MVM!! :)

Music Video Monday!

Happy Columbus Day everyone! This weekend I went to Sugarland concert and it was AMAZING!!! They have so much energy and put on a great show! I decided to have one of their videos as my Music Video Monday. :) I love a lot of their videos, but I decided on "Little Miss" because this was one of my favorites at the concert. There were fans that wrote down why they were alright on a piece of paper and then held them up during the song. It was really cool. I love how positive and upbeat this band is! She is definitely right, this song is great on the radio but even better listening to it live and through BIG speakers! :)

Sit back, turn it up and ENJOY!

The Crawl-A-See-Um to Minutes Like Glaciers

So what are your thoughts on Heaven is for Real!? So far it has been a difficult read because my heart aches for Colton and his parents. I am very glad Burpo put the Arby's story in the Prologue because as I read I know Colton will be okay.

I am only going to do a review up to Chapter 10 because I think there is so much you can discuss already from these Chapters. One part of the book that struck me was in the second chapter when Burpo was telling about his "pitty party" for himself. I admire Burpo when he quickly recognized and humbled himself when he remembered what Jesus did for us. I am presently working on having this kind of attitude on life and understanding what God is doing in my life. It is easy to get upset and have a pity party when things are not going right, or the way you think they should be. However it is in those moments that we can learn a great deal if we open our heart to God.

The next few chapters is when the reading got pretty hard. I cannot fathom what Burpo must have had felt hearing his little boy cry for him on the other side of the curtain. Ugh, just terrible!
I thought it was interested in chapter 9 when Burpo explained a prayer chain. He tells us:
"Scripture says that God answered the prayers, not of the sick or dying, but of the friends of the sick or dying-the paralytic, for example. It was when Jesus saw the faith of the man's friends that he told the paralytic, 'Get up, take your mat and go home".
I never understood prayer chains in this way! I'm not exactly sure what I thought when I was praying before. I guess I just thought I was praying for people to let God know they are in our thoughts. I now better understand the meaning and I know what praying for others can do. Hearing this excites me and I will be praying for others much more now! :) Also, I was always thankful when others told me they were praying for me, but now fully understanding what praying for others can do makes me appreciate it even more.

What are your thoughts up to Chapter 10? I would love to hear what you all think so please share! Although I know in the end he gets better, I hope he gets better soon in the book!

Be Bright Pink!!

Hello!

Well my goal of writing every day is a lot more tough than I thought it would be! Chasing around my year and half little boy, class every night but Wednesday and Friday and keeping up with the home and studying has been taking all of my time! I'm not complaining though. Life is wonderful and I'm thankful for all that is going on right now, just a lot more tough to post than I thought it would be! :)

October has started, so it is a great time to create some new goals! I got some great advice from a blog I follow, S3events and design , to make goals each month instead of a yearly resolution. I love this idea because instead of making one large goal that I usually forget after the first month, you can have a few goals each month.  When the month is over you can make new goals for the next month, or carry them over from the last one!
My goals this month are to:    1. Cook more and as healthy as possible
                                               2. Stay on top of the house and keep it organized
                                               3. Post more on my blog
                                               4. Be Bright Pink!

I added number 4 because this month is National Breast Cancer Month. Did you know that except for skin cancers, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women? After seeing this fact on the Susan G. Komen website I realized I need to learn more about breast cancer and prevention. Susan G. Komen for the cure has four great recommendations on their website that helps you know how to best prevent breast cancer and ways to detect early signs of breast cancer. The first one is to know your risk by talking to family and learn about your history. Also talk to your health care provider about your personal risk of breast cancer. The second one is to get screened, the third recommendation is to know what is normal for you and provides a list and illustrations to help you identify when you should seek your health care provider. The fourth recommendation is to make healthy lifestyle choices. Visit the Susan G. Komen link above to read more of each recommendation. The site also has self-awareness cards you can print off to help you examine yourself!

Giulianna Rancic has a fun quick video to discuss myths of breast cancer and remind you the importance of self exams:

I just love her! :)

The Susan G. Komen website also has an activity for each day of the month of October. The activity today (October 4th) is to take a moment and tell them what you would have missed if you (or someone you loved) didn't get screened for breast cancer in time.


One thing I did is paint my nails a pink color to remind myself to talk to others about breast cancer awareness and learn more about prevention. The nail polish was at Walgreens on a pink section for breast cancer awareness. I got the pinky glitter! :)

I also love the pink hair extensions I have heard some salons will put in your hair and the pink light bulbs you can put in your porch light. There are so many fun ways to help remind yourself and others about breast cancer awareness!


I will be working hard on my goals this month, which means you should be seeing me on here a lot more! :) My next post will be an update on the book Heaven is for Real, so if you want to join in on discussion please check out my next post!

Have a great day everyone!

MVM 9/19/11

She is simply Fabulous! :)

This video is introduced perfectly, can't say it any better. Enjoy!!

True Friends

While on Twitter today I came across this article from Forbes: Types of Friends You Dont Need to Have

As I read the article I chuckled at a few of the types of friends Rogers listed but it actually hit home for me because not only do I have friends like this, unfortunately I may be one of them!!

I know many people complain that they are so busy, but seriously I am Busy!! I am not complaining though, my life is great and so many things are happening right now that I am so thankful for. Class Monday night, Tuesday night Thursday morning and soon Thursday night, adding onto that the work involved for those classes, plus household chores, the duties of being a stay at home mom, decorating projects and family time. PLUS planning a wedding and working on starting a business! I love doing each of these, but finding time to hang out with friends can be difficult. Therefore I may have become the "Flaky Friend".

My intentions are always good and I want to hang out very badly. The problem is things pile up and before I know it the "we should hang out next week" turns into next month...or sadly the month after. I think sometimes in life you have to have these realizations to make you understand the priorities in life. I also think that unlike when we were younger, its not about how the quantity of friends you have but the quality.

Although sometimes it is difficult to always get together, I know my true friends know that I love them and although I wish to hang out more often I just can't do it as much now. It also makes you make the most of the time you do spend with your friends, and sometimes helps you eliminate those people who you thought were your "friends" but they actually were not.

I can name quite a few of my friends that even though I do not see them every weekend or sometimes even every month we are able to catch up on the phone and when I do see them its like we never missed a beat!

I do agree with the article that if you are spending time looking at your "friends" on facebook to catch up on their lives you should instead use that time to actually catch up with your true friends in person.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and is able to spend some quality time with some quality friends/family!! :)

Music Video Monday! 9/5/11

I haven't written on here in a while! Well I am back and excited to post today's music video! :)

Today I am posting a music video for the amazing women in my life. I have been told many times how important your girlfriends are. I completely agree. Girlfriends are the people you can be silly with, cry with, encourage you and usually are able to relate with you about those stinking boys! :) I am very fortunate to have met some wonderful ladies in my life, but most of all I am so thankful for the women that are not only my girlfriends but also my family.

As you may have already noticed, I am extremely close to my Mom and also to my two fabulous older sisters. I have been truly blessed with having them in my life and being able to learn from each of them. They truly are my heroes. Today I am posting "Wind Beneath My Wings". This song speaks exactly how I feel about each of them. Everyday they teach me what beauty is, on the inside and out. They really are everything I wish I could be.

Mom, Kristy and Tessa: Thank you for all that you do. You each teach me strength, courage, beatuy and so much more. I thank God for each one of you!!

Happy Labor Day to everyone! I hope you all enjoy your day!! :)

Music Video Monday!! 8/22/11

Today's Music video is one that will hopefully make you want to dance! :)

I remember one time when this song came on I was in the mall with my sister Tessa. We were looking around at dishes and as soon as the part came on where he says "Shake it, ShshShake it, Shake it like a Polaroid picture..." we had to stop what we were doing and start dancing. Right there in the middle of the store!

Hope this music video brings you a smile and maybe you will get up and shake it a little this Monday morning! :)

Have a great week!!

Good Morning America recently reported a story on a mother of an eight year old who was injecting her child with Botox. Yes...Botox. Here is the story:

This story is extremely frustrating and my heart aches for this little girl. Child Protective Services is investigating the mother after this was aired and the little girl was taken away from her mother but I'm not sure what the outcome was.

What I do know is these pageants are getting way out of hand. These little girls are already beautiful and it makes me so sad to hear that the mothers are giving them things to make them "more beautiful". Where and when is there going to be a line drawn??? Why can't these kids just do pageants and not have to change the way they look? I do understand there is competitiveness and the mothers are trying to give their children everything to compete that the other little girls have. However, as a mother you have to have your morals and know when enough is enough. Even more so, the pageant officials should NOT be allowing these things to happen. Maybe they do not know a lot of the mothers are doing this, but I'm sure if other mothers are able to hear about it the officials know too.

There has got to be a line drawn. What is happening to these little girls is so sad and this has to be stopped. 

Fabulous Find!!

Hello!

I just wanted to tell you all about a "fabulous find" I bought yesterday! Well, I actually didn't find it on my own...my awesome friend Allison told me about it. As a mom I don't have a lot of time to do my hair so when I used this curling iron I was pretty excited because it only took me about 25 minutes!! (I know I will get that time down even more after I am used to it.) :)

The curling iron (picture to the left) does not have a clamp, so do not get the crease in your hair. What you do is take a section of your hair and wrap it around the iron. If you want tighter curls you keep take smaller sections of hair and if you want looser curls you take larger sections. You even get a cool little glove so you don't burn your hands!! :) I didn't use the glove at first and I did accidentally burn my finger a couple of times.



Now one thing that did kind of frustrate me at first was I could not get the ends of my hair to curl because I was holding the section of hair on the bottom. See what I mean from the Conair model to the right. A lot of people like to leave their hair

like that, but I wasn't really going for that look. All I had to do though is when I finished the rest of my hair I went around the bottom and did the ends on the smaller part of the iron. It was easier to get the ends when I didn't have to worry about the rest of the hair. I'm sure it will just take practice getting used to it.

I bought my iron at Target for $24.99. I also received a $10 off coupon for buying a Conair product! Not sure how long they are having this promotion, but it is a good one so go check it out when you can! :)

Heaven is for Real

Recently my dad let me borrow one of his books "Heaven is for Real" by Todd Burpo. He also bought the book for my sister and she texted me today telling me she can't put it down. I thought it would be fun to start somewhat of a book club on here discussing the book! If you have the book, or have read it please feel free to post on here your thoughts! If you don't have the book you should get it and join in on the discussion!! :)

So far I have only read the Prolugue: Angels at Arby's. I could not believe how Colton discussed his experiences with Jesus to his parents. I experienced so many feelings while reading just the first few pages. My mouth immediately dropped when he was able to describe what his parents were doing in the hospital while he was with Jesus. Truly amazing.

What did you think of the Proluge? As his parents asked themselves...do you think this could be real?

I am excited to continue on and read more of Colton's story. I will write more about the book soon, in the meantime please feel free post any comments or discussion questions you have!

Music Video Monday 8/15/11

It is music video Monday again!! :) I was looking for a more upbeat fun video for today, but for some reason while searching for one I couldn't stop thinking about the song "Remember When" by Alan Jackson. I have always loved that song and music video so I brought it up on youtube. After watching it again I decided this has to be the video for today.

Hope you all enjoy and have a wonderful week!

What to Not Forget Before Going Out the Door

Wednesday night my mom, fiancé, son and I all went to the mall. On the way home we were talking about guys and how easy it is for them to look good. Most guys just have to shower, get dressed, take 5 to 10 minutes to do their hair, spray on their cologne and they are ready. For girls to get ready it takes at least an hour. We started talking about makeup and Ryan (my fiancé) said that it is funny because girls put so much makeup on, but they actually look the best without it. That is the trick though right? Put your make up on, while trying to make it look like you don't have any on. :)

I got to thinking about getting ready and what really looks the best. Then when I was on Pinterest later that night pinning away, I found a quote that I love and it got me thinking. 

(By the way, Pinterest is a website where you can pin things you see on the internet that you like. Ryan's aunt Erin told me about it (thanks Erin!!)  :) If you are not already on, you should join right away!)

The quote is from Audrey Hepburn:

Happiness. We remember the shinning spray, makeup, perfume, accessories etc…but what about the simple thing of happiness. You know those girls you see when you are out that seem to have a permanent smile, almost a magnet that attracts others to them? Is it the perfume they are wearing, her cute dress or her really white teeth? No, it’s probably the smile and happiness that she is projecting. People are drawn to that! People want to be around happy people, they do not want to be around someone who has a frown or scowl and is being negative about everything around them. Happiness is something every girl should not forget.

The key to this is doing what you love. Run, read a good book, take a class at the gym, travel or write! Appreciate and focus on what is good in your life. Find whatever it is that turns that light on inside of you and makes you happy!

Don’t get me wrong, I understand it is tough sometimes to always be happy. It’s up to you to figure out what makes you happy and do what makes you happy. Nobody else is going to do it for you. If you’re having a bad day, seek out what makes you happy. Play some music or talk to a friend or family member that can lift you up or make you laugh. When I’m having a stressful day I will light my favorite candle, turn on Pandora radio and play a mix of my favorite artists. It’s amazing what a little music and smelling your favorite relaxing sent can do for you! When things are really crazy I like to do all of the above while cleaning or organizing my house.

Inner happiness will radiate off of you. Stay away from negativity especially gossip. All that will do is bring you down. Many people think that talking bad about others will make them look better. Nope, it only drags you down and makes others not want to be around you! Walk around with confidence, a smile and pep in your step!! :) 

“The more you appreciate the good things, the more numerous they will be. Let the world around you be an expression of your happiness, instead of depending on it to provide you with happiness”. ~ Ralph Marston

Chalkboard Fun

My family and I moved into a new house about a year ago. I have never decorated a new home, but I really enjoy learning new things to do and creative ways to decorate each room. I have been going pretty slowly with each room but I love taking my time with decorating and deciding what I like best. Today I wanted to share with you my favorite project I have done so far.

My son's room was the first room I did because I was excited to decorate his first room. He was only four months old when we moved in, but I wanted his room to be something he could grow into and we wouldn't have to change right away. I chose to do somewhat of a big boy room with a sports theme. I also wanted him to have something fun and try something different in his room. I have always thought a chalkboard would be a lot of fun for a little boy to draw on with his friends and cousins. I did like the magnetic primer idea too, so I chose to do both! I thought for a special touch I could add a shelf above the board to put pictures, and maybe later his trophies! :)

Here is the chalkboard in his room:

As you can see from the picture his mommy, daddy, grandparents, aunts and uncles are having the most fun with the chalkboard right now. :) He is learning though and loves to draw on it. What is great is I don't have to worry about him drawing on the walls because it wipes off! This was a pretty easy project, and I love the way it turned out. All you have to do is get magnetic primer and chalkboard paint. I suggest the Rust-Oleum specialty magnetic primer:

 The box suggests 3 thin coats instead of 2 heavy coats, but I suggest 5 coats. I had heard from other blogs that need a lot of coats for magnets to stick. After the primer is fully dry I added the chalkboard paint. You also have to do quite a few coats of this too. I then got trim and a board for the shelf and painted them white. After they were dry my fiance put them up with a nail gun, I was a little nervous to try the nail gun. It actually didn't look to hard though. After the trim around the chalk board was up we added the shelf! I was a little nervous to try this out, but it was so worth it!! Most magnets stick and the chalk wipes off easily! I definitely recommend doing this in one of your rooms! :)

Music Video Monday!

Monday nights I have class, so I don't have as much time to write during the day. I have decided to make my Monday blog posts music videos I love. Music Video Monday!!

Today I have decided Carrie Underwood, Mama's Song. This is a beautiful song and video. I know many girls can relate to this video, and I am for sure one of those girls. I am blessed to have a wonderful mother and role model in my life. I have to admit I did get a little teary-eyed when I watched this video! Hope you enjoy!! :)

Moments

Today I was looking at Ashton Kutcher’s A+Video list and came upon a pretty awesome video that got me thinking. The video is 16:Moments by Radi0Lab. Here it is:

So how would you define a moment?

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a moment as:

a.)   a minute portion or point of time:instant

b.)   a comparatively brief period of time

Defining moment is difficult. Why? I think mainly because moments mean more to people than just a "period of time" or an instant.

Do we capture moments in life as much anymore? In life it is important to take the time to appreciate the moments we have. We can get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of life, especially with social media and smart phones, we rush around and don’t take the time to recognize the moments we have (or could have) in life.

Sometimes there are moments in life we want to skip over and wish or even pretend never happened. At least I can think of a few, for instance I wish the moment I stubbed my toe for the third time never happened. However, aren't these the moments that makes us real? Pain, love, anger, happiness and many more are feelings we experience that make us who we are. If we didn't have these moments where we take the time and feel what we are supposed to feel we will not experience life to the fullest and we will not learn and grow.

Maybe there are moments that are planned for you and no matter what you do it will happen. For example, no matter what that man in the video did he was going to miss that bus because he wasn't meant to be on it. Maybe while he sits at the bus stop waiting for the next one he meets a friend or even his future wife there. Or maybe he just takes that moment in time to observe what is around him and sees something that sparks a great idea for the company he works for. Moments offer a time to observe, think, heal, learn and so much more.

Overall, I feel it is important that we try to absorb these moments in life. No matter how big or small or wonderful or hard. Instead of thinking of life as being busy and not having a moment to spare, we should stop for a moment and take it all in. Sing, cry, smile or just breathe! It is YOUR moment. Take the time to smell the flowers as the lady in the video did. The moment that you take the time to just breathe, look around and smile could be when you learn something new about life or even yourself. Or perhaps you will meet a stranger who becomes a friend.

After all as David Gray's song says, a moment could change everything...

Photo Editing Fun

If you love taking pictures and editing them quickly then check this out!!

The site is plixr-o-matic. I found this cool editing site while reading PR Daily News. Adam Vinvenzini named this as one of the 5 most-useful social media tools this week...and I agree!! :)

Here is an example of what you can do to a photo. I took a quick picture with my son on the computer...



And then added a few touches on plixr-o-matic and turned the picture into this:



There are many different filters to choose from and the site is really easy to use. Definitely one of my new favorite photo editing sites!

Making it happen!

My first post! :)

I'm really excited about starting this blog and to share my thoughts, feelings and stories. I truly enjoy writing so this is my chance to do what I love. I have had a fear of starting a blog because I have been afraid of what people will think of what I write. Its time for me to get over what others think and start writing. My future goal is to write a book, but for now I will write a blog. :)

If you are reading this and you don't know me, then I would like to introduce myself. My name is Abbey. I am a stay at home mother and a grad student. I have my BA in broadcast journalism and am currently studying communications with an emphasis in PR. I LOVE learning. Knowledge is power right? I am also engaged to my best friend!! :) We have been together for almost five years and are getting married in September 2012. We have lots of time to plan and I am enjoying every part of the process.

Along with being with my family and friends, I also love traveling, taking pictures, decorating our new home, reading, sporting events...especially the Cardinals, being outdoors and running. I love finding quotes that sum up the way I am feeling at the moment, so you will be seeing a lot of quotes on here. Please, please feel free to comment on here! I love having discussions with others.

I want to leave with a quote that helped me get started with this blog:

"Devote yourself to an idea. Go make it happen. Struggle on it. Overcome your fears. Smile. Don't you forget: this is your dream."

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog, I hope you enjoy it! :)