my funny valentine

i love love. all kinds of it!
but i won't lie, i'm not too fond of valentine's day.
i'm all for continuously displaying affection 365 days a year rather than obnoxiously exploiting it on february 14th with over the top jewelry gifts, giant teddy bears, chocolate hearts, and especially roses.

my love and i are having a tiny celebration with my sisters, brother, and cousins. tonight we're going black-light bowling and to play laser tag.

richard DID buy me my dream yellow coat, though, and i'd love to get some pretty flowers. no roses though! seriously, no roses.

{photo via weheartit}

love tree

so, maybe i never took down my christmas tree.

i'm not terribly into football,

so tonight during our little super bowl party

(which i made some incredible blueberry cupcakes for!),

i turned my tree into a love tree.

it makes me so happy!

i just love it.

happy birthday richard!

my love's 21st birthday was friday. i spent weeks planning a big party in fayetteville for him & lots of his favorite people. but by the time friday rolled around, we were completely snowed & iced in & unable to leave the house, much less drive two hours to fayetteville! i couldn't even get the poor guy to a liquor store so he could make his first legal alcohol purchase. :(

it was a big letdown, but i think i helped him to make the most of it. we went on the longest hike of my life even though it was frigid (he thinks we are bear grylls people) & discovered a beautiful cliff overlooking the river. we went sledding on saturday morning up in the mountains with my sister & two precious little girls. my niece hailey was such a good sport on our two-mile trek even though she was up to her little knees in snow!

it was quite inconvenient, but i absolutely loved our snowy long weekend together.

i miss spice.

{adriene, me, russ & caroline - atlanta summer 2008}

christmas tree!

Do you find the weeks following the holidays as depressing as I do? I don't know if it's the end of the holiday season or my return to school that has had me so gloomy, but it's been increasingly hard to be productive this week. It's so hard to get used to studying textbooks in the library after weeks of studying nothing but magazines next to my record player with a giant glass of iced coffee. I've left my Christmas tree up to keep from being entirely depressed, but I know that baby's gotta come down soon.

happy new years eve!

what are you lovelies doing for new years eve?
richard and i are hanging out with my sister
and lots of people at our friends jaime & ben's house.
all i want is cupcakes and champagne!
so excited!

in the past decade, i celebrated three
big birthdays,
graduated from high school,
fell in & out of love,
started college at
missouri state university & university of arkansas,
moved from arkansas to texas to alabama to missouri and back to arkansas,
became an aunt (twice!),
met and became best friends with the funniest people in the world,
and experienced a million other beautiful things.
it was a decade of struggles, too,
and definite growth.
i'm so excited to see what 2010 and a new decade
have in store for me.

i hope you all have a lovely new years eve!
be safe! have fun! kiss somebody!

count your blessings.

i've been in a funk. its just been one of those months
when everything seems to be going all wrong.

i didn't get the grades i wanted.
(it's odd that the classes i completely blew off,
i got a's in,
and the ones in which i worked my little tail off,
i got quite the opposite of an a)
i've been unbelievably busy.
i've not worn real clothes in weeks,
and i've never been one to go out in sweats.
i've lived in this apartment for over a month,
and it is still not completely unpacked nor clean.
i've parted ways with one person in particular.
someone who i swore would be in my life forever..
i've been grumpy. sad. worn out. stressed.
i could keep going, but i think you get the point.

i've been having a hard time, and it's been a constant struggle
to be aware of all the wonderful things present all around me.
i've been absurdly blessed, far beyond what i deserve.
and here are just a few things i'm so happy to have in my life:

my crazy, huge, lovely family, especially momma and those beautiful girls called my sisters. my hilarious, loud, supportive friends. this boy named richard; he is perfect. my health. my apartment. a closet full of clothes and shoes and purses. books and movies and records and iphone and ipod. faith. cupcakes! having a strong sense of what i want to do with my future. beautiful memories. forgiveness. nights that are spent with coffee, music, and collage making. trips to alabama to see spice. meaningful phone calls and cards and words. christmas. & really, just my life.


(pssst! i have a new hair color. it was supposed to turn out dark brown, but it is totally BLACK.)

i adore these beautiful little sisters. you can call them candlyfloss and babycakes.

cold/FUN day of riding roller coasters.

sisters at build-a-bear. we visit this place far too often.