Hiatus

As you've probably noticed, I've been absent from the blog world for the past week or two. Life is so busy. I have been working SO much, trying to study in my "free time", trying to speak to my husband in the moments in-between, and trying to sleep so I don't kill someone.

Anyways, I have spent the last few weeks trying to re-focus on what really matters. I will not let blogging become a burden, so I decided to step away for a few weeks until life calms down. I hope to be back shortly! In the mean time I will be celebrating my niece's birthday this weekend (!!!), studying, and trying to keep my head above water. See y'all soon!

Crockpot chicken noodle soup

One of my favorite things about Fall is crockpot soups/chilis. Every Sunday we throw something in the crockpot before church then have a delicious, easy dinner while watching football. The best! This chicken noodle soup is SO easy and so yummy. What you need:

-1 rotisserie chicken

-8 oz egg noodles

-1 can cream of chicken soup

-Carrots

-Celery

-Frozen peas

-1 can corn

-Medium onion

-2-3 quarts chicken broth

-1 tsp thyme

Cut onion, carrots, celery. In crock pot, combine chicken broth, cream of chicken, veggies, and thyme. Cook on low 5-6 hours. Add in noodles and chicken. Cook on high ~1 hour.

Linking up with Jenn and Jessi

Weekending: Raleigh!

This weekend G and I traveled 2 hours east to Raleigh, NC to visit my sister-in-law. Raleigh has so many fun things to do and yummy places to eat compared to our hometown so we make the trip frequently. Friday we headed straight to Poole's Diner for dinner. Thanks to my girl Meghan for the recommendation!! We had never been and it was out of this world delicious!

We all 3 got something different and we were all pleased. The fried okra and mac-and-cheese were to.die.for. To top it off we stopped for ice cream on the way home #foodcoma. I was in bed by 9:30 thanks to this awful cold I'm fighting.

Saturday I spent the morning on the couch with Starbs and GMA… my kind of heaven. Then I met my girl Meghan @ Champagne and Suburbs for lunch at Side Street cafe! We had the best blate [blogger date]. I could have sat and talked alllll day long, it was so great to catch up in person!

Saturday afternoon we went to the mall and I spent way too much money at Bobbi Brown [imagine that]. I got this gel eyeliner, this eyeliner brush, this lip gloss in "nude", and this eyeshadow in "velvet plum". Then we had delicious pizza at Brixx and went to see "The Intern" with Anne Hathaway. It was SO good! All you working mommas out there, this movie is for you!

Sunday we had breakfast at the farmers market. The best southern, country cookin' breakfast ever!! Then I swooned over their fresh bouquets for far too long. Hubs has the patience of a saint. After staring for 30 minutes, I chose 2 that I couldn't live without: one for us and one for my momma. Because who doesn't love being surprised with a gorgeous bouquet of fall flowers?? Then we made the 2 hour trek back home. One bouquet in my lap and one in my husbands. Have I mentioned how much I love that man?

Linking up with Meghan and Biana

FoF: Twine & Twig and a mani!

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Hubs and I are in a couples bible study called "A Grace Filled Marriage". Each week we go through a chapter of Tim Kimmel's book and dissect it piece by piece. It has been such a rewarding thing for us; to learn more about what grace means, how to forgive our spouses, and the unrealistic expectations we place on them. "Grace is giving your spouse something they deeply need but don't necessarily deserve." This quote really stuck out to me because I've been in PA school for our entire 2 years of marriage and more days than not I am grumpy, stressed, and not an extremely pleasant person to be around. Throughout it all, my husband shows me grace, cooks my meals, cleans the house, listens to me complain, etc. etc. and I promise I am not deserving of it. Gosh I love him.

[purchase here]

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I treated myself to a much needed mani yesterday. Don't know the exact color name because it's shellac but it's a dark navy and I'm loving it!! I adore Fall/Winter nail polish!

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I have been dreaming about Twine & Twig necklaces for well, forever. Well my sweet sweet daddy spoils me and gave me one last week. Y'all, I'm obsessed. I have a hard time taking it off! Side note: my dog is slightly obsessed with it too. Her favorite bones are antlers so when I brought this necklace home she may or may not have thought it was for her. I cannot get her away from it! It's hilarious [and scary because if she ever chewed it up I might have to put her up for adoption… just kidding]!

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You guys HAVE to watch this commercial. I'm not an NBA fan by any means, but this commercial gave me chills. Stephen Curry, the 2015 NBA MVP, reads his own draft report which says that he is below average, won't be successful in the NBA, etc. Such a perfect reminder to me to let me actions prove people wrong. Great motivation!

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Congratulations to Melissa Dawn for winning the May Designs giveaway!! Thanks to everyone who entered!

 Linking up with Amanda and April

Blush favorites

Today I'm going to talk about one of my favorite make-up essentials: blush. Spoiler alert: I didn't wear blush until the last couple of years. But now that I do, I cannot go a day without it. It completes your look. And it helps me look "awake" on the days when I am lacking sleep and running on stress aka every day.

A few years ago my sister-in-law convinced me to purchase powder from Bobbi Brown and since then, I use only Bobbi products [except mascara] because they are just downright amazing. Jill, my wallet hates you. Anyways, today I am sharing my 4 favorite Bobbi Brown blushes!

{One: Peony}

This blush is bright pink and perfect for date night or GNO. A little goes a LONG way with this one! I only use 2 light strokes, which results in hot pink fun cheeks.

{Two: Pink Sugar}

This is my "work pink". This one goes on very light so you have to use more of it to get your cheeks pink. It has a little bit of sparkle which makes it fun. This can be worn to work, run errands, or add a few extra strokes and wear it for date night!

 {Three: Coral}

This is the perfect fall/summer blush. Matches everything and looks great on tanned cheeks. I will be shying away from this one for the next couple of months but it is on repeat during warm months.

{Four: Tawny}

This is my go-to during fall/winter. The darker pink is perfect with darker tones in clothing. This is the first blush I ever got and I happily wore it every single day!

These blushes are $28 each BUT they last forever. I haven't had to replace one yet and I've had them all for at least 3 years. So worth the money!

What are your favorite blush brands and colors?!

Linking up with Annie and Natalie

Fall cocktails

Let's be honest, I am always on the lookout for a good cocktail. This is especially true when the weather starts getting cool, the leaves start changing colors, and I start thinking about all the holiday parties that are to come! This is such a fun season to make pretty cocktails when you have guests over, which we plan to do a lot this Fall! Here are some of the cocktails that we will definitely be trying this season:

Apple cider moscow mules

[via]

Apple cider mimosas

[via]

Cranberry pear ginger fizz

[via]

Apple cider sangria

[via]

Pear + thyme fizz

[via]

Pumpkin spice white Russian

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In my dream home I'd have a huge bar area, but for now we make frequent visits to our bar cart/bar cart! What cocktails will you be making this holiday season!?

Linking up with Jenn, Jessi, Amanda and Lindsay

Weekending: Hurricane Joaquin

Happy Monday ladies! Let me just start off by saying… so.much.rain. Our backyard is a shallow swimming pool. Muddy backyard= muddy dog. Enough said.

Friday after work I went straight to my sister's for taco soup (yum!) and lots of niece/nephew time… good for my soul! Hubs was out of town all weekend for an annual work conference in Nashville so I was left to fend for myself. The rest of my night was spent catching up on DVR and enjoying some wine alllll alone [well, my Bella girl was here too]. I love my husband and wish I could spend every second with him but alone time is good sometimes. I enjoyed recharging and Bella loved having his entire side of the king bed to herself ;)

How adorable are these German short-haired pointer coasters?! Mom gave us these last Christmas. I am slightly obsessed, obviously

Saturday I had to work [imagine that]. After we were done seeing all our patients, I headed straight to the gym, grocery store, then sis and I ran some errands to decorate our front porches. Pics to come! The rest of the day was spent watching football [my Tarheels won! Go UNC!], cleaning the house, and being completely lazy.

Sunday I played hooky and skipped church to wait at home for hubs. So happy to see him after 4 days away! We spent the wholeeee day together; gym, football, laziness, and crockpot chicken noodle soup. The perfect day if you ask me! Everyone at his work conference got a FitBit and he gave his to me… I was so happy! I've been wanting one for forever! We also stopped by Bath & Body Works because of how you guys raved over their candles. They were having a "spend $30, save $10" sale and we stocked up on some deeeelicious smelling candles!

Today is the beginning of my last week of this rotation. Thursday and Friday will be spent at the PA school taking an exam, listening to lectures, etc. Bleh. #59days. How was your weekend?!

Linking up with Meghan and Biana

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If you haven't already, don't forget to enter the May Designs notebook giveaway!

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FoF: May Designs GIVEAWAY!

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I have 1 week left of inpatient internal medicine. I have learned so much and have enjoyed the experience (minus the long hours and no days off) but I am ready to move on!! I don't want to work in a hospital… it's just not the environment I want to be in. I had 2 (two!) job interviews on Tuesday which was super exciting and scary at the same time. I am praying for God to lead me to the right job. I want to love my job and look forward to going to work every day, and I refuse to settle for less than that!

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This picture sums up my feelings about Fall. To me, Fall is a new beginning and a fresh start. Life has been stressful the last couple of weeks and I am so ready to move.on.

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I saw this dry shampoo on April's blog and immediately went and got a bottle. I love it! I had been unhappy with the dry shampoo I had; it left my hair feeling dirty and wet. This one works so much better!

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This article is everything. As women we know how annoying it is to be asked a thousand times "when are y'all going to have kids?" We need to be more sensitive. You never know what someone is going through. They may have been trying to have kids for years. She may have just suffered a miscarriage. Hell, she may be focusing on her marriage and her career right now. The same goes for "when are you going to get married?" because Lord knows I used to get asked that every day. Read here.

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If you know me at all, you know that I am a major planner. Like, if it's not written in my planner then it isn't happening. I have a planner with me at all times and look at it approx. 500 times a day. Well I was SO excited when May Designs let me design my own planner and is giving one of my readers a planner as well! Any color, design, and layout! I love that their planners are small enough to throw right into your purse but big enough to be able to write everything down. Be sure to enter below!

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 Linking up with Amanda and April