LOVE a good Adventure!

I love gifts that involve "doing something" or going somewhere. Jeffrey and I are trying to give more gifts where we travel or do a fun activity. 

Here are my top 5 activities for a fun Valentines date:

#1: Take a cooking class! 
How fun would this be to fumble through a three-course meal together?

#2: Go on a Mountain getaway.
I love renting cabins in the mountains and relaxing for a few days. This is a great way to recharge and "get romantic". You can visit a local winery and enjoy a bottle back at your cabin by the fire or in the hot tub. This is perfection!

#3: Go to a comedy club.
There are improve groups everywhere. They are so funny and will put you in a good mood. Jeffrey and I find ourselves quoting sayings from improve skits we saw years ago.

#4: Go to a dessert bar:
I love sweets and really enjoy sitting with Jeffrey eating and enjoying a cocktail.

#5: Take dancing lessons:
I have always wanted to do this with Jeffrey. My girls bible study took Salsa Lessons and we had a blast.

I would love suggestions, what is your favorite date?

Escape in 60!

Last weekend, we went to the new "Escape 60" challenge in Charleston. We were put in a room with clues and had to figure them out to escape in 60 minutes or less. Each clue led to another clue and so on and so forth.

The clues were really hard and caused us to really critically think. I felt like I was on an episode of CSI and it was amazing! We were solving clues and running around like the best detectives you have ever seen.

Ya'll I even solved some clues all by myself, high-five, me! I don't want to give any clues away because I really recommend trying one of these yourself.

We escaped and solved the "mystery" in under 40 minutes. The owners told us we broke two records! We were the fastest group they have had and have been the only group that didn't ask for clues. I guess that's what you get when you take two Georgia Tech graduates and four engineers!

Once you have escaped, I highly recommend a desert bar where you order the richest, chocolate anything and enjoy an espresso cocktail! I promise, you will not regret it.

If you have a chance, go lock yourself in an escape room and see if you can beat our time without any clues... I dare you!

Friday Five: The LOVE addition

Since Valentine's day is right around the corner, I wanted to do a special Love addition. 

Here are my top five gifts for Women:

#1: All in Good Taste by Kate Spade. 
All women love Kate Spade! This book has home decor ideas, fashion designs, recipes, and Kate's famous quotes.

#2: Kendra Scott earrings.
I am in love with these, I have eyeing them for a while now! These are a great, affordable gift item for that special someone.

#3: Trendy Tee's.
This pretty much sums up my life! This is perfect for that coffee loving women in your life.

#4: Ugg Slippers.
For those women who love to lounge and relax, These adorable slippers are perfect and they are oh, so cute.

#5: Versace Perfume.
I got this for Christmas and it smells divine. I highly recommend this for anyone your trying to impress!!

What is on your Valentine's wish list?

Linking up with Karli from: Sept. Farm. 

Grease is the Word- and a NEW LOOK!

Don't you just love the new look? Thank you Erin!!! You can check out her Blog and amazing work here. Since the Blog has a new look, I thought we could take an old look at 15 year old Kelsey.

In honor of the amazing Grease Live show that aired earlier this week, I thought we would have a blast from the past. I bring you Grease from 12 years ago! The students I teach were not even alive during this grand production. WHAT?!? Yes, that is me playing Sandy in 2001 **insert hair flip**. This is one of my favorite musicals and it was an honor to play such a great role alongside my very talented besties.

I grew up in the theater performing musicals. My very first musical was "Velveteen Rabbit" when I was eight years old. From that day on, I never left the stage. There is nothing like hitting center stage with the bright lights shining on you while you sing your heart out in front of thousands of people. It is a rush!

Although I am not performing musicals anymore, I am on the stage everyday as a first grade teacher. I am performing lessons and take a grand bow at the end of each tiring day. Sometimes I even get applause. You can take the girl off the stage, but you can never take the stage out of the girl...or something like that.

Being in musicals and performing has changed my life. After my first play at eight years old, I continued performing 2-3 shows a year until I graduated college. I made life-long friends that I cherish more then they will ever know. I was changed, molded, and shaped by performing and it has made me the person I am today.

I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity and blessing of being in theater at such a young age. I hope my children can love something as much as I loved performing.

While we weren't rehearsing, I remember sitting in the theater prank calling bowling alleys, playing "big booty", standing on the counters singing at the top of our lungs, crying together, laughing together, and playing truth or dare- you know, typical teenage stuff. We didn't have a care in the world... TAKE ME BACK--

I want to say thank you to everyone who laughed and cried with me for 21 years of my life. Thank you for listening, dancing, singing, performing, encouraging, and always believing in me. I love you and miss taking that bow on stage with you. I hold those moments near and dear to my heart. We may never perform together again, but we can escape back to those days together and reminisce. I mean look at how young we look!!!!

Thank you blogging world for this trip down memory lane! This musical-loving performer appreciates you for reading and enjoying these photos. If you didn't laugh at least once, there is something wrong with you. I mean these are straight outta da millennium.

What were you doing 12 years ago that might have changed your life?

Craft Fail!

So I have this grand idea in my head that I am so creative and talented, I see other people do it so I totally can, right? Wrong! I recently got one of those cutting machines, and I truly love it don't get me wrong; however, no one told me how hard these things are to manage and how much patience one needs. If you know me, I have as much patience as my first graders.

I have grand dreams of creating this...

Or this...

I mean, someone made these so why can't I? I wanted to make a special card for one of my friends so I prep my machine, read all the directions, and I am actually being very patient. My end product...

THIS:

As you can tell, I am totally on the same level as the other crafty-women! I was totally going for the "sunbeams shooting out from the ladies drinking tea" look. 

After a lot of face-to-palm and laughing I decided to take a break (4 cards later...eh!) and admit I am a crafting wanna-be. 

This is my next attempt at a craft. I mean how adorable is this! I can do this right? Or will this be another crafting fail Blog post? 

Any tips on how a non-crafting girl could make this would be appreciated!

I hope you had a good laugh (I know I did). Any tips or advice for this non-crafty girl would be appreciated. May all your crafts be easy and sunbeam free!

Friday Five!

CURRENTLY...

Favorite Pandora Station:
Did you know there is a "Spa" station on Pandora? Well, there is and it is amazing! I poured myself a bubble bath with lavender essential oils, a glass of wine, and drifted away in my kindle. Thank you Pandora for creating stations that make you relax and drift away like a queen. 

Favorite Devise:
Jeffrey got me a FitBit for my Birthday and I am obsessed! I consistently check my steps a

nd calories. I find myself walking in place just to reach "step goals". AND... for anyone that has a FitBit, how oh how do you read 10,000 steps? I celebrate 5,000 when my wrist buzzes!

Favorite Oil:
I have been defusing the "Breath" essential oil each night and I can tell a HUGE difference in my sleep patterns. Since Jeffrey is away, it is hard for me to sleep. Once I started defusing, it got a lot easier. Even my Fitbit agrees. I went from over 20 restless points to like 7!!! HIGH-FIVE on sleeping! Now if only they could create an oil to make getting up at 5:00 am easy.

Favorite girly item:
I have been using the heck out of my Nume curling wand and I am officially obsessed! It came with five different wands so I am always switching and changing curl types. Want to know the the best part? Ok, ok, i'll tell you... it LASTS ALL DAY!!!!!!!!!! Can I get an Amen?!? My hair is so thin and just plain yuck! I have never found a curling iron that keeps my hair curly until now! This is a BIG deal for me, if you couldn't tell.

Favorite Student:
I know, I know you aren't supposed to have favorites, but this sweet 1st grader painted me an amazing picture of my puppy, Roxie, for my Birthday! How can she not be your favorite? God has blessed this cutie-pie with a big, artistic talent. Now that I have boasted on her, I can go back to making all ten of them my favorites (most of the time *wink-wink*).

What are some of your current favorites?

New Hobbies

A lot of people have been asking me about what Kombucha is and how I make it. Here is my 2 gallon glass jar with my scoby, whom I have named Seymour! I ferment my kombucha in the jar for a week. 

Here is a better picture of Seymour. He has gotten so BIG since I first got him!

When I cannot brew another batch of tea for a while, I store Seymour in 2 cups of tea and place him back into my container, covered by a breathable cloth until next time I make tea. It's like a pet.

Once my Kombucha is ready, I bottle the tea and let them carbonate for 3-5 days before I drink them!

If you haven't had the chance to try Kombucha tea, I highly recommend it!