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Monday, August 13, 2012

Peppermint Nails??

Well, I was actually attempting to do cheetah or leopard print nails (the nail/blog world tends to combine and/or confuse the two), but this was the first time I've tried this kind of pattern, and it's not so easy. I looked up a couple of tutorials online, and the directions all seemed fairly simple to follow. (They went something like this: paint base coat, dot each nail, draw half C's on each side of dots. Easy right?!) Not so much for me apparently.

As far as following the directions goes, I technically did it all correctly. They just turned out a little bit funky. I'm thinking it has something to do with the colors I chose. BUT, I saw other pink options and thought it'd be cute, but I might have been a bit mistaken. Because now it looks slightly like little peppermints or something on my nails. All-in-all, I don't hate them, but I'm definitely not super proud of them either.

This is what I was going for...

Picture from Google Images
And here's mine...


I'm thinking if I want to try this again, I'll do a more "traditional" black/gold/white/silver-ish kind of color scheme, and see how that turns out instead...

Picture found on Google, from HERE

Jeff doesn't think mine look like peppermints, because "peppermints are actually spiral, and you just have some equal signs around your dots." I mean, I guess he's right, but still. I showed my aunt my nails at lunch today, and without telling her what they were supposed to be or even what I thought they looked like, she also said they looked like peppermints! So there.

Paint night with my youth group is this Wednesday, so I'm sure they'll get crazy chipped and messed up during all the fun painting and messy festivities. Then after that I suppose I'll try something else! But for now, I'm rockin my peppermint nails for a few days.

And this is Nail Art #1 of my 10 different attempts before turning 25! (If you haven't read my Pledge of 25 Before 25, go back HERE and do so.)

Love to everyone, and happy Monday. Hopefully you've all made it through...

Also, this is my first link up for "Mani Monday" and if it goes well, I'll link up with these lovely ladies more often!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Pledge

Ya know what I just realized? In a little less than six months (July 29th would have marked exactly six months away), I will be a quarter of a century old. Whoa! Twenty-five sounds so grown up and adult-like, don't you think? In honor of this upcoming momentous birthday occasion, I've created a "25-Before-25" list of all the things I'd like to accomplish before then.

Now I have just slightly under six months to cross off all of these things. I know I've made lots of lists of goals and stuff before (ONE, TWO and THREE), but I'm super duper serious about this one. I also tried really hard to make them completely feasible, so hopefully I can actually cross off all 25 things by January 29, 2013!

*I made this little photo banner below using PicMonkey, and I'm kind of loving it. I'll be re-using it whenever I blog my updates on the accomplishments of the list below. Yay for PicMonkey!*



1. Visit 10 different Florida State Parks with Jeff, using our annual pass (2 down so far)
2. Weigh 180, or less if I'm ambitious enough! :)
3. Explore 3 towns nearby
4. Try 6 new restaurants (or food trucks) in Tallahassee (final restaurant eaten at on 12.14.12)
5. Complete a Couch-2-5K program
6. Read 6 books (finished 1.17.13)
7. Hang picture frames up in my room (that I've had sitting around forever)
8. Maintain both bank accounts at $_,000 (12.14.12)
9. Complete Jillian Michaels' 30-Day Shred DVD
10. Try 10 different nail art designs - not just polka dots! (last one done on 12.6.12)
11. Ride entire length of St. Marks' Trail at once, aka 16 miles (farthest at time of posting is 14.5 or so)
12. Bike 200 miles total between now and January 29
13. Have weekly Bible study with high school girls from youth during the fall
14. Reach 10,000 views and 200 posts (currently at 5728 views at time of posting & 139 posts) (11.6.12)
15. Try geocaching with Jeff
16. Memorize a new scripture passage every month
17. Seriously think about a career, not just a job
18. Start learning guitar (Attempted it 10.6.12)
19. Do something I've never done before (Not going into details, but if you email me, I'll tell ya. Hint- it's funny!)
20. Actually make, create or do things from my Pinterest pins (Made 6-7 recipes, all by mid-October!)
21. Go camping again
22. Update my resume CHECK. (Finished 8.28.2012)
23. Plan one real date night every month with my sweet boyfriend
24. Blog honestly about my entire weight loss journey (that starts with the admission of weight goal in #2)
25. Make list for big, long-term goals for 30 Before 30

*Changed #1 from 15 parks down to 10, when realizing it's only 6 months. I do however want to visit about 20 state parks before next May, when our pass expires. Also changed numbers 4 and 6 so that it would essentially be one new restaurant/book each month.*







(I can NOT figure out why those photos of me are blurry now once uploaded to Blogger, but I worked so hard to take pictures of myself, that I'm leaving them on here anyways, so there...)

So that's that. I'm excited to get going on some of these things! I think it's a good mix of personal, fun, healthy, crafty, adventurous, and do-able goals. I plan on getting some of that photo mat stuff to frame the list, put it in an open frame and hang it up at home. That way I can physically cross each thing off the list. My Pledge is to try my darnedest to accomplish all 25 of these things. And you can be sure I will be blogging my progress along the way. So here we go, and wish me luck!!

25 Before 25 is officially underway.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Pocketful of Sunshine

Remember all those things I was looking forward to from this past weekend? Well they certainly didn't disappoint, and I had an excellent couple of days. Here's my recap...

On Saturday, I went to St. George Island State Park with Jeff, his cute twins, his Mama, and his Granny. We packed a cooler full of yummy food, fruit, juice boxes and sodas, along with a bag of chips and snacks. We also brought a ton of beach "supplies" with us. I mean, check out our amazing umbrella paradise with all of our stuff's right there...!!









Then Saturday night was our Awaken service at church. Once again, it was a great service, and I am really starting to look forward to and love this time of simple worship with my faith family at Bradfordville. And look at the awesome "set" our student pastor Chad made using those pallets and candles! I love the way that looks, and think it would be excellent as wedding/reception decor! Right people? Right Meg? :)

After the service that night, my family plus my aunt, uncle and cousin went out to eat together. While we ate, we watched some of the Olympic events on the restaurant TV's, and generally just had a good time together. We're typically a loud bunch, but we always have fun and we definitely enjoy being all together.



Sunday morning was spent singing and worshiping at our early, contemporary service, followed by a huge crowd in my Sunday school class. It was a good morning at church. Then (almost all of) my Sunday school class went to lunch together at Newk's, which was so yummy. We had fun talking about random stuff and sharing our time together. Sunday afternoon I relaxed at my house with my family, while watching some Olympics and re-painting my fingers and toes. Right now they're both just plain orange, but I'm thinking about another nail art attempt on top of that if I get the time!

Then late Sunday afternoon, Jeff and the boys came to pick me up, and we surprised them by taking them to see "The Avenger's" at the cheap theater. They've asked about 24 gazillion times to go see the "real life Avengers" (they watch and love the animated version), so we finally gave in. And even though they're only 6 years old, they did a great job making it through a 2+ hour movie, and they loved it so much. It was so cute how excited they were to see it, and how they kept waiting for each of the characters to come on screen. At separate times, they both told me they wanted to see the movie again, before it was even over. They also said they were only scared one time, but also that they found four funny parts, which they were more than happy to tell you all about, and count out all four on their tiny fingers. They're so cute and funny :)



We then went back to my house to eat dinner with my whole family. It was so much fun to have all of us together and eating at one big table. We then went back to Jeff's house to get the boys into bed, and we each got some good cuddle time with some sweet little boys. Then Jeff and I had fun just sitting in the kitchen talking and being silly together. Our lives are usually very busy when the boys are are here, so it's good just to spend simple time with each other when we can :)

It was quite a good weekend, and I am so thankful for all these many blessings that God has granted me! I truly do have some wonderful people, friends and family in my life, and I love getting to spend quality time with them. Thank you Lord for blessings and weekends full of good things!

Also, the title of this post is in reference to one of my favorite singers (Natasha Bedingfield) and one of my favorite songs of hers - Pocketful of Sunshine

Much Love and happy Monday!

P.S. - I'm pretty excited about tomorrow's post already, so get ready for that! It has something to do with my birthday, even though it's a little less than six months away... :)

Friday, August 3, 2012

Point by Point

Here's a quick list of a few of the things I'm looking forward to this weekend, broken down Point by Point....
  • Going with my wonderful boyfriend Jeff to take his cute boys to see Madagascar 3 tonight down at the cheap theater, complete with dinner at McDonald's followed by a large popcorn to all share. 
  • Probably going to the beach tomorrow - hooray!! I do love the beach :) However, if we don't go to the beach though, my Sunday school class has been invited to participate in a giant bouncy water slide thingy that looks like sooo much fun.
  • Our "Awaken" worship service at church tomorrow night. This will be the third one we've done this summer, and it's an amazing experience. If you're reading this from Tally, COME! It's at Bradfordville FBC, Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. in the McMillan Center. It's simply worship songs, prayer and scripture - but it's so powerful and moving. 
  • Singing with Ryan for the contemporary worship service at church on Sunday. I love singing with the praise band, but especially when it's with this guy. He's a great worship leader and friend, and I'm excited about it!
  • Spending Sunday afternoon relaxing a little bit after so many fun things this weekend.

Somewhere in there I will need to sleep, and probably eat a few meals here and there. Oh, and I will attempt to do a couple workouts with my "personal trainer" right now, Jillian Michaels. I'm currently on level 2 of the 30-Day Shred, and good lordy that thing is hard work! Hopefully I can kick myself in gear and get motivated a bit more, because that motivation is starting to slip a little bit...

And here are a few random pictures from my iPhone throughout this past week...just for some fun :)

Dinner at Olive Garden with the Pullen's for Mrs. Nita's birthday! Sooo yummy. I mean hello - it's PASTA!

Jeff with Gabriel at Olive Garden, & Ryan is tiny in the background...

My parents and I cooked Wednesday night dinner for church - inside out stuffed chicken & gooey potatoes. YUM!

Katie and Jacob singing and playing for the praise band at Wednesday night youth group time.









Ryan rockin out on the banjo for the youth praise band.

Taylor playing the cajon (kuh-hone) for Wednsesday night youth group.

I'm sure I'll be back Monday with stories and pictures all over the place, because that's just what I do. I'm certainly looking forward to the weekend, obviously, and I'm sure some of you are too. So I hope you all enjoy it, and fellow bloggers, I can't wait to hear some stories about your weekends' as well!

Much love and happy weekends! 

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Polka Dot Rainbow

Another attempt at nail art! I made a simple little polka dot rainbow on the tips of my nails! :) This one wasn't difficult, so it doesn't require any explanations or much wordiness. (Also, the original pin came from HERE, and she has a simple tutorial on her blog if you really  need explanation.) But I think it's super cute and I'm loving it. I got the idea off Pinterest, so that's another pin moved over to my "Already Accomplished Via Pinterest" board!! Yay for Pinterest. :)


MINE.

MINE.

Pinterest version, from THIS cute girls blog...

Can anyone else tell I'm starting to really become obsessed with this new nail art trend? Well I have, and I'm on the verge of getting carried away...at least it's a semi-healthy addiction/obsession!!

Pretty nails and happy love to everyone :)