5 on a Friday

{ONE}

I'm finally going to the eye doctor next week! I say finally because I've been meaning to make this eye doctor appointment for about 10 years now. I'm still rocking my old glasses from when I was 19. Yeah....time for new ones. And I am in love all things with Warby Parker. I want these! We'll see what I can actually pull off though...

Seymour in Tennessee Whiskey



{TWO}

I'm mildly obsessed with Dierks Bentley right now. He is CUTE and somehow I never really recognized this. Anyone who goes on WWHL with Andy pretty much gets my seal of approval. Love his newest song - I Hold On too!

I hold on, to the things I believe in. My faith, your love, our freedom. To the things I can count on to keep me going strong.

{THREE}

5am Club happened twice this week. I dare say it might stick this time. Even though I still find myself completely wanting to make excuses and bail. I'm going back to Zumba on Saturday for the first time in months...so I might die.

 

{FOUR}



Love the perspective in this video - I can't wait to read Jefferson Bethke's book!
 

{FIVE}

This cute little fella stole my heart this week. I want to adopt him!

This little boo is looking forward to a calm weekend after a hectic week. It's going to be sunny & 69 on Sunday, and everybody knows a sunny Sunday is just good for the soul. HAPPY WEEKEND!!! XOXO

I got the fever...

The baby fever that is, and it ain't no joke! I am totally and completely blaming this on all my girlfriends who have kids. ALL YOUR FAULT! I have developed from this person who used to ditch my friends with kids into this person who wants you to bring your baby when we hang out. It's such a strange thing for me!  Stop having the cutest kids ever and maybe that will solve it. Or maybe if I could stop getting older that would help? I don't know but it's got to stop!!

Except pretend this is Peeta from the book, not Peeta from the movie

It's been sloooowly creeping up on me over the past couple of years though. I found this post I did back in October 2011, first one from my Baby Fever label. Kinda makes me laugh now to think I felt "behind everyone" then and I was only 5 months away from getting engaged and just one year out from being single. Nice plot twist there...

 

So this is how it works when you're in your late 20's and single:

-You will date guys with kids now

-You have a cut off age for when you want to have kids

-You have a  guy friend who you have already contracted his sperm, should you still find yourself single around that cut off age

-You realize that by your age, your parents already had multiple kids

-Your family starts skipping the "when are you getting married" and go straight to the "when are you having kids" questions

-You have researched freezing your eggs

-You definitely have your baby names picked out so things can proceed quickly, if necessary

 

I hope you are laughing right now because that is the straight up truth and you know it!! I only have 6 years until my cut off age y'all. That is some scary business!! I hate that I even think of these things and can't just be patient during this season of waiting. No wonder men think all women are crazy.... let's face it, we are.

 

Nobody's Perfect

I took a cue from the lovely Ms. Jill's Nobody's Perfect post last week, and I'm here today to completely reassure you that I am one of the LEAST perfect human beings alive. Blogging has a nasty little habit of enabling us to compare ourselves to others and their seemingly perfect lives. I'm not sure what kind of picture YOU want to portray about your life, but mine is far from perfect. Let me give you plenty of examples of my short comings...

And PS - when I hear the hear "nobody's perfect" I always think of this song...love me some J Cole!

...If you ever leave me a voicemail, I will likely silently cuss you- I hate voicemails!

...I hardly ever wash my jeans. Or my hair.

...I have a quick temper - without a doubt my daddy's daughter in that department

 

...When I workout, my head and between my boobs is always drenched in sweat. (again the head sweat comes straight from my dad)

...The floors in my house are always dirty

...I get red blotchies sometimes when I am upset, mad, anxious or if I drink tequila

...I love to sing, and I sing loudly all the time. In my office, my car, at the gym sometimes with my headphones in. Even though there are plenty of times I don't know the words, I still sing.

...I overuse exclamation points and the word y'all (basically I'm Southern & easily excitable)

...I fall asleep sometimes in the middle of a prayer at night

...I am well acquainted with the hair thingy button on your pants trick

...I have a dentist phobia, I have to listen to my headphones every single time I go to distract me

...Guilty facebook stalker - remember I told you here about the guy I'm "secretly" in love with? Still true!

...I am a notorious deuces thrower (and man, I love my girls in this picture!!!!)

 Point being, embrace who you are. All your weirdness is what makes you awesome and why I love you!!

5 on a Friday

{ONE}

Last weekend I read The Silent Wife. If you like a psychological type of thriller (very Gone Girl style) then I highly recommend this one to you! I love a book that keeps me guessing! (and if you're wondering why the book looks to beat up, it's because it's a library book. Yes, I still check out library books because I am a nerd).

 

{TWO}

Last Friday night at WinterJam, I got introduced to some new bands. They are Christian bands, but their music sounds very secular - just with a positive message. You know I like boy bands - HELLO HARRY STYLES - and now I've found a new one to love! Tenth Avenue North. I can't stop listening to them.

 

 

{THREE}

I posted this on my Instagram {@nikkib918} last night so you know what that means? Back on the weight loss wagon! For real this time. All excuses aside. I'll be back in the land of the skinny in no time. Prepare yourselves for workout posts...because I'm sure they will be following this outburst.

 

{FOUR}

Can I get an amen?

 

{FIVE}

And speaking of Hebrews....

BEST TRANSITION EVER!!

Amy posted this verse last night and it really got me thinking. And when I get to thinking, you are the poor souls who reap the rewards :) In order to grow- not just in our relationships with God but in general, we must be disciplined. In order for me to stick to losing this weight, I will have to be overly disciplined with my choices. Same goes for growing my relationship with God, I must choose to spend time with him and in His word. It's a sort of training program that helps me share in his holiness.

Hebrews 12:10-11

¹⁰ They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. ¹¹ No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

 

Happy weekend my loves! It's going to be sunny and 65 here so I am going to embark on my first outside run in MONTHS - hopefully I don't die. XOXO

 

My Top 5 Hottest Gay Guys

So last night I'm sitting there watching Watch What Happens Live, like a good little Bravoholic, and I just can't help thinking how much I love Andy Cohen. Which kinda led into me thinking about gay guys...and the ones women lost out BIG time by losing them to the other team. I know it's weird how my mind works, but it is what it is. No matter what your opinion is on gay people in general, you can't deny these fellas could make you do a double take. So here's my list of my top 5 hottest gay guys:

 

1. Andy Cohen - he's gotta be my #1! Even though he does have a little wonky eye goin' on...I would never hold that against him. I am SO into the salt & peppery hair and Andy has that covered! He loves baseball and celebrities...I think we would have plenty in common.

 

2. Matt Bomer - seriously, is this even real that he's gay? Say it ain't so! After Magic Mike, I was completely sold on his good looks. I mean his eyes!!!!! And with all the buzz about him potentially playing Christian Grey in 50 Shades I was googling him like a mad woman.

3. Wentworth Miller - COME ON!!! It's just not fair how HOT he is! I just found out about him a couple months ago and I was seriously a little sad. He deserves two pictures to justify the hotness. I never was into Prison Break, but he's very model hot.

4. Anderson Cooper - AKA the Silver Fox - again with the grey-ish hair...except he's more grey than -ish. He's one of those smart reporter guys who has a sharp sense of humor, I love it. Give me boys who love politics and are friends with Kathy Griffin!

5. Tom Daly - Olympic swimmer, English accent, hot body? Um check, check, check!  After this picture from the Olympics, I'm pretty sure we were all in love with him.

 

There you have it, my top 5 hottest gay guys. You're welcome for the eye candy today! And if you must know I had a runner up for the list: Tom Ford. Because who doesn't love a stylish man who can rock a nice suit and has a Jay-Z song named after him? (He has a very Ryan Reynolds look about him).

 

 

Side note: have I become SO SINGLE that I have now given up on straight guys and went straight to lusting over the gay ones?? Don't you dare judge me! Me and the men on my list have something in common, we are all looking for that perfect man.

40 Day Challenge Check-In

So I am 18 days into this 40 Day Challenge that I am participating in with Overcome the Lie. I have to say that it's going pretty well. I wasn't quite sure, at first, how I would like it but honestly each day I become more and more involved. Plenty of days I've felt like it was EXACTLY what I needed to hear. I am always in awe when God speaks directly to me like that. The twitter parties are pretty amazing and it's just so reassuring to connect with other girls who feel the same way I do about things. Maybe that's weird, but it's always comforting to me to not feel alone in whatever emotion I am feeling. The set up is a daily email format with a simply challenge. You are paired up with a partner that you can talk to along the way. And as an extra, we were asked to "give up" something during this 40 days as well. A sacrifice of something that maybe took our eyes off God or something we needed to go to Him with help for. My sacrifice was fast food. You know my food struggles. I had lost a few pounds, but I did some GOOD eating last week at that conference so I'm about even with where I started now. It hasn't been easy, and I did have ONE Starbucks drink but that's not really food - RIGHT?!?!

 

The OTL theme for the month of February is: fearlessness.

What would you do if you weren't afraid? I've been asked this question so many times recently, so I definitely feel like it's something I need to think about. Fear doesn't have to mean the HUGE things in life that make you want to pee your pants. One of my huge irrational fears in life is ghosts. Don't even get me started on why or talk about it because I will cry. Silly as it may sound, that's just one of my things that terrifies me. Fear in this case, is more like being bold. I have been praying a lot recently that God makes me bold - in my heart and my actions. You better believe I can get real bold when someone makes me angry, but that's not the way I want to be. I want to be bold & fearless in a more positive manner. In an ideal world, if I wasn't afraid I would go boldly in the direction of where God calls me. I feel like He is stirring up something in me and calling me, but I'm just not 100% sure in which direction yet. Sometimes these callings cause us to step far beyond the bounds of our comfort zones though and that be scary.

 

So my question to you is - what would YOU do if you weren't afraid?

5 on a Friday

 

I am baaaaaaacccckkkk! I wish I could say I came with excuses to give you for my absence, but I'd be lying. I just have the usual "I've been so busy" excuse that you would give a guy you don't really want to go out with. But I have missed all my bloggy buddies SO MUCH!!!!!

 

{ONE}

I've been in Atlanta all week for a work conference and let me just say that I really do love Atlanta, but those people do NOT know how to handle a snow day. The whole city was shut down and the news people were throwing around words like "catastrophic". It was terrifying. All over maybe 2 inches of snow. We got 10 inches in my hometown, keep in mind. Most snow we've seen in years. But overall, ATL was fun and MAN they know how to make some grits!!

My food from Pitty Pat's which was DELICIOUS! Man I love being Southern!

We need a Flying Biscuit in Knoxville PRONTO!



Thursday AM outside my hotel in Buckhead

 

{TWO}

My church did a women's conference last weekend called IF:Gathering. It was SO incredible! I was so honored to be a table leader and was able to network with a totally new group of girls. You know how when you leave those things you feel like you can take over the world? Yeah, I still have that feeling in my veins! It was just all about sharing our stories and connecting with each other on a deeper level. Nothing can hold us back when we openly talk about our fears and stand together. #girlpower

 

{THREE}

Treat yo self to a cute little V-Day mani - trust me, you deserve it!

 

{FOUR}

Made me laugh!! Gotta love V-day humor! And no I'm not bashing my ex... he's a great guy, just not the one for me.

 

{FIVE}

Tonight I will be with some of my favorite girls from my small group at church and we are going to Winter Jam. I've never been before, but I'm pretty excited. Valentine's Day isn't about embracing love WITH A MAN, it's about embracing any kind of love that you have in your life. Just because you don't have a boyfriend doesn't mean you don't have love. I LOVE YOU! :) If you need to hear that more, then please let me know and I'm happy to tell you. Because sometimes I just need to be told that I'm loved too.

 

Happy Valentine's Day weekend, my loves!!! It's a 3-day weekend for me! YAY for dead presidents! My nerdy self will be all over the History channel this weekend, I'm sure. XOXO