Grandparents are Coming to Town!

My mom got a text out of the blue yesterday.

"We want to come visit y'all. How does tomorrow sound?"

The text came from my grandma, Of course we said Absolutely yes!!  We always love it when we have an opportunity to visit them. We all look forward to visiting the family farm. Riding four-wheelers, playing hay-bale tag, chasing down and rounding up the cows, driving the tractors, and cooking with Grandma; everybody has the best of time. 

Now, because they live so far away, our visits are few and far between.  So you can imagine our excitement when they come up to visit. Everyone scrambles to do a mad-dash-and-stash to clean the house and get things ready. I start making my Papa's favorite banana pudding, and my mom stocks up on the white bread. :) 

My grandparents are very dear to me. I know I can call Grandma to ask advice or just to chat about recipes. She is one of the most godly women and the best cook I know. :) She has helped me put together VBS year after year, celebrating with me, hugged me through sad times, and talked me through angry times. She's always been there to help us through anything.
Papa is a strong encourager and  he is one of the most Godly men I know. When I'm upset or confused, I can always count on Papa to help me clear up my confusion or point me in the right direction. He is also helping me to find the perfect truck. :) I love working with Papa out taking care of the farm.
They have devoted their lives to taking care of our family. They take care of my many cousins as their own children and love us all as their own. It makes me smile whenever he trusts me and my cousin, two TEENAGE girls, to hop on the four-wheeler in the pouring rain to go ride down the creek and look for cows. (We only got stuck once. But don't tell Papa that ;P )

I love my grandparents more than anything and I thank God that he blessed me with the best. :)

And speaking of which, they just pulled into the driveway! :)

Nifty-Thrifty

Shopping.

It's nearly every womens favorite thing to do. Yes, that includes me. I love the excitement of picking out new outfits, finding adorable shoes, spending hours in the dressing room and the satisfying feeling of carrying bags of clothes out to the car. I just can't help it. It's in my genes.

Or should I say, it's in my jeans....

Haha...get it, because you shop for jeans...haha...I'm so punny.

Ok, back on subject.

I love shopping, yes it's true. But... I loathe spending an insane amount of money on my clothes. It is rediculous! I mean c'mon! I am not, I repeat, NOT spending $100 on a pair of jean or $50 for a t-shirt. Are those people out of their minds? I am paying for stuff off my nanny salary here! (which btw is pretty amazing, I'm not complaining one bit, so don't tell my boss, K? ;P ) I can't afford that kind of stuff. It is just plain bonkers.

So where do I get all my stylin' clothes you ask?

Well I'll tell you my secret.

Thrift stores.

Yes, it is true. I, Rachel total fashionista and lover of all things pink and sparkly, shop at thrift stores. You'd be amazed at what you can find. To tell you the truth, almost all of my clothes are Name Brands. I have two pairs of Silver brand jeans that I bought at Goodwill for about three bucks each. Shocker right! My closet, along with the rest of my siblings have our closet stocked with brands like Gap, Old Navy, Silver, Zara, Crazy 8, Lands End, Vanity, Buckle and many many more! 

Now, I still shop for other things at department stores. Like boots, sports gear, coats and other winter accessories and many other items. But most of my shopping is done in thrift stores! I get all of my clothes (Which are totally adorable beyond reason :P) for only a fraction of their original price, find the stock my closet, AND save money all at the same time. Win, win right? :) And I get to put more of my hard-earned-cash into savings or spend my money on other things.

Such as ingredients for this delecteble homemade strawberry ice cream my little dude and I are pigging out on. Mmm mmm! It is so good! And healthy too! All that's in it is strawberries, milk, and Agave nectar! Blend those babies up and bingo! Uh-Maze-Ing! :)

Senior Year

My senior year of CHIEF volleyball has officially come to an end.
As much as I hate that there will be no more, I have years of precious memories from the time spent with my teammates.

This year, I was blessed to spend my very last season with an absolutely amazing group of girls.

Hannah, Emily, Beth, Mary Francis, Anna, Abby and near the end, :) Chloe, Natalie and Jerica. 

May I just say, these girl are ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! 

All of these young ladies are not only totally gorgeous on the outside, but on the inside as well. I was blessed to have a team who love each other like sisters.

Fun and fabulousness packed into each special girl, you can only imagine the memories we made. 

Whether it was giggling on a hayride,

Posing for Pizzaz-ful pictures,

Making fun of each other's bow making skills,

Or simply just enjoying each others fellowship

I thoroughly enjoyed spending quality time with each of these ladies.

With so much to talk about, the topics and conversations were endless. :)

Most importantly, these girls love Jesus more than anything. They have such Godly hearts, each and every one of them. They put others before themselves. 

I couldn't have asked for a better season or a better team.