goodbye best year of my life

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Tonight we say farewell to 2013.  It's bittersweet for me.  2013 was, by far, the best year of my life.  

2013 was the year we bought our home.  The home where we will hopefully watch are babies grow.

2013 was the year I carried my baby girl in my belly.  

2013 was the year where I really became aware of what goes in to my body.  I began making healthy decisions in order to feel my best instead of solely to look my best.

2013 was the year I met my 4th nephew.  And the year I shared memories my other nephews.

2013 was the year I met my daughter.  The year I held her tiny hands for the first time.  The year I kissed her soft cheeks.

2013 was the year I fell more in love with my husband than I ever thought possible.

It was the year I watched as he became a father.  I saw a tender, softer and more protective side than before.

2013 was the year I became a mother.  A role that has forever changed my heart and soul.

It was the year I gave birth.  Something that has always intrigued and scared me, but something I overcame.

2013 was the year where I watched sweet friends say 'I do'.  Shared laughs over red wine.  And tears over the phone.

2013 was a good year.  A great year.  My favorite year yet.  But with each day, life gets sweeter.  Sure there are hard things to face.  Things I may not always talk about on here, but overall life is good.  And I am so blessed.  And something tells me 2014 is only going to get sweeter.

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I'm making some changes for sure.  Not resolutions, but goals.  I've been working on Lara Casey's Goal-setting series for the past week and over the next week or so I'll be sharing my goals and dreams for 2014.  Have you made any resolutions?  Anyone else jumping in with Lara's series?

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my heart is full

I seriously cannot believe Christmas has come and gone.  It has left me with a full heart.  This week I have been relishing in much needed family time, cuddles, laughter and spoiling that baby girl of mine.  The hubs even had a few days off!  I hope y'all had a wonderful Christmas as well.  I think I'm going to keep on enjoying my family snuggles for awhile but I'll leave ya with a few snaps from my phone.  

I've also been taking some time to thing about 2014.  A fresh start.  I've started my Power Sheets, Mind, Body, Soul Chart, and I've began to pray about My One Word.  More on those next week!  2013 was my best year without a doubt.  I have been blessed beyond belief and am so very grateful.  But something tells me that 2014 is going to be even better!  What are your goals for the new year?  Any resolutions you want to make happen?

christmas morning pjs

passed out with thumb in mouth and toes in the air.

christmas eve at my parents' house

quick snooze in the middle of the celebrations

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small group christmas 2013

I know I've mentioned them a time or two on here, but Matt and I have been so blessed by the friendships we've made in our small group.  We all started out as newly married baby-less couples in 2012, only to end up as mamas and papas by the end of 2013.  It has been a blast doing life with these sweet friends and now doing parenthood.  I love that Georgia has amazing friends even at such a young age.  And her amazing friends have amazing parents.  Boom.  We are lucky.

Well, Saturday night we got together with these sweet friends for a little Christmas gathering.  It was so so fun and I'm excited to share some pictures with yall.  Also at the bottom of this post is the WINNER for the MASIK giveaway!

some of THE best sangria right there yall

the hostest and her mama

stealing kisses

the man in the group. how handsome is he?

our little group's first born Laney!

having a chat about their christmas lists...

mason (2 months), georgia (4.5 months), ruby (7.5 months), laney (9 months)

the aftermath

the mommies

the daddies

never too young for a shoulder ride

my heart

sweet daddy daughter moment

the sweet family that hosted all of us crazies

AND THE WINNER IS.... ELLE!  CONGRATS!  I will be emailing you shortly :)

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MASIK GIVEAWAY

tacky sweater party senior year at NC State!

So we are 9 days away from Christmas!  I can hardly wait!  It came fast this year.  Usually I am far done with my shopping by now and all of my presents are neatly tucked away under the tree.  This year, however, is a different story.  I'll blame it on the fact that Thanksgiving was so late this year and not the tiny human that now consumes all of my time.  Either way, I've still got a few people to shop for!  And maybe you're in the same boat?  Well if you have any dedicated college fans out there then listen up.  Today we are giving away a fragrance of your choice from the Masik Collection I mentioned Friday!  YAY!  It's THE perfect gift for the college football/basketball fanatic in your family or your best friends who are a dedicated alumni.  ENTER BELOW and Happy Monday!

MASIK WEBSITE

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Masik Fragrance Review

sophomore or junior year tailgate? either way we were babies!

senior year tailgate - go pack!

Ahhh college.  I miss you.  It’s been 6 years since I was an undergrad student at NC State and 4 since I was in graduate school there.  Now going back for football games, I see college girls running around and just smile.  That was me at one time and I loved every minute of it.  But I wouldn’t trade it for where I am now.  I truly believe that each season of life gets sweeter and sweeter.  But still, it’s nice to remember.  And that is why I’m so glad I discovered MASIK. 

Masik offers signature scents for both men and women that are tailored to a specific university.  How you might ask?  They draw inspiration from the school’s colors, key landmarks, popular flowers and trees and traditions.  I have been using the women’s fragrance for NC State and I absolutely LOVE it.  And I have to say, it reminds me a bit of college every time I put it on.  Maybe it’s the smell of the campus, or maybe it’s just the idea behind the science, but I went from wearing this perfume only when State played football or basketball, to wearing it every day.  I really do love it.

And they make great Christmas gifts!  There are a few guys and gals that will be receiving their university’s scent on Christmas morning – courtesy of yours truly.  So go check it out!  AND come back next week and enter a giveaway for the scent of your choice.  Just in time for the holidays!

MASIK WEBSITE

VIDEO ABOUT THE PROCESS

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what i wish i'd known before saying "i do"

Awhile back, a sweet friend had left a comment on a blog post over here.  I responded and we ended up emailing back and forth a bit.  During our correspondence she suggested that I write about what I wish I had known the first year of marriage.  This sweet friend I am talking about is closing in on her own wedding day and therefore, her own first year of marriage!  She is weeks away and I KNOW she will be such a gorgeous bride and an amazing wife. 

So in celebration of the bride-to-be, and because I try to give my readers what they want (even if it takes a few months!) I’m here to tell ya what I had wish I had known about the first year of marriage (I did a series last year and had some amazing guest posts that you can see here).  One of the main reasons it’s taken me a few weeks for this post is because I have thought long and hard on this.  Marriage is a tricky thing you see.  And in this day-in-age, with social media, Facebook, blogs – the INTERNET – it can be made to seem easy and sometimes unimportant, and those two things could not be farther than the truth.  To write this post I have been reflecting on my own marriage more than ever.  I have a strong marriage and for that I am thankful.  Is it perfect?  Not even close.  Do we argue?  Of course.  But the most important factor contributing to its strength is our work.  My marriage is my priority, as it is my husband’s.  And so here are two pieces of advice I wish I had heard before taking the plunge…

1.  It is never 50/50.  A preacher said this at a friend’s wedding the other week and I loved it.  It really is so true.  Marriage is rarely 50/50.  Usually someone is pulling more weight with some stuff and vice versa.  And the roles usually reverse too!  That’s the beauty of it.  Matt meets me where I need him to and I try to do the same with him.  It’s never about being “equal” but instead about doing what we have to do to support the other person.

2.  Marriage is so so fun.  I mean really.  You are with your best friend all the time and you get to do life with them?!?!  I feel like I didn’t hear this enough when I was engaged.  I heard tons of advice on how to keep a marriage strong, how to respect your husband and how to compromise and budget as a family – but not enough about how amazingly wonderful this gift of marriage really is.  Because it is a gift.  A sacred gift, and trust me – it is so much fun.  You think you love your spouse now?  Wait til you see him hold your first child, hold you when you lose someone close, or dance around the kitchen with you on your one year wedding anniversary.  Trust me, it gets better and sweeter with time.  

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my birthday to do list

this is one of my favorite pictures.  it's hilarious.  g is about 3 weeks old.  i'm in heaven.  she's not so sure.

On this day of my birth I plan to....

- have breakfast with my baby girl (PCJ latte and pumpkin muffin for me, Breastmilk for her)

- head to our second Kindermusik class!

- lunch with a sweet friend and her babe

- afternoon play sesh with my baby girl

- afternoon walk with baby, puppy and my mama

- takeout din din with my wee little family from Temptations

- yummy red wine

- capping off the birthday with my girls - Lilly, Candace and Alessandra (I have a slight obsession with the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show every year.  Ok a HUGE obsession.  But the fact that it falls on my birthday this year?!?!  Fate I tell ya.  Fate).

Best birthday ever.  28, I think I'm gonna like ya.

Have a wonderful Tuesday friends!

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