Here are my top five “Pinterest Picks” from this past week:
A Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake: kingarthursflour.com
A Fun Shower Curtain: tipjunkie.com
Great Bedding Solution: southernstudio.com
The Coral Trench: polyvore.com
Gorgeous Headband: serendipitytiaras.com
This past Tuesday a visitor was waiting for me at the office. She had come to work with her dad as a reward for reading 100 books on her reading chart, which totally impressed me as it’s all I can do to just finish one book these days. She was sitting at a small table in her dad’s office eating biscuits while explaining the benefits of coconut oil over butter, and eating said biscuits that her mom had packed for her. This visitor I’m referring to is none other than the big six AND A HALF year old, Evelyn Ruth Petrey AKA: Evie.
On this particular day Evie was feeling creative and spent the morning making Valentines for all of the office staff, she even gave me a crocheted “snake” that could be turned into a bracelet. It’s now hanging on a wall in my office for all to see. She also crocheted a long “scarf” for granddaddy since it was his birthday; and much to her delight, he wore it around the office . It was also on this particular day she was feeling a bit feisty (not that I would know anything about that…) and gave me one of the best memories of my time as her aunt.
Since it was dad’s birthday, I had told him I wanted to take him out to lunch and invited Evie to join us. She gladly accepted and was thrilled to learn that Granddaddy had chosen Chick-Fil-A for lunch (we do it up right here). Evie decided to ride with me, and because I believe it is my duty to help form her musical tastes, I decided that our ride was the perfect time to introduce her to Lecrae, a Christian rap artist that I like. As I suspected, Evie LOVED Lecrae and even said something along the lines of “Yeah, man! We’re rockin’ to this!” Yes, yes we were. She even started singing and doing the “robot” so I joined her. Once we were in Chick-Fil-A I noticed that they were serving pink ice cream since it was Valentine’s day, and mentioned it to Evie. That was my first mistake. I don’t think Evie was expecting ice cream, but as soon as she heard the words pink and ice cream together she started asking if she could have some. I told her that it was highly unlikely since she was going to eat some chocolate at dinner. I thought the situation was resolved. How wrong I was…
Once we finished our lunch I was helping Evie gather her things when she said: “Aunt Molly, I’ve never had pink ice cream before.” Of course I almost lost my resolve and gave in, but I knew her parents had some fun things planned for her later that evening, and they don’t like for her to have too much sugar. So, once again I said “Evie, we’re not getting ice cream today.” She suddenly became very quiet so I asked her if she was mad at me. She responded in a very dramatic fashion ”No, I’m just disappointed with you.” It was all I could do to not laugh, but I knew she was taking this loss of ice cream very seriously. Instead, I encouraged her to be thankful for what she had and reminded her that she was going to be eating from a Chocolate Wonderfall later that evening. “But, Aunt Molls, I’ve never had pink ice cream before, and mom will only let me get one piece of chocolate tonight. I know how it works…” In a desperate attempt to get her mind off of ice cream, I turned up the music and started singing at the top of my lungs. While I was singing, Evie was writing on some little post it notes she had with her and asked “How do you spell ’bout?” I spelled it for her, and she continued writing. Once she had written her message, she handed me the note which read “how ’bout you stop? ” At this point I completely lost it, and burst into laughter. She wasn’t as amused as I was. When I looked back over at her, she was scribbling on her note pad again. After she was done writing she once again handed me the note with the words that every aunt loves to hear “I am mad at you.” Thankfully, I knew that Evie has a tendency to air on the dramatic side (again, where in the world does she get that from???) so I knew she wasn’t serious. We rode in silence from that point on until we reached our destination. Before we got out of the car I looked at her and said, Evie, do you think that we can put this behind us and move on? “Well, I suppose we can…” Thanks, Evie. I’m glad all is forgiven. Oh, and she ended up getting two pieces of chocolate that night…
So there you have it. Life with Evie. Always entertaining, always keeping me on my toes, and always a great adventure!
This past weekend was just the best. Not really because I did anything spectacular, it was actually the lack of doing anything spectacular that made it so great. I’m a self proclaimed homebody so this weekend was perfect for me. It’s sort of hard to recap all of its gloriousness in one coherent post so I shall make use of my most beloved format: The List.
1. I spent Saturday morning cleaning my apartment while watching/listening to the 25th anniversary DVD of Les Miserables. Oh, y’all. I had forgotten just how good it was. I may have even clapped my hands at the end. (And with that sentence I just sealed my fate as a single cat lady for the rest of my days.)
2. I was able to catch up on all of my laundry! I’m also pleased to report that said laundry is all folded and put in its proper place. It’s a modern day miracle.
3. I was also able to organize my kitchen cabinets that were desperately in need of order. They’re looking quite spiffy now, and it’s a much more enjoyable experience when I’m cooking. Ah, organization…
4. I spent the afternoon watching the Tarheels play and ultimately beat Clemson by a healthy margin of 22…love it. After the game we had a fun dinner with my mom’s side of the family. We decided to have a cook-out, but since it’s February I suppose it could be called a “cook-in”. Either way, it was really good.
5. I finally (finally) watched Inception after church yesterday. I loved it! It was such a fun movie to watch and try and figure out.
6. I also watched the season finale of Downton Abbey. Oh my, so good!
And with that, kind reader, I’ll take my leave. Hope your weekend was as good as mine! Oh! It snowed yesterday which was the icing on the cake! 
Here it is again. Valentines Day. I’ve always been a huge fan of this holiday, I think it’s due to the fact that my favorite color is pink, and pink is everywhere during the month of February! It’s a pink lovers dream come true…I suppose it’s also because, if I’m being completely honest, I’m a bit of a romantic. I don’t admit to this much, simply because I don’t want to be seen as some “head-in-the-clouds” girl who doesn’t live in reality. However, I would be painting a false picture if I didn’t tell you that I sigh a little when Gilbert proposes to Anne in “Anne of Avonlea” or when Mr. Darcy proclaims the most beautiful declaration of love to Miss Bennett: “In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.” Of course Elizabeth turns him down, making me question her sanity, but that’s neither here nor there.
I suppose one might assume that, since I’m single, I would be walking around in a somber depressed state today. While it’s tempting (that’s a whole other post), I’ve chosen not to be. Instead I’ve chosen to be joyful and celebrate the good gifts God has given me. He’s been so good to me, I never, never, want to take for granted just how blessed I am. Another way I’ve chosen to celebrate today is to be joyfully expectant of what God is doing to write my love story. No, I’m not dating anyone, and as far as I know there are no prospects on the horizon. But, God has been so gracious to give me encouragement in various forms whether it be a kind word from a friend, scripture verses, or testimonies of others who have walked this road before me to help me live in a contented, expectant hope. So it’s with that hope that I want to do something I’ve never done before. This will be a bit weird for me as I’m not used to putting myself fully out there, but I want to record this on the blog so I can look back in the coming years. Alright, here goes…
Dearest,
It’s February 14th, 2012, otherwise known as Valentine’s Day. It seems only fitting to sit down and write a letter to you, as strange as it may be. I’ll go ahead and admit that it’s rather difficult to write a letter to someone you don’t know. I have lots of questions; what’s your name? what do you look like? what do you do? where do you live? They could go on and on and on. So, instead of trying to figure all of these mysteries out I’ll just write and tell you that I’m so excited to meet you one day! I’m not really sure when it will be, it could be tomorrow or it could be a few years from now. Just know that I’m praying for you. I’m praying that God would grant you the courage to stand and be a godly man during these times where it seems that everything is trying to keep you from growing up, trying to make you just a boy in a grown up body. Know that your future wife is cheering you on! I’m also praying that God would protect you physically, visually, mentally, and spiritually, and that He would keep you for me just as I pray He will keep me for YOU!
I know I go on about certain characters from books and movies (Mr. Darcy, anyone?), but please know I don’t expect you to be like that. I know that when I marry you, I’ll marry a redeemed sinner (just as you will marry a redeemed sinner, too!), and there will be times when you will let me down, and hurt my feelings (just as I will for you…). I don’t want to look to you to fulfill me. I don’t want to place unrealistic expectations on you to give me a sense of worth. I’d rather find that in God. After all, it’s in HIS presence that there is “fullness of joy.” Let’s pursue that joy in Him together.
That being said, I do want you to know that I do look forward to living life with you. I can’t wait to see where God will lead us, and I look forward to taking every step with you. I want to be your biggest fan in life. I want you to know that no matter how many times you’re knocked down, your wife will always be behind you, supporting you 100%.
So, in the meantime know that I’m here living my life with the best of my ability to glorify God as I wait for Him to bring you. I’m excited to see how our story will unfold. May God and God alone receive all glory from our lives both now in our single years, and in our life together. Happy Valentine’s Day.
Molly
1. Adele can sing. Also, she’s gorgeous, her dresses were beautiful and I was very pleased that she was following my personal mantra: Classy Not Trashy.
2. I’m a big fan of Downton Abbey. My whole family is; we actually watched two hours of it last night.
3. I had the best weekend. I did absolutely nothing, and spent Saturday cleaning my apartment and watching basketball. It was glorious!
4. I saw this advertised on TV the other day. Men, if you are considering buying this for your wife or girlfriend, please just walk away. I know it’s cute and cuddly, but you must trust me on this. WALK AWAY.
5. It finally felt like winter this past weekend, and I loved every second of it! I’m a huge cold weather fan, so the cold and snow did my heart so much good!
Have a great Monday, Y’all!
Here are my top five Pinterest Picks for the week! Have a great weekend, everyone!
Seriously, does it get any sweeter than this?
I think this is an incredible idea to store make-up brushes. Why have I not thought of it before?
Name that movie
I might have to do this for my nieces and nephews this summer
One of my all time favorite movie quotes. I may or may not rewind and watch it a couple of times before moving on…
I’ve spent the last two days at home due to some sort of nasty “Upper Respiratory Infection” Which I believe is medical terms for: A Severe Cold. At least that’s what it feels like to me. I should also warn you that I’m on some sort of high powered cough medicine that has warned me not to drive while taking it. I feel as if I should give a disclaimer to anything written on here. I’m sorry if it doesn’t make sense. It’s the medicine talking.
Since I was quarantined yesterday, I spent some time uploading pictures onto my computer, and I realized that there were a few things I never shared with you on here. How terrible of me. So in an effort to make things right I’m posting a random selection of photos from last year that I thought you might like to see. Try to contain your excitement. Enjoy!
Yesterday was a big day for my family. We hosted our fifth annual Chicken Wing Challenge and crowned this year’s Wing King. Since I was out-of-town for the weekend, I was chosen to be a judge with a friend of mine, and my cousin. It was a blind judging since all of the competitors are related to me (dad, brothers, and uncle). There were four wing recipes entered, and each entry was judged on taste, originality, and appearance.
Each wing was really delicious, so it made our job a tough one. In the end, though there was one that had just a slight edge with an extra kick of flavor that sealed the deal for it to be the winning wing. And it just so happens that the creator of that wing was…
Drumroll, please…
MY DAD!
Yes, Big Win’s wing reigns supreme!
So proud of him! Way to go, dad!
I’m one of those people who, when they find a good article, products, movies, etc… they MUST share it with everyone. So, in an effort to not drive my friends on Facebook crazy I thought I would just write a post featuring some of my favorite links that I’ve read lately. Hope you enjoy!
From an e-mail my brother sent me, a Meat Stadium. Yes, a Meat Stadium…
An article by John Piper that really spoke to me. “A Challenge to Women”
This is wonderful news!
There’s just three, but hopefully you’ll enjoy them like I did!
