Tuesday, January 31, 2012

"Nice wig Janice, what's it made of?"

I never sit down at my computer knowing what I'm going to type out for my next blog post. I don't really plan them, I don't really ponder over them, I just write whatever comes to mind and this, my friends, is a perfect example. 

While skimming through some of my favorite blogs that I follow, I came upon Just.Lovely.Things blog post about a girl that she might have had a mean moment with in high school. This girl, 15 years later on one of her shops Facebook wall post, was hateful to her saying that she was a different person on her blog then she was in real life.  In her blog post called "And we all grow up..." she talks about how in high school she was one person...but then she grew up and became a whole different person.

And it got me thinking about the person I was in high school and the journey I have gone on to become the woman I am today.

Now, all my college besties will laugh and tell you that from some of the stories I have told them I was indeed a high school "mean girl".

And maybe they are right.

Maybe I did judge people too quickly off what they looked like or acted like.
Maybe I did gossip a little more than I should have.
Maybe I did give people looks when they were acting "blonde" for attention, when in fact they were brunette and in the top ten of our graduating class.
Maybe I was too exclusive with all my friends.
Maybe I didn't stick up for people when I should have.

But wanna know the beauty of it all??

WE ALL GROW UP. 

I don't really know when it happened. I like to think my attitude did a 180 when I went stepped onto OBU's campus. 

For once- I was the new girl. I was the girl who didn't have friends. I was the girl panicking at lunch because I had nobody to sit with. 

And let me tell you- It was a humbling experience.

Now don't worry- Eventually I made friends. I had my wonderful roommate and suite mates but it wasn't until I pledged The Woman of EEE ( remember I went to a tiny school in Arkansas where they had "social clubs" and not "sororities") did I really understand what it meant to love somebody without judging them first. 

Pledge week is a scary/ beautiful thing because it FORCES you out of your comfort zone, it forces you to interact with people you normally wouldn't have in high school or in any other situation. It forces you to LOVE 37 girls that you have never seen in your life while being sleep deprived and covered in glitter and glue from head to toe.

You get to know girls that maybe wouldn't have fit into your tiny group of high school friends. You get to know girls that have nothing in common with you, but you learn to love what they love anyway. 

So yes, I am proud to say that I am not the girl I was in high school. Sure, I still have a lot of the same obnoxious qualities ( I am still a loud person....and I still act like a 13 year old when I get around my old best friends) but I like to think that now I give people a chance before I write them off. 

I look at them with different eyes than before. 

I try and look at people through His eyes.




How have you changed since high school? 

Friday, January 27, 2012

Adventures of a Nugget.

So many of y'all know- I got the cutest puppy in the entire world a couple days before Christmas-
 Sadie Swift Toney.

And she has stolen my heart. <3 <3

....and taken over my photo album on my phone.

So today, I decided to dump share some of those photos with you.

These are a series of pictures that I like to call

Adventures of a Nugget.



Every morning, Sadie helps Mom put on her makeup. She's such a good helper. 


This is look I get when I tell her "No little nugget- Blush brushes are not for eating." 

Uhhh why mom? I likes the ways they taste!


Sadie is learning how to sit in her own seat in the car...Because yes, Sadie goes everywhere with me. I am THAT dog owner. Don't judge.


This is Sadies BFF for life- Jesse. They like to lick each others mouths and sniff each others butts. Like I said- BFF for life.



Sadie enjoys mornings with mommy before she has to leave for work. 


Me and the hubs are trying to leash train lil nugget butttttt her feet get tired about half way around the park and dad decides to carry her like a sacrificial lamb. Totes normal.


This is also totes normal. Me in Sadies bed with her. Just a typical night at my parents house :) 


Happy Friday. We made it to the weekend. *sigh*


Tuesday, January 24, 2012

FREE Valentines Day Printable!


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Valentines Day is just around the corner and its time to spruce up your desk area, dorm room or home with a FREE printable from Red Robe Designs!


One of my favorite childhood movies was Little Rascals. Don't hate.


My friend Casey and I would sit in front of her TV for hours watching it over and over until we fell asleep, and now I find myself quoting this movie all the time with my husband.

So enjoy this fun printable featuring one of my personal favorite Little Rascals quotes :)









Thursday, January 19, 2012

Sarah Barnett- Save the Date Design!


One of my most favorite things to design for people are Wedding Save the Dates!! For a lot of engaged couples- sending them out to friends and family is one of the first steps in the crazy wedding planning process...and I absolutely love being apart of it!!

I recently did a Save the Date design for one of my former Miss Arkansas buddies- Sarah Barnett :) Sarah and I  competed together two years in a row and I loved getting to know her during that time! Now she is getting married to a lucky guy named Kevin on June 9th of this year! yay! Here is her 4x6 Save the Date postcard:











Friday, January 13, 2012

Out for the count.

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I have been in a fog all day long. Everything I try to do ends up being interrupted by watery eyes hindering me to see my computer screen and ultimately accomplish anything. I’ve even gone against my number one pet peeve in life- Blowing your nose in public. But today- I am sick and my coworkers had to deal.

These are the moments in life when I miss college the most.

Waking up at 9:45 for a 10AM M, W, F class that only took 10 minutes to walk to (which yes,  only left me 5 minutes to shove my hair in a polo baseball hat and walk out the door) and thinking “It’s pouring outside…. I think ill take a rain check from school today” or “I feel like I just got ran over by a semi truck….Sick day it is!”, and walking right back into my dorm room and into my fluffy warm bed only to sleep the day away.

Long gone are those days. 

While you are in college, they prepare you and give you the knowledge on getting that interview, landing that perfect job and depositing that fat paycheck twice a month, but not the “simple things” in life like the following…

  • Waking up at 6AM so you can fight morning traffic to make it to work at 8AM.
  • Sitting behind a desk from 8-5 with minimal body movement while your coworkers shoot nerf gun darts at your head.
  • Not having Christmas break, spring break or a summer break (unless you are a lucky duck teacher!)
  • How coffee is going to become something you drink all day, everyday.
  •  How printers jams are going to take off 5 years of your life
  • That your coworkers become your dysfunctional adopted family
  • Sick days are not an option anymore in January since you only have 3 per year
  • Finding a close parking space after lunch is like finding the lost city of Atlantis.
  • How your morning conversations will consist of your coworkers cats health issues and them demonstrating the “hacking of the hairball” sound they make in the middle of the night.
  • And how your eyes will start to blur around 3 PM from starring at a computer screen all day.
So I will continue to sit here blowing my nose a hundred more times and be thankful that Jesus gives us a weekend to rest and recover before another work day hits us square between the eyes!

WAIT WAIT...Before you go!

Go check out my guest blog and free printable over at my friend Madalines blog

ALSO

my other friend Caroline is doing a fun Valentines Day swap! Come check it out  and join the fun!!
You won't regret it! :)

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Y'all have a blessed weekend!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Ready....Set.....Get Healthy.

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As I sit here typing- I have my Starbucks "protein meal" starring up at me waiting to be eaten for my first "healthy breakfast" of the new year. It's filled with apples, grapes, peanut butter, apple slices as well as a hard boiled egg. And ill be honest with all of you....


Chickfila chicken mini's are still WAY tastier. 

But yesterday, Tyler and I said that we would start eating healthier. This is in no way a "New Years Resolution" because in all truthfulness- Who really looks back in December and says to themselves "Wow I'm so glad I made that resolution in January and lost 20 pounds and ran 4 marathons" 

I will answer that question for you.

Nobody.

But for some reason- starting a diet or getting up the energy to go workout everyday IS a little easier when the rest of America is trying to do it as well. Come February the gyms won't be as packed and the drive through line at McDonalds will once again be a long one- But as for now..... We can at least TRY.

{So this is me starting to try.}

Over the last several months I have had a lot of people say to me "Well, you should be able to get in shape fast! You did pageants and did that all the time!"

And they are right. I did do that all the time. Diet and exercise was my life for the last 3 1/2 years of my college career. I know all the healthy tricks in the book. I know what foods to eat and when to eat them. And thanks to my wonderful Miss Arkansas trainer- I also now know a lot of fun and easy work outs to keep my interest in the gym. But here is the problem.

MOTIVATION.

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I am the worlds worst with finding every tiny excuse in the book for not going to the gym or to choose Subway over Chicken Express. But today hopefully all that changes!

So here's to you Starbucks protein plate. Lets do this.

What goals do you have for the new year and what do you do to keep yourself motivated? I love tips :)


Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Oh how very pinteresting!





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{This would be SUCH a cute idea for Save the Dates!!}

eat sign - kitchen sign - diner sign - retro sign - wood sign - wood word sign - forest green or you choose

{This is on my wish list for kitchen decor!}

Happy Travels inspirational quote print poster - 8x10

{Found this yesterday and I fell in the love with the quote!}


Custom Return Address Stamp // BRIGHT // hand calligraphy

{Finally caved in and purchase one for our home! Ive been eyeing this for awhile!}

Sticky Note Pad, Funny, "You Park Like An Idiot" (NSN-X018)

{You have no idea how many times I have wanted to purchase this notepad and actually USE it.}

Audrey Hepburn  Nothing is impossible,  the word itself says I'm possible  Vinyl Wall Quote

{For my study?? Shamaybe??}

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

I found my Santa Paws.



Its always sad for me to see all the Christmas decorations go down. For some reason the room always looks somewhat empty after shoving that tree into its cardboard box and sweeping up all the glitter from the ornaments and decorations. This year was me and Ty's very first Christmas as a married couple. Not only was the holiday that much more special because I got to share Christmas with TWO families that I love- but because I also got a...... {{drum roll please}}

 PUPPY!!

If you know me at all- You know that for the past several months I have had a bad case of puppy fever. I would sit on google all day and just type in the phrase "cute puppies" and swoon for hours over these adorable furry pets that I dreamed of having on day.

After work on Thursday (the 29th)- I came home and collapsed onto my bed. I was beyond ready for some R&R and a long weekend to sleep in and do nothing. Tyler had told me that morning that he was going to be home later since his work was having a Christmas cookout- so when he rolled in around 6:30 I didn't think too much about it. He walked into the bedroom- tossed a mailer envelope at me and said "Did you order something online again?" In my head I was thinking "crap I'm caught" UNTIL I noticed that the envelope wasn't from an etsy shop or one of my favorite department stores, but rather from the North Pole?!

I look up at Tyler and see that he is filming with his moms camera. I start to open the package and inside found a red collar with the name "Sadie" on it. Tyler had done such a good job of convincing me that I WASNT going to get a puppy for awhile that I still thought him giving this to me was one of his cruel jokes. He told me to go look around the house for her. Immediately, I figured out that it wasn't a joke and jumped out of my bed like lightening.  I ended up finding her in the guest bathtub snoozing away looking cuter than ever! I, of course, started crying and jumping up and down like I had just won a million dollars.

So enjoy a ton of pictures of my cute 7 week old black puppy lab... Sadie Swift Toney.










{She loves playing with Jesse! They are slowly becoming BFF's!}

I had the privilege of being a bridesmaid in one of my besties wedding on New Years Eve in Little Rock, AR! That night after her dinner rehearsal, all the girls headed back to the hotel to spend a little more time with the bride and shower her with more goodies :) Little did we know, the bride and another one of the bridesmaid had ANOTHER surprise for us! Not only was Kate getting married, but our best friend Brooke is PREGNANT! We are so excited for her and Warren and can't wait to start having baby showers watch Brooke's belly grow! :) Kate knew ahead of time and had this lovely cake made to announce the news to us. Sneaky sneaky... 


Last night, the whole Toney family plus Tylers grandparents and Paiges boyfriend Andrew, went to the Mavs game!! It was so much fun and I loved watching them pull a victory! And yes, I had my eyes glued to see Khloe Kardashian, but had no luck sadly. 





So now that you are all caught up on my life- How was  YOUR Christmas and New Years???