Hey hey everybody! It is Friday!!!! Chances are that I am somewhere between Birmingham and Houston on the road right now. Houston, we have a problem! Haha! Fun fact, when AIM instant messenger was the shit, my friends and I would go in to the Houston Chat room, say “Houston we have a problem!!!!” then leave. People called us lame, it was funny as hell I don’t care!
Favorite (Christmas) Song – Christmas Canon Rock by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra – I just love this song!! It has mostly instrumentals, as you would expect…but there is also beautiful vocals in this song and when the guitar solo drops…..chills.
Favorite Inspirational Quote –
Favorite Blog Posts – There were two blog posts this week that I read that I just have to share!!!
Brooks posted DIY gift ideas that are so awesome and unique!!! So pinned it for later! I think these gift ideas are perfect for any time of year, not just Christmas!
Lindsay shared some barre works outs for the home. I don’t know about you guys, but dang barre classes are expensive!!! (Sorry Amanda!) I love that she found some great at home ones to try!
Favorite Recipe to Try – This cranberry cheese ball looks amazing!!! Can you imagine how colorful and festive your table will look by just having this at your holiday party.
Favorite Funnies
Happens to me all the time…
First take a picture, then help!
LOLOLOL basically….
My entire life…
My life goals on a shirt!
Speaking of shirts, why do I think this is so funny?
Awwwww I imagine this is how Mac has felt all his life…
I was honored when Julia chose me to be featured in her Blog Tour post and I immediately said yes when she reached out to me! Julia is super sweet and she even dressed up as Dorothy for Halloween since she has her own Toto! She posts about all kinds of things and most days I find our email threads going back and forth. I would say her only downfall is being a gator fan, and I can’t really hold that against her. We all have our things, right?
Then there were these rules about writing about my writing process. LOL. If nothing else, you may find my answers entertaining. I wouldn’t exactly recommend taking notes and doing what I do. There is nothing profound about what I am about to share….
What am I working on?
Currently I am working on getting my shit together! Ha! I hold a full time job in the real estate world, I volunteer at the humane society, I have this ol’ blog here, and I am part owner in a local community blogging site! To say I am busy most days is an understatement.
For Life by Nadine Lynn – I am working on getting some posts in my drafts again, and I am collaborating with someone on a super awesome project that will be announced next week!!! (teaser)
How does my work differ from others of its type/genre?
Well, this may sound generic but I am a lifestyle blogger and I am my own, unique person. So me is how my work is different! I just try to keep it real. Not every day is rainbows and butterflies and I don’t try to pretend like it is. I like to think that my real personality shows in my writing.
Why do I write what I do?
I started this blog to sort of keep a journal about my life. The little daily things, what I am in to, and whatever is on my mind at the time. This blog has seen me get married, change jobs, turn 30 (and now 31) and document my journey to be the healthiest me I can be.
And let’s be completely honest, I realized there was a whole blogging community of amazing people all over and I wanted a piece of that! Getting to interact with you guys every day keeps me coming back for more! I never expected to have met all the amazing people that I have through blogging!
How does my writing process work?
Currently my writing process is a joke. I have gotten behind on drafting up and scheduling posts ahead of time, so many of my posts are written over coffee and oatmeal at 6 am before I head to work the day it is published. I have a notes app on my phone that has a running list of ideas for posts, as well as a note for specific posts (like Sh!t Chris Says or Confessions that I document as they happen).
My blogging goal is to start 2015 with a planner so I can keep tabs on my blog and the community site. Keep scheduled posts, link ups, meet ups, admin meetings, and events going on around town all in one place. Currently I have everything separated and that can be overwhelming at times.
There are SO MANY great blogs that I follow every single day! Way too many to nominate for one post. Just look in my comments or on my side bar for who to follow! I love you all! But for the purpose of this post….
I started following Laura in the spring of this year, and she quickly became a daily read! She posts about all the delicious restaurants she has visited, trips she goes on, her cute dog Stella, and other fun stuff. She is hilarious and shares a lot of the same views I do.
One afternoon, Laura mentioned in a comment that she would be down for meeting up for happy hour one day. Um, you speak my language, Laura! We met at Side Bar after work one night, and she has been an instant BFF ever since! We even double date with our husbands, and she has joined me with a group of other fine Magic City Bloggers (I am looking at you Morgan, Meighan, Meegan and Brooks!) that meet up monthly for cocktails and girl talk.
I first found Jana through Stephanie’s blog. (Another you should be following!!!) Jana posts about many different topics, but I feel she shares a lot of the same views as me! If I had kids, I imagined I would be a lot like Jana. Which is a good thing! She shares the same taste for 90’s music that I have, and I could totally see us chatting over a few beers on the regular. She has come to terms with the fact that she is a cheer mom and I can always appreciate a thrifty gal. Jana isn’t afraid to go deep in some posts, and I really love that she keeps it real!
And that is my little tour of blog land. Happy Thursday everyone! Be sure to link up with Joey and Kristin if you post on Thursdays! They have no rules for this link up and they are awesome…like you need more of a reason?!
Sounds a little silly right? A southern’s guide to winder preparedness. You are probably thinking, why would someone in the deep south need to prepare for anything? Well, that is the thing folks, down here in the south our girl Winter likes to show up unannounced. Drop two inches of ice on our roads and leave just as quick as she came storming through.
After the snowpacolypse event of 2014, I refuse to be the girl stranded with nothing. I put together somewhat of an emergency kit for my car if such an event were to occur again.
My kit includes boots, an extra jacket, pair of pants, hoodie, t-shirt, gloves, scarf and water. I also have a picnic blanket that stays in my car all year that can double as a bed/blanket if I get stuck at work or in my car to keep warm. If I am at work, I usually have some type of snack with me, so at least I would have a little something to eat. Usually it is almonds or Quest bars. I keep a cell phone charger in my car as well, and I usually have my iPad with me if I am at work. Good for reading or playing games and keeping up to date on social media to see what is going on.
Let’s take a closer look at that jacket, shall we? Yup, it is my high school band jacket! See, this is why you hold on to some things. You never know when they might be useful!
Being stranded is no joke, I hope you are prepared this winter!
Stephanie and Jana have a new link up called Show us your Books! They will host it once a month so that you can link up all the books you read for the month. Basically my nerdy heart skipped a beat when I first heard of this. Also, because Stephanie and Jana are super awesome and I really wish we could all meet up for a beer coffee one day and chat in person!
So my post today is going to be a little different than the rules. I’m a badass like that. Since the only books I have read the last few months have been from the Stephanie Plum series, and I am pretty sure you don’t want an entire post on that….I am going to talk a little about those books and then mention a few on my list to read next.
For those of you who haven’t read or heard of this series, Stephanie Plum is a former lingerie buyer who gets laid off and blackmails her cousin Vinnie into giving her a job as a bounty hunter with his bonds office. The books follow Stephanie’s adventures and you are introduced to all kinds of characters. Every single one of these books has made me LOL at least once, usually more often that that.
I also particularly like the back and forth between Stephanie and two men in the books; Joe Morelli and Ranger. Mmmm, Morelli…..
They are pretty quick reads, usually averaging a little over 300 pages each. I am going to be honest with you, I had no intentions of reading past the very first one when I found out it was a series. My mom gave me One For the Money after she read it and I had run out of things to read and started it as filler. Obviously, they sucked me in!
When I am finished with the series, I am on book sixteen right now, I plan to move on to my “to-read” list which is ever growing. I read Attachments by Rainbow Rowell, so I would like to read Landline as well. I still haven’t read Gone Girl yet either. I know, I know…what am I doing with my life?!?!
I also want to read Eleanor and Park, The Husband’s Secret, Me Before You, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me, and Where are You Bernadette.
You guys, I wasted no time getting stuff done this weekend. I woke up feeling super accomplished and ready to take on the week ahead. A great feeling, actually!
Friday – When I got home Friday evening, I got a load of laundry done and rearranged/re-purposed some stuff in our bedroom, living room and master bathroom.
Shelf in bedroom – The flower on a tree bark was what held our wedding rings, the middle is my bridal bouquet…
Chris’s nightstand
My nightstand – Fun fact – that picture is the first one we ever took together. That is why it is on both sides, it was the picture we each had on our nightstands when I lived in Atlanta and we only saw each other on weekends.
I rewarded my efforts but watching Elf!
Santa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday – I woke up and got right to cleaning the house. I cleaned everything, then started organizing the kitchen pantry. Then I organized our spice cabinet. I couldn’t be stopped..I started organizing and re-arranging other cabinets too!
All of the mixing and serving bowls.
I am beating the lid game with a basket.
The kitchen pantry top shelf, and bottom shelf as well as the floor were completely redone.
All of the spices, oils, vinegar, sauces in one place!
After all that organizing, I got outside and cut the back yard. That should be it for the year as far as cutting the grass goes! We have this weird berry bush thing that is growing right outside our fence that we need to take care of, but other than that…yard work for the year is done! Added bonus, the tree in our back yard has pretty much lost all of it’s leaves. I cut the grass on a lower setting…and it chopped up all the leaves too so we don’t even have to rake in the back yard!
Saturday afternoon we headed to Chris’s parents house to watch some football! Love that the Dawgs killed Kentucky! The Auburn vs Texas A & M game was quite interesting to watch. It is hard to believe that A & M couldn’t get a score on the board with us, yet they beat Auburn. My favorite status I saw after the game, “Auburn just got Auburned.” No statement could be truer.
Our game against LSU had me yelling at the TV several times. Missing a 27 yard field goal is not cool. The last five minutes of the game were absolutely amazing and I couldn’t believe that we tied it up and won the game in overtime! We were all standing up those last few minutes and during over time. It was amazing! It might now have been a pretty win, but it was a win damnit! And we beat our 6 point spread at 20 to 13 🙂
Sunday I woke up, made myself a gingerbread latte and read a good chunk of my book. It was quite relaxing.
We caught up on all of our shows, I meal planned and went grocery shopping. That evening I made flat bread pizzas. I put fresh pineapple on half of mine. Delicious!
Random old phones I found while going through some stuff in our guest bedroom closet.
Today is our two year anniversary! I can’t believe it has been two years already. Happy Anniversary, Chris!
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Let’s do this, Monday!
We caught up on all of our shows, I meal planned and went grocery shopping. That evening I made flat bread pizzas. I put fresh pineapple on half of mine. Delicious!
