Feminine Friday: Mother's Day

Happy Friday all my dear lovely readers! As we all know, the wonderful holiday known as Mother's Day is just around the corner! Only two days away actually. :) Now I just love Mother's Day! Why? Because mothers are so very special gifts from God! They have impacted our lives, biological or adopted, and have blessed us in so many ways, they deserve to have a day of pampering! Now as you may or may not know, I'm a big gift-giver. I just love coming up with the perfect gift for someone and watching their face as they open it and see them enjoy it. Being a big gift-giver, I've come up with a few Mother's Day gift ideas for those of you who may not be big gift-givers! Why not take a little time today or tomorrow and whip up one of these ideas? :)

The Mother's Day Gift Guide

A hand-painted flower pot

A picture of her and you when you were little, to remind her of the good ol' days. 

A pretty mug with her favorite tea (or cream and sugar if she's a coffee drinker)

A bouquet of peonies

A handwritten letter

A Barnes & Noble gift card, so she can purchase a new good read

Take her on a lunch date to Panera or another soup and sandwich place

Maybe you already have an awesome idea for your mom and if so, I applaud you! But whatever you choose, just make sure you let your mom know how thankful you are for her and how special she is! And don't forget to tell her you love her. :)

Enjoy your weekend and keep your smiles on! Until next time!

"A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie." ~ Tenneva Jordan

"Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs... since the payment is pure love." ~ Mildred B. Vermont

"Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible." ~ Marion C. Garretty

Wishlist Thursday: Vacation

Okay so you know that I have this thing about travel. I do love where I live buuuuuut after so many cornfields and familiarity, I do long for an adventure someplace new. Earlier this week, we had one really hot day and Baby Bird wanted to go outside and play in the water. I don't know what it is but the smell of the sunscreen and the sound of water put together has me longing for the beach!!!

Boy do I have some wonderful memories of vacations on the beach with my family. Morning sandcastles, shell hunting, reading for pleasure, afternoon naps, card games, dinner on the patio, evening walks, sand, sunsets, salt water and of course the always present smell of sunscreen. Oh! And the stars over the ocean are incredible! *sigh* Yeah, that would be nice right about now.

Well, I suppose I'll just have to make do with my own sunshine. Oh well. Enjoy your day dear reader and keep those smiles on! Until next time!



“I have always loved the beach. The smell of the salty water, the wind in my face, the gentle roar of the waves all combine to create a sense of peace and calm.” ~ Anon.



“I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.” ~ T. S. Eliot



“One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach; one can collect only a few, and they are more beautiful if they are few” ~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh



“Play in the sand; splash in the water; get dirty; get wet. The beach is the only place my mom doesn’t get mad about me doing that stuff. Of course I love the beach!” ~ Dixie Dykens (age 5)

Homemaking Wednesdays: Summer Goals

Good morning my fair readers! Today I wanted to share my summer goals with you! I have a lot so I'll categorize them for you. Yes I'm that nice. ;) Heeeeere we go!

With Baby Bird
- Have morning devotions with her every morning
- Pray before meals
- Teach her Bible songs (He's Got The Whole World, Jesus Loves Me, etc.)
- Do more crafts
- Get schedule to afternoon naps
- Read more books
- Have picnics in the yard
- Teach her colors and start shapes
- Cook treats with her

Wedding Planning
- Nail down decorations
- Keep my mom and grandmas updated
- Keep things organized
- Make the playlist

Personal Goals
- Finish reading the books on my shelf
- Do some of the hundreds of projects liked on Pinterest
- Make some of the food favorited on foodgawker
- Get more regular with my own morning devotions
- Figure out some breakfast food besides scones
- Get a library card
- Save money

So, there you have it. Goals for the summer. Optimistically, I'l get them all done. Buuuut we'll see. :) Here's your song!

Well I hope you enjoy your day and keep those smiles on! Until next time!

"If you don't know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else." ~ Lawrence J. Peter


"Goals are dreams with deadlines." ~ Diana Scharf Hunt


"What is not started today is never finished tomorrow." ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Monday Favorites: An Actress

Happy Monday my dear readers! Today is gray with some impending rain but nothing could possibly ruin my mood today! I look great, I feel great.... I AM great! :D


But enough about me. I have someone else to talk about today! Today's favorite is my favorite actress! This, ladies and gentlemen, would be none other than the lovely Audrey Hepburn! :)

Isn't she just wonderful?! She's elegant and sophisticated and just plan classy! Yeah, if someone asked me for the definition of "classy", I would say "Audrey Hepburn". None can compare! 

Favorite movies starring Audrey: When Paris Sizzles, Breakfast at Tiffany's, How to Steal a Million, My Fair Lady, Charade.... and probably everything else she's in too. ;)

What is your favorite Hepburn flick?

Ahh me. Good stuff. Well, enjoy your day my dear readers and keep your smiles on! Until next time!

“I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles.” ~ Audrey Hepburn

“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible'!” ~ AH

“The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman is seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. True beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It's the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows & the beauty of a woman only grows with passing years.” ~ AH

Wonderful Newness!

Hello my lovely readers! How I've missed you! And oh the changes I have to acquaint you with!


So, first, the subject on everyone's mind.... yes, I am going to graduate! I gotta tell you, math class was awful close! I didn't do well on the first test a few weeks ago so I spend the major part of this week studying for my Thursday morning math test. With much prayer with me and behind me, I went in to take it.... and came out with a 69.3% in the class. I needed .7% to pass. So I came straight home and emailed my professor about it. And after even more prayer.... yesterday he replied. After he did the updates on grades, I would pass!!! Which meant I don't have to take that math class again this summer and I will indeed graduate this Spring! :D :D


Really, math class was such a great tangible example of my inadequacies and His grace! No matter how hard I try, no matter what I do in life, I will always fall short. Always. But He is a good God and if I ask Him for the grace and strength, He'll get me through that .7%! We serve a WONDERFUL GOD!!!!!!!! So that's my big news!


Now, I'm ready for the summer to start! The past few weeks, with graduation in sight, my creative mind has found new life. I thought all that studying had killed it! But oh no! I've been coming up with all sorts of crafty things to do with Hannah, crafty things to keep myself busy, stories to write, apartment decorating ideas, blog post topics.... the list is endless! It's going to be the best summer of my life so far. :)


As for smaller, more trivial news... I got my new phone Thursday! :D My current contract ends tomorrow so I can finally get on a new phone and a cheaper plan! Also, I got my hair cut this morning! It was very long, almost to the middle of my back, and to a point where it wouldn't do anything. And with the humidity the past few days (a warning of this summer), it would do even less than nothing! So what did I do? I got it chopped off! It is now swinging curly and happily above my shoulders! :D Yes yes I know, you're probably thinking "Casey! You're getting married in three months! What are you thinking?!?" Buuuut it will grow right? And it will make it very easy to manage this summer! So I'm pleased with it. :)


Well I think that's all my updates for you! Here's your song! :)

And now we return to your regular scheduled programming. :) Keep those smiles on and enjoy your Saturday! Until next time!



Pleasure is spread through the earth
In stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find.
~ William Wordsworth


Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt


There is no cosmetic for beauty like happiness. ~ Lady Blessington

Taking a Break

Hello all my dear neglected readers! I am sorry for the lack of posts but this past week has been pretty crazy. Being the last three weeks of school, there is lots to do. Last papers, finals, last projects, and being graduation time, I also have many graduation events coming up. As a result, I've decided to take a blogging break until school is over. That's three weeks m'dears. And after that, I shall hopefully have much to acquaint you with! Now here is a song to keep your feet tapping.

Enjoy the next three weeks and keep those smiles on! Until next time!


“Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest where you haven’t planted.” ~ David Bly


“The best way to finish an unpleasant task is to get started.” ~ Anonymous


“Procrastination is the thief of time.” ~ Edward Young


“Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.” ~ Yoda


“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” ~ Thomas Edison

Monday Favorites: My Mornings

It's Monday again and I've got another favorite to share with you! It's my morning routine! Maybe yours is similar to this?

My Bible and journals

 A cup of tea (preferably peppermint :))

 Scones

 The Sunrise

And the house I nanny at has a big window facing east! Perfect for watching the sky! Our God paints some pretty amazing sunrises. :)


Well, I hope you're enjoying your day! Keep your smile on! Until next time!

"Be pleasant until ten o'clock in the morning and the rest of the day will take care of itself." ~ Elbert Hubbard


"I'll tell you how the sun rose a ribbon at a time." ~ Emily Dickinson

Wishlist Thursday: A Dream

Hello and happy Thursday to all you lovely readers out there! Today's wish list item is actually a dream that I'd love to see come true! It has to do with this fantastical place:

That's right! Barnes & Noble! Someday, I want to write a book that I find in Barnes & Noble. I don't care what kind of book, just a book. That I wrote. That I can walk into the store, find, pick up, smell the scent of new paper, hear the spine crackle as I open it, read my name on the front cover and know that the words inside, I put there! How amazing would that be!!! 


Well, that's all I've got today. Enjoy your day and keep those smiles on! Until next time! 


"And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise.  The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt." ~ Sylvia Plath


"If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." ~ Toni Morrison


"It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by.  How else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the moment?  For the moment passes, it is forgotten; the mood is gone; life itself is gone.  That is where the writer scores over his fellows:  he catches the changes of his mind on the hop." ~ Vita Sackville-West


"Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart." ~ William Wordsworth

Monday Favorites: Book Series

Hello my Monday readers! I wanted to share a few of my favorite book series with you today! :) If you haven't read any of these, you really need to do so asap!

Elsie Dinsmore by Martha Finley

The Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

(A series of short stories)

And on my reading list still:

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

(I have read The Hobbit)

Ah me. Good stuff that! Well, enjoy the rest of your Monday! Keep those smiles on and until next time! 

“I declare after all that there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything but a book! When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library!” ~ Jane Austen