favorite christmas present

Justin got me an iPod for Christmas!

Yes, that is Taylor Swift. Don't judge.

Oh & ignore my old lady hands.

 He always knows how to make this girl happy.

new favorite christmas

Christmas this year was extra special. I got to spend it with the people I love most including my own personal gift from God. Justin has been such a HUGE blessing in both mine & my family's life! He was the perfect addition to our Christmas traditions.

I do not deserve him.

xo

christmas outtakes

 making fun of my cute idea. whatever.

my happy place

this is my happy place.

with justin.

loving life.

i love this man because:

*he makes me feel safe.

*he makes me laugh harder than anyone.

*he takes the time to make me talk about what i'm thinking.

*he fits in with my family better than i do.

*he lets me take lots of pictures of him.

*he's a fan of my blog.

*he's really tall.

*he loves Jesus with his whole heart.

*he makes me happier than anyone.

i can't wait for our first Christmas together!

xo

weekend review

 I bought a polar bear hat & i. love. it.

my father attempted a fire. it was unsuccessful. even with the help of my polar bear hat.

justin & i ate frozen yogurt.

  clearly it was delicious.

  then we had a mini photo shoot.

 gosh, i love him.

 we ended the weekend with the kids christmas play.

i'd say it was a fantastic weekend.

if only it lasted longer.

is monday over yet?

no?

darn.

idk my bff nik?

I am extremely happy to have my best friend back from college. We have known each other since preschool. We became best friends a couple of years ago. He's been there for me through a lot. He travels often. Sometimes to the Philippines sometimes to Missouri but no matter how long he's gone it's like he never left.

Please enjoy these pictures of my goofy best friend while I go meet him for lunch today.

The night before he left for missionary school.

 my birthday dinner with Sam!

 summer solstice :)

 the night before he left for the Philippines.

  one time we decided to drive to Madison. Actually we've done that a couple of times.

 did I mention he has one arm?

 just kidding.

 oldie but goodie. at Hillsong.

 i love my friends.



one time...

one time i was convinced i broke my phone. then i may have panicked and made justin drive out to my house late at night to fix it. and maybe there was nothing wrong with it at all.

maybe this was last night.

love you honey!

xoxo

so blessed.

I was blessed with one of the best weekends of my life.

Friday: Bon Iver in Chicago

Saturday: Muppets Movie

Sunday: Justin bought me the coat I've been dying for.

 Justin is the very best ever.

I pray I get to spend the rest of my life with him.

xo.

Bon Iver

Bon Iver was amazing!

Unfortunately, no pictures.

Just new favorite memories.

Best concert I've ever been to, by far.

how to be a successful blogger

From my experience of blog stalking I've noticed there are 10 things you need to be a successful blogger. I possess none of them.

HA.

1. Be married.

2. Travel to beautiful places. 

3. Be Mormon. 

4. Have an expensive camera to take amazing pictures with. 

5. Have a husband who is willing to take pictures of you posing in different outfits.

6. Have the confidence to then post those pictures of you posing in different outfits.

7. Be extremely crafty/thrifty

8. Have other friends in the blog world.

9. Read lots of books.

10. Eat tons of food, take pictures of food, talk about how much food you eat but magically stay super skinny.

Friday!!

Remember this post? Well tonight is the night! I'm going to see this guy with my Justin.

Bon Iver

I am so excited.

he did it again!

Best boyfriend ever award goes to Justin once again.

Surprises are my favorite.

Especially when they involve Justin.

I hadn't seen him all week and was missing him a lot.

:)

adventurous tuesday

Tuesday felt like it was ten days long because I did so much. I started my day off with St. Nick from the cutest mom in the world! My stocking was full and we watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Then I was off to work and Hawthorne. I love those people and all of their stories.
Next was my dentist appointment. No cavities! I was a good girl, I didn't even bite the dentist this time! (true story I always used to bite the dentist. Why? I'm not sure)
After my appointment I surprised my nieces by picking them up from school and taking them to mcdonalds for a little girl time. I love these girls. They are so silly and always make me laugh. I made them listen to Justin Bieber's Christmas CD on the way. They made fun of me so much I turned it off :( haha

 When I dropped the girls off at home I was greeted by the cutest little boys in matching pajamas! Cale was disappointed Justin wasn't with me. I fed Benton chocolate so he was perfectly fine sitting on my lap.

 After dropping the girls off I met my favorite "grandson" for coffee at Cafe Bistro. Jon Walker started calling me grandma back when I was a youth leader. He now calls Justin grandpa. Jon was one of my favorite youth students. I'm glad we've been able to stay in touch. We had a lot of catching up to do! We stayed until the place closed talking about life, relationships, and how amazing our God is. I'm so happy he feels comfortable enough to talk about what's going on in his life and be real with me. I call him grandson but he's really a little brother.

 Jon Walker

I ended my day watching a Muppets Christmas Carol with my dad.  

I enjoyed this day very much.

a Magic Bullet story

Background story: my Magic Bullet was a birthday present from Justin. It was love at first sight.

Monday was a rough day. A very very very bad work day. All that kept me through the day was the thought of going home, making a smoothie with my Magic Bullet, and taking a bubble bath. The hours moved by slowly until 5:00pm finally came! I practically skipped to my car. On the way home, I stopped at Target and bought $45.00 worth of smoothie ingredients. In my mind I thought, "totally worth it. this will last all winter." I get home, put all the ingredients in the plastic cup (I was so excited my heart was racing), screw the top on, press down on it...and...NOTHING. It did nothing. Didn't move, didn't make noise, didn't. do. anything! It must have been the outlet I plugged it into, right?? As I frantically plugged my Magic Bullet into about 4 different outlets I realized there was no hope. My trusty Magic Bullet had died. I named him Kevin. I almost cried, almost. Kevin had not given me the delicious smoothie I had been craving all day. Instead he left me with this...

A glass full of orange juice and raspberries. Not the same. Needless to say I went to bed that night devastated and still thirsting for a precious smoothie.

But wait! This story has a great ending...KEVIN IS BACK FROM THE DEAD! HE'S ALIVE! HE'S ALIVE! My glorious mother fixed him! I don't know how she did it but this morning I made myself the best smoothie of. my. life! I was going to take a picture of it to show you all but it was consumed in about 2.8 seconds. So here's an old one of Kevin back in summer.

I am one happy lady today.

The moral of the story is buy yourself, your significant other, your friend, your family member a Magic Bullet. It will become their best friend. Just pray it never dies on them when they need him most.

The end.

Not my favorite Monday.
Bubble bath time.

weekend update

*pizza & christmas movies

*double hair appointments

*everyone asking us if we went together

*we did not

*getting stuck at mcdonalds thanks to the new berlin christmas parade

*observing the most obnoxious 15 year olds at said mcdonalds

*sleeping all day

*Guy's 4th birthday party

*Justin becoming the favorite & being told so by every one of my nieces & nephews

*jerks

*5 months of happiness

*flowers

*fruit smoothie drinks

*vintage earrings

*red lipstick

*sitting through church with a handsome man's arm around me

*dying inside the whole time

*Justin impressing me once again by breaking into Lindsey's car for her keys

*loved showing him off

*trying on animal hats at halmark

*lunch at chili's

*wanting to shank the annoying man sitting behind us

*sleeping

*stupid packer game

*more sleeping

*minor freak out

*shopping at michaels

*snuggling

*watching the funniest episode of Felicity EVER.

can anyone explain to me why weekends last 30 seconds?

bleh monday.

xo