On Sunday night we had our community group over for a cookout to say goodbye to summer before our group starts meeting again in the Fall. I've missed seeing all of these wonderful people each week so much! It was so wonderful to have all the kids in our home since we never get to see them at group. Having the Sweetly Twisted yogurt truck in front of our house thanks to a couple in our group that runs this awesome business was a huge perk!!! It was a perfect summer night with a nice breeze and some tasty yogurt for dessert after our dinner.

Check out Sweetly Twisted for some delicious frozen yogurt, 

I promise you won't be disappointed....

& don't forget to LIKE their Facebook page so you can keep up with their locations!!

bright and happy.

This shirt always reminds me of something a three year old could paint and I love it! Bright colors always make me happy!! It is seriously great for everything which is the best part about a reliable tank top. I wear this to work with a blazer, on a summer night with some shorts, in the fall with a black cardigan and of course it looks great with a pair of white skinnies! It's one of those old reliable tops that I'll always reach for. 

sometimes you just need a simple ponytail! 

top: Forever 21 (old), jeans: Old Navy {on SALE!}, shoes: Kenneth Cole Outlet (similar),

earrings: gift from friend, bracelet: Charleston Market, ring: Forever 21

nail polish: L'Oreal, I Like It Chunky,

lipstick: Revlon Color Burst Lip Butter, Lollipop

Liking up with Living in Color Style & Stylin in St. Louis 
for the weekly trend, Color Wheel.

Thanks ladies!!

I left my heart in San Francisco.

It's true, I left a little piece of my heart in San Francisco when we came home from our Honeymoon. I say this often but, that beautiful city is probably the only place that I would gladly leave Greenville, SC for. Then I think about our family, church and the low cost of living here and I always change my mind. HA! But since some of my love sick, honeymoon heart is still in San Fran I thought it would be great to make a photo book to remember everything and cross off #47 on my 101 in 10001 list.

^^ I love all the great art you can add to any page! 

This drawing of the bridge was absolutely perfect.

With the easy process on Shutterfly and the high quality products I knew that the book would turn out beautiful but I was still shocked at the beautiful result. Flipping through every page makes my heart long for the west coast again!! One day, we will make it back out there. One day!

This product is c/o Shutterlfy.

All opinions are honest and my own.

In The Word // September Study Plan

Time for a new month of the Chronological Study!!

& thanks to Cassie for adding the sweet little shout out on the 28th!

{I can't believe it's almost a year!!}

I have loved this study so much. It has been good, hard, but so needed. I'm still behind, but I am still loving it! I love hearing from those who are doing this with us. Receiving emails and texts about today's reading or the next month's schedule, it makes me smile and it makes my heart so happy to know there are others on this journey with us. That is exactly what we prayed for. 

So, link up and join us! 

Share what you have learned during the past month with this study

or anything the Lord has taught you recently. 

We'd love to hear it :) 

 

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the curtains.

Yes! The. Curtains. They are officially up and hanging proud. From beginning to end, these little devils were a pain in my rear but I am so happy with them. Mainly happy to be finished with them, but I also love the way they turned out!

It all started with an idea I found on Pinterest. Like most ideas that seem like a great idea until you try it and then you want to scream and yell at that stupid website that makes you feel like any DIY project is really easy. We have all had our Pinterest catastrophes, right? Well, these curtains are mine. I wanted curtains that ended up like THIS but after several trial runs with a straight line and a few screams at the tape, hard wood floors, my aching back and Pinterest I decided that stripes were not going to happen! Then I found THIS lovely DIY curtain painting project and I was sold! I ran to my local Michaels art store and picked up the same exact foam stamps that A Beautiful Mess used and I was ready to go!

I have to give Peter credit for the help with hanging the curtains and for the idea of the design. Going from large circles to small circles all the way up the curtains makes me think of champagne, and champagne is always a good thing! I love how they turned out!!!

Ten Dollar Treasure.

At the beginning of Summer I was doing a little shopping in Marshalls for some great steals when I found this lovely jumpsuit. My mom had been telling me that I needed to buy one but I wasn't sure how it would look on me since my legs are pretty short. Anytime I had seen one in person the woman wearing it was super thin with legs for days. I instantly decided that a jumpsuit was not my thing. Then I found this one. It was hanging all by itself on the clearance rack for a whopping $10! Of course I snatched this baby up and ran for the fitting room crossing my fingers it would work. I wasn't completely sold since I didn't have on the right shoes or the right bra (you know how that goes, right ladies??) but since it was only $10 I thought I’d be crazy to not buy it. Once I got it home, I was so happy that I took the chance. It is SO comfortable and the perfect outfit for a relaxed night with girl friends or a date night with my man!!

jumpsuit: Marshalls (similar), shoes: Kenneth Cole Outlet (similar),
earrings: Old Navy, necklace: Forever 21, ring: Forever 21 (similar)
bracelets: Old Navy & mom's hand-me-down
sunglasses: Banana Republic Outlet
nail polish: L'Oreal, I Like It Chunky,
lipstick: Sally Hansen Lip Inflation, Temptress

Liking up with Living in Color Style & Stylin in St. Louis 
for the weekly trend, All Black!

Thanks ladies!!

a week away.

It's not often that I get to take a full week of vacation. I normally do the long weekend type of trips so I was pretty excited when I requested for a full 40 hour vacation! The week away in Sullivan's Island was the perfect location. It was quiet and calm, and since we found a beachfront house it felt like we had our own private beach to enjoy! Like most vacations, the first couple of days went by slowly and then before we knew it, the last day sneaked up on us. It was such a wonderful week full of board games, cold beers, laughing with family and kissing on sweet baby boys. Just a warning, there are a LOT of photos below! 

^^When we arrived at the house we were welcomed with rain. 

After a lot of praying for beautiful weather and the rainy forecast for the week ahead I was a little bummed but thankfully this was the last rainy day we had! We were all so thankful!!

^^ cute nephew and fresh homemade waffles...

doesn't get much better than that!

^^ we made a trip to Charleston for a delicious dinner at Circa 1886!

I'm so glad that this lovely place has become a must for our trips to Charleston.

^^ the whole gang!

^^ Taco Mamacita was a great spot for lunch!

Any place that serves fresh salsa made with local tomatoes daily with spicy margaritas and an awesome taco menu is always a win in my book! 

^^ cousins saying goodbye!
It was the sweetest thing to watch them interact for the first time and all the little kisses were precious.

Surprisingly my toes miss the sand but I'm happy to be home again with that brown husband of mine. I know I will never catch up with him but I am happy to say that I do have some new freckles on my cheeks!

In The Word // Job 13:15

Job is not the easiest book to read. Especially when you are sitting on a porch watching those you love play on the beach and then you turn the pages through a very unhappy story. It was hard last week while I was on vacation. There were days when I didn't turn those pages because I had no desire. Now that I am home in my routine I'm back to craving it. I have my NLT study bible and my ESV journaling bible so I'm good to go. But what does that say about my heart?

The book of Job teaches us to obey God and my heart was not obeying His calling to read His word everyday last week. There were days when I made excuses and I didn't make the time, but during all the pages in Job so far there is one verse that hits me like a ton of bricks every time....

I tend to always tie my scripture reading to songs of worship since that is the strongest way I connect with the Lord. If I am having a bad day, I sing a song of praise to the Lord. If I am worried or stressed, I listen to a song that puts God first so that I rely on Him. My days that begin with worship music while I get ready in my room are always better mornings. Music is a type of love language with God for me, so naturally this verse instantly makes me think of that amazing song by Shane & Shane. Though You Slay Me kills me every time, just like that verse that inspired the lyrics. Take a few minutes and enjoy this....

And the words by John Piper are so powerful and true. This is what I need to be thinking of when I want to skip a reading. Or when I think that Job isn't the most exciting book to read. It is His book and I want to yearn for it more everyday.

What is your heart yearning for?

Has the Lord revealed anything to you recently?

Link up with us and share what you have learned!!

 

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Also, Cassie and I will share the Chronological Study Plan for the month of September next week!

Vacation Littles.

The monday after a vacation is always interesting. You think you should feel refreshed and ready for the week ahead but instead you just feel tired and in need of a "staycation" for a few days. Or at least I do. I honestly wanted to stay in my bed all day long and pretend that Monday would come again tomorrow with every snooze. But I found the strength to crawl out of that amazing bed and take on the world. That is definitely what it felt like, anyways. Looking back on the last week I remember several things that made me so happy and super thankful. I always love to share those littles after a vacation to get my head in the right place so here we go.....

finally realizing that my nephew was calling me "Amy" because he was trying to say "Auntie" // putting my other baby nephew to sleep while walking and bobbing and humming hallelujah in his ear // listening to the ocean waves as I went to sleep every night // tan lines, I have them... and I didn't burn, it's a miracle // watching the connection that these two have after spending a week together 

Friend Package 01

I was pretty excited when I edited my 101 in 1001 list and changed my journal writing to gift giving. It is so much more fun to give gifts to those you love, right? I mean, journal writing just gives you hand cramps and I already do so much writing here that I just didn't have the desire to write more in a journal.

I'm really excited to share the gift packages after I send them because one of my love languages is most definitely gift giving. There is an art to gifts and I love to make my own little mark with the packaging and thought behind each little surprise. This is my first gift package that I've ever sent out and I'm glad that I decided to send my first to my sweet friend, Cassie!

One of my favorite things about getting married was finding all kinds of things with my new last name initial so I stocked up on a few B things for Cassie and her new last name. I also FINALLY sent her some of the burlap placemats from my wedding that I have been promising to send her ever since the wedding, only 10 months later! Oops, better late than never.

Both Cassie and I had been searching Etsy for the Long Distance Friend mugs after seeing one on Instagram and she found Tickled Teal Paperie. The mugs were perfect and exactly what we wanted but I didn't make much of a fuss over them so I could surprise her and put one in this package. 

And of course I bought one for myself too...

To purchase a mug of your own or for a long distance friend check out Tickled Teal Paperie

and use the code, SHOPTICKLEDTEAL for 10% off of anything in the shop!

It was a lot of fun to package everything up so she can have several surprises, even after opening the box!

I only wish I could have seen her face when she received it!!!