2013: Year in Review

These past few weeks have been insane but as a whole, 2013 has flown by!! Can't believe it's  2014! Crazy!!! 

January & February

We got snow, and lots of it! THON occurred in February and $12,374,034.46 was raised for pediatric cancer! WOOOO! 

March

I turned 20 and started this little blog of mine! 

April

I finished my 2 years in Altoona...headed to UP in the fall!! YAY

May

May was a complete blur, scenery are the only pictures I have. Working every day consumed my life! 

June

I attended a cousins wedding and had a great time and visited the beach! 

July

I became the proud new owner of a (used!) Santa Fe! I also was able to have a girls night at the Phillies game with my best girls! At the end of the month, my Momma and I saw Wicked.....LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!! 

August 

August was hands down one of my favorite months. Vacation to Charleston, SC, family friend's wedding (absolutely STUNNING!!), annual mother & daughter dinner and so much more!

September

Football is back! Don't quite remember what else happened in September 

October

October was definitely a tough one. Classes were brutal and in the midst of all of it, I lost my Grandfather. I luckily was able to get a few days extra at home to spend with family and that was a tremendous blessing. 

I also made an AWESOME dinner, my favorite, eggplant parmesan. It was killer if I say so myself ;)

November

November was an awesome month! Every weekend leading up to Thanksgiving break something was going on... canning and my best friend coming to visit

December

I loved finishing one of my toughest semesters and being able to spend majority of December at home with my family

2013 was so beyond good to me and I've learned so much about myself which has been an amazing journey. I'm excited to see what 2014 has in store!!

Five On Friday

I can't believe it's already Friday!! This week has flown by and in no way am I complaining! Being swamped with school definitely helped the days pass quickly- super thankful for that!

As always I'm linking up with my Five on Friday gals!

Natasha | Christina | April | Darci | 

...one... Lately, my facebook has been FLOODED with videos, most of the time I would just keep scrolling. Until, the sweet face below instantaneously caught my attention. I stopped. Clicked on the link and waited for it to load. Y'all...I was speechless. This video was amazing. I was so moved, I even shared it on my page. There's so much goodness around us, but sad that something unbelievably tragic has to happen in order to see all of the goodness. Thinking of the Sandy Hook families as the one year anniversary approaches. Rest in Peace Sweet Emily. You can watch it HERE!!! It's less than 5 minutes of your time! I recommend it to everyone!!

...two... Mid-week pick me up's from sweet friends can make your days so much brighter! Plus, Reeses? I will never ever turn you down! 

...three... Linking up with {av} for Friday Fancies! This may be my favorite fashion post to date. I was browsing around the internet and found this gown....um, SWOON!? So classy! I'm also not usually a navy + black kinda girl but love the combo in this dress. I wish I could a) had the budget to afford this dress and b) had a holiday party to wear it! I think I also found my new FAVORITE perfume. I've always had trouble finding "my" scent and one of my girly girls was spraying it a few days ago and the yummy-ness caught my attention. Bath and Body Works, go treat yourself!! 

....four.... Done with this class FOREVER!!!!!!! *Que screaming and jumping up and down like a 5 year old* I can't even begin to tell you how stressful this semester was and I am oh so glad it's over! Life of an aspiring Speech Language Pathologist! :)

...five... This will be my motto all of Christmas Break. 3 exams down, 3 more to go + 1 paper. SO. CLOSE. 

Tired.

It's Wednesday. I'm tired. My to-do list is over a mile long, finals are slowly creeping upon me. It's just a down right crazy time in the semester. I'm ready for a break and to be with my sweet family. My mind is constantly racing about everything, I just feel like I'm on a treadmill. I'm overwhelmed. 

So many things I "need" to do or a break from right now. What I REALLY truly need is Jesus. I need to spend time with Him and soak Him in. He knows whats on my heart. 

I saw this on Erin's blog and it's a great constant reminder. 

OK. Sorry for that major rant. I needed to let it out and my blog is supposed to be an outlet, right? 

There are so many things to be thankful for and I should be focusing on them instead of the negatives in my life right now that are completely out of my control!!! 

Here's a sweet little pup to make this Wednesday brighter! :)

Traditions: Christmas Cards

I don't know why but I love the tradition of Christmas cards. They've been a favorite for as long as I can remember. Each year I love seeing the different designs, if people sent picture cards, traditional cards, if they wrote a note. etc. I LOVE seeing the detail of each and every one of them. It's so fun to see everyone's unique style!

I'm no where near sending out my own christmas cards, but I just HAD to look at my favorite sites to see their designs this year. Here are some of my favorites:

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Only 15 sleeps until Christmas!!!

Girly Girl gifts under $100!

Linking up with Elise and Jen of course!! I've had so much fun linking up with these ladies the last few weeks. I'm sad the part-ay is ending!! 

Below are gifts that I'd be more than likely giving to my Besties. We're all such girly girls and I wouldn't want it any other way. If I had unlimited funds I would definitely be spoiling them with these goodies!  :)  

one and two Kate Spade. enough said. Her sayings crack me up, and those bangles....LOVE. I know it's supposed to be for bridesmaids but, oh well! 

three I always find it convenient to have extra cosmetic bags on hand, ya never know when you're going to need one! I always have one in my purse carrying lipstick, advil, eye drops etc. It comes in super handy!! 

four Rosemary Mint from Aveda is one of my favorite scents. There's something about it that I find so relaxing and refreshing! 

five A few months ago pictures and quotes from The Single Woman were practically blowing up my instagram (krd5170). I wondered what all the fuss was about. I looked into more information and the book sounded really interesting. One Sunday morning, I finally went to Barnes and Noble and purchased this book. I seriously recommend it to ALL the single ladies. It will change your life. This book is amazing and so uplifting when you're down in the dumps. I've only read a few of the chapters but it's given me so much more confidence. Check out Mandy's website too (link posted above!) I've told my girlfriends multiple times, it's a must read....needless to say they'll probably be getting this for christmas from me :) 

six monogram + mason jar....perfection! Super cute and spill proof! Yay!

seven another one of my favorites...a jewelry roll! They're so compact, yet fit so much!! OH and it's Lilly...need I say more!? Necessity in my eyes!

eight J.Crew scarf? Don't have to ask me twice! I'm in love with the color too and it's a perfect pop of color in the dull landscapes of winter! 

I worked ALL weekend so needless to say, I haven't started my Christmas shopping yet and I feel super behind!! Cyber Monday's are going to become my best friend since I probably won't have much time to shop with finals quickly approaching!

Hope y'all are having a lovely Tuesday!!

22 days until Christmas!!!!!!!!