happy friday

This week was not easy with that dang time change. I don't feel like I've caught up on sleep yet and I've been in bed by 9:30 for the past three nights...

Other than that we didn't have a particularly interesting week. Spring seems to have arrived and we've spent as much time outside as we can. I love living in the Midwest so we get to experience all four seasons equally.

This weekend we're planning to spend some time with my sister and her family and as always, catch up on the ever growing pile of laundry. I hope to find time to start my new book, but in the meantime this week's links are pretty entertaining. Enjoy!


I know that I'm not alone with my distaste for time changes...

We live in a world where the news can be a bit "crappy," this is no exception

Thirteen maps of America that may surprise you

On Monday The Bachelor wrapped up and I love this writers hilarious recap

Belle has my vote

This video made me tear up a little

I'm glad I wasn't following some of these semi's but, I feel like I would have stopped to help clean up the Twizzlers 

and one last video to end on...a cat fail

Have a great weekend!

happy friday

This week was all about catching up from last week and by about Wednesday, I think we finally did. While I was in Chicago with my dad, Alex was in Lexington with his dad and brothers, so we both had a busy (fun) weekend. We each had a great time away, but as always, it was nice to be home again.

I don't have a lot planned for this weekend other than a baby shower and some dinner plans on Sunday. Alex has declared that he has no plans for this weekend and he doesn't want me to make any for him...

and with no further ado, here are this week's links:

This is absolutely my dream

"You're guess is as good as mine"

After all of my continuing education classes last week, I thought this would be good to share

Don't ruin your dinner parties...

I'm in the Thin Mint camp...what camp are you in?

Jimmy Kimmel hit the nail on the head with this

I have a new concern to add to my growing list...exploding phones

This article got me thinking about what is going on in my fridge

This isn't a new video, but I love it every time I see it...

Happy Weekend!

ps: Alex has been working on our office website, you should check it out

late in the game

I think I'm about 7 or so years late in the game, but I have finally gotten Twitter. Now I don't know how I existed without it. I feel like I haven't known this much about what's going on in the news and media since high school's Channel 1. If you want to follow me, I'm @abbybwilliams.

In other news, I'm still ready for spring to arrive but I think we still have more snow and ice on the way. I can dream...

Last weekend in Chicago was a lot of fun and I ate more in two nights there than I do in a week here. But, everything was so good! We ate at Bandera Thursday night and at RPM on Friday(and train food both coming and going-not as good). I finished up my required continuing education hours and learned a lot refreshed my memory of all things dental hygiene. I'm very thankful that my dad invited me to join him. He is a good travel buddy and certainly knows how to keep me on my toes ;)

happy friday

Hello from the Windy City! Wednesday my dad and I took the train up to Chicago and were welcomed by falling snow flakes. Today and yesterday our schedule has been filled with continuing education classes and walking the floor (aka vendor booths) to get free samples.

Last night we had a great dinner at Bandara and I can only look forward to more delicious food tonight! We will head home tomorrow and then rest for the remainder of the weekend. For your leisurely weekend reading, I found some good links, enjoy!


This video is only 6 seconds long, but every time I watch it I laugh out loud

This Etsy shop has me ready for summer

My friend Stephanie and I want to try our hand at making this cake...it looks delicious

This was a topic of conversation at a lunch with friends this week, so I found it to be an interesting read as well as some of the links within the post

Coming to a TV near you...via Netflix

This makes me wonder how some people get elected into office

In case you need a reminder that today is just one day

This would be quite the surprise on a date

In case you've been a little confused about all of the net neutrality discussions

Happy Weekend!!

wanderlust

image via

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I have a serious case of the travel bug. I don't make it easier on myself either, I am subscribed to several different email notifications for flight sales, getaway promotions and trip discounts. Everyday when I check my email, I begin wander-lusting and day dreaming...

I don't think it's a bad thing, but some times it think it may breed a bit of discontent. I have been trying to delete the emails and steer myself away from travel blogs and websites. I don't know how many times that I have planned a trip and then exited out of the browser at the payment screen. But, it's hard when it's so cold and dreary here. On top of the travel bug, I think I may have spring fever too...I hope I can find a cure soon!

happy friday

Why is it that the weekend flies by, but the rest of the week drags on like second period history?? It's not that this week wasn't a good week, it was just long and cold. It felt like we had three Monday's in a row...so now I am eagerly welcoming the weekend and hope that next week only has one Monday.

Tonight, Alex will be mourning the loss of his fantasy football during the trophy presentation and I will be celebrating my friend Amanda's 25th birthday! She asked for a red velvet cake, so I'm going to try to perfect my recipe.

Tomorrow, we have plans for brunch with some friends and then Alex is going to a Blues game and I'm having (another) girls night.

I really enjoy our weekends and love that in the winter we don't have a lot of obligations other than what we create for ourselves. I'm looking forward to resting and getting ready for another busy week. Here are some of the links that caught my eye this week. Enjoy!

Alex and I are planning a trip to Oregon this spring, we've been using this website to help

The age old question finally has an answer

Just because I'm twenty years older than the target audience, I'm still a fan and scored very well on this quiz

This little girl is too cute and definitely shows Alex (and me) up with presidential knowledge

This is a good post about spending time alone

I have to make a lot of small talk with my job (and my personality, I don't like awkward silence) so this post was an interesting read

The mid-west, as a whole, is not ranking very well in overall well-being and happiness

Have a great weekend!

chopped

I have always had shorter hair. My mom didn't want to deal with three girls and their long hair, so we rocked the bowl cut for quite a while. Because of that I never learned how to do hair, so I've always found it easier to have short hair. 

In the summer of 2013 I was brave enough to get a pixie cut. I loved it, it was fun and so easy to take care of. But after a few months I decided it was time to grow my hair out.  Then came the awkward growing out stages, you know what I'm talking about...I looked like Justin Bieber, then Carol Brady and then slowly (finally) like myself again. 

I let it grow until it touched my shoulders. I began embracing pony tails and the ease of just tossing my hair on top of my head and calling it a day. But, because I have the attention span of a squirrel, I got tired of all the time it takes to dry and style longer hair, so I got it cut! I'm happy with how it turned out and it only took me 5 minutes to dry and style my hair this morning, so that's a win!

I want to be Peter Pan. I don't want to grow up. I don't want to be an adult with real responsibilities. But, apparently it's too late for me...if it's not too late for you: Run! Save yourself!

Lately, there has been a lot weighing on my heart and mind. Most of it is normal, adult-y life stuff, but more and more I find myself worrying and praying for the high school students in our youth group.

They are battling some pretty dark stuff that I have never had to encounter. It's hard for me to wrap my mind around what some of them have had to experience. My heart breaks for them and I just wish that they didn't have to grow up so quickly.

My prayer is that I can show them an ounce of the grace and love that Christ shows me. I know that growing up is unavoidable (insert sadness, despair, weeping and mourning), but I know that my hope and identity is in Christ and I pray that these students will find that in Him too.

image via

snow day

Today I took a snow day and took full advantage of it. I slept in, ran (on the treadmill, not in the snow), binged on Friends, baked some delicious muffins and then made a great dinner. I feel like a regular 'ole housewife!

Alex, on the other hand, scraped the car, shoveled the driveway and trudged his way to the office and worked all day. I definitely got the better end of the stick. Tomorrow we will both be going to work and resume normal activities.

Happy snow day!

happy friday the 13th

So far Friday the 13th isn't shaping up to be very spooky at all. Right now, the hype is all about the 14th. We had a normal week and are ready to welcome the weekend.

Tonight our high school youth group (which we help lead) is hosting a Parent's Night Out fundraiser. The parents drop off their kids for us to babysit and then they get to enjoy a childless night out. We try to do this once a quarter as a service to the parents in our church, but also to help our students raise money for mission trips, retreats, etc.

Other than that we don't have a lot on the schedule this weekend. I'm sure we'll do something for Valentine's Day and this Sunday I will officially start training for the Go! half marathon. I have eight weeks to get race ready, so as long as I stick to my schedule, I'll be good to go. This week I've stumbled across some good links that I wanted to share, enjoy!

We love this restaurant and I'm so excited at the recognition that it' getting

Lately I have been binge watching Friends on Netflix so this article caught my eye

Jimmy Fallon, Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart...how could this not be funny?!?

In case you haven't noticed, Valentines Day is tomorrow...this is a cute DIY Valentine

I've got my eye out for a new couch (ours is a bit too small and white) and I really like this one

My Mom signed me up to receive a crock pot recipe every day in the month of February, I may try this one

This is an experiment I may try...and regret

It's no secret that I'm a Bond fan and I am really excited for the new release in November

I'm all for these price changes

Lastly, there has been a lot of hype for 50 Shades of Grey, which I will not be seeing or supporting, but I do support Ellen and this video she put together... and this video too

Have a great weekend!

don't worry, it's not (very) contagious

 image via

Alex and I try to have some sort of adventure planned each month. However, January didn't really lend itself to adventuring, so I'm feeling a little antsy. Luckily, at the end of the month I'm heading north to the Windy City with my dad and Alex is headed south to Wildcat Country aka Lexington, Kentucky. He is going with his dad and older brother, Paul, to visit Greg, his younger brother. We all miss having Greg around, so I'm really glad that they get to go see him.

I'm looking forward to shaking up our routines and getting to spend some extra time with my dad. I'm sure we will learn a lot at our continuing education classes and eat enough to satisfy us until next year's conference.

happy friday

We have had a great week and have a casual weekend planned. All that is on our schedule for Saturday is brunch with friends and relaxing. Then Sunday after church, Alex is going to the Blues game and I have mountains of laundry calling my name. I love casual weekends with no real obligations and I'm really looking forward to it. This week I have come across some great links and wanted to share them with you. Enjoy!

Tips for avoiding small talk

A list of the best cities in Illinois for young families

How much sleep should we be getting?

POTUS "singing" Uptown Funk

My sister and I plan to visit all of these doughnut shops....

But, first we'll be starting with some local doughnut shops to get ready for our big adventure

I wish that my siblings and I could have come up with this idea

This video is by far my favorite and I've watched it over and over again!

Have a great weekend!

life lately

Happy February! It doesn't seem real that we are already into February but alas, here we are. We have been keeping ourselves quite busy between work and life.

We have finally hired a full time employee! It has been exciting and somewhat scary, but we are happy to have found someone that seems to be a good fit for us and the office. Today was his first day and we are excited to have him here and to see what he can add to our agency.

In other news, Saturday we went to watch our niece, Addison play in her first basketball game. She did great and I'm glad we were able to see her play. On Saturday evening we met Josh and Libby and the girls for dinner at Dewey's. It was delicious as usual and good to see them and catch up in person. After dinner Alex and I headed over to the Wildey to see Rear Window. It was such a good movie and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time!

Then on Sunday after church, we went to my parents for the Super Bowl. We have watched it with them every year for the past several (7+) years, so we didn't want to miss out this year. My mom made delicious wings, mini sub sandwiches, brownies and my Aunt Linda made Barf (a taco cheesy dip)so Alex was in heaven. My cousin's wife, Kendra, made some tasty caramel, chocolate covered grapes and they were amazing! We ate our fill, watched some of the game and all of the commercials and had a great time.

january 24 aka abby's day

I am not a decisive person when it comes to small, everyday decisions. This video perfectly describes my feelings and Alex's frustrations....

A few weeks ago, I decided that it was time for me to make some decisions so I declared Saturday as Abby's Day, a day to do whatever I wanted. Alex happily agreed (barring housework and chores). I even made an itinerary, because I am my father's daughter. Our itinerary as follows: 

8am: Wake up

8:30am: Pancakes for breakfast

9am: Go for a jog

11:30am: Leave for downtown St.Louis

12pm: Lunch

2pm: Go to the zoo and art museum

5pm: Dinner 

7pm: Watch girly movies of Abby's choice

11pm: Bed

How our day really went.....(the times are on an "ish" scale)

8:45am: Roll out of bed (because Moose was ready to play)

9:30am: Chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast

10am: Dance party (isn't that how everyone starts their Saturday mornings??)

10:30am: We jogged 3 miles (Alex was thrilled...)

11:45am: Go downtown

12:15pm: Lunch at Bailey's Range- It was very good, check it out and get a milk shake, you don't want to miss out on that goodness. 

2pm: Try to walk off my milkshake at the zoo...the penguins are still under construction, but the sea lions didn't disappoint.

3pm: We visited the Degas Ballerina and the Brown Sister's photography exhibit at the Art Museum. 

5pm: We went home and on the way, we grabbed some movies and then we ate a nutritious dinner of Skittles and left over pizza. We watched The Good Lie and it was soooo good, you need to see it! We also rented Let's Be Cops and watched about 15 minutes before we turned it off to binge on Friends. 

1:30am: We finally made it to bed... (Friends really sucked us in)

We had a great Abby Day and today has been great too. Our church celebrated it's fourth anniversary with a combined service at the Wildey. It was great to be able to worship with everyone in one service and to celebrate how great God is. 

I hope you've had a great weekend too!

a new year, a new resolution

It's January 5th, how is your New Year's resolution going? Alex and I didn't have a resolution last year and I don't think that we really have one this year. For my birthday, I compiled a list of 25 things that I want to accomplish before I turn 26 in September. I have 9 months left, hopefully I can achieve my goals. In the tab above (twenty five by twenty six) you can see my progress. I hope that we can all succeed with our goals this year, fingers crossed!

go!

I've gone and done it again, I have registered for another half marathon (if you're keeping track, this will be my 4th). I have signed up to run the Go! St. Louis Half Marathon in April. I really enjoy running and I love the atmosphere of the actual race. I almost cried happy tears at the Rock 'n Roll (don't worry, I held it together). I'm excited to continue challenging myself and love having a goal to work toward. Wish me luck and hopefully the weather will cooperate for optimal training.

out with the old, in with the new

Happy New Year!! It seems crazy that we're already celebrating 2015, it feels like yesterday that it was 2014 (haha I'm hilarious...seriously though, I am). Time has flown by and we had such a great year. It brought excitement, travel, a new niece, a little stress, a lot of fun and some changes.

Last January, Alex and I were able to being working together full time at AW Insurance. I would be lying if I said that it was a walk in the park and that we agreed about everything, but it has been very good and a lot of fun. We are still navigating our roles at the office as we evolve and grow, but it is exciting to see our hard work paying off.

This year we were able to go on a few adventures to see more of our great big world. We went to Jamaica, Michigan, Indiana, Arkansas, Washington and Missouri (several times). Also, we were able to buy half season Cardinals tickets so we spent half of our summer at Busch Stadium. It was such a fun summer at the ball park, but we decided that it was a one summer special. Summer 2015 will be busy enough, however we will still make it to the ball park as much as we can.

In September my sister, Becky, had a sweet little girl just 7 days after my birthday! Atley Jane is the perfect addition to their family and lucky number 13 for Alex and I (as far as nieces and nephews go).

Here is a quick look back at 2014

We have been able to spend time with our friends and families this year and we've gotten to make some great memories. 2014 treated us very well and we are so thankful for the provisions and blessings God has given us. He is so good and I'm excited to see what He has in store for us in 2015.

May the Lord bless you and keep you; 

make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 

and may He give you peace

Numbers 6:24-26

Happy New Year!

christmas recap

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! We left for Salem on Tuesday afternoon to spend the week at my parent's house. They were gracious hosts and fed us, entertained us and fed us some more!

On Christmas Eve we got an early start to our day and met my two best friends from high school (and their fiancé's) for breakfast. It was so good to catch up with them and see them again. I wish they lived closer and that we could be together more often. They have and will always have a special place in my heart! After breakfast we picked up my dad and went to see The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies. My mom was very glad that he had someone else to go with because she does not enjoy any of the LOTR or Hobbit movies (she's lame, but we love her). After the movie, we got to go to the Christmas Eve service at FCC. It was great to be able to worship and celebrate Christ's birth with a community of believers. It is one of my favorite things about the Christmas season.

Me, Megan and Amanda at breakfast

 We were ready to see The Hobbit with our 3D glasses

---

When Christmas morning arrived, Alex's head popped of his pillow like a first grader's. He was so excited to get up and give each other our gifts. I was a little less enthusiastic and slept for another half hour... After we were all awake we enjoyed sausage twirls and sticky buns, which are a mandatory tradition that I make sure my mom and aunt don't get complacent about. We opened our gifts and just enjoyed each others company. It was a fun, relaxing morning. That afternoon we went to Alex's sister's house to celebrate with his family. We had a good time and all ate way too much.

Jansen is at the perfect age right now (14ish months) and is so fun to watch play, walk and try to keep up with everyone else.

---

On the 26th Jim and his family all arrived in Salem (Becky and crew came on the 25th later in the evening) and we did our family gift exchange with the kids and played. The on the 27th my Grandpa and his lady friend Jeanne arrived and so did my dad's brother Bruce and family. Before we could do any gift exchanging, Alex and I enacted a new family tradition:

The Blair Family Ping Pong Tournament  

It was so much fun and everyone played (not all played well, but they played). We played doubles to 11 and then the championship round was played to 21. Becky was my partner and we were out the first round. I was a little disappointed, but we had fun regardless. The champions were my mom and Jared!

Alex and I headed home Sunday afternoon and were exhausted, but I don't think either of us were as tired as Moose...he hasn't done anything but sleep since we've gotten home. We had a great Christmas and are so thankful for our family and friends and for the opportunity to get to spend time with them. Now we're getting ready to ring in the new year.

santa hustled

Christmas is less than 24 hours away!! We wanted to celebrate the holiday all week so we started last weekend with Josh, Libby and Alaina. We drove to Indianapolis for the Santa Hustle on Friday after work. On Saturday we slept in, ate,  then shopped, ate, shopped some more and then we explored downtown Indy. The race was on Sunday morning and we were up and at 'em bright and early.

Libby ran her first 5k and did fantastic! We are all very proud of her and her willingness to train and endure the cold. Alaina ran her very first half marathon and she did great too! I had my best time so far and am pleased with our results. I don't think I'm going to hang up my running shoes just yet, I still have a few more races left in me.

Our official time was two hours and 16 minutes and our pace was 10 minutes 28 seconds. We had so much fun training and I really enjoyed this race. I listened to Christmas music the whole race and my favorite song that came up on Pandora was Run, Run, Rudolph (I thought it was quite applicable)! We headed home on Sunday after the race a little more sore than we started but glad that we ran.

(We don't know that other neon man...just a coincidence)

life lately

I have been so excited for Christmas since August. Why? I do not know. I always love Christmastime, but this year I've been especially excited. We completed all (well, 98%) of our shopping within the first week of December and all of our gifts are wrapped and ready.

I'm ready to run my Santa themed half marathon on Sunday and we've been listening to Christmas music since December 1st. Last week we went to see Straight No Chaser perform at the Fox for our annual Christmas culture.

Every time we drive by a house that is decorated, we slow down to gawk. Christmas movies are on a constant loop and our little tree twinkles at all times.  To say that this is my favorite time of year is probably an understatement.

Merry (almost) Christmas!