{What I'm Loving Wednesday}

It's been about about fiftyleven years since I've participated in WILW, and lemme tell you, I sure have missed this little link up. I'm off work today, so I figured today was just as good as any to jump back into the WILW swing of things. After all, there are a bazillion things I'm loving lately...here are just a few!

{one} First off...not most importantly, but this is definitely my biggest obsession at the current moment...Picker Sisters. {Gasp: shocker...I'm addicted to another reality TV show!} Um, hello. If you haven't seen this new lifetime show, go to YouTube and do a little reality research. 

Okay, the main gist is this: Tanya and Tracy (two of the designers from Extreme Home Makeover) travel around the country and rummage through old antique stores, random farms, even junkyards searching for hidden treasures that they turn into incredible, amazing, gorgeous furniture/accessories to sell in their LA store. It's fabulous...I can't get enough of it.  Start watching, I promise you won't be disappointed! 

{two} College football commences in approximately 72 hours for this SEC girl. My house is going to be known as the Garden Terrace Hotel this fall...every home weekend has already been claimed by some friend of one of the roommates, so it's bound to be a good fall. 3 of my very favorite people in the world will be staying with us this weekend and I am literally about to pee my pants with excitement. I CANNOT wait for Gameday. And to make my excitement/anxiousness a little worse, my beloved University released this gem of a video this morning: 

Chills. Hotty Toddy, y'all. It's the most wonderful time of the year!

{three} I may be a little extreme and OCD by saying this, but dayyuuumm, I love my Erin Condren planner. I never realized the extent of my love for all things organized/written in a Sharpie pen until this beauty came in the mail. I've been busy as a bee filling in my work schedule, weddings, and most importantly, the football schedule. Oh, and of course, I made my little addiction worse when I joined it with my fascination of Pinterest recipes...this little planner is about to be attached to my hand at all times. Recipe book and planner all in one?! Hello perfection.

{four} Pinterest. Okay, okay. Who doesn't love Pinterest? But really, I loooove it, with 4 O's. Like I'd marry it if I could. It's helped me become somewhat of a mini-Martha Stewart...I'm trying to be all crafty and cook-y. Slowly but surely, people.

For instance...these will be made Saturday morning before

 the Grove to enjoy with Mimosas.

Chicken Enchilada Pasta...to be made for a dinner soon, 

per request from my boyfriend

I just died and went to dessert heaven.

{five} Attention: those who are cheesed out easily, (a.k.a. Faye) stop reading immediately. The last thing I'm loving this week is this sweet guy...I'm a lucky girl to be dating my best friend! He makes me laugh harder than anyone in this world, and that's one of my favorite things about him. Never a dull moment! 4 months and counting...

Well, y'all. I'm about to get back to preparing a grocery list for this weekend. And I should probably start cleaning my house at some point. Or maybe I'll just read some of your blogs instead. Yeah, that sounds like a better plan to me actually. DVR and blogs it is! Happy Hump Day! Hope all of your weeks are going splendidly...almost almost almost to Friday! 

Oh, yeah...and a big Hotty Toddy to all you SEC fans!

Meet Faye: {Football Friday!}

It's FRIIIDAAAAYYY! Can you tell I'm excited? 

Well, my fabulous readers, I have a treat for you on this beautiful Friday! 

I've never done a guest post on my blog, but I figured now was just as good of a time as any to dive in head first with a guest blogger...and who better to pick than my best friend?!

Let me brief you on Faye.

Oh, Faye. My little Faye. Roomie, sorority sis, bff. She's the person I go to when I need good, honest advice. The person that will make me laugh after a long day at work. The one who will always drink a glass of wine with me if I need one. She's my adventure partner, one of my favorite bloggers, and one of the most genuine, sincere people that I know. She says what she thinks and means what she says, and that's one of the biggest reasons I love her so much! Did I mention she's one of the wittiest people around? Well, she is. She's pretty much the sh*t, so read up, and love her as much as I do!

Just in case you didn't know...(all of you non-SEC readers)...it's almost one of my favorite holidays...

KICK-OFF! So without further ado...

---

Well hey there, you lovely readers of {simple.little.joys}! My name is Faye & I have a little blog of my own called Faye'sbook.

Not only is Rachel one of my favorite bloggers, but she also holds the titles of sorority sister, best friend, and most recently...roommate! (And if you're wondering...yes, she's even more awesome in person.) I'm so honored to be writing a guest post here on {simple.little.joys}. I hope you enjoy!

Think of really exciting, joyful times in your life. I bet Christmas morning makes the list. What's more exciting than Christmas morning? You wake up early to make breakfast and to see what Santa left under the tree. All day long, you are surrounded with friends and family and blah blah blah. You know what's more exciting?  

Ole Miss GAME DAY! You wake up early to make Grove treats and mimosas. You get decked out in your red and blue Grove attire. All day long, you are surrounded with friends, family, and football. It is the most exciting [7] days of the year.

 

It is exactly one week until Game weekend and Rachel and I can barely contain ourselves. In fact, I think I'll be dragging her out of bed early tomorrow morning to sip mimosas...ya know, for a practice run. If you know anything about Ole Miss (or about me and Rachel), you'll know that football rules the fall. And not just the game. The game is minimal in importance. Like we say here in God's country...

We may not win every game, but we ain't never lost a party!

More important than the final score? The dresses, the heels, the friends, the pom poms, the pictures, the drinks, the food. Of course the food. Football in Oxford, MS is an experience. An experience that everyone should take part in. So...come visit us and help us yell a Hotty Toddy or two.

And speaking of visiting, don't forget to visit me over at Faye'sbook!

a little thing called polyvore

I suppose I've been hiding under a rock lately, because up until last week, I had never heard of a little thing called Polyvore. And since finding out about this fabulous website, it has pretty much consumed all of my online time.

I was that little girl who spent hours as a child dressing up my dolls and Barbies, so I'm basically equating this to dress-up for grown-ups, and I'm loving every second of it. Now if only I had a money tree growing in the backyard and I didn't wear scrubs 75%of the time, then it'd be a dream come true.

Here are just a few of my favorite looks, anywhere from Grove/game day fashion to an afternoon out shopping with the girls.

What's your style like? You know you're itching to go make your own outfit at Polyvore now...can't wait to see all of your fabulous outfits! I'm off to work, lovelies. Hope your Thursdays are wonderful. Stay tuned tomorrow for an awesome guest post from one of my favorite people!

Movie Monday

This is probably the 34,920 post you've read about The Help. Or maybe it's the first. Either way, I'm gonna rave about it again. After all, it is Movie Monday!

This book is near and dear to my heart. My little hometown of Greenwood, MS basically shut down last summer for the filming of this incredible movie...so of course, as soon as news hit our gossip-filled neighborhood, we all had to read the book immediately. And I'll be so brave to say that this movie was just as good, if not better than the book itself...and we all know the movie is never as good as the book.

Y'all...the book blew me away. I literally couldn't put it down. I laughed, I cried, I turned pages in a hurry, I was so mad at times...all the perfect components to make up a best-selling book. I legit had a countdown going for the release of the movie, so August 8th finally arrived and you better believe I was first in line at the theater...but of course, it was sold out. So I tried again (twice) until I finally got a golden ticket to see this film. 

Put down your computer, throw on some shoes, grab your keys, and get to the nearest theater to see this movie. I promise you won't regret it! It's a beautiful, incredibly inspiring story about racism in the South. It hits home for so many people, and seriously makes you sit back and think...I love a movie that inspires you, challenges your beliefs, and encourages you to be a better person. The Help is all of that and more, so much more. I'm not gonna give a recap of the movie or anything, but I'd sure hate to ruin it for you...so that's all I'm going to divulge. You just need to experience it for yourself.

It's super, super weird to see your hometown in a major motion picture. I'm pretty sure everyone around me was annoyed because every scene, I squealed and pointed out my driveway, my church, the Garden Club headquarters, my favorite house in Greenwood, and so many background actors that I've known for years. Just crazy! I can't wait to go see it again...it's definitely going to be a must-buy for me. 

So I'll leave you with this quote from the movie...sweet, simple, precious.

Go see it, and it'll all make sense. 

Who Posts on a Friday Afternoon? Oh, I Do.

Hey, y'all! Rachel here...yes, I'm alive! 

I'd be willing to bet that about 50% of my last few months' posts have started with that statement. I officially am the world's worst blogger, and I'll admit that. 

I'm not even going to go through my usual spiel about why I've been such a blog slacker lately...I'm sure you don't wanna hear it as much as I don't want to type it. Bottom line, I suck. Yup, that's pretty much it! With the big move, not having internet for a week, and switching to an 8-5 schedule for a bit (p.s. I forgot how much I hate setting my alarm at 6 am), I've been less than motivated to write any blog posts. Well, I guess that was a spiel, huh? My b.

I've missed y'all. Bunches. Thank goodness for Twitter, or I'd pretty much be kicked out of the social networking world.

Well, I'm in Oxford now. Officially. Settled, unpacked, and everything. I feel like I've been back for years now, it's that perfect of a fit for me. The packing of my mounds and mounds of belongings was utterly miserable...margaritas were consumed after that fiasco, but thank goodness the transport and unloading of it all went off without a hitch. My sweet daddy, brother, and boyfriend made it all possible...without them, I pretty much would've just sat in my front yard with a bottle of wine and cried at the sight of my uHaul. I sure am blessed with 3 wonderful men in my life (cheesy statement alert.)

Rowan Oak on a Sunday afternoon with the boyfriend...perfect day. LOVE this place!

I just love my house. It's wonderful. You should've seen my mom, sister, and roommates unpacking and decorating...it was like Martha Stewart on crack mixed with the Tazmanian devil. Our house was up and running and incredibly cute in no time! It feels so good to have a fresh start somewhere...it's just what I needed at this time. Sneak preview of our living room and my bedroooom...

The job is going well so far...I've just been in orientation for the past two weeks. So it has consisted of lots of classes, speakers, paperwork, etc. Boring, but necessary. I love the feel of a small-town hospital. Where I work isn't tiny, but it's not a huge booming med center either, so it's much more close-knit. I love working somewhere where everybody knows everybody. That's where I fit in the best. I'm just itching to get back to the floor, though. I'm in serious need of some one-on-one patient care! I miss being a nurse. It's ridiculous how much I love my job...I'm so thankful for what I do!

Y'all...I wish I could put into words how amazing it is to be back in Oxford. More than the place, I'm literally 5 minutes from some of my favorite people. It's so great to be able to pick up the phone and see if Andrew wants to grab lunch real quick, or just stop by my sister's house on the way home from the hospital. And some of my very best friends are literally 5 steps away from me at any point of the day. I've loved living with them for the past few weeks--we've even had a few roomie homecooked dinners (and I didn't even burn the house down!) It's just the best feeling in the world. I've laughed more in the past few weeks than I have in a long time...I love when life falls into place. 

Successful dinner #1...thanks to Pinterest! Nothing like a bunch of cheesy pasta.

My favorite...I love being able to just go grab a drink on the Square with her whenever we want!

Tuesday night Trivia at TwoStick! One of our traditions. Love my roomies!

My sweet Andrew!

I'm obsessed with this picture. See why I love them so much?

Life is good. There's not much more to say than that.

beginnings.

A new chapter in my life starts today. 

New job. {Semi} new city.

Excited doesn't even begin to put into words how I'm feeling right now.

I can't wait to see what's next...it's gonna be good.

Stay tuned...

Cheers to beginnings!

Happy Monday, y'all!

saturday brain dump.

It's 5 am on Saturday and I'm wide awake and ready to go for some reason. 

Today is the big day...the big move to Oxford. I'm sitting in the floor of my bedroom at the moment because I have no furniture here anymore. Hanging out on the hardwood. The echo of me typing on the keys seems almost deafening--it makes this room seem so much emptier than I've ever noticed it to be. Kinda makes me sad, if I'm being honest.

I had a bad dream last night that I was moving somewhere far off, like Oregon or somewhere random. I woke up in a cold sweat and panicked, thinking I made the wrong decision because I'd be so far away from my family and everything I knew and loved...then I remembered where I was really moving and all was right again. I guess that's just my attachment to the comfortable and present coming out in me...I'm clinging to the current comfort zone, as usual.

This move is bittersweet. I'm dying to finally be in Oxford and settled in my happy little life I've grown accustomed to when I'm there. I know I'll love it. There's no doubt in my mind. It's home to me and always will be. But I'm going to miss this place. This little house that was my home for a year. My precious, first house. The first year of my "real" life. I remember how lonely I was for the first 3 or 4 months. How empty this house seemed until Taylor moved in. I remember how scared I was trying to figure out the best way to get to work...and walking in that hospital for the first time as an RN. I remember decorating for my first Christmas here...the slumber parties, the cookouts, the late night talks with my best friend/roommate. The pool days, the movie nights...This place will forever be part of my history and part of who I am. 

I don't know why there are tears as I type this. Maybe it's just because of that time of the month, maybe I'm just exhausted and shouldn't be awake at 5 am...but all I really know is my life is about to be turned upside down for the better. It's always bittersweet to me to end one chapter and start another...scary, but exciting. 


My sweet friends in Jackson...you don't know how much I'm going to miss y'all. And you know who you are. My daily life won't be the same without you, but know that we'll always be best friends...even though miles will separate us, we'll always be close. I'm making that promise!

God has been challenging me lately not to stay in an area of complacency. In my real life and in my spiritual life. My prayers have gone something like this... "Lord, lead me. Take me. I don't know where I'm going or what You want for me, but just take me." And I prayed that prayer meaning every way possible...in my job, in my relationships, in my walk with Him. And He did. He said, "My sweet daughter, you can't stay here." Here being here, an actual setting, and also here where I've grown so comfortable in my spiritual life. Things are changing, y'all. Changing for the better. 

So as you're waking up and making your coffee this morning, my Keurig is packed somewhere beneath a mound of furniture that looks like it's been collected over decades, heading to the 38655 for good. Pray that all of my belongings make it there in one piece, that my sanity makes it there in one piece, too, and that I have a spirit of thankfulness for my sweet family who are helping me transplant my life on a day that will most likely feel like a day in the African wilderness. Hopefully the next blog post will be a post of joy from finally being settled in my new home...we shall see.

Oh, and I just have to share this with y'all. I'm a Shane and Shane fanatic, always have been, always will be. I love their vocal style, I love their lyrics, I love their hearts for the Lord. I bought their newest record yesterday, after hearing "The One You Need" on the radio, and I couldn't not post it on here, either. Side note...this could be why I'm crying, also--I've watched this like 21 times. Mamas and daddies--grab your Kleenexes before you watch this. Precious, beautiful lyrics. I cry every time I hear it. I'm thankful for having a Daddy that prayed words like that over me as a baby, as a child, and now as an adult...and I'm hopeful for a husband who will do the same. Listen. 

Happy Saturday, wonderful friends!

wednesday wisdom

Amen.