Five on Friday and a Favorite Song {03.13.2015}

This was supposed to go up last Friday, but it ended up being a super busy day at work and that just carried into the evening, so it never got done. So I mixed some of last week's stuff with this week's stuff and called it good!

ONE.

Last weekend, some of my best friends and I met up in Omaha for a little girl time. We all met at the mall and did a little looking/shopping and a lot of talking. Some of us then got our nails done and went out to eat at Roja before retiring for the night at Lauren's. These girls' weekends are usually very late nights, but I don't think many of us made it to midnight... we decided that we need to start our girls' weekend earlier in the day next time!
 

 

TWO.
When Mattie and Millie eat, they usually like to take turns so that they can watch each other. This really makes the whole process take longer than it needs to, but as long as it gets done, I guess... I think it's so cute and funny when Mattie's eating and Millie is watching her because Millie will get as close as she can to Mattie and her bowl of food. This happened, as usual, the other evening when I was feeding them (I usually only feed them in the morning because Trent gets home from work before me), so I had to get a picture of it.

 

THREE.

I have been thinking a lot lately about what it will be like to actually meet our baby. It's crazy to think about them actually being here (on the outside of me) and seeing their little face and hands. When I think about it, I really just feel like I am going to cry every time I see them! I just cannot imagine what it will be like to hold a baby that is all ours and we will be their mom and dad!! August really feels so far away! I love this baby so much already, I just can't fathom what it's going to be like to meet them for the first time!!! Ah!

FOUR.

Last week, I purchased the Eyefi Mobi SD Card for my camera. It basically acts as a wi-fi hotspot so when you take pictures, it can connects and uploads them right to your phone without having to get out my computer and upload them there before uploading them to my blog. Normally waiting to upload them isn't such a bad thing, but I bought it for when I take my weekly pregnancy update photos in the mornings so I can get the pictures and the blog post posted during the day without having to hassle with getting out my computer in the mornings (because I would never have time for that anyway... I like to sleep too much). It's not quite as slick as I was hoping it would be, as it kind of takes a long time to connect at times, but so far it has gotten the job done. I think it will be fun to use when I want to take pictures of our little baby with my good camera and be able to share them without having to find time to get my computer out and all that jazz.

 

FIVE.
This song is on Jeremy Camp's latest album and is, of course, a new favorite. (Is anyone surprised? I didn't think so...) I put some of my favorite lyrics below, but it's definitely worth a listen!

Same Power - Jeremy Camp

The same power that rose Jesus from the grave

The same power that commands the dead to wake

Lives in us, lives in us

The same power that moves mountains when He speaks

The same power that can calm a raging sea

Lives in us, lives in us

He lives in us, lives in us

 

We have hope. That His promises are true

In His strength. There is nothing we can’t do

Yes, we know. There are greater things in store

We will not be overtaken. We will not be overcome

 

Greater is He that is living in me

He’s conquered our enemy

No power of darkness

No weapon prevails

We stand here in victory

Five on Friday - {08.22.2014}

ONE.

At the vet yesterday morning - she was a little stressed.

We've had a sick puppy (she's not really a puppy at all, but she is to me) this week. We went to the vet on both Wednesday and Thursday morning and have been up in the night with her as well. I really think that she's getting back to herself now, but I think both Trent and I were scared of what bad news the vet might come up with as they did some x-rays and things. Luckily everything looked fine, it was just an upset stomach and everything that goes along with that! She sure does HATE going to the vet, though! So hopefully we can avoid that place for a long time!

TWO.

Last weekend when we were in Des Moines for the Iowa State Fair, my new friend, Megan, who lives in Wisconsin just happened to be in the area visiting some friends! We met each other for the first time in November of 2012 and then just saw each other for the first time since then in June and Lee and Sara's wedding and realized that we really should be friends! She was only in Iowa for a short time, but we were able to meet up at church on Sunday morning! It was so unexpected that we would be that close geographically that weekend, so it was just awesome that we were able to see each other.

THREE.

Next Monday starts my first ever DietBet, put together by a blogger that I follow, Skinny Meg. Basically, you pay $25 and that money is put into a pool. Then, in four weeks, if you lose 4% of your body weight, you split that pool with all the other winners. I have been slowly gaining weight over the past year, so I think if I have a monetary motivation to get my butt in gear, it might just be the jump start I need! Some things I'm going to implement during these four weeks to get me on track are:

1. No pop

2. Only one drink per day that isn't pure water

3. No fast food

4. Work out at least 30 minutes a day at least 4 days a week

5. Do meal planning
6. No unnecessary unnatural sugar
I don't necessarily have an problem with all the things listed above (like eating fast food) but I figured I'd just write them down as a goal anyway. I have a few more things in mind that I want to implement to stay on track, but I haven't made them into concrete goals yet, so I'll work on that this weekend! I do plan on having a "cheat day" when I can have pop, but I'll get them all figured out and written down for myself by Monday.  :)

FOUR.

I plan on doing this for my feet sometime soon, too! My feet don't look as bad as that person's left foot, but they are a little rougher than I'd like. Since I did the kitchen sink thing, I'm willing to try some of these other little tips that are floating around Facebook and Pinterest!

FIVE.

Tonight I'm going to a Zumba/Stella and Dot party put on by my BFF, Lauren. The party is going to start with a Zumba session and then end with some pretty jewelry. Lauren just recently became a Zumba instructor, so I'm super excited to take a class from her!! Yay!

Have a great weekend!

Mallory's Bachelorette Party Weekend!

Last weekend was one of my favorite people, Mallory's, bachelorette party. She had 16 of her friends there to help celebrate with her as she prepares for her upcoming wedding and we had such a fun time!

We all met up on Saturday afternoon at The Social Canvas to do a little painting. The painting of the day was Van Gogh's Starry Night, so everyone painted that. Everyone but me, that is! I decided that I didn't think mine would look that great and I probably wouldn't end up hanging it anywhere, so I was going to try to make something that I would actually display somewhere. I went with an American flag and tried to replicate one that they had displaying on the wall. It started out all fine and dandy, but then my white and red got mixed together on my canvas and it turned a gross pink color, so I was kind of disappointed. I've never tried to pretend that I was artistic at all, though, so I guess I shouldn't be so hard on myself!

I left with a canvas painted red with the blue square in the top left corner with some dots that are supposed to be stars and, with the help of some suggestions from my friends, I decided that I'd use a white Sharpie to write some lyrics of some "America" song on it as the stripes after I got it home. So, if it's worth sharing when I'm done, I'll share how it turns out! :)

After everyone was done painting, we all went back to the hotel to get ready for the evening. We gathered in one room to hang out for a while and have some snacks and drinks and Mallory opened her gifts. She definitely got some fun and creative things that were perfect for her as the bachelorette!

Before we left, Lauren, Bailey and I had to take our traditional picture :)

For supper we went to Monterrey Mexican  Restaurant (Mallory's favorite) and then went out to a few places and had some drinks and danced and just hung out. It was great to be able to hang out with some of my favorite people and make some new friends as well!

When we got tired (because we're old), we went back to the hotel and got in some comfy clothes, had some snacks, and just talked and hung out for a while longer. 

On Sunday morning, some people took off for home, but most of us made a stop in Panorama for a bridal shower for Mallory. These few hours were another great example of the awesome person that Mallory is. She is always smiling and making people laugh and she is so thoughtful and kind. So many people love her and want the best for her and it's not hard to tell why!

Here are just a few of the moments that I was able to catch on Sunday. It is a nice collection of "The Faces of Mallory."

It was such a great weekend that was dedicated to Mallory! I wish her and Bob the absolute best and I know they'll have a happy and awesome life together!

Girls' Weekend - Pinterest Party

This past weekend some of my bestest friends all got together and had our first Pinterest Party.

Everyone brought a craft to do and food to eat (most from Pinterest - hence the "Pinterest Party") and we just hung out and caught up while eating, drinking, and crafting.

Miss Harper Lee joined the girls' day for the first time this year. Last year when we all got together she was still in her mommy's belly. It was so nice to be able to have her entertain us all! She even had a mini photo shoot for us wearing a piece of fabric on her head in different ways. She was a good sport and sooo cute!!

After Harper's photo shoot, we got started on the crafts and busted out the wine and dug into the food. 

For our food we had Puppy Chow, Sangria, Cookie Dough Dip with Teddy Grahams, Beef Enchilada Dip, Strawberry Shortcake Rice Krispie Treats, Mini Cherry and Caramel Cheesecakes, and wine, of course! I was very impressed by all the food everyone brought. It was awesome to see so many of the recipes you see on Pinterest all the time actually be made and all in one place! They were definitely as good as they look on the internet!  Next time I'll have to remember to photograph all the food!

As for everyone's crafts, 

Mallory was going to work on some crafts for her wedding in June, like making the boutonnieres and a board for people to sign, but I think she ended up helping everyone else and talking the whole time, so I'm not so sure any of her crafts got done :)

Meghan made a glass gem covered night light jar for a friend like this one.

Carey painted some different quotes and sayings onto some canvases, 

Lauren painted some bird houses in fun spring colors, 

Bailey painted the first of many wooden boxes that will house all the pictures and other random things from each different place that they travel to (like these), 

Kaela used a frame and put a boarder of wine corks around the outside of it and the saying "Always carry a corkscrew and the wine will provide itself" it looks almost just like this - it turned out great!, 

and I painted some little pots, drew a herringbone pattern on them with a silver metallic Sharpie, filled it with fake grass and then put some jelly bean eggs in it for a fun spring/Easter decoration. They are almost exactly like this.

Here's a picture of one of my two pots close up. Again, if I would have been thinking, I would have taken a picture of each persons' craft close up... oh well...

The jelly beans seem to mysteriously keep disappearing out of the grass too... It makes me laugh!

You can't see everyone's items very well in this picture, but here we are with our crafts!

 

We ordered pizza for supper and spent most of the night around the table working on our stuff, eating and talking about everything that's been going on in our lives. 

Everyone hard at work

After our crafts were done, we cleared the table and played a game of Cards Against Humanity. We had a few laughs at some ridiculous and inappropriate things, but I was happy that everyone has a great sense of humor! Miss Harper even wanted to play for a while before it was her bedtime!

After we went through the entire deck, some girls needed to go to bed (like Lauren),

but a few of us stayed up until very early in the morning (I'm pretty sure it was after 3 before I got to bed). 

I loved having the time to just sit and chat with my favorite people. It was like college again - when we all lived in the same place and never had to go home - we were just in the next room or right down the hall from each other. Good times! I am so happy that we are all still good friends! I wish we could all get together more often and I cannot wait until we do it again!

Super Bowl Sunday

This past Sunday, Trent and I hosted a little get together at our house for the Super Bowl. This is the second year we've had an actual get-together at our house, but Trent and Lauren and I were talking about the fact that this is the fifth year that us three have watched the Super Bowl together! That's pretty crazy. 

This year, it was Trent and I, Bailey and Josh, Lauren, my coworker, Stephanie, and her husband and Trent's coworker, Ben. If you remember, last year at our Super Bowl party, it was just Lauren and Alex, Bailey and Josh, & Trent and I and it was the day that Josh and Bailey told us they were expecting little Harper Lee later that year! It was fun to be able to take pictures "one year later" this year.

They made their announcement with a super cute picture on a cookie cake.

This year, we got to replace the cake with the cutest little baby!

We also had fun not touching the baby in Bailey's belly by touching the actual baby's belly!

And for another before and after picture, here's me and Harper when she was just a little over a week old to this past Sunday at 4 and a half months. Doesn't she just have the absolute cutest smile!! 

I can't really say that I watched a whole lot of the game, but after seeing the first play and watching the Seahawks score run up, I figured we weren't missing too much. I did see a few good commercials and the halftime show was pretty sweet, though! We had a lot of food (Trent and I are going to be eating left overs for the rest of the week) and some great company, so I'd say it was a successful night. I always feel so happy after a night with my best friends. And I'm happy I got to include my best work friend this time, too! 

Meeting Harper Lee

Last weekend I traveled with some friends to Hastings to meet our friend Bailey's baby for the first time. Miss Harper Lee was just 8 days old!! She is absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to watch her grow up and spoil her all the while!!

It was such a fun day to be able to hang out with great friends and pass around a little baby! 

We even got to share Bailey's first post-baby glass of wine with her!

We grilled out for supper and played a few yard games before we left for the evening. 

The new parents!

I have a feeling there will be quite a few more trips to Hastings to visit Harper as she grows up. I have no doubt that she will be a new addition to our girls' days, too! It's so exciting to have her here finally and to see Josh and Bailey as new parents!

To see some awesome newborn pictures of Harper, check out Bailey's sister-in-law's blog. She is a photographer and took some great pictures of Harper at 10 days old!