I think you can tell by both the title and the weather that it is in fact, a snowy day. I have cabin fever already. And not because I choose to ever go anywhere, but because I know that I can't even if I wanted to. Crazy the way your brain works, huh?

Anyway, I wanted to share -- even though I already posted on Facebook about it. But (drumroll, please), on Tuesday, my principal came up to me to let me know I'd been picked as staff member of the month! Kinda big, considering I've been there for three months. Kinda giddy about it. So for Varina, we have a large V painted blue and gold for our colors, and we get to proudly display the V for the month and then sign it before handing it off to the next person chosen. I'm not sure who chooses who gets the V, whether it's just administration or everyone votes, but it's an honor either way!

Mom thought the V was rusted. (Insert unimpressed emoji.) No, mom, it's just painted. 

In addition to bragging on myself for a minute, I wanted to do a little "fun dump" because it seems like in the last few days I've seen a lot of funny pictures. Not that it's unusual to do so, but I just found myself wanting to share a lot. 

So if you find yourself stuck inside, bored, or suffering from cabin fever, remember this snake and this person trying to cook have it worse than you! 

 

And now, for just some cute/funny things I felt the need to share. 

Anyone who knows me knows I love a good joke! 

Have a good one, y'all!

Hello internet world! Miss me? I've missed writing. Obviously not so much where I felt compelled to hop on and write, but more so in the way where I laid in bed and said to myself, "Hey, I should really post to my blog." But here I am! Finally doing it after so many months of silence.

I swear it's my priority to get on and blog more. And I know I say that all the time, but I'm extremely sincere about it this time. (No sarcastic comment on how that will not happen.)

Anyway! I figured I'd go ahead and fill y'all in on what's been happening in my life lately. Since I last posted, I've gotten a new job -- been there about ten weeks now -- at my old high school. I love it. LOVE. IT. I feel so much more free than I did at my last job. I love the staff that I work with, and a typical work day doesn't feel like a typical work day. Yes, sometimes it's a little stressful because I can get bombarded with a ton of work at once, and other times it's extremely relaxed because I have nothing to do. But I like that about it. It's never the same.

In the last few weeks I've been; 

• Teaching myself calligraphy. Well actually, it's more like faux-lligraphy, but it's fun! And pretty! 
• Singing a lot more. Like all the time. Which, if you know me, isn't much of a surprise. But it's probably been multiplied by ten. 
• Thinking about taking up guitar lessons. Well not formal lessons, more like me, a guitar, and YouTube videos. 
• Writing songs. Yes -- writing songs. Not very good songs, but songs nonetheless. 
• Writing period. I stopped writing for a little while, probably because I was just unhappy with where I was in my life. I lost muse and inspiration. But in the past few weeks, I've slowly been coming back to it. 
• Growing out my nails, and aside from the fact that they need to be painted, they look FABULOUS. 
• Trying, keyword trying, to go to church more. Got off track for a few weeks, but getting back in gear. 
• Looking up tons and tons of recipes that I want to try. Maybe I'll actually cook something. 
• Sorely missing Harry Potter. Call me whatever you want, but after seeing Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them my heart hurts for all things HP. 
• Rocking around the Christmas tree, and playing with my new Silhouette Cameo machine! I've been obsessed with it since I got it for Christmas. I've been playing with it, reading up on tutorials, researching different things I can make with it. It's been my whole life for the past 48 hours and it's been amazing. 

*Please enjoy the selfies as seen above. And the pictures of my new favorite toy below (:

Look how pretty! I knew the second I saw the big box what it was. :D 

Spent all day yesterday and today playing around with it, finding designs I loved and all that jazz. With purchase of the Cameo, I got one month's free subscription to the Design store, and a $25 credit. Well, now I'm down to $15 because I've already bought a bunch of designs and fonts! 

The first monogram/thing I made! Gentry felt super honored to be the first. 

And then of course I had to pretty up my machine with a bow monogram, and I wouldn't be me if I didn't have a mermaid something, so I added her to my computer. 

Now the only thing I need to work on is naming my cameo. Suggestions are gladly appreciated! (It's definitely a girl, I mean come on, she has a bow.)

Thanks for humoring me, friends! Until next time (: 

As I sit here watching First Wives Club, one of my favorite movies, by the way, I realize that I forgot to do a Tuesday Ten again. It didn't even register that yesterday was Tuesday, I'm so sorry y'all. Tonight I figured I'd just play catch up again. 

It's crazy how much adulting I did today! Woke up and went to get dog food, paid all my bills, balanced my check book (yes, I actually do that), cleaned the bathroom, kitchen, and then rewarded myself with fast food for lunch and then reading Harry Potter all afternoon. I'd call that a successful day! 

The weekend was fun! You already saw where I'd made cupcakes with Gen and then Saturday night we went to the Goochland Drive In for a 21+ night! It was amazing. Not that I don't love kids, because anyone who knows me knows I do, but it was so nice to not have them all running around all night like the last time we went. Drive in was fun. Adults only with a showing of Bad Moms (hilarious) and then Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates. That was funny too, but it was one of those movies that I'll probably never watch again, even as much as I love Adam Devine. But it was fun! Good movies, good friends, good food (and wine) and even though we were dead tired by the time it was over, it was worth it! Enjoy the pictures! 

Aren't we all so cute? Yes, yes we are. 

I've been working on my bullet journal. Not as much as I thought I would, I really need to make it a point to use it every day. And I will. I just happened to be so focused on designing it, that I stuffed it in a bag and forgot about it? Go figure. But tonight I've been adding more to it and putting ideas together for a fun project that should be making its way to the blog in a little bit. As soon as I get my hands on a printer. Trying to think if I want to dig out my printer from school and hook it back up, or just borrow Nana & Papa's. Hmmm, we'll see. 

Until next time, y'all! 

Yes, I know today is actually Saturday, but this post is about yesterday. Went to Gen's to make cupcakes and so I have just a few pictures to post of our baking adventure! These cupcakes were for a couple's 50th wedding anniversary, and they just wanted something simple. So it was vanilla on vanilla with gold sprinkles and they looked so cute when we were done!

For those who don't know, Gen and I have our little side business Pink Pineapple. We specialize in cupcakes and in the last four months of doing this have found our base recipe, have figured out pretty much how we want our icing to taste, and soon we'll be experimenting with more flavors and getting to work with fondant. I also want to start trying out molds and making our own candies to go on top of the cakes. We'll figure this all out though. We have a ways to go.

We do make everything from scratch. No boxes and definitely no store bought icing! Paula Deen would be so proud!

Every time I drive to Gen's house, I am awestruck by this view. And I finally pulled my phone out in time to take a picture this time!

While opening up cabinets, I found a whole lucky wall of four leaf clovers. Had to snap a pic! 

When we were done with the batter, Ranger had to sample. He's our official taste tester.

Ahh! I fell in love with those gold sprinkles!

Viola! Happy 50th Anniversary! 

You can visit our page on Facebook and give Pink Pineapple a like. Just click here. And now I'm off to get ready for our Girls' Night Out to the Goochland Drive-In. It's 21 and over night with a double feature of Bad Moms and Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates. Maybe we'll see you there?

You know it's a good day when you're exhausted! I was only at the pool for about four hours, but being in that sun and swimming around takes it out of you! I'm really enjoying having these summer weekdays off because sometimes the weekend just isn't long enough for what you want to do.

Woke up to my new journal in the mailbox! (We didn't get the mail yesterday.) And I've already started filling it up with different pages and doodles. And through a suggestion from my cousin, Karen, I've made a bullet journal board on Pinterest. So if you're a fellow Pinterest lover, please click the button to the right and follow me. I pin some pretty awesome stuff.

Headed to the pool around noon, hung out with the family and especially two little rambunctious boys who have stolen my heart. Gabe and I took some crazy snapchat pictures and little Liam was far too busy with more important matters like playing shark and squirting everyone in the pool with the water shooter. We all got Elle King's song "Exes and Ohs" stuck in our heads and talked a lot about Harry Potter. So it was pretty much a successful day.

One random thing I did want to point out to everyone was that on the ride home, Carrie Underwood's song, "Church Bells" came on. Well of course I love it and I was singing along when it hit me that... you really don't want to mess with this chick. Think about it. Everyone's always going on about how Miranda Lambert is tough with her songs "Kerosene" and "Gunpowder and Lead". But Carrie's just as tough. We all laughed when "Before He Cheats" came out and she defiled his car. And then when the much darker song "Blown Away" debuted, everyone silently cheered for the song's protagonist. But then... did we forget about "Two Black Cadillacs"? Man cheats on wife, I'm guessing doesn't tell his mistress he's married either and they get revenge. And now in "Church Bells" Jenny's husband abuses her and gets what's coming to him. Point of the story is... she's sweet with her amazing vocals when she sings "How Great Thou Art", and sexy with her legs for days, but you really shouldn't mess with Carrie. 

Now that I've gotten that off my brain, I think I'll curl up on the couch and watch Fly Away Home.

If you think going back to work on Mondays after the weekend is hard, try going back after a vacation! Five days without work and going back in this morning was brutal. Half asleep and annoyed do not make for good conversation. I'm pretty sure I saw the back of my eye lids more at my desk than in bed last night. It was bad.

But I managed to make it through, keeping an eye on the time all day long. It's funny how at first, the mornings used to drag on, my day picking up in the afternoons after lunch was over. But now it's seemed to flip. Mornings go by faster and then halt goes the clock and suddenly I'm working for what feels like an hour only to see that it's only been ten minutes. What?!

I have fun things in the works for being posted tomorrow. In honor of TUESDAY, guess what? I'm bringing back Tuesday Ten! Yes! I'm so excited and you should be too! Honestly, I'll take suggestions for Tuesday Ten material because you know, 52 Tuesday Tens a year is a lot. I need to get brainstorming.

For now, I'll curl up with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets until I've fallen into a literature coma. Goodnight!

Hello all! How many times have I been back with a blog? This will be the fourth time, right? Well, let's go with fourth time's a charm, because I'm back for good. I have big plans for this blog. Big plans! Actually, I just have a half a sheet page in a notebook with a few blog post ideas, and a big hankerin' for writing lately. But that's how we'll start! 

So, it's been awhile since I've done this and I can remember my first blog way back in 2010. I kept that up for a solid... two years, I want to say. I miss it. I miss being able to just log on and write to my heart's content. To vent. To inspire. To make people (and myself, let's be honest here) laugh. So here I am again. 

I figured for my hello again post, I'd share with everyone what's been going on this week. And it's been  a lot! So hold on to your bench seat, boys, this one's a long one! 

For those that don't know, Gentry (that's Bestfriend, fyi) and I were supposed to go to Charleston, South Carolina, this week. Leave Wednesday evening, that way we had all day Thursday, Friday, and Saturday for fun, then come home today. We had so many plans! Go to Folley Beach, visit Magnolia Plantation (where I am bound and determined to get married one day), shop on King Street, take a picture in front of Pineapple Fountain, hunt down Bill Murray (he took my picture once, in case you didn't know*). It was all leading up to the fun-filled 90's night with Sister Hazel and Hootie and the Blowfish. 

However, my poor blonde sister got sick, and not just a cough/cold put-some-windex-on-it-and-you'll-be-fine sick, but actually sick. Poor thing was in and out of BetterMed, going to the hospital for a CT scan, and trying to figure out what's wrong sick. Not fun. So after holding out hope that maybe she might feel up to it, we finally decided that driving five hours to an unfamiliar city probably wasn't the best idea and let Hootie go and decided to stay home so she could cocoon herself in bed at home for the rest of the week/weekend. 

So I thought about it. And after careful consideration (ha!) I came to the conclusion that I was off work anyway, so why not just stay home for a stay-cation? Wednesday is my usual day off from work anyway, so I cleaned the house, hung out, got two things I'd ordered online from two different places, so it felt like a mini-Christmas. One of which turned out to be the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Illustrated book. I read it in two days. I forgot how small the book is compared to the other books. The second gift I received was the koozies I'd ordered for me and Gen for when we go to the beach in October. 

They're cute, right? Let me just take a second to advertise for Pretty Penny and Co because they're amazing. The Etsy shop is on a short break right now, but you can check out Instagram to see what kind of knick knacks they sell. I basically want one of everything.

So Wednesday was half work-half play. And Thursday was exciting because not only did I join this generation and upgrade to a new iPhone 6s. I finally got Touch ID! It's the little things in life, friends. But I also got to watch my cousin graduate from police academy. He's now a full-fledged police officer and I know he's just waiting for the day he gets to pull one of his family members over. It's probably going to be my brother. Graduation was followed by family dinner at Firebirds, and if you've never eaten there, my friends, you are missing out. Number one, their Jack's Honey Peach Tea cocktail is enough to write home about. And the chicken something sandwich I had nearly caused a heart attack. But the good kind, you know. 

It was fun. 

Friday, I did nothing, except go visit my old work and see some people I haven't seen in a long time. I miss my kids and coworkers. It was so much fun to catch up. And just like I said before, the little things make me happy. One of my old kids came over and asked what time it was. I pulled the dad card and said, "Time for you to get a watch". If my kids know me at all, it's not to ask Miss Lindsey for the time, because that's the only answer they'd get. 

We're almost to the end folks, but if you'd like to have a small stretch break, we'll continue with the next line... 

Saturday was a lazy day for the most part. I really just gave my room a quick cleaning, which just meant moving all of my clothes from the floor into the hamper, and just clearing off my dresser that was piled with stuff, putting them in their respectable places. And then I proceeded to read for the remainder of the day. Honestly, starting at ten-thirty in the morning and only stopping for lunch, I finished the book at six, right before I was leaving to go to dinner with my friend Jordan. It was one of those books you just couldn't put down because you absolutely had to find out the ending. I'll actually be doing a book review on it later this week because apparently I have a lot to say about it. So be looking for that, I guess. 

Last night was fun -- dinner with Jordan, Mexican again, because that's our thing. A much needed trip to Target, dodging a thunderstorm and then seeing Bad Moms. Hilarious. I'm really digging this whole raunchy women comedies thing we have going on. 

And now we've finally reached today! Breathing a sigh of relief yet? I am! 

This morning was great. I managed to drag my butt out of bed, get to church, finally see Gen after like two weeks. (We have a co-dependent friendship, okay? We don't go that long without seeing one another.) And then lunch with the girls, and a very successful Barnes and Noble trip where I topped off my Harry Potter collection (because I was randomly missing the first and third books?) and when impulsively bought this little baby in the check out line! 

Gorgeous, isn't it?! Yes, I'm aware it's for children. And it's mostly for decoration, meant to sit on a coffee table and bring out thoughtful conversations, but I'm going to read it because I can. Arthurian legend has always been my favorite in addition to Greek Mythology. So this just starts my collection, I guess? We'll see! 

Hope I didn't run anyone off with my novel of a post today. But then again, it's a blog, so if you didn't come here to read, then I don't know what you expected to find. 

Tomorrow I go back to the daily grind, so I'll be preparing for that. The Monday back to work after the weekend is bad enough, I can't imagine how I'll feel after having five days off. Well, here goes. 

*I had to put a little note down here to let everyone know, Bill Murray did not take my picture once. It was a feeble attempt to get my aunts to believe he did when they weren't around, the last time we were in Charleston.