As the sun goes down…

Oh, this weekend. I’m so thankful for this past weekend. It held moments of sweetness as I spent time with even sweeter friends. There were frozen yogurt and ice cream dates. A dinner date with a soul sister. Target adventures. Bathing suit shopping. Sleeping in. Studying at the park.

But one of my favorite things to do as the sun starts to go down is to roll the windows down in the car and sing loudly to the radio with one of my roomies. So much fun to have a jam session while our hair whips back and forth!

These moments are the best as I start to prepare for finals that start this week. My other favorite thing to do as the sun starts to go down is run around campus and the nearby neighborhoods.

I’m ready for a new week, friends! Hope you have lots of sunshine this week. :)

Weekend & Sunshine

Good morning, sweet ladies! It was absolute gloriousness in Tennessee this weekend. Sunshine. Blue skies. 70 degrees. Warmth. Can you say hello spring?! On Saturday, I spent quality time with two friends and then enjoyed a girls’ night in with one of them. It was perfect to bake cookies, eat popcorn, talk, and watch The Hunger Games. Then on Sunday afternoon I took a blanket over to the park and just basked in the sunshine. It couldn’t have been more relaxing. I’m thankful for sunshine and weekends on this Monday morning.

Mexican dinner and frozen yogurt date.

Sunday afternoon at the park. Perfection.

The clouds hid the sun away so I took a short nap. Love these afternoons.

Go out and choose joy this week, friends!

Little Joys

After a long week, I decided to go home for the weekend. As soon as all of my kids were picked up on Friday I hopped in my car to head home. I only live 45 minutes away from my small college town and it truly is one of my favorite drives. I drove into the sunset on winding roads (love it!). I spent the weekend just hanging out with my parents and enjoying every second of it.

Conversation. Delicious dinners. Catching up on Downton Abbey. Wal-Mart trip. Starbucks. Laughter. Sunshiny afternoons. Four wheeler rides.

Saturday afternoon four wheeler rides.

Adventuring.

If only more Wal-Mart parking lots had mountain views…

While I was home, I also received some great behavior management tips from my mom (she just retired from 30 years of teaching). I work at the early learning center on my campus and I’m currently the afternoon teacher for the 2 1/2 – 3 year old class. Although most of my kids are already 3! Anyway, they’re a really fun but challenging age group. Last week was a particularly difficult week and my mom offered valuable advice that I’m excited to implement.

I’ve started to write down the funny things these kids say and do that make me smile and I wanted to share them with you all! Their funniness and sweetness far outweighs the stressful moments and I want to be sure to remember that…

While we were on the playground one of the other teachers asked one of my boys how old he was. He looked up at her before responding very seriously, “I’m just small.”

During free play in the classroom, one of my boys was just randomly singing "I Will Wait" by Mumford & Sons. That definitely made me smile because most preschoolers don’t sing that!

Another little girl stared randomly singing “Gangnam Style” while we were putting a puzzle together. I thought that was too cute!

After helping one of my boys zip up his vest, he looked up at me and said, “WOW, I LOOK SUPER COOL!”  Oh goodness…melt my heart.

Two of my girls had a very serious “argument” about how to pronounce my name. One of the girls calls me “Miss SamanSA” so the other girl saw it as her duty to tell her that my name is actually “Miss SamanTHA.” I promise they went back and forth about this for at least three minutes. I thought it was too funny to interrupt!

May your Monday be filled with happiness as a new week starts!

Weekend & Sunshine

{Hello sunshine! It makes me one happy girl.}

Oh weekends. I just love these two days and this past weekend did not disappoint.

Let me start with Friday…there was glorious sunshine! After nine days straight of rain, the sunshine was welcomed with joy. There was something special about Friday. It seemed like every body had a little extra joy and that was also true of my sweet kids at work. On Friday afternoon, we danced and sang songs, but mostly I just enjoyed getting more insight into their personalities. As soon as I left work, I headed back to meet one of my roomies. We were the only two here this weekend so we decided to have a girls’ night with the two of us. SO. MUCH. FUN. We made puppy chow and danced in the kitchen. The kitchen dancing turned into our own little dance party. We danced for nearly an hour and were sweating by the time we stopped! I felt like I was back in middle school, but it was the best feeling to just let loose.

On Saturday, my parents drove over and we did a little shopping. We started the morning with oatmeal and americanos at Starbucks (yum!). I had such a sweet time spending the day with them in my college town. Later that evening I had a pancake dinner with a few of my friends and enjoyed that time with them. Not to mention the banana chocolate chip pancakes they made! I definitely ate well this weekend.

Sunday was another day full of richness. The morning started with church which was such a time of grace and truth. I came away simultaneously challenged and refreshed. The afternoon was also a favorite…homework while listening to my Billie Holiday Pandora station. The blinds were opened and natural light flooded the living room. It was so cozy.

{I’m thankful for Sunday afternoons.}

I hope your weekend was filled to overflowing with sunshine and sweet moments!

Weekend Recap

Sadly, this is the only picture I have from this weekend. I’ll do better next time. Ha!

Girls, I had the absolute best weekend. After I left work on Friday I went to Target to do a little shopping. I convinced myself that I just had to stop by Starbucks before I started to walk around…the caffeine definitely gave the extra boost I needed after working with three year olds all afternoon. I must have looped around Target no less than four times as I gathered everything I had on my shopping list. I really enjoyed having alone time as I walked around. It’s amazing how much refreshment a trip to Target and Starbucks provides.

Later that evening I watched Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rear Window,” and oh it was so good. It was suspenseful and captured my attention immediately. Then add in Grace Kelly’s timeless beauty and Jimmy Stewart’s class to the mix. I definitely suggest watching it if you get the chance! I also registered for classes in the spring when registration opened up at midnight. I was able to get in all of the classes I need/want. Yay!

Everything about Saturday was perfect and lovely. First of all, I got to sleep in! Since I have 7:45am and 8am classes every day I always look forward to the Saturdays that I don’t have to set an alarm. Once I woke up slowly I spent the afternoon relaxing. Late Saturday afternoon a group of girls from my hall met up with a group of guys from another dorm. We drove about 30 minutes out of town to go hiking and have a bonfire. We got there as the sun was setting and hiked to an overhanging bluff. Most of the hike was hand over foot, but it was so much fun and definitely worth it. When we got to the top the sun finally sank down and the night sky was lit up with stars.

We roasted hotdogs and had s’mores on the bonfire. The wind made the direction of the flames change directions often as we soaked in the crisp November night. We eventually let the fire die out and then star gazed. That was my absolute favorite. There weren’t any city lights. There weren’t any traffic sounds. I simply laid there in awe of my Creator. It was just perfect. When we hiked down the mountain the only light to guide us was that of a few flashlights. There were many times where I had to slide onto my bottom because I couldn’t see in front of me. Oh, but it was so much fun.

On Sunday, I woke up to start getting ready for church, but my lower back was in pain and I felt nauseous so I decided to stay home. I crawled back into bed and went back to sleep. Those extra two hours curled up helped tremendously with the pain. I spent the rest of the day studying for Biology while listening to The Civil Wars and Gungor. It was an all together lovely weekend.

P.S. Gungor’s new album, a creation liturgy, is incredible! I highly recommend listening to it. 

If you’re reading this…

If you’re reading this at 8:30 AM, I am probably stumbling into my kitchen to pour myself a cup of coffee. I’ll have messy hair and a huge smile on my face because I’m getting to spend the weekend at home.

If you’re reading this at 9:30 AM, I am probably sitting in the rocking chairs on the front porch with my sweet friend, Kelsie. We may be talking or we may be digging into the Word quietly on our own.

If you’re reading this at 11 AM, Kelsie and I are probably on our way to Blue Ridge, Georgia to explore and shop around at a few thrift stores.

If you’re reading this at 1 PM, the two of us are still off having adventures.

If you’re reading this at 3 PM, we are probably laughing and talking in the car on our way back home.

If you’re reading this at 5 PM, we may be sitting around talking to my parents or off on a four wheeler ride exploring the area (and seeing all the fall leaves).

If you’re reading this at 8 PM, we are probably deep in another conversation while we make smores. Yum!

I wrote this post ahead of time because I’m home in North Carolina on fall break right now! My close friend, Kelsie, is spending the first part with me and my extended family is coming in on Saturday night. I hope each of you has a weekend full of cool weather, friends, and family! I’ll be back next week with lots of pictures from this weekend.

Kelsie and I earlier this week…