Blog Browsing : A little Taggage ...

Yep, I was tagged! Thanks to the ever-so-lovely, new momma, Amy over at Fit New Mama I've been selected to do a little Q&A to tell ya'll a little bit about me ... haha as you know so far, i'm an open book! It's going to be tough to tell you things you don't already know!

 

the rules:

1. you must post the rules

2. post eleven facts about yourself on the blog post

3. answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post,

and then create eleven new questions to as the people you’ve tagged

4. tag eleven people and link them on your post

5. let them know you’ve tagged them

Eleven Facts About Me

1.  I'm married to the most amazing man in the world! He is an amazing reflection of Christ and he is seriously my favorite person in the world!

Can't believe this was a little over 3 years ago!

2. I am licensed to carry a concealed weapon in the state of North Carolina!  Yep, I'm normally packin' ... haha  

Get it, girl :)



3. I LOVE CHEESEBURGERS! Oh my gosh... really I think a good burger and fries are my favorite meal! I use to work at Red Robin and their Banzai Burger is fantastic!

Yep, this is a genuine I AM SO EXCITED I'M ABOUT TO EAT A BURGER AND FRIES kinda face!


4. People tell me ALL THE TIME that I look like Natalie Portman, true story.

yeah, she's gorgeous...and i'm... well... cute :)



 5.  I have never owned a dog. My mom taught me that dogs were smelly and that licking you was disgusting growing up so I've never owned a dog.  Maybe one day ... But I do love holding puppies :)

So sweet!

6. I LOVE dancing!  Shagging, Zumba, Line Dancing ... oh my, so fun! Anytime there's music and a crowd, i'm probably there :)




7. I LOVE serving in kids ministry! I currently lead K-5 praise and worship at Temple Baptist and MAN do we have fun praisng God! I've also been to Mexico, St. Lucia and Ukraine with mission trips where we lead camps and vacation Bible School and to Lumberton, NC, New York and Chicago to do Urban Ministry! It's sooooooo amazing to see God working through these precious little lives!


Nogales, Mexico



Chicago, IL

8. I'm half Greek (my dad's side) so I have the ability to get a really, really dark tan in the summer :)

 And I can fit into a high chair!


9. My dream job is to be a Stay at home Mom! haha yes, Lord willing we have a child sometime in my lifetime ... I would love to be at home and raise our kids and then, once their school age be a high school Home Economics teacher.

Our sweet friends baby girl! I never pass up the opportunity to hold a little one :)

10. I have never dyed my hair, nor do I ever plan to unless I start getting gray hair before 30(ish). I think it's because i'm too cheap to maintain it... yeah i'm ridiculously frugal!

 
And it has been realllly long a few times in my life! I also donated it to locks for love :)


11. I am a work in progress! My life has not been perfect but I am so thankful for my faith in the Lord and how he continually strengthens and refines me.  Life is full of adventures and I am beyond blessed to be here on Earth living this beautiful life the Lord has given me!

Amy's Questions

1. What is your favorite saying? Bless your heart!  haha yes, I'm a true Southern girl... Growing up I was "Kimmy Sue" (Kimberly Suzanne)

2. What are you listening to right now? Sadly, nothing... I just listen to whatever is on the radio! I haven't used my ipod in months!

3. If you could go anywhere right now, where would you go? Probably a cruise to the carribean islands, I've never been on a cruise and I would love to go back to St. Lucia.

4. What is your favorite book? I don't read ... really, I don't find enjoyment in it and I know that's terrible! But the book I read most often would be the Bible, it's just overflowing with amazingness and God's words are timeless and the truth!

5. What is your favorite kind of workout? I LOVE ZUMBA! Or any kinda of dance aerobics :)

6. Where would you like to be in 5 years? A stay at home mom with one baby and another on the way ...

7. What is your favorite food? CHEESEBURGER AND FRIES ... as referenced above

8. What are you wishing for in 2012? A viable pregnancy and a healthy baby

9. When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? hahaha I wanted to be a talk show host, I really wanted to be Regis' co host for a long time ... oh well!

10. What job would you do for free? Teach dance aerobics (zumba or hip hop) to adults and kids 

11. If you won the lottery tomorrow, what is the first thing you would do with it? hahahaha no joke, hand it over to my finacial advisor... my husband and let him deal with it! I am TERRIBLY NAIVE about money.  I'm more or less scared of it because we didn't have much growing up.  But i'd definitely go on an amazing all expenses paid vacation somewhere tropical :)

My Questions for you Gals to Answer

1. What is your favorite game to play?

2. What is something you do in your spare time just for yourself?

3. What is the most important trait to have in a marriage or relationship?

4. Where is your favorite vacation spot?

5. What is your favorite meal?

6. What is your favorite Bible verse?

7. If you could visit one state/city in the USA what would it be?

8. What is the best surprise you ever received?

9. What is your favorite weekend activity?  

10. What are you afraid of?

11. What do you hope 2012 has in store?

My Tags

Rebecca at Baby Claire's Blog

Linley at Dwelling and Telling

Jenny at Moxie Made

Natalie at Matt and Natalie  

Stephanie at The.Glove. Box

Ashley at The Christian Wife Life

Megan at Doulos

Averi at Southern Sunshine

Heather at Heather in Chicago

Candice at Down Home Country

Christin at Carolina City Girl

 

 

 





Blog Browsing : Dollar Store Crafts

Good morning !

Hope ya'll are doing well :)  I stumbled upon this interesting blog post this morning from Dollar Store Crafts who was posting about a Martha Stewart find.  Here it is from Real Simple's Website Double Duty Decorating ideas  It's really neat ! You should check it out :)

Blog Browsing : Waterfall Braid

So I have seen pictures of gorgeous braids lately with tussled looking beach hair and I had to do a little research :) I taught myself to french braid at at early age by locking myself in my room with a my American girl doll Felicity and my Scholastics Braids and Bows book I got at the school book fair.  Ever since then I've been a pro ! No joke, I would not open my door until I learned how to french braid, I then taught myself to braid my own hair. I was always the one who would french braid everyone's hair at cheer camp or on church camp bus rides.

Waterfall Braid

okay okay, here's the video that helped me master this trendy do, yep, short and sweet 2 minutes and 2 seconds, great job Cute Girls Hair Styles video on youtube :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y90s6neUKEY&feature=related

Full waterfall braid

Half waterfall braid, bobby pinned

Blog Browsing : Bakers Royale ... drool

HOLY MOLY  Bakers Royale !  The pictures of the food this lady makes seriously makes me drool ! Are you kidding me, I have no doubt that everything she makes tastes amazing just by looking at a static picture on the website ... ridiculous !

Mini No bake Oreo Cheesecakes

Boston Cream Woopie Pies



Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cupcakes

 This is terrible for me right now, Charles and I are doing so good with our diet/weight loss plan (I've lost 8lbs and he's lost about 12lbs, yay us !)  But really ... are you serious this is like food heaven.  Enjoy this calorie free treat, i.e. dream about these tasty morsels but don't actually indulge ! Let me know if you find anything on the site that is delicious and semi healthy too !!!

Click on Bakers Royale to see this pure amazingness :)


Oh! And I just found this awesome website , Snackpicks ! Can't wait to make some of these recipes in the near future :) Take a look !

Blog Browsing : Blog Award :)

I was tagged in a Stylish Award post on Rebecca's Blog, Baby Claire's Blog.

Go check her out ! Seriously an amazing story of God's amazing grace seen through the premature birth of their little girl Claire Rose :)

The rules to play are as follows:

1.) I have to thank and link back to the blogger who gave me the award. I did that above! I love to read Rebecca's blog about their daughter Claire. She is a beautiful miracle and it's amazing to see Rebecca and Trent's faith in the Lord midst the struggles of their sweet girls health challenges.


2.) The next thing I have to do is share 7 things about myself that most people don't know.


___________________________________________________________________
1. Most people don't know I grew up cheerleading and was the Varsity Mascot at NCSU :) What a fun "job" it was ! I certainly miss it !

2. I hate odd numbers ! There's just something odd and uneven about them that I can't stand ! I will always choose and even number over an odd and I have a certain appreciation for 2's ?


3. I will never PLAN to have a child in December.  I am a december baby and well, it's terrible, but thanks for brining me into this world mom and dad :)  With Christmas, and cold weather, wedding anniversary, and all of the holiday celebrations it's just a busy busy time of year !!!


4. Cold pizza and strawberry yogurt is delicious :) Don't knock it til you try it ! So is saltines, cheddar cheese, and marshmallows broiled in the toaster oven !


5. Breakfast is my favorite meal :) I seriously could eat breakfast all day everyday, it's just the perfect food combination!  Hot (eggs, pancakes, sausage, etc) or cold (cereal, fruit, muffins, etc) it's my favorite food category.


6. I have the BEST husband in the WORLD !!! Seriously the Lord has blessed me so much in the last 2.5 years with the most amazing man ever ! Growing up with a dad with dementia was tough (diagnosed when I was a junior in high school). I thought I wanted a baptist youth pastor would could sing and play the guitar ... but I got a Jesus loving, NCSU alum, Farm loan officer I love to pieces ... my cup runneth over :)


7. I like REALLY REALLY hot showers and baths ... I think cold showers are torture.


3.) The final thing I had to do was tag 15 recently discovered bloggers to receive this Stylish Award. This is the hardest part for me because I don't have many readers! If I tagged you & you wish not to participate, no biggie. I was just trying to think of as many people as I could that I know how to contact who blog regularly & blogs that I enjoy reading. :) I could only come up with 9 today!

1. Doulos
2. Cup of Delight
3. Sunnyside Up
4. The Glove Box
5. Matt and Natalie
6. The Zesty Baker
7. Dwelling & Telling
8.  Happily "Everett" After
9. Just the Right Angle
10. Life with the Grimme's
11. Words and Wonder
12. Carolina City Girl
13. The Wootens
14. Serving in Chicago
15. Southern Sunshine


4.) The final step is to contact these people to let them know!

Blog Browsing : From a friends blog

Stole this lil thing from this sweet girls blog
ENJOY learning some random little facts about me ! Repost on your blog :)


I am: a child of God, a daughter of the King

I think: I could live off cheese, potatoes, water and milk

I know: a lot of really random facts, which comes in handy when watching Jeopardy!

I have: the best husband ever ! I love you Charles Grayson !

I wish: I had a private jet, yep, one I didn't have to pay any of the expenses for :)

I hate: Carolina ... YUCK ! The Tarhole make me sick !

I miss: Being Ms. Wuf and cheering on the Pack

I fear: Being alone at night and hearing noises outside

I hear: My stomach grumbling :(

 I smell: nothing, but I wish I smelled a sausage egg and cheese biscuit

I crave: a smokes sausage egg and cheese biscuit

I search: for good deals on used items, right now, an elliptical :)

I wonder: how wonderful life will be in a few years when a couple of Baby Barrett's join our family

I regret: loving food too much and not exercising enough

I love: the Lord with all my heart ! And that love overflows to my wonderful hubby !

I ache: for the poor and needy kids and their families in St. Lucia and Chicago

I am not: Shy, I will seriously talk to anyone !!!

I believe: that there is one way to salvation (John 3:16)

I dance: a lot ! haha Zumba, stanky leg, shagging, you know :)

I sing: with the awesome kids at church (k-5 praise and worship team !!!)

I cry: quite a bit, they are mostly tears of joy though, y'all, I'm so blessed !

I fight: the urge to buy cute used stuff from goodwill/cragislist on a daily basis

I lose: at tennis to my hubby everytime we play

I win:  at best napper ever ! Seriously I can sleep a lot :)

I never: enjoy cleaning the bathrooms

I always: want dessert after a meal, yeah every meal, but I resist !

I confuse: myself a lot.  Charles helps me figure things out though :)

I listen: to country, pop, and Christian music on my 45 min commute to work

I am scared: the Lord will take me home with him before we have a family (kids)

I need: a smoked sausage egg and cheese biscuit ... and self control !

I am happy about: my life ! God is so good !

I can usually be found: at work or at home on the couch sleeping

Blog Browsing : Cookie Crazy !

Amazing ! Simply AMAZING ! I have decorated a few cookies in my day, mainly for Christmas.  BUT WOW ! LOOK AT THESE TWO LADIES AND SEE THEIR INCREDIBLE WORK! Seriously this makes me want to go home and make cookies right now :) Enjoy !

http://sweetsugarbelle.blogspot.com/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34555769@N04/

Blog Browsing : Because I'm lazy :(

Hey y'all !

Sorry I've been a boring blogger lately... I've got nothing to say or blog about.  I've been traveling for work and sick.  Promise I'll blog soon :)  Til then, check out some of my friends/families or my coffee table reading on the far right to get some other great blog reading :)

Blog Browsing : Toilet Paper Tubes ?!

HA husband ... HA ... you keep wondering why I'm saving paper towel rolls and toilet paper tubes ...  Well I was waiting for someone to do a tutorial to make something with it and this is it !!! I had heard of folks doing this before but hadn't seen a tutorial.  No excuse now ... I have a tutorial and tubes :) Fake iron decorative elements to come soon !!! Happy girl :)

http://www.suzyssitcom.com/2010/12/feature-friday-faux-metal-wall-art.html

I'm so excited !!!

Blog Browsing : Modern Day Account of Jesus' birth

Wow, what an amazing video... Praise God !

Blog Browsing : My Coffee Table

Okayyyy I know I've been a slacker with blogging lately ... maybe it's because i'm BUSY ... or it's the HOLIDAYS ... or I'm BUSY and it's the HOLIDAYS !? haha anyhoo there are still plenty of faithful bloggers out there baking and crafting and sewing and growing so take your mouse over to the bottom right side of the page and check out some of my favorite blogs :)

Happy Thanksgiving !!! We have so much to be thankful for !

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. "  John 3:16

Blog Browsing : The Story of Jonah

The story of Jonah from Corinth Baptist Church on Vimeo.


Wow! This little girl is so talented ! I was smiling the whole 7+ minutes as I watch and listened to her tell the story of Jonah ... enjoy :)

Blog Browsing : Gotta have it !

So I just found an old classmates blog http://dwellingandtelling.blogspot.com/ and I stumbled upon a fantasic find ... okay okay here's a little background on this styling tool I want so badly.

                                               Conair You Curl Clipless Iron

I use to have long, gorgeous hair that would scrunch perfectly !  Now my hair is not even wavy, it's just limp and funky looking when I try to scrunch it :(  This morning I was getting ready for work and Charles said "honey, I like how your hair use to look,  it just looks wet now."  Agreed, agreed, and agreed. 

                                                                              

                           

And you're telling me this little tool can make my hair look like this !?!?!  Cough Cough my birthday is coming up Cough Cough December 1st,  and Christmas Cough Cough is right around the corner ... haha