Happy Halloween!

 Happy Halloween! This day just wasn't what it used to be anymore. I don't have any cute kids to take Trick-Or-Treating, am too old to go Trick-Or-Treating on my own, and am also too old to dress in barely no clothes and go tramping around on High Street. Steve is/has been super busy with a big assignment for school. We have been hunkered down and all playing "support Daddy" while he has been getting his work done. One more hour to get it turned in and then I have a feeling that he will be ready for a long little nap. 

 No more rambling. It all has a purpose though!

 I don't even know when Trick Or Treating is here. Last year we had one kid and sat on the porch in the freezing cold for hours waiting. So, I am not going to get worked up about it this year. I have a bowl of candy if anyone decides to stop by. What I DO have is my cute little puppy girl. She honestly does love to be dressed up and 'made pretty' with hair bows (as you can obviously tell from the photographs). But incase I need to say this... No animals were harmed in the making of this blog post.

 Enjoy what you are about to witness. :)

Third Annual Pumpkin Carving Party

 On Saturday we hosted our 3rd Pumpkin Carving party since living in our house. I failed in the photo taking part, and the pumpkin carving part (our pumpkins are still whole!). But thrived in the food making. Steve and I didn't end up carving our pumpkins because I was helping a 2 year old paint hers and Steven was cleaning up the food. And, sadly, no pictures of anything were taken. I REALLY need to get better at that! But, we all had a great time. There were a lot of laughs, good food, loud playing children and a few pretty adorable pumpkins by the end of the night. 

 I made a plethora of things... 'Spider' Deviled Eggs, Nacho 'Pumpkin' Cheese Ball, 'Witches Broom' Hot Dogs, 'Spider' Shrimp Dip, my famous Macaroni and Cheese, Gma J's Chili, and 'Kitty Litter' Cake. I will post the recipes below but you will have to use your imagination because like I said I didn't take many pictures.

A few of my favorite things...

 This week has been a stressful one. My grandfather was admitted to the hospital and being so far away from my entire family hit me hard. However, today he is to be released and hopefully soon he will start feeling better. All of this turned me into a constant crying, useless human being. Today I am feeling better. I think I got all of the tears out of my system. 

 Tomorrow is the annual Pumpkin Carving Party that we host. I have the menu ready and just need to go to the grocery store tonight, clean up the house, do some food prep, and decorate (okay that seems like a lot now that I type it... Maybe I should start stressing about my lack of preparation at this point!). Then we should be all set. I am excited to have an opportunity to have something take my mind off of all of this family stress. I will post about the party, all of the Halloween-y themed foods, and the carved pumpkins on Sunday. For now I will post about 3 more of my favorite things since I didn't get around to doing it yesterday. 

1. Loreal Go 360 Clean Deep Cream Cleanser. First of all the bottle and soap is pink so that automatically makes it a-okay in my book. But the cleanser pad that comes with it for scrubbing your skin really makes you feeling like your face is getting super clean. Plus, as far as I can tell it keeps your pores pretty well cleaned out and keeps any dried skin at bay. The smell could use a little improvement BUT it isn't as bad as anything Noxzema makes (yuck, that is enough to make me gag)! Another good thing is the price. It is only $4.99 at Target (that isn't the exact one but I am sure it is just as good). 

 2. Redken Body Full Shampoo and Light Conditioner So, the price is a little steep (over 15 bucks for an 10 fl. oz bottle of shampoo and an 8.5 fl oz bottle of conditioner. But the stuff is great. However, ONLY this specific kind works in my hair. Well, maybe not only but I tried one other kind (Redken Extreme) and it left my hair SUUUPER greasy. It was horrible- so that batch found it's way to my guest bathroom. I haven't had any guests yet to see if it is just an affect it has on me or if it is just a bad kind all together. It seems like all I am doing is bashing this product- so why is it on my favorite things list? Because the Body Full kind is Ah-Mazing. It gives my hair a little extra oomph and it leave it feeling clean with out feeling like it has all kind of residue left on it after I get out of the shower. It smells good (not great but not bad enough to turn me off from it). And, my hairstylist recommends it. My hair is soft and doesn't get any breakage. I have highlights put in my hair and this keeps that from damaging it. Also, it protects my hair from any heat damage from a curling iron or straighter. I like it. I might look into trying something new once these bottles are empty but I have been using it for over a year and it has been great. This stuff as far as I have found can only be purchased at a hair salon. 

3. Guess Penny Loafer platform heels. These are currently in my rotation of favorite shoes. They are SUPER high so if you don't normally wear heels this might pose as an issue for you. However, despite their height they are oober comfy. Guess knows what they are doing when making a shoe. They last a long time, fit well, and are comfy. I love that this particular pair is sort of old school but yet really hip and trendy right now. I know you will doubt me about the comfort once you see how high they are BUT I swear, they are suuper comfy. I have even worn them to the grocery store and they didn't give me an issue. The only issue I do have when wearing them is they are kind of hard to drive in because the heel kind of prevents you from pushing on the gas or break. Or I just have an irrational fear or my foot getting stuck and not being able to hit the break and causing me to drive over a cliff (Cray-cray). Well, because of this I never drive in them- I take a pair of flip flops to drive on and change into/out of them when I am getting in/out of the car. It works. They are cute. And, make your legs go on for miles and miles. Plus, they give you some serious muscle definition. Seeexxxaaaay. I bought this particular pair at TJMaxx probably about a year ago and I don't remember how much they were. But, they are super trendy so you can probably find similar pairs just about anywhere. 

Sorry for the poor quality photos I am clearly not a professional photographer!

 Have any products that trump these? Let me know! I currently have a roast in the oven. I will share the recipe tomorrow (assuming it turns out good). I am super excited to eat some homemade comfort food. That's all for now. Hope you have a great day! Until next time...

These are a few of my favorite things...

 I often find myself wondering what hidden great products that are out there that I am missing out on...I hardly have any items in my house that I am completely brand loyal on. However, I do have some favorite things. I thought that it might be a good idea to blog about three random favorite products of mine every week. Here we go!

1. Rock Star Jeans by Old Navy

 Recently, I bought a pair of Skinny Jeans from Old Navy and then went back two days later and bought 2 more pair- they are that great. Generally, some problems that I have in finding a great pair of jeans are that they stretch and become too big as the day goes on. By the end of the day my jeans have stretch so badly that I look like a bum wearing another, bigger persons pants. I HATE that. Another issue I have with jeans is that they sit too low on my waist and either give me a muffin top- or expose my butt crack anytime I sit down or bend over. I also HATE that. Then, there is the never ending short girl problem of jeans being waaay too long. These Rockstar Skinny Jeans from Old Navy are like the holy grail. They not only rectify all of my aforementioned issues but they are also OOBER comfy. Seriously, they are like wearing pajama pants. And, don't leave me with a case of "I can't wait to get home and take off these stupid jeans!". I own them in white, dark denim, and black and fully intend to buy them in other colors (mostly yellow and green) once this month of no frivolous spending is over... Is it November yet?!

 And, a few photos of the pair I am currently wearing. Also, this is the 2nd time I am wearing them since they were washed last week (gross, but you know you do it too!), and they still fit like a glove!

Ignore my fat. This is strictly to show how high up they sit on the waist. 

Perfect fit. Ignore the dog. She never is too far from me.

 2. Olay Active Hydrating Beauty Fluid

 This stuff is great. I use it at least twice a day on my face, neck, and hands. It keeps my skin super moist with out looking too oily. It is thin enough that it doesn't leave behind white residue but heavy enough to actually moisturize your skin. It smells fresh. and comes in 6.0 fl oz. bottles for under 10 dollars. I mean... Who doesn't love good quality moisturizer at that price! And, it's pink- so bonus points.

 3. Clorox Disinfecting Wipes

 These things blow my mind. Using liquid bleach makes me super nervous for a number of reasons. 1. I am a clutz and it ruins my clothes 2. I am afraid my pets will get into it and die 3. It burns your hands and leaves them cracked and dry. But, let's face it- NOTHING out there leave you feeling things are clean like good-ole-fashioned bleach. Until... Enter... Clorox Disinfecting Wipes. I use them everywhere, to clean everything! Wood, glass, metal... EVERYTHING. They make cleaning super simple and don't give me a complex about any chemical residues left behind. They are AMAZEBALLS! If you haven't ever used them... I suggest you start.

If you haven't ever tried these products out- give them a try and let me know how they work for you... If you have products that you think top these three, fill me in! I'd love to hear about your favorite products.

Busy Football Saturday

 Yesterday, was a super busy but fun day. We went to the IU/Michigan State game and tailgated with friends. It was really fun. It was a noon kick- so we started our day with shots of tequila and cinnamon rolls at 9AM. IU football games are really disappointing compared to the atmosphere I grew up with at Mountaineer Field (aka Milan Puskar Stadium). However, we still had a ton of fun tailgating, sitting in the front row, and cheering on the Hoosiers. It had been disgusting and raining here ALL day on Friday so we weren't sure that the weather would cooperate for us to attend the game on Saturday, however, it cleared right up and turned into a great day for watching football. I even got a little sunburnt! Good times, good drinks, good food, good friends, and good football. An all around good day! 

LOVE

 Our master bedroom closet wall was super boring- but since it is taken up of about 98% closet doors there is not much space to do anything else with it. My solution? Buy wooden letters from Hobby Lobby and cover them with an ombre(ish) affect of yarn. This was a super easy, super cheap product that gave that boring wall some much needed personality. 

 All it took was a few little dabs of hot glue, and some yarn. If your budget is SUPER tight you could probably get away with using just one roll of yarn for all of the letters (as I have A TON of yarn left over). I just started at the end of the letter put a little dab of hot glue the end of the yarn on it and started winding it around. So simple. So cute. Right up this girls alley. 

 Here is the outcome...

Cute and easy... The first thing I see every morning.

 What would you do with such a tiny space? Also, lately I have been thinking about painting the stark white doors and trim in this room... What do you think? I am not sure why I am so intimidated by the idea of this... For real, it's just a little bit of paint! But, yet, there is something super scary about it to me. 

Thankful text...

 Today, I am thankful for my iPhone. Seriously, it is my right hand man. I can do everything on this little handy thing. Skeptics, get over your skepticism- it IS the greatest phone ever. It allows me to have a camera always on hand to snap adorable, spur of the moment pictures. It allows me to read my emails in bed. It allows me to play solitaire every single night to soothe me to sleep. It allows me to text and constantly keep in contact with family that I miss dearly from back home. It allows me to have HILARIOUS text conversations with my sister-in-law daily. Get adorable pictures of my niece and nephews... I can facebook stalk. Check my twitter. And, even keep track of my period. Iphone... You really are the bees knees. And, I LOVE you!

Thankful image...

Icalender on the day we got engaged, framed by my ring and my trusted mug of coffee.

 In theme with my iphone being what I am thankful, I decided he needed to be the picture... But, just a photo of an iphone is not that exciting. So, I thought I would make it more meaningful by loading the calender up set to the date we got engaged framed by my phone and to include my beloved mug of coffee with the inspiration I read every day. Today's things may seem a bit shallow, but, I think we all are allowed to be shallow every now and again. These things ARE things I am thankful for every day. 

Free Artwork

 On Pinterest, awhile ago, I found a lot of "where we've lived" map inspired art work. Since Steven and I moved to Indiana a few years ago, I am always missing our home state (also where we met!). So, what better way to show tribute than artwork that you can see to have as a reminder every day? Well, I hate spending money on things like artwork... I'd rather buy shoes or clothes. So, one night Steve wasn't feeling well and went to bed early. I was at home bored, alone, and decided to try to tackle a Pinterest project... 
 I don't consider myself artistic, WHATSOEVER. But, I am first rate with the scissors and I can trace with the best of them. We have acrylic paints and paper laying around so I decided to give painting our home state as well as our current state a try. I did not expect this project to turn out well- but I buckled down and took my time and was thrilled with the outcome...
 First thing, I did was print out a large outline of IN and WV. Then, I began the tedious project of cutting them out. I was super careful and went super slow because I wanted to make sure to make the states as close to their realities as I could. Once, I had them cut out I put them onto the white canvas paper and traced them with a pencil. Next step, was to mix the paint color I wanted... I decided a sage(ish) green would go best with the blue walls in our office (where I wanted to hang them). So, I mixed a little bit of blue and yellow with a lot of white. Turns out I got a shade I was satisfied with the first try. I took a small brush and started filling in the lines. I put the paint on relatively thick and I like the texture on the outcome... 
 Like I said, I have ZERO artistic ability (which I am working on!) and accomplished this project pretty well. Obviously, the paintings aren't perfect... But, what is?! Steve was proud and impressed with his little surprise when I woke him up to check out the finished project- then immediately went back to bed! I was soo excited with the outcome I HAD to wake him up so I could share it with someone. 
 The next day we went to Hobby Lobby to get frames and mattes for them to be hung. Which was the only part of this project I had to spend money on. I think for both frames and mattes it ended up being around $40.00. Not bad for TWO pieces of artwork! 
 Here are some pictures...

I am not sure why these won't rotate the proper way, but turn your head and pretend. They were still wet in these pictures.

WV... Making sure all of the details of the outline was painted to but not over was the hardest part!

IN.

Both framed.

WV Framed

IN framed

Finally, hanging in their new home. 

 I decided to go with a dark blue matte against the lighter blue walls. I like the way it looks. It reminds me of the green of land and the blue of the sea. Even though Steve was quick to point out that both IN and WV are landlocked and not surrounded by water... Whatev, technicalities, shmecnicalities. (Yep, I just made up a word.) Trust me, if I can accomplish this painting project... You can too! Plus, things always mean more to you when you create them with your own two hands! Give it a try...

 Thankful text...

 Today, I am thankful for my wonderful fiance. Who only gets slightly annoyed when I wake him when he is sleeping. Who is always a CONSTANT support system for me. Who loves me, unconditionally, no matter my mood, or how difficult loving me may be at times. Who always sees the best and beauty in me even when I am not looking my best or being the most beautiful person. Who eats all of my food creations; even the epic failure. Who pretends to be interested in things like new furniture, and new shoes to appease me.Who is such an amazing pet-papa that I can't wait to see how amazing of a father he is to our future children. I, truly, hit the husband-to-be-jackpot. Thanks, Babe, for making all of my wishes come true! You inspire me every day.

 Thankful Image...

Steve being a good Papa giving freshly bathed Josie some lovings. She thinks he is her Knight In Shining Armor. He's mine too, kid!

Fall

 Today, is the first of October. Fall is probably my favorite season. It is so beautiful. The leaves changing inspire me to see the good in change; a reminder that I think is necessary for me. Another, wonderful thing about this season is that it acts as a reminder to be thankful. Steven and I have been having some conversations lately about how our society makes us mass consumers. We think that we NEED all of this superficial things to fit in, be accepted, or to survive. When really most of those NEEDS should actually be classified as WANTS. 
 This has inspired me to have a month of no frivolous spending. This isn't going to be easy for me. As many of you should know by now I am a shopaholic! But, not this month. This month I am going to avoid the mall, and avoid the sell flyer emails that I receive full of cute items that I think that I NEED. In some countries people don't even have running water- but I think that I should go buy a handful of new sweaters because I WANT them. What a selfish creature this society has created in me.
 I am going to spend the month being thankful for the plethora of things that I have to be thankful for. Health, family, friends, roof over my head, food in my kitchen, water spilling from my faucets with the turn of a handle. The little things in life. 
 One of my favorite coffee mugs read "In dreams and in love there are no impossibilities." And, how true is that? This month I will surround myself with love. Falling in love with the things that I already have. I intend to fall in love with my life all over and over and over again. 31 days of falling in love with my life and all of the things already in it- all over again. 
 Also, for the entire season of fall I am going to try to include some text and an image of something that I am thankful for in that moment... 
Today, right now, I am thankful for electricity. Something that I probably over look 100x over everyday. I give it no second thought. I flip a switch and immediately have light to drown out the darkness. I plug in the toaster and immediately I have a nice toasted bagel. I push a button and immediately have tasty coffee, I open the fridge and immediately a light comes on and I have cold milk to pour into my coffee. Dirty clothes? Oh, just push a button on a machine and boom- they are clean. Amazing. Electricity is AMAZING. We are very spoiled creatures. Let us not forget that life was not always this simple- and that some people have lives that are still not this simple or comfortable. Thank you, Benjamin Franklin; I applaud you on a job well done!
 And, the image of something that I am thankful for...

This is my Pap and my closest cousin, Joey (YEARS ago). Joey is now 23 years old and I'm pretty sure he can now tie his own tie. These men are two of the greatest, ever. I am beyond grateful to have them in my life. Love, Love, LOVE them!

Movie Night Outfit

 Last night, Steve, my friend, and I went to see Trouble With the Curve. It was pretty good. However, I LOVE Clint Eastwood, so I may be a little biased. He reminds me so much of my Grand-pap Timer who is passed away. Anytime, I can watch a Clint Eastwood movie I feel like I am getting to spend 2 hours with him. Precious to me. 
 Here  is the digital copy of the outfit that I wore last  tonight...

 And, here is actually what I actually wore...

Outfit. The jeans look super orange in this photo- but they are REALLY red.

Necklace. My Mama was on the phone with me. We HAD to leave for the movie so this is as good of a photo as I had time to take. Sorry, it's so blurry!

My cute leopard flats. 

 I was wearing my normal watch and two bracelets that I always wear. 

Where'd I get it?

The jeans: Mossimo via Target (here)

the shirt: Old Navy (here)

the shoes: Target (here)

necklace: Target (on clearance rack)

watch: Kohl's

bracelets: old gifts

 This weekend I am going to be working on re-finishing our 'new' desk for the office, going pumpkin shopping, painting pumpkins, and going shopping for storage containers. Right now, I am going to go watch the Mountaineers play in there first Big 12 game EVER! Which is pretty exciting!

 Let's Gooo Mountaineers! Have a great weekend!

Under Construction

 I am currently (well my awesome friend, Hilary) is currently customizing the look of my blog. I am basically giving her guidelines and she is running the show. I SUCK at this whole design/linking process. I am lucky to have a friend that is web savvy because "I don't even know what a widget is!"

 So, please don't be turned away by the aesthetics while we get it all 'twerked out. 

 It's going to be AWESOME when it is finished... You'll just have to have trust and wait and see!

 Today, I haven't blogged anything because I have been busy reorganizing my kitchen cabinets/drawers. I have 3 drawers finished and basically, 3 cabinets. Then, I got stalled by hunger and decided to take a break, eat a taco salad, and do a little work on the blog. I probably won't get back to it tonight; as I am going to the movies with my fiance and friend. But, it WILL be accomplished by this time next week. I swear my kitchen is the most unorganized place in my house; this MUST be rectified. I am typically SUPER Type-A... I even fold my panties! But, for some reason when it comes to the kitchen- it's not so much. It probably has something to do with the fact that a. I DESPISE grocery shopping and putting groceries away b. it isn't consistently the same items that have a designated place, and c. because I am not the only one who uses these spaces and when it comes to organization, I am the only type-A in the household.

 Anyway, here is are a few pictures of the process so far...

This is as much of a junk drawer as there is in our house.

But now it is organized! I am obsessed with zip-lock baggies!

This was probably the WORST place in the house.. What a mess!

After.

I put all of the Tupperware lids in bags to keep them from separating and going all over the place.

Our pantry cabinet before...

And, the other side.

Mess made a long the way. Good thing we Recycle so all of that is not going into a landfill!

Pantry cabinet after. I am going to buy some wire baskets for the potatoes and onions.

And the other side. We end up with a lot of random little food items that are easy to throw in a lunch. I put the fruit snacks in an old dishwasher tablet container (I am going to cover the container and label it so it looks better in the future) and all of the breakfast bars are in an emptied sugar donuts box (which I will also cover). I am also intending to get 3 airtight containers to store the cereal in so it is better organized. 

 I pretty much just tried to consolidate and put like objects together. I feel like wasting money on a bunch of cute storage containers is dumb when you already have things lying around that will work. Don't be wasteful... Use what you already have! 

Awesome Website

 I have also recently came across this AMAZING website for home goods. I have only looked at a few of the current events and have already found soo many things that I really want. They have some REALLY great stuff! Check it out for yourself! 
 Here is a chair that I am loving and thinking about for the office. 

The price is great! I love the nail head trim and the fabric.

 I was originally hoping for something a little more Mid-Century Modern looking. Imagine Mad Men.. I am oober obsessed with the funky/originality of mid-century modern pieces. Especially for an office. So, I might keep looking... 

Appraisal Update!

 I forgot to mention in my last post. The people doing my ring appraisal pleasantly surprised me around 5pm by calling me and telling that they had completed the appraisal. I was SOO excited to get it back, I immediately called Steve who was on his way home from his office and asked him to pick it up. I am super satisfied with the customer service from Goldcaster's. They said it normally takes a week- were going to try to have it done for me by Thursday- but finished it in just one day! They also cleaned it for me- and it looks better than ever. We were happy that it ended up being appraised for much more than was spent on it, too. Now, she's back on my finger and all is right in the world. :)

Recently Engaged.

 Steven and I are recently engaged. It happened on May 24, 2012, if you want to be precise. However, Steven claims it was the 25th. Technically, he is right (don't tell him that!)... But, only because it was after midnight when he popped the question. Since we hadn't yet been to bed on the 24th I consider it to be that day. 

 How'd he do it? I feel like that is a normal thing most people ask so here is how it went down. We live about 7 hours from where we are from and where we met (which was in a bar, classy, right?!). We had planned to go home and spend Memorial Day Weekend at cookouts with our families. Ended up leaving our house sometime in the evening and didn't end up making it to my parents house until a little after midnight. He had previously called, told my parents his plan, and asked for their permission (cute and old school, huh?! He's a keeper.) After 7 hours in the car, with our dog, we got there. We were all out on their back patio area and he got down on one knee and made this beautiful, heartfelt speech to me. Then popped the question. 

 We had been planning on getting engaged and talking about it for awhile. So, I pretty much expected it to be happening. However, in the moment I was overwhelmed with emotion, turned around (away from the camera he had requested my Mom to have handy to take snaps), and burst into tears. That reaction caught me completely off guard. As, I am NOT a crier, typically. You can find a picture from the moment on my first post. 

 I feel a request to see the ring is the next thing people say...

 Here it is...

It was apparently custom made for a jewelry show so I should be the only one ever to have it. I love how different and vintage it looks.

 We had been ring shopping together for awhile. We wanted to try on different styles and cuts to make sure I got something that I would really like. Which I recommend everyone doing. Trying on a bunch of rings with your soon-to-be fiance is so exciting and fun. It definitely added to the whole process of getting engaged.

 Here are the other rings that I liked when shopping... Which one would you have picked? 

This is the original dream ring that I had been eyeing online FOREVER, but it didn't end up winning.

I liked this one but it was a little too simple and common for my liking.

This one ended up making it into the top 3 and I still think about it. So classic and gorgeous!

Pretty cute.

This is another one that made it into the top 3. I loved how different it was. Still thinking about this one too.

This one got the ax pretty early on. I liked the size of the diamond but I felt like it was too chunky and made my fingers look fatter than they already are!

I liked this one. But, ended up kicking it out of the running because I was worried that the band was too thin.

Cute.

I liked this one a lot. But I feel like it is a really common and popular ring that a lot of people have. Which was what ended up kicking it out of the running.

Again, this one got kicked off the list pretty early for the same reason that it was too chunky and made my hand look huge.

I still can't believe that I am engaged to be married to the man of my dreams. He is so supportive, kind, level headed, responsible, and sexy. Just to name a few. I hit the husband jackpot! I can't wait to marry, spend the rest of our lives together, and raise a family with my very best friend. He is the best guy I've ever met. Truuueee love. :)

Engagement Ring Appraisal Day

 Today I had to drop of my beloved engagement ring to be appraised. I already feel naked with out it but, thankfully, it only has to be gone until Thursday. I decided to try on a 5 carat 3 stone emerald cut diamond ring surrounded by a halo of diamonds- it made me swoon. 

Here is the digital copy of what I wore... 

 Here is actually what I wore... 

Steven made a comment that I shouldn't use my iPhone for pictures anymore.. So I used our regular camera for once howeverr my phone camera is so much more convenient because I always have it on hand.. 

Neck candy

Shoes 

Arm candy

  Where'd I get it? 

 The Jeans: Old Navy (here)
 the shirt: Old Navy (here)
 the shoes: Candies from Khol's (similar here)
 the necklace: Target (similar here)
 the watch: Kohl's (similar here)
 the bracelet and bangle: gifts from a long time ago 

 I have checked my finger for my engagement ring and had to mentally remind myself it was not lost soo many times since posting this. I can't wait to get it back!