The Wonders of a Book Jar

Ah Yes.
Here we are, well into the first month of Two Thousand Fourteen (even though I still write 2012 on all things, this is what happens when you get old kids). Eighteen days into January and we are in that golden era where everyone's New Year's resolutions are looking good, going great, maintaining the I-can-do-this mentality. I've never been one to make big New Year's resolutions. I just never really get around to thinking about it much (maybe my resolution should have been to make a New Year's resolution?)
But this is the year that changes, I'm going big, I'm going crazy, in the words of a certain four legged animated character, "I'm a donkey on the edge":

This year I shall read new books.

Yep, ya got that right.
Let me explain. I love books, and I mean LOVE books. I am an impulsive book buyer (on the reals though, as my friends DO NOT let me go into a half-price books alone). I love having them around. It comforts me to be surrounded by shelves and shelves of wonderful books, full of stories and knowledge and joy. But here's the thing: I find even more comfort in rereading books I have already read. I love smiling at my favorite sentences, anticipating the great moments that I know are to come, laughing with characters close to my heart. Now you see the predicament. I have an VERY extensive list of books I want  to read and I do choose books off of this list, but alas time and time again when I have free time my hands drift towards the friendly well-worn pages on my book shelf, rather than the unfamiliar book from the library sitting on my night stand(I think its safe to say that we can zoom out and call this a metaphor for my life....but lets not talk about that right now). The result is me having read a handful of books/series way more times than should be allowed and all of those books on my reading list remaining there. But, huzzah!, this is the year that changes!

Here are the Book Rules of 2014:
1. NO PREVIOUSLY READ BOOKS ALLOWED
I'm looking at you Jane Austen, J.K. Rowling, and the many more (Jane, Elizabeth, Ron, Hermione, Harry, Katniss, Gale, Peeta(I guess), Sam, Aragorn , Emma we can still be friends we just have to take a break for a little while; it's not you, it's me?)

One of the many banned books of 2014 *silent tears*

 

2. May I introduce (drum roll please) The Book Jar!

This little guy is filled with 53 books and counting

All new books ever wished to be read are compiled, written on a piece of paper and placed in The Book Jar. The goal is to draw a book out of the book jar every two weeks and read it(I'll be "booking it" hardy har har)
3. Expand the mind and have a grand ol' time!

Woohoo here we go! You guys should take a whack at it too. The jar concept can be used in so many different ways to get you out of the mundane, whether it be places to go, foods to try, movies to watch, verses to memorize, etc. so go for it!

Well, I'm 20

Hello there dear friends! I hope everyone has had a fantastic holiday season!
Mine was full of adventures, smiles, and, well, becoming old.

Yes friends, I turned 20 last week. I know everyone says you're an adult when you turn 18, but I feel like its officially official when you hit 20. Unfortunately on my 20th birthday knowledge of political events, how to do my taxes, and other adult stuff didn't just pour down on me from the heavens. It appears that while on paper I'm an adult, I will have to educate myself on adult things to actually sound like one.
The 20-something decade is a big one: So many changes and so little time! Here are 5 things I want to see happen in my next ten years. Now you may call me naïve for some of these, but hey dream big or go home am I right?

1. Travel to AT LEAST 3 different countries
That will bring the grand total of foreign countries I've been to: 3
And one of these countries will be England which leads me to...

2. Happen to run into a member of one direction years after their careers are over
Lets be real here: the boys of 1D have two years tops left of this cloud 9 they are floating on. Pretty soon they will all be hitting their mid twenties, and that my friends is the time when it officially becomes creepy instead of cute for 13 year olds to be obsessed with them. So by the time they reach late 20s, they will all be living their lives away from the spotlight( except for the one that will try to be the JT of the group...cough cough Harry) and I shall run into one on the street and hardly recognize them and it will be great.

3. Have a job, or be on the path towards a job, that allows me to shop at J.Crew
It might be sad, but this may actually be how I measure my success. Once I hit 30s, it'll be time to work towards Anthropologie(and I ain't talking about the sale room).

4. Find a Passion
#cliché I know, but I think its important for everyone to have something that sets a fire under them and makes them want to work for good and change

5. Be Adventurous
Y'all know that I tend to be a little on the cautious side, but ya know what? Its time to take some chances, throw some(not all) caution to the wind.

Tis The Season To Be Thankful

Its that time of year. We're all feeling cozy and happy, reunited with our friends and family; Our cups are overflowing and thankfulness just spills out of us. And this is such a good thing! Ephesians 5:20 calls us to be "always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Christ to God". From our families to reading a good book to being able to write silly blogs, all good things come from above and we should be thanking God for ever single one of these.

I think the word that's most important in this verse though is ALWAYS. Giving thanks to God should be a year round, 7 days a week affair, not just when we are giddy with the Christmas Spirit. A girl in my Bible study this past semester told me that giving thanks is a discipline, not just an emotion. I loved this perspective and I found it so convicting. We must be intentional and consistent in thanking the Lord for all of his blessings, and not let it be something we do just when a fleeting feeling passes over us.
To help me in the thankfulness department, I like making daily Thankful Lists. Whether physical or mental, making a list of all the things (broad or specific, big or small) that you are thankful for can spin a down in the dumps day to a happy, grateful one!

Here are 5 little things I'm thankful for this moth as we head into the Christmas season:
1.Quiet Mornings
There's nothing like a sipping on some hot English breakfast tea in peace and quiet to start your day. Its also fun to be able to sing morning show tunes to yourself while no one else is awake,( "good morning Baltimorrrre!", "Oh what a beautiful morrrning!", you catch my drift?)

Jim agrees with me.
(image and link on my Pinterest page)

2. The New Spurs HEB Commercials
Y'all know I love my Spurs. And let me tell you, the new HEB commercials for this season are PRIME. Not only do they feature the always great Manu, Tony, and Tim, BUT they have added in my two absolute faves, Matt Bonner (a.k.a. the Red Rocket a.k.a. the Red Mamba) and Kawaii Leonard.

I'm Obsessed**

3.Clean Drake Songs on Youtube
Ugh, Drake. Can't get enough of him. Huge shoutout to my peeps who take the time to clean up his lyrics and put them on Youtube so I can listen to my boy. I like making up my own words during those short pauses anyway, helps me work on my free-stylin', ya know? (...they know, they know, they know...)

I love you.

4. Making Silly Faces
You guys may have noticed by now, but I'm a fan of striking that funny face pose.

I'm right at home with my 6 year olds

5. Hugging My Brother
There ain't nothing better.

He LOVES me.

**Y'all I literally watched this commercial 20 times over the course of making this post and the corny/relish part gets me every time.
p.s. hollaa at those who got my drizzy lyrics reference

I'm Bringing Brooches Back (Yeah)

Calling all classy ladies,

Hey, I don't know about you, but I'm feeling twenty-two, but this cold weather snap that's happening down here in Texas has got me feeling a little, well, mundane. Sure at first it was all thrill and excitement as I got to pull out those cozy sweaters and wrap myself snuggly in knitted scarves, but these moments were fleeting. Alas, my closet contains no where near the repertoire of winter clothes needed to maintain these feelings. After a couple of weeks of consistently cold weather all possible combinations of sweaters, pants, boots, and scarves have been maximized. Things are getting repetitive, boring, predictable. 
Then I found these guys:

Now, lets settle a few things before we go making assumptions. When you think brooch, an image of a women with permed grey hair hunching over her walker on her way into church may come to mind. And its time to throw that out.
Brooches and pins ooze class and sophistication.  I give exhibits A, B, and C:


Kate knows how to rock that brooch

A brooch brings elegance and adds that neat vintage feel to an outfit(which I'm really loving). Now that we've established that brooches and pins no longer belong to the grandmas of the world, they are the perfect addition to a winter wardrobe. They are easy, versatile, and allow you to get creative when you seem to be out of new options. That sweater you wore last week? Add a subtly sparkly brooch and BAM. You've got a an outfit with a completely different feel and a new point of interest. Add some lipstick and you've become one classy lady.
Here some ways I've thought of how to incorporate these new gems into outfits. There are so many options with brooches, so get creative, experiment, and find the perfect placement for your new signature item!

My Old Soul

You know the phrase young at heart? Well I've got something a little bit different. Don't let my 19 year old college girl exterior fool you. Inside my heart dwells a fifty-something year old women who curls up in her pajamas at 7:00 p.m. and watches PBS while eating her high fiber cereal and having a conversation with her dog. Inside my heart lives a person who wakes up at 6:30 every morning and enjoys a good bowl of oatmeal for breakfast while reading the newspaper. Inside my heart is a middle aged women. And you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way. Here are some telling signs that led me to this middle aged conclusion. Let me know if you're part of the club, you can come over Friday night and we can do crosswords in our pajamas together.

1.Pajama time = best time of the day

If putting on pajamas at 7:30 is wrong, I don't want to be right. There is no other comfort like pulling on those  flannel elastic waist band pants.

 

2. Your preferred breakfast cereals fall into the same category as these:

 

oh and checking the nutrition facts is a must before any cereal purchase

 

3.You have dreams of one day striking it rich on antiques roadshow

(and meeting those twins that appraise furniture, maybe that will help you tell the difference between them)

 

4. There are no guarantees of you making it past 10:00 p.m.

You need your 8 hours!

 

5. You go way back with Pat and Vanna

And may or may not be a member of the Wheel Watchers club...

 

6. You take a women's(or men's) daily multi-vitamin

Its never to early to start building up bone strength, am I right ladies?

 

7. By the time your roommates wake up on Saturdays, your day is halfway over

Hey, the early bird gets the worm.

 

While on the topic of rising early,

8. Your body automatically wakes you up at the crack of dawn EVERY morning

No matter how late you were up last( "late" qualifies as anytime past 10:30 of course), you're up at 6:30 a.m., no alarm required.

 

9. You check out books(and audio books) from the library

Lets not even get into the discussion of real versus electronic books

 

10. Curling up in bed with a Sudoku is a much more appealing for a Friday night than any party EVER could be

And it keeps your mind sharp!

Why, Hello There!

Greetings Dear Friends!
As you may or may not have noticed(and I'm leaning towards may not, considering the population of about 2 people who actually read the on goings of this blog) I have taken a hiatus from blogging over the past few months. Here's a brief summary of why:

1. college

But with holidays right around the corner and school coming to a close, I'm hoping to get back on the wagon with writing. Woohoooooo! So be checking back here soon to find out all of the musings of my mind this past semester and the lovely plans for the future.
And with that I would like to close with a Happy Birthday shout out to my boy Ryan Gosling. I'm not going to say how old you are Ryan because age is just a number, am I right?

C'mon Allie, Where Ya Been?

For those of you who followed reading the title to this post with ""troubles on the loose again" to the tune of the 1980s Scooby Doo intro I applaud you because that's definitely what I was going for.

Its been quite a while indeed since the last blog update, but two weeks and six non-texas states(Arkansas, Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky, Kansas, Oklahoma) later here I am to greet you all once again! My family is huge on road-trips so this time around we took a journey through the Mid-West of the United states. Now now I know the mid-west is not known for its glam and excitement, but it was actually a pretty swell trip! Here's a quick highlight reel of the places I visited:

• Indianapolis, Indiana: Driving up to Indianapolis I wasn't very pumped. I mean what does it have besides race cars and cold weather, right? Wrong. Guys Indianapolis was cool. Really cool. I would seriously consider living there if it weren't for frigid winter-time temperatures. The downtown has such a great atmosphere and there is the canal district that is absolutely beautiful. Plus there were girl scouts who gave me ice cream sundaes and I had an almost-encounter with the Jo Bros(I know, way middle school throwback).

  

  War Memorial in the middle of Downtown

• Louisville, Kentucky: Louisville was grand because I got to see my Aunt and cousins that live there. They live in a beautiful historic neighborhood there. We also went to the Muhammad Ali Museum. I don't identify myself as a boxing fan at all, but this museum was actually pretty cool because it focused on the social-cultural issues going on during his career and the Civil Rights Movement. It was super well done.

  

  Super cool Muhammad Ali painting by Leroy Neiman in the museum

• St. Louis, Missouri: Not going to lie, I didn't get the best vibes from St. Louis, but seeing the Gateway Arch was awesome. Its absolutely an architectural achievement and innovation. However, there was a museum under the arch about Lewis and Clark and cultivating the West which was a complete disappointment because they COMPLETELY left out Sacagawea. Its like they forgot her crucial role as interpreter to the Shoshone people, finding edible plants for food, and a symbol of peace to the tribes Lewis & Clark met on their expedition. On top of all this she was pregnant AND gave during the expedition. It was an outrage. Lets get some girl power in there, am I right?

Don't worry Sacagawea, I recognize your significance.

For those of you who missed out on childhood: