A Quick Update

Hello fellow Bloggers!!!!!!
Sorry I've been MIA the past couple of months. Everything has been so crazy I haven't had time to breathe. As you know, I got engaged to the best man in the world! Then two of my friends and I went to Destin for a week for spring break- and it was AMAZING!!! I also graduated on May 18 from LSU with a Bachelor Degree in Child and Family Studies. The day following graduation we had our engagement party, and Will (fiance) and I also went to California for a week! As soon as I got back from California I had to come straight to Atlanta, where I have been since June 3, because I had breast reduction surgery on June 8!!! Along with all of this my Dad and the family have moved back to Louisiana, so I got in some QT with them before I left, too. It's hard to believe how much has happened in such a short amount of time, but it has all been great!! I'll fill you in on my spring break trip, our California trip, and I plan on writing a weekly (maybe a little more often tho, since I have lots of free time now) update on how recovery from surgery is going. Thanks for all of the well wishes I have received!!!

It feels good to be back!

We're Engaged!!

Isn't it beautiful!? The setting it is in is all fleur de lis!!! It's perfect and I could not be happier!!
Here's how he proposed:
Unfortunately, Will and I only see each other once a week. So, while he was on his way up here Friday night after he got off work, he called me and asked me if I still had the scrapbook I started making for our first anniversary. (Of course I still had it!) Then he mentioned he had something to add to it. When he got here he pulled out the Blockbuster receipt me and my best friend wrote my name and number on when we met. I could not BELIEVE he still had it after 3 and a half years!!!! It was the sweetest thing! Then, we started looking through the scrapbook, and when we got to the poem he wrote me on our first anniversary he read it out loud (You really just can't get sweeter than this). Then, he asked me where I kept the scrapbook, and told him I kept it in a box in my closet with all of our cards and the letters he sent me. He asked me to show him, which I did, and then he said something was missing from the scrapbook. I asked, "what?" and he said, "pictures from the baptism." I asked if we had any pictures together from that, and he said he didn't know. Then he said there was something else missing (what else could be missing? I put everything we have in there! LOL). So, I asked, "what?" again, and he knelt down and said, "moments like this." Then he repeated the last line from the poem he wrote me- "One year isn't enough, let's make it forever." and he told me how much he loved me and asked me to marry him!!!!!! It was so beautiful and, of course, I was in tears before he could even ask!!!

I feel like the luckiest girl in the whole world! We probably won't be getting married for 2 years, because I have to finish grad school first, but I know it will fly by!!! I can't wait until May when all of my family is in town and we can celebrate together!!!

This weekend has been the best of my life so far! I finished English (finally), the Hunger Games movie premiered (which was amazing- go see it!), and, of course, getting engaged was the ICING on the cake!!!!!! We want to thank everyone for the well wishes, love, and support, and we are so excited! Here's to the next step in our wonderful journey together!!

Wordless Wednesday- Girly

This week a verse from a Broadway song came to mind from Flower Drum Song: When I have a brand new hairdo
With my eyelashes all in curl,
I float as the clouds on air do,
I enjoy being a girl!


Isn't being a girl so much fun!? (And so much work! LOL)

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Somewhat Wordless Wednesday- Joy {linky}

The thing that brings me more joy than anything is spending time with all of my family together. This weekend I got to do that when I visited my brother in Pensacola for my niece's 3rd birthday. Watching my mom and stepdad push her on the swing outside was one of the best parts of this past weekend, and I wouldn't have traded it for the world!

The Best of Me- Nicholas Sparks

I am a huge Nicholas Sparks fan. HUGE. And, unfortunately I don't have very much time to read his books during the semester. However, my mom lives in Atlanta (8 hours away) so I try to squeeze in some leisure books during my drive. Audiobooks are a life saver when it comes to road trips, if you ask me.

So, on my last trip back I decided to get Nicholas Sparks' new book- The Best of Me. I always laugh at myself when I get his books for a drive because I always end up crying my eyes out, and I feel ridiculous when I'm driving and bursting into tears at the same time.

Anyway, this book is an unbelievably sweet and romantic story about long-lost lovers who find each other again. I can't really get into it because (A) I'll cry haha and (B) I might accidentally give away the surprise twist. If you're a hopeless romantic like me, though, you will LOVE this- and I mean love it. A love like the kind in this book only happens to a lucky few of us, and this story is so amazing (as well as a little heartbreaking) that you will not be able to stop until it's finished.

So, next time you're at Barnes and Noble PLEASE pick up this book. It is so good, and I know all you hopeless romantics out there will fall in love with it as much as I have. It's simply wonderful

The Hunger Games trilogy- Suzanne Collins

HOLY MOTHER! Let me start off by saying that these books are amazing. I was a little wary at first because they were so popular I was worried they wouldn't live up to the hype. Oh, but they did. My friend Maggie was gracious enough to let me use her kindle to read these books. I probably should have waited to start them so they wouldn't get in the way of school, but I had no idea how ADDICTING they would be. Once I started I could not put them down!!! These science fiction novels were SO good, I even dare to say they were better than the Twilight saga (and I am a HUGE Twi-hard). It's an action packed story with a little bit of romance, and it has the "Fahrenheit 451 & 1984" feel that I love! (I don't know how to describe those types of books, but I'm sure you've read them and can get where I'm coming from.)

Anyway, they're amazing. I don't know how to describe it without giving the story away so take my advice and READ them. I guarantee you will not stop until the end. I stayed up for hours and neglected school just so I could read them. I had to finish them fast or I would've been behind in school haha. Suzanne Collins did an AMAZING job when she wrote these books, and needless to say, I cannot WAIT for the movies. You won't be disappointed.

All You Need Is L-O-V-E

YAY! My "faith, hope, and love" compilation of artsy stuff is complete! This, like the others, was really easy to do! I went to Hobby Lobby (my favorite) and got a wooden hanging decoration that said "Love," some small silver-lined beads, and some glue.

I spread the tacky glue across each letter with a cosmetic wedge and stuck the beads on. It got to be a little tedious, because at one point you have to add them individually around the edges to get full coverage. It took about 1-2 hours to finish, but it was worth it!

easy crafty fun!

This week at bible study we decided to have a "pinterest party!" It's mid-terms so we decided to have an easy week and just do crafts we've been wanting to do instead of our usual study. It was so much fun! I made a "hope" thing-a-ma-bob to hang on my wall:

It was so fun and easy and CHEAP! I just bought 4 pages of card stock, 4 canvases, some glue, and some sequins. I love it! It came out great and it is the perfect addition to the "faith" breast cancer fleur de lis I did over the summer.. now all I need is "love" and it will be complete!!!

Cream Cheese Queso

So, every week at bible study someone makes some goodies. This past week on of the girls made this AMAZING cream cheese queso. She so graciously gave us all the recipe and I made it the next day... It's officially my favorite kind of queso. It's so good there are no words. And, it's really filling- which is good because if it weren't I would eat all of it haha. So, I thought I would share this deliciousness with y'all too!

Ingredients:

2 8oz philadelphia cream cheese
1 whole jar of pace picante, i used medium
1 package of shredded mexican or cheddar cheese.

Put the cream cheese in a bowl and into the microwave for about 3-4 minutes on 50 - 60% power to avoid burning the cheese or making it gross.

Once it starts melting put the salsa and cheese in for around 1minute and 20seconds at full power

Stir and enjoy!!

Let me know what you think! I'm pretty sure you'll love it :)

Taco Ring

I love food.. and usually I love cooking, the only problem being that I live alone. However, I was really craving a Taco Ring so I made one anyway. These things are delicious. I love them! And, they are so easy to make it's crazy! Here's the recipe I used:

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef shopping list
1 pkg taco seasoning mix
1 cup (4 oz) cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp water
2 8 oz refrigerated crescent rolls

Preheat oven to 375
Brown ground beef and drain grease.

Stir in taco seasoning, water and cheese.

Unroll crescent rolls and separate. Arrange triangles in a circle on a round baking stone (i used a regular baking sheet and it worked just as well) with wide ends overlapping in center and points toward the outside. There should be about a 5 inch diameter in the center.

Scoop meat mixture evenly onto widest ends of dough at center of ring. Bring points in and over and tuck underneath the wide end.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.
You can garnish with bell pepper, lettuce, salsa, tomatoes, onion, sour cream, olives, etc.

ENJOY!! If you try it tell me what you think! :)

Cookies and Cream Cookies

I volunteered to make some goodies for my Bible study this week and I was so excited because I always see so many recipes on pinterest that I want to try but cannot eat by myself.

The one I chose to make I found on pinterest via the Six Sisters' Blog: Six Sisters' Stuff: Cookies and Cream Cookies

I love everything cookies and cream so I thought this would be perfect, and when I told one of the girls from Bible study about she said "Omgosh you have to make that!" This recipe is really simple and really yummy! Okay, it's more than "really yummy" THEY ARE FLIPPING AMAZING! lol these are officially my new favorite cookies.

So, here's how ya do it:

2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 (4.2 ounce) package Cookies 'n Creme pudding mix
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups white chocolate chips
15 Oreo cookies, very coarsly chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars, add pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking soda with a whisk then add it to the butter mixture.

3. Stir in the chocolate chips and Oreo cookies (coarsely chopped- or crushed in a bag is fine too). Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Tip: Reynold's non-stick foil works great too!

4.Bake for 10 minutes in preheated oven until cookies tops barely have a touch of brown. Makes 3 dozen cookies.

They are soooooo good and the pudding makes them sinfully moist. They are amazing, and if you don't believe me make them for yourself and see!!!

Teva Women's Mush Flip Flop

This semester has been so busy I barely have time to breathe, much less blog. However, I just got these new flip flops and i LOVE them... I just had to share!! :D

I have a pair of Volatile flip flops that are super comfy and just a little high. I thought those were the most comfortable flip-flops ever... until now! These are seriously the most comfortable shoes I own. Usually when it comes to flip-flops I try to not spend too much so I go to Old Navy and get like 3 pairs for $5.00... I don't think I'll ever go back now, though! These were $20 at DSW but it is $20 well spent!!! I wear my flip-flops into the ground and this is a good pair that is sure to last for a while. My old flip-flops were so worn down I could feel the rocks and everything on the ground but I don't think I'll have to worry about that with these. They're thick but not bulky, and unlike Old Navy flip-flops, the top part of the sole (the part you actually step on) is "mush" so you won't slip! I can't tell you how many times I've slipped out of my Old Navy ones. I think these will probably be the only flip-flops I buy from now on.. I LOVE THEM!

Common Grounds Cafe

So, I have been wanting to get involved with a college church group around here for a while but I had a hard time finding one I liked. I tried a couple of churches here and there but none of them were "just right." I had heard about The Refuge college ministry at The Chapel on campus but I wasn't sure where it was- or even what it was, exactly. Late last semester my friend started going to The Refuge's services on Sunday nights, and she really enjoyed it! So, she invited me to come along. First, let me just say that the fact that the service was on Sunday night was a huge plus! Anyway, I started going and I really liked it. It reminded me a lot of the church I go to in New Orleans except everyone is college-aged and SO NICE & WELCOMING! I started going fairly regularly, followed them on facebook, and went to a couple of free food nights during finals week. I met a lot of really nice people and I just loved the environment there. Then, before this semester started, they mentioned on facebook that they needed volunteers to work at the free cafe a couple hours a week. I knew that this would be a great opportunity so I jumped right on it! Wednesday was my first day and it was awesome! It's not a hard job at all and you get to hang out with awesome people that have the same beliefs as you do. I've been wanting more Christian friends to relate to, and I think this is just the place to find them. I even ran to someone from high school I haven't seen since I graduated, and it was so nice to catch up! Common Grounds is a great place to go study, hang out, or even just stop in for some free refreshments. They have lemonade, coffee, tea, and great baked goods! I am so glad I was able to take this opportunity. Even though this semester is crazy I have been blessed enough to have enough time to do this. Everyone should go check it out! Open Monday-Friday from 4ish to Midnight... you can't beat it :)

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday! I'm sure a lot of people say this but this time it's really true: I have the best mom in the world! She has done so much for me. She has always been there to support me in whatever I want to do and she has been there to help me through every problem or obstacle that has come my way. I would not be who am today if it were not for her. She is the one who has made it possible for me to do so well in my classes and really focus on getting my degree. She is the most loving, caring, kind person I know and I don't know what I would do without her. We have certainly had rough times but we are closer than ever and it makes me so happy that I am so blessed to have a mom like her. I know that she would (and has) do anything for me that I needed. She would support me as long as I was safe, happy, and healthy. Without her love and support I probably would have gone down a completely different path. I could only wish that more people were like her. We have a lot of our own inside jokes and songs that we've made up and I wouldn't have it any other way. I hope that when I get married and have kids that I can be as amazing as she is. I know with her guidance that I will be able to at least be close to her amazingness. It is no surprise that she is so great, though because- in case you didn't know- I have the greatest grandparents in the world, too. And they are just as amazing and supportive and loving as my mom and I wouldn't trade any of them for anything in the universe.

So happy birthday, mom! I hope it is an amazing one and I wish I could be there to celebrate with you! I love you!