{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

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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



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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



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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



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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



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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?

30 day detox goals! {top five friday}

so i may or may not have mentioned this on here a couple of times but i am participating in a sweet little something called the 30 Day Detox, commandeered by the beautiful Kaelah.

today i want to make a list of five things that will make me feel better about myself and give me a more positive outlook on life in general. my goal is to do these things during the next thirty days during my mind & body detox!

one

private journaling

as a gift for my birthday i got a $25 amazon gift card from some dear friends of mine!

{thanks jared & alina!}

i decided that in addition to journaling in public here on the blog i would like to start a private journal as well. somewhere to document the crazy in my head that i don't want to share with the world.

i know - hard to think there is more crazy underlying this. ;)

i also know that i have to be real with myself. after a day of writing blogs, working {funny that blogging comes before work.. maybe i should reassess my priorities...}, doing laundry, loving my husband, playing with dogs, cooking and cleaning... am i really going to want to write a long drawn out soliloquy in my journal?

ummm. negative ghostrider. ;)

so with my amazon gift card i bought this:

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one line every day for five years. and for the first thirty days i will write something positive that happened to me that day. no negativity. no sadness. no griping. i have so many blessings so why should i focus on these things? one positive thought a day. :)

two

lose seven pounds

there is no significance to the number seven. there isn't a medical reason i need to lose seven pounds. i just know that it would make me happy and i would feel better about myself if i did it. i just kind of figure that seven is a reasonable goal for thirty days.

addendum: figure out how to lose seven pounds while having nutella on toasted sourdough bread every day. conundrum.

three

paint the half bathroom in my house

i have got to lose the fear of starting a project. i need to get over myself and just do it already.

so here is a secret. i love to look at pretty pictures of homes. i love to dream of changing my house. i yearn for pretty and sensible and organized in my home. i lust after other people's spaces.

but pick up a paint brush and actually do something to make these dreams and yearnings come true? it gives me a stomach ache to think about it. what if the paint color i pick is wrong and makes the already tiny room feel smaller? what if i get halfway through it and run out of money? what if i finish it and i hate it? anxiety takes over and my brain reels with what ifs and fears and trepidations.

i need to get rid of the what ifs and anxiety. i need to make myself realize that nothing i can do is permanent. nothing can't be changed. and i need to realize the biggest what if of all...

what if i love it?

four

cook five meals we have never had before

in accordance with my favorite food bloggers, i want to get outside of the hamburger helper box and explore some new meals.

baked buffalo chicken pasta

spicy dr. pepper shredded pork

brisket tacos with red cabbage

grilled chicken, bacon & spinach flatbread pizzas

bbq chicken quesadillas

maybe i will be super-blogger-lady and actually photograph these and blog about them. if you are lucky. but don't they all sound deeeeelicious??

oh and i want to make this:

homemade nutella.

five

start working on my homemade/handmade business

{gasp}

i said that out loud?

i suppose it is true. i have a million ideas swimming in my head for things i can make and sell. i want to be creative and share it. i want to work from home.

my big three year goal is to

*pay off a big chunk of student loans & other miscellaneous debt

*have a baby

*stay at home and sell handmade products

{holy cannolli batman. saying it on here makes it real and that totally makes me all twisted-up-anxious inside}

i guess the best way to start that is to...

well... start it.

let me be clear. i want to do this simply to prove to myself that i can. i'm not out to make money or anything like that. (that is why i want to finish the debt off so i can do this without worrying about finances) so my goal in this next thirty days is to figure out what i want to do and how i am going to do it. and to make a plan and a list to get it done. because that is how my brain operates:

idea

announce

list

think

plan

list

plan

list

think

list

plan

DO IT

i do hope you stick around during the next thirty days to see where this might take me! :)