30 Day Blog Challenge: Conclusion

Thank you ALL for being so faithful to my blog throughout this challenge! It has been tons of fun for me!

Doesn't it take 21 days to make a habit? Eh, I don't know, but I do feel like blogging will be something I try to make more time for. It has been neat to see the responses I've gotten and checking the tracking bar to see who all has visited! 

I cannot wait to share with you about the trip to Montana! I am overwhelmed by excitement, and I am looking forward to the quality time spent with my Daddy. That is the treasure that will  never be taken away from me. Although Mom won't be coming along, I know she will enjoy the time spent with HER mom. 

I will definitely miss my family and my friends during this time. Hopefully I won't be too far out of the way & I'll be able to send them a text or call them at night. It will be so strange being away from them for an entire week! We are going to eat Hibachi tomorrow night and Thanksgiving at the school Friday (we aren't leaving until later that afternoon). So, we will be spending as much time together as possible prior to leaving, but they WILL be missed. 

Not being here for Thanksgiving will definitely be odd, but this is "a hunt of a lifetime" opportunity, and I am so thankful for the chance to go! 

As far as pre-nervousness, I have none! I thank all of you who have been praying for our travels because up until around two weeks ago I was VERY nervous about flying, but since then I have had a peace about it. If anything, I've become excited about being up there! 

I won't be taking my computer, but I have mailed a notebook to journal while i'm gone, and when I get back I will blog daily about the events! 

Thanks again for taking time out of your day to read my rambling on! I've enjoyed this series, and now I'll be back to scraping the jar on what to blog about! Ha! I hope to get in on more weekly challenges going on with the bloggers I follow. 

I make no promises about this.


ONE LAST THING: Be sure to scroll down & read my last (double) entry on the challenge!!

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day Twenty Six/Seven!

Ok! I am doing two in one today for a few reasons...

1.) I am rushing the blog challenge to finish by.. well, tonight really.

2.) I have all ready alternated Day 29 (it was supposed to be "Bucket List"), so I wouldn't have a topic for day 29 anyway.

3.) I want to be done by noon Friday so that I can blog about the trip!

Onward....

Day Twenty Six: A photo of your family...

(excuse the fact that the majority of these are graduation photos. They're the most recent.)

immediate family.

"extended family" on mom's side, minus her brother & his wife and son.

(hey, they may as well be family!)

Day Twenty Seven: Pets

the day they brought her home for me =) 

this was taken the night before she got sick with parvo. We left her at the vet for 2 days, bless her heart. So thankful she was okay!

(excuse the red eye)

Christmas day with our "beanies" on, and Marlee looking SO interested.

These next few are outtings to the farm!

and most recently! She's smilin' =)

sweet, sweet 

Mallard Marlee Made.

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day Twenty Five!

Day Twenty Five: What you've learned....

What I've learned? Uhh.. About what? 

Hm.

I've learned that after high school, LIFE GOES ON. It's hard to look back & see some friends of mine still in that stage of their life, but they don't know anything other than that. They haven't moved towards something new yet.  There is a 90% less drama around my life due to not being in high school. Things get easier, I promise!

I've learned to hold tight to the people you HONESTLY love, and sooner or later you'll figure out if keeping the grip is worth it. Those who matter will hold on just as tight to you, and those who don't will find their way elsewhere. 

I've learned that doing things for others makes you feel far better than doing something for yourself ever will. 

I've learned that love, in all of its definitions, is one thing. It is surrounding yourself by a totally imperfect person - yet seeing them perfectly through your eyes. It is not always wanting the better from someone, but seeing the best in someone. It is everlasting, steadfast, and true. It is whole, pure, and full of emotion. It is not a feeling to take lightly or disregard; it is worth suffering for. I've found that love is not just a great thing, but it is the GREATEST thing God gave us to enjoy here on earth. 

I've learned that everything will work out in its own time. It may not be now, tomorrow, or next week, but when it does work out - you will find yourself looking back thankful that it happened when it did.

I've learned that regrets are nothing but broken memories you wished you had handled differently, but what can you do about the past? You remember it only to teach yourself to learn from your regrets and to be proud of your accomplishments.

I've learned that you are going to come across people in your life who can't have no will to change, and you can't help them change. It is hard to believe in these people, and it is also hard to be civil; I am learning everyday that I should be more understanding of people like this. 

I've learned that following your dreams is the best advice someone can give you because if you're not fulfilling your dreams, what can make you happy? In your life there are ups and downs. Following your dreams (as crazy as some of them may seem) are never impossible. If you can dream it, you can do it. Do what makes you happy. Surround yourself by people who are encouraging, loving, and happy too. Do something for other people, not because you have to, but because you want to. 

Don't waste a day unhappy because tomorrow is never certain.

"Above all, love each other deeply because love covers a multitude of sins." - 1 Peter 4:8

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day Twenty Four!

Day Twenty Four: iPod Shuffle (first 10 songs)

So, instead of iPod, I am going to do my iTunes! I will then post my favorite line of the song.

1.) We Rode in Trucks - Luke Bryan

 "Down where I was born, it was heaven on earth.

The Flint River washes that red Georgia dirt.

The sun sets slow and the stars shine bright.

Where I grew up, we rode in trucks."

2.) It Would Be You - Gary Allan

"if it was a blizzard, it would be a record breakin' cold,

& if it was a lie, it would be the biggest story you've ever told."

3.) Famous in a Small Town - Miranda Lambert

"Let's go on down to the quick stop
Wear your yellow shades
And I'll put on my tight jeans
And we'll just spend the weekend burnin' rubber
And we'll let em point and stare in disbelief."

4.) Walk You Home - Karmina

"Need the band to play the song, 

someone's hand to keep you strong.

It's harder when you're on your own;

success is not the same alone. 

Can't have up without the down,

need the straight to have the round.

I'll provide the harmony -

your song is best accompanied."

5.) Waiting for My Real Life to Begin - Colin Hay

"& you said, 'Be still, my love.

Open up your heart;

Let the light shine in.'

Don't you understand?

I already have a plan;

I'm waitin' for my real life to begin."

6.) Open Arms - Journey

"We sailed on together;
We drifted apart,
and here you are by my side.
So now I come to you with open arms,
Nothing to hide, believe what I say."

7.) Heaven - Casey James (or Bryan Adams/Jason Aldean)

"Oh - once in your life you find someone
Who will turn your world around
Bring you up when you're feeling down."

8.) To Make You Feel My Love - (MY MAN) Garth Brooks

"The storms are raging on a rolling sea
And down the highway of regret
The winds of change are blowing wild and free
But you ain't seen nothin' like me yet."

9.) Dare You to Move - Switchfoot

"Everybody's watching you now;
Everybody waits for you now.
What happens next?
I dare you to move.
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor;
I dare you to move
Like today never happened -
Today never happened before."

10.) One Day You Will - Lady Antebellum

"Down the road the sun is shining.

Every cloud has a silver lining,

just keep holdin' on.

Every heartache makes you stronger, 

and it won't be much longer. 

You'll find love; you'll find peace,

and the 'you' you're meant to be.

I know right now that's not the way you feel -

but one day you will."

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day Twenty Three!

Day Twenty Three: Charities you're interested in...

I just recently have grown to love charities. I've always somewhat known about them, but here lately I find myself reading more into them. I believe that charities are a wonderful way to help less fortunate or needy people out. It is a way to be involved in something your heart is interested in, and a lot of times you can "Google" charities that you never knew existed & become a part of them!

Operation Christmas Child is a project done by the Samaratan's Purse every year around this time. You pick up a shoe box, fill it with school supplies, hygiene products, small toys, & hard candy, and then you mark the box with the appropriate age that the gifts "fit into". As a church, we take the boxes and bring them back to the front of the church, and for a month (or a little over a month) the boxes grow in size. Today the altar was nearly filled with all the green & red boxes.
The boxes are then taken to Georgia & packaged properly to be sent overseas to underprivileged childeren. Some of these children live in the area of Honduras that our mission team is familiar with, and they got to see a video of Samuel and Sonia handing out the boxes last year. That really makes it hit home!

TOMS are beneficial to both the giving & recieving end (as is OCC and the rest I am posting about because you are helping someone else out while doing something you love at the same time). TOMS Shoes motto is "One for One". You buy a pair of shoes, and they send a pair to a person who doesn't have any shoes at all. 

ALSO:

TOMS hosts a Day Without Shoes for the people who have taken part in the TOMS charity. You are asked to leave the house without shoes on for a day & see what it's like to not have an option of wearing shoes. 

I only participated half the day this past year. I wore my TOMS to school, but after school I had to sell adds through town & I took them off. It was challenging for only a few hours; I can't imagine what an entire day is like!

I just recently became a part of the USO, and they do so many great things!
Last month we provided calling cards for soldiers overseas who are going to be gone during Christmas. The cards will be sent over to them as a Christmas gift from the USO (but from what I understand, they will already have their cards ON Christmas).
Right now (as i blogged about a few days ago) they are asking people to send "Thank You's" to our men & women in our military. *the link for this will be at the bottom of the post if you're interested.

The WWP is a nonprofit organization (as is the USO) that provides help for veterans & (obviously) wounded warriors. You can do something as simple as buy a t-shirt from them, and the money is sent to help a soldier in need.

And... Just as of today, I have adopted a soldier. Not sure about what I'm getting myself into, but my friend Haleigh & I are kind of doing it together. I am really excited about giving someone the chance to recieve mail who isn't currently doing so. It was completely free, and although I am a little anxious - I am very excited!

If you want to become a part of any of these charities:

Operation Christmas Child

TOMS

USO

Wounded Warrior Project

Adopt a US Soldier

Thanks for reading, and let me know if you're interested!

=)

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day Twenty Two!

Day Twenty Two: Something that made your day...

Well, today Megan, Hollie, and I took part in the Frosty Follies (or "Open House") that our town has every year around this time.

 It's always so much fun to go to each little store and check out what they have out for Christmastime. You start out at any store that is participating, pick up a card with each store name on it, write your name & cell # on the back, and you get your card "punched" at each place. Once you've reached your last stop, you turn your card in and there is a big drawing at the end of the day. The winner recieves a basket with accents from each participating store. Needless to say, there was lot's of fun going on in town today! 

Although, it did NOT feel like Christmastime weather. 

It was hot. 

"It's hot to the point that some people might consider wearing shorts today..seriously" as Megan said after she took Kenlee out this morning. 

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day Twenty One!

Day Twenty One: Favorite Articles of Clothing (Currently)

I believe in LAYERING. I always have layers on. a tee, a jacket/vest/cardigan, a scarf. Always. Almost never fails. I hate feeling exposed. Ha! 

I am a HUGE Old Navy shopper. There is rarely a day when I don't have SOMETHING on that came from Old Navy. I am mainly in love with their blouses. I have grown to their jeans recently, though.

i love graphic tee's...this is my current fave, but ya'll know it's mainly because of the moose! It is so cute up close. It is filled with paisley & flowers. Presh!

I love throwing these cardigans over anything. It's a good way for me to "feel" comfortable & look "semi-dressed up" Ha! 

I love TOMS! This is my favorite pair right now, but I don't have them yet.

annnd pajamas are always my favorite too! =) 

(these are Hatley's Moose pair)

I also Love:

The New Directions line at Belk

SOCKS

scarves (see previous post)

& t-shirts. Do graphic tee's fall in that category? We'll say no.

I do a lot of online shopping at:

Amazon

Where are some of your favorite places to shop?

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day TWENTY!

Day Twenty: Before&After.

Well, I could do before & after's allll day. I will share two with you. One set will be a SOOTC (Straight Out Of The Camera) photo along with the one I edited. 

Then, I will show you how my room transformed from being "Hurricane Julianna" (has a Hurricane ever been named that? Hmm... Google.... Nope!) to clean ..or something along the lines of clean. Ahem.

Photo:

I haven't gotten into a whole lot of camera settings, but my friend, Ashia, has taught me a few things about "Aperature", and I find myself growing to love that setting more & more. (It is AKA: "AV" on Canon Rebels. Haven't checked out the abbreviation for other cameras.) So, saying that i'd also like to say, most of what I do with photos come from my editing software. I am also learning a lot about that. 

Main reason for that whole babbled paragraph: As I told one of my favorite ladies from my church today, Mrs. Karen, I have SO much to learn about the camera. I have a feeling I am misusing it in so many ways! I wish I knew everything about it. Ahh... 

Back to the topic.

I fell in love with this one right when the camera shuttered. I knew it would probably be my favorite of the session. The problem with this photo is that it does NO justice for the baby's amazingly blue eyes and his sweet soft skin. Also, the glow of the green in the backround isn't that vibrant. 

So, I:

 enhanced the eye, 

bumped up the darks & saturation, 

added a hint of contrast, 

put in a little (pushing a lot) of clarity

worked on the shadow tones,

and took out a little vibrance (because his lips were all ready fairly pink)

Ahh... His sweet little eyes... I die.

Hurricane Julianna:

it was

a

complete

DISASTER!

but....

I can actually

walk 

around now.

clean & smelling like, my favorite candle, Cupcakes - Yankee Candles. 

It's running out & i'm sad. 

What should I get next? 

Christmas Cookie?

I want a southern smell in my room. 

(southern smell...does that make sense?)

Also, Mom went to Hobby Lobby today & bought this coat hanger for me to use for my scarves. 

I had them in a drawer, but I couldn't see them all, so now I can just grab one on my way out. 

Thanks, Mom! You're too kind.

And, in case you were curious when you saw the chalkboard in other photos. I try to change it out with the seasons. Looks like I need to make a "Fall" one. 

ps:

I wish that all of you would ease over to The USO website to give a quick "Thank You" to the men & women serving our country. You have up to 500 characters, and it's for a good cause. It will only take a minute! =) Here's the site!

pss:

it's almost time for Christmas socks!

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day Nineteen!

Day Nineteen: Show your artwork...

Many of you know that photography is my focus, but I enjoy painting every now and then & I'm taking a drawing class as well. So, here are a few of my favorite paintings/sketches.

this was for Mamma's kitchen. She decided she needed something new, and this is what the result ended up being.

You all know by now the significance of this word. If not, see this post.  

Another painting for her kitchen.

last year's Christmas present for Mimi's kitchen.

a cross I painted for a friend of mine, Ashia.

Nannie's "A" for her house.

This drawing starts my sketchbook photos. It is the latest of the ones i've finished.

My first actual drawing for the class. 

Marlee =)

a sketch I should have taken more time on, but obviously I didn't. Ha!

Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does the better.  ~André Gide

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day Eighteen!

Day Eighteen: Dream Wedding...

as if I didn't go crazy enough with the whole "dream house" thing...

okay, here goes!

(by the way, it is ONE am, and I am doing all of this off of the top of my head. It is subject to change!

Here we go!

I would probably do a "save the date" because you can list your wedding date in the paper & all four surrounding states will know. Plus, i'm pretty sure that I will end up calling EVERYone I know when "The One" asks me to marry him. Ha!

I don't know where this is, but it is the ideal setting for me. If that tree was a willow, I would be googling for reservations and booking now (which is clearly impossible). I do love that look, but more than likely I will have a church wedding. I worry too much to have an outside one.

reception area would be laid back & fun! I want to dance at my wedding, for sure, so the floor would be the centerpiece of the set up.

I like this sort of set up for the table. I don't really like the fruit in the centerpiece, and I'd rather it be tal opposed to fat, but overall I like the concept. 

HOW COOL IS THAT CAKE!?! With a BIG 'ole last name letter on the top where the bird looks like he's guarding it? Yep. Love. Love. l.o.v.e.

bridesmaid dresses would be either blue (to match that table cloth above) or that purple color. ..maybe green? 

I like all those styles except for that blue style on the right. I can handle the others.

their bouqets would probably similar to this, but that purple would probably be lilies instead, and there would be a hint of peacock feather in there. 

the men's boutonniere. (not sure about their tux's, but to me that really isn't important. Probably black with whatever color tie to math the bridesmaids)

the ring.

I may not even have a say in this, but if I did I would want a vintage set ring with an engraved inside. I want the engraving to say, "Phil. 1:3". I also want that same engraving to go on the husband's band. I honestly wasn't paying attention to the "carrots" or whatever.. It does NOT matter to me, and I mean that in the most serious way. Love isn't shown through the cost of a ring, but that is merely my opinion.

can't decide between this one....

or this one.....

and this one.....

i love them all. Antique/vintage is my favorite look because I think it is timeless (have I stated that before? ...heh) Of the three, the last one is probably my favorite, but I am a visual person, so I would have to see it on. 

annnd this would be my bouquet, or something like it. It is WAY green, so maybe some purple dashed in there in a few places. 

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue:

Old, new, and borrowed will depend.

I will wear blue shoes. Probably TOMS.

Sidenote: Purple is my current fave color, so this is probably a phase.

Songs will include....

Father/Daughter Dance:

- Cinderella - Steven Curtis Chapman

(or)

- Butterfly Kisses - Bob Carlisle

First Dance:

- Feels Like Home - Chantel Kreviasuk

(or)

Heaven - Bryan Adams

My wedding will more than likely be a "dream" anyway. I could get married on the tailgate of a pick up truck with a t-shirt & boots on, and as long as I'm with the person that God made for me, I know it will be a special day. Can't wait to see what the future holds! ;)