Visit from Mom and Dad

I had a GREAT weekend!  My parents came up from Indiana.  We had a wonderful time and I was so happy to see them.  Cody has been on the road for the past three weeks and won't be home until October so it was very nice to have some company for the weekend. 


They arrived late Friday night so we just watched a movie.  On Saturday, my mom and I got up early and headed to a fall festival we found online.  The festival was a few towns away and we had no idea where we were going but we found it!  The festival was pretty small but it was very cute.  My mom and I visited all the booths and saw all the crafts.  There hand-made crafts and yummy kettle corn.  It was a little chilly and we agreed it was a great way to kick off the fall season.  I got a hand-made hat and scarf set and I love them!

After the festival, we headed back to the mall near my apartment.  We bought way too much stuff but it was well worth it!  At Kohl's, I got two argyle sweaters.  They are very cozy and warm, which I'll need for these Michigan weathers!  I got a headband and a set of bracelets from Forever 21.  The headband has pearls and diamonds all around.  It will match a lot of my outfits because I wear my string of pearls at least four days a week.  The set of bracelets will look great with my rose-gold watch I got a couple of weeks ago.  My favorite purchase of the day came from JC Penney's.  It is a stunning leather jacket.  I have seen a lot of leather jackets lately and I love them!  I saw some in other stores that were pretty expensive but the one I got was on sale and it was definitely the cutest!  

I also visited Bath and Body Works.  This was were I spent the most time because I wanted to pick up some candles and air fresheners for our apartment.  The previous renters smoked in it so the smell has lingered.  I've sprayed a lot of Febreze but it didn't help much.  I got some Bath and Body Works products to see if that would help.  They were having their two for twenty candle sale.  I got two Leaves candles and two Pumpkin Caramel Latte candles.  I also got three wall flower plug ins with three Leaves scents.  Hopefully all the yummy scents will help.  I am also trying to soak up some carpet odor by sprinkling baking soda all over the floor and vacuuming it up a few hours later.  Do any of you have any remedies for getting rid of smelly smells?  

After all that shopping, Mom and I were bet.  Dad spent the day cleaning my car for me.  What a guy, right. ;)  We went out to dinner that night then watched some more movies.  Today, they joined me for church at my new church.  They loved the service and the preacher.  I really like going to this new church and I was glad to share it with my parents.  It was a great way to end the weekend!

I was so glad to have my mom and dad for a visit.  We had great time and I cannot wait for their next visit.  I am very blessed to have a wonderful husband and the best family in the world.  I thank God daily for each of them.  Thank you all so much for reading! Have a great week! 

My To-Go Bag

I have a confession.  I have a slight problem with buying purses.  I easily have about three million. As much as Hubs hates it, it is a fact of life that I love to shop and purses are my favorite. :)  With my pounds of purses, I have come up with a system to carry a few things I know I will need with me no matter where I'm going or what I'm doing.  I have complied a few necessities for my purse and I think I would do a blog post about my To-Go bag that travels with me from purse to purse. 

I have twelve items I carry in a small Vera Bradley bag.  My Vera bag moves from purse to purse as my outfits change each day.  It is small enough to fit in most of my purse but enough to hold everything I need.  I find myself reaching for each of these items a few times a day.  I use these items whether I am at work, at church, at dinner, or anywhere inbetween.  

1. Travel brush

2. Travel comb

3. Travel hair spray

4. Bundle of bobby pins (wrapped in a pony tail holder) 

5. Sample of perfume (Coach, from Sephora)

6. Tic-Tacs

7. CheapStick

8. Lip gloss (Drug Store brand)

9. Pink lip stick (Sephora)

10. Nude lip stick (Vera Wang)

11. Fresh Pick Pears anti-bacterial hand gel (Bath & Body Works)

12. Warm Apple Cider anti-bacterial hand gel (Bath & Body Works)

So those are the things that are in my To-Go bag.  Thank you for reading my blog!  Feel free to post a comment, I'd love to hear from you!  Have a wonderful day, everyone!

Checking Up

Hello again everyone.  I have been SUPER busy lately and have been running around like a crazy person.  Needless to say, I haven't made any blog updates in the past few weeks.  I thought I would do an update post to tell you all what I have been up to. 

Over Labor Day weekend, I traveled to Indianapolis for the NHRA US Nationals, Cody's biggest race of the year.  I was very excited to see our families for the first time in a several weeks and also to see Cody because he had been on the road for a few weeks before that weekend.  Unfortunately, it rained all weekend and the race had to be rescheduled for the following weekend.  I had to work that following weekend so I had to watch the race on TV.

To top off the disappointing weekend of rain, Cody broke his finger.  He got it caught in the wheel of the car. He had to get minor surgery and have a pin put in his finger.  He is totally fine now and he gets the pin removed in a few weeks. I had a good time with Cody and my family that weekend and it was nice to be back in our home state.  Here are a few pictures of the little bit of racing we got to see. 

My beautiful sister-in-law, Kari and I watching the race! 

Hanging out in pits during the rain delay.  The race was cancelled literally
two seconds after this picture was taken.  

Hubs and the rest of the team working on the car.   

Cody is part of the DHL team.  They are called the 'Yella Fellas.' :)

Cody's broken finger. Good grief.  

Aside from going to the race (well, not going to the race), I've been working at my new job!  I am working at a local radio station as a sales representative, selling commercial space.  I have only been there for about three weeks but I am already in love with it and I cannot wait to learn more about the sales world.  

There is one tiny down side to the new job.  The company has four stations, one of which broadcasts sport coverage of the University of Michigan.  The problem: I have a born and raised Hoosier - for life.  The station hosts a tailgate at each home Michigan game.  When I heard this I thought, alright I can go have a hot dog, socialize with everyone, and the Big House would be pretty awesome to see - I can do this.  Then they dropped the bomb on me.  I had to wear a UM t-shirt to the games.  What!  Ewwww.  So I against my better Hoosier-judgement, I bought a cheap UM t-shirt.  The good new is that I've worn it to two games and my skin hasn't burnt off.  Thankfully! 

The last update in my life is the new women's Bible study I just joined.  The new church we have been attending started its fall Bible study classes last week.  I joined the group study by Beth Moore called James Mercy Triumphs.  We are going to be studying the book of James and his life.  I saw Beth Moore once at my home church over a broadcast and fell in love with her.  What an incredible women and teacher!  I loved the first class of the study because the material was interesting but also because I met some great women.  They were all very sweet and willing to help me adjust to a new town.  I cannot wait to get to know them all better and to get farther into the class.  

That is what I've been up to lately! Thank you all so much for reading.  Leave me a comment!  Have a great day!

Highlights and Hubby and Tigers Oh My!

Yesterday I took a huge leap.  I took the jump into hair coloring!  Throughout my 22 years, I have never touched my hair with any color - at all.  I have been thinking about highlights a lot lately and yesterday, it finally happened.  I got my first set of highlights and I am in love! 

Shall we walk through the process of my appointment? When I got to the salon, my hairstylist and I started talking about what color I wanted.  I told her I wanted a mixture of caramel and honey colors.  I had a picture I found on Pinterest that I showed her.  She said it would look really good on me and we got to work.  

She sectioned off the hair she wanted to highlight then went and mixed up the color.  Then she started foiling.  By this time, I'm super nervous and about to pee my pants but I was also really excited to see how it was going to come out.  

Once I was done with my foils, things got a little confusing.  We went to the sink and it felt like I was getting my hair washed but then I had to sit under the drier for awhile then go back to the sink for a second time.  I think that had something to do with a toner?  Finally, we got back to the chair and I could see the color in my wet hair.  I was so blown away just with the wet hair that I couldn't wait to see what it looked like when it was styled.  Once she was done, she turned me around and saw it for the first time.  I was immediately in love. 


I am so glad I did it.  She said it turned out really well and it looked great.  We just did a few highlights because she said it would be a big change and she didn't wait me to get too much too soon.  In November, it will be about time for me to do it again so maybe then I'll try something even more exciting.  I am definitely still getting used to it.  I have a dark drown hair my whole life and even the few highlights I have are very different for me.  Nevertheless, I am very please with my choice and I can't wait to do it again!
After my hair adventure, Hubs and I headed to the Detroit Tigers game at Comerica Park.  He has wanted to go to a game since we moved to Michigan and last night we took the trip there.  It was a beautiful night and a perfect temperature for a ball game.  The Tigers were playing the Anaheim Angels and I am happy to report that the Tigers came away with a 5-3 win.  
We had pretty good seats.  We were a little high but we could see everything very well.  We had hot dogs, sang "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," and cheered when Prince Fielder came up to bat.  It was a great night at the ball game and we hope we can go back again soon.  

Let me know if you have any hair tips for a hair color newbee.  Anything I need to know before getting my next set of highlights?  What do you think of my new hair?  What was it like for you during your first hair color experience?  I hope you all had a great weekend and have a wonderful week!  Thanks for reading!

Kid Talk Week Two

Here we go for a second week of Kid Talk Thursday (even though today is Friday, oops).  My little ones are always funny but these week's comment made me fall over laughing! 

Miss Allie my mommy is leaving but she'll be back at the end of class! 

That's fine, sweetie.  What is she doing today? 

She went to "Backpoppers."

"Backpoppers!?" What is that?

It's when she goes to the doctor and gets her back all popped.

You mean the chiropractor?

Yeah that!

I loved it!  Cute little gymnasts say the best things! Thanks for reading everyone! Have a great weekend! 

New Thirty-One Bags

 I received a lovely package in the mail yesterday.  I went to a Thirty-One party at our apartment complex a few weeks ago and order two bags.  I was so excited for them to get here and when they arrived yesterday I knew I had to share them with you.  

I fell in love with Thirty-One products when I went to a party in Indiana.  I went to the party will little expectations.  I have been a Vera Bradley girl for years and I didn't know if Thirty-One would live up to what I knew Vera had to offer.  The party showed me how great the produce are and that they are a little less expensive than Vera.  I saw how great the bags were that I decided I wanted to give my bridesmaids bags for their gifts.  I had my own Thirty-One party and got an AMAZING deal on the bags.  My girls loved them!  It was a great way for them to carry all of their things to and from the wedding.  Here's a picture of all of us with our beautiful bags! Don't worry, I'm still a Vera girl too. ;)

Gorgeous girls and our bags! My eyes are totally closed but the ladies look beautiful with their monogrammed Cindy Tote bags!

This is the cute box my bags came in.  When this box arrived, I ran inside and ripped it open to find my awesome new bags! The Fed-Ex guy was speechless.  Haha.  

The first bag I got was this Organizing Shoulder Bag in the design Lotsa Dots.  I'm in love!  

This is my new U R U Thermal Tote.  I think bring my lunch to work will save money and will be a healthier alternative to fast food.  I think it is super cute and I can't wait to use it!  I also love this bag because Thirty-One donates to a their foundation to promote positive young girls.  I love this idea and I wanted to donate to this great foundation.   

I'm very happy with my new bags.  They were not super expensive and I know they will be great quality.  Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day! 

His & Hers Q&A

I saw this link up at Love the Gowns.  I thought it was really cute!  As I write this post, Cody is on his way home from a race.  I thought we could do this "together" through texting.  Enjoy our answers!

Your house is on fire. What five items do you grab before you leave?

C: Change of clothes, shoes, money, cell phone, water bottle.
A: Bible, pearls from my aunt, tennis shoes, blankets, wedding photo album.
If you could be/had to be the main character of any movie, who would you be?
C: Danny Ocean from Ocean's Eleven.

A: Either Elle Woods from Legally Blonde or Melanie Carmichael from Sweet Home Alabama!
What physical feature do you love most about yourself?
C: Smile.
A: The freckle under my left eye.

Tell us why your name is your name. And if you don't have (or know) an answer, make one up.
C: My mom liked the names Cody and Ryan. My dad put them in order: Cody Ryan Bland. 
A: My dad liked the song Allison by Elvis Costello.   

What is the greatest place you've ever traveled to?
C: The Carolina's.
A: Australia.
Are you a morning person or a night person?
C: Morning person.

A: Definitely a night owl.
Who is someone you wish you were closer to?
C: Family who past away before we met.
A: My grandpa.
What quality do you have that you hope your kids inherit?
C: Working hard and never quitting. 
A: My out-going personality. 

What's your favorite memory with your childhood best friend?
C: Playing little league football with my friends. 
A: Each fall, my best friend and I would play in the leaves and plan our weddings.

If you had to move out of the country where would you move to?
C: Australia. A: Australia. Obviously we're on the same page. ;) 

We really liked doing this Q&A.  Thanks for reading everyone! Have a great day!