End of the Week Roundup

Another weekend is upon us! Tonight is my lip sync battle birthday party, to say that I am excited would not even cover it. One more week until my birthday! 
But enough about what's coming up, here's the recap to this week:
1. Friday I had lunch with my mom and she surprised me by not only bringing my dad along for the lunch but also her best friend who brought kayaks! We didn't get to kayak while on my lunch break but we did have one of the most enjoyable lunches by the lake, then after work we all came back and kayaked for a little while. 

2. Saturday night Dave and I had dinner with his brother Eric and his girlfriend Ashlie. It was an enjoyable evening and Ashlie introduced me to Rent the Runway, which I now makes me want to go to ALL the fancy places and rent outfits for them. I rented a birthday outfit for my dinner in the city next week so we shall see how it turns out. I promise you this: you will hear all about it :) 

3. Sunday was a lazy day. Dave was helping his brother finish off his shed so I stayed home by myself and binge watched Ally McBeal. I remember loving that show when I was in high school and I'm happy to say that I still enjoy it. I was obsessed with Robert Downey Jr then and I'm not going to lie, I can't wait to watch him in the show that made me that way all over again. 

4. Sunday night was also the night that Ashley updated my blog layout. What do you think of it? She just had her daughter, Grace,  Tuesday and I'm so happy for her!  5. Wednesday was the first day back to school for me and it was also the day I got a mole removed from my leg. Me and needles don't mesh well and I've never had stitches before so it was a mentally exhaustive day. 

6. Thursday my momma and I met up for lunch again and she brought beautiful roses for me! 

And something new I thought I'd try...here are some links to some interesting tidbits I came across this week: Certain articles of clothing like underwear I always make sure to wash before I wear it the first time, but most things I don't. How important is it exactly to wash clothes before you wear them? 
Do you ever wonder what would be in the suitcase of a mental patient at an insane asylum? Wonder no more....
I'm slightly obsessed with Cracked and their articles. This one about insane "As Seen on TV" products was an interesting read. 
How did your week go? Any interesting articles/links to share?

By The Numbers

I borrowed this post from Steph at Life According to Steph, thank you very much!

1 1/2- Number of weeks I have left before I student teach

1,000,000- Number of butterflies that flutter in my stomach every time I think about it

154,605 - Miles on my car

2- Number of times I've been ziplining

42 - Books I've read so far in 2015. I'm on number 43 and 44 as we speak.

47 - Books I read in 2014

21 - Books I read in 2013

4- The number of siblings I have

9 - The day of the month that I got married

11- Number of States Dave and I have visited together. 

4- My favorite number, also the day of my birthday

44- My field hockey number when I played for a year in 8th grade. I thought doubling my favorite number would bring me luck. I consider not breaking any bones lucky, so I guessed it worked. 

1- Number of years and sports I ever played in my life

0 - Broken bones 

6- Number of years it took me to complete my bachelors degree

Care to share some of yourself by the numbers?

Birthday Wish List

It's official, my birthday is less than two weeks away. It all depends on what day you ask me whether or not I'm okay with the idea of turning 30. The one thing I am okay with is dreaming up a list of all the things I'd put on my gift wish list for my birthday. It's completely self fulfilling, I know but it's my birthday and I'll blog about all the gifts if I want to (I hope you heard the song in your head....that was the intention haha).

Cards Against Humanity

I'm all about board games and luckily I have friends that are too. I have yet to be able to play this game but everyone who has raves about it and it looks so funny. Plus, this would give me a great game to play during game night with my friends and laugh our asses off. 

Cast Iron Skillet

I made it to 30 without owning a cast iron skillet. Is that even legal? I have Le Cruset's dutch oven in Caribbean and its one of my favorite pieces of equipment in the kitchen. I think it needs a partner. 

Jewelry Racks

I have been lusting after these jewelry racks on Etsy for a long time. Dave could probably make them but it would take a lot of whining and grovelling on my part first before it happened. 

Kate Spade Glitter Studs

Oh Kate Spade how I adore thee. I haven't had a chance to really talk about it yet but I recently purchased a Kate Spade purse which ended up being quite literally the most perfect purse in the world for me. If you remember a little while back, I was looking for the perfect purse and Kate's bag fit the bill. Anyway, I'm now just slightly obsessed and these studs are looked at on a daily basis. Someday they will be in my ears, someday. 

Sizzix Cutting Machine

There are so many new quilts I could create with this machine, including one that's been bopping around in my head for months. I'll end up purchasing it  in the future if I don't get it soon from someone else anyway, since I need it to create circles and if there's one thing this girl can't do, it's cut a decent circle in fabric. 

Modern Rainbow Quilt Book and Cabin Fever Quilt Book

Quilting books, do I really need to say more? Haha I recently created a rainbow chevron quilt (see it here) and that created a current obsession with creating more colorful, modern quilts. 

Ribbon Ladder

I'm also beginning to create more rompers and bears, both of which require ribbons. I made a makeshift ribbon holder but it doesn't look at organized as this nor does it look as nice. This would look great in my sewing room. 

And there you have it, my birthday wish list! 

15 in '15 August Update

I am officially done the 15 in '15 list! Whoo hoo! I always enjoy creating this list (well this and the '14 list haha), it's a great way for me to read some books that have been in my "To Read" pile for a while and I find that it also motivates me to read more. 

Clan of the Cave Bear

This month I "read" Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel. I attempted to physically read the book and got 3 pages in and gave up. It was just too descriptive for my taste, but Dave's grandmother gave me this book and raved about how much she loves it, so I felt like it was important to attempt to finish it. To do that, I rented the audio book from the library, and I'm so glad I did. I would have never gotten through the book trying to read it, but the descriptiveness of the story lent to a really great audio book. 

Clan of the Cave Bear tells the story of Ayla, an "other" who looks and sounds like a modern day human (as much as you can for someone from the very distant past) and her interactions with a clan of people who are the more traditional cavemen that we think of. Auel clearly spent a copious amount of time researching cave people for this story, and that lends to a very very interesting read. I learned so much more about cavemen from reading this one book than I've learned in school. However, there are times when the book reads like a textbook, for example, she lists different plants in ridiculous detail. Let's just say there were a few times that I skipped a track or ten. But with all that aside, the story was very enjoyable and I definitely recommend picking it up, but I would recommend audio versus regular book.  

Here's the complete list (links will go to the post that I wrote about the book):

1. Sharp Objects

2. TV Gods
3. A Discovery of Witches
4. The Thousand Dollar Tan Line
5. The Serpent of Venice
6. I Don't Know What You Know Me From
7. Big Fish
8. Orange is the New Black
9. American Gods
10. Dead Until Dark
11. The Great Gatsby
12. The Glass Castle
13. Pride and Prejudice
14. Insurgent
15. The Clan of the Cave Bear
16. Paddle Your Own Canoe

I'm on Goodreads, if you'd like to add me.

Things I Should Have Learned by Now

In less than 3 weeks I will be 30. Try as I might to slow down time, it's fast approaching. Part of me doesn't mind the idea of being 30 but there is another part of me that is dreading it. There are things that I had hoped to achieve before 30. I also thought I would be a little wiser by the time 30 hit. There are certain things that I should have learned by now that I just haven't. True, I do have another 3 weeks to learn it but if I haven't by now I probably won't. 

My biggest mistake in life was stressing when my plans didn't go the way I had expected them to. I thought that my 20s would be spent setting up the life I wanted to live and then in my 30s I could enjoy the fruits of my labor. This meant that I would be done school, started in my career in teaching, married, living in my dream house with 2 kids. 

I started freaking out when I was 27 and realized I wouldn't be teaching until I was in my early thirties, if I was lucky. I really started freaking out when I hit 29 and had been trying for my first baby with no luck. Panic set in when I realized that I would probably not own my dream house until I was in my 50s because of impending student loans (still panicking on this one). 

The lesson I should have learned from all this? Appreciate what I have accomplished. It may not be my dream house, but I do own a home, I may not be teaching, but I at least have my bachelors degree, I may not have a baby but I do have a husband who has shown me time and time again how much he loves me. I should have learned by now to stop freaking out when things don't go as planned. Things never go  as planned but when I look back on life and think about what has happened so far, it all worked out in the end.  

You'd think by the time I hit 30 I would have also learned patience by now, but I haven't. With everything that's happened so far, I'm still as stubborn as when I first started,  not understanding why things aren't going the way I hope they would. Taking a step back and letting what will be, will be. Just let go. Give up control of everything and just enjoy the ride.

I haven't yet, but I still have 3 weeks. Greater miracles have happened, right?