Oh How Pinteresting Wednesday!

I am linking up with The Vintage Apple again for Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday!

Please follow me on Pinterest so I can follow you and see all the pretty things you are loving!

Follow Me!! - ncsuz on Pinterest


Right now my mom is in Portland, OR.  She has 3 ladies she has been friends with since elementary school (I think that is amazing!).  They try to get together every year now, so she is spending time with them this week. But that means I don't get to have my nightly chats with her and I miss her!  Especially today because I have some big news to share with her!  So the theme for today's pinboard is parenting (and no my big news is not that I am pregnant!).  These are just a few pins and ideas I love for if I ever become a parent!

Source: vol25.typepad.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

Source: blog.hannamac.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

Source: brookekellyphotography.blogspot.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

20 Adult Truths

They were talking about this on the radio this morning and I was cracking up and agreeing with every one of these so I had to share:

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die. (just in case!)

2. Nothing stinks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger. (AMEN! I wish I could have nap time now!)

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet? (even when I have instructions I can't do it!)

6. Was learning cursive really necessary? (now I do kind of still like cursive better)

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5.  I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.  (super annoying)
 
8. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired. (again Amen to that!)

9. Bad decisions make good stories.  (I think I might have racked up enough good stories now though!)

10. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

11. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

12. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.  (I hate that!!)

13. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.  (I also give them bad last names like "donotanswer")

14. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

15. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

16. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?   (I do this all the time!)

17. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!  (One of my biggest pet peeves!  Do not let them over y'all!)

18. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

19. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time.

20. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important.

And the winner is...

A little later than I anticipated, but it's because I decided to do this drawing old school style:

Congrats Aubrey Laine!  I will send you the info for the $75 gift card!

Thank you everyone for entering!  I hope y'all have a fabulous weekend!

Sunday Snippets on Thursday

I missed church on Sunday because I was at the beach.  But I finally got to listen to the sermon today so I figured I would do a little Sunday Snippets on Thursday post.

We are continuing our sermon series on how to be transformed by The Gospel.  We are spending a week on each of the five outward signs of the inward renewal the Gospel brings.  Just a reminder those five outward signs are:

1. Prayer & Bible Study
2. Character
3. Community
4. Evangelism & Missions
5. Generosity

Reminder this is not a list of things you must do to be transformed by the Gospel.  These are things you will naturally start doing when you've had that inward transformation.  It doesn't happen overnight (at least for me it didn't.)  And it doesn't come naturally or easy, but these are things you will start gravitating towards and doing once you have truly realized what Christ has done for you. 

What is the Gospel?  That we are all- everyone of us- sinners.  And the penalty for sin is death.  But God loved us so much that he sent His son Jesus to pay that price for us.  He died on the cross to pay the price for my (and your) sins.  Once you admit that you are a sinner and realize you can't save yourself just by trying to do better or be a better person and you finally admit it and let go and give your life over to Christ (follow him and his ways) in thanks for paying your price with his life on the cross- that gratitude and amazement will overwhelm you at times.

Those 5 signs listed above are just outward signs indicating that inward transformation has taken place.  Kind of like you know you have the flu- the outward signs are a stuffy nose, cough, fever, aches and pains, etc.  Those outward signs are your indication that you have been infected by the flu virus.

Last week the focus was on Community.  Here are some quick bullet points of the main take-aways I had from the sermon and our small group study:

- You must be involved in a local church.  I know I used to say my relationship with God was a very personal thing and I didn't need to be involved in church or even attend church to have God be a part of my life.  The thing is God shouldn't just be a part of your life.  God gave you your life.  Jesus saved your life.  Your whole life should be theirs and you can't have significant growth and support without the community of other believers to build you up, pick you up when you fall, and hold you up when you can't stand.

- When you go do a mega-church it can be hard to feel like you are truly a part of it.  I struggled with that for almost 2 years at my church.  But you have to BE a part of it to FEEL like you are a part of it.  Join a small group, volunteer, go on a mission trip, introduce yourself to people.  If you just hurry into service and hurry out of service every Sunday you will never feel like you are a part of it because well, you kind of aren't.  You're kind of just a spectator at that point.  Building real, deep, relationships in any area of your life is not easy.  It can be downright painful.  But if you really want it and you are intentional about it...trust me it is so worth it! 

- Some people are followers of Jesus like they are followers of Justin Bieber on Twitter.  You don't really know Justin and he has no idea who you are but you like to check in on what he is up to or suggests every once in a while.  You are a fan, could even be an acquaintance, but have no meaningful relationship with him.  That is not the way to be a follower of Jesus.  Followers of Jesus have real relationships that go beyond surface level with Him and with other followers of Him.

- We talked in my small group about how we all segment our friends.  We have our work friends, our church friends, our fun friends, our high school friends...and we hardly ever intermingle the different groups and may behave differently around each of them.  A healthy way to build a stronger community would be to intermingle the groups.  The girls beach trip I took last weekend did that well.  It was a bunch of girls from different areas of my two church friend's lives.  We all got along splendidly.  I know there is fear when intermingling groups or introducing new people to a group, because group dynamics are super hard to figure out.  And when it goes bad, it can be really bad.  But I am going to try to get better at this.

- Confession: when I joined my small group I was like WTF is this?  I thought I had nothing in common with the other girls, it was such a pain to do the homework and give up 2 hours of my weekday night for the meeting, I thought I was the stupid one in the group and had stupid questions, I thought everyone was judging me...I hated it.  For about 6 months.  I really hated it.  But things started to change.  I started getting more comfortable.  I started to get to know some of the girls even better.  Some of the things I thought of as really weird I just accepted as being different.  I seriously LOVE my small group.  I make it a priority in my week.  Just like exercise, I have to force myself to go some weeks, but it brings so much to my life.  We are far from the perfect small group but it amazes me the things God has done in our group.  If you are not in a small group at your church I highly recommend it.  If your church doesn't have small groups, get your friends together for a bible study on a regular basis.  Trust me you will be amazed at what God can do through community.

Oh how wonderFALL Pinteresting Wednesday!

I am linking up with The Vintage Apple again for Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday!

Please follow me on Pinterest so I can follow you and see all the pretty things you are loving!

Follow Me!! - ncsuz on Pinterest


The theme for today's pinboard is fall!

Summer is my favorite season just because of all the fun summer vacations, daylight until 9pm, coconut scented everything, sun-kissed skin, fruity drinks and my birthday!

But fall comes in a close second. Crisp cool (not cold) fall air, the pretty leaves, apples, pumpkin carving, football games, Halloween costumes, and of course all the yummy pumkin flavored/scented things!

Source: laaloosh.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

What could be more pefect for fall than Pumpkin Cream Cheese!?

Ingredients:
- 8oz low fat cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup canned pure pumpkin
- 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- dash of salt Directions: In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix until smooth and creamy.

Source: half-bakedbaker.blogspot.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

How perfect would this be for a fall party? And it is somewhat healthy with the apples right? This is a pretty lengthy recipe so check out the pin for the link to the original.

Source: tastesbetterfromscratch.blogspot.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

OMG! Pumpkin pancakes with cinnamon syrup?!

Pumpkin Pancakes (yields 6 pancakes)

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 1/2 Tbs brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 Tbs vegetable oil
1 Tbs vinegar

Directions:
In a bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon and salt. Stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Cinnamon Syrup:
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
1tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup water

Stir all ingredients together in a small saucepan. Over medium heat, stir occasionally until boiling. Let it boil for a few minutes while stirring until it thickens. Remove from heat and set aside until needed.

Source: thegainesgang4.blogspot.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

I would love to give these out for Halloween! But I doubt parents let their kids eat anything that isn't factory sealed nowadays right?  Any parents out there reading- would you let your kids keep these if they got them trick or treating?

Source: amerrierworld.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

This Pumpkin Cake is so stinking cute! Maybe I will make it for the annual Halloween party!


On a side note- I had a fabulous Labor Day weekend! I hope you guys did too!  Girl's weekend at the beach was just what I needed to put the exclamtion point on this summer! I'll try to post a little something about my weekend festivities tomorrow.

Happy Hump Day everyone and don't forget to enter my $75 NOVICA gift card giveaway!

Gift Certificate Giveaway!

Remember how I said if I reached 300 followers by my birthday I would host a giveaway?  Well, I didn't make that number.  I was still at 299 followers on August 12. But at the time I am writing this post I have 311 followers!!  Yay!  I am so happy to have you all here!

So we are still going to celebrate with a little giveaway ok?


NOVICA is one of the leading fair trade artisan websites. They work with National Geographic to give talented artisans around the world a place to express their artistic talents and provide access to the world market. They have thousands of top fair trade womens accessories, mens accessories, jewelry and home decor.  I particularly like their wool scarves!


So what am I giving away?


A $75 NOVICA e-gift card!


Here are some of the super cute things I might buy with that:

Monkey Bookends- $59.95

Pearl Cocktail Ring- $20.49

Elephant Teapot- $30.74

Wood Chess Set- $29.95

How do you enter?


1. Leave me a comment with your email address letting me know how you discovered my blog!  (1 entry)
2. Be a follower of 30 Before 30 list! (1 entry)
2. Tweet about this giveaway!   Maybe something like "@ncsuz is hosting a giveaway on her blog!  enter to win a $75 gift card here: ncsuz.blogspot.com " (1 entry)
3. Blog about this giveaway on your blog!  (2 entries)

Leave a separate comment for each of your additional entries with links to your tweet and/or blog post.

You have until midnight EST Thursday September 8th to enter.

I will announce the winner on Friday September 9th.  Good luck guys!

Free Stuff Friday (almost)!

This is a big weekend!  It is kind of bittersweet if you ask me.  It's the end of summer, the start of fall, the start of college football season, my last summer hour Friday...I'm so confused am I happy or sad?!

Whatever you are doing, I hope you all have a fun and fabulous labor day weekend!

And to get it started right, here's some free stuff I've come across recently:

Free Breakfast at Chic-fil-a!  Chicken minis are freaking heaven in my opinion!  You can sign up HERE.

Here are some coupon codes for a free rental from Blockbuster Express:

38JEAH9- Expires 9/2/11
43PBCG5- Expires 9/2/11
36TTDR9- Expires 9/2/11
62PGAR5- Expires 9/2/11
24KRVF9- Expires 9/2/11

9HLG4X- Expires 9/3/11

38RMAQ2- Expires 9/5/11
57TPLD3- Expires 9/5/11

I got these from a friend on Facebook.  The ones she posted a few weeks ago worked great for me (except you could only use one at a time).  But I haven't tried these out yet, so don't shoot me if they don't work!

Have a fabulous weekend!!

P.S. Come back to visit me on Tuesday for an awesome giveaway!!