joy to the world

hands down, my favorite day of the year.

 my lovely roses

 my black friday treasure, but I used it for the first time to make the most delicious christmas cookies I have ever experienced

 matching christmas morning pjs, clearly 5 minutes after waking up :)

 cutest dog in the world

 

He left His throne in Heaven to enter the world in a manger. He exchanged a crown of jewels for a crown of thorns. All so He could provide us sinners a way to spend eternity with Him. For God so loved the world...including you and me.

merry christmas, loves. <3

anticipation

I literally could not sleep last night because I am so excited for Thanksgiving and all that it entails. 

Most especially, the return of this one...

love

p.s. I could not be more in love with the fact that our Walmart here has Christmas trees decorating the aisles and Target is even more red than usual.

I don't sing because I'm happy, I'm happy because I sing.

love

Just in case you were wondering why yesterday was my favorite day of the year...

love

Happy Halloweenie!

In lieu of writing my ethics paper, I would like to take a moment to express what a fabulous Halloween I had. Previously, I have been less than thrilled with the holiday. The blood, fake hair, spiders and spiderwebs everywhere, scary masks, and skeletons creep me out. However, this year, thanks to my incredible roommates and honorary roommates (Kristen and Liz, who I have decided are both living with us next year) and our genius costumes, the celebration wildly exceeded my expectations for Halloween! So thankful for these girls. They make my life.

It is time for thanksgiving & christmas. Now that's something I can get excited about! 

So happy winter started today! I brought out the boots, coats, blankets, slippers, and hot chocolate to celebrate! (I also listened to christmas music, but that's a year-round occurrence so it wasn't unique for today.)

love

sisters

even though our time was FAR too short, i loved EVERY second of my time with andrea this weekend. that woman is amazing and i am so grateful for our friendship.

we spent our time at the dallas farmer's market (which is incredible), shopping our little hearts out, fro-yoing, and chatting of course. we never run out of things to say. seeing her was like putting on your favorite pair of jeans. no matter how long it has been since you last came in contact, they fit just the same and you appreciate them all over again. 

here are some pictures from the farmer's market. the produce was gorgeous, i have never seen more perfect sweet potatoes in my life! 

my favorite pumpkins are the turban ones that look like they came from the bottom of the pumpkin gene pool. something about them is so charming.

now that one sister has left me, the other one has decided to come this weekend! SO excited to see my best friend in the entire world. pumpkin carving and baking different kinds of pumpkin seeds on the to-do list! (i know it is truly shocking that pumpkins are the ONE and ONLY thing on our agenda)

love

fall love

i love fall

i love food

i love to cook

thus, i am taking FULL advantage of the season and embracing all that is pumpkin. among my homemade endeavors are:

chocolate chip, butterscotch pumpkin cookies

pumpkin banana bread

pumpkin spice pancakes

pumpkin spice latte (just as delicious as starbucks, not even kidding!)

pumpkin butter

there is NOTHING like the smell of fall. except maybe the smell of christmas (which is closer everyday!!! we have already deemed November 1st as the day we will strip the apartment of all halloween decor and break out the christmas decorations!! so glad my roomies understand my obsession).

my nose has delighted in the cinnamon, pumpkin, and homemade baked good aromas occupying my house at all times. my roommates say they are all "pumpkined out," but i am just getting started!

it has been an incredible fall season so far. the weather is my absolute favorite. i think i let the weather affect my mood a little more than it should. but these past few weeks, the weather has done wonders for my mood! :)

love

we will see how long this lasts

tonight i learned about project 365. apparently you are supposed to take a picture every day that best represents that day for a year! i typically start these kinds of things off with a bang and then lose interest in approximately 24 hours. but this seems like a fabulous idea so maybe my interest will last longer. perhaps 72 hours?

 

 

 some of my cohort met tonight for dinner at freebirds. that place is amazing. chipotle is still my true love.

MOST IMPORTANTLY: my soul sister, also known as andrea lynn goode, is returning to me for a short 2 days from awful medical school that has completely stolen her from me! from the age of 5 years old until this past august, i saw this girl every day of my life. you can imagine the separation anxiety i go through on a daily basis. we have lots planned, namely, a froyo tour to find the best version of pumpkin! (my two favorite things combined)

 

 

 

love <3

affirmations

I am beyond grateful for my education. Today in mock therapy, each of my classmates did SO, SO well. It was the first time I felt truly comfortable as a "therapist." 

I feel so affirmed in what I am doing with my life. My group members are amazing. It's incredible how much they teach me each week. I could not be more proud of how far we have already come! 

love

Blog?

What does one say in their first blog post? I am clearly new at this, but I believe in journaling and this seems like a fun way to do so! 

Soo inspired by the beautiful lives shared in blogs I have recently come across. I feel like they are my actual, real life friends. 


I love people who are real. Who share their raw thoughts regardless of what others will think.

love.