5 on Friday (Holiday Edition!)

Happy Friday y'all! 3 More days until Christmas Eve, I'm a kid at heart! :)

1) SPARKLE

These are my favorite heels! I'm pairing these with a black sparkly skirt and simple red shirt and black sweater for Christmas Eve! I love sparkle on Christmas :)

2) BOWS 

On Christmas Day I'm wearing a skirt just like this except it has a bow on the center of it, and I'm pairing it with a sparkly top and black sweater. I love wearing a little bow on Christmas, it makes me feel so festive:)

3) The excitement of kids when they see Santa! 

Nothing compares to seeing kids get excited over Santa! It makes Christmas so much more exciting!

4) Celebrating this kiddo's birthday! 

I cannot believe Issac (Jude's little brother) turned 11 this week! In this picture he was only 7 or 8. I still remember him as a chubby little baby, and next year he will be in Middle School! Crazy! Time goes way too fast, makes me want to hold on to every moment with the babies. 

5) Hot Rollers! 

I know this is sooo 80's but seriously I'm obsessed. It is soo easy and since I really suck at curling my hair this is my fool proof way of getting perfect curls! Also, I can do my makeup while doing my hair...sign me up!

Boys Behind the Blog!

New link-up y'all! Go check it out!!

This post is all about my main man- Jude! 

I asked Jude all of these questions:
1. What is your favorite cereal? Cheerios 
2. Pancakes or waffles? Pancakes 
3. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Christmas Dinner (because he loves food) 
4. Finish the sentence: All I want for Christmas is... A bunch of money (he signs up for PCH every single day...) 
5. What was your best moment of 2013? Going to Mexico for the first time with KoKo (that's my nickname) 

Workout Report!

I've been feeling really good lately with my workouts. I've been doing about 8-10 miles a week 

along with some light strength training. I feel like I always step it up before a holiday because I want to feel and look good during a big celebration!

This week I'm trying to squeeze in all my workouts before the weekend and trying to get in some extras before the holiday's come early next week so I wont have to worry about them. Although I truthfully hate working out (especially running) I always feel AMAZING when I'm done. 

As long as I remember that as soon as I'm done I can just relax and feel good, I can get through the run. But seriously... to whoever says "omg! I love running!..." 

Because every second makes me want to poke my eyes out...

Check out Ash & Heather for their link-up!

Weekend Recap!

Hey everyone! I hope you had a great weekend and are ready for our last week before Christmas! We had a great time this past weekend filled with family activities. 

Unfortunately, Jude couldn't make it because he was in South Carolina for his Grandma's funeral :( Just another reason to love your family and friends, and enjoy every moment everyday. 

Anyways, here are our pictures from the weekend! 

The boys shoveling the driveway...too cute!

 We live in sort of a suburb of the main city, and Santa drives around the whole suburb on the second Saturday of December and throws candy to all the kiddos! The boys loved it! 

My favorite picture!! 

Then the boys got to ride around on the tractor in the snow! 

Later that night we got a hotel and went swimming and spent the night, the boys and Bryn had a blast!! 

 

Bryn was sooo cold from the pool her little lips were blue but she just kept wanting to swim! All of them LOVE the water! 

We had a great weekend! I can't wait for next weekend because I have a hunch that Santa might be making a surprise visit to our house for the babies ;) 

Have a great week!! 

Life is Short...

I think it's a truly amazing thing to be happy. 

5 years a go...wait even 2 years ago, I could not have honestly told you I was happy. I wasn't necessarily depressed, but something was missing. 

Now every single day I really am happy. 

Do I have down days? Absolutely

Do I get sad moments? Yes

But every morning I wake up and every night I go to sleep wholeheartedly happy. 

Getting an extremely scary diagnosis from my neurologist while I was in college completely changed my life. It taught me things that many don't learn until it is too late, and it showed me I am not the person I wanted to be. The good that something so awful has brought into my life amazes me everyday. God will always bring good out of something awful that happens to you. 

-Lessons-

1) God only does good, and is not responsible for bad. However, He will be your strength through the bad 

2) The strength that comes from a positive attitude is better than any medication

3) Things can always be worse

4) I have an amazing family and boyfriend

5) I am stronger than I ever thought possible

6) Learning to laugh at a bad situation really can start to make it funny-I do this all the time about my cyst/tumor/whatever the hell it is and everyone gets mad at me but I think it's pretty funny :) 

7) We are so blessed in the US with amazing doctors and medicine, I can't imagine being anywhere else

8) Life is just way too short to wait

9) Stop giving a shit excuse my language..but not really about what others think

10) Love deeper, speak sweeter, and live like you're dying name the song :) 

  

Seriously though, the problem with the world is that people think they have time. We don't have nearly enough time, even if we do live a full healthy life which is say 85 years. Who wants to waste a second of that 85 years being bitter, mean, sad, complaining, fighting with themselves or others? God forbid that 85 years gets cut short. I'm not saying people should go out and quit their jobs, but take the vacation you've been wanting to take, love your family, stop worrying, enjoy moments and memories. And please, never go to bed angry.