{top five friday} summertime!

helloooo friday loves! :)

today i am very excited to share something with you. something that i named as a goal on my 30 day detox top five last friday. something so totally amazeballs that i am squirming in my pants to run with it.

i have kind of, sort of, maybe just a little bit started formulating a temporary idea for a plan that i might put into place that could possibly one day morph into a hand made business.

{i know}

squeeee!!!

i can't share details yet. the idea i have stemmed from a gift i made for my sister-in-law's baby shower and i don't want to spill the surprise on here, you know because she like stalks my blog and all.

{hey mccall!}

but i can tell you this. i have a name. and i have an etsy account set up in that name... but i don't have a shop yet. i'm still working on that part.

i will very soon have a logo with that name and i don't want to spoil that for you but i will ask for this...

your continued prayers and encouragement because seriously folks... it keeps me going! knowing that i have friends that think what i do is worthy makes my heart tumble around a bit and swell up inside.

oh and by the way, the hubs is totally backing me up too, which makes my heart almost burst. i'm pretty sure i have the best husband ever ever ever.

so - on with the top five friday!

it's summertime!

{are you singing summertime by will smith? nope? bet you will be now. all day. you're welcome.}

ok well not officially summertime. i always know when summertime officially starts because it happens that the hubs' birthday is on summer solstice, june 21, the loooongest day of the year.

{yep - he never lets me forget it}

but in the south it is already hot & humid, the pools are warm enough to jump into and the sno cone stands are already open!

here are my top five favorite things about summer

one

sunshine

via

even though i am a white-white-white girl i love the sunshine. i love the warm envelope of happiness it wraps me in. i love the tingle when i am in it just a little too long. i love to jump in the pool and then lay in the sun and let all the water evaporate off me. i love to open my sunroof on a long drive and let the sun warm my car up. i love to squint through sunglasses at a beautiful sunset at the lake. i love to sit outside in the mornings and watch the sun filter through all the trees behind my house.

and don't worry - i am a huge supporter of spf and don't carry anything less than 50 with me at all times. it's a rare occurance that i get a sunburn anymore.

two

icy cold drinks in mason jars



via

nothing screams "i live in the south" better than a cold refreshment served in a mason jar. sweet iced tea for you, unsweet for me, lemonade, dr. pepper, mint juleps, water... you name it & i can almost guarantee it will taste better coming from a mason jar.

three

smores



via

omigawsh omigawsh omigawsh. squish a perfectly burnt, gooey marshmallow and creamy milk chocolate between two graham crackers and i am in my own little version of heaven.

four

cutoffs



via

i would definitely love cut off jeans a whole lot more if i looked like this in them. but i don't. and that is ok with me! why is it cutoffs are so comfy anyways?

i love the casualness of them and how you can just throw them in the floor of the boat and jump in the lake and when you come back they are more comfy than they were before! i love the way they look with a comfy, soft white shirt and brown sandals. i love the tiny bits of sand that collect in the corners of the pockets after a day at the beach.

do you have a favorite pair of cutoffs?

five

the fam dam



via

every year on july 4th weekend my entire family gathers for a reunion (which we have affectionately named the "fam dam reunion" and it is always soo much fun. this will be our 21st year in a row to have one. read about the 20th year here.

here is the catch though:

they are by invitation only.

if you get invited and you don't come, we talk about you

and you don't get invited back.

this is of course a joke. kind of.

;)

this year we are going to galveston, texas. and while i don't loooove the beach as much as i loooooooooove the lake where we usually go, i am nonetheless excited to see all of my family!

so let's have it. what are your favorite things about summer?

lucky number seven

i have been thinking. a lot. about this number.

7

and about how i am going to make seven pounds disappear from my body in the next few days.

for starters, i am going to stop having nutella and toast for breakfast.

unfortunately that has nothing to do with the fact that i want to lose these seven pounds and everything to do with the fact that i am completely out of nutella.

i may or may not have scooped every last bit out with my finger last night. just sayin.

i had a couple people mention the 30 day shred with what's-her-face from the biggest loser.

i'm not going to lie. this woman scares the living daylights out of me. it also just happens that i received that as a birthday gift from some friends.

i know. i thought the same thing. but then i remembered that it was on my amazon wish list and got glad in the same pants i got mad in.

so i am hemming & hawing about whether or not i should submit to her hellacious video.

i also kind of have to decide the date that this little 30 day detox is over. because i first read & blogged about it on may 10th. but i didn't set any goals until may 13th.

in the interest of giving myself an extra seventy-two hours to burn off some fatty tissue, i am going to say that i have until june 13th. how does that sound with you?

good? good. i like you. we can be friends.

so here is how i am going to do it:

no more soft drinks.

no more beer. (yah. i have a beer occasionally.)

run three days a week.

spend one day of the weekend outside, doing some sort of activity.

(yardwork, sanding something, throwing a frisbee, etc.)

and that is it.

and p.s.

the more you people help me, encourage me, and keep me on track the better i will do. so please please encourage me because i need it. im a terrible self motivator and your sweet comments always make me feel like i am working towards something for the good of us all. i will love you forever and ever. amen.

my very first 5K!

this post is part of my 30 day detox. click here to read more about turning negative into positive!

if you follow me on twitter you might have noticed a few tweets that look something like this...

in an effort to hopefully put off the random protruding 30-year-old fat, i decided it was time to do something. i knew i needed to be getting some physical activity.

i needed it to be free, challenging and to actually work.

i would have preferred that it include the words "snuggle on the couch, eat chocolate and watch movies" but we really can't have it all, can we?



rhiann on left. me on right - definitely not watching movies or eating chocolate.

i despise running. growing up a volleyball player i always categorized running as punishment. i never put two and two together that conditioning actually made you a better athlete. i just always thought my coach had a personal vendetta against me and therefore punished the entire team with 35-second line drills and sprints.

i knew about the couch to 5K program. all my friends were doing it. all the cool, rich, popular kids were doing it. so of course i had to do it.



all the rich, popular, cool kids

plus, it is free, challenging and from what i had seen from all the cool, rich, popular kids, it actually worked.

well, i guess {free} is relative. i paid $2.95 for an app on my ipod. but compared to expense of gym memberships and personal trainers and workout videos, $2.95 is essentially free, right?

before the race. rhiann has a tight grip on my shirt so i can't run away.

so i decided to take on running. it took a lot of positive energy and uplifting thoughts to actually make me start. i knew if i started with the attitude of "i never finish anything" i would in fact never finish this. so i signed up for a 5K. i needed a goal. some inspiration. a reason to force myself to roll out of the bed at 5 am other than warm cinnamon rolls.



the home stretch. proving to myself that the impossible can be acheived!

last saturday, the 7th, i ran across the finish line, still living and breathing and not carried by another runner, in my first 5K. i finally accomplished something i never thought i would be able to do...

basking in the glory of {not} coming in last!
(there were three people behind me)

enjoy running.

please don't ask me my time. my goal for this race was to survive. which i obviously did. i will record my next time at alley run in june. (yep, already signed up for another 5K - guess that makes me either "a runner", crazy, or both.)

30 Day Detox: {Mind & Body}

i wake up each morning and thank God that He has chosen to bless me with another day.

then the negativity starts to hit me from all sides. all of the hatred in the world starts to bubble below my heart's surface and i begin the daily struggle of not reflecting that negativity on to my day.

the day that was given to me by my Maker. the day i should allow Him to fill with love and peace.

who am i to think that filling it with constant negative thoughts is OK?

yesterday i read this post 30 Day Detox: Mind + Body over at Little Chief Honeybee.

via

if you haven't already stumbled across Kaelah you are truly missing out. she is such a wonderful little bee to follow. i love her confidence, quirkiness and her devotion to be absolutely who she is 100% without worrying what anyone else thinks of it.

kaelah says:

the choice was easy. i want to DO THIS. i want to detox the filth and negativity from my life. i want to pass on prayers, positive thoughts and happiness in this world that is riddled with heartbreaking news and terribly negative points of view.

carrying it out will be much much harder. luckily i have a God to inspire me and good friends here to join me and push me along.

won't you join me and spread the happiness?

let's blog about happy.

let's blog about inspiration.

let's blog about love.

the world is only as beautiful as you make it. your happiness starts with YOU. go to kealah's. read the post. grab the button. use the hashtag. let's make it happy around here!