Mary Poppins Wasn't Perfect

While at home this past week for Thanksgiving, Dad and I decided to put up all the outside Christmas lights together. He pulled everything out of the shed, we laid it all out, and began the process. Dad set the ladder against the roof and went up with the first strand of lights. Once up there, he asked me to go grab the leaf blower, an extension cord, and to climb on up to clear off the roof. I got all the necessary things and plugged in the leaf blower. As I climbed up the ladder, I might mention that my dad needs a new ladder. The ladder I crawled up is the most warped, bent, and scary ladder EVER. I climbed up and turned on the blower. Being careful with the cord I started in one corner. As I moved across the roof I saw something begin to happen that I could not stop. I started screaming and yelling in hopes that what I was witnessing would somehow not be true. But no. The screaming did not make it stop. The cord of my leaf blower had snagged around the ladder and when I moved...

I have thoroughly enjoyed living in Florida. REALLY. The town is quaint, my job is fabulous, and my apartment finally feels settled. The beach is close, the weather has been perfect, and overall, living in Florida has been great. But can I please say I’m so glad to be at home in Paris, TX for this Thanksgiving break. After I’d already accepted the job and had started work, I found out that we were given the entire week of Thanksgiving off!!! Once I learned that- I knew for sure I’d be coming home. Mom and dad made sure of that!! I know, I’ve only been away from Texas for 35 days and it’s probably too soon for a trip home, but after 35 days like my first 35 days in Tallahassee were, home was a great option. But let’s back up a little bit. 63 days ago I was offered a job in Tallahassee. 59 days ago I accepted the job and turned in my two weeks notice. 51 days ago mom and I drove out for the first time. 41 days ago I started my new job (In San Fran, no less!) And 35 days ...

I’ve been thinking about this blog post for a while, but just hadn’t felt it was completely formulated in my brain until this past weekend. The night of my going away party, I had SO many friends share things with me that left me speechless, encouraged, honored, etc. I mean, really. I was blessed. After the group prayed for me, my friend Benjamin came and shared a verse with me, shedding light on this particular verse that I’d never noticed before. He read the verse to me, “To the faithful, you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked, you show yourself shrewd.” During the time in which people were standing up and sharing words about me, the word ‘faithful’ came up almost every time. So I assumed Benjamin was going to highlight that portion of the verse. HA! Was I wrong. He then says “the part that stuck out to me was “but to the crooked, you show yourself shrewd.” Oooh dear Benjamin. You sure ...

Yes, it's way past time for a new STAMP! edition. So here you go! I have a new favorite fall/winter scent from Bath and Body Works. For the past 2 years, I've LOVED making my home smell like Bath and Body Works "Leaves" scent. Seriously. SOOOO good. But. This year. I've found a new favorite. My friends Ashley, Austen, and Shelby got a candle for me for my going away part and I've not only been burning this candle, but I've gone to get another one, purchased the wall flowers in this scent, and also the car scent.  I present to you "Marshmallow Fireside." Item number two that gets my STAMP! of approval is a brand of shoes. I own 5 pairs of heels that are this particular brand. They are the most comfortable heels I own and can wear them all day without dying! :-) They not only are comfortable but I KNOW this brand. I know that I can always get the exact same size and not worry about if they will fit or not. LOVE them! I present to you: Madden Gi...

This weekend will mark 4 weeks of Florida living and I'd yet to see a beach. Figured I'd check that off my list this weekend as I had Friday off. Drove out to Saint George Island which is about 1 hour and 30 minutes away from Tallahassee. This morning I woke up, made pumpkin pancakes and coffee- then packed my bags. As I was driving- I had a serious "OH MY GOODNESS, Is this REALLLY my life?" moment. :-) The drive was spectacular. Stunning really. And then. I saw the water. I about had a heart attack. This was real. I DO officially live in Florida if I can drive an hour to go hang out at a beach for the day. I do apologize for the quality of these pictures. But yeah. I got to the turn off which would take me on a bridge about 7 miles long which connected us to the island. Um. Let's read that sentence again. Yeah. I went to an island today! :-) It was pretty chilly this morning (low 40's) but knew it was to warm up. I went in my suit, shorts, and a t-shirt- and...

Well I guess it's time for an update. My stuff arrived Friday morning and my boss was gracious enough to give me the day off so I could start unpacking/settling in. Where as in the past I tend to drag out the unpacking phase for as long as possible- this time I was ready to have it over and done with! I worked all day from 8am-10pm unpacking and moving furniture around. Around 5:30ish- several guys from the church I've been visiting stopped by to help get a huge load of boxes/trash out to the dumpster for me. They live right around the corner from my place and one of them has a truck so I didn't feel TOO awful by asking! :-) Grateful for their help!!! At around 7pm, Carl, Jennifer, and Ashley stopped by to hook up my washer/dryer. Their visit was MUCH appreciated as not only did they show up with drinks in hand, they helped me figure out the best way to arrange the furniture in the living room! After we moved furniture around pretty much every way imaginable- we s...

The movers are scheduled to be at my apartment today with all of my belongings. I plan to have my camera ready to take pictures of anything that looks damaged or broken. For those who’ve followed me on Facebook/twitter, you know I’ve been waiting. They picked up my stuff on the 10th of October telling me it would be 7-10 business days before arrival. I was aware of that and totally ok! After they’d had my stuff in their possession 7 days, I thought I’d just give them a quick call to say “Hey, just checking in…Making sure everything is ok…and getting an update on where everything might be. In no way was I pushy, aggressive, or demanding. Just wanted to check in. I called the main number where I was prompted with either 4 options. 1. Customer Service 2. Sales 3. Billing 4. Dispatch I selected option 1….I was given an answering machine. I didn’t leave a message at this point- tried the dispatch option next. Upon selecting #4 I was told “this number is not a working number.”...