fill in the blanks!

Happy Friday everyone!!!

This weekend Joe and I are going to visit Kayla and celebrate all the great things that are happening in our lives right now, and I'm super excited!

{we also get to have a double date with Kayla's new boy, and if you guys know me at all, you know I'm a huge fan of double dates!!}

What's everyone else doing this weekend??

As usual, here are some blanks courtesy of the little things we do for your Friday pleasure!

1.   My favorite color is definitely purple. It's been my go-to color as long as I can remember.  I think it has something to do with the fact that I'm a brunette.  Royal purple just goes so well with dark hair in my opinion!

2.  My travel destination of choice is the beach {duh}...OR a cabin.  Ever since Joe and I started dating, we've always gone to a cabin at least once {if not twice} with our friends in the fall, and it's always SO much fun.  Something about being away from everything in the mountains is just so relaxing and fun and always gives me the push I need to make it through work/school until the holidays begin!

3.  My favorite  food is too hard to choose.  I am one of those people that will eat literally anything {with the exception of tuna...eww}.  I am all about whipping up weird concoctions and trying anything/everything I can get my hands on.  If I ever find something good enough to deem it my one and only favorite, I will definitely update you guys!

4.  My happy place is my bedroom, hands down.  I have always been a big 'room-body'...I just love being in my own little space and making it cozy.  That's one thing I'm super excited about working on in my new apartment {which is why I will be immediately taking a trip to Ikea my first weekend there!}.

5.  My favorite saying is /has recently been 'keep calm and focus."  I never knew about the whole "keep calm" phenomenon until recently, but I am slowly but surely falling in love with it.  I'm the type of person that can only handle stress for so long until I have a breakdown, so sometimes it's nice to remind myself just to keep calm.  It has taken me a very long time to realize all the little things stressing me out aren't the end of the world.

6.  My dirty little secret is since the beginning of July, I haven't dried my hair OR worn makeup Monday through Thursday every week {and some weekend days}.  Let me just say, this is VERY unlike me.  I have always loathed the thought of going out in public without 'having my face on,' but recently I decided I should give it a break since I'm working out at school everyday.  This is definitely a dirty little secret of mine since I spend most of my weekdays alone being busy with class and work, but honestly it's done wonders for my skin!  I suggest taking a week off from makeup and seeing how much it helps!

7.  Something friends might say about me is that I may be a little overly sensitive.  This is one of my weaknesses.  I get my feelings hurt pretty easily, and since I just so happen to HATE confrontation, it usually just ends with me being upset and not knowing what to do about it.  It's something I'm definitely working on changing!

Have a lovely weekend, friends!

:)

thursdayyy

Last night, I set my alarm to 7pm instead of 7am.

Needless to say, today started off quite rough.

But, by some grace of God, I woke up at 7:52 and was able to make it out the door by 8:09!

This week has been smooth.

I'm actually really enjoying my spin class now.  I look forward to going in there and pushing myself everyday, and this week especially I've upped the resistance and really been working myself!

Also, I've gotten back a lot of good grades in all my classes this week.

Summer-itis has set in and yet I've survived!

Yesterday, I was reading a guest blog over at Fairytales are True from one of Sarah's friends from college.  She gave some tips at the end on things friends can do to keep in touch with each other over the years when they are in different places, and it really inspired me!

One of the tips was to start a book club, and for some reason this just really clicked with me.

So, of course, I immediately texted Becca and Kayla and started trying to put together our own little book club.

Since highschool, the three of us have done a good job of staying connected with each other, but it can't hurt to add something like a book club to our agendas, right?!

It will give us an excuse to call/email each other at least once a month and discuss our thoughts in details {not that we'd ever go a month without talking somehow...that's a rareity!}.

I think 'The Help" is going to be the first book we all read.

Any thoughts on this?

I've heard a lot of good things about it recently, but I'm always up for suggestions/thoughts/opinions!

Also:

I may have good news to share soon, so stay tuned!

girls' night and chicken pot pie!

I am completely and utterly exhausted.

However, I had to come blog a little because...well...I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!

It's so glorious!

I realized today that I have approximately seven classes and six workouts left until I can FINALLY have a summer break!

{albeit it only two weeks...I'll still take it!}

After the weekend, I am feeling re-energized and ready to knock out all the responsibilities I have and finally get this move over with.

And, speaking of the move, I finally feel like all of my initial reservations are making their way out the window and I'm finally super pumped!!!

There are still some things that make me nervous...but I feel like that's normal, and overall, I'm definitely more excited now than anxious!

Only one more Monday morning of waking up and having to say bye to Joe for another 5 days.  This has been long awaited and I am seriously getting more and more excited as it gets closer! 

10 DAYS AND COUNTING!!!

Okay, now that I've gotten all that out of the way, weekend details!

Girls' weekend was definitely a success and definitely much needed.

It always feels good to have sometimes to have too many drinks, stay out a little too late, and have some much needed girl talk.

You name it, July and I did it {including having WAY to many vodka sodas, watching reruns of Sex and the City nonstop, and driving all over the city to find a McDonalds that was open for a late night happy meal.}

And now, in the aftermath, I feel rejuvenated.

It was so nice!

It was also really nice to have the apartment to myself for awhile.  It felt good to spend some quality time in my new place and get more used to it.  That's probably another reason that I'm getting so excited.

Sunday, Joe came home from his soccer trip {his team ended up losing...what a bummer!}, and I made us a homemade chicken pot pie!

My mom used to always make me chicken pot pies when I was younger, so every time I eat one it reminds me of home.

This week, since I moved in all my dishes, I was inspired to make something that would be homey, and I couldn't think of anything better than a chicken pot pie to send me right back into my childhood.

{And, I just happen to know that Joe actually likes everything in it, so no altering whatsoever had to be done! MIRACLE!}

I know it's been awhile since I shared an entire recipe, but since this is a home recipe I have no link to share with you!

However, you will be shocked at how easy this is.

Ingredients:

1 can of cream of chicken soup

1 can of Veg-All

2 decent sized chicken breasts

2 pie shells (uncooked)

Salt

Pepper

1. Boil the two chicken breasts for about 20 minutes until they are thoroughly cooked.

2. Chop the chicken into bite-size pieces {really use your own judgement here...however big you want them to be is totally fine!}

3. Add chicken, Veg-All, cream of chicken soup, salt, and pepper into a large bowl and mix.

4. Here's another judgement part.  You might want to add a little bit of water to your mixture depending on how thick you like it. The way that it looks in the bowl is basically how it's going to stay, so keep that in mind!

5. Add mixture to pie shell.

6. Take second pie shell, pop out of tin, and add it upside down on top of everything.

7. Pinch sides together lightly, and make a small slit in the top to let out steam.

8. Use pie shell baking instructions for temperature, and bake for 20-30 minutes until shells are brown!

SO EASY, right?!

Let me tell you, ya'll are going to want to try this {especially when it starts getting cooler outside}.

This is the one thing so far I've made that Joe has commented on the next day, so it must be a keeper!

Hope everyone out there had a fun weekend!  What are your favorite things to do on girls' nights?  Do share if you have any thoughts because, believe it or not, I have another one coming up in about two weeks!  Yay!

fill in the blank friday!

Let me just start off by saying I'm feeling so accomplished right now!!

1. I made it through hell week.

2. I made a 94 on my french oral presentation! A 94!!!!

3. I just finished unpacking all my dishes in my new apartment and now my favorite room in the apartment actually feels like mine!

4. GIRLS' WEEKEND IS FINALLY HERE.

My friend, July, and I have become so close over the last two and a half years, and one of my favorite things to do is have girls' weekends with her!  Our boys are gone to Orlando this weekend for a soccer game, so girls' weekend 2011 is on!  I couldn't be more excited because all I want to do is relax, have drinks, and do girly things after this monster of a week.  Who knew when we planned this over a month ago that it would fall on such a perfect weekend?!

And now...fill in the blanks!

1.   One of my happiest moments ever was getting into UGA.  After all these years, I still think it's one of the most exciting things that's happened.  Probably because instead of receiving a letter in the mail like everyone else, I got a phone call from the admissions office AND they officially admitted me while I was on the phone.  SO exciting.

2.  Summer is wedding season and weddings are MY FAVE. I just love the whole idea of weddings.  Not so much the decorations and money being spent, but the two people coming together.  I think it's so nice that people get up in front of everyone they know for the sole reason of proclaiming how much they love their partner.  Oh yeah...and the speeches.  The speeches get me EVERY time.

3.  This summer is way too hot.  Seriously, I am so over the heat it's ridiculous.  I'm so ready for fall to get here!  Football, birthdays, two weddings, and all the holidays! Ah love it.

4.  My summer food of choice has been turkey sandwiches.  Exciting, right?  I have found that a turkey sandwich and some grapes are the only things I can eat during the day with this awful heat without making myself sick.  I've never been able to eat a lot when it's hot though.

5.  My summer uniform has been cheerleading shorts and t-shirts.  All day, e'eryday.  I have no motivation whatsoever to dress up for class.  Ever.

6.  If I could spend the entire summer in one location I would choose the beach...duh.  The heat somehow seems worth it when you have a huge ocean right next to you!

7.  My summer anthem is a mystery!  I don't really have one song that I've been obsessed with this summer...recently it's been Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night," but not for any real reason.  I haven't really done anything that she sings about in that song, but something about it just makes me want to dance around and have fun, and what better time to dance around and have fun than SUMMER!

Hope everyone has a nice weekend!!

perspective

It's days like today that remind me I need to take a breath sometimes.

Take a breath, slow down, and most importantly, drink some water.

I woke up this morning feeling super sick...I'm not positive what was wrong with me, but from the looks of it, I was getting a small case of dehydration.

{which makes this the third summer in four years that this has happened}

Every year I tell myself I'm going to guard against it and not let myself get sick again, but alas...every year, never fails.

So, this is my little reminder to everyone.

Don't get so busy that you forget to take care of yourself!

I don't know about you guys, but the weather down here has been in the 95-100 degree range daily.

And I DON'T like it.

If it could be fall all year long I'd definitely be a happy girl.

But since it can't, I must suffer.  So my advice to everyone is to:

1.  DRINK LOTS OF WATER.  {Don't learn this the hard way like I did!}

2. Find some time daily to just take a moment for yourself...even if it's only five minutes.  I found myself running, running, running this week and I think this had something to do with my exhaustion today.

And last but not least...

3. If all else fails...

Thats right.  A cupcake.  A little sugar never hurt anyone.

ALSO, BIG, BIG NEWS!!!!!!!

I'd like to give a little shout out to my very best friend, Kayla, for being accepted to grad school!!!

I am so happy for her {and JEALOUS} and I know she is so relieved!

You all should stop by her blog and show some love for my scholarly friend!

ouch.

My body has taken a beating in the past week.

For one, spin class is kicking my bootay.  The spin part is actually pretty fun, but we also have to do aerobic stuff and it's honestly so difficult!

My muscles don't know what to do with themselves!

Also, I got sunburned this weekend for the first time all summer.  I was doing so well too!  Almost made it the whole summer with a painful burn...but alas.

This weekend a bunch of Joe's family were in town, so we headed down to Peachtree City for a big family weekend.

Our trip also included a date Friday night at El Ranchero.  The queso and margaritas there are worth the drive alone in my opinion.

Saturday, Joe's uncle took us all out to a nice dinner at the City Cafe in Fayetteville.

The quality of that picture isn't so great and definitely doesn't do it justice.  However, it was a super nice place!  And we even got to see Truett Kathy, who happened to be having dinner at the same time we were.

Otherwise, our weekend was full of pool time, sleeping, and the USA Women's World Cup.

{which I did a great job of avoiding until the last 30 minutes}

OH YEAH!

I can't believe I haven't mentioned this until now.

Who watched the Breaking Bad premier last night?!

I don't know about you guys, but after the season 3 finale I have been counting down the days!

This show has to be one of the top 5 shows on TV, and if you don't watch it...

DO IT.

Seriously.  Get offline and go watch right now.

For those of you who do watch, thoughts?

I thought there might be a little more action in the premier, but overall it definitely did not disappoint.

And let me just say...Gus is terrifying.

I can't wait to see how the season pans out!!

I'm off to start working on my French oral presentation...it's Wednesday and I'm super nervous!

Someone tell me a way to stop procrastinating!

oh. my. sweet.

um, can we please talk about these?

Yes, those are smores in a jar.

I may be taking spin class Monday through Thursday every week in an effort to better my health, but I will never be above trying a smore in a jar.

Whoa.

Recipe via this link.

life, in general

It is crazy to me how fast time is passing right now.

Maybe it's because I have so much to do between class, work, and packing, but time is literally flying by.

I started a countdown {what feels like yesterday but was actually over two weeks ago} for when I'm moving, and it has already gone from 45 to a mere 24 days!!

Which also means in 24 days I will FINALLY officially be a senior!

30 hours away from sweet, sweet freedom.

HURRY. UP.

This past weekend was great.

Kayla and I went to a wedding on Saturday and it was great.  Honestly, I think it was one of the most touching ceremonies I've seen so far.  Definitely top two.

And trust me, I would know...I've attended 5 weddings in the last year...

Which my dad so lovingly pointed out on the phone last night when he was exclaiming how my generation must love to marry young haha.

Anyway though, it was great.  And then Kayla got to finally be introduced to the people Joe and I spend most of our time with {Michael and July}, see our new apartment, and have her first experience at Twisted Taco!

Total success.

Oh yeah, another thing I wanted to share with you guys was that my second attempt at cooking an entire chicken was a success!

I would have taken a picture, but Joe carved it about halfway before he even thought about it haha.

Possibly because we didn't eat all day in anticipation for it, so we were pretty hungry!

Anyway, it was SUPER easy!

All I did was put the whole chicken in the crock pot, cover it with salt, pepper, and cajun seasoning, let it cook for eight hours, and...voila!

I also made my first batch of homemade mashed potatoes.

Delish.

I made a few other things too, so it ended up being almost like a faux-Thanksgiving dinner.

Next time I promise to take some pictures before we destroy it!

Hope everyone else had a great weekend!

:)

rough week

Well, if it weren't for Tuesday night in Milledgeville with my gals {which was totally fab by the way}, this week would have been a yucky one.

Mostly just yesterday though.

Reasons:

1.  I had a doctor's appointment and the finger prick actually hurt this time {as stupid as that sounds, it's going in my 'bad week' reasons haha}.

2.  A class I was signed up for in the fall got completely canceled, basically ruining my schedule and putting me in a crunch to find something else quick!  (For those of you that don't know, my fall schedule is very tightly packed since I am moving in with Joe.  I will be driving back and forth for class, so it's been rough making my schedule convenient!}

3.  Here's the real kicker...Ashley and I got tickets to see Taylor Swift last Christmas, and a mere 4 days before the show {yes, it was supposed to be this sunday} she had to CANCEL it due to bronchitis!!  Now we don't get to go until October 2nd!!

Horrible, horrible news.  The only good thing about the Taylor Swift drama is that the first weekend in October just happens to be my birthday weekend.  So at least i'll get to party it up with Tswift and forget that I'm turning 24 for a night.
And yes, I fully intend on singing every word and making as many hearts as possible while there.

Maybe I'm being a little dramatic when I say the week has been 'rough' per se.  I honestly think it has something to do with the fact that I can feel myself mentally checking out of school, and this is no good considering I have an entire month left.  Blah.

Otherwise, things are trucking along.  I'm starting a month long spin class tomorrow afternoon for my PE credit {so nervous!!!}, and then this weekend I will be attending a wedding as Kayla's date!

Oh yeah...and I will be attempting {for the second time} to cook an entire chicken.  This time I will be doing it in the crockpot.  There are so many good recipes on ways to make it in the crockpot, I just can't resist!  So, be looking out for the deets next week about it!

4th of July!

Happy 4th of July everyone!!

Since it fell on a Monday this year, Joe and I haven't really done much to celebrate besides have lunch at On The Border.

{which is really the opposite of American, but who can resist a good bowl of queso?!}

We did have a pretty relaxing weekend though!

Yesterday we went to the pool for 7 hours straight...yes, I said 7.

It even started raining for about 30 minutes and we just laid out in the rain haha.  That's dedication.

And we had lots of drinks and grilled out for the first time!!

{which turned out to almost be a disaster because Joe literally set himself on fire while trying to light the charcoal.}

It's funny now, but at the time it was terrifying!

I didn't get to make the pretzels that I showed you in my last post because Publix was completely out of the American sprinkles!! I guess everyone had the same idea as me when it came to being festive with desserts!

However, my roommate and I did try a new recipe and made these little delicious treats for our boys:

Yes, that is a strawberry filled with cheesecake, and yes, they were awesome.

They were also totally easy to make and only took about 10 minutes to put together!

If you want to make something that looks fancy but is super easy {and cheap!} to make, I totally recommend these little beauties!

Click here for the recipe if you're interested!

Tomorrow I will be going to Milledgeville to visit my two very best friends {pictured below}.

This picture is circa 2006, but it is still one of my favorites of the three of us.

I'm looking forward to some dinner, drinks, and much needed girl time!

And hopefully I'll be able to snap a photo or two to share!

Happy 4th of July everyone!!

catch up

So I've sort of neglected my blog the past two weeks.

Things have just been so busy!

I had my first major tests in my classes (and wrote my very first French composition).

I moved my first load of stuff from my apartment to Joe's.

We did a lot of shopping at Ikea and finally got started on decorating!

And, I've been spending a lot of quality time with my roommates.  The end is nearing and it's getting more and more real.

I've been getting a little frustrated with things lately...I don't know if it's just stemming from school stress or my nerves about the big move coming up, but something is going on and I have just been in a weird place.

Which is why I've kind of been neglectful blog-wise.

However, I have been keeping up with everyone else's blogs, and from the looks of it everyone has been pretty busy!!

Fast forward to this weekend - it's the 4th of July!!  This is the first year in awhile I don't really have any set plans.  I decided to stay in Athens this weekend for once.  It's been a little over two months since I've actually spent the weekend here, so I figured what better time to stay in a town with cheap drinks than a holiday weekend!

I will also be dabbling in some patriotic dishes if all goes according to plan, including these little goodies that I came across:

How cute and patriotic are those?  And let's face it, you really can't go wrong when mixing pretzels, white chocolate, and sprinkles.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and celebrates accordingly!!