Things I Love Thursday:

So I decided that I want to start a weekly post about things I like/use.  I like the way "things I love Thursday"sounds, so I decided to do them on Thursdays.

For the this week's "Things I Love Thursday", I have 5 things I love:

1. Clinique Chubby Sticks

2. Old Navy Girl's Leggings

3. Apple Earpods

4. Sunflower Jasmine Tea

5. Free People Floral Socks

Okay, so number 1 is something that I could not live without.  I am obsessed with Clinique make-up.  I have never used anything other than Clinique, because I fell in love with it from the beginning.  If you go to Dillard's and look at the different make-up counters, you will see why I chose Clinique.

Lemme show you what I mean...

Estée Lauder:

Clinique:

As you can see, Clinique is a more natural-looking make-up.  I love their make-up, for real.  These Chubby Sticks are a creamy, balm-like lip color.  They moisturize your lips while they add color.  They come in a bunch of awesome colors.  I have three.

Okay, on to number 2.  This is a kinda weird one.  Old Navy girl's leggings.  I know what you're thinking, "there is no way she fits into little girl's leggings".  Oh how wrong you are.  I get a large or extra large and they fit perfectly.  They are so cute and come in so many awesome designs.  I have the ones in the picture and I have a black and white striped pair.  I sleep in mine and they are super comfy and cheap.

Seriously?  How cute are these?!

Number 3, Apple Earpods.  I got these babies for Christmas last year and they're awesome.  They fit your ear so much better than the old Apple earphones and the sound quality is great.  And they're like $30, which is not bad for earphones.  I also love that you can control that volume and change/pause the song from the headphones.  I use this feature so much, especially when I am washing dishes in the kitchen at church and don't wanna get my phone all wet and gross.

Number 4, Sunflower Jasmine Tea.  Ricky's mom, Mrs. Marion, gave me this tea for Christmas this year.  She drinks it every night and I would always drink some when I went over there.  So, she got me my own glass teapot and this wonderful tea.  Jasmine tea is so good, for real.  It is sweet and smells like honeysuckle.  I get a little frustrated trying to make it myself, because Mrs. Marion's tastes perfect and mine never turns out quite as good as hers.  But I am still practicing.

Number 5, Free People floral socks.  Free People has the coolest socks and I saw these when I was birthday present researching (you know, looking for things to ask for for your birthday).  So, when Ricky asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I was ready.  He like a perfect boyfriend bought them and another pair for me (along with 5 packs of Ghiradelli chocolate.  Oh yea.)

Thing I Want To Make:

Here is a list of a few projects that I want to do this weekend.  I don't have work on Thursday or Friday, so I am going to try to do some DIY projects.  The first project that I am going to work on is finishing some letters I am making for my mom.  I made these for Ricky's sisters and mom Christmas before last and my mom loved them, so happy mothers day to her.

Here is what the finished project looks like (these are Katie's):

Supplies:

Wooden Letters from Michael's or JoAnn's

Yarn

Superglue

These are super simple to make.  You just wrap the yarn around the letters and put dots of superglue where needed.  The hardest part is the letters with holes, like p and e.  You have to push the yarn through the hole each time you try to make a loop.  This took me forever, but if you cut the yarn into smaller sections instead of trying to push a lot of yarn through, obviously it's easier.

The other project I want to do this weekend is a hanging organizer.  I saw this on my cousin's tumblr, These Renegades of Mine.  She posts super cool pictures, so you should go check out her tumblr.  The organizer has a super simple design, which I love.  As you can tell by looking at the picture, it is pretty self explanatory.  You just sew different shaped and colored/patterned fabrics onto a shower curtain.  I am going to make mine smaller than this one, because I don't have a huge amount of wall space to put it.  I am going to put it on my short, 4 foot, wall beside my desk.  Wish me luck!!

Supplies:

Shower Curtain (I'm using a canvas one)

Different Colored/Patterned Fabrics

Needles

Thread

DIY Blog Button

I have recently become obsessed with blogging.  I love everything about it.  I love making my blog my own and adding special touches to it.  One of my favorite things to make for my blog is a blog button.  They are cute and super easy to make.  So... I am going to show you how to make one.

Step 1: Go to PicMonkey and upload the picture that you want to make into a blog button.

Step 2: Resize the picture to 200 x 200.

(Make sure you uncheck the "Keep Proportions" box)

Now you can edit the picture and add text or whatever else you may want to your button.

When you are done, save your picture somewhere where you can find it easily.

Step 3: Now you want to upload your picture to Photo Bucket.  

This will give you the code that you need.

You need the "Direct Link" code.

Step 4: Next go to "Grab My Button" Code Generator.

Here you input the information it asks for.

First, input your blog's name, then your blog's URL, then the direct link code.

You can customize your button's text box, then click Preview.  

If you are happy with what you see, copy and paste your code into the HTML section on your blog.

A Weekend In The Life...

A summary of my Saturday:

Saturday was my friend Megan's baby shower.  We have been best friends since 7th grade.  We kind of fell apart a little when we went off to college, but we reconnected this year and have become close again.  She is pregnant with little baby Greyson James.  He was not exactly expected, but he is a blessing already.  So Megan's baby shower was Saturday morning and there were SO many people there.  It was great to see people supporting her through this time.  She got a ton of stuff and after everyone left, me and my other bestie, Kayla, helped her organize all of her stuff.  We had a blast.  That kind of stuff is what Kayla and I live for.  We love to organize and sort things.  It was great to have some "girl time".

After we finished up with Megan's stuff, Ricky picked me up and we went to the Wolfchase Mall.  We ate Chinese, sampled Teavana teas, got our free Godiva chocolate for this month, gave each other back massages at Brooks Brothers, and shopped around for some summer clothes.  It was a fun-filled date.

Here, for your viewing pleasure, are pictures of Ricky getting an eye and head massage at Brooks Bros

Once we finally left the mall, with aching feet, we met my dad at the Mid-South Con, a geek-filled weekend where nerds from all around gather to be weird together.  Needless to say, my dad fits right in.  He "trooped" and led games throughout the weekend.  By "trooped", I mean he dressed up in his Storm Trooper costume and walked around and took pictures with people.

Dad in his Storm Trooper suit

Ricky, Darth (dad), and I at the Crystal Ball in 2012

God is Good.

This morning, I was driving to school and praying the whole way.  I prayed for my family, my church, my friends, and I prayed for mine and Ricky's relationship.  I prayed for our relationships with the Lord, first and foremost.  Then I prayed for our relationship with each other.  I want the Lord to be the focus of our lives individually as well as our relationship together.  We used to pray together every night before we went to bed and text each other scripture, but we have gotten out of the habit of doing that by accident.  So I was praying that the Lord would give Ricky and I a passion for Him and a longing to seek after Him in our own lives and in our relationship.

So I never mentioned this to Ricky or anything, but later today I got a text from Ricky while I was in the drive-thru at Burger King.  The text was him explaining how he thinks we need to fix our relationships with the Lord and each other.  I was completely in awe.  I sat in the Burger King drive-thru crying like an idiot, because of how amazed I was that the Lord moved so quickly.

God loves us and He wants to answer our prayers.  If our prayers line up with His will, then He will answer them happily.  It was so amazing and encouraging and exactly what I needed today to see how faithful, loving, merciful, and amazing my God is.

Even in my joy, I was convicted of how small my faith in the Lord really is.  I should have prayed expecting Him to answer my prayers.  I shouldn't have been surprised by how quickly and perfectly God answered my prayers, because I should have trusted Him in the first place and known that He is faithful.

I am so thankful for a God who loves me and wants the best for me.  I am so thankful for a faithful God who knows my heart.  I am also thankful for a wonderful boyfriend who is seeking after the Lord.  I cannot wait to see how the Lord transforms and uses me and Ricky separately and together.

DIY Chicken Wire Wall:

Ricky's sister, Katie, has a small wall in her kitchen that she put chicken wire on and she uses it to display pictures and things.  Well... today, I was sitting around the house trying to find something productive to do.  So, I made my own version of the chicken wire wall in my room.  It isn't the whole wall, but it is a 4 foot section of one of my walls.  This was a super easy, quick, and very inexpensive DIY project.  I wanted something that I could start and finish today, and this was the perfect project for that.  I used chicken wire that my mom already had from one of her projects, a staple gun and staples that I found in our garage, my mom's measuring tape and scissors, and a chair in my room to stand on.

 This is the wall before (nothing special, just a blue wall):

These are the supplies I used (a staple gun, measuring tape, heavy duty scissors, and duh chicken wire):

This was when I laid the chicken wire out to measure and cut it.  For this step, I just measured the wall and did my best to cut the chicken wire about the same height.  I was fully prepared to have to cut some off of the bottom once I hung it, but it fit perfectly.  Yes!

 This is what it looked like when I finished stapling it to the wall:

 This is the finished product after I hung some knick-knacks on it.  I'm in love with this wall, like for real.  I love being able to change it up any time I want.  (I'm a little fickle, so its perfect for me).

 Here is a close-up of the goodies I put on it:

Here's my inspiration, Katie's Version.

I am incredibly pleased with the end result of my chicken wire wall.  Yay for DIY projects that come to completion!

Blogs I'm Obsessed With:

I have been wanting to make a post about the blogs that I follow religiously for a while now.  I'm not entirely sure why I haven't yet, but oh well.  Anyway, here ya go...

KateandKuby

Katie is my boyfriend's sister and I am obsessed with her blog.  (I seriously check it everyday).  For a few reasons.  For starters, she is amazing and I love reading about her day to day life.  I love being able to keep up with what her, Josh, and baby Canaan are up to through her blog.  Secondly, she has awesome style and is a great DIYer.  Seriously, you should see their house.  Amazing.  Go check out her blog.  I promise,  you will not be disappointed.

Bloom

I actually found Bloom through Katie's blog.  This girl, Nicole, is so sweet and she has an amazing heart.  I love reading her encouraging posts about Jesus.  She is a newlywed and I love reading her posts about engagement, wedding, and wife stuff.  Her blog is awesome.  But don't take my word for it.  Go see for yourself.

Little Chief Honeybee

I found this blog a few years ago and I fell in love.  Kaelah is a super cool blogger.  She is tatted up (which I love) and she has two adorable pups.  She is really witty and I love reading her posts.  I now follow her on instagram, which is a treat as well.  Go look at her blog.  But don't say I didn't warn you, you'll fall in love.

I love this verse, because it shows that the Lord knows our desires, and (if they are according to His will) He will give us what we want if we follow Him like we are supposed to.  I love the fact that the Lord knows our hearts' most secret desires.