Fill in the Blank Friday

Happy Friday, my friends! It's been a long week and I'm so glad that Friday is here! I can't wait for the fun that this weekend will hold. Plus, DECEMBER 1st, is tomorrow! December! I can't believe it! And Christmas is so close! So, to go along with that, today's blanks are Christmas themed. Thanks Lauren!

1. "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is..." to give someone a big old smile and wish them a Merry Christmas!

2. The holiday season is so fun! I love shopping and finding the perfect gifts for people. I love decorating my house. I love spending time with my family. What could be better?

3. When it comes to holiday decorating... I love to make my house cheery and bright! Nothing gaudy and I definitely don't cover every inch of space, but just little things here and there and a beautiful tree covered in our special ornaments.

4. The thing I look forward to most about the holidays is decorating the tree and spending Christmas Eve with all my family at my parent's house. And this year I'm really looking forward to seeing how Seabass reacts to the wrapping paper and excitement of Christmas morning. From our first year married I know Stank enjoyed eating the wrapping paper, I wonder if Seabass will hide in it?

5. My favorite holiday tradition is one that doesn't happen anymore. =/ My sister and I used to exchange our gifts to each other on Christmas Eve. But now that we're married we just do it on Christmas day with the rest of the family. Which is totally okay. Traditions sometimes need to change as you grow up. I'm looking forward to hopefully starting a few traditions this year with Collin!

6. This year my Christmas plans include waking up and opening presents just Collin and I, then going to my parents' in the morning for lunch and presents, then going to Collin's parents' in the evening for dinner and presents! What a full (and fun!) day it will be.

7. My favorite holiday food is Honey Baked Ham. Collin's parents always get one each year and it is so delicious!

I hope you guys have a lovely weekend. May it be fun and I pray it will get you in the Christmas (or Hanukkah if that's what you celebrate!) spirit. See you all Monday. =)

Cindy

Fill in the Blank Friday

Hi ya friends, it's the weekend! Well, almost! Just have to get through work first. But I'm so glad it's finally Friday. Monday was a holiday but I worked it so I can take off Christmas Eve which has made this week feel exceptionally long. I don't know why considering I kept thinking every day was the day before it, but still.

Anyway, enough rambling! Let's get to the blanks! To play along visit Lauren and link up.

1. My best quality is my determination. When I want something I go all out for it and don't give up until it's done. Give me something I'm passionate about or something I really wanna do and I'm happy.

2. One of my less flattering qualities is my short temper. Most people don't usually see this but I can get really irritated, really fast. But it usually only happens around people I'm super comfortable with, like Collin or my family.

3. I'd rather be at home making cards, vacuuming, baking cookies, and to be completely honest, watching stuff on Netflix.

4. Something I've been challenged with lately is loving Collin in every circumstance. Not that I don't always love him but I suppose more so showing him love in every circumstance. i.e. Instead of taking my frustrations (see answer 2) out on him to talk nicely to him and not become a brat.

5. I am looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas! And most specifically, decorating our apartment for Christmas! Since we lived with Collin's parents last year we didn't really have much space to decorate so we only put out a little bit. This year I am going to go all out and we can put up and decorate our tree again! And we're even going to hang lights on the patio.

6. A super random factoid about me is because I wore an appliance (the retainer type thing that comes before braces) constantly from the age of 7 until I was 14 most of my baby teeth had to be pulled by the dentist. They would come loose but would never be able to be wiggled or worked enough to come out on their own.

7. I want to go on a trip. We went to PA for Messiah's Homecoming about a month ago but I wanna go away and relax for a few days.

I hope you guys have a great weekend! Other than a game night tonight, I have no idea what we're doing. And that sounds great to me! We've had stuff planned out and have been so busy the past several weekends that one with nothing planned will be delightful!

Cindy

Fill in the Blank Friday

Hooray it's Friday! And it's a Friday after a 3-day official work week. I worked from home on Tuesday but I'm counting it a 3-day work week, because well, I was home on Tuesday! Quite nice if I do say so myself!

Anyway, here's some blanks courtesy of Lauren! Play along!

1. Something I swore I would never do, but have ended up doing anyway is become an Apple fan. Back when iPods became all the rage I swore up and down I'd never own one. It was too "cliche" so I stuck with my little (or not so little) portable CD player. But I just got so fed up with having to carry it around in a case with my 20 or so CDs that fit in the case. Plus, whenever I would go somewhere I hated being limited to 20 CDs because I didn't know what I'd want. So I finally caved and bought an iPod Nano. Now I'm an all Apple person. I've had 3 iPods (Nano, Classic 120GB, and Touch), I currently have my iPhone, and a MacBook!

2. Something I've always wanted to do is take a coastal tour of the West Coast of the US.

3. Something I have absolutely no desire to ever do is watch the Star Wars trilogies. I just really don't care. Sometimes I feel bad since Collin loves it so much but it just doesn't appeal to me. At. All.

4. The best thing I ever did was graduate a semester early from college so that I could re-meet Collin and fall in love and marry him. He is the most amazing man and I'm so glad that our lives kept intertwining so that he can be mine forever. I love how God brought us together!

5. When it comes to trying new things, I am usually okay with it. However, it really depends on what it is. I like adventure but I also like what's comfortable.

6. One thing I've never done is buy a new car. I've always had used cars and that's totally okay with me. I don't know that I'd ever buy a brand new car. Probably at least a year or two old.

7. My favorite thing to do is make music with Collin. Nothing makes me happier than when the two of us play and sing together!

Also today, I'm sharing this photo of Collin's parent's cat, Juevos, on Halloween. They had this pumpkin costume for the dog but as soon as we would put the hat on Faith, she would just stand there. She literally would not move at all. It was quite amusing. You could call her name from behind her and normally she'd wag her tail and turn to you but with the hat on she just stood there frozen. So we took it off and put it on Juevos. He didn't like it either but he tolerated it. =)

I hope you guys have a wonderful weekend! Enjoy the first November weekend! Our church's women's day retreat is tomorrow and I'm really excited about it! I'm looking forward to a nice day with some ladies from church growing closer to God!

Cindy

Fill in the Blank Friday

Hi friends! I'm so sorry that I didn't post my pictures yesterday like I said I was going to. I was just too busy and didn't have one second of time to choose and upload the ones I want to share! It's been a busy week in general and for that I'm sorry. And today (or this weekend) isn't looking any better for getting it done. Next week?? I WILL share them because I love some of the pictures I took!

Now onto Fill in the Blank Friday with Lauren! Let's get going!

1. One thing I plan on doing to relax this weekend is not much? We're going up to Messiah this evening to celebrate the Homecoming festivities! So tonight we'll be driving and catching up with friends, tomorrow will be spent on campus doing lots of fun things, and the evening spent with more friends, and Sunday we're driving home early to spend the day with my grandma who's flying in from Chicago on Saturday before we have to go to Bible study that evening! Whew. I'm tired just thinking about/typing that out...

2. A big pet peeve of mine is people that don't follow the rules of the road/are non-courteous drivers. Seriously, it's not that hard to drive properly. The thing that gets me the most though is crossing on the right on a solid line. It is illegal and it's not going to get you to where you're going that much faster. Maybe 5 seconds? Just wait behind the turning car. It's also DANGEROUS.

3. I am really loving having "new" jeans. My mom gave me a few pairs that she couldn't wear anymore/didn't want anymore and I love it because I actually needed new jeans!

4. The rain is necessary for well-being but it doesn't mean I like it very much. It just annoys me. Mainly because I hate being wet. If I know I'm going to be inside though while it's raining it doesn't bother me too much.

5. My favorite girly indulgence is nail polish. I love buying new colors and painting my toenails fun and bright colors! I hardly ever paint my fingernails though.

6. A song that I always get stuck in my head is nothing? I go through stages where I get songs stuck in my head. Lately I haven't had anything stuck in there. For a while it was "You Can Call Me Al" by Paul Simon. =)

7. The biggest cure for stress is playing the piano.

Like I said in question one, we're going to Messiah this weekend for Homecoming! I'm so super excited! I haven't been to Homecoming since the year I graduated ('08) so it's been a long while! And I've only been to Messiah one other time since then and it was just a brief visit to the campus. I can't wait to see my friends and participate in the Alumni Concert Choir concert. I really miss singing in Concert Choir. And Messiah just built a frisbee golf course over the summer so Collin and I are very eager and excited to check it out and play some disc golf! Plus, we are going to eat in the dining hall for lunch on Saturday. Collin wants to check it out and I haven't eaten there since I graduated and the food wasn't too bad. =)

And I'm really excited to see my grandma on Sunday. I'm really excited she's coming in for a week from Chicago! It's been a year since I've last seen her and I can't wait to spend some quality time with her!

Here's to an awesome weekend filled with fun, friends, and family! Hope yours is, too!

Cindy

Fill in the Blank Friday

Hello my dear friends! It is so nice to know that today is Friday. It has been a long week and those never seem to go by fast enough! But this weekend is special because it's a three-day weekend (yay Columbus Day!) and it's the FIRST holiday that Collin and I will both have off from work (that we're not away from home) where we can spend the entire day together since we've been married. Wow. So I'm pretty excited about that! And, other than going to a local festival on Saturday afternoon, we have no plans!

Now, to kick start this great weekend here's some blanks! You can play along by visiting Lauren!

1. The last thing I ate was Honeycomb cereal for breakfast a few minutes ago.

2. The last time I went to the beach was in April when we went to Atlantic Beach for our anniversary.

3. My last vacation was to Front Royal, VA where we went camping over Labor Day.

4. The last place I drove was to work. =/

5. The last song I listed to was "Streets of Gold" by NEEDTOBREATHE. I'm currently listening to Joy 102.5 WOLC via the Internet so I've got constant music going. =)

6. The last thing I watched on TV was 30 Rock. But it was via Netflix streaming. We don't have cable so anything we watch on TV is either via Netflix or Hulu on my computer hooked up to the TV. (We had Hulu+ but decided it was an unnecessary expense).

7. The last time I said "I love you" was this morning to Collin before I left for work.

What fun blanks about "lasts"! Usually you think of lasts and it can be depressing but these were fun!

I hope you my dear friends enjoy your weekends whatever it is you may do! Go enjoy some fun autumn goodness! And if you haven't, check out the recipe for some cookies I posted yesterday! They would be perfect to make this weekend! =)

Cindy

Fill in the Blank Friday

Happy Friday to you my friends! This has been a REALLY long week for me. It has been my first 5 day work week in 4 weeks! Wow! Every day felt like the one after it for some reason and I would get sorely disappointed when I realized it was only Wednesday and not Thursday as I thought and so forth. =/ BUT... it is Friday now so that is wonderful! And even though I have no idea what we're doing this weekend (except for Sunday) I know it will be great because Collin and I always have fun together!

Now... let's get to some blanks courtesy of Lauren.

1. Something I am very proud of is having a college degree. Sure I may not be working in a field even remotely related to my degree but I have that thing! And it was hard work, too. And I am the first person in basically my entire family to have received a college degree. That was pretty big.

2. My favorite thing about myself is my compassion. Sometimes though it can be hard to be so compassionate.

3. My favorite color for fall is plum! And now mustard, too. I just think those two colors are the epitome of fall!

4. Something I've been learning lately is that a kitten is a lot of work and very exhausting. Oh my goodness I had totally forgotten how hard it is! It's like having a child in a way. You have to constantly watch him, kitten-proof the house, break up fights between the two cats, play with him a lot. Wow! I am exhausted lately because of Seabass. It's a good thing he found his way into my heart really quick or else it wouldn't be worth it. But it so is. I love that little booger.

5. A book I am reading now/have read recently is These High, Green Hills by Jan Karon and it's book 3 in The Mitford Series. I read both book 1 (At Home in Mitford) and 2 (A Light in the Window) last week and this week and now I'm on book 3. I had read this series as a teenager but I wanted to reread it again.

6. My favorite Pandora Station is possibly this one Collin created based on The Real McCoy. It's a whole bunch of 90's pop-style music. So fun! But I don't listen to Pandora very much.

7. This weekend I will watch my cousin march in the St. Mary's County Fair parade with the rest of his classmates, walk around the fair holding hands with my hubby and enjoy all the exhibits and animals, work at our book club's booth spreading the love of God to people, and just whatever else comes up.

So yeah... I think it will be a great weekend! I also entered 5 of my photos into the fair photography category. I doubt I got any ribbons but I just wanted to put myself out there. I hope you, my dear friends, will also have a great weekend! I will see you back here next week!

Cindy

Fill in the Blank Friday

Hi friends! I'm so sorry I have been quiet this week. I had the greatest intentions of posting the rest of my photos from our trip but I haven't had the time to sit down and go through them! I FINALLY got them onto my computer yesterday! And it was really peculiar because every photo copied over twice. Don't know why... Anyone experienced that? So I was in the middle of deleting each of the duplicates and then I had to go to book club! I promise I'll go through them this weekend though and get them up next week in spurts!

Anyway... today is Friday! I'm very glad the weekend is here again. It's been a short week since Monday was a holiday and for that I'm grateful! It's felt like the longest week, ever! Lauren posted some blanks today that are all back to school related! I think by now pretty much everyone has gone back to school whether you go early or late. Sometimes I miss going back to school, but not much. =) Anyway... onto the blanks!

1. My favorite grade in school was probably my senior year. I had a great group of friends, some really awesome classes, and choir was really fun and great that year! We had a blast. Plus, I had a lot of fun on the class steering committee planning for Homecoming and other random senior activities like the banquet and what not.

2. My favorite teacher was Mr. Skinner, my high school physics teacher, because he was so much fun and made learning a really fun experience. We had a blast in his classes (I took Physics 1 junior year and AP Physics senior year) and he was truly interested in his students and was just a very generous and kind man.

3. The highest level of education I have completed is a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music and my concentration was Church Music.

4. School lunches for me were usually homemade until I got to high school. Once I was in high school my mom would write a check to the school when my account was low and I would buy lunch every day. Sometimes I'd get the hot lunch, sometimes I'd get the pizza, and sometimes I'd go the hot ham and cheese with soup or a salad route. It just all depended on how I felt that day.

5. The amount of money you'd have to pay me to go back to high school would be at least enough to pay off my loans from going to college. High school wasn't horrible at the time, I had lots of fun, but looking back it wasn't all that great.

6. A few things that will always remind me of going back to school are: shopping in Staples, the smell of crayons, Lunchables, backpacks.

7. The first day of school was always a day that I looked forward to. I enjoyed summer break but by the end of it I was ready to get back to school and see my friends and learn again!

I hope you have a great weekend, dear friends! Enjoy it and relax a little. =) I get to celebrate my dad's birthday this weekend! We're going to have some good family fun! I love that our family went from a family of 4 to 6 in one year (2010)! And I love that Collin and my brother-in-law Tim get along so well because it makes for fun family get-togethers!

Cindy

Fill in the Blank Friday

Hello, Friday! I am so glad Friday finally came this week. It has been much too long of a week and I've been much too excited for this weekend and its events!

Because it's Friday, I am participating in Fill in the Blank Friday and linking up with Lauren.

1. My favorite thing to do on Friday is have a date night with my hubby. It doesn't really matter what we do just that we do something the two of us together and preferably out of the house.

2. This Friday I am having date night with my hubby! We are going to have dinner at Chick-Fil-A and then go to Target to purchase some things we've been making a list of throughout the week. I love it because this kind of date night brings me back to our first date!

3. The best thing about a weekend is relaxing! That and spending time with friends/family. And of course not having to work. For me anyway... poor hubby works 5 hours every Saturday. =/

4. Now that summer is almost over, I'm feeling excited and super anxious for autumn!

5. The best thing I did this summer was have lots of little fun adventures with Collin.

6. The thing I'm looking forward to about fall is everything! It's my favorite season and I can't wait for all the wonderful goodness.

7. If I had to be stuck in one season for the rest of my life, I would choose autumn. Though I like all the seasons for their own reasons I would choose autumn because of the colors, the smells, the cooler temperatures in the evening yet it can get semi-warm during the day. And all the wonderful things you get to do in autumn!

Happy weekend lovelies! I hope you have a glorious time and I'll see you back here next week!!

Cindy

Fill in the Blank Friday

Today for Fill in the Blank Friday we're celebrating Lauren's birthday weekend so the blanks are all birthday themed! Which is great because I love birthdays! Happy Birthday Lauren!

1. The age I will be on my upcoming birthday is 27! Wow! I feel so old!

2. The best birthday present ever would be a trip to somewhere really neat.

3. My favorite birthday to date was probably my 21st birthday. And no, I didn't get hammered or anything. I barely had anything to drink. But I had asked some ladies to a Mexican restaurant for drinks and appetizers with me and we did that but about thirty minutes after we got there a whole slew of my family and friends showed up courtesy of my mom inviting them and it was just so awesome to be surprised and surrounded by so many people that I loved!

4. Birthdays make me feel excited! I love celebrating life and so birthdays are fun! And I'm not just talking about mine. I love celebrating anyone's birthday!

5. The worst birthday I ever had was probably this past year. Now don't get me wrong, it still had great moments, but my actual birthday itself was kinda blah. I had to work, no one asked me to lunch so I ate alone at home. Collin had to work all day and didn't get off until 7:30. I did get to spend some time in the evening with my parents which was really nice and mom did make a yummy dinner for us once Collin got off work but just in general it was an uneventful and blah day.

6. When I was born it was 3:33pm after 33 hours of labor. I weighed 6 pounds and 11 ounces and I was blue because the umbilical cord was wrapped completely around my neck. It was also 2 days after The Challenger exploded and that is what set my mom into labor with me. Plus, it was in the middle of a snow storm and my parents had to cross a bridge to get to their hospital and they were THE LAST CAR to get over the bridge before they closed it due to unsafe driving conditions.

7. So far my favorite age has been probably 24! That was the year we got married, I fell in love with the Crystal Coast of North Carolina, we went on our first cruise, and I finally lived on my own for the first time (well, with my husband!).

What a fun set of blanks this week! Tell me about your birthdays. What has been your favorite birthday so far? Have you ever gotten a REALLY awesome birthday present? Tell me about it in the comments!

Happy Friday, friends! Enjoy your weekends!!

Cindy

Fill in the Blank Friday

Happy Friday! And yes, it is Fill in the Blank Friday time! I'd missed this so much so I'm really glad it's back to being a regular thing! Play along by visiting Lauren!

1. I am proud of my husband for everything he does for us. He works at a crappy job that he hates and his boss treats him like crap. And he does it all so that we can afford to live in our apartment and pay the rest of the bills. And he has this awesome desire to learn more and is always trying to be a better musician, friend, man, and husband. I love him for that and couldn't be more proud.

2. This weekend I will visit downtown Leonardtown for their First Friday celebration and spend some time with a much missed friend. I will attend my company's picnic tomorrow afternoon and we're going to have fun!

3. A secret dream I have is to sing the National Anthem at a Superbowl.

4. I can't handle the smell of oranges. It makes me gag.

5. The most annoying thing in the entire world is inconsiderate people. Take our upstairs neighbors for example, they're currently playing their music so loud that it's shaking their floor/our ceiling. And I can hear that they're listening to The Jefferson's theme song...

6. The most relaxing thing in the entire world is laying on the couch snuggling with Collin while he rubs/scratches my back.

7. I think everyone should be nice. It would make the world a much better place, don't you agree?

I hope you guys have great weekends! I hope it's full of fun and yet relaxing, too if that's what you need! See you all next week!!

Cindy

Fill in the Blank Friday is Back!

Lauren took a break from Fill in the Blank Friday for a little while but it is back! And I am glad because I enjoy filling out these blanks! Sometimes they're hard because it really makes me think but I always enjoy it! On to today's blanks!

Photo credit to Lauren

1. I am a Christian, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a blogger, a musician, a (mostly) bubbly, happy person!

2. I have always been really into music since I was a baby. I literally think it's a part of my being.

3. I hope to use my love and gift of music to reach the lives of others for God. I know I use my gift now but I want to do so on a much grander scale.

4. I can get a knot out of any piece of jewelry. I have really tiny fingers that can manipulate the chain and I enjoy the challenge of untangling it!

5. I dream of having a long and happy life with my wonderful husband and getting to travel and have lots of adventures.

6. The way to my heart is through sweet words of love/affirmation. And occasionally through little gifts, too. ;)

7. I am passionate about being the same person I am in private that I am in public. The way you see me is the way I am when I'm alone. It doesn't matter if "no one" is watching me, God sees me and that's enough for me. I want to make Him happy and proud!

I hope you guys have a wonderful weekend! Ours shall be lots of fun! We've got the closing night of Vacation Bible School this evening. Then tomorrow we're going to see The Wizard of Oz Summerstock performance! And then on Sunday we're going to a marriage conference called Love Worth Fighting For featuring Kirk Cameron! We're really excited about all our plans this weekend! I hope you are, too!

Cindy

Fill in the Blank Friday

Today is Friday and I'm filling in some blanks! There haven't been too many lately because Lauren had her little girl Fern in January but she posted some today. And they're about color! You can participate with Lauren or see other blogger's blanks by visiting the little things we do.

Image credit to Lauren

1. My favorite color is yellow!
2. My home decor palette includes no real particular colors at the moment. It's so eclectic. But I can guarantee when I redecorate it will be filled with yellows, greys, and blues. And a few pops of bright colors like coral or green.
3. Other people always tell me I look good in the color blue. I think it just fits my complexion well and it brings out my eyes.
4. The color I detest is none? I really don't dislike any color. I love them all!
5. If you were to look in my closet most of the colors you'd see would be blue or neutrals like black and white. I have a lot of blue clothing, but I have a huge variety of other colors, too.
6. A color that I simply can not pull off no matter how hard I try is certain shades of grey. I've discovered that I can wear grey, but only in certain shades. It tends to wash me out and make me look sickly if it's the wrong shade.
7. The color of my favorite dress is yellow. And it has cute ruffles. Oh how I love my little yellow dress!

I love me some color! And bright, fun colors are for sure the best! What are your favorite colors, friends?

I hope you all have wonderful, lovely weekends! Mine shall be busy but fun for sure. And on Sunday we're going up to the D.C. area to spend some time with our friends and hopefully go see the cherry blossoms if it's not raining. And I will for sure be taking my camera and getting lots of pictures! But, if it's raining I know we'll still have a fun time with Justin and Molly because it's been far too long since we've seen their pretty faces!

Enjoy the weekend friends!!

Cindy

Fill in the Blank Friday!

You guys, I haven't done a fill in the blank Friday in a long while!! Crazy! But what a better week to do one than Valentine's week when the theme is all about love! You can participate with Lauren or see other blogger's blanks by visiting the little things we do.

Image credit to Lauren

1. The love of my life is Jesus! And of course Collin, too!

2. Falling in love is not just a one time thing. Sure you fall in love with someone but you continually fall in love with that person. That's what keeps the relationship and the love alive. Deepening your love is such fun (but it can be work, too).

3. Marriage is wonderful! But it's not easy. It takes lots of hard work to make your marriage last. But it's oh so worth because the benefits of marriage far outweigh the work needed.

4. The longest relationship I've ever had was so far 4 years! 2 of dating and almost 2 of marriage so far! Here's to many, many more!

5. The key to a good relationship is communication, honesty and respect.

6. I feel loved when someone goes out of their way to make time for me. Quality time is very important to me.

7. My favorite quote about love is "Do you know that nothing you do in this life will ever matter, unless it is about loving God and loving the people He has made?" by Francis Chan.

I hope you guys have an awesome weekend! I'm so excited for my little romantic in-town getaway with my hubby tonight! See you all on Monday!

Cindy

Fill in the Blank Friday

This week has been exceptionally long for some reason.  I thought Tuesday was really Thursday and I got thoroughly disappointed when I woke up on Wednesday morning and realized it was only Wednesday.  It doesn't help that today is my working Friday.  But it's okay, it is Friday now and next week will be exceptionally awesome because it's almost Christmas!

Last night I was able to decorate a little bit for Christmas.  I put a few decorations up and I got creative with some stuff.  I even made a gift and had a ton of fun with it!  And then of course there was the hanging of our wedding photos that I've been wanting to hang for a while now.  And we've been married for closer to two years than one at this point and I just hung them.  lol  Oh well!  They're up now and that's all that matters.  Tomorrow will be filled with finishing up my shopping (I'm almost done!), wrapping presents, finishing my decorating and baking cookies.  I'm super excited for tomorrow.  I love preparing for Christmas!

Anyway, it's Friday so I'm gonna fill in some blanks.  You can play along by visiting Lauren at the little things we do.

Photo courtesy of Lauren

1. My most favorite "little thing" is snuggling on the couch with Collin.  It doesn't matter if we're being silly or sweet.  I just love to snuggle with him.

2. I'd give anything to go on a nice week-long vacation with just Collin sometime soon.

3. I can't believe how insensitive people can be sometimes.  Especially at the holidays.

4. The one thing I'd like to achieve today is loving Collin in every situation.  Not that I don't love him all the time but I want to show him love in every situation.  The biggest for me being in my frustration/when I'm upset.

5. The last thing I want to do today is be at work.  But mostly just because I have so much stuff I want/need to be doing at home!

6. If I were writing my own blank today, it would say "The one place I want to visit most right now is".

7. My favorite candle scent is Yankee Candle Mango Peach Salsa or Harvest.  Both so good smelling!

I hope you all have wonderful weekends!  I'll see you back here on Monday for some Christmas-themed posts all week!

Cindy

Fill in the Blank Friday

You guys, yesterday was my blog anniversary! I started my little blog one year ago on December 1st! I totally forgot until late last night. =) This has been a great year of blogging. I've so enjoyed meeting lots of people and getting better at photography and sharing lots of joy with you guys this past year! I've had so much fun with my little blog this past year! And I am sure it will continue to be lots of fun. =D

Anyway... I took a break from filling in any blanks during November because of The Gratitude Challenge (you can view those posts by clicking on the button).

But now I'm back to the blanks! Lauren has created them to be about Christmas/winter today! You can play along or see other's posts over at Lauren's blog the little things we do.

Photo courtesy of Lauren

1. The holiday season is so full of excitement and love. It's a time for celebrating the greatest gift of all (Jesus!) and spending time with your family.

2. Snow makes me excited for about 5 minutes. lol I like it at first but if it's put me in a dangerous spot (having to drive in it) or it lasts for more than like a day or so I get really annoyed with it.

3. The best comfort food to eat when it's cold out is soup and chili. Especially delicious cheesy, creamy potato soup!

4. Winter is the best time for finding inside hobbies. It's much too cold during winter (well most of the time anyway) to be outside (I'm such a wimp when it comes to the cold).

5. I can hardly wait for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I just love them both so much!

6. When it comes to holiday gifts I prefer to give them! I love giving presents. Sure I enjoy getting them too, but it's so much better to give them. I love making someone happy and I love for them to feel special.

7. If I were to rate my excitement about the holiday season on a scale from 1-10, I would say I am at about a 9. Definitely! I am super duper excited! I just wish I had my decorations up. It would intensify the excitment and definitely put me over a 10!

This weekend Collin and I are heading up to PA to visit my best friend Tiff and her husband and son! I'm so looking forward to visiting with them for a couple days. I hate living so far away from them. It's only about a 3 hour drive but with life being so busy for both of us we hardly get to see each other and sometimes chatting is hard to come by.

I hope you have a simply fabulous weekend! Enjoy this first December weekend and may it be filled with things to get you excited for Christmas!

Cindy

Fill in the Blank Friday

Well guys, it's Friday. And apparently everyone in the North East is getting snow this weekend? Yeah, that's just weird. Thankfully we're far enough south that our forecast is only rain. But it's gonna be a cold rain, like high of 46 rain! ICK. Oh well, it won't stop me from having a good weekend. If you're in the North East, I'm so sorry. Unless of course you like the snow, then yay! =) Tonight Collin and I are heading up to Baltimore to see my favorite band, David Crowder Band! I am SO super excited. This unfortunately is their last tour because they are going their separate ways once they release their final album in January. But you know, they've been around for 10 years and they most all have wives and kids. I can understand them wanting to focus more on other things in their lives. Anyway, this concert will be awesome because Collin and I have VIP tickets! We get early access to the show AND we have back stage passes to meet them after the show! WOOHOO! Oh man I'm super excited. I've loved David Crowder Band since I first learned of them in 2001 at Impact (which is actually right after they started) and I've bought all their actual albums (I don't have the EPs but I wouldn't be adverse to owning them) and I've seen them in concert I do believe 5 or 6 times (including tonight). So anyway... it will be great!

Okay, well, since it's Friday I'm gonna fill in some blanks with Lauren. You can view other's blanks or play along yourself by visiting the little things we do.

All Friday Blank images are via Lauren.  They were not taken by me.

1. When I was a kid I wanted to be either a veterinarian or a teacher when I grew up.

2. As an adult my dream job would be a homemaker/mom who teaches piano and leads worship on Sunday mornings.

3. When I was younger I wanted to be just like my mom.

4. The childhood Halloween costume that I remember most was when I was a present. My mom cut holes for our heads and hands and cut the bottom completely out of a box and then wrapped it in wrapping paper she had around the house and added balloons and streamers. It was the best costume, ever. Check out the picture of my sister and I below.

5. My favorite childhood toy was Barbies for sure. I played with them all the time and had a HUGE collection. Plus I think I was playing with them well until I was like 14 or something. But I liked so many other toys, too. Lite Bright, Legos, My Little Pony, Littlest Pet Shop, Polly Pocket. Things like that.

6. The time I got into the biggest amount of trouble when I was a kid was possibly when I jumped on the neighbor's trampoline? I dunno... I was a really good kid and didn't get into trouble much.

7. I get daily inspiration from my KLOVE Bible verses, Real Simple's Daily Thoughts, Pinterest, and other bloggers.

That was fun answering some questions about being a kid. What were you like as a kid? Did you get in trouble much or were you a goody two shoes like me? What did you want to be when you grew up and are you currently doing that or did your life's ambitions change as you grew? I love learning about people when they were younger, so leave me some comments, or send me an e-mail telling me about your childhood!

I hope you all have wonderful weekends whether it's cold and snowy or warm and sunny!

Cindy

Fill in the Blank Friday

Happy Friday everyone! I am thoroughly enjoying my music today. I always keep my iPod on shuffle and I kept skipping bunches of songs. I suppose if I keep skipping them I should take them off my iPod, but I leave them on because it's stuff I do like I just don't feel like always listening to. Anyway... I decided to create a playlist that I could "shuffle" with all the songs I like to listen to all the time so I never have to skip another song and so far it's been great! I have no idea why I just shared that, I just felt really happy about my music!

So... I'm gonna fill in some blanks now! And they are autumn themed blanks this week! You can play yourself or look at some other blanks by visiting Lauren at the little things we do. I'm sure she'd love your visit!

All Friday blank images belong to Lauren.

1. Nothing says fall like the smell of crisp air and Yankee Candle's Harvest candle. And for none scent stuff, pumpkins and leaves on the ground!

2. My favorite autumnal tradition is one that Collin and I have only been doing recently... going to the corn maze! Other than that I don't really have any "traditions".

3. My favorite fall treat is pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Speaking of which... I need to make those again REAL soon.

4. Fall makes me think of bursts of life because it seems like in fall everything starts up again (school, church programs, sports, clubs, etc.) after the summer break and there's lots of activities going on and it feels like the world is ALIVE. I love it.

5. Autumn free form word association, go! pumpkin, apple, cool weather, boots, tights, COLORS.

6. My go-to outfit in the fall is a dress/skirt with tights, a cardigan and flats (only cause I don't own a pair of dress worthy boots).

7. My favorite fall holiday is (Halloween or Thanksgiving) definitely Thanksgiving. I love the time with family and the food. And I love having a day that's full of thanks for all the blessings in our lives. Granted, I am thankful everyday but I love that there's a holiday dedicated to being thankful! And I really enjoy watching the Macy's Day parade, or at least parts of it.

Man, I love autumn. I don't know that I can express that enough. Next week I'm gonna have some more pretty autumn pictures up here! I hope you all have glorious weekends!

Cindy

Fill in the Blank Friday

It's Friday today and I'm very excited about that since it's my day off but I don't feel very excited right now. =/ I have a mountain of laundry to tackle (literally a mountain!!) and a bunch of other chores/errands to get done but I just don't feel well. I didn't sleep very well last night partially because I didn't feel well (stomach ache) and then Collin got up early for work so that interrupted my sleep. But when I got out of bed this morning (much later than I planned/wanted) I just felt icky. I'm weak, kinda dizzy and just overall feeling bleck. All I want to do is sit here on the couch and do nothing. But I have so much I want/need to get done today. Oh well. I think I can at least start my laundry if nothing else.

Anyway, before I tackle my laundry (and hopefully feel well enough to do the other things) I'm gonna fill in some blanks! You can play along by visiting Lauren at the little things we do.

1. The most selfless thing I've ever done was serve with the ASP team this summer. I could feel God nudging me to go in years past but I was too scared. And I am SO glad I went and was able to serve this past summer.

2. When it comes to working out I need to just suck it up and do it. I always feel good after I'm done but I HATE doing it. It takes every ounce of will power in me to actually exercise. And most of the time my will power isn't strong enough. I'm working on changing that though.

3. A woman should always remember that she is beautiful.

4. I wish I could French braid my hair and then I would always have nice little braids and/or wavy (more so than my natural wave) hair.

5. A best friend is someone who loves you for you regardless of all your quirks or bad choices and they help you to become a better person.

6. I can't get enough of the fall colors. It's just so absolutely beautiful, I love it!

7. This weekend I am going to a farewell dinner for our friend Jim. =( *tear* I really am gonna miss him!

Anyway, what are your weekend plans? Do you have anything fun going on? This weekend is Messiah's Homecoming and I wish I could be there but it just didn't fit into our schedule this fall. =(

Cindy

Fill in the Blank Friday

I am so glad it's Friday. I am so tired this week. I think it might have something to do with not sleeping too terribly well over the weekend. But I am definitely looking forward to maybe a nap this afternoon. No sleeping in for me this weekend though. Tomorrow morning we're getting up early to go to the Grand Opening celebration for the new Dick's Sporting Goods they opened here. Today, tomorrow, and Sunday they are giving away things to the first 100 visitors to the store and tomorrow is the only day we can actually attempt to be in the first 100. Sunday would be nice because they are giving away mystery amount gift cards to the store but they don't open until 9am and we have to be at church at 9 to prepare for the worship service. Oh well. Anyway... tomorrow afternoon I get to got to a Stampin' Up workshop and make a few cards (so fun!) and then Sunday after church we're going to the Calvert Marine Museum because they have free admisison and then we're having dinner at my parent's house with our friend Jim. Should be quite a fun weekend!

Because it's Friday I'm filling in some blanks with Lauren at the little things we do. To see her blanks and view other's go here.

1. Something popular that I can't stand/just don't "get" is abbreviated text speech. It's not that hard to use full words and proper grammar.

2. Something unpopular that I secretly love is being the designated driver. Most people (around my age anyway) think I'm strange but quite frankly, I just don't enjoy alcoholic beverages.

3. When I've had a bad day I vent to Collin and usually just need him to hold me and make me feel special.

4. I'd prefer chocolate to other candy any day.

5. Something that makes me nervous is playing a solo piano piece in front of an audience. And the size of the audience doesn't matter. It could be 2 people, I still get nervous.

6. Something worth fighting for is marriage. It may take a lot of work but it is 100% worth it.

7. When people think of me, I hope they think "what a fun but sweet lady. She definitely has a passion for Jesus".

So there you go! Some random tidbits about me. What are you up to this weekend? Any fun and exciting plans?

Cindy

Fill in the Blank Friday

Ohh it's Friday! Today is a dreary, rainy Friday, but it doesn't make it any less exciting! I'm filling in the blanks and if you'd like to play along or see other's blanks you can visit Lauren at the little things we do.

1. The best thing I did all week was go to a Stampin' Up workshop evening and make some awesome things!

2. Having fresh flowers in the house makes me super happy.

3. Pets are fun and a great stress reliever (most of the time).

4. My sweet husband is the best thing about my life.

5. With the cooler weather I am looking forward to bonfires, cool weather clothing, cooking soups and chili.

6. Something that's on my "wish list" right now is a pair of boots that I can wear with skirts/dresses and over jeans.

7. This weekend I am going to the fair on Sunday after church with Collin! And my dad is working on my car tomorrow so I'll be spending some time with him.

What do you have planned for this weekend? Are you having a dreay, rainy Friday, too? This weekend should be nice. Not too terribly busy and I love going to the fair. Plus, I entered three photographs this year! I don't know that I won anything (I'll find out when I go) but that's not why I entered. I just wanted to put myself out there since I just this past year really got into photography for real.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you back here next week!

Cindy