Happiness

Happiness is...

// a good book and a large glass of wine after a long day at work

// snuggling between the husband and two dogs (others may consider this claustrophobic)

// new living room furniture.

// listening to a baby laugh.

// a fresh manicure and pedicure (bonus points for fresh highlights and a hair cut)

// spending a weekend binge watching Netflix with the husband

// Mexican food and a large margarita

// the sand between my toes and the sounds of the ocean in the background.

// a Triple Grande Skinny Caramel Macchiato from Starbucks

// coming home to a clean house

// spending time with family

// long weekends

// Road trips with the husband

// crawling into a bed with freshly washed sheets after a long day

// catching up with long distance friends

// happy hour

// weekends on the lake

// finally getting all 900 of my wedding pictures back (be prepared for wedding picture overload for the next couple of weeks. You have been warned!)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today I'm excited to introduce you to the incredibly sweet Ashley from A Faithful Passion. Take it away Ashley!

Hey everyone! I’m Ashley and the girl over at A Faithful Passion. I’m 25, from a medium town in Texas, lover of flowers, my faith, & all things reading/writing. A Faithful Passion started because I needed an outlet to release my thoughts, opinions, and ramblings. This blog was placed on my heart so I followed my dream.

When and why did you start blogging? 

I started blogging April 2014 and I’m so in love with it. It allows me to truly be myself and express how I feel through me writing. I started blogging because I feel it was placed on my heart via my faith so I followed it. One of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

How did you come up with the name of your blog? 

I’m VERY passionate about everything in my life and there will never be any gray area with me; either I’m 100% in or out. I also have a strong faith within my religion and I wanted to incorporate that into the name some way.

What is your favorite movie and why? 

Gone with the Wind: I LOVE this movie because of that old, southern feel it brings to you. From the big, huge gowns to the huge plantation parties they would have. There wasn’t a care in the world and I love that. Not to mention, Scarlett was my FAVE character.

What is your favorite feature about yourself? 

I love my legs because they are soooo long. When I was younger I didn’t like them but now that I’m older they’ve grown on me and my best feature.

What do you like to do on your weekends? 

I enjoy relaxing and catching up on my recorded shows. I’ll sometimes watch Netflix, go out with friends, or nap all day. It all just depends on what I have planned. 

Find more of Ashley here:

Bloglovin // Twitter // Facebook // Instagram

32 Things That Make Me Happy

Fridays are usually reserved for all things with the number five, but when I saw this link-up pop up yesterday, I knew that I had to participate. 

1. Marrying the love of my life next weekend (come on, you had to know that was going to be #1 on the list)

2. Spending seven days in Jamaica with my husband in a couple of weeks.

3. My fur-children

4. Seeing my whole family (old and new) together next weekend to celebrate with Steven and I.

5. Wine

6. Weekends on the lake

7. Freshly washed sheets

8. Vanilla scented candles

9. Date nights

10. Holidays - more specifically St. Patrick's Day and my birthday

11. Happy Hour

12. Chick-Fil-A

13. Football season

14. Road trips

15. Coming home to flowers from the fiancé

16. Dancing (bonus points for dancing in the rain)

17. Hearing a baby laugh

18. Shopping

19. NYC

20. Organization

21. Mexican food

22. Bubble baths with a glass of wine in hand

23. Pay day

24. Starbucks coffee

25. Humane Society adoption

26. Craft beer

27. Target

28. Cowboy boots

29. Reunions with long distance friends

30. Sunday brunch

31. A fresh manicure and pedicure

32. Wine (wait, did I already say that?)

Linking up with Sarah and Erin.

My Happy List

Today is Friday and Fridays make people happy and happy people just don’t shoot their husbands. Thank you, Elle Woods. But anyway, it’s not just Fridays that make me happy, lots of other things make me happy too. Things such as...

Wine.

I mean obviously. Wine makes everyone happy, and if it doesn’t make you happy, well then, your just not doing life right. Just make sure you don’t drink the cheap walmart crap, as tempting as it may be to save a few bucks you will wake up with the worst headache ever and the only thing to cure said headache is three diet cokes and a chick-fil-a spicy sandwich with fries. Not that I speak from experience or anything.

Babies.

It seems like everyone and their mothers are prego these days and I would be lying if I said that I didn’t like it. I’m ready for a few of these ladies to formally announce their pregnancies so I don’t have to worry about spilling the beans any longer. I cried yesterday when I received not one ultrasound picture, but two of them from a couple of the most precious friends I know. I can't wait to meet their little munchkins! Sidenote: when the hells bells did all my friends grow up and start getting married and having babies? Craziness! 

Road Trips.

They are fun. They are exhausting. Steven and I are heading out on our fourth weekend road trip in a row this afternoon. Yes, our fourth trip in a row. We are leaving today to spend the weekend in Arkansas with his extended family and celebrate his grandfather’s birthday. I’m so excited to meet the rest of Steven’s family!

A clean house.

I mean I can only imagine that this would make me happy. My house hasn’t passed my idea of “clean” since the day we moved in over a month ago. I’m literally cringing right now at the thought of it. Sure the floors are swept and the bed is made (on a good day), but there are still boxes in the dining room, pictures on the floor, and two rooms yet to even be touched. Oh, and don’t forget about the two overflowing laundry hampers sitting next to the washing machine. #stressedtothemax

Fall clothes.

Boots, scarves, leggings. Those words are literally music to my ears right now. Sure, it’s still hitting around 90 degrees here in Alabama, but it’s only a matter of time until I say screw the weather and bring on the boots! Come October 1^st, I will be wearing boots and leggings no matter what the thermostat outside reads. Mark my words.

College (and pro) football.

Alabama plays their home opener this weekend (you know, now that half the season has already passed) against Colorado State. Not necessarily a big game (don’t tell Coach Saban I just said that. All games are big games) but it is a game. Have I mentioned how much I am in love with football season? Once or twice so far this year maybe?

Wedding Planning.

Sure, it can be stressful at times, but the fun definitely outweighs the stress. This is probably because I have the most amazing wedding coordinator and mother to ever grace the earth, but still. I mean really though, there is no way in hell I would be able to do all this wedding stuff on my own. They are also the reason I am not and will not be classified as a "bridezilla." 

My Puppies.

Some mornings, actually pretty much all mornings, I fight a battle with myself to get out of bed and go to work when really all I want to do is lounge around the house and cuddle with my fur monsters. Especially seeing as how much Steven and I have been out of town lately.

The fiancé.

What? You didn’t think I was really going to leave him off my happy list did you? He is pretty much the definition of my happy list. Enough said.