From Fall to Now

So, I've been gone for a minute.  If you didn't notice, then that's cool. But welcome back! XD

I've had a few crazy busy months.  I overbooked myself on Jamberry parties (Did you know I was consultant? Now you do.), my "real" job has been busy, and I've been doing my best to balance work and family. Cooking, cleaning, and laundry are another story.

Priorities, people.  I have mine straight, I can assure you.



So, let's see...   I got a visit from my friend Betty!!!!!  It was so much fun to be able to show her our life here and to go have fun at Disney.

Betty and Me near Japan at EPCOT

Betty came during the best part of the year: The Food and Wine Festival!!! It's my most favorite thing, ever. We ate our way around EPCOT... and got rained on twice. So it was a good time. :)

Lily wanted her picture taken in front of the fountains.

Going on a safari!

Meeting Meeko!

Me and Pocah, my new BFF.

I also FINALLY found a new hairdresser!  And the next time I went to make an appointment with her at the salon where she worked, they told me she quit.

Oh joy.

But I've still been going to the same salon, but the new person I have cutting my hair still doesn't get it quite right.  So, I did get ONE decent haircut while out here!

This photo was taken after I took a nap. Woo!

I put Lily in some tumbling classes. I still can't decide if I want her in tumbling or dancing. Either way, it's good for her to be in some kind of structured class,

Her teacher, Miss Jenn, is helping her do some "inchworms." Check out how strong she looks doing that (crooked) plank!

We went to our ward Trunk Or Treat. Lance and I didn't dress up this year, and Lily's "costume" was a total cop out. But she still had fun.  I told her to say "thank you" really loudly, so she basically shouted it in people's faces after they gave her candy. It was magnificent.

My little family went to visit my little brother's little family for a quick weekend trip. We went to Washington DC and Philadelphia and it was awesome!

Lance and Lily playing around at the Lincoln Memorial

I didn't take very many photos. Story of my life.


Then about a week later, Jared and his family came to visit us for Thanksgiving!

They introduced me to Firehouse Subs. Delicious!

We went to the beach. The water was warmer than the air! And Aaron loved  playing in the sand!

Lily had way too much fun.

We also went to the park and played around.

Then a couple weeks later I went to Utah for my company's Christmas party!  Lance's work wouldn't give him the time off, so Lily and I went by ourselves.

The flight went MUCH BETTER than last time I flew alone with Lily.

Ready to rock!

She is the cutest flyer, ever!

She fell asleep on me! ♥

This is how sad and lonely Lance was while we were gone. ;-)

I experienced this weird Mormon bar.  Just kidding. I had heard of Swig, but not Sodalicious. I'm still craving the Southern Gentleman. It's Dr. Pepper, vanilla, and peach! MMMMMM!!!

Lily had SO MUCH FUN playing with her cousins, and Carita.

Look at this cutie! Taking selfies with my camera. What a stud. And of course there's Jessica with an instrument. I LOVE how there is always live music at my parents' house!

Three cheese balls.

Mabel is such a cutie!

On the flight home, Lily was entertained with stickers for nearly three hours. It was glorious.

After I got home, we started our family Christmas festivities.  We have started some traditions here where we go see the "snoap" in Celebration, and the lights on Jeater Bend, which, by the way, was on ABC's Christmas Light Fight this year!  They didn't win.  But it was cool to say, "Hey, they're in my ward!"  and "I know them!"  and "Hey, that person gave Lily an LED balloon when we were there!"

Catching snoap

I love how amazed she is by it.

And then this past weekend we went to the lights at Hollywood Studios. This is the last year they'll be doing them, and it makes me so sad.  They are truly gorgeous to behold. The photos below are just a fraction of how much they really do. And they are all linked up to music. And it snows. It is magical.

The reason for the season!

So that is what we've been up to for the past few months.  We're about to head out on another trip. This time to VEGAS and this time it's all three of us.  I'm so excited! My sister, Emilee, is getting married there. And I plan to take complete advantage of being in Vegas. I love that city so much!

Merry Christmas!!

Thoughts From a Sleepless Mind

So I unintentionally pulled an all nighter. Woo. I went to bed super early, which for me, is 1am. My dog Bentley decided to start crying at 3:30 am. It is now almost 9am and I haven't been able to get back to sleep.

But enough about me. Let's talk about all the wild thoughts I've had as I tossed and turned, shall we?

Getting pretty sick and tired of the hypocrisy I see all over the place... I forgot that being a good person means to only treat people well if they treat you well first. I also forgot that you can judge who you want however you want, and stereotype people, but no one better do the same to you!

Fall Favorites!

My best friend, Jaclyn Hill, tagged me to do this!


If you know who Jaclyn Hill is, then you know the previous statement was a lie. I mean, she really did tag me (she tagged all of her subscribers), but she's not really my best friend. I wish!!!

I thought it sounded fun, so here goes!



THE FALL FAVORITES TAG!

• Favorite Candle

• I'm not a huge candle person, but I do love Scentsy and other off brand wax melts. My favorite scent for the fall would have to be a Febreze wax melt in the scent Sugared Cranberry. It just smells so sweet and fruity!

• Favorite Lip Color

• I am a lipstick junkie. I have so much lipstick that I have to keep finding new places to store it.  It was hard to choose, but I'm going to go with Bite Beauty lipstick in the shade Palomino. It's a gorgeous fucshia shade, but it's much richer and deeper than all my other pink lipsticks. The formula of this lipstick isn't glossy, but it also isn't matte. My lips are super dry so matte lipsticks and I do not get along very well. This one is really comfortable to wear and it looks awesome!

• Favorite Drink

• Behold. In all its glory. The Starbucks Vanilla Bean Frappuccino with CARAMEL.  I know what you're thinking... Ok, actually I don't know what you're thinking, but I can assume. So I'll answer those assumptions here...  
• A. I don't drink coffee.  Have you ever met a vanilla bean that was also a coffee bean? Me neither.
• B. Yes, it's frozen. I live in Florida. Frozen drinks are a must all year round.

• You know what else is BOMB at Starbucks??  The Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate! O.M.G. Basically just anything with caramel at Starbucks.  Although... Ghiradelli also makes wonderful hot chocolate...

• Favorite Blush 

• Alright, fall makeup... I don't really change my makeup a ton for the fall. I guess I draw away from the bright pinks on my cheeks, but then the cooler weather adds that back in naturally anyway... But, I'll play along.  I love the blush Spell Bound by Makeup Geek. Makeup Geek makes AMAZING makeup products, and they are SUPER affordable. I'm talking MAC quality at L'Oreal prices here. This blush is a matte blush so I won't be looking springtime sparkly in the fall. It's a very nice neutral color that just gives me a healthy glow.

• Favorite Clothing Item

• I recently purchased this shirt from Target, and it's my new favorite fall clothing item. Plaid flannel just screams autumn!

• Favorite Fall Movie

• Fall movie. I guess I'll go with a Halloween movie.  I love me some Hocus Pocus, but I also have a soft spot for Corpse Bride, so I'll go with that one.

• Favorite Fall TV Show

• I mean... come on. Are you surprised? This is my favorite show of all time, but it starts up again in the fall. Woo! I don't care if they change to be called Dancing With the Homeless, I will still love it! Probably more so, because how cool would it be to get people off the streets, teach them a new skill, and pay them while doing so? Awesome.

• Favorite Thanksgiving Food

• You guys. Thanksgiving is coming up!  Eeeeak!  I have lots of favorite Thanksgiving foods, and I cannot choose between sweet potato pie and stuffing. And homemade pomegranate-cranberry sauce. I need all three in order for it to be considered Thanksgiving. Any other applicants need not apply.

• Favorite Halloween Costume

• The idea of this category is that it's a costume that YOU have been.  And my favorite that I have ever been was last year. I put in the most effort I ever remember putting in, and I became Effie Trinket. It was so much fun!!

Not many people have been updating their blogs lately, so if you're reading this, I tag YOU! Ok, that's a lame cop out, but I really don't know who reads this.  So here are some specific people:

Emilee Keele

Katie Keele

Tenilee Holyoak

Elise Keele

Jessica Keele

Sierra Workman

Amber Biggs

THE FALL FAVORITES TAG -

Favorite Candle

Favorite Lip Color

Favorite Drink

Favorite Blush 

Favorite Clothing Item

Favorite Fall Movie

Favorite Fall TV Show

Favorite Thanksgiving Food

Favorite Halloween Costume

Sometimes You Have to Vent

So, I've made a pretty significant change in my life.  And I've come to realize that I can't really talk about it to very many people.

I joined Jamberry. I sell Jamberry.

I'm excited, I'm happy. I love to talk about it. It's fun! I'm obsessed.



Most people think I'm either trying to sell them or recruit them.



News flash! Just because I'm talking to you about it, doesn't mean I'm trying to sell you.  I'm excited about it. LET ME BE EXCITED ABOUT IT!!!! Just because I'm excited about it, doesn't mean you have to be. All I expect is a little respect. Don't shut me down or cut me off.


You see, if you talk to someone about what you did at work that day, usually they listen politely and whatnot.  If you are in a company like this and you talk about what did you did at "work" that day, people shut you down and tell you why you can't do what you're doing, and why the product is no good, and why you should give up.



That's OK.  They're not really listening to me. So I won't listen to them either. I can do what I want.



I've learned a lot in the past month. I've grown as a person. I've improved areas of my life that were weak. I've become more confident in myself.


And I've had awesome nails while doing it.





Thank you, and good night.

End of Summer!

Ok, so, it's been a little while since I've posted. We had a busy summer.

I've gotten totally behind on birthday cards. I still haven't sent out the ones from June!  I'm sorry.  Consider it a random surprise when something shows up in the mail, OK? Great, thanks.


Soo... back to August.  We went on a little road trip with the family.


And I mean, the entire family...

I love taking the dogs on road trips.  We took a trip down to Tampa. Dogs are free at La Quinta, so that's where we stayed. Originally we weren't going to stay the night, but it ended up being a good price, and it was easier on all of us.

Ok, except for maybe Lily when Layla tried to snuggle but ended up scratching her...

We spent a few hours at the beach! I love those sandy butt cheeks.

Lance went to a Braves game.  (...We ALL know this is the real reason we went to Tampa...) Lance loves his Braves! He was the only one who went, and he got a really good seat!!

Emilee, Lily, and I stayed back at the hotel. We watched America's Next Top Model and snuggled, and ate candy.

Side note: I've never been in to ANTM. Tyra drives me nuts. *whiny voice trying to sound sexy* "Do you wanna be on top?!"  Um, no. No I don't. And how would you know what it takes? You're not on top yourself!

However! It was very interesting. There is something fascinating about watching senseless drama unfold on television. I swear they PAY people to freak out over NOTHING.  "Hey guys... the more drama you create, the bigger your checks will be! Play it up!"

Tangent over.

Tampa was fun.

We went to Ulta to play with makeup, and while I was helping Emilee with something, this little STINKER grabbed a tester, opened it, and applied it to herself.  Her application skills need a little finesse, but, I'd say she did a pretty good job. She has excellent color taste!

I went to sushi with a friend. Check out how awesome this Dragon roll is!!  (It was delicious too.)

We took Emilee to EPCOT. EPCOT is my favorite park.  In Mexico, we found these blankets. Straight out of my grandma's basement!  Seriously! I saw this and was immediately transported back to my childhood. I swear my grandparents have this EXACT blanket.

Lily wanted to ride next to Emilee on Spaceship Earth.  They so cute, so cute!


Emilee just HAD to go home and go back to school. So now we're back to normal, sad, lonely, life.

In other news, I tried a sample of Jamberry. Became obsessed when it completely outdo my expensive nail polish.

Ordered all the things.

Lily picked out her own wraps. She wanted the sharks!  After we ordered them, she asked every single day, "Are my sharks in the mail box?!"  Seeing her be so excited was so cute.  She sat very nicely for me while I applied them (which didn't take very long).

Side note: They're still on today (it's been 8 days), except for her thumbs. One thumb she sucks, so that one came off after 2 days. The other thumb I think she peeled off.

And that's all the photos I have!  I've been slacking.  I mean, three of the photos posted aren't even mine. I stole them from Emilee!


So yeah, busy summer.  I'm SUPER excited for fall! It's my favorite around here. EPCOT's Food and Wine festival is coming up! They open up a ton of extra food booths and you can basically eat your way around the world.  My friend Betty is coming down to visit and we are TOTALLY going to ride that train.  I'm super excited!

I hope you all had a nice summer.