That's a Wrap 2018...

Today is the last day of 2018, and it has been QUITE a year!
This was the year that we:

Life Lately-- Christmas 2019

Happy Friday friends! Here's a little look at what we've been up to around here. 

Plaid Shirt/Vest/Jeans/Boots/Lily Grace's Dress/LG's Shoes/Devin's Shirt/Devin's Jeans

New Year's Resolutions 2019

Hi all! I hope you had a very Merry Christmas! We spent the end of last week/the weekend with Devin's family in Wilmington, and then headed home to Charlotte to celebrate with my family on Sunday. We kicked off our family Christmas celebration with a trip to the Panthers game on Sunday, and then spent Monday and Tuesday with family as well. It was the perfect way to spend the holiday.

What I've Been Wearing-- Winter

Hi Friends! Happy Friday! Today is a little roundup of some of the outfits I have thrown together lately, including Lily Grace's favorite... my festive Christmas sweater. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Thanks for stopping by!

Jeans/Boots/Shirt/Vest

Quick and Easy Peppermint Bark

Hi There! Earlier this week I posted about a typical day in our lives and one of the things we did was make peppermint bark for family and friends. This recipe is super easy and quick to make, so I thought I'd share in case any of you were interested.

A Day in the Life of Us

Good Morning! It has been roughly 6 months since the last time I did a "Day in the Life" post and wanted to do another one. I have been trying to find a somewhat "normal" (read: relaxing) day around here to document, but it's been awhile since we've had a "normal" day... so I guess crazy busy is the new normal! 

I love looking back on what my sweet little girl was up to 6 months ago and know I'll continue to love to read these as she gets older. 

Family Christmas Traditions

Today we are talking about the traditions that our family does to celebrate the Christmas season. Some of these things Devin and I brought from our families growing up (our families of origin) and some of them we started new together as our own family. Do we get to all of these every single year? Heck no. But do we try? You bet. Have a look...

Our Trip to Bali Part 2

Hi There! It is time to continue the recap of our Bali trip-- woohoo! If you haven't already read my first post, check here. I'm telling you, it is a brisk 37 degrees outside right now as I type this and looking at these pictures is a liiiiiiiitle bittersweet right about now. It's a little hard to imagine that just two weeks ago we were lounging by the pool in our swimsuits...

 Anyway, let's get started...

What I've Been Priming

Good Morning! It had been awhile since I had done a Prime post and figured since I am Prime-ing like crazy these days, I'd share! Maybe I'm buying something you might want too 😊

Storage Bins-- We reorganized Lily Grace's playroom and I needed more storage bins to hold her toys. These come in a variety of colors and were only $9!

Weekend Highlights

Happy Monday friends! I hope you all had a nice weekend. Here's a look at what went on around here..

1. Charlotte Christmas Village-- On Friday afternoon Lily Grace, her Aunt Jenni (my sister) and I headed to Uptown Charlotte to the Charlotte Christmas Village. We were looking for a German/Danish Advent calendar candle to start a new family tradition. These are basically the candle version of an Advent calendar. They have the numbers 1-24 written on them and you light the candle each day (typically done as the family eats breakfast together) and watch the flame burn down until the next number. Here is an example below:

STEM Christmas Gifts

Hi Friends! Since I am the STEM teacher at our school I have been getting a lot of questions from friends/family members about some STEM themed gifts they could be giving as Christmas gifts. I figured this would make for a good blog post because maybe some of you out there are interested in some STEM gifts too. I feel like I should start out by saying-- this stuff can be EXPENSIVE! I will be sure to tell you which ones I think are the most "bang for your buck". Toys that are fun, but you can really see the educational value to them too. Okay, here we go...

What I've Been Wearing

Happy Friday! I wanted to let ya'll know that my favorite Frye boots I wear all the time are on SUPER sale for $199! I wear these multiple times a week and have had them for years. I cannot recommend them enough-- they would make a perfect gift for someone else (or yourself!). Here's a look at what I've been wearing lately.

Don't mind the messy bed, I spilled coffee on the sheets and had to wash them.. woops!

White Pants/Green Shirt (only $10!)/Vest/Boots (on sale for $199!! This is crazy cheap for Frye's!)

Book Club- November

We are big fans of reading in this family 😍

Monthly Goals-- December

“Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break. And all things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you.” ~L.R. Knost
⇧⇧⇧Just a little something sweet to (hopefully) brighten your day.⇧⇧⇧

Before we get to my December goals, let's take a look at how the November goals went down... YIKES! This was NOT my month!

Weekend Highlights

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We were lucky enough to spend the weekend in Charleston, SC for our friends' wedding. Here's a look at what we were up to:

1. Wedding Time! Our sweet friends Carter and Esther were supposed to get married the weekend of Hurricane Florence in Charleston, SC but had to postpone their wedding due to the storm. The new wedding date was Friday so after working a half day, I drove straight to Charleston. Dev and Lily Grace were already there because they were both in the wedding party and had to attend the rehearsal. Lily Grace was the flower girl and a friend sent me these pics she took of our girl walking down the aisle. They are a little blurry but they can help me hold over until the professional ones come in 

Our Trip to Bali Part 1

Good Morning and happy Friday! Today I am recapping the first half of our trip to Bali so settle in with a cup of coffee and get ready for a LOT of pictures. It took us 36 hours to get there, including 29 hours of flying time. Needless to say, if it took us THAT long to get there, it better have been worth it... and it WAS! In many ways Bali reminded me of Hawaii. It has volcanoes, the volcanic black soil, beaches, surfers, and lush green vegetation everywhere. That being said, it is very different from Hawaii in many ways too, and it was definitely worth the extra hours of getting there to experience how unique this island is. 

Our first stop in Bali was in the town of Ubud. Ubud is a town in the center of the island and feels like it is in a rainforest. The AirB&B we stayed in was absolutely stunning, and our only complaint was that we didn't get to stay there longer. For anyone considering traveling to Bali I highly recommend this place. 

What's Up Wednesday

Good Morning and happy Wednesday! We just got back from our trip to Bali and to say we are jet lagged is an understatement. 

Currently me at the moment 😂 (I laugh, but I'm also serious!)

Lily Grace's Christmas List

Happy Cyber Monday friends! Is anyone else out there SO READY for the Christmas season to begin?? As a girl who starts listening to Christmas music in July, you better believe we are ready to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year. If anybody needs me I will sipping on some peppermint hot chocolate watching one of these with my mom:

#thankGodforDVR

Family Pictures 2018

Hi All! Before we begin, I wanted to let you know that we are heading off on our big trip to Bali today!! Woohoo! I would love for you to follow along with 2/3 of our sweet family on Instagram if you have it. My username is @dontmindourmess. 

I mentioned earlier in the week that we had a family friend take pictures for us for our upcoming Christmas cards. I wanted to share them with you and also tag any of our outfit details if I had them. Enjoy! Happy Friday!

Easy Dinner- Sheet Tray Veggies and Salmon

Weekend Highlights

Hi There Friends! This past weekend was another busy but FUN one! Here is a look at what we were up to:

1. Firepit Friday. On Friday we hosted a casual little get together for our friends. It was very laid back, I prepared an appetizer/some snacks and we ordered a couple pizzas. The point of this is a casual get together with friends, not go over the top with decorations/planning (there are plenty of other opportunities for that!). We played "Heads Up" and some card games while we all caught up about our week. We were too busy for pictures though, I wish I had taken some!
2. We woke up on Saturday morning and played around the house for a bit before Devin and I headed out for a little day date. We have friends who own their own cooking school and were testing out the new menu on friends and family so we stopped by. LG got all dressed up for the Ohio State vs Michigan State game and watched it with Pop Pop while mommy and daddy were out.

 Vest/Turtleneck/Jeans/Boots

3. Later that afternoon we had a friend take our family pictures at a nearby park. Kendall is an amazing photographer and our group of girlfriends is trying to convince her to do this professionally. She really has a gift, not only for envisioning how to take the perfect pictures, but also with editing them. We plan on using these pictures for our Christmas card photo this year, but also are so excited to have several to frame for our house/work/to give to extended family. She took a bunch of pictures, but these were the ones she sent me first. 

Dress/Boots/Scarf/Bracelets

 Before 

After

5. On Sunday morning we woke up early and headed to church, then to the grocery store.  After that we came home and pulled out all of our Christmas decorations and started decking the halls. We blasted Michael Buble Holiday station on Pandora and put up all of our Christmas decorations. I loved that Lily Grace was able to help us this year. She put a few ornaments on the tree and kept saying "WOW" to each one. It was too cute! But then, when we turned away for a second she started pulling the ornaments off the tree and tried to put a Christmas light in her mouth, so.... we had to put a barrier around the tree for when those moments when we aren't able to be right there with her. Tacky? Yes. Safer? Yes, so obviously worth it. What do you other mommas of toddlers do with your trees? They are such a fun part of the Christmas season and I want her to be able to safely enjoy it. I'd appreciate some feedback!

That was our weekend, hope you had a good one too! Happy Monday!

  

Classic/Casual/Preppy Fall Outfits

Happy Friday! I love perusing other blogs to see if I can find some casual outfits with a hint of preppy (my favorite style). Apparently these are your favorite types of posts too because these are always the top visited posts on my blog! Here are a few of the preppy/casual outfits I've been wearing lately...

Dress/Boots

Book Club-- October

Good Morning! It is time for the monthly Book Club post and this meme below pretty much sums up my month:

Weekend Highlights

Good Morning! We had a busy weekend over here and I thought I'd share some of the fun things we did. But before we begin with that, I thought I'd share a pic or two of Lil's Halloween costume. We used her crazy hair to our advantage and dressed her up as Albert Einstein :)

1. Charlotte Half Marathon-- Our race was finally here! We have been training for this for the past few months and were so excited for the big day to finally be here. Dev had been training right along with me but a few weeks ago hurt his knee while running. He took some time off hoping it would heal in time for the race but it was still sore the week leading up to the race, so he deferred to next year. This was really upsetting to him but I am so proud of him for making the right decision and deferring instead of pushing himself through it and possibly injuring himself further. He and Lily Grace were my #1 fans in the crowd and saw me at multiple places along the course. We got to celebrate together at the finish line.

Lil came on a little strong with her kiss 😂

2. After the race we made our way to the library for the last day of early voting. Lily Grace got to vote too and earned her "I Voted" sticker. 

3. I had scheduled a massage for the day of the race, so after rinsing off at home and resting for a few hours, I made my way to the spa for a little post-race R&R. While I was relaxing after the race, Dev and Lily Grace met up with some friends. 

 My trip to the spa was relaxing

Lily Grace and her friend playing (I blurred out his face because I didn't ask his mom's permission to post their picture).
4. Sunday morning we got all dressed up for church and then went for a walk around our neighborhood.

 Outside our church

 

5. On Sunday afternoon we hung out with friends and let all the kids run around together. We are so lucky to have a group of close friends with kids the same age. Getting to parent with a group of close friends makes it that much more fun!

That was our weekend, I hope you had a good one too! Happy Monday friends!

Monthly Goals-- November

Hi There! It is time to set some new goals for the upcoming month and I figured I'd share them with you. I will be honest, posting my monthly goals online has made a huge difference in whether or not I accomplish them. I don't want to have to write that I didn't accomplish one of my goals if my only reason is "I just didn't feel like it". So while I may not have had a "perfect" month goal-wise, I at least made a solid effort on all of my goals, which is a win in my book! Thanks for helping to keep me accountable :)

First let's take a look at last month:

Planner/Notepad/Washi Tape/Flair Pens

Marble Contact Paper Before and After Part 2

So a few weeks ago I posted about the mini kitchen makeover we did with marble contact paper and had a few questions about how exactly I did it. Luckily at that point we didn't have the entire kitchen done yet, so I was able to be more diligent with taking progress pictures as we completed it. If you missed the other post, click here to check it out.

What's Up Wednesday

Happy Halloween and Happy What's Up Wednesday!! This is always one of my favorite posts of the month. I love reading to see what all of you are up to and sharing our updates too :) Just like last month I don't have a legit answer for every question, so I only answered the ones that were fitting :)

What I Pack in My "Personal Item" For a Long Flight

Hi There! So we have just wrapped up one big trip and now are gearing up for our next one in November. This time we are going somewhere much farther away and I am already starting to plan for our 24+ hours of flying. 

Can anyone guess where we're going?? This will be our last international trip together for awhile, so we decided to go all out. :)

What I've Been Priming

Hey all! I figured I was due for another "What I've Been Priming" post since it feels like we are getting a new package in the mail every other day around here :)

1. Duck Marble Contact Paper I had previously ordered a different brand contact paper and was disappointed when it came, so I went with this brand instead. MUCH better looking! I did a little before/after here and plan on posting an updated tutorial sometime next week. 

2. Our Hiking Backpack-- We took this with us to Amsterdam and it was the perfect size to hold everything we needed and it also has a water pouch to help keep you hydrated. We used this last weekend when we went hiking in the NC mountains and plan on using this for many trips to come!

3. Tripod- A friend of our who takes pictures recommended this tripod for traveling. It folds up really small and can fit into our hiking backpack for our trips. 

4. Tanning Wipes- I wanted a little glow and figured I didn't need the full size wipes now that the weather is cooling off. 

5. Girl, Wash Your Face- I loved this book so much I bought 3 copies as gifts for Christmas presents! Yes, I start buying my Christmas presents super early (I actually usually start in the summer). It makes the holidays more enjoyable to me if I'm not stressed about finding everyone the perfect gifts last minute.

6. Cell Phone Holder Clip- I saw this on another blog I follow, the family clips this to their stroller/chair/whatever they can find in order to get pictures of all 3 of them instead of the dad always being left out. I guess it's kind of like a selfie stick except you can get more in the picture because it can be set back farther. The family said they also use it to put on some Youtube videos at the store/somewhere they need both hands. I haven't used it for that yet, but I guess it's good to know its an option!

7. Dried Fruit Snack Packs- We have another big trip coming up where I will want some non-perishable healthy snacks with us. I bought these because they had no sugar added and wouldn't go bad if we didn't end up eating them right away.

8. Polarized Sunglasses- I lost yet another pair of sunglasses last weekend in the mountains and grabbed this two pack of aviator glasses for $17. Anybody else go through glasses like crazy?

So that's what I've been Priming lately! What about you? Anything you'd recommend I add to my cart? Have a good one!