Thankful. Grateful. Blessed

Those three words sum up my feelings today and everyday. God has blessed me with so much in my life that I can't thank him enough. On this day of thanks, I thought I'd share the things I'm most thankful and grateful for.

One. First and foremost I'm thankful for my relationship with Jesus. Without him, I'd be nothing. He has a love for me unlike any other. If you don't have a relationship with him, I challenge you to consider it today.

Two. Kevin. My husband. My best friend. My constant companion. I couldn't imagine going through life with any one else by my side. Our marriage is by no means perfect but not a day goes by that he doesn't make me laugh or make me feel loved.

Three. Our little Harper doodle. I never knew I could love a person so much. She has changed our lives in so many ways. Some days I barely remember what life was like before her but I don't think it could have possibly been as much fun. She brings so much joy and laughter to our lives.

Four. My amazing parents who are celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary on this very Thanksgiving day. They taught me what true love looks like. They raised my siblings and I to know about Jesus. They always sacrificed so we could have a life better than the one they had. And they always, always invested time in my life and my siblings lives. I can't remember a single awards day or sporting event that I looked into the audience and didn't see one of them there.

Five. My siblings. We may argue and fight with each other but at the end of the day, I know I couldn't make it in life without them. They mean the world to me.

Six. My in-laws. I'm so thankful to have a mother and father in law who treat me as one of their own. I can always count on them to do anything I need be it running to the grocery store or watching Harp for me to get some things done at the house. I'm also incredibly grateful for an amazing brother-in-law that's more or less one of my best friends.

Seven. My friends. Between Kevin and I we have a ton of friends that are more like family. I cherish the memories and laughs shared with each and every one of them. And that goes for all of you my dear blog friends!

Eight. My home. I'm constantly wanting to change this and that about our home and sometimes I just want to throw our house on the market and build the house I really want. But in reality, we have a beautiful house that serves it's purpose. It's a home. A place where we share meals, gather with family and friends, and make lasting memories.

Nine. My job. I may not talk about it often on this little piece of my world but I love my job. I love my coworkers. And I love the twenty one little babies who come into my room everyday and look to me not only as their teacher but as their friend, counselor, mentor,nurse, and sometimes even their mom.

Ten. Mine and my family's health. We've been to the doctor more this year than any in the past but each and every time it's been for a simple fix. Strep throat here, an ear infection there. All things that can easily be fixed with a quick antibiotic. I'm so thankful that we've yet to had to face a major medical crisis not only in my little family but in my extended family as well. There is no cancer, heart attacks, or any of the such in our whole family and that is by far something to praise God and be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving friends!

{Harper's Playroom} Color Scheme

Welcome back to my "Harper's Playroom" series. Last week I shared the conundrum I found myself in after discovering both Lay Baby Lay's playroom design as well as Pear Design Studio's play space. Both of them are ADORABLE! I loved them so much I knew I had to somewhat recreate their design's in Harper's room. The problem was deciding which one to go with. After much debate, I decided to leave it up to the husband. So which design did he choose? The girly one or the neutral. Well he picked... (drum roll please)... the girly one!

After much discussion and debate we decided that despite how much we loved the neutral design for future kids, the girly one was perfect for the child we have now. Harper is very much our little diva and a room full of pops of pink and yellow were just what she'd enjoy. With all of our major pieces being gender neutral, we figure if in the future, we add a little boy to our family, we'll swap out Lay Baby Lay's design for one more like Pear Design Studio's. Since we'll be using all gender neutral furniture the switch shouldn't be hard. We'll change the tan walls to gray and the pink pillows to blue. Easy peazy! 

Now that we have a color scheme in mind, below is my design board for Harper's space! I can't wait to see it all come together (: 

Thanks for stopping by today! Come back again next week to see some of the artwork I've chosen for her space. I may even need your help making the final decisions (: 

{Harper's Playroom} The Tale of Two Rooms

If you haven't caught the first two installments of my "Harper's Playroom" series taking place here on Thursdays, you can catch them here and here. Today I want to share my two all time favorite play spaces from the blogging community. These two rooms are the rooms I'm utterly obsessed with. Both designers did an amazing job and after seeing them I knew I had to pattern Harper's playroom after one or the other.. if not both. 

The first room I fell in love with was Lay Baby Lay's playroom that she designed for her daughter. The colors, the furniture, all the details... it was love at first sight. The room had most of the aspects I wanted to incorporate into Harper's playroom. It had the couch, teepee, craft area, and book nooks. The only spaces missing were the kitchen, market, and dressing area. But with a space this pretty... a girl could live without! 

The second playroom I fell in love with had everything I was looking for in a room. Pear Design Studio hit the nail right on the head with this adorable design. It had everything a playroom should have... an area for family to sit, cute storage, a place to play dress up, a craft corner, and even a reading nook. Despite that it didn't have a teepee for the reading nook as I had envisioned, the fabric poufs were an equally lovable replacement.

After seeing both of these rooms I knew I had to pattern Harper's room after one or the other. The problem was deciding which of the two it would be. On one hand, I loved the girliness the pops of pink and yellow had to offer from Lay Baby Lay's space. But on the other hand, I loved how neutral Pear Design Studio's space was. The blues, grays, and yellows would very well work for a girl as well as a boy. Knowing we'll be adding another little person to our family in the next year or so, the idea of leaving it neutral was a really good idea. Since I was in such a conundrum there was only one thing left to do... let my husband decide!

So which did Kevin choose? Check back next Wednesday (since next Thursday is Thanksgiving) and I'll tell you! (;

{Link Up} Christmas Wish List 2014

Well ladies, it's that time of year again. Jingle Bells, Silent Night, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer all playing on repeat. Newspapers packed with advertisements. Twinkling lights and greenery everywhere. A multitude of red and green and all things sparkly. You know it... it's Christmas and it's by far my favorite holiday of the year! Now don't get me wrong, I know we haven't gotten to Thanksgiving yet. I don't plan to skip it by any means. I'm all about some homemade food, a multitude of desserts, and stories being swapped between family and friends. That's what it's all about ladies, that's what it's all about. But I'm not going to lie and say that Christmas doesn't have it's perks. Waking up Christmas morning to see what's under my tree hasn't gotten any less exciting with age I'll tell ya that. So what do I hope to find under my tree this year... here's my wish list. 

Zara Blanket Scarf
I have absolutely fallen in love with my two Zara blanket scarves. This fall I purchased the tan tartan plaid and the black plaid. After seeing this autumn blend blanket scarf, I knew I had to add it to my collection as well. I intended to wait until Christmas to see if Santa brought it to me but I just couldn't wait until then so I may or may not have purchased this already for a Christmas gift to myself. You ladies do that too, right?

Proud Supporter of Messy Hair and Sweatpants Tee
Story of my life. So why not advertise it proudly with this cute baseball tee and a pair of leggings? I think so my friends. I think so.

Monogrammed Rain Coat
This has been on many of my wish lists throughout this year but I've yet to pull the trigger on it. I figured why not add it to my Christmas wish list. Someone may get it for me, someone may not. But I can promise you this. If it's not under the tree, it'll definitely be in my closet by Spring!

Hunter Boot Socks
As many of you know, I really debated long and hard on whether or not to purchase my Hunter rain boots this fall. Forking out $150 for a pair of rain boots wasn't necessarily an easy decision but it was one I made regardless.  After having them for a couple of months now, I'm not sure why I ever debated the issue. I am in LOVE with my boots and seriously am considering purchasing another pair in navy or red. I wear them constantly. They are super comfortable to be a bulky shoe and they keep my feet nice and toasty. Since I'm pretty sure I'll be wearing them almost daily come this winter with all the snow that's predicted, I definitely want some of these adorable fleece and cable knit boot socks to rock with them.

Tan Suede Ankle Boots
Hello, my name is Sara and I have a boot buying problem. I just can't get enough of them. Because of this I steer clear of boot aisles at shoe stores but after seeing these cute babies at Old Navy... well, I need them! I don't own a single pair of ankle boots and since these are less than $40 I think it's not too much to ask for...

Monogrammed Ballet Flats
As a teacher, flats happen to be my best friend. When I caught sight of these cute flats with a monogram, it was love at first sight! I'll take them in any color.

Willow Tree Nativity Scene
I've never really been a person who collected things but after seeing Kevin's aunt's Willow Tree nativity scene collection, I have to admit that the idea of collecting this beauty definitely came to mind. I absolutely love nativity scenes. The story they share is one that everyone must know. They tell the story of our precious Lord and Savior and how He came to earth so that he could save us. A love like that can't even be described. The fact that this nativity scene is a neutral color that can be displayed all year long is the reason I have to have this one. Unfortunately, I can't spend $600+ to have the whole thing. So my plan is to ask for pieces each Christmas until I've completed the set. This Christmas my plan is to just get the basic 6 piece nativity set. I plan to display it in a glass cloche on my mantle. Needless to say, it'd be nice if Santa somehow dropped this off early... as in right about the time we pull out our Christmas decor (;

Well that's what's on my list. What's on your list this year? Be sure to link up and tell us!

A Not-So Exciting Weekend Recap

Happy Monday, girls! I hope your weekends went swell. Nothing too exciting happened here. I considered not even doing a weekend recap post but decided that I had to because some of the pics of Harper from this weekend were just too cute not to share. So here goes our not so exciting weekend recap ladies... I promise to keep it short (;

On Friday Kevin skipped the gym after work so we could grab an early supper with my parents. I was in the mood for some breakfast for dinner so off to Reid's House we went. It's a local diner that always knows how to hit the spot. After dinner, we headed home where we ended our night straightening up the house and catching a bit of tv before we all called it a night sometime before 10pm. How exciting our lives have become! 

Saturday Kevin was supposed to have the day off but he ended up getting called into work which meant it was just Harper and me for the day. We met my parents at our usual breakfast spot then headed to Danville with them to do a little Christmas shopping. I grabbed a few things for Harper's play room and let her browse the toy aisle at Target to get a few toy ideas for her for Christmas. This ended up being a huge mistake. They had several toys out of their packages on display so that kids could play with them. As soon as Harper got to play with the toy "roo roo" she was hooked. Let's just say most of the store heard her when I told her I had to put it back. Major meltdown! Thank God for the dollar bin that quickly occupied her thoughts and hands! Following our Target run we ran by Sam's Club where I grabbed a new book for Harper's 25 books of Christmas collection as well as a movie for her Christmas Eve box. Both of which I can't wait to share about in the month of December!

We ended our Saturday night with a date night for me and Kev and a play date at Grandma and Grandpa's for Harper. While my in-laws spoiled Harper rotten, Kevin and I made a quick trip to the movies to watch Dumb and Dumber 2. It was hilarious if you're into stupid comedy... which I'll admit, we are :P 

Sunday morning we got up and went to church together as a family. It was wonderful worshiping our Lord and Savior with Harper in my lap and my husband by my side. It's something too often I take for granted. After church we headed to my parents' house for lunch. By the time we left it was Harper's nap time so we headed home. While she slept and the husband relaxed, I cleaned the house and caught up on laundry. We finished our night with a grocery store run, dinner from Taco bell, and a cuddle session in front of a hallmark movie. 

It may not have been the weekend of my dreams, but it was still a good one friends! And for that I'm thankful!

{Harper's Playroom} Pinspiration

When the decision was made to convert our bonus room (before pictures found here) into a playroom for Harper, I immediately did what all rational people do... I headed over to Pinterest in search of inspiration! Since I really didn't know what direction I intended to go with the room, I browsed various playrooms until I could get a good grasp of what I was looking for. After coming across hundreds, if not thousands, of different rooms, I finally came up with some ideas for the space I was hoping to create. Below are some of my favorite spaces and how I plan to incorporate them into Harper's playroom.

A Sitting Area

After coming across Lay Baby Lay's daughter's playroom, I knew without a doubt I wanted to include a couch in Harper's playroom. It would serve as a great place for us to hang out as a family and watch Disney movies, curl up with a good children's book, or just a place for us mama's to sit as we host play dates with our friends.

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A Teepee

Who doesn't love a teepee?! After seeing these cuties all over the internet there isn't a doubt in my mind that Harper needs one in her room. I want her to have a comfy spot she can crawl in with a good book or even take a nap in after a long day of playing. 

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Book Ledges

Speaking of curling up with a book, I love the idea of using Ikea's ribba ledges to display books. Harper absolutely loves books and to be able to display them for her enjoyment makes me giddy. I think it'll be so much fun to display books for the seasons. Too bad this is her Christmas present so I won't be able to display her 25 books of Christmas this year! Boo :( 

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A Craft Space

Even though Harper is just now getting interested in markers, crayons, etc. I want to go on and include a table where she can sit and color in the near future. I also love the idea of hanging a chalkboard on the wall for her to doodle on as well as adding a place to hang her artwork so that everyone can see it!

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A Play Kitchen

You might not remember that back in the summer Kevin and I picked up a Kidkraft retro kitchen for Harper for a steal. I randomly ran across a brand spanking new one on Craigslist and only ended up giving $75 for it. It was intended to be a Christmas gift for Harp but she saw it in the garage and so she got it much earlier that we'd planned. My plan is to move it upstairs to her playroom right before Christmas. Her kitchen area won't be in the closet like this one but I definitely love this little area.

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A Play Market

I absolutely adore this little children's market. Harper absolutely loves her play kitchen and all the things that go in it. If we have the space, I would love to create her a mini children's market complete with a chalkboard sign and a cash register (;

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A Dress Up Space

Harper is still too young for a dress up space but isn't this one just darling?! I definitely foresee us adding this little nook in the room as she gets older!

Well that's all the inspiration I have to share today! Check back next week for my two favorite playroom spaces and their color schemes! 

{Link Up} Five Friday Confessions

Happy Friday, girls! As a working mama, this day can never get here fast enough. This day symbolizes yet another week under my belt and yet another weekend ahead of me to make new memories with my little family. It doesn't get any better than that my friends! Now on with a few confessions I wanted to share with you all this week for the usual Five on Friday posts.

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Packed Lunches. 

I confess that my mama still packs my lunch for me once a week. As you know, my family does lunch together every Sunday after church. When dinner is over, my mom packs each of us to go plates to have for lunch the next day. My coworkers sometimes get a bit jealous. Who knew lunches from home could be so tasty?

Christmas Decorations.

I'll confess that I'm over fall already. I'm ready to pull out all my Christmas decor and get started on decorating my house for my favorite season of the year! This year I'm planning on going all out with neutral colors and pretty greenery! I'm pretty stoked. We may or may not be decorating before Thanksgiving this year :P Just sayin'.

Baby Fever.

I confess that have a severe case of baby fever. Problem is the husband does too! A few months ago we had a little "scare". For a while there we thought we may be having another little person. I was almost in tears since this was not our plan. But when we found out we weren't expecting I was somewhat disappointed. A few weeks ago the topic of having another baby came up and the husband admitted to me he was ready for another one. Unfortunately the timing is all off as if I got pregnant now I'd be missing the beginning of the school year with my next group of kiddos and that's just too much. So looks like we'll be waiting to start trying for baby number #2 next year. But until then I'll live through my friends who all are having babies in the next year. But I'm not gonna lie, if I found out I was having a baby tomorrow, I wouldn't be upset! :P

Date Night.

I confess that the hubs and I have a date night just the two of us this coming Saturday and I can not wait. We'll be going to the Barn and Dinner Theater with Kevin's work for dinner and a show. I'm sure we'll even make a Target run after. That's my kind of night girls (:

Blanket Scarves.

I confess that I have an addiction to blanket scarves. I ordered the infamous Zara one on Ebay recently for just $12.99! It was a total steal! The quality was utterly amazing and the scarf itself is a definite staple in my closet. Last week I found myself online ordering a few more for Christmas gifts. I also found myself putting a black plaid one in my cart. It arrived yesterday on my doorstep and I was as equally satisfied with it as I was my tan one. I foresee myself ordering the navy and green plaid one very soon! It'll be the perfect addition to add to my collection! 

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Today I'm linking up with these lovely lades!

 Darci, Christina, April and Natasha

Karli of September Farm and Amy of The Farmer's Wife.

{Harper's Playroom} Before Pictures

Over the last few months I've mentioned a time or two that Kevin and I are planning on converting Kevin's "man cave" into a playroom for Harper. Our original plan was to convert this room as a present for Harper's first birthday but it just didn't happen despite our best intentions. At the time of Harper's birthday, we were in the process of pulling up all of our carpet upstairs and replacing it with hardwood. Since that little project took longer than expected and cost more than we'd planned, we knew that this project would have to be postponed until a later date when we had more time and more money. Fast forward to present time and we've decided now is the time to move forward with our plans. We've decided that for Harper's "big" Christmas item this year she's going to get her very own playroom. Let's hope she's as excited about it as I am!

With Christmas being less than two months away, the countdown to get this room complete has begun. I've already perused Pinterest for inspiration and literally have close to a hundred ideas pinned. We've come up with a new color scheme for the room, began a general layout of what we want where, and have started a shopping list of items we're going to need.

Just for some fun, I thought I'd share this room redo with you ladies over the next few weeks. My goal is to post tidbits on the room every Thursday. I'll be sharing my inspiration, room updates, and I'm sure I'll be getting your opinions on a few pieces I've yet to decide on. Here's hoping we'll get this project tackled on time! I've already got my eye set on a giant gold bow I plan to put on the door on Christmas morning :P

To give you an idea of what I'm working with... here's the before pictures. (sorry, they were taken before we put hardwoods down!)

Check back next Thursday for some of my favorite Pinterest inspirations (: 

You Might Not Know....

When I started this little blog of mine four years ago, it was just intended to be a little space I could document our memories before I forgot about them. I never anticipated that four years later, I'd have formed friendships with ladies all over the world that I don't even "really" know. So often I find myself telling the hubs at dinner about my "blog friends" and your little families. Of course, he finds it funny that I know so much about you ladies and I've never actually met you. But for some of you girls, I feel like I've known you my whole life even though we've never met in person. I laugh with you, cry with you, and pray for you through reading your posts daily. Each of you ladies are a true blessing and inspiration to me and I thank you for taking the time to pop over to my blog every now and then.

Over the last year, many new faces have wondered over to my little space and I've never really gotten around to introducing myself to you all properly. So on this beautiful Wednesday, I'd like to take the time to welcome you as well as to share some things about me that you may not know from reading about the in's and out's of our lives in the Holt household. So sit back, relax, and stay a little while while I share some random tidbits about me!

You might not know...

- I'm 25 years old. I got married when I was 22 and became a mom at 24. Seems young to most but I wouldn't have it any other way. 

- I've been teaching third grade for the last four years. 

- Despite that I love my job as a teacher, sometimes I wish I was an interior designer.

- Clean and organized spaces make my heart happy. If they aren't clean and organized, they make me extremely stressed out. 

- I'm a planner and a list maker. 

- My biggest pet peeve is people not being on time. Time is valuable and is one of the only things you can never get back. So I don't take kindly to people wasting it. 

- I prefer salty over sweet. This girl will take french fries and mozzarella sticks over cookies and ice cream any day. 

- I'm related to the Wright Brothers. That said, I've also been known to fly a plane or two myself. I just never continued on with my pilot's license since college, marriage, and parenthood got in the way. 

- I always buy note cards from Target's dollar bin yet I never send them because they're too pretty to part with. 

- I hate coffee. Like seriously, it makes me gag. But I'm totally not beneath grabbing a vanilla bean frappucino from Starbucks almost everyday. 

- I never pay full price for an item unless it's already at a discount store like Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Homegoods, etc. What's the point when it'll be on sale in no time?

- I love to read but I only read romance novels.

- I watch exactly two shows religiously. Mistresses in the summer and my new found favorite, How to Get Away with Murder. Otherwise, I only turn on the televison to catch a Hallmark movie... or two. 

- The one thing I wish I could change about my body is not my weight nor my height. It's my hair. I have naturally curly hair but my top layer is straight which results in my hair always being one of those "bad hair days". No matter how hard I try to straighten it or curl it, it never looks how I want. 

Well that's my list of random things you might not know about me. What's there to know about you? (:

{Weekend Recap} Halloween + Game Nights

Happy Tuesday, girls! I had all intentions of sharing our weekend recap yesterday but I was still just so in awe of the weekend that we had that I could barely sit down to put words on a blank screen. It was hands down the best weekend we've had in ages. I'm not sure if it was because it was filled with so much fun or if it was because the hubs actually got to spend a whole weekend at home with us, but whatever it was.... it was perfect!

Kevin and I kicked off our weekend like most of you mamas and daddies out there. Following a long day at work, we got the babe ready and took her trick or treating. Since Harper is still a bit too young to understand the concept we took her from house to house to visit family members instead of going door to door getting candy. Our first stop was Kevin's aunt's house where Harper only wanted to eat her new snacks or play with Aunt Debbie's "roo roo's" (that's what she calls dogs now).

After leaving Aunt Debbie's we headed to Kevin's grandparents' house where his parents were also waiting for us. Mema had more snacks waiting for Harper and Kevin's parents got Harper a new Halloween book. She was in heaven.

Around 8pm, we left Mema and Papa Jimmy's and headed to my parents' house where my siblings were also waiting. By that point Harper was exhausted but at the sight of new toys and Nana's freshly made grilled cheese, she mustered up some more energy and put on a show for everyone.

Saturday morning we slept in until well after 9. It was heavenly rolling over and finding the hubs laying in bed next to me. It hasn't happened in weeks my friends and I almost forgot what it felt like. Around 9:15 we heard Harper stirring so Kevin got her out of her bed and brought her into ours. Around 10 we got up and made ourselves presentable for our usual Saturday morning breakfast with my parents.

After breakfast we took Harper to Kevin's parents' house where Harper was going to hang out for the day. Kevin's mom volunteered to watch Harper so we could paint Harper's soon to be play room. Shortly after lunch, Brooke (my brother-in-law's girlfriend) and I got to work on painting. The guys were supposed to help but they ditched us to go search for food and to hit up the gym. But at least they weren't in our way (; By the time the guys returned several hours later, Harper's room had been painted, we'd showered and gotten ready, and we even had food cooking for our game night. We ended our Saturday night by hosting a game night with some of our closest friends. We played Taboo and it made for one hilarious game. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of anything but the food. haha

Our Sunday was spent having breakfast with Brooke and Bryan, lunch with my parents, taking family pictures, then spending the rest of the day curled up in front of the tv watching movies. It really couldn't have been much better than that!

Here's to hoping next weekend is just as good!