These are a Few of my Favorite Things...

What's been going on this week!? I got some sort of a sickness and didn't do a whole lot! I feel quite accomplished though. I got all of my school work done and even managed to see some good friends. : )

Here is my list of favorite things for this week! :)

This week my sweet friend Hannah let me be her photography subject. She has a very cool new camera and has recently discovered her love for photography. She is quite excellent!! Here are some pictures she took this week:

She's awesome! Hannah has a lot of talent! If you'd like to check out more of her pictures, check out her blogs: http://howtomaintainablog.blogspot.com/ and http://c323photography.blogspot.com/

My next favorite thing for this week is actually my lunch from today! It was just absolutely incredible! If you live in the Denton area, you are in luck! If you don't, google Rooster's Roadhouse and find the closest one to you! It's just delicious!

Something else I found this week is a really cool DIY blog! Last week I said I needed something to do...God must have heard me, because I came across this awesome blog! Check it out:

I hope you enjoy this week's favorites list and that you have a wonderful week!! : ) Hopefully it won't get too cold around here!

Busy Bee

I like being a busy bee just about 100% of the time. This new semester has left me a lot let busy than I would have hoped. Pretty much everything with the wedding is done, so I don't have anything else to plan...(If anyone wants me to plan their wedding for them, just let me know! Haha! ;P) So since I am not currently a busy body, I've decided that I need a new hobby!! I'm home three days a week and several hours every afternoon. I only have one night class this semester and Trevor has three night classes. I'm bored! Of course, I spend some of my time doing homework, but that doesn't even take up that much time.

I guess here are some possibilities for me:

I can get a second job. (I applied to be a substitute teacher last year, but they aren't taking new substitutes this semester)
I can take a cooking class or cake decorating class.
I can do more wedding planning thus costing us more money. (This one will not happen)
I can do some extra volunteering.
I can run more (I already run 40-50 miles a week.)
OR
I can get a new hobby!! I like this idea the most!

If anyone has some great new hobby ideas for me, I'd be more than happy to hear them! : )

These are a Few of my Favorite Things...

Here we are-a week later! My how time flies! Here is a list of this week's favorite things! :)

 

Okay! First of all, if you didn't know, I'm obsessed with pink! Our wedding colors are pink and black, and I just can't get enough. You may also know that I'm a designer junky and Chanel is one of my favorites! So this leads me to my first favorite for this week: a Chanel-Inspired-Wedding!!! SO COOL! Click on the picture so see the whole story and more pictures!

I love Etsy! If you haven't been on Etsy, schedule a few hours, sit down, and enjoy! It's awesome! This is one of my favorite shops on Etsy right now. This woman makes gorgeous decorator pillows. Here are a few of the pillows on my wish list!

Do you use Shutterfly.com? I do-ALL THE TIME! Now, I'm not a big fan of Valentine's Day, but I do love my stationary and cards! This is my Valentine's Day card pick! :) Check it out! Free shipping until February 1st!

I hope you enjoyed the weekly favorites and you have a great week!! :)

Looking at the Bright Side

Let me start by saying how excited I am to become Mrs. Sewell! However, I am not excited about the fact that I will no longer be my mother's dependent. There are many reasons for this, but there is one super humongous big one-I will no longer receive her staff's dependent scholarship at UNT. Womp. Womp. Womp. It provided for about 70% of my total tuition for UNT, which is awesome!! Unfortunately, as of now, I still have a year and a half left of my undergraduate degree leaving me with a year left after Trevor and I get married. This means that Trevor and I will have to pay the school A-WHOLE-HECK-OF-A-LOT more money than I've been paying them for the last three years. Anyways, while Cielo and Rielan run around and entertain Gideon (or maybe it is Gideon running around entertaining Cielo and Rielan), I have been applying for scholarships...many many many many MANY scholarships. So far (and I am not anywhere near done) I have applied for (drum roll please!) 29 scholarships! Whoo! If I was only a business major, I'd be able to apply for A LOT more! But I am not a business major which brings me to my next thing to rant about.

I am an Elementary Education major. I love kids, and I love the idea of having a classroom someday....or I did at some point. Lately, I have been having my doubts. I am reading my books and of course going to class, but I'm feeling less and less excited about being an elementary school teacher. I LOVE my text books, and I'm definitely being intellectually challenged. HOWEVER, I think I would rather be teaching at the high school or college level. I'm kind of split though. When I was ten years old, I knew that without a doubt God wanted me to persue Deaf Education. I still plan to do that. I'm going to get my masters in Deaf Ed at TWU. I also think I want to get my high school certification and another masters in education administration. Gosh this kind of stresses me out. I don't know. As I read one of my textbooks about collaboration and group work, I was thinking about all of these fun projects that my students could do....high school students. I told Trevor this yesterday. I feel like the work load would be heavier for elementary and the intellectual level would be lower; whereas, highschool the work load would be lighter and the intellectual level would higher. I would much prefer a higher intellectual challenge!! Anyways...time for the bright side of things!

1. Thanks to my mom's job, I have saved over $30,000 with her dependent scholarship at UNT.
2. I have not had to take out a single loan for my college eduaction. Thanks to my grandmother and for my parents for making me work for my education!
3. The Lord has blessed Trevor and I to the point that I will be able to stay here and finish my degree, and chances are he might be here for the whole time!
4. No matter what I decide in the end, I'm blessed beyond belief and will love whatever job I have!
5. I am marrying an amazing man (IN FOUR MONTHS) who loves me even when I'm wrong or when I change my mind a thousand times.

Ready to Set up House!!!

A few posts ago I wrote about my design craze that I'm going through right now. Gosh I think I am driving Trevor crazy but I'm loving it! It's been so much fun putting what I have together and figuring out where everything will go. I've also started my list of the essential things we will need to start off. We've registered for tons of stuff and had a blast doing that, but we also have to be practical and think of the things that we will absolutely need to have. While I have been thinking about the essentials, I've also been dreaming about the luxuries. I've created a fun design book that helps me get an idea of what "theme" we want for each room. I still have some textures to add and little extras, but it is really coming together. Trevor even helped me pick out paint swatches for the rooms. His colors are a little more....bright than what I had planned on but I'm just glad he is getting into it too! So I thought I would post a few pictures of my design book! It has a long way to go before it clearly shows my ideas. Of course these are my dream ideas and not all of it will come to fruition any time soon. I'm just enjoying it!! Here are some pictures:

This would be the living room area. We are planning on black, white, gray, and yellow! For some reason, I have always wanted a yellow room! It's so bright and welcoming.

This is the kitchen area which will be black and white with red accents.

And this is the master bedroom with black, white, and teal. Thankfully, Trevor has fallen in love with the idea!

And the master bath will be the same colors: black, white, and teal. "Peacock themed!"

This would be Trevor's office if we were to end up in a two bedroom house or apartment.

And this I already have, but I have to brag on Trevor's Dad and Beth! They got me this for Christmas and I LOVE IT!!! I want to hang it up now, but I guess I'll wait a few more months!!

These are a Few of my Favorite Things...

Okay. I follow another blog called Peanut Butter and Poptarts! It's super cute, and it is basically my "dream blog!" I can only wish that my blog will someday be like hers! So anyways...I am going to go a little bit off of her blog and create a weekly favorites list. Hopefully this will happen every Sunday, but I'm not promising anything! : )

Here are my weekly faves!

Stella & Dot!!! I met a consultant from Stella and Dot a few months ago at one of my craft shows. It is one of those home parties/catalog jewelry companies, except it is so much more fun! It's funky jewelry at a decent price!

Okay this is not just a cupcake! It is a Bake It In A Cake cupcake. There is this awesome website that gives you TONS of recipes for cupcakes with different fillings .The cupcake above is a Banana Pudding Cupcake. Yum!

I am currently reading President G.W. Bush's, Decision Points. AWESOME! AWESOME! AWESOME BOOK! I liked President Bush before his book and his appearance at UNT, but I am O-B-S-E-S-S-E-D with him now!! I've told my family a million times how much I would love to meet him! He such an amazing man and rooted in his faith! I highly suggest you read his book!

And my last favorite for today is:

Okay...we were introduced to this restaurant last summer at North Park Mall. I now crave it on a weekly basis! I get the #9 tacos which for some reason remind me of Asian eggrolls. Anyways, try it. It's good stuff.

Humbled

I was truly humbled today by an incident within my family home. I have been humbled by a pastor's words, by a dear friend's advice, by music lyrics, and by mission trips throughout the years. Today I was humbled by a broken pipe in my home's foundation. This actually happened yesterday, but it really hit me today. It all started with some flooding in the guest bathroom, master bedroom, hallways, living room, and garage. Whoo...after some drilling and searching by the wonderful Isaac, we discovered a broken pipe in our foundation which left us without water for awhile. We do have water this evening, but we do not haveheat and the guest bathroom (where I do all of my preparations) is completely torn apart. My shower is gone. No joke. IT. IS. GONE. My toilet is on top of my sink and everything else is thrown about the room. Last night I spent the night in Irving with my sweet mother (who was celebrating her 29th birthday : P) so I was able to take a hot shower at the hotel. Tonight-when I got in at 11ish-I was not so lucky! I then decided that since I have to get up early in the morning for work, I needed to clean up tonight. I got a big bowl of water and heated it in the microwave. I washed my face and brushed my teeth with that. Then I stuck my head under the kitchen sink faucet and washed my hair...it was freezing! It's like twenty degrees here...way too cold to have my head under a cold water faucet!!!

Anyways, I was really humbled by my whole experience tonight, and it got me to thinking about wonderful, amazing Jamaica! If you didn't already know Trevor and I, along with our First Baptist Denton friends, went on a mission trip to Ocho Rios, Jamaica. It was beautiful! The people are amazing, and I loved working in all of the different places! Vacation Bible School in one of the local schools was my favorite. Going to the children's hospital was also a favorite as well as one of the most heartbreaking experiences of my life. Anyways...we worked with a lot of Jamaicans while we were there and we always had multiple Jamaican bodyguards with us. It sickens me now to think of my constant complaints about our water supply. We barely (BARELY) had any water at all to take showers. Most days, I sat underneath the tub faucet and waited for something to come out. To top it off, my room was infested with ants that would crawl up your legs when you stood still.

On one of the last days we were there, one of our bodyguards humbled himself and took us to his home.

This amazing man was so proud to show us his home! His home (which is probably smaller than most of our laundry rooms) was so special to him. He was so proud of his little house! He had heard us complain all week about not having water or not having enough food to eat or an infestation of ants in our room. He listened to us all week and yet was so happy to have such a special place (with no heat, no running water, a leaky tin roof, AND he had to hike up a mountain to get to it). It truly makes me sick thinking about it.

So, today I was humbled by a broken pipe in my 4 bedroom, 3 bath, 2 car garage, heated and air conditioned home. It brings me to tears to think of the amazing men in Jamaica who have so much less than me or the majority of us here in the U.S. and yet don't utter a complaint. Tonight, I am thinking and praying for my dear Jamaican friends! I will not utter a complaint tomorrow when I wash my hair and my face in my kitchen sink for God has blessed me abundantly!

This is a family that we visited with and prayed over.

This is an unfinished orphange where we all worked the first day and then many went back each day to lend a hand.

These are two very sweet girls that I met at Vacation Bible School! They were so beautiful; they just craved love and attention. They really enjoyed singing with me and the others!

Decorating Craze!

I'm definitely going nuts about interior design right now! As we get closer and closer to the wedding, I am getting more and more excited about having our own place, about not having to drive home late at night every night (although this is mostly Trevor), about decorating my very own home! I'm almost 21 and I have only lived in one home. I'm definitely not complaining! I've enjoyed living with my parents, and I am extremely thankful for never having to live in a dorm! Thank you to my wonderful parents for that!!! : ) I am just excited about having our own place and my own house to decorate.

Recently, someone advised me to create a design book when I was preparing to decorate a new space. I've begun working on that as we have begun to register for the wedding and think about all of the things we will need. I've clipped magazines, searched Pottery Barn, and scoured the internet for ideas. We have decided to go with a black and white theme, which I thought would be somewhat easy. It isn't as easy as I thought...most furniture seems to be made in a dark brown color. No problem! I've found a lot of great things that I like! Here are some of my inspiration photos! : )

I love this bedroom! It's so clean and simple! This room is completely black and white. Our bedroom will not be completely black and white but will have teal as an accent.

This living room is just awesome! I know what you are thinking...this is for your first house? No way! I just love the patterns and furniture! Remember, it's just an inspiration picture! : )

And now for my favorite inspiration for the kitchen! If you know me very well, you know that I LOVE to cook and bake!! I have so much fun! I was ecstatic when I open my KitchenAid Pro for Christmas!! Take a look at this awesome kitchen!! 

I never thought I would like a "country kitchen" but I love this one!! I'm not too terribly fond of the rooster on the counter top, but I do love the black and white checkerboard floors and the red cabinets!

Last year, my mom went to several different Dillard's to find my awesome dishes! When I picked them out they were full price. When my mom to look at them again, they were on clearance for super cheap!! She went to 7 or 8 Dillard's to get me a full set! Isn't she wonderful?!

I love them!!! I can't wait to use them!!!

Okay that's all I have for now! I just had to share my decorating frenzy with someone! : ) Watch out for pictures of my design book soon!

Wedding Fun

Well it is finally done! Our wedding website is completely finished. I say completely...it will always have some changes that I can make! Trevor is even excited about this one. He sat with me today and made up silly questions for the "quiz." He said he was going to come back later and adding more. I just have to say that I am proud of myself! I am not very good with technology, and I feel that I have successfully made this website look good. I'll let someone else be the judge of that though. Check it out here!

Last night I went and stayed with Eli, Isaac, and Marley while my brother surprised Kristen with a birthday get-a-way! Eli ended up spending the night with "Germa" and "Papa" so that I wouldn't have to drag the younger ones out this morning to take Eli to school. Trevor came over, and we made my practically famous, better than Candy Haven chocolate covered strawberries! YUM!

I also have to share some adorable new pictures of Marley! I cannot begin to express how precious she is! She is three months old today and did great while her mommy was away! We played and laughed all night THEN she slept through the night for me!

Aren't these children adorable? I'm not proud or anything! ; )

Besides this, I haven't done much with myself for the past few days. I am enjoying my last two weeks of Christmas break before school begins again!

Third Times A Charm

So here it goes...for the third time! I've tried repeatedly to create a blog. I created one a few days ago and deleted it, because Trevor didn't like the name. Little did I know, you can change the name without deleting the whole blog! Whoda thunk it! : )

So here it goes! Who knows what I will write about or how often I will write, but I'm excited to begin this journey!! Trevor and I will be moving all around with the Marine Corps and my hope is to be able to keep our family and friends updated on our lives.

Happy Reading!

OH! Wondering about the blog name? I would be since this is my third attempt at this whole blogging thing AND my third day trying to come up with a cute name! If your curious, you'll just have to wait for another post! :)