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. :)

This week:

I rode roller coasters and waterslides with my love and some friends and got a major sunburn.
I had the privilege of attending a keynote address given by the Dalai Lama. It was amazing. More on that later.
I planted some things: basil, parsley, and pink zinnias, to be exact. Let's all cross our fingers and hope they grow (unlike those pretty gerber daisies I killed last year).
I had breakfast early in the morning with my Nanna. She made chocolate gravy and biscuits, and all felt well in this world.
I got to spend an entire day with my oldest sister. This rarely happens! It was so fun.
I realized that I need have to stop drinking so much caffeine. But that will have to wait until next week when Starbucks no longer has half price drinks. Eek!

*Photo of my little sister Hali on her 10th birthday last month. See, caffiene addictions run in our family!

Road Trip to Los Angeles

In July, I went on the road trip of a lifetime with two beautiful, hilarious, smart, sassy ladies: my sister Kristal and her cousin Jaime (yes, it is possible for Jaime to be my sister's cousin, but not MY cousin... we come from a silly family).

We drove 1,580 miles to Los Angeles, taking Route 66 for much of the trip, passing through Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and sunny California.

All we expected was to spend a few days in Los Angeles, visiting the Hollywood sign, soaking up the sun on the beach, and exploring the city. But it kinda ended up being a V.I.P. sorta thing when we were invited to work on the tv show Plain Jane and stay with the show's director.

I've never been on such a trip- we saw so much, laughed so much, ate so much, drank so much (Starbucks, duh), relaxed so much, and experienced so, so much. I have tons of good memories, good photos, and good stories to share, and I can't wait to finally be putting them all on this little thing! I will start posting road trip recaps this week.

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!

ice skating!

Let me just begin by saying this: I was definitely not meant to be an ice skater.

Richard & I took Maci & Hali ice skating, and I don't remember this last time I saw my little sisters laugh so hard. It was Richard's first time, and he is a natural like Maci. They're so cute spinning around on the ice as Hali & I literally can't force ourselves to let go of the side.

And all those blurry pictures? That's us falling. Whoops.

And do you see how beautiful my sisters are? It amazes me. I love them.

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.

halloween.

halloween is probably my least favorite holiday,

but each year i try to make the best of it.

this was the first year in so long that i didn't go to a showing of

the rocky horror picture show

or go to a party with friends.

instead, i dressed up as dorothy from the wizard of oz

(complete with toto in a basket!)

and played with my little sisters and their friends!

it was so fun.

we went to a carnival at church and played games,

went trick-or-treating under a beautiful orange sunset

(seriously, it could not have been more halloween-ish),

and stuffed ourselves full of candy.

my sister maci was a birthday girl,

and hali was perry the platypus from one of her favorite cartoons.

they made their own little costumes!

i don't know how they came up with either of those ideas,

but are they not just adorable?!

i also had some spooky fun with my dad, rachel, and my dad's now wife becky.

ghost hunts scare me. i swore i'd never go on another,

and this time i really won't.

how was your halloween? what was your costume?
i heard about lots of lady gagas!

billy mays and bob ross were also pretty popular. hilarious!