wednesday's FAVORITE thing: powerAde ZERO

it's been a while since i have had a favorite thing AND the energy to blog about it on WEDNESDAY! {well just barely enough energy}

58 cents!  for 32 oz!

don't hold it past me to pick up another 32*32 before i head to NOLA {fun work trip ahead} this weekend and the sale is gone again for another 3 months!

a few random things to leave you with this evening:

BABs and i started our 2 to 1 premarital mentoring program and they encouraged us to read a Psalm a night.  with 115 days until our wedding, and 150 Psalms, we are on a role!  4 days in and 8 Psalms down.  it is a very nice 5-7 minutes of reflection to wind down a long busy day with each other!  i can not wait to get to some of my favorites: 13, 23, 40, 51, 86, 119…

i also wanted to send a shout out to my "soul sista" whose husband was diagnosed with hodgkin's lymphoma {"kudzu"} just over a year ago. he has been in remission and his follow up, follow up PET scan was clean as a whistle {they found out this past Monday}.  she is the one i stole the jasmine & round-up idea from, except they call it kudzu & juice!  she was probably one of the first people i poured my heart and soul of concerns out to when we found out about mom's jasmine!  i thought "if she can have a 3 month old baby, a husband with kudzu, and caboodles of other less than ideal circumstances happen to her and CONTINUE to smile {and be funny} and shine {and be BEAUTIFUL} and praise God… i need to know what is in her wheaties."  sure enough… it is faith in good old J.C.!  so just add a dash of that and… no… everything won't just magically be alright… it will still be a little a lot crappy BUT you will have the strength to get through whatEVER it is!  eat those wheaties!

p.s.  she also gave me a shout out on her blog and since then i noticed that maybe 5-7 MORE people have read my blog this week :) 

that makes me happy {and slightly more conscientious of typos!}

and we're back

well that sucked!  the headache decided to go away {finally} and i was able to get the tree up and decorated!  bittersweet this being the last Christmas in my very own condo but looking forward to the new-bowers' first Christmas next year!  

i have plans for a post dedicated to the Christmas decor all to itself so stay tuned!

Thanksgiving was wonderful!  i have been full for about 5 days now.  just ate or tossed out the last of the leftovers {with the exception of my first cheesecake!}  i was happy to get permission to "make it again!" considering REAL baking {ah-hem… not out of a box} is a new to me.  

i was lucky to organize one family Thanksgiving pic at my parents after brunch!

mom is blonde {again} and beautiful {as always} and i am trying to remind her how much "more fun" we have!!  after a dose of mom's milk punch, sausage and rice casserole,  a nap, some football, and a raid of grama jo's jewelry {pronounced "jew-rea-uhl"} box, i left Thanksgiving 1.0 with a small hangover and a new strand of pearls!  the gluttony continued {T-Day 2.0} with turkey, dressing, mashed taters, etc. at the bowers!

worked black friday… not my favorite thing but not the end of the world either

speaking of favorite things… Christmas came early!  

baby got an iPhone!  i feel like such a big girl now. i was seriously living in the dark ages with a phone that would basically just call people!  {remember when they did that?}  THEN as i was downloading aps… pinterest was recommended as a MUST have ap for any bride-to-be's phone!  ...now i received my invitation and registered MONTHS ago but just didn't really "get it."  well Saturday i finally "got it"!  3 football games later i have 10 boards, DIY ideas that will never get done, too many recipes to try, and enough motivational "get your butt in shape" quotes to keep the 3 lbs i found this past week from hanging around too long!!


on that note i am going to hit the sack!  busy work ahead to get ready to be in NOLA for a whole week and MISS the SEC championship game :(

stupid migraine

so i had big plans today to catch up on the b.l.o.g. (from months of overdue pictures and events) AND decorate the christmas tree AND do some laundry AND some spring cleaning (it is 60-something degrees out) AND update the phone numbers on my new iPhone (exciting purchase and new favorite thing) AND talk about my new obsession with pinterest (i finally "get it")… but instead spent 2 hours with an ice pack on the invisible daggar sticking out of my left eye!  boo… stupid migraine!  will try again tomorrow.

could not be more true…. thank you mandisa

Hey, heard you were up all night
Thinking about how your world ain't right
And you wonder if things will ever get better
And you're asking why is it always raining on you
When all you want is just a little good news
Instead of standing there stuck out in the weather

Oh, don't hang your head
It's gonna end
God's right there
Even if it's hard to see Him
I promise you that He still cares

When the waves are taking you under
Hold on just a little bit longer
He knows that this is gonna make you stronger, stronger
The pain ain't gonna last forever
And things can only get better
Believe me
This is gonna make you stronger
Gonna make you stronger, stronger, stronger
Believe me, this is gonna make you ...

Try and do the best you can
Hold on and let Him hold your hand
And go on and fall into the arms of Jesus
Oh, lift your head it's gonna end
God's right there
Even when you just can't feel Him
I promise you that He still cares

'Cause if He started this work in your life
He will be faithful to complete it
If only you believe it
He knows how much it hurts
And I'm sure that He's gonna help you get through this

When the waves are taking you under
Hold on just a little bit longer
He knows that this is gonna make you stronger, stronger
The pain ain't gonna last forever
In time it's gonna get better
Believe me
This is gonna make you stronger

wft: no seaweed

this was probably one of the top 2 prettiest days in "heaven" i have ever had.  the only thing keeping it from the #1 spot was the fact that this picture was taken on the day we were leaving

{sad face}

BABs and i have been on a roller coaster of emotions and surprises lately and this scene in my opinion was "the calm after the storm." the beach we left behind on monday pretty much tied a pretty little bow on {dare i say it} things turning around for us.  

friday we met the man that will marry us and his wife at an adorable little bistro in baytowne.  it was a wonderfully comfortable encounter and we are looking forward to getting to know PE {pastor eric} and his lovely wife {darlene} over the next {less than} 5 months!  we went to their church on sunday {in a movie theater}, they gave us halloween fangs AND danced to thriller! 

as we were enjoying a post-pizza-vino we noticed an event posted on facebook by our favorite grilled cheese sandwich "restaurant". the halloweener derby saturday morning.  you would not believe how much fun 2 cat people could have at a dachshund race! we even saw a wiener dog in a wheelchair kick some derby bootie too!


{POST VIDEO HERE}


congrats to "tater" the 2011 champion

post derby we headed over to what i will refer to as plan A, aka what used to be our reception site!  {click  HERE for the pre-kitchen-explosion photos}

we looked at plan B and plan C, {even considered plan D for a minute}.  we will have to make some minor adjustments from plan A, but will still be willing to give the wedding of the year a run for its money {ok… so that was a joke… i really meant THIS wedding}


sunday was a complete FUNDAY!  church, getting pretty, and engagement photos!!  my MUA/hair-stylist was the one that "introduced" us to PE and she was just a doll!  we headed to seaside for the photo shoot and met our photographer by my favorite purple wall… {stay tuned for an entire post dedicated to the ePhotos}

see "favorite thing" photo above to understand how hard it was to leave monday!  but even after 96ish hours of wedding planning v2.0 we had to get back to work, ready for round-up #1 {of 3} and the jasmine beat down!


JASMINE UPDATE:  round-up #1 went well today!  and after tolerating a bone marrow biopsy {bmb} like a rock*star, my mother is a BAMF in my book!  she is sleeping like a baby right now and i am looking forward to spending the day with her tomorrow watching TERRIBLE television and homeade manis!


we want to THANK EVERYONE for the prayers, cards, well wishes, and delicious food!  after confirming from the BMB that this jasmine is nowhere else to be found... we can wonder how? or understand that God is looking over us, protecting us, and hearing our prayers!