Picking A Team Name & Friday's Letters

Dear Friday: Always nice to see you.

Dear Fiance: I just want you to know how freaking excited I am to marry you! We are just over two months away, and I'm more than ready :) I mean, the wedding-planning-part is fun and all, but I think the actual being-married-part is going to be wayyy more awesome. Can hardly wait!

Dear 5K Training: I'm now officially halfway done, and I'm feeling great. This morning's run was scheduled for 2.25, and the first mile ended up being my fastest one yet, at 10:40. That's such a crazy huge improvement y'all! Remember when I first started running in February, my mile was around 15 minutes? So I've now been able to shave off 5 minutes from when I first began - that's crazy!






Dear Color Run Team: Seriously, we have got to pick ourselves a name so we can get registered for the race! I don't want us to miss the early registration discount, and I certainly don't want it to get full before we sign-up. So let's get a move on here, shall we?!

Dear Angie: The wedding invitations are looking sooo good so far! You really have grasped our ideas and vision so well, and you're doing an awesome job. Every time you text me to say you've emailed updates or another draft, I just about pee my pants trying to check my email fast enough. I can't wait to see how they turn out once you're all done in a few more days! Eeeek!

Dear Shutterfly: You rock. I ordered my book last Wednesday night, around 11 pm, and then got an email on Friday saying it was shipped. Well then I got it already this Wednesday - and it's perfect! I love it so so very much, and it's going to make the perfect guest book for our wedding. (Below is the front cover, which came out so amazing.)

Dear Twins: I'm excited for y'all's birthday party tomorrow morning! I just really super hope it doesn't rain and ruin the whole thing, since we're planning on having it outdoors at the park! So weather? I'm gonna need you to cooperate with us again this weekend, mmmkay? Thanks.

Dear Blog Friends & Real-Life Friends: Thank you all so so much for so many kind words of encouragement on Tuesday during my little pity-party/whiny day. Seriously, it wasn't even that big of a deal, but you guys were all so sweet and it made me feel so much better! I'm back to feeling more like myself again now, and things are feeling great :)

Looking forward to another fun, summer weekend with family and friends, and Jeff and the twins! (I honestly love it when I kinda rhyme on accident.) And hopefully we can get some more wedding planning and/or wedding shopping done, so I can cross some more things off my list! Happy Friday y'all, and happy weekend!

Much Love,
Halie

Promo's, Proposals & Letters

Dear Weekend: It's so nice to see you. Think you can work out a special deal with Mr. Sun for us here in Florida? It's now rained 21 out of the last 24 days, and that's wayyyy more than enough. Move on. So let's have a nice, bright, warm, blue-skied weekend for once this summer? How does that sound, hmmm?!?

Dear Nike Running: Looks like your GPS was pretty accurate this morning - finally. And I like the overall feel and use of the app so far. So I'll test you out with a few more runs and see how everything is. If all goes well, looks like I'll have my new running app! (Oh, and week 3 of 5K training is now done!) The problem will be when I get back to bike rides though, because then I'll need a new app for that. Any cyclists out there with a great app recommendation to track bike rides?

Dear Mama: I hope you find a mother-of-the-bride dress this weekend on your trip to Atlanta! I'll be keeping my fingers crossed, and sending lots of good vibes up your way :)

Dear Shutterfly: Thanks for awesome, random promo codes that allow me to make an awesome photo book for 50% off. Now we will have a super cute photo book to use as our wedding guest book, and I can't wait to see how it turns out! Send me that bright orange package quick, because I'm so excited to see it!

Dear Lacey & Josh: I'm so excited for you guys - and I'm so glad I was able to be there to witness the proposal! Happy to have friends like y'all to share special times with!

Dear Angie, Jenni & Lacey: We need to come up with a team name for The Color Run! I want something cute or awesome or funny, or just something really cool - but I have no idea yet what that will be. Y'all have any ideas? Anyone else have any ideas? As soon as we come up with a team name, then we need to get ourselves registered before it get's full, so let's get moving on this!

Dear Work Day: Let's scoot through this as fast as possible, if you don't mind. It's nothing personal, I'd just really like to be done with you sooner rather than later. So don't just linger on and on for no reason. Feel free to just fly on by faster than a fancy car on the Autobahn. Thanks so much for your cooperation.

Dear Readers: I love y'all and wish you the best Friday, and an even more best weekend. Happy smiles and internet hugs to all of you! :)

Much Love,
Halie

Plants, Lotions, Chipotle & Letters

Dear Friday: It's so, so, so good to see you again this week. I've been waiting for you since Monday. (So what if I stole that off a someEcard?) And just for good measure, here's another one. Sadly, I couldn't find the one I was actually talking about, but this one is good too...

Dear Wedding Dress: I'm coming to pick you up TOMORROW!!!! And obviously I'm beyond excited about that. I mean, we just ordered it June 6, and it came in on Monday already. Super speedy. I can't wait to try it on (in my actual size) and see just how much I love it! Holy crap I'm so excited I might burst...

Dear Co-Workers: I still love the plant you gave me as a going-away-present last week. I had to do a bit of Google research on how to take care of it, but I think I can handle it. Luckily for me, a Guzmania doesn't seem to be a super fickle kind of plant, so hopefully I don't kill this little lady. (I'm pretty positive it's a girl...)

Dear Chipotle: Thanks for making salads be so delicious. Yesterday I visited your store here in Tally for lunch, and loved my salad. Lettuce, the fajita stuff, black beans, mild salsa, tiny bit of corn salsa, and a bit of cheese - no dressing was even necessary because it was just so good on it's own. I need to look up the calorie count, but I'm pretty sure it's not too bad. And now I'm craving it again just thinking about it!

Dear Outlook & Yahoo mail: why are you making this so dadgum difficult for us to just email our save-the-dates?! Apparently Yahoo is blocking them? Or putting them straight into spam folders? Not cool. We have tons of people who haven't gotten them yet, and it's going to be such a hassle to go through and re-send only the ones to Yahoo. (It took us a while to even figure out that's what was going on...) But I guess we'll have to, but I'm so not looking forward to doing that over the weekend.

Dear Sunrise: It may not always be fun getting up super early in the morning just to run, but when you look as beautiful as you did this morning, it definitely makes me appreciate that time of the day. Thanks for being so gorgeous today to start my day off in a good mood. (And now I've completed week 2 of my 5K training!)

Dear Fiance: I know you're super excited to see the boys, but I need you to focus and drive safe tonight and tomorrow on your trip to pick up the twins again. Stay safe and alert, and get yourselves back home as soon as you can tomorrow, so we can all play together tomorrow night! Love you :)

Dear Bath & Body Works: I love it when you put your yummy smells on sale! I'm kinda obsessed with lotion and not having my skin feel dry and scaly, so when it's $5 for a big bottle instead of $11, I'm totally down with that. Love stocking up on a couple of bottles for less than half price!

Dear Bloggers: Lately I've been really super busy at work, and so I haven't had any time to actually read many blogs. Like hardly at all really, and if I do, I don't have time to comment much. And I feel so disconnected from y'all! I really appreciate that y'all are still reading my blog, and I promise to catch up with y'all eventually.

Dear Weekend: Let's have a great time, shall we? The sun is supposed to be shining a bit, so I'd love to spend some time enjoying that. And maybe doing a tiny bit of wedding planning would be good too. But most importantly - I hope my wedding dress fits me good! I can't wait!!!!

Happy Friday, my dears :) Hope everyone has a great, sunny, quick day today, and a fun weekend as well!

Much love,
Halie

Plans, Books, Friends & Twins (Friday's Letters)

F-R-I-D-A-Y. Welcome, so glad you're here. (At first I tried to sing that to the tune of SA-TUR-DAY- HEY!, but obviously there aren't enough letters so it just didn't work out at all. At least no one heard me though...) It seems like it's been a long, rough week, and so of course I'm glad to see it come to a close. It's been a hot minute since I've participated in some Friday's Letters, so I'm hopping aboard that good 'ole train today and writing letters to people and inanimate objects alike. Fun times :)

Dear Blog Friends: You guys were so very sweet and encouraging on Tuesday when I was struggling and not having a great couple of days. So glad to have this little space on the internets where I can be honest and raw, and not fear opening up on here with y'all. Thanks again.

Dear Super Smooth Legs: I've shaved you five days in a row, and that's got to be some kind of record for me. Seriously y'all, I usually hate shaving, so even in the summer it's never this many days in a row.

Dear Jeff: The last two night just snuggled up on the couch, reading side by side has been really sweet and cute, and I like it a lot. Definitely wouldn't mind doing that more often :)

Jeff is reading 'The Count of Monte Cristo' and I'm reading 'The Hobbit.' 

Dear Lacey: I'm glad after two years of missing your birthday, that I finally got to celebrate with you at dinner last night! It's about time I'd say. Hope you had a great birthday! (I forgot my camera cord today, so I can't upload any of the pictures yet unfortunately :( I'll send them to you when I do though!)

Dear Fingernails: It's about to get real 'professional' up in here, because I just got lots of new stuff to practice my nail art hobby. But what I'm most excited about are the Bundle Monster stamping plates that just came in! Definitely looking forward to trying those out. My first attempt with them will most likely be something 4th-of-July related, so hopefully it turns out good!

Dear Twins: The last three weeks with y'all have been super fun! And even though we have to take you back tomorrow, you'll be coming back to visit us again for three more weeks at the end of the summer, and we'll definitely have lots of fun then too. We're already looking forward to it and making plans!

Dear Wedding Planning: For the next few weeks between the boys' visits, it's gonna get crazy again. We are now only 99 days away from the big day, and we've got a LOT to do still. After taking a little hiatus to play with the boys for three weeks, I'm super excited to get back at it again!

Dear White Denim Skirt: I'm real glad I can finally fit into you again, because you're super cute. Now I just need to find some more tops that I like, because I either hate most of the ones I own, or the few that I like are too big now - which I guess is a good problem to have. Looks like it's time to spend some of the gift cards I've been hoarding for wayyy too long!

Dear #OperationNoMoreJiggle: I'm sure we will be put to the test this weekend with all sorts of yummy food opportunities, but we must resist! This weekend we need to make better food choices, and eat healthier than usual weekends. It's time to get serious about this thing, and really start to working on getting rid of all this jiggly junk.

So even though we have to take the boys back tomorrow, we do still have a tiny bit of time with them first. Tonight we'll drive to middle Georgia to spend the night at Jeff's brothers house, so that will be good for us to see them, as well as for the boys to hang out with their cousin Libby. Sunday will be spent at home doing chores and laundry, and hanging out with my parents a little bit, because I've barely seen them in the past three weeks while the boys have been here!

I hope y'all have a good Friday, and definitely a good weekend, and I'll see y'all again same time, same place on Monday!

Much Love,
Halie

Price Tags, Workouts, Shopping & Food

Dear Body: We're about to step it up again, and really get to working out 5-6 days a week. We took off about 10 days to recover from feeling like death, but that's over now, and it's time to get movin' again. We're feeling a little sore from doing the 30 Day Shred for the first time in about a month, but that's a good sign. And you did great running a mile and going to zumba last night! And today we're gonna do two miles on the track after work. Oh yes we are.

Dear Enell Sports Bra: You rock. And you keep the girls securely in place while I run and when I jump and bounce all over the place during zumba. After ordering a size too big and having to send it back to exchange it, I'm glad I'm finally getting to try you out this week. Well worth the price tag for that baby.

Dear Polar Watch: You are freaking awesome. And I really super like knowing my heart rate and calories burned while I'm working out! I'd say you were definitely a good investment. Also well worth the price tag.

Wednesday's workout: 30 Day Shred and at-home circuit things for arms, booty, waist and thighs.

Thursday's workout: 1-mile run in 14:03 and 60 minutes of zumba. And "Glee" on my running playlist :)

Dear Mama: I'm excited to go shopping with you tomorrow! Hopefully we both find some pretty dresses that we can wear for Megan's upcoming showers, and you can find one for your Mother-of-the-Bride dress for her wedding!

Dear Fiance: It's fun working out small wedding details with you! And we're doing such a great job so far of talking through everything and trying to make our decisions together. Let's make sure we keep that up over the next seven months, OK?! I think that'll make our lives together a whole lot better if we can do that :) And I'm looking forward to reading some of these wedding books, and learning and growing together before we get married.

One of my old roommies made me that penguin blanket over 5 years ago!

Dear Chick-fil-A: You are sooo delicous. Thank you for offering super yummy food, and keeping it healthy too. So when the boy wants to eat fast food, I can still make good choices and watch my calories! The chargrilled sandwich is definitely one of my favorites, and that wheat bun is delish.

Dear Blog-Friends/Readers: I'm not even going to pretend like I don't notice all of you. It is incredible to see that there are nearly 500 of you right now!! Seriously - it's hard for me to believe it sometimes. And I am so so grateful that you stick around and hang out with me here in this part of the giant blog-world! Thanks for that :) And thanks for being awesome. I am seriously LOVING chatting with some of y'all, and making real friendships and connections through this adventure. It's just so much fun!!

Dear Weekend: I'm real glad you're almost here. Let's have a great time together, shall we?!

Happy Friday my lovelies! Hope y'all have a great work day, and an even better weekend!!

Pinwheels & a Polar Watch

Dear March: You kinda came out of nowhere there, didn't ya? As long ago as January seems now, it also feels like February really just started, and then you came along and just bumped that out of the way. But now I've got a cute new printout calendar for my desk at work, with happy little pinwheels to stare at me for the next 31 days.

Dear Polar Watch: I just ordered you last night, and even though I selected free 5-8 day shipping, I'm ready for you to be here now! Not that I can actually workout or anything right now because I feel like death, but I just want to check you out! I can't wait to see how you track my calories burned and my heart rate and other fancy, exercise-y stuff's. I'm gettin' legit about my workouts people...just watch out!

Dear Sickness: You must have no idea how tired of you I am. And now I'm just getting mad. Because it feels like I'm only getting worse every day instead of better! And that's unacceptable. My nose is snottier and my cough is nastier, my voice is sounding super manly and my head feels like it could explode at any second. (Sorry friends - TMI?!) At least I'm making sure I'm getting plenty of liquids  If I could, I would kick you in the back, pull your legs out of from under you, and then casually walk on top of you -- just to show you who's boss. It's time for you to go. End. Of. Story.

Emergen-C, hot tea, and 18 oz. of water. This happens twice a day at work...

Dear Anytime Fitness: Thanks for sending me that free, 14-day pass to try out your gym. I was actually pretty pumped about that. But then this illness of death came over me, and it's already been like 5 days into my pass. Think you would let me push it back a little bit? Can you please make an exception for me?

Dear Beans: It has been fun hanging out with you this week while your Mama was on a work trip! I hope you had a great 5th birthday at Chuck-E-Cheese's the other night! And thank you for being so awesome and perfect last night. Jeff and I loved taking you out to eat, and then you were so stinking cute 'helping' Jeff drive the cart at Walmart :)

Dear Weekend: Even though I need to rest, there's kind of a lot happening: tomorrow is Beans' birthday party, I want to go buy myself a wedding folder/planner thingy and start doing a little more planning, and I need to repaint my nails... Then my cousin has his Eagle Scout ceremony thingy-ma-jig on Sunday night. And of course there's regular church schedule Sunday morning. And I need to pick up some cosmetic stuff as well too sometime. As long as I can sleep in a little bit tomorrow, that should make me happy. So listen up neighborhood (and my sister's dog) -- keep it quiet in the morning please!!

I hope all you lovely blog friends of mine have a great weekend. And I sincerely hope none of you are sick right now! But if you are, I hope your recovery is faster than mine. (However, I think I just discovered it might be a sinus infection rather than just an ordinary cold, so I'm about to call the doctor...) Happy Friday to y'all, and happy weekend too!

Puffy Eyes & Tea Time Letters

Dear Friday: I'm like, really super ultra glad you're here. It's been a long week. And I know we say this over and over again, just about every Friday, but that doesn't make it any less true...I'm so glad to see you.

Dear Fiance: This is my first letter to you!! Well, at least the first one as 'fiance!' :) I'm looking forward to our little road trip today for your niece's birthday party this weekend, and our time together in the car! We always have fun when we drive together, so I'm sure this will be no different. What will be different though, is that I'm the one driving this time, since you still can't because of your silly foot! Hopefully that goes well for us ;)

Dear Awesome lunch I packed for myself: I can't wait to eat you up.

Dear Tea Time: You have been officially re-instated every day at work with both my morning and my afternoon snacks. I have so many yummy flavors to try out, and you warm me up so much in my freezing cold office. 

Dear Super Puffy Eyes: I'm gonna need you to skedaddle, asap. OK, thanks.

Dear Running: Things are still going well for us these days! I'm slowly getting better and faster and improving my overall pace. And I'm improving how much of the mile I'm actually able to run. (Even if those times are slower...) 

Dear Scale: I know it's not supposed to be a weigh-in day here on my blog, but me and you are soooo friends today!!!

It's a crappy picture and my polish is chipping, but I don't care!! I'm back in ONE-derland!!

Dear Wedding Planning: You're fun! But you're also a tiny bit stressful. Oh gracious. But still, you're mostly fun :) We've made like two decisions so far, and now we have about a jillion more to go... haha :)

Dear Work Day: You need to fly on by, because I do NOT feel like being here today. Ugh. 

Dear New Followers: You guys are still showing up more and more each day! It simply amazes me sometimes when I first look at my followers count in the mornings, and see how many new people are here! It's so crazy. But I'm soo glad you're here! If you're new, take some time to look around, and then make sure you comment somewhere or introduce yourself, so I can say HI and get to know you a little bit!

Happy Friday everyone!! I hope everyone has a quick work day, and that you have great weekends! Peace out :)

Pulse, Plans, Pinterest & Pink

Dear Blog Friends: There are still more and more of you here each day, and it makes me wanna turn in circles and squeal a little bit. I'm resisting though, and trying to act mature about it. But really, it makes me so super excited when new people come and join me here! So, Welcome!!

Dear Edgar Sawtelle: You are a seriously giant book. In fact, you are 562 pages long! Now I've read big books before so it's not uncommon or anything, but you just seem gigantic. I'm only about 65 pages in, so I still have a long way to go. You're interesting enough so far, but I'm gonna need you to pick it up in order to make through almost 500 more pages... I've got faith though, because you were an Oprah's book club selection, so that's a good sign. The last one I read from her book club turned out really great, so I'm sure you've got great potential too! (I just recently joined Goodreads, so come check it out with me if you're a fellow bookworm like myself!)

Dear Running: Things are still going great between us this week! I've done a mile each day on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday. And I hope to be able to do it again today! It may not be very long runs yet, but I'm doing it, and I'm sticking to it. And besides, I've noticed that my average pace is getting quicker, and I'm shaving off time with each run! I think that's a great sign :)

Dear Fingernails: I want to do something really cute and pink and red and girly and glittery for Valentine's Day, but I'm not sure what to do exactly. I'm thinking a dive into Pinterest is in order so I can do some 'research' and get some ideas! Are any of you painting something cute and exciting on your nails for next week?

Dear Mother Nature: Have you lost your mind? I had an at-the-wrong-time, unexpected visit from you just a week and a half ago, and now you're back again today. Unacceptable. I'll go back to my regular once-a-month visit please and thank you. 

Dear Boyfriend: I'm sorry I've been forgetting to wear the new heart-rate monitor watch you got me for my birthday! I don't even know why, because I was so excited about it in the first place! Not to worry though, I've got it with me today, and I plan on using it for my short run after work this afternoon! Can't wait to start tracking another element of my fitness journey! And thanks for such a good birthday present!

Fitness Guru's: From what I've read really quickly about heart-rate, this is a pretty good at-rest number, right?!

Dear Weekend: I'm so excited you're almost here! I really don't even have anything specific planned yet, but it doesn't matter. As long as I'm away from my desk and not staring at a computer for two straight days, it will make me a happy camper! I'm thinking I'll get in a run and/or a trail hike, do some grocery shopping, some movie watching, and spend some time with family, friends and boyfriend. And then Sunday is our 1 year and 6 month anniversary, so I think I have a Living Social deal to an Italian restaurant that would be perfect for Sunday night :)

Dear Boyfriend: Is it kind of crazy that it's been a year and a half already?! Yes, it is kind of crazy. But it's also really awesome. We've had some great times in the past year and a half! You are an amazing boyfriend and I love you so so much! So glad OkCupid brought us together two summers ago!

I hope y'all have a good Friday today, and even even better weekend! What are y'all's plans? Anything fun and exciting to share? I'd love to hear about it! Oh and also, I got some good suggestions yesterday for my running playlist, but I still need some more - so feel free to leave song ideas again today!

And I'm linking up as usual with Ashley at The Sweet Season, so go check her out, and see some other letters too!

Planking in February

Dear Followers: In case you missed it yesterday, I'm doing a simple little 'My Favorite Things' style giveaway. All you have to do to enter is comment on yesterday's post! So go here and check it out :) And thanks to those of y'all who already have! Also, thanks for all the great birthday wishes I've been getting this week - it's been so much fun!

Dear Family: Thanks so much for such a great birthday dinner last night, and all the great presents you got me too! The food was delicious, and you guys really did a great job picking out presents for me! Also, not pictured in the collage below - my parents got me a two-year subscription to "Eating Well" magazine, to go along with my weight loss journey and adventures into healthier eating! Such a thoughtful present!

Sandals from Sis & Bo. Earrings, apron & jewelry box from parents. Watch from step-brother.

Dear Boyfriend: Even though you still don't get to wear the walking boot for your foot yet like we thought you would, and you still have to use crutches and not actually put any weight on your foot -- you do at least get to leave the house a little bit more now. And that makes us both happy! Still praying for recovery...

Dear Fab Ab February: I'll be Planking in February! Not the silly kind where people lay on random crap and post dumb pictures all over social media. The serious kind of planking that gives you rock-hard abs, hopefully. Anyways, you are slightly terrifying and definitely a bit out of my comfort zone, workout-wise. But you know what? I'm going to attempt to tackle you anyways! Who knows if I'll actually be able to do 100 sit-ups and a 2-minute plank by the end of the month, but I'm sure gonna try, dadgumit! Anyone want to join me?! We could all remind and motivate each other!! It's always better with friends.

(P.S. - I did Day 1 last night just to test it out, and it went great. It starts off so dang easy. And it doesn't take too much motivation to do it, because it's so quick! I suggest you at least start this with me, without focusing on the end too much, and just see how far you can get!!)

I wrote it in my new "Health & Fitness" journal I'm keeping, but you can find the pin HERE.

Dear Weight Loss: We've been stalled around the same weight for the last week and a half. I have two more birthday dinner's to splurge a little bit tonight and tomorrow, and then we're kicking this baby back into high gear! I've been fluctuating around 204-205 since last Wednesday, and I'm over it. Goal is to be under 200 in the next two weeks, aka -- Valentine's Day. Let's do this!!

Dear February Goals: I just want to list you out here, to keep me accountable to myself, and to my little blog.

1. Lose at least 8 pounds total, but be under 200 by Valentine's Day (I was 200.5 on V-Day, womp womp...)

2. Read two books

3. Complete every day of the Fab Ab February challenge

4. Run at least four times (I'm a running 'fool' these days!)

5. Try a new restaurant here in town (OK - it was only Earth Fare, but they have amazing food there!!)

Dear Weekend: We will be a bit 'busier' than weekends past, because Jeff can finally leave the house a little bit more! Today after work, I'm picking him up and heading out to my Grandparents' house, for a shared birthday dinner for me and my Grandmother, with our whole 12-Fam. (That means our 12-member family, in case you're confused. That's how we refer to the amount our family involved at any given time, for example - myself, sister, step-bro, mama & papa equals 'The 5-Fam.') 

Anyways... tomorrow morning I'm going on a hike with my parents at Maclay Gardens. I need to finish some laundry, mail some packages and then I"ll head to Jeff's in the afternoon. Then tomorrow night will be a small birthday dinner with some friends at a restaurant here in town! Don't know yet what Sunday holds, but isn't there something big happening? ..... oh yeah, the Super Bowl. Obviously I'm real invested in that. I really did just have to sit here and think about what was indeed happening on Sunday :) Whatevs. 

I hope y'all have had a good week! Mine has been great, but then again it IS my birthday week after all! Happy Friday, and Happy Weekend! Enjoy spending time relaxing or playing or whatever, as long as it's with some people you love and care about. I know that's what I'll be doing!

Puzzling Letters

The One Where all of my letters end in a random question...

Dear Week: I'm glad you're coming to an end in just a few more hours. Why do four-day work weeks always end up feeling incredibly long? I don't get it...?

Dear Exercise: I did pretty awesome again this last week. In the past four days I: hiked on Monday, did an at-home training circuit & weights on Tuesday, did the 30-Day Shred on Wednesday, and went to zumba on Thursday. Four days in a row again. I'm taking today off I think, but I'll be sure to do something Saturday and Sunday still! Should I attempt a short run in the morning, maybe?

Dear Boyfriend: After four longs weeks of bed rest, on Monday, you go back for your last post-surgery appointment! And you will hopefully get an air boot/walking boot thingy to wear for a couple of weeks. If so, that means we can start going out and about a little more often! I so hope this happens, and that you're foot is healing up just perfectly! Are you officially stir crazy yet? 

Dear Bedroom: The sheets are freshly washed and made up, the twinkle lights are put back up again after falling down, the yummiest vanilla cappuccino candle has been burning every night, and you have just felt so nice and cozy this week. It's been lovely reading in there every night before bed, even if it's freezing and I have to add an extra blanket and a robe on top of me :) Although, I wonder how much it would cost to get custom-made blinds to replace those kind of awful pink ones?

Dear Veronica Roth: I read your first two books in about 7 days total. And now the third one's not even out yet, so I have to wait forever until it's finally finished and released. I'm not sure I can be patient enough! I mean, you left us with kind of a big cliffhanger, and I'm so so curious to see where this takes us in the final book of the trilogy! How long are you going to make me wait??

Dear Fringe: You are crazy, but you are awesome. It's just so weird and entertaining and we are loving it! We're just a couple of episodes into the second season now, but I'm sure we'll get a chance to watch quite a few more episodes over the weekend! I'm wondering though, with the series finale being tonight, why am I just now watching this for the first time?

Dear New Blog Followers: Welcome! This baby is growing rapidly lately, and I can hardly stand it I'm just so excited! It makes me humbled and happy to know that y'all actually like what I write and want to keep coming back here! Seriously, so glad to have each and every one of y'all here now. So sit back and stay a while, won't you?

Dear "Old" Blog Followers: Thanks for sticking around with me. The friendships I'm forming with some of y'all are so fun and awesome, and it's my favorite part of blogging. It's just amazing to see where our blogging community can take us! I'm having a blast with all of this lately :) What's your favorite part of this blog-world?

Happy Friday to everyone! I am looking forward to another chill, but fun weekend spent with friends, boyfriend and family. I hope y'all have a great weekend too! What plans do y'all have for this weekend?

P.S. - Bonus point to anyone who gets the reference in my first statement up there in italics ;)

Productive Things, Fun Things & Exercise Things

Dear Weight Loss: It's still going great, and I'm feeling awesome. Today I'm down another 1.5 pounds, which means I'm weighing in at 208.5 pounds now! And I gotta still keep pushing. So I'm not going to take the weekend off like I did last week. The goal is to exercise twice over the three-day weekend. Which leads me to....

Dear Bicycle: I miss you! I haven't ridden you since our crazy epic Talloween alley cat back in mid-October! This weekend though, I think it's time to get you back in gear. Maybe a ride with Sarah sometime this weekend?

Dear New Followers: Holy stinkin' moly there are a lot of you guys! So glad you're here now! I'm assuming 95% of you probably came from the awesome FitBit One giveaway, and I know I got a few from the Weigh-in Wednesday link-up. No matter how you got here,  I'm really hoping you'll stick around and get to know me, so that I can get to know you!! And in case you want to read more about me, check out a few of these past blog posts you've missed: 

currently, hello 2013, inspiring, weight loss journey, 25 Before 25, about me and my beliefs.

Dear Florida Weather: You are seriously bi-polar. Earlier this week it was 81 degrees and quite lovely. Today however, it was 43 when I left my house, and the high is only 63. That's kind of a drastic change in just three short days, don't ya think, Florida?!

Dear Fellow Bookworms: If any of you liked "The Hunger Games," then you should probably read "Divergent" by Veronica Roth. I finished this nearly-500 page book in just four days! Yes, there are some similarities between the two series, but Divergent is still really good, and so entertaining. I am going to rush to Target immediately after work to get book number two, "Insurgent." Y'all have any book suggestions for me after that? I'm in need of some new ideas here peeps!

P.S. - This is book number six I've read since writing my 25 Before 25, so that's another thing I get to cross off my list! With just a week and a half to go, I gotta squeeze in all I can!

Dear Boyfriend: Since you're still on bed-rest, I'm trying to plan us some sort of fun/different/unique at-home date night for tonight, but haven't really come up with much yet... I'll figure something out though, don't you worry! Any ideas girls?!

This has been a pretty awesome week for me guys. And I'm still so glad I laid everything out there and shared my entire weight loss journey, because the response I've gotten from it has been incredible! I am of course looking forward to a fun three-day weekend, and will try to spend it doing productive things, as well as fun things, and also some exercise things. Maybe I should also try a craft or a new recipe? I haven't shared one of those kinds of posts in a while....so, yes! I think it's time I do a craft or cook something new! I'll jump on that :) 

I hope y'all have a great weekend too! What are some of your plans? Anything exciting? Anything I'll be jealous of?! Can't wait to hear all about it! Happy Friday, my friends!

Purple Polka Dots

Dear Friday: Seriously - WHAT took you so long to get here? That was just ridiculous. This week has felt all weird and long and I hardly ever knew what day it actually was. That was just unacceptable. Please be faster next week, OK? Great, thanks.

Dear Boyfriend: I'm so glad you finally got your stitches out of your foot! However, we still have at least two more weeks to go of wearing the splint and propping up your foot, and basically not doing anything. Sheesh. Redbox, here I come again! But at least you're starting to feel a little bit better :)

Dear Erin: I love my new blog design! You rocked it, and you were so easy to work with. Thanks for all you did! I'm loving my Purple Polka Dots and the pretty flowers everywhere and my new header!

Dear Ghengis Grill: You are delicious. Glad I could make Daniel-Fast appropriate choices at lunch today, while still eating out with my friends. Oh, and my friends enjoyed your food too :)

Dear Fellow Bookworms: In the last three weeks, I've read "Room" and "Gone Girl" and thoroughly enjoyed both of them! I would definitely recommend both of them if you're looking for a new book to read. But I need more suggestions too! What have y'all be reading recently? Is it good? What would you recommend?

Dear Exercising: I kicked your butt this week! I did zumba twice, and the 30-Day Shred twice, and I plans to do the 30-Day Shred again today after work. (That is if my cramps will just chill the crap out already...) When in the world was the last time I exercised FIVE days in a row?! Probably high school, when I was still cheering. Sooo, it's been a while, to say the least...

Dear Mother Nature: Why must you be so cruel? I get that it has to happen, but why does it have to be painful? Are you with me, girls??

Anywho...I think that's enough random letters for the day. I for one am so glad that it's not only Friday, but more importantly that my work day is almost over! Over about two more hours to go, and then I'm bustin' out of here faster than ..... well I don't even know what. Just fast. I hope y'all have a great weekend, and I am already looking forward to blogging again on Monday with weekend recaps and updates, and reading about y'alls as well!

Happy Weekend Friends :)

Pizza Hut & Redbox & Letters

Dear 2013: So glad to have you here! Thanks for coming :)  I'd say we're off to a good start already. Now let's just make sure we stay wonderful all year, and be good to me, OK?! And also be good to my boyfriend, friends and family while we're at it. I've got a lot of goals and plans for the year, and I'm excited about all of them. Help me keep up my motivation and determination to make a great life for myself this year!

Dear Bubble Necklace: This is my first time ever wearing you, so I hope I don't look ridiculous. I'm not usually even a necklace girl at all, so it just feels weird to be wearing one, much less a big huge one!But so far, I think I love you!

Dear Zumba: Thanks for welcoming me back with open arms yesterday. I was nervous since I had neglected you for approximately six months or so, but I made it through the whole class, and actually felt great afterwards! I'm excited to get back in the habit of going twice a week, and to keep working on my fitness :)

Dear Erin: I'm so freaking excited you're going to do my blog design for me!! I am seriously freaking out a little bit here, and just can hardly wait. I think it's finally time I pay for a lovely design, now that I've been blogging for almost 2.5 years! And I think you're just the one to do my first paid blog design :)

Dear RedBox: Thanks for sending me a list of your favorite movies of 2012. I rented five of them this week for my bum-foot-boyfriend and I, and we've liked all of them! Might need to look into getting a few more for the weekend :) And in case you're wondering, the five we've watched this week were: Lawless, The Amazing Spiderman, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Savages, and The Words. All very good. Check them out if you're in need of some cuddling and movie rest time!

Edit: "The Words" is not actually that good. When I first wrote this, we still had about 30-40 minutes left in the movie. What I didn't see coming was a horrible ending. It made the whole movie not worth, so stay away from this one. It's just no good...

Dear Sister: I'm quite excited to do some cake tasting with you tomorrow! I mean, it's not so good for my diet, but I'm sure it's going to be delicious anyways! Yum!

Dear Hallie: I'm glad our link-up collaboration is finally going to happen next week! I'm real excited about this, and about working with you! So get ready folks, for a link up that's fun and easy next week with myself, and Life: Oceanside.

Dear Weekend: I'm glad you're here! Because even though I only worked four days this week, it's just been so long and drawn out, and I'm over it. Let's speed on through the day 'til 5 pm, so I can go make dinner with some girlfriends tonight, and then watch another movie or two this weekend with my bed-rested boyfriend :)

Pandemonium

Last Friday of the year, last Friday's Letters of the year, last full day of work for the year - holy moly! 2013 will be here in just a few more days! And I don't know about you, but I'm excited and ready for it. Oh, and that is a completely pointless title - I just couldn't think of anything that actually made any sense, so I just went with a random, fun word. So just go with it, OK?! :)

Dear Boyfriend: It really really sucks that you broke you foot. I hate this just about as much as you do. I'm praying that surgery today will go smoothly, and that you will be relieved of the pain and recover very quickly! Until then though, I will do whatever I can to take care of you and help make you comfy!

Dear Surgeon: Please be extra super careful and do everything perfectly, and just be an awesome surgeon for my boy today. Take good care of him please. And get his foot all fixed up!

Dear Twins: We're so glad ya'll could come down to Florida to visit for a few days! We of course wish it could be longer, but we're already looking forward to the next time you come, for your spring break! Y'all are just seriously the cutest, and have been so sweet and cuddly these past few days. We love you so much!

Dear Christmas: You came and went so fast! Now we've got to take down all the decorations, and put away our presents, and get ready to move on with our regular lives. But January holds something exciting - and that's my 25th birthday!! Now if only I can accomplish some more of my 25 Before 25 goals, I'll be ready!

Dear 2012: You've been fun and all, but it's time to skedattle. We've got a big year coming up in 2013, so let's get a move on! I'm of course anxious and excited to see what a new year will bring. So let's get this new year rollin'!

Dear 30-Day Shred: We're starting over again on Monday morning. So get ready. I am so ready to get shredded! And dear Jillian - I know you're going to try to kill me, but I'm determined not to let you and your spunky back-up exercisers get the best of me this time. We. Will. Finish!

And here's a totally unnecessary "selfie" for you today from this past week -- because it's really the only picture I've got that you haven't already seen...

Hope y'all have had a great week, and that you have an even better weekend! Mine will be pretty chill, due to the boyfriend having surgery later today, and then I'm riding with Jeff's mama to take the boys back to their mom. That will be sad to see them go so quickly, but we are so glad they could come at least for a bit! Then I go to work on Monday for a little bit, and then I get another day off for New Year's Day! Hooray! Happy Friday my friends :)

Parents, Presents & Letters

Dear Christmas Presents: I'm going to need y'all to just wrap yourselves. I've wrapped not even a single one of you, so I've got a lot to do before Tuesday. So for real here, can you just hop in a gift bag or get a hand from a friend to tape up some wrapping paper? Great.Thank you.

Dear Parents: You guys freaking got us a LIMO for family dinner last night! What an amazing surprise for our entire family! The eleven of us had such a great time riding around town looking at pretty Christmas lights! Seriously, you parents of mine rock. And there will be a whole post about this awesome limo ride one day next week... Probably not until Wednesday or Thursday, but it will eventually be there :)

Dear Florida: Thanks for finally getting a little bit cold! It feels pretty nice outside today. Let's try to stay this way at least for the next five days. Christmas is always more fun when you're not sweating...

Dear Friends (those in real life and in blog-land): Thank you so so much for all of your love and support and encouragement after my slightly depressing and super serious blog post from Tuesday. It really warmed my heart how many of you checked in with me and made sure I was really OK. And I promise I still am OK. There are definitely times I still get sad, but I know that's just a part of working through all of this. I love you all so very much!

Dear Fingernails: We're going to attempt to create some Santa inspired nails this weekend! Hopefully my hand is steady enough to create something like this cute little design...otherwise, we'll just end up with a red and green version of our tried-and-true polka dot creations.

Found on my Pinterest board HERE

Dear Boyfriend: You were totally right about "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy  It rocked my socks off. I got sucked into it so quickly, and I just couldn't quit until we finished the whole thing! It was epic and amazing, and now I'm so psyched to see "The Hobbit" too!! Wanna go this weekend?! Please say yes...

I'm not actually officially linking up today with Adventures in Newlyweds, because she's taking a blog breather, but I am linking up with Oh So Amelia and Let Them Eat Cake.

I hope y'all have a wonderful weekend, and and even more lovely Christmas! Enjoy the time with your friends and family, and make sure we remember that Christmas is about wayyy more than presents and cookies and pretty twinkle lights. It's about the coming of our Savior to this earth, so that we might be saved!! I encourage you to read Luke 2 in order to get the full story of Christmas, and spend some time reflecting on the beautiful gift our Father gave to us, so many thousands of years ago! What an incredible gift.

I may or may not share a few quick posts over the next few days, but I'll be back in full-swing after Christmas either on Wednesday or Thursday. Until then, MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! I can't wait to hear and see all about your Christmases as well!

Penguin Teapot & Friday's Letters

Dear Life: Why do you have to be so hard sometimes? I mean for real...I think I've dealt with enough in my life and I simply don't want it right now. Any of it. So back off, would ya? Because I could use a break right now.

Dear Family & Boyfriend: Thanks for being the bestest and for supporting me through all the craziness this week. You guys really have helped me feel better when I've needed it, and I thank you for your love and support.

Thank you again for this sweet card, boyfriend :)

Dear Bank Account: We're so happy right now! We reached our goal of $_,000 before my 25th birthday, in both my checking and my savings account! Woohoo! Now let's not get crazy and spend too much money around the holidays, OK? I like it where you're at now, so let's keep it that way for a while.

Dear Boyfriend: You looked so cute making homemade cookies the other night :) And they tasted delicious as well! Also, tonight we're going to the Victorian Christmas in Thomasville right after work, and I'm so excited. It should be lots of fun, and just the kind of activity I love doing with you! I can't wait to see what it's like this year!

Dear Readers: I just realized that in past two shorts months, you lovelies have tripled in size. Holy moly. In the beginning of October, I had 50 followers, and now I have almost 160. This is amazing to me, and I'm truly so glad you're here! If you're new around here, which most of you are, then welcome! Glad to have you! If you've been around for a while now, I'm still thankful to you peeps as well :)

Dear Dani-Pants: Thank you so much for sending my a little package in the mail. That was so sweet of you, and it was a great week to get it, since things haven't been so great this week. I had already painted my nails pink on Wednesday, so as soon as I got this on Thursday, I found some little pink flowers that went perfect! Thanks again so much for my random surprise :) You're the bestest!

Dear Sister: I had fun planning some wedding stuff with you last night! Things are coming along nicely, and I'm sure it's going to all be so pretty. Oh, and of course we're so excited about our bridesmaids dresses coming in early!!!

Dear Hallie: I'm so excited and looking forward to our upcoming link-up collaboration! It's going to be so much fun, and I hope we get a lot of participation from both of our readers. I am also looking forward to making some new friends too! So peeps, be on the lookout next week for a fun link-up with me and Hallie from Life: Oceanside! :)

Dear Mama: Thank you so much for my tiny, new penguin teapot! It is adorable and I love it, and I can't wait to use it more. It's just precious, and was such a cute surprise gift this week :)

Dear Instagram: I love you. I am obsessed with you. Thanks for all the entertainment you provide. And thanks for all the pictures in this post today. You can follow me here if you want, or my username is HalieRenee88

Friends, this week has indeed been a little rough. I can't yet say on this blog what all is going on, but I will say that if you're the praying type, I would definitely appreciate some prayers to be sent my way. There's some hoopla going on with one of my two jobs, and it's breaking my heart. We'll leave it at that for now, but just know that I'm OK, but could definitely use some extra prayers around here.

Oh a happier note though - I have a fun weekend ahead of me, and I'm really looking forward to that! Like I mentioned earlier, we're going up to Thomasville, GA, tonight, tomorrow we have two graduation parties, I'll get to spend some time with friends and hopefully get some rest as well. I hope y'all have a lovely Friday today, but an even lovelier weekend!

Paper Snowflakes & More

Dear Boyfriend: Thanks so much for being excited about the activity calendar I made for us for this month, and being so great about participating in the things I planned for us! I had such a great time cutting out paper snowflakes with you the other night while we drank hot tea and watched a movie. It was such a lovely at-home date night :)

Dear Tallahassee: If you'd like to come hear me sing in our church's Singing Christmas Tree, it will be happening at 7 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, at Bradfordville FBC. It's free, so just show up! It's a great night of Christmas music, and I think you should come :)

Dear Throat/Voice: We've got a lot of singing to do over the next three days, so let's keep it together and not freak out. I'll be drinking copious amounts of hot tea, and I bought a brand new bag of cough drops yesterday. We gotta stay healthy!

Dear Fingernails: You looks so much better now that I finally got around to painting you! Sorry it took so long. But you're adorable and Christmasy, with a special twist for the Singing Christmas Tree! :) {And I'll have to share pictures on Monday because I don't have any right now, and I actually need to do a quick touch-up on one of them!}

Dear Housegirl Haley: Thank you so much for sending me those cute ornaments, for our swap Living In Yellow hosted! I'm sorry I forgot to post about them earlier this week like we were "supposed" to, but I do like them! I'll be putting them up on the tree this weekend :) And isn't it so funny and ironic we got matched since we have the same name, and live in the same state only a few hours apart?! Such a small world we live in :) Oh, and the teal box and burlap ribbon was just the cutest, it made so so happy when I pulled it out of the brown shipping box!

Dear Office: Breakfast this morning was super delicious.... BUT we're gonna have to slow down and chill out on the holiday snacks and parties, or else we're all gonna weigh a bajillion pounds by the new year...

Dear Pinterest: Thanks for yet another successful and delicious meal for me and my family. Yesterday's Crockpot Angel Chicken was so yummy, and I'll definitely be sharing the recipe with y'all one day next week! (My picture below doesn't look like anything fancy, but believe me, it's tasty for sure.)

Dear Influenster: I'm sooo excited I finally got my first box, and I'm so excited to start trying everything out! I am wearing the tiny new perfume today, and it really does smell great. Can't wait to see how the other products all work out as well! (Although apparently you're having some serious website issues today...?)

I'm off now to force myself to do some work for the rest of  the day...however I don't wanna overdo it or anything, so I'll still try to take it easy. And then I'll be singing for the rest of the weekend, with of course some fun and relaxation thrown in there as well! Oh, and a holiday craft show tomorrow!

Linking up today with Ashley at Adventures of Newlyweds for our usual Friday's Letters!