what I needed) then this one is for you! 

Thanksgiving weekend with these peeps was a definite favorite!!

I recapped day one of our trip to Texas this week!! Reminiscing on our day in Houston was definitely a favorite this week.

Other favorites:

- I'm getting my hair cut today because I.Can't.Take.It.Anymore.  I stuck it in a bun this morning because I just couldn't even handle the thought of dealing with it today.  I've noticed this is now a trend.  I started looking back at pictures to get an idea of the exact length I wanted and realized that I chop my hair off every year in the last week of November or first of December lol.  Maybe this is my personal holiday beauty tradition.

- We are having our families over this weekend for a pre-Christmas celebration and we can't wait!

 

- We have a double date planned tonight with one of my bridesmaids I haven't seen in way too long and I'm super pumped!

- Cowboys are 11-1. Enough said.

- Answered prayers have happened this week and I'm so thankful. 


Hope everyone has a great weekend!!