5 on a Friday

 

 

{ONE} It's Bama eve baby! Bama hate week is HUGE! Traditionally TN vs. Bama game is always the third Saturday in October... we got a little screwed up with our schedule this year so it's the fourth Saturday. They will win, I'm sure, I mean they are #1.  #butchplease But I think my boys will put up a good fight. GO VOLS!

 

{TWO} Today is this sweet fur baby's birthday! I can't believe she is 3, feels like just yesterday we were driving to get her and she pooped on my lap on the way home.

 

{THREE} My kickball team had an 8:30 game last night. The temp at 8:30 last night was 42 degrees. EFFING COLD! I had to cave and turn the heat on when I got home just to warm up. We lost...but we celebrated with the other team like we both won. And that's what sportsmanship is all about. One of the guys on our team got pissed because we had gone to pre-game. Some people  are too competitive and it really annoys me. IT'S A REC LEAGUE!

 

 

{FOUR} I want to change up my hair! It's so dry and nasty from all the blonde this year. It needs a re-charge. I always get the urge to go dark in the fall/winter. But it completely washes me out, and I am only one shade lighter than Casper right now.

 

{FIVE} My Hal Pal got to go see LB last night! So in honor of her, and really just because I can't get enough of him and neither can you...here's your man candy for today!

 

Currently - October Edition

Listening - Bruno Mars, Gorilla. Throwback Dixie Chicks, heard one song last week and I've been obsessed ever since. Justin Moore's new cd, thanks to Amy! Lolly, Justin Bieber. JT.

 

Eating - Can I just sum it up to everything?

 

Drinking - Iced coffee has taken over my life. I say that and you laugh, but I mean it. Also, craft beers - pumpkin, peach, strawberry - yummmmmy. I've been sippin on plenty of Octoberfest lately too, but dang it kicks my booty!

Wearing - BOOTS! LEGGINGS - not as pants though.

 

Reading - Whispers of Hope - 10 weeks of devotional prayer by Beth Moore. Allegiant by Veronica Roth - last book in the Divergent series finally came out this week! Also, bought The Lincoln Letters. I love historical fiction books.

  

Feeling - Thankful. Blessed. Happy.

 

Weather - It's chilly now! Mid to low 60's during the day - low 40's upper 30's at night. Guess who still hasn't turned on their heat? This hobo is gonna live like she's homeless and bundle up for as long as I possibly can. Colder weather makes my work days really long and hectic though.

 

Wanting - SLEEEEEP! My sleep schedule is so screwed up these days. I wish I could spend the whole weekend sleeping.



Thinking - Let's go with making a conscious effort not to over-think.... I'm really trying to pray vs. react. Things to pray about: My mom's health is not doing very well at all, she's on her 3rd round of treatments for her lung cancer and it has spread a little so that has me worried. Boys, I've spent a lot of time lately praying for my future husband and oddly enough my ex-fiancé.

 

Enjoying - Trent Shelton - if you don't know him, find him here on Twitter. He is an amazing inspiration! It's pretty nice to hear a cute boy tell you that you're perfect just the way you are.

 

Blog Life vs. Real Life

Do you ever get your blog life and your real life mixed up? I don't necessarily go out of my way to keep my blog a secret in real life. If it comes up, then it does and I explain it. However, it's not something I widely advertise either. I don't have my blog URL on my IG or Facebook, just my Twitter account.

 

My family knows. Some of my close friends know. Obviously non-bloggers who follow me on Twitter know. But I would say most of the general people in my life are not aware of this little Pink Growl movement.

 

Insert yesterday into the mix. WOW, more people in my life know about my blog now and it feels weird. I feel like I'm in one of those nightmares where you show up to work naked. I talk freely on here about personal issues - family, weight, my breakup, my struggles, friends, etc. It's my outlet. I'm a very open person in real life too. I am who I am and I feel that I portray that pretty accurately here. But here I don't feel judged. Sometimes in real life, I do. My dad says I shouldn't put my life on the internet (even though he doesn't really know what a blog is). Yesterday I was very judged by strangers. And I was uncomfortable, and a little upset.

 

I had TWO separate incidents yesterday where my blog was exposed to people. How in the hell do I have a blog for over a year with no slip ups then BOOM two in one day? Vulnerable is the perfect description. Now, some of these people are my friends and they wouldn't bash me. And sure, any random stranger could google and find my blog. But that's not the point. The point is my secret is kinda out and I wasn't the one who chose to reveal it. It will take some adjusting for me. But I won't quit blogging. I love what my blog has grown into it and nobody can take that away from me. Boo-yah.

 

CAN'T STOP, WON'T STOP, THUG LIFE.

 

So humor me, is anyone else as weird as I am

and try to keep these 2 worlds separate?

 

Weekend Shenanigans

Crazy, hectic, amazing - all appropriate words you could use to describe my weekend. I had lots of friends in town for the UT vs. SC game and lots of plans to see everybody. It was a gorgeous fall weekend too, actually even a little on the chilly side in the 60's. But I'm playing that game where I see how long I can hold out on turning on my heat....when it's 61 degrees inside my house. What a crazy football weekend too, right??! I mean my Vols actually beat a ranked opponent!!!! It was insane, and I loved every second of it!!!

 

Here's my weekend via Instagram {nikkib918}- even though I didn't take a lot of pictures...

 

 

FRIDAY!

Friends, it is FINALLY Friday! I am a happy girl today, for lots of reasons. My bestie best will be in from Arizona this afternoon. I haven't seen her since July and I CANNOT WAIT! Other reasons I'm happy probably include boys...several of them.

 

 

Oh yeah and LUKE BRYAN IS COMING TO KNOXVILLE! Jesus really does love me. Prepare yourselves for an overload of exclamation points in the coming months...

 

Let's just keep it short & sweet today since I must muster the energy to do actual work today! Here are some funnies for your Friday enjoyment! Happy weekend loves!!

 

Thursday Things to Love

1. Too Faced Primer -  Primed & Poreless

 

My skin is naturally combination, meaning I have dry patches but mostly oily in my T-zone. Since I don't wear foundation, throughout the day I have to powder up and conceal blemishes. This primer is a miracle worker. It makes my skin more even-toned and helps me not to have to do so many touch ups.

 

2. Dirty Hair - {enter baby powder}

 

Man I love having dirty hair!!! Weird? Yes, but very very true. I am so thankful for the day that Ms. Kelly from MessyDirtyHair walked in my life and taught me a trick or two. I was a have to wash my hair every single day kinda girl before I started blogging. And the thought of that now just exhausts me. I try to push it as far as I can and I've been known to rock the 4th day hair. I've tried several dry shampoos but baby powder is my absolute fav for making the dirty hair look possible for me.

 

3. New Devotional - Whispers of Hope by Beth Moore

I started this 10 week daily devotional today with a close friend. I've never done a Beth Moore one, but I've heard she's nothing short of amazing. My friend who found this one for us has been a spiritual mentor to me over the past year. She happens to be my pastor's wife, but she and I were friends before I even started going to church with them. She has helped me so much with my journey to find myself again and helped me be able to trust in God's plan for my life. I'm excited to see what comes of this!

 

4. Local Celebrities

So last night your girl here got to meet UT Football Coach, Butch Jones. To you, this sounds dumb and perhaps non-exciting. To me? It was heavenly! I squealed and smiled too big for the picture, but I couldn't help it! GO VOLS BABY!

 

5. Leggings & Boots

I love fall weather and all the clothes that come along with it. Boots, leggings, scarves - sign me up! If you happen to see me around over the next several months, I'll be wearing some variation of these outfits all.the.time. My wardrobe staples will be: cowboy boots, riding boots, booties, scarves, black leggings.

 

It Was Always the Love Songs

This has been on my heart for a couple weeks so I just wanted to put it out there. For a girl who claims to have developed a black heart, I’ve kiiiiiind of been turning back into a softie. Maybe it’s because the impending one year anniversary of my failed engagement is coming up? Maybe I’m just a big wuss? Who knows? Either way, I’ve found myself tearing up to some “love songs” lately. I say that in quotes because I know one of these you might not consider a love song, but to me, it’s perfection.

The definition of a love song to me is either one of two things: A) It’s one of YOUR songs. It triggers a memory, moment in time and immediately makes you think of THEM. Not necessarily a typical romantic tune. B) Classic love songs that any girl would want a guy to play for them. Then there’s also just straight up panty dropping music (Boys II Men, Usher, Keith Sweat, etc.) But we’ll save those for another post, because they definitely don’t make me cry. We all have songs that go with relationships (or non-relationships) that just fit the vibe of the situation. Each boyfriend I’ve ever had we’ve had a defining song, usually several of them. Anytime I hear these songs, they resonate an instant memory with me. And oddly enough, I’ve heard them all very recently and been brought to tears. I’m going to tell you a little story about each other… as if this post needed to be drawn out more...

 

Train – Meet Virginia

This was my first “boyfriend” song I would say. My first real boyfriend was in 9^th grade, it wasn’t a long or overly serious relationship but it was my first experience with a lot of things, including a very strong attachment to a boy. I am so fortunate to still have this boy in my life. I told you a little about him here. And I’d like to think we will always be connected. We have tried to give it a go together countless times (pretty much anytime either of us has a breakup) and he definitely deserves the award for the person who has tried to be with me the most number of times. He has grown into an amazing man, but it’s funny that not too long ago we heard this song and kissed and it took me right back to being 14 years old.

 

Jagged Edge – Healing

This is a tough one for me. This has Skye written all over it. He introduced me to this song in 2003 when we first started dating. This song had such a special meaning to me. Everything about it just defines us. We listened it to during every major milestone and makeup moment throughout our relationship and it was going to be our First Dance song at our wedding. He played it the first night he told me he loved me, when he gave me my promise ring, after our first huge fight, we listened to it on repeat on our first vacay together, any romantic moment he planned, every birthday, the night he asked me to marry him, and so many times the last month we were together (Oct 2012) after we decided it would be our first dance song. I’ll be honest and tell you I can barely stand to hear it now. It breaks my heart and makes me think of a completely different time in my life. When someone promised they would always love me.

 

Taylor Swift – Our Song

I know we all hate on TSwift now but back in the day I used to love her. This song was my ringtone for the whole year that it first came out. Skye hated it, but we would always sing it so loud when my phone rang. I heard it for the first time in years the other day and I actually teared up. DO NOT FREAKING JUDGE ME BECAUSE TSWIFT MADE ME TEAR UP! It has nothing to do with her haha!

 

Jack Johnson – Better Together, Banana Pancakes

Skye also introduced me to Jack Johnson. He was much more of a lover than me so he was all into this kind of music for a while. Better Together became our 2^nd song, behind Healing. It always made everything better, and he would always remind me that we were better together. I still love Jack Johnson and luckily I can still listen to him without being sad.

Moving along from Skye…

Justin Moore – Bed of My Chevy

This is not a boyfriend song! WHEW! But remember my fireman boy toy? Seems like every time he and I were together we would hear Justin Moore. This song reminds me of him because it’s just a cute version of a fun country love song.

 

John Legend – ANYTHING! Play me some John Legend and my panties are out the window.

Train - Marry Me
Typical wedding type of song, but I love it and always swoon over it.

Eli Young Band – Crazy Girl
There's really no special meaning to this one, I just love the lyrics.

Ed Cash – Marry Me

you’ve probably never heard of this one, Ed Cash is an amazing Christian genre singer, this has been one of my fav love songs since I heard it at a church conference in high school. He actually wrote this song as a proposal to his wife. I would just melt right into a puddle.

 

One of my fav parts of a wedding is always the first dance song, and now you know what mine would have been. For the wedding I was in over the weekend, theirs was "Hey Pretty Girl" by Kip Moore. What was yours or what would you envision yours to be??

Weekend Update...on a Tuesday

Howdy little friends! I'm doing my weekend update on a Tuesday because I was off work yesterday to take a friend to get her boobies done and I'm a wee bit behind. My weekend was full of lots of wedding shenanigans, and thankfully we all survived! It ended up being an absolutely gorgeous wedding, with perfect weather. Some drama went down...of course...and yours truly lost her RayBans on the farm, but the good news is it's OVER!

 

And just so you know I haven't even found the time to cut my bangs yet...but it's coming!

 

Me & another bridesmaid on our way to pictures

We all used to have so much fun with each other just going out dancing all night, or even at each other's houses just being silly. It was so good to catch up with these girls!

It's always good to come home to my sweet Tilly

 



5 on a Friday

ONE - I'm leaving work today at noon because I'm in a wedding this weekend that's about an hour away. Let me just clear the air by saying I have the WORST attitude about this. I'm just ready for it to be O-V-E-R!! The whole process has been a pain in the ass, and I just don't want to do it. I'm awful, but it's true. My plan is to get real drunk so nobody there is tempted to ask me to be a bridesmaid again in the near future :)

 

TWO - JCole - I am obsessed with this man! Cannot get enough of him.

 

 

 

THREE - I know errrrrybody wants an update on my country boy situation - and we are still seeing each other. I've seen him pretty regularly since our first date. Hell he asked me to meet his parents for our 2nd date! He's really adorable. We've had lots of real talk about relationships and marriage and family so who knows what will happen. Funny story, we were sitting at the bar of a restaurant the other night and the ladies next to us apparently overheard our conversation. One of them looked over at us and said "How long have y'all been married because you sound like an old married couple?". I died laughing. But don't get it twisted, we aren't exclusive or anything yet! I'm still playing the field so if you come across any LB look alikes, send them my way.

 

FOUR - I'm cutting my own bangs on Sunday. I've made the decision and I'm respectfully going to wait until after the wedding to do it...just in case I come out looking like Lloyd Christmas.



FIVE - this!

Happy Weekend lovebugs! XOXOXO

Fall TV Obsessions

Fall makes for such great TV! I have literally been counting down the days to some of my favorite shows coming back on since last season. Yes, that's actually how lame my life is. I have countdowns for TV shows. Moving on...

The Voice - original judges cast
If you follow me on Twitter, then you know The Voice is my jam! Absolutely love this show, and have since I started watching in Season 2. I've heard grumblings about Adam's beard this season...but um nope he still does it for me. I'd take him with a beard, without one, with clothes...without them...I'm not picky. I really liked it last season when they mixed up the judges, but I like having Christina & CeeLo back too. I'm still hooked on this show!

Nashville
Nashville is my most favorite guilty pleasure these days. I am head over heels with the story line and the characters, plus the music! And I do appreciate the newest cast member in Oliver Hudson - MEEEEEEEEOWWW! Even though he plays a bad guy. I'm rooting for Rayna & Deacon, and side note: I'm so glad Scarlett's hair is much improved this season.

Chicago Fire
I can't say that I'm really into the show...but the fellas??? DAYYYYUM! Taylor Kinney is just gorgeous. And Jesse Spencer. I ain't mad at this cast AT ALL. I'm not too good to sit down and waste an hour of my time watching a mediocre show for man candy. Not above it one bit.

College Football
I could list hotties all day involved with college football, but then I remember they are 20 years old and I feel like a rapist. BUT let's discuss one certain coach. Kliff Kingsbury - head coach of Texas Tech. Y'all checked him out? He's got a bit of a Ryan Gosling thing going on and I dig it. Not a Texas Tech fan, but I could suffer through a game to see him.

 

So basically my post about fall TV I loved turned into where you can find hot guys on TV. But you get what you get with me, and that's why you love me :)