30 Blogs in 30 Days: Day 4: 10 Things I Would Say to my 16-Year-Old Self

This is a pretty interesting one!

Hmm... let's see... what was I doing when I was 16???

In September of 2003, I was starting my junior year of high school, so "16" was basically my junior year & the summer after.

Alex and I were on and off {of course} and I had some pretty great times with some pretty great friends.

Here's some random pics from my 16-year-old days...

Golfing with Alex for his 18th birthday

"Fab 4" night of trouble... 

There's a funny story that goes with the picture above.

I will sum it up with a Facebook photo comment from Summer (2nd from the right):

"hahahahahahahaha...i still can see you flipping out of the back of the truck..hahaha...and the car coming and you almost getting ran over...i thought you were dead...but of course im glad you're ok and everything but you know that was the funniest thing ever when you look back on it...lol" 

Good times, y'all, good times...

My 16th Birthday... at Hooters after the football game, lol

Oh you know, riding around ;) Taking pictures...
With that old Nokia phone- everyone who was cool had one ;) 

Junior Girls Christmas Party at my house

Christmas dance
I was in a "bold" phase

Homecoming Pep Rally with Alex
Look how young & skinny we were!

Softball girlies :) 

When you want a specific tan line, you wear 2 bathing suits.
You can do that when you're skinny.

My future college roomie!! Who knew?! :)

My twinsie, Meredith ♥

I definitely just scrounged through my old Webshots account and whatever is left of my Facebook pictures from this "era" and reminisced for about an hour. {Way to be productive, Nicole!} 

Oh, yeah....10 things I would tell my 16-year-old self.... 

1. You've got it, so flaunt it! You will start taking Depo-Provera next year, and your body will never like you again. 
2. I know you think you're overweight, but YOU. ARE. NOT. You can't compare your body to your peers' bodies. You wanna compare it to something? Compare it to your OWN body, 8 years later. You'll think twice and want to wear bikinis everywhere you go! 
3. Your hair was cute short. But at some point, please let it grow long.
4. You look beautiful without a ton of makeup! 
5. You're going to have fun. Things are going to get crazy. Live it up. You'll grow more cautious later. 
6. When Alex gets super controlling and psycho on you, don't call him. "It's meant to be," so don't call him. He'll act like he won't miss you, because he's young and big and bad, but do your own things. He'll miss you a lot. And he'll be a much better man eight years later, so, do what you've gotta do. 
7. Realize how lucky you are. You're surrounded by so many awesome things, memories, and people! Not everyone's so lucky.
8. Hoes before bros. 
9. Learn how to study, PLEASE. And get better grades. You're too smart to get lower grades just because you're lazy. 
10. Family is important too. 

*****

Stay tuned for Day 5: Five Things That Make You Most Happiest Right Now

Click to see my other blogs from 30 Blogs in 30 Days.

Just a Thursday evening-o-fun!

Today started off so negative & ended on such a good note! THANK GOD! I woke up hurting before I even got out of the bed. Well, I guess that's the definition of "woke up" (still being in the bed, ya know) but moving on... three Aleves and a pain pill later and I was Good. To. Go. I got my errands ran & bought a pretty piece of jewelry from Tori's Premier Jewelry party. My sweet friend, Tori, has supported me through my Premier party & also to my Mary Kay party, so, I must also support her & her attempt to get some pretty {and free!} jewelry! If you are interested in hosting a Premier party, let me know & I will give you the contact info of Jaime, Alex's cousin who sells it. :)

I also gave a new friend, Carlee Carpenter, her free Mary Kay facial tonight! Yep, that's right! 100% free! I really enjoyed it, getting to know a little about her, chit chatting about makeup, teaching techniques I've learned over the years & letting her try something new with her makeup! She looked great! I love helping making girls feel fabulous! And that helps me with my goal to do 30 faces in 30 days...so, hit me up for YOUR free facial!! :)

Meet Carlee :)

The night then ended with my boy RAs coming for a visit to entertain me. No actually, they wanted a free facial...but, I won't get into all that because I told them I wouldn't. But, they were fun to hang out with! They spent the night going through my iPod, telling me "You don't know about no {insert old artist here}"...giving me scenarios of me listening to certain bands...for example, "This is Nicole, driving down the road, mad, listening to {insert rock band name here}." Bradley & all of his masculinity stopped by for a bit, while we waited on Maria to come watch Jersey Shore with us. Bradley's my new RA & quite a hoot!

Michael, Tyler, & Bradley - Ike security! LOL

Jersey Shore wasn't nearly as good as it was last week...but, it sparked some good convo between the four of us! Haha! Which reminds me to say: I sure am thankful that I am in a committed relationship with a trustworthy guy! I can not imagine living in paranoia, fear, and worry that I will be cheated on. Some of y'all girls out there, I don't know how you do it.

Ahh... how a positive attitude and a little pain pill can brighten a girl's day!! :) I am thankful it quickly turned around....I would have missed out on some fun for sure!!

Christmas...annual family music videos??

So, I was going to blog about something else {I'm getting to that} but in a YouTube search {go figure} I came across this. Click the link there if you want, but I am going to go ahead & show you what I'm talking about. This family {whoever those fabulously creative Christmas lovers are} makes their own family Christmas card music video every year to send out! How original!

The first year, their daughter was 2, and while she could sing, their Christmas music video was of her dancing to a rockin' little Christmas tune! This looks like a commercial and please look at how fabulous that 2 year-old's haircut looks on her! She is having such a good time too. You can't not be happy while watching this...


{Ok, that was in 2008. Either their daughter wasn't 2 {anymore} or their ages are a little off, but that is not the point...I am just explaining why there's no "3 year old video."}

Here is her, at 'age 4' singing Where Are You Christmas by Faith Hill for their annual Christmas card. Absolutely precious...


And now, at age 5, they do it again. This time some work definitely went into this Christmas card/music video. Their work paid off because this is the most fabulous "Christmas card" I've seen! So family-oriented, festive, and FUN looking!! I hope my future family and I can have this much fun during the Christmas season! And it looks like they've added 2 more Christmas-loving babies to their family {they've been busy}...the youngest girl has such a cute little raspy voice! Ahh....so adorable!! I always wished I had had a raspy voice, haha...


Kudos to them for being so awesome! & helping put me in the Christmas spirit! Better now than never!

Happy Halloween!

As you know, I'm not a big Halloween fan. I don't think I'd ever spend personal money on buying Halloween decorations. Now Fall is a completely different story and if you know me or you've seen my apartment, you know money is well spent on Fall decor. ;) But Halloween...nope! Not so much! I can see you decorating the weeks up until Halloween, but that would overshadow my beloved Fall, leaving Fall only to be decorated from Halloween to Thanksgiving- which is just not acceptable. {OMG I'm starting to sound like Sheldon on Big Bang Theory. Side note: Alex and I watched a whole disc of that tonight! I am LOVING that show! Thanks Maria!}

Anyways, this makes year #2 I've been living in the dorms during Halloween, so, celebrate it a little bit I must! This is the 2nd year we have had a Halloween party in the building, so I had to dress up as SOMEthing! I didn't want to spend any money on it, or at least didn't want to spend upwards to $20 on something. Last year I bought a "mummy" t-shirt on clearance at Wal-Mart to wear to the party...

{Miss you Keenan!}

But this year, I wasn't too sure of what to do. I got some great ideas from friends on Facebook- but the best {cheap} idea of all came from an employee at Maiden High School {where I'm doing my school counseling practicum}.

For a total of $4 I bought a black t-shirt on clearance at AC Moore and a scrap of fabric at Wal-Mart and made my Halloween costume.

Add a little black shimmer eyeshadow I had in my collection & voilà! I was a "black eyed pea" this Halloween!!

The Halloween party was a definite success. ... It wasn't all what RAC {who planned the party} had planned but I tried to warn them it wouldn't. We did get smart though & have a $50 raffle at the end to entice residents to stay until the end! We had a good number of residents come in costumes too...so that was awesome! Here's some pics from the night's event.

My fabulous RAs that dressed up!

My OTHER RAs who said their costumes were abstract! LOL

Isenhour Staff :)

Andres the pirate!

Shelby, the cutest little flapper!

Best costume = Ricky Bobby

{Yep, I Picniked a picture on Facebook! Don't know what Picnik is? Definitely search for it on Facebook!} PS- Do you see Baby's jester "outfit"??? That's all she'd allow...so that was good enough for me!

Hickory Girlfriends

Last night I hosted a Mary Kay party for a friend, Dana. She's working towards her pink Cadillac. First let me say that I hate hosting parties. Not parties in general, that I would enjoy, but I dislike making people feel obligated to come and buy something. It's okay that I say this because I made that very clear to Dana multiple times. She's a trooper though and insisted I host a party anyways. Being so determined is how you become successful in the Mary Kay business I'm sure. I only invited about 9 or 10 girls & five showed up! I know the others would have came if they could have and I know everyone's got a million things going on. Which is why I was so thankful to have five girls show up! They didn't have to buy anything, but they did {probably because Mary Kay is so fabulous}. It's the fact that they took time out of their busy lives to join me at my party that made me so grateful for such great friends!

I am extremely grateful for the friends that I have made in Hickory. I love chatting, laughing, venting, MTV nights, walking around campus, & celebrating with them all! I really didn't know anyone when I moved to Hickory and now I feel so thankful that I have made girlfriends.

Girlfriends are vital to a girl's sanity.

I wish I had a pic with you all... We need a photo opp ASAP :) xoxo ♥

Extreme Air

Lenoir-Rhyne often times hosts cool events on campus, and this was one of them! Extreme Air Tour came to campus and I really really wanted to try it! It's actually a wind tunnel that simulates sky diving under winds of about 125 mph! Tori and I made our way to the stadium parking lot, signed our lives away, and tried it out. It was so much fun! So glad I tried it!

I love how they are holding onto me by the side of my outfit. So secure... haha

how awesome!

If you click the pic to zoom in, you can see that my face is about to fly off!

My Best Friend's Wedding

This past weekend I had the honor of being by one of my best friend's side while she married the love of her life. Caroline and Ryan are my favorite couple and I felt so blessed to not only attend their wedding, but to be a part of their special day. I wish them all the happiness in the world. Their wedding day was one out of a complete fairytale, which is what Caroline's dreamed of her entire life, so I was extremely happy for her that everything went absolutely *perfectly*! She was never stressed about anything and could genuinely ENJOY her wedding day- which is how the bride should be! Maybe it's because she already had everything planned & organized, maybe it was the Lord blessing her abundantly, or maybe it was because she had six awesome bridesmaids! ;) haha just kidding!

Now I just have to get used to calling her Caroline Bernthal...

I think Ryan Farris sounds better, if you ask me! ;)

LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

Vacation + I am a Godmother!! :)

I had a GREAT time during my MUCH needed vacay to "Wilmington" to stay with Lindsey & Rhine! I am absolutely in love with their house & all their home decor. Not to mention being so close to the BEACH! I had such a great time...they were the best hosts! Not to mention I was asked to be their future child's Godmother!! During breakfast on Friday they gave me a present and it was the cutest Godmother coffee mug with an adorable quote on it (I'll have to take a pic & post it)... as I opened up the present I cried!! :) Then Rhine preceded to tell me how large of a responsibility being a MARINE Godmother was, and then why they were so glad I accepted!! I am so blessed to have such great friends who think so highly of me. I just wish Alex could have been there with me. {Somebody's gotta stay home and make that money though, I guess!} I got some really cute stuff $hopping in the cute local stores and got to work on my tan for two days while laying out on the beach! I also attended their church Sunday morning, Scott's Hill Baptist Church-- which I LOVED! They are doing a series on FAQ {Frequently Asked Questions about Christianity} and it was hilarious, educational, Biblically based, and intriguing....all at the same time! The worship service was AWESOME too...I felt like I was at a Christian concert!!

Needless to say...the drive home was a long one! :( I can't wait to come back and visit them and my new baby Godson!! I would say his name but, I don't think they've entirely agreed on one quite yet!

I miss the breezy beach already!!

Our trip to Atlanta for Memorial Day weekend

Last weekend, for Memorial Day weekend, Alex & I drove down to Atlanta to spend the long weekend with our friends {and soon to be newlyweds!} Meredith & Brandon! We got to check out their new house & their "new" town & experience a little Atlanta! It was such a great weekend. They were such great hosts!

We didn't get to leave until around 5 that afternoon but the Memorial Day traffic wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be! When we got into town, Alex & I went to visit his college friend, Charis. She has an awesome apartment with a great view. Her apartment complex reminded me of the beach {which I can not wait to go to!} and I think it'd be awesome to pack everything I own up, and move far away from everything! I envy her for that. If I didn't feel the need to be close to my family at this point in my my/our lives, I would have so done that a couple years ago. I guess the Lord works in mysterious ways! ;) He wanted me "here" ... or close by at least!

Anyways, we got to Meredith & Brandon's late & just chit chatted til the wee hours of the morning. We spent the weekend $hopping, eating at some YUMMY restaurants, & hanging out with each other! We attempted to go to a Braves game together but the weather was iffy & the radar showed a huge storm heading our way so we didn't go. {We went to the movies and finally got to see Date Night, which is HILARIOUS by the way!} The boys made it to the Braves game the next day while Meredith & I had a girls day! We shopped, did a couple touristy things, and then went to babysit. We BOTH made $100!! Talk about worth it! We all went to Brandon & Meredith's church Sunday morning, which was HUGE by the way. We heard a great message too! :)

It was such a great trip and I can not wait until their wedding in Mississippi in July! I am also super glad Alex and I "have to" fly in because of his work schedule....Sorry guys, I love ya both but I was not looking forward to that drive/ride there!

Here's some of my favorite pics from the weekend ::

Meredith & I in our Atlanta Braves colors :)

his hugs are my favorite ♥

having fun in our crazy photo shoot

Meredith and Brandon, a match made in heaven :)

Funny story: We saw this guy getting on his motorcyle, and he had a full blown skeleton-looking biker's outfit on! Gloves, glasses, and all! It looked pretty cool, until he was riding behind us and I realized how scary/creepy it looks...haha...