MrsStephanieT

THAT ONE TIME WE WENT TO DISNEYWORLD

2012-08-14T08:00:00.000-04:00

somehow i completely missed the boat on sharing pictures from our trip to disney when joseph came home last month. here's some of the best. happy tuesday!

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

2012-08-08T08:00:00.000-04:00

somehow, these are some of the only images i have from new york this past week from my actual camera. am i the only one that does that? takes a trip and gets so caught up, they forget to take pictures? i hope not! i really need to get better at it, seeing as how i always regret not taking as many as i wanted when i get home. anyways! i really loved new york... despite the fact that it was hot, muggy, and usually smelly, i really loved the city. maybe it was the location that we were staying in and not really having a main source of transportation to get around, other then our feet, but i really wish i could have seen the non-touristy side of things. maybe one day i'll be able to take a trip back with joseph and hallie! we'll see. i have a feeling i would miss the trees if i lived there... a lot. really what i'm asking is if any of you new yorkers want to let my family and i come stay in your house for free, because i'm already feeling the itch to take a trip back to the big apple. have a great wednesday!

#BLOGHER12

2012-08-07T08:00:00.000-04:00

after 6 days of fun and a 5 hour delayed flight, i am home from blogher 2012. (i almost put that as a hastag in this post.) i am so happy that i decided to go this year and had the best time! i really think i found a whole new love for blogging while i was there, and that means that you should be seeing a lot more of me around these parts now. i'm so happy to get back into the swing of things! i'll be back tomorrow with a huge update, as soon as i can get caught up on sleep. hope you guys had a great week! xo.

p.s. for a sneak peek of the fun that was had, here are these jess and i took on the last night:

WE'RE ALIVE & HAPPY

2012-07-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

yes people, you read that right... we are in fact alive. after j-bird coming home last monday, our trip to orlando, him leaving yesterday, AND leaving for blogher in just a couple of days, my whole body is in overdrive and i'm so thankful for the time that i have right now to just sit and relax. while i've been sitting and relaxing, i've had the time to look back at some of my instagram pictures from the last week and wanted to share them with you guys. hope you're all doing well!

LITTLE BITS OF HAPPINESS V.21

2012-07-12T08:00:00.000-04:00

as many of you know, j-bird is coming home on the 16th for 10 days so we can finally take our trip to disney world for hallie's 3rd birthday that was in may. this is probably going to be the only time that we see him until he's finally out of the navy in december, seeing as how i'll be in school and not be able to take much time off. also, coming home for christmas when he'll be returning home a couple of days after doesn't make much sense. that will be another whole 5 months apart, but i really think this trip is going to be so amazing and we will be able to fill our cuddlemeters for the remainder of the time!

anyways, i've talked about hallie's love for her daddy i don't even know how many times on this blog and she's really been missing her daddy lately. she knows all about the trip and cannot stop asking when we're going to "the magical kingdom of wonder to see all of her frands wif her daddy dad"! she's to the moon and constantly asking how many days until he's here, so i decided to make her a way to be able to countdown the days on her own that would be fun for her to do. she loves it and it brought me so much happiness this week!

______________________________

nitty gritty:

1. share words, pictures, anything that represents what brought YOU happiness this week!

2. link up your post, not just your blog! no one likes confusion.

3. link back to mrs. stephanie t. with either a text link or using the button below.

4. lastly, have fun and visit each other! go show your love and see what made others happy this week.

<center>
<a href="http://mrsstephaniet.com" title="Mrs Stephanie T"></a></center>

CALL ME MAYBE

2012-07-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

apparently i'm in a video mood lately, but either way i cannot get enough of this.

MY GIRL, THE SWIMMER {PT. 2}

2012-07-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

she did it! she conquered her first set of swim lessons and finished with a ribbon for being the most encouraging in her class for always cheering the other kids on. i am beyond proud of my girl and the best part is that she is so proud of herself, just in case you weren't able to tell by the smile on her face above.

now for a video of her swimming (basically unassisted):

she still has her floaty on and a noodle, obviously, but it's still pretty impressive! all legs kicking and arms flailing to get her moving, but she does it on her own. my mini michael phelps makes me happy! ;) p.s. little does she know, when we get back from disney world she'll be starting up lessons again and her daddy will be able to be at her first one. squee!

LITTLE BITS OF HAPPINESS V.20

2012-07-05T08:00:00.000-04:00

thanks for letting us celebrate your day of birth in such an awesome way, america. we really like you! hope you all had an extremely happy and safe 4th of july! xo.

_________________________________

nitty gritty:

1. share words, pictures, anything that represents what brought YOU happiness this week!

2. link up your post, not just your blog! no one likes confusion.

3. link back to mrs. stephanie t. with either a text link or using the button below.

4. lastly, have fun and visit each other! go show your love and see what made others happy this week.

<center><a href="http://mrsstephaniet.com" title="Mrs Stephanie T"><img src="http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af120/stephaniert90/LBOH.png" alt="Mrs Stephanie T" /></a></center>

LITTLE BITS OF HAPPINESS V.19

2012-06-28T12:54:00.001-04:00

waking up next to this face.

___________________________

nitty gritty:

1. share words, pictures, anything that represents what brought YOU happiness this week!

2. link up your post, not just your blog! no one likes confusion.

3. link back to mrs. stephanie t. with either a text link or using the button below.

4. lastly, have fun and visit each other! go show your love and see what made others happy this week.

<center><a href="http://mrsstephaniet.com" title="Mrs Stephanie T"><img src="http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af120/stephaniert90/LBOH.png" alt="Mrs Stephanie T" /></a></center>

MY GIRL, THE SWIMMER

2012-06-27T08:00:00.000-04:00

remember when i posted about hallie finally overcoming the potty training hurdle and one of her rewards was being able to finally take dance lessons? well, unfortunately that didn't happen... little did i know, the classes aren't starting again until later this year. luckily after research online i was able to find swim classes that she started this monday! they're going to happen 3 times a week and hallie is beyond happy! she's only had one class so far and i still get so impressed as to what a big girl she is. she was basically a pro in the water with no fear whatsoever! now we just have to wait until august to start dancing and until daddy is home until we start t-ball! {there's no way i would let him miss her first t-ball game.} so proud of my girl and can't wait to see what else the future holds for her.

TODDLER ACTIVITY: 2-INGREDIENT DIY SLIME

2012-06-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

do you guys ever find blogs and just have to ask where they've been all your life? okay, great. we're on the same page then. mine happens to be morgan's blog tot treasures. being a former teacher, morgan knows all about the ins and outs of a little one's mind and her blog is full of all kinds of easy and fun projects that i can do with hallie and know they're helping her little brain grow. from sensory activites, to DIY toys and games, to paint and watercolor... morgan's blog kind of has it all and i'm so happy that i always have it as a reference, especially during these hot summer days! after a particularly boring day last week, we decided to put one of morgan's activities into action. we went with a DIY slime recipe that only involved 2 ingredients (3 if you include the food coloring).

what you'll need:

equal parts of clear glue & liquid starch

food coloring (optional)

hallie loved squishing it around and feeling it inbetween her fingers so much that she was entertained for a good 30 minutes while i got some reading done. parent score! she even made up a song to sing to it. i think it went a little something like, "i love my squishy stuff momma made, it's cool and fun and fun to play!" she's cute.

if you want to check out morgan's post creating the slime with her daughter (you do. she's adorable!) you can go here. while you're there, be sure to look at her right sidebar to see a list all of the awesome activities that i mentioned above to do with your toddler. happy monday, everyone!

LITTLE BITS OF HAPPINESS V.18

2012-06-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

oh summer, we welcome you with the most open of arms. you bring us so much happiness.

_____________________________

nitty gritty:

1. share words, pictures, anything that represents what brought YOU happiness this week!

2. link up your post, not just your blog! no one likes confusion.

3. link back to mrs. stephanie t. with either a text link or using the button below.

4. lastly, have fun and visit each other! go show your love and see what made others happy this week.

<center><a href="http://mrsstephaniet.com" title="Mrs Stephanie T"><img src="http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af120/stephaniert90/LBOH.png" alt="Mrs Stephanie T" /></a></center>

LIFE LATELY // VIA INSTAGRAM

2012-06-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

happy wednesday!

WE FINALLY DID IT

2012-06-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

finally! we're finally there and fully potty-trained... well, she still wears her night night pull-ups just in case. i'm not sure how we're going to go about completely removing those without giving me heart palpitations, but other then that we have a potty trained toddler on our hands who is extremely proud of herself! i feel like we've been potty training for months, and months, and months. probably because we have, and every time we thought we were in the clear something came up. whether it was getting sick, moving across the country, having accidents in public places, something in hallie refused to go on the potty. now she refers to herself as a big girl and feels the need to tell EVERYONE SHE SEES that she is big enough to go on the potty. i think having the promise that she'll (finally) be able to start dance class now that she doesn't have to wear pull-ups was another big thing for her.

so proud of my h-bug

A BELATED HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

2012-06-18T17:26:00.000-04:00

can you have a belated happy father's day? or is it just one of those things that if you miss, you miss? either way... i'm writing about how much we love our daddy on a monday rather then a sunday. this was j-bird's 4th father's day, and unfortunately half of them have been spent without his daughter. that's a little hard to take in when you think about it. i'm so thankful for my husband, for what he's had to sacrifice for our family. he's such a great daddy to hallie, and i'm so glad that he's the one i'm on this journey called parenthood with.

and of course, the only fitting picture here would be the first one of hallie and joseph ever taken together...

you're the best, j-bird. i love you.

LITTLE BITS OF HAPPINESS V.17

2012-06-14T08:00:00.000-04:00

i realized today (well, 2 days ago since you all will be reading this on thursday) that after 17 weeks of doing LBOH i have never sat down and done a list of things that have made me happy. no fancy imagery, just words. so here we go!

dear j-bird, i miss you terribly. the fact that it's coming close to a month until i see you again and only 6 more months until we're back together as a family sends my heart to the moon. i hope we never have to be apart for this long ever again because it kinda stinks. kisses and hugs and kisses.

dear hats, you + me + 3dayhair = magic sorcery. i'm pretty sure that amy tried to tell me this once and i didn't listen. i was silly.

dear new york, i can't wait to be in you in less then 2 months. mandey and i are going to cuddle in one of your hotel rooms and i'm going to ride to the top of the empire state building. KABLAM!

dear hallie, thank you for always reassuring me that i'm your best friend and "nooo ones elses". you're pure gold, kid.

dear crunchy flamin' hot cheetos, thank you for rocking my face off. you're pretty great, too.

dear internet, i miss you. i feel so distant from you, my lovely little drunk drawer. (this includes you too, blog/instagram/twitter) hopefully we'll get to spend some more time together soon. cuddles.

that is all. have a great thursday!
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nitty gritty:
1. share words, pictures, anything that represents what brought YOU happiness this week!
2. link up your post, not just your blog! no one likes confusion.
3. link back to mrs. stephanie t. with either a text link or using the button below.
4. lastly, have fun and visit each other! go show your love and see what made others happy this week.

<center><a href="http://mrsstephaniet.com" title="Mrs Stephanie T"><img src="http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af120/stephaniert90/LBOH.png" alt="Mrs Stephanie T" /></a></center>

THAT TIME I ACTUALLY WROTE A POST ABOUT 50 SHADES OF GREY

2012-06-13T08:00:00.000-04:00

yep, i'm gonna do it... i'm actually going to write a post about the smut that is 50 shades of grey. i'm not going to do into any kind of steamy details about the book, seeing as how my face would go scarlet. but! i do want to voice my opinion on the bookturnedmovie idea. let's just say that i loved the books. so much so that i read all 3 in about 2 days. wowza! but i'm not sure how they'll translate into a movie. how would they include all of the details without it being XXX rated? if you haven't read the books, you should probably stop here with me telling you that you should read them, then come back and assess.

if you have read the books, i want to know your opinions! when i first heard they were being turned into movies, i was a little shocked. my fifty will be personified into an actual person?! there's no way. then i heard ian somerhalder was tossed around for the role. i'm sorry, kiddies, but he is no christian grey.

(this was apparently the most used image from people trying to show why it should be him.)

sure, he's somewhat attractive, but he's no christian grey. i'm pretty sure i would not skip a heartbeat if i saw him in a coffee shop, like every woman (including ana) does throughout the book. he doesn't look strong, he doesn't look like he could protect someone, and from the little snippet i saw on youtube of his acting on the vampire diaries, he could not have the personality of christian grey either. granted, he could always beef up for the roll... but i'm just still not convinced and would be really disappointed if he was chosen.

another thing i've heard thrown around is that the author, e.l. james, is considering playing off of twilight and casting both kristin stewart and robert pattinson. WHAT THE WHAT?! is she trying to ruin things for everyone? ana is not awkward, and i have never seen kristin be anything but. needless to say, the story will be left in the books for me if that happens. there's no way i would ruin the love story of 50 shades of grey by seeing the two of them on stage again.

now let's get to who i think would be a great christian grey, colin egglesfield. i'll let pictures do the talking...

BECAUSE JUST YES. am i the only one who sees christian grey written all over this man? well, he'll need some copper hair... but give him a dye job and i'm sold. the second picture? he even has the fingers! FINGERS. okay, maybe i'm just slightly obsessed and not really opening my mind up to any other actors, but let's get real here. who do you guys think would do christian's character proud??

as for ana, i don't really have a person in mind... i like the thought of alexis bledel.

she has the whole bright blue, doe-eyed thing going on. she looks young enough. she's skinny minny, like ana should be. plus, i would love to give a big woot woot for the gilmore girls! i just don't know how sexual she could be... and well, we can automatically assume that a lot of sex will be had in the movie. who do you guys have in mind for ana?

hopefully some of you can look past the fact that i am posting this on my, uh, family blog? (i never know what to categorize this thing as!) and i'm looking forward to reading the comments on this one. yay smut!!

DESIGN, DESIGN, DESIGN

2012-06-12T08:00:00.000-04:00

after always doing my own blog designs and learning over the past 2 years, i've started offering up blog design to others who may be interested in freshening up their design! i've worked with some lovely people and would love to help bring what you envision for your blog to life. if you're interested in starting a design with me or would just like to know pricing, contact me! you can also see some of the designs that i've done in the past below. thanks!

headers:

buttons:

LITTLE BITS OF HAPPINESS V.16

2012-06-07T13:07:00.001-04:00

even when i have one million things to do, there aren't very many things that make me happier then cuddling with this sweet face.

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nitty gritty:

1. share words, pictures, anything that represents what brought YOU happiness this week!

2. link up your post, not just your blog! no one likes confusion.

3. link back to mrs. stephanie t. with either a text link or using the button below.

4. lastly, have fun and visit each other! go show your love and see what made others happy this week.

<center><a href="http://mrsstephaniet.com" title="Mrs Stephanie T"><img src="http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af120/stephaniert90/LBOH.png" alt="Mrs Stephanie T" /></a></center>

HALLIE SAYS V.3

2012-06-05T08:00:00.000-04:00

oh man, this girl... i really could quote her all day long. she's the absolute funniest.

+ towards an old lady in the grocery store, with a voice that sounds a little like shrek's, "YOU LOOK LIKE MY GRANDMA!"

+ "would you like a spot of tea?" in a british accent, of course.

+ me: "hallie, i really can't watch another episode of kai-lan. doesn't she drive you a little crazy." hallie: "i'm running away." <-- yes, THAT happened. while she had her arms crossed and her brow furrowed. HILARIOUS.

+ while on facetime with joseph, "daddy! you got a fly on your head!" it was actually his mole.

+ when we were out to eat, my mom and i were apparently taking too long to decide what to order, so hallie sighs and says,"i would please like a corn dog please."

+ "CHOCOLATE MILK IS MY LIFE."

hallie says v.1 // hallie says v.2

A FLASHBACK

2012-06-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

being back in georgia (and on my old computer) has given me endless hours to just sit here and look through old pictures. i have everything since i was in high school on this computer, and it's kind of hilarious (and awesome) to look back on joseph and i's entire relationship all the way up until now. i thought i would let you guys in on the fun and share some pictures i found! i tried not to repost any that i've already shared before, but some of them are just so cute! enjoy. :)

LITTLE BITS OF HAPPINESS V.15

2012-05-31T08:00:00.000-04:00

do you guys ever have just completely good days with your kids? (or if you don't have kids!) those days where everything just seems to go right? that was yesterday for us. hallie woke up in a good mood. i had a large coffee in my mouth within 30 minutes of waking up. we had a lovely lunch, along with dinner that was followed by ice cream. i didn't have to remind hallie 23878 times, "you don't have to be afraid of clocks, hunny." and i didn't have to karate chop any flies. it was just awesome. and brought me the most happiness! love days spent with my girl. now for what made you happy this week! yay!

______________________________________

nitty gritty:

1. share words, pictures, anything that represents what brought YOU happiness this week!

2. link up your post, not just your blog! no one likes confusion.

3. link back to mrs. stephanie t. with either a text link or using the button below.

4. lastly, have fun and visit each other! go show your love and see what made others happy this week.

<center><a href="http://mrsstephaniet.com" title="Mrs Stephanie T"><img src="http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af120/stephaniert90/LBOH.png" alt="Mrs Stephanie T" /></a></center>

2-STEP PHOTO EDITING ON YOUR IPHONE

2012-05-29T08:00:00.000-04:00

lately i've been getting more and more questions on how i edit my pictures on instagram. i love it! i've never really understood why some people decide to not share how they edit their pictures or give each other tips, (trust me, they're on there.) but i love coming to instagram for inspiration and seeing other beautiful images. anyways! since the post i did about my favorite apps was a couple of months ago, i decided to show you guys a little 2-step photo editing "trick" on how i edit my pictures on my phone every day. yay!

first things first, these are the apps you will need:

camera+ ($0.99) is going to be how you brighten your image in one click. befunkyfx (free!) is going to be how you get that nice vintage filter. vsco cam ($0.99) is what i always use for black and white.

step 1:

use camera+ to do a single click brightening effect. i prefer the "night" effect, even if it's an image that was taken outdoors. it may seem a little bright when you do it, but the next step will help balance everything out.

step 2:

open up befunkyfx and apply the "vintage 1" filter. i usually set it at about 50%, sometimes a little under. play around and obviously do it at whatever percentage you feel is best.

and voila! that's it. save it to your camera roll and you're done. now some of you may understand why i feel so silly giving a tutorial on this! it really is just a super easy 2-step process. :)

now, if you'd like to make it black and white just swap out befunkyfx with vsco cam in the second step and choose one of their black and white settings. the end result will look something like this:

if you want to see other images that i've used this on, feel free to browse my instagram. it's what i've been using for the past month or two. have a great monday!

LIFE LATELY

2012-05-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

we're a happy little twosome, even if we are missing our j-bird.

also, new blog design! yipee! i needed to freshen things up a bit. if any of you lovelies are interested in a little freshening up of your own, i'm still offering up design work to help me get to blogher! shoot this mama an e-mail and we'll chat. :) hope you all are having a lovely friday and have a great weekend! xo.

LITTLE BITS OF HAPPINESS V.14

2012-05-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

i don't think it gets much better then sitting outside with hallie, watching her smile while she perfects her smiley face. (well, i guess having her daddy next to me might make it a little better.) she fills my heart with more happiness then she will ever know. i love you, hallie marie t!

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nitty gritty:

1. share words, pictures, anything that represents what brought YOU happiness this week!

2. link up your post, not just your blog! no one likes confusion.

3. link back to mrs. stephanie t. with either a text link or using the button below.

4. lastly, have fun and visit each other! go show your love and see what made others happy this week.

<center><a href="http://mrsstephaniet.com" title="Mrs Stephanie T"><img src="http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af120/stephaniert90/LBOH.png" alt="Mrs Stephanie T" /></a></center>