Beauty & Blazers: May 2016

Saturday, May 21, 2016

weekend wandering: bryan, tx

Howdy y'all! Happy Saturday! I meant to get this post up on Wednesday, but had a lot of homework early on in the week, so it just didn't happen. Anyway, this past weekend my family and I went to Bryan, Texas for the restaurant opening of a family friend. Here's a quick recap of our stay!

We stayed in the La Salle Hotel, which was absolutely gorgeous. If you're ever in Bryan I highly recommend it. The rooms were beautiful and they have really good complementary breakfast!

The actual restaurant is Rx Pizza, where we went on Saturday night. The building is an old drugstore that they renovated leaving a lot of the original aspects. The grand opening went really well and the pizza was delicious! If your ever in the area, make sure to check it out!

(this is the amazing original ceiling)

Later on Saturday night we walked to Dairy Queen for blizzards. Naturally I took pictures along the way. :)

(dq dabs)

All around the area there were a lot of concerts happening and as we were walking back from DQ, I heard a voice I recognized (and subsequently spazzed out right in front of the restaurant where everyone could see me). One of my dad and my favorite musicians, John Fullbright, was playing at a venue literally next door to our hotel. I went over there and FaceTimed my dad in (he had to stay home to work) and it was literally one of the best concerts I've ever been to. Nobody at the concert really knew who he was (it was a benefit for Cystic Fibrosis), but I jammed so hard. Afterward I went up to the stage and got a picture and talked to him for a few minutes which was so stinkin' cool! Y'all know that I struggle with anxiety so going to this concert by myself and asking for the picture was a huge deal for me, but I'm so glad I did it!

(ignore the fact that I look like an over-stimulated egg in this)

Then on Sunday we had breakfast in the hotel and went to the A&M campus to look around and get t-shirts and then we went home! This was a super fun weekend and I can't wait to go back sometime soon! Here are a few more of the pictures I took.

Have a great day!

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Saturday, May 14, 2016

book review: the screwtape letters

Howdy y'all! I finally finished the next book from my 2016 reading list - the Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. It's been slow progress but I'm hoping to read a lot more once school is out. Here are a few of my thoughts on my most recent read!

Y'all, this book is phenomenal. If you've ever read C.S. Lewis, you probably know that all of his books are fantastic - he can completely change your perspective on something with a few phrases. The Screwtape Letters is a series of letters from a "tempter" or worker of Satan, to a less experienced "tempter". He explains how the devil uses tactics to tempt us into sinning and talks about the many differences between the devil and God. It's kind of a weird concept that takes getting used to when you start reading, but trust me, it is so worth it.

It was so interesting to me to see the ways that the devil could be tempting us without our knowledge of even having sinned which was one of the reasons I loved this book. It really requires you to think about your actions as a Christian and continues to have that effect even after having finished.

I also loved the comparisons between Satan and God and the ideas about how Satan perceives God. The devil knows how unfailingly God loves us and knows that He genuinely wishes for our well being and salvation. To give you an example, I've here's one little passage that I absolutely loved and is probably my favorite out of the whole book (also, remember the context of the book [it's from the perspective of the devil, essentially] before reading or else it gets a little confusing).

"We [tempters] want cattle who can finally become food; He [God] wants servants who can finally become sons. We want to suck in, He wants to give out. We are empty and would be filled; He is full and flows over. Our war aim is a world in which Our Father Below [Satan] has drawn all other beings into himself; the Enemy [God] wants a world full of beings united to Him but still distinct."

Again, I loved this book and highly recommend it and any other C.S. Lewis book you can get your hands on (Mere Christianity is amazing).

What have you been reading lately? Let me know in the comments!

Have a great day!

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

my top 12 favorite instagram accounts

Howdy y'all! Happy hump day! This Wednesday I'm comin' @ ya' with a few of my favorite Instagram accounts (in no particular order). Also, if you aren't following me, do it! Here's the link. ;)

one // @jessicawhitaker

A photo posted by JESSICA WHITAKER (@jessicawhitaker) on May 9, 2016 at 9:32pm PDT

two // @emilyblincoe (also, shoutout to her adorable dog, Eleanor)

A photo posted by emily blincoe (@emilyblincoe) on May 3, 2016 at 9:21pm PDT

three // @chalkfuloflove

A photo posted by Sarah (@chalkfulloflove) on May 10, 2016 at 5:16am PDT

four // @itssunnyrebecca

A photo posted by Rebecca (@itssunnyrebecca) on May 9, 2016 at 12:42pm PDT

five // @papelnco

A photo posted by Papel & Co. (@papelnco) on May 10, 2016 at 7:00am PDT

six // @lonestar.looking.glass

A photo posted by Alice Kerley (@lonestar.looking.glass) on May 9, 2016 at 5:46am PDT

seven // @p31beauty

A photo posted by b l a z e a n n (@p31beauty) on Apr 15, 2016 at 12:18pm PDT

eight // @cathslagle

A photo posted by Cathleen Slagle (@cathslagle) on May 5, 2016 at 4:54pm PDT

nine // @jaybsauceda

A photo posted by Jay B Sauceda (@jaybsauceda) on Apr 11, 2016 at 9:31pm PDT

ten // @teachinfashion

A photo posted by Michelle (@teachinfashion) on May 8, 2016 at 6:02pm PDT

eleven // @stephanieparsley

A photo posted by Stephanie Parsley (@stephanieparsley) on May 8, 2016 at 6:32am PDT

twelve // @charlottebharris

A photo posted by • cbh • (@charlottebharris) on May 4, 2016 at 3:07pm PDT

Thanks for reading friends! If you have a favorite account (yes, you can be your own favorite), let me know in the comments!

Have a great day!

Saturday, May 7, 2016

may goals

Howdy y'all! Now that May is officially here, it's time for another installment of my monthly goals.

First, here's a recap of my April goals. My first goal of April was to start drinking more water again, which I rocked the socks off of. I also wanted to work really hard towards driver's ed, which went well for the first part of the month but was kind of a bust after that. With all of the standardized testing and finals coming up, I really wanted to get studying to ace those tests. I think I did well on the ones I've taken, but I have an AP test next week that I'm SUPER nervous for. I also wanted to keep a more positive attitude. While April was better than March, I still kind of had a crap month and it appears that's going to continue into May. I'm really just looking forward to getting this semester over with.

My first goal of May is to try to workout more often. I can't say that I'm going to do it everyday because I have so much stuff happening this month, but I signed up for the 8 week Bikini Series (even though I don't wear bikinis) with Tone It Up. The first 2 weeks I kind of failed, but I'm hoping to get into it in the following weeks.

With finals coming up, I want to be prepared so I can end the semester on a good note. I created a study plan to get ready for my tests and am planning to have some sort of finals prep almost every day.

Something I've really been missing as of late is all my creative hobbies (besides blogging of course). I really want to be able to work on my photography, hand lettering, and calligraphy more because I am having major withdrawals. I'm planning a big calligraphy project for when school gets out and am hoping to do more blog photography this month, but it just all depends on how busy I am.

Do a little spring cleaning. Y'all, I'm a hot mess. Our house is disgusting (which isn't completely my fault), my room is a mess, and my bathroom is a straight up pig sty. I'm hoping to get some stuff done this weekend and the rest of the month I'm going to try to keep up with it more.

What are your goals for this month? Let me know in the comments below!!

Have a great day!

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

april favorites

Howdy y'all! It's May! Wow! No but really, it's super crazy to me that my sophomore year is almost over (also super exciting). Anyhow, I've gotta finish off April with my monthly favorites - here's what I've been loving this month.

All of the outfits in my most recent post. I'm not even sorry about the shameless promo - I'm highkey obsessed.

THE NEW BAN.DO AGENDAS OH MY GOODNESS. I can't even believe how beautiful they are. This one is my favorite right now.

Summer is a comin' and I really need a new bathing suit. I love these Kourtni Jeane swimmers. Right now, I'm liking this top and this bottom.

Sunflowers. Y'all, I already love sunflowers, but this month they're just 10x more beautiful to me than normal. Really I've just been overly attracted to anything yellow this month.

The song "Kingdom Come" by Joel Ansett. I don't know why I'm so obsessed with this song but I really like it a lot.

I recently started watching New Girl again on Netflix, and I went through like a season and a half in one weekend. It's so frickin' funny, y'all!

What have you been loving this month, friends? Let me know in the comments below!

Have a great day!