beauty #15: discoveries

like the blog says, i am searching for things that are beautiful in my life.

things that make me who i am.

and things i learn about myself everyday.

so here are some recent discoveries i have made:

1. i can MAKE my own beautiful header for my beautiful blog!!

i was so incredibly bored with that dumb picture i had and i couldn't figure out how on earth everyone got these cute headers for their blogs...so i started playing with publisher and voile! the finished product!

i am SO pumped that now i can make my own headers for my blog and they can go with the seasons! yay!

2. i am starting to learn what matters and what doesnt. for example, it doesnt matter that im single. im only 21 and i still have 2 more years of grad school....i used to be in a huge rush to find a boyfriend so i could be a cute little couple....but being happy with me is way more important. so love will just have to wait until God brings him to me.

3. i have GOT to start getting motivated in the mornings. the upside to having morning classes: i am done by noon-ish and i can come back and take a nap. the downside? i also know that after my nap i can shower and look cute that afternoon. my hero kristy keith (an alpha xi delta national advisor) would fall out if she saw me some mornings. she is head leader of what alpha xi delta's across the country call "the anti-dirty-girl campaign"...basically, NOT wearing tshirts and gym shorts with your hair in a mess on the top of your head (my attire almost every day). so...dear self, we are going to start getting up and getting ready and looking cute! (or else the above mentioned #2 will NEVER happen...duh!)



NOT cutting it...

4. my BIGGEST pet peeve in the entire world is when people make plans to do something and then back out on you. now ive always been a go-with-the-flow kind of girl...and i still am for the most part. and i understand that sometimes, things come up and plans change. but come on people! if you say youre going to do something....do it! follow through. dont make excuses. (i feel better now :)...haha!)

5. i have NEVER wanted to have a little girl...ever. i have always wanted to be the mother of three rowdy, rough and tumble boys that play football and baseball. yes i said three...i think little boys are awesome. BUT....my best friend stephanie has a little girl who is just about to turn one. my sweet little riley is the most precious thing ever and she just got her ears pierced! playing with her and loving her has officially made me want a little girl (in about 4573295 years of course) and my mom thinks its hysterical because i always swore i would never want a girl. but tell me...how on earth could you NOT want one of these?

isn't she adorable?!



yes...those are baby PEARLS in her ears :)



6. as applications to graduate schools approach, i discovered that i really wish i had worked harder in my core classes. dont get me wrong...i had a BLAST my first two years of school. but now...its really starting to bite me in the rear. and while my GPA isnt a complete disaster...it could definitely be a lot better.

7. final discovery of the day...im really not ready to graduate....i dont want to buy a cap & gown. i dont want to leave my best friends. i dont want to live on my own going to grad school. someone tell me how to stop time! wouldnt that just be great?

i was talking to my momma on the phone and i told her my head was telling me i just wasnt quit ready to graduate. she laughed and gave me a beautiful quote of the day...so i'll leave you with this...knowing that i do feel just a little bit better about things going on in my life.

"Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart... Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens."
~ Carl Gustav Jung

beauty #14: luke bryan

so this past week/weekend was ridiculously crazy! thursday night...i attended the greatest thing that has ever happened to the tiny town of carrollton. it was so great....so wonderful...and so massive...that i'm not sure there were many people who weren't there. but if they weren't there...they certainly knew about it. it was LOUD, it was HOTT, and it was FUN!

thats right....it was LUKE BRYAN.



the sign on the side of the stage....yes, we were THAT close! :)

so about two months ago...we found out luke bryan would be making his way through the small college towns developed in farm country in the state of ga. and that meant his beautiful face would be in CTOWN! and to make things even better, we saw that the concert would be at the VFW fairgrounds! (FIELD PARTY!) we were so pumped....i bought my ticket that day! and we all had been counting down the days until he FINALLY came to west geezy. so on a cool, crisp fall day, we all got ready for luke bryan.

is he not the most beautiful thing in the world? well he is breathtaking in person and we had an absolute blast singing and dancing and rocking it out together. here's some pictures of the festivities :)



aren't my friends beautiful??



wLd...i love her so much!



my sweet little in my FAVORITE type of picture :)

my oh so pretty best friend....she LOVED the concert in the field atmosphere...so fun!

too much fun....the BEST interpretation of my life that i love

so after the most amazing thursday night of my entire college career..a night i will surely remember for the rest of my life....we had HOMECOMING 2010!! it was by far one of the best homecomings since ive been at west georgia. we got up SUPER early that morning to get ready...i did macy's hair, then emily's hair, then got myself ready. we had an open house for alumni to come and visit and then the parade started. my beautiful best friend rode in the back of a BIG jacked up truck and looked SO pretty.

emily's sign on JJ's beautifully jacked up truck :)

driving past us during the parade! :)

funny story!: logan, our male homecoming representative...who also happens to be one of my best guy friends from high school, stopped the ENTIRE parade so he could have this picture with dr. sethna, the president of our university. too funny! **please notice the beautifully jacked up truck again**

me and the bestie right after the parade...i was such a proud best!!



our last homecoming as undergrads!

 

eMk on the field...sooo pretty!

after the parade, a huge group of us went to the border to eat lunch...gotta love alpha xi delta tradition. then we went to the game and took the BEST nap ever. i had SO much fun with the best group of friends i could ever ask for. i will never know what i did to deserve their friendship or the opportunity to make the most amazing memories.

hope everyone has a beautiful, blessed sunday & week!

beauty #13: dreams

so...im applying for graduation this week. and that scares me SO badly. there are so many things i am unsure of and the future is coming WAY too quickly. but one thing i do know is i will never stop reaching for the stars and dreaming BIG! i was thinking about all the beautiful things i can dream about right now...and here's what i have so far..

1. my dream family

my dream family is NOTHING short of everything my family is. they are my rock; they keep me grounded and they keep me sane. they know me better than anyone and they know the best way to take care of me. i want this for my future and if my famliy can be half as beautiful as my family....i know i will be in GOOD shape.

2. my dream job

so im going to school to be a speech-language pathologist. and i know i love it and i know it is a wonderful job that helps change peoples lives....and thats all well and good. BUT...i want to be a stay at home mommy...SO bad. i know that stay at homes are blessed beyond measure and that you are one lucky girl if you get to stay at home and watch your babies grow up...but i couldnt imagine a better job for me. seriously. if there has ever been one thing i learned from my mom, its to take advantage of every second you have with your kids. my mom had to work...she didnt have the priviledge of staying home with my brother and me. and i know she wishes to this day that she could have. i am so honored that she worked so hard to give me a life of never wanting...and i am so blessed that she chose to give up staying at home to give me everything i ever wanted or needed. but she knows when the day comes...she WILL be a stay at home nana, and she is super pumped for when that time in our lives arrives.

3. my dream hair

ughhhhh....dumb dumb dumb short hair. i am SO sorry i ever cut you off...ive regretted it everyday. and i know you are angry with me--but i am SO tired of begging you to grow so if you would PLEASE just cooperate and look like the above hair...i would love you FOREVER. thanks so much.

4. my dream graduate school

ive wanted to go to auburn my entire life. i have loved this school since i was little...my dad graduated from there. my family has built a history there. i love everything about it. i gave up going there to get my undergraduate degree to help save my parents money...they do have TWO of us in college afterall. and i would never take that decision back because i am a firm believer in everything happens for a reason...God led me to UWG for a million reasons and i will be forever thankful for that. but now im praying that auburn is the direction He is leading me. i love everything about it and i want to be able to share that tradition with the rest of my family.

5. my dream closet

i love shopping....that is no secret to anyone who knows me. so this little 4 foot wide, 2 foot deep closet the greek village has given me to work with...just simply isnt cutting it. the fact that i have filled my closet at school to the brim....plus i have two closets at home overflowing with clothes....indicates that i NEED a closet that looks like any of those above :)

6. my dream car

just look at it...its beautiful. and it has a touch screen navigation/command system. amazing!

7. but above all else...my dream is to live a life led by God; to be the best daughter/sister/friend possible; to love unconditionally. and there's nothing more beautiful than that :)

beauty #12: zaxbys!

i just LOVE zaxby's. i promise i could eat there for every meal of every day (except breakfast because they arent open for breakfast...thank goodness!) its a good thing i am a poor college student and ca't afford it everyday...because even though it is SO good...i know it is SO bad for me. don't get me wrong...i love their house salad...which of course comes with fried chicken, fried onion straws and cheese on it...really healthy right?
                                      
but of course....i typically get what might just be the WORST thing on the menu...thats right ladies. the kickin chicken sandwich meal has my heart....

it is soooooo delicious! and thursday after driving to tallapoosa with whitney and kelly and lauren and katie to visit a possibly semiformal venue, whitney and kelly and i went to zaxbys and this is what i had. it was a tad bittersweet for me...because i will be starting the dreadful diet soon. ive been noticing TOO much kickin chicken hanging out around my mid-section....so we're saying bye-bye fast food and hello healthy!

anyways...

as i was saying....a group of us made the trip to tallapoosa (thats right....TAL-UH-POO-SUH) to visit a place called foxwoods as a possible host for alpha xi delta semiformal. and let me just tell you...this trip was HYSTERICAL. after about 20ish minutes of driving the handy dandy gps informed us we had REACHED our destination...at a dead end. nice. so we drove around for about another 10 minutes attempting to follow signs until we finally found the venue! (or so we thought)...signs led us to a gravel road with a sign posted to a tree a few yards down the way which read "shooting. no trespassing." i'm sure that's not all it said...but those were the words that struck me as important. so we decided the gravel road was not the best option....unfortuantely...this gravel road left NO room for turning around. so we stopped....hahaha. 5 little sorority girls in the woods on a gravel road just sitting in my teeny tiny little car. we were slightly freaking out. we made kelly call the woman we were meeting...come to find out....the gravel road was in fact the driveway. so we remained skeptical of foxwoods until we finally reached the venue. and there it was...LOVE at first sight. the actual reception hall was decorated with a rustic theme of exposed beaming and wood. and outside behind the lodge? a sunflower field to the left of a lake....absolutely breathtaking. we're hoping we can have semiformal there but if not...im sure alpha xi delta will be visiting soon!

weekend update!

georgia tech football made me SO sad today....not only do i HATE when they lose...but i extremely despise sitting in the 90+ degree weather...obtaining DREADUL farmers tan lines that look extremely unattractive on my poor little arms. so now im back in my sweet little sorority house texting whitney about the alabama game (bama just won...go figure). cant wait to see how my auburn tigers play tonight...hopefully better than the yellow jackets! hope everyone has a great, fun filled sunday!

(p.s....who noticed my bloggy's new BLING?!) thoughts?

beauty #11: nap time.

so...i know it's been WAYYY too long since i blogged but i have been a SUPER busy girl. im feeling a little list-y, so here's what i've been up to the past 10 days:

• alpha xi delta flag football has STARTED! whoop whoop! while i love being a typical little sorority girl in dresses and pearls...i will always be an athlete at heart. ALWAYS. so i just LOVE when intramurals start. and so far..my amaXIng sorority is 2 and 0! and we have a game tonight against "the beaches"...take that how you want. we'll see how this turns out.




all stars :)





getting instructions from coach!


• my best friend is our homecoming representative this year! ohhhh yes! so last week i helped her with her resume, biographical sketch and essay on why she loves west geezy! she had her interview this past tuesday, which im sure she ROCKED because she it totally awesome like that (and she looked BEAUTIFUL because i curled her hair!) this wednesday is the homecoming pageant and we will find out if she makes it on court....even if she doesnt i will be so proud of her (but i am pretty confident this beautiful woman will be on it!)




isn't she pretty?!? (i promise pictures from this wednesday will get posted ASAP)


• this wednesday is our CRUSH party....one of my FAVORITE events of the semester. our sorority rents out the pub and invites all the fraternities on campus and all our other amaXIng guy friends! i am super excited this year because em and i have been working on my love connection with a precious pi kapp (her sweet boyfriend robbie is a pi kapp so we hang out with them a lot). so we are thinking the crush party would be a perfect time for us to "fall in love" hahaha. our crush party in the fall is always to crown our xi man....and this year's winner is wonderful! (i cant tell who he is yet because only a handful of us count votes and know...so youll have to stay tuned to see the winner...and pictures!)
• and finally....one of my BEST FRIENDS kate folds got married this past weekend. i was honored to be a bridesmaid in her wedding and and stand with her and her new hubby tim walker on their special day. the entire wedding was precious and i could watch her and tim love each other all day long...tim couldnt stop grinning all day and it was just perfect! (more pictures coming soon...but here's a sneak preview)



Mr. & Mrs. Walker - Est. 9.19.2010

SO....as you can see....i've been a pretty busy gal. but i am super excited for this beautiful nap me and and bestie will be taking here shortly. hope everyone has a beautifully blessed monday!

beauty #10: my ama(XI)ng sorority

it's over....my very LAST recruitment...and it was so very bittersweet. bitter because it was my very last one...ever. i can't believe this weekend was the last time those beautiful sorority house doors will fly open and i will chant and cheer and scream at the top of my lungs. sweet because all of our hard work brought us one of the most amazing and beautiful pledge classes yet! they are all SO wonderful and perfect in their own very special way...i have never been prouder. so for it to be my last recruitment, it's definitely a wonderful note to end on.


some highs & lows of the weekend: whitney lott was a rho gamma (pi chi's at other schools)...and i missed her like crazy!! i cried hysterically when she came running back to our house but i have never loved or appreciated her more...SO happy she is back HOME. (if i could play a song right now...it would be "home"-chantal kreviazuk...she wrote us the lyrics in her letter to the chapter and i squalled like a baby) me and my best friend laid in bed and cried when we realized it would be our last preference ceremony ever...and for those that dont know..best is our membership vp (aka big boss lady in charge of recruitment). she worked so incredibly hard...i was so proud. our recruitment video was amazing...i cant wait to get a copy of it to keep forever. i was honored and truly blessed and privileged to watch our newest girls who had never recruited before step up in a way that simply (for lack of better words) blew my mind! i could not be more confident in the women i am leaving my most cherished posession to. i know in my heart they are going to do amazing things for my sorority and i will be nothing but proud of any and EVERYthing they accomplish. the most beatiful thing i gained from this weekend was more than just 25 amazing new assets to our chapter. more than memories with my sisters that will last me a lifetime. it was peace...peace in knowing that i have had the absolute BEST college experience because of these girls...i wouldn't change a thing. here are some pictures of the BEAUTY that took place this weekend :)

open rounds...everyone wore either navy blue, yellow or white :) everyone looked amaXIng

me and the best ready for open rounds

my sweet, sweet family after open rounds was finally over....and they still look stunning!

after philanthropy day rounds were over, some of us went to the UWG football game :)

me and my pretty little sister!

representing the best while i cheer on the football team!

sisterhood day-we all wore black & white and decorated our house with black, white and PINK...loved it!

my incredible chapter with our precious and FUN new girls

the beautiful new baby xi's! *they're nametags were palm trees and flowers because we had a luau at bid night! *just another day in PARADISE :)

this is me and ashton....sweet story time: last year, i was on panhellenic exec and i knew my chapter wanted ashton more than anything. so i kept an eye on her during recruitment and tried to be there for her as much as i could. needless to say, when bid night finally rolled around, she got a bid from alpha xi delta and held my hand the entire sprint back to the house....we took a picture like this last year because i was so excited she was an alpha xi. so this is our remake from one year ago :)

the seniors...
i can't believe this was our last time doing this...it's crazy to think where the time as gone.
love them all & can't wait to grow old with them!