Friday, November 28, 2014

High Five For Friday

What a week! Here are some awesome moments from my week:

1.) Baby K got a swing set from Tolar's parents for her birthday and we finally got it delivered and set up in our yard. She LOVES to play on this thing.

2.) I started reading Colliding with Destiny by Sarah Jakes and I have already been so blessed by this book. So much of what she writes feels like she knows what has been happening in my life and is speaking right to me! Full review coming soon!

3.) We have an annual family tradition to run a 5K on Thanksgiving Day no matter where we are. We ran the Drumstick Dash in Roanoke and had a blast; it's such a great way to start our holiday!

4.) I'm so thankful for so much in life, especially these two people who make my heart so full!

5.) Well it is Black Friday after all, and I am joining in on the craziness to offer some amazing deals on Rodan + Fields skin care. If you have ever been interested in checking out these products, now is the time! E-mail me at lindsay@pursuitofpink.com with your skin concerns or questions and let's get you started on the best skin of your life. All products come with a 60 day money back guarantee! These make great gifts too, your loved ones will thank you!

I'm linking up this post with Lauren Elizabeth and September Farm.

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Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Explaining Advent and Christmas to Little Ones

Got your Christmas list ready? Well I have something that you need to be certain to add to your shopping lists this Christmas, especially all you mamas out there.

If you are looking for a Christ-centered activity for your children to explain about Jesus, then look no further than this amazing book full of ADVENTure - its called The Traveling Wise Men.

My sweet friend Chelsea, a teacher by day who just so happens to have two little ones herself, wrote this book because she was searching for a fun, daily, Jesus focus for her own children at Christmas time. And now she is sharing the fun with everyone. The Traveling Wise Men shares the story of Christ's birth and the long journey the Wise Men made to meet the King of Kings. This poetic story is filled with captivating illustrations and its readers are invited to join in a clever tradition... the tradition of The Traveling Wise Men.

Too often these days, the real meaning of Christmas is pushed to the side as people shove each other trying to get the best deal on today's hot item. But through The Traveling Wise Men, you can keep Christ in Christmas and have fun explaining to your children the real reason for the season. And I know it will be awesome to watch your children get excited each morning as they search for the Wise Men and participate in each activity.

This fab book is definitely making its way into our household!

You can get your own copy too - check out Amazon to order.

And if you want to interact with the author and other fans of the book, then get social on facebook and twitter.

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Monday, November 24, 2014

Broccoli Cheese Soup

One of Tolar's favorite soups is Broccoli Cheese soup, Panera's Broccoli Cheese soup to be exact. So I went on a hunt to find a recipe that was similar and not that hard to recreate. What I ended up with was a soup that we both loved and I even thought it tasted better than Panera's. Oops!

While this recipe is easy to make and there isn't a lot of prep work involved, it does require some a time commitment because you have to simmer things at different times for 20 minutes at a time. The neat freak in me loves this recipe because my downtown while things simmer allows me a chance to clean the dishes I already used. Call me crazy.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup flour
2 cups half and half cream
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 TB cooking oil
1 onion, diced
1 cup fresh broccoli
1 cup carrots, julienned
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp nutmeg
8 oz grated cheddar cheese
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

Instructions:
1.) In a large pot, melt the butter and then whisk together with the flour over medium heat for about 2 minutes. The mixture will get thick.

2.) Slowly (and I mean slowly) whisk in the half and half and the chicken stock. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3.) While the pot is simmering, saute the diced onion in the cooking oil.

4.) Add the broccoli, carrots, onions and milk to the pot. Stir and let simmer for 25 minutes until the vegetables are tender, also stirring occasionally.

5.) Add nutmeg, grated cheese, salt and pepper. Stir until the cheese melts.

6.) Serve and enjoy!

Tips:
-This recipe makes 4 BIG bowls of soup. You can always double the recipe to feed more people.
-If you don't like a chunky soup, you can puree half of the soup.
-Feel free to add more milk if you want a soupier mixture.

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Friday, November 21, 2014

High Five For Friday

Weekend! I'm ready for you!
We are in the process of painting our house and tearing off wall paper, so I apologize for the silence the past two days. I've just been so tired after peeling and scraping. But I have had a great week and I'm ready to share some fun moments with you!

1.) I scored some fun stuff at the Junior League Stocked Market last weekend. As I said on instagram, basically if it is pink, polka dots, burlap or monogrammed then I will buy it!

2.) I'm trying to make small changes to my diet and lifestyle and I think I'm making some progress. I swapped out cake and cookies for hot chocolate with skim milk and it was TASTY!!!

3.) I was so excited to check the mail and find this awesome Tory Burch clutch that I earned through my Rodan + Fields business. The perks are so awesome with this business - not mention the great skin, super flexible work schedule and incredible income too. Curious? E-mail me at lindsay@pursuitofpink.com.

4.) The first pig tails have sprouted and I am in love!

5.) I am going to post more of these photos soon, but I am just too giddy with excitement not to share! Here is a sneak peek from our family photo shoot with Shine Photography. Ah! I'm crazy about our entire photoshoot. So much fun!!!

I'm linking up this post with Lauren Elizabeth and September Farm.

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Tuesday, November 18, 2014

These are my confessions...

I'm totally channeling Usher as I type this....

These are my confessions...

If I have to walk into a dark room, I get in and get out with a quickness. Why yes, I am still a 3 year old trapped in a grown woman's body.
My iphone has apoximately 698 pictures of Baby K sleeping, all captured by my peeking in on her with our video baby monitor.
Ever since getting rear ended last December (almost an entire year!), I have major anxiety when driving on highways. In fact, I take the back way on my hour drive into Roanoke because I'm terrified someone will hit me again. #sadbuttrue
Speaking of cars and driving - we just saved a boatload of money by going with a different insurance company for our car insurance. I'm talking the tune of $36 a month in savings!!! This is your PSA for the day: know your options and price quotes when it comes to car insurance.
I pray as I drive to church every single Sunday morning that Baby K will happily walk into the nursery and not cry for me or Tolar the entire time...and it works!
I wear, as Tolar would put them, granny socks. But I prefer to call them knee highs. And I definitely do not consider them granny socks if they have a lace design on them.
Sometimes I will ask Tolar if he has done something, just to see if he will tell me the truth.
I really love that Baby K cries Mama whenever she's upset. My girl needs me and I'm so happy about that.
Tolar helped me write 25% of this post (which that number might go up before I'm done typing).
When I get a new follower on instagram, I get really excited!!! (again #sadbuttrue)
I have a really bad habit of NOT listening to voicemails on my phone. And usually I will only listen to them to get the little notification to go away (sorry Bek Bek, I will listen to your message and call you back soon).
I'm learning more and more everyday just how much like my mother I really am.

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Monday, November 17, 2014

Eliminating Distractions

Raise your hand if you get sucked into social media and before you realize it have spent an hour looking at photos of people you barely even know. Yep, that's me (slowly raises hand) all too often. It is quite sad just how easy it is for me to get sucked into social media. I'll go to facebook to check my profile or to look at my blog fan page or to check in on things with my Rodan + Fields group and the next thing I know I've wasted an hour when all I really needed to find would have only taken me three minutes.

Since Baby K was born I have claimed that I don't really have time to read anymore, which used to be one of my favorite activities. But the truth is, if I didn't allow myself to get sucked into social media each and every single night then I actually would have time to read. Yes, I no longer have three hours to just sit and read in the middle of a rainy Sunday afternoon, but I do still have time. And I need to make time because I really miss reading.

When we moved into our house, I put all of my books on my bookshelf and I have an entire row of books that I hope to read. And I really want to read them. Some of them are novels, some are quick "chick lit" reads, some are books I would like to re-read and some are encouraging/spiritual books and I want to read them all. So I'm making a commitment to myself. Each night after Baby K goes to bed and I have completed all of my "mom chores," I'm going to put my phone and computer away and read. Ahhh, the thought of that sounds amazing.

Here are some ways that will help me eliminate distractions and get things accomplished that I really want to do:
-put the phone down!
-turn off the computer
-if I have to get on social media, I will set a timer
-make a to do list and stick to it, don't stray and add other items to it
-limit Netflix/tv watching

What are some ways that you eliminate distractions?

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As a treat for you all today, I've teamed up with Karli at September Farm for an awesome Group Giveaway of cold hard cash. You know you want to enter! Check out everything below and get to entering!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Friday, November 14, 2014

High Five For Friday

This has been quite the jampacked week! We had a yard sale, visited friends, went to church, my car was in the shop twice, I worked from home two days, had ladies night with my church, Baby K got sick, I made some progress on unpacking and decorating the house and still found time to watch plenty of episodes of Hart of Dixie on Netflix.

With all of that, I definitely had some awesome moments for which I am thankful. Here are some good ones from the week.

1.) There is nothing I love witnessing more than a group of people huddled together in prayer. I snapped this photo of our worship team right before service began on Sunday.

2.) We had yard sale on a pretty cold Saturday and Baby K decided to bundle up to help us out. She reminded me of the kid in A Christmas Story who couldn't put his arms down when she had this snow suit on. (And PS - in case you didn't know, the most successful yard sales are NOT held on a cold day in November.)

3.) We had lunch with friends I have known my entire life (yum dash o on the food!) and Baby K got to meet their horses. She was not afraid at all; she pet the horses, talked to them and even fed them some carrots. My friend Nichole was really impressed with how awesome Baby K was around the horses.

4.) Tolar and I "celebrated" our 5 year dating anniversary this week. What a quick 5 years it has been!

5.) I love that Baby K enjoys reading so much, and I really love that she likes to have her Daddy read to her.

Linking up this post with Lauren Elizabeth and September Farm.

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Thursday, November 13, 2014

A Baby K Update

Now that we are past the 12 month/1 year mark and don't have those super cute "sticker pictures" to take anymore, I haven't sat down to write an update on Baby K. But I must say that I feel like she has changed so much in the months since her first birthday and an update is most definitely required. Not to mention, said update is needed for all of Baby K's fans back in Northern Virginia!

Current Age: 16 1/2 months. (That's 1 year, 4 1/2 months for those people who dislike when Moms tell their babies' ages in months)

Stats: 21 pounds, 10 oz. Sadly Baby K currently has a nasty virus and high fever so off to the doctor we went yesterday - helping me to know her exact weight. I don't know her exact height, but I do know at her 15 month well check up she had increased in percentile for height - woohoo!!!!

Development: Baby K started walking at 14 months and hasn't stopped since. She sometimes will get excited and walk too fast, which causes her to fall down a lot. But she just hops back up and keeps going. I love to watch her little wobble, it's adorable! She is super curious about things, but she really just likes to observe and take it all in. Luckily she listens to me for the most part when I tell her no if she gets into something she shouldn't. With our move, she has had a lot of solo play time and seems to enjoy playing by herself. It's really fun for me to walk past the door to her bedroom and watch her "reading" or playing by herself. She is talking more and still babbling a lot, and she can say several words: Mama, Dada, car, ball, Grandy, PawPaw, Pops, yeah and uh-oh.

Baby K has had separation anxiety since she was about 6 months old, but she seems to be getting better. With us living so close to my parents and aunt, she is very comfortable with them. In fact, any time they come over she will walk to any one of them and hold out her arms for them to pick her up. And Tolar's Mom has gotten to visit a lot since we moved so Baby K is completely comfortable with her too! She has had some tough days at church and in the MOPS nursery when I have to leave her, but I'm glad to say she is showing tons of improvement. In fact, this past Sunday she smiled and played almost the whole time we were apart. Praise The Lord! I have an entire post I'm thinking up about coping/dealing with her separation anxiety - more on that later.

This child is so smart! She can tell us the sounds that a ton of animals make; cow, cat, dog, snake, sheep, duck, zombie (yes, I said zombie - Tolar is so proud), horse and monkey. And she knows a lot of her body parts and will point to them whenever we ask. I especially love when we ask her where her teeth are because of the cute face she makes. It is incredible to sit back and watch her and realize just how much she comprehends. My mother in-law taught her how to show that she is 1 year old with her finger and it is seriously so adorable.

Loves: My child loves to read and I couldn't be happier! We read all the time and she will often "read" by herself too. There have been a lot of days recently where she will act like she isn't ready to get out of her crib after a nap, so I will give her some books to look through. She loves to play peek a boo and has finally made contact with her eyes instead of her ears when she goes to make the peek a boo motion. She will giggle uncontrollably when you play peek a boo with her; the giggle sound is the best! She has a toy dog that swings and sings "You Are My Sunshine" and she just adores that thing. I think she loves it because she knows how to turn it off and on. It's so funny for me to be in a different room from her and to all of a sudden hear the dog start singing. She also has a bear that sings "Rock A Bye Baby" while rocking a little baby bear and Baby K will hug her own arms and mimic the bear rocking. My heart melts every time she does that! And she loves to pull things out - blocks out of the bag, toys out of her toy chest, diapers and wipes out of her diaper bag - you name it, she will be pulling the contents of anything out. Baby K finally started liking baths too. She used to just tolerate them, but it was never anything that she absolutely loved. Although ever since we moved into our new house, she has loved them. I think because she has her own bathroom and when we first brought her to see the house I told her that her bathroom is where she would take a bath. She will walk over to the tub all the time and pat her stomach, letting us know that she wants to take a bath. And one random thing that she loves is putting on her coat. It used to be such a chore when she was really little, but now she can help and she is always happy to put it on. And once the coat is on, she is obsessed with unzipping it - I think that's why she likes to put it on in the first place.

Dislikes: Luckily, there aren't a ton of dislikes for her. She dislikes being away from Mom and Dad, but she is getting so much better when we have to be apart. She doesn't like being patient and waiting on anything. She will sometimes cry if I take too long to fix her lunch or her cup of milk. Jesus is going to have to grant me patience to deal with an impatient child!

Sleeping: We are so blessed to still have a rock star sleeper. Bedtime is still 8 p.m. and she will sleep until 7 or 7:30 a.m. for us. I am so thankful for that! She has dropped a nap and is down to only one nap a day. She usually will go down for a nap after lunch and will sleep for about two hours. Before she turned one, she didn't really need anything (like a blanket or stuffed animal) to go to sleep. But with all of our moving and life changes that happened right around her first birthday, she developed a huge love for her Roo stuffed animal. She sleeps with him all the time and I don't want to even imagine a time trying to get her to sleep if we don't have Roo!

Diapers: We are still a Pampers loving family. She is in Swaddlers size 3 by day and Baby Dry size 4 by night. And I haven't ever mentioned this on the blog before, but Pampers has an awesome rewards program where you earn points for entering in codes from Pampers products. I am saving up our points for a big toy reward. But along the way, we have gotten little rewards too. In fact, we just got some free return address labels and I ended up personalizing them for Baby K - she sends mail too! If you use Pampers, check out their website for the rewards program.

Eating: This kid can eat!!! She luckily isn't too picky and will eat just about anything we give her. There are times where she will act like she doesn't like something, but if we try again the next day she will gobble it down. I keep saying she is weird because she likes prunes and peas - she can't be my child! But I love that she will eat peas, it is such an easy vegetable to fix for her. She adores Greek yogurt, so much so that I have had to hide it in the refrigerator. If she sees the yogurt, she will cry until she gets it! We try to give her a wide variety of foods, but often I get stuck giving her cheese and mandarin oranges a lot because I know she will always eat them. She has fed herself with a spoon a few times with mashed potatoes and Greek yogurt and even peas. But I haven't been brave enough to give her anything else. Everything else she eats with her hands and gets it everywhere!

Clothing: She is kind of in between sizes. The 12 month stuff is too little and the 18 month clothes are too big. I mostly keep her in 18 month clothes because they at least fit, I just have to roll the sleeves up on a lot of things. At least we will get our money's worth out of the 18 month clothes as she will wear them a lot. Have I ever told you about the store Once Upon A Child? It is amazing, it is a consignment store for children and they have so many good quality clothes. The store is packed full of clothes and shoes; the majority of Baby K's clothes come from there. She goes through clothes so fast, it is definitely an awesome place to score some deals. We have even found several things that still have the tags on them.

Miscellaneous: Her hair is so long. I found the below picture that I took of her in our house in Alexandria just hours before we closed. And her hair was so short then! She won't keep bows in her hair for long, but if I put headbands on her, she will often leave those alone. But most of the time her hair gets in her face and I'm constantly brushing it to the side.
And she gives kisses on the lips now and I just cannot handle how cute it is. I'm so in love with this little girl, she makes every day better!

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Wednesday, November 12, 2014

A Great Fall Outfit Addition

Ok, so I am really late to this game, but oh my gosh leggings...they are amazing. I never wore leggings before because I always just wore tights under my dresses and I always thought of leggings more like pants. With legs like mine, you just don't wear leggings as pants. Can I get an amen? So I passed on the leggings and froze in tights during the chilly months.

But then I realized that leggings can be worn under dresses and my life forever changed. Now my legs are a whole lot warmer and I still achieve the same look as when I wore tights. And one thing I really love about these leggings that I have, they are slick and silky. So I don't have to worry about my dress clinging to them when I wear them. Its almost like a built in slip - genius!

I'm so thankful that I finally gave in and bought a pair of leggings, now I can rock dresses and boots well into January/February. Woohoo! My winter closet just increased.

Dress: LOFT (on sale - get it now!).

Cardigan: Gap (similar).

Leggings: Wal-Mart (holla!!!!).

Boots: Target.

Necklace: Stella & Dot.

I'm linking up with The Pleated Poppy, Because Shanna Said So and Book of Leisure.

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Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Organization Made Pretty

For those that know me, it is absolutely no secret that I love organization. A neat, clean, tidy and orderly house is what I prefer. Now that we have moved into our own place, I'm slowly starting to get things put away and organized and I'm loving every second of it!

One thing I have started to do is to organize my things using unconventional items. Like in the kitchen, for example, I like to use decorative bowls around my sink to hold sponges and brushes. It just makes the kitchen look prettier and therefore orderly. So when it came time to get my bedroom in order, particularly my dresser, I was on the hunt for some items to help organize my jewelry in a beautiful way. I love to have everything out where I can see it, that way I make sure I am using what I have instead of wearing the same pieces of jewelry over and over again.

For awhile I have had a few pieces of corning ware from my Grandma and a gorgeous dessert tower from my Mimi, but had no clue what I was going to do with them. I knew I wanted to keep them, but wasn't sure if I would ever find a use for them. Enter my want to make things pretty and organized. Now, I use the dessert tower and a small piece of corning ware to hold my bracelets and I use a large piece of corning ware to hold all of my fragrances and perfumes. Everything is displayed for me to see, but it still looks pretty and pleasing to the eye at the same time.

To organize my necklaces and keep them from getting tangled, I display everything on a fingertip towel holder. I mean seriously, who even uses a fingertip towel (what is a fingertip towel?)? The towel holder serves a much better purposes holding all of my necklaces. I also use a little bowl I picked up from Anthropologie to hold my pins and brooches. And my rings are kept in a beautiful silver jewelry box that Tolar gave me when I had Baby K.

I love how nice everything looks and that I can also see what I have when I'm selecting my accessories each morning. And the greatest thing about this little project, I didn't have to purchase a single thing to organize my jewelry. I had everything already - I just used a little imagination to use what I already had in a different way.

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Friday, November 7, 2014

High Five For Friday

This has been quite the exciting week of unpacking, let me tell ya! But even during the mess, chaos and exhaustion there have still be some super fabulous moments.

1.) Baby K was a stick figure for Halloween and we loved her costume! Sadly, it rained so we didn't get to experience Trick or Treating with her, but we did go visit my Dad at work. Baby K was proud as punch carrying her pumpkin around.

2.) Starting my week off with Lifeline Church always makes me feel good.

3.) This baby and the way she sleeps, it slays me.

4.) Baby K has been so good playing by herself a lot this week, while I unpack. She decided that all of our moving boxes were her favorite.

5.) And finally, I have this gem to make you smile!

Happy Friday and Happy weekend lovlies!

I'm linking up this post with Lauren Elizabeth and September Farm.

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Thursday, November 6, 2014

Organizing A Closet

So you've cleaned out your closet and gotten rid of the things you don't want. Now what do you do?
Organize of course! I love being organized and putting everything in its place. When I can see everything I own (by de-cluttering) and have it all neatly laid out in front of me, I'm more likely to actually use everything.

Organize your clothes by season (I'm sure almost everyone does this).

Start there - go through your clothes and put the cool weather clothes together and the warm weather clothes together.
Then I like to arrange all of my clothes by color. Since I own so many neutrals, it is really easy to pair different things with each other and by placing all like colors together, I can really see what I have.. Mix and match!
After grouping by colors, I then hang everything by sleeve length. Shorter sleeve (or no sleeve) items get hung up in the front (within each color) and longer sleeve items get hung up in the back. I'm still keeping my cool weather clothes and warm weather clothes separate.

Use similar hangars.
This may seem anal, but I use all white hangars in my closet. It gives a nice clean look to everything and since all of the hangars are the same, I know exactly how everything will hang.

Utilize a shoe rack.

If you have more than five pairs of shoes, a shoe rack comes in very handy. By using your vertical space you can actually hold more stuff. That's a good argument to make when you want to buy more shoes! And a shoe rack keeps everything neat instead of having a ton of shoes cluttering up your floor.

Baskets are your friend.

I use baskets for ALL of my organizing all over my house. Since we Americans are huge consumers and have a ton of stuff, we always need some place to put said stuff. In a basket of course! In my closet I like to use baskets to hold all sorts of things:
small purses/clutches
travel accessories
shoe polishes
hats
gloves

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Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Tips For Cleaning Out Your Closet

Organization and clearing out the clutter, these are things that make my heart go pitter patter. I know it sounds strange, but it is so true. I find that my life feels more in control, I'm not overwhelmed and I am able to relax if my life and the things in it are organized and clutter free. And since we just moved and have been living in chaos as we unpack, I'm all about trying to get organized with a quickness.

There were a couple things at the top of list of my list to get accomplished first when we moved in and one of those things was my closet. I'm going to need to get dressed everyday and in order to not have to search through a million boxes each morning, it was important to get my closet set up. But before I could set up my closet, I needed to go through everything and make sure I was organizing only the things I wanted to keep. There is nothing like a move that makes you realize just how much crap you have, and my closet is no exception. So I decided to clear out the clutter and clear out what I didn't want.

Here are my tips for how I determine what stays and what goes, I ask myself these questions before I hang anything up in my closet (in no particular order):

1.) Have I worn it in the last year? If I've gone through all four seasons and haven't worn an item, I don't need it, so out it goes. If you've gone a year without wearing something, chances are you won't wear it again. I've hung on to clothes for years thinking "oh maybe I will wear this to an event or something," I never have. So get rid of it.

2.) Does it fit? If it doesn't fit me right now and I haven't worn it in awhile, I don't want it (whether it be too big or too small). I want clothes that look good on me, so if it doesn't fit out it goes.

3.) Is it stained? This is a no brainer, if I have stain that won't come out I know I won't be wearing that garment. The same goes for a hole...can it be repaired? If so, repair it and keep it. If not, get rid of it.

4.) Is it trendy? Trends fade, so if you are hanging on to an item that was trendy several years ago then get rid of it. Chances are it isn't trendy anymore. I always like to invest and spend more money on classic items that I know will stand the test of time and then buy trends at a lower price point because it doesn't hurt as bad when it is time to throw it away/donate it.

5.) Do I feel pretty/comfortable/good in it? If I don't like the way I look in something, don't feel awesome in it or flat out feel miserable in an outfit then I don't want it. Personal style to me is all about feeling comfortable and loving what I see in the mirror. If an outfit or item doesn't make me feel confident when I walk out the door, then out it goes. If I have clothes that always get a lot of compliments, then those babies get a place in my closet.

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Monday, November 3, 2014

Give Extra Thanks

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CollectiveBias

There is no better feeling in the world than knowing that someone out there truly cares for you, no matter what happens to you, no matter what you do. Lucky for Baby K, Tolar and I we have a lot of someones like that on all sides of our family; we are blessed with lots of people who give extra. When Tolar first lost his job back in March, my Mom barely took a breath after I told her what was going on before she said "well, if you sell your house quickly you can come live with us." That woman must hear from God, because we sold our house in 11 days and as you already know, off to Dublin, VA we went to move in with my parents.

We lived with my parents for four months and I cannot even begin to tell you what a blessing that was and will continue to be to us. As I've said on here before, our stuff was everywhere and my parents didn't mind one bit. We took two very full households and combined them into one and my parents didn't get stressed out at all (I can't say the same would hold true for me if the situation was reversed - just adding to the amazingness that is my parents). We invaded their space, took control of the tv remote, probably took their seat on the couch one too many times and never once were we made to feel like we had outworn our welcome. My parents bought groceries, paid the bills even though I know the energy bill increased, cooked for us, took care of Baby K whenever we needed and welcomed us into their home with the most loving open arms imaginable. When we were at our lowest, they stepped in and helped out, doing what parents do - making things all better, no matter what age the children are. I will spend my entire life wondering what I did to deserve such giving parents, those that give extra, above and beyond.

Since we are now in November, a month where we remember to be thankful, I can't think of a more perfect month than to thank my parents for opening up their home to their 32 year old daughter and her family. I hit the parent jackpot, that's for sure.

To thank my parents, Tolar and I made them a little gift basket. Full of some of their favorite snacks and perhaps a couple snacks that we might have eaten too many of while we stayed at their house (sorry about that Mom - those crackers are just too good!). Since my parents seemed to be operating under the theme of give extra, I want to make sure they get Extra too. And to do that, I included none other than Extra Gum. This is a brand of gum I have loved my entire life. The Classic Bubble flavor has always been my favorite so I made sure to include some in the gift basket for my folks. #ExtraGumMoments

Gift baskets are so fun to me. Sometimes in a gift basket you find things that you might not normally buy for yourself. Like a zippered pouch that is actually a reusable bag. Or a tiny little pot of lip balm. Or a silver marker that is just too fun to pass up. Or tons of Extra Gum - ok, well maybe you would buy that for yourself, but come on it's too good not to be included.

Mom and Dad, I cannot thank you enough for all that you have done my entire life and for giving of yourself during this tough time. You have molded me and shaped me and I hope I make you proud. You both sure make me proud. I can only hope that I am as good of a parent to Baby K as you are to me. Thanks for loving us, all of us - the good, the bad and the ugly. I hope you enjoy your gift basket and Extra Gum!