Busy Bee Pageant Girl & Her Faith

Saying I have been busy the past couple weeks is a major understatement. Between work, school, time with my honey & family/friends, workouts, & pageant prep...I have barely had time to breathe! Maybe I'll get a break one day...maybe. Any who, it's 13 days til Miss Country Sunshine. Am I excited? Yes. Am I nervous? Yes. Go figure :)

Anywho, I cannot wait to meet all the ladies! One of my favorite parts of pageantry is meeting new friends. I have many of my pageant girls whom I consider close friends...gotta love it!

I need to try my best to keep calm over these next 2 weeks. I confess, I am bad with anxiety. Very, very bad. So I have been trying to focus on some different scripture each day to help...today I've reminded myself of Romans 8:28 all day long (one of my absolute favorites)

Have a blessed (& peaceful!) week, guys! xoxo - C

Weekly Gratitude

Weekly Gratitude for 7/17-7/23:

This week, I am grateful for...

1. ...my extremely talented & so very kind and caring dance teacher, Krista Kent. Big props to her. Without her, my talent for my upcoming prelim would be nothing!

2. ...the flavors of the tooth polish they use at the dentist. When I'm a dental hygienist, I'm going to suggest they bring in flavors like sprinkled cupcake and jolly rancher. Simple pleasures, people.

3. ... (speaking of simple pleasures), the sheer joy I get out of ripping off the receipt off the machine at work. Something about that sound...

4. ...(speaking of work), the new amazing delicious yummy nomnom scent of PocketBacs we have, Honey Pretzel! Ohhh it is so yum. It's a part of the new "Lunchbox" PocketBac collection we have going on.

5. ...my momma. We spent a whole day together today shopping for pageant & we had such a good time. Never take your mother (or anyone you love!) for granted!

6. ...BCBG, for I now having my opening number dress for prelim time. I could probably write a whole book on how much I love BCBG. Amazing dresses!!!!

7. ...the Girls' Night we had on Monday night. I so so so LOVED getting to see my girls and catch up with them. We had been apart for way too long! A nice little dinner at Olive Garden started us off right, and we ended the night watching Horrible Bosses...HILARIOUS!

Wedding Wednesday - Bridesmaids Edition

It's Wedding Wednesday time in Tennessee and today's WW is about bridesmaids dresses! Couldn't leave out my girls! :) I am going to be quick with this post, because I am waist-deep in online math homework! (oopsies?) Any way, the colors I like that would coordinate with my color palette are: espresso & burnt orange. So hopefully we can plan on keeping with that scheme. Here are a few styles I like...

I am still undecided on whether to go long or short. Long is so flowy, pretty, & elegant, while short still keeps it fun & fresh. I'll get some of my girls input on that! I love the chiffon fabric of all of these dresses, and think they would look good in the colors I mentioned. I have to admit...#1 & #4 are my faves. I like #3 too for a short one. All of my b-maids will look great no matter what, and I also think these styles will look great on any one of their different body types. Gotta love diversity! Night ya'll!

Growing up Southern is a Privilege, Really...

One of my favorite quotes, of all time. I love the South; I would never ever live any where else. Something about that courteous nod or wave you get driving down the road, lightning bugs in the summer, the pride we have in our UT Vols (win OR lose, we are fairweather fans!), sit-down home-cooked meals with family, the amazing fall scenery, our Southern "drawl" (I was called out on that on vacation, go figure), the importance of a love for God, family, & friends, so much more... (OH, and I must mention...it always seems the southern states go farther in Miss America and Miss USA - can I get an AMEN?!) :) Heather Whitestone, one of my favorite Miss Americas, came from Birmingham, AL (does NOT in anyway mean I am an AL fan!) If ya'll haven't heard of her, she was the first deaf Miss America! I was only 3 when she was crowned, but she has always stood out so much to me.

Perfect example of some Southern hospitality-I was out jogging this morning, and encountered firsthand examples: small talk with a passing walker, a nod from an older firefighter working on the pipes, and of course - that TN summer HEAT! Fortunately, I got my 3 miles in without dying. I had some errands to run afterward, and the cashier at the store bid me farewell with a hospitable "Now you take care, hun! It's hot out there!" Love. It.

Anywhooo - some of our favorite celebrities came from the South : Reese Witherspoon, good ole Dolly Parton, Oprah Winfrey, Paula Deen, Billy Ray & Miley Cyrus, Usher, Kenny Chesney, Cybill Sheperd, and Morgan Freeman - just to name a few.

When Ty & I were in OH visiting family, we were often referred to as "hilbillies" & "rednecks" (sends chills down my spine). That's alright, I still love ya'll...BUT...WEEOWEEOWEEO - Red alert: There is a difference between Southern & Redneck. Big ginormous super huge tremendous difference. I won't go into that; I don't feel like offending anyone! ;)

Alright, I'm stepping off my soapbox now. Have a good day, God bless!

I'm BAA-AACK!

Here I am, here I am, here I am! I'm back from my 2-ish week vacay hiatus to Daytona Beach & Cinncinati (that is, two seperate trips). So here I sit at my computer, just having taken my online Math 1130 midterm review quiz (we won't talk about that), and I'm thinking...wow, what do you blog about when you've been gone for 2 whole weeks? Highlights, that's what. Highlights of my trips. Here we goooooo!

-Getting a TAN (thank you sweet Jesus for some much needed vitamin D) Of course, I used my Australian Gold SPF 8 :) p.s. sorry for blurry picture there!

-Boating/tubing on Caesar Creek Lake in OH on the 4th! I am so blessed to have met some of Ty's family in Ohio this past week. Such sweet (& hilarious!) people.

-Fabulous shopping in Cinncinati, St. Augustine, & Daytona Beach! I was able to get my pageant interview dress at a to-die-for BCBG outlet in St. Augustine on the way down to DB. It's like heaven on earth going in there! A-maz-ing.

-BEACH. Sun + ocean + family + chick lit = happy Caroline. 'Nough said.

-Going to King's Island amusement & water park in OH! I am a sucker for roller coasters and thrill rides, so this was right up my alley. Plus, we got to go with a couple of Ty's awesome cousins and spend time with them! This is a pic of my personal fave rollercoaster, the Diamondback. Rode it twice, thank you :)

There you have it, ladies and gents, highlights of my 2 trips in the last 2 weeks. Back-to-back. Haven't stopped for a second.

On another note, I have my actual midterm exam tomorrow morning, so any prayers would be awesome. Goodnight summerbugs! xoxox