{Link Up} A Productive Week

Happy Friday girls! Unlike most weeks these days, this week has flown by. We've accomplished quite a few things this week in the Holt household. We've marked off some items on our to-do lists and crossed off a few things from our fall bucket list. Speaking of fall bucket lists, I'll be sharing about ours next Tuesday so check back then. Instead of giving you the full run down of our week, let me share a few of my favorite things that have happened thus far for my Five for Friday and Oh Hey, Friday link-ups.

Dixie Classic Fair 

Monday my students and I took our first field trip of the school year. We went to the Dixie Classic Fair which is by far my favorite fair around. It happened to be school day so everyone got in free. Kevin and I go every year and we have plans to go this weekend if the weather cooperates. If not, at least I already got to go once and indulge in all the deliciousness of the fried foods! Who doesn't go to the fair for the food?! I mean, I know I can't say no to these blooming onions.

Pumpkin Patch

One of the items on our family's fall bucket list is to take Harper to a pumpkin patch. Our intention was to take her to a local farm to pick out her first pumpkin but it just so happened that our church is currently doing a pumpkin fundraiser so on Monday we allowed Harper to wonder around and choose her first one. It was the cutest darn thing watching her try to decide. I took about a million and one photos and I'll share more of them next week but for now, here's one of my favorites.

Half-Days at Work

Wednesday was our first teacher workday of the year. Since I was pretty much caught up with all of my lesson planning for the next month or so, my papers were all graded, and my classroom was relatively straight and in order, I decided to take a half day off. I met the hubs for lunch at one of my favorite hometown hangouts where we grabbed some fried chicken and home cooked vegetables. After lunch I headed home and got to work on cleaning our house. A task that has been put off far too long due to the hubs working every weekend and me being with Harper every moment I'm off. With the Hubs being busy and Harper at daycare, I can't even begin to tell you how much I got done. I cleaned our kitchen, packed away Harper's bottles and beginner sippy cups, dusted furniture and vacuumed, cleaned bathrooms, did five or more loads of laundry, cleaned out my closet, and took some stuff to Goodwill. I mean seriously! I forgot how much you could get done with no husband or babies around. It was glorious and for the first time in a long time, I felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulder.

A Clean Car

Along with my half-day on Wednesday, some other exciting things happened! I finally got my car cleaned. Ladies, that baby hasn't had a bath in months. It was seriously embarrassing. When I went to pick up my car from the detail shop, I nearly didn't recognize it. I completely forgot that my car looks almost black when it's clean instead of navy. For the past six months it's looked gray from all the dirt and grime that's been accumulating on it because I just haven't had time to call and set up an appointment. Can I just say that that was by far the best $45 I have spent all week!

Happy Mail Days

I had another happy mail day this week. My Zara look alike scarf arrived in the mail earlier this week and I couldn't be more excited about the fall weather that is to come. I'm anxiously awaiting the days that it's cool enough to wear it. If you've been on the look out for the Zara blanket scarf and don't want to fork out a pretty penny for one, go grab this one on Ebay for just $12,99 (shipping included!). I was very impressed with the overall quality of it. It's just as nice as the real deal :D 

A Simple Weekend

Good morning, ladies! I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Ours went by at lightning speed. Friday after work I headed home to do a little laundry before picking up the babe. By the time I got her, it was dinner time so we met my parents at a local diner for some breakfast for dinner... my favorite time to eat bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns. Is it just a southern thing or does breakfast taste better at night everywhere in the United States?

Saturday, Harper and I grabbed breakfast at our usual spot with my parents and sister while the hubs spent another day working. After breakfast, my sister, Harper and I made our way to the outlets to do a little fall shopping. My friend Brittni also met us there. After grabbing a few items at Gap and cashing in my style cash, we made our way to Target and TJ Maxx where we picked up a few more fall staples that I'll be sharing on the blog in the coming weeks. We arrived home just moments before the hubs got home. I'm not sure if it was being on the road all day or just having shopped till we dropped, but Harper and I were exhausted. Factor in a husband that had worked his tail off all day for twelve hours straight, and you have a recipe for take out and early bedtimes. Which is just what we did. 

Sunday Harper and I woke up early so we surprised the hubs at work with breakfast. After which we headed to church with my family. Our usual Sunday morning sermon was replaced with a bluegrass gospel band and they were amazing. Harper was fascinated with the music and we caught her dancing more than once during the service. When church was over, we headed to Mom and Dad's for lunch with the family. Since Kevin was working all day again, we hung there most of the evening until we knew it was about time for him to be home. The rest of our evening was spent at my in-laws house where we grabbed some dinner and hung out with the family. 

Pretty simple weekend if you ask me. But sometimes, that's just what ya need. 

Happy Tuesday ladies!

{Link Up}: Weekly Randoms

Friday is finally here and I'm pretty stoked about it. I'm not going to lie, I count down the days till Friday just like I count down the days until Christmas. And while I'm on the topic of Fridays and Christmas, there are just eleven Fridays left between now and then. Whoop whoop! Not even going to lie, it's probably my favorite discovery that I made this week. And speaking of my week, lets get on with this Oh, Hey Friday & 5 on Friday post so I can share some randoms from it. 

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1. Impromptu Date Night

After my not so perfect beginning of the week, the hubs surprised me with a dinner date for just us two. He arranged for his mom to watch Harper while the two of us regrouped over dinner at Outback. To really put the cherry on top, he even took me to Marshalls, Old Navy, and Target/Starbucks. Just a few of my favorite places where I bought nothing except for Harper's first car (see #2). How'd I get so lucky with this guy?!

2. Bargain of the Year

During our trip to Target the night of our impromptu date night, the hubs and I found ourselves wondering down aisles we usually don't browse. Most of the time our Target runs consist of the clothing, baby, housewares, and grocery departments. But this week we found ourselves perusing the sporting goods section looking at random pool gear that was marked down on clearance. Then lo and behold, we hit the holy grail! There in a box sat a battery-powered Viper for just $50 on clearance! After a quick google search, I discovered that they retailed for $280 at Walmart! Kevin and I had already discussed that Harper's big Christmas item this year would be a battery powered car as her little Cozy Coupe is her favorite thing in the world. However, Kevin really wanted to get Harper a Corvette just like his. But for just $50, we really couldn't pass up grabbing this baby. I think Kevin was as excited  as I was for the bargain of the year. And can I just say, Kevin's exact words as we were walking out of the store were "Well, I always wanted a viper"! Men!

3. Fall Fashion Must-Haves

So last week I posted my top five fall must-haves. If you didn't read about them, you can find that post here. I'm happy to report that three of those items have been ordered and are on their way. I'm super excited. My boots arrived yesterday and my scarf and vest will make their appearance in the next few weeks. Happy mail days will be in my future! I'm sure you'll be seeing my mail day excitement on instagram! :D

4. New Hairstyles

Harper got a new hairstyle after bath time last week. I have to admit it was meant to be a joke but then I thought it made for the cutest picture and everytime I stumble across it, I can't help but smile real big!

5. My Mini Me

Over the weekend, Harper and I sported identical shoes... well almost. The thought that Harper is now at the stage that she can dress like her mama makes me oh so happy that I have a girl. I'll be on the hunt this weekend for some more mama and me staples for our closets! If you didn't catch my weekend recap, last weekend I grabbed up a few adorable pieces for Harper's wardrobe. Now I'm off to find myself a matching fur vest just like hers :P

Looking for Rainbows

As I mentioned yesterday, my week didn't start off too well. Factor in a nasty sinus infection, a teething toddler, and a husband that's being forced to work all the time and you don't necessarily have a wife and mother with an attitude of gratitude that's for darn sure. Hey, I'm just being honest. Lately it seems life is just piling up on me and I'm struggling to stay above the water. I have a house that I've been dying to decorate for the fall for weeks now but I can't even begin to think decorations with the amount of laundry slowly piling up in our master closet. I've cooked exactly two meals for our little family in the past two weeks. And I couldn't tell you the last time our toilets or floors have had a good cleaning. Needless to say, I wouldn't make a good hostess at the moment. I haven't slept but a handful of hours in the last two days. This morning I literally went through a drive-thru to grab breakfast, paid, then drove off. When I got to work and was getting my things to carry inside, I realized I'd forgotten to even get my food from the lady at the drive-thru. I had to turn around and go back to get it because a lack of sleep combined with a lack of food for breakfast would make for a very grouchy teacher. Thankfully the young lady at the drive-thru understood where I was coming from but I still felt like a total idiot. 

But despite how things have been recently, I've been trying to find small moments of positivity to hold onto and keep me from drowning in self-pity. I recently read a quote that said "When it rains, look for rainbows. When it's dark, look for stars". What a powerful reminder.  Instead of being upset that we have so much laundry that just never seems to get done, I'm reminding myself that we're blessed to have so many clothes when people barely have any.  Instead of being frustrated that Harper is up at all hours of the night screaming, I'm thankful that besides a few ear infections and the occasionally fever from colds and teething, we have a healthy baby girl. Some people aren't so lucky. Instead of being frustrated that I'm often the one at home with Harper because the hubs is working twelve hour shifts every day for weeks at a time, I'm grateful that my husband has a job; to top it off, he loves it. It provides more than enough to meet our needs as well as our wants and not worrying about when our next check will come is one less thing we have to worry about.

So despite how often things to go "wrong", I'm doing my best to look at the big picture and see how much is going right for us in the Holt household. Some days it's harder than others but for today, I'm seeing rainbows instead of rain. Any of you ladies with me?

Weekend Recap

Happy Tuesday ladies! I hope your weekends were splendid and your week is going swell. I woke up yesterday with fluid swishing in my forehead and ears. Not a good way to begin my week. Despite the joys fall brings, the seasonal change and allergies are one thing that I dislike about the season. Since I was a bit under the weather yesterday I didn't get around to sharing our weekend. Though truly, it was nothing much to brag about so I'll keep it short and sweet today.

My mother-in-law picked up Harper from daycare Friday so I could run home and get some cleaning done. Cleaning was my plan but after a long week at work, I was exhausted and opted to spend thirty minutes laying in bed reading a book before rolling out to grab Harp. After picking her up, we headed to a local restaurant for dinner with my parents, siblings, and the hubs.

Saturday morning we did the usual breakfast thing with my mom and dad since the hubs had to work yet another Saturday. 

After breakfast, my sister and I headed to Greensboro to get in a little shopping. I ended up picking up a Ralph Lauren t-shirt, a blouse, and two puffer vests for right around $50. I'd say that was a bargain. We grabbed a late lunch at Steak and Shake and then headed home since Harper had missed her nap time and was quick to let us know she was DONE for the day. When the hubs got home from work, we headed to my in-laws. Since Kevin's dad is on night shift, my mother-in-law volunteered to watch Harper while we grabbed dinner with Kevin's brother and his girlfriend at Ruby Tuesday. After Harper's meltdowns for most of the afternoon due to her refusing to take a nap, I graciously accepted and we headed out to grab some steaks and salads. By the time we got back Harper was out and we weren't far behind her.

Sunday we did our usual routine of church and lunch with my family. After lunch, my friend Brittni, Harper, and I headed to Old Navy to grab Harper some fall clothes and grab some groceries at Target. Old Navy was running their baby sale and most items were 30% off. In addition to the sales, I had a $15 off $50 coupon so I ended up scoring Harper a fall wardrobe for less than $75. Here's some of my favorite finds. She's definitely going to be one fashionable lady this fall. Now my only question is, do these come in my size?

Well that pretty much sums up our weekend ladies. Nothing too exciting, but just what I needed after a long week at work! Hope to see you ladies tomorrow!