Friendsgiving 2015

"as we grow up we realize it's less important to have a ton of friends, and more important to have real ones."

Throughout high school so many friends have come and gone, it's really quite funny to look back on who you were with your freshman year and who you're spending your senior year Thanksgiving with! We hosted our first annual "Friendsgiving" tonight and I'm so excited to make this a yearly tradition with these ladies. We had the perfect Friendsgiving and it was the first of very many! 

Menu: 

•bourbon meatballs

•stuffing

•mashed potatoes

•macaroni & cheese

•creamed corn (home grown)

•chicken & dumplings 

•banana pudding 

•apple pie

•sweet tea 

everyday, God gives us many blessings.  four of mine are in the picture above! 

{top L-R: myself, emilie, & Josie}

{bottom L-R: katie, & Abby}

having friends that you can pray with before you eat is one of the most comforting feelings a girl can have!

food that will probably make you gain 10 pounds just by looking at the pictures 

typical pre-grubbing picture 

the rest of these group photos are picture that my friend Emilie took and edited with her camera & fancy photography skills!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I'm 100% sure I'm full until Christmas! 

December bucket list 2015

As November comes to an end, the excitement for the month of December can barely be contained! There's so many festive activities that you can do during this month, so I wanted to make a bucket list to make sure I don't miss out on anything!

1. Make a gingerbread house

2. Christmas lights tour

3. Make reindeer food

4. Go Christmas caroling

5. Holiday treat cooking day

6. Holiday-movie movie night with my friends

7. Ice skating

8. DIY Christmas ornaments on a Sunday

9. Host a Christmas party

10. Volunteer at veteran center Christmas party

giving thanks 2015

"give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.." - 1 Thessalonians 5:18 

Thanksgiving 2015 has been amazing so far.  We had our lunch like we do every year where all of my siblings come over, and having your whole family with you is comforting as well as just a fun time in general. It was also gorgeous outside today which made it so much better!

• thanksgiving #OOTD 

Typical family pictures with all of my siblings! {top picture order L-R: Jennifer. Laura, William, Erin & myself}

Transformation pictureeee || from Thanksgiving '09-'15 with my sister Jennifer 💗

What a gorgeous/blessed day! 

Altogether, it was a beautiful day to be able to be thankful for who and what we have... Happy thanksgiving everyone! 💛

Thanksgiving Eve

Tomorrow is one of my all time favorite holidays: Thanksgiving!

I love it because it's a great way to give everyone an excuse to give thanks to one another and to show everyone how blessed they truly are. It's also a great excuse to be able to enjoy all of the carbs in the world and not be judged for going back for seconds, or thirds (if you're me).

My top 5 favorite things about Thanksgiving!

1. Family time || my siblings come home from college and it's one of the few times a year we all get to spend quality time together.

2. Friends || sending/receiving text messages from your friends about how blessed and thankful you are to have each other is one of the greatest things ever. {also, friendsgivings are very enjoyable as well!}

3. Food || okay, we knew this was coming. being able to eat ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, dumplings & everything else just makes me super happy. also, helping my mom cook and prepare for our family is fun as well! 

4. Parade || ever since I was a little kid, I would get overly excited over the Macy's Thanksgiving parade. being able to sit in the living room and watching all the cool floats and everything else that's featured in the parade is just so uplifting and a great way to start out a holiday!

5. Decorating time || after all of the family leaves, mom and I always start Christmas decorating. being able to spend hours putting up and decorating the Christmas tree is one of my favorite traditions!

November 2015 favorites!

Music: 

T-shirt: Thomas Rhett

•one day in class I was having a bad day and Thomas Rhett's biggest fan, My BFF Josie, put her ear buds in my ears and had me listen to this song and I've been completely obsessed ever since!

Dessert: Dawin

•my friend Kenzie and I love to go to the gym and we started using this song for our leg/butt workouts! such a great song to listen to for a good time

Title: Megan Trainor

•my friend Abby showed me this song while we were vacationing in FL and every since she showed me it I've been spending my mornings getting ready to it! puts me in a great mood to start off my mornings with!

Apps/Websites: 

VSCO

•a lot of people have always used this app but I just recently started. it's great for sharing your pictures and seeing other people's ideas! also I love the set up of the profiles and how the photos look!

Proverbs 31 (website/blog)

•I absolutely adore this blog! it has great bible study's and discussions to help you grow closer to the Lord. I love the bible study plans they have because they're fun to participate in and they also help you explore and understand your bible! "everyday you should strive to become closer to becoming a Proverbs 31 woman."

Netflix:

Greys anatomy

•on Twitter I've always seen all of the talk about Grey's and felt as if I'd never become interested in the show. so, I finally began watching it and now I'm 100% sure I'm going to becoming a general surgeon at Seattle Grace hospital and I watched the first 2 seasons of Grey's in a 2 day period... and I'll finish the rest of the seasons throughout Thanksgiving break. sorry fam! 

Becoming Brooke Davis

reputations are hard to shake. once somebody gets a label for you in their head it usually is there to stay. 

on season 1 of one tree hill, you would've saw Brooke Davis and thought about how she was the typical party girl, always getting into a situation because of alcohol and changing boyfriends as often as she changes shoes. by the end of the amazing series, she changes. she becomes so much more than a girl with a saturday night personality. she becomes a woman that is a role model to so many people. she becomes someone who is strong, independent and successful.

just because the old you use to enjoy drinking and dating around doesn't mean you aren't the strong and independent type. part of becoming the person you want to be is experiencing the exact opposite to give you dedication to reach your highest potential. it doesn't matter who you were once thought of, it matters who you end up becoming. be the person to change how people look at you and be the person that makes people believe that they can change too.

be the one to do a 360 and change their lives around. overcome all obstacles and be the Brooke Davis. 

11.21.15 

Church Hill Downs

Born and raised in the Bluegrass state, visiting the famous Church Hill Downs can warm any true Kentuckians heart.

While at National F.F.A. convention, my chapter visited and toured Church Hill Downs. I think my reaction was similar to a kid visiting a candy store, but hey.. it is what it is. Above is a picture of my BFF Josie and I at the race track! 

Here's some pictures I took while touring Church hill Downs 💛 

Hopefully my next trip to Church hill Downs will be next year to the Kentucky Derby wearing a Lily dress and a big Derby hat... Or a girl can dream, right? 

Girls night in: November edition

What's better for the heart then a Saturday night full of pizza, laughter, roasted marshmallows & camping? That's right: doing it all with your best girlfriends. 

A how to guide on a perfect girls night in! 

Step 1: find friends.

This is the most difficult step! Luckily, I have 5 girls who are just as light hearted as myself.

Pre-camping photo shoot in front of our tent/castle we had for the night! 

left to right: {sydnie, josie, katie, myself, emilie & abby}. 

Step 2: hot cocoa.

Did you really have a G.N.I without hot cocoa? Let's be real.

Step 3: scavenge up supplies!

In our group message, Katie had an awesome idea to bring her projector for the tent so we could watch movies all night! I brought my laptop & Jo supplied the best G.N.I move ever: Stick it.

Step 4: find a campfire dog.

2 words: puppy fever. What way to have a G.N.I than to have a loyal pup to watch over and protect you and your friends all night! Luckily, Josie was able to supply us with many animals (including dozens of cows, donkeys, as well as precious cats & dogs.)

 Step 5: camp fire.

This is the most important step, especially if you don't want to freeze to death! A camp fire is also great for singing songs, telling stories, cooking Apple pies, & roasting marshmallows! 

Results: majority of the nature-loving friends find a way to survive in the cold while Katie & I sneak inside at midnight!