Red and Pink Week {2013}

Willow joined me for some RED and PINK fun this week!!

 

 

The Fusion girls got their first taste of RED and PINK! 

They did a lovely job, if you ask me!!

XALT. lol! I guess Black's the new RED and PINK for most of these girls!

Love this girl and her enthusiasm for theme outfits!!

To Kill a Mockingbird starring a Fusion student as Jem.

He rocked it!!

The entire play was amazing though!

I seriously feel blessed that we live in a town that loves theater!

It's one of my faves!!

 

Chase's sister gave me this scarf and it's too cute.

"Thank you" if you're reading!! 

Oh! Winter Jam, how you wear me out!

You provided some good entertainment and

quality time with TSM students so...

I'll let it slide this time!

But seriously, the one day it snows in NC! C'MON!!

 

MY VALENTINE~THIS CREATIVE BEING

Alycia over at the Crowley Party and a few other bloggers are hosting a Valentines Blogger Party!!

Of course, with my love of Valentine's Day and parties I could not pass up such a fun opportunity.  I emailed my name and blog info in and I was randomly matched with Sam from this creative being.  

WOW!! What an amazing lady?! Not only is she a clever blogger but a mom of FOUR, a wife, an artist, and a journal-er.  Well it's actually JournalArt! Sam's art is inspired and inspiring.  She has taught art in the school system and loved sharing her knowledge with youngsters because art is so important to pass on. Even though she has a passion for visual art, it doesn't take long to see that she's no stranger to literary art as well.  I started my blog with the intention of posting book reviews and having dialogue with others about books and literature so I was so excited to learn that Sam loves words too!! I look forward to continuing to read her blog and seeing her perspective of the world.

I'm awful with pictures of items so I decided to have Chase record this! Oh my! Afterward I regretted that decision. Toward the end of the video I get a crazy case of the blinks so be warned.  Also, Thank you Chase for being a good sport!

 

The journal excited me so much because it was a way of Sam passing on a little bit of herself to me...who knows maybe this bad-stick-figure-artist will give journal art a go!!

SAM, THANK YOU SO MUCH! I LOVED EVERY GIFT AND CAN'T WAIT TO TRY IT ALL!

everyone, make sure to visit this creative being sometime soon!

p.s. I hope you're all wearing some red and pink this week!

spread the love

Roses are Red, Families are True Blue

This weekend we met my family in southern Ohio at my Grandma's house. 

It was SO good to see them for the first time since Christmas. 

We saw everyone...not only my family but Grandma, Aunt, and Cousins. Talk about fun!!

We ended up seeing Chase's sister and her husband too! 

They were amazing hosts and terrific company.

 

This is awful but since I didn't blog a lot in the Fall, I have an introduction to make... 

My little nephew!! He's so sweet!! 

If you couldn't tell WE LOVE BEING AUNTIES!!

 

He has grown way too much already but he just gets cuter and cuter!

Now he's making little baby noises and smiling but he's still small enough to like being held. 

For the first time in four years my sister and I saw each other during RED & PINK week!! 

(We're Valentine's Day enthusiasts so we wear red or pink all week!) 

Our mom and sister-in-law joined us this year!! 

It was amazing to start off the week actually being together.

There isn't a lot of face time for the fellas in these pictures

but much love to my dad, brother, and Chase too!!

Eats of the Week

Chase, so generously, offered to make brownies for a Superbowl party. As we were getting ready to leave he said, "we're never buying Aldi brownies again. Brownies are supposed to be flaky on top and these are fluffy like a cake. I even tried to flatten them down with my oven mitt!"
Having more faith in Aldi brand than my husband's cooking I asked, "well did you make the cake that was in the cabinet?" Checking the cabinet we found the brownie box quietly untouched!! LOL!!
He made one delicious cake...even though his heart was set in brownies, poor fella.

P.S. I love how loyal he is...still sporting the Brown's gear!

Monday at work we had a SOUPerbowl party. Over the past three years this has become one of my favorite school days. I always get to see some different faces when we potluck. It's nice to see how some of the other teachers are doing and chat with them. Plus these ladies know a thing or two about soup! I tried the Taco Soup and a Cream Cheese Chicken Chili. Our wonderful PTA made the goodies...red velvet cupcakes-yum!!

After mastering self-control over my Sweet Frog addiction by not going at all in January I have returned to fro-yo. It will have to be on a more limited basis than before...but gosh it's just so good! I shared Sweet Frog with two friends from church who also are amazing volunteers at Xalt!! We had a blast be-bopping along to some Jamie Grace and chatting about life.

Times with friends and good food cannot be beat!

Shop and Drop

This weekend was our Annual Shop and Drop event where the girls (obviously) go shopping and the boys (implied) drop each other AKA play video games and have air soft wars!!

It is neat to see the different personality of the group each year. The first year our night was defined by getting ice cream. My group included to very sweet sisters who now volunteer with the student ministry. The following year, we spent a majority of the time in Clair's as well as trying on fancy dresses. Last year, the girls chose Bass Pro Shop as their destination of choice.

That's the fun thing about student ministry the personality grows and evolves every year. So this year we just had a chill window shopping vibe. Of course, we did buy some things, I mean we are girls!!

Improv Class

Chase and I attended our first improv class on Sunday with the Charlotte Comedy Theater. Taking these classes has been Chase's dream since he moved down to NC in 2009. We have been to a few shows of the improv team and enjoy it every time. So here we go trying it out for ourselves!!

We car picnicked to make sure we made it there on time! lol!

The class was surprisingly big, 19 people were there.  Everyone was over 18, of course, but acting like kids on a playground...perfect for Chase and I, that's how we act every Wednesday night at Fusion.  We played some super fun warm-ups including one called Samurai.  

Samurai

The "it" person had to run to someone and slice them with their fake sword, the victim screamed in agony while drawing their sword upward in defense.  However, while their sword was up the people on either side of them swung devastating blows to that same victims mid section.  The victim then became the "it" person and started the cycle all over again.  Did I mention each person had to scream war cries the whole time? Sounds like a fun student ministry game, if you ask me!!

This first class had the emphasis of knowing that we do not have to try to be funny, just simply be yourself and funny will come! I liked that about it. 

We also learned A LOT about teamwork: 

• being there for one another 
• taking one for the team (looking stupid for several minutes or simply saying "the")
• playing off another teammate's idea or character 

The trainer talked about how when you learn improv, you retrain your brain to use the left and right sides at the same time.  How cool?! While looking like crazy people we are becoming smarter!! AH!

Let me know if you've ever done a class or club similar to this.

Tell me about your experience. 

Contrast

Ever since the orangy/tan colored boots became popular I have been dying to have some.

I'm not sure what it is about this look but I.Love.It. 

I've seen many girls wear their light brown boots with a black outfit and at first I wasn't a fan

but then it started growing on me.

It's kind of rebellious to wear brown and black together.

And I love it!!

Chase bought the boots for me for Christmas, they are from Rack Room Shoes

it's like a Shoe Dept. kind of place.

(Funny Fact: Chase refers to it as Shoe Depot instead of Shoe Department!! LOL)

The outfit would not tie together without the belt, which I found at Target on clearance. Score!

So there you have the brown elements.

All that's left is to find black tights with a black dress or black skinny jeans with a black top.

The key to the outfit is that the top has to be paired with a skinny belt. 

Maybe a blousy button up or a classic v-neck with a cardigan.

The contrast of the black and light brown look so classic. 

This outfit looks nice but is also comfortable! See, I even drove a bus route while wearing it!!

 I hope you all stay safe whatever the weather brings.