Thursday, August 16, 2012

Girl Crushes

Don't know what a girl crush is? See Jenna Marbles. Here are my current top 3 in ascending order :)
*Note: These are NOT necessarily in correlation with the Jenna Marbles "tiers."

3) McKayla Maroney


2) Taylor Swift


3) Christina Aguilera! (She will always be first.)


Just thought I'd share :) Not ashamed.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

"How much does a walrus cost?"

Today, was lovely :) I started my morning off by leading middle school Sunday school. I definitely could not have done it without my friends/fellow youth leaders, but all in all I think it went pretty well! Service was really great, and hanging out at Stony Point afterwards was a nice time as well.

This afternoon, I had plans with two girls I've known for almost 10 years. I haven't seen them in about a year, and my how they have grown and changed! With one of them being 13, and the other 10; it is just so crazy! I loved being able to just talk to them and find out what's going on in their life :) We got some Starbucks, grabbed dinner at Arby's, and then came back to my house to watch a movie. Emily selected 50 First Dates :) Twas quite funny, but what Emily and I really took away from it is that we want to adopt a walrus (just like the one in the movie).


He was so cute! And she was being dead serious, she wants to adopt one and keep it at Sea World. Haha. I told her I'd go in on it 50/50 ;)

My relationship with these girls is so important to me, because I want them to know that the good decision they're making are worthwhile, and that you can live happily without succumbing to peer pressure. Grace in particular is at that age where that is so important, and she is doing splendidly! I am so proud of her, and I admire her level head despite the craziness that she is surrounded by even amongst her friends. And she's been a good older sister to Emily, which also brings me joy. That little girl is one of the sweetest things ever, and it comforts me to know that she can respect and look up to her older sister :) I love them, very much! I will never be too old to hang-out and act silly with them :)






In closing, this reunion performance at the Olympics Closing Ceremony had me geeking out:


Spice Girls, that you for being present in my childhood, and for gracing us all with an encore performance to momentarily relive that 90s glory we miss so much. It was both enjoyed and appreciated!

Goodnight all!

Think artsy!

Well, today I was determined to make my cloth-covered cork board! I found this tutorial a couple of months ago, and since then I knew I wanted to have one in the Fishbowl :) I didn't follow the tutorial exactly, but I did so enough to be satisfied with the result:


I cut the cork a little smaller than I should have, but it is hardly noticeable. And honestly, it was so hard to cut the cork material that I was NOT about to go through the trouble of re-doing it! Haha. The frame was provided by my mother; everything else was courtesy of Hobby Lobby :)

Now, a few weeks ago, my mother so kindly brought me a large, aged window that used to be a part of a church in West Virginia. Originally, I thought the window was paned (thus being easily turned into a "Pintrest-perfect" picture frame). Well, the window was actually pane-less, so I needed to think beyond the box. Keeping in mind the way in which I hung pictures on my dorm-room wall last year, I decided to try this as a means of photo display:


I think I like the clothesline style in the window frame. But then again, I haven't encountered or pondered any opposing ideas. If you have suggestions, please feel free to leave them in a comment! Oh yeah, I've also put an antique finish on all of the pictures that I plan to "hang in the window," so to say :) I think it will look neat that way! (Well, at least I hope so.)

Aside from that, I wanted to share this little gem I stumbled across today. Oh, how I do love McKayla Marooney :) (For those who are confused, this article explains it!)

Goodnight loves!

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Nadia Comaneci

Okay, so those who know me are aware of my obsession with Olympic artistic gymnastics. I was all about the Fab Five this year. My Twitter feed has had more gymnastics on it than anything else. But anyways, those "Go World" commercials kept mentioning the first Olympic "perfect ten" in history, and I saw that it was earned by gymnast Nadia Comaneci. Naturally, my curiosity led my to Youtube to see what this routine was about. Y'all, this sport had changed SO MUCH since 1976! Just watch this video.



Now, let's compare that to the bar routines today...


(Mustafina from Russia.)

And how about beam? Comaneci scored a 10 there as well!



And today:


(Deng Linlin who won Gold on this event for China.)

Now, I love how the standards of difficulty have progressed over time, but I do wish the routines still had the element of grace that Nadia displays. Everything flows, and it truly looks like a routine     as opposed to a sequence of skills. That, and she just legitimately looks like she is having fun!

That's something that you don't see very often. Part of the reason I loved Shawn Johnson and love Gabby Douglas is because they would leave the floor smiling from ear-to-ear! I don't know, I just like to see people doing what they love, and being able to tell that they really enjoy doing it :)


By the way, I am in no way trying to bash today's artistic gymnasts, because I happen to really love them.... a lot. Haha. I just wish I could take their talent and intensity and blend it with some of that 1976 brand of poise, which one Youtube commenter referred to as "ballet on beam" (in response to her balance beam performance, of course). She looked like the bubbly, spirited 14 year old that she was, and I thought that was pretty cool :)

So yeah, that was my rant. Haha. In other news, I am going to she are my highlight of the day: Midnight Waffle House trip with Chandler, Jesse, Carlton, Ashlee, Elizabeth, and Julie :) I LOVE MY FRIENDS! Goodnight all :)

Friday, August 10, 2012

Haircut :)

Before:


After:


Yes, it's pretty subtle :) The original plan was to get side-swoop bangs; I had every intention of doing that. Then, Shelly (who is nothing short of PHENOMENAL!) starting doing my layers. She was examining the front of my head when she goes, "Oh hey cowlick..." Yes, my pesky cowlick makes bangs risky; it's why I've always been so hesitant about getting them. She looked at me through the mirror and sid, "Okay. I can either do strong layers in the front to frame your face. Or you can be bold and go through with the bangs... and possibly look like Alfalfa." Yeah... The Little Rascals look isn't really what I was going for. Haha. But I love the cut :) I have my layers back, and I think it's classy. Shelly really knows what she's doing!


To follow up my haircutting endeavor, I met Julie and Ashlee for boba :) Ashlee is considering starting SAO at UVA, and she just wanted to hang out and get to ask us some questions. All of that information is a bit overwhelming, but God's will shall be done! And if His plan is for her to start the sorority there, then it will be done :) Ashlee is so ambitious; it's a beautiful trait that I truly admire about her :)

That's all for today! Goodnight, my loves!

Thursday, August 9, 2012

One, two, three, four!

1) I have my Purple Neptune back!


This beautiful piece of machinery has been greatly missed, and it runs better than when I bought it! No more hiccup, y'all! Do you know what this means?! I don't have to enter borderline panic-attack mode when trying to get out of a parallel parking space! HUZZAH!

2) I got my first school book in the mail. Guess what it is....

YES! THE BIBLE! I actually really love that the first one to get here was none other than God's holy word :) It's for my New Testament/Life of Jesus course. I cannot wait for my brain to be filled with more spiritual knowledge! For real.

3) Shenanigans with my church crew make me so happy :) I just love the methods that we utilize to all get together and have a good time. I can't think of a better group to laugh, fellowship, and goof off with :) I LOVE YOU GUYS!

4) I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow! I'll post a pic :)

Goodnight all!

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Heather's hair cut!

Saturday,  August 4, 2012 (aka last Saturday)

My beautiful best friend decided that she wanted a change in style. So, lo and behold, she decided to go pixie! Check it!

 The before picture! (Thank you, Shelly!)

All chopped off and ready to donate!

 Shelly's doin her thang ;)

 There was hair.... everywhere!

Now you see it...

Tah-dah! Now you don't!

She looks SO adorable! I cannot even handle it :)

After cheering on the bestie, stopping into a shop across the street (and running into a co-worker), I headed over to get some boba. And though I did get some, I got two to go so that Heather and I could both enjoy it while we waited for her car to get opened. Yeah, she kind of locked herself out of her car; haha! But I mean hey, it happens :) And being there is what best friends are for! Haha.

From there, it was off to Jessica's baby shower! Yes, little AJ is coming soon; and he is going to look adorable in this little onesie I delivered on Heather's behalf :)

Dawww!

She is going to be such an incredible mom! I can't wait to see little baby Andrew :)

And for any who were thinking, "Uhh Steph, what was going on between the 26th of July and the 4th of August?", let me cut it short. I still don't have my car. Church activities and Teen Wolf screenings have continued as per usual, with this amazing and sacrificial love/help of my friends. I've been using my sister's car to get to work and such, but that should (hopefully) be over tomorrow.

Quick recap of Sunday (the 5th): After helping with Sunday school, I ended up not attending service, but instead took an opportunity to fellowship with my little love, Juliana. I hadn't had a heart-to-heart with her in quite some time, and it was really nice to have to share her heart and life as-of-recent with me. That girl is such a treasure; to know her and see her thrive is a blessing. After church, I hit up Stony point with some friends, and even ran into a group of my middle schoolers. I talked to most of that group more this Sunday than I ever had, and boy are they something! They are so witty, so funny, and can even roll with sarcasm. And two of them were texting me within 15 minutes of my departure, haha. I have new middle school friends, y'all. And I love it!

After some school supply shopping, I rendez-voused at Annemarie's Pintrest-perfect house before heading over to the Senior cookout :) We hung out, ate some food, made some plans, and simply enjoyed each other's company :) Once it got later, us youth leaders (and a few other cool kids) partook in some good-natured, spontaneous, and incredibly fun shenanigans :) I have an amazing community     such a loving family. Blessed by the best, truly truly! That is something I must always remember.

The Bar Exam: July 23-26, 2012

Let the game of catch-up begin.

About two weeks go,  I went to help with Bar Exam distribution for work. I was assigned to the largest testing room, where over 900 of our 1,500+ applicants were placed.


Setting up was tedious, the testing days were long (12+ hours of work), and packing for departure was a little hectic; but overall it was alright. I'd do it again, I'd say. Only next year, I hope to not have to call 911 for a man having a seizure (yep, did that), and I hope to not have to deal with immaturity. Yes, I re-discovered my lack of tolerance for a failure to act one's age. It happens.

On another note, Roanoke is SUCH a cute city! I loved it :)


And, while I was there, I got to see my beautiful Little on her birthday! Which also meant that I could give her the present I'd been working on! Yes, I can finally share the photo with you. In addition to delivering her family shirt, I made her this:

We have a thing for mustaches ;)

I also have one to match :) To my knowledge, she really likes it! That makes me so happy; I can't even tell you. I just like giving to/doing things for others.

SPEAKING OF! I can finally show you a finished picture of that project I mentioned a while back. While John and Nikki were in Brazil, a group of us leaders went to their house and helped fix-up their back deck a little bit. They have the PERFECT back yard in my opinion, and they are always such gracious hosts. Thus, I was so happy to get to show them some love by putting some TLC into the deck with fellow leaders/friends :) Staining, mulching, board reinforcing, and adding new rocks to the center, at the end of the day (even though I had to leave a little earlier) we had this:


Beautiful :) Nikki and John deserve nothing less!