I love this week.

Let me tell you why:

I've been listening to a lot of Christmas songs, and that always puts me in a great mood. Our favorite local radio station has been playing Christmas music nonstop, and last night I may have downloaded 55 Christmas songs... Here's the ones I got: A Very She & Him Christmas by She & Him (after listening to it for months on Spotify), The Christmas Sessions by MercyMe (maybe my favorite... it's got all the classics), Hey! It's Christmas Vol. 1 and 2 and Carol of the Bells by BarlowGirl (my favorite version of this song right now).

My sister came up for a surprise visit last night and was able to spend the night with us. We ate really good food, drank coffee (umm... three times... I'm a little embarrassed to admit that) and had really good conversations. And tomorrow, I get to drive down to her house to stay a couple of days.

On Friday, my love and I are going out of town for the weekend to visit some of my very favorite people. I'm so excited. Our weekends at their house are usually spent around the campfire, making s'mores and eating great food, shopping and thrifting, discovering new movies, talking about old times and having really wonderful late night conversations.

Tonight my little sisters, our mom and I finally saw Hugo. I thought it was brilliant and so beautiful! And it was the best 3D movie since Avatar, if you ask me. I can't wait to see it again already.

On Saturday, we spent the morning serving our city's unfortunate families, providing Christmas gifts and food to help them make it through the holidays. Serving others is so important to me, and the whole thing was very humbling. After, we met up with my Grandmother and lots of ladies from her hometown at Crystal Bridges, and then Mom, Richard and I discovered a really great new coffee place. I'm obsessed with their vanilla honey latte!

I hope your week is going as well as mine! I'm so happy and thankful right now. It's a good point in time for me. :)

It's been 13 days since I last posted? How did that happen? I guess time flies when you're as busy as I've been these past few weeks. I've been busy with school work and finals, family events, Christmas shopping, Christmas decorating, a short road trip and just all the things that go along with day to day life.

Tonight I downloaded 54 Christmas songs. I guess you could say I'm really in the Christmas spirit this year. Last year, it just seemed like Christmas snuck up on me and then flew by. I loved it, of course, but I just didn't get very into it. So I'm making up for that this year by keeping up with old traditions, starting new ones, spending every day with loved ones and making every moment special. There are so many things I want to do this season! It feels like it's moving by so quickly, but I'm determined to squeeze in everything I want to do. I'm really, really happy right now.

Here's a peak at my Christmas tree. I never thought I'd be one of those people with a themed Christmas tree, but purple and silver sounded like a great idea, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I'll show you the details of our tree and some other Christmas decorations around our apartment soon!

Please excuse the mess.

We just got back from a week-long trip two hours south to visit our families. We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving week, despite the fact that Richard's hometown flooded Tuesday night and many houses and businesses around town were damaged. We had the best time visiting with our families and friends. We ate so much good food (specifically Grandmother's cranberry sauce, Aunt Rin's sweet potato casserole, and, of course, my dad's deep-fried turkey). And, as you can tell, we did way too much shopping. (I'm not even sure how all of this fit in our car on the drive home!) 

I'm glad to be home, and I'm even more excited about the fact that I only have two weeks left of this semester. But I came home sick and am very worried about how I'm going to manage to accomplish all the things I have to accomplish this week when all I want to do is snuggle up on the couch with a blanket and a box of tissue.

How was your Thanksgiving? 

happiness

Sometimes, all it takes to make me happy on a Saturday afternoon is sparkly nail polish, a stack of magazines, a new ring, & mini-red velvet cupcakes.

Last week, we had two big snowstorms, so I only had to go to school one day! We watched movies, drank coffee, trekked through the snow to get takeout & went sledding everyday. Last night, we braved the roads, & I took my love out for his belated birthday dinner. Then we went to see a movie with my family. It was such a wonderful week & weekend!

hello, hello!

it has just been brought to my attention that i never, ever blog anymore. sorry guys. i am probably the worst blogger in the history of blogging.

this summer has been quite uneventful in the sense that i've taken no fancy vacations, nor have i done anything terribly worthwhile. in a way, this makes me a happy lady. at the same time, i feel lazy & boring! but i cannot remember a summer that has been so relaxing.

i have seen lots of rainbows. gone on lots of picnics & mountain drives. spent so much time with each of my sisters. met an octopus (!!!). learned to cook an array of fancy desserts & made my first roast which got rave reviews & made me a happy lady.

i went bowling lots & lots of times (and my highest score is still 84... embarrassing). had weekend guests. went to a lovely friend's wedding in a field in missouri. went rafting & i got big-time injured. went on a tulsa adventure with my baby sisters & boyfriend.

i spent a friday night in a garage on a ranch with my big family in louisiana, playing instruments & singing gospel songs. saw the biggest fireworks display of my life while laying in a field next to the river with some of my favorite people. ate lots of barbie snowcones with my boyfriend.

these little things have brought immeasurable happiness into my life as of late. my life is bursting at the seams with love.

next week, i'm road tripping to california with two of my favorite women. hopefully i'll remember to blog with lots of stories & photos of what is going to be an amazing trip!

spring break twenty ten.

my spring break was pretty uneventful in comparison to last year's trip to the bahamas. i did close to nothing, but it was unbelievably lovely to have an entire week to relax. it was certainly full of up's and down's, but i'm very thankful that i had some time to regenerate.

good things:
a foot of snow on the first day of spring! yes, i consider that a good thing.
birthday party in little rock. i love the loony bin comedy club.
visited some family friends in texas for a few days!
watched about a million movies. read about a million magazines.
finally read david sedaris' me talk pretty one day.
actually got to spend some time with my family. sister & nieces included.
lots & lots of good food. grandmother's cooking (the best food ever), la huerta in russellville, & lots of junk. this is enough in itself to make my week.
after the snow melted, things started to turn green & the pear trees & dogwoods started to bloom! hooray!

bad things:
got SUN POISONING! do not ever ever ever get that. it was the worst pain i've been in since my rib cartlidge got inflamed & infected (yeah, how does that happen?)
school meeting on my first day of spring break. (seriously. who does that?)
aaaand, it was way too short. but school ends in 27 days!

a very long list of happiness!

So, maybe I forgot that I even had a blog. Maybe I have been so swamped with school that I have utterly neglected this little thing. Maybe I should be studying right now instead of blogging. Maybe I don't care.

I found this list tonight that I made when I was going through some rough times a couple years ago. I had just gotten my heart broken. It was very hard for me to realize that I still had so much to be thankful for. When I found it just a few minutes ago, it served as a beautiful reminder for the lovely things in this world that I enjoy so much.

Things that make me so happy I can barely stand it:
Delicious coffee (particularly iced).
Writing something satisfying.
My little sisters and the things they make for me.
My gorgeous, loud, supportive family.
Good food: home cookin', sushi, cheap dirty fast food.
Feeling classy/glamorous.
Kisses with boys that I actually want to kiss.
Vacations.
Praying out loud.
Pretty desserts.
Cute socks, comfy pjs.
Bike rides in summer dresses.
Little animals.
Being spontaneous and frivolous.
Reading fashion magazines more than textbooks.
Love!
Things that smell like sweets.
Feeling skinny.
Thinking of all I have to be thankful for.
Finishing something.
Novel covers.
Exploring unfamiliar places.
Singing loudly with Spice in the car.
Baths in Mom's jacuzzi.
This list.
When my internet decides to be fast.
Laughing my head off.
Feeling cozy.
Cities- especially Chicago, Denver, and Atlanta.
Beating old games on my Super Nintendo.
The fact that I got out of Alabama.
Feeling like a guest in my own house.

Clean, crisp, white sheets and fluffy beds.
The views in the country and mountains.
Parle-ing some francais.
The fact that my future is promising.
Feeling accepted and welcome.
Smiling at strangers.
Babies and their clothes.
Sassy, classy, nice old ladies.
Skydiving.
Grandmother's cooking.
Forgetting bad memories.
Older men with good style.
Making pretty things.
Conversations with older, wiser people.

What things make you so happy you can barely stand it?

happy thanksgiving!

i've been a very, very, VERY busy girl.
and as always, i have neglected this little thing.

i've been sick. moved into new apartment with sister (while sick. boo). end of semester=school is crazy. papers, papers, & more papers. unpacking, decorating, cleaning, cooking, etc.

but i'm leaving in just a few minutes to visit
my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, great grandma, friends,
and my "favorite sister."

words cannot express how excited i am to see them,
and how much i need this break from school
and all the things that go along with my life here.

i truly hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving,
surrounded by the people you love the most.