Friday Favorites 1/11/2019

Happy New Year, everyone! This is my first Friday Favorites post of 2019.

My first favorite of the week is from Sunday. My parents visited last weekend and we went to iHop after church. I honestly think this may have been my first time at iHop? I got the bananas foster french toast and it was delicious. Liam got nothing because he slept the whole time. He was so cute, but I felt a little guilty that he was missing out on breakfast bc he would've enjoyed it.

My next favorite is one I've already shared on Instagram, but it is too funny not to share again. Liam had his 15 month appointment with his pediatrician on Monday, and he had to get shots, so we took him out for french fries and ice cream afterwards. This is the face he makes when I ask him to smile. 

It's been a busy week for my big boy. First week back after 3 weeks of Christmas break, new baby sitter on Monday, doctor visit on Monday as well, so by Tuesday, he was TIRED! He fell asleep on our way home from the baby sitter's Tuesday evening. 

Lee had a meeting and I had big plans for Liam and I to have a date night of the pizza truck, but I needed to stop at home and change out of my heels first. This is what I saw in my back seat when I stopped at home, so we opted to stay home for dinner. 

My next favorite thing of the week is my new coffee station in my office! I was gifted this pretty k-mini for Christmas from my in-laws, and I have coffee, hot cocoa, chai latte, and all kinds of cream and flavor to keep me going this semester. 

My second to last favorite is from dinner last night! I made my Sweet Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts as a side, but this time, I also added some purple potatoes! I bought a medley ba of small potatoes from Aldi and it had red, yellow, and purple potatoes in it. I picked a few purple ones out to cook with this dish. It was pretty, and delish. We ate it along side some grilled chicken.

My final fav is another Christmas gift, that we've put to use. Our new clock! It says, "Time spent with family is worth every minute". We've recenly finished remodeling our basement, and now it's time to decorate. We are going to hang two 11x14 framed family pictures on each side of the clock, once we find some frames that we like. 

With this being my first week back to work after Christmas vacation, we've keep things pretty quiet around here, as you can tell from my Friday Favorites. Lee and I are really trying to get Liam on a good sleep schedule, which means we've been crying it out this week at bed time (both me and Liam), but so far we're making positive progress. Liam was tired last night, and it only took him TWO minutes to fall asleep once we left his bedroom.

We don't have much planned this weekend, and that hardly ever happens! I'm hoping we can take some time to do a little shopping for basement decor and picture frames. On Saturday, there's a chance we may get a little snow, so if that's the case, we will get to take Liam out to play in it. 

Have a great weekend everyone! 

Friday Favorites 12/14/18

It's been so long since I've participated in a Friday Favorites post! I'm happy to be blogging more again, and this is one of my favorite link ups to join in on! The link up is hosted by Narci, Andrea, and Erika. Today I have 6 favorites to share:

My first FAVORITE for the day is:

HELLO CHRISTMAS BREAK!!! WOO HOO! 

I have given all of my finals and graded them all... after I submit my grades on Monday, I'm off work for THREE WEEKS! I really do love my new job, and I'm so glad I made the career swap from Financial Aid Counselor to Professor.

Another FAVORITE of mine from this week is that our Christmas shopping is F.I.N.I.S.H.E.D! No more pressure to find just the right thing. We did a pretty good mix of online and in-store shopping this year, which made the process a lot easier.

No work, and no more Christmas shopping.... what am I going to do these next 10 days between now and Christmas?! Snuggle my baby, watch Christmas movies, and BAKE! I'm looking forward to all 3 things. I'm planning to use this recipe which is one of my FAVORITE ways to make cookies bc its so easy.  I'll use red and green M&Ms to make a cookie cake for my family Christmas this weekend... I'll probably write, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS" on it.

This is a random Google image, not actually my cookie cake. 

Speaking of Christmas shopping above, one of my FAVORITES that we purchased this year was from Food for the Hungry We have been sponsoring a child for about a year and a half, which is a monthly donation that helps purchase food for her and her family. FFH also offers gifts that give back. This was great as a gift for my grandparents who have everything, and want/need nothing.

I purchased "two chickens" for a one set of grandparents. This is a gift that goes to a vulnerable family in honor of my grandparents, and can provide both food and a way for the family to earn money. For my other grandparents we purchased the gift of a household water tank that provides a vulnerable family access to clean water, in honor of my grandparents!

Once you make your donation, you get a certificate you can print out to give as the gift. I paired it with a box of chocolates, and that's my Christmas gift to each set of my grandparents!

Another FAVORITE gift that we purchased this year, was a little less thoughtful, but I think my niece and nephew will love: Altec Speakers . These things are awesome! Waterproof, sand proof, etc. and for being as small as they are, they are LOUD! We tried them out at Kohl's ($30) but ended up buying from Amazon bc they were cheaper ($25). Here is a pic below of the speaker next to a Tall Starbucks cup, so you can see how small this thing is. (This is an affiliate link above, so I will get a small Amazon credit if you purchase!)

My next FAVORITE is my little cutie in his Christmas sweater! We found it at Target, and I plan on having him wear it several times over the next two weeks. I took this pic last weekend at my work's family-friendly Christmas party. You can find Liam's sweater at Target. (this is not an affiliate link, just sharing bc the sweater is so cute!)

He wasn't sure sure about santa, but look how cute his elf sweater is! 

My last FAVORITE for the week was a little swing time with my big boy. We have this swing hanging in our garage, which gives us something to do when the weather is too cold or rainy! He LOVES it, and has even started lifting his arms if we say, "Woo Hoo!!" Its so cute!

He claps when he is excited or if we say, "Yaaay!"

Arms go up when we say "Woo Hoo!"

That's all of my favs for this week! This weekend Lee and I are going solo to his work Christmas party, then we'll spend the weekend at my dad and step-mom's house celebrating an early Christmas with some of my family. Sunday when we  get back to town, we're gonna try to take Liam to see Santa with Lee's sister and her family. I'm looking forward to all of the family time! Happy Friday, my friends!!

Friday Favorites: New Job Edition

Hi everyone! Today I'm linking up with  Erika, Narci and Andrea for Friday Favorites! 

Friends, I just have one Friday Favorite to share with you this week, but it's a good one: I GOT A NEW JOB!! Whoop whoop! Time to celebrate. After working in Financial Aid at my Alma Mater for the past 5+ years, I decided it was time for a career change. During my time in FA I learned so much, and definitely realized my passion for Higher Education, but was starting to feel like I had reached maximum grown in my position. That, combined with my MBA I earned in 2016, combined with the new mom chaos, I was ready for something different.

All of that led me to my new job, as a PROFESSOR! Yep, you can call me Professor F :) This academic year I'll be teaching Business Administration courses at a local jr. college, and I am SO EXCITED! I have gotten a good feel of the business side of higher ed, and now I'm excited to test the waters of the academic side of things. 

Perks to new job: 

• new challenges/learning for myself
• more interaction with students
• something different everyday
• new adventures each semester
• flexibility, which will hopefully allow for more work/home balance
• work from home most Fridays 
• limited summer schedule
• more quality time with that sweetie pictured below

Today marks the end of my first full week here, and next week is my first week of classes! 

So all that being said, my new gig is my FAVORITE thing going on this week, and I'm excited to update you guys on how its going as the semester progresses.

This weekend is Lee's and my 6th wedding anniversary, and we're taking a family get away to Lake Barkley. Lee and I have done this several times for our anniversary, but this will be our first time as a family of 3. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Liam enjoys it. I hope you all have a great weekend!! 

Friday Favorites

FRIDAYYYYYY! Woo hoo! I am so excited for the weekend. Although I only had to work 4 days this week, I just am really ready for the weekend! Today I'm linking up with  Andrea, Erika, and Narci, to share my favorite things/items/moments, etc. from the week. You can visit any of their blogs and link up as well! I'm also linking up with Cup of Team for High Five 4 Friday!

My first favorite from the week, per usual, is my sweet little boy! We had a day off together on Tuesday. I knew it was going to rain, so we went outside at like 7:00am to get some playtime in prior to the storms coming. Once we went in, Liam helped me do a little laundry.

Going on a little drive

Doing a little boating before the storm rolls in

My little laundry helper.

Another favorite from the week is this Lularoe dress. The girl I buy my Lula from was discontinuing this style (Amelia), and I got it for a steal! Its solid olive, so super easy to pair accessories with, and its stretchy and comfy, while still looking nice enough for work... that's my kinda outfit! This is only my second time wearing this dress, but each time I wear it, I love it more!

I love this dress because I can add sandals and make it summery, and with flats or a scarf it will be cute for fall too! 

Last Sunday we had Liam's baptism. Lee and I were so excited to have him baptized, and although I tried to keep it low-key, I still had fun planning the menu and putting cute touches around my house to decorate.

I tried to keep my decor neutral so I can potentially use it again, so I tried to personalize his cake and the chalkboard to make it more of a baptism theme. 

Love this sweet little guy of mine. I promise we had pants during the baptism, but we ditched them and his over shirt to cool him off a little :) 

This one is a MAJOR FAVORITE from the week... NEW TV STAND!! Whoop whoop! We purchased this one from Wayfair, and although it took my husband (who has an engineering degree, btw) an entire evening to put it together, I love the final product! Make note if you plan to purchase this: it comes with lots of pieces, but is a great price and looks great when put together.

Here's a view from afar with a cute little banner I put up to add some color for Liam's baptism party. 

Ignore Liam's jumper in the edge of thie pic, but I love our new tv stand! I have all of our DVD's hidden on the sides behind the doors. 

My final favorite for the week is a little trip down memory lane. When Lee and I went to Europe the first time, I sent emails to our family after each city and told them what we did. I've finally gone through and blogged about each city (better late than never, right?), and I basically turned those emails into my posts... but looking through those pics was so fun! Here's a pic of Lee and I at the top of the bell tower in Venice, Italy. This was taken in December 2014. We look like babies!! Check out my Travel tab above to see all of our adventures.

So those are a few of the highlights from my week/last weekend. I'm excited to celebrate my dad, my father-in-law for Father's Day, and I'm especially excited to celebrate Lee's first Father's Day!! We are planning to see my dad Saturday evening, and celebrate with Lee and my father-in-law on Sunday. I'm excited to see what Lee chooses to spend the day doing. I also can't wait to tell you next week what Liam and I have gifted him. Have a great weekend, friends!

Friday Favorites: 4/6/18

Happy Friday! Is it just me, or has this week FLOWN by? Weren't we just having Easter like yesterday?? Anyways, I'm thankful that it's the weekend, and I'm ready to spend some time with my favorite people this weekend!

Today I'm linking up with  Andrea, Erika, and Narci, and everyone else for Friday Favorites. Here are some of my favorites from the week:

My baby's first Easter was definitely a FAVORITE for me! Easter weekend was exhausting, but a great one for our family. We got to spend time with both sides of our family. What more do we need?! Real life post here: We took this pic, and Lee and Liam were so cute in their yellow polos. Shortly after, Liam had a blowout and got poop all over himself and Lee, and they both had to change. I was glad we snapped a pic when we did!

Liam has been SPOILED this week getting to spend time with 2 of his 2 grandmas, his aunt and cousin, and today his grandpa. (Who am I kidding, his aunt, cousin, and grandma spoil him with love and playtime every week). Having mine and Lee's parents able to be so involved with Liam is definitely a favorite. He hit the JACKPOT when it comes to grandparents!

My mom babysat Liam on Tuesday, and I visited them on my lunch hour. Look at my mom waving to Liam in the background! He could see her waving on the screen of my phone. 

Last weekend, Liam got to see his other grandma at our church's Easter Egg Hunt! You should see the way he lights up on Tuesday mornings when she comes over to visit him. It is the cutest thing. My in-laws are such a huge help with Liam. 

Here's a pic from Easter of Liam, my niece, and my nephew, with my Dad and Smom. Didn't this pic turn out so good? Doesn't Liam kinda look like my dad with their matching bald heads. HAHA! We're just missing my other niece and nephew in this pic! 

I already posted this recipe, but its still a FAVORITE this week. Peanut Butter Lasagna! We only ate about half of the peanut butter lasagna on Sunday, so I've been snacking on it this week. So. Good. But the cookies are starting to get too soft, so tonight whatever is left is getting tossed in the garbage.

Lee was out of town for work Monday and Tuesday. My mom stayed over from Easter, which was nice to have her help especially while Lee was gone. Lee came home Tuesday evening, and I'd say Liam was excited to see his daddy! Seeing the bond these two have together is definitely a FAVORITE of mine.

My last FAVORITE of the week is a random act of kindness! A colleague from another department delivered this to me yesterday, and it just made my day. I'm assuming she hand painted this rock. The pic doesn't do it justice. Its SO PRETTY! It's always great to feel appreciated. Now I need to pay it forward and do something nice for someone else. Maybe I'll think on ideas this weekend and make it happen next week!

This weekend we don't have too much planned. I have to work tomorrow morning for a few hours, and Lee and Liam are going to have a 'guys day' while I'm gone- Lee's words, not mine ;). We'll probably go to church on Sunday, and spend the rest of our weekend hanging out and catching up on things at home! Nothing better than some quality time with my two favorite boys. Have a great weekend everyone!

Friday Favorites 02/02/18

Woo hoo! It's Friday, and my first Friday Favorites of 2018, and also since Liam was born. I'm excited to be linking up again. Today's link up is hosted by Andrea, Erika, and Narci. 

Here are some of my favorite things from this week: 

1. Liam's cute outfits. Liam has been rocking some graphic onesies this week. Both of these were gifts to us, and he got to wear them for the first time this week. The coffee one was totally appropriate bc I only got like 3 hours of sleep the night before he wore that one, and the Harry Potter one is just too cute! Liam will probably be one of my Friday Favorites indefinitely... how can I resist that sweet little face?

2. SNOW! Yesterday we got a little snow shower, and it was a favorite view of mine this week. I am thankful that the snow really didn't stick to the ground, but it made for some pretty scenery outside my office window. 

3. TACOS Last night, Lee had a dinner meeting, so Liam and I had a date night of our own. I picked up some steak tacos to go from Hacienda, and I inhaled them quickly while Liam took a cat nap. 

4. Liam's and my date night is another favorite for the week. Last night he was so sweet. He took a little nap, long enough for me to eat a quick dinner, and we got in some playtime and sleepy snuggles too. Now that I'm back at work, I really cherish time with him in the evenings. Right now he is so fun to play with because he's learning to do new things almost daily. This week he is really trying hard to hold things, such as his own hands, his bottle, and his paci. 

5. This shirt... I ordered it from Old Navy, and last weekend I wore it with jeans. This week, I wore it around the house with some navy leggings. I love that it is loose fitting, long enough to wear with leggings, and also super soft. The color I have is almost sold out, but they have plenty of other colors available in this style. 

6. More Than Anything by Natalie Grant is my last favorite thing from this week. Have you guys heard it? I've been listening to it on repeat!

I'm excited about this weekend. We don't have any plans this evening, so I'm looking forward to some R&R with my little family. Tomorrow, we are going to my BFF's baby shower. Her son and mine will only be about 5 months apart in age. I think we are going to have SO. MUCH. FUN. raising boys at the same time! Sunday we are going to make some goodies and watch the Superbowl and my sister-in-law and brother-in-law's house. Have a great weekend, friends! 

September Joy

Happy Friday, friends! Today I'm trying something new and linking up with Stephanie and her crew to share 5 things that bring me JOY. I'm also linking up with Erika, Andrea, and Narci for Friday Favorites! 

ONE: PREGNANCY

As of yesterday, I am 34 weeks pregnant! That makes this pic a few weeks old, but I especially love this new nursing top that I got, which is currently doubling as a maternity top :). This pregnancy has been such a blessing. Can you believe that I've not eaten a single Tums since being pregnant? I have been so fortunate with minimal nausea, no morning sickness, etc. I am so thankful that it has been such a pleasant experience. Now we are less than 6 weeks from meeting our miracle boy, and I am just so excited! Through this pregnancy, God has shown us truly how great he is, and I know this is just the beginning.

TWO: COMFORT FOOD
Comfort food has been my thing lately... Last week I made my Sausage Stars recipe, and I snacked on them all week. I ate them for breakfast a few days, for snacks, and one night I had them with a side salad for dinner... they're good anytime, any day!

Sausage Stars and Alfredo Pizza... YUM!! 

This week, I made my very favorite Alfredo Sauce, which my sister-in-law introduced me to, and then we put the sauce on pizza with grilled chicken, spinach and mushrooms... it was so good! Comfort food has been my jam lately, and as a woman who is 7.5 months pregnant, it brings me JOY ;). 

THREE: FRIENDS AND FAMILY

I could go on and on about how supportive our friends and family are... We have been especially reminded lately as they have all showered us with gifts, love, and support and our two bridal showers. We had one in IL and one in IN to celebrate with both our our families, and let me tell you... the mamas, sisters-in-law, and friends in our lives went above and beyond to throw us beautiful baby showers. This baby has everything he could possibly need and more, and we are so very thankful! It brings me JOY to see everyone celebrating our baby boy. 

Here are a few pics from both of our baby showers: 

 

From left to right, the first pic is my niece, Layla, and I at our IN baby shower. This little girl is SO EXCITED to be a big cousin. I have no doubt she will be the best helper. The 2nd picture is my Great Aunt Toby, myself, and Lee at our IL baby shower. I love that our baby has a pic with his Great Great Aunt. The bottom left is Lee and I in front of our adventure themed cake at our IN shower. If you can, zoom in on the detail... this shower was SO cute and personal! The bottom right is my mom, myself, and her bff and our IL shower. It was so fun to celebrate with everyone, and the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star theme was adorable. 

FOUR: IT'S FALL, YA'LL 

Today is the first day of fall!! I am so excited! Although we have a high of 95 degrees today, I'm embracing fall despite the weather. I think next week it is supposed to cool down into the 70's and 80's, and that will, without a doubt, bring me joy. I love celebrating each season by decorating my house, enjoying seasonal activities and foods, etc. Lee has gotten my fall decor out of the attic, and I'm hoping to put it out this weekend. This week we started celebrating fall by watching Hocus Pocus. It's a silly kid movie, but we enjoyed it none-the-less. Bring on cool weather, leaves changing colors, and everything cozy! 

FIVE: HAPPY FRIDAY!

The final thing that brings me joy today is that it is FRIDAY!! I am so thankful it is the weekend! We  have a busy one planned: Tonight we are going to be productive around the house, tomorrow we'll go to our niece's 4th birthday party, and tomorrow evening Lee's buddies are throwing him a diaper party. While  he's at the diaper party, my step-mom and I (my brother and I love to call her smom for short ;) ) are going to a wine and paint party. No wine for me, but I'm excited for the pallet painting! Then Sunday we are hoping to finish up some decorating in the baby's room. It's going to be a great weekend full of time with friends and family! 

Have a great weekend everyone, and happy FALL!!