"Where my Mother Fathers at?"

Get the Depends.

Trust me.

Oh goodness

I go back to school in 2 weeks...

Where on earth has this summer gone? I feel like I've gotten a lot done, but I had so much more planned to do! I'm about to finish up my summer biology class and the next two weeks will be filled with teaching colorguard for the Pocahontas band, big family reunion, my Uncle Mel's gospel meeting, and ridiculous amounts of packing.

One thing I'm really excited about this coming school year is the fact that I'm in a new dorm! I'm finally in the apartment dorms at Harding! (Yaaaaay!!!) My room will consist of 3 bedrooms (4 girls), living area, kitchen, bathroom, and breakfast nook. Plus, the laundry room is just one door way (Even bigger yaaaaay!!!)! Plus, this will be my first time to have a single room. This means I don't have to worry about my decor interfering with anyone else's! I'm trying to figure out the look I want to go for.

Girly? A bit more masculine?

I have no clue.

I tend to go for more masculine basics. My comforter is brown, my sheets are blue, etc... But I want to add some girly punches so that people don't wonder if they mistakenly entered the boy's dorms. Here are a couple of pics that I'm using as inspiration...

This room is nice and soft, but still has a freshness to it that I like. I'll probably want to make/buy a dust ruffle to conceal all the junk and make it look a bit less like a dorm.

Here's what I'm talking about with the pops of girliness. These yellow pillows are perfect and so are those patterned drapes!

This room doesn't scream awesome so much, but going to have to replicate those light fixtures in some way. Those are just too cool!

Now, I know. This is a little boy's room... But how cute is it?! I love the gray and red combo and especially the bunting banner. Precious.

And who doesn't want a sock monkey?

This one is a bit overkill with the girl factor, but imagine it without pink walls... classic, tailored, and still soft. Definitely worth replicating.

I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of their summer and try to squeeze in all those last minute summer plans!

Emersonmade.

Yesterday was a pretty intense day for me; hence the lack of a post. Today, however, has been a very nice and easy day and because of it, I have a wonderful blog/business to introduce to you. I'm sure some (if not all) of you already know about Emersonmade. I'm just ABSOLUTELY in love with them! From their massive flower broaches to their new clothing line, it's all so perfectly done. And their blog is cute and quirky as well!

Here are some of my favorites from their clothing and accessory line.

Aren't those clustered flowers adorable?!

Note to self:

look like this and own chickens

I'm thinking one of these clutches needs to be on my Christmas list... hint, hint.

Can you say perfect?

Definitely check out the site!

You'll fall in love, too!

Forgetful

I didn't post yesterday.

It's not like everyone out there is mad because I missed ONE post, but I'm aggravated at myself for just plain forgetting.

Here's some pics of what I've been up to this summer! Not the most thrilling stuff, but still fun for me :)

For the 4th of July, the family and I went to Memphis to watch a Redbirds game.

This was about the only decent picture Kevin and I took all day. My hair and Matthew's pinky, however, decided to act out in this picture... please excuse them both.

Kevin was pretty excited to see that they had hot, roasted nuts. His Vana White skills are the only way to do them justice...

...but then the aftershock of paying $5 for them kicked in. "That's turrble!"

Matthew and Kevin were really having a great time as well...

...until Gropey Magee decided to show up.

Redbirds won with a walk-off home run. It was the most excited I'd ever been at a sporting event, but that's not really saying much. Matthew and Alicia decided it deserved a thumbs up.

Mom and Dad were pretty excited about it too!

The boys were probably just as excited about the 3D glasses for the fireworks as they were about the win.

Sooooo stinkin' cooooool

Here's some pics from Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO. I was lame and only took my camera out for a couple of shots. Here's Mom and Dad in the giant rocking chair where we ate lunch.

I was a bit giddy about it, but Kevin wasn't too amused.

On the second day we ran into my Uncle Eric and Aunt Candy and their crazy girls, SaraMarie and Charity. Seeing them made the day so much better :)

Hope everyone is having a great summer so far! Don't forget to take time and remember that it is summer and take a little vacation, even if it's just for an afternoon!

Italia...

... Oh how I miss you.

And blogger won't let me upload pics....

I hate you blogger...

Thought of the day

Sleep, I need you.

I'm pretty tired to night. I went with my family to Memphis to drop my mom off at the airport so it's been a pretty full day. So all I can think of to share with you is pictures of bedrooms since I'll be headed to mine very soon.

Don't these just say "Crawl up and sleep for at least 12 hours"?

Yes. Yes, they do.

Not sure where all the images came from, but the last one is from Domino (RIP).

Goodnight y'all :)

Don't worry!

Trust me, this isn't going to be a regular post on here, but you HAVE to watch this kitten video.

All I can say is PRECIOUS!

And the quirky 80's music just adds a nice, classy touch, don't you say?

My serious relationship with...

... Plaid.

Yep, Plaid.

It's a down-right obsession. Plaid and I go way back. I think this serious relationship started around the age of 11 when I got a white and blue plaid duvet for my birthday (or christmas?). The relationship stayed pretty hot and heavy until around my junior high years when argyle came into the picture. Argyle and I had a fling there for a little while, but plaid still had a place in my heart. And when polka-dots came into the picture, it was a difficult fight. But of course, plaid always wins out.

So in June, I was roaming around Hancock fabric with Meg and Melissa and I saw all this red and black plaid fleece. So, naturally, I went a little nuts and bought a good chuck, not knowing what I would do with it. Meg bought some too and we'd decided to make those knot blankets, but I thought that the knots might be a bit annoying if I wanted to use it as a blanket for my bed at school. So this afternoon I sewed it all up (including the gray fleece I bought that day) and now I have a cute, plaid, winter blanket! I really love it! My inner lumberjack is very pleased! Aaaand I got to check it off my Summer Goals to-do list!!! (I get a real kick out of checking things off sadly enough.)

Here are some pics of my new addition to the plaid family!

Parisian Color Study

I came across this color study on the blog little brown pen and I thought it was such a great idea! During her time in Paris, she took pictures of everyday things and collected them by color. It's such a nice way to capture all those details that you don't want to forget on a trip. Next vacation, I'm totally stealing this idea!

Back and with GREAT news!

Hey y'all! We made it back from Branson this afternoon and we had a great time! I'll be back in class tomorrow sadly enough, but at least waking up for it is the hardest part.

Tonight I got a surprising call from my friend Katelyn. She and I've know each other since we were really little and have experienced so many transitions together. From awkward preteens to giddy junior high girls, from high school graduates into college freshman. This April I was honored to be her bridesmaid when she married her high school sweetheart, Matt and seeing her transition from girlfriend to fiancé to bride was beyond wonderful! And tonight when she called me to tell me she's expecting, I couldn't be happier!!! This is the first of any of my friends to get married, let alone to have a BABY! I'm just so excited! It's strange to think about people my age getting married and starting families. Extremely strange, but exciting!

Katelyn on her wedding day

...

INCEPTION. IMAX.OH. MY. WORD.

Holiday- Day 1

4:30 am wake up call

3 1/2 hours in the car

1 pit stop to puke at McDonald's

56 dollars to enter Silver Dollar ("Steal-Your-Dollar") City

9 roller coster rides

2 water rides

1 massive fajita

3 handfuls of kettle corn

1 frozen lemonade

7 total hours in the park

1 hour swimming at the hotel

1 massive dinner at outback

1 hour riding around in retarded traffic

+1 rousing game of mini golf

=

Tired.

Me in the hotel room

Travelin' Light

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The family and I are head to Branson, Missouri this weekend to just get away for a little bit. I like how the Europeans call it "going on holiday" rather than "a vacation". Sounds a lot more sophisticated. One thing that is always an awful issue with me is packing light. I know my essentials, but I always think, "Well, maybe I want to take this, or this, or that too. You know, just in case." So I end up taking too many things and never even pull out some items from my suitcase. I'm sure we all suffer the same packing anxiety :) So this weekend my goal is to pack pretty light. A website I found that is great for narrowing down my packing list is this site called One Bag. It's got great tips on what to take and ways to pack that makes it easier to just have one bag when traveling. The packing list is more aimed for a longer stay than just one weekend, but it's still a great list. (Wow. I just read what I wrote and it sounds like an advertisement, but I assure you, it's not!) So for those of you who are going to do some traveling soon *ahem, ANGELA, ahem*, check out this site!

Just a thought

"Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord; till he come and rain righteousness upon you." Hosea 10:12

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I forget that life isn't about being comfortable and having things go right. Serving God isn't a cake walk. It's a struggle. Some days are good, some days are rough, but we can't be complacent. Sometimes you have to "break up your fallow ground" because it's not about what you want to do, it's about seeking the Lord. I need this reminder everyday. To know that I need to break out of conformity and ease and reach out of my comfort zone to seek Him.

Happy One Year Anniversary!... 8 days late...

I just now remembered that I missed my blog's one year anniversary. It was July 6th... How awful is that?! Thanks to all you readers and those who have commented along the way! And as a gift to you all (or at least those who love art as much as I do), I wanted to share with you an artist I stumbled upon today. His name is James Grashow and he makes massive installations out of cardboard. Yeah, you heard me right, cardboard. All of his pieces are amazing, but I was just dumbfounded when I saw this one. It's a cardboard version of Bernini's Fountain of Four Rivers in Rome!!! So stinkin' fantastic!!! And it doesn't hurt that Bernini is my all-time favorite sculptor. Check out James' other works on his site HERE.

Roughing it

I know most people probably didn’t find yesterday’s kitten episode very inspirational, but giggles are just good for the soul. And if you didn’t giggle, then something is just wrong with you. * Overly obvious segway* You know what is also good for the soul? Love. Yes. Lots of it. And this camping engagement shoot just oozes with it. Plus, the beautiful coloring, large amounts of plaid, and the downright gorgeous couple are kinda cool too, I suppose.

Too. Cute.

Photographer Shannen Norman