Really Personal Post...BEWARE

Tonight, I bring y'all something I haven't ever brought to this blog.....a few years back I began to dabble in blogging. I was still in college, living at home, and my brother and I got Flip video camera for Christmas. Needless to say, I never thought I'd share this with anyone again now that I'm older, more mature, wiser, awesomer, smarter, cooler, etc......Honestly, watching this just now made me cringe in embarrassment, but at the same time I was squealing in laughter. This was truly one of the best nights with my brother.....ps-my mom and dad were sleeping. It was around 1 or 2am and we were basically whispering in the house as we filmed this and busted out laughing the entire time.


Please don't hold this against me, but enjoy :) That dork in this video is still inside me! I am really just tryin to brighten a few days with embarrassing myself and giving y'all some laughs :)

If I Were Running for President.....

If I were running for President:

-Work would begin at 11...we'd give it our best for a few hours, and we'd all be off by 3........attention, Daddy! (I work for my father....this is a subliminal message)

-Home economics with a concentration in cooking would be required from 5th grade ALLLLL THE WAY UP TO senior year. This is something I was never offered, and while I feel like my mom did a pretty great job, I really would've enjoyed school a lot more and would have probably picked up a few good tips and talents.

-I would invent the healthy pill that would allow everyone to eat what they want whenever they want without gaining a pound. This pill would not cause any long-term bad effects....it would just be plain good for us all! Ok, maybe this isn't if I were President.....maybe this is if I had special powers.......

-I would require every child to take typing classes in elementary school....this seriously pays off in the long run. No offense to you slow typers, but I can't stand watching the peck with pointer and thumb fingers :)

-Every person would be required to go on a mission trip at a very young age and continue to go at least once a year. I think the reason that some people think mission/missionaries are so crazy is because we weren't always raised in an environment where people really went out to all nations and preached the Word. It has always been "crazy radicals" who up and take their kids out of the country. Now, I'm not saying I would or wouldn't do this with my kids, but I do think it's good to have kids doing this at a young age so they can get their feet wet and see if this is something that they would potentially want to do with their life.

-No smoking inside any building in any state....period. Sorry, smokers. I love ya....my lungs just can't deal with it.

-I would change summer reading from those boring, required books to books of your choice. Not sure how I would regulate this/make sure students didn't read the same book every summer.....but I'd try to change it. Summer reading was a drag, and usually because I hated the book required. I'd probably require Twilight, The Hiding Place, Shopaholic series to name a few...Haha, totally kidding....NOT!

-Kids would be required to learn how to balance a checkbook/maintain a budget in middle and high school. Kinda sad that I just learned how to balance a checkbook this year. Oops...I just admitted that out loud, and I'm a bookkeeper. You didn't hear it from me.

Ok, ok...I'm sure there's a TON I'm forgetting, but here were a few of the things that just popped in my head super super quick! I am getting over a horrible infection with strep that has just absolutely knocked me out for the last 72 hours and this just seemed so fun when I caught up on Erin's blog this afternoon! Have a great week. Who knows...maybe one day I will become President and we will all be sleeping in Monday-Friday. Wishful thinking :) Don't forget to link up with Erin, and have a great day!

How God met me at the post office

Ever have one of those divine moments where you just knew NO ONE and NOTHING but God Himself could've ordained that moment for you? I cling to these moments so much. In fact, I usually end up in tears after a moment like that just thanking God over and over again for meeting me where I need Him most. What's humbling is that He is always meeting me, but every now and then I feel like I really grasp it for a minute or two...and then it still seems as if my mind can't grasp His beauty, His grace, and His undying and unfailing love for me. Seriously, it's a beautiful beautiful thing, and yes it was necessary to say beautiful twice.

I am a person who struggles with over analyzing. I am a person who struggles with over thinking. I am a person who even though I love technology, STILL has to hand-write my to do list. I'm the person who can't let things go. I'm the person who says sorry and still beats myself up and thinks of the stupid stuff I said for hours and sometimes days. I'm the person who forgives you but continues to think on what you said that hurt me and if there's truth to what you said. Ah, just writing about all of my horrible tendencies is kind of making me shutter and cringe.

Well, friends.....this afternoon, God met me in a very special place. In fact, I like to think He just wanted to stop me dead in my tracks this afternoon. This morning, I woke up early, took my car to the shop, got my brother to pick me up at the shop and take me to work (we work together) and scrambled into work because I was a few minutes late, and I was a little flustered from the car ordeal. Then, it was kind of a hectic day for me....not the worst, but not the best. Let's face it....it's a Monday. Who likes 'em? If you do, please don't admit it to me because I will secretly think you are a brown-noser and I probably won't like you...unless you are my dad because sometimes I think he kinda like Mondays :) We are fasting corporately as a church right now, and I don't say this to brag or tell the world that I'm fasting, but I share it as a part of the story of how God met me today.

Anyway, it was kind of a long day. I was rushing around getting stuff done, sending emails to customers, answering phones, etc. etc. and rushed out of work late with my brother to go pick up my car before the shop closed. From the dealership, I rushed again to the post office before it was closing as well. This is how I get sometimes.......I rush. I HATE rushing. Anyhow, I was next to the last person in line and was a little impatient. As I was about to leave, I heard one last straggler creep in and say "excuse me, ma'am...would you mind helping me before you close?" The post office lady said, "sorry. I'm done for the day." I was more than miffed that the lady wouldn't help her, and I was even more miffed when I saw who asked for help and realized it was a sweet woman from my church. If this lady at the post office knew who kind this lady from my church was, she would have stopped everything and helped this woman. I won't share her name here, but let me just take a minute to tell you about this person. I don't really know anything about her except that my mom loves her dearly. My mom has served next to her in different roles at church and has had a serious love for this woman. I have only met her on a few occasions and literally don't even know her last name. Anyhow, I said hey to this sweet girl and we walked outside and caught up. Let me reiterate, I don't know this woman at all....simply a first name basis thing here. We got to talking and I asked if she was fasting, and the next thing I knew it was like the floodgates of heaven opened, and she started encouraging me to stay with it. Today was one of those hard days during the fast. Some days are easier than others, and today I had sort of considered quitting. I hate to admit it, but I was justifying my thought process. At work, I thought....ya know what? I fasted 8 days. That was good enough. I'm hungry. I'm tired of this. God will be fine if I decide to go ahead and eat what I want again. I'm probably just going to eat. I feel like going out to dinner with my boo. I know he is probably tired of it as well. Let's just have a huge pity party tonight and go EAT whatever we want. I was battling myself all day, because I knew deep down I didn't want to do this. Seriously, God met me in one of those rough places. He used this lady to encourage me NOT to quit. I don't even know her and we had THE BEST conversation. You know those powerful conversations where someone just uplifts and encourages you and you're just like...Um......Satan ain't gon' messsss wit me today!!!! Wut da heck was I thinkin earlier? Pah....I considered eating junk tonight? Bahhhh. I'd rather starve then give in to da devil! OK, not sure why I went into gangsta speak, but sometimes I get that way when I get fired up. God was telling me, BELOVED....DON'T QUIT. I HAVE YOUR BACK. I LOVE YOU. STAY WITH ME. I WANT TO SHOW YOU THINGS ABOUT YOURSELF. I WANT TO SHOW YOU THINGS ABOUT WHAT I AM CALLING YOU TO. I WANT TO SHOW YOU HOW TO BE A BETTER FRIEND. I WANT TO SHOW YOU HOW TO SPEAK TO PEOPLE IN A MANNER THAT LEAVES THEM REJUVENATED AND ENCOURAGED WHEN THEY ARE DONE TALKING TO YOU. I WANT TO SHOW YOU HOW TO BE A BETTER WIFE. I WANT YOU TO FALL DEEPER IN LOVE WITH ME!!!!!!!!! HOW GLORIOUS!!!!! We serve a MIGHTY AND POWERFUL GOD, Y'ALL.

So, for any of those fasting, or for any of those just having one of those days, I'm gonna leave you with one of the last things this girl said to me. She said, "you know when it gets hard for me, I just remember that if I give in, I am ultimately giving up something that God might be trying to show me over these 21 days. I am giving in to losing the possibility of God doing a big work in me." Again, not that God can't speak to you when you're not fasting, but God does do some drastic things when you are fasting and you are super open to the Spirit. So basically, I just want to encourage you if you are a foodie like me and you are at the end of your rope, press on. Seriously, I didn't HAVE to go to the post office today. Heck, this girl didn't even get waited on by the girl at the post office. Do you think this is coincidence? She teaches over on the Northside and was over on the other side of town at the post office I usually go to. It's divine intervention, people! God is good!!!

"He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters"
Psalm 23:2

Bedroom built Ins that I did not make myself....

So, the other day, I hit up my husband with a picture of something that I wanted.

Something I really really really wanted. Like REALLY REALLY WANTED.

You got me, yet?

This is that picture.

Now...if anyone actually reads this thing...you might remember me talking about this entertainment center/built ins in this post here. If not, go read up, first!

So, like I said....Josh sees the pic and asks me if I really want this for our bedroom. I tell him, of course.....duh......I love it.....I want it.....and that I would reeeeeeeally love to start this project this weekend with his new table saw. How else was I going to get this project done? Um....butter him up with his new tools (at least this is what my mom taught me, hahaha). Well, last Friday I made plans after work and didn't get home until 9. While my girlfriend and I were out, I get this picture message below. Needless to say, I got really excited! The project had begun!

To my surprise, this is what muh boo had done by the time I got home!!!!!!

 I knew Josh was talented, but I didn't know he was THIS talented.....nor did I know he could work this quick. So, when I got home, I was AMAZED!!!! GLORY!!!!

We grabbed a bite to eat and crashed so that we could continue the next morning!

J getting ready to eat :)

The next morning we got up and got back to work. As you can see, this is NOT a tutorial. Why...you ask? Because one thing I really learned this weekend is that I am NOT a good DIYer. I am not a good measurer nor am I good at building. I follow rules pretty well, so that's what I did. When I was told to prime, I primed. When I was told to paint, I painted. When I was told to hold this cabinet door, I held it. Oh, and I provided moral support and held the tape measure at times :)

Here are a few more snapshots of the final project!

So, there ya have it! Excuse the pillows please in the final picture. It was late......I was tired.....& I am going to re-work some of the things I placed on the shelves. Like I said, it was late and I was just playing around with what I had laying around. I will get better pictures when our room is clean and when I have picked out what exactly I want on these shelves! I will also take better pics with my camera and not my iPhone after Josh trims out the door! I feel like you can't even tell in these pictures, but the back wall part in the built ins is the same grey as the walls (Benjamin Moore-Stonington Gray) which was a nice touch Josh threw in there as well!!!

Hope you like it, and if you have any cute ideas for knick knacks on my shelves, please please please shoot me some ideas or some links to check out!!!

By the way, I guest posted over at Erin's blog, Living in Yellow today :) GO NOW AND CHECK HER OUT. GIVE HER SOME LOVE. FUNNIEST GIRL EVER, AND HANDS DOWN MY FAVORITE BLOG ON EARTH!

HAVE A SPLENDID WEEKEND!!!!!!!

Kaylee Labor Photography: "Each hour, each day."

This weekend we took photos with THE AWESOME KAYLEE LABOR!!!! Here is a preview :)

 Kaylee Labor Photography: "Each hour, each day."

For two goofy people, I think she did a GREAT job!!!!! She is so talented!!!!! Go give her some love :)

Date!

Date! by mrsbdowning featuring back pack bags

H&M slim leg jeans
£30 - hm.com

Tory Burch gold colored shoes
£210 - harrods.com

Do you DIY?!

Some good things are happening around here for me :) For starters, my husband got a table saw this week. He's been needing one for awhile, and he finally bit the bullet and bought one! That being said, he trimmed out our bedroom windows!! I think they turned out quite nicely :) My mom recently put new trim on all of her windows and she went with this look. I am a smart girl. I copied her. Seriously though, I think Josh did a great job. Any people looking for a job well done, give him a holler (he does construction)!



Before trim



After Trim

Window #2

What do you think? My baby got skillllllz!!! Do you like this trim look? I seriously love it. It's amazing what this simple touch can do for a room...next I'll have to see if we can get crown up. There isn't much space between the windows and the ceiling, so I'm not sure if it will look tacky to squeeze crown in.

Anyhow, being that we now have a table saw...I want to get rid of those shelves you see above and install built-ins. Josh and I are talking about starting this project this weekend. Those shelves were our old entertainment center in our previous home that we are still using to make due right now. That being said, here is what I'm wanting....let's see what we accomplish this weekend!!


I want this type of look, just on a smaller scale for our bedroom (via pinterest)!

Have a WONDERFUL weekend!

OMBRE HAIR

Ombre hair. Is it still in? Or is it on its way out?

I'm goin for it at my next appt, February 2nd! I can hardly wait...but that is the soonest I could get in. Here are my inspiration pics :)

Some love it. Some hate it. I am finally going to do it :)

One of those days

Today has just been one of those days.....

Ya know...the kind where you knew you wanted to stay in bed before you even woke up....ouch.

The kind where you were instantly hungry and knew what kind of eating day it was gonna be.

The kind where you got breakfast at Burger King and had lunch at Krystal...

The kind where you took the walk of shame down a busy street to go get Krystal since your dad borrowed your car for a few hours (perks of working for your father and for working next to Krystal).

 The kind where you and your co-worker discussed how you really felt like doing nothing all day (don't worry....we did)

The kind where you couldn't wait to get home to your man and your pot roast...sorry, J-Dub.....you're a toss up tonight :)

The kind where you got REALLY EXCITED because you found out about an AWESOME BLOG PARTY GIFT EXCHANGE GOING ON!!!!!

I totally just emailed Alycia over at Crowley Party to join! You should too :)

Ok, enough of my Negative Nancy post...it was mostly just to make y'all laugh :)

I am very grateful for Jesus and His compassion on my ungrateful self!

Checkout this blog party, on da real.

I need to stop writing because quite honestly, I could keep babbling and babbling and babbling...

and no one really wants to hear that.

Have an awesome night. Hug your loved ones. Enjoy your food :)

Foodie Friday!!! :)

I'm so ecstatic to be joining up with Magan, over at A Touch of Class for Foodie Friday!!!! Magan has been hosting Foodie Friday for quite a few months now and asked me to co-host this week! Since I am a total foodie, I thought, what the heck?! Of course!!! I'm actually cheating a little bit and sharing one of my best friend's recipes. To my defense, my friend Ashley shared this recipe with me on Monday when I wasn't feeling well. With that said, Tuesday, I went ahead and made her recipe, Chicken and Corn Chowder. One of her family friends makes this chowder all the time, and Ashley loves it. Well, I made it Tuesday and Josh and I both loved it. This serving size could easily fill a family of four who eats pretty light. I would say that if you and your family are starving, you may want to double this recipe if this is all you're serving for dinner. If you are making other sides or a salad, then this is definitely enough. I really couldn't stop eating this. I also cut up a french baguette and dunked that in my chowder as well!

So.....without further ado, here is the recipe!!!!!

-Frozen whole kernel corn (I used one box of white shoepeg corn. If you love corn or plan to double your recipe, use two boxes or a large bag).
-2 cups chicken broth
-Rotisserie chicken pulled and picked to pieces
-1 cup of heavy cream (Use 1 cup if you want your chowder to have a soupy, but more creamy texture. If you want more of a soup texture, then drop the cream down to 1/2 a cup. For us, the 2 cups of chicken broth and 1 cup of cream did the trick)!!!
-3 garlic cloves chopped (Or extra if you love you some garlic)!
-Small green onion chopped
-2 celery stalks chopped (I left this out of ours since we aren't celery lovers)
-Salt n peppa!

Dump all of this in your crockpot and put it on low for 2-3 hours!

In all seriousness, this is one of my new favorite recipes! It is also COMPLETELY man friendly. Josh said he could eat this once a week for awhile...especially with the cold weather!

So, who is going to make this Chicken and Corn Chowder next week?
Better yet, who is going to link-up and share an AMAZING recipe with Magan and I?
We are so excited to co-host Foodie Friday!



Thank you for joining, and have a blessed, safe weekend!

Xoxo,
bnfunky :)

Are you ready for Foodie Friday with A Touch of Class Magan and me?!

Hey there, bloggers/foodie lovers/foodie people/food bloggers!!!

I hope you are having a good week. I know I am because right now, it's FRIDAY EVE!!!!!
I just wanted to write a quick little post to remind you to join Magan and me tomorrow with Foodie Friday!!!
Get ready to link up one of your favorite recipes...whatever recipe you would like! There are no rules tomorrow! Just share something with us that is divine, whether it's an entree, dessert, appetizer, or drink! We are super excited to co-host this little linky party tomorrow! You will be able to post your recipe to both Magan's blog and mine as well :)

Have a BLESSED day!!!!

I'm Not So Good with Mod Podge

Happy Tuesday, bloggers!!!

I am starting to think I should tell y'all my goals for the week more often. I didn't want to go through the embarrassment of not accomplishing my goals, so I actually got started on my tray project yesterday. If you missed Monday's post, click here :)

I followed a tutorial that I found through pinterest, which you can find here!
A few facts:
1) I get VERY SCARED to do ANYTHING DIY...Don't ask why. Maybe it's because I haven't attempted a whole lot of things without a partner in crime? Or maybe it's because I feel like my stuff always looks homemade and dorky? I am not sure.....but I have this going against me :(

2) I am deathly afraid of Mod Podge. In fact, I didn't even know what Mod Podge was until a few months back from always reading Tonya's blog....oops :)

3) I used an old tray that Josh bought prior to us dating. Honestly, I was kinda tired of looking at this dark, "bachelor-pad" tray. Plus, I was happy that I had a one already and didn't have to go buy one. Also, if I messed it up, I knew it wasn't going to be a biggie, because this tray was old and I never really liked it much anyway!

4) I used Mod Podge Gloss.

5) I bought my fabric at Jo-Ann Fabrics for $3.99.

6) I watched 4 tutorials before getting the nerve to try it myself!

I'll spare you my own tutorial, because the link I shared with you, from Maggie's blog pretty much explains it all :)

Here are my before photos:

Getting antsy waiting for the tray to dry!!!

Here are my afters:

This wasn't really an after shot...this was more of a "waiting for my project to dry" shot!

What do you think? Not so bad, huh?! My pattern was a tad bit crooked because I was rushing so the glue wouldn't dry as I put my fabric on the tray. You can't really tell because I have a few things on my tray that disguise it quite well. Any questions? I'll be glad to help you! Hopefully I will get better at working with Mod Podge in the future.

Last, but most certainly not least, I want to invite you to a Foodie Friday link-up party THIS Friday over at Magan's blog, A Touch of Class :) Magan is one of my dear friends from high school, and she is a lover of her husband, her pup, fashion, travel, and food! With that said, join me this Friday as she hosts a link-up party for your favorite recipes! I'm deciding what to share :)

Ringin' in the New Year!

I have never been one to stick with New Years Resolutions....so, my thoughts are why start now???? Ha!

This was my first New Years as a married lady! I have to say...it was pretty fun! I got Josh a Morton's gift card for Christmas, so we went and enjoyed a delicious dinner together at Morton's! Super fun :) We both ate our hearts out and pretty much felt miserable after dinner from overeating, so that was sort of a fail! Then we went to a friend's little shindig and caught up with everyone! We had a great time, but the funniest part to me was that we were in bed by 11:15 and rang in the New Year to "Red Bull: New Year, New Limits." I was sweatin' it for a few praying that the guys didn't get hurt and that they would set the new record! Anyhow, I got my smooch at midnight and passed out!

What did you do for NYE? Did you make any New Years Resolutions? I don't like making them, because usually mine aren't realistic and I know deep down I'm not really going to try to accomplish them...therefore I didn't make any this year. Our church is kicking off with a fast in a few weeks, so honestly, that is my primary focus for this New Year :) I will share more about that this week!

I have two small goals this week:
1) Complete a DIY window treatment for our kitchen window

2) Use a piece of fabric to spruce up our tray in our living room like this one right here:

I plan to use this tutorial :)

Let's see if I actually get this done by Sunday night at midnight! If I do, then I might actually make some resolutions :)
Have a great week!