miscellany monday.

[1.] i don't really like have this fear of lizards (as noted in this post)... it is a legit fear and this saturday i was babysitting and they had not one, but two little lizard/gecko creatures- not a fan.

[2.] my senior year of high school i got a black eye... a really, really bad black eye... swollen shut for a week, etc. etc... all from an fca retreat relay game...

i was trying to be a positive pattie... though i don't think it makes my face look better.

[3.] online summer classes start today- on memorial day. way to be lame trident tech... but that's alright (note still trying to be a positive pattie)

[4.] you know the movie men of honor? my grandpa worked with chief billy sunday (that's robert de niro's character) when he was in the navy. he actually worked on the sister ship to sunday's ship- basically, that means that he was pretty close to the movie being about him... not really- but they were the same rank- so possibly.

[5.] i try to not get sucked into reality tv... but sometimes i just can't help it- i loved dancing with the stars (see this post) and now i'm getting sucked into the bachelorette... someone help me!

[6.] it's memorial day- i love what this day stands for, since most of the men in my family are in (or have been in) the military- i think it is pretty important to honor them.

[photo info]

just a thought.

false sense of security.

does anyone watch dancing with the stars? whenever i watch this show i start to feel like i can dance... this, my friends, is not true. sure, i can shag a little and hold my own- but let's just say that i won't be a pro on the show anytime soon!

i literally just want to get up and dance when i'm watching this show... ridiculous. however, what would be more ridiculous would be to actually get up and dance. though i'm pretty sure that once i got up and danced once i would prove to myself that there wouldn't be any dancing to be done and i could then just go back to my life of watching the dancers.

i guess i just need to keep my day job and continue to have dance parties with my roomie... that'd probably be the best idea. we have some pretty intense skills, especially when it comes to "it takes two" and "you make my dreams come true"... all i'm sayin is that we've got some skills. love you rooms- can't wait for you to be back from the DR- praying for you and the kiddos that you're loving on!

just a thought.

all in the family.

i've been frequenting the aquarium because i have a family pass (well, i don't but the car i'm driving has a pass attached to it- just to clarify) and since i had matthew and liam all day i decided that a trip to the aquarium would be a good thing to do with the boys. sean's kind of a kid at heart and so i invited him to go along with us... for partially selfish reasons because i knew that the trip would be stressful 2 against 1. all day before the aquarium all i heard from matthew was "fish gotta swim, bird's gotta eat" (it's a quote from finding nemo).

while we were taking pictures at the aquarium a woman came up and asked if we would like a "family picture"... hmm. while 3 of us share the same last name, bearded man is odd man out. instead of correcting her i simply smiled and said sure- however, i was 14 when my dad and amber had matthew and 17 when they had liam- i was worried about college then, not kiddos- but i didn't find it necessary to correct her.

i think that they're pretty cute- super fun to hang out with, even though they are a handful sometimes!

just a thought.

just another... miscellany monday

here's another go at miscellany monday from carissa at lowercase letters.

[1.] i like must eat special k with vanilla almonds for breakfast every morning. it just doesn't feel right to start the day off without it... it may seem boring, but that's my life. what can i say? i'm a creature of habit... may that be for good or bad.

[2.] i used to think that all you needed to become an indian (native american, not actually from india- just to clear that up) was some corn and sunflowers... i tried for the greater part of my childhood to get my mom to let me grow corn and sunflowers in the backyard as to become more like pocahontas... i even tried to cut all of my paper to have fringe on the end so that it would look like an indian- i don't have rational for this, that's just what my mind thought.

[3.] textures freak me out in food... there are tons of textures i can't stand- for example, i can't bite into a strawberry- i know i'm missing out- i love the taste... just not the bite.

[4.] "just push the button"... that's all i've heard this morning, i just can't seem to work this fancy remote at my father's house- liam (who is 3) just says to "push the button" in order to make the tv work... all i'm trying to do is find some max and ruby for the kiddo to watch... so much for trying to be helpful!

[5.] actually... i'm in college- thanks though... in high school i was always asked what college i go to, now that i'm over halfway done with college people keep asking me if i'm about to be in high school or if i've decided where i want to go to college... my repsonse: yes, i decided 3 years ago... i just don't think i look 13- but maybe that's just me. one day i'm sure i will be pleased for people to not believe my real age.

a new career path.

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i was thinking back to when i was little and loved to sell lemonade at the corner of my street and wishing that i could still make money that way. it was great, drag out a table to the end of the street, make a sign, stir up some lemonade and wait for the money to roll trickle in- all tax free, might i add.

is it still ok for me to sell lemonade at the corner? i am pretty sure that i could do just as good of a job as the little kid who lives down the street from me... in fact- i dare say that i might do better than him, considering all of my past experience! (no, i'm not really going to sell lemonade) though one time someone did pay me $10 for a glass of my lemonade... he owed me an additional $0.10 but didn't have it so he gave me a $10 bill instead- i wasn't complaining!

so, what say you- any ideas for me to make some quick cash? i'm thinking that a lemonade stand might be my best option.

[picture info]

 but then again, that's...

just a thought.

follow the Son.

when i was a little kid i would draw all the time. i just couldn't get enough of it. this isn't a joke- i would always color in my coloring books, paint, draw on my driveway with chalk, and even had my own easel (it was legit). we also used to go to the pottery places and paint- last week i went to the place that i had my 10th birthday party and painted a bowl, it turned out pretty close to how i wanted, which was pretty exciting.

i love sunflowers for a lot of reasons, but one reason i love them is because hungary is has sunflowers all over different fields and they remind me of hungary- at any rate- i decided that i wanted to paint a sunflower bowl and the wrote "follow the Son" on the inside. get it? "follow the Son", a bit of a play on words since sunflowers actually follow the sun. the idea came for a piece of artwork in this same theme a long time ago, actually when i was in hungary on a missions trip (i've been twice- in 2007 and in 2008). i was just thinking that i would like to "be like a sunflower" because they are always following the sun and how in all things i need to follow the Son in order to keep my life together and keep my path straight.

take a look at my bowl:

 the sides are an "lime-olive green":

trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;  in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

-proverbs 3: 5-6

 then Jesus said to his disciples, "if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. for whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it."

- matthew 16: 24-25 

i find both of those verses encouraging and challenging- something to make sure that we are doing each and every day!

and now to take a detour and extreme sidebar:

i'm pretty sure that my love for drawing was started because of this man:

although he looks a little creepy, pappy was a childhood staple in my house. i would watch it every time that i knew that it would be on tv- my parents were thrilled, not only because i would turn it up really loud, gather all my art supplies around me, and ignore them while i tried to create a masterpiece, but because the theme song was insanely ridiculous (but now when i look back at it i love it even more). take this opportunity to watch it here.

now looking at pappy he actually looks a lot like my old piano teacher- interesting. do you have any fun crafts as of recently? i love a good craft time (and have a craft box that i have in college- don't judge- it is just tons of paint and a few canvases, nothing fancy). i'd love to know some crafting secrets!

just a thought.

steal of a deal.

i've never been much of a "yard-saler" however i'm trying to become one while i'm furnishing my apartment. the whole idea of waking up at the crack of dawn to go and drive around looking for things didn't really interest me, however, i've grown on the idea. my first round of shopping didn't go very well, but attempted for round two and boy did i hit the mother-load! i was looking for bookshelves, a kitchen table, bunk beds, end tables and other things that might be useful for storage. well, i found bookshelves (2 matching sets for $40), a kitchen table ($20), and an end table ($5), which is a grand total of $65- thank-you very much! let me just say that these pieces are of the highest quality and just need to be painted to make them look like new!

on top of those great prices i am going to use my desk from when i was little (free) and just re-paint it so that it looks fresh and received a red couch from family friends (free), this apartment on a budget is going famously well! i do need to find bunk-beds, so if anyone knows of a good place to get bunk beds that an adult could use (as silly as that sounds) let me know! i also need to find some chairs to go with my kitchen table- either going to do 4 different chairs or 2 sets of different chairs, just depends on what i can find and for how cheap i can get it! also- in reference to my miscellany monday post about how i love cooking supplies: i bought some more today- they were all on sale and i really did need them know how to use all of them, so it wasn't a wasted purchase!

now here is the deal- i need to figure out what colors to paint things- i don't want to paint everything the same color, but i would like them to "go"... so help a sister out and give me some advice!

on a different note: i have been thinking about my relationship with Christ a lot lately and realizing that God is so providential and puts people in your life at the exact moment that they are supposed to be there- so encouraging. i'm so thankful and blessed to have such a great group of women surrounding me and so glad that i am able to get advice from them- such a wellspring of encouragement- and i love it.

just a thought.

miscellany monday- round two.

it's that time again- miscellany monday is back for another round, courtesy of lowercase letters.

[1.] my whole life i have been a political junkie, this is not an exaggeration. i can remember being in my 1st grade class discussing with my classmates who should become the president in the 1996 election  [this was the election between bill clinton and bob dole- clinton won, my campaigning didn't really work, but then again, i was 6, that might have had something to do with it]. i actually considered minoring in political science, but it would have been too many extra classes... another side-note: i am working as a poll manager on june 8th for the primary elections- i suppose that also means i'm a little bit of a nerd.

[2.] i have worked at a children's clothing boutique since i was 15, which lends itself to making me a huge fan of baby stuff, not that i would like to have my own kiddo- because that isn't in the cards for quite some time (just to make that clear)- but i just love kid stuff. recently, while shopping for a baby present i discovered a new brand (ridiculous, i know). it is adorable and it is called blabla and i love it. here are a few samples:

yes please- to all of the above... super cute, just love it so much... the downside- super expensive- good thing i have a long time to save up! also- they have two mobiles that are absolutely to-die-for... see below:

don't you want some  all of them? just so adorable- the little bird mobile-- come on-- so precious... however, it also comes with a $130 price tag... yep- told you it was expensive.

[3.] i have this thing where i brush my teeth a lot... not so much that i am endangering my teeth of losing their enamel, but pretty close. i never really noticed that i was a super-freak until my roommate made a comment about it, though the fact that i usually carry a toothbrush with me "just in case" probably should have cued me off... fun fact: freshman year of college i had one in my book bag because i would leave in the morning and then not come back until it was bedtime, which meant that i would be eating lunch and dinner before then.

[4.] i particularly enjoy looking at buying cooking supplies... this would be fine and dandy if i could somehow become an amazing chef just by having the super-fun tools, or cooking accessories as i like to call them. all i know is that my kitchen is going to look great, even if the food that comes out of it is less than amazing.


alright, i think that's all the random i've got for now... i hope that you enjoyed it and have some fabulous random stories to tell!

just a thought.

leapin' lizards.

random fact about me: i cannot stand lizards... or really anything of the "creepy crawly" category. i don't know why this is, i used to be so adventurous with animals and never got freaked out, however, as i have gotten older the little creatures freak me out more and more.

on monday night a little lizard decided to take an adventure into my home and reside underneath the washer and dryer... needless to say, i was not pleased when i found the little guy- i started freaking out, screaming, and carrying on- it was such a sight to see and such an overreaction considering i am a million times larger than the creature (might be a slight over exaggeration, but you get the point). i didn't know what to do or how to remove this uninvited guest from my home... i got a yard stick (why this seemed logical, i do not know) and then tried to catch him in a bug jar. he started to get a little feisty so i tried to "stun" him by tapping him with the yard stick and then put him in the bug jar... my tap was a little too much and i am sad to say that little lizard is no longer alive. i did honestly feel bad that i killed the little guy, but what was i to do!? there was no way that i would have been able to fall asleep with him in my house- just no way.

i hope that somehow all the lizards in the area got the vibe that they are not allowed in my house. no sir- not welcome.

maybe a sign in the front yard would have helped mr. lizard know that he wasn't allowed in my house... then maybe he'd still be alive... lizards should learn to knock before entering people's homes- it is just rude to come in uninvited.

just a thought.

decorating dilemma.

this past weekend i went to maegan and jordan's wedding- it was such a great day- here are just a few of my pictures- the wedding was held at magnolia manor in westminster, south carolina.

there aren't a lot of pictures- but these are just a few! it was such a special day and i am so glad that i was able to share it with them!

in other news- i have been trying to figure out some decorating ideas for my apartment- i have a fun orange and white shower curtain from potterybarn that i bought on super sale a long, long time ago but just had to have it and now i need things to go with it- it is a classy curtain so i wanted something classy that i could use for a while with it. i found this lovely set of bathroom goods from potterybarn (way too expensive but i just couldn't help myself) and i wanted to get it- luckily i have been trying to shop around because that is just more than this college kid can afford and i read some reviews that said it rusted after a few days... that's right- days not months or after several uses... my hopes and dreams of my bathroom have crashed and burned... it is a good thing that i went to marshall's today and found some bathroom stuff that i really liked- now i just need to make the trip back and buy it! here is what i wanted to get:

isn't it festive? i think that it would have looked great in the bathroom... i wasn't going to buy all of that- mostly because that would be ridiculously expensive... and also because that would have been too much for me- but i liked the overall look of things. i think i'm going to stick with the heavy glass soap and 2 canisters from marshall's- a whole lot cheaper and will look just as clean and classy.

i'm trying to find some cheap furniture for my apartment that i can either refinish or paint a new color in order to make it functional for my life. i have a big problem with buying pieces that i don't think i'll be able to use in my "real-life" or "adult-life" as i like to call it, just because i'll be graduating in just 3 semesters (which is crazy).

on monday afternoon i helped my friend rachel anne (pictured above) decorate her new apartment! we lined all of the shelves and cabinets with some festive contact paper and then hung some pictures on her wall to make it feel more at home- i think that it turned out pretty well! (please excuse the horrible quality... this is from my phone)



oh man- this post is much longer than previously planned... starting my position at the church today! i'm so excited and encouraged to be working with the children's ministry this summer- it is such a great place to be!

just a thought.

miscellany monday.

hello blogging friends- i'm now linked with carissa at lowercase letters to join in on her "miscellany monday" on her blog- get excited, because i am!

now, to start things off- i suppose that i will just have to take a running start.

[1.] i used to have this thing about odd numbers (i kind of still do). for some reason i am just not a fan. i just always felt like even numbers were what was up and didn't like odds... which was convenient because i was born in an even year, born on an even day, and always scheduled to graduate on even years... however- that has all changed- now i'm graduating on an odd year and have actually started to become fans of odd numbers... my friend leigh used to have the opposite feeling- she loves odds and was really sad to have all important dates on evens so i guess the grass is just always greener on the other side.

[2.] i like love weddings. i don't know how this love got started, but i just love them so much. i think they are incredibly exciting and cannot wait to plan my own! [side note: i will post later about the wedding i went to this weekend in westminster- it was so fun!]

[3.] even though i've lived in charleston my whole life i've never taken a downtown carriage tour. while i am fairly confident that i could give the tour, i still think i'd like to do it one day, just to say that i have... i'd like to do that or hire one of those bicycle men to pedal me around- but that might just be because i'm feeling lazy today.

[4.] i used to sing all the time- i have been in chorus since i was like 8 and then stopped once college hit. i miss it so much- i can't believe it has been over 2 years! i also really miss leading worship- and not because i liked being up front so people could see me, but so that i could see them. it is really encouraging to see a mass group of worshipers praising the King in one group- i love it.

[5.] i own all of the "gilmore girls" dvds... every. single. one. [well, technically i am one short because the people in the packaging company put 2 season 5 disc 2s in my set... so i am missing that one- which will hopefully be fixed one day... but- other than that- my home is always ready to watch gilmore girls... i also always watch it on abc family at 11 (it is pretty close to 11 now, but don't worry- i'll still watch it).

i think that's all for now- please also notice that this list is an odd number... i told you that i was starting to like them more.

just a thought.

love free stuff.

as a college student i must admit that i love free stuff- but if you're really honest with yourself you know that you love free stuff too... just go ahead and admit it. well, once again, i have entered a giveaway and i am here to tell you all about it. carissa at lowercase letters has a giveaway right now and it is for some fabulous. wonderful. totally chic. bags that everyone should enter to win... except that i don't really want you to enter because then i have less of a chance, but i guess i'll make the sacrifice. go ahead, enter, try and win- i dare you.

you should also go ahead and just start reading that blog anyways, it is one of my favorites and you will love reading it- i am always encouraged and entertained. so, back to the giveaway: bottom line- these bags are awesome and you need to check them out. here are just a few samples that i got from carissa's blog

here is the one that i hope to win:

and here are a few other samples- they are all just so fabulous, it is difficult to just pick one! i might have to stop by charm design's etsy shop just to get MORE!

see what i mean? all fabulous! if you want a chance to win just head over now and try your luck at a new bag! good luck!

hopefully my next post will include some pictures from my friends' wedding tomorrow- i'm just thrilled to see them get married! on a side note: have you prepared something to make your mama feel special? if not- get on it... she deserves it.

just a thought.

it has been awhile.

hello sweet friends, so sorry for my delay in blog writing, those finals really got in the way of the joy of being able to write freely. moving out was a success- i got all of my belongings to either my friend's apartment, my future apartment, and then the rest at my house- my room is now in chaos and that will hopefully change sometime in the near future (not a clutter fan).

now, i must tell you a little secret that got me and the roomie through exam week- go here now that's right- it is the hanson website... before you are quick to judge please know that i was a huge (understatement) fan when i was in like 1st grade- i don't know why, but the music is still joyous to hear! please let me introduce to you the faces that i grew up with.


there they are, in their shining glory... so sweet. you'll be pleased to know that they are still adorable with their sweet families. there were many a summer days that i would listen to them throughout my childhood (i was also the VP of the hanson club in my neighborhood, yea, i was legit).

today has been pretty relaxing, just did some minor errands and finished up wrapping some wedding presents. a new thing that i have discovered is vera bradley wrapping paper! i may be behind the times on this one, but i just love the fun colors- i decided to wrap my presents in sittin' in a tree wrapping paper and then added some green and white ribbon to make it extra special. check out this pattern- it is so sweet.


so adorable- i just love it. if it isn't obvious- i am kind of a fan of brown and green, though it may be like a tree they just go together. i love wearing them and when i get my own place i plan to decorate with them!

i suppose that is all for now- this weekend will be great- heading back up to clemson to see some lovely people getting married- i'll try and get my camera working and put up some pictures!

just a thought.