Yard Saling

So, yesterday I woke up at 6:30am to hit up some yard sales and scored some majorly awesome deals!! First of all, it takes a lot for me to wake up this early if I don't have to, so (the nerd I am) I mapped out the yard sales I wanted to go to that I found in the paper. I then, preceded to program them into my GPS, for the next morning. After hitting the snooze button several times, I finally was out the door with coffee in hand...


The first wonderful find was a coffee table and end table set that a woman sold me for $5...she said she just wanted to get rid of it, so I was more than happy to buy it from her. At the moment, our living room is a hodgepodge of furniture that doesn't really match all that much, but in my attempt to bring it all together, I think I've succeeded. The coffee table/end tables help our living room look more "living roomish" !


A few random items I snagged at a yard sale were some cute rain boots and a vera bradley purse for $4!!

Now, for the greatest buy of the day...Since we moved into our apartment I've wanted to get a desk that I can use to do Arts/Crafts on and the occasional paperwork. I've looked on craigslist and elsewhere, but yesterday I found this jewel of a desk at an estate sale for $35 and had to buy it! It's an antique and would be a great refinishing project....and I absolutely fell in love with it...
So, last night my husband helped me move it into our second bedroom (office room) and move out a green recliner we had that we never used.


 I'm so excited to get it fixed up and get my stuff organized in the drawers, because right now my stuff is thrown all over the room...


Here's a pic of it:

And here's the green recliner that is now up for grabs:

DIY Photo-To-Canvas

2 blog posts in one day...that's a record!


I wanted to share a DIY Project I've been working on for our apartment and I finally got it together to share. Yesterday I did this photo-to-canvas project that actually worked, so I thought I'd post it for you!


Here's some pics of my final project:

This project is super easy, but takes just a little time to make sure it's done right.
 I used tissue paper to print the picture out on my computer (yes, the tissue paper you use to stuff gift bags), let it dry, then mod podged it to the canvas. Using tissue paper gives you the look that someone painted it, instead of using printer paper or photo paper.


 If anyone's interested in learning how to make this, just let me know...maybe I'll post a tutorial on it!

Did I mention I Love Food!

So, over the past week, I've been experimenting with some new recipes I found on www.foodgawker.com. If you've never been to this website, then you're in for a treat...I could spend forever on here looking at all the scrumptious food recipes! 


The first thing I made was Crock Pot Potato Chowder (I actually found this recipe on Pinterest and you can find it here http://www.food.com/recipe/Crock-Pot-Potato-Chowder-50144.) This really is super easy to make and will have you going back for as many bowls as you can eat!


Here's a pic of mine...Yummm :)

The second item I made was Buffalo Chicken Dip or "Crack Dip"!! It is seriously addicting and good on so many levels. You can get the recipe here http://www.singforyoursupperblog.com/dips-and-salsas/the-famous-quot-crack-dip-quot/. In my recipe I used Texas Pete hot sauce, but you can use whatever you want.


Happy Cooking! ;)

Home~Sweet~Home

So, today marks the 1 month anniversary of Hud and me moving into our apartment and it's finally starting to feel like home!! I finally got the furniture the way I wanted it and decorated a little, which has literally taken me this whole month but when I walk in the door now, it definitely feels homey. 


Over the past 5 years I've been back-in-forth living in Mars Hill, Gastonia, and Columbia, SC and the only other place that feels like home to me is G-town (my hometown). After living in Blacksburg for a month, I feel like we're starting to get plugged in and it excites me to know that we'll be here for a few years. We recently found a wonderful church "Northstar" and have gotten plugged in...we're starting a newlyweds bible study group wed...and have already become involved with some volunteer opportunities. We're both very excited to see what God has in store and can't wait to start building relationships with some new friends!


On another note...Bammer (a.k.a. Doodie Sir licks-a-lot "this is the name Hud gave him...haha"), our 5 month old puppy, is also feeling more at home I think. I found this really awesome dog park here in Blacksburg and try to take him whenever we have free time. It's pretty funny watching all these dogs run around and play with each other...I imagine it's similar to watching your kid at the playground or something. He has so much energy that even if we take him on a run with us he's still bouncing off the walls, so the dog park has become a weekly ritual. 


After being here for only a month already, I'm thrilled that it's starting to feel like home and  have some more projects on the rise to make our apartment even more cozy. If I ever get around to doing them i'll post em on here...!

A New Season

So, it's been forever since I last wrote a post, but my life has been full of so many changes the past 2 months. I got married to an amazing man on June 25th and as I look at today's date right now...I can't believe that it's been almost 2 months already! 

I have to admit that being married is pretty wonderful so far! After the wedding, we lived in Asheville for a month, then moved up to Blacksburg, VA at the end of July. We lived in an extended stay hotel for a week and then we were able to finally move in to our apartment. It's been crazy to say the least, but definitely an adventure! Hudson started medical school at the beginning of the month and I have, all the while, been job searching. Job searching in itself is a heck of a job, let me tell you. I've had several interviews so far, but no offers yet. In the end, I know that if I'm patient and keep persevering that I'll finally get that job. Until then, I'm applying for other jobs to pay the bills. I'm not going to lie though, it stinks having to get just any old job. You go to school to get a degree in something that you, hopefully, have an interest in and want to do. I want to wake up in the morning and go to a job that I love and do work that I have a passion for. The good thing is that I know this time in my life is just a season and before I know it I'll be working. 

So at this point, if nothing else, I'm enjoying the fact that I can sleep in, eat breakfast by the computer, and wallow in my life and the direction it might take me! 

17 Days and Counting...

When I first got engaged back in October, I thought that I had more than enough time to plan a wedding, but boy does time fly. Before you know it, there's only 17 days left before the big day and you're double checking everything and feeling like you're always forgetting something...haha. With so many things going on at once, it can definitely become overwhelming. Right now, I'm getting wedding plans together, searching for jobs, and still searching for a place to live with Hud.

We had originally planned on staying in Asheville and had picked out an apartment and everything, but it's so interesting how God can place you somewhere else at the flip of a coin. A few weeks ago Hudson received a letter from VCOM in Blacksburg,Virginia stating that he had been accepted into medical school for the fall of 2012!!!!!!! I'm so stinkin proud of him...I knew he could get in!!! He's wanted to be a doctor since he was a little boy and last year he applied after taking the MCAT. He actually ended up applying a little late, so he was placed on the waiting list at several schools, but VCOM will go ahead and accept students for the following year if there isn't enough space for this year.

After hearing the good news, we've been trying to figure out where God wants us for a year until he begins school. At this point we really feel that Virginia is where we're meant to be, but we don't know how we're going to do it yet. I've been applying for jobs up there and next week we're going to go look at different apartments and houses. It's the weirdest feeling....we feel peace about moving up there even though it's not definite about having jobs yet or housing. I know that to some, it probably sounds completely crazy to even think about moving, because one of us already has a job in Asheville. It would be the easier choice, for sure. So, right now we're trusting that god will guide and place us where he wants, even if it's a little more difficult. It may be that we live in Asheville for a month or two until we find a job and housing or it may be that we get to move sooner. In the end we're both excited to see where we'll be  :)

"Endurance: Slow Sprint to the Finish"

If I were to write a book on my year in graduate school, this would be the title. The advance-standing program has definitely been an endurance test for me and easily ranks high on the list of hardest things I've ever done. Although this year has gone by pretty fast, there have been moments when it felt like it would never end, hence the title "slow sprint to the finish"!

It's amazing how at the start of something, it looks like a long haul to the finish line, when in reality it's normally over with before you even know it. I remember it was about 2 years ago, when I first got into running and signed up for my first 5k race. I signed up for the Springmaid Splash, which was a trail run and I was pretty excited about it and pumped up. I lined up with all the other runners at the beginning and started to feel a little intimidated...some runners looked really fit, while there were a few that I thought I could take (that included children and those over the age of 60...ha). The gunshot sounded and I slowly started to drift behind everyone else. In this race, you had to run through 2 rivers and trudge your way through thick mud....and if you weren't doing that then you were running through the woods. 3.1 miles doesn't seem that long...I mean, I could run 3 miles down the road and it wasn't that hard, but this trail race seemed like it would never end. About halfway through I was pretty exhausted from all the obstacles and really had to dig for some motivation to keep on going. The whole time I kept thinking about the finish line and thought that I must be getting close. When I got towards the end, I didn't care about beating anyone anymore or how many runners were faster than me....the only thing I cared about was finishing the race to show myself that I could do it! I'll never forget crossing the finish line and thinking to myself "What? It's over with already. I did it?!"...my first race and I finished it.

This is how I would describe my year in graduate school! I started this year out with all the other students in the MSW program and when classes started we took off running. Some people were fast runners, some were slow (that would be me!), we all encountered obstacles at some point or another and had to search for the motivation needed to continue once or twice, but in the end we all made it to the same finish line!

Epiphanies and Encouragement

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night with an epiphany?....this happens to me at least once a week at, like, 2am...haha. Actually, just last night I woke up, because I had several ideas for the wedding and another idea for a therapy group at my internship. I immediately wrote them in my notebook I keep beside my bed, so I wouldn't forget! For some reason, my most brilliant ideas always pop into my head when I'm getting ready to go fall asleep or when they decide to wake me up in the wee morning hours...ha...

Anyways, this week it has been extremely hard for me in gathering up enough motivation to get back in the swing of school. I have literally had to drag myself out of the bed every morning. My motivation is slowly, but surely coming back and all I need is enough to get me through the next 6 weeks and I'll be good.....I'm pretty sure I can muster up that much motivation!

It's funny how when you're having a tough day sometimes God throws some encouragement your way....and an example of this happened to me earlier this week. I went to my internship, like normal, but was feeling a great lack of motivation and was in a bad mood with anything to do with school, internship, graduate assistantship, and especially with homework. After coming home later that day, I found some flowers on the front porch that Hudson had sent me. Just for the record, I've never actually had someone send me flowers before....I've had plenty of flowers handed to me, but never delivered, so I was beyond ecstatic! The note said "Only 6 more weeks. You're almost there!"....talk about just what I needed.

Have you ever known someone who believed in you, who gave you encouragement and praise when you needed it most? Someone who made you feel like you could do it....whatever "it" was? This is the kind of person God has called us to be...and I don't know about you, but this gets me excited!....We (as followers of Christ) have the opportunity to help build others up every stinkin' day....This means that when we go to the store or get on the bus or go to work, or talk to a friend, they're opportunities for us to speak words of encouragement and praise to those around us! Even though I know Hudson believes in me, sometimes it's nice to hear it again, like with the flowers he sent. On a day when I lacked motivation and felt like giving up, he reminded me that he was cheering for me on the sidelines and believed that I could push through til graduation... it told me that someone other than myself believed in me, which is just what I needed!

Encouragement is something that has the potential to dramatically impact someone's life and I hope you'll seek opportunities to uplift and praise those around you....Be the spark in a person's life that pushes them to achieve great things because you believed in them :)

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)

Wedding Porn

So, I'm getting ready to go to bed and I can't sleep....wedding plans keep swimming around in my head and it's a lil annoying. I just want to go to sleep, is that too much to ask?! If you've ever planned a wedding, then you know how easily it can start to consume your every thought. There's a term that I've encountered that calls this phenomena "wedding porn".....yup...wedding websites, plans, DIY ideas, budgets, magazines, etc....they're everywhere and can become addicting. Especially if you're planning everything yourself and on a budget, it's hard not to research and get sucked into the black hole of never ending wedding stuff. Ughhhhh...I just want to go to bed, but I want to decide on the type of plates/utensils we're gonna have first...haha. I never knew how detail oriented I was until I began planning a wedding....anyways, I love these utensils:

Their Birch Cutlery and I think they're awesome! I think I'm gonna have to get em...they cost as much as plastic utensils, but I think they're cuter. But now I need some plates to match...any ideas?!

Slugged in the Face

The show Wipeout is the funniest show ever...there's just something about watching other people make complete fools of themselves that keeps me laughing...haha. There's one obstacle called the "punching wall" that clobbers contestants with boxing gloves until they fall in the water. I've never seen any contestant make it through the punching wall without being punched and it seems impossible for one to dodge all the boxing gloves altogether. I've planned out a strategy of how I'm going to make it through this obstacle if I'm ever on the show though...(after watching these idiots on Wipeout, you start to create strategies of how you would make it through the course yourself...don't lie, you think it would be fun)! The punching wall would not be a fun obstacle, getting puched everywhere and as far as I can tell, there's no way to avoid them, because they're unexcepted.
I've never been slugged in the face real good until the other night. Now, I know you're probably thinking I must have gotten into a fight with someone or maybe secretly I'm a boxer, but I assure you I'm not. I got slugged while watching a movie..."Megamind" to be exact (great movie if you haven't seen it)! It's quite sad to be honest...I was sitting on the couch beside my fiance, he reached over to grab something, and slugged me in the cheek with his elbow. It came out of nowhere, was unexpected, and if my guard had been up, then I might've been able to dodge it. He felt so terrible afterwards, iced my cheek and brought me Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream, because that's the one thing I told him would help me feel better! I felt fine at first, but was pretty sure I'd have a nice shiner on the side of my face...it was hurtin real good...lol. Like I said....a wimpy story of getting slugged in the face, but let this serve as a warning to others "watching movies in dark lighting could result in getting punched in the face".

Last SpRingBreAk

So...here goes my first attempt at blogging!...My last Springbreak of my college career officially started today at around 5pm right after I took my last online exam, but now that I'm free for a week I don't have a clue what to do. One thing I definitely plan on doing is getting some wedding plans together (getting my wedding dress altered, tasting food, and creating some DIY projects...like for our awesome homemade photobooth (that is still in the idea phase at the moment)). For those of you who don't know, I'm getting married June 25 of this year and planning it all while in grad school...I have a pretty hectic life right about now, but I love it! I have to say that it's very nice to have family and friends that are so willing to help out with anything and everything...it makes planning that much easier.
 I'm a grad student at USC and will be graduating in May! It's hard for me to believe that at this time last year I had just received my acceptance letter from them and was contemplating whether or not to go. Actually, I thought that I would be attending ETSU before I had heard from either school. I had already met with ETSU's professors, planned where I might live, and kind of had it stuck in my head that that was where I was going to school. I ended up applying to USC right at their deadline and heard back within 2 weeks...I was so ecstatic, but couldn't imagine moving down here by myself and going to school for a year. After not hearing from ETSU for a few months I finally received a letter in the mail that stated that I wasn't accepted. To be honest I was surprised that I didn't get in to ETSU.
 I think it's amazing how God works out every opportunity for us in our lives and places us exactly where he wants us. This time last year if someone had asked me where I would be a year from now, I would have said without a doubt ETSU...boy was I wrong...lol. I'm so very thankful for this opportunity God has placed in my life and will always look back and remember this year. This year in my life has brought an abundance of growth both spiritually and personally. I've realized that I have more strength, courage, and confidence than I ever thought I had. I moved to a new place, started making friends, got familiar with a new city, and developed and grew into more of an adult.
 I think the biggest thing this year has given me is a stronger relationship with God...being down here alone isn't always the easiest and in my many hours and days when I felt alone and lonely...I spent that time with him. There were some days when I first moved down here that were harder than others, but these were prime times when I would spend time in the word and in prayer. I'm so glad that I went through that now...at the time I would have loved to be in any situation other than mine, but if it weren't for those moments of feeling completely and utterly alone, then I might not have reached out and grown in my faith. Being down here (i say "down-here", because i'm from "up-there" in NC..lol) I think was meant for me to learn how to fully,"Fully" put my trust and faith in the Lord that everything would be alright. Everything would be alright...even though I'm lonely. Everything would be alright...even though I couldn't see it now. And everything would be alright...if I just trusted in him. These statements turned out to be true and the truth is we are never alone...God was with me the whole time, which is why I always made it through the bad day or cry spell.
 It's hard to fathom how wonderful the adventures are that God places us in and in the midst of them they don't always feel like an adventure we'd plan for ourselves. I remember when I was a little kid my sister and I use to hike up Crowder's Mtn. with my parents and I remember thinking how hard it was. I would be ok until we got near the top and there were what seemed like thousands of stairs you had to climb. I'd start climbing, take a break, climb, take a break...this went on until I didn't think I could make it any furthur and with a few steps to go I'd find the strength to make it to the top. When I finally got to the top...I had forgotten about my fatigue and just looked out over the skyline..it was beautiful. The adventures that God has in store for us are absolutely amazing and life changing....they help us grow and help us learn. And at the end of an adventure, no matter how strenuous or hard it was, we can always take something away from it. Although I probably couldn't see it last semester...I was on an adventure...a wonderful adventure, but I haven't realized it until recently, so now I'm savoring the adventure and making the most of it, until a new one begins...~