Father's Day Plans

You're reading this and I wrote it yesterday (Thursday), love that I can schedule a post in advance. It helps keeping up with posting a lot easier, especially when you take a random vacation day from work (the reason I took off today, I don't want to share just yet).

Tarl is a pretty easy guy to please, thank goodness! It sure makes life much easier when it comes time to celebrate him. Gift giving has always been simple yet special as I've always incorporated something unique when we celebrate.

Our Father's Day plans are to treat him to Carey Hilliard's, his favorite restaurant, then afterwards take him to the mall, let him open his card in the parking lot where he will find a Bass Pro Gift card. The card will also read, "take as much time as you want and spend your gift card on something you've had your eyes on."

Long story, short. When that man goes into a Bass Pro shop he can spend hours, all the while Cadence and I are bored and ready to go. He loves for us to go to Savannah with him, but who wants to follow someone around while they're looking at lures and lines and knives and camping equipment? Not this girl! But on Sunday, it's all about him and we're going to let him look around for as long as he wants. 

I also got him a gift card to a local eatery that he visits regularly for lunch while he's working. His 'special' gift isn't set to arrive until Monday via FedEx, but I cannot wait to see his face when he opens it!

Every single time we see a Coke bottle that says "Share A Coke with _____"

His name, obviously, is never there. His name is very unique and there's no way Coke has made a bottle with his name on it....well, they did for me!

He has no clue that you can have you name customized on a Coke bottle at 

shareacoke.com - but I did :)

I can't wait to see his face when he unwraps his gift and there will sit a fresh Coke that says Share a Coke with Tarl!

So Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

Happy Father's Day to all the single moms who have to be a dad too!

xo

Pray!

I am at a total loss of words when I think of what happened in America's Holy City last night, Charleston, SC. If you haven't already heard, a younger man (they estimate his age to be around 21) went into a Church located in downtown Charleston and opened fire on the congregation during one of their Bible study classes.

Authorities are calling it a hate crime as the shooter was white and the victims were black as it was an African American church. 

I'm sad that we live in a world where things like this happen. I'm sad that politicians and authorities and the media immediately published it as a hate crime turning it into a race issue. In my eyes, it's not a COLOR ISSUE. It's a WE LIVE IN AN UN-GODLY WORLD ISSUE! 

Who cares if you're white, black, hispanic, greek, indian, whatever you are! We are all humans, trying to survive in this crazy world that lost itself a long time ago. 

It's not a hate crime. It's an un-Godly crime. It's such an unjustly act and sick for someone to shoot another person, let alone on sacred ground where a lot of people find hope, inspiration and solace.

I pray for the families effected by this horrible tragedy. I pray they find the peace and comfort that they need as they lay their loved ones to rest. I couldn't imagine losing a loved one, period, but especially in such a terrible way.

I pray for the shooter. I know this sounds terrible but hear me out. I pray for him, truly, because he never has known the unending love that Jesus provides. The comfort that he could have had. Clearly this man has something evil living inside of his mind to cause him to do such a terrible thing and without accepting the Lord into his life, he's going to live an eternal life in hell when his time comes. 

I pray for our country. Each day people are learning about Jesus less and less. Once upon a time prayer and his love was praised and worshiped throughout schools. Church was a must on a Sunday, Sunday night and Wednesday evening. Friends were family and family was everything. Our country has vastly changed since that time. Talk of the Bible and Jesus is no longer allowed in a lot of schools throughout the nation. Often times teenagers, and even some adults, are embarrassed to speak about His never ending love for us. Not as many people go to Church as they should (I too am at fault for this!).

 I once read that God doesn't just want weekend visits, he wants full custody!

How true is this?! Pray always. Love always. Attend Church if you can. Read the Bible, read scriptures. Purchase a devotional book. Do what you can, when you can to learn more about our Good Lord, because let me tell y'all something, this world of ours is losing it's hope, peace and unfortunately forgetting who provided us with every blessing that we have. 

America needs God, now more than ever. 

Please join me in praying for our country. Praying for the victims of this horrible, evil crime. Pray for our President, even if we don't agree with some of his choices. He is still our countries leader and he needs prayers too! Pray for our children. It's such a scary thought knowing that these crimes happen every day and so close to home, and here I am with a child who knows nothing of these horrible acts. I pray she holds onto her innocence for as long as she can. Pray for our children, our friends, our families and even our enemies. 

America, let's PRAY!

xo

Thank You | Living Room Decor | Christmas!

Mornin' y'all!

I have to be honest. I didn't think that anyone read this little ole blog of mine anymore. I know that my sisters read it, but other than that I don't really talk about it in my daily life because at the end of the day it's sort of like an online journal for me. Even without readers I would still blog because at least once a month I go back and read something I wrote to reflect on that time or help me remember something. 

For example, just last week I went back and read all of the Disney re-caps that I posted last year. It brought back so many fond memories and made me want to go back so much more!

With that being said though, readers are obviously something that any blogger wants. To connect with your audience and know that someone out there is at the least, remotely interested in what you have to say. Having this blog for 2 1/2 years and only having 54 subscribed readers isn't something to boast about, but just when you think no one's listening, especially when you have questions about certain dental work (see yesterday's post), that's when you get a message. 

No comments on my blog post yesterday concerning my dental crown, but no worries either. It was more of a peace of mind thing for me to know that other people have been through a similar ordeal, and wouldn't you know an old school friend of mine from back in high-school FaceBook messaged me this morning telling me about her dental crown and the experience she had after reading my post yesterday. 

I honestly had no clue that she read this blog, or that any of my FB friends did. It's good to know that people listen, and it's also good to know that even with our 11 year graduation anniversary just passing, that we are still friends and can talk to one another - thanks Kim for always being so kind and for thinking of Cadence this morning too! :)

//

This picture has been floating around FB for years now, but every time I see it in m news feed I always read it. Every.single.time.

It honestly doesn't get more true than this. Tell your needs to God. He will give you peace, which is far more than what we can understand!

As always, if you want to learn more about accepting Jesus into your heart, feel free to email me anytime! I'm not perfect by any means, but I know his never failing love!

//

I always say that I'm going to start waking up early in the morning, drink a cup of coffee, and start a daily devotional, but that bed of ours feels so delightful when that alarm goes off at 6:30! I feel like eventually I will get there, but for now I'll keep hitting the snooze button. 

//

In just a few short weeks it'll be Christmas in July! What that means for the world is a lot of online sales, what it means for me is the start of my Christmas shopping. I have always started my Christmas shopping at the start of summer. Tarl and I are a family that lives paycheck to paycheck and it can be tough to try and buy gifts for everyone come December. A lot of the people I buy for are grown and are pretty set in their hobbies and the things they like, so I go and buy something for them accordingly. If it's a young child (like Cadence) who changes what they like every day, then those are the people that I wait and buy things for closer to Christmas. This has always suited me well financially. Come December 1st, when we put our tree up, I already have it filled with presents whereas most people haven't even begun their shopping. It's a great feeling! Buying one gift here and there adds up, and before you know you're done!

If you don't like the thought of buying gifts so early but you want to save money for Christmas, start stacking cash somewhere in your house and don't touch it. If you fear you're going to grab it from time to time then go to your local bank and start a Christmas account. A lot of banks offer this!

Another good option are gift cards. Buy a Visa gift card here and there and use that as your spending money when it comes time to shop for family and friends.

//

Re-doing our living room has been a lot on my mind recently. Our entire living room motif is brown and I'm so sick of it. Our drapes are brown, our couches are brown, even our wood floors are brown...ick!

Re-buying living room furniture is still quite some time away, but when we do, I'm going for this exact look!

I love the neutral couch. You can change pillows to any color and it would still go with everything! Plus pillows are a great way to add pops of color in a more neutral area. The square table in the center with that distressed look is perfection to me, right down to the magazine rack below and the tulip topped tray adorning the table. 

Swoon!

xo

Is it Friday yet?

Good morning y'all!
I'm sorry for my posting, or lack thereof, but to be honest I didn't have much on my mind to talk about, and every time I went to start a blog post I either didn't like where it was going or got busy and just exited out of blogger, regardless I'm here now catching up on a Monday. (wishing it was Friday!)

This weekend was pretty low key. We added a new member to our family on Thursday, so we hung around the house this weekend building her a pen and working on training her and getting her used to her new surroundings.

Naturally, we named her with Disney names. Nala Belle, The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast. We adopted her from our local animal society and she's a hoot!

She loves to sleep, pick up small sticks with her teeth, and is enamored with small moving things, especially bugs. If she sees a small ant walking on the ground, she will slowly follow it, it's the cutest thing!

If you're anything like me, you're not a fan of the dentist and it's not because of the pain or anxiety involved with it because that doesn't bother or scare me, it's always the money involved because keeping good dental health isn't cheap, even with insurance! Long story short, six years ago one of my front teeth started hurting me. Turned out I needed a root canal and then a permanent crown, $800 later I did just that, because getting a front tooth pulled just isn't an option for this girl. Back teeth, ok, but not one of the front ones. Well the dentist I used back in the day never warned me that a permanent crown only lasts anywhere between 5 - 10 years. I just assumed it was indefinite because they call it "permanent". 

Cut back to April while chewing on a pen top (I know, disgusting!) in the office due to being entranced with something I was reading online, I heard the loudest sound in my mouth and I immediately knew what it was, that permanent crown came out and there I was in the middle of my office missing a front tooth! I immediately left work early and went straight to my dentist who confirmed that permanent crowns are indeed not lifetime permanent and I would need a new crown put on. I explained to them that I just don't have $800 so they said they would work with me, put a temporary crown on (which should last a minimum of 4 months) and give me time to save up some money so I wouldn't have to put it on a credit card. Cue to a month later, while eating a calzone, the temporary falls out and I realize not only do I have poor dental health (it's genetic) but I would have to cough up the $800 because clearly it didn't last 4 months and I couldn't keep getting it re-glued. So last Tuesday I went and coughed up another $800 and got a new permanent crown put back on. The dentist did tell me that if I floss daily it should make it to at least 8 years. If it was a tooth in the back of my mouth it would have been extracted a long time ago, but seeing as how it's a front tooth, um...nope! Gotta have that pretty smile :)

I have decided though, that the next time it falls out in a round 5 or so years I may just bite the bullet and get an implant, which is permanent until the day you die. Bad thing is, they are a lot more expensive than a crown and insurance doesn't cover a dime of it, but then again, it beats spending $800 every 5 years!

Thoughts? If any of you have ever had this issue and decided to go with a permanent tooth, enlighten me on the process, cause it would be a first for me. Or would you just go with a partial denture? I know it sounds like I'm 80 years old talking about dentures, but a partial denture is just a denture that only has one or two teeth on it to replace where your tooth was. They too last indefinitely compared to a crown. 

I will say this, after having my front tooth fall our as many times as it has the past month, I'm so scared this one is going to fall out any time now. I know it's not and that it's permanent, but it has truly scared me and caused so much stress, all over a damn tooth! To be 100% honest with y'all, it's embarrassing too. My teeth, for the most part, are straight. Their white and I like to think I have a nice smile, but the health of them are shit! Per the dentist, it's genetics and both my parents had a full set of dentures by the time they were in their 40s.

Ugh...that's enough about the dentist, moving on...

After changing our minds and dates about 100x, we have finally narrowed down our Disney vacation dates to two different times. Disney is releasing their 2016 prices next Monday, June 22nd, so we're booking then. So we have a week to decide which dates we want to go. We're either going to go mid-April or mid-May. We'll talk about the pros/cons of each and decide over dinner. What I love is Tarl loves Disney just as much as Cadence and I, so having a discussion about it is always fun.

I have narrowed down and planned our dining options and park days. Once we officially book I'll be sure to share all the details. 

When planning our dinners I always get Cadence and Tarl involved. They each have their favorite restaurants so I don't want to miss out on anything that they want to do. Last year one of the highlights of our trip was when Cadence got to meet Sophia the First. She was wearing her monogrammed Sophia shirt, along with matching socks, shoes and bows. Precious is an understatement on how cute that picture was with her hugging Sophia. A year has passed and since she's gotten into more 'big girl' shows. I asked if she wanted to go back to Hollywood and Vine and dine with Sophia again, she said no. She said she stills likes Sophia, but not as much as she used too!

Breaks my heart because children grow and mature a lot faster than we give them credit for! Enjoy Disney Jr and Nick Jr because before too long it's regular Disney channel, Teen Titans Go and Scooby Doo. Good thing she's still Disney princess obsessed or I may have had a slight meltdown this past weekend while talking about it.

Cadence attends two Bible Schools each year. Our Church, and another local Church in town that a lot of her school friends go to. She loves Bible School and I love that she loves Bible School. It's a great environment to have fun, sing songs and learn about Jesus. Last night was the start of our Churches VBS and she was so excited when we picked her up, telling us about what she had learned and that she couldn't wait to go back again today. We are so blessed to have a child who already knows and loves God!

Grey, by E. L. James, is set to be released this Thursday, June 18th. You can pre-order now on Amazon. I cannot wait to read this! It's from Christians point of view. holla!

Last week I ordered Cadence a new bookbag and lunchbox for her first grade year. Her bookbag from last year was still in decent condition, but a Facebook page I follow was having a sale on bookbags so I couldn't resist. 

It's the bottom left (pink and navy). I also got the matching lunchbox and am getting them both monogrammed with her full name rather than her initials.

If you're interested, the Facebook page is called Little Sunshine Grace.

Her school supply list is long this year - but first grade is a big step up from Kindergarten so a lot of the necessities they have are understandable. We're going to wait until tax free weekend to purchase her supplies and uniforms that way it'll save us some money. Gotta save where and when we can! (especially when dental crowns cost as much as they do!)

Well, that's it for today, I leave you with this...

xo

Spoiled Ass Rotten

Okay, so sorry (not sorry) for the language in my post title, but I just have to be honest about how spoiled I am by my husband. He treats Cadence and I like a true Disney princess and that's no joke! In the past month Cadence has completely learned to ride her bike and Tarl and I have discussed lightly on how he and I should get one.

Que Monday evening...

My sister and I went shoe shopping and as soon as we pulled in my driveway there was a hot pink bike sitting in the driveway. My smile was from ear to ear. I love surprises like that, they are amazing! Angela just looked at me, stomped her way inside my house, looked Tarl in the eye's and said, please talk to Billy (her husband) about how to be a husband. We all just started laughing. Seriously though, he is the sweetest thing.

Case in point, last night...

Remember yesterday how I explained to y'all the whole Disney vacation situation. Well as I stated yesterday, it was a toss up between May and September. As I walked in the door last night after a long day at work he asked if I wanted to take a hot bath, well duh...sitting and relaxing he looked at me, smiled, and said, "when Disney releases their prices for next year, go ahead and book for May, I don't want to wait until September, and I know if it was up to you, we'd leave tomorrow."

Again, another smile from ear to ear. I screeched like a kid in a candy store. Disney in May!

And yes, this post is a bit braggy, but I don't care. My husband treats me great and spoils me rotten, so I'm going to shout it from the roof tops!

Midweek Randoms

Happy humpday y'all! As usual, I'm ready for the weekend to arrive, but until then let's talk about my random thoughts for the day. First up, Caitlin Bruce Jenner...this topic has been one that I haven't given that much thought about, other then showing my husband his Vanity Fair cover photo and briefly discussing the issue with my mother-in-law over dinner last night. It's hard for me to discuss this, and please know that these opinions are solely my own and just like everyone in the world, I'm entitled to my own opinions and beliefs. With that being said, I don't agree with this, at all. As I've said before and will say 100x over, I fail our Good Lord daily and am by no means a perfect Christian, but I am a Christian. Let me tell you something, God doesn't make mistakes. Jesus doesn't make mistakes. He is perfect! He didn't make a mistake when he chose Bruce Jenner to be a man. Don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with changing your appearance if it makes you feel better. Coloring your hair, having a manicure, etc, but to completely change every piece and part of your body and mind (essentially) into turning into another gender, well I just can't get past that. When I refer to Bruce Jenner, I will refer to Bruce as a male, because regardless of the many surgeries that he has done, including gender reassignment, that's how God wanted him to be, a man, and at the end of the day, you cannot change your DNA. On the opposite side of things, I was also raised to have respect and a kind attitude towards others, even if I disagree with the way they live, so I will do that. I've met many people in this world, homosexual, bisexual, heterosexual, transgender, and a few drag queens and I've treated each one with the same respect and kindness that I would show any other person, but that also doesn't mean that I have to agree with their choices. We as Christians can have our own opinions and beliefs, but let's also remember that we shouldn't judge others because that responsibility lies solely on the Big Man Upstairs.

•

I want to get this dress for Cadence to match with mine. I also want to get her this dress because it's so perfect and even more vibrant in person! I was so close to purchasing this earlier in the week when I was at Belk, but I refrained. These three 1/2/3 Lilly's are on my wish list too!

•

Vacation...a subject that has taken precedence in my house this week. Nightly Tarl and I have discussed where, when, how long, etc. I'm going to be 100% honest with y'all, because I'm not trying to sugarcoat this little ole blog of mine - I SO regret cancelling our Disney trip in September! Back when we were in New York and having a great time without a care in the world we had discussed pushing it back a bit to pay off some bills in an effort to be more debt free, and since I was in such a great mood because we were currently on vacation, I said sure without thinking twice about it. While flying over the Atlantic on the way home and looking down at that gorgeous blue water we ultimately decided to cancel the trip and instead go to Myrtle Beach sometime this summer because it has been a couple years since the three of us has done a beach vacation and it's a lot less expensive than Disney. Once we got home, school, dance, work and an assortment of other events took place and we just kind of dropped the Myrtle Beach idea by simply just not giving it another thought. Last week while putting my song list on shuffle and applying my makeup "A Whole New World" came on which is the theme song from Aladdin and I looked at Tarl with tears stinging my eyes because I realized that we were most likely not taking a family vacation this year. It seems so trivial looking back on how I reacted, but it is what it is. At that moment I regretted our decision to cancel our trip so much. Sure, Disney is for children, and my child adores it, but I cannot stress enough how magical of a trip it is for the entire family. Tarl and I felt like children again, and to see how much fun Cadence had was just icing on top of the cake. He shared my feelings (without the tears, obviously) and we agree'd that Disney was a must-do next year! In a way, I'm glad things turned out the way they did, because by cancelling our trip we paid off three different credit cards. That feeling was incredible and a smart choice on our part. We now know how long we are going to Disney for. Eight nights, seven days...ahh! I cannot wait! Once Disney releases their 2016 prices (which should be anytime within the next month) we're going to look at how much May would be and look at how much September would be and compare the two and decide from there. I know this post is long winded, but I don't want my blog to seem like everything is roses all the time, because it's certainly not. Often times we plan things, I discuss them here and then you never hear anything else about it and honestly it's because plans fell through or got cancelled. Either way, I'm glad we got bills paid off. One step closer to being completely debt free, or should I say three steps closer since we got 3 paid off? On the other side though, it does hurt knowing that we could be going to Disney in 4 months, rather than a year from now, but now that we have established a time frame, I'm anticipating the planning :)

•

Being a stay at home mom is so close I can taste it! Tarl and I discussed this along with the Disney trip last night and decided that if we do Disney in May, I'm going to work until then. This will give us a lot of extra spending money while there. If we do Disney in September, I'm going to stick to the original plan of leaving work around the Spring. I never wanted to be a SAHM. I honestly thought to myself, "how do women stay at home all day with nothing to do", and then I got pregnant and became a mom myself and realized you will always have something to do. Even with Cadence in school, there is always a field trip or a school function to assist with and I missed so much of that this year while working. Take in account that, along with the usual housework (and occasional Netflix show) it's easy to keep busy. When I was young my mom attended every field trip with me and I loved it. I only got to go to one of Cadence's this year and I can't wait until I can go to every single one of them!

•

I just ordered this yellow and pink seersucker bikini off of Smocked Threads by Cecil and Lou's FaceBook page for Cadence and it couldn't be more perfect!

(click the link above to purchase, just keep in mind they sell out quick!)

They always have the cutest stuff, and it's perfectly southern if you ask me. It has a monogram on it, what more could you ask for?!

•

That's it for today folks...xo

Weekend Recap | Bouquet of Lilly's

Whew, what a whirlwind weekend that was! We were non-stop beginning Friday afternoon and didn't slow down until late last night. I'm ready to relax and just enjoy summer (well after I get off of work daily, but you know, gotta make that money)

Friday evening we attended my nephews high school graduation. It was so nice seeing him walk with honors. I couldn't be more proud of him. He was also accepted into the University of South Carolina and if he sticks to his guns will be going for his doctorate degree!

After graduation we attended the class of 2015's graduation party which had the most delicious BBQ, beautiful decor, and some great music!

(it's blurry, but we danced and danced, particularly sweet Cadence!)

On Saturday morning we got up bright and early to go and have Cadence's hair done for her dance recital. My sister did such an amazing job!

Just look at those two, I am so blessed!

After her recital we headed to a friends surprise 30th birthday, and afterwards a drop in baby shower. Busy busy Saturday!

Onto the Lilly's...

This is my other true Lilly dress. I purchased this for $60 off Instagram from a girl who had only wore it once. It is brand spanking new and I love it! The pattern is Sun Kissed Glow. I paired this dress with my sparkly gold Jack Rogers. It has the cutest back opening with a tie but unfortunately didn't get a picture of that.

The rest of these are Lilly Pulitzer for Target. 

This is the Giraffey print, which is orange and pink and just absolutely perfect for summer!

I paired this dress with my faux Jack Rogers in metallic. I bought them at Shoe Show for $15!

This pattern is the Fan Dance pattern. Flamingos! Need I say more?

Paired with my faux Jack Rogers in white and silver, again-Show Show for $15!

This is the See Ya Later pattern which is the most brightest and prettiest hot pink that you've ever seen, unfortunately this dress was taken inside and thus the color in the picture does not do this dress justice. I paired this one, this morning, with my bare feet, because as promised, I wanted to show y'all these dresses! I was scared that the fabric wouldn't hold up to true Lilly, but I'm surprised in the quality of them. I'll be dawning these all summer long!

If you're looking at buying some Lilly at a steal, search the hashtag #lillyforsale and you'll find a whole lot of goodies!

Tarl went fishing yesterday so Cadence and I had a girls day all around Savannah. We enjoyed each others company, walked around the malls and other stores and had a blast! 

xo