Shredding & Nail Polish

I've officially completed 1 week of Jillian Michaels! Woo hoo! That's further than I've ever gotten in the 30 Day Shred. Every day it gets a little bit easier. I can tell my strength & endurance are increasing & I'm pumped to see how I feel at the end! Only 3 more days of level 1 - Sunday, I'll jump up to Level 2.

More exciting exercise news....yesterday, I ran 10 minutes straight! It felt great outside & I was feeling great so I just went for it. Loved it. I need some new shoes, but other than that, running felt good & I can't wait to improve in that too!

I'm still loving healthy foods. Chick-Fil-A is seriously the only fast food that ever even sounds good & I don't go there regularly (haven't been in weeks). I've been off Diet Coke for a month now - wow! I drink my morning coffee, lots & lots of water, & hot tea.

I'm feeling good! I'm committed to this lifestyle change & I can't wait to see where it takes me!

Also important: I bought 3 new nail polishes this weekend :) I know neons are way in this year but pastels are much more forgiving for the yet-to-be-tanned-winter-white skin I'm sporting right now. So, I got 3 pastels  - Revlon Dreamer (periwinkle/blue), Revlon Minted (mint green), & Revlon Charming (lavender/lilac). I've been looking for the perfect shades of these colors for a while & they jumped out at me on my weekly Wal-Mart trip. Love.

Happy Wednesday!

Cowboy Boots & Gold Bangles

That's what I'm wearing today. I'm wearing an oversized sweater, jeans, a turquoise&gold necklace, gold bangles, and my FAVE cowboy boots. Oxymoron? Clashing styles? I think not. My beloved coral&turquoise cowboy boots could go with [almost] anything. I <3 them. I even wore them with my graduation robe to receive my diploma. I want to wear them with my wedding dress one day. There is just something about a girl's first pair of cowboy boots...it makes me smile :)

That randomness leads me to share these random tids about myself:
-I love reading the Sunday Comics. I've read them every Sunday for as long as I can remember. I've always come home from church/lunch, opened the paper, removed the High Profile, Target Ad, and Comics. I would sit and look at Weddings/Engagements in the High Profile, look through the Target Ad, then go take a nap, but not without reading the Comics first. Man, what great Sunday memories! Now, my mom saves the Comics for me every week and gives them to me when I come home. She's great!
-I've finally admitted to myself that I'm naturally ghostly white. I've tried to deny this for a long time! "No, you've got some color." "You tan easily! You can't be that pale." But, yes, it's true. I am naturally super duper pale. Not only have I admitted it, I've come to terms with it. I'm pale and it's okay!!! I want my skin to be pretty and cancer free in 20,30,40 years so I'm not going to tan. I'm going to be pasty porcelain pale and proud of it!
-I love driving other people's cars. I don't know why, but it's just fun to be in something different. Yesterday, I drove my bro's big Chevy truck=in love. It was just so big and loud and fun.
-I love my car. It's acting up right now and it makes me so sad to think of possibly needing a new car. My red durango [complete with MOMO license plate, big tires, a small lift, great bass, and tinted windows] is cherished. It's traveled many miles, carried such fun people, and toted necessities to staff events. I really don't want to lose her.
-My favorite season has always been summer (I think it's changing...more on that in a minute). I love walking out of a cold building into the heat. I love being engulfed by heat. I love shorts, tees, flip flops, and messy buns. I love the lake and the beach. However, the weeks and weeks we had of 110* heat combined with my current obsession of Pumpkin Spice Lattes are quickly causing my fave season to be Fall. I love boots, scarves, sweaters and jackets. I like football season. I love being able to wear my hair down everyday. Hot coffee tastes even better. I believe after this Fall season, I will be able to confidently and officially say my fave season is Fall.

Enough of my quirks for the day. Happy Thursday!

Nail Polish and Weddings

Here is the post of pictures I promised!

Houston We Have a Purple and Golden. This picture doesn't do justice to the left one. It's a great color! And the gold is really fun :)

These were 99 cents!! Pale yellow, bubble gum pink, orange/coral, and Cotton Candy pink. I love them!

Yep, I'm just as obsessed with nail polish as ever! I change the colors on my fingernails at least twice a week! It's the perfect accessory to change up for different events or occasions. Love it!!

Here are some pictures from last weekend's wedding festivities!

 

The bride-to-be and I at the rehearsal dinner!!!

It was so fun to see and catch up with all my Nursing School friends! We had such a great time! Macy's mom rented us a cabin for the night before the wedding. We stayed up until 2 laughing, reminiscing, and catching up. It was great!!

The view from the cabin was beautiful!

Macy was a BEAUTIFUL BRIDE!!!! I felt honored to be a part of her big day!

Also, I CAUGHT THE BOUQUET! haha. I actually ran for it - I didn't want it to hit the ground! I also caught a bouquet in October and nothing as happened...so we'll see if anything comes from this one. Here's to hoping!

Post of Pictures complete! Hope you enjoyed it! Soon, I'll have some BEACH pictures to post! SO EXCITED!

Joyful Days

Brooke and Christy, this is for y'all!! :)

I feel like there is a common theme out in blogger world right now.....a long hiatus with no motivation to restart because it's overwhelming. Well, I'm back (hopefully I'm back and more consistent!). A lot has happened over the past 2 months so I'll give you a recap.

I ended up doing the Daniel Fast/Diet for about 3 weeks. I welcomed back meat, dairy, coffee, and diet coke with wide open arms! Since I ended it, I've decided to get rid of diets and "forbidden foods" and just go with what my body feels. At this point, fried foods don't sound good (too heavy in this HEAT) and lighter, healthier foods do. So, I'll stick with what my body wants! (Sidenote: my body still wants sweets and I'm giving it what it wants in moderation!!)

I was in Tulsa at the end of April/start of May for April Staff Training. It was so great! I got to spend 5 days with StuMo staff and I loved it!! So many hours of incredible fellowship with people I don't get to see often. I love StuMo staff. I love Tulsa. After training, I stayed for a few days with Lane and Kel. Love them!

This spring, my apartment has been like a hotel - so fun! Ganson stayed with me for a few days while home on her visa run. Then, a few weeks later, Ang was home and she stayed with me! In mid-May, a few friends stayed with me over the weekend for a wedding. After that, Ellie (co-worker/friend) stayed with my for a few nights en route to Kaleo. Hospitality and guests are a goal for my apartment and it's happening! Love it!

2 weeks ago my family went floating the Caddo. All I'm going to say is.....I'm a city girl that likes nail polish, heels, and poofed hair.

Last weekend, I spent 3 days laying on the dock reading Harry Potter 6. Perfect memorial day weekend!

Yesterday, Christy and I headed up to Marshall for Macy and Zach's rehearsal dinner and wedding!!! SO FUN! Zach and Macy are such a cute couple and their wedding was so sweet. It was a cherished weekend with Kate, Macy, Brooke, and Christy as we stayed up late and caught up on life. I love these sweet friends so much! We will have a lifelong connection with each other because of our 3 years together in Nursing School.

I caught the bouquet today - I actually ran for it. I think this is the first time that's ever happened. haha. I didn't want it to hit the ground...so I ran...in my 4 inch, nude, platform heels. #lovemylife  I've caught 2 bouquets in the past 8 months - does that mean anything? Should I catch 3 within a year for something to happen?

I'm taking up jogging and LOVING it! Fine, call me insane (Christy already has :). I'm going the route of jogging until I can't anymore. Wednesday, I jogged 3 minutes (yes, I'm out of shape). Thursday, I jogged 6 minutes. Today, I jogged 8 minutes. I've never been so refreshed and energized by jogging....this time it's just different. Again, I'm just doing what my body wants. I can feel the muscles relaxing and stress being released. By the end of the day, my body wants to go for a jog.

I bought gold nail polish today. I like it a lot :) Yep...I'm still obsessed with nail polish. I'll try to add pics of new colors soon (I've probably gotten 7 since that last post! In my defense-most were on sale for CHEAP).

Cameron and Andi's wedding is 5 weeks from today. Where did the time go? I'm a bridesmaid. We're wearing black dresses in the style of my choice. I'm going to borrow from a friend - she has a few different options. I'll def update with pics after the wedding!

I made my summer development schedule for reading. I'm excited about the variety of books I'm going to read and what I'm going to learn. I've had some sweet, sweet times with God over the past few days. It's been extremely refreshing, joyful, energizing, and transforming. 

If you read all of that, you're a true friend :) If you didn't, you're still a true friend :) Now that we're recapped, I'll TRY to do a better job of updating. I'll also try to do a photo post soon of recent photo captures. Love you guys!

Super Girly

I used to be a nail biter. My nails were always short and rarely painted. Until last summer. While I was in India, 2 of my friends had beautiful, long nails and it inspired me to grow mine out and make them beautiful (thanks Hayley and Nicole!!). Since then, I've kept my nails long and I love them. Also starting last summer, I fell in love with nail polish! :) I've always liked painting my nails but couldn't do it in high school because of cheerleading or college because of Nursing School. Well, now I'm not a cheerleader or a practicing nurse, so I have them painted ALL the time! I repaint them in a different color about once a week and I love to try new colors. I'm not a picky brand person. I love the 99 cent small bottles at Sally's, the $2 NYC at Wal-Mart, and the $8 OPI. Today, I'm going to share with you my new favorite colors, my seasonal classics, and my randoms. Enjoy! :)

These are my fall/winter classics:

 From L to R: OPI You Don't Know Jacques!. Sally Hansen Red Zin, OPI Java Mauve-a.

 These are my summer classics. I wear them on my fingers or toes!!

 OPI Pink Flamenco (HOT pink!!) and Pure Ice Siren.

 This is a random winter color. I wouldn't call it one of my classics, but it's fun to wear every now and then. It's a dark, dark purple.

 Pure Ice Scandal.

 These are my random summer colors. I don't love them but every now and then I get the desire to wear them.

 From L to R: Love my Nails Flirty Pink (it's kind of corally and not as hot as OPI), Rimmel Tequila Sunrise (orange), and NYC 108A( it doesn't have a name! It's pale, pale pink).

 These are my new FAVES!!!

From L to R:  Sally Hansen Strobe Light. It's GLITTER! It's a clear polish with sparkly glitter so it can go over any base color. I LOVE it! Next, Sally Girl (it doesn't have a name). It's a neon purple (kind of hard to see in the pic). On the right, Sally Hansen Jade Jump. It's mint green! Very springy!!

 This is a must if you paint your nails often! I used to always mess mine up right after painting them (and if you're like me, it takes a while to paint them, so it's super frustrating to mess them up) but not with this stuff! Paint your nails, wait 1-2 minutes, put this on, they're dry in 30 seconds! And, it makes a great top coat so it helps from chipping and makes your nails shiny!

Sally Hansen Insta-Dry.

Lastly, I love this little tool I found recently! It has 4 sides. Side 1 evens out your nail bed. Side 2 smooths the nail bed. Side 3 buffs the nail and side 4 shines it. I use this every time I take my polish off, before I put on new polish. It helps make them smooth for the new color. And, if I choose not to repaint them right away, it makes my natural nail shiny!

Sorry this post was so long! I just love nail polish and painting my nails and being girly! Hope it brought out the girliness in you :)