what I'm loving!

Linking up with the sweet Jamie today!

Today I'm loving...

*This new Pandora station I heard about for babies...Caspar Babypants.  Seriously cute!

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*My amazing bible study I'm doing on Thursday mornings....James by Beth Moore.  I have always loved the book of James and how convicting and raw it is.  Beth Moore is seriously amazing at enlightening you to see scripture in a deeper way to closer to connect to Jesus.  One of my favorite parts of this is that we're handwriting the books of James throughout the study. How cool is that?  It makes it stick in a whole new way to visual person like myself! One part of James that's stuck in my head right now...

"Consider it all joy!" 

James 1:2a (paraphrased)

*That it's still summertime.  That's all I need to say about that! :D

*This article I found on Pinterest.  Definitely worth the read! So full of common sense, easy ideas!

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 *All of your kind and encouraging comments on my post from yesterday.  I am so, so filled with joy over the fact that God was able to use my story to bless and encourage you.  You are such encouragement to me as well! Praise the Lord for how He works!

*That we just took an amazing family beach trip to St. Simons Island, Georgia. (I really hope to post pics eventually about this trip when I can find some time! I've got a crazy, mobile, pulling-up-on-everything crawler, y'all!) It was so fun to watch Adeline play in the sand and fall in love with the beach!

Happy Wednesday!

lots to love

I'm linking up with Jamie today for What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I'm loving...

That my baby girl slept 5 hours straight last night between her late night feeding (11ish) and her middle of the night feeding (4ish).  Then she slept 4 more straight hours until her first feeding of the day (8ish).  Whoo hoo!

her sleeping habits crack me up--hands and feet out from covers at all times!

I'm loving...

That I have been able to cook more.  Some of my faves have been crock pot recipes! Thank you Pinterest for all the inspiration! Beside Pinterest inspirations, we've also had Chicken Pot Pie, Chicken Tortilla Soup, and "Fried" Rice with steak and chicken! I'm planning on trying a bar-b-q chicken recipe and pot roast recipe soon that I've pinned. (Sorry for the lack of links...Pinterest is down right now.)

I'm loving...

That I was able to spend some time yesterday with two dear friends! Adeline and I met Page and her sweet baby, Selah, for lunch yesterday.  It was the first time for our sweet babes to meet.  It was so refreshing to sit with another momma and chat all things newborn and postpartum from breastfeeding hiccups to diaper duty.  It was so good for the soul! Then in the afternoon I got a call from my sweet friend, Cheri, and she stopped by to just hang out and chat while Adeline was napping.  (She's due with a sweet little girl, Anna, in April!) Love all these sweet girls that will be around for playmates for Adeline!

I'm loving...

All the Christmas festivities!! We have shopped till we've dropped for one thing! Adeline is quite the pro shopper already.  I am loving all the Christmas devotional reading we've been doing as a family and that I have been doing with Adeline during some of her awake time.  She already loves to be read to! Tonight we have our Christmas Cantata at church...my mom and mother-in-law are in the choir and it's always such a joyful celebration of Christ's birth! We've also spent quite a bit of time decorating our tree and then Adeline and I spent the day with my mom to help her decorate their huge live tree.  Adeline also met Santa for the first time at church on Sunday!

Adeline and Boone enjoyed the decorating festivities--the lights are a hit with the sweet girl

our tree

I'm loving...

The new addition to our stockings! We ordered Adeline a personalized Pottery Barn stocking and it's perfect!

 I'm loving...

Dressing this girl up in Christmas attire! Actually dressing her up in anything! :)

I'm loving...

All the cuddles in front of the Christmas tree lately!

 I'm loving...

My little angel and our sweet little family (Boone included)!

wednesday love.

It's been a while since I've linked up with Jamie and I have tons to love right now.  So thought I would take time to share.

Today I'm loving...

One--We found Adeline's coming home outfit.  When I told Justin we needed to find a coming home outfit he looked at me in disbelief and reminded me of her full closet.  Yes, it only begins.  Although all of her clothes are super adorable, I wanted to pick something out myself that had that extra "aw" to it.

Two--I'm loving all the amazing cloth diapering resources I have found recently.  We've (well, let's say still mainly me at this point...hubby is still on the fence about it...I'm working on him.  And he's slowly but surely giving in. ;) decided to go with the BumGenius 4.0 one size diapers.  I've decided that after a few weeks, I'll give the whole cloth diaper thing a go with minimal items.  If I fall in love (which, honestly, I think I will), I will up our stash and get going seriously. (Another post is coming tomorrow with my details on how we plan on getting started and some of the great resources I've found.)  In the meantime...how cute are these diapers?!

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Three--It's my Fall Break.  My 38th week of pregnancy off from work.  Heaven.  The week has been full of sleeping in, eating big meals (ha! Having a break from packed lunches or school lunches is wonderful at this point where I feel like eating every 15 minutes.), shopping, nesting, and relaxing.  Did I mention it's been heaven?

Four--Hubby's job is often affected by the weather.  A cold rain has set in for today and tomorrow, so I have two bonus days with him that I didn't think I would get! Love it.

Five--We have a Florida beach trip planned for my maternity leave!! Ahhh..I can hardly contain my excitement! The best part is Adeline's first beach trip will also probably include both sets of her grandparents and possibly her uncle (my little bro).  Oh and it will be in the nasty part of winter--so a wonderful retreat to sunshine! Fun times ahead!

Happy Wednesday! Hope it's blessed with things you love!

what I'm loving

Today I'm loving...

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This adorable hospital hat from Tweetlebug Boutique that I received as a gift today for little Adeline! A sweet teacher that was on my team this year said it was her favorite item she received for her little one and so she surprised me with one today.  I've had my eye on these and was planning on getting one...so sweet!!

Our new truck! We finally found a truck for Justin after a crazy amount of shopping around.  We had a cash budget we were sticking to, which made it more difficult, but so worth the wait! Hubby is so excited and looks mighty handsome in his new truck, I might add.  I'm loving driving it some too! I plan on doing a post very soon about our trials and tribulations of saving up and paying for an automobile with cash in hopes to help some readers out too.  One down, one to go.  Now on to find my new vehicle! :)

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My recent finds at Bath and Body Works! I'm loving the scent of this Coconut Pineapple lotion for summer.  Best part...I had a coupon and got it free!! I also found this amazing Apricot Vanilla Lip Gloss for half off.  It's yummy!

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Tomorrow is the last day of school! Enough said.

What are you loving? Link up with Jamie here!

lots to love!

It has been so long since I linked up with the sweet Jamie here! So excited to join in because there is so much to love right now...I mean, isn't there always?!

Right now I'm loving...

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Minute Maid Original Orange Juice with calcium and vitamin D. I finally started buying it to take with me each morning so I would stop going through the McDonald's drive-thru.  

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There are FOUR AND 1/2 DAYS left of school!! The last day of school honestly snuck up on me this year.  I think my goal of taking it one day at a time this year really helped.  Although I love my kiddos...I am super excited for summertime!!

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I cleaned our house like crazy on Saturday! I'm talking vacuuming under the couches, cleaning the windows, dusting the blinds....all that good stuff.  Honestly, our house hasn't been cleaned like that since before March and that fog of the first trimester.  Call me crazy...but a clean house makes me feel so good.

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Flip flops and flowy, summery dresses! It's made it so easy to get ready for work in the morning to put this combination on.  Love it.  Those metallic flip flops from Old Navy are my personal faves in the flip flop selection out there.  They hold up so well!

Other things I'm loving...

My amazing, handsome hubby, our sweet baby girl, our cute pup, that I have an upcoming lunch date with my sweet friend, Page.  And right now, I'm really loving these warm, longer-lit evenings that we have! I could keep going on and on and on and on...

what I'm loving.

I'm linking up with Jamie today!


I'm loving...the gorgeous flowers my hubby had sent to my classroom on Valentine's Day! When my kiddos asked who my "secret admirer" was, I was happy to exclaim that it was Mr. G.  The response got a sweet "awwwww" out of some of my girls.

I'm loving...that hubby and I had a fun date last night.  We went to The Cheesecake Factory.  I had their "Garlic Noodles" dish for the first time.  Probably the best pasta I've ever had.  No joke! And let's not get started on the Chocolate Tuxedo Cheesecake we shared...yum!

I'm loving...that 70 degrees is in our forecast.  Spring means summer is next.  I love warm weather and sunshine! Goodness, even the 50s are feeling like a heatwave around here!

I'm loving...what God is doing in my heart.  He always teaches me just what I need to learn.  His faithfulness and attention to every little detail in my life always amazes me.

I'm loving...our new tradition of memorizing a bible verse as a couple each week.  What a fun way to dive into scripture together! Each week, I write the verse for the week on our refrigerator whiteboard.  Last week was Matthew 16:24--And then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone should come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me."  This week's is Jeremiah 29:11.

I'm loving...that I'm finally caught up on laundry! Whew!

I'm loving...that I have come to grips with the fact that the weeks until Spring Break are going to be a little stressful.  A tad overwhelming. But the best part is that God has reminded me to just take it one day at a time and one stressful event at a time.  He only promises us today...and for today, I am grateful!

I'm loving...that warmer weather means more walks with this cuteness (although he maybe would rather sleep).

Happy Wednesday, folks! What are you lovin'?

I'm loving...

 lots!

(Linking up the the sweet Jamie today!)

I'm loving that I finally had time to wrap some presents!

I'm loving that we had a snow day on Monday which made my weekend 3 1/2 days long since I also took a 1/2 personal day last Friday afternoon.  Embarrassingly, I slept until 9:44 and got up just in time to get ready to go to brunch with my family.  Love it! (Crazy thing is we may have another one on Thursday b/c they are calling for ice in our area.) This is so early to have snow days in our neck of the woods!

I'm loving these boots.  I cheated a tad with 30 for 30...and swapped out my jean jacket I hadn't worn at all for the 30 days for these boots since we are now about to have our 3rd snow (all 3 inches or so at least).  I wasn't planning on that when I picked my 30.  Forgive me.  These are to.die.for comfort with leggings.  Flip flops for winter.  Seriously.

from Target

I'm loving that I have at least two get-togethers planned with friends over my Christmas break that I have not been able to spend enough time with at all lately.  Love that!

I'm loving that my 2 week long Christmas break starts Friday at 3:00.  Lots of relaxing and festivities to come! Whoo hoo!

And I'm loving that my handsome hubby has baked cookies (you're reading this hours after I've written thanks to timed posts)...so excuse me please...I'm going to go enjoy them.

What are you loving?

"love, love...love, love, love"

Post title disclaimer....Have you seen The Heartbreak Kid? It's a pretty funny Ben Stiller movie.  Okay, maybe a little crude humored at times...but funny.  At the end of the movie, in reply to his girlfriend/wife (not sure her status) saying "I love you", he says "love, love...love, love, love."  So sometimes Justin and I quote that line..quite often actually.  Just seemed to fit the lovely Jamie's "What I'm Loving" link-up!
Go join here to share your own lovin'!

Now down to business.

one.

I'm loving this gum.  Seriously.  It does taste just like dessert.  And maybe, just maybe, Bob and Jillian are right and it will save me a few calories.

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two.

I'm loving this man's music.  I got into Dave Barne's his music in college and we were lucky to get to see him with some other greats before his music made its way to the radio.  But specifically, I'm loving Dave Barne's new Christmas album.  I bought it on iTunes and have been jamming to it at every chance I get! This is one of my favorites on the album.  (Because he's also singing with Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott.)

three.

I'm loving our new prayer garden at church that my hubby and dad designed and built with the help of their crew of workers.  My dad is so amazingly talented with his creativity in landscape design.  And my hubby is so creative and amazing with his skills in implementing the designs.  His eye for water features are awesome.  I was also blessed to be able to help them create the cross and flame template for them to use.  What amazing talent they used for God's glory!

 

  

four.

I'm loving the new fleece pajama pants my aunt gave Justin and me! Oh my...they are fabulous.  Justin decided that they were like a Snuggie for his legs.  (His words exactly.)  Mine are black and white snowflakes and his are plaid.  I've decided to live in them this winter.

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five.

In my attempt to get over my Diet Coke obsession...I am loving green tea with honey! It's my go-to drink for caffeine.  And thanks to this amazing find called Honest Tea Green Tea with Honey, I have successfully gotten over my habit of drinking a Diet Coke every morning.  Whoo hoo! (And now I'm even making my own green tea at home.  Not only does my body thank me, but the budget does too now.)

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six.

I'm loving that tomorrow is Thanksgiving and then Friday is "Black Friday" shopping.  Both days are fabulous times with wonderful family! Can't wait!

What are you loving today?

what I'm loving...

I'm linking up with Jamie today!

one.

my mom with my brother this summer at the Smithsonian in DC

I'm loving this lady! (As always!) My lovely mom is celebrating her birthday today.  The great thing is we get to celebrate her all weekend long with two special birthday dinners! I'm beyond blessed by my mom.  She is so loving, so compassionate, and has always gone above and beyond to be there for her family and reach out to others around her.  She is my number one fan and my biggest encourager.  (She even is a follower and reader of my blog.)  I love you mom! I'm so blessed by you daily.  Enjoy your special day!

two.

I'm loving that we finally got some rain today! We have needed it so badly.  And even more...I'm loving that the news forecast shows possible snow showers in a couple weeks.  My students are already crazy enough at this point....might as well bring on those snow days!

three.

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Leggings.  Yes, I'm loving leggings! I will say with my petite, bottom-heavy curvy figure, I was reluctant.  However, as soon as I wore leggings for the first time (in adulthood), I was hooked.  Under big sweaters, under too-short dresses, under shirt dresses, under skirts, worn with tall boots, worn with flip-flops, worn with flats....brown, black, jeggings....you name them, I love them.  I sort of see them as my way to get around my "dress up" days at work.  Love them.  Period.

four.

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I'm also loving these Steve Madden boots from Macy's.  I have them in dark brown and they have become my flip flops of fall and winter.  I'm looking forward to spending some gift card money on a black pair soon!

five.

I'm loving that this is my last full week of school before Thanksgiving break.  Next is Christmas break! Love the time off with family and friends this time of the year celebrating the many blessings in our lives and the gift of Christ in our lives.

 Happy Wednesday!

what i'm loving wednesday

So excited to link up with the lovely Jamie @ this kind of love.  Check out her link-up.  It makes this "middle of the week" day even a bit more worth celebrating.  [The other term for Wednesday makes me cringe.  Do any of y'all feel the same way?  Or do I just need to get my mind out of the gutter?]

one.

I'm loving how my hubby looks with his new guitar.  It was a birthday/graduation gift from me.  I can't wait for him to take lessons. He's super excited.

two.

 

I'm loving these three finds from my election day shopping trip with my mom and grandma.  We shopped all the "best deal" places...TJ Maxx, Home Goods, Marshalls.  This great basket was only $14.99...it's housing shoes in our foyer.  The adorable pillow was something I could not put down.  It was on clearance for $6.50 and is now snuggled in the chair in the corner of our living room.  (Seriously, this pillow just may be something I design a little boy's rugged nursery around one day.)  And this awesome "Happy Birthday" plate was used for the first time for hubby's bday celebration this past weekend.  It's a new tradition in our bungalow...bday person gets to eat their dessert on the special plate!

three.

I'm loving that since my prof was "throwing up" (his terms exactly in his email) and canceled class Monday night, I had one extra afternoon to spend on a walk with this cute guy.  He loves going for a walk with his momma.

four.

I'm loving this recipe my friend Kendra shared with me for Oreo Ice Cream cake.  Move over Dairy Queen...this stuff is fabulous!

Ingredients:

-a half gallon of vanilla ice cream (I use one and a half 1.5 quart containers)

-2/3 container of Oreos

-1 container of cool whip (I use light)

To make:

-Let ice cream and cool whip sit out until soft

-Crush Oreos in large bowl (I prefer my potato masher)

-Slowly add in ice cream and cool whip, gradually mixing it in

-Fill a 9x13" pan with the ice cream mix

-Let freeze

I used the extra Oreos to decorate the top of Justin's cake.  It was a big hit! (And the best part is there was extra left over in our freezer.)

five.

Today was an early release day at school, meaning a couple hours without kiddos.  I love my kiddos but after conferences taking place over the last couple weeks, a break is nice.

 

six.

We rearranged our living room furniture! Love it!

Happy Wednesday to you!