Day 30: Share a picture you love

I talked about why I love this place right here....

Day 29: 3 things you cannot live without

Since you said THINGS and I am keeping this light hearted - And because I feel creative...here we go:

A - apple iphone
B- MY B! :)
C- the letter that begins my brother's name
D - the letter that begins my father's name
E -the English language - I love it!
F - flowers
G - girlfriends
H -hair straightener
I - the letter that begins my mother's name
J - Jesus!
K - king size pillows..so snuggly!
L - lipgloss
M - mascara
N - nature
O - opinions - I have lots!
P - popcorn
Q - the Queen...ie all Royalty things - I'm just fascinated!
R - Roxy
S -strawberry jelly
T- trust
U -umbrella - especially the cute one I own!
V - VINO
W - Water...for after all of that VINO ;)
X - Xi - reminds me of my sorority sisters since Xi is one of our letters
Y - the color Yellow - it makes me happy!
Z - the Zoo...I love the Zoo


That was fun.

Day 28: Favorite books

I have WAY too many favorite books. I was an English major in college and I got to read so many wonderful books...here are SOME of my favorites:

Mansfield Park
Eat, Pray, Love
The Glass Castle
Catcher in the Rye
The Tipping Point
Brideshead Revisited

and my all time favorite - The Giving Tree

Day 27: 3 wishes

Any 3 wishes?

The big stuff:

1. World peace
2. End of World Hunger
3. That everyone could come from a loving and nurturing family.

Sure there are other things...but are they more important than those probably not.

I mean for insignificant wishes?

1. UT to up their football game and get into the top 10.
2. A cute pair of cognac boots
3. An engagement ring....I know it is coming we have talked about it...but I am not patient. :)

Day 26: Best concert you have been to

I've been to A LOT of concerts...and A LOT that I loved- some were great performances and some were great just to listen to...you can figure out which is which...

My Top ones are:

Britney Spears
Roger Creager
Aerosmith
Jimmy Buffet
Madonna


There are tons more...

Day 25: Put your iPod on shuffle and share the first 10 songs

This actually came up with a lot of songs I love - very strange mix though with lots of new and a few old ones.

1. Adele - Rumour Has It
2. Jay Z- Empire State of Mind
3. Maroon 5 - Moves Like Jagger
4. Chicago - Will you Still Love Me
5. Colbie Caillat- Brighter than the Sun
6. Bryan Adams - Everything I do, I do it for you
7. Jason Aldean - Dirt Road Anthem
8. The Beatles - I want to Hold your Hand
9. Eli Young Band - Crazy Girl
10. Adele- Someone like you

Day 24: Favorite places to shop

I like to shop a lot...but my favorites are:

Lands End (online)

Nordstrom (online and in store)

Sephora (love going to the store!)

Anthropologie - love the store!

TJ MAXX - such interesting finds!

Marshalls - same as TJ Maxx

Day 23: Favorite blog hop that you participate in

I used to participate in Taylor's  Top 2 Tuesday - but she has since gone private and it makes me sad as I miss her! I just hope she is doing well!

I also used to participate in Lauren's fill in the blank Friday's and I think I am going to start to do that more often:

Day 22: Share about your hobbies

I don't have a lot of hobbies - I go camping with B. I really enjoy that. I would like to get more into volunteering and I enjoy thrift store shopping.

This week at the thrift store I got:

Hunter Boots - barely used - $10

Turquoise necklace - $10

Louis Vuitton bag (needs some TLC) - $20.

I think at $40 for those items I did really well. I actually found the LV bag but showed it to V as I didn't need it. The other two things are mine. It rained this weekend so I got to actually used the boots - LOVE THEM

Day 21: Something that stresses you out

Messes stress me out. I'm a hyper organized person - and truly a messy anything stresses me out. This does not sit well with B - who is not so much an organized person. I literally can play back in my head everything that needs to be straightened - in every place that I had been in the entire day (whether it be the card isle at Target, the shampoo section at Ulta or our copy room in the office). I try not go straighten things up anymore - I used to do that.

Day 20: Picture of Yourself

This is me and Roxy pup! I think this was last Christmas.

Day 19: Share your nicknames

I don't really have a lot of nicknames. I actually can only think of one:

Pumpkin - both of my parents called me this growing up as a term of endearment and my dad still every now and then calls me that. I love it. It always makes me smile.

Day 18: Something you miss

I miss a lot of things - sure I miss surface level things but when I miss something - it is usually SOMEONE.

I miss my brother - almost all of the time. He is away finishing up law school and I just miss him being around and being in Texas. I've mentioned before how I consider him one of my best friends and I do.

I miss my grandmothers - both of my grandmothers have passed away and I miss them both terribly. They were amazing strong, educated and loving women. I get a lot of my personailty from them. I wish they were here to see how my life is.

Day 17: Something you regret

I don't really tend to regret things. Honestly, I try to live in a way that when I look back at my life I live with no regrets, just learning experiences.

But if I had to say I regretted something - it would be someone I dated in the past.

 I regret that I let someone break me down and hurt me like I let him. I say I let him because I did. I didn't walk away the first time he said those things and I should have.

I will say that because of that relationship and because of my ability to bounce back more positive and happier than ever before - I found myself again. I found my voice.


 I am so much more appreciative and thankful for this gift from God that is my wonderful and loving relationship with B. Because love - love is a gift from God.

Day 16: 5 blogs you visit daily

I have a lot of favorite blogs, so these are by no means the only ones I read, but these are the ones I wanted to share with you:

Pretty Shiny Sparkly - this is written by one of my sorority sisters from UT. She was a year younger than I am. She is a lovely, intelligent person (she's in medical school) and her fashion sense is just AMAZING! Plus she is newly engaged, and that is fun too. :)

Old Georgia House - this is written by Natalie. I have been reading her blog since BEFORE she was married. Back in the old XAnga days. I just love her style!

Sadly Leggings are not Pants - They aren't! In all reality, this website makes me laugh and I love reading it. I love blogger friends.

Reasonably Swanky - I love Blair and her posts. Her stories are funny, I love her tweets. She's like the girlfriend that you didn't know you needed!

Aesthetic Alterations - love her fashion sense. love her writing. Pretty much love this entire site!

Day 15: 3 tips for a new blogger

I don't really have tips for blogging. I don't blog to have readers (although I will say I am so glad to have become friends with some of you) but I really blog for myself.

So my tips would be.

Be yourself

Enjoy writing

Comment on others blogs if something moves you, not because you want more readers.

Day 13 and Day 14

 Day 13:

“Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option”

"If you love the life you live, you will live a life of love"

"Own only what you can carry with you. Know people, know languages, know countries. Let your memory be your travel bag"



DAY 14:

I look forward to lots of things in life, but I try to stay in the present, enjoying the moments as they pass by.

Sure I look forward to my wedding day - but more importantly I look forward to my marriage. I think nowadays there is too much preparation for a wedding and not enough for a marriage. So I look forward to married life.

I look forward to being a mother, God willing.


Mostly though - I am thankful for all that I have in this moment right now.

Day 12: Share your goals you would like to accomplish in the next year

A Goal I want to accomplish in the next year:

Read 75 books. I love reading and I get A LOT of use out of my library card, but I want to use it more!



* Disclaimer - I read A LOT. I love books and I try to read at least one a week (52 a year) and while on vacation I have been known to read an entire book in a day and start another one. The kindle for vacations is the only way I can travel - otherwise I'd be paying overage fees just for my books! When we went to the Bahamas I finished 8 books in a week. Vacations and days off are the only way I could get through so many books :)

Day 10: Tell us about your special someone

My B.

Wow, where to begin. I guess I will say that we met at UT back when I was about 20ish. A lot of my sorority sisters were friends with his fraternity brothers. I was dating someone else at the time so B and I became friends. When I became single he asked me out on a date. While it was fun and he was wonderful, I put him in the friend zone. In college we would meet up for coffee and talk, play poker with friends and I saw him all of the time. He truly was one of my good friends and I was lucky to have him.

As I left college and moved to Htown we lost touch for a while. We met back up and went on a few more dates but he put me in the friend zone then. We lost touch again for a few more years.

We both dated other people quite seriously, but those relationships ended.

One day he IMed me and we started talking. I remembered how much I enjoyed him in my life and now we were both in the same city. So we went out for dinner and drinks and pretty much since then we have been inseparable. Almost two years now.

B is truly a loving, caring and amazing man. I feel so incredibly lucky every single day. I feel like I am living a dream. Sure there are bad days, but every single day I know I am loved and I know I am cared for beyond what I can even imagine. He truly is the love of my life.

Day 9: Tell us about your must watch TV shows

B says I watch trash TV. He is right. I am ok with it.

Pretty much all BRAVO:

• All Real Housewives - all locations and all season
• Top Chef
• Rachel Zoe
• Flipping out
• Top Chef just Desserts
• All Bethenny shows
• Millionaire Matchmaker

Non Bravo:

• How I met your Mother
• Parenthood
• Modern Family
• Grey's Anatomy
• Private Practice