Don't Try So Hard

I saw Kate's post last week about this link up, but completely forgot about it over the weekend. And after seeing so many beautiful posts by some amazing women I was reminded and inspired to join the link up myself, albeit late, but better late than never.

I grew up watching my mom put on her make up; my Grandmommy and my Gramma too. Once I was old enough, my mom showed me how to do a little bit myself. I liked it. I looked like I actually had eyelashes and if I chose the right shadows, it made my eyes pop even more. The more compliments I got, the more often I applied the powders and mascara until I wore it daily.

Until I started my nanny job, makeup was a part of my daily routine. My hair, well it's as straight as can be and only needs a good brushing. Once I was only around that sweet little boy all day, the makeup didn't matter. It was about him. I realized that I didn't wear makeup for me, I wore it for the people around me. After that, I only wore it on special occasions.

To this day, my mom still tells me my eyes are prettier when I wear makeup.

There. Me. No makeup. Half blow dried, half air dried hair. No filters. No editing. Just moisturizer, a hair brush, and some natural light.

My eyes are still pretty and I never have to wear blush (thanks Rosecea). And I don't need makeup to have a pretty smile.

What do you love most about yourself?

A Grateful List

Linking up with Ember Grey for #GratefulHeart Monday

Since it's Monday and none of us really want to think too hard on a Monday, also because lists are awesome, I'm going to do this post in list form.

Things I'm grateful for:

1. I am pretty sure I have successfully passed both classes I took during the summer session. Definitely an A in Western Civ I and I'm pretty sure I got a high B or a low A in Psychology 101. I haven't gotten my final grades yet, but from the grade I've already received on my assignments and my feelings on my performance on the finals those are my estimated grades.

2. I have three weeks off until the early fall session begins. Hopefully I'll get my new Psychology book soon so I can get a head start on my reading for my next class.

3. My school has a textbook buy back program. They don't give me what I paid for it, but they do give me a portion of it back when I return my books.

4. The county fair is OVER. No more noise. No more traffic. No more lights (the fairgrounds are behind our house and we have an access road on one side of our property).

5. My cousin found out she is having a baby boy!! So I have started making a couple of baby blankets to give to her when we are in Georgia in September.

What are you grateful for?

Happy Birthday to my Mommy!!

Today is my mom's birthday!! I'm not gonna tell you how old she is, because she would kill me a lady never reveals her age.

She hasn't been one to celebrate this occasion in some years now, and always scolds us if we spend any money on her. The scolding also happens around Mother's Day and Christmas as well. But that's mom's for ya, amiright?

My mom is a pretty smart lady. I mean she shared some awesome tips and words of wisdom when I visited her for Mother's Day a few months ago (you can read that post here). She took care of three kids on a single mom salary. And she's always got a cool craft idea up her sleeve. So today we celebrate her, and all the wonderful things she has given to the world.

Ok I have to share TWO funny stories about this photo.

1. When we were getting ready for our Mother's Day outing, I had already come down stairs wearing my blue shirt before my mom had gotten dressed. So while I'm sitting in the living room (probably instagraming this picture and taking a selfie to send to Philip) she comes rushing out of her bedroom only half ready to excitedly show me she's gonna wear the same color shirt! She stood there for a second smiling like the goober she is and then went running back into her room to finish putting her makeup on. *side note: my grandmother wore the same color shirt as well.*

2. While trying to take the picture above, we could not stop laughing. It took us several attempts to even be abel to hold a pose long enough to take one. After about ten minutes we finally got a good picture. Why so long? My mom was more fascinated with looking at herself on my phone. She kept making faces and adjusting her pose, and her eyes were never looking at the camera, but at the screen. And when I'd point it out, we'd just laugh so hard. How do you explain that to your family in the other room? You can't. You laugh through your attempted explanation, and then they give up trying to figure it out.

So Happy Birthday Mom. I love you big.

Linking up with The Grits Blog.

Summer Session Finals Week - Wish Me Luck

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I just wanted to pop an and say that my finals for this summer session are Wednesday morning, so if you don't see me on social media, commenting on blogs, and responding to emails it's not because I died or stop loving you. It's because I am balls deep in my textbooks, notes, and flash cards trying to engrain a huge amount of information in my brain.

So I leave you with a few images that convey my feelings and activities over the next few days.

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My Monday in Gifs

Here we go. Another Blog Everyday in July prompt I just COULD NOT turn down. Because, who doesn't love gifs?

Although my days are pretty uneventful, it's still super fun to analyze my typical school day thinking only in gifs.

4:45 am - Philip leaves for work and give my sleeping face a kiss.

6:45 am - The sun has risen enough to wake me up, but I resist.

7:00 am - Lay in bed and check social medias.

7:15 am - My alarm goes off and I get up to get ready for the day.

7:45 am - Drive to class.

8:10 am - Stop at Starbucks (optional), because caffeine.

8:30 - 11:00 am - Psychology Class

Sigman Freud

11:15 am - 1:45 pm - History Class

1:46 pm - Drive back home.

2:00 - 3:00 pm - Lunch and blog reading

3:00 - 5:00 pm - Study time.

5:00 - 5:30 pm - Philip comes home and we catch up on each other's day.

5:30 - 6:00 pm - Cook Dinner

6:00 - 9:30 pm - Eat Dinner and Netflix binging

9:30 pm  - Shower/Bath, because I like to be clean and all.

10:00 pm - A little more blog/social media reading (usually from the bed)

10:15 - 10:30 pm - Sleep (or at least attempt to, if not there's more of the gif above)

Does your day look anything like mine?

P.S. Philip and I have been married three months today. (is it weird we celebrate the little milestones?)

Linking up with:

The Blogmopolitan Quiz + Friday Favorites

I always loved reading the quizzes in Cosmo each month and often thought about what my own answers would be. So when Erin made the announcement about the new Blogmopolitan Quiz on Twitter the other day I got super excited. I had seen it before on several blogs a few months ago, and it was like my teenage dream come true so like the good blogger I am, I quickly hustled over there to download the quiz and fill out my answers. (Click here to get all the details and to download and fill out the quiz yourself!)

So fun! Did you fill out the quiz too?

I was so freaking excited about the quiz I almost forgot about linking up with Meagan's new Friday Favorites link-up! Today is the first official day of the link-up and to participate, you share your top five favorite blog posts of the week.

Here are mine:

1. All the Joys - I'm Not a Stay at Home Mom
This post makes me feel better about not being super duper oh em gee excited to spend every single second of my life with my future kid(s). Everyone needs time away, and that's ok.

2. Our Nashville Life - 7 Tips for New Bloggers
Seriously. Jackie hit the nail on the head. Being a new blogger can be challenging and I definitely wished I had discovered some of these things sooner rather than later.

3. Him & Me - Come Take a Tour of The Valley
You guys, I'm a huge Fred Astaire fan and now that I know where to pay homage of my fandom (and get some pot apparently) I have to visit Kathy. Not that I didn't already want to, but now I HAVE to.

4. The Daily Tay - A Post For the Dogs
I read that article about Duke. I cried my eyes out. Then I tried very very very hard to convince Hubs that we need a doggy. It didn't work. I am so glad that Taylor shared this story with us. Our pets just aren't pets, they're family.

5. The Florkens - My Thoughts on GOMI...For Whatever That's Worth
Kate wrote what a lot of us are thinking right now about the crazy person that led swarms of bloggers to GOMI in the past week, but also about her thoughts and feelings about the rest of the site.

Linking up with

A Little About Me

In the past couple of months this little space has gotten seen some new faces, so I thought I would scare the shit out of your with my crazy let you guys get to know me a little bit better. And what better way to do that than by answering a bunch of random questions.

1) Put your iTunes on shuffle. Give me the first 6 songs that pop up.

Phil Vassar - Love is a Beautiful Thing

Phil Collins & Mark Macina - A Wondrous Place (From the Tarzan soundtrack)

Tony Bennet- The Christmas Song

Sara Bareilles - Chasing The Sun

'N-Sync - For The Girl Who Has Everything

Dierks Bentley - What Was I Thinkin'

2) Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 23, give me line 17.

"To Madame de Boufflers, 3 April 1766" - Love Letters of Great Men

3) What does your latest text message from someone else say?

"Ok. Well glad to hear you are doing good and you guys be careful when you come. Hope to see you around Christmas. Love you." - From my Uncle

4) Do you sleep with or without clothes on?

Half clothed.

5) What’s your strangest talent?

Tying a cherry stem in a knot with my tongue.

BAD late night iPhone quality, but proof nonetheless.

6) When is the last time you played the air guitar?

Probably while doing one of the dances on Just Dance 2 a couple weeks ago.

7) If you are outside, what are you most likely doing?

Walking: To my car. From my car to the store/school building. 

Eating on a patio.

8) Do you perfer to be behind the camera or in front of it?

Definitely behind. (that's what he said)

9) Simple but extremely complex. Favorite band?

Always and forever a BSB fan. 

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10) Do you believe in karma?

Yes. And it's a bitch.

11) What is your greatest weakness; your greatest strength?

Weakness: Wanting everything to be perfect. 

Strength: My passion and commitment to make things as perfect as they can be.

12) How do you vent your anger?

Cleaning, writing, or reading.

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13) Do you have a collection of anything?

I haven't really be able to stick to collecting any particular thing. I would go through phases when I was younger: Frog, dolls, beanie babies. But right now the only thing that could even remotely count is my ever expanding Disney/Musical DVD collection.

14) Do you perfer talking on the phone or video chatting online?

Neither. Text me.

15) Are you happy with the person you’ve become?

Most of the time. There is always room for improvement.

16) What’s a sound you hate; sound you love?

Hate: A phone ringing in the middle of the night.

Love: The text tone I've assigned to Hubs

17) What’s your biggest “what if”?

What if I finished college when I started the first time?

18) Do you believe in ghosts? How about aliens?

Maybe not ghosts per se, but I believe that there are spirits around us that can sometimes guide us in the right direction and comfort us.

Aliens. Well, we can't be the only living beings in the entire universe.

19) Stick your right arm out; what do you touch first? Do the same with your left arm.

Right: My iPad

Left: Pumpkin (one of my cats)

20) Choose: East Coast or West Coast?

East Coast

21) What was the last book you read?

The Fault in Our Stars - John Green

22) Do you have any nicknames?

My mom calls me Manna and Hubs calls me Love.

23) What was the last movie you saw?

The Lego Movie. It was actually quite funny.

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24) What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had?
I broke my foot a couple of years ago and could barely walk for weeks.

25) What’s the last thing you purchased?

Breakfast on the way to class yesterday.

26) Where were you yesterday?
In the morning I was in class and then I came home.

27) How can I win your heart?

Always tell the truth, bring me chocolate and girl movies, and listen to (and absorb) my wants and needs.

28) What is the single best decision you have made in your life so far?

Moving to Missouri.

29) What is your current desktop picture?

I can't remember where I found this or I would link the source.

30.) Do you believe in magic?
#HarryPotter4Life 

and also this:

Linking up with The Grits Blog.