Not just for middle-schoolers....

I have not always been a reader. In fact, when I was younger, I hated reading. I would have rather taken a beating than read one book. True story. Now that I am older, I love to read. Since this past summer, I have probably read 10 books, which may not be a lot to many people, but that is a ton to me. I have now found a book that I am obsessed with and had to share with you all.

A couple months ago, I was talking with a friend about reading. She had mentioned that she wanted to read The Hunger Games. I had heard of this book, but I figured that it was for middle-schoolers, and I would stick to my Nicholas Sparks and The Help type books for my mindless reading time. Well, I can say I have officially joined the bandwagon. Y'all, go to Barnes and Noble or your local library and get The Hunger Games. It is so good. It is an easy read. I read the first book in 2 days. For real. I am now on Catching Fire and I can't put it down, except to write this blog post and watch the finale of Teen Mom 2. Sidenote: I know that Teen Mom 2* is a little juvenile, but it is so addicting.

Seriously, do yourself a favor and read these books. So good. You are welcome.

Family Visit : )

This past weekend was action packed. Since moving to Florida, we have only had visitors from my side of the family, which we have loved. Yet, we also want Trey's family to enjoy our home and Orlando. So, this past weekend, Trey's family came to Orlando for a visit!

Trey had a commitment in Miami until Friday night, so I entertain the family all day on Friday. Of course, we went to the happiest place on the planet-DisneyWorld! We spent 13 hours at Magic Kingdom. Let's just say we were exhausted and slept GREAT on Friday night. There was not a huge crowd, all rides were super fun, and we even were able to catch the Electrical Parade, which is my favorite! I always make fun of my sister because she is the BIGGEST Disney Fanatic, but I really love Disney too. It is magical for all ages and you always have the best time once you pass through the front gate. I am so thankful that I had a special time with Trey's family at Disney!

On Saturday, we slept in, ate a late breakfast, and headed to Cocoa Beach. One of the greatest things about living in Orlando is being super close to the Beach. We live about one hour away, so we can pack up for the day and enjoy the sunshine. It wasn't too sunny on Saturday, yet we had a blast just hanging out.

Yesterday, we enjoyed on the many parks in Orlando and the farmer's market. It was a fun day to enjoy the sunshine and spend time with Trey's family. After a stroll in the park, we headed to Winter Park to eat dinner. Winter Park is super sweet. It reminds me a lot of my hometown's little downtown square with cute shops and restaurants. We go to WInter Park every Saturday night to eat dinner. We just love it.

We had a sweet visit with family and we were sad to see them leave. I am so sad because I have no pictures of the weekend. I have promised to start taking more pictures as a New Year's Resolution. I am apparently not doing very well at this resolution.

Have a wonderful Monday : )

Happy Valentine's Day : )

Happy Valentine's Day to all my lovely friends! I hope this day of love has found you feeling very special and very loved. I am not a big Valentine's kinda girl. I mean, it is a fun day to celebrate, but I don't feel like I get caught up in the whole flowers, dinner, and chocolate theme. I just love spending time with those that I love, especially my husband.

Trey and I have been together for six Valentine's day. Crazy. Although we don't do the fancy dinners and flowers, we do like to celebrate, and celebrate we did tonight. Please be warned that we got CRAZY tonight. I almost feel bad for people who don't have this much excitement in their life.

First, we picked up dinner from the BBQ place in Orlando called Four Rivers. Y'all, I am not a BBQ kinda of girl, but Four Rivers is the bomb. You get so much good food and the banana pudding is almost as good as my Nannie's, not quite but very close.

After dinner, we rented the movie, Horrible Bosses. Quite vulgar, yet still funny. I would not call it one of my top 100 movies, but still okay for a date night. Disclaimer: I did try to be romantic today and go buy Along Came Polly at Target. Along Came Polly was the movie we watched on our first Valentine's Day in the fraternity house. Also, the movie we watched right before our first kiss. (Insert all ahhhhs and ooohhhs here.) But, since that movie came out forever ago, they didn't have it. Boo on you, Target.

Well, that was the extent of our Valentine's Day. I know you were all on the edge of your seats for the play by play. Yet, in all seriousness, I wouldn't want to spend my day with anyone else in any other way. I truly do love him with all my heart and am so glad he is my forever Valentine.

So, happy Valentine's Day to all of you. Hold tight to the ones you love and give them some extra love today. I saw this on a friend's Facebook status today and wanted to share because it is so very true: "We love because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19

Have a happy and blessed day : ) Love to you all!

Tennessee Rednecks stuck in Florida

So, you all know that my husband and I have relocated to the Sunshine state. We love it on most days. Especially on days like today. For all of you who have had a winter, I am sure you are tired of snow, ice, and pure coldness. Well, we have not had any cold weather, not even a little coolness in the air. Trust me, I have loved it. Yet, I have kinda missed the cold weather, and being able to wear my Uggs : )

Well, this morning, I woke up to my husband snuggled close, my duvet cover over my head wrapped tightly, and our thermostat on 58. Yes, FIFTY-EIGHT. I was frozen as I climbed out of bed, rushing to get dressed for church. Since the high for the day was 54 in Orlando, Trey and I decided to make chili and have a campfire. Yes, a campfire in our tropical backyard. The previous owner of our house left us with an awesome firepit, so we pulled it out and put some wood in, and VOILA, a campfire! We laughed so hard because we had a total redneck campfire in our driveway, eating chili, wrapped in blankets, and sitting in beach chairs. Yes, beach chairs because they are the only lawn furniture we own at the moment. I just had to take a picture to document our redneck campfire set-up.



Although we totally looked Busch league, it was such a fun way to spend a lazy Sunday with my favorite person : ) Plus, it kinda felt like we were back in Tennessee on a fall night!

Nothing like a Mama's love...

Last week, I had a very special visitor. She traveled on a plane all the way from a little town in Tennessee. She came with one bag and stayed for 7 days. This special vistor was my mom.

If you are like me, nothing is better than knowing your parents love and care for you. It makes my heart happy to know that they love me so very much. So much that when I called my mom in December to come stay for a week in Florida in February with me, while Trey was gone, she jumped at the chance to spend time with me. I absolutely love that all my family is in one place. It makes me smile to think of the sweet time they get to spend together. Yet, sometimes, that ugly jealousy bone makes me sad and depressed that I live so far away. So when family comes to visit. I LOVE IT.

Well, it just so happen that my mom came to Central Florida the week of her birthday. It was super fun to spend her birthday with her. On her actual birthday we went to Cocoa Beach for the day. If you know my mom, you know that she loves sweet tea, her grandbabies, and the BEACH. So, it was the absolute perfect day! Along with shopping, eating, and walking about 100 miles, we had the absolute best week. Thank you so much for coming to hang out, Mom! I love you more each and every day! Happy Happy Birthday : )

These are a few of my favorite things...

I am a list person. Any type of list. To-do list, grocery list, Christmas list, anything that requires those little bullet points and allows me to cross something off. I used to make lists in college of things I already did, just so I could cross them off. True story.

So, I decided to make a list of my favorite things, not all of my favorite things, just a few that I am loving at this moment. Here goes---->

1. Walking. I know this sounds a little silly, but I really do. We have a gym membership here in Orlando that I love to use, but with the weather being perfect, I love to go for a nice walk. There is a sweet little park with a lake by our house where I go to walk and think. I like to take short and long walks, always going a different route, jamming to my tunes and enjoying the sunshine. I am pretty sure that I get really into my walking because I start to sing along with my ipod and people stare. Especially when I am belting out old school Britney. Who cares, I know about a total of 4 people in Orlando. Whatev.

2. Pinterest. Really do I need to explain why? Ok, I will because I love it that much. My sister invited me a while back and I have been obsessed ever since. Although I don't have a creative bone in my body, I like to believe that I will be Betty Crocker in a day and starting my own Etsy shop tomorrow.Wishful thinking, huh?

3. Candles. I really love my Woodwick Candle in the Fireside scent. It makes my house smell like I live in the woods and my door has been open all day. love it so much.

4. My Uggs. I know this is a superficial one, but I really do love them. You may be wondering if I ever get to wear them. Well, to answer, no. I don't wear them outside because it is 75-80 degrees in January, but my husband refuses to turn on the heat in our house at night. During the night, our thermostat stays around 65 degrees. So, I get to wear my Uggs inside in Florida. Yeah, I know, crazy husband. I don't care though because I love them that much.

5. Quiet time. Right now, I am loving good, quality quiet time. When I was home hanging with the family, my mom and sister decided they were going to read the Bible in a year. They are using the one year plan on Youversion.com. I have always wanted to do this and have never done it, so I decided to join the bandwagon. It is a great way to start or end the day. I am loving it. Thanks Mom and Amanda,


So, those are some of my favorite things right now. P.S. My mom is coming on Wednesday to hang out with me for a whole week!!! I am so excited! Plus it is her birthday on Saturday : ) Also, I get to see one of my best friends who is in Orlando on Friday!!! Woo Hoo : )

Florida, Bahamas, and a Baby

So, I am not going to apologize. I just stink at blogging. I know. I have decided that in 2012, I am going to blog more. Let's see how long this last, especially since I am just starting for the year and it is January 26th.

Well, back in July, I blogged about moving, a girls trip, and my bestie having a baby. Well, we have moved, the trip is over, and J had a precious baby boy.

Trey and I are officially Florida residents. We moved at the end of August and closed on our house on September 1st. We are really enjoying the Florida life, especially right now where January weather= perfect! We love our house! It is a 1925 bungalow with so much character. I do not have many pictures, but after we are finished with all our decorating I will post more pictures.



Don't worry, Moe made the move. I am pretty sure we are they only Floridans with an elk. Gotta love my husband!



Back in July, I went on a girls trip with three of my best friends. Our friend, Jess couldn't make it, and we missed her so much. Anyway, it was such a fun trip and I miss these girls so very much!



My best friend had a baby in December. I still can not believe that Jess is a mom. She has the most precious baby ever and I was able to spend some time with him while I was in Tennessee. He is a doll. Back in October, we had a baby shower for Jess, and it was such a great time! The picture below is all our girlfriends with Jess. Isn't she the cutest pregnant woman ever?




I know this is the most random post. I promise to get better. Yet, I also promised to blog more last year, so we will see how it goes : )

I will leave you with one last picture for the road. This year, we decided not to get a Christmas tree since we traveled to TN for the holidays. Check out our decorations. This is what my husband gets for putting Moe above our fireplace. hehehe