TAG YOU'RE IT!

My good friend, Stacey, who has a few different, FABULOUS, blogs tagged me in a fun questionnaire game and asked me to answer a few questions about myself! I've decided that since I'm depressed over my Buckeyes losing tonight AND having to say goodbye to my boyfriend for 5 more weeks, I need to do something to get my mind off of them both! Thanks, Stacey!

Here are the questions she asked!

1.  What is your favorite past time?
My favorite past time would have to be shopping. I know that's kind of ridiculous, but it has become a special thing that my mom and I do together. Now, we don't go nuts and spend crazy amount of money, but we have made a game to see how cheap we can get name brands for! We love using coupons and discounts and looking at how much we saved at the end of the day! I also enjoy watching or playing sports of any kind, singing (mainly for church), playing guitar, and traveling! 

2.  Do you have pets?  What kind? What are their names?
I do not have any pets, but we did have Golden Retrievers my entire life. We raised Omar and Candy from the time they were pups and bred them and sold the puppies. My brother and I kind of made that our summer job. Mom and Dad let us keep the money if we would water and feed the puppies and dogs. It was a pretty sweet deal! I miss Omar and Candy everyday! They were the best dogs ever! 

3.  What is your favorite quote or verse?
My favorite verse is Isaiah 41:10 "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."


4.  Do you have children?  How many?
I do not have any children yet. I'm still a youngin' (21) but I plan on having at least 3 one day!

5.  What is your favorite food?
Oh gosh... I absolutely LOVE food. My favorite would have to be anything with Buffalo chicken on it! 

6.  What is a favorite book you have recently read?
I finished reading The Shack a couple months ago and really enjoyed it. I am currently reading Jennifer Hudson's book I Got This and it is really empowering and encouraging for women, especially for those trying to lose weight! I highly recommend it! 

7.  What is your favorite movie?
I am a SUCKER for a good romance movie. I am also a HUGE Nicholas Sparks fan, so any of his movies are my favorites, The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, Dear John, etc. I also love P.S. I Love You I just have to be in the right state of mind to watch it or else I'll go into depression mode! 

8.  What is a favorite or most desired vacation spot?
This is a tough one, but I'd have to say St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. I've been once with my family when we went on a Carnival Cruise and it was hands down the most beautiful place I've ever been. I'd love to go and spend a week there! 

9.  Why do you love blogging?
I actually studied journalism all through high school and received a couple scholarships for college through journalism. My journalism teacher was and still is to this day one of the most amazing women I've ever met in my life. I was a journalism major for a year and a half in college before I switched to Elementary Education. I always knew I would be a teacher one day, but I had a passion for writing and thought journalism was the only way I could keep writing! Well... along came blogging! Now I'm still writing, but pursuing my first career choice and working with children! 

10.  What is something important that you have learned?
I must say that something I have learned in life is that it is okay to just have a few close friends than a ton of "friends". At 21 I have about a handful of people I can honestly call my true friends who would do anything in the world for me and, for me, that makes me the richest girl in the world. 


Okay now that you've learned a little bit about me I'm going to do the same! I'm going to tag 
Lindsay from The Growing Family
Ashley from Small Fish Big Campus
Vicky from Traditions, Laughter, and Happily Ever After

My questions for you ladies are...

1. What is your favorite hobby?
2. What is something your looking most forward to this year?
3. What is a goal of yours?
4. What are you most proud of?
5. Who is your favorite band/artist?
6. What is your favorite thing to blog about?
7. What is something that people don't generally know about you?
8. What is your favorite thing about yourself?
9. What made you want to blog?
10. What is the funnest date you have ever been on?

High Five for Friday

Well... this week has been WAY too short. I've tried to balance my school and work schedule with seeing my sweet boyfriend and it is almost time for him to leave again! :( It's going to be a LONG 5 weeks!

But, I've still got 5 AWESOME things to be happy about!

1. KOHL'S Early Bird Sales! 

It was a joint effort with my two aunts, but on Saturday my mother and I managed to buy over 800 dollars  of clothes, shoes, etc for...(drumroll please) 250 bucks!!! Yeah, we're good. Seriously though, Kohl's has the BEST sale racks ever! Check them out this weekend! 

2. ZAC BROWN BAND! 

They came to Huntington last Saturday! We had an AWESOME crew and had so much fun! 

3. MACIE MAE

Ok the picture is really enough! This sweet angel girl was born Monday and on Tuesday I got to kiss all over her sweet face. I can't even handle it. 

4. Sweet boyfriend's that make you dinner (or heat it up) after a long day of class! Went over to Pup's last night to find this waiting on me. How cute! 

5. TEAM TONI! 

This deserves about 1000 high fives actually. I recently learned about Toni Black, this AMAZINGLY strong 23 year old young lady! From what I've learned Toni was diagnosed with cancer a couple of years ago. I do not know details but what I do know is that the doctor's have stopped treatment and gave her only months to live. I also know that being 21, I have no idea what I would do if I were in this predicament. So, today I give 100000 high-fives to Toni and all the amazing young women out there with stories just like her. TEAM TONI!

Healthy Grilling

I don't know about any of you, but when the temperature gets 60 degrees or higher around my house the grill comes out and it doesn't go back in the garage until November! We are such a HUGE cookout family! We've only been cooking out for a couple of weeks and I'm already seeing a pattern that is NOT going to be good for my diet plan, so I asked my great friends from www.myfitnesspal.com to share their favorite healthy grill recipes! I hope you enjoy! They sound delicious!

chelswatts3 "My favorite would be kabobs on the grill, an easy way to eat meat and veggies in a fun way that looks appetizing. I use pineapple, tomatoes, bell pepper, onions and chicken. Easily slide a few pieces of each one on and you have a delicious looking meal!! Great for cookouts too ;) eat with salad or and side dish!"


deniselsmith "Portabella Caps on the Grill with a tiny bit of olive oil, garlic powder, topped with Feta Cheese! YUM!"


smallfishbigcampus "Chicken marinaded in a pineapple and lemon juice with a splash of bourbon!!! Throw it on the grill until its done and YUMMMY." (You can also visit Ashley here, she's a blogger!)


AND DON'T FORGET DESSERT! I'm dying to try this one! 


BrittHann Ingredients: Olive oil (for rubbing on the grill so the fruit won't stick - be careful about aerosol spray oils, they're flammable)
6 pieces of stone fruits (peaches, nectarines, plums - do a mix)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar (splurge and get the good stuff, it makes a difference)
1 small peeled chunk of ginger root
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon coarse black pepper
1/4 teaspoon pink pepper (if you don't have this or don't want to get it, just double the black pepper)
Juice of 1 lemon 


"Heat the grill to high and oil it. Cut each piece of fruit in half and remove the pits and place them cut-side down on the grill. Cook them about 3-4 minutes, until they've softened and have good grill marks. Throw the rest of the ingredients in to a grill-safe pot and put it directly on the grill. It will heat up quickly and thicken. When it's thick enough to coat a spoon, it's ready. Toss the ginger root out.
Plate the fruit and pour the glaze over it. It's good served with vanilla ice cream, and I particularly like Rice Dream rice milk ice cream."

Thank you ladies, again, for these awesome recipes! 

You can visit any of these ladies at My Fitness Pal! They are all great motivators! 

If you have a recipe you'd like to share I'd LOVE to hear it! It's going to be a LONG summer around the pool and grill! 

Tip Tuesday

Okay, so I'm trying to do a couple "theme" days as a way to organize my blog because I literally just blog about everything! Which I feel is okay. :)

If you've read my blog before you saw that I started doing "High Five Friday" which I LOVE, but I felt like I needed another one, so I'm going to start doing "Tip Tuesday". Not sure if these tips will have a theme, but today it is great for a busy schedule, like myself, and especially for a busy student!

The more classes I started piling on, the busier and more hectic my schedule got. I was going crazy and my small agenda just wasn't cutting it anymore! So, as I was browsing through our local teacher store, Latta's, I came across the lesson plan books. I kind of have shiny object syndrome when it comes to anything brightly colored and pretty, so I was looking at them and realized that I could use this type of layout to become even MORE organized! (Nerd Alert!)

Mine has been worn and torn, but still! I just loved it! 

Okay so the way I organize my "agenda" is a different topic for each of the 7 columns.

On the side with 4 columns I put each of my classes at the top... if you're like me and take more than 4 classes during a semester I double up on each block, but it keeps all your assignments separate.

For the side that only has three columns I separate my day by three categories, School/Clinicals, Work/Lesson (Daycare), and then my Afternoon. My afternoon includes everything from working out to tutoring to dinner plans.

This is kind of an overview of how I set up my weekly agenda. I tried to pick out one that you could read and wasn't so sloppy! I am currently working, taking 20 hours at school, doing 2 clinicals, tutoring, working out everyday, and trying to have a social life and I've manage to stay on top of it all! 

Hope you all find this helpful! Happy Tuesday! 

My Safe Haven

As promised, I'm finally blogging about my trip to my grandparents' farm!

I don't know about you guys but sometimes life with the cell phones, internet, blogs, facebook, e-mail, etc. just really messed with me. I feel like I am constantly distracted on something and can't just relax and focus on life. When I get to this point the only place I want to be is on my grandparents' farm -- No cell service or internet! Before I show you my pictures we took on our hike I just want to explain to you the kind of amazing people I'm talking about.

My grandpa, Jim, is a preacher, and quite frankly one of the most Godly men I've ever met in my life. My grandma, Betty, is nothing short of an angel here on Earth. I know everyone says that their grandparent's are the sweetest, best people on Earth, but I really do believe that -- anyone that's ever met them would probably argue the same.

Just the thought of me bragging this much on them would probably send them in to a tizzy, because they wouldn't approve of themselves getting the glory, they would give it God instead. I am in no way taking the glory from God because I know that it is through Him that they are the people they are, but what diligence and will it takes for them to be the way they are and live the way they do.

I have never seen my grandparents turn away someone in need, when at many times in their life they didn't have it. Matter of fact, we spent the evening around a fire in the backyard while Grandpa told my cousin, Mom, and I about a time when he had nothing and a man asked him for some money to buy his family breakfast at McDonalds. Grandpa, of course, gave him the money even though he didn't have it to give... anyway the story ends with my Grandpa seeing the man take the breakfast to his family and spread it out over the hood of his car. But what amazed me about the conversation and continues to amaze me about my Grandpa was that he wasn't telling us this story to brag or to boast on himself. He told this story with tears in his eyes to teach us, as younger people, to do the work of the Lord. If we do the Lord's will, we will be rewarded for it.

As I walked that day with my grandparents through their farm that I've grown to love so, so much I found myself in tears several times. There are so many things that I haven't got to learn from them. There are so many things that I've missed out on living so far away from them. There are so many things that those around them take for granted.

I honestly hope that I can be HALF the person each of them are.

Now that I've got that out (whew crying) ... here's the pictures from my hike on the farm!

Seriously... how could you not be at peace!?

The crew minus Grandma! (L to R) Momma, Grandpa, and cousin! 

The cabin that sits on the farm.

My beautiful Momma! 

Little shot from the top of the mountain/hill. So beautiful! 

My little friend I found! 

Deer bed! (Redneck coming out in me!)

Yes, I did drink out of that pipe and, yes, it was the best water I've ever drank! 

And here are a few shots for giggles I found while going through Grandma's photo albums! 

My twin brother and I probably around 3? :) 

Dustin the big game hunter! Haha!

Anywho, I know I've rambled on about my grandparents and how amazing they are, but I have to share just one more thing. This video was taken at my cousin's wedding this past fall. They played a game with all the married couples and the ones who had been married the shortest amount of time sat down and the pattern continued until the couple who had been married the longest was left standing. Well, guess who it was? :) They got to share a dance with one another and there wasn't a dry eye in the house. I can only hope that one day this is me and my husband. I want to be able to dance with him, with my family surrounding me, trying to "remember when" and dance steps from the past. I hope you enjoy it. 

Yeah :'(

This has probably been my favorite post to date. I hope you all enjoyed it as well. I'm started to get comments from other bloggers and I love it so much! I'm really hoping to get some more followers in the week to come and start upping my views, so if any of you have any thoughts or ideas of how to get my blog out there, please let me know! 

Thanks for reading! :) 

High Five for Friday!

I've read so many fantastic blogs that do this High Five for Friday and I think it is so fun! This will be 5 things about the past week that deserve to be mentioned! This week was FULL of fantastic High Fives, but I've managed to slim it down to just 5!

1. First off I have to give a big High 5 to my grandparents' beautiful farm that, indeed, was my detox this week! Love their beautiful farm! Since my pictures are all on my camera I had to find one that I had snapped on my phone. These beautiful water lillies had popped up by my grandpa's old barn that had fallen. I found this old jug inside the barn and pulled it out for a nice picture!

2. Visting my sweet boyfriend! 

3. Biggest Loser Oatmeal Pancakes! Don't knock them before you try them! Packed with protein and only 180 calories for 2! You can find the recipe here

4. HOW ABOUT THOSE BUCKEYES! My number 4 goes to the Ohio State Buckeyes for their big win last night! On to the Elite Eight! 

5. My last High Five for the week goes to one of my favorite followers! She is always the first to offer advice and a helping hand! You can tell through her blog alone that she is a great teacher! I suggest everyone Stacey out at 3rd Grade Times! 

Happy Friday, Everyone! 

New Treasures!

I had planned on blogging about my trip to my grandparents' farm after I got internet service back, but I seemed to have left my camera in the car when my mom dropped me off with my boyfriend -- RATS.

Anyway, I do want to share a few treasures I found while in Spencer, WV. My friend and I discovered this cute antique store while visiting for the Black Walnut Festival one fall. Inside the Spencer Antique Mall are tables and tables full of the community's  old treasures! My personal favorite is looking for old jewelry.

This trip was nothing short of a success! Candace (the store owner) did a great job of hooking me up! For under 25 dollars I got all of these fantastic pieces!

$2 ring -- Wearing this today! 

FANTASTIC coral and turquoise ring/earring set! $4

Gold and Blue ring $2 -- had to get this for my WVU trips and events! :) 

$2 ring -- probably one of my favorite purchases!

Amazing gold bangle! 5 bucks! SCORE!

BEAUTIFUL vintage watch with kelly green band and loose rhinestone studs in the face! It doesn't work but it will be PERFECT for Marshall games in the fall! 

So, yes, absolutely thrilled with my purchases and highly recommend anyone that is in or around Roane County, WV to stop in and see Miss Candace! 

For now, I'm up in Morgantown visiting with my boyfriend while he is finishing up his week in school! I'm trying to find things to do while he is in class. I'm not use to not having a billion things to do, so this is unusual for me. But hey, his apartment is spotless! :) 

Sunday Relaxation

Today was such a relaxing day! It got started off on a bad note when I woke up with a migraine that kept me from going to church, but some medicine, a hot wash cloth, and long nap really did the job.

Mom and I decided to go on a little hike since it turned in to such a beautiful day and I took my camera along too!

We have a little road that goes out beside our house and when we were little my mom, brother, and I would always take walks out it.

Okay -- the sun was a little bright, but here we go! 

Had to have Mom snap a quick shot of me in the shorts I couldn't get on last summer!!! :) Even some room to grow! 

Here's our trail! 

Look what we ran in to! Our walk was stopped quickly when we came across a field of horses! We spent a good 15 minutes feeding and petting on them! This one had gorgeous, blue eyes.

TWINS! 

This was my personal favorite. How pretty! 

Had to snap it! What a beautiful picture -- the horse and my momma! 

We traveled a little bit farther down the road and were excited to check out this old abandoned house that we use to look at and peak in... 

There wasn't much left of it! 

We got in a good 2 miles to log in our "Myfitnesspal" Apps! <---- there it is again! ;) Then we came back home and relaxed a little before church! 

I decided to drink a glass of sweet tea, barefoot and on the porch swing! Talk about your Southern girl! Anyway the new book I'm reading is I Got This by Jennifer Hudson. It is fantastic! It's an autobiography about her struggle and victory dealing with her weight and other obstacles she's faced through her journey to fame. I highly recommend it! 

I ended the day by going to church with my family. We had special singing tonight and one of the parents from my daycare was in the group! Her boys were there and the youngest one sat with me. I left church with 8 new games downloaded on my cell phone! The highlight of my night came when a sneeze blew snot all over little Ian's hands which almost moved to my phone, but luckily I grabbed some tissues and did the whole "wipe, blow, wipe, sanitize" all in one motion. He quickly turned to me and said, "Do you have kids?" I just started dying laughing! It really made my heart burst at the thought of him thinking I was a mommy -- that is, after all, my main goal in life. Oh well, someday! Until then I'll just teach. :) 

I'll be heading out to my grandparents farm tomorrow for a couple days, so I won't have cell phone service OR internet! HALLELUJAH! It literally is my safe haven and detox from the rest of the world! It'll be nice to relax out there for a while. I'll be headed up to Morgantown, WV on Wednesday to spend some time with my boyfriend before we head back home for his Spring Break. 

See ya Wednesday! 

Miss Casey's Corner Got a Make-Over

I'm slightly obsessed with my new background! I had no idea there were so many great sites that offer free blog templates! Finally decided on this one for now! LOVE it! I'm including my friends at Leelou Blogs' link on here! Stop in and check them out!

Spring Break Day 2 - Spring Cleaning

Well, after several hours I am officially finished cleaning/organizing my room!

Since I am still in college and live with my parents it is a little hard to have all my adult things (and massive amounts of clothes/shoes/purses) in a single room, but today I got organized and made some progress. I thought I'd snap some pictures and show you my progress!

I HAD to start with my closets and drawers! My clothes were falling out of every which way to the point where I didn't even know what I had! I ended up color coordinating my shirts in one closet and then separating all my jeans/dresses/dress pants/workout clothes/sweats/and shorts in the other closet. Here's what I came up with...

Black tubs with tags for hats, toboggans, and miscellaneous accessories!

Not a very good pictures, but color coordinated tops! :) 

My drawers have never looked so good! I FINALLY went through my old t-shirts and threw some out. 

Possibly my favorite space I organized today! I've got my skirts/coats on the bottom, dresses on the side, jeans and shorts stacked, all my workout gear above that, and then sweats on the very top! 

Workout stuff! :) 

So glad I separated my jeans and dress pants! I hadn't realized how many pairs of dress pants I had! Stocked up for student teaching! ;) 

After dealing with all my clothes for the first few hours I decided to start on my SHOES! :/ My mom created an awesome shoe wall for me to house all my heels and shoes since there was NO way I would be able to fit them in my closet. I put away my winter boots and was able to set my scarves and belts out in cute red baskets. 

I also went to town on my vanity! I share a bathroom with my brother, so I tend to keep all my primping things in my room and just get ready in there to avoid conflict! I labeled and organized EVERYTHING! 

I separated and labeled my bracelets/necklaces/rings. I have an earring stand that holds all my earrings! 

I also separated all my hair stuff in to a large red tub that sits beside my vanity.

I also separated and labeled my hair, nails, and lotion supplies!

In each of my drawers I separated and organized my make-up and beauty supplies. 

For the rest of the room I just tried to clean everything up and create an open feel! 

Man, it feels good to be organized... now let's see how long it will last! Fingers crossed until at least the end of the semester! 

On another note, a great new blog I discovered

is having a FANTASTIC giveaway!! If you are one of my teacher friends you MUST check her out! :)