iPhone photo dump

My iPhone is filling up with fun photos that I have taken over the last month or so when I got it- I thought I would share a few of my favorites with ya'll =)

 Good times at tutoring

Me and Hubs at my sweet friend Natalie's rehearsal dinner 

Me and Nat at the bridesmaid luncheon, showing off the cute bag she gave us! 

Last day of tutoring... already miss them =( 

I finally beat my dad!! The one and only time haha

 Cute decor at my cousin's baby shower.. can't wait to meet baby Wes. 

 Centerpiece- it was so cute. 

Beautiful hydrangeas from my Aunt Jill's yard 

Ahhh this kitten! I wanna squeeze it it's so cute- at my Mimi's house.  

My little brother's awesome hair the other morning

Hubs at the beach... with his cousin's hair extensions in. Kinda scary.  

Beautiful sky that day...

Us at the beach =) 

The girls I nanny found these and we nursed them for a few days before their mom came back for them.

The girl's being nuts- this is the "Superman with a wave" 

You can't tell from this picture but they were coming full speed down a hill in this plastic wagon, lol 

My adorable new bike

Beautiful lilies in our backyard. Atleast, I think that's what they are. 

These are some of my faves... be back with another dump soon I'm sure. That sounded weird. Night!!

Trying to beat workout boredom...HELP!

Ok first off, has anyone seen Extreme Couponing? Holy Cow!  A marathon is on and a lady just had a 1,100 dollar purchase and with coupons spend $4.83. Really? She said it's her full time job and she spends 35 hours a week preparing, but has saved her family 60,000 dollars in the last year. New job idea anyone?

That totally had nothing to do with what I was gonna talk about today but I just can't stop watching!!

ANYWAY!

I have put on a few pounds since the wedding last year (more like a few times two). I am really not even concerned about the weight, more like being healthy and my clothes fitting how I like them =) So, I am doing a little research on different workout options to keep me from going into workout ruts like I have a tendency to do.

This week so far I have done two days of running from the Self running plan. Check it out here. Seriously it is great and anyone can do it- but before I have found myself doing it for about 6 weeks and then getting bored, so this time I am determined to switch up my other workouts enough to keep the boredom from creeping in.

This week for my cross training I did the Just Sweat program on the game Just Dance 2 for Wii. It was a blast!

For my strength training tomorrow I will be doing my Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD.

Next week I will be on week 3 of the running plan and for my cross training I plan to hit up my local Zumba class.

For my strength training day I am going to go to Body Pump at my gym.

Any other ideas? I am trying to add to my repertoire... 


Do you experience workout boredom easily?

Paradise on a porch

Everyone has their own vision of paradise... Some people might picture a beautiful, serene house up in the mountains (NOT me). Some people picture a fun and beachy house on the coast of somewhere beautiful. I picture this:

And I'm not just talking about the gorgeous view of the ocean... I am DEFINITELY including the porch swing beds. I have been thinking about these things ever since I laid on one a couple of months ago. I am almost afraid to get one because I am not sure I would ever come inside again. Especially if it was on the beach =)

Since that is not so realistic anytime soon, here are some other porch swing beds I found that I like:

I love the neutral color because you could adorn it with some amazing pillows and even change them as the seasons turn. The one in the above picture is from Pottery Barn.

This one is a little more funky and I am not sure I am crazy about the pattern but I love the huge ropes that hold it up.

I can't think of much I would rather do right now than curl up on one of these with my book, Sarah's Key, and a cold drink. Maybe even hubs by my side? I think one of these might be in our future, I mean we are thinking of redoing our back porch. Perfect opportunity right?

What do you think of porch swing beds? Is it worth the splurge?

Computer Issues

So Pat's beloved laptop charger finally bit the dust the other day (the electrical tape finally failed) and the new charger is in the mail right now. Who knew those suckers are like 70 bucks?! I will be able to resume regular posting when it arrives. My old laptop just isn't cutting it. It has taken me 20 minutes to type these four sentences because it just randomly decides to erase everything I typed. Be back tomorrow hopefully =)

I LOVE MY LITLE BROTHER <3

And by the way... he wrote that when I was out of the room but I totally agree =)

Currently

I love doing Currently posts and I haven't done one in awhile sooo.... here goes my current faves:

Current nail polish:

Sally Hansen Blu

Current music:


Adele, Dave Barnes, Britney, Nicki Minaj, Biebs- hahaha all depending on the mood =)


Current book:


Decision Points

Current food:


Uhhh been on antibiotics so I have been eaten the heck outta some yogurt. My new favorite kind:

Light and Fit Toasted Coconut Vanilla... yummm

Current TV show:


We have already discussed my ridiculous obsession with reality TV show sooo The Bachelorette is it right now. Also love Locked Up Abroad.


Current joys:


Marriage, family, cousin having a baby in July that I am SO excited about, the sweet girls I babysit everyday in the summer, getting ready to have my own classroom in August, and so much more!


Current needs:

A new head. SO sick of daily headaches. 

Current outfit:


Well at the moment  Under Armour tank and shorts because I just worked out. This tank is AWESOME.

Current wishlist:


Oh gosh... I don't NEED much of anything right now except some new gold sandals because mine broke the other day on the way into church (yes I walked around barefoot, it was tragic)

LOVE THESE but they are definitely just a "wish":

Tory Burch 

Kate Spade

But I will get these from Target and they are JUST as cute and very similar to the KS ones:

I am hoping for a new beach bag too because mine broke when we were at the beach last week! I had wayyyy too much stuff in there! I like these:

Sailor inspired from Etsy-

Calypso for Target-

Artist's tote at Anthropologie-

Current internet pictures:

Uhhh adorable...

Beautiful... love the simplicity

Why have I never tried this before? 

All images from weheartit

Current blessing:


Life itself! I am so thankful for my life, my husband, my family, my friends, my faith, and you guys!

xo

Reality Recap

I have this crazy addiction to reality TV... American Idol, Bacherlorette, Real Housewives, Biggest Loser, etc. You name it, I watch it.

So a "blog friend" does these hilarious recaps of the Bachelorette and I thought I would do one of my own from last night's episode. If you watch the show you will definitely be following me.  I actually typed this as I was watching the show- sorry if my thoughts seem a little scattered.

I will call this episode "Crying is not attractive". Quote straight from Bentley's mouth.

Ben, you poor little hopeless romantic, you actually have some decent dance moves! I think I’m adding “be part of a flash mob” to my bucket list. How freakin awesome. But how many times have you practiced that “live in a bubble with someone” speech and why did you think you would honestly make it come true on the Bachelorette?

Ashley honey, please stop saying so many sweet things about Bentley. You clearly do not know what he is saying about you. Here are some prime examples.

Top Bentley quotes:

“I can’t believe William just said that. I mean basically I feel the same way but I’m not gonna say that to her face”.

“I hate it when people cry. It’s not attractive at all”.

“I have been saying for a long time that she’s not my type. Just not feeling it.”

“These tools, these freakin idiots, they believe me”.

“I had the opportunity and I played everyone. That is something that has never been done before”.

“I came in thinking Ashley was not attractive at all and I knew I was not gonna fall in love with her”.

“Sooo… I’m gonna make Ashley cry”.

“I actually teared up a little bit. No tear like dropped but she was definitely buying it”.

“It’s just annoying to hold a girl that is just crying. And crying. And crying”.

Seems like a really nice guy huh?

Mask man, I have no words. Did you really think she couldn’t tell what you looked like with that tiny mask covering your nose and checks?

Roast the girl you are trying to date? Who came up with this plan? Horrible idea guys… don’t try this at home.

A roast recap:

Smart move Lucas, roast Buzz Lightyear and mask man and don’t roast the girl.

Blake is hot. And funny. Nice combo.

William, you feel bad about your roast? WELL YOU SHOULD! Jerk.

Bentley, Bentley, Bentley. You make me laugh. And feel terribly bad for anyone that has anything to do with your life. And you should be an actor.

Ashley your tears were a little extreme when Bentley left. I mean you have known him like a week. It’ll be okay honey. You have 17 other guys that actually like you.

J.P you are adorable. Ashley, if your reading this, even though you have already really picked- I suggest you pick J.P.

And girl, I know you are feeling so dumb right now as these episodes air and Bentley roasts you the whole time, but I’m just hoping you picked a good guy and are so happily in love that it’s not getting to you. Big wishes huh?

Can't wait for next week. Always a good time on The Bachelorette. Maybe I'll even do another reality recap?

My faves: J.P and Blake

J.P and Ashley- pretty presh

Blake, also pretty presh.

Not sure about: Pretty much all of the rest of them!

Do you guys watch reality TV fanatically?!

I close my eyes and I can see a better day

Like the Justin Bieber lyrics for the title? I swear I am 24.

I had this whole post done with all kinds of great items I have on my summer wishlist and the weirdest thing happened. I was overcome with guilt and erased the whole post! Let me explain.

My whole life I have been a very materialistic person. I grew up in a family where we could usually get what we wanted when we wanted it. Since getting married and living on a much tighter budget, I have learned a LOT about controlling my spending and shopping habits. But that's not all! I have been seeing so many examples lately that "money does not buy happiness".

When I was at the beach there was a day when I had a horrible headache. I laid in bed for about 5 hours before going to sleep that night and watched some mindless TV with my sister-in-law. We started watching The Real Housewives of Orange County. I was blown away by how miserable these women were with their lives. There they were with every material possession you can imagine... and they hate their lives. They are miserable in their marriages, miserable in their careers, miserable in their friendships, etc.

A few days later (yesterday) we attended our church for our first annual "Mission Sunday". Nassan Ibrahim, a former muslim from Uganda, was the speaker and it moved me. Really moved me. Did you know there are 40,000 people living in a refugee camp in Uganda in one huge crappy tent? They sleep in piles on the floor with no privacy and disease running rampant. Did you know it only takes 150 dollars for them to build a shack to house four of those people? 150 dollars. We spend that on shoes. Sick.

It took me back to highschool when I was blessed with the opportunity to go on two mission trips to Jamaica. I remember being blown away by the poverty and then blown away even more seeing how happy everyone was! Why are they so happy? They have nothing... I thought. I was so wrong. They had everything. A love and passion for life and the Lord and acknowledgement of the blessings He had given them.

Do those children look sad that they lived in a Salvation Army home in the poorest part of Jamaica? NO! They were happy to be alive and have people there to love on them. It truly paints a picture that love is greater than money.

We were so excited to hear all about Nassan's life and his ministry that we decided to go with our church to Uganda in 2012 to help out firsthand! Yayyy! Check out more on his ministry here.

So there you guys have it- July 2012 we will be spending time in a refugee camp in Uganda. I think I will close this out with an awesome picture I found on weheartit.

I'll choose love over money any day.