Halloween has never been one of my favorite holidays {if you must know Easter, Thanksgiving & Christmas are} but one thing I always look forward to is the HOTDOGS! As long as I can remember I’ve gone to my Grandparents house in Travelers Rest for a yummy dinner! Awesome chili, chips, candy… carbalicious goodness!

When I was little we would go to have hotdogs after we made our rounds for candy and my brother and I would sit in the floor and pick through all the goodies we got. Now that I’m an adult and too old to trick or treat I drove over to my Grandma’s house after a busy day of work while wearing my work pants and blazer but I couldn’t help it… I got excited!

That’s the thing I love about traditions, even when you change they don’t. You continue making memories and I am blessed to have a loving family that stick to traditions and love making new ones. One of the new parts of our tradition this year was my brother's dog. I never thought I'd live to see the day that a dog was in my grandmothers house... especially a HUGE dog. She is a Pitt Bull and she is so precious. Crazy and hyper... yes, but very loving! We are great friends now since she almost licked my ear off! 

I mean, look at that face!!! 

Waiting to play with her toy!

And after she finally calmed down she almost broke my arm by simply lying on it. 

I guess I'm used to a tiny 6lb dog! ;) haha!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween and hopefully you had some traditions you enjoyed as well!

Forgiving.

via pinterest

I completely agree with this quote. We can't truly love if we don't forgive. 

Forgive others. Forgive ourselves.

Life is tricky... it's messy and at times annoying when it doesn't go our way. We can become stubborn and make excuses for it. Holding grudges and staying angry. 

Or we can forgive. Move forward... trying to learn how to love the messy parts because those are the parts that make you into the person God intended for you to be. 

"But when you are praying first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too." {Mark 11:25} 

When I read that a few nights ago I felt everything settle into place. That's what God wants. He wants to forgive us for our sins... that's why He chose to die for us but for God to forgive us we have to forgive others first. Turning our hearts toward our heavenly Father which is the ultimate love. 

I'm starting to realize that when we forgive someone we are showing what God is doing within our heart. Sharing His love in a sincere act of kindness. Even when it's the hardest thing to do... we do it, because God shows us how with His endless grace and undying love. 

Forgiveness = Love

and LOVE is a beautiful thing!

DIY {Headboard Awesomeness-Part Deux}

Since I had the late night of fun with friends on Friday I had a wonderful lazy morning on Saturday. I may or may not have slept in till 2. Don’t worry, I wasn’t completely worthless!!!

That night I had some more DIY fun! This time Mom and I worked on HER headboard and we built it from scratch! Yes, it was nerve wracking (mainly because the fabric we were using was an expensive silk that Mom could NOT buy more of because she bought all they had) but it was a success and we had a lot of fun in the process.

Here are all the fun details:

First start with the wood and foam. Ours was 1 inch thick.
{Neat Fact: The Army Navy Store in downtown Greenville will cut any piece of foam for you, even if you have a funky shape as long as you have a template of the design.}

After spraying the wood with the adhesive press firmly on the foam to secure it to the wood.

Then take the batting; tighten and staple to the foam covering completely.

Lay out the fabric of choice and start tightening and stapling the fabric like above but also hammering the staples in completely all the way around.

Folding the corner down and stapling tightly so the corners won't pucker. 

{Katie Ayer... this picture is for you since you asked about the corners}

Once complete you will hang the headboard on the wall with a heavy duty hanging kit which are very easy to find on the internet. 

Then, voila! You have a custom made headboard to complete your room.

The main thing I like about a custom headboard is the availability to change it at any time, it’s such an easy way to make your room extra special and show off your personality.

Happy Tuesday, I’m hoping the rest of this busy week FLIES by!

lots of fun and only 1 picture...

The weekend flew by WAY too fast but it was a great one! Friday night was such a fun night and Sunday was busyyyyyy but super fun too! 

Friday night was the first Dinner Club in forever. I mean FOR-EV-ER! We ladies have been such slackers but finally all 7 of us made time for a girls night! The food was so yummy but I am sad that we didn't take any pictures. Totally bummed!

After we finished hanging out at Maddie's house a couple of us wanted to venture out downtown. I can't remember the last time I went out just to go out... and it was nice! There's a new Hookah Bar in downtown Greenville and I never thought that would fly but it's always packed. A little sketchy at times but definitely busy.

Kelley, Madison and I

Sunday was packed full... woke up for the 9:15 service at church (it was a great), had lunch with Mom (Midtown Deli-YUM), rushed around buying everything we needed for a fantastic night... and then we had our first cookout with sweet friends! The house was full of wonderful people and adorable babies!! 

What did I do on Saturday you ask....? Well, that is for tomorrow's post! :)

DIY {Headboard Awesomeness}

So this is my first official DIY post! :) Kinda excited about it.... not gonna lie. 

My bed used to look like this.... 

This was my room a few weeks ago... 

Old head board, no blanket on the bed and no tie backs for the curtains yet.

So, this is what we (My mom, Jocie, and I) did.... 

First of all we unscrewed the headboard and popped the padded part out. 

Lie the padded board on the floor and place the fabric in the desired area. 

Tighten the fabric on the back side by pulling and staple in place.

After all the fabric is stapled in place use scissors to cut the excess fabric.

Possibly for pillows.... :)  

And here is my lovely assistant pressing on the new headboard while it's screwed in place. 

Close up of the corner of the board once it was complete. 

And this is the view from my doorway NOW! 

Now I need to hang some things on the wall which I will also have a special DIY Project for! Can’t wait to have everything completed… This month is FLYING by and I have to have everything complete by November 4th, that's the big day for the Shower for my lovely friend, Katie Ayer!  

Hope you all had a beautiful week and I REALLY hope you enjoyed the crisp, cold air! I sure did since this is my favorite time of year!!! I thought I’d leave you with a bible verse from one of my devotionals this week… I really love it and I hope you do too! Happy Weekend!!

“Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping Him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a devouring fire.” {Hebrews 12:28-29} (NLT)

Cancelled Plans & A Patient Heart.

This year has gone a lot differently than I had planned. I can't help but think of that quote I've always heard...

"If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans..." 
-Woody Allen

I never understood that till recently. I've always been a planner... planning for tonight, for this weekend, and I definitely had the 5 year plan in my head. Well, God sure let me know that He had a different plan. I tried to ignore His voice and made excuses for going along with my plan instead but He finally put his foot down.

And I finally listened. 

I have to say, this is the happiest I have ever been. It's so freeing to let everything go and follow where God is leading... scary, yes. But definitely freeing. I'm enjoying the journey and I appreciate all the amazing people He has put in my life right now. I am blessed to be surrounded by ladies that are so in love with God and keep me in check. 

Even though my focus is on His plan instead of my own there are still times when I feel alone. Not sure what I should do? Not sure what my next step should be? Trying to be calm and wait for His answers but then wondering if I can hear them at all. I'm sure everyone has felt that way a time or two... it's definitely not fun. 

When I went to the Shane & Shane show on Saturday night they played one of the new songs and it so hit home for me. I know God is the center of my heart and my world but there are still times that I beg for Him to make Himself known. 

I've had those moments where I'm sitting in my bed before I go to sleep with my journal in my lap and my pen in my hand but not sure what to right. Not sure what to ask. Wanting to thank Him for everything in my life. Waiting with my eyes closed and heart abandoned for His grace and love to fill in the empty spaces that still need to be captured by God. Captured by Him so I won't have to question what I should do or how I should feel because He will guide those thoughts and feelings for me. 

So this song is perfection and I love it. I hope you enjoy it and maybe it will help you out a little bit too! :) 

and if that doesn't make you want to buy their new CD I don't know what will... the entire album is precious, just like that song. Have a happy Tuesday! 

Happy Ears

First of all let me say that Saturday night was simply amazing. I didn't even realize that Shane & Shane's new CD  was out yet and honestly, I never enjoy shows that play a lot of songs that I don't know for some reason so I was a little worried. Well, that was not the case at all... every single new song they played I absolutely LOVED. They were all awesome and I caught my self totally cheesing a few times because I was so happy!!! I bought the CD and I jammed the whole way home and haven't stopped listening to it since. Seriously, great CD and you should go buy it now! 

Bethany Barnard was amazing as usual. I want to be her... She sang a couple new songs too and they were great, I wish she'd hurry up with a new CD but I understand she's a Mommy now so I guess she's forgiven.

Freely opened the show and I had never heard of them before but I totally love them now. You should definitely check them out. The lead singer has awesome hair. He also has a great voice... so that's good too. 

As promised I have two videos that I want to share! :) I wish I could have recorded more but I wanted to sit and enjoy it, taking it all in and not fooling around with my phone.  Here's what I got... both oldies but goodies! 

Hope you all had an amazing Monday and go buy the new Shane & Shane CD NOW!!!!!!!! 

Birthday Shananigans!

The past two nights were full of Birthday fun and I made sure to snap some pictures of all the fun... so glad I have such wonderful girlfriends. Life wouldn't be the same without them, that's for sure! 

Amanda is definitely Fabulous so this Birthday card is perfect! 

Making her wish... she seriously paused and closed her eyes before this.

All my favorite ladies... absolutely LOVE them! 

Lovely lace dress for Amanda's Black and White Birthday Party!!! 

Last night we had a Birthday Dinner for Kelley at Harry & Jean's... it's one of my faves. The food is amazing and the atmosphere is great. After dinner we went to sit by the fireplace (Which sadly was NOT on) and had some after dinner "dessert" drinks! YUM... Thanks Kelley for the invite! 

Kelley and Katie

My loves! :)

Can't wait for tonight!!!! Shane and Shane and some time with the lovely lady sitting to my left right up above! Love some Sauce and Sass (Joc and Cas) time... but add some men named Shane and a gal named Bethany, oh my.... it's going to be epic! Enjoy your Saturday everyone and look forward to some Jesus Praisin' Videos! Eeeep!!!

Random Blurbs {Part Dos}

Happy ALMOST Friday! :) I figured since I was in a rush to get ready for Amanda's Birthday PARTAY I'd share a few quick Random facts today. Just get some things out in the air... express myself! Here we go....

1. I was recently told that my pants were too big and I needed to have them taken up. This would be a GREAT if it weren’t for two things…

A) I’ve already had them taken in TWICE &  B) they are one of my favorite pairs of pants that I guess I will have to send to Goodwill. Oh well, at least I’m not needing to “let them out” because they are too tight.

2. I have a plant on my desk that a co-worker gave me that I seriously don’t even notice or think about until the ladies that water our plants come by to water it. I think I finally understand how I killed a cactus once.

3. I’m officially tired of my Otterbox phone case for my iPhone 4 and I don’t know what I should get….? I found a great deal on an adorable Kate Spade case on Amazon but then I also like the cases on the skinit.com website.  Any advice? What do you ladies prefer on your phone?

4. My boss said to me this week…. “Cassie, are you always this happy or do you act this way to make me happy?” He’s a very blunt person… extremely KIND and SWEET but blunt none the less… so I smiled and said “I try and be happy all the time.” He smiled at me and said “Good… I like you!”

I’ve also asked him to adopt me several times. Maybe he is warming up to the idea….

5. I’m not much of a “reality TV” fan… I’ll watch the Kardashian’s if they are on, and by watch I mean mess around on the computer while I slightly pay attention to the show that’s on which is exactly what I did earlier this week but of course I got sucked in like normal.  After the show went off I was getting ready for bed when I heard a new show come on, Dirty Soap. 

Oh dear, I couldn’t help myself. I don’t even like Soaps and I am embarrassed to admit that I actually stayed up and watched the entire show. I may or may not have searched to see when it was coming on again so I could record it.

Do not judge. I don’t watch the Real Housewives and whatever city they are from… yuck. 

Hope you all had a blessed day & hopefully you are all getting ready for the weekend ahead with a smile on your pretty faces!! 

Nothing but blue skies... and a scratchy throat!

After days of rainy weather I was so happy to leave for work and not have to run to the car, ducking and dodging rain drops. I was also very excited to drive to work with this beautiful view.

via Instagram

Definitely had some rain in the forecast today but the glimpse of blue in the sky allowed me to forgive Mother Nature a little bit.

While sitting at my desk I started to squint. Not because I wasn’t wearing my glasses (which I was not) but because of the sun shining in to the office. Made me truly happy!!

Via Instagram

I’m also happy about this weekends beautiful, perfect weather for Fall for Greenville! Besides the fun to be had downtown I have a very exciting show to see, Shane & Shane with Bethany Dillon (Barnard).  

OH MY, OH MY, OHHH MY GOODNESS!!!  Haven’t seen them in YEARS and I’m just so excited. If you don’t know who they are you need to check them out. Beautiful music all for a perfect God! Pure bliss!! 

Just because I want to share the love here’s a great video of the Husband and Wife singing together... before they were husband and wife. 

Tomorrow is my friend/hair dresser’s Birthday and she has a Black and White party planned! Gotta do something BIG for a 30^th! I’m sure everyone will have a blast because it’s impossible not to when Amanda is around! She is happiness, excitement, entertainment, and love all balled up into 1 beautiful person and I can’t wait to celebrate with her! 

Now here's to hoping and praying this scratchy throat doesn't turn into something more than that. Hot tea, vitamins and off to bed early tonight for me!! 

Model Cassie.... yea, right!

I know I have bragged on my best friend’s photography skills before in previous posts here and here but she really is awesome! I’m so thankful she wanted to practice on me! :)

She recently bought a new lens and I wanted a new picture for the blog so it made perfect sense. Sadly we only had 30 minutes before the sun went down but it was still a lot of fun. I told her ANYTIME she wanted to practice again I would most definitely be available.

Here are the shots she was able to capture… I love them all! Thanks again, Joc!

and no... I did not dye my hair darker mid photo-shoot. 

Without the sun shining my hair isn't as bright! :)

What do you guys think….? Which should I use for my blog picture? I can’t decide.

It's rising

Church was fantastic today! It was one of those mornings when you have some drama before and you REALLY don't want to go but you also know that some worship and Jesus time is the ONLY thing you really need. Man, was I right. 

After scrambling in to find a seat and squeezed in the middle of two people having a conversation (awkward) I got settled... wrote down today's date in my notebook & placed my bible in my lap. I automatically noticed we were having communion and also noticed that my favorite worship leader was on stage. Probably not nice to say that but it's true. And this is my blog so I can say the truth! ;) He's awesome.

One reason why he's my favorite is because of the songs that he usually sings and how every single time is so heartfelt. I love that. 

Worship is one of my FAVORITE things. There's nothing like standing in a room filled with people singing a song to OUR God. Those moments when you get cold chills and tears blur your vision so you close your eyes... taking it all in and then a tear spills out the corner of your closed eyes. 

Yea, that feeling is what I have every time this one person leads worship. I love it! 

So of course I was excited when I heard the first few chords of my favorite worship song right now. It's so powerful and I've never sang it without having tear filled eyes. Since I enjoy it I thought you might as well. The video I found is just a picture and music and honestly I think that's perfect. No need to be distracted while watching the video when you can just sit silently and enjoy the words and their meaning. 

I hope you all had a lovely weekend and a beautiful Sunday. Now I'm off to bed to have some worship time of my own with my loving Jesus!! :) 

We belong to You Father

Love has come, we're orphans no longer

Brought into Your light and freedom

By the blood and the mercy of Jesus

It's rising, it's rising, the song of hope

From us set free

It's rising, it's rising, it's rising up

Hallelujah to You God of the redeemed

Hallelujah, You've opened blinded eyes to see

We will praise You

You are the everlasting light

Hallelujah to You God of the redeemed

We belong to You Father

Living for Your glory and honor

Here on earth, just as in heaven

We usher in the reign of Your Kingdom

Crazyness

I have been reading the awesome book, Crazy Love for a little while now. I haven’t been speeding through it. Not because I’m bored… but because I want to soak in every word.

This book has seriously changed everything about Christianity for me. Everything about God’s love. His Kingdom. Our point for being here. I think everyone should read it because it's CRAZY good!

In the dictionary Crazy is defined as:

1. Mentally deranged; demented; insane
2. senseless; impractical; totally unsound: a crazy scheme.

It’s funny to look at the love God has for us and think of it as mentally deranged. Thinking of His love for you as something demented or insane. Something that’s senseless, impractical or totally unsound. Think of those words… say them out loud. I never thought that God’s love was any of those things. But it is.

We are sinful. Even our greatest works are filthy rags to Him. And yet He LOVES us. He loved us so much He chose to die for us… if that’s not insane I don’t know what is.

We are selfish human beings. I know I’m not the only one that can go a full day without taking 15 minutes to sit with God and actually talk to Him. Not BEGGING Him for something but really sit and enjoy His beauty and love, thanking Him completely for everything He’s given me. Yea, I don’t do that every day. 

And yet He loves me unconditionally and wants to KNOW me. He is mine, and I am His.

Senseless, impractical LOVE that I don’t even realize I have most of the time.

The part of the book I was reading last night said:

“When you are running toward Christ, you are freed up to serve, love, and give thanks without guilt, worry, or fear. As long as you are running you are safe."

I swear I read it 4 times… underlined it and read it again. That’s the way we Christians should live. Every day wake up with one purpose. To run around sharing His Crazy Love with everyone we meet because His love is worth everything. EVERYTHING.

Tip Toe

Who knew Old Navy had finger nail polish??? I didn't know that. It's awesome too! The bottle says Tip Toe on it, hence the post title. 

My wonderful co-worker let me borrow her super duper awesome Nail Spa! Its for gel paint but you can use normal polish as well. I'm going to buy one ASAP! This thing is awesome!

Mom, Mine & Madison

A lovely night of nail heaven was had last night... 

See how excited Madison was.... 

She's so cute!! :) 

Love her.

So this machine and it's amazing blue light in addition to the gel foundation paint and top coat paint your nail color will last for a month... if not longer!!! Heck to the Yes! Amazon... here I come!!! 

Random event of the day.... 

I was walking across the street with Katie Ayer after having some tasty lunch when a REALLY old truck was passing by us. I'm sure my mouth fell open as I stared at whatever was driving it. I say whatever because a skinny older man had on a long black, curly wig with bright red lipstick. When we made eye contact he looked at Katie and I said yelled "sexy".... I was petrified! Katie and I stopped and looked at each other dumbfounded. I swear, I've never had something so bizarre happen in downtown Greenville.  During the day. At lunch time. So odd! 

Thank God tomorrow is Fridaaaaay! I need a weekend something terrible. 

Lots of shower planning for a very important lady that I may have had lunch with today!!! ;) 

Soreness and a Bucket List!

Woah Nelly…. My arms are SORE! Yesterday was the first day back to yoga since I moved because I actually had time to go. I have been such a slacker lately but didn’t feel “lazy” because I was so busy unpacking and such. The class last night focused a lot on arms and I think we spent 80% of the time in the plank position. 

Sweet Torture… so I’m most definitely feeling it now. Going again in about an hour!! I’m going to try and make it to the gym at least 3 times a week. I’ve also started a low calorie diet this week so hopefully I will start melting away.

Bahahaha, yea... okay! 

On another topic, the weather has been A-MAZING! Definitely feels like Fall has arrived and I LOVE IT!!! When I woke up yesterday morning and took the pup outside I almost did a cartwheel. 

Not really.  But you know what I mean, I was HAPPY! I know I’ve said it before probably too many times but this is my favorite time of year, it’s so lovely. The leaves, pumpkins, scarves, boots, football, steaming hot drinks… all of it is fantastic!

Anyways, enough blabbing from me… in honor of the wonderfulness of FALL I thought I’d leave you with a few of my wish list items for the coming months.

via pinterest

Wishlist.... Bucket List, whatever you want to call it 

but all of this sounds perfect to me!