All Hearts 4 Paws

I owe you all an explanation! It's a great one though that I'm really excited to share with you! 

A couple weeks ago I helped start a local organization with the woman that I pet sit for. It is called All Hearts 4 Paws and is a great organization! Here is a quote direct from out FB page on what we are about, "We are a group of dedicated citizens that strive for one common goal. The animals of Northeast Texas are in desperate need of a shelter and competent management of such facility that has their best interest at heart. The current state of pet overpopulation and lack of community support for their welfare is disheartening. We will change this in a positive manner and are doing it immediately!". There is a lot to it but I won't share everything here. In my community, we DO have a humane shelter that is run by a private group partially funded by the city. They have asked to renew their contract again this year and we are wanting them to decline it. It is a known thing in our surroundings town that if an animal makes it to our shelter, they have a big chance of not making it out. That is terrible! The kill rate at the shelter is extremely too high, they don't have near enough room for any of the animals, the facility is very run down, and so much more that I should not go on about. So what my organization is trying to do is stop the contract from being signed, get a new shelter run by the CITY so it has to be by regulation, educate the public about the reality of the situation, the overpopulation, & the importance of spaying/neutering and get a immediate temporary shelter. We have only been going literally 2 weeks but have gotten the ball rolling pretty well! We have had meetings with city councilmen, got business's to back us up, organized events, and a lot more! We have a big meeting with different rescue groups and the general public next week so I have been preparing for that this week. We are hoping to help rescue groups in whatever way we can adopting out the animals they have. I'm very proud of the way it is going so far!

I have such a heart for animals & I'm so happy I'm finding ways to help them! I never thought that at 22, I'd be helping run a organization like this with NO ONE near my age. But you know what? I think it's awesome! I'm hoping people see it as a good thing, like "It's good the younger generation is getting involved in this!". The reaction could go the complete opposite direction though. I'm not going to worry about it though because I'm not doing it for any PERSON. I'm doing this to try and help make a difference for these poor animals. It is not right and someone has to speak for them!

If you have any problems like this in your town & are an animal lover I suggest that you do something about it! If you want to help my town (which would be AMAZING) go check out the webpage link I put above! If anything, I would ask for prayers. Prayers for my city, my mayor, the animals and All Hearts 4 Paws!

On another note.. Gypsy got adopted!!

Excuse the quality of my pictures, they are coming from Ryan's phone. This was my last night with her above! I was so happy to find her a home but after having her a month I grew attached! I'm so happy with her home though because it is an AMAZING man that I've known pretty much my whole life! 

I'm glad I could bring a dog her happy ending and I hope I can help make MANY more! 

All Hearts 4 Paws

What I'm loving & not so much

What I am LOVING..

- I started on my wedding registry today! Went by with my mom first to get her opinion and what we need! It was really exciting!

- This adorable little girl! I rescued her a few weeks ago off the side of the road and have been fostering her ever since! She is such a sweetheart! 

- It's officially August! Which is closer to my wedding date! This month has lots planned in regards to wedding planning! We will complete our registry, wedding dress shop and possibly even do engagement pictures! We may wait until September to do those though because it's so darn hot in Texas!

- I've started my own pet sitting business! I have a couple clients in town that are really loyal to me already and just started to market myself FORREAL so hope to have things looking up soon! 

- I've been participating a lot lately in efforts to get a new Animal Shelter in my town. I'm working with quite a few women, one of them I'm close too and am loving it! I may even be put in charge of running a temporary shelter soon! 

- Teacups! I've been obsessed with tea cup decorations on Pinterest lately! These are little bird feeders that I WILL have one day! As long as the day doesn't trample them! 

Then the "not so much"..

- I've been on the job hunt for about 2 months now! I've had a lot of maybe's but nothing else yet. I had a great interview today that has already called me back but it is a job with a low cost spay/neuter clinic where my rate would only go up to $8. I LOVE the cause but just can't live on that right now! So it seems like I'm coming so close yet so far!

- I still have to find a HOME for the little girl (Gypsy) you saw above! The longer I keep her the more attached I become!

- The HEAT! It's been crazy hot lately, over 100 every single day! There's not one day that I don't end up sweating insanely and feeling gross! 

- Finances! Without a job right now, I'm having to dig into my savings for wedding things! Def not fun. 

But then I have to step back and think about this..

& I know I'll be okay. 

Your help is needed!

I've had this pinned to my "Funny" board on pinterest forever! I'm a cat person so I can't help but love this & thought I'd give yall a little laugh this morning! 

On another note, I have an announcement! I'm planning on doing my first giveaway as soon as I reach 100 followers! I'm so excited! Yall have welcomed me back SO  greatly and I really just want to show yall some appreciation! I'm not positive on what I will give away yet, but I do know it will be something from my OWN art/DIY collection! So be looking for that soon hopefully!

On ANOTHER note, I think I have decided to give my blog a little makeover. I don't want anything drastic, I still love my simple look, but it needs a little more! The thing is, I'm not very good at doing the WHOLE site! I know there are many of you out there that offer these services for payment. I unfortunately cannot go this route right now (being in between jobs). So if any of you lovely people would like to help me out or give me a "how to" lesson, I would just LOVE you! I may even feature you on a post and my new upcoming side bar! 

Have a wonderful Wednesday! 

Meet my maids!

This is what I sent my bridesmaids to ask them to be a part of my wedding! I ordered them from Lori at her etsy shop Heartworks by Lori! She was really quick and they turned out exactly like I wanted! I absolutely LOVE lockets and wanted something really simple and versatile for the different girls and these were perfect!   Now time to meet my leading ladies!

EMILY! 

As you can see, Emily has been a part of my life FOREVER! We've been friends since we were 3 years old! We've literally been planning our weddings our whole lives. We went off to different colleges, she lived in LONDON (which I went to visit), now she just moved to New Hampshire to go to grad school! Despite our distance we are still as close as you can be! She is an amazing person, SO smart & I admire her so much! I'll be honored to have her standing with me! 

LAYNA!

Layna has been my bestie since middle school! Apparently we MET in elementary school, but she was scared of me? Side note: She says I wore a red leather jacket (keep the jokes to yourself) and looked intimidating, ha! She has always been my partner in crime! We went to New York together in middle school, walked around time square singing "Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy" (because they talk about Broadway?) acting like we owned the place. That was before a pigeon pooped on me at least. We always have fun together and she is going to hold me together on my wedding day! 

KELSEY!

Kelsey has been around just as long as Emily! The above picture is from high school drill team days! We both grew up dancing and were both leaders of our team in high school. Kelsey is an AMAZING woman! She is married and has a beautiful little boy! She will definitely be my rock to hold onto when I'm FREAKING out during the planning process! She has always been wise beyond her years and has always been willing to listen & help me with my crazy problems! Love this girl and can't WAIT for her to hold my hand!

WHITNEY!

Whitney has been SUCH a blessing in my life! I met her a couple years ago through my sorority, Sigma Alpha. I have no idea how it happened but we immediately hit it off! Before I moved back home a few months ago, we were inseparable! I would not have had an easy time in college if it wasn't for this girl! She held me together! I feel like I've known her WAY longer then just a couple years! We have some distance between us now but we are already doing frequent visits! Another exciting note about her...

She's engaged too! She got engaged 4 days before me! Her wedding won't be until June or July but we are already having SO much fun planning together!

Now you may have noticed I didn't name a maid of honor. This is because I do not have one! I made this decision because honestly I just could not pick! I love all of these girls so much and they all are important to me in different ways! I trust them all to help me in whatever way I ask of them. Some people may not agree with my decision to not include a maid of honor, but I am completely confident in my decision! Did anyone else make this decision? If you are ABOUT to have to make this decision, don't feel pressured to HAVE to pick a maid of honor! As long as you are comfortable splitting up the responsibilities between your girls then don't worry about picking one!    

Glance into my wedding

I've already announced this, but I'll say it again.. I'M ENGAGED!! We already have a venue, photographer and date. The date is April 20, 2013! So I hopefully have plenty of time to plan and save! My next order of business WILL be my dress, but that will probably be the hardest part for me! But for now, I wanted to give yall a glimpse into my Pinterest wedding board! Heres some of my inspiration for my wedding! It will be a combo of a couple styles, so I've awkwardly named it "vintage woodsy chic". Strange yes, but will work great for me! 

I LOVE the texture of this cake! 

I'm already saving jars!

I want to rent vintage dinnerware

Will for sure do this!

Love the book centerpiece!

Easy and cute!

My colors! Plus brown!

Great picture background!

Hanging jars.. yes! 

FAV mascara review

Today I will do my first EVER makeup review on my blog! To be honest, I am NOT the biggest fan of makeup! I wear powder, eyeliner, mascara and maybe on a good day a smudge of eye shadow just on the corner of my eye. I just don't really like the feeling of it! As some of you know, I used to be a dancer in high school, so I had to CAKE it on then. So maybe that turned me off? Who knows! ANYWAYS, this is about my currently FAVORITE mascara! I'm going to show you 2 different kinds, a cheap option and a more pricey. I'm including pictures of my own lashes with ONLY mascara on! No eyeliner or anything else so yall can really see what the mascara can do. I also did not use a curler! So without further ado..

 Maybelline Volum' Express The Falsies Flared

 

You can get this at Ulta for $6.99! I own this version and the waterproof. It has a curved brush so it helps curl your lashes without using a curler. I love the flared because it flares out your outer lashes, which def helps make your lashes look longer! I literally hardly have any lashes so I have to take what I can get! 

Maybelline 

It helps separate your lashes really well, but doesn't give a lot of boldness or volume. 

Benefit Cosmetics They're Real!

You can get this at Ulta for a whopping $23.00! Quite a difference yes! I feel like i should throw out there that I did not pay for it, it was a gift from my mother (the true makeup guru). I LOVE this mascara though! It really lengthens my lashes and makes them actually look full! My favorite thing about it though is that it truly does last all day! It doesn't even smudge! My lashes were clumpy before I put it on, so the picture isn't perfect. 

Benefits Cosmetics

I recommend both obviously! It really just depends on how much you are wanting to spend & really just what look you prefer! Have any of yall tried these? If so let me know what you think! 

Nephews are the best

So I am basically obsessed with my nephews. I have 3 nephews and they are the cutest things in the world! They used to live in all different places because my brother was in the Navy, but now they live in the same town as me! It's been so great being there for them! Here's a few adorable pictures of them because I just KNOW yall wanna see them! 

At the end of their school year this year they had a talent show! They wanted to do a dance in it and had me choreograph it. They picked the song and everything! The 2 oldest were in it, along with one of their friends. We only practiced a couple times, so they did AWESOME for that! I have to show them off, so here is a video! The two on right (your right) are my nephews!

Is anyone else obsessed with their nephews/nieces? Tell me about them!