CURRENTLY

It's been again extremely long since I have blogged...thought this would be a fun way to "re-enter" blogging linking up with Perfectly Imperfect Jenn about what my life is CURRENTLY about!

CURRENT BOOK

Husband and I are in the middle of classes to become licensed to adopt a child through the State.  This book couldn't have been recommended at a better time!

PLAYLISTS

Love doing my little "Couch to 5K" running program to this!

CURRENT COLOR

Had a pedicure done in Marshmellow by OPI....LOVED it!!

Also loving Mint green right now...Target has some cute mint green skinnies that I want :)

CURRENT FOOD/DRINK

Water and love me some good Southern iced tea!

CURRENT FAVORITE SHOW

Our family absolutely loves watching this show!  

And whenever I need to just laugh, we watch episodes of Good Luck Charlie over and over!

CURRENT CELEBRITY CRUSH

Phillip Phillips!

CURRENT BLESSING

God blessed me yesterday as I was feeling down about something and when I went on my run, the song that popped up was You Are For Me by Kari Jobe...just what I needed :)

CURRENT INDULGENCE

Had some homemade snickers fudge yesterday at Goats on the Roof!

CURRENT OUTFIT

Well...still in my jammies!  Gray sweats and a stripped big sweater from The Loft...comfy!  My favorite purchase though is this Maxi skirt from Target ;)

CURRENT EXCITEMENT

Going to Anna Maria Island in 8 days with my whole family for vacation!

CURRENT MOOD

Relaxed

CURRENT FAVORITE QUOTE

CURRENT WISH LIST ITEMs

CURRENT FAVORITE PRODUCT

My NEW FRONT DOOR (Hope this counts!!)  

TJ turns 11!

Hard to believe my baby is 11! His requests for the day were homemade potato soup (recipe from Aunt Mandy!) and a cookie cake. We also surprised him for lunch at school and brought subs to eat with him. I made his cookie cake...yes, I know the soccer balls look like pinwheels! I could be on Cake Wrecks with this one...haha! Cierra...pictured below wrote him the SWEETEST bday card ever! I won't be surprised one day if these two aren't married...but that's a LONG time away :) She's a great girl who thinks alot of TJ...right now they are like best friends which is perfect!

My 11 year old is very energetic, never sits still and is full of life!

He absolutely LoVeS to fish with his daddy! He asks every day to go to the pond when Todd gets home. It's been fun to see him learn more and more about fishing. I know he will have such great memories of these times.

His two pounder! Caught with just hog dogs too!

He also does alot of this!! He is at three times a week now with some personal one on one training for his goalie position. He is excelling at soccer...but more importantly he is learning that he has an opportunity to be a great example for God on his team with the way he acts on and off the field. Good life lessons...

Something you might not know is how much he loves to draw...or paint in this case. He's making a ceramic award for his dad for Father's day. Look at the intensity on his face!

TJ LoVeS UCF...he kind of has to in this family but his love for all things SWEET makes him more like ME for sure! Here we are at a UCF game sharing a cotton candy...Lordy, that was delicious! I savored it because I only get it about once a year!

A new love...

Summer was amazing...really awesome. I did not want it to end but sadly it did :( I'll be posting some pics soon! Now the kids are back to school soooo...

I've discovered...

and I am loving looking and saving all the beautiful ideas for crafting, home, date nights..etc! I used to love cutting pics out of magazines and putting them in a binder...but I must admit...doing it on the computer is a lot faster!

Pinterest has given great ideas for fashion. I'm a visual person, so once I see it, I can then try to recreate it! Like this look...

I love, love the classic look of this outfit and while out shopping one day, I came across a white shirt like this at Old Navy...and only $17 too! I have jean shorts...have the belt and shoes...don't care for the hat, but with one purchase, I have this look :) Whoo hoo! Now when I am out browsing, I can visually remember some of the great ideas I am seeing on Pinterest to help pick out cute outfits!

Also, as I am in the midst of couch/chair shopping for our living room, I have seen some amazing designs that are helping me greatly as I put together this room. Actually...I am heading out now, but before pics will be coming as I can't wait to see this room transform!

From Gilded gold to Glossy white!

So, my husband bought me this frame several years ago as a surprise! It was in our dining room, above our mantel, in our bedroom and most recently leaning up against a wall in my hallway collecting dust! The look of the frame was not working for me and I've been wanting a big chalkboard...so it was time to repurpose!
Here I am spray painting the frame glossy white...in like the heat of day! What in the world was I thinking?! I ended up having to bring the frame in the house to finish drying because it was sooo humid. Then I painted three coats of chalk board paint...and here it is all finished!
I changed the sign to say "Summer Memories" so we can record all that we have done and will do. At the end of the summer, I will take a picture of the board with all our memories on it! As soon as my hubby and I hang it, I'll be sure to post again to show you where it is...and all the memories recorded!

My achy-breaky heart...

Ugh...girls!
Middle school girls. Their moms. Their decisions. Being left out...again...
Here's the situation.
M has a dance tonight. I told her to invite some friends to come home with us tonight.
She invited three. They are going to swim, eat pizza, do hair, and giggle...alot!
I decided to let her invite them to spend the night after the dance.
Yesterday, when I asked if they could stay the night, she replied...
"No, they are all sleeping at W's house"
I said, "Were you invited?"...
M said, "No mom...but it's OK"
And that's again where my heart broke for her.
WHY?
What's ONE more girl in the grand scheme of things??

So we are having the girls today after school, and they will be going back to a sleepover
while I pick up M to come home.
Silliness. Hurtful. Exclusion.
and
I'll never understand it. Never.

M amazes me though. Love that girl!
I'm thinking a beach trip tomorrow might be just what we need :)

Wild about Kids!

I spent yesterday and today in Lakeland at an event to help raise
money for the Florida Baptist Children's home.

The group is called Women of Compassion.
It was an amazing 24 hours to say the least.
Jennifer O'Neill (former 30 year model for Cover Girl and actress) was
the speaker. Ladies...she brought.down.the.house!
Her testimony is unbelievable and what a blessing to see how
she is using her tragic past for God's glory today.

We had great food...met great women...heard unbelievable testimonies...but the best of all...
Last night we got to spend some time in one of the cottages with the kids!
They took so much pride in serving us dessert, showing us their rooms and just
hanging out and having conversation.
Amazing kids...

These are kids whose parents are addicted to drugs, or they've been abused in
all ways and yet because of God's love and grace as well as The FL Baptist Children's Home are able to get up every day and smile and have peace knowing that they are safe and very loved.

God is stirring up stuff in my heart more and more for this ministry.
How can I care for the LEAST of these? How can God use me?
I don't know exactly what it looks like yet but will be praying for clarity and direction!
I feel like this is the beginning of something...and that EXCITES me girls!

New blog title!!

After a long time of talking, thinking, scribbling ideas trying to figure out a new blog name...it came to me yesterday while posting.

It was literally like a light bulb turned on and instantly I knew it was it! I even had to call someone and say it out loud!

So...my new blog name is....

It's the little things...

It's something I often say, it's those things that I try to weave into my life and the lives of others. It's what makes me sit back and think, wow!

I already have someone who is working on my blog to give it a little "makeover" but I said yesterday I would tell my new name and I wanted to hold to that...

but really I just wouldn't of been able to keep it in anyway!

So hopefully soon, It's the little things will have a new, fresh look!

In full bloom...plants and more!

Yep...these are the gardening tools we used today!

We have kids. They use our stuff and lose things...like our gardening shovel.

So what's a girl to do? Head to the beach bag for a high quality diggin shovel!

So here we go!

First we dig up and move some plants...hope they survive!

Ummm...what in the world?!

This picture is for you Andrea!

The first bed is finished...except for a little edging

that needs to be done by the man.

I'd totally do it...but I can't start the thing!

The second bed...D.O.N.E. (I know...edging!)

Oh...and these are the flowers. The "little things matter" flowers :)

Planter by front door...

LOVE the daisies :) They make me happy!

So I show you a picture of my front porch because...

It's bare, bare, bare!!!

I am thinking a couple of chairs, a table and two beautiful flower pots by the front door.

Maybe a cute welcome sign to the left of the door...

Thoughts?!

Oh...and I am soooo flippin excited!!!

My blog name came to me...while writing this post y'all!!

I've been thinking so long and hard and over thinking

til I have made myself crazy over it.

Tomorrow I will announce my new name and to come will

be a redesigned blog to go with it.

The plants are in bloom and my blog is too!

I'm giddy :)

It's the little things

One of my favorite things to do...

is going to our local nursery and picking out flowers!

I'm embarrassed to say I have some sick looking poinsettias on my front porch still.

My berry wreaths on my door which last from Christmas thru Valentine's Day are coming down

It's time to "Spring-a-fy" the house!

We bought a ton of plants today...

11 of the daisies

11 of the purple ground cover ones

30 little alyssum plants and a few petunias.

My husband and I LOVE alyssum and petunias.

The "plant" lady who helped us told us that the alyssum and petunias are winter plants.

She was trying to convince us not to buy them because they might only last two months.

At check-out, my husband couldn't take it and went back for the plants!

That totally made me smile :)

In fact, he smiled tonight as he was admiring the new plants in our yard.

If you are around me enough you will often hear me say...

"It's the little things that make a difference"...

And if the plants we love only last two months...then we'll enjoy them for two months!

IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS!!

More pics to come after we finish planting!

Memories of a dreamy vacation

Every night, I came back to this setup...dreamy huh?!

The Mr. and I out on the beach

The view from our room

Another great view on the property...

I don't think I could E.V.E.R. get tired of seeing this every day!