Wordle: Blog Edition

One of Joy the Baker's readers created a wordle from words most often used on her blog. I was unaware that you could do that with a blog or website, so I was interested to see what the results from my blog would be. The bigger the word, the more often the word is used. I love that the word used most is "thankful." This past year has felt more like a fog, a year I've been wishing away. But in the...

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This Afternoon

Has been filled with lots of wrapping and lots of glitter on my floors. This year I decided to add more color under the tree. I think I like it! Such a fun time of year. Have a great weeke...

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Cookie Exchange

Last night I attended my first cookie exchange. I've been missing out! It was a wonderful evening filled with amazing cookies and conversation with a few of my favorite coworkers. I ended up not making cookies at all. My last few attempts at baking have been less than stellar, so instead I went with a recipe that is almost impossible to mess up - Oreo Truffles. Oreo Truffles Ingredients: 1...

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Cross Country Update and Cookie Swaps

Last Thursday I left way too early in the morning for a 5am flight to Los Angeles. The next day I headed to New York. Because of some unfortunate events, I ended up in New York City alone after the band I had traveled with returned home. With several hours to kill, I decided to visit Manhattan solo. My hotel was five miles from the city and I couldn't leave without seeing "The Tree" or the storefronts...

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Thankful

North Carolina will be our home for the next few days. We made the long trip to spend Thanksgiving with family. As I sit by my grandmother next to a cozy fire, I'm feeling so very thankful. I'm thankful for an incredible husband who showed amazing strength during some tough seasons this year. No matter what came our way, he always kept me laughing. I don't know how it's possible, but I love him more...

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Digital Age

A great magazine is my favorite guilty pleasure. I don't buy things on impulse very often, but if I see a great deal for a magazine subscription, I take it. My current subscriptions include Southern Living, Better Homes & Garden, Martha Stewart Living, Good Housekeeping, Cooking Light, and US. I know, ridiculous, right? I actually recently added a couple more (I traded in frequent flyer miles)....

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Bittersweet Winner

Drumroll, please.... Thanks to Random.org, the lucky winner is SugarFreeAsh. Congrats Ashley! I'll e-mail you with more details.  Thanks to all of you for humoring me and participating in my first giveaway. Hope to see many of you tonight at Shauna's event. For more details, click here. ...

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Bittersweet Giveaway

It's giveaway time! If this isn't your first time reading my blog, you know that I'm a big fan of Shauna Niequist and her latest book, Bittersweet. It's rare that I read a book twice in a lifetime, much less twice in less than six months. I'm currently reading Bittersweet for the second time because a.) I really love the book and b.) Shauna is coming to the Nashville area for a reading this Friday! To...

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Life on the Farm

Life has been a bit busy lately. So much so that I haven't even had time to think about this blog. I'm trying to get back in the swing of things because a lot of exciting things are coming up (including my very first giveaway thanks to Shauna Niequist!). Last weekend we made a trip to Missouri to celebrate my baby brother's birthday. He doesn't technically turn 16 until this Friday, but since I'm...

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Christmas Came Early

One great thing about my job is getting corporate thank you gifts during the holidays. Because I placed such a large order with Harry & David last year, they thanked me this year by sending me a "Tower of Treats." I don't know how Todd and I are going to eat all of the goodies they sent, but I've never been known to turn down chocolate. Seriously. I don't think I have ever turned it down. ...

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Chili Cook Off

On Saturday Todd and I met some friends in Leiper's Fork to attend the town's annual chili cook off. With nearly 17 different kinds of chili (and a couple of versions of homemade salsa), we left very full. Throw in some live music, a Barney Fife look-a-like and a visit from one of the candidates running for governor, you have a truly Southern festival. In other news,...

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Thoughts on Grace

A few weeks ago I stumbled on a new-to-me blog, Chatting at the Sky.  I immediately fell in love with the author’s writing style, so I was pretty excited when she decided to dedicate the entire month of October to discussions about grace (31 Days of Grace). Her posts have become a daily devotional to me and nearly every day I’m learning something new about myself and the way I view grace. I...

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Weekend In Pictures

Todd's family spent the weekend with us. The weather was perfect, the food was incredible and the time spent together was priceless. *Todd's mom bought me a mini bundt pan. We made mini apple bundt cakes with a crunchy pecan topping. My new pan will come in handy for an awesome event I'm attending on November 19th (details to come).*We introduced Todd's family to Fido....

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Feels Like Fall

Fall is in the air and I couldn’t be happier. While October brought on some anxiety for me this year, it’s actually one of my favorite months. Every year I eagerly await fall and all the great things that come with it: cool weather, meals in crock pots, mums, pumpkins, high school football games, apple cider, trick or treaters, cozy TV nights with friends. The change in seasons has been good for...

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Yesterday

"I just turned thirty, and I'm finally willing to admit something about life, or at least about my life, and it's this: I should have written in pencil. I should have viewed the trajectory of my life as a mystery or an unknown. I should have planned lightly, hypothetically, and should have used words like "maybe" and "possibly." Instead, every chance I got, I wrote in stone and Sharpie....

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Birthday Stress

I’m not one to stress about getting older. In fact, most of the time I welcome it. I’m one of the rare ones who looks forward to turning 30. My whole life I have looked much younger than my age, and I can’t wait to see the look on faces of people who say, “You’re 30?!” I will respond with, “Why yes, I am a capable and mature 30 year old. Now take me seriously.” But this year, I’m dreading my birthday. When I turned 20, I put a timeline on my future. Who does that? Apparently I do. The...

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Folly Beach

As I type, I'm sitting on a covered deck of the beach house that Todd and I are calling home until Saturday. The weather is perfect - not a cloud in the sky. At least a dozen dolphins just swam by in front of us.  I'm surrounded by the most amazing women, whom I'm blessed to call my best friends. All is quiet except for the sounds of crashing waves, Sarah Bareilles (and from inside we hear our...

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