Five Things

~ Believe it or not, the ice made me happy ~

This week was a crazy one. As you know from my last post, we had an ice storm here in Florida which pretty much never happens. My family has been in Pensacola for nearly 20 years and other than the light flurries of 2010, none of us have ever seen snow or ice on the ground here. It made me miss Chicago. In fact, I was probably the only person in Florida that was really excited for this weather! Crazy, right?

A Florida Snow Day

Or should I say "ice" day? We didn't actually get any snow. Mostly just freezing rain that froze solid overnight. But here in Florida, that's the closest we've been to snow since 2010 and I believe 1993 before that.School has been cancelled again tomorrow due to road conditions. We don't have access to salt here so we have to wait until the ice melts. It was nice to see some cold winter weather but I'm ready for it to be Florida again. But for now it's time for some homemade soup and hot cocoa!

Five Things

~ Super cute card holders ~

This week has been a stressful one. With Kendra's memorial service, construction continuing in the house and stress at school, it hasn't been an easy week. But there have been a few fun times sprinkled in. 

Pinterest Discoveries

This past weekend, I experimented with a few Pinterest recipes I've been wanting to try. I made dinner both Saturday and Sunday for friends and family. Saturday was a sweet and sour chicken, potato and broccoli night while Sunday was a lemon and garlic chicken and pasta with a quick Greek salad night. 

All recipes were found on Pinterest:
Baked sweet and sour chicken - link!
Salt and pepper potatoes - link!
Broccoli Sauté - link!
Lemon garlic chicken - link!
Lemon garlic pasta with basil and pine nuts - link!

SATURDAY:

SUNDAY:

And the World Spins Madly On

Yesterday I attended the memorial service of a high school friend, Kendra Fendt, who lost her battle with pneumonia on January 9th, 2014. 

On November 11th of last year, Kendra (who was then pregnant with her only child) was admitted to Sacred Heart Hospital. She had developed the flu and pneumonia at the same time. Kendra's health declined fast and on November 12th, the doctors took her baby. Kendra was airlifted to UAB in Birmingham where she fought for her life for two months. She never got the chance to meet baby Meredith. She'll never hold or kiss or read stories to her miracle child who in turn will never meet the mother that dreamt of and prayed for her for so many years.

Five Things

~A beautiful Wedding Almond cupcake from OhSnap! Bakery~

With school starting up again and all the projects going on around the house, I find that by the time the weekend rolls around I'm feeling worn out and stressed. So I got this idea from a fellow blogger and I think it'll really help end the week on a more positive note. 

Grandpa Bruno's Spaghetti

Last night we had a few friends over for dinner sort of on a whim. My dad had made my great-grandfather's spaghetti sauce last week and froze several plastic containers of it. Since we had so many people over on short notice, it was just easier to serve pasta so we thawed the sauce and cooked two boxes of ditalini. 

Travel Series | Dublin

May 18th-22nd, 2013: We left London by Virgin train bound for Hollyhead in Wales. From there, we took a ferry to the Dublin port. 

Jewelry Organization

Through my youth, I was a bit of a tomboy. I wasn't very into makeup and I seldom wore jewelry. I had a couple rings I liked to wear and in college, I wore my sorority lavalier that was given to me by my "big". Other than that, I never wore much. But lately, I've been noticing a draw to all things girly, particularly jewelry. My favorite thing in the world right now is rose gold. I've never seen such a beautiful color.

A Bittersweet Day

Earlier this morning, I walked to the first class of my last semester at the University of West Florida. I've spent the last 2 years working on my bachelor's degree in economics to add to my previously earned bachelor's in journalism. 

After class today, I planned to go straight home but as I walked to my car, I had another idea. I decided to walk around campus instead. After all, this would be the last time I find myself on campus for the first day of school so why rush away from all the excitement? I walked through the Commons and wandered around the busy bookstore. I walked by the tennis courts and the College of Professional Studies where I took my first economics course with Dr. Giglason, then the Science and Engineering building where I took my Business Calculus class with Dr. Ncube. I finished my stroll at the College of Business where I spent all last year taking business core classes. It's been a crazy ride but I've learned so much and met so many great people that I hope will remain friends for many years to come.

As of today I'm officially in my last semester. I can't believe it's almost over.

Best of Pinterest DIY

I could spend hours playing around on Pinterest, discovering new ideas and fun projects. There are so many DIY projects I want to try so today, I'm going to share my favorites all from my own Pinterest board, Creative Inspiration.