Fillimanjaro

1.  The best piece of advice I was ever given was     take a chill pill.  Also known as "Be anxious for nothing.."

2.  If I had a million dollars to give to one charity I would give it to   Mission of Hope Haiti

3.  If I got to choose my "last meal" it would be      Crab legs, Caprese Salad, and Warm Chocolate Melting Cake from our cruise   . 

4.  My hair is     getting cut off tomorrow. I want it short again and am tired of it being average looking. I think I'm going lighter too.

5.  If at first you don't succeed  get used to it. If we all succeeded on our first try life would be rather dull, I think."Even miracles take a little time"

6.  I have always been very      melancholy. I don't like that I am melancholy but am trying to embrace it because it's definitely my personality. I am trying to hone the positive melancholy traits and minimize the negative ones   .

7.  Oh....and by the way....      I need a vacation .

Be a Linky McLinkerson! at The Little THings We Do

Have a good weekend! Take time to smell the rain or the roses, whichever you have near you.

For me, it will be rain...again. 

{Rain}

Boo for the big G

“Who gossips to you, will gossip of you” 

Sad Realization #4 that  I had today:

If this  quote is true then I am probably being talked about more than I thought.

ahh geeze.

What do you do when conversation with a friend or a family member turns to other's affairs and speculations about other  people?

As much as I would love to say that I am the one who is quick to recognize and shut it down ASAP, I'm not her..YET.

I recognize it- whether it's me starting it or listening to it..and oftentimes I just try to pretend it's not considered "gossip".  We  rationalize it as "concern" or somehow we think we have this right to psycho analyze people in front of others (or at all). I've never really seen this turn out well. 

Then there's that moment when one or both of you in the middle of the "concerned" conversation realizes what's being said and it turns awkward.

Unless you never acknowledge what's going on then more damage is invariably done but mostly to you.

By entertaining it you certainly communicate that it's acceptable.

A man who lacks judgment derides his neighbor, but a man of understanding holds his tongue. A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret” (Proverbs 11:12-13).

 After the above  quote hit me in the face today I thought

a. I don't like being speculated about

b. people judging me isn't my favorite

so..

c. I need to shut it down as soon as it happens/ don't let it happen  and treat others as I would like to be treated per the Golden Rule in the Bible.

It's not an honoring or becoming  thing to be the one who fishes for details in "unique" ways or assesses others negatively, who can't keep secrets or who is prone to speculate about other's lives, motives or hearts. 

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen (Ephesians 4:29).

Eek!

I don't want to be that woman..

The one who can'be be trusted because her mouth is always running. But rather one who is an example of encouragement and joyful words.

{Joy...that's another post. It's something I am working on- 

In His presence there is JOY forevermore}

Many friendships have been ruined over a misunderstanding that started with gossip. My friendships are too precious for this!

Those who guard their tongues keep themselves from calamity (Proverbs 21:23). 

Boo for the big G! 

Spare yourself the calamity of misunderstanding, hurt feelings and a bad reputation and shut it down!

I'm going to try to do the same!

A "pregnant" house guest

We have a house guest! This little bird is making her nest by our side garage door.

I have been spying on her ever since I discovered her building her nest on Saturday.

She's a trooper. Even though there has been grody rain and blah weather she leaves every few seconds to go get a new stick and then she feathers her nest after fixing the twigs with her beak. It's precious.

Her maternal instincts inspire me.

I thought she had a man hanging around the nest too but he's been gone since Saturday. I had named them Bob and Jillian but without Bob, what good is Jillian?

So I am thinking of a new name for her.

I'll let you know what I come up with.

I'm excited to see how many babies she has and watch them grow. In a month they will probably be grown and gone all ready.

 I will keep posting to let you know how her progress is coming during her "pregnancy".

a humble little start

peeking through the blinds

progress!

she cleans her new house.

almost there..

Fill me in!

 Today I am wearing     a spring green shirt with flowers all over it from F21 and a jean skirt complete with my teacher cardigan and cute jewelry and a pair of faithful flats.

2.  My favorite childhood food was   grandma Bowling's homemade maccaroni and cheese   and my favorite food  now is   grandma Bowling's homemade maccaroni and cheese .

3.  A day that I am too busy to      stop and smell the roses (or the plug in)    is a day that I am too busy.

4.  The last movie I saw was     Alice in Wonderland     and the next movie I want to see is  either   Twilight Eclipse with my 14 year old sister or Robin Hood with anyone    .

5.  My favorite smell is     patchouli or tea rose  because,      Patchouli reminds me of my Nana -she's a hippie at heart and tea rose because it reminds me of my grandma (the one who also makes amazing mac and cheese

6.  A weird little quirk I have is      I smell all of the clean laundry one piece at a time before I fold it. I love smells (I blog about this often) and I am just a smeller. It's what I do.

7.  When I take personality quizzes they always say I'm      a natural born leader. That's kind of weird to me since I spent most of my life following. It's sort of true, I suppose. Also they say I am an extrovert. Sort of true as well   .

Link up!

Have a good weekend!

Down with the sickness..

Oh gosh. I've been sick. Boo for that.

I have sinus issues. Always.

But this time they decided to go a bit overboard.

The infection got into my eye and caused a beautiful puffiness to occur.

Not to mention the awesome fluid that was leaking out of my eye.

I felt like a leper.
"Unclean, Unclean!!"

My husband jokingly called me Quasimodo for a few days.

I think even that was being kind.

Sooo- I am on the mend. After mega anti-biotics (which I am generally anti antibiotics but all the supplements and probiotics in the world were not helping), nose spray and eye drops and three days of laying on my couch, I can now open my eye. People's first response is no longer, "oh gosh, that's gross, what happened to your eye" . That's a plus. And I can taste again. I love food. I love tasting food. Not being able to taste it is just awful.

Be prepared to be grossed out. :)

{I guess I thought the cute smile would off-set the eye issue..}

{100% sexy}

{Anyway.. this is me today.}

Still not back to normal but way better than it was. {I need my mexi tan back!}

Of course, I have to wear my glasses which do an OK job of camouflaging the situation.

But since I am a vampire of sorts and my eyes are super sensitive, the beautiful spring sunshine is killing my retinas. I need some of those sweet big black glasses that go over your regular glasses. The kind grandma's wear. Because that wouldn't add to the weirdness of my appearance at all now would it?

Yay for health!

Fill it.

FILL IN THE BLANK FRIDAY

courtesy of  The Little Things We Do

Link it and Fill it!

1.  The best day ever was     both days that John got back safe and sound from his Iraq deployments. I can't explain the anticipation and the joy that surges through your heart and body when they are "home"! Eee! so exciting!

{we are so sweet and little here!}

{a very, very good day!}

2.  My favorite meal of the day is     dinner   because   it's the only time I have to make myself something savory and delish.

3.  This weekend      I will get little sleep. I am going to a youth conference in Tennessee with our youth group. It will be worth it though :)

4.  Never in my life have I      liked politics.

5.  The only thing better than     days off   is      days off that include vacations on the beach.

6.  I could really do with some      sunshine and coffee.

7.  The most recent thing I bought myself was     some new jewelry courtsey of F21 and Charolotte Russe. Basically- gawdy rings and trendy earings and necklaces

Things I love about Spring

I love being outside. I love color. I am so ready for this blahness to be on it's way out. 

The good news- I've been seeing robins everywhere

The better news- I've seen daffodils trying to come up

The best news- Mr. Sun has graced my face more than once a week for a while now.

I love spring because of the newness is represents. Life.

Easter is my favorite time of year. It's all about my Jesus, and how he LIVES. He came to give his life and give others more abundant life.

How awesome is this?

I get flowers and a reminder of God's amazing sacrifice and gift of new life? Sweet!

He has made all things new.

Enjoy the newness!

Blooming Beauty

[we heart it]

[we heart it]

 Bare legs and toes in the grass

[we heart it]

Fresh Starts and Flowers

[Superbarbs]

Easter

Easter Dresses!! 

Easter Candy

New Beginnings

[Adorable!]

Mmm. I love weather above 50 degrees!

It's on it's way!

Current Obsessions

Oh goodness. I've blogged before about how much I adore STUFF. Too much in fact. 

Currently I am obsessing over a couple of things that I want. Maybe blogging about it will chill me out.

Probably not.

Vegan Village Toms.

I want these.

They are always out of stock. Dang.

Probably because they are so dang cute (even though they are boy Toms..)

I also really love these

and these

and SUPER love these

I can't decide!

Spring is closer so this purchase is going to happen soon.

It's always a good time to buy Toms though.

"TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One."

You can't go wrong there- EVER.

In that case, maybe I should buy each of these??

NOW, if you know me, you know that usually I can identify any fragrance with one whiff. I am slightly, very in love with perfume. 

I am the girl who smells all of the shampoo bottles before buying one. I buy it not for it's healing power for my hair but whether or not it smells good.

Same with detergent, dish soap, body lotion, cat litter-yep, cat litter..

If it doesn't smell good, I don't get it.

I have probably 15-20 perfumes at home right now. I use maybe 4 of them on a regular basis. The others are just for special occasions and some are for certain seasons.

I was trying to explain this to my husband the other day. He understood! It was great. We are on the same page on fragrance selection according to the seasons now. How great is this!?

(Hey, it's the small things)

So currently, I am slightly obsessed with a new find I discovered 

It's a spring bouquet in my nose! 

This one- I hope someone gets inspired to gift me. I can never rationalize spending $60 on perfume for myself.

If someone else wants to..go ahead :)

I wear Ralph Lauren Blue in the spring and summer (which isn't being manufactured anymore-BOO)  and

Intimately Beckham in the winter right now. Both fabulous scents.

Do you have a favorite smell?

What is it!??

I J'adore perfume. I really do.