Happy Friday: Singles Day Version!

Kelly, from Kelly's Korner, is having a Singles Link-Up today and I decided to join in. I participated the last time she did this and figured why not try it again. 

so, a little about me. My name is Staci and I'm 24 and currently living in the beautiful upstate of South Carolina. I went to Clemson where I got a bachelors in finance and a masters in accounting. I ended up in grad school simply because I couldn't imagine leaving Clemson after only 4 years and my advisor suggested the graduate program. I enjoyed my 5 years more than I ever thought I would and sometimes I just really want to go back. Thank goodness for football games!

{fall 2011}

{homecoming 2011}

I just passed all 4 sections of the CPA exam and I'm pretty excited/proud of that! Currently I am a nanny for the cutest 17 month old twins ever. I love being with Jackson & Riggs but I'm excited about finding an accounting job. I think the thing I'm most looking forward to is getting dressed up for work...and I'm sure that will wear off after about a week. 

{jonathan's graduation, May 2012 with our parents}

I have one younger brother, Jonathan, who graduated from Clemson in May. He is engaged and getting married in January of next year. My dad retired at the beginning of this year so he and my mom have been traveling a lot and enjoying the retired life. 

{master's graduation, August 2011}

Earlier this year, I joined the special events committee at the church I attend. We plan all the events for the children's ministry. VBS was our big production of the year and I think that had to be one of the most stressful things I have ever done. We are moving on to simpler things now, like trunk or treat for halloween. I also recently committed to start going once or twice a month to a children's home that our church works. A group goes occasionally to hang out with the teenaged girls there. I really want to start being more involved with this age of girls so I'm excited to see how God works in this situation...even if it is slightly out of my comfort zone. 

{Easter 2012}

I like to think I'm a pretty crafty/creative person. I enjoy sewing, even if it's been a while since I've had my machine out. I think pinterest is an amazing site and, as i told my brother, I was on pinterest before it was cool to be there. I'm really excited about fall weather because it means layers, tights and boots. I also love fall for the football games and tailgates. Glitter terrifies me but I just got a pair of glitter flats. I panic when I see black and brown together but for some reason I'm excited to wear my brown boots with my black leggings. So maybe all that means I'm expanding my comfort zone even more. I love happy hour at sonic, my teal bubble necklace and I have a slight (or major) addiction to buy clothes for Jackson & Riggs.

{spring 2010}

{may 2010 graduation}

{christmas eve 2011 at my grandparent's house: jonathan, me and my parents}

if you have any questions, let me know! I can't wait to see what happens with all of us linking up this time!

SUYL-Bible Studies and Devotions

Some of my favorite Bible studies/devotions include:


And the Bride Wore White by Dannah Gresh
    Spring of my senior year in high school, the young married women of my church taught the high school girls using this book. I think this has been one of my favorite (like top 3 probably) bible studies/church classes ever. I loved having those women teach our class. In addition to just having class, we we split into small groups of 3 students and one adult. We did things outside of class and discussed certain things in greater detail within our small group. This book has been very influential for me, something I just realized within the last year or two. I think this book is perfect for high school students, but anyone can definitely gain something from it.


Lady in Waiting by Jackie Kendall and Debby Jones
    I think this book has been one of the best I've read. I have the expanded edition, which is full of extra devotionals and journaling points. I really enjoyed this book but it definitely went into areas that made me uncomfortable (but the good kind of uncomfortable, the kind that results in growth). A part of me would love to do this book in a small group setting but another part of me is worried that it might just make things a little to "real" for me. Anyways I really recommend this book to any single ladies. I think it might be too intense/real at times for high school students but I am so glad that I read it my senior year of college. There are chapters that I still read frequently, as they serve to be a great reminder. This book taught me on of my new favorite sayings, "season of singleness."


I also want to add that I have very vivid memories of doing The One Year Book of Devotions for Kids growing up. (published by Children's Bible Hour ministries) I had to find it online and while the cover has been updated, I'm pretty sure this is the devotional book we did all the time while I was growing up. I don't think there is anyway you can do devotions every evening with your kids and it NOT make an impact on them. 


{i linked up with Kelly's Korner SUYL-Bible Studies and Devotions}

so many ideas...all i need are the kids...

today at Kelly's Korner, the link up is all about ideas for preserving kids artwork and photos. I don't have any kids yet but I have seen some awesome ideas via pinterest. I, of course, aspire to do all of these things with my kids artwork and photos, once I have said kids and they have artwork to treasure. {full disclosure: some of these ideas I like simply because I'm not sure if I'm going to be that mom who puts art work all over her fridge...in fact I'm pretty sure that won't be me...that's why I need something like this in my house somewhere!) I figure if I start planning now then actually following through with these plans will be a piece of cake. So here are some of my favorite ideas:

This is a great gift idea. You frame your child's artwork along with a photo of them creating the art. Grandparents would love this (i mean i'm assuming they would...mine might not be so impressed with my drawings as a 22 year old...trust me they are NOT frame-worthy!)

(via this blog)

This idea is simply to create a gallery of your kid's art. I love the simplicity of the white frames. Obviously it would be key to date and have the child sign their art, just so you know which art belongs to which child.

(via this blog)

such an organized way to keep track of photos. I really like the idea of labeling each section of photos and then having a box for each child...or a box for each year. I think this would be a good way to keep things organized and current, as opposed to having 50 million photos to arrange from the past 15 years. 

(via this blog)

I think this is my favorite idea for this project and one of the best things I've found on pinterest so far. I love love love the idea of putting artwork into a book. I love even more that there would be multiple books and that each child would (obviously) have their own set of books. I think this is something I can definitely see myself doing. 

(via)

[[to find me on pinterest go here (i might be slightly obsessed)]]

Favorite Blogs

Here are some of the blogs that I always get super excited to see a new post from (aside from Kelly's obviously)


MADE: love the sewing tutorials mixed in with yummy recipes and great photographs


Castleberry's: GraceAnna was my RA freshman year at Clemson and I am in LOVE with her Texas Heart series

Jonah: Jonah is an amazing little boy and Patrice is such a strong (and real) mommy-blogger


hollywood housewife: love her fashion and decorating styles


finding my feet: fun sewing tutorials alongside real-life and i'm super jealous of her garage sale finds


for this child i prayed: two adorable little girls who always seem to be in the sweetest little outfits


Francis family: cute little family, love the way she dresses her children (especially brody)


Whatever: crafty fun site with cool photos and super-bright colors


(and finally...)


Galloway's: a blog about my favorite twins :)


{linked with kelly's korner friday link-up}

THE Baby Shower

On March 5, I threw a baby shower for Cindy, Jackson & Riggs. It was a lot of fun and I love how everything turned out. I evidently need to consider a career change. This was the entry table with The Giving Tree for all the guests to sign.

This was the wish area where guests wrote advice, wishes and/or dreams for Jackson & Riggs. There were clothespins to attach the paper to the ribbon frame. I had a bunch of open-back frames that I spray painted over Christmas break. I then printed out directions for the wish area and attached them to the frame. I put ribbon in the frame by using a staple gun, which was lots of fun.

Banner at the gift area. I took a piece of navy twine and used clothespins to attach the letters. I just printed out the letters on my home printer and attached them to colored card stock. It was a very simple project but I really wanted to have their names displayed at the shower.

This was the candy area. I had bags for guests to make their own bags of candy that Cindy had been craving during her pregnancy. We had sour patch kids and sweet tarts. I sorted them by color prior to the shower. My grandmother had given me a box of mason jars so I used those to hold the candy. There are also pinwheels laying on the table to pull the candy table in with the food table.

This was the food table. While I know that Cindy doesn't really like the glass kitchen table, it is perfect for hosting events with. We had all sorts of yummy foods like hummus, fruit, cubed cheeses, raw veggies and dip, and raspberry preserves with cream cheese. All of the food was labeled with coordinating place cards. I made pinwheels using card stock, spray painted pencils and pushpins. I placed the pinwheels in IKEA glasses along with either purple rice, split peas or orange beans. 

The forks were in the green bucket. I had wrapped forks in yellow napkins and attached either a tissue paper pom-pom or a miniature pinwheel. 

We had mock champagne to drink. I used this recipe as a starting point but I didn't make a ginger ale ice ring and added frozen strawberries instead. 

An overhead stop of the shower, along with the pretty curtains that Cindy made. 

Gift time. This green basket is from me. I had a bunch of random baby items and books inside. It was only an introduction to my real gifts. These are onesies that say "I bite" and have alligators on them. I am  terrified of alligators/crocodiles and when I saw these onesies I knew I had to get them for Riggs and Jackson. 

And time for the real gifts from me. I made floor quilts for both Riggs and Jackson. Riggs' quilt is pictures above. I had never quilted anything before but I really, really loved doing it. I fell in love with both of the quilts and almost didn't want to give them up.

Jackson's quilt, which is really bright and super fun.

Cindy and I with the quilts. I really can't wait to see Jackson and Riggs' on their quilts (or really meet them in general). I used this tutorial for the quilts. I really loved every aspect of making the quilts, from picking out the fun, very non-traditional colors and patterns to actually doing the free-motion quilting. 

  Here is an up-close view of the free-motion quilting. 

I loved every minute of this baby shower, from planning all the little details to seeing Cindy open the quilts. Now, all I have to do with my free time is study, study, study. And anticipate the arrival of Riggs and Jackson!