Sync!

Hi There!!!

Tonight kicks off SYNC 2015

I am pumped.

Today Faithy is out at a kick starters class, so I have free time to do whatever I want really. So naturally I start by blogging. What do you expect right?!?

Sometime today, I am going to meet up with my friend Whitney! YAY

She and her family just moved a few months back. Im super excited about seeing her and her daughter sweet Charlee Bea. CB is the cutest thing. Swear by it. 

So from what Faith tells me, I should probably really enjoy today while I can because things get crazy from the moment the conference actually starts. 

I love new things. I'm so excited to honestly just be in the same breathing space as other creatives. Sometimes working for yourself...from home can be lonely, especially as artists. All of our creativity feeds off of each other and its something I miss terribly about working in the same room as Faith, as well as Frannie, Chris, Melissa, Donnie, Etc. Sometimes its trouble too haha :) But I have really realized how much it does make a difference creatively to surround yourself with creative people. Otherwise, it can make it easier to become the norm. And dear God, I don't want that....at all!!!

So yeah! Its going to be a fun filled next few days.

HAPPY FRIDAY FRIENDS

bye now

B's

Travel Reads

Morning Sunshines!!!

I had some seriously awesome input on my packing list. Thanks to everyone who helped out with that. I have started packing...well, sort of. I've started getting stuff out I guess I should say. 

I asked my friends on Facebook what books they would recommend and I had so many people help me with that as well. Last night I went to 2nd & Charles with my friends Chris & Melissa. Unfortunately they didnt have any of the books I really wanted. I did get a book though that is part of Book Crossing. So that's fun! Book Crossing is where you put a tag on your book, log onto their website, log where you are from and your thoughts about the book, then you release the book and ship it somewhere else. So it just tracks all of the locations that the book has been read at. I am excited to hopefully release this book in Hawaii. The book I bought is called "Friends Like These." By Danny Wallace. I will let you know how the book is for sure!!! The books I R E A L L Y wanted was a trilogy that my friend Leah told me about.  The All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness.

 I was SO so bummed out when 2nd&c didnt have the books. They had the 3rd book of the trilogy but that did me no good. So, I am still hoping to get a few more books! It's times like these when I really just wish I had a kindle.

F I V E days my friends! FIVE DAYS. I can't wait to see Faith & Dan! 

I can't wait wait wait wait wait to see 

G Y P S Y  M A R I E 

I can't wait to see Island Cream Co. in real life! I can't wait to see that beautiful logo in real life. I can't wait to eat that delicious ice cream!

I can't wait to see Ericka....Leah....Jerry! Oh my goodness. How in the world did I end up with so many great people living in PARADISE! Wooohoooo.

HAPPY WEEKEND FRIENDS!

Bye now

B's

SURPRISE & NYE LAST YEAR -- Feelings!

Hey Hey!!!

You guys....My boyfriend is such a mess. And by mess I mean a handful of a good mess. So supposedly I was going to have a package delivered to my house on Tuesday around 2 from Harry, which isnt anything out of the blue. He does sweet stuff like that all the time. We had talked about it on the phone and everything. He just kept saying he really wanted me to be the one that opened the door and saw the package first! I kept asking what was the big deal about this package...I think I even said, "I mean its just going to be a brown box, so whats the big deal?!?" So I had been anxiously waiting for AT&T to finish installing my internet so I could hurry back to my parents house before Mr. David the UPS guy delivered. So of course I nearly broke my neck to be there when it was delivered. I got back to my parents house around 1. I was only there for about 5 or so minutes before there was a knock on the door!

So I go to the door, open it, and to my pleasant surprise it was FAR FAR FAR more than just a brown box! It was HARRY standing there in real life! Dear Lord! The best surprise ever.

So, needless to say, my original plans of gym time, tanning, and lots of work for Faith were completely shot. But hey, that's totally okay with me. That surprise made my week and its only Tuesday. So the remainder of the week will be spent making lots of fun new memories with my Handsome guy. 

Our New Years Eve will be spent with my BESTIE FRANCELINA MAE and her hubbs. Eeeeek. Hopefully, Lyssa Lou and Eric too!!! along with a couple of other people. OH Yes its going to be a blast! I'm honestly just SO excited to be spending New Years Eve and welcoming in the New Year with someone who is SO STINKING GOOD to me. When I think back to last years NYE I remember exactly how I felt that night and that feeling is one that I will never forget. To say the least, it was NOT a good feeling and I knew then that no girl/lady/women should ever have to feel how I felt. No one deserves it! I remember thinking that night about all of the people who were SO so important to me, yet some of them were no where to be found on New Years Eve and could have cared less where I was celebrating the New Year. It was then that I realized that the people that are around you most, that choose to spend special occasions with you, that choose to put themselves around you, that choose to spend time with you despite a better offer...these are the people who I should be focusing on because these are the people who will be there for you at any given moment. These are the people who love you despite your flaws. These are the people that don't always put their feelings above others. And these are the people that I want to surround my self with. So, although I had a blast last New Years Eve celebrating with friends, the feeling I felt inside is one that took such a hard hit. So this year, I am simply thankful for the fact that I know I do NOT have to feel how I felt last year. It's awesome to think about sometimes where you will be in a year. I can tell you right now, last year at this time, I had NO IDEA or could have even imagined being where I am now. 

 Anyway, the rest of the weekend...well, Ill share those awesome plans later my friends! 

Im off to do some major work catch up since a completely abandoned ship yesterday.

Bye now

B's

The Next Three Weeks....and a new illustration

Hey Friends!!!

Today, I pack up three weeks worth of stuff, My whole entire giant iMac, my Macbook, Basically my entire work station, as well as Gypsy Marie's Belongings, and I hit the road for Florence!!

I will be in Florence working hard for three weeks and I am SO excited about being back for a little bit. My FAVORITE parts about it are first of all, and the obvious reason, spending time with my Bestie Friendy Francelina Mae!! And next being able to work with Faith!!! YAHOO.

Before I go, Here is my latest illustration.

If you have asked me to do an illustration of you, I promise you, I am working hard at getting them to you!! In my spare time away from working these next few weeks, I can guarantee you, I will get you a wonderful illustration that you are going to L O V E. 

I am having WAY too  much fun with these. 

Bye now, 

B's

Downtown Adventure #1

Gypsy & I had our first adventure downtown last night.

We met up with one of my favorite ladies, Mel B!

 Gyp Gyp absolutely loved being out and about. 

We went to the art crawl and ended up at The Collins.

We walked around a bit, and we ended the night at Good People.

We stayed there for a while chatting with Mel B & Will!!

It was such a blast. Good Golly Miss Molly, I love love love being in this city. 

There is always neato stuff going on and always something to do and get involved in.

I was so proud of Gypsy for how she behaved. She was so precious and so good.

There wasnt a single person that would walk by her without petting her or complimenting on pretty she was. And of course she just soaked up all the attention. 

This is the first of many many many adventures over the next few months.

HAPPY FRIDAY!!! 

It's going to be a fun fun weekend friends {Minus the expected weather}

Bye now

bB***

Handy Fest Nights One & Two

Alright Friends.... I know I know I know!!! I have been completely missing the past couple of days!

NOT OKAY. I know!

But in my defense I have had company here from out of town since Friday.

Handy Fest has had a WONDERFUL start.

W O N D E R F U L

I seriously have the best friends a girl could ask for. My only complaint....why do they have to live so far away!!! Having them in Florence made everything just perfect. 

Chris {Christmas} Melissa {Mel B} Will {Wilbert} and Dillon {Dillon Keith} all came friday night and stayed all weekend. I really was super sad when they all left today. 

Christmas and Mel B are two I worked with right out of college. Wilbert has been my best friends since we were 13. and Dillon, well, I randomly met him listening to some good ole music. 

 We listened to great great great music all weekend. Wilbert danced his little heart out. The Local Saints were amazing...as ALWAYS!!! I snagged a picture with Justin and his belt! haha 

It was super fun having all of these random friends meet for the first time and everyone just click. It made things super fun and very very relaxing after a week that was slightly stressful. 

It's been a long weekend...long and very very FUN. I'm super bummed out I will be missing the last part of Handy Fest. I will be leaving for the beach on Wednesday! I know....its such a hard trade off. Handy Fest will be thought about, BUT on the other hand I will be with my F A M I L Y who I am so beyond ready to spend time with!!!!

Well friends I will be back with more and more photos through the rest of the time I am in town for Handy. If you live in the Shoals, I sure hope you're taking advantage of all of the fun and good tunes while its happening!! It's only here once a year unfortunately!

Bye bye now

B's

Savor.

It's so so true...and I do believe that is why Sunday is my absolute favorite day of the week. 

There is something about it that is so renewing.

This week is already flying by. So much to do and so so little time to do it, it seems. BUT I want to focus this week on savoring every second of this week. Things are drastically about to change in my life and its going to be WEIRD to say the least.

My Best Friend and other trouble making half is about to be a married women. My incredible boss is moving. My career is taking on a new and exciting adventure and things are looking super UP. 

I'm just trying to savor these moments with two people that really mean so much to me.

HAPPY TUESDAY LOVES.

I'm off to the gym!

Bye now

B's

Friday & Change.

Anyone else GLAD it's Friday?!?!

this girl sure is.

I've had an awesome week holding the fort down without Faith.

Although, I must say I am ready for her to be back.

I've gotten a lot done though!

I still dont think that it has clicked yet that she is moving. I guess it will all set in on the day they pull out of the driveway. Oh sadness. I love this place. I love working here. I love them as individuals. They are such great people. I will definitely be visiting them as much as possible and hopefully continue to do work for Faith!

I am super excited about this new time in my life. I'm praying for God's direction and for a passion and drive for what I do that can only come from him. It's going to be so fun friends. 

I'm going to conquer today knowing that I am whole and complete in God. I lack nothing and I am insanely blessed with this life that I live. 

bye now

bB***

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BESTIE

It's my BEST FRIENDS 

B I R T H D A Y

♥

Francelina Mae Mae is a real life living doll.

She's absolutely beautiful inside and out. 

It's so so funny to me to think about our last year of college and how our friendship just completely took deep deep roots at some point between college graduation, our first grown up jobs, living over one hundred miles away from each other and long late night skype sessions and from there it just grew into the most amazing friendship a girl could pray for!

We have made some of the best memories over the past couple of years! I am so so stinking excited for the new chapter she is about to dive head first into. The Married Life.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRANCES!

I love you so dearly.

FAB for life ;)

-ToT ToT

Bye now 

bB***

Capture

The Best boss ever award definitely goes to FAITH BLESSING!

My new necklace just makes me smile and reminds me of so many things. 

"Capture Life Creatively"

It reminds me of L I F E and how beautiful it is. 

It reminds me that I am a creator. It's the gift that God so graciously gave me. My creativity is one of the things that I am so incredibly thankful to have been blessed with. I've said it in posts before, but it makes me so humbled to think about the God who 

C R E A T E D the entire universe chose to give me a small piece of that same type of creativity. It's the coolest thing to think about. 

It reminds me that I shouldn't take the small moments for granted, that I should cherish every second of every moment because they all lead to great great things, whether we see it instantly or in the future.

and last but certainly not least it reminds me of sweet Faith! Gah I love that lady. She is a real gem. It will remind me of her and all of the things I have learned and how much I have grown while I've been working for her. 

What about your boss? Are they as sweet and cool as mine? I doubt it.

Night loves

bB***

Wonderfulness!

Hi Love!

It's my favorite day of the week. Yes...I love Sundays so very much. I go to bed every sunday night with the happiest heart on the planet I do believe. 

I have a few videos from the weekend & a few photos. WHY do the weekends insist on zooming by? They need to s l o w i t d o w n. Anyway, here's a glimpse into my weekend so far. Enjoy!

Gosh I love these people. I L O V E them so much and am super thankful for all of them.

Here's the rundown of everything you just saw 

{Friday lunch break with Gypsy. That pupster is such a sweeeeeetie!}

{Pauly P being a weirdo in his hoodie}

{Selfie Saturday?}

{Me harassing Raeghan with my videoing}

{Lounging at the Movies seeing Frozen}

{EchoBase Worship Night with the GREATEST friends on the planet}

 Clearly my weekend has been really wonderful & we still have one day left until its back to the work grind. 

Today is baptism Sunday! At Epic, baptism isn't just a typical baptism service. It's a full out PARTY, like serious PARRRRTYYYY! So pumped for today. If you're in the shoals area, come out and hang! 11am this morning or come catch the 6pm service with me in Decatur!!! Dare ya;)

How was your weekend?  Feel free to share away!

Bye now,

B's

Rae & bB Saturday

Hi hi!!! I have been having a super fun & totally chill weekend with Raeghan. 

She got here later on Friday! We stayed at my apartment and talked the night away. We have LOTS to catch up on. 

Yesterday during the day, Rae had some school work to do and I wanted to read a little. So, we went to Books-A-Million. Pretty typical of us, right? We had lunch at Panera and shopped at Ross, as well as TJ Maxx. Gah that place...it gets me every time!! We tried to take a nap, but then got caught up in watching good ole Patty from Millionaire Matchmaker. She is hilarious and insanely mean! haha I always lose track of time when I watch her show. 

One of Rae's friends, Clint, drove to Florence last night so we could hang out. We had such a fun time. We went to dinner pretty late, listened to some music, people watched a little, got to know each other a little bit. Late last night we decided to just crash at my little home and watch the Purge. I do believe I was the only one who stayed awake for the whole movie. Can't help it. I LOVE that movie. Have you ever seen it? It's such a good movie!!!

Clint, I'm so glad you came to Florence! It was great meeting you. Hope you had a good time. Come back soon!!!

This morning is a struggle. Do NOT want to get dressed. But, I will say I'm pretty freaking excited that Raeghan is getting to go to church with me. This place, these people, they make my heart so happy and its something you just have to experience. Unfortunately Clint couldn't go with us today. He had to head back to Bham to make it to Church29:11 for their service. 

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE. My favorite day of the week. 

I Promise Rae and I will do better today about taking better pictures.

Bye for now...be back later.

bB***

Family Time & Epic Time

Hey Hey!!! A freaking fun and very blessed weekend is what I have had.

Here are a few photos from all of my fun. 

Here's the run down.

1. I got my hair cut Friday. I have the best boss who recommended Aleesha Crowe to me. THANK YOU FAITH. I now have my own hair stylist in Florence FINALLY after eight long years! haha

2. My jewelry on my counter was a mess...but it sure was a beautiful and pretty mess.

3. My Rae Rae Surprised me. I knew my mom and my auntie were coming to florence to visit me but I had no idea that my sweet Raeghan was coming. When I opened my door and her smiling face was standing there, my heart got SO happy. Gosh I just love that girl and glad she's BACK to Raeghan!!!

We went out to dinner. We had the Pie Factory. It was Awesome!

We talked and talked and talked about life and everything that is changing. I don't know what I would do without my family. They mean more to me than anything. I trust their advice and always take it to heart. 

4. Raeghan ducking in the back seat hiding while her mom was embarrassing her. GAH those two are hilarious. 

5. Late last night I found Dirty Dancing on T.V. Oh Patrick you are stunning. 

& Nobody puts baby in the corner. 

6. I got to do Zombie makeup today at church. I LOVE Epic. Like seriously I don't  think I could ever put into words how thankful I am that God led me to Epic that random Sunday when I was probably at the lowest point in my spiritual life. I was deep deep down in the dumps discouraged and ready to throw in the towel. I never ever imagined finding a place where I not only would find a church, but a church filled with his presence, filled with people who seek only his presence, a place where I have a FAMILY, a place where I have made some of the best friends I could ever have prayed for... I could go on and on and on. 

As always, God has showed me that if I just trust him with every single direction of my life, he will be faithful and he will put everything in my life that I NEED. {not want..but NEED.Huge difference}

So see. I've had a pretty fantastic weekend and sure hope you have too.

Be back later

B's

OH and THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

my day was made today! I was grabbing some coffee at church this morning after I finished up zombiefying the Kelleys. As I was getting my coffee that sweet lady that was serving the cafe, said "I just love reading your blog." and it made my heart so incredibly happy.

You all have no idea how much that makes me want to cry. It means the world to me when someone enjoys my little space here. I've kept this blog going for quite some time now. I started out doing it just so my family would feel connected to my life while I was away for school. I had no idea what a huge impact my little blog would have on my life. It has become part of my being and I am so grateful for all of you who read it and continue to support what I love doing. 

Thank you all so much!!!

2013 favorite memories

Its on this day every single year that I realize HOLY SCHIKEY I had an amazingly BLESSED year!!! Its also on this day every year that I am super thankful for all of the photos I snap over the year. I've made so many memories during 2013 and all of my photos make my heart incredibly happy to look at. 

Walking out of work yesterday, we were joking around about the year. We all made the comment that 2013 was definitely NOT our favorite year of our lives. It wasn't. It hasn't. and now its over with. Just quickly thinking about 2013 I'm immediately B L A H about it. I feel like I didnt accomplish anything. I didnt help anyone. I didnt do anything for the good. I didn't move forward in anything I just was STUCK the whole year it seems. Until just recently. Thank GOD he has the big picture of my life and knows what is ahead. That's EXACTLY why I trust him with everything. However after looking back through my pictures I quickly realized that I obviously take things for granted. I've had an absolutely i n c r e d i b l e year.

I had trip after trip after trip, Florida, Charlotte, Atlanta, Nashville, etc. 

God put me in a church that has changed my entire view on people and life as a whole, 

I got settled into my own little place here, 

 God gave me a brand new group of friends that mean more to me than anything,

 I got to spend a good amount of time with J. Not as much as  I would love, but ill gladly take whatever time with him I can get.

I Handyfested hard! 

My BEST FRIEND got flipping ENGAGED. 

I was MAID OF HONOR for my two best friends at the SAME TIME. whoaaaa! 

Lyssa Lou got married to the man of her dreams.

 I got to see the Auburn Tigers play.

 I saw John & Jacob play a lot! 

Had lots of Family time! 

I was gifted my absolute favorite striped shirt. 

I got to be Zorro for a night. 

I got a new oil changing and weekend music listening pal. 

I worked my tush off with my best friend at PSI

I got offered a new job that I am head over heels about. 

I got lots of Adam family time. 

I went to the rockin-est Christmas Party ;)

My bham friends came and stayed in Flo with me!

SO many good good good things happened in 2013 and I am ashamed for a second I thought otherwise. 

SO excited though to see where I go in 2014!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR loves.

I'm off to Huntsville for a celebration with my best friend and lots of other people!

Bye now, 

B's