Plan B

So many times in my life I have had a "plan" for my life, and for whatever reason it didn't quite turn out the way I had planned. Which made it time for PLAN B. 

 Take for example the picture I had of my life ever since I was a little girl.... I was going to grow up, go to a great college, and the summer after college I was going to marry the man of my dreams in a wedding that was fit for Bride's magazine. Two years later, three max, I was going to quit my job to start a family with this amazing man in our little suburban home. Life would be glorious! 

 Well my life didn't exactly go as planned. I have been out of college for four years with a career as a kindergarten teacher, bought my own home, and am graduating with my masters in May. Not a bad life by any means but it still wasn't my "plan A." I thought in my perfect world I would be doing all of that with "the one." As I'm sitting here ready to go to another bridal shower that is not my own it's easy to think I am living PLAN B. 

 But here is my AMAZING reality: With God there is NO PLAN B! In Psalms 139:16 it says "Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I'd even lived one day."

 I have chosen to allow God to write the story of my life and of this season. Even when the enemy tries to attack and tell me that I will never have the "fairy tail" I know that I am exactly where I need to be. Where I am in life, where you are in life, is no surprise to God it is His exact and perfect plan for you and me. In the Word it says His thoughts for us out number the grains of sand.

 I once heard an amazing speaker say " God has plucked you out of eternity for this time in history where you can best glorify and serve Him." That, to me, sounds like we have an incredibly strategic God. A God with a plan that will not be thwarted. A god who doesn't work on plan Bs only on strategic and purposed plan As. 

 If you relate at all to this post, and I hope you don't mind how raw and honest this post was, I encourage you to read Psalms 139 in The Message Bible. It is a beautiful picture and reminder of Gods faithfulness to you. It speaks directly about his infatuation with YOU, not your best friend, not that girl that has the "perfect" life, but you. He is CRAZY about you!

High Five for Friday

WOO HOO! It is Friday!

I told you in my Sunday Seven that this past weekend was filled with awesome-ness and I waited 

until today to tell you. These are my five highlights from the past week...

1) On Friday night I had an 80's themed party. Tons of fun and BIG CrAzY hair!

 

2) The party continued on Saturday night when we went to a local restaurant to hear one of my best friends sing. I know the video isn't the best quality with everyone talking, but you can still hear how phenomenal she sounds!

3) It is spring break for WVU so that meant I had a weeks break from
all my graduate assignments!

4) I finally started my gardening this week by planting a Weeping Cherry Tree in my yard. I can't wait to get my flower beds in when I have a week off of work after Easter.

5) I bought these FABULOUS platform wedges Saturday that will most definitely 

be the topic of a post soon!

I hope you all had an amazing week too!

Bathroom Organization

   I have a bathroom that was clearly built by a man. I have NO drawers and minimal space to store all the things most girls keep in the bathroom. As you can see it isn't horrible, but it's not exactly neat and organized either. Everything is just thrown in a tub or basket.

Finding things obviously required some digging. Well, I got tiered of it and decided to invest in some organization. I found these drawers that screw into the bottom of the cabinets for $19.99 at Bed Bath & Beyond, but I used a $5 coupon on each of them and was able to reorganize my bathroom storage for a grand total of $30! It is so worth it to have everything neat and orderly.

Sunday Seven

I hope you all have enjoyed your week as much as I have. I cannot wait to share with you some

 of the fun stuff I have done this weekend....but more on that Friday

Here are my top seven pins this week

pinned HERE

My mom pinned this for me and I haven't tried it but it sounds easy.

Take two invisible elastic bands and separate the hair into two ponytails, one above the other, in the back of your head. Once the ponytails are secured, take sections of each ponytail and, starting at the ends, roll them toward the head, pinning them in place with bobby pins. Roll the top ponytail first, then the bottom, leaving pieces closest to the middle for last.

pinned HERE

I love anything I can cook in my crock pot!

pinned HERE

Looks yummy!

pinned HERE

Tis the season for home improvements, and what a great idea for easy cleanup.

pinned HERE

What a sweet idea

pinned HERE

This is so funny to me. Hope it made you laugh like it did me.

pinned HERE

What a great idea.

Organizing Your Jewelry

This post is inspired by one of my very best friends, Kasey.

We both have a ton of great jewelry, but haven't found a great way to organize it.

I keep my jewelry in two jewelry boxes, but there is nothing organized about it! My necklaces get tangled, the drawers topple over all the time scattering earrings everywhere....it's a disaster.

To make it worse, these jewelry boxes are inconveniently located in my closet with clothes hanging down in front of them making it very difficult to see what is in them.

Most of the time I am rushing out the door as I put my jewelry on. Instead of picking out jewelry that would accessorize and compliment my outfit I just through on "the usual" because it is on my dresser and walk (rather run) out the door.

I racked my brain and here is what I cam up with. It will only take 3 dollars and an empty drawer.

::I like cheap!::

I went to Wal-Mart and purchased one of the organization boxes, slid it in my drawer and put all my favorite jewelry in there. It is wonderful and I actually wear more of my jewelry now. It doesn't have all my jewelry in it but it has the pieces that I  like the most.

Down Under

Exactly one year ago today I landed in the land down under, Australia, for what was the most INCREDIBLE vacation I have ever experienced. I can't help but think back on those incredible ten days and marvel at what God allowed me to experience. He is so good!

So the plane ride was well, LONG. The first five hour flight from DC to Cali was was nothing compared to the 14 hour flight from Cali to Sydney.

But it was well worth it when we arrived, at 6 am, to what I am convinced could quit possibly be the most beautiful city on the planet.

And...I got my first stamp in my Passport

::Good thing you cannot see the picture in my Passport...YIKES::

We spent our first morning there in the beautiful Darling Harbor and ate breakfast gazing at these sights....

Not too bad huh?

My main reason for going to Sydney was to attend the women's Colour Conference at the world renowned Hillsong Church.

It was such a blessing to be able to attend this conference with my momma.

It is a memory I will NEVER forget!

God continued to blow my socks off when we got to sit in the fourth row! 

::This is a conference of 3,000-4,000 women!!::

After the conference we got to go sightseeing. We went to the Blue Mountains...

...all sorts of different beaches, including the famous Bondi beach, 

 ...and even to this amazing lookout point where we watched the sun set on Sydney.

::Breath Taking::

While I was there I also got to attend some classes at Hillsong Leadership College, talk about favor, and I meant some incredible girls.These girls are for sure world changers!!!

This vacation truly was life changing for me and an opportunity that God, and my amazingly generous parents, blessed me tremendously with.

Sunday Seven

Pinned here

Buffalo Chicken Garbage Bread

This looks incredible to me

pinned here

So pretty and cheap to make

::I love cheap::

pinned here

Put vinegar in a dishwasher safe container on the top 

rack of your dishwasher, run it on the hot cycle and watch it release the gunk 

from in you dishwasher!

pinned here

How to pack for 10 days of clothes in carry-on.

With summer vacations coming up, this post and the next

are perfect.

pinned here

pinned here

How to clean microfiber furniture

pinned here

PREC