What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I'm Loving...

That my church's Trunk or Treat event was a great success! My Sunday School class and the kids loved my Dr. Seuss decorations, I was so pleased how well they turned out. I found a cute Cat in the Hat headpiece, so I wore that and made my own costume to go with it (although for a while the sweater and fur boots were very warm since the temperatures decided to climb into the mid-80s on Sunday). Two ladies from my class wore Thing One and Thing Two costumes they bought online. The photo frame prop I made was a huge hit, everyone loved it, including the adults! I think I might make one for my class' Christmas party next month. :)

With Thing One and Thing Two

Even dogs loved getting their photos taken!

I'm Loving...

My new hairdo. I got my hair highlighted last weekend (for the first time in over 10 years). I have an awesome hair stylist named Afsana and she did a fantastic job. She curled it (just to show off the highlights), but sadly I can never get my hair to look as good as she does when I try to curl it. But I still thing it looks good even when it's not curled.

I know, I look glamorous... Lol

A before and after of the back of my hair

For one day at least, my hair looked super cute. I loved how she blended the highlights

Afsana is the best!

I think it still looks good even when it's straight. I love it!

I'm Loving...

Girls Night Out. Some friends and I met up for a Girls Night Out last Friday night. We were supposed to go an outdoor showing of the movie Hocus Pocus but it was insanely cold and we didn't want to sit out for over 2 hours in the cold wind, so we just had a long dinner instead. These ladies are awesome, so glad we got to hang out!

While we waited for our food, we played around on Snapchat (mainly sending the snaps to each other- we are nerds). Lol.

Once I got home, I threw an extra blanket on my bed and watched TV the rest of the night.

I love my weather app, it's called Weather Pup. It shows a different dog each time you open it. :)

I'm Loving...

This new photo filter app I downloaded called Deep Art Effects- it has super cool effects. These are just a few of them....

 What are YOU loving today?

XOXO!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I'm loving...

That I was able to attend Dallas Fan Days last weekend. I wasn't going to go until they added Bruce Boxleitner to the guest list. When I was six, I would watch Scarecrow and Mrs. King with my sister Mary, so I HAD to meet him. He was so nice. I even got a hug. And yes, I even bought Scarecrow and Mrs. King off of Amazon Prime instant streaming so I could reminisce. :) I also met Ruth Connell from the show Supernatural. Her character Rowena is so horrible but she's really super sweet in person. She's also very soft spoken (her character is very loud). 

Ran into my friend Matt while I was there!

Mandy and I met at my first Comic Con back in 2014- we were so excited that we got to see each other again!

I'm loving...

That I don't have to have shoulder surgery (at least the orthopedic doctor doesn't believe I will have to have it). Last month I started having a pain in my shoulder and when it didn't go away after a few days, my primary doctor recommended that I see an orthopedic surgeon. Two office visits and one $500 MRI later, it was discovered that I have subacromial bursitis. I got two cortisone shots in my shoulder and have been doing at-home physical therapy to see if that fixes the issue. So far the pain has gotten better, so I'm hoping it's a good sign. I have one ugly looking bruise from the shots though (see photo below. If bruises gross you out, keep scrolling). 

Before my MRI. I couldn't wear any clothing with metal on it, so I wore this

This is 10 days after receiving my shots. I assume this is normal?

I'm loving...

That some friends and I got to go to the Lone Survivor Foundation celebrity softball game a few weeks ago. It was a lot of fun and we got to meet several celebrities, including former NFL player Jermichael Finley, former MLB pitcher Roger Clemens, and country super star Toby Keith. Matthew McConaughey was also there, but he didn't come over to take photos or sign autographs (so we tooks pics from afar).

Fun times with friends!

More celebrities who have had the honor of meeting me

I'm loving...

That some of my siblings and I were able to work on our folks house a few weekends ago. Their house is over 100 years old and was in need of some work, including painting the front door and window panes. Guess which youngest, tall sibling got to stand on the ramp railings and paint the window panes? And this is all WITH a shoulder injury. You can't say that I'm not a trooper. Lol.

My sister Martha added this decal to their front door windows, which makes it look so much better!

Window before

Windows after

I'm loving...

That I got to see my BFF Brandy last Saturday. We sadly don't see each other too often (despite living only an hour apart). We spent the morning and early afternoon in downtown historic Grapevine. We just walked around and shopped, it was fun to just hang out together.

I'm loving...

That my church's Trunk or Treat is this Sunday evening. I was nominated again by my class to work on the decorations for our trunk. I chose a Dr. Seuss theme and have been busy the last two weeks trying to finish it all up. Here are some of my craft creations.

I'm loving...

That I got my James Avery Whataburger charm a few weeks ago. It was only available for a limited time and I think I ordered it within the first hour. Lol. 

I'm loving...

That I'm finally trying to cook more at home. Part of my 40 by 40 challenge is to learn one new recipe a month. I guess as long as I learn 12 new recipes by May, that will work. I've decided to catch up on the past months, so I've learned two so far this month (so we will count that as June and July). It's my challenge- I make the rules. :)

Teriyaki stir fry

 I didn't get an after photo of my food, so I took a photo of the seasonings (I took a before photo but I decided y'all probably didn't want to see raw chicken). I tried a new baked chicken recipe. It called for a garlic seasoning but I decided to try four different seasonings out instead: Lawry's Seasoned Salt, lemon and pepper (I forgot to take a photo of the lemon), Sesame ginger teriyaki sauce (THIS STUFF IS AMAZING), and Roasted Peach Whiskey sauce. I didn't like this one as much, I don't think I liked the roasted peach flavor, but it was still okay.

I'm loving...

That I was able to attend the State Fair of Texas before it closed last weekend. I went last Thursday and had a blast meeting up with friends. And I caused WWIII on social media by putting ketchup on my corny dog. Lol. Haters gonna hate.

What are YOU loving today??

XOXO!!

Mobile Monday

I haven't done this kind of post in a while, but I had some pictures on my phone I hadn't shared. I figured this was the best kind of post to do (and how long as it been since I updated on a MONDAY?!) :) My goal is to update at least three times this week (I know, I'm getting ahead of myself). Lol.

A while back I got a manicure and decided to get into the "Halloween spirit". The lady doing my nails was confused at first with what I wanted, but after I showed her a picture, she understood. Have I mentioned that I love my nail salon? Whenever I walk in, they all greet me by name. They even said they felt bad for me after the Rangers were eliminated from the playoffs (EVERYONE knows my love of the Rangers). Lol.

A few weekends ago my friend Chance had some friends over for food and college football watching. Of course the only pictures I ended up taking were of his dog Dobby. Well, Dobby was the most photogenic of the bunch. :) Each time I hang out with Dobby, I'm one step closer to getting a dog of my own. One day...

He loves his Aunt Rachel so much, even though she takes a lot of pictures

The Sunday before last my church hosted their annual Trunk of Treat event. I'm new to the church (I've only been there a few months) but I have become a member of a GREAT Sunday School class. I'm a little bit younger than the rest of the class (okay, about 20 years younger), but they are a lively group. They keep me on my toes. I love them and am so glad they let me be a part of their class. They have been so warm and welcoming to me, for the first time in a long time, I feel at home in a church. I was in charge of decorating for our Trunk or Treat "trunk". They loved my decorations. :)

I got bored with my hair so I cut it, again. It's shorter than it's been in a while, but I like it. And I like the gal who cut my hair, she was awesome. I definitely will go back to her.

Yes, this is a shameless public bathroom selfie. I was texting my best friend and needed to show her my hair. Don't judge. :)

Last Wednesday I made another appearance on The Scoop (sports talk radio/podcast). My friends Glenn and Tovash have been bugging asking me for a while now to come join them again for some Dallas sports talk. I didn't think I did that great of a job, but they both said that I did (and they both insist that I come back again). So, I might be a guest on their show again. :)

My sports-talking peeps...

I found this gem at a Half Price Books for $3. Not gonna lie-I was pretty excited. I loved this game when I was younger. It's one of the few board games I play. My next game night is gonna be great!

Last week my office had our annual Halloween festival. This year we had a Harry Potter themed "haunted house". I think it turned out great!

My friend and co-worker Cara was there with her kids. Her youngest son is one of my favorites (although her oldest is awesome too, I can't leave him out). The first time I met her youngest he was like, "You are pretty. Are you in college?" Evidently he was asking if I was going to be at the Halloween festival, so of course, I had to get a picture. :)

Thanks Cara for letting me post this picture with Captain America!

I went home last weekend to see my folks and for my great-nephew E's sixth birthday party. I hadn't seen E or his brother C in a few months. They love taking pictures with Aunt Rachel's phone. They especially loved the features on my SnapChat app. We probably spent about 30 minutes taking pictures with that one. They even got Pawpaw (my dad) in a picture! Lol.

My sweet E turned six on Friday. I love his silliness and his loving heart. He loves being silly with Aunt Rachel but always knows when she needs a hug. After my carjacking in December 2012, I spent a few weeks with my family. E didn't know what was going on, of course, he just knew that Aunt Rachel was visiting. One day I was sitting alone in the corner and he climbed up in my lap, put his arms around me, and started singing "Jesus Loves Me". That is when I knew that I was going to be okay.

I don't know where he gets this from...

He loves pandas, so his birthday party had a panda theme

Sporting a panda look with my oldest sister Martha, C and E's "Meme"

My lovely niece Alice, the mother of C and E

I love this video that E and I made. Even when he's trying to be scary, he can be sweet.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

XOXO!