Happy Halloween!

In the five plus years my husband and I have been together,
we have never carved pumpkins together.
I have never carved pumpkins to sit outside of my own home.
It has always been a tradition to do it at my parents house.

This year, I wanted to make it our own tradition.
So out came the knives.
Ryan said "I don't like the way you hold a knife. It's too knowing... like you've used one to kill someone before".
Evidently I'm a pro knife holder...

It was so much fun to just sit down with my man
and work on something together.
Real quality time.
My husband is the cat's meow.
The witches cackle.
He's awesome. And I love him.

Hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween!

All My Love,

Lyndsay

Just Say No!

I need to remember this more.

I get so wrapped up in everything I need to do and places I need to be.

Between work, work events, volunteering and now college - I am busy!

Somewhere in there I have to make time for my husband (when he's home)

and my family and friends.

I was looking at my schedule today and I have so many things coming up.

I always stress myself out about it all.

But today it dawned on me that stressing myself out about things isn't making my life any less busy.

I have a hard time saying no to things.

I try to fit everything in that I possibly can.

My mom would say that's my father in me.

I need to slow down and prioritize.

I want to spend more time at home, snuggling with my husband.

Rearranging my furniture.

Spending quality time with my sweat pants.

Doing the crafts and organizing the things that I have been putting off.

I need to learn how to say no and not feel bad about it!

 What I'm going to start with is sticking with the commitments I've already made and then TRY to pick and choose the things that work around what I already have to do (like work, school, and volunteering at the hospital),
things that wont take up every free part of my schedule.

I am going to try to say no.

Any tips would be much appreciated! Do you ever struggle with trying to be super woman and doing it all?

All My Love,

Lyndsay

Awesome Jewelry Finds

Kohls Find

More Kohl's finds

Cookie Lee Brand off of EBay



Local Yard/Estate Sale Finds

I love jewelry.
Probably a little too much.
I always hit the clearance section in Kohl's every time I go.
And find good deals other places too.
It could also be considered another one of my obsessions.

I've been into bronze and gold jewelry lately.
It feels very 'Fall' to me and I love it.

Whats your go-to jewelry this season?
Where do you find the best deals?

All My Love,

Lyndsay

A Quarter of a Century

Old.

That's what I used to think of this pretty little number.

But now that I've reached this number, I no longer think that.
25.

Twenty Five.

I am twenty-five years young today.

My insurance is going to go down.

I can rent a car without paying that pesky underage fee.

See what all I had to look forward to?!

OK, so maybe that sounded like something an old person would say.

But I'm telling ya, 25 feels fantastic.

Even though birthdays are mostly about presents and wishes and cake, I like to reflect on everything I have learned from birthday to birthday.

To reflect on how truly blessed I am for this life the Lord has given me.

I plan to make the most of every day, every week, every year.

Don't get me wrong - I still love getting presents.

And being the center of attention while people sing to me!

I mean c'mon, who doesn't?

Everyone deserves at least one day every year to celebrate their awesomeness! When do you celebrate your awesomeness?

All My Love,

Lyndsay

AKA The Birthday Girl :)

My Own Worst Critic


I had a mini freakout moment yesterday.

This week is preview week for my online college class. I was all excited and logged on eager to see what I would be learning about. I opened the syllabus and froze. There is so much to do! A bazillion projects and journal entries and on and on.

I panicked.
I haven't been in school for over 6 years.
What made me think I could do this?
I'm going to fail.

I hollered for my husband and he came into my office. I must have had the panic written all over my face because he immediately asked me what was wrong. When I got done explaining everything, he looked at me and said
"You can do this, I believe in you. You are smart and you will do great. You are way too hard on yourself"

This got me thinking.
Why am I so hard on myself?
Why is it that the minute I think something will be hard I immediately convince myself I can't do it?
I've never really failed at anything to make my brain think these things.
But for some reason I lack confidence in myself.
So I prayed for the Lord to help me.

And you know what I have found out?
I am even more determined to do well in this class.
And every other class I'll be taking.
The lack of confidence that I saw as such a bad thing has actually driven me more to succeed.
I am ready for this.
I want to learn and succeed.

I'm taking a step towards a more confident Lyndsay. And do you want to know something else? I downloaded my book and the first chapter is about personal growth and change. Coincidence? I think not.

All My Love,

Lyndsay

Will Read For Fun

My husband can't understand how I can sit down and read a book for hours. I can tune everything out and go into my own little world. He doesn't understand how this is fun for me, but it is. It's the perfect way to unwind after a long day. Draw me a bath, light me some candles, hand me a book and I'm a happy girl.

Here's my list of must-reads for fall and winter. These have been on my bookshelf for weeks now and I have yet to read them. I buy more books than I can keep up with! My goal is to get these six read before I buy anymore:

• The Ragamuffin Gospel: Manning
• The Wedding: Nicholas Sparks
• True Believer: Nicholas Sparks
• Not a Fan: Kyle Idleman
• Heaven is For Real: Todd Burpo
• Bethenny Frankel: A Place of Yes

I figure that's as good a place to start as any. Have you read any of these?

I'm really looking forward to the Nicholas Sparks books, I love all of the books I've read of his so far. We are doing a study at church right now on the Not a Fan book, I'm about a chapter in and I am getting so much from it already. I like anything from Bethenny Frankel so I had to buy her book. My mother in law loaned me Heaven is For Real, I have heard its very good.

What will you be cozy-ing up to and reading this winter? Any suggestions? Let me know! :)

All My Love,

Lyndsay

Nailed it!

    

I love to get my nails done. Obviously. But I'm not a whole painted, crazy design on each nail kind of girl. Don't get me wrong, I like those styles but I like having just my tips done more. That way, when I'm too busy to go get them filled - you cant tell as quick. Genius, right?!

I don't know what it is about having my nails done that makes me feel better about myself. But I do. Kind of like having my eyebrows done, but sometimes I let those suckers go wild. Oops. Theres so much I have going on, its hard to keep up sometimes. Do you ever feel like that?

Anywho, I actually made time to go and get my nails done after the event I have to attend after I get off of work and I can't wait, I need some me time. I usually do my nails myself but those pics up there are some of the styles I've had done by a salon. I havent decided what I'll have them do this time. I'll be sure to instagram it. :)

All My Love,

Lyndsay

Friday Chaos!

It's that time again! Another week of the Friday Social Networking hop called the FRIDAY CHAOS! We are on week 8! This is my first week ever being a co-host!!

Last week we had over 150 link ups! Each week it is growing!
Lets see if we can grow the hop this week.

**If you would like us to follow you back
please leave a comment & we will do so!**

This week there are 6 co-hosters! Be sure to check us all out,
follow via GFC and leave a comment! 

This is a link up for bloggers who want to increase traffic
to their blogs and meet new friends!

1. Follow both hosts (The first two links below) via GFC,
Facebook & Twitter and any other one's you fancy.

2. Follow all of the co-hosts(the next 6 links) 

3. Grab the button and put it on your blog somewhere to be seen.

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.ohsoamelia.com" title="ohsoamelia"><img src="http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj578/BericeBaby/Untitled7.jpg" alt="Ohsoamelia" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

4. Don't just add your blog hoping to get followers,
join in on the fun and visit a few blogs.

5. Tweet about this hop

Tweet


 If you would like to co-host one of the weeks let us know.

Okay, Lets get this chaos started! :)

BLOG








TWITTER








FACEBOOK








YOUTUBE








PINTEREST








INSTAGRAM

Thank You!

 

When I first started my blog it was basically just a diary.
I would log in every month or so and do an update.
Along the way I discovered a passion to share my life and ideas with others.
To share the special things in my life and the things I love.
And people responded. They liked my ideas.
The more friends I make on here and the bloggers I follow,
it really feels like a community.
Like a family.

So I just want to take a minute to say thank you.
Thank you to my followers and to those who read every post I write.
Thank you to those who encourage me. To those who inspire me.

I cant wait to see what else this blog will inspire me to do.
Maybe more outfit posts.
Maybe more reviews.
I feel like I have finally found my voice.
I'm an open book.
And I cant wait to share it with all of you. :)

All My Love,

Lyndsay

 

 

P.S. I am one of the co-hosts for the Friday Chaos blog hop. It is so much fun and I have met some of the nicest ladies through it. I encourage you to join in on the fun! :)

Fall Nails!

 Essie: Little Brown Dress
Finger Paints: Key To My Art

I change my nails alot, so I probably won't have this fall look for long but this was super quick and easy. Essie is such a quality polish and one coat would have done the job, but I wanted it darker so I did two coats. I then painted my accent finger. I love that gold color, it always pops over a darker color. That only took one coat. When the polish all dried, I went over everything with OPI top coat. See? Quick and easy! :)

I'll be sure to post my next fall nail style, until then... I'd love to see some of your styles too!

All My Love,

Lyndsay

Lazy Monday

One of my favorite things about working for a bank is all of the holidays we get off. I was crazy busy the whole weekend so today I am just being lazy and relaxing. I'm hanging out with my parents and spending some quality time with my sister's kitty Bella (aka my kitty niece). And just like her aunt, my kitty niece loves to blog and tweet!

This weekend I had the Heart walk, a chili cook off, the apple butter stir off and the October Fest on Saturday. Then on Sunday my dad preached at church and then we had lunch with some good friends. I love fall and all the fun things it brings to do. I don't think I'm happier in any other season than I am in Fall. :)

Hope every one had a wonderful weekend and a lazy Monday!

All My Love,

Lyndsay

Greetings, Organizers!

I have a mild obsession with buying greeting cards. Of all sorts. I buy them at the dollar store, at yard sales...anywhere. I even have my mom contributing to my obsession. I love mailing cards to people, theres nothing like opening the mailbox and not seeing a bill, ya know!?

I used to keep them all in a box and would have to dig through them to find what I wanted. Then I became obsessed with Thirty-One and had all these cute storage bags and totes laying around and it struck me - I could file them by occasion adorably! So I found some heavier duty scrapbook paper to make dividers, cut to the size I wanted and voila!

This Thirty One bag is the All-In-One Organizer priced at $20 and they have it in five prints right now that are all cute. Unfortunately the two I have are retired prints. My other one is the same kind of dots, but in different colors. Anyway, there are so many ways you could use this bag. Love it!

All My Love,

Lyndsay

Before They Were Parents

That's a picture from the newspaper of my dad back in his high school days. Do you ever stop and think how cool it would be to have known your parents back when they were young? I always wonder what my parents were like when they were care free with no kids, no mortgage and no careers getting in the way of their fun. My parents are a ton of fun to hang out with now and we have a great relationship... I just think it would be cool to go back in time and meet the young them. I love to look at their year books and see the things their friends wrote and I love looking at old pictures and notes. I'm proud to be the daughter of some pretty awesome parents and I can only hope that when I have kids that they think I'm just as awesome.

All My Love,

Lyndsay