miracles in small packages

This week, even though it's only Wednesday, has been an eye-opener for me.  I experienced probably THE coolest thing. Ever!  One of my close friends had a bit of a scare this past Monday.  Her precious baby boy decided to make his appearance in the world six weeks early.  But he is here and he is PERFECT. Absolutely perfect. I held him for the first time last night as I pretended to be a family member and pestered them at the hospital for most of the night.  I can't explain that feeling of holding him.  It's just happiness. 

I've never really given a thought giving birth.  I mean, it's something that will happen yeeeeeears from now for me, and I guessed I'd just cross that bridge when I came to it. But this was one of the most emotional and spiritual things I've ever witnessed.

~ Just FYI, I wasn't present for the actual birth, but I was there when they said he was coming... now! I literally ran out of the room.  The family made fun of me for that later. ~

Anyways, as I walked out of the hospital that night after almost losing it in front of Mama Ashley, all I could do was look up at the dark sky and thank God for his awesomeness as tears streamed down my face.

God is good. And he really does create miracles

Welcome Baby Bodi! You have the most awesome parents in the world and have an amazing life ahead of you, kiddo.

love~
self-proclaimed Aunt Haley

awol

Britney asked me if I was going to write a blog post about this incident.  She said it in a sarcastic way, so just to spite her, I am going to write one. :)

My phone went awol last night. It was a bit dramatic, really.  I decided to give it a quick restart in order to get some bugs fixed, but it had other plans.  And did not turn back on. So, I call Verizon where the customer service rep tries to empathize with me... for some reason this made me even more mad.  Girl don't know my problems! Of course I'm transferred to Paul (for real, I remembered his name). Paul was sitting somewhere up in Minnesota and could barely hear me.  Why? I don't know. Maybe my Southern accent is too much for him. He walks me through rebooting my phone -- aka deleting everything on my phone and completely starting from the bare bones.

Long story short. I have a "bare bones" phone after attempted updates froze my phone, it shutting off some more and not wanting to work, and me almost throwing it out in the rain. When laying in the bed last night, I even prayed that I would wake up and this would have all been a dream. Yes, I know it's sad how much my phone means to me. Needless to say, I am making a trip to the store today... beware.

Gotta love technology~
H

name them one by one

This may be cliche, but I think it's totally necessary.  I am so thankful for everything I have been blessed with over this past year and just some random things in life that make me happy.

I am thankful for red velvet cake. Yep.
I am thankful for my Grandmother's Dressing.  It's so awesome it deserves capital letters.
But mostly I am thankful that she is able to cook the dressing.
I am thankful for coffee. It keeps you awake and it is tasty.
I am thankful for Weight Watchers because of my obvious love for food.
I'm thankful for Bath and Body Works' decision to make their new scent Dark Kiss. I'm in love.
I'm thankful for Glee, E!, Bravo, and Grey's Anatomy. Gotta stay entertained, I get bored easy.
I am thankful for OPI's Lincoln Park After Dark. My nails may look a little gothic, but I love the color!
I am thankful that Alabama football did not suck this year. Even though we're not going back to the National Championship, I still love the Tide.
I am thankful I did not cough/choke/die during my song at church Sunday morning. Really, it must have been divine intervention because of my recent sickness.
I am thankful for music and opportunities to sing, even if American Idol wasn't feeling it. 
I am thankful for Tate - the new addition to my family.
I am thankful for my Sunday school class aka "Meat and Taters." Don't hate the name, it has a special meaning. 
I am thankful that the Lord has blessed my friends with their pregnancies this year. Can't wait to meet those little guys!
I am thankful that my out-of-state friends live in awesome places that I can come visit. Oh, that sounds selfish, but whatev - it's my blog :)
I am thankful for laughter. I'll take any kind I can get... especially that kind where you can't breathe and are sore the next day.
I am thankful for my health and my family's health.
I am thankful for my internship. I have met some amazing people and can't wait for the new year that brings with it many new opportunities within the job.
I am thankful for my home. It's small, cozy, and perfect and all thanks to my infinitely amazing parents (more on their awesomeness later).
I am thankful for for each and every one (wish I could list them, but I'm afraid I would forget some body) of my friends. I can not tell each of you how much you mean to me and how much joy you have brought me in my life.
I am thankful for my family.  I don't even have words. I will never be able to express my love and gratitude for how much you have blessed me and supported me.
And I am thankful for my Lord. Because of Him I am able to have all of these things. And I am eternally grateful for my eternal life with Him. 

Love and turkey~
Haley

Procrastination - with a capital P!

I hate papers. Plain and simple. I like to write, but only for fun. Like this blog, I love, but 12-page papers over "Diversity of Religion and the Expression of Faith in the Workplace" are toooooo much for me! I mean, hello, the title takes up a whole page. I've started these great comparisons in my head such as: well, at least I'm not in jail, I'm just writing a paper; or I don't have some sort of sickness right now, so I should be thankful that I am able to write this paper.... Really?! You can't say I'm not grateful...

I've known about the assignment for, oh I don't know, the WHOLE semester, but I started on it one and a half weeks prior to when it is due (of course). Now I'm in a panic (of course). I'm completely consumed with this topic and research. I've learned more about religious expression than I probably ever cared to know. Whatevs, I'll stop complaining.

But, wish me luck... I may lose my sanity with another 6 pages to go and only 2 days to write them in... By the way, how was my punctuation and spelling throughout this post? That's what you get when I'm in paper-writing mode!

Side note ~ the holidays are fastly approaching and I'll be honest, I've already started listening to Christmas music, naturally.

hello, my name is Haley and I'm an ____aholic.

For me, an addiction usually has some sort of negative connotation... and typically that's what it all boils down to: something that you are completely obsessed with and that completely consumes you. Or what I like to call in Jesus world: idolizing. I currently have too many of these. Some of them I won't mention on here, but a few include:

1. Food
2. My phone
3. Caffeine (this may be a serious problem... I get crazy headaches)
4.Spending money I don't have
5. FACEBOOK!!

Really, seriously, I need to chill with this whole FB thing. It's on my phone; therefore, I check it every hour. It's the first thing I look at when I get on any computer. Let's just say I know what all of my 338+ friends are doing at all times. I like to be nosy. Soooo, recently I've tried to limit myself. I even considered deactivating my account. I just can't. Pathetic.

Wouldn't it be great if I focused my time on something that will get me somewhere in life like: searching for a job, being on time to places (I'm always late and I hate it), spending face-to-face time with friends and family, getting out of this rut that I'm stuck in, starting and sticking to a diet, spending time with God, etc. Ok, just realized that that list is way too long. Maybe I need to start on my New Year's resolution post next.

Random note: I have Twizzlers today and I couldn't be happier, for realz

Adios muchachos~

h-o-p-e

I hate days like today. They come and go quite often. They consist of me being in a horrible mood, often crying, calling my mom (bless her heart) and complaining, but most of all, me asking why? Why can't I find my dream job? Why can I not stick to a diet? Why do all of my friends seem to be starting their own lives and I still seem to be stuck? That's it: stuck. I've had this feeling ever since my graduation this past May not long after a few friends got married, a few moved to different towns and some to different states, and a few announced they were expecting. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love every single one of them and am so, so happy for what God is doing for them. But, again, I'm stuck. I'm in the same city, I have the same job, I'm going back to the same school, and I pretty much have the same life except for friends scattered all over the country.

Silver lining? I dunno... except for this strange, hopeful feeling I have.

This, too, has been in existence since my graduation day... and is very unusual for me. First of all, I am a super, duper WORRIER (seriously, ask anyone who knows me)! So for me to have a sense of relief and hope about anything says something. I love that word. Hope. I think that's what He wants and plans for all of us. After all, I can't talk about hope without thinking of my favorite bible verse, Jeremiah 29:11. I'll even quote it for you if you don't already know it :) "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." The best part about the scripture; it is straight from His mouth. word. for. word.

So I don't have a clue what is in store for me, and I know it's better that way. I understand that I will see friends come and go, see amazing things happen to amazing people, grow up and find out what I'm supposed to do all in the correct "season" of life (Shout out to Sunday's sermon... I knew that's why I wasn't daydreaming). It sounds so cliche, but all I know to do is be grateful for absolutely everything good and bad. I love my family, love my friends, and love that I am here on this earth to experience whatever it is I am supposed to experience. So here it goes...

Man, that was deep and slightly cheesy -- I am exhausted now :)

the Oldest City and the Concrete Jungle

Exhausted. Blood shot eyes. Sore throat. Yep, feeling and experiencing all of these things for the past couple of days. MAYBE it's because I had little to no sleep on my last few days of vacation, but boy did I have fun!! Stop one, St. Augustine. Dubbed the Oldest City in the nation (discovered by Ponce de Leon, you're welcome for that history lesson), I've decided that this is one of the prettiest places. Ever. I realized that the only beaches that I have visited are located in the Gulf, but the Atlantic coast sure does trump those! The sand was pearly white, there were shells everywhere, the shore was completely flat. Mom, Dad, and I took a few strolls in the AM. OH, and the weather was P-E-R-F-E-C-T in both cities.

Which leads me to stop dos, New Jersey/New York City. Of course, upon my arrival in the Big Apple I began to belt out the chorus of Empire State of Mind. You know, "New Yoooork, Concrete Jungle where dreams are..." you get the idea. This was my second time visiting the city and was a much more low-key trip with LOTS, let me repeat, LOTS OF WALKING. I blame Deanna. Kidding, but I am a complete wuss when it comes to walking for large chunks of the day. Luckily, I got to see things that I had not seen before including the Brooklyn Bridge, Grand Central Station, more of Central Park, and my fav... Carlos' Bake Shop where Cake Boss is filmed. Just FYI, I had the most ah-mazing red velvet cake cupcake. EVER! I have a bit of an obsession with anything red velvet, so I was in heaven.

Big thanks to my parents and Deanna for both of the trips. I was so happy to get to see my long lost friend who left me to have a life and everything in Jersey :)

Okay enough talking, here are pictures!

"fall"ing for this season

Fall is my absolute most favorite time of year! The leaves, the lack of humidity, bonfires, football (ROLL TIDE!!), and the cute clothes all just give me warm fuzzies.  Yet after a conversation I had with my mom a couple of weeks ago, I've decided that fall seems to be sort of bittersweet for me.  During the last couple of years, I have had a few weird/achy-breaky/depressing times happen around this same time of year that leave me with a sense of longing for the past - a little pathetic admitting that, but it's the truth. I've grown so much since that period, but it is just so strange how a certain time of the year can remind you of something just like a certain smell or certain song can. This happens to me often, and I can't say I'm always fond of it :(

On a lighter note, I am leaving for a 10-day vacation tomorrow morning...Yaaaaayyyy!!! First stop, St. Augustine with my parents. Then I hop on a plane on Thursday afternoon back to Nashville only to wake up bright and EARLY Friday morning to fly to New Jersey.  I get to see one of favorite people in the world, Deanna, and we are spending part of the weekend in NYC! Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait! These two excursions make my seventh and eighth trips for this year. Man, I love to travel, but that will be for another post.

Wishing you chunky sweaters, smores, and Alabama touchdowns ♥

hello!

Ok. I must admit... this is all a bit scary for me. I have recently been thinking about starting a blog just for the mere fact I have a million and one random thoughts that run through my head in a day's time and I felt I needed an outlet to just let them all out!! BUT, who in the world cares and will even read this?! So as of right now this blog is just for me to vent, ramble, etc. I will add "followers" when I feel the time is right... and knowing me that will probably be here in the next couple of hours. So here it goes blog world...

P.S. - just to explain the title of my blog: those are three things that I love and what make me, me. LOVE pearls, LOVE to sing (hence music "notes"), and LOVE, LOVE huge, black purses :)

LOVE~
Haley