What's Up Wednesday

Happy What's Up Wednesday! I love these posts because I get to give y'all a big glimpse into our life, and I will one day get to look back at these and see what we were up to! 

I'm linking up with Mel, Shay and Sheaffer for another edition of What's Up Wednesday. I'll be answering the questions below, plus the month's bonus question. 

1. What are we eating this week...

Lets just be honest, nothing too exciting. 

Monday - I tutored and went to a volleyball game, so I picked up Chick-fil-a on the way home for the fam. Have y'all tried the Spicy Southwest Salad? I am obsessed!! 

Tuesday - We went to an event through Ben's work, so dinner was catered. No work for me and free...love it! 

Wednesday - taking advantage of this beautiful weather and grilling! 

Thursday - no plan right now...I'm tutoring again, so we will probably either grill some more or it will be every man for himself. 

Friday - I am so excited to be going to the BELONG tour in Dallas, so I'll probably be eating out with a friend before the conference. 

2. What I'm reminiscing about...

Heading into the Fall season always makes me reminisce about all of the holiday traditions coming up. I am obsessed with traditions and making new ones! I always reminisce about being pregnant with Henley this time two years ago and all of the things we got to do with her last year. I love thinking of all the new things we can do with her this year! 

Henley's first Halloween!

Henley's first pumpkin patch! 

Two years ago with my own little pumpkin! 

3. What I'm loving...

The best part about this time of year (especially for Ben) is lazy Sundays! It is so hard to get me to sit down and be still, but there is just something about the cooler weather and football on tv that makes me just want to curl up under a blanket and lay down on the couch. It is glorious! That is what I am loving right now...football season. Plus, who wouldn't love football season when you get to dress your little girl up in the jersey?!?!

Last year's football season! 

First game of the season! 

4. What we've been up to...

We have honestly been pretty lazy around here lately. We have been enjoying the fact that there hasn't been too much planned, and I am definitely enjoying having Ben around before deer season starts. Once he can go to the deer lease, that is where he will be! 

Last weekend we enjoyed getting to visit with my Papaw. He has a farm only about 20 minutes from us, and Henley asked all week to go see Papaw and the "tows" aka cows, so we took advantage of our free time and made her so happy. She is in heaven on the farm! 

She adores him! 

5. What I'm dreading...

Nothing that I know of and that feels fabulous!! 

6. What I'm working on...

Pretty much any spare minute that I have right now is spent working on getting my real estate license. I have finished all of my classes and am currently going through the study prep, so that is what I am doing. Henley goes to MDO on Mondays and Fridays and for the past two weeks, I have been heading to a coffee house after dropping her off and leaving just in time to pick her up. 

7. What I'm excited about...

Lots! Once again, all of the Fall activities and holiday traditions coming up. I am hoping we will be attending the Baylor Homecoming game in October and that makes me super excited! I will also have my 10 year high school reunion later in October, and I think that it will be a lot of fun catching up with some old friends! 

Baylor Homecoming 8 months pregnant with Henley! 

This is my best friend from high school, Blair, so if anything, I just can't wait to sit down and catch up with her! 

8. What I'm watching/reading...

I just finished this book and absolutely loved it! I could not get enough of it. In fact, Ben even started to get annoyed with the fact that all I wanted to do was read. I brought this book everywhere with me and squeezed in reading whenever I could. I cannot wait to read another Elin Hildebrand book! 

I was at the Carrie Underwood concert the night that this premiered, so Ben watched it without me and immediately told me that I needed to watch it the next day. We love it! I love that we have another show to watch together! It's weird having a show though that is not on Netflix! 

We have also been watching The Voice and love it. Ben has been interested mostly because he knows someone that is on the show, so we have been waiting for him to try out in the blind auditions, but I have a feeling we will be watching all season. It's been a long time since there has been a night we have looked forward to for television. We have been watching Netflix shows for too long! Tuesday night is now our night! 

Y'all, a couple weeks ago I really needed a light-hearted show that would make me laugh and this is definitely it! I am dying for the third season to come out in...May! AHH...how am I going to wait until May?!?!

9. What I'm listening to...

When I'm not listening to videos for my real estate lessons, I am plugging into Pandora and listening to the Jason Mraz station. It is perfect for listening to while I'm taking quizzes and tests! 

10. What I'm wearing...

Miracles of all miracles, I have actually been wearing real clothes more than workout clothes lately. The bad news is that I am horrible about remembering to take pictures of myself actually wearing the clothes. I have mostly been obsessed with wearing casual shirts and jean shorts, but I have also dressed up for an occasion or two. 

In Colorado sporting my jean shorts and a t-shirt for walking around. 

About to head to the Carrie Underwood concert in a dress for a cute boutique here on the square and my favorite cowboy boots! 

At a fundraiser last weekend again in my cowboy boots and jeans. 

11. What we're doing this weekend...

Ben is headed to the deer lease this weekend to prepare for the season, and I am headed to the BELONG tour with a friend in Dallas. Henley will be staying with grandparents until Saturday afternoon and then I fully intend on having a girls night with her! 

12. What I'm looking forward to next month...

See "What I'm excited about..." for this one! One other thing I am super excited about is Halloween! I can't tell you how cute Henley is in her costume. She constantly points to it in her closet and asks to put it on! 

13. What else is new...

Not too much. 

Bonus Question: What is your favorite Fall food?

Our go to dinner when the weather gets chilly is (no pun intended) chili. I am obsessed with Kristin's recipe for Sweet and Spicy Chili! I make it all the time in the Fall and it always gets rave reviews! 

This is her picture and she does it all cute in a mason jar! I don't do the mason jar, but maybe one day I'll try it out. It's absolutely delicious! 

What's in My Bag?!

Happy Monday, friends! And happy first day of cooler weather! I cannot believe I am sitting in a coffee shop right now wearing workout leggings, of course, and a light sweatshirt. AMAZING! 

Well, today, I am going to enlighten you with what is in my bag. I have been meaning to do this post for a while now, but lets be honest, my bag has been a disaster every time I intended to, so I kept putting it off! 

About 2 months ago, I finally bought the bag that I have been wanting for forever...the Tory Burch York Buckle Bag. I am not one to spend a lot of money on a bag...I am more of a TJ Maxx designer purse girl, but I have been dying for more organization in my bag and this bag is exactly what I needed. It was definitely worth the price tag! 

Since Henley was born, I have never really been a fan of carrying a purse and a diaper bag, and I'm also not really a fan of throwing all of my stuff in the diaper bag. Every time I would put my stuff in the diaper bag, I would end up going somewhere without the diaper bag and not have a wallet. So, this bag has a middle divider that you can put things in and it zip, and that is where I put diapers, wipes, snacks, etc. It is wonderful! 

I am also in the process of getting my real estate license and working for Ben, so I enjoy that this bag can also be a fabulous work bag. I can put my planner and my computer in it and head into the office and there is still room for my wallet and such. Love it! 

These are my always essentials. They are in my bag no matter where I am going or what I am doing. I am obsessed with this wallet that I purchased during the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. It is fabulous! It is the Halogen brand and it has so many different compartments and places for cards. Above my wallet is what I carry our monthly cash in. It is from the dollar section at Target and works great. I am actually hoping to change our method of monthly cash because it totally stresses me out to carry a bunch of cash with me all the time, but this is what we do for now. I just have each little flap labelled with what the cash is for and try my best to stick to it each month. And, of course, above that are my sunglasses. They are cheap sunglasses from Target, but I cannot be trusted with anything else. I have bought myself one pair of non-cheap sunglasses in my lifetime and I broke them that same week. I tend to just throw my sunglasses everywhere. They are in my purse or in my car or in my pool bag, so I don't get anything more than a cheap pair at Target or Nordstrom for the phase in my life. Maybe one day I will be a responsible adult, but not right now! 

I just purchased these two little organization bags from TJ Maxx the other day. I love them! I figured one day Henley will want them for herself, but right now, I am using them for specific things in my purse. I don't want crumbs all  over my purse, so I put snacks in these bags. There is always a paci, because Henley is in a phase of HAVING to have one in the car, so I don't dare take that chance. Other essentials like hand sanitizer (Henley's constant entertainment) and mascara go in these too. I love not having things constantly floating around my purse. I'm pretty sure these were $4 too! 

Sorry for the poor picture quality...these are my knickknacks. They all go in the side zip pocket, so they are contained. I have kept Tylenol in my purse since I was pregnant with Henley and that's all you can take, so it's just a habit now. Weird, I know, but I keep straws as well. I am terrible about drinking water throughout the day, but I am more likely to drink it if I have a straw, so I always have straws in my purse. One is a bubba straw and one is an extra straw from Sonic. A Tide to go pen is a given...I use it all the time! I have pens because they are always needed, plus I am always making lists and writing in my planner. Now, the lip stuff doesn't get used all the much, but it has to stay in my purse or it will NEVER get used! I am not a lipstick person, but recently a friend was selling her Mary Kay stash, so I jumped at the opportunity to try some out. I am actually really enjoying it for special occasions, but I don't wear it always. The chapstick gets a lot more use! Sidetone: the first time I wore the lipstick, I came out of our bathroom ready for a date with Ben and he looked at me and said "wow you are really dressed up for tonight!" Good grief...all I did was put on some lipstick! 

These rotate in and out of my purse depending on whether or not Henley is at MDO or if it's date night. When I don't have Henley's stuff in my purse, I feel like I shouldn't even be carrying one it's so light! I love these little wipe holders and I am obsessed with the new Target brand of diapers. They did a new design and I just think they are so dang cute! 

And last, but certainly not least, my fabulous planner! I cannot say enough good things about my Erin Condren planner. It is amazing! I write pretty much everything in here and it goes with my everywhere! 

And that is what is in my purse! I think it stays pretty darn organized, but every time Ben has to dig in it, he claims he can't find a dang thing! Obviously, I always have my keys and my phone in there too, but those are a given! 

What do you HAVE to have in your bag? What is your favorite bag?

Show and Tell Tuesday: Favorite Blog Posts

Hi friends! Today I am linking up with Andrea for Show and Tell Tuesdays and today's fun topic is: FAVORITE BLOG POSTS! 

I have actually had a few different blogs. I started blogging in college and continued after Ben and I got married, and now I am blogging as a mom. I love being able to look  back on all of these different phases in my life and see what was going on. 

I'm looking back over all three of the blogs I once started and picking my favorite posts to share with you today! 

This post is definitely a favorite for me because it marks a huge life change for me! I cannot tell you how excited I was to become a teacher and this post is all about my first week! I absolutely loved teaching and coaching and miss it all the time. 

This post was huge for me! It was a big step in our marriage, and I remember so many women in my Bible study coming up to me and telling me how it really touched them. I was very proud of this post and still have to go back to it every now and then to give myself a bit of a reminder!

And how could this post not be my absolute favorite post EVER! Ohmygoodness, this girl just makes my heart burst! I am so thankful for the day she was born. I swear, each phase that she goes through is my favorite, and I just love watching her grow! 

I absolutely loved putting this post together, and it was definitely one of my most popular posts. It was also fun for me, because Ben is a realtor, so he had so much fun seeing how much people enjoyed looking at our house too! Plus, he took all the pictures! 

And I can't leave out this post, because just like Henley's birth story, I will love looking back on it and seeing what was going on in this phase of my life! 

It's so hard not to choose a million posts, because I have loved all of my posts, but I will leave you with those for now. I love looking back at all that I have posted and what has been going on in life. 

Two things to leave you with....1. if you get a chance visit this blog! I created this one when I was in college and I can't pick favorites because college was my absolute favorite! I loved (almost) every second of it, and I love going back and looking at the blog to see what I was up to. 2. this blog post was definitely not one of my favorites to write, but I feel like it embodies all that I strive for this blog to be. Totally candid. It talks about a very difficult time in my life almost two years ago, and since I've vowed to be an open book, I would love for you to read it. 

Happy Tuesday everybody! Who is ready for Fall?!?! 

STRANDED: Movies

Today I'm linking up with Erika for another edition of STRANDED! It's usually a link-up with Shay and Erika, but Shay is a little busy right now in China. If you haven't gone over to her blog to check-out little Miss Madeley, you so need to! I just can't get enough of reading their story and getting to hear updates on the adoption process. 

Anyway, today's STRANDED theme is movies...WHAT THREE MOVIES WOULD YOU TAKE WITH YOU ON A DESERTED ISLAND?!

Hmmm...this one is so hard! They would each have to be movies that I could clearly watch over and over and over again. 

I was able to watch some of these type of movies recently when Ben was working the rodeo in our town and was gone every night. I would get on Netflix or look on tv and watch those girly movies that he just has no desire to watch. I enjoyed it so much! 

First of all, if you were asking me from my childhood, the three that I would say I watched the most would be...

These three were the movies I absolutely just wore out! Every single road trip as a family we would always watch Sandlot and Steel Magnolias, and I was just obsessed with Grease. I would dress up like Sandy and always reenact the final scene. I'm not sure all of these would make it to my deserted island though, so lets think what movies I would never get tired of....

Steel Magnolias makes the cut! I mean, I know it's a little sad, but lets be real...I will probably need a good cry every now and then on this deserted island! Other than it being a little bit sad, it is one of the funniest movies ever! There are just so many lines to throw out that just crack me up. My family is constantly quoting this movie. Oh, and this reminds me...my delinquent husband has still not seen this movie. We will be watching it soon! 

This movie just never gets old to me! Plus, I am sure that I will need a little bit of the holiday spirit in my life! 

This one might throw some of you for a loop! Most people haven't even heard of this movie, but fortunately for me, my oldest sister introduced it to me growing up. It is just the cutest! I love this movie and could watch it anywhere, anytime! Plus, it's set in the fabulous South Carolina, so my heart just pitter patters the whole time I'm watching it! 

I can't wait for the next STRANDED! These topics are just so fun! 

Leave a comment with the three movies you would take with you on a deserted island! 

Friday Favorites: MDO

So I'm linking up with these fabulous ladies for Friday Favorites, but my Friday really only consists of one, singular favorite!

Today was Henley's first day of Mother's Day Out! She is growing up so fast and although I would love for her to stay little, I so enjoy each stage that she goes through. I am loving her little personality right now and am so excited for her to learn and grow with some new friends! 

We really started everything last night with Meet the Teacher. The place we are going is just half a mile up the road from us, so per Ben's request, we got out the red wagon and walked on up there. Dear weather, I would really appreciate it if you could feel a little more like Fall soon! My hair totally died by the time we got up there and I don't appreciate it. I actually put an effort in, obviously to impress the mommies, and it didn't work. Sincerely, this sweaty mama! 

I'm not sure if it's because we haven't been going to the gym regularly lately or what, but Henley is super clingy when we leave her lately. Ben was with us, so she was even more clingy with Dada. The plan was to drop her off at her classroom while we went to a short meeting with all the parents. We lingered in the classroom for a little while chatting with some other parents in her room, and eventually we had to sneak out the door. I am usually one for dropping and running - I worked in the church nursery enough to know that it makes things worse when you hang around. 

Our meeting was super short, but I felt like a real adult going to a "school meeting" for our child! When we picked Henley up she was perfectly happy playing. It made Ben's super soft daddy heart feel a lot better! 

Our plans for after Meet the Teacher were BIG!! We HAD to run to the store to get Henley a new necklace! You see...Henley LOVES wearing a necklace and checks for it quite often. We somehow lost hers and I have been promising her a new one for about a week. We went to Target earlier on in the day in hopes of having one for Meet the Teacher, but they didn't have any we liked, so we hit up trusty ole Walmart for a new one. She picked it out and was so excited to wear it! 

After our necklace expedition, we headed for some froyo to celebrate the start of something new! 

This morning, Henley even woke up early and we had a great morning before drop-off. Her best friend, Noah, came over and they played while I made cinnamon rolls. Henley ate her delicious cinnamon rolls for breakfast, because you have to have a special breakfast for the first day of school! Then, we got ready and took pictures, of course! 

I think I was doing this to try to get her to smile and she just imitated me instead. #fail

After her photoshoot, she wanted some pictures with Noah. She really didn't want to take any pictures by herself, but when she was with Noah, she kept asking for "mo cheese!" I guess we know how to get her to sit still for the camera! 

After pictures, I went inside to pack everything up, looked in my purse and realized...WE FORGOT HER NECKLACE!! So obviously, we had to go back outside and take some pictures with the necklace on! 

Do you think I took enough pictures?!?! Good grief, you'd think I was a first time mom or something!! ;)

Y'all...there are no pictures of drop-off, but there should probably be a video. My goodness, it was comical and ridiculous! 

Well, it was grandparent's day for another program at Henley's school, so the parking spots were limited. Therefore, we parked pretty darn far away from the door. I thought I planned accordingly and brought a stroller for Noah and Henley's nap mat, so I could either hold Henley's hand her hold her if she wanted me to. Well, I put Noah in the stroller and got Henley out of the car and I literally could not get the stroller to move. I locked and unlocked the wheels multiple times and it just wasn't budging. So, I got Noah out of the stroller (who weighs more than Henley, keep in mind), put on Henley's backpack, put her obnoxiously large nap mat/sleeping bag under my other arm and attempted to get Henley to walk beside me. She wanted to "hold you mama," but there was no possible way that was happening. Oh, I forgot to mention, I literally just left the stroller in the parking lot in between my car and another one. I wasn't about to try to maneuver that thing back into my car with all that mess in my hands. So we walked into the building at a snails pace because well, Henley is a toddler and gets distracted. By the time we finally got into the building, my arm was about to fall off and Henley knew what was happening, so she was nearing meltdown. I put Noah down in the hall and about 3 workers tried to guide him into a room, so I had to keep him pretty close to me so he wouldn't disappear. I picked Henley up and got her in the room with all of her stuff. I'm pretty sure the teachers thought I was a lunatic because my conversation was limited and I pretty much just dropped Henley and left. Once I put her down and she found a teacher she liked, she was fine, so I got the heck out of there. I trekked back to the car with a tiny grown up (I'm being dramatic, but he is heavy) in my arms. I got him in the car and thankfully, my degenerate stroller was still where I left it. I pretty much stomped it back in the car and blasted the air as soon as I got in. No joke, my underwear was wet from sweating so badly! TMI - but you just needed to know that it was a rough, sweaty drop-off! 

You will be glad to know that I brought a better stroller to pick-up, although I ran there, so I'm sure the teachers still think I'm a lunatic!