Favorite Things Friday

I'm also guest posting over at I Believe in Story and I lurve Maria's blog!  I talk about the great holiday known as Valentine's Day and how to celebrate it, regardless of your relationship status.  Go check it out right this minute and then check out my Favorite Things for this Friday.

So I totes have a crush on Maria's blog.  It's fabulous =]

Holy guacamole, it's Friday! I have had the busiest week ever and I had a hard time grasping that today marked the start of a weekend.  Yeah, it was that bad/busy/exhausting/invigorating of a week.
Monday was the mark of Block 10's written test in which I scored a 100.  Thank Jesus, Mary and Joseph.  I worked insanely hard for that and I would like to thank all of the people who continually motivated me and offered support and encouragement.  This has been one of the most challenging academic programs that I have ever been a part of and I am so glad that this has all worked out.  However, everything that goes up must come down.  Our evaluation ride didn't go quite as well as we planned.  Isn't it amazing how one little thing can completely turn a series of events?  That is just a tidbit of the mark that brought us down.  However, ya live and ya learn and then move on.  We are now in the middle of certification briefs.  I will soon be graduating and then moving to Montana!

It's been an exciting time because we finally have our house and a new address, our property managers are setting up our deposits to be given back to us, TMO (military movers) has been all set, and I just need to get my car squared away for shipping and then it's time to graduate.  WAHOOOO =]

So here are some of my favorite things from this past week:

 

Ryan and I bought as many episodes off of Amazon Instant Video as we could.  We are addicted! It is so incredibly good and the character development is off the charts.  All I have to say after season 2 is that shit cray.  I also am madly in love with Richard and I can't help but love Jimmy, too.

Ohmylanta, Richard adding pictures to his scrapbook kept breaking my heart.  His character is my all time favorite and although I haven't seen the third season, I hope he wipes out Gillian aka Jimmy's sick and twisted mom.

In my real life, the wonderful Lauran from The Real Young Housewife of Southern Virginia, sent me this totally adorable gift set for being a guest blogger.  Did I squeal with delight?  You betcha!  How did she know that I loved Essie nail polish and that I didn't have this color yet?  Blogger telepathy, that's how.  She also included an EOS hand lotion which I have been dying to try because so many beauty vloggers have raved about it.  Guess what?  It is just as fabulous as it sounds!  The smell, oh my the smell is orgasmic.  Did I awkwardly keep smelling my hands after I put on said hand lotion, of course.  That is the whole point of smelly hand lotions.

Essie nail polish for the win!

I've also been lovin' every single post on my Google Reader from Thought Catalog.  Look it up, subscribe to it and love it with me.  The posts range from factual and informative to downright hilarious.  They are a collection of various writers and bloggers and the topics are from the serious to the absurd.  It reminds me of my college days at Madison and if you're looking for a bit of a different blogging experience, I highly recommend it.  This stuff is great writing.

 

A Royal Daughter is creating a year long prayer community called #PrayerDare and this month is focusing on praying for your husband or significant other.  The program offers these inspirational prayer cards as a free download and for 28 days, I plan on participating on wonderful thoughts of my spouse.  I know being a young married couple can be challenging for many couples out there and we are no different.  It's nice to take time out of your day to pray that your spouse is uplifted and just wish the best for them in your life together.  It's a community that equips people with the resources to pray together, encourage one another and hold each other accountable, kind of like making goals.

In January, I had the opportunity to take two classes with The Influence Network, an online Christian women's community that happens to feature a ton of bloggers.  I really enjoyed my experience learning about how to creatively fund an adoption and met a lot of great women.  So I am taking another class, taught by Hayley Morgan on how to publish an eBook.

So who knows, maybe I'll get my publishing on.  I've always wanted to write a book, but have struggled putting it all together.  Have any of you tried writing a book, or better yet, published one?  I would love to read it!  Luckily for me, I came across this deal:

I got a great offer on Living Social for a Novel Writing Workshop off of Udemy.  The courses are worth anywhere from $150-$300 and college writing workshops are sometimes $800+.  I got mine for a cool $39.  I love discounts =]

I have always wanted to write a book and I think this will be a great opportunity to sit down and start compiling a great idea together.  It may not end up as a best seller but it will be me accomplishing one of my goals.

We also got an e-mail containing these adorable pictures:

 

I think Ryan is going to name our little guy, "Blue" or "Bloo" or "Bleu"...however you spell it.  The name has been sticking and I just can't wait to have our little guy around the house.  Montana is calling my name.  I wonder how Holly will react to having a smaller puppy around the house.  I'm hoping that she'll think it's her baby, but who knows.  She might end up freakishly jealous.  

I also received an awesome book in the mail in preparation for an upcoming book club assignment, The Paris Wife.  I'm hoping that these book clubs will keep me accountable to these great reads because I keep finding more and more books that I just want to dive right into.  This one is about Hadley Richardson, who meets Ernest Hemingway and they end up falling madly in love.  I feel like this goes totally to theme with watching, "Boardwalk Empire."  Not gonna lie, I am totally obsessed with historical love stories, the gritty realistic kind of love, as of lately.  Yep, I'm in a weird phase :P

 

Speaking of books and receiving things in the mail, it's the week that books are being sent out and readers are linking up for the Blogger Book Swap.   I am so excited for Christine to receive the package I sent out to her and I'm hoping that she loves it.  We've been e-mailing back and forth and to help me out, I asked her to send me a list of ten books that she would love to receive.  I chose one and after reading the reviews on it, I may need to get a copy for myself, so as Christine suggested, we can read and compare together.  She's an awesome blogger and I love her tweets, go check out her blog at A Day in the Life.  She has a 50% off her ads deal going on right now!

I'm also doing a Valentine's Day swap with AJ from The Fashionable, Fit Traveler and she is the sweetest! I have so enjoyed e-mailing with her.  As challenging as it is to find cute, affordable gifts for people that you've just met, I really like the experience of meeting other bloggers through swaps.  I made her a care package that hopefully fits a Valentine's Day theme and traveling/fashion theme.  Hopefully she likes it! 

Now it's time to wrap it up with my Etsy obsessions.  I have been spending a sinful amount of time scoping out the shops on Etsy, but it's just too much fun.

Etsy shop: Alter Designs

 Thinking I should get a Wisconsin, California, Montana necklace.

Etsy shop: The Gnarly Whale

The Gnarly Whale has some delicious scents and I really want to try their detangler, surf waves, and lip balm.

Etsy shop: Eliza Jay Charm

Who doesn't love monograms and let's face it, I need more of them in my life.

Etsy Shop: Poppy Hill

 I need this sign for my Montana abode.

Etsy store: Tiny Baby Shop

 I love babies and miniatures and anything that remotely reminds me of my childhood.  My grandma was a doll maker and even though at the time I was terrified of her doll room, it's still a pretty cool talent.

Thanks for reading!